Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Happy Thursday to you all. I wanted to say Monday. It's because it's our first show of 2026. Casey Keller, Hercules Gomez, Christina Alexander with you. We are officially in 2026. A World Cup year cannot sound better. The question will be a little bit later. Is USMNT dripping with their leaked kit? You're dripping today with this little number.
A little Malik Tillman kit. It's Byron Leverkusen. It's a... decaf by our Leverkusen these days. It's not the same Leverkusen. Decaf. Yeah. They made a lot of sales. A lot of sales. The same Leverkusen of old, but still, their kits are very nice. Can we still say Happy New Year? What's the cutoff? I'm looking for Larry David. Is it the 6th or the 7th? Is it January 7th? January 7th? Today's 8th.
Today's 8th.
The producer says January 7th. You're a week out. Yep. You had a week. You had a week to wish everybody. Happy New Year. But it is the first episode back. It's exactly what I was going to say. It's fine. We can do whatever we want on the show on Football Americas. Right, Producer? A little bit more to break down here on Football Americas.
Like I mentioned, the kid and, of course, a little Simone Vinicius Jr. exchange. Doesn't hurt anybody, at least us. It's very entertaining. Let's get to what we saw here in the last 24 hours with Brendan Aronson, too. Like I said, it's a 2026 World Cup year and every second counts. And boy, is Brendan Aronson doing just that for Leeds United.
Had a brace yesterday and a heartbreak loss, a 4-3 to Newcastle. It's the second match in a row with a goal and it was a standout performance case by him. Well, I mean, it's always important whenever at this stage, when you're in that final six months, you're always trying to prove something. You're always showing the manager.
You know, look, Brendan's really, I think, fought back from, you know, coming back to Leeds after he left when they got relegated. It upset a lot of the fans. It was always going to be difficult. He came back into the championship, helped the team get promoted. And it's... It's been difficult for him to win the fans back over, but all you can do. And a DK for you here? Speaking of heartbreak.
All you can do is... We'll get to it in just a second. Here's Brendan after this one. Brendan, a heartbreaking way to lose the game. How do you view the whole thing?
Yeah I mean of course I'm devastated you know I mean it's annoying when you score two and then you know I feel like mentally maybe I turned off for a moment but I know I can't lift my hand like this around the box and yeah I did it but I mean listen I mean it's football at the end of the day and of course I'm mad at myself but I think we could have done better defending on a couple occasions I think we're in a
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Chapter 2: How is Brenden Aaronson performing for Leeds United?
Everything starts with Brendan's work rate. And that's what initially starts things off. And I think somewhat, as you talked about the pressing, where he's successful is when Leeds turns the ball over in more advanced positions. And he has then been able to take advantage of that. I think in... Times in the past, maybe that final product wasn't quite as consistent as it needed to be.
And now you're finding a point where the shot's going on to the inside of the post. He's getting the assist and leads are benefiting from it. And all you can do is keep fighting, keep showing, keep showing your teammates, your coaches, the fans,
that you can contribute and he's setting himself up really nicely for the second half of the season and just to continue that to continue as you mentioned the minutes and the contributions are going to be crucial to who makes that World Cup roster.
This is a massive turnaround for Leeds, massive turnaround for Brendan Aronson. This is their first loss in the last eight games. We look at where Leeds was. There's still a lot to do. They've got to fight. They've got to fight. 16th in the Premier League, but it's such a tight schedule from 16 on to, I believe, 5, 6. It's like 8. Yeah, 7, 8. Not too much separates them.
And Brendan Aronson is a big reason why. Now, it wasn't too long ago that we were on this show talking about Brendan Aronson having to be defended by his head coach, to the fan base. This is a player who, for lack of a better term, has had to eat a lot of poop lately.
He's a player that, when Jesse Marsh was with Leeds, was thrown into this American little circuit, if you will, and blamed for Leeds going down. Struck with Leeds in the second season, because he went to Union Berlin, came back, helped Leeds achieve promotion, And he's slowly chipping away and earning the fan base's trust, earning his teammates' trust.
He had a goal against Manchester United last week. He's got two goals this week. But I agree with Casey. It starts with his work rate. You see the type of player he is, and he's by no means a flashy, technical, flary player. This is a player that starts with work and ends with work. And that work is contagious. It's contagious to the rest. And he ends up getting goals and assists.
He's a productive player. Not too long ago with Greg Berhalter, last World Cup cycle, There was one player we dubbed Mr. Football Americas, and it was Brendan Arrington because he would show up on our run it back literally every week. Every week he was scoring goals. Every week he was doing an assist. Every week he was producing plays. He's back to that level.
Let's not forget he's only 25 years old. I know people are going to say, well, that's not young anymore. What I'm trying to say is 25 years old, 56 games for the national team. 56 games for the national team, and he's playing at the highest levels in the Premier League. It's quite a turnaround for Medford-Messi.
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Chapter 3: What impact could Brenden Aaronson have on the USMNT roster?
And that this opportunity may pass you by and you may never get it again. I'm not saying he would jump ship. Yeah, likewise. That is a realistic scenario where you could say whatever you want about the brand of Manchester United today. It is still one of the biggest sporting brands in the world. And at one time, it was the biggest footballing brand in the world.
And he knows what Manchester United means in the U.K. And behind the proper... And the world.
Not just the UK.
Yes, in the world. And behind the proper project, it is a very attractive job. Not only for the Mauricio Pochettinos, I could see Luis Enrique thinking about an attractive job or a project behind this. I could think of numerous coaches. So it's very enticing. It's very enticing. But if I'm U.S. soccer, if I'm U.S. soccer, this is exactly what I have to make sure does not happen.
Mauricio Pochettino is within his right to seek contractual opportunities because, as Casey mentioned, there is a buyout clause. But if I'm U.S. soccer, this is a major egg-in-the-face scenario if they even explore this.
They can't. They don't have a choice. The buyout clause tells you there's no choice. If Manchester United agrees to the buyout clause and Mauricio Pochettino says yes... U.S. soccer cannot do a thing about it. Right. There is no contract issue. The bio clause was met, and your head coach took it.
If I am U.S. soccer, I am doing everything in my power to stress to Mauricio Pochettino how this cannot happen. Now, whatever Mauricio Pochettino decides to do, and we're not saying he's going to do it, we're not saying this is a scenario, but there is, within the realm of possibilities, that possibility contractually that it can't happen, I have to make sure it doesn't happen from U.S. soccer.
How do you make sure that it doesn't happen, though? You can't. You can't, because it's a significantly different enticement. You can't write him a check You've already written him a job. That's what I mean. You can't then say, oh, by the way, here's $50 million.
We're under agreement that he's gone after the World Cup anyways. Well, yeah, of course he is. I see no scenario in this where Mauricio Pochino, even if he does well, even if the U.S. makes a massive run where he says, I want to stick around as coach of the U.S. men's national team. No, I think that itch that he has of European football, of the Premier League, is going to be there.
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