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Fathatino is a brilliant manager. He's a globally respected football manager done at the highest level with the best players in the world. Every top 10 job that becomes available between now and the first ball that's kicked in 2030, he will be on the short list. He literally just left the door open. Anybody who thinks that sign in that contract means he deadbolted the door and put the chain on. He literally kept the hinge unlocked. That's what that statement was. Unfiltered soccer with Landon and Tim presented by Volkswagen. Volkswagen has long been a supporter of soccer in America and has proudly been a partner of US Soccer for over five years. Welcome to Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim presented by Volkswagen LD. The Giants are going to the Super Bowl. Giants are going to the Super Bowl, baby. Let's go. What can I say? I have to say, I do like watching the Cowboys suffer because you know, all the off-season, they're good. They're better this year. They're Defender, they're the first game bank. How did your fantasy football team do? Because I know your great fantasy football manager, all these things. I have six teams. Oh my god. I have to promise. So that, but this is the beauty. You're going to win once at least every week when people ask me like, oh, it's a great week. Five teams were awful, but one won. No, actually, my team stood well. Team stood well, bud. I'm in Boise. You've ever been a Boise? No, but it's supposed to be really nice, huh? Beautiful place. Beautiful place. Hanging out with all the AC Boise people this week. Go golfing, dinners, go to the game Wednesday. It's gonna be great. You're having a laugh. That's good for you. I know. You deserve this. You've worked so hard, you deserve this. I do deserve this. Are you in the queues? I am in Boston. Yeah, I was in Boston at Syracuse by Boston College last night. And I didn't check out again. We lost, but it was not much in the game. It was not much in the game. Two goals, but other than that, like literally nothing. So, tough one. It was the first AC, it was the first conference game. So, we're in that schedule now. We're in that schedule now. We got it. Next one. Next one. All right, welcome in everyone. Follow us as always on social media at Unfiltered Soccer. Make sure you subscribe to the show. YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your pods and you can email Jordan. Feedback at Unfiltered Soccer. Coming up later. Our boy, Timmy. Kevin did it again. Last night in San Diego. Manchester Darby had a lot of interesting calls, we'll say. And Inter Miami Nashville put on a show again. But first, USMNT on USLNT. Oh, interesting week this week, Tim. Yes, it was. So, put your Tino did, I don't know, like a press thing this week, there was no real reason because they haven't announced the squad or anything. It was just, I think, just a round table, whatever. But he made some really very interesting comments. And we don't, you know, we kind of usually stated like the games and what happened or, but this is the national team culture making interesting comments. So we need to dissect this. Yeah. It was asked about the culture of the team. And I want to quote him here. He said, it was difficult to make the roster for the gold cup one year before because the mindset was different. You say, if I play, I think he's saying, I don't have holidays. I cannot arrive fresh for the world cup, meaning players were saying to him, if I don't, if I play in this gold cup, I can't arrive fresh for the world cup. He said, you know now that is bullshit. He noted that his ultimate objective is to change this type of idea that is not right. And he was obviously, was referencing Christian with that. And others though, right? And others, and Moussa. And it was just interesting because he's, he's a very, very, very smart guy. Like we've been around him, he's a very smart guy. He knows what he's saying. There's sometimes he says things that gets a little lost in translation and translation. But he knows what he's talking about here. And it was just, it made me think, you know, I think I made this comment to you last week, when a coach needs a player. And I mean, needs a player because they're the only one who can do XYZ, right? Like our national team needed you at times, because nobody could do what you could do, right? They treat players different way. And you give more leeway to allow them to do things, okay? When you're not sure if you need the player, you will speak differently, you will treat them differently. And I'm just wondering now out loud, like after the World Cup, and as we go into this next cycle, his pochotino saying, look, either you get on board or I don't need you in the way I thought I needed you before. And that's what that's what those comments felt like to me. Yeah, you agree with that? I do. So you obviously have seen this and are speaking a lot of truth. I just want to make a point before I jump in. Do you remember, and you know what I'm going to say here? Do you remember the guy, I think his name was Caesar Milan? He was a dog whisperer. Yes, yes, yes. I'm the coach's press conference whisper. If you want to know what a coach is saying in the press conference, just come to me. I will dissect it, and I will tell you exactly what's being said. But, you know, but correct. I think the, you know, when he talks about one year before, being the goal cup and the mindset was different. He's banging on about mindset. He's banging on about culture. Yes, I think that, and as we go into the next portion of this, which I know you'll read his comments on a culture change, he's speaking, he's speaking directly to his players. He's not speaking to the press. He's not speaking to the public. He's using that platform to speak directly to his players. In my opinion. Of course, I mean, he's done that. Many, I mean, coaches do that all the time, right? When the microphone's on in that way, you can make comments that you know your players are paying attention to. I'm curious, like from our listeners to, like, do you feel you should just let this go and stop bringing it up? Or is this, is this smart? And let me continue and here's why. Yeah, go. So he continued to talk and he said, this is a new process, a new project, new rules, new principles. I think that the headline needs to be that it is a new start, a fresh start. And I think we need to change habits. We need to create a group of players that are really being professional and compete in the way that we expect that they need to compete. Right, stop there. You're gonna ask me something. No, go ahead. So, so this is, this is the point, L.D. We all mean you, the entire nation got wrapped up rightfully so in the World Cup hype. We were so excited for our team. The boys did so great. They came out of the gates and they were awesome. Didn't end the way everybody wanted to, but okay. In that moment, L.D. And that moment was, I don't know, four weeks, whatever the moment was, we got so high on the sauce. Which is what you do. That's what, you know, this is, it's entertaining. Yeah, I don't want that to change. Right. But what he, and so because of that L.D., I think we all were like, we're the best. This is great, amazing. And what this comment tells me, where is it? This is a new process, new project, new rules, new principles. What that tells me is whatever that was in the summer wasn't nearly what Pochettino wanted to be. That was, that was, he just told us because if that process and that team was what we all thought, the public all thought, he'd never come out and say new process, new, let me go back to my notes. Yeah, new project, new rules. Why would you need, tell me this L.D., you've been around our teams, why would you need new rules with a team that is humming, with a team that is kicking ass in the first round and the second round and why would you need new rules? Because he, he made a concerted effort, he and his staff and said, we, we're going to take this four weeks, right, we're going to lead all, we're going to do everything we get up to this four weeks, and then we're going to, and then we're going to roll the dice. But after that, when I signed this mega contract, and we get some time, now, now I've got all the power. Okay, but what would he have said these same things if they, I mean, just hear me out, gotten to the semi-finals and lost, but everything else was the same. He still wasn't, like clearly he's not happy with the way some of the culture is, or you don't say that. So I think he just said, look, we have these 18 months, and then we have these four or five weeks, we just got to deal with it, get through it, do it, and then we'll start, because we don't, we don't have time right now to do all that. But if they had pushed on and done what they still make in these comments. If he knows what he knows, right, so if they get to as far, his hands would be tied, so he couldn't say this exactly. Right, now he can say based on what happened. But he would say certain, he would still say, he wouldn't, he wouldn't not come out and say these things. If they got to the semi-finals and lost or whatever, he would have to use that as a caveat and then say, yeah, we still want to build different things around culture, et cetera. He'd have to use a different terminology, but the point would be the same. Yeah, okay. But I think it goes back to my first point. In the big game, when everything mattered. A bunch of the big players didn't show up. And so now I feel like he can say, okay, you know, you did a good job, you got to, but you're going to do it this way because you're proven that you can do it when it matters. And we need to change that. Right. And I also think from our standpoint on the outside, I look at this sort of headline of mantra, like we can now hold him, which I think he'll hold himself accountable, but we can sort of hold this US men's national team to that standard. Like as we go forth, what is the new process? What are the new rules? What are these new principles? Are they getting implemented? Are you happy with that, right? Because this is, that was his headline. Yeah, and we also need to find out what exactly those things are. Sure, okay. Well, again, I go back to the team and I go back to, they're hearing this, they're seeing this, they're reading it. And I just wonder, you know, sort of wonder what kind of impact. I mean, I remember as a player, depending on how honest you were with yourself, you could hear manager speak and you're like, you don't have to me, right? Or conversely, you're like, that was meant for me, right? So yeah, it depends how these players are taking that on board, or how they take it on board moving forward. Hopefully, hopefully they take it seriously and listen. Well, the other part of it, LD, the other part of it is, and you know this, since the failure, since our failure, my failure, of not making it to the 2018 World Cup, these players have been anointed. We've talked about this. These players have had player power, since day one of 2018, they wanted more golf, they wanted more of this, they wanted more, and by the way, we had a lot of golf. You know, but they wanted all these things, didn't play well, got a manager sacked. Like that happens, but they've had so much power. Poxetino comes in, they want to summon off. Like, now I wonder after two cycles, right? So some of these players, the big players, they've already gone to World Cup, and they're young, they're young still. Now they're going to have nations, like World Cup qualifying, Copa America, Gold Cup, I think all those are in the next four years. Like, where is there a stomach for all this? Especially with a manager who now is going to go, there's going to be a, there's going to be a, no, this is my team conflict. I've been in those. You're going to have the big players going, this is my team, getting a Poxetino going, no, it's not, it's my team. So, do they have a stomach for the fight? That will be interesting. Or is it going to be more fresh blood? Speaking of that, he was asked about young players and the need for young players not to get ahead of themselves. So clearly, there were a couple, very clearly he was speaking of. He said, you need to have confidence, you need to have the trust in yourself and belief that you can perform and do well. Sometimes if you play well in your 17, 16 or 18, and you play well and people start to talk about you, like you are, you know, messy, or you're a big star in the world, because you do some good things. If after, you are confused and you don't manage well, little translation there, but that can be dangerous for your career and that is what we don't want. You are only entitled to talk a little bit out of order if you are messy, if you win. If you won, you can talk with certain arrogance. They're just great. Okay, go ahead. Press conference whisperer. We have the Philadelphia messy. He's been brought to us by the gods. Let me ask you a question. You know what my mind went to first is because he's Argentinian, messy is Argentinian. I'm sure he paid attention when Kevin got into it with inner Miami and all that. And it probably like, it like nags him more that like it was against Matt, you know, if Kevin Sullivan was pushing around like sunny or long, I'd be like, okay, I get it. But then when you do it with messy, he's like, oh, the arm, which he's right. Yeah. All right, go ahead. No, translate that. I just, no, I think, I also have to, and by the way, it's hard to question part of Tino because of just the sheer talent that he managed, you know, at all of his stops, right? He's been around the biggest players in the world. I would, and he's not wrong. I would just say in the history of like, he's talking from a platform of like, whether it's Argentina, L.D., or all the places he's managed, like there's a constant young talent coming through, like they don't even question it. Like, literally L.D., if he's at PSG or Tottenham, or you know, growing up in Argentina, it's just another guy coming through. You don't think, wow, this guy is special. He is now the manager of the U.S. And going back to, I don't know, a long time, like decades and decades and decades and decades, we've had you, we've had Fredia do, we've had Christian, I mean, I can't even put Claudio, Claudio was a young star, Claudio Raina, but like, and he became great, but he wasn't like a phenom. He was very good in his teenage years, but you know, I look at Clint. Clint's one of the greatest, if not the greatest to ever do it. He went to Furman, he's a late bloomer, and then he took the world by storm. We're talking, we've got three, I think. We have three. Argentina has three every six months. So like, we're going to get excited about Kevin Sullivan. The whole country's gonna get excited about him. Man, city's actually excited about him. So like, I'm on board, I'm, again, again, I keep people asking me this question, since I don't know last 20 years, when's the U.S. gonna produce a world-class talent? So like, I'm not gonna not get on board with this. I'm excited about it. And then he's right. Hopefully his family looks after him, which they do. He comes from a great family. You hope Philadelphia Union look after him, which they do. Clearly, man, city will look after him. So next person up is the U.S. men's national team. They need to look after him. So it's gonna be interesting though, when, if and when he comes into camp, because, as you know, like when a new kid comes in, you're like, talk about, no, this is my team. It'd be very interesting. It is, I remember a time when some young, little arrogant soccer player came into one of my teams, looking at him right now. No one likes it, no one likes it. And. But you know what, Tim, you know this. You have to have that arrogance, or you don't survive. I mean, you can be an OK play. If you're gonna be a big star, you think Clint makes it if he comes in and he's right. Here's the ball, Claudio, like anything you need. Like, I'll pass to you. No, he's like, I'm gonna go score. That's why Clint made you try to make it. That's right. And Kevin's clearly not afraid of that. Now, to put you Tina's point, like, there is a level of respect you have to have. And look, he's not gonna get it perfect. I didn't get it perfect. Freddie didn't, Christian probably didn't get it. You have to learn these things and you need someone to say, hey, come here bud. Yep. Like, I want you to play well. I want you to be confident. But, you know, he made a, he made a comment on Alexi, Alexi stated in podcast. He said, thinking about the Belgium game, I think I could come into that game on the right side and make a difference. So it's OK to believe that, right? And I believe he believes it. And maybe he could have. I don't know. But you can't say that publicly, right? Like, and those are the things he needs to learn because that's how we love it. Like, you can't say something. Right. Not always where they're in it. Well, OK, OK. So let me, let me throw two things at you. You're right. It's disrespected. Same on you, Captain. No, listen, I think when you're doing good school back to Pochettino and young players and Clint and yourself and all these guys. I prefer, there's two types of people, right? Talented kids, let's talk about, they have a talent, right? We're not, we're not questioning that. You get the kid who is brash and arrogant and thinks he's the best, right? Or you get the ho-hum, humble kid. I got a lot of talent. This is really cool. And, you know, I'm trying to work with this. I want the ultra-arrogant kid, because you know what I can do? I've seen it. I've said that you can have a conversation with him face to face. You can dip him in and out of the team, right? You can take him. You can take away his favorite toy and say, hey, yep. So I'd rather a player who's Uber talented have that brashness and arrogance. And by the way, by the way, and by the way, Kevin's young and they'll make his mistakes, we all do. But here's the facts. And this is sort of where I'm leaning. You can't, you said, well, you can't say that. And maybe it was a mistake, okay. I might be on board with that. The game doesn't lie. So he's now going to have an opportunity to go in and go, I said it, maybe I shouldn't have said it. But, give me the ball, give me the ball. And you may kick me. We kick the lump set of Ross Barclay at Everton. Guess what? He said, give me the ball back. Don't care. And then other players shrink. So the game doesn't lie. So if he's going to come, we're going to find out. He's going to go in the camp. He's going to ruffle some feathers. If they, if the older players had anything about them, he'd walk out the first training session thinking, probably need to play two touch here, because they're getting after me. I don't know if the senior players have that. They might, they might not. But I think Kevin possesses the gumption and the arrogance to say, you kick me, give me the ball back. I think, I don't know, we'll see. I do too. Yeah. I do too. All right. Last thing from this press conference that was interesting. I need my Caesar Milan press conference for her. Yes, I do. Okay. But Tina also made clear that he can get out of his contract prior to the World Cup. Should a situation arise? He said, now it's a four-year contract. It's different. We can next season lose the Copa America or the Gold Cup. And they're not happy with us. They can sack us. Or we can say, okay, it's not the way we think. Four years is different. Maybe now if someone calls in the future, it's a different type of situation. We are excited. We are thinking to spend four years to the next World Cup. But now it's a long period. You don't need Caesar for this. Come on, Caesar. You don't need Caesar for this. All right. Here's the, some people do. Come on, give it to him. Here is the reality. And probably your soccer will say it and probably, well, I was going to say, Pachatino won't say it. He pretty much did. He, for the next four years, right? We talked about this leading up to the World Cup, LD. Pachatino is a brilliant manager. He's a globally respected football manager. He's done at the highest level with the best players in the world. Every top 10 job that becomes available between now and the first ball that's kicked in 2030 at the World Cup, he will be on the short list without doubt. So does he leave after the first offer? No, he doesn't. But do you know the turnover rate of the highest teams in the world over four years? There's going to be a lot of vacancies. So teams are going to kick the tires, test the water, his agent is going to be making phone calls behind the scenes, sorry people. That's what happens, okay? And he can turn down the first $30 million offer. And he can turn down the second and the third $40 million offer. At some point, somebody is going to be desperate enough and go, okay, he's not coming for 30 or 40, but here, here's 50. Come coach this team, we're, by the way, we're the best team in the Champions League or in World Football or whatever we are. And oh, by the way, maybe, I mean, he just said it. Maybe whatever competition the US team is in, didn't go well. Maybe the nation's league didn't go well. Maybe Copa, America, whatever. He just literally just let, like he, he literally just left the door open. Anybody who thinks that sign in that contract means he deadbolted the door and put the chain on. He literally kept the hinge unlocked. That's what that statement was. Otherwise, he wouldn't say, why would he say it? I mean, the easiest answer to whatever question he was asked was, I'm so excited for the next four years, just in a long-term contract, can not wait to get started. That's the easiest answer, L.D., he didn't do that. He did the opposite of that. And everybody, I mean, everybody knows that this is the case that he can. It's interesting that he said it. Everybody knows now that he didn't. It's interesting. All right, let's take a break. When we come back, another big, big weekend here at Home and Abroad, we'll share our thoughts on all that right here on Infiltred Soccer with Lennon and Tim Presented by Volkswagen. As you guys know, we are all about spreading the love of this amazing game and access to this beautiful game across the US. We want you to get involved, to join, to play, to enjoy it. We care about you, we care about the game, and we want you involved. This is also something Volkswagen cares deeply about. They have long been a supporter of Soccer in America and have proudly been a partner of US Soccer for over seven years. Yeah, that's right. And this summer is a massive opportunity for you all to get involved in the game and not just by watching the matches. L.D., I think it's important that people enjoy the matches but that they get a ball at their feet and they play, participate, whether that's in the street or a park, it doesn't matter. I think it's so important that they fall in love with the game. It's the beauty of what's going to happen this summer is you're going to have the opportunity to be a part of this sport in a unique way and we want you involved. So consider this your call from L.D. and I, from Volkswagen, to get off the sidelines and make the most of it. Get swept up, tune in, play, or at the very least, always keep a ball in your trunk. Follow at VW on social to see how they are getting in the game this summer and check out the Volkswagen Tiguan. Learn more at www.com. To me, the World Cup may be over, but the way America loves soccer, that is just getting started. Every Saturday's soccer takes over the day. Maybe you're playing in the morning, then thrown on your jersey, grabbing snacks and watching a match later with friends and family. And Wal-Mart has exactly what you need to keep those traditions going from soccer balls to kick off snacks and everything you need to bring match day together week after week. America is a soccer country and Wal-Mart is helping us live like one every Saturday. Who knew? All right, MLS, fun weekend. Yep. Inter Miami, Nashville, I was watching with my boys. This was such a fun game. Possibly Eastern Conference Final preview here. Inter Miami, two, Nashville, two. These two teams just, they're starting to, like it's starting to build a real rivalry. Messi scored a great goal. Miami had a lot of chances to put it away. And then Sam surged, man, he's going to do it. He's so good. Two goals, including the equalizer in the 91st minute. Rodrigo to Paul hit the post right at the end. So good. Yeah, man, this feels like, I know, who knows where Philly ends up? We'll get to them, but they're on a great run, Orlando's on a great run, but this feels like this will be Eastern Conference Final. Yeah, I mean, I just think that having watched this game, it's very rarely in MLS, do you get like, you get the blockbuster matchups, but you don't always get the star shining the brightest. And with Messi and Sam surged, who has you rightfully said, is brilliant in front of goal. The star showed up, right? Like it wasn't a dud. This actually, two two was like, probably the perfect, I'm, Nashville would have wanted to blow the doors off and again, but like this was the perfect sort of response for inner Miami. Yeah, when I say I watch these big games and they don't always have up to the hype, this is like, this is, this is now you're looking forward to the next game. You're thinking, this is a playoff rivalry that isn't going anywhere. It'd be interesting. I mean, Miami kind of feel maybe like, they can't beat this team though, right? And that's that, they needed to win that game for that, just that reason, that confidence reason because now you're like, yeah, can we even beat these guys home or away? I mean, we'll follow. We'll see how it goes. And one other team forgot to talk about flying up the table or Lando beat Toronto 3-0. Griesman again, he scored twice against Atlanta and then he scored again this weekend. 10 games, he's got eight goals and three assists. They're shooting up the table now, they're in sixth. And this is one of those things that we'll get to fill it to. You know this Tim and MLS happens time, time again, the team playing while at the end of the year, going into the playoffs, doesn't matter where you finish. They're on one of those runs, man. They are. Couple of things here. We definitely don't do cow banjo watch. I was good. Good thing we, I was just going to say good thing we didn't do that. 10 games, eight goals, three assists now. But you've, again, and I always reference the LA Galaxy for all the great history that you have. And you've had the ability to do this over the years. This is one of those MLS moves that hurts me because I don't necessarily believe in it, right? Because the blueprint in MLS is, well, this is going to change because of the, this is going to be a move point because the transfer windows are going to change based on the schedule. But the old philosophy in MLS was build your team if the right player isn't there, build a team that you like, get to the middle of the summer, used to be the all-star break, right? And then go splash the cash in the transfer market and you could go 13th place to 6th if you get the right player and then agrees when comes along and does it. But for all the, all the gris on Orlando, I could give you 100, 200 examples of where this doesn't happen. So I'm like, all right, it worked for Orlando. I'm happy for them because, by the way, that's a, that's a massive boost. When you're, when you're sitting in 13th and you sign a guy you think can help you and then the next thing, you know, he's just banging in goals like that's what every MLS team wishes can happen. So it's happened in Orlando. I feel like teams are just getting smarter about the type of guy they're signing to, like Tomas Muller and Sonny and like, these are guys who still care, compete, Griezmann. They, they, you know, they're real players. And so they're making a real difference. Really bizarre one in the middle of the country, sporting, beating LAFC 31. And when we dug a little deeper, I mean, LAFC kind of been under the radar. I haven't been really paying that close attention to them. But they beat sporting for nothing on July 25th. They've only won one time since then. So now there were almost two months away from that. And I, I, you, you thought for a moment, they were just gonna, it was gonna be them and Vancouver and then Vancouver lose Burr Halter. So maybe it's gonna be them. All of a sudden they're struggling. And I think they're down to six in the West. And I'm, I'm trying to figure out what's going on with this team. Well, obviously not in a good run. You don't want to lose Kansas City. Not this season, not this season, but there are, there are routes and, and, you know, the, the simple way of sort of dissecting this is, in MLS as we often, often talk generally, the summertime, again, this is all gonna go away because of the schedule change. But the summertime, one of two things happened. You get hot, you go on a run, you feel good about yourself, the games sort of come thick and fast or you just can't get out of your own way. And you're like desperately clinging on and hoping that one September comes, you can get rolling again. This is, it's really, you're never really in the, in the middle of that. You're honestly, you're on one side of the other. Yeah, it's, yeah, I mean, I had lots of summers where like you just start hacking on points and the next thing, you know, you're up the table, but there are, there are times two where you feel like, you know that feeling and we're talking about feeling next, when you step on the field and you're like, there's no way we're losing to that. They might sneak a point off of maybe, but no chance. But there's also times two where you're like, dude, I don't know how we're gonna win this. Correct. And they're a good, I mean, they went into Kansas City, probably almost every position on the field, they have a better player than Kansas City. And they went into that game, probably thinking like, gosh, I don't know, it's Kansas City, good environment, it's hot, it's whatever, they're struggling, man. This is, they need to figure it out. You made a good point. They go, they go into KC with respect and they're probably better at every position. And I say this to you, usually like via text all the time. And I say it in studio all the time. Like, there are moments where I'm just like, I'm both so dumb, soccer so dumb. Like, make this make sense. Like, that makes sense. You know what I mean? Like, there's just so many times where the Oklahoma City Thunder, are they gonna lose? Yeah, they'll lose every now and again. But like, they ain't losing. Like, they're just, on a certain night, they're not losing. Soccer's just a weird sport. Anyway, that's because goals are hard to score, you know? Correct. So like, it just changes everything. All right, in San Diego, San Diego Nile, Philly, five. Yeah, wow. That's back-to-back five nothing games in over three days for Philly. Cabin Sullivan, two more goals, including a left-footed back heel that's off the post. I'm not sure what else to say about Cabin because you talk about like confidence in one thing. Confidence in a kid is different than confidence in a 25-year-old. When I was 25 and I like, I scored a few goals. I'm like, okay, this is a good one because you have the temperament to know that like, it could fall off a cliff next week. When you're 16, this dude thinks he's gonna score twice every game and like, fully believes it. It's not like, oh, he's like, no, I'm gonna score twice today again. I'm gonna score, and you fully believe it. 25, you're like, I could go five games without scoring now. Yeah, I just... This is wild. It's wild. I mean, I sort of think he's in a place where... I often times question the other team, like, I can't have you play forever. We had this tactic every now and again weekly. You know, just like, when you set your stall out, I'm thinking somebody needs to kick him. Like, somebody needs to just kick the lumps out of him and say, yeah, not today, mate. Not today. Like, this is gonna be hard for you. You're gonna struggle. And you're not gonna get the run of the show. You're just not gonna do it. Not in our place or whatever. It's just that good. I mean, is that good? Shout out to Quinn, by the way. I'm not leaving out Quinn. I mean, you got a goal this week. So... And he's like, well... To assist. Don't forget about me. Man, like, your younger brother's sock man. They're always trying to overshadow you. But what's that, I mean, let me throw the question back to you. I mentioned that, you know, I do believe in our history. There's you and Freddie to do in Christian policy as like sort of the teenage B-Noms. Like, what does he have to do in order to... Look, there's gonna be bumps to the road. Like, we know that. This doesn't go this way. This doesn't go straight up. No, it's not linear. So how does he deal with some of this? Particularly at a young age, you went over to Germany at a very similar age. It's not easy. You have to toe the line, Tim. And this is really hard as a 16-year-old. And I wasn't doing a 16 for the record. I was doing it at 18-19, sure. And not even like this. You have to toe the line of being really bold and brash and arrogant on the field, right? And like demanding and wanting the ball. And then off the field, and this is what Pogetino was talking about, you have to be really humble and respectful in the team, in the locker room. Because guess what? You need all those guys, man. Like if, at Philly, they're giving them the ball. And they want them to score it. And they want them to do well. You think Christian Policic wants him to go be a superstar ahead of him, or flow or Malik. Now, it doesn't mean they hate him anymore. If he helps them win, of course they do. But initially, they're not gonna be like, yeah, here you go, Kevin, go be the superstar. They don't want that. So you gotta be a really good teammate. Do things really well. Do things that help your team win that don't include scoring. Right, that's a big learning lesson for a young attacking player. Because you're not gonna score every game, especially you go play in Copa America, you think you're scoring a brace every week? No, it's not happening. So you've gotta learn how to do things that impact the game other than scoring. And that's a learning lesson. You have to learn that. So there's like little things that you can do that can help get you there actually faster because your teammates want you to succeed too. You make a good point and while you're talking there, it dawned on me. There's sort of like, I don't think the public on the outside and why would they? I don't think they quite understand how difficult it is for a young kid. Like, Kevin's a perfect example. Men twice his age in the same position are making mistakes, right? So the fact that we think he's not gonna make mistakes is silly on and off the field by the way. And so part of players' greatness, the players that we see who are great, they made mistakes and then made tweaks or they made mistakes and had people round them to kind of sort of corral them. Like, they're not, their career or their life isn't absent of the mistakes. And so, you know, it's like, Kevin's, like, give me a perfect example. I'll do you. Kevin's gonna go over and we all in the team trying to keep up with the Joneses. We try and we try and do what our teammates do. If you've ever gone to the Man City Car Park, there's all sorts of cars, high-end luxury cars, all the things, he's not gonna turn up in like a, in something that doesn't match that. Now we're gonna, now we're gonna say it. We're gonna say, oh, he's a 1670-year-old kid and look at him, he's really big time. But the fact of the matter is, these are things he has to do in his career to sort of blend in. And so that might be a mistake. I mean, Sir Alex Ferguson was the best at it at Manchester United. He brought all these young kids through and what, you didn't think he thought they were gonna make mistakes, but he believed in his ability to say, you made a mistake, you went out in Manchester until 3 a.m., you got snapped by the newspapers. We're gonna, we're gonna corral you, we're gonna make sure that you walked the line for the next three or four months that your performances are good, like he took it up on himself. So this happens with young players and I think he's gonna be just fine. I do too. On the other end of the field, I have to say, the San Diego team is last year that the roster was put together very, very top heavy, but they stayed healthy. And so they had a good seat. This isn't really bad. Roster was looking through the team yesterday and I'm trying to figure out what happened here. They saw Luke Obamino, but it's sad, I lived there, obviously. So it's like, it's sad to see this excitement from last year kind of falling apart. It's just not well built. And so I'd be interesting to see if they sneak into the classroom. Yeah, let me just, I just think with expansion teams, you sort of get that little run to bump in there. You get that bump and you also, you get a little bit of license to do whatever and people are just flying high. And then that all of a sudden you said that expectation and all. Well, also the first year teams go there and they're like, oh, nice, it's San Diego. It's beautiful. It's just an expansion team, whatever. And they show up and they smash you. You're like, oh, okay. And this year they're like, no, this is a good team. This is going to sound like a dream. All right, moving on to Europe. United City. Oh, it was so fun. God, it's so much joy. So I see the early red card and then I go away from the game and I'm like, oh, United, we're going to win this game. Phone gets sent off for city. And I'm like, oh, yeah, United will win this game. And then I turn it back on like 70th minute and sit here up one now. I'm like, what? City Europe after being down a man this long. And then I just watched what's immense joy as a, sorry, I know it's here United, but they lost. Anyway, the first goal, well, the only goal. Early Holland's goal. So for those who didn't see it, go look at it. Bog gets crossed in and. Enzo for New Zealand. Enzo's in the way. Enzo's like joining Holland into the box. And he's clearly in an offside position. He clearly is impacting the play. It doesn't touch the ball, but it slides past him to Holland who scores. Before I get your take on it, pro, is it called pro ref? Pro ref came out with a statement after the game. The goal was allowed, but after the game, pro ref said, following the incident in the 60th minute, we can provide clarification regarding Erlin Holland's awarded goal. The on field decision was offside against Erlin Holland. That was checked and he was found to be an on-side position. However, in the same attack, he was established that Enzo Fernandez did not play the ball. And therefore, that makes any offside offense subjective. However, on this occasion, VAR did not recognize the likely impact of his position and should have recommended an on field review. This is the most part to sit. Gets me everything. Contact has been made with Manchester United this evening to acknowledge what we deem is an error in judgment. Gee, thanks, guys. Thanks for the phone call to let us know we screwed up in Costa's points. It's so dumb like this is just so dumb. Anyway, go ahead. Do one. Like what? What? I know they have to tick a box, but what? I don't want the phone call. I don't call me. Why? Why the apology for what? Give him the points back. If you want to give me the point, fine. Don't call me. I don't want to answer your phone call. So I had a big issue with both instances. I'm going to go back to the red card. I can sort of walk you through it. The phone red card. Yeah, so here's the issue. The phone goes down to the ground. The ball sort of stuck in and around him. By the way, I love both players. So I'm just going to give you my objective point of view. The ball is there. Bruno Fernandez is very cheeky and kicks out basically at like Phil phone's butt, like just kicks him in the hip. The ball's not there. He knows what he's doing, right? Phil phone takes, takes objection to that. And you've seen players on the ground, they'll do, right? Where you're on your back and you can like, stud showing, stud a guy, right? Like sort of like donkey kick this guy. And that's a red card. Phil phone, go back and watch if anybody disagrees with me, whatever, I'm right. Phil phone has hit, so this is his studs. Bruno Fernandez like hip groin is here. So basically the outside of his shin LD is against his body. He's not like smashed, is like against his body. And he like shoves up. That's not he's not put his studs on anybody. That's not that's not a red card. Like not in, not any world is at a red card. That's wrong. It's two guys hustling. Yeah, maybe maybe a double yellow for both. Yeah, yeah. Okay. The ish and by the way, so one issue with VAR and you know a big proponent of VAR. I do like VAR. I think it gets it right most of the time. But my my issue in all of these things is on the off side, right? Enzo Fernandez is off side by anybody's calculation. Anybody. Nobody would disagree with that, right? Because that's not what they were saying. That he was in an off side position. They the referee missed it. I'm okay with referees missing it. That's why we have VAR. Two sets of eyeballs. How many people are in that booth? No, more than two sets of eyeballs see this play and deem not not that he's not an off side position that we know that. They know that is that he didn't make an attempt to play the ball. The fact of the matter is he attempted a diving header that he missed by by a centimeter. Well, why would you go into the box and not attempt to put my point is that he didn't trip. He didn't get pushed forward. He made an attempt for the ball. So how could how can anybody? But by the way, trained referees who have a better eye than probably I do. Because they're so to say he didn't make an attempt for the ball. Of course he made an attempt for the ball. Let's move on. It's off side. Let's move on. How is that possible that they get that wrong? And we're all so baffled that we're like, this is one of those things. I'll do where you're watching it and analyzing it real time. You're like, I think I've got something wrong here. I maybe I don't know how did I miss it. Yeah, and and and and and and and then they come out with it. And you're like, yeah, it was that obvious. Here's what I like and here's what I like in this to and you'll appreciate it. I oftentimes see big, call it fashion houses, right? Put these big billboards up in Times Square. In order to do that, someone has to come up with an idea. Then it has to go through these, these four, five, six, 10 checkpoints. So if someone to go, I've signed off on it, I like it. I've signed off on it, I like it. Stick that thing up in the world's biggest place in Times Square. They put it up there. The world gasps and they go, oh. And then they take it down and they assure an apology. And they say, we were insensitive because we did anything. Yeah, but that wasn't someone roguely putting up a billboard that had to pass all these checkpoints. So back to VAR, like, how is it possible that the most, that's probably the most obvious call the game, by the way, he's in an offside position. He makes the attempt of the ball. It's offside. It's just, it's amazing to me that they miss that. And then they apologize. It's incredible, it's incredible. The point of VAR then is to have eyeballs that can help you see something you missed. It was bizarre, man. Well, here's the other thing and my last point and I truly believe this. If we're given the referee license to miss calls because he's going to, boom, that was a snap judgment. Every call is, I'm saying, and every game is important, I'm saying the Manchester Derby, the Manchester Derby. This is you, by the way. This is your name attached to it. Send me over, send me over to the TV monitor. Let me take 20 more seconds to get this right. But instead, we allow the people in the booth who are also human, by the way, to make a call that affects me. Tim, when I was in the World Cup, I talked about this. There was a referee that I, an American referee that I saw in the hotel one day. And that was another point that I forgot to tell you about. He said, the other thing with VAR that's hard is you're not on the grass. Like you're not in the stadium, you're not, it's, it's really hard sometimes on a monitor to understand what happened on the play. You know, they're like stuck in Dallas while this game's going on in New York City. And he said, that's another piece of it is like, I'm sure. I don't need to see like what happened so I can understand it. Yeah. So it's interesting. Yeah. So it's interesting. Spurs Everton, good point for our toffee spurs to these. Will they score a goal this year? I love watching. I love watching software. Yes you do. I do. I love team suffering. I really love. I'm like, I'm a sick human that way. How, I guess just how does this, how does this happen? I mean, I, I, I don't understand how this happens. I mean, you're high on, you're high on deserving your life, you know, his, his tactics worked on it. The reality of Tim, this is what I think coaches now in the modern game, they want to play a certain way and want to do things a certain way. But there's still value in just putting the ball in front of the goal and and making chaos happen and letting things fall the way they do. And sometimes I look at coaches and I go, okay, it's great to like build this way and get to this point. But sometimes just put the ball in front of the goal and see what happens. You have world class strikers in front of goal. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't know. I, I, you know, I, I think Tottenham or a good club and I think they're good teams like they recruited well and, and I believe in Deserterby, I've said all that. Look, not scoring the season is a problem. It's a problem. You know, yeah, there's certain things I can't defend. Ultimately, you know, his, again, I just, with a lesser team in Brighton, his team scored goals. They're exciting. They, they, they, I think got into Europe under Deserterby. So like, this is why I, I, I'm a translation standpoint. He's gone to a bigger club, better players, more money spent. He's still the same manager. Like I do, I think, I think ultimately this, his tactics, which I think are very intricate. I think they work. Maybe they work, you know, maybe they work more at Brighton because he, it was Brighton and these players don't think of themselves as world beaters and they buy in quicker. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe a thing. And maybe a thing. Look, he's talked about it. Spurs have been upside down for a while, you know, he talked about needing a soul and finding purpose in the team. So like, I, I do believe that. I mean, we all see that. So, you know, maybe it's not just the goals that he's concerned with. Maybe he is trying to find, you know, trying to find something there. But, but yeah, you know, soccer be very afraid. I mean, they, they, they go another few games without scoring goals. Someone's getting a phone call. No, that's a little bit too, too much of a stretch. No, no. I don't know. It is. Yeah. It's it. The, the problem is you watch teams that create a lot of chance. You go, okay. Eventually they're going to score. I watch this team play and I'm like, dude, they're not scoring. Like, I don't think they're scoring. I don't know where it's coming from. Of course, they'll score. But like, they'll break out match and they'll score. Yeah. All right. Time for the cold moment of the week, sponsored by course light. Four goals, more celebrations, go to course light.com slash UFS, cold moment of the week, this week. Timmy. So Barcelona, I mean, we're so focused on MLS and, you know, coach Tino comments and what's going on in the Premier League, ho hum in their six matches this year across all competitions. They have scored five goals, two goals, five goals, five goals, five goals, four goals. Only conceding five, um, Levandowski leaves, leaves, um, but Rafini has been fine as a central striker. Lemminium all has been fantastic. And then I think just Anthony Gordon, of course, is, is been really good for them too, but Roger is the, is the guy, Roger is the guy. And he just makes them tick and they look scary, man. They look good. I look scary. Look, I think I, Bar, if anyone can do it or knows the blueprint, Barcelona can do it sort of without a proper striker, right? They think they sort of, I know it's PEP and he invented the sort of false nine, but they can do it. I mean, Rafini is still a good player. And then he's, you know, he's getting the joy from Jamal from Gordon, who's also a very good signing. And yes, I do believe in, we saw this with Spain in the summer and we saw it in Man City for a very long time, when Rod, like, Roger plays the role, both physically and mentally of like three people. Totally. It's like having extra players on it. I'm telling you, it really is. Lows your front three or four to go ahead, go. And by the way, lose it. I don't worry. I got it. And he's, you know, he's really, really impressive, man. It's incredible how talented he is. And for him to do it on so many levels, this is being Roger, you know, both at City and in the World Cup. And by the way, there's a World Cup hangover for like almost every player. We'd forgive him if he was just like back to Spain. I'm chilling. He's just gone from strength to strength. That's pretty impressive to watch. Someone asked me yesterday, who was the most impressive player in the World Cup, and I thought about it for a second. You know, I'm asking, and I was like, no, it's Roger. Like just watch him in person. He's special, man. So, Roger cheers to you, cheers to you, Barcelona, cold moment of the week. Long may it continue. All right, let's take another break. When we come back, we will answer all your questions in the AT&T fan connection right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen. That was a funny story, right? So I was at a college tailgate. This was a few years back. I was at a college tailgate at a TV's on. TV was plugged into the generator. Everyone's having a good time. And I ended up bringing the beer, but it was warm. So bad idea. Bad idea. I made some enemies, but I made some friends because we had his beer fridge, but the TV was plugged in. So I had to unplug the TV, saw it, sorry, but plug in the beer fridge so I can cool the beer, or at least chill the beer. And I was like, look, you want a football, you want beer. I know you want both, but right now you got to choose. No, that's an obvious answer. Which was beer. Don't care how you cool your course down, just make sure it's rocky mountain cold. TV can go, football can go, we need the beer cold. When the mountains turn blue, your beer is as cold as the Rockies. Face true mountain cold refreshment, crack open a course light, get course light delivered straight to your door. Visit courselight.com slash UFS, or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer. Celebrate responsibly. Course brewing company, golden Colorado beer. Jimmy, as you know, in soccer and in life, there are those moments where everything comes down to connection. It's that call to your family right after a big win. The text before kick off when the nerves hit or watching the match from halfway across the world, feeling like you're right there in the stadium. Those are the moments that matter most. And when the connection matters, it has to be AT&T because it's not just about having service, it's about showing up when it counts. Whether you're watching the game at home or on the move, AT&T helps keep you connected to what matters most. Yeah, because soccer isn't just about 90 minutes on the pitch, but the highs you celebrate, the losses you write out, and every message, call, and shared reaction along the way. So wherever the game takes you, make sure you've got a network you can rely on. Visit ATT.com slash Y-ATT to learn more AT&T, connecting changes everything. It's time for the fan connection presented by AT&T. Every week we invite you, the listener, to connect with us by submitting your questions. AT&T, connecting changes everything. And on USL and T, our connections with you will help grow the game. Time now for the AT&T fan connection. We love this time of the week. JR. Hi, JR. Hello. Hi, JR. What's your shirt? What's your shirt? It's Sally Parton. My dad just went to Nashville and he brought this back to me. Oh, that's cool. That's a really cool shirt. Yeah. May she rest? Very peacefully. Yes, exactly. Yeah. So we got some a little bit of good smoke again this week and this time, I will just say that the smoke is a little more focused on landing than that. Yeah, let's go. Let's go. I'm steaming in as well. But we'll ease into some of that stuff. So we're going to start with a question from Ken Vee email who wants to talk about the US men's national team. OK? OK. So he says, you guys have been hyping Kevin Sullivan up to get called in for the next USM&T camp. The time for the Philadelphia Union Center back Neil Pierre, is that his name? To get called in as well. The 18-year-old has been phenomenal lately. I'm curious if you guys have been following him and if you think he's a potential CB option in 2030. Hmm. I have not been following him full disclosure, um, aware of the name obviously, but Kevin's taking all the sunlight out of that team. You don't want to be his team? No, I mean, talk about overshadowed. However, I will say this, any 18-year-old who's playing meaningful minutes for a real team in the world is someone we should be looking at for sure. So I am sure Pochettino and his staff have eyes on him. But to Tim's point, like that is that is a position we need to fill and we immediately to answer the question directly, you know, Pierre should be in the fold. Why not? There is Chris Richards and then I'm projecting out, by the way. Yeah, yeah, we, yeah, yeah, if you have, if you, if you're, if you're him and you're on field of view and we know Philly looks after the young players and gets them going in the right direction and they have a good run in the playoffs and you're a part of a winning team, yes, yes, absolutely. These guys need their toe dipped into that fire, man, like, like get them into camp. And sometimes what people don't realize, like sometimes you bring a guy into camp, a young kid and right away, everyone goes, no, he doesn't, he doesn't have it, not at this level. And sometimes you bring a kid in, you're like, oh, okay, held his own against Christian and training that day, held his own against flow, you're like, okay, let's see what he's got then. Let's put him in a game and see what happens, right? And so you, you sometimes you don't know until you get him there. And I think when I was speaking from experience, right, like when I was, when I was my first call up, like Bruce arena called me up, we played, I don't know who we played in Columbus, Ohio. And it was like, I'm bringing you in so you can like, be around the team. You're not getting anywhere near the field, you're in a train. I want to see, I want to see what you're attitude is like. I want to see if you actually can even pretend to cut it at this level, forget planning the game. I want to see what training is like. And so, yeah, that's what it's not always about, like, let's, let's get pulled a shirt on and be a star, see how he operates in small environments. Yeah. Okay. All right. Landon. Are we ready? Here we go. Let's go. This one's from Beto, the email and Beto says, Landon, I want to ask why you glossed over the Chicago fire and you said the fire, quote unquote, needed to be relevant. Since that time, the fire have brought in the best Polish player of all time and amazing talent from South Africa. They also have the rare distinction of being one of the only teams that Messi has never beaten. To be clear, I'm not saying inter Miami have never beaten the fire, but when Messi has played against the fire, Miami have never won. Messi has also never scored against our goalkeeper, Chris Brady. So on Landon's relevancy meter, where do the fire currently rank and where should they focus on improving the most? Great question, Beto. Let me just pull up. Let me just pull up my gear receipts. Chicago fire yesterday, Chicago fire against New England Revolution. Another team that's not relevant. Chicago one, New England two. Let me tell you this, Beto. This is the bias. Beto. Let me tell you this. Chicago are fifth in the East, okay? Me, Tim Jordan, and seven high schoolers could be fifth in the East right now, okay? They lost to New England at home yesterday. Maybe you typed this email on Friday. True. Relevant does not mean fifth in the East. Relevant means doing what Nashville is doing, chasing the points record, maybe winning a championship. That's relevant. And I want them to get there. I love Chicago. I love, I want them, that team's great. I just spent the week with Mike McGee, like he's a Chicago guy. I want Chicago to be good, but you got to be more than fifth in the East and losing at home to New England. Or you have to be Philadelphia doing like five and oh back. Yeah. If you want to have a 16 year old who's scoring twice every game and they're they've you know, one seven in a row or something, they don't talk about you. What in our starting level position is Jordan playing? Hmm. Jordan, are you are you Roderick? What were we at? Hmm. You ever went back? Maybe outside back. Yeah. All right. Are we cool Riley? Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Like that. You go. Yeah. I like that. Okay. One more for L.D. This is great. I'm so excited about this. I don't like it. You're a grin. This is from Abby via email and Abby sent us a picture of Landon. And he said, I know you probably don't have much time these days, but what do you like to read? Do you have some favorite books or authors? Does Landon really like Stephen King or was this just for a photo shoot? Oh. And for those of you who are listening and not watching, it is a bookmark of Landon's On-A-Vin reading a Stephen King book out on the page. Oh my God. You have the same hair. Your hair has changed. You're incredible. Genuinely incredible. The things we do. Thank you so much, Abby. Okay. First of all, my life. It's for clarity. It wasn't for money because my mom's a teacher. Oh, this is like a PSA kind of at this. But at this time of my life, I'm tickled right now. I do love to read. I've read my whole. I used to read the newspaper every morning with my mom, like, and I read a lot. At this point in my life, I was not reading at all. So when I did the interview, you've done this 10 before, like when the last to be like, so what are you reading right now? Or like, what music are you? And I was like, I was bracking my brain, trying to think of any book that I had seen, read or anything. So Stephen King book that I had briefly read like a year and a half ago, and it just popped in my mind. So I said, okay, we'll get it. And I was like, wait, no, no, no, no, this isn't like my favorite book. Just a book I can think of. So anyway, if to answer your question more appropriately, I am reading a book right now. I'm just getting a little deep called letters to a young poet. So if you guys want to go look that up, it's 10 letters is in the 19, early 1900s that a young poet wrote to this professor or whoever, someone who he idolized and it's the 10 responses from that person to this young poet. It's all just like kind of life advice. It's really cool book. You're deep, man. You're deep. I am. Okay. For those who are real. Wow. You're not just a pretty face Tim. No, no, no, you're not. You're not. That anyway. Lenin, you have absolutely floored me with that answer. Yeah. He's so full of it. You never thought I would have been reading that? No. He thought it's great. I love that. It's the same book. It's the same bullshit answer as Stephen King. But in 1999, whenever that was, Tim, what are you reading right now? Lenin Donovan's autobiography. I've been trying to read it since it came out. I get through one. I get through one page and bang. I'm asleep. That's what I do. That's what I do at night. It's right on the book stand over there. So I will just tell you that there have been maybe a handful, like literally five instances, the entire time we've been doing this podcast where I've wanted to send someone an angry email back to a question that they have asked. Yeah. Someone wrote in once with a question about Lenin's book, and also a follow-up question saying, Tim, did you read Lenin's book? And it didn't make you want to write one of your own. And I wanted to write them back and be like, excuse you. Tim went first. Thank you very much. But I did not. It's fine. I went for every time I go, every time I go to a bookstore, I look for my book and it's sold out. And I see Lenin. It's like 28 copies of Lenin. I actually signed Lenin's book. Oh, it's the same podcast. I just signed his book. Genuinely amazing. Amazing. Okay. That's it. If you would like to send your question in, make sure that it's a little spicy. We want to smoke at feedback at unfilteredsocker.com. Thanks, guys. Awesome. Thanks, Jay. All right. Tim, that was fun. I'm heading off to AC Boise training, and then I'm golfing, and then I'm going to dinner. This is the stuff dreams are made of. This is life. Thank you all. As always, for hanging with us today, please, please, please, please subscribe. YouTube Apple Podcasts Spotify. Anywhere you listen to podcasts. Follow us at social media unfilteredsocker. Thank you. As always, to our presenting sponsor, VW and our fan connection sponsor, AT&T. Thank you also to our unfiltered, refreshed sponsor, Coors Light and our additional sponsors. Airbnb and Walmart have an amazing week. We'll be back next Tuesday with another edition of unfilteredsocker.