Was it right place, right time for Messi?

Yeah.

I, I agree.

I mean, it's a little, little odd playing Benin.

I mean, that's not exactly one of the, one of the countries that kind of rolls off your tongue as like, let's celebrate this, uh, you know, kind of what I would call like a super icon, right? I mean, because I think there's been like four or five or, uh, look, I can only name four.

When you first you think of Pele.

Second you think of Maradona, who obviously Messi was being held up against for so long from the Argentinians.

But now you look at how they handled yesterday, that surely was impressive.

Is the goalkeeper position a big worry for Mauricio Pochettino at the moment?

Well, definitely.

Uh, I, I think it has been for a while, and I think we've talked about this a lot.

We've, we're looking at players that, um, first of all, we're, we're not seeing those performances where you're like, "Okay, that's keeping us in the match.

That's a save at a key point that's making a difference." And then we're also seeing mistakes, and, and that's a, a, a tricky part of, uh, of goalkeeping.

You, you know, what I really felt, and, and even take this goal out of the equation, but it was, it was part of it, I really wanna make some adjustments to, to Brady's starting position.

He's starting in an awkward position, and obviously Chile recognized this.

So I think there was a bigger core that I would've loved to seen-

Is the goalkeeper position a big worry for Mauricio Pochettino at the moment?

Well, definitely.

Uh, I, I think it has been for a while, and I think we've talked about this a lot.

We've, we're looking at players that, um, first of all, we're, we're not seeing those performances where you're like, "Okay, that's keeping us in the match.

That's a save at a key point that's making a difference." And then we're also seeing mistakes, and, and that's a, a, a tricky part of, uh, of goalkeeping.

You, you know, what I really felt, and, and even take this goal out of the equation, but it was, it was part of it, I really wanna make some adjustments to, to Brady's starting position.

He's starting in an awkward position, and obviously Chile recognized this.

... um, on the US-Mexico game on the weekend, but are we seeing now with Mauricio Pochettino the way he wants the start of the new cycle to be, bringing in younger players, mixing it with, um, established, experienced players, that maybe that will put some kind, even if it's just a little pressure, on those who didn't make this roster, but there are players that we are used to see constantly with the US Men's National Team?

Should he really be upset that he wasn't playing? Is there some equity that goes with Christian Pulisic here that he deserves?

Well, there, there is some equity, but we also know that he missed more or less all of pre-season recovering from, from the injury in the World Cup.

And, and then when a team starts well, there's no reason for a manager to change.

Why, why would you take out a player that's played well to help you get results? So, what happens? It's the first opportunity when the team needs, uh, a kick in the backside at halftime.

Christian comes on, makes a difference.

And I think if Christian stays fit and keeps pushing, then it'll, it'll be sooner rather than later that he gets his starting spot back.

But I want a, a, a fit Christian Pulisic, frustrated and hungry and fighting, and then what I want is a starting Christian Pulisic putting on numbers.

Do you call him in for these next FIFA fixture games?

So what did you make of their comments, Casey, and how Mauricio Pochettino handled them?

I re-watched the comments just to make sure I got it right, and it really just kind of reminded me of a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old saying things without they've really learned how to speak with the nuance to the press, which also then gets translated to what you hope will be your teammates on the national team.

And, and so yeah, I, I kind of just shrugged it off.

I could've easily seen myself say the same things when I was 16 or 19.

So I kind of laughed about that a little bit.

But there were some other things, particularly in Sullivan's, uh, interview with Alexi that, that, that worried me a lot more than those comments.

It was basically, "Oh, this new coach lets me do whatever I want, and sometimes I just come back and get the ball 'cause I need my touches and I need this and I need that." And I was just kind like, ooh.

... is there an opening for Ricardo Pepi to kind of make a push and leapfrog him into being that number one, number nine for Poch?

What goes, what goes through your mind? So I'm playing well,

you know, the team's playing well, it's a big deal in Seattle.

Everything's good.

I feel well, I feel well physically, I feel well mentally, but I'd had a little bit, I mean, not nothing that obviously took me out of a game or practice or anything like that, but I had this little niggling hip problem.

And I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something serious, right? That it wasn't just that I was going to spend the entirety of my 20th season as a pro on the treatment table.

And so I said, let me, I more or less agreed my contract with the Seattle to extend another year with the Sounders.

But I said, hey, let's get this checked out real quick.

Why go public now, Casey? What do you want people to know or take from your story?

Uh, I wanna get your thoughts on, on US soccer and Mauricio Pochettino extending their professional relationship.

Well, I mean, we talked about it before the tournament, uh, you know, so ad nauseam, that it was basically, you've, you've three-x'd, four-x'd the national team's salary.

Did they get the ROI? Did they get the return on investment? Uh, looked terrible in preparation, didn't win Gold Cups.

Didn't, didn't compete in any tournaments, um, of, of, of any note.

Um, yes, they, they beat the three teams they should've beat, and lost against the two teams they probably should've lost against.

I'm, I'm kinda questioning where you're looking at this and going, "Yes, we need four more years of this at a blown-out salary for US soccer's rates." So, so for me, I like the continuity, I like Mauricio Pochettino, I kinda like...

Look, what did I really like? In the 20 months of Mauricio Pochettino, I liked the first half against Paraguay.

Casey, what about for you?

But it does feel like they're in third gear, which is probably a, a scary thought for the other teams.

Well, I think we keep expecting that next gear to come, and, and I, I didn't really expect that much against Portugal, to be honest.

I thought, you know, big regional rival with obviously a long history against the two.

I always thought that that was just gonna be a scrappy match.

You know, whoever came out of it was gonna be better for it, and that there's gonna be better football to be played.

And I think we saw that with Belgium.

Belgium, same.

We wanna hear from you Alex first, then I'll get him in.

What did you think of what he had to say?

Yeah, I mean, I, I, I still think sometimes he, he, he's unable to articulate in English a little bit maybe, uh, smoother.

I think he...

It, it always seems to be a little combative when he's not happy with what he's being asked.

But I think if you've, if you've followed this team under Pochettino, Pochettino treats every game that doesn't particularly matter as a complete friendly.

We, we, we saw that for 20 months, and because of that, we had no idea what was gonna happen in that first match against Paraguay because we saw zero consistency throughout that 20-month time where he said, "You know what? I have a 20-month preseason, and I'm gonna take every match to try to figure out every permutation, every player in every position, every player who's possibly could be in this squad." And it only mattered in that very first World Cup match.

Well, they had an absolute fantastic first half.

Fact is, sentiment is, whatever we're looking at when it comes to numbers and stats and whether they're right or wrong, the US Men's National Team have not fared well against European opposition in World Cup competition.

[clears throat]

But no, it was, it was a situation where you had, probably after the first minute or two, Paraguay had just a little bit of a chance, uh, a tight cross from the end line, and then after that, it was absolute total domination from the remainder of that first half from the US.

And look, I think if they were just even a, a tiny bit more clinical in the final third, it could've been four or five.

I mean, that's how good that first half was.

They absolutely pinned Paraguay in their half.

Christian Pulisic was, was, was tremendous.

Flo got the two goals, and, and it really was, it was, it was one of the most dominating halves the US have had.

Is this something that's showing on the international stage here, Casey?

This is the big day for Mauricio Pochettino's men.

Yeah, it really has been, and it, it's one of those situations where you know that, you know, once you have been awarded the tournament, then it's this preparation.

But it's this preparation that is basically four years of pre-season, and, and you're playing all these friendlies and you're trying to get a, a, a little bit of an edge into the team knowing that, that it's, it's so huge to be able to host this tournament and to play these matches in front of your own crowd.

But you don't have any games that really matter, and so now finally, after all the friendlies, after all the, uh, changes in formation, changes in player personnel, that we finally get to see this US team, you know, play the match that actually matters.

And, and so I think everybody just can't wait to just get this first game underway and, and, and to finally get this thing kicked off for the US because it is, it's a little bit odd.

I mean, I was, you know, I was playing in Germany when Germany were hosting the World Cup, and it's just, there was so much anticipation.

The thing with America is we have so many other things going on all the time, so everyone's talking about the NBA finals, talking about hockey, you know, and obviously from Seattle, talk- talking about the Seahawks winning the Super Bowl.

Right

Yeah, that's definitely the hope, isn't it, Casey? Because that's become the biggest story from the US perspective at the end of this game.

Yeah, I mean, it's a big story, but I think the other story is over these last two friendlies, I think we're starting to see a, a, a US team that we were hoping to see, uh, come into a World Cup.

Well, look, we knew these last two years were two years of, of exhibition matches, two years of preseason, of trying to figure out how to get the team ready for that first match in six days, and I think we've seen some really good things.

Uh, now, what's that next step? That next step is against a team like Germany, where you had...

spells arguably, you know, better than Germany had against the United States.

How do you then turn that into points? How do you then go from, "Okay, we messed up on a free kick two minutes in.

We got the equalizer.

What stands out to you?

Casey, let's get your reaction to what you saw today from Pochettino's team and your team.

Yeah, I think first and foremost it was a kind of a mixed side.

Uh, I think, yes, I agree with TK that it was a strong starting lineup, but there was also some players that came in, I think in the second half, that we will see start in that first match of the World Cup.

But what I love seeing is there, there'd been some, some criticism with Pulisic in the second half of the season with AC Milan.

He hadn't scored for the US national team in quite a while, and he got into this match instantly, and, and the team got on the front foot very quickly.

And I thought Ricardo Pepi did a great job in, in his contribution as being a striker that, that didn't particularly score.

Because I think sometimes we talk about strikers and you have that one striker in certain teams that if he doesn't score, he doesn't do anything else for you in the team.

... his season with Milan, but it definitely looked like his day today.

What did you make of the response we saw today against Portugal and, of course, as Herc was saying, what, uh, Mauricio Pochettino had to say?

Yeah, I mean, the response was decent.

I mean, I think we expected that.

I mean, Portugal's a, a good side, and we know they didn't have their best performance against Mexico, so we knew they were gonna have a response as well.

But m- I was, I was hoping that I was gonna see two changes or three changes, not six changes.

To Herc's point, who, who knows what this team is? Who knows what this lineup is? Who knows what the formation is? Who knows what players are your...

are the players you can count on because it's always changing.

Casey, what about you in terms of biggest concerns there? Of course, I know in between the sticks that was a concern, but if we put that one aside, what else would you be concerned with?

Has that been the biggest change you've noticed under Pochettino, or what do you think the identity under Poch is now?

Well, it was the biggest change that had to happen because players took their foot off the gas, and that's inexcusable.

I mean, every good team in the world, you should be able to pick the starting 11 because those players are the best players in the squad, they're the best players that are fighting for every- the best players all the way around.

And instead, we had this situation where he had to build competition because the guys that should've been competing weren't.

And that worries me a little bit because, Jeff, I like, I like the idea that we have this big squad, but we do not have a big squad.

We have a group of players that are...

If, if, if we wanna go deep in this tournament, we need our stars to show up and give everything they can and have great tournaments.

Casey, walk us through your 11.

He's got a shoulder.

... for a long time.

Uh, and what he kinda offers you with being able to run in behind and now you're starting to see him come into the squad as well and be able to combine, you know, and then getting the reward for it in the end, which what most...... strikers are judged on is putting the ball in the back of the net.

So I think he's really, you know, coming to the forefront at the right time as well.

You have, you have other guys who've obviously proven, you know, that they can score goals with the team at different times, but you s- you feel that that Balogun is, is in pole position.

Any concerns at all?

Um, I love the way they pressed.

I thought the attitude was brilliant from the start.

Casey, what did you make of the US performance tonight? Obviously, as Herc says, it's a nice victory, but there are some things maybe to point out from a negative perspective as well.

Yeah, but I mean, I, I think when, when you look at the first half an hour, and I was kind of looking at a couple things that I saw in the first match.

Um, and I was thinking, okay, where's that combination play in midfield? Ollie alluded to it.

Um, where I thought Tillman was, was very important in that match, um, to... and then Balogun making runs in behind.

And it was almost like right as I was thinking it in my head, you know, Richards makes the good play then McKennie combines with Roldan, nice weighted pass through a run in behind, and you got the, uh, equalizing goal.

So, so there was moments.

I just don't think it was maybe as consistent, but then how can it be as consistent when you're constantly changing, you're constantly bringing in new players and we, we keep hearing...

Uh, what did you make of the fact that Turner, again, didn't see the field tonight and it was Fries, uh, in goal for the US, Casey?

But you know what?

(laughs)

Yes, they were without some big names like Moises Caicedo, but overall, your thoughts on the performance.

Yeah, I was, I was very pleased with the performance.

I think it...

First and foremost, it started with the effort and the attitude.

I mean, we saw from minute one that they were going to compete against a very good Ecuadorian side.

Yeah, Ecuador started the game strong I thought, and kind of pinned the US in a little bit.

What did you make of his comments there?

I'm a little confused.

I mean, that wasn't the culture that I played under.

Um, you know, we had a ton of players that it was life, it was, it was e- e- every day and yeah, it wasn't just for entertainment.

Um, okay if he feels that there's a group of players like that that are in the squad that aren't, uh, it's not their, their, their life, they're doing it just for fun, uh, that seems a little bit odd.

Um, it just, it just seems like he, he, he still is grasping for something different and it's like, "I want to turn this team into Argentina." Well, you're not going to do that.

You need to find out how this team best plays as this team and again, I, I go back to this, I, I've said it many times, it's like a club team manager is fine, I'll go sign six Argentinians and I'll turn it into that culture.

Mm-hmm.

How much was that a talking point in terms of kind of how they looked at this project, the potential for it? And do you now take this club and start thinking, OK, we want to be USL championship next and we want to be whatever is beyond that, you know, when when USL eventually does go to that that three tier system?

Well, I think if you look at a couple things already, AC Boise is breaking all kinds of USL records.

5,500 reservations for season tickets already.

When they did the logo launch, 4,800 people showed up just for the logo launch.

So this is something I think whenever you talk about pro sports and you launch something new, there has to be kind of a want from the community.

And I think this is... clearly reflected that this is something that Boise's wanted for some time now.

And now that you have a group of people who've really done things the right way, I can't wait to see what happens with the stadium.

The 31-year-old goalie has 52 caps with the U.S., Casey, what does your gut say? Is this the right move for Matt Turner right now with a little bit less than a year to go to the World Cup?

(laughs)

Uh, the u- uh, the USL front office kind of contacted me, congratulating me on joining this team, uh, this ownership group in San Francisco.

And I was like, "Uh, I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you're talking about." (laughs) And, and so then after a long conversation, just some conversations that kept going, I said, "Look." I said, the, uh, you know, uh, "Would I be interested in, in, in, in working with a team and doing some stuff?" And I said, "Well, the only thing that really made sense for me is I've, I've owned a team in the mountains outside of Boise." Uh, oh, sorry.

Owned a, a house outside of, uh, Boise for 20 years.

So I always liked that little geographical connection.

And, and so I got introduced to the ownership group, and it's a, a, a really impressive group of people.

And they invited me to come on board, and, uh, I thought it was a, a fun opportunity.

I wonder within this ownership group, I know you got involved kind of late, how much was that a talking point in terms of kind of how they looked at this project, the potential for it? And do you now take this club and start thinking, "Okay, we wanna be USL Championship next, and we wanna be whatever is beyond that," you know, when, when USL eventually does go to that, that three-tier system?

What did you see from Matt Frese tonight? And maybe just in general throughout the tournament?

I mean, Matt, Matt was fine.

You know, I mean, eh, in, in, even, even in the match today, we were talking about a few different things.

And he wasn't really tested.

I mean, I'm not gonna blame him for goals, by any means.

Um, but there was little things.

Shot from distance, that you gave up a corner, that it was a comfortable shot from distance.

(laughs)

That really wasn't the case tonight, was it?

it?No, he, he, he didn't have a lot to do i- in the match.

He had his moments where he connected well and played little balls through.

But there was only two or three opportunities that I remember where he kinda had an opportunity.

He came in on his left foot the one time and hit a pretty calm shot to the goalkeeper's right.

That was about the one time that I saw Messi maybe could have done better with.

But, uh, you know, in the end, I thought, I thought there has to be a ton of positives for Inter Miami.

Terms and conditions apply.

Kasey, uh, what'd you think of the US performance tonight in the win over Haiti?

Yeah, I thought it was a little bit, uh, stale, to be honest.

I mean, it was, I was expecting a little bit more, particularly after the, um, the early goal.

And I thought maybe they were gonna then kick on, and obviously the, the mistake from, from Matt Frese didn't help.

But there was sections of the match where I just kept thinking, "Where are the dynamic players that we're used to seeing with the United States Men's National Team?" And, and Stewart Holden said something the other day against Saudi Arabia, he said, "There's really nobody on the pitch for the United States who can kinda drop a shoulder and run by somebody." And, and that was evident again today.

There was, there was times when I thought, "Okay, there's possession, and then there's a mistake, and there's give the ball away in an unforced error." But then other times when I thought, "Okay, that opened up nicely.

Here's an opportunity, commit a player, get players forward," and it was back to what we saw in past matches where then they just step on the ball, pass the ball backwards, and for some reason wanna keep possession when Haiti was just gonna give you the ball back anyway.

What do you think about that quarterfinal showdown, Casey? How confident are you in this US team?

What did you see from Mauricio Pochettino tonight? Did you see a clear DNA from the Americans?

Uh, uh, again, I, I don't know how you judge it based on, because what are we looking at? We're looking at a US Men's National Team that's supposed to be playing, you know, against World Cup opponents, against, you know, European opponents, against good South American opponents.

And, and, and, and they've struggled.

So yes, it's a good result.

Yes, it kind of rights the ship, as Janus said, but at the same time, you have to take into account the opposition you're playing against.

And, and, you know, we saw Arson get absolutely destroyed by, uh, Switzerland, and then today never got put under any pressure whatsoever.

So then how do you judge the bounce back based off of the opponent? So I think that's the, the frustrating side of it for me at least, uh, and why I, I thought that it made a lot more sense to try to bring in more of a full squad against the two, uh, friendlies, kind of judge kind of where you are at this point, still being able to bleed in a few players that haven't had a lot of opportunities against a European opposition, and then say, "Okay, some of you other guys that I want to have a look at, you guys go on vacation.

They cannot dictate the plan." Casey, where do you stand? What do you make of this?