Liverpool Lead Manchester City, Messi Steers Miami, and MLS Conference Finals Preview

Speaker 1 When you have a players-only meeting, it means you hit rock bottom. And I have a saying in life, be careful of rock bottom because rock bottom oftentimes has a trapdoor.

Speaker 1 Hey everybody, welcome into Unfiltered Soccer, presented by Volkswagen. We are your host, Keysland and Donovan.
I'm Tim Howard, LD. Tell everybody why you kept me waiting today.
Where have you been?

Speaker 1 Well, I went on a little vacation to Cabo. It's a tough life.
Someone's got to live it. You were working all weekend, right? I wanted the game, Red Bull.

Speaker 1 That sums us up. Yeah.
Well, you know, someone's got to work around here and someone has to enjoy it.

Speaker 1 How was vacation? It was nice, man. Get away.
Cabo's an amazing place. I love that place.
It's so close to Sanya.

Speaker 1 For you guys, it's, I don't know, I guess it's New York, Caribbean or something, but like, it's an hour and a half for us, so it's so nice.

Speaker 1 Just get away, relax, and it's nice to be nice to be there, but nice to be home.

Speaker 1 All right, before we get into the soccer, make sure, as you're listening, you follow us on social media at Unfiltered Soccer. Be sure to subscribe to the show on YouTube.

Speaker 1 Make sure you follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. If you like what we're doing, let us know.
If you don't,

Speaker 1 bring the heat. We love the heat.
We don't mind it. It's all good fun for us.
We love discussing soccer and all of your opinions. You can email us as well at feedback at unfilteredsoccer.com.

Speaker 1 All right. So we are going to start with MLS.
And in a a little bit, we got U.S. national team.
We're going to talk about that Pula Sik dance a little bit more.

Speaker 1 We don't want to beat a dead horse, but some time to think about it. A lot of Premier League talk.
But first, you were at,

Speaker 1 I guess it was City's home game.

Speaker 1 So whatever that's called, that stadium and Red Bull City. How was it? Scenes? Good.
It was good. Yeah.
City Field with the New York Mets play. I must say, I must say, the atmosphere was awesome.

Speaker 1 Was it? Awesome. Yeah.
Like

Speaker 1 you think like, okay, baseball stadium, no one likes playing soccer in a baseball stadium. We get it.
The atmosphere was awesome. And it's like really cool.

Speaker 1 I think it was the first time it was a New York, Hudson River Derby in the playoffs. And it's like, man, if you could get that, you could get that every year.
It was good. It was cool.

Speaker 1 You know, and of course, the Red Bull fans weren't, weren't outdone because it's right across the river. So they showed up.
It was, it was one of the, it was a weird game.

Speaker 1 New York City FC at some point in the season beat the snot out of out of Red Bull

Speaker 1 because Red Bull was trying to match the passing

Speaker 1 play, orientated play of New York City FC. And that's New York City FC's bread and butter.
So they played him off the park. They beat him bad.

Speaker 1 And it was at that game I heard that there was some sort of internal meeting where they're like, nah, we're going back to bait.

Speaker 1 We're going back to the Red Bull way, which is like blood and thunder, charge forward, get it forward, pass forward, run forward.

Speaker 1 And in fairness, I think both teams were worried about the other for those exact reasons. And Red Bull didn't have a lot.
They didn't have a ton of chances.

Speaker 1 They scored on their real two, two real good opportunities. Um, I thought New York City played them off the park for the most part, um, had really good opportunities and just didn't capitalize.

Speaker 1 But 2-0, credit to Red Bull, really good game. I have to say, like, just watching the games over the weekend, it's just fun to watch.

Speaker 1 There were, first of all, there were Derbies, like real Derbies in the playoffs, which make it amazing, but

Speaker 1 every seat in every stadium is

Speaker 1 full,

Speaker 1 at least in the stadiums where their MLS teams play normally. And it was just really fun to watch.

Speaker 1 Also really fun to watch the

Speaker 1 stepsister, red-headed stepchild in L.A.,

Speaker 1 get taken to task by Seattle. I don't like either team for the record.
I had a lot of fun wins in Seattle.

Speaker 1 It was just good to see them. On the back of that, we saw the galaxy absolutely dismantle Minnesota.
And I watched that game closely, Tim. I was thinking something.
Put you on the spot here.

Speaker 1 Can you remember an MLS team that had a better front four,

Speaker 1 like in their prime than the galaxy right now? Between Ricky Pooge, Jovalich, Peck, and Painsel.

Speaker 1 I just, I was racking my brain all week, and I'm like, is anybody been better? There might have been two, maybe three players better, but four. They'll all in their prime.

Speaker 1 Yeah, look, you bring up a great point.

Speaker 1 And the fact that the fact that the only team that comes to mind is that first DC United team, was it Parks, Etcheveri, Jaime Moreno, and then when it was Roy Lasseter, but like, but to your point, it's, it's been decades, right?

Speaker 1 And so

Speaker 1 it's really, it's a really good, I mean, watching them is exciting. Greg Vinny, the way he has them playing, like, they are bullish and they are in your face and they,

Speaker 1 they know exactly who they are.

Speaker 1 And they know, by the way, they know they're going to concede chances, concede goals, and whatever. And they're like, if you score three, we'll score four.
You score five, we'll score six.

Speaker 1 And they just don't care. Man, they were good.
But they were good. Sounders, by the way, the Sounders are

Speaker 1 their last, I don't know if it's 17, 18, 20 games. I think they've lost once maybe.
They are.

Speaker 1 They just seem, for whatever reason, they're like unbeaten. They're like the Chiefs right now.
Like they can mess up and do everything wrong and they just win.

Speaker 1 So that game next weekend is going to be phenomenal. Yeah.
And let's, let's, you know, go back a little with Cincrona Sounders, that LAFC game. like

Speaker 1 I know they're your hated rival, so I appreciate I love I love the hate, but there's obviously respect in that and credit LAFC for what they've been able to build on the back of you know

Speaker 1 Galaxy is the you know traditionally the best franchise in MLS so credit to LAFC, but I have to give give people flowers man.

Speaker 1 That's that's something I do and like like Seattle is a tough out bro like Seattle you go there. It's a proper football soccer town.
They're they're educated. They know what they're doing.

Speaker 1 they support their team through good times and bad times there's been a lot of good times and like it's one of those like grimy tough places where yeah they can play a bit of football but they're willing to dig in and like the amount of big moments they've had in big moments like isn't coincidental anymore like winning mls cup winning in big moments in in western conference finals um Jordan Morris, friend of ours, Jordy, we play with him.

Speaker 1 Like the fact that he's still doing it, still getting it done, big credit. Stephan Fry, I mean, you want to talk about MLS goalkeeping legacy.
Hats off to him. I mean, he plays big.
Well done.

Speaker 1 Happy for him. And yeah, that game's going to be awesome next weekend.

Speaker 1 Sunday, Orlando beat Atlanta. I think it's what we predicted, Tim.
Orlando, or Atlanta, just flat. You know, after that, emotional, super emotional high three-game series with Miami.

Speaker 1 I think we predicted this one. And Orlando, kind of comfortable.
Comfortable, but

Speaker 1 credit to Atlanta. They've overachieved, right? I mean, they slayed the dragon in Miami

Speaker 1 and Messi, and then looked at 1-0 against Orlando. Of course, they wanted to advance to the finals, but the conference finals, but ultimately, they gave a decent show to themselves.

Speaker 1 But I mean, LA Galaxy beating Minnesota, and Minnesota had a very good season to beat them 6-2 in that fashion. Impressive.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 I'm not sure the league is super thrilled with Orlando Red Bull, but on the other end, Galaxy Seattle should be a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 The team Atlanta knocked out made a very, very fast and interesting decision.

Speaker 1 Well, apparently, Tata Martino made the decision.

Speaker 1 I think we all know who really made the decision.

Speaker 1 Who might not be? Yeah, maybe one of the players.

Speaker 1 But he's out as a manager. Usually I say, Tim, when a manager says he's stepping away or she's stepping away, that means the club pushed you out, right?

Speaker 1 I will say someone as experienced and, you know, older in age like Tata Martino, I could see a scenario where he said, I'm truly just need to step away for all.

Speaker 1 However, that all changed when all these masharano.

Speaker 1 Yeah, because if he steps away and you have a decision the next day, guess what? That decision was being made for months and months ahead of time. So I think it's pretty clear what happened here.

Speaker 1 Leo and whoever said, look,

Speaker 1 it's been great, but if we don't win it, this is what's going to happen.

Speaker 1 He's going to resign and we're bringing in our boy. And look,

Speaker 1 I think from my end, we joke a little bit about Messi making those decisions in the background, but

Speaker 1 I'm kind of okay with it. Like, I'm not overarchingly in favor of player power, right? Cause I think that can like disrupt things.

Speaker 1 But when you're leaning on Messi and you have the experience you have, you almost, you almost get a say say in having a seat at the table.

Speaker 1 And what I would say to back that up is later in my career, I went banging on the GM's door and I had all these ideas.

Speaker 1 And in fairness to him, he just told me to go sit in the corner because those things weren't happening. Take it that way.

Speaker 1 I didn't have that pull, but I wanted it. Right.
And so when you get a player who's a god, quite literally a footballing god,

Speaker 1 I'm okay with it. I'm okay with it.

Speaker 1 Let me give you.

Speaker 1 Let me give you the problem with that. Yeah.
So in 2011, I'm going to take you behind the scenes a little bit.

Speaker 1 You were probably involved in some of these too. So 2011,

Speaker 1 Bob Bradley gets fired. Right.

Speaker 1 And behind the scenes, there are conversations being had with a few of us players. I was 29 at the time saying, hey, what do you think about this potential manager, this potential manager?

Speaker 1 And one of those was Jürgen Klinsman. And all of us at the time, not all of us, I'm speaking for myself, but a few of us said, oh my God, it's Jürgen Klinsman.

Speaker 1 Like a legend, absolute legend soccer player. So we said, yeah, that would be amazing.
Having no clue. Right.

Speaker 1 And to be fair, I was much younger, less experienced than Leonel Messi making a decision like that or giving input like that.

Speaker 1 But it totally, it turned out to be a total disaster

Speaker 1 for U.S. soccer and for everyone involved.
So that's the challenge and the danger with that. Like, yeah, as he boys with Mashurano, yes, it is seem exciting and great and whatever.

Speaker 1 But what happens the first time they lose three in a row yeah and now all of a sudden there's like there's real

Speaker 1 there's real problems now what you do right yeah look i i don't doubt that what i what i would say right and this is it's hard when you talk about messy because i again i reiterate we're talking about a god and that's i'm i'm i'm not being i'm not being flippant when i say that the difference when you and i because we had a long career on nash team when there was a coaching change the right thing to do as someone at the top being president of u.s soccer or people involved in decision-making process is talk to the people with boots on the ground senior players that's normal in the process right we didn't pick the coach we gave an opinion on someone on candidates that were brought to us that's natural that's part of the process this is more of what it seems like to us anyway is

Speaker 1 messi probably had a ton of input in this the caveat to all that is

Speaker 1 There's one person in all of this conversation that you better keep happy that you don't want to, no, no, that you don't want to go to war with that you don't want to go to war with so so one one part is his boy gets hired in maserano and things go pear-shaped and they have to make a tough decision the other part is going no bro we're not like we're not going to listen to you and we're going to bring our own guy in well guess what my guy downs tools and is like i'm out right so there's a there's issues both ways yeah i mean look they're jorge mas who ultimately made this decision i'm sure david beckham had input in it and messi they're all all smart, right?

Speaker 1 About the way they went about it, right? So Messi didn't go in and bang on his door and say, we have to hire Masherano. He probably said, hey, you know who'd be an interesting one? Right.

Speaker 1 And Jorge Moss probably said, oh, that is interesting, right? Like wink, wink, nod, nod. And again, we don't have all the context, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Speaker 1 Again, none of these guys are getting any younger. Busquet, Jordi Alba, Messi, Suarez.

Speaker 1 Let's hope it goes well. It's great for the league when everyone, when Miami's doing well and and they're all playing well, et cetera.
So let's hope it goes well. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Um, all right, those matchups, our next weekend MLS matchups. Let's move on to your other day job, Tim, the Premier League.
Currently, you watched a lot of games this weekend. Uh,

Speaker 1 the biggest one, Spurs, absolutely pummeled City. Yeah,

Speaker 1 no one saw it coming. You know, if you had a bag full of money, um, you wouldn't have put it on Spurs to beat City 4-0.
You just like that, you probably wouldn't have gotten odds on that. Um,

Speaker 1 City is interesting because

Speaker 1 it's very easy where we sit, where everyone sits. What's the problem? Roger's injured.
That's the problem.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 That's a big chunk of it. When I start to look at the team, for me, when you look at Pep's great reign, there was always one player that he would like.

Speaker 1 dip in and out or he change a formation based on a player tactically, but it wasn't wholesale, right? It's like Grealish comes out, Foden comes in.

Speaker 1 Maybe I put Jon stones at at the right fullback and he goes as inverted number six whatever he chops and changes this team feels a little bit like there's four or five things that need changing uh so rodri's out got that holland he had a rough game so okay so the holland thing missed a ton of chances goalkeeper vicaro made a bunch of saves but the thing for me about holland was he still leads the league in goals and he was in brilliant positions ld you know as a striker he was he was in brilliant brilliant positions.

Speaker 1 So it was an offense.

Speaker 1 So, so I'm like, if a striker is getting a good position and getting good chances, they're going to score. So, never mind that.
But they sold Julian Alvarez, right? Who I think,

Speaker 1 if I remember correctly, added like a high double-digit number of goals, right? So, like, you could play him with Holland, you could

Speaker 1 play him on his own, but they didn't replace him, right? And then they bring Gundawan back from Barcelona, who, by the way, God bless him, he's a brilliant player, doesn't look like himself.

Speaker 1 No, he was slow, he was, he wasn't charged around the midfield. Kyle Walker, at one point, and by the way, Kyle Walker, brilliant footballer for England, for City.

Speaker 1 I mean, rarely puts a foot wrong on the pitch. And like, he was out sprinted.
There were times he didn't sprint back, right? Like, that's not what we

Speaker 1 Timo Werner ran by him. Paced him.

Speaker 1 Paced him. What? Yeah.

Speaker 1 And for the first goal, didn't tuck back. And one of his biggest strengths is tucking

Speaker 1 on the shoulder of the center back. So, like, again, not blaming Kyle Walker, but there's just a bunch of little things going on.
And you know, this with Rodri, he's a, he's a, he's everything.

Speaker 1 This guy is colossal, right? But what people forget when you and I stand in the tunnel, and I can say this honestly,

Speaker 1 when your maestro, when your main man isn't there,

Speaker 1 the vibrations are throughout the team. And we're in a tunnel in a big game and you weren't there or Clint wasn't there.

Speaker 1 You start like, yeah, we have a chance today, but like, we don't have nearly as much of a chance, right? And so big players hold other players accountable. And he is Pep Guardiol on the pitch.
And so

Speaker 1 there's a lot there's a lot to unpack with with city i don't know if you see it the same way but that that's a bunch of the things i see one of the things that i think people don't realize about dominant teams or teams that are at the very top is the margins even at the top are still very thin very thin like they still have world-class players all over the field

Speaker 1 one of one of the takeaways obviously injuries has been a theme and pep went on a big rant about all the things that are that are going wrong or or that people think are going wrong and why they are.

Speaker 1 When you play this many games over this many seasons with the same players over and over, and they're playing for their national teams, eventually you're going to get a stretch where there's a bunch of guys out and they're just going through it.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 I'll tell you what, though, like for people

Speaker 1 who are saying, like, Peps lost a step or he's not smart, you know what the most brilliant thing he did in the last two weeks that just kind of got brushed over because of their failures on the field?

Speaker 1 Tell us. He signed an extension, Tim.

Speaker 1 So, guess what?

Speaker 1 He

Speaker 1 saw this coming. He saw this little slide coming.
And he said, you know what? Let me talk to my agent. Let's get this thing done real quick.
Like real quick.

Speaker 1 And now you want to, you know, they lose seven or eight or nine in a row and you want to fire them. All right.
You got to the tune of $40, $45, $50 million to pay. Right.
He's not an idiot. He knows.

Speaker 1 And he knows they're going to go through a little patch and whatever. And they will be fine long term.

Speaker 1 But in my opinion, and you know maybe you disagree i think the title race is over i i can't see them now it's 11 points is it today it's it's eight now they play each other next week so sorry yeah if it gets if if they if they lose then it's 11.

Speaker 1 i mean i don't know how liverpool just looked too they look too powerful to give up that many points yeah so so so

Speaker 1 a couple thoughts so on on look on the contract side of things um

Speaker 1 whether they go on a bad run or or or there's no break clause in the contract. The fact of the matter is,

Speaker 1 congratulations to Pep Quartel and Manchester City. You have done your business with each other fantastically.

Speaker 1 The only thing I can think of is the relationship between Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United and Arsenal, Vanguard, and Arsenal. Like, there was never going to be a riff with between.

Speaker 1 I was going to say privately. And privately.
And so, like, if

Speaker 1 there's no break clause, well, guess what the break clause is? Hey, guys.

Speaker 1 It's not going anywhere. Right.
Pay me a little bit of money. We'll go away quietly.
This has been an amazing decade. Like, that's the break clause, right?

Speaker 1 Even though it's not like legally not a break clause.

Speaker 1 Here's my take on the title race.

Speaker 1 Right now,

Speaker 1 Manchester City have given us no reason, literally no reason other than the last five weeks to suggest they won't at some point come good. What it was come good mean win the title?

Speaker 1 No, they will get everybody healthy and they will make a charge for the title. Now,

Speaker 1 hear me out. It's eight points.
It's real precarious because like we talk about six pointers and must wins wins and all that kind of stuff.

Speaker 1 If city, if city lose,

Speaker 1 the lead balloons to 11 for Liverpool. You change your mind then?

Speaker 1 Yes,

Speaker 1 because then there has to be a capitulation by Liverpool. Liverpool will have a dip.
Unless they become the Invincibles or Semi-Invincibles, they'll have a dip. So

Speaker 1 with an 11-point cushion, you can have an amazing dip. You can have an amazing dip.
As long as it's not a capitulation.

Speaker 1 So yes, at that point, it's done and dusted. For me,

Speaker 1 if City win, by the way, City can win at Liverpool. Like, come on,

Speaker 1 it's still Manchester City. I know things are, things are going, they're trending in opposite directions.
If they win at Liverpool, right? Number one, they still can do the old like

Speaker 1 Pedro Martinez, like, who's your daddy, right? Because we're at our, we're, we're, at our worst in the last five years, and we still beat you, right? But then it goes to five points.

Speaker 1 Five points, you sneeze and you can lose a five point. Yeah, yeah, I get it.
Right. And so, so for me, I will make a, make a real abrupt final decision.
Final.

Speaker 1 Got a long way to go after next weekend because it matters to me. It matters to me.
Um, if it goes from, from eight to 11 or eight to five, that, that to me is a big difference.

Speaker 1 But all right, we'll follow up after next weekend and we'll see where we're at. Yeah.
All right. Let's move to the other team in Manchester.
Um, United under Ruben Amerin for the first time.

Speaker 1 So they score after whatever, however many seconds. Yeah.
Uh, less than a under two minutes or something. Under two minutes into the game.

Speaker 1 But from that point on,

Speaker 1 I would say not real inspiring. I just want to, for United fans out there,

Speaker 1 take a deep breath. This is going to take so much time.
And I'll tell you why, Tim. So I watched the game and I was curious why his lineup was the way he was.
It was a pretty old, mature,

Speaker 1 seasoned lineup, right?

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 he came out after, yeah, not his best player. And he came out after and said, look, I went with the guys who were here with me all week, not away on international break.
Totally get it.

Speaker 1 But the reason Manchester United signed him and brought him on board was because of what he did, right, in Portugal. And what he did in Portugal took a long time.

Speaker 1 It takes time to develop a way of playing. And so I'm going to have a little dig at your

Speaker 1 commentators on NBC. Like, I was waiting for them to walk us through what exactly they did, besides saying they're in a 3-4-3.
Okay, I can see that with my own eyes.

Speaker 1 Can you tell me what's going on on the field? And what I found interesting is, so first, just positionally where they line up.

Speaker 1 Masraoui played as a right center back, Diego Dallo as a kind of a left center back. They were almost like double width with he and Garnacho there on the left.

Speaker 1 And there were some moments where Dallo would start really high and come down to receive the ball. And it made it tough because Ipswich were basically pressing man-to-man.

Speaker 1 So Rashford, you can see why this will help Marcus Rashford long term if teams come after them because he gets isolated kind of 1v1 or he can run in to out and run in behind defenses.

Speaker 1 But their problem early is going to be personnel. Like he does not have the players that fit the way he wants to play.
So I wouldn't be surprised if Maynu comes in, Mason Mount comes in.

Speaker 1 They're going to, I mean, Luke Shaw is a left center back. I really like in that set.
So he needs players.

Speaker 1 Zerxe, I think, will will help, but I think personnel right now is going to be the biggest issue. But if you're a Manchester United fan, just take a breath.
This is going to take time.

Speaker 1 Yeah, look, Manchester, yeah, Manchester United fans are brilliant because they always back their manager. They do.

Speaker 1 They're traditional for backing their managers, sticking with them.

Speaker 1 Ruben Amarin, as of right now, is

Speaker 1 the right guy for the job. And I'm not saying that after one game, because here's the thing.

Speaker 1 He's, I think he's going from what he says, and I really like the way he speaks about the club.

Speaker 1 He talks about doing it his way, right?

Speaker 1 And,

Speaker 1 you know, his post, his post-game comments, he said, like, we can try and get through right now, and then we get to next preseason, and we're starting all over again. We're in the same spot.

Speaker 1 He's right. So, so he's going to implement his ideas.
There's going to be growing pains. They'll maybe bring one or two players in the window.
Don't know.

Speaker 1 right if they can do that in terms of profit and sustainability rules but obviously as the next big transfer window opens up in the summer they'll get some players out.

Speaker 1 They'll bring his players in who understand his ideas and his philosophy.

Speaker 1 And I think they'll, like, at a certain point, Manchester United need to just, and they do, they stick by their managers, but they need to

Speaker 1 give him the time he needs.

Speaker 1 I think the hierarchy structure with Indie Osins or Jim Radcliffe and Omar Barada and everyone under Dan Ashworth and the people underneath him.

Speaker 1 is in a really good place.

Speaker 1 And as long as they give him the time they need, this will get better. You can already see the identity.
You can already see the identity.

Speaker 1 He speaks very well about the club and what he wants from his players. And in fact, so much so that he said, we scored the goal early on.

Speaker 1 I want longer possession after that. And what he means by that is in the past with Ten Hawk, they were a sit, lie in wait, and counter-attack team.
And his point is, that's natural.

Speaker 1 So as soon as they scored a goal, what do they do? They sit off the ball a little bit.

Speaker 1 So he's basically saying, that's going to happen, but I want my teams, and we're going to get better at this, is we score one goal, then we get on the attack again, and we go again. And so

Speaker 1 I like where it's going.

Speaker 1 Curious, what you guys think. Is the title race over? You happy with the direction United's going in, even after a kind of lackluster first game? I actually, I personally like it.
I like the ideas.

Speaker 1 Personnel is going to be a big deal. But is the title race over? I think it is.
Tim, maybe not so sure, but we'll see. Let's take a quick break.
When we come back, we'll talk U.S. men's national team.

Speaker 1 Yes, we will talk about Christians dance from a unique angle, I think, that we are uniquely qualified to talk about. Right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.

Speaker 1 We'll be right back.

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

Speaker 1 This is a segment we like to call USLNT on USMNT. I've had a lot to say about Christian Pulisic and the post-soul celebration.

Speaker 1 So I want to hear, before I speak again, what you have to say about the matter. LD, take it away.
Yeah, look, we don't want to beat a dead horse, but this is important.

Speaker 1 And it all happened really fresh last week. So he scores a goal against Jamaica.
He runs to the corner, does the Trump dance that's become

Speaker 1 popular in sports culture. And

Speaker 1 I just want to say, look, this is not,

Speaker 1 it is about politics, but it's not about politics for me right now.

Speaker 1 This is about being a leader and being a captain of a U.S. national team.
I want to take people back and you remember this, Tim, 2004, February 2004. I'm in Olympic qualifying.

Speaker 1 You dealt with it with the men's national team. I'm in Olympic qualifying.

Speaker 1 And we're in Mexico

Speaker 1 playing a semifinal game. And Mexican fans are there.
And this was after 9-11 and after we had then started going after Osama bin Laden.

Speaker 1 And fans throughout the stadium, as we were losing to Mexico, were chanting Osama, Osama, Osama. Okay.
And this was one of the most tragic days in the history of the United States, right?

Speaker 1 September 11, 2001.

Speaker 1 And first of all, you're losing a game that you care about. You're not qualifying for the Olympics.
But on top of that, they're just throwing that in your face, right?

Speaker 1 And guess who was the captain of that team? Me.

Speaker 1 I cannot tell you how many things I wanted to say after the game. I cannot tell you what I wanted to do in that moment.
go into the stands and just go off on people.

Speaker 1 I understood in a hard moment, that was not the right thing to do. Okay.
Now, I'm not saying this is exactly apples to apples.

Speaker 1 What I'm saying is Christian doesn't have to be, in my opinion, does not have to be a role model. I like my professional athletes to be role models, but I get it, right? Everyone has their own thing.

Speaker 1 He does, however,

Speaker 1 he needs to be aware of what his actions do. And so you said this, Gray, in your column that you wrote for the Daily Mail.
You said, and you've said this to me many times, and I really respect this.

Speaker 1 You say, if you're going to be whatever you're going to be, no problem. Just own it.

Speaker 1 Just own it. So if you're going to do the dance, one, make sure you know what you're doing.
Two, if you're going to do it, you better be all in because you're going to cause a stir with this, right?

Speaker 1 But then don't come to the podium after the game and say, oh, I didn't really know what I was doing. It was just a cool dance I saw people do.
Like that doesn't cut it for me, right? That's not okay.

Speaker 1 If you say, Look, I believe Trump was the best candidate and I voted for him and I'm supporting him, fine, no problem. That's you, that's your prerogative.
You can do what you want.

Speaker 1 Just like we talked about with Joey Bosa and others who are, you know, showing their Make America Great hat, get Make America Great Again hat, and then going to the press conference and saying, Oh, no, no, it wasn't political, or I'm not taking questions about that.

Speaker 1 Come on, bro, don't do that. So, again,

Speaker 1 this is not about in that way, it's not about politics, it's about being aware of your situation. Guess what's coming in 18 months to the U.S.? The World Cup.

Speaker 1 You do something like that on the stage where hundreds of millions of people are watching, you could have a real impact in the world.

Speaker 1 Like I'm getting goosebumps talking about, but you got to be careful. And I'm not saying he will.
And this is a learning lesson for him. And I'm sure he.

Speaker 1 has learned from it because he's a really bright kid and a nice, he's a nice young man.

Speaker 1 But you got to be careful.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 well i mean look ld well said i i i feel uh compelled because this is a different platform to clarify my comments but

Speaker 1 the fact of the matter is in in my daily mail column uh which i took i've taken a lot of heat for and and i'm happy to live and work in the kitchen so if you have things that you want to say to me good and bad bring it on.

Speaker 1 I welcome all of that. I don't mind it.

Speaker 1 But the fact of the matter is,

Speaker 1 if you've ever been to Walgreens and you get that long receipt, I've got receipts as long as Walgreens regarding Christian Pulisic.

Speaker 1 When he was getting torn down by everybody about who he couldn't cut it at Chelsea,

Speaker 1 there was a bald-headed guy with a beard who went on TV and said, you know what? Don't think he's put a foot wrong for Chelsea. I think he's getting a raw into the deal because he's American.

Speaker 1 He's getting hooked all the time before the end of the game. And I think it's absurd because I think he's that good.
I have more respect for him

Speaker 1 or as much respect for him than any current or former U.S. men's national team player.
I think the world of, and by the way, he's a great kid. I've got nothing bad to say about him.

Speaker 1 So like from a clarification standpoint, all I'm saying is the captain of America

Speaker 1 cannot,

Speaker 1 and I'll double and triple down on this, cannot do a celebration or a dance that is connected directly to the president-elect, which is political, and then claim after the fact that they didn't know it was a political statement.

Speaker 1 That's all I'm saying.

Speaker 1 So when you write to me and you give me all the hate, which I've already read and dismissed, just know

Speaker 1 Chris and Belizz can vote for anybody he wants.

Speaker 1 We don't have to vote for the same presidential candidate. I don't care about that.
I care that, as you said, if you're going to do something, own it.

Speaker 1 And by the way, again, for the record, I've screwed up a lot in my life. I've screwed a lot, a lot professionally.
I've screwed up. And I've had to own some things.

Speaker 1 And I've had to look back and go, yeah, I'd have

Speaker 1 done that differently. So this isn't the pot calling the kettle black.
This is from somebody who's made mistakes on a big arena. So love Christian Pulisik.
Love everything he's about.

Speaker 1 Truly do, except for the fact that I think the captain of America should own it. And by the way,

Speaker 1 I am putting more. onus and emphasis.
You've worn a captain armband, Landon, for America. I've walked out behind you as our captain.
Yeah, if someone else did this, by the way, right?

Speaker 1 And I don't in the name names, it wouldn't do it. If Timothy Wea did this, you know who I'd blame for that?

Speaker 1 The captain.

Speaker 1 I would. That's just part of it.

Speaker 1 That's part of the responsibility. So end of rant.

Speaker 1 Listen, and that's that's well said too. And look,

Speaker 1 by the way, if I don't agree with some things you say, I'm going to tell you. So

Speaker 1 I liked what you wrote in the mail. This is not some love session we do here.
We're honest with each other, which is what I've always respected about

Speaker 1 This is

Speaker 1 something he needs to learn from.

Speaker 1 I am curious, and I think I know the answer. I don't think this could have played well with every one of his teammates in both the national team locker room and Fracy Milan, right?

Speaker 1 And that's another part of it. Like

Speaker 1 when you do things that are controversial, when I took a break in 2013 from the national team during a qualifier, I damn well knew that like some guys are going to say, Hey, what's going on here, pal?

Speaker 1 Yeah. So

Speaker 1 the point is, and I think we're on the same page here. It's okay.
You can do it. You do what you want.
You live your life however you want, but don't back away from it.

Speaker 1 And you know, just be a man and own it.

Speaker 1 And that's okay. So to that, to that point, he then,

Speaker 1 I mean, we can say benched. He was benched on the weekend at Paula Fonseca at Milan.
And

Speaker 1 the

Speaker 1 public line was,

Speaker 1 you know, he had

Speaker 1 some issues going on. And he came from, Paul Fonsega said, he came from the national team with a problem yesterday.
And today we tried, but he wasn't well. I couldn't let him play more.

Speaker 1 So if he's injured, you're not playing him. You're not risking him.
He still played 20 minutes.

Speaker 1 I'm not saying there was something behind this, but I am a little curious now. Like, okay,

Speaker 1 were they talking? Was something talked about? Was this just simply a soccer decision?

Speaker 1 I don't know, but it seems a little weird that you would bench your best player in a massive game against a huge rival when you're trying to get into Europe.

Speaker 1 Yeah, well, well, look, the other side of that is we have to take that at face value.

Speaker 1 For he, you know, we know South American and all, you know, and Australian and North American players, when they fly back to Europe, oftentimes the manager does take that into consideration that they played,

Speaker 1 you know, two times 90 minutes or whatever and travel. So

Speaker 1 we have to allow that to also stand on its own as well. So sure.
Take care.

Speaker 1 Soccer.

Speaker 1 Soccer.

Speaker 1 All right.

Speaker 1 On the better side of things, Ricardo Pepe went back to his club and played, wasn't benched, banged in a hat trick.

Speaker 1 I loved his quote after he said, you know, people were asking him, he was out, I think, because De Jong was, or he played because De Jong was out.

Speaker 1 And, you know, you think you're going to start the next game. And he said, well, usually when when you score a hat trick, you start the next game.
Don't mind.

Speaker 1 But we'll see what happens.

Speaker 1 There are reports of him making a move in 2025.

Speaker 1 One, do you think he should? And two, where do you think he should go? Yeah.

Speaker 1 Ricardo Pepe, love your swagger, man. And let me say this because I believe it.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I do too.

Speaker 1 I want.

Speaker 1 And I'll say this forever as long as we're having football conversations. I, as a

Speaker 1 player on the pitch, a goalkeeper, I want my strikers to be arrogant and angry and bold and brash and most of all, selfish, right?

Speaker 1 We'll do the dirty work, but if we get you the ball, do me a favor, stick it in the back of the net, right?

Speaker 1 And when you don't get the ball, yell and scream at everybody because you know if you get the ball, you put it in the back of the net. Be arrogant, be brash.
I love it. I love the comments.

Speaker 1 He's in a good van of form. As we know, Flo is out with an injury.
Ricardo Pepe can take advantage of that, continue playing well, bang the goals. And when you get the opportunity, he will.

Speaker 1 He'll continue to get the opportunity because I, like I said, I believe it. If any manager has a goal scorer in good form,

Speaker 1 he's going to play him or should play him. Now,

Speaker 1 if he gets in a starting lineup, you stay at PSV

Speaker 1 because it's a really good club. But,

Speaker 1 you know, the other thing is if you're scoring goals, people will take a chance on you.

Speaker 1 And if, and if he, and if a club comes after him, I don't know exactly where he should go, but if a club comes after him and they say, hey, look,

Speaker 1 we want you, here's the key to the car. Drive it every single weekend.
Then I think he has to chase more playing time. So we'll see.
All right. Well, you know my answer.

Speaker 1 Go where you are going to play. You've got 18 months ahead of the World Cup.
It is the only thing that matters.

Speaker 1 If I'm him, I would be a little skeptical right now

Speaker 1 if PSV says, look, you're scoring. You're great.
You're going to start. Because five games.
you know, without a goal, the next thing you know, he's on the bench again.

Speaker 1 So he's got to be smart and strategic.

Speaker 1 And all of our national team players right now, no matter where you are, you need to be really clever in the next few months before the window, the next six to seven months before that window.

Speaker 1 And then definitely leading into 2026, you have to be playing. I mean, that is crucial.
So

Speaker 1 U.S. will face Panama.
We didn't know that last time we were on. They will face Panama in Nations League in March.
And Mexico did not have to wait for a special exemption.

Speaker 1 They beat Honduras on their own, and they will go through and play Canada. That should be a great game, too.
So looking forward to those two in March. Should be a lot of fun.

Speaker 1 All right, we'll take another break. When we get back, we will go to the mailbag.
I'm sure there, well, I'm not, I'm sure there definitely were.

Speaker 1 Lots of comments, hundreds on the YouTube page. I read through a bunch of them.
Some good, some not great. Lots of interesting insight, lots of interesting takes from people, lots of questions.

Speaker 1 So we'll answer some of your mailbag questions, and then we will finish with anything but soccer, one of our favorite segments here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim presented by Volkswagen.

Speaker 1 This episode is brought to you by Airbnb.

Speaker 1 All right, Tim, between your work, your daughter, your son, or maybe just your own enjoyment, how much traveling do you think you've done to see soccer this year?

Speaker 1 Honestly, I've lost track at this point.

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

Speaker 1 But it is, it's a beautiful thing to see how many soccer fans and how soccer has been embraced no matter where we go. Yeah, I mean, I was just in Austin.
I'll be traveling to New York.

Speaker 1 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 1 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 1 They get immersed in the chants, the songs, that incredible feeling of seeing the game up close and personal. Well, I mean, I think that's where the game has changed.

Speaker 1 These trips have become a big deal for soccer fans. 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.

Speaker 1 to support their favorite national team. 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 1 Hosting your home on Airbnb while you travel is an easy way to earn a little bit of extra cash, maybe go towards tickets for your game that you want to go to. We know they're not cheap.

Speaker 1 Or maybe to help your kids pursue their soccer dreams. Yeah, your home might be worth more than you think.
So find out how much at airbnb.com/slash host.

Speaker 1 LD for me to holidays are all about connection to family and to friends. We host a lot.
So we got a lot of people over the house.

Speaker 1 Oftentimes when it starts to get chaotic and the turkey or the ham's getting burnt and the kids are running around playing with their new toys, I go out back. by the fire pit and I choose chill.

Speaker 1 I crack open a core's light. Yeah, it's my favorite time of year.
It gets cold,

Speaker 1 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 1 Choose chill, relax, have family, friends, good food, good memories. My favorite time of year.

Speaker 1 When you embrace a chill mindset this holiday, it's a good time to choose chill and crack open a Coors Light. Choose chill this holiday season and then reach for a Coors Light.

Speaker 1 Get Coors Light delivered straight to your door. Visit CoorsLight.com slash USLNT, or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer.
Celebrate responsibly.

Speaker 1 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 1 Like your crisp new jersey waiting for you in the locker room or a perfectly set up wall for a free kick.

Speaker 1 Yeah, as we on Unfiltered Soccer get ready for next summer, we know that very little in the beautiful game is guaranteed.

Speaker 1 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. Staying connected matters.

Speaker 1 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 ATT guarantee.
Learn more at ATT.com slash guarantee.

Speaker 1 AT ⁇ T, connecting changes everything.

Speaker 1 Credit for fiber downtime lasting 20 minutes or more or a wireless downtime lasting 60 minutes or more caused by a single incident impacting 10 or more towers must be connected to impacted towers at onset of outage.

Speaker 1 Restrictions and exclusions apply. See ATT.com slash guarantee for full details.
LD,

Speaker 1 the biggest sporting news of the weekend, of the week of the month, of possibly the year.

Speaker 1 NWSL championship. Orlando beat the Washington Spirit 1-0.
Listen, hats off. All the flowers in the world to Orlando.

Speaker 1 They did the double, won the NWSL Championship, won the NWSL Shield for best regular season record. I mean, Barbara Banda, take a bow.
I mean, stand up and take a bow.

Speaker 1 It was such an impressive year by the Orlando Pride and everything they're doing.

Speaker 1 You know, the game was in Kansas City.

Speaker 1 Kansas City current owners Chris and Angie Long,

Speaker 1 again, what you've built there in Kansas City

Speaker 1 is phenomenal. You've played there.

Speaker 1 The crowd was sold out.

Speaker 1 It's a wow moment. It's a wow moment for the NWSL.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I just think about Marta, her mom, her mom being in the stands in America.

Speaker 1 First time, first time she ever came to see her play. Ever.
And like, that is literally fairy tale.

Speaker 1 Someone, I don't want to say it because I want to try and go get the rights to it, but that's a documentary that's going to fly because what an amazing story for one of the best players, best football players to ever lace the boots up for her to culminate that moment with her mom watching in front of a sold-out crowd in Kansas City take a bow.

Speaker 1 Incredible. And what Sub Hines and Orlando did all year was incredible.

Speaker 1 I, coaching the wave for the last few months of this season, didn't have the chance to play against Orlando, but got to play in Kansas City. That stadium, Tim, is phenomenal.

Speaker 1 And it's

Speaker 1 honestly, it's what every MLS team needed 10 to 15 years ago. I think it held 11,000 people every seat full chance.
They know every player's name. They love that team.

Speaker 1 It's a shame Kansas City weren't in it, but Orlando were phenomenal.

Speaker 1 Marta, look,

Speaker 1 it's weird when you have players still playing that like we're paralleling our careers when we are playing. I remember Marta 20 years ago about, you know, being the best player in the world.

Speaker 1 So incredible for them to go start to finish, win the shield. I think they only lost one game, and that was a game, I believe it was in Portland or in Seattle.

Speaker 1 And Seb Hines just rested all his players.

Speaker 1 And so they would have won that game too. They wouldn't have lost all season.
And so phenomenal year. They deserve it.
And congrats to Washington Spirit too for getting there.

Speaker 1 And then, obviously, you saw the news about Michelle Kang and pledging $30 million to USSF for women's and girls' programs.

Speaker 1 She is a superstar, by the way.

Speaker 1 She has put all her eggs into the women's soccer basket. And it's really impressive what she's done.
I mean, did I see it? I barely saw it because I was floored once I saw it. Like,

Speaker 1 I couldn't believe

Speaker 1 what a special moment that is.

Speaker 1 And I don't mean at all to be selfish, but to be the father of a young woman chasing her soccer dreams, going to the University of Tennessee to play big time Division I soccer and knowing that she hopes to one day represent this country on that level and play in the NWSL.

Speaker 1 It's like that pledge

Speaker 1 of $30 million to the U.S. Soccer Federation.
It's like, and oh, by the way, Michelle Kang gets the right to

Speaker 1 have the final decision on where the money gets allocated. That's crucial.
That's crucial. And it's just such a wonderful, powerful moment

Speaker 1 for

Speaker 1 women soccer, but soccer. And by the way, the women's soccer players, young female soccer players

Speaker 1 deserve this. And it's just such an awesome opportunity for the game.
And the fact that her Washington spirit was in the final, like, it just felt enormous.

Speaker 1 It felt enormous for Orlando, but it felt enormous for Washington Spirit as well. And I just,

Speaker 1 thank you. Thank you, Michelle Kang, for

Speaker 1 your generosity, but for your vision.

Speaker 1 I think it's a very

Speaker 1 powerful moment. And it's going to be a seismic shift globally.
Yeah,

Speaker 1 I have a six-year-old daughter, too. We were just on vacation with her this week and her getting to spend time around some of the wave players and watch the games and just watching.

Speaker 1 She now loves soccer loves it and so people like michelle kang doing what they do you know who she is tim she is the equivalent of someone that i had the pleasure of um playing for at the la galaxy philanthropes and he was understated quite literally by himself kept major league soccer alive decades ago when the league was on the verge of folding an absolute legend in the game and she is she is well on her way to doing the same for women's soccer so thank you from all of us michelle kang and long may it continue.

Speaker 1 All right, let's tap into mailbag questions. I am sure, Jordan, they are going to be very interesting after

Speaker 1 a lot of

Speaker 1 interesting comments we had last week. Let's go, Jay Rizgal.

Speaker 1 Talk to us.

Speaker 2 Let's start with maybe an easy one.

Speaker 2 Mario on YouTube said, How does Landon feel about Messi getting to 58 assists with his national team?

Speaker 1 You know, he's a small player.

Speaker 1 So the fact that someone of that stature matched me, it's not that relevant.

Speaker 1 Like someone sent me a text

Speaker 1 and I had, believe this or not, you guys, but I had no idea that was going on. But someone sent me a text and said, wow, what an amazing tweet.

Speaker 1 And i opened it and it was like a it's so stupid it's a picture of me and messy and it was something like tied on 58 assists i'm like this is an absolute joke but i screenshotted the hell out of that thing i'm plastering everywhere um congrats to him i have no idea why uh it took him that long um because he probably really had more i think it's because they used to give me those hockey assists back in the day where you like if you touch it if you pass it 50 yards and a guy dribbles eight guys and then rolls it across the goal i would still get an assist So,

Speaker 1 anyway, I appreciate

Speaker 1 that. Why? I know why.
Because he holds onto the ball way longer than you did because he just keeps on dribbling and then scores a thousand goals. Yeah, yeah, he actually had a few more goals than me.

Speaker 1 But uh, no, that's pretty sweet. Um,

Speaker 1 but please don't get another one, Messi. Let's long, let's

Speaker 1 forever be tied.

Speaker 2 Uh, okay, how about an email question? Because we were getting some of those tied.

Speaker 1 I like that. Um, all right.

Speaker 2 So, we had a very nice email from Steven who wanted to know: why not encourage elite players to push back at the national team organizational faults?

Speaker 2 In England, Harry Kane may need to captain, but the injuries, like with John Stones recently, showed likely difficulties that are possible.

Speaker 2 And the history of Roy Keene with Ireland or the Canada Women shows how a lack of professionalism infects these national team organizations.

Speaker 1 Okay, that's juicy.

Speaker 1 So he's saying

Speaker 1 that their national team environment is not good. And so they should push back on going.

Speaker 2 The captain should be speaking out about it.

Speaker 1 Okay, so that's certainly not the case with England, right? Because that environment is great. But I know, Tim, and you can speak to this too.
I know lots of players who would say

Speaker 1 it was the opposite of what we talked about last week. We loved going into camp.
Standards were high. Got to stay in great places, great fields, got to go out, have dinners, whatever.

Speaker 1 But there are lots that it's a joke when they go back to their national team. Like the environment's bad.
They train on bad fields. They stay in terrible hotels.
They fly economy across the globe.

Speaker 1 And yeah, that's a really good point. The problem is, is federations are bound by their resources.
Right.

Speaker 1 And so for the longest time, and actually still to this day, speaking of Canada, they just don't have a lot of resources. I mean, it's just the reality.

Speaker 1 So they have to pick and choose, you know, what they can spend their money on. Yeah, you make a great point.
And let me also put in the the human element to that right um roy keen

Speaker 1 he's a guy who i love and respect and i'm thankful i have a relationship with to this day people often use the word one of a kind he is one of a kind right

Speaker 1 most people and i get your point push back against your country dot dot dot and a lot of players do but when you're a player and you have the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of going to a world cup, which is what everyone's goal is every four years,

Speaker 1 When you've got one hand on that dream, man, you have a look in the mirror sometimes and you're like,

Speaker 1 maybe I'll just keep my mouth shut a little bit longer because like Roy Keene walked out of a World Cup.

Speaker 1 Nobody's doing that. Like that's an amazing stance.

Speaker 1 And like, I just, I think a lot of players behind the scenes will do what they can to lobby and try and get things right for themselves and their team, but ultimately aren't willing to sacrifice speaking out over accomplishing their lifelong dream.

Speaker 1 And like I said, I couldn't fault that. Yeah, fair enough.

Speaker 2 Okay, speaking of the national team, Christian on YouTube said, I know the Federation won't do it, but it would be nice to hold the September and October camps in Europe and play UEFA nations in friendlies, which would save our players a lot of travel since most of the team is there and get some fixtures against decent European nations.

Speaker 2 With the congested schedule as it is, it would be nice to see maybe work out something with Ernie Stewart and PSV to have a home away from home.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, it's a good point. And that has happened a lot over the years.
There have been camps where, you know, you play in Poland and then Germany, play in Switzerland and Sweden.

Speaker 1 But I think it still holds true what we said last week is most of these teams are either in qualifying or they're playing in Nations League. So it's still going to be a challenge.
The idea is right.

Speaker 1 I don't mind that at all.

Speaker 1 But it's still going to be a challenge, Tim, because

Speaker 1 all those teams are already tied up in FIFA, in real FIFA games. Yeah, look,

Speaker 1 I think the point of the question is accurate.

Speaker 1 The fact that everyone's wrapped up in Nations League,

Speaker 1 time zone, television slots and fixture,

Speaker 1 it all plays a part. I know it seems like simplistic,

Speaker 1 but big shout out to Bob Bradley because there was a time in 2007 when he was like, he took over the team. He was like, guys, pack your bags.
Get ready to be uncomfortable.

Speaker 1 That's the skills. Get ready to be uncomfortable.
We're going to Europe. We're going to some tough places and we're going to compete on those nights.
And to his credit, one of the best teams,

Speaker 1 you know, in the history of the national team was under his tutelage. So

Speaker 1 yeah, I think players would relish that. Players would relish it to be in Europe, to set up camp there.
So many of our players play there.

Speaker 1 It'd be a great opportunity for our younger American players to go abroad and experience that. But the fact of the matter is the fixture congestion, the nations leagues, it's really hard now to

Speaker 1 find a double match window where you're like, oh, we just go over to Europe and camp out. It just doesn't happen anymore.

Speaker 1 Bob used to always say before every camp, every camp in Europe, he'd say, look, look, guys, look.

Speaker 1 When everybody, he would say, opens the paper tomorrow because people used to read the paper. When everybody opens the paper tomorrow, they want to see the U.S.
beat someone big. All right.

Speaker 1 He would say every time. I'd say, okay, Bob, good.
It's a friendly. It's a friendly.
Look, every time. So it was never a friendly to Bob.
You know that. No, he loved it.
He could compete.

Speaker 1 He loved to compete and he instilled that in us, which is brilliant. Agreed.

Speaker 2 Okay, last one.

Speaker 2 You guys did some interviews with your former club Everton this past week. So Chris sent us an email and said, as a big Everton fan, I'm curious, what is your favorite memory of Goodison Park?

Speaker 1 Oh,

Speaker 1 you're going to have a lot more than me, but

Speaker 1 do you have one off the top of your head? Yeah, I've got got a few that's a i'm getting hard questions jesus all right let me start

Speaker 1 so my last game ever at good a sentence or maybe it was the first stint we played hull i believe hull was in the premier league yeah

Speaker 1 um

Speaker 1 and i'll never forget this because before the game we were on a decent run of form and moise in the locker room said guys It's about time we win one of these games, like three, four, five, nil.

Speaker 1 Like, let's stop like squeaking through these games.

Speaker 1 So we play the game.

Speaker 1 Um, it's late in the game, and we're up four-nil or four-one.

Speaker 1 And Leighton Baines crossed the ball, it skipped through to me, and I hit like the perfect little half-volley into the side netting.

Speaker 1 And it was either Fizz, Phil Neville, or Rodwell, or someone picked me up, and the whole crowd was chouting USA, USA, USA. And I knew it was my last, like we all knew it was my last game.

Speaker 1 And it was just

Speaker 1 a feeling like that as a soccer player is why people struggle when they stop playing because you cannot replicate that ever again in your life.

Speaker 1 Having kids is amazing, marriage amazing, all these things you do, but nothing replicates a moment like that. And I will never, ever forget it.
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Mine, mine are the, is, is the beginning and end.

Speaker 1 And it's, uh, it's impossible to answer that question with just one because it was, you know, in 10 years, I had some of the greatest moments of my life.

Speaker 1 Everton Football was a, you know, aside from my two children, the greatest things that's ever happened to me. Um, it saved me on many occasions, it gave me the greatest highs in life.

Speaker 1 So, you know, when I left Manchester United, bear in mind, I already had, you know, the Manchester United Liverpool games are the things of legends.

Speaker 1 And when I went to Everton, the first thing I was looking forward to was the Derby. I was looking forward to Derby Week because everyone talks about it.

Speaker 1 Like, if you've never experienced Derby Week on Merseyside, you don't know what it's like. So I was like, I was hungry for it.

Speaker 1 Man, it was a sunny day because the Merseyside Derby is always play early. So the pubs don't open and they get everybody in the ground quickly.

Speaker 1 And the sun was shining. It was a blue sky.
It doesn't happen very often. And we beat Liverpool 3-0.
And it was like, I was like, oh, wow, this is easy. It wasn't easy because

Speaker 1 we had some tussles over the years. But that was an amazing moment to beat Liverpool 3-0 on in my first Mergerside Derby.
And then

Speaker 1 my last game. My last game was spent 10 years at the club.
It was emotional. It was the greatest send-off that I could have ever asked for, like Landon said.

Speaker 1 And just to be, to have a guard of honor of my own players and to be able to speak to the goodest in crowd and have them shower me with love and affection and me to be able to give it back was one of the greatest days of my life.

Speaker 1 That was lovely, guys. Thank you so much.
You're crying, Jordan. Yeah, you're getting emotional.
Get out of here. I'm not crying.
You're crying. All right.
Thanks, JR.

Speaker 1 All right. Timmy, anything but soccer? What do you got for us this week? Yeah, so an interesting thing happened in the NBA, right?

Speaker 1 The Philadelphia 76ers, they've clearly been, yeah, the league's biggest disappointment so far this season. Following a particularly bad loss versus Miami, the players held a players-only meeting.

Speaker 1 Let me tell you, I love and hate, but also love players-only meetings. And

Speaker 1 what I mean by that is there are times when I'm like, yeah, let's get everybody in here and talk. Let's have some real home truths.
Some people need to hear things.

Speaker 1 And at other times, I'm like, oh, God, who just called a players-only meeting?

Speaker 1 The contents of that meeting were leaked to the media.

Speaker 1 And in particular, Maxie had a go at Joellen Beebe. And he challenged him for being on time for, you know, Joellen Beebs, he's the biggest player there, clearly.

Speaker 1 But he's late for everything and impacts the players. And it was a big, big issue.
So

Speaker 1 let's talk about one, players-only meetings.

Speaker 1 and two leaks from within the locker room. Because there's an unwritten rule.
Okay, so let me start. It's not unwritten.
I mean, it's right. Well, I guess it is unwritten.

Speaker 1 But how the hell this gets leaked is crazy, first of all. Second of all,

Speaker 1 when you're having a players-only meeting, that means there's dysfunction. Like, there's some bad stuff going on, right?

Speaker 1 Somewhere in the club or with a team, whatever. When someone leaks it,

Speaker 1 exponentially worse. Yeah.
I mean, it is, it is, first of all, it's so disrespectful. I don't care how pissed you are, how upset you are.
You have a players-only meeting. It stays right there.

Speaker 1 By the way, guess who's not in the players-only meeting? Coaches, staff, nobody. It's just players.
It came from inside. Right.

Speaker 1 So it's like, and by the way, a basketball team has 12 players, maybe 15. Are you not on the, it's tiny.
So

Speaker 1 that it's disgusting. First of all, it gets leaked, but it just tells you the the state that that team is in is really bad, Tim.
Like, really bad. And I don't blame Joel Embiid right now.

Speaker 1 First of all, for he's like on a, he's on a mission to go find out who, who leaked it. As you should, I have a few, I think I have a few ideas.
Yeah. Um,

Speaker 1 but

Speaker 1 the other side of it is

Speaker 1 I do blame him in part for the, the team getting to this point. Totally.
Right. Like if you're the lead, we just talked a long time about Christian Pulisic and like being a leader and what that means.

Speaker 1 Showing up late for everything the first thing you should be able to do is show up on time minimum yeah this is your job by the way you're getting paid how much 25 30 30 just show up on time dude it's not that hard show up on time right that's a starting point all the other stuff i don't know we don't have context we don't know if he's hurt if he's not why he's playing why he's resting

Speaker 1 but dude you got to show up on time that's a starting point totally i i mean the fact the fact of the matter is

Speaker 1 I remember it happening, and it happens in soccer, right?

Speaker 1 Where like the managers, and you've been a part of this with me at Everton, the manager will have to balance, like, does he give, does he tell the starters they're starting the night before?

Speaker 1 And normally, sadly, he's like, no, I can't tell you guys the night before because

Speaker 1 players tell their agents and

Speaker 1 they leak the information. And what happens, look, for the, for, for our listening public, what happens is.
Players are so temperamental and insecure. And I was and you were and everybody is.

Speaker 1 I mean, you want to see a really insecure human being show me an athlete. And it's

Speaker 1 everybody wants to be loved. So what you end up doing is you're not in a starting lineup, right?

Speaker 1 Even if you get told a day of the game, you go back in the dressing room, you've got your boys on the other team, and you text them, and you're like, Yo, I'm not playing today.

Speaker 1 So, all of a sudden, he goes to his manager, right? And he says, Hey, so-and-so is not playing on the right wing. So, boom, all automatically, the other team knows.

Speaker 1 And if you get enough players doing that, things start to leak. Piece together the lineup.
Yeah, it's stupid. People ask questions, they get hit up by their agent.
And I've literally, I love my agent.

Speaker 1 He's a mentor to me. He's a dear friend.
He's a colleague. I've never given him a team.
Like if he called me and I say, I'd say, Dan, stop calling me and ask me for the team.

Speaker 1 But the other side of it is, which I always love, is when you have a players-only meeting, it means you've hit rock bottom.

Speaker 1 And I have a saying in life, be careful of rock bottom because rock bottom oftentimes has a trapdoor. Right.
And so like this concept of like,

Speaker 1 The stuff's hit the fan. We're solo.
We're going to get a hand, get in there and have a team meeting and figure it out. I was on teams, and I've said this to people because I was a leader.

Speaker 1 And I rarely called it a team meeting because I'm not 100% sure of them. People would come to me and say, Tim, we need a players-only meeting.
And I would say to them back,

Speaker 1 just know that if we have a players-only meeting, we better freaking figure it out.

Speaker 1 Because what you don't want to do is have a players-only meeting, still suck, and then two weeks later, have a players-only meeting.

Speaker 1 And then by the way, that happens a lot. So look, I went, I spent a lot of years in therapy when I was living in LA.

Speaker 1 Seven years, like almost every week. And here's what happened, because let's be honest, this is a therapy session, right?

Speaker 1 When you have a players-only meeting, some people are more honest than others, but some people just let it go. And it's good

Speaker 1 to some extent. But what happens is, so you go to therapy, you talk for an hour and a half.
Some bombs come up. Some things happen that you never thought about.

Speaker 1 You're like, oh my God, I can't believe I felt that way about my dad and my mom and this and that.

Speaker 1 And then you go, okay, I feel better. I let it out.
But guess what happens when you go home and two or three days later, you go, oh, wait, but what about that? And what about that?

Speaker 1 And wait, but then my mom said that and my dad did that.

Speaker 1 And so what you do is a few days later, you go, oh, you know, when that, my left winger said that about me not tracking back, but then what did that mean?

Speaker 1 So what you need is then. You need some level of either individual follow-up or collectively, like you actually work through the problems.

Speaker 1 And now the problem with the Sixers is now there's a leak. So now everyone, nobody trusts anybody now.
It's a bigger problem. It's a bigger problem.

Speaker 1 So to your point, there was a trapdoor and they all fell through it, right? And now it's a big problem. Man, it's going to be fun for us because I don't have a dog in the fight.
I'm not a Sixers fan.

Speaker 1 But like, it's going to be really fun to watch as this progresses because it's going to be a total dumpster fire. Yeah.
I don't see how it gets any better. So, all right, man.
Well, appreciate it.

Speaker 1 Appreciate the time, Timmy. Everybody, thanks for listening.
Thanks for tuning in. Thanks for watching.
Please leave your comments, questions again so we can get to them in the mailbag next week.

Speaker 1 Remember to subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your pods, and follow the show across all our social media platforms at Unfiltered Soccer for lots of bonus content.

Speaker 1 Yeah, thank you everybody for listening for all of your comments and all the love and some of the hate. Listen, enjoy the turkey, enjoy the sides.

Speaker 1 Most importantly, enjoy your families, love on each other. Have a great Thanksgiving.
We'll be back next Tuesday with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.