by Producer Rafa

Thursday's show was a epic one. No doubt. The Italian Serie A was about to swing back from it's winter break, we had a whole slate of mid week games to discuss, and most importantly, we had our first (former) player interview of the new year in the legendary MLS and US Soccer forward, Taylor Twellman.

First off, Howard came back to bless us with his presence. Kenny and Howard shows are always quite refreshing and a change of pace for us all, so we want to take advantage of the six weeks he is here from China. The boys quickly recapped the matches from the day before, including the bore-fest that was Manchester City and Arsenal. (Howard did call the nil-nil though) Once that was taken care of, on to European continent where we met up with our first guest, Kris Voakes.

Kris Voakes is one of our favorites. Kenny found Kris and his work on Goal.com a while back and has since been one of his go-to-guys when it comes to talking about the Serie A. Often times we catch Kris on the last minute tip, asking him via text message to join us. Whether we catch him off-guard or not, Kris is usually quick to join in and often times brings us a bit of atmosphere from the Stadiums around Italy. He is almost never in front of a computer which is never a problem for the guy. And no matter how deep or challenging the question may be, he always seems to have some say. Today was no different and Kris joined us from inside the San Siro in Milan.

After Kris, we were joined by Ped McPartland of the Followtonians podcast. This was the second in a two part special we wanted to bring our audience. You see, the Followtonian podcast were lucky enough to get an exclusive interview with Landon Donovan, who we can all agree has had an exceptionally busy past two years with stints in Germany and England, leading his Galaxy club deep into two MLS playoffs and one final, and had one of the goals to remember for team USA in South Africa this past summer. So of course we grilled Ped on LD's time on Merseyside.

Donovan wasn't the only topic of discussion for Ped. Kenny wanted to ask about the issue of ground sharing between the two teams in Liverpool to which Ped easily shifted the blame and responsibility to the red side who seem to stall on the matter. Howard also wanted to chime in to see where Everton were going to get their players from if their owner continues to say that there is no money to spend in the transfer window. The response was simple and direct, “the youth system”.

Both opening guests were great, but the best part of our day was when we finally got on Taylor Twellman, former superstar of the MLS and New England Revolution, as well as the US Mens National Team. We had been trying to track down Taylor for the past year and a half but every time we asked his former club, The Revolution, he was always battling an injury and was unable to join us. Since his retirement this past year, we went back to our friends at the Revs and sought out his contact. Luckily enough it came through big time and Taylor was nice enough to make time for us. This was huge because as you all know, Kenny was a big fan of Taylor and has always been. Plus with Steven out for the day, this meant that he could conduct the interview with out being interrupted or cut off by his co-host.

Kenny took advantage of Steven not being there and jumped right into it with Taylor. There was no stone left unturned with Kenny and the former forward was not afraid to answer any questions. Kenny asked what Taylor thought of the MLS's Designated Player Program, to which he responded, “I don't believe in it”.

Kenny also wanted Taylor's opinion of the MLS's playoff platform to which he didn't mind except for this small issue: “(Real) Salt Lake can't be the East Conference Champions and the New York Red Bulls can't win the west”. (Seems reasonable)

As the interview went on and on, and the player spoke more and more openly about all the important matters regarding our professional soccer league here in the States, we all just felt as though this guy should be having an office in the higher-ups of the MLS hierarchy. After sipping the Twellman MLS Kool-Aid, Kenny had to hear what his American Soccer Hero had to say about the National team. I think we have all been a little harsh on Coach Bob Bradley and when Kenny asked Taylor his thoughts on the recently re-signed coach, we were all expecting him to slate the guy most likely. Anything but we came to find. Taylor actually backed the USMNT coach 100%, saying “Bob Bradley is the man”.

The way Taylor went on about how Bob putting in the hours of research, match viewing, and training with the enormous pool of player the United States has, the more it made me re-think my personal position on him. Has my views changed on Bradley? Not completely, but I will say that I have a greater appreciation for the man after hearing some of the things Taylor Twellman mention.

If you were unable to catch the interview live, go back and listen to it. Taylor Twellman was incredibly open and candid about his career, his future, and his hopes and dreams for the Revolution, the MLS, and the United States National Team. By far, Taylor was the best interview we had thus far this year.