MLS All-Star 2025 and YOUR Questions Answered

Speaker 1 To our listeners, please disregard what you just heard. Please continue to subscribe to Unfiltered Soccer.
Do not, do not, do not leave us. Please, do not leave us.

Speaker 2 Would that not be fun?

Speaker 1 I'm not having that.

Speaker 2 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.
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Speaker 1 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?

Speaker 2 Can I complain for a minute? Yeah.

Speaker 2 I always complain. I do, true.
Do you ever ride your bike? Like, do you ever ride a bike outside?

Speaker 1 Oh, like every day.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 2 You're not one of these like biker people, right?

Speaker 2 Do you know what I'm talking about? I don't know what you're talking about.

Speaker 1 Keep going.

Speaker 2 So

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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

Speaker 2 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 convinced.

Speaker 2 I swear to God, they're convinced that, yes, they're convinced the road was made for them.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 Tim, they don't even look at me. They're like, they're disgusted.
Totally.

Speaker 2 They're just, they just, they, like, they'll glance and then they're just like, this guy is a clown.

Speaker 1 I'm like slightly on their side because I do ride the way they do.

Speaker 2 So you wear the Speedo and all that? I have the whole kit. Yeah.

Speaker 1 No, you. We got a, we got a squad, me and my boy.

Speaker 2 Do you really? Yeah, man. Oh, Jesus Christ.

Speaker 1 Listen, this is how we do it. I'm on their side, but you're, yeah, you're angry.
And I,

Speaker 2 I appreciate it.

Speaker 2 Whatever. We're going to have another conversation about this.
This is a problem. I had no idea you're that.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 I'm glad you you went through it.

Speaker 2 Oh, my God. All right.

Speaker 2 Let that go. Guys, follow social media, Unfiltered Soccer.
Subscribe to the show on YouTube. Make sure you follow Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
You can leave a review.

Speaker 2 It's helped lots and lots of people find us, which has been great. And then you can email Jordan as always.
Feedback at Unfiltered Soccer. All right.
I'm really going to let that go now.

Speaker 2 All right, Tim.

Speaker 2 MLS All-Star. We are recording this.

Speaker 2 What's the date? The 8th.

Speaker 2 Because we got a lot of stuff coming up. So MLS All-Star is in air quotes this week.
We will be there,

Speaker 2 which will be great. Yep.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 What's your preference on all this?

Speaker 1 What's this?

Speaker 2 And this year is what it's the League MX All-Stars. Oh, right.
Okay. Yeah.
Okay.

Speaker 2 Uh, what's your preference? What did you, what did you like? But because I think all-star games, all-star games struggle with this. Like, how do you make it competitive?

Speaker 2 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

Speaker 2 kind of real for some players, at least. Yeah.
So, what's your preference?

Speaker 1 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?

Speaker 2 Andrew told us, Andrew told me it was six. I played like 15 games.

Speaker 1 But in that game, in that game, I had four.

Speaker 2 I only had the six total in 15 all-star games. Yeah.

Speaker 1 So you and I played, was that in San Jose, LD?

Speaker 2 That was in San Jose, yeah.

Speaker 1 So East vs. West is 2001.
That was cool.

Speaker 1 How many MLS All-Star MVPs did you win?

Speaker 2 No idea.

Speaker 1 I won one. But anyway.

Speaker 1 But again, I played in, but I was on on the opposite side. So it was MLS All-Stars versus Everton.

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah, yeah. I played that game too.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and that was in Salt Lake, I believe. But

Speaker 1 I don't know.

Speaker 1 It's an interesting question.

Speaker 1 I think it should be the same. They should kind of get to one iteration of it.
And stick to it. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Look, I will say

Speaker 1 when I came back from Europe,

Speaker 1 2017, 18, one of those years, I played,

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 We played on a Saturday and then the All-Star game was like midweek on like a Wednesday. And like, I wanted to train and take it seriously.
And I'm kind of like, I'm not trained. Like,

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 I don't know. The question about what I like best.

Speaker 1 I tend to want to see like East versus West.

Speaker 1 I don't know.

Speaker 2 I don't know. Yeah.
Or maybe.

Speaker 2 Competitive, you know?

Speaker 1 Or maybe like MLS

Speaker 1 World All-Stars versus

Speaker 2 American player. I don't know.
I don't really know. I like MLS.

Speaker 1 I'm not sure.

Speaker 1 Here's the thing, LD.

Speaker 1 There's enough summer exhibition games with European teams.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that's true.

Speaker 1 They play each other. I'm not that interested.
Like MLS All-Stars versus Real Madrid.

Speaker 1 Again, the game I played in or with Everton, not that, not that.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 2 And I think the league wanted it to be like, wow, if we beat Everton, it shows everyone.

Speaker 2 It's like, guys, this game means nothing to them. It means nothing to us.
Sure, sure, sure.

Speaker 2 You know what I would love definitely this year, and I think I could convince myself going forward, is playing the national team.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 I would have loved that. I wonder if that was talked about.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 2 It was in D.C. I don't even remember.
I might have played a half and a half.

Speaker 2 I honestly think you're unbelievable, man. Yeah, no, it was in my contract.
No, I

Speaker 2 have no idea.

Speaker 1 It was

Speaker 1 in D.C.

Speaker 2 and I think it was after a World Cup.

Speaker 1 So I want to say it was 2002 or 2003, something like that. Anyway, interesting.
I don't know.

Speaker 1 I would love to see East versus West and then

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 It needs to have spice. All the all-star games have lost its spice.
So yeah.

Speaker 2 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

Speaker 2 30

Speaker 2 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

Speaker 2 did that actually did those goals count for your like record

Speaker 2 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?

Speaker 1 Yeah. He coached.
God, these are the dog days of MLS. He coached the Mighty Metro stars.
And

Speaker 1 I was just breaking the team where I was getting some minutes. I don't know.
It must have been 19 years old or something.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 he has one of the coaches. After like the third one, I got pumped on, right? Like the three, one, two, three, bang.
They go in.

Speaker 1 He like has a coach run down behind the boards to like tell me some tactic of how to

Speaker 2 jog on.

Speaker 1 Even at 19, I was like, you could just do one. Get out of here.
Yeah, amazing.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 How many goals did you score in an all-star game? Jesus.

Speaker 2 I don't know. Well, they said I only had six and 15.

Speaker 1 So you scored at least. At least two or three on me.
Let's just

Speaker 1 take a number and get in line. Everyone scores on me.

Speaker 2 Yeah, not a great goalie.

Speaker 2 All right. Who are you of the players? Who are you excited to see?

Speaker 1 Well, I don't really know. I mean, Messi, is Messi going to turn up? Because obviously that's very simple.

Speaker 2 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. He has to show up.

Speaker 2 The league would absolutely lose it.

Speaker 1 Ultimately, I want to see Messi because I haven't seen him.

Speaker 1 I haven't seen him play live.

Speaker 1 How many times have you played against him?

Speaker 2 Actually, I've never seen him play live except playing against him either. That's it.

Speaker 1 I played against him twice, and then I haven't seen him play live, which is kind of crazy.

Speaker 2 So we should see him play. Oh, no, I did see him play live.
I saw him play in Nashville. I think that was the League's Cup.
Okay. It's pretty fun to watch.
He does not, Tim.

Speaker 2 And when I tell you he doesn't move, he doesn't move until he has the ball. I mean, I know at all.

Speaker 1 But if you're him, you don't have to move.

Speaker 2 He's still the best player on the field by a mile.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 Like, still. Everyone's scared.
Scared. Which is fair.

Speaker 2 Totally fair. I'm actually, I'm curious to see all the national team guys who come back.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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,

Speaker 2 you know, what does Burhalter look like?

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 Yeah. It's still a tough sell.
The all-star games are still a tough sell to get everybody on board.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 2 They need an incentive.

Speaker 1 They need an incentive. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah. All right.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 And I'm thinking of some MLS All-Stars. You got Brad Stuver,

Speaker 1 goalkeeper for Austin FC, makes his first MLS All-Star game after his 13th season. That's pretty impressive.
That's awesome.

Speaker 2 Because

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 I mean, absolutely on fire.

Speaker 1 Guy in your neck of the woods, Anders Dreyer.

Speaker 1 He's been the key for San Diego FC. And Alex Friedman, kid we've known

Speaker 1 now this summer with the U.S. Men's National team from Orlando City.
I mean, those are some good pictures. Others, for me,

Speaker 1 I think Baribo's been amazing. I think he's absolutely been amazing.
So he would be my choice. What's your choice?

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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,

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 And obviously I'm close to it here in San Diego. I'm telling you, Tim, if he played for the Galaxy or LAFC

Speaker 2 or

Speaker 2 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

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 Patrick Ajamong is a commissioner's pick, or you can be voted in, or you can be a coach's choice. Right.

Speaker 2 And it was always interesting who were the coaches' choices because you knew coaches pay attention and they knew who the real players are. So Anders Dreyer did not get voted in.

Speaker 2 Again, he's not in a huge market vis-a-vis MLS. So you can understand that, but the coaches were like, Estevez

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 So for me, Anders Dreyer

Speaker 2 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, Anders Dreyer. Cheers.
All right.

Speaker 2 So that's all-star game, which means means we've gotten through the first half of the season.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 They've had flashes, but Inzygme and Bernardeski,

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 They had bad hires, bad leadership, bad GM, bad, you know, they've been bad.

Speaker 2 But those two have been a joke.

Speaker 2 And so they're gone now.

Speaker 2 So

Speaker 2 I'll just start. I mean, I guess I really hope now they give Robin a chance.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 And look at his roster. It's terrible.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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,

Speaker 1 Posuelo. I mean,

Speaker 1 those worked out. So to throw big money at players was a good thing for them.

Speaker 1 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,

Speaker 1 his salary was

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 I'm going over top on him. If he's my teammate and he down tools like that,

Speaker 1 he and I are going to have at it. Like, that's crazy to me.
That's crazy.

Speaker 2 And you 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.

Speaker 2 You understood the responsibility. I did.
We all understood the responsibility. Like, this is way more than just playing soccer.

Speaker 1 Totally. And it's, which is why, which is why also I firmly believe in the MLS.

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 2 Christian.

Speaker 1 Our biggest players, the way they did with you, the way they did with Michael Bradley and Josie Altador. Like

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 And so they should absolutely and will stick by him.

Speaker 2 Well, and this should have happened a year plus ago right but now finally i mean i cannot imagine how much relief robin frasier 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

Speaker 2 yeah no you have to get the right players yeah you have to you just wonder though like

Speaker 1 they got it so right at the beginning that this is kind of scorched them now, right? These two.

Speaker 2 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

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 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 roundabout million, just for just for giggles.

Speaker 2 Okay, we'll call it 20 million on two players.

Speaker 1 You and I have said this all along, and I know there's there's mechanisms and all these funky words.

Speaker 2 I want to build a roster, like, 21 million, right?

Speaker 1 Yo, if you, if you were to say, if you were essentially to say to any ownership group, any GM, and any coach

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 I'd rather have 20 players at a million dollars a clip because you're getting really good players, by the way. Right.

Speaker 2 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

Speaker 2 this is a little bit of the problem. So I said, I said exactly what you just said.
Why don't we do that?

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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 $1 million at Derby.

Speaker 2 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

Speaker 2 that is going to happen with some players, but you're also then going to just go spend on

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 So we're going left and we're going to stay left here because

Speaker 1 I'm currently having a conversation. Okay, and that's as far as I'll go.
But to your point,

Speaker 1 the people who you spoke to or the person you spoke to

Speaker 1 don't know what the hell they're talking about.

Speaker 2 Here's why.

Speaker 1 We so drastically undervalue the talent that we currently already have. drastically right

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 1 right that were making like you said a hundred thousand dollars we put that valuation on them

Speaker 1 Patrick Ajamang should be making a million dollars. It's clear as day.

Speaker 1 He's actually going to then go do that and make more than a million.

Speaker 2 Because the market is saying that's what he's worth.

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 So we drastically undervalue these players. So then the second we say,

Speaker 1 let's construct the roster.

Speaker 1 Differently, they say, well, we're going to pay more money for the same players. Those players, we can pay more money anyway.

Speaker 1 And to my point and yours, the person you spoke to, I would say, okay,

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 2 And Tim, the problem is, too, is this was a league executive.

Speaker 1 I believe that.

Speaker 2 And a league executive, this is part of the power dynamic is like they, some of them think they know what

Speaker 2 Toronto FC should do.

Speaker 2 And Toronto FC is like, don't tell me what to do.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 Anyway, we'll get, we'll talk more.

Speaker 1 Let's go. While we went left, I was hot.

Speaker 2 I was hot.

Speaker 2 Okay, current playoff picture. Don't sleep on your dynamo, Tim.

Speaker 2 I'm looking now up to eighth place.

Speaker 2 We're currently eighth place. We're tied.
Tied with LAFC. You're only two points behind San Jose.
You can

Speaker 1 leapfrog. We can leapfrog a few teams with a win.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 If they do, they're a good team. They actually are really good teams.
Yeah, they showed it last year.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I could see Salt Lake creep and they get Luna back.

Speaker 2 And they need a player or two. They do.

Speaker 1 They do.

Speaker 1 If, you know, you know, Diego Luna is going to come back highly motivated

Speaker 1 after the summer. If they can add one or two pieces, it's a big if.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 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 i would say

Speaker 2 salt lake or austin yeah the galaxy have won two of their last three or four i was gonna say are they gonna make a late are they gonna make a late push i don't know what is this like what is this like for them like like 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 build me 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.

Speaker 2 When does your boy get back?

Speaker 1 When does your boy get back?

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 2 Galaxy currently on 12 points.

Speaker 2 I,

Speaker 1 you actually don't believe they can make a push, but

Speaker 1 what do they finish this season on? They're on 12 points right now.

Speaker 2 Okay, they've played 21 games. Is it 34 games? 32 games?

Speaker 2 So they have 11 more games?

Speaker 2 Oh, my God. They're so bad.

Speaker 1 Do they get to 20 points? Oh, yeah.

Speaker 2 Oh, yeah. It's only eight more points from 11 games.

Speaker 2 Oh, wow.

Speaker 2 Maybe not.

Speaker 2 Okay, I'm talking about making the playoffs. Now we're saying they can't even 22 points.
They're running. 34 games.
Okay, 34 games. So they have 11 more.
No, they have 13 more games. Yeah.

Speaker 2 I think they'll get 20 points from those 13 games. So I think they finish on 32.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 1 Okay. We have that.
Clip that off, please. Production, clip that off.
30.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 Oh, you're just trying.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 Yeah, they're making a little late push.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 Atlanta, D.

Speaker 1 I tell you what,

Speaker 1 there's some woeful teams, by the way. Like, they're bad.
Really bad. Bad, bad teams.
Really bad. In the bottom.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 Yeah, okay.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 2 They're not happy with us, are they?

Speaker 1 New England seems easy.

Speaker 2 We believe in New England, Tim.

Speaker 2 As we've always said, we love New England.

Speaker 1 You're a bad guy. You are a good guy.

Speaker 2 All right. Last thing before our break.
Who wins this supporter's 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.

Speaker 2 Vancouver and Columbus.

Speaker 2 Minnesota, 37.

Speaker 1 I'm going to say they're on 42.

Speaker 2 It's tight. Vancouver, I have one less game played.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Also, Vancouver, great place to play and live.

Speaker 2 All the turf's not great, but cool stadium.

Speaker 1 Wow, Cincinnati seems so easy to say. I like Cincinnati.
I do. I like the way they're set up.

Speaker 1 I'm going to go with Cincinnati.

Speaker 2 There, I said it.

Speaker 1 Don't fail me.

Speaker 2 I have a receipt. I'm going to go with my hometown.
I knew it. San Diego.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 Wait, so did Chicago

Speaker 1 won in their inaugural season, right? 98?

Speaker 2 I think that's right. I believe that's right.
Yep.

Speaker 1 Under Bob and I don't for the regular season team.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 It's fair. It's my opinion.
I like it. Also, a week from

Speaker 2 today, as this is coming out, League's Cup starts.

Speaker 2 It's hard right now to put our minds around that because there's been Gold Cup and

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 We just just need to let gold cups settle down a little bit. Club World Cup settle down a little bit.

Speaker 1 I mean, let's talk about how challenging the stretch is for intra-Miami, LFC, and Seattle Sounders. I mean, they had to play Club World Cup and then League's Cup.

Speaker 2 Well, they started early, too, with the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Right.
That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 You know, the funny thing about like, this is the funny thing about the Messi conversation. Like, I know we talk about

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 2 game? It doesn't make any sense.

Speaker 1 Like they have so many games.

Speaker 2 Crazy, I know.

Speaker 1 So yeah.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 There's so much soccer this year. Crazy.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Crazy.

Speaker 2 All right. We'll keep our eye on that as that gets closer.
It feels a little bit away right now, but once League's Cup starts, we'll be following it. All right, let's take a break when we come back.

Speaker 2 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

Speaker 2 right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Lana and Tim, presented by Volkswagen. Stay right there.

Speaker 1 The Unfiltered Soccer podcast is brought to you by Volkswagen, the presenting partner of U.S.

Speaker 2 Soccer. As the U.S.
gets ready to host the world for soccer's biggest moment, Volkswagen is helping people discover new turfs and new ways to play the beautiful game right here in the U.S.

Speaker 1 From deaf and power wheelchair soccer to beach and futsal, VW is actively supporting all the communities and teams within the U.S. soccer ecosystem.
They're working with talent from across the U.S.

Speaker 1 soccer extended national teams and are focused on helping to give these less widely known forms of soccer a platform moving forward.

Speaker 2 As a longtime friend of Volkswagen, I can tell you they're really making a difference, opening up new turfs and new possibilities here in the U.S.

Speaker 1 Thank you to Volkswagen and the Tiguan for being the presenting partner and for bringing nice things to everyone. Find out more about how VW is supporting U.S.
soccer at vw.com.

Speaker 1 There's a certain energy to soccer in Latin America. The footwork, the creativity, the passion from fans.
It's more than a sport. It's a rhythm.
That same spirit shows up in Cafe Bustello.

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Speaker 1 There's nothing better than feeling like someone has your back and that things are going to get done even without you having to ask.

Speaker 1 Like your crisp new jersey waiting for you in the locker room or a perfectly set up wall for a free kick.

Speaker 2 Yeah, as we on Unfiltered Soccer get ready for next summer, we know that very little in the beautiful game is guaranteed.

Speaker 2 But as we prepare to bring our Unfiltered brand of non-stop soccer coverage, it's good to know ATT has your back with the ATT guarantee.

Speaker 1 Staying connected matters. That's why in the rare event of a network outage, ATT will proactively credit you for a full day of service.
That's the AT ⁇ T guarantee.

Speaker 2 Learn more at ATT.com slash guarantee. AT ⁇ T, connecting changes everything.

Speaker 1 Credit for fiber downtime lasting 20 minutes or more or a wireless downtime lasting 60 minutes or more caused by a single incident impacting 10 or more towers must be connected to impacted towers at onset of outage.

Speaker 1 Restrictions and exclusions apply. See att.com slash guarantee for full details.

Speaker 1 It's time now for control your game presented by Nitza. When you speed, you have less time to react.
File the speed limit to keep other road users safe. Speeding catches up with you.

Speaker 1 Paid for by Nitza. Okay, LD, you and I at one point in time were very much in control of our game.

Speaker 1 MLS, all-star game NVPs. You in 2001 and 2014.

Speaker 1 I in 2009 with Everton. What stands out for you most from those games?

Speaker 2 Oh, most stands out for you. Don't say what you're doing.
You're scoring against you. Yeah, okay.
Here we go.

Speaker 2 That was, well, I would say it was exciting, but I did it quite a few times.

Speaker 2 So 2001 was cool because it was in San Jose. Yeah.
And I had just played my first professional season. in San Jose.
And I really took the game serious.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 I was just hanging out.

Speaker 1 The uniforms were nice. The kits were nice.

Speaker 2 They were wild. I still have one.
Yeah, I have one. I still have the 0-1 one.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 I think it was in August. And it was up in Portland.
And we played Bayern Munich, I believe. Yeah, that's right.
And Manuel Neuer was in goal.

Speaker 2 And the irony was we played Germany in the World Cup that summer. Yes.

Speaker 2 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 Neur this summer.

Speaker 2 I just thought it would be in Brazil in the World Cup instead of here.

Speaker 1 God, it's such a good line.

Speaker 2 You should have. That's been great.
Bottled. So I scored in the game.

Speaker 2 Yes, scored in the game, was named 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 really vividly.

Speaker 1 Busy stretch, man. It was.
It was cool. It's funny how that happens in careers.

Speaker 2 Okay, so how about for you, 09? I was at that game, by the way, it's in Salt Lake. You played it.
It was in Salt Lake. What were your memories?

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 1 had to remind me that I made three saves in the penalty shootout, but I guess I had a good game.

Speaker 1 As you mentioned, it matters. You know, like if you have an average game, it's fine.
But

Speaker 1 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 have hurt if I wasn't, you know?

Speaker 2 So how did you save three penalties in a game and not remember? You were the Matt Freeze of the 09 All-Star game. It was Matt Freeze.
I don't know. I don't know.
How many people remember that?

Speaker 2 There's a lot.

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 1 blocking it out. I've tried and blocked out all the preseas.
Like I wish, talking to my NFL friends, like, I wish I could just hold out and just go, I'm not coming to preseason training.

Speaker 1 And on the back of that, you're going to give me an extension. I know that's what the NFL guys do.

Speaker 1 But not sure. I don't know how I remember.

Speaker 1 It was always interesting at all-star games because you're in the locker room with like rival players, you know? And I think.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I think on the outside, people think that like there's contention and all that. Like, guys don't pay attention to each other.

Speaker 1 Like, you come in, you say hi, and you just hang out with 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.

Speaker 1 So, yeah.

Speaker 2 I also, the best part was I just loved playing with those guys. Yeah.
Like, guys you watched every week on the highlights and doing all the things. And like,

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 It's time for the fan connection presented by ATT. Every week, we invite you, the listener, to connect with us by submitting your questions.
The best way to grow the game of soccer in the U.S.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 2 Let's head into the

Speaker 2 ATT fan connection with everyone's favorite co-host, Jordan. Rizzeri? Rizzieri?

Speaker 3 Are you telling me that after all these months

Speaker 1 have no idea how to say my last name?

Speaker 2 I know it started with an R.

Speaker 3 Is it Rizzieri? It's Rizzier.

Speaker 2 You say Rizzier. Rizzieri.
Rizzieri.

Speaker 2 What's your favorite Italian dish, Jordan?

Speaker 3 I'm a really big fan of eggplant Romantini. 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 regotta cheese in the middle.

Speaker 3 And then it's rolled up and baked baked with tomato sauce over it and some fresh basil. It's delicious.

Speaker 1 That's a really good answer. Speaking of favorites, who's your favorite, Mirlandon?

Speaker 3 My favorite what?

Speaker 1 Who's your favorite, Mirlandon?

Speaker 2 My favorite what? USLNT

Speaker 1 former player and host.

Speaker 1 They have to be the same.

Speaker 3 My favorite former player and host, I think, is Becky Sauerbrunn.

Speaker 2 I was going to say you made it, wait.

Speaker 1 On this show, do it.

Speaker 2 On this show. I don't pick.

Speaker 3 You know, I don't pick up.

Speaker 2 We all have favorites. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Speaker 1 You produce this show. Yes.
It's called Unfiltered Sucker. 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.

Speaker 2 She's never going to answer. Never.
Let's go.

Speaker 2 All right. What do you got?

Speaker 3 I have so many things. First of all, I just want to thank everyone who has,

Speaker 3 a couple of weeks ago, I complained about jerseys. I just got something in the mail.

Speaker 3 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.

Speaker 2 You got a jersey in the mail?

Speaker 2 I did. Yes.

Speaker 1 Wow. I love that.

Speaker 1 You deserve jerseys.

Speaker 3 You're in your party. You wouldn't want it anyway because it's red.

Speaker 2 So I'm very happy about it.

Speaker 1 You can give me a red jersey. I can tell you what I do with it.

Speaker 3 Send it to me. Tim's just going to send it to me.
So I'll wear it on a future episode.

Speaker 3 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,

Speaker 3 I I am just going to ask you before we do anything else to please give us

Speaker 3 right now your starting 11 for the World Cup for the U.S. men's national team.

Speaker 2 Oh, by the way, I just saw you put in the chat that Tim did not save my penalty in that Everton starting.

Speaker 1 You just have a free,

Speaker 2 you live rent-free in my career.

Speaker 2 Okay, here's my team. You ready? Yeah, goal.
In goal from your Colorado Rapids, Zach Stefan.

Speaker 2 Right back, Serginho Dest. Right center back, Chris Richards.

Speaker 2 Left center back. A little controversy here.
Cameron Carter Vickers. Okay.
Left back, Anthony Jedi Robinson. Yep.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 If it's an unmotivated Weston McKinney,

Speaker 2 I would say Tanner Tessman. Okay.
Ahead of them, Malik Tillman. I think off the right, Christian.
Off the left, Timothy Wea and Riccario Pepe is the nine. Okay.
Any differences there? I have.

Speaker 1 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,

Speaker 1 we will probably be slightly on the back foot. I think we'll probably play two.

Speaker 2 That will be better than. Yeah, that's a good shot.

Speaker 1 They'll be better than us.

Speaker 2 Oh, you think we'll play two that are better than us?

Speaker 2 We're going to be one of the seeded teams, remember? I know, I know, I know.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 Irregardless, I'm thinking of the Mexico game. So I have us in a 4-4-2.
Okay.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 1 I think Zach Stefan.

Speaker 1 Right fullback, Dest, right center back, Chris Richards. Left center back, Tim Ream.

Speaker 2 The cockroach.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Anthony Robinson, left back. Midfield four, starting on the left, Tillman, Tyler Adams, Weston McKinney, Wea.

Speaker 1 Underneath the striker, Pulisic, and then Flo Baligan. Okay.

Speaker 2 We were close to similar. We were close.

Speaker 1 But again, our formations are different. So the piece, but the pieces,

Speaker 1 who do we have? We didn't have Pepe and Flo were different. Who else did?

Speaker 2 And

Speaker 2 Samar and Carter, Vexy, CCB.

Speaker 1 Okay. So,

Speaker 1 but, but to the point, it's going, it's going, your starting 11 is going to come from 13 players

Speaker 2 essentially.

Speaker 1 Or 14 players.

Speaker 2 I agree.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 2 Okay. There you go.

Speaker 3 All right. That should satisfy at least the first 14 questions I have in here.

Speaker 2 So here we go.

Speaker 3 All right, how about some individual questions for you guys?

Speaker 2 Yeah, let's do it.

Speaker 3 The first one is for Landon, and it is from Pedro via X or Twitter, whatever you prefer to call it.

Speaker 3 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?

Speaker 2 Great question.

Speaker 2 They're almost unrecognizable. 24.
And if you go 2014 till today, I think it's even more skewed. So in 2001, let me give you a story, Pedro.

Speaker 2 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,

Speaker 2 whatever,

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 We would drive 30 minutes to

Speaker 2 a junior college facility. They had one field,

Speaker 2 West Valley College, where we would train.

Speaker 2 We would train. We would drive back 30 minutes to the stadium, to the portable, shower,

Speaker 2 and then drive home another 15, 20 minutes. So

Speaker 2 that was how we did things. We would travel almost exclusively on Southwest.

Speaker 2 We had team administrators who would like

Speaker 2 book the travel a week before we left because

Speaker 2 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

Speaker 2 that was how it was everywhere. 2014, a few times a year, we would charter planes.

Speaker 2 We had the galaxy's beautiful training facility stadium sold out stadiums uh etc so that's on that side coaching you can't even if 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

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 So everything, I mean, everything has changed. And Tim can speak to that too.
But those are, those are just, those are just a couple examples.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 owned, I think, six teams in the league. The Hunts owned

Speaker 2 Kansas City, Dallas, and maybe one other. The Crafts owned a few teams, and they were like, Look, if you want to take this $20 million loss off our hands, we'll give you the franchise.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 3 So, Tim, for you,

Speaker 3 Hudson via Instagram said, Tim, do you have a favorite save that you've ever made?

Speaker 2 A favorite save, Hudson.

Speaker 1 I don't know. It's a tough one.
Probably one of the either the mexico game or the liverpool game yeah i think i saved a penalty off of dirkoit um at everton

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 That's the thing.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 2 So

Speaker 1 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 Felham

Speaker 1 scored, yeah. The volley, you know, they scored right before halftime.
So it was 1-0 going in halftime. We're up 2-1, 89th minute.

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 1 jumping on me or smacking me or something. It was amazing.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 Totally forgot about that.

Speaker 2 I don't remember the exact save like how it happened but i do remember the reaction of you getting up and him and i was like oh amazing man good times um 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 just kidding jordan

Speaker 2 what do you want to do all right when we we're gonna 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.

Speaker 2 Stick around.

Speaker 2 This episode is brought to you by Airbnb.

Speaker 2 All right, Tim, between your work, your daughter, your son, or maybe just your own enjoyment, how much traveling do you think you've done to see soccer this year?

Speaker 1 Honestly, I've

Speaker 1 lost track at this point.

Speaker 1 You know, just this summer alone, I was all over the place.

Speaker 1 But it is, it's a beautiful thing to see how many soccer fans and how soccer has been embraced no matter where we go.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I mean, I was just in Austin. I'll be traveling to New York.
Everywhere I go, I meet fans. Whether I'm going to see a game myself or just on vacation, I see people everywhere.
I hear stories.

Speaker 2 I hear stories about their pilgrimage to Everton to go watch a game, to go see the new stadium, to go see their favorite team.

Speaker 2 They get immersed in the chants, the songs, that incredible feeling of seeing the game up close and personal.

Speaker 1 Well, I mean, I think that's where that's where the game has changed. These trips have become a big deal for soccer fans.

Speaker 1 And this summer is going to be no different as we'll see the soccer community make their way to 11 host cities here in the U.S. to support their favorite national team.

Speaker 2 It's going to be incredible. I can't wait for it.
And what if those fans could turn their homes into an opportunity while they're away at the game?

Speaker 2 Hosting your home on Airbnb while you travel is an easy way to earn a little bit of extra cash, maybe go towards tickets for your game that you want to go to. We know they're not cheap.

Speaker 2 Or maybe to help your kids pursue their soccer dreams.

Speaker 1 Yeah, your home might be worth more than you think. So So find out how much at airbnb.com slash host.

Speaker 1 LD, for me, the holidays are all about connection to family and to friends. We host a lot.
So we got a lot of people over the house.

Speaker 1 Oftentimes when it starts to get chaotic and the turkey or the ham is getting burnt and the kids are running around playing with their new toys, I go out back by the fire pit and I choose chill.

Speaker 1 I crack open a Coors light.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it's my favorite time of year. It gets cold,

Speaker 2 not quite as cold as New York, but it's cold outside. It gets dark early.
Kids are playing. We turn on the jacuzzi, relax in the hot tub with a Coors Light.

Speaker 2 Choose chill, relax, have family, friends, good food, good memories. My favorite time of year.

Speaker 1 When you embrace a chill mindset this holiday, it's a good time to choose chill and crack open a Coors Light.

Speaker 2 Choose chill this holiday season and then reach for a Coors Light. Get Coors Light delivered straight to your door.

Speaker 2 Visit CoorsLight.com slash USLNT, or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer.

Speaker 1 Celebrate responsibly. Hooray's Brew and Company, Golden, Colorado.

Speaker 1 There's nothing better than feeling feeling like someone has your back and that things are going to get done even without you having to ask.

Speaker 1 Like your crisp new jersey waiting for you in the locker room or a perfectly set up wall for a free kick.

Speaker 2 Yeah, as we on Unfiltered Soccer get ready for next summer, we know that very little in the beautiful game is guaranteed.

Speaker 2 But as we prepare to bring our Unfiltered brand of non-stop soccer coverage, it's good to know ATT has your back with the ATT guarantee.

Speaker 1 Staying connected matters. That's why in the rare event of a network outage, ATT will proactively credit you for a full day of service.
That's the ATT guarantee.

Speaker 2 Learn more at att.com/slash guarantee. ATT, connecting changes everything.

Speaker 1 Credit for fiber downtime lasting 20 minutes or more or a wireless downtime lasting 60 minutes or more caused by a single incident impacting 10 or more towers must be connected to impacted towers at onset of outage.

Speaker 1 Restrictions and exclusions apply. See ATT.com/slash guarantee for full details.

Speaker 1 Back with more of your questions. Tim Landon, JR, let's knock it out of the park.

Speaker 3 Should we do another question?

Speaker 2 We should do lots more questions. Many more questions.

Speaker 3 This one is from Jonathan via email. He said, I've been a USA soccer fan since the 80s when I played.

Speaker 3 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.

Speaker 3 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.

Speaker 3 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.

Speaker 3 I believe this is the barrier for the sport to grow, especially here in the U.S.

Speaker 2 First of all, thank you very much for your service and thanks for the support of

Speaker 2 our sport. It's amazing.
This is interesting because this is very much a cultural thing and it differs country to country. So when you play in a CONCACAF game, we would just, Tim, just get used to it.

Speaker 2 Like it's just for a lot of Central American country, you just get used to it.

Speaker 2 You go to England and you dive

Speaker 2 and

Speaker 2 players destroy you for it. Like in training, in the games, they're like, even your teammates will be like, get up, get on with it, get up.
And it's just, it's a really unique phenomenon.

Speaker 2 We saw it during the Gold Cup a lot.

Speaker 2 It's too bad. One, one thing that has helped is all the cameras,

Speaker 2 all the VAR. Referees are reluctant to give yellow cards for simulation, but they're doing it.
And I think it's started to crack down on it. I think they can do more of it.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 I'm totally fine with that because you are just trying

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 So we, so we disagree on this. And anyone who's taught soccer with me knows.

Speaker 1 Diving is a thing in our sport.

Speaker 1 I'm going to talk specifically about penalties. Anybody who knows me knows.

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 1 I think the player should always go down. Here's why.

Speaker 2 Here's why.

Speaker 1 In basketball, they did away with flopping, right?

Speaker 1 The margins aren't that high. You flop.

Speaker 1 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 that can happen to you is a yellow card.

Speaker 1 The best thing that can happen to you is you get a penalty and we know the likelihood is you're going to score.

Speaker 2 So you get a goal.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 2 So, and

Speaker 1 by duping the referee,

Speaker 1 to your point, Landon, if you you go down without contact, that's going to VAR. So

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 2 So we don't disagree as much as you think. So the keys there were with contact without contact.
So I used to get mad at referees. Like I would be running into the box with the ball.
And I go to shoot.

Speaker 2 And right as I'm shooting, someone gives me a push. And it's not a massive

Speaker 2 crazy push, but a push that throws me off balance and I kick it into the stands. Yeah.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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?

Speaker 2 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 score the goal. And so I used to get so mad at that.

Speaker 2 Now, if there's no contact and you're trying to dupe the referee, then you should be punished for it.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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?

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 And we need to get that out of the game.

Speaker 1 Fair. Thanks, Jonathan.

Speaker 3 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.

Speaker 2 Thank you.

Speaker 3 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.

Speaker 3 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.

Speaker 3 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.

Speaker 1 I think U.S. soccer, which is baffling that we're in 2025 and we don't have a national stadium, but

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 Every country does.

Speaker 1 You cherish that, and it's kind of like a pilgrimage to go there and see your team play. Absolutely.
I agree with

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 And so obviously doing other... things to market differently and trying to get more butts in the seats is is something that they're concerned with.

Speaker 1 Yeah,

Speaker 1 do things change if we have a singular national stadium? I don't know if you can have two.

Speaker 1 So I don't know. It's a tough, it's a big country.
It's a big country. So

Speaker 1 tough question. But yeah, I do like the idea of having one national stadium.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 As far as tickets, as far as buying tickets to see your national team,

Speaker 2 actually, let me just start with the stage. So

Speaker 2 if we're going to have a stadium,

Speaker 2 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?

Speaker 2 I'm asking you.

Speaker 2 Does it? No. If it's in Atlanta and we play Mexico,

Speaker 2 that doesn't guarantee anything.

Speaker 1 Right? No, no, it's fair. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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

Speaker 2 dedicated

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 In other countries, it's not. When El Salvador plays, you go into the stadium, period, end of story.
That's it. For the national team, it's like a bunch of the star players.

Speaker 2 I'm just talking about this summer, a 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.

Speaker 2 So people are like, I don't know. Why am I going to go pay to watch? Our guys don't even want to be there.
Why would I want to go?

Speaker 2 Right. So I think that is part of it.
We have to remember that. And,

Speaker 2 you know, there were times, Tim, where like

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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 don't blame them.

Speaker 1 Yeah,

Speaker 1 you're saying that you don't know if the, if building a national stadium rectifies that problem.

Speaker 1 But having a national stadium, shouldn't I, I mean, I'm thinking about globally and the three of us, you can tell me if I'm wrong, or our producers, most national stadiums are in the capital city.

Speaker 1 Am I right in saying that? Like most.

Speaker 2 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?

Speaker 1 I thought they did have a national stadium.

Speaker 2 England has Wembley. What does France have? Yeah.

Speaker 2 Does Spain have a national stadium?

Speaker 2 No, they don't have a national stadium. But in the, I would say the lower sort of level countries,

Speaker 2 respectfully, they all have a national stadium. Yes.
All through the Caribbean.

Speaker 1 Usually in the capital. Usually in the capital.

Speaker 2 Usually in the capital. Correct.

Speaker 2 Correct.

Speaker 1 So we should have one in D.C. I mean, I'm okay with that.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 that's no different than it is now.

Speaker 2 That's going to be soccer in America. Yeah, that's right.
Good question.

Speaker 3 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.

Speaker 2 I love when you say that.

Speaker 1 I love love these are my favorite ones.

Speaker 2 I know.

Speaker 3 Because sometimes I put this list together and then I go,

Speaker 3 I was confident when I 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?

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 I don't even know. I don't know what

Speaker 2 division they're in now.

Speaker 1 After 2001, too?

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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

Speaker 2 and put in like a very real offer. And I had to really think about it, like really think about it.

Speaker 2 The second time I went back to Everton, Tim, Club America reached out

Speaker 2 and basically matched the offer from Everton. And that one I actually really thought about too.

Speaker 2 I don't remember when this one was. Club America would be wild.
Let me say no. Can you imagine? Yeah.

Speaker 2 I i don't remember when this one was but rio vallacano in spain at one point because casey had been there yeah yeah and then the last one was actually right

Speaker 2 right after i retired salt lake reached out and said

Speaker 2 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 um

Speaker 2 i don't know the team i don't i don't who's who's the other team in barcelona i think it was Swindon Town, Tim.

Speaker 1 Who's the other team in Barcelona?

Speaker 2 What's the rival? Espanol. Espanol.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Okay.
So.

Speaker 2 Clearly made an impact on you. No.

Speaker 1 I forget most of these. That's a great question because it jarred so many memories.
So it started off the Metro Stars. Casey was at Rio Vallacano, right? And

Speaker 1 it was a coach Juan De Ramos.

Speaker 2 I don't remember.

Speaker 1 I could be getting this wrong. Anyway, he might have went to Español, and I think they were kicking the tires because they had Casey.
And they're like, oh,

Speaker 1 this particular coach liked American goalkeepers. So it was one of those Spanish clubs.
It was either Espanol or Rioba. I can't remember.

Speaker 1 Then

Speaker 1 I went on trial at Fineord.

Speaker 1 And this was in 2002.

Speaker 1 I was on trial at Fineord.

Speaker 1 They passed, which was fine.

Speaker 2 You had to go on trial at Fine Ord? Yeah. Wow.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 You were on a starter, right, with New York at that point. Yeah.
Yeah. You had to go on trial there.
That's time.

Speaker 1 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,

Speaker 1 they got caned, like the coaching staff in the Dutch paper got like absolutely caned because they're like, oh, because it came.

Speaker 2 Oh, because they knew you were on trial. They knew I was on trial.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And they were like,

Speaker 1 we didn't sign. Huh? What just happened here? So, yeah.

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 1 he's the king. After I was leaving Man United, I chose Everton, but Wigan, Portsmouth, and Everton were in for me.

Speaker 1 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 Colorado career.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 have come in for you. And essentially, they were in Copa Libertadores.

Speaker 1 And think 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 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 days thinking what like oh that would have i mean imagine that cherry on top of your career like just playing for bokeh but anyway yeah, that's a really fun question.

Speaker 2 That was great.

Speaker 3 Okay, one more?

Speaker 2 Sure. Okay.

Speaker 3 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.

Speaker 3 Honestly, after watching the 7v7 tournament again this year, I'm starting to see their point.

Speaker 3 I know this is a long shot for professional leagues outside of the U.S., but do you you think there's any chance soccer could adopt a system similar to the NHL?

Speaker 3 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.

Speaker 1 Possibly. I don't love it.
I don't love it.

Speaker 1 I think the other part. It's all about education, right? So you get 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.

Speaker 1 Anyone who's ever watched or understands soccer knows that it's the beautiful game for a reason.

Speaker 1 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

Speaker 1 individual plays and players and the nuances. If you understand the nuances of the game, you then can teach that to them.

Speaker 1 So, yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 1 I don't hate the NHL way, but I'm also like,

Speaker 2 I'm not sure. Not sure I love it either.
Who is this? Greg? Greg. Yep.
Greg. I don't like it.
I love it. I love it.

Speaker 2 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 you get a tie and then you do a shootout. Great.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 When in tournaments, when you go into extra time,

Speaker 2 when you start extra time, instead of starting 11v1, you start 9v9.

Speaker 2 After five minutes, and think about like the strategy involved. Who do you take off?

Speaker 2 After five minutes,

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 2 Five more minutes, take another. And

Speaker 2 it's like hunger games. It's like, who's going to survive? I love it.
It'd be so fun.

Speaker 3 I'm stressed out just listening to that.

Speaker 1 To our listeners, to our listeners, please disregard what you just heard. Please continue to subscribe to Unfiltered Soccer.

Speaker 2 do not do not do not leave with that not leave do not leave us extra time

Speaker 2 the biggest waste of time now

Speaker 2 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

Speaker 3 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

Speaker 3 WNBA three,

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

Speaker 3 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.

Speaker 3 It might as well be.

Speaker 1 Did we have a shot clock? Did we have a suggestion of a shot clock last week?

Speaker 2 A couple weeks ago. My first thought was like,

Speaker 2 how are the Europeans going to take this question?

Speaker 1 Anyway, yeah, you're

Speaker 2 still, to be fair, it's a brilliant idea I have.

Speaker 3 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.

Speaker 3 And if that's not enough, they're never going to be.

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 Or if you're going to, if you're going to watch it on TV, go to like a supporter's bar.

Speaker 2 Yeah, totally. Watch with other people.
Sure. That's right.
For sure.

Speaker 1 That's the second best.

Speaker 2 Sometimes first.

Speaker 3 Great. This was fun.
Thanks, guys. Great.

Speaker 2 Thanks, JR. All right, guys.
Thank you.

Speaker 2 Again, we recorded this early, so keep that in mind. But thank you, as always, for being with us.
As always, follow on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, subscribe, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts.

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It is

Speaker 2 awesome.

Speaker 1 We love it. We love to be around you guys and gals every week.
And we'll do it again. Two-week break.

Speaker 2 Is that right? Unfiltered. Two-week break, baby.
Vacation.

Speaker 1 We'll be back on Wednesday, August 13th with a brand new episode.