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Not Everyone Can Win Champions League! - Ep. 40
60 Plays1 year ago
the Columbus Crew's performance in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final at Pachuca. They delve into the team's unexpected loss, the impact of illness on the players, and the financial dynamics between MLS and Liga MX. The conversation also covers the coaching prowess of Wilfred Nancy and the evolving competitive landscape between the two leagues.
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:09
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? Welcome in to episode 40 of Lobbing Scorchers. This is Ari Lillian Wall. I've got producer Noah here with me. And Noah, we've got a great show for this one for episode 40. This has fast become my favorite type of Lobbing Scorchers episode. How are you feeling?
00:00:30
Speaker
I'm feeling like I got a shit Ari. My stomach. Yeah. Yep.
Columbus Crew's CONCACAF Journey
00:00:37
Speaker
That's right. We're going to talk about the Columbus crew who they played in the CONCACAF champions cup final at Pachuca last night. And Noah, it did not go particularly well on multiple counts. The whole thing really, it went off the rails in ways that I don't think anyone could have even anticipated. I mean,
00:00:56
Speaker
It's not necessarily the fact that they lost the game. It was how they lost it that I found so notable. They unfortunately joined the ranks of LAFC and Toronto FC as clubs who have made it to the CCC final and not won it.
00:01:14
Speaker
Not everyone can do it. We're going to riff on that and have a good time with it as we did when LAFC choked and lost last year.
Seattle Sounders' Historical Victory
00:01:24
Speaker
The Seattle Sounders have won this tournament famously. Yeah, famously. Over two legs as well. Over two legs as we all remember and look back on fondly in 2022.
00:01:34
Speaker
Um, they're the only MLS club to win the modern incarnation of this tournament and that has remained the case. So it was an easy path though. Yeah. Uh, shout out to the athletic, but, uh, we're going to have a, uh, a good time, uh, reminiscing on the Columbus cruise big night last night.
Reflections on MLS Performances in CCC
00:01:52
Speaker
We're going to clown on them a little bit, but I'm going to I'm also going to give them their due on certain counts. I don't really have as much against the Columbus crew necessarily as I do against LFC. And, you know, I do think there are aspects of their Champions Cup run this year that that deserve their fair share of respect. But they also got absolutely boat raced last night and.
00:02:21
Speaker
That was pretty funny. So we're going to we're going to most of the show. The reason the Seattle Sounders didn't play last night was because they were supposed to play the Columbus crew and the crew made it to the CCC final.
Show Format and Subscriber Engagement
00:02:33
Speaker
So the game ended up getting rescheduled so they could play in that. Everyone else played last night.
00:02:37
Speaker
So we're going to spend most of the show talking about CCC and then get to your questions and give some takes on the rest of the results that took place around MLS last night. But before we do that, as always, wanted to take care of a little housekeeping at the top of the show here. Thank you to all our paid subscribers. We love you guys. We got a new one to thank. Nate Bowling, my guy.
00:03:02
Speaker
A new one of our new paid subs Nate we miss you on Twitter, man Yeah, that you made your exit during the Elon era, which is unfortunate, but I understand but thank you so much for subscribing much appreciated man I'd also like to thank
00:03:20
Speaker
Joey Brenna, Pete Rhombus, Nate, Tyler Owen, David, Christopher, Bill, Mike, Aaron, Derek, Sounder, Dave's, Dan Paveto, Mike Standish, Ryan, Eric, my nephews, CJ and Miles Maranakis, Andy Hill, Ian Mitchell, and Greg Hoecker. If you'd like to support the show, all you have to do is go to podcast.lovingscortures.com.
00:03:39
Speaker
Click the little heart and you can pledge however much you want. And we certainly appreciate any and all support, even though it's not obligatory. And also, please subscribe to the Lobbins Quarters YouTube. Noah, we're almost at the big 100 subscribers, which was set as our first benchmark goal. I think we're at like 97, something like that. So we're right there. I know there's three people out there listening to this that have not subbed to the Lobbins Quarters YouTube.
00:04:05
Speaker
get us to that big 100. We really appreciate all the support on there as we continue to try and grow on that platform.
Columbus Crew vs. Pachuca Game Analysis
00:04:14
Speaker
But Noah, let's get into this CCC final because it was honestly, I had a good time watching it. I'm not even going to lie. Me too. As far as the game itself, I really don't think there's all that much to say. It was non-competitive. Columbus got bammed on, outplayed in every capacity. It was only 3-0. Could have been a lot worse.
00:04:34
Speaker
You know, it got it got so bad to the point where, you know, I was I was covering the rest of the MLS games going on last night. That was my primary work responsibility. But realistically, you know, I was way more interested in what was going on in the CCC final. So I was pulling that up and I was really I was ready to lock in and
00:04:56
Speaker
You know kind of toggle between the two things, you know, because I got to tend to my work responsibilities But I was locked in and ready to go and it just it went off the rails so fast and to the point where
00:05:13
Speaker
Eventually, I just kind of switched back over to the other MLS games and wasn't really paying that close attention to it I was keeping tabs to see if they've made the comeback but I was not I was not locked in on it because it was a non-competitive game and You know, it's it's interesting We were taught we recorded a show where we talked extensively about you should Seattle fans root for the crew how should they feel about another team potentially joining them as among the ranks of
00:05:39
Speaker
CCC winners in the modern era and you know I kind of made the case that I was I was rooting for the crew and I would have been I would have been happy to see them win and I went into the game last night feeling like that I was like I'm rooting for the crew right here let's go go get the win Nancy ball get the dub for MLS like I definitely went into it with that mentality but no I'm not gonna lie to you as soon as they started getting boat race and
00:06:08
Speaker
I started having fun with it almost immediately. I was like, oh, this is pretty much the exact same emotion that I felt watching LAFC choke it last year. I was just smiling, vibing, having a good time.
00:06:25
Speaker
And at the time, I couldn't really exactly put my finger on why watching these teams crash and burn in these finals makes me feel that way. But I guess that's something that we're going to get into. But yeah, I actually enjoyed this quite a lot. I'm sorry, Columbus. I promise you, I was rooting for them. But as soon as they started to crash and burn,
00:06:50
Speaker
I Was enjoying myself. Yeah, the whole Charlie Brown, you know kit I think added a little bit to it to me like it was literally like the football
Impact of Team Illness on Performance
00:07:01
Speaker
had been pulled away from them They had no life that entire match just from like minute one They were chocked and it was so funny like I went into the match just like not even really caring because I
00:07:16
Speaker
I don't know what we we had talked about oh yeah you should support the crew like it's it's fine like it doesn't matter either way we'll be winners but i i wanted that match and like you know five minutes in i was like oh this is hilarious the crew were done so like this is bad they were cooked so fast um i have a couple questions written here that we can talk about that uh i was thinking about in the aftermath of all this and uh
00:07:42
Speaker
You know, I asked some of you for a crowd source and takes on Twitter last night. So we'll get into some of those later. But I think just generally, let's just talk about how Seattle fans should feel about this. We talked about it going into it. Does our perspective change on it after we've seen the final result? And honestly, my I mean, my feeling on it is that for me, at least
00:08:04
Speaker
This is just me personally, like everyone has their own feeling on it. But me personally, I kind of look at it as a win-win from a Seattle perspective, because like I said, I would have been happy for Columbus to get it done and see it out and get the win for MLS. It would have been good for the league. But honestly, more than me caring about the advancement of the league or closing the gap between MLS and Liga MX, like I
00:08:30
Speaker
And
Seattle Fans' Perspective on Columbus
00:08:31
Speaker
we talked about this on the show where we were riffing on this, but I respect the crew. I still think that Wilfred Nancy is the best coach in the league. They play pretty fun, aesthetically pleasing soccer, which I can always appreciate. I respect how they've gone about building their roster. Tim Bespichenko is one of the better GMs in the league, which he showed dating back to his days with Toronto FC.
00:08:57
Speaker
So I really, much more so than LAFC, I would have been happy to see Columbus win it. But from a Seattle perspective, I think there is something fun and novel about being the only club that can do it, you know?
Format Debate: One-off vs. Two-legged Finals
00:09:14
Speaker
Like there's something, there's something to that.
00:09:17
Speaker
Because if you go throughout the history of this competition, what happened to Columbus last night is pretty much what's happened to every MLS team that's ever competed in this tournament. And certainly all the ones who have made a run at actually winning it in recent times. LAFC.
00:09:37
Speaker
couldn't get it done they're the one of the greatest super teams of all time right like Carlos Vela had 58 goal contributions in a season they put up a plus 75 I'm making up these numbers yeah put up a plus 70 goal differential and they couldn't get it done second fastest to 25 goal contributions or whatever like Toronto FC
00:09:58
Speaker
Remember how good those teams were? And when they made the final and they, I mean, we, we haven't even gotten into that one that much, but that's probably the worst choke job of all of them. They had, I can't remember who they were playing. I think it was Tigris. They had whoever they were playing. It was a league MX powerhouse in penalties. And remember Michael Bradley freaking sky his penalty into the next dimension. They saved me.
00:10:21
Speaker
like that that that like fully I was like feeling so down in the mud I remember like during that time period and I watched that match and my whole entire life turned around after that people
Future Prospects for Columbus and MLS
00:10:32
Speaker
people forget about that one but Toronto if they had just won that shootout they would have been
00:10:36
Speaker
first team to win it and Seattle if Seattle say Seattle had gone on to win it after that It still would have been an amazing accomplishment But it wouldn't have the the novelty in the historic nature that you can always hold on to of them being the first ones but it's it's just really I think it's created a great situation for Seattle fans because
00:11:02
Speaker
You're always going to be the first, right? And then if someone else wins it, you know, the way I look at it, more power to him, you know, join the ranks of the CONCACAF elite. But if they choke and lose, it's like, yeah, you know, it's not it's not that easy.
00:11:20
Speaker
Yeah, no, I love, I love being the first. I love being the first for many reasons. One, because every single person always has an excuse for why the sounders want it. They always have an excuse for, oh well, it was an easy path. Oh well, you know, you basically played the Cleveland Browns of Liga MX. Oh well, then do it.
00:11:45
Speaker
then do it, you know? Like, we are in such a unique position to be like, that's great, man, cool, whatever. We still got the trophy and you don't. LAFC, Mickey Mouse-ass tournament. They had the Mickey Mouse-est version of that tournament possible. Got to play the final at home.
00:12:02
Speaker
in a one leg final. No, that was it was it was it was two legs. But this is the first year I was I was looking this up last night because I couldn't quite remember. This is the first year in the revamped format that it's a one off. But like I thought that year with with Covid, they only played. OK, but that was that was that was the Covid year. OK, I was the first year, the first time that the second time. OK, you're not the second time they choked with the first. That's the thing, too. It's like we we.
00:12:31
Speaker
We only needed one shot We only needed one shot it at the final at the final at the final. Come on. All right, come on But it's it's
Financial Dynamics: MLS vs. Liga MX
00:12:42
Speaker
like it feels good I was rooting for the crew for about approximately three minutes. Yeah, we had the same reaction Yeah, as soon as the game started I went to rooting for Pachuca. I'm not gonna lie
00:12:54
Speaker
it wasn't even because like the crew are this like super big bad wolf in MLS which I think they really do benefit from Miami being such an evil in the league right now because I feel like people were more likely to root for the crew when they've been insanely dominant they've basically been like
00:13:13
Speaker
the next version of LSC or the next version of that Toronto team but people people have kind of like steered their ire away unless you're in Cincinnati they've steered their ire away because they're like fuck Miami but the crew were like a real good MLS team but yeah they're easy they're easy to get behind you know yeah
00:13:31
Speaker
but but you could play some ball man. They really I mean they did they did last night. Let's we got to get into we haven't even gotten into the craziest part of all this. We got to talk about the postgame press conferences from both Wilford Nancy and the Columbus players because
00:13:49
Speaker
The biggest thing that I noticed about this performance from Columbus, and I think everyone noticed this, was how flat and how non-energetic they were. And it was very bizarre to watch because we're not used to seeing Columbus team come out that flat with low energy, sloppy, bad giveaways. It's the worst I've seen them play under Wilfred Nancy.
00:14:16
Speaker
Being on the road in Mexico at altitude only explains so much of that So I was I was paying close attention to these pressers because I was like I want to hear what they have to say about what happened here because I'm genuinely curious as to Why what they attribute the extent of this letdown too because I certainly
00:14:38
Speaker
I was surprised it was a non-competitive game. Going into it, my honest prediction was that they would probably lose as the road team playing against League MX Club at altitude. The deck is stacked a little against you anyway. It would be an upset if you did win. But I thought it would be competitive. And it really was not competitive at all. It was a very one-sided game. So I was tuning into the Columbus Pressers to see what they had to say about all this.
00:15:08
Speaker
Well, first, Wilford Nancy got up there and he revealed that something that explains a lot, which is that apparently
00:15:22
Speaker
every player on the team and not only every player, but the entire coaching staff got viciously sick pretty much as soon as they as soon as the plane landed, they got they all got the entire traveling contingent of the Columbus crew got viciously sick.
00:15:40
Speaker
Um, and Wilford Nancy said that they, I mean, this is, I take no joy in reporting this, but this is just what he said. He said they basically all had really bad diarrhea for like two days. He got, he got up at the press conference and I've never seen anything quite like this. He got up there and I'm paraphrasing, but he was basically like, guys, my entire team and my entire coaching staff, including myself, we've been holed up in our hotel, just blown up the bathroom for
00:16:07
Speaker
two days straight before this game. We basically, we essentially went from the hotel bathrooms where we've been spending 20 out of the last 24 hours per day and then just went from there to the stadium and just played this game. And so him and all the players were like, we're not making excuses, not making excuses, but we have, I mean, we, we feel obligated to reveal and point out that we have indeed been blowing up our bathrooms.
00:16:37
Speaker
for two days straight before the game. Now, I mean, okay, so Wilfred Nancy revealed that. And so I saw that quote and I was like, Oh, wow. That's, you know, that's definitely, it explains a lot. It explains a lot. And realistically,
00:16:53
Speaker
with that variable taken into account. I mean, they had no chance in this game. They had no chance because you're already you're playing in a very, very difficult, hostile environment at
Game Conditions and Fairness
00:17:05
Speaker
altitude. That's it's challenging physically already. No, you played the game. Can you imagine being as sick as Wilfred Nancy was describing and then playing any game like two days later, let alone one of the of this intensity and magnitude. I mean,
00:17:23
Speaker
Honestly, I would quit the fact that they only lost three zero is low-key impressive considering the Reported physical condition of the team and the staff So that I think
00:17:38
Speaker
I think there was a quality differential between the sides that likely would have did Columbus in any way based on what I saw in the game. However, it's definitely a little hard to gauge if you grant that what they're saying, like the extent of how sick they were is true, which, you know, Nancy talked about it. The players talked about it. I think they probably, I don't think they're exaggerating how sick they were. I mean, it definitely,
00:18:08
Speaker
That sucks. Like I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. That sucks. But I thought the most interesting quote on this topic was from Kucho Hernandez, who and I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna put your tinfoil hat on Ari. There's like, I'm gonna read this quote. And I'll kick it to you to see what you I'll tell you my reaction. I'll kick it to you to see what you think of this.
00:18:28
Speaker
Cause I don't want to like put words in the guy's mouth, but I think it's not hard to read between the lines of what he's saying here. Um, he did say in Spanish, so maybe some got lost in translation, but I don't, I mean, it seems pretty clear cut what he's saying to me. Uh, Kucho Hernandez star Columbus crew forward after the game said, uh, we had more than 20 people from the staff sick with diarrhea all night for two days.
00:18:52
Speaker
And then he says it is not a coincidence that 20 people got sick I do not want to blame anyone or blame the result on that but I think it affected us physically Some of the guys spent two nights almost without sleeping. They weren't sleeping. They were just
00:19:07
Speaker
up all night. He says, I'm not complaining. I'm not complaining. The city was spectacular. The people were very helpful. It is just not a coincidence that more than 20 people from the group got sick. Now what I think is interesting about this quote is he says twice, not a coincidence. It's not a coincidence. What do you think he means by that? Because to me, it sounds like to me that he's implying that they like got dosed or something like that. What I mean, what else does he mean by that?
00:19:45
Speaker
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00:19:56
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:20:41
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. That's that's got to be what he thinks. I mean, or at least something related to that. Like it. It's funny, but maybe he means it is. You know, I was trying to maybe he means it's not a coincidence that we played poorly poorly, but he said the quote is literally as translated. It is not a coincidence that 20 people got sick.
00:21:01
Speaker
I mean, you know what? He's maybe he's not wrong because, you know, the neuro virus does exist, which probably is what all of these people had. Like in that is super transmissible. Maybe he's just like, you know, I studied. I got my M.D. bro. I you know, I know about the neuro virus.
00:21:18
Speaker
Or maybe he's got his tin foil hat on and he thinks the Liga and Meccy side poisoned him. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I don't know. I don't know. That would certainly be a huge story if that did turn out to be the case.
00:21:34
Speaker
So something to that effect is until there's evidence shown or proven I mean I tend to think that they just got horribly unlucky to have whatever it was break out at the timing that it did and It is it is unfortunate that it it it chalks their chances before kickoff even started really and I
00:22:01
Speaker
Frankly, but it's not an excuse. Sorry not an excuse as you know as both Wilfred and Kucho both said yeah, but uh Frankly I I do I honestly do have a degree of respect for the fact that that happened and they still went out there and played the game and
00:22:23
Speaker
You know, they they did. I mean, they got bammed on, but they only ended up conceding three times and almost scored like once or twice, you know. So considering their physical condition, I think the it explains the extent of how poor the performance was. And, you know, at least I I feel like I understand it more than that. But what I will say is
00:22:51
Speaker
I do think they probably would have lost this game anyway, just not as badly. Well, there's a simple way to not have to play that game away and to not have to get poisoned by the taco truck guy. That is just win more games. Just win more games in the, you know, the Sounders did it.
Columbus's Path to the Final
00:23:11
Speaker
It's true. Columbus fans would probably point out that the Sounders didn't get sick. They wouldn't have gotten sick if they also had. This is the first year that the final is a one off under this like revamped format that they've instituted for champions cup. The Sounders had two legs in their final against Pumas. But you know,
00:23:40
Speaker
That wouldn't have changed the equation all that much for Columbus in this scenario, because if you just grant that the first leg would have gone the same way and they lose 3-0 in the first leg, I mean, they would have been...
00:23:55
Speaker
totally chalked. Yeah. It would have been hard to come back. Do I think if any team could do it, it would be Wilfred Nancy's Columbus? Absolutely. Playing at home. Yeah, it wouldn't have been impossible, but it would have been a pretty tough mountain to climb. I will say on that topic,
00:24:13
Speaker
As far as the debate between a one-off final and a two-legged I like the two-legged I don't know it might be an unpopular take but I just think that over two legs The actual quality of the teams Shines through more and it takes some of like the randomness and luck out of it. You know what I'm saying? Like yeah 180 minutes
00:24:38
Speaker
Who actually plays better is typically going to win that yeah, whereas a one-off There's such an element of randomness and chance to it, which is fun and exciting but I like the spirit of competition personally of The better team having like more time yeah show that I would have prefer they kept it two legs, but I mean I do understand and respect the Fun and excitement of a one-off too even if this one went off the rails
00:25:07
Speaker
And it gives both teams fans a chance to watch a final leg as well Which like I really like like the fact that you're able to have especially when you have like Mexican League teams or you know Theoretically people from anywhere in CONCACAF able to make it to the final Everyone should be rewarded as fans for that hard work. So two legs is two legs is great and then no one can cry fucking
00:25:32
Speaker
Oh, you know, we had to play at 7,000 billion feet altitude. It's like, all right, dog, you play in Colorado every once in a while. Like, let's calm down. Yeah. Which I want to say the crew did not do that. The crew. The crew were like, I got to say for how bad they got smacked, like they really didn't make any excuses. Like, like this was a pretty calm post game presser.
00:25:57
Speaker
Well other than them extensively talking about how they all had diarrhea, but you know if I was like that's not even like a Yeah, that's not sour grapes like honestly. I don't begrudge them pointing that out at all if I was in the same situation like I would feel pretty compelled to point that out and let people know that too because it clearly I mean I
00:26:19
Speaker
It's very like thinking back on their performance now with that knowledge. It explains a lot. Yeah, it really does. I mean, Steve T. Yeah, he would not have done that in that situation. Steve C. Steve C. Oh, I always call him Steve T.
00:26:36
Speaker
The other thing I wanted to talk about, you know, I guess you were dunking me on Twitter last night. I was is Wilfred Nancy stock down. You know, I had to take about why I think he's one of the best coaches in the league, if not the best coach in the league on a previous episode that you cooked up a little real of.
00:26:53
Speaker
Um, but I mean, I'll just say that I, I, I stand by, uh, the take, which is that I still consider him probably the best coach in the league. Um, you know, like in the clip, I'm not, uh, I wasn't comparing him to pep or you're getting clop like in terms of coaching ability. My take was that like, there are certain categories of coaches like the two guys that I just named who
00:27:18
Speaker
They give you a tangible edge in every game that you go into. Just due to their, not just their tactics, but the buy-in that they get, the culture that they create, all those things play into it to where some coaches just, they actually, they impact the results more than others. And I think Wilfred Nancy has shown that he is a coach.
00:27:46
Speaker
That actually like they probably get results at at times that they might not otherwise normally get Because of the impact that he has on games. That's pretty that's pretty rare There's not a lot of coaches that you can say that about I don't think there's all that many in MLS He's one of the only ones that I could name like I don't even really
00:28:06
Speaker
It's hard for me to put Tata in that category that much because he's been given the greatest roster ever assembled when he was the Atlanta coach. That was one of the most bloated MLS rosters I've ever seen. If I coached inner Miami this year, I'm pretty sure I could win MLS Cup. It's not the hardest job in the world.
00:28:28
Speaker
If I was coaching them, I would just say, guys, I don't really know what I'm doing. Just tell me what formation that you like to play. That's what will run. I'll let my assistants set up the drills that you do in practice. I don't really know about that. And then I'll just have someone give me advice on when to do the subs. Just let me know how you're feeling about that. And let's go out there and cook. I'm pretty sure I could win them a less cup like that.
00:28:57
Speaker
You know Wilfred Nancy he's had to do a lot more actual coaching in his life. This guy was at CF Montreal where they didn't really have Much anything to work with not even a real city. Yeah, and he did he did so well at that job that Columbus hired him off and Gave him a pretty loaded roster and he's done fantastic with it. So I I don't think his stock is really down at all as far as
00:29:22
Speaker
MLS coaches. Um, maybe it's a little down as far as his CCC stock, but I mean, I do think like you do have to give a little, a degree of credit to the run that Columbus had this year. I mean, it was, they, they had a crazy path. They took down two really good, uh, we got max teams Tigris and CF Monterey, right? Like that's a really, that's an impressive path.
00:29:46
Speaker
And they were getting results on the road really up until they crashed and burned in the final They it was I will say it was what it was as much as we clowned on the take of Seattle having an easy path this path would have been harder and They they did they did really well to get to this point they just
00:30:07
Speaker
It doesn't mean a heck of a lot now that they didn't win it. And now that's basically all they are, as far as CC is concerned, is a team that had a good run that couldn't finish the job like LAFC and Toronto. But they did have a pretty impressive run. And I think Wilfred Nancy, he does deserve credit for that.
00:30:25
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I don't think they win against, you know, Riatos if Wilfred Nancy isn't the coach. Like, I mean, they, they demolished the super team of Mexico or one of, and you know, that's, that's impressive. I'll give them that. Like, that's cool. Um, it's just, it's just not for everybody.
00:30:43
Speaker
You know, that's just my take at the end of the day. I wanted to talk about, there's a lot of talk about the gap between MLS and League of MX. There always is after results like this. Has it closed? Will it close? What's it going to take for it to close? I mean, my take on that overall topic is that, I mean, it's pretty much the same as it has been. The gap has legitimately closed quite a bit.
00:31:09
Speaker
Even though Seattle's win looks like a bit of an outlier at this point, in the last five to seven, eight years, MLS clubs are performing better in this competition. A lot of them have made finals at this point now when you factor in LAFC, Toronto FC, Seattle winning it, Columbus making it. So it's certainly close compared to what it used to be, but
00:31:39
Speaker
There still is a gap there in the main reason that a lot of opponents and analysts point to for that is an issue of finances. You know, I think that the perception is that League MX rosters are not as constrained as MLS rosters with the salary cap and regulations that MLS has. And which is true to an extent, but
00:32:05
Speaker
I think there's something that's worth pointing out about this game. And there were some tweets about this. So I went and I looked it up myself. And because apparently on on FS1 last night, Alexi Lawless was popping off about how, you know, until MLS teams are allowed to spend more and you take the training wheels off the roster rules, like,
00:32:26
Speaker
This is going to keep happening and it's impossible to compete with we got max until the gap will never close. All right. No, I'm going to read you Pachuca's payroll and then I'm going to read you Columbus's payroll for 2023 2024. Okay.
00:32:43
Speaker
I'm ready. Pachukas, 7.8 million. Not a very big payroll at all. Okay, FC Dallas, go off. Yeah, exactly. Columbus cruise, 20 to 24 salary spend, 15 million. No, you're lying, Ari. I was told, wait, I was told, wait a minute.
00:32:59
Speaker
What? Yeah, it's almost double, which honestly, I was surprised to see that. I figured it would probably be closer than people thought, but I kind of learned a lot because I sort of took the fact that League of MX clubs are so much more well-financed than MLS clubs in general as gospel.
00:33:21
Speaker
I would have thought upon looking it up that if you went through the Liga MX payrolls, they would all be higher than the MLS salary cap and probably way higher. But what I found, and these are just the numbers that I looked up. So if anyone has different information or wants to correct this, feel free. But this is just what I saw. When I was going through, there's a website that has all the Liga MX payrolls.
00:33:47
Speaker
A lot of them looked very similar, actually, to MLS payrolls. And in this case, it was actually, Pachuca's was smaller than a lot of MLS teams, which I thought was very interesting. And it was certainly smaller than Columbus's. But what you do have is you have a few clubs at the top of LECA MX, where their payrolls do blow the MLS salary cap pretty much completely out of the water. The two examples were Club America and CF Monterey, where you're talking about 25 plus million dollars, which
00:34:17
Speaker
I mean, that's certainly a lot higher than Columbus's 15. But for the most part, what I saw was that they were honestly pretty similar. And the point is this Columbus-Pachuca matchup was not a situation where you had a team with a super low payroll comparatively going up against this, like,
00:34:41
Speaker
Huge big spending team pachuka are kind of their moneyball squad in league MX we were talking about it before we started recording but apparently they're known for having a really elite youth academy and Spamming their young players to great success and they've won this competition a lot of times I think this was their sixth conquer calf title. Yeah, I don't know when the last one they won was
00:35:04
Speaker
It's been in the last like five years like yeah, they are They're not this just like crazy big spending club. They are a well-run organization that spends their money smartly and efficiently and focuses a lot on youth development and It's it's clearly paid off, but like
00:35:25
Speaker
the whole narrative that Columbus just got outgunned by a club that spends way more money than them. I mean, it's not true at all. Unless I'm like tripping and reading some totally wrong numbers, but I'm just telling you guys what I googled and Columbus's payroll for this year was double.
00:35:42
Speaker
Double what pachukas was so I don't know anyone who's dishing that talking point about how the gap Needs to close financially between MLS and Liga MX For you know for the gap between the leagues to close That's just I mean it is true to an extent when you're talking about clubs like Club America and CF Monterey But that's not what happened here
00:36:07
Speaker
No, not at all. And like, for one, I think that a lot of MLS teams can take a lot from a squad like Pachuca, who are like so incredibly deep in their youth prospects. It's basically FC Dallas or Philadelphia Union. They're the Philly Union of Liga and Mexico. But they win. Yeah, exactly.
00:36:27
Speaker
finals yeah like they are an incredibly one like it shows that they have such youth depth that like half their starting lineup was legitimately youth prospects like if you are a football manager player you are like you are in love with this squad like it is it is to a tee what you do on football manager like a fucking video game it's incredible
00:36:50
Speaker
But yeah, they're they're a talented team. The last time they won Champions League was 2016 2017 but to be in another final not even 10 years later and win it is Incredible and and they beat they beat a lot of teams as well to get to where they were And they got knocked out of the final of the I think it's this it was the second stage of the Mexican
00:37:14
Speaker
Regular season or you know, they had they structure it way differently But man, like yeah, they're they're they're not they're not Club America. They're not they're not they're not but you or they're not a Rios. So yeah, like cool. I get it. Like sure I think the bigger story is as we get more clubs going to play like in the club World Cup and
00:37:38
Speaker
If you relax the salary cap, then maybe you can compete more with the European teams. But we are competing with Mexican teams. It's just that I think it's fair to say these Mexican league teams are really fucking good. They're really good. And I think it's a lot of the differences.
00:37:57
Speaker
You know, I think MLS clubs are at a point where the upper tier clubs and MLS they're starting 11s can go up against a league MX starting 11. It's when you get into the bench and the depth players where the gap still really seems to show they're bringing guys off the bench of extremely high quality.
00:38:15
Speaker
And a lot of MLS teams are, you know, they're bringing, bringing off like Academy kids with not a lot of experience or maybe super draft picks that were playing at Georgetown six months prior. And now you're trying to play them against a league MX club and in champions league, which, you know,
00:38:33
Speaker
Tough tough sell or tough proposition sometimes. I think the best like example of what the next version of MLS that may get us to being genuinely competitive League of Machis is a team like Like inner Miami like funny enough it's like even when Messi and Busquets and Suarez aren't playing they have Karmashi they have Campana. They have all of these players that are like nasty will we see that going forward probably not but
00:39:03
Speaker
That is like the way you would want to build a roster out because their second team is an average MLS quality team.
00:39:10
Speaker
But that's impressive. It's kind of, it's, you know, Miami was really MLS is best chance at winning this competition this year. And it's, it's unfortunate that messy guy in the hurt in the first leg of the series that for the first leg of the series that they lost. Cause I think they probably win that series if he plays and inner Miami could actually made a run at it. And you know, I think if you put them in that final, they would have had a better chance than Columbus ended up having. But, um,
00:39:39
Speaker
So it goes. Let's get into questions, Noah, and then we'll go around the league if that sounds good. Yeah, let's do it. It's funny. I've interacted with a lot of you now about how Seattle fans feel about the crew. And I would say it's been pretty split. A lot of people actually did say that they were rooting for Columbus last night. But then a lot of people also were rooting for Schadenfreude and took joy in Columbus' defeat.
00:40:09
Speaker
Similar to how no one and I did so it's been interesting to see like the diversity of reactions
00:40:14
Speaker
Yeah Kenny one of my favorite Twitter users asks Why does the rest of the country refuse to get behind Seattle and their accomplishments seeing everyone room for the crew rubs me the wrong way? Because even when Seattle won the rest of the league would only pat themselves on the back like oh, yeah We all earned this it's definitely a thing that people like to see Seattle fail and there was a lot I remember when Seattle was in the CCL final There was a lot of
00:40:41
Speaker
other fan bases rooting for their downfall. But honestly, to me, that made it even better when they won. I kind of welcome that. It's fun being the team that people root against that way, in a way. And it's kind of unfortunate. Seattle's Forum has taken such a downturn since they won CCL. I feel like they've kind of sacrificed a little bit of that status as the villain that people
00:41:07
Speaker
Root against just because they're not really playing well enough to merit it right now But I I thought I don't know about you. I thought that that sentiment Enhanced the victory like it. Yeah, it made it sweeter. Yeah, no, you know, I I think we're both very open and honest about just the absolute downfall post CCC a final of like the Sounders and like
00:41:32
Speaker
they kind of had to give it more than everything. They sacrificed multiple years of quality to win that and like yeah I think we've both been feeling pretty like down about that but to see that final and see them get dog walked like they did it was like yeah okay whatever like cool I can ride with that for a little bit longer as for everyone hating us I don't get it I really don't but it is funny.
00:41:58
Speaker
Like, what are you going to do? Like, I had a bunch of crew people in my mentions posting up gifts from the 2020 MLS Cup, which famously the Sounders didn't even plan. So I don't understand. I'm like, okay, yeah, you can flex your third MLS Cup on me, even though you've been in the league longer. But we have the trophy that you can't win. Right.
00:42:18
Speaker
It's I think a lot of it is to do with the whole like Seattle invented meme. Yeah. People think of Seattle fans as kind of full of themselves and which we are tenuous, which, you know, arguably not inaccurate. But I think that's a lot of the rooting against sentiment that Kenny is talking about. I think a lot of it is that's where it stems from.
00:42:36
Speaker
Yeah, it is funny though, everyone will shit on the CCL win for the Sounders, but we'll make excuses at every turn to say, oh well, you know, this loss in the final wasn't that bad considering this, that, and the other thing. And I think also, funny enough, I think there is an East Coast bias to the media coverage around the crew and the CCC and all of this stuff, because I know that we've hit on it twice and we've kind of skirted around it, but
00:43:05
Speaker
The athletic article was genuinely one of the stupidest, one of the stupidest like takes that I've ever seen in my life. And they're not even, no one's gonna have to answer for that. No one is going to have to answer for that. And it's like, it pisses me off. I'm glad you have a platform to air your grievance on that. I think you actually, that created a firestorm on Sounders Twitter that the likes of which, you know,
00:43:33
Speaker
hasn't been seen, I don't think, this season as far as how blazing hot the discourse got. And you were leading the charge there. So I'm glad you got your little moment to pop off about that again last night. I know you had been holstering that one. Yeah, I had the screenshots.
00:43:50
Speaker
Okay, hear me out. Until another MLS team wins CCL, and any time an MLS team doesn't win CCL, it's basically the exact same thing as Seattle winning CCL. So for all of this glee you're seeing is probably justified legally speaking, and this one is from
00:44:07
Speaker
A handle for Ian. Thanks, Ian. I appreciate that one. I like the galaxy brain nature of the take. I didn't really understand it, but I think you might be onto something. It's like a Y equals MX plus B. You know what I'm saying? You understand it, but you don't. I got a D plus in math. Yeah, I dropped out of college. It's not a math pod.
00:44:34
Speaker
Yeah. Unseriously, this one's from Andrew TK. Nancy Ball is dead. Long live Schmetzer Ball. Seriously, never underestimate how hard it is to get a result on the road in CONCACAF. Sounders did not lose on the road, not to Leon, not to the defending MLS champions NYCFC. I was at that game. And not against Pumas. That's the differentiator.
00:44:55
Speaker
Yeah, I'll tell you what, like every year, and now this is now two years in a row where we've gotten to do this CCC final choke podcast, and both times it happened, it's made me look back on Seattle's easy path with even more fondness.
00:45:16
Speaker
It was just such a clinical run, man. I think that's why the idea that it was an easy path is so grating to those of us who watched every single one of those games and were there for that run.
00:45:31
Speaker
Their execution of game plans and tactics and game management and just the way that they played during all the games and managed the series, it was flawless. It was lights out. They ended that CCC run with like a plus 13 goal differential. Easily the best team in the tournament, six or seven guys who made the tournament best 11. And there were just so many moments that
00:46:00
Speaker
You could point to like JP winning the penalty, Freddie making his clutch penalties, Nico hitting one at the end in the first leg of the final, I want to say, to salvage the 2-2. The series against NYC where Raoul got the clutch goal.
00:46:21
Speaker
It was just a type of game management and execution that we really haven't seen since from Seattle. It feels like they emptied the tank on it and really they put it all on the line for it and they got it done.
00:46:40
Speaker
looking at what's happened to LAFC in Columbus in the last two years, it makes it more impressive, it does. Even if it was an easy path, this is what I'll say, which I will acknowledge, and we were both very open about, if Columbus were to win this year, then it was a way harder path. And that's fair. But the thing is, you take the path that you're given, they dominated the path they were given. So it's not even like they were barely skating by on an easy path.
00:47:09
Speaker
If even if they would have missed every penalty they would have given They would have advanced through every single round and still won the tournament. They did not lose one game That is impressive. I don't care who you are to play in a continental tournament where you have to go down to Mexico where you have to go to other continents and keep your form and keep a level head pull out a draw and
00:47:36
Speaker
Pull out a draw when you're down to nil and you end up drawing the game in the 98th minute or whatever God that game was insane. That is like I don't care who you are how good you are. That is impressive I don't care how bad the other team is that is impressive. So You know, I will continue to gloat. I will continue to downplay the talking points, but like
00:48:00
Speaker
God, that that just it was a magical run. It's always everything went right. I love like reminiscing on it every time another team loses. It's so good. It really is the best possible thing. This is something that you alluded to before, but I wanted to give credit to the original poster here. Radar signals. It feels like the sounders org leverage the rest of twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four just to win the one champions league. And while watching this under struggle ball makes you think
00:48:30
Speaker
Was it worth it? Nights like tonight make you go. Yeah, it was. Absolutely. Great point. And you know, we've had to think about that a lot with with what's happened to Seattle since that run. I've thought about that a lot. Was it worth it? So worth it. So worth it. I would not I wouldn't I would not trade that run for anything like
00:48:49
Speaker
If you had told me beforehand that Seattle's MLS form would revert to like 1.1 to 1.3 points per game for the next year and a half to two years, but you have that CCL run. I mean, I take that all day, all day. And I honestly can't relate to anyone who feels different.
00:49:09
Speaker
But if we're really honestly breaking down why Seattle has been a 1.1 to 1.3 points per game MLS club since CCC, I mean, I think the biggest reason probably is because of how they emptied the tank to win CCO.
00:49:26
Speaker
JP tore his ACL in the final of that tournament. I don't think he's really been the same player since I got back That's been a big Reason like him not being available and then not being fully fit in his peak form when he got back That's been I think and a reason that we haven't talked about as much for why Seattle's form has slipped and then I think just in general there's this psychological component to it where you have this core that is summited amount in top that
00:49:55
Speaker
They can't accomplish anything more or anything greater than what they already have with winning that tournament. And you can try and not let that affect you psychologically, but I have to imagine that
00:50:11
Speaker
the sort of subconscious notion that they've already done the greatest thing that they could possibly do as MLS players, it might I don't know, it might, it might play into things like motivation and energy for specific given games and how you execute in certain moments. Yeah, I don't know, I was a little bit of a tangent there.
00:50:35
Speaker
But you're right because the core of that team that's still here and that is still driving the like momentum of this roster has won two MLS cups and a CONCACAF Champions League Where's there to do it? Yeah, like what?
00:50:50
Speaker
Like, and I think you see that with the effort and the drive that players, you know, like Obed have, like where they got in like right at the end, they got the taste of winning CCL, but it's like that, that doesn't even define his career because it was like he was so young. 16. Yeah. And.
00:51:09
Speaker
You know, even like Reed Baker Whiting and Cody Baker and like all of these players that the when they got that achievement in their career defined a lot more for the it pushed them a lot more for their future than it was like, OK, Jordan Morris is in his prime wins. Concorde Champions League. If I'm Jordan Morris and I've had everyone talking shit about me my entire fucking career, you know what I'm going to say? I want to MLS cuts in a CCO. What other MLS player has ever done that?
00:51:39
Speaker
Yeah, not many, not any. Not any, you know, Jordan Morris, you know, that's what's cool about it is like every single person who was on that team and Schmetz and the coaching staff, like they, uh, they are, they are truly immortalized for that. Like the, the CCL trophy is, um, they have something that no one else has with that. That's like a very cool and unique thing.
00:52:04
Speaker
Yeah, and we'll finish it off here from a Columbus Crew fan that hit us with this take. Has an MLS team ever won on the road at Pachuca? No. Not really sure why everyone is digging Columbus. Had a great run. Beating Tigres and Monterey were great results for the league this year. Pachuca is a ridiculous place to play a final.
00:52:26
Speaker
Yeah, I'll tell you why we're digging Columbus, which is that it's basically just gloating over the fact that Seattle has won this competition and no other team has, which is something you can do when the team you support wins CCL. That's like a perk. It's really nothing personal against the Columbus crew or the city of Columbus or Wilfred Nancy or Cuccio or anything.
00:52:53
Speaker
Like I said, I like the team and I respect the team, I respect the whole operation, but I'm still going to clown on this result. I hope that's fair. I would expect nothing less if the roles were reversed. Yeah, they would be doing the same thing. Anyone who would be in this position would be doing the same thing. I think it's funny that everyone's crying that Sounders fans are dunking on them. That's a perk. That's a perk. We are terrible.
00:53:23
Speaker
Someone was in my mentions like, oh well, you know, don't be too loud because the sounders suck. I'm like, yeah, they're fucking terrible. And guess what? I'm still gonna be loud because we won. We get the, we get the, like, let me take my dub, bro. Let me take my dub. Thank you for your questions. Thank you for your takes. We love you.
00:53:39
Speaker
Thank you, as always, to everyone who submitted those. Much appreciated. Let's get into some winners and losers from the rest of the slate that took place around MLS last night, and then we can get out of here for episode 40. Does that sound good enough? Absolutely. All right. Let's just dive right into it. Winners.
00:53:56
Speaker
Seattle Sounders. Still, MLS is only CCC champion. Feels good. Feels good. Feels right. And they didn't even have to play a match. They didn't even have to play a match to get in the winner's section this week. That's, I mean, you know, the Seattle being in the winner's section has been few and far between this year, but I feel good about throwing them in there in this situation. I think an even bigger win, too, is that the crew match was rescheduled. Now we have the chance to play hungover Columbus Crew.
00:54:26
Speaker
Which like that's kind of that's more the result is more attainable in that game Than it might have been previously because I mean let's be real for as much as we have gloated on this episode I mean the Columbus crew are a I mean they're vastly vastly superior team to To the Seattle Sounders right now like if you put these two teams in a one-off I'm I mean, I'm I'm taking Nancy ball in Kucho
00:54:52
Speaker
I mean, if he asked me to pick that 10 times, I'd pick them all 10 times. Yeah, same. Yeah, that's not even a... I'm pretty sure Seattle has to go to lower.com field, right? I think so, yeah. I mean, that's... God, I might not even watch that. Yeah, that one might, yeah.
00:55:07
Speaker
We all saw lake. God, I thought you're a buzz saw right now. 5-1 over Austin FC. I watched quite a bit of that game. It wasn't even that close. Chicho Arango with the hat trick, including an arguable goal of the year contender where he lined one up from, uh, from midfield, even further back than a couple of the ones that really Diaz has hit. He was in his own half. Yeah. He's in his own half. I think it came out to 62.7 yards away from goal or something, which is just,
00:55:34
Speaker
It was an insane goal. I kind of felt bad for Brad Stuver because yeah, he's way off his line, but it's one of those ones where You you don't expect him to line the shot up from that angle Let alone like hit it as accurately as he did G Joe if it wasn't for Messi and Suarez He would easily be the MVP you can make an argument. He's leading the Golden Boot race right now He's also got like nine assists. He's putting he's putting up crazy numbers What a signing for them and really I mean
00:56:02
Speaker
When we're talking about the best teams in the league right now, you know, inner Miami, Columbus, FC, Cincinnati, um, those are the three that come to mind right away. But I'm, I mean, we all saw Lake with Cheecho firing like this. They're, they're right up there. I mean, this game was a bloodbath.
00:56:21
Speaker
Yeah, I would love to see inner miami play a full-strength uh chicho team like oh my god Yeah, that would be so fun I still would take inner miami over any team in the league and in a one-off assuming relative health But they they also lake is
00:56:38
Speaker
I would say real salt lake they just have so much firepower. Yeah, exactly compared to an fc cincinnati where fc cincinnati They a lot of their wins are still like one zero two one They scored four goals in a game like last week So they can explode like that and lucho is one of the best players in the league But uh, I think real salt lake has a different tier of of firepower with with chicho I mean what he's doing right now is ridiculous
00:57:04
Speaker
which is why I think they'd probably bam on inner Miami considering you know that they love to get bammed on we're gonna they do love yeah in which yeah yeah Minnesota United beat sporting Kansas City the club of professional wrestling enthusiasts three to one
00:57:21
Speaker
I'm not going to try and say his last name, but, uh, he's, uh, he's got seven goals for assists. And I just think it's really impressive what the loons are doing, considering Timu Pookie. Remember him member of the big DB signing one goal this year or two goals this year, but they were both scored in the same game.
00:57:39
Speaker
he's not doing anything for them. And then, uh, Manuel Reynoso doesn't play for them anymore. Famously. He's gone missing four times and they finally, uh, shipped him to club Tijuana. So, uh, they lost their, one of the best, uh, assists Maven number tens in the league, who was the centerpiece of everything they did for multiple years.
00:57:58
Speaker
And their DP number nine isn't producing at all, which, I mean, we know how that goes. That can be a death sentence at times in MLS. And not only has it not been a death sentence for them, but they have Tani who's been a revelation and is producing at the rate that they would have needed Timo Pookie to.
00:58:16
Speaker
they've replaced Reynoso with Robin Laud who is you know he's not as much of a beast as Reynoso is in terms of his as a facilitator but he's low-key like
00:58:31
Speaker
one of the more solid dependable players in the league. He's kind of more, he's more of a do it all player than Reynoso who it's not. I don't think it's like Reynoso is like a two way player. He's basically just like a, you, you plug them in the center of the park and he's going to hit a lot of really sick dimes, but
00:58:48
Speaker
not do much else whereas Robin Lott is more well-rounded and he's playing extremely well for them as a focal point of that attack and I think you got to give I've been hyping Eric Ramsey a little bit on the show this season ever since he got hired. I think he's doing good work for Minnesota and they cruised in this one.
00:59:09
Speaker
Yeah, that was a sick ass result. It wasn't as good as the Austin Baming, but I just think, man, they're like, if we could go through as sounders that much adversity and come out the other side looking like that, man, I'd be so happy.
00:59:25
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it just it just shows that, you know, we talk about how when you're when you're injured or you lose a player or how much of a death sentence it can be in this league with the with the roster restrictions and stuff. I mean, that's that's it's all true. And like when you lose DPs or your DPs aren't producing, it absolutely can be a death sentence. But like it's not it hasn't been from Minnesota, you know. So why is that?
00:59:51
Speaker
good coaching good depth like they have they have the ability to withstand that which is that if you're a really good team you have the ability to do that yeah you also have the ability to move a problem player or move a player that's not producing that's all i gotta say
01:00:08
Speaker
I think
01:00:26
Speaker
fix that situation but by the fourth time you went missing it just couldn't be done. That's what they say, fourth time's a charm. Chicago Fire, I'm going to put them in here for their 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy. I think it says more about how far the LA Galaxy stock has fallen than it says anything about the fire turning things around. They famously scored the worst MLS goal of all time.
01:00:50
Speaker
But they've had such a bad season that I'll give them credit for this week for getting the dub. That's all I had for this.
01:01:02
Speaker
for the winner section. Let's get into the losers because this is always more fun. Nashville SC lost 2-1 at home to the New England Revs who are the worst team. I mean we talked about it last week. They've been on pace for some serious historic wooden spoon type company with how bad they've been this year. And Nashville SC, who are playing under an interim coach right now,
01:01:29
Speaker
last of them at home. They got bammed on by New England's a really good homegrown attacker. Esmer I can't remember his last name but he scored his first MLS goal who and he's like he's a player that we've written quite extensively about on the website as far as he's getting scouted by overseas clubs he's
01:01:51
Speaker
Got a lot of theoretical upside So maybe that's something that can help the refs as they try and dig out of this and then Carlos Heel who I feel bad for him because he's one of the most talented players in the league and he's just languishing on this On this really bad team something else funny that happened in this game was that Harvey Arriaga conceded a penalty and he he originally actually got a red card for it and then they changed it to a yellow on video review because I
01:02:18
Speaker
I think they said originally that he was dog sowing like putting his hand out to block it from going in the goal but it was from really far away and then you might not have gone in but anyway VAR overturned it so Javi ended up getting only a yellow but did concede the penalty. He's a prime form. So yeah just like old times. Yeah
01:02:39
Speaker
sporting Kansas city, the club of professional wrestling enthusiasts have lost seven straight games. You can't do that. Ari Peter Vermees is under fire. No, he gave the funniest coach press conference of the season last night. He really did. I wrote down three of my favorite quotes from it and his, his pressers have been getting increasingly disgruntled. Um, but, uh, here, here are my favorite Peter Mee's highlights from his presser after sporting Casey's, uh, three, one loss at Minnesota United last night.
01:03:10
Speaker
The first one was in this he started the presser by saying this we played great other than the three goals Which I always think it's funny when a coach Says that like it was a little it was a lot of good stuff out there Except for the three times that we got bammed on in the game, but aside from that Aside from like what we're not supposed to do it was lights out if you if you just take away
01:03:32
Speaker
the three goals that we conceded it would have been I mean it was a fantastic performance he also someone asked him what they need to do to get out of this funk and his answer was we need to score more goals than the other team and then not give up any goals which
01:03:52
Speaker
I think like what he was, you know, he was trying to illustrate that the solution is is simple and it's like, you know, like you try to say, it's not like a complicated thing. We just need to, you know, score more and concede less. But I mean.
01:04:08
Speaker
The whole point of soccer is to score and not concede. So, I mean, it just doesn't really illuminate that much as to, like, the question is essentially what are, what do you need to do to score more and concede less? And he answered with, we need to score more and concede less. So, um, not the greatest answer I've ever heard. And then someone actually asked about his job status and asked, you know, like, have you heard anything?
01:04:38
Speaker
from ownership about what your status is with the club at this point with the form what it is and He kind of bristled and he said, you know, you can ask the you can go ask the owners about that which I mean No, they they can't like the owners
01:04:53
Speaker
MLS owners and like sports team owners in general are not available to the media all that often Yeah, I call up to ask about that. I don't know if sporting KC is having media availability soon, but uh Like I don't know if it's necessarily accurate to say that whoever asked that question can ask Anyone else he's still the GM to Like he would be the one to ask about firing a coach and
01:05:19
Speaker
Like in general, GM's not the owner. He still has who he answers to, which that's who he's referring to. But I mean, he should fire himself. As a sporting director, he could fire the coach, which is him. Yeah, that's more what I meant. Which is funny, because he's a master tactician. Those tactics are score goal, don't concede goal. So his tactics are breaking down. It's pretty innovative tactics.
01:05:48
Speaker
Um, and then finally, uh, the fill union down bad. So they're, dude, they're jover there. I'm okay. So they ended up tying two, two, uh, against CF Montreal, but pretty terrible performance. Honestly, uh, they got bammed on one minute into the game at home, which it is so weird to watch the last few weeks, how, uh, how frequently they concede these really bad and soft goals at home.
01:06:14
Speaker
just totally like a total flip from the Philly Union that we're used to seeing at Subaru Park like they did not used to do this and then it happened again one minute into the game against a pretty mid CF Montreal team playing on the road they give up the they give up the goal and then
01:06:31
Speaker
They, uh, they went up to one and, uh, see if Montreal got a red card. So they were up a man with the lead. Um, this, this was just a really funny sequence. They were up a man with the lead. Uh, and then they got a red card. Jack Elliott got a red card. Uh, I can't remember if it was a second yellow or a straight red, but it was a bad challenge that he got sent off for. So they, uh, they go down to 10 men. So it's 10 on 10, but Philly still has the lead. They, then they could see it out with the even numbers.
01:07:01
Speaker
And on the free kick that Jack Elliott conceded, which was from pretty far away. So right after he got sent off, CF Montreal gets a free kick. They send a ball into the mixer and CF Montreal scores on it to tie it and Philly dropped two more points at home. I don't know what's going on with them, but like it's been enough games now of this type of stuff for Philly where I'm legitimately starting to question
01:07:29
Speaker
It's been past the point where I've started to quite the question over whether they're like a serious contender in the East like they're not looking like one right now No, I mean people saw Philly and Seattle kind of on the same tier of like contenders for the cup this year And I think it's funny that they have both just tanked Yeah, and Philly I would argue Philly is tanking you Philly lost to Seattle at home Yeah, yeah, like that's you got to be pretty damn bad
01:07:53
Speaker
Yes, like Philly Philly With how good the East is if Philly continue their form like are they gonna make the playoffs is questionable? but then you have the Sounders who like they can just like beat around the bush and probably End up making the playoffs Philly season so far the highlight of it was when the raccoon charged onto the field Yeah, that's legitimately the highlight of their season
01:08:13
Speaker
Yeah, that's like come which is a good highlight. It's a good highlight like detracting from the we made a whole pot about that But like it's not necessarily what you want. Yeah, you're the Philly Union Yeah, well, it's like your your two highlights are signing like a 12 year old kid and then a raccoon
01:08:31
Speaker
Like I don't know and and like every single end times thing happening at your stadium from a flood to animals to everything. So it's like are we this is the question we should be asking. Does God hate the Phil Union? He might. I don't know. It's it's arguably time to start asking.
01:08:52
Speaker
Alright, that's all I had for this week. Let's call it a wrap for episode 40. Thank you to everyone as always for tuning in. It's much appreciated. Thank you to all our paid subscribers. We love you guys. Please like, rate, comment, subscribe. Rate five stars. Tell your friends. Tell your parents. Tell Kevin Sullivan.
01:09:14
Speaker
We really appreciate everyone who tunes in every single week. We continue to be both surprised and happy about the support and increased listenership that we've been seeing. Hopefully you had some fun vibing with us on the Columbus Crew's great collapse. That's going to be a wrap for this one. We'll see you for episode 41. Until then, we out. Peace.