USMNT Players' Injury Woes, MLS Supporters' Shield Race Tightens & Tops Off for Yellow Cards in the EPL

So, I went in for a consultation.

I'm going to get like they call it a hair system.

It's to make us feel better.

It's basically a wig.

Amazing.

Women call it hair extensions.

And, like, I'm nervous as hell.

Like, because I don't know what my, I don't know what I look like with hair.

You're a different breed.

Just a few years of my life, I want to know what it was like to have before I die.

Like, what it was like to have hair.

I want to know what it's like to be an NBA superstar, but I don't get that opportunity.

We just get the opportunity.

Something you're not blessed with.

Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.

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

soccer for over five years.

LD, my guy, what's happening?

Welcome in, everybody, to Unfiltered Soccer.

I'm Tim.

He's Landon.

I have a question for you.

Yes, sir.

This could be a long intro.

I went to the Ryder Cup on Friday.

I enjoyed it.

I enjoyed it.

I had

one or two.

What are they?

What is it?

Golf drink?

Transfusions?

Yeah, I've heard.

I've never had one, but they were good.

Guys, get that.

I had hospitality.

Shout out to Wasserman, our agency, for connecting me and having red carpet and all the fun stuff.

And I walked the course.

You did that invite, by the way.

You didn't.

But I walked the course.

It was fun.

I went with Robbie Muster, my colleague.

What do you like about golf?

Because I didn't enjoy that one.

You didn't like that?

It was okay.

You just saw some good shots.

You don't appreciate sports, dude.

I love sports.

If you've ever held a golf club and tried to hit a golf ball and you watch what they do, yeah, it's insane, right?

But that's what I'm saying.

They're amazing.

I don't want to hold a golf club and hit a golf ball because I stink.

All right.

I don't want to dive too deep into this, but for people who, so the last day, they play all the singles matches, right?

This tournament.

So

the last

European guy, Victor Hovlin, couldn't play because he hurt his neck.

So the

resulting

conclusion to that that is they, Europe, gets to split that match so that each team gets half a point.

And I'm thinking to myself, who the hell made this rule up?

Where if you don't play, you still get half a point.

How's that possible?

In any sport, like in tennis.

I can't play.

I hurt my hand.

Okay, we'll just say it was a...

a draw and like nobody advances for both of you.

Like that is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Well, I agree.

But also,

can we end this by saying

from two guys who have taken a lot of stick over the years, shout out to Rory McElroy because the U.S.

got butt kicked.

And the gallery was giving him all sorts.

You know what I'm saying?

He gave it right back.

And that's how it goes.

That's what you do when you go back to Everton.

Well, I do.

Give it to you.

You just give it right back.

I love the thing about, well, you're the athlete.

You take the high road.

Nah, bro.

Some of the things that get said to us.

When they go low, we go lower.

You're getting it back.

Anyway, let's rock and roll.

As always, follow on social media, subscribe, youtube apple podcast spotify everywhere you get your podcast leave us comments um i want to hear comments so i i posted something actually just before the show tim

i told you guys this so i tried the hair trans i tried the hair transplant thing didn't work yeah i could shave my head i don't want to do it i'm just not i know but you have a nice bald is sexy my head is ugly and like it's just ugly it would just wouldn't look right on me so i went in for a consultation i'm gonna get like they call it a hair system it's This is amazing.

For everybody who's listening, this is amazing.

Keep going.

So it's called a hair system.

I know we soften language.

It's basically a wig.

Amazing.

Women call it hair extensions.

But I'm going to go in on Wednesday and get it.

Like they put this adhesive on and then they put it on.

And like, I'm nervous as hell.

Like, because I don't know what my, I don't know what I look like with hair since I was 18.

I have no idea.

Wait, wait a minute.

No idea.

We've gone so off key.

I know, I know.

Wait, no, no, no, it's good.

Wait, it's adhesive.

So you have to put that on every day?

No, it's like every two, three, four weeks, you go back in and they like take it off, put a new one on because the hair will start to, it's real hair and the hair starts to die.

You can shower?

You can shower everything.

Go in the pool.

Yeah.

You can literally like pull it, yank it, and it won't come off.

This is amazing.

Yeah, I'm going to, if they let me, I'm going to video it and take pictures so you can see the process.

Bro, you're a different breeder.

I just want, look, for like, just a few years of my life, I want to know what it was like to have before I die, like what it was like to have hair.

I want to know what it's like to be an NBA superstar, but I don't get that opportunity.

I get the opportunity you're not blessed with.

So when like women get like hair extensions and all this stuff, like it's fine.

Oh, you just why can't I?

Okay, so my question is, and I asked you guys, and you guys had the worst, worst success.

Our group, our production group.

What hairstyle?

Should I do?

Because now I could do whatever I want.

I mean, literally, I could do whatever.

So I just want to know what people think, what hairstyle.

This is great.

I mean, come steaming in over the top with haymakers.

I mean, don't

stupid cut.

I'm going to get the dumbest comment.

Mullet.

And like, all the, like, no, like, what real hairstyle should I get?

I mean, I mean, welcome to the Cool Kids Club.

Finally, you'll be a part of the club.

All right, let's go.

Let's go.

Whatever.

Okay.

Jump right in.

USMNT on US LNT.

Lots and lots of stuff.

going on this weekend.

The first interesting one was Tyler Adams.

At Leeds, they drew 1-1.

Is that right?

Yeah, I think they did.

Every time he touched the ball, the crowd booed him, which actually surprised me.

I was like, oh, because I didn't go into the deep details when he left, but it was really interesting.

So that was his first return to Ellen Road.

And then after the game,

at the time, sorry, Leeds Chief Exec Angus Kinnear,

he said this about Tyler's departure.

He said, There are players who had the discussions when it was time to leave because they got relegated.

So some players stay, some players leave.

There are players who had the discussions and did the right things and did them in a timely manner.

Then there were players who were perhaps led by their agents to employ tactics, which will mean they're not on our Christmas card list.

And he was referring to Tyler Adams and Luis Sinestera in particular.

So I think, can you, we've talked about this with the Isak thing and like, what's the best, what's the proper way to leave a club?

And what's your take on all this?

Because I have a very like strong take on this too.

Well, listen, I tell you who doesn't care about this, Tyler Adams, because he couldn't care less.

He's a boss.

And by the way,

as a former Manchester United player,

the leads, Ellen Rhodes Faithful, are,

in short, interesting.

Let's say that.

Look, a Chief Exec has a job to do.

Angus Kinnear has a job to do.

If you're Tyler Adams

and or Sinistera, and your team gets relegated and you have an opportunity to play in the Premier League, you play in the Premier League.

I don't know what promises were made behind the scenes, and also like that's normal.

That's how it goes.

I don't expect players, I don't like when players down tools like Isaac did over the summer, but that's kind of the way this is moving on the business side.

Um, I would imagine knowing Tyler Adams, he did things in the right way.

It's kind of a he said, she said situation for me.

My thing is like

Crimea River, Angus.

Like

there are so many examples, Tim, of these clubs being ruthless with players and couldn't care less about the player, their family, that they have to move, that they have to, they cut their salary, that they couldn't care less.

And so the player decides, look, I'm going to do what's best for me because you're going to screw me over anyway.

So the only caveat exception to that is if that club has earned your trust over lots of time, like you would have never done that to Everton.

I would have never done that at the end to the galaxy.

We would have gone in, had real conversations and just said, look, and actually in 2013, I was on, I was not happy with how the negotiation was going with the galaxy.

And I said, look, guys, I don't want to leave here,

but I will for the next couple of years.

And like, let's just, we're either going to get this done or we're not.

But it was not like a go employ some tactics and go in the media and do this.

It's like this just happens.

Now, if they've earned your respect, you do that.

But But for Tyl Adams, what does he care?

He needs to do what's best for him.

To a point, I actually,

when I was,

after, after nine and a half years, I remember at Christmas going into Roberto Martinez's office and saying, like, Gaffer, like, this is my club, obviously, but I need to leave.

I need to go home.

I need to be closer.

And he said, sure.

And then he dropped my ass the next week and I was it.

But I understood.

I understood that.

I get it.

I couldn't tell him Gaffer, I want to leave, even though

I was more loyal to Everton than anything in the world.

I couldn't give him that information and then him go, okay, yeah, amazing.

And like he had to then go, okay, yeah, it's fine.

I'll grant your wish, but then go sit over there.

So

fair.

So get over it, Angus.

Brennan Aronson made his third straight start, which was great.

He came off in the 87th minute.

Seems like the crowd and the fans are liking his energy, his effort, which is good because it was a little bit of a change from the past.

So that was good.

Whether he's in the national team picture still, we'll see.

I think it helps if he's

playing in the Premier League.

So we'll see how that goes.

And obviously with Kemp coming up now, as we've been told, this is going to be the first real team, and this is the team that's going to be mostly together going forward.

So we'll see.

Gio Reyna was not in the Gladbacks squad.

He has a thigh injury.

I was thinking about this morning, Tim.

And this is falling into a little bit of Ricardo Pepe.

He got subbed off in the first half with an injury.

Ricardo Pepe is further along on the totem pole in the pecking order than Gio is.

But these guys are becoming what I would say is unreliable.

And whether it's through performance or mostly through injury or both in Gio's case, if you're a coach, like you just need to know what you're getting.

And these guys are becoming unreliable.

And so I just,

it's hard for me to imagine them continuing to get called in or in Ricardo's case, starting games if he's not reliable in that way.

Look, this is not an indictment on Ricardo Peppi or Gio Reyna, both players who I really like.

You know, this because you and I played together for a very long time.

I think the NFL started this saying, like, your best ability is your availability.

And what I would say, and you know that, you know, the same people that I do at Everton.

And it got to the point, and by the way, I'm not saying this because I'm Superman, but the availability part was always like right here, was always at the forefront.

So there wasn't a, yes, I had a high pain, pain tolerance, right?

And so some people are just unlucky with injuries.

I get that.

But there was a part of me, and you know our physio.

I would just, there's nothing,

there's got to be something in that bag, that physio bag.

There's got to be something in that medicine cabinet.

Give it to me.

Get me through this 90 minutes.

If I have to.

not train as hard or whatever it is, get me to that opening whistle and I will perform.

The adrenaline will kick in.

I will figure it out.

I will not be injured.

And by the way, I was injured a lot, but you didn't know it.

And so, again, I'm not asking for a pat on the back.

It's

me telling some of these players,

you just have to be available.

You have to find a way.

You have to find a way.

Okay, so this is where we disagree on the unlucky part because I don't think it's lucky or unlucky.

There are moments, you know, I remember like I was chasing a ball and I fell and I jammed my knee into the ground and had like a

bone bruise that is like so pain.

I couldn't, I couldn't walk.

So I had to come up.

But as far as like the muscle injuries, and this is happening, this was one of my questions for you.

So many guys on this national team are injured a lot.

You know, do you think about it?

I mean, they're just not available all the time.

And so I don't know if it's a modern football thing.

I don't know.

But one of the things that is not.

is not luck is how you take care of yourself.

And again, I am not suggesting because I'm not with these guys every day, but I used to spend, no, people don't know this.

I don't share it.

I didn't ever share this publicly.

I used to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, Tim, on taking care of my body.

Pilates, yoga, doing structure alignment, the way I eat, the way I did things, hundreds of thousands of dollars out of my, out of my pocket to make sure that I was available.

And I also took care of myself, right?

Again, not looking for a pat on the back, but that is part of being a professional and being able to play at the highest level.

And so I'm just wondering when you get all these muscle injuries,

also being aware of your body, right?

Like what to do, how to train, how to, you know, and so it's just happening a lot, man.

You make a good point.

I was, I was similar.

I'm curious about some of these guys.

I don't know a ton of them personally.

I'm curious about them because I was the same way.

You know, I think

I oftentimes tell some of the younger players, and it falls on deaf ears, but like, invest in your business.

What's your business?

It's the Tim Howard something.

I'm my own business.

So I had a physio and a massage therapist and a chef

on retainer yearly, right?

So like,

yes, I was getting, I can go to the club and get stuff, but four days a week at home before bed, I was getting a massage.

I was getting physio, right?

And I wasn't asking for the club to pay for it because it was my career and it was important to me to be available because if I was available, I'd get all the things that I needed to get.

So yeah, it's an interesting point.

I brought a chef with me to Everton, by the way, but that was mostly because of the food in England-ish.

Okay, moving on to Liga Aimekis.

Alejandro Zendejas scored twice for Club America.

This is a guy that's like been under the radar, but he scored with the national team in the last camp, and he scored a phenomenal goal.

If you haven't seen it, go watch.

He receives a ball top of the box, a little bit shaded left, and I thought he's just going to take a touch and smash it, and he just dinks this little chip into the far post over there.

It's so nasty.

But he's starting to like, well, he's been playing well, but he's starting to show up.

And he showed up for the national team in the last camp.

And so don't be surprised if he gets called in, too.

I think so.

I mean,

he's got some real talent in the four areas.

Certainly, we saw he has a nose for gold.

But yeah, again, for me, completely under the radar.

We'll see, as you mentioned, with this, apparently, from this point forward, it's going to be, you know, what essentially the squad is meant to look like.

So we'll see.

Yeah.

And then the only guy hotter for the national team right now than him is Christian.

And his assist on the weekend is so good.

He receives a ball almost near midfield, like clips it around the corner, beats the guy to the, gets the, gets the ball before he gets to the touchline or to the sideline,

hurtles past the next guy.

dribbles into the box and then rolls a ball across the box to the far post, which was like, you don't even see it on TV because you're like, you don't even know there's someone arriving there.

And then he scored a goal to boot and he is just at the, like, at the very tip top.

And I just want to address something real quick.

One of my friends texted me and they're like, Landon, last week you were singing Christian's praises.

And I thought you were like, I thought you hated him.

And I thought you wanted him.

And I'm like, what are you talking about?

That's just fans, fans and friends.

I know, but I'm like, I want this guy to succeed at the highest high.

This is why I'm disappointed when some of the decisions he's made, because he has this possibility.

And I want to see that with the national team to take us.

So like, I am,

I'm not as, I'm not going to say I'm his biggest fan because, you know, his friends and family and all that are.

We all want him to succeed at that.

And he is flying right now.

So long may it continue.

Yeah.

Listen, he's, he's, we've, we've said, we've said this all along.

So tell you, what's your friend's name?

I can't tell him.

All right.

Well, tell him,

tell him to listen to this episode and keep these receipts because we have a lot of receipts.

We've only ever said Christian Pulisik is a brilliant player.

Christian Pulisik actually told us in a rebuttal when he's on the pitch, he scores, which we agree with.

Yeah, he's an incredible form.

You know, Milan, top of the table in Syria.

Yeah.

Life is good.

That's great.

It's an amazing thing for the team we all love, U.S.

MNC.

And then in October,

let's see that too and just keep that form because we need that all the way through.

Okay, exciting.

I'm excited about this.

This is off our radar, by the way.

Under 20 World Cup is now underway.

And I was just totally until Andrew brought it up, I was like, what?

So we're recording today, Monday.

The U.S.

plays tonight against a massive powerhouse, New Caledonia.

If you don't know where that is, Tim didn't either.

It's in the Pacific Ocean.

But they get underway today.

16 of the players from this squad, 16 of the 21 are MLS rosters, which I thought was very interesting.

And it never happened that way in the past, which is very good.

A lot of whom, by the way, play very meaningful minutes for the club team, which is an interesting dynamic.

And I want to ask your opinion on this.

Around the world, U20 players who are playing for their club teams do not get called into the U20 World Cup.

Like, La Min Yamal is not with Spain right now.

No chance.

No chance.

So just this dynamic.

Will this ever shift?

At what point will it shift?

Where there are teams that are fighting for playoff spots with some of the players that are now gone for the U20, which is, by the way, I understand both sides.

It's a huge opportunity for them.

There's tons of scouts there.

It's a huge opportunity, but will that ever shift where MLS clubs say?

It should.

It should shift.

It should.

I mean, again,

to your point,

I've been at clubs when we've had younger players and the club hasn't even, the club hasn't even like returned the email.

They're like, what?

I'm jealous.

I have to say, I'm jealous because my under 20, my under what under 20 World Cup was in 1999

and 1999, yeah, 1999 in Nigeria, right?

The hotels were barely built, stadiums were like, I don't know, we would get stuck in like elevators because the electricity just wasn't working, you know?

And, and like, I think I left for Nigeria, and my mom was like, all right, I'll see when I get back.

I think she might have gave me a calling card or something.

Nobody was watching this.

Certainly, certainly unfiltered soccer podcast wasn't covering it.

So I'm a little bit jealous of these players, but we're going to give them some love.

No, it's going to be.

Which year in your 20s New Zealand?

No,

17s was New Zealand.

Argentina was my 20s.

Oh, all right, right, right, yeah.

And we'll never forget.

So we played, it was in Mendoza, Argentina, which is like the west coast.

It's the wine country right near Chile.

And after we got eliminated,

I went up.

Oh, wait, was that?

I think Mooch was our coach.

Might have been.

Oh, maybe it was Wolfgang.

No, it was Wolfgang's Sunholtz.

Wolfie.

I know Wolfie was my.

I went up to, I think it was Wolfgang.

I went up to

his room and we sat and had a glass of wine after, which I don't know why, but it was just like, yeah, whatever.

Good dude, man.

Oh, by the way, on the way home.

Yeah.

I'll never forget this.

On the way home

from Argentina on the flight, a bunch of us had

way too much to drink and we ate these empanadas in the airport before we got.

I woke up to like the flight attendant pulling me up.

to get up because I was passed out in the uh like in the bulkhead on the ground

and went straight to the bathroom and just puked.

Oh, it's so disgusting.

People forget that the youth, the U.S., uh, youth soccer days when you're sitting in a coach or a comic in a comic.

You know, the bulkhead, it was right before the bulkhead.

So there were like five seats there, and I was just passed.

There were like four of us like laying on top, like dogs huddled on top of it.

I remember flying to different parts of Asia, you're in your khaki pants and red U.S.

soccer polo, traveling to the airport with a backpack, 20-hour flight, and you're like, what?

Good old days.

Okay, so we'll be watching that.

U.S.

again starts tonight.

They play, I forget who's in the New Caledonia, then France,

and then South Africa.

Good group.

It's going to be great.

Okay.

Last thing here.

So we're, the expanded World Cup talks have resumed.

And for people who don't know, Matt Hughes of the Guardian is reporting that FIFA is not planning to expand the 2030 tournament, but they are talking about going to a 64-team

World Cup.

And let's not, we can't speculate on what is going to happen or not, but what's your take?

Should we do that or not?

No.

No.

Why?

We shouldn't do it.

Where's too many teams?

But why?

It's too many teams.

I don't know.

That's not an answer.

You can't just say there's too many.

It's my answer.

Like, what purpose?

What purpose does it serve?

Don't you know that FIFA is trying to grow the game?

That's their mission.

They don't care about money.

They're trying to grow the game.

I'm not being critical.

I'm saying if there's money involved, maybe.

I don't like it.

Okay, I love it.

You do?

Yeah.

I love, I cannot wait.

This is going to sound so stupid.

I cannot wait to see Uzbekistan and Jordan and hopefully some obscure CONCACAF team who's not Curaçao or play in a World Cup.

I think that's amazing.

It dilutes it, LD.

It does.

Who cares?

You know, that's something that you don't root for Iona when they play Kentucky in the NCA basketball tournament?

Like, it's fun to watch.

No?

A little bit.

I mean, yeah,

NCA tournament, short.

You just don't like change.

That's why you don't want me to get a hairpiece.

No, I desperately want you to get a hairpiece.

I don't mind change.

I'm just, I don't know.

The World Cup is like, it's like special.

And if everyone can get in, I don't know.

I don't know.

Okay.

So I want somebody to give me a good reason why.

Because like even Victor, who I love, president of CONCACAF, Canadian, fellow Canadian Montagliani, said the suggestion, quote, doesn't feel right and believes the expansion would damage, quote, the broader football ecosystem.

Okay, but like, give me a real answer as to.

He just did.

He brought up, he brought it.

But it's not a real answer.

It doesn't football ecosystem.

It doesn't feel right.

What is that?

I feel the same as him.

It doesn't feel right.

I don't know.

It's just like,

I hear you.

I think it's better for the sport.

Look, there's so many.

The World Cup's been only won by how many countries?

Six or seven or eight or something?

It's yeah.

Let's expand it.

Like, I want more people to have the chance to be at the party.

Yeah, but it doesn't matter.

They're only going to be there for a day.

But that might help them grow.

The money that comes into a country.

Just

federation.

There's enough money in that country.

I mean, it's a good thing.

You don't want to be part of a World Cup.

Well, you got to earn that.

Listen, I will say this, though, to your point, we'll probably get on this at some point.

It's stuff this year, by the way.

Stuffed quantity.

I do believe that the World Cup winner can only come from six countries.

That's my belief.

Ever?

For the foreseeable future, yeah.

What are those six?

So I think it's Brazil, Argentina,

Spain,

France, France, Germany, Germany, and then you're getting like Italy, England, like Italy slash England.

So that's

Holland or Netherlands, maybe.

Maybe.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I do.

For the foreseeable future, I think that that's where you're, which is kind of wild.

I mean, not wild.

They're the best teams.

You can see a team, like you could see the next tier of teams getting on a run, but then to win six or seven in a row, it's just not.

But you see what I'm saying, right?

No, I know.

I see what you're saying.

I think like if someone were to say to me, like, if I could get a bet in Vegas that said, like, you can put however much money on the fact that one of these teams is going to win, I win that bet.

100% win that bet.

Yeah, I don't know who else can win it.

Not England.

Maybe not.

Maybe not.

Not England for sure.

All right.

Let us take a break.

When we come back, we will have some of this week's MLS action and the latest from the Premier League as well, right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Lennon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.

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

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All right, Timmy, I want to tell you about a time I had to choose a much chiller path.

2009 in Seattle, we're playing Real Salt Lake in the MLS Cup final.

We go to penalties.

Who misses a penalty?

This guy.

You.

Got back on the bus.

I was crying in the back of the bus.

And I had this moment where I had a realization that, yes, I missed the penalty.

Yes, we lost a chance at winning an MLS Cup final.

but I had really given everything that year it was a time of my life that was really tumultuous and I really put everything everything everything into my career and my sport and I said you know what like I did everything I could have I tried my hardest and it didn't work out and so it was time in that moment to really chill

appreciate what I did appreciate that moment doesn't always go your way but you got to choose chill sometimes and just relax and when you embrace that chill mindset it's a a good time to choose chill.

And as always, crack open

a Coors Light.

Absolutely.

Make the most of the times you choose to chill.

Choose Coors Light.

Get Coors Light delivered straight to your door.

Visit CoorsLight.com/slash USLNT.

Celebrate responsibly.

Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado.

Beer.

All right, LD.

Time to chat some MLS.

Hudson River Derby,

New York City FC3,

the Metro Stars, otherwise known as the New York Red Bulls, two.

Jürgen Klopp was in attendance.

Oh.

Well, he's global director of global football ambassador to the stars for Red Bull, isn't he?

Red Bull Football.

Let me ask you this.

Two days before he actually got on the flight to New York, had he ever heard of the New York Red Bulls?

Of course.

He oversees

global football.

Yes, he does.

Could he name one player?

Better question.

You're not answering.

No, I'm not answering.

But no, but this is a better question than what you just asked me.

Two days before he got on the plane to go to New York to see Red Bull, had he ever heard of the Metro Stars?

No chance.

No chance.

The Metro Donkeys.

No chance.

He heard about that.

All right.

Bad loss for Red Bull, by the way.

They're five points back now, Chicago for the last playoff spot.

It's tight.

So that aside, I think for us us national team fans, the most concerning moment of the weekend was that Matt Freeze came out with

what we're assuming is a head injury.

So, that could absolutely impact his ability to get called into the next camp.

I guess from a

let's assume, Tim, right now, that he does not get called in.

Okay, let's knock on wood, hope he's okay.

But for whatever reason, he's not called in.

He's in concussion protocol, whatever.

What happens?

So, who starts

and what,

yeah, who starts will start as.

And let's say someone starts and plays amazing in both games.

Now, what?

I'm just playing this out.

I don't know.

I don't know because I don't know what the pecking order is for the U.S.

men's national team.

I have no idea.

We've got two guys in last camp

that have zero chance of that.

I don't know if they're national team caliber.

That's a lie, I do know.

And the two guys that I think

are in the top three, hands down, Zach Stephan and Matt Turner,

haven't been in.

So it's a great question.

I hope Maddie Freeze, it's not too bad.

But hypothetically speaking, I have no idea.

Zero idea.

I'm right in saying that, aren't I?

Yeah, no, I have no idea.

I don't know.

I was just thinking.

You've been in some, all these situations you've been in, and now what?

And

without speaking to Maurico Pochitino and asking directly, we don't know if we have to assume right now he believes Matt Fries is the guy, like the guy.

But now, if he's not in camp, what happens?

I mean,

I'm guessing Matt or Matt Stefan,

Matt Turner, or Zach Stefan would, would play

because

you'd have to assume

if there is no Matt Fries and he happens to be the front runner, runner, which again, we think

we're taking an educated guess at, then that would be the next

thought, next option.

But we don't know.

Honestly, we don't know.

I guess we're going to see.

I have to say there's something I hate, and it's not Jurgen Klopp's fault.

It's not.

But I used to sit in press conferences.

We would play

Real Madrid in a friendly at Prose Bowl or Chelsea or Barcelona or Manny Night or whatever.

And inevitably,

a reporter in the room in the press conference would say, hey, what do you guys think about soccer in America and MLS?

And they'd be like, oh, it's growing.

It's getting better.

It's growing.

But they had no idea.

I mean, they literally could not name any player.

Nothing.

They knew nothing about soccer in America.

They just doesn't.

So Jürgen Klopp was asked about MLS.

He said, I'm 100% sure in five years' time, we will speak completely differently.

The kids coming up.

It's just all this general B.

I hate this.

It's not his fault.

Starting playing soccer earlier, training, getting better, the place where you can play and training getting better everywhere.

I can tell you the quality is really, really good.

Good players, a lot of talent, high intensity.

I think MLS has found its spot.

Now let's work with it.

I just get sick of people asking these guys questions because they don't know anything about soccer.

And that's fine.

It's not their fault.

I don't care, but like, I'm just like, just...

It's a bit of, it's a bit of

a bit of lazy journalism as well.

You know, like, it's like, it's not on your club.

It's not on the coach at Real Madrid.

It's like, it's this concept of like,

you can phrase the question better

you know you can actually be more forthright and basically say soccer in america is on the up and up and you know you can you can phrase as opposed to just this this softball question of like what do you think because you're going to get that answer every time yeah and it it it

it's just like like why do we care so much what they think about that's the other part that's the other part yeah we're trying our best man like we're getting there yeah um okay so old school mls rivalry, not the Hell is Real that Columbus is probably more interested in.

But Chicago Fire 2, Columbus crew nil.

Crew are now eighth in the East.

They've kind of been a

under-talked about disappointment this year because they've just expectation-wise, crew have been so good, and Wilfred Nancy has been so good.

They've had a lot of...

a lot of injuries, but it's been, I think, disappointing.

But I think that's looking like it's going to be a preview of that play-in game, Chicago Columbus.

So that'll be interesting.

Bigger news, big picture.

Chicago Fire just got city council approval to build a new 22,000 seat ownership funded stadium in the city.

And it's in this, like, whatever this new development area is called.

Have you seen the

renderings?

I've seen renderings.

It looks beautiful.

Really, really awesome.

I mean,

I hate having been a part of a franchise in Memphis, again, USL, that was trying to get a stadium built.

We failed miserably at trying to get a stadium built.

Not our fault.

And I know how difficult it is.

And so sometimes by hook or by crook, you'll just, if you can get approval, you'll do it.

But like this concept that, like, and I'm sure it was, it was well-intentioned, but like to build that stadium out in Bridgeview, what was it called?

I don't even know who the sponsor is now.

It was Toyota at one point.

At one point, you know, you build it in Bridgeview, which is in the middle of nowhere.

It takes eight hours to get to from downtown.

And then like, there's no training facility.

So they built built a field in the parking lot.

I trained on that field.

You might have trained.

I did too.

And you're just like, this was never going to work.

And again, I'm being critical of people who got a stadium built, which, so which that's amazing.

But, like, Chicago is such a town, such a sports town.

The Chicago fire, again, from its inception in 1998 under Bob Bradley, some deep roots, incredible success.

Like, they need that back.

And

this is pretty cool if it's downtown.

So, and yeah, uh, playoff picture of Chicago, Chicago are game back now, two points back.

So,

they could host that playing game.

And in the past, Tim, that would be like, okay,

you don't have to travel.

You got a little home field advent.

Now it's actually like real money, too, to fill up the stadium and have a game, a playoff game.

So we'll see how that plays out.

Your Dynamo went down to Nashville three to one.

Tough place to place.

Yeah, it's a tough place to play.

Tough place to play for sure.

Not a great game.

Yeah, not great.

And Houston on the outside looking in, right, I believe, right now.

So let's hope they can get over the hump.

Current supporters' shield standings: Philly on top, Cincy, four points back, San Diego, two points back of that, along with Vancouver, and then NYCFC.

It's gonna be so tight.

And Miami, Miami have at least a game in hand, they have a game in hand on Vancouver, on Vancouver, and two in hand on the other.

So, they could make a climb, but it'll be fun to watch.

I said it to you the other day, I said the other day, like, this is gonna go.

I have a feeling the supporters shield is gonna go down to the last day, and like,

that's that's what that's the hope for MLS, right?

Is that there's like you have three different cities where it's just like they're hanging on for dear life.

You know what I mean?

Like, one game finishes, and then everyone's like on the phone and they put it up in the stadium because the other one's an injury time or something.

So, hopefully, that's how it happens.

Yeah.

Uh, Philly, I think, avenged that seven-nil defeat in Vancouver with a six-nil throttling of DC.

I sent in the group text:

Uh, the new DC coach is getting off to a flying start.

start.

That poor guy, man, he has no idea what he walked into.

Just an absolute disaster for D.C.

Great for the union, though.

And again,

they are looking down on everyone else.

So it's theirs to lose at this point.

Yeah, it is.

Late game, San Diego.

A bunch of my friends went to this actually.

Lost at home to San Jose.

And just, you know, obviously I paid close attention to San Diego.

They are

a team that's going to struggle, I think, in the playoffs.

And I'll tell you why.

They're playing a lot of young kids, particularly in the back, which is great and great for development.

And I think that is sort of their ethos and what they want to do and develop players and whatever.

But when you get to real games at this time of the year, I mean, San Jose was just more experienced, especially their attacking players.

And San Diego deserves something out of the game for sure.

But these games are hard, man.

And you just need players to make special plays.

So they need Chuki Lozano to make plays, Dreyer to make plays, but I think they could struggle a little bit in the playoffs.

You make such an interesting point because I think sometimes people forget, like you watch a game in the middle of the season, it's like, yeah, okay, you know, let's have some really good plays.

But when it comes down to October, November playoff time, it's like.

Every second matters.

Every play matters.

You're bigger.

And so sometimes that's lost on the youth.

It's like they don't have those experiences to draw from.

So in the big moments, and it's fine margins, right?

And And they don't have

it.

And yeah, not to say that I'm not in favor of playing young players because I really am.

But at these moments,

so like San Jose is a great example.

My first year, I was the only young kid.

Yeah.

And it was all veterans, like real guys who had played in real games throughout.

So it was fine.

And I was an attacking player.

So I wasn't as reliable, but like playing, starting a center back, you know, an 18 or 19 year old center back or left back.

I mean, it's going to be a tough playoff to play.

Seattle Vancouver drew 2-2.

Big story here.

Brian White back.

Back.

Two goals in his first two games back from an injury.

So my question for you is, does he get called in?

Well, yeah, let's see.

Pepe's out now.

Yeah.

Brian White is Pepe's out.

He's a player.

When I saw him,

like when I saw him play live in Houston about a month or two ago, his movement was good.

It was exceptional.

I see what the hype is about with him.

but

that has to then translate to the international stage.

And it doesn't always, it doesn't make you a bad striker.

It doesn't always translate just because the windows open and shut quicker.

Do I think he can do it?

Possibly.

Do I think he'll get called in?

Yeah.

I think the coaching staff and Pochatino and his staff will be looking at that because he scores goals, right?

And so I think you need to be given opportunities, particularly if you're if you're.

scoring goals and doing really well in your in your domestic league.

Yeah, you deserve an opportunity.

Yeah, I think he's not a guy we're going to rely on big picture for the national team, I don't think.

But like, give him credit, man.

He's put together a few phenomenal seasons and deserves it.

So.

All right, LD, it's time for the unfiltered refresh sponsored by Coors Light.

Choose Chill.

Get Coors Light delivered.

Go to CoorsLight.com slash USLNT.

All right.

Who chose Chill from this past weekend in MLS?

This is going to be hard for you.

I think I know your answer, and this might be slightly different.

It does pain me, but it's not just this weekend, dude.

These two are unbelievable.

Sun and Bwanga for LAFC.

Listen to this.

This is crazy.

They have combined to score LAFC's last 17 goals.

Just think about that for me.

The previous record was 15, and that was this season, by the way.

Sam Surage and Muktar from Nashville, which is wild.

17.

If you are an opposing team,

don't you think at some point you'd say, just just get around those two and make someone else beat us?

Right.

But those two are, I remember when Sun went there, I texted

someone who played against them recently in MLS

and I said, how is Sun in person?

And he was like, dude, he is so good.

And I was just like, imagine now you have to deal with Sun and Wonga coming at you.

It's crazy.

You know what?

You know what Sun is to me?

He's the perfect MLS DP because

he's got a lot left in the tank.

You know, he's committed.

He understands the weight of his country and who he is to them.

And by the way, silky smooth can still glide past.

Like he's literally.

And he puts butts in seats.

It's like the perfect.

He's the perfect.

He's the perfect MLSDP.

Everywhere, every stadium, you see just Korean contingent everywhere.

And he's been the perfect MVP.

So I hate to say it.

You're right.

But those two choosing chill lately.

So cheers to you two.

sadly for choosing chill

okay let's move on to the premier league man there are some tasty games this weekend um nothing more tasty than palace liverpool

so

um

we talked about liverpool continuing to win late right and this time they got beat late right

um just give us your thoughts on the game as you watched and we'll get into the most solid handball and the controversy and all that well you know Liverpool is

so interesting because of all the late goals and late winners, four or five of them coming after 83rd minute or something.

Like

there's something special in that, right?

Like

there's something

where you say like this team is resilient.

They're experienced.

They're willing, you know,

slotted said they're willing to run longer and harder, which is why they're getting those goals late, which I agree with all of that.

The other side of that, which I hadn't really, I had heard it, but I didn't really give it too much credit, which maybe is starting to come back, is people were saying, the critical people about Liverpool were saying, yeah, but that just means they're not playing particularly good because they're having to like

barely hang on and barely get results.

So I take that on board, which is, and then it happened again.

Right.

So they have to come from behind, they draw late on, and then Palace get the winner.

So

so then you can make the argument, they're actually not playing particularly well as champions.

So,

I tend to think

it's good that they're scoring late goals because I do believe in that theory of the resiliency and being able to be stronger and fitter than everyone else.

But the fact of the matter is,

for me, it's glass half full with Liverpool because they're the champions.

They've added some real talent to the squad that they're trying to, you know, Ekatike, Viertz, Isak, they've added some big talent in

major areas, and those guys haven't like hit the ground running.

They're having to figure out how to fit into the system and how to fit into the Premier League, not Isak, but the other guys fit into the Premier League.

So

yeah, I'm actually going, well, hang on.

They're two points clear at the top of the table.

They're not really playing particularly well.

So that's actually a good thing, isn't it?

Because they're going to get better.

So we'll see.

But I think it's good for the Premier League in terms of the balance at the top.

this is just a side note which is a crazy side note palace are now unbeaten in 18 games which is insane 18 games unbeaten i mean

that's going back to last year last season and palace do everything quietly and i think that's actually a compliment big time they're on an incredible run um you mentioned ekatike so he got the reason he wasn't available because he got sent off in the carabao cup um

for a game winner against southampton and he was celebrating like he just won the World Cup, took his shirt off.

He was already on a booking, so he took his shirt off and got sent off.

Should this rule still be around this shirt?

I mean,

I don't know why they, I don't know what the impetus was to make this a yellow card.

I mean,

it is, right?

The thing about it is, is

the

did we not address this last week?

I thought, well, we talked about it, but we didn't talk about it on the show.

It's stupid.

Someone made the rule.

Yeah.

And what was the reason behind it?

I don't know.

Look, if you.

Oh, you know what?

Was it because people were having like undershirts with like messages and

just make that the rule?

Like, can't you have anything?

My point is, if you have, if, if you're wearing red or blue and you're on and your undershirt is red or blue or you're, or you're just bare chested, it's fine.

If you throw your shirt up in the air, your teammate can go get it, it's fine.

If you have a slogan or if you take your shirt and and you throw it in the stands, sure, you get yellow carded.

But to take, like, you know how many other stupid celebrations I see every weekend?

That's so true.

You know what I mean?

So true.

Like, what?

It's dumb.

Change the rule.

Change the rule.

But

Eka TK has to, like,

how dumb.

That I agree with.

That I agree with.

If the rule's in place, yeah.

God, what are you doing?

It's so, it is so embarrassing every time you see this.

Take off their shirt and the ref goes,

sorry.

Yeah.

Yellow card, red card, and you just go.

Imagine getting sent off.

What did you get sent off for?

Tough guy?

Oh, I too watched.

So dumb.

The Mo Sala handball.

Just what's your take on it?

Is it a handball?

Is it not?

What do you think?

Well, I thought it was a handball,

but

the,

and we looked at it 18 trillion times and loads of replays and zoomed in and VIR showed us some angles and we at NBC had angles.

Studo, it's still not like, if you're asking me if what I saw, it barely nicked his hand, I say yes.

But I don't know if it's like overly conclusive.

You know what I mean?

Because

the more you zoom in, it gets a bit grainy.

So I think it did, but whatever.

I mean,

in the end, it didn't matter, right?

Right.

So, yeah.

Yeah, it's just that it's obviously created a lot of controversy.

And he's also kind of getting pulled.

So his hand's kind of.

But when you just look at it in real time, you're like, why is his hand up there?

You can't put your hand up there because of it, you know.

So,

all right.

Well, whatever.

It's what it is.

Okay.

Brentford at home, battered United 3-1.

Boy, boy, boy, boy.

This is the simple question.

I mean,

is it time?

What do they do with Amarim?

Is it time?

Tim,

I've been of the opinion, like, give him time.

He needs it.

Give him a transfer window.

Give him two.

But this is not looking good, man.

Yeah, I mean, I think the,

so,

go back, right?

3-1,

Brentford played really well.

They deserved the, they deserve the 3-1 win.

That's not a flattering scoreline.

And then you go back to last week, and it was Chelsea, right?

And so you're like,

if Chelsea doesn't get a man sent off, they're up a man after five minutes.

Yeah, if Chelsea doesn't get a man sent off, you're like, and they almost lost, they still almost found a way to do it.

Right.

I don't know if United wins that game, right?

So like, there was just like, ah, sigh of relief.

But like, I,

yeah, I think Chelsea ended up probably beating them on the day, right?

Which again shows us kind of where they are.

And then Brentford.

Look, I said on Saturday, silly me, before the game, that United had, like, in their next 10 games,

again, silly me, I was looking at it, trying to find a silver line.

I saw in their next 10 games, I was like,

there's like eight games.

I see eight wins in there.

This big one of them.

No, I know, I know.

Hear me out.

I know.

I haven't won eight wins in two years.

I know.

But I'm trying.

I'm like, they could do it.

They can go on a run because a run has to start somewhere.

And

man,

no, I don't think you sack him.

I know.

I'm calling me crazy.

I just,

I think you have to, and there's been some dark days for Manchester United over the last 11 years, you know, or 10 years since

Alex Ferguson

retired.

But like, I think you got to continue to ride it.

I know it sounds crazy, but like, what are you going to do?

This is what, sorry, LD.

So by default, this is what they've done out since sir alice ferguson came and went they they pick a manager they get the players they get a new director of football and then they rip it up and then they go again and again and they do an experienced manager and then a young manager and an experienced manager yeah like what are you going to do so fire let's fire him today and then what let's go then get

who because by the way he's he was staunch that this is his system he ain't changing go give me the players to fit so you know what he did they went and got the players to fit their system a nine two tens underneath.

The width comes from the fullbacks.

That's how it works.

I still think, stay with it.

They need two sixes.

They need a goalkeeper.

They need at least one or two center backs.

And we don't know if Sheshko is a real deal.

So we have to wait.

So I still think you're five players away.

from getting this thing right.

That's at least one more window, yeah.

Right.

Two more windows, right?

So, but my point in all that, and I say it every week, well, well, I don't say every week, when a manager is on the verge of getting sacked or he's in the hot seat, I always say, in order to not get sacked, you don't have to be amazing.

You just can't be this crap.

Yeah.

No, it's true.

Like,

like, Man United don't have to do anything extraordinary.

They do have to be Brentford.

You get what I'm saying?

So, like, that's kind of, and if you don't do that, then everything I'm saying is like, wow, yeah, the ownership's going to have to have a look at this.

That was for those who follow football, American, that was the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night.

It was like, there was all this talk about do they fire, what's his name?

I forget a coach's name.

Mike McDaniels.

McDaniels.

Mike McDaniels.

Do they fire him?

Do they da-da-da-da-da?

Do they not?

Mike McDaniel.

And they played pretty well against Buffalo.

And so, like, okay, they just weren't crap.

They were competitive.

So, like, at this point, pick up a few points here and there, win a few games.

Just don't be, you just can't keep going like this.

You can't.

All right, Newcastle, Arsenal.

Arsenal this time came from behind.

Really, I thought gritty,

gutsy win by Arsenal.

Not an easy place to play, as you know, and big-time win for them.

Amazing.

Especially with Liverpool dropping all the points.

Yeah, they had to.

I mean, the pressure was shifted onto Arsenal because it's like, you know, not only are they trying to keep pace, they're trying to claw back some points.

And Arsenal lose, so then Liverpool lose.

So you're like, well, Arsenal have to win.

They go goal behind.

And then, you know, it was a good game of football, I have to say.

Really good game of football.

Arsenal.

Arsenal had some good chances.

Nick Pope, the goalkeeper, played really well at the beginning of the game.

And in the first half, made a ton of saves.

But Arsenal, you know,

they keep going.

They're one of those teams that, like,

they're willing to take risk at the end of games.

They don't take a ton of risk all game, which has been a criticism, but they certainly got some timely contributions.

They're really deep, really, really deep in their fit.

And that's something that Michael Arteta hasn't had.

He's had small squads up until recently.

So this is also a learning curve for him and for Arsenal.

I love watching games at St.

James's Park.

Like

every time you watch a game there, it's entertaining because it's just, it just feels great.

Every time they pan to the crowd, you're like, oh, it looks amazing to me.

Favorite stadium to play outside of Goodison at the time.

Yeah.

I mean, Newcastle's, Newcastle, Main United.

the best place to play.

Last thing on that game.

So with Arsenal set pieces and corners, can you just walk people through?

I love this about England because I hated in MLS or wherever I was playing.

A corner kick and you kind of crowd the goalkeeper to make it hard.

And like, if you nick the goalkeeper or touch the goalkeeper at all, the ref would always blow the whistle and give a foul.

And I'd be like, come on, man.

But in England, they don't care.

Like, you, I mean, you can.

You can treat them just basically like any other player and they don't, they're not going to blow the whistle.

So as a goalkeeper, how do you handle that?

Like you're getting crowded bunch and you know the referee's not given, you know you can't just like embellish something and get a call how do you handle that what do you i mean what's the

as a goalkeeper yeah as a goal what's the counter to that well i think as a gold just pray i think as a goalkeeper you have to be you have to be really super strong you have to you have to be throwing people out of the way you've got to you know you've got to redefly the ball and not get it's hard but try and not get caught up in

in in in the mix um because you know there's a ton of players in there and referees the referees let it play But the other part of that is if you are going to be strong,

you have to be physical and sometimes get fouled and alert the referee to it.

I mean, the thing about the Arsenal set pieces, and I always remember David Moy saying this, and I chuckle, but it's true.

We were always resilient at Everton, as you know.

And on Fridays, for those of you who don't know, he'd basically name the team on a Friday.

He'd tell Jimmy, because he'd be chucking down rain.

He'd say, Jimmy, go get the big coats, which basically meant we were going to stand around the 18-yard box with our coats on doing set pieces and the driving down freezing rain.

But he would always say to us, when he was really upset, he'd say, it's one ball.

So you're conceding goals from a corner.

It's one ball.

Go head the freaking thing.

And when I look at Arsenal, like the thing about Arsenal,

they've become so good at set pieces that

they end up seeing.

So what their set piece coach does is they study Newcastle.

This is how Newcastle sets up, right?

And then we're going to do our blocks, get our runs, do all the things.

What you need to do, and this is an evolution, what teams need to now do, because everyone's so afraid, right, Landon, so at the galaxy, at the national team, at Everton, basically we go, this is how we defend set pieces.

That's it.

This is it.

We put people in these positions.

That's it.

So you're giving Arsenal the advantage.

The week of the Arsenal game, you need to counter the counter and basically go,

we ain't defending.

They're going to watch all week and they're going to pin us and block us because they think this is how we're defending.

We ain't defending that way this week.

We're changing our system.

So you have to count it.

And the other thing about Arsenal set pieces,

which blows my mind,

they have amazing delivery.

Oftentimes with Saka or Rice,

they're only aiming for one person.

It's only every Gabrielle.

That's it.

Everyone else.

is a vehicle to block.

Now, every now and again, Saliba gets free.

I'm not saying you don't have to mark, you have to mark.

But this whole concept of like, Gabriel get, yes, he's good and the delivery is good, but find out where he is, block him off, and go ahead to the thing.

You know, and I love Dan Byrne, but if you look at, if you look at the goal they concede, and this guys are tired, Jesus Christ, they're tired.

But in the end, Dan Byrne, who's six foot 11, he doesn't get off the ground, right?

So he's tracking him, he's pulling him, he's holding, he's doing all the right things.

And at the moment of impact, he doesn't jump.

So conceptually, this is simple, but they're really good at it.

Well said.

All right, let's take a break.

When we get back, we will get into your questions in the AT ⁇ T fan connection right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Lannon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.

We'll be right back.

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Welcome into the ATT fan connection, where we take your questions and comments and we respond, mostly in a good way.

Jordan, how are you?

This is your time to shine.

Welcome.

Why are you wearing a Liverpool jersey?

For what purpose?

Because I support my club, even if they don't win.

Oh, that little chestnut.

Oh, nice.

Nice one.

Where were you watching the game this weekend?

I was home.

What did you say the moment Eddie and Katia chested down, left foot volley, bang, bang?

Bang.

What did you say?

I don't think I can say what I said on this podcast, but

we're unfiltered.

a really good friend of mine who became a Liverpool fan as a way to like, you know, sometimes people need a team in order to like get into a sport that they don't know.

And he's been trying to convince me to become a Bills fan because I don't know anything about American football.

And so he was watching and he texted me and he was like, what the actual fuck?

And I was like, yeah.

Wow.

No, but you did him a disservice.

You should have made him an Everton fan so he could suffer.

So he can suffer.

The suffering is not necessary, guys.

It is.

It is.

It is not.

It is.

You became a Liverpool fan.

Guess what?

Everything's nice and comfy and cozy.

We spent lots of money.

We win.

Blah, blah, blah.

You spent money in the Brendan Rodgers era.

Tell the people, you spent money.

You spent a fortune on Andy Carroll.

The money was spent.

You just stunk.

You beat me.

And sometimes that's...

That's true.

Sometimes you spend a whole lot of, you guys were just talking about Manchester United.

Sometimes you have a lot of money and you still suck.

So, you know,

why make things harder than they need to be?

I also think that if you have a friend who already has a club, like assuming their club so that you can build like a group of people who really love a, really love a club is fun.

I know.

I'm just mad because even those terrible Liverpool teams put a whooping on me.

So that should help.

I'm sorry, Tim.

That's all right.

Let's jump in.

Let's talk about some questions.

Yes.

These are kind of interesting questions.

They're a little different than some of the questions we've had in the past.

So this first one is directed at Landon, but I think you can both answer this question because it is about jerseys.

This question is from Todd via YouTube.

Landon, when you were in the Premier League, how many jerseys would you use in a season?

And maybe speak a bit about the equipment side that soccer fans don't see.

I see some players sign jerseys, they go for thousands of dollars, but other times a player will just give one to a fan.

Do you have a set number of jerseys from the team, or like, how does that work?

Well, first of all, mine did not go for thousands of dollars.

Um, if you check eBay, it's like $29.99

max.

I do not have,

I don't have the perfect answer because, because

it always depended on the equipment manager or the kit man, as they say.

So, like, I used to have one in San Jose.

We called him Monty.

This guy was the cheapest,

cheapest dude you've ever met.

So I'd be like, Monty, it's my best friend.

I've known him since I I was 15, Kyle Beckerman.

Can I trade today?

He goes, no, mate, no chance.

No chance.

Just wonder.

I'll buy it myself.

And so, like, some equipment managers are so hell-bent on keeping every jersey.

And it used to be a budget thing in MLS, which is crazy to say, but literally, that was like 100 bucks coming out of the budget.

And then in LA, Raul Vargas, the man, the absolute legend, has been there since day one in LA.

Literally anything I needed, he'd be like, what do you need?

Give it to me.

So how many would I go through in a season?

I assume, like, you don't take the jersey home and wash it and bring it back.

So, I'm assuming,

you know, pretty much the number of games, but I would always get a new jersey at halftime, too.

I would change my jersey at halftime, too.

And I don't know if everyone does that.

Yeah, no, I'm the same.

So, so in the Premier League, we were getting

you get two shirts a game, right?

I would always change it halftime as well, LD.

So, first half shirt, put it in the bin, take the second half uh shirt so i always wear two

um and then i would i would not i wouldn't keep my jersey after the game unless there was like some sort of significance or if i played well and kept a clean i don't even i don't even know i i i would trade a lot i would i would oftentimes trade trade jerseys so if i traded a jersey then obviously one of the two comes out and has to be replaced.

But if there was any significance on the game for whatever reason, if we, if we beat a big six team, you know, Arsenal, Main United, Liverpool, something like that, for the Derby games I kept.

Yeah, I mean, for me, you would get Tim.

They would say you can have two every game.

Yeah, you could.

You're allowed to keep these two.

No, you wouldn't take two, but you could definitely take one for sure every game.

And then my gloves, my gloves are.

I use a new pair of gloves every game

unless I was on a roll.

And if I kept a clean sheet the week before and I was like, but I I I probably went through, God, how many games this season?

40, 50 games.

I probably went through 150 pairs of gloves with training and games.

Wait, would you you would open the brand new pair for game day?

No, or would you break them in for a day?

I'd break them in for two days.

But you wouldn't want to keep them broken in like a baseball glove you need to break in.

No, because I could get them.

Yeah,

I could get them perfect in two days.

And then boots, and boots,

I tried to keep my boots.

Now,

we're both Nike guys.

So your supplier

will come out with new colors.

And so I don't even know what the cadence is every six weeks or every eight weeks.

So I would try and stay with my boots as long as I could.

But when they bring out a new color, contractually you have to wear it.

But yeah, that was.

Boots I didn't go through a lot.

I'm thinking, you guys made fun of me the last time I asked follow-up questions, so I won't be doing that anymore.

So I'm moving on in my

question is from Kimmy via email.

And she said, as an outsider to the game, I always always thought that if a goal was scored, it was the goalie's fault, as it is their job to block the shot.

That's right.

And logically, it seems that if the ball goes in, they didn't block the shot.

That's right.

I'm following you, Kimmy.

So far, we're on the same page.

I am learning, however, that it is not always the goalie's fault.

No, it is.

Can you explain to someone who never played why this would be the case?

It seems like a silly question, I know, but I struggle to understand, for example, how a field player may have done something incorrect that eventually led to a goal, and there is nothing a goalie could have even done to try to save it.

I will just say one thing.

I feel like we talked about this recently with something that happened with the U.S.

men's national team.

Like, why is Tim Ream passing the ball to the goalie kind of thing?

So, Kimmy, maybe go back and listen to one of those episodes of the show, too.

Go ahead.

Yeah, so there's millions of people who agree with Kimmy, and

they're in my direct message.

Say hundreds of millions.

you you're shite um

i think yeah i mean i think that what i would say about as you as you begin to grow in the game and land and i are analysts and and we we understand the game a lot of people do it a high level you you be you begin to realize that goals come from compound errors so every every now and again a guy's gonna pick up a goal a ball and go bang and you're like well we can't we can't really add any errors up that just happened um but if you start to look at tim ream was a perfect example right the tim ream goal and we and land and i talked about this.

Not just Tim Ream and Matt Fries, but if you go into a weekend and watch soccer,

you could rewind the tape probably 20 or 30 seconds and go, that guy missed that.

That guy should have made a better decision.

Bang, goal.

And maybe the goalkeeper's involved in that.

And so goal, the majority of goals get scored based on compound errors throughout the team.

So but yeah, that's the goal.

That's why the goalkeepers have the responsibility and do what they do.

Their job is to save the ball ultimately.

So,

yeah, and that's, I mean, because you were so good at it, and that's why you're on the number one soccer podcast in this country and other guys aren't, right?

But you, you can almost assign, by the way, this, I've been asked pretty much every question in the world.

I've never been asked that question.

Well, I've never heard that question asked.

It's a phenomenal question, Kimmy.

You could almost assign a percentage-ish of blame,

which would be,

I think, accurate, because in a lot of of cases, like the Tim Ream one, we can use as an example.

The first pass back to him, there's a lot of, you got to put a lot of blame on Tim Ream.

But in that moment, then his decision making, Matt Fries' decision-making should be better.

And then when the guy picks up the ball, it's not any real blame in that because the guy bangs it into the far post.

But like, you know, there's there, you can, you can, in some instances, you say the goalie absolutely should have saved that.

In some instances, you say 0.0 chance, and usually it's somewhere in between.

Yeah, and you make a really good point, just to put put a bow on it.

If you just get someone wallops a ball, if the land picks up the ball against me and he just smashes it and I have no chance, there's no blame.

But if there's a decision to be made, like in the Matt Freeze case, if there's a decision to be made, if someone stitches me up, I'm in control of my decision making.

Don't always get it right and I and I might fail and make the wrong decision.

But no matter what happens in front of me, I'm in control of my own decision making, right?

So if someone gives me a horrible hospital ball back to me, right?

I can say, well, you're dumb.

You shouldn't play me that ball.

But I'm in control of whether I try and control it, bring it down, pass it, or just lump it into the stands.

So, so, so if I, if that ball goes in the back of the net, yeah, I can go back to the compound errors of like, well, he shouldn't have done this and he shouldn't have done that.

But ultimately, the last final decision rests with the goalkeeper.

Yeah.

I, no, not going to do that anymore.

Okay.

There are no dumb questions except follow-up questions.

I'm joy.

Okay.

So this is your, this is it.

I'm only asking you one more question.

and I've had it with the two of you.

Josh via email says, and I think this is a lovely question.

How are you guys feeling?

You guys both have had long careers at the highest level.

Are you hurting or are you feeling okay?

And how much is fitness important to you now?

After a lifetime of having to say at your maximum fitness, which I feel like, Lannon, you just talked about some of that.

Does that become ingrained or are you just done with it?

Such a great question.

Thank you for caring about us.

There's so many people.

There are so many people who don't care about us in the soccer world.

We get criticized all the time.

We get yelled at by soccer parents.

There's so many things that happen, but thank you for caring.

Landon?

Man, it's not just an age thing.

It's just miles on your body too.

And sometimes when I'm, I'm still look.

like I'm physically in decent shape.

And so some people will be like, oh, why don't you do this?

Or why why don't, and I'm like, you have no idea how much it hurts.

Like if I went and ran a mile today, just my whole body, but especially like knees and things like, like, oh, it just aches.

And that's just a cumulative, your body just being worn down and worn out.

What's interesting for me is.

And it's a little different for Tim, but he was getting a workout, right?

Like an aerobic workout too.

But I was doing that an hour, an hour and a half every day for like 25 years.

And when you stop that,

and especially someone who's deals with depression and like that is a huge piece of not feeling depressed is working out and having endorphins and getting your body going.

And so when you don't have that built in for your schedule, it becomes difficult, right?

And my wife always knows, she's like, you need to work out.

Oh, shoot, I need to work out because that part was just natural and a given.

And now it's such a pain to like go work out.

And like, it's so boring and annoying, but it does suck to not have that built into your everyday life anymore.

Yeah.

I mean, I think that's, that's a, you know, the, the running part.

So like I tell people all the time, like, so I stay fit.

That's the, it's something that I, I, I love.

I love to be fit.

I have control over it.

I work out every day.

The, the running part, like, so I couldn't run a mile without, without something either like popping or tearing, right?

And because my, my, my muscle fibers are so, so broken down that literally I can go.

And then by the end of it, I can feel my calf doing this.

And I'm like, that's, that's going to, that's going to go.

That's amazing.

So I can, so I can do, do I can do bike and and ski erg and I can do tons of aerobic activity I just can't run that pounding my body is too broken down and the other thing LD which I found really interesting because I've had like two muscle tears from doing one was playing like flag football with my kids and one was playing soccer um just like i i jumped into like an adult league for one game and that was it

yeah right but what i realized is any controlled movement that my body that i like if it's like a deadlift or a squat or it's or any sort of like movement that I know my body, I'm telling my body to do, that's no problem.

The second I get into a reactionary situation, playing basketball, playing whatever it is, and I have to change direction, bang, it's immediate.

Like within, within 20 minutes, my muscles fatigue, and I can, like, I feel something pop.

It's crazy.

So I have to be in control of all the movements.

So, in short, we feel like crap.

We're all.

It was worth every, it was worth every second.

Amen.

Amen.

Landon,

now that I have heard the two of you say this, I'm wondering if I should maybe side with you on the question of how many of the lady vols are going to score on Tim in this penalty shootout.

Here's the thing, though.

It's four yards.

Here's the four yards.

I'm in control.

I know if I'm going left or right.

And like, there's a reason why he's the best ever.

Like the competitive, when I golf with people or do you think they're like, God, how do you like do that?

Or how did you make that putter?

I'm like, dude, you just either have that or you don't.

And he's got it.

So my money is going to be.

Thank you, Lynn.

Lady Vols, listen up.

Listen up, Vols.

I'm coming for you.

You know when I'll be there.

I'm going to release the date, but

you better be sharpening those tools.

Are you going to come, Lynn?

Are you going to come to Knoxville?

I'd love to.

When is it?

I want to say.

Did you say Nashville or Knoxville?

Knoxville.

I've never been to Knoxville.

You'll love it.

I know.

You want to go around a Great Smoky Mountains, man.

Let me check the schedule.

I think it's going to be a Thursday, like the 23rd.

Let me check the women's soccer schedule and the football schedule because we'll get you to a game.

Let's go.

I would love that.

Landon Donovan at the Lady Vols Tim Howard penalty shootout.

Wow.

I just like this because it means that Landon's going to come back and tell us what really happened.

Yeah.

I mean, Tim will try to.

No, you'll edit the videos.

I won't edit the video.

I won't edit the video.

Listen, I'm here for it.

Guys, I will give you the real behind the scenes.

You'll see it.

Thanks.

All right.

Thanks, JR.

Thanks, Jeff.

All right, Tim, another great episode.

Thank you all for being with us.

Go USA tonight against the powerhouse, New Caledonia.

Remember, as always, subscribe on YouTube, Apple, Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere else you get your pods and follow across all social media at Unfiltered Soccer for all the bonus content.

Thanks, everybody.

Another amazing episode, LD.

Thank you to our presenting sponsor, VW, our fan connection sponsor, AT ⁇ T, our Unfiltered Refresh sponsor, Coors Light, and our additional sponsors, Cafe Bustello and Virgin Atlantic.

Have an amazing week.

We'll be back in two weeks, two weeks, with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.