Tyler Adams out, USMNT Coaching search continues, USWNT Olympic preview

This episode delves into the latest updates on the US Men's National Team (USMNT) coaching search, the injury status of Tyler Adams, and a preview of the US Women's National Team (USWNT) in the upcoming Olympics.

1. Tyler Adams' back surgery is a significant blow to the USMNT, raising questions about the decision-making process regarding player health.
2. The USMNT coaching search is heavily focused on finding a foreign coach with a winning track record, reflecting a strategic pivot in leadership selection.
3. The USWNT is poised for a challenging Olympic campaign, with high expectations based on previous performances and current team composition.
4. Discussions around the impact of coaching strategies from past USMNT coaches provide insights into the evolving philosophy of the national team.
5. The episode provides a nuanced view of the intersection between player health management, coaching decisions, and team performance on the international stage.

1: Introduction and Overview

Overview of USMNT and USWNT's current situation and the primary topics to be covered, including Tyler Adams' injury and the coaching search. Alexi Lalas: "We're diving deep into some pressing issues affecting both our men's and women's teams today."

2: USMNT Coaching Search

Discussion on potential candidates for the USMNT coaching role, emphasizing the likelihood of hiring a foreign coach. David Mossy: "The search seems to be leaning towards a foreign influence this time around, which is a significant pivot for the team."

3: Tyler Adams' Injury and Implications

Details on Tyler Adams' back surgery and its implications for USMNT, including criticisms of the decision to play him during Copa America. Alexi Lalas: "It's a tough situation, considering how crucial he is to the team, yet his health should have been prioritized."

4: USWNT Olympic Preview

Analysis of the USWNT's readiness for the Olympics, discussing the team dynamics and expectations. David Mossy: "The USWNT looks strong, but the Olympics will be a real test of their capabilities and the effectiveness of recent tactical adjustments."

5: Closing Thoughts

Reflections on the broader implications of these developments for U.S. soccer, both from a player welfare and strategic perspective. Alexi Lalas: "These issues highlight the need for careful planning and consideration of both immediate needs and long-term goals."

1. For aspiring coaches: Consider the importance of adaptability in coaching strategies to manage diverse player needs effectively.
2. For soccer players: Understand the importance of communicating health concerns to coaching staff, especially in high-stakes scenarios.
3. For soccer analysts: Keep an eye on coaching trends, especially the increasing inclination towards foreign coaches in the US soccer scene.
4. For sports health professionals: Prioritize player welfare, especially concerning decisions on playing injured athletes in critical matches.
5. For fans: Engage with team strategies and support management decisions that prioritize player health and team sustainability.

Alexi Lalas and David Mosse are back and dive into all things U.S. Soccer. The USMNT coaching search continues, focusing on many non-American coaches. After recent back surgery, it is announced that USMNT captain Tyler Adams will be out for the start of the EPL season. With the Olympics kicking off this week Alexi and Mosse preview the tournament. The U-23 Men’s Olympic team will face France on Wednesday, and the U.S. Women’s Olympic team will take on Zambia on Thursday. Lynn Williams replaced Catarina Macario on the Women’s squad. (8:17)
In MLS, the guys recapped Miami’s 2-1 win over Chicago with goals from Matias Rojas and Jordi Alba. They continue to sit at the top of the East Standings. Philadelphia’s Cavan Sullivan also made his MLS debut at just 14-years-old. In the West, LA Galaxy and LAFC both secured 3 points ahead of the MLS All-Star Game. Additionally, Leagues Cup begins this week hosted by the United States and Canada. (34:55)

To wrap the show, Alexi and Mosse discussed intangibles the USMNT is missing, how Mexico, USA, and Canada stack up heading into the 2026 World Cup cycle, and a few of Alexi’s own Olympic memories. (56:50)

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Need to hire you. Need indeed. This is exactly what I'm talking about. Okay? We don't have coaches.

Alexi Lalas
We don't have coaches that understand how the game works, all right? We don't have coaches. American coaches, domestic coaches that have, and this includes, by the way, domestic coaches that aren't necessarily american.

Hello, sunshine. I'm Lexi 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. This show will be talking Milwaukee's finest us men's national team coaching search olympics past and present, MLS attendance league's cup transfer window silence. Tyler Adams, fragility team intangibles, eltree versus us and so much more. But first, joining me as always, my friend, my colleague, my guiding light, David Mossy, a soccer savant and a Fox soccer researcher and writer extraordinaire.

Mossy, how you doing? On this Monday, July 22, deep into the summer of 2024, I'm doing well. Do you remember during COVID when we played sporting events in empty stadiums? Vaguely, yes, I vaguely remember that horrible period of life. What about it?

David Mosse
That is basically our show today. There is not a single person in the studio besides us. There was a kid taking a nap over there, but even he's gotten up and left. Yeah, I mean, most of our cameras are automated or stationary, and so we don't necessarily need personnel. But if you listened over the summer, and I hope that you did, when we were doing live show after live show after live show, while we, while we certainly joked about the fact that our numbers diminished significantly relative to that other show, that was going on.

Alexi Lalas
You're right in that there is literally nobody in this studio now. The cameras are moving. We have some red lights. I'm hoping this microphone is on because we're back at it, my friend. Week off here.

And we are back at it with our bi weekly show. Back into the swing of things. And with the now show no more. Guess who came crawling back and is producing our pod today. Welcome back.

Sean Sullivan. I hope he hasn't been tainted over there with the frivolous type of show that he has been producing day after day here. And he can come back to some real authentic, hard hitting type of production when it comes to the show. We had a week off. We went dark for a week.

I think you will grant us that after, like I said, a wonderful summer of soccer relative to the two tournaments that we broadcast. And just up front here. Thank you so much to everybody that tuned in. It was yet another success in terms of the sheer numbers, obviously, the content that we were cranking out. And while we make fun of our friends over there at the now show and everything, Jimmy and that entire group did a wonderful job, as did everybody.

Whether it was our digital side, whether our linear side. Again, just a wonderful production. We had a good time, but we're back into the swing of things. There is. There is never a dark day when it comes to soccer in that there is always another soccer game going on.

But like we said, we took the last week off. Did you do anything interesting? See anything interesting? Read anything, watch anything? I did a lot of relaxing.

David Mosse
Went hiking, went to the beach. On the television front, I am caught up on House of the dragon. Another episode last night, just two left. This season. I finished season three of the bear.

Thumbs down. I like that show. But this season was not up to snuff. Now, do you think they jumped the shark? Or do you think it was just a lasso esque type of dip?

They were planning to do three seasons, and they were talked into doing four. And there clearly wasn't enough story to service two more seasons. So this season story was just vanity story, my friend. Yeah. Okay.

Alexi Lalas
So I. As people know, I took off to the great state of Wisconsin over there. And the great city of Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention. It was. I'll tell you what, Mossi.

It was incredible. And look, I know people are listening and watching. And you have your political affiliations, and that's all fine. And, well, I mean, just purely from a educational and entertainment perspective, I had so much fun. So much fun going there and watching and listening and experiencing this the entire week, you can imagine what it, well, some of you can imagine, some of you can't imagine, but I can tell you right now that the conversations that I had, and like I said, the experiences that I had, not just from a political perspective, because take that out just from a life perspective, it was cool.

And as I've said, I am efforting now to get to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention, which, let's also be honest, probably given what's happened over the last week, is going to have plenty of fireworks and drama going forward. But I recommend if you get an opportunity to go out to, and it's, you know, it's like any other convention. If you've ever gone to a soccer convention, it's anybody and everybody that you've ever seen before. And you have all different levels of the spectrum when it comes to political nerddom, if you will. And so 1 minute you are sitting at the bar and there's a, I don't know, Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper, but there's Karl Rove over there and there's Bill Hemmer and there's Bret Bear and there's Harold Ford junior.

And, you know, I'm going off to a party with Clay Travis and I'm hanging out with Guy Benson and Kennedy. And yeah, from a Fox perspective, there was a lot of people that are involved over on the Fox News side that I know. It was wonderful to see them, but everybody kind of came together and it was just a fun crazy, it was almost like the canteen scene in Star wars over there in its strangeness. But you're all kind of insulated and isolated in this thing for the week, and that's all people talk about. And for a political junkie like myself, it was just wonderful.

And it was also great to kind of go from this crazy summer of soccer and just get a week where I could just geek out when it comes to politics. I had mentioned on this pod that Biden Trump was going to be the first presidential rematch since Eisenhower, Stevenson 52. But it was not to be. Very quickly, before we move on, on the political front, I read an excellent book last week. I want to recommend the Achilles trap by Steve Kahl.

David Mosse
It's about the US's relationship with Iraq from 1979, when Saddam Hussein first took power, all the way up to 2003, when the US invaded. Fascinating stuff. You finished it? Yep. Okay.

Alexi Lalas
I only have one recommendation. Last night I saw it's a movie and it came out years ago, not too many years ago, let's say five years ago or so. It's called too funny to fail. The life and death of the Dana Carvey show. Do you know who Dana Carvey is?

David Mosse
Sure. You know, incredible comedian, incredibly successful Saturday Night Live and Wayne's World. And the list goes on and on and on. Well, you know, in his height of fame, he left Saturday Night Live and he was, you know, kind of a movie star. And he was given kind of the keys to the castle in terms of doing a.

Alexi Lalas
It's not a clone of Saturday Night Live, but doing a sketch show, but on prime time. And it goes through this incredible, like I said, it's called too funny to fail. And you look at the people that they had on that show, obviously, Dana Carvey was the star of that, but Stephen Colbert started there, and Steve Carell and Louis Ck and Robert Schmeigel, who is an incredible writer, and you look at the writers and the performance of that show, their point was, this shouldn't have failed because there was so much talent and yet even the best laid plans sometimes can go awry. And there is a self deprecation throughout it all and a recognition that while they did what they wanted to do and they stood on principle, that doesn't always work in terms of the long term success. And yet, looking back on it, they wouldn't have done it any differently.

I think I'm giving a synopsis of that. But it was fun to see and it came and went in terms of a show. But some of the stuff that they were doing still holds up today. And it was kind of a punk rock type of show that they were doing. So I recommend that.

All right, my friend, are you ready to light this candle? Let's do it. All right, where should we start? From a soccer perspective, we begin with the us men's coaching search. It was three weeks ago today that the US was eliminated from the Copa America.

David Mosse
And twelve days ago that Greg Berhalter was fired. And last week, Doug McIntyre, who broke the news of Berhalter's firing and who had initially talked up people like Steve Trundolo and Jim Curtin as candidates, he wrote a piece saying that he's now pretty sure it's going to be a foreign coach. Matt Crocker seems to be leaning that way. There have been reports about Luis de la Fuente, who just won the euros with Spain being interested. Gareth Southgate, who stepped down as England coach, has been mentioned.

We know Jurgen Klopp has been approached. I've heard Yogi love might get a call. Mauricio Pochettino has been mentioned by multiple newspapers. Rafa Benitez is apparently interested. Patrick Vieira maybe.

But it would be somebody like that and they would have to exhaust all those options before they would circle back to a Trunnulla or Jim Curtin. What say you? Okay, so as I mentioned, I was in Milwaukee and I wish I had a dollar for every single time somebody came up to me and said, who's going to be the next coach? It is on the minds of people, obviously within the soccer community, but even larger than that. And coming off of the failure and the huge news this summer that kind of permeated throughout mainstream media about the fact that the coach was fired and that this was not a good thing, I think a lot of people are curious as to what direction they are going to go when it comes to this latest, a kind of revelation from Doug McIntyre when it comes to a potential foreign coach, whatever you want to call it, I think whether it's Matt Crocker or any of us, and I think Matt Crocker has said this, he just wants to get the best person for the job.

Alexi Lalas
Now, Matt Crocker has also said that he wants a serial winner. Okay? And that's where you get into some really interesting types of discussions. Because it is apples and oranges sometimes when you are comparing coaches, and you could have a coach that coaches in MLS, which we all obviously know for a lot of people, doesn't even qualify as a league relative to the success that they have, or they tend to ignore the fact that MLS, because of its parity and manufactured parity, is a very different type of coaching situation than if you are the coach of Chelsea, if you're the coach of Liverpool or Man City and stuff like that. Ultimately, I don't know what the United States federation is going to do.

I don't know what Matt Crocker is going to do. All I care about is that we get somebody that inspires me. All I care about, regardless of where that person is, man, woman, foreign, domestic, it really doesn't matter. I want to be inspired and I want to be inspired relative to what is happening now in less than two years, which is the summer of 2026. And so this person has to come in and, and make me confident and like I said, inspire me that it's going to get better and that you are worthy of our time, that you are worthy of our attention and you are worthy of us being proud of what is happening and what is going to happen.

Does that preclude somebody who has not had experience when it comes to the american player or the american soccer culture out there? Absolutely not. We've had, over the course of the, I think, eleven managers that the United States Soccer Federation has had in history, two of them have been, quote unquote, foreign in terms of Boromir Tinovic, who was the coach of the team that I was on back in 1994, and of course, Jurgen Klinsmann. And both of them have been successful. So it doesn't mean that you can't be successful.

Although when it comes to winning a World cup, which is ultimately what this is all about, we also know that no foreign coach has ever led a team to a men's World cup in terms of winning it. This should not surprise anybody. Matt Crocker's connections and his background are in Europe, and maybe to a certain extent, utilizing those connections is exactly why he was hired. Many teams, after firing a coach are right there. They have somebody in line.

This is not how the soccer federation rolls, nor Matt Crocker. So I don't know when this is ultimately going to come out. We have games in September right now. Would I be skeptical if it is a quote unquote foreign coach? Not necessarily skeptical.

Would I prefer that it is somebody who does understand and have a background in what american soccer is and more importantly, what american soccer isn't? Yeah, probably I would, if I'm honest with it, you know, honest with myself. And it's not that another person can't have success. It's just, you know, this is. This is not just a World cup.

This is a World cup in the United States. And if we truly have grown over the, what will be 32 years since the 1994 World cup, then we should have grown on and off the field in that there are coaches that would be able to lead us and lead us to success come the summer of 26. Yeah, Doug's reporting confirmed it, but I already sensed this was the case. You bring in a sporting director from England. His first move is to rehire Greg Berhalter.

David Mosse
It goes the way it goes, and I think it's human nature that with his next move, he's going to want to flex the role decks and make a quote unquote big splash. It would be odd if you bring in somebody like Matt Crocker. He rehires Greg Berhalter, fires him, and then his next move is to turn around and hire Steve Trundelo. It would raise the question, why did we need to go to England to hire somebody like Matt Crocker? Because any american sporting director you appointed could have thought to hire guys like Trundle and Greg Berhalter.

Alexi Lalas
Or you could look at it differently and say, if Matt Crocker comes to the conclusion that someone like Steve Trundle or Jim Curtin or whoever is actually the answer and is so blown away and overwhelmed by it, then it even takes on. It even takes on more weight. Right? I mean, look, I do think that when it comes to, you know, if. Let's say.

Cause the list goes down, Thierry Henri and Patrick Vieira and Pochettino and Southgate, have any one of those became the coach, right? What would happen if they came in and started calling in MLS players? I mean, people's heads would explode. I'll tell you what would happen after their heads explode. They would say, well, obviously, this person is being able to see more and able to do more, all right?

And it's all a bunch of B's. Now, I'm not saying that somebody's going to do that, because ultimately, the group, as we said, is the group. And so whoever comes in has to make this group better. And I do think there'll be a couple of different players here or there. But again, just pick somebody.

And hopefully that person, like I said, makes me feel something that I haven't felt now for a while. Now, with the women's search, initially, there was this thought that it would have to be somebody with international experience. But then Emma Hayes was deemed so good that they decided to go that way, and everybody was happy with it. Jurgen Klopp would be sort of the equivalent of that with the men's search. But I wonder, as you move farther down the food chain from Jurgen Klopp, at what point would lack of international experience be a disqualifier?

David Mosse
I mentioned somebody like Rafa Benitez. Very good coach, very good resume, Champions League winner, etcetera, but no international experience. And he's not Jurgen Klopp. So at that level of guy, would that be an issue? I mean, the international experience thing.

Alexi Lalas
I mean, Matt Crocker has already said a serial winner, but he hasn't said a serial winner at the international level, or the serial winner at the club level, or serial winner, men's or women's. So a serial winner. You can find serial winners, but maybe they're doing it in a league where all they've coached is elites. Okay? Jurgen Klopp is a serial winner.

Coaching elite players and coaching in elite teams. All right? While Jim Curtin might not be, quote unquote, a serial winner, he has taken a team in Philadelphia that doesn't and cannot compete in terms of the money. And he's had a development system that he's implemented and he has used that to be successful. I think there's incredible weight and value to someone like that.

Can Jurgen Klopp do that? No, maybe. I don't know. We haven't seen it. So again, it's an apples and oranges type of, type of comparison going forward.

By the way, I've said time and time again, because people ask me, who would you have? Well, if it was a domestic type of coach, I'd have no problem with someone like Jim Curtin. And also I have no problem with someone like Steve Chirundolo. Okay, well, if you want a serial winner, well, Peter Vermes, while he struggled of late, but this is a guy that's kept his job year after year after year and has over a more than decade type of career as the coach and working with sporting KC, has had a incredible success in a league again, where there's manufactured parity. And so what value do you attach, do you attach to that?

I don't know. Anyway, mossy, last thing, there was a fascinating line in Doug's piece where he first, he cattle first. All right, go ahead, read it to me. Wow. Doug takes, ah, come on.

David Mosse
He said that they want to hire a habitual winner. And then he said that ideally it would be an american. And then Doug goes on to say, but faced with the sobering reality that there are no us coaches who are habitual winners at the highest level, and then he goes on to say they're going to move on to a foreign coach. Okay. But I knew I could get you going with this.

Alexi Lalas
All right, whatever. Well, I saw you posting on x recently about american soccer's insecurities, so I. Was just, this is exactly, this is exactly what I'm talking about. Okay? We don't have coaches.

We don't have coaches that understand how the game works. All right? We don't have coaches, american coaches, domestic coaches that have been, and this includes, by the way, domestic coaches that aren't necessarily american, your Wilford Nancy types and that kind of stuff. And by the way, this goes back to Patrick Vieira and his experience with MLS. And I think he'd be the first person to tell you if he was sitting here, that his time in NYCFC produced challenges and produced an environment that is completely unique and completely different.

And I would like to think that he values that time and I from the outside looking at Patrick Vieira because he has that experience. I do think that it gives him an additional. Now, I know there's people out there that say we don't want somebody from outside the quote unquote system. We don't want anybody with any kind of ties. So first off, this is soccer, all right?

Everybody sleeps with everyone. Everybody is tied, ultimately to everyone. Okay? So you can get somebody that's from the outside, but you will find even if the ties are, hey, Matt Crocker has them in his Rolodex. Hey, Matt Crocker has a relationship.

Well, we can't do that because you already. So if you want to go find that island that has soccer coaches that have never had any contact with anybody else out there, be my guests. But no matter who you get, they are going to bring baggage, they are going to bring a history, they are going to bring biases, they are going to bring relationships that they have because that's how the world works. That's how soccer works. Now the US is next to senior team games, are friendlies in September against Canada and New Zealand.

David Mosse
Whoever the coach is, they will likely not have Tyler Adams available. The Bournemouth manager, Antoni Iraola revealed that Tyler Adams has undergone back surgery and is going to miss the start of the campaign. He picked up this injury late last season, decided to take part in the Copa America anyway and aggravated the injury. This is raising all sorts of questions. Bournemouth fans are unhappy that Tyler Adams played in the Copa America and even some us fans are questioning whether it made sense to bring him if he wasn't 100%.

He was on a minutes restriction, did play 90 minutes against Uruguay in that last group game. But nevertheless, what do you think? I mean, that Tyler Adams is fragile is and shouldn't be news to anyone, right? And it breaks my heart because of what he is or has been and what we thought he could be. But if he is never going to be 100% as good as Tyler Adams is, that's not good enough for us.

Alexi Lalas
And so again, go back, do what you need to do to get healthy. And if and when you are back where you feel you can contribute, and more importantly, the new head coach feels that you can contribute, then fine. But I don't think that at this point, and that's not just at this point, probably over the last couple of years, given his injury history, I don't think that we look at 26 relative to Tyler Adams in that we cannot put him in at pennile. In Penn. He is, like I said, fragile.

He is not even remotely durable at this time. And now this is yet another serious injury that's going to require surgery and they just keep mounting and your body can only withstand so much as good as. As good as he is as far as bringing him this summer, you know, I think that. I think that Greg Berhalter said, I want all guns blazing. And even if he's 80 or 90%, that's better than what we have.

And obviously he wants to do it. I don't ever doubt that Tyler Adams wants to be with the national team, but it's just not happening. So again, we'll wait and see. Next order of business, the Olympics begin this week in Paris. Paris joins London as the only cities to host the Summer Olympics three times.

David Mosse
LA will join that list in 2028, the US taking part in both the men's and women's soccer tournaments. We'll start with the men. It's the first time the us men are playing in the Olympics since 2008, which was so long ago. Stu Holden and Maurice do were on that squad. This time around the US in a group with hosts France, New Zealand and Guinea.

They'll face those three teams in that order. The top two in the group advanced to the quarterfinals. Reminder, the three overage players are Walker Zimmerman, Miles Robinson and George I. Mikhailovic. Other notable names include Caleb Wiley, who signed with Chelsea today, Tanner Testman, John Luca, Buzio, Jack McGlynn, Duncan McGuire, Kevin Paredes, Pax and Aronson.

A pretty good squad. What's your outlook for this tournament? Well, I think I, a couple months ago told you about the fact that I wasn't excited about this because I didn't feel like there were, we were going to look at it as a breeding ground for potential players that could matriculate up to the national team. I'm going to talk a little bit more about my experience with the Olympics from back in the 19 hundreds at the end of the show here. But I will say this, I've come around a little bit.

Alexi Lalas
This is going to be on NBC, right? NBC does the Olympics, right? I believe so, yeah. All right. So as you said, you come right out of the chute against France.

That's, that's going to be interesting to see. I think you certainly can beat the likes of New Zealand and Guinea. So there's six points right there. In the same way that we kind of looked at the us men's national team in Copa America, where you should have gotten your two in Panama and Bolivia gotten your six points and then you took your chances against Uruguay the same as here. You get your six points against New Zealand and Guinea you go through.

And whatever happens in that first game against France is just kind of gravy. However, you could start off something magical by coming right out of the chute, like I said, against the host nation. And by the way, not just any host nation but France and finding a way to get a result. So I am excited. I still don't.

And again, as a reminder, clubs are not required to release players and so this is the best that the US could come up with, including, you know, the three overage players who were not going to participate, you know, fully in Copa America going forward. So I still, if anybody comes out of this summer from a men's perspective and is a viable option going forward with the national team, I will consider a success. Even one player, not players that have already kind of been there already, but that emerges. And we should note France had a lot of issues with getting players released here and we thought that maybe because he's Thierry Henry, he'd have better luck with that. It did not play out that way.

David Mosse
Real Madrid didn't release anybody. Mbappe Kamavinga, chuamani not here. PSG didn't release Barcala or Zaire Emery. Arsenal didn't even return his call, supposedly about William Saliba. So it's obviously a talented french squad, but the names don't pop that much.

Lacazette is there as an overage player, Michael, Elise, and you mentioned Thierry Henry is a name that people have brought up for the US job. Even though great player, good pundit, there's scant evidence that he's a good coach. I am curious to see how this french team looks at these Olympics. So we get a bit more of a feel of Thierry Henry as a coach. He's Terry Henry.

Alexi Lalas
And look, we all bank and use what we have at our disposal, and if you're Thierry Henry, you're going to get a lot of doors opened and you're going to be given a lot of the benefit of the doubt. But if Matt Crocker is truly looking for a serial winner, that's not the person to be looking at. And listen, I know nothing about guinea, so I know I'm stereotyping a little bit here, but be careful about dismissing african teams in youth tournaments because at that level they do tend to be very good. Now let me ask you, when the US qualified for this Olympics, at that point, they had not yet decided to take part in the Copa America. So it looked like the Olympics was going to be the tournament this summer and everybody really talked it up as very important.

David Mosse
In the run up to 2026, there was debate about whether Greg Berhalter should coach the team, and people were hoping that the US would send a really strong squad. Obviously, you were still at the mercy of clubs releasing players. But then once the Copa America entered the picture, the Olympics became the, quote unquote, other tournament. And given the way the Copa America went and Burrhals are getting fired and all the focus now on who the next senior team coach is going to be, I sense that us fans know what to make of the Olympics and how it fits into the overall picture for 2026. Yeah.

Alexi Lalas
So, you know, as you mentioned in terms of the history, when it comes to the Olympics, there is a massive gap after 2008 and really a loss of, well, maybe even multiple generations when it comes to developing and fostering talent. And, you know, you can go back, and I've said this before, you can go back to the early days where a group from the Olympic team was identified and, as I said, fostered and matriculated up to the full national team. To your point, this summer, when the. You know what hit the fan for the US, the full us men's national team, I think the Olympics became much more of a focus, not necessarily a priority, but the interest level. Because, let's be honest, if the US had done incredible things in Copa America and everyone was, oh, my goodness, we're headed, you know, on a bullet train towards 2026, and look at all these players and how well they're playing and everything's going well, and, I don't know, we had beaten Colombia or we would have beaten Brazil or something like that, and everybody was happy days are here and we're going forward.

This Olympic situation would be an afterthought, but because of that failure, I think people are more interested that potentially somebody could rise above. And you keep making this point, and I think it's correct. The us nucleus right now feels a bit too entrenched. Like there are seven or eight players who, for better or for worse, those are going to be the guys. Even though they just flamed out at the Copa America, they're still going to be the guys in 26.

David Mosse
And you're just hoping that because they're still young, that in two years time they'll be better players and with a new coach and we'll see. It would be nice for a country that likes to project this image of being a real up and comer and a great producer of talent. Now, for a couple of players to emerge between now and 26 that are not just depth pieces but are actually starters, impact players, difference makers. And could we see the start of that at this tournament? Also, we're covering the CONCAcAF under 20 championship right now, which is taking place in Mexico Thursday.

I'm going to be working a US Costa Rica game on FS one for that. So I'm going to be viewing these us youth tournaments through that lens of is there somebody coming up that I think could actually crack that nucleus of the senior team and be a really important piece in 26? I hope so. And I would argue that if there isn't, then again it's an indictment on us soccer and the development that we have. And I want to be fair to this process, which was going to be two cycles for Greg Berhalter.

Alexi Lalas
He came in with a bunch of teenagers and he grew that group, that group evolved. They grew into young men, they grew into some very, very good players. And I think his plan was to, through the eight years, and he even said it when he took the second youngest team to the World cup in 2022, that this was only the start. You know, all eggs were in that basket to the detriment maybe of others and maybe there were blinders on. But I don't, I don't necessarily fault him because you do dance with the ones that brung you.

But I think you also recognize that while there might be other talent out there, the more time you spend the better, quote unquote team you can get. And that's a difficult situation in any international environment for any type of national team where you have very little, little time together. I don't know. Ultimately, I don't know if anybody is going to rise up, but I hope it does because back in the day it happened a lot more. And to your point, the comfort level of this group is absolutely correct in that I think that they feel, they feel, do I think that they feel that this is their team, this is their position, this is their birthright, if you will.

And so whoever comes in I think, has to nip that in the butt immediately and say, no, you, regardless of how much money you make, regardless how famous you are, regardless of what you have done in the past, Janet Jackson, okay, you need to have a clean slate and say if you're that good, then you should be able to prove it going forward here. And I don't care what you did in the past. Yeah, you get some leeway here or there and maybe open it up, but I don't know, I don't know if anybody's going to step up and do anything. Anyway, look forward to the games again. Like I said, France, New Zealand and Guinea Wednesday, Saturday and then the 30th is the guinea game.

David Mosse
All right, switching gears to the women, and we know on the women's side, the Olympics is a senior tournament. It's much more prestigious. This is the US's first tournament under Emma Hayes. They're in a group with Zambia, Germany and Australia. Keep in mind, with the women it's twelve teams, three groups of four.

The top two in each group and the two best third place finishers advanced. So it's really hard to screw up. The US is last two friendlies leading up to this Olympics, a 10 win over Mexico and a nil nil draw with Costa Rica. In both those games, the front three was Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mal Swanson. In the midfield you had Lindsey Horan, Sam Coffey, and then in one game it was Rose Lovell, the other it was Corbin Albert.

You had Naomi Girma anchoring the back line. So what's your outlook for the us women this summer? All right. Emma Hayes was hired to transition this team from the past, if you will, albeit a very successful path, and move forward. And I think that she has done, at least on the surface, a good job of laying down the law and getting rid of some of the old players and relying on new, young talent with the understanding that they are going to need some time to develop.

Alexi Lalas
I think because of the way the United States women's national team has used the Olympics over the years, there is more focus on it. However, I think that Emma Hayes is going to get the benefit of the doubt, and she should, because this is ultimately about still winning the Women's World cup, in particular after the complete and utter failure of last summer. So this will be the first time that I think we judge Emma Hayes relative to the results of a tournament. And I think Emma knows this. Well, I hope she knows this.

It is about tournaments and this is, this is, will be a prelude to the next World cup, which is the ultimate judgment when it comes to Emma Hayes. I'm excited about this. You know, again, we mentioned that Katerina Macario got injured and she was taken off and Lynn Williams came in and that is a huge loss because of how good she is, Makari, but also the way that she plays up top. And again, there's no Alex Morgan and there has been a move forward. I don't know ultimately how good or bad this team is, but anytime a us women's national team, and this is a full national team, there's no age limit when it comes to the women's side.

Anytime that happens and they step on the field, there is the expectation because of history that they win and they win the games and they ultimately win the tournament. And you will expect this team to go and to challenge for a goal. On the injury front, no. Sam Kerr for Australia. She tore her ACL in January and hasn't recovered in time.

David Mosse
And Germany also lost one of their star players, Lina Oberdorf. So, unfortunately, this continues to be a big issue in the women's game of star players missing major tournaments due to injury. And if you look at the competition that they have, like we said, Zambia, Germany and Australia, this us team, especially in light of what we've seen over the last year and obviously in the summer in Australia and New Zealand, the women's game and women's national teams can and have beaten this us women's national team. But I still think that there is plenty of pathway for the US to get out, including beating the likes of Zambia and Australia. But none of these three games are slam dunks for this us team.

That is it. All right. We're looking forward to that. It's going to be fun. Can I just mention, just so everybody recognizes the difference in women's Olympics and men's World Cup, FIFA has always been concerned about making the Olympics when it comes to the men's side.

Alexi Lalas
Just another World cup. And you understand from a business perspective, they don't want that type of competition. And so there has been actions taken over the years to mitigate some of those fears, including age limit. It would not surprise me in the least, Mossi, if going forward, if ultimately there is, given how fast the women's game is evolving, how successful the women's World cup has been, if there also comes a point in the future where women's soccer in the Olympics also becomes an under 23 type of situation going forward. All right.

Either way, we're going to watch it this summer. And it's taken on even more meaning when it comes to the men and the women, given these stories that are happening relative to these teams. All right, should we take a break? Yep. All right.

When we come back, we'll dive into some MLS action. And heading into the all star break and that league's cup, that's what it's called, mossy. That's what's happening. Correct. All right, we'll talk about that when we get back.

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Alexi Lalas
Diving back into MLS. I'll be honest with you, Mossi, because of all the craziness and the two tournaments that we were doing, you got to prioritize. And it's fun to get back into a league that I know and love. Where should we start here? When it comes to MLS?

David Mosse
Well, today is the last time we're going to talk about MLS for a while. Because this past weekend was the last weekend of games before the all star break and Leagues cup. So MLs won't resume again until late August. But we do want to reset where we're at here as we enter the all star break. Incidentally, a very successful first half of the season for the league, they put out some numbers today touting the fact that it's been the most attended first half of a season so far.

8.3 million fans in total and an average of over 23,000 per game. Both of those are MLS records. How about that? Yeah, I mean, you know, the total fans is all fine and well, but we also know that, you know, there's many more teams than there have been in the past. The average, I thought, is.

Alexi Lalas
Is great. You know, other numbers when it comes to this. They've had a bunch of games that have had, plus 60,000, I think five games that have featured attendances of over 60. I think six games with attendances over 5015. Games with attendance over 40.

So some of these big, big numbers that they're seeing. And look, I know sometimes it's relative to fireworks or dates and all that kind of stuff, but this is a good thing and this isn't. Everybody tries to spin different things. More people tuning in, watching, going to games and enjoying professional soccer in the United States and Canada, in my expert opinion, mossy is a good thing. So the total attendance is up, the average attendance is up.

That's great. I think when it comes to major league soccer, while the numbers in terms of people going to games is great, and you can certainly talk about that, I think the general awareness, that's something that has to improve. I think the mainstream type of talk when it comes to soccer and obviously Major League Soccer, no, more importantly Major League Soccer, that's something that has to improve. And we've talked about the situation with Apple and out of sight, out of mind and behind paywalls and all that kind of stuff, and it was a strategic type of type of play. But the reality is that it is certainly becoming a league that, from a attendance perspective has incredible numbers that they can cite and they can celebrate.

When it comes to tv and riveting television and people tuning in across the board, not just soccer fans, not just MLS fans, but making it something that's digestible and entertaining and interesting to people that are flicking through or people that aren't necessarily soccer fans, that's something that has to be worked on going forward. All right, where do you want to dive in when it comes to the actual standings and what's happening? Yeah, on the field. This past weekend, Inter Miami claimed a two on home win over Chicago. Matias Rojas and Jordy Alba scored the inter Miami goals.

David Mosse
Messi did not play. You might recall he picked up an ankle injury in the Copa America final. Argentina Colombia. He was in a walking boot. He did get honored before the game for that second straight Copa America title and reaching 45 trophies in his career, which is more than any other player.

Messi has not played in their last seven MLS games and they've won six of those seven and they're now pulling away in the supporter Shield race. Okay, so that, for me is the story. And by the way, for anybody that saw Messi's ankle, I mean, there's like a grapefruit after that game when he came off in tears. So that he's in a boot is good in that. I don't think that he's going to need surgery.

Alexi Lalas
It's just obviously an incredibly bad sprained ankle. So you can see him if you're watching the show, hobbling out onto the field and you got to shut him down and that has to subside and he has to heal. And hopefully, knock on wood he will. So he can be back on the field. But the real story, when it comes to inter Miami is how they've done without Messi because there was always the well, it's Messi dependent and they are anything but.

And they still sit at the top with 53 points over there in the Eastern Conference. As you mentioned, they did not miss a beat. Luis Suarez was back on the field, but a credit to that entire organization for not just signing Messi. Because let's be honest, if you got the money, anybody can do that. But surrounding him with quality and surrounding him with not just quality, but also depth, so much so that even when Messi isn't there, as important as he is, they have been able to kick on.

And I didn't necessarily think that that was, that was going to happen, but it's happened. And it shows that Chris Henderson and Tata and everybody over there, they have fundamentally changed that organization in a very short period of time and turned it around so that it is a juggernaut of a team that not just sells a lot of jerseys, not just has a lot of eyeballs, but consistently brings you winning, successful and entertaining soccer. I do think Messi missing so many games due to injury and international duty has reopened the MVP race. We'll see how many games he plays between now and the end of the season, but we could have a real debate as to whether he played enough games to merit consideration, even though when he plays obviously been the best player in the league, when you have guys like Arongo and Lucho Acosta doing what they're doing and playing in many more games. And Messi, I know with you it comes down to that mathematical formula.

David Mosse
Whatever that spits out is who you're going to vote for. But I'm sure you'll have some thoughts, too, on. We'll see what the number of matches played for Messi is at the end of the season, whether that's enough for him to be a worthy contender for the MVP. Yeah. And I've always said that there obviously is value in staying healthy and that staying healthy is either a skill that you have or something that you acquire.

Alexi Lalas
So, yeah, it's fun to see. I'm happy for Miami. I saw the mayor of Miami when I was in Milwaukee and there was a lot of talk also about what had happened in Miami relative to Copa America and that craziness outside. And I allayed fears that this is not going to be the norm when it comes going forward because FIFA will take over and the US will be involved and that kind of stuff isn't going to happen. But they are very, very excited when it comes to Miami with what is happening with this inter Miami team and obviously the future relative to the stadium.

David Mosse
That'S coming, do you want to double down on your. That incident showed the passion of the US as a soccer nation. That comment didn't go over too well. People can say what they want. All right.

Alexi Lalas
And the context matters in terms of what we were talking and we were vamping. We were vamping over there. So, yeah, I'll double down. Absolutely. I don't regret anything that I say, and if I do, I will tell you.

David Mosse
So. Inter Miami atop the east. Cincinnati second, Columbus or third. I do want to mention Philadelphia. This past weekend they beat Nashville 30.

And in the game before that midweek, they beat New England five one. And 14 year old Kevin Sullivan came on for his debut. He surpassed Freddie Adu. He's now the youngest player in MLS history. He's the younger brother of Quinn Sullivan, who's also in the Philadelphia Union, and he's already agreed to deal with Manchester City.

He'll be moving there at some point. So what do you make of this whole Kevin Sullivan story we have 20 years later, we have another Freddie Adu situation on our. Yeah, I mean, we've talked about Kavin and the question as to extrapolating it out and is he going to live up to the hype of, you know, being this wunderkind and prodigy, if you will? And everything that we do is always going to be, you know, with the backdrop of what Freddie Adou was and what Freddie Adou wasn't. I do think that Kevin Sullivan is.

Alexi Lalas
Is growing up and has grown up and is now being put into an environment that is drastically different than what Freddie Yadu had to experience. And in particular, when it comes to Philadelphia, I think that they are maybe more prepared than others for a young talent and to give them the opportunity. And yes, there is a curiosity in the same way that there's a curiosity of Lamina Mal. But ultimately, Jim Curtin isn't just going to do this just to, you know, do something that's cool, that brings attention. Jim Curtin's job depends on winning, and he's going to put players on the field that he believes deserve to be on the field because they're good enough and will help him win.

David Mosse
Per our conversation about the us national team needing a jolt, I know it sounds crazy, but we just watched the euros where a 16 year old Lamin Yamaha was one of the best players. Kevin Sullivan would be 16 come the 2026 World cup. Is that a ridiculous conversation to have at this point. So I don't know. I mean, I don't think that he is yet impactful like that, like Lamin Yamal.

Alexi Lalas
I think they have, you know, there's a different body type that they have and then they play the game differently. I think there's a. There's much more of a rawness to Kevin Sullivan, but I don't know. I mean, you know, I know it's less than two years, but things can change dramatically. And if he does develop and he starts lighting it up, maybe, maybe not.

I mean, I don't. If I had to put all my money on it, there's no way I'm putting on him being involved in 2026, let alone being involved with the national team. Is there a chance that he overtakes Sean Sullivan as the most famous Sullivan in the world? It's. Well, no, I mean, that's happening no matter what.

I would argue it's already happened with what he's done, but it's fun to see. And don't worry, you're not going to break him because there's all this question about, oh, there's too much pressure and expectation and blah, blah, blah, blah. You can't have it both ways. You can't be screaming and yelling for a quote, unquote, soccer culture, and you can't constantly be pointing in your insecurity and your inferiority complex to what's happening around the world and the way that they do things. And then when we actually do it, say, oh, no, you can't possibly do that.

And to your point, whether it's or certainly in your homeland of Brazil, they foster young talents and they put them into situations and they say, sink or swim. And as I said before, Kevin Sullivan, along with a lot of other young players, have been given so many different and so many better and so many more opportunities and pathways and resources than previous generations. So with that comes higher expectations. And I don't think that they are unfair. And expecting younger players to be more successful at a younger age, I think, is part of the evolution, part of the process, and certainly, I think, is a fair expectation.

David Mosse
The late Grant wall did do that excellent documentary about Freddie Adu, and he did sort of push this narrative that media pressure contributed to Freddie Adew failing. And they played a clip of you back then saying that Freddie Adew had to win a World cup to be a success. And that was sort of held up as an example of that. I mean, as you sort of reflect on Freddie Adew and how the media acted then, do you think the media has to approach it any differently? No, because I bake in the unrealistic expectations at times of the media.

Alexi Lalas
And I also hold the league. In this case it would be MLs, but it could be USL or NWSL. I hold the league and the individual team responsible for preparing these young players. And it's not just about kicking the ball. It's about the fact that you know what?

You're going to have media that at times are going to create pressure and create expectations that you might think are unrealistic. And they might be unrealistic, but you got to figure out a way to deal with that. And so I don't think that Freddie Adew's failure was on Freddie Adew. It was on, doesn't on anybody. And don't cry for Freddie Ado because he had more opportunities than 99.999% of the players that are out there.

And he's had while not while he hasn't lived up to what some of the expectations were. He has still had a long, and I would still say successful career. We're still talking about Freddie Adew on Monday, July 22 in the year 2024. He's been very outspoken on x recently and he makes very smart points. He's a sharp guy.

David Mosse
I wouldn't mind getting him on the podcast. Oh, there we go. Yeah, work on that. I think he's always been, I think, a really smart person and I think that he does have an incredible perspective in history in terms of what has happened with him. Yes.

Alexi Lalas
Let's try to get Freddie Ado on him. Talk to him about. And he can fight me about whether the expectations were unrealistic and were a burden and whether he blames the press for his downfall. We go to the Western Conference where the two LA teams, the Galaxy and LAFC, are one and two on the table. They both had nice wins this past weekend.

David Mosse
The Galaxy beat of Portland three two on fs one. Very entertaining game. Peck, poosh and paints still got their goals. Paints it with a goal and two assists. Filling in for yovalic up top.

He played very well. Jonathan Rodriguez and Santi Moreno got the Portland goals. Are the Galaxy back? Yeah, I think they're back. I think that Greg Vanny has, let's be honest, been given plenty of opportunities and there are plenty of teams that would have cut bait, but they stuck with him and they made the changes and they have Pooj, who I think is worth the price of admission and is constantly doing good things.

Alexi Lalas
And paintsil and Peck, right, your friend Peck. So it's fun to see from an LA Galaxy perspective and certainly my history with the LA Galaxy to see them right back where we kind of expect them to be, which is honor about the top of the league and now being at the top of the league, especially being over LAFC, this is kind of what it is always set up to be. LA and LAFc one and two over there in the Western Conference. You mentioned peck. It was neat for me to see peck and Evander go head to head last night.

David Mosse
Probably the best Brazilian in MLS, both Vasco da Gama products, and they're both in the All Star team, which we'll get to in a minute. LAFC won 30 away to Seattle. Dennis Buonga with two goals. They're two points back of the galaxy, but they've played two fewer games, so they're actually in good shape to overtake them. Prefer.

Alexi Lalas
Yeah, this was obviously a big win for LAFC and a commanding win. I thought it was incredibly disappointing from Seattle to get blown out basically in their home. And while Seattle has kind of crept back up and they are certainly in the playoff spot, this is not a great Seattle team right now. And I don't think ultimately, when all is said and done, this is going to be a great a Seattle team and this is not a good look for them. But Bawanga, you just give him one opportunity and he will make you pay.

And he's so strong and he's got much more speed than people. Well, I think we give him credit, but he's much faster despite his size, and he's deadly and he's ruthless. And on the two LA teams, remember LAFC are going to be adding Olivier Giroud to their attack. Yep. And it sounds like the galaxy are going to add Marco Royce to that attack with peck and Pooj and paintzill.

David Mosse
Once upon a time, I thought that would segue us nicely into transfer market, but then Sean Sullivan rammed in here. MLS all star game and Leagues cup into this rundown, the rich get richer, huh? Okay, well, yeah. So we got all star game coming up Wednesday, is that right? Correct.

Wednesday in Columbus, it's MLS versus league MX. We've gone back to that format, which I like. I've said before in this pod that I wouldn't mind if they just did east versus west at this point. I think there's enough star power within MLS to make that a very attractive game. But if you're going to do something different, I much prefer league MX to a european club like we had last year with Arsenal.

That was a disaster. To me, that just makes MLS look small. It sort of perpetuates this notion that you have to export the star power and the european club becomes the story of the game. This way, I think we put the focus more on MLS. So I like it.

Alexi Lalas
I also like it because. And it's unique to league MX because you wouldn't be able to do this with a lot that it's an all star game from another. An all star team from another league, as opposed to, like you said, just. Just one team. And then it's league MX.

With all of our connections, with all of our history, I think it just. It makes sense. I do think that the players kind of enjoy it for those that haven't done it before, and whether it's the actual game, whether it's the concept of an all star team coming from a league, or whether it's a skills challenge or those types of things. So I'm here. I'm here for it.

I will check it out. I do think the format right now, given where league MX and MLS are, and more importantly, where they're going towards 2026, it makes sense. And then the league's cup begins on Friday. Remember, this is the tournament that features all the teams in MLS and league MX. 47 in total.

David Mosse
Two of them, club by Medic and Columbus, get a buy into the round of 32. The other 45 have been divided into 15 groups of three top two in each group advance. That gives you 30, plus the two that got to buy, and then you go knockout rounds from there. Inter Miami won this last year. It was Messi's first games for Inter Miami.

And now we get another edition of this tournament. Okay, there's some already, some brouhaha and some controversy going on. Did you see this, Mossy? When it comes to the league's cup, the Austin anthem. You know who the Austin anthem are?

Alexi Lalas
They're a fan group over there for Austin FC. They have come out with a statement saying, due to MLS and Austin FC not fully participating in the 2024 US Open cup because of schedule congestion, Austin Anthem will not organize support of any kind during any league's cup match. We encourage members to not attend or sell tickets. We will see you back at Q two stadium on 831, which is after the end of the league's cup. All right, good luck with that.

This is a second year of this league's cup. We were in Australia last year. I remember getting up and watching it, and by all accounts, it was incredibly successful. And somebody, in this case, MLS, wanted to do something different, wanted to create something of their own and obviously reap the benefit of something of their own. And they did it.

And last year, obviously, with Messi and Messi winning, that certainly was a great way to kick it off. We'll see if they have the same level of support going forward. And this is not going away, despite what the Austin anthem or anybody else says, this is going to continue on and I think it's going to be, again, something that people are interested in. And again, I think it's going to be something that provides a strange intra league moment or intra leagues moment type of situation going forward and against, you know, confirms and stresses how important this relationship between these two teams are going forward. So Leagues cup starting on Friday, an intra league tournament.

That's happening. Yeah. All right. What else? Lastly, I mentioned Giroud and Royce heading to MLS.

David Mosse
We are in the midst of a transfer window. I did want to riff about that for a couple of minutes. Real Madrid introduced Mbappe a couple of days after the Euros. That's obviously been the biggest move of this transfer window. Killian Mbappe joining Real Madrid on a free transfer.

If you're wondering how PSG reacted to that, they were being linked to Victor Osimhen of Napoli, although Fabrizio Romano today posting that the move might fall through. So we'll see what happens with that. If you're wondering how Barcelona are responding to Real Madrid adding Mbappe, they would like to add Nico Williams and pair him with La Mina mal. We just saw them play so well together at the Euros combined for a goal in the final, but it's unclear whether they have the financial wherewithal to get that deal done. They might have to never stop players or activate levers or whatnot, but they're talking a big game that they're going to sign Nico Williams.

If you're wondering how AC Milan replaced Olivier Giroud, they signed Alvaro Morata. So that's who Christian Pulisic will be feeding balls to next season. Not too shabby. Elsewhere, Bayern Munich signed Michael Elise, who's going to play against the US in the Olympics. Frenchman from Crystal palace.

In the Premier League, United have been the big spenders among the big six. They signed Joshua Xerxi from Bologna, much to Sean Sullivan's chagrin. They also signed Lenny Yodo, a teenage french defender from Lille. They got him ahead of Real Madrid, who were also interested on the topic of Bologna getting raided. Calafiori defender might be going to Arsenal.

Alexi Lalas
Boy, they're just picking the bologna to the bone, huh? They just. And Thiago Mata left to take over Juventus. In a sense, it's an incredible compliment, but if you're left with nothing, then poor Sean Sullivan and the bologna is, oh, they're going to be fine. Oh, he says they're going to be fine.

Okay. I would say to Sean, how's that saying? Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. That was a great season last season.

David Mosse
I know Roger Bennett recently turned that quote around on you, but I'm choosing to use it in its original form. It's all good. We're all good. But yeah, actually it's been overall relatively quiet summer. We'll see if it picks up here the last few weeks of the transfer window.

Manchester City, incidentally, signed Savinho, a Brazilian who impressed us at the Copa America. One of the few brazilians that impressed us this summer. A few other miscellaneous notes. James Rodriguez, the best player at the Copa America, rescinded his contract with Sao Paulo. He is now a free agent.

He said he wants to go back to Europe, but it wouldn't surprise me if an MLS team poked around. And then from a us perspective, I'm curious to see what happens with Geo and Dortmund, Wesson, McKinney and Juventus, Matt Turner and Nottingham Forest. So those are some of the guys I'm keeping my eye on. Yeah, but to your point, it's been kind of quiet, but you never know, things can change and heat up real quick. All right, anything else, Mozzie?

That's it. All right, let's take another quick break. When we come back, it's time for Ask Alexi. Okay, welcome back. It's time for Ask Alexi, that part of the show where you send in your comments, questions and concerns.

Alexi Lalas
You can use that hashtag hash ask Alexi on all the social media platforms out there. Keep in mind that our handle out there on social media is you with Alexi. Or you can call into our State of the Union podcast hotline, which is 657-549-2297 657-549-2297 during the Copa America and Euro craziness of the summer, we didn't do the hotline, but the hotline is back and it is hot and it is humming, my friend. What do we got? We have two voicemails.

David Mosse
Let's take a listen to the first one right now.

Michelle
Hi, guys. My name is Michelle and I'm from northern Virginia. And I'm calling because as I was watching the Euros and the Copa over the last couple of weeks, particularly when I was watching the Spain, France match. Recently I was remembering the us men's national team win over Spain back in 2009 in the Confederations cup and also thinking about the 2010 win over Algeria in the World cup. The last 28 seconds is one of my favorite sporting moments ever.

And I'm just wondering. They tell us that today's US men's national team is technically better players than our 2009 to 2010 team. But it seems to me that the 2000 920 ten team had some intangible quality that made them succeed when the chips were down. And I'd really be interested in hearing your thoughts about what is that intangible thing? And do you agree with me that those guys had something that these guys are lacking?

Our current team is lacking, and I'd just like to know your thoughts on that. Thanks. And I love your podcast. Okay, thank you, Michelle from northern Virginia, thank you for calling into the podcast hotline. This was a really good question and I think it's interesting, at least I do.

Alexi Lalas
So when I think back at those teams, and I want to be fair to this recent generation, I do think that when you go back, and certainly when you go back in my time, but even when you go back to those 2010 era types of teams, there was still, it's not that we didn't have expectations. It was just, I think that even back then, those groups, they still, they still were underdogs. There was still a recognition that things hadn't been done and therefore everything was gravy. And you lived for these magical, miraculous moments. And that's what we clapped and that's what we got excited about.

And I guess maybe came to expect some of it. But I do think when it comes to that transition, especially into Greg Berhalter, and he'd be the first person to tell you that they wanted to do something different. And by playing differently, much more possession oriented, obviously playing out of the back. And I let that was relative to the times, too. But still a lot of people associate that with higher quality soccer and associate with being evolved.

And then you add where a lot of these american players have been playing, that there became an expectation that we were going to see something on a continual basis that was unlike anything that we've seen in the past and that was going to translate into consistent results. Now, while that didn't come to fruition, I do think that put that group of late, this group in a very different type of position, and maybe we're seeing some of that. I'm a little wary of saying that because it sounds just grumpy old man, Michelle, when I say this, of they have more grits or they have more spirit, they have more tenacity and all these different words that we use because sometimes it's impossible to define. And really the reality is as long as we win, then we attach that to them and we use that as a reason as opposed to something else, even just blind luck every once in a while, which every team, which every team needs. All of that is to say, Michelle, is that while I do think there are certain players in the past that you can pick out and whether it's your Landon's and your tab, Ramos and Claudia Reyna's and the list goes on, it doesn't go on and on, but it certainly goes on.

There's others that I could name that I have no doubt from a technical perspective, a pure technical perspective are not just as good, but in many cases better than what we have here. I still think in totality, and it's a natural progression and should be expected that these teams are better and it's fair for us to expect more.

You can just relative to results, it's easy to look back and say, well, I would rather have this team or I would rather have this player, because ultimately they got the result. Now I'll finish it here. Mossy, are we better than we have been in the past? And I know that's a fundamental existential type of question that everybody is asking. I do think that we are, and if we're not, then we've really screwed up along the way.

But just because we are doesn't ultimately mean that we will be able to do things better than we have done in the past. And we just saw it again this summer. And I think it's a cop out to say that we aren't better. I think it's a cop out to say that we haven't improved, really what it comes down to, and the onus is on the players and the coach, and ultimately the failure. And the failure is compounded by the fact of you are better and you have more resources and you have more opportunities and you have more pathways, and even with all of that, you didn't do the job.

And again, I don't think it's because you didn't have the tools and the skills to do it for whatever reason. Could be a million different things. You didn't. And maybe it comes right back, Michelle, to something inside those intangibles that we talk about when it comes to all sports, not just soccer. You know, the, the definition of obscenity when it comes to the Supreme Court.

I can't tell you exactly what it is, but I know it when I see it. And Michelle, I bet you know it when you see it. I certainly do and others do, even though we can't specifically describe it. And yeah, I want some of that going forward. It's different in different generation in terms of how they, how it manifests and what it looks like, but there's still that same type of, type of feeling, and it doesn't matter how good you are if you don't have that.

Even the best teams in the world, they are good because they have that and they add it to incredible skill and history and tactical type of stuff that goes on. Mossy, anything on this? Yeah. The night of the Uruguay loss, when the US crashed out of the Copa America, I made the exact observation that Michelle just made, and I agree with you. I don't want to overstate it, but I do think in this effort to be progressive, something's been lost in terms of a grittiness, a toughness that past us teams had that made them a pain in the neck to play against.

Yep, I think we've talked about that. And from a tactical perspective, would people be satisfied, and maybe many people would if it was just a kind of raw, rudimentary type of approach that has served us well over the years as opposed to what Greg Berhalter tried to implement, and I think actually at times successfully did, of a much more evolved type of approach. All right, what else we got? We have another voicemail. Let's take a listen.

Adrian from Maples, Florida. Hey, question. Do you think that Mexico is in a better seat headed to World Cup 2026 or United States headed to World Cup 2026? Because considering that the two are in part of Copa de Oro and also. Canada, Canada is the only team that.

Advances in the group states in the Copa America. What do you think has got a better chance and where all teams standing, the three teams? Actually, let's go ahead with that. Thank you. All right.

Thank you. Adrian from Maples, Naples, Florida. Okay, I think I said this before, but I think it bears repeating in this moment of angst and the sky is falling and woe is me and understandable, I think perspective is necessary. If you asked Jesse Marsh who he would rather take into a World cup, the group that is the us men's national team or the group that is Canada, I think if he's honest, it would be the US. I think if you ask, Mexico is vacant right now, right?

Who was it? Oh, I was going to use this question as a jumping off point to update Mexico situation. So let me just finish this then, and then do that. I still think if I have to rank power rankings when it comes to the three, Mexico, Canada and the US, it's not even a question that it's the US in terms of the talent that they have, in terms of the depth that they have, and in terms of what I believe they can do. And if the US is playing Canada, I'm taking the US without a doubt.

It's not even a question. And not just because I love the US. If the US is playing Mexico, I'm taking the US because I think they're a better team. I think the US, ultimately, notwithstanding what happened this summer, is still fundamentally a better team. And I think if people don't see that and don't believe it, I doubt and I'm worried about their assessment of the situation.

David Mosse
So Mexico fired Jimmy Lozano after the Copa America and they are going to appoint Javier Aguirre, who takes over once again. He coached them in the 2002 and 2010 World Cups. Got to the round of 16 of both in 2002, lost to the US in the round of 16, also got them to the final of the 2001 Copa America. Very experienced manager. That would be sort of like the US hiring Bruce arena or Bob Bradley going back.

Rafa Marquez is leaving Barcelona B to join Javier Aguirre and be part of his staff with an eye towards probably taking over after the 2026 World cup. It's worth noting Javier Aguirre most recently managed Mallorca and he did have an interesting quote. He said, after dealing with stuhold in the last couple years, the mexican federation will be a picnic. Wow, that's a hell of a translation you got. There might be something lost in the translation there.

Alexi Lalas
Incidentally, I'd have no problem if they went and hired Bruce arena right now if the US men's national team went in higher. Bruce arena. All right, let's go right to one for the road, right? And finish it up. Shall we do that, Mossy?

David Mosse
Yep. Okay, let's head to one for the road. You can, if you're watching, you can see our little intro tape that we have again with our van and all that kind of stuff we like to do that I mentioned earlier in the pod. And we talked at length about the Olympics, which are upon us starting this week. My Olympic experience back in the 19 hundreds back in the previous century was to play on the 1992 Olympic team for the US and the 1996 Olympic team.

Alexi Lalas
If you're watching. You can see some different pictures here or there. And we have our incredible warm up suits that were just full on american. That was back when people leaned in and celebrated and were proud of being overtly american in terms of what they looked and the aesthetic that we had. And I loved it.

In 1992, the Olympics were in Barcelona. I had no idea, going to the Olympics in the summer of 1992 in Barcelona, that two years later I would be on the national team. That was the goal of myself and so many others, whether it's Kobe Jones or Joe Max Moore, Brad Friedel, my clapper, the list goes on and on. Who did, like I say, matriculate up from that team in the summer of 1992, right before the Olympics started, I ended up breaking my foot fifth metatarsal and I broke it right before we were to start the tournament. We spent thousands and thousands of dollars fashioning a cast because I knew I wasn't going to get surgery till after the tournament because if there was any chance in hell that I could play, I was going to do it.

We spent thousands and thousands of Olympic dollars fashioning casts and I ended up creating a cast for my foot that protected this broken fifth metatarsal and it went into my shoe and I wore a shoe that was a couple sizes too big on 1ft and ended up playing in the Olympics, not playing well, but I was hell bent on, I'm going to represent my country, I'm going to step on the field when it comes to the Olympics again. Had no idea that two years later I would be involved in the Olympics. So that was my experience in the summer of 1992. And it was awesome. It was incredible.

I remember the walkout of the Olympians in the opening ceremonies. I remember being looking up in the stands and seeing Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro and all this assortment of dignitaries up there. I remember being next to Jennifer Capriotti, who was an incredible tennis player. She had no shoes on and I don't know if she knew where she was. But you walk through the Olympic village and there's Jim Currier.

We didn't see the dream team anyway, so it was an incredible experience both on and off the field to do that. And as I said, us soccer used it as an incubator for a lot of the talent that then played in the 1994 World cup and again in 1992. The Olympics were all under 23. There was no overage players. That changed in 1996.

And I went back to the Olympics here in the United States, in Atlanta as part of the team, as one of the three over age players myself. Was it Claudio and Casey Keller, I think, were the three overage players. Now when I say Atlanta while the Olympics were Atlanta, because soccer is so big, and I talked about FIFA's concern about soccer being too big. Soccer is such a big event at the Olympics that they have to have satellite cities. So we actually ended up playing in Washington DC and Birmingham, Alabama.

So we weren't even in Atlanta playing soccer. I'll never forget in Birmingham, Alabama, in the stadium that we played there. I can't remember what it was, but it was a big deal. What was it called? Producer Sean it might be legion field, whatever.

There was a big deal because in order to accommodate soccer, they had to tear out these bushes and shrubs that evidently were incredibly sacred. I'll never forget that. And it was fun, it was wonderful. And you remember really ridiculous things sometimes from these events. So, for example, I remember it was the first time that I ever had lunchables.

And for those that don't know, it's a incredibly processed food that you find, and it's got cheese and ham and crackers and stuff like that. First time I ever had lunchables, we had a beeper that we were given. And in the middle, unfortunately, of the Olympics, I remember, because it would give us updates, news updates. That plane went down, up outside of JFK. I remember that plane going down and just the craziness that was going on.

So this, all of these different things. And all of that is to say is while Olympics relative to the World cup pale in comparison, I do think that there, first off, you might never get a chance to play at that level again. For some of the players that we are going to see, men and women this summer, and if that's all that you do, then savor every single moment of it on and off the field, it's an incredible honor to represent your country at any level. And certainly from an Olympic perspective, the way we look at sports, we look at it a little bit differently still. I get at the World cup, but I'm excited to see what's going to happen from a soccer perspective this summer at the Olympics.

And I look back, and I look back fondly at both of those experiences in terms of the play that we had, many of the players that I played with that, like I said, I then grew up with and came of age when it came to World Cups going forward and the experiences that we have and whether it's in the back of the buses or traveling around or preparing for it and doing all that kind of stuff, it seems like yesterday, even though it was many, many years ago. 92, Spain won the men's soccer gold medal. Pep Guardiola leading the way. They're the last european team to win the gold medal. And then 96, Nigeria won it.

David Mosse
Nawanko canoe is their big star. They beat Brazil in the semis and Argentina in the final. What a team. What a team. What a team.

Alexi Lalas
My goodness. So, yeah, there can be some incredible moments that come out of Olympics, Olympic soccer, and over the years there, there. Have been, you know, seeing those two pictures of you side by side, I learned something. The crazy hair came first and then the goatee. Yeah.

So early on it was just a lot of hair. And then I'll tell the hair story again later on. But, you know, again, these are, these are pictures we had, like, send off parties in Atlanta and, you know, we had things where we would go, and I do official portraits and all that kind of stuff. I still have my, not just my warm ups, but I still have my walking coat and tie and kind of suit that we had going forward, and I still fit into some of the stuff that I have. So, anyway, good luck this summer to all of our men and women, whether they're our soccer players or any of the other sports.

It's a fun thing, it's a funny thing. And again, it's another one of these things that kind of brings people into the. So I'm looking forward to that. Anything before we go, my friend? That's it.

All right. Thank you again for downloading and reviewing and rating and subscribing and doing all the different things that, that you do out there. We're back again bi weekly when it comes to the State of the union, and we could not be more happy and excited about going forward. And we'll probably do some interesting things and maybe change some things up as we go forward, as we evolve, as we grow, like anything else. But keep pounding that subscribe button out there on YouTube.

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