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

Speaker 1 Miami on their way. They are, I think, the best team in the league.
The question, I guess, is, is this sustainable?

Speaker 2 This team is built for big games. I don't think they care if they finish fourth or first.

Speaker 1 I think they're on a mission to win MLS Cup.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 LD, what up?

Speaker 2 I am repping St. Joe's Soccer.
My dear dear friend, Tim Mulqueen, he's been hired as the head men's soccer coach there. I was up on Hawk Hill.

Speaker 1 College? Yeah, I was up on Hawk Hill

Speaker 2 chatting to the boys. They just started their spring season, so they're super stoked and excited.
So the Hawk will never die, they tell me. So go St.
Joe's.

Speaker 1 I don't know what any of that means. It's fine.

Speaker 1 You're not a man of people. I love Mulqueen.
Multi-communists. No, I'm actually not.

Speaker 1 I'm in L.A.

Speaker 1 If you remember when your kids were younger, spring break is one of the worst weeks of the year. I love when you say home all week.

Speaker 1 So we decided to get out, spend three days in Manhattan Beach, my old stomping grounds. Bill's?

Speaker 1 Bill's Pancake? Bill's Pancake House. Did not go there this morning.
Michael went after it. You should go.
Please go.

Speaker 1 So hanging out in MB, although it rained this morning, it was kind of miserable. But here in the LA studios,

Speaker 1 this place is cool. Isn't it cool? Yeah.
I was like, why don't I get this in my house?

Speaker 2 Also,

Speaker 2 you're not a man of the people because what do you drink? You're so L.A. Show show everybody what you're drinking.

Speaker 1 Oh, my juice. Look at this.
It's called 50 Shades of Green.

Speaker 1 Kale, Red Leaf Lettuce, Mustard Greens, Frise, Tango, Green Shard, Red Shard, Arugula.

Speaker 2 You don't even know what half that stuff is.

Speaker 1 Chlorophyll, alfalfa leaves. Good for you.
Don't be jealous, dude.

Speaker 1 Discourage what people think. This figure is not natural.
I have to work hard at it. Oh, man.
All right, guys. Follow us on social media at Unfiltered Soccer.

Speaker 1 please subscribe to the show on youtube make sure you follow us apple podcast spotify wherever you get your podcasts if you love what we're doing the ratings really help i have had so many people tim come up to me in the last week or so and said one i didn't know you guys had a pod i listened to it i loved it these are friends of mine these are people in the streets so thank you guys for continuing to pass it along tell people about it you can always email us at feedback at unfilteredsoccer.com and after last week's uh U.S.

Speaker 1 disappointment, there was so much, and we'll get to that in a little bit.

Speaker 2 Speaking of comments and questions and concerns, you got some soccer swag, and you want me to rock it and shout your team out, send it to me.

Speaker 1 We're all soccer all the time. And if you pay him, he'll definitely

Speaker 1 jump into MLS. Um,

Speaker 1 we're gonna start with really interesting news. We got this morning, Tim, from one of our producers sent a message in the group chat that Peter Vermes

Speaker 1 and Sporting Kansas City have mutually agreed to part ways. And generally speaking, Tim, I would say say he got fired.
But this is one of those, he's been there 15 years now.

Speaker 1 And I think I said early in the

Speaker 1 season, it just feels like it's time.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 He's been there 15 years, which is a phenomenal accomplishment in and of itself, right? It just doesn't happen in soccer or sports anymore. So congrats to Peter Vermes on what he's accomplished there.

Speaker 1 So they won the MLS Cup in 2013. And by the way, this is a quote-unquote small market team, right?

Speaker 1 They won the Open Cup in 2012, 15, and 17, made the playoffs 11 times of his 15 seasons. Phenomenal.

Speaker 1 Four of those times, they finished first in the league. It's the third all-time 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.

Speaker 1 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 before you dive in,

Speaker 1 I played against Peter. He's a crazy competitor.

Speaker 1 And what he did at

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 2 Very well said. Listen, I go back further with Peter Vermes than almost anybody because when he played at Rutgers University back in the early 90s, I was a ball boy at Rutgers on the sideline.

Speaker 2 I was a little tot wearing my jersey and they were going to Final Four. So kind of watched his rise through the men's national team.
Again, like you played against him, played against him as a coach.

Speaker 2 He's tough as nails. He's a gentleman.
But hats off to Kansas City and hats off to Peter Burmese in 15 years.

Speaker 2 By the way, I know they've had success, but also there's been some tough times in there too.

Speaker 2 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,

Speaker 2 nothing but good things to say about Peter Burmese.

Speaker 1 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 Wanger.
You see it in every walk of life.

Speaker 1 Bill Belichick with the Patriots. When one voice is the voice everyone hears for 15 years, now what? Right.
So Kerry Savagnin, who we also played with and against.

Speaker 1 will take over in an interim capacity. He's been there almost all the years that Peter's been there too.

Speaker 1 And so now the question is who will come in and what direction direction do they want to go? So we'll need to follow that.

Speaker 1 No insight. This just happened, but this, this will be interesting to follow.
Inner Miami, Philly. So I was golfing this weekend.
I know you're unsurprising. Unsurprising.

Speaker 1 With my buddies, and I was at his stay of the night at his house. We were watching, we were flipping through all the MLS games, but watching the Inner Miami game.
Philly were good.

Speaker 1 And Philly, that was, I said to them, I said, Philly could win this game.

Speaker 1 Like Miami are a better team, but before the game, I said, Philly could win this game, but they just have, they have too many playmakers, man. And Messi is ridiculous.

Speaker 1 He gets subbed on two minutes later, scores out, what ended up being the winner.

Speaker 1 He's just non-stop, man. Yeah, I mean,

Speaker 3 Philly were good.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 Like you said, probably could have drawn level or even one. The Messi thing is funny because, look,

Speaker 2 I think what we're seeing this season, he's 37. I mean,

Speaker 2 what we're seeing early on is, I think, what's going to continue. He's going to rest.
They're going to

Speaker 2 manage his minutes to get him through to the end of the season, you know, when the big important games are. And it's just how it is.
It's what we, he's 37, can't roll back time.

Speaker 2 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 goes to Messi on the on the right-hand side.

Speaker 1 And I,

Speaker 2 did you play in the Argentina game at

Speaker 2 Giant Stadium?

Speaker 1 Yeah, it's my 100th cap. Oh, no kidding.

Speaker 2 Okay. So

Speaker 2 I remember, I tell the story because, and 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,

Speaker 1 we worked all week.

Speaker 2 I remember Bob Bradley.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 It was awesome. Training was great.
We're like, we're going to lock this kid up. Right.
The second, the second,

Speaker 2 the, 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?

Speaker 1 No, no one got around it. And I'm thinking, we trained all week to get around him.

Speaker 2 And I say that because totally.

Speaker 2 He's so special. When 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.

Speaker 2 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 incredible.
He is something special.

Speaker 1 Yo, that game, I tell this story to people sometimes. So that game, I was all at my 100th cap.
I'm like,

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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 just bounced off me.

Speaker 1 Next guy tried to hit him and just knock him down and stop the play. Bounced off him four times in a row, bing, bing, like a plinko chip.

Speaker 2 Just bing, bing, bing, bing.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 You know, but you just, you couldn't even foul him.

Speaker 2 But that's the special thing about him, right, LD? Like, if you think, if you think you tried that, I mean, every player

Speaker 2 in the game has tried that. And by the way, he can eye tackles.

Speaker 2 He's all I remember about Messi is playing against him twice. And then one time I was in drug testing testing with him after the game, so we both got called back into doping.

Speaker 2 So, I'm just sitting there, desperately wanting to talk to him, but scared to death. I don't think I said boo to him, I looked the other way.

Speaker 1 Well, he didn't speak English probably either. Well, he didn't score

Speaker 1 Spanish, dude. I told you, all these years.
I just want to say, What up? Spanish. Hi, wave, smile.
I could have said hola.

Speaker 1 Como esta. Um, all right, Miami on their way.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, they are, I think, the best team in the league so far.
So far, um, the question, I guess, is: is this sustainable?

Speaker 1 They've got a lot of old bodies, right? Messi Suarez, Jordi Alba, Busquets.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 2 Here's what I think.

Speaker 2 And nobody's going to want to hear this, but I think this is the facts. The greatest thing for this current Miami team is that they won a supporter shield last year, right?

Speaker 2 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 win a supporter shield, right? Which means this team is built for big games.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 2 So I think it's not even going to be Messi getting his minutes managed by Mascarano. 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 I just don't.

Speaker 2 And so I think you, to answer your question, they can obviously pick up knocks throughout 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

Speaker 2 the playoffs.

Speaker 1 You know what else they've made very clear they don't care about is what anyone thinks about the managing minutes, right?

Speaker 1 So, and obviously, you dealt with that in Houston when you didn't go to Houston, and they just don't care. Mashrano doesn't care, Jorge Moss doesn't care, Beckham doesn't care.

Speaker 1 They're just like, I think they're on a mission to win MLS Cup. So it's good.
Which is great, which is great for them, by the way. The Atlanta game, NYCFC was pretty gnarly.

Speaker 1 The defending was shocking,

Speaker 1 but an exciting game as a neutral fan, just fun to watch. Almaron back on the score sheet for Atlanta was awesome.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 And this game was a perfect example. And the next one, the San Diego FCL, AFC game,

Speaker 1 just goals everywhere and really poor defending.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I mean, the point you make is well taken. Defending in the MLS is woeful.
Like, it's woeful.

Speaker 2 When I remember, and it wasn't that long ago that I was playing in the MLS, and

Speaker 2 the ideas aren't there. The tactical spatial awareness isn't there.

Speaker 2 The alarm, you know, when you see,

Speaker 2 when you see really good defenders, the alarm bells are going off constantly.

Speaker 2 And you can see by their body language and their motion, like, I know that pass was on, but I'm launching this into Rose Ed because guess what? That's what, that's what my instinct was telling me.

Speaker 2 The amount of poor judgment and decisions by

Speaker 2 defenders, the The lack of, I mean, it's like a jagged edge.

Speaker 2 You know, when I, you talk about a back line being rigid, I mean, there's players all over the place stepping in places they shouldn't, don't, not running into channels, no cover.

Speaker 2 It's 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 in those areas and it's a shame.

Speaker 1 And they don't, they don't spend time on it, Tim. 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.

Speaker 1 It's around the world, you're always copying, right? Whatever the best teams do.

Speaker 1 But because Citi 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.

Speaker 1 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,

Speaker 1 you're going to end up up defending like real teams have to defend like like 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 goals are great and the attacking's great and it's fun to watch.

Speaker 2 Well, to add clarity to what you're saying, because I talk about the Pep Cordiola effect all the time and I say it in a cheeky way that he's ruined so many coaches because everyone thinks they can play like his teams play.

Speaker 2 And the thing that incenses me

Speaker 2 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 45 minutes or 90 minutes. What Citi have done.

Speaker 2 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?

Speaker 1 When it turns over. Literally, literally forever.
Forever.

Speaker 2 So when the ball turns over, they attack like dogs, right? They put you under so much pressure and they win it back.

Speaker 2 Or, and I've played against some of the, some, some of these teams that, that do this really well, you end up launching the ball, right?

Speaker 2 He, he, he, 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 attract me.

Speaker 2 They get it, recycle recycle it, and they're back on top of you. So, like, but teams think they can press all the time and they can't.

Speaker 2 Man City, Man City presses because they can, they can possess the ball better than anybody else. So, yeah, it's an interesting concept.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 That's right. Simple.
And that's not that. I think eventually that will happen in MLS, but right now it's not happening.

Speaker 1 Uh, the, the nightcap was San Diego FC, LA 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 And I was with my buddies on the couch. I'm like, uh-oh, here we go.

Speaker 1 They're good luck. Second half was a little bit of a dud.
LAFC got a red card, a second yellow card, and it kind of, the game fizzled out a little. But the first 40 minutes were absolutely electric.

Speaker 1 And San Diego FC, I have to say, man, if they can stay healthy, and it's a big if, right? Um, they're getting Chuku Lozano's on his way back.

Speaker 1 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,

Speaker 1 they're they're not deep at all. But their first 12, 13, 14 are very good.

Speaker 2 Question: Question: Do they still have a DP spot open? I can't remember. Or did they fill it?

Speaker 1 Shuki Lozano, Dreyer.

Speaker 1 I don't know if Luca de La Torre was a DP. I think he probably

Speaker 2 just wondering if they bring in a big hitter in a summer. You know what I mean?

Speaker 1 It's a good question. Well, they were talking about De Bruyne, so maybe they.

Speaker 2 I know that's what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 I wonder if Luca, I'm trying to get, I forget if Luca de La Torre was a DP or not, but yeah, they're talking about De Bruyna. You know, I don't know if that's the right move.

Speaker 1 Their midfield three is really good.

Speaker 2 I think De Bruyne is always the right one.

Speaker 1 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, and it's going to be an adaptation period, right? So,

Speaker 1 but they are good, man. Yeah, they are good.

Speaker 2 They're fun to watch.

Speaker 1 Last thing on MLS. Speaking of LAFC, FIFA, this was such a weird thing.
This is so FIFA.

Speaker 1 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 Leon was not allowed to go in because Pachuca and Club Leon have the same owner, so only one team could go in.

Speaker 1 I guess they found out which team they care about more. Pachuca went in and Club Leon didn't.
So now they're deciding.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 But, yeah, just a weird, I guess it should be a weird dynamic. Yeah, it's strange.
But pretty cool.

Speaker 2 Good for one of those teams, for sure. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Why do you think, Tim, LAFC, and Club America were the ones they chose?

Speaker 2 I think you understand why. I would also say,

Speaker 2 I love Club America. I mean, it's such a massive club.
It's so crazy, you know, the support they have.

Speaker 2 Brilliant stadium. But anyway, yeah, we know why.
All right, we'll see.

Speaker 1 All right. It was not a Premier League weekend.
It was an FA Cup Cup weekend. I have to say,

Speaker 1 I just wanted the Premier League back so bad.

Speaker 1 That's fine. Some of these games were good.
So Fulham lose 3-0 at home to Palace.

Speaker 1 And this was interesting for American soccer fans because Anthony Robinson missed the Nations League semifinal and final. If people remember,

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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.
And now I'm kind of coming to grips with what really happened here.

Speaker 1 And then 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

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 And so he ended up, 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.

Speaker 1 And you guys always do a great job of answering, honestly, and giving us really good feedback. So please do.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 I'd just be curious where where people, where people fall on this one.

Speaker 2 Yeah,

Speaker 2 what's your big gripe?

Speaker 2 You said you were naive to it a little bit. So

Speaker 2 what's the big gripe? All right.

Speaker 1 So look, this is about priorities. Okay.
And I did this in my career a couple times for friendly games. I remember one time I had a conversation with Jurgen.
My hamstring was not in good shape.

Speaker 1 I'd been dealing with it for two weeks. And we had friendlies.
I think they were in Florida.

Speaker 1 There were two friendlies. I think it was October timeframe.
It was right before before MLS Cup playoffs, too.

Speaker 1 And I remember calling Jürgen and I said, I need to rest this hamstring. It's

Speaker 1 been me for a long time. Do you remember this? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And he understandably did not take it well. And it put me in a hard spot.

Speaker 1 I was hoping he'd say, look, no problem. These are friendlies.

Speaker 1 I know you. I've seen you a million times.

Speaker 2 Not a big deal. It's also Jürgen Klisman we're dealing with.
So that's.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 These were not, there was no trophy at stake, but I understand that side of the argument. So, this is about priorities.
So,

Speaker 1 Anthony Robinson

Speaker 1 has three competitions he cared about in the last two or three weeks. Okay.
The Premier League, they're, I think, four points out of a Champions League spot.

Speaker 1 The FA Cup, which they're in, they were in the quarterfinals, now they're out of it. And the Nations League, right? So, these are all three important tournaments.

Speaker 1 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,

Speaker 1 I understand that. I've been in his shoes.
I get it.

Speaker 1 But it's your national team and it's your country. And

Speaker 1 I didn't like the decision personally.

Speaker 2 Yeah. I mean, I think, I think what you're, what, what you're speaking to is kind of what I see as well.

Speaker 2 I mean, it, you know, he, he put on Instagram that nobody hates missing matches more more than me. It's very, it was a very difficult decision.
That I don't doubt. And I certainly don't doubt him.

Speaker 2 He's a player that I respect and I like as a person. I think the world of him.

Speaker 2 Look,

Speaker 2 if he had to, whatever issue, it was a tendinitis or it was something like that

Speaker 2 that he was dealing with, it needed rest. It needed a 10-day rest or something.
And he's managing that.

Speaker 2 I think when, you know, from a U.S. soccer standpoint,

Speaker 2 he could have rested it the Premier League weekend before, which would have given him a week.

Speaker 2 He could have played in the U.S. games and then rested it for the FA Cup, right?

Speaker 2 He chose to take the rest during the Nations League. But again,

Speaker 2 and I think that is

Speaker 2 what we're seeing. That's his choice.

Speaker 2 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 at the at the national team level and it's what i it's what i've said was my biggest concern i actually said this going into the last world cup in in 2022

Speaker 2 this group of players i think i mentioned on the last pod as well

Speaker 2 there aren't any more competitive games after the gold cup right and i just i i wonder how many games between now and the world cup the best group of players that we have will play together right

Speaker 1 it'll be zero it'll probably be zero likely be zero really yeah really right so so that's that's uh that is a problem and and you know i think this speaks to the bigger issue i i want to be clear i respect anthony i respect his decision i 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 yeah 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 right and and i don't like it um

Speaker 1 but it's over now and i again i'd be curious to to hear what what people have to say about it uh the other few games matt turner unfortunately um 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

Speaker 1 because you've you've dealt with 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.

Speaker 2 Funny part of that. So my first year at Manchester United,

Speaker 2 I won the FA Cup, played most of the games and played in the final. My second year, I had lost my spot and I didn't, I played a couple of games, but they didn't play in the final.
And

Speaker 2 funny enough,

Speaker 2 I had saved a couple penalties and I won the community shield in a shootout. So, Sir Alex Ferguson, at like,

Speaker 2 I don't even know, like right after regular time, going into the, 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.

Speaker 2 He forgot to put me on. He told me after the game,

Speaker 1 we went and went to penalties. He said he forgot.

Speaker 2 Roy Carroll was in goal. We lost.
He literally said, he said, I never

Speaker 2 forgot, which is crazy. But anyway, that's not the point.
So the following year, my third season and final season at

Speaker 2 United, we're playing in the League Cup. And

Speaker 2 I played, yeah, I played most of the games. I've only played three or four games.
And we get to the semifinal. This is when they brought Edwin Vandasar.

Speaker 2 And so, like, 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 slouch.

Speaker 2 Like, I'm, you know, I've done good things at Man United. So I'm getting the cup games.
And this is League Cup, by the way.

Speaker 3 And

Speaker 2 we get to the semifinal, I think it was against Blackburn at their place. And

Speaker 2 Sir Alex ferguson pulled me and he said he said look i'm i'm starting edwin tonight and i was i was irate i was furious man i was furious but it didn't matter you know 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

Speaker 2 the the best goalkeeper and he thinks that that

Speaker 1 i he needed 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 and i wish i could tell you that there's some formula but there's not you know you you be better and that's what i had to do be better you know that's what i was and i wasn't edwin vanasar was clearly better than me so yeah it's just tough for 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 off 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.

Speaker 2 I mean, that's the crazy thing. They've had, I mean, their downfall has been so

Speaker 2 widely publicized. And yet, if they win, there's a part of me that could kind of want them to win the FA Cup just because, like, we love seeing greatness and you like that.

Speaker 1 That's really well.

Speaker 2 That would be amazing. It would be amazing.
I mean, they've got every chance, right? I mean, the semi-final round, uh, when is it? It's this April 26th, Forrest versus City and Palace versus Villa.

Speaker 2 I mean, all Premier League heavyweights, right? So like,

Speaker 1 it'll be good.

Speaker 2 Right. So US LNT, that's us, on USWNT.
Talk to me about this U.S. Brazil preview.
How are you feeling about it?

Speaker 1 It's going to be interesting.

Speaker 1 Normally, I wouldn't put too much into this. However, there's a few things interesting.
So Trent Rodman is back. Yep.
First time since the Olympics. So that's good.

Speaker 1 No Sophia Wilson now and no Mallory Swanson. Soph is pregnant.
And Mal, who is out due to personal matters. She's been out with Chicago too.

Speaker 1 A couple of things that are interesting. So, Trend first, she

Speaker 1 divulged that

Speaker 2 her back.

Speaker 1 Never good. Yeah, she's had some issues.
And she said, honestly, I don't think my back will ever be 100%.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 So this is a problem because with a lot of things that are, that you have to manage in your career, Tim, injury-wise,

Speaker 1 a back is not a good one, right? Because you've got,

Speaker 1 yeah, there's just a lot of things can go wrong. So I do worry a little bit about that with her.

Speaker 1 And hopefully she has the awareness and the people around her to make sure that she is, you know, like Messi at his age, like you're managing it right so she can play. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it's tough. I mean, back backs, backs are really, really difficult

Speaker 2 for a lot of reasons, but it is. It's the one injury that you just like,

Speaker 2 your mobility, and that's what she's built on. She's got brilliant pace, really strong.
That's insane.

Speaker 2 Obviously, great tidy feet in and around the penalty area, but like ultimately, it's her explosiveness that kind of gets her off the mark. So, hopefully, that she can manage that.
And,

Speaker 2 you know, we don't see any sort of demise because she's absolutely sensational to watch.

Speaker 1 Yeah, Tim, seeing her in person,

Speaker 1 she's insane. Yeah.

Speaker 1 I've never seen a woman move like that in the way on the field. Like, it's insane.
She is so powerful. Yeah, she is.

Speaker 1 The other reason I think this is interesting is Emma Hayes had a quote that I thought was awesome.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 And my first thought, Tim, if I'm being honest, is is I want Marie Silver to the same thing. I was thinking of the same thing.
I think that's the same.

Speaker 1 I mean, if he literally just want to hear that, can he just copy paste that quote and give it to a reporter and say the same thing? And

Speaker 1 I know I'm a little bit not great, but she ain't messing around. She's not messing around, dude.
She knows.

Speaker 2 You know, the great.

Speaker 1 She's not going to say that just to say.

Speaker 2 No, no, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 2 She's tough. She's tough as nails as well.

Speaker 2 Listen, the one thing about this, and I oftentimes think, well, I think back to my own career all the time because there's so many parallels, but it never, you know, you know, when like

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 Like, what, like, if a coach is, like, said that to me, I'm thinking, good. Training should be hard, man.
Like, right. Like, like, we stunk it up last time or we lost it to each other or whatever.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Like,

Speaker 2 I'm thinking, like, I'm getting on the plane coming into camp thinking, like, you better be working hard.

Speaker 2 Like, this is, you better be leading and driving this this team forward so like it's so interesting but i but i love i love the quote i also you know as we as we referenced you have um sophia wilson's out mallory's out like it's

Speaker 2 you know some players need to step up and i think she's probably she's probably seeing that like you know all of a sudden we don't have our like our our star necessarily so everyone else is just 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 she was.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 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 Alfonso Davies controversy.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 Stay with us right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Lannon and Tim. As always, presented by Volkswagen.
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Speaker 2 Right, LD. Something that came across our desk that is

Speaker 2 of relevance because it's a big matter, but also because

Speaker 2 it deals with CONCACAF and Canada. And that's the injury to Alfonso Davis.
He suffered a torn ACL in the third place game against the U.S.

Speaker 2 And there's some people not happy.

Speaker 2 particular his agent and Byron Munich. And I think to

Speaker 2 give context, I'll read these quotes because they're really interesting.

Speaker 2 David's agent, Nadal Husse, 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 U.S. on Saturday night.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 He ended up playing, and look what happened. Canada soccer needs to do a better job managing these players, in my opinion.

Speaker 2 Alfonso was down and obviously disappointed, so on.

Speaker 2 Bayern Munich's chief executive, Jan Christian Driesen, said, we are demanding a full investigation into the events from Canada soccer and expressly reserve the right to take legal action.

Speaker 2 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 clear. and a clear breach of medical duty of care.

Speaker 2 The participation of Davies, who already had muscular problems in the game,

Speaker 2 and he says, this is the interesting part: in a match of no sporting significance is incomprehensible from our viewpoint.

Speaker 2 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,

Speaker 2 a lot to unpack there, a lot of opinions. Where do you stand on this?

Speaker 1 I got a lot here.

Speaker 1 Okay, first of all, devastated for Alfonso Davies. Sure.

Speaker 1 People

Speaker 1 don't realize, you know, there's 13, 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.

Speaker 1 And it's a World Cup in his own, his home country. So I'm devastated for him.

Speaker 1 There's a lot to unpack here, Tim. So, first of all,

Speaker 1 I have no idea why an agent is speaking speaking to some media.

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 1 is ridiculous as a starting point.

Speaker 1 Okay, you got an issue you take, you call Canada, or 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 I'm not going to guess what people's.

Speaker 1 I wasn't in the room. So I don't know if his knee was 100% fine or 0% fine or somewhere in between.
If he did not feel right playing the game, he would not have played the game.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 So if he felt good enough to go on the field, that's on him.

Speaker 1 Now, whatever happened in the aftermath, I don't know if Canada evaluated him or not.

Speaker 1 But the reality is, is ACL is torn. Right.
So we can fight over whether they invaluated him or not. By the way, Putting him back on a 12-hour flight, did that do more damage? You know, not really.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 He should not. If it's a World Cup final, get it.
I get it.

Speaker 1 MLS Cup final and your whatever or a Champions League final or whatever, I get it. But if he wasn't right, he wouldn't have played.

Speaker 2 Yeah, no,

Speaker 2 I'm in full agreement with you. I just think

Speaker 2 the agent, 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.

Speaker 2 I don't have to agree with it, but Bayern Munich saying it's a nothing game. It's a third-place game.

Speaker 2 Unless you're Canada 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.

Speaker 2 That's the U.S., the dominant team in the region. It kind of does matter.

Speaker 1 It matters to Canada. Yeah, it matters to Canada.

Speaker 2 There's a lot of people wearing red shirts with maple leaves on that. They care.
Byron Munich doesn't care, but they care. And

Speaker 2 the problem is, and having played in Europe,

Speaker 2 they think they're holier than now. 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.

Speaker 2 And the fact of the matter is, and

Speaker 2 the biggest point is the one you made.

Speaker 2 Alfonso Davies is an adult. He's the captain.

Speaker 2 He would have had a conversation with Jesse Marsh, and I don't believe for a second what that agent is saying, that he was forced into playing. Right.
What?

Speaker 2 Jesse Marsh gave him puppy dog eyes and said, oh, please, you're the captain.

Speaker 2 He didn't.

Speaker 2 You could have a conversation.

Speaker 2 Landon, I played against the LA Galaxy, and we won in a shootout in whatever round that was in MLS, right? We moved on to the Western Conference finals. In between, there was an international game.

Speaker 2 It was our set.

Speaker 1 We lost to Costa Rica and World Cup qualifying the first game.

Speaker 2 This was for 2018. The second game was Mexico in Columbus.
I tore my groin off the bone, snapped it, right?

Speaker 2 You remember.

Speaker 2 I should have never played the game, Landon.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 Now, in hindsight, was it a dumb decision? Yeah, maybe.

Speaker 2 You know, if you're talking, if you're talking purely medical, it was a dumb decision. But guess what? My agent had nothing to do with it.
Right.

Speaker 2 It had, it had like my club, if anybody should have been pissed off, it was the Colorado Rapids. We ended up going to the Western Conference finals and losing.

Speaker 2 Not just because I wasn't there, but I was a big piece of that team. So like I made the choice.
And

Speaker 2 unfortunately, got, I got a serious injury. It put me out six, eight months.
So like, that's, that's on me. Like, this has nothing to do with Byron Minier.
This has nothing to do with the agent.

Speaker 2 If Alfonso Davies thought he could play, he played. And if he couldn't have, then he would, he wouldn't.

Speaker 1 And I'm sure, Tim, that's awesome. Like, that's exactly right.
And I'm sure.

Speaker 1 They had a conversation, right? If he didn't feel right, I'm sure he and Jesse Marsh had a conversation. Yep.

Speaker 1 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.
Totally. If Alfonso stood up to him and said, Jesse, I am not right.

Speaker 1 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, not going to strip on the couch and see.

Speaker 2 He's not going to. Right.

Speaker 1 He could have just sat on the field and not played if he felt that way. So once I don't buy that.
That's a bunch of bullshit. And like,

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 1 third place games going forward? Right. I mean, like, you know, this is another

Speaker 1 feather in the cap for people who say that should go away. How does this impact club country,

Speaker 1 you know, dealings going forward with things? Well, look, Alfonso Davy tore his ACL because the coach this and the Federation that and whatever. And so it's just bad.
It's a bad look for everyone.

Speaker 1 I think it was unnecessary. I don't think Bayern Munich needed to come out and say that.
I don't think Alfonso, clearly,

Speaker 1 the agent said it with his blessing, right? You're not going to let agent just go.

Speaker 1 Well, if he does,

Speaker 1 he's not my agent anymore. I'll tell you that.

Speaker 1 So like, it's just unnecessary. They could have dealt with this so much better.
And someone, you know, someone needed to own up, particularly Alfonso and just say, guys, this was on me. Let it go.

Speaker 1 Like, this is on me.

Speaker 2 I still want to hear from him because Captain, look. I do too.
Club versus country will never go away.

Speaker 2 There's always issues. The most important thing is that Alfonso gets fit, has a good recovery, and is back on the pitch in

Speaker 2 a speedy time.

Speaker 1 Yeah, let's hope so before the World Cup.

Speaker 2 It's time for the fan connection presented by ATT. 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.

Speaker 2 is to keep asking questions and keep talking about the sport we all love. At ATT, connecting changes everything.
And on US LNT, our connections with you will help grow the game.

Speaker 1 Okay, we're going to move straight into the AT ⁇ T fan connection. Miss Jordan, please come on in.

Speaker 1 Lots and lots, as I'm sure, will be attested to you. Oh, Jordan.
Jordan, a lot of feedback from last week or what?

Speaker 4 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

Speaker 1 we're ready to go. That's back for your favorite time of the week.
Jordan. Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 4 All right. It's weird not getting to dance into the beginning with the

Speaker 1 yeah

Speaker 4 uh all right let's start with uh what i think is maybe one of the loveliest comments that we had this was a very nice one is it about you no it's not it's not none of these are about me it's not about me guys okay this one is from michael via youtube um boys

Speaker 4 I was at the DMZ the day you visited.

Speaker 4 Oh, wow. 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.

Speaker 4 Of course, we had first-class players, but what made y'all special was having world-class hearts.

Speaker 4 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.

Speaker 2 Wow. Love that.
Thanks for that comment.

Speaker 1 The only problem with that comment is we are men, Michael, not boys.

Speaker 1 But I just want to tag on to that real quick. So, thank you, Michael, for your service and thank you for the support.

Speaker 1 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 U.S.

Speaker 1 Italy with so many of the people from Ramstein and other bases around Germany, there are like 30,000 Americans. was a top five

Speaker 1 super chills right now talking about top five moment in my life that national anthem so thank you incredible was that did we draw that game Yeah, we did. Amazing game.

Speaker 4 This one's from Matt via YouTube. The fact that Berhalter is doing well with Chicago, who are perennial basement dwellers, says in parentheses, I think speaks volumes.

Speaker 4 It has to be the players at this point.

Speaker 1 I mean, I've been saying for months Burhalter should be back with them. I'm just kidding.
Um, with the national team. Okay, so I think we learned a lot in the last week or so,

Speaker 1 right? We talked a lot about this, Tim.

Speaker 1 Um,

Speaker 1 it's really easy in sports to

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 1 and play with pride, none of it matters. So I think there's some merit in that.
There is.

Speaker 4 Speaking of coaches, Montgomery via YouTube said, I like Pacatino, but I find it ironic that most of the conversation was about having heart, pride, and fight.

Speaker 4 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.

Speaker 2 Yeah. I mean, look, Jesse will tell you, he felt hard done by it to not get the U.S.
job.

Speaker 1 Boy, will he tell you.

Speaker 2 And he's got a chip on his shoulder. And, you know, that's,

Speaker 2 again, he's got, he's got players fighting and wanting to run through the wall for him. And that's a big, you know, that's a, it's an important piece.

Speaker 2 And I think sometimes when you don't have some, like U.S. teams have had talent, like a couple of guys with, with magic in their boots, you know, Landon, one of them, Clinton, Claudio Reyna at times.

Speaker 2 We've had special players, you know, Bees is another one. But like,

Speaker 2 at the bedrock of the U.S. National team has always been like fight and hunger and pride.
And I think so often you're like, you want more, you want more expansion,

Speaker 2 be more expansive and better attacking. And then you get that and then you lose some of some of the necessary stuff.
And when you look back, being tough and stout and hard to beat isn't a bad thing.

Speaker 2 It's not a negative thing. It's a huge positive.
And so I think there has to be a balance of both.

Speaker 4 Let's talk about some of the players because there were a lot of comments about specific players.

Speaker 4 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.

Speaker 4 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.

Speaker 4 men's national team except for Diego Luna and Tim Wea. Build a team around those guys.
Even if we lose, at least we will lose with our hearts on the field.

Speaker 1 It's actually a really good comment. Someone that I respect a lot, a good friend of mine who's in the soccer world,

Speaker 1 I was talking to this person about the game and he said, honestly, Lannon, I haven't watched in a long time. And I said, what?

Speaker 1 You're like in the sport. And he said,

Speaker 1 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 really hit me.

Speaker 1 I was like, whoa, like, you're not watching your national team. But I get it.
Like, I kind of get it.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 4 So, here's a question for you from Adam via email. If you wanted to show a person the best example of Team USA, what is the one game to watch?

Speaker 4 It doesn't even have to be one that you guys played in either.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 I remember him against Mexico in the World Cup getting elbowed and he was like baseball on his face. I remember him bleeding down.
But just

Speaker 1 that game, if you have a chance, go back 06.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 Another great game that you can watch, and I'm speaking games that I was part of because I remember them more vividly, but there's a lot of others.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 And we were like, all right, let's not make it four or six or eight-0. And we ended up losing 3-0.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 4 Landon, you just mentioned Brazil.

Speaker 4 There's a comment in here that I thought was really interesting because, well, you were just talking about Alfonso Davies and the Canadian national team, but David v.

Speaker 4 Email said, I wonder if at this point the U.S. isn't.
dissimilar to the challenges any developed national side has.

Speaker 4 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.

Speaker 4 So I hope Pacatino 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.

Speaker 4 men's national team? Like, 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?

Speaker 2 Yeah, I mean, I think it's, look, I think it's fixable. And Pachatino said there's time

Speaker 2 and I've referenced. I think there's a short amount of time.
But yeah, there's still some

Speaker 2 time to

Speaker 2 have success with this group. There's no doubt about that.
I mean, but there are significant things that

Speaker 2 we as fans probably need and want to see, right? And that is

Speaker 2 that fight and that spirit. And I would never say that players don't care.

Speaker 2 It's a hard thing to levy against the player.

Speaker 2 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 guy cares, or I think he's down tools.

Speaker 2 You have to have solid inside information and like, and, and know. So, I don't say that about these players that they don't care.
They do care.

Speaker 3 Um,

Speaker 2 but again, what, what, to what extent, right? Because if they didn't care, they wouldn't play for their national team, right?

Speaker 2 Because I know a lot of guys in England, particularly, which is a whole nother kettle of fish, like they just, they've declined going into their national team, right?

Speaker 2 Ben White at Arsenal, he's the best right back that England has. And he declines the invite because he, for he's, he's had a falling out.
So they care, but it's to what level, right?

Speaker 2 We talked about priorities and running through a wall for your country and the togetherness. And

Speaker 2 by the way, I know, look,

Speaker 2 players on this current team

Speaker 2 have issues with me and things that I say. That's fine.

Speaker 2 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...

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 But results and performances shape people's opinions.

Speaker 1 Yeah, you're right. And look, here's,

Speaker 1 we talked a lot about the problems. Here's, in my opinion, what needs to happen.

Speaker 1 Pochetino is a smart, smart man, smart coach. He, I have no doubt he will figure out from his perspective how to fix this.
I have zero doubt of that.

Speaker 1 What Tyler Adams said post-game to the media needs to be said clearly,

Speaker 1 bluntly to the other players that he's referencing, and he needs to tell them to their face, this ain't good enough. Okay, that needs to happen.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 He didn't have the best game against Canada or either game for sure, but he cares, really cares.

Speaker 1 Needs to, even though this isn't in his makeup necessarily, needs to sit sit down with guys and say, this is not good enough and we cannot do this. And hold them accountable.

Speaker 1 And when it happens on the field, call somebody out.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 We've seen in the past Nations League games, they have that in them. They've had games where I'm like, whoa,

Speaker 1 they are dogs. Like, they're after after it.
They have it in them. It is there, but it has to be there all the time.

Speaker 1 And when it doesn't happen, you've got to call it to account and you got to hold people accountable. If that happens, I am confident that this group can get it right.

Speaker 1 But those things do need to happen. And

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 Everyone else, stay right there on Unfiltered Soccer with Lannon and Tim, presented by Boltzwag.

Speaker 1 This episode is brought to you by Airbnb.

Speaker 1 All right, Tim, between your work, your daughter, your son, or maybe just your own enjoyment, how much traveling do you think you've done to see soccer this year?

Speaker 2 Honestly, I've lost track at this point.

Speaker 2 You know, just this summer alone, I was all over the place.

Speaker 2 But it is, it's a beautiful thing to see how many soccer fans and how soccer has been embraced no matter where we go.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, I was just in Austin. I'll be traveling to New York.
Everywhere I go, I meet fans. Whether I'm going to see a game myself or just on vacation, I see people everywhere.
I hear stories.

Speaker 1 I hear stories about their pilgrimage to Everton to go watch a game, to go see the new stadium, to go see their favorite team.

Speaker 1 They get immersed in the chants, the songs, that incredible feeling of seeing the game up close and personal.

Speaker 2 Well, I mean, I think that's what that's where the game has changed. These trips have become a big deal for soccer fans.

Speaker 2 And this summer is going to be no different as we'll see the soccer community make their way to 11 host cities here in the U.S. to support their favorite national team.

Speaker 1 It's going to be incredible. I can't wait for it.
And what if those fans could turn their homes into an opportunity while they're away at the game?

Speaker 1 Hosting your home on Airbnb while you travel is an easy way to earn a little bit of extra cash, maybe go towards tickets for your game that you want to go to. We know they're not cheap.

Speaker 1 Or maybe to help your kids pursue their soccer dreams.

Speaker 2 Yeah, your home might be worth more than you think. So find out how much at airbnb.com slash host.

Speaker 2 LD for me the holidays are all about connection to family and to friends. We host a lot.
So we got a lot of people over the house.

Speaker 2 Oftentimes when it starts to get chaotic and the turkey or the ham is getting burnt and the kids are running around playing with their new toys, I go out back by the fire pit and I choose chill.

Speaker 2 I crack open a Coors light.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it's my favorite time of year. It gets cold,

Speaker 1 not quite as cold as New York, but it's cold outside. It gets dark early.
Kids are playing. We turn on the jacuzzi, relax in the hot tub with a Coors Light.

Speaker 1 Choose chill, relax, have family, friends, good food, good memories. My favorite time of year.

Speaker 2 When you embrace a chill mindset this holiday, it's a good time to choose chill and crack open a Coors Light.

Speaker 1 Choose chill this holiday season and then reach for a Coors Light. Get Coors Light delivered straight to your door.

Speaker 1 Visit CoorsLight.com slash USLNT, or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer.

Speaker 2 Celebrate responsibly. Hoors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado.
There's nothing better than feeling like someone has your back and that things are going to get done even without you having to ask.

Speaker 2 Like your crisp new jersey waiting for you in the locker room or a perfectly set up wall for a free kick.

Speaker 1 Yeah, as we on Unfiltered Soccer get ready for next summer, we know that very little in the beautiful game is guaranteed.

Speaker 1 But as we prepare to bring our unfiltered brand of non-stop soccer coverage, it's good to know ATT has your back with the ATT guarantee.

Speaker 2 Staying connected matters. That's why in the rare event of a network outage, ATT will proactively credit you for a a full day of service.
That's the ATT guarantee.

Speaker 1 Learn more at ATT.com/slash guarantee. ATT, connecting changes everything.

Speaker 2 Credit for fiber downtime lasting 20 minutes or more, or a wireless downtime lasting 60 minutes or more, caused by a single incident impacting 10 or more towers, must be connected to impacted towers at onset of outage.

Speaker 2 Restrictions and exclusions apply. See att.com/slash guarantee for full details.

Speaker 2 Coming right back at you with more of your questions, comments, and concerns from the mailbag. Jordan, as always, so lovely to have you.

Speaker 1 Hit us with it.

Speaker 4 You didn't want to ask me about my jersey this week?

Speaker 1 I actually thought about that. I did think about it.
What is it?

Speaker 2 Liquid, that's very, very

Speaker 4 Brooklyn FC jersey. So I'm 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.

Speaker 1 That's cool.

Speaker 2 Wait, was it, are they playing in Queens at Columbia still?

Speaker 4 No, they're playing in Coney Island, which is amazing to like watch people ride the cyclone right behind the dangster.

Speaker 1 Wait, question, guys.

Speaker 1 Isn't Brooklyn's different than Queens? Yes. It is.

Speaker 1 Coney Island.

Speaker 4 Coney Island is part of Brooklyn. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Coney Island's in Brooklyn.

Speaker 1 I love this part of the show when we get to like educate Landon about it. He has no idea.

Speaker 2 He would never step foot in Coney Island.

Speaker 1 Ever. He's a Matt Beach.
I mean, that says it all. You're in Connect.
I'm a man of the people, Tony.

Speaker 1 I'm a man of the people. No, you are not.

Speaker 4 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.

Speaker 4 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.

Speaker 4 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?

Speaker 1 Oh, Gerald. Wow.

Speaker 1 Do you want to take this?

Speaker 2 No, I'm stumped.

Speaker 2 Keep going.

Speaker 2 I'm going to wait this one out until you finish.

Speaker 1 Gerald,

Speaker 1 it's a little different

Speaker 1 than playing

Speaker 1 full senior national teams that are highly ranked. It's not apples to apples, dude.
No. So

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 that will give them more resilience going forward. So

Speaker 1 because you beat a team 7-0 and qualifying at 17, it's no correlation to what happens. Now,

Speaker 1 if they go on and do amazing things in the World Cup, then I'll change my mind. But

Speaker 1 we will get into U.S. youth soccer another day and probably multiple, multiple times and what a mess it is.

Speaker 1 But unfortunately,

Speaker 1 they are not the answer right now, sadly, that we're all hoping.

Speaker 2 Well, for reference,

Speaker 2 this isn't a new thing. Like Landon, your and Bees' team went down to New Zealand for the U-17.
Where did you finish? Fourth. Fourth.

Speaker 2 And then you and B's, what, player won the golden boot, silver boot, something like that? Yeah. Right.
So like this isn't, this isn't a new thing, right? Like we've we've had good youth team.

Speaker 2 And that was, God, I don't know. What year was that?

Speaker 1 99. 99.
Right.

Speaker 2 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

Speaker 2 whether it's great, it's probably not great for them to, it's probably better for them to lose a really hard game 3-0 or 2-1 than to win 22-0.

Speaker 2 Because I think the development, as you mentioned, in this country is just. so incredibly poor.
You know, I think about, I think about small things, even my, my daughter's team this year.

Speaker 2 So there's a, her high school team, she goes to a really good private school. And then the public school in the town is also, they're awesome.
They're the toad, two of the best two teams.

Speaker 2 And they went toe to toe. And 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 schedule? And the coach.

Speaker 2 They said, oh, because all the girls played club soccer together.

Speaker 2 The game got too emotional over the last couple of years. So we didn't schedule the game.
And I was like, I want my daughter to play in that game because it's tough. It's physical.
It's nasty.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 As you said, at the World Cup, if they perform well, that's a really good thing.

Speaker 4 This question, well, comment rather,

Speaker 4 is from Itsen via YouTube. And this is, I feel like, was a pretty good summation of something that we saw a lot in the comments.

Speaker 4 At this point, I really wish we'd just send a full MLS squad to the World Cup.

Speaker 4 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.

Speaker 4 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.

Speaker 1 My opinion is: I don't care if you play your club soccer on Mars,

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 You do that, we're going to be fine.

Speaker 1 You know, 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.

Speaker 4 Which I think is an interesting way to transition into a comment from Dave, which this, I don't, I'm interested to see what you guys think about this. He says, hey guys, great show.

Speaker 4 Regarding Landins, these guys need to give a shit comments. I couldn't agree more.
Here's my solution.

Speaker 4 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.

Speaker 4 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.

Speaker 2 Money is everything. So let's start there.

Speaker 2 You've got one career. You've got to make the best of it.
And these players are doing fabulous in terms of carving out good careers for themselves at clubs and getting paid well.

Speaker 2 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

Speaker 2 with their club team there was still a there was still a fight and a desire and a nastiness it's not i think i think money

Speaker 2 money is never it's it's never the reason why someone doesn't care in fact

Speaker 2 i cared more because i wanted to make more money and when i 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's not and look would amateur players care more in those games?

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 We have seen it. We've seen it with their club teams.
We've seen it with the national team. It's not like it's not there and they don't have.

Speaker 1 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.
Or, in my opinion, they shouldn't be on the national team anymore. But I don't care.

Speaker 1 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, it is money, right?

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 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 the time,

Speaker 1 the players were asking for about $6,000 as a win bonus if they beat a top 10 team. Okay.

Speaker 1 So they were playing Argentina that day, and I think Precci scored, or I think maybe Precci scored, and we won the game 1-0.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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 G's, baby? And I was like, Oh, cares about the money.

Speaker 1 And I was like, oh, shoot, it kind of hit me in the face. And so for some people, that is the case.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 Like, I am 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 One of them would literally kill you to win a game and the other couldn't care less if they win or lose. Right.
And so there's lots of reasons.

Speaker 1 I don't care what the reason is, but we need the players that have that.

Speaker 2 And by the way, by the way, the funny balance of this all is like you and I, you know, at a national team camp, oftentimes you have team meals like freaking every day.

Speaker 2 And if you're good, a good behavior, the manager will let you go out for dinner or something on your own.

Speaker 2 But like we sit around, you sit around the lunch table or the or the dinner table if you're a good team.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 And the amount of times, you know, Lana, you and I have been in the same room. We're like, we're like, yo, if we win tomorrow,

Speaker 2 if we're in a tournament and we advance, we're like, yo, we, you, you. the pot of money that we get goes goes up significantly.

Speaker 2 And like, we're all chuckling like, yo, we, this isn't, we got to win tomorrow.

Speaker 2 And then, you know, know, there's other guys in camp, by the way, like, certainly towards the end 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.

Speaker 2 Like, it's crazy. But now, to quantify that, like, it's not as if we went on the field and we're like, we got to win for the money.
Like, there's a balance there. Like, you wanted to win anyway.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 And I think, 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.

Speaker 4 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.

Speaker 4 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 Ajamong and he's going to be your best striker.

Speaker 4 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?

Speaker 1 What Josh Sargent has done at Norwich this year and in the last however long has been phenomenal.

Speaker 1 There are certain guys who, for whatever reason, it doesn't always add up, but like for whatever reason, they're just not national team quality.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 The guy at Tim that you and I played with Taylor Twallman, was that guy

Speaker 1 scored a gazillion goals for New Zealand, loved the guy, great around the team in the locker room.

Speaker 2 Not New Zealand, um, revolution.

Speaker 1 Sorry, did I say New Zealand? I think so.

Speaker 2 Fine, you correct me, I correct you, it's fine. All right, fine

Speaker 1 for New England, not the New Zealand revolution

Speaker 1 with the national team. Like, 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.

Speaker 1 For whatever reason, that's

Speaker 1 it's like either a step up for him that's not quite there, the type of game or something isn't working out.

Speaker 1 When I watch Ajamang, 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 And I would hate to play against him.

Speaker 2 I like Patrick Etchmang.

Speaker 2 I think he provides this like vertical threat.

Speaker 2 And sometimes that doesn't, sometimes it doesn't always mean like when people talk about like verticality, like straight line runner ball over the top scores goal, it doesn't always mean that.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 Like it's really important

Speaker 2 for strikers to be able to do that. And I think

Speaker 2 he's off to a good start in his national team career. He needs to keep adding to that.

Speaker 2 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 Valogan.
We know that. Absolutely.

Speaker 2 But to be able to have a striker... like Adjamanning to be able to, as Lane said, go to him in a pinch

Speaker 2 in a substitute role. Can he start?

Speaker 2 Does he earn enough of that to start? Like I said, I like him because I also like the players underneath him.

Speaker 2 Like I think there's a lot of talent with the players who play underneath him, whether that be Wea or Pulisic or Gio Reyna,

Speaker 2 if he ever gets selected to start.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 So yeah, I think he's off to a good start.

Speaker 4 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.

Speaker 4 I don't know if that's true, Doug. He's not quite up to Ricky Pooch status yet.

Speaker 1 But he is.

Speaker 4 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 Freddie Adu?

Speaker 2 Yeah, that's a fair comment, Doug. It's fair.
I mean, I do agree that generational talent has a shelf life. I mean, he is.
You know, I think about

Speaker 2 I watched batting practice at

Speaker 2 Colorado Rockies when I was there. And the manager

Speaker 2 came up to me and we were just chatting. And I forget the guy's name.
He got traded to the Chicago Cubs. Anyway, I'll remember.
It might have been Gonzalez.

Speaker 3 And

Speaker 2 he was just, he's left-handed, smacking balls, landing into the upper deck.

Speaker 1 Easy.

Speaker 2 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, you don't see that.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 2 Cart Cargo, Carlos, Gonzalez, yeah.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 2 so I don't know. And without disrespect to Carlos Gonzalez, I don't know if he's ever like gone on to

Speaker 2 do what he was supposed to do in the game, but the swing was generational. And so I think sometimes that needs to, that gets lost.
Like Gio is, we don't produce these players.

Speaker 2 Like you're Claudio Reyna and Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, and John O'Brien, who everyone forgets about, and and Gio Reyna,

Speaker 2 and Kristen Pulisic, these players don't pop up all the time. They're special.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 You're a 90-minute player all season, ever-present for a couple of years in a row.

Speaker 2 That's a fair comment. And so

Speaker 2 hopefully this summer, we will begin to see the start of that.

Speaker 1 So it's a really good question and a good point, Doug.

Speaker 1 I disagree with you, Tim. I think generational talent is, you are a generational talent and you always will be.
Now, whether that

Speaker 1 manifests itself into anything is to be determined. At the time, Freddie was a generational talent.
Freddie Adou was, right? And he, for his age, I guess, was

Speaker 1 just different than everybody else and a talent that we hadn't seen before in a generation.

Speaker 1 Now, the problem with that is when we talk about Geo's talent, we're talking about specific things, specific pieces of the whole pie.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 There's the staying fit piece. There's the earning and keeping your spot piece.
There's the off-the-field stuff that, you know, we hear about and that have happened.

Speaker 1 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 top, top, top player have to be pretty filled in.

Speaker 1 And when they're all filled in, you get messy. Yeah.
Right. 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.

Speaker 1 So that's not going anywhere. But the question is, will any any of it? And I think to Doug's point, he's 22 now.
Like, we're starting to say,

Speaker 1 I don't know, man. He's not 18.
So, like, maybe this is, maybe this is who he is. Maybe he's showing us exactly who he is.
And then we just have to accept it.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I just, look, I think to carry on from that, because it sparked a thought that I, I, I, one thing that I, I, I hate, I hate that

Speaker 2 I wish managers would do more. And I'm thinking Marcus Rashford and Amarim, and before that, Ten Hogg.
I'm thinking Pochatino and Giorena.

Speaker 2 I just wish like when you like if you if you and I got hired as the U.S. national team managers tomorrow, right? We could, we could identify

Speaker 2 five players that were like, we, we gotta, we have to have these guys on side. We're not gonna

Speaker 2 bow down to them, but like we have to have these guys on side.

Speaker 2 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 one of the flights that I'm taking is going into Germany and sitting down at a coffee shop with Gio and Bill.

Speaker 1 One of the first ones. One of the first ones.

Speaker 2 One of the first ones. And I'm saying as the coach, Gio, what do you need? Forget all the other bullshit that happened.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 That's what I would have done with Marcus Rashford.

Speaker 2 And I just don't know if that always happens. I don't know if it's an ego thing, but

Speaker 2 yeah, I don't know. It's just a.

Speaker 1 You're right. Anyway, there.

Speaker 4 I hate to

Speaker 4 leave it there, but I feel like that was a good spot to end on.

Speaker 1 The question everyone's asking. I'm fired up.
I know. It's good.

Speaker 2 It's great. I'm excited.
I'm excited for the Gold Cup.

Speaker 1 I really am.

Speaker 2 I'm excited for

Speaker 2 the response. You know, Emma Hayes talked about it with the women's national team.

Speaker 2 I'm getting a response. One way or the other, I'm getting a response.
And that's what she's saying. That's what I'm looking forward to with the men this summer.
They need a response.

Speaker 2 Everybody knows it. There's literally no secret now.
Yeah.

Speaker 4 Well, the women are playing Brazil on Saturday. Great.
So we're very excited to see how they perform as well.

Speaker 4 All right. Thanks, guys.

Speaker 1 Thanks, JR. Awesome show.
That was fun actually doing a lot. It felt like a fun QA.
Like, we're just really dive deep on a lot of that.

Speaker 1 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, sports podcast in America.
Let's go.

Speaker 1 Let's keep it there. The way we keep it there is by you guys continuing to engage this way.

Speaker 1 We promise we'll be Unfiltered and keep bringing it, and you guys keep bringing it. It's awesome.
This is a team effort. So thank you guys.

Speaker 1 As always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your pods, and then follow all across our social media. Keep leaving comments,

Speaker 1 questions, anything you want us to hear. And then follow us at Unfiltered Soccer for more bonus content.

Speaker 2 Yeah, just to echo that, Lennon, I mean, we thank you guys. We thank everybody every week.
And,

Speaker 2 you know, it's weeks like this where we see this podcast soaring. And it's because of you.
You know, we're nothing without you all, the listeners. Again, I say it every week.
We love your comments.

Speaker 2 The good, the bad, the ugly. It doesn't matter.
Keep on bringing it. Passion.

Speaker 1 We love the passion.

Speaker 2 We love the passion. And we love the passion from our presenting sponsor, VW, and our fan connection sponsor, AT ⁇ T.
Have an amazing week.

Speaker 2 Look forward to seeing you all back here next Tuesday with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.

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