Futbol Americas: Inter Miami Loss Fallout + The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly + USMNT #9s Making News + Concern for Pulisic's Form

Hello, hello everyone. Happy Monday and welcome to a fresh edition of Football Americas. I'm Alexis Yunus alongside my fellow essential worker here, Alejandro Moreno. Back despite yet another snowmageddon because we had to bring you this show, Ale. A couple of things we're going to talk about. We had to. We have to. All right, okay. A couple of big things to talk about. Could Antoine Griezmann be heading to this side of the world? Also, Josh Sargent, it looks like he's finally on his way to MLS after things have soured at Norwich. And trust me, I know a thing or two about relationships souring, Ale. Via text message as well. Via text, via email. But there's also some even more good news for a lot of U.S. men's national team strikers. They've been banging in some goals at the weekend. We will be looking at that. But first, the big news. MLS is back. Inter-Miami, the defending champions were in action, and Lionel Messi was in action indeed. You remember that we spoke to our Lizzie Becerrano about two weeks ago because he had picked up an injury, and we were wondering if he'd be able to play in this game, Ale, knowing he has to manage his time. But he suited up for his boys against Young Sun Min and LAFC. Of course, Inter-Miami playing a lot of their early games away from home, 37th minute. DePaul turning the ball to Sonny. He passes it to Martinez and LAFC go up 1-0. And it's not just David Martinez. It's, vamos Venezuela! David Martinez. No, la vino tinto. All right, well, into the 52nd minute now. Messi losing the ball, recovers. He tries to get a shot in, curling, but just wide. Just, you know, scraping off a little bit of the cobwebs there. Okay. Okay, it is messy. 63rd minute. Percedame here. With a chance. But it's just wide. Makes clean contact, but doesn't quite give it the direction that is required. Speaking of direction, just a question. Where is Dane Sinclair going? Oh, shame. Hunting for butterflies. Dennis Buanga. Picking up where you are. So very happy to see Dane Sinclair there. and asking the very same question that I'm asking. Where are you? What are you doing? Shaqas traffic, deluxe, Royale with cheese. With cheese. The Shaqas traffic with cheese. All right. Well, Buanga gets past the defender. He crosses it to Ordaz, who scores LAFC's third goal of the night. Good work from Buanga down the left-hand side. Change of pace. Michael Santos is excited. Tapping from my kind of range. 3-0. All right. So the season opener for the defending champions not going well. Now, there were a lot of people wondering how they were going to contain Inter Miami and Lionel Messi. Well, if you have a look at these stats, no shots on goal from the Argentine. Well, I would say they contained him very, very well. Let's hear from Mark Dos Santos about what the game plan was to contain the Argentine. When we prepared the game, we prepared the game against the best Messi possible. You know, I don't know what, I don't know if he took a pill and then he, you know, I don't know what happens. We just prepare for the best Messi. And when you prepare for the best Messi around the box, you have to have numbers around him. And when he has the ball and the ball is uncovered, you have to make sure that you follow the late runs because he finds so well the players in the pocket. Then when he starts running and playing one-twos, you have to follow, you have to continue with your runs. I think that part of our game today, A+. Part of possession, D. We can be much better and we want to be much better. But, you know, again, I come back, our guys were a team, suffered together, were smart dealing with a lot of plays. and that's important moving forward. All right, very happy Marto Santos there for this one. All right, Ale, let's get into it. Now, it's only the first game of the season, but I still have so many questions going on. How much of a statement win was this for LAFC? How much can we read into it? Do we just say, okay, you know, Inter Miami just dusting off some, you know, early season cobwebs probably. But to see a Lionel Messi go into a game with no shots on target It's something we're not used to, despite his age. No. And I think it's much more about LAFC than it is about Inter Miami. And as I told you and I told Lizzie a couple of weeks ago, there'll be a lot of games like this. There'll be a lot of games like this for Inter Miami where you get an underperforming Lionel Messi leading up to the World Cup up until he finds the rhythm that he wants to find, building momentum going into the World Cup. Do you feel he was managing himself 100%? There weren't a lot of sprints by Lionel Messi. I'll just say that. And that's not new, necessarily. It's just that usually when he finds himself in those positions that Mark Dos Santos, the manager of LAFC, was talking about, we see a change of pace from Lionel Messi. We didn't see that all that often in the match against LAFC. and if we're gonna really analyze and evaluate the game from Lionel Messi there were moments in which when he got in this sort of positions and he finally gets a touch there is an opportunity to lay this ball off to Telasco Segovia when he eventually takes a shot on target and unable to connect with the shot and I'm not gonna criticize Lionel Messi for taking a shot but there was an open pass to Telasco Segovia that he didn't pick out there was a lot of this from Lionel Messi getting himself in what were good positions but unable to find that first touch usually you don't see Lionel Messi getting that touch away from him you usually see him shielding the ball with his body and creating separation you don't see the easy turnovers from Lionel Messi and so yeah it's early season you're just coming off of pre-season he missed the last couple of weeks of pre-season because of an injury and so the fact that there is what we consider to be a down game by Inter Miami and in particular by Lionel Messi should not be a surprise. The fact that LAFC were excited to play against Inter Miami should not be a surprise because after all, there are 70,000 people in the stadium. And so I think the whole environment was set up for LAFC to play at a high level and for Inter Miami who are trying to kind of find their way into the season for them to come I'm sure I'm not surprised that this was a less than ideal performance from Inter Miami and an underwhelming performance at that. And of course, because of Inter Miami and what they achieved last season and Messi just being Messi, we're going to talk a lot more about what Messi did wrong or what Inter Miami did wrong. But definitely, as you said, this feels like it was set up for LAFC to put on a big performance. That is easier said than done, especially when you're giving the opposition. but do you feel like this is a statement win? How is it an early sign maybe of what more we can expect from LAFC this season in terms of being contenders? Right, okay. We're not even in March. Alec, it's a big statement. No, no, no. Start as you mean to go on. There are no big statements in February. We're not even in March yet. Are we taking down the defending champs? No. Silencing who? Yeah. Silencing who? Silencing who? Honestly, who cares? When you think about it, yes, if you're at LAFC and Mark Dos Santos, you're going to play this up and say, yes, we took out Inter Miami. If you're Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, and specifically Lionel Messi, he's looking at this and going, okay, don't love this, don't like it, don't like to get humiliated, but there will be more important games this season than this one was. And you turn the page and you move on to next week. Truth is, if you think about Inter-Miami against LAFC, specifically in this game, it wasn't just Lionel Messi. The first goal comes from a really poor turnover from Rodrigo de Polo. And so while the reporters, just like us, are always going to ask about Lionel Messi, and Marcos Santos has to answer a question about Lionel Messi, one of the things that LAFC did really well was deny the service to Lionel Messi in advantageous positions. And in order to do that, they did really well at pressing Rodrigo Deport. And pressing whenever Inter Miami got in a position where they're trying to look up and find Lionel Messi. Now, Messi wasn't moving all that well. And then the good pressure that LAFC was putting on guys like Rodrigo Deport then was making it more difficult for Inter Miami to get themselves in a situation in which Messi could be dangerous. So there are a lot of things and a lot of layers to this performance from LAFC that you can hang on to and be encouraged if you're at LAFC. That's what I'm getting at. No, no, no. Your question was, is this a statement win? Well, I can't mean, I suppose. No, you can't. Encourage their fans maybe to believe that they could be contenders for the season because I'd be feeling mighty high after a win like this. Just saying. Lean into joy. It's February. It's February. It's February. It's also February. So, calma. You're going to hit me with Cristiano Ronaldo. Calma. Well, not when I'm talking about Messi. No. But, por favor, please. O sea. Everybody has to relax. And to think about, is this a statement win? It's significant for LAFC. And it's something that I think will propel them forward and will fill them with confidence. it won't fill Dane Sinclair with any sort of confidence. I was just going to say, can you turn into our Shaka Hislop and just, because, I mean, it's a rough one to take, especially for your first game. I mean, you come from being 2025 goalkeeper of the year, making your debut for the champions, and oh, my absolute days. What did you say this was? Shaka Stropic with cheese. Deluxe Royale with cheese. And Dane Sinclair does the worst thing that you can do as a goalkeeper, which is he made no decision whatsoever. If you're going to come out, then come out. If you're going to stay, then stay. But what he did was stand in the middle of nowhere. Stand in the middle of nowhere, which then made the decision easier for Denis Buanga. As he's running, he's not concerned about a goalkeeper coming out because he was just standing still. He's also not concerned about defender catching up with the angle because, in this case, Sinclair did not stay far back. And so in that sense, as a striker, you're looking for decisions to be made for you. And Dane Sinclair did that for Buanga. He did him a favor. When Buanga sees this ball bounce and he looks up, corner of his eye, and he's running full speed, defenders coming this way, and he sees the goalkeeper just standing there, and he's not coming your way, and he's not far back, now you have all sorts of possibilities. You can just loop it over the top of him or do what he did. He had all the momentum, play a header above Dane Sinclair. Sinclair was out of the play, and by then, the defender was never going to catch up with you. Dane Sinclair did the worst thing that you could do, which is nothing. He didn't come out. He didn't stay in his goal or somewhere inside his 18-yard box. He went into a land of death. There's nothing to achieve there. Darkness is what exists in that place, and Dennis Buanga was able to take advantage of him. He thrived in that darkness. Let's hope Jesse Marsh wasn't watching that one a little too close. All right. It was shakostrophic. It was shakostrophic. Let's hear from Javier Mascherano in terms of what he thought of this game. Now, he said this. The reality is that they beat us fair and square. That's the truth. I think it's often difficult to explain when you lose 3-0, three goals in a match. But my initial analysis gives me the feeling that the result was somewhat misleading. the game as it unfolded. There wasn't that much of a difference. Oh, hey. Is he just trying to do some damage control? Didn't the part, the first part of that quote said they won fair and square? They beat us fair and square. But maybe he's trying to say it didn't look like that much of a beatdown. Right. Well, let me just say to Javier Macerano, I wholeheartedly disagree. Absolutely 100% got beat and should have gotten beat. LAFC were far better than Inter Miami. And if I want to take it a step further, if Machirano really wants to talk facts, just we can talk facts. Yeah, of course. I'm all about facts. First half should have been 3-0 already. You think about Son and how he went on a 1v1 situation with the goalkeeper. He just couldn't quite sort out his feet. ends up sort of having to cut the ball back and Buanga his shot gets clear off the line. That should have been a goal. David Martinez, vamos Venezuela, he scored a goal and also had yet another opportunity where he was 1v1 against Dane Sinclair and hit it wide. I'm talking these are 100% opportunities. These are not half chances. This is not maybe could be perhaps. No. So this were 100% chances. And what I would suggest to Javier Macerano, instead of trying to dress this up, which you shouldn't. You don't have to sugarcoat this thing. It's not his job to do it, but I suppose he wants to do it early on in the season to kind of deflect attention away from what was a poor performance. I would be concerned about, I can't believe I'm saying this about Inter Miami, Javier Macerano, former Barcelona player, along the lines of what's going on currently with Barcelona. The high line of Inter Miami, my Lord have mercy. And they're turning the ball over in bad areas. And of course, no pressure on the ball means that you can play the ball in behind. And Son was running free. And David Martinez was running free. And Blanga was running free. So please spare me. If anybody that knows the game watch this game knows that LAFC were significantly better than Inter Miami in this particular match It doesn mean because we still in February did I tell you that Yeah, I was going to get excited again. We're still in February, but maybe as the season goes along, we'll see a better version of Inter Miami. But as it pertains to this past weekend, LAFC much better. Well, as you say, it's interesting that obviously as the season goes on, we will probably see a better version of Inter Miami. Is there anything to be said about potentially missing the likes of Busquets and Jordi Alba, who were, I mean, such a crucial part of the team last season? Yeah, but that's... That happens everywhere. Right. I'm not concerned about if I'm Javier Macerano. If I were Javier Macerano, I would not be concerned about who's not here. I'm far more concerned about who's here. I cannot, as a manager, be concerned about, well, if Sergio were here, he would just be able to turn this ball and find that pass. If Jordi Alba were here, then we would have a natural outlet on the left-hand side. Well, that's not the case. That's gone. So I suppose we can talk about it if we want to make some sort of point of discussion about Inter-Miami. But I remind you, it is the first game of the season, and it's February. Calm down. But still big shoes to fill. If we're to have a discussion, because that's what we're here for. That's why we braved the snowstorm, Alec. Well, we pray for the storm because we apparently are essential workers. Sergio Busquets, as important as he was for Inter Miami, I don't think they're going to miss his lack of legs in the midfield. But still the experience. What they're going to need. All right. I am giving you the analysis. You can go ahead and then just analyze it yourself then. No, no. Okay. You call it experience, I'm calling all legs. And he knew they were all legs because he was not in a position where he could run people down. What they're going to need is for Rodrigo De Paul to stop turning the ball over. He's not the same kind of player as Sergio Busquets. They're going to need De Paul to stop turning the ball over and actually take more of a leadership role in that midfield. All right. Great analysis. I don't know. You tell me. You go ahead. Shall we talk a bit more about Lionel Messi? What? After the game, he was making headlines for different reasons because some video emerged. of Messi appearing to enter the referee's locker room. Now, we know he does not like to lose, especially 3-0, so he was understandably heated after the game. It looked like he was trying to enter just right here with Luis Suarez holding him back now. A review of those allegations were launched, and Major League Soccer found that the player did not violate league policy because that door that he entered was not to the ref's locker room or any restricted area by the league. Ale's having a chuckle. So is this a non-story, Ale? Am I just going to make a big deal out of... No, no, no. Actually, let's not ignore the irony of it all. The irony of Luis Suarez being the voice of reason. Talking people off the ledge. Yeah. Pulling Lionel Messi back and saying, No, no. Calmate. Tranquilo. Hey, Leo, Leo, Leo. No. No, Leo, come here. You know, maybe after his ban last season. The irony is just rich here with Luis Suarez. In fact, I have to imagine, I don't know this for certain, but I have to imagine as Messi is, he has now decided that he's going to go and confront the referees. When he hears the voice of Luis Suarez and he sees who's grabbing him, he probably looked back and was like, what? He had to do a double take. What? You're usually with me in this. You're usually at the forefront of this. You're leading me. You're holding me back. as it pertains to Lionel Messi. I do believe that, and a surprise, there's preferential treatment in Major League Soccer. There always has been, and there will always be preferential treatment. For them to hide in the loophole of saying, well, that wasn't technically the referee's room. Okay, it might not have been the referee's room. You enter that door, and then there's another door that is the referee's room. Right? But for them to say, well, it's not an area in which players are prohibited or restricted to the players, so therefore there's nothing wrong with this, it's nonsense. The spirit of it is Lionel Messi was talking to the referees all the way down the tunnel. And then when there was a time for him to continue to keep walking, he decided to come back around and enter through the threshold of the door. A door that leads eventually to a referee's room. So in essence, he was chasing down referees to go and complain about this, that, on the other. So, look, if MLS, I suppose by the letter of the law, they can hide in this loophole and they're very comfortable and they don't want to create a situation when Messi's early on in the season and so, nothing to see here. I'm fine. I don't care. Nothing to see here. But let's not pretend that this is not preferential treatment. And had it been, I'll turn it right back around, had it been Luis Suarez. Would be seeing a different story. Going into, through the threshold of the door and going right in there. You think he's getting the same treatment? I doubt it. I don't think so. I doubt it. He's a repeat offender though. It doesn't matter if you're a repeat offender or not. Was there an offense or not? MLS would suggest no. Was Lionel Messi chasing the referee down or not? Yes. I mean, and so in the spirit of the law or in the spirit of the rule or whatever it may be, he was chasing the referees down. And what, does he need to enter the referee's room in order for him to be then suspended? I guess he entered one door and he sure as he wanted to go through the other door. And then Luis Suarez brings him back, which again brings him back to the irony of it all. He said it's February. Calma. Well, that's what MLS says, too. It's February. It's February. From 30 for 30 Podcasts. Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami. Gunned down. The key to this case, it's Brian. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody. This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction. place under arrest. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now. Well, look at that. MLS came back for one weekend and so much to talk about. So now we're going to look at the good, the bad, Ale, and the ugly. There was something ugly. Let's talk about the good first, of course, always, because that game as we were talking about, LAFC got that big result over Inter Miami in front of a record-breaking crowd of over 75,000 at the Coliseum. It's a new attendance record. for an MLS opening match and the second largest crowd in league history. Love to see it, Ale. Yeah, and you think this is about LAFC? I mean, it may have to do with the other guy in the pink shirt. What's that? Do you think this is about LAFC? It's about Messi, yeah, fair play. So it was like that, it was like that when Beckham was in the league as well. Yeah. Let's not kid each other here. Let's talk about the bad, though, and San Diego Wave absolutely thrashed Montreal by not one, not two, not three, not four, but five. Okay, but why is that bad? San Diego FC, rather. It's good for San Diego FC. It's bad for Montreal. That's what I was saying. You want to see this level of thrashing. Or, again, calmer, it's week one. No, I mean, look, there is a difference between Montreal conceding five goals and Inter-Miami losing 3-0. We evaluate them on a different standard altogether. So, yeah, losing 5-0 in your first game of season is less than ideal. All right. Let's talk about the ugly now because Philadelphia Union's new striker, Ezekiel Alado, made his debut very sour after he was shown a straight red card, not for his tackle that we just saw, but for what was labeled that obscene reaction and having some naughty words with the official later. That's not the type of debut you want. Absolutely not. We also are not privy to the information as to what he did say to the referee. No. But it definitely hasn't been good. But clearly, there must have been flavor to what he said. A little bit of sazon. Yeah. A little bit of sazon. All right. Well, Philadelphia Union went on to lose that game, so it definitely was not a good night for them against DC United. Well, ESPN FC is on seven days a week. You can join us as well over there for more reaction from the Premier League, La Liga, and the rest of Europe over on ESPN+. All right. In some breaking news, as first reported by The Athletic, just moments ago, Orlando City seemed to be in talks to sign Antoine Griezmann from Atletico de Madrid. He is under contract at the La Liga Club until 2027, but that's apparently still not stopped the chats from happening. Now, no agreement has been made yet, but no surprise really, Ale, because Antoine Griezmann has shown interest in moving to this side of the pond and playing in MLS before. Yeah, there's been open flirtation going on for a while. Must be nice. All right. It's good to feel wanted. Well, I know. I hear you. I get it. And what I think is surprising is that Antoine Griezmann is actually playing really well for Atlético Madrid right now. We saw him in the first leg of Copa del Rey semifinal against Barcelona and how important he was in that match and how decisive he was in terms of his movement, his vision, his finishing. So he still has a lot of game about him, and that's what I think would be very appealing for Orlando City or any team in Major League Soccer, for that matter. It's interesting from Antoine Griezmann's perspective as to how open he has been about coming to Major League Soccer. So obviously, those things seem to come together quite nicely. I just, if you're Atletico Madrid, you're kind of saying, Wait, wait, wait. He's still, and I think surprisingly so, he's still very good for them. And they need him more than I think they thought they would. By now, I believe Diego Simone and Atletico Madrid would have thought that between Sorloth and Julian Alvarez, you bring this play, you bring that play, you bring this guy over here, you bring that guy over there. Adamola Lukman now as well as an attacking player that you would have been able to sort of put Griezmann to the side and just kind of go, it's been great. We can move on. It's been one heck of an experience. Yeah. It's been a great ride, but it's time to move on. And then let's depend on these other guys. And that just hasn't been the case. And because of it, Anton Griezmann has now had much more of a role, much more of an important role. And so it is surprising that Atletico Madrid would just allow this to happen. From Orlando City's perspective, well, you have to be all for it. From Anton Griezmann's perspective, it's interesting because the market for him in MLS would be around even after this season was over in Europe. There would be a market for him in the summer too. But I suppose it's been well reported that Antoine Griezmann just wants this. And I think that's what's encouraging for Major League Soccer, is that you have a player that's still productive at a high level, not as productive as he once was, but still a productive player, and he wants this experience. He wants to be part of Major League Soccer. It would seem to be almost too good to be true, but it would seem to be something that makes a whole lot of sense for Orlando City and Major League Soccer. With everything you just said about Antoine Griezmann, because, of course, how closely we cover La Liga. I mean, as you said, he's enjoying still a great season, whether he's starting, whether he's coming off the bench. It seems like you just need to wait five, ten minutes, and he's going to be like a super sub and score a goal and help rack up Atleti's tally. So I see why, obviously, Cholo Simeone would want to hang on to him. But because of that, should Orlando City then throw the kitchen sink now to get him maybe this summer or something? Because while he's still in this fine form. Yeah, I don't know how big the kitchen sink is. Find a big one. You know, if it is a farmhouse sink, I don't know that I would throw that size of sink. Yeah. And the reason I wouldn't do it is because I still think that Anton Griezmann will be available for you in the summer. and I also think that if you're Orlando City, you have to think about what the marketing of Antoine Griezmann would be in MLS and how big of a signing he really is. How much attention does he really command? This is not Lionel Messi and he doesn't have that kind of market. and he's somewhere in the Hyunmin Song category. How much attraction does that entail? Well, maybe locally with LAFC, but I don't know that you're filling up stadiums everywhere in Major League Soccer because Song is playing for you, as good a player as he may be. I don't think he has that sort of level of attraction. Neither does Antoine Griezmann. A popular player a good player but the league is not changing or you not filling stadiums because Antoine Griezmann is coming to town That all I would say Yeah I don know if Antoine Griezmann wants to hang out with Messi anytime soon After we know what went down at Barcelona. It would also be interesting as to whether there have been conversations between Anton Griezmann, say his former teammate at Atlético Madrid, Rodrigo de Pol, has your experience in MLS. What do you like? What don't you like? What can be better? What do you think I'm going to like? I don't know if those conversations exist, but you have to imagine there would have been a message here and there and say, tell me more. I want to know more, and is this something that I should do midseason? Is this something that I should do right away so that I can be with Orlando City as soon as possible? Well, we know he's a huge NBA fan, huge NFL fan as well. The Orlando Magic are no good. Oh, and we'll see what's his closest NFL team. Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay. All right, there you go. And you'll be closer to Disney. Okay. I mean, I'm all for Disney. Don't get me wrong. The mouse. The mouse. All right, well, that's going to be an exciting one if it does indeed happen. But someone who is already seems to be on his way to MLS, Josh Sargent. He's set to complete a move to Toronto FC from Norwich City for around $22 million with add-ons. The U.S. International hasn't featured for the Canaries since making himself unavailable, remember that, by text message, last month for their FA Cup tie versus Walsall. Now, Ale, this just had to happen because we've heard from the coach, we've heard from some of the teammates as well, from Josh Sargent, and simply the relationship has soured. And remember what I said, I know exactly a thing or two about relationships souring, but $22 million. Wow, Ale, I mean, whew, worth it though? All right, Toronto, flex your power. I mean, it would be worth it if I'm Norwich. I'm like, hey, go ahead. Show me money, bring it on. Yes, yes. Is that going to be direct deposit? Direct deposit. Is that a farm kitchen sink? That is a farm kitchen sink. I mean, that's a whole kitchen they're throwing. And I'm not quite sure as to what Toronto FC is expecting out of this. I suppose that they're looking for the same sort of success that they had when Josie Altidore came back and played for Toronto. See, and at that time, Michael Bradley was also part of the picture there. And it was a time in which Toronto was a dominant team in Major League Soccer. I, I mean, I, Jos Sargent, I had, I was neither here nor there with Jos Sargent in terms of the kind of player that he is. There were times in which he was impressive and other times in which he wasn't. The lack of success with the national team has been something that I think has held him back, I think, in the evaluation of his talent. But this text message situation really took me to the other side, to the dark side. This is not how you end it. No, no, no, it is not. And it sends, no pun intended here, but it really sends the wrong message about the player. So in that case, had I been Toronto, I probably would have thought about this long and hard, but some of the reports were that Toronto was actually behind kind of pushing this move and do something that pushes this move. So this is a lot of money to send for Joe Sargent. It's not my money, so you go ahead and do whatever you want, Toronto. I think that Toronto needs not just Joe Sargent. They need more in that team in order for them to be truly competitive in the Eastern Conference and in Major League Soccer as a whole. And I mean, this is a conversation that we have, especially over the last couple of months, when we have seen players who have been playing their trade in Europe then make their way back to North America, probably in a last ditch effort to get some valuable minutes, Alec, because the World Cup is around the corner. You do have to ask, of course, he's still relatively young in footballing terms. Would this feel like a step back from him? No, I'm going to, and please, to the director, do not follow me in this particular sequence. I'm going to show you where Joe Sargent is in the picture of the national team right now as it comes to the strikers. I'm going to show you. Oh. Yeah, you know what this is? So not there. Yeah. Not in the picture. Not in the picture. Okay. That's where Joe Sargent is. Not in the picture. Does this then put him in the picture now? A move to. Okay. In some ways, he puts him at least accessible to Mauricio Pochettino and his staff to watch him on a weekly basis. So in that sense, I guess we're back in the picture. But he has a lot of ground to cover. And he's going to depend not only on himself being hot, and he's got to get hot quick. And I mean quick. He also depends upon the failures of others. He's going to have to depend on injuries to other players. so that he gets back into some sort of rotation, which he really under Pochettino was never a part of. So look, it's not a good time to be a striker who's struggling or hasn't gotten playing time because you sent a text message and you wanted to push a move through. Because in the meantime, what you have had is Balogun scoring goals, separating himself from the rest of the crowd of strikers. Hide your right and not stop scoring. I mean, I've never been so interested in Coventry City. Hey! Yay! I tell you, don't sleep on Coventry. Well, I'm just saying, Haji, right, scoring goals is about every weekend, seemingly. He's been permanent soon, yeah. Ricardo Pepe, and we'll talk about it, came back with his mangled arm and scored a goal. Not the mangled arm. I'm just, look, I'm just painting the picture. And so where, so to your question, where does he fit in, Joe Sargent? Well, nowhere right now, so he's going to have to be hot right away. Really, really hot. I love that Ale gave us that visual representation in terms of that number nine rule for the U.S. Men's National. I should have kept going through the doors, to be honest with you. One more question about Josh Sargent, because Kevin McLean, Norwich City's captain, recently spoke about this situation. And he said it's wild because for Norwich, at least, a couple months ago, they were referring to Josh Sargent as the best player in the championship. They felt like they had the best player in the championship. Now, you can compare MLS level to the championship all you want, whether it's a bit better or whether it's not. But now Josh Sargent moving to Toronto, does this change expectations for Toronto? Having a player that so or was so highly regarded overseas? Like I said, I have no issue. I think Joe Sargent can bring a lot of things. And there's a lot of work rate. And there's a guy that can be active inside the 18-yard box. At times can be a good dribbler, can take shots from distance. And I think he's a good striker. Don't get me wrong. I do believe that Joe Sargent has something about him. But when he's been given opportunities with the national team, people are expecting that sort of performance that you're talking about, where he has been the best player in the championship. Well, let's see that. And that just hasn't happened. And really, full disclosure, it's not like we're sitting around and watching Norwich play every weekend. So most of the time, when Joe Sargent comes over and plays with the national team, that's when we get an opportunity to see him up close and personal. And he has not impressed. So it's hard to sort of put those things together. Well, what version of Joe Sargent is Toronto FC getting? And is he consistently good enough of a player, difference maker enough of a player to elevate Toronto FC to an entirely different level? That's a big question. Because he's not been able to do that with the national team. But we have to imagine that if you put players around him in Toronto FC, that they become a better team, a more competitive team. I just think that they need more than just Sargent. They need more around him in North for this team to truly be talking about potentially Eastern Conference and winning the Eastern Conference and making a deep run in the playoffs. I just don't think they're there just yet. Just Sargent helps. But I don't know that just Sargent is making this move because of that. He's making this move because he believes, I think, and I could be wrong. I'm going to put myself in front of the eyes of Mauricio Pochettino. This is what gives me the best chance to make the World Cup score. Well, the competition is looking very stiff because you just have to have a look at what some other U.S. players are doing. Like Flo Balogun, it was quite the week for him. Two goals against PSG last Tuesday. Then a second-half goal that helped Monaco shock League on leaders' lawns as they won that game 3-2. That's now 11 goals in all competitions this season and five in the Champions League. This goal in particular was very impressive. The hold-up play, then the movement, the timing of the run, and then the finish holding on Marquinhos as he's coming off to try to make a challenge on the play. I thought for a while now, really, that following Balogun has separated himself. Well, that's Shaka Strafik. I'd say, we didn't need to show that. That's far more about the goalkeeper than it is about Balogun. But regardless, I digress. He has separated himself. He is option one, two, and three right now as it pertains to the number nine position. And then there is the rest of the group of the guys that we're talking about, Haji Wright and Ricardo Pepe and so on and so forth. So he's looking undroppable for Paz. I think so. I don't think the other guys are in the race right now with him. And if he continues to play this way, not only does he continue to play this way, he continues to separate himself. But what we saw from him over the last few matches of the national team, you're seeing a player that I think offers many more alternatives to Mauricio Pochettino in the attack than the other guys do. He gives, and the goal that we saw there against PSG, hold the play. And it's, in some ways, it's old school striker with new school striker. Hold up play, the spin, the timing of the run, getting in behind, finishing the play, the speed, the change of pace. There are a lot of things to like about Balogun. And I think he is a more complete player than some of the other alternatives that Pochettino may have in that position. And so the separation is there, and he continues to convince, not just me, Nobody cares about what I have to say, but Pochettino. We care. Slightly. We are essential workers. We are. But Pochettino does care. And I think Pochettino, I believe, has made it very clear that Balogun is this guy. All right. Well, remember you did tease that there's somebody else in this race as well. You said his mangled arm. Well, the point is he has recovered. And that's Ricardo Pepe. Yes. back in action finally for PSV after recovering from what was a fractured forearm. He came on as a second half substitute for PSV as they picked up yet another win in the Erie Divisie. Look at that. He still has it wrapped up, though, so it's not as mangled. Let me just tell you. This is exactly what I see for Ricardo Pepe and the national team. Coming off the bench and scoring a goal. He is capable of doing that time and time and time again. That's coming from confidence. Because he was on a nice run before. Absolutely, he feels good about it, I'm sure. Alright, let's hear from the man himself after that game. Ricardo, what's it like to be back here? It's amazing, man. It's special always being out for an injury like this. It's unfortunate, but at the end of the day, very happy to be back. How frustrated was it sitting from the sidelines? Yeah, it's frustrating, especially because it's not the first time this year. You know, it's like the second, third time. So a little bit frustrating, but, you know, it's always important to come back stronger. And, you know, I think that's what I'm doing at the moment. Yeah, but you're back earlier than expected. How is that possible? Does it have to do with your mindset, your own mindset? Yeah, it could be, of course. You know, I always, I think I'm a person who has a very good mindset. You know, I like to work for what I want. And, you know, it could be a mindset thing. But, you know, also speaking medically to the team, I think that they felt that I was ready. and I felt ready as well. So I think it's a decision that we all made. Good stuff there from Ricardo Pepe. Again, it's not the first time he's had to grapple with injury, Ale. That's why when we got this, when we saw this latest one, we were like, oh, no, it's happened at the worst time because he was on such a nice streak before, building confidence in that race. Then we felt like it was a setback. He came back early, come straight off the bench, instant impact. If you're Mauricio Pochettino, what are you thinking after we just see that? as I mentioned just a few seconds ago, that I think is going to be his role with this national team. I cannot imagine that Mauricio Pochettino is not seeing what most of us see when it comes to Ricardo Pepi. And that is, whatever you think of his skill set, whatever you may think of his talent level, whatever you may think of his ceiling, what we know for certain is that goals find Ricardo Pepi. Balls find Ricardo Pepi. Now, this particular goal is not an example of that. This is just a great goal. He gets himself in a position where he's allowed to turn and hits it as well as he did. But it's not a typical Ricardo Pepi goal. If I'm Pochettino, I have a built-in option with Ricardo Pepi of a guy that can come off the bench and will get a chance here, there, and everywhere. And with 15, 20 minutes to go in a World Cup match where you may need a goal, just throw this guy out there. He will get a chance. Whether he takes advantage of that opportunity or not, that's a different question. But the ball finds him, and you can't teach that. That's instinct. This is not the sort of thing that you put in a video and people can just learn it. No, no. he has a tendency of being able to get on the end of things That useful for a national team and that useful for a team that may need to score that important goal and maybe the difference between advancing or not Ricardo Pepe, I think, can provide that for you. So is Balogun and then Pepe directly coming off the bench for you? Where does that leave a Haji? No, no, I think the performances of Haji Wright have catapulted him above Ricardo Pepe. Oh. But not necessarily in the same role. Okay. I'm saying Pepe comes off the bench regardless and can score that big goal for you. If something were to happen to Balogun, then I don't think you start Ricardo Pepe. I think you start Haji Wright. You see what I'm saying? I mean, this is not musical chairs here that because one gets up, the other one can sit down. It's more of what I think the role of one player will be over the other. I think that Cardo Pepe has, and he's not going to enjoy me saying this, but has this super sub thing about him. Nobody wants to be that. But if you got it, you got it, bro. And if that means that you're going to score a big goal in the World Cup, hey, so be it. There are worse things in the world. had you right, I think you start him if Balogun is not available for whatever the reason is, because I think he can withstand, it's a big size, he can withstand some of the physicality for the first 60, 70 minutes or so. You see how the game goes. He's a big body that can maybe get on the end of something as it pertains to a set piece or whatever the case. He can run at defenders. He's just a handful. It's annoying to play against a guy like this because he's rangy and what have you. And so now you bring Ricardo Pepe off the bench, and he will find a chance. Now, I am very far from Pochettino. I'm very far from the national team. I feel like we just solved the number nine debate that we've been having for years now. Just call me. Call me. Hey, Mauricio, call me. It's almost as if that was Ale's area. Llámame y tranquilo, y hablamos. No problem. Oh, look at that. Nobody has to know. I think we really just solved it. Brilliant. That's what I'm here for. You won Ale Moreno. Hope you get an additional 10%. That's why you're essential. All right, well, at the weekend, Ale Moreno had to double, triple shift. We were here early for Bundesliga, and then Ale was watching this match closely. Atlético de Madrid up against Espanyol, and Johnny Cardoso played a full 90 minutes in what was a 4-2 win over the Catalan club in La Liga this Saturday. So, Atleti have been doing a lot wrong, too, but a lot right. And especially in this game, Ale, you watched it closely. A full 90 for Johnny Cardoso is not something we have seen in a while. Was this his best outing so far, and what did you notice? Well, I think what was important for Johnny Cardoso is that he makes it through 90 minutes. No! No injuries, no concerns, no stress, no... The best way I could describe his performance was uneventful, professional, mature. Nothing about it was like, oh, no, here we go again. You didn't have that kind of reaction with him. And he was the closest in this match, the closest he has been with Atlético Madrid to being the player that he was with Betis. And the player that he was with Betis not only was a guy that could complete passes, but also a guy that would go and win challenges, that would command a certain presence in the midfield, that would be box-to-box and would have a presence both in the defensive half and the attacking half. And you saw it in the heat map. He was all over the place, covering a whole lot of grounds. And when you find Johnny Cardoso covering a lot of ground and being a presence, sort of a box-to-box player and winning challenges and completing passes, you're getting close to his best. I don't think he's a tempo setter. I don't think he's a guy that is just going to complete passes and really put the foot on the ball, and he's the one that's going to distribute play. He's a guy that wants to be on the move, wants to get involved in a challenge, wants to get involved in joining in the attack if need be, wants to be in the defensive third as well if that's what the game calls for. I think this was as consistent as performance as we have seen from Johnny Cardoso, and they needed it. Atletico Madrid needed it because they needed consistency from somewhere. This team has been so up and down and up and down and up and down and down and up and up. It's difficult to figure out what this team is going to be. Just like it's been difficult to figure out what Johnny Cardoso can be for Atletico Madrid, but he gave us, I think, a glimpse of if he's able to reproduce performances like this, then you gain the trust of Diego Simeone and in gaining the trust of Diego Simeone, you will find more consistent opportunities. All right. Well, that's all the good stuff. I suppose the positive, and we know Ale is very positive, a beacon of positivity. All right. Well, let me see how positive you're going to be about this one now because Christian Pulisic, ooh. Well, he played just over an hour in AC Milan's 1-0 loss to Parma at home. Still no goal contributions for the American. That means no goal contributions now in eight games, Ale. So the drought continues. And you know I like to be dramatic. So calm or alarm? Yeah, I wouldn't be alarmed. I'm seeing a player with a lack of confidence. And that comes from the fact that you're not impacting the game in the manner in which you should. I don't think it's time to be alarmed just yet. But it is noticeable that he got himself in good positions. And I think that's encouraging. You get yourself in good positions. The execution wasn't quite there. And that's where the confidence level, I believe, is where Christian Pulisic is missing out. I am not seeing the same sort of bubbly, excitable kind of change of pace that we saw from him early on in the season. I am not seeing the same enjoyment. And nor should you, for that matter. You're missing chances. you're not playing well, you know you're not having an impact, there have been some injury concerns as well, you kind of go, oh no, I've seen this picture before and I don't like it. But the only person that can change this is Christian Pulisic himself. And what you have to trust is that if you continue to get yourself in good positions, eventually one of these shots is going to drop for you. Like I said, the one that is coming to the top of the penalty box or the penalty spot is one that has to be not only on target, but it's one that should be in the back of the net. And he hits it straight into the ground. And I'm trying to put myself as a striker in that sort of position. I'm trying to think as to what the thought process is. And because you've already missed a couple of chances, because you haven't had the impact you've had before, now you're trying to make sure that you put it on target. You're trying to be very sort of careful and instead of just letting it go. Yeah. And trusting that your skill set is good enough that if you just let it go, if instinctively you're not thinking about it, if you just allow your natural talent to take over, this ball is going to go in the back of the net. But if you haven't done it for a while, then of course you're going to think about it. I mean, speaking of, it has been a bit of a while because we kind of saw this little decline, And at least in form since that friendly against Australia where they were just absolutely bullying him on the park. He had to come off. Then Chris Richards stepped in, had to galvanize the team again to say, hey, you can't just be picking on our Christian Pulisic. He's our Messi. Yes, I did make that comparison. Not exactly that. But a player of Christian Pulisic's quality. Is it just one goal, one assist that now changes it all? But that's what I would hope, that he has enough equity in his mind that one goal contribution, one shot on target that actually goes into the back of the net or one big play that ends up being a big goal for Milan that wins the game for them, that then you begin to tap into that equity and say, yeah, that's who I am. And I think earlier in his career, and I'm not talking about the time at Dortmund, I'm talking more like in the Chelsea days, he must have felt like, you know, you go into one of the stretches, you don't know when you're going to see the field again. I think he has enough or has done enough with Milan that even if he's going through this sort of droughts, if you will, that he's going to get a chance. Because they depend on him doing a lot of good things in the final third. and they depend on him being a difference maker. So the chances will come. The opportunities will come. And you just have to trust that you have it in you. You've done it before. And it's not, it wasn't 10 years ago. It was just a couple months in which you were hacked. Yeah. And nobody in Milan could have loved Christian Pulisic more than they did at that time. That love hasn't disappeared, you know, but they need a little reminder. And that's when I think he can help himself with a thorough performance that rewards him for all the work that he's putting in. And then in rewarding himself, not only with a performance or with a goal and a goal contribution, I think will go a long way. All right. So no. I mean, I'm not alarmed just yet. I was going to say, you're very calm. Well, that's usually what I am. He's very calm. Calmness. Beacon of positivity. I'm glad we ended that on a positive. Well, I'm trying to be. You're trying. You're trying to. You've started, even, we started the show, it's a time to panic with Inter Miami, what is this and that and the other. I mean, every conversation you've tried to take me to a negative place, and I'm not just not going to go there. I love that for you. I love that. Ale, we grew up watching novelas. We have to be dramatic. Come on. You're bringing it today. Speaking of novelas, some of the best novelas come from Mexico. And guess who else comes from Mexico as we run it back? Raul Jimenez doing what he does best, baby. And that is putting the ball in the back of the net with a little baile after. Now, this time he scored a brace for Fulham away to Sunderland, which is no easy place to go. And that brace included, you know what, Ale, a penalty. Yeah, so what are we, 13 for 13 now? Is that what that is? Can somebody put the stat up? Because we're going to get there. Is it 13 for 13? Is it 13 for 13? It is for me. Ah! See, nobody knows Raul Jimenez's penalty kicks in the Premier League like I do. Like you do. Football Americas. Oh, my days. Hashtag football America. Hashtag football. There we go, Alec. Hey! Look at that. Look at that. I love how he doesn't just lean to one side, Alec. Well. Like you did. You know what it tells me is. What? But he's able to do something that it takes a lot of calmness to be able to do, which is to stare at the goalkeeper. And that's the technique. It's all in the eyes. He does the hippity hub, you know, hesitation sort of thing. And every time that I see that done as well as he does it, I say, look, more power to you. I would never have tried to do that as a player. and he's able to do it in a way that he just stares into the souls of the goalkeepers. They go left or right and he'll go the opposite way and that's why we find ourselves with this sort of spread of direction in terms of where he takes his penalties because he's just waiting for the goalkeeper to move. But whatever you're doing, Raul, continue to do it Because perfection is just about as good as it gets. Exactly. Oh, my days. We love us some Raul Jimenez. All right, well, Raul will be in action for Fulham on the fifth round of the FA Cup. All these games are on ESPN+. In just about two Sundays from now, Fulham will be hosting Southampton. This league is hard. There are good players. There's beef. F***ing hell is that? It is the greatest league of chaos in football. You think I helped build this to leave now? I want to win a championship. You need to be very hungry to score. I'm serious. I'm walking in. It's do or die. You don't want to die. All right, well, make sure to tune in to the next edition of Football W coming your way on Tuesday with some big-name guests joining the show and joining the likes of Christine Alexander and Ali Krieger. Look at that. The Barbara Banda, Olivia Moultrie, and Riley Tiernan will be all on 8.30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+. All right. Well, that's it for this very positive edition of Football Americas. Make sure to join us as well on Thursday. We'll be looking back at what will be some tasty Champions League action. Are the people that are supposed to be here, are they going to be here? No, Ale, we will be here. We are essential. We are essential. Plus. I don't think I'll be here. You're not here on Thursday? I am not. Who's on on Thursday? Are we both on? No, it's not me. We'll find out. You know what? Let's leave it as a surprise. Okay. Let's give it a surprise. Hey, and a reminder, it's February, so calm down. It's February, so still a lot of meaningful things to talk about and storylines to read into right here on Football Americas. Thank you so much for hanging with us today, everyone, and we will see you again on Thursday. Me