0:00

Extra time is exactly how I find

0:02

out find out what's going

0:05

on in the Get lost, get

0:07

lost. Get lost! podcast has influenced me

0:09

a little bit as well. Everybody up

0:11

here! Every single

0:13

day goes into the office,

0:15

into the laboratory. They're trying

0:17

to cook up some great

0:19

stuff for you guys. That's

0:22

why he's here! Wow, from

0:24

New York, New York. You

0:26

are listing to extra time.

0:28

I am Andrew Webe with

0:30

my partner partner in Matt Doyle

0:32

is here. Taylor Taylor be

0:34

here very soon. very The race

0:36

to Sace is over, Doyle. We've We've

0:38

crossed the finish line

0:40

now, fully fully, 20. 20.6 percent.

0:42

of all cups in history belong

0:44

to one team. team. Your past, your

0:46

past, your present, perhaps your future

0:49

The LA Galaxy, Ricky Pooge, and I And I

0:51

quote, kings are the Kings of in the

0:53

air, your jersey in the air.

0:55

Hopefully it has your own name

0:57

on it. the badge, the badge, but

0:59

maybe also the badge, but your

1:01

last name. name is, oh my God. Doyle, fire,

1:03

we have have to stop the show.

1:06

show. There is a fire in

1:08

my basement as this shrine is

1:10

out of out is why, this is

1:12

why this is why forgot, I'm using

1:14

air quotes, air his microphone. So he

1:16

would not have to he would not

1:18

of this. of this. That

1:20

is the sound of oxygen being

1:23

sucked into the into the candles, ass-head the

1:25

Beckham candle going crazy. The going

1:27

candle burnt down to a burnt The

1:29

to Donovan The is just a puddle.

1:32

is just a puddle of wax. It is

1:34

the Galaxy's day, They have their their

1:36

sixth MLS Cup ship. The The facts, 10

1:38

years to the day after they

1:40

won their last one, December December

1:42

7th, 2014. Now, December 7th, 2024, two historic days for

1:44

the two historic days for the

1:47

club. They're back at the mountain Nobody

1:49

Nobody is even within two cups

1:51

of DC hanging down at four,

1:53

the the in a league of their

1:55

own. It's all dedicated to one

1:57

man. to one man. Ricky pouge,

1:59

Doyle. Ricky Pooh, she was ready

2:02

to join the celebrations. We'll talk about

2:04

that in a little bit. Greg Vani

2:06

finally gets one for the Galaxy after

2:08

losing three as a player. Maya Yoshida

2:10

finally wins just a trophy late into

2:13

his 30s. That is an example that

2:15

I envy. I envy deeply. Marco Royce

2:17

realizes Dortmund is awful. It's just a

2:19

terrible place. It's not sunny. You don't

2:22

win championships there. Why not go to

2:24

LA? That's the beautiful place to be

2:26

for yourself for your family for the

2:28

game. And it's also beautiful that we

2:31

now have 75 days until Saturday, February

2:33

22nd. That would be opening day for

2:35

2025. And on one of the opening

2:37

days, Saturday or Sunday, we will see

2:39

the Galaxy, the MLS Cup championship winning

2:42

Galaxy, host San Diego FC. And by

2:44

the way, we'll be in San Diego

2:46

on Wednesday for the expansion draft with

2:48

Kaylin Carr, aka ETR after Dark. E.

2:51

You want a million dollar idea, Eby?

2:53

Give me a $2 million idea. An

2:55

MLS version of the community shield or

2:57

charity shield, whatever they call it now,

3:00

with Inter- Miami playing the galaxy a

3:02

week before, MLS Cup kicks off, or

3:04

MLS season kicks off, so whether that

3:06

be February 15th, you get the sport

3:08

of shield winners. I just said it

3:11

was 20 seconds. All right. 20 seconds.

3:13

So a week before would be February

3:15

15th. No, it's like an idiot. No,

3:17

it's like an idiot. So you got

3:20

the supporter shield winners versus the MOS

3:22

Cup winners with silverware on the line

3:24

a week before MOS regular season starts.

3:26

Feels like a good way to to

3:28

get things underway. I'm already, I'm in

3:31

the content minds, man. It's the MOS

3:33

Cup match up that the mother ship

3:35

won it all along. but

3:38

didn't get Red Bulls. I was written

3:40

for Charlotte v. Minnesota. Oh my God.

3:42

Red Bulls, of course, lose their second

3:44

MLS Cup. We will hit them in

3:46

just a little bit, but we have

3:48

to start as we always do with

3:50

the best thing that we saw from

3:52

the 29th MLS Cup, get us rolling

3:54

to all. Yeah, it was the the

3:56

buildup of the first goal that the

3:58

Galaxy scored. It was picture perfect. It

4:00

was like a Greg V. This is

4:02

how he always wants his team, his

4:04

teams to perform. 15 passes, you know,

4:06

they won the ball up high and

4:08

they played it calmly sort of side

4:10

to side, front to back to front,

4:12

again, playing up through the central channel

4:14

once the Red Bulls got a little

4:16

bit exposed and then a perfectly time

4:18

run from the left wing by Joseph

4:20

Pensel onto with through ball from MOS

4:22

Cup, Cup, MVP, Gaston Brugman. For me,

4:24

This is the type of goal, the

4:26

type of sequence that I go into

4:28

every game hoping to see, like that

4:30

bit of magic that keeps us all

4:32

watching this sport. And the Galaxy put

4:34

it together at home in a cup

4:36

final without their best player. I love

4:38

gorgeous soccer. I love this style of

4:40

game and the Galaxy played a lot

4:42

of it this year and I'm glad

4:44

they saved some of it for the

4:46

final game of the season. If you

4:48

score a goal, if you score a

4:50

goal like that, you deserve to win

4:52

an MOS Cup. 100% now look, Carlos

4:54

Cornell did not cover himself and Gloria

4:56

on that one. I hit the group

4:58

chat immediately after that when the back

5:00

of the net was just like, well,

5:02

the heater is over unfortunately for Carlos

5:04

Cornell. But if you squint hard enough

5:06

to oil. If you just close your

5:08

eyes and barely let a little bit

5:10

of light through, you can imagine that

5:12

Gaston Brugman is actually Ricky Puzh in

5:14

that moment. And the big question of

5:16

this game is, what would the Galaxy

5:18

do without Puzh? Now they did not

5:20

play as they normally do, which is

5:22

entirely through that particular number 10 position

5:24

and Puz drops deep, and he does

5:26

so many of these things, because that

5:28

little one too, it's the change of

5:30

pace that Ricky is so good at,

5:32

it's the ability to create a crescendo.

5:34

when you most need it. And when

5:36

a defense is begging to be ripped

5:38

open, basically, and my God, the Red

5:40

Bulls were basically begging to be ripped

5:42

open there. I mean, Peter Strat and

5:45

Edelman are so far up the field,

5:47

there's acres of space between the midfield

5:49

line and the back line. And all

5:51

of a sudden, when Bruggman plays that

5:53

little one to his surreal, it's just

5:55

him. It's him, and it's a flat

5:57

back line. Joseph Penzel is thinking, I

5:59

can and will get in. And when

6:01

Noah Isla, as I think Taylor Twelman

6:03

really expertly pointed out on the broadcast,

6:05

drops instead of pushes up, not only

6:07

does he keep paint so on, he

6:09

provides all the space, the time, the

6:11

vision, the angle for Brugman to do

6:13

that. And I have been, I don't

6:15

know if Hader is the right word

6:17

for Gaston Brugman, unconvinced that he is

6:19

the right player for this team for

6:21

a while now. And in particular, that's

6:23

when they play him deeper. Yeah, but

6:25

when you play Delgado and Soreo around

6:27

him, all the things that he can

6:29

do on the ball can start to

6:31

come out in addition to an ability

6:33

to be further up the field to

6:35

press to be a little bit more

6:37

of an outlet as well in possession.

6:39

I mean, it was just a great,

6:41

it was a great decision by Greg

6:43

Vani. It was one he said he

6:45

made way early in the week to

6:47

start Gaston Brugman instead of Diego Fagundez.

6:49

and it just it just all worked

6:51

out in that moment but i there

6:53

is one thing that the galaxy really

6:55

screwed up on that plan i don't

6:57

i don't know if you saw or

6:59

realized what it was they did not

7:01

have ricki's jersey where is the poo's

7:03

jersey you can see like in a

7:05

glorious moment for one josep pencil when

7:07

he should be celebrating joyous You can

7:09

see he's looking around and basically furious

7:11

that no one is bringing in Ricky's

7:13

Jersey Doyle. Did you notice this? Oh,

7:15

it was huge on the broadcast. Yeah,

7:17

I wasn't watching the broadcast. So I

7:19

was just like, I'm looking down the

7:21

side on like, help this man. How

7:23

he needs to Jersey? Where's the prop?

7:25

Like, whose job is this? I mean

7:27

that was a logistical failure by the

7:29

Galaxy and I think they're going to

7:31

need to go back into training and

7:33

figure that one out ahead of next

7:35

season. Come on. Sign rolls. It's like

7:37

a set piece. Everybody got to know

7:39

their role. And when it's, well, maybe

7:41

that's too early. Too early for the

7:43

Galaxy set pieces, Jersey assignment, not their

7:45

strength, not their strength. Yeah, it was

7:47

not their strength. I just want to

7:49

point out one thing that we're going

7:51

to get into a little bit later.

7:53

You touched on it, that ability to

7:56

play between the lines, especially once Stroud

7:58

and Edelman were pulled up. There was

8:00

nobody in that space for the Red

8:02

Bulls. That's where Andre. has been all

8:04

post-season long. He had been stepping off

8:06

of that back line, off of that

8:08

back five, and into more of a

8:10

defensive midfield position. It gave the crew

8:12

all kinds of trouble, especially in that

8:14

first game. There was nobody to

8:16

do it in this second. We're going to

8:18

talk a lot more about Andreas Reyes as

8:20

the show goes on because it is unbelievable

8:23

to me that he was not out there

8:25

for this game. He was a starter. He

8:27

was announced as a starter. Lineups come out.

8:30

You discuss lineups with Andreas Reyes in between

8:32

the Neelis Broes as he has been for

8:34

most of the postseason in that back five,

8:36

all of the postseason. I guess. And yeah,

8:39

right before kickoff, there's a late scratch to

8:41

Noah Island. That's tough. That's tough. We'll talk

8:43

more to Taylor Tom about that one. Now,

8:46

listen, as much as we want to joke

8:48

about the Red Bulls, one thing I will

8:50

say is, you know, watching this game and

8:52

having to be a bunch of New Jersey

8:55

guys was pretty sick. So if there was

8:57

another best thing that we saw or Red

8:59

Doyle, it might have been that quote from

9:02

Galaxy CSO Wilcoons. Yeah, the

9:04

Red Bull, this is Will Coons

9:06

talking afterwards in the midst of

9:08

celebration. And it was reported by

9:10

our friends of the athletic. The

9:12

Red Bulls had what, four or

9:14

five homegrown New York, New Jersey

9:17

kids and those guys gave us

9:19

the fight of their life and

9:21

took out Columbus and took out

9:23

NYCFC. I mean, those guys have

9:25

zero fear. They are relentless. They're

9:28

confident. They're cocky. They're a bunch

9:30

of effing New Jersey kids, right?

9:32

You want to talk about development

9:34

and commitment to it? And that's

9:36

from Mark the Grand Prix, who's

9:38

the Red Bulls president and GM.

9:41

That's from Mark the Grand Prix,

9:43

all the way down. That's how

9:45

you do it. For a longtime

9:47

fan of US soccer, and from

9:49

someone who I still think

9:52

the most exciting thing that happens

9:54

in MLS is getting this sort

9:56

of mixture of local development with

9:58

of the best players in the

10:00

world, like the greatest player of

10:02

all time is here in our

10:04

league playing against kids from Chatham,

10:06

New Jersey, right? I think that

10:08

is the most exciting thing we

10:10

do. And to hear Will Coons

10:12

talk about this as the CSO

10:14

of the Galaxy and seeing the

10:16

work that he has done over

10:18

the past three windows and for

10:20

him to intimate that this is

10:22

what's coming next for the galaxy,

10:25

it makes me so excited. because

10:27

the Galaxy have won this cup

10:29

and have become the team that

10:31

they have been historically almost in

10:33

spite of, I will say, in

10:35

spite of their indifference towards developing

10:37

local players using their academy, using

10:39

their second team and opening that

10:41

pipeline. And there is no greater

10:43

service Wilcoons could render to U.S.

10:45

soccer as a whole. then opening

10:47

that first team pipeline from local

10:49

Southern California kids, which is still

10:51

the ultimate hotbed of talent in

10:53

North America, to open that pipeline

10:55

to the first team and to

10:57

start developing players the way the

10:59

Red Bulls and FC Dallas and

11:02

Philadelphia and now Seattle and RSL

11:04

have done. If the Galaxy do

11:06

that on top of going out

11:08

and buying the pencils and packs

11:10

and pouches, this is a team

11:12

that we're going to be talking

11:14

about every single year winning stuff,

11:16

and this is a team that

11:18

more than any other... can help

11:20

build the next generation of US

11:22

national team players because there is

11:24

still more talent coming out of

11:26

Southern California than any other region

11:28

in the United States. So that

11:30

like that warmed the cockles of

11:32

my cold dead heart. I am

11:34

excited for seeing where he takes

11:37

this franchise next. Obviously, it doesn't

11:39

get much higher than MLS Cup,

11:41

but in terms of the overall

11:43

culture and of the galaxy, to

11:45

see them steer a little bit

11:47

in that Red Bulls direction, to

11:49

see them steer a little bit

11:51

in that sounder's direction in terms

11:53

of youth development, nothing could make

11:55

me happier. Now, Les, Jayline Neal

11:57

did come off the bench. He

11:59

is a home grown here. Edwin

12:01

Cerrio is another team's home grown

12:03

that they saw more value in.

12:05

Yeah, yeah, Mark Delgado, I think

12:07

you would have to count as

12:09

just certainly an LA guy. He

12:12

was a Chevas USA legend. Yeah,

12:14

yeah, he was a Chevas Homegrown,

12:16

one of the first homegrown signings.

12:18

There are, in, like, Mauricio Cuevas

12:20

is on the bench, they've brought

12:22

him back, but you're absolutely right

12:24

in the sense that there is

12:26

so much more that this team

12:28

can be in Southern California. MOS

12:30

Cup Champs is just sort of

12:32

part of the gig at this

12:34

point. All right, best thing that

12:36

I saw. Dayyovitch, understanding, appreciating, channeling,

12:38

and then showing all of us,

12:40

he gets it by paying homage

12:42

to Robbie Keene on his second

12:44

goal. My God, what a second

12:47

goal it was. Like, first of

12:49

all, the ball from Mark Delgado

12:51

to go shout him out again

12:53

was absolutely perfect. And this comes

12:55

off a goal kick from the

12:57

LA Galaxy, and we'll talk about

12:59

this a little bit more. They

13:01

basically red bulls, the red bulls,

13:03

in those first 20 minutes. Direct

13:06

ball McCarthy boots it, you know, Red

13:08

Bulls win it, I believe. I think

13:10

John Tolkien, if I remember correctly, gets

13:12

up and wins the header. But in

13:14

coming up, you know, now you have

13:16

both wingers high, almost as dual forwards,

13:18

they'll spread out a little bit wider.

13:20

And then you have Dan coming into

13:22

the middle and the ball falls right

13:25

to. Mark Delgado and just like he

13:27

did last week where the ball falls

13:29

to him from Alex rolled on and

13:31

he immediately gets it to Ricky in

13:33

the right spot right position to go

13:35

deliver the final pass Delgado one touch

13:37

bang into the feet in between the

13:39

lines once again today and no one

13:41

is and between the lines once again

13:44

today and no one is and no

13:46

one is there this is where and

13:48

this is where and this would have

13:50

been there yeah true true true but

13:52

it also comes to the wingers though

13:54

because when you push the wingers ahead

13:56

of him all of a sudden is

13:58

ahead is thinking well that's Gabriel Peck

14:00

over there in space over there in

14:03

space over there in space because I

14:05

just saw I just saw Tolkien have

14:07

to come up to win the the

14:09

header so he's a little bit out

14:11

of position in terms of going to

14:13

correct you I can correct it was

14:15

actually so it was actually needless it

14:17

was Neelis who won the header right

14:19

and and then aila instead of going

14:22

with Joe village He actually dropped to

14:24

sort of cover behind Neelis because he

14:26

doesn't want Peck to spin out into

14:28

space and get in behind So it's

14:30

it's tough I And then Painsell is

14:32

keeping the other kneeless pro, Dylan, from

14:34

being involved in the play at all.

14:36

I'm kind of shocking to me. I'm

14:38

kind of stealing your spot, but it's

14:40

like, like if Reyes was out there,

14:43

I don't think that first pass from

14:45

Delgado to Jovolich is completed. And certainly

14:47

if it is, Jovolich is not able

14:49

to take the touch and play forward.

14:51

Yeah, not turning and running at the

14:53

back line. I was a little bit

14:55

shocked that the Sean Nealist didn't put

14:57

in a challenge. He seemed oddly indecisive

14:59

and like not particularly looking to be

15:02

physical in that moment with day on

15:04

and I get it, but I think

15:06

you have to be before he reaches

15:08

the box, just understanding that situation and.

15:10

You know, look, regardless, he does bump

15:12

him at the end and Dan looks

15:14

off balance, looks like he's falling away

15:16

to his left and he sticks out

15:18

the right and he just poke rolls

15:21

it into the bottom right corner and

15:23

it is just such an incredible finish,

15:25

an incredible piece of focus and balance.

15:27

And I felt so good for Dan

15:29

in that moment and I felt double

15:31

that when I saw him do the

15:33

role and then the finger guns for

15:35

Robbie Keen who was in attendance, I

15:37

mean that is just a really a

15:40

really good call back. Did Mindy have

15:42

to run down here with a fire

15:44

extinguisher and put out the blaze of

15:46

this shrine in that moment? We've decided

15:48

that the house is, that we're willing

15:50

to sacrifice the house. I mean, at

15:52

this point, I think, you know, just,

15:54

you know, in the goal of creating

15:56

a shrine that can be seen from

15:59

outer space. We're just gonna, we're gonna

16:01

let this thing go up and smoke.

16:03

But you look, Dayon has had a,

16:05

is how to, He's had a weird

16:07

go of it, right? Because I think

16:09

he was expecting to be a starter,

16:11

but then he was behind Chichorito and

16:13

he had some really good moments, but

16:15

then Vani did. He was amazing up

16:18

the bitch. was, and I thought that

16:20

he was going to be a starter,

16:22

but then he never liked his defensive

16:24

effort or maybe awareness. And so it

16:26

was a long journey to get here,

16:28

but where he is now is what,

16:30

21 goals and eight assists across all

16:32

competition, including the game winner in MLS

16:34

Cup. Patience pays off in this case.

16:36

He's a galaxy legend forever with that

16:39

goal He said he wanted to be

16:41

the future of the galaxy when he

16:43

arrived if I remember correctly Yeah, well

16:45

now he is Certainly the present for

16:47

them and also in his present dad's

16:49

story. We keep getting a baby. I

16:51

don't know if you saw this in

16:53

the locker room afterwards, cigars, you know,

16:55

beers, champagne being poured on people's head.

16:58

Day on throws the ball under the

17:00

shirt, puts the thumb in his mouth,

17:02

he announces his first child is on

17:04

the way. So what a day for

17:06

a day on Yovlich and the LA

17:08

Galaxy. Can I just throw in before

17:10

we get to Taylor a best and

17:12

worst thing I saw? Go for it.

17:14

Ricky's celebration antics, man. This guy is,

17:17

I mean, he is just lovably hateable.

17:19

The Alde Jersey, he wore, sick, absolutely

17:21

sick. But then, after the game to

17:23

throw on the, the Ricky Jersey, with

17:25

a number six for six titles, even

17:27

though he, I mean, he was on

17:29

the field for none of them, worn

17:31

backwards. and then holding his own jersey

17:33

in the air and then riding around

17:36

in a cooler while smoking a cigar

17:38

like if you love him you love

17:40

that is like nails on a chalkboard

17:42

stuff it's so good we be like

17:44

every every team needs at least one

17:46

guy like this because he he loves

17:48

the camera he finds it and it

17:50

finds him and these look as an

17:52

iconic celebration smoking that cigar while getting

17:55

wheeled around in the coke cooler by

17:57

Diego Fagundas and the locker room afterwards

17:59

that's absurd and it's brilliant and he

18:01

makes the league better even when he's

18:03

not playing and that to me is

18:05

the mark of a star. Yeah those

18:07

endorphins boy the need did not look

18:09

like it was bothering him too much

18:11

and I get it afterwards on the

18:14

Spanish language coverage he said look I

18:16

know what I have to do and

18:18

I feel about it and maybe that's

18:20

good news for Ricky going forward as

18:22

well as the galaxy. All right those

18:24

are the best things we saw. Let's

18:26

bring on the voice of MLS Cup,

18:28

the voice of MLS Taylor, Twelman, joining

18:30

us here on extra time, couple days

18:33

after a champion was crowned. Taylor, we

18:35

gave the best things that we saw.

18:37

One was the buildup to the first

18:39

goal, the second, it's just Dan Jovlich

18:41

getting his moment. What's the best thing

18:43

you saw from this MLS Cup? the

18:45

atmosphere. It was so good. I just,

18:47

I don't think people fully understand how

18:49

good the Western Conference final was, how

18:51

good the crowd was at MOS Cup.

18:54

And listen, Galaxy fans, We've got a

18:56

good relationship between them and myself. And

18:58

I think when I called it a

19:00

cheese and wine crowd in 2013 and

19:02

2014, it ruffled some feathers and then

19:04

they missed the playoffs five of whatever,

19:06

the next eight, nine years of what

19:08

it is, they are back. The Galaxy

19:10

are back on the field, but more

19:13

importantly, guys, it's off the field. There's

19:15

a vibe, there's an energy, there is

19:17

a little bit of an edge now

19:19

when you're in that stadium. And I

19:21

think ever since LAFC came into the

19:23

league, they asked questions of the galaxy

19:25

both on and off the field and

19:27

good on the galaxy. They've answered both

19:29

of those calls. I'm going to talk

19:32

about tacos and beer crowd now. I

19:34

did a pre-game hit. I did a

19:36

pre-game hit. They were handed me to

19:38

Kila. I was like, guys, I just,

19:40

I can't, this is not professional. I

19:42

can't do this. That's not the weavy

19:44

eye used to know. I know. I

19:46

know. They handed me a piece of

19:48

asada straight off the grill. I mean,

19:51

the guy went tongs to hand and

19:53

looked me in the eye and I

19:55

was like, this is burning. six Mless

19:57

Cup, big off-season coming up. But let's

19:59

stay in sort of the present and

20:01

the future. What does this mean for

20:03

that club, that historic club, but then

20:05

also for the league as they sort

20:07

of. to this spot and think, why

20:10

not? Why can't we get more? Yeah,

20:12

I don't know man. I'm indifferent. I

20:14

don't know if. Listen, Ricky Pooch tours

20:16

ACL. So you're looking right away at

20:18

five, six months without Ricky Pooch. I

20:20

didn't see a lot from Marker Royce

20:22

up to that point. So it's going

20:24

to be interesting to see what they

20:26

get from him next year. They've got

20:29

to make some massive contract decisions. I

20:31

think you're looking at three or four

20:33

starters in MOS Cup that may not

20:35

be with them. next year. Some of

20:37

the people talking about a dynasty, I

20:39

don't know, you know, with all due

20:41

respect, they're not well aware of the

20:43

contractual decisions that are going to be,

20:45

that have to be made. Why do

20:47

I say all of that? I think

20:50

Wilcoons has his hands full again. I

20:52

think he's got to make some big

20:54

decisions. He's got to figure out a

20:56

way to cover the hole left by

20:58

Ricky Pooch. And then it gets interesting,

21:00

but make no mistake about it. I

21:02

mean, guys, put it this way. Greg

21:04

Vanny. only has

21:06

one year on his deal and that was

21:09

an option that he qualified for it by

21:11

getting into the playoffs guys. We don't even

21:13

know yet what Greg Vanny and his staff

21:15

is going to look like. So I don't

21:17

know what the galaxy looked like next year,

21:19

but I will say this. It's

21:21

good that they did this 10 years

21:23

later. It's now giving them confidence. It's

21:26

now motivated them. Will Coons, Greg Vanny,

21:28

players on the field. I think inner

21:30

Miami still the biggest story going into

21:33

next season with their new manager. What

21:35

is their roster look like? I think

21:37

I could argue with myself that LA

21:39

Galaxy may be the second if not

21:42

a better story because they're going to

21:44

be the reigning champions with it arguably

21:46

a really different roster. That's wild because

21:49

I didn't see it that way. And

21:51

I wrote the post-mortem for the galaxy.

21:53

And just looking at that roster, they

21:56

have Maya Yoshida who's out of contract.

21:58

They have Gaston Bruegman with one year

22:00

left. into this game, I thought he

22:02

would be an obvious candidate to be

22:05

like buyout this winter because he's on

22:07

1.4 million and would open up space

22:09

to do other stuff. But let's talk

22:12

about this game because Brookman hadn't played

22:14

much of a role second half of

22:16

the season and Greg Vanny made the

22:19

choice to put him in central midfield

22:21

and we. He thought it was going

22:23

to be so that he could battle,

22:25

right? So that he could meet the

22:28

Red Bulls on his own terms. And

22:30

instead, he's out there for the first

22:32

25 minutes anyway, doing his best Ricky

22:35

Pooage impersonation, deserved MLS Cup, MVP. TT,

22:37

he was brilliant. He was really good

22:39

Matt. He was really good. I think

22:42

I think Mark Delgado could also make

22:44

an argument, right? I thought he was

22:46

really good, but listen, the past, the

22:48

past to Joseph Painseel was really quality.

22:51

I think we've understated and undersold how

22:53

good they are in a way that.

22:55

You know what I mean? The ability

22:58

to play balls in behind, the ability

23:00

technically to do certain things, it was

23:02

the right move for sure. I think

23:05

what gets really interesting to me though

23:07

is that this becomes now... I don't

23:09

know. Are we having the same conversation

23:12

if Reyes is not sick? I don't

23:14

know. I really don't. I think the

23:16

New York Red Bulls were shook. I

23:18

think the New York Red Bulls didn't

23:21

know how to do it and give

23:23

Gaston Bruggman a lot of credit. He

23:25

stepped into the midfield playing one of

23:28

the best passes we saw. It was

23:30

the right move from Greg Vanny and

23:32

all that, but I think it's understated

23:35

to this point how Reyes gets sick

23:37

and then everyone else was like, oh

23:39

boy, now what happens? Now what do

23:41

we do? Where do we go from

23:44

there? It really was a deer in

23:46

headlights for the first 25-30 minutes of

23:48

that game. Yeah, now what happens is

23:51

you give up two goals in 20

23:53

minutes? Go ahead. I don't know how

23:55

to react to react to the race

23:58

thing because I'm, looks fine and I

24:00

don't know what he's feeling like but

24:02

then it seems like he goes to

24:04

the locker room word is that he

24:07

had a little bit of stomach trouble

24:09

there and then all of a sudden

24:11

it's like you're watching the game Noah

24:14

Island comes out and I didn't know

24:16

what happened. What? Yeah, yeah, I honestly

24:18

we we be I I I saw

24:21

in the in the tunnel shot from

24:23

our camera when we had the handheld

24:25

look through it I immediately looked at

24:27

Jake Jake and I looked at each

24:30

other like hang on a minute and

24:32

just I mean you guys have known

24:34

me for a while I immediately go

24:37

to your phone you got to get

24:39

an answer and good on the Red

24:41

Bulls they have responded to me right

24:44

away. and said he's sick. Now, they

24:46

didn't really give me details because they

24:48

didn't really have details. And what I

24:50

mean by that is, it just was,

24:53

he's sick. He said he can't play.

24:55

The hardest thing of that moment is

24:57

Noah Ella was told two minutes before

25:00

they left the locker room. So you're

25:02

not even properly warmed up. You know

25:04

what I'm saying? Like, that's not easy.

25:07

That's not easy to do. It didn't

25:09

look easy. That's going to be a

25:11

story for a long time and just

25:13

something that the Red Bulls wonder about.

25:16

Greg Vanny seemed to seem to have

25:18

gotten it completely right in this game,

25:20

Taylor, like we thought they would try

25:23

to punch, but to me, they said

25:25

to the Red Bulls, we know what

25:27

you're bad at. We know we're much

25:30

better at playing in behind to your

25:32

point. Let us magnify what you're bad

25:34

at while the thing that we're good

25:36

out without Ricky. I think what's interesting

25:39

about the entire thing is this is

25:41

that Sanjo short said they went to

25:43

three in the back because they felt

25:46

and I had never heard this term

25:48

before but they had felt Reyes as

25:50

an inverted sweeper. suited them defensively. Sancho

25:53

Short saw that they were the seven

25:55

seed. And he said when the playoffs

25:57

started, everything he had learned from Red

25:59

Bulls personnel and just talking to people

26:02

around Major League Soccer is that the

26:04

playoffs is a different. He saw Columbus,

26:06

he saw more than likely. he saw

26:09

potentially Miami. And his thought was, if

26:11

we are going to get to MOS

26:13

Cup defensively, we've got to be better.

26:16

We've got to find a way to

26:18

get back to the Red Bull Way.

26:20

Matt, you did a real good job

26:22

on showing those after the 5-1 loss

26:25

to New York City, direct balls, touches,

26:27

passes, all of that. But it was

26:29

based on one player, guys. And everyone

26:32

thought it was based on Forsburg. It

26:34

was not. It was based on Reyes.

26:36

So imagine five minutes before that MOS

26:39

cup where you haven't given up a

26:41

single goal. on the road, and then

26:43

all of a sudden that said player

26:45

says, hang on a minute, I know

26:48

I said this during the broadcast, I'll

26:50

say it for your for your listeners.

26:52

I think the moment I look at

26:55

Noah, Ella, and I say, you're gonna

26:57

play for Reyes, I think I go

26:59

to four in the back. It doesn't

27:02

mean you change your principles, with all

27:04

due respect. They were on him. And

27:06

that's because he wasn't properly warmed up

27:09

and assumed the, Noah Ella was their

27:11

starter, 27 games guys, 27 games. None

27:13

of, I think it was one in

27:15

a three back. Yeah

27:18

it's those moments we saw against the crew and

27:20

it's the moments we saw in this game where

27:22

Reyes's instinct is to step he wants to be

27:24

aggressive and at times that's his biggest weakness is

27:27

because you can play him behind him but when

27:29

you have two guys next to him he can

27:31

step and you have cover and when you drop

27:33

all of a sudden the balance just isn't right.

27:35

Boys you better believe inverted sweeper is appearing in

27:38

like 30 of my columns. It's a good term.

27:40

I am just absolutely grabbing that. Do you think

27:42

I could have been an inverted sweeper. No

27:45

comment. TT. No comment. No biggest

27:47

story of the off season. Taylor.

27:49

We know you got limited time

27:51

here. So yes, Inter Miami. What

27:53

do you think that story revolves

27:55

around? And what other stories are

27:57

you watching? Inter Miami, Macharano coming

27:59

in. Guys, they had many injuries

28:01

from pre-season and everything last year?

28:04

They brought in new players. They've

28:06

got it. Who's leaving? Who's going?

28:08

That's what it's going to look

28:10

at the Club World Cup. What

28:12

does that turn inner Miami into?

28:14

Who are they talking to? Like

28:16

the names that are around, whether

28:18

it's Griesman, Leventovsky, players of that

28:20

nature. When are they coming to

28:22

Major League Soccer? Is Miami part

28:24

of that conversation? The second one

28:26

is exactly what I just said.

28:28

Griesman has been rumored to LAFC.

28:30

Does the LA Galaxy winning MLS

28:32

Cup send the private jet to

28:34

Paris, to France right now versus

28:36

waiting to the summertime? Does he

28:39

come opening day? That's a big

28:41

one. I think the galaxy. Can

28:43

they repeat? If they are, they're

28:45

going to have to make some

28:47

big roster decisions as I alluded

28:49

to. I look at those three

28:51

right away and I say yes.

28:53

The other one is Seattle Sounders

28:55

are now in Concie Cap Champions

28:57

Cup. That means they would potentially

28:59

be in all of those competitions,

29:01

which ultimately would be five by

29:03

my calculation. They've got to make

29:05

some big decisions. And I know

29:07

I've said this during the games

29:09

and some of the Sounders fans

29:11

think it's a little too harsh.

29:13

They're not going to win MLS

29:16

Cup if Roosnock and Jordan Morris

29:18

are their designated players. They've got

29:20

to go out and make a

29:22

big move, if not two. I'm

29:24

intrigued to see what that is

29:26

and what that looks like. Other

29:28

big moves could happen too. Atlanta

29:30

is a team that I'll be

29:32

watching some DP spots there, including

29:34

a open coaching spot too. Also,

29:36

Taylor, on MLS season pass, I

29:38

was listening to Robbie Keen. Kino

29:40

wants to be an MLS. Kino's

29:42

gonna have two or three conversations

29:44

with teams in the next 48

29:46

to 72 hours. Guys, I think

29:48

someone's gonna make a big run

29:51

at Jim Curtin. I think Jim

29:53

Curtin is gonna be approached with

29:55

an opportunity to maybe not wait

29:57

out the two years that he's

29:59

still. left with the Philadelphia Union.

30:01

Someone's gonna buy them out. Is

30:03

it New York City? Is it

30:05

Toronto? Is it maybe Atlanta? I

30:07

don't see it being Atlanta, but

30:09

I think Jim Curtin's gonna have

30:11

to make a decision. And it's

30:13

a good one. And I don't

30:15

think Jim Curtin's gonna be out

30:17

for a year, as many of

30:19

us maybe have thought. that he

30:21

would. So the coaching decisions are

30:23

big. This is Garth Lagueray's first

30:25

time he gets to hire whatever

30:28

head coach he wants to hire.

30:30

And I think that is as

30:32

intriguing as any story as ever

30:34

because the guy he hires or

30:36

woman, they're gonna have a direct

30:38

correlation into what? Well, who are

30:40

the DPs? Many people thought it

30:42

was Patrick Viera, and I know

30:44

two or three of the names

30:46

that were thrown around as D.P.

30:48

Options for Patrick Viera Atlanta, and

30:50

guys, it would have blown the

30:52

doors off that building. So now

30:54

what does it mean? What does

30:56

it mean for the next person

30:58

that is going to be hired?

31:00

Weebee, you're 100% correct. That's as

31:03

intriguing as any story in MLS.

31:05

T.T. I put out a column yesterday,

31:07

the top five, way too early, 2025,

31:10

M.L.S. Cup favorites. It's Miami. It's the

31:12

two Ohio teams. It's the two LA

31:14

teams. Give me a dark horse. Who

31:16

could sneak into this mix that's not

31:19

in that obvious group? Atlanta United. I

31:21

think Atlanta United has a great opportunity

31:23

because I think the fan-based is rejuvenated

31:26

and I think if you make the

31:28

higher the right one that stands out

31:30

and the DPs come in that are

31:32

the ones that are there that are

31:35

ones that can... guys I think Atlanta

31:37

could very quickly... Very quickly be at

31:39

the top of that conversation, but but

31:41

a lot of there's a lot of

31:44

butts there right Matt So you got

31:46

to hit your home runs with the

31:48

DPs. The coach has to be someone

31:50

that it really has a grasp of

31:53

that building But if I'm picking one

31:55

team outside the five you just gave

31:57

me, it's hard for me not to

31:59

look at the potential with Atlanta. Just

32:02

so you know, Anders is in the

32:04

chat predicting a Seattle Quinn tuple, by

32:06

the way. Of course he is. Actually,

32:09

why else, Whitney? Why else? A lot

32:11

of ants, butts, and oh my God,

32:13

what's going to happen in this MLS

32:15

off-season, which kicks off, well, right now,

32:18

the trade window is open for half

32:20

a day expansion draft coming in the

32:22

middle of the week. Yeah, movie and

32:24

I are headed to San Diego. Meet

32:27

us at Torrey Pines, man. By the

32:29

way, the best, absolutely, and the best

32:31

fish tacos you will ever have, ever,

32:33

ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, is in

32:36

San Diego. I'm gonna test you guys

32:38

where to go. Love it. Done. One

32:40

of the dinners is officially planned. Taylor,

32:42

thank you so much for your time,

32:45

man. See you boys, Merry Christmas, happy

32:47

holidays. All

32:49

right, big thanks to TT for giving

32:52

us just a little bit of his

32:54

time. He's a busy man. I expect

32:56

that handicap to drop a little bit

32:58

here in the off season. Let's jump

33:00

into the game, Doyle. Let's do a

33:03

little breakdown here. Where do you want

33:05

to start with this one? Maybe before

33:07

kickoff? Like because those changes really set

33:09

the tone for a lot of this.

33:11

Yeah, I mean, they led to both

33:14

goals. We're talking, of course, about the

33:16

Andreas thing. You were there. Were you

33:18

able to see anything of what happened

33:20

or were you able to talk to

33:22

anyone afterwards about the whole thing? I

33:25

know Taylor told us what he saw

33:27

and what he heard from the Red

33:29

Bulls, but it's just a strange situation.

33:31

It's what I said on in talking

33:33

to Taylor there, which is just that

33:36

I saw Andres Reyes like making the

33:38

rounds pregame and it's kind of a

33:40

crazy two hours before the game at

33:42

MOS Cup because there's so many media

33:44

responsibilities. There's so much sort of like,

33:47

I don't know, a fanfare and. additional

33:49

stuff that you don't see in a

33:51

normal MLS games like you wouldn't see

33:53

Andres Reyes walking the sideline to go

33:55

do media for instance before a game,

33:58

but I'm at 99% sure he went

34:00

and did that with the Fox Spanish

34:02

crew and he looks fine like in

34:04

the moment I was just like oh

34:06

there's Andres Reyes like it's not like

34:09

he's you know he doesn't have like

34:11

the sick phase he's you know, looking

34:13

like he's struggling. And then honestly, I

34:15

didn't even realize that Andres Reyes was

34:17

not playing in this game until the

34:20

ball was kicked off. And I looked

34:22

at the Red Bulls back line and

34:24

I was just like, what on earth

34:26

is Noah Island doing in there? Like,

34:28

what happened here? It's honestly shocking to

34:31

me. It's just shocking that he was

34:33

in the lineup and then as Taylor

34:35

said literal minutes before they went out

34:37

on the field all of that changes

34:39

I can only imagine what what is

34:42

going through the minds of I mean

34:44

everyone in the team like that's just

34:46

a huge change in terms of. in

34:48

terms of profile in terms of style

34:50

of play and also just in terms

34:53

of what brought you you know what

34:55

i mean like what what got you

34:57

there the thing that you're comfortable with

34:59

in these playoffs that has worked and

35:01

i he must have been sick as

35:04

a dog like he had to have

35:06

been i mean if if you're not

35:08

you just got a thing like after

35:10

the game they showed him he was

35:12

on the field in his in his

35:15

you know civilian clothes talking you know

35:17

standing there looking sad with the rest

35:19

of his his teammates and it was

35:21

I don't know I don't want to

35:23

expect to see that yeah I don't

35:26

want to speculate but it's strange we've

35:28

all been sick we've all been sick

35:30

I mean I almost think that was

35:32

like if you're the team be like

35:34

he pulled a muscle you know sorry

35:37

he pulled a calf muscle and and

35:39

he couldn't move anymore so we could

35:41

but it's it's weird because we've all

35:43

heard stories of great players across sports

35:45

who get violently ill before a game

35:48

and then still play. I wonder how

35:50

that's gonna go over in the rest

35:52

of the locker room because look the

35:54

two goals that we already went through

35:56

it at the top of the show.

35:59

The two goals that the Red Bulls

36:01

gave up were goals that came from

36:03

that gap between central midfield and central

36:05

defense and all playoffs long. where Andreas

36:07

had been operating. The whole point of

36:10

the system, as you pointed out, as

36:12

Taylor pointed out, is to have Andreas

36:14

Reyes as that inverted sweeper, winning those

36:16

balls and allowing Stroud and Edelman to

36:18

go up further and go hunt and

36:21

get pressure to the opposing midfield. And

36:23

without that there, it was. It

36:26

was the wrong ask of Aila.

36:28

He very clearly is not comfortable

36:30

doing that. And it took the

36:33

Red Bulls 25 minutes to figure

36:35

it out. And by that point,

36:38

they were already down 2-nill and

36:40

the job was done. I

36:42

thought it was really smart from Greg

36:45

Vanny to pull what amounted to another

36:47

MLS Cup surprise me. Maybe if you

36:49

really thought about it, you might say,

36:51

well, you know, Gaston Brookman is maybe

36:53

the guy to do that, but it

36:56

had been Diego when Ricky was out.

36:58

And guess and haven't, he hadn't, he

37:00

hadn't started in two full months for

37:02

this Galaxy team. And when I saw

37:04

the lineup come out and when I

37:07

saw the lineup come out, my first

37:09

thought was Diamond Midfield MLS Cup against

37:11

Seattle. and like Greg Vani's desire to

37:13

put the opponent in a, you know,

37:15

in a critical moment in just a

37:18

little bit more uncertainty or a lot

37:20

more than they had been before about

37:22

their plan, about how that plan applies,

37:24

about the personnel that they're going to

37:26

face, that stood out to me. The

37:29

Greg Vani has sort of done it

37:31

again with an endless cup surprise and

37:33

it so very clearly worked. And as

37:35

I said against Taylor, what I just

37:38

kept thinking in that first half was,

37:40

Greg decided, I know what the red

37:42

bullsles aren't good at. And honestly, Orlando

37:44

showed us that as well. I think

37:46

we all knew what that was. Orlando

37:49

didn't have the fire power or the

37:51

good luck in that moment, you know,

37:53

Fagundo Torres, his chance jumps out to

37:55

get the early goal that changes the

37:57

game and basically, you know, turns the

38:00

tied to. opponent and the galaxy had

38:02

that and they said look we might

38:04

not have our biggest strength which is

38:06

honestly Ricky just like singularly Ricky and

38:08

the way that he controls and changes

38:11

and demands a game be played on

38:13

his terms and the way everything else

38:15

seems to just flow off of that

38:17

so okay if we don't have Ricky

38:19

our biggest strength now is still bigger

38:22

than your strengths which is we will

38:24

play direct and in behind you and

38:26

we have the attacking players do that

38:28

so hey on your worst day come

38:30

try to beat us we're still gonna

38:33

have our strength. Yeah, it's exactly that,

38:35

but it also not having Ricky also

38:37

eliminates their biggest weakness, which is turnovers

38:39

that turn into transition opportunities in. you

38:42

can get gashed, right? And that's almost

38:44

like that ends up helping them even

38:46

against the Red Bulls because of that

38:48

game model. The Red Bulls, even what

38:50

the Adjustments Center Shorts has made, and

38:53

they were good adjustments all year long,

38:55

and I'm not knocking him as a

38:57

manager at all. But it's a game

38:59

model that counts on opponents screwing up.

39:01

or opponents being able to get screwed

39:04

up by the Red Bulls pressure. And

39:06

that works great in the regular season,

39:08

but it's less great in the playoffs

39:10

when you're facing exclusively good teams that

39:12

are really dialed in. the galaxy are

39:15

a really good team that's been really

39:17

dialed in for a couple of months

39:19

now and then you remove the variable

39:21

of Ricky Pooge because even when he's

39:23

dialed in he's going to turn the

39:26

ball over occasionally and bad spots you

39:28

remove the variable and you make it

39:30

even more so just about the talent

39:32

differential and pencil and peck and jovitch

39:35

and Gaston Brugman playing like he did

39:37

it was enough Yeah, absolutely was and

39:39

I was watching sideline for much of

39:41

the game and it can be hard

39:43

to get like a big picture tactical

39:46

feel and I watched the match again

39:48

this morning to try to get a

39:50

little bit of that. But one of

39:52

the things I just really noticed in

39:54

the first half, because I was on

39:57

the side towards where the Red Bulls

39:59

were attacking and on the side where

40:01

Emel Forsberg largely was. And you could

40:03

just see the way the galaxy were

40:05

looking to also, because Ricky's not out

40:08

there, and now you can play Soreo

40:10

and Delgado and Brugman to just sort

40:12

of bracket him. to always have a

40:14

man in front to deny the pass

40:16

in, to have a man behind, to

40:19

press quickly if he's not, you know,

40:21

if you're not able to deny, it

40:23

just seemed like that structure across the

40:25

board for the galaxy really, really worked.

40:27

And part of that structure was Garces,

40:30

Amiro Garces Doyle, because he was the

40:32

guy largely back pressing. You know, Forsburg,

40:34

if that moment came, and also then

40:36

being the guy that ran him behind

40:39

and defended into space, which he did

40:41

so brilliantly, like, I don't think we've

40:43

talked enough about the development of Amiro

40:45

Garces this year, and giving Greg Vani

40:47

enough credit for bringing a young guy

40:50

into a new country after the season

40:52

had begun. Like, remember, this was in

40:54

April when they signed him, getting him

40:56

settled, getting him through some injuries, getting

40:58

him integrated in the team, and then

41:01

having the balls. with like 11

41:03

games left in the season, including playoffs to say, you

41:05

know what, Jaylyn Neal, Homegrown, Galaxy Through and Through, has

41:07

been our guy, you're gonna sit behind Hamiro Garces. He's

41:09

actually gonna give us the best chance to go win

41:11

this down the stretch. And Garces' strengths just stand out

41:13

compared to Mayo Yoshita, and it turned into a great

41:15

partnership. Yeah, since Garces entered the starting lineup with, I

41:17

think it was four games left in the regular season,

41:19

the Galaxy have... conceded less than one non-penalty expected goal

41:21

per game, which is a top five mark. It might

41:23

even be top three mark in the league over the

41:25

past couple of months. Before he entered the lineup, they

41:27

were conceding about 1.5, which is a bottom 10 mark

41:29

in the league. And it's the fit. And we saw

41:31

it, I think we saw some in this game, but

41:33

it was especially evident against the sounders. there

41:35

were two or three times

41:37

where it looked like Jordan

41:39

Morris was through Jordan Morris

41:41

in the open field. We

41:43

all know what he can

41:45

do and Garsus was there

41:47

with him step -for -step protecting

41:49

that space in behind the

41:51

back line and Jalen Neal

41:53

is a really gifted player

41:55

and he might Be able

41:57

to develop into that but

41:59

he's never gonna have the

42:02

speed that Garsus has and

42:04

that's what the galaxy needed

42:06

If you're gonna be a

42:08

possession team if you're gonna

42:10

turn the ball over by

42:12

being ambitious with it You

42:14

need to have someone who

42:16

could be an eraser back

42:18

there It is another master

42:20

class from Wilcoons to find

42:22

this guy who you know

42:24

a few hundred thousand dollars

42:26

It's not like he was

42:28

on any of the Columbia

42:30

national teams Like he's he

42:32

was not a well -known prospect,

42:34

but it speaks to the

42:36

sophistication of what the galaxy

42:38

front office is right now

42:40

to be able to identify

42:42

Players on the cheap as

42:44

well as guys like peck

42:46

and pain still but players

42:48

on the cheap and Players

42:50

who fit a need for

42:52

how they're going to play

42:54

Garsus is a perfect example.

42:56

He wasn't perfect. You remember

42:58

that that chance. Oh, yeah

43:00

I think it was a

43:02

broken or second like a

43:04

recycled set piece that a

43:06

la I think was in

43:09

the 33rd minute 34th minute

43:11

a la gets an open

43:13

look from About nine yards

43:15

out that it goes straight

43:17

to John McCarthy. Thank God

43:19

if you're a galaxy fan

43:21

That would have made it

43:23

to two that a la

43:25

is that open because Garsus

43:27

does not Recognize either the

43:29

cross or the run and

43:31

I pulled up the kids

43:33

numbers and like he is

43:35

when he can test scenario

43:37

He's pretty good, but he

43:39

can test them at a

43:41

rate more in line with

43:43

a fullback than a center

43:45

back Maya Yoshida can test

43:47

three times as many aerials

43:49

per 90 Than Garsus does

43:51

it is a stunning difference

43:53

So he is a a

43:55

player who still needs to

43:57

develop a bit, but the

43:59

the good more than more than for how the

44:01

I mean very bad the how the, I mean,

44:03

very bad for good, more than outweighs the

44:06

bad for, for how the needed and what

44:08

they needed. And he was a wildly

44:10

influential player throughout the postseason, but especially

44:12

in the Western final in MLS Cup. I mean,

44:14

I thought he was, I thought he

44:16

was really good in this game, just just

44:18

emergency defending ball that went in behind and there

44:20

a ton of them, but any ball

44:22

that went in behind, he is he was

44:24

it up. It was an early one

44:26

that he got that then got to and

44:28

just sort of and to come a sign of things

44:30

to come like hey behind in I'm gonna win the race

44:32

win the race. And you noticed, I I mean, I I

44:34

thought it didn't didn't really seem like

44:37

whether they were capable of doing

44:39

it or just the tendency was

44:41

to drift wide a little bit

44:43

more bit more that Vanzier and weren't running in

44:45

that central channel in central between

44:47

the in It was more into wide

44:49

areas more know areas to the galaxy

44:51

for taking a lot of that

44:53

way. By the way, Garth, a lot of

44:55

that way. By the way, Garza's loan. on loan triggered

44:57

immediately. immediately. Before I even got there, think

44:59

I think, the buy option option for $1 .4 million

45:01

and gave Garsus a five -year contract smart. smart.

45:03

a little more than I thought it

45:05

was, thought but worth every penny for back like that who

45:08

like that, who can be that outstanding

45:10

and I'm But the coffee shop shop wants to start

45:12

for a last I a while. I can

45:14

tell you that this morning. Yeah,

45:16

That was, that was the bit that I was going

45:18

to steal I was There you go. steal from others. There you go.

45:20

you think that would have changed anything? would have Not

45:23

to jump ahead here, but I'm just

45:25

thinking about the rebels. Do you think different

45:27

personnel would have changed anything in terms

45:29

of chance creation? changed anything in terms

45:31

of chance creation? Maybe, but. I think

45:33

it was more that they got they

45:35

got rocked so hard in

45:38

the first 25 25 minutes,

45:40

and then they were missing that

45:42

one high-end quality high -end quality piece the

45:44

a time. It's just the same

45:46

story, year after year after year

45:48

for the Red Bulls. They are

45:50

one piece away. one piece away. And got

45:52

them close, but they needed but Forsberg

45:54

level player out there. as much

45:56

as we And as much as we

45:58

all love Elias Manuel, not

46:00

that, so. Hey, what Gabriel Peck was

46:02

that guy, right? But where? Gabriel Peck

46:04

did not have a, he did not

46:07

have a Gabriel Peck-esque game, Doyle. And

46:09

I remember very clearly being there, I

46:11

believe, when young John Tolkien said that

46:13

I'm going to kick the living, you

46:15

know, out of him. And then there

46:17

was a feeling within the Galaxy camp

46:20

that like, oh yeah, come on now,

46:22

John Tolkien, like, Gabra Peck's not going

46:24

to be afraid of this dude, like,

46:26

he played in Brazil, like, kick the

46:28

crap out of me, come on man,

46:30

I've seen worse than that. And then,

46:33

I don't know, it seemed like Tolkien

46:35

kind of got the best of that

46:37

deal, and yet it didn't really matter

46:39

for the Galaxy. It just speaks to

46:41

how well constructed this galaxy lineup is,

46:43

right? We talked about how they were

46:46

able to replace Ricky with Gaston Brugman

46:48

who only went and won MLS Cup

46:50

MVP. Gabriel Peck is their second best

46:52

player and he didn't really show up

46:54

or he showed up to the extent

46:56

that he Tolkien really did get the

46:59

better of them. And it didn't matter.

47:01

And oh, by the way, they're playing

47:03

without their $5 million left back and

47:05

Julian Audet. And I thought John Nelson

47:07

was really, really good yet again. And

47:09

it's. This is what

47:11

you want from a CSO, right?

47:13

You got to get the DP

47:16

signings right. And obviously they did

47:18

in Peck and Painsell, but you

47:20

also have to get the signings

47:22

on the margin, the lower profile

47:24

signings, right, getting Edwin Cerrio for,

47:26

I think, a couple hundred thousand

47:28

in GAM last summer, picking up

47:30

John Nelson for nothing. Same was

47:33

John McCarthy in goal. This is

47:35

all elite stuff. from Will Coons

47:37

and the New Galaxy front office.

47:39

And it's, you know, 10 years

47:41

in the abyss, man. And it

47:43

took them three transfer windows to

47:45

create an MLS Cup winner. And

47:47

they didn't just do it by

47:50

opening their checkbook. It's wildly impressive.

47:52

And by the way, one of

47:54

those transfer windows, the one in

47:56

which came in and then Maya

47:58

Yoshita came in after the close

48:00

of the window, which he had

48:02

to because of sanctions that they

48:04

had. Like he was working under

48:06

sanctions that severely limited their ability

48:09

in the middle of last season,

48:11

2023, arguably the worst season in

48:13

galaxy history, to actively improve the

48:15

roster and he still picked up

48:17

multiple starters in this game through

48:19

that time. That's pretty incredible. All

48:21

right, let's turn to the Red

48:23

Bowl side real quick and well,

48:26

you know what, before we do,

48:28

before we do. I'm

48:30

very curious about what Taylor said because

48:32

in terms of the galaxy's future and

48:34

these contractual decisions and big changes because

48:37

when you look at the roster profiles

48:39

that MLS PR provides with all the

48:41

length of contracts and the guaranteed years

48:44

and option years, it doesn't jump out

48:46

quite so much that there are going

48:48

to be huge decisions coming. I mean,

48:51

Maya Yoshida is out of contract and

48:53

he said afterwards I still want to

48:55

play. I'm just waiting for the guys

48:58

to give me a new deal. Outside

49:00

of that, I mean, Bruggman's got a,

49:02

you know, he's got an option, not

49:05

just, he's guaranteed actually. Bruggman is guaranteed,

49:07

yeah. Yeah, so that was what I

49:09

was saying to Taylor is like, all

49:11

right, I thought maybe coming into this

49:14

game, you could say, well, Bruggman should

49:16

get bought out because he's not, he's

49:18

not delivering on that. Yeah, Marco Royce

49:21

and Marco Royce as well. Right. So,

49:23

but so at that point you have

49:25

five central midfielders that you trust and

49:28

maybe you bring another kid through the

49:30

academy as well. So I don't see.

49:32

the amount of moving pieces that Taylor

49:35

alluded to because, okay, you have to

49:37

find the money to bring back Yoshida,

49:39

but you do that by letting Kasseris

49:42

walk. You know, the thing that interests

49:44

me is, do they get the Godfather

49:46

offer for Gabriel Peck? Do they get

49:49

the Godfather offer for Dayyan Yovitch? Because

49:51

if one or both of those things

49:53

have... yeah, you're you're going,

49:55

you're going back

49:58

to work real hard

50:00

if winter if you're

50:02

that Galaxy front

50:05

office, but it's it's just

50:07

in Just in terms of

50:09

how this roster is constructed, I

50:11

I don't see the of

50:13

of moving pieces that Taylor

50:15

apparently does. does. I mean, like Jay Lenila

50:17

another potential transfer. target. I mean he I

50:19

mean, he has that sort of profile, that

50:21

background, the the previous or at least

50:24

or at least around maybe So maybe

50:26

there's another one, but he's not but he's

50:28

a technically a starter at this point,

50:30

just give him point just giving him a less cup.

50:32

I don't know other things to look at

50:34

expansion draft, like like could John Nelson be somebody

50:36

who might be exposed be exposed in the. I

50:38

I would would protect Nelson over over Julian agree.

50:40

I agree. You know, know, Audet is really really good,

50:43

but he's coming off an injury

50:45

and he's on a bigger number. know, John

50:47

you know, John Nelson has just

50:49

proved that he an MS Cup caliber starter. just in

50:51

the game in the game theory of

50:53

it, you gotta protect Nelson over Audi.

50:56

Audet. Yep. I don't know. Other know, other

50:58

things you think about is is like Mark

51:00

his deal is up guaranteed wise. I think it's

51:02

an option for I think it's an option for

51:04

next year, but you would think and him and Vani

51:06

are as tight as or as tight as he's

51:08

can be. And he's such a valuable

51:10

piece. He's an LA guy. You'd think

51:12

you'd just give him, give him. Say, hey, cool, Mark,

51:14

you play great, man. We need you. Here's

51:16

a long -term extension to to. to of

51:18

make sure that sure issue. is an one of

51:20

those things, you see it a lot

51:22

in the NBA where it's like, okay,

51:24

we'll give you more guaranteed years okay,

51:26

you take a lower number years of taking

51:29

your option, right? Because if you give

51:31

him, I don't know, right? four years you

51:33

give him, I ,000 a year, he's still getting

51:35

paid when he's 33. getting paid when he's

51:37

33 guaranteed. that saves you a

51:39

of a a couple hundred

51:41

thousand of flexibility on on next

51:43

year's roster but these are are these are

51:45

marginal things. And it's also like

51:47

the like the going to be fine

51:50

gonna be It's just a really well

51:52

a really well well balanced roster. Yeah,

51:54

I think I'm in the camp

51:56

firmly of in Wilcoons trust in terms

51:58

of having played out scenarios. targets

52:00

set, having the financial backing of

52:02

Galaxy ownership, which is not wavered

52:05

ever, even in the face of

52:07

10 years of failure. Yeah, I

52:09

would trust them to find a

52:11

way to reload even if some

52:13

of those Godfather offers do come

52:15

in, and if they do, they'll

52:17

have a bunch of money to

52:19

play with, and they'll have a

52:21

track record selling players that they

52:23

can sell to the next player.

52:26

All right, let's hit Red Bulls

52:28

and then do some housekeeping in

52:30

terms of what cup meant for

52:32

the Galaxy and other teams as

52:34

it pertains to the Concap Champions

52:36

Cup. Red Bulls, what were they

52:38

missing? Is it as simple as,

52:40

as you said, just another top-end

52:42

attacking piece? I mean, they had

52:45

the chances in Mel Forsberg. late

52:47

in the game hits the post

52:49

he has the ball kind of

52:51

roll past him it was an

52:53

unlucky moment for him as well

52:55

like Cameron Harper at the back

52:57

post on a set piece and

52:59

they got the goal via set

53:01

piece to get back in the

53:04

game like on another day maybe

53:06

they maybe they find that second

53:08

goal yeah maybe but maybe they

53:10

should go out by players like

53:12

pencil and and yovolic and peck

53:14

Right? How many, how many years

53:16

are we going to see this

53:18

exact type of thing where they're

53:20

just one piece short, one high

53:23

level goal scoring piece short in

53:25

the biggest games? And it applaud

53:27

them for getting as far as

53:29

they did. We all know, I

53:31

think the world of that Columbus

53:33

team that they beat and they

53:35

survived against NYCFC and they survived

53:37

against Orlando City. But this was

53:39

always going to be a massively

53:41

uphill struggle for them, given the

53:44

talent differential. And the only relevant

53:46

question for the Red Bulls for

53:48

2025 is, will Red Bull Global

53:50

buy out Dante Vanzier and allow

53:52

this club to replace him with

53:54

a 10 or 15 million dollar

53:56

goal score? Because that puts him

53:58

in the situation where Lewis Morgan.

54:00

have to be your primary goal

54:03

score. He's your secondary goal score,

54:05

and he's your third best attacking

54:07

player. And if Lewis Morgan is

54:09

your secondary goal score and third

54:11

best attacking player, and you have

54:13

that kind of defense and that

54:15

depth and energy in midfield, then

54:17

you're cooking. Then you could do

54:19

more than whip in a million

54:22

crosses and press. You have the

54:24

ability to break teams down, even

54:26

in the biggest moments. Until they

54:28

do that. we

54:30

would only be talking about the Red

54:32

Bulls as a Cinderella run, a dark

54:35

horse at best. And it almost unfolded

54:37

for them and you give them a

54:39

lot of credit but like they were,

54:41

I'm seeing it on social media, it's

54:44

up on the site and all the

54:46

Red Bulls fans I know are like

54:48

yeah, it was just more of the

54:51

same. We didn't, we didn't have the

54:53

same qualities a team we were going

54:55

against. And that's 15 years of it.

54:57

Really 10 years of it. just for

55:00

reference and like side by side comparison.

55:02

That's it. Four million for the galaxy

55:04

to get Dan Jovitch. So like there

55:07

is an element of spend and I

55:09

completely agree with you. I'm still holding

55:11

up that more ambition sign from the

55:13

summer. There is also an element of

55:16

like identifying. the right the

55:18

right players and having the right structure

55:20

around them for the Red Bulls and

55:23

and look I just you know I'm

55:25

not sure that like yeah you go

55:27

sign the the promising second division Polish

55:30

striker just don't sign that guy to

55:32

be relied upon in any way immediately

55:34

in terms of production on the field.

55:37

Sign them as a gamble. You know,

55:39

because that's essentially what it is. You

55:41

have to go out just like you

55:44

did with Emma Forsberg, by the way,

55:46

in a different way, not a transfer

55:48

fee style way, but a big time

55:51

salary type of way. Go out and

55:53

find the guy that is proven that

55:55

will deliver in those moments. And, you

55:57

know, ideally, I would say find him

56:00

in a prime age band as well,

56:02

or an early prime age band. Yeah.

56:04

off Forsberg, would you think of his

56:07

performance in this game? Struggled to find

56:09

the game, but a lot of that

56:11

was because it was too nil before

56:14

anybody had a chance to put a

56:16

foot on the ball. It was too

56:18

nil before he got a touch. Yeah,

56:21

honestly, the records just didn't come out

56:23

of the locker room. They were so

56:25

shook by the Reyes thing that they

56:28

didn't come out of the locker room.

56:30

And at that point, you know it

56:32

was 70 minutes of I thought the

56:35

Red Bulls were probably more dangerous over

56:37

the course of that 70 minutes but

56:39

it was all via stuff that like

56:41

it was all happening in front of

56:44

the galaxy defense. And when you have

56:46

to do, that's how you have to

56:48

play, then you need those extra pieces

56:51

of quality. And Forsberg showed some of

56:53

it. He's very much in the right

56:55

spot at the right time on a

56:58

couple of those clearances and I thought

57:00

he had some sort of clever passes

57:02

that created a little rhythm for the

57:05

Red Bulls, especially when they were going

57:07

up that left side. But it never

57:09

felt like he was taking over the

57:12

game. And that's a credit to the

57:14

Galaxy, but it's also like he's the

57:16

only one on that team who could

57:19

conceivably take over a game of this

57:21

magnitude. So it makes it easier to

57:23

game plan for. I have to give

57:26

a massive amount of props to the

57:28

organization, to the club, to all the

57:30

fans and supporters who made this trip.

57:32

I mean, the Red Bulls as a

57:35

club bought 2,200 tickets, they bought 700

57:37

for the South Ward. My understanding is

57:39

they gave those 700, 300 other travel

57:42

vouchers, because last second travel across the

57:44

country is inherently expensive, and there was

57:46

a huge contention. It was basically the

57:49

entire, probably 60% of the upper deck

57:51

area. At Digny Health and then I

57:53

was right next to because I got

57:56

my brother-in-law and his fiance tickets to

57:58

the game as well and I went

58:00

and sat with them for about 20

58:03

minutes. That was right next to what

58:05

I believe to be the Red Bulls.

58:07

section, which stood the entire game and

58:10

was absolutely packed. And I was there

58:12

when they went down to nothing and

58:14

that dampened their enthusiasm a little bit,

58:17

but it did not send them to

58:19

their butts and seats. So it just

58:21

seemed like a celebration of a day

58:23

for those fans, but one that ultimately

58:26

was just was missing that little bit

58:28

that they've been missing for so long.

58:30

All right, trickle down from the Galaxy

58:33

Winning Cup. The Sounders have now qualified

58:35

for Comcast Champions Cup, and Doyle, there

58:37

is a Well, there's a trend here

58:40

as it pertains to MLS Cup winners

58:42

and CCC. Yeah, I didn't realize this

58:44

until a follower on Blue Sky pointed

58:47

it out to me and I apologize,

58:49

I forgot to write down who sent

58:51

this to me, but you're probably listening

58:54

to this show. So shout at me

58:56

again. But anyway, no MLS Cup winner

58:58

has played in the Concacaf Champions Cup

59:01

in the same season since the format

59:03

switched to the single calendar year back

59:05

in 2018. Wow. In fact, what we've

59:08

seen is that playing in CCL really

59:10

takes it out of teams by the

59:12

end of the year. Four of the

59:14

last five MOS Cup winners missed the

59:17

playoffs completely the season before. including these

59:19

LA, remember this Galaxy team just missed

59:21

the playoffs in 2023. The only outlier

59:24

in that is NYCFC who of course

59:26

won MLS Cup in 2021, they made

59:28

the playoffs in 2020, but that was

59:31

the shortened COVID season. That's the only

59:33

exception. So if you are playing in

59:35

Kakekav Champions Cup, It

59:38

is a big ask to still be

59:40

standing in the final 90 minutes of

59:43

the season and it is an even

59:45

bigger ask to be hoisted a trophy

59:47

after it's all said and done. Okay,

59:49

so who's the ask going to get

59:52

big for? By the way, Concap Champions

59:54

Cup Draw is on Tuesday at 7

59:56

p.m.m. Eastern on the Concakaf YouTube channel.

59:58

So we'll go Concakaf Draw on Tuesday.

1:00:01

into the expansion draft on Wednesday night

1:00:03

for agency will open if I haven't

1:00:05

checked because I'm exhausted from cross agency

1:00:08

is Thursday that's what I thought yes

1:00:10

so the list comes out tomorrow the

1:00:12

10 get ready It's going to start

1:00:14

moving fast here folks. I mean, as

1:00:17

soon as that final whistle blows, we

1:00:19

are off and running. So the teams

1:00:21

that are going to have to buck

1:00:24

history if they want to play in

1:00:26

CCC and win them less cup, the

1:00:28

crew in the galaxy will enter in

1:00:30

the round of 16, the crew via

1:00:33

leagues cup and the galaxy, of course,

1:00:35

via NLS Cup, LAFC, Colorado are both

1:00:37

in via leagues in, via Canadian Championships,

1:00:40

sporting Kansas City, via MLS play as

1:00:42

are the sounders as I mentioned so

1:00:44

that gets us to 10 MLS teams.

1:00:47

in the Cuckaf Champions Cup. Can we

1:00:49

be? Yeah. Taylor very bravely picked Atlanta

1:00:52

as his dark course to win MLS

1:00:54

Cup next year. I, in my, in

1:00:56

my top five MLS Cup candidates for

1:00:59

2025, I picked the dynamo as my

1:01:01

dark course. So now I'm putting it

1:01:03

on you. The dynamo, okay, so and

1:01:05

then your top five remind me, I'm

1:01:08

sorry, my brain is, is right. The

1:01:10

two L-A teams, the two Ohio teams,

1:01:12

the two Ohio teams in Miami teams

1:01:15

in Miami. And now bear in mind

1:01:17

that list of 10 teams that are

1:01:19

playing in Concocalf Champions Cup next year.

1:01:22

So when you choose your dark horse

1:01:24

to win, you would be wise to

1:01:26

choose outside, obviously. Yes, Taylor did and

1:01:28

which I unknowingly did. Yeah, I'm going

1:01:31

to go outside, obviously, and as a

1:01:33

reverse jinks of sort, as a as

1:01:35

a reward. for years of withstanding my

1:01:38

trolls. St. Louis City and Olaf Melberger

1:01:40

are coming out of nowhere with these

1:01:42

two Bundesliga all-stars to make history as

1:01:44

a dark course. They've cracked a code.

1:01:47

A dark course is the key word

1:01:49

here. I'll have to think hard around

1:01:51

now, but St. Louis, you're getting my

1:01:54

vote for the time being. By the

1:01:56

way, as we think about. scheduling and

1:01:58

competitions, just to put a bow on

1:02:01

champions cup and everything that comes potentially

1:02:03

with that as well. Don Garber's State

1:02:05

of the League, the commissioner, always does

1:02:07

a really interesting Q&A before MLS Cup.

1:02:10

Some of the things he said in

1:02:12

that one that'll pertain to this, more

1:02:14

teams in the US Open Cup for

1:02:17

MLS, there's been some. Bean spilling it

1:02:19

seems we're kind of reading between the

1:02:21

lines from Ernst Tanner and then you

1:02:24

know Chris Albright in that maybe not

1:02:26

all non playoff teams will play an

1:02:28

open cup and playoff teams will go

1:02:30

to leagues cup. If

1:02:32

that happens, I think that's a really, personally,

1:02:35

I think that's a great solution. In terms

1:02:37

of, that creates more MLS versus League of

1:02:39

Mex games and leagues cup because the numbers

1:02:42

are more even. And then there are more

1:02:44

teams in US Open Cup and we love

1:02:46

that competition as well. And it just, any

1:02:48

time a team can play for a trophy,

1:02:51

that is something I think is extremely important

1:02:53

for clubs and for fan bases and players

1:02:55

and coaches. Some other stuff scheduling wise, he

1:02:57

said they're still considering the swap of schedule.

1:03:00

post-2020-26 to what would be a European schedule.

1:03:02

MOS will not play through the World Cup

1:03:04

in 2026. And MOS will break for the

1:03:06

Gold Cup slash the Club World Cup as

1:03:09

well. Okay, anything to add on that? Anything

1:03:11

to wrap up from MOS Cup? Any questions

1:03:13

for me since I was there? I mean,

1:03:16

I barely remember it. It's like a fever

1:03:18

dream, but... Did you get this celebrity treatment

1:03:20

from fans around the stadium? You know what?

1:03:22

I do want to say a really hardy

1:03:25

thank you to every single person and incredibly

1:03:27

there were a lot of you that came

1:03:29

up and just said hey what's up can

1:03:31

I get a selfie or just want to

1:03:34

talk about the game or just wanted to

1:03:36

say I've been listening extra time for 10

1:03:38

years it is it is really really appreciated

1:03:40

because sometimes I think it can feel like

1:03:43

and Doyle correct me if I'm wrong here

1:03:45

that we're just talking to ourselves. You know

1:03:47

what I mean? Like, and that's fine. That's

1:03:50

true. And Anders and Maria. But and that's

1:03:52

fine. Like, you know, you guys are my

1:03:54

best friends in the world. Like, this is

1:03:56

what I would want to be doing regardless.

1:03:59

then when you go to a event like

1:04:01

this and you meet people and you see

1:04:03

people and they say this this is something

1:04:05

I make a part of my life and

1:04:08

I really enjoy and brings me something to

1:04:10

smile about that is truly truly special and

1:04:12

then I was trying to get my brother

1:04:14

in law and his fiancee into like the

1:04:17

hospitality area and like taking him around the

1:04:19

stadium they're not endless fans at all when

1:04:21

I got him tickets that are like oh

1:04:24

what's this and they're like oh is this

1:04:26

like the Super Bowl. Oh my God, are

1:04:28

you a celebrity? And I said yes, in

1:04:30

one place in the world. This is the

1:04:33

only place that that is true. But this

1:04:35

is that one place. So a big thank

1:04:37

you to everybody who hollered and said what's

1:04:39

up. I really, really appreciate you. Okay, you

1:04:42

want to talk off season real quick? Yeah,

1:04:44

let's do it. Okay, open coaching spots. Atlanta,

1:04:46

New York City, Philadelphia, Toronto, Vancouver, five are

1:04:48

open at this time. We talked about it

1:04:51

with Taylor Tellman, keynote T's that he's gonna

1:04:53

be in talks to coach Nimless team on

1:04:55

the season past coverage. If you were looking

1:04:57

at those five teams and saying, this team

1:05:00

is most likely to hire Robbie Keen to

1:05:02

be, it's next manager, which club would it

1:05:04

be? Probably

1:05:08

Vancouver. Which one would Robbie Cooper

1:05:10

want to go to? I mean,

1:05:12

I think he would want to

1:05:14

go to any of them from

1:05:16

what I've heard. He's really eager

1:05:18

to get into MLS as a

1:05:20

coach and like I'm not against

1:05:22

that at all. Vancouver are a

1:05:24

team that has a strong British

1:05:26

influence or you know, primary league

1:05:28

influence and obviously Robbie spent most

1:05:30

of his career in the primary

1:05:32

league. So I think there's probably

1:05:34

a lingua franca there. It is

1:05:37

a ready-made team in terms of

1:05:39

competing and he's a manager without

1:05:41

a track record of development. So

1:05:43

it's like, okay, I think you

1:05:45

probably want to give him something

1:05:47

that he can just take and

1:05:49

try to get that extra 10%

1:05:51

out of. would make the most

1:05:53

sense, but my understanding is that

1:05:55

he would listen to any and

1:05:57

all potential offers. Do we, I

1:05:59

mean, I'm just asking the question

1:06:01

because I don't actually know, because

1:06:03

this managerial time is relatively short.

1:06:05

He's been an assistant in the

1:06:07

champion with Ireland. He's, I think

1:06:09

he might have been an assistant

1:06:12

in the Premier League for a

1:06:14

hot second. No, I think I

1:06:16

was with Leeds in the championship.

1:06:18

Then he was a Macabi Tel

1:06:20

Aviv, I believe, for a year

1:06:22

in. in Israel in a weird

1:06:24

season in the COVID years, and

1:06:26

I think they won the league,

1:06:28

but do we know he's not

1:06:30

a developmental coach? We don't know.

1:06:32

We don't know. I'm just assuming

1:06:34

usually with a new coach or

1:06:36

a guy who doesn't have a

1:06:38

ton of experience, from what I've

1:06:40

seen, very few of them are

1:06:42

immediately like, yeah, let's start getting

1:06:44

the most out of this 18-year-old

1:06:47

on the roster. Interesting. I mean,

1:06:49

I think New York City was

1:06:51

one that jumped out to me

1:06:53

just because I feel like they

1:06:55

have the pieces to be to

1:06:58

be like a, honestly like a

1:07:00

MLS Cup contending team, not a

1:07:02

favorite, I wouldn't say, but a

1:07:04

contending team. I don't know, we'll see,

1:07:06

man, that'd be interesting. We already

1:07:08

talked about how the, the doors have

1:07:10

sort of opened in terms of interest

1:07:13

from foreign managers. Did you catch

1:07:15

when Taylor mentioned Jim Curtin for uh,

1:07:17

NYCFC? I didn't pick up on

1:07:19

that. I must have been trying to

1:07:21

put out the fire on my shrine

1:07:24

on my shrine or at least

1:07:26

like tamp it down just a bit.

1:07:28

That's something going around social media

1:07:30

as well. And I don't think Taylor

1:07:32

would have mentioned it like that if

1:07:35

it was just a social media

1:07:37

thing. By the way, things going around

1:07:39

on social media, we are doing

1:07:41

this show live right now during the

1:07:44

half day trade window. I tweeted at

1:07:46

Tom, let's go Tom Boger, Chop

1:07:48

Chop, when the window opened. He just

1:07:50

tweeted back at me, quote, have

1:07:52

I made you proud yet Andrew in

1:07:55

all caps? And Tom, you have indeed

1:07:57

made me proud. I'm looking at

1:07:59

some deals here. So Tom has tweeted

1:08:01

that Cruzero have officially declined the

1:08:03

purchase option on overall bar. assuming that

1:08:06

a transfer will happen for Bariol this

1:08:08

winter that he would not return

1:08:10

to Cincinnati. Tyler Wolf. has been traded

1:08:12

to RSL from Atlanta United for

1:08:14

50K in GAM. That's like a good

1:08:17

little flyer from from RSL on

1:08:19

a young guy with potential. Sources per

1:08:21

Tom Bournemouth have agreed a deal in

1:08:23

principle with DC United to sign

1:08:25

Mattai Akamboni the 18-year-old Centerback from DC.

1:08:28

That would be around 2.5 million

1:08:30

plus a cell on clause. And then

1:08:32

here's the big one. Strap in baby.

1:08:34

The Colorado Rapids are finalizing a

1:08:36

deal to acquire Centerback Chadosia Wazium and

1:08:39

Ian Murphy from F.C. Cincinnati. The

1:08:41

deal would be worth 1 million in

1:08:43

game plus add-ons. So a Wazium on

1:08:45

the move after signing in the

1:08:47

summer for Cincinnati and Murphy who's played

1:08:50

105 times for Cincinnati joining him

1:08:52

to reinforce the back line of the

1:08:54

rapids who needed it after selling Moiz

1:08:56

Bombito last summer. I mean, that

1:08:58

is, that's interesting. It tells you a

1:09:01

lot about the Miles Robinson and

1:09:03

Matt Meowska combination for Cincinnati, but boom,

1:09:05

Oahuosium turned into a trade ship pretty

1:09:07

quickly. Yeah, I was surprised about

1:09:10

that one. I didn't think he was

1:09:12

great with Cincinnati and maybe that

1:09:14

was an effect of playing in that

1:09:16

back five instead of a back four.

1:09:19

He's a really good passer of

1:09:21

the ball, but he was error-prone and

1:09:23

I don't think he read the

1:09:25

space that well, so I could see

1:09:27

why they determined he was... you

1:09:30

know he was a trade chip I'm

1:09:33

surprised Murphy was included I thought Murphy

1:09:35

was a solid like you know third

1:09:37

or fourth center back on the death

1:09:39

chart but that's well done from Colorado

1:09:41

the flip side yeah it tells you

1:09:44

what they think about Matt Miasga getting

1:09:46

back to health it tells you what

1:09:48

they think about Nick Haglin getting back

1:09:50

to full health and you know being

1:09:53

resigned I assume a good number it

1:09:55

also tells me they're probably gonna keep

1:09:57

teenage today it tells

1:09:59

us that they like

1:10:02

the idea. as

1:10:04

sort of a hyper mobile right center back

1:10:06

sort of a hyper Yeah. Yeah.

1:10:08

Yeah. Or I mean, they've said that Ora

1:10:10

Shano higher up the field too. So I don't

1:10:12

know, maybe it's a center forward that up the

1:10:14

field off the don't know, maybe it's and

1:10:16

Lucho they go get off the market,

1:10:18

I Orochano is behind them. I mean, mean,

1:10:21

is it a mean, that's

1:10:23

probably a good transition into the biggest

1:10:25

transfer stories. stories. Yeah, it's the biggest the biggest

1:10:27

question. is. It really is. any updated

1:10:30

we have any updated prediction on that? up and

1:10:32

he hit us up and he wants to

1:10:34

know our prediction on I think I've, I

1:10:36

think I've said that him to be back. to be

1:10:38

back. I mean, the number that he's

1:10:40

on, the guaranteed contract, the quality that he

1:10:42

obviously brings, I feel like a cooling

1:10:44

down period for all parties is sort of

1:10:46

what's going down come February, we'll see February we'll

1:10:48

see because I mean, Cincinnati let's be real

1:10:50

mean not be real get more not

1:10:53

going to get more money more money.

1:10:55

I wouldn't think elsewhere. elsewhere. So the only

1:10:57

one that comes to mind is mind

1:10:59

is and he's been outspoken about kind

1:11:01

of wanting to go back to

1:11:03

Boca Juniors. to go I think Boca the

1:11:05

right offer came in. think if the I

1:11:07

think Cincinnati would absolutely

1:11:09

listen. to that because

1:11:11

you can go out with

1:11:13

that go out bring in another and bring

1:11:16

another 10. as of right now, I'm I'm

1:11:18

with you. I think he'll be back.

1:11:20

I think they'll find a way to

1:11:22

make him happy a way to it all good.

1:11:24

and make it all good. But, you know, I have

1:11:26

Cincinnati as the number two number two

1:11:29

team in my top five

1:11:31

into 2025. I'm into to remain wildly going

1:11:33

to remain wildly optimistic about

1:11:35

this team give me me reason

1:11:37

not to be. be. Other big

1:11:40

stories, obviously around Major League

1:11:42

around Major League Soccer as we dive into

1:11:44

this off this off-season mere hours after

1:11:46

him Los over. mean, I mean Atlanta big

1:11:48

one one me. I would argue would

1:11:50

argue this is of the biggest off seasons

1:11:52

in the history of MLS, just based on

1:11:54

the ambitions of the club and where

1:11:56

they've been of the they won that MLS cup.

1:11:59

been really since they won that MLS Cup. Atlanta. It's not

1:12:01

a transfer of sorts, but it's

1:12:03

a big hire. Dave Tenney is

1:12:05

the director of high performance. If

1:12:07

you don't know who Dave Tenney

1:12:09

is, he was the sounders director

1:12:11

of a performance in those really

1:12:13

productive, awesome years. He's been at

1:12:15

Austin, I believe, recently. One of

1:12:17

the guys that really, around Major

1:12:19

League Soccer, if not the guy,

1:12:21

that really sort of pioneered the

1:12:24

combination of data and physical performance

1:12:26

in combining the two and making

1:12:28

it predictive. and creating a process

1:12:30

around it. He and Robbie Romney

1:12:32

really were a big part of

1:12:34

that in Seattle. And if you're

1:12:36

getting the gang back together, Doyle,

1:12:38

you might as well get Chris

1:12:40

Henderson back in the group as

1:12:42

well, just saying. You would think,

1:12:44

but we haven't heard anything about

1:12:46

that yet. We don't know exactly,

1:12:48

Chris Henderson's contract status with inter

1:12:51

Miami, though. But hey, contracts usually

1:12:53

end to end of the year.

1:12:55

They do. You know, that's generally

1:12:57

the way contracts often work, so.

1:12:59

It would make a lot of

1:13:01

sense. I'm going to bring it

1:13:03

back to that little interview we

1:13:05

had with Taylor where he mentioned

1:13:07

that he does not think Jim

1:13:09

Curtin will be the head coach

1:13:11

of Atlanta that caught me off

1:13:13

guard a little bit, especially given

1:13:15

how Garth Lagerway has talked about

1:13:18

valuing someone with experience winning in

1:13:20

MOS and Jim Curtin has of

1:13:22

course won a supporter shield and

1:13:24

a lot else. So that I

1:13:26

don't know if that opens up

1:13:28

the potential coaching search or it

1:13:30

narrows it down some. What I

1:13:32

will say is I would keep

1:13:34

refreshing Tom's Twitter feed. Blue Sky

1:13:36

feed. Go find, I don't know,

1:13:38

if you got a suggestion on

1:13:40

a winner that you think could

1:13:42

be a good fit there Atlanta

1:13:44

fans, we are absolutely absolutely happy.

1:13:47

Will you take a job? I

1:13:49

have not yet won. I have

1:13:51

witnessed winning. I have not yet

1:13:53

personally won, which is a, you're,

1:13:55

you're, you're on being an our

1:13:57

NBA fantasy league, man. Come on.

1:13:59

That's true. Five and Oh, David

1:14:01

Goss, taking that heavy L on

1:14:03

Sunday, trying to multi. was in

1:14:05

L.A. too, buddy. I was in

1:14:07

L.A. too. All right. Other stories

1:14:09

here, can the crew keep the

1:14:11

group together and add a third

1:14:14

DP? Do you know? That's a

1:14:16

huge one. It's a huge one.

1:14:18

Well, Nancy is, I think, the

1:14:20

number one part of the crew.

1:14:22

Yeah, Wilford Nancy, especially because they

1:14:24

lost him Bechanko. So that's one

1:14:26

to keep an eye on Kucho.

1:14:29

you know there are other Mofarcy Patrick Shulty

1:14:31

there are a lot of pieces that have

1:14:33

I think made themselves attractive on the global

1:14:35

transfer market and look that's the business. Then

1:14:38

the other part of that is they moved

1:14:40

Darlington Nagby off of a full DP slot

1:14:42

last year. They did that thing that I

1:14:44

was talking about with Mark Delgado where they

1:14:46

lowered his cap hit to give him more

1:14:49

guaranteed years. That gives them the flexibility to

1:14:51

go out and get another full on DP.

1:14:53

They could add another Diego Rosie or another

1:14:55

Cucho if they decide that's what it takes

1:14:57

to get them over the hump. They got

1:15:00

to keep Pucho too, huh? Yeah, I mean,

1:15:02

it's like, it's all in play for Columbus,

1:15:04

given how much I like watching that team,

1:15:06

I hope they not only keep all their

1:15:09

pieces, but I hope they really go for

1:15:11

it, add another $10 million attacker to that

1:15:13

team and let him cook. I mean, I

1:15:15

guess you got to keep Diego Rosie as

1:15:17

well, TPD. All right, keep looking around here.

1:15:20

We mentioned Club World Cup. I mean, the

1:15:22

Sounders have that DP spot that you would

1:15:24

think they would have, and then Roosnacks are

1:15:26

free agents. There's a lot going on with

1:15:28

the Sounders as well. Inter Miami announced their

1:15:31

roster decisions this morning. It's all sort of,

1:15:33

you know, it makes sense who's staying and

1:15:35

who's going. But they will do a bunch

1:15:37

of work ahead of competing on a bunch

1:15:40

of fronts. Antoineman, now we're in the summer.

1:15:42

I mean, let's go, let's predict again, let's

1:15:44

predict again, you can just, you can just,

1:15:46

you can just, you can just fire it,

1:15:48

just fire it, just fire it, just fire

1:15:51

it, just fire it, just fire it, just,

1:15:53

just, just fire it, just, just, just, this,

1:15:55

just, this, this, this, just, this, this, this,

1:15:57

this, this, just, this, this, just, this, this,

1:15:59

just, this, this, this, this, just Yeah, he

1:16:02

had a goal and assist. Yeah, he had

1:16:04

a goal assist this weekend. He's still a

1:16:06

huge part of that team. I think we're

1:16:08

gonna have to wait till the summer. Yeah,

1:16:11

it feels like summer. Other big ones, I

1:16:13

mean, three. Berhalter building the Chicago fire. It's

1:16:15

a big one. I mean they could they

1:16:17

could spend as much money as Atlanta too.

1:16:19

It wouldn't shock me at all if they

1:16:22

spent upwards of 30 million dollars on the

1:16:24

two DP slots that they that they have

1:16:26

open. Like then they have you 22 slots

1:16:28

beyond that as well. You have to wonder

1:16:30

maybe they there's a possibility that they in

1:16:33

terms of like the the size of rebuild

1:16:35

it is sort of. don't slow roll it

1:16:37

but like try to take it through two

1:16:39

windows or maybe even three is there they're

1:16:42

real building this entire roster basically and then

1:16:44

Bruce Arena is doing the same you already

1:16:46

got a bunch of veterans in as he

1:16:48

rated the sort of the the unwanteds at

1:16:50

the revs but got some really good MLS

1:16:53

veteran talent in return and there's rumors that

1:16:55

Brandon Vasquez could go to the Santa's earthquakes

1:16:57

would that be a good signing for this

1:16:59

quakes team? I think it would. I do

1:17:01

think they undervalued Jeremy Abobase and just letting

1:17:04

him walk. Vasquez is a similar player, but

1:17:06

he's a year younger and he's probably a

1:17:08

little bit better. So it makes a lot

1:17:10

of sense. He's at the right age profile.

1:17:13

Bruce has... I'm not saying always, but he

1:17:15

has tended to like a true target guy.

1:17:17

And that's what Vasquez is. I think it

1:17:19

would work really well with Christian Espinoza. Hopefully

1:17:21

it would unlock something from her non-Lopez, who,

1:17:24

you know, Goss theorem candidate next year. One

1:17:26

thing I will say is like, Bruce has

1:17:28

done this five times in the past where

1:17:30

he takes a team that looked really bad

1:17:32

and turns them into a really good team

1:17:35

really quickly. You could definitely see Vasquez being

1:17:37

part of the answer for that. Okay, I've

1:17:39

refreshed Tom Bogart's Twitter feed. I see no

1:17:41

other breaking news before we close this show.

1:17:44

Anything at the conclusion of a 29th season

1:17:46

Doyle that you would like to add any

1:17:48

messages you would like to send, you graciously

1:17:50

gave me that opportunity regarding the folks that

1:17:52

said, what's up, a cup, anything that you'd

1:17:55

like to drop in as we close the

1:17:57

show? Just something I want us all to

1:17:59

think about. 2020 to 2022, the

1:18:01

correlation between possession and points per game became

1:18:03

totally decoupled in MLS. Like there was no

1:18:05

advantage either real or perceived in actually having

1:18:07

the ball. Over the past couple of years,

1:18:09

that has. reversed where it's become the correlation

1:18:12

between possession and points per game since the

1:18:14

start of 2023 season has been stronger in

1:18:16

MLS than it ever has in the past

1:18:18

and you see it with the teams who

1:18:20

are winning trophies in you know 2020 Three,

1:18:22

it was Miami, a possession team winning leagues

1:18:24

cup. It was Columbus, a possession team, winning

1:18:26

a molest cup. It was Houston, a possession

1:18:28

team winning the open cup. The only outlier

1:18:30

were Cincinnati, who were not a bad possession

1:18:32

team, but they are really more of a

1:18:35

transition team, winning the shield. In 2024, Miami,

1:18:37

who were, I think, fourth in possession, they

1:18:39

won the shield. Columbus were second in possession.

1:18:41

They won League's Cup. Galaxy were third in

1:18:43

possession. They won MLS Cup. The Outlier were

1:18:45

LISC, who were almost a pure transition team

1:18:47

by the time they won US Open Cup

1:18:49

later in the year. Just something to think

1:18:51

about as. the tactics in this league evolve

1:18:53

and as the talent level in this league

1:18:55

evolves. And as we all keep refreshing, Tommy

1:18:58

Skips is social media feeds to see who

1:19:00

is the next big player who will be

1:19:02

joining us in MOS. We'd be ready for

1:19:04

those fish takas? I am fully prepared for

1:19:06

some San Diego treats. I am not prepared

1:19:08

for yet another cross country flight there and

1:19:10

back, but I will get my mind wrapped

1:19:12

your back. That's a good point. That's a

1:19:14

good point. Get those hit flexors firing. All

1:19:16

right. Thank you so much. Everyone who has

1:19:18

been here with us for a really fun,

1:19:21

a really entertaining and a quality 2024 MLS

1:19:23

season. The Galaxy are your champions. Their sixth

1:19:25

MLS Cup. They are in a

1:19:27

way, the most successful

1:19:29

team team in history in

1:19:31

terms of putting stars

1:19:33

on their chest. guess,

1:19:35

I guess now Doyle, they've

1:19:37

had the had stars

1:19:39

with the gold star.

1:19:41

Do you just go

1:19:43

a gold star and

1:19:46

another star in Is that

1:19:48

what we're going to

1:19:50

see that what we're year?

1:19:52

I don't year? I don't. guess I

1:19:54

know my I mean it sounds like

1:19:56

mean, from sounds like a

1:19:58

feature from our guy,

1:20:00

Charlie out to to get

1:20:02

him out to Carson

1:20:04

again and figure out

1:20:06

how they want to

1:20:09

do it. There we

1:20:11

go. There we go.

1:20:13

Let's get Charlie out

1:20:15

there. we All right.

1:20:17

We will see you

1:20:19

later on this week

1:20:21

to break down all

1:20:23

the all the comings and goings in the

1:20:25

meantime congratulations all and out

1:20:27

there. out back. back You're

1:20:29

back. and everyone else shot in

1:20:32

Florida Hopefully they go

1:20:34

down next year. Adios. adios