Futbol Americas: Messi Doubt + Atleti Stun Barça + Poch to Spurs?

14:34Alejandro Moreno:Yeah, Lizzie, just on that point as well, because as Alex says, I think Messi definitely has a better understanding now of how the season works here. But in terms of the mood and I suppose the whispers around the club, whether it's from the board or the coaching staff as well, do you feel like they almost understand that as well, what Ale is saying? That at the end of the day, yes, we say like Messi's superhuman. He knows his body better than anyone. But he has shown that at 38, he is still a human and there is still a World Cup. And we know exactly what that means to him. So do you feel like they kind of are resigned to the fact that they're going to have to give him some wiggle room to make those decisions, which probably means that he will sit out some of these big games?

15:17Alexis Nunes:It's interesting because Mascherano definitely understands the situation managing Inter-Miami while knowing that Argentina is going to participate in the World Cup and that Messi wants to be the captain for this tournament. But every single time we ask Mascherano and Messi's teammates, for that matter, about whether or not the team is prepared to play without him, the answer is usually the same in that no one wants to play more than Messi does. So it's not so much as how the team can prepare to play without Messi, but how much Messi's willing to let go of these opportunities and not play. And I really, truly emphasize the name competitive animal because that's just how Mascherano and Inter-Miami players label Messi.

16:09Alexis Nunes:But being so competitive, being so enamored, I guess, with the sport that he's played for the majority of his life, no one wants to give that up and watch from the sidelines less than Lionel Messi. So, though prioritizing may come into place, I guess it's a point of saying, like, Messi wants to play all games, and if his body is able to, he will.

16:34Alejandro Moreno:Simple as that. The little man knows.

16:36Alexis Nunes:Well, I don't doubt that he knows. But somebody has to have a bigger picture in mind. Because guess what? If you push him now, you push him in April, May, he's going to push himself in June. Then you get through the summer. Okay, now comes the playoff. You want the tire legs of Lionel Messi going into the playoff if you're Inter-Miami. And all I'm suggesting is that these games right now in April, they're meaningless in Major League Soccer. They're meaningless. We have a playoff structure in Major League Soccer, which allows you, as Inter-Miami did some of this past summer, to have some struggles, to have some issues.

17:14Alexis Nunes:But then they got on a run going into the playoffs and guess who ended up winning the whole thing. And that is the important thing in MLS. Put yourself in a position that when the playoffs are about to start, you're building some momentum and then you can ride this guy all you want. Don't ride him in April. That's meaningless.

17:31Alejandro Moreno:As I say, the race is not for the Swift. It's for he or she who endures to the end. Lizzie Becherrano, my girl, thank you so very much for joining us. we will catch up with you another time for more philosophical quotes. Yeah. Thank you. Always an honor. That took you back. I've got a lot, including the odds to win the 2026 MLS Cup. No surprise. Inter-Miami healthy favorites in this one.

17:59Alexis Nunes:I'm shocked.

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19:59Alejandro Moreno:All right, let's get to it. Copa del Rey semifinal action. It was on ESPN. And let me tell you this game. Wow. Atleti up against Barcelona. Seven minutes. Oh, my days. A shakastrophic moment that eventually leads to a goal.

20:17Alexis Nunes:You know what's rough is that this is going to go as a non-goal by Eddie Garcia. But it's John Garcia who has a shakastrophic, deluxe, royal, wheat cheese sort of moment. goes under his foot. He can't quite make it back in time. Eventually, Lugman puts it into the back of the net, but that ball was already in. 1-0 Atletico Madrid.

20:38Alejandro Moreno:I had to message Xhaka, who was already on his way, I think, if he saw that Xhaka-strophic moment. 14 minutes in now, though. It was all Atleti, really, in this point. I think the first half was really flattering to Barcelona when you looked at the stats, but shortly after that, they make it 2-0, and it's Antoine Griezmann. My boy, Griezmann.

20:56Alexis Nunes:It's a beautiful sequence from Atlético Madrid, but it's a slow-developing counterattack opportunity. And how long do Barcelona players take to get back? And even when they get back behind the ball, nobody's picking up. Nobody's staying with runners. To call this defending would be an insult to defending. And it is a good finish from Antoine Griezmann, who finds that far post, classy finish at that 2-0.

21:19Alejandro Moreno:Cholo Semeone absolutely pumped up for this one. 23rd minute Nahuel Molina cuts it back to Julian Alvarez, who has been without a goal since December, but his shots cleared off the line here by Jules Koundé.

21:32Alexis Nunes:He was actually going wide. What a missed opportunity that was, but one of the many chances that Atletico Madrid would have.

21:40Alejandro Moreno:One of the many chances indeed, and here's another chance on their new signing, Adam Olamalukman, he puts them 3-0 up.

21:48Alexis Nunes:Counter-attack opportunity, run from deep, that high line being exposed time and time again vision from julian alvarez and a finish from look man who's been hot since joining atletico madrid three nothing i mama hi mama this is all still in

22:02Alejandro Moreno:the first half guys look at cholo he almost ran the length of the pitch to celebrate that one and shortly after that he would have a lot more to celebrate because his countryman like we said julian alvarez had been without a goal since december 9th and he finally gets that goal relief for him, relief for Cholo and Atleti 4-0 up.

22:22Alexis Nunes:Highline exposed once again. Now Luckman finds Julian Alvarez, takes a good first touch forward, laces through the ball, no chance for John Garcia, 4-0.

22:32Alejandro Moreno:Now here's some silly time. We were expecting Barcelona, of course, to come back with a vengeance. They did. They thought they found the back of the net here as the ball ricocheted after Lewandowski to Kubarczy. But in the end, was there an offside? Well, we would go to VAR for what felt like a century.

22:49Alexis Nunes:And I think the decision that VAR has to make is whether it is a new face of play or not. It comes off of Lewandowski on to cover. See, they think it's outside. They get involved. And then Eddie Garcia gets involved and gets in trouble. Yeah, that'll do it. Yeah, that'll do it. As Baena is getting around Eddie Garcia. They go to VAR. They check it. They say, Eric, you gone, son. He gone.

23:16Alejandro Moreno:Oh, look at that. reading each other's mind. All right, here are the match stats as Atletico de Madrid come out. Big winners in this one. But remember, this is just the first leg. It is not over yet. They do still have to go to the Camp Nou, but this is going to be a mountain to climb for Hansi Flixmen indeed. All right, Ale. Wow, like I said, give me one word to describe that first leg.

23:43Alexis Nunes:From the perspective of Barcelona? Actually, I can give you a word that applies to both. From the perspective of Barcelona, MAMI! From the perspective of Atletico Madrid, MAMI!

23:54Alejandro Moreno:Hey! Oh, yeah. It's all about perspective. Look. I don't think any of us expected that.

23:59Alexis Nunes:No, no, no, no. Now, we have discussed time and time again, and it actually gets old to discuss it time and time again, but we only talk about it because we have to. This high line from Barcelona. Today, this was a high line from the darkest corners of hell. I mean, it was awful. No pressure on the ball. And then, stubbornly, they continue to produce this high line that opens up natural space. And I mean space everywhere for Atletico Madrid. And they keep doing the same thing over and over and over and over again. And Atletico Madrid with just a simple give and go. and they're through. A simple ball all over the top and they're through.

24:43Alexis Nunes:Third man running and they're through. Counter attack and they're through. Just a little combination and they're through. They're just through. They were through. They were through everywhere. I probably could have scored. You probably could have scored. Well, I know one of those things is true. Not both of them. Not both of them. The point being is that if you have no pressure on the ball, you cannot continue to play this way. It's suicidal. It's crazy talk. It really is crazy talk. And yet they continue to do it.

25:15Alejandro Moreno:Don't you expect the senior players to step in at some point, especially at halftime? You're 4-0 down to Atleti. You're making Atleti look like they're playing the type of high-press football that you are known for, scoring golazos every second. At some point, doesn't the senior players look at the gaffer and just say, Coach, let's just go back to good old school defending?

25:34Alexis Nunes:Well, yes, but how do you do that when your manager is the one saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Higher. But coach, right here, we're comfortable here. We got the ball in front of us. We're all right. We're seeing where the runners are coming. Higher. No, but hey, hey, hey, hey, coach. Mister. That's how they call the coaches in Spain. Mister.

25:57Alexis Nunes:We don't know what we're doing. We don't know what we're doing. And yet he continues to say, higher. And he will tell you, Hansi Flick will tell you, that it's not the high line that is a problem. That it's no pressure on the ball. And while I agree with that, theoretically, yes, that makes sense. Once you recognize you have no pressure on the ball, these defenders have to have the flexibility of thought to say, hey, let's give ourselves a little bit more space. It cannot be that Lukman is first to the ball all the time, that Giuliano Simeone is first to the ball all the time, that Griezmann, who cannot run away from anybody at this point in his career, he's first to the ball all the time, that Julian Alvarez is first to the ball all the time, and that every single situation and every single sequence is Barcelona chasing back.

26:39Alexis Nunes:That tells you that your starting position is all wrong to begin with. It was 4-0, and it's no exaggeration that it could have been. No exaggeration could have been 8-0 at halftime. That's how many chances Atletico Madrid were creating, and had Julian Alvarez had a better night finishing, and Antoine Griezmann, who actually scored a goal as well, if he had had a better night at finishing, he could have scored a hat-trick. Julian Alvarez could have scored a hat trick. It was open all over the place. And to your point, no adjustment, which tells me this is just crazy. It's as a former player, to see it happening regularly over the course of a match and no adjustment made, it is crazy talk.

27:23Alexis Nunes:It is really something that is hard to understand and hard to fathom that it happens at this high of a level.

27:29Alejandro Moreno:And I mean, we've been talking about this since last season, not even this season. So the fact that it's continuing is just absolutely mind-blowing for Hansi Flixman. We're going to talk about some individual performances.

27:38Alexis Nunes:I just want to say very quickly, Diego Simone in his press conference addressed the high line and said in a very sort of kind of pain respect to Barcelona, but the tone of it, if you know things about tone, and my wife tells me that I have an issue with tone, If you know anything about tone, his tone was that, yeah, I really admire what Hansi Flick and Barcelona and their willingness to go and press the ball and suffocating with their pressure. And it's almost as if he knew, man, if we are able to force a turnover and we play that first ball forward, we are going to kill this team. And they did that and more.

28:22Alejandro Moreno:They did that and more indeed. We're going to talk about some individual performances, especially Julian Alvarez, in just a bit. But Ale, I just want to pick your brain on that disallowed goal for Barcelona and just the fact that VAR took not one, not two, not three, not even four, not even five, but it was about six, seven, or eight minutes to make the call. I mean, this is getting silly season now. And yes, we can say it was the right call because an offside is an offside, but I feel like a couple of years ago, this goal would have stood.

28:51Alexis Nunes:Maybe, but actually, when you know, you know. And obviously, you were busy at the Super Bowl. You would not have seen the match Barcelona against Mallorca this past weekend. Oh, no. In which Barcelona, they benefited from a very similar decision. In that case, it went for them. And the decision was as to whether the defender from Mallorca, David Lopez, is in him playing the ball in the manner in which he did, did that start a new phase of play? It then fell to Dani Olmo, who without knowing exactly what he was doing, the ball hits off of his feet and goes to Lewandowski. Lewandowski ends up scoring, and Lewandowski had been able to reestablish himself in an onside position.

29:35We spin it forward to today, and that was the decision to be made.

29:39Alexis Nunes:Is there a new phase of play by the touch by Lewandowski? So what helped them against Mallorca hurt them today against Atletico Madrid. You can't have it both ways if you're Barcelona. You cannot be happy about the decision being made for you in Mallorca and then be unhappy about the decision made against you today. We are all unhappy with this decision taking eight minutes. That should not happen. And if we have to have a system that takes this long to get to a decision, maybe we ought to consider that perhaps this is not the play that we should be checking. It should be, to your point, it should be one that should have stood.

30:22Alexis Nunes:Look, in the end, what do players and managers want? That the right decision is made. Apparently, the right decision was made here. And if that's the case, I think we can all move forward. But we would like it for it to be quicker.

30:34Alejandro Moreno:Right. Well, like I said, Julian Alvarez, the Argentine, was amongst the goal scorers today. Let's hear what he had to say after the game.

30:42Alexis Nunes:Yes, it was a pretty good match. We did very well, especially during the first time. We had many situations and we managed to take advantage. It was a good race, but I was always working to improve, to grow, always working calm. I think it was the best way to improve and to get ahead. Today we got the goal, it was a great game, and I hope to continue on this path. We know the importance that it has in the final of the Cup of the Rey. We want to be in the final, we want to win this Cup. We did a first game with our people in our field. We said before the game we had to use all that energy to favor.

31:23Alexis Nunes:We did it to take advantage of now. We still need to do a great game. But we have to do a great game there. Obviously, I'm happy with the people. I'm happy with the people. I'm something that I needed a little bit of love. I'm a little bit of love with the arc. Although I felt a little better from the game, the goal is always for the frontiers. After many games, it's a sum of confidence. So, from now on, we hope that there will be a lot more.

32:07Alejandro Moreno:longest drought of his career because we know how much of a top player he has been for Cholo Simeone Ale. So my question is now is as a striker is this just now the beginning of the gates are open the goals will start flowing?

32:23Alexis Nunes:Well I think I speak with some authority as it pertains to a striker that had a long career long goal drought.

32:33Alejandro Moreno:I was gonna ask you know a thing or two about a drought or two. However.

32:39Alexis Nunes:It makes you stronger. It builds character. It's one thing if I say it, but you don't have to double down.

32:46Alejandro Moreno:I don't have to double down.

32:47Alexis Nunes:All right. Scoring drought. Okay. Look, all I would say is what I appreciate from Julian Alvarez is that even though he wasn't scoring goals, the work rate never stopped. The attitude never stopped. And I think that's something that Diego Simeone also appreciates. Eventually, the goals were going to come back. And so, to your point, yeah, you have to imagine that in him scoring the goal that he did today, which the opportunity he took today, the goal that he scored today, was far more difficult than the one that he missed that was going wide and hit off Jules Conde and went out of bounds. It's a goal of quality.

33:26Alexis Nunes:It's a goal of confidence. It's a goal that you're thinking, man, all right, look at Julián Alvarez. In him taking the goal with the confidence that he took today, you would never have thought that he was going through a goal drought. Yeah. And particularly after you missed the chance that he just did. Again, he takes this with so much confidence. First touch forward, laces through the ball. There wasn't ever a doubt or I'm just going to massage this or I'm just going to make sure that it goes on target. No, at this point, I'm getting my legs behind and my laces behind and my whole body into it, and he scores a great goal.

34:05So it tells me that I think the last answer that he had there,

34:10Alexis Nunes:he said something about he was feeling a little bit better. And I think that's how it works with strikers. Even though you're not scoring the goals, you start feeling a whole lot better about your play, your general play. You start feeling better about yourself in training. You're seeing the ball going into the back of the net. with a lot more consistency in training. And then you have to tell yourself and convince yourself that it's only a matter of time. But what I like about it is he missed an earlier chance, an easier chance, and yet that didn't affect his play. Then the next time the ball came to him, he was able to find Lukman for the assist.

34:45Alexis Nunes:Again, his general play not affected by missing a chance. And then the next sequence in the attack, he scores his goal. Not affected by missing a chance. it tells you about the maturity and the growth of a player. And Julian Alvarez, in my estimation, when I evaluate Atletico Madrid, he is their best player, their elite player. They have a bunch of guys that are really good players, but he is the one that can take them to a different level.

35:09Alejandro Moreno:I mean, Lord knows he's already competed football in all the trophies he's won. But as he said, they do. Atleti do want to win this trophy, Ale. And now looking at Atleti since January and seeing, of course, the addition of Adam Ola-Lukman as well, seeing how they played today, how they are able to rack up the goals too, and especially because there were so many rumors in January linking Julian Alvarez with a move elsewhere, maybe in a system like Barcelona that probably would aid his goal scoring a bit better. Do you feel like now with the way Atleti is going, we will probably see more goals coming from him?

35:40Alejandro Moreno:Will it be suited more to him?

35:42Alexis Nunes:I think Julian Alvarez is, as I just mentioned, an elite level sort of player.

35:47Alejandro Moreno:But is Atleti elite enough for him right now with the way they're going? because we know how Cholo can revert to his Cholo ways.

35:53Alexis Nunes:I don't know if I saw the same things that you saw, but they just smashed, destroyed, killed Barcelona. They took Barcelona.

36:02Alejandro Moreno:But we know Atleti. It's a backside whooping today. If you look at their season so far, it's not been.

36:06Alexis Nunes:But my point is that there is potential.

36:09Alejandro Moreno:Yeah.

36:10Alexis Nunes:When they do something like what they did today, and it's not the first time that they've done this. They did the same thing to Real Madrid earlier in La Liga. So they have it in them. My question.

36:21Alejandro Moreno:We want to see consistently.

36:24Alexis Nunes:I'm a beacon of positivity.

36:26Alejandro Moreno:A World Cup's coming.

36:28Alexis Nunes:We want to see. I'm a beacon of positivity. All I know is that Julian Alvarez will be ready to play in the World Cup. If this is what we're talking about, which is four months from now, mind you, as I reminded our producer earlier today, four months from now. A lot can happen in four months. and regardless if you want to evaluate Julian Alvarez look at the work rate while he wasn't scoring goals and it tells you everything that you need to know about the player. That he's just not motivated by the goals, he's motivated by how can I help the team win matches and that's why Simeone loves him. It's because he knows that this guy is going to show up and play.

37:09Alexis Nunes:Now sometimes it's going to work out, sometimes it isn't but Julian Alvarez is a guy that I think makes this team substantially better. And today was a good example of that.

37:19Alejandro Moreno:All right, we'll leave that beacon of positivity. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Taro Martinez may be looking and being like, hmm.

37:25Alexis Nunes:No.

37:25Alejandro Moreno:How many goals do I have in comparison? Look, right.

37:29Alexis Nunes:If you're Escaloni, it's a good problem to have. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Do I play this guy or do I play that guy? I know Messi's going to play.

37:35Alejandro Moreno:He's going to play our boy La Raña. Loved him. Loved him. He always gives ESPN great interviews. So, Julian, we just want to see you scoring more.

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39:13Alejandro Moreno:All right. Well, this one did not have as many goals in the Basque Derby, but it still is always a brilliant affair when Real Sociedad take on Athletic Club de Bilbao here at San Mames for the first leg of their semifinals in the Copa del Rey. 46 minutes. Ollar Zaval taking the shot, but it's blocked by the goalkeeper, Alex Padilla.

39:34Alexis Nunes:Well, it's a double save. The first one was a good save, but the second one, to be able to save it laying on the ground, usually very difficult to do, he did very well.

39:43Alejandro Moreno:He did very well indeed there. 62nd winning, Juarez chips the goalie there. And the ball goes right into the net. Sociedad go 1-0 up.

39:53Alexis Nunes:That's tapping from my kind of range.

39:55Alejandro Moreno:That's Ale's range. All right, let's hear from Matarazzo after the game.

39:59Alexis Nunes:Very positive. boys perform very well today in all phases of the game offensively created many chances through different phases through transition through our build-up play played good football defended well both in the high price and also on the low block did not concede many many high quality chances so happy about the performance and if you think about the way we came out in the second half which has been an issue is something also we talked about that we want to when we We begin the game, we begin the second half, we want a certain intensity and to gain momentum. And we did that today. The way we came into the second half was fantastic.

40:38Alexis Nunes:So I'm happy about the game. We should have scored maybe one more goal, but that's okay. We take this advantage into the home game and hopefully continue on to the final. Yes, yes, which is important. It's important to play with fire and aggression when you're against the ball, but you need a certain calm and composure, serenidad, when you have possession, in order to create, to be fluid in your movements. And we had it today. We had cojones. Today we had, I don't know if we can say that on camera, I don't know, but I would just say it. We played very brave today, and that's what you need. And the stadium was quiet.

41:21Alexis Nunes:We kept them quiet. We did not let them have a big impact on the game today because we played a very controlled and good football today. Of course, of course, the job's not over. We know we have this is the first half. We have another 90 minutes to play and we play at home in Anoeta. And we look forward to the match and we look forward to another great performance from our squad. And with a performance like we had today, then with a good chance of moving on to the final.

41:48Alejandro Moreno:Pellegrino Matarazzo there, and it's been good going in 2026 for the American manager of Real Sociedad. Just have a look at that record so far since January 4th. In all competitions, he's racked up six wins and three draws. No losses, so he's still the only unbeaten team in La Liga. So you heard from him, though, there, Ale. He did say that the job is not done, but can he finish it? It's just one goal, but they take that advantage back home. But in derbies, you really never know.

42:16Alexis Nunes:The important thing about what Matarazzo has done since coming to Real Sociedad is that he has given this team a certain attitude and a certain identity as to how they're going to go about playing the game.

42:33Alejandro Moreno:He's given them what he just mentioned there.

42:34Alexis Nunes:Well, yes, but the you-know-what.

42:38Alejandro Moreno:Uh-huh.

42:39Alexis Nunes:Uh-huh. All of it. it's not just about tackling somebody or winning a duel or a 50-50 challenge. And I think he is far more concerned about, yeah, we bring that energy, we bring that intensity, we bring that fire. But I think what he's referring to is the courage to play, to put the ball down and play to a point to where you control the match and you take the fans out of the game, not because you're tackling the ball away from somebody, but because you're keeping the ball away from somebody. And you're doing it in the attacking half, and you're not inviting pressure, and you're not sitting back.

43:16Alexis Nunes:And if you're to appreciate something about Pellegrino-Mazzarazzo teams, the one thing that I think you can hang on to is that this guy and his teams are not afraid to go and press the ball. Sometimes I would go as far as that it may be a little irresponsible with some of that pressure. But it is within the makeup of his teams, going back to his time in Bundesliga, that his teams are going to press higher off the field. And they're going to try to win the ball in the attacking half, and they're going to go and create chances, and they're going to give up some chances themselves because this is the way that they're structured.

43:49Alexis Nunes:But I think he's far more concerned about having guts in the attacking half with the ball and challenging teams on that side of the field rather than being over here and hanging on. He doesn't want to do that, and he doesn't want Real Sociedad doing that. And I think that also translates into productivity offensively. This is a team that has struggled to score goals before Matarazzo came. And now you're seeing a group of players that are scoring two goals a game. That wasn't happening. Let me just tell you, it wasn't happening. And what has changed? Well, the manager, the mindset, the guts, being higher off the field, all those things are making it easier for them to be able to create more opportunities and to score more goals.

44:29Alejandro Moreno:Looking at the second leg now, all to play for in that one. As he said, he did want more goals because it's still just the one goalie, but they do get to take that at home. With everything you just said, do you just see them in the second leg going for the kill then or trying to be a bit wiser and protect the lead?

44:44Alexis Nunes:They don't have this in their game. They're going for it. Matarazzo doesn't have this. They're going for it with guts. They're not going to speculate and certainly not at home. I don't expect them to go crazy. Let's see how the game progresses. But it's all going to be in the attacking half. Middle third and attacking half. This is not a team that is going to sit back. It's not what this guy has done over the course of his career. It's not what he is as a manager. We're not just going to sit here and be like, we'll see how the game is going to go. No, no. We'll take it to the middle third. We'll take it to the attack in half.

45:21Alexis Nunes:We'll recover possession of the ball over there. And look, if Nico Williams runs in behind and scores a goal, we're willing to live with that because he thinks that his team is good enough to go and score on the other side. Now, five minutes to go. They're still up 1-0. Maybe they'll hang on. Maybe they'll do a little. Yeah, a little, you know, it'll apply. Was that you at halftime the other day?

45:42Alejandro Moreno:No, you know I was shaking at halftime, Alain. It wasn't mis manos. All right, so we're talking a Real Sociedad Atlético de Madrid final for the Copa del Rey.

45:52Alexis Nunes:That's what it's looking like. It was certainly Atlético de Madrid.

45:55Alejandro Moreno:Yeah. Well, you never know. You never know.

45:59Alexis Nunes:You heard it here first. Are you saying that Barcelona are coming back?

46:03Alejandro Moreno:Remember Barcelona PSG?

46:05Alexis Nunes:No, are you saying they're coming back? Take a position. Don't give me this. Don't give me this.

46:10Alejandro Moreno:For Cholo, for Julián, I mean, Barca have other things to play for as well. Title race, maybe Champions League if they want to sort that high line out. I'm going Atleti for the Copa del Rey final.

46:20Alexis Nunes:You're really taking a chance there.

46:22Alejandro Moreno:I want Julián to score more goals.

46:23Alexis Nunes:You're really taking a gamble there. I'm really taking a real gamble. Atletico Madrid are going through.

46:28Alejandro Moreno:All right. We'll leave it right there. Well, there's plenty more talk about the Copa del Rey over on our other show, ESPN FC, on seven days a week.

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47:41Alejandro Moreno:All right, there's a vacancy in North London. You think? Thomas Frank has been sacked as Tottenham Hotspur head coach. That was yesterday when the club confirmed it. This was after their 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle. and he leaves the post after eight months in charge. And Spurs are, there you have it, 16th in the Premier League, just five points above the relegation zone. So a certain Ange Postacoglu is probably looking at this going, I told you so. I told you that Spurs' problems were a lot more than me. But we're not talking about Thomas Frank or Ange Postacoglu. What we are going to speculate is because we know that when, we knew that when this was going to happen, cue the mauricio pochettino back to spurs to save the day type of rumors so ale yeah what are you thinking about this one i'm thinking we have a world cup in the united states

48:37Alexis Nunes:of america and that pochettino will be with the national team through the world cup and depending upon how that goes his market may be different there may be options for pochettino one way or another. And some would suggest that Spurs would be a market that he would be interested in. And going back to Spurs, there may be other things that come up. Maybe he goes so well for the United States that he wants to stay on board the United States. Maybe that's something that motivates him. Maybe he loves what he has done with the United States. He's changed the culture. Yeah, well, that is a word that has been used time and time and time again.

49:21Alejandro Moreno:Is this a distraction now for the US or do you feel like it's a non-story?

49:26Alexis Nunes:It's not a distraction. And the one person that can really make it not a distraction is Mauricio Pochettino. Now, the problem is that every time he gives an interview, he's like, well, you know, I like to... He always gives us a little... Hey, you know, Champions League and a team here and a team there and I'm flirting with them and I'm flirting with them and it's like I'm here don't forget about me so the one guy that could or the one person that could say yeah this is a non-story is Mauricio Pochino but he doesn't seem to do that so because he doesn't seem to do that then we're always going to talk about it but he we know that he's going to be here for the World Cup we know that much and as to what happens in the future.

50:18Alejandro Moreno:What do you think should happen? Should they look to keep a coach like Parch?

50:23Alexis Nunes:I think if you're the United States, you wait and see. You wait and see, as any other national team will do.

50:31Alejandro Moreno:Have you seen enough to want? To want what? We understand that rebuilding and as he said, changing the culture takes time.

50:38Alexis Nunes:To want what?

50:39Alejandro Moreno:To want to keep a coach like Mauricio Pochettino. Why would I make that decision now? I want to see. Show me something. On the biggest stage. Yeah.

50:48Alexis Nunes:Why is he here? He's here to make this team or elevate the level of this team from what it already has been. Show me something. You're playing at home.

50:59Alejandro Moreno:So you've not seen enough yet. Not even the big win over Uruguay.

51:03Alexis Nunes:In a friendly match?

51:04Alejandro Moreno:But it's still Uruguay.

51:06Alexis Nunes:We're talking about a friendly match? They shouldn't be getting shipped in five. No, no, no. Look, it was a great result. And we said, hey. And not even with a full strength. Yeah, great. You would think. Great. Great work, United States. Go, USA. All right. Show me that in the World Cup. Because who cares about that result against Uruguay if you then are unable to deliver results in the World Cup and meet the expectations? For me, the expectations should, at the very least, if you are following this team and you're a fan of this team, you've got to get out of the group. you got to win around a 16 match and get into quarterfinals that would be successful and if that's what pochettino delivers then i'll be more than happy to say all right let's talk about what the options are for the future anything less than that it's well hold on a second we were we were doing this with other people and this is supposed to be the quote-unquote golden generation this is what hercules has talked about forever and ever oh this guy's playing over there that guy's playing over here that guy's right over there and that guy's right okay all right you got all these guys and you got pochettino so the profile of the united states men's national team should be much higher now right yeah huh we can agree on that yeah okay then the expectation should be higher as well so if i'm with the u.s soccer federation i don't have to make a decision now i trust that this guy's going to do the job, but I need to see it.

52:39Alexis Nunes:This can't just be philosophical. We may do this. We're going to change the culture. What does that even mean? I don't care what culture you have changed. If you come to the World Cup, you're not delivering results. You can take your culture elsewhere.

52:54Alejandro Moreno:And suppose he does want to take his culture elsewhere.

52:56Alexis Nunes:He continues to flirt with other cultures.

53:00Alejandro Moreno:I was going to say, suppose he does want to take his culture elsewhere post-World Cup. What does U.S. soccer do? Get! Get.

53:06Alexis Nunes:If he wants to go elsewhere, get. Get. We'll be fine. That would be my approach. We'll be fine. Yeah. All right. You did a great job. Thank you very much. Thanks. We paid you well. You did a good job for us. This is transactional, right? You go your way. We'll go our way. It's fine. Nobody's going to lose sleep over the fact that, oh, my God, Mariso Pochettino is walking out the door. And his assistant, Jesus Perez, is going with him? No! Are we ever going to survive?

53:39Alejandro Moreno:I mean, if he gets them past a certain round at the World Cup, we may.

53:43Alexis Nunes:If he gets them past a certain round, those options are going to be well above beyond and beyond Spurs. There'll be other options. And he'll be more than happy to go elsewhere. He continues to talk about Champions League. So he comes here, does the job. If he does the job that he was hired to do, all right, job well done. See you later. Take care. I don't. These are transactional relationships. These are not meant to last.

54:15Alejandro Moreno:Heartbreak. I'm talking about the U.S.

54:20Alexis Nunes:Soccer Federation.

54:22Alejandro Moreno:We love a long relationship.

54:24Alexis Nunes:Well, yeah. Well, these are transactional relationships, and they're dependent upon results. This is not about feelings of the heart and the mind and the soul. There's no connection here of the heart, the mind, and the soul. This is about can you deliver results with the players that you have available in a World Cup that is being played here in the United States, in the home country. That's it. That's it. Y punto. Y punto. Y se acabó. Chao.

54:53Alejandro Moreno:Chao. All right. Well, we're soon going to say ciao. But before we do, let me remind you that there's some more FA Cup action coming up this weekend on ESPN. Plus, just have a look at that. Wrexham in action against Ipswich City, against Salford City. That's on Saturday. Liverpool, Brighton as well. Arsenal up against Wigan and the mighty Macclesfield. Macclesfield, come on, you remember them. Did a huge win last round against Brentford.

55:22Alejandro Moreno:All right. Well, now it's time to say Color in Colorado.

55:25Alexis Nunes:Este cuento se ha acabado.

55:26Alejandro Moreno:Ale's ready to go. He's just been working, man. He's been working that way. That's why on Monday he's off. I will be back. Mauricio Pedrosa will be back. Hercules Gomez will be back. Oh, I'm glad.

55:38Alexis Nunes:I'm glad everybody who's actually supposed to be doing this show will be here.

55:41Alejandro Moreno:Yeah, exactly. Well, we all will. He will. Yeah, they won't be back for long. They're going off again. And then it's me and you on Thursday.

55:49Alexis Nunes:These people are part-time workers.

55:51Alejandro Moreno:It's one big family, Ale. We're hitting all the Americas.

55:55Alexis Nunes:I'm only family when you need me, apparently.

55:57Alejandro Moreno:Like that when he said, all the Americas. We'll see you guys on Monday.

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