- 2 months ago
MLS commentator for Apple TV and commentator / host for CBS Sports Golazo, Chris Wittyngham, discusses Inter Miamiβs matchup vs Tigres in Leagues Cup tomorrow. Plus, his take on the Cremaschi / Mascherano controversy.
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00:00Witty is an MLS commentator for Apple TV and a commentator and host for CBS Sports Goal.
00:06So Witty is actually on the call for Bay FC hosting Washington Spirit.
00:11That game's at Oracle Park this Saturday in the NWSL.
00:15That game's on CBS 4, by the way, at 4 p.m.
00:18Watch his broadcast there.
00:19Inner Miami, which is what we want to talk to Witty about.
00:23They're coming off a 3-1 victory in MLS action on Saturday.
00:26They beat the defending champs, LA Galaxy, who are playing not like the defending champs.
00:32Their next MLS game is Saturday at DC United, but that game follows tomorrow's game.
00:40Inner Miami playing a quarterfinal match in the League's Cup.
00:43They host Tigres from Ligaimecus at Chase Stadium at 8 p.m.
00:47Witty, appreciate you joining us.
00:49And today, Leo Messi, it appears, was on the what was was practicing, but away from the team, like by himself.
01:01Should inner Miami, I guess, would they struggle beating Tigres tomorrow without Leo Messi?
01:08Like, would it be an insurmountable situation for them without Messi?
01:13I don't know if insurmountable is quite the word, but it definitely, they might not beat Tigres with Messi.
01:18That's how good Tigres is.
01:19This is a team that, over the course of the last 10 years, is the most successful team in Mexico in terms of winning league trophies season upon season.
01:27They're incredibly well-resourced.
01:29They bring in big-name stars from Europe.
01:32Some of the ones that MLS don't get, you look at Angel Correa, who leads the line for them.
01:35It's an absolutely top-level player.
01:36AndrΓ©-Pierre Gignac might be one of the greatest players in the history of Liga MX.
01:40So, this is a really, really stacked team.
01:42So, I think even if Messi were healthy, this could be a challenge.
01:45But it is kind of wild to have watched how, you know, Messi picked up an injury in that last game of League's Cup in the group stage.
01:52And then missed a couple games, comes back, has a goal and an assist, looked every bit the wonderful Messi can be.
01:59And yet, we see him again training off to the side.
02:02So, there is just this worry that it continues to be a problem, that muscle injury that he picked up in that last game of the League's Cup group stage.
02:09So, yeah, I think there would be real concerns that he probably can't play more than 10, 15 minutes, if at all, in this game.
02:15And I think that could potentially spell the end of their run in League's Cup, because this team is really, really good.
02:21Well, Woody, I feel like just given all the noise that's surrounding Inter-Miami in this current period of time, even if Messi were to play,
02:29it almost seems like, I don't know if distraction is the right word, but with all that's going on around there,
02:34it doesn't seem conducive to playing in an important elimination knockout round game against a team like Tigress.
02:40You've got Drake Callender, who was officially dealt to Charlotte.
02:44I think it was announced today or yesterday.
02:46And then there's been this weird public feud between Mascherano and Benjamin Kromoski.
02:52And we could start with Drake Callender.
02:54He's a guy who we've talked about, has single-handedly won Miami a trophy in the past,
02:59and they've really struggled in goal this year.
03:01What do you make of that decision?
03:02Well, I think in terms of that calendar thing, I've never really understood it from the beginning of the season,
03:08because they didn't really have an active backup plan.
03:12Oscar Ustadi has played a ton this season.
03:14He's 39 years old.
03:15He wasn't really playing much in Mexico or elsewhere before he arrived.
03:18And then your third option is Rocco Riosnovo, who's largely been a career backup,
03:22who's a young player that came through in Argentina, but has been a backup here in the United States.
03:27It would make more sense to me.
03:28And look, the transfer window is not closed, and they just got some money for Drake Callender.
03:32If they go and buy another goalkeeper, because I think they need a proper number one to get through what they want to get through in this league's cup,
03:39in the MLS regular season, and of course, in the playoffs.
03:42I don't think their present goalkeeping situation is good enough to get through all those things that they're trying to do,
03:47as good as the rest of the team is.
03:49I think they need a proper goalkeeper, and I don't think that they have one at the moment.
03:52So that is a concern for me.
03:54And the calendar thing, you can sort of understand it from one perspective, which is that he was never really good with the ball at his feet,
04:00which is one of the things that a lot of modern goalkeepers are measured against.
04:03Can you be good with your feet and helping the team in distribution?
04:06But the team isn't really that team.
04:08If they were playing like Barcelona and kept 65%, 70% to the possession, that would make sense.
04:13But they're not really that way most of the time.
04:16And so I just think for as good as calendar has been in big games, in shot-stopping moments,
04:23that they would have figured out a way to make that happen and to keep him around and get him fit again
04:28and make him be the starting goalkeeper, because you go back to League's Cup 2023,
04:32that's a penalty shootout that goes 12 rounds.
04:34He makes one and then saves one.
04:36And he has come up with big saves again and again in their quest to last year set the all-time MLS regular season points record.
04:44And all these moments, he's come up huge.
04:46And so I'm surprised that they're getting off him.
04:48And I'm also a little bit surprised by the destination, it being Charlotte.
04:52I just want to ask you about the Kromosky situation.
04:54If you don't know, Benjamin Kromosky, a really good young player for Inter-Miami,
04:59he comes out and he says to the press,
05:01I don't know sometimes when I show up where I'm going to play, if I'm going to play,
05:05and it's hard to develop when that is the case.
05:08Mascherano gets asked about it, and he says, well, my door's always open.
05:11I don't understand why he's taking that public and kind of throws Kromosky under the bus a little bit.
05:16For me, I don't know if this is just like someone who's not experienced enough in these type of situations
05:21or if it's dealt with differently, but like from what we know and how coaches talk
05:26in the four major sports here in this country, that is a, they totally blow it off, non-issue,
05:32and then they address it behind closed doors.
05:34I think it's a really bad look for Mascherano to do that to Kromosky publicly.
05:38Maybe Kromosky could have handled it a little differently on his end as well,
05:42but I think for Javier Mascherano to react that way and throw his young player under the bus,
05:47I don't think that's the best of looks,
05:48and I think it kind of speaks a lot to how much control or lack thereof he kind of has
05:53over what's happening now.
05:54Yeah, you mentioned the sort of lack of experience.
05:56I think it is lack of experience on both ends.
05:58I agree with you.
05:59I'm surprised that you get handed this story, which could very easily be handled internally,
06:03and you decided to kind of put gas on the flames and include him in the team and put him on from
06:09the bench.
06:10It's kind of a weird mixed messaging, but I think it does lend a little bit of credence to
06:14something that a lot of Miami fans have felt throughout the season.
06:16I'm not sure it's entirely true about the kind of lack of complexity in the tactical setup
06:20under Mascherano if he's really up for this job, because I think, obviously, as a Miami fan,
06:26the expectation is to win the championship.
06:28It's meant to be the best team in the league, and it deserves a coach who, I think,
06:32has a little bit more of an actual managerial resume.
06:35Now, I think Mascherano has actually done a fairly decent job with this team.
06:38I think he's done well to manage some of these difficult situations.
06:42He obviously has the ear of all the big stars in the team, namely Messi, but all the other
06:47players as well, having connections with DePaul and Busquets and Alba and Suarez and all these
06:51guys, I think, is a good background to have in the dugout.
06:55But I do think if Kermassi is coming out and saying that, he's not lying, and he's also
06:59playing in a ton of different positions.
07:00I think he's played at left back at times.
07:02He's played at right back.
07:03He came up to the academy as an attacking midfielder, and that requires a measure of nuance to
07:08handle that correctly.
07:09Obviously, as a young player, you don't quite have that same background, that same all-encompassing
07:15knowledge of the field, where I think some more veteran players, you stick them in a
07:18different position, and they largely know what they're doing.
07:21I don't think you can say the same for a young player.
07:23So I can understand why he thinks that.
07:25I think it's the coming out and saying that that's a problem.
07:27And you can understand how there definitely would be a conversation happening behind the
07:32scenes.
07:32Maybe you say it to a relative.
07:34You say it to a friend, or you tell one of your teammates, ah, this is BS, man.
07:37I'm not playing in my usual position.
07:39This is ridiculous.
07:40But he should probably know to not come out and come up against a manager who has obviously
07:46the ear of everyone involved in the club.
07:48And from Mascherano's standpoint, he has, I think, dialed this to another proportion that
07:52is also unnecessary.
07:53So I don't think this has been terribly well handled all the way around.
07:57He's there, Mascherano.
07:59And by the way, I don't even blame Mascherano.
08:01You know, somebody who, who almost doesn't play in your squad calls you out publicly.
08:05He felt offended.
08:07He called him out publicly, but Woody, he's there.
08:10And I don't think it's an indictment on him.
08:12Like, I just think it's a fact he's there because he's boys with messy, right?
08:18Like, am I wrong about this?
08:19I mean, last year with that, that Martino, they literally set a league record for the
08:24most points ever.
08:25They played well.
08:26He coached well.
08:28He knew what it took to win an MLS title.
08:31He's done it before.
08:32And look, they, they didn't play well against Atlanta, but I don't necessarily think that
08:37all the blame should have gone at that to Martino, whatever went on behind the scenes there where
08:41he ended up leaving that happened.
08:42Fine.
08:43Mascherano's there because he's boys with messy.
08:45I think that that's a fair statement, isn't it?
08:48Yes, I do.
08:49And he coached you 23.
08:52They got bounced in the quarterfinals, the Olympics.
08:53Not that there's anything wrong with that, but he's not like this well-established manager
08:58who comes with this unbelievable track record as a manager.
09:02This is fairly new territory for him overall.
09:05He's there because he's friends with messy and there's nothing wrong with that.
09:08Like this is messy's team at the end of the day.
09:10And he's on his way in his coaching career.
09:12I don't think it's necessarily any logical next step for Mascherano to be the coach of
09:16Inter Miami next in his career.
09:18As you mentioned, he's called, he's coaching the Argentine youth national teams.
09:21He didn't do a particularly brilliant job and he can say it's definitely a mixed record
09:24for him, but I don't think it's necessarily out of the realm of possibility.
09:27But yeah, of course, all those personal relationships play a role.
09:31I think it's obvious that, you know, from going and getting Rodrigo DePaul, which by
09:35the way, any MLS team would go and do.
09:37If you say you can go get a world cup winning midfield player, like going and getting messy's
09:42friends is not necessarily a bad thing as you're saying.
09:44But I do think that Mascherano has a fair bit to prove as a manager.
09:47And I think it probably would be, I don't want to say best, but I think that he has
09:53to figure out a way to kind of manage some of these situations and figure out in his
09:57coaching career, what's the right way to go about this.
09:59And I'm not certain that putting fire or, you know, adding gas to these flames is
10:02necessarily the right way to go about that.
10:04So no, I think that you look at his career, his resume, it would not lend itself to having
10:10this job, but once he's in it, he's done a reasonable job.
10:14They made the world, the club, world cup, knockout rounds.
10:16I don't necessarily have too much of a go.
10:17I think he's been okay, but I think there are probably fair criticisms and probably fair
10:21criticisms from with even the team.
10:23And I think you could probably say this criticism from Kramaski is probably fair.
10:27It's only the form in which it's aired.
10:29That is the mistake for sure, for sure.
10:31And look, he's like, he's the only homegrown player that that was like put on that pedestal
10:37and was, I don't want to say he was shining, but there was some like terrific moments from
10:42Kramaski this year.
10:43He got called in the full U.S. men's national team because there was a real recruiting battle
10:47between Argentina and the U.S.
10:49Argentina wanted him.
10:50Maschidano actually was the one who wanted to bring him in to the under 23s to eventually
10:56become a full Argentine international.
10:58That's what he was thought of as a player and as a prospect.
11:00So no, you're absolutely right.
11:02This is a player that was kind of thought to be the jewel of the Inter-Miami Academy,
11:06this young Academy that should be producing players towards the senior team.
11:09And he's kind of the first one that has gotten his first big crack at it.
11:13Turns out that two defenders have kind of outshone him in terms of Frey and Noah Allen
11:17have both played more and have a bigger role to play in the team.
11:20But yeah, you know, Kramaski was when he first came through.
11:23I remember all the talk around the club was this kid's going to be good.
11:25He was starting basically every game before Messi arrived.
11:28Hey, we were just footballing here, Jimmy and I, right before we brought you on.
11:31Woody, is Drake Callender outside of current players right now that are on the team for
11:36Inter-Miami?
11:37Obviously, Messi, Suarez, Alba, Busquets.
11:41Is Drake Callender the greatest Inter-Miami player after those guys?
11:45Like, I'm not, I know it sounds ridiculous to say, but like, what's the list?
11:49Gonzalo Higuain, who came here to eat empanadas?
11:52Yeah, those six months though, man.
11:54Those six months though.
11:55When he announced his retirement and he got the team single-handedly to the playoffs.
11:59Blaise Matuidi.
12:01Matuidi, Leo Campana, Robbie Robinson, the first, the first, first round.
12:06I don't know.
12:07Guys naming dudes.
12:08No, I literally did this.
12:10I love the game.
12:11I did it with my brother today because we were talking on the phone and he went to that
12:14first game, the second game that they played against DC United.
12:17And we were trying to remember the, the starting lineup from that first Miami team.
12:21It's some great names.
12:22And you're right.
12:22I mean, this is not a team with a lot of lore.
12:24And honestly, Callender is a big part of the current lore as well.
12:28Whatever they have put together in terms of results.
12:31I don't think they win the supporters year without Drake Callender.
12:33I don't think they win league's cup without Drake Callender.
12:35Those are the two trophies from the messy era so far.
12:38So yeah, I think he's right up there in terms of most important figures in club history.
12:42And it's also worth noting that he's also a success story for internal development at
12:46the club.
12:46He was the third goalkeeper when he showed up.
12:48And I remember thinking this guy's never going to play.
12:51I saw him once in a preseason game.
12:52This was 2022 or three.
12:56And it was a preseason game.
12:59Miami's playing Montreal.
13:00He made a terrible mistake in the game.
13:02And I remember Phil Neville came out in the media and afterwards and after the game said,
13:06you know, that's a terrible mistake.
13:07He can't do that.
13:08It's got to get a lot better if he's ever going to get minutes in this team.
13:10And to go from that to, you know, being a heroic figure for the club that any kind of
13:15diehard fan would remember.
13:16Yeah, I think he's probably right now the greatest figure in the history of the team,
13:19along with obviously all these big stars that are currently in the side.
13:22Build him a statue then on the Wendy's right there.
13:25A bit much, but have you seen pictures in the new stadium, by the way?
13:29It's really coming along.
13:30It's gorgeous.
13:31I pass it every day driving into the studio.
13:33Yeah, it looks awesome.
13:34Outside of Freedom Park.
13:35Let's get it done.
13:36Statue, Drake Callender.
13:38Chris Whittingham.
13:39He's on the call for Bay FC hosting.
13:40I want to talk to you about Pulisic, but we're out of time.
13:43Maybe another time, Woody.
13:45He's on the call for Bay FC hosting Washington Spirit at Oracle Park Saturday in the NWSL.
13:51Watch his broadcast on CBS4 at 4 p.m.
13:55Also, you had texted me the opening Serie A game of the season.
13:59That's this Sunday, Juve Parma at 2.45?
14:03Correct, on Paramount+.
14:04Yeah, we have our full program of games in Serie A,
14:08the one we're calling new is Juventus Parma on Sunday.
14:10Got to get on the red-eye back from San Francisco to call that one.
14:14That's Parmesan?
14:15Yeah, it is the home of Parmesan cheese.
14:18That's correct.
14:18Ah, who knew?
14:20The people from Parma.
14:21I love Parmesan cheese.
14:23Big Parmesan cheese fan.
14:24Not a fan.
14:25Same.
14:25I agree with Josh.
14:27Awful take.
14:29Terrible to end it on that.
14:30Thank you very much, Woody.
14:31Appreciate it.
14:32All right, see you guys.
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