Two Days Until 2026 World Cup Kickoff

27:52Jurgen Klinsmann:No, he's totally right. You know, he has to, obviously, knowing that he will leave in the team, he's done a fantastic job with that French team over the years. He won everything you can win. And, yes, he definitely has the leverage to do whatever he would like to do. But Didier knows too that a happy, fully energized Kylian Mpapé can make you a difference every single day in every single game. And so you find ways there to work with Kylian. You know, it's a lot of work on the side, you know, to communicate with the guys to make sure there is a balance. Also to make sure that the hierarchy of the team is functioning.

28:35Jurgen Klinsmann:And it's not only the manager's job to keep that in balance, the hierarchy. It's the player's job, too. The players, if they are really a team, there are some other experienced players in that French side. They can also go to Kilian and tell him, listen, you know, we think this and this and this. You know, I want to have a discussion with you about certain things. You know, so they're really big teams. They kind of manage themselves. Yes, the manager is important, the coach is important, but it is important that every player knows where his spot is, how far he can take it, what the hierarchy looks like.

29:14Jurgen Klinsmann:And that's why I think it's more important that these players, nowadays it's 26 players that go into that roster to a World Cup, that they figure certain things out themselves. Jules, how responsive would Kylian Mbappe, or has Kylian Mbappe been in the past, when he's had teammates make that sort of approach, if indeed they have? Yeah, they have. We've seen it even recently after that defeat against Italy, after the Euros 2024 at the Paris de France, where Mac Mignon was very angry against Mbappe for, let's say, the lack of effort, defensively especially, that Kylian showed in a bit like what Craig was saying earlier, which we saw a little bit again yesterday and in the defeat against Ivory Coast as well a few days ago.

30:00So I think somebody like Dembele can say to Kylian, listen, we need you to do a bit more here. We need you to lead the line and you don't have to press like crazy like I do in Paris, for example. But we need to work together to make sure Deschamps is well aware of that. And Deschamps' job in here more than anything else, really, we'll have to find that kind of right connection between everybody. Out of possession, probably more than in possession anywhere. And what do you do with Kylian knowing that obviously you defend with 10 because Kylian is not going to do much defending, which he didn't do in the last World Cup or in the World Cup before even?

30:34Look, Gilles, we know the French are a great side. There's no doubt about that. And along with Spain, they're definitely the favourites. This Kylian Mbappé thing is a bit of a sideshow because they've got so much talent. It may be a talking point, it may not. I'm looking at France and saying, what's the centre-half pairing? I know this is a little boring, but what's the centre? because I think this is the biggest worry for France. What is the centre-half pairing going to be? And what is the best pairing that you would select? And what do you think Didier Deschamps will do? It would be Saliba and Upamecano, Craig, especially if Saliba is fit.

31:07And there was obviously a bit of a question mark over his fitness coming here to the US. I mean, the French are travelling tomorrow to Boston from Paris. He missed the game against Avary Coast, only played the first half yesterday against Northern Ireland because of the back issues that he's had with Arsenal for the last few weeks now. And there was a point where there was quite a lot of skepticism around Saliba, even about just playing in the world, being here at the World Cup, playing. Now he feels better, so it would be them two. We saw Buamecano making a couple of mistakes in the two friendlies, which is not really reassuring.

31:38He's also had a great season with Bayern, like Saliba had a great season with Arsenal. So they're the two starters. Without a doubt, I don't think there's a debate even in Deschamps' mind. Then after that, it's Lacroix-Conate for the third man, if you want. But Lacroix came on at halftime for Saliba yesterday, not Conate, which maybe is a bit of an indication that Lacroix might be the third guy in the picking order, even ahead of Conate. One thing is for sure, Elice will definitely start. And when Florentino Perez was speaking in the lead-up to the election this weekend, talking about a€150 million bid for an attacking player, we all assumed it was Elice.

32:15We were wrong. It was Julian Alvarez. This is what Real Madrid said. Real Madrid has made an offer of€150 million to Atletico Madrid for the federative rights of the player Julian Alvarez. After studying and evaluating it, Atletico Madrid have thanked the club for the offer made within the framework of the good relations existing between both clubs and has rejected it, referring to the player's release clause. Oh, nice. Maybe? Between the two Madrid-based clubs? Oh, no. Atleti came back and then some, saying the official statement with our clarification regarding the official statement from our neighbours Real Madrid.

32:49Your video of the Pope got cut off before he said he was also an Atleti fan. You may have confused politeness with gratitude, but just to be clear, we don't thank you for anything. We are neither considering nor evaluating any offer for Julian. How could we not get along when you make us laugh even more than Barcelona? Well, that took a twist, Julian.

33:14I mean, let's make it clear here on the show today. The player that Florentino Perez wanted was Mikel Olisse, not Julien Alvarez. The second player that Florentino Perez dreams and absolutely loves and would love to come to Real Madrid is Vitinha, not Julien Alvarez. For me, this kind of offer of 150 million, this statement that we saw on the website is BS. and I think in a way the response from Atlético Madrid show you that it's not really serious here. It's not to lose face basically because Florentino knows far too well that an offer for Ulisse would not even have been looked at by Bayern Munich.

33:51That an offer for Vitinha would not even have been looked at by PSG. The players don't even want to leave their respective clubs anywhere and I don't think Julien Alvarez wants to go to Real Madrid neither. He wants to go to Barcelona and I think as we've been saying for weeks now there will be a long Julien saga through the summer But this looks like nonsense to me from Real Madrid today. He didn't even... I mean, big fan, great player, World Cup winner, terrific individual, Julio Navarez. But he's not in the Michael Alissi and the players that Gilles mentioned. He's not at that level. He didn't even have his best season at Atletico Madrid.

34:26He was out the side for some periods. He was hot and cold. And he's not a 150 million pound player. I mean, there's not many are, but he's not a 150 million euro player. anyway Florentino Perez he just thinks he can run wild over almost everything these days, say what he wants and nobody's going to question it it's absolutely bonkers I think if they'd actually offered Atletico Madrid 150 million euros Diego Simeone might have driven him there himself so the whole thing is just absolutely nonsense it's not even a player in a position that Real Madrid need Michael Alisi is on that right-hand side.

35:07That's an area they desperately need to fill. So this sort of Real Madrid story over the last few weeks with this presidential election and all that goes with it, it's just become more and more bizarre leading up to this World Cup. Jürgen, I won't bother you with it. Let's move on. Tonight, Argentina are in action against Iceland. It's a game that you can see live here on ESPN. Argentina's final game before the World Cup.

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36:38Savinho looks like he's on his way to Tottenham Hotspur, the 22-year-old who joined from Girona with so much excitement. Hasn't really ever shown that sort of same flair with Manchester City. They'll be hoping he can do the same, though, in North London. Jules, Mike's producing, so we have to talk about this, apparently. Yeah, for his beloved Spurs. He's a player that they wanted last summer. They just could not get the deal over the line. They're going to go for it now. I think this is going to happen. The discussions I was told today are really positive. He wants to go. City wants to sell. And it's a great profit for City.

37:17They bought him for just over£30 million. They would get£60 million for him. I think he's way over the valuation of the player right now. but if Spurs are ready to play that, sure. We know that wingers are very important for Roberto De Zerbi. Remember that season that Mitoma had with Brighton, for example, under De Zerbi, where he was outstanding. I just hope for De Zerbi that Sabino will be a bit more efficient than what we saw with him about Manchester City. We saw the stats earlier, seven goals in 84 games for City in all competition. It's just not good enough when you spend that money on a player.

37:49Wow. We followed him at Girona and he was so good. It was. and that great Girona side that was in the title race for quite some time. This is a worry for me in terms of... He's a talented player, there's no doubt about it, but he's yet to prove in England that he's not lightweight, that he can't be brushed off the ball, that he's not been bullied. Yes, he's got great feet and he's got skill, but he's yet to prove that in England. He did it in Spain, that's fine. but he hasn't and he certainly didn't do it regular at Man City it's not the easiest team to get into but when he had his opportunities it was very inconsistent so I don't know if you're asking me is it good business for sports I have no idea I have no idea because I think in the Premier League thus far Savinho is a bit of an unknown in terms of getting the consistency level of what we saw at Girona so whether it's a deserved call or not I don't know, but it certainly wasn't working for Man City.

38:52Tottenham legend, Jürgen Klinsmann, do you like this?

38:56Jurgen Klinsmann:Well, I don't know what to make out of it. Obviously, he's a very talented player. Still, he got 84 games in for Man City, and he's only 22 years old. So, I think maybe the LBC sees something in him that he can dramatically improve, that could become a weapon to Spurs when he develops that element or the elements that he's still lacking, then it might be a great deal. I don't know because I don't know the players in details and the mental aspect of it is important too. But obviously, Pep Guardiola gave him lots of games which shows some sort of trust and believe in him. But obviously, the numbers that are coming out in there, they speak for themselves.

39:41Spurs are going to get business done early, it seems, Jules, to avoid the debacle of last season. Yeah, I mean, you could look at the wide players that they have and think, what, another winger? And then we look at the next two potential arrivals, more than Andy Robertson, although you could look at all the left-backs, including the young Brazilian that they bought in January. And that's a few left-backs as well, if you can, Spence and Udoji as well. But you look at centre-backs, because they already have a million of centre-backs. Romero is still there, Van der Venne is there, Denso is there, Draguzin is still there, Vuscovic, who was amazing for Hamburg in the Bundesliga.

40:20Last season, he's coming back from his loan. Now you're going to get Tennessee. That deal as a free agent is pretty much done. And then you've made an offer for Van Hecker at Brighton, who, again, knows the Zerbe really well. This one will happen as well because the player wants to join Spurs. And Spurs are going to make that happen because he's got one year left on his contract and Brighton need to sell. So you're going to get that. And I forgot Takai as well, the Japanese centre-back, also coming back from injury. you've got pretty much enough players at centre-backs to form 75 % of your team and then the rest can be white players because they also have a lot of white players Jules in New York Gab joining him as well for the latest edition of the Gab and Jules podcast that drops on Thursday as it's a big preview looking ahead to the start of the World Cup

41:09Football W available now of course big game tonight for the US women as they take on Brazil looking to turn around that 2-1 defeat from when they last met.

41:22We're at the semi-final stages of the playoffs in the second tier of Spanish football. Almeria taking on Castellan 1-1 in the first leg. Four minutes to go in the first half and it's Almeria who would take the lead and Barba with the goal. It just doesn't get closed down really and he's allowed to, it's a great strike. But your defender didn't get there early and I've almost invited him to hit that bar corner and he did. It's quite spooky music as we take it into the second half. Pour here from Andres Fernandes as Calitreva gets the goal.

41:59I don't know how that... That was a horror, wasn't it? It was indeed. Twelve minutes later, it's 2-1 Cassi on. Sinera.

42:11So as it stands it'll be Kassion who will be making it through to the final. Then Alex Munoz scores to make it 2-2, 3-3 on aggregate. And then what about this injury time? And it's Zonic with a header. Unmarked. Gage it. Does well doesn't he? Yep. Right into that far corner. Oh. Oh, my. The Cassian fans can't quite believe it. Almaria delighted. And they will face the winners of Malaga against Las Palmas. That game live tomorrow, 3 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+.

43:07But for those chasing it, it's everything. The only question is, who will take it?

43:13Jurgen Klinsmann:You just have to watch the Stanley Cup Final presented by GEICO on ABC and the ESPN app. That's it. That brings us to the end of today's show. Be sure to stay tuned. Jules from New York, Juergen from Orange County and Craig from Bristol, Connecticut. We'll be breaking down everything on Extra Time.

43:39Welcome in to the latest edition of Extra Time. How are you Jules? When did you arrive in the States? I arrived on Sunday, Dan, and it's been amazing. I love New York. I haven't been here for quite a while, but it's an amazing city. I even found a soccer pick-up game tonight after the show, so if we can finish quickly, then I can go and get changed and show my skills. Yeah, of course. So you're just walking hand-in-hand with Gab in Central Park? Yeah, because Gab can't obviously play football so he can't come with me to the pick-up game. And I would let him do his walk on his own in Central Park.

44:15Jürgen, you're on the west coast, are you going to any games or are you just settling down in Orange County for the next six weeks?

44:22Jurgen Klinsmann:No, I will go to the US game obviously, with our group. And then I wait basically until the The group stage is over and then I go to a couple of games in the knockout phase myself. Oh, very nice. Are you going to any games, Craig, or any Scotland fan events? No. I got invited. I know you got invited. Stevie did as well. I can't believe you didn't want to attend. British consulate in Boston, the British, the this, that, no, I can't be diddled with all that stuff. No, I'm not going. That's right up your street. I'm not going to any, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Love to meet you. I'm not going to any games, but the family are.

44:59They've gone to the Scotland-Morocco game. And you were saying they've got bunting up, like the house is all covered in Scotland. Well, there's some Scotland flags out the front and stuff. Nice. I can't believe this. I think there's a little bit of lack of preparation here. The Scotland team playing in Boston and Miami, which are both hot, but they've set up base in Charlotte, right? It's lovely down there. No, it's hot there as well. It's also hot. I think somebody's maybe not... I've not read the book on the humidity down there. That's not going to... No, everywhere's hot. Boston's hot, Charlotte's hot, Miami's hot.

45:37Right. You're very much an ignoramus. Right, tell me. Boston's hot and Miami's hot. Yes. But the Carolinas... Yes, they're very hot. ...is super humid. Yes. And hot. And the humidity is much worse than the heat. But I still don't think it's that much of a difference, is it? Surely it's better to train in really hot, humid conditions and then go to Massachusetts and be like, oh, it's not as humid here, we've got more energy. Let me tell you something. Right, we've been here a long time, right, in the States. Sometimes it gets 80 to 90 degrees here in New England. Yes. And obviously I've been to Florida.

46:13I was golfing in South Carolina last year and the difference because of the humidity was incredible. Trust me. Right. That's a big difference, particularly when you're running. That should benefit them then, not playing in a humid condition in the actual games. No, it's not going to benefit you. Trying to train in that sort of humidity, it's going to drain you. That's my point. Fickle. Anyway. Don't annoy me. Humidity is the problem, not necessarily the heat. Right. Anyway, I don't think that's Scotland's biggest problem. I think the opposition are. There you go. You may have seen reports today that there was a bid for Julian Alvarez from Real Madrid.

46:55which has led to questions that we, but I think Jules described it as BS, which I think kind of sums it up quite nicely. Do you see a world where Vinny Mbappe and Alvarez work? If you've got that sort of talent, Jürgen, I imagine you can make it work, surely.

47:12Jurgen Klinsmann:Oh, definitely. I mean, why not? I mean, if the two, you know, help each other and have fun to play together, absolutely it can work. Jürgen, considering Germany have won the last nine games in a row, what chance do you give them of beating France in the round of 16, and how much further do you think they'll go if victorious?

47:34Jurgen Klinsmann:Well, to beat France in the early stage of the tournament would be very difficult, but it's doable. I mean, it's a knockout game, and knockout games you can go through one game at a time and you can make it to the final. I think this German side has a lot, a lot of talent, has a lot of capabilities there with some players that are really exciting. But yeah, I mean, it will be interesting to see now how they take care of the group phase. The good thing about their draw is certainly that they get Curaçao in their first game. So the first three points should be there, you know, opposite to what they experienced in Qatar and in Russia, the last two World Cups.

48:15Jurgen Klinsmann:But then playing obviously Ivory Coast and... What was the third one? Ecuador, obviously, New York then. Those are not easy games. But I mean, with eight teams in the third place that can go through, you know, to the round of 32 now that we have this round of 32 the first time ever, I think they should be okay to get into the knockout phase. Germany has always been a little bit of a tournament team. They start slow, they have their issues, their problems, but then suddenly the knockout phase starts kicking off. They figure out a way to get through every little hurdle that comes along. And if the hurdle would be friends, then they're going to go for it.

49:06Jules, is it head-to-head or goal difference?

49:11A good difference to start with, I think. Oh, okay. Jules, how much of Griezmann's presence will be missed for France?

49:21How much who's going to be missed? Anton Griezmann.

49:26I mean, when you see the form that Michael Olyse is in right now, not just the hat-trick against Northern Ireland yesterday, but everything that he's been doing really since coming into this squad, basically that's what Deschamps wanted him to be, the replacement in terms of creativity of Griezmann. I think right now, you take Olyssé every day on the back of the two seasons. What Griezmann also added to the squad, which Olyssé doesn't in terms of personality, is that kind of leadership. Griezmann is very vocal. Olyssé is very quiet. And obviously the experience that Griezmann as a World Cup winner, as somebody with so many caps and a moment shared with the national team has, which is very new for Michael Olisse.

50:12But apart from that, you take Olisse every day ahead of Griezmann right now. Jürgen, Liverpool supporter here. Why does Wurtz look so much better playing for Germany than he does for Liverpool? Coaching, confidence or the Premier League is just so much harder?

50:27Jurgen Klinsmann:I think we talked about it many, many times throughout the season. I think it's just a learning process that he's going through. He's still very young and has now his first Premier League season under his belt. and knows that there's a lot of room still for improvement. But he will only grow, he will only get better. I hope that this World Cup now gives him a huge boost in terms of confidence and growth, obviously, to play against the best in the world. But I think there's so much upside to Florian Wirtz that he will prove that over the next couple of years to all the fans, especially the Liverpool fans.

51:05I think he, you know, part of it's down to him. You have to take responsibility. He is a youngster. He has made a move to a new country, new culture. Big expectations and all that goes with it. But I think also he was a victim, although I'm not absorbing him of a bad season, he was also a victim of how Liverpool played. They did not play well. They did not play quickly. They did not play with any dynamic football. And he was never in a settled position. Dominic Sabozlai was the same but he's a very much more experienced player and he's been there longer he was moved from pillar to post but he was able to handle it but he wasn't the new guy in with the big expectations and I think the fact that Arnely Slott lost his job because Liverpool were so poor last year I think when you look at that and say well when Areola comes in if he gets this Liverpool team playing in a much more fluent style and can find a defined role for Florian Wirtz, on a consistent basis, that's going to help him.

52:12If he knows every week he's playing as a number 10 and the manager trusts him and that's what the manager's going to do. I just never felt that A, Arne Slott had made his mind up on that and B, Florian Wirtz probably, by the end of it, didn't know if he was going to be playing the left, playing the middle or on the bench. And that doesn't help your confidence. Jürgen, what strategies did your German team in the 1990 World Cup final apply that completely neutralized the threat of Maradona in that game, or was it just simply a case of having a bad day at the office?

52:47Jurgen Klinsmann:No, the strategy in the 1990 World Cup final was to play, to man-mark Diego Armando Maradona, and this was taken care of by Guido Buchwald, which then became the nickname Diego in Germany since then. So he was on him wherever he ran. Maradona, Guido Buchwald was marking him. If he would have gone to the bathroom, he would have gone to the bathroom with him. And it's maybe something you saw in the last few years, the teams start to man-mark again all over the pitch, like Pesce did, Bayern Munich did. You might see that in this Summer's World Cup as well, that certain coaches will utilize these man-marking methods.

53:29Jurgen Klinsmann:especially against the top stars, the big players. I mean, if you play now against Messi, after what Messi showed over the decades now, I wouldn't be surprised that most of the teams playing Argentina this summer will mainmark Messi. They will just try to get him out of the game. Don't let him touch a ball. He's always ahead of him. And our strategy in the ninth season, our friends Beckenbauer was simply take Diego Armando Maradona out of the game, threw Guido Buffard, it worked. He didn't see a ball, we won the game. Jürgen, it's interesting, I heard you talking, we've all seen that video of Maradona warming up, shoelaces undone, doing all the tricks ahead of kickoff.

54:14You were on the pitch of that game because it was against Stuttgart in the cup final.

54:21Jurgen Klinsmann:Yeah, and that's where the kind of the psychology kicks in. Because when you see a player like Diego Armando Maradona doing this warm-up, just jogging the ball to the rhythm of Life is Life, the music, and 70 ,000 in the stadium in Stuttgart, I mean, our home supporters, supposedly, are freaking out, cracking up. That's when they've won already the game. Because all us players, we were just staring at Maradona. We were not even warming up anymore. We were watching him. And by doing that, you already done, you already lost the game. Well, at the end, we tied it 3-3, but they won the first leg 2-1, so they won the UEFA Cup that year.

55:03Jules, which American dish are you looking forward to eating while in the USA covering the World Cup? We know Jules doesn't really like food. You're a bit of an anomaly, isn't he, when it comes to a Frenchman, Jules?

55:15I'm just not a foodie, you know, per se, but Gap keeps saying that, a cheesesteak. Gab. We have to go somewhere, especially, I know exactly. So at some point, I think I'll have to go along. Oh, man. What is an American dish? Really? I don't know. What would you say? Hot dogs. Oh, yeah. You've got the vendors, I mean, you're in New York. The kebabs and everything. Well, that's what a traditional American dish. Oh, OK. Cheeseburger. There you are. Pizza. Philly steak, they said. Jürgen, I've wait. Gab Harper on a bit of food again. Yeah, more food questions. Jürgen, I lately learned that you hold a degree as a baker.

55:52I was wondering if you still hang out late in the kitchen or does football occupy all his time? This was right, Jürgen, because your dad said if you're going to leave school, you need something else as a backup. So you went to learn to be a baker, basically.

56:08Jurgen Klinsmann:Yeah, that's correct. I got a professional contract offered at the age of 16, so after 10th grade, basically. And I wanted to go and play only. You know, my father said, no, no. I mean, you need something in your hands or in your back pocket if this football thing is not working out. So I said, okay, if I get a degree, a diploma as a baker, would you let me go then in the mornings to join the training session of the first team? And he said, yeah, that's okay. You know, so I did that for two and a half years. Got up at three in the morning, worked until seven, then got off for the training session, came back and did the second shift in the afternoon.

56:45Jurgen Klinsmann:But obviously it's easier when you... ...to do all those things anyway automatically. But the diploma is there. And what's your speciality, Jürgen? What do you still do now? Well, in our region, in southern Germany, the Stuttgart region, our special thing are pretzels. Oh, okay. Basically, yeah, and we were very well known at our little bakery in Stuttgart for the quality of the pretzels and I was pretty okay in doing them. Yeah, clearly. In making them. Stevie's got a diploma in bakery. Yeah, eating. Eating, that's it. Jules, what would you rather? A Wemby final win or France winning the World Cup?

57:32Wemby. Don't do that to me. Well, they got one back then. They 2-1 in the series now against the Knicks. Yeah, yesterday it was pretty amazing. I tried to get a ticket, but it was too impossible. so I watched it, there was a lot of screens all around the city to watch it. Yeah. I think Wembley's 22, he's got plenty of time to win an NBA title and also the NBA title is obviously every year, the World Cup is every four years and I'm sure he would not hate me for saying it because I think he wants France to win the World Cup too. So I would go with France winning a third star. I thought that was Wembley.

58:08Yeah, well that wouldn't make any sense, would it? Wembley finals? Yeah. Still wouldn't make any sense. I've no idea what they're written about. Well, that's all right. You don't know anything about basketball. I just thought it was Wemby. There we are. I don't know a lot about basketball. Well, you don't know who Wemby is. I don't follow it now. Well, that's what we're talking about now. League basketball, you know that. Well, I know, yes. Scotland under 16 star. That's all. But you brought it up. That is it then. Thank you very much. Enjoy your pick up game, Jules. Thanks for being with us, Jürgen, of course, with us throughout the World Cup.

58:36Breaking news. Benfica has confirmed that Jose Mourinho is leaving the club, expected to be presented as the new Real Madrid manager this week. We'll be discussing that on the next edition of the show.