the Port Washington train line goes out to the games and that's my town so I like grew up we'd go all the time my family was like we don't care like you know you're never you're never like in trouble if you go to the Mets game like by yourself so I've been to like ailan so it was like that's awes it was a good goodbye you know a to the greatest city in the world um all right I'm going to do the song now on purpose and then we're going to start welcome everybody to soccer wise David Goos Tom bogert with you to break down all things Major League Soccer everything that's going on of course with the US MNT and the Canadian Men's National Team a nice little crossover on today's show uh and so much to be excited about but we have to start with a big thank you inside the owl Community you Omaha recognizing owl to Owl which I believe are independent animals they don't operate as a group Tom and yet Union Omaha has come together with us they sent me some sweet gear I think you have some or it's in the mail whatever is happening to you I don't care it's not my problem and I'm rocking it and I just wanted to thank Union Omaha and I want to throw them a quick chirp chirp is that is I don't know I got oh yeah that's a good point uh they sent me a scarf as well yeah see if I can get it right side up there you go hell yeah one means all one hour all exctly shout out to Union Omaha I'm stoked I love a free thing in the mail it's a good hat too it is a good hat doesn't look good on me but it's a good hat in general I looks good on you me and Jordan did a long hat segment yesterday to start the show this might just be our our brand at this point um Tom you didn't get a free hat but you're going to get one soon how are you feeling I didn't it's over it's over I I look I get I get a lot of pack sometimes my fiance makes fun of me because it takes me a day or two to open some of these things o celebrity and I'm just like I get things s or whatever she's just like you're so cool bro I don't care a lifetime of happiness is what is what they call it uh my my partner likes to say throw out those jerseys that's like the number one line I get and I'm like but here's the thing what if it's 2047 and I'm looking around saying where's my N Buck Jersey and I don't have it with me you know what I mean I say can't have that happen yeah my most prized possession is a TFC signed Colin Warner Jersey that's incredible yeah that that needs to be cherished it's like a family heirloom exactly and I've pseudo adopted it as my Canadian jersey like when I'm uh whenever Canada's playing and I'm like I don't have a Canadian shirt that's clean right now that's what I go with um in those moments Canada will be playing this weekend as I mentioned they'll be playing the US I'm going to give you my starting lineups for those two teams we have uh a fun show for this one we have put together our tiers of superstars in Major League Soccer so we're going to explain the tiers and then we're going to put each of the players that deserve to be in that conversation into each of those tiers and we've got to dig in on Atlanta Carlos bokra the head sporting director the chief soccer officer at that club since before it opened as an expansion team has been let go uh it is now the final piece sort of for the first real change over in Atlanta United history and it's occurring under gar logway it was huge news I think it broke probably 30 seconds after we did the show on Tuesday that is sort of Theo and so you can um get ready for that one now in speaking about news breaking after shows we did our big Ed WSL show yesterday myself and Jordan Angeli right after Cy withun uh it was announced that she tore her miniscus throwing out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals game which is brutal and then even bigger yeah yeah absolutely brutal and the Nationals are not even competitive that is like as bad as it gets and then on top of that bigger news coming down this morning with Alex Morgan announcing her retirement uh from the game she will play this weekend for the San Diego wave and then that will be the end of her playing career uh we are putting the clip together right now we talked about Alex Morgan on our show when she wasn't ANC ounc to the Olympic roster uh and we talked about first in that whole conversation the legend that she is what she has accomplished she is top five in goals and assists in nwsl history uh top 10 goals assists appearances in US Women's National Team history she was on every major International competition roster for 14 years with the US Women's National Team she talked about a little bit in her retirement video even more important to her and I think even bigger for a lot of people with her Legacy her ability to push the game for in this country around the world both the women's game as well as just the sport of soccer overall so I think a big shout out from everyone here at soccer wise to Alex Morgan coming into her final game uh I know a lot of people are sad after watching the video she seems to be at peace with the decision but it's always tough to see a legend go out it's tough to see a legend go out in a year like this where she has struggled to score goals and hasn't really been able to find her feet but no one's going to remember her for that they're going to remember her for her ability to open up the game teams and the smile she put on everyone's faces over the course of her career so I just wanted to start with a big Alex Morgan mentioned before we dive back in to the Major League Soccer route Tom you ready to go I'm ready to go I'm ready to go then let's talk about people getting fired Atlanta United just retirements and injuries and injuries on a baseball field for soccer players that wasn't at Yankee Stadium in anyy CFC going retirements and now people being fired just a wave of positivity here on soccer wise when the Cy breun news dropped I uh I thought it was like a bit because I saw it through comment you know what I mean you have to like work your way back to the actual news uh and then you finally get to the actual story and you watch the video you actually can't really tell what happens but it is extremely unfortunate she's one of the best players in the world right now and that sucks speaking of sucks let's talk Edan United Ninth Place in the Eastern Conference right now and yesterday G aerway announcing that Carlos Spen aer's time with the club is done I believe his contract was up at the end of the year and choosing to make that move a little bit earlier Baner joined the team back in 2017 so he's been with the club for over seven years at this point uh the highs 2018 MLS Cup champions in just their second year in the league 2019 US Open Cup champions a number of conera Champions League at the time appearances uh and some big moves in and out of Major League Soccer time you wrote it up on give me sport talk to us a little bit about the history that Carlos bocanegra was a part of as he was a part of this club yeah let's start with the highs um that inaugural 2017 team and and 2018 when they won MLS Cup that's just an iconic team that was a trailblazing team it was the best expansion side in MLS history you know Sports history until I think Las Vegas uh Knights won the NHL Stanley Cup in their first year or whatever it was like it it's looking back on it now it's seems because they rewrote the book on how to do expansion and you don't need a soft launch like now it's like oh Nashville they made the playoffs like that's awesome like good for them like oh they could be better or like do you remember what expansion teams used to be like in like it was a joke dude and like Minnesota United came in with them how long did it take them to like and that was more normal than what Atlanta did so I think that that gets lost um in history because of how they changed it and how normal they've made it um so Joseph Martinez yamon Tata Martino that team I ionic incredible um 2018 MLS Cup and then it just all goes down in flames they win 2019 open cup despite of their head coach despite of the dysfunction in that team because Joseph Martinez was so incredibly special during that time um and then pre pandemic and post- pandemic is like this is just unrecognizable and Joseph Martinez tours ACL against Nashville that was their last game I believe before the league shut down du the pandemic Joseph obviously has never been the same after complications from that torn and Atlanta United have cycle through head coaches Frank dor Gabriel hinza Gonzalo pen now there's an opening uh boen anger has been there throughout it all um and it is important to look at the highs and the lows it's just been a lot of lows lately and that's what you know cost him his job in the end they've made the four most expensive signings in MOS history Cho alada PT Martinez zika Barco Alex maranuk and five of the top 10 with Luis aruo in there as well you could say one of those was absolutely a hit and obviously TVD on maranuk like that's just not good enough um but look outbound transfers this summer uh definitely League record for a single window at like minimum 42 million and a little bit extra from you know sellon Claus and ziko Barco so while the signings didn't quite work out they weren't you know all disastrous or anything uh but they haven't won a playoff series since 2019 they fired Gonzalo paneda on June 3D and are once again trying to rebuild and you know I'm sure that you saw the quotes that came from G loger Way's press conference but it was super interesting to me yeah the the numbers are like Whiplash right out the gate the most successful team and I think I I appreciate you putting us back in the mindset of 2017 and 18 which was expansion teams can't compete in year one especially expansion teams on the Fly Seattle had done it as being a club for 20 plus years right and while they weren't bringing those players in like the identity existed their the you know the physical location already existed Atlanta was our first one and then lafc followed it up really really strong and then you mentioned Nashville makes the playoffs and we have started to see a different expectation for expansion teams now but that Atlanta team set that model which was you can come in big into Major League Soccer make a splash be competitive day one you should could be they sort of reset the whole oh well we don't have a core of players to no all of the pieces of um you know extra allocation money you get expansion picks you have draft picks you have all of that should be assets that you can use and use in a positive way um Orlando and nycfc did not do that directly before them as you mentioned Minnesota did not do that either Miami didn't do that so it was a big deal what Atlanta accomplished one of the things that's always been hard about Atlanta is who you give credit for for these moments uh Tata Martino was a part of this project pretty early it is credit to Darren eels and Carlos banra for convincing Tata Martina that it was a worthwhile project bringing him in sealing that deal but then when you start to list part of what a sporting director's job is which is player acquisition and roster building you get into a lot of players that Tata has a connection to in Miguel Al and Joseph martinz and Carlos Carmona and Tito via and all those players out the gate a lot of those were felt like Martino signings now yeah I was going to say like I forget if it was Joseph or Miguel Marone like one of them on the record was like I didn't I don't know where Atlanta is Tata called me I said yes I didn't think about it right like so to your point yeah I don't think that signing happens without Tata Martino right and so of those four record signings the most successful one is one that you kind of lean credit towards someone else but the reason they won MLS Cup was also because of Michael Parker and Jeff Lorent totz and Brad guzan and Darlington nagby and a lot of that was MLS experience that was keyed on by the club saying you need this to be successful I don't think tat Martino came into MLS saying Jeff lenowitz is my guy like I need a Jeff lenowitz in my team so Carlos spoken anger and his staff did good work on those sides of things since Tata has left the biggest complaint about Atlanta has been the lack of consistent direction that comes top down you can talk about managers whatever you want all of these moves are all across the board they are ambitious they are exciting at times but there is no true north star to what is happening and I think that's where the club has lost its feet that's where the club has lost its ability to compete in major league soccer in a way that it shouldn't bad you years for a club spending record numbers shouldn't be outside the playoffs it should not be a club that five straight years doesn't win a postseason game bad year should be we limped into the playoffs we won a series at least every once in a while and I think that's where for a lot of us it feel it this was surprising and that it hadn't happened before now that g logway has been there um but you can see g l now recognizing that he this is is his chance to put the stamp on the club uh and he has to sort of take this opportunity where you've already got a coach opening you might as well rebuild the sporting structure from the top down underneath you yeah so what I'll say is there is no surprise from me that Carlos banega has been Let Go by Atlanta United I I I'll be honest like the surprise is that it hadn't happened yet his contract is up this winter um and like I I don't know like I thought it was pretty clear to me that G logger's going to come in and get his own staff which is normal and to your point like how long it's been without a direction without a clear philosophy and without success um even without a new boss it seemed like it was time for a change right so like some of the quotes that that came from goth logo in his press conference were interesting like he tried I mean he did really well at like you know we thank Carlos for his time you know hey it's not that we didn't believe in Carlos you know it's just time toh go in a different direction right one thing that stuck out to me and and GTH lway said this in different ways over the last 18 months um he goes for the first time in two years we have the ability to truly go forward we've cleared the decks we have incredible possibilities that saying all of the contracts that you signed that I had to spend two years getting out of now we can finally move forward um I would push back a little bit at the now point of it because for whatever you thought of you know for whatever deficiencies came with yakumi or alad like the DPS weren't the problem in this team yeah um it was although gu was there to sign yakums right that started before he like I'm pretty sure that like regardless but like what I'm saying is alad and yakis were two really good DPS if miranchuk and whoever else they had this winter and they're probably going to have two DPS this winter if those players are as good as Alman and yakam monis that's a success and then but then where are you like it's this like this Foundation like that's why I was so coming in the year you looked at seion Gregerson BTO Brooks Lennon Caleb Wy uh Triss Mumba ZB jit like John de Silva that foundation around two top top level DPS I was like oh this team's going to be awesome but they sucked so now like while like hop spring is eternal and I understand where GTH is going like what if miranchuk is awesome and what if a dp9 is awesome but like trumba this step back is more who he really is than who he was last year John de Silva um since they picked up his purchase option has just been bad like there's no two ways around it um the back line hasn't been good enough I really like seion Gregerson but whatever the combination of players and Brad Gan goals just hasn't been good enough so um I don't know if it's as simple as just go sign a couple DPS I hope it is but I thought it was this winter when they had yakis and alada and I they were two very good DPS um yeah I I think I think the confusion has been there for a lot of us the reality has been the middle of the roster has been poorer than possible for to allow an alada and yakum makis to elevate a club in terms of performances consistently like this has been a team that's been soft to play against in central Midfield basically since they lost MLS Cup this is a team that has struggled at the center back position they struggled in goal as well trying to finally replace Brad guzan which didn't really work out but I think a lot of that is the players have not made sense with each other like they've brought in ball playing center backs to play behind ball playing Central midfielders and then no one can win a tackle and they don't really dominate possession there are not clear ideas in their possession patterns like there's been a lot of Misses in those places um we have a question here from Juan Garcia who says if this was the case of clearing the deck why get even one DP instead of staying completely fresh for a new coach and why add miranchuk yeah I mean just use G logo's words he was like we wanted if we were going to sign like DPS the summer which we wanted to do we wanted them to be players that were so good that like they could fit with any coach that any coach be like oh great I can't wait to work with his player so that's the argument from Atlanta on that and they were trying to sign a second one they were trying up until the last hours of the deadline um and they they said they didn't want to compromise on oh we'll go down the list of our targets and like hey if you know if we're not a th% convinced we're not going to do it just because it'd be better to sign somebody now like another thing that he said was you know if we spend these resources wisely you only have to spend them once so I think first and foremost that's the most important but um going back to the foundation of this roster so G lgo's first off season going into the 2023 season they let go of 20 players and a lot of them were difficult to get out of there was a mutual contract termination with Emerson Heyman he was on like a million dollars per season or something like that crazy which alen Franco was probably could have offered Darlington nagby by the way yeah or resigned Julian Grasso or you know going down list of like some of these guys right like so Emerson alen Franco he's got lost in like the sands of time like that was like a he was a DP when he came in he was awful Marcelina Moreno was like I don't know if I would go as far as to say he was awful but in this system he was like his his uh skills Al like Aro like all these players didn't um fit with each other it's like you blindly built a roster it's like a fantasy football roster it's just like I'll try to get a few good players and we'll figure it out I was like no like these players need to play with each other Dom dwire was waved he was on like 500,000 or 400,000 I I don't know who were you bidding against Edwin moscara like he's the only u22 initiative player who's come good and they spent I think a total of eight or n million on Santi Sosa and Franco abara um who else Eric Lopez two $2 million um u22 initiative player Mutual contract termination um Atlanta United 2 Legend Eric Lopez Joseph Martinez like they had to buy him out at for him to go sign for free in Miami or like obviously Miami was paying but you know what I mean like um and like that one's not the front office's fault like that comes from injuries and stuff like that time but like that's just the whole point like they they use one buyout and they had using up Joseph Martinez which is a very sad story there was like four other players that they could have needed to buy out and they found a way to get off the book so like that's kind of what gway was referring to when he was talking about the roster and the clean slate and being able to truly move forward yeah it is I I I think if you're an Atlanta fan you should be excited gar L's um resume is pretty positive in Major League Soccer he has been competitive every year he's been with the club he has won a ton of things I think the reason you bring in Moran chuk is he understands what wins in MLS he knows Moran chuk is good enough and he knows the deal is there and possible look at Columbus wiford n was not there they signed cooo because Coo's a no-brainer and then that next coach is going to work with that it maybe isn't perfect but it is if you can get the deal done you get that deal done because guard lway knows that a a good manager should be able to work with those assets and should be able to create a winner with all of that on Carlos bogener side by the way I don't know that a lot of people are going to be banging down his door but he's got the resume for Atlanta so I would not be shocked if he resurfaces over the next year in conversations Chicago is going to be an obvious one people are going to connect him with they've got a sporting director opening I don't know a lot of what I see from from Atlanta being the fix for him to go to Chicago but I would expect to start to see his name in those conversations over the next year on the Atlanta side you put in the give me sport piece which was the first thing I thought which is that Chris Henderson who famously was super successful under gar lerway in Seattle who is now in Miami and has BR has had a new boss brought in above him could be earmarked for this position I think for me the cell here is that everyone has been elevated one spot gu was the chief soccer officer in Seattle and Chris worked under him gur is now president and Chris would be the chief soccer officer at this club under G lerway that's the pitch here for him which is you're not taking a step back it's sort of a step sideways into a comfortable position where you could be pretty successful yeah and look at so Chris Henderson's a CSO in inter Miami and I think he's done a phenomenal job um but right now ownership Jorge moss and David be two own two different owners doing deals there's Tata Martino who has a ton of sway that he's earned and good sway that comes with it like some of the players that they've signed like we just talked about with Atlanta wouldn't be possible without Tata but what comes with that is a lot of control from the head coach um and then you have the the orbit of Lono Messi so Chris hen it's not like Chris Henderson has a clean slate to be building this roster himself he's doing again an awesome job and and oh like I'm sure he's crying that he has to deal with L Messi Sergio buett and having to sign Lis Suarez on on a non DP deal right like that's all that's all fair but just I think that would be another way to be like hey one like you won't have to deal with all these other just just deal with me and like me and you have worked together we have a good relationship um another thing that that a nugget that I had in that piece so their new president of football operations he took over this summer Miami he comes in he's doing uh interviews he's talking you know I didn't come here to replace Anderson we have a good relationship because he was at real zeroa before which is owned by m so it's like you know I know Chris I'm so excited I come came here to work with him that's all that right the same day he physically moved into Chris Henderson office and told Chris Henderson to go somewhere else like um and then another thing he he would this is when I was at the athletic but we did an article Paulo was the one who interviewed him but we did the article kind of together um and the quotes they sound beautiful it's like talking about a you know I look at myself as a conductor of the orchestra you got the scouting Department here playing beautiful music and the sporting director there and all this stuff and I was like all right man like I I like it a little bit corny but that like it's cool like I'm not going to be so jaded and then another one of our colleagues that works in Spain was like look at this and he sent us his introductory interview with the guy it was almost I swear to God word for word the same quote that he did at saraha I was like oh so the two things I know about this guy is he just copies and pastes interviews that he's doing and that he made Chris ederson move out of his office so I was like I'm not starting off on the Rock foot here not ideal I I I think if you're someone like Chris Henderson this is an ideal spot he Chris by the way has connections to South Florida he played there um he's got family down there so that's a draw as well it's the same reason Garth lerway took job Atlanta has an ability to be a unique Major League Soccer Club the records you talked about in spending the market they are in and the Market's relevance globally and the size of the market and the relevance of the club inside that market and the structure that's been built like G said it in in the interview I think we can both tell you it's probably the best training facility in the league in a league where training facilities are a recruiting tool for players around the world because they're better here than they are at the top clubs in the world so like all of this is stuff that Chris didn't have in Seattle it is stuff that Miami is developing in some ways but you talked about in its like Miami is in an insane place where you can't really run the club if you are someone and Chris and G both are who believe in Major League Soccer who believe in the sport in this country and want to build something special Atlanta is the spot to do it and now you've got this opening you've got this other opportunity you've got this opportunity the other name that popped in my head immediately when this happened was Greg bur halter and like I have assumed since the start of him potentially not being usmnt manager all the way a year and a half ago till now that when you talk about Greg's move if he stays in MLS or goes to MLS that he has the um wait to ask for the head coach GM double position if he wants to G GTH L was asked directly on on the coaching search and stuff like that is there a possibility for it to be a dual title and he was like absolutely no chance like we believe really strongly that those two jobs need to be separate so if that if bur halter is insistent on having the CSO title as well uh Atlanta will't be the place um that's not to say that that that he wouldn't have a ton of sway yeah I have also heard that Greg may not want that if he does come into an MLs Club um but funny things happen when people have opportunity and power and there's a vacuum and yeah no we we'll sign Greg then we'll sign the Cs you know what I mean like all of this stuff has funny ways of working out um point and at a minimum you could look at something and say if Chris Henderson's not available or doesn't want to leave or isn't going to come do you get someone less senior as the quote unquote CSO who operates alongside Greg underneath Garth l because all of this is unique right gu being a team president as a actual CSO in his background isn't something that's happened much in Major League Soccer it's him and Tim basenko that's it so like you don't need the same type of person in that role specifically if you don't want to um Greg obvious uh gu has said that they're not also not ready to make the move on Coach so it seems like we're all kind of in this waiting uh holding pattern um at this point it would be interesting um is all I would say I have said a million times on this show I think Greg's a really good coach he's super smart he's thought very highly of um and it would be a clean fit for him in this spot to sort of take things over for the first time going forward any other big Atlanta thoughts any other names we should think of any other specifics things we should look at with this club over the final month or two of the season it's a good question on the coaching search they said that they're talking to candidates I did directly ask about the Patrick Vieira reports um and as expected no comment more or less they're not going to comment on specific candidates but that would make sense to me I I'd heard Patrick vie's name connected with the club when via was still at strawsburg honestly it was like Hey like if he and like obviously P still had a job um but like the like this marriage would make like if if y was to come back to MLS like this would make sense to me um but that's I'm not confirming anything like with sources I'm just saying that that just deductive reasoning and some little bits of info I've heard over the last year or two this would make sense um and then yeah as for this season like like they they L was saying the right things of you know we're you know our goal is still to make the playoffs this year All This and like yeah like I'm sure it is and I'm sure that that's also what you have to say so that it's not like a you dead beat end of the season but like yeah like L said last year when they actually seemed like they might be pretty good he was like yeah like great like we we finished fifth and made the playoffs like let's you know have a trophy celebration like no that's not what we do here like what what we're here for is Win actual trophies like I don't care that we made the first round like that's the bare minimum so that was a team that was better than this last year and seemed to be building towards something so like again this year like yeah maybe they finish eth or ninth maybe they win the playing game like and then they lose in round one like um that's not to be super dismissive of it but it's like yeah like that's an important goal to make the playoffs this year but the most important is to continue into the winter with more flexibility and get all these hires right and these DP signings right we uh our friends at American soccer analysis crunch the numbers on percentages for playoff teams and going further than that we have Atlanta at a 66% chance of making the postseason uh and a 47% chance of or sorry of making the playin and a 47% chance of making the postseason because the Assumption being they will be in ninth place if they make it they would be the away team then they would have to win a game to get to the next stage um and either way it feels like it's going to be a let down year for Atlanta I think for Atlanta fans the hope is sort of starting to bloom and there's been some good performances from some of these attacking pieces uh and we're going to dig into some of these names as we go forward because we're going to talk Superstars now in Major League Soccer uh Tom this was your birth child you are a superstar in my heart you are the conductor of all of this and I am scouting department so you can have my office whenever you need it and whenever you want it Tom get us started here on sort of how we're breaking down these tiers and then we can start to dig into some of the names that we put on yeah so just in a macro sense soccer is a weakling sport in that it's more important for the collective to be really good than to have you know several bad players and and three stars right like it's it's like in the NBA is a is a strong link sport because Stars can be dominant and stars can be dominant soccer but it's it's more Collective but going in towards the playoffs when you look at some of these teams when they match up who's going to have the best player on the field and where do they stack up like when you say things like Elite or top five or really good or whatever right some of these words that like all right like let's dig in deeper and try to really make a bit of a hierarchy or tiers for the best players in the league um so that was kind of the idea here was mostly for like the playoff teams but then um it's Goss I were talking it would have felt weird to just like leave out uh some teams below the playoff lines but um I think that this is most useful as we're coming towards the playoffs in another month and a half or whatever so getting into the tiers I broke it down to Superstar and star tiers and and then there's a little bit of the end there because like I think superstar has to be we have to be careful with how many names are on that list M I ended up with seven we ended up with seven I believe if if you're co-signing that you you didn't raise any any qualms on this part of it in in the show meeting so if you spring this on me now I'll be be a little sad I'm going to do it the first well disagree with this one the first tier is tier Messi it's Lio Messi because he's the greatest player of all time um it's it might be easy to forget because we haven't seen him play in mos in several months because of international Duty and injury he's got like 12 goals and 13 assists or whatever it he's got like 25 goal contributions like 12 games like he had five assists in one half against the DOR red bu like he's don't let these things become normal or like normalized like Leon Messi is a tier of his own with no disrespect for some of these other wonderful players we're going to get to so I obviously agree with you this is an easy one this inspired me to name the tiers after players but I don't want the other ones but a messy tier works in the like it Messi is not a name anymore right Messi the phras his name has become a phrase and so like if you in the Messi conversation if you're in the messy tier everyone is the maritime Messi like whatever it is so I'm saying this to the fans I don't have names for the other tiers I would like assistance so that we can come back and name these tiers so like if it's the Diego Valeri tier if it's the shry Joseph tier like whatever you want to name them help me with this we'll Workshop if you don't subscribe to the patreon do it so you can jump into the Discord and talk it through with me and then we'll come back but in the tier shockingly Messi stands alone yeah well so that's the whole thing like I'm not you you try to get Super Creative you know David go the poet sitting by his window just thinking when you're conducting you got to pull me back in because I'm ready for my solo I'm Nick Canon on the drums so I just did these by like tier a BC like because I think that's the easiest way to kind of go through this and I'm I'm open to adding uh player names MLS player names to these tiers but like don't get confused tier Messi is just out of respect so there's Messi one of one up um tier a so in in any other time period in MLS that does not have lead on Messi tier a for me it's coo Hernandez Lucho kosa and Denny Bongo yeah like I I think the three of them stand above everybody else right now these three stand above in that they are as individuals the three best players in the league besides Messi mhm as an effect on a team they are a cheat code and a win button in every single game they play and they are that on teams that perform at a high level and go far because part of what we're going to talk about as we go through this is there are other players in this league who are to their team similar those teams are not as good or as competitive and not all of that falls on one person but like coo came to a team that didn't make the playoffs and then they became an MLS Cup winner um Lucho has played on the field with groups for since that have no business being in a supporter Shield race and he has elevated them and carried them and bonga we talked about through it all playoffs leagues cup whatever if he's on the field you have a chance you don't need other attacking pieces and he has done so I love that he's just the cyborg now he has done so at a consistency level that is unheard of all three of these are mustat they're big ticket items they are the reason you go to the game they're the reason you watch and they are winners I completely agree with you on this category I thought this was the cleanest one to do because all three of them fit it so perfectly yeah and I think you put it really well the the win button and the fact that they're dragging their teams to wins when you know they don't always you know totally deserve it on the mer of play and that's why you have to have a strong foundation and then you can have special players that can do special things and whenn you just Brute Force you of points like uh to your point about Lucho Costa like he had that run early in the spring and early summer where he was I think he contributed to like 70% of Cincinnati's goals and they had won you know 10 in a row or 10 of 11 whatever it was like this like that's the one where I look at with like yeah like this was not a team that really should have been in the shield contention like when miiaa went down you know the lack of getting anything from bu Penza um and everything else that this team has run into this year I think they're a really good team um Lucho kosa kept them in the shield race for way longer than I think that they should have been given how strong drop top of the league is so again like credit like L Jo Co said like one of the very very best players in the league and Denny bong I think particularly last year when um they were winning games like really winning games in transition LFC and they were playing every three days and he's the only person who doesn't have fatigue or wear and teir and like there's just some games where it's like oh my God like I don't think LFC played that well but banga just beat three people and scored and they won one nothing like what do we make the Seattle game in the playoffs last year is like the whole model of they had had 30% possession on the road against Seattle they had one chance he created it himself he scored it himself and they won the game yeah so those are the three in tier a and then the last tier for Superstar before he Stars Superstar tier uh tier B Chicho Rango Ricky poo and K yeah this one obviously these three names are below the other three this one was a little bit tougher for me to get around I think Chicho is the cleanest one W in this of like when he's been on the field his performances he is both an elite chance Creator and goal scorer right now RSL I think he has elevated and like he is the clear star of the team as well there are not other stars in that way where it's like oh Chicho's out obviously love Andress Gomez rip obviously I love Diego Luna who we'll talk about coming up in a little bit about elevating into this conversation in the future but like Chicho stands there alone Carlos heel has the history help set the points record has been consistent year in and year out um Ricky pu is the tough one because part of this don't be a nerd don't be a nerd part of this for me is winning and like they're winning they're first in the west so this year would be the change but he has been in the league they won one postseason series they've not made the playoffs otherwise but he is the reason I'm convinced is he is so ubiquitous on the game he leads the league all the time in touches passes everything that he is a central Force upon himself that no one else in MLS is and therefore not just the flare and the quality and the ability for him but just the consistent nature that he affects the game elevates him into this but he's a tough one for me because as I said they weren't great as a team they've gotten better but but they've gotten better with other names you're going to talk about and so like for me it's tough to say you're a superstar because after you get another Superstar you've performed better that's not exactly how that works like that is no no no no no okay D Lucho Co they finished Cincinnati finished bottom of MLS with Lucho Costa it wasn't his fault doesn't make him less of a player like he couldn't overcome that nobody could overcome the the Cincinnati stank of the first couple years like Ricky Pooch had Douglas Costa on one side of him and and uh one good season of chichito and one Bad season and one injured season what's he supposed to do with that not a ton but also Lucho won with brener on the way out and Brandon Vasquez on the way out and no Buu Penza and like he won in tough situations with FC Cincinnati in which Ricky didn't win dude dude Billy sharp got signed by the Galaxy as a free agent last year and was immediately their best forward and like Ricky P like oh I have somebody I can pass the ball to like you kidding me I get what you're saying but also we're talking about levels the Galaxy didn't even make the playoffs like we're not asking him to be a supporter Shield winner I'm just saying Elevate the team and make them competitive if he wasn't on the team last year they'd be brutal to watch they'd be miserable they'd probably have finished somewhere similar in the standings how far down they were so that's what I'm talking about cooch okay so so again I'm going to keep pointing to Lucho kosa finished last in mlas with Cincinnati and if you took him off that team it couldn't have been any worse because of they were worse play like again it wasn't he was a rare bright spot for that team uh cooo like he only had a half season they missed the playoffs in his half season oh come on he came in at the end of the year that was fake that doesn't count as Co they were over the playoff line after they I believe they beat Chicago in like one of his first games and he had a couple goals and we were all like oh my God this guy's awesome oh they're definitely going to make the playoffs because they're great because they have him and lucason and then they didn't like I don't think it's his uh but like yeah but and and the reason and that's the reason why Ricky Pooch is in tier B for me rather than tier a like I don't think that he's those TI guys but I think he's a superstar in this league like ml leaders and touches is Rick Pooch with 2649 um next is Mary Delgado with 400 less and Mary delgado's played like 300 more minutes like he is such a singular talent and it can be frustrating because he kind of goes outside of the tactics he Rifts like it's difficult for some the midfielders behind him and he's contributed to some of their particularly last year contributed to some of their um deficiencies in transition defense but like I like that doesn't take away from all the incredible um creativity possession um and just special moments that he has he's a James Harden of MLS it's a fact it's a fact he's the beard but James Harden is still a hall of f Jam hard a lot yeah I think he did back in the day then he'd be the Kevin Durant if Rick's going to keep that up and start subtweeting people he would be the Kevin Durant of mjor socer and quite honestly slim Reaper might work for him not as tall but a similar build uh otherwise for Ricky I I'm okay with that I'm okay with having him in here I I love that you landed on that the conversation of how much he affects the game like that sort of was what pulled me back was like if you are the guy that everything goes through all the time you are a superstar even if cuz I kind of looked through those lists and was like is there a is there a center mid or Center back that I don't think of in that way most of it's system based the Galaxy in Houston dominate possession they pass a million times like that's arter is going to get on this list mckyle is gonna get not on this list on that list those guys are not in this convo but Ricky isn't and I'm fine with it although now you're going to get to the next list it makes me want to elevate some people into this ation go I'm so I'm just going to say I feel strongly that there's seven seven players right now in in the Superstar tiers and and I take the term Superstar very very seriously um and just because we we didn't talk about Chicho there um I want like Chicho Rango I I think even this time last year I think I would have put him in the start tier somewhere down here like awesome forward goal score you love it like what he was doing when he was with LFC even before he came back to with real L why he's a superstar is because he's been a such a complete forward and particularly this year he's been like I didn't I wasn't familiar with your game in that like he wasn't asked to do that for LFC part of the reason why Steve trolo seemed like he wanted to bench him all the time was that he wasn't doing enough outside of scoring goals and this version of Chicho at Real Salt Lake is just awesome to see so moving on uh tier C and this is where again we break to Star and not Superstar so you see for me avander Gabriel peek Hector Herrera fagundo Torres and Christian bentak air bake he should be his own tier just because of the Aerials but I dig uh okay bent was our last one in this full disclosure because we struggled with the fact that like DC don't make the playoffs they might not make it again and it's hard Christian B is mustat people tune in for him he has star name quality obviously for what he's done outside of Major League Soccer he's then come into MLS and dominated and he does so with everyone on the field like you could throw us out there and he probably gets one at some point obviously so you're in the Superstar tier I'm in the star tier so it's like not a bad matchup for him or not a bad set of three but he's like in there for that and I'm okay with that um the other ones you named I I had split into two different categories gold is clearly in this like when you go through the numbers when you go through the watching the game and the Vibes like he is the face of that team that team is top five consistently now in the west they are the Canadian Champions they might be a three time reigning Canadian champion at the end of this he just got called back into Scotland which as I said worst te to watch in the world and he has played different roles for them like he has elevated his game in which where whoever is missing he will step up and do the job he can cover ground Central Midfield he can score goals he can create chances from the top or from deeper he's awesome he also is consistent and works hard in all of these things he's what the working man's MVP was what the Vancouver was sending out to all which I don't blame that worked on you so well that that camp I was already in the bag I was a waste of a of a giveaway on that one you got you got to reward your base you got to reward your base true you got to keep me coming back just in case uh Drew's tough because that team is not great so so we we have we have we haven't even gotten to to to that tier yet TD are we not in that tier what tier did you see Evander pek Herrera fundo oh my God I mean a whole did you think so I so you heard Ben I guess that was a uh an executive Choice by me to yeah to move him up at you yeah um so and and what else say so you're arguing that gold should be in T I I wasn't doing that but I'm okay to do that because I literally so you were arguing that he should be in tier D where we listed him that was what your argument I was talking through TI D stop disagreeing with me when I agree with you I I like gold in tierc I think he should be so the other ones are avander a a peek and fundo Torres right yeah yeah with bent yeah I think so I I agree I I think you know we'll edit this on the flag g wow look at us look how fluid we are look at how Movement we based we are I love this a Vander I said last year would be in this conversation he is if he stays in MLS I wouldn't be shocked if he moves up a tier um over the course of the next year his combination of skill vision and physicality is unique it's what allowed him I think to start so quickly in MLS cuz the physical part is one of the hardest parts to get to for 10 and he's already there a a is the one I would argue could be in the next conversation the one up when we talked about Ricky being the central Force touches dominant and part of that being system based a a is the system for Houston like it was built because it's what he likes to do and it gets the best out of him and then they went to a Western Conference Finals because of him and like there are other names for Houston that we like and we can talk about no one else is in this conversation yeah for Houston and so if they're going to make a second run it's hard to take a a out of that and I would argue the word Superstar Hector Herrera is in there with what he did with Porto with his history with his background Captain the Mexican national team you could make him the eighth member of the Superstar category both for his performance on the field and what he means to the game yeah I understand your argument I I'd still I'd still push back on that just because like I I do I do think that Chicho Carlos Hill and Ricky Pooch are in a slightly different category than him um like last year I think he had 16 assists this year hasn't been quite the same I know that he missed time early in the season he's still been excellent um but I just kept coming back to like contributing more goals whether it's goals or assists um kind like again like TC like theoretically he's somewhere between the eighth and 12th best player in so this isn't a slight this is a celebration of fact Herrera I just wouldn't go as far as putting him in like the top seven you got to love when someone Subs someone and then they go this is for you I'm doing this for you this is an honor for you um a a right now eighth for uh shooting chances created per 90 in Major League Soccer literally right behind Ricky like yes we are talking about seven and eight in this which I think is fine like if you want to have a line and we have a line there I'm okay with that I'm not going to complain about that um I would say I like that we put G in here um me too fundo Torres is tough because he's inconsistent yeah he's the best player on a team that won an open cup he's the best player on a team that was second in the East last year they are struggling this year it doesn't feel like he carries teams when they're bad like it feels like he plays to the level they play at and when they're good he's great and when they're bad he's poor but he's also the youngest player in this conversation and that's just like part of what's going to happen in all of that Gabriel pek would be is pek younger than him yeah thought was 24 and faku is as well I thought Gabriel pek's a little young than that don't you love don't you love when we just Google people on this show um so yeah that's fair also PC's not the best player on his team yeah yeah and like that's the part that's hard in all of this is yeah when you're the second guy what is it mean but he's unplayable right now in year one and he will be better next year because no one gets worse from that level on in MLS and at that point we'll be glad we had him in here yeah I think your points of aor are well taken as well so particularly with and and that's why I I am glad that that we have G in that same tier because like I think G has the higher floor more consistent more reliable while still being obviously a really really really good player I think fundo Torres while he's not as consistent as Ryan gold I think that he can hit a slightly higher level than gold can so I think it makes sense that they're both in the same tier here okay cool we feel good tier D sebas and trusi even though he hasn't been uh so good since 2022 hasn't been so great uh so maybe we'll we'll edit this one on the fly as well but gusi Santi Rodriguez jgo rosi and Emil forsberg um Mia somewhere he not only is he missing games he missed Scandinavian night at Red Bull Arena last weekend so um there's that hopefully we see him again soon I thought he was going to be back from his injury by now but hopefully we see him again soon agreed hopefully we we see him again soon he was our last add into this after talking about this and debating it a little bit um and to me he what what we saw from him in the first half of the year was in the tierc convo and like so okay he hasn't been fully healthy he hasn't been as consistent we also haven't seen it as long so I don't want to credit him for like a flash but we've seen it across his career he is probably he is one of the guys if he's healthy in a playoff series you could say the Red Bulls have a chance in every match match because he's on the field whether it's goals or creation he fits with a lot of different guys because he's a high level player and he is the best player we have seen play for the Red Bulls in 10 years now right like coming out of the Sasha kusan bwp years yeah he's the best player we've seen play for that team and the team reacted that way they went from yeah we'll make the playoffs every year to we're a top four team we are a home playoff team we're an Eastern Conference Contender like all those things so I think that puts him in there Dre's tough because he's had Peaks and his falls and he is not a dominant player he does not affect the game all the time and so if you take the team out of it he falls out of it he doesn't really dictate what the team does um but I think as a capable soccer player he's on a level that's different than a lot of other guys in the league and that's what pushes him in here and the other two were Sandy Rodriguez and Diego rosi right yeah y y so these two were the toughest for me for Santi he's never been the best player on his team and when he has been they haven't been good so he was on the Cup team he was phenomenal tati leaves the next year Maxi is still there he has a good year Maxi leaves he has an okay year the team doesn't make the playoffs Maxi comes back this year he's been a lot better that is hard for me to gauge in terms of like you are a star um and you carry a team and you carry you know the whole you set the tone and all those things and that's where he was a little bit difficult for me the problem is I think Diego rosi belongs in this and Diego rosi has never been the best player on his team his teams have been slightly better on average than Rodriguez and I'm putting the I'm splitting Harris here Diego rosi the year Vel didn't play in 2020 basically didn't play LFC sucked they didn't make the playoffs rosi won the Golden Boot 2020 was weird so there's that but at least rosi showed his individual performance remained at a high level without the best player on the field the one time we've seen him play there and my guess is if coo moves on he will be that guy in Columbus and we'll learn more about that going forward but I think rosi with his resume deserves to be her 100% Santi I think is the toughest one in this group yeah um I I just I think we just fundamentally disagree on this like um I think Maxim Morales is very important for nycfc but I think San Rodriguez is their best player pretty unquestionably like I think that they work well together and they make like particularly Maxi makes Santi better but um like this is San's team for me and like so I'm giving him credit for being the best player on on the team that's in fifth place right now in the conference so um yeah your point with rosi like I like I think he could he could be the best player on on several other teams in MLS like I'm not I'm not going to knock him because he's playing next to coo Hernandez and how awesome that partnership is so um for me those are I think that's tier D um and keep it moving here to tier e the last one we have um there's a lot of things going different directions here so um we added a couple goalies on this Andre Blake I'm gonna add Roman berky as well because I think he should be there as well uh darington nagby just absolute Legend didn't know what to do with oliv Jud and Louis Suarez so we put him here because it would have felt weird to leave him out but like are they really that that much higher I don't know uh LCA orano and then car Rapids Duo George mahovich and haa nvu who like I think is legit imately really good yeah I think he is too Colorado's an interesting one right team is the star like how do you get anyone in here who do you put in Cole bassett's probably bouncing around this conversation at the bottom end as well which like takes away from all of them but adds to all of them I think by the end of the year if Miami wins The Shield buset or Suarez will Elevate past this category If Messi plays as much as he plays like that's the hard part with Suarez he also hasn't been there a ton but like this team's rolling so you and like Suarez is the name and he is scoring goals and buset is the tone Setter and like everything runs through him and all those types of things so those guys are really really hard um but the other ones I liked in this Nag's a guy who's never been the best player on his team he's won a ton he's always crucial but we're probably dropping into the category of like guys that aren't the best players on their team all the time being in this especially having two Rapids guys on this level um but I thought haa Navaro is probably the best like MLS player right now in this conversation not just for his team but like overall with his performance interesting yeah I mean I'd probably lean with like Suarez or Rite but or orano when when he's kind of picking up the slack with ciny and some of those incredible goals that he's had uh another name I want to add to this to uh Christian Espinosa San Jose Earthquakes he's just been awesome for several years really consistent um he doesn't have the same Heights as maybe you know a Vander right or even fundo Torres but like he's just been so so so good for uh San Jose um despite them being the bottom team in the league right now uh but I think he deserves to be in this steer you mentioned berky we got a we have a comment in the chat saying Marcel hardle will be in this conversation in a year yeah I wouldn't be shocked if there was a St Louis player in here next year I don't even know that it's hardle it might be loen with like like all the pieces around him and what he does if CLA stays healthy with now the increased quality around him it could be him but like I wouldn't be shocked based off what we've seen in the short time if there is a St Louis player in this conversation going forward you mentioned Christian esosa he's one of those where it's like he doesn't Elevate he can't elevate a team by himself I think very few people could Elevate these San J teams his numbers individually are up there his consistency is up there as well I wouldn't be shocked if her not Lopez gets in this combo if this team can like flip around and become competitive because he is like for real fun to watch yeah I totally agree um and then like that's what like because I think the disc category feels a little stretch like again it'd be I'm I'm glad that we have the names we do but then it's like now we're getting closer to the pack of like what's a really good player versus what's a star tier and like you said like there are a bunch of other like loen yeah like all right like if you have nag in there like so maybe you know loen another kind of such midfielder and then you kind of go on down the list and like we don't have any center backs here because I think that it's been bit of a weak year for center backs but like two years ago Walker Zimmerman is definitely in one of these tiers right like um Aaron long pre-injury as well um and not to say that these These are bad players or anything anymore but like I just don't think that we have a dominant Center back right now in the league yeah and some center backs set the tone for the way their team plays I don't know that I feel that there's a team that's Elite in major league soccer right now who has one of those players MGA probably would have been in this convo last year as well with like he brought Cincinnati and the way they win he's not in that and we did the Defensive Player of the Year talk last show and sort of said it's kind of a thin one this year um hany MTAR we haven't mentioned yet as like an individual soccer player he's up there he's not right now like this is a it's been a year too like this isn't just I mean uh it's been since last League League's cup break last year yeah so September 5th 2024 he's not on this list uh things are tough in Nashville and it has been tough for him as well I think the big name you're leaving out that everyone wants to talk about right now is the the touch man himself pep be like the man who dominates the game like no one else in Major League Soccer Justice for pbl which goes to what I want to close us on I feel good about these tiers I feel good about this list I'm sure we missed one huge name that everyone's going to come screaming at us for but also I think it's going to change of course from who we have in major league soccer right now who do you think gets into this or who would you want to AKA who do you love watching and say if they can Elevate or be consistent or whatever they'll be a part of this combo yeah I mean I look at some of the new signings this summer like bukari and and Manan chuk like those are obvious just with the feed spade for those players Hern on Lopez you named him already um and then in terms of like young players like Diego Luna will he is there another lead to take now that Andre Gomez has gone and you know he's been really really good can he go from really really good to a star yeah I I like those names um pedar Musa I think oh my God yeah good yeah good shout he's been like he's been B the way yeah he's obviously a big man so you think of that but like the way he moves the way the game looks easy for him when he gets any half chances and he looks to have gotten up to speed um he feels like one yeah bukari is one I want to like when I watch him play it's like he pulls this stuff off enough that he's great this is going to be the most fun player to watch in this league so I want him to get there and he's one of those players that you want um Le ABA we've talked about gos theorum like favorite coming into next year he's one that I think we'll get there Ty bbo is probably close to like almost caranza conversation already with his bounce back in year two and the goals he's scoring the one I want more than any is Diego Luna yep and if he does what he did the first half of this year for the next year and a half like he he will be RSL will be that competitive he will be the second best player bide alongside or Chicho on that team he's got the potential to do it it would be awesome to have a young American player in that conversation it would be awesome to have a player like him uh and his personality and everything he brings in that as well so I think those are the names we're looking at right now to get in there going going forward um you never know what happens obviously open to a bunch of other signings coming up as well uh let's roll through here to some national team you feel good about your tiers you ready to get a bunch of weird name um suggestions that I'm going to enforce on us forward yeah absolutely that is the type of energy I love my Superstar tier a right there from Tom USA vers Canada coming up on Saturday in Kansas City and then the playing New Zealand and Canada going to play Mexico uh in the games after that one it will be Jesse Marsh's first game uh against his former job because he was an assistant coach for the US MNT and he has what two caps I think as a player as well so it's going to be a hard moment for him to lead the Canadian maple leafs out onto the field against the stars and stripes and the red white and blue in this one and it's a big game for both because you I talked about it on Tuesday you're not a lot of chances to have high intensity moments anymore because you don't have World Cup qualifying for these two countries and like I can guarantee Jesse's going to be riled up in the locker room I think these Canadian players are going to be riled up they think they're the kings of conaf they won World Cup qualifying they went the deepest at Copa America they think they deserve respect and they don't get it they get a chance to go out on the field in the US against the US that's an opportunity for them uh and this us team wants to bounce back from what happened at the Copa America Tom I've got lineups for these two teams that I want to see before we get there any big thoughts for you of what you're looking for what you want to see what what you hope to be talking about next Tuesday on the show um I just I can reiterate my disappointment that they couldn't get the putino deal over the line ahead of this window um just like you said there are going to be minimal games of consequence before the World Cup there are minimal Windows this is a finite runway for a new coach a new staff to evaluate players to to start to put in principles of game model and what they want to do this is a window that could have gone towards that foundation and starring against Canada I think it would have been a awesome test I think that would have been a great as you said the intensity is going to be there definitely on the Canadian side should be on the American side too because like w again W Pino won't be coaching the team like it is a transition era everybody should be feeling the you know a clean slate and if you were out of favor a little bit under bur halter then okay like this is my chance right but like um at the end of the day it's a friendly with an inter men once again and I've seen too many games too many Friendlies with an interim manager um for for my good for I don't know for several years here so um hopefully pontino is here for a long time and if he's not his successor is named pretty pretty quickly because I'm I'm done with you know what is this our third interim manager in the last 18 months like give me I just did a quick search to see what Dave sarkin was doing right now do you know what he's doing is he is he North Carolina where is he no it well Wikipedia says so take this for the grand Sal he is the assistant manager at maab Aviv oh my God yes I didn't even know this I didn't know this was part of his life cuz I thought he was the Puerto Rico coach still oh my God so I did not know that that was what he did USL we had Puerto Rico National we had a assistant in Israel what that's awesome that we there's so many different um options here he's living a life he's living the dream he's out there in the world he's he's doing the Bob Bradley light um lifestyle as he goes along um yep I like that you reiterated your disappointment that is like that's that is so key to to youro right there is like not only are you sad and disappointed you like to reinforce that feeling well I keep saying the same thing CU that's my only answer like I like I could come up with different stuff but like it's inconsequential compared to my how strong I feel about that 100% so let me give you what I would like to see from the lineups this is as I have said now 16 times this is like a big for this team yeah I won't I don't think you should fully waste the lineup on testing people but I want some of that in there because otherwise a friendly is a waste so I have like a mix of both for both these teams of guys that I think should be tested guys I think should be given opportunities as well as the best players on the field and and the best opportunities uh the first thing is gioa not a part of this group he has been sent back to Dortmund with an injury Kate cowl has been called up in his place that's heartbreaking it's heartbreaking for him and we are entering the like John O'Brien conversation of steuart Holden of like will this guy ever be healthy will he be healthy consistent enough to get minutes and like become the player we we know he's capable of because when he is healthy he has performed already it's not potential like it is realized um Quality on the field so that one that's already a player out of the starting lineup and I think heartbreaking for him and for a lot of fans uh going into this one I'm going to start at the back I got Matt Turner in goal I will go Joe scall at right back I am going Chris Richards and Mark McKenzie at Center back and I'm going Caleb Wy at left back so it is three starters at their spot serginho Des of course still injured and then two players where Caleb W's potential where you're testing him and Mark McKenzie is you talked about bur halter had guys and other guys now get a chance I think McKenzie's at the top of that list made the league un transfer for him played well in Belgium give him a chance to prove that he could be the guy in this convo because that spot hasn't been good enough yeah um I I think in in your backline here like back up but left back behind uh Jedi Robinson and Center back next to Chris Richards um between the names that have you know Mark McKenzie Tim ream Austin trusty and you know ree I think would would probably still be the best center back in in this team but like he's 36 and so we're constantly getting asked that question every single Camp of is he still got it is he still at this level is he still at this level so um yes Center back dep Shard is super fluid right now so to your point like I think it'd be good to to throw out Mark McKenzie in Midfield uh you obviously no Tyler Adams no Mark McKenzie now no giena in this group so I would go I think with Johnny with Unice Musa and with mik Tillman as my three assuming we're going to see the 433 like what Greg berhalter did the other big name would be aen Morris which I would like to see but if you play a 10 in this group then you're only playing two deeper midfielders to me Musa should always be on the field because he's great at soccer and you're basically between Johnny and Aiden Morris for that other spot yeah uh Aiden Morris has been so good for for burrow uh strength to strength coming from the Columbus Crew start the season be cool to see him rewarded with a star but to your point like I think the priority would be Johnny cardoso and Unis Musa and then like if you put in a like those three players like there is no real like you could try to have munis Musa do a job moving forward but that's not at his best and that's not a role that he'll play When the team's at full strength so I agree with you there um Malik Tilman that that's an interesting one um about like is he a 90-minute player like he's he's one of those guys that like what's his best position is it attacking Midfield is it kind of playing inverted like as a wide forward like is like it's almost as if he he'd be best in like a you know Redbull leig 4222 as like one of the attacking mids where it's like he's not quite a Winger not quite a 10 not quite a forward but just you know good at a lot of things um it's interesting here that like feels like lcaor just completely passed over like I I was doing this I'm writing a piece about the you know World Cup roster watch and I was like all right I had 10 locks for that team six more or less locks and then a lot of people on the bub like I lcor on the bubble because I was like I don't think that he's guaranteed a spot the World Cup right now like I that has more to do with um how strong that this Midfield group has gotten beyond the starters because it had been like oh Luca delor is like an overqualified backup rotation like with brenon Aron as well uh but now with Tanner tessman coming through aen Morris Johnny cardoso uh Malik tman all these guys like it's going to be really competitive to get on that russer and I think one of the issues for him so to be clear I don't know how this team's going to play I don't know how they're going to play going forward so like it might be a 442 which would make sense with the talent that's available he is not like a perfect fit yeah he is not like a perfect fit as a replacement for anyone no in this group because I do play the same way and so like he if a Coach is looking to change things and we're hoping it's boino and maybe that's how he gets his way into this group but like he for talent and resume deserves to be in it and yet you don't ever really know when he should be on the field and like oh oh if so and if Musa misses a game if Wes mckin misses a game you plug LCA delatori in well then you kind of have to change the way you play and like that's not something that national teams are always great at and so sometimes players get elevated over you who are better like for like changes or can do things like that um my front three if it is a front three with this group obviously no Timothy WEA um in this squad I want to see Ballo up top he finished out cul America the best he's played for the US pic's going to be on the field cuz psic always going to on the field and then that's where this gets tough because I think if gioa was in maybe tman plays out here I think Jos Sergeant deserves to be on the field but I wouldn't play him out wide right yeah um and so you get into a tough spot of like who's on the field who gets the opportunity that's where this might be Tillman um the other option would be sorry pulisic on the right and [ __ ] right on the left which I could see happen with this group as well uh and that's the one that I would like put down and say this is what I want to see SL expect to see yeah I agree and and it is tough for Josh Sergeant like again like I think that he would have gotten the first chance to start at co America if he was fit unfortunately he was still dealing with an injury so didn't and now like again he started off really really well with Norwich but Balan played well at the cop America and as you said I think that's the best form he's been in that that we've seen over the last year or so whatever right so I think that he should be rewarded with a start and like I think that Sergeant deserves to as well but I don't see a scenario we can play the both of them maybe Balan could play like on the left as like the like wide forward Ro um or like even more of a wide forward cuj wght does a lot of good Winger stuff as well um but like then like you might be getting too cute right and it's like all right is this is this a role that we're going to see him in in in the future of the national team probably not so kind of want some point um but yeah so it's just tough not uh not enough places for for all the guys deserving to start so that's our 11 for the US for Canada it's a little bit more straightforward because we've seen Jesse coach this team because of the success they had at Copa America Max crpo is a starting goal that seems pretty obvious recovered from headbutting Mason toy yeah did you love that or did you not like that I go back and forth I I I think it's a hilarious video um I think if I was Mason toy I would have immediately been like cursing like dude what is wrong with you but I respect it yeah just a lot of VI guys being dudes just headbutting each other and uh let's move on it's big it's big NFL energy for the opening of NFL season I wouldn't I wouldn't be shocked if Max has a few CFL dreams in his back pocket that he would wish he was a Montreal Alouette one day and uh was playing that out on the field if you haven't seen it Maxim KERO plays on Mason Toy's team their teammates and he headbutted Mason toy and celebration they weren't arguing no not at all it was all positive and Mason gives them a look after of like dude get out of my face never do that again Mason toy had to come off because he his nose is bleeding and the referee was like you need to go off the field now he's like no no it's fine it's my teammate I'm good it doesn't count nobody makes me bleed my own blood meell so um Nick Legend of course Ben Stiller so in goal we've got Maxim kpo the you've got the French Connection at Center back now Derek Cornelius who plays at Marseilles and moist bomito who plays at nice which is insane to say about this team like two league on players at Center back in their prime or entering their Prime for this Canadian national team I want to see Alonso Davies on the left I want him to be established as a left back on this team so that's where I want to see him start and Alistair Johnson I think is still the starter at right back for this team I don't think he lost that spot he is the model of consistency that's who he is um and his ability to rotate in if you can push Fonzi up I think is a big part of the future for this Canadian national team any big push back here yeah I mean again going back to reiterating things we've talked about we're in reruns but like my feeling is Alonso Davis should be playing for the F for this national team but um Jesse Marsh has felt differently mostly yeah and I know obviously you do so that's just that that's my piece there's just two guys from New Jersey disagreeing Jesse Marsh Princeton grad and uh Tom uh ke Kane University had a boy you got it right there you go I got the pronunciation right at the last second Midfield is the interesting part for Canada Steven hakio is obviously locked in in central Midfield um no s Piet in this camp we saw Jonathan Osorio get a ton of starts in Copa America which I was happy about out I thought he was the best performer there he is not a true Ball winner but he's Scrappy and he will do anything for the Canadian flag like he would lay down in front of a train so that's what I wanted in there in Copa America take a headbutt from Maximo every game he would probably he would probably be one that would do it himself he'd be like oh cool we're headbutting now I didn't realize we were talking Canada trailer park boys over there so he but I want to see tests in this so I think Ali ammen for me is locked in starter in central Midfield he brings something they need I want to see Nico seagar in here the Croatian Canadian young player 20 years old that was has decided on Canada and brought into this team if you get him in training and you decide he's not ready and you don't want to risk it then you go Matthew schier in this spot like he has just made the move to Europe he is part of your future you have to know I think over the next year if guys like this are depth pieces or they can really be starters for you and be difference makers so those are my three midfielders for this group uh and then you go to the front line you've got Jonathan David and Kyle Len who are always going to lock in starts for this team and Jacob schafberg deserves to keep a spot that he earned like he is it's not like he's 35 and won't be there at a World Cup I think there's a ceiling to how much he can affect a team and how good he can be but like he earned it at Copa America and that's part of a coaching staff is making sure players understand that like they've got a chance and if they play the right way and they do the right things that they can have a future in your program and I think it would be tough to take a spot away from shaffle brg yeah I think you're right and like his profile like again leam Miller like maybe but like like Schaffer BG's pace and ability to get vertical I think helps Jonathan David and Kyle Len at least in theory should give them more space so like I don't think that there's another profile quite like his because I don't think people match his Pace but like you said like there is a ceiling here so it there's drawbacks with everything in these section so like maybe you could get more from a different player but you're going to lose the pace and and kind of go on from there so I I but I agree with you I would start shbg particularly um if we assume that the United States are going to try to play with the ball um because I know Canada like playing in transition as well or like Jesse Mar style um then chaffle BG's Pace I think is even more important and I think it's you know playing in an MLs stadium in Kansas City like it'll be a comfortable experience for him Liam Miller just clubs he started well with Hull but he struggled at Copa America and I think he struggles in that whole setup of like against the ball constantly pressing not getting a lot of touches to get comfortable in a game where shaffle BG's like just ping one at me every once in a while and I'll light up and be ready to go you sent it 25 yards past me okay me yeah yeah yeah yeah no no no don't play me the ball play the ball to the other team and I'll chase after and we'll see what Happ let let me press somebody um all right that's all for us here we're looking forward to the game we'll have the recap obviously next Tuesday that will be going into that New Zealand game as well there are MLS games this weekend so we'll talk all about that I'll have my Monday recap show then we'll have our Tuesday show as well coming out of it I do want to throw in here Juan Garcia who's been on fire in the chat did throw a name in for elevating into the Superstar chat that we should have added juki loano he's already officially been signed the expectation will be that he will perform at that level whether he does so or not you never know but if he's got a manager Like Me Maybe you can draw it out of him maybe you can get a top tier performance like I get from Tom every single time thank you all for listening thank you for being here Tom thank you to everyone for watching live and we'll talk to you all again very very soon [Music]