Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview

Speaker 1 NWSL, as you rightfully mentioned, has to get away from that stigma of like, I don't like it here, so I'm off. Teams are starting to build and move away from that, but it can still get better.

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 the past five years.

Speaker 1 LD, what's happening, bud? We're back.

Speaker 2 How are you back?

Speaker 1 How are you?

Speaker 2 I'm a little tired, bud. Why? Where were we?

Speaker 2 I had a belated birthday weekend.

Speaker 1 In?

Speaker 2 In Vegas.

Speaker 1 It's good for summer.

Speaker 2 Yeah, man.

Speaker 2 I tried to catch up on sleep last night, but the time change, and we're recording this a little earlier today. Sorry.
I'm kind of mad at you guys.

Speaker 1 I apologize. Wait, where do you stay?

Speaker 2 We stayed at Encore this time, which was fun.

Speaker 2 Did gambling, nice dinner.

Speaker 2 That was it, actually.

Speaker 2 But it was a fun trip. It was just a long, long, long night, Saturday night.

Speaker 1 How many days is like,

Speaker 1 what's the sweet spot for you in Vegas? I know you're close.

Speaker 2 Now it's one.

Speaker 1 Now it's one. 36 hours, one day.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 What's your go-to game?

Speaker 2 What do you like to play? You know what I like to play now? It's kind of a weird game is Pai Gow poker.

Speaker 1 Have you ever played that? No, I'm not a poker guy.

Speaker 2 All right, so it's weird because in one of the casinos, they literally don't play it anymore because the odds are so tiny for the casino.

Speaker 1 Right.

Speaker 2 So it's, it's, I won't explain because people are probably already tuning out.

Speaker 2 You play a hand, the dealer plays a hand, and there's, there's two parts to your hand. So if you win both, you win the money.
If they win both, they win the money. Or if you each win one, you push.

Speaker 2 And so you can sit there for like 45 minutes and just keep pushing because the odds are you're going to push. So it's really fun, but it lasts a long time.
So it's not fun.

Speaker 1 That's my thing about Vegas LD. Like I like like to play craps because I can play craps to like four in the morning.
And I like games that, like,

Speaker 1 if I went to play Blackjack, my night's over in like 20 minutes because I'm just getting housed. So, um, yeah, I, and I'm not a gambler either.
Um, on a slightly serious note, LD, I wanted to

Speaker 1 say hello to our friend, a friend of the show, Tony Miola. Very, I spoke to him this morning very recently.
Um, he had a massive heart attack, and it was uh scary for all involved.

Speaker 1 And I know, um, you know, he he means so much to soccer in America and U.S. soccer fans, and they've wished him well.
And he's just been, he's been amazing through this process, but he's strong.

Speaker 1 He just had a checkup. Doctor gave him the all-clear, just not team running in the next month.
So, we as a show want to make sure we send our love to Tony Miola.

Speaker 1 Um, and so glad you're doing well, bud.

Speaker 2 Funny, real quick story about Tony Miola. First time I went to national team camp was after the earthquakes won with him in 2001.
It was my first year, And I was like, dude, Tony, I was 18.

Speaker 2 I was such an idiot. I go, Tony, I don't see why we wouldn't just win the MLS Cup every year.
We're so good. And he looked at me and he goes, Landon, you have no clue what you're talking about, dude.

Speaker 2 He's like, just give it a few years. You're not winning MLS Cup every year.

Speaker 1 Was that a serious comment from you? No, was it commenting? I'm like, dude, we're so good, bro. We're so good.
We won the MLS. He's like, shut up, you bro.
Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 All right, guys.

Speaker 2 Follow us as always on social media at Unfiltered Soccer.

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Subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, et cetera. If you like what we're doing, rate the show, review it.

Speaker 2 We've got some feedback that some people are not happy about. Some comments we made, particularly about New England Revolution.
That's okay. If you want to review that and say that, no problem, guys.

Speaker 2 Email us feedback at unfilteredsoccer.com. We can take all of it.
Tim likes the heat.

Speaker 1 I love it. It's good.

Speaker 1 It's no problem. It's good balance.

Speaker 2 All right. MLS weekend, Timmy.
So in Vegas, I did actually watch the Sounders LAFC game.

Speaker 2 It's fun to watch when you're just sitting around and there's a bunch of people who presumably have bet a ton of money on it and they have no idea what they're watching, but they're excited about or mad about the game.

Speaker 2 So Seattle looked great. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Really, really good. I love that.
I love how much you pay attention to that like west coast corridor. It's like Seattle, LA, shut up, LA,

Speaker 2 late night.

Speaker 1 Seattle looked great. I was surprised.
I mean, LA, LAFC have been really good defensively. And

Speaker 1 I watched it and I just thought something's, I hope it's not a theme. I think it is a theme through the season.
There's some bad defending in MLS, like really bad defending.

Speaker 1 And you're one of the greatest attackers in the league in the history. But like.

Speaker 1 There's just some times where like defenders, I'm thinking, I'm certain on your paycheck somewhere it says, I am paid to defend and and they just don't do it um but okay I'm digressing Seattle was very good I love

Speaker 1 I love the atmosphere in Seattle like the game kicked off and I was just like I remember playing there with with um just come back from Europe and I was playing there with Colorado and I remember saying to like a couple of young guys in the dress room like if you never if you never get to the world stage this is as good as it gets like this this place is awesome and they were great i thought they were really, really good.

Speaker 1 Big credit to Jordan Morris. He's a former teammate of ours.

Speaker 1 87th goal for the club, becomes Seattle's all-time leading goal scorer.

Speaker 1 Couldn't happen to a better guy, better player.

Speaker 1 I'm buzzing for him. Number one, he's got that, but then I think he's also in touching distance of 100 goals, right?

Speaker 1 So you hope over the next two seasons, he's able to kind of eclipse that mark, which would be huge for him.

Speaker 2 You're seeing Tim, and I know Seattle's in it too, but these teams that are in the champions cup too they're playing these midweek games and then lafc had to travel whatever two and a half hours up to seattle uh afternoon game which just hard like emotionally to get up for that again they had lafc had has some injuries in the in their defense and then they had an injury during the game and they you know their options were go from a back three to a back four and play with two center backs or bring on you know a rookie who's never played a minute against

Speaker 2 Seattle away and they chose not to do that and they they i mean they got battered but they'll be fine but seattle seattle look good question for you how many i i shouldn't know this how many goals did you score in loss

Speaker 2 um

Speaker 2 i don't know exactly i think in the 130 range 140 range is that you is that the all-time leading is that wando how many has wando have wait i think it's wando now or did kai kamara pass him oh

Speaker 1 kai passed him did kai pass for first all-time no someone someone in the chat will tell us.

Speaker 2 Someone will tell us. But, Jordan, I mean, look, Seattle started late, right, in the league.
You know, they came in, I forget what year they came in, but it's been a while.

Speaker 2 But to score 87 goals, dude, it's a lot of goals.

Speaker 1 A lot of goals. He'll get 100 minutes.

Speaker 2 Awesome.

Speaker 1 Yeah, he'll get 100. He'll get more.
LD is the leader on 144 goals. No, I'm not the leader.

Speaker 1 I'm not the leader.

Speaker 2 All right. Tell everyone I'm the leader.

Speaker 1 We say what we want on this podcast. Okay, that's fine.

Speaker 2 We say it till people believe it.

Speaker 2 All right, Miami.

Speaker 2 I did see they were down. Miami was down a man for a long time.

Speaker 1 Cooper got sent off, didn't he?

Speaker 2 Yeah, and when I'm just always impressed with teams when they're able, well, the best is when you go down a man and then you score, and then you're able to win a game.

Speaker 2 That tells me a lot about a team. But Miami down a long time,

Speaker 2 but won at home in

Speaker 2 a rivalry match against Charlotte. Well, it's becoming a rivalry match in that southern corridor.

Speaker 2 Another important win for Miami without Messi. He was on the bench.
Do you think he was going to play?

Speaker 1 No, no, not pretending.

Speaker 1 No, not predictable.

Speaker 2 I think they succumb to social media pressure and just throw him on the bench.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, I'm sure there's going to be lots of that. I couldn't imagine there was a scenario where he was going to play, but it's just, it's a rest, it's a rest thing.
Look, what I would say for,

Speaker 1 you know, we... We are, we are at the end of this thing, right? Like, like, how many more times is Messi going to lace up his boots and cross the white line?

Speaker 1 You're looking at less than 18 months. That's, I have no inside information on that, but I'm just looking at it from the vantage point of like the World Cup and his contract and all that.
Like

Speaker 1 they're trying, and we're, I have a feeling, LD, this might be a weekly segment.

Speaker 1 Miami won a supporter shield last year. They got knocked out in the first round.
Messi missed 14 games, all competitions. They are going to try and win the MLS Cup.

Speaker 1 Simply put, I don't even know if they care about the supporter shield this year. You know, they've done that, boxed it away.

Speaker 1 They're going to try and keep pace, perform well, and keep Messi as healthy as humanly possible to play the best possible minutes from September to November. They are.
They are.

Speaker 1 And I know that's hard for people to think about and balance. And yes, there's a responsibility to the league and to the fans.

Speaker 1 But I would imagine David Beckham is thinking if we, if number one goal is to lift that cup.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I mean, fans hate it, right?

Speaker 2 Because even if you're in Miami and you get 17 or 20 times chances a year to see him, you spend all the money, you do all the things, you prepare, you go to the game, and then you sit on the bench for 90 minutes and you're like, this sucks.

Speaker 2 And for away teams, we've talked about it. Like it's an absolute disaster.
So, but their job as a team and their job as a front office is to try to win. I mean, right?

Speaker 2 I mean, on the soccer side is to try to win. And they're trying to win MLS Cup.
So,

Speaker 1 quick segue um

Speaker 1 we lied we don't often lie but when we do we make sure we tell you landon donovan is not the leader all-time leading i thought we confirmed i was the leader

Speaker 1 so number one all-time chris wandelowski the greediest striker most amazing striker love wando you love that guy 171 goals kai kamara who i'm really impressed with i mean he's had some staying power 147 goals and our own landon donovan think about this for a minute with 45 With Wando.

Speaker 2 You know what people don't know about Wando is he started, like really started his career in like 23 or 24 years old. Oh, yeah.
I was playing at 18. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 And Wando scored, I'm just doing the math right now, 30. He scored 26 more goals and he played so many less games.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 I mean, incredible.

Speaker 2 The guy's probably the most underrated MLS striker ever.

Speaker 1 I'll give you that. Yeah.
I'll give you that. He's a thud.

Speaker 2 A team that could use a striker right now, Tim.

Speaker 2 My LA Galaxy.

Speaker 1 What's going on? Oh,

Speaker 2 this is tough, dude. This is getting tough to watch.
I told you last week.

Speaker 2 Don't be surprised if it continues.

Speaker 2 I think people are just going to start waking up to the fact that this is going to be

Speaker 2 a common struggle for the galaxy. And you just cannot, the part of MLS that's hard is when you succeed, you get punished.
And what I mean by that is when you win, you can't keep players, right?

Speaker 2 So Jovalich,

Speaker 2 they couldn't make him a DP because they don't have a DP spot, but he deserves, you know, based on performance, to probably be a DP. Kansas City could.

Speaker 2 So you've got to move him.

Speaker 2 He's not going to turn down doubling his salary. So

Speaker 2 it's just part of the game, but the galaxy are struggling, man. And without Ricky,

Speaker 2 the struggle is very real.

Speaker 2 They lost

Speaker 2 Marky Delgado, too.

Speaker 2 They've lost some big pieces that

Speaker 2 were really important and they're struggling. And I think it's going to continue.

Speaker 2 I wish there was an easy way out, but I think it's going to continue.

Speaker 1 I mean,

Speaker 1 what they just need to be careful of is, you know, I know it's three games in, so they almost kind of need a reset. And what they need to be careful of is like not getting too far off the pace, right?

Speaker 1 Like it's okay to not be great. And we understand the the subtractions that they've had and not a ton of additions, but

Speaker 1 still,

Speaker 1 I don't know. I was going to say there's an onus on the players to kind of, you know, these are champion, like, yes, there's one or two missing, but like, this is a championship level squad.
And so

Speaker 1 feel, I feel as if they need to be giving more. I'm not questioning their effort, but there's, you know, there's a, there's that like championship hangover.

Speaker 1 You've, you've probably had that more than, what, more than most, right? Where you're just exhaling it like, this has been, it is, it is so much easier.

Speaker 2 And it's not easy, but it's so much easier to chase a title than to actually be chased and now now now everybody's hunting for them and that's so much harder um you know meant from a psychological standpoint yeah this is human psychology tim and that's when we repeated from 2011 in 2011 and 2012 in my mind that was the best the biggest feat ever for us as a team

Speaker 2 because

Speaker 2 there is a natural human psychology from everybody, by the way, from ownership to go, we won, we can relax, from front office to coaches to players. It's natural.
It happens.

Speaker 2 And it's hard to like go again and go again and go again, especially in a league where,

Speaker 2 like in the Premier League, which we'll get to in a second, you're fighting the table, right? There's no playoffs. So for the Galaxy, it's like, oh, we can chill.

Speaker 2 We've, you know, halfway through the season, we can turn it on and get into the playoffs. But to your point, that could be gone fast.

Speaker 2 And the problem is now is two losses at home to two teams they really should have beat, San Diego and St. Louis.

Speaker 2 And it's not a knock on those two teams, but it's not like you lost a Derby to LAFC or you lost to Miami coming in or a good Philly team or they're losing games they should win and you don't get a chance to get those points back.

Speaker 2 So it's going to be a slog, man.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it is.

Speaker 1 We're not touching on Philly, but you mentioned Philly Baribo. Jesus, he has six goals.
Starting season, he's on fire. And by the way, Philly are incredible at the moment.
They've got some pieces.

Speaker 2 Well, just like I said, Tim, Philly's going to be a force to be reckoned with.

Speaker 1 People have got some receipts, bro.

Speaker 2 Can we go back and can we refilm that? And I'll just say, what a great hire Bradley Carnell was. And this is going to be a great team.
Amazing.

Speaker 1 They are incredible, by the way.

Speaker 2 By the way,

Speaker 2 real quick, San Diego FC also

Speaker 2 unbeaten still. Went into Salt Lake and they won late.

Speaker 2 It was a 1-1 game, but they won a couple late goals when Salt Lake were pushing the game. So big credit there.
If they stay healthy,

Speaker 2 they can, and they, you know, they lost Chuka Lozano, but if they stay healthy,

Speaker 2 they got a chance to make the playoffs and do something. So

Speaker 2 keep your eye on that. All right, Premier League, I'm going to let you lead this, dude, because I was in Vegas and flying and I didn't watch live any of the games.

Speaker 2 I saw the results, but what did you see this weekend?

Speaker 1 You were throwing all your chips into the middle of the table. It's fine.

Speaker 1 I was working.

Speaker 1 Probably the best game of the weekend, actually, was

Speaker 1 Forest Manchester City.

Speaker 1 One nil Forest at home. I personally have never been to the City Ground,

Speaker 1 which is an incredible, incredible stadium with like rich in history. I mean, in the 70s, Forests were, I know people think that was a million years ago, but Forests were a European force.
I mean,

Speaker 1 they were incredible. And my goalkeeper coach, Chris Woods, who you know from Everton,

Speaker 1 he was the goalkeeper behind Peter Schoen all those all those years. So, I mean, I've heard stories about those amazing Nottingham Forest teams.
At any rate,

Speaker 1 it's an incredible place to play.

Speaker 1 It's one of those old school, you know, you talk about Goodison, Everton leaving Goodison for a new home, but this is one of those old school proper football grounds and they're really home, real home field advantage, and they play on that.

Speaker 1 And look, I think, you know, is Nuno Espirito Santo the front runner for management of the season? He has to be. Oh, he has to be.
He has to be him in slot, of course,

Speaker 1 at Liverpool. But the way that he,

Speaker 1 what it is, is we haven't seen this from Nuno, which makes it even more special. At Wolves,

Speaker 1 again, Wolves are probably where they are. They're there about the bottom of the table.

Speaker 1 They had a few good seasons, certainly under Nuno, but it was a more pragmatic style. He had a few match winners, and then he went to Tottenham.
It just didn't work and very quickly was sacked.

Speaker 1 And so we hadn't really seen like what is, who is Nuno Espirito Santo? Very stern, kind of stone face. We're starting to see a smile and an exuberance about him.
And his team is fantastic.

Speaker 1 He said smart, well, they've got, I mean, front to back,

Speaker 1 they have real staying power in terms of staying in the top four because you've got a fantastic goalkeeper, Matt Sells.

Speaker 1 They got the most clean sheets in the league, real good partnership in the back with Murillo and Malenkovich as the two center backs. And then what he does is it's kind of that like

Speaker 1 Portuguese way of like, we're going to create this base at the back, be really solid. And then there's going to be like four or five players.
You go win us the game. Like, just go win us the game.

Speaker 1 I need a massive engine from you. Gibbs White is brilliant in the middle of the field.
Elang on one side, Hudson Adoy on the other. And this is the key.
He wants them to break, break quickly.

Speaker 1 And the second they get their head up, put the ball in the box. Because if they put their ball in the box, Chris Wood is getting on the end of it.
He's having a fantastic career season.

Speaker 1 So, yeah, Forrest has been really, really good this year.

Speaker 2 He's had a renaissance, huh? Chris Wood, the big Kiwi.

Speaker 2 It's like you watch that team and you're thinking, okay does he does do the other pieces really fit with him whatever but they know put it in the box and he's proven he can score goals obviously very good in the air but he's just banging in goals for fun i mean it's yeah they've been fun to watch yeah he's a testament to to what what a proper striker is get get between the posts that's where the goals are scored and put the ball in and yeah he's been fantastic yeah you know um i i was checking the scores in Vegas and I looked at halftime of the Liverpool Southampton game and Southampton were up 1-0 1-0 at halftime and I was like, whoa.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 2 What is going on? So, I mean, I can imagine what the game looked like, but in the end, all was set right. But I was shocked.
That was a shocking game.

Speaker 1 Yeah,

Speaker 1 I think it was kind of short-lived. It was off a Southampton throw-in.

Speaker 1 Smallbone ends up like

Speaker 1 kind of challenging Van Dyke from behind. And Van Dyke's trying to hold him off and wants Alice and the goalkeeper to come.
It's one of those really slow balls where the defender should just clear it.

Speaker 1 And it was a massive coming together. The ball falls and Smallbone swivels on it, scores, and it's bedlam, right?

Speaker 1 But it's kind of like we've seen this enough in the world in the world of football where you're like, okay, that's all Liverpool needed because now I can tell you how this is going to go.

Speaker 1 And they ran out three one winners and it was in the end pretty comfortable.

Speaker 1 And I get the sense that there's going to be a few teams toward the back end of the season that are going to have to give Liverpool a guard of honor because I do think they're going to win it

Speaker 1 pretty comfortably at this point. So

Speaker 2 15 points clear now, right?

Speaker 1 Yeah, 15 points clear.

Speaker 1 Five wins in control, what they need from the remaining nine games.

Speaker 1 And obviously that doesn't take into account any more drop points from the likes of Arsenal. So

Speaker 1 it seems to be a formality. And

Speaker 1 just for people listening at home,

Speaker 1 in England, what a guard of honor is...

Speaker 1 If you win it on the last day, the last kick of the ball, you don't get a guard of honor.

Speaker 1 But, you know, when I was at Manchester United, Chelsea, it was the Mourinho teams, and Chelsea had won a league and they won it comfortably, which meant if they're if a team mathematically has already clinched the title, then any subsequent games that they play, let's say they have three games left, every time the teams walk out of the tunnel in the procession, um, the respectful thing to do is for is for the opponent to form a guard of honor so that the uh team walks through.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it's just very, it's a very English thing, um, A little bit demoralizing, you know, when you're like, I'm going to go look at the fixture list and see who they're playing.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Who has to do that? Somebody's brutal. Crazy.
Let's go.

Speaker 2 They can focus now on Champions League, right? For the most part. And their game last week at PSG was insane.

Speaker 2 They had no business, no business getting anything out of the game. And they end up winning the game.
So now they'll come back home and they've got a one-nothing cushion, but they got battered by PSG.

Speaker 2 PSG looked really good, but somehow lost the game. So that's,

Speaker 2 it's probably too bad because I don't, it's hard to imagine PSG goes to Anfield and wins that game.

Speaker 1 No. And they got, you know, they had no, they got played off the park against PSG, but for Allison, the goalkeeper, who again, world class, kept them really in, not even in the game, but in this tie.

Speaker 1 You know, you go back to Anfield at 1-0. This is the crazy thing about Champions League and how you feel that they will have walked away from that game going, oh, that's good.
Really good result.

Speaker 1 Now we get them back at our place. And Anfield under the lights is formidable.

Speaker 1 It's special. What I always say about

Speaker 1 Anfield is,

Speaker 1 and the cop, they recognize moments.

Speaker 1 And you and I have been a part of that rivalry.

Speaker 1 Because they've had so many big moments, big European moments, they recognize them. Like Anfield.
against PSG is going to be like, PSG is not going to want to walk out of that tunnel.

Speaker 1 It's going to be so daunting because they understand it's not like, oh, it's just another knockout. Yeah, we won this trophy before.

Speaker 1 No, they know that on that night, they can create an atmosphere that will live throughout the test, throughout time. So

Speaker 1 yeah,

Speaker 1 it's a special place, Anfield and the Lights. And I think I have a feeling Liverpool will turn this result over.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it's going to be fun to watch. Champions League this week will be fun to watch now, these second legs with everything at stake.
United Arsenal, we don't spend a lot of time there.

Speaker 2 I am

Speaker 2 as disappointed as I am in United. Arsenal too, they've just kind of petered out and never really made a run at it.

Speaker 2 And so it's, you know, it's the game didn't mean much, right? It didn't mean much. It just didn't.

Speaker 1 It was the crazy thing is, Landon, like ever since I, you know, apparently has gone through phases. And it was, it was always about Manchester United, Liverpool.

Speaker 1 And then Arsenal under Wenger came through really heavy. And that

Speaker 1 Arsenal Man United rivalry became everything for, you know, late 90s, early 2000s. I was actually a part of

Speaker 1 some of those games, some of those big games, and

Speaker 1 it was the premier fixture. And we did the buildup to the game this weekend.
It was just like

Speaker 1 United stink. Don't know how they're going to play.
Arsenal are very good, but they're at the time 16 points back

Speaker 1 of the title. So that's gone.

Speaker 1 Just really, really, really interesting

Speaker 1 kind of where the two teams are.

Speaker 2 And that's not good for the league, right? The league's way better when

Speaker 2 both those teams are flying.

Speaker 1 Both those teams, yeah. I mean, probably the biggest talking point was there's this massive, you know, a couple thousand people protest outside Old Trafford,

Speaker 1 protesting the Glazers once again.

Speaker 1 You know, but I think about even the other side of ownership, when I look at, when I look at Arsenal, they've, they've said we need to buy a striker in the last two windows, and they haven't done it for different reasons, whether that be price or whatever.

Speaker 1 And Isak is a name on everybody's lips and he's going to cost some money. What I would say is I'm really interested to see what Arsenal does this year because they have a window.

Speaker 1 You know this, as you build teams, you have a window and they're a really good team. They have really great pieces.
Ethan Waneri is coming through on the one side.

Speaker 1 He's been he's a generational talent. They have so many great pieces.
They need the striker. So I'm actually thinking.

Speaker 1 don't really and i don't really like to overpay or i wouldn't be in the camp of saying just go overpay for somebody.

Speaker 1 But if Ezak's going to cost the money that he's going to cost, he's nailed on to get you 20 goals in the Premier League. He could win you the title.

Speaker 1 And if the idea is to win the title, it's not really getting a championship anymore. They're going to do that.

Speaker 1 They've won domestic cups. It's to win the Premier League.
I think they have to go buy a big top goal scorer.

Speaker 2 Yeah, and there's no, I mean, you can take risks with players who don't play in the league currently. Sure.
Or you get a guy who you absolutely know, if he's healthy, is going to score you.

Speaker 2 You said 20. I think he scored 30 with Arsenal.
Yeah. Right.
So I think it's a must.

Speaker 2 Chelsea Lester, Chelsea back into the top four. They've kind of, they've had a weird season, huh? Really good early, really poor through mid-stretch.
They're starting to find a little bit of form.

Speaker 2 Back in the top four, but good for good for the league again when Chelsea are strong.

Speaker 1 Yeah, just a quick note. I mean, look, Chelsea, I think are.

Speaker 1 I actually am really happy with Chelsea. You have a first-year Premier League manager, right?

Speaker 1 What went on at Chelsea was like, let's buy all the the best young players.

Speaker 1 And now he's kind of streamlined the squad. And they've had a blip, absolutely.
But you know what happened with that blip? They won this week and they went into the top four. So I'm not really sure.

Speaker 1 Like they're still ahead of schedule for me, right? Cole Palmer had a brilliant start this season. He's got no goal involvements in like six or seven games, but like that happens.

Speaker 1 You know, that happens. There's a bunch of injuries.
So

Speaker 1 yeah, I'm good with Chelsea where they are. I think they're, you know, I think next year is a big, big year for him.

Speaker 2 All right, dude. Good week, good weekend in the Premier League.
Uh, Champions League fixtures. When this comes out, uh, it'll be Tuesday, so Champions League, and lots to watch this week.

Speaker 2 We're going to take a break when we come back, talking U.S. men's national team.
We're only a few weeks now, Tim, from Nations League. So keep an eye on, we're keeping an eye on everybody.

Speaker 2 And we'll be back to talk about it right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen. Stay right there.

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

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Speaker 1 Everyone's favorite time of the week, USLNT on USMNT, where we talk about the U.S. men's national team.
They're not in camp, so we'll talk about what they're doing in their domestic seasons.

Speaker 1 Most importantly, headlining this week is Serginho Dest. Yes, he's back, back, back.

Speaker 2 Welcome back, Serginho. 11 months, by the way, Tim.
They took their time.

Speaker 2 I'm actually really happy to hear that. Yeah, yeah.
And you never know if it was the player who needed a few more months or whatever, but everyone's in such a rush.

Speaker 2 They want eight months, nine months.

Speaker 2 And

Speaker 2 I don't know the data on this, but the longer you take to come back, the more chances you have of staying healthy. Yeah.
And so 11, if it needs another month, just take the month.

Speaker 2 I know it sucks in the short term, but he's 24. Take your time.
Get back. So hopefully, knock on wood stays healthy, but great to have him back.

Speaker 1 Well, I mean, well played to his physio staff and himself. You know, as well as I do,

Speaker 1 I was the world's worst.

Speaker 1 Like if I had an injury and the second I sat, and I wasn't injured a lot, thank God, and played through a lot, but if I sat down with my physio or the doctors or the surgeon and they're like, you're going to be be out four weeks, in my head, I was going, right.

Speaker 1 So two and a half weeks, I can be back for sure, right? Like it didn't even cross my mind.

Speaker 1 And, you know, when you're out so long,

Speaker 1 you feel like you're missing out on everything. You're missing out on a career.
You're like, well, I have to get back. And as you said,

Speaker 1 the way that rehabilitation and physiotherapy is now implemented.

Speaker 1 um in teams you're going to more than likely if something gets repaired you're going to come back stronger yeah it's getting it's like getting something new put in your body, and then you rehab it to become stronger.

Speaker 1 And you see that, but you have to be able to take your time with it. And yeah, really happy for the men's national team, but also Dest that

Speaker 1 he took his time because that's, I mean, you start to, as we start to break this down, LD, like the USS has got a really strong, solid back line all of a sudden,

Speaker 1 all of a sudden. But these guys, you know, if you think on the left side, Anthony Robinson, Chris Richards, left side center back, Jorginho Dest, right back.
And then who is it?

Speaker 1 Who partners Chris Richards? Maybe CCV,

Speaker 1 trustee.

Speaker 1 It looks really strong to me.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it was when we talked earlier in past episodes, it was a position of weakness, right? The back line. And with Serginho back, nobody really threatened to take that role permanently.

Speaker 2 So if he's back and he's playing well and he's healthy, now you have two very, very, very good. I was, you know, you could argue at points of their career world-class outside backs.

Speaker 2 And now you say, okay, that's a good starting point. Chris Richards now starting to solidify himself.
So really good to have him back.

Speaker 2 On the other side of the field, another guy who needed a boost, and that was Christian Pulisic.

Speaker 2 Two goals. They were down, I believe they were down 2-0.
Came back in the second half. He scored twice.
They won 3-2. Big win for the club.
They just needed some relief.

Speaker 2 And for him personally, really good to see him back and scoring. He really needed that.

Speaker 1 that yeah i mean i just think the club the club's just not in a great way right now and uh no they're not i think when when things are are trending and ebbing low players feel that you know supporters feel that so you know i just i i love the i love the the fire and the vigor that he plays with it always means something for him to score you can see that by by his reaction so yeah obviously scoring embrace is big moment we're um leading in in a couple weeks here at a nations league uh tyler adams we continue to talk about and it's going to get to to a point where we don't even need to talk about him because he's just in the team doing well, playing well.

Speaker 2 So, as long as he stays healthy, as always, that's the caveat. Stay healthy.

Speaker 2 He was named Bournemouth Player of the Month this month, which is an incredible honor to think about an American going into a Premier League club, ingratiating themselves with the fans, their teammates, the coaches, and then becoming a player of the month when he just got back.

Speaker 1 Can't give Tyler Adams enough credit for his attitude, his endeavor, the performances he puts in, the amount of emotion that he cares about every single game. Think about what that means.

Speaker 1 It's so difficult, by the way, to be a Premier League's Club player of the month. I mean, your consistency over the course of four or five performances is incredible.

Speaker 1 We showed a watch party this weekend on NBC in his hometown, upstate New York. They did a board at some bar.
They did a Bournemouth Supporters Club

Speaker 1 watch party, and it was crazy. Like, it's just amazing that

Speaker 1 the amount of attention this kid is getting and all very warranted.

Speaker 2 All right, let's move into NWSL. Officially opened last weekend with a challenge cup.
Orlando lost in penalties at home to Washington,

Speaker 2 but the real season starts this weekend. I want to start, Tim, with a player that I coached last year, Naomi Gurma, moved to Chelsea in the offseason for a record $1 million

Speaker 2 fee. Actually, I think it was over $1 million.
I think it was $1.1

Speaker 2 transfer from San Diego Wave to Chelsea.

Speaker 2 I have a lot of thoughts on all of this.

Speaker 2 Candidly, for Naomi,

Speaker 2 I know she wanted to

Speaker 2 go.

Speaker 2 I don't love it for NWSL that your best, probably the best center back in the world is leaving and wants to leave.

Speaker 2 Now, I understand all the reasons, but in my opinion, having I watched a lot of the games now and coached in it, the NWSL top to bottom is the best league in the world.

Speaker 2 Some of the top clubs in the world play in Europe, but their leagues are not great. You know, Chelsea can walk through four or five of those teams without breaking a sweat.
So

Speaker 2 I get disappointed when

Speaker 2 a player of Naomi's quality doesn't want to stay here.

Speaker 2 But I understand it. The sad part for Naomi, and she's dealt with some injuries in the past, is in her opening match.
She waited a long time to come back to play her first game for Chelsea.

Speaker 2 They played her 60 minutes. At the 60th minute, she got injured again.
So she hurt her calf. So now she's out again.
So

Speaker 2 it's TBD to see how that goes. She's going to be fine.
She's still a top player. But there's been a number, I think the number one

Speaker 2 talking point for me for NWSL over the offseason is they've had, there's so much change in the league. And the league still feels a little unstable in that way.

Speaker 2 And what I mean is very few players get signed to three, four, five-year deals. So most players from year to year have the freedom to move.

Speaker 2 And historically, in the league, and I'm just going to put this out there, historically, in the league, players have crazy power that if they're not happy, they can leave.

Speaker 2 And it reminded me a little bit of MLS in the early days. It's like if someone wasn't happy with something, whatever, you'd just call your agent and be like, get me out of here.

Speaker 2 And that doesn't happen in mature leagues around the world. So, I do want to see that change.

Speaker 2 But, you know, we'll walk through some of these. I'll get your opinion first.

Speaker 1 Well, no, NWCL has to, you make a good point. We've both been in USL at the ownership level, first and foremost.
And, you know, USL,

Speaker 1 and I had always said it was a mercenary league, right? And it was a mercenary league because we were signing players in USL to one-on-one, right?

Speaker 1 So one-year contract, club option for the second year. And of course, we looked after ourselves, right? So now this kid, we had it a bunch of times.
Kid bangs in 15, 20 goals.

Speaker 1 And we're like, we're picking up his option because we ain't got to pay him a whole lot.

Speaker 1 and indy or new mexico or oakland comes in and offers him double the salary well you know what you have to do like a good businessman would tell me timmy you're an idiot but i'm like you got to go yeah i gotta pay you

Speaker 1 right and so it becomes a mercenary league so team so players are changing and nwsl as you rightfully mentioned has to get away from and i think they are get away from that stigma of like I don't like it here.

Speaker 1 So I'm off, right? Like teams are, teams are starting to build and move away from that, but right, it can still get better, no doubt.

Speaker 2 All right, so we'll walk through a few of these. So Bay FC actually had a great first season last year, made the playoffs.

Speaker 2 They signed one of our players, Abby Dahlcomper, middle of the year, where we traded her there, and she was fantastic. Unfortunately for them, they're going through some turmoil now.

Speaker 2 Their head coach, Albertine Montoya, currently under investigation by the NWSL after players from 2024 lodged formal complaints against the coaching staff. And Tim, I'm just, I'll be quick.

Speaker 2 Like, this has become and has been commonplace in this league.

Speaker 2 I do want to say, we don't know what happened here.

Speaker 2 And so let's be careful.

Speaker 1 Let's see what happened.

Speaker 2 Don't jump to conclusions. I've learned in life.
There are multiple sides to stories.

Speaker 2 I'm not saying it did or didn't happen or anything did or didn't happen, but let's just, let's be cautious and see how this unfolds.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, watch that space. I think the people over at Bay are some really good people, certainly the ownership group.
And,

Speaker 1 you know

Speaker 1 you hope for everybody involved that that that this gets cleared and there is no issues but uh it's something that has to be taken seriously so we will we'll watch that space and we'll continue to kind of stay across it as it as things develop down the i5

Speaker 2 up the i5 for me angel city um strangely still no permanent head permanent head coach they got rid of becky tweet at the end of last year uh larry earnshaw is serving as the interim this is this feels tim this when they came into the league it was such a massive deal Right.

Speaker 2 And, you know, the sister club to LAFC and everything going on with Beautiful State and whatever. And they've just kind of been, it's been tumultuous forever.

Speaker 2 And they need to figure out a path forward that makes sense, that is sustainable. And this is back to what I was saying earlier.
This club is.

Speaker 1 it's a really big club for the league and they've just felt like a kind of an afterthought because there's so much um change let me ask you something and i yeah, so Mark, the new sporting director that recently named Mark Parsons,

Speaker 1 I quite like him.

Speaker 1 I think he'll come in and settle some things down and to your point, create that pathway and that

Speaker 1 not, they don't need to rebrand or re-identify themselves, but just kind of settle things down and streamline it.

Speaker 1 I asked you the question,

Speaker 1 did they get out over their skis a little bit? Because there was so much hype. There were so many celebrity investors.

Speaker 1 They had everything that you dream about having in terms of starting a club and i just wonder because i've seen this i've seen this with ownership groups that i've been a part of i've seen this in general from the outside when you when you buy a club start a club invest in a club it is like you're you're so excited you wear the scarf and you take the pick it's amazing And then you got to get down to the nitty-gritty in the day-to-day.

Speaker 1 And that's mundane and it's tiresome and it's not fun. Well,

Speaker 1 the losing is not fun.

Speaker 2 No, here's what happens. So it's a great question and a great point.
So the challenge is, is all the excitement, all the bluster, everything going on, whatever.

Speaker 2 What makes a club great, and you know this with Everton and clubs you boot me with the galaxy and Everton, what you do every day is what makes your club. Right.

Speaker 2 It's not about a press conference or an announcement or a slogan or a mission statement or whatever. It's what you do every day that makes your club great.

Speaker 2 And a lot of clubs, I'll just talk, you know, I can't speak exactly specifically 100% sure with every club in NWSL, but a lot of clubs get a lot of the promoting and the marketing and stuff right.

Speaker 2 And they do a great job and whatever, but they're still struggling with just people, boots on the ground, people who know what they're doing and are competent to get things done.

Speaker 2 And it's getting better. And it's part of the problem, Tim, is in our country, we're still immature in soccer in general.

Speaker 2 So you had for a long time, MLS sort of leading the way with quality people, quality workers, quality executives, whatever. USL then struggles because there's only so many.

Speaker 2 NWSL struggles because there's only so many.

Speaker 2 NASL, when it was going to struggle, there's only so many people who know what they're doing. And it's getting better.

Speaker 2 It's going to take time, but you have to start by hiring the right people at the top who then can start the process. That's what it takes.
And

Speaker 2 speaking of right people at the top at your club, Houston Dash, Fabrice Gautra, new head coach. They were bottom of the league last year.

Speaker 2 I saw just with my own eyes, things start to change at the end of the year, Tim. So I will be definitely keeping my eyes on Houston, as I know you will.

Speaker 1 For sure. And obviously bringing in Fabrice was

Speaker 1 the second hiring, hiring Angela Mangano.

Speaker 1 She's, I think she's special. I do, I don't say that often, but I've had a chance to really sit down with Angela, see her process.

Speaker 1 You know, we've given her a lot of autonomy in terms of like, you know what you're doing.

Speaker 1 You've been around. You understand what it's going to take to kind of reshape things for this club.
And she has hit the ground running. And Fabrice was a fantastic hire.

Speaker 1 Also, some of the, you know, some of the deals caught a lot of eyes that

Speaker 1 she made in the offseason.

Speaker 1 You know, Yasmin Ryan was a big one. A big one.

Speaker 2 Good player, by the way.

Speaker 1 Good player. Big money.
Good player. Opened a lot of eyes.
And, you know, one of the things that she knows, and look, we finished bottom of the league. So it's very easy to say, you know what?

Speaker 1 The only one way to go is up, but it's not just about results. Results are the most important, right?

Speaker 1 But like building a culture and a foundation, I hate using the word culture because everyone just throws a blanket over it, but creating what you're talking about, real sustainability, like a real core, the everyday, you just said it.

Speaker 1 You know, she has an ability and a workflow that is

Speaker 1 second to none. So yeah, really excited about that.

Speaker 1 And I think the other thing she did was

Speaker 1 we needed a roster overhaul. She knew that.

Speaker 1 we had to get younger more dynamic and she brought in players and she she targeted players who had lifted a trophy and when you look at the players we brought in they they'd either won the shield or the or the nwcl uh cup like these these were this wasn't by accident right and and and you talk about how do you change culture that everyone wants to talk about you bring in people who understand who are going to question and make sure things are done the right way so yeah um you know looking good high hopes but got to get it done on the grass so excited up in portland congrats to sophia smith wilson

Speaker 2 she and her husband michael wilson just announced that they are pregnant which is awesome so very happy for her she's a top top top player um it'd be interesting to see how she gets back i'm always amazed tim that these women are able to be pregnant and continue their careers and then stop and then come back and having lived in a household where My wife was pregnant three times.

Speaker 2 And like the last thing on your mind would be like, you can go play at the top level professionally soccer. It's incredible.

Speaker 2 So to see when she gets back, how she gets back, but really excited for she and Michael. It's an awesome moment.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 Congratulations to them. It's a couple.
Congrats to them. I will say, I mean, I watched Portland last year and it's so hard for me to put my finger on what I think about Sophia Smith.
The way that.

Speaker 1 She moves across the grass, her ideas, her vision, like you can see this.

Speaker 1 I mean, to say that she's special would be, would be probably doing her a disservice. I mean, she is an incredible striker.
Like, just watching her movements in and around goal, I mean, she is,

Speaker 1 yeah, just incredible.

Speaker 1 She's really fun to watch. So hopefully everything is incredible, great with their family.
And then she gets back and we can see the best of her.

Speaker 2 I mean, sadly, I had to deal with it in person watching her. I did not enjoy it as much as you in those moments, but she, yeah, she is special.

Speaker 2 Lastly, Gotham FC, they lost Lynn Williams Biandolo to the rain. Jenna Neiswanger went to Arsenal.
Yasmin, as you just talked about, Yasmin Ryan went to Houston. Crystal Dunn left.

Speaker 2 So they've got, they are a well-run club and their roster is really good.

Speaker 2 But they lost a lot of pieces. And so now how do you reshape that, revamp that?

Speaker 2 That'll be interesting to follow. So NWSL starts this weekend.
It'll be a lot of fun to follow. Lots of new player movement.
San Diego Wave here right in my backyard.

Speaker 2 Lots and lots of change felt like a reset for them. So interesting to follow.
All right, let's dig into one last thing before we take a break. Um,

Speaker 2 World Cup expansion for 2030. I can feel people getting pissed off.

Speaker 1 You knew it was coming. You knew it was coming.

Speaker 2 All right, so FIFA doesn't have enough money. So, that was my comment.
A proposal to analyze a 64-team.

Speaker 2 Yes, you heard that right. 64-team FIFA World Cup to celebrate the centenary of the FIFA World Cup in 2030.
The first one was in 1930, was spontaneously raised by a FIFA council member.

Speaker 2 I'm sure nobody talked about this.

Speaker 1 You're not having this. I can already tell you.

Speaker 2 In the miscellaneous agenda item near the end of the FIFA council meeting held on March 5th, 2025, a FIFA spokesperson said, the idea was acknowledged as FIFA has a duty to analyze any proposal from one of its council members.

Speaker 2 I'm sure this was spontaneous.

Speaker 2 I'm sure nobody talked about this or thought about this before this moment.

Speaker 2 But let's get past all that.

Speaker 2 I'm going to say this, and I think people are going to hate this. I actually love the idea of having 64 teams.
Love it. Why is that? Love it.

Speaker 2 Because this is why, Tim, I've been to a World Cup as a player three times, and I've been as a fan, and I've been as a commentator.

Speaker 2 And the greatest thing about a World Cup, the greatest thing, forget about what happens on the field.

Speaker 2 Couldn't, I mean, it's amazing, whatever, is sitting at a bar or sitting in a square or sitting outside with people.

Speaker 2 Someone from Ireland, hanging out with someone from Zimbabwe, hanging out with someone from Peru, hanging out with someone from Iceland, and they're all drinking beer.

Speaker 2 None of them understand a damn word they're all saying, but they're drinking a beer, they're hanging out, they're watching the game, they're celebrating their teams, and they're all doing it together.

Speaker 2 And they're brought together because of this tournament.

Speaker 2 And so, right now, if it's 32 countries being represented, give me 64. I want 64 fan bases,

Speaker 2 40,000 people traveling wherever it is, Uruguay, Morocco, whatever it is. And I want them there celebrating it.
I love it.

Speaker 1 You're in the more, the merrier camp.

Speaker 1 Look,

Speaker 1 from a competitive standpoint, and they'll obviously work out the logistics. What I would say is when you get to a World Cup, you get the 32 teams just based on

Speaker 1 how qualification works around the rest of the world.

Speaker 1 I don't always think the best teams are in the World Cup, by the way.

Speaker 1 Like, if you look at Europe and how many slots they get,

Speaker 1 sometimes the

Speaker 1 couple of best teams in the world aren't there. Well, South America, too, right?

Speaker 2 Best teams in South America is the same.

Speaker 1 So if you expand the field, you then, I think,

Speaker 1 get

Speaker 1 the best of Europe, the best of Asia, the best of South America, the best of Africa, North America. Certain teams don't miss out.

Speaker 1 Now, one might say you have to, you know, too bad if you miss out, you didn't reach the, you know, proper qualification. But what I would say is

Speaker 1 there are always some teams that I'm like, I wish they were in the World Cup. And I think if you expand,

Speaker 1 then you get the best of the best.

Speaker 2 I guess the real question would be, because, look, I don't want to be too cynical here, but the fact that someone spontaneously brought it up and the fact that they have said this to the press.

Speaker 2 they let the press know there obviously it's a bit of a trial balloon to see how people react my guess is there's a good chance this happens. And they're not just putting it out there for fun.

Speaker 1 You're a very smart man.

Speaker 2 Well, they just don't want to, they're not going to create controversy just to do it. So my guess is they're trying to get people used to it.

Speaker 2 So the question then becomes, how do you actually make this happen, right? You can't have, my math is terrible, but you can't have 16 groups of four, can you?

Speaker 2 And then maybe the top two, and then you have a round of 32.

Speaker 2 round of 16 quarterfinals semi-finals maybe or do you make it a not you can't make it a knockout tournament that would go against everything that the world cup is right yeah because group play is so important so i don't know logistically what that means and by the way tim if they do it once and it's successful they're doing it again they're doing it again in 2034 and 38 and forever right so i don't think it's a you know they said to as a one-time team a one-time thing i don't think it's that i agree with no that i agree with any so i'm sure people are going to have opinions on this guys let us know do you want a 64 team world cup do you want to keep it 32?

Speaker 2 Would you go to 48 like it is this time? Or would you cut it down? I don't know, 24, like the Olympics. And let us know.
Let us know your thoughts. All right, let's take a pause.

Speaker 2 When we're back, we will get into your questions on the ATT fan connection. We'll talk anything but soccer right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim presented by Volkswagen.

Speaker 2 We'll be right back.

Speaker 2 This episode is brought to you by Airbnb.

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

Speaker 1 Honestly, I've

Speaker 1 lost track at this point.

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

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

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

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

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

Speaker 1 Well, I mean, I think that's where 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 is getting burnt and the kids are running around playing with their new toys, I go out back by the fire pit and I choose chill.

Speaker 1 I crack open a corslet.

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 US L N T, or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer.

Speaker 1 Celebrate responsibly. Hooray's Brew and 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 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 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 AT ⁇ T, connecting changes everything.
And on US LNT, our connections with you will help grow the game.

Speaker 1 It's that time of the week. We love our ATT fan connection.
Thank you to AT ⁇ T and thank you to our fans. You guys are always bringing the heat, bringing the love.

Speaker 1 Jordan, welcoming this week. How are you?

Speaker 2 Good morning. Great.

Speaker 1 What shirt is that? Give me what kit you have on today.

Speaker 3 Dublin Bohemians, their partnership with the band Fontaine's DC.

Speaker 1 Amazing.

Speaker 1 He has no idea.

Speaker 3 Landon does. There's a band, Landon, called Fontaine's DC.

Speaker 2 Yes.

Speaker 1 It's called what?

Speaker 3 Fontaine's DC.

Speaker 2 Okay.

Speaker 3 And they did a crossover with

Speaker 3 Bohemians.

Speaker 1 Bohemians do great, great collabs. I'm so confused.
Yeah, that's not your wheelhouse.

Speaker 2 Cool jersey.

Speaker 1 What do you got? I was offline about it. How are you doing this week? Good.

Speaker 3 Yeah, I'm great. Fantastic.

Speaker 1 You're going to bring some thunder to us today? What's going on?

Speaker 3 Yeah. So you guys were spending a little bit of time last week talking about the empty stadium in New England, and some fans had some very

Speaker 3 hot takes.

Speaker 2 Well, at least someone's talking about New England.

Speaker 1 Let's go.

Speaker 1 Give it to us. What do you got? We're talking about them.

Speaker 3 Chris via email said, just wanted to fact-check you on Rev's opening night. There were a ton of fans there.
It was 40 mile per hour winds with a low reaching 13 degrees.

Speaker 3 We spent the majority of the game in the warming areas. So 23,000 seems accurate to me.
Stop hating, bros.

Speaker 1 Listen, is that a question? Bro, go ahead, Tim. No,

Speaker 1 it's in the similar neck of the woods bro is chris is it chris

Speaker 1 buffalo bills mafia spends zero time in warming areas they don't have a warming they don't have a warming area they go oh it's 14 degrees i'm gonna bring a hat and gloves and they pile into that stadium i'm not having it i'm not having i know it's cold i spent my life sleet rain gale force winds get out getting out there Just show up.

Speaker 1 Honestly, just show up. It's your team.
There's nothing. There's no support.
Well, he did, to be fair.

Speaker 2 He showed up.

Speaker 1 He did. He showed up.
Yeah. So fair play.
But none of his mates did because there was nobody there. Well, maybe they were in the warming section, but I was watching television.
I know what I saw.

Speaker 1 You just turn up.

Speaker 3 This one's from David via YouTube. Pretty unfair slash lazy take on New England.

Speaker 3 Top five in attendance last year, averaging 30K, even with low early season attendance, which isn't new and is a factor league-wide. They also spent 14 mil in the last two windows.
Do your research.

Speaker 2 All right, David, let me give you a history lesson, bud.

Speaker 1 Here we go.

Speaker 2 I've been in many MLS, USL, NWSL meetings,

Speaker 2 and people in these meetings after the game, sometimes it's right after the game, we're sitting around and they'll say,

Speaker 2 hey,

Speaker 2 Michael, the janitor who's cleaning up, pick a number between 22 and 27,000 and just give me a random number. And he'll go 24,612.
And they go, okay, that's the announced attendance tonight.

Speaker 2 And they put it out there. So, whatever the announced attendance is,

Speaker 2 you can just throw that out the door and don't worry about it.

Speaker 2 You can see what you see.

Speaker 2 We can see what we see on TV. I'm not saying that New England didn't have a decent amount of fans.

Speaker 2 That is a

Speaker 2 bigger problem: is why are they spreading it out that way?

Speaker 2 There's lots of stadiums that put fans on one side of the field only, and the field, the side of the field that should be on is where the camera is facing,

Speaker 2 right? So, whoever's in charge of that, sort that out. New England, I'm not saying that's your fault, is fans, but sort that out, or just put all the fans together, put them in the lower bowl.

Speaker 2 You don't have to open the whole stadium. I know it's a massive stadium.
Nobody's saying you're Atlanta and you need to sell out 70,000 every week, but there's lots of issues there, dude.

Speaker 2 So you can be proud of your team and we want you to be proud of your team, but there are problems. And if you don't acknowledge them, it's going to get worse.

Speaker 2 And the team is bad and they need to sort it out. And I care about it because New England's one of the originals when I was in the league and you want them to be good.

Speaker 2 It's not fun for anybody when it's bad. So don't protect it.

Speaker 1 Try to help solve it. Well, very well said.
I mean, look, David, here it's David, right?

Speaker 1 I mean, here's the thing.

Speaker 1 We do our research more than you can even imagine the fact of the matter is if you're if you're fighting this stance that there's that there's 30 000 people there fine fine it looks horrific on television there's no denying that um in in stadium because i've played there it's not a it's not a great place to play so maybe we're having a bigger conversation as as as landon touched on um

Speaker 1 the stadium,

Speaker 1 how you shoot the stadium, how you kind of either tarp the upper bowl and push everyone to the lower bowl. It's been done before, right, Landon?

Speaker 1 Also, you've spent a lot of money. If you've ever heard of Everton Football Club in the last decade, they have also spent a lot of money.
It means nothing, it's how you spend it.

Speaker 1 So, hats off to you guys for loving your club and repping. So, keep it coming.
We like to smoke.

Speaker 3 How about some questions?

Speaker 2 Let's do it.

Speaker 3 This one came to us via email from Ryan, who is identifying himself as a West Ham fan who enjoys moise ball.

Speaker 1 Is that a thing?

Speaker 1 I mean, I bet.

Speaker 1 I bet. He enjoys winning.

Speaker 3 Do you feel that European fans have too much influence in club decisions, especially coaching changes? In U.S.

Speaker 3 sports, the first year for a new coach is usually a freebie with improvement expected in year two and things needing to click in year three. In European football, the leash is much shorter.

Speaker 2 Great question. You go first, bud.

Speaker 1 Well, yeah, I think by the nature of the dynamic of global football, European football, yeah, the fans have a much

Speaker 1 greater say.

Speaker 1 It's hard for me to say they're more passionate, but

Speaker 1 they do think, like

Speaker 1 I lived in, you know, I was born and raised in New Jersey. The Jets, New York Jets haven't been good for a very long time.
And

Speaker 1 I don't really know that they fly planes and banners over the stadium. I don't know if they burn things outside of the stadium, whether we're not condoning that, or have sit-ins.

Speaker 1 And this is what European football clubs do, these fans. They have a voice and a say, and it's loud and it's proud and it's passionate.
So that naturally is going to influence people's decisions.

Speaker 1 Is it too much? Yeah, probably.

Speaker 1 Probably. But we, and

Speaker 1 we see the bad of that, Jordan,

Speaker 1 oftentimes with people wanting the manager out and

Speaker 1 saying and doing all the wrong things. We see the good of it.
Remember the Super League that teams wanted to break break away? You know what stopped the Super League? Fans. Fans said,

Speaker 1 Over my dead body, will this ever happen? And they literally protest in droves. And they single-handedly, the fan single-handedly stops something from happening in world football.

Speaker 1 So there's a lot of influence.

Speaker 2 There's, yeah, is there too much influence? I don't know. You don't want to stop people from being passionate, speaking their mind, right?

Speaker 2 The key here is the decision maker at the club yeah right because that's the person who either allows the influence to impact them yeah or just says i don't care let's use arsenal as an example you know who they wanted fired after the first season mikel artetta right and the fans were going crazy correct a few years later they're top of the league near the top of the league fighting for championships and now it's like wow what a great hire but in the beginning the person influence had had crumbled.

Speaker 2 We might have been fired. So the person who makes the decision is the person that either gets influenced or doesn't.
And you got to be real careful because that's a slippery slope.

Speaker 1 Well, let's, I mean, look, we're bringing this back to the beginning.

Speaker 1 West Ham, and I, and I witnessed this because I cover the Premier League every week, and David Moyce, who's a, who's a mentor and a friend of ours, I had a vested interest.

Speaker 1 All you kept, and we've said this before, all you kept hearing from West Ham is we want to play the West Hamway.

Speaker 1 The West Hamway ain't been played since 1966.

Speaker 1 But David Moyce came in and won football games.

Speaker 1 So let's get him out let's get low pategi in right we're going to demand that we get low pategi in or someone who's going to play the west hand way that lasted like four months you can win football games so you know sometimes like landon said about artetta like just pump the brakes a little bit a little bit right and and it's good to have it's good to have some power and some passion but not always I also think it's interesting because you guys are talking specifically about the Premier League, but in this question, he's talking about European fans in general.

Speaker 3 And in some cases, like in the the Bundesliga, they actually have a say in how their club is run because of the 50 plus one rule.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah.
It's true.

Speaker 2 Look, but to that point, Jordan, that's great.

Speaker 2 And, but you need then responsible people who are even keel, not reacting emotionally, because then you can make decisions that really hurt you long term.

Speaker 2 So, you know, people who are hired to do this as a job and paid money take it very seriously, as do the fans, I get it.

Speaker 2 But then you need to have a representative for the fans that really, really understands the big picture.

Speaker 1 Totally. LD, let me give you another one.
Nuno Spirito Santo, sacked, sacked from Tottenham. I'm good enough.
Wow. Guess what? He is actually good enough.

Speaker 3 Here's another Everton-related question. This is from Steve via email.

Speaker 3 As a Toffee fan, believer in the tradition, and concerned follower, is there a future for Goodison Park as a home to Everton women and other underage teams?

Speaker 3 Might recruits from Japan and elsewhere overseas for the women's game not justify a business plan to keep Goodison open?

Speaker 2 You probably can't justify it from a business standpoint unless you can find other ways to create revenue. But as it just as a fan, I love it.

Speaker 1 I think it'd be incredible. Love it.
Same, same. I mean.

Speaker 1 You know, what I would say is that that is, I've heard that, that tossed around. Love the idea of it.

Speaker 1 As you said,

Speaker 1 it's still a building that needs work, it needs revenue,

Speaker 1 it would need some investors because ultimately they're going to be people who want to come in and maybe, maybe a car park is more lucrative, or maybe a high-rise apartment is more lucrative.

Speaker 1 We saw that with Highbury and Arsenal, right? I think they're apartments now,

Speaker 1 which is crazy to think about, but that's the world of business. So would Landa and I like to see it stay and be the home to Everton women and possibly some of the younger teams? Absolutely.

Speaker 1 That'd be amazing. Yeah.

Speaker 3 Do you want to see?

Speaker 3 I know something that's happened over the past couple of years is the women's super league teams who are playing things like derbies and stuff are playing them in the men's stadium.

Speaker 3 Would you like to see that tradition kind of carry over into the new stadium with like Liverpool women and Everton women playing each other in the new stadium?

Speaker 1 Yeah. I mean, look, the other thing about it is like

Speaker 1 we love Goodison. I mean, you're not going to get two people who love it more.
We absolutely adore it, but the game does move on. Goodison is always going to have a place

Speaker 1 in Liverpool, in people's hearts and homes.

Speaker 1 That'll never be taken away, but sometimes it is okay to move on, you know? So there's that side of it too.

Speaker 1 But yeah, obviously the big, the big women's derbies, you know, you want them in big stadiums because they've shown that they can sell them out. You know, certainly you look at Arsenal.

Speaker 1 So why, yeah, absolutely. Why not put them in the biggest stadiums possible to give them the atmosphere they deserve?

Speaker 2 And it's trending this way, but eventually you want them having their own stadiums and that are special.

Speaker 2 So regardless of if 12,000, 15,000, 20,000, you want it in that stadium because of the history that's been created.

Speaker 1 And that's a really good point, LD. Like you think about, you think about where we are in American soccer on the NWSL and like

Speaker 1 specific stadiums just to the women's league.

Speaker 1 England can do that.

Speaker 1 Because by the way, they got pub teams who have their own stadiums.

Speaker 1 Serious, serious. Like,

Speaker 1 there should be some investment.

Speaker 2 Well, I'll tell you what, Tim, Kansas City does it here in America, and that stadium is great. Phenomenal.
Absolutely. And the thing is, 11,000, the fan base totally sold out.

Speaker 1 It's phenomenal.

Speaker 2 Yeah. So that should be the gold standard.
Absolutely. It's incredible.
Totally.

Speaker 3 One more question. This one is from Mimi, the email.
It's common knowledge that professional soccer players are the hottest and coolest men in all.

Speaker 3 I'm so sorry in all of men's sports probably smartest and funniest too but i'm not sure i can scientifically prove that so why isn't there an organized way for them to show off their fashioniste side those random articles and instagram posts don't count i'd love to see a whole team walking down the catwalk and showing their fans their inner peacock

Speaker 1 what's

Speaker 1 that

Speaker 1 who's that uh someone called mimi via email i think meme is completely accurate it's 100 true um and scientifically proven as well. Yeah, I mean,

Speaker 1 I think the fact, so many teams are doing that now, aren't they? The fashion side of, I think the NBA started.

Speaker 1 And I think there's so many teams around Europe who have continued that trend, certainly some in MLS, where you have that like catwalk runway entrance to the, you know, get your wash bag. And

Speaker 2 that should be an entrance out the stadium onto the field.

Speaker 1 Maybe.

Speaker 1 It's a bit wild, but

Speaker 3 yeah, it's interesting. I think people take those photos really seriously of of the way guys walk into the and the women too, right? Like what they're wearing and stuff.

Speaker 2 Of course they do. By the way, it blew my mind when I was with Loyal at the beginning.

Speaker 2 The like first opening day, there's all the, like all of our team photographers or whatever are standing at the top of the stairs before we walk down. It's like, it's like 4.30.
The game's at 7.30.

Speaker 2 I said, what the hell are you guys doing here? I said, the guys are coming in soon. I said, so? They said, well, we got to photograph what they're wearing.

Speaker 1 I said, what they're wearing? What the hell are you talking about? We have a game in three hours.

Speaker 1 You're not the most fashion forward guy. So you don't.

Speaker 2 Well, I mean, that's the understatement of the year, bud.

Speaker 2 All right, let's do it. I have a sneaking suspicion I might know who this Mimi is.
So I think I'm going to

Speaker 2 be quiet now.

Speaker 1 Is it a friend of yours? Family member? That's hard to say, bud.

Speaker 1 That's amazing.

Speaker 3 They didn't self-identify to me, so I can't confirm or deny anything.

Speaker 1 All right, that's it. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you for your question, Mimi.
Appreciate you.

Speaker 2 All right, Timmy. Yep.
ABS,

Speaker 2 anything but soccer.

Speaker 1 Soccer.

Speaker 2 All right, this was interesting. I did not see this live, so I had to go back and look.

Speaker 2 This Stephen A. Smith, LeBron James thing.

Speaker 2 And for people who don't know, Stephen A. Smith, big commentator on ESPN, just signed a new massively lucrative deal to stay with ESPN.

Speaker 2 He's been talking a lot about the LeBron James and Bronny James, LeBron's son, deal.

Speaker 2 At one point, he said, I believe his quote was, LeBron, can you just make this stop with Bronnie James playing in the NBA and everything going on? So LeBron confronted Stephen A. Smith.
Stephen A.

Speaker 2 Smith was at the Lakers Knicks game the other night, and

Speaker 2 I'm sure somebody or somebody has audio or lip red or something, but LeBron was not happy with Stephen A. Smith.
Stephen A.

Speaker 2 Smith's comment on first take after that was, that was LeBron James coming up to me unexpectedly, yeah, right, I might add, to confront me about making sure I mind what I say about his son.

Speaker 2 I can't repeat the words because they aren't suited for FCC airwaves, but that's what he was doing. That wasn't a basketball player confronting me.
That was a parent. That was a father.

Speaker 1 Your thoughts? I got no issue on either side. Look, here's the thing, LD.

Speaker 1 LeBron James came into the league as the most highly talented basketball player in the history of basketball.

Speaker 1 right as a high schooler and he's taking he's taken every criticism on the chin and become successful he knows what that landscape looks and feels like he knows that

Speaker 1 he selfishly and by the way selfishly i do mean in a good way deserved to push bronnie through to get the golden moment where he gets to play with his son that happens once every freaking 10 generations i got no issue with that What I do have an issue with is when you push him through, right?

Speaker 1 And Rich Paul allegedly goes basically to every team and says,

Speaker 1 don't draft him. If you draft him, I will send him to Australia to play, right?

Speaker 1 So that the Lakers pick him.

Speaker 1 And he's not good enough to play in the NBA, certainly right now, right? But he gets fast-tracked onto the NBA court because of his dad.

Speaker 1 No other player, by the way, in the history of basketball gets that luxury. If you're at the level of Bronnie James, you do not get to step on an NBA court.

Speaker 1 So he got to step on NBA court because of his father. I got no issue with that.
That would be amazing to play with your son. But

Speaker 1 don't then

Speaker 1 ask Stephen A. Smith, whose job it is, by the way, the best in the world at it.
His job is to critique and analyze it.

Speaker 1 And have opinions on it. And yeah.
And by the way, you ever seen his salary? He's earned that. He's earned the fact that he's going to have the hottest take on what is on everybody's mind.
So

Speaker 1 do I have a problem with LeBron James being a father and saying, hey, cut the crap about my son? Sure.

Speaker 1 But I don't have a problem. I have no problem with what Stephen A.
Smith has said and done.

Speaker 2 We have this tendency

Speaker 2 in our world to take sides on things, right?

Speaker 2 And we forget that there's all kinds of nuance and

Speaker 2 you can understand both sides, right? Like and truly appreciate both sides. If I'm a dad and anybody talks about my son that way, they're going to hear from me.
Yeah. Right.
Anybody.

Speaker 2 I don't care who it is. And they're going to hear from me.
So I get that. From LeBron, I get that.

Speaker 2 Stephen A. Smith knows what he's doing, dude.
He's not stupid. The reason he just signed a hundred plus million dollar deal is because he does things like this, right?

Speaker 2 So he knows when he shows up at crypto.com arena, whatever it is, LeBron's going to see him. Right? He knows.
He knows. So he knows what's going on.

Speaker 2 And fair enough, he took it. He, you know, they probably had a brief conversation, whatever.
So, you know what this reminds me of? This reminds me of the

Speaker 2 um the Chris Rock and Will Smith thing. It's like you know what's going to happen.
If you're Chris Rock and Will Smith sitting right there in the front row and you're talking about his wife,

Speaker 1 something's probably going to happen, right?

Speaker 2 And they're both not dumb and they both know they get attention. All so it's one of those things, like they get it.
And I understand all the sides of it, it is what it is. Like,

Speaker 2 um,

Speaker 2 it's probably, it's probably done now, I hope.

Speaker 2 But it's just interesting. It was interesting to see.
And I get it from a dad's standpoint. Like, that ain't okay.

Speaker 1 I get it. Bottom line is LeBron James and Stephen A.
Smith both are well aware of where the cameras are at all times. Oh, dude.
Yeah. For sure.
For sure.

Speaker 1 All right.

Speaker 2 Another good week. Another good show.

Speaker 2 In the books. Thank you guys all for being with us today.
Thanks for the great questions, comments. You don't like what we say? That's okay.
No problem.

Speaker 2 We can handle it and we'll have a conversation with you. Happy to drink a beer with you.
You New England fans, if we see you in Boston one day, we can talk about it.

Speaker 2 Remember always, subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your pods. Follow us across all of our social media at unfiltered soccer for lots more content.

Speaker 1 I'm getting no love in Boston with my Yankee hat.

Speaker 1 That's for sure. So we got to be careful up there.
Look, thank you so much, everybody. And thank you to our presenting sponsor, VW, and our fan connection sponsor, AT ⁇ T.
Have an amazing week.

Speaker 1 Miss you all. We'll be back next Tuesday with another edition of Unfloated Soccer.

Speaker 2 Have a good week, guys.

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