00:02Talk to me, how was to be in a game where 10 penalty kicks were thrown
00:07and your star player misses the crucial one?
00:10If I had to use two words to describe both the environment and the performance,
00:15disappointing and embarrassing.
00:17And I know that sounds harsh because their performance was just that,
00:21embarrassing and disappointing.
00:22I mean, listen, the team, the energy that they gave was cocky.
00:26It was too confident.
00:27You know, they were able to get that first goal against Mazatlan,
00:30but quickly after the next play, Mazatlan tied it up.
00:34And for the rest of the game, after the tie, the team just looked intimidated, to be honest.
00:39I mean, Cherandulo didn't put his subs in till the 68th or 70th minute, you know.
00:44Just then, he started with a B-C team and just finally, towards the end of the game,
00:49put his A-team players.
00:51And it's like, what can you really expect these players to do
00:54with only 20, 30 minutes left in the game?
00:56So, yeah.
00:57It was a confirmation of my worst fears is that LAFC is in a downtrend.
01:02They have not had a good result in the last four games.
01:04And now we are facing the possibility of having a tough time qualifying to this tournament,
01:10which gives you the qualification for CONCACAF Champions League.
01:14And that if you win the upcoming Club World Cup, so this is an important tournament.
01:18A bit of a flashback to the Club World Cup for you guys, right?
01:21And that's a scary moment.
01:22And I think it was a similar thing with Columbus Crew going up against Toluca.
01:27Well, look, Toluca, I think, on another level compared to Mazatlan.
01:31Obviously, Toluca is like the best squad right now.
01:33I think one of the strongest squads right now in this tournament.
01:35So, the same thing, though.
01:37I mean, they were up 2-0 at one point.
01:38There was this glimmer of hope for an MLS squad to go up a Mexican giant.
01:42But then, they got too comfy.
01:44They got a little too big for their bridges.
01:45And what happened?
01:46Toluca came back, Paulinho saving the day, and they made it happen on penalties.
01:50So, that's what happens.
01:51A quick reminder, there's no losers on this group stage of the League's Cup.
01:55If you end up tied in regulation, they will go to penalty kicks.
01:59And they get two points for the team that wins the penalty kicks, one point for the team that loses.
02:05And who shows up and represents MLS?
02:07The only team that won in the first day of competition, Montreal.
02:09The Canadian team, probably the worst team of MLS, goes out and beats Lyon, a historic team from Liga MX that has been championed twice in a row, back-to-back.
02:21They've been always a top contender.
02:23They were slated to be in the Club World Cup.
02:28They couldn't because of the multi-ownership.
02:30So, this is a big team.
02:31And come Montreal and just throws the script out.
02:35And this begs the question, is this good or bad for the MLS?
02:38Because we see that these games are being played in front of very little audiences and that we might be risking our players to incur injuries that we don't want.
02:46Are we putting too much football on the table or is that a sin to say?
02:49I'm going to be honest.
02:50I think yes.
02:51I think we are risking these players.
02:53It was disappointing to see at the game on Wednesday.
02:56The 32-52, which brings such big energy to, you know, the LAFC Stadium.
03:02Not a lot of people.
03:03I think it's hurting the MLS.
03:05Not a lot of wins in this group stage.
03:06So, therefore, not a lot of people are going to want to go support their teams.
03:10And overall bad, detrimental for the MLS.
03:13I will make the argument for it.
03:15Because as a lifelong MLS fan, grew up here in LA watching my squad, the Galaxy.
03:20I'm very proud of that.
03:21I've always dreamed of the MLS becoming a world-class league.
03:25And this is the only way to do it.
03:27Is to go up against other squads from other leagues, unfortunately, that are better than you.
03:32And it's going to suck if you're an MLS fan to see your team get their butt kicked.
03:37But if you want to be a world-class team and consider yourself up there, you've got to go head-to-head with teams that are better than you.
03:43And this is kind of what it takes, these kinds of tournaments.
03:45So, I think in most cases, overplaying footballer is not a good thing.
03:49For the MLS's sort of visions, bigger picture, it needs this kind of thing.
03:54MLS isn't like other leagues out there.
03:56It's doing a lot of things differently in order to grow and in order to make a name for itself.
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