Michael Holley on Celtics Roster Dynamics

This is an IiHart podcast Guaranteed human. Hey guys, it's Dasha here. The World Cup brings cities to life. Streets buzzing, crowds gathering, every goal sparking celebration. Moments like this are impossible to miss, but some moments are so quiet They slip right past us. Human trafficking affects real people across the US, and it often looks different from what we think. Some survivors cannot simply walk away or ask for help. so learn the signs. Break the silence. Visit bluecampaign d. gov slash World Cup. Every goal starts with insist. As official partners of U.S soccer, this team is ready to deliver Sentidine, dentist recommended defense of your sent of teeth. Centrum fueling your day with science back nutrients. Advil. Of course, powerful inflammation fighting pain relief, Vularin arthritis gel. helps us penetrate deep. keeps the joints moving and tums Ready to counter attack with fast heartburn relief. Learn how Halon can assist your game dayay goals at Halon asssist d. com slash com Indeed spponsored Jobs gets you quality candidates when you need the most. spepend less time searching, and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs, and listeners of this show will get do seventy five dollars sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at indeed dot com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply Need to hire? This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. Alienware iss back to school events the perfect time to score top gaming gear with incredible features and Intel core processors. To go beyond performance, startart your Alienware journey with the Alienware fifteen gaming laptop featuring Intel core processors smmoothly game, live stream and multitask for hours on end Ppare your incredibly smooth gaming experience and immersive visuals and sound by saving on sleek alienware monitors, headsets and more. This limited time sale awaits you now at alienware d. com slash deals. That's alienware d. com slash deals Thanks for listening to the best of the Heard podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Foxports Radio and noon to three Eastern nine AM to noon Pacific Find your local station for the herd at Foxportsradio. com Or stream us live every day on the IiHart Radio app by searching Foxports Radio or FSR. This is The Best of the Hed with Colin Cown on Fox Sports Radio Here we are. It is Thursday. W that the greatest win all things considered in the history of United States men's national team soccer, JMac to his credit, got on a plane, flew up to Santa Clara, watched the game texting, flying back. So we'll talk about his observations. It was unbelievable. And let's not waste any time. Let's get to the thing Everybody is talking about The egregious red card given to Falloron Balligan, he will not be able to play against Belgium up in Seattle U Okay, so let's just talk about that. First of all, intention matters Even in our judicial system, that's the difference between like an accident and calculated This was not intentional. I'm not sure even saw the player. Secondly, the VAR, the review system was created for facts, like goal, no goal. offs sides, not off sides. It wasn't created to decipher intensity arguments because everything in Slomo, as Hollywood directors know Everything looks more malicious in Slow mooold I mean, initially the play didn't even draw a yellow card. So you go from no yellow card to a suspension That is a mile leap that feels inappropriate. Referees also have to consider the stakes, World Cup, elimination, knockout stakes. NFL does this in preseason The NFL will send messages through their officials in preseasason But once the season starts, you call the game in a knockout stage. This is a Super Bowl. It's a conference championship. It's an NBA final A suspension? Due to a slow motion replay, there's also inconsistency. Mess' looked just like this He didn't even get a yellow card. likeike what what's going on here? Is that because he's messy and it's Argentina And the fact that this is not reversible when we don't have a game at the knockout stage for several days, four or five days, it feels very archaic. I know I'm an American. What do I know about soccer? Listen, here's the good news. It was a great night. Outside of that, it was virtually a perfect night. the resilience this team showed. And the maturity this team showed Even these same same players four years ago could not have done this We just weren't good enough We were mature enough. We weren't experienced enough But now all these players, thirteen guys from that World Cup, a learning experience, all the friendlies European play to this World Cup And to be down a man when he gets suspended, clinging to a one, nothing leag, Bosnia got some great shhots on gold. The soccer gos We're on our side. They got a couple of great looks. We're a man down. This is intense and it is difficult I just felt the maturity, the fight, the resilience And then Malik Tillman with in my opinion as good a goal, a free kick ever seen in a World Cup from the United States. hereere it is. If there's anyone on the field that can float it into that top corner. It's that man that jersey and it looks like Messi or Ronaldo That is unbelievable. There were a half dozen moments Balligan was ejected, We could have regressed We could have unraveled, but as the kids say, we never crashed out We were stoic, we were smart, we were resilient That was crisis management on display Our Stoicism? O fight our EQ our IQ. I mean, our attacking players and our midfielders, folks, we have depth I mean, to curl that ball over that wall, that is messy. We could have scored two other goals, but appropriately there was an offsides And these hydration breaks, criticize them all you want. five minutes after that red card, hydration break time for the United States, which was a tactical reset Again The soccer gos a little bit on our side last night. That tactical reboot was essential. We got more aligned But now Ricardo Pppi will be the fill in. I imagine against Belgium. We either a pick him or slightly favored. I think' win. I think Seattle is worth half a goal You know, they say in the NFL a home field can be worth two points to a field goal. I think Seattle's worth half a goal. It's worth shots on gold. the It's the best North American soccer city in my opinion and Miami's great And Kansas City is great and LA is great. And I mean New York and Philadelphia, Chicago But a big part of succeeding at the World Cup is coping Coping with a bad card, coping with a bad call, coping with an injury We coped at an incredibly high level last night Here's Mauricio Pochatino on that red card For me never is ser is real c watching afternoon TV and Never was the intention Nam to step up of the player that was A normal action in football that happened because by accident and it's never intentional, that is why for me it's never ro car Okay, so I want to go on and expand on that. So FIFA's reputation globally, there has been a reputation in soccer as a whole, really soccer as a whole. Integrity, corruption Of all the sports, I would argue soccer needs checks and balances. I don't like one referee having that much power. I said this for years about Roger Gell. I didn't like Roger Goodell handling suspensions. likeike have a committee Men, women, player, exX player, execut have a committee. That's too much power for a commissioner It can't be one man's worldview on suspensions I mean, Bosnia had no yellow cards in the first half. There were no yellow cards That was one of the more physical first halfves in the World Cup. And Bosnia is not as skilled as us. Bosnia knew their way to beat us was rough up Faller and Balligan and Christian Pulisk and Weston McKinney, they knew that was the route to success And they went after him. I mean, go to the first fifteen, twenty minutes. That was JMac was there. That was physical. And there were no yellow cards And yet an incidental contact Is a suspension Like to me, it felt like overcompensation. It's like, okay, there's been some passivity in the officiating Now we're going to levy the fine. Here comes the anvil It didn't feel right. Like sometimes and you don't have to be an expert to suggest something I'm not a socer expert Like like I'm not a movie critic I'm not a music expert. I'm not an expert really at anything, right Parenting, being a husband, being a sportscaster But I have eyes I can see stuff I mean, Balligan's not even watching the player So to me, would they have called that on messy in Argentina If the World Cup was in Argenta, didn't it feel a little bit like You know, America, you're not quite You're not quite at that level yet. There's a There's some things you have to There's stages and steps. Don't get ahead of yourself. I mean, again, I'm not I'm not conspiracy guy. I just it felt to me way way over the top Fower and Baligan. off all our players is not a guy that you think of as, well, that guy is He'll lower the boom on you. He's our most skilled striker He's a phenomenal young skilled talent But I mean, I just I don't see it. Here H was Land and Donovan after the wind They are a better team than Bosnia, more talented, better in the attacking and they had all the ball the game. And then real adversity. The Turkey game was a little adversity. This was real adversity, rolled up their sleeve, could have scored two goals with a man down. I was so stressed the last fifteen minutes, even my fake hair was falling out. So no more of that, please win wemost had a bit of paper All right, J. Mac, you are at what is I mean, you know, we're so lucky that we've gotten some breaks here like Seattle, Santa Clara, Los Angeles. We've been able to stay in the same, you know time zone. We've gotten great weather for it. rememember Qatar, the heat Our travel' not as great. So I mean, things have worked out in our favor. We've also made our breaks. The offsides calls were both totally appropriate. Yeah. But it's just it was interesting to me becausecause u Again, you don't have to be a soccer expert O a football expert or a baseball expert to sometimes look at sports and go, that doesn't feel right in the stadium. what did it feel like? The outrage, Colin. First of all, I don't know why they weren't showing replays in the stadium. They did not show the Balligan Rd card once in the stadium. I had to go on my phone and look at the fox. I think that's intentional. Yeah. I don't think they want to get World Cup crowds riled up. I think it's already the most passionate intense environments in all of sports. I don't I think that's almost intentional. And this didn't seem like a wine and cheese crowd. You know, the San Fran folks kind of can be soft. This was a juiced up soccer crowd. peopleeople going crazy outside the stadium. It it's cool. I've never been to a sporting event where it's like ninety five percent of the crowd is on one side. You know usually it's sevenenty thirty and it so so far usually for NFL games. It's largely split. But this was this was awesome. And I will say the Balligan Rd card kind of depressed things and I was worried. I thought we would blow it eleven against ten And our defense was just extraordinary. Colin, think about this. ourur defense in three games has given up one goal. I'm excluding the backups playing against Turkey. Three games, one goal That's amazing. Tyler Adams was extraordinary. McKinney, as you alluded to was excellent Bosnia had one touch in our box When it was eleven on eleven. That's it. one time we dominated that game And you know, I'm not going to look ahead to Belgium. I was on the flight. so I missed a lot of the Belgium game It sounds like from you watching it, we're going to have a shot. I think we beat Belgium. I watched the entire Belgium Senegal game U I thought they were mostly outplayed Um, I thought Senegal I don't know, it fel like got less aggressive late. Yeah. that's how it came across to me. I mean they two goal lead in the final like fiveutes And Belgium, by the way, in they've got a couple of older players. Yeah. So you know, it's interesting, you know, I'm not a nutritionist or a trainer, but it would feel like to me as an older player Now it shortens in the knockout stage, your rest days. Is that an advantage for us? Like in the group stage, you get a week off in the knockout stage, you get fewer days. So for older players is that more punitive? We have a very either young team or going into our prime athletically. So it would feel first of all, I think Seattle is a half goal advantage if has that. I feel our youth plays well in the knockout stage because you get less rest time And I think our momentum is unbelievable. I will tell you that we talk about, you know, we're not soccer experts, you more than me, you've got some ownership in a soccer team, but A lot of this stuff when I watch soccer in the World Cup is not schemes. It's just great players. Polisic is such a problem I mean, Christian Pulisic, when he gets the ball off to the left. Yeah. I mean, you can sense from the body language of the defenders. everybody gets a little uptight, everybody gets tense U The worst part about the Fallor and Battigan thing is he is such an energy producer. I love watching him play. I just he's so I mean, there's just sometimes You just there are certain athletes that they're just electric Yeah and they just they are a battery. When he gets the touch in the box. I mean he had the one goal that was called offside and then he actually scored, but Cullen, he's our best offensive threat. I know this is going to sound nerdy I'm of the belief that FIFA might do the right thing. Look at this and be like, guys, we messed up We messed up that should not have been a red. It should have been a yellow. any plays. By the way, you noted that the pricing from the markets is that this is a toss up without Balligan. Without our top goal score? I think having watched Belgium now three times, I will take the United States Men'sational And then bring on Spain, assuming Spain gets by Austria today Malik Tilman. Oh, he's good. That free kick, you said it, man. That's the stuff you see out of life. If you took Tillman's jersey off, put messy on, it would be one of those top fifty important goals in World Cup history. That is so hard to curl it over that wall It's just I watched it a hundred times this morning on the Fx social stuff. Be sure to catch live editions of the Heard weekdays in Non Eastern nine AM Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS one and the IHart Radio app. It's me, Rob Parker. Check out my weekly MLB podcast inside the Parker for twenty two minutes of pipe and hot baseball talk featuring the biggest names and newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe in analytics or the Ie test, we've got all the bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday. so do yourself a favor and listen to Inside the Parker with Rob Parker on the Harart radio app Or wherever you get your podcast. Hey guys, it's Dasha here. The World Cup brings cities to life. streets buzzing, crowds gathering, every goal sparking celebration. Moments like this are impossible to miss, but some moments are so quiet. They slip right past us. Human trafficking affects real people across the US, and it often looks different from what we think Some survivors cannot simply walk away or ask for help. so learn the signs. Break the silence. Visit bluecampaign d. gov slash World Cup. You know what deserves more attention The assists. Everybody talks about the goal, a big moment that gets replayed on the highlight reels. But too often we overlook all the contributions and collabs that happen along the way. That's true in soccer and honestly true in life. Halon is shining a light on the assists. As official partner of US soccer, they get a whole lineup of brands ready to deliver for you. So here they are. Sentidine, dentist recommended defense of your sent of teeth Central Fueling your day with science backed nutrients. Advil Of course, powerful inflammation fighting pain relief Terrin arthritis gel. help us penetrate deep keeps the joints moving and tums Ready to counter atttack with fast heartburn relief. These are brands that are ready to deliver your essential wellness assists Be every goal starts with an assist. Learn how Halon can assist your game dayay goals at Halon asssist.ot com slash com Alienwears backack to school events the perfect time to score top gaming gear with incredible features and Intel core processors to go beyond performance, save big on gaming desktops, laptops, and more. Start your Alienware journey with the Alienware fifteen gaming laptop featuring Intel core processors smmoothly game live stream and multi task for hours on end Plus play through every game exactly how you want with customizable alien FX lighting across your alienware ecosystem Creating your very own gaming profile and more. Finally, pair your incredibly smooth gaming experience and immersive visuals and sound by saving on sleek alienware monitors, headsets and more. This limited time sale awaits you now at alienware d. com slash deals. That's alienware dot com slash deals. quizz for the hiring managers out there. What's worse being understaffed or being poorly staffed Well, that's a trick question, because both are recipes for chaos Either way, just say to yourself, This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. You'll get matched with candidates that meet the skills, certifications, and everything else you're looking for. O go a different way and get no traction Seriously, sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed are ninety five percent more likely to report a higher than nons sponsored jobs It really is a no brainer. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners of this show will get a seventy five dollars sponsored job credit to help your job get the premium status it deserves at indeed dot com slash podcast. Just go to indeed dot com slash podcast right now. indndeed dot com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply Ne to hire? This is a job for Ieed sponsored jobs R right, you're now entering the no bull zone sponsored by Credible, Great Rates, none of the Blls. So there was a massive trade yesterday. Jayalen Brown, all NBA level player goes to the Philadelphia seventy sixers. It had been rumored for a long time. I mean, we've been talking about this thing. He was unhappy. One of the things that was really obvious to me, I saw Brian Winhorst I think was the source on this. stuff had been leaking out where somebody in the Celtics buildilding apparently had said, you know, Derek White actually had a better season than A Jalen Brown I'm going to push back on that. I think Jayen Brown's a one I've always defended that. I think when you go into an NBA draft, you're trying to find a Jalen Brown. both ends of the floor thirty a game Durable You know, smart guy I saw this morning where he teaches a seminar at Harvard. I mean, like come on. you're trying to draft guys like him. but I think this is the primary reason Jayen Brown has three years left on his contract and they owe one hundred eighty three million dollars in three weeks He qualifies for an extension Paul, George has two years left At one hundred fourteen million That's the reason is that Brad Stevens, the GM, who everybody is beating up today said basically, I'm not going to do a Milwaukee and I'm not going to do a Denver I'm not gonna attempt to squeeze every little last piece of juice out of myigr tandem And if I have to choose, I'm going go tate them littleittle better analytically, maybe not as heavy in the room Okay, but I'm not going to do like like Jamal Marie Yokich. There's a real argument You should have broken them up a couple of years ago. Chris Middleton, Lianas. Three years ago. And that's not that Jamal Muray and Middleton aren't good players, but the new CBA. Eight champs, eight years When you get rigid, When you get stubborn as a GM, you get into trouble and Brown's still a great asset. What if Brown got hurt at the end of the year Tatum did, like like these guys are still in their prime. They're both assets. And they just chose Tatum, who analytically leaves the better player. I saw some analytics from Tom Habberstro The Celtics were ninety and thirty six in games that Jayalen Brown did not play thirty six and six in the last three seasons Meaning they win with him, they don't win because of him. And again, the contract is massive. And u, I think I think that's what Brad Stevens did Brad Stevens is like, look at what is happening to our leadague. This is when Jerry Jones traded Micah Parsons. Everybody killed Jerry Jones and I said, Jerry Jones just wants flexibility And he's turned it into Rashhaun Gary, Quinan Williams You know, they ended up, you know, Their defense now look totally different than the day they traded Mikeah Parsons. Not that Mike is not great. But entrepreneurs and deal makers need flexibility, and Jerry Jones didn't have it. Brad Stevens looked at Tatum and Brown and said, that's seventy million in my cap For the next three to four years, I'm going have no flexibility. I got a front line to fix Any need depth to fix So I think Brad Stehven just said, I'm going to ride the current CBA. I'm not going to fight it Win a title like Denver, like OKC. Like Milwaukee ll win a title now next iteration. Now will Jalen Brown Wh I do think got kind of heavy, you know, going on live streaming and saying this was the greatest year of my career. It's like that, you know, that obviously didn't play well because you got it bounced. I you know That's not going to play well insside an organization, right So, u, You know, claiming the NBA collusion. They wouldn't put them on the Olympic team. It was the Nike collusion strike. It's kind of heavy Right. So they chose Tatum over Brown. Tatum's coming off of injury. You worry a little bit about durability But bottom line is Brown's great. Philadelphia now going to have BJ. Edcombe Um Tyree Sacky in the back court That's probably the most athletic back court in the league. and Jalen Brown at the three Holy hell, that is, I don't even care of the other two starters. That is an electric court and small forward. That is electric athletically. So Chris Brussard says, hey, whatever you say, Jayen Brown's great. Personally, Colin I would love to have Jayalen Brown on my team. and not just as I think he's a winner. I think he's mentally tough. He's always been viewed as a second guy. He probably has always felt like I'm as good as Jason Tatum. I got here before Jason Tatum did. We were having some success before he got here a little bit. and I was the Etern Conference Fals NVP. I was the finals NVP, but I'm second Banana also should be noted This morning because of the move off Jalen Brown to Paul George. We talk about flexibility. There's a story out. Keep your eye on somebody the Lakers were interested in. Treay Murphy. Good size, three and D guy, goodood length. Good defender Now the Celtics can possibly sign him Be sometimes in sports, it's not that you don't like a player It's not that he's not a winning player. And good gu guy average is thirty a game It's flexibility And with a new CBA in the apronons, just saw James Dolans's like, yeah, I'm not I'm not going to the second apron That's a flexibility issue James Dolan would love to keep Mitchell Robinson. James Dolan doesn't want Mitchell Robinson going to the rial Celphics You got to make choices. And the choice was take them over Brown We got a title, nexte iteration Let's let's not get rigid on this stuff. I Brad Stevens is going to get crushed. I get it But I also understand what Jerry Jones did with Micah. I think Dallas is better today. I really do And I get what they're doing Browns obviously better than Paul George at this point, But you get a ton of draft picks, you get flexibility. If they could land Treay Murphy, all of a sudden you look up I got Treay Murphy and Paul George, and Rraft Picks, and Mitchellel Robinson. Okay Okay, that team can win the east. The previous team could have as well, but that team could win these too. Be sure to catch live editions of the Hed weeekdays in Non Eastern nine AM Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS one, and the IHard Radio app. Hey guys, it's Dasha here. The World Cup brings cities to life. Streets buzzing, crowds gathering, every goal sparking celebration Moments like this are impossible to miss, but some moments are so quiet. They slip right past us. Human trafficking affects real people across the US, and it often looks different from what we think. Some survivors cannot simply walk away or ask for help. so learn the signs. Break the silence. Visit bluecampaign d. gov slash World Cup You know what deserves more attention The assists. Everybody talks about the goal, a big moment that gets replayed on the highlight reels. But too often we overlook all the contributions and collabs that happen along the way. That's true in soccer. and honestly, true in life. Halleon is shining a light on the assists. As official partner of US soccer, they get a whole lineup of brands ready to deliver for you. So here they are. Sentidine, dentist recommended defense of your sent of teeth. Central Fueling your day with science back nutrients. Advil. Of course, powerful inflammation fighting pain relief. Vultarin arthritis gel. helps penetrate deep. keeps the joints moving and tums Ready to counter atttack with fast heartburn relief. These are brands that are ready to deliver your essential wellness assists Be every goal starts with an assist. Learn how Halon can assist your game day goals at Halon assist dot com slash com Alienware is backack to school events the perfect time to score top gaming gear with incredible features and Intel core processors to go beyond performance, save big on gaming desktops, laptops, and more. Start your Alienware journey with the Alienware fifteen gaming laptop featuring Intel core processors. Smoothly game, live stream and multi task for hours on end Pus play through every game exactly how you want with customizable alien FX lighting across your alienware ecosystem Creating your very own gaming profile and more. Finally, pair your incredibly smooth gaming experience and immersive visuals and sound by saving on sleek alienware monitors, headsets and more. This limited time sale awaits you now at alienware dot com slash deals. That's alienware dot com slash deals All right, quick quiz for the hiring managers out there. What's worse being understaffed or being poorly staffed Well, that's a trick question, because both are recipes for chaos. Either way, just say to yourself, this is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. You'll get matched with candidates that meet the skills, certifications, and everything else you're looking for. O go a different way and get no traction Seriously, sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed are ninety five percent more likely to report a higher than nonsponsored jobs It really is a no brainer. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners of this show will get a seventy five dollars sponsored job credit to help your job get the premium status it deserves at indeed d. com slash podcast. Just go to indeed d. com slash podcast right now. indndeed d. com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply Need to hire. This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs. Okay., Bob Bradley is now joining us live. You can catch all his stuff worldld cut now on Fox Sports YouTube channel All right, I thought, you know, sometimes Bob You don't plan stuff, but it's good for you. And I thought the red card us having to play a man down That's crisis management. and I think I think we got better as a soccer team byy the end of the night based on that. As a former coach of our national team, do you buy into that a little bit I buy into that one hundred percent I would say that the game as a whole was different than the other games So we had to understand things. We had to manage better. We had to be patient Bosnia wanted a slow game. They they wanted to keep everything in front of them And so we had to wait for moments to come to go fast. And when they did come, off we went. and that's a credit. A lot to Balligan because as the focal point of the attack everyvery advantage He is relentless with runs with power with speed. So that was awesome. And then look to get to the second half Now we've got a one zero lead We're down a man and we found such a good balance between finding ways to still step up and be aggressive and other moments of just being compact and organized. It was really smart. Bob, let me ask you, I know in football, which I know better, in football, like a lot of NFL teams, a majority of their practice is what they call red zone situations, crisis moments. Um When you were coaching the United States Men's national team, did you ever have sessions or practices where you in the middle of it said, okay, we lost land and on of it. We lost our star. We're a man down, adjust Do you coach for that You do. When you when you put teams together in training, you don't always play the first eleven against the next eleven You rotate some players, you make some changes, you create some situations where one team is down a man. So you're constantly trying to challenge the team to be ready for whatever happens on the field Your take on the red card. It was initially not even a yellow. So to go from a non yellow to a suspension feels really heavy to me. How did you view it I have two views. First is just generally in all sports, we want consistency. And we just get frustrated when we see things and it doesn't look the same one game versus the other game In terms of our football, Sometimes I ask, what are we doing? Because if you slow a play down and you freeze it can make anything look bad. So that's right. We've got to find some version of the Flaggrant one. that allows the call to to recognize a bad foul, but understand it's it just is not a red card You know, I was saying this and Bob and again, I'm going to lean on you here. Obviously two yellows are red. I said, I love when sports tweak things. The VAR didn't exist before like twenty eighteen. The hydration breaks. So soccer, baseball, all these sports tweak Sould I argue that as the stakes are raised in the World Cup knockout stage, maybe not in the group stage maybe not in the European Championship or Copa But in the knockout stage of the World Cup that you have two levels of red cards First level automatic ejection but no suspension Second level red card is both That would be an outrageous, egregious intentional Does that make sense or is that too would that deviate too much from history? No, it does make sense and all sports need to find ways to adapt So far in this World Cup, what have we seen? We've seen stars And so as we get into knockout phase, quarterfinals, semifinals. We don't want days where those stars are in the stands. We want to see them on the field I thought Bob, I thought VAR was created. to get the kind of right wrong. like goal, no goal, offs sides, not off sides. I didn't think replay was about discussing intensity of compact Like I always thought I was like, basically for a ball is it in or is it out offsides or no offsides. Were you surprised that they used it with no yellow card for an intensity argument It's a real challenge how you use VAR because there are plays in our game that regardless of how you look at it It's fifty fifty or fifty one forty nine. And when we are using VAR to look and almost referee the game a second time or a third time, it still comes down to the human eye. and so we want exact calls, but the game just doesn't work that way. I'm watching Mexico's dominant at Aztecca. I couldn't tell you the last time they lost there. I'm watching our, you know, Santa Clara Seatt I think Seattle iss as good a soccer city as North America has. Could I Ricardo Peppi is scored sixteen goals in the Dutch League. He's obviously capable. He's not Ballagan, but he's darn capable.. is Seattle In this perfect world, as Belgium is older They get shorter rest in the group stage Could I make an argument the one place that may be worth half a goal to us is Seattle and it's the perfect destination being our star down. In this World Cup, I think we're seeing many stadiums that give us a half goal or a goal becausecause the response in the country and inside the stadium has been amazing And Seattle is also special. It's a place whereere the US has always played well. the fans are really loud. So I expect that that's going to work in our favor. Okay, withithout Malligan, Pulisic the set up man. willill he need to be more aggressive? I thought my only criticism last night and don I don't know if it's on Poino. I didn't get enough of Pulisic in the first fifteen to twenty minutes. I did later. There was an energy burst But now he doesn't have Balligan. He doesn't have his cleanup hitter. He doesn't have his nine his striker Do you go in with a completely different game plan No. I think if we leave the position, the nine out for a second and we look at the other nine field players The relationships, the ideas, the movements are in total sync right now. And so what changes is just the profile of the striker Balligan, direct Like I said earlier, relentless Peppy a little bit more of a link up player, but he's still smart and I think in his own way, he can find advantages in the box and he's a good finisher. So I think the rest of the football, the understanding between Tillman and McKenney and polalisic and Robinson and Dust, this part doesn't change at all And then we just have a different type of striker and hopefully he can get some chances and take advantage What does Belgium do that concerns you Belgium is the best team that we will have faced in this World Cup, but they're also not the Belgium of a few years ago. No. But they have some players. that are capable at any moment of making a big play. And so of all things yesterday, D Bronna comes out at halftime. He's been one of their stars for a long time I don't know what will happen because in the second half when they needed to push the game, It happened with a lot of guys that came on the field, But the Bina sees certain windows, se certain passes can play certain balls that if the defender tunes out for a second, he can make you pay. So it's the quality of some of their best players that will be a little bit different than we've seen so far in this worldorld Cup. Yeah, Yeah, it's funny. Ballagan has a little bit Messy is probably the best I've ever seen. There's an intuition. There's a sense of where the ball with they used to say this Bob about at Wayne Gretky. He knew where the puck was before it got there And I feel like Balligan's got that kind of I don't know if it's EQ. I don't know what it is, but Balligan is always in the right place at the right time. Do you coach that? Am I overstating it? What does it mean As a striker He just recognizes the moments when there's an advantage. And then as I said earlier He runs hard. And so the defenders They get worn out. They deal with a guy who just keeps coming and coming and coming. He doesn't need a lot of service. He just needs that in the right moments they look for him and balls get played and now he's going to take advantage. And so even Tillman's pass, it doesn't work perfectly, but when the ball comes loose Baligan is faster to the second ball and he's a great finisher So there was a little private discussion between a couple of our lads before the Malik Telman free kick and they were whispering and they, you know, it's And I was thinking to myself Uh, you know, don't don't look at the wall. D't don't like give it away. So what do you think they were discussing in that moment Yeah, you always put a group of players over the ball and then there's a little discussion of what does the wall look like Is this going to be more a right footed shot, a left footed shot by having multiple players over the ball, you're also hiding what's going to happen But I think it was pretty clear that with all the disguise that Tillman was going to take it and his technique to get the ball up and over the wall. From that distance is fantastic That was something else. That was just, you know, it's so interesting because you've been in these shoes You've been here before And, you know, and I've watched you coach And A that kick I watched Mauricio. he was like us. He was like me on my couch is u I just thought it was so I want to go back to the red card When the red card happens, we got a little bit lucky, Bob, because four minutes later there was a hydration break. So we got a little tactical reboot I did feel for about a minute after The red card. We were trying to get our C legs a little bit. We weren't quite sure Should we be aggressive? Sould we be passive? Did you sense that or did you feel they were under control immediately I think for a few minutes, we needed to get our bearings And these hydration breraks can help you in certain situations. Oh yeah. And that was one. And then I think there's a few ideas, there's encouragement. And then at that point, it's not simply what the coaches are saying. It's a chance for players to talk to each other And you want to find, like I said earlier, some balance. You don't want to just drop deep and defend for thirty minutes in your box But you want to be smart You hear always about being compact. So the distances between players become very important. And then as the one player steps up, you just need the rest of the team to move up a little bit with him so that the spaces are really kept tight. Um Bob, this has been fantastic. H Fox YouTube page on the World Cup I will say Bob, I think I've watched everybody play three times. att least parts of it. France looks France is the only team I watch And I think We don't match up with them. We don't look the same How do you feel about that France is incredible. and to your point Men when they attack they have players that are so good and their understanding that that they have created in this World Cup in their attacking play and they're also balanced. their central defenders are so strong and so athletic. So yes There's the top team And then there's a next group. and I think we are starting to make a clear statement that we're ready to be in that next group. I don't know if England can beat Mexico and A tackered. you have a strong opinion on that I don't think there are sure of what's going to hit them because when you go in there And you don't have enough time to acclimatize, that altitude hits you hard and When you make hard runs, the time it takes to recover takes longer. So they're going to deal with something that's very new. I'm sure their sports science people have been planning and preparing, but when you get there It's not easy Yeah All right, Bob Bradley, Foxports YouTube channel, as always, coach, I appreciate you stopping by our show. It's been great. Thanks for having me As always Yeah, it's I can remember years ago. I at a college, I got a job in Las Vegas, which is the desert. And I'd never been to Lake Tahoe before. And at the time I was like, you know, I was running a lot and I don't know how I was doing that, but I got into running for a while and I went up to Lake Tahoe in the summer in the elevation I literally was getting winded in this house on the mountain, walking up the stairs to the kitchen That's like I'm exhausted. It's nine thirty in the morning. I just walked from the basement upstairs So, you know, as Tcca, Mexico City, which is I've been told the greatest food city in the world. It's supposed to be unbelievable U But if you're not yeah, two thousand feet higher elevation than Denver, which we call mile high city So I don't know. when's the last time they lost Mexico Lost in Oz Tecca. It has been a while. Be sure to catch live editions of the Hed weekdays in Non Eastern nine AM Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS one and the Hard Radio app. Michael Hawley, six time New York Time bestselling author, journalism professor at Boston University. a lot of these sports writer guys, they end up university professors. be pretty smart. Michael Hallley's joining us So on The world thinks Brad Stevens doesn't know what he's doing, and I'm just going to give you my ninety second take on what I think he was thinking . Brad looked at the Denver Nuggets in Milwaukee And they held on to Jamal Murray maybe or Chris Middleton too long. And he said, I'm not going to fight the new CBA wave I'm going to write it We got a title Brown and Tatum are great assets. One of them though is of an injury Brown is a very good asset. Analytically You and I'll get into that. I think it's a bit overstated. I know when I watch the game, he looks all NBA to me that Stevens is viewed as crazy town, and my take is no Milwaukee waited too long. Denver waited too long. His next iterationist got a title Tatum's inured He doesn't have the market now. Brown does I'm going to make the move today Is that a reasonable take to you? It's a reasonable take, Colin. except for what he got in return for what brass he was gotten return. So I would think If that's his perspective, I think it's a little impulsive especially since Brown and Tatum played together for nineteen games last year. nineteen games, regular season and postseason. We know but Tatum didn't play in game seven. There were some games in a regular season where Tatum came back and Brown didn't play So nineteen games of these guys together. neeither one is thirty years old yet So you probably have another run or two in them before it gets to be too late. But even if he feels that way Why take back Paul George? justust don't understand why you take back Paul George and two draft picks, especially if you see what if you believe the reports, what start what the conversation started how they started and how they ended. He we want PJ Edgec. We want we got to take Paul Jeordge went four or five First roundpickics, okay, no VJ Hcom no Ty Reese S Maxy. All right, We'll take Paul George, one of the worst contracts in basketball and two first rounders. it's really a puzzling deal for Brad Stevens. Years ago I remember Aron Rogers also goes to cow. and I think Eron's super bright. But I remember a couple people sources inside Green Bay saying Aaron could be heavy and moody And Listen, obviously Jalen Brown, he may be a genius. He's lecturing at Harvard at twenty one. He chose Cal over Carolina and Kansas. A att twenty two, players voted him vice president of the NBPA to walk into the league at twenty two and the LeBronons of the league are like, that's the guy The kid's brillant Aaron's Aeron similarly You probably work with brilliant people But is it fair to say that Jalen got heavy? You know, the Nike collusion, the this is my favorite year. It's that he got heavy. Tatum's light Everybody likes him, he's easy to get along with. He's collaborative. Is that perhaps one of the reasons? Colin, you have got to get out of my head. I'm telling you, I just had this conversation where someone A couple of days ago And but making the argument because you're absolutely right. I think Jayen Brown, if you look at it One guy goes to Duke. O guy went to Duke one guy went to Cal Berkeley Jamid Brown is so Cal Berkeley that Cal Berkeley should have him on banners. I mean, he is Cal Berkeley. He's counter culture. He is contrarian you know, I'm going to do it a little differently than what you'd expect and And Jason Tatum is blue blood corporate, mainstream, duke. So they are that. I'll tell you Conlin, I'll tell you like two personal interactions with both of them I've had in the last year or two, it kind of speaks to who they are So Jayen Brown, there was a There was a conference in Boston on the racial inequality gap. It had nothing to do with sports. Jalen Brown was one of the keynote speakers. I had to moderate the conversation with Jayalen Brown about fifteen minutes before the event started, they have all these questions that I didn't have the answers to. So I said, okay, I'm going to sit down with Jaylen and kind of give him Hey, here's number four. if you want to start thinking about it We talked for about thirty seconds. He said,, don't worry about it. I got it You do And he did. He was great. I mean, these are the things that are on his mind. These yes, these heavy things, these worldly things. Now Jason Tatum When Bill Simmondons that his Celtic City documentary on HBO. And J tell Brown left early. He was there for the meet and greet, but he left early. Tatum was there the entire time just trained on the entire thing. He wants to be Larry Bird. He wants to be that guy. He thinks about hoop all the time. So They're completely different, but this is where I push back on people who say, oh yeah, they're so different. they are. There's no question about. There's no arguing that They work together very well. There are no issues even though They're so different. It's like Collagues in your building, colleagues in my building, Well, we do well together on the show But there are people I've worked with for eight years, ten years who've never been to my house and I've never been to theirs and it's fine. you know. So you know, Michael in our business I mean, you're very accomplished. six New Yorkim bestselling auth. I'm not sure if I've read six New York Times best sellinguthors. You've written. Thanks, Colin. Thank you. I got copies for you right. But I'll say this. I remember years ago.