- yesterday
MLS commentator for CBS Sports and Apple TV joins the show to recap the FIFA Club World Cup final.
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00:00Chris Whittingham is a soccer broadcaster for CBS and MLS season pass on Apple TV.
00:06Inter Miami have two games on the road this week.
00:08First, on Wednesday night, they're in Ohio, take on the second place FC Cincinnati.
00:15And then on Saturday night, a trip up to the Northeast to take on the New York Red Bulls.
00:20Both of those matches will be live at 7.30 p.m.
00:24MLS season pass on Apple TV.
00:28I do want to ask you about snorkeling and scuba diving, but I'm going to wait because I want to get some soccer in here.
00:34Explain to me how PSG, which had torn through the entire Club World Cup with ease, at least it looked like to me,
00:42looked like they didn't even belong on the same field as Chelsea yesterday.
00:47How does that happen?
00:49Well, it's not even just the Club World Cup, although it is the Club World Cup as well.
00:52When, you know, you beat Bayern Munich, they destroyed Real Madrid, they destroyed Atlantico Madrid in the group stage.
00:58You go back to this past Champions League, they destroyed Inter Milan in the final.
01:02They soundly beat Arsenal in the semifinal.
01:04They soundly beat Liverpool, although, I mean, they ended up winning on penalties.
01:08But if you watch the games, they were much the better team in those games.
01:11And it really just can come down to it was just a bad day.
01:15It was a down performance.
01:16That wasn't supposed to happen.
01:17You give Chelsea a lot of credit for taking advantage of the theoretical weaknesses that every that you can look at.
01:25OK, PSG push an incredible number of numbers forward.
01:28What that's meant to do is make it incredibly difficult for you to play and try and limit attacks from where they start,
01:36never mind from where they end.
01:37And so what Chelsea did yesterday was they found those moments for when PSG gave the ball away and when they had the ball deep in their own end.
01:45There are moments where they can win the ball up higher up the pitch and they were attacking against fewer numbers than you would expect to attack against.
01:50And they took advantage of those moments.
01:52But most teams can look at that as a potential weakness, but very few teams can actually act upon it.
01:58There are very few teams that actually have the quality or the aerial threats to go and win what they need to go and win in order to have those moments higher up.
02:04So it was just Chelsea catching PSG on a bad day.
02:08PSG lost to Baltafogo in the group stage.
02:10It was a little bit different than that.
02:11This was a total domination.
02:13And Chelsea are a team that has spent more than a billion dollars on their on their squad the last three years.
02:19They just couldn't really develop their players.
02:21They were really young and yesterday was finally the day that it kind of all came together.
02:25And Chris in soccer, I don't know that much about like schematics of it, but is that just bad matchups sometimes?
02:30Like the Eagles, I was going to NFL where like they're physical.
02:34So like a five wide, you know, KC type team is not going to be able to beat that physical team.
02:41We saw it in the Super Bowl last year.
02:43Are there matchups just can you look at two teams and say they're not going to be able to deal with what they do?
02:50Yes.
02:50Sometimes those play out a little bit differently, though, than you might expect.
02:54So, for instance, PSG and Chelsea are actually fairly similar in how they approach the game.
02:58They both want to have the ball.
03:00And so from the start of the game, it's kind of this battle of who gets possession and what happens to the team that is not used to normally having the ball when they're asked to defend.
03:08What does that look like?
03:09And I think Chelsea, being that kind of team in the Premier League, they're one of the best in possession.
03:13They're one of the best in keeping it.
03:15Okay.
03:15So how do you adjust to when now?
03:17And everyone said before the game, oh, PSG are going to dominate.
03:20Even the coach of Chelsea was like, who said that?
03:22Who said that just because PSG had been so good in this tournament that we're going to we're not going to have our moments with the ball.
03:26And I really do think that in those moments, first off, PSG are missing an important center back.
03:32But that stylistic difference of what Chelsea were able to do and go and win headers and take advantage of defenders that are further forward and be quick when PSG turned the ball over to go and attack them quickly.
03:43I think those were definitely the elements of what every coach is looking to do before the start of a game.
03:48And I think, Crowder, to your point, it's not even just necessarily about personnel can determine some of that, but it's also what the coach does on the day.
03:55What is the coach doing looking at the opponent, the tactics, the tactics that they set up the team with to go and attack the opponent that can change from game to game.
04:02So I think a lot of people would have thought PSG are the strong team and Chelsea are kind of PSG light.
04:07But instead, Chelsea went about a completely different style of game than they're used to playing, and they just absolutely tore them apart.
04:13What's funny what he is, okay, that team wins the FIFA Club World Cup.
04:17So, quote unquote, best team in the world.
04:20But Chelsea is not even really expected to perform that well in the Premier League coming up this season, right?
04:27I was looking earlier today, they're plus 800.
04:29It kind of goes to show for people like Hawk and Crowder who are getting into soccer now that you could be dominant.
04:36But when you go up against a team that just has their way with you tactically, like you're explaining,
04:41that's the difference between being a plus 500 underdog and winning the FIFA Club World Cup.
04:48And I think that's also a real difference between the country's World Cup, I guess we'll call it,
04:53and the Club World Cup, is that all these teams are good enough to where on a single day, an upset like this can happen.
05:02Whereas usually, in the FIFA World Cup, there, I think, are only eight countries that have ever won it.
05:08And those kinds of upsets don't usually happen.
05:12And so, in a one-off game on a neutral field, you can see upsets.
05:15And we saw them right the way through this tournament.
05:17Now, I think a lot of people have said, oh, that's because of motivation.
05:20Motivation is the reason why, you know, the Brazilian teams care and the European teams don't.
05:24But we saw PSG destroy Real Madrid and look like the strong, dominant team that we've seen over most of the club season.
05:31And this Chelsea team, who had a pretty easy and forgiving route to get to this final, on one day can turn in the kind of performance that maybe, let's say, in an international tournament,
05:40a country like, I don't know, the United States, might not be able to deliver to one of the top countries because there is such a gap.
05:47The gap between Chelsea and PSG is not so big that it's insurmountable.
05:51And I think that's what we saw on the day, is that Chelsea are a good team.
05:55I don't think people would have thought of them as a great team.
05:57Now, I think people are kind of asking the question, are they ready to compete in the Premier League last year?
06:02Maybe that plus 800 that you mentioned is genuine value going into next season.
06:06Is there anyone on Chelsea who actually wanted the American president in all their celebratory videos and photos?
06:16It's not even just the American president.
06:18And I appreciate that you phrased it that way and not in a political framing by mentioning the T word.
06:24I really do think that it's not even just it's it's nobody.
06:28Nobody deserves to be in that photo.
06:30No president president was trying to get out of there because because that's the perfunctory thing that you do.
06:34And every competition where a trophy has ever been raised, the organizer of the competition hands the trophy off.
06:40He walks out of the way and the team not even.
06:43And by the way, this is different to American sports.
06:45In American sports, usually the first person that is seen with the trophy in a trophy celebration is the owner of the team.
06:52And so you'll see, you know, Clark Hunter or whomever from the Kansas City Chiefs.
06:56You'll see the bus family if the if the Lakers win or whomever.
07:00Right, exactly.
07:01So you'll see the owners involved.
07:03But in soccer, the owner is nowhere near it.
07:06And especially in European soccer.
07:08And so you don't see Todd Bowley involved in the in the cell.
07:13It's always just the team.
07:14The captain takes the trophy and it's just the team.
07:16So I think there are a couple of videos where people found the lip reading of what's he doing here?
07:20And is he going to leave?
07:22And yeah, it was it was really funny.
07:24But it's also like one of those things where for all time, that first Club World Cup played in this format.
07:30It's hanging.
07:31It's got to be hanging in the walls of Stanford Bridge and hanging around the practice facility.
07:36Going to have the American president in the middle of it.
07:38I think that should be a new tradition.
07:40Nice.
07:40I think that should be a new tradition for any championship.
07:43Trump is there, whether he's the president or not, that Trump celebrate, whether it's the Indy 500, the World Series.
07:49It's just you celebrate and Trump is there.
07:52OK, but how but how many days how many days of his year is dedicated to being like, how far down does this go?
07:58Is he standing next to Joey Chestnut on the 4th of July?
08:00Yeah, he's got to be next to Joey Chestnut.
08:02That works.
08:03Triple A World Series.
08:05That probably works.
08:06But that would be my cutoff there.
08:08Maybe the G League.
08:09I know you travel, Witty.
08:15Have you ever gone scuba diving?
08:17No.
08:18No.
08:18And actually, yeah, yeah, I would.
08:21Although the only thing is, is that particularly to do it properly, you do have to be dive certified.
08:28Correct.
08:28Which, which I am told is like spending four days in a pool and, you know, like wearing the gear and figuring out how to use it.
08:38It's an hour and a half at the Holiday Inn at Atlantis, and that's it.
08:43And that's my point.
08:45This scuba diving is the craziest thing that people decide they want to do, because if you get it wrong, which you're going to get it wrong, your head explodes.
08:52There's not like, you know what I mean?
08:54Like if, if, if I take up tennis on vacation and I get it wrong, I don't know, pull a groin, a tennis ball in the eye happens to be fuzzy.
09:07It's not going to hurt that much.
09:09If I get it wrong on scuba diving, my head explodes into pieces.
09:15So why would I ever want to do that?
09:17I don't understand the allure.
09:19And then my, my second point is when you, when you go to, you know, you get to a foreign country and they go, Hey, by the way, there's nothing really to do here.
09:26We got to ship you out 2000 miles into the ocean to give you something to do.
09:30It's like, well, maybe I came to the wrong place.
09:33But beach destinations are not known for having things to do.
09:38Right.
09:38I mean, it's sort of whatever, whatever you make of it, you need something to do desperately need something to do.
09:44Don't take a beach vacation.
09:45The beach vacation is for relaxing, having a tropical drink.
09:49It's one of the things you can go paragliding.
09:52You can go paragliding.
09:54You can play beach volleyball.
09:56You can go on a zip line in Costa Rica.
09:59The paragliding, the guy who's in charge of the vehicle, the boat and strapping you in can be found renting you your movies at Blockbuster that Friday and Saturday.
10:12There's a timely reference.
10:13Like, why would you want to put your life in the hands of the guys who are working retail at the Benetton in town when it's not their shift to keep you alive on the ocean?
10:27Don't do the paragliding.
10:29Another big mistake.
10:30You don't do that, do you?
10:31But hockey, you want to live a little.
10:33You want to try something.
10:34That's right.
10:35That's why I avoid the paragliding and the scuba dive.
10:37I mean, live a little in the proverbial sense and trying to have fun and in doing something that you otherwise wouldn't do.
10:46Hey, Woody, are you an outdoor guy?
10:48Have you ever shot something?
10:50Go fishing?
10:51No.
10:51I did just do a vacation where we did a bit of hiking.
10:55It wasn't really for me, if I'm honest.
10:57I'm not really a big hiker, but no.
10:58You're like me.
10:59I don't like camping necessarily, but I'm sure I would love glamping.
11:04Um.
11:05What is that?
11:05Glamorous camping.
11:06Like being, yes, I'm aware.
11:08Is it like, is it like in an RV?
11:12Like RV?
11:12RV camping?
11:13Carlton on Naples, Naples Beach.
11:15But that was my idea of glamping.
11:18But no, it's not.
11:20But I do like sort of in the in the adventure realm.
11:24I have been in a hot air balloon.
11:26I have skydive.
11:27Oh, I would never do that.
11:28Not an hot air balloon.
11:29Hot air balloon is awesome.
11:30Time of your life.
11:31Wine country?
11:32Yeah.
11:32Yeah.
11:33I went skydiving.
11:34Yeah.
11:34When I was with, uh, when I was with Levitard show, we did a thing, uh, for the first Miami
11:39Grand Prix, the, the, the, the Formula One race.
11:41Red Bull were doing like a bunch of activations.
11:43And they called up to the show.
11:44We're like, Hey, do two of you want to go skydiving?
11:47And everyone said, no.
11:48I was like, yeah, it sounds fun.
11:50Never.
11:50That's a, it's a man.
11:51No, it's great.
11:52It's honestly, it is a man.
11:54Incredible.
11:55When you're going to go to one of those skydive USA store.
11:58No, come on.
11:59Yeah.
11:59Your feet have to be hanging out of an airplane and, and, and, and you feel the terror of,
12:04Oh my God, we're 11,000 feet in the air.
12:07And my feet are hanging out of this thing.
12:09And you pull the door.
12:10Like it's a garage door, like a manual garage door.
12:13You pull the thing, your feet are hanging off and you're going, Oh my God, what am I about
12:17to do?
12:17And those first 20 seconds of the air, like smacking up against you.
12:22It's just, it's a surreal feeling.
12:25You'll never feel anything like it.
12:26I wouldn't even pull my, I wouldn't pull my, uh, my little parachute.
12:30I just hit straight into the turf.
12:33You know, if you want to get adventurous to me, you're on vacation or something, you want
12:37to do something adventurous, go to a food hall, you know, instead of a restaurant, you
12:41go to a food hall and you have all these choices and you walk around and maybe you get
12:45an entree here and a drink there and a dessert there, the scuba diving and the snorkeling
12:52even worse.
12:53You ever go snorkeling?
12:55Oh, where you're kind of like hovering like, like on the surface and have like, yeah, you're
12:58like, Hey, uh, you're going to go underwater.
13:02Not too much though.
13:03We're giving you a straw in case things go wrong.
13:06Like what, like what, like what could possibly go wrong?
13:09I'm, I'm 14 inches under the water.
13:12And then they're like, yeah, you'll see fish and some shells and some sand.
13:19No, I touch the charge you $189 and, uh, and we're going to ride you out to a sandbar
13:26and do this there.
13:28It's, I just don't understand that who gets enjoyment out of this.
13:32Like everyone should go snorkeling once in their life to realize how dumb it is.
13:36So you never have to do it again.
13:37The people who go snorkeling more than once in your life, those are the people you have
13:42to question everything about.
13:44I don't mind diving and I don't mind snorkeling.
13:46I kind of agree with you in a little bit of the sense of the danger does not outweigh
13:52the kind of what you're seeing, what you're looking at, you know, it's nice, but also like
14:00you walk into any Costco and on the television that they're showing the showing off the 4k
14:05resolution is what it looks like under the sea.
14:07Exactly.
14:08And so like, it's like, it doesn't necessarily outweigh my opinion is if you're going to
14:13do something like that, hot air balloon skydiving, you're like, you feel ups and downs and sites
14:19and doing things you otherwise wouldn't pass.
14:21I think it's fun.
14:24Y'all are snorkeling off Hollandale beach.
14:27Like if you go to Cuba or South Africa, it's not Hollandale beach.
14:34Y'all are ridiculous.
14:34That's ridiculous.
14:36There are way more can go wrong.
14:38Skydiving or getting in a hot air balloon where there's literally fire putting you up in
14:45the air, then so cool on the handle, pull on the handle.
14:49So cool.
14:49Scuba diving, your head could explode.
14:54No, but it's not going to explode.
14:57It happens all the time.
14:58It's why they tell you don't rise too quick.
15:00There's no way it happens all the time.
15:02It would be on the news.
15:03It would be on the news if it happened all the time.
15:05If you don't follow the right sites, that's on you.
15:08But open your eyes.
15:08I'm not reading the New York Post as much as you do.
15:11So this is going on all the time.
15:12Your nose will bleed a little bit.
15:14You get a sign away all your rights.
15:16You sign away all your rights with a little waiver at the beginning.
15:20It's crazy.
15:21You got some guys teaching you how to scuba dive.
15:24You're in a holiday.
15:25Do you kayak?
15:26Yes.
15:26Well, that's a lot of territory.
15:31Daily, Witty.
15:33Daily.
15:33If you want to go kayaking, let me know.
15:35All right.
15:36Next time I'm down there, I'll give you a call.
15:37All right.
15:39Chris Whittingham.
15:40Again, Inter-Miami.
15:43Two games on the road this week.
15:45Wednesday night in Ohio.
15:47Take on FC Cincinnati.
15:48Saturday night, New York.
15:51New York Red Bulls.
15:52Both of those matches will be live.
15:557.30 p.m.
15:56MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
16:00Thank you as always, Witty.
16:01No problem at all.
16:02Thanks, guys.
16:02Thanks, guys.
16:02Thanks, guys.
16:02Thanks, guys.