World Champions Tame the Three Lions

25:08Well, that was our Mark Ogden yesterday talking about the reports that Manchester City had been found guilty of 114 of 115 charges. And these were the papers yesterday. And ahead of Spain's game with England today, Rodri was asked about Manchester City reportedly being guilty of the financial breaches. What we did, they cannot take it out of us. I mean, it's something that is not paid off by money, you know. It's paid with effort, with partnership, with, you know, being shoulder to shoulder every day. And yeah, we had a lot of success years here in Wembley. So I can only tell you that everything was deserved.

25:53And I'm glad that I could live one of the best eras of the English football. Well, here's what Manchester City Chairman Khaldun Al Mubarak had to say about the whole situation. The Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence and intent in proving the club's innocence is just as strong as when this began. There are so many things that I would like to be able to share with you to help you understand why we feel so confident in our position. But the strict confidentiality of the legal process and our determination to respect it means I cannot do that at the moment. While some people have been quick to reach their own conclusions and there is so much noise swirling around us, nothing has changed.

26:34We have faced challenges together before and have prevailed. All right, let's bring back in our Nadam Manoa. And why is that? Do you know Nadam's our Manchester City think, of course. Nadam, just your thoughts on the whole situation and, of course, the two statements and, of course, what Rodri had to say as well. yeah a few things firstly that's the happiest i've seen mark ogden possibly ever

27:01i think um i think i think i think as well as that it's interesting having somebody like roger come out and be asked a question about these charges which were from my time at man city i'm not sure if roger was even at the football club and i think there's going to be a split in the sort of coming days and weeks because so many people will be asked about this but it's people who media will have access to who have no real sort of say in this matter and it will be players because as well as say Rodri speaking in that manner I think Andy Robertson was spoken about, was asked a question about this earlier and he was saying the same thing in the fact that he said those players, they earn those titles from how they played so I think there's going to be a real split in terms of how people talk about this for what it is, the financial fair play side of things and then there's the football side of things as well because I think anybody that's played knows that you only know what you know you play the game that's in front of you you work as hard as you can if you end up being successful you know you remember those successes and I think those players have been through that time you know they will remember those because from my time there the I think the charges relate from 2008 and beyond for the next 89 years however long it was I saw a group of players who were trying to be successful group of players who were trying to change the way that the Premier League was trying to find success for themselves individually collectively the blood sweat and the tears that gave them the opportunity to potentially win that FA Cup title in 2011, to win the Premier League title in 2012 and yes this stuff obviously matters and it will be dealt with from whatever appeals and so on are being done but for those players that lived it they know the successes that they've had and they'll still feel very deserving of that and I think from a footballing standpoint, me as a former pro I'm not going to be the person that tells them that it's invalid because of something that they have no control over.

28:42Shaka? First of all, the cliche, justice delayed is justice denied, springs to mind. Sorry, can you repeat that? Justice delayed is justice denied. And the reason why I think that is so prevalent here is because while Nadam makes the point, and I'm sure he's not the first and won't be the last, that this happened a long time ago. This was a group of players before this group of players. But it's City who kind of kicked this can down this road or this far. So something has to be done, because in that meantime, you've seen Forest dock points, you've seen Everton dock points, you've seen, at the very least, Newcastle do all kinds of juggling acts in trying to get their finances in order, but yet still somehow City were able to drag this out for as long as they have.

29:37But then that's on their doing, on their ask, to the CEO's statement, which, again, was as bizarre as anything I've read in some time. Nothing changed?

29:54We have 114 charges. We mean nothing changed from last time we spoke. You're now found guilty? Yeah, so there's that. That, at the very least, has changed. and I went and I read a statement because it popped up on my timeline oh Manchester City I thought you were doing research no no no no Manchester City CEO issue statement I'm like oh boy here we go there's a statement so you have to click through the link now it feels like research so I do all that and reference you know makes a statement reference what I said back in February reference what I said back in 2023 and it was the same thing well we're taking care of this can't talk too much about it it's just it just feels it just feels so empty at this point and all we have to hang on now is that those titles were won fair and square this happened a long time ago even though again to kick the can this far down the road is City's doing and you so you can't now plead some kind of victim mentality because of the time that's lapsed.

31:11Nathan, what do you make of what Shaka had to say? Well, to be honest, I don't necessarily think that's what City are saying and it wasn't the point that I was making. I was more so making the fact that somebody like Rodri is having to speak about something which wasn't even during his time here. And I think in terms of the amount of time that's passed and some of the other issues that have happened since then, say Nottingham Forest, Everton and others who've been served punishments. One thing I will say is that the Premier League from then compared to now, there are different laws and sort of precedents that are in play, which is why I think Richard Masters himself, the head of the Premier League, I think his name is, he was saying that's why it was taking so long, because it is different to say the way that things are done now, which he's done a lot quicker.

31:52You know, the state of the Premier League now, the globalisation of it, the rules that they've had in play, the club sign-ups and new things has changed so much from this 2008-2009 time that guarantee you that there is a reason why it has taken longer i don't know what it is but as i say to consider like to look back at then as we do with now it won't be the case because even whenever there's a punishment if there is to be a punishment that's given you'll be according to it wouldn't even for some of it wouldn't be able to essentially set a precedent because what would what's been accused of happening back then can't functionally happen now anyway.

32:26So that's why I don't think it's fair to say that everything is all in the same and it's just taken this long to get to the same situation when other people have been dealt with far quicker because their situations have been different. What do you make of it all? Part of the reason their situations are different is because those teams cooperated with the investigation. You have City here not cooperating. It's 114 charges out of 115. Only one of those charges they got away with, if you will. I certainly sympathize with Nadim when he's saying that for the football It's not going to change how they worked, what they did on the field, how they felt when they achieved these great things.

33:00Nobody's going to take away the moment from Cun Agüero where he scores last minute against QPR and Manchester United loses the final. Nobody's going to take away what Pep Guardiola has done there, all these different things. But it puts an asterisk on everything. And certainly, while I can sympathize with the Manchester City fan and the Manchester City player, what about the Manchester United fan? What about the Liverpool fan? what about those players what about you thinking you did things the right way and here comes a club per the accusations circumvented finances through a loophole and had unfair advantage if they are found guilty and i agree that this won't be because of the premier league they'll certainly have to go through a third party here if they are found guilty it has to be it has to be something heavy.

33:51It has to be something that sets precedent where it's historic in the Premier League and it'll never happen again. If not, it just looks like City getting away with another one. Alain, I know you spoke a lot about this yesterday, but anything else you want to add? Well, I would just say that when you think about the number of charges, when you think about the amount of time, it's an accumulation of time that tells you that for that period of time, there was a culture of Manchester City, at the very least, pushing to the very limit of where these laws and these provisions, financial provisions, were put in place by the Premier League and by whatever competitions they fail to adhere to this law.

34:35So it's a, I mentioned yesterday, I used the word systemic, and that's what I think. it's systemic. It's a culture of, I mean, pushing it to the boundaries and it feels like, and let me just say, as a player, I lived on the fringes of legality. So I know, I know what that feels like and I know what that looks like. And you take it to the limit and you take it to the boundaries. But when you do it over a period of time, as long as they did, and all these charges have come together, it isn't just a one-time thing. It's a cultural thing within a club. And that is damning evidence. Not against the players, but it is damning evidence against those that were making decisions in the club.

35:19And whether we think it's fair or unfair, it affects everybody who's under the umbrella of Manchester City. And at this point, all of those people, whoever they may be, they're all vulnerable, including the players. Because whatever they achieve, they may feel strongly about their achievements. They may feel strongly about the things that they were able to do together. But from here till the end of times, if they're found guilty, those teams will be pointed at and singled out and said, you did it, but. And that you cannot do away. That cannot disappear. And it cannot disappear because, as Hercules just mentioned, this sets a new precedent.

36:04and it has to be a precedent that is clear for everybody so that you don't push the boundaries, so that you don't live this system and this culture of cheating because it's what it is. It's a culture of cheating. You cannot allow this to happen, not in the Premier League, not at the level that Manchester City and what they represent in terms of their brand and their club. It cannot happen. Premier League is too big to fail. And so Manchester City represents the Premier League And if indeed this is found to be guilty on all these charges, the example must be greater than anything you could think of.

36:41Can I just add, they have been found guilty of these charges. Sorry, the appeal. Yeah, we're no longer if or not. My bad. The other thing is, maybe this is Seneca me. I'm not expecting anything to come of this. Oh, really? Well, I didn't the first time. It's because, as Ali and I were talking about before, it's just hard to quantify this into one set punishment. No, I just think if you kick 115 charges down the line for the better part of 10 years. Natum's retired now. Exactly. It's Natum's fault. It's Natum's fault. Natum was responsible for 113 of them charges. Can we ask Natum one specific question?

37:22Did he take payments under the table? Was he part of the players? It was on the table. It was on the table. It was on the table. Big suitcase. Exactly. Exactly. Wow. Look at him.

37:38Ah, boy. Natum's just going to let that go. We'll talk about this in the future. Ten more years. Natum is the one charge that we're not guilty of. We are confident. Exactly. Natum says we are confident. Nothing has changed. Nothing has changed. We are confident we need to beat these charges. Natum's going to plead the fifth part as well. Well, of course, when the news broke yesterday, ESPN FC's episode yesterday spoke about this at length. Gab Marcotti even joined. And of course, our resident Prince of Darkness himself, Mark Ogden. You can check it out over on our YouTube channel. Right, let's talk back about the US Men's national team and Mauricio Pochettino because this is what he had to say about the red card that was overturned for Flo Balogun at the World Cup.

38:20He said, maybe I regret that I did not get more involved in the taking of that decision to suspend Balogun's red card. even more so than the fact that we were ruled to be in the right. I think no one really understood what happened. The energy changed in the moment that all this happened. It was not the best environment to go and compete in a World Cup. I think neither the tactics, strategy, nor the choice of who was going to play would have changed the course of what happened during that match. Of course, he's referring to the loss against Belgium. Herc, your thoughts on what Posh is saying? Let me start with the Balogun, the rule to be in their favor.

39:01They didn't rule it to be in your favor. They just ignored what happened. They didn't say this is not a red card. They just allowed Balogun to play. So could he handle things differently in what he said? Absolutely. They went from being tournament darlings in the eyes of many to having a massive target on their backs and not knowing how to deal with that massive targets. as far as nothing would have changed what happened versus Belgium, I don't believe in this, the lemons of Marisa Pochettino, what will be will be, good vibes. No, you're a coach. Tactically, you can change things. That's part of coaching.

39:40Formations, tactics, strategy. You could have changed something as Rudy Garcia did in this game versus Belgium when he changed his midfield and gave it more legs. And they ran you over. When they pick you apart, you can absolutely change things on the field. Is it an unfortunate circumstance what happened? Absolutely. Faller and Balogun himself has said it. We didn't know how to handle the pressure. My teammates didn't know how to handle the pressure. Anybody with eyes could see this was unfortunate for Faller and Balogun, and the U.S. men's national team crumbled because of the target on their back.

40:15This whole just running in circles with this that Marisa Pochettino has been doing, it does him no favors. and saying that nothing would have changed that outcome, why have a coach? Nadam has one of the calmest, coolest faces I have ever seen. But when I was reading that quote from Pochettino, Nadam, you were almost scratching your head. Yeah, I was trying to figure out what exactly is he trying to say. So he should have been more involved, but there was nothing that could be done. It was the right decision, but it was this and it was that. And I think the more he talks, it's more I'm thinking to myself, oh, I forgot the game was in Belgium, wasn't it?

40:50Oh, no, it wasn't. it was at home in the US in front of your own fans so I think having that side of things probably negated some of the stresses that were there but when he says he wishes he was more involved, more involved to do what? To do what exactly? And I think, you know, Herc's made a good point. The way that Pochettino was speaking after the red card was disappeared let's just say disappeared he sounded like for me, he just wasn't a football person he said, oh it's the right decision, everything's fine we're having all these wider discussions every media outlet how could a player possibly have this red card just disappear and for him he's like yeah it's the right decision he's back and then he's thinking he's probably he's going to play him he's going to do this going to do that and i felt like he really missed the moment the tone was wrong the sort of understanding of the game was wrong from somebody who's hugely experienced and i'm with ferk again thinking that this idea of like what will be will be there literally is no point having a coach if that's exactly how they feel.

41:46These are coaches that should be able to sense a moment, look at their players see what the right team is, see what the right tactics are and try and manage the moment for the side to be successful and what a great opportunity it was for the USA Obviously Balogun he's the one for me that probably played with the toughest situation because he probably knew within his heart of hearts that he shouldn't have been out there but for everybody else, for the coach, for everyone else involved rooting for the same thing I think they could have handled it far better I'm disappointed in some ways that Pochettino did the way he did it the way he did it in the summer and even making statements like this now for me it just makes no sense whatsoever.

42:21Ale you equally as confused with these comments? Well it's it's a definition of Captain Deflecto it's like don't look at me to make the big decision in the big moment uh that was sort of taken out of my hands by others and I just didn't have the clarity to affect or impact the game. But that is your job. That is by definition what you're supposed to do, to be able to look at the big picture, to digest and process information, and be able to communicate that information to your players, so that then, when they get on the field, the tactics make sense, the feeling makes sense, the overall picture of the team makes sense.

43:06For a manager, after the fact, to say, well, this game was lost even before we showed up because the feeling wasn't great. I mean, it's a referendum on you as a manager. And I don't think that he actually acknowledges that or internalizes that, that this looks poorly on him. And yet he is deflecting that responsibility and said, nothing that I could do. So what you're telling me is that the four of us here and Natum all the way in England, we could have done just as much as Mauricio Pochettino could have done in preparation for that match? That is a poor look for the manager, and for a manager who, by the way, is well-paid to make these big decisions.

43:48Jack? I'll be honest. So as I'm reading Pochettino's statement, my first thought is, no, there really wasn't anything he could do. These decisions and this suspension of the red card was made at a political level, never mind football, at a political level that went way above him. You want to go further in that, Jack? No, I don't. No, I don't. And nor should Pochettino have gone any further than that. I think he was absolutely right to stay clear of it. I'll tell you what, though. Here's where he lost me. Me as a person of football who has the emotional intelligence to understand that this can change the energy of the situation.

44:26Well, if you're a person of emotional intelligence, then you don't play him. It's no good making that claim after the fact. If that is who you are and you recognize that, that's when you make the change. You don't claim that, well, three months after. And that, for me, is where Pochettino lost me in terms of his spinning, I guess you could call it, of that situation. That was good reading, Shaq. I know. Thank you very much. I was a little scared because you didn't have the glasses on. There's a lot to go wrong in this situation. with receipts. That's our boy. A lot. That's our boy. Oh, boy, oh, boy.

45:10I'm making a research. Oh, no.

45:18This is what happened on Extra Time yesterday. We'll be back answering your questions again today. We'll see if we can get anybody else to do some pick-ups. All right, okay. All right, well, let's talk about Kylian Mbappe, right? Because we do have an injury update. There were some big concerns yesterday after he scored the only goal in France's 1-0 win over Turquie, but he had to be substituted shortly after. Now, there was a big concern surrounding his knee, and even Zinedine Zidane said it didn't really look too good, but he has returned to Madrid for further examinations, and the news is pretty positive.

45:48They say he's expected to miss only two weeks. So that means he'll be available for La Liga when things get going again. Real Madrid will be back in their first game after the international break against Villarreal. That is October 10th. Barcelona will be playing Getafe that same day and Atlético de Madrid are away at Alaves. All games will be on the ESPN app. Fast Growing Trees is now Trees.com, America's largest, most trusted online nursery. With over 3 million happy customers, they carry thousands of trees and plants that are grown with care and guaranteed to thrive. From privacy and fruit trees to shrubs, flowering trees, houseplants, and more, trees.com makes it easy to find plants that truly work for you, delivered to your door.

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47:59Check it out. All right, that's going to do it for this edition of ESPN. I'm still laughing when Ale was like, it's a miracle for me at a cafe. Well, extra time is coming up next. Don't go anywhere. We'll see if I can get any of these guys to do some push-ups better than Stevie did. Right, guys? Better than Stevie? That's better. I can't understand. I can't understand. I can't understand.

48:25Welcome into Extra Time, everyone. We have got Hercules Gomez, Shaka Hissab, Alejandro Moreno, and all the way in England. Staying up late for us is our Nadam Onua. Right. Should we put this to rest then? Can anyone do a push-up better than Stevie? At least one. I don't want to see the knees on the floor. I don't want to see the knees on the floor because Stevie was doing the knee-on-the-floor push-ups, which are quite dangerous for his knees at this age, let me just be honest. Just do one. I can, yeah, we can. Come on, Jack it's off. Let's see it. How many do you need? Just one. All right, Miranda.

48:57All right, Miranda. Just a perfectly planked push-up. And Natum is the fittest of everybody here. Ten. So Natum can be the judge to see if it is true push-up form. Fifteen. Fifteen. No. What was it? Five. Whatever number you want, Seth. Okay. No. That's not. Okay. No, that is confidence. Where do I go? Where do I go? You, right here. Where should he go? Here? Go there, go right there. Go to Stevie's spot. Go to Stevie's spot. Yeah, go to Stevie's spot. What is it, five? Natum, I hope you're watching four improperly. Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!

49:51That was, oh my dang. Oh, boy. Naydum, you got a clap from Naydum. We got a third, man. All right, so we won't even let Shaka do a second. Thank you very much. Herc, can you betta that? Thank you very much, Ali. Can you betta that? There's no better in that. There it is. I can't remember who my name is right now. Naydum, form, top quality. Naydum can betta. Naydum can betta. I can't betta that. Naydum can do that. No, no. Nah, I can't do that. That's speed, that's incredible. Ale, very impressive. Good form, it was form. All right, Nathan, we're going to show you Stevie's push-ups. And now that you've seen Ale, who clearly has set the bar, I want you to let me know, as the fittest person on ESPN FC, where Stevie's rank.

50:44Respectfully, if you intro'd this and said, But this is Steven Nicol doing the worm. That would make more sense than Steven Nicol doing push-ups. But credit to him. Oh, boy. At this point, I thought he's never going to get up. I know. We lost him. At this point, I thought it was going to be me having to pick him up. That's a risk right there. We were very concerned. And can I just say, Adam Moreno did all of that, and he's not even winded. I think he held his breath by doing that. He held his breath. He was talking. He was talking. He was like, still pushing and going, how many more you want? Still holding.

51:21Herky, you can't. Come on. I've seen a fit Herky. No, no, no, no. Herky. No. There was speed. There was movement. Can I also say about Stevie? He was so confident when he said, I can do five. When Kay asked him about doing push-ups, I'm like, let's not get crazy. And then he said five. I'm like, well, I want to see that. And then I saw what he called a push-up, the first one, and then, you know, he came back and sat down and said, I really thought I could do it. How old is Stevie? How old is Stevie? How old is our Stevie Nicole? Well, too old to do five push-ups. That's good. Whatever age you need to be to do five push-ups, we're going to have to Google it.

52:05All right, well, Natum is the voice of reason. He's 64. Look, I understand that he's having difficulties doing push-ups, but he was confident. He was very confident. He didn't even. He's got a bad shoulder as well. He did four and a half. No, he didn't. No, he didn't. I don't think he did one. He did not do one. No, I'll give him the first one. I thought the first one was good. No, he definitely did more than one. The first one was good. No, no. After that, his legs were on the floor. He was stretching like a yoga position. He was doing that. What is it? And he was stretching like a yoga position.

52:38Downward dog. He was rolling on his belly a little bit. He was using his belly to roll a little bit. That's a tough crowd. Wow. Negov has spoken. Ale Moreno is the bar. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Back to Venezuela. All right. That's for sure. Glad we settled that debate. Let's get into some questions. First one now. Craig's headbutt followed by Stevie's push-ups. How will the crew top the last two days? I think we just did. But in case anybody missed Craig's headbutt, I mean, this probably shouldn't surprise anybody. But this was Craig's headlight here. This is underrated, and perhaps people underappreciate the fact that, look at Shaka.

53:22Look at Shaka. He's looking for a corner. Where can I eat? Where can I eat the cake? Don't have the whole cake. So then Shaka pulls the cake away, and if you continue the video, Shaka is looking for a corner where he can actually eat the cake. Yeah, yeah. Shaka is looking for where? There's a whole cake. Where Craig's mouth is tucked. I only come in here for the cake. I'm only here for the cake. Do you eat any cake? Hell yeah.

53:52Shaka said, well, to answer your question, I think we did top that. Ale Moreno did push-ups for everybody on this panel. That was impressive. And Nadam, who, like I said, is the fittest of us all, said that that's it. King, pop off. Next question. Nadam, Nadam, why did today's game in general, or what did today's game in general, tell you about England and their supposed lack of footballing DNA as described by their manager himself?

54:25Well, I'll be honest, I don't really like Thomas Tuchel as the England coach. I think some of the stuff he's said and some of his decisions in the past, even the fact a year ago he's basically trying to make Jude Bellingham out to be the worst person in the history of English football. Like, I don't really like that. So I think today with the players that he had, yes, he tried to get them to play a bit more and they did to a certain extent. Possession was nearly 50-50. But in reality, Spain is just a better side. I don't think it's systemic because, to name an example, someone like Alex Baena, who scores the goal to make it 2-2, I believe.

54:56He was playing in the under-21s Euros final against James Trafford, say, three years ago. So James Trafford is used to beating Alex Baena, as crazy as that may sound. So I don't really believe in this DNA type thing. but I think when it comes down to those marginal decisions, I'd rather have somebody on the sideline who has a bit more belief in his players in the biggest moments but is also brave enough to make the bigger decisions as we saw him not do just a couple of months ago. When Nathan was about to answer that question and his first reaction was, I thought you were asking about Manchester City again and the Chargers.

55:29Oh, no. No, I know. I know not to poke the bear. All right. Yeah, right. Me? Jacked up. Me poke this bear. But today was more, I mean, not that much Thomas Tuchel and more players and emotional intelligence. Mark Gay, he loses the ball 40 seconds in. Lamin-Yamal takes advantage. Harry Kane misses a penalty kick. Emotional intelligence. Come on, bro. Just because Mauricio Pochettino said it, now you're using emotional intelligence. He said emotional intelligence? Whatever. In the quote, yeah. All right. But Herc did use emotional intelligence, too, before the World Cup. You said you felt that the U.S.

56:06Men's National Team needs that so that they don't concede. Well, it's not the first time I've ever used it. There we go. Yeah, but today's not... Today's not like Thomas Tufel. Today was on the play. Who did the best emotional intelligence? Trust me. I think Stevie did. I don't know. Stevie did. Oh, boy. All right, we'll leave it at that. But I would never poke that bear. What? Ask Needham. I have not said a single comment, not even after the Manchester Derby. Nothing. Not a peep, right, Needham? Allegedly. Allegedly. I have the receipts. I can pull up the last message. All right. Okay. Hey, hey, hey.

56:43I thought we were all having fun. Then you just hit in. Sorry. There was no emotion in Tyler Johnson. You're right. That was just raw emotions. Pure reactionary. I apologize. I apologize. Next question. Okay. Keep it together. Ale, which player would make it to your diving camp from England versus Spain? Jude earning the penalty or sacca against Cucureia? Jude Bellingham, because he actually got the call. And it is not a dive per se, but it is the execution of the drawing contact from Rodri. Rodri has now extended his leg. It is not the responsibility of Jude Bellingham to get out of the way. And so he made very sure and very clear that he dragged his feet so that there was the slightest of touches, then go down, draw the foul, force the referee into decision.

57:36So Jude Bellingham for sure makes the diving camp proud today. Saka needs your diving camp then. Yeah, Saka probably needs it. Yes. And so all you have to do, Bukayo, is give me your credit card number. And on a monthly basis, we'll just bill you. What's the going rate at the moment? Well, it depends. Bukayo Saka's a little higher. He can afford it. I think he and Jude can afford it. A little higher. A little higher. A little premium. Yeah. Premium. Yeah, it is a premium package. Yeah, premium package. Only the best for Bukayo. Only the best for Bukayo. Next question for Herc. Maybe even Platten.

58:10Oh, Platten. Oh, yeah. Oh, okay. Love that. We're absolutely selling it. Herc, the level of intensity we saw on display tonight in Spain versus England, even if it came in stints, how long do you think it'll be before the U.S. men's national team is able to come close to matching or replicating it? Why such a disparity? If we're talking about intensity, you can match it. You can even come close to doing more when it comes to intensity. The American player has no problem when it comes to athleticism or intensity. You want to talk about high level, high skill, interchanging, tactical analysis. That's going to take some time for the U.S.

58:49Men's Nation to understand. They don't have those players. They don't have the same players or that luxury. Marcio Pochettino can't look down the bench and say, what do you say about? No, right now he had Julian Hall after Justin Ellis and in his best day after Foller and Balogun, he's got Ricardo Pepe. They don't have that type of player. But when it comes to the intensity, that's actually something that favors the American athlete, favors the U.S. men's national team player. That's not the problem for them. That's their arena. What about the emotional intelligence? Oh, here we go. You know, I should start a camp.

59:19We should start a camp. Would you like to We can go buy one get half off. You get his half off. Full price over here. This camp is already established. Okay. So the emotional, the Hercules Gomez camp of emotional intelligence. You heard it right here. It just got founded. When somebody dives on you. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Anybody else want to jump in on this one? You feel the USA camp? No, Shaq? Football America's track? Don't jump in. What about Kevin Sullivan? Your player to watch. Kevin Sullivan got his debut today. We've spoken so, you've spoken so highly about him over the last couple months on Football America because I know he was your one to watch.

1:00:05What did you think of his individual performance today for the U.S.? Write in. Write in your question. I don't take questions on the side. There's no side gig. Hashtag. Hashtag. All right. Next question. For the panel, how surprised are you that Luka Modric is still scoring goals at 41? Nato, no surprise. To be honest, I'm not surprised if they allow him time to walk up the field and then just take a free shot. No, I'm not surprised at all. I think if it's a case of putting him more under pressure, trying to play into some of the weaknesses that exist with players, as they get older, then yes, I would be more surprised.

1:00:47But I think they kind of played into his hands there. Obviously, there was a little feint that he did, but I think the guy said it when they were showing the highlight before. He's not going to run away from you, so maybe now's the time to get a little bit tighter. Otherwise, a little magician will continue to do what he's done for the last 20 years. He's still faking out people, though. Did you notice the little feint from Nato? Are you going? He dropped his shoulder. He dropped his shoulder. Hey! Hey!

1:01:17Is that the Nader Manua cap for faking it up? No, no, man. That's Manchester Saturday night. That's too many nights out of Manchester Saturday night. That's what that is. Oh, yeah. It's those papers from Manchester City. Hey!

1:01:34Hey! Hey! Hey! I've made him duck in 114 charges, right? Hey! Yeah!

1:01:44Blow, blow.

1:01:48Neda, it be your own people. That's all I'm saying. I had nothing to say about this. Just going to keep it to myself. Right. Luka Modric, Ale, you and I speak so highly of him all the time. Oh, what about him? What? Surprised that he's still doing this? I thought we were going to the next question. Oh, we could, but I know you rate Luka Modric a lot, so I thought you'd have a little two cents. No? I want to go with the next question. We're going to go with the next question. All right. Herc, are people really upset at Rafa Marquez for saying Mexico can't play like Barcelona? Yeah. The people in Mexico, the fan base, part of the press, the Mexican press, they think it's defeatism.

1:02:21And I, quite frankly, don't understand this. We spoke about this on the last show on Americas, and I mentioned it, and then Ali used the very exact phrase that Rafa Marquez used. They don't have materia prima. They don't have the material to do it. so it would be illogical it would be crazy to think they could play like Barcelona he was the exact same phrase and yet people are like well why has he already given up? and I just, I ask okay, simple exercise who's going to be Cubarsi? Johan Vásquez? who's going to be Cancelo? is that Gallardo or Mateo Chávez? who's going to be Cunde? and I keep going down the list if you want me to get to Lamine and Rafinha you don't have those players it's going to be an extension of what you saw in the World Cup and the fact that he's already getting this type of hate and people expect him to be there at the end of four years, it's crazy to me.

1:03:11So just another casual day. For non-Spanish speaking viewers, not me, what does sin inventos mean? Sin inventos. Yeah, what is that? Like you're not saying without making things up. Without inventing. Not for me, I understood that. I understood it. Like reinventing a way to play. New ideas or stuff like that. That's for other people. I thought you were going to ask for my technique. Nadam didn't know what it was. I understood. I understood. Basically, it's like, let's not get crazy. Right, yeah, yeah. Come on. That's what I thought. That was for Nadam, not Xhaka. Never Xhaka. All right. Final question.

1:03:45During the telecast, it was shared that Justin Ellis looked up to Gio Reyna, even though there's only about a four-and-a-half-year age difference. Was there a player that you looked up to or you mentored, even though you were relatively the same age? Good question. Shaq? Uh-uh.

1:04:08So there's one name that comes to mind, John Barnes. And it comes to mind - You mentored him. No, it comes to mind because like John and I share a lot of the same spaces. We do talks together. And I always say, I looked up to John Barnes and he always like, Shaq is two years younger than me. So it's now become a running joke. So when you say that, that's the first thing that comes to mind. I always say, I grew up looking up to John Barnes, and he goes crazy. Jamaicans. Chaka loves Jamaicans. What can I say? Trini's always looking up to us. That's true. There you go. We're great brothers. Yay. And sisters.

1:04:45Herc? Funny enough, when I was in L.A., I was 19 years old. Carlos Reese, Pescadito Fish, was like 23, around that age, 24 maybe. I looked a lot up to him then, and then we became teammates at Puebla later on when I'm 26, 27, he's 30, 31. And even though there was only like about four years difference, I always saw him as somebody. Now, it wasn't so much of a mentorship. That wasn't really his thing. But he's somebody that I always really enjoyed watching. And even though we were very different players, I looked up to, in a sense. You know, the funny part about that is that I was a teammate of Herx as well.

1:05:21Oh, but he didn't. What's the age gap, though? Four years. Oh, four years, too? No, nothing. No love. But I was with him twice. He didn't notice you. No, not at all. No love whatsoever. No, you'll have two camps. Exactly. Out of side by side. We are beginning to reconsider that idea. LLC will start soon. Ale, what about you? You looked up to her. You felt like you mentored apart from Herc. Well, I mentored her too. But mentoring went one way. It was received. He was a 19-year-old kid, and I saw a lot of good things. You saw one of his shows. You saw a lot of potential. Potential, yeah. I saw that.

1:06:05See? I saw that when we were playing at the San Diego Gauchos. That's right. Yeah. Where Hercules was the superstar. You know how much of a superstar he was? He wore a Superman jersey under the action. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. And when he was introduced, he was Hercules, Superman. No, man. No. And when he scored, he would take the chair. and he was super mad. Oh, please. They were not introduced that way. I had to take that away. Where has this information been all my life? Where are the photos we must find? I had to mentor that away. No cameras back there. They never introduced me that way.

1:06:47Mentor that away. Look at Clark Kent over there. We need to adjust his name card. And little thing you know, that I came down to play with some of the Ogauchos because I was coming back from injury and they had a deal, an understanding with the LA Galaxy. A partnership. A partnership. And so they sent me down there for a rehab. USL. And I went and played. Hercules. With Superman. With Superman. Go.

1:07:14It's also like 85 degrees out and he's playing with clothes. Now you know it's a lie. It's not 85 degrees in San Diego. Oh, my God. So the lie is the weather. It's the temperature. Not the fact that you were playing with clothes. Yeah. I had to mentor that away. Nader, Superman, Unruh, what about you? Did you mentor anyone or look up to anyone close in age? Well, two parts really. So in 2008, when I was at City, they signed a defensive midfielder. This was when Mark Hughes was manager. And he was doing really well in midfield. Then he had a couple of injuries and so on. And then we were playing the game in particular.

1:07:52And we had somebody sent off. It was Richard Dunne, the other centre-half. So I was playing at centre-back. So the midfielder number 33 came back to play in centre half of me and I led him through that game And we played a few games together from that standpoint And that number 33 ended up being Vincent Kompany So Vincent Kompany is somebody I mentor for approximately two games and then as you can see he went one way I went the other but then if we're gonna talk about players who are sort of looked up to Like Lionel Messi's a year younger than me and he's my favourite ever player It's been a privilege to like have watched him at the same time when I was playing football at the same time So yeah, even though he's younger, I still look to that guy like he was a guy that played one game at the Nou Camp.

1:08:31He was essentially more or less a friendly but in front of 90 ,000 people. And I'll never forget that feeling of when he came out onto the field, he didn't even feel like a real person because that was the guy who, you know, in football I loved more than any other player I'd ever seen before. So yeah, those are my two stories. Vincent Kompany, slightly mentored. Lionel Messi, favorite player ever, and he's younger. He mentored Messi. He mentored Messi. Nina Manuov mentors you. Yes, that's it. That's what we're going to take from this. He'll take it. All right, there's your answers. I can't go.

1:09:02I can't go without Superman image, man. I know. Oh, yeah. We need to find video of that. Oh, yeah. Oh, boy. There surely has to be a video of that. He played in high school. There's no PA. Come on. Yes, there is. So hold on. You see how he's not denying the fact that he had a Superman jersey underneath. What does a Superman jersey look like? Oh, apparently we have a Superman on our panel. That's not Hercules. Oh, hey! Oh, hey! Oh, hey! Oh, man! Look at him go! I'm out of breath! I'm out of breath! Look at him! Oh,

1:09:41boy! Oh, boy! Oh, man! I'll tell you what. It's nice to know they both took just as long. I accomplished two very different numbers of push-ups. God, boy. Wow. Man. Wow. All my days. ESPN FC. Can we clip that up? You get it off. Yeah, we're going to clip that up. I'm going to send that to Mrs. Moreno. Hey, come on! I love you, babe! I love you! Oh, Saturday night! Clip it up! This is all yours and I'm coming home! Well, that is just a taste of what we get up to on ESPN FC. Remember, you can tune in to this absolute rollercoaster of a show seven days a week for more push-ups and analysis.

1:10:52We'll see you next time. Earn win and rewards points with every qualified stay. Tonight, La Quinta, tomorrow you shine. Book your next trip at LaQuinta.com. Terms and conditions apply.