US Open starts today!

Coming up tonight at 10 o'clock Eastern Time, 7 o'clock Pacific. The U.S. Men's National Team will take on arch rival Mexico in the semi-finals of the Nations League. The U.S. is taking this match and this series, I guess, or this tournament seriously.

The first team will be on hand minus maybe an injured player or two. To talk about it, a legend of the U.S. Men's National Team. Eric Quinaldi, I listen to him almost every day, on Sirius XM. He joins us on the Adam Gold show.

They are taking this seriously, but they have what? B.J. Callahan as the manager. This is not going to be the guy going forward.

So can we take a lot out of it based on we don't know what formation they're going to play and what kind of staying power it's going to have? Hey, great question. Good to be with you, Adam. So listen, I'm in Vegas. I've watched kind of all of this unfold. I had my reservations about it as well, but I started thinking about it. Over the history of the U.S. National Team, we've had more in terms than we've had coaches.

It's just kind of like what we do when we don't know what to do. So B.J. Callahan made the most sense to be in charge right now. If you don't know his story, he came from Philadelphia, really. I was a part of Jimmy Curtin's staff and then he made the move over to the National Team as an analytics guy. And then he worked with Anthony Hudson through that internship, I guess. And then now he's just the same message. So I guess the logic here is that the messaging stays the same. They're not going to make any drastic changes in their style of play.

And it was, I guess, the easiest way to get through this transitional period. We're going to get to the potential of maybe even a Greg Berhalter return in a minute. Eric Winolda joining us here. You know, I heard you and Tony Miola talking about formations yesterday. So do we expect them to line up? And I think you both had a 4-2-3-1 in mind, which would put the new guy, the new kid actually, Fuller and Balagoon basically as a center striker and have three creative players behind him. Is that, especially with no Tyler Adams, are you anticipating that's the way they'll line up?

Yeah. And look, continuity again is the reason why Tony and I both think that that will be the case. That's not what I want. That's just what I think is going to happen.

Let's put it that way. I would play a very different set up. I've been arguing that this team and the skill set of our players is really streaming for more of a 3-4-3 than it is a 4-3-3 and or a 4-3-2-1. Not to get all crazy here, but the truth is that this will make the most sense to this group. Yes, it will be predictable, but it will also give us a chance to see what a true number 10 might look like.

That might be even Deja sitting in the middle of the park or Gio Reyna. So that was our conversation yesterday, just who is going to play underneath Balagoon. And obviously we're all really anticipating what that's going to look like. And it's to me, man, he's a game changer. We finally have somebody who can break blind, who's fast, who can get out of tight spaces. He had a really good week. It seems that every time I see his face on Twitter or any other social media platform, he's got a big smile on his face.

He's happy to be there. It's a big game for him, but it's not a deal breaker if he doesn't have his best night. It's not like we're just going to give up on him.

It might take some more time, but I'm pretty excited about what the potential of this front 3-4 might look like tonight. Eric Guinaldo is joining us here on the Adam Goldsher. The thing about the Balagoon and the arrival of this player is that it almost came out of nowhere. I mean, I know a lot of people had been hoping that he would make this decision. He had been playing internationally in U18s for the U20s, I guess, for England. He has other options as well, but he made the decision because he was born in the United States to come and play for the U.S., which to me is about the opportunity to leave a mark.

We know how stacked the English team is going to be regardless of the level. But this is as much hype as I have seen for a player coming into the U.S. system that I can recall. Yeah, and to remind everybody, Christian Pulisic had a similar decision with Croatia, but that decision was made when he was a minor. So that means mom and dad decided to play for America, not Christian. This was all his decision. By the way, he was born on July 3rd, so he's one day away from being very American in Brooklyn. But, you know, I think that he had a chance to be a part of England or Nigeria. And the thing is about it is he's been a part of English, you know, the U20s, the U18s, U17s. He's seen all that. And when he made that little trip over to America and just happened to be in Orlando, it was all very strategic because he wanted to meet the guys.

He wanted to talk to some of the boys and see what it was all about. And I think truly this is my opinion. I think the expectations of the English team are always way too high and they just set themselves up for disappointment when they don't win the whole thing. So it's you know, why be a part of something that is setting yourself up for failure or be a part of truly an American dream?

I mean, it's going to have a chance to do something with a very special tool on American soil in a World Cup. And I think that the logic just kind of made sense to him. But when he got all that love from all the social media platforms that, you know, hundreds of thousands of people were like already buying number nine bologone shirts. He got to see, you know, he got to feel that. And I think it really weighed in on his decision.

I mean, look, I will say this. I'm not trying to be controversial or anything. But when you look at what happened to some of the players of color that missed penalty kicks, when you look at that situation and the hate that they got from their own fan base, I think that that weighed in as well.

I mean, it was the racial stuff was was horrific. And, you know, as much as we love to do. You know, we look at the we look at the game, we love the game and the English certainly have wonderful fans at times, but they showed their ugly side. And I I don't think he'll ever get that from an American fan base that will never happen here. And I think you weigh it all together, the opportunity of playing in a World Cup, being part of a special team and this not subjecting yourself to the possibility of all that that ridicule. I think that that's that's had a big reason why he chose to play for us and we're happy to have him. Eric Winolda is joining us here in the Adam Gold show.

Final thing I want to get to is the is the I guess the permanent. You can't even say a permanent because nobody's going to be a permanent, but the actual next manager of the men's national team. It will not be B.J. Callahan, but two names that I have heard mentioned prominently.

I just want your thoughts on and then we can talk about Greg Berhalter, who's I think still trying to hang on to the job. Jesse Marsh, who is no is not attached to any club team and former Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira. His name has come up.

Do you have do you have thoughts on either of those guys? Well, I mean, Patrick is obviously, you know, somebody that has has had the American experience, he was with the New York Red Bulls. And he excuse me, he was with with NYC FC. So he's been in New York. He's he's he's lived that. And I know then, of course, Jesse has been with the New York Red Bulls. So and he's been with multiple teams and major league soccer. So I think that, you know, when you're looking for a manager, you're looking for European experience as well as the realities of what this this this country represents. And there's a lot of there's a lot of red tape there.

So you have to you can't come in complaining from day one. I think Patrick and Jesse both will get that component of it. But they're both very capable managers. I think I think Patrick there is a little bit pragmatic for me. And I think Jesse Morris is, you know, if you're going to criticize the guy, he's always been able to implement his style of play and his his methodology in the club level. Very different deal of the national team.

Very different. It's it's a it's a room full of egos. It's forced friendship. And it isn't about some style of play or some profile that you fit into or you don't. And the coach isn't the one who dictates what kind of style you play. Usually it's the talent of your players.

So and that is to get that final part of your question. That's Greg Pearl for hope. His problem is he was trying to implement his way of playing his ideas and he caused confusion with some of the guys. And it truly is not the way you run the national team. So I think I think he might be on his way to Holland. I'm hearing that he might land in Rotterdam, which is a club that he has familiarity with. He played there. And I do think a new manager will be selected in the middle of July.

That was the timelines they threw out there. And I take you back and Crocker to stick to it. It'll be middle of July before we figure out who our new manager is. Do you think we have talked about the the person who will be named the next manager of the U.S. men's national team? Yes, I think I think I think that it's just a matter of building a team around whoever takes the job. And I do believe I do believe Jesse Marshall is the front runner.

And there's a there's a lot of reasons why I believe that we don't have enough time on this program to get into it all. But I think he does have the flexibility to alter his plan. He did. He can recognize that this is not a club team, that it needs to be treated very differently. And he's smart enough to do that. His next teammate of mine and a good friend.

So it's hard for me to elaborate on this without spilling too much of the beans. But I do think he is someone that should be one strongly considered and two shouldn't be pigeonholed into a guy that can only play one way. He's a much more complex and complicated guy than that. And he's he's able to figure out and navigate what's what's best for the national team. And he'll surround himself with good people. Eric Winolda, maybe you.

He'll surround himself. I thank you very much for your time, sir. Appreciate. Appreciate it. Enjoy the game tonight. We'll talk to you down the road. You got it. Thank you. You got it. Eric Winolda here.