Clint Dempsey joins the Pod, Weah's red card costs USMNT, Uruguay dominates Bolivia

This episode discusses the consequences of Tim Weah's red card for the US Men's National Team in their game against Panama, which led to a disappointing performance, and also covers Uruguay's dominant win over Bolivia.

1. Tim Weah's red card was a critical turning point in the match, severely affecting the team's dynamics and strategy.
2. Clint Dempsey provided expert insight on the tactical missteps and player performances, particularly criticizing the decision not to utilize player Musa and the ineffective triple substitution at halftime.
3. The episode highlighted concerns about coach Greg Berhalter's future, depending on the team's next performance against Uruguay.
4. Uruguay's dominant performance over Bolivia is contrasted with the US team's struggles, setting a stark difference in team efficiencies and strategies.
5. The episode underscores the high stakes and intense pressure in international tournaments, where individual actions can dramatically alter the team's trajectory.

1: Introduction and guest introduction

Alexi Lalas and David Mosse set the stage for the discussion, highlighting the USMNT's current situation in Copa America and introducing Clint Dempsey as the guest. Alexi Lalas: "Welcome to the State of the Union podcast. We look at the beautiful game on and off the field through the lens of red, white and blue colored glasses."

2: Analysis of the USMNT performance

The hosts and Dempsey delve into the specifics of the USMNT's game, critiquing Tim Weah's red card and its aftermath. Clint Dempsey: "To lose to Panama, to be in a situation where going into last game is a must win and you gotta hope that your goal differential is, is what it needs to be to get out of the group."

3: Tactical breakdown and Berhalter's decisions

Detailed criticism of Greg Berhalter's tactical choices, including player substitutions and formation changes. Clint Dempsey: "I thought you should have kept a four four one. It looked like we were still in the game in the, in the first half."

4: Uruguay's dominance over Bolivia

Discussion on Uruguay's 5-0 victory over Bolivia and its implications for the USMNT. Clint Dempsey: "On Uruguay. Absolutely. So, five nothing. What's interesting is it was 2-0 until the 77th minute and then Uruguay poured it on late."

1. Maintain Discipline: Players must control their emotions to avoid costly penalties.
2. Tactical Flexibility: Coaches should adapt tactics dynamically based on the game's flow and player availability.
3. Preparation for Adversity: Teams must prepare strategies for potential scenarios like playing with a man down.
4. Leverage Expert Insights: Utilize experienced players' insights for game strategy and player management.
5. Focus on Recovery: Post-game recovery strategies should be robust to maintain player readiness for subsequent matches.

Alexi Lalas, David Mosse, and special guest Clint Dempsey, recap a disappointing day on the pitch for the USMNT. In a chippy match against Panama, Tim Weah was sent off early with a red card. Folarin Balogun’s sensational goal off the post wasn’t enough to get the win, as Panama completed the comeback 2-1. Also in Group C, Uruguay dominated Bolivia 5-0 behind five different goal scorers. Uruguay will face the USMNT on Monday, a huge match that will decide if the U.S. advances to the Copa América quarterfinals and the future for Gregg Berhatler. (2:27)
To wrap the show, the guys share their thoughts on Tim Weah’s apology following his suspension. (30:05)

People

Tim Weah, Clint Dempsey, Greg Berhalter

Guest Name(s):

Clint Dempsey

Content Warnings:

None

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Alexi Lalas
Hello sunshine. I'm Alexi Lawless and welcome to the State of the Union podcast. We look at the beautiful game on and off the field through the lens of red, white and blue colored glasses. Today's show is brought to you by Zillow agents tours loans homes get home with Zillow we are coming to you live Thursday, June 27, following our 14th day of the euros, although there were no games, and our 8th day of the 2024 Copa America. As we make our way through this amazing summer of soccer, reminder, we'll be coming to you live each and every day after the euro action and the Copa America action, giving you a wrap up and a preview of what is to come.

But first, joining me as always, my friend, my colleague, my guiding light, David Mosse, a soccer savant and a Fox soccer researcher and writer extraordinaire. Mossy, how are you on this Thursday, June 27, in the year 2024? Before you answer that, wait a second, ladies and gentlemen, we have a special guest. We have american soccer royalty in the house. Yes, you know him, you love him.

Deuce. Clint Dempsey has joined the state of the union for the first time. You're making your way up to the fifth floor here. And you, are we hanging with us? I wish it was under better circumstances.

I'm sorry, mossy. I just, I had to make sure that the folks out there understood that we're not bearing the lead here when it comes to our guest speaker two. You know, some shows have a goat, some shows have the goat. Ooh, the joint top scorer in us national team history, but he did it in 16 fewer games in Landon Donovan. So in my eyes, you are the goat, my friend.

How you doing, bud? I like you guys. Yeah. This is what we do. This is what we do.

And while I said, you know, it's not under great circumstances, given the result here, I can't think of a better person to have on to talk about what we saw today, and we will talk about it and it's going to be very much us centric. Yes, there were two games today, but we come to you here live after what has to be said is not only a surprise, but in many ways a complete catastrophe of a result and a catastrophe of a performance. This was not written up, this was not contemplated and it certainly was not contemplated in the way that it happened. And we find ourselves now as a us men's national team in Copa America in a situation of desperation, something that I don't think many of us thought was going to be the situation given the way this group laid out with Bolivia first, which they took care of, and then Panama, our foes from CONCAcAF, who for many, many years we have looked at as not on our level, and yet the soccer gods conspired. Jimmy weah conspired.

Greg Berhalter conspired, and let's be honest, the entire team conspired to make this a dark day. Indeed. I got plenty to say about it, but I'm going to defer first to my friend Clint Dempsey. Initial thoughts on what is happening, please tell us that the sky is not falling. I mean, before the game you heard Wesley McKinney talk about the ref and how you needed to be smarteenen and then to get a red card in the way in which we got it so early in the match and then to get the goal against the run of play after getting that red card, then to concede a goal four minutes later and then, like you said, catastrophic catastrophe in terms of the result.

Clint Dempsey
To lose to Panama, to be in a situation where going into last game is a must win and you gotta hope that your goal differential is, is what it needs to be to get out of the group. So, yeah, disappointed with, with how things went and how the game was managed, was surprised not to see Musa get in the game, especially when we talked about before the game, like the best midfield and what would you want to have in a dogfight? And I think when you get a red card and got to go a man down, that's, that's a dog fight. And I'd want that player out there. But also, I was surprised that them taking Baligan off as early as they did because I thought he was still effective and one of the only guys that was giving a threat towards the panamanian defense.

So what's what y'all's take? Mossy? The US actually got off to a good start in this game. Wes and McKinney scored early on. I thought it was going to be another big night for set piece coach Johnny Veo, but it got chalked off correctly.

So for a Tim ream off sides. And then the mood of this game changed in the 12th minute with that Matt Turner Cesar Blackmun collision. The US players were not happy with that. The game got chippy after that and Tim Waya did what he did, punching Roderick Miller. And then everything ensued after that.

Timmy Way is the biggest villain, the biggest culprit for what happened tonight. But I do have some major issues with Greg Berhalter as well. We can get into it as we dissect the match. Okay, so as you mentioned, fundamental change in the dynamic of the game with the red card. And, you know, we can go on and on about the red card.

Alexi Lalas
It was dumb. Any way you slice it, it was dumb. It was also out of character for a guy like Tim weah, who, if you had asked me who would do something like that, he may be the last player that I would say would do something like that, but he did. And in doing so, he changed the game and he put the rest of his team, including the ten players on the field, in a very, very difficult situation. And he put his head coach in a very precarious situation.

Speaking of that situation relative to Greg Berhalter, I want to be very, very clear, okay? This third game coming up against Uruguay could decide the future of Greg Berhalter. They are in this situation because of decisions that they made and actions that they took. Both the players on the field and Greg Berhalter, they have nobody to blame but themselves. And if they do not get out of the group, and I can't believe we're even talking about getting out of the group, Greg Berthalter will be fired and it will be just and it will be fair and it will be right.

And these players that time and time again, tell me how much they love Greg Berhalter and support him and want him as the head coach. They will have done this and they will have created the situation that makes Greg Berhalter lose the job. And yet, and yet, gentlemen, I find myself in this evening not completely at a loss, not completely saying that the sky is falling, because what has happened. This team and Greg Berhalter have now, not necessarily the way they planned it out, put all of their chips in on the third game and this is where the rubber meets the road. Greg Berhalter and this group that we have such high hopes for, they have to come and they have to bring it.

There is no other way around. There is no hiding. This is the moment. Mossy. I know there's a lot of other things that happened in the game that you want to talk about.

And then let's get back to Clint here on some other things, too. So Timmy Way gets the red card in the 18th minute. The rest of the first half, it was a back and forth game. The US had chances at halftime. It still felt completely plausible to me that the US could win this game.

Clint Dempsey
Even a man down. They're facing Panama. They're not playing Argentina. And then that triple sub at halftime was a disaster. You had the tactical switch of replacing Giarena with Cameron Carter, Vickers, and playing with a back five and only two in the midfield.

That made no sense to me. He conceded the control of the game to Panama to a much greater degree than he had to. I agree with Clint. It should have either been Musa for Gio or. And then you had two like for likes, which made the team worse.

You had Johnny coming on for Tyler Adams. And the Chickens finally came home to roost on the Tyler Adams situation because there's no player you'd rather have out there in that situation in the second half if you're going to try to gut out a result. But because he's on this minutes restriction, you had to take him off. I'm wondering how much longer this is going to last. I mean, the US has a do or die game against Uruguay.

Is Tyler only going to play 45 minutes in that game? And then at goalkeeper you have to take Matt Turner off and bring on Ethan Horvath, who whatever Matt Turner's issues, he's still much better than Ethan Horvath. So the team got clearly worse with those changes at the half. And it should have been either Moussa for Reina or Moussa for Adams and Aronson for Raina. You needed energy in that midfield to deal with that situation and they didn't have that with just two in the midfield.

There were Johnny and Wes and McKinney. So you wanted a more romantic approach because Greg Berhalter would probably say this was done to. You know what? Let's just shore it up. Let's get out of here with a point and take our losses and not make sure that at the very least we get a point and we play for that point.

No, I wouldn't frame it as romanticism versus pragmatism. I just think in that situation, when you're down a man, you need energy in the midfield. And so I just think the way he played it, he left the team short of players in the midfield and he conceded control of the game to Panama to a much greater degree than he had to. And that extra center back felt very superfluous to me. I'm not sure what the point was of that.

So to me, Greg Berhalter really got that wrong. And then to Clint's point, he takes off Baligan for Pepe when it was one one. I thought Balogun was having a great game, so that was surprising. And then the last change was throwing on sergeant late, which was just kitchen sink time. Okay, so Clint, with all of this that mossy is saying, and look, there are plenty of people out there with knives out, all right?

Alexi Lalas
They had them out even before. Okay? And if you don't like Greg Berhalter, this today certainly isn't going to change your mind. And so those knives are out and ready to plunge if they're not plunging already. Is Greg Berholtere the right person for the job going forward relative to what's going to happen here on Monday when they play against Uruguay and maybe beyond?

Clint Dempsey
Well, like you said, you're going to find out against Uruguay if he's the right guy or not because you're getting to test yourself against a top competition, a team that's picked one of the favorites to win this tournament and you still haven't gotten that signature win. And if you get this signature win, maybe you get people believing again, I agree with Mossey. I thought you should have kept a four four one. It looked like we were still in the game in the, in the first half. There was more back and forth like you talked about.

I wonder if the spacing between the three center backs, people didn't know who to go to or not. In certain situations, especially on the cross that led to the goal, it looked like maybe someone could have been closer to the player that. That scored and not gotten such a clear chance. And then, like you said, I like Ethan a lot, but I a shot right at you to think he'd been able to get a. Get a hand to it.

So in terms of Berhalter is going to be the guy, you're going to see how much these guys want to fight for them and how much they want to fight for themselves. They want to fight for this country because it's all to play for in the Uruguay game and they go out and put in their best performance. They can get something from it. Yeah. If you're a backup goalkeeper, you realize that for the most part you're not going to play, but you got to be ready to play.

Alexi Lalas
And when you come in, I'm sorry, you got to save the ball. And that is a savable shot and it broke our heart. Obviously, it broke the spirit of this team. But they get this opportunity going forward against Uruguay. All right, Mossy, where do I even go?

Oh, I will say this. I thought if anybody acquitted themselves well, I thought that Jedi Robinson actually had a very good game. He was all over the place and I actually thought that Weston McKinney, relative to the first game, which albeit was not a good performance, was much better today. I agree. Those two in Balogun scoring goals keep doing my man.

And he took, obviously, he took his goal incredibly, incredibly well. But still, we came into this tournament wanting to believe that this team can do things, wanting to justify our attention, wanting to justify giving them our heart, and then they drop this pile of dung in this moment and it's frustrating and it's irritating. I feel it from people. I understand there's a sentiment out there, even with the knives out with regard to Greg Berhalter, that this is on the players, that today was ultimately on the players. And look, if you don't think that a coach should be fired and it should be on the players, that you're never going to think a coach should be fired because a coach is never going to step on the field and is never going to kick a ball.

Do you think that there's. That any of those people now defending Greg Berhalter relative to this specific game have a point? No. To me, when the coach makes the right decisions and puts the right players on the field and they don't perform, then it's on the players. But as I said in this match, I think there are things you can point to with Greg Berhalter where he didn't give his team the best chance to get a result.

Clint Dempsey
So I wouldn't say this is all in the players. I do think Berhalter has to take a big share of the blame here. All right, let's fast forward it a little bit to. Well, actually, let's go to the other game because it is important. Ultimately, I think everybody looked at Uruguay against Bolivia as a mismatch.

Alexi Lalas
And it proved to be a mismatch. Five nothing. I'm sorry, you got one more thing about the other game? No, no, no. Okay.

Clint Dempsey
On Uruguay. Absolutely. So, five nothing. What's interesting is it was 20 until the 77th minute and then Uruguay ported on late. And that was a bit of a catch 22 from the US standpoint, because it made it where the US now has no chance, goal difference wise, to overtake Uruguay.

However, Uruguay is in such a comfortable position that it might mean they rest starters for that last game. So we'll see how that plays. So, remind us all here, and for those that are listening and watching, what the scenarios are relative to the US, they can win, lose and draw and still go through. Yeah. So it's interesting because with the Euros, the first tiebreakers head to head, but with Copa America, it's gold difference.

So Uruguay is now on six points and a plus seven goal difference. The US is on three points and plus one. So the reason I say it's impossible to overtake Uruguay is because they'd have to win by three or four goals. And I don't think any of us think that's going to happen. So, Paraguay, I'm sorry, Panama is on three points and minus one, so there are two behind the US.

And the gold difference standpoint, they face Bolivia. So if Panama win that game by a big margin, there's a world where the US could even beat Uruguay by a goal, let's say, and still go out. So the US has put themselves in a situation where it's not completely in their hands. Jesus, what a mess. What a mess.

Alexi Lalas
Clint, give us some hope. Give us some hope. Can we. Can we. Can we leave here with some.

Clint Dempsey
Yeah, yeah, I'll give you some hope. I mean, we talked about going into this tournament, who's going to be our number nine? And that's a spot that we haven't been able to feel. Now, I feel like that guy is bolligan because he's been able to do it in two. Two games in a row.

We asked, can we have a player that's scoring consistently in that position? So I feel like we found our number nine. Christian is taking his game to a new level in terms of what he's able to do for both club and country. We need to get Tyler Adams fit. Once he's fit.

It's exciting about what this team can start looking like. We can get Weston back to his best. There was glimpses there today when he was box to box, getting on the end of things, especially the disallowed goal, but also the late run in which he tried to set up Pepe with that cross. Um, so, I mean, there's. There's some positives to still take from this.

I mean, they can still get out of the group. It's not. The sky is not falling. Yes. Like you said, it's not completely, uh, in our control what happens.

But, you know the old saying, control what you can control. Go out and inspire us. Go out on your shield, go out and. And win the game and put yourselves in a position to get out of the group. And hopefully they can do that because, I mean, at the end of the day, I'm a fan, and regardless of anything, I just want them to win and do well.

Alexi Lalas
Mossy, we don't want anybody to have blind faith. Yes, you have belief. Are people being delusional that the US could beat Uruguay and go on? No, it's possible. And the other part of this equation is, I don't completely trust Panama to handle their business against Bolivia.

Clint Dempsey
Sure, they're a better team. They out now, too, with the red. Yeah, but they could screw that up as well. So there's a couple different ways that this could go the US's way still. So I think it's about a 50 50 proposition where the US look, one.

Alexi Lalas
Thing we've already seen this summer with the tournaments is there are all sorts of twists and turns and surprises when it comes to what's going on now. We should say no Timmy way, obviously, against Uruguay. And we'll see about Matt Turner. He's probably going to be questionable with that injury. So you might have Ethan Horvath in goal with Timmy way of being out.

Clint Dempsey
How would you set up the team? I assume you would have Musa in the midfield and maybe push geo up as one of those front three. Or is that what you would do? Or is there a different way that Berhalder could play it with? Yeah, with Timmy way out.

Alexi Lalas
I mean, I guess you. You could put Musa in there and then have. You know, I had talked about having Raina play out there, and it's kind of in formation only because he can kind of go, go anywhere. The problem is, a lot of times that was dependent on having Sergino dest, who can kind of run an entire sideline. And while Scalia's growing on me, I don't think that that's something.

Something that he can do. So, you know, Greg Berhalter is going to have to. Have to make some decisions. Perhaps Hadji Wright, we know Berholter likes him. You might call upon him.

Clint Dempsey
So, yeah, we'll see. I mean, I want to be positive and, you know that I. That I am positive, but that we have found a way to put ourselves in this. In this crap position. It.

Alexi Lalas
It is frustrating and, you know, I've. I've supported Greg Berhalter relative to continuing on, and I've made that very, very clear. It was because they wanted to do that, and I didn't think that he should be denied that opportunity. But 2026 is too important, and if he is not able to get it done. And that's why, you know, there's been a lot of times where people say, well, this isn't a proper test, and we haven't really played against anybody big and all that kind of stuff.

So here it is. This is where the rubber meets the road. Although here's the tricky one. Say they play really well and beat Uruguay, but Panama lay the hammer on Bolivia and you go out that way. Does that become, then, a weird gray area of how you judge Greg Berhalter?

It does. Only in that. Do you think that there's a better team than Uruguay in this tournament that we have seen yet? Well, I think Argentina is the best team, but I picked Uruguay to win and I think they're one. A and I think we're headed for Argentina Uruguay final.

Clint Dempsey
So that very high on that. Colombia is in the hat as well. Yeah, but relative to judging Greg Berhalter against an elite of the world, that would certainly be it. Now, I know there's going to be all sorts of awa. You know, he arrested this guy and he didn't do this and all that, but you know what?

Alexi Lalas
Who the hell cares? Just figure out a way to get out of the. Get out of the group. You weren't able to figure out a way to get that point today, let alone to get to get three points, all right? And if you are the great coach that the United States Soccer Federation thinks that you are the, then you got to find a way to fix it.

And you can't just go like this. It's not my problem. It's the players on the field. Because guess what? You can't fire the players on a club situation.

You can't really fire them. You can trade them, you can do what you want in terms of transfers, and you sure as hell can't fire them when it comes to the national team. These are the players. Now, can we circle back to the game tonight? And, Clint, I want to ask you about the referee because you brought him up.

Clint Dempsey
We talked about this last night in relation to the Czechia Terkier game. There are a lot of people that think that when you have cards and sending off that that reflects the fact that the referee lost control of the game. Yvonne Barton is a referee that has a bad reputation with that. And when you look back at this game, are there any major decisions you had an issue with? I know a lot of people felt like Panama was getting away with some tactical fouling.

And just overall, do you think the referee lost control of the game to a degree that hurt the US speaker two? I don't know. You can say maybe yellow, yellow card on the, on the tackle on, on Matt Turner and then obviously the red card. It deserved to have a red card. Timothy way, in that situation, I thought Panama just were smart.

They, they made tactical fouls when they needed to, to disrupt us, especially if we. They weren't able to make that tackle, we'd be off to the races. I mean, when I think back to that Anthony Robinson foul when he was starting to break through, just, just a heads up play. And sometimes you got to be dirty. Sometimes you got to be, you know, nasty and make those professional fouls.

If you look at the fouls in the game, I mean, it was that they had 18 to our four, so, you know, maybe we needed to be a little bit more physical, maybe. I mean, who, who knows? I don't feel he let the game necessarily get out of control, but you can't put him in that situation to, to, to give you that red. And also, we were kind of lucky with the two VAR decisions. Possibly could have been two penalties on Vickers that they looked at and decided that wasn't the case.

So at the end of the day, you can't, you can't blame the rest. Refer tonight. The only issue I did have is four minutes of second half. Stoppage time was ridiculous. Even our colleague Anna Jerka was posting about that on x.

That was bizarre. Man, oh man. All right, well, listen, we're still in the tournament. We still have all to play for. As Mossi said, there are going to still be some crazy things, I guarantee, that happen.

Alexi Lalas
And all that Greg Berhalter and this team can do is to regroup and figure out a way to get the job done against Uruj if they have any hope of progressing. And as I said before, if they don't, not only, I think, is there going to be a change when it comes to Greg Berhalter, but I also think that there's going to be a real re examination of where we are relative to 2026 and maybe some come to Jesus types of moments as to what we are, and let's be honest, what. What we aren't. I still haven't lost faith. Clint, I want to ask you a question.

Yes, sir. So, say, you know, worst case scenario, things don't go well, right? Do you think that the us association would make that call and. And find someone else? And if they were going to find somebody else, who would be that net, that next person?

I don't know. I don't know. But like I said, you can't fire the players. Okay? And if you truly believe that this is the guy to lead you to the promised land, then you got to have a lot of faith, because now we have empirical proof when it comes to a tournament situation against better teams, and let's be honest, and against worse teams, where he has failed so far, but he can certainly turn it around.

And nobody has been given more leash, nobody has been given the opportunities and that second bite of the apple relative to a situation where they certainly could have gone in a different direction. And again, I don't think you change just to change, but I think that there is every justification. If this us team in this moment in 2024, does not make it out of group play, then what the hell are we doing here? Okay. If you can't make it out of group play, then, yes, there has to be significant change.

There has to be ramifications from something like that. There has to be a response from the United States Soccer Federation. 2026 is too important. And you know what? To Greg Berhalter, I'm not telling him anything he doesn't know.

This is a privilege, this is an honor to coach the us men's national team. And with it comes responsibility, and with it comes a certain level of belief that you are going to do things. And that's all that has been talked about for a long time, that we are going to see things that we didn't see before. And if you're not going to be able to get the job done, then we're going to get you out and let's get somebody in there that can get the job done. A couple of things.

Clint Dempsey
You mentioned the knives were out tonight. I even saw your former teammate Freddie Adu posting on X and critiquing some of Berhalter substitution. So it was good to hear from. What was Freddie talking about? Oh, he didn't like the three center backs.

It was actually a good post tactically breaking down the changes that ber alter made and he didn't agree with it. So good. Good for Freddie for chiming in. Secondly, my favorite stat of the night, Timmy Way as 18th minute red card was the earliest red card for a us player since Jimmy Conrad in the 17th minute of a US Honduras friendly back in 2010. Jimmy Conrad, who I believe hosts a show now for Fox of some sort.

Alexi Lalas
I vaguely have some sort of recollection that he's employed somewhere. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. All right.

Well that's a good piece of history there. It was good to see a member of that show brought up in a negative light tonight. So that made us both. You know what's a better stat? What's that?

Clint Dempsey
That I never got a red card with the us team. You did for all the red cards I got with an MLS and I never got a red card in Europe. Wow. Because with all of your dog like traits and your piss and vinegar and all this kind of stuff and running through the wall, ultimately you had an element of refinement that I don't think a lot of people appreciated and maturity that people didn't sometimes don't appreciate. Can I ask you on a serious note, we've talked about this.

There are these younger us fans who think that what these guys are doing in Europe now, everything that happens they think is historic and has never been done before. And I don't think younger us fans realize some of the things you did. You had a Premier League season where you scored 17 goals. You scored that incredible goal against Juventus in the Europa League. You played for Tottenham, you scored goals for them.

I mean, does. You know, we see some of these older us players sometimes bristle at this current crop being labeled as by far the most talented generation the US has ever had. How do you feel about that? I mean, at the end of the day you want to see them doing well and it feels good to have been a trailblazer for people. There are people who paved the way for me and got a their foot in the door in Europe which allowed me the opportunity to get to Europe and hopefully they'll take it to another level.

I think the main thing that I want to see is just our players going over there playing at big teams and playing consistently week in and week out like we talked about, Christian. And if we ever want to win major competitions, we need more players playing at the highest level on big teams, playing consistent consistently for their club. So lex, quick follow up on that. This Wesson McKinney to Cincinnati stuff is gaining steam. It sounds like this might actually happen.

How would you feel that a 25 year old Wesley McKinney leaving Juventus to go back to MLS to play for FC Cincinnati? I mean, at the end of the day, everybody has to make their own choices and moves, but I think that's too early. I came back when I was 29, about to be 30, and, you know, it's kind of one of those things where I was on the fence about, yes, I was happy to come back to the States, be able to take my. Take care of my family in a better way than I ever thought possible, to be able to retire my mom and my dad so they didn't have to work and I could take care of them. But if money was never the issue, I wish I would have stayed in Europe because I think that is the highest level.

I think that's where you can test yourself the best and, yeah, it just all depends on what you want to do. I think us coming back and no disrespect to MLS, but, you know, Michael Bradley, Josie Altidore coming back when we did, I don't think it really strengthened the national team. Yeah, but they offered you to boatload of money. Yeah, and they're. And they're probably offering Weston McKinney.

Alexi Lalas
Exactly, exactly. And so when we say, when we say that, that's, that's not the thing that we want to see them do, it's in the context of the national team. Right. Because from a personal perspective and whatever your life choices are, you know, you want somebody to do what makes them happy and if the money makes them happy or the lifestyle makes them happy, that's great. But I think what we're saying is then you can't expect the level that we have seen of these players either to continue or let alone to improve if and when they are making those decisions.

And again, we take it personally. Ultimately, it's their decision and MLS needs to do big things in order to attract. I think for the most part you need to be in Europe, but for, for certain players, it doesn't affect them. You know what I mean? You look at players like Messi, he's back in MLS, but he's still one of the best players in the world and one of the best players in this tournament.

Clint Dempsey
So it's, it's, it's crazy how people can play in different places but still keep their level. It's such a high level that they can, they can be the best. So it just all depends on, you know, certain players and what they want to accomplish. And it's about this national team having more players that are playing consistently for club that they're able to make that impact for 90 plus minutes every time they put on the jersey for the US. Mossy, anything before we head for one for the road?

Well, we should at least mention the two games we have coming up tomorrow. We can, I mean, you know, just. Two more Copa America games. Group D, we've got Colombia, Costa Rica and Glendale. And Paraguay, Brazil at Allegiance stadium in Las Vegas.

If Colombia win their game, they're through to the quarterfinals and we'll see what Brazil produced in their second match. How you feeling about it tomorrow? Not great. It sounds like. It sounds like it's going to be the same lineup.

Evidently, the coach agreed with you that it wasn't such a bad performance against Costa Rica, so we'll see what happens. Exactly. Well, okay. I think we can all agree that from a us perspective, that was a bad performance today and not something that we want to see, but onward and upward. All right, let's go over to the end of our show here and the one for the road so we can run our little video thing right there.

Alexi Lalas
And this is. I want to make sure that people understand that I am not grumpy old manning this thing, okay? We saw a player get a red card today. Now, there are all red cards are not created equally. Okay?

I think we all can admit that Tim Weah's red card today was dumb, like we said, unnecessary and a little surprising. No, a lot surprising, given who Tim Weah is and what he has been on the field. And I've actually looked back and I can't find someone that's been more consistent. Now we talk about Christian Pulitzi, but over the last cycle and beyond, I don't think that there's anybody in my mind that's been more consistent out there on the right hand side in terms of his soccer playing. And so this just seems very, very out of character.

We come to find out after the game that Tim Weah has issued an official comment that ultimately amounts to an apology for what happened. And I'll read it to you so everybody can see. Let's see. Today I let my team and my country down. A moment of frustration led to an irreversible consequence, and for that, I am deeply sorry to my teammates, coaches, family and fans moving forward, I am committed to learning from this experience, not allowing an opponent to provoke me and working to regain the trust and respect of my team and supporters.

No matter what, I will always fight for my team and my country till the day I die. I'm assuming he meant sorry until I'm no longer needed or capable to sincerely apologize to everyone. My love for this team goes beyond just football. And I'm so sad and angry at myself for putting my brothers through what they went through tonight. Okay, don't do this, Timmy.

I get what you're doing, and I know there's a damned if you do, damned if you don't type of situation, but, you know, this official apology, this official, you know, putting yourself at the mercy of the public, it never accomplishes, I think, what you want it to accomplish. We know that you messed up. You know that you messed up. And as a matter of fact, if anybody is going to get the benefit of the doubt, it's someone like Tim Weah, given the player, given the player that he is. But this seemingly, seemingly this need to have this public penance out there and to try to at least stave off some of the shaming that's going to be going on.

It's okay, Tim. Don't worry. You don't need to apologize to us. You don't even need to really apologize to your teammates. Everybody at some point has been there.

It doesn't mean that it wasn't a colossal boneheaded type of move, and it doesn't mean that it might cost, it might not cost your coach the job, but you don't need to apologize. You don't need to put a formal apology out there. You just take whatever medicine is coming to you in terms of the game or two games, whatever it's going to end up be and pray to God that these players that you're talking about, your family and your friends and your brothers out there, they get the job done for you going forward. But I don't need, I don't need an apology to still respect Tim weah. I don't need an apology in that it's not going to change the way that I view that moment.

And maybe I'm just cynical, maybe I've just seen too much wherever. It just, it's cringey to me. And that's okay. You know, you can do what you want and Tim's going to do what he want. Onward and upward, Tim weah.

You're going to still be a good player going forward. But this was a monumental, boneheaded type of mistake. You know, Clint played in a World cup match in 2006 against Italy in which they had to go nine versus ten. There were three red cards in the game. And they still got a result at finish one.

One. So it can be done. But this generation of us players tonight could not do it. All right, Clint? Empty.

Thank you, buddy, for staying up late with us here. And I know we got long days and all sorts of different stuff, and we'll be continuing to work when it comes to Copa America continuing forward. It's always a pleasure to see you and hang with you. Really had a good time. Before we go, I do want to shout out to our Fox Sports u winners that attended the US Panama game today, congratulated them on their, on their win.

Avery and spencer sent us a picture from the game. I'm sorry, Avery and spencer, that you had to go and see that horrible, horrible defeat. But again, congratulations on all the work that you did and winning that award. And to our Fox Sports you participants, it's a really good program and we find a lot of really, really smart people in terms of the projects that they put together and the marketing stuff that they have. All right, listen, not a good day.

Not a good day. But tomorrow is a new day and tomorrow we put today aside and we move forward into the future to hopefully a really, really positive result when it comes on Monday. And for Greg Burhalter's sake, he is going to need it. Anything before we go, either of you, anything, anything you want to say? Thanks, Clint.

I appreciate it. Thank you all. Thank you for downloading and reviewing and subscribing and rating. Smash that subscribe button over there on the YouTube thing. Do all the different things that you do.

We will be back again tomorrow with some more Copa America and then this weekend, oh, back to the euros as the round of 16 kicks off. Don't go anywhere. We will talk to you again tomorrow. And until then, and as always, my friends, size the day.