Unfiltered Realpolitik: Dual Nationals and the USMNT World Cup Blueprint

Does this team, in your opinion, have enough dogs? Chris Richards is going to be a big part, I think. He's got to be the backbone of how we start games. You know, you go to battle with Weston. He's someone you can trust anytime on the field. Diego Luna, he doesn't shy away from anything. If you're going into a game and you need a little bit of bite, I think we have some. 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 into Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen. LD, big, big last week. We both have a birth this week. Happy birthday, sir. 26 years old, last week, baby. Not you, I'm 47. What did you do for your birthday? I know, tell the people. My wife set up a little trip to Vegas for the night. We had dinner, gambled, and then it was like 1130, and we're like, should we keep gambling? Should we go out? And we went to bed. You went to bed. That sounds about right for our 2016 trip. We went to bed. What about you? I went to, I went down a Knoxville to visit my daughter. I went to Eric Church concert, belted out Springsteen with other 22,000 people. It was good. It was like the fourth time I've seen Eric Church. He's brilliant. And next day, I drove to have brunch with my son in Chattanooga. I bought brunch. I thought maybe he would pick up the check, but he didn't. No chance. He was amazing. Chattanooga's nice, by the way. I like that city on the river right there. Yeah, he's really pretty. He loves it. He loves it. That's where Volkswagen is. And they, the old CEO, I went and spent like a day with him there. It's really cool. Yeah, it's a sweet place. It's fun. Okay, guys, follow us on social media and unfiltered soccer. Subscribe to the show on YouTube. Make sure you follow on Apple Podcasts. Spotify anywhere you get your podcasts. And if you like what we're doing, leave a review. If you don't, tell Tim. He's terrible on social media. And you can email Jordan Feedback at unfiltered soccer. All right, let's jump right into USMNT on USLNT. So we got some good news, bad news stuff going on. I feel like it's kind of like that every week. Good news, Ricardo Peppy back, scored the winning goal for PSV. He scored eight in his last nine appearances, including two of three from two in three, since returning from his injury. The bad news in that game is that Serginio Dest was forced off early with an upper thigh, upper leg injury. They think thigh hamstring, it looked like his hamstring. He has said, I'm out for a little while to do what I love the most, but one thing for sure is it's not the end of the season. So I don't know where that leaves us. Probably at least a month, maybe two months. So thoughts on Peppy and then Dest? Well, I mean, I think Peppy, it's great. He said to go on running again, was scoring on the back side of that injury now, scoring after getting back from it. So look, as long as our strikers are scoring, I think it's brilliant. Sort of disappointed for him that that full of move didn't materialize because I would have loved to see Peppy in the in the Premier League, because I think he's got an interesting profile, physically, and one that I think he could succeed there. But anyway, whatever, he's scoring goals, and that's important. Sort of genius, Dest. It's a tough one because he's going to, you know, I think he'll miss the March friendlies. He'll definitely miss the March friendlies. Yeah, yeah. So I mean, he played twice in November, twice in September, missed the October games for whatever reason. And then prior to that, he was dealing with the, what I believe was the ACL injury, right? And so, you know, sort of been in, sort of been in and out of the national team and not terribly consistent in terms of appearances. So the blow, it's a blow. I mean, you know, we constantly say, we want the team to be together. We want the best team to be together. And if he's the best right, fullback, wingback in the squad, or potentially the best, then we want to see that. You know, and the manager wants to see it. I'm guessing, but again, hopefully by his words, it's not the end of the season. And that would be a great thing. This is, fortunately, become a position of depth for us, immense depth between, you know, way has been playing there. Alex Freeman, let's talk about him in a sec. Desk, Joe Scali can play there. And also, western mechanic can play there if you need him to, right? So it's a, it's a position of depth, but it takes away optionality for, for Mauricio Pochettino. Let's touch on Alex Freeman. Okay, but it takes away, it takes away optionality. But also, I'm saying, I think he's our best right, fullback. You do? That's what, that's the consensus. Yeah. And if he is, then certainly you want him being able to compete because I think even if you have optionality, even if you have guys, you think, oh, they can play that position and play it well. You still want your best out there. Yeah, that's true. And then you want guys coming off the bench, you can impact the game, right? So if that means then Alex Freeman's off the bench or way is off the bench or way, I'll play someone else, somewhere else that helps a lot too. Yeah, I agree with that. So the Alex Freeman stuff. So I play hockey every week and our goalkeeper, this guy, Jacob, is a massive Viera Alfan, which I'm like, wow, how do you become a real fan? Like, I think you're one of one in America, dude. But every week we, I go in, we talk about Alex Freeman. And he's like, I just want, is he going to play? When is it? And so I went and looked, since that November friendly, the last friendly, you know, many total minutes of competitive soccer he's played. So that's in five months now. 34, 34. And so I know I talked about this at the time. I always say this isn't always green or dead. And I do think, I will say, I have to say, long term, this is the right move. I said at the time, I love the move. I hate the timing. And so I hope, I hope Tim, I really genuinely hope I'm wrong on this. And I hope in a month, this is water under the bridge. And he's playing and everything. But if this continues through the summer, he's now put himself at risk. I think he'll be on the roster. But of not playing, right? And I think he's a good player, man. And he's impactful. And so I just really struggle with this. I do, I did it at the time. I hope I'm wrong. I hope he finds his way in. But it's not trending well right now. I didn't get off the bench this weekend in the last few games he hasn't. So it's not trending. Here's what I would say. No, I mean, you say in your hope, I mean, there's no hope. I mean, there's a reason why he's not playing. There's, there's, for whatever, whatever, whatever the coach thinks he needs time or what have you, he's not playing. And that's real, you know, 30 plus minutes is just not a lot of football at all. And I guess where, because you and I were sort of texting about this the other day, and I still was like, look, you said what you said, and you, and you stand firm on that. And you're right. But I also, I also believe that he needed to go, timing or not. And, and I still sort of sucks. Sucks is not playing because that's going to affect his, his sort of standing within the squad. Yeah, he'll be in the squad, but whether he plays or not, where he might have otherwise solidified himself a role in the starting line up with the national team if he was playing every week, right? Here's why, here's why I still say yes, the move is right. When your, the first move is scary. So the first move out of MLS, you don't, you don't, whether, whether you and I can sit back and say, like conventional wisdom would tell you, kid, hey, keep playing for your MLS club, the World Cup, it will happen, right? That's easy for us to say. And maybe we have the knowledge that we're right. But when you're in that moment, that move is harder, that move to turn down is harder. Now, if you had a move or success at a club and you're in Europe or whatever, and now you're trying to make the next big leap, you might actually go, you know what, my pockets are a bit more padded on playing well. Even though, let's say a Premier League club wants me, I'm in Spain playing well. Let me wait to the summer to make that move. I think you have a little bit more stock. There's all I'm saying. So the first move, I think, I think you still have to take it. I know, I may be in the minority, but I still think you have to take it. Bearing in mind, this might happen, and this has happened. Yeah, okay. Well, let's look. But again, let's hope I'm wrong. Let's hope you're right. And, you know, we'll follow along. Okay, I want to dip into this dual national discussion because this has come up with Noah Kaibank, so that I'm very high on. He had an article recently, did an interview with Sky Sports Germany, and he quoted as saying, you know, they were asking him, should he play for the US or should he play for Germany? Because he's a real national, and he said, it's a difficult decision regarding my nationality. I'm very torn. I'm in contact with both the USA and Germany and both national coaches. I hopefully have a long career ahead of me, so I want to think carefully and speak with my family. I don't want to make it dependent on a world cup run. I'm just happy to be in this position and to be able to make the decision. We'll see what happens. So, all fair comments. We're having Brian McBride on in a bit who is really well-versed in this, because he was the GM for the national team, and he has lots of insight into that. Noah Kaibank was born in Hawaii, and then he moved to Germany. He's been called into the youth national teams. He was called into the US full team in September. He didn't play in the friendlies, but he was there. Again, he grew up in Germany and he joined Augsburg Academy at age eight, and now he's playing for their first team, which is phenomenal. So, just give me your overall thoughts on this, and I have a lot of thoughts on it too. Well, I think it's a big decision. It's a huge decision. And I think the things he's saying are all right, all correct. Because I think he's because of how big this decision is, you have to weigh all these factors. In my experience, and during the Jürgen Klinsman era in US men's national team history, that was a time when he, and we've had dual nationals before, but that was a time where he basically said, right, I'm going to unearth every single possible dual national that I can think of. Mexican-American, German-Americans, I'm trying to think who else. That was the bulk of the the Kew, the Scandinavian code. Oh, yes. But the bulk of them were German-American or Mexican-American. And we had mixed results, right? We had some players who were uber successful in our national team, right? And then we had others who, for me, there was this sort of sense of, because with respect to all the people who run US soccer and support US soccer, and two of the supporters are UNI. Often times, when players have to decide between the US or the other country, you actually see them going, I ain't good enough to play for your country. I ain't good enough. I might get a sniff. I might go into one or two camps, but I ain't good enough to play for your country. So by default, I actually want to go to World Cup, and I want to get 100 caps, and I can do that with the US team, because they're not as good as my home country. That's just a matter of fact. So what are the reasons behind certain players choosing the US? The other part of it, I would say LD, is when that happens, and maybe this was sort of, this was a byproduct of the, they're being too many, too many multi-nationals in the team at one time. It almost became aloof, like training camps. I don't remember how much of that you remember. Some of the training camps sort of, there was no pizzazz within the team. Just by indirectly, you have players who Englishes are second language, so it's harder for them to sort of interact in banter, which is what you do on the inside of the group. So you then click sort of form, because that's where they feel most comfortable. And when you look at our best US teams, it's always been family and togetherness, and this culture of banter, and so forth. And we missed out on that. And again, that's not the fault of any of these players. That's just, that's human nature, how people interact or don't. So it causes, it causes its own problems when, when someone doesn't just jump at the opportunity to play for the US, when we're like, I'm all in. When there's a decision made, there's a balance. Yeah, my struggle, look, I'm a dual national. My dad was born in Canada, so it never want, literally never once occurred to me, to even contemplate paying for Canada, because I feel American, I am American. I can understand some of these kids, I mean, you know, no, Kai Banks is an interesting one, because he was born in America, but he grew up in Germany. Sure. So my guess is, and again, I'm just guessing that he feels, he feels connected to Germany, right? Like that's, if you grew up in a place, of course, you are. So this is really challenging, and the problem I have with all of this stuff is, well, there's a few. I mean, in the past, and I know from US soccer, now speaking to some people, this does not happen anymore, and it should never. People were promised places on the World Cup team if they joined, right? And so that no longer happens, which is a good thing. This, the challenge I have is if you have to recruit someone and convince them to play for your national team, that's a problem. Like Tim, I would, I swear on my life, I would have cut off my hand to play for our national. And most people would. So I understand I have compassion for the situation, no, Kai's in, but really, you need to dig deep and say, okay, who do I really want to play for? And the challenge for him is to your point, like maybe he can't play, maybe he won't play for Germany. Sure. Maybe he's not good enough. We don't know. He's 18. We'll see. But I mean, anecdotally, though, it's, it's, and, and again, people, US soccer fans aren't going to want to hear this, because look, I, all I cared about was wearing the US shirt as you did, right? But the fact of the matter is having, having lived abroad for as many years as I did, if the poll to wear some of these national team shirts is legendary. Like, so, so if you're a German, if you're a German international, or you're an English international, and you're like, you're like, the US wants me bang, I'm nailed on, I could play every game for the next 100 games. But Germany want me sort of on the fringes. That's still the thought of, of playing for if you're a German, the thought of wearing that in the pricing. Yeah. Even if it's a, even if it's a remote chance, you're like, oh my god, because, because we love soccer in America, and we were, but like, Germany stops. The whole country stops when the German national team plays England stops when the English national team plays at Wembley. Like, it, there's a difference there. And, and it becomes a harder decision for some of these kids. No, look, before everyone calls me a Zena Fobindoda, I want to preface this by saying, this is the Zena Fobik. They will. They will. They will. They will. First of all, I'm curious what you guys all think out there, what your thoughts and opinions are on this, because maybe there's things we haven't thought about. Second of all, the easiest way for FIFA to cut this all out is just say, where you were born is the country you will play for. Correct. And then it's just, and it, maybe it's fair, maybe it's not fair, no akai banks grew up in Germany. You might get born in a country because, you know, you're, the woman is, you know, a couple weeks early or whatever. And that sucks. But like, that would just cut out all of this. So it makes it really clean. But we'll see. Okay, let's move on to MLS. DC United. This was the big storyline from the weekend. Move their game against Inter Miami to Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium. Not only did they move it out of their city. They moved it out of the state. Well, out of their district into a different state. Miami 121, Messi scored. There were 72,000 fans. Yep. A lot of people get upset about this about moving your game out of your stadium. What's your take on it? Don't care. Don't care. It's on it. Anything that has to do with Messi, I don't care. Whatever he does is right. I don't know. I mean, like, what are you going to do? What are you going to do? Like, like, DC, it's the district. It's close by. Don't the commanders play, I don't know, they don't, they, they play way outside the city limits. And I'm trying to build a stadium. And I don't know. DC, whatever. But like, you're going to move. If it's, if it's a, if it's an Inter Miami game, you have to move it to like the near as big massive stadium, because you want to get 70,000. So like, take your, take your home stadium, right, that you plan and draw the, draw the closest line to a 70,000 seat stadium. That's where you play. Am I wrong? Like, that's where you, if that happens to be in your city in a mile away, you do it. If it happens to be outside of city limits, you do that too. I got, I don't know. You feel it. It's a no brainer. It's a no brainer. It's a no. We used to play like these friendly games in the Rose Bowl or the calls him, whatever. And the reason we would get, they'd give us like an extra thousand dollars or two grand or whatever is because they were selling all these tickets and it would help them. So I'm like, sure, sure. Yeah, whatever. All right. I mean, curious how you guys feel, but we're pretty strong on this one. Like get over it. Other notable result in YCFC went to 3 and 0 on the season. They smashed Orlando. Blind, who lost 5 0 land on a tough spot, lost three of three. By the way, Tim, four teams, winless in the league, all in the East still. The West strong, bro. West is strong. The West is strong. East is not good. They're move France on Griezmann, Orlando's is off from now, at least. So see what happens. That feels like they'll be back in form. Yeah, could do. I wonder why that deal broke down. But anyway, that's an interesting one. They could use them. Yeah, they could have used them there. They're in bad shape right now. The other one, our guy, Michael Brad, this is Emma last set. It's finest. It's finest. So they win their first two games. Everyone, you know, they're playing all these youngsters, Julian Hall, whatever, they play in my am or they play Montreal at home and everyone's going, wow, New York's going to go to 3 and 0 to the final score. Montreal, three red people zero. It's just Emma last all over. I was, I didn't watch the game. I saw the result. I was surprised. I was surprised. But insane. You know, I also, though, the interesting part and sort of as paid closer attention to Red Bull, under Michael Bradley is like, he's playing kids and we're going to yeah, this is when they play really well, we're going to get super excited. But also, there's a learning curve with kids. We're going to have bad games. We have to appreciate that that that's part of it too. And that's not by the way, kids fault. I'm just saying, like, this is all part of it. And to be, you know, losing three nail hearts, but like to be two and one at this point and and playing. Yeah, he would have taken that. Yeah, of course. Yeah. All right, early returns in the West Vancouver, San Diego LFC, all three wins from three games as we probably expected. Also San Jose. And I have to eat a little crow so far. Timo Werner was really good at game. Had a couple assists. We'll see what happens. I still hold to he will not be the same that we saw years back. But for now, I'm eating a bit of a crow and we'll see. Okay. Okay. Yeah, look, the West is strong. I mean, no surprise. I mean, I think if you watched the Vancouver last year, even though they fell just short in the final, you're looking at you're looking at that team. Don't really good team. Like it's a really well coach team, really well balanced. Yeah, got their DPs right, got their young players right. So like that, that's not surprising. I sort of think San Diego is the same. San Diego had a good logic. They're going to be better. No, I know, I know. Right. And then there was sort of like that trimming of the fat like what didn't work. Let's get rid of that. San Diego is also very, very talented. Yeah. Vancouver importantly held on to Tristan Blackman. Yeah. And Sebastian Burhalter was rumored to be moving or what's going to happen. So for now, they're both there and then that's helping them. Okay, guys, just a reminder, please hit that subscribe button for lots of bonus content to keep up up to date with us as the exciting summer comes around. It's time for the unfiltered refresh sponsored by Corsair Light. Choose chill. Get Corsair Light delivered. Go to Corsair Light dot com slash US LNT LD. Who chose chill this week? Talk to the US women's national team and they just keep, they just keep winning. Emma Hayes has shown that she's a winner. This team transition when she first came in and all they've done is won. Alyssa Thompson who went from Angel City to Chelsea keeps getting better and better. She was good. We played against her with the wave and watching her live. She's a real player. She scored incredible goal Sunday. They were crown champions for the eighth time now. They beat Argentina, Canada and Colombia did not concede a goal for Alyssa Thompson. It's her fifth goal now in 2026 for a club and country and they just keep getting better, man. And it's exciting to watch ahead of the World Cup next year. You would have to say they're the favorites, Tim. Every time they step on the field now, they're competitive. They care so much about playing for their country. The pride is tangible and it's been fun to watch. Yeah, I'm always so impressed. Like, one, it's fun when we have guests on like Emma Hayes, who's just brilliant. So we still need to go to the pub, drink beers and talk football because that's just who she is. She's a football fanatic, but a brilliant coach. And you get to sort of cheer for people. They come on the show, you get to know them a little bit and it's like, you become a fan. We've always been a fan of that team. But I've always been in all of our women's team. And I say this often, they continually churn out talent, right? And Alyssa Thompson is a perfect example of that. They play three games, keep three clean sheets. Like they're constantly having the pressure of having to win and perform and set the bar higher. Like, by the way, you can't be part of the women's national team program set up and like, just be as good as the last team. You have to be better. Like you have to continually generation by generation year on year push the bar higher. You know what difficult that is? Yeah, they're setbacks. Don't get me wrong. They're setbacks in his hardships. But that's so difficult to do. And every time they go out and they win and they lift another trophy, I'm just in awe. I'm in awe. And it's spectacular to sort of watch as a fan. And they have to Tim because the rest of the world keeps getting better too. So if they just stay the same, which they did, there was a period of time the last five, seven years where they kind of stagnated. And now with Emma Hayes, now they get better and better and they've been fantastic. So Alyssa Thompson, the entire US women's national team, shares to you or choosing chill. All right, let's take a break, Timmy. When we come back, we're talking with our former US teammate. God, I love this guy. Brian McBride. I learned so much from him. We will talk to him right here on unfiltered soccer with Lannan and Tim presented by Volkswagen. Very excited for our next guest. Man, I had the pleasure of playing alongside and interacting with quite closely on the field. I was just reading his bio, 95 caps for the national team, 30 goals. If you can score one in three, that's pretty damn good striker. Appeared in three World Cups was the first American to score in two World Cups, equaled by Clint Dempsey and yours truly eventually, was the number one pick in MLS's inaugural draft. And then I just read this one. I didn't realize this two-time full-on player of the year. That's impressive. And then voted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2014. Now the GM of your Brooklyn FC. Mr. Brian McBride, be welcome. Good to see you. Thanks, Lannan. Good to see you, guys. Good to see you. Listen, I remember being in high school. We played together on the national team, but I remember you playing for the Columbus crew and me going to watch you. Like play against a match of stars. It's freaking crazy. And then they become teammates and go to World Cups and awesome. Well, obviously played against each other in the Premier League. So crazy journey we had. It's great to have you on a show. Yeah. Pleasure, man. I'm glad I could be here. It's funny how these things now attend to come across. I am just so freaking old. So anyhow, it happens, right? Be, I didn't realize this. So you were a two-time full-on player of the year. Like one time I won player of the month at Everton. And I was like, I'm the man. You were player of the year for three months. You couldn't be player. I know. That's true. I know, but that's incredible, man. That's incredible. What a run. No, I was, that time of form was really special. Yeah. There was. So, B, let's start. We're going to touch on a bunch of things, including what you're doing now with Brooklyn. But you were the former national team GM. And we were just having a long discussion about Noah Kai Banks, who is a dual national. And we're curious in your, when you were in your seat, what was the strategy or the plan around dual nationals? How did you guys speak about it? Because right now with Noah Kai Banks, he's, he's hinted at, you know, maybe I can play for Germany, maybe I can play for the U.S. What is that? Is there a recruitment process? How do you speak to the players? Because I think it's really fascinating for people to try to understand what's going on there. Yeah. No, it's, it's a great question, man. It really starts in the youth. Tony LePore, who leads up sort of the scouting and the talent side of things. He finds out about most of the Americans, either from agents or parents call him. And they start the process of really getting to know both the individual and the family. There are a few times where you get the late bloomers that come and, or we never found out they were Americans. And that process is a little bit different. It's a little bit more difficult because they're, they're sort of set already where they were. So to try and get them to understand and form Malagons, one of them, and get them to understand who we are, how the process is, you know, our overall environment is, is really important. I'll go back to the U side. So the U side, you know, Tony sets out building these nice, good relationships. The family and the player will have conversations with each age group national team as they're going. And just to see, you know, what we try to do or we, we tried. And I think they still do is sort of present them their pathway. And we've ran into a few different times that the other national team is promising some kids. And it's just, it turns out wrong because you never know. And so that's the one thing that we used to do. And I'm sure they still do is just provide the pathway and then help them, you know, answer any questions, but not never guarantee a player anything as you. And so is that, is that like a, well, those conversations, are you having those particularly with the agents or are some of these kids well versed enough to have the conversations? I know you talk sometimes you're talking to like a teenager and they don't have any idea. So it's more, you know, how does that work? For the younger, for the younger players, it's more family. It's like you get on a call with the player and their family. And, you know, because you're exactly right, Tim, they're just happy to be there. They're like, well, I'm getting pulled here again. And the parents are all like, all right, let's get down to the nitty gritty. What's going on with how many camps do you do? You know, who's the head coach? What's the background? How, you know, how's the team makeup? And all those things sort of come to fruition. But when you get into the older book, like I'll go back to Florian, you know, I reached out to his agent and spoke to his agent five or six different times trying to set up a phone call or a meeting with myself, him and Greg. And it just never, never came about. Florian was still interested in his where he is next step was where he's even arsenal going to wherever he was going. That was our first conversation. And finally, when you got to Timonico and he's a little more settled, tried to have a few more conversations with the agent. And nothing, I never, I never spoke to him. But thankfully, frankly, Greg got, got through to him time. But yeah, that process is unique, probably, especially as they get older, because they've got to want to want to come. Yeah, that was, it's not even on the radar. Right. That was my next question. So what do you do if, and obviously you don't have to specify names, but you have a kid who either, I'm not saying this is flail, by the way, is not into it, or it's not on their radar. And you're trying to convince them. And when we've talked a lot on this show about just having pride in playing for your country. And now you're trying to convince a kid, it's not even on their radar to come play for it. I mean, is that you probably have your personal feelings, but then you're, you're an employee of the federation. You have your job to do. Is that difficult? Yeah, I mean, it's, it's not difficult. I think it's interesting, because those conversations, and I think more so, landing it, it goes the opposite way when, when kids are interested in, or players are interested in us, and we're interested in them, but somebody, the other dual national, the other national nation that they're, they can play for is like really hard, and they're all over me. They grind it down to where finally they're like, you know what? I'm going to go. I'm going to, I'm going to go in, and the youth side, those decisions are, are okay, because they always come back. You can change, right? Right. When they make that final decision, and I'm not going to name name, but there's two or three players that made those decisions when, when I was GM, and I felt, I felt really bad for them, because they were promised something, and it never came to fruition. Interesting. Yeah. I think, I think the, and you can attest to this, we didn't have, so you had a few, right? When, in your heyday with the national team, sort of before land, and I, you had like, Ernie, maybe was, or was Ernie a dual national? He was. Yeah. He was. He was. Yeah. Reggie. Reggie. Yeah. Yeah. Trying to think. Thomas Dooley, maybe no. Yep. No. Yeah. Play for turning. So, so not, not, not a ton, right? And so, Roy Wagerley. Wagerley. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, but it's illustrating my point. Like, US is so, it's so different. There's a lot of, there's a few countries that can, that can have dual nationals, but when you look at America, I mean, particularly with, you know, in the Yurgen, Klingesman era, I mean, that, that just became, you know, that just became his idea of how to build a team was bringing as many dual nationals as possible. And so there is, there is that push pull. And, you know, sort of where does the US stand compared to their other country? You know, and, and are they choosing the US because they really see it as a pathway or is it the easy way? And I say that with respect, right? Because they wouldn't be playing for that underneath. Correct. And we've seen that. And we've seen that. So, yeah, I think the process that you, that you undertake and is, is weeding some of that out is really difficult. Yeah. Be let's transition now to your new general manager role at Brooklyn FC. Congrats for the first win on the weekend. I know those, you know, having been a part of San Diego loyal in the first game. There's so much stuff like on the men's side, the first win. What's it been like? What's that transition been like? How did you end up there? What was the process by which you ended up there? It's a good question. And yeah, so, so I'm the sporting director. So I oversee both the men's and women's and then I'm right now on the general manager of the men's team. Got it. How I ended up there was interesting. I got sort of a recruitment call as to see if I would be interested in a position like this. I wasn't doing anything at the time and I'm like, all right, let's hear this out. Not fully understanding, you know, the details and the details matter. So as I think I've went through three interviews and always, always pretty straightforward. You know, everybody's been on an interview. You go through what your plan is, what your thought process is, and then it's got to match up with the ownership. And quite honestly, when I was started the process, I didn't really think that we end up sort of being on the same in the same mindset. And that's not against them or anything or I just didn't know what to expect. And as I went through those three interviews and then they offered me the position, I got to really understand what they're talking about and how much ability I would have to be able to create something, to build something that, you know, that Brooklyn can be proud of, that is going to last and really have a foundation where you can continue to grow and build. And that's been my experience. It's been a challenge. I can honestly say our infrastructure is in need of deeper and more people that are, you know, soccer people that understand the game. And yesterday was a great culmination of seeing pretty much all the owners were at the match and you'd see the passion and the joy and what they really, what they really are getting out of this and what they want Brooklyn FC to be. So it was almost like I got rejuvenated again, as you know, we're nowhere near done. We still have a few roster slots open, but agents, please don't just keep all the people in good luck now. Actually, I shouldn't say that because they were great because, you know, we didn't, we don't have a scouting department. We don't, so it was literally Marlin and myself going through all the different, you know, videos and why scout and everything. And so agents, thank you on the radar. And right now we're really happy. Be as, you know, it's interesting as being part of an ownership group. I think when you make hires like General Manager, Sporting Directors, I think it's important to give autonomy to that position and let, you know, you're hiring someone to do a job, let them do a job. And, but with that comes challenges. And so can you speak to us and our listeners about the challenges of running two teams? Because I think in America, right, that's unique. Well, it's unique to the extent like in USL, I was a part of an ownership group that ran a baseball team and a soccer team, right? So there's a lot of, there's a lot of that and there's a lot of different ownership groups that own men's and women's teams. So sort of talk us through the challenges that you face like on a daily seasonal basis where you're having to run two teams. Yeah, it's a, the great question. And I've really haven't gotten my hands really into the women's side of it. And that was sort of the plan because we were putting all the infrastructure together on the men's. But it is, you know, there's the biggest thing of course is always going to be budget, you know, and making sure that you're aligned with the budget and you're, you're, you're staying at budget or under. And one of the biggest issues we have here is housing. And so when you sell, you provide housing. That's great. We're clean. It's not cheap. So, you know, give credit to the owners and understanding that. And we've got some flexibility here. But yes, the overall infrastructure and build out, that was one of those things that was sort of non-negotiable when they were off from me the job. And they were right aligned with it. And they, they knew we needed to have two assistants. They knew, you know, we, we need to have a high performance person. We need to have an analyst. And so, you know, that process has been, has been sure busy in taxing. But I've had the support and it's, it's going, it's going well, it's gone really well. And like I said, we still have more to do. But I'm happy. That's awesome. Good. Okay. Let's, um, transition back now so we can, let's go down memory lane a bit. I just before we, you know, I'm not, not, um, blowing smoke here, but I learned so much from you. And I'm really grateful for the time we had together. It was, it was, it helped me grow a lot to see someone in your position who was professional. Did their job every day showed up and went to work and, and for a young kid who's egotistical and brash and excited and all that. It's good to see someone who shows up and does their job. So, um, yeah, I'm curious. Your thoughts now as one of our best goal scores and one of our best strikers ever. How do you view and you had, well, you almost had some time with Florian. Um, how do you view the current crop of strikers and it's sometimes it's hard for me to gauge because, you know, they're playing in the championship or he's playing in legal or, you know, you have Brian right, right here, Josh Sergeant here and you, and you, it's hard to go back and think, okay, how did they compare to our time? But how do you view the current crop and are you happy, you know, with where we are as a national team? These of you, the striker position. Yeah. I know. I think, um, you know, a couple of years ago it had been, I think there was more question marks. We had injuries. We had a lack of form. Um, and we didn't have everybody playing a lot. And so I think we, we have more of that now. And that's an exciting part. I think the talents there certainly, and I said this, I think, you know, Florian's got a lot of really good qualities. And he's also a player that brings other players in, which is a great attribute to have, especially when you have midfielders that are going to make the penalty area. And, and so that type of vision, I mean, Ricardo Pepe is, he's a goal scorer, you know, he's, he's improved with his, um, hold up play, but his, his, his best attributes in the penalty area. He's got great movement, I think, and he's a really good finisher of the ball. I said this before too, it, you know, sometimes it hurts you when you, you play really well coming off the bench. And so, um, but it's a good problem to have. And I think the, the biggest concern I have, guys, is, and you guys know this, you know, the best teams are teams that, that, um, that'll fight for each other, that feel like family, that can trust everybody that's, that's on the field with you. And I'm not saying they don't have that, saying they haven't had the whole group together a lot. So it's, that type of chemistry building is going to be really important in that, that three weeks before the World Cup. And can they get there? Yeah, they can, but it's, it's, it's a little more challenging because the group has been so mixed in and mixed out. Yeah, it's, you know, I think, I think I like our, our striker crop. I do. And I think that, particularly this season, they all seem to be getting goals on, on the club level. I think the, the question mark going into the World Cup for me has been, you know, and I'm probably doing a disservice service to a few strikers who have come before you guys, but yourself and Josie and Clinton Landon who are hybrid strikers, they did it in big games. And we always sort of knew we don't, this striker will carry us on, on our worst day, you, Brian Landon, Clint, Josie at times, would be able to carry us. And that's a big burden for a striker. That's not, that's not just coming in and playing well. That's a big burden. And I just, and I, and I wonder, that's sort of the question mark. Do I like our striker crop? I do. But that for me is the question mark. And then just to sort of drill a bit deeper into what you talked about, I, you've been around the team. Landon and I, we know people on the inside were fans were analysts. We can analyze on the outside. But does this team, in your opinion, have enough dogs, have enough leadership? Like we saw it a little bit with Chris Richards. Now, I mean, I've been a fan of his, but now I'm even more of a fan because I just think he's one of the guys who has some of that, right? And Christian as a captain needs more leaders around him, every captain needs leaders around him. So I'm just sort of curious, you haven't been on the inside. Does this team possess that? Yeah, I do. I think you're right in the fact that Chris Richards is going to be a big part, I think. I think he's, he's got to be the backbone of what, how we start games, how, how opponents not necessarily fear, but they don't feel comfortable on the field. You know, and he's, he's doing in big games in the EPL. And with Gahi gone now, it's, his roles become even in larger, which I think is going to help us. But yeah, and, you know, I've said this before too, but, you know, I think Weston, Weston, you know, you go to battle with Weston. Yeah. He's someone you can trust any time on the field, especially in big games. And hopefully, you know, I say this nicely, hopefully someone kicks him early on, get some fired up. But yeah, I think there's, I think there are players in there that that can provide that, you know, Igaluna. He, he, he doesn't shy away from anything. And so, but how, how Puchatino puts it all together, that'll be interesting. But I think there is, you know, if you, if you're going into a game and you need a little bit of bite, I think we have some. Yeah. Good. Be, um, you were part of, so 98 0 2 and 0 6, right? So can you just walk us through what made the O2 team special and now the, the men's team that has gone the furthest in the, in history of our country. And then, you know, why that was different from 98 and 0 6 and, and I'm, I'm leading you into that too, then to talk about this summer too. So what made that team that group special from your perspective? Part of this, you know, this, you could answer this question. I think, for me, the biggest difference is we had every, every player, every 24 players, all 24 players focused on the same thing. Yeah. There wasn't, there wasn't anybody being pulled like, okay, I got to play well here. So I get my move after this World Cup. There wasn't anybody that was over here thinking, ah, I'm not starting. Um, everybody was focused on doing well and doing it together. And Bruce, I mean, you know this. And Tim, you know this. Bruce is great at making sure that everybody feels valued. Um, you know, he, uh, if he talks to you, you know, you did something wrong. If, if he just goes, good job, then you're doing amazing. So, uh, but all in all, I think it was a family atmosphere. I think everybody, yeah. Um, was, was focused on, on trying to, to be the best team, uh, we could be. And you know, the way I describe it, is we, there was this group of, and it, and I want to then move it forward to this summer. There was a group of guys, you were one of them who were in their, what, mid 20s to early 30s, who were real pros. I mean, like, you guys showed up, you were inspiring to the rest of us. And, you know, the Claudios and Eddies and Ernie and Kobe and Agus and Pope and, in, Tony Sane and the goalkeepers and all this. And then you had a couple young punks, me and bees and Clint, you know, like a little brash and young, Johnny O'Brien, still kind of green and young, who had some, you know, flair and energy, whatever. But the core of the team was this group of just real pros who could just do a job on the day. Frankie Hayduck, another one. And I, I think that mix was really good. And when you're putting together a roster, which you've done many times and now you're doing again, that feels like it's important. And so the question is for this summer, I guess I want to just pick your brain philosophically. Now, I believe there'll be 26 roster spots. I think that's what you know, right? Yeah, I've heard. Okay. And so how do you put that, if you're a GM, how do you put that together? Obviously, the coach has the majority of the say, but how do you build your team in that way? Because a lot of people will go, well, that's the most talented player and that's the most talented. And he should be on, he should be on, and but it doesn't work that way, right? If you really want to be successful, it doesn't, especially in the situation like a world cup, because you look at your group, let's say it is 26. Are you going to use more than 20, 22 at the most, right? That would probably be a lot. Yeah, that would be a lot, right? You certainly want to have game changers or, you know, players that provide something different than your starter or that way. But the off the field stuff is, is almost as important, because you're together for almost a month and a half before you even find out if you're going in the knockout stages. And you need guys that are, that are great leaders that are glue guys. Like if coach is missing somebody that's sort of down or not, not really, you know, feeling at their best, you need a player to be able to pull them in and say, hey, we got you working, you know, you're part of this. We need you to be here. It can't always be the coach or the manager or somebody that isn't around them all the time. So yeah, I mean, when you're building that, there's two, at least two players you're bringing along that provide stability and advice and leadership. That's how I would do it. Yeah. In 2006, I was a glue guy because I didn't get my butt off the bench. But it's interesting that I was glued to the bench, but it was a great, great tournament for me, because I got to experience it as my first. I've taken just three things that stand out for me about oh six, which again, we failed, right? In terms of not getting out of the group. I remember the first game when we trained all week, match up with John Kohler, get inside his shirt and then inside the first five minutes dunk at the near post. That's the first thing to stood out. Yes. The third thing that stood out was Clint Dempsey's corner's first goal and against Ghana. And then the Daniela Darasi elbow. A lot of our fans want to know, has he ever apologized to you? And if so, we should. He did to him. And not only that, I actually land him was right next to me when he came in and apologized. We were getting, we were doing some recovery and whatever. It was just us two in the in the locker room. And he walked through the door and I've never seen grown man more sheepish. He was like, I mean, he didn't speak English. So, you know, his coach had to tell him, I'm sorry, right? So he just goes, he goes, I am sorry. That was it. You know, some of this generation doesn't think the world existed. Before the day they were born. So for those of you listening, who that's the case, if you have not seen, go back and just YouTube, the O6 elbow to Brian McBride and what he looked like. And I will just say, you know, it brought back memories of that game when Diego Luna got hit in that friendly and his nose is broken and bleeding and shattered. And a lot of people now would say, ah, that's a friendly. I'm going to come out of the game and it doesn't mean anything. But it meant everything to him. Of course, you were in a World Cup game. So it was different for you. But I can I can remember so many times you getting just battered and beaten your eyeball blown up, your forehead swollen and whatever. But you just got on with it. And that was that was as bad as that tournament was for the team. That was such a memorable game. Do you remember the national anthem for that game? Do you guys remember that? I will never forget it because the Air Force or whatever No, no, no, no, no, the military base or whatever was was nearby there. So it was in Kaiser Slaughter and they were like 20,000 military. So the national anthem like like crazy goosebumps because they were all singing it so loud. It was so amazing. Let's switch to your Fallen days. So last year you were inducted into the Forever Fallen Club. Just what did that mean to you? I mean, you're a Hall of Fame member too. And when you have time to step away and reflect, I think you realize how special some of the things you were, what did that mean to you? Yeah, that was that was ultra special because my youngest had never been to Europe. And so we had planned this. She got to bring a friend and her father who I'm friends with came with. So it was D and my oldest daughter was able to make it. My middle daughter wasn't. So we just had the best time. And not only was it great to be back in London, but then that whole day full of men's up pulling out the victory. And they got the whole experience. I talked to you with my daughter's going to play volleyball at Miami University in two years. But she was a really good soccer player for so long. So she was desperate to get to follow them and see experience. We keep telling all these stories. Stop it. I haven't been there. So that part was excellent. And then just the people at Fulhamer. Fantastic. Well, it's a special football club, Brian. What you did there is incredible. You made millions of Fulham fans in America. You became broke down very first. But also there's a debt owed to players like yourself who, and I say this often, it's very hard for an American to be nailed on a starting 11 in the Premier League. It's just hard. We've seen it. And it's not an easy thing to do year on year. And you were able to do that. And I just, and you know, sort of taking a trip back down memory lane for me. And, you know, because Fulham got such a gem and because you became married to that football club, people often forget. You were at Everton on loan. And David Moise was desperate. And you know this, David Moise was desperate to, to sign you. And there's a, there's a big possibility that in a different world, you know, you, you, you had a testimonial at Everton because you had such a great run on loan. And he just wasn't able to secure your signature. And then you, you know, the rest of the story, Tim. I do. Yeah. But tell us. Give it, get it. I want to hear it. It's amazing. It's pretty funny. Because so Moise, a year and a half before that had brought me on loan to, I brought your jam now. You're, you're busy. Yeah. Yeah. It's one of our coaches. He brought me on loan to press in North End. Yep. And so in that one, it was before the winter. I was there for like six months. But I really wasn't because I got a blood clot. So I missed three. But got to really know Moise and was just an awesome experience. You know, they're in the championship. So I didn't know what to expect. But just loved it. And then he moves to Everton and Everton has Kevin Campbell and Duncan Ferguson as not only two of their strut, two of their three strikers because a little guy called Wayne Rooney's cuts. But they both go down injured. And so Moise, he's like, hey, do you want to come on loan? I'm like, yeah, yeah. Let's do it. So I go there. And the first thing he says to me goes, hey, Brian, I just want set the expectations. I've told the board that I'm not bringing any, any players over 30 into the club anymore. And he goes, and my two center forwards are the two highest paid players on the team. So they'll be back. I just want to set the expectations. So I said, no, no problem. I totally get it. And then go and have a pretty good. Yeah, how many do score? I think four, four and eight, four and eight. Yeah, it's amazing. And before I left, he's like, I can't tell you what he told me. Yeah, you can. Times passed. It's fine. He was trying to work something out. Moise is a Wheeler and dealer. Moise is a fan of the show. And we know he's a Wheeler and dealer. And I mean, you're a proper Everton striker. I mean, that's when I, when I got there and fell in love with the club and spent 10 years there and obviously Landon was a part of that journey, that's what that's what Evertonians would say to me. Brian McBride was a proper Everton number nine. And that by the way, for me, it gives me goosebumps to say because I think that's one of the greatest compliments someone can give you being an Evertonian myself. So yeah, that's in another world. But full of them got a great one. So that's awesome. B, did you feel, did you feel right away accepted, wanted, loved at the club? Did you feel like you had to earn it? Um, I think I think there was acceptance, I think right away. And I think that could have been because they knew they needed a player because they didn't really have a center for it. I think the we, the first, I got there on a Friday, they were playing an FA Cup game in Truesbury on Saturday. And the feel that Truesbury was like, I mean, I don't, I didn't see a field like it after in the professional ranks, but let's just put it that way. And it was rainy and body. It's about right. And Wayne Rooney was the only person, no, Wayne and Thomas Redzinski. So you have, you're, I think they were in their in division two at the time, maybe division one, I don't want to disparage them. Um, and they basically were set up to play Longbowl. So the ball, the field didn't matter. And I mean, I was like, Oh, wow, you know, this is, this is going to be a different story. But um, so you knew that, you knew that, um, they love their number nine there. Yeah. So I knew I was going to have, if I played while I was going to, I was going to get some playing time. But yeah, just turned out to be just a great experience. And it's a short, I mean, you know, your time, everything was short, but even when you went there for a few games, and then you were at full and early on, I mean, you, I talk about it all the time, Lannan, we, we, we, we talk about how difficult the Premier League is. You try and put it into words and you're like, God, I'm lost for words because this is feeling that it's faster and it's, it's, it's, it's chaotic. And so having played in the World Cup yourself and been experienced and feeling like you, you could play at a high level. When you first stepped on the pitch and got to grips with the game, did it, how long did it take you to think, yeah, I fit in here? Or did it, was that a longer process? Yeah, I think the national team in the World Cup experience definitely helped me. Yeah, it was, you know, because it is, speed of play is definitely, definitely better. But I'd also say the execution side of it is, is the one you really see, you rarely get the, the pass on the wrong side of the body or pass behind you. Mm-hmm. But, you know, people see runs better than, you know, at different leagues. Just the talent level was that much higher. Sure. I actually say, at that time, when I, when I went to the Premier League, MLS was more physical just because there wasn't as much talent in MLS as there is now. And so people relied on being more hands. Sure. Sure. You know, it was, they're, they're that part didn't really affect or that, that was actually not something that stood out to me, but what stood out to me is just the speed of play and they just amazing talent in the off the league. It's, and I say that all the time, like, the Premier League for better, for worse, and for better, it's, it's the richest league in the world and money buys you quality and abundance. And so, you know, the leagues by top players, sure, but they're not top to bottom. And every team has so much quality. It's, it's impressive to see. All right. Be last few and then we'll get you out of here. You've been very gracious. Thank you. And I just, I want to reiterate what I said earlier. I mean, your ability to go and break down some barriers when I went, the reason I asked is because when I went to Everton, and this only just clicked in my head when you were saying this, from the minute I walked in on whatever January 1st, and it was in the stands for an away, or a home FA Cup match that you guys had to me, the minute I walked in, the whole crowd as I walked through, I was like, welcome, land and loud welcome, welcome, great to have you, great to have. And from the minute I stepped on the field, they were behind me. And the reason why is because guys like you and Tim and others made it, if you had had a terrible experience there, there would have been some reticence and some hesitation. And so the reason that you did that allowed, and I think all of our current players, oh, guys like you, a great, a debt of gratitude as well, because you helped people accept us from the, we stopped to do the job, right, when you step on the field, but you will allow that too. That's what, of course. And that's, and that allowed you to go. And so that's a big part of of growing this whole thing. Okay, last few, just out of curiosity, I'm very curious, who was the best player anywhere you played with? National team, full of many, like where you were like, this guy was just so good. So Edwin Vanissar was amazing. Sorry, Tim. No, no, he was. There was a time, there's been plenty of times where I was off, like my timing was striking the ball was just off. And so I had a way to get myself feeling back more and rhythm. And I went through the first part, which is very stationary. And then I asked one of our assistant coaches to serve balls from the wing to me. And I would just stand at the, in between the penalty spot in the six and take ballies, hit, hit balls on the ground, you know, just really get my timing down. So I take three or four steps back, then time, you know, time the ball, hit it. So I'm, I'm putting it on frame. And Edwin comes over, he goes, Brian, you mind if I hop in goal? My Edwin, I'm pilling balls from penalty spot in the six yard box. He goes, he looks me straight in the face. He goes, does that happen in the game? Wow. That was the first time I've ever like said anyone, normally, and Tim, you know, this normally goes, you're like, don't shoot from inside the head of the area. Yeah. That's unrealistic. And he's Dutch. So he knows, he knows everything about football. I will say, and he'll let you know he knows everything. Yeah, I know. But he was brilliant. He came to Everett's out. I was, I was mad as a hornet because I got dropped, but he came to Everton. And, you know, I put that quickly aside. And I spent a year under his tutelage, just standing behind and watching, learning every day. Man, well, I mean, he was world class and I learned so much. So, yeah, yeah. I was not expecting that. Tim, come on now. Yeah, tell me it was world class for one game. Who is club or country? Who is your favorite manager? Hmm. Well, club, it's, it's, it's Bruce. And then country, as far as like, I'm sorry, club is country is country's Bruce. Yeah, club. No, I didn't spend a ton of time with him, but Moisey and people asked me like, who is the best manager you've ever played under and David Moise is, is, is it just because it not only does he understand the game and can, can coach the game and, you know, in training, even though Alan does a lot of the stuff and if he's still doing a lot of the stuff, Moisey is always the one that gives the like, what, what we're trying to get out of this, right? This is, this is exactly why we're doing this. And then having the ability to man and manage like he does. Yeah, cool. That mixture of that, those two things is, is really special. Too good manager. What was your favorite Premier League stadium? Outside of Crayon College? Well, I mean, I would say it would be, you know, Everton's just, I was, yeah, you know, Goodeson Park was, it was the first time I ever experienced, when I, when I went down alone, when I ever experienced a crowd going absolutely nuts because you ran five yards backwards and made it so true. Somebody, sounds very Everton. It was just, it's so true. Just putting the effort in, the extra effort in was respected. And then, you know, everybody in the stands knows the game. So all the other like, nice passes and goals. Great. But it was the first time I'd, I'd seen a group of fans go, give you a big up when you did something defensively. Yeah, the, the first week I was there, I told this story, I'm in like the near the Cantina, and I'm walking through the hall and stubby walks by me. And he says, land in lad. So yeah, and he said, I want to tell you one thing. Like, what's that? He said, you don't have to score a goal. You don't have to complete a pass. You don't have to get on the score sheet, whatever. If you just run and work, those people out there will love you forever. I got it, chills. And I'm like, huh? Okay. First, sure enough. First game, I, you know, I didn't do anything about it, but like, I ran and ran. And then we had a home game. And sure enough, they were just behind me. And you just run and work. And they, that's all they wanted. It's all they wanted. It was amazing, man. Amazing. It was so good. Great atmosphere. Great. Okay. So, so you're the captain of a five aside team, you're in the park, flip a coin, you get first pick of all of your, of all of your former U S as national team teammates. Who are you taking with the first pick? I know your answer. Sorry, landed. You're taking a clip. In a five aside, yeah, I am too. Yeah. And if I'm the, I'm taking Claudio, so land is like third pick. And I even on the team. I don't know. We'll see. Okay. You don't want me in a five aside. You want me on a big field? You get by the way, you just picked the best five aside. Like, if it's clean in tight spaces, yeah, yeah, just give him a ball. And in front of the goal. Yeah. All right. I actually agree with that. So that's fine. We forgive you. We're never having you on the pot again, but we always are always welcome. All right. B, this has been amazing. Wishing you the very best. I mean, now this podcast has allowed us to like reach out and reconnect and talk to different people. And then we also now we have new alliances, like at my old coaches at AC Boise. So I'm following them. Now you're at Brooklyn FC. We're all following intently watching the games. You know, you're on my favorites on Fatmob now. So we're just wishing you the very best man. It's been really fun and really excited to get out to a game at Brooklyn FC. So thanks, man. I appreciate it. Both of you guys, everybody there at the podcast, let us know. And great to see you landing in Tim. Yeah, man. Welcome with you and keep up the great work. We appreciate it. Thanks for the time. We'll be out representing Brooklyn FC for sure. Awesome. It's stoppage time sponsored by Fandall. New to Fandall sportsbook, new customers can score up to $300 back in bonus bets every day for 10 days from bets that don't win. Download the Fandall sportsbook app to get started. All right, Champions League Round of 16 this week and we got a juicy juicy matchup Real Madrid hosting Manchester City. Love, love, love this matchup. I think lots of goals in this one. This is going to be a little bit of a throwback to the 2000s, 2010s when Champions League games were back and forth in action and scoring. So a lot of goals in this one. I think in the end, it'll be a draw. Probably a two-two draw sounds about right to me. Erling Holland will, of course, score. He's a back informant and back healthy. So I think he scores a goal. Definitely going over the two and a half goals. And I believe a goal will be scored in both halves. Should be a really exciting game. I think everyone's going to love this one. So again, we have a draw. Erling Holland to score over two and a half goals and a goal scored in both halves. Don't forget to check out the full list of unfiltered sockers, same-game parlays on our socials later this week. All right, let's take a break. When we get back, we will get into your questions in the AT&T fan connection right here on unfiltered soccer with Lannan and Tim presented by Volkswagen. 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 AT&T, connecting changes everything. And on USL and T, our connections with you will help grow the game. Welcome into the AT&T fan connection. How are you, Jordan? What's happening? I'm spectacular. How are you guys? Yeah, right. Spring, spring is sprung here in our neck of the woods. Yes, I have the window open. I'm letting the fresh air come in. I feel like a whole new woman. It's the coldest done now, right? For good, good. So coming next week. March, April, we could get a snowstorm. No, no, 100%. Really? Good. We good. Yes. In fact, do you want me and Tim to order hours because we could order it? No, thank you. No, keep it just like that. LD, you know why I love spring in New York? Because I don't ride bikes everywhere, everywhere. And it's too cold. It's too cold in with the snow in the ice. So I have to take a car everywhere. Now I just bike. Do you have a bike or do you use those bikes that they have? I prefer the city bike. I prefer to use a city bike. The electric one. Kind of nice, isn't it? It's great. There's one right outside my apartment. And so yeah, it's amazing. That's great. Can we talk about drivers are crazy? All right, go ahead, John. Can we talk about, I'm wearing my Brooklyn FC. Yeah, you are. So you guys are just talking to Brian McBride. But also there is a Portland Hearts of Pine scarf behind me because the lovely people at the Portland Hearts of Pine sent a big bag of stuff for the production team. So everybody in the department team got a hoodie and I kept a scarf. And so yeah, so thanks. They know where their bread gets buttered. Brooklyn FC, you know what I think you should do, John? I think you need to invest. I think you need to invest in a USL team. You're very dialed into USA. Yeah, you are. You need to invest. Okay, which one should I invest in, do you think? I think you need the Long Island Rough Riders. Oh, that's old school. I used to play against Long Island Rough Riders. No, I'm just saying honestly, I think they have a team. No, they still do. Yeah, that's cool. I don't know. I think they play like a small investment to a club and I'll figure it out. Okay, yeah, but then she, but she likes to support everyone. I know she'd be all in on one. I don't I disagree actually. Okay, well, if you are listening or watching this podcast, let me know if you think, well, let me let me know if you think I should invest in a, in a USL club. That's what you want. And why? Yes, which one and why? What percentage will you give her and are you giving a discount on the purchase? There you go. I definitely need free merch, obviously. Okay, let's get into some questions. This first one is from Isaac via email. And Isaac says, the guys have mentioned several times that MLS is not a good offensive league, but a bad defensive league. It seems this is because clubs would rather spend their money on attacking players than defensive players. Do you agree? What would happen if a club spent their big money on a star-studded defense, whether that is backline, defensive midfielder, goalie, or all three? Do you think an MLS club like this could be a perennial contender? It's a good phrase. Yes, like, listen, for all those reasons. And Lan is going to have his own comments. He's going to he's going to agree with mine for sure. It defensively, the league is so poor and the way that the league was set up by nature of the David Beckham rule, which turned into the DP rule and all the rest of it, the idea was to spend money on something that was flashy to sell tickets. Yes, this is prior to like us having this amazing league and educated fans and stadiums and all that, right? So it was to get boxing seats, which may be still the way. I think the way to get boxing seats is to put a good product on the field, personally. And so by nature of the rule, and we can probably go and we'll do a list at some point on social media, like from its inception, it's striker 10, striker 10, striker 10. That's who you bring in. Maybe a tricky winger. You're not bringing a goalkeeper. You're not bringing in a center back. You're not bringing in a defensive number six, a rodry to be a stalwart. You just aren't doing it because fans in MLS are clamoring for a big name. So that's sort of and the tide hasn't turned. And if you look around the world, man cities by spending as much money on their defenders as they're spending on their attackers. Like that's normal, but we don't do that. Completely agree. And you know, when we talk to sporting directors or GMs, or people who are, you know, run the cap for MLS teams, they'll say the same thing. They'll be like, well, we can basically spend like, I'm making this up two to 300 grand on a left back and four to 500 grand on a defend. And they've got these like charts and these structured like what you spend on. And I'm like, this is a bunch of BS like throw that out the window. What's going to help you win? To Tim's point, the league used to need. And I mean, need these stars and these exciting players and whatever. Most of these teams are selling out every week. Like when you look at what they're selling out every week. And it's because they're a good part of the community or they put on entertainment or good, but these teams are selling out. So majority don't need that anymore. And honestly, if it were me and I were running a team, my first, well, maybe not my first, but I would put so much emphasis on a physical athletic center back who can deal with bad moments and put out fires. I mean, the galaxy won the one MLS cup with this kid Garza's having the game of his life last year. I mean, he was everywhere all over the field just and he's, you know, he has his flaws. Doesn't play all the time. But that would be my number one priority. And you could, the rest of it's going to come. Like you're going to find good attacking players. The teams do a great job of finding that there's tons of talent. South America. They're finding tons of talent. But Tim's right. I mean, the defending in the sleek is just shameful. Do you think if one team did it, it would change. Yes. They were successful for sure. For sure. And it just it will. I mean, sorry, eventually teams want to win. The owners are going to look and, you know, they're not as educated and they'll go, wait, why are they winning? Why is this happening? Would it? You have to be really successful. But like, to Tim's point, Man City changed the game with like Kyle Walker, Stones, they've spent a ton of money on Yosko Vardiole. Like these are guys that can deal with, look at Virgil Van Dyke. He changed Liverpool. They're now, but they've been a dominant force for five, seven, eight years because they have a center back who can deal with all that. So, well, you said it and I didn't have to. Yeah, whatever. Well, I'm still sorry. Landon. Landon, I notice that there's a sign behind you. Behind your head right now. Oh, yeah. Happy birthday. Dad. Yeah. Let's go. Nice. Okay. So can I be with my kids said real quick? Sure. Sure. Very, very. Of course. Dear dad, we want to say thank you for all the work you do. We are really grateful for how hard you work for our family. Even though sometimes we are mean towards you, we want you to know that we still are grateful for the work that you do and we want to say we love you. Hashtag privilege kids. Even though we're mean to you are mean to me sometimes. They're amazing. Our kids are amazing. I know. All right. Continue. Your kids and I have that in common, even though I am also sometimes mean to you. I appreciate you. Okay. Here we go. I'm going to, there's a reason why I brought attention to that sign. This email is from Salvador via email and he says my question is to LD and Tim since they're both fathers. My wife and I are expecting our first baby. Got any advice for our first time father? P.S. It's a boy. Really wanted to name him Landon. Either as a first name or a middle name, put my wife said no. First of all, where's you from? I don't know. He didn't say. First off, my condolences. Your life's about to get miserable. It will eventually get good, but probably two to three years Salvador. It's miserable. All right. What are thoughts on being a father? There are amazing moments. It's really hard if you decide to be involved, heavily involved in your kids' life, but it's worth it. So my advice would be, be involved. Don't be their friend. It's okay not to be their friend. You're their parent, not their friend. But my learning in all of my fathering is I'm on one end of the spectrum where I'm probably too strict, too much worried about the future and how they're going to be and it's okay to still have fun and so I'm trying to meet them in the middle somewhere. Yeah. My parenting advice is along the lines of soccer. So be a good husband. Tell your wife she can sleep in and you take the baby and get up and watch Premier League every Saturday and Sunday morning. You'll get brownie points. You'll get brownie points. Get a scarf. Get a little ball in the jersey. Create a Premier League fan and a bond with you and your son. I don't know where you are. That's why I asked where you live. Go buy tickets or a ticket package to your local MLS team if there's one nearby. Start those traditions early because they last a lifetime and they create a father son bond that is really special around the Game of Soccer. And Salvador, if you send NBC and Tim a picture of that, they'll put you on my program morning. Yeah, we'll put you up on Premier League mornings in your in your kit. So I don't get extra points from the way extra extra points. I don't know this for sure, but I can almost guarantee that Everton sells a one Z for an infant. So make sure. Yeah. It's a good team. It's important. It's a good people's club. And please take take advice from the people who work on the show. Don't ever refer to watching your own children as babysitting. Please Salvador, don't do that. No, it's Daddy Daycare. Just make fun of it. If dad has to, if dad has to spend time or watch the kids, Daddy Daycare. That's just how it is universally. It's how it goes. We're looking for help everywhere we can. Mom's are amazing. It's crazy. Let's try a new rule. This one's really chaotic. So I'm really looking forward to. Okay. This one's from Stephen via email. Stephen sent in a soccer rule change proposal, a multi-ball system introduced during stoppage time in a nil nil match to increase excitement. Matches can still end in a draw, but you have to survive the multi-ball chaos. What happens? Is there more than one ball in the field? Are there two or like multiple? That's like a lot. I was all he wrote. Tim, I don't know if teams do this anymore. Do you remember training sessions where you'd have multiple goals on each set? So you'd have four goals, two on one side and two on the other. And there'd be multiple. Do I remember? Of course. So you'd have two balls on the field. So you're trying to score over here, but you've got to defend that side. And then you might have to defend the other side and attack on the other side. And it is so chaotic. Is the purpose of your brain? Yeah, I was just going to say like, it's actually to be fair. It's not the worst. I mean, it has nothing to do with how you play or your game model or anything, but it was fun. I have a feeling. I have a feeling there's a rule change coming in. I don't know how much I'm how much you're clued into LD, but someone, it's idiotic, but I'm just going to say it. Someone came up with this arsenal. Have you seen this with Arsenal's time wasting? Have you ever seen any of this or no? So basically, basically, every time Arsenal take a free kick, they're taking really long to take free kicks and over the course of the season, someone came up with this big stat, which sounds really mean and terrible that they've wasted X amount of hours or whatever. But I have a feeling that that's coming. I have a feeling that I have a feeling there's going to be a rule, which by the way, I don't care. I don't care. Arsenal doesn't waste like no one cared about that until this study came out. It was like when the Premier League added, when the Premier League two seasons ago added extra time, they added more time. At the end of each half, and it was 12 minutes of stoppage time. And they did it too. There was a survey that went around, which was bullshit. A survey that they surveyed fans and they said, we want more extra time, but we want more time. I'm like, no one's ever walked away from a football match and gone, I wish it was five more minutes. They enjoyed the match. And so no one up until that report came out, no one was clamoring for, hey, Arsenal are wasting all this time. No one thought of it, literally no one thought of it. Right. So according to the internet, in their match against Brighton on March 4th, they wasted 30 minutes and 51 seconds. I'm sorry. In a game, it's only 90 minutes long. That's what you mean they waste exactly 30 minutes. How do you define what's Arsenal's total of 30 minutes and 51 seconds to restart play? 30 minutes. Yeah, but George, I'm normal match. I bet that number is like 25 or 27 minutes. They don't tell you that. They don't give you that. Because by the way, because every time the ball goes out, it's 15 seconds, 30 seconds. Okay. On average, Jordan, in a 45 minute half a football, do you know how long the ball is out of play? Yeah. I have no idea. 22 minutes. There you go. What? The ball is out of play or stopped for 22. That's, I mean, that's the reality. That's like, you don't think of it that way. But think about how often the ball goes out for a goal kick, corner, throw in, foul penalty, foul, etc. Yeah. That's insane. It's insane. Take a stop watching all of life. All of life is an illusion. My dad used to do this. My dad would send me a text. He'd be like, the NFL's such a joke. He goes, I took a stopwatch and watched the game. And the ball is actually in play for like whatever, six minutes. And it takes three and a half hours. It's like that. It's just part of the game, dude. It's true. That's crazy. The NFL is crazy. It's true. In a couple of weeks, I'm going to do this. I don't know which game I'm going to do. Come back and give us your data. I will give you data. Do a normal game and do an arsenal game. And let's see how they compare. A normal game and an arsenal game. Okay. Well, Liverpool's playing Spurs at the weekend. So maybe we'll do a Spurs game and an arsenal game. I'm worried about Spurs this weekend, by the way. We can't talk about this because there are too many Spurs fans who work on this show. And I don't want to say I'm just saying they're not. It's at Amphill, isn't it? It is. Yes. They're not going to have to win. And it is, right? Somebody is not right. I think it is. Anyway, they're not going to have to win. They're shrugging like we don't care. It doesn't matter. They do. They care. They care a lot. We know who you are. Well, if you care about Liverpool versus Spurs or really anything that you would like to tell me about, you can email me at feedback at unfilteredsocker.com. So there you go. That went so well. Thanks, guys. Thanks. You're always on brand. Great job. All right. Amazing show. Thank you to our former teammate, Brian McBride. I just want to tell a quick anecdote. I told him off air, but there was a game to him. I would we were playing Cuba in the gold cup. I had not scored. I think in six or seven games for the national team. And it was really weighing on me. Like I was struggling. He got played through in the first half. We are literally going on a 2-on-0. You guys can google this 2-on-0. He could have taken a touch. He was on the left side. He could have taken a touch inside. And he scores 9 out of 10 times. He rolled it across the goal mouth to me to a wide open tap and goal. And you know, you know how it is. You don't want your other forward to succeed all the time. Sure. He made the right play in the right moment. I ended up scoring four goals that game and went on like a tear forever because I got that tap and I'm so grateful. He was such a great competitor. Great teammate. Love you, B. Thanks for coming on. That was amazing. Thank you, guys, for being with us. As always, please, please, please subscribe on YouTube Apple Podcast Spotify. Anywhere you get your pods. Follow us at unfiltered soccer on social media for bonus content. Thank you as always to Volkswagen, our presenting sponsor, our fan connection sponsor AT&T and our stoppage time sponsor, Fandall. Yeah, huge shout out to be Matt, Brian McBride, full and legend, USman's national team legend. Friend and teammate is a dogman. He's an absolute warrior. I mean, you talk about being in the tunnel with someone knowing he's going to give it all. I mean, absolutely incredible. And some real real good reflections today. So thanks, Brian. Thanks also to our unfiltered refresh sponsor, Corsair Light, and our additional sponsors, Airbnb and Walmart. Have an amazing week. We'll be back next Tuesday with another edition of unfiltered soccer.