What 's Up with Ronaldo And Portugal? And Is The Manchester City 115 The Worst Offense Ever Seen?

Project 90 Soccer: the main city shit. I'm gonna go over that and then we'll just chop shop about it and then and then just Portugal

Marco: I'd rather start with the Portugal stuff first. Because the way I look at it is we can go a couple different we can we can go a couple different avenues with the Man City stuff because like you're well versed on the whole Juve stuff, right?

Project 90 Soccer: You want to start with that? That's more relevant. Yeah. The Cal Cropoli scandal where they were paying refs and fixing matches and yeah, it's very similar. So yeah, let's start with Portugal and then we'll dive into the main city. All right. Boom. Three.

Marco: Well.

Project 90 Soccer: Uno Vai. Marco, we are live. Welcome to the Project Ninety Soccer Podcast. My name is Antonio and I'm wearing the sickest, cleanest Marseille jersey today. And I'm here as always with Marco Antonio Munoz. If I'm not mistaken, Red Bull Ipzig.

Marco: Red Bull lives like maybe you already know.

Project 90 Soccer: Red Bull Isaac. Woo! Marco, how you doing today? We got some big, big things to talk about. But before we get into it, man, you having a good day? What's going on, brother?

Marco: I'm having a great day. Yeah, man, you do look dapper in that that jersey. ⁓ if your face if your features weren't so Italian, I'd I'd say, Man, I I can potentially mistake a guy for this for a Frenchman.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. I know, dude. This is almost disrespectful to the Italian culture, wearing anything French. But you know what, dude? We're gonna look past that because it's clean. But today, Marco, look, we got some big, big topics. Two one, two topics in particular. ⁓ Ronaldo, Portugal. Everyone who is within the soccer world, not even in the soccer world, has probably heard about this drama going on. Ronaldo leaving the Portugal camp. Some people are throwing a fit, some people are in support of it. We want to go over that. And then we're going to close out this episode probably with a little bit of a lengthier segment, just really diving into it. This whole ordeal of Manchester City getting charged with 115 allegations, financial breaching, so on, so forth, breaking the financial fair play rules, ⁓ and what that really means for Manchester City. It's been going on for a while. Really just get into that. But first, I think we need to start. With Portugal and Ronaldo. Today they played a game versus Denmark. They did win four to two. Ronaldo was not there. And we saw Rafael Leal wearing the number seven shirt, which let's just start with that. How do you feel about the number seven just being given away to another player? When Ronaldo's might have left, but it's not necessarily mean it doesn't necessarily mean he's completely done with Portugal. The fact that they just dish it off like that. Do you find that disrespectful? What you think about that?

Marco: The disrespect of ⁓ just like, you know what, this guy had this number seven yesterday. ⁓ he's gone today. Rafael Leo, you want it? Right? So a couple different things there. Did Rafael Leo ask for it? Is Rafael Leo and the Kitman cool and the kitman's like, look, dude, I got you. I'm gonna give you that number seven. And ⁓ three.

Project 90 Soccer: No. Mm-hmm.

Marco: Who who who ultimately made that decision up top, right? Because people people will are people are would argue, hey, it's it's just a jersey, it's just a number, but Ronaldo and number seven are synonymous, right? ⁓ and the first thought that came to mind is yeah, whatever. Rafael Lau, it could have been anybody else that got the number seven. But when he went through ⁓ when he left Manchester United, Manchester United went through

Project 90 Soccer: That's a that's that's a good question. That's a big question. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Marco: bunch of people that they were getting the ⁓ the the number seven right in in his absence and ultimately it was Anto Antonio Valencia, ⁓ the Ecuadorian who donned the number seven, right? So ⁓ I don't know. Maybe it's one of those things where like, hey, this thing doesn't get retired. It's it's just gonna be a number that's gonna continue being in rotation. But I don't know. It was just way too early for me. ⁓ because I mean you to me you can't retire a number seven like that. I get it, Ronaldo is one of the goats. You can't retire that like retire that one, but

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Yeah.

Marco: Literally the next day or the next game, like here do here's number seven. So I don't know how that works. I don't know if they're supposed to give us an amount of numbers. No idea, maybe that's the case. I gotta look into the rules, but ⁓ yeah, man, that shit was very, very swift.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Yeah, I I agree. I don't think I I don't believe in retiring numbers really necessarily. I see it as just a number. I ultimately think the team, whether it's the national team or the club, is bigger than one individual player. Unless you're like a Maldini or a Ryan Giggs, a or like a one club player that spends 20 years, 25 years with one club your entire career, then I can understand you retire their number because they're a club legend. For national teams, though, I just I don't see that as ever. That should never be a thing to me is retiring a number for the national team. The national team represents the country. If you were Ronaldo, for instance, I wear seven. I mean, you don't need to retire the number for the world to remember Ronaldo as Portugal's number seven, right?

Marco: But it's ⁓ it's also always been this the next guy wears number seventeen. Who was wearing number seven during the Euros back in the day? Luis Figal. Who's wearing number seventeen? Cristiano Ronaldo. Right? Who's running number seven now? Cristiano Ronaldo. The supposedly supposing next guy, who is that? Number seventeen. Lao. So I don't know if it's just one of those things where I this guy's gone, next man up type deal.

Project 90 Soccer: Right. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well yeah. Yeah.

Marco: Because we don't we don't make a fuss about it when these guys don't get called up and the numbers have to get dispersed anyway. We're not talking about it then. So so ⁓ I don't know. To me, in my opinion, one, yeah, it was was pretty quick. Two, I don't know the the rules, regulations, if they need to keep that number since it was registered already on on ⁓ on the squad. And three, next man out, man. It's it's to me it's just at the end of the day, a single digit.

Project 90 Soccer: No, yeah, you're right. You're right. Yeah. Yeah. It's a bit of everything. I think it's like the fact they did it so quick, that's that's crazy to me. Like you're he literally left yesterday. It's not like he just left the camp. You're gonna just give it to Leo tomorrow. To me, that is a little wild. I don't know if they're trying to send a message. Again, who asked to do that? Was it the coach's decision? Was who did it? Right? If it was Ronaldo retired, they gave him his farewell game, then it's like, yeah, pass the seven on. Like you know what I mean? Just give it, give it to Leao or give it to someone else. Like it's gonna move on, it's gonna keep going. But they did it so soon, it almost seems like they did it intentionally to send some sort of a signal. And now moving just from the jersey and that, it's the whole the whole idea now of Ronaldo deciding to leave. Apparently, he was promised minutes. He didn't get the minutes, he went to warm up, didn't get subbed in. He was he felt, you know, like he was lied to or led on in a sense. Where he was promised one thing, the two home games or whatever it was, and didn't get his end of the bargain wasn't held up, right? And Jorge Jesus now is saying, Well, I'm fully confident in what I did, whatever, whatever, whatever. But he's really not acknowledging that he did anything wrong. He doesn't think that he did. Ronaldo seems to be having a huge problem with it, maybe not a massive problem, but he's obviously gone to the the press with it. He's left the camp. He's making a you know a huge scene about it, essentially. So I don't know who to look at who's in the wrong, if anyone's in the wrong, or if this was kind of like a just just like a ⁓ you know, should have just retired or should have just known his position or what the deal is with why he feels this way. Yeah.

Marco: Apparently, there there may be there may be more to it, because apparently apparently CR seven helped ⁓ Jorge Suze get that job with with Portugal with the according to to ⁓ to to the president, right? ⁓ whatever article that was. And if it was fake, it was fake. But this is what I read, right? ⁓ apparently helped me get the job with the understanding, and there was conversations like, hey, you know, if if you call me in camp or whatever the case may be, am I gonna play?

Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Marco: And understand Yes, if I call you, it's you because you're expected to play. And to his point, right, he had to respond to the press and he said, Well, look, I had planned on playing him 30 minutes. That was a conversation we had. But the way the game was going, I just I didn't see a a fit for him to be in there. Right. And ⁓ we can say the same at a such a lower scale name wise with with Silva, right? He he now he's entering garbage minutes, if you want to call that like the last 10, 15 minutes, right? The guy that who was the staple and a starter, right? So ⁓

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: I'm thinking it's more of that, the conversation, like the A, I helped you get here and ⁓ this is what's gonna happen, and you just didn't reciprocate. One, if that's the case, whatever. Two, if I'm a coach, I'm though, I'm never gonna promise minutes to anybody, no matter what the case is, no matter how how big of a person they are. There's this narrative there's these narratives that ⁓ Portugal doesn't respect Cristiano, like Argentina respects Messi.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: We were here in the end of the World Cup, the players don't respect them. Look, they're just finding things and and narratives to to to talk about about them in in general. So I don't know who was at fault. I don't agree the way that he went about it, right? As me, as him being my idol, I don't agree. Right. But ⁓ at the end of the day, people make their own decisions and he decided press conference was needed. ⁓ and ultimately he he he left the national team. But ⁓ like I was telling you last pod, man. You think you got it at all times. You think if you give it ninety minutes at all times, like I said, that boxing analogy, you think he can you have one more fighting just to become a champion. And this is just one of those things where he got called up, he felt like, okay, you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna do my thing, the call me is because they feel unfit. You're also making the player think that if you keep calling them that you're still national team material, which is also a bad message on their end. So they the conversation should have just been held like, look, man, we the World Cup was the last of it. If we you're not in our plans, we're gonna focus on Ramos, wherever the case may be, all the on all this young talent, and focus on them without any distractions, ⁓ moving into twenty thirty.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, I think ⁓ I agree to the most part for sure. Because the way he went about it, to me, it's like he's talking about I've always given everything for it seems like it's always about him. When he when he speaks, I know he's not trying to make it seem that way, but when I hear Ronaldo talk about it, it really is just all about Ronaldo, is the way I see it. Because if he really cared about the national team wanting to help Portugal, he would sit the fuck down, he would understand his age, he would understand that there's more youthful, energetic. raw talent on the team and he would take his position where he needs to be for the benefit of Portugal. He would stay in the camp. He would stay at if he's disappointed with where he's at right now, finish out this camp at least. Don't don't make a s extreme exit like you just did, because now you're putting all the attention on you as opposed to positive sort of news and feedback for the Portuguese national team. Because now it's like, ⁓ they're against me is what he almost feels like. And it's like no one's against you, bro. But If the coach comes in and he's got a job to protect, his own job. So if he feels like you're not a fit, I mean for God's sakes, he started the first game. I s

Marco: Anto, how many guys how how many guys leave camp? But we're making a bigger deal because it's Ronaldo. How many guys leave camp at all times?

Project 90 Soccer: Well, exactly though. If you're gonna claim to be Ronaldo as big as you are, you shouldn't leave camp the way that it comes with the status that you have, in my opinion. It's you you can't do that. You are the example. You know you're the example because you're the best. So don't do that. Like, don't do that. You shouldn't do that. And if you are the best, you will understand that your presence alone in the Portuguese camp is a benefit for Portugal. Just because you're not getting your way doesn't mean you just leave, have a press conference, mid nations league, because it's about you. That's that's horseshit to me. That's immature as fuck, honestly, and we're not as part, in my opinion. But again, like you said with the media, I mean, everyone, it's like people pick a side, they exploit it, they get news, they get clicks, they get there's two sides to every story. I'm not saying like he did anything wrong or Jorge Jesus is doing anything wrong. I just think it's ridiculous though, that there's still there's still this thing. It's been going on for I don't even know how many, at least since the World Cup, prior to the World Cup, is does he still have it? Is he still up to par? Is he still up to speed? And we've seen hints of yes, but we can't deny say we haven't seen that that we've seen hints of no as well. Right? So what do do we justify putting Ronaldo in just because it's Ronaldo and sitting down top tier strikers that you have on the bench in their prime just because you have Ronaldo on the team? I don't know. Honestly, Ramos scored twice today, or scored once, whatever he did. He was fucking fucking shit up all game. But I mean, so what? You got to sit him down just because it's Ronaldo? It's not Ronaldo of ten years ago. It's not the Ronaldo of Real Madrid. I'm it's just not. It's simply not.

Marco: Well that that's that's what I'm saying. Like the conversation shouldn't have been held, regardless of who you are. You know. ⁓ and and just make things clear because I told you this before all this started, man, that stuff would end badly. And ⁓ he should have just pursued the the thousand goals on his own with on the sour, wherever he's playing if he wanted to, and if not, then he didn't get a thousand goals. But if I'm Ronaldo right now, forget the national team, right? It is what it is, I'm gone.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: Even if the the next coach calls me up, I'm not going. Just focus on finishing on your career wherever you're playing. If you get the thousand goals, cool. If not, ⁓ well. You know. But but what I also don't know, Portugal needs to remember they've had a lot of great players, Figo, Osevio, Antor, they didn't win shit without Ronaldo. So again, again, all this is happening, all this is happening.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah. Fair.

Marco: But since it's Ronaldo, people want to shit on him all times. It's Ronaldo. It's Pinaldo. And he's always crying. And then that overshadows everything he's done for not only just his clubs but the country. So let's still respect the fact, hey, Portugal, Portugal fans, you know, whoever you are. I'm not saying you need to call him up for these things, but also don't crucify the guy, don't bash the guy, because ultimately you guys were brought back on the world stage and he was help not just him alone, him and his team. But I mean he had big parts, able to win you a euro, help win a euro and a nations league. So that's something that they shouldn't forget. But I'm also saying this that alone shouldn't also keep you keep bringing you back to national squad. So this still puts some respect ⁓ on his name. And shout out to ⁓ Hajland today when he scored. He did he hit that Sioux. Yeah, and ⁓ and I saw some stuff aftermath or whoever the Sioux went to go shake his hand and ⁓ he pushed him a little bit so

Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm. Hoyland, yeah. Pushed him.

Marco: I mean, regardless of who's goat is who, I mean, he there's still a lot of players that obviously ⁓ look up to him and ⁓ to your point earlier, don't pick a side. Me, as much as like Ronaldo and I love and and what he's done to the game, I'm kinda neutral on this 'cause there's some pros and cons on each side. So ⁓ but I will agree that the way he went about it with the press conference, also that was his decision, right? But also, did somebody advise him to do that? ⁓

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Exactly. Yeah.

Marco: Because of the narratives leading into camp, right? I don't know if you saw that ⁓ eps that video where the reporters asking him questions. So he's kind of poking the bear, right? So like you're already firing him up already. So ⁓ I don't know, man. I just wanted to ⁓ rem make remind everybody that ⁓ he's ⁓ helping some silverware. So ⁓ that's gonna be there for the history books.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Right. Yeah. No, you're right, dude. You're right. You're right. And it's it's fair to say that. And it's like Ronaldo Messi in particular, them two, they have ultimate haters and ultimate lovers. If you're ultimate guy that loves one, you hate the other. Like there's no in between, it feels like. I don't know why that's the case. I've no fucking clue. I think All people really need to look at is obviously they're the GOATs. Obviously, they both won titles for their national team. Obviously, Ronaldo won Portugal's pretty much only trophies outside of Eusebio being on the team. But also just look at look at it for what it is right now. Like right now, when Ronaldo plays for Portugal, are they as dangerous as they could be? Are they that that's all that matters? You know what I mean? You can't talk about Well, he won the Euros. Well, yeah, when he when they won the Euros, they won the fucking Euros. But right now, is he contributing as much as he could be? When I see Messi in the World Cup playing all the time, it's because when he's on the field, he literally is doing shit. Shit's happening when he's on the field, whether he's walking around, whether whatever the fuck, it doesn't matter. When Ronaldo's on the field, he has his moments though. He does, but he does not control the game like he used to. That's just how I see it. And that's the ultimate reason why I don't think it's a definite.

Marco: Yeah.

Project 90 Soccer: You're starting this fucking game. Cause if it if if it was Ronaldo from the Euros or from six years ago, the coach would not be even debating whether he should be starting. Like it'd just be like you're on the field. There's no fucking way I have.

Marco: He definitely doesn't have the legs to sustain a full match or even cla even coming off the bench for like the last thirty minutes. Thirty minutes is still a lot is thirty minutes. So ⁓ I understand, like I said, what the what if it was true we said, right? The way the game was playing out, he just didn't see a fit. It happens all the time. Coaches make how many times you see guys warm up and look, they just don't end up going in. They have their vest on and they just don't go in. But ⁓ yeah, man, the way things have unfolded and the departure, it just

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. A lot, dude. It's a lot. Yeah. Yeah.

Marco: It just puts ⁓ a little stain on on on on both of them and the way the situation this situation's happening because to your point, valid, right? They're playing the nation's league, right? They don't need any distractions. And shout out for them to still go out there and and ⁓ and getting shit done because one, that's gonna make the coach look even better. And ⁓ the team, the guys are out there on the pitch performing, that hey, we got a good system going right now, man. You just right now you just don't fit.

Project 90 Soccer: Of the legacy. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, it gives them gives them a lot of confidence to be able to go out there and still win games. I think it's it's just interesting. It's interesting to see it play out this way. It's sadder more than anything because the guy's a fucking legend, right? It's like this is not how you want your career with your national team to end. But I don't think it's I don't think the story's over, to be honest. Like we're gonna see what happens in the coming days and the coming camps for Portugal. You know, you never know what you're gonna see.

Marco: in run in a in a situation so ⁓ Honestly, Anto, I wish honestly, I wish if it were for this thing about I need to win the World Cup or whatever. I kinda wish he would have just left it alone, not even played this whole time. Like

Project 90 Soccer: Bro, he won trophy. He won the Euros. He won the Nations League. Like it's not like he hasn't won anything. It's crazy.

Marco: It's ⁓ 'cause now, I mean, let's say he didn't play this last World Cup and you were still right, talk about his legacy, and now this is a stain, unfortunately, on his legacy, the way things have are potentially gonna end if it does end that way. But ⁓ yeah, nevertheless, man, ⁓ Portugal, Portugal got the dub and then ⁓ they're moving on.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Yeah. See We shall see, Marco. I think that's a fascinating story, though. It just never ends with the legend of Ronaldo in Portugal. So we'll see, man. Might see him at the Euros at this point. You never know. ⁓ moving on though, dude. Look, Man City, let's really dive into this. I have a little bit of a breakdown here. I don't want to get it wrong because a lot of shit has been happening in terms of Manchester City. So I'm just gonna go on a quick little rant and we're gonna break this shit down and give our opinions. Okay, Man City. 115 charges were filed against them. They were found guilty and they and they pleaded, right? They're gonna plead to it. They're gonna fucking try to they obviously denied it, right? They we didn't do it. We didn't do it. Okay. Now all this started, okay. It's not something recent. This is back in 2008. They got a new owner from Abu Dhabi, okay, and they started spending bankroll, bro. A lot of money on the overall club, everything coaches, players, ⁓ facilities, whatever. It wasn't that they had the rich owners though. It was how the main problem here is how they're recording the money, right? How they're reporting where it's going from, where it's coming from, all these things. This is the ultimate problem here. Okay. So ultimately, I have an analogy here. I needed someone to dumb it down into fifth grade terms because it just makes a lot of sense. If you're make if you have a lemonade stand, listen to this, and you make a hundred dollars selling lemonade, that's your real business income. But if your dad gives you another hundred dollars. That's just your dad giving you money, right? So you made $100, your dad gave you $100. Now, if someone, now you tell everyone that you made $200 when you didn't. Okay. And that's what Man City was doing with their owners. Their sponsors were giving them certain they were they were recording that their sponsors were giving them, let's say $100 million, but the sponsor was really only giving them 20 million and the owners were fronting the rest of the cash, but they were recording it. Differently than what they were actually doing, right? So obviously you can't do that. That breaks the rules. Okay. So out of 950 million pounds that were recorded as sponsorship revenue over these years, 2008 to about 2000, I want to say 18 or 19, 950 million was recorded and only and 831 million of that came from the owners. So they said that all of it was from sponsors, but eight hundred and thirty one million of it was actually from their owners. So what they were doing was making more money appear on their books. They were inflating it, making it look like they were making more money. They were making it look like they had fewer costs. And ultimately they were breaking the financial rules. Like, yeah.

Marco: We're just inflating it, yeah. Not to mention they recorded very minimal cost.

Project 90 Soccer: Yes, that's a that's a big one. So they were lying on audits, on everything. They were just making it look like they were doing way better than they actually were, right? And that would allow them within the FIFA and the the WEFA and the Premier League ⁓ financial rules to be able to spend more money because of the the income that they were recording or or saying they were making, so on and so forth. So this is where their problems come in now because now they've found been found guilty. Somebody leaked all of this. They dove into it a few years ago. And then the final the verdict sort of came out the other day that they were found guilty. But now they've appealed it. Okay. And they have

Marco: The crazy part is apparently Antho started to cut you off. They knew since July that this stuff was getting leaked, and they still proceeded to spend about 900 million Euros on Enzo and all these guys.

Project 90 Soccer: Go ahead. Yes. Yes, they just kept dropping bags. Mm-hmm. It's bad, dude. So punishments. And this is the big question now. They're gonna be found guilty on something, whether they they appeal it or not. I I just highly doubt they're gonna get away with any of this at all. So possible punishment, a big fine, which is probably gonna be there regardless of whatever else happens. They might get points deducted. They might get ⁓ relegation, expulsion from the Premier League is allowed by the rules, essentially. They could be kicked out of the Premier League indefinitely, which I don't I don't see that necessarily happening. But, you know, and we were talking about how this reminds me of Juventus back in the day when they had the Calciopolis scandal. They were fixing matches. They ended up getting relegated to City of B. They had like a massive point deduction. ⁓ nonetheless, in the same case as Man City, it's it wasn't the players' fault. Right. It's not even necessarily the managers' fault. They really don't know what's going on behind the scenes. This is more so the owners that are doing these things. So for Juventus' case, a lot of the big names stayed. This was after they had just won the World Cup as well. So you got guys like Del Piero, Buffon, ⁓ Camaranese, all these players stayed at Juve, went down to CETI B after being world champions, and they ended up getting promoted again. Now, for Man City, are their titles going to be stripped? Right, all their FA Cups, their Premier Leagues, the Champions League. Is it all going to be taken away? And that's that is my question to you. What do you think should happen to Man City in terms of all the titles, all the knowing that it wasn't necessarily the players' fault? So they were on the field, they played the game and they won. So now you're punishing the owners fairly, but at the expense of the player's achievement, which is like the the shitty kind of.

Marco: Everything. Take everything away. Take everything away.

Project 90 Soccer: You know, like how do you justify it? It's kind of fucked up, but it's not. Like it's like you guys fucking cheated, but the players had nothing to do with it. So it's like, what do you do?

Marco: It's like it's like in North, it's like in North Korea, and we're probably gonna get flagged, but I'm gonna get any views here. If your grandfather committed a crime, you're automatically in that tier of a freaking criminal, regardless of what you do in your life. So you're already at the bottom of the barrel if you're in North Korea, if you're unfortunately born over there. So it's it's it's one of those things where it just you you suffer the consequences because of someone's actions. But I keep seeing this thing like, ⁓ is Man City too big? F no.

Project 90 Soccer: No. ⁓ Yeah. No. Nope.

Marco: No one's too big for this crap, right? A hundred and fifteen unto not one. A hundred and fifteen? Right? Breaches? Come on.

Project 90 Soccer: It's a lot, dude. That's bad. That's so bad. That's bad.

Marco: Relegate them. If you're not gonna ex if you're gonna expulsion's not gonna happen, relegate them to leak two. All the way down. And if you can't, even further, if you can, please. Right? Massive point deduction to start. Just like Juventus, I think it was like 30 or 50 points to start the seria B. Yeah. So say a set of B, right? Strip them of other titles, right? And let's not mention all these.

Project 90 Soccer: I mean. ⁓ It was like thirty, thirty points or something like that. Yeah. It was bad.

Marco: Lots suit lossuits that Man City's probably gonna get. How many people got fired for losing against Man City? How many people got fired for not winning the Premier League? How many coaches were on the chopping block because they battled the trophy, let's say a Carly Cup or whatever, Carabao Cup, and then lost against ⁓ Man City? How many guys lost their jobs because how many players lost jobs because of of of Man City? Etc. etcetera et cetera. They are not too big. They deserve everything that's gonna come to them.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: ⁓ and I and I'm saying it proud as a Metric United fan. ⁓ but Anto, to your point, the players they can't do anything about it, right? Pep Guardiola, Pep Guardiola keeps hearing this thing, keeps seeing this thing. ⁓ now we know Morinho was the best. Look. Whatever. Post your narratives. But at the end of the day, Pep Guardiola is only doing his job with the players that they're buying him. Yes, you can say, Hey, I want.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Loving it. Even Pep Guardiola though, like how do you yeah.

Marco: ⁓ Holland. They'll get him Holland, right? But at the end of the day, he's not paying the cash. He's not making the decisions on what's going on behind the scenes. He's not the one reporting the numbers. He's not the one saying that they spend less than they made, right? Simple. You cannot spend more than you generate. And ⁓ Pep did not get hired to do any of that. So Pep got hired to lead and manage his players so the team can win trophies. The players got hired.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah.

Marco: To perform the roles and help the team win titles X, Y, Z. Right. So that that that's beside the fact. But ultimately, in my opinion, Anton, strip ⁓ relegate them, and a hefty fine. Cause ⁓ 115, 115, let me mention this last year. Who got deducted points because they spent too much?

Project 90 Soccer: Who's that?

Marco: Everton and Nottingham Forest. I think it was 10 points. Right? 10 points for their one infraction. This imagine these guys. 115. She's gonna take she's gonna take 150 points away from them to start the league. Come on. Let's not talk about Portsmouth. Years ago. Years ago. They got relegated. Middlesbrough. They got relegate relegated back in the day. I'm told no one's too big for this.

Project 90 Soccer: Mm yeah. But hundred and fifteen. Right. Yeah. Yeah. No, they shouldn't be.

Marco: I I wouldn't I wouldn't be surprised if a hefty ⁓ disciplinary action is is placed on them and I will be surprised if ⁓ they they they go soft on them because of what Man City has done this past decade. ⁓

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. I mean it started in two thousand and eight. Like they've been getting away with murder. You know what I mean? And yeah, they've been through many, many coaches since then, many, many players. But like you said, a guy like Pep Guardiola's, he's they they ask him, you know, who do you want? Right? They bring him in, we want to hire you. ⁓ who what do you think? What kind of players would you like? What who who can we try to get? And he just says Holland, for instance, and they say, Okay, we'll see what we can do if we can get him, how much we can offer.

Marco: And

Project 90 Soccer: And they do it. And and Pep Guardiola thinks, amazing, we got him, right? Hmm.

Marco: Here's one thing though. Here's one thing though. Where where like maybe he knew. Pancini, I mean he took the reins. Apparently he got paid double his salary and only part of his salary was reported. Everything else was under the table.

Project 90 Soccer: Did he know that? That's that's the thing. If he knew that, if he yeah.

Marco: I don't know. If I'm getting a check to your point, if I'm getting a check from the lemonade stand for a hundred dollars, somebody else gives me a hundred dollars on the side. But but I'm saying I only made a hundred dollars. Same thing with Marcini, right? So again, I don't know. Maybe you're right. He maybe he didn't know. I'm just saying, just throwing it out there.

Project 90 Soccer: Are you reporting it? Yeah. I understand. I understand. If Mancini, yeah. If if Mancini or Guardiola makes, let's say, a hundred million and they say, holy shit, like that's a lot of money. But then Man City says, ⁓ but on paper we're gonna report that we only gave you 50. So now, as Pep Guardiola and Mancini, if they've been doing that, now those guys personally have to report their own income. Were they gonna lie? They don't what?

Marco: You know what I just came to mind? What if Guardiola knew this was coming out? That's why you stepped down.

Project 90 Soccer: I mean, that's a conspiracy theory. Now, now we're talking, Marco. Now we're talking, Marco. Damn. Maybe that's why Roger was like, I'm fucking out. Peb Guardiola like fucking slipped him a note, dude. He's like, get out while you can. Get out. Dude, I don't know. It's fishy because I want to believe they don't know. Just like Juve didn't know. I I would never look at Del Piero or Buffon or fucking any of those guys and be like, ⁓ you guys knew. Like what they didn't fucking know, right?

Marco: Bro, it's all getting together. See what I mean? See what I mean?

Project 90 Soccer: This is different as well because if you if you pretty much pay the players, say we're gonna give you a hundred million, but we're gonna report that you made seventy-five. So when you report your income and earnings, make sure you only say seventy-five on your like they're not gonna all go for that, right? Because they have integrity. They're not gonna fucking lie about it. So in my opinion, they changed everything on the back end to reflect what they were giving the players for real, but they were they were reporting it. as either sponsorship money or it was revenue from sales of tickets or from fucking whatever to make it look like they had that amount of cash available to pay those amounts of money. But in reality that money was just coming from the owners. They were just dishing money.

Marco: Look. Look, Pep, Pep, I'm talking to you right now. I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt. ⁓ I like I like you as a coach. You big, big mind out there. That's why you lost all your hair, because you we need a you needed to showcase the type of brain that you have and the and the type of magic that you work up there. ⁓ I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt you didn't know. But I'm gonna ask you this question. Is Holland gonna play in the championship League One or League Two if they get relegated?

Project 90 Soccer: And he's definitely listening. He's definitely listening. No. Holland goes, dude. There's there's a couple. Yeah. Gone. There's a lot of people gone. Yeah. Phil Fo hey, Phil Foden would be perfect in the championship, dude. That's my opinion. And honestly, now the real question though is if they get stripped of all these titles, ⁓ I keep referring to Juve, but the players got stripped of the title, right? That they had that that season. But as players, they continuously say we won that year. Because on in all honesty, fair enough, on the field they did.

Marco: Gone. Cherky. Cherky's gone. Enzo. Enzo. Go play in the championship, bro. Go. Get out of here.

Project 90 Soccer: Right. Even though the refs was whatever the game was won, they won the game as players, whatever it is. If I'm on Man City and I won the treple, I mean, there was no tampering with referees going on. This is all financial earning reportings and stuff like that. So if I'm one of those players, I I'm forever gonna live and and die. But but in in actuality, in reality, they need to be punished. Man City is a club, needs they need to be taken away. You can't.

Marco: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're you're out there to play. You're out there to perform. Yeah.

Project 90 Soccer: It's they're breaking the rules. That's the bottom line. So if they get taken away, what do you think happens with those titles? Do they go to the second place team? Do they get washed as there's no champion this season? What do they do?

Marco: Well I t I don't know if it was legit, but I saw something on the WEFA page or Instagram, so maybe maybe fake, that they already remove in their Champions League win and they're gonna give it a inter. But ⁓ I was hearing ⁓ I listened to Wayne Rooney and ⁓ Roy King. I'm ⁓ I'm of their similar opinion. I don't want the titles, I don't want the medals. If I didn't go to your point, if I didn't win it myself on the field, I don't want it. I get it.

Project 90 Soccer: Mm. Yeah.

Marco: Right, they had an advantage because of the top players able to get, but I don't want it. Don't give me the trophies. Don't give me the medals. Just put a asterisk on it that year. And people are gonna know that that year Man City won and nobody else. They just put a asterisk on it. Because I was looking at the ⁓ most recent titles. Manu came tit came s in second twice. Arsenal lost some because of Man City, right? So and all this other stuff like Champions League that's going on. I'm not don't give me any hardware to give me any any any titles, just

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Yeah.

Marco: Do whatever you gotta do with them. We're moving on. and ultimately, all right, I got second place that year, so I'll just keep that. I'll just keep that metal.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. And I I I don't think they I don't think they would want it either, like you were saying. You know, if you're Arsenal and you got second place two years ago and now they come back and say, Well, Maine City technically cheated ⁓ behind, you know, in their books, but so we're gonna give you the title. They'd be Well, I w so I mean, we didn't really win it though, like you know what I mean? So

Marco: Did they give the scudetto to somebody else or did they just strip ⁓ Same? There you go.

Project 90 Soccer: They just stripped it, I believe. And I think that's the way it should be. Just put asterisks. Yeah, Man City won, but it was technically removed from official records due to whatever. And this is interesting though, because you know, we're gonna touch before we close this episode USA Mexico's this weekend, right? And Kevin Sullivan, as we all know, he he's already there's already been a deal with Man City in place for when he turns 18, ⁓ 2027, he was set to join Man City.

Marco: Ooh, yeah.

Project 90 Soccer: He's already been over there and done some training camps with them and things like that to get familiarated with it. But he's supposed to legitimately join Manchester City. So now I think of this as is this still on for Kevin Sullivan? Is this still a good move for Kevin Sullivan? If they get relegated, would that even be maybe a better move for Kevin Sullivan because now they're in the championship? Or or is it just look bad for Kevin Sullivan? I don't know. It's interesting to find out because I've heard rumors of Barcelona being interested, of Real Madrid being in like bigger clubs are now interested in Kevin Sullivan as well. So it what kind of power does Sullivan have in terms of being able to now terminate this contract with Man City? And I think if you're found guilty of these things, even after your appeal, I'm sure he's going to be able to hold some power and being able to terminate that contract if he wants to. And it might work in his favor because there are other teams interested, right? He might find a better fit. He might find, like I said, Barcelona, or who knows? You never know. But

Marco: I'm sure I'm sure this deal was one of those deals that and I'm saying I'm sure like I'm on the agent or I or I or I am an agent, where the expectation was like, look, you're gonna join the team, but we're gonna send you a loan immediately. Same thing happened with ⁓ Antuna from Mexico. Same thing happened to ⁓ al al Alcala Alcaba. ⁓ he's from Stockton, who ⁓ Man City Man City purchased him, sent him straight to ⁓ LA Galaxy ⁓ too. He's playing with them, and now ultimately

Project 90 Soccer: You were there, dude. You were there. Mm-hmm. ⁓ yeah.

Marco: Right, they just didn't see him in his in their plans to go to Europe. So they sold him to ⁓ Kerataro in La Liga, Liga Mexicana. So I could I can ⁓ anticipate could have been one of those. I mean, I don't think his contract was crazy big if there was something in place to where he was gonna play first team minutes minutes, which I doubt. I don't know what the salary's looking like, unless that contract has some incentives in regards to like, hey, if he just shows some talent, then yeah, he's expected to get this premium or gets this x amount of money if he gets this amount of minutes. So unless it was That that that type of contract, I could potentially still see them holding on to him unless, right, Kevin Sullivan gets a good lawyer or his agent and they go to Batford like, look, this is not the f the the future that we see for him. And ultimately I think this is gonna hold him back, which I would agree will in will inhibit his his ⁓ his ⁓ his growth on the world stage, making that transition from the domestically

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah, we'll have to see what happens with Man City. Cause of course they've they've been charged, they've been found guilty, but they're appealing it. So anything can happen in all reality. But ⁓ for Kevin Sullivan in particular, 18 years old, is turning. I mean, it's a big move. That's a big, you know, it's a big transition point in your career at 18. And we've seen we've seen it not go so well for other players in the past, right? So really needs to make sure he's making the right move, which I'm sure he's gonna thrive wherever he goes. He seems like he's got the right mentality for it. But in terms of Man City, bro, we're just gonna have to wait and see. This is ongoing. But I thought it was a bit of a bit of a bomb that was dropped this past week or two. ⁓ I know, man. And it's it's sad because you know, you you wish you could look back and just give them full undeniable credit, but now it's been tainted. It's been it's been sort of stained. And ⁓ it's too bad, but that's what happens when you don't play by the rules, Marco. You get caught eventually. Every gangster will tell you that, man. At some point.

Marco: Your plane's so good too.

Project 90 Soccer: You're gonna get caught.

Marco: I still remember when Steven Island was her best player. Back in the day.

Project 90 Soccer: Dude, Steven Ireland. Do you remember ⁓ there was ⁓ there was ⁓ Craig Bellamy? Remember Craig Bellamy? Yeah, dude. There's ⁓ Jolene Lescott. Yeah, man. Yeah. Yeah, Joe Hart was a real one. You stayed with him all day. He was there from the start. Interesting. We'll see what happens, bro. But ⁓ moving on, ⁓ before we close this episode, this weekend, Saturday, we have Mexico versus the United States, man. And ⁓ how you feeling about that?

Marco: Right Galamy, yeah. Julian, that's what I do with the hair hairline back here. Yeah, yeah.

Project 90 Soccer: I kinda I feel like it's gonna be one of the better one of the better sort of ⁓ games that we've seen in a while for Mexico and USA.

Marco: Depends who plays. ⁓ and then as of yesterday, Gilmora ⁓ has some issues with his ankle, so he may not play. ⁓ yeah, it's shitty. I didn't like the way Mexico looked against Peru. They made the game a lot harder than it should have been. then again, they had a lot of first timers, and then you had three or four ⁓ guys that were on the World Cup that didn't outside of Gallato didn't really get crazy minutes in the World Cup. ⁓ that were they were they were on the bench and Gonna retract what I said in the last pod. I had also fired up. Mattel Mateo Chavez doesn't play the right side, he plays the left side. So that was the that was the kind of one of the arguments where that I wanted to make 'cause but he can't play both, which is why it said Jorge Sanchez. But anyway, I think ⁓ USA wins this game. ⁓ I think Julian Call scores another goal. He's playing very, very well. Burr Halter is that it's not gonna be an easy task, whoever is is guarding them because with I

Project 90 Soccer: Ha ha. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Marco: With with the White Caps, he was kind of like a box the box player. But bro, right now and in Middlesbrough, the way he's playing these last two ⁓ games with the US, he's a damn number ten, if if if ⁓ if if I've seen one. So I think they I think Mexico has a a a tall task going against the US. I do anticipate them throwing a third goalie ⁓ out there for for Mexico and changing up the lineup.

Project 90 Soccer: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Marco: Then again, it is USA. We want to take this game very serious at all times and we wanna beat them at all times. But this could be one of those games where as long as you don't put Brady in the net, put your theme, that's I I I'm giving you guys the the advantage on this one that you guys will win and ⁓ bag a dove on the way home.

Project 90 Soccer: Yeah. Yeah, ⁓ my God. Holy smoke. Yeah, USA's biggest weak point. They're still struggling with the goalkeeper, man. I think that's their weakest point right now. But they have so much talent, dude. Matthew Salbert, seventeen years old, plays with Dortmund on the wing. That kid's a ball or two. There's Xavier Gozo, Julian Hall. Burr Halters just like really just his stock is rising game after game after game. Kevin Sullivan, ⁓ Tyler Adams is I mean, they have a good team. They have a they a good team to be fair.

Marco: Very, very solid team.

Project 90 Soccer: So ⁓ for Mexico, I think they're they're gonna struggle, especially if Hilmora is not fit and available. I think that's the clash everyone wants to see is Hilmora versus New Generation. It's kind of the new generations meeting for the first time. So it'll be interesting to see though. But ⁓ that's this Saturday, 7 p.m., I believe, Pacific time. We'll be back here to go over that match with a recap. Marco, before we end this episode, do you have any last words?

Marco: Route.

Project 90 Soccer: Or out project 90 soccer dot com. If you saw this on YouTube, like, subscribe, comment, turn on the bell, find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts. Until next time, it's been another episode of Project 90, TikTok as well. Peace.

Marco: TikTok.