back to you guys and we'll be back to you guys. Welcome back. Hour three, the fan morning show, Matt Marquesi Deniali Franceski joined in studio by show Ali firstly before we even get anywhere into the J's. Stuart Baroah in his first start. That was a bit of an adventure video filled yesterday. Now, granted, he made those two catches. But boy, oh boy, he's probably thinking like, Could you imagine John Schneider's reaction? He's watching how he's tracking that ball going Oh boy, here we go. From the clubhouse after being ejected, he's like, Oh boy, thank God I'm not going to die for this like, gosh, he's going to make a mistake here. Isn't he? That was pretty wild. Honestly, like he the first one to you heard Dan's call of it. I mean, he clearly twisted around in like two different ways and still managed to make the catch the lot. The second one was a little less adventurous, but he still kind of had to stab his glove out into the air to grab Nick the ball, make the catch. So I was very impressed. I got to say that that guy that young and his first major league star was able to do that on the fly in like the most pressure packed part of that ball game, essentially after them blowing us up with nothing lead. I was pretty impressed. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that the whole game was kind of the store, Baroah, the first catch was kind of a microcosm of the game. Totally. Timcy, Tervy, all over the place and you're like, Oh boy, my problem of their season, that's how it ended except they didn't make the catch as a team. That is very true. The ball probably would have landed unfortunately for this. So show, we asked the question on our text line today. What is the biggest takeaway from the unofficial first half of the season for you from the J's? Mine is just, you know, that this thing is probably is going to get a lot worse before it's going to get potentially better for next year because I anticipate they're going to be making some moves. Danielle, I just talked about the inconsistencies overall. Right. Like it's just what's the what's the biggest takeaway for you? Second question. I think for me, it probably would be that if you're looking towards the, I think we can probably all agree that the second half of the season is really with an eye towards 2025 at the earliest. So if we all agree on that, I think that takeaway is simply how all of the guys you think will still beyond this team in 2025 have played. Like I've just been, I have been generally impressed with Spencer Horwitz. Yeah. Yeah. I think Leo Jimenez is, I mean, he's I don't think he's going to be the start starting short stop of this team. Even if that guy is not published at long term, I don't think it's going to be Leo Jimenez, but I have been very impressed. I think he's a major leaguer. And I mean, Davis Dider has struggled, but I guess generally speaking, my takeaway is just I want to see as much of the Buffalo brigade, the Buffalo boys, whatever you want to call them, I want to see them play as much as humanly possible between, I guess, Friday and the end of the season because they're probably the only guys you can like slam down guarantee being a part of this group. At the very least next year, like is Ernie Clemente going to be part of the team long term? I don't know. Is Addison Barger a major leaguer long term? Like, I don't know the answer to those questions, but I mean, they're for sure going to be the guys we're watching for the most part next to Vladimir Bow for the rest of the season. So I that's my main takeaway. I want to see them play as much as possible. Yeah, the jury's still out on. I mean, on a lot of those guys, Barger is a good example specifically because we've only seen him in short samples and it's tough like the sample size isn't fully there yet to make any firm declarations. All those guys show I got a you know, this is something that when we went mean, heck, we spent many Saturdays talking about this team and even in anticipation of potentially a lot of these guys eventually coming up and having the opportunity to play in the big leagues in 2020. We've done a lot of J's talks where it's like, please bring up Spencer Horrell. Yeah, well, we did the Arell was show for weeks. If it's not now, when when is it going to happen? Turns out Arell was doing the Arell was doing too. She's OK. All right. All right. I mean, OK, I'm not going to get it. I have sympathy for that guy in some respect actually when it comes to that because we we don't we don't actually I know we can't often take players at their word, right? But in some instances, why can't we? Like, why can't we do that? I don't know. Everybody just allowed us to not correct. We're inherently cynical and maybe that's part of it. But in his case, it's just. Yeah, I don't know. I just said always the explanation that was provided struck me as being maybe a little bit more genuine than when people then what people assumed it actually is and the reason for his decision to do what he did. Nevertheless, beyond that, when it comes to the Buffalo guys, all those guys that you alluded to. Do you see guys out of that group that are everyday major leakers? Like, that's my big question. Yeah. Now that we're trying, we understand there's an sort of at least a decent level of excitement to see more of those guys. But the bigger question now becomes OK, we can be excited about what they bring. How they factor in right now. What it might look like next year. But do we really think any of those players are able to factor into the long term future when this team is really good and they are in every day fulfilling and everyday capacity? I think Horowitz is easily the guy I think is a yes for that. And now I say this like I guess the caveat with Horowitz is we also said that about David Schneider after his 2023. And since he was and he had a great start to the year this year. And then we all clamored for him to be an everyday major league ball player. And then they made him one. And now he has struggled. Right. So because of that, I'm not sure you can really ever answer that question really definitively for anyone unless they're doing it for like probably years at a time, which I suppose is a part of the sport of baseball. I guess it's just always going to be a part of how you evaluate prospects and players as they get a little older. But Spencer Horowitz just in the way his approach at the plate has been consistent over the course of his time is major league ball player. I just can't help but think that there aren't a lot of things that have this guy looking really kind of messed up at all. He's so he's so unflappable at the plate. I've been really impressed. I got to say, I mean, he is base and come up. He has hit around 330, maybe a little under 330 for his entire major league career, which is something he did in the minors. There's usually a little bit of a an adjustment period, but there hasn't really been a major adjustment period for Spencer Horowitz. I think he's maybe the guy because he's not hitting for tons of power and he's not hitting for like he's not doing a lot of flashy things. He just gives you a mature A.B. every single time. And it's for that reason they feel like that something that sticks. And if even if the power decreases or major league baseball pitchers figure him out at some point quote unquote figure him out, it kind of feels like he will have some staying power here. I think the question off of that and I love the words you use there mature when it comes to explaining or describing the quality of his abats. I feel like when I look at a lot of those Buffalo guys, even earning Clemente. Sure. Like they they provide really polish that bats for the most part. Like Leo a man is the most impressive thing about him and I like you show have been impressed. I'm not sure that he's the, you know, long term everyday short stop. But that guy's that guy's Willie Adamus. Yeah. That's my best. Yeah. I like that. Yeah. Okay. I do. Oh, that'd be fun. I like Willie Adamus. Some power in that too. That'd be fun. But Leo a man is one of the things that really sticks out about him and is most impressive is how he works the abat for a player his age. Somebody that is just in his I think is now eight games he's actually completed and being in the big leagues and have the opportunity to play riding a five game history currently. And it's the maturity that he shows. Then the question becomes well, why doesn't that maturity translate to other guys throughout this line of consistently, especially the more established players. So for whatever reason and I'm going to see the four to you on this one. Why do you think we lack? There's a there's a clear disparity there and a lack of maturity in the abats from some of the more established guys on this roster that are supposed to be relied upon to provide that on a consistent basis for this team. Yeah, that's a tough question because you would expect to see that from I mean, you would actually expect to see that from I would say like every ball player majorly baseball, not even a blue jays, right? Like you expect to see that from literally everyone and you don't. So I think, you know, Vladimir have been generally impressed with and he pulled the blue jays bacon out of the fire yesterday. So you I'm not going to say anything negative above Laddy today, but you pass on Vlady and you look at other guys like Varshos not swinging the bat. Great. Although, hey, three triples and three games. I mean, that that's incredible. I think only two blue jays have ever done that before. Absolutely insane. So but Varshos still, I mean, beyond very individual plays, it does feel like he gets fooled a lot. David Schneider, someone who has struggled to a certain extent. Kevin Kiermeyer has largely struggled, but I mean, he did smoke a grand slam yesterday. But I grew through the veteran guys, quote unquote veteran guys have not provided you with a lot of quality ABS. I do wonder if it's just like the lack of like you look at the guys who are helping the Major League ball players and you think I mean, yeah, Don Mattingly is there and Jim Martinez is there. But I mean, there just seems to be a through line with Matt Haig from Buffalo. I mean, we talk about the Buffalo boys being the guys we want to watch. I mean, Matt Haig, I guess is like the fifth or sixth Buffalo boy given that he was also brought up from them from the minors last year and given a permanent role. And I know people say the hitting coach stuff is a little overblown, which I can agree to a certain extent, but it just you see and hare so much about Haig working with these guys. I just can't help but think that maybe that should extend to most people on this team. Yeah. Show Ali, Blue Jays talk host and hosting Jay's talk plus this week, joining Matt Marquez in Danielle Franceschi in studio. So this is the fourth worst record for the Jay's at the all star break since 2004. And we were saying like, there's been some lean years, but for this to be fourth worst kind of puts into perspective like where the expectations were and where reality has set in. And those are two entirely different things. Now the reality is is how deep do the cuts go? Like, who's not going to be on this roster? And frankly, I think that in order for you to have the put yourself in the best possible position to perform next year and be competitive, you need to exhaust all options, especially as it pertains to guys who have no term on their deal. Sure. So Jimmy Garcia, if healthy, gone. Even for me, Chad Green, the way he's pitching right now, gone. Whoever else I would I would even trade again. We don't know this like with the what's going on with his injury, but I have if he's healthy and somebody wants to give you something for him, he's not going to have a better year than he's having this year next year. So I promise you that gone. I think that they should do everything in their power to move on from as many expiring deals as they can. Try and get because at this point with the way that the farm system is, you take as many fliers as you can get. And then hopefully they turn into something at the major league level. Maybe some of them even play for you now. Do you do buy into that philosophy as well with this group? I definitely agree on selling as many, if not all of the expiring contracts as humanly possible. Like whatever. At this point, Kevin Kiermeyer, whatever you can get. Go. I must feel like what's going to happen with Kiermeyer is because they did the whole waivers thing and he cleared waivers. What'll likely happen ahead of the deadline is they'll probably just release him. Yeah. And then he'll just end up. They'll release him to kind of do right by him before the deadline. They'll save a little bit of money. He'll sign on a relatively cheap deal with it. Like probably a contender because I think that the sticking point for Kiermeyer was I don't think was that nobody wanted him. Was that nobody wanted him at 10 and a half million dollars? Correct. Blue J has got him for in the off season. So I kind of think that will happen. So you're probably not going to get too much beyond just cash, essentially saved cash for Kevin Kiermeyer. We're just too bad. I think in his in his short time as a Blue J. I think he's become a guy people like. But for sure, even if offensively, not so great but defensively phenomenal. And you know, most contenders could use a guy like that. But if you're not going to get a guy like that, you know, he's not going to get a guy like that. He's not going to get a guy like that. He's not going to get a guy like that. He's not going to get a guy like that. He's not going to get a guy like that. He's not going to get a guy like that. He's not going to get a guy like that. He's not going to get a guy like that. He's not going to get a guy like that. He's not going to get a guy like that. He's not going to get a guy like that. He's not going to get a guy like that. He's not going to get a guy like that. He's not going to get a guy like that. 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Like it's just there's like six or seven teams still within three games in the wild card. It's ridiculous. Crazy. It's absolutely ridiculous. And that's like teams that are below 500. I know. It's so bad. It's so bad. Shied to be the national baseball columnist for sports that joining us now on the program. Should I how are you today, pal? I'm all right. What's going on, guys? Not much. Not much. So before we get into some draft stuff, I did want to ask you. We posed this question to show Ali just now we posed it at the beginning of the show. So when you look at the first half, the unofficial first half of this season with the Blue Jays, what's your biggest takeaway? Oh, man. And I know there's just one. I think it's essentially it's just where this franchise is at, right? That there are some major questions about direction that were exposed and that existed beforehand, but were really exacerbated by a first half that it may very well signal that the this competitive window is on the verge of closing barring some changes that so many things went wrong, not just at the big league level, but organization-wide. A lot of young players at the Blue Jays were counting on in different ways to potentially be part of the future, be it, you know, Ricky Tiedemann having some injuries, a Ralphus Martinez, getting suspended, some Tommy John surgeries from some of the things that went wrong for the franchise. It's hard to just kind of select one one takeaway. I think it's just how organization-wide this year has really capsized in so many different ways for the team. I think that's really what sticks out. I had to say that it's just a lot of things that we're talking about. I mean, it's a lot of things. It's a lot of things. I think it's just a lot of things that are really what sticks out. It's a really, really good point. I think you hit the nail on the head in terms of how expectations just haven't met the reality of what this team has looked like on the field particularly in 2024. You're covering the draft or you were covering round one of the draft last night. Obviously that taking place out in Texas. It resumes today. Jay's made a couple picks yesterday. Trey has done a couple of things. I think it was a couple of things that picked up in the second round. It was another right-handed pitcher by the name of Cal Stephen. They have an appetite, it seems, for college pitchers. That's been something that has certainly become the norm for this for an office and part of drafting prospects and having them enter the system. What was your assessment of how they made out last night in the prospects and how they made out last night and what it seems, because a lot of the projections and there was a lot of conversation last night about how different the draft ended up playing out compared to the number of different mocks that were out there. But yeah, had him going several picks before the Blue Jays. He's obviously a really interesting guy. It's a really interesting repertoire. It's fast ball. It sits in the 94 range. He's been up to 98. There's a slider and splitter that are really good pitches, a curve ball as well. And the Blue Jays like the way it's all tunneling out of the same slot. So it's a pretty mature pitcher who's handled some innings and it's about 160 innings over the past two seasons. So it's someone that's coming in the system. You're like, well, you know, what's the pathway to him starting going to look like? He's already got a good workload base underneath them that you can build that up from. And it essentially got to the point where the Blue Jays couldn't pass them up and think there might have been a bit of an expectation that we could go college hitter route. That was where a lot of the strength in this game is going to be. It's going to be a really upper end arm that, you know, once it once he got to the Blue Jays, the absolute take. Shai, when it comes to, and obviously we saw yesterday in them selecting a pair of pitchers, but the rest of the draft and this is now, you know, a format that has been restored to them being able to make the full complement of picks. Obviously we had due to COVID a couple of years there where it was a bit more lean in the way they were going to be able to get to the point where they were going to be able to get to the point where they lack organizational depth. You alluded to the discussion was perhaps centered around college bats because there are a lot of mature, very high up psychology bats in this class. But when it comes to the Jays and what they're doing, obviously the first two picks being college starting pitchers, guys, that may not be too far away from them by prioritizing a lot of pitching in this particular draft cycle. Well, I'm hesitant to say that's part of the strategy until we see what they do today when, you know, rounds three through ten take place because I think at that point you'll get a bit of a better sense. The, you know, the, the, the major opportunity for impact, and this is obvious, but, you know, just to demonstrate how important the first 60 picks are, you know, other players in the major leagues on opening day rosters who came through the draft, 35% of them were taken within the first 60 picks, right? So this is the place where you're most likely to get impact that's going to help your team at the big league level. And so if you're drafting for organizational need as opposed to, you know, just best available, then you might miss a certain opportunity. So I don't know that you're necessarily saying, oh, we have this new year. Like if, if the best player available is, in your opinion, a high school position player, but you're like, oh, we've got to fill organizational needs. So we've got to take this, this college picture. You know, you're, you're cutting yourself off there. And that's not what you should be doing in the first couple of rounds, right? And, and you know, the Blue Jays did this to, to great calamity earlier in, you know, about a decade and a half ago when, you know, Troy Touliwitski, somebody was available when they got to them in the draft and they were like, well, we took short stops the past two seasons in Russ Adams and Aaron Hill. And so we're going to take a left-handed picture in Ricky Romero and obviously Romero ended up having some nice seasons. But, you know, the Blue Jays take Troy Touliwitski and that's changing the trajectory of your franchise. So I don't think that that's a strategy that you should be doing in the top part of the draft. Now, we'll see what the approach looks like three to 10 where, you know, you're starting to get into the depth places where you can build out your farm system. Shydiviti from sports, Andre Matt Marchesi and Danieli Franceschi here on the Fan Morning Show. So as it pertains to mom, I guess both guys, more, more so you savage because he's a guy who, by all accounts, can really kind of fly through the minor league system here and maybe make an impact quicker than some other guys that got drafted around him. Do you think that was part of the conversation as well in terms of we are still trying to be relevant. We're trying to be competitive. And if we have a guy that could maybe make starts for us in two years, that is part of the conversation, or was this just the case of this guy dropped to 20. Nobody thought he was going to be there. We can't pass up on this kind of talent. Or do you think it's a combination of both? I would think it's more on the latter, but the fact that he does have that potential is speaking to his talent and ability. Right. So that's what makes him the pillar. Like this is a really good picture. He doesn't need to go to the minor leagues and he doesn't need to spend gears building up his workload. I think if you look at the Blue Jays farm system, who were their sort of top pitching prospects coming into this year? It's Ricky Tiedemann, it's Brendan Barriera, and it's Len and Marudos. Right? Each one of those guys is a high schooler and each one of them was drafted a couple higher than others. Barriera first rounder and their timelines were each interrupting. They make like these massive jumps and an in-velocity. Each one of those guys and each one of them ends up blowing out and having elbow surgery. So there's it's just a much harder and longer road with a high school pitcher. And you know, there are all these questions and challenges. You know, what is too much too soon? How do you get their workload up? How do you make sure that their body can get through a long season? You know that their body's been through a lot of that already. And so, you know, think that that piece is important and that that is part of the attraction is that a lot of the questions are already answered. And the reason that he can potentially get through the system is that you know, a lot of the questions are already answered. And the reason that he can potentially get through the system quicker is just because there's so much of that ability because the entire package is so much more mature. It's going to be really interesting to see how these two guys progress through the minor leagues and how quickly they can make an impact. More draft and we always appreciate your time, pal. That's what guys be well. You too. Shied to be the sports net national baseball columnist joining us here on the program. Very interesting draft from the Blue Jays perspective last night. Sir, Def Leppard and Journey are coming to Roger Center on August 2nd and we're giving away tickets to enter. All you have to do is tune into the fan morning show. Listen for the code word then text the code word to 59590. Standard means code word is euphoria. Text euphoria to 59590 right now to enter for your chance to win. We're giving away another pair of tickets tomorrow. But if you don't win with us tickets are on sale at ticketmaster.ca More soccer talk when we come back. James Charman will talk unfortunately for James. We have to ask him about England losing at the Euro again. I don't say that I like James a lot. So the fact that I have to ask him about the fact that James Charman will talk about Canada and a successful run at the Copa America. James Charman is next. This is the fan morning show Matt Marquesi Danieli Franceski you're listening on sports net 590 the fan. Breaking down the top stories in the NHL every day. The Jeff Mary show. Subscribe and download the show on Apple spot of I or wherever you get your chance to win. We're going to show for Monday July 15th. I have no idea where this month went. But they do say time flies when you're having fun to nearly Franceski. Sure. Well, I will say this. You and I do have fun together when we're on. We do. And part of the reason why this month has been fun is because we've had international soccer. Oh, it's been beautiful. And, you know, it's been a great year. It's been a great year. It's been a great year. It's been a great year. It's been a great prime podcast. And of course, Sharman's proper pies. Yes. James James and of course this insider is brought to you by Don Valley North Lexus where you can expect excellence online and in the show, revisit Don Valley North Lexus.com. Charm. I hate to ask this question, but how are you feeling today? You know, it's just fine. I can't see it. It's just quitting quitting football. One hundred percent. But I've been drawn back in already. So what can I say? So the for those that don't know, the result is Spain to England one. And, you know, I don't I don't want to get too far into the weeds with this because and I'm not even I don't even think I'm being disrespectful. But at the end of the day, you know, Peter Drury made mention of this on the broadcast, the better team won. Like, and that's no disrespect to England. They did. You know, we talked about this last week. They played on the knife's edge, basically the entire tournament. But Spain didn't and they they they they dominated at stretches in this tournament to the point where you're like, wow, Spain is back. Is that isn't it just easiest saying that? Yeah, the best team won here. Yeah, hundred percent. And if anyone disputes that they don't know what they're talking about. Spain were brilliant in this tournament. The best team by far. They played the best brand of football. They're a progressive expanse of attacking on the front field all the time. And in the final, they were, you know, by far the best team. You know, I think had England found a way to win that one yesterday, it would have made us forget about, you know, what has been a really forgettable tournament otherwise from a performance standpoint, they hadn't played very well. They relied on moments of brilliance from some brilliant individual players, which they have. But the collectives did not click and they got to the final. Okay. Yeah, that is something for sure. But, you know, with some luck involved, a week half of the draw. So had they won it, you know, it would be one of those, you know, cash and grab type situations, I think, smash and grab because they weren't up to the challenge. You know, Spain, for sure, our back, Spain will be back for, I think, a very long time. And it's probably time to look at England very closely and perhaps look for a coaching change. But, you know, no one can be kind of grieve the fact that Spain are European champions and fully deserving of it. Spain was just a pure joy to watch throughout the entire tournament. Like they're young. They're exciting. They play a dynamic style. They were really enjoyable to watch. And it felt like it took them a while to kind of get their feet settled in a little bit yesterday because we didn't we didn't see much happen on either end until the second half. It was a very cautious, very tepid start to that game. You know, James, just to circle back on England, you mentioned coaching and this will obviously be, I'm sure, a major topic of conversation across the pond for the foreseeable future. Gareth Southgate and what his future entails with this program. Now, his comments post game were a little bit ominous. Like it didn't it didn't necessarily read as a guy that was, you know, fully confident that he would be back and standing on the touchline the next time England's in a major international tournament sort of, I guess James, what's your what's your what's your read? What would be your interpretation of how England approaches this and what and if that happens to be, in fact, the biggest question surrounding this club as they try to retool yet again, regroup as they prepare for another international major international tournament in twenty twenty six, that being the World Cup after being a semi finalist in twenty twenty two. Yeah, you know, I think the big picture for England in the last six years or so is he's done a great job. He's taken them to finals, two finals, which no manager has done before for England and he's reinvented the culture within that team. There's less pressure on the players if that's possible. He's done a really good job, but it's time now, I think, for a change, perhaps a more modern technical manager, someone that's more attacking, you know, he's very pragmatic, very defensive. We're seeing the England play yesterday, all those long balls from the back from Jordan Pickford. It's not the way modern football plays, you know, you watch the way Spain play, for example, possession, keeping that ball building from the back, using that pace out wide. It just didn't work for him. So I think it's time for him to step aside. And quite frankly, I think Gareth South Day understands that. He's come through in this tournament. He mentioned it earlier in the campaign, how difficult it's been with the distractors off the pitch, with the abuse the players take and he took as well. He didn't seem to be enjoying it as much, which is really unfair. I mean, he's human. He's a really decent human being, done a good job there, but he's just been vilified by the fans and the media for the style of football. It's time for a change, simple as that, like most coaches. He's had a good tenure, a successful tenure for England standards. I mean, we always verified semi-finalists in the past, right? It's a bit like, you know, I've mentioned before, being a Leafs fan, right? It's been so long since we've won in a thing. We celebrate these almost men, these nearly men. And that's what's the same with England. So it's time to move on, I think, and look back at what was a pretty successful tenure for a manager that has taken England to heights that I had never seen before in my life. James Sharman from the Footy Pine podcast, joining Matt Marchese and Daniele Franceski here on The Fan Morning Show. So I wanted to ask you about England, because you talk about the change. And it really did feel like in this Euro, we started to see the shift to some younger players. Now, not all of them played prominent roles all the time, but we saw Phil Foden take on a more prominent role. We saw Jim Bellingham, who was fantastic in this tournament. We can go down the list. Ollie Watkins made an impact. Cole Palmer, of course, yesterday with the go, Colby Maynew, there's a lot of young players that are making that step forward here. Is that part of the change as well for you, where a guy like Harry Kane takes on less of a prominent role, where he's not starting every game, where he's not the, you know, not, I don't want to say he's the focal point but he's not going to be that guy, you know, when the next World Cup comes around. Is that part and parcel of this change in talking about moving into modern football with a new manager and having, you know, this young group kind of usher them into the next generation. Well, yeah, I mean, it's very, it's a young squad, right, a young team anyway, but then you have Harry Kane, who believe it or is it's just 30, right? It's not an old player by any stretch, but he looked old in this tournament. He looked like he did get back injury late in the season by Munich. I think that clearly hampered him. He played a lot of football, England looked exhausted, right? The players looked beat up, they played some much football but so too did the Spanish players, right? They didn't look too tired. I think with Harry Kane, there's a really interesting one because if he gets healthy and he gets fit and he's not so tired, he'll only be 32 or thereabouts in two years time. That's not too too old for a team. So if he can hit that tournament in top form, I don't see why the new manager, if there's a new manager, wouldn't still lean on a player who's been ugly, England's best player of all time, best striker of all time. For sure, a player that dominated in Germany this past season, I think we can discount and write off Harry Kane a little bit too soon. Should Gareth Southgate have dropped in this tournament? Yeah, I think so. I think Kane should have dropped himself. Clearly he wasn't healthy or fit enough to be competing at that standard and he had a lot of people in the tournament. You know, Ollie Watkins is looking so good. I even Tony as well. There are options coming off the bench for sure and a new manager might look at that, but this is still the captain of England, right? He's scored more goals than anyone else in an English shirt who still dominates European football. So I think it's too soon to say no, thanks Harry for the memories, but it's time to move on to someone else. You do need that veteran sport. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I think a lot of that next couple of years. I'll just stay healthy in time for these big tournaments, which isn't easy because like you said there, it's been a tormentful of young players, youthful exuberance, maybe naivety except for England, of course. I think it's because the old guys that they're playing 50 sometimes 60 games a season. It's just too much. That's an interesting point too. I definitely think if we have a lot of people who are in the European Championship was all about, in a word, youth. Like that's essentially we can encapsulate it by thinking about who are the best players and who produce some of the biggest moments. A lot of them were really young, impactful, upcoming stars like you let me know. I mean, you all Spain's got two of them in your mall and Nico Williams, of course, but then, you know, England's riddled with young talent and you're looking across at various times. I mean, that's really interesting. I mean, I'm not really telling. Harry Kane. It's weird. You know, you make a great point there, James, because he's kind of represents the heartbeat of that team still, right in a weird way. He still does represent the pulse of that entire program right now. Shifting gears to the Copa America, Canada, they lose the fourth, the third place game. They finish fourth in what was really, I thought probably maybe a lot of players and it came with a starting 11 that looked a lot different. There were plenty of new fresh faces in there, a lot of young players. Any big standouts like who stood out to you most from some of the batch of new faces that we saw take the pitch in that starting 11 for the third place game against your your way on Saturday night. Yeah, it was so impressive, wasn't it? When I saw that starting 11, I thought we saw some young players in this one and I think, you know, the concern for this team was 11 through 14 around there. Pretty good. You know, some decent depth, but beyond there, what do you have there? But we saw these young players come into that starting 11 and put on maybe the best performance I've seen for years, quite honestly against a somewhat under par Uruguay, but still Uruguay. Ali Ahmed is a player who I thought was absolutely brilliant in this one. He hasn't played much for Canada. Young play can play left wing, right wing, central deep up top. He's a fantastic footballer. He was having fun out there. I thought he was brilliant, but no one looked better than Ishmael Kone. I think it's better say. Ishmael Kone, that was maybe his, you know, breaking out party. Perhaps he's looked pretty good in this tournament overall, but he, I thought he was the best player in this tournament. He's going to get better and better. He's going to be in that midfield for the next decade. What a performance that was. Looking elsewhere, Luke Difour as your L, at centre half, a tough first half, but he grew into the game. He's 18 years of age playing centre back against Uruguay. You know, I think it's a great performance. So, you know, overall, I was so happy with that. It showed that there's so much more perhaps to come off the bench and John David come off the bench. Oh, I see maybe a plan here. So, in two years time, I don't know what this 11 looks like. I thought I did, but some of these kids might force their way into Jesse Marsh's plans. It's really exciting time to be a fan of Canadian football. We're definitely taking some big steps forward and none bigger than this tournament. Tough way to lose. We know that right, but at the same time, you know, I think they can really learn a lot from that match and then you know, you know, a lot of times, but at the same time, you know, it's just summer speed really overall. I mean, I think remember the summer 2024 for a very long time. It really does feel like this was a galvanizing moment for Canadian soccer. I said it. What we learned was this team is ready to compete. They're just not ready to win and that's entirely fine. I think there's there's multiple factors when it comes to how important this tournament is. I think that Canada is not second class anymore or third class as it were for a long time there. They are moving in the right direction. You can see the pathway to success and I think that's very important for the younger generation and keeping that sustainability. When you look at the, you know, the biggest take away from this tournament for the Canadian men's program as a whole. What is it like to be able to, you know, he's essentially the fact that captain, you know, alongside his staccio, you know, more so than the actual captain. I think I'll follow David's. He said, listen, we've proven we can compete with the best in the world. And you nailed it there when you said they're not quite ready to get wins just yet, but they have shown they can compete against the best teams in the world. And they're playing a great game. They're playing a great game. They're going to be international managed very, very well. He's got the buy-in for more the players. Real positivity and youth coming through. So, you know, we're just beginning. I think you look at this squad. Who's the oldest player? Is it? I think it's probably Johnson and Sawyer. Yeah, 32. Yeah. Yeah. And he'll still be there I would think in two years time. This team will only get better by the World Cup. It's probably one of the best players in the world. So, I think we're all the engineered by the performances at this tournament. So, we're going in the right direction. They're only going to get better and better. And I think that's really exciting in an expanded World Cup moving forward. A gold cup next year where can I just enter that thinking we can win this thing? It's funny. We have such hope and positivity qualifying for the World Cup. And then something like that, you know, you're going to be able to get a swagger or something or whatever is during this tournament. And it's going to pressure on them right the plane the States and that's going to fall, which I can't wait for. But there's pressure on them now, but I can only see this team getting better and better and moving forward. It's a really nice thing to see as someone who's like yourself been watching Canadian men's soccer for a long time. It's a really nice thing to see. And I think it's going to be a long year, but we do have the women's team getting ready for the Olympics. So at least we have some semblance of some soccer on the horizon. Thanks a lot for taking some time this morning. Hey, thanks guys. I always enjoy it. Cheers. Thanks, James Charman from the footy prime podcast and Charman's proper pies. That insider was brought to you by Don Valley, North Lexus, where you can expect excellence online and in the showroom visit Don Valley North Lexus dot com. We're going to be doing a lot of things. I think it's going here as we as we wrap up for the day because honestly, like this, it's pretty cool. Love the word that James used and it actually was a word that crossed my mind yesterday in thinking about this team swagger. There's a swagger about them now. Yep. And it's credit to guys like Richie LaBraya credit to guys like Alistair Johnston. And there's now a meaning to what it what what it there's there's clearly a definition to what it means when you're wearing that sweater. So the swagger is there. Future's bright. Lot to look forward to for this team. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you to Jesse Marsh for the job that he's done. He has just been incredible. Thanks to all our guests that joins us today. Show Ali shine David. And of course, you just heard James Charman. Thanks to Josh Santos and Jeff as a party behind the glass. Thank you to Danieli Franceski. Thank you, man. You're welcome. This has been the fan morning show Matt Marchese signing off. Danieli will be back in this chair with Brent Gunning tomorrow. I will be back. I don't know. I think I'm three to five tomorrow. It's a weird week, whatever. You'll hear me somewhere on this station. Thanks for listening. Have a great rest of the day. We'll talk to you then. You've been listening to the fan morning show on Sportsnet 590 the fan. [MUSIC]
