0:00

Hey, college football fans, Joel Clatt here. And

0:02

over on my podcast, The Joel Clatt

0:04

Show, we discussed the best teams, players,

0:06

and storylines in all of college football.

0:08

Any questions? Then send them in to

0:10

the Joel Clatt Show mailbag, and I'll

0:12

answer them. Tap the banner to follow

0:14

The Joel Clatt Show on Spotify. Yeah,

0:18

look, I don't want to make this about a referee

0:20

thing, but again, what does clear and obvious even mean,

0:23

right? What's clear and obvious to me might

0:25

not be to the next human. So, yeah.

0:29

A lot of millions of people watch Two and a

0:31

Half Men. I think it's the dumbest show ever. It's

0:33

clear and obvious to me that it's terrible, but everyone

0:35

watches it, so maybe I'm wrong. You know, so. ["The

0:38

Joel Clatt Show

0:41

Theme"] Hello,

0:52

Sunshine. I'm Alexi Lolis, and welcome to

0:54

the State of the Union podcast, where we look at

0:56

the beautiful game on and off the field through the

0:58

lens of red, white, and blue colored glasses. This show

1:00

will be talking the EPL title choking, wrecksome

1:03

creating world peace, the end of

1:05

the Bundesliga era, and

1:07

messes at KC barbecue, Two and a

1:09

Half Jim Curtins, a geo-citing, historic US

1:12

soccer apparel, sambas, infantino being a super

1:14

fan, what Jennifer did and so much

1:16

more. But first joining me as always,

1:18

my friend, my colleague, my guiding lights,

1:21

David Mossy, a soccer savant and a

1:23

Fox soccer researcher, and an extraordinary, Mossy,

1:26

how you doing on this? Monday,

1:28

April 15th in the year 2024. I'm

1:31

doing well, you know, for my, what are we watching? I did

1:33

a Two and a Half Men marathon this past week. Well,

1:37

for those that just heard that open, we'll get

1:39

to Jim Curtin. It's gonna make me laugh, and

1:41

it's going to become a classic audio

1:43

and video clip. So we'll get to Jim Curtin in

1:45

a second. But what are you watching, my friend? Couple

1:48

things, today is the 159 year anniversary of

1:52

Abraham Lincoln's death. He was shot

1:54

on the night of April 14th, died in

1:56

the morning of April 15th. I

1:59

went down at Lincoln. That whole this weekend every

2:01

watch the Spielberg movie Lincoln and I started

2:03

on Manhunt the Apple Tv show about the

2:05

Search for John Wilkes Booth. The final episode

2:07

comes out this week's i'm Going time My

2:09

Bench so that it or flows seamlessly or

2:11

like I think I could do that I

2:13

think of I think I will allow that.

2:15

Usually as a as people know I have

2:17

to start be able to start and end

2:19

but I think if you time it correctly

2:21

like this are a while be interested or

2:23

to cure. Wow what you said. I don't

2:25

have a whole lot arm but saw it

2:27

as a new Rob crime doc over there.

2:30

On Netflix. What? Jennifer did

2:32

Not This. Teenager.

2:35

Or young adult if you will convicted

2:37

of a murder for hire, a plot

2:39

against her parents up there and throttle

2:42

spell with when when the Canadians do

2:44

true crime. They. Don't mess around

2:46

me. Look back to their the Ken and

2:48

Barbie killer odd thing and that crazy. Mf

2:51

or who was are up there and

2:53

know decapitating and cannibalizing some dude on

2:55

a on a Greyhound bus so they

2:57

don't mess around up there in Canada

2:59

is is like a real disturbing looks

3:01

because you're ultimately I'm not giving anything

3:04

away but this this young girl. Know.

3:07

Tries to kill her parents and does killed

3:10

one of them As a just keep imagine.

3:12

What? What? That? Father

3:14

who did survive is going through

3:17

now. given that crazy story some

3:19

our that's the true crime doc.

3:21

I. Have one more thing. Oh really? Oh, hang on a

3:23

lighter note. Yep. Last night Cbs

3:25

aired Billy Joel one hundred his one hundredth

3:28

show and Madison Square Garden as part of

3:30

this hundred winner See know. How

3:32

so they they cut out they dumped out

3:35

on Billy Joel right sir? Correctly what they

3:37

needed to fit into a two hour window.

3:39

So I think you can go on Paramount

3:41

Plus and watch the whole thing I believe,

3:43

but I I watch the two hours on

3:45

Cbs. It was phenomenal. I. Saw

3:47

somebody suggest over there on the on

3:49

the social media platforms that it was.

3:52

Payback. time because if for those

3:54

the remember billie joe history years and

3:56

years ago on the grammys i think

3:59

it was he stopped in performance mid-song

4:02

and just I think he said like advertising

4:05

dollars clicking away clicking away to

4:07

make a point as

4:09

if the advertising dollars didn't

4:11

fund Billy Joel for much of his career and

4:13

still do. Now you incurred the wrath of Erin

4:15

Schechter by not liking Springsteen she's also a huge

4:18

Billy Joel fan so you have a chance to

4:20

redeem yourself. Your thoughts on the piano man? I'm

4:23

good with Billy Joel especially I mean

4:26

I think he's a brilliant songwriter and

4:28

a Brazilian a brilliant musician.

4:31

I remember vividly

4:33

buying glass houses going

4:35

down and buying the record of glass houses

4:38

you know the single Still Rock and Roll

4:40

to Me was a big thing but that

4:42

whole album and the way that he took

4:45

almost a punk sensibility and

4:47

melded it with his

4:50

pop sensibility and his musicianship if

4:52

you will I thought

4:54

that was a brilliant album and he just

4:56

continued and you know the hits that he

4:58

have are just amazing the writing the lyrics

5:01

combined with wonderful melodies. I'm gonna try to catch

5:03

him at some point this year and I'm gonna

5:05

be in New York in early May I looked

5:07

into that but it was too expensive he's coming

5:09

to LA in October to play in the new

5:12

Clippers Arena which is right next to the forum

5:14

and so hopefully I'll catch him there. Oh nice

5:16

very cool very cool. For

5:18

those that are watching the show you

5:21

will see my aesthetic today as I've

5:23

mentioned before I have children and at

5:25

times they they will raid especially my

5:27

teenage daughter will raid my

5:30

closet for different stuff and

5:32

this generation now it

5:35

amuses me but they they find

5:37

90s fashion and culture

5:39

and aesthetic to really kind of be

5:42

appealing and whether it's you know large

5:44

stuff or even you know sweatshirts

5:47

or high waist I think anyway

5:50

I am wearing a circa

5:53

1993-94 Warm-up

5:55

top for the US Men's national team. For those

5:58

that are watching you can see a picture. The

6:00

me in what looks like the same

6:02

one but it's actually this would probably

6:04

be nineteen Ninety Three and you can

6:06

tell because where this says and I'm

6:08

pointing to it now Us World Cup

6:10

team on my left breast obscure are

6:12

the picture here. it's just Adidas And

6:14

so when we first got together as

6:16

a national team leading up to the

6:19

Ninety Four World Cup, this was the

6:21

stuff that we were wearing. And.

6:23

It didn't yet show that we were.

6:25

The. To be World Cup seen.

6:28

As we moved on while we still

6:30

had the same look ah this World

6:33

Cup pass in this Us soccer patch

6:35

came to be an as we got

6:37

closer and closer Ninety Four However, This.

6:40

Ultimately wasn't the look that we used

6:43

in Nineteen Eighty Four. As many people

6:45

know, that was into the famous denim

6:47

type of stuff. I don't have the

6:49

old denim. Odd Gerard sweatshirt

6:51

that I have and for those are watching

6:54

you can see a picture of me here

6:56

and well I will as a kid say

6:58

Stan and Silva Day. I die for the

7:00

denim jersey that we war when it comes

7:03

to the actual warm up. Jersey.

7:05

Page if they tried to combine both of

7:07

them together in that, there was the denim

7:09

top. And then the sleeves

7:11

where the red and white stripes

7:13

and I hated this. I thought

7:15

it looked horrible and I thought

7:18

it was a completely misguided type

7:20

of bob. Know being of the of

7:22

the to so there's your trip down memory lane

7:24

when it comes to things that are worth. but

7:26

for those that can see it's it's a full

7:28

on ninety's. A hefty bag

7:30

type of fits. This would never pass today,

7:33

but from a retro perspective whether it's my

7:35

teenagers or are there are other younger folks

7:37

out there are, they would love to have

7:39

this, but they can pry it from my

7:42

cold dead Reddit enhance I never knew how

7:44

to go to back them. up

7:47

a yeah this is a i have no idea

7:49

who these circuits are and they're not no longer

7:51

kids anymore i don't know where they are but

7:53

this was unaware we actually were making some sort

7:55

of appearance but that was yeah that was the

7:57

jersey you can see up in the upper left

8:00

patch under the US soccer sciences say

8:03

no to drugs or something like that so we

8:05

were cognizant of that and then this is the

8:07

person that they put it on you

8:10

do look a little stoned in that it's not

8:12

the greatest advertiser for that but you know

8:14

what are you gonna do all right now

8:16

shall we like this candle my friend let's

8:19

do it where should we start we begin

8:21

in England some major developments in the Premier

8:23

League title race this past weekend Manchester City

8:26

handled their business on Saturday they beat Luton

8:28

town 5-1 and then both Liverpool and

8:30

Arsenal lost at home on Sunday Liverpool

8:32

1-0 to Crystal Palace as a with

8:34

the goal there and then Arsenal

8:36

2-0 to Aston Villa Bailey and Watkins with

8:39

the goals in that one so the weekend

8:41

ends with the champs back on top City

8:43

at 73 points Arsenal and Liverpool

8:46

at 71 with six rounds remaining I

8:49

mean on the surface this is an amazing

8:51

turn of events and correct me if I'm

8:53

wrong but I think when we left off

8:55

last week in previewing and talking about this

8:57

we were both in agreement that these were

8:59

going to be Feta-Completes to

9:02

the extent that they can be the the

9:04

teams that were vying for the title

9:06

in this three team race we thought

9:08

that they were going to have no

9:10

problems obviously a couple of them did

9:13

and it's thrown this into disarray do

9:15

you think that this was the weekend

9:17

when it was lost if you're talking

9:19

about Arsenal and Liverpool and it was

9:21

just the weekend that it was won

9:24

ultimately by Manchester City in that there

9:26

are no surprises keep in mind everybody has six

9:28

games left if I'm not mistaken here and everybody's

9:31

been analyzing you know where they're going who they're playing

9:33

and all that and the run-in and all that kind

9:35

of stuff but just on the surface here is it

9:37

over I'm not gonna say

9:39

that I mean when you're in a tighter race with

9:41

City you blink and you could be in trouble but

9:43

the only thing I'll say is fixture congestion could be

9:46

an issue for them they're still in the FA Cup

9:48

they played Chelsea this upcoming weekend and if they advance

9:50

likely Manchester United in the final I think they're gonna

9:52

advance in the Champions League so they're also gonna have

9:54

that to contend with while Liverpool are probably gonna get

9:56

knocked out of the Europa League they're down three notes

9:59

out to Lonton aggregate So

10:01

that's going to be a lot more games for

10:03

City to deal with. Already they were scheduled to

10:05

play a way to Tottenham this upcoming weekend, but

10:07

because they have the FA Cup semi-final, that's been

10:10

moved to the midweek in between their second to

10:12

last and last Premier League games. So

10:14

maybe fixture congestion will get them, but you

10:16

never want to be behind City at this

10:19

point in the campaign. And if anybody has

10:21

the depth to deal with this type of

10:23

either platooning and the possibility, knock on wood,

10:26

there aren't, but there's a possibility with all these games in

10:28

such a short period of time and back and forth and

10:30

travel and all that kind of stuff, there could be injuries.

10:35

Is this and

10:37

the results that we saw this weekend,

10:40

you know, which one is more

10:42

surprising to you? And

10:44

by the way, these were not just losses of

10:46

games, but these were losses at home

10:49

when you talk about Arsenal and Liverpool.

10:51

Which one of these is more surprising?

10:53

Obviously Aston Villa, just in

10:55

a normal world, I think most people

10:57

would agree, is a better team than

10:59

Palace, but this

11:02

is also a Liverpool that we know

11:04

has plenty of injuries. And for

11:06

Klopp, he's just kind of limping

11:09

into the end here. That

11:11

one surprised me more because, as you mentioned, Aston Villa

11:13

is a good team. They're fighting for top four. So

11:17

it's not beyond the realm of possibility. They could go to the

11:19

Emirates and get a result. I am

11:22

absolutely stunned that Liverpool lost at home to

11:24

Crystal Palace. You know, on Thursday, we taped

11:26

our show right after their Europa League defeat

11:28

at Atlanta. I went to speak to

11:30

our boss, Zach Kenworthy, a big Liverpool fan, and he was

11:32

worried that the wheels might be coming off. But I sort

11:34

of rolled my eyes. I thought that was just him being

11:37

pessimistic. I

11:39

thought for sure they would bounce back and take care of

11:41

Crystal Palace at home. So I was stunned by that result.

11:44

So this is kind of

11:46

a catnip type of question to you. But

11:50

does this in any way tarnish

11:54

Jurgen Klopp in that he is limping

11:56

into the end here as opposed to

11:58

going out a lot? No,

12:02

it does not. And we'll

12:04

see how the rest of the games go. I mean,

12:06

you're allowed one stumble without it being considered a choke.

12:08

But if they have a couple more results like this,

12:11

then we are going to look at

12:13

this Liverpool run at the end of the season more

12:15

negatively. But, you know, so we'll see how it goes.

12:17

Yeah. And again, to your point in

12:20

defending, I guess, Klopp and this

12:22

Liverpool team, this is a

12:24

far cry from what we associate

12:26

with Klopp in terms of how awesome he

12:28

has been with this Liverpool team. No

12:31

excuse, and I don't think he would make that

12:33

excuse, but the reality is. As opposed to Arsenal,

12:35

which we talked

12:37

about, the narrative was,

12:39

well, they've gotten over the hump and they've

12:42

learned how to be able to get it

12:44

to the end. And yet they stumble here.

12:49

Is there a danger? Or maybe it's

12:51

already happened that creeping feeling

12:53

of, wait a second, maybe we don't

12:55

deserve to be here. Or we don't

12:58

have the players, more importantly,

13:00

the mentality of those players to actually

13:02

be the champions, as opposed to City,

13:04

where you mentioned, yes, they have a lot

13:06

of games, but if there ever was a

13:08

team built for winning and figuring out a

13:10

way and smelling blood, which they have to

13:12

have smelled right now, it's City. Yes,

13:15

because of what happened last season with Arsenal, our antennas

13:17

are up with them. And you do wonder if this

13:19

could be the start of the wheels falling off again.

13:22

So you think, and

13:24

let this be true, that we are

13:27

going to have a crying,

13:29

whimpering, and I guess, irate Piers Morgan

13:31

by the end of this season. I

13:33

do. Oh, let it be. Let

13:35

it happen. I love you Piers. What else?

13:38

We got an Ask Alexei question about

13:40

Gio's performance for Nottingham Forest this past

13:42

weekend, so we'll revisit the Premier League

13:44

down there. And right now we're going

13:46

to move down three levels to League

13:49

Two. Reksum with

13:51

a 6-0 home win over

13:53

Forest Green this past weekend, Paul Mullen

13:55

scored twice. And with this result, Reksum

13:57

secured back-to-back promotions. They will move up

13:59

to League One next season, incredible scenes

14:01

as their fans celebrated, but we know with

14:03

Rexxum, it quickly turns into a discussion in

14:06

this country about Pro-Rel and about whether this

14:08

is truly a romantic story. I know

14:10

you have a lot of thoughts on that, so

14:12

go ahead. Well, first off, the power of Rexxum,

14:15

I think, is recognized

14:17

in this moment that we are even talking

14:19

about them. Because if this

14:21

was anybody but Rexxum, we

14:24

would not be. And it's not that

14:26

there aren't scenes, we see scenes every year

14:28

for teams that come up in terms

14:30

of promotion, they're excited. This story, obviously

14:32

for a certain audience

14:34

out there, has captivated them. Whether

14:38

they are into the game of

14:41

soccer or not, and that's

14:43

more power to Rexxum and obviously to

14:48

one of the Ryans, right? One of the Ryan Phillip, not Phillip,

14:50

the... Reynolds,

14:52

sorry, and the other guy too. So these

14:55

two faces of this team, congratulations

14:57

to them as owners and

15:00

congratulations to Rexxum for doing

15:03

what was promised to them. How it's

15:05

been done? I

15:07

don't want to hear of anything about merits,

15:09

okay? It's been done

15:12

by outspending the

15:14

opponents and getting what you pay for.

15:16

Doesn't always work out like that, but

15:18

obviously in this situation, they have not

15:20

only spent more, but they have spent

15:22

wisely in order to get them to

15:24

that promised land that I guess is

15:26

the ultimate goal, which is becoming part

15:28

of the the EPL

15:31

and going up and up and up and up

15:33

and up. Rexxum

15:37

is, as I said, a wonderful

15:39

story. I enjoy

15:41

it. I don't watch the show, not because

15:44

of any reason other than it just has

15:46

never been something

15:48

that I want to watch. But

15:51

I know that there's a lot of

15:53

people that do watch it. When it

15:55

comes to the impact of Rexxum Mosse,

15:58

how important... or unimportant

16:00

do you think it is relative to

16:02

the american soccer culture let

16:04

me read you an interesting back and forth i'll get

16:07

afraid address that ok max bretos

16:09

rex and made a long struggling community hole

16:11

in a genius project by ryan and rob

16:13

but to label this the magic of pro

16:15

rel is disingenuous they were favorites to come

16:17

up with two clubs can't compete with their

16:19

money sponsors and resources not lucky

16:22

underdogs but a juggernaut and

16:24

then eleven yanks responded the magic of

16:26

pro rel incentivizes investment allows well run

16:28

clubs to earn their place on the

16:30

field not because some billionaire paid an

16:33

expansion fee but you know this max

16:35

you're just carrying water for your employers

16:37

as usual wow so our friend max

16:39

bretos taking it yes but give it

16:41

to you and i like it and

16:43

i like the discuss discussion of what

16:45

rex m is and what record rex

16:48

m isn't and as we know people

16:50

use it for all sorts of the

16:52

disconnect here is that american sporting culture

16:54

steep in parity in a level playing

16:56

field so any situation where the success

16:58

came about because you had rich owners

17:00

have spent more money than the opposition

17:02

in your mind that undercuts the notion

17:04

of romance and meritocracy but in europe

17:06

it doesn't they do see romance in

17:09

rich celebrities choosing to invest in this

17:11

small lower division club and

17:14

and they see the fact that they're moving up

17:16

by winning on the field as much more meritocratic

17:18

than an expansion team and

17:20

i'm less which is just writing down garber

17:22

a big check i mean so we will

17:24

talk later in the pot about defining words

17:27

and. Your definition of meritocracy

17:29

might be different than than mine but

17:31

when people throw out merit oftentimes relative

17:33

to to rex m it does get

17:35

me to roll my eyes some. But

17:37

to the question you asked me there

17:40

was a clip on cbs sports today

17:42

somebody made the case that they think rex

17:44

m has done more for the growth of

17:46

soccer in this country than mls and i

17:48

think that's overstating it a bit. I

17:51

don't think rex m has done a damn thing. Relative

17:55

to the growth of of soccer

17:57

and certainly relative to major league.

18:00

soccer. It's an apples

18:02

and oranges type of thing. I

18:04

mean, I'm not saying it's not

18:06

a wonderful story, and I'm not saying that

18:08

it doesn't invite, it's like catnip to

18:10

people to comment on it, but

18:14

that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. All

18:17

right, anyway, congratulations to Rexxum going

18:20

forward, and I look forward

18:22

to following the continued growth of

18:24

this team, and for what it means for the

18:27

city of Rexxum, and for what it means for

18:29

more importantly the American owners.

18:32

Also incredible scenes in Leverkusen this

18:34

weekend. They hammered Werder Bremen 5-0,

18:37

Boniface, Schaka, and authority in Würz

18:39

Hatrick accounting for the goals. With

18:41

this result Leverkusen clinched their first

18:43

ever Bundesliga title with five rounds

18:45

to spare. For the first time

18:48

since 2012, somebody other than Bayern

18:50

Munich are German champions. So

18:54

how good is this from

18:57

Javi? I mean, is

18:59

this in the annals? I

19:01

would use the term mind boggling. He

19:03

took over early last season when they

19:05

were 17th in the table, second to

19:07

last, got him up to sixth, and

19:10

then this season he wins the title.

19:12

They're 16 points clear of

19:14

Bayern. They're unbeaten in 43 matches

19:17

in all competitions this season. They're in the

19:19

German Cup final against Kaiserslau and they're probably

19:21

going to win that, and they've got a

19:23

good shot at winning the Europa League as

19:25

well. It is one of the incredible jobs

19:27

we've ever seen in European football. Oh, well

19:29

that's a ringing endorsement, and I would

19:31

second that for all the different things

19:33

that you said. And again,

19:37

this is a star player,

19:39

and we have time and time

19:41

again seen where star players don't necessarily

19:43

make star coaches, and yet when it

19:45

comes to someone like Jose Mourinho, he

19:48

evidently saw this coming four years ago

19:51

talking about Javi Alonso and what

19:54

he potentially could be and laying out

19:57

why he thought all

19:59

of the coaches that he had his pedigree,

20:01

his experience as a player would

20:05

make him a coach. And again,

20:07

it doesn't always work. So congratulations

20:09

to Bayer Leverkusen, congratulations to

20:12

everybody there for doing something that we

20:14

have kind of cried out for, for

20:16

years now and the last decade relative

20:18

to Bayern Munich's dominance.

20:21

And to your point, I

20:23

think, Mosse, the kudos and the praise

20:27

are warranted and completely fair and

20:29

should not stop for this

20:31

man and for what he has done. Incidentally,

20:34

Sean Sullivan included in the rundown, cool

20:36

clip of Pep talking about Shabi Alonzo. And then

20:38

when you click on the link, it's actually Jose

20:40

Mourinho talking about him. It is.

20:43

And as I said, he goes through all of the

20:45

reasons back then why he would, he thought he was

20:47

going to be a good manager. We know Sean can

20:49

get a little confused sometimes. He recently walked into a

20:51

women's bathroom. That's true. That's true. It happens. It happens

20:53

to all of us. I, the other day, I stood

20:56

outside for a good

20:58

30 seconds and I think

21:00

everybody's been there where it's

21:02

like Russian roulette, right? Because now the graphics

21:05

that they use oftentimes can be confusing. And

21:07

so I sat there, I didn't want to

21:09

offend anybody and I didn't want to also

21:11

out myself and say and ask somebody what

21:13

was going on. And finally, I just took

21:15

a deep breath and went into one. And

21:18

then I come back to the table and

21:20

was informed by the people that they're

21:22

all the same anyway. And so there

21:24

was no differentiation, which is why I

21:26

was so confused at the time. But Shabi

21:28

Alonzo did have to bring it back

21:30

to that, did have incredible schooling. He

21:32

played under Rafa Benitez, Jose Mourinho, Carlo

21:34

Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola. So he learned

21:36

from some of the best and he's

21:38

borrowed stuff from all of them. And

21:40

here he is doing great things himself.

21:42

All right, we'll see. We'll see.

21:45

He said he's going to stay, which is which

21:47

is good. But I think there's also

21:49

a curiosity as to where

21:51

that next and when that next step

21:53

comes. Next Up, we go

21:55

to Italy. Serie A This past weekend, Udi

21:57

Nasi Played Roma and Roma Defender Heaven and

22:00

Deca collapse during the match with chest pains.

22:02

The match was suspended, he was rushed to

22:04

the hospital. It sounds like he's gonna be

22:06

okay but a very scary moment. It's it's

22:08

scary especially given you know the problems that

22:10

we have seen in. sometimes. you know the

22:12

you know, the. Horrible moments

22:14

that we have seen that a times have

22:17

led the dust and at times to lead

22:19

better stories. This also I think when all

22:21

the tests have been done for everything that

22:23

we have read so far it doesn't seem

22:25

to be what they thought it was relative

22:27

to a heart attack or some something going

22:30

on. Obviously something happened but. The. Seriousness

22:32

of it after all of the tests may

22:34

be less than what it was, but. Thankfully.

22:37

He is that is okay and we'll see

22:39

when he gets back out of the hospital

22:41

and more and then but more importantly but

22:43

eventually gets back onto the field. So good

22:45

news where I'm gonna go off. Run down

22:47

here for a Ac Milan three three draw

22:49

away to Saw swallowed they rotated because they

22:51

have one eye on that Europa League quarterfinal

22:53

second leg against Roma which means Christian posts

22:55

have been started. came on as a subs

22:57

most a did starting got an assist. Good.

23:00

Good I mean, but it. It

23:03

doesn't change the fact that Musso is still

23:05

looked at as a substitute or a starter.

23:07

When the quote unquote starters are there and

23:09

then you, they know elevated to do you

23:11

know in the Darby Wesson. Mckinney started for

23:13

the second straight game. To me when a

23:15

new sub. Not good.

23:18

Not good for him, but. And.

23:20

Like. These.

23:24

In. Where we were, I was. There. Was

23:26

a job I can't remember her name, but I just

23:28

was reading about earlier over there in the end of

23:31

your cell. a player who's been a good the team

23:33

for four months isn't playing or whatever and and on

23:35

once trades and all that kinda stuff. and yeah, you

23:37

only have one career and it's finite and you want

23:39

to be in places where you're playing and so you

23:42

have to balance. Is

23:44

this a situation that's not going to get

23:46

better? Or is this a situation where if

23:48

I work harder it will get better. And

23:51

I think for all of these players that we are talking

23:53

about whether it's way or must have a got, they're going

23:55

to have to balance that the summer as to find out

23:57

if it's time to move on. Or you know what, I

23:59

do see an opening. And maybe it's me

24:01

or maybe system passage of time that

24:03

contains what's going on. At. Dropping

24:05

nana level to city be than etsy with a

24:07

to know home and over but as shirt ten

24:09

test been with both goals when as and near

24:11

the top of the table are trying to get

24:13

themselves promoted to Syria which would give us more

24:15

Americans and the Italians have what. It

24:17

it. Would as long as ten or

24:20

test been in this case? Certainly this

24:22

is obvious. Is looked at

24:24

as one of the players that

24:26

brings them up. But. We

24:28

all know Marcy that when you often times

24:30

when you're promoting into a new league and whether

24:33

it's Wrexham funny that or anybody else out

24:35

you also looked down the line at what you

24:37

had and even what brought you there. And

24:39

you don't always dance with the ones that branch

24:42

in that they make changes. The upgrade. Obviously the

24:44

have more money to be able to do that

24:46

kind of stuff, but. From. Attain

24:48

assessment priest perspective. I think that they would

24:50

at if they were to come up. I

24:53

think that they would look at him as

24:55

somebody that could continue in Cydia, Sean Sullivan

24:57

Valonia evidently being linked with him. And speaking

24:59

of Sean Sullivan, this match was played in

25:01

Venice, a city shown or not visit during

25:03

his honeymoon in Italy. Too

25:06

bad because it's it's one hobby sees him

25:08

seizing city but it's also an amazing little

25:10

stadium that they have right there. just still.

25:12

Nestled. In to the the, on to

25:15

the city and then the canals there. it's

25:17

really interesting thing. Have you ever get a

25:19

chance to look at it from a birds

25:21

eye view type of thing? It's it's it's

25:23

just it's right there spot. Parking. At

25:26

we go to the Netherlands next this past

25:28

weekend Psv. what a six know when over

25:30

of a test in the Eredivisie. A Pepe

25:32

did not play due to injury destined. Tillman

25:34

did Tillman score to go on a play

25:36

that originated with. a desk cross as

25:38

so lot a conversation. X. About the

25:40

league Tillman, why can't he reproduces club form

25:42

for the national team? Very good for Psv,

25:44

but he's been kind of disappointing for the

25:46

Us. Who. May because he plays

25:49

for Psv. In. The.

25:51

Area is yea and that's. a

25:53

completely different circumstance and situation than

25:56

when he gets with be with

25:58

the national team but You

26:00

know all things being equal. Yes, you

26:02

obviously we want him scoring. He is

26:04

doing that but It's

26:06

very possible that he becomes one of those players that

26:08

from a club perspective He's able to do it and

26:10

then when he puts on that jersey Things

26:14

just change maybe they change tactically maybe

26:16

they change physically maybe they change Mentally,

26:19

whatever it ends up being but peppy's agent didn't

26:21

say anything this week, right? Are we good with

26:24

that? He is he uh, I haven't Seen any

26:26

fresh comments. Okay. Good. All right. Well, he peppy

26:28

probably, you know said hey cool it

26:30

you're killing me over here PSV could

26:32

clinch the title on Thursday, by the way Next

26:35

up you wait for Champions League quarterfinal

26:38

second legs this week on Tuesday Barcelona

26:40

will host PSG Barcelona with a 3-2

26:42

aggregate lead Alright,

26:45

so I have PSG going through I'm gonna

26:47

want to change it after the first leg

26:49

That's I still have them but Barcelona's

26:51

got to be feeling it right now after that first

26:54

first leg went away Yes, I think

26:56

Barcelona will go through Dortmund

26:58

you're changing that right? Didn't you did you have

27:01

Barcelona? Well, whatever. Okay, but it's okay. You can

27:03

change it I don't recall. All right. I'm

27:05

gonna stay PSG Dortmund host applied

27:07

to Comodrid Dortmund looking to overturn

27:09

a 2-1 deficit. I Don't

27:12

think that they overturn it. I think as lettyco finds a

27:14

way. I think they get ugly

27:17

in the most beautiful sense and Ride

27:19

it out. I agree I think it's

27:22

let to go go through then Wednesday in

27:24

Munich Bayern host Arsenal 2-2 on aggregate We

27:27

just talked about when it comes to the Bundesliga and

27:29

all eggs in this basket for Bayern and yet They

27:32

all seem to be saying don't worry when we go

27:35

to this. Well, it's going to be full

27:40

But I am going to say that Bayern

27:43

Munich Find a way out of this

27:45

and they were really good in that first leg So

27:48

they have to be bullied coming home right now. So

27:50

by uncle through I do lean Bayern as well after

27:52

Arsenal lost this past Weekend as I mentioned, I think

27:55

this could be a wheels coming off moment for them

27:57

So I think they get knocked out in the Champions

27:59

League as well And then Manchester City

28:01

hosts Real Madrid. It's 3-3 on aggregate.

28:05

What do they call it? Banan appeal type of

28:07

situation here after what we just talked about and

28:09

the the glee even though it might not be

28:11

outward might be inward in terms of what happened

28:13

with the EPL situation on the weekend you think

28:15

that they Talk about

28:17

Man City come in overconfidence Perhaps

28:20

but I think they're the better team there at

28:23

home De Bruyne and Kyle Walker expected back after

28:25

the Unsick So

28:28

I do favor City to advance. I'm with you.

28:30

I'm with you. Okay cool. Well that should be

28:32

fun to see what else? Very

28:35

quickly. We also have the Europa League quarterfinal second

28:37

legs AC Milan will go to Rome trying to

28:39

overturn a 1-0 deficit You've got a

28:41

Tlanta looking to protect that 3-0 lead at

28:43

home against Liverpool That's stunning result last week

28:45

Leverakusen away to West Ham looking to protect

28:47

that 2-0 lead and Benfica up to one

28:50

on Marseille going to France to protect that

28:52

Lead so should be a fun week of

28:54

European action Awesome awesome Can

28:57

I just circle all the way back to the beginning just

28:59

for a second to try the question to you because I'm

29:01

always Curious what you think and a question to our viewers

29:04

Leon Bailey, right? We've been watching

29:06

him for years Is

29:09

he from a CONCACAF perspective? Where

29:11

is he in terms of how he has done

29:13

this year when you start ranking in with Christian

29:15

ballistic and others out there? How high would you

29:18

put him? Would you say he's the best remember?

29:20

He missed the Nations League Final Four for disciplinary

29:22

reasons I mean he's got some problems off the

29:24

field But yeah, and overall it hasn't

29:26

made the impact with Jamaica that I would

29:28

have expected, you know A Premier League star

29:31

you figure is gonna go to CONCACAF and

29:33

be on a different level and it hasn't

29:35

quite played out that well I'm talking specifically

29:37

about Europe specifically about playing in from

29:39

a club perspective. Oh, I think he's a good

29:41

player. Yeah Would you rank him

29:43

ahead of? What he's

29:45

doing from a club perspective. Would you rank him ahead

29:47

of Christian police? No, I would you rank ahead of

29:50

Western McKinney? No,

29:52

I think those two guys I would put ahead of him. All

29:54

right, let's take a break when we come back We got

29:56

some MLS action football

30:00

fans Joel Klatt here and over on

30:02

my podcast the Joel Klatt show we

30:04

discussed the best teams players and storylines

30:06

in all of college football any questions

30:08

then send them in to the Joel

30:10

Klatt show mailbag and I'll answer them

30:12

tap the banner to follow the Joel

30:14

Klatt show on Spotify. Okay

30:17

welcome back all sorts of interesting action when

30:19

it comes to MLS and stateside here where

30:22

should we start Moss? The

30:24

big one sporting KC hosted Inter

30:26

Miami at Arrowhead Stadium more than

30:28

72,000 on hand the fourth largest

30:30

crowd in MLS history and they

30:32

were treated to a good show

30:35

Inter Miami 132 messy with

30:37

a lovely assist Diego Gomez and in

30:39

a sensational strike Suara scored as well

30:41

Tommy got both SKC goals what a

30:43

game. Not

30:45

just an incredible game but an incredible

30:48

moment and you know the

30:51

competition on the field was great

30:54

was enjoyable was fun to watch

30:56

was competitive was back and forth

30:59

the environment as you mentioned was as

31:01

good as it

31:03

can get as far as I'm concerned

31:05

72,000 people in old

31:07

Arrowhead Stadium yours truly used to play back

31:09

there in front of a couple thousand people

31:11

it is a cavern but when 72,000 people

31:15

show up you know that's

31:17

that's what you that's what you want

31:20

and obviously there

31:22

were a lot of messy fans there was a lot

31:24

of pink in the stands but that's okay that's uh

31:26

you know that's what messy arguably greatest player ever to

31:28

play the game will do and

31:30

consistently has done and

31:33

as we speak speaking of consistently

31:35

messy once again when all

31:38

the cameras are on him when all

31:40

the eyeballs are on him he

31:42

delivers and not just delivers but delivers

31:44

in a way that makes you go

31:46

ooh and ah and

31:49

all of those people that bought tickets for this

31:51

game and so many people that either aren't sporting

31:53

KC fans or aren't even soccer fans necessarily because

31:55

it was an event you just had to be

31:58

there if you were from Kansas City and into

32:00

any kind of sports or any kind of popular culture,

32:03

they were given multiple

32:05

moments of

32:07

messy magic. And

32:09

keep in mind this is coming off of a disappointment for Inter

32:11

Miami in the Concap Champions Cup,

32:14

a game in which down in Mexico,

32:16

Messi did not show up. Well, he

32:19

showed up here, as did his friend Suarez.

32:21

And so it was almost a

32:24

perfect night, except

32:26

you probably would switch around the home

32:28

team winning and Messi losing because you

32:30

got your Messi fix, but the home

32:32

team, which actually started out well, couldn't

32:35

end up finishing off. Peter Vermees

32:37

and Sporty Case say lose at home in front of

32:39

72,000 to Inter Miami. And

32:42

there was a playing out of the back moment in that

32:44

game that will revisit in the Ask Alexi segment. We

32:47

will. And you know, again, I want

32:50

to kind of give people a

32:52

little bit of perspective as to how far

32:55

we've come because I often get either

32:57

questions or comments thrown on me about where

33:00

we are, where we're going and all that.

33:03

You know, I remember playing for

33:05

back then it was the Kansas

33:07

City Wizards. They had gone

33:09

from the Kansas City Wiz to the Kansas City

33:12

Wizards. And keep in mind, this is the first game

33:14

in Arrowhead Stadium since I think 2008. They

33:19

finished in 2007, 2008-ish and then they moved into the

33:21

baseball stadium and then into Sporting

33:27

Park. And the rest is history from

33:29

a place of their own. But

33:33

all of that is to say is you've come

33:35

a long way, baby, as the saying goes. And

33:38

Kansas City proved that

33:41

they are a soccer city. I

33:43

think this is a wonderful harbinger of things to come,

33:45

especially relative to 2026. And

33:48

what it can be and ultimately what

33:50

it is. So congratulations to everybody there for

33:53

putting on a show. Even though

33:55

the home team didn't win, again, you got

33:57

a lot of people into that tent that maybe have

34:00

not been there ever before. And

34:02

many of them will not stay in that

34:04

tent, but some will stay. And in that

34:06

sense, it's a really good thing what

34:09

happened there. With the quarterback over there

34:11

for the Chiefs of Kansas City, Patrick

34:14

Mahomes, I saw him meeting Messi, wouldn't

34:16

take off his sunglasses or anything like that. But

34:18

that's how that dude rolls and

34:21

everything. So everybody wants a moment

34:25

with this incredible player. Again, people that aren't

34:27

even into soccer, but obviously he's into soccer,

34:29

especially with his wife and the NWSL situation

34:31

that they have going on. Does that bother

34:34

you, people that keep their sunglasses on during

34:36

social situations? I think it's a little weird.

34:38

Yeah, I think it's I

34:40

want to look into somebody's eyes. And

34:43

if you're outside, but this was

34:46

I think in the in the locker room area,

34:48

something like that, it was a little weird, you

34:50

know, and I get it, you don't want to

34:52

have that moment and maybe you have a sunglass

34:54

sponsor that you're working for. But yeah, take off

34:56

your sunglasses, man. Come on. Atlanta,

34:59

Philadelphia, also great game finished to all

35:01

the goals in the second half. Rios

35:03

and Wiley scored for Atlanta, then Ura

35:05

and Wagner scored for Philly. Some interesting

35:08

officiating stuff at the end of this

35:10

game. The second Philly goal originated from

35:12

what Atlanta thought was an illegal throw

35:14

in. Then Philadelphia had a

35:16

go ahead goal. This allowed for a

35:18

very tight offsides decision that stood up

35:21

after a VAR review because VAR

35:23

did not spot a clear and obvious error. More

35:25

on that in a second. And then there was

35:27

also debate as to when the match ended when

35:30

the referee blew the final whistle when one of

35:32

the teams was attacking. But to go back to

35:34

that Philly disallowed go ahead goal, again,

35:37

it was because there was no clear and obvious error.

35:39

We played this clip at the top of the show.

35:41

We're going to revisit it. Here was Jim Curtin addressing

35:43

this concept of clear and obvious. Yeah,

35:47

look, I don't want to make this about a

35:49

referee thing. But again, what is clear and obvious

35:51

even mean, right? What's clear and obvious to me

35:53

might not be to the next human. So yeah,

35:57

a lot of millions of people watch. Two

36:00

and a half men I think it's the dumbest show

36:02

ever it's clear and obvious to me that it's terrible

36:04

But everyone watches it. So maybe I'm wrong, you know

36:06

So we can go on and on what clear and

36:08

obvious means again, not a referee

36:10

rant at all. Just more of a technology

36:16

Man I I love Jim Curtin

36:18

so much for so many different reasons And if

36:20

you've listened to this show for any length of

36:22

time You will know that I stole the virtues

36:24

of him not just as a as a coach

36:26

very good coach But also just as a wonderful

36:28

human being and an interesting human being and

36:31

I love that in his

36:33

wonderful dry But incredibly

36:35

humorous way. He does point out the

36:39

reality of the situation and that it is still

36:42

Subjective now keep in mind. This is

36:44

a Philadelphia team that came

36:46

back in this game and You know,

36:48

that's actually a knock on Atlanta

36:51

for going up by the way again

36:53

in front of a huge crowd 40

36:55

plus thousand again for all of you

36:58

almost haters out out there Another

37:01

big crowd, but they were not rewarded in

37:04

that they were up should have been three points Atlanta

37:06

should have not only gotten three points but been the

37:08

first team to actually beat Philadelphia

37:10

this year, but Philadelphia just comes

37:12

right back and to Jim Curtin

37:15

Curtin Jim Curtin's point even

37:17

was going for the winner there and While

37:21

I know it's not a according to him a referee rant.

37:23

It is kind of a referee Rants

37:26

and I love the way he way

37:28

he framed it and it would not

37:30

have surprised anybody if Philadelphia ultimately Had

37:33

found a way to get a win because

37:36

they once they started coming they did not

37:38

stop and Atlanta had no answer whatsoever for

37:42

For Philadelphia, but again kudos to

37:44

Jim Curtin for giving us a

37:46

wonderful clip for giving us a

37:48

wonderful quote a wonderful bite there

37:50

That we can use talking about

37:52

the reality of the situation We

37:54

still have human beings as much

37:56

technology that we have we still

37:58

have human beings running this technology

38:00

and they are there with their baggage

38:03

and their history and their bias and

38:05

ultimately they are making a human subjective

38:07

type of analysis and

38:09

decision especially relative to this

38:12

you know quote-unquote clear and obvious type

38:14

of situation. Do you think he's talking

38:16

Charlie Sheen era or Ashton Kutcher era

38:18

of two and a half men? Interesting.

38:20

I am with him in

38:22

that I watch it and

38:25

it was ubiquitous especially when it comes to reruns

38:27

and you can still find it there now but

38:29

it was much more just kind of like background

38:31

noise. I didn't say oh my god

38:33

two and a half men are on I got

38:35

to go watch it so I get

38:37

what he's saying. I don't think he cares what

38:40

form it ultimately took but

38:42

incredibly successful and to his

38:44

point for a lot of people it's

38:46

clearly and obviously a great show. Moving

38:49

on the LA Galaxy with a 3-1

38:51

away win over Vancouver all the goals

38:53

in the second half Jovalich scored to

38:55

make it 1-0 Galaxy then Brian White

38:57

equalized then the Galaxy retook the lead

38:59

on a sensational goal. Poosh with a lovely through

39:01

ball to paint so and Diego

39:03

Fagun is late. The Galaxy back atop

39:05

the Western Conference. So

39:08

we talked earlier about Messi and

39:11

he had a goal and an assist

39:13

and there was a lot of oohing

39:15

and ahing over Messi's assist and

39:18

you know maybe we've come complacent

39:20

to it and we

39:22

just expect it. I

39:25

think that not

39:27

only is Poosh's pass

39:30

better but

39:32

I think it deserves more

39:35

praise. Ultimately

39:37

this is a win Ricky

39:39

Poosh we've talked about how good he is

39:42

and at times over the last couple years he's

39:44

been the only good thing when it comes to

39:46

the Los Angeles Galaxy and now they've made the

39:49

changes they are while

39:51

they're solid defensively certainly not on set pieces

39:53

that still remains a problem but this is

39:55

a team that finds ways to win and

39:57

again this is a team that went. to

40:00

a difficult place against what in

40:02

2024 is a difficult team and

40:05

found a way to come out winners through

40:07

a number of different efforts including Ricky

40:09

Poosh with just a splendous ball that

40:12

cuts out three or four people. He sees

40:14

it in the back of his head. If

40:16

Messi had hit that, people

40:18

would be oohing and awning at a whole

40:20

other level. Yeah, so

40:22

right now enter Miami atop the East

40:25

and the Galaxy atop the West. One

40:27

final game, St. Louis 1-0 home win

40:29

over Austin, Brazil and Juván Closse were

40:32

the only Goa Singles pick up just their second victory of

40:34

the season. This is

40:36

only their second victory. Well, we knew

40:38

there was going to be an obvious regression

40:40

and they weren't going to come up and

40:42

surprise anybody. I'm talking about St. Louis now

40:45

and Austin continues to be hot

40:48

seat city when it comes to Josh

40:50

Wolf and what is going on there and this is

40:52

not going to help. But

40:55

this might kick something on when it comes

40:58

to St. Louis with Closse who at times

41:00

has been in, at times he hasn't. This

41:02

is what they needed. Again, the environment there

41:04

looked wonderful and yes, it was a soccer

41:06

specific stadium. So in this weekend of 72,000

41:09

and 40,000 here or there, this

41:12

was just a regular, if you will,

41:14

sell out type of situation. But the

41:17

good folks of St. Louis got to go

41:20

home with the home team winning thanks to

41:22

Closse. That is it. All

41:24

right, let's take another quick break. When we come back, it's time

41:26

for Ask Alexi. Okay, welcome back.

41:28

It's time for Ask Alexi, that part of the show

41:30

where you send in your comments, questions and concerns. You

41:32

can do the old social media

41:35

platforms out there using the hashtag Ask Alexi.

41:37

Keep in mind that our handle on social

41:39

media is SOTUwithAlexi or you can call into

41:41

our State of the Union podcast hotline which

41:43

is 657-549-2297. And listen, keep it brief. All

41:45

right, you want to get on the show?

41:53

The best and the easiest way to do it is

41:56

don't bore us, get to the chorus, Keep

41:58

it brief. All, we're getting some

42:01

long diatribes here and it's just impossible for

42:03

producer shown to edit and so we end

42:05

up having to pass you by even what

42:07

you're trying to say something good, it's it's

42:09

okay. you can rehearse, Just write

42:11

it down even I don't care. But.

42:14

Just. Just. You. Know what

42:16

I'm talking about your the other thing

42:18

is for those that.download the show and

42:20

you see us in your feed. You

42:22

will have noticed that there are additional

42:24

elements now and your feet were calling

42:26

them best Lights which is basically as

42:28

it says it says little bites of

42:30

the show and ends up being and

42:32

five to ten minutes we take out

42:34

of a of a show. I know

42:36

that there's lot of you out there

42:38

that listen to it from start to

42:40

finish and we we love that you

42:43

do that and so this will just

42:45

be a refresher. A repeat. What? They're also

42:47

others out there that might want. Like we said,

42:49

just a nice little. Appetizer

42:52

if you will and so we appreciate those

42:54

the you the do listen to those and

42:56

we just thought we'd make those are available

42:58

out there for up for people that are

43:00

bringing it down on the on the feet

43:03

up. Must see What do the people want

43:05

to know? This show. First. Up

43:07

a question x add ritter asks just

43:09

starting in getting an assist. Positive development.

43:11

What is alluding to is this past

43:13

weekend in the Premier League Nottingham Forest

43:16

played to to to draw against Wolves.

43:18

Geo did make his first start for

43:20

Forest played about seventy minutes, played well

43:22

and that himself on assist on a

43:24

corner which he took and Morgan Gibbs

43:26

white headed and so I would say

43:29

definitely a positive development a couple. First

43:31

off let's go specific to the Kosher

43:33

because we have talked about the inefficiency

43:35

vet as good as crew. Simplistic. Is

43:37

it is and maybe his achilles heel?

43:40

Is. This set pieces and just

43:42

the consistently. Bad

43:44

said pieces and so. Is

43:47

going to play a bigger from a national

43:49

t perspective on the field. There. Has

43:51

to be. I. Think a.

43:54

Real. come to jesus moment as to who was

43:56

going to take those so it was nice to see

43:58

him not only Gio Reyna not only

44:01

get on the the squirky with an assist there

44:03

But to do it in that fashion which could

44:05

possibly help the us national team going

44:07

forward now You don't need me to

44:09

tell you that Gio starting and Gio

44:11

playing after what has been an absolutely

44:14

abysmal Time in terms

44:16

of this loan to forest is

44:18

a good thing. Yes. It's a good thing

44:21

Does it change who Gio

44:23

is as a player? No, does

44:25

it change I think how forest in

44:27

general look at him going forward? No

44:31

I think they have gotten plenty of looks at what

44:33

Gio is and what Gio is and I think that

44:35

they have made the determination Long

44:37

ago that this is not somebody for the long

44:39

haul. This is not somebody that they want to

44:42

What that they want to count on he's

44:44

a good player to them I don't think they look

44:46

at him as a as a great player and this

44:48

is just going to grind out to the end but

44:52

if if in that grinding

44:54

Gio Reyna is getting playing time

44:57

Obviously, that's a that's a

44:59

good thing. But again, I don't think that

45:01

this is fundamentally changed the the

45:03

way Gio's um

45:06

time here at forest Is

45:08

is has gone certainly but is going

45:10

to go on a sour note

45:13

Bormuth played to a 2-2 home draw

45:15

against Manchester United this past weekend. Tyler

45:17

Adams sat out again with back spasms

45:20

Oh my gosh, I mean I

45:23

just I feel bad for him In

45:26

that he is obviously literally suffered physically

45:28

now for the last You

45:30

know year and a half Um with some

45:32

serious injuries and again, we don't know how

45:34

connected Literally connected in terms

45:37

of his body. These injuries are And

45:40

I just hope they are being overly cautious

45:42

With him and making sure That

45:45

he is as good as he can possibly be before getting

45:47

him back out on the field and it's probably It's

45:50

probably killing him and I i'd be interested

45:53

To know if there was a moment when this

45:55

happened or if there's just this something thing that

45:57

is chronic with him That he just wakes

45:59

up as people that do have bad back problems

46:01

do sometimes you either put yourself in the wrong

46:03

position or you wake up one morning and it's

46:06

just it's just not happening. Next

46:09

up not really a question we'd like you

46:11

to address a back-and-forth you had on X.

46:13

Oh okay. The context here is last week

46:15

you were very frustrated with the mistakes playing

46:17

out of the back that Columbus and Inter

46:19

Miami made in CONCACAF Champions Cup play and

46:22

fast forward to this weekend SKC

46:24

made a mistake against Inter Miami which led

46:26

to a Luis Suarez goal. You

46:29

posted the clip of the play and then

46:31

added sarcastically the romance of playing out of

46:33

the back. Yeah. Some guy

46:35

named Dubsaholic said you're the

46:37

dad at Youth Soccer Games screaming just boot

46:39

it and then you replied

46:42

you're the dad at Youth Soccer Games

46:44

screaming about XG zone 14 and calling

46:46

everyone mate while giving a sideline lecture

46:48

on your recent life-changing trip to Anfield

46:50

and why Rexxum spending is so romantic

46:52

all while wearing a tracksuit with Samba's

46:55

but I love you. Yeah

46:58

caught me in a moment there. Okay

47:01

so a couple of things here when

47:03

I talk about playing out of the back

47:06

it's it's not that I can't

47:09

see the beauty and

47:11

yes I will use the word the romance

47:14

of playing out of the back when

47:16

it is done correctly. In

47:20

this day and age and and again to

47:22

what's his name Dubsaholic all right he

47:24

took it to a youth soccer

47:26

type of discussion and that

47:28

was not what I was saying by any stretch of

47:31

the imagination. As you know Masi as I've said time

47:33

and time again I have very little time when it

47:35

comes to youth development in terms

47:37

of entertainment and performance. I

47:39

have plenty of time when it comes

47:42

to how important it can be for

47:44

ultimately making the professional players that make

47:46

up the professional teams that then I

47:49

am commenting on which is what I

47:51

was commenting on here and so if

47:53

and when there are teams that

47:56

are like I said

47:58

idealistic And romantic. Mans it.

48:01

And. The. Farthest thing

48:03

from pragmatics. And

48:05

they want to die on that playing

48:07

out of the bats hill at the

48:09

professional level that are selling tickets are

48:11

on television. And it doesn't

48:14

work outs. Yeah,

48:16

I think the day. I

48:18

think that it's fair for them to

48:20

come in to criticism, and I know.

48:23

That. The risk reward. Balance

48:26

that existed back in the eighties and

48:28

nineties, and even then the early aughts.

48:31

Has fundamentally changed. And

48:33

there is a whole segment of. Coaches.

48:36

The whole segment of players And a

48:38

whole segment of fans. That. Acceptance.

48:43

And. Yet. Ultimately, it's

48:45

still about winning. And

48:48

there is nothing gets that from swimming.

48:50

And so you can be as romantic

48:52

as you possibly once in a my.

48:55

My clap back here at Dubs

48:57

A Holick was. Again,

49:00

And. Evidently he's a coach. And

49:03

so thank you. Drop the hall at first and

49:05

foremost for. Your. Time and your

49:07

energy. And your patience. Let's be honest,

49:09

For. Coaching young players out there

49:11

now you obviously. Are

49:14

a double take of playing out of the back

49:16

which is great of money and we have a

49:18

style. this is what's you. This is what you

49:20

want to do and is in that moment when

49:22

your team is playing out of the back. And

49:25

they lose the balls often times

49:27

in very. Dangerous areas and it

49:29

comes right back down their throat and you lead

49:31

into gold. You might say yes, but I'm taking

49:34

the long term approach and it's okay because if

49:36

they do it enough they're going to be individually

49:38

and collectively at a level where when they get

49:40

to that next level their be able to do

49:43

and it's not going to be that biggest thing

49:45

I. I just think it's

49:47

really interesting, and I think at times

49:49

it's incredibly frustrating. That. It

49:51

has become such. A

49:53

norm and such. and such. Something

49:56

to cling on to in terms

49:58

of your credibility in a. In

50:00

terms your romance even at the highest

50:02

level and yet individually and collectively we

50:04

are seen. Teams and players do it

50:06

that don't have the capacity to do

50:09

it. And that's. I.

50:12

Think is problematic and that I think

50:14

is worthy of of criticism. So you

50:16

continue doing what you're doing over there.

50:18

I do hope that you are letting

50:21

your players play. And. That's why

50:23

you know I buy see time and

50:25

time again that there is a new

50:27

generation of American soccer coach out there.

50:30

That has been so indoctrinated.

50:33

That. He or she is out there spouting all

50:35

these platitudes and all of these. Bugs.

50:38

Words and jargon out out there when half

50:40

the time they have no idea what the

50:42

hell they're talking about or no idea what

50:44

they actually mean. but it's just done to

50:46

make themselves look good in front of others,

50:48

or to make themselves feel good. And.

50:52

In all the the thing about the aesthetic and

50:54

all I kind of stuff I apologize to the

50:56

people out there when it comes to Sambath. I

50:58

will say that while I love Adidas and I

51:01

was a partner full of Adidas for years and

51:03

I still have friends that work at Adidas and

51:05

they are still very very good to me. I

51:07

do think that summers are ridiculous Shoe. And.

51:10

Ah, I know that they are now

51:12

iconic, and I know that in the

51:14

soccer world. Often. Times they

51:17

are ubiquitous, but. I.

51:19

Don't think that they look good. I don't think

51:21

that they feel good and I. Can't

51:23

for the life of me realize. Ah,

51:26

or understand how they become so. But.

51:29

There's one sponsorship down the drain but I

51:31

do love you. Dubbed the hall X I

51:33

and thank you for being a coach out.

51:35

there are is a of from a ask

51:37

Alexi standpoint that said make. A

51:40

fuss Alec kids you I listen. Let's

51:42

say let's finish this up here with

51:44

the one for the Road As the

51:46

end of are shown at the end

51:48

of each and every show I give

51:50

you my one for the road Must!

51:52

Ah Arfa. Good friend Gianni Infantino has

51:54

been knob visiting our shores. So much

51:56

so that's the see Actually showed up.

51:59

And. Gave a presentation evidently

52:01

at the MLS owners meeting right

52:03

here in Los Angeles last week.

52:05

Is that true? Correct

52:08

and in that presentation He urged MLS

52:10

to think big and bold and because

52:12

you've used that exact same language on

52:14

this podcast We've deduced that he must

52:16

have gotten that from you. Well the

52:19

Titans of Industry and the leaders

52:22

and the Power brokers

52:24

and the king makers if you will out

52:26

there they all listen to the state of

52:28

the podcast We know that they want

52:30

to be informed. They want to be

52:32

entertained and let's be honest They

52:35

want they want their content

52:37

generated for them whether it's public or

52:40

whether it's private here You

52:42

know, I joke But

52:45

what Johnny and Fantino is saying to them

52:48

is something that yes, I've said all

52:50

up for Last couple

52:52

of years, but I'm not alone

52:54

There's plenty of people that are talking about this

52:56

ramp up to 26 and

52:59

also let's be honest Johnny Infantino is not

53:01

telling the MLS ownership in that situation Anything

53:04

that they don't know It

53:06

is coming from Johnny Infantino and

53:09

obviously Johnny Infantino and FIFA have a

53:11

vested interest in The

53:14

next five years. Let's say in the United

53:16

States what's going on and beyond and

53:18

so there is a power and a weight to

53:20

Johnny Infantino talking to the

53:23

MLS owners while

53:25

Johnny Infantino has power and while I like

53:27

that he's saying things that are music to

53:29

my and many others ears and Echo

53:32

what we are talking about and what we are

53:35

Desperate for and begging for I'm

53:39

not sure that it is going to change

53:41

anything Maybe a little bit and

53:43

even if it's just planting a seed. I'm

53:45

good with that We saw that there were some

53:47

rule changes not even close to what I

53:50

or Johnny Infantino or others would want But as we said

53:52

before we love to spend other people's money However,

53:55

this constant beating of this

53:57

drum. I think is good

53:59

because Because I do think that there

54:01

are plenty of MLS owners there that

54:03

do want to do something big and

54:05

bold relative to 2026. And

54:08

come this off season, I would expect more

54:10

things to happen. And come next summer and come next

54:12

off season leading up to 2026. And

54:15

yes, I know that the circus

54:17

will leave town, but Johnny

54:20

Infantino is absolutely right.

54:23

Because this is a moment that

54:26

needs to be captured. This is a

54:28

moment that is ripe for doing big,

54:30

bold things in the game. And to

54:32

the victor will go

54:35

the spoils. And the spoils are

54:37

this American soccer culture that once again

54:39

is not only going to come together,

54:41

but it's going to come together in

54:43

a way that we have never seen

54:45

before. And that tent that we

54:48

talk about so much is so much bigger,

54:50

but can accommodate so many more. And

54:53

when that circus does leave town. What

54:57

are you going to be left with? Well, I

54:59

think it's going to depend on the big, bold

55:01

things that you did leading up to it. And

55:04

so thank you, Johnny Infantino, for saying

55:06

what a lot of us have been saying and

55:08

saying it to the people that do have the power to

55:11

make changes and to do big, bold things. Plus,

55:13

you've got to know him a little bit through

55:15

FIFA events, correct? So he's

55:17

an interesting dude with an interesting pathway.

55:19

And look, anybody that's in that position

55:23

is and has to be very intelligent,

55:26

has to understand politics

55:28

and obviously is a

55:30

part of a politician. And

55:34

but you also have to, you know, I think

55:36

be able to be with

55:38

people and to interact in a personal

55:40

level, they get people to

55:42

trust you. And again, I don't agree

55:44

necessarily with everything that Johnny Infantino has

55:47

done, but you have to respect his

55:50

longevity, the

55:52

things that he has done to better

55:55

FIFA and the

55:58

fact that he is willing to spend time. on

56:00

something like Major League Soccer. I don't think he

56:02

has ever addressed Major League Soccer before, but as

56:05

this emerging, I think

56:07

he would look at it as this emerging asset

56:09

in the world of soccer, I think

56:11

it was smart politically. I think it

56:14

was smart long-term in terms of the

56:16

thinking of what FIFA is going. We know that

56:18

FIFA has offices coming to the

56:20

United States, obviously beyond 2026. And

56:22

I think he can see how

56:25

the United States as

56:27

a soccer nation is going to be

56:29

more and more important to FIFA and

56:32

to the world of soccer going forward.

56:34

But it requires big, bold

56:36

action and big, bold thinking.

56:39

Perhaps we can get him on the pod one of these days. Yeah,

56:41

that would be cool. I think he would do that. He's

56:44

an interesting dude, speaks a bunch of different languages and

56:47

obviously has traveled all over the world and seen a

56:49

lot about what's going on with soccer on and off

56:51

the field. Speaking of this pod, I'll

56:53

end on this today. We usually record at 9

56:55

a.m. on Mondays, but the studio was occupied today

56:57

at that time. So we were given the choice

56:59

of 7.30 a.m. or noon. And

57:03

before you had a chance to answer, I jumped in and

57:05

said noon. So you kind of went along with it. Are

57:07

you okay with that decision? How did this feel taping at

57:10

this time today? It's okay, I'm a early guy. You would

57:12

have liked to have gotten it out of the way. Yeah,

57:14

I like to, you know, up and at them. I like

57:17

to get things going. I don't like to sit around and I

57:19

don't like to sleep. It is awkwardly in

57:22

the middle of the day now where I couldn't do

57:24

anything in the morning and now it's cut into the

57:26

afternoon, but nevertheless, I'm probably gonna go get lunch now.

57:28

As long as you are accommodated, I am happy. There

57:30

you go. I mean, this is what we should be

57:32

doing when it comes to this show. Thank

57:35

you, thank you to everybody for reviewing and

57:37

downloading and subscribing and doing all the different

57:39

things that you do. Continue to send in

57:41

your comments and questions using the hashtag Ask

57:43

Alexi or to our State of the Union

57:45

podcast hotline. Again, 657-549-2297. Thank

57:50

you to Jim Curtin for making us laugh

57:53

so wonderful, open and segment

57:55

during the show. He's

57:57

wonderful. We will talk to you again later on this

57:59

week. And until

58:01

then, and as always my friends,

58:03

sighs.