USA Beats Australia + More from the World Cup/Sunset SC Ep.22

Speaker 1: Alright. Welcome everybody to another episode of the Sunset Soccer Club. I'm Tyler Kern along with Arman Kafai. We are here. It is the World Cup. On this episode, we're gonna talk about The USA, match, another win for the US men's national team. We're gonna talk to just other general World Cup vibes. Thank you for joining us. We are happy you were here. Arman, thanks for joining me. How are doing?

Speaker 2: I'm tired, man.

Speaker 1: Were all over the place. You were all I think for the the good of the listener and

Speaker 2: the listener,

Speaker 1: you need to recap you need to recap your travels from last week.

Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, this is part one of my World Cup adventure. I have a few more games to go. But I went to The US, Australia game in Seattle, so flew into Seattle. As soon as that game ended, spent the night, and Saturday went to LA to watch Belgium and Iran play at SoFi Stadium. Now I'm taking, like, a three day break. I can actually sleep for once because I was not able to well, my body clock was so confused the West Coast time. And, also, it doesn't get dark till, like, eleven. Like, 10:30, 11PM there. So you're like, oh, what time is it? Oh, it's 09:30. Like, oh, I'm tired. But, I mean, two phenomenal atmospheres for, you know, different, you know, reasons. And, yeah, I mean, it was super fun. I mean, I I will this weekend, was telling someone, TK, it was, a very soccer fulfilling moment for me. Yeah. As a whole. I think this World Cup in America is very soccer fulfilling for a lot of people because, again, you get an opportunity to go to a match that we've just been able see on TV in your backyard or in a different place and to see your maybe it's your national team. Maybe for me, it was my family's heritage and my national team. I guess my national teams. So it was a really fulfilling weekend for me with my dad and my brother. So, had a hell of a Father's Day watching Iran and Belgium play. So it's been fun, man. It's been a fun, and we took a nice little four day break before I go to Japan, Sweden, and then the other whatever games I have left.

Speaker 1: We'll figure it out from there. But, man, that's awesome. It sounds like a great town. Was the atmosphere in Seattle as good in the stadium as it looked on TV? Because it looked incredible from where we were sitting just watching on television. But was it that great, like, within the stadium as well?

Speaker 2: It brought a tear to my eye because it was just so rambunctious. It was so loud. I mean, Seattle's stadium is loud to begin with. Right? But it was brilliant. I mean, everyone was chanting USA. I mean, I'd probably say it like, an eighty twenty crowd. You saw a lot of Australians because they're really prominent or yellow.

Speaker 1: Yeah. And there were bunches, like, right behind one of the goals.

Speaker 2: Well, was the thing that confused me. They gave they gave the ECS section, the sounder supporters section to the Australians, and they put The US supporters up up up top, like, where I was in the three hundreds. So I was like, will it be as loud? But, yes, it was really loud. It was raucous. Everyone's rooting for The US. When that first goal went in, it was in a madhouse. Yeah. When they ended up Alex Freeman's goal counted, it also was a madhouse. It was just it was such a pro US. I think a lot of people are really starting to get behind this team with, you know, two good results against pretty tough opposition. And we've the greatest thing is, TK, we we talk about it quite a bit. Oh, you might not think Australia is good. Oh, you might not think Paraguay is good. Whatever. If we look at some of the results that we saw as we're recording on, Tuesday, it's not easy to win games. It is just not easy to win matches.

Speaker 1: Boy. Yeah. That's one of the first things I wanted to talk about is that, like, you can say what you want about Paraguay. You can say the same thing about Australia that they're not, like, absolute world beaters and that sort of thing. But, like, tell that to anybody that's played Cape Verde so far or, you know, like, and Ghana earlier today. Like, you

Speaker 2: know Croatia I mean, Croatia scraped by Panama. Like, that was not an easy game by any means.

Speaker 1: You still have to go out and win.

Speaker 2: Exactly. And the way that The US did it in these, you know, the, what, plus five goal differential in these two matches, I think it was actually really impressive once you look the tournament, you know, from I I mean, even look at what Mexico did against South Korea. It was not an impressive result at all. They still got the result, they kind of dragged it through. And you could say that that Mexico's oppositions were probably a little bit easier than what The US has to face so far. So overall, I mean, it's it's made for a really interesting, I think, World Cup to kind of evaluate The US as a whole and the work that Pochettino and team has done for this team.

Speaker 1: So by virtue of The US's two nothing win over Australia, it's the first time that The US has secured advancement from the group stage before their final group stage match since it moved to the the four team group stage kind of format. And then this is also the first time since 1930, which was the first World Cup ever. I don't even know if that really, like, even counts, but it's the first time that The US has won consecutive matches in a World Cup, and the first time since 2010 that The US has won its group. So all of those things packaged together were accomplished by virtue of that two nothing win against Australia. And, again, like Arman's saying, like, it's it's immensely impressive that The US was able to do that. And I think, like, we're seeing the challenge that teams are having, like, down these teams that are, like, bunkered in and and sat in, trying to, you know, counter you know, play on the counter, get a lot of guys behind the ball, and just kind of play really, really defensively. And it's been tough for teams to break break down opponents that are doing that, and that's exactly what Australia was looking to do in this match against the US. And I think it's a massive credit to the US that they were able to find a way to to score the goals that they did. And I've listened to a lot of other podcasts and heard other people talking about it, talking about how, like, it's not the prettiest win and they weren't generating a ton of chances or, like, breaking down that low block that Australia was playing in, but, man, they they freaking won the game. You know? And so, like, Spain couldn't do it, when they drew early on in this tournament, and, England couldn't do it against Ghana today. And so, again, I think it's just I I think you take the games how they come and you take the goals however you can get them in a tournament like this, and you don't have to apologize for it not looking particularly pretty.

Speaker 2: And one thing I thought I thought the first half was that, though. I thought the first half was the counter press, the the Balagan and Pepe running into the the the space created by the fullbacks pulling out the, the opposing, the running backs pulling out the fullbacks. I thought that first half was. I think the second half wasn't as pretty. But again, it's a pragmatic result. You wanna get the job done in in the World Cup. Doesn't matter how pretty or whatever a game is. You just wanna get the result. And now The US got the result, they're gonna reap the benefits. They're gonna be able to rotate players. They're gonna be able to be a little bit smarter in this third group stage game, give Pulisic maybe even more time to get ready instead of potentially rushing him back. And then, oh, yeah, you're also gonna play a third place team that could be Bosnia, could be, Qatar, it could be maybe Senegal or one of those other teams that, you know, haven't like, they've looked okay, but they're not like as a dominant team as we thought going into this tournament.

Speaker 1: So Exactly.

Speaker 2: I think you like, being pragmatic and getting the result, okay, it's not pretty, but also you don't wanna show all your cards too. Like, you're up two o. You don't need to show that you're doing this cool little thing and like, like, you want teams to believe, hey, you're up two o. We're gonna sit back and we're gonna bunker or something. And then you can pull out something completely different. So it's all a chess match. And I think the way that The US set up, thought was really good in the second half. Like, Australia didn't really create quality chances. They create some chances, but it wasn't quality. And there was some loose moments, but overall, it felt like a very comfortable win.

Speaker 1: Yeah. I'm with you. Like, so The US gets the gets an own goal from Australia in the eleventh minute off of Florian Balligan, getting into that that left sided channel, putting across into the box. I think if it's not put in by Cameron Burgess, the center back for Australia, I think Ricardo Pepe puts it in anyways. Yeah. And so own goals starting off the scoring again for the US. I just wanna go over the the roster real quick for the US in this match because it was a surprise to me. I thought I thought The US was just playing coy about Christian Pulisic's injury heading into this game and just not wanting to give too much away. I was actually really surprised that he didn't end up starting this match. I don't know how you felt kind of as we were approaching this match. I I definitely thought was gonna play. And so it was a big surprise to me when, like, an hour and a half before game time, it started coming out on social media like, oh, hey. He's out. Like, he's not he's not playing. He's not even dressing for this match.

Speaker 2: I wasn't surprised that he was out. I was surprised at who replaced him. That surprised me. I thought there'd be a like for like switch with way up potentially coming into that spot, but I'll let you do the honors. Seeing who replaced Christian Pulisic really threw me off because I was like, wait. That's a difference in system. We haven't really seen that from The US at all.

Speaker 1: Yeah. I really didn't think that after the success against Paraguay that The US would move away from that. So you're right. I thought that they would go with a like for like replacement. Just put Tim Huey out there or, you know, there there were a couple of other options. People were asking me if it would be Gio Reina. I didn't think it would be him. I thought maybe Tillman would go out wide and Burhalter would start, something like that. But The US did something different. Now the way it, like, looked in, like, in the game flow probably looked more like a four four two, but I'm gonna say it like a three five two. I'm gonna say that there were three center backs. It was Ream, Richards, and then Alex Freeman as the three center backs. And then Anthony Robinson out as the left wing back. So Junior Dest is the right wing back. Not really even a wing back. He's just a winger. And then in the middle, you had Tyler Adams as the holding midfielder. Ahead of him was Weston McKenney and Malik Tillman, with Riccardo Pepe starting alongside Valorian Balligan as the striker pairing, which is the big wrinkle that I don't think anybody saw coming. I think everybody thought that there would be a like for like replacement, like I said, for for Christian Pulisic, and then it would still be Balogun up top as the central striker. But instead, we went with two strikers, and I think that I think that it gave Australia maybe just like a wrinkle that they weren't expecting in this match. But I was I was really, really surprised it ended up being Riccardo Pepe.

Speaker 2: I was surprised too, but what it did is it allowed the two the two fours to occupy two of the center backs in the back five. So and then they were playing off of whoever and saying, okay. Hey. We're gonna run into these channels anyway because they're both really good off the ball. Yeah. Balogun and Pepe, they don't have to stay centrally. And you saw them just continuously run into those spaces. And Weston McKinney as well too had a huge, huge performance on the, I think, what, right hand side? Yeah. Being super isolated on that side, it's like, hey, we're gonna make runs off there, etcetera. So I think overall it was the wrinkle made sense. Once you saw it in action, it kind of made sense. Just because Pepe and Bali are just so good off the ball. They can kinda do whatever they want. They're not your traditional forward. Like, if you had a guy like Holland there, it wouldn't work. Right? Like, you need these two guys kind of off the ball and then other people running into those channels as well. So I it worked really well, TK, and it allowed them to counter press with two guys up top, which Australia couldn't break out of the counter press. The first half, Australia had had no idea what they were doing. Like, they were legitimately, in shambles, like, throughout the entire first half. Like, they could get the ball on their own end, etcetera. Obviously, that changed a little bit in the second half.

Speaker 1: But Mhmm.

Speaker 2: With the but, again, like, with what I did in the first half with Pepe and Balogun, thought they were both just I don't have words for it. Those are actually a fantastic performance. Like, there's no way to describe it.

Speaker 1: What I saw was was Pepe and Balogun pressing, and then oftentimes, like, Weston McKenney would join them. So there is, like, one for one, like, one US player for every center back. And then from there, like, the rest of the team just pressed up high enough and, like, kept Australia really bottled in in that first half. I mean, there was, like, one or two, like, kinda half chances at different points in the first half, but for the most part, The US really kept Australia bottled in, and they couldn't they just really couldn't hang with it. And then Australia made some strange roster, you know, lineup decisions. Like, Irin Kunda Irin Kunda not starting after he scored the previous match against Turkey. It felt overthought and, like, like, the Australian manager was

Speaker 2: were to prove a point or something.

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. Metcalf and Irin both Metcalf and Irin Kunda both scored for Australia against Turkey, then neither one of them start in this match, which eliminated, like, the primary thing I was worried about.

Speaker 2: Just facing behind. Yeah. And if you isolate against Tim Reem. Yeah. Exactly.

Speaker 1: That was the thing that you and I were talking about last week when we were out at Clyde Warren Park. Like, okay. Like, you you do have to worry about those guys and like, you do worry if if Tim Reem ends up, like, stuck in space against Aaron Kunda, like, is he gonna get absolutely smoked and then do you give up a goal on the counter? And their coach kind of did us a favor by removing that from anybody's, concern in the first half, which then just gave them no outlet to play through whatsoever. And so The US just basically kept them pinned in, and then in the eleventh minute, Balogun makes this great run-in the left channel. He's able to get behind the defense, puts in a cross. It gets put into the into the Australian net by Cameron Burgess. Again, I think that that Ricardo Pepe probably scores it anyways even if it's not a known goal by by Australia. And then in the forty third minute, boy, it it's also worth talking about, like, the play that led to the free kick that The US got because, like, Weston McKinnie was just such a boss on that right hand side with Sergino Dest. Like, they're such a fun combo because Weston can, like, athletically body anybody and then, like, is a very good player for Juventus in a tough league. And so he can play really nice passes. Like, he's just a physical dude out there that can go, like, one v one against anybody in the world, I think, and I like his chances. And then you put a guy with so much sauce and, like, flare over on that side with him, and they just make such a fun combo on that right side for The US.

Speaker 2: If you look at his actions, almost he was exclusively almost on that right hand side. It's pretty wild when you look at it. And I think he was just absolutely excellent. Like, I mean, there's no I I have no complaints about anyone on the team, to be honest with you. Again, another performance where I'm like, like, second half, yeah, we did see a drop off and we did see a bit of a conservative approach. But, like, when it comes to, like, the first half and the starting 11, I think they absolutely were brilliant in a game where I think everyone was worried that they wouldn't generate any chances with Pulisic out.

Speaker 1: Yeah. I was I was concerned about that. And then I

Speaker 2: mean, how could you not be? We saw the second half against Paraguay, and we were like, oh, no. This is not they're not producing anything.

Speaker 1: Yeah. No. I I I think that's I think that's a great point. And I think, like, you score two scrappy goals because that's how Australia's gonna make you play. They're gonna try to drag you into the mud and play physically.

Speaker 2: And Wish they did. They were extremely physical, which, you know, we we we kinda warned everyone this is exactly how they would play. It was very obvious how they would play. And, I mean, they they played exactly how the scouting report would tell the tell us it would be like.

Speaker 1: Yeah. And The US, like, stayed above it enough, like, to not get, like, dragged into, like, scrums into doing stupid things, but had to be, like, had to get in the mud enough to, like, score those two goals right. And then in the second half, you were kinda able to pull out of it. I think so that the second goal happens. The US has a free kick over on the right side just outside the box near the end line, and they play a driven pass to the top of the box to I think it's

Speaker 2: It was Dest.

Speaker 1: Dest, who takes the shot that gets deflected really high up in the air. The goalkeeper has has already made a dive to his right, so he's gotta try to get up. The ball, like, spins 20 feet up in the air, and it's gonna be a race between Alex Freeman trying to head this floated ball in that's looks like it's going goal bound, and the goalkeeper who is now trying to scramble the opposite direction to to catch this ball. Freeman wins the race to it. It's initially called outside. VAR makes it pretty clear, pretty much immediately on the television broadcast, like, he was not off. And

Speaker 2: the only question was if Balaguen was interfering with the play. Yeah. And his Balaguen was off, which I I didn't see I didn't see it in the replay that he was interfering at all with the play. So, I mean, it was a pretty obvious goal, and it was so loud when he scored. I mean, when it when they said, hey. Goal. It was like, I've never heard a stadium go so quiet and then erupt in a roar like it did. So, I mean, Alex Freeman, we've talked about a lot on this show. I guess I'm I guess I'm his, like, number one fan on this show or something like that. I think he's absolutely phenomenal player, and I think and I said this on another podcast that I think Orlando City actually sold him on the cheap because he kind of controlled it on his own destiny. Mhmm. But his rapid rise is insane. He's still a young, super young player, and what his MLS debut is 2025. And if you look across all, like, metrics, he was one of the best fullbacks in, like, MLS history when it comes down to, like, goals added from American soccer analysis and other metrics as such. Then And he goes he goes to Villarreal for, like, $56,000,000 because his contract expires at end of this year. I mean, Villarreal could probably sell him for almost double that right now. Like, no question. And it's, like, he's just as a right center back, he's just so he's just so comfortable in position. That's not even his natural position. He's naturally not a right center back. He is a right wing back. Or sorry, a right back.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: And he's just comfortable as a right center back in making the right plays, passing, being soft, like even having a little bit of sauce in moments, like, the story of Alex Freeman, man. It is his rise is absolutely just remarkable.

Speaker 1: Well, like, I think that it's one of the things that makes this team, like, really great to follow and to watch is that, like, you have the Alex Freeman story. So you have that where, like, he wasn't starting in Major League Soccer until 2025, and then this meteoric rise and going to Villarreal and, you know, get some minutes at at Villarreal towards the end of the season and looks really good, and then makes this roster and has, like, this niche role kinda carved out for him. And the way he's playing it as a youngster, not perfectly, but really freaking well, and then scoring a goal on Juneteenth and all of the significance that that brings is incredible. But then you look elsewhere on this roster, and I think it's what's really good to see, like, with this team. The thing that I I guess, like, makes me feel like, okay. We've we've kind of made it even if even if, like, the job's not done, and we don't know how far this team is gonna go, and, like, there's all this hype and hope that they make it all the way to the semis and all of that sort of stuff. I think, like, the thing that that I enjoy the most about this team is, like, the diverse backgrounds of, like, so many of these players. You've got guys like Alex Freeman that, like, came up and, you know, thrived for a year in MLS and now is in Europe. And then you have other guys that are from, you know, like if you go up and down the roster like, know, Pulisic who goes to Dortmund at 16 and Flo Baligan who, you know, was born here out of very strange circumstances, and Ricardo Pepe who plays in the FC Dallas Academy and comes up through North Texas SC and, you know, goes to Europe and has trials and tribulations there, but it's found like a great home at PSV. All of these different stories and all these different ways that team, like, kinda comes together.

Speaker 2: I like Dundeejas, which is another example starting at Dundeejas Academy, went to Chivas at a young age, flamed out at Chivas, went to, like, random places, and then ended up with, being Club America. So it's, like, what, like, you need, like you have all these, like, or or, like, even another example, Serginio Dest, right, who was the son of a serviceman, who, yeah, went to the IACS Academy and chose The US and says he feels more American and he's super proud of it than, you know, than a lot of things. And then it goes down to, I'm trying to think of one more name that's interesting. A guy like Matt Turner. Right? Who was undrafted. Right? Undrafted, went to the revs, showed out the revs, had that freaking sports center not top 10 moment, then goes to Europe, doesn't really do good in Europe, then comes back to, the revs and is doing much better again. I mean, you have all these great stories, and it's not like and it's like, you have some guys that are that have, you know, been does for a young age, like, What's the guys like Alex Freeman who, again, was maybe an MLS next pro two years ago and now is starting World Cup matches?

Speaker 1: It's crazy. I I think I think the thing that, like, that this drives home for me, I guess, like, the point I I'm trying to make is that, like, the most uniquely American thing that, like for for a long time, we've wondered, like, okay. What makes, like, the US men's national team, like, American? Like, is it their style of play or whatever? And I think to me, it's it's, like, the unique nature by which, like, you assemble a team. Like, it's not like this is a team full of just, like it's all dudes from Barcelona, you know, like Spain's team has looked from time to time. It is, like, this weird conglomeration of all these guys that come from all over the place, from a million different backgrounds that kind of make up this team that, like, right now just freaking works. The balance of it works. The talent that's on it works. And across the field, you're seeing, like, this team match up with the team across the field from them, whether it's Paraguay, whether it's Australia, and I think they're probably gonna do the same thing against Turkey, and just be able to boss that team because they're just better soccer players now. And it's the first time that I can imagine or, like, remember or think of this being the case for the US men's national team where, like, they're gonna have to play a really damn good team for me to feel like the team lining up on the other side of the field is, like, better in terms of the soccer players they're putting on the field. And that's that's a wild feeling.

Speaker 2: And I don't even feel like I'm worried about it here at Team TK. Like, okay. Bring on Ecuador if it's in the first round. Bring on Senegal if it's in around 32. Bring them all on. Like, okay, it's gonna be a little bit tougher, but, like, bring them on. Like, I think we've like, I think The US has shown quite a bit that they can handle this competition and that they can do these things. And they can also, like you said, play their style and impose their game on other teams. It feels like the they've they've been kinda restricted for a while. Right?

Speaker 1: Like, I

Speaker 2: think under, Greg Burhalter, his style was, hey, we're gonna play a little bit more conservative, but we're gonna get the results. If you think Pushcino says, hey, I believe in all you guys who play this kind of tactically nuanced style play where we're counter pressing, we're running into channels, we're we're building in different ways, we're so fluid. He's like and that's really refreshing because I know on this podcast, I think we've mentioned, hey, like, we'd want like maybe a more American manager next time or something that a player that may understands the American player. But it seems like Pochettino has done something that I think is very interesting, and that he's put belief in the American player. And saying, no. You guys can play like these other guys, and we're gonna play like these other guys. I don't recall a coach ever doing that.

Speaker 1: You you know, I

Speaker 2: think Maybe Jurgen Klinsman? Maybe? But, like, he like, the way that they he like like, the belief he's instilled in Gio Reina, the belief he's instilled in all of these guys, to be honest with you, to do their roles. Yeah. And to play our game. We're not gonna sit back and let, you know, whatever team dominate us. We're gonna go take the game to them. And, like, I think that kind of belief is gonna compound where I don't think I think if you replay that Belgium game today, I think you have a you're talking about a completely different situation. Just because now that, hey. There's a belief in the system and the style of play that wasn't really there in March.

Speaker 1: I think that's I think that's right. Like, think Burhhalter was, like, the right coach for 2022 when we were the youngest team at the World Cup, and, like, you just needed, like, control. But now this team is, like it's in its prime with the stars that it has. Right? Like, all of its best players are in their mid twenties. Like, now is the time to take advantage of the fact that these guys have been playing at the highest level in Europe for a long time now. They have a World Cup under their belts, and you just let them go, like, express that. And I think that's what the system is allowing them is, like, this freedom of expression of, like, yeah. Sure. Like, Sergey Nodes, make an underlapping run when, you know, Weston McKinney flares out wide on the right. You know? Christian Pulisic, you and and Jedi Robinson, like, interchange on the left and

Speaker 2: And take on defenders. Don't be scared.

Speaker 1: Exactly. Exactly. Like, there's so much confidence in that. I don't know that it ever would have come across from Greg Burhalter or I don't know that there's an American manager who can tell you, like, hey. You are good enough to go and do this that would have resonated the same way as a coach like Pochettino. You know what I mean?

Speaker 2: Across MLS because, like, look at the American managers in MLS as a whole. Right? Like, a lot of them have really structured systems and

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: Are are a lot more structured in their in their builds. But you may have an old head like Bruce Bruce Arena who's who's awesome, who is a hey. We're gonna we're we're gonna play a style that we, you know, that that's little bit more fun. But the coach that really was, I would say, the one that brought out the fun in watching teams, etcetera, was Wilfred Nuncie. Mhmm. And and Wilfred Nuncie is a is a is a Frenchman who comes in, says, hey, I believe in all you guys. We're gonna play this way. We're gonna do it. Like and I believe that you guys are gonna do those. Maybe sometimes, like, you need someone else to say, hey, believe in you and we're gonna play soccer the way that we wanna play.

Speaker 1: Like, most of these guys probably grew up on some level, like, watching those top 10 teams, you know, or was aware that, like, Pochettino's coached in a Champions League final and that sort of thing. Like, there's something about like having those skins on the wall that probably also matters when it comes to like the coach telling you

Speaker 2: Credibility. Yeah. Just credibility on the whole.

Speaker 1: That credibility matters, I think. And it's different than when Klinsman came in and said, like, you all just need to be playing in Europe. You all just need to Right. Yeah. Like, I never felt like he truly believed in the American players or the American system. He just wanted to come in and tell everybody why what, like, what wasn't working and

Speaker 2: Yeah. What was broken. Yeah.

Speaker 1: Yeah. And what we weren't getting right and that kind of thing. And I think I I like that Pochettino, like, this is not, like, his forever career job. Like, he's probably gonna take another one after this tournament and leave, and that's that's great because I think it's just given him the freedom to come in and say, like, I'm just gonna coach this team how I wanna coach them, and I'm gonna call in the players that I wanna call in, and we're just gonna do this thing my way. Yeah. I don't I don't give a shit other than just winning games.

Speaker 2: And It feels like a love story though, you know? Like at first, everyone hated Poch and all this stuff, and I was like, what's going on with this, etcetera. Now it's like, oh, he's like embraced American culture, talks about a guy emotional during the Seattle game because it was, just such an amazing atmosphere, leading USA chants. He does stay. I mean, probably not, but, like, it's really interesting how this has kinda devolved from where it was almost three months ago.

Speaker 1: I mean, you and I, like, thought he just, like, flat out didn't get it during those friendlies.

Speaker 2: Well, he didn't get it in the in the in the in the March friendlies.

Speaker 1: The March the March window. I mean, it was rough, man. Like, there's no doubt about

Speaker 2: tenure leading up to this wasn't like roses and rainbows. It was, like, rough. There was really rough moments. The big loss against Switzerland, which now in hindsight was because half her player pool wasn't even in there in the in the in the starting lineup. But that loss, the loss against Belgium, which looked really bad. The loss against, Portugal. Portugal. Which is really rough. And now when I look back on it, it's like maybe you're watching kind of an evil genius at work and he's like, I'm just experimenting. I'm just experimenting. I'm just experimenting. And now we're gonna show what really works. So I it's just it's so interesting to me because, again, like, I didn't I had never anticipated a US play like this. I thought No. They would struggle in these two games a little bit more. And then now they're gonna play an eliminated Turkey with a chance to rest their players in yellow card accumulation, playing really fun, brilliant football. My friend is a Korean fan. He messaged me and he goes, man, you guys are way more fun to watch than us. We're terrible. And it's like, you know, how a lot of people are texting me saying, wow. You never told me The US to play like this. And, well, first off, it was like I mean, we saw glimpses in the in the in the last two games, the last two warm up games in Senegal and Germany. But b is also like I mean, they try to play this kind of way, and I feel like they've also got the American public behind their back as well too now.

Speaker 1: Yeah. I think that's huge. I think I think it's massive. I think people actually, like, believe in this team. And, yeah, I think I think I think there's the potential for a really great draw, and it doesn't matter who they play in that round of 32 match. Like, I'm gonna bet on The US. Like

Speaker 2: I'm not worried about anything until I would probably say the quarter final.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: I think that's the one where it's gonna be a really tough matchup, and we'll see. That's maybe some famous last words, but Belgium didn't look good, and that like, I don't know if Belgium tops the group anymore. Will it be Egypt? Will it be someone else? Will it be Iran? Will it be you know, there's a lot more at stake than what we what we saw.

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. I'm with you. So Thursday, the game against Turkey. Turkey is eliminated already. They've lost both of their games despite getting, like, a million shots, all from outside the box pretty much. And if you remember our conversation from the last show Arman talking about just, like, x g per shot and boy.

Speaker 2: Their x g per shot was terrible They're just they're not a good team, man. I'm sorry. Like, they like, how do you you have sixty sixty shots, like, probably the bulk of them from outside the box. You're not creating quality chances overall. Various point in Turkey's performance. I mean, you you're gonna have to that that I had them winning the group for, like, a couple weeks. That was brutal.

Speaker 1: They And

Speaker 2: they were up against 10 men?

Speaker 1: I know. I know. It just unbelievably brutal to watch for Turkey. So they made a semifinal in o two, and then I think, like, every World Cup that they've made since then, people have labeled them as, like, dark horses. They're dark horses and that sort of thing, and they've just never done it again. And until further notice

Speaker 2: They're acting sexy little pick. You know?

Speaker 1: They always are. And, like, you know, like, it it is always tempting because, like, Articular is a a fun and good player, you know, and he they're just not they don't have the collective. Yep. They're just kind of a bunch of individuals. And until a coach kinda comes in and and changes that, I don't don't see much from Turkey. But is Cody gonna be part of the podcast?

Speaker 2: No. No. Sorry. I gonna my charger because my laptop up with a low energy. Was like, how'd that happen? You're a 100% when I started this.

Speaker 1: So for Thursday night, USA Turkey, this game is gonna be at 09:00 central. I'm gonna be at Petacolis for that one. We'll do, like, a little watch party kind of situation. So if you're around, come out to Petacolis. It's gonna be great.

Speaker 2: I'll try and make it, ZK. I gotta I have a little bit of a hike from Arlington. So

Speaker 1: Sheesh. Arlington to Petacolis. Yeah. But if you can, come out to Petacolis at 09:00. It's gonna be fun. The yellow card situation, they if you pick up a second yellow card in this third and final group stage match, you do have to serve the suspension in the round of 32. I don't remember if we talked about that on the show last time or not, but I think that's an important clarification that if you only have one card at the end of the group stage, they reset starting in the round of 32 and then they reset again at the quarter finals. But if you pick up a second yellow card in this third and final group stage match, then you do have to serve a suspension in the round of 32 match. And so important players that you have on yellow cards, if you're the US Jedi, you have Tyler Adams, Chris Richards, and Balagan, all on yellow cards. I don't think I start a single one of those guys.

Speaker 2: They don't touch the field unless it's an emergency.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: They don't touch the field. Hell, don't even put them in the in the jersey.

Speaker 1: And I don't think I don't think Pulisic should see the field either. I I know some people would say ten

Speaker 2: minute cameo at the end like, at, like, the second half just to get his feet but I'm also with you. I wouldn't risk it either.

Speaker 1: I don't I don't know that I don't know that I risk it. Like, people are saying like rust and all of those sorts of things. Like, I I I get it, but boy, would rather have like a thousand percent healthy Christian Pulisic heading into the knockout rounds then I would like take the chance that a frustrated player from Turkey kicks him in the leg at the end of the match. Yeah. I don't know. To me it's just not worth the risk and so personally, I expect a pretty heavily rotated squad. Looks like Christian Roldan hasn't been training all that much. And so, like, there is a critic a criticism of Pochettino in this whole process. It is, like, diary and

Speaker 2: Eric Husband, please.

Speaker 1: Yeah. Just just one. Just one of those guys that could have served as a as another kind of backup line of defense. And so Roldan has had a little bit of a knock. We'll see if he's able to to go on Thursday, but it would extremely detrimental if Tyler Adams has to play against Turkey because there's not a suitable backup for him.

Speaker 2: I wouldn't play him. I don't care. Figure out a way to put someone else in there. I don't care. Do not put Tyler Adams in that game. Yeah. I mean, if if you have to go like he said in a well, before a tournament, put Gio Reina as a center offensive mid. I don't care. Do not let Tyler Adams touch the freaking field, man. Please. The US cannot afford losing any of these guys due to yellow card accumulation. That would be the dumbest thing in a game that doesn't mean anything.

Speaker 1: None of those four guys that are on yellow cards are really replaceable. Of of them, I think Balagan is the most replace replaceable because I think Pepe is a good striker.

Speaker 2: Literally, in the warm ups and say, hey. You're not coming up. You're not coming off the bench. Yeah. Put on put on some jeans.

Speaker 1: Yeah. But, like, you cannot lose Chris Richards for a knockout round game. You cannot lose Tyler Adams for a knockout round game. And, like, yeah, you really can't afford to lose Anthony Robinson either. Like, I know I I talked about the depth of this squad in the past, and, like, I mean that in some spots, but, like, those three guys are all, like, so far and away better than the person that would come in and replace them that, like, that's just the reality of the international game. You can't just conjure, like, you know, Premier League starting number sixes Yeah. And and grow them on trees. And so, like, you absolutely have to have Tyler Adams for the round of 32 match.

Speaker 2: I mean, if it was me just bringing four or five guys, like, bringing the four guys for those four guys that we mentioned. You have you have maybe some of the other starters starting and then just take them out at 45. Or you start a completely rotated lineup. Maybe you try a different look just to put teams on edge a little bit. Like, oh, are they could they try this? You I feel I'm feeling Gio Reyna and Tim Hoyell will start. They kinda posted hints that they might start. Yeah. So think you might see those two get, get some burn, which I think would just make sense. But overall, I mean, this is one where I'm gonna say watch for styles and watch for results. Yeah. Watch for patterns of play. The results are already at hand. We already clinched the group. Don't worry about any don't worry. Again, if it was five o, okay, but, like, it doesn't matter. You're probably resting half a team anyways. It's it's so important for The US to get to this point.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: And with a head to head tiebreaker, I think it was massive that they got to this. And I think wow. It makes makes for a lot more comfortable viewing in the last match day.

Speaker 1: It has never happened for The US before where we've gone into a match day and not had to worry about it whatsoever in terms of, like, what the result's gonna be because The US has already won the group. Turkey's already finishing in last place. It's just it's just gravy. Elsewhere in the World Cup, yesterday, we had just a ridiculous day. Like, we've gotten two days in the World Cup, Arman, where we've gotten to see Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, and Kylian Mbappe all play on the same day. And yesterday, they all scored braces on the same day. Again, it was absolutely outrageous getting a chance to watch those guys. I don't know kind of what you've been able to watch and consume and that sort of thing, but what's been standing out to you as you've watched the World Cup?

Speaker 2: The the way that teams sit that just some of these teams cannot break down low blocks. And I'm not talking about low blocks. I don't have an outlet. But I I come to my I I come to think of the Ghana, England game that we saw that's as we're recording that with today, the Iran Belgium game as well, where these teams are just really these big teams really struggle to break down these other teams when they're in organized, concise blocks. And what did I say about Iran? They're better as a unit when they are organizing together. When organizing they're together, they I mean, they were upper man. They looked worse. I don't know how that's possible. They were upper man and looked completely worse. Like, these organized teams are just causing these teams absolute hell. And it's not the expanded World Cup doesn't mean there's minnows. Like, okay, there is a couple minnows. I mean but even Curacao Curacao drew Ecuador who I thought had dark has a dark horse. Yeah. I know Uzbekistan got got destroyed in their game today with, Ronaldo Brace, but they also looked okay against, Colombia. I mean, the the expanded field, I guess, I'm trying to say, hasn't really diluted the games as much as I thought it would be. I thought we'd see a lot more seven ones and a five and five zeros. Like, okay, Iraq lost four one to Norway, but it didn't feel like four one until really, really late on when they lost control of the match. Yeah. There hasn't been a game where there's only been a few games where I'm like, okay, this is over, like, early. The Germany one was won, and I think the England or England, excuse me, Uzbekistan and Portugal game was the other one where it was Yeah. Oh. This game is over, like, very early, very comfortably. But I've just been surprised because I I didn't have, Cabo Verde tying, Spain and Uruguay. I didn't have Iran tying Belgium. I didn't have Ghana tying, England. I I didn't have Curacao tying Ecuador. I mean, teams are not making it easy for these bigger teams to win. And we're seeing a lot more of those stylistic matches because against expanders, there's gonna be a lot more lesser teams and upper teams, whatever. But those, like, smaller teams, quote unquote, are hanging on.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: That's what caught me off guard, TK. I I thought we'd see teams blow be blown out a lot more, and we're not seeing it.

Speaker 1: I'm I'm with you. Like, some of the blowouts that have occurred have been, like, The Netherlands blowing out Sweden five one. Exactly. Sweden qualified through UEFA. So or not yeah. So, I mean, the

Speaker 2: Like, are like, they're not really that bad or anything. Or, like, like, I guess, they're below as Japan, Tunisia. I guess Tunisia has been the worst team of the tournament. And I think that maybe is mean, again, how much can one coach a coach change in freaking, like, two days of being a coach? But, like, again, we've seen a lot more competent performances, which is really, I guess, been very encouraging because I thought, again, this would be a World Cup of, hey, it's expanded. The first year, you're gonna see a lot of blowouts, but these teams will get an investment. They'll get the money, and they'll be able to put it back into the, country, into the federation, and then it we'll see them a lot more stronger in later years. We're seeing that now. We're seeing that now. We're actually putting on very respectable and strong performances. I think the other thing is no game is like has like, there's been no dud of a game when it comes to stadium atmosphere. Mhmm. It's all been full. I mean, even Jordan, Algeria last night, 8PM local kickoff, 10PM central. I mean, full. Completely full. And that's, I think, a testament testament to the Diasporas over there and what, and how much they wanna see their team. I guess the final thing that's kinda stood out to me as I'm kinda rambling through is the fact that the head to heads actually cause a lot of games to be meaning less. I like the head to head tiebreaker, but it's caused a lot it's it's allowed The US to be in this position. Right?

Speaker 1: Mhmm.

Speaker 2: Because okay. Australia puts a couple goals. Now, like you know what I mean? Like, Australia puts a couple goals. It could be the goal goal difference contention, whatever. But now it's, like or whatever whatever team you want if they're on there. But now it's, oh, doesn't really matter.

Speaker 1: Yep. That that has made for, like, an interesting group stage, like, atmosphere, I guess. Like, yeah, so much of it, like, gets decided so early because of those, like, head to head the head to head matchup being that that first tiebreaker. Surprising to me what a big difference that that has made, but

Speaker 2: Right.

Speaker 1: You're absolutely right. Like, as we were doing our our previews and kind of looking at each group, it was like, alright. That's a minnow that's just gonna get waxed by everybody. That's a minnow that's just gonna get waxed by everyone. And that just has not been the case. It was hard to imagine Curacao getting any sort of result. So for them to do that is impressive. Right? Same with Cape Verde. Yeah. It's that has been extremely surprising to me, and I'm really, really happy and pleasantly surprised that that's how it's worked out. Do you feel like from just, like, a number of games standpoint that 48 teams feels like too many?

Speaker 2: No. I actually don't. I actually think they could expand at 64 at this point, and we'd be fine.

Speaker 1: It's feeling like a lot of soccer games to me.

Speaker 2: I mean, a lot of games. Don't tell me wrong. I'm a sicko, and I'm freaking beat up after watching half the, like, this first start. But I think, overall, it's like, yeah, I think you can make it 64, and, like, the difference is marginal. I think it's very marginal difference. And I think the 48, I think, what is it a success? It seems like Infantino has a little bit of resistance to 64, which I think is interesting. But I guess, TK, like, I don't think it's I guess I'm a sicko. I like all these games. But, like, I will say the one thing that I I kinda wanna touch upon, I wanna hear your opinion on this.

Speaker 1: Yes.

Speaker 2: We are in an era right now where we have watched and I don't know if you feel this way. We're watching our game change completely with the hydration breaks. The game has changed completely. Yeah. Because now, I again, I used to work in soccer. Used to work closely with video analyst. When you're a video analyst, you're clipping all these things, doing all these things, etcetera, to get down to the coach. The coach cannot relay these things clearly and obviously until halftime. You have it two minutes and thirty seconds to boom, boom, boom, explain this, really show clips, etcetera. The game flips. And now we're not and, like, I used to I hate it when people are like, this is four quarters. It is four quarters. It is. The game has flipped to four quarters. It is not two halves anymore.

Speaker 1: Do you think that this is just a temporary thing for the World Cup? Or, like, we kinda saw five subs come in as a result of of COVID. I would

Speaker 2: hope it's a temporary thing. I hope it's not like a thing that bleeds I hope if it is a full time thing, it only is in for summer tournaments. If that's the if that's the trade off we're gonna do, make it be for only summer tournaments, national team tournaments, whatever. But, like, I the the thought process makes a lot of sense from what Infantino said. He said, yo. We don't get any of these commercial things. We don't get any of this stuff. Whatever. It's just unfair that some teams will get water break and some teams don't, and they can ruin that. So we're gonna make it level for everybody. I get that part. Whatever.

Speaker 1: That makes sense.

Speaker 2: But I would not wanna see it in the game where it's, like, 10 degrees outside. Like, a hot chocolate break? Like, what would we do in that situation? Like but I think and I I really wanna talk to us further, like like, across a lot of things. I think we're underrating how much Infantino has changed the game with soccer.

Speaker 1: This is legitimately with the hydration breaks.

Speaker 2: Just the you made it to a four quarter sport now where a coach we're we've seen games, and I when you see it in the Croatia England game, think it's a good example, Croatia flipped the game after and withstood the England pressure for a bit and they allowed a couple of goals, whatever. They flipped the game on the hydration break because they're able to analyze, hey, we're doing this wrong or this wrong. We can really we can reassemble our team, etcetera. Coaches like the hydration break because they can set up their teams in certain ways, but it's completely flipped the game, TK. I I you can't you have to you have to analyze the game in four period chunks now. You can't like, was the XG from zero to 25, 26 to 45 or whatever? You cannot analyze it from this to this because if there's like, you have a change. You're making changes with these hydration breaks.

Speaker 1: It's a good point. It's a it's a great point. And, like, did did we did we know coming into this tournament that they were gonna do this?

Speaker 2: We knew that they gonna do hydration breaks, but I didn't know that it was gonna be this much of a momentum changer. Yeah. I had no idea that because coaches are smart. Right? Like, again, we still work in soccer, whatever, but, like, you have fifteen minutes and a halftime talk. They're explaining shitloads of information within those fifteen minutes.

Speaker 1: Right.

Speaker 2: They're optimized for that stuff. Now they're I'm pretty sure these guys are optimized. They had the friendlies, whatever in the water breaks. Two minute thirty seconds. Okay. Is it free time out? The game has changed.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: I mean Yeah. Teams can change their shape. They can change their passing patterns. I I feel like we're fundamentally I some guy tweeted this and I think it was John Mueller. He was, like, we are really underrating the fact that how much that Infantino has changed the game of soccer. He's permanently changed the game if it sticks. Sheesh. It's a good point. Like, how much sorry. My my lamp went away. But how much Things can change so quickly with these water breaks now.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: Now you hear, oh, they need like, in my head, I was thinking, oh, man. For example, Iran was up. Man, they had that red card against Belgium. In my head actually, not in my head. I looked at my dad and I said, man, they really need this hydration break. They need to reassemble the team in some capacity and get their and get their things back. They didn't do it. They did a bad job of it. But, like, that's a I'm thinking that and saying it out loud. Competitors are all think, man, they're looking forward to hydration break so you can kinda reassemble their team. That's that's pretty game changing, man.

Speaker 1: It is and it it it is something that as I've explained like soccer to people, the fact that like the game doesn't stop and so there aren't time for those adjustments is frequently a thing I point out that, like, if you need to if momentum's not going your way in a basketball game, like, you call a time out. Right? Or you like, you're just living for that, like, under under eight time out or, you know, like, you know when the media time outs are and that sort of thing. So you know you're gonna be able to, like, regroup, like, let's you know, we're gonna make some subs and, you know, do all of those sorts of things. And, like, I've always pointed out that one of the things about soccer is that, like, that doesn't take place. And so, like, you get to see, like, the the push and pull of tactical styles, like, get inflicted upon one another and, like, see how see that battle, like, kind of take place in real time without a ton of coaches' input. And, like, one of the major things that makes soccer different than, like, a football or basketball, whatever, is, like, the the completely stop and now, like, restart again. And, like Yep. You get to see, like, the shape get reformatted and, like, all of those different things. And so that has always been, like, an outlier of soccer to me is that I love watching, like, the long form tactical battle of a soccer match of, like, a left wing back pushing up high, which is forcing a winger who's typically dangerous in the attack to have to, like, be more defensive minded and, like, what that does to a team when, like, you don't get the opportunity to just, like, stop and regroup except for at halftime. So I think you're right. Like, this is such a monumental shift in the game, and I just haven't been able to, like, find a way to, like, quantify it as I watch.

Speaker 2: Oh, there there is there is tweets that show

Speaker 1: sure there are.

Speaker 2: The the momentum or the you know, momentum chart on FotMob?

Speaker 1: Yeah. You

Speaker 2: can see clearly, like, I'll I forgot. I cannot remember who made this tweet. Someone made this tweet. I think it was like ESPN India. I can't remember exactly. But they made

Speaker 1: this Now we're talking.

Speaker 2: And they were like, hey. Here's the momentum changes. Like, every game has like, almost every game had some sort of momentum switch as soon as you saw the water break. That's incredible. And maybe that's why we're seeing a lot more goals and stuff like that because teams can adjust. Hey. We're making a quick adjustment here. Here we go. But we've changed the game. We've hopefully, it's temporary, but maybe it's not. Maybe this sticks for all FIFA tournaments in the summer. Now international managers don't have to deal with. Ralph Ragnick, the Austrian coach said, I like these. These are great. We I this allows me to give my instructions very clearly. I hope they stay. How many coaches are thinking the same thing? I bet you all 48 are.

Speaker 1: Oh, I imagine so. I imagine so. Unless, like, you're trying to play a style that's just like, I think, like And then

Speaker 2: FIFA next and FIFA next World Cup, sorry, TK, but, like, they can monetize it. Like, they they say, hey. We're gonna sell these hydration breaks now. We didn't sell it last time. Yeah. Now we can sell them. Like, these are all there's a lot, man. There's a lot I wanna do a little more research into it, but, like, I'm pretty sure, like, these hydration bikes flip, like, games, like, drastically. Do you are we gonna see them in, like, winter? Are we gonna see them in FIFA mandated tournaments? I don't know. But it's definitely gonna be something that I think we need to be careful of because if we because also the stoppage time has been so little. If you think about it, you're you're stopping for two minutes and thirty seconds and your stoppage time is five, which means you're you've only had two minutes of stoppages. But to the credit, that's also due to FIFA's changes with the anti time wasting that they've done, which I think those have been outstanding. Huge waste.

Speaker 1: Like, Like, I

Speaker 2: don't know what to if that's a trade off is the hydration break for the anti time wasting, I guess, keep it. I don't know.

Speaker 1: It's it'll be fascinating to, like, track, and I'm very curious to see, like, will like you said, like, will this carry into the Premier League season or, you know, like, are European leagues

Speaker 2: gonna follow? Good, but I don't know. Things all change.

Speaker 1: Boy, the brag the broadcast dollar, like, is pretty powerful. And, yeah, just another maybe example of, like, the way the game has been very corporatized, but we'll see. I'm fascinated by it. And I think, like, let's let's make it a point to talk about this in on in next week on the next episode and see if, like, there's any notable examples of momentum shifting in a pretty big way that we can kind

Speaker 2: of Oh, perfect.

Speaker 1: Prove and talk about. Yeah. There there certainly will be. Tomorrow starts the final round of group stage matches, which means we get matches happening at the same time. So we get, like, Bosnia and Qatar taking at the same time as Switzerland, Canada. That'll probably all have happened by the time you're listening to this, but it's kind of an exciting time that I very much like kind of like the the split screen aspect of these last group stage matches that we're gonna have coming up here starting tomorrow and then going through the end of the group stage. It's gonna be a good time.

Speaker 2: Can't wait. I'm excited.

Speaker 1: Hell yeah, man. Any final thoughts before we sign off for this one?

Speaker 2: Just keep watching soccer, guys.

Speaker 1: Keep watching soccer. Messy is the all time.

Speaker 2: And also, I guess one thing I'll say, do you get if you can if you get the opportunity, please try to go to a game. I mean, maybe it's opportunities passed with even if it's a game that you maybe you don't think is, like, the most sexiest of matchups or anything, it's it's it's different in there. The atmosphere is just different. I mean, I there's no words. Or go watch a watch party somewhere because there's atmosphere that sticks. That it it sticks, man.

Speaker 1: Come on out to Pitocolis on Thursday.

Speaker 2: I will

Speaker 1: get there. Maybe Arman will be there. We'll watch a meaningless match between the US and Turkey, but anytime the US is playing in the World Cup, it's not totally meaningless. It's gonna be awesome. So come on out for that. Otherwise, we will see you next week for next week's episode. For Arman, I'm Tyler. We'll see you then.