Futbol Americas: Messi Urges For Loose MLS Salary Rules

26:52And I think Lionel Messi recognizes this. So I don't think it's shots fired. I think he's urging Major League Soccer to take the next step. Xhaka, as someone who, of course, has applied their trade internationally, mostly for your career as well, but as someone who has lived here and understands the way MLS works structurally to a certain extent, what do you make of what Messi says? And do you feel like it will eventually have the right reaction from the league, considering this is Lionel Messi? Yeah, and I think that's the key here, who it's coming from. because the message itself is not new.

27:23The message itself is something that a lot of people have been seeing about this game for quite some time. I will also say, just kind of recognizing, but it's also how the league is structured is kind of how a lot of U.S. sports are, in terms of salary caps, how a lot of U.S. sports are structured. The salary cap, and you have a regular season, and then a postseason, and it's in the postseason, that it really matters. What happens before is just, you know, jostling for position kind of thing. So it will always feel weird to somebody like me who's played outside of the U.S. for most of his career.

28:04And was banking. Ka-ching, ka-ching. No, no. Did we ever tell you the story of Shaka's, what was it, Maserati? I wish I was on Leal and Messi money. Why are you doing that like this? Shaka, tell us about your Maserati when you were at West Ham. I'm discussing, I don't know what I'm talking about. I really don't. But to your, well, to Herc's point, to something you said, that I should understand the mechanisms of this league, I don't. Exactly. Still. And every single time there is some new, at one point. Allocation. At one point there was TAM. Oh, yes. There was just these acronyms coming from everywhere.

28:45I had no idea what was going on. No idea. And this is from someone who played in the league, someone who lives here in the U.S. These mechanisms that MLS kind of comes up with every so often, that is even more confusing than just the salary cap portion of it. And that, for me, it just, as a new fan or as somebody just trying to get into the league, you need two degrees to figure out MLS and who you're supporting. And that's an issue. That, for me, is the issue. So with what Xhaka said, do you feel like what Messi said and the timing of it now is warranted? It's needed now? I think it was needed a long time ago.

29:31I understand why there is a salary cap. It's not just North American sports. I think Xhaka's absolutely right. North American sports, there's a salary cap, but there's certain ways of how they do the salary cap. There's certain ways to get around the salary cap or a luxury tax, if you will. But it's because they use the excuse of, well, the old NASL, the North American Soccer League, with the Cosmos and the Rowdies and the four lateral strikers, for as great as it was and all the stars that they brought and no salary gap, look what happened. It went bankrupt. We're doing this to protect the sport.

30:02We're doing this to protect the game in this country. They will tell you that until they're blue in the face. But that's not a reality of things anymore. $5.9 million. Try being in a locker room if you're Lionel Messi when the guy next to you is making$70 ,000. Yeah. There are some real elephants in that room. And asking those players to be at the standard of a Lionel Messi when it comes to a high-pressure situation against a Liga Mequis club or against a club at the Club World Cup, it's not realistic. And I think that's what Messi's saying here. You're going to find disparity in payrolls all around the world, all around the world, but none greater than Major League Soccer.

30:46Yeah. And that's a reality. Oh, Messi. Voice for the people. Voice for the players. All right. Now, speaking of Lionel Messi, one of his best bodyguards, and that's Rodrigo De Paul. Get this, guys. He left Inter-Miami camp and he was seen here. That's not watching anybody, apart from his girlfriend, Tini, who had a concert in Argentina, flying from Miami there. Now, look, I am all for a loyal, committed man. Trust me, I know. I'm all for a man that's willing to leave his job and fly miles and miles away, albeit private, all the way to South America just to watch me sing the same songs over and over.

31:25I'm all for that, Rodrigo DePaul. But, guys, are we cool with it considering Inter-Miami are currently involved in MLS playoffs?

31:37Listen, I'm old school with this. I think this is going to go as just a blip on the radar, and that's it. It'll fly by as long as Inter-Miami are winning. But I guarantee you if there's a slip-up in game two and forced to game three, Inter-Miami are home once again in the first round, this would be brought up. And I guarantee you Rodrigo De Paul would not pull this if he was in Atletico, would not pull this if he was in Argentina. Imagine asking Cholo Simeone, hey, can I just get this time off to go watch my girlfriend in concert? And Cholo Simeone is Argentino as well. Do you think he asked anybody at Inter-Miami?

32:16No chance he asked anybody at Inter-Miami. American fans are very forgiving. Travis Kelsey did the same thing, flew to a concert, and I believe it was in South America, to see Taylor Swift and showed up in the concert, made an appearance, et cetera, et cetera. And it was during season, I believe. It was during a late part of the season. Nothing happened. Nothing happened. Okay? American fans are very forgiving. Very forgiving. In this game, in other countries, he wouldn't pull this. No chance. He would not pull this. And the only reason he's pulling this is because he's in America, he's in the States, and he thinks he can get away with it.

32:53So here's – I'm with you in that Inter-Miami wins everything. This nobody mentions, you know. Yeah. Inter-Miami don't. Rodrigo Dupal has a bad game and all of a sudden it's because of his travels. Whichever way, it's just not a good look. And my thing is, even if Inter-Miami go on and win the MLS Cup and sweep the ball or whatever and to your point, the American fans think nothing of it. People looking in from the outside will say, look, this league You can just saunter off in the middle of playoffs. And that perception is already there, though. Exactly. So people looking in from the outside. And again, you try to position this league as one of the big leagues in world football.

33:49And people will sit in Europe and elsewhere and say, how can that be one of the big leagues in world football when players can just head down to Argentina, taking a concert and come back, and it doesn't affect them in the slightest. It's just not. At a time, and at a club in particular, where so much of the focus, so much of Major League Soccer focus is on right now, coming from an Inter-Miami player, it's just not a good look. You said, of course, the American fan is forgiving in this, and this can be a little blip, but should Inter-Miami be as forgiving? Should Javier Mascherano be as forgiving?

34:26Should the owners be as forgiving? Because people may forgive us for missing Football Americas today, but our bosses won't. Producer Beto won't. I have a hunch that one of the people who won't be as forgiving or who will think some type of way about it will be the captain of the team, Lionel Messi. I really do. I really do. I've never seen a competitor like him. I've never seen anybody who wants to win at all costs. They were embarrassed by Atlanta United last year. They set a points record last year. a historic team, and got bounced in what is a format that protects the big boys. Three, they lost in that format.

35:05And here they are against Nashville, a team that I think could be very capable of turning things around on them. And you've got players on the team. Eh. I know we say it's not a retirement league, but what did I just go do? Looks like I'm going to have fun. It looks like I'm going to go hang out on the beach. So I don't expect Inter-Miami to be forgiving. I just, I grew up in the social media age of being a footballer, and I've been a footballer in a country that is football crazy. And I know what it's like to go out midweek and order a beer and then get crazy messages on my social media about why you're drinking midweek.

35:43Yeah. I know what it's like for the owner of a team to say, I know you're here at this hour, what's going on? They've got to be smarter than that. We see things in world football today, whether it's Lamin Yamal having his birthday party, whether it's he went to Milan this week, or whatever the case. We're in a social media era. Nothing's going to stay secret. If you go anywhere in public, you have to know. And I'm very surprised at how reckless or just nonchalant he is about it. I remember hearing a story of Steven Gerrard, who had a McDonald's, as you do, in Liverpool, and fans and some media went through his trash and found the McDonald's wrapper.

36:23And even though he had scored when he played that game at the weekend, he probably scored one of his four chances. And people were like, ah, it's because he had a McDonald's last week. I don't think that this would have been allowed if it were Cholo Simeone and Atletico de Madrid. Have you guys ever risked it for some love? Well, let me tell you what. Come on, let's hear the story. No, I'll tell you about how it can blow up on your face. My now wife, my now wife Elsie, love you baby. This was, we used to play Santos on a Friday night. And we were going to play the next week on a Sunday. So they gave us Saturday, Sunday, which was to come back to training on Monday evening.

37:00So Saturday morning, me, a couple of buddies and their girlfriends at the time, my girlfriend at the time, now wife, all went to Cancun. We spent the weekend in Cancun, back to training, no problem. The next week game, Sunday at Puebla, we tie 0-0. Santos tied Puebla 0-0. Monday morning, front page of the sports page, there we are, us, Cancun, having a good time, a picture. This is what they were doing instead of being concentrated at the game. So that's the world many footballers live in. The game means so much more to so many people, and their well-being is influenced on these results. You have to be smarter as a footballer.

37:49I didn't think I did anything wrong, but I learned a lesson. I learned a big lesson. Shaka? No, no. Shaka was always ever the professional. Ever. That's absolutely right. Okay, fixing his little Hades crowd. That's right. Ever the professional. I don't know. We'll call up Desh and see. Maybe you didn't risk it enough. No need. You didn't risk it enough. I must say, the professional in me says, shame on you, Rodrigo de Paul. But the romantic in me says, you do what you need to do for love. Anyways, I like to go to Madrid. We've been talking about them so much. They're in action against Sevilla when La Liga returns on ESPN Saturday, 11.15 a.m.

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39:46All right, let's run it back, shall we? U.S. Men's National Team star Fuller in Balogun. He contributed here with his third league on goal. It's good movement. That's what he does. His bread and butters, his movement off the ball, finds a good ball, and it just sneaks it through the goalkeeper. It's a good finish. Good finish indeed. And the next one now, we're going to be talking about Julian Quiñones. Now, Xhaka, I know you're not the strongest backer, but look at this. Xhaka, look at the goalkeeper. Yeah, that's it. He's trying to block it with his foot. Oh, my God. That is so dirty. That's a nice penalty.

40:20That's disrespectful. Yeah, it is. It's that, too. Look at him going. He's going to try to block it with his foot. Look at that. He's one of the dirtiest. Oh, geez. All right. Well, very different tone now from what we just saw. Santi Jimenez, he started up against Atalanta for Milan. No goals for him in this one. And unfortunately, after that, he came off injured. Not good scenes there for the Mexican. And honestly, this has been a trend. Just have a look at his stats. He's in a bit of a rough patch right now. No goals in nine games. Those expected goal numbers definitely are not exactly what we wanted to see from the big Mexicans.

41:04So, we have to ask, calm or alarm? That wasn't me doing muhahaha. But it is looking scary. Scary numbers there hurt for Santi Jimenez. So, are we pressing that panic button, calm or alarm? No, no, this is alarm. This is the panic button. I know Maxi Alegre has defended Santi Jimenez, you know, to no length. And as he should. He's his coach. You should never throw the player under the bus. And honestly, I see what Maxi Allegri means when he speaks. Santi Jimenez is a player that works for the team. He's a player that does all the right things. The dirty things that most players don't want to do for the benefit of the team.

41:47The problem is you didn't break the bank$40 million on a nine at Milan who never spend money on a nine for him to do all those little things and not put the ball in the back of the net. You're expecting a goal score. And this is alarm because he's not scoring goals. And it seems like his confidence is dwindling. Every time he's in front of the net, he seems to panic. There's tense moments. And as a striker, when you see the goal, you can't think a million things. He thinks a million and one things. That's how much he's in his head. And you're at the point where you already know Maxi Allegri's tactics.

42:19And it's Rafa Lau, and Rafa Lau's going to be there. And as soon as Christian Pulisic comes back, I firmly believe that'll be the duo up front. And I think Santi Jimenez will be on the outside looking in. So it's very much alarm and it's very much time for Santi to get himself going. Because if he doesn't get himself going, he can find himself on the bench. Chaka, how does he get himself out of this rut? Because as Herc was saying, your confidence is dwindling. You're also not just looking at this from a club level. Because now we know everybody's performance is under a huge magnifying glass. We are less than a year away from this World Cup.

42:50Mexico, of course, as one of the hosts. There's a lot of pressure on him and a lot of pressure on who that big linchpin. At the moment, Raul Jimenez is that one. but who that big linchpin up front from Mexico should be, Santi being the younger one, kind of like the Aaron waiting. How does he mentally get out of this rut? Probably Herc is the better person to answer that. But the old cliche is with strikers, you just need one. As you say, you just need one to come off your backside and go in. And all of a sudden, you're just playing with a whole lot more confidence. I also think that it's undervalued or underrecognized how important confidence is to players in this game, even at this highest level.

43:31And when your confidence is dwindling, it is a hard road back. It's a steep road back. And that's what Santi Jimenez is finding right now. He just needs one. He needs something to go his way. And then try to build on that. Where that one is coming from is a big question because it's nine games, eight of them that he started in a team that's not playing particularly well right now. So where, how, or when, I'm not sure at all. The striker position is very much like the goalkeeper position. I think those are the two most important positions when it comes to confidence. Because on one end, it can mean a goal against you.

44:10On the other end, it can mean a lost opportunity, a goal you don't get. Unfortunately for Santi Jimenez, most international forwards may have the luxury of the refresh button. It's not going well at club. I go to my national team. They play in CONCACAF per se. I can get my confidence there. Santi's not being confident with either. And it was the club team where he sought refuge for that, where he found confidence, where he can get himself going, whether it was a Feyenoord or the early stage at AC Milan. That's not the case anymore. At Milan, I don't think the crowd has turned on him yet. I don't think the fans at Sancito have turned on him yet.

44:48But it is a massive footballing brand. And it is a place where there's an expectation that comes with the price tag that he's not lived up to. So I think Shaq, he's right. He's got to get that first one. It's going to be a weight lifted off his shoulders. But you mentioned Raul Jimenez. If I'm the Mexican national team, I'm a bit worried right now. Raul Jimenez, Santi Jimenez, the last 20 games, three goals between the two. Three goals the last 20 games for their club football. for their club football, and we're seven, eight months away from a home World Cup for them both. If I'm the Mexican national team, I'm a bit worried about these two players at the moment.

45:26So alarm bells on all fronts then. Ooh, that's spooky. I'll tell you what's not spooky, though. It's a fresh episode of the Gab and June show. You said that's spooky. And then Gab comes up like that. But no, Gab, he's a gentle giant. We know that he's not spooky at all. He's joined by Don Hutchison this week. A fresh episode dropped today so you can get it wherever you get your podcasts.

45:53All right, let's talk Gio Reyna, shall we? Because the U.S. Men's National Team star is finally speaking out about the controversy in his relationship with former coach Greg Berhalter during the last World Cup in Qatar. Just listen to what he had to say. Everybody's thinking about it. It's everyone's dream to play in World Cup. So, but no, it's not something that I'm constantly stressing about it, but I do obviously think about it pretty often as it's somewhere where I need and want to be. So, yeah, but I try to focus daily here, stay present here, work here every day, then hopefully believe everything will fall into place, playing well, performing, and then, yeah, get called in again and then, yeah, do some special things with the Nash team again.

46:40And obviously peaking as soon as possible, hopefully this weekend, and then the game after that and the game after that. But, yeah, it's – don't want to stress out about the World Cup. But at the same time, everybody knows that it's what you sort of strive and everybody's goal as a kid is to play in the World Cup. So, yeah, I'm not going to sit here and lie to you saying I don't think about it like everybody else, but it's – I try to focus on here and the present and then do well here, take care of everything here, and then hopefully I'll be with them again. I'm not just going to sort of sit here and take all the blame for something that was made out to be completely my fault, which I believe it wasn't, and also my family's too, but that's a whole different subject.

47:26But yeah, of course, at the end of the day, I was just upset that I wasn't really playing. I was playing at Dortmund, and I felt that I wanted to play at the World Cup, and ultimately, in the end, I didn't do that, and that's really what it stemmed from, I guess the frustration and the disappointment was just wanting to play and help my country. The message from him was always quite clear in terms of, you know, if I play, then obviously play and perform well, then I always have a shot and a good chance to come in. So, yeah, I really respected that. He always kept it very clear for me, and I really love that.

47:58So, yeah, it sort of keeps a clear goal in my head is that if I play, perform, then, yeah, that will give me the best chance to get called in. And so, yeah, but I always get texts, not just from the coaches, but from physios, from athletic coaches. I've had great moments there, and yeah, I'd like to continue to do that in the future too. Obviously, having the injuries is always bad, but at the other hand, it sort of teaches you about your body. And, you know, I've learned a lot about my body over the last two years, three years, when I've had little injuries at times. But, yeah, I guess then as a player, I think, yeah, for me, it's really just about getting on the field now.

48:39That's all I can really, really say. Of course, I would like to say I've gotten better because I've still been training for two, three years, even if I've not been consistently playing. But, yeah, now it's about, yeah, really just showing it and playing and performing. So, yeah, I guess I would like to say I'm a better player than I was. But, you know, it's about doing it on the pitch now. Yeah. All right, Gio Reyna there. Deflecting some blame there, I suppose, in terms of he felt that a lot of the blame was placed on him as well as his family with what went down at the last World Cup. It was very public, the little spat that they had.

49:16Well, not really a little spat that they had with Greg Berhalter. What did you make of what he had to say there, Herc? What stood out? So I've been seeing a lot of this discourse online and in other pundit circles about the deflecting of the blame of Giovanni Reina. And it makes it sound like this kid just doesn't learn.

49:37Gio made a mistake at a very early age at the World Cup that was handled in a private matter, and he had to pay for during the World Cup. Didn't play as much as he wanted. That's Gio's cross to bear. That's Gio's responsibility. I firmly believe everything else that happened afterwards, whether it was his parents' reaction, which was wrong, or Greg Berhalter's public forum discussion of, which was wrong as well, he's a victim of. What happened at the World Cup? He paid his time. He didn't play. He didn't play what he wanted to. Everything else, he's the least responsible for. I'm talking about his parents, and I'm talking about Greg Berhalter.

50:24Giovanni Reina is not the reason his parents went and spoke to the U.S. Soccer Federation. And Giovanni Reina is not the reason that Greg Berhalter chose in what he thought was a private forum to discuss his leadership council and how they handled a certain player at the World Cup and how that blew up. That's not on Gio Reina. We're giving this kid that cross to bear, and I don't think it's fair. He is a kid who has a lot of growing up to do, absolutely. But when it comes to those two things, the least he was involved in. Now, he made a mistake. He's got to do better. He's been injured a ton. He's got to figure his body out.

51:05He's not playing now. He knows exactly where that's going to lead him to. He knows that Mauricio Pochettino says, you need to play. He knows that Mauricio Pochettino says, if you don't play, I'm not calling you up. He's the first one to say that. I don't understand the public anger towards Giovanni Reina. And if I'm going sporting-wise, because when he wasn't playing at Dortmund, he would still come to the U.S. men's national team, and he would perform in semifinals and finals. He would perform against the Mexican national team, and he would perform against Canada. He would do assists and goals.

51:40He would show up in big-time moments. And there's nobody who can see Giovanni Reina or has watched Giovanni Reina that can't sit here and tell me a healthy Gianni Reina performing. Is not that guy. Yeah, won't be that guy. Won't be that guy. But he's not going to get there if he doesn't play, and he's the first one to recognize it. I just don't understand the animosity that he is taking for his parents and Greg Berhalter. Shaq, what do you think about this, too? And probably that discourse that is currently going around that, look, maybe if you do mature a little, you would take some accountability.

52:12Yeah. Well, so to his point, I think the reason that he's taking some of the heat, well, certainly for his parents, is for reasons that he just addressed or kind of highlighted in that interview. That he is speaking, he is saying that I don't think I have as much responsibility or me and my family have as much responsibility to bear. No, I disagree with that. No, I agree. Jurena, as a kid, you could, you, has to be separate from that, from what happened, what happened after, after the woke up, right? So from that perspective, fine. But if you want your parents and what they did to kind of fall under this, this same umbrella of, you know, let's sweep it under the carpet, we aren't to blame, then you're gonna get it in the neck.

53:03If that's your approach. The other thing, the other aspect to this, and this is from a player perspective, especially from a player who didn't have the talent of a G Arena. I did not have the natural talent of a G Arena. How you could show up at a workup and not try, not train hard enough. That for me, the football player in me, that is inexcusable. When you're saying that that's everybody's number one dream. Exactly. That for me is you are just taking for granted your position, not necessarily at Dortmund or wherever you were at the time, but your role and position within the U.S. setup. That my name's on the team sheet regardless.

53:49And that for me just goes against, that goes against everything I feel I certainly knew about the game and how to apply, how I had to apply myself to do far less than Nangirina did. during the course of my own career. And that, for me, again, just rubs me absolutely the wrong way. The other thing to it is, and Noah really shouldn't draw this parallel. Say it. I know what you're going to say. When you hear about somebody not training hard enough and then having injury issues, you just wonder if the two are related. I'm sorry. I just had to put that out there. Yeah, as far as the injuries, we've all been there with injuries, and I don't know how that correlates.

54:34I'm not saying you're wrong here. I just think we are seeing more and more of this with young players around the world where I'm a father, you're a father, and certainly there's going to be a point, I'm sure you've already gone through it, where your kids think they know everything, where they don't want to need help or that guidance. Yeah. I see it at the highest of levels, Lamin Yamal and everything that's surrounding him. I remember being 18 years old. I could not imagine my life being put out to a public forum at that age. This is a kid who made a mistake, a bad mistake, and I think he paid for it.

55:12He didn't play in the World Cup. He hardly played at the World Cup. He's one of the better players and hardly played. And I think that's why he's so eager to get to the next World Cup. But he's telling you right here, I know that I have to play. And if I don't play, I know I'm not going to go. I just think there is, because of his parents, there is a large sector of the fan base who just can't stand the kid. They think it's everything wrong with U.S. soccer. And I'm not saying his parents weren't everything wrong with U.S. soccer. I just don't think that's his cross to bear. And what Greg Berhalter did, I mean, if it was Tyler Adams who was in his shoes, in Giovanni Reina's shoes instead of Giovanni Reina, and Greg Berhalter did that, the blame would be put on Greg Berhalter.

55:55It would not be put on Tyler Adams or Giovanni Reina. It's the combination of these things that I just think people reflect U.S. soccer for and they associate him with it, and that's left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouth. So it's time to separate the two. I would assume so. At some point, Gio's going to have to move on. His family's going to have to move on. Greg Berhalter's going to have to move on. We're going to have to move on. It's a massive story in the U.S. soccer's history on the men's side. One story that will be forgotten. But if you want the best for Giovanni Reina. Do you think we can't forget this at this point?

56:28Or we're not going to forget this until Giovanni makes the team? This is going to be like the incident that happened in 98 in France with the World Cup team there. There's going to be... At least they won. No, they didn't. Not in 98. Not in 98. Oh, the U.S. Sorry, I thought you meant France. No, no, no, no, no. Exactly. But every national team has this type of thing. France has had it in the last, I don't know, I want to say 20 years they've had three separate incidents. There's always something. So I think people will never forget. I just feel bad for the kid. I really do. I'm a little bit more sympathetic to Greg Berhalter.

57:01I know somebody who's at the conference who was in the room. And it was a leadership conference. And you had these CEOs talking about their leadership style and how they handled a crisis within their company, whatever it may be. And Greg Berhalter was a guest speaker. and similarly speaking about his leadership and how he handled the crisis. But because it was off the back or so soon off the back of the World Cup and while he didn't call, as far as I know, he didn't call Gio Arena's name in that moment, everybody put two and two together and kind of knew how it was. So how it was delivered, I don't think it was anywhere in, it wasn't, he had no idea it would go public and it wasn't intended as a shot at Gio Reyna.

57:50So, as I say, because I have that, well, firsthand in speaking to someone who was there in the room, I just see it a little differently. All right. Well, we will see if Gio Reyna does manage to get some valuable minutes with Borussia Mönchengladbach. Lord knows they need all the help they can get. Joe Scali should be in action as Gladbach go up against St. Pauli in this weekend's Bundesliga action Saturday. A bit of an early one, 10.30 a.m. Eastern time, but Gladbach needing anything to get themselves off of the bottom of the Bundesliga table. You know, recommendations can be great. Maybe someone recommended this podcast, and here you are.

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59:31Let's talk about Endrick, shall we? because our Julian Laurence is reporting that the Brazilian wonder kid could be on his way out of Real Madrid. Reports on ESPN.com say Olympic Lyon is interested in the 19-year-old, but they're not the only one, according to Jules. He says teams in Germany, Italy, and Spain are also interested. All right, so we do remember when Real Madrid did make this signing. It was huge. There's nothing more the world loves than a fresh Brazilian wonder kid, But unfortunately, it has not worked out. He's not played a single minute so far this season for Real Madrid. They're at the top of the La Liga table.

1:00:08Things are going well. So it's obvious that he needs to apply his trade elsewhere, even if it's just a lone move at the moment. So is Ligue 1 the right place, Xhaka? What do you think? I think so. And listen, Hendrick is not. I don't see him getting any kind of significant minutes for Real Madrid right now. Talented kid, but needs to learn the game. You saw that even in what little you saw of him last season under Carlo Ancelotti. Needs to win the game. And I think France is as good an opportunity as you could hope for. Lyon, a team who are sitting, I think they're like fifth right now in Ligue 1.

1:00:46But between third and sixth or seventh are all on the same points. They're separated by goal difference. So they're near enough the top of the table. A point behind second. I think three behind PSG or top.

1:01:01So he's going into a good team, and the minutes matter. And Lyon have struggled to replace Lacazette, who left at the end of last season. I think this is a fantastic opportunity for him, for him to come into a team that have set themselves a high bar, have a lot to play for, and he'll get time. He'll get the opportunity to learn the game. Eric, what do you think about Ligue 1 for Endric? Let me tell you what I think about Endric. I don't know if Ligue 1 or any... Ligue 1 is a very physically demanding league. I think if you go from Real Madrid and struggle with Ligue 1, there are going to be massive questions about you.

1:01:42What I do know is Artagula was in a similar situation last year. And Artagula's people were very adamant. They didn't want to leave. I believe it was more Real Madrid saying, hey, you should go get some minutes. And he was saying, we don't want to leave. We understand the difference of being at Real Madrid and that platform and going elsewhere and then maybe being forgotten. We've seen this with Real Madrid before. We've seen the Jesses of the world. We've seen players who have had good seasons go elsewhere and be forgotten. He's a player last year with the limited playing time that he did have.

1:02:13He was a leading goal scorer at Copa de Rey, Alango Ferran Torres. He's a player who his characteristics remind me a lot, at least of movements and in striking ability and in the way he's physically built of a Romario. But he is very raw. He's a very raw young player. Is that someone Xabi Alonso could work with? Because we've seen exactly how Arda Gouler has flourished on Xabi. This is where I want to get to that. I think Shaq was alluding to this earlier where I had a discussion about young players not wanting to be there or showing they want to be there. I don't think he's shown he wants to be there.

1:02:50There's a certain entitlement with the price tag from coming Brazil to Real Madrid, of being at Real Madrid at such a early age. And all the headlines that came with it. And all the headlines that come with it. No coach writes you off just like that unless you're not showing him what you need to show him. No coach goes against their own best interest. If Xavi Alonso really thought, really thought that Enric could help him, we would have never seen Gonzalo in the Club World Cup. We would have never seen Gonzalo at the Club World Cup. We would have seen Enric. But he doesn't think he could help him.

1:03:21Why? What are you not doing? At what point did you fail yourself? I don't know if leaving Ramadur is the right thing for him. I've seen enough of him to think that if he buys in and he works, he could be a player of use. But the risk is so massive. You go to a team like Lyon, you go to Ligue 1, which if we're throwing a category of where they are in the top five leagues, most would say probably fifth, right? Yeah. And things don't go well there, well, you're going to be an afterthought. like a Mariano. You're going to be an afterthought like so many others that have spent good time at big clubs and have nowhere to be seen.

1:03:58Chaka, we've been analyzing Xavi Alonso's man management so much, and Lord knows that this week he has his hands full enough after Vinny Jr. and El Clasico, but is this a situation, as Herc is saying, where Hendrick needs to put up his hand and fight for his spot, and is Xavi the right person to probably still bring the best out of him? I don't know if Xavi fancies him, in all honesty. Simple as that. It's as simple as that. Now, we've had a... While Xavi coming, as Herc alluded, we've had a full summer. Real Madrid played a full summer football and then short of pre-season into league play. And he was not used.

1:04:35He has not been... Well, he was injured during the Club World Cup. Oh, OK. But he's come back from that. And at this point, he's not been used. And right now, not even as a substitute... And they don't need him at the moment. Not even as a substitute appearance, late on, you know. That for me, that for me is alarming. And I get to what he's from. If it's me, I want to play. Yeah. Real Madrid. I just look at Xavi's tendencies with players who he's rotated in and out. I mean, Rodrigo wasn't playing. Vinicius Jr. wasn't starting. Trent Alexander at some point before the injury found himself on the bench.

1:05:15He's a player, or excuse me, he's a coach who I think will give players an opportunity. at some stage or point. And from there, as a footballer, it's all you ask is for the opportunity. But you've got to help yourself get that opportunity. It doesn't come by chance. So I just see a situation where there's too much to lose for a player like Enric. And honestly, if you're at Madrid, what's that loan move have to entail to justify the price that you paid for him? Final question, I suppose. Just to say that the other links, if not Leon, there was interest in Germany as well as elsewhere in Spain. Do you think he should, if not Lyon, if not Ligue 1, elsewhere in Spain may suit a player like him or maybe Germany?

1:05:57Should be. Bundesliga, which is known for young talent. Should be against Spanish opposition, against La Liga opposition. You know exactly where you fit in terms of your talents and whether it fits for Real Madrid. As you mentioned, you go to Lyon, a different league, a different style of play, a different sense of the physicality about it. There's a little bit more guessing there. certainly in terms of getting yourself back into the reckoning at Real Madrid, I think La Liga is the better stop. But then again, the thing that Lyon brings with it is that you're chasing down, I'm not sure you're ever going to really chase down PSG, but everybody else is chasing second spot.

1:06:40That's meaningful action that you're going to be a part of, that every single moment, every single mistake matters. That's how you learn the game. And I think while Hendrick is talented, desperately roll and needs to learn those bits of the game. All right. Well, like I said, things have been all good in the hood for Real Madrid, especially after they won El Clasico. They're back in action in La Liga this weekend, hosting Valencia, who definitely have some struggles of their own. That's Saturday, 4 p.m. Eastern time. But do join us at 3.30 p.m. for the pre-show.

1:07:20Let's check in on the Copa Libertadores semifinals, shall we? Racing hosting Flamengo. How about that for a little pre-match vibe? Ooh, only in South America. Happy to see. No fire. There's no fire, Marshall. There's a little bit of flair inhalation in my lungs before I go out and run for 90 minutes. No problem. No problem. 55th minute now, Gonzalo Plata hit back slightly here at Marco Rojo, and it's a red card. Well, he lunges. Look, he just reacts. Okay, maybe not slightly. Rojo makes a meal of this. As you do. There's play acting there. That's not a red card. All right, well, Flamengo go down to 10 men into stoppage time here now.

1:08:05Agustin Rossi. Good save. Nice save. Look at that. We're giving him 10. Flexionally way as well and we react so wonderfully well. All right. Well, the game would end nil-nil, but Flamengo advanced to their fourth Copa Libertadores final in the last six years. And they are awaiting the winner of Palmeiras up against Quito, who are actually playing as we speak. And as you can see, that is the game. They're up right now. Three, two. Oh, boy.

1:08:42I want a Sunday kind of love. A love to last past Saturday night. It's more than love at first sight. I want a Sunday kind of love. Current vs. Wave and Courage vs. Gotham. Sunday on ESPN. All right. Well, that's it for our All Hallows Eve or Halloween Eve football. Americas, we hope you enjoy the show. Herc is actually having a massive Halloween party this weekend. Cannot wait for it. That's when you earn as much as Lionel Messi. You just spare no expense, right, Herc? What can we expect? Tell me what we can expect from the party. Costumes. What else? Alcohol. Oh. You're talking about, like, top shelf.

1:09:38Like we're not talking like bottom shelf. We're not even talking. What's after like bottom shelf? Shaka, will you come in as Ajax Hades again? That's all I got. That's all I got. Well, that's it for us. We're over and out from Wednesday. Jack Skellington and Shaka as Shaka Islam. Mwahahahaha!

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