Mexico Wins Gold Cup, Wild Club World Cup Goalkeeping, and Has Poch's Stock Gone Up?

Speaker 1 Before we get started, we wanted to express our deepest condolences over the tragic passing of Diogo Jotta and his brother Andre last week. LD, it's so sad on so many levels.

Speaker 1 A wife lost her husband.

Speaker 1 His three children lost their father. And his parents lost

Speaker 1 their only two children. And

Speaker 1 it is tragic. He was a beautiful footballer for both Liverpool and Portugal.

Speaker 1 But I would say the overflowing of tributes across the footballing world speaks to the character of the human being that he was.

Speaker 2 Yeah, and look, you longer than me, but we both played on the other side of Liverpool.

Speaker 2 And so you get in these rivalries and sometimes you forget that it's still life, you know, and you get caught up in the soccer.

Speaker 2 The way Liverpool has handled it, the way everyone has handled it has been phenomenal. And it just really shook us.
I'm sure you more than me, but that was a very, that was a difficult week.

Speaker 2 And just wishing the best for his family. Kudos to Liverpool for then honoring his contract so everybody there can continue to take care of his wife and children and wishing them the very best.

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.
soccer for over five years.

Speaker 1 My guy, L.D., what's happening?

Speaker 2 May.

Speaker 1 i'll tell you why you're in you're in houston we'll get to that sir i am in knoxville tennessee uh home of the volunteers lady vols i've moved my daughter into her freshman dorm they start preseason today i was like that's wild good luck with that ask a question yeah tell me why do you why do i mean i don't have kids that age yet why is it always that the parent moves the kid in Can't the kid just move himself?

Speaker 2 No, don't. You know, people are always like, I'm going this weekend to move my kid in.
I'm like, they can't put the bed on the floor and like,

Speaker 1 my daughter's amazing, but it would be impossible.

Speaker 2 And these kids nowadays,

Speaker 1 these kids nowadays, they have TikTok and they have Pinterest and like their room has to be a certain way. Bro, I was hanging pictures.
And for all the people out there who don't know,

Speaker 1 I can't screw a light bulb in.

Speaker 2 I'm terrible.

Speaker 1 Like, I just,

Speaker 1 I'm good at some things and I'm not great at others. But the things we do for our kids, particularly little girls.

Speaker 2 So God bless you.

Speaker 1 Yeah. So I'm here preseason.

Speaker 2 All right.

Speaker 2 You're in Houston. I'm in Houston.
Yeah. We did the game yesterday.

Speaker 2 Leaving this afternoon to head back home. So if you see a different setting for both of us, you know why.

Speaker 2 But we will get into the game in a sec. Remember, guys, follow social media, Unfiltered Soccer.
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If you like what we do, it helps other people find us. And as always, you can email Jordan at feedback at unfiltered soccer.
All right.

Speaker 2 USLNT and USMNT right away, Timmy. Yep.
So the game, I'll start because I was here. Yeah.

Speaker 2 You did a great job.

Speaker 1 Coverage was

Speaker 1 awesome. It was the atmosphere looked incredible, by the way.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it was awesome. It was, you know,

Speaker 2 I described it in the pregame as

Speaker 2 it just feels different. I know, like, when you did Liverpool Everton, when you show up that week, you show up at the stadium, everything feels different.

Speaker 2 And so when we got to the stadium, it just felt different.

Speaker 2 And what was really cool, really cool for me is there were so many people there tim uh outside of the set who were wearing they had someone had made and were selling there these like half mexico half us shirts

Speaker 2 and it was really cool because you speak to people and some of them speak full spanish but they got the u.s some of them are like you're like you are american totally american but you clearly have mexican descent yeah and so there was like that kind of vibe around the whole stadium and people were just i think genuinely happy to be there and see us mexico and it was a really good vibe so it was fun to be there i mean there's nothing there's nothing like u.s mexico i mean when you you actually mentioned it you were like i mean as a as a players we know how amazing and and scary and awesome that game is but then you also when you're around it as a fan sitting at home watching or you're there working it it's it's such an incredible moment for both sets of players yeah it was awesome okay so let's dig into the game so incredible start

Speaker 2 Burr halter, another really good set piece. Chris Richards gets on the end of it.
I gave the linesman a ton of credit because they don't have goal line technology in this tournament, which whatever.

Speaker 2 That's a whole nother conversation. But that ball, I mean, barely crossed the line, barely.
And

Speaker 2 if they had called

Speaker 2 no goal, I'm not sure they can go back and overturn it. So I give the linesman a ton of credit, but a phenomenal start and another set piece goal for Chris Richards.

Speaker 2 So you felt like, you know, sometimes, Tim, in those games, though, you go, did we score too early?

Speaker 2 Because you knew what was coming on the back of that. And so it felt maybe a little, did we score too early? But it was a perfect start.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I mean, I kind of, you described the goal really well.

Speaker 1 I was thinking not so much that it was, we scored too early, because I think we were always going to be put on the back foot with how brilliant Mexico plays in between lines. But I thought.

Speaker 1 I thought going into the game, I did think we could win the game, but I thought going into the game, we were going to need at least two goals to win. So in my opinion, it was like, that's one.

Speaker 1 Now, look, it's going to be KG is going to be tight. We're still going to need to find a second from somewhere.
But for me, it was like, okay, there's one of the two that I think we need. So

Speaker 1 it seems like hindsight because I know the score, but it just felt like that was going to be what we needed. But again, you know, Chris Richards has.

Speaker 1 grown in stature for me this tournament. We've heard a little bit from him.
We've talked about how much he wants to be the guy.

Speaker 1 And I like when players come out and say that LD because then then it like it kind of stamps the authority of like, okay, now he's also willing to take the criticism too, if things don't go well.

Speaker 1 And he had a really good tournament.

Speaker 2 So hats off to him. Yeah.

Speaker 2 And then about 15, 20 minutes in, it felt like the momentum really started to shift and Mexico started to put us under a lot of pressure. And it culminated with the Rao Jimenez goal.

Speaker 2 This was an interesting goal.

Speaker 2 I was saying we were sitting in the green room. We had like a, unfortunately, we couldn't stand on the field side and watch the game.

Speaker 2 So we had to go into like a green room and watch from there on TV, just like everyone else did.

Speaker 2 And there were a bunch of moments where Mexico were playing on one side of the field and Tyler Adams stayed very central.

Speaker 2 And it was almost like I asked Marisa Dew, I said, is Pochatino telling him to sit right in front of Chris Richards and Tim Riemann, make sure that there's no service into Jimenez?

Speaker 2 And so I said, I just assumed maybe that's what happened.

Speaker 2 And then I swear, next thing you know, the ball gets played onto Mexico's left side and Tyler drifts all the way out over there and kind of gets caught in this no man's land.

Speaker 2 And next thing you know, Marcel Ruiz slips behind him. They roll a ball in.
Freeman's too late to tuck in. Chris Richards gets pulled out.
Ball gets slipped in behind Reem

Speaker 2 and Rao Jimenez hits an absolute bomb into the top corner. So it was a weird sequence.

Speaker 2 I give Mexico credit. You know what they do and how they try to pull you apart like that.
But the finish also was just phenomenal.

Speaker 1 Again,

Speaker 1 very eloquent on your end.

Speaker 2 The goal.

Speaker 1 Well, first of all, let me give a little bit of credit to Mo Adu because Mo was,

Speaker 1 he glided across the pitch. In fact, I remember the game we won against Mexico in Mexico at Azteca 1-0.
And Mo Adu could play either center back. He was naturally a six.
He was good on the ball.

Speaker 1 He was tidy. He was physical.
He was rangy. Like, it puts a smile on my face when I think about the way that Moadu used to get about the pitch.
But

Speaker 1 it's so difficult. Like, I'm watching that game and you and me and our production group, we're texting a mile a minute, right? Like we always do.

Speaker 1 And I just remember thinking, like that, watching that didn't make me upset. It just made me feel like I understand this.

Speaker 1 Mexico are, whether they're a top 10 team in the world or not, they're top 10 in finding pockets and space and putting you in horrifically uncomfortable positions defensively, particularly in

Speaker 1 your defensive final third. They're so brilliant at it.

Speaker 1 And the way I described it to our group is like, they get the ball, they get in their final third, they take their backpacks off, they go, right, everybody pitch your tent because we're going to be here a while, right?

Speaker 1 And when you lump it,

Speaker 1 your attacker is one versus three. We're going to win that ball, which we'll get to

Speaker 1 Ajameng in a minute. And then we're going to get it back.
And you're going to be here for another five minutes. And we'll probably get a corner.
You'll head the corner out. We'll recycle it.

Speaker 1 It's horrific, right? And so it seems like there was 11 black jerseys on the field, but to those players, it probably felt that there was 25 of them because they go off your shoulder.

Speaker 1 You know this, OD. You don't want to track back, but you're forced to track back and you're pinned back.

Speaker 1 And now, like Tyler Adams, who I think is a sensational player for the U.S., he goes into a position he likely, when he looks back, probably didn't want to go into. But guess what?

Speaker 1 They're asking you to solve problems constantly. It's not like we're bunkered in and they're just playing really nice and neat

Speaker 1 across your face. They're getting in positions where you're like, God, dog, I got to make a decision here.
And I don't like either of these decisions, right? You could see that sometimes.

Speaker 2 So you make the wrong one one time and it's it's they crush you and they're so tidy.

Speaker 1 They're so tidy.

Speaker 1 Look, they're fun to watch. I don't care who or what side you're on.
Mexico is fun to watch. So that was, that was tough.
But

Speaker 1 it was, you know, I was even mentioning to you at 1-0. I'm like, I'm so nervous at 1-0 right now because you just felt that goal was coming.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I think people don't understand

Speaker 2 pressure mounts and it mounts and it mounts. And when you, to your point, it's a great way to describe it.

Speaker 2 When you can't get out of the pressure, you need the first and second pass to be clean and break pressure and get out and just relieve some of it and get some territory back. And we couldn't do that.

Speaker 2 And there were a few times in the second half, this happened a lot, where Ajamang would get fouled. Sure.

Speaker 2 And then we'd actually have a moment to breathe, but then we just couldn't get a hold of the ball and keep it for long enough to just relieve the pressure.

Speaker 2 And over 90 minutes, man, it's just hard to keep defending like that. Yeah.

Speaker 1 And it's interesting. Stu Holden made a great point in commentary where he said.

Speaker 1 at one at one point he he was illustrating because it was the we didn't see the pictures he was saying that like tyler adams and burholtz and de la torre there's so many conversations going on and they're trying to get a grip of each other and i just i i kind of chuckled because i was like what people don't realize in these games you got this game plan, right, LD?

Speaker 1 And we're so comfortable on the training ground. And we're like, all right, cool.

Speaker 1 Then we go into a nice meeting in an air conditioned room in the hotel and like, cool, this is how we're going to do it today. And this is where they're going to be.

Speaker 1 And then you're laughing because you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 Then you get on the field and we're like, well, the gaffer said there was going to be three here, but there's like, when did they get six over here?

Speaker 1 How did, like, he never told me this was going to happen. And I'm saying that facetiously, but it's true.

Speaker 1 So those conversations were happening because like Tyler Adams is probably trying to get like, hey, listen, I, I know what we said we're we're supposed to do, but I need some help here, you know?

Speaker 1 And so

Speaker 1 I was, I was, yeah, I wasn't envious of them in that moment because I know what that felt like.

Speaker 2 Yep. All right, let's move to this handball that was not called a handball.

Speaker 2 So we were watching as well.

Speaker 1 By the way, again, I keep going.

Speaker 2 And Mo Adu,

Speaker 2 he said, okay, what do you think? And I said, Mo,

Speaker 2 I have no idea what the threshold is anymore. And I know all the, you know, former referees and video experts and all this say that, you know, if it's your plant hand

Speaker 2 and it's not deliberate and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But I just, I get so fed up with this because I feel like every single game, there's a moment where you go, was it or was it not?

Speaker 2 Was it or was it not? Was it or was it not? And I've, I don't think I've ever seen a play where a player literally just puts his hand on top of the ball.

Speaker 2 It was like if like Shaq was palming a basketball, he just put his hand right on top of the ball. And so in my, like just from a soccer standpoint, I go, well, that looks like a handball to me.

Speaker 2 But then there's all, you know, all the rules and all the laws of the game would suggest otherwise.

Speaker 2 I don't know anymore. It was really interesting after the game.
I want to read Mauricio Pochitino's quote because I thought this was really. Really interesting.

Speaker 2 He said, the truth was that if it happened in the opposite half in their box, for sure, it's a penalty. And I want to hear your thoughts on this because

Speaker 2 he either picked up on something really fast because this is his first you oh that's his second u.s mexico game now but his first real one

Speaker 2 or just i don't know if that's like an argentina brazil feeling like that would happen for and and it was a really interesting comment yeah what i'll say is what you're not saying poch gets it now but he you know i think he

Speaker 1 I think that's right. I think when you look at U.S.-Mexico, we probably always feel like that.
We've, you know, even when you and I are playing, Philadelphia.

Speaker 2 Did you feel that way?

Speaker 1 I didn't feel that way. I felt a bit hard, dumb, butt.

Speaker 1 Really? You didn't think that Mexico was the rubber green?

Speaker 2 I didn't. I mean, remember there was,

Speaker 2 I think it was the 07 Gold Cup final in Chicago. Like the guy called a penalty if

Speaker 2 Chingy getting pulled down, you know?

Speaker 2 And so I don't know. I didn't feel that way, but it's interesting that.

Speaker 2 Well, it's interesting you feel that way. And it's interesting he felt that way.

Speaker 1 I pick fights with everybody in my brain, so maybe I just.

Speaker 1 And I do.

Speaker 1 It's what motivated me. But look, the handball initially, I didn't think so.
Um, because

Speaker 1 you can't, you know, I believe in the rule of like when if you're bracing your fall with your hand and it hit hit your hand, whatever. But these still photos,

Speaker 1 now, you know, you look back at some still photos and you're like, but how is that possible? It didn't hit your hand. It actually, so I don't know.
I just don't know.

Speaker 2 Yeah, Pochatino actually made a good point too. He clarified too.
He said, it's not like his hand was on the ground and the ball like just rolled into it and hit it.

Speaker 2 He said he actually put his hand on top of the ball, which I, again, I don't think I've ever seen. So again, Joe McNick and Christine Uncle, I think chimed in too, and they said it was not a handball.

Speaker 2 And that's fine. I understand by the rules of the game, but I do wish, and I don't, I know this will never happen.
I wish we just across the board said, if it hits your hand, it's a handball. Or.

Speaker 2 If it hits your hand, it's not a handball. Just one way or the other.
So we can just stop all the ambiguity. Cause it feels like every single time.

Speaker 2 And by the way, if that happened in the group stage, stage, I bet it's a handball. For sure.
Right. Because it's a final, the ref doesn't impact the game.
Yeah. So I just, anyway.

Speaker 2 Okay. So then 77th minute.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 The set piece goal for Mexico.

Speaker 2 You know, Mexico did a good job. And again, just this is how you put teams under pressure.
They did a good job. The first, they had two people out over the ball.
First guy fakes it. Yep.

Speaker 2 And it causes all you need is one guy. We would always say with San Diego Lowell, we'd say, you just need one guy to drop.
Dropped. And it impacts the whole integrity of the offside line.
And

Speaker 2 Freeman dropped a little bit, got a little bit out of position. I think Johan Vasquez then flicks it on to Edson Alvarez, who times it right.

Speaker 2 And he's just kept on side by Freeman in the back of your net.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I was going, honestly. And I don't have, we keep receipts here and I don't have receipts of this because I didn't press send on the text because I was like so superstitious.

Speaker 1 I'm like, don't send that. But I was going to text you and say like,

Speaker 1 you know, once you see the foul given and the dust settles and now two people are standing over the ball and then there's a line.

Speaker 1 And I just remember thinking, oh, there's a lot of black jerseys there. This feels really uncomfortable.

Speaker 1 You can tell in certain moments and LD, it might only be a difference of like two yards, but given where this, the foul was, was, and I'm like, well, I don't like where that is.

Speaker 1 And then they panned to the

Speaker 1 wide shot. And I was like,

Speaker 1 God, I'm going to be happy if we clear this because it just felt like this is a really dangerous, dangerous position, position, given their set pieces, given their aggressiveness in attacking those set pieces in and around the penalty area.

Speaker 1 And I, and

Speaker 1 yeah, I mean, it was on side. It's tough to go to concede.

Speaker 1 It was difficult, but we were, you know, we were under it. And

Speaker 1 look, my, I, I, again, I mentioned this to you. And for those who don't know, Landon and I don't just speak on this show.

Speaker 1 We talk soccer all the time. But I.
I remember the pressure we were under. And we were always going to be on the back foot.
I said that. That's how the game was going to pan out.

Speaker 1 We were going to have certain moments. Sure.
And we did have a few moments. But ultimately, what needed to happen at a certain point, maybe at 1-1,

Speaker 1 when we were super under pressure, or maybe at 2-1,

Speaker 1 we needed to get the ball up to pitch.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 And we needed to, whether it is Ajamang or Tillman, we needed to start a mass confrontation. Right.
And this is what Roy Keene taught me and many others.

Speaker 1 In moments like that, we weren't going to break their momentum, LD, by saying like, get on the ball, spread out, play through lines, let's calm things down. We were under it.
They were pressuring us.

Speaker 1 They understood that there were moments where you can play out of the back, but our pressure is better than your possession. Okay.

Speaker 1 The ball needed to go up front. They needed to win a foul,

Speaker 1 create a, out of nothing, a mass confrontation in front of Mexico's bench just so you could get three minutes back. Just so you can calm.
It's not emotional. It's intentional.
Okay.

Speaker 1 Everybody comes together. There's 22 players.
There's referees. There's coaches.
And now everyone, you just calm things down. And people at home will be like, well, that seems like you're escalating.

Speaker 1 You're actually not. You're de-escalating the football.
Right. And so we couldn't get a grip of the game.
And that leads me to Ajamang.

Speaker 1 I thought this was a great game for him learning. from a learning standpoint, right? He's going to go to Darby County.
All right. And you, and, and Chris Richards is a perfect example of this.

Speaker 1 He's unphased now in big moments, in big games, because week in and week out, LD, his windows are open and closing, opening, closing as quick and as fast as possible.

Speaker 1 He's playing against the world-class players every week, and he's tested.

Speaker 1 So now he's like, You have, I just played like, okay, not every game is USA and Mexico, but I played like 60 of these games over the last 18 months. Like, I know what this feels like.

Speaker 1 I know what big moments feel like. And Ajamang is young.
He's not been in these moments, right? What I would say to him is, and so many strikers, and I think of my daughter, because

Speaker 1 I've tried to drum this into her, and she listens a little bit

Speaker 1 and she's learned this. For certain strikers, okay,

Speaker 1 Ajamang last night could have been a hero, LD, without even having a shot on target.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 1 The ball goes up to him, it sticks, you win a foul, and he did that a couple of times, but not enough, right? Now, all of a sudden, you look at the stats, you go, he didn't have that many touches.

Speaker 1 He didn't score. He didn't get an assist.
He didn't even have a shot. But guess what? He earned 10 fouls, seven fouls.

Speaker 2 He actually earned the one that led to the first call. Correct.

Speaker 1 Correct. And then, and then another one later on.
So, like, it's in those moments where you just think, hold the ball, dig in,

Speaker 1 just make it nasty. Just make it nasty.
And he'll learn from that. But again, we need more of these games.
This has been the LD, this has been a narrative all summer.

Speaker 1 This is why we were so disgruntled and this is why fans were so upset that we didn't have our best team in i mean you want to talk about

Speaker 1 about sounding redundant like

Speaker 1 we don't have any more uh competitive games we i would

Speaker 1 i would have loved to have every single one of our players top players in that moment yeah in that moment because we don't get any of those we get we get no more of those tim think about think about mexico yeah

Speaker 2 their best player, their captain, their leader, Edson Alvarez, scores the goal that wins it. Right.
But that is the difference. That is the difference.
Like, you can slice it any way you want.

Speaker 2 And to your point about

Speaker 2 Ajamong, there were so many guys in that same situation yesterday. Diego Luna had a really bad game.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 He's not been in a game like that.

Speaker 2 Burhalter has not been in a game like that.

Speaker 2 Freeman, Arston. These guys have not been in a game like this.
Right. And so you need to, I said it after in the post-game.
The only way to gain that experience is to go through it.

Speaker 2 There is no other way. You can't watch on TV.
You can't talk to Tim Howard about his experience.

Speaker 2 You just have to feel it. You have to feel what it feels like and get banned.
That's what Chris Richards has done with his time there. So let's continue on this theme of the tournament overall.

Speaker 1 But real quick, sorry. So before we jump in, the Luna.
So what I would say about Luna in a second, Freeman, his stock rose for me. Early on, I know there's some criticism.
These are big moments.

Speaker 1 We keep saying that.

Speaker 1 I thought he came. I came away from this thinking, okay, here's a kid who will continue to grow if Serginio Dest is the starter, which he is.
I mean, I think if he's playing, he is.

Speaker 1 He's out and out the starter.

Speaker 1 But this feels like one of those moments, LD, you know, when you have to chop and change, or Dest gets a yellow card, or maybe he's got a niggle and he can't start the game. And Freeman plays.

Speaker 1 I'm like, okay,

Speaker 1 I feel comfortable here. Like, I feel, again, he's not a world beater yet.
He's young, but his stock definitely rolls for me.

Speaker 1 The interesting thing about Luna is, so Potch is basically saying, when we need to be a bit more cautious, we're going to play it out of a 4-4-2, right? We saw that. The lines were clear.
I like that.

Speaker 1 At the end, he switched Luna and Tillman. And I think what I learned is if you're going to play in that 4-4-2, Luna is wasted wide left.
Because here's why.

Speaker 1 Because ultimately, and there's players like this there's players you know again the easy one is clint dempsey right it is a perfect example um we have others throughout the years you're going to get diego luna is going to get frustrated out there like he can bide his time and tuck in and do all the things ultimately he's going to go look for the game he's one of he's one of

Speaker 1 a special talent that us has he's going to go look for the game and ultimately he needs a bit of freedom in and around those pockets i actually would have liked and tillman drew some fellows i would have liked to see luna in that pocket earlier with ajamang and till and Tillman

Speaker 1 on the wide area. He's a bit more robust.
He kind of fits that wide position a little bit better. Luna, to me, can't play there.

Speaker 1 Don't want to play there. Isn't comfortable there.
Did a job, but ultimately he's lost there.

Speaker 2 So, yeah, I you know why else? You know why else he can't? There were so many plays in the second half where he was on the left and he was tracking. Yes.
Yes.

Speaker 2 Their right fullback and like on top of our box. And I was like, oh, God, this is not a good spot for him.
Because against real players, that's tough, dude.

Speaker 2 To have to defend like that for long stretches, not his strength.

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 USLNT.
Okay.

Speaker 1 Who chose Chill from the U.S.-Mexico Gold Cup final? For me,

Speaker 1 there was a bunch of contenders.

Speaker 1 But Raul Jimenez, the Mexican striker, number nine, played so well, took his opening goal really, really well, led the line, held the ball up, was a nuisance, did so many things well.

Speaker 1 And of course, when he scored the goal, such a fitting tribute to Diogo Jota, his former teammate that he played with at Wolves. It was very touching.
And for me,

Speaker 1 he is

Speaker 1 someone who chose chill.

Speaker 2 Yeah, and you have to remember, we did a big segment on Raul Jimenez in the semifinal. Remember, he had his skull fractured open.
He didn't know if he was going to play again.

Speaker 2 He had a very scary moment in his life, and he's come back to play. He's come back really good.
He scored a few great goals. I think that was his third goal in the final.

Speaker 2 I thought he was the best striker in the tournament by a long shot. I think he is a leader on that team.

Speaker 2 You can tell when you're there on the sideline and you see him up close, you can tell that how much respect there is for that man. And now he gets to play World Cup in his home country next summer

Speaker 2 in the prime of his career. He's playing really well.

Speaker 1 I thought he was fantastic in the game i thought he was fantastic all tournament he absolutely chose chill it's incredible ld you people forget how horrific that head injury was yeah um it was coming together with i think uh

Speaker 1 what was it david louise from arsenal at the time correct i mean

Speaker 1 scary scary signs and you watch him come back and you're like

Speaker 1 i don't even care if you play well you know i remember as a primer league fan thinking like just happy to see him back and he's got this massive scar Tim on his head

Speaker 2 like anytime he needs a reminder, it's right there.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And anyway,

Speaker 1 he's done brilliantly. So well done to you, Raul.
Congratulations to you and your team.

Speaker 2 Now that tournament's over, let's talk about Pochitino. Sure.

Speaker 2 Tell me where you are with him. Obviously, it's a tumultuous summer for him.

Speaker 2 Where's his approval rating, I guess? How do we feel about him now?

Speaker 1 Yeah, nothing's changed for me.

Speaker 1 I'm a fan of what Pochitino is trying to do.

Speaker 1 I think we see the identity of the team and how he wants them to play. And then again, being a bit more flex against an opponent that he feels tactically inferior to, right?

Speaker 1 And setting us up in that 4-4-2. Like, I don't, I'm okay with it.

Speaker 1 And, you know, the substitution patterns, which are so subjective, I don't even get into those, but people hit me with tons of like complaints about his substitutions.

Speaker 1 What I would say is our players, our best players yesterday looked leggy. Okay.
They looked tired. They played a lot of minutes.

Speaker 1 Pachatino hasn't said this, but I'll say it, and I agree with it. I would rather

Speaker 1 continue on into the 75th minute with my go-to guys than put on, put on players who are average or below average. They're not going to change the game.
They're just not.

Speaker 2 Right. Yeah.

Speaker 1 What push that forward? When we get some of our senior players perceived to be our best players back, now He understands and trusts Freeman and Tillman and Diego Luna and Berholter.

Speaker 1 He trusts these guys, Arvson. And now he can say, you know what? I need to make a change.
I'm going to make it earlier. Why? Because I trust these guys to come on and be difference makers.

Speaker 1 So it's hard to judge. This team wasn't very deep, this Gold Cup team.
As we move forward into the next couple of months, I think we'll see some of those changes.

Speaker 1 But nothing's changed for me in terms of Potchin.

Speaker 1 You know, I actually feel better about it. The fact that the group didn't roll over, they actually came and they fought.
So yeah, I feel okay about it. You?

Speaker 2 Yeah. So I said before the tournament, what he needs is clarity.

Speaker 2 He needs more clarity and i think he got a lot of clarity and i think if you are one of those whatever eight nine ten guys who when he looked down the bench he went

Speaker 2 don't trust him

Speaker 2 you're concerned right because i don't this was your chance this was your chance now with a 26 man roster i was just thinking through there are probably eight or nine guys who you would say are definitely in the squad who were not here this summer.

Speaker 2 And then there's probably 11, 12, 13 during this tournament that he really rode with that i think he would say for the most part i trust these guys in my squad so maybe that gets you to 20 or so so there are going to be probably five or six other spots now i don't know who knows where that comes from but if i'm one of those guys i mean time after time during the tournament even when guys were tired late in the game he was like i'm going to stick with a tired diego luna who's been really bad today instead of bringing you in whoever you know quinn sullivan or whoever you are and so i i would be concerned by that and and i think he he has gotten a lot of clarity about that about the depth of of this group yeah you're right and we'll you know we're gonna we're gonna do a fun exercise me and you with with our our listeners kind of on a on a semi-regular basis about you know we're gonna kind of create a following this following this tournament we're gonna create a what we think is is a roster right and that'll be that'll be fluid but we'll we'll we'll talk about we'll do a fun exercise about who's in and who's out and i honestly think right now landon i you and i could probably say

Speaker 1 barring injuries and a couple things i i know who our best 20 players are like if you give me a list of 40 players i can say all right there's there's a cutoff right there like i i i kind of know who's going to make the team and more importantly who pochtino thinks are yeah the 2010 i think we can i think we can figure that out now yeah and and look overall and this has been going around and you guys mentioned it on air uh i mentioned it in in

Speaker 1 a post last night, but there are no moral victories. I get that, especially against Mexico.
It hurts like hell when you lose. But ultimately, and I said this going into the tournament, a win

Speaker 1 is paramount. But I'll tip my hat to this team and give them a ton of credit if they lose in the final to Mexico and they give everything they had.
And that came to fruition.

Speaker 1 And so for that, I think the team deserves a ton of credit. And again, as you said, more than anything, they got clarity.
And that's a win for me.

Speaker 1 They got Pachatino has much more clarity on his team and the state of things around U.S. soccer after this tournament.
And so that's a win.

Speaker 2 Yeah, and getting to play six really meaningful games was crucial. I mean, thank God Canada, Panama, bowed out, because those are the only three real games we were going to have.

Speaker 2 Mexico, Canada, Panama. The rest of them, I mean, the Guatemala game was good from a atmosphere standpoint, put you under pressure because of the crowd, all that, but they're not a good team.

Speaker 2 So we saw the first time they played a real team, and you know, we saw there's a gap still.

Speaker 1 We need more of that. We need more of that, that real team stuff.

Speaker 2 And look, here's this will be an ongoing conversation.

Speaker 1 We don't have long left in this segment, but this is an ongoing conversation because of like nations league mostly, where we're having to play some inferior, inferior opponents.

Speaker 1 I look at England as the best example or the most likely example.

Speaker 1 They never play an easy game, right? Even if they get Scotland in their group, they have to win it, right? National Pride.

Speaker 1 If they get, if they get, I don't know, the Faroe Islands or somebody, like they still have to win, win the game to get through in the group, but they never step on the pitch and have an easy game.

Speaker 1 And when you look at this, even though the six games were really good,

Speaker 1 as an exercise, there were only a couple of really tough, tough games. And we just don't get that enough.

Speaker 2 Yeah. And now, sadly, that's, that's really it until the World Cup, right? So last thing

Speaker 2 before we take a break, so as we spin forward to September, the friendlies, this is like, I am so fascinated with this now because one who gets called in,

Speaker 2 who doesn't get called in,

Speaker 2 is going to be fascinating. And then who plays? Like, how much trust have these guys earned? And

Speaker 2 how forgiving is Mauricio Pochettino going to be with some of these guys? I'm fascinated. I don't have an answer because I, you know, usually you get a lot of clarity on these things.

Speaker 2 And I'm like, dude,

Speaker 2 I got my popcorn. I can't wait for the roster to come out and then to see the lineup.

Speaker 1 The lineup. Because you know as well as I do,

Speaker 1 a manager can hide behind his starting lineup in September and go, well, I'm going to reward these guys for a really good gold cup run, which actually means, hmm,

Speaker 1 the guys who weren't here, you're going to sit over there for a little bit and I'm going to teach you a lesson. That's right.
We don't know what's going to happen.

Speaker 1 But I'm obviously most importantly looking forward to getting our best group together. And I think now we'll kind of know who our best group is.

Speaker 1 And we'll have the players who are big senior players who are missing this summer, plus some of the best players from the Gold Cup. And that will be fascinating.

Speaker 2 Really going to be fun to watch.

Speaker 2 All right, we're going to take a break. When we come back, we will get into news around Club World Cup.
That's still going on, which is crazy given everything that was going on yesterday.

Speaker 2 We'll dive into that right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, as always, presented by Volkswagen.

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

Speaker 2 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.

Speaker 1 They're working with talent talent from across the U.S. 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.
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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 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 All right, LD, Club World Cup time. It feels like it's always Club World Cup time this summer.

Speaker 2 That's fingers off forever.

Speaker 1 I'm actually doing some stuff around the semi-final and final um but yeah some crazy crazy results i mean i think i i'm actually excited about about the semis you got uh fluminese chelse chelsea psg and real madrid so like yeah don't mind that don't mind that at all i mean the brazilian teams have played really well and uh you know three top european powers so yeah i actually like that this point in the tournament now there's some big teams but then there's one cinderella right it makes it's like the final four like Like, you don't want all Cinderellas because it's just not great in basketball, but you want one.

Speaker 2 Right. And so this is kind of playing out that way.
And it's been fun to watch. Did you, I don't know how much you saw because we had a lot going on.
Did you see the goal that

Speaker 2 Weberton

Speaker 2 let in, Polmaris goal? Did you see the play? Yeah. Yeah, what's your take on that? Is that it was kind of a weird play where it gets deflected? It feels like it was too quick for him to.

Speaker 1 It does. And the deflections with in goalkeep is really weird because it looks like slow motion and it actually is slow motion.
But like at home, you're like, why don't you react?

Speaker 1 And like, you know, you get 185, 200 pounds going one way, right? You got to try and scramble back. And again, it looks like it's slow motion, but it happens actually so quickly that.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I got no blame there.

Speaker 2 Is that why you guys do? I used to watch like in goalkeeper warm-ups, they like put stuff all around you and like they'll take a shot and it hits here, hits here, totally in your trailer.

Speaker 2 Like, yeah, it is okay.

Speaker 1 Totally, yeah, it's like you just react. You should try and train deflections because it's so like you, it's impossible to train deflections.

Speaker 1 So, you just like put some stuff in the road, and it hits it, and you just react. And you hope, you hope you sharpen your hand-tey coordination enough that you make the big save in the game.

Speaker 1 So, but it's hard.

Speaker 2 Uh, PSG, they were they are so good, man. Yeah, very good.
Um, beat Barron Munich. The big talking point was the play

Speaker 2 late in the first half with Dunnarum and Muciala. So we both watched it.

Speaker 2 Give us the take from a goalkeeper's and I'll give you a take from an attacking player.

Speaker 2 They come together. If you haven't seen it, go watch it.
Or don't.

Speaker 2 It's a horrific one. Or don't.
It's really hard to watch. But Donnaruma goes, Musiala's leg is planted.
Yeah. They go for the, he goes for the ball and then

Speaker 2 he gets a really bad broken leg. So what's your take as a goalkeeper?

Speaker 1 It's twofold. I think, you know, when you watch, watch it back, Donnarum has every right to go for that ball.
I mean, your goalkeeper is coming and sliding out.

Speaker 1 And when the goalkeeper slides out, you're either going to get the ball or give away a penalty. Like that's, it's risky, but it's, it's a calculated risk.

Speaker 1 And you see this happen hundreds and thousands of times.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 Don Room is well within his right to go for that ball. What I would say to any striker, and I always say to strikers, don't go in.
Don't go into the challenge. If you see the goalkeeper coming, bail.

Speaker 1 Like maybe if it's there, like poke it past the winner penalty or poke it into the goal.

Speaker 1 But it's a lose-lose for most strikers because you're just so vulnerable and the goalkeeper isn't doing anything illegal, right?

Speaker 1 And so it's one of those odd moments where I just think like, if you're a striker and there's about to be a coming together, do what you can to try and get the ball. But more than anything, bail out.

Speaker 1 Bail out because stuff like this happens and it's, it's not worth it.

Speaker 2 You almost took the words out of my mouth. So I used to get, no, you're right.

Speaker 2 So Bruce Arena in particular used to get so mad at me because like in the middle of field, there'd be a play like that where I got a six foot foot four, 200-pound defender coming to slide in.

Speaker 2 And at the last minute, like, I can put my leg in

Speaker 2 and maybe draw a foul or something, but I can also get it snapped. And so, I'd pull out and he'd be like, What are you doing? And I'd say, Bruce, do you want me out for the next eight months?

Speaker 2 So true, or do you want me to win this tackle in the middle of the field? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right.

Speaker 2 And so, with Mussial, it's a little, it's a little weird because he's also got a defender on his, on his hip, and so he kind of just gets caught in between and his leg is planted.

Speaker 2 And that's the problem. And normally in those situations as an attacking player, you get there and there's a way you can,

Speaker 2 there's a way you can manipulate and maneuver your body where you can touch it, but you jump. You touch it, but you avoid.

Speaker 2 And so I think he's trying to, but he kind of wants to like get in the way and create the contact. And then it just all goes wrong.
And to your point about Donnaruma, he didn't do anything wrong.

Speaker 2 Like that's a, that's a ball he absolutely is entitled to go for.

Speaker 2 And so it's, it's terrible,

Speaker 2 but it can happen. And I think people giving him stick,

Speaker 2 he has every right to go for that bottle. Of course he does.
No question. Of course.

Speaker 2 Hopefully with Muciala, it's obviously bad. And it's not about the time it takes now, Tim, to get back.
It's can he get fully back?

Speaker 1 Fully back.

Speaker 2 Four months, six months, eight months doesn't matter. It's just, can we, so, and obviously we all hope that

Speaker 2 it goes well. I have seen that type of injury before and guys come back 100%.
So he can do it. And let's hope he does, especially ahead of the World Cup.

Speaker 1 Definitely.

Speaker 2 Real Madrid, Bruce and Dortmund. So I was watching it yesterday morning before I went to NRG Stadium here in Houston for the match.
And I was like, ho, hum, it's 2-0.

Speaker 2 Madrid could have had the third a gazillion times.

Speaker 2 They were on cruise control. And then all of a sudden, at the end, the game totally turned on its head.
Dortmund scored. Then Madrid score.
And then literally 20 seconds later, Dortmund score again.

Speaker 2 And there's a sending off. It was wild, man.
What a fun game. It was a fun game.

Speaker 1 Those are the games that baffle me. You know, you watch a trillion hours of football, which we do, and you're like,

Speaker 1 why does a game grow to life in like

Speaker 1 added, you know, added time, stoppage time? You're like, this game, as you said, it was kind of ho-humming. It's over.
It's over. And like, it was over.
Football is a funny old game.

Speaker 1 That's why I think we're all so addicted to it.

Speaker 2 And you know what's fun, Tim, is that we're going to see this next year in the World Cup, too, because it's hot and because these games are way more open than like a Champions League night game would be.

Speaker 2 Way more open. I mean, sometimes it's like 5v4 and half the field.
You're like, what? Is this a FIFA game or what is going on? I mean, you know, like, is this a FIFA video game? Right.

Speaker 2 And it's bizarre, but you're going to see it in the World Cup as it gets hot and end of games and games get stretched.

Speaker 2 And, you know, people always give MLS crap for, you know, like, oh, the games suck and they're slow. And whatever.
I'm like, go watch those games. Those games are pretty damn slow, too, right?

Speaker 2 So it's going to, it's actually going to be really fun to watch. All right.
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Speaker 2 All right, so player who is definitely in control of their game through the quarterfinals of this tournament, and a guy who's, I think, was a little under the radar for most of us, even those of us who follow.

Speaker 2 Gonzalo Garcia from Real Madrid, uh, scored again. He's had a fantastic tournament, four goals now.
And with Xavi Alonso, there, it's been fun to watch them already, Tim,

Speaker 2 evolve because Anchalotti was like very much kind of do your thing. I'm going to manage you, manage person.
And Xavi Alonso is like very detailed in how he wants to play.

Speaker 2 And early on, it looks like Gonzalo Garcia is really the beneficiary of that.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah.
Special player. He's young, but as you said, the manager.
There's some good stuff going on at Real Madrid.

Speaker 2 Yeah,

Speaker 2 he's been very good. So certainly in control of his game.
All right. So semifinal matchups, Tuesday, 3 p.m.
Eastern, Fluminense, Chelsea, and then Wednesday at 3 p.m. Eastern, PSG, Real Madrid.

Speaker 2 Big one. Yeah, that's going to be fun to watch.

Speaker 2 So there was a lot of, I don't know, consternation before the tournament. Good word.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Apropos.

Speaker 2 But I do think the tournament's been a success. I think FIFA got the ticketing part wrong, the prices wrong, but they've slashed prices.
There's some really cheap seats.

Speaker 2 And it's just better to have people in the stands. It's been fun to watch.
And I've enjoyed it. And I think the semifinals are going to to be great.

Speaker 2 Last thing here, there was an MLS game last night. It was Seattle, Columbus.
It finished 1-1.

Speaker 2 I just want to really quickly, and I know you know stuff too. There's a really bad incident at the end of the game.
Steph Fry got, I think, knead in the head.

Speaker 2 And in my opinion, and I played against him a lot of times. I think he might be the most underrated goalkeeper ever in our league.
People don't talk about him.

Speaker 2 You don't, if for whatever reason, he just goes under the radar and he's a phenomenal human being and he's been there forever. So he was taken off the field in an ambulance.

Speaker 2 It was very scary and we've seen these incidences a lot. And

Speaker 2 fortunately, last night, he did put on social media. He's so great.
So he said, still trying to figure out what happened at the end of the game with like a laughing emoji.

Speaker 2 But I'm incredibly grateful to all the staff that looked after me. And I'm happy to be back home resting now.
What resonates is all the messages, calls, and love I've received from so many of you.

Speaker 2 So I'm I'm just really glad, obviously, that he's okay, but he's had a phenomenal year, and it was scary to see. And I'm really happy for him.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I've known Stefan a while.
He came into the national team a little bit when he was younger.

Speaker 1 He's a winner. You know, he's a winner.
And he said underrated.

Speaker 1 I think about like Nick Ramondo, right? A friend of ours. Like, Nick Raimondo probably should have won Gold Cube of the Year like every year, but people just got tired of voting for him.

Speaker 1 Like, we got to pick somebody else. This guy's like steady, keeps clean sheets, saves penalties, gets his team in Western Conference finals, da-da-da-da.
So, like, he's a bit boring.

Speaker 1 Stefan's the same way. I mean, he's been, he stands on his head.

Speaker 1 He's one of the very few goalkeepers who can make himself big and win his team games single-handedly. We've seen it over the years.

Speaker 1 But more importantly, at the end, I mean, sometimes as a goalkeeper, when you dive

Speaker 1 in and around people's feet,

Speaker 1 those things happen. And there's a collision with a player's knee and his head, and it was horrific.
It's scary.

Speaker 1 And it reminds you as teammates, as soccer players, you're just like, those moments, like they jar you to see your best friend laying there.

Speaker 1 So, again,

Speaker 1 he had a bit of humor there on social. And I'm happy for him that he was able to look, obviously seem alert and that people are reaching out to him because he's a legend in the league.

Speaker 1 And up in Seattle, I know they adore him. So,

Speaker 1 Steph, if you're listening, hope you're resting well. And get well soon.

Speaker 2 All right. On that, we'll take a a break.

Speaker 2 When we come back, we'll get into the fan questions and the AT ⁇ T fan connection and talk anything but soccer right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim presented by Volkswagen.

Speaker 2 Stay right there.

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 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 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 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's 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 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.

Speaker 2 We turn on the jacuzzi, relax in the hot tub with a Coors Light, 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. Hoors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado.
There's nothing better than feeling like someone has your back and that things are going to get done even without you having to ask.

Speaker 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 AT ⁇ T 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 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 1 LD,

Speaker 1 time for the AT ⁇ T fan connection. That also means it's time to welcome in Jordan.
Jordan, how are you?

Speaker 2 Hello, Jordan.

Speaker 3 I have some complaints.

Speaker 1 Well, hang on, hang on, hang on. Before you complain, you got the memo, black tea every day.

Speaker 3 I'll black everything. I'm very goth.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I dig it. I dig it.

Speaker 2 Wait a minute, Roll. What are your complaints? What are your complaints?

Speaker 3 Well, I would like to complain about the fact that I have been wearing different football kits on this shirt every week since the beginning of the show. And

Speaker 3 no one has sent me a kit in the mail. They only send kits to the two of you, and you guys could start your own kit like museum with the stuff that you've got.

Speaker 1 So it's a fair point. I will.
I've been overlooked.

Speaker 2 That is a fair point. This is

Speaker 2 the Portland Hearts of

Speaker 2 Pine.

Speaker 2 Yeah, not Pine. Are sending me a shirt.
I heard about that.

Speaker 1 Am I getting one?

Speaker 3 They may be sending one for Tim as well.

Speaker 2 Anyway,

Speaker 2 not for me.

Speaker 1 Please, this is

Speaker 1 a PSA. If you're going to send shirts into the show, which we want because this is going to be an amazing collaboration, we're going to shout out some teams and give you some respect and love.

Speaker 1 Make sure you send Jordan one too.

Speaker 2 That's all. Or scarves or hats.
Yeah, all the same. Thank you, Jordan.
Portland Hearts of Pun. Can you please send Jordan one?

Speaker 2 Heard him.

Speaker 3 I would like to go up there because it's not, I mean, it's a few hour drive, but I feel like I drove through there.

Speaker 2 You know, I drove through there because I drove from Boston to Nova Scotia a few years ago with

Speaker 2 to go visit where my dad grew up, my dad's family. And I drove through Portland.
It's a pretty cool little town.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I like Portland.

Speaker 3 If you like lobster, it's the

Speaker 2 lobster.

Speaker 1 Live podcast.

Speaker 1 Eating lobster in Maine?

Speaker 2 Let's just go.

Speaker 3 That sounds amazing.

Speaker 1 Sounds amazing. I know.
Amazing.

Speaker 3 Okay. Should we get into some questions? All right, let's do it.
This one's from Carlos via email.

Speaker 3 On the topic of chopping blocks, should Poch be more critical of the players who decided not to play the gold cup in the friendlies we have remaining?

Speaker 3 I feel like you guys talked about this a little bit earlier in the show. As in, send a message and solidify the idea that this team needs fight in them.

Speaker 3 And if you want to start, you have to earn it, not just expect it.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I mean, that should be the case with your national team always.

Speaker 2 But let's just be honest. The reality is

Speaker 2 Christian is the best player on the team. And the problem is it's not even close in a lot of instances.

Speaker 2 Given his resume, what he's done, and what he continues to do every week. So

Speaker 2 let me just make this really clear. The only reason he was able to do what he did is because he is the best player by a long way.
Now, Eunice Mu, you'll say Eunice Musa also did it.

Speaker 2 That's just a bizarre, everyone's perplexed by that one.

Speaker 2 But that's the reason he was able to do it is because he knows, maybe not in the first camp, but eventually you need him. And we saw it yesterday.

Speaker 1 We need him on the field. Of course.

Speaker 2 You know, Edson Alvarez is their best player. He scores.
They win. Christian's there.
I can't say for sure we win the game, but our chances go up a lot. Yeah.
Right.

Speaker 2 And everyone knows that, including Christian.

Speaker 1 Well, I think the part of it, LD, is

Speaker 1 the question is being asked about like chopping block and is Paultatino doing the right things.

Speaker 1 He is.

Speaker 1 $6 million we're paying him, right? He is going to earn the bulk of that

Speaker 1 now yeah right because what what he has to do this isn't about omitting people

Speaker 1 what he has to do is figure out a way to send the right message and continue to build the right culture with Robinson Pulisic Musa who am I missing design six players

Speaker 2 well Balogan Pepe

Speaker 1 and Pepe okay okay eight or nine players that's a lot of players LD like we need them if we're wanna If we want to succeed and get out of the group and be

Speaker 1 a world powerhouse and get beyond

Speaker 1 these stages in the World Cup, we need those players. So then really what Ponch needs to do is figure out the best way.

Speaker 1 And I don't know the best way, but whatever's on the inside, is it send a message? Is it tough love?

Speaker 2 Is it

Speaker 1 looking at them in the eye and going, hey, have you guys gotten the message yet? Okay, you have. Maybe I can, I don't, it doesn't have to be tough love.

Speaker 1 I don't know the answer, but that's where he's going to earn his money.

Speaker 2 That's right. I agree.

Speaker 3 Okay, I have one. I'm just going to put this out there.
It's really spicy. And if you don't want to answer it and we'll cut it, that's fine.

Speaker 2 Ooh, no, no, no.

Speaker 3 Share up that chimney.

Speaker 2 We go up the chimney. I think that what you just said in the show, too.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 This one is from Chris v. Email, who identifies himself as the warming zones revs guy.

Speaker 3 Chris says, I thought it was all noise, but Pelisic posting pictures of his vacations while the U.S. men's national team is having huge moments just shows he is doubling down.

Speaker 3 Not even a mention of how they're doing in the Gold Cup. Just, hey, look at me on this jet.
I'm kind of done with him.

Speaker 2 Did he post a picture of him on a jet?

Speaker 3 I think there was a picture earlier in the tournament of him, several pictures of him like traveling with his family.

Speaker 3 And then most recently, he was in some kind of tournament for Puma, I think, that he posted yesterday while the final was going on.

Speaker 2 Right.

Speaker 1 I'll take the range. Shout out to Christian Pulisic.
I mean, flying on PJs is a flex. And

Speaker 2 I mean, seriously,

Speaker 1 he works hard. He earns his money.
You know, he has to, look, players are human. They have to go on vacation in the offseason.
They have to do these things.

Speaker 3 And if you're like a Puma athlete, you have to do

Speaker 1 you have to earn your money and he has to do that. And those things fall on certain days.
And look, we can continue to pick the bones out of it. The fact of the matter is.

Speaker 1 I wouldn't care either way because the opposite is true for who asked the question?

Speaker 3 Chris.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, the opposite is true.

Speaker 1 Chris, I see a bunch of these players because, you know, what I was actually, what I would actually expect is like a picture of him winning against Mexico saying, go, guys, you know, go win this thing.

Speaker 1 It's like, all of that's fake to me.

Speaker 1 So I don't know. Social media,

Speaker 1 you can't really make heads or tails of it. He's well within his right to go on vacation.
And obviously, given the nature of things,

Speaker 1 I think some like. I think sometimes you can just shut it down and kind of fly under the radar and

Speaker 1 do it quietly. But this is a different generation.

Speaker 1 Everything has to be posted and that's kind of normal. So

Speaker 1 yeah,

Speaker 1 I don't have any problems with it. But the PJs flex for sure.

Speaker 2 My only thing is,

Speaker 2 I keep coming back to this is who's advising these guys? Because

Speaker 2 can you not wait a week to post the Puma thing? I know sometimes they're like, we want to make sure during the Gold Cup and on the Gold Cup final day, because that's when most people are watching.

Speaker 2 We want you to post it. I get that.
But can you just wait a week or can you wait till the tournament's over?

Speaker 2 Is somebody saying, you know, maybe we don't put the picture of the PJ up while the team is suffering against Mexico, right? And I'm not saying that's the exact timing, but just who's advising?

Speaker 2 That's my thing. Because we all make dumb decisions too.
I do things every day. And Rich, my R agent, Rich would be like, no, Lanny, you're not doing that.

Speaker 1 Why would you do that?

Speaker 2 I go, oh, okay. Yeah, good one.
Yeah. Look, that's my thing.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I think the, I think the other part of it is there's been so much noise and criticism towards Christian Pulisic and some of the other players that like that that also is a way to

Speaker 2 fire back, right?

Speaker 1 Subtly or not so subtly. That's just how things work.
And that's a, that's a form of communication nowadays, social media. So again, no issue with it.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 Speaking as the producer on the show, we also have to navigate things like when can we record versus like when is stuff happening?

Speaker 3 And so who knows when some of that stuff was even captured versus when it was posted on his social media. Social media is not real, everyone.
Hate to break it to you.

Speaker 2 Sure.

Speaker 1 Our account is our account's real. Our count's real.

Speaker 3 So just extremely real.

Speaker 2 Very, very,

Speaker 3 Tim's a man of the people. So it's a very real Instagram account.
Clearly. Okay.
Last question is from Julie

Speaker 3 via email. I'm just going to completely admit to this.
Her question is making it into the episode because there's a PS on her email that says, Jordan, you are amazing and I love Liverpool too. So

Speaker 1 I mean, two things I'm going to hold against you, Julie, but keep going.

Speaker 3 So first, Landon and Tim, you have been two of my favorite players. I listen to this podcast because of you.
Landon, I even named my youngest after you and he loves soccer.

Speaker 3 So she's laying it on really thick.

Speaker 1 She's serious.

Speaker 2 Of course she's going to be in the episode.

Speaker 3 Second, I want to apologize to you, Landon.

Speaker 3 When you took your time off of the national team, first I blamed the coach for not picking you, and then I wondered what would keep you from playing for the national team.

Speaker 3 Thank you for sharing your story. My question stems from that.

Speaker 3 Do you guys feel that as players join the leagues younger and younger, will burnout and mental health become more of a problem due to not having the skills to deal with the pressure?

Speaker 2 Great question. Very good question.
Great question. I'm not sure I know how to answer that.

Speaker 1 I'll take a crack out of it if you want.

Speaker 2 Well,

Speaker 1 yes,

Speaker 1 I think that's fair.

Speaker 1 You know, so, so often with athletes,

Speaker 1 I wasn't one of them. I mean, I still felt young.
I mean,

Speaker 1 I started my career at 18,

Speaker 1 but I really hit the spotlight like 23, right? So kind of a late bloomer. I was trending that way.
So yeah, look, when you get thrust into the frying pan at 16, it's hard.

Speaker 1 So naturally, yes, you're going to have more games under your belt at an earlier age and the burnout might happen quicker.

Speaker 1 You know, I use the example of a player that Atlanta knows really well, but

Speaker 1 I was in the team. I was a senior player at Everton when Ross Barkley broke through at 16, right?

Speaker 1 And Ross was, his birth certificate might have said 16, but he was built like an ox and he could hold his own, right? And so he then got held to a different standard.

Speaker 1 And now he's in the first team dressing room. Right.
And now he, you know, he has to take care of his mom and his sister. I've talked about this, right? 16 year old.
He's the breadwinner. He's a.

Speaker 1 brilliant kid. He's got a wonderful family, but he's the breadwinner.
So now he's got to go in the dressing room with 35, 36 year olds, right? And he's got to buy the same car that they have.

Speaker 1 He's got to buy the same

Speaker 1 wash bag accessories and watch that they have. So he's trying to keep up with a pace that like no 16 year old should have to keep up with.
Also,

Speaker 1 like when I got ridiculed and people sang songs about me,

Speaker 1 I'd tell them where to go and what to do with themselves, right? But I was 35 years old.

Speaker 1 You get Ross, who's a young kid, who comes in and now he's taking criticism from the papers and he's taking criticism from the fans and he's a local kid right so that that they double down on that it's it's really difficult from a mental health standpoint and it's really hard to to deal with that and then we and then we label you know then he goes to chelsea and then we label him a failure when it doesn't work out and i'm thinking everton chelsea he went to nice in the french league uh luton in the premier league aston villa that's a winner to me right and so like the the lines get completely blurred and skewed.

Speaker 1 And so having a strong foundation as a young young player is important. You know, good people around you.
Landing, we keep talking about who advises these kids.

Speaker 1 Ultimately, there's going to be burnout if you start at a much earlier age.

Speaker 2 Yeah, as you're, thanks for saying that. Because as you're saying that, I think the, the thing that exacerbates all of that now is social media too.

Speaker 2 Right. And so I didn't.

Speaker 2 Part of, you know, part of my real struggles early in my career, particularly, were after the 2006 World Cup, where I had a terrible World Cup and we went out in the group stage.

Speaker 2 And then I started hearing people talk about it on TV when I got home and reading it in articles in the paper and whatever.

Speaker 2 I can only imagine if social media was around how much worse it would have been for me. And so now I think it's been around long enough now where people are starting to understand.

Speaker 2 They can just tune it out. But at that time, it was like, oh my God, people are saying this.
It must be true. And it must feel, you know, and five people say it.
It has to be real.

Speaker 2 And you didn't understand like how fake that whole world is. But I think it gets exacerbated by that now.
So it makes it more difficult.

Speaker 2 I think that is the defining factor more than probably even starting at a young age because kids who aren't professional athletes are struggling with that with social media.

Speaker 3 I also think teams have more awareness of that and are trying to offer support too, which I think is really helpful.

Speaker 2 100%.

Speaker 2 All right.

Speaker 3 That's it, guys. Thank you.

Speaker 2 Good job, JR. All right, Tim.
Anything about soccer? This is an interesting one. So we've been following two stories that are really interesting.

Speaker 2 So Malik Beasley, former basketball player, is being investigated. Current, current.
I'm sorry, current basketball player is being investigated for potentially gambling on his own team. Is that right?

Speaker 1 He's with the Pistons. I'm not sure if it's his own team.
He's being investigated for betting and gambling.

Speaker 2 For betting, yeah.

Speaker 2 Concurrently, at the same time, Luis Ortiz from the Cleveland Guardians was being invested. This is such a bizarre story.
I think I saw it in the athletic.

Speaker 2 He was being investigated for two specific pitches. He's a pitcher, pitches he made where there was massive

Speaker 2 uptake in gambling on those two pitches. And I was like, whoa.

Speaker 2 So again, we want to clarify,

Speaker 2 nothing's finalized. They're under investigation.

Speaker 2 But like, what's your thought on guys?

Speaker 2 involved in the game and gambling on either themselves or the outcomes It's sticky, man.

Speaker 1 Every time there's an issue with gambling, like I've seen there's been an issue, like something's not quite right.

Speaker 1 I played with a guy at Everton, a young kid, and it's like Premier League contract, right? French kid.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 he's like in debt and he's got like, he's got like gangsters after him. And I'm like,

Speaker 1 no one just randomly does that, right? You either got, you, you, you fall into a bad way somehow. What I would say is, like, don't do it.
And here's the, here's, here's why. Not because it's wrong.

Speaker 1 so you shouldn't do it because it's wrong number one but number two you don't get away with this ld you can't get away with it so like so like you said i'm gonna throw two pitches no one's gonna know except when the bookies there's an uptick in the betting like they're

Speaker 1 by the way both pitches were like not even close to the plate i mean he like bounced on i watched him like they're really bad it's really obvious so like so you like again to use your line like who's advising these guys well what i would say is like not no one really that good because you can't get away with it.

Speaker 1 You cannot get away with gambling and betting on your own team or trying to throw pitches or whatever, whatever it is.

Speaker 2 Don't do it.

Speaker 1 It's so strange. It's so strange.
Like, I don't know. I don't even know where to go with it other than like, it's bonkers to me.

Speaker 2 It makes you realize it's a disease too, because like, this, I don't know how much money Ortiz is making or Malik Bees, but it's not about money, right?

Speaker 2 I mean, there's, there are some people who are like, this, I mean, I'll have a job. I don't have, I got to just, I'm going to try to make this work.
And like, I don't judge. I get that.

Speaker 2 But it's, it's just bizarre. It's always been bizarre to me when people, especially who are making big, big amounts of money do this.
I can never figure it out. And to your point,

Speaker 2 I mean, I'm sure someone along the way maybe has gotten away with it, but it's rarely. It's very rare.
It's just bizarre. I mean, let's look.
Hopefully it's nothing.

Speaker 2 It feels like when there's smoke, there's fire. Yeah.

Speaker 1 But I guess we'll see. On the baseball thing, I'm completely throwing a curveball.
No pun intended.

Speaker 2 Very good.

Speaker 1 The MLB All-Star Games coming up in Atlanta. I've always wanted to play in a celebrity softball game.
Never have. Haven't been invited.
Not really sure why. Not really sure why.

Speaker 2 Are you pitching to get?

Speaker 1 Somebody said, are you pitching? Yeah, I'm throwing this out there to anyone at MLB. Like, maybe it's too soon.

Speaker 1 Not this, not this year, but like, I do want to play in a celebrity softball game at some point. You did.

Speaker 2 All right. I did.
And San Diego is so fun. Getting hits.

Speaker 2 yeah i had a home run well not actually i it was not an actual home run it was just i hit it and there were like six errors and so i oh you're one of those try hards you know you know yeah so actually yeah you're right so drew breeze got mad at me because it was like it's like uh you know like

Speaker 2 oh i know why he got mad at me i just remembered so i was i pitched for a few innings did you and Basically, you're there to have fun and like they want to see people hit.

Speaker 2 So like you're throwing it softball underhand and you're supposed to like just lob it up there. And I was throwing these big high haymakers that nobody could hit because I wanted to win.

Speaker 2 And he looked at me like, you're such a tool, dude. I was such an idiot.
So, you, so I apologize, Drew Brees.

Speaker 1 You took slow pitch softball and threw some rain.

Speaker 2 I threw them like super high, you know, so then like they can't even, because you're just trying to throw. Yeah.

Speaker 2 And you're supposed to just like not throw it high, throw it low and let the guy just hit it out because everyone's there to watch that.

Speaker 1 And you ran extra hard and

Speaker 1 slid headfirst in the home on a inside the park home run. You're never being asked back.

Speaker 2 If you haven't figured it out, I'm a little competitive. I'm definitely never being asked back.
Amazing. Whatever.
I'm an idiot. Good times.
All right, guys. Great show.
Thank you.

Speaker 2 As always, as always, subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your pods. Follow us across all our social media platforms at Unfiltered Soccer for more bonus content.

Speaker 1 Thanks so much, everybody.

Speaker 1 Really good wrap-up to the Gold Cup. The summer of soccer continues.

Speaker 1 Thank you to our presenting sponsor, VW, our fan connection sponsor, AT ⁇ T, our control your game sponsor Nitza, and our Unfiltered Refresh sponsor Coors Light. Have an amazing week.

Speaker 1 Keep up with the football and we will see you next Tuesday for another episode of Unfiltered Soccer.

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