Gio Reyna & Tyler Adams lead USMNT over Mexico to win Nations League | SOTU

Alexi Lalas and David Mosse reacted to USMNT defeating Mexico 2-0 in the CONCACAF Nations League Finals as Gio Reyna and Tyler Adams both scored.

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About Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast:
U.S. Soccer legend Alexi Lalas discusses the biggest stories in the world of soccer from an American perspective. Join Alexi and soccer guru David Mosse, as they break down the USMNT, USWNT, MLS, Bundesliga, Premier League, World Cup & everything in between.

Gio Reyna & Tyler Adams lead USMNT over Mexico to win Nations League | SOTU

Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast
https://www.youtube.com/c/StateOfTheUnion

We begin with the US Men’s National Team who last night captured their third straight conaf Nations league title beating Mexico 2-nil in the final the goals Tyler Adams late in the first half Gio Rena in the second half the US now unbeaten in their last seven games

Against Mexico five wins and two draws all right can I preface our conversation here mossi because there is a sentiment out there I’m sure the people that um believe that talking about this uh it’s very easy to lose perspective I want to make sure that everybody understands

What we’re about to do here on the State of the Union we’re not breaking our arms patting ourselves on the back for beating Mexico and by the way beating Mexico yet again but this is a trophy this is a moment of Celebration this is a moment where the music and the

Confetti and the raising of the trophy happens that is important I think that is worthy of Celebration this is also a comprehensive win against our biggest rival within conaf in what has to be said was a hostile environment down there in Arlington uh Texas where you know whatever 60,000 fans and they were

Obviously there to see Mexico uh and you know a lot of love again to AO the American Outlaws out there and they did the best that they could um so we will I think fairly and rightfully so celebrate this win and then I think whether it’s

The players Greg berhalter or any of us on the outside get back to the work at hand and recognize and respect that there are bigger fish to fry having said that this as I said was a comprehensive win congratulations to Greg berhalter and to this team I think that there

Watching this game in that 90 minutes there was no doubt as to who the better team was individually in terms of the talent and collectively in terms of a of a team and they smashed our Rivals Mexico yet again doso it never gets old if it gets old

Then something is wrong we might talk a little bit about that rivalry uh and where it’s going and that pendulum that we talk about a lot right now but certainly this is at least for me cause for celebration with perspective uh first off I want to give a shout out to

Chris Whittingham who I thought did a great job calling both us matches alongside Tony Miola he has a very distinct voice that you couldn’t mistake for anybody else you’re being so fous there you want to explain to the folks I mistakenly referred to him as Dre Cordo

On our last podcast which Tony mola let me know about my good friend Tony Miola uh was was very quick to say hey uh not for nothing but um and so we have we have corrected that congratulations to Chris Antony I actually think that they

Did a uh um a really good job all right listen uh MSY can I uh can I take you through the 11 and just some real thoughts on what’s what’s happening or you wanted to say something before I just want to get one big picture thought

In there uh I feel like we had this EX exact conversation last year after the US beat Mexico 3-0 in the Nations League semis the gap between these two teams right now is huge to the point where Mexico is the one that tries to muck up

The game while the US is the one that tries to play and a pretty good seven out of 10 performance is now enough to beat Mexico comfortably that’s where we are in this rivalry uh I have some thoughts on how we ended up there but you know I think people are going to

Have to wrap their heads around the fact that Mexico is no longer a barometer for the us yes these games have extra juice yes it’s more satisfying to beat Mexico than it is to beat a Jamaica or Panama but from a technical stpoint if the goal

As people like you keep saying over the next couple years is to become an elite team that can arrive at the next World Cup feeling like a legitimate Contender to win it then Mexico is no longer a litmus test in that regard okay so you’re doing exactly what I just told

You we weren’t going to do you’re such a grouch and again it doesn’t mean that you’re being delusional or poana in the way that we were talking about it to celebrate this win all right when I go through the 11 uh Matt Turner I don’t think I think

Reestablished himself as the number one but to your point was not tested a whole lot and obviously let in and goal at the first seven seconds and as you mentioned in the previous pod there were some shaky moments especially with him playing uh out of the back but again

This is a guy who is not playing we’ll get into that in a second Soo Des comes back into the fold on that right back position I think seror D approached this game as an opportunity to create create as much content for the Graham as possible because the stuff that he was

Doing was wonderful and it was beautiful and it was audacious um and it was it was it was great to see and from a viral perspective I’m sure that his Instagram feed is now full uh of moments it is a roller coaster with him though because defensively some of the lapses that play

In the second half where he let Henry Martin push him off the ball in the box and get a shot off I mean that can’t happen M yeah you take the good with the bad when it comes to serginho D and I think that there is more good than bad

However you know I was talking to my brother last night and it’s it it’s not good and the bad it’s it’s great or bad and there’s very little in between um if as we go down the line Chris Richards got the start again I still don’t think

That he is good enough I still have not seen enough uh from him from a defensive standpoint I think he’s shaky doesn’t give a whole lot going uh going forward so I think the jury is still out when it comes to him Tim ream came back in and

Just showed what a mature evolved playmaking type of Center back is and how important he is in a situation like this and I I’ll just reference back to what we said earlier uh on the uh on the Pod last week this is a very different

Type of team that the US was facing in that Mexico wasn’t going to go into a shell and defend like jamaic so there was much more space for the talent to do what they needed to do and for uh the ball handling whe whether it’s Tim re or

Anybody else out there to have that time and space to do it Anthony Robinson I think was much better uh in this game West mcken is such an interesting player I I I I love him I thought that his confidence and his Swagger out there was

The best part of when he had the ball he believed and he made me believe that he was not going to lose it and that was important Tyler Adams goes without saying you come in you only play 45 minutes but you score a crucial goal and one that nobody would have predicted he

Would have scored but more importantly his leadership and the the impact that his presence on the field cannot be overstated keep going okay keep going uh Raina let me come back to Raina I did not think that Timmy WEA had a good window uh I did not think that Unis Musa

Who by the way didn’t start uh had a good window and maybe there are exua circumstances when it comes to Ramadan and the fasting and all that um Wright I think showed that he was okay but not great and I I don’t think anybody has changed anybody’s mind in

That that number nine position Still Remains wide open it’s a Pity that we didn’t get to see Josh sergeant in this uh in this window Christian pic I thought was arguably the best player over these uh over these two games but I know really when it comes to what we’re

Talking about here it’s Geena Geena starting and Geena having a consistent positive impact on on this team MSI and doing it in front of his parents who were in attendance that was great that was great TV work for the camera to go and show claudo and uh Danielle up there

In the stands given all of the drama and what has uh played out over the last year year and a half all right two big picture thoughts on the starting lineup Wright’s trajectory is fascinating to me the guy barely plays in the leadup to the World Cup and then ends up going

To Qatar and being on the field for the most pivotal moments of that campaign then he seemingly drops out of the picture again he wasn’t in the original squad for these games which contained three Center forwards he was not one of them but he ends up starting the final

Against Mexico and I do think uh balagan has run out of rope as far as being the default starter now he’s obviously still in the mix I think he’s the most talented player in that mix so my money is on him reemerging as a starter but I

Do think it was notable that in a final against Mexico balagan and pepe both available neither one started Wright did so to your point that Center forward position is wide open again the next games for the US are against Columbia and Brazil right before the cop

America I have no idea who’s going to start up front in those games do you think that had Wright not come on and scored those two goals against Jamaica that he would have been starting this game uh no I think that’s what got him in the starting lineup okay all right I mean

Well and and we talked about the difference between coming on as a sub and actually starting and and he wasn’t horrible there were a couple offside that I was scratching my head at but yeah I know just go back to what you said it’s still wide open right now and

Then my second big picture point is we’ve been talking about it the US has six starters for five positions those two Wing positions and the three in the Midfield Adams McKenna Musa Raina puliga and there was going to come a day when everybody was going to be available and

It was going to be an important match and someone was going to be the odd men out and it was Musa now maybe it had to do with Ramadan but I do find it interesting that because of his indifferent season with AC Milan and his recent games for the US haven’t been

That great I didn’t notice a lot of controversy on X over Musa not starting that game could you see this as being permanent where he becomes more of a backup for the us and is that odd man out only because it’s specifically relates to giena and so many people want

Giena to be on the field and again against a different opponent you know while Mexico certainly believes that and and showed that they want to play and they’re not going to Bunker in or anything like that that’s this is also a very different proposition than coming

Up against the Netherlands and so yeah I think the the equation in Greg berhalter’s had changes dramatically relative to the uh the opponent but here you know he knew the US was going to have the ball he knew there were going to be spaces and giena had played well

In the previous game and so starting him I think I think made sense as especially given the fact that Musa had not played well and the fact that Adams had 45 minutes in him and Greg Balter opted to go with him in the first half rather

Than the second half to kind of set the tone as interesting had he not scored that goal and we had gone in nil nil then he comes off at the half and Johnny comes in we might be having a different conversation today about that decision but the fact that he scored that goal

Makes it seem like a brilliant move okay so let’s get down to burh halter here um you would you were really really good uh in our spaces and if you didn’t listen to it it’s in your feed um talking about the negativity and the criticism and or

I mean it’s a harsh word but the hate relative to Greg berhalter and that there are the never Gregor out there and your point was and I’m I’m just paraphrasing here that if you if you didn’t think Greg burh halter should have been the coach after the World Cup

Then nothing is going to change your mind and that’s just the way way that it is but when it comes to Greg berhalter it has to be said people scream and yell about what he isn’t doing or he’s not making enough changes or he’s not adjusting uh or he’s not

Playing xplayer or ex-player and then in this a final when he does adjust and does play different people and does have you know geoa or you know a controversial type of uh selection where he plays Tyler Adams and starts him there and it goes well and not just goes

Well goes really really well individually for the players and the team collectively in terms of the result and the overall performance well that’s just because he’s been given the greatest uh collection of talent of any coach in history so he can’t win to all you bur halter haters out there just

Sheath those knives for now don’t worry don’t worry fear not you are going to get an opportunity because summer is coming all right another chance for you to plunge those knives deep into Greg berhalter and bathe in that shot of fora is going to come soon enough but until

Then as I mentioned at the top of the show just relax and enjoy another win over Mexico because as I said it never ever gets old and again we are approaching this with uh with perspective but even in the uh in the postgame uh show the way that it was

Framed was okay yeah but this is just Mexico okay yeah but Greg berhalter really didn’t do anything and look I I I got a lot of respect uh for Jesse Marsh for what he has done uh and he wasn’t the only one but a lot of people in

Particular were pointing out the way that Gio Rena was playing and dropping deep to get the ball and whether that was a tactical decision or whether that was just the flow of the game well first off if you ever kick the ball and certainly Jesse marshan and everybody

Else uh on that panel and around the world I’m assuming you’ve kicked the ball at some point you’ve been in a game where a center midfielder a creative type has wanted to get the ball now it does drive me crazy when midfielders come back and take the ball off of

Center back’s feet but I understand why they do it they want to get on the ball they want to be involved and they are in there to run the show and gioa was in there to run the show but I just thought it was kind of nitpicking and I didn’t

Think that it was I didn’t think it made the point that people wanted to make to go and say well why is Gio Raina showing up in strange places as opposed to getting closer to the goal well one of the reasons is we want him to have the

Ball and he was looking to actually get the ball and again on Greg berhalter you can either live in the world as it is or the world that you think it should be and the world as it is is that Matt Crocker really likes Greg berhalter

Clearly and thinks he did a good job in the last cycle which is why he rehired him and the players really like Greg Balter you saw what unus Musa said before these games you saw what Tyler Adams said after the game last night lavishing Praise on bur halter so clearly the

Threshold of how much it’s going to take for him to lose his job is higher than fans on X think it should be you and I have talked about it I think it would take a catastrophic Copa America campaign an embarrassing group stage exit if he gets out of that group which

Does contain Panama and Bolivia and whatever happens in a knockout stage I think he’s fine and keep going after that so fans just better reconcile themselves to that can I read you a little quote from uh from Greg berhalter um Doug McIntyre put this out here on X

Uh when he was asked when Greg berhalter was asked or sorry Tyler Adams was asked about Greg burh halter and I’m not gonna read the whole thing but he Tyler Adams talking about Greg burh halter he’s doing more for us as a country and developing us as young players than

People see obviously on the field it’s not easy to come in into camp and have two days to train some G guys played 90 minutes and get in a day before the game and have to play again so this Camp was a success and I think we need to

Continue to have more moments like this to your point and then he also said what are you as fans or press judging him off of you know what I mean question mark we continue to win in certain situations our first World Cup experience was a positive in a lot of people’s minds he’s

Greg berhalter is developing Us in the right way he’s having conversations with us off the pitch that are continually developing us and most importantly he’s challenging us now this is a Greg burh halter who also in the postgame conference said that he got into a fight with Tyler Adams you know a shouting

Match with Tyler Adams because Tyler Adams wanted to continue on and not just play 45 minutes we saw Tyler Adams come off the field and them get into it on the on the sideline out there but to your point these these players seem to have a respect and a fondness and do

Like Greg berhalter and I know those will say Well yeah if he’s starting them and he’s giving them times on time on the field what are they going to say so MSI go ahead uh Sean Sullivan for what it’s worth called it a burh halter master class last night and said the

Fact that he started Tyler Adams and Jena reflected the fact that he has big balls I don’t know how big his balls are I mean I think some of this kind of wrote itself um and it gets back to you know form is fallacy my friend you want to go

There yeah I mean just want to pin down exactly what form is fallacy means it it certainly applies with Gio because he’s somebody whose form has been criticized and so that spoke to the fact that however poorly a guy might be playing at Club level um he can still show up for

The national team and do well but you tried to apply it to Tyler Adams and to me that’s no form a guy being injured doesn’t really apply you just you just told me how there is a sentiment out there that starting Tyler Adams was this

Ooh ah type of thing and if that’s the case why well because this is a guy who hasn’t played and so my question to you is is is someone that has bad form that is playing okay worse or better than someone that has no form at all because

He’s not playing either way I look at it as this is form okay and his form in this situation is fallacy in that he started a guy who has not been playing soccer so both cases fit under the general umbrella of form his fallacy they yes they definitely agree the

Quintessential examples are guys that are playing poorly at Club level absolutely my my point is that we cannot always judge what is happening at the club level whether they are playing and playing poorly or by the way whether they are playing and playing well or in this case they’re not even playing at

All we can’t just use that and say well that’s going to happen immediately when they get into camp and I think Tyler Adams in a strange way was also trying to you know talk about that here in that they don’t have a whole lot of time and so whatever history you have whatever

Organization you have already put in place it becomes that much more more valuable and again it’s it’s against Mexico so we temper all of this with uh with that but Greg berhalter I think deserves credit and praise for doing things that people disagreed with um and doing

Things that people didn’t or and are doing things that people didn’t expect in this moment and it worked out and even if Tyler Adams had not scored the goal it was still it still ended up being the right decision to have him start this game and certainly when it

Comes to Gio Rena I think it was the right decision specifically in this game against Mexico you like that clip well my state of the union podcast drops twice a week right here on my very own YouTube page the only way to stay up to date is to hit that subscribe button

Down below size the day and see you soon