Lionel Messi leads Argentina to a win & England struggles vs. Denmark

This episode focuses on the ongoing Euro 2024 and Copa America 2024 tournaments, detailing key games and player performances.

1. Argentina won against Canada with a score of 2-0, showing strength but missing many opportunities to score more.
2. England struggled against Denmark, resulting in a 1-1 draw, with criticisms directed at their overall performance.
3. Spain displayed a strong game, suggested as a major contender for the Euro 2024 title.
4. Italy's performance has not been impressive, casting doubts on their contention status.
5. Lalas and Mossey emphasized the importance of adapting tactics and strategies depending on the opponent, as seen in Spain's gameplay.

1: Introduction and Sponsor Mention

Alexi Lalas introduces the episode, sponsored by Zillow, and sets the stage for discussing the Euro 2024 and Copa America 2024. Alexi Lalas: "Today's show is brought to you by Zillow agents Tours loans homes get home with Zillow."

2: Argentina vs. Canada Analysis

Detailed analysis of Argentina's 2-0 victory over Canada, with Messi's performance highlighted despite not scoring. Alexi Lalas: "Argentina was not ruthless in front of goal."

3: England vs. Denmark Discussion

Discussion on England's performance in the 1-1 draw with Denmark, emphasizing the team's lack of coherence and spirit. Alexi Lalas: "England was rubbish."

4: Spain's Tactical Flexibility

The hosts discuss Spain's ability to adapt their playing style against different teams, which has been effective in the tournament. David Mossey: "Spain can toggle both ways depending on the situation, which is frightening."

1. Analyze each game's context to understand team strategies.
2. Watch for player positions and roles to grasp tactical setups.
3. Note how teams adapt to opponents' strengths and weaknesses.
4. Observe key players' performances to predict future match outcomes.
5. Consider the psychological aspect of sports, such as player confidence and team morale.

Alexi Lalas and David Mosse recap another great day on the pitch. Nico Williams put on a clinic in Spain’s 1-0 win over Italy. Spain dominated possession in the match and proved to be a strong contender in the Euro 2024 tournament. England’s performance on the other hand was disappointing in their draw against Denmark. On the Copa América side, Messi and Argentina took home the three points in their opening match, but Jesse Marsch and crew did not go down without a fight. (2:40)
To wrap the pod, the guys gave a shout out to the crew working tirelessly to cover the Euro and Copa América games simultaneously. (21:09)

People

Lionel Messi, Harry Kane, Alexi Lalas, David Mossey

Companies

Fox Sports, Zillow

Books

None

Guest Name(s):

None

Content Warnings:

None

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Alexi Lalas
Hello sunshine. I'm Alexi lawless, and welcome to the State of the Union podcast, where 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 20, following our 7th day of the 2020 €4 and our first 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 Coppa action, giving you a wrap up and a preview of what's to come. But first, joining me as always, my friend, my colleague, my guiding lights, David Mossey, a soccer savant, a Fox soccer research and writer extra.

Mossy, how you doing on this Thursday, June 20 in the year 2024? I'm doing well and I'm impressed. You got the day of the week correct. That's been a bit of an issue for you on these pods. Man, oh, man.

I mean, the day that I've been up the longest, I get it, right. So we'll talk a little bit more about that later. But it's been a, it's been a fun day. How are you doing, my friend? How are you feeling?

We are, you know, as we welcome in this new Copa America as part of our daily schedule. I'm doing well, hanging in there. It is interesting now to have the two different tournaments different feel. You kind of have to jump back and forth between the two. But I think so far so good.

How is your eating habits, because sometimes in a tournament like this, they can go to, you know, hell in a handbasket. So are you, are you watching what's going on here? Because there's, there's snacks all over the place and there's food all over the place and you can get tempted. Thankfully, I'm not above sneaking into your talent area and stealing your food. I've done that a few times.

Mossy came in today. I know he's done it a few times, and believe me, he can go as many times as possible. But he came in today and asked permission to have food, and I had to inform him that, mossy, you are what some people consider now on the dark side. You are talent, my friend, for all the good and bad that that entails. So you are entitled to as much of the meats and pastries and snacks that we, that we have there.

We had a, we had a fun day. Mossy, should we, should we, should we, should we light this candle or what? Yes, let's do it. Okay, first off, quickly, some scores here, and then we'll get you through some kind of favorite moments of the day. We're going to try to be a little bit more, a little quicker in the way that we go through this than we have in the past to get you on in your way, still give you the information, but, you know, just cut it down a little bit.

When the Euros, Slovenia won, Serbia won, Denmark won, England won, Spain won, Italy Zo, and then Copa America, as we said, started today. And we're just coming off of the Argentina two, Canada zero game. All right, so that leads us to our favorite moments of the day. Victory unlocked, brought to you by Zillow agents tours, loans, homes. Get home with Zillow.

Okay, first thing on my list of things in terms of today, Nico Williams, I think that he is a star. There was so much talk and there is so much talk, and fairly so, about Lamina Mal, 16 year old right winger for Spain and his starting position. And he is still a wonderful player. I think he's going to continue to be a wonderful player. But I think that was evident in these last two games and in particular today, is how good Nico Williams is and the threat that he poses and the unique threat that he poses, especially relative to what we have kind of associated Spain with in the past.

Agree? Disagree. I agree. And it was his cross that California turned into his own net, his own goal reared its ugly head again. It's amazing.

David Mossey
The fifth of the tournament, but, yeah, I'm with you. Spain was the much better team, they should have won that game by a lot more goals. Donnaruma, who I know a lot of people think is overrated, he had great performance. Oh, I see that a lot on x. You want me to put some names on that?

Alexi Lalas
Yes, I want put some names to that. All right. Cause they need to stand up and account for themselves. Cause that is insane. I've actually seen our favorite pundit, Matt.

Doyle, say that Donna Roma is overrated. Yes. And I have to say today he kept that from being a more embarrassing scoreline. Some of the saves he made, including those last two on Ayozy Perez, were unbelievable. Sitting next to Giorgio Kilini and hearing him talk about Donna Roma and, you know, this guy burst on the scene at 17 years old, and Giorgio talks about him and just, he's just incredibly mature.

He said even as a 17 year old, as a goalkeeper and as a person, you could not tell that he was 17. And, you know, by the time it's all said and done, who knows? He may catch Buffon because he's, he's what, 25 now? He's got a whole nother another decade at least. His international debut was in a friendly in September of 2016 against France.

David Mossey
He came on as a 17 year old buffon in that game, and that was sort of a changing of the guard moment. All right, quickly, before we go on to the next game, the way in which Spain played, there's been so much talk about the change in style and philosophy in the way that they play. And this was almost, like I said, a retro type of spade, not a regression, but like I said, a retro version in that, you know, they killed you with a thousand passes and the possession was heavily in favor in Spain. Do you think that that's just the way that it's set up because they were playing against Italy and so they can certainly do that. Or was it, or was it by design?

I think it speaks to the fact that they can toggle both ways depending on the situation, which is frightening. You go up against a Croatia, we look at Margerson company, a team that's going to try to possess the ball, and they were more direct in that game. And then against Italy that sat back and let them have the ball, they could still weave those pretty patterns and dominate the game in that way. So this is a scary team. They are a major contender to win this tournament.

Alexi Lalas
I don't think that Italy is a major contender. Would you agree with me there? They have not impressed this tournament yet. I mean, I know they're Italy but I think they're suspect. I agree.

Okay, moving on to the England Denmark game. It was really fun and nice to see our friend Peter Schmeichel, who flew across the ocean to be at the game on the sideline interviewing his son, Kasper Schmeichel, who was in goal and just. It was just a wonderful type of thing. You could tell he was a little bit, you know, nervous and awkward. But it was just a wonderful thing to see the reaction and the interaction that they had.

Obviously, there was a game to be had. I think the big thing to come out of this game for me was that England was rubbish. I'm going to use one of their phrases over there. They were rubbish. Doesn't mean they can't win every other game.

Does it mean they can't bring it home? All right, it could be going home, I don't know. But on this day they did nothing to convince me and certainly most of the England fans and definitely the english press when they wake up tomorrow that this team can bring it home. I thought they started the game well, but then about the middle of the first half on, they stopped playing and were lousy the rest of the way. Harry Kane went from hero to goat.

David Mossey
He gets the goal. Great effort by Kyle Walker on that play. But then bad giveaway. That leads to the. What a strike by Hilton.

That was the goal of the day. And it finishes one. One. Garrett Southgate sounded very beleaguered afterwards. The criticism is starting to get to him.

And, boy, he made some very interesting subs in this game. The Alexander Arnold midfield experiment has been a failure. He yanked them off early in the second half for Gallagher and then a triple sub in the 69th minute. He took off Kane, Foden and Saka. But on Watkins, Bowen and Eza, that was quite the move by Garrett Southkey.

Alexi Lalas
You know, it was interesting talking to Daniel Sturridge on air and off air about this team. And again, the angst of the English when it comes to this team now, that's normal and that's kind of historic. And I think a lot of other teams recognize that this team at times is going to be under incredible scrutiny, incredible pressure. I think the english players recognize and understand that, but at all times it doesn't mean that it's not warranted and this type of performance. And to your point, they started out well and then again, they just kind of took their foot off the gas.

And for a team, I think I had them at number two in my power rankings and they've fallen now to five or six. Because of these two performances here, I still think that they can get better again. Phil Foden. This whole thing with Phil Foden was interesting. Hearing Daniel Sturge talk about how well you can't find a place for him.

This is England, and as I said on air, if you have national team, where you have a lot of good players and incredible depth, which England does, then you may have players that are world class and that are very, very good, that play the same position. But guess what? They can't both be on the field at the same time. So you might have to have somebody sit on the bench. And England is too good to be in a situation where you just say, you know what, we're just going to get all the best players on the field at the same.

At the same time. So if Phil Foden can't play on the left and you're not going to start him in the middle, where a lot of people want to be, and let's be honest, where Phil Foden wants to be, then I'm sorry, he's got to go to the bench. That's just the way that it is. Or you got to find a completely different system to play. But if Gareth Southgate has come to this tournament and still trying to figure things out, whether it's, you know, in the.

In the midfield or anybody else, that's a problem in and of itself very quickly. You and Sturge are getting along, right? Because some of his facial expressions have gone viral. People think he's in agony when you're talking. I love it, I love it, I love it.

I love it so much. Hey, I will say he is an incredible sport. He is bringing it. I enjoy the energy that he has, I enjoy the insight that he has. I enjoy bouncing off of him, and he will give as good as he gets.

He's all good. We're having a good time. Best smelling person I've ever worked with in my life, this guy. If you ever get a chance to hang out with Daniel Sturridge, all right, first off, you will smell him in the best possible way before you see him. It is absolutely glorious.

Sometimes I don't even talk to him. I'll just walk beside him just to bathe in it a little bit. It's just gorgeous stuff. Uh, over to, uh, Serbia. Serbia.

Uh, you know, when they say someone flatters to deceive, a team flatters. This is the ultimate team. And when it comes to, uh, flatter to deceive, all right, I backed these guys since the last world cup, and they keep just shoving it back in my face. They should be so much better. And as we said before, they are, um, you know, lesser than the sum of their parts, and yet we find themselves in a situation where they can.

Where they can go on. It's miraculous that they are in this situation because they kind of done everything they possibly can not to be in this situation. But even at the death, they finally pull out a point and give themselves an opportunity because I thought that they were going home. Nightie, whatever, minute, goalkeeper up, everybody up, beers flying all over the place, and they get the goal that they need. I agree with you.

David Mossey
Slovenia should have put that game away. They ought to be kicking themselves. And Serbia are disappointing, but there are few teams that have the striker pedigree that they do. The fact that you could start Mitrovic and Vlachovic and bring on a guy like Luka Jovic off the bench, and he gets equalizer, a teammate of Christian Pulisic at AC Milan. So, yeah, Serbia somehow still alive.

Alexi Lalas
All right, let's transition over to Copa America. First game, and the defending champions, Argentina, we see them for the first time against what has to be said was a very plucky Canada. I'm a little hesitant to say that this was a great performance from Canada, because the reality is, if you watch that game, they could have lost five nothing. Argentina was not ruthless in front of goal. Multiple opportunities went wanting, and to be fair to Canada, they also had a couple of opportunities that were golden.

I did appreciate, in a romantic sense, that Jesse Marsh and company didn't just pack it in, didn't just absorb pressure, didn't just park the bus or anything. As a matter of fact, they were playing a pretty risky and dangerous high line. And with Kripo as a goalkeeper, they were able to do that because he was coming out constantly. But as I said, all it took was a couple of well timed runs, and they could have been in real trouble. Argentina, on top of everything else, have a great goalkeeper.

David Mossey
Emmy Martinez, with the business on the stocky, oh, late in the first half. So that was maybe a moment where if Canada took the lead, you never know. Yeah, the second half was all Argentina. It was incredible. Some of the chances they missed.

Messi, I couldn't believe, didn't score in this game, but he did it. Probably Moss's fault, right? But he did it with. With the passing, the division, the through ball to McAllister on the first go, which Alvarez ends up putting in, and then the beautiful assist at La Tato. On the second goal I mentioned last night, I was curious to see the La Taro Martinez Julian Alvarez dynamic.

Alvarez started, scored, La Taro comes out and scores. So they both go home happy tonight. Yeah, well, Taro was celebrating the goal, and you could tell he was just saying, hey, you need to start me. And, you know, he looked good. They got a wealth of talent, so I'm not worried about Argentina.

Alexi Lalas
And again, it's the first game. It's the first game of this tournament. So there was all sorts of pageantry packed house in Atlanta. And as can be expected when Messi is playing, it was a home game basically for Argentina. And every time Argentina touched the ball, let alone every time that Messi touched the ball, everybody was going crazy.

For Jesse Marsh, losing to Argentina is not the worst thing in the world. I think a lot of people could have predicted it. First three games that he has had, he has yet to score a goal. Netherlands, France, and now Argentina. But these are three really, really good tests for this canadian team.

And I think if he looks at this game, I think I said this on air, he's going to have to take parts of it out and use those as examples and ideals. Not that there aren't parts that they have to work on, but in totality, this wasn't necessarily a great performance from Canada, but I think that there's some real parts that if you are able to put that into halves and into 90 minutes type of performances, that is really something to. To build on. But this is still a tournament, and all that really matters is the result. I do think they can beat the other two teams in group Chile and Peru.

David Mossey
Back to Messi for 1 second. His most underrated quality to me is how durable he is. He took some shots today where you thought, my God, might he be seriously injured? And then he pops right back up and keeps playing. You say that because, you know, this is a guy that now for, you know, a decade and a half, everybody's been trying to decapitate, all right?

Alexi Lalas
Or at the very least, maim at different times. Even in the modern game where players are protected, he gets hit and, you know, he continues to, as you said, get hit and then get up and knock on wood. He is able to go as long as he possibly can. He was down a little bit today, but he dribbles into pressure and people will take swings at him and it's just an amazing thing to see. And he's kind of like a weeble wobble.

He weebles and wobbles, but he doesn't fall down. It's an old toy. Don't even worry about it. You can look it up if you want to, kids. But I love to see it.

And I'm happy that he has that trait that is kind of argentinian in that he is durable. And maybe it comes from growing up in Argentina and taking hits and having to ride them and even use them at times to propel him forward. It's just a. It's a wonderful thing. So congratulations to Messi.

Congratulations to Argentina, and to a certain extent, congratulations to Jesse Marsh for acquitting himself well with. With Canada. What do we have going on tomorrow, moss? And also, congratulations to Kyla for the first time all summer, listing the games in chronological order. Oh, wow.

All right, well, listen, we are a work in progress, too, and she is, too, but she's doing a great job. So what do we have tomorrow? Tomorrow, the first game. Group E. Slovakia.

David Mossey
Ukraine. Slovakia. Looking to build on that upset win over Belgium. And if they win again, they would clinch a knockout stage birth. Where would one see that game, mossy?

That one is on Fubo. Ah, I've heard of this, too. I've come to an executive decision. Mossy for Fox. I have decided that after Saturday, there will be no more Fubo games.

Alexi Lalas
Okay. Saturday is the last one. I have made the decision. So one tomorrow and then we'll do one on Saturday, and then I think I have heard your complaints. No more going forward, so.

All right, well, that's going to be. That's going to be fun, seeing Slovakia. Ukraine for those that can see it. Then. Next up, Group D.

David Mossey
Poland. Austria. Poland. Hoping to have Robert Lewandowski back. He missed their opening defeat to the Netherlands.

Alexi Lalas
Yeah, I mean, they kind of need him back in terms of what Poland is. And I think he raises the game of those around him. Although Poland had a decent showing, as did Austria. Austria is my sneaky good team going forward here. So this is where I think Austria turns it on and justifies the fact that from the beginning of the tournament, I've had that in my top ten.

David Mossey
Very credible defeat to France last time out, things did well in that game. Speaking of France, the last euros game of the day is a great one. Netherlands. France live on fox. That one is in Leipzig.

The winner would secure a knockout stage birth. Big question surrounding Killian Mbappe. And I have to say, I'm going to go on a little bit of a rant here. Oh, I love that. I love, when you preface it, go.

I don't understand this notion of, well, he'll be available, but he may not start. Either he can play or he can't. Why would you not start him? If he's available, somehow his nose is going to heal between minutes zero and 60. I don't understand this.

Didier Deschamps is being coy about whether he's going to start or not, when it should just be a question of whether he's going to play at all. So you think that Didier Sham should just say he's available to play? I don't understand being coy about him starting or not. What would be the point? If he is available tomorrow, if he's medically clear to play, what would be the point of not starting him?

Alexi Lalas
Well, if you can have that, as you know, I know it's just verbal, but saying that he's not going to start or not telling the opponent what's going to happen, isn't that an advantage? Isn't that a competitive advantage? I guess he's trying to be cute, find a whole discourse around it silly, because it's a sort of injury that I don't think time on the field is gonna make it better. Well, that's, that's, that's true. Have you ever broken your nose?

David Mossey
I have not. Neither have I. I mean, let's, let's not, let's not see. A few people have wanted to. Hey, now look at you.

Alexi Lalas
Well, we have seen pictures of him and video of him out there with the mask. And I'm sure that whatever mask that is approved for him to get on the field, if he does get on the field, is going to make a stir around the world. And since these are the French, they do everything with a sense of panache and fashion. And so I'm sure that mask chic will be something that will come to runways later on. I do think that if and when he gets on the field with the mask, I think that it will be cumbersome enough where he will get running and going and then just take it and throw it off and off he goes.

Keep in mind, he's on a yellow card, too, so potentially he could get that second yellow card and then miss the third game. But it could have been much worse. And thankfully, we've seen him training and at least his coach says there's a possibility that we might see him tomorrow. Prediction when it comes to France. Netherlands.

David Mossey
I'm going to go with a draw now. Really? Yes. Why is that? I think I like this Netherlands team.

You do? Yes. I'm not sold on this. Really? I don't think so.

Alexi Lalas
Relative to previous Netherlands teams, though. All right, what do we got going Copa wise? Our second game of the tournament tomorrow night, also from Group A, Peru against Chile. Chile, remember, won the last edition of this tournament that was held in the US in 2016. The Centenario beat Argentina on penalties in the final.

David Mossey
Remember, Messi skied the kick, retired afterwards, came back. But we'll get a look at Chile here. Nice. And we will be in, like we said, fs one, eight pm eastern time on fs one. So that's going to be a fun game.

Alexi Lalas
And the games will come fast and furious when it comes to Copa America. And obviously we're leading up to this weekend when the United States takes on Bolivia and their first game on Sunday. And I neglected to say this at the start, Spain clinched a knockout stage berth today as group winners already. So we have Germany and Spain, two teams through to the next round at. The euros, and my one and two teams on my power rankings.

And justifiably so, I think, think in terms of what they have done. All right, should we wrap this up and get my one for the road here? Yes. Aaron, you can roll the video.

Mozzie's producing here. I know he gets all but out of shape if I talk over the. Well, I can talk over the video, but he wants me to at least acknowledge the fact that we are transitioning into my one for the road. Thus the me in the car and the van on the road here. Mossy, are you tired?

David Mossey
I am a bit tired, but I'm doing okay. There's a lot of people around here that are burning the midnight oil and coming in at ungodly hours. And I have so much respect and appreciation for all of the work that goes on behind the scenes. I was up at 02:00 this morning, worked all four games. I loved every single minute.

Alexi Lalas
I remind myself how fortunate and how lucky I am to be able to do this. You know, when somebody says, oh, you okay? Or my goodness, you're working really, really hard. This is not work. This is absolutely not work.

And I'm, you know, I'm not being glib or anything like that. I stopped kicking the ball over 20 years ago, all right? I was an American born in the seventies and I played soccer and I was able to have a career as an American born in the seventies playing soccer. And now, 20 years after I'm kicking the ball, I still am able to make my living in the game of soccer. So I do not take that for granted.

And so whether I'm getting up at 02:00 in the morning or anytime after that, I always remind myself how many people out there would give their left, you know, what, to be in these shoes, to be able to do what we do. And it is wonderful. And yes, at times it can get tiring, but it's not a tired in the way that many people feel tired at their work. It's a labor of love. Yes, it's a labor, but it is a labor of love in talking about and working in this game that we have.

And when I look around and I see all the men and women out there, not in our studio, because we've established that nobody actually hangs out with us in our studio, but they are out there, maybe around the building here. I am so proud and so happy that I work with so many of them that don't complain and do the job and in many cases, make me and you and so many others look good. So there's just a thank you and a shout out to everybody out there that enables us, and in my case, enables me to continue to live this incredible dream, working and living in this world of soccer. So thank you so much. Having said that, I'm gonna go home, I'm gonna get a nice sleep, I'm gonna wake up, work a couple games tomorrow, and work Copa America, but at a much more justifiable hour in terms of normalcy.

David Mossey
And today was actually the last game of the summer that's going to require that 02:00 a.m. wake up for us. So we'll still have lots of games to cover, lots of long hours, but it's not going to be that bad as far as waking up early in the morning. And one of our mentors and one of our leaders over the years has always called it a marathon as opposed to a sprint, and it absolutely is. It doesn't mean it doesn't take a toll over time, but each and every day, we will get better.

Alexi Lalas
We will meander, we will go up and down throughout it all, and all the twists and turns that are happening, and I'm really excited about having Copa America now and the juxtaposition between these two, between these two incredible tournaments that are going on, because tonight in Atlanta was on fire. And I really liked that religious sermon right before the game, so it got me kind of in the right frame of mind. Somebody asked me, do you think he actually translated what the other guy was saying? So, yeah, I mean, listen, that's certainly one way to go, and that's. Rodrigo de Paul seemed very moved by the words.

That's evidently how come the bull wanted to roll. All right, whatever. All right. Amen, everybody. Keep downloading and reviewing and subscribing and doing all the different things that you do out there.

Thanks so much to zillow for being our partners here on the state of the union. We'll be back again tomorrow, as we said, with a whole new slate of games. And now we have the arrival of Copa America again. Sunday. USA.

Bolivia. That's going to be fun to see what Burhalter and company have up their sleeve when it comes to Copa America. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Until then, and as always, my friends. Sighs the day.