LA Galaxy Wins 6th MLS Cup, Pulisic Injured, and Chelsea's EPL Chase

Speaker 1 He's the best player in the league. That doesn't default you into winning the Landon Donovan MVP Award.

Speaker 2 Until I do something to get canceled on the show, then I'll be the Tim Howard MVP Award.

Speaker 3 No chance.

Speaker 3 Welcome, everyone, to Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard, presented by Volkswagen. Volkswagen has long been a supporter of soccer in America and has proudly been a partner.
of U.S.

Speaker 3 soccer for the past five years. LD.
I see your VW swag going strong in the back. I'm glad you got it.

Speaker 2 I got my mug. They sent me a shirt to me.
I will wear it at some point. I also have a jersey.
When it's National Team Week, I will. I see your mug in the corner there.

Speaker 2 I'm going to get it its own Instagram account.

Speaker 3 Listen, I'm willing to wear my jersey on National Team Week as well, proudly, by the way, because

Speaker 3 that's all I get now is just to be a fan.

Speaker 3 How are you? All good?

Speaker 2 Good, man. What a weekend.
We'll get into it in LA.

Speaker 2 Saw all my old buddies, janino omar gonzalez mike mcgee aj de la garza rock i couldn't take it i couldn't take it i know it probably made i was i was

Speaker 2 i was watching the game and then and then the love fest came on after and i was just like oh my god here we go galaxy again but it was good to see you oh it was amazing all the staff all it was it was uh like it was one of those moments in life where you just i just enjoyed it like i was just sitting there enjoying it the whole time so proper football club man it was amazing

Speaker 2 uh don't forget follow us guys social media unfiltered Soccer. Subscribe on YouTube.
Make sure you follow on Apple Podcast Spotify. If you love what we're doing, leave a message.

Speaker 2 It helps other people find us. You can also email us at feedback at unfiltered soccer.
So what do we got today, Timmy? Something special.

Speaker 3 We got something special. For the first time on the Unfiltered Soccer podcast, we have our first guest, and it is my go.
It's my honor to introduce Bolton Legend. Houston Dynamo Legend, U.S.

Speaker 3 men's national team, World Cup member, lead soccer analyst at Fox Sports, soccer dad, and all-around, a truly amazing friend and person, Stu Holden. Stu, welcome everybody.
Yes, yes.

Speaker 1 Honored to make my debut, boys, in the podcast. You know, I heard you talking about your sponsors, Volkswagen.
Timmy, is that a Louis Vuitton soccer ball up there? Are you trying to

Speaker 3 get a little Louie?

Speaker 1 I mean, that would be on brand for you, bro.

Speaker 3 It would be on brand. I appreciate the shout because I don't have that sponsorship yet, but we're working on it.
We're working on it.

Speaker 1 I would have thought you did by the amount of bags you have.

Speaker 3 Let's go. Come steamrolling in, my guy.
How you been, bro?

Speaker 1 Everything good? I'm good, man. You know,

Speaker 1 I was at Dignity Health Sports Park for the Galaxy win on Saturday. So that was, it was fun to see the Galaxy back and it was a great buzz in that building.

Speaker 1 But otherwise, man, you know, I'm being soccer dad. I know you boys are both soccer dads as well.
I'm running around from soccer practice to dance to gymnastics to like, this was a nice break.

Speaker 1 I actually, by being on this podcast today, I get to skip school runs. So if we can, if we could film for like two hours, that would be great.

Speaker 3 Weekly guest,

Speaker 1 yeah, weekly guests, 7 a.m. Thanks.
Sorry, Kara.

Speaker 3 You can do a daily show. How you good, boys?

Speaker 1 Landon, you done gloating? If you had like, you know, 48 hours, actually, I broke.

Speaker 2 I wanted to, I wanted to show you guys something just because you guys wouldn't really know. I mean, um, so I got my ring.
I'm gonna wear it. Just, I'm just gonna.

Speaker 1 Okay, well, I'm gonna go grab my two if you give me a second.

Speaker 2 Well, I don't have enough fingers for mine, pal, but

Speaker 1 oh, wow, yeah, that's fair.

Speaker 3 Okay, I mean, you can share, Elanda. I don't have any clearly.
So,

Speaker 3 you know, we'll just pass them along.

Speaker 1 Hey, Tim, I was also just wondering, like, are Landon and like Ricky Poods, are they like the same human at this point? I mean, they're wearing each other's shirts. Ricky comes out for the parade.

Speaker 1 He's got Landon's shirt on. Landon came out with the, you know, the with Ricky's shirt.

Speaker 3 I was like, it's gross. It's gross.
I said it. I said it's gross.
It's absolutely gross. I get it.
Yeah, we get it.

Speaker 2 It's jealousy. We just talked about the game.

Speaker 3 All right. Jump in.

Speaker 2 Jealousy comes in all forms, guys.

Speaker 1 I don't know what you expected here, Landon. I don't know what you expected having me on.

Speaker 1 All right.

Speaker 2 So you called the game.

Speaker 2 I want to, let's just dig into the

Speaker 2 actual game. Tim said last week,

Speaker 2 it was a great quote. He said, finals are often disappointing.
Like semifinals are often way better than finals because finals can be cagey, et cetera.

Speaker 2 So just from you, we didn't hear the, I didn't hear the. the broadcast.
Tim heard the broadcast. I was in the stadium.
So just what was your take on the actual game and how it played out?

Speaker 1 Yeah, I actually thought the first half was a really good game. You know, we had the two goals from the Galaxy.

Speaker 1 I think in a neutral, well, not a neutral venue, once MLS cut away from the neutral venue, it really was to incentivize teams in the regular season.

Speaker 1 And so you get to host Cup and it's a huge advantage. I thought the crowd was fantastic.

Speaker 1 As we said just jokingly a minute ago, the Galaxy were back, but in order to truly be back, they had to win that game. And so I think there was a bit of pressure for LA.

Speaker 1 I think the fans were a little antsy as well about, you know, knowing that they needed to win the final. So having that early goal in the ninth minute, what a goal it was.

Speaker 1 I wasn't really sure how the galaxy would look without Ricky Pooge and a big final where I knew New York were going to defend.

Speaker 1 They played with five in the back, but Brueckman and Delgado and Serio, I thought were fantastic, the three midfielders. And that was that was kind of the unknown.

Speaker 1 You knew Pencil was going to get chances. You knew Gabriel Peck was going to be dangerous on the right.
And then Jovalich has been just a total stud up front. 20 goals on the the season and 21st.

Speaker 1 And I just love how he told us in an interview, we interviewed him post-game 2019, and he was saying, I am the future of the galaxy.

Speaker 3 He knew if he got that opportunity, he was going to score goals.

Speaker 1 And so I just thought the galaxy got on top of him early. New York Red Bull looked a little shell-shocked.
And then second half, they kind of came back into it.

Speaker 1 But then I was impressed that the galaxy had to show another side of their soccer and they just want to, they want to just beat you 5-4 as opposed to 2-0 and shut the game down.

Speaker 1 But they did really kind of shut it down. And Greg made some good defensive subs.
And they were deserving winners, I thought, on the balance of the full game.

Speaker 3 Yeah. You know, it was interesting.

Speaker 3 I was watching it and I just thought, like, I couldn't, to my comment last week, LD, like.

Speaker 3 Finals are cagey because basically you have each team has one hand on the trophy. So you're like, we're afraid to lose this.
And that's how teams play. It's just natural.

Speaker 3 And I just remember thinking the second half was so chaotic. I couldn't, I literally couldn't believe.
it.

Speaker 3 I think both sets of teams, like you get into these games and oftentimes say like, it's easy to say, like control tempo.

Speaker 3 Sometimes you get into like this back and forth, like basketball match and you can't stop it. Like it's just the ball gets lumped.
They're on top of second balls. You try and play it.
It gets nicked.

Speaker 3 And it was so chaotic that I was like, I was, I was utterly thrilled at the environment that it was. I love the fact that it was in L.A.

Speaker 3 And look, off the field, you know, I heard all of the post-game speeches.

Speaker 3 I have so much respect for the galaxy organization.

Speaker 3 You've been a part of it for forever. Like, they are the benchmark in MLS and the way that they didn't rest on past history.
Like, things have been, things went sour over the last couple of years.

Speaker 3 And for me, it would have been easy to say like, yeah, but we're the galaxy. It's fine.
Like,

Speaker 3 they took it personally, what LAFC had built. They took it personally that they weren't good enough.
And they decided to get back to their standards and raise it. And they did it in a very direct,

Speaker 3 intentional way. And I just thought, wow, I was blown away by that and really impressive and happy for Greg Manning.

Speaker 2 I was,

Speaker 2 so two things. One, just on the field, I was shocked.
And I guess I shouldn't have been, but I was expecting to see the galaxy I've seen all season.

Speaker 2 And like, it was like the, whatever, six minute ball goes back to McCarthy. He's got zero pressure on him.
And he just smashed the ball up the field.

Speaker 2 And I'm like, oh, they're not messing around today. So it was, it was interesting.
Early on, they played like they were way more direct, way more vertical, and then picked up a few second balls.

Speaker 2 And all of a sudden, they were 3v3 at New York's back line. And you're like, whoa, what is New York doing? And, but it was, I thought Vanny handled it perfectly.

Speaker 2 By the way, that guy has been through so much crap over the last three or four years. Job on the line consistently.
Everyone calling for him to be gone. And he just persevered.
I was so happy for him.

Speaker 2 After the game, I saw him.

Speaker 1 And and you know like with coaches they don't even celebrate they're not even that he was just like oh thank god we won you know like he couldn't even celebrate the players are dancing around but stew you know that feeling like he's he just you could see in his eyes he's like thank god you know we we as we do on the broadcast you meet with the coaches and players the day before and i asked him i said when you took this job in 2021 Did you ever doubt that you could get back here with the galaxy?

Speaker 1 You know, and he'd done it with toronto and he came in and he was going to be the guy that was going to flip this team and this franchise around and man you you referenced it landon that i i we called many of greg vanny's games over the last couple of years and i just saw a guy sometimes that look exhausted and he's getting it from every angle and his big stars get injured you know chichorito tears his acl and yada yada like everything that could have gone wrong for him i think went wrong but it also goes hand in hand and i i'm interested in your thoughts on this land is we also met with will Will Koontz, and you know, I think he deserves a ton of credit because the fans walked out and you know, they demanded change, and they felt what was in the front office at that point and the way the club was going was inadequate, and it was in the wrong direction.

Speaker 1 And they demanded change, they got change. But you also know when it's a coach, the coach is also only as good as his players, oftentimes on the field.

Speaker 1 And I think Greg, we all know Greg Vanny is a very good coach, but clearly that wasn't manifesting on the field and winning cups.

Speaker 1 All of a sudden, you bring in a good GM, sign the right players, all the pieces come together and he's able to win. So I just think like for the galaxy too, Tim, you talked about it.

Speaker 1 Like they're used to it, it was Beckham, Donovan, Keene, Ibrahimovic, you know, like Chichorito. It was always kind of the big stars.
I would argue, I mean, Ricky Pooge,

Speaker 1 he played at Barcelona, but he wasn't like the big star. I think the galaxy have changed their ethos, but yet have still found a different way to be successful.

Speaker 1 And in today's MLS, I'm curious what both of you guys feel about this like i don't know the you is what's more important to have the stars and to have like in a in a city like la and try to stand out a little bit or is winning championships clearly going to be more effective for the galaxy brand i i think winning championships is what yeah yeah if you can do it both ideally but you have to win and tim said last week and i never thought of it this way and he's getting his houston

Speaker 2 Dynamo owners are going to be spending a lot of more money after this. He said getting a big national team star, U.S.

Speaker 2 national team star, and a big Mexican national team star and playing together is he thinks is the way forward. And I thought that was really good.

Speaker 2 But if you think back to like, Stu, your successful Houston teams, you guys, well, first of all, you didn't have like big, big stars, but you had all these guys who genuinely cared about the club, like genuinely cared about the club and Houston and doing right by Houston and wanted to succeed for that city.

Speaker 2 And Ricky hasn't been here long, but that's why I know you guys are giving me crap for it, but like I wanted to honor that.

Speaker 2 I can see in the way he plays, in the way he cares about the club, that it's genuine. And

Speaker 2 it was devastating for him not to play in the final. I spoke to his dad after the game.
His dad was like

Speaker 2 beside himself with joy, even though his son didn't play. Like, they love the club.
And probably growing up in that Barcelona environment, they get that. They understand what that's like.

Speaker 2 And so Greg brought that back. The players brought it back.
But then to your point, Stu,

Speaker 2 like

Speaker 2 Nelson, Yoshida, Garces, who, by the way, was absolutely the best player on the field yeah he was amazing incredible incredible um and so just what they were able to do defensively um bringing marque delgato a few years ago like they were just surreo they were much more stable and they still gave up you know lots of chances and some big chances because the way they played mccarthy and goal so will coons and and greg just built a team that was finally capable of actually winning wasn't just all attacking and they won games 5-4 and 6-3 and all that but yeah on saturday it just showed that they could do it it in a variety of ways.

Speaker 3 Yeah, I mean, I think the interesting part about it is

Speaker 3 we're all of a similar generation and we've seen different iterations of MLS. And what we have to do now is we have to respect the American soccer fan.

Speaker 3 There's no team in MLS that wants to be crap, but have this amazing DP. No one wants that anymore.
That used to be MLS, right?

Speaker 3 It used to be, don't really care if we win, bring the star from Barcelona, Bayern Munich, wherever, and we'll clamor clamor around this one player, even though we stink. Fans don't want that anymore.

Speaker 3 Fans would much rather have no household names and win than one or two massive stars to go see every now and again and lose.

Speaker 3 To Greg Vanny's, you know, again, I can't give him enough flowers because here's the thing, Lenny, you talked about him being under so much pressure.

Speaker 3 Do you know how it's difficult to win a championship? It's nearly impossible to be the guy who's won championships and come into an organization and be the one who's supposed to be the savior.

Speaker 3 That's nearly impossible. It's nearly impossible.
And the fact that he was able to weather that storm, I just, even after the game, he's a very humble guy, in my opinion.

Speaker 3 And even after the game, I was thinking, I would love to hear him say, yeah, like he didn't do it. He was very humble.

Speaker 3 He took it in strong.

Speaker 2 He's like me now.

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 1 When I was actually the last part of that conversation with him, Timmy, I didn't finish or close the loop on it. When I asked him the question, he said, I don't want to sound arrogant, but

Speaker 1 I knew we'd be back here. And, you know, I guess that's, it's one thing to to say it now.
It's easier to say it once you're in the final.

Speaker 1 But look, I mean, all three of us are involved in club ownership in some different capacity. And the reality is to try to recruit those types of guys that you're talking about, Landon, with

Speaker 1 Ricky Pooge and loving the city. MLS has gone through these iterations, as you're talking about, Tim, but also in a period I would say over the last.

Speaker 1 I don't know, five, six years, really starting with Atlanta United's kind of growth and explosion in South America, where they would get these younger, you know, Argentine, South American guys, 19, 20, 21.

Speaker 1 Hey, we will bring you to MLS. We'll develop you.
We'll give you a platform, you know, and then we're going to sell you and we're going to make money on you. You're going to get to do this.

Speaker 1 So then MLS, and really the problem that's happened in Atlanta is that that model really worked and then it didn't work. And then all these guys were expecting that.
And it was just a stop.

Speaker 1 They weren't investing in the club and in the city and in the league and saying, I'm here. Now, look, Ricky Pooch is getting paid a lot of money.
So I think that helps. And I think that's part of it.

Speaker 1 Like, you have to pay these guys to not to want to think, like, I got to go somewhere else after this. And there's always going to be those guys.

Speaker 1 Like, Gabriel Peck is probably not going to be an LA Galaxy lifer. Like, he's going to go to Europe.
He's a young Brazilian guy. He, you know, he's had a great season.

Speaker 1 He's probably thinking about the next stage. But that's the challenge.
I mean, and I know you're dealing with that in Houston, Tim. It's like.

Speaker 1 You know, how do we complement like a really solid core group of American players and guys that get it and a coach that gets it and then add these pieces and fit this puzzle together to have success on the field.

Speaker 1 But like the signs are there in Houston, like it's been a much better, you know, trajectory than it's been in the past. And it sounds so simple.
Hire good people, hire a good coach,

Speaker 1 sign good players. I mean, there you go.

Speaker 3 There's your blueprint. But everyone gets it wrong, Steve.
Everyone gets it wrong. The chemistry is hard.

Speaker 3 The puzzle is very difficult, but it's when you get it right, you do realize how special it is. And we saw that in LA this weekend.

Speaker 1 And I want to say about like the landing, like MLS, you know, it gives you the tools. The galaxy, this is a John Strong stat.

Speaker 1 I mean, it's the last three MLS Cup champions all missed the playoffs the year before.

Speaker 2 I mean, that like, oh, wow.

Speaker 1 That's pretty exciting to me that gives you the tools to change it over.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that used to be standard in MLS.

Speaker 2 But what it shows you, I mean, we all make fun of the crazy rules in MLS and whatever, but what Don Garber has always done is he came from the NFL and the NFL's number one thing is parody, right?

Speaker 2 So any, in any given, when do they start the league? August. Every NFL team believes this is the year.
And they do. In baseball, you know, the Pittsburgh Pirates don't go, this is our year, right?

Speaker 2 Because the Yankees and we'll get to the Mets and Juan Soto. Like they're spending more in the Dodgers.
You have no chance, right? But the NFL. And so Garber always wanted to have parody.

Speaker 2 And in MLS, you... you know, some teams spend more, obviously, but Raoul Salt Lake was second or third lowest spending team in the league this year, and they finished near the top of the West.

Speaker 2 So there's parity and there's opportunity. Last thing, just to tie a bow on the galaxy,

Speaker 2 it's pretty interesting. And I want to get your guys' quick thoughts on this.

Speaker 2 If you guys remember last year, fans were calling for Chris Klein to be out in the middle of the year. They were boycotting games.
And if you just think about that versus a year ago,

Speaker 2 I wonder, from a fan standpoint, how people now view that.

Speaker 2 and you know there's got to be a little bit of like look what we did right got we got him out will coons came in everything changed tom braun is now the the president and now we're back to winning and and

Speaker 2 you know it's just an interesting dynamic and you guys saw this in europe more than i did but how much power in those situations fans have and is that coming now to america Yeah, I mean, I think it is.

Speaker 3 I'm a little torn on it because I am a fan of, you know, there's some times where I'm a fan and sometimes I'm an owner and sometimes i'm an uh analyst but you know there is there is power in that and we've seen it for the good right we saw it for the good when when the european super league was was trying to form and fans were like that ain't happening and over our dead bodies and and they single-handedly like stopped it almost and so we see that for for the good look sometimes um it gets a little bit nasty but what i would say is and I'm tilting this conversation to the positive.

Speaker 3 What I would say is, again,

Speaker 3 I started an MLS. You guys started an MLS when there was nobody there.
They didn't care.

Speaker 3 So I'd much rather have to navigate a fan base that is passionate and cares than one that just doesn't turn up and could care less about our team. So that's from my perception.

Speaker 1 Pressure and accountability are good things to have. And I think it holds the organization accountable.

Speaker 1 And then it then forces you as ownership or front office to make a decision and to filter out the noise, but understand

Speaker 1 what is real. And I think part of that is having to listen to your customer, which is the fan.
And the fan are your, they're your most loyal customer that you're going to get.

Speaker 1 They invest in everything that you do. And so you would be ridiculous not to listen to them.
And they have an opinion and they should. They're in it more than anybody else.

Speaker 1 And so I love that the Galaxy fans did that. It's nothing new.

Speaker 1 And as you said, Landon, in other parts of the world, where they'll, you know, turn up in hundreds of thousands and throw rocks and, you know, all kinds of crazy stuff.

Speaker 1 And you don't want to see it to get to that level but i think it was important clearly that the galaxy fans did that they made their voices heard there was change in the front office and you know what that change should have come for many years and maybe that pressure and accountability didn't exist or i'm not sure why those changes weren't made previously i'm sure when they're looking at this now saying man we're mls cup champs and we should have done this earlier but you know it's uh the galaxy are in a good place i said this on the broadcast that mls needs the galaxy to be what they are they're the winningest franchise in the league's history.

Speaker 1 Them versus LAFC and kind of, you know, being almost second fiddle for the last five, six years since LAFC has just ran rampant. Like that's going to be fun now if both teams are good.

Speaker 3 And you know what?

Speaker 1 Galaxy need LAFC, LAFC need the Galaxy and the league need both of these LA teams. So

Speaker 1 I'm excited.

Speaker 3 Definitely.

Speaker 2 Me too. Did you see the, Stu, the reports want to get your opinion on MLS league attendance? Yeah.
I believe they were second in the world in attendance. Yeah.

Speaker 2 And a lot of people like, you know, we get into this a lot on this show. A lot of people like to crap on MLS and how it's not great and da-da-da-da.

Speaker 2 I argue that the in-game experience in an MLS stadium is almost second to none in the world. The Premier League is still probably the gold standard, maybe the Bundesliga.

Speaker 2 But when you go to an MLS, I mean, being there Saturday. The entertainment value, if I knew nothing about soccer, how could you not love being there?

Speaker 2 And I know it's a final, but how could you not? And so, Stu, you're there every, you know, every weekend, every few weekends. You're in this stadium.
Like, do you agree with that?

Speaker 2 I mean, you've played everywhere, you've been everywhere, but that's my perception.

Speaker 1 Yeah, look, it's three dads here.

Speaker 1 The best way to quantify this is my wife and daughter were at the game on Saturday. My wife texts me after the game.
She goes, Can I watch the whole game?

Speaker 3 It's amazing, right?

Speaker 1 An eight-year-old, an eight-year-old watched a 90-minute soccer game. I mean,

Speaker 1 that speaks volumes. Yeah, look, it's an interesting conversation because MLS

Speaker 3 is at times struggling in the TV

Speaker 1 landscape in the United States versus NFL and college football and like NBA. And these are behemoths.

Speaker 1 The NFL is a juggernaut when it comes to TV ratings.

Speaker 1 MLS have long tried to poke their way through and take some market share away from even what you do every week, Tim, at the Premier League.

Speaker 1 I know it's on at different times, but like, you know, the numbers you guys do consistently versus like, how does MLS become that? I'm talking on a national level.

Speaker 1 Regionally, I mean, MLS is crushing it. You think about the fans, guys.
I was joking with somebody before MLS Cup.

Speaker 1 My first MLS assist was in Arrowhead Stadium versus the KC Wiz in front of 5,000 people.

Speaker 3 And like, that's generous. 5,000.

Speaker 1 Might have been my parents that traveled and were like celebrating that moment.

Speaker 1 And I could hear them and knew exactly what seat they were in like you know we've we've played in an old college football stadium i played on a baseball park in in kansas city like it's it's crazy to think where that has come where now you know don garber should tout this like the the attendance being second in the world being where they are right now the amount of soccer specific stadiums like the in-game product i i absolutely agree with you i think mls have really figured that out and they they've really catered and developed these deep bases with supporters in their cities and that's very important.

Speaker 1 The challenge is going to be now, how do you go from like regionally being so strong and relevant in your market to now making it a nationally broadcast TV product?

Speaker 1 So it actually pairs back, Tim, to a conversation we were just having about like, how do you balance these stars and your product on the field and trying to win?

Speaker 1 But yet we all know on TV, like stars sell. And when Ibra was playing for the galaxy, people wanted to watch that weren't really soccer fans or galaxy fans, but they wanted to see the main event.

Speaker 1 People will always want to see Messi.

Speaker 1 And I just think that's going to be kind of the continued challenge and evolution of like, still, do you have some super clubs that you're like, go spend money and spend a ton of money and get the big stars?

Speaker 1 And then everybody else try to do it different ways. But there's no doubt, like, the attendance has been awesome.
The in-game product is there for everybody to see.

Speaker 3 Yeah, I mean, I think to piggyback off that, it's one of those, when you look at, and we keep talking about over the next 24 months, which is now 18 months, essentially, and what we've built in this country from a soccer standpoint, from sponsorships, television,

Speaker 3 NWSL, MLS, I mean,

Speaker 3 the landscape couldn't be brighter. And the people that want to

Speaker 3 go into their pockets and be a part of soccer. And that starts with MLS, but they're also have an eye on the World Cup and NWSL.
And so

Speaker 3 it's pretty, you know, some of the

Speaker 3 franchise numbers for even NWSL clubs now are through the roof. And it's like, you could have never thought that 10 years ago.
So like where soccer is right now is healthy. I do agree with you.

Speaker 3 I think we need some really dominant teams in MLS. I'm one who I look, parody's good.

Speaker 3 I also love the fact that there's going to be villains and heroes and you're going to chase the villains at the top. So I do.
I think big, big players at certain clubs are good.

Speaker 3 I think just solid organizations all around who aren't built around big stars are also good. So I think the balance is starting to get evened out.

Speaker 2 All right. Well, since you're not taking the lead on this, Tim, I'm going to uncomfortably take the lead on this.
Correct. Correct.

Speaker 3 Tell you're being quiet on purpose. I'll get to it.

Speaker 2 So Leo Messi was named the MVP.

Speaker 3 Which MVP?

Speaker 3 Lionel Messi was this year's recipient of the Landon Donovan MLS MVP Award. We'll get to that part in a second.
But Stu, when you look at his numbers, they were ridiculous.

Speaker 3 20 goals and 10 assists in a regular season.

Speaker 3 This is how the top five looked in the voting. Messi, Couture Hernandez, Evander, Benteke, and Suarez.
The problem is, for some people, is Messi didn't play a lot of games. So go.

Speaker 3 I want your take.

Speaker 1 You seem very passionate about this.

Speaker 3 I'm cool. Like, I'm good.
Like,

Speaker 3 if you can score the goals and the goal involvements that he had had and play, like, I think it was 19 games or something. Yeah,

Speaker 3 you're valuable to me. You're the most valuable to me.

Speaker 1 So I voted for Leonel Messi as MVP. And, you know, I'm sure I'm going to get shredded after this.

Speaker 3 That's what we do on this show.

Speaker 3 Yeah, but I did.

Speaker 1 I used my media vote and voted for Lionel Messi because I personally feel now. It depends on how you want to define most valuable player or Landon Donovan most valuable player.

Speaker 1 because really like i had this debate with john strong about this as well he's saying well the most valuable player to me is that if you took that player out of the team yeah that team would not be nearly as good and i get that like and and messi

Speaker 1 for in this case miami without messi they still were pretty good for a large chunk of the year now it does help that they have suarez and alba and boost kits and like all these studs But the reason I voted for Messi is because Miami were the best team in the league in the regular season.

Speaker 1 They set a record for the supporter shield. I feel that the most valuable player in the league should come from the best team in the league.

Speaker 1 And Messi, when he was on the field, was undoubtedly the best player in the league. His stats were insane.
The goals, the assists.

Speaker 1 I mean, he was on pace at the beginning of the season to absolutely shatter every single record. And then he picks up the injury in the Copa America and had to miss some time.

Speaker 1 He's the best player in the league, guys. I mean, he's the best player in the world.
He's the best player to have ever played soccer.

Speaker 1 That doesn't default you into winning the landon donovan mvp award but it also when you're when you're scoring and doing what you've done on the field he's the best player you can't argue that's top point i agree pucho hernandez is is phenomenal player but the crew you know they didn't have as good of a year this year they go out in the first round of the playoffs like the playoffs it doesn't count in this award but yeah i'm okay with it yeah we We agree on that.

Speaker 3 Landon, you don't get a vote on this, but I'm just setting this one out.

Speaker 3 But what you can do, and this is not a piss take, although every time I start something by saying this is not a piss take, people think it is, but it's not.

Speaker 3 Like, because Stu and I, who we think, we both think we had decent careers, there is nothing named after us. How does that come up? Like, is there, is that a phone call?

Speaker 3 Seriously, is that a phone call from the MLS that says we'd like to do this? Or like, walk us through that process.

Speaker 2 I'm trying to remember the year. I don't remember the exact year.
It was, I don't know, five or six or seven years ago.

Speaker 2 I got a,

Speaker 2 well, first it went through Rich, my agent, and they said, he said, Don Garber would like to speak to you about something. And I said, oh, crap.

Speaker 3 What did I do this time? So, never a good thing.

Speaker 2 So, Don gave me a call and just straight up, he just said, We'd like to name the MVP award after you. And

Speaker 2 first of all, what the hell are you going to say to that? Like, I didn't even have a response.

Speaker 3 Did you ask if it was like an annual fee or something?

Speaker 2 Did I get anything for it?

Speaker 2 No, but look,

Speaker 2 I love this league.

Speaker 2 I get a lot of crap for sticking up for this league. And I spent majority of my career in this league.

Speaker 2 It's not perfect.

Speaker 2 There's a lot of faults and a lot of errors and a lot of mistakes that we've all made trying to grow soccer in this country. But I am very proud of my career here.

Speaker 2 And I'm proud that I got to be a part of the league. So when that happened, it was,

Speaker 2 I mean, you can imagine the feeling. when someone says they want to do that, right? And that's an historical,

Speaker 2 I guess, accomplishment, we'll say, that will last forever, right? So that's not going until I do something to get canceled on the show. And then

Speaker 2 I'll be the Tim Howard MVP award.

Speaker 3 No, no chance.

Speaker 3 But listen, listen,

Speaker 3 as many people will say, we're in awe of you. And again, to be immortalized that way

Speaker 3 while you're still here. Jesus, that's always a

Speaker 3 after you're gone kind of thing.

Speaker 2 Maybe they know something out there.

Speaker 3 No, I hope not. Don't stick around, kid.

Speaker 3 We're going to move this along to one of our favorite segments because this is what so many of our listeners want to hear. US LNT on USMNT.
This is where we talk about the U.S.

Speaker 3 men's national team, players, teams that they're on in Europe and here in the U.S. And never mind that Milan lost.
More importantly, I think for all of us is that Christian Pulisic took an injury.

Speaker 3 And that is not a great thing. It sounds as if he's going to be out for an extended period of time, LD, maybe like January.
Is it a torrent? Is it being confirmed? A torrent calf?

Speaker 2 I think they said torrent calf, right?

Speaker 3 Yeah, that's tough. That's really tough.
So,

Speaker 3 not great from the standpoint. You know, hopefully, he can get himself fit because,

Speaker 3 you know, he has a little bit of time until the spring internationals, but obviously that's not ever something you want to see.

Speaker 2 Yeah, Stewie, your thought, just curious, yeah, your thoughts on where he's at.

Speaker 1 Guys, I mean, remember the uproar when Pochatino and AC Milan

Speaker 1 requested Ballistic to come back for for that second game. And I would have loved to have seen Christian play against Mexico.

Speaker 1 And I didn't think it set the greatest precedent, but I also understood these guys these days are being asked to play more minutes, more games, travel more miles than in the history of soccer.

Speaker 1 And there's a reason that like sports scientists and

Speaker 1 these medical teams have a really hard job now to try to understand

Speaker 1 how can we get a guy rest before they hit that. They're in the red zone right now.
Can we push them a little more? Do we need him for the Champions League? Do we need him for that international game?

Speaker 1 And look, Christian had a period of a couple of years ago when he was at Chelsea, where it was like he was in and out of the team. He'd get in the team.
He was injured. And then

Speaker 1 his rhythm, his flow, everything was interrupted. And so my fear is that like we get back to that again.

Speaker 1 I believe that's in Christian's past. He's played so many more games now.
His body's adapted more.

Speaker 1 He's more grown up. He's grown into his body.
But but it is a little bit concerning. And you hope that they handle this in the right way because he was in such great form.

Speaker 1 His fitness was off the charts. He was just, he's in that zone, you know, where you're just, you're playing game, playing game, you're feeling good.
It's like the best feeling in the world.

Speaker 1 Nothing can go wrong. And then now all of a sudden, he's just picked up this little niggle.
So I, I don't think this is like a huge thing.

Speaker 1 I just want to make sure that he gets this right and takes care of his body.

Speaker 1 And it's the hardest thing sometimes now to be like the advocate for your own body and knowing that like you know i'm tired because it's seen as it's seen as a weakness right you're like hey you know what i need to i need to practice off i'm you know i've got a little bit of a nigga i've got a knock and it's uh it's impossible to know like when that is coming and trying to avoid it if you can still play so that that's that's what i'm a little bit worried about with christian here yeah

Speaker 3 well articulated i think for me and i we all got to this point stu you had it you battled through a ton of injuries but i hope that even though he's young he's very experienced and he is the most important player on milan is the most important player on the u.s men's national team which is incredible you know i i i hope that not just because of this injury injuries happen and he as you said he's had this incredible ability to to sustain this run and this consistency he's been on

Speaker 3 what i would like for him now is as he starts to get that seniority again even though he's young is to start having conversations in those rooms where it's his voice and go, nope, nope, not playing today, can't.

Speaker 3 Because you know what? You need me. And right now now, my body, whereas we know, we've been in rooms where just like, I can't play today, but I just got to say yes.
I just have to say yes. And

Speaker 3 the more senior you get, the more clout you get by being great, you can then say,

Speaker 3 nah, if the guy upstairs wants me to play next week, then I need rest. And by the way, I'm not training Monday.
I'm not training Tuesday. I'll be in the physio room because you need me on the weekend.

Speaker 3 So I think he's getting to that stage, but I hope the injury isn't bad and that the rehab

Speaker 3 goes well.

Speaker 3 Yes, dude.

Speaker 1 I live that, by the way, just quickly. My first ACL terror

Speaker 1 was the Gold Cup final 2013. And then I went back to Bolton after that and I'd rehabbed here for in the U.S.

Speaker 1 for four and a half, five months, got myself to a really good point where I felt like, you know, I'm good to go back. I'm going to be on this kind of this path to getting back to playing.

Speaker 1 I went back and Bolton saw me and they were like, wow, I mean, you're flying.

Speaker 1 You know, your health,

Speaker 1 your strength is good. You look good.
Your fitness is good. Like, let's run you through some tests.
So I went through these tests and they're like, all right,

Speaker 1 we're going to get you back into practice in the next three weeks. And we're going to put on

Speaker 1 this reserve game at the stadium and make it a big thing. And it's going to be your comeback.
And in my head, I was like, wait, that's not even six months since I tore my ACL.

Speaker 1 But then I started to believe myself and like convince myself. But then it was also feeling the pressure of the World Cup was three months away.
My coach was like, we need you back in.

Speaker 1 You know, we're pushing to get promoted back to the Premier League. All this stuff.
I played my first game back from that ACL, man.

Speaker 1 And I succumbed to that pressure, even though I probably was experienced enough. I just got emotionally invested in, like, okay, I can do this.
Like, that's where I should be.

Speaker 1 22nd minute against Everton Reserves. Bang, ACL goes again.
You know, and that's me out for a year. And that was just like, that kind of was the beginning of the end.

Speaker 1 And I just didn't have the like, I needed somebody to tell me in that moment, Stu, don't do it.

Speaker 3 No, it's not worth it.

Speaker 1 You need three more months. Your knee hasn't healed inside.
Instead, I was like, yeah, these doctors are telling me I'm good.

Speaker 3 I'm, I'm good. I think I'm good.

Speaker 1 I'm, yeah, all right, I got to play. And then, you know, that, that was it.
My, my, my injury history is a lot more complex than what yesterday's got going, but like same emotions apply, you know?

Speaker 3 Yeah. The conversation around it is the same.

Speaker 3 You know, people being able to advocate for yourself and being able to have people around you who are advocating for you, because we talked about this when Christian went back to Milan.

Speaker 3 It was club versus country is real. You are an asset to both, and they want everything.
And as you said, they can see you in the red zone and they're still going,

Speaker 3 how do we get more? Because I need more because what happens with the U.S. men's national team is more important to me than what happens at Milan and vice versa.
So

Speaker 3 having strong advocates, I think, is important.

Speaker 3 We want to get your take on something here. PSV beat Twenta 6-1.
Tillman and Riccardo Pepe

Speaker 3 both scored. The interesting conversation that we're having, both Landon and I and everyone in America, is we need a number nine.
Flo gets injured. Flo's a number nine.

Speaker 3 But Ricardo Pepe, like, God bless him. He's arrogant.
He's hungry. He wants the goals.
He's getting the goals. Like it's his time.

Speaker 3 Give us your thoughts on where we are with the striker position, what you think about Pepe and kind of the order of things that I know Flo's out for a little bit.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I long felt that Flo Balogan had the highest upside potential, I think, based on raw skill and athletic ability and all the other stuff.

Speaker 1 But you guys know as well as I do, and we've experienced this with the national team as well.

Speaker 1 It's who's in form and who wants that jersey. And look, to me, it's Pepe right now.
Like, Pepe deserves it.

Speaker 1 He does need to make,

Speaker 1 I think, an important next move. Now, whether he could stay where he's at, he's at a good good level right now.

Speaker 1 And I heard you guys have this discussion on one of your previous pods and about, you know, like finding the right club. It has to be the right fit for you.
Is MLS a better option sometimes?

Speaker 1 Do sometimes we fall in love with this idea of being in Europe. But what I would say for Ricardo Pepe, it's pretty obvious and evident.
He made the wrong move initially by going to Augsburg.

Speaker 1 But at the same time, that was the club that was going to pay FC Dallas the most money.

Speaker 1 And it was one of the best options for him in that moment. In hindsight, it wasn't because he was going to a team that was relegation battle.
He's not getting chances.

Speaker 1 And then his development at that period in his career really, really faltered and he kind of just stood in neutral.

Speaker 1 But now I think what you're seeing, we always knew Pepe was a really good raw finisher.

Speaker 1 He has the tools to be that number nine, but he was lacking some of that confidence. But also, I still felt like mentally and tactically, he wasn't at that next level.

Speaker 1 And I think he's learned some of that from being in Germany and then also now from being in Holland. But

Speaker 1 the question to me is if he makes that next move and when he does make that next move is he in a position in a team where he's getting chances consistently and scoring goals like that's the most important thing for a final and then i'm totally fine with pepe being this starting nine for u.s men's national team and then all of a sudden we got a bit of a you know competition up there between he Balogan and Sargent but I love what I've seen from Pepe.

Speaker 1 I think he's shown like he can bounce back mentally from being cut from the World Cup in 22.

Speaker 1 He can bounce back from being completely discarded by a team in the Bundesliga. And he's got a bit of that Clint Dempsey dog in him.
He's, you know, he's got that like,

Speaker 1 I want to fight for this. And I love that I've seen that.
And I think it's made him a better player because of that. So if we were starting a game tomorrow, I'm playing Ricardo Pepe up front.

Speaker 3 Totally. Yeah.
And look, I think for, and we've all been there, right?

Speaker 3 We've all been the journey of like

Speaker 3 trying to make a World Cup team, trying to to be relevant. And right now he has 18 months to do that.

Speaker 3 And if I'm in his camp, I'm just simply saying, look, you've now proven you can score goals on this level. Anything you do now between now and the next 18 months, just be in a position to score goals.

Speaker 3 If that means go on loan to MLS, if that means go to another club, does that means stay at PSV? I don't care. At this point, all you need to do is consistently score goals between now and then.

Speaker 3 And then you get yourself in a shop window and you're in a World Cup and here you go. So I totally agree with that.

Speaker 2 So, Stewie, last thing before we

Speaker 2 let you get out of here and thank you for taking time. We know you're happy because you didn't have to do drop off today.

Speaker 1 No, if we could go another like 20 minutes, kids are about to leave.

Speaker 2 So, last thing we'd like to, we want to pick your brain on. So, we had a conversation last week.
Where are it? Was two years to the day since the Netherlands game in the World Cup.

Speaker 2 Are we better off today?

Speaker 2 as a national team or not and why? And then, you know, where are we going? And how does it look for the next couple of years, obviously, for next 18 months?

Speaker 1 Yeah, that I think we are in a better place because, you know, naturally, these guys now that made up this team were

Speaker 1 two years on in their development and

Speaker 1 they're more experienced. Some of these guys are playing more consistently now at their clubs.
And I think that was the thing going into 2022.

Speaker 1 A lot of, you know, Weston was playing, Christian was playing, Tyler was playing in healthy, you know tim reem was so what i think has happened over the next two years is that and and really in the the copa america the the leadership council or the you know the passing of the baton for greg burhalter to try to develop some of these guys into leaders i don't think it really happened because these guys weren't playing at their clubs and i i recently just wrote an article on this on uh on fox sports about Like when we, when I thought about our team in 2010 and I pulled out the lineup against Algeria, you know, Landon, you were a captain.

Speaker 1 Tim, you were a captain.

Speaker 1 Bocanegra, Demerit, Chirandalo, Bradley, like all of you guys were captains and you were captain personalities and individuals, but also you were playing like big roles at your teams.

Speaker 1 And Tim, it's going back to something you talked about at the beginning of the pod about like being able to walk in that locker room and know that like.

Speaker 1 you just have a different confidence and also a an authority to it. And when you're looking around in tough games on the field, like I would look to you guys to be like, oh man, these guys are fine.

Speaker 1 Like we're good.

Speaker 1 We're going to get through this. And I think that this team has really lacked big individuals that are willing to take that responsibility.
And I've been happy with the way that Pulisik has developed.

Speaker 1 He's not a natural leader vocally, you know,

Speaker 1 all the

Speaker 1 gesticulations, but he would lead by example by performing, but he still kind of wants to do that. I call him a bit of a reluctant leader.

Speaker 1 But, you know, outside of Tim Ream, there wasn't really like, you know, somebody that was just the calming influence on the team outside of Tyler Adams. And so Jedi Robinson's in a much better place.

Speaker 1 Pepe's playing a lot. And so now that would be my challenge to this group is I think talent-wise, we're in a better place.

Speaker 1 It's just like, can we now, the core of leadership develop genuinely within that team? Then I think we'll be in a good spot for 26. And I think that's the challenge for.

Speaker 1 Mauricio Pochitino is to empower some of these guys, but also push them at their club level. Like, hey, guys, don't just be okay with being a like leader on the national team.

Speaker 1 Don't be a leader in your club in these European locker rooms where you walk in and these guys are like, who's this American kid? You know, and you earn that by playing.

Speaker 1 You have to earn that right to do that by being an impactful player on the field. And then your voice develops, you develop, your experience develops.

Speaker 1 And I think the national team will be better because of that. So I think we're in a better place than we were in 22 because these guys were all 21, 22, 23 years old.
But yet, for the U.S.

Speaker 1 to be successful in 26, it's leadership, and then it's the guys 12 through 18 pushing the guys in front. And that we have like real competition for that starting 11.

Speaker 1 Then, you know, that's, that's when I think we could be talking about quarterfinals or semifinal because we, we had the talent to do it.

Speaker 1 If that's realistic or not, you know, we'll probably know that in a year or so, I think.

Speaker 3 Well said. Stewie.

Speaker 2 It's been an honor, man. We could not have thought of a better first guest ever.

Speaker 3 You kicked off the guests.

Speaker 1 You know, it's all downhill. It's all downhill for me.

Speaker 3 It's all downhill.

Speaker 2 Now, thank you, man.

Speaker 2 We would love to have you back if you have time.

Speaker 2 Best of luck to you in everything you do. Thanks for everything you do to help grow the sport too.

Speaker 2 Happy holidays. Thanks, Ricky.

Speaker 3 Thanks, Ricky. I mean, Landon.

Speaker 2 Let me show you that ring one more time.

Speaker 3 All right.

Speaker 1 Timmy, Timmy, always a pleasure, bro.

Speaker 3 Good to see you, brother.

Speaker 2 All right, let's take a break. When we get back, we'll talk more about the Premier League here on Unfiltered Soccer with landon and tim presented by volkswagen

Speaker 3 the unfiltered soccer podcast is brought to you by volkswagen the presenting partner of u.s soccer as the u.s gets ready to host the world for soccer's biggest moment volkswagen is helping people discover new turfs and new ways to play the beautiful game right here in the u.s from deaf and power wheelchair soccer to beach and futsal vw is actively supporting all the communities and teams within the U.S.

Speaker 3 soccer ecosystem. They're working with talent from across the U.S.
soccer extended national teams and are focused on helping to give these less widely known forms of soccer a platform moving forward.

Speaker 2 As a longtime friend of Volkswagen, I can tell you they're really making a difference, opening up new turfs and new possibilities here in the U.S.

Speaker 3 Thank you to Volkswagen and the Tiguan for being the presenting partner and for bringing nice things to everyone. Find out more about how VW is supporting U.S.
soccer at vw.com.

Speaker 2 Whether it's club or country, every field is packed and every match matters.

Speaker 2 And you can get in on all the soccer action with FanDuel because right now, new customers can bet $5 and get 150 in bonus bets if you win. All right, I love, love the Vancouver LAFC matchup.

Speaker 2 I think LAFC definitely score in the game, but Vancouver find a way to win. Miami going up to Cincinnati, what a great matchup.

Speaker 2 Cincinnati is going to be rocking, but I think Miami and Lionel Messi find a way to get through.

Speaker 2 Just pick your match, place a $5 bet, and if you win, you'll unlock $150 in bonus bets to use on goal scorer markets, match result, over-unders, same-game parlays, and so much more.

Speaker 2 Your funds are safe with FanDuel, and you get paid instantly when you win. So, if you've got a club or country you ride with or just want to experience betting the beautiful game, this is your moment.

Speaker 2 Just download the FanDuel Sportsbook app and get started. 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in DC, Kentucky, or Wyoming.

Speaker 2 First online real money wager only.

Speaker 2 $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets which expire seven days after receipt.
Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanuel.com.

Speaker 3 Gambling problem?

Speaker 2 Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/slash chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland.
Hope is here.

Speaker 2 Visit gamblinghelpline ma.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8 HOPENY

Speaker 2 or text HOPENY in New York.

Speaker 3 There's nothing better than feeling like someone has your back and that things are going to get done even without you having to ask.

Speaker 3 Like your crisp New Jersey waiting for you in the locker room or a perfectly set up wall for a free kick.

Speaker 2 Yeah, as we on Unfiltered Soccer get ready for next summer, we know that very little in the beautiful game is guaranteed.

Speaker 2 But as we prepare to bring our Unfiltered brand of non-stop soccer coverage, it's good to know ATT has your back with the ATT guarantee.

Speaker 3 Staying connected matters. That's why in the rare event of a network outage, ATT will proactively credit you for a full day of service.
That's the ATT guarantee.

Speaker 2 Learn more at ATT.com slash guarantee. ATT, connecting changes everything.

Speaker 3 Credit for fiber downtime lasting 20 minutes or more or a wireless downtime lasting 60 minutes or more caused by a single incident impacting 10 or more towers must be connected to impacted towers at onset of outage.

Speaker 3 Restrictions and exclusions apply. See att.com/slash guarantee for full details.

Speaker 3 LD, let's jump into the Premier League. A little bit chaotic.
So Liverpool and Everton at Goodison Park was postponed due to crazy weather,

Speaker 3 particularly in that area. So with them not playing,

Speaker 3 you then get Man City drawing the Crystal Palace 2-2. Arsenal draw one-all with Fulham.

Speaker 3 They didn't take advantage of that, and we will talk about someone who did take advantage of it in Chelsea. But

Speaker 3 Forrest then beats Man United 3-2, which is just like,

Speaker 3 when you start to think about like the new process under Ruben Amarim, it's going to take time. And you're like, that's okay, but we just, we need to get some results.
And then that doesn't help.

Speaker 3 Like, that really, really hurts when it comes to like.

Speaker 2 Yeah, they're like, they're trending upward, right? And then

Speaker 2 it's funny. If you just.
If you knew nothing about the Premier League this year, you'd say, they lost to Forrest?

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 2 But Forest are actually a good team.

Speaker 3 Sure.

Speaker 3 They're a good team.

Speaker 2 And

Speaker 2 they're kind of lingering up near the top, like much higher than they should be. But

Speaker 2 this was a bad result for you.

Speaker 2 This is a bad result for United States.

Speaker 3 It's a really bad result. But again, it's like,

Speaker 3 I know Forrest is doing well this season, but like as a new manager coming in, you still need to get those results, right?

Speaker 3 Because part of it, as we've talked about, is so many, you know, stripping away the old ideas from Tin Hogg and putting in your new ideas as Amarim. And as you do that, you need to get some results.

Speaker 3 And that didn't happen.

Speaker 3 But also the performance, although it wasn't totally flat,

Speaker 3 it was a little bit,

Speaker 3 it left something to be desired. Look, you can see the patterns.
You can definitely see the ideas. I don't think the players are there.
So

Speaker 3 you're almost looking at this now as like, let's maybe, this season is kind of a wash. Europe's probably gone in terms of like top four.

Speaker 3 We're not going to win the league. So maybe we just take it on the the chin and we just keep working at getting better in terms of philosophy, knowing that there's going to be players.

Speaker 2 But that's so hard, Tim, because

Speaker 2 that is the right approach. In every sport, you know, the Lakers for a while were just down, not doing the Celtics down.

Speaker 2 The right approach is you just start over, you start clean, and you build and you build and you build.

Speaker 2 But it's so hard because every weekend feels like a must-win when you're in the premiere, as you know, when you're in the Premier League.

Speaker 3 And you're the biggest, and you're the biggest team, the biggest name. Yeah, that's right.
That's how it works.

Speaker 2 You know, he's going to have, Ruben Emeram's going to have, he's got a PR

Speaker 2 management

Speaker 2 on his hands, right? Like that's, that to him is one, two, and three, internally and externally. How do you handle it internally with your players? Look, I know we lost.
We're getting better.

Speaker 2 We're doing the right things. Externally, we lost, but we're getting better.
This is going to take time. This is a process.
And

Speaker 2 it's going to be interesting to see.

Speaker 3 Meanwhile, yeah, he's a state-like figure,

Speaker 3 as every United manager is. So

Speaker 3 you have to try and manage things on and off the field. Speaking of off the field, go ahead.
I know you're going to jump in.

Speaker 2 I was going to say, meanwhile, Dan Ashworth exits United as sporting director. I think it was happening while you were on air

Speaker 2 during that time. So

Speaker 2 what was going on?

Speaker 3 Yeah, so, so, so, so, tons of background here. So, obviously, Dan Ashworth, he, he is,

Speaker 3 he was so highly coveted

Speaker 3 at Newcastle as a technical director. And United wanted him, wanted him and paid a couple million pounds for him.

Speaker 3 And they put him on gardening leave, which obviously then that meant he couldn't work for five or six months.

Speaker 2 Wait, can you explain gardening leave?

Speaker 3 What the hell does that mean? You know, it's kind of

Speaker 3 garden. It's almost like a non-compete, really, where, where why do they call it gardening leave? That's a good point.

Speaker 2 Does he go gardening for a while? He does.

Speaker 3 He doesn't go gardening. No, he spends a lot of time in his garden.
That's fascinating. Yeah, yeah, probably.

Speaker 3 They identified their guy. They went out and got him.
They went, jumped through all these hoops because he's that highly sought after. And Sir Jim Radcliffe and then Omar Barada that they brought in

Speaker 3 at the level. And then he gets there.

Speaker 3 I'm trying to think when

Speaker 3 he arrived. He ends up, they agreed a compensation deal in July, and then he gets hits the ground running.
And

Speaker 3 as you know, after the Man City, Man United FA Cup final, Man United United win, they do a season review, right? And then they

Speaker 3 extend him, not extend Ten Hog. They keep him on as manager, right? That's obviously a collective decision.
It has to be, right? Everyone has input.

Speaker 3 And then when you do that, you have to back the manager. We've always talked about that.

Speaker 3 We understand that that's how it works. And so Dan Ashworth was in charge of going out and signing Xerxe, Yaro, Masrawe,

Speaker 3 which are players,

Speaker 3 which were players that Ten Hog won.

Speaker 3 that's naturally that's how you should do it by the way so and dan as quarter said these are my signings because we've backed the manager we've brought him back we want to we want to get him his signings

Speaker 3 then obviously it doesn't it doesn't go well and here and here's the problem because this information by the way in a perfect world got leaked here's why because united would want this to maybe come out at at worst

Speaker 3 on Sunday during the Tottenham Chelsea game, right? You can kind of bury it somewhere in there Sunday afternoon. At best, it comes out Monday morning.

Speaker 3 None of that happened, right? So this information was leaked, and they talked about him leaving by mutual consent.

Speaker 3 I can assure you, Dan Ashworth didn't leave Manchester United five months after he got there by mutual consent.

Speaker 3 Here's a key factor. Let me read this to you.
United were beat by Liverpool in September, 3-0.

Speaker 3 Ashworth tells a reporter that he played no role whatsoever in retaining Ten Hogg in a joint interview with essentially his boss, Omar Barada,

Speaker 3 who says Ten Hog has our full backing. So now

Speaker 3 this becomes probably untenable, essentially. This is like I've been, Dan Ashworth probably in that moment undermined Omar Barada, and then it was just a matter of time.
Right.

Speaker 3 Which is,

Speaker 3 I'm just not sure you do that.

Speaker 3 In fact, I'm certain you don't, you don't undermine

Speaker 3 the person who's directly above you.

Speaker 2 And if you do, you have to be ready for these consequences tim there's an old saying you get hired for your talent you get fired for your inability to get along with people right so like no matter how good you are how talented if you can't get along with a person that matters in the club it's only a matter of time like you said and so this is this is tough to see um not good for united who we're hopefully stabilizing and now just throws upheaval and all of us so yeah the team um you know i'm watching from afar you're more in it but the team that nobody talks about, who all of a sudden is four points back, five points back, four points back, is Chelsea, right?

Speaker 2 And they're just kind of under the radar, doing their thing.

Speaker 2 They went away to Spurs. It was more comfortable than a 4-3 victory.

Speaker 2 Well, they're down 2-1 at halftime, and both you and Gary Neville halftime went out on a limb and said, I think Chelsea are going to win. Totally.
Chelsea won, and they deserved it.

Speaker 2 And so, I mean, while Liverpool sat back and were happy with the Arsenal city results, I think the team now they have to be worried about is Chelsea.

Speaker 3 Yeah, look, it's incredible because the reason no one talked about Chelsea is because Chelsea hadn't gotten it right. This is now becoming very, very right.
What do I mean by that?

Speaker 3 Todd Bowley comes in. They sign a ton of young players, right? Too many young players.
And the entire squad has ballooned. They sign him all of these very lengthy contracts.

Speaker 3 No one can figure out what's going on. It's manager after manager after manager, right? And then Mareska comes in.
And Mareska right now has the magic wand.

Speaker 3 He's doing so many things right with this team. He's got them aggressive.
He trimmed his squad. I mean, Raheem Sterling went out, right? He trimmed his squad.
He said, I don't want these players.

Speaker 3 I know they signed. I don't want them.
They're out. Then he took two teams and he said, I'm going to have a weekend team in the Premier League and then I'm going to have a midweek team.
That's it. And

Speaker 3 he's been very direct. Mattoweke, who has been brilliant, he didn't start him because he said, I know you scored.
You're playing well, but you're not working hard enough.

Speaker 3 Brilliant from a manager, right? Plays Jaden Sancho. Sancho ends up scoring.
So now he's got this magic wand. Things are going.
And the reason no one thought that was because why would we?

Speaker 3 Managers couldn't get it right. Why is Mareska, who hasn't had any Premier League experience, going to get it right? These are all kids, except for the fact it's now working.

Speaker 3 They've got the best player in the Premier League and Cole Palmer alongside with Mo Sala, of course, at Liverpool. And things are working really well.

Speaker 3 And so I think he's downplayed it, you know, in terms of they're not in the title race. They're absolutely right in the thick of the the title race.

Speaker 3 And I think the great thing is that's his job is just to downplay it, continuing to drive his team forward. Because you know, which I'm sure you'll say, but as players,

Speaker 3 they'll be on the chat group. I said yesterday, they'll be on the chat group going, We're in this thing, you know.

Speaker 3 And so, no matter what the manager says, inside that dress room, they know they're in it.

Speaker 2 Yeah, so I think the reason why

Speaker 2 you know this way better than I do, but being in England, there's so much garbage going on in the media all the time, and they haven't had

Speaker 2 United's United's disastrous things going on, city falling apart, you know, Arsenal's always grabbing headlines, you know, Ange and Tottenham and everything.

Speaker 2 And they've just, they've been under the radar. Nobody's paying.
So now the question is, now that people starting to pay attention, now all of a sudden they're second the table.

Speaker 2 Now, how do they handle it? Because people will start talking. And if they creep closer, people start talking to them.
And they've been able to go under the radar and it's been,

Speaker 2 it's been pretty impressive.

Speaker 3 And one of the things about, you know, just to dovetail off that, one of the great things about youth is the naivety. These players don't know any better.
They're expressing themselves.

Speaker 3 They're in a title chase in the Premier League. They're like, this is what dreams are made of.
And it's great when you're not experienced and you don't have to worry about

Speaker 3 your past ghosts and demons. These kids are like, let's go.
It's in front of us. Let's fight.
And so I think that's pretty awesome.

Speaker 2 So last thing I want to talk about Premier League, this was interesting off the field. So fans always complain about ticket prices.

Speaker 2 And you and I have talked about that.

Speaker 2 You have an interesting opinion on this. So I think as Chelsea fans were complaining that their season tickets are like $1,000.

Speaker 3 Everyone's complaining. Yeah.
Everyone's complaining. Everyone's complaining.

Speaker 2 $1,000, $1,200.

Speaker 2 Can you compare that to U.S. sports for people to understand across the pond?

Speaker 3 Yeah, I mean,

Speaker 3 my shared experience was like, you know, I'm a... For my sins, I'm a New York Giants fan and a New York Knicks fan.
And, you know,

Speaker 3 I always wanted to go to those games, but they're like too expensive. You know, like any decent seat.
And I'm not talking about the ones all the way up the top, but any decent seat is super expensive.

Speaker 3 You know,

Speaker 3 when you talk about, forget season ticket, I couldn't afford to take a loan out for that, but like per game ticket, I was like, this seems really, really high. So

Speaker 3 I get to England and I'm in the Premier League and I'm Young and I hear that

Speaker 3 fans complain about ticket rises and season ticket prices all the time, every year. Anytime there's a rise, they complain, which I guess is their prerogative.

Speaker 3 But then i remember digging a little bit a little bit deeper and i was like and i was like well how much is a and i know there's there's different amounts of games and amounts of home games based on nfl and premier league and nba but i remember thinking like somebody would tell me how much a season ticket was and it was at the time i think it was like 500 pounds or something and i was like like for for the game or for the entire season that's one game for a knicks game right so i'm like i'm like well i'm from new york and like if i want to see a knicks game and like have like not have to bring my binoculars, I'd pay $500 for like one seat.

Speaker 3 And so like, it didn't, it never, it never registered with me. Not that, look, people, people work hard and, and they spend their hard-earned money, right?

Speaker 3 But the product for sold, this is the interesting thing. The product continues to go up.
Television rates continue to go up, right? Value for players and contracts continue to go up.

Speaker 3 It's natural in that ecosystem that ticket prices go up, like everything does. And

Speaker 3 so I've never really, look, I understand the plight of the fan. Of course, you want to make things accessible and affordable, but at the same time, as fans, and I'm a fan, right? We

Speaker 3 we like to complain about any and everything. And that's just another thing that fans will complain about with their club.

Speaker 3 Um, and oftentimes, I, to be honest, I think the clubs are doing, the clubs are all, are a business and are having to run the business effectively.

Speaker 3 Um, and oftentimes you have to raise season ticket prices when it's merited.

Speaker 2 But the, I think the challenge people have is if you dig deeper, you say, okay, this is everyone's complaint, right these are all billionaires yeah so why are they charging me an extra 15 a t a seat right but the owners have to ask themselves seriously and i think the nfl started to pick up on this all of their money you know 90 whatever percent of their money comes from tv right it doesn't come from especially in the nfl where there's eight home games nine home games it doesn't come from your nine home games right so whether you're charging someone three hundred dollars or two hundred dollars or one hundred dollar it doesn't make a massive difference in your bottom line it might be a a few million dollars, maybe $10 million, which in the grand scheme of thing for a club,

Speaker 2 not that much money, right? When they're getting billions of dollars and individualist clubs, hundreds of millions of dollars through the TV deals. And it's the same with the Premier League.

Speaker 2 I know they have more games. They have 19 home games plus cup games, FA Cup, all that.
But is it really worth it? I don't know. But to your point,

Speaker 2 all you Premier League fans,

Speaker 2 come spend a year in the U.S. and go to sport.
Tim, in the playoffs, the Padres, right?

Speaker 3 Yeah.

Speaker 2 Tickets, average tickets for Padre games in whatever second, didn't matter what section, $400,050, $600,000.

Speaker 2 I saw people with their families go. They, by the end of it, they're spending five grand

Speaker 2 to go to a game. And I'm thinking to myself, where are these people getting this money? I mean, like, you talk about taking out a loan, but I'm like,

Speaker 2 how do this many people affording to do this?

Speaker 3 Those prices, yeah.

Speaker 2 Insane. It's insane.
Insane. All right.
We are going to take another break. When we get back, we will dive into mailbag questions with Jim.

Speaker 3 Love a mailbag.

Speaker 2 Anything but soccer, lots to come still on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim presented by Volkswagen.

Speaker 2 This episode is brought to you by Airbnb.

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

Speaker 3 Honestly, I've lost track at this point.

Speaker 3 You know, just this summer alone, I was all over the place.

Speaker 3 But it is, it's a beautiful thing to see how many soccer fans and how soccer has been embraced no matter where we go.

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

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

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

Speaker 3 Well, I mean, I think that's where the game has changed. These trips have become a big deal for soccer fans.

Speaker 3 And this summer is going to be no different as we'll see the soccer community make their way to 11 host cities here in the U.S. to support their favorite national team.

Speaker 2 It's going to be incredible. I can't wait for it.
And what if those fans could turn their homes into an opportunity while they're away at the game?

Speaker 2 Hosting your home on Airbnb while you travel is an easy way to earn a little bit of extra cash, maybe go towards tickets for your game that you want to go to.

Speaker 2 We know they're not cheap, or maybe to help your kids pursue their soccer dreams.

Speaker 3 Yeah, your home might be worth more than you think. So find out how much at airbnb.com slash host.

Speaker 3 LD, for me, the holidays are all about connection to family and to friends. We host a lot.
So we got a lot of people over the house.

Speaker 3 Oftentimes when it starts to get chaotic and the turkey or the ham is getting burnt and the kids are running around playing with their new toys, I go out back by the fire pit and I choose chill.

Speaker 3 I crack open a corslet.

Speaker 2 Yeah, it's my favorite time of year. It gets cold,

Speaker 2 not quite as cold as New York, but it's cold outside. It gets dark early.
Kids are playing. We turn on the jacuzzi, relax in the hot tub with a Coors Light.

Speaker 2 Choose chill, relax, have family, friends, good food, good memories. My favorite time of year.

Speaker 3 When you embrace a chill mindset this holiday, it's a good time to choose chill and crack open a Coors Light.

Speaker 2 Choose chill this holiday season and then reach for a Coors Light. Get Coors Light delivered straight to your door.

Speaker 2 Visit CoorsLight.com slash USLNT, or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer.

Speaker 3 Celebrate responsibly. Hoors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado.
There's nothing better than feeling like someone has your back and that things are going to get done even without you having to ask.

Speaker 3 Like your crisp New Jersey waiting for you in the locker room or a perfectly set up wall for a free kick.

Speaker 2 Yeah, as we on Unfiltered Soccer get ready for next summer, we know that very little in the beautiful game is guaranteed.

Speaker 2 But as we prepare to bring our unfiltered brand of non-stop soccer coverage, it's good to know ATT has your back with the ATT guarantee.

Speaker 3 Staying connected matters. That's why in the rare event of a network outage, AT ⁇ T will proactively credit you for a full day of service.
That's the AT ⁇ T guarantee.

Speaker 2 Learn more at ATT.com slash guarantee. AT ⁇ T, connecting changes everything.

Speaker 3 Credit for fiber downtime lasting 20 minutes or more or a wireless downtime lasting 60 minutes or more caused by a single incident impacting 10 or more towers must be connected to impacted towers at onset of outage.

Speaker 3 Restrictions and exclusions apply. See ATT.com/slash guarantee for full details.
LD, it's mailbag time. Everyone's favorite time of the week because our listeners get to have their say.

Speaker 3 You know who else's favorite time of the week it is?

Speaker 2 JR.

Speaker 3 JR. Jordan, get in here.
Get some FaceTime. We know you love it.

Speaker 4 Do you see my hat?

Speaker 3 Oh, you got swatted. Of course, I love it.

Speaker 3 Is that a Gotham hat? Yeah, it is. It's a good team.
We're going to get you a Houston Dash hat. Don't you worry about that.

Speaker 4 I have plenty of room to hang them on. So send them on.

Speaker 4 All right. So first thing I want to do is just talk a little bit.
Last week, you guys talked about Lennon's cap that's there behind him.

Speaker 4 So I did a little digging, and I think you guys talked about this a little bit, that it used to be that teams didn't wear matching jerseys. They wore matching hats.

Speaker 4 And so that's where the concept for the cap came from. In the game.
It started. Yeah, in the game.
What? So this was back in like the mid to late 1800s when the game was first invented.

Speaker 4 So, um, in 1886, a gentleman by the name of N. L.
Jackson wrote a rule:

Speaker 4 All players taking part for England in future international matches will be presented with a white silk cap with red rose embroidered on the front. Oh, that's right.

Speaker 4 These to be termed international caps.

Speaker 3 So, that's where it comes from. Love it.
Well done, Jordan. That's charming.
That's why we were N.L. Jackson.
Good for you. Old Corinthians Football Club 1886.

Speaker 4 All right, let's dive into our mailbag with our first question from Michael via email. What do Tim and Landon think the role of the USL should be in the overall U.S.
soccer and U.S.

Speaker 4 men's national team landscape?

Speaker 2 I'll go first.

Speaker 2 I think it's critical. I really do.

Speaker 2 And for all reasons, there are 30 markets now in MLS,

Speaker 2 but there are lots of big markets in our country. Now, San Diego was the last sort of huge market, Vegas, Phoenix,

Speaker 2 without MLS teams. But there are lots of great soccer markets in our country that need to be represented.
And so I think it's crucial from that standpoint, from a player standpoint.

Speaker 2 MLS has tried really hard with MLS Next Pro and development product, but the reality still for MLS Next Pro is that those environments don't compare to USL environments.

Speaker 2 And I lived it for four years coaching with Loyal. So having real professional environments, a guy I saw on Saturday, Miguel Berry, who didn't get into the game but is with the LA Galaxy.

Speaker 2 He was playing early days

Speaker 2 with Loyal. He came on loan to us and playing in that environment, even only for 10 weeks or 10 games, gave him the opportunity then to go back into MLS and make a real career for himself in Columbus.

Speaker 2 So having that is crucial from a player standpoint. And then also off the field, as I said, just having markets represented is crucial.

Speaker 3 Yeah, I mean, I don't think Landon

Speaker 3 has to be one fix, right? USL can

Speaker 3 feed a lot of different areas. And I think when in Memphis with 901 FC, it was about creating an opportunity for guys to earn a living, right?

Speaker 3 Like these were guys who were never going to get to the MLS

Speaker 3 and they earned a decent living.

Speaker 3 I also think

Speaker 3 there's an opportunity, as Landon said, in this country, we haven't quite figured out the best path for

Speaker 3 players at a lower level. And the problem with USL is they don't want to be seen as a second division.
They're a thriving first division.

Speaker 3 And so when you look abroad, as Landon mentioned, if I'm... at Manchester United and I'm not quite ready, I can go on loan to a championship club and ply my trade.

Speaker 3 In fact, they actually do that quite often to young players just to kind of get them stronger and more equipped to play in like a tough environment. And so it could serve as that.
But

Speaker 3 I think the USL, again, it's going to depend on partnerships. It's going to depend on

Speaker 3 whether they want to continue to stay as an independent league. But ultimately, you have a lot of voices.
And for so many owners, it's about creating a product on the field that is profitable and

Speaker 3 trying to bring the best players in what i would say is the top 10 the top 10 best players in the usl are are are better prepared to compete and contribute uh in the mls than any kid coming out of college and so uh for sure there's some incredibly talented players unfortunately on the mls side and i've seen this throughout time they almost look down their noses at USL players.

Speaker 3 And it's almost like we shouldn't go dip into that. And

Speaker 3 I would push to any MLS club, go out and look at the top 10 best USL players. They absolutely can compete in your team.

Speaker 2 Agreed.

Speaker 4 Okay. Second question is from Jamie via email.
What are your opinions on MLS changing their seasonal schedule to something that matches the European calendar?

Speaker 2 I think it would be... Look, it's like a lot of things, like promotion relegation, et cetera.
Theoretically amazing because it would help everybody just be more aligned.

Speaker 2 Players, from a player standpoint, it helps players be way more aligned with the scheduling, with international breaks, et cetera. The challenge for sure is for MLS is the weather.

Speaker 2 But my argument to that is there's bad weather everywhere in the world. I mean, there is.
And so if they're worried about

Speaker 2 weather impacting attendance, In MLS, unlike the Premier League or the NFL, that's actually a real thing because there there is a significant portion of revenue that comes through your in-game experience.

Speaker 2 But I would guess now, my guess is now MLS is mature enough, the fans care enough, or if it's 17 degrees in Toronto, they're still coming to the game. That would be my guess.

Speaker 2 I mean, they do it in the NFL. You watch Buffalo games, everyone's there.

Speaker 3 Every season pulled out.

Speaker 2 So I think the league is mature enough for it. I would love to see it.

Speaker 3 Same. No, no, I don't have anything to add because I do.

Speaker 3 I think with the restrictions of weather,

Speaker 3 they probably pale in comparison to all the benefits of actually being on the full international calendar that every other player gets around the world. So I think that's important.

Speaker 3 So, and you could probably find a way to be really clever and tweak

Speaker 3 some of the games and where the games are played and that type of thing.

Speaker 4 Okay, last question is also via email, which people want to write in is feedback at unfilteredsoccer.com. This one's from Andrew.
How do you feel about how the pro leagues regulate finances?

Speaker 4 Do you think the profit and sustainability rules need revision in the Premier League so that Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal aren't the only teams able to fight for a title?

Speaker 4 Should MLS keep their salary cap as it is now or make it so that teams have more opportunity to draw in top talent while they're in their prime?

Speaker 3 Well, I think what profit and sustainability has shown in the Premier League is that they are trying to balance things out a little bit.

Speaker 3 And, you know, Everton was hit with sanctions. Nottingham Forest was hit with

Speaker 3 sanctions. Man City could be as well.
And so it makes you have to be a little bit more responsible and frugal with your books. And so I think that is a good thing.
We are seeing that.

Speaker 3 Regarding MLS, people have to remember MLS is for so long, back when I started, I started 1998, two years after

Speaker 3 the league was born, really.

Speaker 3 There were so many failed soccer leagues in America throughout the course of our history that they had to keep things tight. They had to keep the wallets tight.

Speaker 3 The spending couldn't balloon. We had to grow this league.
And a credit to all the owners and commissioners who have tried to grow this league and make it sustainable.

Speaker 3 Like we couldn't go from zero to 100. There had to be these growing

Speaker 3 metrics. And we've seen that.
We've seen that go up. Look, as far as I'm concerned,

Speaker 3 I do think spending is good in the right areas, but you can't go, you you can't go top heavy and just and just spend when some of the other vehicles for profit into the club aren't quite there yet.

Speaker 3 So, yeah, look, I think that the model right now, and I'm obviously incredibly interested to hear Lannon's take on it.

Speaker 3 And we spoke with Stu a little bit ago about what is it important to bring the biggest player in the world in or is it is it important to spread that money throughout your squad and be successful?

Speaker 2 I'll speak to the MLS perspective. The league is, like I just said with the calendar change, the league is mature enough to handle it, right? So every owner in the league is a billionaire, right?

Speaker 2 So these are not stupid people. These women and men know what they're doing with their money.

Speaker 2 So they can make the decision, right? If you want to pay Messi, whatever the hell, who knows what Inner Miami paid him, great.

Speaker 2 That's your decision, your choice, and that's great. And that's good for the league.

Speaker 2 What I would like to see, because what's happened with all these different types of rules, you know, GAM and TAM and, you know, under-22 initiative,

Speaker 2 what happens when rules are made is people find ways to break it or manipulate it or unintended consequences happen. And the unintended consequence from all of these mechanisms to bring players to MLS

Speaker 2 is less American players getting chances, right? So you're incentivized to go out and spend $800,000.

Speaker 2 $1.5 million on a young South American, but you're not incentivized to keep Brandon Vasquez in the league, right?

Speaker 2 If you're Cincinnati, and so he ends up going to Monterey, hopefully it looks like maybe he'll be coming back, maybe to San Jose, but you want the incentive to be to keep all those players and bring in other players around the globe.

Speaker 2 So I would like to see almost all of those restrictions lifted.

Speaker 2 have some version of a cap, like a really a hard cap, where, you know, what if it's 15 million, 20 million, 30 million?

Speaker 2 Maybe you can still spend on one or two players outside of that if you have a messy or whatever.

Speaker 2 But let's just open the purse strings a little, not go crazy, but give teams more and more autonomy to make those decisions.

Speaker 3 Love it.

Speaker 4 That's it. Thanks, guys.

Speaker 2 JR, thank you. All right, Timmy.
Your neck of the woods.

Speaker 3 Yep.

Speaker 2 The

Speaker 2 New York Mets

Speaker 2 decided to spend,

Speaker 2 get ready,

Speaker 2 $756 million on a 15-year contract for Juan Soto. No deferred money, unlike the Dodgers with Otani.

Speaker 2 Thoughts?

Speaker 3 How much up front?

Speaker 2 $75 million signing bonus. So he might be able to buy himself a car or something.

Speaker 2 Yeah, just crazy.

Speaker 3 You know, look,

Speaker 3 I want feedback. We always talk about hit us up at Unfiltered Soccer.

Speaker 3 Give us your feedback because I need like some staunch baseball fans to like weigh in here. 15 million,

Speaker 2 three quarters quarters of a billion. 15 years.

Speaker 3 15 years.

Speaker 3 Three quarters of a billion dollars.

Speaker 3 It's the 15, I'm almost better with the money than I am with the years. I don't, I don't understand.
I know Alex Rodriguez back when signed like a 13-year deal or something.

Speaker 3 I don't understand the length of these contracts because Juan Soto, if I'm correct, he's probably not giving you 15 years of good service, right? Like, I mean, I hope that's not like blasphemous.

Speaker 3 Like, who's giving you,

Speaker 3 who can you commit to giving you 15 years of production? Right. I know there's an opt-out after five years.
Um,

Speaker 3 I, it's the numbers, the numbers make you dizzy, right? And all, and all I, all I can think about is Bobby Bonilla, for God's sake, right? Still paying him till to 2035.

Speaker 3 He's getting a million per year. Oh, what a guy.
So, so here's the thing.

Speaker 3 Three takeaways. It's good to be Bobby Bonilla.
It's good to be Juan Soto, and it's really good to be Scott Boris, who is his mega agent.

Speaker 3 And it's, I guess, great to be in the New York market because it's going to be some

Speaker 3 big hitters. You know, I think the Mets and the Yankees showed this year that they're back.
Not as back as your Dodgers are,

Speaker 3 but it's fun. I think it's fun.
I love, I would have liked to see him stay at the Yankees, but

Speaker 3 a lot of fun.

Speaker 2 Here's what's interesting to me. Okay.
So

Speaker 2 when you get into levels of wealth, right?

Speaker 2 I always think about like, does it really matter if it's $736 million or 756? And

Speaker 2 you have to assume, you have to assume that every team in the running got somewhere close to 756,

Speaker 2 right? Maybe it was 650, maybe it was 700, maybe. Now, the years, I don't know if the years even mattered.

Speaker 2 I don't know if it's 13 years and 756. Does he care?

Speaker 2 Again, if there's someone who's really inside on baseball and knows these things, please let us know.

Speaker 2 But

Speaker 2 if I'm a club,

Speaker 2 why are you committing 15 years? But then the reality is, is Juan Soto had all the power,

Speaker 3 all the leverage.

Speaker 2 And all these things are always about leverage, right? I'll just, when I was doing my last deal with the galaxy,

Speaker 2 I knew I was only playing a few more years. They knew I was only playing a few more years.
And so we're like, we're wrestling back and forth. Is it two and a half million? Is it three million?

Speaker 2 Is it three and a half million? But they know I'm only playing a few years. So I had some leverage, but they also knew I wasn't going anywhere, right?

Speaker 2 I'm not going to leave and go play in Spain for the last year of my life. So they know I love it there.
They know I want. So there's like a respect factor of not taking advantage of that.

Speaker 2 But they are all, you know, they have some leverage. I have some leverage.
But he had all the leverage. My question for him, and

Speaker 3 look,

Speaker 2 I don't begrudge anyone getting their money.

Speaker 3 So great.

Speaker 2 Get your money.

Speaker 2 But dude, you had a good thing going at the Yankees. Like, you guys could be good forever.
And I don't know if the Mets are are going to be good. And but I don't know if he cares.

Speaker 3 But here's the thing, to your point, right? So the Mets were at 15 years, 756 million. I think the Yankees offered 16 years

Speaker 3 at roughly the same, give or take, roughly the same, right? So there was an extra year. And I think it speaks to the psyche of us former athletes, but athletes.

Speaker 3 Like I personally, on the outside, I'm like, stay with the Yankees. Like the numbers are virtually the same.
You're not giving the Mets 15 years. You're not giving the Yankees 16 years.

Speaker 3 So like, stay with the Yankees, right? Build there because you have a great thing. But also, as we know, everyone likes being the highest paid.
Everyone likes being the marquee, right?

Speaker 3 Because by the way, he's not the marquee name on

Speaker 3 the stadium at the Yankees. But if he goes across town, he's now the marquee name in the same market.
So it speaks to the psyche of these players, and I don't begrudge him at all.

Speaker 3 Well done to the Mets.

Speaker 2 All right. Well, please, please, please give us comments on that because we're confused, just like most of you.
All right. Thanks for all you guys for being with us today.

Speaker 2 Special shout out to Stewie, Stu Holden, for talking to MLS with us. Remember to subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your pods.

Speaker 2 Follow us across all social media platforms at Unfiltered Soccer for extra content. Appreciate you guys.

Speaker 3 Yeah, thanks for everybody for listening. Thanks, Stu Holden.
I mean,

Speaker 3 what an absolute gent and legend. Thank you to our presenting sponsor, VW.
Have a great week. We'll be back next Tuesday with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.