Extratime

We've been at this for 11 months, through preseason, opening day, the dog days of summer, the playoff push and more than a month of postseason action. After all that, the 2016 Major League Soccer season comes down to two teams without a championship to their name: Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders. MLS Cup at BMO Field will be lit, as the kids say, but will it be as incredible as the Eastern Conference Championship? The guys aren't so sure after TFC and the Montreal Impact played out a playoff series for the ages, culminating in a wild, back-and-forth, heart-attack inducing second leg that had the guys gasping for air. How'd the Reds come back after another early blow from their norther rivals? Why didn't the Impact mark (like, at all) on set pieces? Is Sebastian Giovinco alright or is there an injury issue to watch the rest of the way? Who has the edge on Dec. 10 when the Sounders travel to Ontario hoping to spoil the party?

In the second segment, buckle in for half an hour of new US national team head coach Bruce Arena, who joined Andrew and David for an exclusive interview that you can also watch above. Arena explains how the transition from Jurgen Klinsmann went down from his perspective, lays out the immediate future of the program, evaluates the player pool and task at hand and even manages to reveal a few new nuggets along the way, like which European team offered him a job in the wake of the 2006 World Cup.

In the mailbag, Matt gives his take on MLS Coach of the Year, won by FC Dallas manager Oscar Pareja, and listeners give their take on the playoffs so far and the MLS Cup matchup to come.

Direct download: ETR_Dec_1_2016_1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:24pm EDT

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