USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!

They didn't play well one step forward, two, three, or four steps back. They have no divine right to be anything other than just another team in the Premier League.
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. LD, my man, what's happening? Listen, we're going to start off by talking some some travel because you know what i think both of us were traveling this week yes we were let me just say for my sins i was in orlando and you'd never get me to orlando unless my wonderful amazing daughter was playing soccer which she was i was down there watching uh her odp games and um yeah didn't do a lot stayed in my hotel room because orlando is not my place sorry about it i'm gonna apologize to all of our fans ahead of time in orlando and also new orleans where i was also not my favorite place um i went to new orleans one time for the super bowl yeah and i was down there at 6 a.m.
the morning after down on Bourbon Street. And they had this machine, this vehicle, and they have this hose.
And they go down the street and they literally just hose all the crap that's been sitting there all night into the gutters and the drains. And I was like, this is so disgusting, dude.
It was were you doing in new orleans i had a speaking engagement actually i did a really cool there's a really bizarre but an insurance company called we the people um put on this event every year and like insurance is just boring by nature right but like it was so exciting these people were so into their partying all weekend so i came and did a keynote speaking. Oh, I love it.
Good for you. It was really fun, actually.
You're going to send me a recording of this. No, it was fun.
All right, guys. Welcome back.
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Big news on the weekend, Tim, Saturday. We're going to start with USLNT on USMNT.
US played Venezuela. I would say overall, solid result.
People don't know how difficult it is to be fit and get through 70, 80, 90 minutes after only training for two weeks in preseason. So I thought overall it was a really solid performance by the team.
I think Pochettino will be pretty happy. Big standout for me, Jack McGlynn.
He's interesting. Here in San Diego about, God, it must have been six or seven years ago, I went to a U.S.
under-17 identification camp. Okay.
And I remember seeing Jack, he was one of the names there, and he was the Eastern Region whatever guys. And I remember seeing him there and i was like god he's talented but he seems like he's kind of frail thin i don't know if he's going to make it click to the last few years this kid's been on a pretty meteoric rise and he capped it with a great performance on saturday yeah he's a player caught my eye over the summer and i just think he's you know he's kind of got that x cause you have, you know, you know, this just cause you have talent doesn't mean like you're going to make it right.
You've got to, you've got to rise through the ranks. You've got to take your lumps, but he seems to be doing it in a good way.
And every time he features, you know, he leaves you wanting more. He leaves you feeling like, okay, there's growth here.
Right. And I think that's, you know, that that's the biggest that's the biggest takeaway when you look at young players it's like we know young players are gonna kind of stumble and the great performance is going to be few and far between you you almost give them a little bit of license for that but you want you want to see growth and i think i think he's got a lot of positivity in game.
I like his confidence. Yeah, he's a little brash, cocky.
I like that about him. Yeah, I think you need that.
I've often said, I label the people, oh, shucks guys. Guys who are just kind of like, oh, shucks.
They don't make it to an elite level. You've got to have arrogance and brashness to go on the field and think that you're the best.
That's the nature of it. But I thought overall we've talked tirelessly about what January camp means, and I think overall it's – you talked about it.
Fitness. Can you keep your fitness, try and get through 60, 70, 90 minutes, put in a good performance, win the game, not take too many injuries, and ultimately you have more time with the manager and the manager has more time with you.
So I think 3-1, great victory, but ultimately success in the game. Yeah, so we said last week, I said last week, there will be two or three guys that you start to recognize in this camp.

And if you're a U.S. national team fan, but not really an MLS diehard, you would have shown up and said, oh, it's Jack McGlynn's all right.
And there will be two or three guys who come out of nowhere and just keep your eye on him, right? If he maybe gets another opportunity and does well. And then next thing you know, you can end up on a World Cup roster.
roster so speaking of his brashness there was an interesting moment with the penalty um so milovich milovich milovich and milovich yep uh there's a penalty in the game if you didn't see it so he and jack mcglynn get into a little tussle over it and ultimately jack, Jack McGlynn loses out, and Milhevic ends up missing the penalty, right? And I got to tell you, Tim, I absolutely hate when this happens. First of all, I hate, hate, hate this.
I've always hated it when guys fight over a penalty. Because, and I'll tell you why, what is the ultimate goal of a soccer game? To win the game.
Yeah, of course. Right? To win the game.
So I could care less if my grandma or grandpa take the penalty. Just put it in the net and let's win the game.
Now, I took penalties a lot. But I couldn't care less.
Sometimes I gave them to Robbie Keane. Sometimes I gave them to Clint Dempsey.
It didn't matter. Let's just score the goal.
And I hate that. And this i hate goal bonuses too because guys are like oh i got six grand riding on this i'm gonna steal the ball um i just hate it and i'll just say pochettinos did a great job he said after the game we didn't say anything about who would take the penalty in case we had one but it was good because i think the argument showed the character he was protecting guys.
Sure. But your job as a coach is to tell someone you're taking the penalty.

You have to because this situation is really ugly.

I think it's really ugly.

I just – I hate it.

Yeah, well, look, I've got strong feelings on this.

I think – and I've seen it in my own teams.

It's idiotic.

It's idiotic.

And it's an oversight in the game plan and preparation because because with all of the set pieces and all of the details in terms of tactics in the best teams and all the teams i've played on before you go out or in the team talk it's you're on penalties and if you're not on the pitch or if you've taken a knock that's right the second person's on penalties that's it there's there's no discussion and oftentimes when there is a tussle like that then the manager afterwards i've had this happen then the manager is like okay we're setting we're setting and deciding who our penalty taker is like to me it's idiot you have to have one penalty taker or two they need to be designated by the manager and that's it. There is no arguing.
I don't think it's character. I don't, I think it's absurd.
I really, really do. The only time, the only time that I ever, and by the way, you said you've, you are the penalty taker and you've given the ball to people.
That's the person who has a responsibility. They want to give it away.
You can give it away. The only time I would ever say that a penalty taker and you've given the ball to people that's the person who has a responsibility they want to give it away you can give it away the only time i would ever say that a penalty taker should give the ball away is if his teammate is on is on a hat trick that's the only time for me because hat tricks are so special and so rare but otherwise no like take the penalty and be done with it so so there are two times.
Yeah. Go ahead.
No, I'm okay. Yeah.
Look, young kids, it's, um, you know, the other side of the argument is they're in the shop window. They want to get the goal.
It's their, you know, it'd be their first or, or one of the first few goals with the national team that want to impress the coach. So I get that side of it.
It's not that big of a deal, but I get it. And during the week, you know what, go up to the coach and say, I'd really like to take penalties.
Yeah. Right like to take penalties yeah right until the or can we take some penalties and whoever misses first doesn't get to take it sure right like don't do it don't do it on the field there were two times tim that i i remember off top of my head giving up penalties one was we were beating mexico 2-0 yeah uh very end of the game and clint had had a phenomenal game and i was like clint you want to take it and of course clint was like hell yeah dog give me the ball don't ask clint will bang that thing the other time i did it was at the end of one of the finals in la we were up 2-1 against new england and it was in extra time and i hit a long ball from like midfield and I think Robbie Keane or somebody went down and got fouled in the box and I was so extra time.
And I had hit a long ball from midfield.

And I think Robbie Keane or somebody went down and got fouled in the box,

and I was so tired, dude.

I couldn't even run to the 18.

I just looked from 40 yards away.

I pointed at Robbie, and I was like…

Your legs must have been gone.

Same thing with Robbie.

He's like, don't have to tell me twice.

Right, right, right.

Anyway, but otherwise, I didn't like that. It was unnecessary, I would say.
An unnecessary way to put a little damper on the game. But ultimately, I think great performance.
Pochettino clearly had the team ready there, motivated, and then they got another one again on Wednesday. So good to see.
And then also, Patrick Ajemang, big credit to him. He scored his first goal, obviously.
That's special for him, for his family, for everybody. So got to make mention of that as well.
And hopefully that will continue into the next game. Yeah.
A couple guys left camp. We just want to mention this quickly.
So John Tolkien got signed with Holstein Kiel in the Bundesliga. He left camp early.
My assumption is he left so he could get there, get into preseason, get ready. So I totally understand that.
Jalen Neal had a little injury, so he left camp, understandable. The interesting one was Jesus Ferreira left, and we talked about him a lot last week.
The quote was, so that he can focus on returning to full fitness. So I was trying to dive into this.
I spoke to someone at U.S. Soccer, and they said that that is actually the truth.
They wanted him, and he wanted to get up to full fitness ahead of the Sounders season. So it's an interesting one because I don't know if that means he didn't come in fit or was he carrying an injury? Cause this was a big opportunity for him, Tim.
Yeah. Well, I think he was, no, I think there, I know you spoke to some people at US soccer.
I think there is, there are moments, particularly with this camp, you have a few more, a few more luxuries in terms of the management. And I've been a part of camps where sometimes a guy maybe comes in to be a part of the team or be a part of the first week.
Maybe from the coaching staff to say, Hey, you're on our radar type thing, or Hey, we, we like you and want you to be around the setup and it's an opportunity to come and be around the setup. Actually, maybe you're not completely fully fit.
So we're not going to push you. And look, he's dealt with injuries.
He's dealt with injuries last season.

And so I do think that is important. And having, again, I think that Pochettino's building bridges, we saw a little bit of that, we think, when he sent Christian Pulisic back to AC Milan

before the Mexico game. And maybe he's doing that now with Seattle, right? Maybe he's saying, look, new times, new player.
We're going to need him at some point. And maybe when we need to push him, we're going to need to lean on that.
So there's all types of different things that go into these decisions. But I don't know whose decision who's who's decision it was more his more pochettino more seattle whatever but then ajimang scores and now it's like okay you left the door open right and this is the way this is the way that's football so yeah it'd be interesting to see how those two progress throughout the year and what that looks like let's move over to europe uh.
Really, really happy all of us were, if you're a U.S. men's national team.
Tyler Adams starting to get minutes again. He played really well against Newcastle.
I thought he was, he's been very good and he's helped Bournemouth a lot in the last few weeks. So it looks like he is knock on wood getting back to fitness starting to play

well and if you're a national team fan this is this is crucial and this this needs to continue for the next 18 months you know i think it's hard i i find it difficult not that i i ever try right but i find it difficult to criticize tyler adams because he always delivers he just always delivers it's the mentality he has

it's the type of kid he is

the different because he always delivers. He just always delivers.
It's the mentality he has. It's the type of kid he is.
The difference is, though, it just, I watched the game, and there was something different. There was a sparkle.
There was the, you know, I like to say he has the bit between his teeth, but he always has that. I think when you're fit, and we both know this, when you're fit-fit, not like just getting by or still have a little bit of a niggle or maybe you're fit, but in the back of your mind you're worried.
That performance to me was Tyler Adams with zero worries, zero concerns, fully fit, fully confident. And again, he oftentimes has that, but dealing, but, but dealing with the injuries that he's, that he's had, you all, that creeps into your mind.
And mentally oftentimes that can, that can affect your performance. But this just, you know, when, when you talk about if you've ever seen Tyler Adams at his absolute best, that that was him on the weekend.
And, like, you're just thinking, well done to himself,

the physio staff, Bournemouth getting in fit,

and really being up to speed because he's a joy to watch.

And he's a special player.

He really, truly is.

And so, as you said, for USMNT fans, like, long may that continue.

Yeah, let's just, there's a part of me in the back of my brain

is like, you're almost just waiting to just make sure he gets through the next game and gets through the next game. Sure, sure, yeah, that happened.
I just hope it can continue. Yeah.
There was a US derby in Italy, Milan and Juventus. Christian Pulisic didn't play.
Conceição said there's nothing serious. They just didn't want to risk him.
He's still, you know, recovering and, but Weston McKinney was fantastic. Tim way, uh, came off the bench and scored a great goal.
Um, Weston played right back, which is interesting. Um, he's got, in my opinion, all the qualities to be a great right back to, uh, kind of like Tyler Adams, to be honest.
Like, I feel like both of them could do that in a pinch. No problem.
Yeah. Um, the, the the interesting thing for people to understand so when you play as a central midfielder you have people behind you that can put out fires too right so you have a little more leeway to take risks take chances um go into tackles that you might not otherwise when you play as a not as a central defender but when you play as an outside back it's really interesting because there are certain things that are very similar and very easy the hardest thing and you know i wasn't a defender but the hardest thing people had to pick up was making sure you were with your your line all the time right so the other three defenders or four defenders depending on what system you're playing.
But you have to be

watching across the back line all the time, knowing where you're, in this case, his left winger is defensively, the guy he's playing against, where he's at, and then making sure you're staying with the line all the time. And that's not an easy thing.
That takes like lots and lots of time to practice, but he fit in perfectly. They got a shutout and I thought I thought he was excellent.

Yeah.

And by the way, the caveat to that is if you've never seen how Italian teams defend, it's not normal, right? Right. In certain countries, you can go, oh, yeah, chuck the guy right back and just stick.
No. Italians defend like nobody else on the planet, and it's so systematic, and it's so drilled.
So the fact you know again talk about big credit to Weston the fact that he can just slot in and play well right like it's not an easy thing to do in Italian football but you know I also think he's kind of a Swiss army knife he has he's he has so many he can play so many positions and he plays them well and I often wonder is that a blessing or a curse? I think it's a blessing because you get on the pitch, right? And you have the ability to be available to your manager and you're going to see more of the field, which is always the best thing for a player. You know, I think the concern, because what I care about is the U.S.
men's national team, is he's so good in that number eight role. If everyone's fit, his energy, his exuberance, his ability to make late runs into the box, his goal scoring prowess, that to me, I think, is where he's at his best, certainly with the U.S.
Men's National Team. So ideally, you'd like for him to be getting as many reps and as many games in that position.
But, okay, the bottom line is he's playing and he's doing really well. Tim Weah, look, you know what it's like.
Goal scores. Can you keep banging it in the back of the net? And the more that he can do that at that level, which he's shown he can do and is doing i mean again brilliant for him brilliant for um the national team and then obviously christian constantly says it's um it doesn't seem serious which is obviously a great thing and the more opportunity he can get to you know get himself fit ready for the next game for for me that's the most important thing you know with tim weah um i think and you know i i haven't spoken to him so i don't know this is true after he got that red card in copa america yeah that you know ultimately ended up to the u.s ultimately getting knocked out and berhalter getting fired yeah he's just seems like a changed player maybe in person and.
And again, I'm just saying what I'm seeing from him. But sometimes those moments, Tim, those are the best thing that can happen.
I had, in 2002, we had a great World Cup. In 2006, I had a terrible World Cup.
And sometimes those down moments, you find out what you're made of. And it seems like he's come back.
My response in that moment was like, I'm not letting that happen ever again. And it seems like he's got that same mentality.
Like, you know what? That's not good enough. And I'm not going to let that happen again.
So he's been on a tear, man. And when he's in this kind of form, you just think about as you're putting together a team moving into 2026 World Cup.
If you have he and Christian on either either side of whoever who's playing well peppy or whoever you start to get some like some real quality and you get weston tyler adams whoever musa um there's some real quality now and the front part of the field starts to look pretty good yeah i mean you make you make a good point about about tim way look the fact of the matter is if you play in an elite level right in Europe and and with your national team that's an elite level you're going to fail more times than you succeed that's just the nature that's just the nature of the game day in and day out training five times a week playing once or twice a week for a decade or more you're going to fail more times than you succeed and you have to in the big moments, right, when you get sent off or miss a sitter or whatever the case is, you have to be able to take the criticism in that moment and learn from it. Not tell people to go stuff it.
Just understand the criticism. Understand what you did wrong if you feel you've done wrong and change it.
And you sense that change. I think other people do as well.
And that's, that's a sign of maturity. That's a sign of, of, uh, look, we're all, none of us are exempt from those tough moments.
Right. But it's how you kind of, how, how you allow them to kind of shape and form, um, you know, your, your future experiences and, and, and how you go about your business and he's doing it in the right way.
So I think that was a big moment for him and it's showing. I see this too with college football players.
We forget these are their kids. They're 18, 19, 20, 22.
Weston McKinney had the same thing in Nashville a couple of years ago when he made some bad decisions off the field and got sent home from camp. And we all made those dumb decisions.
I did it too. You did too.
And you got to learn from it and grow. Just one other quick note on the bad side of things.
Malik Tellman suffered an ankle injury, it looks like, at PSV. And his manager, Peter Bosch, says he's probably going to be out for a while.
So wishing

him the best. And hopefully that doesn't last too long because he's been in good form too.
And

and U S men's national team fans definitely want that to continue.

Yeah. Wishing well.
All right, let's take a break. When we come back, we'll take a look back on what

was a really big few days in the premier league right here on unfiltered soccer with Landon and

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Terms and conditions apply. Lavender is back at Starbucks.
Put some spring in your cup with the iced lavender matcha. And now, here you go.
Your iced lavender lattes are ready at Starbucks. Okay, LD, let's talk Premier League.
Oh, boy. Manchester United won.
Brighton, three. Yikes.
They didn't play well. It is the classic one step forward, two, three, or four steps back for Manchester United.
Of course, with Ruben Amorin being the coach, all the spotlight is on him. He had some interesting, interesting words to say after the game.
Let me read you this quote, and then I'm going to let you take off with this. He said, I know we can succeed, but we need to survive at this moment.
I'm not naive. We need to survive now.
We are the worst team. Let me read that again.
We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United. I know you want headlines, but I'm saying this because we have to acknowledge that and change that.
Here you go. That's your headline.
Go. All right.
So I was watching the Everton game, which we'll get into up in the Toffees. And I was watching, you know, on NBC, they've got in the corner the scores up there.
Actually, you don't even see that because you're working.

I saw

United 1-1, and then I saw United

1-1, Brighton 2,

and then it went back to 1-1, so I figured

there was some VAR or whatever.

The next thing I know, I look, and it's 3-1 Brighton.

I was like, what is going

on?

I've said this over and over, Tim, and I'm going to say

it again.

They just don't have good enough

players. It's like

Thank you. going on so here's i've said this over and over tim and i'm going to say it again they just aren't they just don't have good enough players it's it's like again i've compared them to the dallas cowboys but the you just have this idea that they're supposed to be wherever they are and nothing is given in life they have no divine right to be anything other than just another team in the Premier League yeah they have no divine right and people have these crazy expectations of why are they this why are they look at their roster they're just not good enough and so I more than what Ruben Amarin said the way he looks right now he looks defeated dude like when I watched the press conference versus his first press conference, and he knew, look, he's not stupid.
When he came in, he probably was looking at other rosters and going, oh boy. But now he's seeing it up close every day, and he probably thinks in his mind, Tim, he probably thinks he's got like three or four decent players for him.
I mean, honestly, and the rest he's probably not good enough totally totally look i um you know again i i i read the comment like you know let's pick some of this out he said we need to survive this moment you know as soon as as soon as you start to mutter the word survive or survival people are like oh boy relegation i i tend to think and english language, and he speaks very good English. Survive this moment means they're in a really low spot in terms of mentally and the morale of the club.
And I think that's, I know that's what he's talking about. Survive this moment in our season, this feeling, the era of this club.
But, you know, here's why I like him coming out and saying the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United, because that's what the facts are saying. And unfortunately, I have watched so many Manchester United managers, particularly the last one, Eric Ten Hag, when you, me, and everyone else is reading this script, right?

And he'll stand up there and tell you you're not seeing what you're reading.

You're thinking, wait a minute.

You can't keep trying to pull the wool over your eyes.

Like, tell us what we already know.

And so I do like the truth about that.

And I do.

I think it's clever, and here's why.

I've been around enough managers, particularly in England. You have to create your own narrative.
You have to, this team is a good enough. You just said it.
It's not good enough. Nowhere near good enough to be a Manchester United team to play in the Champions League, to win a title.
And he knows that he also knows that he has a very fundamental system that is completely flawed. If he doesn't get the right players in.
And he knows that, that that that time is coming. January is probably not the right time to bring in the right players.
But the summer and a windfall and getting players out. And I think the more he pushes that, Sir Jim Radcliffe and Ine Austin, Omar Barada and the powers that be in the hierarchy at Manchester United, we'll listen to that.
We'll probably already know that. But I think this continues to push his narrative.

And I do.

I like him as a manager.

And I certainly think you can't judge him as a manager

in terms of his style and these players

because these players don't fit.

They don't fit his style.

They don't fit at Manchester United.

And the proof is in the pudding

because they haven't for a number of years now.

So I like what you said.

I like his honesty.

There's a fundamental issue when new managers come into a club that's struggling. Here's the fundamental issue.
Generally speaking, you go after a type of manager who has been very, this is what's happened in modern soccer, very successful, unique, creative in the way they do things, very system oriented or doing the things they like to do. And the challenge is when you take that manager and drop him into a team or her into a team that doesn't have the right ingredients to make the meal that you want, now there's a huge problem because you need to get results now.
And so my question for you is when he first signed this deal, did he go to them and say, this is going to take one year, 18 months, two years. And if you're not okay with that, do not hire me because we're, we're going to suffer in the, in the interim because he's not, you know, David Moyes, and we'll talk about him is the other end of that spectrum.
You can drop him in almost anywhere and he's going to find a way to get results now is it creative and new and progressive and everything that you know sexy managers are these no but he will get results and so did he say that is manchester united willing to suffer now and take its blows now and I've said this about other sports, Tim, too.

I see it a lot in the NBA. The Galaxy went through this for a long time.
You try to plug one hole,

and then you try to plug the next hole. And then the next thing you know, you're playing

whack-a-mole all over as opposed to just blowing the whole thing up and starting over. So do you

think he's had those conversations? Are they aware? I mean, are they willing to wait and suffer?

Yeah, I tend to think that Omar Barata and Sir Jim Radcliffe, Ineos, and the whole crew aren't naive to this. I think they took this club over from the sporting side and I think they saw the holes and the flaws.
And I often say with rock bottom, be careful because there's a trap door. And I think they understood that.
I tend to think Ruben Amram would have had those honest conversations. He seems like it on the surface to say, look, this is the way I play.
This is why you've come to get me. You've seen how my sporting teams play.
I need, I'm going to need certain players. Yeah, he probably said, I think he probably said, you know what? There's eight players in the squad that I think can do a job.
And he probably said, I can get a tune out of them. I think now having had some time with those players, that eight players, and that's an assumption, he's probably realizing it's like three.
There's like three players that I would maybe keep around and start, but ultimately, again, it's difficult because with PSR, you can't change this overnight. You can't get rid of this whole team and bring a whole new team in.
Right? And so I think a lot of the players we see now come next season will either be out the door or sitting on the bench as squad players. Good squad players.
But I think we're going to see a lot of change. By the way, we don't see a lot of change in the summer.
I've got more questions for another podcast. Well, there has to be.
I mean, to i mean there has to be there has to be look if maybe there are three or four that you say could start in the right environment and things going well maybe it's seven or eight right but right now everyone looks terrible they just look terrible all right let's move on to the other team in manchester uh manchester city are back yeah well maybe not uh they absolutely batteredpswich. 6-0.
Phil Foden was scintillating. They are unbeaten since Christmas.
So, four wins and two draws. They look better.
It's Ipswich, so you're not getting too crazy about it. But, do you feel like maybe it's turning a bit? Yeah, I'm looking at the table now.

Look, they're 12 points behind Liverpool, right?

Liverpool have the game in hand.

We know that's the Merseyside Derby,

which I think is rescheduled for the 11th or 12th of February.

City can't win the title this year.

I was going to say, are they looking at that

or are they just looking at Champions League, right?

No, but it's Champions League. Forest are on 44 points.
City are on 38. There's every chance they overtake Forest for third place.
Are they able to push Arsenal a little bit? Probably not. But like, you know, I tend to think forest for as well as they're doing will start to slowly digress not not not implode um but yeah i think city can get back to winning ways they also have like just like there's a click and a shift in this mentality which for it's been so catastrophic their fall from grace right which has made it which is because they've set such high standards, which makes you feel like, oh my God, like there's getting, they're getting some players out of the door and making one or two other signings.
By the way, Pep Guardiola is still a genius. He didn't lose that in four months.
So if someone's asking me to bet against them, finding form, Holland banging in goals again, Phil Foden coming to the boil, them getting one or two other midfield replacements or another striker, like, you're going to ask me to bet against them going on a long unbeaten run? No, I won't. I won't do it because I've seen it.
I've seen it. So, yeah, I think they're slightly back.
I did a felt for Ipswichitch on the weekend i was talking to a buddy of mine who is an investor in the club and i just thought like because i've been on the other end of it it was like three and a half time and he rang me at halftime and i thought i thought like they gotta keep it at like four because like four four sucks but like six is demoralizing like i i've i've been there i've I've been there. And like three, when I conceded three or four, I'm like, I kind of got a hand to that one.
If we would have done this and put ourselves in the right situation, maybe when you get to six, I'm telling you, LD, you go home and look in the mirror. Well, that's a scary sight to look in the mirror after you conceded six.
And you're like, I, I, I, I'm not really, I'm not really that good. Like, and you start like the mentality of the team.
So my worry for Ipswich, and I know we're going a little bit off-kilter here, they have Liverpool next game, and then Southampton, and then Villa. So my hope for them is in the bottom three, the hope is that you get a performance at Liverpool.
Don't think you'll win. Then you go into Southampton, the dreaded six-pointer.
Think you'll win that game if you're Ipswich. And now all of a sudden you're playing Villa, who are a better team.
But then you're thinking, look, we've had a good performance against Liverpool. Didn't get the result.
We won the game. We're supposed to win against Southampton.
And now have we gained enough momentum into this Villa team against the Villa side and maybe get a result? But six is tough. But the focus is sitting there for me really good performance people don't realize that to your point the difference between three and six is massive psychologically and fans are like oh it's only three now let's get one back and then i'm like no no no just don't get distracted we had a game actually in houston you'll appreciate this we had a game one year with the galaxy in hou.
And after like 14 minutes, we were down 3-0. And I was like, and we were not at it.
You can't win. You know you can't win.
No chance. Zero.
And I remember I was the captain, so I pulled the team in. And I just said, guys, I was picking my words carefully, but I was like, have some pride.
Basically saying, don't get destroyed. But there was no like, we can still do this.
I was like, we're losing today. But let's just make sure this, I think it finished 3-0.
But I was like, let's just make sure this doesn't happen. That's incredible insight for our listeners.
Because it's funny you say that. It makes me think of a time I was the opposite.
Everton are playing in the Europa League against Sporting lisbon it's like seamus coleman's like first european game like he's still he's still just a young kid and we had we had a patchwork back for we're getting beat five nil bro five no i'm chasing after the ball on goal kicks i'm like rah rah crazy american guy we could do this i, people, like my teammates are looking at me like, what are you doing? It's five mil. And I remember in the dressing room afterward, like David Moyes looking at me going, what was the point of that? And I was so heartbroken because I'm like, I don't know, maybe get one back and five mil.
That's such a classic American story. Oh my God.
You know, like when I listen to games, when I listen to English commentators, when it's 2-0 and there's like it's getting into extra time or added time, they're like, oh, win for Manchester City here. And in my mind, I'm like, no, no.
They could still lose this game. Like, you know, like Americans are so dumb.
But sometimes you do win when you're down 2-0. Not five.
No, not five. Yeah, go ahead.
Yeah, I want to talk about Holland because I think that's important. He signed a nine-and-a-half-year extension with City.
So, obviously, it's this half of the season plus the next half and then an extra nine. He's showing a lot of trust in the club.
The club's obviously showing a lot of trust in him. According to the New York Times, any release clause from his last contract have been removed that for me is a sticking point ld because he's the best striker in the world it's you know you hear the rumors like real madrid he won a couple titles at city and then he's off to spain like all of those clause have been have been gone removed which means he's not really going anywhere unless something drastic changes so help people understand.
So a lot of times people have relegation clauses, right? Which nobody expects city to ever get relegated. They also have a lot of times players have a release clause, meaning if you pay a certain fee, the player's free.
So it could say the player can say a hundred million dollar release clause. If anybody, my uncle, Real Madrid, my mom

gives you $100 million, I am free.

Right? But if all those have been

removed, you're right. He's not going anywhere.

So that's an

interesting commitment because at some

point, Pep's going to be done.

And you don't know who the next manager is.

No, by the way, relegation. No, you don't know

who the next manager is. And Pep...

Oh, I didn't think about PSR, by the way with all the charges right uh you know which we should know soon could they could i mean i think it'd be short-lived but you know right i didn't think can you imagine erling holland making like 600 grand a week playing in the championship i wonder i'll tell you what i wonder if i wonder how much would cost right now to get the rights to that documentary.

Because I reckon I could do a season-long documentary with City in the championship.

That would be amazing.

Yeah, and this podcast would be a whole different kettle of fish.

I'd pay to watch it.

I think the other talking point about that is this keeps him in the Premier League for nine and a half years.

Alan Shearer, and everyone's talking about the goal rate that that Holland is on you know should Alan Shearer be nervous I don't think so right because Alan Shearer is 260 goals um you know how it's crazy and he has a goal scorer if you're saying it's crazy, you must know. I mean, Holland currently has 80 goals.

You know, in City's 16 remaining games, let's say he scores seven more goals. We're assuming, right? Ends the season with 24 for the year, 87 in total for the Premier League.
So he'd have to, in order to be here. So he's still 174 behind him.
73. 73 behind him.
and he'd have to average 20 goals a season per season.

And he would,

and he'd pass year in the last season of the contract, which is 20, 33, 20, 34. I'm not betting on that.
Yeah. I just don't see him at – is he talented enough? Yes.
I don't see him at the club for that long. I know he's got Bobby Bonilla written all over it.
He's going to be making money long into retirement. All right, let's move on to our Toffees.
Up the Toffees. So David Moyes back at Goodison Park.
God, it was such a, I mean, imagine, I know how I felt. I can imagine how you felt watching David Moyes at Everton again.
It was just such a throwback. Absolutely destroyed Spurs in the first half.
Spurs got back into it a little bit at the end, but Everton won 3-2. I have a lot of thoughts about Everton, but let's start with Spurs.
They've lost 12 of their last 22 league matches as a starting point. Last year, they lost 12 games total.

We just have to ask, how much longer are Spurs fans, management, ownership going to deal with this, right?

And Ang Postacogo seems like a very likable guy, but at some point, man, they're,

I mean,

they're down at the bottom of the thing.

They're 15.

They're only,

they're just,

just ahead of Everton.

Yeah.

How long can they deal with this?

So interestingly enough,

a dear friend of mine is,

is from London is a,

is a Spurs season ticket holder.

And for all his sins,

for all his sins.

And he,

and he,

um,

we had a conversation.

We, we, and we've had a lot of Ange,acoglu-Tottenham conversations on NBC and studio because it's like I said about Tenhan. Landon, we're seeing something so richly with Tottenham, and Ange comes out every game and tells us we ain't seeing that.
And so I have a ton of thoughts on it. And look, our Premier League insider, David Ornstein said he's, he's a hundred percent safe, which again, I know the kiss of death is, is when ownership comes out, but it seems as if that's real.
What would save him is they have Lester next weekend. So he, that doesn't mean it's a win because the way that they're playing.

They're in both cups still. I don't think they fire a manager who are in both tournaments, FA Cup.
And I think they're leading in the EFL Cup after the first leg. So I don't think you sack a manager who's still going good on both fronts.
the issue for me is every Premier League team

whether you like it or not

goes to an injury crisis. Every Premier League team does.
Now, their injury list is long, and you could argue that an injury list is long based on how they play, actually. But he's got defenders running the most high-intensity sprints of any defenders in the Premier League.
So, okay. But my issue is, if you have an injury list that long, right, you're now playing square pegs and round holes.
You are. You're getting guys to fill in who are the midfielder now.
He's playing center back and left back. You're all over the place.
The responsibility then lies on the manager to set his team up and say, Hey, I know we play a high line. I know we play both of our fullbacks inverted.
I know we go for it, but we haven't won in a while. And this is a problem.
So we're going to go to Everton and I, and I know we've got a young patchwork back line. We're going to go four, four, two.
We're going to get a result. Yes, our principle is going to be the same.
Play between lines. Look to get forward when you can.
Overlap on one side. Keep one of the fullbacks home.
Maybe you both don't go. But the fact of the matter is, he's saying, no, I've got young players.
I've got players in the wrong position, and I'm still going to kind of hang them out to dry. And I think that's a massive problem.
I think that's on the manager. And if he dissects it any other way, I think it's wrong.
It's really hard, Tim, for people. I see this in all walks of life.
People who are extremely successful getting to the top have done it a certain way. And then when you get to the top and there's adversity, they don't want to change.
And it happens at every level in all types of businesses and professions, and you see it all the time. And the reality is, in soccer, man, you have to have some ability to adapt.
And sometimes, there's this spectrum, right? So when I was coaching was coaching most of the time most managers are on the end of the spectrum where it's like every week they're changing everything about their team based on the opponent everything yeah how they train everything they do and over time players are like what are we what are we we don't know what we are sure but then there's quite a few managers now in world soccer who are on the other end of the spectrum it's like we are doing what we're doing amaram is like this now right yeah most of kogu is like that yeah no matter what yeah russell martin at southampton no matter what we are going to do this and it feels like now there will be some coming back to the middle because you have to adjust now Now teams are so good. When teams try to build out of the back, teams now have adapted to go after you so hard and so well-structured that they can pick you off and score goals.
And that's the hardest thing to do in the sport. And you can score goals quickly and create big chances.
So he's got to adapt, dude, or he's going gone the other part about that is and this may be hard this may be harsh but fair ld the premier league is unrelenting i would probably say the bundesliga is as well right he is he has coached this style which which in a phone booth is is a fun entertaining style right but he hasn't done it at this level and and and yes fair play he he did it with Celtic in in Scotland you have to you have two dominant teams that monopolize the best players that's it so he hasn't done it at this level where every every single game you could get beat he's not done it and my worry is that he's being so stubborn that it's worked other places that he has that he doesn't take that 30 000 foot view because he's so close to it to see that maybe maybe they need to tweak a few things so yeah interesting pride cometh before the fall sure right and yeah we'll see what happens all right let's move into some mls news and notes first on the coaching front tim Tim, NYCFC announced earlier this month that Pascal Jansen will be their new head coach. I don't know anything about him, but it sounds like you've spoken to some people who are high on him.
Yeah, I mean, some people on the inside that I know seem to really like him. So he's super buttoned up, dialed in, coached quite a lot in Hungary and Holland.
And we know in Holland that tactically and technically those teams are spot on in the Eredivisie. So if he can bring any of that to New York City, look, they've shown they're willing to go out and back their players, their coaches in terms of getting the right players through the door to play that style.
So I think Pascal Jensen is actually quite a good signing and people on the inside are really, really excited about him. So apparently that hiring process went really well and they got their guy.
Okay. Vancouver Whitecaps announced Jesper Sorensen as their new head coach.
He coached at Brunby in the Danish Superliga. Interestingly, he finished fifth his first season, then he finished second last year, and then they sacked him when he was in fifth this year.
So interesting why I don't know anything about him either. Victim of his own success.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly.
I see a big trend in MLS where European sporting directors come in and then they want to hire a European coach. And for the most part, hasn't been crazy successful, but we'll see how both of those go.
And then some interesting player news. Sounds like Charlotte FC are in talks with Wilfried Zaha.
Yeah. I don't like it personally.
I don't know how you feel. Not a fan of, I just, it just seems like like he's passed it once he went to galatasaray uh felt like that was the end but god is he talented man yeah i mean i think he he his home was at crystal palace and it's a good home you know went to went to united um in a tough transition moment after sarah ferguson um he was flying high i was a little bit younger uh didn't work out for him which didn't work out for a bunch of players me included and uh but he was he was brilliant at palace i can say that he's brilliant at palace that was his home you know what i i like it for for charlotte what i would say is this and you've more than anybody in mls have dealt with this right this is one of those things where it's like Wilf it gets hot in the summer here like there's gonna be a kid out of college that's gonna kick you and doesn't care that you're Wilfred Zaha um I I like it but also if you've ever seen him play he plays with with – he's at his best.
He's one of these guys that chees himself up that he could start a fight in an empty house. He's just like – anybody who touches him, he just wants to fight and be nasty because I think that gets him at his best.
But, again, that's going to happen to him every single game. So I just wonder from a mentality standpoint if he's fully prepared for that.
But again, talented, on the ball, tricky. I like it for sure.
It'd be fun to watch. Yeah, for sure.
It felt like once he left Palace, he was like, all right, I'm on my way out. We'll follow that one.
That's what you worry about. We thought for a few weeks here that Neymar might go to Chicago.
It sounds like, I don't know if it's confirmed, confirmed, but instead he's going to go to Santos in Brazil, which means it's time for Carnival. Yes, the holiday.
Sounds like he's going home to party. I was going to say I'm happy for Chicago this didn't happen, but I think you mentioned that you might have heard something that Greg Berhalter was actually over in Saudi Arabia.
I read a report, yeah, that he was over in Saudi Arabia. So obviously Greg wanted it to happen.
What I would say is thank God for unanswered prayers. I don't see – and look, Greg is a good coach, and he probably thinks he can get the best out of anyone.
That's what a good coach does. But that won't worry me.
Look, that had the classic, you know, a few exciting moments, good games, and the rest. Just total disaster.
And his Saudi coach even said physically he can't do it anymore. And that's in Saudi, right? Of course.
And so it's like, yeah like yeah I mean I think that was a bullet dodge there um it also sounds like and it's a little complicated but it sounds like Atlanta United might be bringing back Miguel Almarone yeah who hasn't been playing as much at Newcastle that that seems like a good fit like he would love to be back there and yeah could be really interesting yeah that'd be fun I look I I think Eddie Howe, who's a fantastic manager at Newcastle,

kind of got the best out of Almiron the other year,

maybe not his first season, not Eddie Howe's first season,

but in the second season, Miguel Almiron hit the ground running.

He was flying.

He was assist goals.

He was coming on.

He was drifting onto the inside.

He was brilliant.

He really wasn't.

And again, since then, Jacob Murphy's kind of taken over that that right hand side which is fine but he still has it he still has it if he's hungry and he's excited to be back in atlanta as you just mentioned that could be a really fun one well he always felt like a guy who it didn't matter where you're playing what the stakes whatever like he just came to play yeah it just feels like he just always comes to play. And so it feels like a good fit there.
Totally, totally. All right, let's take another break.
When we come back, we'll get into Mailbag, Anything But Soccer, right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim presented by Volkswagen. There's a lot in life that feels like it should be guaranteed that just isn't.
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Thank you. And on USLNT, our connections with you will help grow the game.
Jordan, get on in here. This is your favorite segment of the week.
Oh, new background. Wow.
Jordan, Jordan, I saved this. I saved this because I have a bone to pick with you, and I knew that would throw you on live podcast.
We are unfiltered. And I feel like some of the i see i've heard from some friends that we've gotten you know we've gotten a few i i've gotten a few um not so nice comments and we're unfiltered so i think you need to bring us some heat what they're not good they're not they're too filtered no i just think there's some people out there who maybe disagree with some things i or you have to say i think we need to give them their just due and stay unfiltered no oh i see okay how how about i make a deal with you because i think the two of you know at this point i like to be very buttoned up and prepared so next week we're going to be doing a mailbag episode and so how about next week i bring a little extra fire.
Well, thunder. All right.
That's fair. Deal.
I think the ones that I picked for this week are still pretty good. Okay, good.
All right. All right.
You guys ready? We're ready. Okay.
So we're going to start with a question from Vince via email. I just wanted to get your take on if you think the LA galaxy can repeat as MLS champions this next season.
A lot of things went right in order for Galaxy to win the Cup this year. And with not having Ricky Pooj for most of this next season, what do you think their odds of repeating are? And Vince also wanted me to let you guys know that he's trying to boost the number of episodes in which we mention Ricky.
And that's why I'm asking the question. As long as Landon happy baby thank you Vince I'll start as we've talked about many many times the the key in MLS is getting into the playoffs and then getting in healthy and you have to say everybody stays together most of the team stays together and Ricky Pooge is back at the of the season.
As long as they're in the playoffs, it'd be hard to bet against them. I feel like the Galaxy could go anywhere and win a game, especially with that front four.
And so far, we haven't dived in a lot yet. Or dove in? Dived in? Dove in? A lot to MLS offseason we will at a later date as we get closer to the season.
But the Galaxy, in my opinion, made a massive upgrade and huge pickup by bringing Sean Davis over from Nashville, central midfielder who's just really, really good. And so he's going to help them a lot.
He's a classic MLS veteran who just helps you win games. So I wouldn't bet against him.
Obviously I'm biased, but I wouldn't bet. I was going to say, I was going to say no bias there.
I mean, naturally I would, I would say they have a good chance, but they have to get through Houston in the West and that's going to be a problem given, given the team that Pat Onstead is putting on the field and Ben Olson is is going to uh lead the charge so save it could be

tough it could be tough for them but uh repeating is always hard i think it's always repeating is is extremely because there's psychologically just so people understand it is so hard to be motivated excited and up for every game for a year and then when you win there's a, it's just human psychology like, oh, we did it. And to then have that same chip on your shoulder and go after it again when you have a target on your back because now everyone's like, oh, we're playing the champs.
Oh, the champs are coming to town. It's really hard.
Yeah, but I also think, well, one, we know how great of a coach Greg Vanney is. I think not having their best player is actually going to give him a little fuel for fire.
He's going to be able to drive those players. Almost reverse psychology and basically say, don't drop your standards.
We know it's going to be tough, but we've done it before. We can do it again.
And then, by the way, they get this massive boost at some point in the season. So, yeah, it's hard, though.
Okay. How about a question from YouTube? This one is from Ryan.
What venue in the U S as a U S men's national team player has been your favorite to play in? And if you were still an active player, what new stadium do you wish you could play in as a U S men's national team player? Great question. Yeah.
Well, outside of Dignity Health Sports Park, because that was home for so many years for me, I would say Kansas City, Sporting Kansas City for me. The close confines, the crowd was fantastic.
It gets a little dark and shadowy because it's kind of set in a little bit um so i just i loved playing there and that would be my answer for for when i was playing what new stadium um nashville's was pretty cool when i went to visit that'd be a cool stadium to play in um maybe cincinnati and austin also looks really cool too yeah i mean i don't think you can ever get too far away from um columbus crew stadium for everything it meant to uh me as a player and you know my teammates one being landon and you know we we have never in this country had a national stadium um which hopefully will change in the future but again that will that will also take time. You go to these countries and you play in a national stadium and these things were built just from brick and concrete and they're old and they have character and they have meaning.
And we've never had that in America. And based on performances and results and Dos Acero and- Well, we kind of, yeah, we kind of did have it in Columbus.
created that in columbus and you know the fit and i say that because the feeling was we're going to we're going to play mexicanal columbus or we're going to win like there was just there was there was never a sense of anything other than that mentality and and and it did it had it had everything to do with it was small and metal and we knew it was going to be cold. And so as a player, you walked off that bus match day minus one or, you know, or pregame, you just felt the chill in the air and you thought we're going to win.
And so that for me was, I think Cincinnati, you know, in terms of new stadiums, I just haven't been to a lot of them, but I think Cincinnati seems like they've got a cool thing going. So maybe, maybe I'll get to visit this season, but certainly playing would have been cool.
Okay. Last one is from Matthew via email.
You talked about the importance of the FA Cup and the history of it on last week's episode. How do you feel about the US Open Cup and MLS only sending a few clubs while prioritizing League's Cup? Go ahead, Tim.
No, after you. I'm going backseat in this one.
All right, here's my feelings. This is complicated.
And we live in a society now where everybody wants to take a side. Everyone's black or white or paper or plastic or red or green or whatever.
And this is very complicated. So I'm going to give you fans perspective, which I think fans love this tournament.
I'm going to give you a player's perspective. Players in MLS, until you get to the quarterfinals, are like, this is annoying.
It's just annoying because we don't have the history. They don't feel the same way they feel about the fa cup in england players from san diego loyal when we were in the second division loved it the teams we played below them in in npsl or in lower divisions loved it because they had a chance to do something special mls owners hate it because they lose money.
Now, maybe there's some sentimental like, oh, we can grow this and this can be special. MLS as a whole, as an entity, hates it because they lose money.
There's not a lot of prestige behind it. There's nobody in the stands until you get to the final.
And then it's just fixture congestion where they could fill those dates with something like the League's Cup. So it's a really complicated dynamic.
Me personally, I love it. And I would like to see actually more money put into it.
MLS teams take it more seriously and help it grow together. I understand MLS's side of it, but I think overall the right thing to do would be to invest money in it, US soccer, MLS, and make it bigger and better and more valuable.
And then in 30 years, we'll look back and go, thank God we did that. And the last thing we want is for this thing to peter out.
Yeah. Well, I mean, it's hard to add to that explanation, which was thorough and insightful.
I think that just from the value of the tournament, I like it. I like that.
You know, when you, when you, there's a dollars and cents aspect to this. So that has to stay on one side of the line.
I mean, you can, that that's a completely different part of the conversation from the, from the player side. Again, I've been, I've been on, on, on teams in MLS where you just think we're probably not going to win the league here, but this is a really awesome opportunity for us to have a cup run and win a cup, you know, being an owner in Memphis, winning an Open Cup game, even one round beating an MLS team, like it drives your season tickets.
It drives excitement in the city. So like that plays a huge factor.
And I know with Houston, obviously they won the Open Cup right before I got there, but that's a huge deal for our club, the Houston Dynamo, and for the city. So I think there's two parts of the conversation that ultimately have to get married, but I like the tournament.
All right. Thanks very much, guys.
Thanks, Jerry. Don't forget, next week we're doing lots of mailbag questions, so let the people know what you want to hear about.
Love that. Also, we need you guys to send in your questions.
We're going to have an episode on February 4th about promotion relegation. Oh, yeah.
And LD. Promotion relegation.
I'm excited about this. Who doesn't want to talk about that? It's awesome.
I mean, it's what everybody wants to talk about. I think it's so exciting on both sides of the argument.
So we're going to have a lot to say about that. We need questions.
So send in questions, guys. Even basic, like what is it? What does it mean? Super important.
Or as complicated as you want so that we can dive into it and talk about it. We're going to have some guests on, and we're going to do a big thing on it.

So it should be fun.

Feedback at unfilteredsoccer.com

is how you get your questions on the mailbag.

You're such a producer.

Yeah, that's my job.

That's what I'm here for.

Love it, Jay.

All right, I'm out of here.

All right, Jay.

Bye, guys.

Bye-bye.

Appreciate you.

All right, Timmy, anything but soccer, ABS this week.

A couple interesting things.

First thing I want to talk about.

All right, I love this stuff.

All right, so I was watching the nfl games this weekend uh kent city chiefs win at home um patrick mahomes is i i love him yeah i love everything about him i know he's very polarizing um and you know why people are so annoyed by him tim is because he's so good at winning totally he's good at winning he's i mean he is good yeah but i love it because i play when i played i cared about winning i cared about winning like i wanted to win you can have all your goal scoring and all this BS. I wanted championships.
He doesn't care. If he goes 11 for 18 and has a pick, but they win, he couldn't care less.
Most people and young players in our society are now like, I want the Instagram photo of me scoring the goal. Even if we lose 4-1, I scored the goal.
Here's the highlights. It's just And so he just cares about winning.
Now, what comes with that is he's always stretching the line, dude. He's always towing the line of what's legal, what's not.
And so there are a lot of calls that he gets, the Chiefs get that drive people absolutely crazy. And he puts the refs in tough positions.
If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying, but keep going. That's true.
He puts himself in positions where he might get hit a second late. He might just be about to step out of bounds, but then stop for a second, get hit, and go flailing.
He dove this weekend on the sideline, which I don't want to hear anyone tell me that soccer players dive anymore because he dove too, and I don't want to hear it anymore. But I love him, and it was interesting during the podcast

because when he got two Houston Texans,

Will Anderson and someone else, came together on him to hit him

and actually hit each other.

It looked pretty bad in real life, and the ref threw a flag.

They can't review it in that specific instance,

but during the broadcast, Troy Aikman goes,

oh, come on, man. And Troy was a quarterback.
Yeah. Right.
And so like he hated it and it's, it's a part of the game. But what I would say to people who don't like it is then go earn it the way he has in the chief side.
Right. Michael Jordan used to get all those fouls too, like these little hand check fouls and whatever.
And it's like, then you go be that guy. Josh Allen, go into Kansas City this weekend and beat them and win a Super Bowl.
Crazy. And you'll get all those little calls too.
Yeah. Yep.
Look, there are a lot of things I hate. Let me start by saying that.
I hate NFL refereeing. I hate it.
So much so, getting on on on this rant and i i i text i text my producer at nbc pierre moose of the great pierre moose and he he he's he's produced more nfl games than you've ever seen in premier league games and i think he was like why are you calling me and i was like hang on a second listen with the premier league from from being in england all they do is talk about refereeing like referee you talk about the game you talk about refereeing and then what beer you're gonna have in the pub like that that's all anyone cares about right so referees decisions are huge in the premier league right and and in soccer in general and i was saying to myself these guys get let off the hook so often nfl referees passing interference interference, that wasn't pass interference. Well, they're just going to be a spot foul, 15 yards, whatever it is.
Let's get on with it. Yeah, but that put them in field goal position and then they won the game.
It's so annoying when you see some of these things from the refereeing standpoint. What I would say about Patrick Mahomes is we must be on the same page.
Because before this became headline news, I would think that all the time. I'd be like, why don't you just – this linebacker is running a million miles an hour at you.
Just tiptoe the sideline, step out of bounds, and get hit. Because, by the way, referee is going to call – what is it, roughing or late hit or whatever it is.
Yeah. Referee is going to call it.
So you might as well use that to your advantage. Listen, every, every advantage is, is important.
And by the way, your, your, your quarterback can do it too. Cause quarterbacks are protected.
So, um, you know, I, I, I love, um, I'm obviously a giants fan, but I love what, what Patrick Mahomes is doing. It's exciting.
Um, love him or hate him. I tell my daughter all the time, like, if they're hating on you,

you're doing something right.

So, you know,

it's,

I don't,

I think it'd be really hard for them to three-peat,

but by God,

they got every chance to do it.

We both played with a guy,

defender Jeff Agus.

Goose.

Goose was so good at this, Tim.

I played with him in San Jose.

So,

long ball gets hit over the top.

Yeah.

And he would be chasing it down and the forward be chasing and the forward was behind him. So Jeff was, had the angle on the ball.
He would slow down. He would wait till the striker barely any contact and he would just fall straight on the ball.
And he's running back towards his own goal. And people have to remember referees are human first.
Yes, it's their job, whatever, but there's so much subjectivity. It's not black and white.
So he would just wait for contact, fall on the ball, grab the ball with his hands. And the ref had no choice.
I swear to you, maybe once in four years did that not get called. And he did it five or six times a game.
And now it happens in global football everywhere. You're like, just don't touch the guy because he's going to go out.
Correct. So you wait for the contact.
You fall down. And it's like, okay, is that cheating? No.
Is it using the rules to your advantage? Yeah. I'm here for it.
I mean, yeah. I mean, so if you don't want, then don't touch him.
Better reference. You can't touch him, right? I want better reference.
It's going to be interesting to see how it plays out. I am actually, incidentally, I just told my son last night, I'm going to the game this weekend.
Wait, in Kansas City? In Kansas City. Oh.
Yeah. So I'm taking my boy who is a huge Patrick Mahomes fan.
shout out to the game this weekend. In Kansas City? In Kansas City.
Oh. Yeah.
So I'm taking my boy

who is a huge

Patrick Mahomes fans.

Shout out to the

Hunt family

who are the owners

of FC Dallas

because they were able

to hook us up with tickets.

So it's going to be so fun.

I can't wait.

You're a poor son.

He's a Galaxy fan.

He's a Kansas City fan.

You're setting him up

for massive,

massive fill.

He's a LeBron fan too,

isn't he?

Tell me he's a LeBron fan.

But you know what he said

to me last night?

So I told him last night

and he was like,

Thank you. him up for massive massive he's a lebron fan too isn't he tell me he's a lebron fan but you know what he said to me you know he said to me last night so i told him last night and he was like what we get to go see patrick mahomes play live i said yeah and he said a couple times we've taken him to new york or one time we took him to new york and one time we took him to cabo and we are not like this but it just worked out where we we brought him and sat in first class with us.
Nice. So he goes, dad, we're going to sit in one of those seats, right? With the big seats and they bring us food the whole time.
And I was like, you know, Tal, no, we're flying Southwest this time. He was devastated.
He's like, what? I didn't even know people sat back there. Shout out to Southwest.
If you're listening to the podcast, you know, we take upgrade vouchers. All right, last thing.
I just want to real quick. The Eagles game yesterday, I don't know if you noticed, but AJ Brown, wide receiver for the Eagles, showed up to the game in an old school Honda Accord.
Yeah, absolutely. I was just thinking to myself like, dude, he's just like one of us.
Yeah, good one. Except he ain't.
Except he ain't. But I love that, i can't imagine like all his kids side note did did he get stuck in the snow because i'm guessing that honda accord yeah i don't have did not get make it out of the parking lot no chance he made it but i just love that dude like i love that guy and and look i mean you kind of get to a point and you probably deal with this too like it's nice to have to have great things, whatever, but like, you just want to be comfortable and he probably just loves driving the car.
So he just drives it. I had a teammate, Todd Dunavant, who drove, I don't even know what it was.
Some old car. It had like 300,000 miles.
Literally, Tim, for 10 years at the Galaxy. And I'm like, Todd, you're making a couple hundred grand now.
Can you just buy something? Like, just something decent? It doesn it doesn't have to be like nice but like you just did um so i'll give one good story about cars i think you have one too yeah i i do it's um i i played with a guy at everton uh muhammad besage um and it was when roberto martinez was the manager my guy comes strolling in in a white lambo gorgeous gorgeous right and he whips it into the park the player's parking lot just gets out strolling with the luvian time wash bag everything's cool like it was my guy too and sure enough next day mo ain't got the lambo so we're like mo where'd your lambo go and he's like uh he's like the gaffer said I have to get rid of it. I was like, what? What? And Roberto Martinez was like, he saw, because you know where the manager's office is on the corner.
He said, the seat's too low. Your hamstring, you're going to have hamstring injuries.
Stop it. And he made him sell it.
He made him sell Lambo. Because he thought it was physically bad for him.
Oh, my God.

Yeah.

God bless him.

I thought he was going to say it was too flashy.

Moe was one of the best guys I've ever played with.

He was like, okay, sold the land. Poor fella.

We had a guy in San Jose.

We drafted him.

I don't know.

I think it was the first overall pick maybe or second overall pick to us.

And Chris Carrieri.

So he shows up.

I know him from North Carolina or something. Yes, exactly.
So he shows up. I know him from North Carolina or something.

Yes, exactly.

So he shows up his first day,

and it's like preseason.

It's like February, March.

Top down, this bright red Corvette.

I can remember you telling me this.

For a guy who was making like 30 grand,

we were like,

where the hell did he get all this money?

So we were all humble.

Nobody was making money back then in MLS. He shows up in this bright red Corvette strolling in.
And it was like, dude, that's the first impression you want to make? So we called him Corvetti forever. I think he played in the league for like two years.
I remember that. It's absolutely incredible.
Corvetti. All right, guys.
It's been fun. Thanks again for all the feedback, all the questions, and the AT&T Fan Connection.
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Thank you all. Have an amazing week.

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