Last week, the Men in Blazers traveling circus came to town and taped a live Hudson River Derby event at Terminal 5 in Manhattan. That episode dropped into your podcast feeds today — officially titled "Major League Soccer & Walmart Present Men in Blazers Do It Live: New York City" (try saying that three times fast), the 83-minute episode starred Men in Blazers Secretary-General Roger Bennet, and featured segments with Matt Freese and Justin Haak of New York City FC; Emil Forsberg of New York Red Bulls; Michael Brady of New York Red Bulls II and formerly of the United States men's national team; and Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks.
Freese and Haak were last-minute additions whose participation was announced just two days before the taping. Then, shortly before the start of the event, Red Bulls striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting dropped out, leaving Forsberg to go it alone. Did he injure himself in vocal warmups backstage? Was he put off by the congestion pricing in Lower Manhattan? (Thanks for nothing, Governor Kathy Hochul.) We will never know why Choupo-Moting was a no-show.
That night, Bennet broke the news that Freese signed a contract extension with New York City through 2030, and will become the third-highest paid goalkeeper in MLS. But that wasn't the only notable moment that took place at Terminal 5. Here are five takeaways from the Hudson River Derby edition of the Men in Blazers podcast.
You can find the Men in Blazers Hudson River Derby episode on Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you do your podding.
1. Matt Freese turned down Manchester United
Bennet revealed that Manchester United offered Freese an apprentice contract in 2017, which he turned down. Instead, he went to Harvard University, where he studied economics and started for the soccer team as a first-year student before leaving school to pursue soccer.
"There were some tough conversations between my parents and me about this one," Freese told Bennet.
"Eighteen-year-old Matt Freese slamming the bedroom door shut, saying, 'Mom and dad, you don't understand me!'" Bennet said. "That did happen?"
"That did happen," Freese said.
2. Justin Haak was a youth soccer god at Chelsea Piers
Long before Haak joined the NYCFC Academy, Bushwick's own was a regular at the Chelsea Piers youth league, where Bennet took his own son to play. "I have followed your career with true joy," Bennet said, recalling seeing him at the five-a-side indoor league. "You were there every weekend from the morning to the night, you were always there in your goalie kit with your long hair — let's look at you. You look like Edison Cavani's long-lost Brooklyn offspring."
"If any team needed a player to fill in, that was your moment, you'd step in," Bennet continued. "This kid was a footballing marvel from the very beginning...you'd play in goal, and then you'd just like choose your moment to dribble out and score a goal — honestly, the only person I've seen like you is Maradona in 1986 against England."
3. Emil Forsberg puts sweet peppers on his bagels
"You've been in our city for nearly two years now — what is it that you have enjoyed most about life here, as opposed to, say, Leipzig?" Bennet asked Forsberg.
"The bagels," Forsberg said. he then explained that adds a Swedish touch by putting "pepperoni peppers and cream cheese" on his bagels, using the Italian word for sweet peppers.
4. Everybody loves the Knicks
The divided crowd at Terminal 5 was civil, with about half in attendance cheery for the NYCFC's Freese and Haak, and half for Red Bulls captain Forsberg. But everybody in the audience rose to their feet when Hart and Towns came on stage, and the room thundered with chants of "Let's go Knicks!"
5. Game recognizes game
Hart put his foot in it when he said that he started following English soccer because the sport in the US was "not the best." But his teammate smoothed things over later in the segment.
"I want to give a shoutout to the MLS, too," Town said. "I think the work they're doing is amazing, and I think the World Cup is more special because the MLS has shown America what soccer really looks like and can feel like. Shoutout to them."
