Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments

Miami on their way. They are, I think, the best team in the league.
The question, I guess, is, is this sustainable? This team is built for big games. I don't think they care if they finish fourth or first.
I think they're on a mission to win MLS Cup. Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.
Volkswagen has long been a supporter of soccer in America and has proudly been a partner of U.S. soccer for the past five years.
LD, what up? I am repping St. Joe's soccer.
My dear friend, Tim Mulqueen, has been hired as the head men's soccer coach there. I was up on Hawke.
Is that a college? Yeah, I was up on Hawke Hill chatting to the boys. They just started their spring season, so they're super stoked and excited.
So the Hawke will never die, they tell me. So go St.
Joe's. I don't know what any of that means.
It's fine. But I love Mulchie.
I love Mulch Queen. Mulchie's the best.
No, I'm actually not. I'm in L.A.
If you remember when your kids were younger, spring break is one of the worst weeks of the year. I love when you say that.
It's their home all week. So we decided to get out, spend

three days in Manhattan Beach, my old stomping

grounds. Bill's? Bill's Pancake?

Bill's Pancake House. Did not

go there this morning. Might go after this.

You should go. Please go.

So hanging out in MB, although it rained

this morning, it was kind of miserable.

But here in the LA studios,

this place is cool. Isn't it cool?

I was like, why don't I get this in my house? Also, you're not a man of the people because what are you drinking? You're so LA. Show everybody what you're drinking.
Oh, my juice. Look at this.
It's called 50 Shades of Green. Kale, red leaf lettuce, mustard greens, frisee, tango, green shard, red shard, arugula.
You don't even know what half that stuff is. Chlorophyll, alfalfa leaves.
Good for you. Don't be jealous.
Despite what people think, this figure is not natural. I have to work hard at it.
Oh, man. All right, guys.
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You can always email us at feedback at unfilteredsoccer.com. And after last week's US.S.
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All right, let's jump into MLS. We're going to start with really interesting news we got this morning, Tim, from one of our producers, sent a message in the group chat that Peter Vermees and Sporting Kansas City have mutually agreed to part ways.
And generally speaking, Tim, I would say he got fired. But this is one of those.
He's been there 15 years now. And I think I said early in the season, it just feels like it's time.
And it's not a bad thing. It just feels like it's time.
I want to run through before we dip into this a little bit. He's been there 15 years, which is a phenomenal accomplishment in and of itself.
It just doesn't happen in soccer or sports anymore. So congrats to Peter Vermees on what he's accomplished there.
So they won the MLS cup in 2013. And by the way, this is a quote unquote, small market team, right? They won the open cup in 2012, 15 and 17 made the playoffs 11 times of his 15 seasons.
Phenomenal for, for those times they finished first in the league. It's the third alltime in MLS wins as a coach.
And he's the only person to win the MLS Cup as a player and a manager with the same team. They've been poor the last couple years.
And they've been poor to start this season. So it just felt like it was time.
But I want to say before you dive in. I played against Peter.
He's a crazy competitor. and what he did at originally the kansas city wizards and then at sporting kansas city has been phenomenal and everyone there should be indebted to him for what he's done for that organization yeah very well said listen i go back further with peter vermiz and almost anybody because when he played at ruckers university back in the early 90s i was a ball boy at Rutgers on the sideline.
It was a little tot wearing my jersey, and they were going to Final Fours. So kind of watched his rise through the men's national team.
Again, like you, played against him, played against him as a coach. He's tough as nails.
He's a gentleman. But hats off to Kansas City and hats off to Peter Vermees.
In 15 years, by the way, I know they've had success, but also there's been some tough times in there too. And for both of those parties to be able to navigate that and spend a decade and a half at a club and really cement them as part of that brilliant Kansas City sporting community and league-wide, nothing but good things to say about Peter Vermes.
The challenge now, Tim, is where do they go, right? Because when one voice has been, so we saw this at United with Alex Ferguson. We saw this with Arsene Wenger.
You see it in every walk of life. Bill Belichick with the Patriots.
When one voice is the voice everyone hears for 15 years, now what? So Kerry Savagnin, who we also played with and against, will take over in an interim capacity. He's been there almost all the years that peter's been there too and so now the question is who will come in and what direction do they want to go so we'll need to follow that um no insight this just happened but this this will be interesting to follow inter miami philly so i was i was golfing this weekend i know unsurprising unsurprising uh with my buddies and i was at his stay the night house.
We were watching. We were flipping through all the MLS games, but watching the Inter-Miami game.
Philly were good. And Philly, I said to them, I said, Philly could win this game.
Like, Miami are a better team. But before the game, I said, Philly could win this game.
But they just have too many playmakers, man. And Messi's ridiculous.
He gets subbed on on two minutes later uh scores out what ended up

being the winner uh he just non-stop man yeah i mean philly were good um i'm on this philly

bandwagon i think they play really good football they create a lot of good chances and in the game

they create a ton of chances like you said probably could have drawn level or or even one

the messy thing is funny because look i think i think what we're seeing this season he's 30 37

I'm not sure. level or even one.
The Messi thing is funny because, look, I think what we're seeing this season, he's 37. I mean, what we're seeing early on is I think what's going to continue.
He's going to rest. They're going to manage his minutes to get him through to the end of the season when the big important games are.
It's just how it is.'s it's what we he's 37 can't roll back time so this is kind of what we're seeing i think the funny part for me is when i watched the ball it got shifted across and then it got it goes to messy on the on the right hand side and i did you play in the argentina game at um at giant stadium yeah it's my 100th cap oh no remember, I tell the story because you'll, you'll remember this, but you weren't in an area where you needed to defend Messi. You were high and you were wide, but we worked, we, yeah, we worked all week.
I remember Bob Bradley. It was, he was, he was relentless.
He was on us saying like one, get to the ball, get chest to chest with Messi armed against him. One covers it.
We, it was awesome. Training was great.
We're like, we're going to lock this kid up, right? The second the game, the whistle blew and the ball went to him. It was like, you know when you play Super Mario Brothers and you get the star and then no one can touch you? No one got around it.
And I'm thinking we trained all week to get around him. And I say that because he's so special.
When the the ball got shifted the center back saw his i guess it was the left center back go tight to messi and i'm thinking you got to sprint over there like you have to sprint over there and give cover you can't leave my guy on an island he shifts it and scores it was it was incredible he is something special you know that game i tell this story to people sometimes so that game i was all i am my 100 ceremony before the game, all this stuff. So we get into the game and there's a play, Tim, I'll never forget.
And there's certain plays in your career, you know, you remember very vividly. There was, I don't know.
I don't even remember who was around us, but there were four of us. I swear on my mom's life.
There were four of us around him and he picked up the ball. And all I thought in my head was, I'm just going to, I need to hit him and knock him down.
I'm just going to, I'm just going to knock him down. So I go and I try to hit him and he picked up the ball and all i thought in my head was i'm just gonna i need to hit him and knock him down i'm just gonna i'm just gonna knock him down so i go and i try to hit him and he just bounced off me next guy tried to hit him and just knock him down and stopped the play bounced off four times in a row bing bing like a plinko chip just bing bing bing bing and then he exited with the ball and i was like i remember looking at someone i was like this this is not normal it's that's usually you can foul a guy sure sure you know but you couldn't even foul but that's the special thing about him right ld like you think if you think you tried that i mean every player i know game has tried that and by the way he can i tackles his balance he's all i remember about messi is playing against him twice and then one time i was in i was in drug testing with him after the game so we both got called back into doping so i'm just sitting there i'm desperately wanting to talk to him but scared to death.
I don't think I said boo to him. I looked the other way.
Well, he didn't speak English probably either. Well, he didn't score either.
He should have learned Spanish, dude. I told you all these years.
I just want to say what up. Like, hi, wave, smile.
You could have said, hola. Como esta? All right.
Miami on their way. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
They are, I think, the best team in the league so far. So far.
The question, I guess, is, is this sustainable? They've got a lot of old bodies, right? Messi, Suarez, Jordi Alba, Busquets. So can they sustain this? Because knock on wood, but if they pick up an injury or two that are serious, it feels like it's going to be tough to keep going.
Here's what I think. And nobody's going to want to hear this but i think this is this is the facts the greatest thing for this current miami team is that they want to support a shield last year right so they don't have to chase that that's off the table i don't think miami gives a good god darn whether they want to support a shield right which means this team is built for big games okay so i think it's not even going to be messy getting his minutes managed by Mascherano.
I think you're going to... I don't think they care if they finish fourth or first.
I don't. I think they care...
If they finish fourth and they go into the playoffs healthy, I think they're like, sweet, good, this is great. I don't think they're concerned with winning any prizes in the regular season.
I just don't. And so I think to answer your question, they can obviously pick up knocks throughout the year, but I do think a lot of these older players are going to have their minutes managed with an eye just for the playoffs.
You know what else they've made very clear they don't care about is what anyone thinks about managing minutes, right? And obviously you dealt with that in Houston when you didn't go to Houston, and they just don't care. Mascherano doesn't care.
Jorge Mas doesn't care. Beckham doesn't care.
They're just like, I think they're on a mission to win MLS Cup. Which is great, which is great for them, by the way.
The Atlanta game, NYCFC was pretty gnarly. The defending was shocking, but an exciting game as a neutral fan, just fun to watchmarone back on the score sheet for atlanta was awesome um this was just this was a this was a microcosm tim of what's happened in the league and we'll get into this at some point with you know mls mechanism for spending money and stuff teams for whatever reason just do not spend money on defensive players anymore.
They just don't. And the mechanisms are set up to go after young attacking players.
And also because now teams are able to flip those players and sell them for real money, right? So the business side takes precedent, but most teams are just not set up to defend. And this game was a perfect example.
And the next one, the San Diego FC, LAFC game, just goals everywhere and really poor defending.

Yeah.

I mean, the point you make is, is well taken.

Defending in the MLS is woeful.

Like it's woeful.

When I, I remember, and it wasn't that long ago that I was,

I was playing in the MLS and it, the ideas aren't there.

The tactical spatial awareness isn't there. The alarm, you know, when you see really good defenders, the alarm bells are going off constantly.
And you can see by their body language and their motion, like, I know that pass was on, but I'm launching this into row Z because guess what? That's what my instinct was telling me. The amount of poor judgment and decisions by defenders,

the lack of, I mean, it's like a jagged edge.

You know, when you're talking about a back line being rigid,

I mean, there's players all over the place,

stepping in places they shouldn't,

not running into channels, no cover.

Defending is woeful, to your point.

I think it's league-wide but to your point like it it's

just not people don't spend money um in those areas and it's a shame and they don't they don't spend time on it to my my theory now in all of this is that it's a little bit of like the trickle down from the pep guardiola stuff that teams now are trying it's around the world you're always copying copying, right? Yes. Whatever the best teams do.
But because City for so long had 80% of the ball, their defending looks very specific. Their defending is in the opponent's half, 1v1 for a few seconds, win that battle, win the ball, go attack again.
And that's what their defending looks like. Now, if you're going to play the way City play and you don't have the players they have, you're going to end up defending like real teams have to defend, like the way teams are supposed to defend.
And you don't work on that. People don't sit in their own end and play eight against six in training and the six have to just defend and defend and defend for 15 minutes.
Teams don't do that anymore because they're trying to build and play the way that city plays so there's a whole there's a whole mix of reasons why but as a fan of the game i love seeing it and and i'm sure the league isn't pissed off about it no no goals are great and the attacking's great and it's fun to watch well to add clarity to what you're saying because i i talk i talk about the Guardiola effect all the time. And I, and I say in a cheeky way that he's, he's ruined so many coaches because everyone thinks they can play like his teams play.
And the thing that incenses me in football, when people say like, we're a pressing team, shut up. You're not a pressing team.
It's impossible to press for, for 45 minutes or 90 minutes. What city have done.
and they've cracked the code, is like you said.

So,

and he did this at Barcelona.

He started it.

He's got the best players in the world

who can keep the ball

for as long as they want, right?

When it turns over.

Literally forever.

Forever.

So when the ball turns over,

they attack like dogs, right?

They put you under so much pressure

and they win it back.

Or,

and I've played against some of these teams that do this really well, you end up launching the ball, right? Because he can buy the best defenders in the world, he had at a time Kyle Walker and Diaz and Stones, right? So they can win a track meet, they get it, recycle it, and they're back on top of you. But teams think they can press all the time and they can't man city man city presses because they can they can possess the ball better than anybody else so yeah it's it's an interesting concept and and i think but circling back um you can't play like you can't play like that if you don't spend the money on defenders that's right and that's not that i think eventually will happen in MLS, but right now it's not happening.
Correct. The night

cap was San Diego FC, LAFC.

This was a great game.

The first 40 minutes, Tim,

honestly, it could have been 6-0 for San Diego.

They absolutely

destroyed LAFC. And this

was classic LAFC. They're getting

pummeled. Pummeled.

And all of a sudden, just bang, bang, two plays.

They score two goals.

And now you go right into halftime, and it's 3-2.

And I was with my buddies on the couch.

I'm like, uh-oh, here we go.

The second half was a little bit of a dud.

LAFC got a red card, a second yellow card,

and the game fizzled out a little.

But the first 40 minutes were absolutely electric.

And San Diego FC, I have to say, man, if they can stay healthy, and it's a big if, right? They're getting Chucky Lozano's on his way back. If they can stay healthy, their first 12, 13, 14 are good enough.
Definitely good enough to get in the playoffs and good enough to make some waves. If they don't stay healthy, they're not deep at all.
But their first 12, 13, 14 are very good. Question, do they still have a DP spot open? I can't remember.
Or did they fill it? Shuky Lozano, Dreyer. I don't know if Luca De La Torre was a DP.
I think he probably was. I'm just wondering if they bring in a big hitter in the summer.

You know what I mean?

It's a good question.

Well, they were talking

about De Bruyne.

I know.

I know.

That's what I'm saying.

I wonder if Luca...

I'm trying to get...

I forget if Luca De La Torre

was a DP or not.

Yeah, they're talking

about De Bruyne.

I don't know if that's

the right move.

Their midfield three

is really good.

I think De Bruyne

is always the right move.

Well, I know he's good,

but you know how it is, dude.

When you get the end

and it's hard

and it's the summer

and travel

and he's not used to it. There's going to be an adaptation period, right? But they are good, man.
They're fun to watch. Last thing on MLS, speaking of LAFC, FIFA this was such a weird thing.
FIFA are considering LAFC and Club America playing a one-game match to decide who goes to the Club World Cup this summer because Club Leone was not allowed to go in because Pachuca and Club Leone have the same owner, so only one team could go in. I guess they found out which team they care about more.
Pachutco went in. What? And Club Leon didn't.

So now they're deciding.

We're hearing rumors that LAFC and Club America may play a one-off.

And we were trying to figure out why LAFC and Club America were the next two in.

I think I have a theory as to why you want those two teams in.

I don't know if it's merit-based. Yeah.

But, yeah, just a weird, I guess it should be a weird dynamic. Yeah, it's strange.
But pretty cool. Good for one of those teams, for sure.
Why do you think, Tim, LAFC and Club America were the ones they chose? I think you understand why. I would also say, I love Club America.
It's such a massive club. It's so crazy, the support they have.
Brilliant stadium. But anyway, we know why.
why. All right, we'll see.
All right, it was not a Premier League weekend. It was an FA Cup weekend.
I have to say, I just wanted the Premier League back so bad. Coming back.
It's fine. Some of these games were good.
So Fulham lose 3-0 at home to Palace. And this was interesting for American soccer fans because Anthony Robinson missed the Nations League semifinal and final.
If people remember, he had, he was essentially resting his body is the way I would say it because he's had a long season. He's played a lot of games.
So he missed the Nations League games and I was expecting, Tim, if I'm being honest, that he was going to be out a few weeks and I think I was naive okay and now I'm kind of coming grips with what really happened here yeah you don't love you don't love this he ended up he ended up starting the next weekend for Fulham and if I'm a national team fan and I don't really care about Fulham, but I care about Anthony Robinson, I'm pretty pissed off.

Okay.

Because the team suffered through the Nations League.

And I'm not saying one player would have definitely made the difference,

but he's a big player for our national team.

Of course he is, yeah.

And so he ended up not playing Nations League,

ended up playing for Fulham, and they lost.

And I'm curious.

I want to ask this question to our fans,

and you guys always do a great job of answering honestly and giving us really good feedback. So please do.
Are you angry at that? Did you not, that he didn't know? Do you get it? Do you understand? Do you not care? Are you happy he took the break? Right? I'd just be curious where people fall on this one. Yeah, I mean, what's your big gripe? You said you were naive were naive to it a little bit so what's your what's the big gripe all right so look this is about priorities okay and i i did this in my career a couple times for friendly games i remember one time i had a conversation with jrgen i my hamstring was not in good shape i'd been i'd been like dealing with it for two weeks and we had friendlies i think they they were in Florida.
There were two friendlies. I think it was October time frame.
It was right before MLS Cup playoffs too. I remember calling Juergen and I said, I need to rest this hamstring.
It's been bothering me for a long time. Do you remember this? He understandably did not take it well.
It put me in a hard spot. I was hoping he'd say, look, no problem.
These are friendlies. I know you.
I've seen you a million times. Not a big deal.
It's also Juergen Klinsmann we're dealing with. So that says a lot.
Yeah, no, I get it. Whatever, I get it.
So he was not happy. I had to make a decision.
I made the decision that I thought was best to not go to the camps. Now, these were friendlies.
These were not, there was no trophy at stake. But I understand that side of the argument.
So this is about priorities. So Anthony Robinson has three competitions he cared about in the last two or three weeks.
The Premier League, they're I think four points out of a Champions League spot. The FA Cup, which they were in the quarterfinals, now they're out of it.
And the Nations League, right? So these are all three important tournaments.

And his decision was,

I am going to not focus

and not put my priority on the national team.

I'm going to put my priority with Fulham for the FA Cup

and then the rest of the season.

Now, I understand that.

I've been in his shoes.

I get it.

But it's your national team and it's your country. i i didn't like the decision personally yeah i mean i think i think what you're what what you're speaking to is kind of what what i see as well i mean it you know he he put on instagram that nobody hates missing matches more than me it's it was a very difficult decision that i don't doubt and i certainly don't doubt him um he's a he's a player that i respect and i like as a person i think the world of him um look he if he had to whatever uh issue it was a tendonitis or it was something like that um yeah that he was dealing with it needed rest it needed a 10-day rest or something and he's managed he's he's managing that.
Um, I think, I think when, you know, from, from a U S soccer standpoint, he could have, he could have rested, uh, he could have rested it the primarily weekend before, which would have given him a week. Um, right.
He could have played in the U S games and then rested it for the FA cup. fa cup right um he chose to take the rest during the nation's league but again i and i and i think that is what we're seeing that's his choice but but i think on a level of priorities it was premier league fa cup men's national team and and that's i think it's probably speaks to a bigger problem on as a yeah at the national team level and it's what i it's what i said was my biggest concern i actually said it's going into the last world cup in 2022 this group of players i think i mentioned on the last pod as well there aren't any more competitive games after the Gold Cup, right?

And I just, I wonder

how many games between now and the World Cup

the best group

of players that we have will play together.

Right? It'll be zero.

It'll probably be zero. It'll likely be zero.

Really? Really? Right?

So that's

a problem. And

I think this speaks to the bigger issue. I want to be clear.
I respect Anthony. I respect his decision.
He's had a phenomenal season. I don't like that you are...
This was not... He got, knock on wood, broke his leg the day before and couldn't go.
He made a conscious choice. And he could have made it two weeks prior and missed a Fulham League game and come into the Nations League.
And I don't like it, but it's over now. And again, I'd be curious to hear what people have to say about it.
The other few games, Matt Turner, unfortunately, did not start for Palace. He had started the previous three matches.
Just can you walk us through real quick, Tim, before we go to break, how... Because you've dealt with this too, right? Where you were kind of the second goalkeeper and you'd play the cup games as a goalkeeper, but then not play the more meaningful games.
Funny, funny part of that. So my first year at Manchester United, I won the FA Cup, played most of the games and played in the final my second year I lost my spot and I didn't I played a couple of games but I didn't play in the final and uh funny enough we I I had saved a couple penalties and I won the community shield in a shootout so Sir Alex Ferguson at like I don't even know like right after regular time going regular time going into extra time, he was like, Tim, go warm up.
I'm putting you on for penalties. Sure as heck.
I went and warmed up. He forgot to put me on.
He told me after the game. We went to penalties.
He said he forgot. Roy Carroll was in goal.
We lost. He literally said, I forgot, which is crazy.
But anyway, that's not the point. So the following year, my third season and final season at, um, at United were playing in the league cup.
And, and I played, yeah, I played most of the games. I mean, I played three or four games and we get to the semifinal.
Uh, this is when they brought Edwin Vanasar. And so like, as a, as a second goalkeeper, the only games you're really getting are like cup games, you know? So I'm having a good run.
So I'm like, all right, like I'm no I'm like, all right, I'm no slouch. I've done good things at Man United, so I'm getting the cup games.
And this is the League Cup, by the way. And we get to the semifinal, I think it was against Blackburn, at their place.
And Sir Alex Ferguson pulled me and he said, look, I'm starting Edwin tonight. And I was irate.
I was furious, man. I was furious, but it didn't matter.
He didn't care that I was furious. He wanted to win the game and he went with the best, the best goalkeeper.
And we got to, we got to the final and then we won the final. Right.
And so you just got to deal with it. It sucks.
It sucks. And, but their manager is going to play the best goalkeeper.
And he thinks that he needs to play the number one. It's tough luck, man.
It's tough luck, and it's just the way it goes, and it sucks. I wish I could tell you that there's some formula, but there's not.
You be better, and that's what I had to do. I had to be better.
And I wasn't. Edwin Van Asar was clearly better than me.
It's just just tough for national team fans and for Matt Turner. That was his chance to get some games, right? So, you know, obviously I'm guessing he's not going to play in the semifinal and, you know, and the final there.
Villa won as well. They beat Preston 3-0 away.
And Man City, they could win a trophy, Tim. After all of this, they could win a trophy.
I mean, that's the crazy thing. They've had, I mean, their downfall has been so widely publicized.
And yet, if they win, there's a part of me that kind of wants them to win the FA Cup just because we love seeing greatness. Watch, they will.
That would be amazing. It would be amazing.
I mean, they've got every chance, right? I mean, the semifinal round, when is it? It's this one, April 26th, Forest versus City and Palace versus Villa. I mean, all Premier League heavyweights, right? So, like, it'll be good.
Right, so USLNT, that's us, on USWNT. Talk to me about this US-Brazil preview.
How are you feeling about it? It's going to be interesting. Normally, I wouldn't put too much into this however there's a few things interesting so Trin Rodman is back first time

since the Olympics so that's good no Sophia Wilson now and no Mallory Swanson uh Soph is pregnant

and Mal who is out due to personal matters she's out been out with Chicago too okay um a couple

things that are interesting so Trin first she she divulged that her back she's had some issues and she said, honestly, I don't think my back will ever be 100%. Not good.
It's an issue. It's not one specific thing.
It's just the way my back's structured and it's more so management than a curable fix. So this is a problem because with a lot of things that you have to manage in your career, Tim, injury-wise, a back is not a good one, right? No.
Because you've got, yeah, there's just a lot of things can go wrong. So I do worry a little bit about that with her, and hopefully she has the awareness and the people around her to make sure that she you know like Messi at his age like you're managing it right so you can play yeah yeah it's tough I mean back backs backs are really really difficult for for a lot of reasons but it is it's the one injury that you just like it it's your mobility and that's what she's built on she's got brilliant pace really strong um obviously great tidy feet in and around the penalty area but like ultimately it's her explosiveness that that kind of gets her off the mark so hopefully that she can manage that and you know we don't we don't see any sort of demise because she's absolutely sensational to watch yeah i tim seeing her in person um she's insane yeah she i have never seen a woman move like that on the person, she's insane.
Yeah.

I've never seen a woman move like that on the field.

It's insane.

She is so powerful.

Yeah, she is.

The other reason I think this is interesting is Emma Hayes had a quote that I thought was awesome.

And I'm going to read it.

She said,

I think it's going to be a hard camp with two really tough games.

I know for sure I'm going to be really tough,

and I'm looking forward to how the team react.

One, after a loss.

I'll see you next time. it's going to be a hard camp with two really tough games.
I know for sure I'm going to be really tough and I'm looking forward to how the team react. One, after a loss, but two, to things I want to see from the team that I absolutely am not going to compromise on.
And my first thought, Tim, if I'm being honest, is I want Maurice Seale to say the same thing. I mean, if he literally just, can he just copy paste that quote and give it to a reporter and say the same thing? And I know I'm a little bit not great, but she ain't messing around.
She's not messing around, dude. She knows.
You know, the great. She's not going to say that just to say.
No, no, no, no, no, no. She, she, she's tough.
She's tough as nails as well. Listen, the one thing about this, about this and i oftentimes think well i think back to my own career all the time because it's it's so many parallels but it never you know you know when like and we played together so many times you know when you didn't play well or you're coming off a loss like this is amazing from emma i love this but like it never met it never meant anything to me like what like if a coach is like say that that to me i'm like good training should be hard man like like like we stunk it up last time we lost it to each other or whatever yeah like i'm thinking like i'm getting on the plane coming into camp thinking like you better be working hard like this is you better be leading and driving this this team forward so like it's so interesting but but i also, you know, as we, as we referenced, you have, um, Sophia Wilson's out, Mallory's out.
Like it's, you know, some players need to step up and I think she's probably, she's probably seeing that like, you all of a sudden we don't have our, like our, our star necessarily. So everyone else is going to drop, drop the ball.
It's not, that's not how it's going to work, work on my watch. So I really, I really like how direct like how direct she was.
And look, it's great. I mean, she said it, which means she definitely is going to back it up, which means it's going to be a hard camp.
So we'll see the reaction. It's going to be fun to watch.
I'm actually now excited to watch these two games. All right, let's take a break.
When we come back, we will share our thoughts on the Alphonso Davies controversy. If you don't know about it, we'll fill you in.
It's pretty interesting. And we'll answer lots and lots of questions.

We're going to spend a lot of time

on the mailbag this week

because you guys sent in

a lot of stuff

about the U.S. men's national team.
Stay with us right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, as always, presented by Volkswagen. See you soon.
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soccer at VW.com. Timmy, hard to believe, but this year will be 25 years since I first wore the jersey for the U.S.
men's national team. Crazy.
I still remember it, though, giving me goosebumps just to think about it. Yeah, there's nothing like it.
The pride you feel, the pride your family and friends feel watching you. I remember making my debut for the national team in Birmingham, Alabama.
My mom was there in the stands. It was just amazing knowing that she was there watching me accomplish my dreams.
Yeah, mine was in the Coliseum against Mexico. It was crazy.
I was nervous, certainly overwhelming anxiety all leading up to it. But in moments like that, it's really, really important to stay grounded and find time for yourself to choose a chill mindset.

Yeah, when you embrace a chill mindset, it's a good time to choose chill and crack open a Coors Light.

When these moments in your career are right around the corner, you got to find some quiet time to relax with the people you love who know you the best to enjoy the moment.

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LinkedIn, your next great hire is here. Right, LD, something that came across our desk that is of relevance because it's a big matter, but also because with CONCACAF and, and Canada.
And that's the injury to Alphonso Davies suffered a torn ACL, uh, in the third place game against the U S and there's some people not happy, um, particular his agent, uh, and Bayern Munich. And, and, and I, I think to set, give context, I'll read these quotes cause they're really interesting.
Dave's agent, Nadal Husay, said to one soccer, I'm very disappointed. Alfonso was not 100% after the Mexico game.
It was planned that he was not going to start against the US on Saturday night. The expectation is that he wouldn't be in the starting 11 as captain.
I feel he was pressured to start the game by the coach. Alfonso is not the kind of guy to say no to those moments.
He ended up playing and look what happened. Canada soccer needs to do a better job managing these players, in my opinion.
Alphonso was down and obviously disappointed and so on. Bayern Munich's chief executive Jan Christian Driesen said, we're demanding a full investigation into the events from Canada soccer and expressly reserve the right to take legal action.
Sending a clearly injured player

with a damaged knee on a 12-hour flight

without thorough medical assessment,

in our view, is grossly negligent

and a clear breach of medical duty of care.

The participation of Davies,

who already had muscular problems in the game,

and he says, this is the interesting part,

in a match of no sporting significance

is incomprehensible from our viewpoint.

Canada Soccer then released a statement,

said that they followed all protocols,

they were in constant communication

with Bayern Munich,

so on and so forth.

So, a lot to unpack there,

a lot of opinions.

Where do you stand on this?

Oof. I got a lot here.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, first of all, devastated for Alphonso Davies.
Sure. People don't realize there's 13 months, 15 months to the World Cup.
There's no guarantee he's back to – I mean, I think he will be back, but to full strength, I don't know, before the World Cup. And it's a World Cup in his own...
his home country. So I'm devastated for him.
There's a lot to unpack here, Tim. So, first of all, I have no idea why an agent is speaking to some media.
Not speaking to a media member. Agents speak to media all the time.
But letting them quote him and not speaking off the record about these things is ridiculous as a starting point. You got an issue, you call Canada, you call Bayern Munich, you guys all get on the phone or get on a flight, get together and figure out what happened.
Okay. Second of all, Alfonso Davies is the captain.
This is not an 18 year old. If he was not fit to play the game, he would not play the game.
Okay. I, I, I'm not going to guess what people's, I wasn't in the room, so I don't know if his knee was a% fine or 0% fine or somewhere in between.
If he did not feel right playing the game, he would not have played the game. He would not, Tim.
If he's an 18-year-old, I would have said, maybe he got pressured into it. This guy's played hundreds of games, played for Canada Bunch.
He's the captain. You go to the coach, you say, it's a third-place game.
I know it's USA. It matters, whatever.
My knee is not in a good place. I'm not playing.
Period. End of story.
So if he felt good enough to go on the field, that's on him. Okay.
Now, whatever happens in the aftermath, I don't know if Canada evaluated him or not. But the reality is, is his ACL is torn, right? So we can fight over whether they evaluated him or not.
By the way, putting him back on a 12-hour flight, did that do more damage? Not really. I mean, should he probably have stayed in Canada if it was torn? Yeah, maybe for a few days.
But he's going to go back there and get the surgery anyway probably. Or he's going to fly somewhere to get the surgery.
Not a big deal. I think this is a bunch of people who are trying to blame someone else.
And in the end, again, I'm devastated for Alfonso. He's a phenomenal player.
But if he wasn't right, Tim, he should not have played the game. He should not.
If it's a World Cup final, get it. I get it.
MLS Cup final and your whatever or a Champions League final, whatever, I get it. But if he wasn't right, he wouldn't have played.
Yeah, no, I'm in full agreement with you. I just think the agent speaking publicly like that, obviously for me, is a big issue.
Bayern Munich, and look, by the way, everyone's entitled to their opinion. I don't have to agree with it, but Bayern Munich's saying it's a nothing game, it's a third-place game.
Right.'re Canada and and and you've had no relevance in the sporting landscape of soccer when it comes to

CONCACAF and now you get a chance to get one over on the big bad bully that's the U.S. the dominant

team in the region it kind of does matter now I mean it may matter to Canada yeah it matters to

Canada there's a lot of people wearing red shirts with maple leaves on that they care by Bayern

Munich doesn't care but they care and and the problem is and having played in Europe they think they're holier than thou being the captain of your country I don't care what country what size it is being the captain of your country you know this means more and the fact of the matter is and and the biggest the biggest point is the one you made Alphonso davies is an adult he's the captain he would have had a conversation with jesse marsh and i don't believe for a second what that agent's saying that he was forced into playing right what he what jesse marsh gave him puppy dog eyes and said oh please you're the captain i need you he didn't You can have a conversation. Landon, I played against the LA Galaxy,

and we won in a shootout in whatever round that was in MLS.

We moved on to the Western Conference Finals.

In between, there was an international game.

We lost to Costa Rica in World Cup qualifying, the first game.

This was for 2018.

The second game was Mexico in Columbus.

I tore my groin off the bone. Snapped it.
I remember. You remember.
I should have never played the game, Landon. Coming off that double overtime, whatever it was, penalty shootout win against LA, my groin was hanging off.
I barely trained all week, but it was Mexico. I made the decision.
Now, in hindsight, was it a dumb decision? Yeah, maybe. You know, if you're talking purely medical, it was a dumb decision.
But guess what? My agent had nothing to do with it. Right.
It had, like, if anybody should have been pissed off, it was the Colorado Rapids. We ended up going to the Western Conference Finals and losing.
Not just because I wasn't there, but I was a big piece of that team. So, like, I made the choice.
And unfortunately, I got a serious injury. Put me out six, eight months.
So, like, that's on me. Like, this has nothing to do with Byron Munir.
This has nothing to do with the agent. If Alphonso Davies thought he could play, he played.
And if he couldn't have, then he wouldn't and I'm sure Tim that's awesome like that's exactly right and I'm sure they had a conversation right if he didn't feel right I'm sure he and Jesse Marsh had a conversation yep and if you're a coach your job's to win and you say Alfonso if you feel like you're good to go I could really use you if Alfonso stood up to him and said Jesse I am not right Jesse would have said okay you can't force him to play anyway right what are you going to do carry him on the field right right 100 you know he's not going to strip on the captaincy he's not going to right he could have just sat on the field and not played if you know if he felt that way so once I don't buy that that's a bunch of bullshit bullshit and like i i again i am devastated for him and this is a messy messy situation i what i worry about tim is how does this impact third place games going forward right i mean like you know this is another feather in the cap for people who say that should go away how does this impact club country you know dealings going forward with things well look alfonso davy tours acl because the coach this and the federation that and whatever and so it's just bad it's a bad look for everyone i think it was unnecessary i don't think by our munich needed to come out and say that i don't think alfonso clearly he the agent said it with his blessing right you're You're not going to let the agent just go, well, if he does, he's not my agent anymore, I'll tell you that. So it was just unnecessary.
They could have dealt with this so much better. And someone needed to own up, particularly Alfonso, and just say, guys, this was on me.
Let it go. This is on me.
I still want to hear from him because he's captain. I do too.
Club versus country will never go away. There's always issues.
The most important thing is that Alfonso gets fit, has a good recovery, and is back on the pitch in a speedy time. Yeah, let's hope so before the World Cup.
It's time for the Fan Connection presented by AT&T. Every week, we invite you, the listener, to connect with us by submitting your questions.
The best way to grow the game of soccer in the U.S. is to keep asking questions and keep talking about the sport we all love.
At AT&T, connecting changes everything. And on USLNT, our connections with you will help grow the game.
Okay, we're going to move straight into the AT&T fan connection. Miss Jordan, please come on in.
Lots and lots, as I'm sure you will attest to, Jordan. Jordan, what is happening? Is there a lot of feedback from last week or what? So much feedback.
So much feedback. I've never seen this many emails or YouTube comments.
It took a really long time to dig through it all, but we're ready to go. That's why why we pay the big bucks, Jordan.
It's weird not getting to dance into the beginning. It's fun, isn't it? All right.
Let's start with what I think is maybe one of the loveliest comments that we had. This was a very nice one.
Is it about you? No. None of these are about me.
It not about me guys okay this one is from michael via youtube um boys i was at the dmz the day you visited oh additionally since i was stationed in south korea for the o2 world cup i was able to witness firsthand the determination and desire that that team had it was almost like a rudy moment of course we had

first class players but what made y'all special was having world-class hearts i then went on to be in germany for the 06 world cup i'm incredibly grateful for having experienced those times i will never forget them so thank you amazing wow love that thanks for that comment yeah the only problem with that comment is we are men, Michael,

not boys.

But I

just want to tag Love that. Thanks for that comment.
The only problem with that comment is we are men, Michael, not boys.

But I just want to tag onto that real quick. So thank you, Michael, for your service.
And thank you for the support. Second, that 2006 World Cup, although it was mostly a bad memory for me personally because I was terrible.
the national anthem in

Kaiserslautern for US Italy

with so many of the people

from Rammstein and other bases around Germany, there are like 30,000 Americans, was a top five, super chills right now talking about top five moment in my life, that national anthem. So thank you.
Incredible. Did we draw that game? Yeah, we did.
Amazing game. This one's from Matt via YouTube.
The fact that Berhalter is doing well with Chicago,

who are perennial basement dwellers,

it says in parentheses,

I think speaks volumes.

It has to be the players at this point.

I mean, I've been saying for months,

Berhalter should be back with,

I'm just kidding,

with the national team.

Okay, so I think we learned a lot

in the last week or so.

Right? We talked a lot about this, Tim. It's really easy in sports to blame it on a coach and fire a coach because it's one person versus either 12 in the NBA or 25 in soccer or 70 in football or whatever.
We learned a lot that it doesn't matter what the coach does, says where they're from, what they sound like, what their tactics are, whatever. If you don't show up and play with pride, none of it matters.
So I think there's some merit in that. There is.
Speaking of coaches, Montgomery via YouTube said, I like Pochettino, but I find it ironic that most of the conversation was about having heart, pride, and fight. And the one coach who has excelled at creating that environment is Jesse Marsh, who is now 2-0 against the U.S.
men's national team. Yeah.
I mean, look, Jesse will tell you he felt hard done by to not get the U the u.s job um boy will he tell you and he's got a chip on his shoulder and you know that's again he's got he's got players fighting and wanting to run through the wall for him and that's a big it's a you know that's a it's an important piece and i think sometimes when you don't have some like u.s teams have had talent like a couple guys with with magic in their boots you know landon one of them clint um claudio reyna at times we've had special players you know bees is another one but like at the bedrock of of the u.s national team has always been like fight and hunger and and pride and i think so often you're like you more. You want more expansive and better attacking.
And then you get that, and then you lose some of the necessary stuff. And when you look back, being tough and stout and hard to beat isn't a bad thing.
It's not a negative thing. It's a huge positive.
And so I think there has to be a balance of both. let's talk about some of the players because there were a lot of comments about specific players um this one from raymond via youtube our best player was diego luna mls players showed up and played with heart which i feel like you guys talked a little bit about him last week um here's something i haven't heard from one analyst with regards to public support of the U.S.
men's national team.

Give us fans a product to be excited about.

There's nothing excited about the U.S. men's national team except for Diego Luna and Tim Weah.

Build a team around those guys.

Even if we lose, at least we will lose with our hearts on the field.

It's actually a really good comment. Someone that I respect a lot, a good friend of mine who's in the soccer world, I was talking to this person about the game, and he said, honestly, Landon, I haven't watched in a long time.
And I said, what? You're, like, in the sport. And he said, it's just not enjoyable.
It's, like, not entertaining. It's not enjoyable.
It seems like they don't care sometimes. I just don't watch.
And that, like, that like really hit me i was like whoa like you're not watching your national team but i get it like i kind of get it i if if you turn on those two games if you were a fan for the first time watching that you'd go what's the big deal with this i don't want to watch this you know i don't blame them so here's a question for you from adam email. If you wanted to show a person the best example of Team USA, what is the one game to watch? It doesn't even have to be one that you guys played in either.
Well, I mean, we just referenced it, but that Italy game in the World Cup was, I mean, I'll never forget Brian McBride getting elbowed. I mean, he got elbowed a gazillion times.
I remember him against Mexico in the World Cup getting elbowed, and it was baseball on his face. I remember him bleeding down.
But just that game, if you have a chance, go back 06. I don't know if you can YouTube it or whatever.
Google it. Just watch that game against Italy where we're down a man.
Another great game that you can watch, and'm speaking games that i'm i was part of because i remember them more vividly but there's a lot of others there's a game in the confederations cup against brazil in 2009 and not the not the final but the game in the first round that we're losing 3-0 and we're down a man and we were like all right let's not make it four or six or eight zero and we end up losing 3-0 and we're down a man. And we were like, all right, let's not make it four or six or 8-0.
And we ended up losing 3-0 and on goal difference later in the tournament, because we only lost 3-0, we ended up getting to the final. So that game was just like everybody on board, doesn't matter what it takes.
Yeah. Landon, you just mentioned Brazil.
There's a comment in here that I thought was really interesting because, well, you were just talking about Alphonso Davies and the Canadian national team. But David via email said, I wonder if at this point the U.S.
isn't dissimilar to the challenges any developed national side has. If Brazil can lose to Germany at home the way they just did, it seems that group is going through something similar to many of the national teams.
So I hope Pochettino is right that some teams go through these periods and still succeed at the World Cup. I guess time will tell.
What do you guys think about if we zoom out from the U.S. men's national team? Is there anything that's happening with other national teams that makes you think that this is maybe not just a problem we're having at home? Yeah.
I mean, I think it's, look, I think it's fixable. And Pochettino said there's time and I, and I've, and I've referenced, I think there's a short amount of time, but yeah, there's still some time to have success with this group.
There's no doubt about that. I mean, but, but there are significant things that we as fans probably need and want to see.
Right. And, and that is, that is that, that fight and that spirit.
And I would never say that players don't care. That's a, it's a hard thing to levy against the player.
That's like, that's like rock bottom. That's when you're, when you only say that when you're certain, like, like you can't say, I don't think this this guy cares or I think he's down tools.
You have to have solid inside information and know. So I don't say that about these players that they don't care.
They do care. But again, to what extent? Because if they didn't care, they wouldn't play for their national team.
Because I know a lot of guys in Englandland particularly which is a whole nother kettle of fish like they just they've declined going into their national team right ben white uh at arsenal he's the best right back that england has and he declines the invite because he for he's had a falling out so they care but it's to what level right we talked about priorities and running through a wall for your country and and the togetherness and and by and by the way i know look players on this current team have issues with me and things that i say that that's fine that they're they're not beholden to me and i'm not beholden to them but the fact of the matter is this is what you sign up for you know when landon had a when landon had a bad game and he had a couple of bad games, people started to question whether he cared. Is it fair? No.
But results and performances shape people's opinions. Yeah, you're right.
And look, we've talked a lot about the problems. Here's, in my opinion, what needs to happen.

Pochettino's a smart man, smart coach.

I have no doubt he will figure out from his perspective how to fix this.

I have zero doubt of that.

What Tyler Adams said post-game to the media

needs to be said clearly, bluntly,

to the other players that he's referencing, and he needs to tell them to their face, this ain't good enough. That needs to happen.
Christian Pulisic, who I feel really badly for in this moment because I know he desperately cares and does play with that pride we're talking about. He didn't have the best game against Canada or either game for sure, but he cares, really cares, needs to, even though this isn't in his makeup necessarily, needs to sit down with guys and say, this is not good enough and we cannot do this and hold them accountable.
And when it happens on the field, call somebody out. And a few others who are leaders of the team, Anthony Robinson maybe now, need to do the same thing.
If they don't, I don't know how much it changes because this team has it in them. We've seen in the past Nations League games, they have that in them.
They've had games where I'm like, whoa, they are dogs. Like they're after it.
They have it in them. It is there, but it has to be there all the time.
And when it doesn't happen, you've got to call it to account and you've got to hold people accountable. If that happens, I am confident that this group can get it right.
But those things do need to happen. And I'm going to stop it there.
Let's take a break. When we come back, we're going to do more questions.
There's, again, a lot. So let's keep diving into this.
Jordan, you stay right there. Everyone else stay right there on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.
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PrizePix, run your game. Must be present in certain in certain states visit prize picks.com for restrictions and details coming right back at you with more of your questions comments and concerns from the mailbag jordan as always so lovely to have you hit us with it you didn't want to ask me about my jersey this week i actually actually thought about that.
I did think about it. What is it? Liquid Deaths are very… We're not placating you anymore.
My Brooklyn FC jersey from going to see the women this weekend. How was it? It was great right up until the weather rolled in, and then I had made some poor clothing choices myself.
That's cool. Wait, are they playing in Queens at Columbia still? No, they're playing in Coney Island, which is amazing to like watch people ride the cyclone right behind the.

Wait, question guys.

Isn't Brooklyn's different than Queens?

Yes.

It is.

Yeah.

They were.

Or Coney Island?

Coney Island is part of Brooklyn.

Yeah.

Coney Island's in Brooklyn.

Oh, it is.

I love this part of the show when we get to like educate Landon about it. He has no idea.
He would never step foot in Coney Island. Ever.
He's a man at beach. I mean, that says it all.
I'm a man of the people, Tim. I'm a man of the people.
No, you are not. All right.
Let's get back into some of these questions. This one's from Gerald via email.
So I follow the U.S. youth national team under 17s.
Their success stands out to me as they are beating teams 22 to nothing and 7 to nothing. And they qualified for the World Cup with a 31 to nothing goal differential.
Where are these players going two to three years from now? Why are we not seeing this type of winning mentality translate into the U.S. men's national team? Oh, Gerald.
Wow. Do you want to take this? No, I'm stumped.
Keep going. I'm going to wait this one out until you finish.
Gerald, it's a little different than playing full senior national teams that are highly ranked. It's not apples to apples, dude.
So it's hard to compare that. And I would actually make the case winning 22-0 is worse for those kids.
They need to face some adversity and difficulty and hardship. And that will give them more resilience going forward.
So because you beat a team 7-0 and qualifying at 17, there's no correlation to what happens. Now, if they go on and do amazing things in the World Cup, then I'll change my mind.
But we will get into U.S. youth soccer another day and probably multiple, multiple times.
And what a mess it is. But unfortunately, they are not the answer right now, sadly, that we're all hoping for.
Well, for reference, this isn't a new thing. Landon, your and Beez's team went down to New Zealand for the U-17.
Where did you finish? Fourth. Fourth.
And then you and Beez, what, player, won the golden boot, silver boot, something like that right so like this isn't this isn't a new thing right like we've had good youth team and that was god i don't know what year was that 99 99 right so that's you know 25 years ago so we've had really good youth success the you know the point that you make about like whether it's great it's probably not great for them to it's probably better for them to lose a really hard game three nil or two one than to win 22 nothing. Because I think the development, as you mentioned in this country is just so incredibly poor.
You know, I think about, think about small things, even my daughter's team this year. So there's a, her high school team.
She goes to a really good private school. And then public school in the town is also they're awesome they're the two of the best two teams and they went toe-to-toe and the the public high school who's probably better didn't play us this year and we're like how are they how are they not on the on the schedule and the coach they said oh because all the girls play club soccer together the game the game got too emotional over the last couple years so.
So we didn't schedule the game. And I was like, I want my daughter to play in that game.
Cause it's tough. It's physical.
It's nasty. They don't always win in my daughter's team.
So I'm like, those are the best games. And this joker is like, no, we're not going to schedule this year.
So it's broken and crazy. But listen, hats off.
As you said at the world cup, if they, if they perform well, that's a really good thing. This question, well, comment rather, is from Itzen via YouTube.
And this is, I feel like, was a pretty good summation of something that we saw a lot in the comments. At this point, I really wish we'd just send a full MLS squad to the World Cup.
Not because I think they'd do better, but because it would finally kill the stupid narrative that somehow what we're missing in this game is more mls players and just to clarify i'm not against giving mls players opportunity if they're playing well but i don't know how anyone genuinely believes mls players are the answers to our lack of quality my opinion is i don't care if you play your club soccer on Mars as long as you have pride in playing for your national team and you are playing consistently with your club team that's it that's my criteria play consistently with your club team whether it's in USL or a Champions League team I could care less but be playing consistently and play with pride when you put on your national team shirt. You do that, we're going to be fine.
I don't think we're going to win a World Cup yet, but we're going to be fine. But that's my criteria.
Which I think is an interesting way to transition into a comment from Dave, which I'm interested to see what you guys think about this. He says, Hey guys, great show regarding Landon's, these guys need to give a shit comments.
I couldn't agree more. Here's my solution.
Use the best American amateur players from college programs. And you will find that they will play their asses off because they don't get paid to play the current crop of players is only concerned with their club teams and making a lot of money take the money out of the equation and use amateurs and the fans will see a much better effort money is everything so let's start there you've got one career you got to make the best of it and these players are doing fabulous in terms of carving out a good career for themselves at clubs and getting paid well, so they should be doing that.
When we talk about teams over the last two generations, there have been players on those teams who have earned really, really wonderful livings with their club team. There was still a fight and a desire and a nastiness.
I think money is never the reason

why someone doesn't care.

In fact, I cared more

because I wanted to make more money.

And when I performed well

and I was kicking butt at the top,

I got paid more money.

So yeah, it's not a direct correlation. It not and look would amateur players care more in those games potentially but we also would have lost 30 to zero right so like so there's a balance here I don't want people to get so carried away and like I said earlier these guys have it in them we have seen it we've seen it with their club teams we've seen it with.
It's not like it's not there and they don't have. Now, there's a few of them, but I don't think we've seen it very often.
And we better see more of it. In my opinion, they shouldn't be on the national team anymore.
But I don't care. I said this last week, Tim.
I don't care what the motivation is. For some people, and I'll tell you a story, for some people people it is money right my first ever national team camp i was 16 but i was not part of the national team i was just there they were bringing me in to get a feel for it and the u.s soccer and the players were in the middle of a collective bargaining negotiation to see how much the players would get paid and at time, the players were asking for about $6,000 as a win bonus if they beat a top 10 team.
So they were playing Argentina that day. And I think Precky scored, or I think maybe Precky scored.
And we won the game 1-0. And I was in the locker room, and I was this naive 16-year-old.
And I'm like, yeah, we won, even though I didn't do anything. We won, we won, da-da-da.
And one of the players, and I won't say his name to spare him, but he walked in and he goes, yeah, where's my six Gs, baby? And I was like, oh, who cares about the money? And I was like, oh, shoot, it kind of hit me in the face. And so for some people is the case for some people and I think this is Diego Luna it's like he has just had to fight and scrap for everything in his life and now he has this opportunity he's like I'm not letting this go like I'm holding on to this with everything I have because I don't have a plan b in life if I don't make it in soccer, that's it.
So for other players, it's just intrinsic.

And that was more me. It just like there were things in my childhood and things that fueled that.
But it was like I just had it. I see it in my kids.
One of them would literally kill you to win a game. And the other couldn't care less if they win or lose.
And so there's lots of reasons. I don't care what the reason is, but we need the players that have that.
And by the way, the funny balance of this all is like you and I, in a national team camp, oftentimes you have team meals like freaking every day. And if you're good, a good behavior manager will let you go out for dinner or something on your own.
But like we sit around, you sit around the lunch table or the dinner table, if you're a good team you long after dinner's over and you're sitting there chatting with your boys you don't want to go back to your room by yourself so like you're hanging out and the amount of times you know land you and i've been in the same room we're like we're like you know if we win tomorrow we you know if we're in a tournament and then we advance we're like you you you the the pot of money that pot of money that we get goes, goes up significantly. And like, we're all chuckling.
Like, we, this is, we got to win tomorrow. And then, you know, there's other guys in camp, by the way, like certainly towards the end of, of our national team careers, we're like, there's some MLS guys in camp who like, if we win tomorrow, their bonus is more like their bonus will pay their rent for like three months straight.
Like it's crazy. But now to quantify that, like sometimes if we went on the field and we're like, we got to win for the money.
Like it is a balance there. Like you wanted to win anyway.
That was just a fun, like Landon said, like you cheer in the locker room afterwards because you're getting paid. But you're also feeling really great that you won.
So there's a balance. And I think sometimes people on the outside look at it and it's like, oh, these overpaid guys.
That's not it. They care.
They need to care. As the producer of the show, I would like to encourage Dave to go back to the Rob Dow episode about the University of Vermont to learn more about what it's like to be a collegiate soccer player.
Let's talk about some of these players specifically. We got a couple of comments from Instagram.
Chase on Instagram said, keep calling up Patrick Ajemang

and he's going to be your best striker.

Dude is a dog.

I feel like we didn't get to talk about him as much last week.

Do you guys have any thoughts about his performance?

What Josh Sargent has done at Norwich this year

and in the last however long has been phenomenal.

There are certain guys who, for whatever reason,

it doesn't always add up, but for whatever reason they're just not national team quality okay and that doesn't mean he's not quote-unquote talented enough or good enough it's just not at that level it's a different type of game and it doesn't work okay the guy tim that you and i played with taylor twalman was that guy scored a gaz a gazillion goals for New Zealand. Loved the guy.
Great around the team in the locker room. Not New Zealand.
Revolution. No, I said New England.
Sorry, did I say New Zealand? I think so. Fine.
You correct me. I correct you.
It's fine. All right, fine.
We're in New England, not the New Zealand Revolution. With the national team, he scored a few goals, but just wasn't quite the guy, right? And that's fine.
That's an, he had an amazing career, Josh Sargent, the same thing, but for whatever reason, that's, that's, it's like either a step up for him that that's not quite there, the type of game or something isn't, isn't working out. When I watch Ajemang, I think he will be impactful at the international level because of his physicality, his relentlessness.
He's so hard to play against. He really is.
And so I agree. I think it's a great comment.
I don't know if he's going to be the number two or three or four, but he might be the fifth best. You know, he might sneak onto the World Cup team.
And he's a guy for 10 minutes at the end of the game. You're like, he will wreak havoc.
And I would hate to play against him. I like Patrick Echeming.
I think he provides this vertical threat. And sometimes that doesn't always mean, when people talk about verticality, like straight line runner, ball over the top, scores a goal.
It doesn't always mean that. Sometimes it means getting side on, running into the channel, chasing a ball down where you can hold the ball and get your team up to pitch.
It's really important for strikers to be able to do that. And I think he's off to a good start in his national team career.
He needs to keep adding to that. Certainly banging goals in for Charlotte will help, but he's in the shop window.
I mean, what happened? Look, it's going to be a battle between Ricardo Pepe and Flo Baligan. We know that.
Absolutely. But to be able to have a striker like Adjimang, to be able to, as Landon said, go to him in a pinch, in a substitute role, can he start? Does he earn enough of that to start? Like I said, I like him because I also like the players underneath him.
I think there's a lot of talent with the players who play underneath him, whether that be Weah or Pulisic or Gio Reyna, if he ever gets selected to start. There's enough ball possession and ball dominance in that midfield that you actually want your striker to go away, be a nuisance, get in the box, and he has that.
So, yeah, I think he's off to a good start. Okay, you set me up perfectly, Tim.
It's time for me to stop avoiding this question. Here we go.
Regarding Gio Reyna, I know you both like him and his talent. You talk about him nearly every podcast.
I don't know if that's true, Doug. He's not quite up to Ricky Puj status yet.
Nobody is. At what point do you stop saying he's a generational talent he's been given chance after chance but he's not broken through anywhere unless something changes will he become another freddy adu yeah that's a fair comment doug it's fair i mean i do agree that generational talent has a shelf life um i mean he is you know i think about I watched batting practice at Colorado Rockies

when I was there

and has a shelf life. I mean, he is.
I think about, I watched batting practice at Colorado Rockies when I was there.

And the manager came up to me and we were just chatting.

And I forget the guy's name.

He got traded to Chicago Cubs.

Anyway, I'll remember.

It might have been Gonzalez.

And he was just, he's left-handed, smacking balls,

landing into the upper deck.

Easy, easy.

It's just like you chipping a ball into the goal.

It was like nothing.

And he looked at me and he's like,

Thank you. And he was just, his left hand smacking balls landing into the upper deck.
Easy, easy. It's just like you chipping a ball into the goal.
It was like nothing. And he looked at me and he's like, that's a generational swing.
He said, you don't see that. Now, cargo, Carlos Gonzalez.
Yeah. And so I don't know.
And without disrespect to Carlos Gonzalez, I don't know if he's ever like gone on to do what he was supposed to do in the game, but the swing was generational. And so I think sometimes that gets lost.
Like Gio is. We don't produce these players.
Like you're Claudio Reyna and Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, and John O'Brien, who everyone forgets about, and Gio Reyna and Christian Pulisic. These players don't pop up all the time.
They're special. And so it's easy to talk about them, but the point's well taken.
At a certain point, it's absolutely on him to find that magic, find the right groove and rhythm, play week in and week out. You're a 90-minute player all season, ever present for a couple of years in a row like that's a that's a fair comment and so

hopefully hopefully this summer we'll begin to see the start of that so it's a really good question

and a good point doug um i disagree with you tom i think generational talent is you are a generational

talent and you always will be now whether that manifests manifests itself into anything

is to be determined at the time freddie was a generational talent. Freddie Adu was, right? And he, for his age, I guess, was just different than everybody else and a talent that we hadn't seen before in a generation.
Now, the problem with that is when we talk about Gio's talent, we're talking about specific things, specific pieces of the whole pie. And he has a few specific pieces that are better than almost anything we've ever seen.
The problem is the rest of the pie right now has been basically empty, right? And there's the mentality piece. There's the staying fit piece.
There's the earning and keeping your spot piece. There's the off-the-field stuff that we hear about and that have happened.
There's the stuff with his family and the people around him that have harmed him. And all those pieces to be a top, top player, top, top, top player, have to be pretty filled in.

And when they're all filled in, you get messy.

But those are not filled in at all.

But he still has that generational talent piece

that we don't see in this country.

We don't.

So that's not going anywhere.

But the question is, will any of it,

and I think to Doug's point,

he's 22 now.

We're starting to say,

I don't know, man. He's not 18, so maybe this is who he is.
Maybe he's showing us exactly who he is, and then we just have to accept it. Yeah, I just – look, I think to carry on from that, because it sparked a thought that I – one thing that I hate, I hate that I wish managers would do more.

And I'm thinking Marcus Rashford and Amarin and before that, Ten Hag.

I'm thinking Pochettino and Gio Reyna.

I just wish, like, if you and I got hired as the U.S. National Team Managers tomorrow, right?

We could identify five players that were like, we got we have to have these guys on side we're not going to count out bow down to them but like we have to have these guys on side like for me and i don't know if this did or didn't happen but like for me i'm looking at that and i'm going surely one of the flights that i'm taking is going into germany and sitting down at a coffee shop with you and be one of the first ones one of the first ones and I flights that I'm taking is going into Germany and sitting down at a coffee

shop with Gio and Bion.

One of the first ones.

One of the first ones.

One of the first ones.

And I'm saying as the coach, Gio, what do you need?

Forget all the other bullshit that happened.

What do you need from me?

Because I need you on the pitch being your amazing self.

So what do you need from me?

Right?

That's what I would have done.

That's what I would have done with Marcus Rashford um and i just don't know if that always happens i don't know if it's an ego thing but yeah i don't know it's just you're right anyway there i hate to leave it there but i feel like that was a that was a good spot to to end on the question everyone's fired up i know's good. It's great.
I'm excited. I'm excited for the Gold Cup.
I really am. I'm excited for the response.
Emma Hayes talked about it with the women's national team. I'm getting a response.
One way or the other I'm getting a response and that's what she's saying and that's what I'm looking forward to with the men this summer. They need a response.
Everybody knows it. There's literally no secret now.
Well, the women are playing Brazil on Saturday. Great.
So we're very excited to see how they perform as well, too. All right.
Thanks, guys. Thanks, JR.
Awesome show. That was fun, actually, doing a lot.
It felt like a fun Q&A. We just got to really dive deep on a lot of that.
So thank you all very, very much as always for being with us today. I do want to mention, Tim, you all, our fans, have made us, we just saw, the number four sports podcast in America.
Let's go. Let's keep it there.
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