MLS Playoff Picture, USMNT vs AC Milan, and Liverpool Lose 4 in a Row

The captain is not always your best player.

The captain is just your captain.

It has nothing to do with ability.

It's about accountability.

That's who your captain is.

Unfiltered soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.

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soccer for over five years.

LD, how are you, bud?

What's up, bud?

We're back.

U.S.

LNT.

Unfiltered soccer.

I'm Tim Howard.

He's Landon Donovan.

I just, I still can't get over your hair.

I mean, it's as gorgeous as ever.

At what point will we just stop talking about it?

Soon.

Soon, I think, but I'm just not used to it yet.

My brother and sister-in-law came over yesterday, and I was like in the garage.

They were taking my daughter somewhere.

And they go, wait, Lan,

come out here.

And I'm like, what?

I'm like, I got no shirt on.

I'm in like soccer shorts.

I'm like, I'm not coming out there.

And I walked out.

They're like, oh my God, your hair.

We haven't seen it.

And I'm like, oh god we got to talk about this again so anyway just kind of happens but it's fun whatever could be worse um what did you get up to this weekend nothing chilled out man chilled out how nice is that yeah

you didn't work i didn't work so i just woke up watched some soccer got a coffee chill that was great watched your giants watched my giants watching versus tennessee both took a loss this weekend so it was tough but emerton took a loss so it wasn't like an amazing weekend of sports for me, but still watching.

It could be worse.

Could be worse.

All right, guys, welcome to the show.

As always, follow us on social media, Unfiltered Soccer, subscribe, Apple, Spotify, anywhere you get your podcast.

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Or you can, and you can email Jordan at feedback at unfilteredsoccer.com.

Happy anniversary to us, Tim.

It is the one year.

We are one.

This is our last

show of this

season.

Isn't that crazy?

Blue by.

I mean, all right, right, how many episodes?

40?

Is that 40?

Yeah.

40 episodes.

All right, let's move on.

Enough of the nostalgia.

Okay, the real US MNT on US LT.

Okay, so

tough weekend for some guys.

We saw Malik Tillman out for a few more weeks.

Two more weeks, is that right?

I think so, yeah.

I want to dive into the polistic stuff.

So he said he has a low-grade tear in his hamstring.

I'm guessing two, three, four weeks.

The bigger takeaway was, man, I know we have a lot to say about this.

Milan's manager, Max Salegri,

was upset that Christian was, quote, playing in a game that no points were on the line and blah, blah, blah.

And he just went on and on how this should never happen and

going after Pochettino.

And yeah, just go ahead, give people the reality on this because it's so ridiculous.

Well, I guess the reality for me is, is,

you know, we've

talked about ad nauseum that every game for the U.S.

matters.

They haven't had their team together for a major tournament like the Gold Cup.

They don't have World Cup qualifying.

So actually,

this was essentially a World Cup qualifier for us.

It was an opportunity to get our team together and to fight for points.

And we saw what Chris Richards said about how it mattered.

And we saw that.

So

the game matters.

Ultimately,

it's a muscle injury on a player who had an entire summer off.

He had a full preseason, right?

Which means all of the fitness fundamental building blocks were put in place.

And it's the beginning of the season.

It's a niggle.

To suggest that he should not have played in a game that did mean something to the U.S.,

right,

for their preparation.

to suggest that he shouldn't have played in that game it's not like it's not like they had

it's the it's april and they had champions league

Serie A, and then a national team game on the back end of it.

This is the beginning of the season.

So muscle injuries happen.

I think it's crazy for Milan to suggest that he shouldn't have played.

So there is a club versus country poll, and we're seeing it, and it's been for forever.

And

I think where, and I'm not in those conversations right now that are happening in Milan, but

I do hope Christian has enough stock and and and enough um

bravado is not the right word but clout yeah yeah clout right he he's this is going to be a problem uh elegy said they're not going to be available much before next international match so what he's doing and you know this we talked about he's setting the table for basically saying totally i'm not sure christian can come in and i hope christian and Poch go, well, yeah, right, sure.

I'm obviously going to be there.

I'm going to be fit and I'm going to play.

Like, this can't happen to the U.S.

where he gets himself fit a week and a half or two weeks before the next international break, plays for Milan

and he's fit.

And then, and then the team or him say, yeah, well, I can't go to the November internationals.

That's crazy talk.

So, obviously, hopefully he's okay.

It sounds as if there's, it's a, it's, you know, a couple weeks, but that's where that is.

And I, and again, he, for me, he has enough cloud.

He's the best player.

He's one of the top players in the Syria.

I'm the best American player.

Like, he puts in performances.

He has to be able to say,

guess what?

This might upset you, but like, I'm going in.

Yeah.

And

to borrow one of your phrases, Allegri, do me a favor.

Like, have some context of the big picture.

And this is what, this bothers me about coaches.

They're so focused on this day, this weekend, this result themselves.

Go back and look what Pochettino did in the past in letting Christian go.

He didn't bring him in this summer to the gold cup.

so, so he goes and he gets injured.

It happens.

It's part of, it's part of the game.

Just stop, dude.

Like, just enough of that.

I do hope for Christian's sake that he's back quickly.

I wonder, too,

in his brain, if he's like,

I knew I shouldn't have come in or I knew I shouldn't have played.

Or I do wonder that.

I hope that's not the case.

Hopefully not.

There was so much value in these two games

for the team as a whole.

And I hope he's able to see that.

And so we'll follow this.

It'll be interesting.

Let's just tack on to the end of that.

So this whole um

pochettino was very interesting he said over the summer or over these this international break that he does not communicate with his players when they're not in national team camp now i spent um some time with him before the last game and he said landon i I communicate with my players when they come into camp.

We communicate a lot.

I sit with all of them.

We sit.

We have conversations.

We talk, we catch up.

But in the way I do things, when the players are gone, I don't want to be disrespectful.

I don't want to step on their toes with their club teams.

I let them do their thing and I'm not communicating with them.

And it was interesting because elsewhere in the world,

Thomas Tuchel had a little,

not a dust-up, but similar situation with Jude Bellingham.

Right.

And I thought it was really interesting.

He doesn't, he said he doesn't reach out to his players if they don't get called in.

He'll send them a text or whatever, but he's not having long conversations.

So I'm just starting to wonder, slash see that this is sort of just the MO of either coaches at this level or coaches now in modern football.

It's just sort of how they do it.

And

I don't think that's how I would approach it, but I also don't, I don't have that big of an issue with it, to be honest.

No, I mean, look, I think it's, you know,

not everybody should be treated equally.

Like, that's the thing that you have to remember within a team.

And I try and teach that to younger players.

Like, it's just not how it works.

But when I look at Pachatino and Palistic, when I look at Tuchel and bellingham i'm talking you're talking about two of the better players on each of those teams right and so in my experience i always spoke to the manager the manager always spoke to you like like if you were getting left out of a camp the manager is not going to go here's the here's the list give it to the the press and the media and then all of a sudden you find out via something like the manager is going to tell you right and they're going to have a conversation with you and so

It must be the modern way of doing it or dealing with it.

I don't know.

I mean, I don't know if Poch was trying to send a message to some of his players back when he felt he needed to do that.

I don't know.

I'm just such a, I was always a proponent of having conversations, even tough ones.

I remember you asked me last, um,

which I forgot to answer, but the last episode, we were doing, we were doing uh questions from our listeners and and you said, like, you know, how does it work with the goalkeeper and the goalkeeper coach?

And I remember pushing, like, even when Jared Kleinsman was trying to give me the runaround after I came back off of sabbatical, like, I said to the goalkeeper coach, go ask him.

You go speak to him.

Like, I was having tough conversations.

I should be playing.

Like,

I knew he was trying to give me a runaround, but I said, like, I should be playing.

And I would speak to the manager and say,

you're leaving me out?

Like, why?

You know, like, like, really pushing it because they were never going to question my effort.

They were never going to question my talent.

So, like, I knew I could have those conversations.

So, I'm with you.

I know, a couple of summers ago, probably two summers ago now, I spoke to Unai Emery, who's a manager at Aston Villa.

And it was like the first time I had ever heard this, but he basically said,

I don't need to speak to my players.

I'll see them at training.

I'll see them at training.

I don't need them to like me.

I don't want to be friendly with them.

And by the way, he seems a friendly guy if you've ever seen his interviews.

Like, he seems like a nice guy.

And by the way, the players respond.

All the players we spoke to thereafter were like, we love his training.

We love his tactic.

It's really hard.

He gives us tons of information.

But like, they obviously like the setup, right?

But

I had never heard that landing before because I was coming from managers who would always get their arm around you.

And And he was like,

I don't really care.

Like, I don't really care that they like me, that we need to talk.

So, yeah, it's an interesting one.

I think it's generational.

I think it's generational too.

And there was a great, I don't know if anyone watched baseball the last week or so, Max Scherzer, who's like 75 years old.

It was weird, by the way.

I loved it.

So his manager comes out to pull him out of the game and he looks at his manager and like, he basically says, like, you're going to have to kill me to take me out.

And he kind of yells at him.

And there's this moment.

And the manager left him in the game, but he knew his player like he he knows he's kind of psycho and like whatever but generationally he fought for it he was like i'm not just gonna like acquiesce and give you the ball like i'm gonna stay in the game so i know it was weird but it was

i think but yeah that that being said and i didn't think of it till just now there's there's an argument to say you said he knows his player he might have actually said i'm gonna walk up here i know

the exact reaction i'm gonna get and i'm gonna walk back in the dugout so yeah maybe good point.

All right, let's move on to MLS.

So, decision day was this weekend, and there was a lot, a lot of implications.

First one, we'll start with Orlando City lose 4-2 to Toronto, and they dropped from a guaranteed playoff spot all the way down to ninth.

And now they have to go to Chicago to play in the playoff, in the playing game, which is

just a big, big blunder from them.

And then, what ended up happening, which I think for us neutral fans, we love, is

Columbus crew won, and now they will play Sincey in the first round.

So we get Hell is Real three times, hopefully, three times, or is it three times for sure?

No, I guess if you win two.

So hopefully, three times, which will be phenomenal.

So bad loss for Orlando.

Let me just breeze through a couple of these and then we can touch on.

Seattle won

at New York City FC.

Both teams finished in fifth place.

The big talking point there is Pedro de la Vega, big star player for them, left on a cart with what they think is a bad knee injury.

He's going to be out, obviously, for the playoffs.

So big, big loss for them.

That's the, you know, that's the challenge at the end of the season when you're fighting for positioning.

Real quick, the interesting thing about that is, and you and I have both been there.

And, you know, Everton,

you look at teams that are stacked in the Premier League.

Like at the time, Everton wasn't one of those, right?

So we had like, we had our star players, you know who they were, right?

And you're like, if one of these guys go down,

we can't find goals.

If Steven Pinot went down, we're not going to have any creativity.

You know what I mean?

And so

there was those type of players.

And I think this is what really hurts for Seattle.

And I know it's next man up type of thing.

And they have no good championship pedigree.

It's not the same.

Those Sounders players will be deflated, literally thinking, oh my God.

Like the amount of questions that will be going on in their head about can we actually even do this in the playoffs is going to be really, really tough for them.

Look at my guy, Ricky Pooge with LA, right?

I mean, it's just like, it changes everything.

Miami went 5-2 against Nashville.

They finished third in the East.

And I believe now they play each other again, which would be

very interesting.

Oh, ho, hum.

Messi had a hat trick.

We discussed it.

I was pushing so hard, Tim.

I really wanted Understriyer to win the MVP.

There's no

possible way you can name anybody.

I mean, this is just ridiculous.

Incredible.

It's incredible.

He's ridiculous.

Philly had already wrapped up the supporters' shield.

Charlotte, this is an interesting one.

I want to hear your thoughts on this.

Charlotte finished fourth, so they get home field in round one.

The end of the game,

Wilfried Zaha got sent off for a second yellow.

It looked like he punched Jesus Bueno.

He now missed missed their first game against NYCFC.

I,

this just baffled me,

like the level of

naivety and

just it's unacceptable.

I mean, if I'm a coach, I'm absolutely livid.

And by the way, why was he on the field when it's 2-0 at the end of the game on a yellow card?

Get him off the field, Dean Smith.

Just crazy.

I think that's right.

I mean, I, you know, there's a trust factor as well.

I think we have to add that in.

Like,

a lot of times coaches are trusting you.

But that being said, sometimes you have to,

sometimes you can't get out of your own way.

You need someone to help you, you know?

And again, I don't know.

Sam, that's not valid.

Like, how many times did a manager come in at halftime and say, you're on a yellow?

I know, I know.

I either trust you or I'm taking you out right now.

And you'd go, I promise you, I will not get a yellow.

Keep me.

I promise you.

You can never break that trust, ever.

I agree.

He had his first yellow in the first half, right?

So as the game's winding down, he's probably a player you'd want to get off because, again, if you know Wilfred Zaha, he runs very fiery, very hot, which is great, which makes him the player he is.

But

that also has to be managed.

It's unfortunate, though, because it's like hindsight now.

It's like, oh, I should have, but that doesn't matter because you're going to miss him for at least a game.

Well, it's not unfortunate.

It's like, it's just dumb.

It's unfortunate that they'll miss him is what I'm saying.

Well, yeah, but it's just, it's unnecessary.

And I, I was,

if they don't end up advancing now,

you know, there's one person to play.

Yeah,

good season.

Singleton.

Fantastic season.

He's he's really crucial to them.

San Diego, wow.

4-0 at Portland.

They ended up finishing top of the West because Vancouver lost at home to Dallas.

I think they only needed a draw.

So now San Diego, Lee Prague, Vancouver, they set a new MLS record for points and wins by an expansion team.

Shout out to Mike Uvaris, who's done a phenomenal job.

I think they have a decent roster.

They're not deep.

They're not great beyond that, but he's done a phenomenal job.

Portland will play the play-in game now

at home against Salt Lake.

This is Monday, so when it comes out Tuesday, it'll be tomorrow and Wednesday.

Vancouver, we talked about now.

Dallas finished seventh.

Vancouver finished second, so they will not play each other again.

They play each other.

It's funny how that works.

And then lastly, Colorado.

Oh, this was brutal.

Home to LAFC.

They go up late, and then they concede even later later and they're knocked out of the playoffs which is just brutal my guys my guys i felt i felt bad for them and they i know it's uh you know had a decent season on the cusp you obviously want to get in but that's heartbreaking stuff again that that's the type of stuff when we talked about like a player getting injured and you worry about you know what the like the postseason is going to look like when you get knocked out like that that'll stay that'll stay with those players

for a couple months yeah you'll stay with them for a couple months and it's it's tough man you know to draw 2-2 at home against LAFC is not terrible, but they won one of their last seven, right?

And then you look back and you go, oh my God, that one point there.

And that's just, that's the hardest thing.

Yeah, you're right.

Listen, when you don't, when you don't get in the playoffs, it's not based off one result.

No, I know.

It always comes down to the last game where you feel like, oh, I should have.

And right, it's like the qualifying in 2018 with you guys, right?

It wasn't the Trinidad.

It was, you know, the first two games.

Sure.

Losing at home and then Costa Rica.

Yep, that's right.

It's just, yeah.

That's right.

Okay.

Matchup I'm most excited about.

For me, it's easy.

Since he Columbus, Hell is Real.

Like, that's a real rivalry.

And I cannot wait for that.

You on that same page?

Yeah, look, I mean, it's,

I'll be honest, I've got all eyes on Miami, and that's just not even the first round.

I just think it could be, it could be a, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm almost pulling for Miami to win the entire thing because it's like a, I think it'd be a watershed moment for the league.

I'm thinking more big picture.

And we, and we know that there's been notches on, on, along the way in terms of mile markers, but like,

I don't know.

There's just something about seeing the messy experiment end-ish with him lifting the MLS Cup.

For me, that, that, I think about the league.

So

I'm, so if I'm, if I'm going all the way that far, then I'm coming back to, I'd be up to in this first round.

Yeah.

Okay.

Give me your Eastern, just first round predictions.

So we have this on camera so people can know how dumb we are.

Eastern first-round predictions, including the play-in game.

Who gets in there and then go ahead?

I think Orlando.

Orlando beats.

And Chicago, okay.

Yeah, because

real briefly, that loss to Toronto is fresh.

It's fresh.

So

I actually don't hate that they have that nasty taste in their mouth.

Philly beats Orlando.

New York City beats Charlotte.

Miami beats Nashville.

Oh,

Columbus.

Columbus takes the Hillsville Derby.

Go ahead, you.

You got Columbus?

Okay, I'm going to go same as you.

I think Orlando beats Chicago away.

Okay.

Philly beats Orlando.

I'm going to take Charlotte over NYC.

If they can get through that first game without Zaha, that will help.

I think Miami beat Nashville, and I think Cincy will beat Columbus.

I do.

Columbus, though, man, that's a tough first round.

That's brutal.

He finished second.

That's your reward.

Okay, go west now.

Go west, young man.

Real Salt Lake to win the playing game against Portland.

Sorry, Phil Neville.

I'm on my bad, bro.

I'm picking.

San Diego beat Salt Lake.

I think Seattle get it done.

I think they get it done just in the first round.

LAFC.

LAFC and Vancouver, I pick over Dallas.

Here's the thing about LAFC and big players.

I'm thinking of the Sun.

I'm thinking of Thomas Mueller.

Like, this is playoff time.

And I don't know if this sounds disrespectful or not.

Hopefully it doesn't, but maybe it's why you bring in, no, no, but maybe it's why you bring in big players.

Like I want son on my team because guess what?

Playoffs, like he's, he's like, I've won this.

I've won that.

I've played everything.

So I'm actually thinking like, when he gets the ball, he's not going to be like wobbling.

I'm worried about the playoffs.

He's going to be like, give me the ball.

And he's been in big moments.

You know what I mean?

And so

I like that about some of these players.

It reminds me of when Robbie Keene came to the galaxy.

And it was like,

some of the young kids on our team are like, oh my God, it's the first round of the playoffs.

And Robbie Keene's like, this is ridiculous.

This is nothing.

Okay.

I'm going to go Salt Lake over Portland too.

That's just going more with my heart.

I want them to win.

Salt Lake San Diego is an interesting one because they're two teams that love to have the ball.

San Diego are more talented.

They just have, they have, they spend more money.

So they have Fonders Dreyer, they have Lozano.

Salt Lake don't have a player like that.

That matters a lot.

Diego Luna, but like that matters a lot in the playoffs.

I think barely San Diego sneak through.

I think Seattle beat Minnesota.

Yeah, I think Seattle beat Minnesota.

LAFC and Vancouver win.

So I think we're on the same page there.

We're on a similar page, yeah.

Okay.

All right.

It is time for the unfiltered refresh sponsored as always by Coors Light.

Choose Chill, get Coors Light delivered.

Go to CoorsLight.com slash US L N T.

Timmy, who chose Chill this week in MLS?

Our guy, my guy, Brad Guzan.

Finally, he's retiring.

41 years old.

An incredible, incredible career.

21 years.

He's been at this two World Cups, so 2010, 2014, Atlanta United's all-time leader in appearances, MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.

In 2007, that was before he went over to the Premier League.

He made 171 appearances for Aston Villa.

Just absolutely incredible.

We know him as a warrior.

He's a leader.

He's super incredible, incredibly dependable

and talented.

And the fact that he was able to be a part of World Cup teams and play in the Premier League and win the MLS Cup and with Atlanta, hats off to him.

Just He's a dear friend of ours, and I'm excited for him.

He's got a beautiful family, a wife and kids, and I'm excited that he'll get time to just be dad, whatever's next.

And let's be honest, if someone on this show hadn't been in their prime and playing during his career, he probably would have been a starting national teamkeeper for a long time, too.

So phenomenal career, biggest fingers and hands I've ever seen.

Great lip.

He's got a great lip.

Brad Brad Gazan, cheers to you, bud.

Just a chill.

Happy retirement.

Okay, last thing before we take a break.

Shout out to Trin Rodman.

When this news happened on the weekend,

she went out of the game.

She was crying.

Apparent knee injury.

We feared the worst, but it looks like...

It was just, well, no, it was a sprain in MCL, which I think almost all of us have had at some point.

She will be back.

And it's hard for her because she's been fighting injuries now with her back earlier for the MCL.

And that is difficult, but she'll get through it.

I mean, she's an incredible athlete.

She's an incredible competitor.

So hopefully sometimes when these things happen in the moment,

you think, oh my God, everything's going to.

And then in big picture, you look back and you go, maybe I just needed a little break.

Maybe my body was telling me something.

It's just time to pause.

And so

we hope she recovers quickly because our national, our women's national team needs her.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

All right, let's take a break.

When we come back, we're talking coaching changes.

Very interesting as always.

And we'll take a look back on the Premier League weekend right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Lannon and Tim, as always, presented by Volkswagen.

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All right, Timmy, this episode is brought to you by our friends at Virgin Atlantic.

Yeah, we're here at the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at JFK.

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LD, I'm going to, for a moment, brief moment, step aside and let you take this one because you have had a lot to say about this for a very long time.

Take it away.

So Atlanta fired Ronnie Dala.

Diala against Dala.

This is wild, Tim.

I didn't realize this till Andrew put it in.

Atlanta spent more money in MLS history over the last two transfer windows.

More money than anybody.

They brought in Latelath, Miguel Maron, and Alexey Maranchuk.

Finished second from the bottom.

And I was surprised.

I was surprised at the Ronnie DeLa hiring.

And everyone said to me, well, you won a championship.

He won a championship.

That was, if I'm not mistaken, the COVID year,

right?

Which was just like, just different.

Everything was different.

You're not giving anybody credit.

I'm not saying he's a bad.

I'm not saying he's a bad coach.

I'm not saying, but I just,

it just seemed like uh it just didn't make sense to me i don't know why i i don't know what it is it just didn't make sense to me atlanta figure it out man because

you now have garth loggerway's there he will figure it out he's a very smart man

you have

outside of philanchutes i think you have the best owner in major league soccer

he there no resource that they aren't willing to provide.

Their training facility is phenomenal.

They play in a beautiful stadium.

They have everything at their fingertips.

And so figure it out with your next hire has to, has to hit, has to hit.

And then also from the player standpoint, you know how good you have it.

You know, like that club and the way it treats you has to be better, has to be better.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm, I am,

well, God, so many places to start.

I'm going to start here.

I question that, I, I question the hiring mechanisms of many MLS clubs.

I'll just start there.

Good point.

I'll just start there.

That being said,

as an owner or an advisor or an investor,

I am not of the belief.

Now, I don't know.

I'll say I don't know what's gone on in that dressing room.

Okay.

I don't know.

So has he lost a team, blah, blah, blah.

I have no idea.

Okay.

But if you spent all this money, right?

And you believed a couple of months ago that this was the right guy to lead your team,

you can finish second to last.

These MLS clubs, there's no divine right with the amount of parity that exists in the league, you have no divine right to finish at the top of the table.

Sure.

Because here's the problem I have, LD, massive problem.

And I know this firsthand over many, many conversations over many years.

These ownership ownership groups sit in rooms, okay?

And they put these expectations on the wall.

I know expectations are important, right?

And then when, and then when, and then when something dips below that standard, that expectation, it's like throw the baby out with the bathwater.

And I'm saying, like, yeah, I know what we want to accomplish as a group, right?

But

he's not a bad coach, for all intents and purposes.

The team is not a bad team.

They spent a ton of money.

You just talked about that so like bad team they don't have bad players right right so

so

there has to be a there has to be some time

to get it right in my opinion in in my opinion in the mls now if money is not a factor and maybe maybe atlanta that's the case then okay i would just like to see managers get more of an opportunity um

and and and sometimes the people above where the managers sit overcook things and overthink things.

So, so but again, this might be right.

This might be right for Atlanta.

I just I just see too much of it, LD, that I'm like,

you can't have, you can't, you can't have gone through an exhaustive search process, come up with this manager, spent this money, and then 10 months later, it be done.

Again,

you should be done if something else is creeping on in the background that we don't know about.

But if on the surface, they just underperformed, there has to be another opportunity for this manager.

Okay, but I understand not whatever the expectations are and

whether it's good, bad, and different owners, and I know this, and you know this too, because owners, we know a lot of owners, different teams, when they spend X, they expect X.

I understand.

And so if you're spending top of the league, they expect to be top of the league, whether it's fair, not fair, whatever, that is just the reality.

Did they need to finish first?

No, but you can't finish second to last in a bad eastern continent like new england's there toronto i mean you're saying what i always say you don't have to be great you just can't suck so i get that yeah you get that and you have to show some signs of something but i would argue but i would or i would argue with because because you make a good point when you spend x you expect x i think there are people who aren't spending x who are still expecting certain things so i i thought you know

i'm well well aware well well aware and i would also say and i would also say right and this is,

you know, I'm one of these people who oftentimes think like, be careful of going home.

Wayne Rooney, be careful of going home.

Miguel Marone, like, like,

we might, like, we, we definitely, I was going to say, Mike, we definitely saw the best version of Miguel Marone 1.0.

Totally.

Like,

the comeback and the money you're going to spend for a player like that, I think you get lulled into a false sense of security.

Like, oh, we know this player and we'll overpay.

I don't.

Tim, there are very few players who, when either money or

ambition is gone for them,

sorry, not money gone, but like the allure of money

or what you need to do to fight to the next.

There are very few players who, when you take that out, can still perform at the very highest level because they have something innate about them that's very few.

And so, with Al Maron, it's like got all the money, no ambition.

He's not going anywhere else again, right?

Unless he goes back to wherever Paraguay or whatever.

But he's like, that is for me.

That's the yeah.

And look, like Sun is a great example in LA.

He just has that drive of ambition.

He doesn't need money.

He doesn't need to play for LAFC.

He just like wants to perform.

And it's new for him.

It's new for him.

Atlanta.

That's a novel.

I get it.

Yeah, that's true.

That's true.

That's a good point.

All right.

Let's tie this into Forrest.

So Forrest loses 3-0 at home before the probably before the final whistle was blown.

Ange was sacked.

Posta Koglu was sacked.

39 days.

And I want to hear your thoughts because you cover these guys every weekend.

But I have some some interesting thoughts on this too.

Well, you know,

that

forget what I when I what you just said.

Yeah, what I just said was very much pertained to MLS because there's different parameters.

Okay.

Okay.

What I, what I think about

the Premier League is

realistically, LD,

so many of these,

not so many, but a lot of these big clubs, there's, there's like, there's like that much space between the ownership and the manager.

You know what I mean?

Like there's like a, if you're, if you're like an Abramovich or Maranakis, you know, Obramovich, you know, formerly of Chelsea, they, they've basically,

and to an extent, Todd Bowley's doing this at Chelsea now.

They've basically created a squad that they believe in, that they think is good enough, and they have an ethos of how to build that squad.

And then they don't value the coach, right?

They just basically say, I'll do this merry-go-round of coaches until one sticks, right?

Like Obramovich basically did that.

You can come in, you can win the Premier League.

I can still sack you

because this year I won Champions League.

And he didn't get Champions League.

So he built this robust, talented squad.

And then he just spun the managerial dial until one stuck, right?

That's not usual.

That's not normal.

Okay.

So Maranakis, again, he,

you know, if you take that job, you're getting sacked.

Soon, later, I don't know, but you know, that's how it's going to go down.

Again, the interesting thing for me,

to my point and to your point, you, you don't have to be great.

You just can't suck.

And Forrest has stunk it up.

And it's unfortunate because I

do I think, do I think you, you bring like,

you have this team.

Forrest is a good team.

We know they finished last year, right?

Under Nuno.

Nuno is, you have the ball.

We're going to keep probably the most clean sheets in the Premier League are near enough.

A really robust back four.

Sometimes we'll go into a back five.

Top goalkeeper makes tons of saves, right?

Energetic midfield and then a front three.

And from that energetic midfield, we're going to spring one.

We'll give you one.

So we'll attack with four.

But when you attack, get your butt back because we're defending most of the game, right?

That's how they did it.

So if you go through this process of saying, I'm sacking a manager and I'm bringing in Pasta Koglu.

It's like the opposite.

This team doesn't work.

It's not how he works.

He plays a high line, tons of athletes.

You have to have the ball.

So they weren't good under him, but I'm also trying to think of the thought process of the ownership there as

far as to say, well, maybe we shouldn't bring this manager in.

And then, and by the way, if we do bring this manager in, oh, we're going to go through some massive growing pains.

We're just going to have to live with it.

Right.

You know what I'm saying?

Because here's the thing.

Was Sean Dyche, was he announced today?

someone I think I well anyway he was rumored I don't know if he was announced but then again when I'm talking about when I'm talking about the next hire you go from you go from a pragmatic manager to an expansive manager and if it's Sean Ditch you're going back to a pragmatic manager who by the way kept our Everton up so it's brilliant and I and I think Sean Ditch is a fantastic Premier League manager but it's horses for courses so it just doesn't make sense go ahead you you go

no you're right so you're touching on it from the club standpoint which you're 100 right it's so dumb

to fire Nuno and then bring in someone like Ange, not because Ange isn't a good coach or whatever, it just

does not mesh from Ange's standpoint.

Someone asked me this week and they're like, well, he has to take that job when they offer it to him, right?

You don't agree with me.

No, he doesn't.

He absolutely doesn't.

He's like, well, it's a Premier League club.

Of course he has to take the job.

And I said, no, he doesn't, because what can happen to him after this is I don't believe he'll ever coach in the Premier League again.

He's going to have to go start somewhere.

He's not a young man.

He's whatever, in his 50s or whatever.

He's going to have to start somewhere else, maybe in the championship, maybe in somewhere else in Europe, maybe he goes back to Australia or Japan or whatever.

He's not going to coach in the Premier League again.

And you know who did it right, Tim?

Because he's a really smart man is David Moyes.

And Moyes had moments where,

and you know this from behind the scenes more than I do, where he had some offers and he probably said,

that's not going to fit me for whatever reason, right?

So I'm not going to take that.

And he said this to me when I, when I was there, he said, I had some offers from some clubs, didn't fit me, didn't fit my style.

So I waited.

And people get so excited and they always think the grass is greener and the opportunity.

And you have to stop and say, look, money's not an issue for me.

I don't have to take this job.

I can wait for the right job.

And if he looked at that squad, and I'm sure, of course, he did before he took it,

and he looked at how they were designed and how they were built, and the profiles of their players, unless he said, Maranakis, I need three years and we might go down and come back up, but that's the only way I get this right.

And maybe he did, I don't know.

But you know who the owner is, too.

You know, he's a psycho, right?

So, like, you know, he might do this.

So, yeah, look out.

I just think from Angel's standpoint, it was stupid.

It was a dumb thing to do.

And I get it.

It's exciting.

It's a Premier League club, but

I respect respect your take.

I know your take.

I know that's how you're very balanced in that approach.

I see it in the opposite way.

I'm always jump at the opportunity, right?

But what I would say to that, Landon, is

having been across it so closely and

okay, Tottenham weren't very good.

They were good when he first took over, right?

I think they were like 10 on beaten or something, right?

Then last year they finished really low, but in the Premier League, but they won the

Europa League.

And he talked about, he talked about he always wins a trophy in his second year.

And he came good on that.

He got a lot of stick.

So my dear friend, Robbie Musto always says, ego is the enemy.

I think it's a book he read.

So he loves to quote that stuff.

My guy.

But so ego is the enemy.

And I think that might be

applied here.

And here's why.

Ange took so much stick.

I mean,

every interview landed last year, he was combative.

You saw it.

He was combative.

He was angry because people were giving him stick.

change your style.

It doesn't work.

Can't win in the Premier League.

So I do believe, right?

We know the angel.

We know the devil.

I think that devil got big, bro.

I think it got big.

And I think he said, you don't think I can coach in the Premier League?

Because the first time someone gets sacked, guess whose name's on the board?

Mine.

And I'm going to show you.

I do.

I think that had to play into it because to your point,

it's not a stable environment.

So he knows he could have very easily been sacked again, right?

So of course.

You have, Tim, it's so easy for me to say sitting here, I get this,

but you have to have a level of self-awareness to say, that is not a good decision for me.

It's not.

And

did anyone see this ending well?

They didn't see the ending after six games or whatever it is.

I don't know.

Okay, but the problem is, and I think we have to be fair to our listeners.

You're talking about it, as you said,

as you sit there, you had your morning cup of coffee and and it's nice.

The great, the elite, the people make it to the top, the one percenters, me and you, Poster Coglu, if you like, because it's the Premier League.

Michael Jordan, going to the Wizards, you think you can do it.

That's all you've ever done is backed yourself to the hills, even when the chips were down.

So, yeah, so that's why you make these decisions.

I went to Mexico and thought I could, I thought, you know, like, it's true.

And because we've lived it,

again, it's easy to say, but I've made those mistakes.

That's why you're saying that.

And David Moyes made that mistake.

He went to Man United.

How do you say no to Man United, right?

But you can't follow a legend like that.

It's not going to work well.

So speaking of United.

Yep.

Wow, what a win.

Nobody had that on their bingo.

I did cart.

I did.

No, not that they were going to win.

100%.

Maybe they get a reason.

100%.

And I was the only one in our production meeting last weekend, and Rebecca tripled down.

She said, said, Timbo, you're going with United?

I said, yeah.

Why?

Based on what?

Based on Liverpool's form and based on the fact that I've seen Manchester United go to Anfield recently in the last couple of years and just be stodgy, just be hard to beat.

I didn't think they were going to run away with it, of course, but I was like, I see the way that Liverpool is conceding.

They haven't quite found their form.

I could see a main win.

That's what I felt before the weekend.

That's all.

All right.

Well, that's four straight losses for Arna Slott and his team.

If they lose midweek at Frankfurt from Foot in the Champions League,

that will be the first time they've lost five in a row since September of 1953.

Long time ago.

I think that's the year my mom was born.

53.

Insane.

It's crazy.

Insane.

So

what's wrong?

Like, tell me what's wrong.

What's going on with Liverpool?

Well,

don't, you know, I, I, I,

it's an interesting one, right?

Because

you start to get, you start to get a bunch of different wrinkles.

Like, ekatike he's your guy we can't really be your guy if you bring in isaq for that money right yeah so i i would have liked to see and i think isak's one of the best records in the world i'd have liked to see ekatike

run himself out meaning you're gonna get we're gonna play how many games liverpool gonna play this year 50 some odd games right like you're if you can keep the shirt for the next 10 it's yours and by the way my record signing he'll get 40 games i ain't worried about him right Because you got to roll with the hot hand.

And I saw, I saw Alex Ferguson do it.

We didn't have a luxury at Everton.

So when David Mois brought a player in, you're playing.

But I saw Alex Sir Alex Ferguson do it.

You bring in this big signing.

You're like, oh, this guy's hit the ground running.

Hit the ground running.

He's sitting over there in the stands.

Like the manager will put you on when he wants, right?

But he wasn't.

And I'm not suggesting that Anasla is forced to do that.

But

Vierch hasn't found his right, his position.

Is he a midfield 10 who likes to look for the the ball?

Is he, you know, then that wasn't working.

So, like, let's stick him on the wing, right?

Give him a little bit more freedom.

That wasn't working.

So, there's that part.

I think

understanding, you know, this better than I do, or as well, like partnerships and understanding are so key.

And, you know, for Trent Alexander Arnold, for all the,

well, I don't know if he can defend.

There was a with Robertson and Trent, I would, I would say that even now,

some people might argue this.

If you gave me Robertson, Robertson, Trent,

Van Dyke, and

Canate, I would say that's still a better back four than what you can produce.

No, no, I really do.

I don't know if that's a championship winning back four.

I don't know.

But right now, so Frim Pong hasn't been up to speed.

There's something going on with Van Dyke, and Kirk has the left back.

I mean,

he's constantly on his back.

So I don't know.

Van Dyke just got run by

Captain Bumo in the first goal.

Yeah, it's bizarre.

Goalkeeper situation is not great because Allison is probably the best in the world.

And when he's out, you go down a level.

So

Mo Sala is not.

Look, the thing about Mo Sala for me is like, he's going to score 20 goals this year.

I know he's off the pace, but like he needs to get going and I know he will.

So

I don't know.

You, what do you think?

I think that even if you change one player in a team, the dynamic can completely change.

And with, you know, Luis Diaz gone, Robertson gone, Robertson out, Alexander Arnold gone.

Now you bring in Wertz, Ekatike,

Isak, there's like, there's all these different dynamics that change.

And sometimes it just bang works and sometimes it doesn't.

And you see it with, and, you know, we'll talk about City now.

They beat Everton 2-0, but like even some of the, you make one little change or one little guy's out of the team and all of a sudden everything changes.

And so

one thing that doesn't change change for them is Erling Holland just keeps scoring 11 goals in his first eight Premier League games this season.

I remember midweek, someone texted me because I wasn't watching the game.

He scored a hat-trick for Norway

and missed two penalties.

I don't, I'm not sure, has that ever happened in a game?

The guy's just on a different planet right now.

He's going to take Norway to the World Cup, too.

So, we're going to get to see him here next summer, which is going to be amazing.

You know, you know, the interesting thing, yeah, and

City,

obviously, I thought played well.

Everton played well in the first half.

But

here's what I would say about Holland.

And thankfully, there's nobody in the room because they'd probably smack me if I said it.

But it's like

he's starting to remind me of Messi,

not the way he plays.

But

you just read that, right?

11 goals in his first eight games.

You know what I'm supposed to say when you say that?

Oh, my God.

Wow.

Yeah, you're right.

I'm kind of just like, yeah.

And by the way, no one's even talking about him.

That's how normal this has become.

When you talk about the Premier League, talking about Arsenal, rightfully so.

Talking about Liverpool, rightfully so, because they're off the pace.

Yeah, Holland's got 11 and 8.

Like,

what?

That's great.

Now, when he first came to the Premier League, I remember going, wow.

You know, we had like a pace tracker.

It was like he's on page for 60.

He's on page for 58, whatever.

But like, now, whatever.

Yeah, he scored.

Can you imagine?

He's that good.

Can you imagine if Ekatike or Giokris or Sesco had scored 11 and 8 right now?

Just be like, always lighting the league on fire.

This is a man with Holland.

It's crazy.

It's also crazy because there's so many soccer.

I wasn't one of them, so I hold my hand up to say, like, I was, I was right, but there's so many soccer people who dared three years ago, dared to take on the conversation of is city better without Holland?

Is Holland holding City back?

I know he's got 58 goals this season, but is he holding them back?

That's so stupid.

Do me a favor.

Do me a favor uh on the other side of that loss jordan pickford um signed a new deal with the toffees through 2029 yeah i'm disappointed i think you hold some records and is he coming after you for you're disappointed i like jordan pickford i've had i've had great interaction with him but i'm disappointed i wish he would leave everton because he's getting really close to my records i worked hard i worked hard for them i gave everything

and jordan pickford is gonna beat all those records he's gonna to shatter them.

That's fine.

Well, I'm great.

I'm happy for him.

I'm happy for him.

Happy for Everton because he's been absolutely sensationally brilliant in his time.

He really has.

And by the way, Tim, and he said it in his comments, he said the dark days are behind us, and now we can focus on just moving forward.

And

we have to remember, and we're fortunate now, but for two or three years, like it was, oh my God, we might get relegated.

And he held it together and he stayed.

He could have gone somewhere and left and whatever.

I mean, he's helped keep that club afloat.

It is.

And

hope for Everton, because we're on a topic, the dark days are over, but then you also

need to see Everton back in back in Europe.

Like they've got to be back in Europe.

Those fans deserve those European nights.

And the new stadium and people.

And the new stadium.

Yeah.

So, so I think those days are to come.

David Moyes knows how to navigate that.

So hopefully soon.

Yeah.

All right.

Let's take another break.

When we come back, we will get into the ATT fan connection with JR.

Lots of your questions this week.

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

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All right, it's that time again.

ATT fan connection.

We love it.

You love it.

Jordan most definitely loves it.

And you told us before the show you might have some spice for us.

Welcome in, Jordan.

Yes, I do.

I have some

slightly spicy questions this week, I think.

A little bit.

Jordan, you're a bit somber today.

Why is that?

I'm not sure what she's doing.

You know what she's trying hard?

She's trying hard to represent her team when they're down.

I get it.

She's pretending.

Yeah.

I'm wearing the 1993-95 replica Liverpool jersey with number nine Ian Rush on my back as a reminder to all the Liverpool fans out there that we have sucked before and we will be

saying we'll suck again.

Tim, you know how during the game, like all the fans were booing?

She's trying to show like the world that she's a like a real die-hard fan and she sticks by them through thick and thin, but Liverpool fans don't do that, like Everton fans.

All right, go on, Jordan.

Give us some, give us some spice.

Okay.

Um,

well, we let's start with some U.S.

MNT questions.

You guys were talking about Christian Pulisic before.

This question is from Joel, Joel, I think it's Joel via email.

I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist, but I haven't heard anyone comment on the fact that Christian Pulisic had the captain's armband on for the Australia match.

I could see him limping in the first 10 to 15 minutes.

He shouldn't have been in the game.

Could giving him the armband, his first since Pacitino was hired,

been a way to get him to start the match if he was reluctant.

How is the captaincy decided on?

Oh, it's a good question because I have no

strong opinion.

First of all, no.

First of all, no, he didn't.

You're not going to entice entice a player with, if you play, I'll give you the armband.

So that's, I'm just going to start with that.

And then go ahead, Terry.

Keep going.

No, no, no.

That's all I have.

Yeah, I have a strong feeling about.

I play for some incredible captains.

And the captain is not a player.

The captain is not always your best player.

The captain, and usually it's not your best player.

The captain.

should never need to be enticed to wear a captain's armband to play better.

The captain is just your captain.

The captain is the most,

one of the most respected people on the team.

It has nothing to do with ability.

It's about accountability.

That's who your captain is.

So

I actually was surprised that that was the first time he's worn a captain's armband under Botch team.

I didn't know that.

But

I would imagine that with you like you, that definitely didn't happen.

You know, it was interesting.

I guess I didn't put that all together that that he wore the armband.

Tim Ream didn't start, right?

Right.

But Chris Richards started.

Right.

So the next logical choices would have been Tyler if he was in.

He wasn't in.

Or Chris Richards, really.

I don't know.

And Chris Richards took the armband from Christian when he went off.

Well,

I don't know if he took it, but he was

the next person to wear it.

So that's an, yeah, that's interesting.

I hadn't tied that together.

I guess who else do you give it to?

I think given his performances for the team i would have probably given it to chris richards and and everything he'd done but yeah that's interesting and and you know it's for managers it's you're balancing all these different things and so if you don't give it to them what does that say and so it's it's a challenge they should just

certain teams let the players vote and they tally that up um

probably not at that level maybe at that level but The manager, the manager should have his captain and then that's it and the scene and the senior leadership group.

You know what Bob Bradley Bradley used to do?

This was so great.

He'd always like, it wasn't a threat, but he'd always go, you know, with some teams, I'll have my players write down who they want to play with or who their starting 11 should be or which guys are.

He would always say on this side of the line or that side of the line.

And he would never actually do it, but it made you think about it.

Like, oh, who do I want to play with?

And then if you're like one of those guys who's like, shoot, do people want to.

play with me or whatever it was like really you know maybe you just threaten you know that that's i forgot about the the line bob he's top up being on the side of the line but i remember on the great

not great

but the milan teams of ac milan teams that i grew up watching were like maybe like late 90s early 2000s they had a club rule i don't know who implemented it maldini was the captain and then when maldini wasn't on the pitch there was a hierarchy of who had been at the club longest Didn't matter your nationality.

So Maldini goes off the pitch.

And at one point, it became ambrosini who was like a younger kid he had been at the club longer than anybody else because he had served through the youth so he got the captain's armband i just remember

yeah yeah

all right good question

okay so you guys mentioned chris richards in there and we actually got three or four versions of the question I'm about to ask you.

So this one is from Vincent via email.

In the US MNT versus Australia reaction live stream, thanks so much for watching, Vincent, Tim and Landon talked about players stepping up and being the enforcer to help protect players who would get smashed by the opposing team.

It sounded like Chris Richards was ready to do that in the game against Australia, but is he the right player to do that?

A center back with a yellow card seems like a liability at the back.

Wouldn't it be better for a player further up the pitch to take that role, like a Weston McKinney?

Go on.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But by the way, Chris Richards wouldn't be the only tough, tenacious center back who's willing to step up for his team in world football.

That's kind of part of that job, right?

We see it constantly in the Premier League with certain center backs.

So what Chris Richards is saying, he's not saying like he's just going to go steaming into a tackling and continually get booked and put himself on the edge.

That's not what he's saying.

Because by the way, you could also send messages in different ways.

And so

he's obviously going to be smart about it.

But of course, you're hoping

he's not taking a yellow card early on the game but i don't think that's what chris richard meant

and it is a little less about position although generally speaking center backs gritty defensive midfielders kind of carry that mentality and they're like that but it can be it can be an attacking player like Connor Casey, a guy we played with, he used to smash center backs and not in a retaliatory way all the time.

It was just like he wanted to be a nightmare to play against.

And so he would just hammer you and smash you.

Not me, but like center back.

And so it's more just personality, Drew.

I don't think Wes really has that.

We saw Sebastian Berhalter definitely has that in the Gold Cup.

And some guys just have that about him.

Okay, one more U.S.

Men's National Team question.

This one is from John via email.

John says, I have watched Miles Robinson since his Atlantic United days and admit he is a favorite.

Please go back over the last two games.

Miles started both, so the gaffer has confidence.

He played well.

Only fault was Irankunda breakthrough.

The kid is a beast.

Who knew?

Miles is an excellent coverage guy and superior on recovery ability.

In the podcast after the games, very little said about him.

It's not right.

Yeah, fair.

Fair or not.

Fair.

And because it seems now that Pochitino is going to play in a back three,

you would think he is the leading candidate to play with Chris Richards and Tim Ream.

And then the question is:

where is everyone best suited?

And that part is tricky

because you would say Chris Richards in the middle makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons, but Chris Richards plays on the right for his club team.

And there's so much value in just knowing automatically what that's like.

And then you come into the national team, you got to change a little.

So that is, they are different.

They are very different positions.

So, but I agree.

I think Miles was solid, did no wrong.

And as Pochatino always not only says, but shows with his actions, if you play well and you work and you fight, you're going to play again.

So I wouldn't be surprised if he starts next time.

And there are just some players who are underappreciated.

And Miles is obviously one of them.

But we don't disagree with that.

Putting two good performances

on a team where...

There are a bunch of stars, you know, his name is not going to pop to the

top.

So, but we're going to remember that remember that next time we do a live stream we're going to who asked the question john and john by the way you want it that way you want it to be that we're not talking about him okay so just like a referee you don't want us talking about him that means he's just doing his job solidly and then we'll look up in three months and go damn that guy started six games in a row that's pretty good and that's it's better that way because if we're talking about him it means something bad happened most likely

okay one more question this one's from katie via email and before i ask her question, I also just want to mention in her email, she asked if we would consider doing some content going forward where you guys discuss the different positions on the field and kind of like explain what each position is supposed to do and what purpose they serve.

I feel like that might be something interesting.

Social content.

I like it.

Yeah.

It is.

But I just warn you, Katie, there are like,

there's not just 11 positions because there's formations and how you play play and what it looks like if you're a defense if you're nottingham forest versus if you're man city so like we can get into all that but maybe she needs to send us a couple specifics on like i'd really like to know what a does or what you know what that type of thing in this system

right yeah you have homework

you got homework katie do your homework You've got a couple weeks before we start season two.

So give it a pick.

Okay, so this is Katie's question.

She says, I am a newer soccer fan, which kind of explains the thing she's looking for.

And I'm still still learning the dynamics of the game.

My question is, given the state of the current U.S.

men's national team, how much of the struggle we can attribute to the coaching staff?

I always see coaches get blamed when teams aren't doing well.

And I'm trying to decipher if that's the case with the current men's national team that seems to still be working to find their way.

Well,

there's a few things.

One, it's easier to fire one person.

than it is 25 on a roster.

Second of all, with the national team, you can't cut players.

You cannot bring them in, but you can't sign new players, right?

So you bring in the coach, and the coach has this group of players, and that's it.

I'm assuming her question is in reference to prior to this last

transfer, this last international window, because I thought the team was excellent and really moving in the right direction.

And to your, I guess to your point, Katie,

it takes a lot of time for a coach, and Tim talks about this, and giving coach more time to get a team to like culturally adapt to what you want from them on the field, adapt to what you want from them.

And with the national team, it's exacerbated because you only get them for a few days at a time.

So, when you're with a club team, you have them every day.

So, over three months, there's massive improvement, six months, massive improvement.

With a national team, it's really hard because you're starting over a little bit every time they come into camp.

That's right.

Nothing really to add to that.

That's it.

Nothing from you.

No, no, no random questions.

No Liverpool questions or anything.

Got anything for us?

I mean, you always, you're always.

It's four losses in a row.

That's Liverpool.

It could be a soccer question.

It could be anything.

No, nothing spicy.

No, I'm good for right now.

I would just like to remind people that we're off for the next two weeks while we get our heads down and get prepared for season two.

So you have plenty of time to send me questions.

Feedback at unfilteredsoccer.com.

Just be nice.

That's really all that I ask.

Don't boo Liverpool.

Give me a break, guys.

I'm clearly already getting it from Landon and Tim.

I don't need it from them.

Jordan will, like, in our group chat, put some nice comment that someone wrote to her and then ask a question.

And then, sure enough, that question shows up on the show.

So

flattery works.

Not this time.

Not this time.

All right.

Thanks, JR.

Thank you.

All right, Timmy.

End of season one.

It's a good one.

Congrats.

You got hair in an entire season.

That's the best thing that happened.

Wow.

What a season.

All right.

So

I'm going to do this relatively quickly, but I get this comment a lot.

And I think you do too.

One, when people come up and say, I love the show, we love the podcast.

Me and my son listen every week.

And the comment I get probably more than any is.

We love you guys.

You guys are great.

But just the production of the show is phenomenal.

And like the way it's put together and the social media and the graphics and the sound and all of it is amazing.

We're really lucky in that regard because

we enjoy what we do.

We have a unfiltered soccer chat group that is pinned at the top of my phone because it goes off

all day and we just talk soccer and sometimes we talk about and I pray to God it never gets released publicly.

But there's just a lot of, we enjoy it.

I don't know if we have an amazing team.

It just, it's fun, you know, doing a podcast at this level with these people is fun.

And obviously, we're going to show them some love.

So

and we got hopefully many, many, many, many years to come.

So I just want to run through just briefly.

So every episode is edited and mastered in some way by some of the following.

Adam Bronstein, thank you.

Grant Gadbois, who was on today, thank you.

Andrew Hartley, Tim Merlot, Corey Shepard, Jeremy Steinkamp.

And then some of the more regulars.

Anything Anything that happens on social media is our man, Dan Armelli.

Yes, Dan.

Big shout.

All the videos, big, big shout, Dan.

All the videos on social are edited by Kyle.

Kyle Curley is on here, and he,

my last chat on here was Joey from Friends.

So

that's people know what we were talking about in between.

Our production lead, E, Eric Newell, who's also on.

Eric is the guy.

Aside from everything else,

it's when I have an issue with electronics, technology.

I'm just like, hey, jump in here,

can you just sort this out?

And he does.

So, big shout out.

And then, every week we get a rundown.

And I don't know how this guy has time.

He has kids.

He loves the Eagles and the Phillies, although now the Phillies are out, so he has more time.

But he puts together a rundown of what we should talk about and keeps us, keeps all these things front of mind because sometimes we go, oh my God, I didn't see that.

I didn't reckon he's just like sits and watches soccer all day.

So, Andrew Gunling, thank you.

Thank you, Andrew.

We adore adore you absolutely incredible and then

i feel like we're missing someone who no that's that's it anyone else important we got our list no it's done that's it nobody else nobody uh like asked questions or anything oh oh you're talking about liverpool fan you're talking about

oh yeah yeah unfortunately she's a liverpool fan but we love her jr We love you.

We adore you.

Jordan, more than anything, thanks for that.

The public adores you.

We didn't anticipate

when we were were talking with our agents, and this was the Landon and Tim show.

We just weren't anticipating that there was going to be not only a sidekick, but someone who stole the show.

So congratulations on your first season of this show.

And we appreciate you all so much love.

And just so everyone knows, our group chat used to be USLNT, and now it's USLNTN.

N-J-R.

That's amazing.

All right.

Thank you guys.

Thanks to everyone for the first season.

We'll be back in two weeks, I believe, believe,

to start season two.

Really exciting.

Obviously, next year is going to be phenomenal.

Thank you guys for making this show the number one soccer podcast in the country, a top 10, 15, depending on when you're looking.

Sports podcast, we really appreciate you guys.

Continue to follow on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your podcasts.

And as always, follow social media

at Unfiltered Soccer for all the bonus content.

LD, thank you, man.

Thank you for being my brother and my

co-host,

our production team, our staff, everybody we just mentioned.

Pretty amazing first season.

And to all of you out there, soccer fans who adore this sport and our national team and all the leagues, and you keep us accountable.

You show us love, show us hate, whatever that looks like.

It's been a lot of fun.

We look forward to more of it.

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

Have a great week.

We'll be back with season two on November 11th with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.

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