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1:00

is up all of you good to great listeners?

1:02

This is a quick message before the episode

1:04

starts from your favorite host of the show

1:06

not named Chuck or Big Tones. That's right,

1:09

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listen up, when we dig into the Spotify

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1:52

please take a moment to help us get

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2:00

Hi, hello, and welcome to

2:03

your favorite If We Were

2:05

Hot Sauce Packets. Mile to

2:08

Medium show, call it what

2:10

you want. I'm Jimmy Conrad

2:12

alongside Charlie Davies and

2:15

Chuck No, Tony Miola.

2:17

Because apparently, I'm putting

2:20

air quotes up for

2:22

people listening on the

2:25

podcast. His computer needs

2:27

to update. Chuck, Chuck,

2:30

I don't, is he trying to dodge

2:32

the show today? I don't know. I don't,

2:34

I don't remember the last time

2:36

I heard a computer needing 90

2:39

minutes to update. What, I have

2:41

questions about what computer, is this

2:43

the computer from the 90s, like

2:46

early 90s, is this, you know,

2:48

from around maybe 94 World Cup?

2:50

I don't know, but we, we

2:53

need to get Tony a new computer

2:55

maybe. Yeah. Maybe he must be using

2:57

one of those from yeah back then

2:59

where he has to it's like 50

3:01

pounds and he got to carry it

3:04

around There's not even laptops anymore. Yeah,

3:06

I'm curious. We're gonna have a big

3:08

conversation here about gambling about Syria and

3:10

gambling and maybe tones just wanted to

3:13

dodge it Maybe he's involved in the

3:15

ring. I'm just it's all speculation. Who

3:17

knows? Oh my god now I mean

3:19

all makes sense now. Oh geez the

3:21

dots are connecting well Should we

3:23

have a special guest coming on, but

3:25

before we bring them on, let's give

3:27

some context as to what we're going

3:30

to talk about. Because right now, our very

3:32

own Weston McKinney has a role

3:34

in this illegal gambling probe. That's

3:36

that's happening, Chuck. And I'm going to

3:38

give a little bit of an overview.

3:40

Okay, so some current and former Syria

3:43

players have been named in an investigation

3:45

regarding an illegal online betting

3:47

ring. There's some notable players

3:49

in this. Sandra Tan. He had a

3:52

10-month band. He's at Newcastle now, he's

3:54

back playing. Nikolo Fajioli for event to

3:56

see the seven month band. They were

3:59

actually those. who were betting on games,

4:01

Serie Aa games of their own clubs.

4:03

So that's what they got stung. But

4:05

the other names are on held D'Maria,

4:07

Leandro Paredes, Alessandro

4:09

Florenci, Nikolo Zaniolo,

4:11

Weston McKinney, Matia Paren, Raoul, Raoul

4:13

Belanova. There's a junior Firpo who's

4:15

at Leeds right now. I mean,

4:17

there's a lot of, a lot

4:19

of guys. Now here are the allegations, Chuck.

4:22

They allegedly these other players

4:24

placed bets non-on non-football

4:26

football sports. an online poker

4:28

through illegal platforms. That's important

4:31

to note. It is very

4:33

important to know because

4:35

initially, and when you're, you're,

4:37

I think, grouped in a bunch

4:40

of players, with a bunch

4:42

of players, especially Sandra Tanale,

4:44

that you're involved in perhaps betting,

4:46

you immediately go to, oh my

4:48

god, he's betting on games, right?

4:50

So let's, let's clear that he

4:52

was not betting on matches. He

4:55

was not. He was not. He was not.

4:57

My favorite part of the story

4:59

was that there was a Milan

5:01

based jewelry store, Elysium, who suspected

5:04

a facilitating money laundering

5:06

by disguising gambling bets as

5:08

luxury watch purchases. They basically

5:11

like if they owed 40 grand, they would

5:13

go to the store and just get a

5:15

receipt from the store saying they

5:17

bought a watch for 40 grand,

5:19

but actually they didn't receive any

5:21

watch. They just got the receipt

5:23

to try to cover their. their

5:25

asses as it were. Yeah, that's

5:27

interesting. It probably felt really clever

5:29

at the time, but those those guys

5:32

got stung. Now, speaking of this, give

5:34

us some more. You always get stung

5:36

in the end. All yes, it's it's

5:38

always gonna come back. Come back around,

5:41

baby. Well, we have a special guest.

5:43

He is all things. Saria off of

5:45

the athletics. His name is James Horn

5:48

Castle. He's currently working on a book about

5:50

Roberto Bajio. Can't wait to read to read

5:52

to read that. We're sorry that big tones

5:54

Tony Mueller is not available. We know that

5:57

he gives some special insight here because he's

5:59

I love a lover of Syria and

6:01

A.C. Milan in particular. And we

6:03

know that you have written a

6:06

book about A.C. Milan. So you

6:08

guys would have a lot of

6:10

connections here in a lot of

6:13

different ways. But let's talk about

6:15

this probe. And from the U.S.

6:17

men's national team perspective, we're concerned

6:20

for West and McKinney. How concerned

6:22

should we be? Well, I think

6:24

Chuck was absolutely right to point

6:27

out that, you know, from what's

6:29

emerged, you know, Mcenny has not.

6:31

bet on football. And so, you

6:34

know, if we go back to

6:36

what happened, you know, sort of

6:38

18 months ago now, when this

6:41

guy for Britzio Carona, who is

6:43

like a Papadazzo, you know, who

6:45

basically, you know, Italy is the

6:48

place where Papadazzi is from, you

6:50

know, the guys who are outside

6:52

the restaurants, taking photos, you know,

6:55

getting celebrities, you know, a number

6:57

of football players who've been sort

6:59

of betting and they've been caught

7:01

up in this investigation and he

7:04

started naming them some of some

7:06

of them he was wrong about

7:08

and but the ones the ones

7:11

he named with Nikola Fajoli and

7:13

Sandra Tonali and you know what

7:15

had happened was there was this

7:18

investigation by by investigators in Turin

7:20

into just illegal betting websites okay

7:22

so it wasn't even football focused.

7:25

And these investigators in looking into

7:27

these sites, they looked at the

7:29

users and they were, okay, there's

7:32

some pretty high profile names here.

7:34

And so when they were outed,

7:36

the Italian Football Federation basically said

7:39

to these investigators, can we have

7:41

a look at the evidence you've

7:43

got? And Tanali and Fajoli were

7:46

banned because they were found to

7:48

have bet on football. Okay. This

7:50

is different with with McKinney. Yeah,

7:53

there's a separate investigation that has

7:55

been launched on the basis of

7:57

what these investigators in. found. And

8:00

the other investigation is in Milan,

8:02

which, you know, as you were

8:04

saying, Jimmy, is where there's this

8:06

jewelry store, okay, where, you know,

8:09

it's alleged that, you know, players

8:11

with gambling debts would go to

8:13

this store and they would pay

8:16

down these debts and it would

8:18

be disguised as payment for a

8:20

watch, which they would never receive.

8:23

Okay. And so the Milan investigators

8:25

were looking into this. They got

8:27

hold of some of the evidence

8:30

that had been gathered in Sharon

8:32

and it's it's it's there where

8:34

from the WhatsApp groups that were

8:37

on the for example the the

8:39

phones of the players They see

8:41

that there was a poker game

8:44

and it's it's these poker games

8:46

where you know it's alleged that

8:48

Western McKinney was along with some

8:51

other team teammates involved in that

8:53

poker game. So If you think

8:55

about it in these terms, you

8:58

know, under the rules of the

9:00

Time Football Federation, you know, that

9:02

is not punishable with a ban,

9:05

you know, so that's fine. The

9:07

issue here is that, you know,

9:09

if you guys want to play

9:11

a poker game, if you guys

9:14

want to place a bet on

9:16

the NBA playoffs or whatever, you

9:18

go to a bookmakers or a

9:21

casino that is licensed, you know,

9:23

by the state. and that sort

9:25

of thing, and you do it

9:28

that way. You don't do it

9:30

with an illegal site, for example.

9:32

And I suppose that the threat

9:35

of this story, you know, in

9:37

terms of its reconstruction by these

9:39

investigators in Milan, is that Sandra

9:42

Tanali, his sister. It's alleged was

9:44

friends with kind of a referee

9:46

who, you know, only until this

9:49

weekend, was referring to youth team

9:51

games and referring in the third

9:53

division in Italy. And this guy,

9:56

it's alleged, introduced Tenali to this

9:58

illegal bet. site. And you know,

10:00

Fajoli, when he was banned, you

10:03

know, he claimed that Tonali had

10:05

introduced him to this betting site.

10:07

And that's how this... He said,

10:09

it wasn't me. Hey, I wasn't

10:12

the one who brought it here.

10:14

It was him. It was him.

10:16

Yeah. But Chuck, the thing that's,

10:19

that's, that's, that's really, I have

10:21

sympathy for, for, for McKennian, you

10:23

know, even though, sort of sort

10:26

of... Yeah, these players, it's alleged

10:28

we're using this illegal sites, which

10:30

they shouldn't have been doing. Where

10:33

I have sympathy here, and this

10:35

is the new line that these

10:37

investigators have brought forward in Milan,

10:40

is that, you know, Tanali and

10:42

Fajoli, it's alleged, were put on

10:44

the pressure by the guys who

10:47

are allegedly running this site to

10:49

bring their teammates onto these illegal

10:51

sites. And... It's alleged that if

10:54

you bring in more business for

10:56

us, we'll take a percentage off

10:58

your gambling debt. Okay. And there

11:01

was this there was one quite

11:03

alarming kind of message that appeared

11:05

in this this document. So last

11:08

week, I think it was the

11:10

investigators in Milan went before a

11:12

judge and said, look, we want

11:14

to we want to take this

11:17

investigation to the next step. Here's

11:19

the evidence we've collected so far.

11:21

And there was a message between

11:24

one of these alleged illegal bookies

11:26

to Fajoli saying, can you get

11:28

Wes to play other games on

11:31

these sites? Oh, hell no. He

11:33

was set up. It's an inside

11:35

job. This is crazy. So, so

11:38

thankfully it doesn't look like, you

11:40

know, Wes did anything other than,

11:42

you know, play poker. But that's

11:45

been the real kind of, that's

11:47

been the new thing that's come

11:49

to light, I suppose, over the

11:52

last few days, is the apparent.

11:54

pressure. Fajoli and Tanali were under

11:56

to kind of bring others onto

11:59

these onto these sites. With this

12:01

new information coming to light, James,

12:03

are Fajoli and Tonali possibly heading

12:06

for another suspension? Is that is

12:08

that a possibility? And in terms

12:10

of Weston McKinney's involvement, allegedly he

12:13

just played poker. What what type

12:15

of penalty is he looking at?

12:17

and what type of fine, what's

12:19

the maximum, what's the minimum. And

12:22

for me, it just seems like

12:24

poker is part of, you know,

12:26

being a professional with your friends,

12:29

it's a normal way of life.

12:31

I remember being, you know, at

12:33

my apartment in various times of

12:36

my, throughout my career, you're alone.

12:38

Is this alleged? Are you actually

12:40

admitting this? I was playing poker.

12:43

If you're admitting this, we might

12:45

have to, on real sites, on

12:47

not these, these fake sites, but

12:50

you know, what does that look

12:52

like for, for Weston going forward?

12:54

Well, I mean, let's, let's start

12:57

with the, your first question that

12:59

shock about, like, Tunali and Fajoli.

13:01

I mean, so they've already served

13:04

bands. Okay. Yeah, Fajoli. put in

13:06

a plea bargain, which meant his

13:08

ban was shortened, and he came

13:11

back towards the end of last

13:13

season, was even called up for

13:15

the Italian national team and participated

13:17

in the European Championships. Tanales happened

13:20

a little bit later, it meant

13:22

he missed pretty much all of

13:24

his first season at Newcastle. He's

13:27

back. Now there's a rule that

13:29

under this under a plea bargain,

13:31

you know, you can't be tried

13:34

for the same offense twice. Okay.

13:36

unless sort of new developments come

13:38

to light. So whether this is

13:41

considered new enough to reopen a

13:43

case, you know, that's not for

13:45

me to say. But, you know,

13:48

under those plea yeah, there is

13:50

usually the understanding that you can't

13:52

be, you can't be tried again

13:55

for something that's already been heard

13:57

within that kind of sporting disciplinary

13:59

commission that was held by the

14:02

Italian Football Federation. So that's one

14:04

thing. With, with, with McKinney, and,

14:06

um, yeah, the, the other players

14:09

in this, in terms of, we've

14:11

already talked about how, you know,

14:13

as long as you're not found

14:16

to have bet on football, You're

14:18

fine. You're not going to get

14:20

a sporting section in this. In

14:22

terms of what this case that

14:25

has been brought forward by investigators

14:27

in Milan, if you're found to

14:29

have used an illegal betting site

14:32

on that's not been authorized by

14:34

the state, the gambling commission, that

14:36

sort of thing. It's usually punishable

14:39

by a fine. And that fine

14:41

is usually pretty small, you know,

14:43

really. So, you know, it's not

14:46

a great look. if it comes

14:48

to that, but at the same

14:50

time, it's not going to stop

14:53

Western McKinney playing football and continuing

14:55

his career. So I think that's

14:57

the main thing. He's got to

15:00

get a gambling sponsorship to play

15:02

in the World Series of Poker,

15:04

where it's legal. Just get them

15:07

in the World Series of Poker.

15:09

Chuck, I mean, the interesting thing

15:11

about this is in Italy, like

15:14

a few years ago, they brought

15:16

in this thing called the dignity

15:18

decree decree, right. where, you know,

15:21

kind of betting sponsorship is outlawed

15:23

in sport. So, you know, overnight,

15:25

a lot of teams in said,

15:27

yeah, they're front-of-shirt sponsors was a

15:30

betting company. Right. And that all

15:32

of a sudden was outlawed. And

15:34

so clubs had to then go

15:37

and find, you know, sort of

15:39

new sponsors. Some of those were...

15:41

were crypto firms and other things

15:44

like that. Let's be honest, this

15:46

is another version of gambling, right?

15:48

Hoping, hoping that something works out.

15:51

What does this mean for kind

15:53

of the perception of Syria? because

15:55

it feels like, you know, with

15:58

Juventus getting stripped of some titles,

16:00

there's just like, it always feels

16:02

like, ah, there's always something going

16:05

on with Sarion. And I appreciate

16:07

that they're gonna try to root

16:09

this out, but also I think

16:12

it kind of maybe extends a

16:14

stereotype that they wish they didn't

16:16

have. Yeah,

16:19

I suppose that's true. I

16:21

also think, and this was

16:23

a point that was raised

16:25

over the weekend, like, you

16:27

know, there has to be

16:29

some responsibility when it comes

16:31

to like the reporting about

16:33

this, because, you know, it

16:35

does feel sensational. And it's,

16:37

you know, been on the

16:39

kind of front pages of

16:41

the newspapers in Italy. And,

16:44

you know, Fageoli put out

16:46

a statement on Instagram saying,

16:48

look, man, I've kind of

16:50

served my time on this,

16:52

you know, like, you know,

16:54

I've done my ban, you

16:56

know, and there is a

16:58

double standard when it comes

17:00

to kind of the empathy

17:02

and the sympathy that his

17:04

case brought up because, you

17:06

know, he underwent therapy for

17:08

addiction. And this all being

17:10

sort of not rehashed, but

17:12

essentially being, you know, right

17:14

in the eye of the

17:17

storm. again. And I think

17:19

the issue in Italy is

17:21

this word cultural scomete, which

17:23

literally means football betting. It's

17:25

a very loaded term in

17:27

Italy. You know, like in

17:29

the 1980s, you know, it

17:31

was associated with, you know,

17:33

match fixing scandals. That's not

17:35

what this is. And, you

17:37

know, in, in, in, in,

17:39

in, in the cases of

17:41

the players that are not

17:43

called for Jolie and Tonali,

17:45

yeah, betting wasn't done on

17:47

football. It's, it's about, you

17:50

know, in their case, it's

17:52

about poker game. So it's,

17:54

yeah, on the one hand,

17:56

it's, it's not helpful to

17:58

the image of Italian football.

18:00

I do think, you know,

18:02

hopefully we've explained the

18:04

situation better. And so,

18:06

you know, people can

18:08

see it for what

18:11

it is, really. And

18:13

I think there needs

18:15

to be more awareness

18:17

around gambling, and that's,

18:20

you know, that's something

18:22

that... That's something

18:24

that Fajoli has said, that's something

18:26

that's obviously Tenali, you know, as

18:28

part of those guys plea bargains

18:31

back when they were banned. You

18:33

know, they had to go and

18:35

do a lot of community service

18:37

work, you know, be it speaking

18:40

at youth clubs with youth football

18:42

players, going to schools, talking about

18:44

their own experiences. And, you know,

18:46

I think that ultimately... Yeah

18:49

that more of a spotlight needs to be

18:51

put on that and more work really needs

18:53

to be doing that because as you guys

18:55

say in your downtime when you're not playing

18:57

when you're not training you know when you're

19:00

not rehabbing an injury when you're not

19:02

traveling like you know you're competitive guys

19:04

what are you what are you what are

19:06

you gonna do well you want to be

19:09

smart too right James it's like I don't

19:11

want to leave my apartment and you know,

19:13

be around other temptations or so I want

19:15

to be smart and stay inside. What do

19:18

I do to keep myself going? So

19:20

you're playing video games and next thing

19:22

you know, you're playing for $20 a

19:24

game. You're, you know, you're playing bingo.

19:27

Sorry, let's say like a board game.

19:29

Bingo. I don't know. I said bingo.

19:31

I was thinking a janga. 20 dollars

19:34

a game in Jenga. You know I

19:36

remember doing that with Clint Dempsey in

19:38

the hotel room. I think this my

19:41

statue of limitations is up so I

19:43

can I can go in now about

19:45

all these little gambling things we did.

19:47

But you're you're playing cards, you're

19:49

doing these things that is fun

19:52

light harder but you always also

19:54

want to compete like that doesn't

19:56

leave you. So I think it's

19:58

it's interesting to see how Italy. are handling

20:00

betting and I think it's because

20:02

maybe of all the past incidents that

20:05

they just want to eradicate it

20:07

and educate before trying to have

20:09

some sort of balance where you're

20:11

seeing MLS now in England they

20:13

have they're trying to set up

20:16

betting booths in the stadium right

20:18

so I think comparing those

20:20

to the just a position

20:22

is crazy but I think

20:24

Italy have a lot of

20:26

work and I'm happy that

20:28

they're starting to kind of progress

20:31

and help the

20:33

players understand what

20:35

they're getting into. I would

20:37

say Italy on a range

20:39

of different things is not

20:42

afraid to tackle these issues,

20:44

you know, like, yeah, like

20:46

very high profile. things that for

20:48

example in in the UK in

20:51

the Premier League that happen between

20:53

the league and the clubs

20:55

involved and it stays behind

20:57

closed doors until the matter

20:59

is resolved. Yeah in Italy a lot

21:02

of these things are leaked

21:04

before they're resolved you know

21:06

and that's that's that's an

21:08

often a very it leads

21:10

to you know, obviously a

21:13

week of fierce relentless press

21:15

and spotlight on whoever is

21:17

allegedly involved. But then, you

21:19

know, that's the preliminary of

21:22

an investigation. It's not, you know,

21:24

it's not the conclusion of investigation.

21:26

So there's cultural differences, you know,

21:28

and a lot of people I

21:31

think, on the one hand, it's

21:33

always... as a journalist, it's great

21:35

to have a scoop like this.

21:37

You know, on the other, these

21:39

things should never get out until

21:41

they're, until they've been handled by the

21:44

authorities that are there to handle them.

21:46

Right. All right. So last question, James.

21:48

Before we let you go, we'll end

21:51

on a more of a lighter note.

21:53

Let's talk top four in Syria. You

21:55

got inter on top of 71 points,

21:57

Napley, and second on 68. Adolanta. had

22:00

a bit of a drop-off losing

22:02

three straight before finally winning a

22:04

game this past weekend. They're on

22:07

61. Juventus on 59. Bologna 57.

22:09

Lazio 56. Roma, 54. Fiorentina, 53.

22:11

And then Milan, 51. Who do

22:13

you think actually finishes the top

22:16

four? Then who wins the Schedo

22:18

as the Serie-out champion? Okay,

22:21

so I think inter will be

22:23

champions. I think the only kind

22:25

of spanner in the works there

22:27

is how far they go in

22:30

in champions, they can cooperate. I

22:32

think they can go all the

22:34

way in all of those competitions.

22:36

I think they think the treble

22:38

is on that good. You know,

22:40

behind them, I think, you know,

22:42

Napoli, despite their win on Monday

22:45

night, yeah, they haven't really taken

22:47

advantage of the fact that they're

22:49

not in any other competition. They've

22:51

been... They haven't put enough pressure

22:53

on inter, I think, since the

22:55

spring. They've dropped too many points.

22:57

They'll still be there or thereabouts,

22:59

but I think intera, a class,

23:02

still a class above. And then

23:04

it gets really interesting. Yeah, there's

23:06

a lot of teams or two

23:08

more. Can Roma do it? Can

23:10

Claudio Renieri end? That would be

23:12

amazing. I hope so high on

23:14

Roma with Claudio Renieri and the

23:16

energy and just, I want, he

23:19

said, I mean, he's been pretty

23:21

adamant that. He's finished after the

23:23

season no matter what. So can

23:25

he go out like getting them

23:27

European glory? I mean, you know,

23:29

I love the fact that this

23:31

dude came out of retirement to

23:34

rescue his old club, you know,

23:36

he had his grandkids on his

23:38

knee, he was going to travel

23:40

around the world, see bits, because

23:42

you know, as athletes, she gets

23:44

to go to lots of different

23:46

places, but you don't get to

23:48

see them, you know, because you're

23:51

on the bus, you're in training

23:53

grounds, he really wanted to see

23:55

the world. I mean, it would

23:57

be a great way for him

23:59

to go out. I think it's

24:01

still too big an ask. I

24:03

think Yeventis sacked Yaga Mata at

24:05

the right time, and I think

24:08

they will get into the top

24:10

four. And then, Atlanta were really

24:12

wobbling. you know, until the weekend,

24:14

and I would have backed Bologna

24:16

to make Top Four again. And

24:18

I kind of still fancy them.

24:20

So I think my top four

24:23

is going to be internappily event

24:25

to some Bologna. Wow, that is

24:27

a shout. We're going to hold

24:29

you to that. James Horton Castle,

24:31

everybody. Phenomial. Serial writer from the

24:33

Atlantic. Brilliant debut. Amazing, amazing. And

24:35

we can't wait to read your

24:37

book about Robert Obaggio. We know

24:40

that it takes time to to

24:42

to... make any type of art

24:44

but that'll be a lot of

24:46

fun to read so we appreciate

24:48

your time again James Horncastle we're

24:50

gonna take our first break when

24:52

we come back we're getting into

24:54

more the good stuff because that's

24:57

what we do on your favorite

24:59

average a good show model studios

25:01

thunderballs will take the world by

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store there's some big right out

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there and you're gonna help me

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stop it us why you got

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some place to be on May

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2nd Avengers you're gone no one's

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this. Marvel Studios Thunderballs. Only theaters

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may second. Get tickets now. Ready

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PG-13. Some material may be inappropriate

25:24

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your customers are. Visit shopify.com to

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upgrade your selling today. What's up

25:50

Jimmy? How are you? Special guest.

25:52

Special guest. I'll sneak in here.

25:54

I can't really hear you. A

25:56

little bit, I can hear you.

25:58

It was... Okay. What's

26:01

up, man? So Benny, how are you

26:03

doing? I'm doing good. Yeah, how's it

26:05

how's it being in the studio? You

26:08

enjoying it? Yeah, it's a lot of

26:10

fun. Charlie came and crashed our studio,

26:12

so I figured I'd crash your guys's.

26:14

That's so sweet. Yeah, shout out to

26:17

Benny. He would do you talk about

26:19

gambling earlier. Oh, man. Like cards, money.

26:21

When Lee was trying to take all

26:24

our money playing poker. We were poker

26:26

advocates from... We started it, man. We

26:28

watched rounders and all that stuff. Ooh,

26:31

rounders is good. That's a good movie.

26:33

Hey, Charlie, you know I used this

26:35

room for my LAFC podcast with Max

26:38

Preto's yesterday. Oh, nice. Yeah. Well done.

26:40

Who was nice? Benny owed $10,000, I

26:42

remember. Lee win. I'm going to let

26:45

you guys get back to it. All

26:47

right, thanks Benny, we appreciate you. We

26:49

appreciate you. Call it what you want,

26:52

Jimmy. Call it what you want, or

26:54

as Johnny Bornstein would say, call it

26:56

what it is, which is our favorite

26:58

renaming of our title. Call it what

27:01

it is. By the way, shout out,

27:03

I see a comment here, NW 45

27:05

23, big derbie win for Hamurby this

27:08

weekend. Massive. Whenever we beat you garden

27:10

in the Alspensken, massive, so yeah, well

27:12

done, let's go. And yes, I love

27:15

Bingo. I don't know where Bingo came

27:17

out. That was amazing. Gengo the whole

27:19

time, but yeah, Chuck Bingo Davies. The

27:22

last, the last week and a half,

27:24

we've gotten new nicknames. I got red

27:26

dot for the, the MLS next new

27:29

protocol. And now you're Bingo. And now

27:31

look at this. Doo. Hey, we're be

27:33

winning. Did you bet? Can you? I'm

27:36

not, I'm not a bet. I don't

27:38

bet on sports. I just, I never

27:40

found it to be. Or it just

27:42

gets you highly emotional. You can't stay

27:45

rational when you're putting money on games.

27:47

All right, so the comments and the

27:49

topic we're gonna get into for this

27:52

segment is about Giorana. Bruceia Dortman have

27:54

given this young man, he's only 22

27:56

years old, permission to seek a new

27:59

club. That's never a good sign, right?

28:01

Jimmy? No, it's not. Make it public

28:03

like that. You could do it behind

28:06

the scenes, tell his agent, tell the

28:08

player, hey, hey, I think. We don't

28:10

want this guy to shop him. I

28:13

don't know, maybe that's a tactic. I'm

28:15

sure the club just did it without

28:17

telling him. I don't know. Jorge Mendez

28:20

is the agent for Giorana. He seems

28:22

to have control over a lot of

28:24

stuff. Would you trust him after the

28:26

Nottingham Forest move? Ah yeah, I don't

28:29

know. I don't know. But what is

28:31

he going to do at this point?

28:33

You're going to leave him to go

28:36

somewhere... so you have to leave regardless

28:38

right yeah so what what does everybody

28:40

think in the comments if you're watching

28:43

us live right now in the glosso

28:45

america YouTube channel after you hit like

28:47

and subscribe and share your notifications what

28:50

what what what do you think you

28:52

should go like realistically where do you

28:54

think you should go don't give us

28:57

some pie in the sky all right

28:59

like realistic wrong world i'm gonna go

29:01

first can i can i give a

29:03

pitch for a club i'm gonna go

29:06

first i'm gonna go first i'm gonna

29:08

go first i'm gonna go for all

29:10

right okay okay okay okay Now for

29:13

everybody maybe driving in the car listening

29:15

to this later, fasten your seat belts.

29:17

Okay, because I might have an option.

29:20

This feels really, in some ways, I

29:22

think this could be a really smart

29:24

move. Okay, and everybody's got to hear

29:27

me out. This is a really prolonged

29:29

preface to say that I think he

29:31

should go to the Columbus crew. Now,

29:34

Chuck, hear me out. There might be

29:36

some eye rolls happening. You come back

29:38

to the crew. You play for the

29:41

best. Best coach in the league in

29:43

Wilfernancy. Okay, he he he is very

29:45

good of being adaptable and fluid and

29:47

I feel like he would see geo

29:50

as a project based a project in

29:52

reinstilling some confidence and helping him develop

29:54

a consistent, developing that consistency that I

29:57

think that he needs. Okay, so Wilford

29:59

Nancy, I think that he could build

30:01

a system or he could fit into

30:04

a system that's already in place that

30:06

could play the geo strengths. Okay, when

30:08

that happens, Jimmy? Sure. In what position

30:11

is he playing? I would put him

30:13

at the second striker. Proven the guts

30:15

is formation. That's fine. Then you can

30:18

put him out on one of the

30:20

wings and then done geo. In some

30:22

ways, I use Kucho Hernandez as an

30:25

example for a lot of reasons. One,

30:27

he was playing, Kucho was playing in

30:29

the primary league, came to the crew.

30:31

They're not the same player at all.

30:34

I get that. I'm not saying they're

30:36

like for like. I'm using him as

30:38

a symbol of what's possible, right? And

30:41

you've figured out the best way for

30:43

him to thrive, to thrive in his

30:45

system, right? I mean, Wolford Nancy's a

30:48

teacher first and foremost, so he's gonna

30:50

get him in, get him into the

30:52

system and make sure that they play,

30:55

and he plays to the strengths of,

30:57

and he plays, and he plays to

30:59

the strengths of the team, and he

31:02

plays to the strengths of the team

31:04

as well, right? It's not just all

31:06

roll out the red carpet for Gio

31:09

and everybody to Europe. So he went

31:11

from Premier League to MLS and now

31:13

in La League with Real Betis, where

31:15

he's starting. It's not like he's just

31:18

a bench player. He's starting in contributing

31:20

in the meaningful way. Gio can see

31:22

it the same way. He comes back

31:25

to the States, he gets his confidence

31:27

going, Marisa Pochitino's a coach that already

31:29

values MLS, okay, no problem there. Okay,

31:32

no problem, and now you're actually playing

31:34

in front of an the 2026 World

31:36

Cup. It just feels like there's like

31:39

there's a lot of, like there's a

31:41

lot of, like, like, like, like, like,

31:43

there's a lot of, like, like, like,

31:46

like, like, like, like, like, there's, like,

31:48

like, like, like, like, like, like, like,

31:50

like, like, like, there's, like, a lot

31:53

of, like, like, like, like, like, like,

31:55

like, like, like, like, But I feel

31:57

like he'd have to go to a

31:59

coach that could really nurture that town.

32:02

in a positive way, and hopefully allow

32:04

him to build that consistency and confidence

32:06

that I think is needed. So that

32:09

feels realistic to me. It's not a

32:11

pie in the sky move. I don't

32:13

know how, with the machinations of MLS,

32:16

I don't even know if that could

32:18

even work, because I don't know where

32:20

the crew fits in the discovery, right?

32:23

So blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But,

32:25

but. Do you see this comment on

32:27

the screen? Yeah. So Nancy

32:30

can't teach Gio how to run,

32:32

which is his problem. Well, so

32:34

listen, running is a choice. So

32:36

yeah, you have to figure out

32:38

a way to get him to

32:41

buy into whatever it is that

32:43

you're doing. And I think Wilford

32:45

Nancy is very good at that,

32:47

amongst other things. So I want

32:49

to address your destination first. Okay.

32:51

Saying within MLS, I think that

32:54

would be a fantastic fit for

32:56

Girena, because they're a good team

32:58

and they're managed by a top

33:00

coach. So. I like Wilfernoncy a

33:02

lot in the way that sees

33:05

the game, what he expects from

33:07

the players. You know, I think

33:09

he's one of those guys that

33:11

can get the most out of

33:13

players because of his approach. So

33:16

I'm with you on that. In

33:18

terms of his positioning, I'm not

33:20

sure if that's the right spot

33:22

given that Wilfernoncy doesn't play with

33:24

a real 10. And so, you

33:27

know, Kevin... Cusack actually with one

33:29

of the comments that we had

33:31

don't I don't want to see

33:33

him on the wing I want

33:35

him see him centrally because he

33:38

likes to roam centrally drift yeah

33:40

of course but you can you

33:42

can unbalance the team that way

33:44

so if he does come to

33:46

MLS I think that would be

33:49

a good spot given the situation

33:51

and the talent and Nazi however

33:53

my pick would be drum world

33:55

brr so like you said Alright,

33:57

like you said. a step back,

34:00

but I think MLS is two

34:02

steps back. So I don't think

34:04

he needs to take two steps

34:06

back. So one step back, he's

34:08

going to IACs. And I think

34:10

IACs, who are top of the

34:13

air divisie, who are starting to

34:15

try and reclaim that dominant era

34:17

in the air divisie, I think

34:19

they are moving in the right

34:21

direction. I love their coach and

34:24

Francisco Farioli. they play young players.

34:26

We know how technically gifted a

34:28

lot of the IX players typically

34:30

are, especially the ones that come

34:32

through the Academy, but Mika Goetz,

34:35

Mika Goetz is a phenomenal player,

34:37

a young Belgian, you know, fits

34:39

gym, right? What about, yeah, I

34:41

love fits gym, more fits gym

34:43

in my life. Phenomial, young talent,

34:46

but they don't necessarily have a

34:48

real creative attacking midfielder. And so

34:50

David Classen has been playing a

34:52

ton, but if he gets into

34:54

IX, one. they're playing champions league,

34:57

so they need more depth. So

34:59

whether he's 100% starting every single

35:01

match or he's sprinkled in starting

35:03

versus coming off the bench but

35:05

still playing a ton of minutes,

35:08

I think being in a good

35:10

system where they're training, where the

35:12

players are encouraged to have freedom

35:14

in the attacking third, I think

35:16

acts would be a great fit

35:18

for geo. And you see some

35:21

of the other Americans who... And

35:23

players period who have come to

35:25

the air divisie to rebuild themselves,

35:27

you know, a Martin Odogard, for

35:29

instance, I know he's younger, but

35:32

came a Malique Tillman now, right,

35:34

so Geneo desk now, they're at

35:36

PSV, Ricardo Peppy at PSV. So

35:38

I think it's good to still

35:40

have some rivalry there with the

35:43

Americans in the air divisie, but

35:45

I think more importantly for his

35:47

development to regain his fitness and

35:49

his his edge because in talking

35:51

to some of the players, he's

35:54

absolutely changed his personality. He is

35:56

a pro and he's he's not

35:58

he doesn't come across as a

36:00

title he's a good teammate now

36:02

but he's lost the edge and

36:05

that comes with the the the

36:07

loss of match sharpness and fitness

36:09

and and health and i think we

36:11

need to see geo back to being

36:13

confident as hell again right being i'm

36:16

the guy i'm i can dribble through

36:18

anybody i can play through anything so

36:20

i i think playing time and playing

36:23

at a high level still getting some

36:25

champions league reps would do wonders

36:27

for georainer for him because of

36:29

all the reasons you mentioned about

36:32

I.X. I wonder though, and this

36:34

is where even, even, I don't think

36:36

Wilford Nancy would just hand him a

36:39

starting position either, right? He's gonna have

36:41

to go out there and earn it.

36:43

Yeah, ask the Juan Jones. Ask the

36:45

Juan Jones, you could trade him for

36:48

him, big trade, Columbus Crew. It

36:50

doesn't really play, doesn't feature

36:52

any way that you would think. Do

36:54

some shit he might not want to do

36:56

and and and have to earn his spot

36:59

and have to fight for it in a

37:01

way that we just haven't seen him do

37:03

consistently Whether he was at forest on

37:05

loan, whether he's at Brescia Dortman There

37:07

always seems to be somebody that's willing

37:09

to do a little bit more of

37:11

the dirty work You know to track a

37:14

run or to you know these little details

37:16

that that went over coaches. We've had this

37:18

conversation before, but but it's about trust if

37:20

I throw Giorana out Giorana out there

37:23

Do I trust him to do what the

37:25

team needs him to do? It doesn't always

37:27

mean, yes, get on the ball

37:29

and do your thing and work

37:31

your magic going forward. But

37:33

there's so many other facets

37:36

to the game that we need you to

37:38

do. And if he's not willing to

37:40

do, then it's going to be hard

37:42

to do, then it's going to be

37:44

hard for him no matter where he

37:46

goes. And so yes, I like the IX

37:48

shout. They have a player who's 22 right

37:51

now. Yeah, he's more of an eight. But

37:53

he's clearly contributing on the attacking side of

37:55

the ball. So he's getting himself in good

37:57

spots to make plays and have goal contributions.

38:00

It looks like he's probably going to get

38:02

sold in the summer to Aston Villa.

38:04

It's looking for like a 30 million

38:06

dollar deal, which would be a great

38:08

signing for Villa. But that would open

38:10

up a spot, or at least an

38:12

area of the field where GO could

38:14

occupy. I'm telling you right now, IX

38:16

would be a great fit because he

38:18

fits the profile of an IX player

38:20

gifted technically and see the field. Yeah.

38:22

And then, you know, it's also there's a

38:24

top team in that league, right. So they're

38:26

going to a lot of all. Yes, so

38:29

it's perfect for him. You have a lot of

38:31

the ball. Yeah, yes. But still, the big

38:33

question mark, and if you're Mauricio

38:35

Pochaccino and evaluating him

38:38

from a national team

38:40

perspective, can you trust this guy?

38:42

And that's that's the same lens you

38:44

should have for all of your players. And

38:46

it gets to, and I was thinking about

38:48

this recently, uh, when when carries the

38:51

magnet has taken over for

38:53

sporting Kansas City, I'll pivot

38:55

really quickly to to a

38:57

personal relationship. I texted Kerry,

38:59

I watched their game, they

39:01

just lost his second game

39:03

in charge at home to

39:05

the Portland timbers. And when I

39:07

watched that game, I thought, he's

39:09

putting out a lot of players

39:11

right now that you hope, that you

39:13

hope have a good game, as

39:16

opposed to knowing that you're going

39:18

to roll out and you see other

39:20

teams around the league or any league

39:22

around the world where you're like, I

39:24

know, I know, I trust. that they're

39:26

gonna pick it up and take care

39:28

of business in these other facets. Okay, maybe

39:30

the crossing's not great or maybe they're not

39:32

holding the ball up great for us, but

39:34

man, they're so good at winning balls back for

39:37

us or being connective tissue in other ways

39:39

or organizing the game, making the game, making

39:41

the game easier for others. They're good at

39:43

the intangible if they're not having what we

39:45

expect them to be good at. There's still a

39:47

level of trust. And I use the sporting

39:49

Kansas City game or I'll even use the US games in

39:51

the US games in the US games in the U.

39:53

Instead of knowing and we need to

39:56

somehow from a US perspective when we

39:58

start to line up for that game and

40:00

I wish Jones was here because

40:02

I had a really good question

40:04

for him about the pressure you

40:06

feel. We can obviously have a

40:08

whole episode on this. Like, okay,

40:10

it's one thing to host. When

40:12

you host a World Cup and

40:14

it's at home, do the pressures

40:16

like times 100. It's one thing

40:18

to have a World Cup or

40:20

a Confederation's Cup and you're playing

40:22

kind of in a different country

40:24

and you feel like you're a

40:26

little bit more of the underdog

40:28

and you can play in that

40:30

kind of mindset. But when you're

40:32

at home. The expectations are a

40:34

lot different. And how does that

40:36

feel? Because that's going to be

40:38

a lot different. So we'll talk

40:40

to tones about that in the

40:42

future. But when it comes to

40:44

this upcoming summer, we have to

40:46

know that our guys, we can

40:48

trust these guys to make plays

40:50

on both sides of the ball.

40:52

And that's right. To bring it

40:54

back to Giorano Chuck, I don't

40:56

know if we can trust him

40:58

on both sides of the ball

41:00

or to trust him to show

41:02

up every single time he steps.

41:04

Can I tell you, can I

41:06

tell you one thing? Can I

41:08

tell you one thing? these guys

41:10

need to be playing. If they're

41:12

playing 90 minutes, no one's going

41:14

to say a damn word about

41:16

Giorana if he's playing 90 minutes

41:18

and his next club. Let's say

41:20

it's IX. Let's say it's IX.

41:22

Let's say IX. Let's say I

41:24

gave a list to our producer

41:26

Dez because I thought a long

41:28

and hard about this scenario. Okay,

41:30

we're going to do that in

41:32

the next segment. Save me save

41:34

that for the next segment. I'll

41:36

say it. But if he's playing

41:38

90 minutes and let's, and let's

41:40

in Europe. There's not going to

41:42

be a question of can he

41:44

do it or will he do

41:46

it? It's he's in the squad

41:48

Right now now it's on Pochitino

41:50

to see does he fit with

41:52

what he wants to do if

41:54

he wants to play a four

41:56

two three one? Guess what? He's

41:58

the perfect scenario for that that

42:00

middle guy in the three so

42:02

For me all I care about

42:04

for the most part is that

42:06

all the players who are selected

42:08

are playing and if they're playing

42:10

They've got to be in fine

42:13

form to earn a spot in

42:15

the World Cup roster. Okay, well

42:17

at the start of the segment

42:19

we mentioned Jorge Mendez. A month

42:21

ago, Giorana actually left Jorge Mendez

42:23

and joined roof sports. So he

42:25

has got a new agency in

42:27

place. A roof sports also represents

42:29

Malique Tillman. So maybe your tie

42:31

to the air to VC is

42:33

the right one. Maybe he'll go

42:35

to a PSV if Malique Tillman

42:37

gets sold. No, no, no, no.

42:39

No, you don't think he'll go

42:41

to PSV? Or any student? No,

42:43

no, no. Absolutely. Don't go where

42:45

there's a number of players in

42:47

that play your position. And for

42:49

me, you want to go into.

42:51

you know, kind of write your

42:53

own course and not kind of

42:55

be helped, you know, with the

42:57

American contingent there, like you said,

42:59

Ernie Stewart, go to a new

43:01

club where, especially if they sell

43:03

Kenneth Taylor, I think it still

43:05

works even if Kenneth Taylor is

43:07

still there. But for me, I

43:09

X would be a phenomenal place

43:11

for him to play. All right,

43:13

we appreciate you and your insight,

43:15

Chuck, and for everybody else chiming

43:17

in on the comments, we're going

43:19

to take our last break of

43:21

call it what you wants. A.K.A.

43:23

call it what it is. When

43:25

we come back, we are going

43:27

to get into Charlie's top five

43:29

Playmakers slash number tens for the

43:31

U.S. Men's We miss you. Toni,

43:33

Niola. This should be fun. And

43:35

we, of course, miss big tones.

43:37

All right, don't go anywhere. We'll

43:39

be right back. Are we still

43:41

on the trail? Is this pack

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getting heavier? You got this that

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44:15

Welcome back in to the show.

44:17

I am here with Chuck Bingo

44:19

Davies. I'm Jimmy Red Dot Conradino.

44:21

And before we get into Chuck's

44:23

top five. American attacking midfielders. Let's

44:25

do some Americans abroad because some

44:27

players did some things in our

44:29

player pool this past weekend. Malik

44:31

Tillman scored his 13th goal of

44:33

the season in all competitions in

44:35

a 501 versus Almer City. Richy

44:37

Ledezma got the started right back.

44:39

Virginia does not in the team.

44:41

Apparently nursing a bit of an

44:43

injury. We'll keep you posted on

44:45

that as we have more information.

44:47

Chris Richards scored his first goal

44:49

the season. That made a two

44:51

zero crystal palace at the Etie

44:53

hot against Man City. I don't

44:55

know if I should tell you

44:57

the final score, not if you

45:00

haven't seen it, but Man City

45:02

came back and scored five goals

45:04

and City won five to two.

45:06

So you told them. I did,

45:08

I did, I did. Sorry, spoiler

45:10

alert. Cameron Carter Vickers scored an

45:12

absolute bombasso from about 25 to

45:14

30 yards out in Celtics big

45:16

five one win his first goal

45:18

the season against Kilmernock. Celtic are

45:20

on the precipice of winning their

45:22

first. It was a very good

45:24

goal. It was a very good

45:26

goal. Very good goal. Jean-Louisio registered

45:28

eight duels, one, four recoveries, and

45:30

a one-zero win for Venezia versus

45:32

Monza. Very important win for Venezia.

45:34

They needed those three points. They

45:36

are still in the relegation zone

45:38

in 18 spot, got six games

45:40

to go. They're trying to catch

45:42

Leche who are right above them

45:44

in 17th. I think that Leche

45:46

have a harder schedule. going out,

45:48

but Vanessa is still going to

45:50

get to need some maybe two

45:52

or three wins, I think, to

45:54

secure their safety in Syria. The

45:56

Christian Pulisic recorded a career high

45:58

eighth league assist in Milan's big

46:00

four zero win versus Udonesse. Unis

46:02

Moussa did not play in this

46:04

game. Chuck, but in fairness to

46:06

him, Samuel Trujouquazzi didn't play in

46:08

this game. I thought Tammy Abraham

46:10

was excellent in this game in

46:12

particular. Raphael Leau decided to have

46:14

one of his best performances and

46:16

Christian doing what he does. Having

46:18

another goal contribution. I don't know

46:20

if anybody else stood out for

46:22

you if you want to talk

46:24

about one of those players, but

46:26

pretty good week for some of

46:28

our guys. Fantastic week. Before when

46:30

I was talking about Giorana, and

46:32

I was saying other clubs that

46:34

I was bringing up, I wasn't

46:36

going to mention the top five

46:38

yet. I was going to address

46:40

the other clubs that I was

46:42

thinking about. I got it. Sorry,

46:44

sorry. So, no, it's okay. And

46:46

for Giorana, I thought, this might

46:48

be a little bit of a

46:50

stretch, but also could be a

46:52

good situation as a Viarreal. about

46:54

to be 36 in a couple

46:56

of days. He is probably moving

46:58

on out and, you know, I

47:00

could see Gio Reina slipping in.

47:02

And the league, I think, is

47:04

a league that speaks to him

47:06

in terms of the pace and

47:08

the way that they play. But

47:10

also, Syria has been talked about.

47:12

So, Como, with Nikopaz, probably going

47:14

back to Real, says Fabregas, is

47:16

a fantastic young manager. I think

47:18

we talked about that just as

47:20

a range of the game. It's

47:22

to see if Seth Fabagas is

47:24

going to be a Como himself.

47:26

I mean, he could give coach,

47:28

you know, and Fiorentina could be

47:30

another spot for him. Yeah, you

47:32

know, Palidino, a young coach. So

47:34

they're pushing conference league. It could

47:36

be in, you know, if they

47:38

win that competition over Real Betis

47:40

and Chelsea that it could be

47:42

in your upper league, so it

47:44

could also be a good spot

47:46

for them, but I just, I

47:49

think we, I think we, I

47:51

think we all have the same,

47:53

we all have the same, for

47:55

Girena, which is, we just want

47:57

you in a good situation where

47:59

you're playing, back to playing, and

48:01

so you can enjoy the game

48:03

and hopefully get your edge back

48:05

so you can, you can contribute,

48:07

be a key contributor. I think

48:09

in best case scenario for the

48:11

US men's national team next summer.

48:13

Yeah. I also, from Ivis in

48:15

the chat, we saw that Adam

48:17

O'Lookman, who is the. influential playmaker

48:19

for Adelanta is also represented by

48:21

roof sports. So maybe Adelanta under

48:23

Gasparini. I hope I hope Gio's

48:25

ready because that guy does not

48:27

care about feelings. You got to

48:29

play, you got to be ready

48:31

to play. Just ask Lukman, he

48:33

scored a hat trick in a

48:35

Europa league final to win the

48:37

competition, and he's getting thrown under

48:39

the bus. Yeah, so we're taking

48:41

that penalty. Ego, you better not

48:43

have an ego going to that

48:45

club, to tell you that right

48:47

now. I actually don't know if

48:49

Gaspini would be the right fit.

48:51

At this particular juncture in his

48:53

career. Okay, let's getting live, please.

48:55

feel free to go straight at

48:57

Charlie Davies, Mr. Bingo himself. Please

48:59

do. So here we go. So

49:01

the way that Mauricio Pucciano played

49:03

before this nation's league, he had

49:05

Christian Polisic Central as a number

49:07

10. Now, I still think he's

49:09

best out wide, but if you

49:11

are going to use him, he

49:13

is the best in terms of

49:15

attacking midfielders for the U.S. Monsanto

49:17

team. So he's number one. Number

49:19

two, I have Diego Luna. He's

49:21

played himself. into this position because

49:23

he's carried that form from last

49:25

season into this season. He's only

49:27

getting better in the attacking third

49:29

for RSL and with the national

49:31

team, he's made a difference. He's

49:33

shown. Hey, with every minute, I

49:35

get, I'm gonna maximize my performance.

49:37

So I absolutely love his shooting

49:39

up the chart. Do you go?

49:41

Yes. Oh, shut up. Number three

49:43

is Malique Tillman. He's coming back

49:45

into form. Obviously his club form

49:47

has not translated well yet with

49:49

the US men's national team, so

49:51

maybe we see him start to

49:53

get some looks there and move

49:55

forward under Pajitino. For Giorana, still

49:57

there. When he's at his. best,

49:59

which we haven't seen for a

50:01

very long time, confident and running

50:03

at players. The thing about Giorana

50:05

is he's so good at running

50:07

at a back line, committing a

50:09

defender to him and slipping a

50:11

ball through. Some players just can't

50:13

see it and he's able to

50:15

see have that vision and execute.

50:17

So some people can see it

50:19

and can't execute. He can do

50:21

both. So, and then the fifth,

50:23

which is is hard to find,

50:25

is Brennan Aronson. So Brennan Aronson

50:27

is the fifth one, he's playing

50:29

consistently at Leeds, but you know,

50:31

in terms of being someone who

50:33

is that facilitator getting on the

50:36

ball, I think that's a, it's

50:38

a tough ask. Yeah, he creates

50:40

international level. Brennan Aronson creates opportunities

50:42

in a different way than these

50:44

other four players. Yeah, his is

50:46

through industry, right? Hard work, and

50:48

and getting himself just being so

50:50

relentless in his energy in his

50:52

movement. that he finds himself in

50:54

good spots and then and that

50:56

at times he can make that

50:58

that final pass or or score

51:00

the goal but it doesn't seem

51:02

to be a maybe as consistent

51:04

or as fluid and smooth as

51:06

maybe some of the other options.

51:08

Oh, that are here. I got

51:10

to address this comment. Oh, John,

51:12

John feels so compelled to say,

51:14

oh, Luna, Diego Luna, did okay

51:16

once. He did. He is the

51:18

Messiah now. And not just once.

51:20

He is the Messiah now. John,

51:22

have you seen the options for

51:24

the U.S. men's national team in

51:26

the creative midfielder role? We're waiting,

51:28

John. I'm waiting for some other

51:30

players that you would you would

51:32

put gladly put in front of

51:34

us. Because Giorana is gifted as

51:36

he is? We're saying currently right

51:38

now. It's not like all-time. Not

51:40

next summer, right now. He's not

51:42

playing, he's not sharp, he's nowhere

51:44

near the georena we saw. through

51:46

mazes in Azteca and make the

51:48

Mexican defenders look foolish. So, is

51:50

that really? In some ways I

51:52

wish that didn't happen because that

51:54

got, that that Maisy run that

51:56

he did, which was, which was

51:58

incredible and the change of speed,

52:00

it didn't actually lead to anything.

52:02

You know, like we ended up

52:04

losing the ball like three seconds

52:06

after he passes it away or

52:08

maybe he ended up losing the

52:10

ball. I can't actually remember how

52:12

it finished, but I do remember

52:14

him pick and you're like. That's

52:16

the guy, but it didn't lead

52:18

to any. And then his, John's

52:20

answer is Weston. Just one name,

52:22

Weston, really? Is Weston a number

52:24

10, John? Best case scenario, Weston

52:26

is an eight. Best case scenario,

52:28

he's not a 10. Yes, so

52:30

yes. He's not attacking midfielder. An

52:32

eight is. And then he threw

52:34

in Paxton Aronson. Okay. Oh, man.

52:36

Go back to the drawing board,

52:38

John. John. It's that, that. That

52:40

is more like in Diego Luna

52:42

in the in the attack in

52:44

midfield role. But I understand, I

52:46

guess there's a really small sample

52:48

size. Let's let's go in fairness

52:50

to John. There's a very small

52:52

sample size with Diego Luna with

52:54

the national team. But what we've

52:56

seen, we have small sample sizes

52:58

in league Tillman as well. He

53:00

hasn't taken his opportunity as well

53:02

as Diego Luna has. Giorana obviously

53:04

a larger sample size, but if

53:06

we're talking about current form. He's

53:08

nowhere near where he should be

53:10

and he hasn't been since maybe

53:12

the last nation's league that we

53:14

had in Dallas when he came

53:16

off the bench and scored and

53:18

and had some assists right he

53:20

was very impactful when he came

53:22

onto the field. We haven't seen

53:25

that version of him in quite

53:27

some time. I hope that he

53:29

gets some minutes actually against Barcelona

53:31

and leg two because they're down

53:33

four zero and he got 22

53:35

minutes in leg one and it

53:37

seems like they trust him like

53:39

you know what? We're going to

53:41

play you, you know, because we

53:43

want to sell you one, but

53:45

two, you know, we have nothing

53:47

to lose. Maybe we're going to

53:49

try and move up the table

53:51

and boondazigas, so we want to

53:53

arrest them guys. Who knows? Yeah.

53:55

nice. I thought about that today

53:57

on the drive-in. I was like,

53:59

hmm. Maybe he plays a little

54:01

bit more today. I hope so.

54:03

And then Tillman, Tillman is been

54:05

playing very well for his club.

54:07

He seems to be picking up

54:09

right where he left off post-injury.

54:11

So yeah, I would put him

54:13

because of that a little higher

54:15

up the list than geo based

54:17

on current form. And then Brendan,

54:19

yeah, I think you could make

54:21

an argument for putting Weston in

54:23

the conversation in the conversation in

54:25

the conversation. pure 10, I don't

54:27

see him as a pure 10,

54:29

he's more of an eight to

54:31

your point. Paxson, I think, would

54:33

fall into the same thing. And

54:35

Brendan, you kind of cramming Brendan

54:37

into that space. He might be

54:39

a better out and out winger

54:41

in a 433 than as a

54:43

number 10, but that's where he

54:45

currently plays for leads. And even

54:47

though he hasn't been as impactful,

54:49

in terms of goal contributions, there's

54:51

still some value that I think

54:53

we can all see that he

54:55

brings to the key that he

54:57

brings to the equation, and he

54:59

brings to the equation. There's not

55:01

a lot of out and out

55:03

pure number tens, Chuck. So I

55:05

think Diego Luna would fit that

55:07

mold a little bit better. We

55:09

even, you started with Christian Poolisik,

55:11

we're cramming him into that conversation,

55:13

even though he's probably better out

55:15

wide. Like you mentioned, because he

55:17

has a lot of gifts that

55:19

lend itself to a number 10.

55:21

And Pochitino's come out and said,

55:23

he's the number 10 that he

55:25

would love to play for us,

55:27

though. I don't know if that's

55:29

gonna be how it's gonna be

55:31

how it's going to be how

55:33

it's going to be how it

55:35

ends up, how it ends up,

55:37

how it ends up, Chuck, and

55:39

I appreciate John for triggering Chuck.

55:41

It only took us a little

55:43

while, but we had a special

55:45

guest on James Ford Castle a

55:47

little bit earlier. All right, so,

55:49

yeah. Go ahead, you want to?

55:51

No, yeah, I think it's important

55:53

to note that I think Pochitino

55:55

is still trying to figure out.

55:57

who his attacking midfielders are and

55:59

what formation he's going to play

56:01

and is he set with one?

56:03

Is he gonna mix it up?

56:05

Does it change if you don't

56:07

have anti Robinson, right? Because Anthony

56:09

is such a unique player and

56:12

someone that we have no, you

56:14

know, carbon copy of. There's not

56:16

a player who can do anything

56:18

what what. anti Robinson gives us

56:20

US sensational team on the left

56:22

side. So providing with the doing

56:24

it both ways, tackling the late

56:26

runs forward, the crosses, I think

56:28

he's a proven player on every

56:30

level. So an excellent player. So

56:32

an excellent player. So I think

56:34

that still remains to be seen

56:36

what that midfield looks like. I

56:38

mean, we had tab and tab.

56:40

Ramos was saying MMA is still

56:42

the best midfield trio. But Unis

56:44

Musa also at this point has

56:46

gone down in terms of his

56:48

performances, nose dive. So how does

56:50

he come kind of get brought

56:52

back up and we know Pochitino

56:54

loves Unis Musa as well? Yeah,

56:56

another shout here from both Dez

56:58

and Ivis in our private chat.

57:00

Mako Mihelovich, Mejevich, has three goals

57:02

and three assists in his past

57:04

three matches for Urican. So. Would

57:06

he be brought back in? I

57:08

don't know, but maybe he should

57:10

have been part. I think he's

57:12

on the same level as Zenday

57:14

has. I see. They're both on

57:16

the same same level. All right.

57:18

Yeah. Okay, last topic. Well, we

57:20

actually have two, but the will

57:22

rip through these. The one is

57:24

Gold Cup dates and locations have

57:26

been set. The US is playing

57:28

Trinidad and Tobago first on June

57:30

15th. That will kick off in

57:32

San Jose at PayPal Paypal Park,

57:34

not too far. will be that

57:36

game. Get it on your calendar.

57:38

That's a Sunday. June 19th will

57:40

be Saudi Arabia versus the U.S.

57:42

in Austin, Texas. The game will

57:44

kick off at 9.15 p.m. Eastern.

57:46

And then three games in seven

57:48

days will be wrapped up June

57:50

22nd, U.S. versus Haiti in the

57:52

2009 Gold Cup. We were down

57:54

to one in that game. I

57:56

was captain that game. Yes, I

57:58

remember. This is my lone national

58:00

team game in my hometown in

58:02

Boston. It was amazing. And Stu

58:04

Holden. hit a banger. He did.

58:06

They had a banger in fairness

58:08

to them to make it to

58:10

one and then Luis Robles who

58:12

we just had on the show

58:14

was in goal for that game.

58:16

So yeah. So and then we

58:18

had Jay Heaps who was playing

58:20

as well, raised the roof, Jay

58:22

Heaps. He was playing. Yeah, lots

58:24

of Jay Heaps. It was a

58:26

full circle moment for me. My,

58:28

you know, my dad took me

58:30

there for my first US Men's

58:32

Ashlandine team to watch. live, it

58:34

was US Mexico, and then here

58:36

I was playing in the US

58:38

Kit in the same stadium. That's

58:40

incredible. That's great. All right, last

58:42

topic, Chuck, because we'll have more

58:44

Gold Cup chatter moving forward. The

58:46

US Open Cup draw is happening

58:48

live on the Golasso network. That's

58:50

Thursday at 9.15 AM Eastern on

58:52

morning footie. Now we will be

58:54

going live right after the show

58:56

ends. for 10 at 10 a.m.

58:59

Eastern. So we're gonna have some

59:01

fresh open cup content to get

59:03

into. I'm excited about this in

59:05

particular. This is my favorite competition

59:07

in the US. I won it

59:09

back in 2004 with big tones.

59:11

So we'll have a lot to

59:13

get. Who's your underdog favorite right

59:15

now as it stands? Underdog favorite.

59:17

Yeah. So not non-MLS team. I

59:19

mean, Sac Republic got themselves into

59:21

a final not too long ago.

59:23

They've got a lot of those

59:25

core guys still there. I know

59:27

Mark Briggs isn't coaching them anymore,

59:29

but there's something about having that

59:31

experience. So I'd give a shout

59:33

out to to Sac Republic as

59:35

a team to keep an eye

59:37

on. But yeah, I mean, what

59:39

I love, this is my favorite

59:41

part about the competition is that

59:43

the lower divisions have a crack

59:45

at that the top teams. And

59:47

so I don't see like an

59:49

MLS next pro team cracking into

59:51

to winning it. But. I thought

59:53

you were going to go with

59:55

your El Feralito, you know what

59:57

I mean? Well, yes, I love...

59:59

I love the story of a

1:00:01

restaurant, of a restaurant. You know

1:00:03

what I love about the El

1:00:05

Farlito story is that it demonstrates

1:00:07

that there's a lot of hidden

1:00:09

town in this country that maybe

1:00:11

didn't have the same opportunities that

1:00:13

other areas of the country have

1:00:15

had. And when given an opportunity

1:00:17

to go up and go toe

1:00:19

to toe with some quote unquote,

1:00:21

air quotes better teams, better teams

1:00:23

better teams. They can hold their

1:00:25

own and not only hold their

1:00:27

own, but what win games and

1:00:29

so I love that and I

1:00:31

love that they we have a

1:00:33

tournament that allows those stories to

1:00:35

exist and and it's a real

1:00:37

shame when this this tournament doesn't

1:00:39

get the shine that it deserves.

1:00:41

How about you have what you

1:00:43

have? Yeah, I have two underdogs.

1:00:45

Well, one. Rhode Island is playing.

1:00:47

Ooh. Portland hearts of pine. So

1:00:49

both of these games, that's a

1:00:51

great game, by the way, that's

1:00:53

amazing. Royanne in their inaugural season,

1:00:55

shout out to Michael Parkers, one

1:00:57

of the owners, and Kano Smith,

1:00:59

the coach, former, former res player,

1:01:01

they get to a final in

1:01:03

their first season. They get to

1:01:05

the U.S.L. Championship final, incredible. And

1:01:07

then Portland hearts of pine. This

1:01:09

is their inaugural season. So it's

1:01:11

a win-win for me. New England.

1:01:13

I think if we're island wins

1:01:15

this game. They could have a

1:01:17

shot to make a good run.

1:01:19

And then on the outside, two

1:01:21

U.S.L. League two, two, one teams,

1:01:23

one Knoxville, Ian Fuller, shout out

1:01:25

to Susanna, Collins, Fuller's husband, playing

1:01:27

to Colorado's spring switchback. That's a

1:01:29

tough one. And then, yeah, Niko,

1:01:31

Nikokantor's team. FC Naples, take on

1:01:33

Tampa Bay Rowdies. Well, yeah, a

1:01:35

lot of the games are happening

1:01:37

tonight and tomorrow in the open

1:01:39

cup. Sac Republic actually plays El

1:01:41

Farlito in Sac tomorrow nights. Portland

1:01:43

Hearts of Pine, Rhode Island kicks

1:01:45

off at 7 p.m. Eastern Louisville,

1:01:48

Louisville City versus. United. That's at

1:01:50

7 p.m. Eastern as well. That'll

1:01:52

be a good game. Yeah, I'm

1:01:54

curious to see how some of

1:01:56

these these teams perform. This is

1:01:58

a big opportunity, right? And they

1:02:00

all want to have a crack

1:02:02

at at the MLS squads when

1:02:04

they get the opportunity. So it

1:02:06

should be a lot of fun.

1:02:08

Glossa network is showing some of

1:02:10

those games too. So make sure

1:02:12

you tune in and find out

1:02:14

which of those games are happening.

1:02:16

But I think you can find

1:02:18

most of them online in some

1:02:20

capacity based on the team that

1:02:22

you follow if it's not on

1:02:24

Galasso network. I love the open

1:02:26

cup. I love talking about it

1:02:28

and I know that we'll get

1:02:30

into it a little bit more

1:02:32

on Thursday show right after the

1:02:34

draws. We get to see the

1:02:36

big matchups between some of the

1:02:38

teams that win over the next

1:02:40

couple days. All right, Chuck, that's

1:02:42

it. Thanks to James Horncastle for

1:02:44

hanging out. I was giving us

1:02:46

some insight on Syria. And everything

1:02:48

that's happening over there, shout out

1:02:50

to our producers, Dez, Ivis, and

1:02:52

Brad for all their love and

1:02:54

help for making the show. They

1:02:56

do great work. By the way,

1:02:58

shout out to Tony Miola's computer.

1:03:00

I'm sure it's, well, it's probably

1:03:02

got 60 minutes left on that

1:03:04

update. So shout out to that

1:03:06

Mac or what is he got?

1:03:08

Is Adele? I don't know what

1:03:10

he has. IBM processor, who knows?

1:03:12

And shout out to Jimmy Conrad.

1:03:14

fits Jim for for a fantastic

1:03:16

job. Oh, appreciate you, Chuck. Yeah,

1:03:18

and I appreciate your, I'll never

1:03:20

forget the shot of bingo about

1:03:22

gambling in my whole entire life.

1:03:24

Bingo. Thanks, hang it out with

1:03:26

us. We'll see you on Thursday.

1:03:28

Later. Survivor

1:03:47

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