MLS All-Star 2025 and YOUR Questions Answered

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Welcome in, everybody, to another edition of Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Tim Howard.

I'm Tim.

He's Landon.

LD, what are you up to, man?

Can I complain for a minute?

Yeah.

I always complain.

I do, true.

Do you ever ride your bike?

Like, do you ever ride a bike outside?

Oh, like every day.

Okay.

You're not one of these like biker people, right?

Do you know what I'm talking about?

I don't know what you're talking about.

Keep going.

So

you're in the city, so like people are just riding their bike, whatever.

So when you live, I live like out in the country.

So you get all these people who ride bikes, but they're really serious yeah yeah like if you ask them they're like they're on the tour de france this week okay so like street bikes yeah yeah and they got like the tight speedos on and shirts and and and i'm like okay the whole kit so whatever fine so i ride my bike normally and i ride it like an aware human being

what i mean by that is i stay way on the right side of the road yeah when i hear a car coming behind me i pull off the street like and keep going to the yeah these guys and women they ride down the middle of the lane and they are they're convinced i swear to god they're convinced that yes they're convinced the road was made for them

no they really are they're like they they'll be like no the roads are made for bikes not for cars and i'm like you lost your mind and then the other thing is this is great so like i'll wear like a t-shirt or a baggy shirt and like shorts or whatever when i ride by and they're coming the other way I'll give them a little like peace sign or whatever.

Tim, they don't even look at me.

They're like, they're disgusted.

Totally.

They're just, they just, they, like, they'll glance and then they're just like, this guy is a clown.

I'm like slightly on their side because I do ride the way they do.

So you wear the speedo and all that?

I have the whole kit.

Yeah.

No, you got a, we got a squad, me and my boy.

Do you really?

Yeah, man.

Oh, Jesus Christ.

Listen, this is how we do it.

I'm on their side, but you're, yeah, you're angry.

And I,

I appreciate it.

Whatever.

We're going to have another conversation about this.

This is a problem.

I had no idea you're that.

Yeah.

I'm glad you you went through it.

Oh, my God.

All right.

Let that go.

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All right.

I'm really going to let that go now.

All right, Tim.

MLS All-Star.

We are recording this.

What's the date?

The 8th.

Because we got a lot of stuff coming up.

So MLS All-Star is in air quotes this week.

We will be there,

which will be great.

Yep.

Can't wait for that.

So if we say anything that is not timely, you understand why.

So there's been a lot of iterations of this game through the years.

We've played in a lot of them.

East-West, MLS versus the World, played the national team, specific club teams, League MX now.

And now there's, it's like the version of the, yeah, League MX All-Stars, right?

Yep.

What's your preference on all this?

What's this?

And this year is what it's the League MX All-Stars.

Oh, right, okay.

Yeah, okay.

Uh, what's your preference?

What did you

like?

But because I think all-star games, all all-star games struggle with this.

Like, how do you make it competitive?

And, you know, baseball made it, whoever wins gets the home field advantage, which I love, by the way.

I love that.

I mean, it made it

kind of real for some players at least.

Yeah.

So, what's your preference?

I don't know.

I'm trying to think.

So, the game, I mean, how many goals did you have in that game that we played in East versus West?

Andrew told us, Andrew told me it was six.

I played like 15 games.

But in that game, in that game, I had four.

I only had the six total in 15 all-star games.

Yeah.

So you and I played, was that in San Jose, LD?

That was in San Jose, yeah.

So East vs.

West is 2001.

That was cool.

How many MLS All-Star MVPs did you win?

No idea.

I won one.

But anyway.

But again, I played in, but I was on on the opposite side.

So it was MLS All-Stars versus Everton.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I played that game too.

Yeah, and that was in Salt Lake, I believe.

But

I don't know.

It's an interesting question.

I think it should be the same.

They should kind of get to one iteration of it.

And stick to it.

Yeah.

Look, I will say

when I came back from Europe,

2017, 18, one of those years, I played,

I was on the all-star team and we played Real Madrid in Soldier Field.

And I just remember going back to your point about how baseball changed it a little bit and basketball has changed it.

Like, I just remember thinking, like, I think we played on the Saturday.

I can't remember.

I'm old at this point.

I'm like 39 or 40.

We played on a Saturday and then the all-star game was like midweek on like a Wednesday.

And like, I don't want to train and take it seriously.

And I'm kind of like, I'm not trained.

Like,

if I, if this was a regular week, I wouldn't train.

Like, I wouldn't train, right?

Monday, I travel Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.

I'm not training.

Yet the game is on Wednesday.

And, you know, the staff are taking it all seriously.

I'm looking at this goalkeeper coach, like, you can throw the ball over there, but I'm not diving for it.

So, like, we got a problem here.

I don't know.

The question about what I like best.

I, I tend to, I tend to want to see like East versus West.

I don't know.

I don't know.

Yeah.

Or maybe.

Competitive, you know, like maybe or maybe like MLS

World All-Stars versus

American player?

I don't know.

I don't really know.

I like MLS.

I'm not sure.

Here's the thing, LD.

There's enough,

there's enough summer exhibition games with European teams.

Yeah, that's true.

They play each other.

I'm not that interested.

Like MLS All-Stars versus Real Madrid.

Again, the game I played in or with Everton, not that, not that.

I don't love that.

I can go see Real Madrid or her Perman League Club play.

I kind of want to see the best players in the league play.

And I think the league wanted it to be like, wow, if we beat Everton, it shows everyone.

It's like, guys, this game means nothing to them.

It means nothing to us.

Sure, sure, sure.

You know what I would love definitely this year, and I think I can convince myself going forward, is playing the national team.

And the reason why is just it would give first selfishly for the national team, or at least the MLS national team.

We did that, by the way.

Yeah, we did do that.

And it gives them another chance.

I did that one year.

It gives the national team another chance to play a game together.

Because, I mean, it's not like a real competitive game, but just another chance to get together.

I would have loved that.

I wonder if that was talked about.

I don't know.

What year was that?

What year was it?

It was in D.C.

Did you play?

It was after a World Cup.

It was in DC.

I don't even remember.

I might have played a half and a half.

I honestly think you're unbelievable, man.

Yeah, no, it was in my contract.

No, I

have no idea.

It was

in DC, and I think it was after a World Cup.

So I want to say it was 2002 or 2003, something like that.

Anyway, interesting.

I don't know.

I would love to see East versus West and then

put a cherry on top, right?

So whatever the Major League Baseball is doing or whatever NBA is trying to do, do it that way.

It needs to have spice.

All the all-star games have lost its spice.

So yeah.

Maybe you put a big bonus on.

Yeah.

Maybe.

just make it i mean i think it'd be fun yeah guarantee penalty kicks at the end yeah and have you know just make it like exciting and

30

actually that'd be fun i would love to watch that did you did you do it no i didn't do it it was after you no

did that actually did those goals count for your like record

what do you mean for your own personal record yeah like if you scored 10 in the season but four of them were no no no oh it didn't count it was separate i'm almost certain i remember bora molotinovich is that how you say his name?

Yeah.

He coached.

God, these are the dog days of MLS.

He coached the Mighty Metro stars.

And

I was just breaking the team where I was getting some minutes.

I don't know.

I must have been 19 years old or something.

And

he has one of the coaches.

After the third one, I got pumped on, right?

Like the three, one, two, three, bang.

They go in.

He like has a coach run down behind the boards to like tell me some tactic of how to

jog on.

Even at 19, I was like, you could just do one.

Get out of here.

Yeah, amazing.

Jordan said, that was 2002.

I played for the national team and scored, baby, let's go.

And Tim was in goal for the ML.

That's all-stars?

No.

How many goals did you score in an all-star game?

Jesus.

I don't know.

Well, they said I only had six and 15.

So you scored at least.

At least two or three on me.

Let's just

take a number and get in line.

Everyone scores on me.

Yeah, not a great goalie.

All right.

Who are you of the players?

Who are you excited to see?

Well, I don't really know.

I mean, Messi, is Messi going to turn up?

Because obviously that's very simple.

That's actually a great question because they've had so many games.

I mean, he has to.

It has to be part of his contract.

It has to show up.

The league would absolutely lose it.

Ultimately, I want to see Messi because I haven't seen him.

I haven't seen him play live.

How many times have you played against him?

Actually, I've never seen him play live except playing against him either.

That's it.

I just really played against him twice, and then I haven't seen him play live, which is kind of crazy.

So we should see him play.

Oh, no, I did see him play live.

I saw him play in Nashville.

I think that was a League's Cup.

Okay.

It's pretty fun to watch.

He does not, Tim.

And when I tell you he doesn't move, he doesn't move until he has the ball.

I mean, I know at all.

But if you're him, you don't have to move.

He's still the best player on the field by a mile.

But if you just watch him, he doesn't do anything.

Nothing.

And then he scores two goals.

And you're like, this guy's a joke.

The fear fear factor around him is amazing.

Like, there's no, there's like no player in the league who's just like, hey, listen, old man, I'm going to boot you.

Like, no one, no one does that.

Like, still.

Everyone's scared.

Scared.

Which is fair.

Totally fair.

I'm actually, I'm curious to see all the national team guys who come back.

You learn a lot.

I remember Moyes told me when I went to Everton, he said, Landon, I'll be honest, one of the reasons I decided to sign you in the end was because of that all-star game.

He said it was a nothing game.

Nobody cared.

I subbed in late in the game and he's like, but you were into it.

You were trying.

You were running.

You were tackling.

And he's like, if you're going to do it in that game, I know you'll do it in any game.

And I was like, okay, interesting.

So I'm really curious to see how the guys approach it.

You know, how does Diego Luna react to this move, right?

Because he became a big star.

Does he stay humble?

Does he keep, you know, keep grinding and keep,

you know, what does Burhalter look like?

What is Ajamang if he's there?

And again, we're recording this way ahead of time.

So is he there or is he at Darby County?

I'll be curious to see how Max Arst and these guys really take this.

Yeah.

Because it's another opportunity to showcase yourself.

They become stars this month.

Of course, right?

A lot of people didn't know about these guys.

Yeah.

It's still a tough sell.

The all-star games are still a tough sell to get everybody on board.

It is.

But you can like be a leader.

Just say, guys, we don't need to kill each other, but like, let's try to win the game.

I don't know.

I don't know if that can come from a singular person.

I hear what you're saying.

I think it needs to come from a bonus structure or some sort of.

They need an incentive.

They need an incentive.

Yeah.

Yeah.

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 US LNT.

Okay.

A couple players who chose Chill.

And I'm thinking of some MLS All-Stars.

You got Brad Stuver,

goalkeeper for Austin FC, makes his first MLS all-star game after his 13th season.

That's pretty impressive.

That's awesome.

Because

he was backup for most of his career.

So that's awesome.

Ty Baribo, the striker for Philadelphia Union.

His MLS career kind of got off to a slow start, but he is on fire this year.

I mean, absolutely on fire.

Guy in your neck of the woods, Anders Dreyer.

He's been the key for San Diego FC.

And Alex Friedman, kid, we've known

now this summer with the U.S.

Men's National team from Orlando City.

I mean, those are some good pictures.

Others, for me,

I think Baribo's been amazing.

I think he's absolutely been amazing.

So he would be my choice.

What's your choice?

So I loved him when you've talked a lot about DPs coming into the league.

And I think your stat is only 10%, right?

Sign a new deal.

And so over time, like we've either had DPs we played with or watched throughout the league other DPs don't take it serious, come here on vacation,

have already made a name for themselves somewhere else, and they just come here with an attitude that isn't befitting of a DP, and they don't own it.

The opposite has been true for Anders Dreyer.

And obviously, I'm close to it here in San Diego.

I'm telling you, Tim, if he played for the Galaxy or LAFC

or

one of the New York teams or Atlanta, this guy would be a megastar.

He would be a megastar.

And it's what's really interesting about him is, so we have the list.

And then

in the list, it tells tells you how you got picked so you could be in for instance you could be a commissioner's pick sure chuki lozano is a commissioner's pick i think i was at one point patrick ajamong's a commission commissioner's pick or you can be voted in

or you can be a coach's choice right and it was always interesting who were the coaches choices because you knew coaches pay attention and they knew who the real players are sure so anders dreyer did not get voted in which is wild again he's not in a huge market yeah vis-a-vis mls so you can understand that but the coaches were like, Estevez

in Austin was like, yeah, I want that guy on the field.

So he's been phenomenal.

I think he's an MVP candidate, very much under the radar.

But when you watch him play, that guy is a real, real player.

So for me, Anders Dreyer

definitely chose chill all season.

He's going to choose chill again in the all-star game.

I can't wait.

to watch him play and cheers to you understreyer cheers all right so that's all-star game which means means we've gotten through the first half of the season.

Been an interesting first half.

We'll get to that a little bit.

Second half of the season.

So one storyline I think that's been, well, there's a few storylines.

Guys leaving, getting transferred.

We'll see what types of players come in now in the summer window.

But guys who left, two guys at Toronto up with your guy, Robin Frazier, who's been an absolute disaster, let's be honest.

They've had flashes, but Inzygme and Bernardeski,

it's really honestly been embarrassing is the word to use.

Not only, I know things haven't been great.

Toronto's made some really bad decisions.

They had bad hires, bad leadership, bad GM, bad, you know, they've been bad.

But those two have been a joke.

And so they're gone now.

So

I'll just start.

I mean, I guess I really hope now they give Robin a chance.

to just start to build this thing.

And Tim, this is not a three-month thing, six-month, this is like year, year and a half, two years, two and a half years to really get this right.

But they need to, if you believe he's the guy, you got to stay with him.

This is, this is what really good teams and clubs will do.

And bad ones will go, oh, well, he's been terrible.

And look at his roster.

It's terrible.

Yeah.

The story, the story jumps off the page at me.

I think Toronto has got it right for a very long time.

You know, I think they.

They were kind of the Atlanta before Atlanta, you know, where they're like, all right, we're going to go give big contracts.

And it worked out Josie, Michael Bradley, Sebastian Jovinko,

Posuelo.

I mean,

those worked out.

So to throw big money at players was a good thing for them.

Kind of what you said, the Bernadette and Insignia thing, they should be ashamed of themselves a little bit.

They should be ashamed of themselves.

Because if I'm reading it right, Insignia,

his salary was

15.4 million insane bernadeski's 6.3 million combined that's more than the total wage bill of all but seven mls teams that is that's a here's the thing

crazy stat but here's the thing i denver when i came to colorado didn't pay me nearly that much but by the way they paid me very handsomely and you know what i felt a responsibility damn right you like I felt a responsibility to be more than just a player, but to be a leader in the community on the field, trying to drive the the club forward and help

build the club to what it wanted to be inside and outside.

Yo, the fact that this guy's getting 15.4 million and he downs tools, like I'm telling you now, I'm telling you now.

I'm going over top on him.

If he's my teammate and he down tools like that,

he and I are going to have at it.

Like, that's crazy to me.

That's crazy.

And look, to those guys, they just think, oh, well, I'm just a great player.

You know, from the culture they come from, yeah, you get paid a lot of money.

You understood the responsibility.

I did.

We all understood the responsibility.

Like, this is way more than just playing soccer.

Totally.

And it's, which is why, which is why also I firmly believe in the MLS.

They don't have to spend 15.4 million, but the 6 million, go spend that on Christian Pulisic, or maybe more.

Go spend that on

Christian.

Our biggest players, the way they did with you, the way they did with Michael Bradley and Josie Altador.

Like

America's best players, test their resolve.

Bring them back because they will feel that responsibility.

They will help drive the club forward.

Yeah, it's not done enough.

But yeah, to your point about Robin, ultimately, Robin Fraser is a very, very good manager.

He's been hamstrung with this situation.

You hope,

and I think that management will understand that.

get rid of some of that dead weight, bring players in that are his players.

That's kind of how it works.

And so they should absolutely and will stick by him.

Well, and this should have happened a year plus ago, right?

But now, finally, I mean, I cannot imagine how much relief Robin Frazier has getting those guys out.

I cannot even imagine.

And MLSE has proven like the Toronto ownership, they will spend money.

They will spend.

Now the key is

good.

No, you have to get the right players.

Yeah, you have to.

You just wonder, though, like

they got it.

so right at the beginning that this has kind of scorched them now, right?

These two.

So I wonder on the back end, are they going to spend, you know, maybe, maybe maybe spend but not spend as much or are they still really gung-ho and saying like that's a good point yeah and and bernard desk and zigne remember those they came when bob was there yeah when bob brought and and bob was always

obsessed with italian soccer like yeah he was obsessed and so for him it was probably like do whatever let's go get them but the reality is is we are way more advanced now there's so much data and you have to make sure you're getting the right player also the right personality right absolutely crucial But he, that's right.

But listen, I know we, you and I bang the bang this drum, but let me get to numbers.

So, like, for 15.4, 6.3 million.

So, let's say round about 21 million, just for just for giggles.

Okay, we'll call it 20 million on two players.

You and I have said this all along, and I know there's there's mechanisms and all these funky words.

I want to build a roster, like, 21 million, right?

Yo, if you, if you were to say, if you were essentially to say to any ownership group, any GM, and any coach

would you rather spend a million dollars on 20 players or would you spend 20 million dollars on two players the answer the answer every day of the week would be the same correct so why can't we get there why can't we get there i mean it's it's pretty easy we're spending the money you're not spending the money spending money You're spending on two players.

I'd rather have 20 players at a million dollars a clip because you're getting really good players, by the way.

Right.

So I was at the national team final this week, at the Gold Cup final, this week, and we're recording this on July 8th.

And there was someone who's high up in U.S.

soccer.

We were talking.

And

this is a little bit of the problem.

So I said, I said exactly what you just said.

Why don't we do that?

And he said, well, the problem is what we would end up doing is just paying all the same players right now a little more money.

And that's like Sunil Galati used to say, well, why are we going to raise the cap?

You'll just pay the same players more money.

And I'm like, what are you talking about?

No, you wouldn't.

You'd pay some of them.

You'd keep Patrick Ajamang.

You'd keep Luna instead of having to sell them because Ajamang's making $100,000.

He's going to go make a million dollars at Derby.

So either in this scenario that we're talking about, you just keep him.

And now you keep a star who's going to be on the World Cup team and da-da-da-da.

And it's great.

But

that is going to happen with some players, but you're also then going to just go spend on

a 20-year-old Ecuadorian a million dollar who's really good, or you're going to sign Jack McGlynn, or you're going to sign somebody who's to really do the business.

So we're going left and we're going to stay left here because

I'm currently having a conversation.

Okay, and that's as far as I'll go.

But to your point,

the people who you spoke to or the person you spoke to

don't know what the hell they're talking about.

Here's why.

We so drastically undervalue the talent that we currently already have.

drastically, right?

So what that person is saying that you spoke to was, we're just going to pay the same players.

My point would be, there's guys that I played with,

right, that were making, like you said, $100,000.

We put that valuation on them.

Patrick Ajamang should be making a million dollars.

It's clear as day.

He's actually going to then go do that and make more than a million.

Because the market is saying that's what he's worth.

So the point is, the the person that said that to you or persons that said it to you, they created the market value.

They know nothing.

They know nothing.

And I'm sorry

if that's disrespectful.

They're basically saying, we've created a cap.

We're paying this guy $150,000.

That's what we think he's worth.

He's not.

He's worth more.

So we drastically undervalue these players.

So then the second we say,

let's construct a roster.

differently, they say, well, we're going to pay more money for the same players.

Those players, we can pay more money anyway.

And to my point and yours, the person you spoke to, I would say, okay,

you have the Toronto method, and I'll take mine and Landon's method.

My team beats yours every day of the week.

So he's wrong.

And Tim, the problem is, too, is this was a league executive.

And I believe that.

And a league executive, this is part of the power dynamic is like they, some of them think they know what

Toronto FC should do.

And Toronto FC is like, don't tell me what to do.

Jorge Moss in Miami is like, don't tell me what to do.

I'll spend the money.

Sure.

You know, you help me get the contracts over the line, whatever.

But like, don't tell me what to do.

It's crazy.

Anyway, we'll get, we'll talk more.

Let's go.

While we went left, I was hot.

I was hot.

Okay, current playoff picture.

Don't sleep on your dynamo, Tim.

I'm looking now up to eighth place.

We're currently eighth place.

We're tied.

Tied with LAFC.

You're only two points behind San Jose.

You can

leapfrog.

We can leapfrog a few teams with a win.

Okay.

So anybody in the bottom, let's start in the West.

Anyone in the bottom out of the playoff race that we think is going to make it?

Austin's an intriguing one.

Salt Lake.

Salt Lake's interesting.

If Salt Lake, I mean, poor Salt Lake, man.

Obviously, I know Pablo well.

I know Nate Miller there, the assistant coach.

And these guys, like, they just, they sell their best players and then they don't replenish them.

And so these guys, they fight hard, man, but they, they need one or two offensive pieces.

If they do, they're a good team.

They actually are really good teams.

Yeah, they showed it last year.

Yeah, I could see Salt Lake creep and they get Luna back.

And they need a player or two.

They do.

They do.

If, you know, you know, Diego Luna is going to come back highly motivated

after the summer.

If they can add one or two pieces, it's a big if.

Yeah.

Then, then, yeah, I think Salt Lake, obviously, Austin's an easy example because they're in touching distance, you know, Houston, Colorado, and Austin all on 26 points.

So yeah,

I would say

Salt Lake or Austin.

Yeah.

The galaxy.

Gats may have won two of their last three or four.

I was going to say,

are they going to make a late push?

I don't know.

What is this like?

What is this like for them?

This season's a wash.

Well, here's the thing about MLS, dude.

So what are they?

14 points back?

Yeah.

That's a lot.

I mean, that's

build me a story.

And six teams, right?

So that they have to climb over.

But dude, this league, if you win three in in a row, all of a sudden it looks way different.

When does your boy get back?

When does your boy get back?

I don't know when Pooja's back.

I don't know.

I don't even know if he'll be back this year.

Who knows?

But if he's not back and they're within touching distance, it's like, okay, watch out.

Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on.

So, so just so we, you and I like to keep our receipts, and I'm gonna, I'm going to put you on the spot so I have a receipt.

Galaxy currently on 12 points.

I,

you actually don't believe they can make a push, but

what do they finish this season on?

They're on 12 points right now.

Okay, they've played 21 games.

Is it 34 games, 32 games?

So they have 11 more games?

Oh, my God.

They're so bad.

Do they get to 20 points?

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

It's only eight more points from 11 games.

Oh, wow.

Maybe not.

Okay, I'm talking about making the playoffs.

Now we're saying they can't even 220 points.

They're running 34 games.

Okay, 34 games.

So they have 11 more.

No, they have 13 more games.

Yeah.

I think they'll get 20 points from those 13 games.

So I think they finish on 32.

Okay.

Okay.

We have that.

Clip that off, please.

Production, clip that off.

30.

All right.

Let's move to the east.

Anybody at the bottom-ish of the east that could get in?

I think New England could get in.

Oh, you're just trying.

No, you're just in the middle.

Cold weather's gone, baby.

The cold weather's gone.

They really come out in New England when it it gets warm.

Oh, my God.

They could get in.

Yeah, they're making a little late push.

So we didn't get a lot right about our preseason predictions.

Not a ton, but we got Montreal right.

Oh, man.

Sadly.

I love Montreal as a city.

Atlanta, D.

I tell you what,

there's some woeful teams, by the way.

Like, they're bad.

Really bad.

Bad, bad teams.

Really bad.

DC, Atlanta, Toronto, Montreal.

I don't think there's any chance.

I mean, Atlanta has good enough players.

They could get on a little run, but man, they're bad.

Yeah, okay.

Right.

Again, Charlotte's the closest, so that's the easy one.

All right, I'm going to go with New England.

We both have to get back on their good side.

So we'll, we'll.

They're not happy with us, are they?

New England seems easy.

We believe in New England, Tim.

As we've always said, we love New England.

You're a bad guy.

You are a good guy.

All right.

Last thing before our break.

Who wins this supporter shield?

I want to get this on tape, too.

Oh, God.

We got Cincy on 42, Nashville on 41.

40 for Philly, 39 San Diego, 38.

Vancouver and Columbus.

Minnesota, 37.

I'm going to say they're on 42.

It's tight.

Vancouver, I have one less game played.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Also, Vancouver, great place to play and live.

Well, the turf's not great, but cool stadium.

Wow, Cincinnati seems so easy to say.

I like Cincinnati.

I do.

I like the way they're set up.

I'm going to go with Cincinnati.

There, I said it.

Don't fail me.

I have a receipt.

I'm going to go with my hometown.

I knew it.

San Diego.

You know, they just sneak up.

Nobody pays attention.

And then all of a sudden, they're three points back.

A lot of people are paying attention.

Nobody's paying attention.

Wait, so did Chicago

won in their inaugural season, right?

98?

I think that's right.

I believe that's right.

Yep.

Under Bob and I don't for the recording team.

And I'll say this on record.

I don't believe San Diego can win in the playoffs.

I don't think they're built that way, but I think they're built as a good regular season team.

I think it's just hard.

Like, you got to have, I mean, Dreyer is a, he's a real player, but you got to have like real stars and guys that can really make a difference.

It's fair.

It's my opinion.

I like it.

Also, a week from

today, as this is coming out, League's Cup starts.

It's hard right now to put our minds around that because there's been Gold Cup and

Women's Euros and Club World Cup, and there's been so much soccer on TV.

I think, and this is my opinion, Tim, over time, this will get better and better and more relevant.

I know it's hard right now because it's new and it's novel, but I think it is going to be fun for people to watch.

It does make it challenging for MLS teams because this season has just been so stop and start and stop and start.

But I do think it'll be intriguing, and I think people will be into it.

We just just need to let gold cups settle down a little bit yeah club world cup settle down a little bit i mean let's talk about how challenging the stretch is for intra-miami lafc and seattle sounders i mean they had to play club world cup and then at least cup and and well they started early too with um the concaf champions cut right that's what i'm saying you know the funny thing about like this is the funny thing about the messy conversation like i know we talk about he like he doesn't run he doesn't run or whatever he's just he's still the best player in the field it's a little bit like yo you want this guy to play every like every game It doesn't make any sense.

Like they have so many games.

It's crazy, I know.

So yeah, it'd be interesting to see how they prioritize it, actually.

Yeah.

Because there's also still, I mean, Argentina is qualified, but there'll be World Cup qualifiers still.

There's so much soccer this year.

Crazy.

Yeah.

Crazy.

All right.

We'll keep our eye on that as that gets closer.

It feels a little bit away right now, but once, once League's Cup starts, we'll be following it.

All right, let's take a break.

When we come back, time for a special, very, very extended edition of the ATT Fan Connection.

Jordan's got tons of messages piled up, so we're just going to get through a bunch of them, get your questions answered

right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Lana and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.

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The Unfiltered Soccer podcast is brought to you by Volkswagen, the presenting partner of U.S.

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All right, Timmy, this episode is brought to you by our friends at Virgin Atlantic.

Yeah, we're here at the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at JFK.

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Okay, LD, you and I at one point in time were very much in control of our game.

MLS, all-star game MVPs.

You in 2001 and 2014.

I in 2009 with Everton.

What stands out for you most from those games?

Oh, well, most stands out for you.

But don't say what you're going to be scoring against you.

Yeah, okay.

Here we go.

That was, well, I would say it was exciting, but I did it quite a few times.

So 2001 was cool because it was in San Jose.

Yeah.

And I just played my first professional season in San Jose.

And I really took the game serious.

I'm not sure everyone did, but I took the game really seriously.

I was excited about it, scored the four goals.

It was a really hot day.

I remember that day.

And everyone was kind of over it, but I was like, I want to play.

And it was at that time, an all-star game was so wide open.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It was like NBA All-Star.

It was just like back and forth.

So I was just hanging out.

The uniforms were nice.

The kits were nice.

They were wild.

I still have one.

Yeah, I have one.

I have the old one.

And then 2014 was interesting because that was right after I got cut by Jürgen from the World Cup team.

So I played.

a few games with the galaxy and then we had the all-star game.

I think it was in August.

And it was up in Portland.

And we played Bayern Munich, I believe.

Yeah, that's

And Manuel Neuer was in goal.

And the irony was we played Germany in the World Cup that summer.

Yes.

So one thing I wanted to say so badly, but I never did was I was going to say in the post-game, like I anticipated scoring against Manuel Neuer this summer.

I just thought it would be in Brazil in the World Cup instead of here.

God, such a good line.

You should have.

Bottled up.

So I scored in the game.

Yes, scored in the game, was named the MVP.

And then actually, the next morning is when I announced that that was going to be my last season.

So, I remember that whole time like really vividly busy stretch, man.

It was, it was, it's funny how that happens in careers.

Okay, so how about for you, 09?

I was at that game, by the way, it was in Salt Lake.

You played, it was in Salt Lake.

What were your memories?

We were over with Everton for preseason, and obviously, played against the all-stars.

I'd love to lie to our listeners and say that I remember a lot of it.

I didn't.

Our producer

had to remind me that I made three saves in the penalty shootout, but I guess I I had a good game it it as you mentioned it matters you know like if you have an average game it's fine but like if you if you know you played well and you do know when you play well in these games it was like yeah I want to be MVP like it would it would have hurt if I wasn't you know so how did you save three penalties in a game and not remember you were the Matt Freeze of the 09 all-star game what's Matt Freeze I don't know I don't

remember that there's a lot I it comes back to me but I vaguely remember that you know why I know why because I

definitely hated preseason hated it so i think i was on preseason and i was like that was part of part of it blocking it out i've tried and block out all the preseasons like i wish talking to my nfl friends like i wish i could just hold out and just go i i'm not coming to preseason training and on the back of that you're going to give me an extension i know that's what the nfl guys do um but not sure i don't know how i didn't remember um it was always interesting all-star games because you're in the locker room with like rival players you know and i think yeah you're right i think on the outside people think that that like there's contention and all that like guys don't pay attention to to each other like you come in you say hi and you just hang out with your the guys that you know you know just do your thing it's very clicky but it's all not in a bad way because it's only a couple days so i also the best part was i i just loved playing with those guys yeah like guys you watched every week on the highlights and doing all the things and like

It was so fun to then just be in the same locker room, watch them train, play with them.

I loved it.

I loved it.

I thought it was fun.

Levels.

Good levels.

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 ATT, connecting changes everything.

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

Let's head into the

ATT fan connection with everyone's favorite co-host, Jordan Rossieri.

Rizzieri?

Are you telling me that after all these months

you have no idea how to say my last name?

I know it started with an R.

Is it Rizzieri?

It's Rizzieri.

You say Rizzi.

Rizzieri.

Rizzier.

What's your favorite Italian dish, Jordan?

I'm a really big fan of eggplant Rolentini.

It's my favorite thing in the world.

I don't know what that is.

It's like a really thin slice of fried eggplant with regatta cheese in the middle, and then it's rolled up and baked with tomato sauce over it and some fresh basil it's delicious that's a that's a really good answer speaking of favorites who's your favorite mirrorland

my favorite what who's your favorite mirrorland my favorite what uslnt host former player and host

um they have to be the same my favorite former player and host i think is becky sauerbrun that's gonna say you made it way too

no on this show do it on this show i don't pick you know i don't pick y'all have favorites wait wait wait wait wait wait wait you you produce this show that's called Unfiltered Soccer, and you expect us in this segment to run up the chimney and you're duck in the smoke.

One answer before we start.

One answer.

She's never going to answer.

Never.

Let's go.

Not.

All right.

What do you got?

I have so many things.

First of all, I just want to thank everyone who has,

a couple of weeks ago, I complained about jerseys.

I just got something in the mail.

I'm not going to show you what it is because I don't want to get, I don't want to deal with all of the complaining that I'll hear.

You got a jersey in the mail?

It's amazing.

I did.

Yes.

Wow.

I love that.

You deserve jerseys.

You're a part of this.

You wouldn't want it anyway because it's red.

So I'm very happy about it.

You can give me a red jersey.

I can tell you where I do with it, but send it to me.

Tim's just going to send it to me.

So I'll wear it on a future episode.

Okay.

So before we get into the questions, because we do have a lot of questions, there is one thing that has been requested of both of you by many people.

So instead of picking one of the questions, I am just going to ask you before we do anything else to please give us right now your starting 11 for the World Cup for the U.S.

men's national team.

Oh, by the way, I just saw you put in the chat that Tim did not save my penalty in that Everton all starting.

You just have a free,

you live rent-free in my career.

So good.

Okay, here's my team.

You ready?

Yeah, go ahead.

In goal from your Colorado Rapids, Zach Steffen.

Right back, Serginio Dest.

Right center back, Chris Richards.

Left center back.

A little controversy here.

Cameron Carter Vickers.

Okay.

Left back, Anthony Jedi Robinson.

Yep.

Midfield three of Tyler Adams.

I'm going to elect to have two choices here.

It's my show, so I'm just, you're going to have to deal with it.

A motivated Weston McKinney.

If it's an unmotivated Weston McKinney,

I would say Tanner Tessman.

Okay.

Ahead of them, Malik Tillman.

I think off the right, Christian.

Off the left, Timothy Wea and Ricardo Pepe is the nine.

Okay.

Any differences there?

I have, it's going to be weird because I'm looking at the Mexico game, right?

So we're going to play two teams in our group.

Of the three,

we will probably be slightly on the back foot.

I think we'll probably play two.

That will be better than.

Yeah, that's a good shot.

They'll be better than us.

Oh, you think we'll play two that are better than us?

We're going to be one of the seeded teams, remember?

I know, I know, I know.

Okay.

irregardless i'm thinking of the mexico game so i have us in a 4-4-2 okay okay i think zach stefan right right fullback dest right center back chris richards left center back tim ream the cockroach uh yeah uh anthony robinson left back midfield four starting on the left tillman tyler adams weston mckinney waya

underneath the striker pulisic and then flo balligan okay i we were close to similar we were close but again our our formations are different so the the piece but the pieces

who did we have we didn't have peppy and flo were different who else did and you didn't have

ccb okay so

but but to the point it's going it's going your starting 11 is going to come from 13 players most essentially right or or 14 players yeah i agree yeah okay

there you go All right, that should satisfy at least the first 14 questions I have in here.

So here we go.

All right.

How about some individual questions for you guys?

Yeah, let's do it.

The first one is for Landon, and it is from Pedro via X or Twitter, whatever you prefer to call it.

Landon, could you share your thoughts on the differences between your first and last seasons in MLS regarding the level of play, the coaches, and the overall working conditions?

Great question.

It's they're almost unrecognizable.

And if you go 2014 till today, I think it's even more skewed.

So in 2001, let me give you a story, Pedro.

I used to drive from my apartment in San Jose to Spartan Stadium, where we played our game, San Jose State University.

Okay, we played in a college football state,

whatever,

almost a D2 college football stadium, a D1, but barely.

San Jose State was not a great college football team.

We had portables, portable trailers outside of the stadium.

We would go in, get dressed.

We would drive 30 minutes to

a junior college facility.

They had one field,

West Valley College, where we would train.

We would train.

We would drive back 30 minutes to the stadium, to the portable, shower,

and then drive home another 15, 20 minutes.

So

that was how we did things.

We would travel almost exclusively on Southwest.

We had team administrators who would like book the travel a week before we left because

for some reason they couldn't figure out that you could book this months and months in advance.

So we'd all be sitting in middle seats.

And

that was how it was everywhere.

2014, a few times a year, we would charter planes.

We had the galaxy's beautiful training facility, stadium, sold-out stadiums, et cetera.

So that's on that side.

Coaching, you can't even, if you had played the game before, you got a coaching job.

If you had played in MLS, you got a coaching job.

Basically, period end of story.

If I was finishing my career at that time, any team would have been like, you want to coach?

Sure.

Do you have your licenses?

Nope.

Okay, fine.

Here you go.

Coaching job.

So now.

Well, not now, but even by 2014, there were much better coaches, much more qualified.

So everything, I mean, everything has changed.

And Tim can speak to that too.

But

those are just a couple examples.

And by the way, from a league standpoint, if you were willing to pick up the operating expenses of any club in MLS, they would give you the club.

So the Galaxy owner, Phil Anschutz, God bless him, owned, I think, six teams in the league.

The Hunts, owned

Kansas City, Dallas, and maybe one other.

The Crafts owned a few teams and they were like look if you want to take this twenty million dollar loss off our hands we'll give you the franchise you cut to today it would cost you probably a billion dollars to buy some of these franchises so that's another example of how it's changed um so tim for you hudson via instagram said tim do you have a favorite save that you've ever made

a favorite save hudson I don't know.

It's a tough one.

Probably one of the in either the Mexico game or the the Liverpool game.

I think I saved a penalty off of Dirkoit

at Everton.

You made a big save.

I think it was 07 at Soldier Field at the end of that game.

We won 2-1.

You made a really big save at the end of the game.

That's the thing.

The fact that you remember that is amazing because that's probably, of all of the great moments that I've had, that's the one that...

Nobody remembers and nobody talks about.

So

at the end of that U.S.-Mexico Gold Cup game final in Soldier Field 2007, you scored the penalty.

I scored a pen, yeah.

Benny Felhay,

the volley.

You know, they scored right before halftime.

So it was 1-0 going to halftime.

We're up 2-1, 89th minute.

I make an unbelievable point-blank save that, like, obviously it then ties the game.

We go to penalties, right?

And I keep it at 2-1.

I remember Ricardo Clark, like, like, jumping on me or smacking me or something.

It was amazing.

Yeah.

Totally forgot.

I can, I don't remember the exact save, like how it happened, but I do remember remember the reaction of you getting up and him.

And I was like, oh, amazing.

Good times.

Well, we have a bunch more questions, but maybe we should give people a little break first.

What do you think?

Sure.

We'll take a break.

We'll be right back.

All right.

I'm just kidding, Jordan.

What do you want to do?

All right.

When we're going to take a break, when we come back, we will take more questions from the ATT Fan Connection and we'll talk anything but soccer right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Land and Tim and Jordan, presented by Volkswagen.

Stick around.

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 knows when it's time to get away and choose chill.

See you later.

I'm going to go play golf.

I I got to be honest, I choose to chill a lot in the summer.

Going to concerts, family barbecues.

I spend a ton of time on the beach.

I reach into the cooler, get a Coors Light.

For me, I choose to chill very, very often.

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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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Back with more of your questions.

Tim Landon, JR, let's knock it out of the park.

Should we do another question?

We should do lots more questions.

Many more questions.

This one is from Jonathan via email.

He said, I've been a USA soccer fan since the 80s when I played.

I was at the 1994 World Cup game USA versus Romania at the Rose Bowl as an active duty US Navy guy stationed in San Diego.

Love you guys.

My question is, what can be done to reduce the number of players taking dives to draw penalties?

Not just in the box, but all over the pitch.

I believe it kills momentum, but more importantly, when you talk to casual sports fans, this is the image of soccer everywhere as a sport of fakers who excel at falling to the ground and acting hurt.

I believe this is the barrier for the sport to grow, especially here in the U.S.

First of all, thank you very much for your service and thanks for the support of

our sport.

It's amazing.

This is interesting because this is very much a cultural thing and it and it differs country to country.

So when you play in a CONCACAF game, we would just, Tim, just get used to it.

Like it's just for a lot of Central American countries, you just get used to it.

Sure.

You go to England and you dive

and

players destroy you for it.

Like in training, in the games, they're like, get even your teammates will be like, get up, get on with it, get up.

And it's just, it's a really unique phenomenon.

We saw it during the Gold Cup a lot.

It's too bad.

One, one thing that has helped is all the cameras,

all the VAR.

Referees are reluctant to give yellow cards for simulation, but they're doing it.

And I think it started to crack down on it.

I think they can do more of it.

The one that's the most frustrating is when you get hit like in the arm or the shoulder or the neck or whatever and go down and hold your head.

And I would be fine with in video review if you got hit in the neck or in the chest and you went down and held your head if you got a yellow card for it.

I'm totally fine with that because you are just trying

to dupe the referee.

I mean, that's the only thing you're trying to do.

So I would be totally fine with that.

So I guess that would be my, that would be my take.

So So we, so we disagree on this.

And anyone who's taught soccer with me knows diving is a thing in our sport.

I'm going to talk specifically about penalties.

Anybody who knows me knows.

I always encourage, whether it's my own team or if I'm watching a game, I encourage a play, if there is contact that

I think the player should always go down.

Here's why.

Here's why.

In basketball, they did away with flopping, right?

The margins aren't that high.

You flop.

If you dive in the penalty area, right?

And you put that type of pressure on the referee to get it right, the worst that can happen to you is a yellow card.

The best thing that can happen to you is you get a penalty and we know the likelihood is you're going to score.

So you get a goal.

Because our games aren't 10 to 20 or 105 to 106 like in basketball, the opportunities to score, and you know this are so small.

So that's an opportunity for me to gain an advantage.

So, and by duping the referee,

to your point, Landon, if you go down without contact, that's going to VAR.

So,

that goes to VAR and it is a clear and obvious error if you're completely not touched and they overturn it.

I still think in those moments, you should go down.

So, we don't disagree as much as you think.

So, the keys there were with contact, without contact.

So, I used used to get mad at referees.

Like I would be running into the box with the ball and I go to shoot.

And right as I'm shooting, someone gives me a push.

And it's not a massive,

crazy push, but a push that throws me off balance and I kick it into the stands.

Or pushes me and I fall over because I'm running at my fastest.

And the ref would go, well, that's not a penalty.

And I would say to him all the time, do you think when I'm eight yards from goal, I'm just going to fall over on my own?

Right.

You think I'm going to intentionally, with all the goals I've scored in my life, I'm just going to fall over and say, you know what?

Let's try to get a penalty here instead of doing what I know I can do, which is put it in the corner and score the goal.

And so I used to get so mad at that.

Now, if there's no contact and you're trying to dupe the referee, then you should be punished for it.

But I do agree with the problem is, especially with big players, like Shaq always dealt with this.

Guys would hang on him, climb on him, smash him, and he's just big.

So he could take it.

And they wouldn't call a foul.

Yeah.

And it's like, that's a foul.

Yeah.

It's a foul.

If that happened on anyone else, they'd fall down.

Right.

So I don't think we disagree as much as you think, but you can't, it does hurt the product a lot when people are just flopping around pretending like they got hit in the face when they, when they didn't.

And we need to get that out of the game.

Fair.

Thanks, Jonathan.

This one is from Keenan via email.

First, I would like to thank you guys.

I grew up watching you both in the national team and think that built my love for the game.

Thank you.

As U.S.

men's national team fans, I think we all agree attendance has been weak for our games.

I think it would be great if we pushed for the U.S.

men's national team to have two home stadiums, an East Coast one and a West Coast one.

Atlanta has a strong following, as does LA or Kansas City.

If we did this, it could help provide a true home field advantage to our team for international matches.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

I think U.S.

soccer, which is baffling that we're in 2025 and we don't have a national stadium, But I think U.S.

soccer is looking to do that, to build and create a national stadium, which again, we should have had 20 years ago.

Every country does.

You know,

you cherish that and it's kind of like a pilgrimage to go there and see your team play.

Absolutely.

I agree with

attendance has been down.

And speaking to some people at U.S.

soccer, probably even like a year ago, that was a real concern.

Like that, that's not something that went unnoticed by them.

And so obviously doing other things to market differently and trying to get more butts in the seats is something that they're concerned with.

Yeah.

Do things change if we have a singular national stadium?

I don't know if you can have two.

So I don't know.

It's a tough, it's a big country.

It's a big country.

So

tough question.

But yeah, I do like the idea of having one national stadium.

I will say during the Gold Cup, U.S.

soccer does not control the venues, the ticket prices, et cetera.

So there is, you know, there is some nuance there.

As far as tickets, as far as buying tickets to see your national team,

actually, let me just start with Steve.

So

if we're going to have a stadium,

does that guarantee that people are going to go and watch?

And does that guarantee that we're going to have a pro-American crowd?

I'm asking you.

I don't, you know, does it?

No.

If it's in Atlanta and we play Mexico, know, that doesn't guarantee anything,

right?

No, no, you're just fair.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So the question is, then, where do you, you know, because Columbus would be great, but you're not going to have the national stadium in Columbus, I don't think, right?

Maybe you are.

I don't know.

No, I don't think so.

And then as far as buying tickets, what people forget about this country still is people don't have this

dedicated

no matter what, I'm going to watch my national team personality yet in our country.

There are some people, the American Outlaws, et cetera, but it is still an entertainment option for people.

In other countries, it's not.

When El Salvador plays, you're going to the stadium.

Period.

End of story.

That's it.

For the national team, it's like a bunch of the star players.

I'm just talking about this summer.

Bunch of the star players didn't want to play.

The teams had lost five games in a row coming into the Gold Cup or four games in a row, whatever.

So people are like, I don't know.

Why am I going to go pay to why?

Our guys don't even want to be there.

there.

Why would I want to go?

Right.

So I think that is part of it.

And we have to remember that.

And,

you know, there were times, Tim, where like

people were spending money to come watch you and goal or come watch Clint play or come watch Josie.

Like people were paying money for that.

But if it's a bunch of guys you don't know and you're just like, and it's $112 for the ticket and you got four kids.

like i'm not going to do that and i i don't blame them yeah

you're saying that you don't know if the if building a national stadium rectifies that problem but having a national shouldn't i i mean i'm thinking about globally and and the three of us you can tell me if i'm wrong or our producers most national stadiums are in the capital city am i right in saying that like most i would say outside of well do european teams have like germany doesn't have a national stadium do they would they call it berlin

I thought they did have a national stadium.

England has Wembley.

What does France have?

Yeah.

Does Spain have a national stadium?

No, they don't have a national stadium, but in the, I would say, the lower sort of level countries, yes, yes, respectfully, they all have a national stadium, yes, all through the Caribbean, all usually in the capital, usually in the capital, because that's usually in the capital, correctly populated, correct.

So we should have one in DC.

I mean, I'm okay with that.

I'd be okay with that, too.

But you do, then you do open the door to lots of El Salvadorians, Hondurans, Mexicans when we play those teams, right?

Being in the stadium.

But

that's no different than it is now.

That's that's movie soccer in america yeah that's good question here is a question for both of you from dan via instagram i don't know what the outcome of this is going to be i love i love these are my favorite ones i know can because sometimes i put this list together and then i go

i don't know i was confident when i put made this but now i'm not so sure will you name all the teams that reached out and expressed interest in potentially signing you throughout your career oh that's a great question great question I'm going to do, I'm going to write it so I don't forget.

Do you know yours already, Tim?

It's only two.

It wasn't many.

Some of these are going to surprise some people, I think.

Okay, good.

I don't know exact timeline

for this one.

I want to say it was after 2002 World Cup.

Kievo Verona.

I don't even know.

I don't know what

division they're in now.

After 2001, too?

I believe so.

Nice.

When I went back, this is actually in my book.

This is a cool story.

When I went back to Leverkusen

and then came back to the States in 2020, I'm sorry, in 2005, right at the death, right before I was going to sign with MLS, Portsmouth reached out

and put in like a very real offer.

And I had to really think about it, like really think about it.

The second time I went back to Everton, Tim, Club America reached out

and

basically matched the the offer from Everton.

And that one I actually really thought about too.

I don't remember when this one was.

Club America would be wild.

Let me say that.

Can you imagine?

Yeah.

I don't remember when this one was, but Ryo Vallacano in Spain at one point because Casey had been there.

And then the last one was actually right

after I retired, Salt Lake reached out.

and said,

and I actually went far down that path of considering it.

Yeah.

And I'll tell that story another day.

But yeah.

Great question.

I'm trying, I'm googling the name of the team.

Who's the

team?

I don't.

I don't.

Who's the other team in Barcelona?

I think it was Swindon Town, Tim.

Who's the other team in Barcelona?

What's the rival?

Espanol.

Espanol.

Yeah.

Okay.

So clearly made an impact on you.

No,

I forget most of these.

That's a great question because it jarred so many memories.

So it started off at the Metro Stars.

Casey was at Rival Vallecano, right?

And it was a coach Juan de Ramos.

I don't remember.

I could be getting this wrong.

Anyway, he might have went to Espanol, and I think they were kicking the tires because they had Casey.

And they're like, oh, this, this particular coach liked American goalkeepers.

So it was one of those Spanish clubs.

It was either Espanol or Rio Vacano.

I can't remember.

Then I went on, then I went on trial at Fynord.

And this was in 2002.

I was on trial at Fineord.

They passed, which was fine.

You had to go on trial at Fine Ord?

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah.

I was on

a starter, right?

With New York at that point.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You had to go on trial there that time.

I went on trial and then they said no.

And then less than a year later, I signed for Man United.

And it was like,

they got caned, like the coaching staff and the Dutch paper got like absolutely caned because they're like, oh, because it came.

Oh, because they knew you were on trial.

They knew I was on trial.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so they were like, we didn't sign, huh?

What just happened here?

So, yeah.

In fact, you know who told me that story is when Edwin Mandestar came to Man United a couple of years later.

He was telling me that story because obviously

he's the king.

After I was leaving Man United, I chose Everton, but Wigan, Portsmouth, and Everton were in for me.

A thousand percent made the right choice.

And then went to Colorado.

And then, as you know, at the end, you both know this story.

The coolest.

part was at the end of my my Colorado career.

I don't remember what year it was.

So 2018, 19, somewhere in there.

And I don't know, I don't know how.

It was all a bit chaotic.

My agent called me and he was like, Boca juniors, which is amazing, have come in for you.

And essentially, they were in Copa Libertadores.

And I think their number one and number two goalkeepers were injured.

And there was some emergency thing that got triggered where they had to sign, like they basically went, sought out to sign an experienced goalkeeper with international experience.

And I think because of the rules, they could only come from either Mexico or the United States or something.

I can't remember exactly.

And it was down to me and another guy, and they chose the other guy.

But I remember for like a couple of days thinking, what?

Like, oh, that would have been.

I mean, imagine that cherry on top of your career, like just playing for bokeh.

But anyway, yeah, that's a really fun question.

That was great.

Okay, one more?

Sure.

Okay.

This one is from Greg via email.

I've been trying to get more of my friends into soccer this summer with no luck, but they all share a common hang-up, the possibility of a tie game.

Honestly, after watching the 7v7 tournament again this year, I'm starting to see their point.

I know this is a long shot for professional leagues outside of the U.S., but do you think there's any chance soccer could adopt a system similar to the NHL?

In that league, both teams get a point for a tie, and then they go to a shootout for an extra point.

I really believe a change like that could attract more fans to the sport here in America.

Possibly.

I don't love it.

I don't love it.

I think the other part, it's all about education, right?

So you're getting a group of friends together.

I get it.

It's very American to have playoffs.

It's very American not to end in a tie.

I get that.

Anybody who's ever watched or understands soccer knows that it's the beautiful game for a reason.

And I think the education part is you get a group of friends together, and rather than try and completely reinvent the wheel, educate them on why it's the beautiful game, that why over the course of 90 minutes the goals matter, but individual plays and players and the nuances if you understand the nuances of the game you then can teach that to them um

so yeah i i don't know

i don't hate the nhl way but i'm also like i'm not i'm not sure not sure i love it either who is this greg greg yeah greg i don't like it i love it i love it so i've been saying this forever with my friends i don't think i've said it publicly but this is what i would do so i love the nhl way where where you get a tie and then you do a shootout, great.

I think it'd be fun, exciting.

They do it in a lot of like MLS Next Pro does it in League MX, the under 20s.

They take shootouts after every game.

They take penalties and you get an extra point.

No matter what the score, you could lose 8-0, you could still get a point.

But it teaches you in those big moments during penalties, like when you get older, you're used to it.

You've been in those pressure moments.

I think it's great.

What I would love to see, and I know it will never happen, and I'm going to get caned for this.

When in tournaments, when you go into extra time,

when you start extra time, instead of starting 11v11, you start 9v9

after five minutes.

And think about like the strategy involved.

Who do you take off?

After five minutes,

if it's still tied, you're going to love this.

If it's still tied, you take another.

Each team has to take another player off.

So now you're 8v8, including the goalies.

So 7v7 on the field.

Five more minutes, take another.

And

it's like hunger games.

It's like, who's going to survive?

I love it.

It'd be so fun.

I'm stressed out just listening to this.

To our listeners, to our listeners, please disregard what you just heard.

Please continue to subscribe to Unfiltered Soccer.

Do not, do not, do not leave us.

Would that not be fun?

Do not leave us.

Extra time,

the biggest waste of time now.

Everybody's like, let's just da, da, da.

One team's like.

praying to get to pet i'm like just do it then let's make it fun then can i split the difference because i don't i also agree that nothing like that is ever going to happen, but I would absolutely, in the same way that like the

WNBA three,

the league that happened, the 3v3 unrivaled, yeah, like all the rules that they had about like you had to beat the other teams maximum points, whatever, and the fourth, all that made it more interesting.

So if somebody wanted to do a tournament with those rules, everyone would watch because it's like you said, it's like the Hunger Games, but I don't, somebody's going to make an awful lot of money off of that idea, LD.

It might as well be.

Did we have a shot clock?

Did we have a suggestion of a shot clock last week?

A couple weeks ago.

My first thought was like,

how are the Europeans going to take this question?

Anyway, yeah, you're still, to be fair, it's a brilliant idea I have.

I always just tell people, if you're looking to get somebody into soccer in this country, just tell them you can watch 45 minutes of sports with no commercials.

And if that's not enough, they're never going to be.

I would actually, I always say take them to a game.

Don't try to watch on TV.

Take them to a game and sit in a, go to U.S., Mexico, and Houston, and they're going to be like, yeah, I'm into this.

Or

if you're going to watch it on TV, go to like a supporter's bar.

Yeah, totally.

Watch with other people.

That's right.

For sure.

That's the second best.

Sometimes first.

Great.

This was fun.

Thanks, guys.

Great.

Thanks, JR.

All right, guys.

Thank you.

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