EPL Season Preview and Matt Freese Talks Penalty Strategy

Landon and I have played against Mexico too many times a count.

Did it live up to the hype?

Yeah, it definitely did.

I kind of love to come alive when the crowd's against me.

I love to like ruin someone's day.

Amen.

And if there are 70,000 people there screaming against me, it makes me want to ruin their day even more.

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 over five years.

LD, God, it's been a minute.

Like so many of our listeners, it was nice to have a break from you, but

it's good to be back, bro.

It's so, so good to be back with you.

God, it's been all soccer all the time for me.

I was

traveling doing the Premier League Summer Series.

We had doubleheader in New York, New Jersey, doubleheader in Chicago, doubleheader in Atlanta.

Had amazing access to Bournemouth, West Ham, Everton, and Man United, both from an interview standpoint, watching trainings.

It was great.

And then I went and spent a week in Knoxville, Go Valls.

They had two games.

She got to play.

Played 15 minutes in the first game.

Yes.

But it was great, man.

It was, they're looking really good, looking strong this year.

So I'm excited, but it's been a lot of soccer.

I'm trying to remember.

Yeah, what was it?

It's probably been three weeks.

Yeah, at least.

Yeah.

I have no idea.

We went to

a lake.

Yeah, we went to a lake up north in

Fresno.

If you've never been to Fresno, don't go.

But it's north of Fresno, about an hour.

We have some friends who live there.

So our kids were there on the.

Did you drive up?

Jet skis and all.

No, we flew, and then it's an hour drive.

And you sent me a clip of you.

What was it?

What were you?

Oh, boy.

Water skiing.

I should probably, I was.

What's that called?

Wakeboarding.

Wakeboarding.

Yeah, dude.

That was nice.

You were awesome until you weren't.

I might have to post this clip actually, but I was going to post the clip without the last like four seconds where I really ate it hard.

Tim, I don't, you've probably never been on it.

Have you ever been on a jet skate or a water

whatever it's called?

Wakeboard?

No, not like getting pulled from behind a boat.

No.

So I just want to explain when you try to go outside of the wake,

you know, it can be successful, you know, but I'm, I used to be an athlete, I swear.

When I went over the the wake,

it went wrong and I went face first, but I forgot to let go of the handle.

And so the bolt pulls you down.

It pulls you down into water.

And I'm not kidding.

When I hit the water, I felt like it hit my eyeball.

And I was like, I was deep in the water.

I was upside down for a minute.

And you have one of those moments where you're like, oh, this isn't good.

And then I came back up.

And then the next day, my neck was so sore.

It was a full like whiplash deal.

So I probably won't.

I probably won't.

You should post it.

What do the kids do now?

Instagram versus reality?

Just post the first part like you're cruising, right?

You're awesome.

Send the second.

That's Instagram.

And then the reality is swipe and you disappear.

I thought I lost my podcast co-host.

I just thought I'm going to be doing this show by myself.

All right.

I don't know how to do that stuff, but I'm going to ask Jenna to do it and post it.

I'm going to do it like that.

Actually, it'd probably be funny.

All right, guys.

Great to have you back.

If you have forgotten, please follow us on social media unfiltered soccer subscribe to the show on youtube follow on apple podcasts and spotify you can send uh questions to jordan feedback at unfiltered soccer and you can always rate us review us leave messages it helps people find the show all right tim

um

one of our producers andrew wrote in here so we're going to get into the premier league season preview Says Tim is one of the faces of the Premier League's coverage here in the U.S.

I never thought of you that way.

Did you write that, by the way?

You should start thinking of me that way.

Okay.

All right.

So take us a little behind the scenes, because I know you've been, you just talked about being all over.

Just what you guys are talking about, what you guys are preparing for this upcoming season, anything new on the coverage?

Let us know what's going on.

It's great.

I mean, the cool thing about,

I guess, every other year, essentially, is the summer series.

And it's kind of like,

you know, it's kind of a dry run for the season, right?

We all get together.

We do our production meetings.

We have a pitch side desk.

I got to call a game, which I don't do very often, and I enjoy that.

I know, I know you do.

Which is so it's cool getting up in a booth, just spending time with your teammates, which you don't really get a lot of because we're in and out of the studio.

So, this is like we're traveling together, we're spending a lot more time together.

So, it was a dry run, which it doesn't feel like a dry run because, like, it's a doubleheader, you're straight into it, you're doing training sessions and media every day.

But it was special, man, to get up close and really get up close and watch training.

And you know, this

the press is so hard on these Premier League teams that when they get over to America and we don't try and stitch them up, right?

So they're a little bit, they're a little bit more hospitable.

They're a little bit more welcoming, you know?

And so you just get amazing access.

And NBC does a great job of that.

So it was really cool to be right in the thick of it.

So let's take people back, just a quick recap of where things left off.

If you're a diehard fan, you know this, but for the casual fans, so Liverpool destroyed the league, won the title.

Liverpool Arsenal, City, Chelsea, and fifth place, Newcastle all got into Champions League.

Tottenham finished 17th, but still got into Europa League virtue of,

or sorry, still got in despite

finishing 17th by winning Europa League.

Leicester, Ipswich, and Southampton all dropped back down to the championship.

And then Leeds, who won the championship, Burnley, who were second, and Sunderland, who won the playoff, come up.

So it's going to be interesting.

We'll get to some predictions in a minute.

All right, so I'm curious from your standpoint.

So really bizarre seasons last year for Tottenham and United.

Ruben Amram now, second season in charge.

Will things change there?

He's had a transfer window now.

And then at Tottenham, new manager, can things change there?

And I guess they can't be as bad as they were last year.

I don't, I think everyone agrees on that, but how high now is their ceiling?

Can they get back into Champions League?

Oh, man.

it's a tough question ld i i don't know if either of them get in champions league this year um

the top one thing is interesting because

and

postacoglou is is an enigma he's very very polarizing we saw that in his in his few seasons in charge you can't play that way and survive in the premier league well you can stay in the premier league but you can't have success in the premier league you have to learn you have to know how to defend and it was they it was chaotic and it was fun to watch as a neutral but the fact of the matter is once you get found out, this league's too good.

It's too good.

So

what I've always said, and this is why I like the Thomas Frank appointment to Tottenham, is they've got a good squad, man.

They've got a good squad.

They've got a good team.

They've got really good players.

I'm not saying they're Premier League winners.

I'm saying they've got a really solid squad.

They spend well.

They buy well.

And Thomas Frank knows how to manage a team.

In fact, he's one of the few managers that has gone on record and says, like, hey, and okay, it was Brentford, right?

And it's a little bit of a smaller club, but he was basically saying, when we play big teams and I know we're outmatched, we're going to play this tactical style.

And when we play teams where I think we can get ahead of the game, we're going to play a different tactical style.

So his flexibility is incredible.

United,

I'm bullish about, you know,

having been on the ground and watched them, again, you understand this, LD, like seeing body language, seeing conversation, seeing interactions, talking to the players, right?

Like, like they,

they basically said, like, players will give you things without, without necessarily giving you something, right?

So, so for lack of a better term, they had a bomb squad, right?

So Amarim said, you guys are staying here.

I don't want you at the club.

Tell your agents to get you out of the club.

And by the way, when we train, you're going to.

be over there.

You're going to train with the reserves.

You've seen this before, right?

And some of the players that we interviewed and talked to were basically saying, the vibe in the camp is better.

Everybody wants to be here, right?

What are they saying?

They're basically saying, well, the manager put some people over there.

That's right.

And that's right.

So, so there's a, there's a, there's a better vibe.

I think, you know, Dorgu, who they brought in last year to play left wing back, kind of had half a season under his belt, so to speak.

He looks good.

I thought Josian Kunha is.

He's going to be brilliant for them.

He's the type of person.

He's a maverick.

He puffs his chest out.

He wants to start fights and he's angry.

Like he's going to be, he's the type of player United needs.

Brian Mbumo, he's shown he can score in the Premier League.

Again, a great addition, particularly the way Aberon wants to play with like two 10s on the nine.

You know, bringing in what they feel is a proper nine.

So

I do think, look, their squad, LD, needed a massive overhaul.

And you know, as well as anybody else, you cannot overhaul an entire squad in the summer.

But vibe is better.

The team looks like they're playing the way Ruben Emeron wants them to play.

Senior players on board, really good signing.

So I think that

neither of those teams will finish.

Who finishes higher, you think?

Think United.

Just.

Yeah, that's what my gut says, too.

But I think they'll both be in the top half.

You know, I would imagine for both clubs, hopefully pushing for Europe, right?

And what does that look like?

Premier League usually that drops down to about eight, give or take.

So we'll see.

You know, there's been this, this, I think it's a problem in the Premier League, and teams can't stay up.

Like teams really struggle to stay up now.

Yep, yep.

And

leads were up, down, back up.

Burnley were up, down, back up.

Sunderland, it's obviously taken a while.

But do you think these teams can stay up now?

And just explain to people why now it's so difficult too.

Well, yeah, I mean, it's a hell of a question because

if, you know, I think it speaks to the power of the Premier League, right?

Like for anyone who was, not that many people doubt how great Premier League is, but like, it's freaking hard.

It's hard, man.

And I think Burnley was a great example of this.

And so, you know, they shared some insight with us a few years ago.

And again, it wasn't like massive private knowledge, but they were basically saying when they were in the championship, they were able to pull lone players from City and these other places, right?

And they got the best players and they blew the doors off the championship, right?

Those lone players go back and they're now saying, and I think I might have mentioned this on the pod before.

They now have a checklist of like, we want a left winger and a center midfielder and a 10 and a nine, all these players.

And everyone's going, oh, you're, you're, you're in the Premier League?

Oh, you have Premier League money.

Okay, so now we're going to inflate the price on our left winger here that plays in the French league.

And so they're having to drop down to their second and third choice players to go buy them, right?

Because by the way, everyone's happy to loan you their player when you're in the championship.

Ain't loaning you their player when you're in the Premier League, right?

And so now they've put a Premier League squad together with essentially like second and third choice players that they, you know, that they, when they look down their scouting list, because the first ones were just too expensive and too, too inflated.

And so I just think when you're building, when we see championship clubs who have come up build teams,

they're just not good enough to compete in the Premier League.

Like simply put, they're not.

And,

you know, it's, it's,

I don't want to say hard work because it's disrespectful, but it is like

slightly hard work when you look at, and I'm not saying these teams didn't endeavor to try and stay in the lead, but you look at like Luton and you look at Ipswich like every weekend, you're like, oh,

give me more.

And then you realize like,

they can't give us any more.

They can't.

There's not good enough.

And so that part's been really difficult.

You hope that Burnley, again, with parachute payments and so forth, have started to build in a certain direction.

I'm interested, by the way, because I don't know how closely you paid attention to it, LD.

They were like freaking Brazil last year.

I mean, they barely ever got scored on.

They scored goals at an alarming clip.

I mean, they were the best of the best.

And so you're like, okay, is that going to translate this year onto Scottie Parker?

And Scott Parker, we know, is a good manager.

So hopefully that works.

It's just, it's so difficult because you think of the league now.

So you have United and Spurs finished, whatever, 16th and 17th.

That's like, those are the teams you were competing against.

If you're one of these teams coming up last year, then you got Wolves who are good.

Fulham are good.

Brantford are good.

West West Ham are solid.

Like the league is just so difficult.

And you've got to be in it for a few years to be able to keep players there, have enough quality.

And then, yeah, it's going to be interesting to see if any of those stay up.

I think, you know, I think to answer your question at the bottom end, and you just said this, the top end, the top end used to just be the big four.

Then it got extended to the big six.

And now really, you're struggling because you've got your,

you know, you got your big six, right?

And then you got the the B's.

You got Brentford, you got Bournemouth, you've got Brighton, right?

Those that, those teams are all punching above their weight.

You got Fulham, you got Wolves under their new manager, newish manager.

And so all of a sudden, you're like, whoa,

whoa, like forget the, forget the teams that used to be in there, like your Evertons and your West Hams, right?

Forest have a run last year.

So I think I just named like 12 teams.

So now all of a sudden, exactly.

What, like, where do you get points?

Well, there's no, where do you get points?

Where do you fit?

Yeah.

Where do you fit?

so it's it's a really interesting one i mean

i think it's back-to-back years the the the three promoted teams went back down so i

i

don't know i don't know i i like i like these clubs i often say there are premier league clubs even if these teams aren't in the premier league like sunderland leads burnley those are premier league style clubs so particularly sunderland love it up there um great stadium great football club great rivalry with with newcastle so you hope one of these teams figures it out but yeah because it's good for the league too Totally.

Yeah.

Let's touch on Chelsea real quick.

Do you think, so they win the Club World Cup this summer?

Did you take a lot from that?

Does that transfer into, are they a real title contender?

Dude, I mean,

they looked really good, to be fair.

It looked really good.

Sure.

I mean, it's not just...

the Club World Cup

in a phone booth.

It's the Europa League, the Europa Conference League title, right?

Yeah, that's a winning mentality.

Say what you want about it.

You've got to run the gauntlet.

You have to win.

You have to be in it at the end.

Club World Cup, same thing.

Where they finished, how strong they finished last year.

I think Enzo,

Todd Bowley likes to spend.

That's a brilliant thing.

He's figured out a way to spend.

in a smart way, stay away from PSR

kind of regulations and that type of thing.

And Enzo Mareska has figured out how to how to deal with the structure that tod bowley is creating right like basically last year he said like this is my premier league team two teams and this is my european team and by the way there's a bunch of you guys that are surplus requirements i don't want you in the building so like that's a really strong model and it's a really strong manager and so yeah that they've got some they've got some world-class players man i i

i don't know if they'll win it i certainly think there's going to be a moment where we question question whether they can.

I think they're going to be in it.

Oh, we did last year, remember?

We did last year in the time.

Yeah, where you're like, and they're a much better team than

they are now.

They're a much better team now than they were.

So, like, yeah, to answer your question, I think they're going to, I think that people are going to have a little cheeky eye on them for sure.

All right, Tim, it's time now for our crossroads presented by Nitsa.

Nitza is here to remind you to drive sober or get pulled over.

Which team, which club do you think is at a crossroads?

And then I'll give you mine.

Okay.

So my, my team that's at a crossroads is Manchester City, and here's why.

I refuse.

I would be stupid if I questioned Pep Gordiola off of one year, right?

His level of success and his standard that he set for his players

is so high that last year, I can only explain last year as a blip.

Right?

Like it was, it was

something that was coming, right?

It was this, it was this concept of like

when are when are man city going to fall off well they don't then they win the treble well they'll fall off now because they have nothing to play for and then they don't right and so like there was still qualified for champions league right right that's the season right and so and so my crossroads is based off of that one year i'm not giving up on pet cordiola and i'm just saying

you you get this but when you're at the top sometimes you need this sometimes you need that wake-up call because like what motivates you can only be self-motivated so long right and and i almost feel like you're right they maybe they needed that like okay now they got a chip on our shoulder you know why because everyone doubts us everyone doubts us and everyone's going to be hunting us trying to hunt us down and trying to keep us down maybe this so i think they'll have a bounce back here does that mean they want to win the title no not necessarily but

I you know, I wouldn't necessarily bet against them.

All right, my crossroads teams are to United and Spurs.

This has to be for both of these clubs a turning point now.

You cannot finish in the bottom half again.

Ruben Amerim, if they finish 13th or 14th, I mean,

they probably still stay with them if things feel like they're trending right.

But this is the Premier League.

Like, United need to be competing for at a minimum Champions League.

And then Tottenham, you know, they had all the excuses last year with all the injuries.

Ange wasn't the right guy, blah, blah, blah.

better get it right now you're definitely at a crossroads now and you need to make the right decision so i'm going to be keeping my eye on those two for sure

all right let's make some predictions since we're always so terrible at this

um all right biggest surprise team of the premier league season i'm i'll go first i'm gonna say biggest surprise team

i guess i'm gonna say

Tottenham

because of what I mentioned previously.

Like, I think the manager is second to none.

I think he's brilliant.

I do, like, this isn't a rebuild.

Like, they have a trophy-winning squad.

They won.

You know, they won the Europa League, right?

So, like, I think this, this, I think this squad just needs a new direction,

right?

And they have that.

Like, and this isn't, by the way, an unknown commodity.

This is a guy who everybody loves, who knows how to win in the Premier League with a much smaller budget,

less talented players.

Like, this is,

I think that will surprise everyone and be in the hunt for a european place

mine is

i believe

i'm trying to figure out who i want to i believe leads will stay up and that is a surprise based on what we just talked about because it has been so difficult i don't have the exact stats but it's been so difficult to stay up so i think leads stay up okay

biggest disappointment you first now you go uh biggest disappointment I think, is going to be Forrest.

Okay.

And it's just based on expectations.

If they had finished 13th last year, we'd say great year.

But because they finished so high, they were

for parts of the season.

We were like, oh my God, like how high can they finish?

They were in second at one point.

And so

how high can they finish?

They are in Europa League, if I'm not mistaken, right?

either in Europa League or Conference League.

So extra games, right?

Do they have a squad that's big enough to handle that?

So

I think they absolutely finish bottom half.

And

I don't think they fall into the drop zone at any point, but I think they're going to disappoint based on the expectations.

Yep.

My biggest disappointment is going to be Brentford.

Here's why.

Yeah.

Good shot.

Thomas Frank was such a figurehead at that club.

Yep.

They lost.

arguably their best player.

Their second, you know, Wisa, I'm not sure.

i don't know if he's if he's left he wants to leave

um

they're the manager that that they or the head coach that they named has no premier league experience yeah i i just

again i'm not talking i don't know if i'm talking relegation or anything like that but i just think we've been we've been so used to being excited about brentford you know them punching above their weight knowing they're gonna they're gonna you know probably crack the top 10 and it's gonna be a good story i just think they're gonna they're gonna fall off the cliff a little bit yeah i think you're right uh who wins the league

i think liverpool i think they've got i think they've gotten stronger i think they've gotten stronger

yeah

they have gotten stronger that's the problem

uh i don't know how you bet against liverpool

does geokaris make a difference for

yeah yeah i think he does i think does he make them a champion Does he make Arsenal a champion?

I think if he can get, I think if he can get 20, 22 goals, they could win.

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right.

I think Liverpool win.

I hate to say it.

Please delete that from the recording.

Okay.

Who finishes top four?

We won't say Champions League.

We'll just say top four.

Top four.

Because it could be more.

No particular order, even though I think Liverpool win a league.

Liverpool, Arsenal, City, Chelsea.

That's my title.

Liverpool, Arsenal, City, Chelsea.

Okay.

I wrote this down before because this is crazy.

You could make an argument.

I don't think

realistically, no, but you could make an argument united right if they really turn things around spurs arsenal city liverpool villa who we haven't talked about newcastle who we haven't talked about chelsea and forest who were right on the brink yeah last now i think forest fall off villa feels like they're gonna have a little bit of a dip that's nine teams you could make the case for right that realistically and that's not that's without any surprise team in there right no fulham or whatever right or Forrest or someone.

Or Forrest, right?

So Liverpool, yes.

City, yes.

Arsenal, yes.

My fourth team, did you say Chelsea?

I did.

Yeah, it's hard not to.

Yeah, I think Chelsea.

I mean, it's boring, but I think that's got to be.

I feel like those are the betting favorites.

It's got to be.

All right, who wins the golden boot?

By the way, if Salah wins the golden boot,

I want a drugs test every, like every day of his vacation, I want a drug test because the man's a machine.

I have a feeling.

This is not

like an amazing take.

I think Holland.

I was going to say the same.

I think Holland, you know, he's got goals in him.

Last year, like I said, it was a down year for City across the board.

He was injured a bit too.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, if he's fit and plays, I mean, he's going to get goals.

I think Holland.

Yeah, I think so, too.

Kind of boring.

We think alike, but we'll see.

All right, let's take a break, Tim, when we come back.

Awesome, awesome guests.

Super excited about this.

I know he's excited to speak to you.

One of the breakout stars of this summer's Gold Cup for the U.S., Matt Fries, penalty kick legend, played all the games, became one of the stars.

He will be right here with us on Unfiltered Soccer with Lannon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.

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LD, we always get excited for guests, but this one is special to us because

he had a breakout summer at the Gold Cup, a player who surprised many and again, just stood out.

for both U.S.

men's national team and New York City FC.

He's an Ivy League legend and Harvard grad goalkeeper, Matt Freeze.

Matt, welcome to the show.

Welcome to the show.

Thank you.

Congrats on an amazing summer, too.

Thank you very much.

We're going to get into the summer, Matt.

I think we want to, I want to, first of all, most goalkeepers are just weird.

Here we go.

And that's true.

Are weird and I would say sometimes not the brightest.

You, on the other hand, graduated from Harvard.

How did you make the decision to go to Harvard?

What went into that?

I'm guessing it was more than soccer, right?

Because you have other interests.

And probably there were points in your career where you're like, I should have just gotten a real job and made a lot more money.

But how did you make that decision?

Yeah, I mean, the decision,

it's an interesting one.

Actually, before we get into that, confirmed all goalkeepers are weird.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

There's no questioning that.

It was a bit of a weird one.

You know, I wanted to go to Harvard, obviously, you know, you get in there and it's very difficult to say no, but also it was somewhat of a family decision.

You know, I'm, you know, you guys have kids and, you know, it was a conversation with my parents.

You know, was I ready to go pro

or should I spend a year or two at school first?

And if I'm going to go to school, where should it be?

And, you know, I got into Harvard and I think it's difficult to say no to that.

And then, you know, after about six months, I was like, all right, guys, I got to start my career.

I'm done with this.

But along the way, then you kept, kept, because you're a graduate, so you just kept taking classes along the way?

Yeah.

So I did two-ish semesters there and then took a year off.

And then, you know, I was kind of just going to revisit it after

my playing career.

And then COVID happened.

So I was able to do three semesters online through that.

And then I kind of had the last three semesters squeeze into two, kind of.

taught myself some things, did some independent projects and then flew up for the exams.

Cool.

That's pretty amazing.

And your brother rode a crew at Harvard as well.

Is that right?

Did you guys overlap?

No, he is six years older than I am.

We're like twins, though.

We look the exact same, we have the same mannerisms.

I'm just, I'm good with, you know,

sporty things.

He's good with athletic things.

So he's good at the running and the crew.

Well,

I think about like your time with NYCFC and

being in the MLS, like at what point,

like at what point did you go from saying, like, I want to make a career out of this and I want to

be very good in the MLS

to I want to play for my national team?

And I know every kid dreams of that, but I mean the singular switch to going like, yeah, okay, I'm trying to get my feet wet as a professional.

That's one thing.

But then having this desire to play for your country and feeling like that's tangible and you can touch it.

Like when did that happen for you?

Yeah, well, I think the dream, like you said, the dream

was always there for playing the national, for the national team.

I mean, I watched both of you, but Tim, obviously, I watched you growing up all the time.

So the dream was always there.

And then there was

the singular moment, I guess, that you're talking about was after my rookie year in Philly.

I had a bunch of injuries that rookie year, which is natural.

You know, you're going from a two and a half month season to a 10 month season and you're getting killed every day in training.

And

was kind of a it was a point where i had to look at myself i had a long conversation with one of my mentors um i was you know i kind of broke down to him said i want this more than anything um and it wasn't that i it wasn't just that i wanted it it was kind of like throughout that first year i was like damn like i can do this like you know i saw myself in training and um you know i was with andre obviously who's an incredible goalkeeper learned a lot from him and so um i was kind of saying to myself like i can do this and and um and and we went back and forth forth, my mentor and myself.

And

it was kind of a point where I was like, all right, every second of every day, I have to dedicate to the sport, keep, you know, to stay healthy and then also to keep developing on the field.

So a lot of people think when they turn on the TV this summer, right?

And there's millions of people watching the U.S.

game every time that you just show up on the roster and you're here, right?

But your path to just getting on the roster this summer was unique.

And then to actually starting and playing was was kind of unique and kind of came out of nowhere right even for you so can you walk people through just the whole process and then i guess how you were feeling through it right because it was i i would say unexpected for you right

yeah i i guess

unexpected in in terms of you know i wasn't expecting it but i i wasn't surprised by it because i think that if i was surprised by it it means I didn't do the prep and I didn't prepare myself

to take advantage of it.

And so,

you know, obviously I spent four years in Philly and pretty much didn't play, but you know, finally got my way to New York and got to work with Rob, Tim.

And obviously my, you know, my game has really just been able to kind of keep going up while working with him.

And after that first year, I got after the first full year as a starter, you know, got invited to Jan Camp.

So that was this past January.

And

I remember, you know, I was the only one in camp that didn't play in any of the games.

And, you know, I remember talking to my family and I was just like, all right, you know, once again, I don't know what's going to happen this summer, but I'm going to prepare every single day.

Like I'm going to be the guy this summer.

I'd much rather over prepare than under prepare and regret it later.

I'm a big believer in, you know.

Regret is probably the worst thing you can feel.

So I wanted to put everything I had in, you know, every single day.

I was in, I'm a bit of a psycho.

So, you know, I wake up at the crack of dawn, like two, three times a week and get in early and do an extra lift.

And I remember just saying, like, this is prepping me for the summer.

This is prepping me for the summer.

And

then obviously, you know,

Patty got hurt, you know, right before camp started.

Zach got hurt, I think, first or second day of camp.

And obviously that was, you know, it's, you know, goalkeeper union.

You know, I'm, I'm close with all those guys.

And Zach going down was, was really very sad.

And we all felt for him.

And then, you know, Maurizio told me I was going to be, you know, playing the games.

And

I, I was pretty calm, told him, all right, you know, I'm ready for it.

So, hold on a sec.

I want to just step back a bit.

So, you said Mauricio said you're playing the games.

Was that, you know, when he called you and said you're coming in, he also said you're playing the games?

Like, did you know that right away?

Or how did that process work?

No,

you know, it was, I think, the night or two before the first game of the tournament actually started.

And it was, you know, a conversation where

it was, you know, they kind of said, you know, we think you're the right right choice to go for for this tournament.

You're going to have the full support of everyone.

And, you know, just need, just, just need to, just need to be yourself was kind of the phrasing.

And, you know, Matt and I are obviously very close as well.

And Matt was incredible supporting me.

You know, I went from making my first appearance a week before to now starting in the Gold Cup.

And so, you know, the support that Matt showed was obviously very, very helpful as well.

Wow.

So, yeah, I think about the January camp, right?

And

Landon can appreciate this.

Landon went to the 2002 World Cup.

I was an alternate, right?

And so the process,

I sometimes love the way the process of the national team works, right?

Like you go into January camp, you don't play.

All that did for you was whet your appetite and light a fire under you, right?

And so I love those moments.

And then you get the call, you know, you get to be the guy going into

the gold cup.

I just wonder, because we all are human, like as much as you dreamed about that moment, as much as you said, to hell with not playing in January, I want to be playing for my national team.

What was that moment like when you're stepping across the line and you're hearing the anthem?

And

is it, I'm ready for this?

Is it

I'm not worthy of this?

Like, where's your mind in that moment?

Yeah.

I mean, I don't think anyone's worthy of playing for the national team.

I know that sounds weird, but like, there's very few people that like,

you know, I don't know if that if that makes sense, but

but no, I wasn't questioning myself.

You know,

I wanted to go out there and show what I can do.

I wanted to show that the prep was worth it.

And

I wanted to be a rock and be steady because I really do think that that is a very

under,

that's a big part of goalkeeping that maybe people don't realize is, you know, half the time you're there to be a presence and to be a rock for the team.

And

so that was really my mentality going throughout the whole tournament.

Yeah,

I say that often on here when

we were in the tunnel and I looked either back or forward and I saw Tim there or I saw a goalkeeper I trusted.

You just feel different going into the game.

You know, we can make mistakes and it's going to be okay.

So as we move into the knockout stages, obviously what you'll

be known for mostly this summer is your your penalty say heroics.

And that can't really be understated because at a bare minimum,

that is such an incredible weapon to have as a squad going into any major tournament to have a goalkeeper.

Not taking away from your goalkeeping talents, but the fact that you seem to be so dialed in to penalties

and you mentioned that that's your thing.

Where does that come from?

What's the preparation like?

What is

your thought process,

whether it be in training the week before, in the moment?

Like talk us through how you go about

approaching a penalty kick, either a singular penalty kick in the game or a shootout where you know you have to face five shooters.

Yeah,

I think the reason I like it, like penalties so much is because It's kind of like the essence of competition, right?

Like it's you versus one dude who's going to win.

And I love, I love competing.

Competing is probably the reason I love sports and I love soccer so much.

And penalty kicks is like the

essence of that in a one moment thing.

It's just you versus someone who's going to come out on top.

And

so, you know, yeah, before every game, whether it's a knockout, whether it's tournament, regular game,

whether it's preseason, you know, I do my homework and I'm ready for them because I want to be ready.

And I also, I kind of enjoy it because because I, in my eyes, kind of, the pressure is not on the goalkeeper.

Sorry to say this, LD.

I feel like the pressure is on the taker.

You know, you're supposed to score.

And it's kind of like

you can't really lose as a goalkeeper in a penalty shootout or taking pens because

they're supposed to score.

And so, you know, I just really enjoy them.

And it's something that, in my opinion, if you do your homework the right way, all you do is increase your chances of making, you know, making saves.

No, it's clear you have

a strategy, right?

And there's something there.

I'm guessing being a Harvard guy, there's a lot more there.

You probably have some like spreadsheet somewhere of every penalty taker in the world or something.

Maybe.

I wish, I wish during,

I wish we were playing at the same time because I'd be so curious.

Well, I'll pick your brain after so we don't have to give anything away.

But

what I learned during my time taking penalties is the more you take, the harder it gets.

And you would think the more you take, the easier it gets because you're used to it, whatever but goalkeepers have so much info on you and so i every time i stepped up i was also doing my research on you guys right which way do you like to go how absolutely how do you move your feet when you're going to dive left how are you going to move when you're going to dive right um throwing in when do you go down the middle right and when you go high low and so it would have been really fascinating because it becomes a just a total mind game and the guy who always got me i hated him i hated him

it was ramondo yeah

he gets everywhere

i know but i was like so one time i think we were in salt lake i was like forget it dude i'm just gonna smash it as hard as i can to my left i smashed it and he's right and it's high and he just stands there and just goes boom palms it over the bar and i was like god this guy can't bring this guy but anyway kudos to you because you yeah it's amazing

because i you know when you talk about penalties and it being the ultimate essence of competition i this is a true story i couldn't wait to get to penalties because I was a stress ball.

So I was literally like, when you get to penalties, that means you played the 90 minutes, then you played another 30 minutes.

And I'm like, I'm just so stressed out.

Like, I just want the game to be over.

And I know when we'll go to penalties, the game's going to be over.

I don't know whether we win or lose.

And I was just like, I was so excited for that moment.

But it's funny, LD, you say that about penalties.

Because Layton Bains, as you know, a guy you played with at Everton, I was with him recently.

He's a dear friend of mine, and they were over here.

And we were laughing because he was on pens, right?

Left back, he was on pens, and I think he scored like he was like on some sort of record where he scored like 20 in a row.

And like, he was so funny because he's really dry, and he's like, I'm gonna miss today.

I'm gonna, like, I'm bound because to your point, he's like, you take so many, you're bound to miss.

And he hadn't, he hadn't missed.

And then, and then, on the day he said that, he went up the middle against David De Gea and he got like just a little, little bit of his boot on it, but it went in.

And he goes, I told you, I'm going to miss.

So it was, it's a fun, yeah, it's a funny, uh, you know, kind of, it's a mental side of it.

All right.

So back to the summer, Matt.

So

it goes well, you get to the final, you play Mexico, right?

And then the game doesn't go how any of us want.

After the game, I'm curious because I've been through this, Tim's been through this on both sides, where you're sitting on the field as a champion and that feeling, but also the other side.

And I had that many times too, where you're sitting on the field in a final as the loser.

What's that feeling like there on the field?

And then when you get into the locker room and we saw some images with Mauricio crying and like,

just walk us through, because that team seemed to really become a real team in a short amount of time.

And you could actually really feel the

hurt and the pain.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, it was, it was tough.

There's not,

there's, there's not much to say about it, honestly, just because like you're sitting there, you kind of feel numb.

You're, you're, it's, it's kind of like a disbelief type of thing.

And especially the way the summer was going

with the vibes that we had on the team, the camaraderie that we've gotten on the team, we kind of like felt like it's got to be a win, right?

Like it's got to end positively.

And

it obviously, you know, we fell short.

That's on us.

But,

you know, I mean, yeah, we were sitting there and saw them go up on the stage.

I was, I was pissed, man.

Like I was, I was really mad.

And,

you know, I was a little bit numb inside, just

didn't really say much.

I was pretty silent.

And then

we get to the locker room and it's all so silent in there and

a lot of anger, but also a lot of sadness and just disappointment in ourselves.

But Maurizio gets in there and honestly, he gave a fantastic speech.

It was really emotional, very raw, but

it was one of those speeches that like, you kind of like turn around after and you're like, damn, we did become a team this summer.

Damn, right.

You know, we were proud of each other.

We not proud,

not ultimately proud because we didn't win the final, but you know, proud of what we did kind of off the field.

Cause there was a, there were a lot of questions going into the summer.

I mean, um, you know, I was kind of on the outside looking in at the beginning before the summer starts.

And

then, you know, we just, we just think about like, you know, 45 days in a hotel straight together.

And, you know, that like

we weren't sick of each other.

And I don't know if that ever happens.

Like we wanted to, we wanted to like keep hanging out after the game.

And, you know, we were like, damn, like, we're going to miss each other.

It was, it was a really special group that we had in terms of the chemistry that we built.

Like, we still have a group chat where I woke up to like 70 texts today in this group chat.

And

I think it was a great step.

Again,

it was my first real experience with that type of stuff.

So I don't know what it typically is like, but it was a group that really got

that grew together off the field.

And I think that that was a very important part of the summer as well.

I'm curious if,

let me say this, U.S.

and Mexico

is

incredible.

I speak for Land

as well.

It's one of the greatest rivalries that I've ever played in.

It's probably one of one or one of two.

And

what makes it special is

I often say, like,

in order to have hate, you have to have respect, you know, and both sides hate each other, but we respect each other.

And it's hard and it breaks your heart and it brings you incredible joy when you win.

So I guess my overriding question is, did it live up to the hype for you in terms of being there in Houston, walking out, seeing the scenes around the stadium, being inside it, playing in that game?

And by the way, again, Lennon and I have played against Mexico too many times to count.

That game's fast.

That game challenges you.

There's a lot of puzzles to solve.

Like, did it live up to the hype?

Yeah, it definitely did.

I mean, I think being on the field for it is a little bit cooler than watching it from TV or watching it in the stands like I did growing up.

And so

it definitely lived up to the hype.

And it was...

It's weird.

I love playing in front of big crowds.

I know, you know, as a goalkeeper,

sometimes it changes, you know, versus field players, maybe, but like as a goalkeeper, sometimes the bigger the crowd gets, the harder it is, or the more nervous you are.

And for me, just I kind of love to come alive when the crowd's against me.

I really, I love to like ruin someone's day.

And if there are 70,000 people there screaming against me, like it makes me want to ruin their day even more.

And so,

yeah, I mean, I was amped up,

ready to go, like had a good warmup.

I didn't feel the nerves at all.

And I was a little surprised if that makes sense, but it was one of those things.

I was just like, this is what I was, this is what I was made for.

And this is what I was working for for 26 years.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

Amazing.

We're built to do hard things, man.

That's great.

Our listeners are so hungry for

U.S.

men's national team interviews.

And I know they were super excited for this one.

So you've delivered and then some, which you have on the field.

And look, you've certainly thrown a spanner in the works in terms of, you know, who will be selected as a goalkeeper for for the World Cup team.

And you have every opportunity to do that.

So we're excited.

We were cheering you on this summer.

We'll continue to do that from afar.

But thank you very much for joining us and so much success and wishing you all the best in September, certainly, and through the rest of the season.

Thank you, guys.

That means a lot.

And thanks for having me on.

Obviously, you know, I'm a big fan of the big fan of the podcast.

I listen to it all the time.

So I appreciate it.

When I talk crap and say other bad things, don't get mad at me, okay?

I'm just pushing.

And a shout out to you.

That's part of it.

You're pushing.

That's part of it.

And a shout out to your guy, Rob Vartuzian, who Timmy's done a great job with you.

Yeah, he's awesome.

Thank you.

Thanks, Matt.

All right, LD, it's time for the unfiltered refresh sponsored by Coors Light.

Choose chill.

Get Coors Light delivered.

Go to CoorsLight.com slash USLNT.

Okay, Coors Light recently partnered with DuraDry to bring you DuraChill, the first ever chill deodorant with cold activated packaging to let you know when it's ready to be applied.

I actually just smelled it.

It's delicious.

Amazing.

It's good.

Yeah.

Amazing.

I wasn't expecting that, but spunk good.

All right, Timmy.

So the guy who chose Chill in the Leagues Cup was our guy, Max Arston.

We had the chance to interview him.

He was great.

He scored in two of their three games.

There was a tweet last week from Tom Bogart and Ben Jacobs that Columbus crew swiftly, love that, rejected Middlesbrough's bid around $3 million, so about two and a quarter million pounds for Arston.

The crew stance is clear.

They do not want to sell this summer.

One is, do you think he should move?

And two, what's your take on the two and a quarter million pound bid?

Well, here's the interesting part.

So

excited for Max Arston because what we want to see, right?

And we're on the outside and we know a thing or two, but what

people want to see, what Columbus and Mauricio Partatino want to see is you go from strength to strength, right?

So you have a good summer.

Great.

What do you do?

Just kick back, hang out, or do you crack on?

And he's shown that like

that wasn't just a one-time thing, that he's ready to keep pushing.

So you go back, coaches always tell us, right?

Go back to your club team, keep proving it.

He's done that.

I mean, Middlesbrough, man, like pay us like you owe us.

This is crazy.

You know, he's a young,

up-and-coming U.S.

national team player, right?

More than likely going to be on the, on the World Cup roster if he continues this way.

The rest of the world, wake up, man.

This is such a slap in the face.

People who constantly complain about us banging the drum about like, woe is me with the American player.

This is an example of it.

If this was a young French kid, a young French left back who just cracked in the national team,

who just played, it'd be 20 million.

You can't get a bag of balls for $3 million.

Dude, I didn't even know, I didn't even know $3 million was a bid anymore.

I thought that's like in that's like in like league one in England, you pay, or in the championship, or the bottom.

I was like, this is crazy.

So, so hats off to Columbus for saying, yeah, thanks, but no thanks.

Like,

because here's the other thing:

here's the other thing:

Given what you and I have spoken about, Mihailovich just went for 8 million plus 1 million add-on.

Exactly.

So I'm looking at this.

If I'm in the league and I'm like, I got money to spend, I'm going in with a bit of $4 million.

I'm going to go, well, hang on.

Mihailovich just went for $8 to $9 million.

I can get in at a great fee.

Great point.

Great fee.

$4 million for Max Arsten?

And I can have him for the next five years or certainly get a sell-on for him.

It's a no-brainer.

It's a great shout out.

It's crazy.

It's crazy.

Well, anyway, cheers to you, Max Arston.

Continuing to go

strength to strength.

You chose chill again, and we salute you.

That's all.

Oh, that's a good one.

Nice and cold.

All right, Tim, some high-profile moves in MLS recently.

Sung Hyung-min signs with LAFC.

Man, that was wild to watch that whole process go.

Actually, then played this weekend.

I saw, I think it was, it was either Trundalo's quote or somebody said, you know, a lot of the times these guys come in and they'll say, you know, I'll play when I'm ready.

Yeah.

I'll play when I'm ready.

And he was like, no, I want to play.

And I think he's been all, I think as Matt Holling said, it said he's been all over LA this week, promo stuff and interviews and all that.

But he anxiously waited to get his visa cleared.

It got cleared and he was on the bench and

also drew a penalty to help them equalize.

So thoughts on this?

You're not going to get a bigger Sun fan than me.

I think the guy is awesome.

I mean, he is

a 10 out of 10 for me.

He's going to be one of these players, and you know more than anybody in the history of MLS because your team invented the DP, basically, in the galaxy.

You've seen guys who come and don't care.

You've seen guys come and give everything.

So,

Sonny is going to be a guy who is in it, who wants to win, who cares about winning.

And by the way, as an aside, his following is stupid.

I mean,

if you watched North London at a Tottenham game when he was there, I mean, this guy is adored across the world.

I think that, you know, LAFC is going to see an influx of that following, which is really awesome.

And I think it's a good signing.

I think, you know,

he still has legs in him.

He still has the ability to carry games, to score, to get in dangerous situations.

I mean, he's clinical as they come.

So I think it's a really good signing.

We're excited for it.

I mean, just thinking about Denny Bawonga and him on the field together.

Right.

So much anxiety as a defender and a goalie.

It's crazy.

Wow.

It's going to be fun to watch.

And to the point about the following, man, like I got a taste of this in Korea in 02.

The level of fanaticism for their players

was just insane.

It was so inspiring to watch.

And in LA, obviously a huge korean population all throughout america it's going to be incredible to watch him go everywhere and you know he's not on the beckham messy level globally but in korea he is oh my god i mean he is a megastar so it's going to be fun to watch let me ask you a question a hard question a hard question for you to for you to answer do you

I always praise your galaxy for what they've done for League and continue to set the standard.

Do you give credit to LAFC for their ability to, forget being in LA, their ability to bring in high-profile signings, successful high-profile signings, because they've seemingly done that since their inception?

For sure.

Not only that, I mean, what John Thornton has done there is so impressive.

It's not just the high-profile guys, it's Denny Mwonga, who, you know, all respect, like nobody had heard of really Denny Bwonga before, unless you're a die-hard soccer fan.

It's

when Rossi came in, it's getting Vela.

So that was a high-profile sign, but it's just some of the some of the other guys that they've been able to sign throughout the years who have been just so good.

And Bob made so many great decisions too when he was there, right?

So, and then getting a journeyman like Matt Hollingshead, who's been so valuable to that team.

So, they've just done a fantastic job.

They really have.

And yeah, you have to give them credit.

I mean, I think in fairness as well, you talked about the people who are in that organization.

I do give them credit as well.

So, you bring in like a Hugo Lorice, and then you bring in a Giroud, and Giroux didn't work out, Right.

So instead of riding it,

they just went, we're cutting our losses.

This is it.

That's right.

And listen, not a lot of teams can do that.

So big credit to them.

Anyway, it was a, that was a situation.

No, there are, you're right.

There are teams.

I mean, look at Toronto.

They waited way too long and maybe they couldn't to get rid of Bernardeschi and

Sincina.

Yeah.

So, you know, if you, if you can, you cut your losses and you go on.

Another guy, Tim, look, as a general rule, I'm not a fan of guys in their 30s coming into the league

because

I think I I have scars from seeing some guys up close.

I was 30.

Alex?

I was 37.

Were you opposed to my move?

No, you're an American coming back home, right?

And you played in the league before, right?

So I knew you would respect

what it's about, right?

But some guys haven't.

I would say more recently, most guys have, right?

And another guy, Tomas Muller, now who went to the White Caps, he absolutely will respect it.

That guy, I mean, I'm sure he trains hard every day.

He's like, he's a consummate pro so i actually like that for them too generally if you just said it in a vacuum i'd say oof yeah good signing but i actually do like it yeah the the the thomas miller thing is interesting because he's weird and i don't mean that in a bad way like the guy loves to compete he loves to compete like like no matter whether it was as he was aging with the national team or with fire munich he like desperately wants to be on the field and desperately wants to score and he's got this like real infectious attitude and and i think it's great.

I think it's, you know, for, for also what I love about it, LD is he's a, he's a winner, as you mentioned, and he's going into a team that's playing really, really well.

So actually, you don't have to carry the team, doesn't have to lead the team.

Team's already going well.

This is like a nice cherry on top.

So maybe, maybe it can be a difference maker.

Good leader.

Yeah.

Like he's imagine Sebastian Berhalter.

Yeah.

Right.

Like around him.

Totally.

And just learning from him will be phenomenal.

He is so weird.

Like if you watched him warm up, you'd be like, no way this guy is a world champion, right?

Like, or a championship.

You'd be like, no way.

And then he's so good.

Oh, you know what's funny?

Off camera, I'm looking at a picture of myself in the Germany game in the 2014 World Cup, and we lost one nothing.

And I think he was the one that scored, oddly enough.

Anyway, that's an aside.

Good memory.

Great.

All right, Tim.

When we come back, we will get into your questions in the ATT fan connection and talk anything but soccer right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Lannon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.

All right, Timmy, it's summertime.

You remember these days.

Kids are home.

It's exhausting.

You're babysitting all day.

I know you don't think it's babysitting.

It is babysitting.

In order to choose chill, I'm on the golf course, man.

My wife was when it's time.

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See you later.

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There's nothing better than feeling like someone has your back and that things are going to get done without you even having to ask.

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A coach who can change strategies at halftime to help their team win.

A keeper you know is defending your goal.

Or a forward who is always ready to receive the ball.

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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.

is to keep asking questions and keep talking about the sport we all love.

At AT ⁇ T, connecting changes everything.

And on US LNT, our connections with you will help grow the game.

That's right.

It's ATT fan connection time.

JR, we missed you.

We missed you.

All the fans missed you.

I missed you all.

All the Liverpool fans missed you and your training kit.

That's amazing that you still wear that on this show.

Good for you.

You know what?

It's very goth, and I'm feeling very goth lately.

So I had to.

Are you feeling dark because they lost a palace?

No.

No.

Oh, that didn't sound

convincing.

That was not convincing.

Speaking of goth, I have one for you.

Did you read that My Chemical Romance announced two Wembley dates next summer?

You're welcome.

And let me tell you something.

I'm very upset about it because it's in the middle of the World Cup.

So guess who's not going?

Because I'll be here producing this show.

So if you live in England and you're going, send me pictures.

Why don't we do a live show from the My Chemical Romance

concert outside of Wembley?

That's why I was in New Jersey on Saturday.

I was at the My Chemical Romance show.

Did you get me a concert tea?

Hold on.

Did you get me a concert tee?

Oh, you didn't ask me?

No, but I'm going to the Toronto show, so I can hook you up.

Please get me a concert tee.

Question.

This is a serious question.

He doesn't ask.

I'm not taking the piss.

I swear.

You don't know who it is.

No.

You're surprised they're big enough to see it.

They can sell a Wembley show?

They sold out.

Giant Stadium.

What?

They sold out Giant Stadium.

Yeah, it was amazing.

I was in the sane of these guys.

They were a long time, dude.

Are they a goth band?

They're not really goth.

band.

I mean, are they like a punk band?

I could, Landon, it would be my absolute honor to make you a My Chemical Romance playlist to listen to.

I would love to do that.

Okay.

It'll be fun.

Jared, what do you got for us?

I got some questions.

Let's get into them.

There's some fun things in here.

I'm looking forward to this.

Okay, here we go.

First one is from Aaron via email.

He said, I love the show and I'm a big fan of both of you, but can we please talk more about DC United?

As a lifelong DC fan, it is incredibly frustrating to see one of the more historic teams in the MLS turn into, sorry, Aaron, I just want to let you know that Landon would like you to know it's MLS, not the MLS, turn into the laughingstock of the league.

What can we, as fans, do to support the team in such dark times when there doesn't seem to be an end in sight?

Oh, Aaron, you, you, I'm not even going to say a word here.

You just opened up a can of worms with Landon.

LD, go.

well his question was him or her him

his question was

what can fans do and this is a hard predicament man because

you care about your club you really deeply care about your club and you care about the players and you want them to do well but at the same time the people in charge have not reciprocated that.

They haven't.

And I guess they'll say, well, we built you a new stadium, right?

Fair,

but they're just not giving this club the chance to

compete.

And my first thought, I don't know, I forget the guy's name, I think he's Swiss, who just came in, uh, the new coach, was,

God, I hope this guy knows what he's getting into, right?

Like, because he's probably excited and an MLS job, and I'm just like, oh man, careful what you wish for.

I don't know what fans can do, man.

I,

in other parts of the world, they'd probably boycott until there's a change.

I mean, right, Tim?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean,

I think Manchester United is a perfect example of it.

People often say, and I've witnessed this firsthand and from afar, that no matter what, Manchester United fans support their team, right?

And so whether there's a protest outside the stadium or a march to the stadium or...

they stand up or leave at a certain minute, whatever the case is, ultimately, Man United supporters always, always, always support their team.

And they've seen some crap over the last decade.

So, but so, so there's this balance and this blend that I don't know necessarily how you get it right.

There's this balance and blend of supporting the team, but as you said, putting enough pressure on ownership to say, like, this isn't good enough, right?

And I think you can do that in a multitude of creative ways.

So, my suggestion is TIFO, protest TIFO.

I love a good TIFO.

What a good TIFO say?

I don't know.

I don't have to think about that, but I love a good protest TIFO.

And I also just want to give a shout out to vermont green fc for having possibly yeah that was the greatest tifo i've ever seen

um the the bernie bayo the bernie bayo amazing vermont green do a lot of things right by the way by the way i've been following them i've been tweeting too much about it dude these guys through their championship run

insane like extra time goal extra time goal crowd 5 000 people sold out kids on the field partying i was like get me to Vermont, dude.

This looks amazing.

All right.

Uh, Landon, how about a question for you?

This one's from Robbie via email.

Can Landon walk us through, maybe based on the what this question is?

Can Landon walk us through his decision to promote Mexico in the 2018 World Cup?

Please tell me he got paid for that, and that's the only reason.

That's such a great question.

Okay, you want the truth, Robbie?

All right, two things:

three:

Yes, I got paid.

Two, I grew up in Southern California around Mexicans.

So a lot of my close friends are Mexican.

Mexican style of play influenced me my entire life.

Three, I have,

I had very

close connection with the people at Wells Fargo.

So we had a long-term relationship, did a lot of things together.

I really loved the people.

When the concept came up, we talked about it.

How do we work through it?

How do we make this

as least controversial as possible?

All of it was fantastic, except at the end of the day, they were having me hold a bunch of different props.

And the people, just so people look behind the scenes, the people who are putting on the production are not the people who are making the decisions at a high level.

So they're just there trying to get as much content as they can get.

So I was holding a mug.

I had a half Mexico, half USA jersey.

I had all these different things.

And the big mistake I made was I was holding a scarf that said, my other team is Mexico.

And

that was not a smart decision.

I don't.

shy away from that.

I support, I do support Mexico when they're not playing the U.S., just like I support Costa Rica and Panama and Canada.

I'm also Canadian, so I really support Canadian teams.

I don't have any issue with that, but that going out on social media was a disaster and should never have been done.

So that

explains all of that.

I don't know if that fully answers your question, but I have no problem answering that.

Good question.

Awesome.

Tim,

it's only fair for me to send a question.

This question is from Jay via email.

Okay.

Jay says, Tell Tim he shouldn't hate on Lannon's idea of removing players during extra time because our beloved Coach Williston used to talk about that idea all the time back in the early 90s.

I'm sure Tim doesn't want to hate on Coach Will.

And Jay says he's from NBTH 90, class of 94.

94.

I feel like I know who that is.

I would have played high school.

Coach Will, shout out

North Punch Township High School.

Shout out to Coach Williston, man.

Yeah, I mean,

I love the guy.

I'm not sure I agree with him or Landon,

but it's, you know, it's a concept that,

listen, I, okay, I'll take it back.

I was part of a league that did a 35-yard shootout

with a five-second clock.

By the way, the five-second clock wasn't on the big screen.

It got wheeled out onto the field.

So

who am I to say that

who want to judge stupid soccer ideas?

Yo, I'm Coach Williston all day.

Let's go.

Last one, this is from Brett the email.

And I really like this question.

And I hope we actually get more of these.

So Brett identified, he wrote a really nice long email, and he identified himself as a brand new fan to soccer.

So there's a lot of things he doesn't know.

And he was like, I'm probably going to send you more questions asking you to explain basic things.

And you know what, Brett?

Sent send them our way.

We would love to, we love.

getting new soccer fans involved.

So he asks, is the Lamar Hunt U.S.

Open Cup important or a big deal?

I haven't heard anyone talk about it.

And by anyone, I mean local Minnesota sports news, which I am not surprised by, or even by YouTube, because my team, Minnesota United, is in the final four.

Does this actually mean anything?

It's such a great question,

Tim.

And because he's new, he's not trying to set you up for anything that he genuinely doesn't understand.

Yeah, I mean, I

there's a lot of sock.

We've talked about this at nausea.

There's a lot of soccer that's in our

in our kind of headspace right now and there's different

variations of competition leagues cup and etc etc etc i liken the u.s open cup to the fa cup and and and other other

leagues that have a like this traditional

top to bottom sort of anyone can win cinderella type story i still think that there is there has to be a place for that in the in the u.s landscape i personally personally love it.

Yes, it's lost its luster a little bit.

But there are, look, there are ways to get that back, and that is through money.

So money with sponsorships, money in pockets.

I don't know if we veer back towards that and put more money into the U.S.

Open Cup, but it is certainly something that is special.

I agree with you.

The problem, Tim,

in fairness to U.S.

soccer is it's expensive.

That tournament's expensive.

And so for people who don't know, when you are the away team, and this is starting, well, we were with USL with San Diego Loyal, when you come into the tournament, you're the away team, you get a stipend of money.

That stipend of money is oftentimes not even enough to get you the travel you want.

Right.

So like MLS teams lose massive amounts of money on the open cup, especially if they travel, because the stipend, I think at one point when we were doing it was like 12 grand.

MLS teams, it's hundreds of thousands of dollars when they travel because they charter and the hotels and all that.

Well, maybe not hundreds of thousands, but it's a lot, tens of thousands.

So they lose money.

So U.S.

soccer doesn't have enough money to just give more money to all those teams.

They can't.

They don't have the resources and they're not bringing in enough revenue to subsidize that, right?

So it's kind of chicken and the egg or which comes first is like, do you pour a ton of money in to try to promote it to make it bigger?

But if you do, like you're going to lose a lot of money initially, or do you just let it be what it is?

And it's a challenge, man.

So I care about it.

I love it.

I won one.

It was an amazing feeling, but I can understand why

U.S.

soccer can't do more.

I can understand why teams don't do more at times.

I can also understand why fans don't put everything into it, too.

You know, that's true.

It's a challenge.

I don't know the answer.

All right.

Thanks, Jay.

Thank you.

All right.

Great show.

Thanks to Matt Freeze for showing up.

That was awesome.

Really Really enjoyed talking to him.

Premier League starts this weekend, Tim.

Should be amazing.

Appreciate all you guys.

Thanks for being with us today.

As always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your pods.

Follow us on all our social media platforms for bonus content at Unfiltered Soccer.

Yeah, thanks everyone for listening.

Matt Freese, Ivy League legend.

penalty kick expert, all-around great guy.

Thank you for sharing your insights.

It was really rad to speak to you, man.

And I know our listeners are going to eat that up.

So appreciate you.

Thank you, our presenting sponsor, VW, our fan connection sponsor, ATT, NHTSA, our Crossroads sponsor, and our Unfiltered Refresh sponsor, Coors Life.

Have an amazing week.

We'll be back next Wednesday.

Marked that on your calendars, not Tuesday, next Wednesday with another edition of Unfiltered Saga.

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