Chelsea are Club World Cup Champions and Messi's On a Tear in MLS

So in 2013, we played in the Gold Cup.

A bunch of teams were missing their players.

This was like their B teams.

So you can just imagine.

I think that's probably the closest I ever felt to feeling what it's like to be Leonel Messi.

Because every game, Tim, I said, if I just want to be the guy who tries to score two or three goals, I could probably score two or three goals in this game.

Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.

Volkswagen has long been a supporter of soccer in America and has proudly been a partner of U.S.

soccer for over five years.

Good morning, good afternoon.

It's Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard Lane.

And this is one of my favorite intros of the entire first season.

It just simply is.

If you can read my shirt, it says, Nas said mistakes make masterful teachers.

Anything Nas says is everything.

Because here's the thing.

Nas is top two and he's not two.

And if you want to argue that, put it in the comments, but you're going to lose.

He signed my hand.

I went to a concert.

He signed my hand.

I got it.

I didn't know he signed your hand.

Yeah, he actually signed backstage, got it tattooed.

I've got Ilmatic tattooed on me.

I say all that because this isn't about me, but this is about Nas.

And I want our listeners to know I'm very rarely mystified.

But you text me the other week and were like,

I'm going to see Nas.

And I...

I text you back after pulling myself off the floor and thinking, why is LD going to see Nas?

Like, you haven't, like, give me some background to this because then you sent me videos from the show.

All you've done is like completely put Nas lyrics in our group chat.

You're a changed man.

Like, I've been, I've been on this thing since 94 when I was in high school, 30 years.

Where's this come from?

I don't think you appreciate how good Nas is.

First of all.

Okay.

So we went to Vegas this weekend.

Okay.

And the idea was to go for my wife's birthday.

We had some friends.

And like a week and a half ago, they were like, oh, Chain Smokers is playing.

So we should go at excess.

And I'm like, I'm in bed by nine.

Like, they don't come on till 1.30, but whatever.

I'm going to make it.

It's my wife's birthday.

She's excited.

So

Friday afternoon, we're walking through the wind, and someone goes, oh, check that out.

Nas is playing.

And my first thought was like, oh, Tim loves Nas.

And so they said, should we go?

And I said, well, if we can find tickets together, I guess.

And then I have to be honest, the only, literally the only reason I went is because I wanted to understand you better, right?

Cause I thought it'll help.

I swear, I, I swear on my life

because I don't, I, I know one song or new one song from Nas.

Yep.

Um, if I ruled the world, that's all I know.

Of course.

And so I was like, all right, I'll, this will help me understand Tim better.

So we get in, we're up in like the, uh, the mezzanine.

It's a small theater.

It's like maybe a thousand people, 1,500 people.

And he's playing with the Las Vegas Philharmonic Symphony.

So it was cool, like, just to see them first.

And then he comes out.

And like, when he comes out, he's got, you know, you're around people sometimes and they just have a presence.

Like one time I walked, Muhammad Ali walked in a room and you were just like, whoa,

Bill Clinton, when he walks in a room, you're like, oh, that's like, it just feels different.

You can feel it.

And when he came out, I was like, whoa, that's kind of interesting.

Let's go.

Let's go.

And then he started singing.

And I can't tell you, like, I have not stopped listening to his music.

I love it, dude.

Like 36 hours.

I'm so pumped.

And I told you, I'm going to send you,

now that you're on the Nas train, I'm going to send you like my favorite deep cuts from like, not just the ones that are commercial, but the deep cuts.

And here's the thing, LD.

I have a feeling Nas listens to our podcast.

But if he doesn't, start tagging him.

If Nas's people are outside,

we got to get him on the show to talk hip-hop, soccer.

Here's the thing.

Queensbridge was supposed to get a soccer team.

Nas, listen to me.

Queensbridge was supposed to get a soccer team and it never happened, which means the idea is there.

You're an entrepreneur.

You're an investor.

It just came out in some business publication.

How great of an investor you are.

You invest in New York.

You've invested with some of my friends.

Let's invest in soccer.

Me, you, LD.

You're going to need some, you're going to need some soccer muscle.

Let's make this happen.

Let's do it.

When you're around people that are that level of talent, you can't help.

Like, Nas is not.

I did not listen to Nas.

I did not listen to like, it's hip-hop, right?

Yeah.

I did not, that was not my thing ever growing up.

I appreciate it, but when you sit there and you just see how talented is, and you just, you can only catch some of the lyrics if you don't know.

So you're like, oh my God, did you just say that's like really good?

And then you go back and listen and look.

And the level of talent, my buddy and I were sitting next to each other, we're like, what do you think his IQ is?

He's got to be like in the 150s.

I mean, he's

brilliant.

He's a total genius.

It was so fun to watch.

So now I get it, and I get you more now.

Well, you can segue out of this now.

Okay.

All right.

So if you hate Nas, leave a bad review at Unfiltered Soccer.

If you love him, leave a great review.

You love.

All love.

You all love.

Send us questions about

why the hell am I listening to Nas at feedback at Unfiltered Soccer.

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All right.

Nas aside.

I wonder if he was.

Oh, Oh, no, he was in Vegas, he was not at the club World Cup final.

No, everybody else,

everybody else, anybody who's anybody was at the finals in New York.

Um,

I was in the casino, and my buddy's like, Hey, I want to bet on this game, and I'm like, I'm not touching this.

You do what you want, and he's like, Well, haven't PSG won like a gazillion in a row?

And they, and I was like, Yeah, and he's like, All right, I think I should.

I don't actually, I didn't even ask him if he did or not.

I was, we were doing whatever.

I check in at halftime, and I'm like,

Am I seeing this right?

Is it 3-0?

I thought it'd be 3-0 PSG.

So

this was a shocking, shocking result.

Not that Chelsea won, but the result was shocking, right?

I mean, I was not expecting that.

And we'll get into Cole Palmer in a sec, but just how did you digest that?

I was not expecting that.

Well, I was wrong.

It was in my backyard and I was going to go.

I got to be honest.

I have been struggling to find days off.

And so I just went out to the Hamptons and posted up and had a beach day.

I watched the game, but I had a beach day in the morning.

So

I, yeah, I declined invitation only because I'm just desperate for a couple days off.

I got it wrong.

Everywhere I turned, I was like, dude, PSG are like on the verge of world domination.

But

Chelsea, man, look, Chelsea won the Europa Conference League, right?

Finished really strong in the Premier League.

And now they win the Club World Cup.

And I just think like,

Todd Bowley is up to something, man.

Like, on the surface, on the surface, he presents like this really

classy businessman, but I think he has a laboratory where he's got like this coat on and there's this bubbling green stuff everywhere.

And he's doing all these potions because he's figured something out that the rest of us haven't, man.

Like,

like

buy every young player, like a squad, a squad big enough to field two Premier League teams, right?

That's a mess, everyone thought.

Hire and fire coaches and see the find the right one.

That's a mess, everyone thought.

What the hell are you giving nine-year contracts when Premier League teams only give like three and four-year contracts?

That must be a mess.

Everything he's doing, people in hindsight are going, oh my God, he got it right.

And so he's found a manager who knew how to balance the squads.

That manager basically came in and said, like, there's a few senior players, surplus requirements.

I want them out.

And if you don't want, if you're not going to get them out of the club, they're going to be in the reserves.

He then said, this squad is too big.

We all have said that about Chelsea.

He said, cool, you're going to be my Premier League squad.

You're going to be my Europa League squad.

End of story.

You're actually going to train at different times.

End of story, right?

So they got that.

The other thing about it is, LD,

he's not afraid.

He's not afraid to miss Todd Bowley.

He's not afraid to spend money.

So he's missed.

He knew he was going to miss on some.

So then he goes and goes, well, I missed on a striker.

I'm going to go to Joe Pedro and Liam DeLap.

But I don't miss on one of those.

Right.

And And so he just, he's constantly adding to the squad.

And I just like, look, the other thing when you and I always talk about it is like they win the Europa Conference League.

Forget what you say about it, right?

That it's like the third best European competition.

They still, it was still the final.

They still need to win the final and they have silverware.

Club World Cup, a couple months later, less than a couple months later.

It's silverware.

It's a real trophy.

Got to go win it.

They won it, right?

And so now you're starting to think, okay, hang on,

PSG.

Like, you probably are on the verge of world dominance, but look out because when it comes to the Premier League, I think Chelsea is going to have something to say about a lot of things.

Yeah, I'm actually really curious to see now how this translates.

And, you know, if you're certainly Liam DeLap and especially Nikki Jackson now, you're like, oh my God, because Xiao Pedro, he's been phenomenal.

And it was fun to watch.

I, you know, I just re-watching the goals, Cole Palmer is,

I heard people for a long time, Tim, and especially, and you you guys, even you guys on NBC talk about how talented he was.

And I would watch games and I go, I know, but it sometimes just doesn't come off.

When you see him in a moment like that, it's incredible, dude.

The second goal is so good because his ability to just calmly wait and wait and wait.

And as a striker, I'll just tell people in that moment, it feels like everything is happening so fast and you have to make a decision quickly.

And the best players that I ever played with against whatever would just take a second and caught, Jaime Moreno for DC was a genius at this.

He would get in those moments and there's people flying.

Things are happening.

And he would just wait and wait and wait and let people make his mind up for him and then just roll it in the corner.

And that's what he did.

He just waited.

He let, and then everything all of a sudden opened.

You see it with quarterbacks in the NFL.

It looks like it's so hectic, whatever, and then they slow down.

Oh, there's the window.

Bang.

And he's just, I mean, he looks like, he looks a different player now, which Al Pedro.

Yeah, no, it's a, it's a great description.

I mean, Cole Palmer is special because he's unflappable, man.

The kid is just, he's ice cold, man.

He just is.

Nothing phases him.

And like last year, so two years ago, I think he scored like 20 plus goals or something in all competitions.

And last year, he went through, speaking of cold, he went through this cold spell where he just, he didn't register a goal or assist for a while.

I can't remember the exact stat.

And people were like, he was come off the boil.

Like, is he all that?

And you're still thinking like, he is all that.

He He really, he really is.

Like,

talent like that just doesn't, like, drop off.

He's so, so good.

And the thing about Jal Pedro, which will probably go amiss for a lot of viewers, he was at, he was at Watford, I believe.

And then Brighton bought him from Watford, right?

Because they recognized his talent.

And then he really wasn't.

you know, over the time that I've watched him at Brighton, he's never really been out and out

their number one striker, right?

Like he's played, but they've chopped and changed a little bit.

And in the moments that he played, you're just like, this guy's a joke.

Like, he's fast.

He's got clever feet.

He can drop into the 10 because of the way that Brighton played, right?

Where they played basically like four up.

He would drop into the 10 roll.

He could body people.

He's strong, like really strong.

And like he's clever.

And I'm just thinking, this player is really, really special.

My colleagues, Robbie Musto and Robbie Earl, they really like him.

They would always say, like, there's another level for this guy.

And we're we're seeing it.

And we're seeing it.

And, and just,

I think it's kind of what Cole Palmer needed.

Because, again, he's, Joe Pedro's got a little bit.

He's got a little trickster in him.

He can run beyond and get vertical.

He's a good finisher.

He's an audacious finisher, by the way.

Like, give him an inch, and he's going to try and like bend one around the defender or chop you.

Like, it's really good.

Just a little chip, too, was so good.

His finish was so good.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And on Cole Palmer's goal, I believe it was him,

you just said his willingness and desire to run vertically.

And and that's how he scored his goal just slipping behind but then he does that on cole palmer's goal too and it takes three or four defenders with him and then just opens everything up so they're going to be really fun to watch i'm i'm very intrigued now it'd be nice if they're you know in addition to liverpool arsenal if city get back and then chelsea are back and if there was a four real four team title race that'd be fun to watch but i mean if you think you think about it now for enzo maresca like he's got a bunch of young hungry players and he's going to basically challenge them and go you want to you open up a conference league great finish really well in the Premier League, great club World Cup champions, great.

Go show everybody there's more to this team.

And

you know, when you when you're around a bunch of self-motivated individuals, it's easy for the coach, man.

So it's exciting.

I'm happy for Chelsea.

It's gonna be deserve it.

I mean, they've earned it.

All right, so before we talk big picture of the tournament overall, uh, we were talking about did people take it seriously?

Uh, a couple people took it seriously, Tim.

Did you uh did you notice that at the end of the game?

Yeah, I did.

Yeah, all right, go on.

Well,

Luis Enrique, the

manager for

PSG,

there was obviously a squabble.

At the end of the game, everybody was coming together.

People were pissed off, blah, blah, blah.

And

I don't know who was talking and squabbling with who, but then there was like a couple of Chelsea players, one of which being Jiao Pedro, and a couple of, I think, PSG players, and one of them, those being their manager, Luis Enrique.

And he's angry, which is fine.

He's totally angry.

But what did he say?

First of all, before I tell you what he did, what did he say?

He said something like,

I was just trying to break up.

He said, this is the situation we must all avoid.

Well, clearly not you.

That goes without saying.

My intention is that I wanted to separate the footballers so the situation didn't become worse.

Didn't look like he was separating anything.

Brilliant manager.

He was a brilliant player.

He's lying to me because I watched a video over and over.

And by the way, amazing footage.

He's gone for Joe Pedro's throat twice, missed the first time, gets him the second time.

Then Joe Pedro thought he was in the middle of the day.

So he's just trying to diffuse the situation.

Couldn't we tell?

I'm all for it.

I'm all for a little

squabble.

Everything was fine.

No one got hurt.

But he definitely wasn't trying to break it up.

But

it means something.

These teams, like I always tell you, they're highly motivated, LD.

They want to win.

It hurts when they don't.

And so something was on the line.

They were playing for it.

And I'm here for it, man.

I loved it.

And you know what you forget is it's been a really long time since PSG lost a game.

Long time, probably.

Long time.

Winners don't like to lose.

No, they don't.

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.

I'd be lying to you if I said there were any other candidates for the who chose chill, but Cole Palmer.

You know his celebration.

You know the way he likes to rock.

Shivers.

It's cold.

He's cold.

He's ice cold.

you know two goals and an assist in a big match he's a big game player for for being so young in his early 20s the kid oozes confidence he oozes chill man he is just like

he's he's unfazed i think it's also his upbringing he's just he's kind of unfazed by the limelight he's just one of the guys

humble he's humble he doesn't love the camera he likes he likes the stage He doesn't love the camera and all the things that come along with it.

He just wants to play his football.

And I just think when you watch him in the game, he likes to drift.

He's, you, you mentioned last week, when someone's left-footed, they're ultra left-footed.

And that's him.

I mean, he uses his right leg to stand on, but everything else is like his

left foot is just a wand.

And I know you love the way that he combined with Pedro as well.

It's really good.

Yeah, and it was fun.

Did you see?

I don't know if you saw the video.

It was in New York.

He was on one of those little scooters, those bird scooters, whatever.

And he's just got his hoodie on.

But I think the reason people love playing in America and being in America is because, like, nobody bothered him.

Totally.

Right.

There's got to be some people.

Obviously, clearly, someone saw him and took a video with their phone, but he could just cruise around New York on a little scooter.

Like, you can't do that.

How cool is this guy?

But also, he doesn't care.

That's the thing.

He doesn't.

I think he's in Times Square just hood up on a scooter.

Just cruising.

Unfazed.

No, he's the epitome of.

I mean, look, you said no one else.

Maybe messy.

Five games with two gold, but this was in a final against the undisputed best team in the world, which Chelsea took a crack at this weekend.

So,

yeah, chill, chill, chill.

Cole Palmer, congrats to you.

He chose chill this week.

And we cheer as you, buddy.

Well done, Cole.

So I was having lunch with my friend at FIFA on Saturday, the day before the game, and I was like giddy and I was super stoked about it and about the tournament.

I was like, how do you guys feel?

It's like, it's been great.

And he kind of like ho-hummed it and he was like, oh, it could be better.

And obviously, over analytically, analytically he was just figuring out how to make it better but he's like yeah it's been good you know and i look you and i have had questions it's been like are the teams and players going to take it seriously are there going to be butts in seats is it going to feel big and i think all those questions for me have been answered the players definitely took it seriously it definitely felt i mean the spectacle that was the final felt huge right and um There was some good football on display and loads of people watching.

So ultimately, ticket prices, I think they admitted were too high early on.

They figured out a way to either lower those or give some of those away because ultimately it looked really good, didn't it?

Yeah.

So the questions were, right, were there going to be people in the stadiums?

For the most part, yes.

There were some games that were duds, but you expected that.

For the most part, yes.

Did the players and coaches care?

I mean, players were like,

they were after it.

The coaches on the sidelines celebrating.

And I mean, they were really into it.

The fans were really into it.

So all that was good.

I don't, I mean, obviously they want things to get better and do better.

And by the way, I'm not, we're not, we're not paid by fee for anybody to say.

We're just, we, I, I said from the beginning, I think it's going to be really good if the players take it seriously.

And it was, it was really fun to watch.

I thought the whole tournament was good.

One thing I've said over and over is, you know, people ask me, I think America is the only place you can have it

for it to be successful.

I think that's right.

And it's not, it's not like, you know, it's a pro-American thing or whatever.

It's just when I was, I told you, when I was walking through the streets streets in LA doing Gold Cup, I see a river jersey, I see a Fluminense jersey, I see a Ala Li jersey, I see Chelsea jersey.

I mean, there's so many people from those countries already here.

And so, I do think people are going to travel across the world in tens of thousands to watch.

No, I don't.

But here, it was, it worked great.

So, I think, I think FIFA needs to really think about that.

It was good.

It was great.

Okay, so last thing, as we head into

now

teams going back into the European season, if we forecast ahead, is this extra month or so of soccer, how's that going to impact teams?

Because now they have, I believe there's about four weeks now till most people's next game, maybe five weeks.

How do you think that, do you think that has an impact going forward?

I mean, Jürgen Klopp obviously had a lot to say about that.

How do you think that impacts things?

Well, it's interesting, right?

I look at one of the things I want to try and do for myself and you, but for our listeners, is like

speak to somebody or try and speak to somebody at one of these teams because, and figure out what's the plan moving forward, right?

Because I'm guessing, what's today?

July 14th?

I mean, Mann United, Bournemouth, Everton, and West Ham are flying over here in 10 days for the Premier League.

So they've been, I'm guessing, if I can remember correctly from many years ago, teams have been in preseason since July 1st-ish,

right?

So

you're looking at the four semifinalists, maybe the four,

maybe the eight quarterfinalists from the Club World Cup.

Like, Chelsea's going to land in London and do what?

I'm guessing they have to go on holiday, right?

So

they'll give them a minimum.

Where's my calendar?

They're going to give them three weeks.

I have to get three weeks off.

What's today?

Again, 14th, right?

They have to get three weeks off, but their season starts on

the 15th or 16th of August.

So,

so three weeks off, then I mean, you see what kind of math I'm doing for Chelsea.

Three weeks off takes you to August 4th, but their first game is,

I don't know, 12 days later or something.

So

what are they going to do?

Yeah, it's a tough one because

normally you have whatever, five, six weeks off.

You can say, for two or three weeks, weeks, I'm doing nothing, sitting on the beach, drinking nothing.

Then you start running a little bit.

But now you're kind of, you are, you're in that in-between.

So it's, I don't even know if they could really get out of shape in three and a half or four weeks.

Right.

But here, okay, here's the, and this is going to be, you know, anyone who argues

against the fact that there are, you know, like they want less games, right?

Like, this is going to be a big argument for them.

Cole Palmer.

Good example, right?

He's one of, of many, because Chelsea have a bunch of internationals.

He has, he is going to have to and want to, by the way, play every single game for England, right?

Two families in September, two families in October, two families in November.

He might

get the league cup off, right?

So I don't know when the Premier League teams come into the league cup in

England, like September.

He's going to play, I believe, they're in Champions League.

He's going to play every

Saturday, Wednesday, and every international between now and the World Cup

with three weeks weeks off.

Well, that's at best, by the way,

if Chelsea give their players three weeks off.

I mean, that's wild to me.

So that's the challenge, right?

And it's like,

well, because there's good prize money, I was going to say it's better to lose, get knocked out in the group stages so you have more time, but there was prize money along the way.

So the players were earning money along the way.

But if you are one of the finalists or you're Chelsea now, I mean, it is going to be a challenge.

I will be curious to see.

I mean, Chelsea has a a big squad, though, Tim, right?

I mean, but I mean, how do you leave Colt Palmer out?

I get it, but the first game of the season, nobody's trying to hear.

I mean, I don't care, but nobody's trying to hear,

let's have some squad rotation for our opening game of the season, right?

Because you know as well as I do, at the end of the season, the margins are so fine between winning the league, getting into the champions.

You know what I'm saying?

No, I know.

And we would always say like a game, first game of the season counts the same as the last game.

I know.

So you forget about, oh, we can just take our time and ease in.

And so Chelsea will be the

interesting one to watch because they went furthest.

They were there the longest.

It's going to be interesting.

Okay.

I said last thing, but I have one other question.

Going forward, and I'd be curious to hear your friend's take on this.

Do you think they'll change how teams qualify for this?

Because

it's kind of like the World Cup.

The World Cup is not the best.

32, used to be 32, 40, 18.

It's not the best 48 teams next summer.

It's not.

It's the best who qualify given the amount of qualifying spots they have.

If it was the best, there'd be more teams from Europe, maybe a few more from South America, etc.

So, do you think they change?

Because this was not the world's quote-unquote best teams.

Do you think they change any of that to have, you know, there were some big teams not involved, right?

Liverpool, not involved, right?

So, like, there were good teams not involved.

Right.

Yeah, you asked me the question.

You asked me a question.

In my answer, I'll probably ask you a few more.

But

Live Golf and the PGA would never merger.

That's what the PGA said, right?

Until they would.

Never.

They would never merge.

Until what?

Until they would.

Until they would.

And why would they?

What would make them merge?

Probably some money, correct, would be my guess.

So

right now, you're looking at

the,

this was a dry run.

This was a chem test, by the way, right?

To see if it could work on many levels.

Prize money, right?

We see is real.

The glory of it is real.

And club recognition, like getting a foothold in some, and in, in, in America is big to everybody.

You're looking at teams around the world, right?

You're looking at teams around the world, big teams.

You just said it, big teams, your Barcelonas, your Real Madrids, your Man United's, who from Germany wasn't there, so on and so forth, right?

Certain Italian teams.

They're going to look at this and go, we want in.

You know what the organizers are going to say?

No, you can't get it.

Of course, they're going to say, we want you in.

It makes more sense.

It makes more money, right?

And so some of the smaller teams will be out.

Now, you're listening to this right now going, well, that's not fair.

And how can they do that?

I don't have the answer to that.

I'm saying in year,

in the fifth,

by the time we're looking at the Club World Cup in the summer for the fifth time, we will probably have all of the world's best teams in there.

And then you're asking me how

they'll find a way.

They'll find a way.

Yeah, okay.

Fair enough.

I agree with that.

All right, let's take a break.

When we come back, we will dive into the latest news around MLS.

It was a big MLS weekend, and lots of U.S.

men's national team transfer implications, dealings going on right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Lannon and Tim.

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USLNT on USMNT.

Right, let's talk transfers.

I mean, really,

these guys, most of these guys are

on holiday somewhere, training, going for a morning run.

Like, what do you really do on holiday?

Do a couple sit-ups, a morning run.

There's no ball involved, right?

So these guys are all on holiday.

But let's talk transfers.

She said a couple sit-ups.

Yeah, right.

You go for a morning run, a couple sit-ups.

A couple, like three sit-ups.

Yeah, a couple sets.

You're either

you're on the beach somewhere.

I never watched sit-ups on vacation.

Did you not?

Never.

You're so.

So I never looked like you.

Correct.

Stupid.

All right.

Malik to buy our lover cousin.

Yep.

Malik, tell Tillman, me.

yeah, yeah, love, love, I mean, I love, yeah, you know, I talked about this before, new manager in Eric Ten Hog, he knows the Dutch game inside and out, having previously been at IAX.

And

Malik Tillman, coming from PSV, like he'll have all the insights on this guy, right?

This isn't, I mean, I think you agreed with me, this isn't like a random sporting director going after a player that the coach doesn't know, which we know happens, right?

Yep.

This is, this would have been hand-selected by Eric Ten Hogg who's a new manager, who I think is, I think is going to get a chance, a real chance, which is exciting.

Yeah, I mean, he will have spoken to dozens of people

in the Netherlands about him, right?

So I like it.

I'm going to say this, and this is going to hold true for every single one of these players as long as they're playing.

As long as they're playing significant minutes, it's the only thing that matters.

Which leads us to, let's go to Ajamong next.

This is not confirmed yet, but by all accounts, he's going to Derby.

I have hesitations about this.

I could be wrong.

Certainly been wrong in the past.

I think of it from a Charlotte FC perspective and from his perspective.

You have a national team player.

Now, is he going to start in the World Cup?

Probably not.

Is he on the roster?

I don't think there's any question he's on the roster as long as he just doesn't fall apart.

So if you're Charlotte, you have a national team player.

You can promote, market.

He's going to play all the minutes.

Great.

If you're Ajamong, you know, you are playing basically every minute of every game for the next year.

You're going to be in form.

You're going to be playing, scoring goals, fit.

All that becomes a risk when you go to Derby.

So I have my reservations.

I'm hoping, hoping, hoping it's the best.

I think it's actually the right type of league for him because he can be impactful.

Yeah.

It's 8 million risk.

It's 8 million plus 1 add-ons to get up to 10.

So it's called 8 million, right?

Here's the issue that we're having in

ultimately in MLS, right?

You get a bunch of American kids, you being one of them, me being one of them, people before us and after us, and there's a dream of going to Europe, right?

Part of that dream is glory, but part of that dream is money, right?

And so

we're struggling to keep our best talent.

I think you and I talked about this last episode or the one before, I can't remember.

Struggling to keep our best talent, right?

Because we undervalue our players and we overvalue an $8 million transfer, right?

And so we let that player go because that player also in undervaluing them

is like, yeah, but I can go, I can go to Darby County and make,

I'm guessing he's going to make

more.

I think it's on 100 and something grand.

He's going to make seven, eight, 10 times his salary.

So, so what that player's, whether, whether you just said, which I don't disagree with, like, is this the best situation or not?

That player is going to go,

yeah,

I have a dollar in a dream.

Like,

I believe in myself.

And by the way, even if I'm, if I fail miserably, I can, I can always come back or do something else.

Like,

I'm going to earn money that I couldn't otherwise do.

So, we don't.

But are you going to be on a home World Cup roster?

Tim, this is actually an easy answer.

If you're the agent, you go to Charlotte and you say,

he's not making 100 grand anymore.

He's making 750 grand.

We're going to sign him to a three-year deal.

If pick the club comes in for a reasonable number, not the typical MLS, well, he's worth 50 million.

No, he's not.

Then you put that in the contract.

And if everyone agrees it's time to go, it's time to go.

But that, it's not a hard, this happens all over the world.

This is an easy answer.

I'm with you.

I'm with you.

So

it's not one or the other.

It's not stay and make 100 or go to Derby and make a million.

He can make 750 or a million in MLS right now.

He can.

I agree with you.

And I think that's the solution.

Yeah, he can.

They can find a way to, of course, they can.

I agree with you.

I'm saying,

has anybody done that?

With him.

Yeah.

Well, I don't know.

I don't know who represents him, but this is an easy answer.

This is an easy answer.

But look, look, his choice, his life, I get the money part is very real.

For people who are like, you know, you got to do, da, da, da.

It's like, this is real money, real, real money.

So we'll keep our eyes on it.

Damian Downs goes from Cologne to Southampton.

It's a really interesting move.

I don't have,

well,

do you have a gauge of guys who come from

Germany and then move into England?

Like, how is that just stylistically?

They're so different.

Yeah, I like, I don't love this move.

Cologne is Bundesliga or the second Bundesliga.

They're always like bottom of the Bundesliga.

Yo-yo, yeah.

They're Yo-Yoka.

So it's going from one Yo-Yoga club to another.

I mean, I.

Southampton used to be, they're under new ownership, and I think Croatian ownership, they used to be

kind of like that solid, really well-run football club, not big, right?

They're going to stay in.

They had a, you know, in my time in the Premier League, they had a long stint in, you know, so they're always there thereabouts.

Recently, under the new ownership, we've seen managers come and go.

We've seen odd signings.

So I don't.

I don't love it.

I would imagine, again,

salary-wise,

he'll get a bump.

I think he'll play.

You know, I would suspect he'll, you know, they're bringing him into play,

which again, championship is really good level.

So, you know, if he hits the ground running and scores some goals and keeps himself in the team, it could be a good thing.

I will say this, and this is a weird little nuance to this deal.

If Southampton

under new ownership, I mean, they're an anomaly because they decide to play how they're going to play all the time.

Southampton fighting for promotion, I like way better than him going to a club that is fighting for survival.

Yeah, that's a great point.

That's a great point.

Yeah, I like that way better for him.

So let's hope that that is a scenario that is beneficial.

And Cologne just got promoted to the Bundesliga.

So it's interesting they would let him go too, right?

Because that kind of tells you.

Right.

Yeah, it's interesting that they would let him go.

They let him go.

They have more money because they're in the Bundesliga.

So they're probably trying to, what they feel is upgrade that position.

But again, so they may, maybe it's a situation where it makes sense for both clubs and players yeah but they don't view him clearly then as a bundus league player right or they got you know some sort of deal that made sense sure but also again maybe maybe that is and and we poo-pooed all the time because all we talk about is Premier League and Bundesliga and Syria.

Maybe that's his level.

And I don't say that as like a novel.

Maybe that's his level.

And if he does really, really well and can score 15 goals in the championship, there's a really good living to be had and a team and a position on the World Cup team to be had too.

Well, not necessarily.

Josh Sargent just did that.

Well, yeah, maybe, but maybe that, well, it's not because of goal scoring, right?

Because he scores goals.

He scores goals very badly.

Something else there.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Let's move on to MLS.

So it was great to get back into MLS.

There were a lot of interesting, very interesting matchups.

I think the headliner of the weekend,

if you're an Ohio native, was a great hell is real.

So Cincy home lost 4-2 to Columbus.

Incredible.

Columbus were down two goals after the first five minutes on the road in that rivalry and came back to score four unanswered.

So they are

fun to watch.

I've said it a million times.

Wilfred Nancy, I think, is maybe the best coach in MLS.

And that was a dismantling.

It's really impressive.

The hell is real Darby.

I mean,

it doesn't get better than that.

name.

The TIFOs are amazing.

You know, just, yes, the game itself was really good.

The game itself, I agree with you regarding Columbus, but I just

you got to give a shout out to these MLS teams who have created these derbies, right?

Because on the surface, they've just created like a

statewide or rivalry or hate or regional hate, but like it's become so palpable and so real that when you speak to people there, like they've been yearning for like two things, I think on a soccer landscape, they've been yearning for a team and they've been yearning for someone to hate, right?

Like, you think about when you talk to soccer fans, like for places you go, and it's, it's like the European calendar, like schedule comes out.

When are we playing Cincinnati?

When are we playing Columbus?

And I just think it's great.

I do.

So, I mean, obviously, the game itself was really, really good.

But ultimately, I love the Derbies.

And it's two good teams, too.

So that's what made it fun.

Yeah.

All right.

We kind of buried the lead there, but Messi now, five games in a row with multiple goals.

this is crazy i mean andrew was asking if i had ever been in a run of form like that the only time i can think of and i wasn't close to scoring two goals a game for five games but this is the analogy i was using so in 2013 we played in the gold cup

and for whatever reason we had like a let's call it an a minus b plus team we had some guys missing but mexico was missing a bunch of their guys and everyone else i don't know if there was qualifying or there was something else going on A bunch of teams were missing their players.

So in a normal competition, you play Honduras, El Salvador.

I think we played Belize, Cuba.

You're going to beat them.

But this was like their B teams.

Okay.

So you can just imagine.

So during that time, I think that's probably the closest I ever felt to be to feeling what it's like to be Leonel Messi.

Because every game, Tim, I said, if I just want to be the guy who tries to score two or three goals, like when Kobe tried to score 81 against Toronto, I could probably score two or three goals in this game.

And I would never say that in any pro game I ever played, except in that tournament.

And so he's done this now five games in a row, where he's basically says, if I want to score a couple goals, I can do it.

And it's just, I don't know.

You said it last week.

You're like, he's confusing to you because you just don't know how he keeps doing it.

And I just don't know how he keeps.

And by the way, they beat a really good Nashville team.

Nashville hadn't lost in 15 across all competitions.

So it was, I mean, he's just really impressive, man.

The

interesting thing when I was watching that game, I was like,

having scored, I mean, you go, you know, as well as I do, right?

Like, as a goalkeeper, you keep a couple clean sheets, you just think you're going to keep clean sheets.

You just illustrate the story.

Like, when you're scoring goals

in that type of run, you just think you're probably going to score

as opposed to, like, I don't, I feel off today.

I'm looking at the game.

He scored in four, you know, two goals in four consecutive games.

I'm like,

I'm not going to bet on this, but if I did, I would bet that he scored two.

You know what I mean?

Like, there was just something about it.

But also,

woeful.

The other side of it is woeful, man.

I played against Messi and I know it's freaking difficult.

I get it.

I get it.

But like,

the first goal, free kick outside the box.

You can't say not to give away a foul because it's messy and the guy was laid on the tackle.

Messi dangles a leg and goes down and like it's a foul.

So, like, okay.

But, like, I can tell you from a goalkeeper standpoint, that

ball was just outside the 18-yard box, or maybe a little bit further outside the 18-yard box, right?

Perfect position on the right side, his right side of the goal.

Left foot up and over.

Like, this is going in, right?

You put someone underneath the wall, which I don't believe in, but for Messi, put someone underneath the wall.

You tell the wall to jump as high as humanly possible, okay?

And I'm going to stand on my side of the goal.

If he puts it up and over, we're going to live with that.

We're going to blame the guy who fouled him outside the box.

That's how this is going to work.

But what I'm not going to do, a trillion thousand percent, what I'm not going to do as a goalkeeper is try and guess and like make an amazing save.

Because by the way, LD, and you've seen Messi, if Messi goes up and over the wall, that ball is going up and over the wall into the corner.

You could be standing there.

You're still not going to get it, right?

Right.

Like, I'm not taking a piss here.

Like, you know, this.

So, keeper, just stay on your side.

As it was, the keeper leans, he goes to the goalkeeper's side, gif wraps it.

Speaking of gif wrapping, the second goal, Willis takes it off his chest.

He goes to play out of the back.

It turns into an absolute disaster.

Messi just steps in the path of the ball.

He was playing from the goalkeeper to the center back or to the fullback.

Messi presses.

It looked to me semi-half-hearted until he felt like he could bite on the ball.

And then he just takes it and

puts it in.

And a couple people diving around.

It looks like a cartoon.

And he has two.

So I don't know.

I said, bet.

Maybe I should bet.

Maybe I should bet.

You want to do like a few goals in the next game?

We'll do a US LNT.

There's no way he bets for it.

I will put five bucks on it.

Are we allowed to?

If we're not allowed to bet, I promise I won't.

It's funny you asked that.

I was thinking the same thing in Vegas this weekend.

I was like, am I actually allowed?

But I was telling my wife, I'm like, I don't play.

I don't have any inside info.

I'm not like I'm asking someone, are you going to win today?

What's your lineup?

So I guess we can.

I actually think

by rules of my ownership investment in Houston Dynamo, I'm probably

definitely not betting the game.

But if I was a betting man, I would put $5 on the fact that he'll score another brace.

Why not?

We'll revisit this next time.

Okay.

Miami, by the way, they're fifth in the east, but three fewer games than everyone else.

So it's going to be interesting to keep watching that.

Oh, I got another one for you.

Sorry.

Sorry.

Yeah.

Points.

were talking about like points per game.

Miami, Miami is like the best in the league.

Yeah.

Like they're just cruising slightly under the right.

They're raising so many other games.

I know.

So they're way down.

They're further down the standings than you expect.

They're going to be up.

Right.

So, this is my other point.

Sorry.

So I'm watching this game, right?

And I'm thinking the goalkeeper had a nightmare, which, by the way, I know what that looks like.

I've had a few, but the goalkeeper has a nightmare.

And I'm thinking,

if I'm correct, the striker,

Surage, Surage,

he is in the golden boot race.

Correct.

And Messi like caught him up.

And I'm thinking, if I'm going to the dress room after the game, I'm looking at this guy going, bro, are you for real?

Like, he doesn't need any more help.

I'm barely getting by here in the golden boot race.

And you just gift him two goals.

I was thinking, would they be rowing?

Cause you would.

But anyway.

You know how many games?

I went in like before the game started and I said, I don't care what happens.

He does not score today.

Okay.

Like if someone else is going to score, fine.

He does not.

And for whatever reason, he was leading.

I hated the guy.

Whatever.

I was like, he is not scoring.

If we got that, of course, he'd probably score.

But here's the thing.

Here's the other thing.

And

I'm digressing, but you're going to forgive me.

So my best friend is very high up in the NBA.

And I ask him all the time.

I'm saying like, there's five people on the court, right?

This guy scores all the points.

All the points.

I'm saying, what if you just took him out of the game, right?

You defended him, double team, whatever, took him out of the game and gave one of the other guys the ball every time.

Let him beat you every time.

Right.

I think you win most of the time.

I think so, too.

We have to move on.

I digress.

All right.

Relax.

I heard you, Jordan.

All right.

Last game we'll talk about, and it's time for our control your game presented by Nitza.

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All right.

The man who is definitely in full control, Tim, of his game.

I told you not to sleep on him.

You did.

You did.

Anders Dreyer, two goals for San Diego.

They go to Chicago.

They beat a good Chicago team.

He now becomes the third ever MLS player to have 10 goals and 15 assists in his debut campaign.

Sebastian Jovinko and Darwin Quintero did that with Minnesota United.

And we're only at the all-star break.

We're only halfway through the season and he's already done it.

All right, let me riff here.

You told me about this this guy, he's in your backyard, everyone's wearing his shirt.

You've seen him.

I slept a little bit, not a lot.

I trust your judgment.

What I would say is, I don't buy many tickets.

One, because I just prefer to stay home and watch it on TV, or if I do go to games, I've got enough, I got enough juice to get a ticket.

I'm going to buy a ticket to watch this guy.

It's true, true story

because

I'm blown away.

You read those stats: 10 goals and 15 assists in his debut campaign.

The bottom part, it's not even the all-star break yet.

Yeah.

Like, like, is it, is it far-fetched to say that he'll be, he'll be a 15-goal, 20-assist player?

Like,

I think easily.

Easily, right?

Yeah.

And if not for the best player that's ever played the game in the history of the game, who actually has 10 goals in his last five games,

he would be the MVP.

He might be.

San Diego's top of the league.

All right.

Hang on.

Or top of the West.

What?

Yeah, you're right.

He's not going to be the MVP.

Unless he scores zero more goals, he's still going to win the MVP.

I'm going to ask you a question.

Keep going.

No, I'm good.

Go ahead.

All right.

So we have, this is obviously being recorded.

So

they win the West, right?

San Diego wins the West.

He gets, what did I say, 15, 20?

He's going to get 25.

He's going to have to get more.

He gets

17 goals.

25 assists.

It's a lot, but doable.

17.

Is he on penalties, by the way?

Do Do you know?

That I don't.

Okay, I don't believe he is, actually.

Okay, which makes it amazing.

He's on 17 goals, 25 assists.

San Diego wins the West.

No chance he wins MVP?

You have to.

I love Messi.

Zero chance.

I know why you think so.

Zero chance.

There's no chance.

It's not happening.

It's your trophy, right?

It doesn't.

I'm asking.

No, no, it's a Landon Donovan trophy.

There is less percentage chance that I have a say in it than he's going to win.

It's less than zero.

Okay.

Okay.

So since this is being recorded,

and I'm not taking a piss, I feel like you think I am.

If your guy from your second team, because your first team is not doing well,

if San Diego win the West, he gets 17 goals and 25 assists, will you call Don Garber?

Not that Don has anything to do with it.

I'm saying, will you call him and show me from your phone that you called him and just lobby if he gets to that point if he gets to that point okay i will i will okay thank you that's all thank you i don't think don knows anything about that though he's got bigger fish to fight

i know i know all right well anders is in immense control of his game that is very clear so let's uh let's hope for his sake and san diego's sake it keeps going All right, well, Anders Dreyer is in immense control of his game.

Make sure you stay in control of your game.

We're going to take a break.

When we come back, we will get into all your questions in the ATT fan connection and talk anything but soccer, really good anything but soccer this week.

Right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.

All right, Timmy, it's summertime.

You remember these days.

Kids are home.

It's exhausting.

You're babysitting all day.

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

It is babysitting.

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

My wife was when it's time to get away and choose chill.

See you later.

I'm going to go play golf.

I got to be honest.

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Yes, yes.

It's that time.

The AT ⁇ T fan connection.

We get to connect with you, the fan, and

we also get to hang out with Jordan a little bit.

Jordan, come on in.

I love your shirt, by the way, because we were talking about My Chemical Romance this morning, weren't we?

Yes, I love this.

Landon went to see Nas, who's your favorite artist.

And I went to see my favorite artist, My Chemical Romance.

They opened their tour in Seattle this past weekend.

Oh, I did not know that.

You actually went to

disrespect me, a man of the people that I am.

You disrespect me.

I did.

Tell everyone what you did.

I didn't know that

you listened to My Chemical Romance.

I just assumed that I would have to do a lot of work to indoctrinate you.

Incredibly well-rounded.

Are they like a

child?

Ska, yeah.

You're just chucking out Ska.

You don't even know what any of that is.

I would say, though, they were playing the album, The Black Braid, which is the shirt I'm wearing an old shirt, The Black Braid is Dead, is more like arena rock.

Like, it's a big, big sound.

What does that mean, Arena Rock?

Like, queen.

Oh.

Yeah, so, like, it's a big shout.

Yeah.

Uh, the

Black Braid album is actually influenced by The Wall by Pink Floyd, which is another, like, big sounding band.

So, yeah, it was really fun.

Musically inclined.

What do you got for us today?

I got a lot of questions.

And actually, actually, they're a lot for you.

So buckle up, Tim.

Me.

Okay, you know what?

Let's just come in real hot.

Here we go.

This one's from Ian via email.

Tim, take us back to that fateful night in Trinidad in October 2017.

Was there a moment in that match when you realized we might actually lose and fail to qualify for the World Cup?

For both Landon and Tim, what was going through your mind when it actually happened?

Yeah, it's a good question because I never thought I'd see the day.

During the game, and I think we were waiting for another result.

It was Panama.

It was Panama somewhere, right?

We were on, we're on the, after the game, we were on the field.

I didn't really want to stick around, but we were waiting desperately for another result or something happened or someone got a penalty at the end.

Anyway, some crazy Conquer calf thing.

And no, to be brutally honest, it was all very surreal.

In the game, you're hoping, you're hoping to just find a goal from somewhere.

you you you just think the the miracles will happen something will happen um and it didn't and i remember going back to i vividly remember going back to the hotel

nothing like literally nothing was said in the dress room nothing was said on team bus go back to the hotel demarcus beasley and i were roommates at the back end of my nashta career He was just laying in bed.

I was laying in bed.

He was, you know, he was on his way.

Had we won, he would have been on his, what, fourth or fifth World Cup?

I'm not thinking one, two, three, fourth.

Fifth.

Fifth.

I was going to a fourth.

Like, it was, it was written in the stars.

And then it, and then it wasn't.

We went downstairs to a team meal.

Jesus Christ, a team meal.

Like, I mean, you want to talk about the walking dead.

It was, there were just people, no one, like, no one was saying anything.

The coaches weren't saying like,

okay, we'll do that.

No one spoke.

Walked out of the room, went back upstairs, laid on the bed.

He was on his phone.

I was on, like, said not, like, no one said anything.

I, I, you just thought,

I don't know, in my brain, I just thought something, something was going to miraculously happen.

Like we were going to somehow get entry to the World Cup.

Like someone would figure out some way.

Like it just didn't, it didn't seem real.

As stupid as it sounds, it just didn't seem real.

I was sitting at home

watching on my couch and it was 2-0, right?

They went up 2-0.

Is that right?

Yeah.

So it was 2-0 at halftime?

Yes, I think that's correct.

Okay.

So my buddy Devin, who listens to the pod,

said, he sent me a text earlier in the day and said, do you want to come over and watch?

I think he was thinking it was going to be a celebration.

So at halftime, I was like, I got to change something up.

So I went over to his house.

As the minutes wore on in the second half, I had this feeling in my gut that I've only had one other time in my life.

And I just, I was sitting there watching it happen.

And it's, it's like that sick feeling in your stomach

and it wouldn't go away.

And then I just, I sat there and I I was in disbelief.

That's the best way.

I mean, like you said, like you're,

you literally can't believe that just happened.

I know.

And we say that kind of like hyperbolically all the time, but I couldn't believe what I was watching.

Yeah.

It was crazy.

I think I've said on this podcast before, like, you know, that was that was epic failure.

I, I certainly, I, with my teammates, have held our hand up and I certainly do.

I honestly remember LD.

I had a.

I had at the time a place in Florida and I think, I can't remember who was my coach

in Denver, but they were like, you can, you know, have a few days off.

I went straight to my place in Florida, and

I'm not a depressed person.

Obviously, mental health is real, and I've never had bouts of depression.

I remember being depressed and numb, like numb, like the world was just hazy.

I would go into a store and people would talk to me, or I would talk to someone, but I was just in a haze.

It was incredible, man.

It was incredible.

Sad.

Good question.

I have literally no idea how to transition out of it.

And I'm straight out of it.

Failure happens.

This one's from Steve via email.

Actually, just for

clarity, there are two questions from someone called Steve.

They are not the same Steve.

So I'm just saying that now.

So the first Steve sent an email and said, as a retired referee with most of my 15-year career spent as the man in the middle, I was wondering what Landon and Tim think players want from a referee.

Also, why can't soccer have a clock controlled by the referee on the field?

And finally, any referee stand out as doing a terrific job for you in big games.

The clock one, I feel like that would be hard for a referee with all the things going on to then have to stop your clock, start it again, stop it.

So I feel like that would be challenging.

But you could have somebody doing it, maybe not the center ref.

I don't mind that idea.

And then, as far as referees that have stood out, I mean, there's been a lot over the years.

The way I watch a game and the way I, when I played a game, what I wanted from a referee was a few things.

Consistency.

Number one, the worst thing is when you think you get fouled, the referee doesn't blow the whistle, the ball goes down the other way, the other team has a similar type foul happen to them, and then he blows the whistle.

So it's like compounding the mistake, and that would drive players absolutely crazy.

The second thing I wanted from a referee was to be human.

And the amount of times where I would blow up at a referee that wasn't a foul,

and the ref would go, you know what?

I might have missed that one.

I'm sorry.

And then it's diffused.

What am I going to say?

I'm not going to keep going at it.

Well, you bet.

I said, I'm sorry.

I might have missed it.

I'm sorry.

I thought it was a foul.

I didn't see it.

And that's it.

So just be human in those moments because the ones who drive you crazy are the arrogant ego are like, get out of here.

That was a foul.

You know it wasn't.

And you're just like, get out of it.

Just stop, dude.

I'm playing the game.

I got fouled.

If you didn't see it, fine, but don't tell me it wasn't a foul.

You know?

So that's what I wanted.

Well said.

And look,

I apologize to a lot of referees because I've said horrific things.

I told you I had to go to a dark place to perform and to compete.

I said things to my opponent and referee and fans

probably would take that.

Some of them I would actually double down on.

But the referees that I hate, and I've called other players idiotic as well.

There's certain referees that are just idiotic.

The ones you're talking about, Landon, are like, that should be part of your refereing education.

Is like

learning the mindset of a player.

Like,

most of these guys aren't like, most of these players aren't bad guys.

They're just in the heat of the moment.

They're insecure as hell.

They're just trying to get by.

They're emotional.

Like, learn how to deal with that.

Two referees stand out.

The first one, for a funny reason, and anyone who was refereed by him in the primary name was Mark Halsey.

And Mark Halsey was funny as bleep.

I mean, this guy,

this guy, I would, I would would say, like, and by the way, it wasn't just me.

I mean, he was, he,

he was so amazing.

Ball would go out, and I'd go, hey, Mark, hey, Mark, and he'd go, oh, let me guess.

You're going to think I'm a F and F and so and so.

And he'd laugh and he'd run off.

And like, what was I supposed to do?

I was like, I just started laughing because that's what I was going to call him.

And he's like, hurry up and get on with the gold kick or something.

But Howard Webb, hands down,

he's the greatest referee that I've ever witnessed.

You know, Howard Webb was,

I think he refereed

the 2010 World Cup final, Holland versus Spain.

I think he was a longtime Premier League referee.

He headed up to referees

for the MLS and he does now for the Premier League.

I think, by all accounts,

he was some sort of a

sort of police officer.

He was in law enforcement.

So his ability to diffuse situations, Jordan, to the question, was like not his shoulder, by the way, his shoulders and bicep and chest were, it was a barrel.

So like you walked up on him and you're like, I'm not really sure what I'm going to say to him right now, you know?

And like in any big moment, he'd walk away, you're done.

And like, there's 20 people around him and he's talking to the captain.

And like, I'm trying to yell at him thinking, it was like a school teacher.

I'm like, nothing I say to this guy is going to affect him.

So he was amazing.

I thought he was brilliant in the way he handled, handled players.

But again, I talk about like referee education.

He got that education in law enforcement.

So he knew how to de-escalate situations.

Anyway, yeah, awesome question.

How about another question from someone called Steve?

But it's a friend, Steve.

The reason I asked this question is because I think it's a pretty basic question, Tim, for you to answer about goalkeeping, but I think it's a question that a lot of people don't understand

why these decisions get made.

So let me ask his question.

Why is it that goalkeepers almost always try to guess where the ball is going to go?

Why not just stand their ground and try to react?

I assume that there is some data as to which strategy is best.

That's a great question.

Is this a, is this like a penalty or just I think he's talking about penalties, but in in, yeah, it could be in general, but I like when I was reading the question, I was imagining penalties specifically.

In penalties, it would actually, it would, if anyone remembers the old Benny Hill skits, it would be the best comedy skit ever.

If you were to tell the goalkeeper, right, we're in a World Cup, we're in the highest, we're telling world-class players.

Landon Donovan standing on the penalty spot, Tim Howard, you're in goal.

If all I could do was react at the moment he hit the ball, you would see me dive after the ball hit the back of the net.

Like, that's how fast this goes.

So, it's

an impossibility.

Some goalkeepers can like wait and react, and every now and again, they make a save, but like, the penalty has to be a crap penalty.

If Landon takes a really good penalty and it curls just inside one of the posts, high or low, and I react only after I see where it's going,

I'm just going to fall on the ground after the ball is hit.

You can't, it's impossible.

They would have to move penalties to midfield in order for you to have enough time to react.

So reaction time.

Okay, but what about in the run of play?

Because I think that's a good question.

Yeah, in the run-up play.

I mean, in the run of play, I think from a goalkeeper standpoint, like, again, you and me, you're closing me down.

You're barreling in on, like, I don't think you're guessing on like long-range shots unless you get somehow deceived by the ball.

But like in tight, sometimes you'll see like, you know, within like 10 yards, you and me, you're barreling down on me.

You're looking at me, right?

You've got time.

I can try and, I can try and close the angle down and give you less to look at, but ultimately you got a lot of goal behind me and

you're clever enough to pick out a side.

So I've got to do my best to like lean one way and, you know,

drag a hand or a leg, leave it in the road to hopefully get a piece of something.

Because otherwise, it's really, really difficult to wait.

and then react because it's just the time and the distance is so short.

I had a few goalkeeper coaches.

I would ask this because I want to know it from the goalies perspective because I felt like that helped me.

And a few of them would say the same thing.

They would say, majority of goals get scored within like a yard of you.

That's where the ball passes your body, majority of them.

So that's whatever the data says there.

So it's

way less, sorry, it's more rare.

than people think to like bang it just inside the post.

It's just not the way it goes.

So he said, as a goalkeeper,

way the way these ones would teach is that

you just need to stand there and be as big as possible and not give them a goal right because it's like make someone scorable and if they smash it in the corner they smash it in the corner but there's so many i mean the messy one you just talked about yeah he made it so much easier by guessing the side of the wall and then messy from 18 yards to roll it in on a wet field i mean that's not hard to do not hard well it's interesting that's really interesting that they they said that to you because i agree with it mamuel noir was the best in the world for forever.

And I think Allison at Liverpool is the current best in the world.

And they both, different techniques, but they both do a really great job of actually chest forward,

not really.

Now, sometimes they get beat and it gets rolled down the side, but often they make a ton of those saves in tight because they...

they kind of stand and wait.

And Allison has a really great way of coming out and sliding.

Again, the hard part for me and when I teach young goalkeepers or I ask or they ask me questions, it's like I was the same, dude, like when someone was barreling down on me and I've taken up a really great position, it's like I'm now about to get absolutely wellied with a 75-mile an hour shot.

And sometimes I like, I just flinch or I get out of the way.

Like it's not, it's not a perfect sign because we're human, but the best, the best are brave.

Thank you for recognizing that Allison is

appreciate that.

There we go.

All right.

That's it.

Thanks, guys.

Thanks, JR.

All right.

That was awesome.

Actually, Tim, too, a quick shout out.

We have great partners.

We really really do here.

And ATT, this Sunday, I'm going to be doing an appearance for ATT in Austin.

Nice.

Just want to say they're really good people.

They just last minute they needed help.

And you know how it goes when you have good partners.

It's like, yeah, I'll do it.

So we're going to be at the All-Star Game next week.

I will be there Sunday evening.

Can't wait.

Just, yeah, pay attention.

And hopefully, I see you guys there.

It'd be really fun.

All right, ABS, anything but soccer.

So this is cool.

I like this.

This is good.

All right.

In the women's semifinal at Wimbledon last week, there was a moment when Amanda Anisimova

hit a shot, it clipped the net, fell over the net.

She won the point.

Irina Sabolenka, who she's playing, she is fiery.

She was upset that she didn't say sorry, that Anissimova didn't say sorry after it hit the net and fell over.

And so it just got us all thinking on the chat, like, what are some of these unwritten rules in sports that are either good or some that are just like ridiculous?

Right.

And this one to me, look, I played tennis for like seven years after I retired.

Okay.

This one was always crazy to me because

you hit the net and it goes over and you won the point.

But then you're like, oh my bad.

I'm so sorry.

I'm like, what the hell are you apologizing for?

You won the point.

And so it's, it's, it's just, it's just bizarre.

That one's bizarre to me.

And we're going to go into a few more.

We're going to go into a few more.

But the, you, you mentioned this in our, in our production call about tennis right we we both play a little tennis it's like

you didn't meet like what are you apologizing for you didn't meet you you're trying you were trying to hit a good shot it clipped in that like stop saying sorry some of these sports like stop saying sorry there's no like

and and by the way she can get mad about it the other girl she was pissed do me a favor she was pissed but tim think about this imagine i'm like on a breakaway

And I go to hit the shot and I just like slice it off the side.

I like totally mishit it.

And by the way, I hit it.

I scored a ton of goals like that.

Right.

And it goes in the goal.

There's zero chance I'm apologizing.

I'm going to be like, Tim, it came off the outside of my foot.

I was trying to smash it across the goal mouth.

You would never,

you wheel away and celebrate.

End of story.

Of course you do.

And you don't even think about it.

So it's still.

Okay, so let's get into a few of these other ones.

And actually, I want, really, really want you guys to tell us some of your most annoying ones because this is like, this is a bar.

I'm going to start with this one.

This one drives me crazy.

this one really gets me fired up so in baseball i can't figure out when a pitcher inadvertently not trying to hit the guy throws a hundred mile an hour fastball in the middle of a guy's back or hits his arm or whatever can you not this is a case where can you not just look at the guy and say my bad dude like i didn't mean there's like this macho like oh yeah

you know go to free like come on dude like real manly you're gonna throw a hard ball ball at a guy from 60 feet away.

Yeah.

Like, what a man you are.

And then the pitcher, Tim,

now never bats.

So then the other team's pitcher comes out and hits your best player.

But by the way, you're just sitting there like, all right, you guys go at it.

I started it, but I'm never going to get hit.

So it doesn't, I mean, this to me is the dumbest thing.

It's a tangled web.

We're going to go off on one here.

Look, I'm looking at like unwritten rules in baseball.

We haven't pulled up, right?

Like you, one of the, a couple of them I love.

You're not supposed to talk to a pitcher who's got a no-hitter going into like the seven pins.

I love that one.

I think it's amazing.

Love that.

Isn't it worse, though?

Everyone knows, like, totally.

Talk to him.

Good job.

Superstition, no doubt.

I get it.

But you're not supposed to steal a base.

Maybe the pitcher wants you to be.

No, no, he doesn't.

He's locked in.

Okay.

Okay.

You're not supposed to steal a base.

What?

You're not supposed to steal a base when your team has a huge lead.

I get that.

Okay, whatever.

It's about stats.

You're not supposed to bunt to break up a no-hitter, which I do appreciate.

Come on.

Like, if you're not good enough to hit the guy, then, like, don't bun.

The thing you were touching upon right is I got a major problem.

I like I'm not trying to rewrite baseball lore, but like I got a big problem So you said you get the guy gets hit So the next time up unwritten rule.

I gotta hit you, bro.

I'm I'm coming for your head.

Okay.

Here's the problem I have you possess a lethal weapon in your in in a in a baseball and your arm and you're gonna throw 103 miles an hour at my chin.

Right.

60 feet away.

Yeah.

I'm 60 feet away.

So I'm gonna build this scenario for you just to, to, so I can, I can, my, I can give you my point.

Once you do that, if I'm not dazed and confused and dead, I can get up

and chase you down

to try and fight you.

I got a gorilla in catcher's gear chasing me from behind, right?

By the time I get to you,

third base, second base, shortstop, first base

are there.

My guys haven't even got over the top of the dugout yet.

So I'm like one on seven.

I don't even know if my math is right.

I'm like one on six, one on seven.

And I can't take the bat with me.

What?

I got a big problem with that, Major League Baseball.

Like, I know everyone's saying, well, how dare you?

Hang on.

How dare you hit me with a hundred mile an hour fastball in the chin?

Your best friend, the catcher, is breathing down my neck, about to stomp me.

And I can't bring the bat.

Like, where else is that work?

I live in New York.

If someone throws something at at me, I'm going to pick up the first thing that's not bolted down and I'm going to chuck it at him.

I'm fine with it.

I'm fine with it because

the pitcher never gets any repercussion.

Or, you know, there was one smart guy in baseball.

I can't remember what it was.

And you guys can tell us in maybe production.

He got hit by a pitch and was like, I'm going after the pitcher, but you know what I'm going to do first?

I'm going to drop, kick the catcher in the chest.

And he did.

I'm trying to think who it was.

I want to say it was a Yankee, but it wasn't.

Kicks

the pitcher in the chest and catcher in the chest and then beelined it for the pitcher because he's like, at least I could take one out.

So, anyway, it was amazing.

But

I mean, some of these are crazy, like some of these are crazy because you move to soccer, right?

It's like, and you had an interesting take on this because the, the, when, when a, when a goal, when a goal scorer scores against his former team, there's like this, you know, if you all can see me, you know, he's like, puts his hand up and goes, oh, no, can't celebrate.

I won't celebrate

out of respect.

And like, you tell me the story about, like, do you see?

We had a guy at Loyal score against his former team.

Well, and by the way, I had no idea.

I researched this guy for three years trying to sign him.

I had no idea he even played for this team.

Right.

Okay.

And the reason why is because he played like three games for that team.

So he scores against them and he runs to the corner and he puts his hands up.

Like, I'm like, you're there for a cup of coffee, dude.

Like, really?

I can see if you're there for 10 years.

Right, right, right.

But like, it's just so funny.

Oh, what other ones do we have?

I'm just trying to think.

The

kicking the ball.

I'm not even going to get into your sport.

Golf, walking across someone's putting line.

One of the reasons I don't play golf is there's way too many rules.

There's, there's, in, in golf, there's so many

rules.

The putting line is interesting because they do it for pros, right?

And the pros, if you like, if you have a heavy foot and you step and there's a little mark, the pros are so good that even from like 30 feet, if it hits that a little differently, it might not go.

For an amateur golfer.

Sometimes people go, Oh my bad.

And I go, Dude, I pray to God I'm good enough one day where that little footprint actually matters, like that little divot groove actually matters.

It's so ridiculous.

It's ridiculous.

Again,

why I don't play golf.

What I would say is there's an unwritten rule, and I know you being half Canadian subscribe to this.

I subscribe to it.

And the unwritten rule in hockey is: if you touch my best player, I've got a goon

that's six foot seven 230

skates like a ballerina

he's coming over the top of those boards if you touch my best skater end of story like that's my favorite i love it

because you know what you know what it eliminates it eliminates shithousery it eliminates it it's like no problem

but there's going to be a problem We're going to fists.

That's it.

I love it.

And then all you do is you get like a five-minute penalty.

It's like, whatever.

that's the other thing about it right like in all these other sports like you can't you can't you'd be suspended for months you get suspended for all these things right i'm not like i'm not i'm not condoning that we we bring fighting into soccer or anything else right like in football it takes care of itself right you're like this guy's going over american football this guy's going over the middle i'm going high on him i'm gonna get a 15 15 yard penalty or whatever or maybe you get tossed i think you get tossed for one game right for targeting or i can't remember whatever but it's one in soccer you blow on a guy that's like three games and it's going to a panel, you might get another one.

So you missed like three, like a 10th of the season.

Wild.

All right.

I really, we want to know what are some other ones because we can talk about them on the show next week.

But this, yeah, that one riled me up when she got all mad about it the other day.

All right.

Great show.

Thank you guys.

It was awesome.

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