Big MLS News, USMNT Concern Meter, and the Premier League Relegation Battle

Speaker 1: Alright. Yeah. What's up? It's another episode of the Sunset Soccer Club. I'm Tyler Kern. Arman Kafai is here as well. We are pleased to be joining you and bringing you some top notch soccer talk for your soccer week. Arman, how are you, man?

Speaker 2: I'm good. I'm good. I mean, we're in Dallas and almost got rained on. So that was, like, a very random rainstorm that came out of nowhere. Like, it was, like, all these warnings over the weekend and then nothing was kinda like a lightning show, nothing crazy than today.

Speaker 1: I don't know where. Like, really didn't see that coming at all. Yeah. That's random. It's Monday. We're recording this on a Monday. Whenever you are listening to this and however you are listening to it, welcome. Hopefully, it's not a surprise rainstorm wherever you are when you're listening to this. I don't know. But we survived one here.

Speaker 2: Yeah. Or surprised anything.

Speaker 1: Hopefully, everything that's happening in your life is expected. We watched some soccer this week. We hope you watched some soccer this weekend as well. As usual, our mom watched a lot of MLS. I watched a lot of Premier League. Man, I just can't get enough of this relegation battle in the Premier League as we dive into it.

Speaker 2: They should make a they make, like, a TV series about her or something

Speaker 1: because you're awesome. I'm so locked in. Well, the drama Saturday morning, just within, like, a thirty minute span was outrageous. Like, it was it was so exciting. I don't I don't know if you had it on, but the the big the big relegation battle right now going on in the Premier League is really kind of boiled down to West Ham and Tottenham. They went into the weekend with West Ham holding a two point advantage over Tottenham. Tottenham in the, the final relegation spot. West Ham just outside relegation zone. And West Ham was playing Everton. Tottenham was playing who was Tottenham playing? Well, now this is embarrassing. Now I don't even remember who Tottenham was playing.

Speaker 2: You're through lock on Tottenham.

Speaker 1: I was. No. Tottenham was playing wolves. Wolves already been relegated. Awful, awful Premier League season for wolves. Again, Tottenham absolutely has to win. West Ham, on the other hand, playing against Everton. Everton, just mid mid table team, not a major deal. But the drama that happened in the second half of these matches, I mean, they were both they were both nil nil at halftime, and then Thomas Suchak puts West Ham up in the fifty first minute. So all of a sudden, West Ham goes five points clear of or no. Sorry. Sorry. Four points clear of Tottenham for that moment. And, like, four points clear with, like, four games to go is That's tough. Pretty I mean, that's tough. That's a massive deficit. So all of a sudden, like, West Ham is up one nothing. Tottenham hasn't scored. They can't break through against Wolves. And it's like, oh my gosh. Is Tottenham really about to go four points down and be that deep in the relegation hole? Then Paulina scores for Tottenham to make it one nothing against Wolves. So it's kind of equalized. They're back to on level terms. Then all of a sudden, Everton equalizes, so it completely flips. So while at one point, West Ham was four points up, now all of a sudden, it's completely shifted. West Ham is drawing against Everton. Tottenham has the lead, so it's a big swing in terms of points. All of a sudden, Tottenham's out of the relegation zone. West Ham is down in it. And then Callum Wilson scores for West Ham to win two to one over Everton and pull, West Ham out of the relegation zone again. And so they finished exactly where they started, which I guess isn't as dramatic as I made it sound. But I just freaking loved how every goal had a consequence, and, it was awesome. You would think it was the first time I've experienced a relegation battle. It's not. I've I've watched this sport for decades now, but, every time it comes around

Speaker 2: car relegation battle. Right? It's a team that Yeah. Like, with Burrs that we we talked about last episode that has the financial might, that has a shiny brand new stadium, and is locked into the a battle with teams that are coming relative to the rest of Europe are very financially strong, but compared to, like, the Spurs and what they've done and what they've this is team a that won at the Europa League last year. Like, this is, like was it two years ago? Like, they like, this they've had success. They've won titles, like or eight titles. Excuse me. Like, for them to be in this battle, it TK, I was talking about it earlier today. Leicester City is another example of this. Right? Just got relegated to league one? Oh my gosh. Like, going from a champion ten years ago, which, I mean, you trade the champ you like, whatever the relegation is, your banner flies forever. You take that any day of the week. But to go from champion to league one, ugh, back to back relegation is absolutely brutal. And it's it's it's a difference between this sport in, like, Europe and what it is in, like, the America in The Americas right now, in Mexico, and The United States where promotion relegation doesn't exist for better or for worse. I'm not here to debate that, but there's just different levels of drama when it comes down to that. I mean, I'm sure you saw a clip between York City and Rochdale where York City where Rochdale scored a goal, they thought they were going up, and then York City scores minutes later in stoppage time, and they actually win promotion to go back into league football. Like, that is it's the drama of these relegation promotion battles that mean so much to the club because not only does that affect on you, like, what competitive vision you're playing on, but players will leave if you get, relegated or if you get promoted. You can attract better players. Yeah. That's a boon for the city and some of these smaller cities. Like, overall, it's a massive, like, consequential thing for a lot of people that, again, we just don't see in The United States and Mexico.

Speaker 1: It's super compelling on both ends of the table. I just I'm I'm super dialed into this relegation battle and watching every Spurs match even though I'm not a Spurs fan. It's you're right. And that that if you haven't watched that Rochdale clip, York City, Rochdale, it was awesome because Rochdale scores this goal, and they think they're going up. They think they're getting promoted. And, like, fans run onto the pitch. Like, it's like pitch invaders all over the place, and they finally clear it out, and then New York City scores. Oh, it was awesome. So, yeah, you're right. Like, amazing drama. Amazing, amazing drama. Armand, what soccer did you watch this weekend?

Speaker 2: I watched too much MLS, man. Give me a let me let me stop watching MLS. But I know we're gonna touch upon them a little bit in in our later segment, but San Jose, man, just continuing rolling on. It's been absolutely incredible, like, to see them play and just seeing them perform at the level they are with a largely unchanged team, I'd probably say. I mean, outside of Timo Werner, the team isn't hasn't made, like, super splashy signings. They're actually up for sale right now. Like, they just continue chugging along against Saint Louis who've kind of changed the way that they're playing. Right? Used to be his direct team.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: They fired Bradley Carnell. They fired the guy they hired to replace Bradley Carnell. They bring in Johan DeMay who's from the Wilfrid Nansi tree, a possession style. It was a really fun entertaining game to watch. I mean, MLS has some some games where you're like, oh, it's really fun. Like, this is like, okay, like, I I see but there's also some doozies as well too and I mean, one of the, I think, also another good game that I watched a little bit of was Cincinnati Red Bull. Red Bull, Michael Bradley, former US men's national team player, coaching Red Bull. I mean, he's basically only been a head coach for like half a season. If you think about it because he coached Red Bull two and MLS Next Pro and now he's at the Red Bulls and it's like he's trying to do his crazy like awesome style. And Cincinnati came in and smashed them early on, took a two o lead and just kept it all the way through. And Cincinnati's team has been under turmoil. They need to turn around their Pat Noonan. But, yeah, a lot of MLS. And honestly, I'm hoping to not watch as much MLS this weekend because actually I'll be in Detroit to watch Detroit City play. And that's something, TK, that I'm so excited for. And I'll bring it back to the pod. Like, it like, they've Detroit City USL team play in a stadium that's was funded by Franklin Roosevelt? Like like f like, FDR, like, funded this? Like, say, in 1936 and now it's been con it's their last season there. They're gonna move to, a better new stadium. But I'm just so excited to see this kind of lower level English kinda kinda of a stadium. They play Louisville City, I think, on CBS Sports Network or something like that.

Speaker 1: So Heck yeah.

Speaker 2: Watch a lot of soccer. I'm I'm gonna watch some soccer in person next week too. So I'm super amped for that.

Speaker 1: Look. I I know that opinions on MLS vary wildly amongst amongst just American soccer fans. You know? You you might be listening or watching this podcast and just be like, I only watch the Premier League or I only tune in for World Cups or I only watch League at Meckies or anything along those lines. Totally understand that. MLS is a wildly entertaining league to me. And if you're at all interested in, like, young players coming through and potential contributors for the national team at some point down the road, I think MLS is just stock full of them right now, or at least just, like, interesting young players to keep an eye on for the future. And you don't have to look any further than New York Red Bulls right now under Michael Bradley who's just, playing every young player possible. But I I think that there's just, like, so many exciting players right now in MLS that are, like, teenage years, maybe early twenties that I think could potentially be contributors down the road for the national team.

Speaker 2: I mean, there's I saw I was trying to find, and I thought I had the right guy. Didn't have the right guy. I think there was a tweet or a Blue Sky post talking about how this is, like, on track to be the most u 18 and u twenty one minutes in MLS history, is, like, crazy. But you're looking at guys like Xavier Gozo. You're looking at guys like Julian Hall, like, Adrian Mehmeti. Like, these are incredible players.

Speaker 1: That's the guy for me. Yeah. Like Mehmeti. Julian Hall or Mehmeti. Mehmeti. I I mean, give give me just, like, a a really solid, silky smooth defensive midfielder or just kinda, like, holding mid. Like, oh, we just we just don't really produce those. And I'm I'm rocking my Michael Bradley jersey right now, actually.

Speaker 2: Salute salute to Michael Bradley.

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. It's My captain. We're just

Speaker 2: we're just and but you know what's funny, TK? It's not from the usual suspects. No. It's associate academy from to, like, FC Dallas. It's like, no. It's actually the New York Red Bulls. No. It's actually RSL that's playing these younger guys. Like, it's just a different, like, dynamic. It's San Diego trying it. It's Mhmm. The New England revolution picking up u 20 guys and and plugging them in there. Like, it's just or San Jose Earthquakes with Nico

Speaker 1: How's it going? What's his

Speaker 2: last name? So curious. Yeah.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: These are it's it's just a different era of, like, MLS where, like, when you say MS Academy, they're gonna go FC Dallas. It's like but even, like, we actually did, like, for a first time see a good performance from FC Dallas Academy player in Nolan Norris in their two one loss against Seattle. He actually I'd probably argue was a man of the match for FC Dallas who were missing missing a a lot lot of of players. And it's like, this is like, again, like, a really positive development for the league that, you know, wants to be a league of development that has these academies growing, etcetera, etcetera. You need, like I'm not saying I've played a complete u eighteen, a u twenty one team, but, like, you need that that diversity a little bit. You know? So, I mean, I get why people say I'm less maybe in the most quality of leagues. I totally get that. But, like, I watch soccer to be entertained. I watch soccer because it's an entertaining thing to watch. Like, if even if there is maybe a lack of quality in some moments, MLS, like, put on MLS three sixty and it's, like especially midweek last week, I think there was, like, two, four, four games. Like, you know, oh, it's bad defense, whatever. I don't care. It's entertaining.

Speaker 1: It's yeah. You you're right. Like, it's it is an entertainment project. It's entertaining. You cannot tell me that you would rather sit there and watch, I don't know, Sunderland West Ham on a Saturday morning or something

Speaker 2: like man. Arsenal do not play entertaining football. Like, they don't. No. Like, I'm not saying MS teams are better. No. I'm not saying that at all. Not even close. But the games are more entertaining than watching Arsenal play. And that's, like, from text, I've heard. It's, like, watching Arsenal is like watching paint dry.

Speaker 1: I agree. I totally agree.

Speaker 2: Bog the game down. They try to hit you on set pieces, long throws. Look. And it's working for them. That's awesome. But, like, I wanna be entertained. That's why Liga MX I mean, Ligia, the playoff starts, I think, this weekend. That's my favorite post season soccer format in the world. In the world. Like, for a league, not like champions league or anything, but it is so much fun to watch. The teams go back and forth. Seating is your number one tiebreaker. So the lower seed has always an incentive to attack because even if they're tied two two, they lose. So, like, it's just an entertaining wild ass league. Like and that's what I wanna watch.

Speaker 1: Like Yeah.

Speaker 2: Sorry. If that offends anyone that, like, wants Premier League dominance, like, go ahead. But, like, I enjoy entertaining soccer.

Speaker 1: We here at the Sunset Soccer Club believe that soccer's for everybody. Everybody can interact with it however they want. We're just trying to give you a buffet of options cause there's just soccer everywhere, and you can always be watching it if you want. So tune in to some MLS. If you have Apple TV, it's free on there. You know, just just flip it on. It's gonna be awesome. Speaking of which, we have a bunch of really good stories in MLS that we need to talk about. Big stories, influential stories. So we're gonna do that next here on the Sunset. Alright. We got a bunch of interesting stories around Major League Soccer if you haven't already gotten enough MLS talk on this episode, but we have a lot to talk about. At the top of the Western Conference standings, at the bottom of the Western Conference standings. But first, there's a big story that emerged earlier today, actually, about the Vancouver Whitecaps. And Armana, gonna toss it to you just to set everybody up and to kind of give everybody lay of the land on this story because it's a big impactful story that I think anybody and everybody can have an opinion on.

Speaker 2: Absolutely. So the Vancouver Whitecaps, they've been for sale or on sale for, what, sixteen months now since 2024. And they're a team that has history. Right? TK, they played in the NASL. They are branding us for me. I'm actually wearing a White Caps jersey for those who aren't, able to watch. On my sleeve, it says 1979 champions. I won the NASL that year. So this is a homage to that. And this team right now is under a situation to where they're in an unsustainable environment right now with their stadium deal. They're at BC Place. They own their own stadium. The city owns it. There's a lot of, like, conflicts going off the revenue with scheduling as well too. TK, I don't know if you remember, but they had to play a play in game as the away team even though they're the higher seed because of scheduling conflict with monster trucks or

Speaker 1: something

Speaker 2: like that.

Speaker 1: I remember that. It was wild.

Speaker 2: And they won five o that game too, which is incredible. But this team right now, there's a report that came out from the great Paul Canario and Tom Bogart of The Athletic talking about how MLS is discussing potentially relocation of The White Caps and OTK you have the statement in front of you. Basically, Reese's statement that basically said, hey, we've been trying to exhaust all options. We wanna stay in Vancouver. If anyone wants to come forward, we can. It felt like a very desperate plea for like, hey, we like need someone or else something is gonna happen. We're gonna move. But essentially, the Whitecaps are a team that, have been were an expansion team in MLS, in like the late two thousands that came in. And they've actually been a really successful club. They were an MLS cup finalist last year against Miami, lost three one. Thomas Miller plays for them. They're actually top of the MLS right now. I said the MLS, that's on my own worst enemy. They're top of MLS right now. First Western Conference, yes, they played most of their games at home, but I don't care. They're still top of the Western Conference, or close to the top of the Western Conference right now. They're a team that's right now, it looks like they might get relocated, TK. They looks like they might be on the verge of it just based on MLS having discussions and the situation like we talked about. They've been on sale for sixteen months now.

Speaker 1: That's crazy that they've been kind of shopping around for buyers, and the statement even mentions, over the past sixteen months, we've had serious conversations with more than a 100 parties, and to date, no viable offer has emerged that we keep the club here. It remains the strong preference of this ownership group to find a solution in Vancouver if there is if there is a local ownership group with the vision and resources to chart a path forward, we urge them to come forward. Yeah. Really desperate statement. And I think so I think the first thing that I kind of gravitate towards, like, with a story like this is that this is a club, like you mentioned, that has, like, real history, real, roots in that Vancouver area. And the thing that, like, the thing that you can't artificially create, you can't go into a lab and, like, make this better. You know, money doesn't make it better. All the, like, wonderful branding and, you know, marketing in the world doesn't make it better is history. Like, you cannot go into a lab and, like, create some form of, like, history or nostalgia about a team. That just has to come from being there for a long time. And you're right. Like, they this is an this is an expansion franchise that came around in, like, the, yeah, February. But they do have, like, roots and a history in Vancouver based on, like, their NASL days and that sort of thing. And so often, I feel in Major League Soccer, we are very quick to, eliminate different things that, like, that are, important elements that, like, are part of, like, the tapestry of soccer in this country, that I think at times get overrun in, like, the name of progress. And I think that losing a team in Vancouver would kind of be one of those things. I I really hope that they're able to stay. One of the things that I saw is that Las Vegas, it looks like the the leading candidate to get them if they do leave Vancouver. But to me, anyways, that would be a shame, and I hope that the league is able to find a way to kind of partner with them somehow or something like that to keep that franchise there in Vancouver. But I know the stadium situation is bad, and I know it's not a good situation, and stadium conversations are always tricky. So so, yeah, I think I think that story is very disappointing and a and a pretty big bummer.

Speaker 2: I mean, their CEO, Axel Shuster, came out and said like, I can't remember when this was, but they were, like, a top 10 team in attendance, but bottom in revenue just with just how bad the stadium situation is over there. Like, it's it's not great. They're the like, I think third priority. They don't get any priority for anything. Like, again, we talked about how they literally have to move a playoff game because of that. Like, I what other league have you heard that in where the team cannot doesn't have priority because they can't play there. I mean, when the Mavericks make the playoffs in Dallas, what happens? Bad Bunny had a concert here and they got moved because the Mavericks in the playoffs. They take priority over a concert or something like that. The thing that worries me, TK, is like, I don't know how you get solution for this. And I can't and I'm and look. I can people wanna blame MLS all the time for things, and they deserve blame for a lot of things as well too. Right? Like, the whole how they're approaching the whole crew movement. Right? When Anthony Precourt want to move, the crew to Austin, I think I don't know if they handled it the right way. They I think the solution they got was great. Austin is amazing for, like, like, city for MLS. Their stims amazing, and they've been a a positive addition to the league. But I don't but at the expense the crew would've been really brutal. I think the big difference, between these two is that the Columbus situation, I think, was viable, like, stadium wise. And we saw they're able to build new stadium relatively quickly with the Haslams and go from there. This Vancouver situation, man, they've been, like, talking about this for a while, and it looks like there is just no solution in sight when it comes down to it. And if that's the case, I mentioned this this to you before the show. Is very Phoenix, Arizona, Coyotes, Utah, Mammoth, which we recently saw in the NHL. For those who don't know, Arizona has been has been trying to build a stadium. They were they're they actually moved to play in Arizona State's hockey stadium, which is a 4,000 seater, which is a joke for an NHL team to play in. They try to get a deal done with Tempe, and the city council said, nope. We're good. Like, we don't need this. And they eventually sold to Ryan Smith who moved them to Utah. Now they put a Delta Delta Center. And, it seems like we're moving in that direction right now where it looks like an MLS team or an MLS or an ownership group outside of the Canadian ownership group wants to buy them and move them to their to a respective team. Whether it be Vegas, whether it be, I think, Detroit, Indianapolis, one of those Phoenix, one of those clubs that missed out on expansion are like, hey. We'll take this team. Like, we'll take it and we'll put our branding on it and we'll go ahead and, build a stadium and have it all set up. Yeah. We'll get in for sure. Yeah. I I'm but TK, I don't want it to happen. I really don't. I I love the White Cats history. I love their fan base. I love where it is. I love everything, but it really looks like from that statement they put out from this kind of leak, Garber's trying to put a lot of pressure on them to get something done. I don't know if you read the message the same way I do. I think it's like, hey, please. This is our last chance. We're leaking this. Like, this is also leaked out because this is your last chance. And I think we see them either in '27 or '28 moving. That's my guess.

Speaker 1: I think I think you're probably right. And, again, I think that that's I think that's really disappointing. And, look, like, I I know there's a lot of places that would love to have an MLS franchise. I'm sure there are plenty of places that would add to the the fabric of the league. I just think it's always tragic anytime a fan base loses a team. And, but that doesn't mean that I I have solutions for what's going on there with that stadium.

Speaker 2: Usually, a rich owner to come in. Usually, like, some rich Canadian guy to come in and or woman could have come in and be like, hey. We're gonna buy this. We're gonna build it, and we're gonna go from there. And just be committed to the process because, I mean, you're gonna have to lose money, with that. It sounds like and they've been very open about the BC play situation, but this one is just one where it's like I a European fan, I I would never move a team and stuff. I get that. But this, like, this situation just seems like a situation that again, they're trying, but looks like the local government isn't cooperating as much. And it seems like there's a lot more, like, red tape that they have to go through over there to get that done.

Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. No. That that's true. And before I don't know. Before, like, people jump too hard on MLS for this also, like, there are teams that go bust at a decently regular rate in Europe as well. Like, we've seen a lot of teams go bankrupt overseas where there is, like, the the the pyramid model and all that sort of stuff. So I I don't know that I blame, like, the structure of Major League Soccer for, like, these issues that that they're having with the

Speaker 2: White House. Protected them.

Speaker 1: Yeah. I I think that's right. I think that's right. The only team above Vancouver in the Western Conference standings right now are the San Jose Earthquakes, coached by Bruce Arena. Arman mentioned them briefly earlier. San Jose is absolutely flying. The first team in the post shootout MLS era since the year 2000, to win eight of their first nine games to start a season. San Jose is just they're on fire, man. And Bruce Arena is doing it again. It is remarkable that he does this everywhere he goes. If you're not an MLS fan, if you don't know a ton about what we're talking about, Bruce Arena coached the LA Galaxy teams, that had Donovan and Beckham on them and and won MLS trophies. He coached New England recently, and they had just, like, record setting point total seasons. He just does this every freaking where he goes.

Speaker 2: Wasn't he, like, a lacrosse coach to start and then, like, converted out of Virginia and then, like, became a DC United coach and then, like, all that stuff. Bruce Arena, I wanna, like, pay a little homage to Bruce Arena because he's an absolutely amazing coach, like, in MLS. Yes. I understand that people might have a very salty feeling about him because what happened in 2018, was not qualifying for the World Cup. But when it comes down to his MLS genius, everywhere he goes, he just turns around a team in a couple of years, gets their culture going, simplifies the game, and you're like, oh, wow. There's a Bruiser in a coach team, and they're great. Jose didn't make that many changes. Like, go through the roster. They they did not make that many changes. And by the way, like, we're talking about relocation. San Jose actually was the last team to be relocated. They were relocated to Houston, and then San Jose actually was award expansion spot a couple years later. So a little bit of tie in right there. But they they're doing it with guys like Bola Roo. Like, I just I cannot get my every time I think of the earthquakes and Bola Roo, it, like, blows my mind because this guy was just like an MLS Next Pro player. Bruce Arena liked him, bumped him up. And now I was like like, he didn't play this last week because they had a midweek game or I think he came off the bench. But, like, he's a guy where this isn't like a sexy center mid signing. It's just a guy that play was playing in the in MLS Next Pro that was bumped up and now is, like, performing amazingly. Preston Judd bounced around. I mean, his advanced metrics, DK, like, not to be like, oh, I could call it or something, but, like, his advanced metrics were incredible before he joined the, earthquakes. Now he's just he's great as you're starting forward, you add a guy like Osman Buddha in there. Dude, this guy, again, not like a no name or anything like that. Absolutely killing. I was while I watching a sound, that Saint Louis game, was killing them. And it's like, he's just getting these parts that shouldn't match. Oh, we're gonna add Timo Werner to the mix. And they're all matching. And Bruce Arena has this kind of influence that maybe not a lot of people understand where he, went with the with the revolution. He attracted Gustavo Bow to join them. Yeah. That was a Bruce Arena thing where he was like, we want Gustavo Bow. We're gonna go after Gustavo Bow and he was a great addition to that, that revolution team that won the support of Shield, back I think '21 or '22. I can't remember which one it was. Yeah. I think it was '21. Like, this guy is a magician when it comes down to things, TK. Like, if you want an example of a coach that can do so much or so little to him.

Speaker 1: Well and the the the crazy thing is is he's been doing this, like, across decades now, across generations of players, across, like, styles and fads have come and gone, and, like, he doesn't really seem to buy

Speaker 2: into any of forever.

Speaker 1: Yeah. He just he's still just, like, freaking Bruce, you know? Like, everyone else is out there trying to try you know, trying to play Pep Guardiola soccer sometimes, and Bruce is still just like, no. This is how I'm just gonna play. And it's it it is a simplified style, but it is so damn effective. And it's honestly, like, it's it's remarkable to watch him, like, still doing it after all these years.

Speaker 2: And this team should be worse. Keep in mind for our listener, they lost their best player, Christian Espinosa. It sounds like from what the grapevine has been saying and what we've seen on social media due to, like, an error. Like, they meant to resign him and and trigger his option, but they didn't. He left some free agency for Nashville, and he's been killing it over there. They had Timo Werner. They sent Christian Arango on loan. They like, they're not utilizing all their DP spots. And yet they're top of the Western Conference all of a sudden with an unbalanced schedule playing home and away unlike the White Caps? They beat the White Caps too away? What is what is going on?

Speaker 1: It's incredible to see. It it it really really is. I'm like scrolling through his his Wikipedia right now and like looking all of his his accolades and it is it is wild. You're right. He was a lacrosse assistant at Virginia from 1978 to 1985. So seven years ago.

Speaker 2: Took took took The US to the farthest ever they've gone in the World Cup, by the way.

Speaker 1: Yeah. He was coaching The US in, in 2002 when they got to the, got to the quarters and fell to Germany after the Torsten Frijng's handball that wasn't.

Speaker 2: Which they should have probably won.

Speaker 1: I mean, they probably should have.

Speaker 2: Could have and should have. Yeah.

Speaker 1: You know, in the last episode, you mentioned, like, the the great the great US soccer teams of the past, and someone commented on the a clip that we posted of that on the Instagram and said, what what great US teams of the past? That. And, like

Speaker 2: That team.

Speaker 1: The o two team. The o two team and then I think, like, the o nine team under Bob Bradley that beat Spain in the Confed Cup. Those, I think, are the two best US men's national team teams.

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: So but that that Bruce Arena team, yeah, just outrageous. But he won MLS Cup with DC United in '96 and '97, won it three more times with the Galaxy in 2011, 2012, and 2014. He won Supporter Shield 2021 with New England, Supporter Shield twice with LA. I mean, it's it's unreal. Like, he's he's the, like, the most legendary coach in MLS. I think it's it's pretty pretty safe to say just based on his resume.

Speaker 2: And he pushes ownership to spend too. Like, Revolution weren't spending that much. But we're running at Gustavo Bow. I think they acquired Carlos Heal either was before or, like, during his time. I can't remember which one. He made Carlos Heal into, like, this household MLS name, which is

Speaker 1: Carlos Heal won won MVP with him there. Right?

Speaker 2: Yeah. Exactly. In the in the in the same year. I think Tejon Buchanan was on that team as well too.

Speaker 1: Yeah.

Speaker 2: Another example of a Canadian player that went on to and for those who don't know, Bruce Arena was, I guess, fired or he resigned due to his like, some sort of miss I don't know if it misconduct. I don't know what exactly happened. Yeah. But no actually, no one knows what happened still. Because he was suspended by a league and no one knows what went on. Then he popped back up, got reinstated, popped up with the earthquakes, and now he's just I I've run out of worries about Russo Reno. I've run out. Just an incredible, incredible coach that will I don't know if we'll ever see something like that again in MLS.

Speaker 1: We'll go from the top of the Western Conference standings to the bottom because that is where sporting Kansas City is. And if you followed Major League Soccer for any amount of time, you probably associate sporting Kansas City with Peter Remies, a longtime coach that was there for, man, the better part of two decades there in in Kansas City. And things have gotten really, really bad there really quickly. And for a long time, they were just the model of consistency. You could bookmark that Kansas City was gonna finish somewhere between, like, first and fifth maybe in the Western Conference. They had always, like, a couple of outstanding players, but nobody that was, like, MVP level in my mind. Maybe maybe Johnny Russell was, like, discussed at one point Yeah. In that conversation. Fair. Yeah. But for the most part, like, they just they spent wisely. They were always good. They had, like, a few stalwart pieces like Matt Beasler and those types of guys. Graham Zusi.

Speaker 2: For the most

Speaker 1: part Graham Zusi. Yeah. Exactly. But, like, for the most part, like, you just kinda knew what you were gonna get out of sporting Kansas City year in, year out. And, honestly, they were always the poster child for teams that came in in the original iteration of Major League Soccer back in 1996, who were able to revamp their brand and really capture the type of energy that we've seen from from the teams that have come in in in recent years from the expansion sides, that's been something that's been really challenging for clubs like FC Dallas, for the New England Revolution, for some of these other teams that have been around for so long. It's hard to harness that same energy that you see from an Austin FC, from an Atlanta United when they first came into the league, that sort of thing. We've actually really saw that from sporting Kansas City when they kind of went through a big rebrand. The team felt like it kind of was revolutionized. And so that's always been, like, the image in my mind of Kansas City is they're the team that's done the rebrand well. They get MLS. They've had There's stadiums too. Right? Yeah. The stadium is awesome. It's perfect. And so they got all of these things right for so long. But now this season, oh my gosh, we are nine matches in. They have a win, a draw, and seven losses, and a negative 18 goal differential. How the hell did this happen?

Speaker 2: The advanced metrics actually have them currently as one of the worst teams ever. Actually, I think the worst team ever for a nine game stretch. I mean, it started with the end of the Peter Vermice era. It was an era that needed to end. Right? Yeah. Like Yeah. He like, there's cycles in soccer all the time. His cycle ended years earlier, I'd probably say, But he was still kicking, doing his thing. Once they let go of Peter Vermice, it was like, oh my god. This guy did everything. He was their sporting director as well too and their coach. Once you lose all that peace, it's like, okay, how do you rebuild this front office? There's a great article on back healed from my friend Drew Vanderploe. I totally butchered your last name, Drew. I'm really sorry. Where he talked about how like SQC kinda came to where they are right now, which is not gonna mince words here, TK. It's pathetic. Yeah. It's it's it's just really like, I watched them play their US Open game against, Colorado Switchbacks, the a USL team in the second division of, American soccer. They were outplayed. Like, outplayed. It wasn't even close. They lost three o that game. And it's just a really disappointing, like, situation where David Lee, who was a sporting director at NYCFC, comes in. He has to rebuild this thing. It seems like they're saying we're putting on this first half year. We don't care. That doesn't matter to us. We need to get our pieces in line and go from there. But it's bad, man. Like, we like, we talked about a guy, Rafael Wickey, who struggled at the fire, who's now back in the fold. Like, I can't even blame him. Maybe it's not a job that you should have taken, man. Like, a team that is barely constructed. They barely filled out their roster before roster compliance. They're just getting killed in every game, and they have a good DP in Dejan Yovelich, who they acquired from the Galaxy after he won the MS Cup. I mean, he like, they have they have pieces, but it's just, like, really small amount of pieces. Their team looks terrible. Their record is terrible. They have to rebuild this entire thing. It seems like that Peter Vermeer it seems like, again, they're also under new ownership too. I think that's a big thing we have to mention that they're in the process. They they already have new ownership in a can't remember his first name, but his last name is Maluk. He is he seems like he wants to spend a lot of money. He bought SKC at a pretty big valuation. So it's about rebuilding that thing. So maybe this first half of the year, it's a tank. Maybe his entire year is a tank because the 2027, 2028 year will kick off, and people will remember this, and that's the big year everyone wants to prepare for. But I've never seen an MLS team I wouldn't say tank, but just they seemed unprepared going into this year. Like, this is it's terrible. Like, I've seen seem to be bad, but not like, I don't know, like, not bad like this.

Speaker 1: Yeah. I I I know what you mean. Like, you've seen teams be bad, but, like, they were trying to be good and Right.

Speaker 2: Just didn't

Speaker 1: work out and it's bad. In this case, it's like, oh, it's bad, and it feels like you knew it was gonna be bad. And it's probably worse than you thought it was gonna be, but, like, you knew it was you knew this was

Speaker 2: And the only win was against the Galaxy, and it was, like, again, like, point four XG they had to, like the Galaxy had two, two point five. Like, it was, like, a like legitimately, was like a a fluky win. So

Speaker 1: And if you're watching, such listening to this, and you are wondering about, like, draft picks or something like that, like, the draft in Major League Soccer is not it's not like the NBA. Like, you're not gonna draft, a franchise changing player more than likely by being the worst team in MLS. So there's really no value in tanking. It's just purely, like, you're really, really bad. Luckily for Sporting Kansas City, there's no promotion relegation in MLS, and so they don't have to worry about that. But, yeah, this looks like a brutal season. And I think this probably outlines, like, the dangers of like, the way that they had things set up under Peter Vermeis was, like, very old school, like, nineteen nineties Premier League style where, like, Manchester United operated this way. Right? Where it was sir Alex Ferguson did everything. He, like, picked the players. He coached the team. Like, that is, like, the true model of, like, a manager. He's not just a coach. He's, like, the manager of, like, the whole thing from top to bottom. And, like, we've gotten away from that because it is too big of a job for one person to do. We saw it before we could

Speaker 2: big United.

Speaker 1: Yeah. And and then, like, when that person leaves, it leaves such a vacuum of knowledge, experience, and just stuff that has to get done that, like, all of a sudden, it's like that person leaves, you're like, holy shit. Like, what do we what do we do? Like, there's so many different holes to fill that just that one person was was occupying, and it's too big of a job for one person to do these days. That's why you have a sporting director and, you know, scouting staff and analytics all up and down, like, your organization. It can't just be one person anymore. So I think we're seeing, like, a very cautionary tale. And I don't think that there's any other MLS franchises that I can think of that would potentially be in that boat. But it seems like this is, like, the very rough transition from, like, the way things used to be done to, like, modern soccer these days, and just brace yourselves and hold on. Luckily, like, I think that a couple of smart signings, a good off season or two, and, like, it's not that hard to become competitive again in Major League Soccer. Like, this is not, like, the depths that you have to dig yourself out of. Like you said, I think it's a rough year. I think you punt on this season and look ahead to to future ones, and I I think I I I think they'll be fine in the long run. It's just comical right now.

Speaker 2: It's hilarious watching them play. I mean, they lost what five o to Chicago over the weekend. Like, it's just what what is going on? Like, you guys are just not entertaining to watch. You like, if you if a random person put on SKC, like, they would totally be like, well, how's this like like, this is MLS's quality. And then you'd have to sit there and be like, okay. You might be right, but you chose the worst example to go about it. So, yeah. It's rough, man. It's rough. And for us SKC fans, you know, stick through it, I guess, because, it is not a good time for you right now.

Speaker 1: Not a good time for SKC. In the final segment of the show coming up next, we're gonna talk about our concern level for various US men's national team players as we stare down the World Cup. We're, like, forty five days away.

Speaker 2: So Crazy. Right?

Speaker 1: It's crazy. So we're gonna talk about that when we come back. Alright. Welcome back. Third and final segment of the show today. Now we're gonna rank our concern level for various players in the US men's national team pool. We are forty five days away from the World Cup as we record this right now. We're trying to work in, as much World Cup related content as we can, but there's not something newsworthy going on every day for the World Cup. And so we're workshopping topics and ways to just kind of talk about what's going on with US men's national team players and other things along those lines. So we're gonna start off with kind of the biggest one, I think, for all US men's national team fans, and that is Christian Pulisic has not scored a goal in 2026. He's yet to score in this calendar year. His last goal came 12/28/2025, and he's only registered one assist in Serie A since the calendar flipped to 2026. So Arman, I ask you, on a scale of one to ten, one being not concerned at all, 10 being, like, sound the alarms, this is an absolute emergency. How concerned are you about Christian Pulisic's form now that we're about a month and a half away from the World Cup?

Speaker 2: 7.5. I'm concerned. I watched him play two stinker of a games with, Portugal and Belgium against Portugal and Belgium. Excuse me. And I'm concerned. Because if Pulisic has stinkers, I think the rest of the team will have stinkers as well too. He is an electric offensive player. He is our best player. He is the player that kinda sets the tone whether we like it or not. Even if he's not a captain, his performance kinda leads the rest of the way. And I think offensively, like, The US has been missing a spark. And I think a lot of that is due to Pulisic struggling. And I think him struggling in the league doesn't help. Whatever his like, you know, off the field stuff, I don't think also helps either with what's going on and like his like with the relationship. I mean, that's tough for any human, right, to go through it, like, something like that. You pair that with your bad on the field play, and it's like, okay. This is not good. Like like, is there gonna be contract uncertainty now too with Pulisic? Maybe that would be a little thing that may light the fire needs him to perform in the World Cup outside of, obviously, being a for his home nation, etcetera. But, like, I'm worried, man. I'm not exactly confident that he could turn around.

Speaker 1: I am, I'm quite worried myself. I put this at an eight. Like, yeah, he's he's definitely the most important attacking player for the US men's national team by a long shot. He's the person that can create more than anybody else on the field for The US, largely, like, the straw that stirs the attacking drink, if you will. And he's just looked really, really bad. Like, there's no other way around it. The off the field stuff, it seems that he and his girlfriend of a couple years broke up, and she kinda had some things to say about that.

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. Little tabloid drama.

Speaker 1: Little tabloid drama, which means we're a proper footballing nation now. But yeah. I mean, look. Like, there were times during the first half of the season where he looked like the one of the best attacking players in in Serie A and certainly the most important player on the field for AC Milan, and he has looked a shell of that for whatever reason since December. And look. Like, we've seen him go through, like, insane runs of form before. He had that summer in 2020 when they came back from COVID playing for Chelsea where he was just, like, unplayable. He killing it. Like, this I I think he had, like, a two goal performance against Liverpool, and, like, one of the goals was just, like, completely sick. And you were like, this guy can do this in the Premier League. This guy can do this at the top level of for any club and, you know, any league in the world. And then he goes through stretches like this, and you're like, good lord. Like, what what are we doing? And so it's kinda worst case scenario, I guess. Like, the only thing that would be worse is if he was, like, injured and, like, for sure not gonna play, but, like, yeah, this is bad. I'm I'm concerned. I'm concerned. So we both kind of give that one a a pretty high mark. Let's move on to another player who is in maybe a little bit different of a circumstance. Anthony Robinson has not been starting for Fulham the last couple of games. They've been starting Ryan Sessenjon at left back, and Sessenjon's actually looked really good. I've watched some Fulham games, and I'd be like, oh, that guy that guy can ball. That's a guy that's that's kind of that was at one point a wunderkind and is now starting for Fulham in Anthony Robinson's spot. Anthony Robinson was maybe one of the best left backs in all of Europe last year. Had a knee injury coming into the season, so didn't play for quite a while for Fulham. But that's two straight matches where he comes off of the bench late in the game for Fulham. So how concerned are you about Anthony Robinson not starting right now for Fulham on a scale of one to 10, Armon?

Speaker 2: I'm at a four. I'm not as concerned, with him. Because I've seen Robinson, even in spells where he hasn't been playing, like, turn it up for a national team. And I think I would be a little bit more concerned if it was a bit more sustained, but couple games won't be much for him, and I this season will be wrapped up soon. So, like, I'm not as necessarily as worried because I I feel like when it comes down to Robinson, we again, like, I'm kinda using those friendlies as a kind of a litmus test. He was fine in those games. He was really good in those games. And I'm not, like, I'm not too worried. Like, okay. You get benched. Push yourself more in training. Like, there's gonna be a little bit more competition. I think it's good for him actually as a whole. I think he's a key part of the US team as well. And I think, overall, my concern with pool six stems from this has been sustained.

Speaker 1: Yep.

Speaker 2: A couple games from there, you're not starting, whatever, man. Like, that happens to the best of us. And it you know, you only have to start a game to have an impact. And I think in the case of Robinson, again, we we saw him have good performances for a national team. K? He's not starting. It's not the greatest situation, but we've seen what he we've seen what he can do. And I think when it comes to, again, that litmus test I'm telling you about, I think he's at a much higher point than what Pulisic was. So for me, a four, I'm not too worried.

Speaker 1: Yeah. I'm with you. I'd I'd put it at three or four or something like that. Like

Speaker 2: We're aligned as hell right now.

Speaker 1: We are aligned as hell. That's that's embarrassing. We should've we should've built more conflict than this. Podcasting content. Yeah. Bad podcasting etiquette on our parts. No. I just I think that he's a guy that's that's highly thought of for a reason. This is a guy that everybody kind of imagines. There's there's at least a lot of rumors about him potentially going to Liverpool or Manchester United in the off season as well. And so you kind of wonder if if Fulham were kind of considering, like, life without a guy that's been kind of one of their stalwarts over the last several years. And so I don't think that it's necessarily, like, performance based or, like, he's totally lost his spot or is playing so badly that he can't start. So I think that it's largely that more than anything else. And in terms of, like, concerns I have for the national team, like, as long as Anthony Robinson is healthy and on the field, like, he's not really one of them for me. Alright. Let's go in a positive direction and kind of, like, switch it up for the last one here of the show. Alex Freeman, who we've talked about a little bit. Right back, formerly of Orlando City, made his first start and went ninety minutes in a win for Villa Real over the weekend. What is your level of hope and optimism for the 21 year old right back?

Speaker 2: Alex Freeman is such an interesting player, TK, because he wasn't playing much with Orlando City. He came on the scene in one season as his dynamic, like, smashed all these advanced metrics, really good attacking and defending fullback, like, or wingback or however you wanna call it. With a national team, you see him shift to the center back sometimes. He's versatile. He's well, I in the Portugal game, I was insanely impressed by him. I think Mhmm. He was excellent in that match. My level of hope for him is a seven seven and a half eight in that range. I think that the sky's the limit for his kid. He has so much potential. His physical traits are off the charts. He's not the best technically, but he still has these, like, moments where you're like, oh my god. You're actually, like, really you're really good. Like, with your feet, like, he created with Pulisic really well in in that in that Portugal game. Again, know I'm placing a lot of stock in those two friendlies, but I I I saw the clips of him at, Woods Villa Royale and it's like this kid has it man. He's really good in the formation that Mauricio Pochino sets up to be where Tim Hueya might be booming up super high as you're kind of outside back. You need a guy that's fast. You need a guy that can be pretty good with his feet. You need a guy that can defend kind of well and also kind of be comfortable like playing on an island. Alex Freeman is that guy if you put him at your far right center back in a back three. I actually remember I was texting a few buddies and I was like we need Alex Freeman and their way is pushing up because if you have a guy like Tim Reem on that island, oh no. If you have a guy even like Miles Robinson on the island, he isn't as quick as fast as, a guy like, Alex Freeman. For me, I absolutely love Alex Freeman. I actually think the fee that Villa Real pay was a steal because of the contract situation that he was in with Ronald City.

Speaker 1: I think he

Speaker 2: should have gone for a lot more. And I think that this kid is a guy that a lot of American fans should have on his radar. I think or on their radar. Excuse me. I think it's amazing to watch a kid like him go from MLS and playing on this level from MLS next pro to MLS to La Liga. Like, what a story. And for him to not look out of place is incredible. So for me, TK, I am all in on Alex Freeman.

Speaker 1: Yeah. This is this is, like, we're three for three on just, like, agreeing on these because I I'm with you. Put it, like, a nine or 10 because, like here's the thing. And I didn't realize this. Like, Villarreal are, like, locked into a Champions League spot. Like, they're third in La Liga and gonna finish likely ahead of Atletico Madrid. But more than anything, I mean, I think they're, like, 15 points clear into a Champions League spot. So, like, they are in the Champions League next year, which means a lot of, match congestion, which is good when you're a young player at a big club in a big league. It means that you don't have to start every kind of league game week in, week out, but that means there's gonna be a lot of cup games. There's gonna be champions league games. There's gonna be opportunities for him to get matches. And so I think that that's a really ideal circumstance. I think it is often overlooked when a player moves overseas, like, how they fit into, like, that club, that culture, but also just, like, time on the pitch and that sort of thing. Like, Riccardo Pepi going to Augsburg is like a great example of like a transfer that was like disastrous for so many reasons. Like, they broke their record fee for a striker for a team that, like, could not score goals and could not just, like, move the ball up the pitch into a position where, like, a guy could even potentially, like, have a look at goal. That team was so embarrassingly bad at attacking. It was awful for a striker who was super young in his career to go there for a record fee for that club to pay. And so, like, awful fit, awful timing. For Alex Freeman, like, this has worked out incredibly well, especially, like, for a January transfer, which, like, always makes me pretty nervous. He went in. He, like, got some minutes off the bench. Now to get a start and to go 90, their position in the league is really set, and so they're allowed to experiment a little bit. And by all accounts, he looked really good in this match. I yeah. I think the sky's the limit for a kid in, like clearly, he has the athleticism necessary. And like you mentioned, like, comfortable out on an island if he needs to be. I couldn't be more impressed. So I'm hoping that he, is able to continue to get some minutes here at the end of the season and is on the World Cup roster because I I think you're right. I think he fits in really, really nicely at that right center back role, under what Mauricio Pochettino's doing. So really boring that we agreed on all of these. I should have done a better job choosing more controversial topics, but

Speaker 2: but boxed it up, man.

Speaker 1: I know. I'm I've been trying to think of what what a controversial topic could be just off the top of my head, and I don't have one. Oh, how concerned should fans be about Mauricio Pochettino as the head coach and whether or not he knows kind of what his best team is heading into the World Cup?

Speaker 2: Is it controversial to say, like, I'm not too worried? I think it's, like, a three or four because and our good friend, John Arnold, I think, pointed this out very elegantly. Pochettino looked at us as friendlies kind of differently than we did. We were like, crap. This is a final tune up. We need to be prepared and stuff like that. We need to see a clear idea. It seems like he went in there with the alright. Let's experiment a little bit more and see what's going on. Like, my little concern isn't too high. I might be a little bit more concerned with Instagram posts because he's been posting some really interesting Instagram, like, stories and stuff. Like, looks like a father going through, like, a midlife crisis or something like that. And you're like, are you okay?

Speaker 1: But I'm like, what worried about?

Speaker 2: Yeah. Honestly, like, he's I mean, I think the like, when it comes down to it, like, he's not gonna be the coach after the twenty twenty six World Cup. So I think he does but I think he does wanna prove, like, hey. I can do this. It's a pride thing. Like, people are like, oh, why is he carrying? He's not gonna be Guys, it's a pride thing. Coaches and I've worked with coaches. I've worked, with, like, people in soccer. Like, they're so prideful. Like, they they they wanna it doesn't matter what they do. They wanna prove themselves. Even if they're an interim, even if they're maybe leaving or something, they still wanna prove to themselves because they take a lot of the outside very internally Mhmm. Compared to, what they see. So for me it's a three or four. Like, I'm not too worried. And I promise you I'll probably eat my words because I'll watch it watch them play Senegal and be extremely worried. So, yeah, I'm not too worried yet.

Speaker 1: I I I would actually put mine at, a seven. I'm I'm actually pretty worried about

Speaker 2: We disagreed. Yes.

Speaker 1: Yes. I I think my response to John when he sent that to us, he was like, hey. I think Pochettino just viewed these friendlies differently than we are, is like, but but should he have? Like, should he have to eat? But, like, should he have been experimenting so much? Like, if like, I killed Klinsman for this for stuff like this back in the day. And, like But

Speaker 2: Klinsman did it in the qualifiers, which that was that game against Mexico going at back three was unbelievably like like, what are you doing at the qualifiers? Like, you can't be a back three and experiment like this.

Speaker 1: I just I just think that you have such limited time with these players that, like, wasting it on, like, putting Pulisic as your central striker in a match against, like, a quality European opponent, like, was wild ass to me. So I am I am a little bit more concerned that he doesn't actually, like, have an idea of, like, what it looks like for this team to all be together to have all of his best players out on the pitch at the same time and envision what how those pieces fit together and that sort of thing. So I think that is my biggest concern.

Speaker 2: That's fair. I mean, I if I'm telling you, you should look at his Instagram post because I think you'd jump into a 10. You'd be like, what the hell is this guy posting? Like, this is no. But I'm I'm with you, especially with the when you have a striker competition and you put Pulisic as your forward, a, that screams almost like a middle finger to your forwards. And b, it's like it's like, what are you doing? Like, you shouldn't be doing this. I'm with you on that. You might have bumped my concern to a five.

Speaker 1: This is why we have disagreements, friends. Yes. That's gonna do it for this episode of the Sunset Soccer Club. Everybody, thank you for joining us. Again, there's no wrong way to consume soccer to get into the game to start enjoying it. So, if you have questions, if you have thoughts, if you, you know, wanna watch some MLS and need some recommendations, hit up Arman, hit up myself. You can find us on social media. I know, producer Yvonne is making sure that our social handles are below us somewhere around here. So make sure you find us, make sure you find the show, share it with friends, and get ready for the World Cup this summer. Thanks for joining us on this journey. We'll be back next week another episode of the show. But for Armand Kafai, I'm Tyler Kern. We'll see you next time.