USMNT Historic Weekend: Weston McKennie, Ricardo Pepi, Johnny Cardoso and more | SOTU
We’ll go to Europe. We’ll begin in Serie A. Juventus with a home win over Frosinone. Weston McKennie with two assists, both to Vlahovic. McKennie started. Timmy Weah came on as a sub. McKennie did suffer a dislocated shoulder. We’re not sure yet how long he’ll be out, but that’s trouble not only for Juventus, but potentially for the US National Team, who have the Nations League final four coming up. Yeah, it’s strange, because we were talking to our producer, Sean, before we came on air here, and he seems to think that this is going to rule him
out for March and Nations League, right? “Nations League,” is that what we’re calling it? But the way that it was described is that this is, I guess, just part of what his body has become, talking about Weston McKennie, and that his shoulder dislocates. And we’ve all seen, either in the movies or in real life, where it’s put back, and it can be a painful process, but you’re popping it back into joint. I don’t know, ultimately, if this is a situation where it’s getting to the point where he has to have surgery, and they have to
figure this out, or if, just every time it pops out, you pop it back in. I would think, and I’m certainly not a doctor, that
actually fix this, if this is a problem that is fixed through surgery? As a Knicks fan, I’m dealing with this right now with Julius Randle, wondering when he’s gonna come back. But hypothetically, if McKennie were to miss the Nations League final four, Tyler Adams out as well, what does that midfield look like? Are we talking Johnny and Musah with Gio Reyna as the 10? Yeah, I think, ultimately, that’s what it looks like. And there’s a lot of people that are very excited to see that. You know, again, when everybody is there, and I know we’re
pulling Reyna back and fundamentally changing kind of the way that they play in order to get him on that field and putting him atop of that triangle, if you will, but, and we talked about it earlier in the pod, you’re never going– No, rarely are you going to have everybody healthy and available. And if the past is any indication, Gregg Berhalter is not, and so he has had to mix and match at different points. And we’re just assuming that Tyler Adams is going to be fine when he comes back in. That’s a huge, huge assumption.
So this might be, in a strange way, a blessing in disguise for us to see some different looks and some different players that, again, can give the competition that the positions need and that this team needs going forward. Speaking of Yunus Musah, he came on as a sub for AC Milan in their 1-1 draw with Atalanta. Pulisic started. Rafael Leao got the goal for Milan. Yeah, Pulisic started again, had a chance, really, to score some goals, a really nice chance over on that right-hand side, coming down. But it’s not a great result for AC Milan.
But, again, you know, Pulisic, I feel like, Mosse, that, in the past, at this point, we would have talked about Pulisic’s injury. And, again, I don’t want to jinx it. I’m knocking on wood here. But he has been pretty sturdy through this period right now. And I hope that this is the new norm for Christian Pulisic. His body has continued to change, and to grow, and it’s gotten to a point where he understands what he can and cannot do. And this type of longevity, in terms of health right now, if you look back at Christian
Pulisic, it’s kind of a rarity. So I’m excited about this version of Christian Pulisic, who’s starting consistently. Yes, he has been on the scoresheet many, many times, not always. Usually, coming off as a substitute later in the second half. But a regular starter for Milan, and a regular contributor. And most importantly, in terms of that regularity, is being healthy and not being injured. So here’s to more and more of that. I mentioned Rafael Leao scoring. It was a great goal. We have the Euros this summer. I’m really excited to watch him. I think he could
be another star in that tournament. How about that angle he scored from? My goodness! He just smashed it in the far upper 90 there from a really acute angle, as they say. We go to France next. Folarin Balogun found the back of the net in Monaco’s 3-2 away win over Lens. He did miss a penalty later in the match, but the goal was his first in Ligue 1 since November. He kind of needed it. I think he needed it individually. I think those of us that are looking at that number-nine position, and wondering what that
group looks like, and, certainly, Fol Balogun is going to be part of that group. But going through a drought as a goal scorer is not a great look for him, especially if this is the anointed one, if this is the person that potentially could be starting. I mean, remember, we talked Taylor Twellman over the last couple of weeks here, and I asked him, who’s starting in 2026, and he said Fol Balogun. And the goal that he scored was a great individual effort. In a second effort, goes down, gets back up, you know, fights off the
defender, and then finds a way to put it in, again, from an acute angle. So that’s good news that Balogun is back on the scoresheet for his mentality, and I guess the way that we are looking at him. Balogun one of five US players with a goal contribution on Sunday in Europe’s top five leagues. According to OptaJack, that’s the most in a single day since the start of the 2006-7 season. So this is good! This is– I mean– All right, well, Opta says since 2006-7? Really? Yes. OptaJack, not to be confused with OptaJoe, OptaJean, OptaJose.
You know, there’s lots of different Optas. ALEXI LALAS: Really? Yes. But the soccer one is Jack? DAVID MOSSE: No, they’re all soccer– Oh, they’re all soccer. But they cover different leagues, different areas. But, yeah, OptaJack is my favorite. He does a very nice job. All right. So, OptaJack, you’d go hang out with, right? You’d have a beer with OptaJack. ALEXI LALAS: Absolutely. – OK. Got it. What else? Next up, we go to the Netherlands. PSV with a 7-1 demolition of Zwolle. Sergiño Dest assisted the first goal. Ricardo Pepi got the all important seventh to seal
the victory, and it was assisted by Malik Tillman. I care because they’re American, but I don’t care. PSV are threatening to pull off an Invincibles. They’re still unbeaten, 23 rounds into the season. Leverkusen also threatening to do that in the Bundesliga, by the way. ALEXI LALAS: So that’s not necessarily– That’s just not losing? DAVID MOSSE: Correct. It’s not undefeated in terms of winning every single game? DAVID MOSSE: Arsenal famously achieved that in the Premier League in the 2003-4 campaign, but if you go look, there were a lot of draws, a lot of draws. Arsenal fans
get very annoyed if you point that out. Really? Well, then definitely say it. Yes. We go to La Liga next. Real Betis with a 3-1 home win over Athletic Bilbao. Johnny Cardoso, another good performance, including a sensational goal, his first for the club. Wonderful. Wonderful goal from Johnny, and continues to turn heads. Now, here’s somebody that parlayed his time in Brazil into bigger and better things, and has not missed a beat. Unlike our friend Mr. Suarez over there, Johnny Cardoso comes over and stars, stars for Betis, stars in La Liga, and is turning heads, and
is changing perception of him relative to the national team, at least for somebody. I know somebody had a go at me over there for the fact that I did not rate him. Well, I think, to be fair, what I said is, relative to the national team, and I think you would agree with me, that he has yet to really translate his form that we’re seeing right now with the national team. Hopefully that happens going forward when he gets called in. You know, the other thing is that, because he played in Brazil, he was looked at
as unique. He was a rarity for an American player to be playing at Brazil, and he benefited, and we all use whatever is at our at our fingertips, and we all use whatever is out there to our advantage, and I don’t begrudge him that at all. Again, if he had been the exact same player and doing it, you know, somewhere in Major League Soccer, the perception of him, and maybe even the opportunities that he had, would be different. And so I think I said that too. But right now, it could not be going any better
for Johnny Cardoso, and the way that this next window and the way that this summer is lining up for him, especially when it comes to the opportunities that we were talking about, Mosse, in terms of the injuries there, listen, you take them, and they come along in so many different ways, whether it’s injuries to players, whether it’s new coaches, whether it’s just a new direction that a team is that is taking. Somebody misses the bus, somebody gets in trouble, whatever it ends up being, you grab it with both hands. And, so, if I’m Johnny Cardoso
right now, I’m saying, all right, there is going to be an opportunity for me to play, to play in a position that I like, and I need to grab it with both hands, and say, I’m not letting anybody take this back, and then then you’re OK, because, again, still limited, but he has yet to really show it at the national team level. We go to the Premier League next. Crystal Palace with a 3-0 home win over Burnley. Chris Richards among the scorers. Remember OptaJack, we just talked about? ALEXI LALAS: Yes. DAVID MOSSE: He also tweeted
that Richards was the 12th different US player to score a goal in Europe’s top five leagues this season. That’s the most in any season this century. I mean, great. That’s wonderful. We have yet to see the best of Chris Richards, and this undeniable talent, and potentially the starter for this national team going forward. How do you see Chris Richards fleshing out when all is said and done, as we go through this summer, and then, obviously, into 2026? I like him. I think he’s a starter for the US. Well, everybody likes him. But you do think
that he comes good, he’s a starter, he continues to progress, continues to evolve, and becomes one of the starting center backs this summer too? DAVID MOSSE: Yes. OK. All right. Beautiful. I think I tend to agree with you. Before we depart the Premier League, another forgettable weekend for Gio Reyna. Played just 10 minutes in Nottingham Forest’s 4-2 defeat to Aston Villa. We don’t have to get into this today, but I did see on Twitter, you already floating MLS out there as a possibility for him. Well, no, the question that I asked over there on X
is, if Gio Reyna, in his current state, were to get up and say, I want to come to MLS, and let’s take out the transfer fee, just for now, what would you pay him a year? You know, is he worth $1 million a year? Is he worth $2 million a year, $3 million, whatever it ends up being? I mean, the valuation of Gio Reyna, given everything that has happened right now, because, again, I think we talked about this last show, we seem to have bent over backwards to accommodate Gio Reyna. We seem to have bent
over backwards to give him every benefit of the doubt. And, look, I’ll be the first to say, because of his talent, and, I guess, because of the potential, I think we’ve justified it to ourselves, and it’s worth giving him every opportunity. But when it comes to how good he is, if you had to put your money where your mouth is, from an MLS perspective, how much would you pay someone like that? You tell us. Call in. Let us know.
