Belgium Dominate USMNT, Turner vs Freese, and Roger Bennett on World Cup Memories| Unfiltered Soccer

Summary

Podcast Summary: Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan & Tim Howard

Episode: Belgium Dominate USMNT, Turner vs Freese, and Roger Bennett on World Cup Memories
Date: March 31, 2026

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Overview

In this candid and forthright episode, Landon Donovan and Tim Howard react to the US Men's National Team's (USMNT) humiliating 5-1 defeat to Belgium. They dissect the team's performance, discuss the controversial decisions around the goalkeeper debate between Matt Turner and Matt Freese, and lament the lack of fight and leadership within the squad. The show also features journalist and author Roger Bennett, who reflects on World Cup memories and his new book on the growth of soccer in America. The hosts conclude with lively fan questions and banter about Everton, Liverpool, musical preferences, and more.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Immediate Reactions to USMNT’s Defeat to Belgium

• Mood: Both hosts are visibly deflated and embarrassed by the US team's performance.
• Donovan (01:33): “I walked out of there like, deflated. Really, really deflated.”
• Howard (02:39): “Not great. Top to bottom...when it goes to three [goals], it ain't about tactics anymore.”
• Historical Context: USMNT hadn't conceded five since Colombia (2024) or in a meaningful way since the 2009 Gold Cup Final—with mitigating circumstances.
• Embarrassment & Lack of Fight: Both express shock at the US giving up 5 goals at home, citing it as unacceptable for a top 15 nation.

2. Team Leadership & Mentality

• Howard on Jermaine Jones (03:38):
  • “There's a player that we play with, his name was Jermaine Jones...at 3:1, when he still took the piss out of us, Jermaine Jones...would have lit Jeremy Doku up and basically gone: You've got two options here. Stop taking the piss or get yourself subbed off because the next tackle you ain't getting up from.”
• Club vs National Team Mentality:
  • Donovan (04:46): “With your national team, never, ever, ever should you concede five goals if you're a top 15 team in the world.”

3. Absence of Leadership & In-Game Grit

• Lack of Response: No player stepped up to halt the bleeding, nor was there the expected locker room fallout after such a heavy defeat.
• Howard (06:47): “When I've seen heavy defeats, it looks uglier – the team that's losing...guys are yelling and spitting and fighting with the coach...At least we can have some hard truths.”

4. Team Atmosphere After the Game

• Donovan (07:55):
  • “A bunch of guys didn't come down from their rooms. The guys who did come down, like it was okay. The mood was okay. And I was like, are you kidding me?...I would have been mortified.”

5. Personnel Issues – Richards & Adams Absent

• Howard points to missing players (Chris Richards, Tyler Adams) but stresses the need for a collective mentality regardless of absences.
• “You still fight for each other, for the crest.” (09:58)

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The Matt Turner vs Matt Freese Goalkeeper Debate

Segment Start: [09:58]

• Donovan’s Perspective:
  • Questions why Matt Turner, who hasn’t played much, started over Matt Freese, who has been the regular.
  • “From a message standpoint, it sent to both Matt Turner and Matt Freese, I was really, really confused by this.” (10:06)
• Howard’s Insight:
  • Freese lacks international caps—would enter the World Cup essentially as a rookie (“literally throwing an infant onto the football field”).
  • Playing Turner indicates coaching uncertainty: “These two are so close that we're unsure of who the number one is.” (11:09)
  • Regrets Freese missing the opportunity for a ‘signature moment’ against a top team.
• Donovan’s Takeaway:
  • “It was just bizarre. And I feel bad for Matt Turner, man. Like, he was. He wasn't great. Right. But...the last few games he's played, he's just got bombed on.” (13:29)
• Howard on Coach Mindset:
  • No matter the coach's public comments, “they're looking at the goalkeeper that conceded five. Like, it sucks. It sucks.” (14:07)

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USMNT's Lineup, Tactics, and Fitness

Segment Start: [14:41]

• Donovan: Focus needs to shift from tactical tweaks to playing those “who are going to just fight and compete and maybe get a yellow card…Do something to disrupt the game or some energy.” (14:56)
• Howard: Stresses the need for collective fight and worries about absence of it across the tough upcoming friendlies.
• On Formation:
  • Back four exposed fullbacks, especially Timothy Weah (a winger by trade).
  • “We can't possibly be playing in the back four and leaving these fullbacks on an island. And we did that.” (16:18)
• On Pulisic:
  • Both see individual flashes but note he’s not sharp in front of goal.
  • “He just needs that first one. And then once that happens, it'll come.” (18:45)

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Any Positives?

• Clutching at Straws: Neither host finds much positive, other than “Wes’s goal was great” on a set piece—something he’s already known for (19:14).
• Hopeful Note:
  • Jedi Robinson’s fitness and the possibility of Alex Freeman seeing more play get brief mention as positive glimmers (19:58).

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The 'Choose Chill' Moment

Segment Start: [22:02]

• Donovan:
  • Highlights Patrick Ajamong’s impactful substitute performance: “He was hard to play against…He made the game hard when he came in.” (22:02)
• Howard:
  • Notes Ajamong is “a different profile. He makes it tough and nasty for defenders…He likes the physicality.” (22:37)

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Interview: Roger Bennett on World Cup Memories & His Book

Segment Start: [26:44]

Roger Bennett Joins:

• Why Write the Book?
  • “Life is very short and World Cups on home turf come about once in a lifetime...To see America go from a football loathing nation...to one where football just has become the third biggest sport...I wanted to put it down on the page so that everyone could celebrate it before this World cup kicks off.” (27:50)
• World Cups as Memory Catalysts:
  • “Every single memory is like snow falling on snow, layered from Maradona...to Baggio, that penalty...Your [Landon’s] goal in 2010...Tim’s performance in Salvador...” (29:06)
  • The World Cup as a lens to re-live one's personal biography.
• Global Impact of the World Cup:
  • “The Super Bowl...200 million people...The World Cup has 5 billion human beings. It’s the perfect global billboard.” (30:54)
  • “Create a positive, joyous, electric connection and bond us all around the globe.”
• Expanded Format & New Stories:
  • Roger is open-minded about the expanded World Cup format and sees potential for magical underdog stories. “Any team can just find with collective football, with a strong defensive foundation...can find a way to go deep...Let's suspend judgment and pray that teams go deep. And one of those teams is the United States.” (32:00)
• USMNT’s World Cup History:
  • “Our nation has won one knockout World cup game in history. It’s crazy.” (37:20)
  • Both Landon and Tim agree it’s “crazy” and a fact that needs to change.

Notable Quotes from Bennett

• “Your performances are up there from an American POV like they are parties. The number of American footballers who...talk about being kids already and watching the Landon Donovan Algeria goal and wanting to pull on that shirt to live those moments...We just need more. We need more great American memories.” (34:44)
• “Naive and dumb. That’s where we need to get back.” – on the American spirit (49:22)

Other Topics with Roger Bennett

• His Dual Allegiance: Supports US above England, despite being born in Liverpool.
• About England: Explains complicated English fandom, national psyche, and Southgate’s realistic approach to 2026.
• Spurs’ Managerial Chaos: Roger and Tim dissect Spurs' negative spiral and De Zerbi's appointment, comparing their turmoil to Leicester's unexpected triumph and Everton's similar underdog narrative.
• Evertonian Hope: Celebrates David Moyes's return, the need for fullbacks, and the joy of seeing Everton thrive again, while juxtaposing it with the USMNT’s own quest for identity and spirit.

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Fan Connection (Q&A) and Lighter Moments

Segment Start: [53:04]

• Fan Question:
  • What’s a bigger disappointment: missing the 2018 World Cup or being grouped at home in 2026?
    Howard: “Missing the World Cup is disastrous...We have the easiest group in the history of maybe the World cup, and that's going to help us and we'll get out of the group.” (54:36) Donovan: Cautions about knockout stages and the team’s continuing lack of a ‘signature’ win.
• Everton or Liverpool – Who Wins a European Trophy Next?
  • Mixed feelings: Howard is skeptical of Everton’s ability to do business in the market, leaning toward Liverpool. Donovan is more optimistic for a Cinderella run for Everton.
• Music & Banter:
  • Hilarious confusion about Wu-Tang Clan and Frank Ocean.
  • “Is [Method Man] in Wu-Tang? Dude. What a song…best 90s rap hits.” (61:50)
• Request for More Fan ‘Smoke’:
  • The hosts urge listeners to ask tougher, spicier questions.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “[Giving up five goals]…with your national team. Never, ever, ever should you concede five goals if you're a top 15 team in the world.” – Landon Donovan (04:46)
• “Jermaine Jones...would have lit Jeremy Doku up and basically gone: You've got two options here. Stop taking the piss or get yourself subbed off because the next tackle you ain't getting up from.” – Tim Howard (03:38)
• “It was just bizarre. And I feel bad for Matt Turner, man...he wasn't great. Right. But...the last few games he's played, he's just got bombed on.” – Landon Donovan (13:29)
• “Life is very short and World Cups on home turf come about once in a lifetime.” – Roger Bennett (27:50)
• “We just need more. We need more great American memories.” – Roger Bennett (34:44)
• “Naive and dumb. That’s where we need to get back.” – Roger Bennett (49:22)

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Key Timestamps

• Defeat Reaction & Leadership Discussion: 01:33 – 09:58
• Goalkeeper Debate – Turner vs. Freese: 09:58 – 14:41
• Lineup & Formation Critique: 14:41 – 19:58
• ‘Choose Chill’ Moment – Ajamong’s Impact: 22:02 – 23:10
• Roger Bennett Interview: 26:44 – 49:45
• Fan Connection (Viewer Q&A): 53:04 – end

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Tone & Style

The episode is conversational, passionate, and unvarnished—equal parts expert analysis, nostalgia, and locker-room truth-telling. Donovan and Howard do not mince words when it comes to the flaws of the current USMNT camp, and Roger Bennett provides both affectionate and incisive context, blending soccer history with cultural observations. The hosts’ banter remains humorous and honest throughout, especially on lighter topics such as music taste and Premier League drama.

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Summary for New Listeners

If you missed the episode, here’s what matters:

• USMNT’s 5-1 loss to Belgium is a watershed embarrassment, exposing leadership, mentality, and tactical frailties.
• The goalkeeper situation remains unresolved and emblematic of deeper uncertainty in the squad.
• Leadership, fight, and American spirit are sorely lacking; the team’s identity crisis is called out by two of its legends.
• Roger Bennett’s insight reminds us why the World Cup matters and invites fans to embrace “naive and dumb” belief again.
• Lively fan questions and cultural banter add warmth and humor to an episode that otherwise pulls no punches about US soccer’s urgent challenges before the 2026 World Cup.

Transcript

[Tim Howard]

Matt Fries, if he's going to be the goalkeeper going into the World cup, at best, he'd have 15, 16 caps. 17, right. That's an infant. Literally throwing an infant onto the football field. He needs to play in big games. Well, if you play against Belgium, you have an opportunity to stand on your head and keep us in a game. That opportunity gets taken away from him, so he plays Matt Turner. That, to me basically says these two are so close that we're unsure of who the number one is.

[Landon Donovan]

Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim presented by Volkswagen. Volkswagen has long been a support soccer in America and has proudly been a partner of U.S. soccer for over five years.

[Tim Howard]

Welcome in to another edition of Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim. We are in the same room, this same room, presented by Volkswagen. Look, we were both in Atlanta. That's where we were. We were together, watched the game, read the social so we can get.

[Landon Donovan]

I was going to say, let me just get this out of the way so we can go. Please, guys, follow us at on social media. Nfiltered soccer. Subscribe to the show on YouTube. Make sure you follow on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can email Jordan feedbackunfiltered Soccer. I will say so many people, Tim. So many people. I was at an AT&T event. You were at Jim Beam. I was at Jim Beam, where I was in the Volkswagen suite. So many people came over to me and said, I love listening to the show. And I said, what the hell do you love about it? Why do you want to listen to us? But they must love us. They love us. Well, they love you. They didn't say me. Okay, we got to get into this. So we were both there. I had so much optimism.

[Tim Howard]

Did you?

[Landon Donovan]

I really did. Coming off like the Uruguay result, I liked the lineup, which we'll get into in a minute. And jeez, I walked out of there like, deflated. Really, really deflated.

[Tim Howard]

You and a few thousand other people, probably tens of thousands of people, probably

[Landon Donovan]

a few million watching around the country.

[Tim Howard]

People left.

[Landon Donovan]

I was just asking. We were asking. Dan told us that the last time a US team allowed five goals was to Colombia in 2024. And then the previous before that was the 09 Gold Cup Final to Mexico, but that was a B team because our team went to South Africa for the Confederations Cup. My first thought when I was just reading the screen and I'm like, I can't remember ever giving up five goals with the US Team, which I didn't. And you didn't and it's just wild, first of all, to concede five. I'm just. I was, I was almost embarrassed. I really was walking out of there. I was embarrassed.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, not great.

[Landon Donovan]

Not great.

[Tim Howard]

I don't have a lot for you today, mate. I mean, I'll give you what you want, but I mean, not great. Top to bottom, when, when you're, when you're a team that understands how to play the game together, there is a way. There's a way to win games and there's a way to lose games. And I'm not sitting here from any lofty perch. I have. I have had five hung on me twice. I've had six hung on me. It's horrific. It's horrific. It makes you feel like this small in the footballing world. But when I look at this team overall, right, and we can, we could pro. Some of our listeners are going to want to hear, like the nitty gritty stuff. Okay, we'll get into some of that. We'll get into some of that from me, from my end, when it goes, when it goes to three, okay? I, as a leader and going when I got the ball. This ain't about tactics anymore. The fellow over there on the touchline who told us about tactics, I'll deal with him. We're going to move our lines, we're going to get the ball up to pitch, we're going to fight for second balls, and then we're going to get down and play. We're not going to be open and expansive and pretend we can beat this team because guess what? We can't. Right? So in the game, how are you doing that? The other part of it is, I told you this off air. There's a player that we play with, his name was Jermaine Jones. And Doku would have done his little, his little dance once, would have done his little dance twice. And then at 3:1, when he still took the piss out of us, Jermaine Jones from the number six spot would have vacated the middle of the midfield. He'd have gone steaming over to the fullback and he would have lit Jeremy Doku up and basically gone. You've got two options here. Stop taking the piss or get yourself subbed off because the next tackle you ain't getting up from. And what it does as a team is it lays a marker down like, yeah, we might lose this game, but we're going to win something. We're going to win. So we're going to win some sort of battle here. But you're not Going to take our lunch money and everything else. And that was a big problem for

[Landon Donovan]

me on the day when, when you're saying that now, I'm thinking to myself, that performance felt like a club team performance. And I'm going to tell you so you had five hung on you at Everton, six hung on you one time at Everton twice. I think with the Galaxy we lost 5, 2 to Dallas one time and we actually beat Dallas 6, 5 one time in this crazy game. Those are the only two times I can remember getting five goals scored against me with me on the field. Club games. That happens sometimes in your case because teams spend way more than Everton was spending and they just get it right on the day or once in a while you get. Somebody doesn't show up and things go poorly with your national team. Never, ever, ever should you concede five goals if you're a top 15 team in the world. Now if you're the number 70 team in the world, which by the way, they don't get five hung on them, I can understand it. You're a top 15 national team at home and you concede five goals and it probably could have been a little worse. It just blows my mind, honestly. It blows. Forget about, like you said formation and people are like, why are we in a back four? And why is this guy playing? And it's. Why is this MLS guy playing? And not. It's all. Somebody at some point had to say enough of this.

[Tim Howard]

Sure.

[Landon Donovan]

Like we're not getting embarrassed on our home field.

[Tim Howard]

And they did. And they did. And I just, and I just sort of like, I guess the thing that, I guess the thing that visually bothered me was I guess the lack of fight. Fights that. Fight may be the right word. I guess when I, when I've watched, when I've been on teams who have taken heavy defeats. Right. Or I've watched enough soccer that, you know, I've watched thousands of games and when I've seen heavy defeats, it looks uglier. The team that's losing five.

[Jordan]

Yeah.

[Tim Howard]

Guys are getting the grips with each other. Guys are yelling and spitting and kicking the ground and, and, and, and fighting with the coach and fighting with the. It's not all about fighting, but like it was one went in, two went in, three went in. Arms up, four, shoulders down, five, head down. Like that didn't look like a five nil defeat. Five nil defeats to me in my experience look like, like I, I don't know this. I don't have the inside information, but I do know. And you said You've been there. I've been on the inside of a dressroom after losing 5 nil or 6 or 4. It's an ugly scene. In fact, it's actually like, can't wait to get in there. Can't wait to get in there because someone's gonna hear it. We couldn't play soccer today, so at least we. At least we can have some hard truths. And I don't know. I don't know. I can't. I don't know if that. If that happened after the game, I hope. Unless it was, hey, nicey nicely, let's move on because we have another opportunity in a couple days. I don't know. I. I literally have no idea.

[Landon Donovan]

I asked someone who's very tied into soccer in this country, has been for decades this question because they were at the hotel after the game and someone who's affiliated with team. Same question. What was the mood like when you got back to the hotel? And both of them said the same thing. They said a bunch of guys didn't come down from their rooms. Understandably. The guys who did come down like it was okay. The mood was okay. And I was like, are you kidding me? Like, it was. I would have been mortified, first of all, to show my face anywhere. Mortified. And I. I just like, that is what concerned now. Look, we have another chance. We're filming this on Monday. We have another chance tomorrow.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

And I promise you, Pochettino will have the team fighting for sure. I can't say what the result's going to be if not.

[Tim Howard]

I don't know. I don't know if I agree with that.

[Landon Donovan]

You don't think so?

[Tim Howard]

I hope so. I hope so.

[Landon Donovan]

I mean, I have shocked.

[Tim Howard]

We have hoped with this team so. So flipping long. We've hoped for a lot of things now. I saw it. I mean, you know, the person that's missing in this group is Chris Richards. And I think he's the one that he's the one person. Well, Tyler is as well. Let me. Let me say that Tyler would be. He would have had a. He would have had a pound of flesh. I think on the day. If Tyler was playing, um, you know, he'd have made sure that there was some. There was some coming togethers. Um, but those two weren't playing. So, you know, if and when they play, does it look different? I think so. But again, we talk about. It shouldn't. It shouldn't be a singular mentality. You shouldn't have correct the. The idea that we'll get Beat up if. If Chris Richards and Tyler Adams aren't here. Can't be like, you're still a team. You're still a group. You still fight for each other, for the crest. But, okay, those guys, those guys bring something different. So when they're back.

[Landon Donovan]

Okay, can we talk? So the. The one massive surprise was Matt Turner starting over. Matt Freeze. And I'm just going to speak my opinion, but I'm. You're in this, so people want to hear what you have to say. But I do want to say real quick, Matt Turner hasn't played and I don't know how long Matt Fries has played every game for the national team. For the national team that we can remember. What I didn't understand is whether you think. Not. Whatever. I think whether Pochettino and his staff and the goalkeeper coach think Matt Freese is better or Matt Turner or whatever, I have no idea. I'm not there. I see what I see on the field. They seem fairly similar in their abilities. Whatever. From a message standpoint, it sent to both Matt Turner and Matt Fries. I was really, really confused by this, because if you, like, if you're an NFL team and you have a starting quarterback who's played the last 11 games and then you go, you know what? We'll just throw this guy in. In the 12th game. You would go, well, why? And the starter is going to go, wait a minute. Yeah, what? So I didn't understand. Can you help me understand that? Is. Am I seeing that right? Am I not? I just didn't understand why you would do it.

[Tim Howard]

No, I. I don't. I don't know. I don't know the answer. It's a. I, I'm baffled. I spoke to. When I. When I saw that Matt Turner was playing, I spoke to my goalkeeping guru, who I often lean on for advice and thoughts about things. And I just basically said to him, look, this goalkeeping situation with this, with this national team has made me start to rethink what I thought. I know about goalkeeping because none of it makes sense to me. And here's why. It. A few different scenarios. You went through one of them. Matt Freese, if he's going to be the goalkeeper. You've heard me say this, but this is a great example. If he's going to be the goalkeeper going into the World cup, at best, I think we did the math. If he was fit and played every game, he'd have 15, 16 caps. 17, right. Going into the World cup, that's an infant. Literally throwing an infant onto the football field. Zero international experience as it pertains to playing a World cup, right? No, no World Cup. He played no World cup qualifying. Right. And he played in the Gold cup, which was. Oh, I know. It's so. It's so. We're told that. Not to say it's a B team. He played in the world. In a Gold cup with a B team. Can we say that now that we're past it? Which is fine. And he did well. That's when he got this. He got his opportunity, took the shirt and he played. He needs to play in big games. He hasn't had a chance to play in big games. This was an opportunity play in this game. Guess what? What we haven't seen from Matt Fries, him having a signature moment. Well, if you play against Belgium, this team, they're gonna. They're gonna score five goals. They have the potential to score five goals. They have. You have an opportunity to stand on your head and keep us in a game, which we don't know if you can do because you're so young in your national team career. Okay. That opportunity gets taken away from him. So he plays Matt Turner. Why does he play Matt Turner? Nothing that gets said in the press, by the way, is believable from my standpoint. We need to see Matt play. We give him opportunity. No, no, that's. That, to me, basically says, these two are so close that we're unsure of who the number one is. That's what it tells me. It's not a gimme. Like, let's play Matt because. Because the other guy, who you. Who we thought you believed in as the number one, you know, he needs big games. So why would you take a big game away from Matt Freese?

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, that's right. So I thought to myself, when that happened, I'm like, I can imagine if Matt Freese had played the last 60 games for the US and they said, you know what? We need Matt Turner to play a game just so we get him some rhythm. You would say, okay. But I was thinking then you. And you'd say, well, no, I want to play right now. Matt Freese doesn't have that clout. And he probably can't say that to Pochettino, but it just. It was just bizarre. It was. And I feel bad for Matt Turner, man. Like, he was. He wasn't great. Right. But it just. All of a sudden, now it's, you know, the last few games he's played, he's just got bombed on.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. And I think with, you know, the problem with the problem that Matt Turner has is Pochettino, after the game, says the right things and says, you know, it's obviously not just on the goalkeeper, it's on other. The defenders and all the rest of it. But at the end of the day, that's on, that's on the coach's brain when they go to make a decision. Yeah, they, they, they're looking at the goalkeeper that conceded five. Like, it sucks. It sucks. And of course, it's not all on Matt Turner that, that's when your team gives up five. A lot of things went wrong, but again, it's. But ultimately he's. He's the one who was in goal for it, which is not great.

[Landon Donovan]

I was going to ask, you know, what changes should we see and what lineup? And now I'm just thinking, like, does it matter if, if, if I would just try to get guys on the field who are. And I feel like a stupid broken record. I say this every time.

[Tim Howard]

We're almost, we're almost at the World Cup.

[Landon Donovan]

I know I say this every time. Like, who are going to just fight and compete and maybe get a yellow card? Like, I don't even know how many yellow cards there were. Do something to disrupt the game or some energy or something, and I just don't know how many of them have it.

[Tim Howard]

Look, and I could be wrong here. I've been wrong in the past. I'll hold my hand up. So we had four big match, right? Belgium, Portugal to come, which we'll be talking about in the next day or two. Senegal, Senegal and Germany, like, you know, at some point. At some point. So Belgium's gone, right? Didn't have a ton of fight, didn't have our best players. At some point between Portugal, which we won't. Senegal and Germany, we're going to have our best team on the field pulling together and fighting, and they're going to give us hope. Maybe. No, no, no.

[Landon Donovan]

I mean, no, but Tim, the reality is. And again, Chris Richards, Miles Robinson, Tyler Sergino, Haji Wright. It's. There's just always. You would just have to accept that there's always going to be people missing.

[Tim Howard]

Okay?

[Landon Donovan]

We do, because. And we're just not. And that's okay that. Well, it's not okay. It's just part of it. It is what it is and, you know, it's gonna be what it is.

[Tim Howard]

Well, I mean, I just think even the starting lineup, we went to about, you know, went to a back four, right? Which is sort of like, if we're gonna be. I I like being able to be flexible, but if we're gonna play in the back three, that's something we need to be doing more often. But okay, we played in the back four. I just think they're, they're with sort of the way that Belgium plays. We need to, we need to give help to our, to our fullbacks, you know, Timothy Wayer, Jedi Robinson, they need, they need players from the midfield to be able to double down and play in a proper sort of like 4, 4, 2. And I know we weren't in a direct 4, 4, 2 because we had two sixes, but, like, there's still a moment where I'm thinking we can't possibly be playing in the back four and leaving these fullbacks on an island. And we did that.

[Landon Donovan]

And look, Timothy Way has been a winger his whole life, right? So let's call it what it is. He's not an outside back. Now. Has he played there a lot? Yes. Is he getting better in a year from now? Two years? Could you say yes? Yes, of course. Jeremy Doku is a really good player. I would trust Jedi Robinson to, most of the time handle those one on one situations because he's played as a left back for a long time. But for Timothy, it's like the guy's on an island by himself against one of the best swingers in the world. What do you expect?

[Tim Howard]

I know, I know.

[Landon Donovan]

Like, what do you think's gonna happen? So Pulisic looked. I actually think he looked a little better. He had some moments where he was bright and sharp and ran by guys. You can just tell he's not sharp in front of goal. He had the moment where he came in front of goal and he, and he, you know, sort of leans back and lifts it over and he had

[Tim Howard]

two, two of those moments. He had one that. Where he came in from the left, right. And then he had a very similar one. Well, he's a little bit deeper inside the box and he came in from the right. And then I thought that was the one where he'd slot it and ended up just missing it. But still, you know, in moments he's still, he's out now in our best player. And in moments, those little pockets. Yeah, it's my worry for it. My, my, my worry would be if he wasn't finding those pockets, if he was lethargic. He's not, he's not that. So he's still getting on those in those half spaces. He's still being dangerous. Obviously you want it to be perfect, but it's not perfect, but I still want him in those spaces being dangerous on another day, maybe it's Tuesday, he's in the same space and he sort of auto corrects and he slots at home, so I've got no issues there.

[Landon Donovan]

He just needs that first one. Sure, he needs that first one. And then once that happens, it'll come. Anything positive you take out of this? I mean, I. I don't know. I'm. I. I'm kind of pessimistic always with this stuff, but I'm trying to say, was there anything that was.

[Tim Howard]

I think you're clutching at straws when you. When you lose, when you concede five and you take a heavy defeat and then you're like, well, we had a good game. I'm not really. I'm not really sure.

[Landon Donovan]

I mean, Wes's goal was great.

[Tim Howard]

Wes's goal was great. But again, that's not like a revelation. He's really good at set pieces. You know, I wouldn't say I'm taking that out of the game. Go. Oh, we. Well, every game we play between now and the end of the World Cup, Weston's going to be dangerous on set pieces.

[Landon Donovan]

So that's.

[Tim Howard]

That's sort of normal for me.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. I don't know. I mean, he had another opportunity, Wes and, you know, could have had two, which would have been. Which would have felt really good. I don't know. You know, Anthony Robinson getting, you know, through the game, fit. I'd love to see him play again against Portugal to be able to. I don't know if his. If his knee can handle that. I hope so. But it'd be great to see him lined up against Portugal again. That would be a big sign for me.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah. I couldn't help but think, too. And I know I harp on this a lot. Alex Freeman, a fit playing all the time. Alex Freeman. I think I would have liked to have seen that matchup against Doku and see, like. See what?

[Tim Howard]

That looks like something that crossed my mind, which sounded crazy before I said it, but you brought it up. I almost would have. I almost would have brought him in cold. Not like a. I wouldn't have, like, hooked Timothy Weah, but I would have sort of been like, all right, this is one of the best wingers in the world. Let me just see. Let me just see where Alex, like, okay, I know he's not been playing and there's match fitness and all that, but, like, I don't know, let me see. The kid's athletic.

[Landon Donovan]

Well, I said every time he's been given a task. He's accepted it. Right. And so I wanted. I did. I wanted to see that.

[Tim Howard]

And then. And then maybe you get, you know, maybe in 30 minutes you get a clip of like, oh, okay, okay. You know, he's. He can play against this sort of winger because of his physicality. I don't know.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

And you can do it.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Okay. Well, we're going to have lots more big picture on Tuesday. We're having a stream right after the US Men's national team game against Portugal. You can find it on YouTube, X Twitter and Facebook homepages. And we'll also know who's in our final group. So it's either Kosovo or Turkey. I believe so. So we're going to have a lot more to talk about. Curious what you guys think. You've sent in a lot of messages, social media, et cetera, about what you thought about the defeat. And then, you know, send us in questions following the game Tuesday, be on the live pod and. And we can make sure that we get your questions answered. Certainly going to be a lot of talking points depending on how that game goes to me.

[Roger Bennett]

Foreign.

[Tim Howard]

It's time for the unfiltered refresh sponsored by Coors Light. Choose Chill. Get Coors Light delivered. Go to coorslight.comusf all right, Landon, Tough one this week. Tell me, tell me who you think chose Chill. I'm excited to hear who you thought.

[Landon Donovan]

Well, most of the team felt like they were like, under ice and couldn't move. But I will say, when he came on, I thought he was a handful. Patrick ajamong, he got his moment and banged his goal and he is confident. You can tell. Like, when that moment came, I thought he was going to take a touch. I'm like, oh, take a touch. And he just lashed it into the corner. So he's confident. I thought he was a handful. He was hard to play against. Again, we've said this all over and over. Not the easiest on the eyes and technical and all this, but he was hard to play against. He made the game hard when he came in.

[Tim Howard]

Yep. Always thought the same thing about him. He is getting his goals and he's difficult. I said when he sort of broke into the team, he's a different profile. He makes it tough and nasty for defenders. They don't like playing against him. He likes the physicality. He wants the contact. He actually has gotten better in tighter areas. So for this game, yes, it is a moment for me that stands out. Does he earn a start because he gets a goal laid on. I don't know. But it goes a long way, as you know, as a striker.

[Landon Donovan]

I met a woman this week and she said every time you guys talk about ajamong, I'm all in. I'm commenting all the time. So on behalf of that lady, Patrick, and behalf of us, congrats on choosing Chill. All right, it is stoppage time. Sponsored by FanDuel. New to FanDuel 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 FanDuel Sportsbook app to get started. All right, FA cup quarter finals this weekend. Liverpool, Manchester City. Love this game. Regardless of where these teams are in the standings in the table, how they're doing in the league, this is a game that means something with a chance at the semifinals on the line. So fantastic matchup. I love this. I do think City win the game. Liverpool just haven't inspired me a lot this year. City haven't been perfect, but I feel like they're rounding into form. They're playing well in the league. They won the Carabao Cup. Of course our guy Erling Holland will get on the score sheet somehow. I do believe it'll be a high scoring game. These two lots of attacking talent and I think, I think there'd be lots of goals in this game. And I have a hunch there will be a one nothing halftime score. It feels like a one nothing game and in the second half it opens up. So Unfiltered Soccer's FA cup same game parlay this week is City to win, Erling Holland to score or have an assist over two and a half goals and that 10 halftime scoreline. Don't forget to check out the full list of unfiltered soccer parlays on our socials later this week. All right, guys, as always, please remember to subscribe to the show. Rate us, review us. It helps people find the podcast. We'll take a break. When we come back, we are talking to our dear friend Evertonian podcast host and author. I don't know how he has time to do all this. Roger Bennett about his new book we are the World cup right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim. As always, presented by Volkswagen. The Unfiltered Soccer podcast is brought to you by Volkswagen. It's really easy to become a passenger in life, to sit back and watch life go by day after day.

[Tim Howard]

Of course, it's hard to do your own thing when everyone is following everyone else. But this is a call from me and ld, from Volkswagen and from all the other drivers out there. Make the most of every day.

[Landon Donovan]

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[Tim Howard]

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[Landon Donovan]

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[Tim Howard]

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[Landon Donovan]

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[Tim Howard]

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[Landon Donovan]

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[Roger Bennett]

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[Landon Donovan]

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[Roger Bennett]

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[Landon Donovan]

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[Roger Bennett]

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[Landon Donovan]

Learn [e-mail] M365 copilot All right, Timmy, Great guest today, man. We see a lot of on tv on his podcast, all over the place, everywhere, everywhere. He is the man who references Lucy and Charlie Brown more than any other human I have ever met. He's also the author of a new book, we are the world in parentheses Cup. Very clever. Roger Bennett. Welcome in, Roger. How are you?

[Tim Howard]

Roger? Proper toffee you are. There he is.

[Roger Bennett]

Joy to be with both of you. How are you not sponsored by the Hair Club for men. This show, it's one of football world's greatest unanswered questions.

[Tim Howard]

Might be, well, with two handsome bald guys and then the other fella, I

[Landon Donovan]

mean, who knows, you know, everyone says the hair looks great. And then I think to myself, well, they're not gonna tell me it's shit. You leave that to us, right, Raj, first question. You have a lot of things on your plate. And the more I'm around you, the more I learn that why spend the time to. And it's a big effort, as I know, to write a book. And what was. What's the. What was the impetus for it?

[Roger Bennett]

Life is very short and World Cups on home turf come about once and a lifetime. You know, I moved here right before 94. That World cup, it was meant to make football go in America almost overnight. It didn't. We're all the better for that. We put together really an audience, a fan base, massive Deeply rooted, authentic, knowledgeable, and ahead of this World Cup. I wanted to write about that journey because it's one of the greatest footballing journeys of my life. To see America go from a football loathing nation, which we were in the early 90s, to one where football just has become the third biggest sport. And to watch it, to revel in it, to not take a second for granted. It's the greatest story that I've lived and I wanted to put it down on the page so that everyone could celebrate it before this World cup kicks off.

[Landon Donovan]

And you, Raj, you go through the. You go through World Cup. What was your First World Cup?

[Roger Bennett]

78.

[Landon Donovan]

Argentina like sometimes when I watch past people speak about World Cups or you watch highlight videos, there are things that happen that you didn't realize, or I wasn't alive at the time. But you don't. You go, oh, my God, I can't believe that happened. Were there things along the way in a particular World cup or some World Cups where he went, wow, I can't believe that actually happened for me, the World Cup.

[Roger Bennett]

I realized writing this book is 73% of my greatest footballing memories. Honestly, Landon, I've not forgotten any of them. When I look back at the action, it's still front of my cortex. And that's the joy, the power, the wonder at this tournament is. And I write about it. It is like an eclipse that hits the entire planet for the duration of the tournament. And every single memory is like snow falling on snow, layered from Maradona doing the English with his hand all the way through to Baggio, that penalty soaring into the Pasadena night sky. Your goal in 2010 from an American perspective lies alongside Tim's performance in Salvador that night in 2014. These are memories, not just footballing, but you remember where you were when you saw them, who you were with. And ultimately the World cup becomes just an alternate way of living your own biography, your own life. And so I wrote it almost for American fans who lived each of these memories. And many of your listeners will be nodding as they hear these stories. I live that. I hope they feel alive again when they reconjure their own memories. And for newer fans who didn't live these World Cups, I wrote the book so that they could almost borrow those memories, know their Maradona from their messi, and savor every single last drop of Please, God, what would be a positive, joyous World cup in 2026?

[Tim Howard]

You know, we talk about how, how much the World cup means to each and every one of us. We, Landon, And I have played in it. You've, you've watched it as a fan and as, and as someone on level who knows the game and can write a book about it. But when you look at the World cup as a whole, where does it rank in terms of global sporting events? It has to be far and away number one.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah, there's nothing like it, Tim. Here in the United States, we live for Super Bowls. I think around 200 million people watch the super bowl around the planet. The World cup has 5 billion human beings. It's the perfect global billboard viewable from outer space. The cliche about the World cup is it stops wars, that the whole world stops. We all love an excuse to daytime drink, to cut work, to just commune together. But. But in our day and age particularly, I pray that the World cup can do something that the world really needs right now, which is to create a positive, joyous, electric connection and bond us all around the globe. Because that's what it has had the power to do in World Cup's past. And I think we need it more than ever.

[Landon Donovan]

Raj, as you obviously did a ton of research on this book to go through World cup by World cup and you've seen it with 32 teams, right, for, I guess, all of it, right, since 78. What are your thoughts on the expanded format? Timmy and I kind of disagree on this, but what are your thoughts on the expanded format?

[Roger Bennett]

It was smaller in 78. It's gotten bigger incrementally. Everything in football gets bigger. Part of me thinks we gotta wait to see how we live it out before we judge it. I think football always judge things retrospectively. Part of me realizes that, that in about 50 years we'll be romanticizing the days of the tiny World cup when there were just 48 teams in it. Now there's 120 or whatever. You know, everything gets incredibly swole. You look at these playoffs, I will say that watching the playoffs last week, watching these teams soar with pride and wonder, even participating, hearing their national anthem in games that truly matter, was really, really powerful and really, really beautiful. And I hope that the expanded field, some of these teams are, you know, are poor. These teams on paper are useless. But I remember watching Iceland in the Euros in 2016. I went over there beforehand to film with the team Heimo Hagamsen, who is now the manager of, of the valiant Irish team. You know, it's an island nation of what, a couple of hundred thousand people. They were expected to be like third cousins at a wedding, just happy to be there. They Ended up slaying England on a dizzying run deep into the tournament. And international football is a strange beast. You both know that. That any team can just find with collective football, with a strong defensive foundation, with an ability to find a goal through a set piece or whatever, can find a way to go deep. I feel like I'm subtweeting the US team right now. Any team that finds a system. England 2018. Ugly, ugly football. Defensive first Nick in a goal off a. Off a corner or a set piece or a long throw all the way to the semi final. So let's suspend judgment and pray that teams go deep. And one of those teams is the United States.

[Tim Howard]

Guys, that'd be amazing. When we look at sort of anecdotally in the book, and you talked so eloquently about a few of them myself, my performance, Landon Maradona, certainly not on the same level as that.

[Roger Bennett]

But where'd you put them to Howard? Is it Howard London? Donovan. What's his name? Diego Mara. What's his name? Where do we rank them?

[Tim Howard]

But. But in the. In the book specifically, is there. Those for us are obvious ones and we look at how special those moments are. But did you dig deep and get into sort of something that isn't necessarily at the top of mind? A story that you remember about the World cup that's special that not everybody's going to know.

[Roger Bennett]

The joy of the World cup is that players who are unknowns can come through a delirious moment, deliver national glory and instantly become the name screamed by kids on playgrounds, schoolyards, basketball courts, muddy football fields across the world. So Tuto scalacci in Italia 90, when Italy could not score a goal, I think he was their fourth string striker on a team of beautiful looking human beings. He looked, well, like. He looked like me really, with a little bit more hair. And he scored and scored again. Scored again. I don't think he ever scored another goal for the Italian team other than that World Cup. And it is the joy. The uncovered heroes. South Africa 2010 the host not wanting to be embarrassed in that opening game, step forward Shalaba Laba to unleash. A lightning bolt from the left just flew into the corner. A comet of destiny. And the dance that followed. Euphoric. But we laugh, you know, Marathon. Tim Howard, Landon Donovan. I mean, you guys are American great. I don't think anyone in the rest of the world is talking about the Landon Donovan Algeria goal, you know, or the Tim Howard night in the way that we do and we should and we and that's the joy of it. Your performances are up there from an American POV like they are parties. The number of American footballers who we speak to on our show who talk about being kids already and watching the Landon Donovan Algeria goal and wanting to pull on that shirt to live those moments. The number of, by the way, number of football fans that became, you know, abjectly woeful. Everton support because they watched, they were turned on by World Cup 2014 and saw you play that incredible game. We spoke right afterwards. I asked you if time move fast or slow. You said you kept looking up at the stadium clock and thinking it was broken. You know that these are all memories and that's the joy of the World Cup. I think for Moroccan fan, their sense of what the World cup memories are very different to ours. We just need more. We need more great American memories. It's hard to believe, guys, that our nation has won one knockout World cup game in, in history. It's crazy. It is crack. It's crazy. Do you guys think that's crazy or having lived there? You like. No, you don't understand.

[Tim Howard]

No, no, that's absolutely right.

[Landon Donovan]

Raj. I heard you say that the other day and I was like, no, we've definitely won more than. And I said, no, we haven't. We've won one knockout. Which is, which is incredible.

[Roger Bennett]

It's, it's, it's crazy. I mean it, it is hard to believe that a nation with our ability, our athletic ability, our pool, you know, our everything, our sporting prowess, a nation that loves winners and that's what we got to change. Your memories, please. God will become like, you know, the biblical patriarch memories and there'll be new layered memories delivered by footballers starting in 2026 for World Cups to come.

[Landon Donovan]

Amen. So Raj, let's. Let's jump. You referenced Everton there. Let's jump across the ocean a bit to your homeland. Not your now adopted country here, but your homeland. Thoughts on first of all, the English team fan of Tuchel.

[Tim Howard]

Do you care?

[Landon Donovan]

How much do you? Because you are. What's come through to me is that you do really love this country and you do support this team and want this team to do well. But you were born overseas and how do you feel about the English team in Tuchel coming into the World Cup?

[Roger Bennett]

I do support the United States with all of my heart. I'm from Liverpool. It's a strange and wonderful place as Tim Howard knows up there in the north. A lot of Liverpudlians believe there's know Liverpool, not English. That, that when I grew up in the 80s and 90s, the English team, which always flattered to deceive, was seen as like a southern thing, built with the southern clubs in a political climb where the north had been kind of left to rot. Jamie Carragher talks in his autobiography about how when he lost for Liverpool, it killed him, you know, when he lost in an England shirt. Yeah, no biggie. So, you know, in the book I talk about my feelings about the English team. As a kid, I dreamed about them as demigods. After about 1982, there was a real distancing for me because of the dynamic I've just articulated. I care for them because my dad cared for them. He pretended he didn't, but would weep whenever they were knocked out. My family, they all. I know the happiness that will bring a nation that honestly really needs happiness. And watching Gareth Southgate 2018 really waistcoat that team into a real sense of hope. Harry Kane, who looks like he's just stepped out of a Spitfire during the Battle of Britain and taken out all comers. What a wonderful human being. What a leader. I mean, the English press are harder on their team. We think the press in America is negative. You know that it's a. It's a. You guys live it, Tim, you watch the Premier League, that the noise here is the noise of a mouse. As opposed to just a roaring, incandescent tabloid shop and hunger pit. There's the English media they expect now far more than they did really in the 2000 early 2000s. It's a very talented team. It's a. It's a wild move pulling in Tuchel, just like pulling Pochettino is a wild move for us. He's meant to be a coach that can win. They feel that's the missing piece. I think honestly, the Premier League players, the elite players, are playing so much football right now, they're utterly shredded, as we're seeing in the. In the Champions League with the English team's fate there. The English media have decided after the performance this week in which they were pretty heavy legged in, in an odd series of kind of wide casting selections against Uruguay, that maybe we're not that good is the current tenor, which is actually a change. I will say one of the things I'm sure you talked about, the US team and the A block. There's no other team I know, no other team I've read about, no other team I've seen that has a manager that's like, semi final, here we come. I find that the more I Think about it. The stranger it is. It's almost like the English, the American families. You guys will believe this, let's just say it. But there's no other manager because we don't know, do we? Until the team comes together in June, till the chemistry is forged in camp, till the first game to second game, almost the end of the group stage which team really has a culture to go deep and which team doesn't until then isn't it just conjecture?

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, you're right.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. I mean look, I'm always with. It's funny because it is interesting to see the English be so sort of maybe we're not that good. We never ever hear that it's just a steady climb, just steady climb of how high can we get before we absolutely tear him down. So this is a change. This is an absolute change.

[Roger Bennett]

I will say that the thing about Charlie Brown, the London references I talked on at a conference with him this week. The English mentality like they almost. They dream of winning but they do expect after tournament after tournament of self sabotage and doom. They almost do expect to fail in their heart of hearts. And they remind me of Charlie Brown running at a football with Lucy holding. But we just had John Oliver on the show and he said what if the English love the losing? Like what if Charlie Brown saying to Lucy hold the ball and when I come up to kick it just pull it away so I can feel that pain. I almost think it's the pain, the failure. It's almost very affirming and warm. I don't know if England actually won the World cup on US turf. I don't know if they know what to do with themselves. I guess then fire rockets out of their orifices. I don't know how mentally they cope. And Tim and England that wins things. It's a crazy notion.

[Tim Howard]

Well they keep saying it's coming home and it never comes home. And poor guys.

[Landon Donovan]

Rod, speaking of teams that are miserable right now, can you. This morning it was announced that to Surbi we believe. I don't know if it's confirmed. Confirm will now take over at Spurs. Can you just give us just your opinion on what's going on at Spurs? You've, you've, you've know football well. You've been watching forever. Is this as shocking a season as you? I mean this, this is up there with Lester winning the Premier League, right? Spurs doing this feels.

[Tim Howard]

I mean is it unimaginable? Is it poor spurs or poor tutor or poor poor someone? I don't know. Something's going on there.

[Roger Bennett]

I mean, Tudor was hailed as the ferryman, the safe pair of hands who could rescue this team through these games. And I mean, it's like the worst ferryman since. Since the guy that took you across the river Hades in Greek poetry. What was his name? Charon. They now need a ferryman for the ferryman. The seven games left. I feel for him. He was a terrible choice. His English was bad. The English press feasted upon him, almost baited him with a real agony. He clearly didn't come to grips. He clearly wasn't equipped. He clearly wasn't the right man to debut in the Premier League in those circumstances. I feel for spurs fans. There's so many in America who were turned on by the 2014 World cup and coincided with the Premier League being broadcast here by NBC. And saw a young Harry Kane and saw Sonny and saw a prime Dele Alli and fell in love with that team. They have such a massive fan base here. They've soared. It's hard to believe their last two years odyssey from where they were to fall so fast. And it feels like they make such terrible footballing decisions. I mean, Roberto de Zerbi, the thing I'd worry about. And I love Spurs. I've always said, I said to Tim when I came on, they feel to me like the Everton of the south. Like the second biggest team, the one that dreams of that neighbor. The neighbor that overshadows them. Does Herbie, if he comes in number one. He's not a guy that really sticks around for a long time. He'll be threatening to leave in about 12 weeks for the first time. But his ideas are complicated. His ideas are complex. They take time to bed in. Spurs don't have time. They need a guy coming in. They need a guy. I would have brought Ange Postecoglou back, like bringing Steve Carell back at the last episode of the Office just for the lulz. What do you. What do you think, Tim?

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, I'm baffled. That look, they got it wrong with Tudor, right? They got it wrong. And I just think that they could have and should have done this three weeks ago at a minimum and cut your losses. They were going to have to do it anyway, so they're in it. And the next manager, they have to get a bounce. If they don't, obviously the unthinkable is going to happen.

[Roger Bennett]

You think they could pray for West Ham? I mean, that's a terrible position to be in that pray that West Ham better your worstness. I think that's what it's going to come down to.

[Tim Howard]

But let's just finish on a high note. Your mighty toffees, mighty toffees are flying. People are talking about Europe where sort of they belong under David Moyes. How have you seen that transformation?

[Roger Bennett]

It's delirious, it's magnificent. I mean, it's an incredible dream to see our dad return after leaving us to go and get a pint of milk at the shops and never coming back. And then he's back, David Moyes, and he's wiser, slightly calmer, more evolved, think a bit more open bit. Emphasis on bit. And to watch this team with deep limitations, deep limitations. No fullbacks, no reliable striker, consistently so. Obvious tactical vulnerabilities that other teams can and have exploited. Despite that, still to rise up has been magnificent. He's built a foundation that I hope with some savvy moves. I mean, God, we yearn, we yearn for fullbacks. Every time I watch Anthony Robinson on the field, I remember he once rode with us. He came to our academy. We, you know, we, we. I watch Leighton Baines on the bench, your old teammate. As a coach now, I'm like, get your kit on, man. Upgrade. And so it's been beautiful. It's for me with my family, you know, to watching Everton and not the last game against Chelsea. Happy Everton. Watching is, is a scant human emotion. I'd say the same for the US team and I'd love to just get your advice on this. I mean, I'm looking just to the corner of my shot, outer shot. I'm looking at you both now in your studio. To the right of me is an ESPN promo poster from the 2010 World cup where they painted the US team in Washington rowing across the river. Landon, you've got the US flag on your shoulders. Tim, you're holding a tattered but still proud US flag. Clint Dempsey is roaring at the front, rowing the boat across. I mean, that just reminds me of this collective wonder when you watch what we're watching. You know, we're obsessed with all our players. World class, you know, that debate is ridiculous. They're good enough. And we're worried about what style of football we play. You know, ultimately, international football is not about style, it's about moments. It's about collective everything. We do have enough, don't we? We do. I mean, that's why I don't. We have. We are good enough. Can we pull this together? And what one thing does it need?

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah. We've lost Raj. And you know that watching a lot We've lost our. The American spirit that has kept us in games we had no business being in for decades and had us get results in games that we had no business getting results in. The irony is now that our players are playing at bigger clubs and from a quote unquote, talent and skill set, they are as good as we've ever been. But without it, and we see, look, Swerves is not. They're not talented. They're as talented as teams they're playing against, but teams that are collective and play together are better. And that's what we need to get back to. And that's.

[Roger Bennett]

Dude, when you took the field against big, big teams, did you truly, in your heart, expect to win in those massive moments?

[Landon Donovan]

The English you're talking about expecting to lose and almost wanting to lose, or the press wanting them to lose? We were so naive and dumb. We would expect to win. Right? And that's. That's what we need to get back to.

[Roger Bennett]

Naive and dumb. That's where we need to get back.

[Landon Donovan]

Perfect place to end. Well, Raj, we appreciate you. Thank you for coming on. If you have not gotten the book, a lovely read, we are the World cup in parentheses. There it is. Lovely.

[Tim Howard]

Amazing.

[Landon Donovan]

You are on Brand.

[Tim Howard]

I can't wait.

[Landon Donovan]

Raj, thank you. I'm sure we're gonna see a lot of each other in the coming weeks and months. And wishing you the very, very best.

[Roger Bennett]

Huge, huge love to you, legends. Thank you, guys.

[Tim Howard]

Up to toffees, mate.

[Landon Donovan]

This episode is brought to you by Airbnb. Happy New Year, my friend. Time to ring in 2026, the year of soccer right here in the U.S. happy New Year.

[Tim Howard]

LD 2026 is going to be amazing, but you and I are going to have to put in some miles this year. There's so much going on, not just this summer, but all year.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah. I love it, though, man. Getting to travel to see soccer all over the country, all over the world. It's one of my favorite things to do. Sitting with people in the bar, hanging out. I meet so many incredible people. They remind me why I got into the sport in the first place. They're so passionate, welcoming. They love this game the same way I do.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, I completely agree. Not only do I love getting to travel to meet local fans, I love meeting people who are also traveling from somewhere else to support their club or. Or their country's national team. It's very cool watching this sort of soccer culture swap between the home and away fans at a game. They bring the spirit of the game wherever they Go.

[Landon Donovan]

Yes, they do. And that got me thinking. What if these soccer ambassadors could turn their homes into an opportunity while they're away? If you're traveling to support your favorite team, let your home play its own role by hosting it on Airbnb. It's an easy way to earn a little extra. Whether that means saving up for your next international match or helping your kids chase their own soccer dreams, your home

[Tim Howard]

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[Jordan]

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[Landon Donovan]

Timmy, I got to tell you a story. So we're in Tahoe. We went skiing with a couple of our friends, and we finished skiing, and on the way back in the shuttle thing, we're like, oh, cannot wait to have a beer. So we get back, and we realize we forgot to put the Coors Light in the fridge or the freezer. However, unlike in California, you can step outside and dump it in the snow. And I gotta tell you, I don't know if anyone's ever done this. Probably everybody in the world has. Within, like, six minutes, that thing is frozen. Freezing cold. Amazing. You gotta try it smart.

[Tim Howard]

But here's the thing. The whole point of choosing chill is not to stress out. My life is stressful enough.

[Landon Donovan]

Well, I was stressed, bro.

[Tim Howard]

I needed the beer. This is my point. So when I'm home, after I'm relaxed, coming from the studio or traveling, which I'm always doing, into the refrigerator, I've already prepared that I'm not going to be a panic. Panic stations like you are, and I just reach in the fridge and take a cold Coors Light out, and that part is a lot easier for me. That's how I choose.

[Landon Donovan]

Jill. This is why you were a top pro, correct? You prepared. I didn't. I just winged it. All right. Taste True mountain cold refreshment. Crack open a Coors Light, Get Coors Light delivered straight to your door. Visit Coors Light.com UF or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer.

[Tim Howard]

Celebrate responsibly. Coors Brewing Co. Golden, Colorado Beer. 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 and T. Connecting changes everything. And on uslnt, our connections with you will help grow the game. Okay, welcome back into the AT&T fan Connection. Your favorite time of the week, because your favorite person of the week, Jordan. How are you?

[Jordan]

Hello.

[Landon Donovan]

Hello, Jordan. Interesting background. Where are you?

[Tim Howard]

Where are you?

[Jordan]

I'm somewhere in an undisclosed location.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, we can see you through the wall there, but you're in the other room. But we are together. All of us is amazing. Yes, Junior, Last week, Tim said he wants you to bring the smoke.

[Tim Howard]

Bring some smoke.

[Landon Donovan]

Were you able to bring the smoke? Were the fans able to bring the heat?

[Jordan]

Well, the fans didn't have to do a lot of work because the U.S. men's National Team caught fire. So shall we dive right into the questions?

[Tim Howard]

Dive in?

[Landon Donovan]

I think we should.

[Jordan]

Okay. This first one is from Chris via email. Chris said, I would like to start this by saying I bleed red, white and blue and will support this team till the very end. But after the result versus Belgium, I have started thinking negatively on that thread. What would be the bigger disappointment? Missing the World cup entirely in 2018 or getting grouped in a 2026 home World Cup?

[Tim Howard]

Well, we won't get grouped. I mean, missing the World cup is disastrous. And that is. You never, ever want that. And we won't get grouped. This. We. We have the blessing of having the easiest group in the history of maybe the World cup, and that's going to help us and we'll get out of the group. Getting out of the group isn't the. Isn't the issue. I think the bigger issue is this group as a whole, this. This U.S. soccer group as a whole LD, you know, they were younger when in 2022 and build up to that. But the knock on this team, not an opinion, the knock on this team is that they haven't had that signature win, that signature moment. And you get signature moments by beating a top 10 team, right? And they haven't had that. And so when you, when you then go up against Belgium, you go, okay, here's a moment, right? It's a friendly, but here's a moment. And they failed that test. And so when, when people are fans and are saying, like, where does the hope come from? Where. How what do we. Should we worry about this game? Yes, we should worry about the Belgium game because it's another opportunity for this group to take a step forward and put their marker down and say we can beat a top team. And not only did they not be the top team, they got walloped.

[Landon Donovan]

We weren't. I mean, we weren't even competitive, which is the crazy part. You've said that over and over and until you had first said it on the pod, I hadn't realized that this group has not beaten a top team. That the probably biggest signature win was the Uruguay win, you know, a few months ago and that the concern Jordan again is not getting grouped. To answer the question, what would be a bigger. I don't know, it would be a bigger disappointment case the World Cup's in our home country. That would be insanely disappointing if we finish fourth somehow, which we won't. The bigger question is when the round of 32 comes, it probably won't be Belgium, but it's going to be a Uruguay type team somewhere in the 15 to 20 rank probably in the world. We've had some success in those games, but we lost to Turkey, we lost to Switzerland, who's another comp. So, you know, these are. These are the types of teams you're going to get in a round of 32. And that's where I worry. And by the way, I texted someone. Oh, maybe it was in our group chat. I said, guys, this is shocking when it was 5:1. And I said, belgium's not the best of those top teams. They're not even close. I mean like they're a good team, don't get me wrong. But they're not France or Spain or Brazil or Argentina. They're not. And so that's. That really scared me.

[Jordan]

Well, I would also like to remind Chris that we're recording this on Monday so maybe we show something better against Portugal and maybe he'll be feeling a little bit better about that.

[Landon Donovan]

So y.

[Tim Howard]

All of us. Yeah.

[Jordan]

This next one is a good question for the two of you and more frankly smoke for me, if I'm being really honest. This one is from Jesus via email and Jesus says my hot take is this. Everton will win a European trophy, likely Europa or Conference League sooner than Liverpool will likely Champions League. I think Everton have a good squad to play with. They keep it competitive year in and year out and they benefit more than the red side from the league coefficient, giving an extra slot for European qualification.

[Landon Donovan]

Thoughts? So it says they'll win it.

[Jordan]

Everton will win, basically he's saying, yeah, Everton will win a European trophy before Liverpool will win again.

[Tim Howard]

No, false.

[Landon Donovan]

Really? Before Liverpool win a Champions League. Wow.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Because what if Everton get into a conference league where they're not as good at the winning? Champions League's hard.

[Tim Howard]

Here's why. Because David Moises shown he can do that, get Everton into Europe consistently. He shows he he could win the Europa Conference League with West Ham. I don't have any doubts about that. Liverpool have consistently had really good European runs in the Champions League. They do their business really well. I don't think Everton do their business very well in terms of buying and selling and getting the right players in. I mean, we're still lacking two proper fullbacks, a proper striker. You know that. Yeah, I think it's a false.

[Landon Donovan]

Wow. All right. I disagree. We'll see. Hopefully for all of us.

[Jordan]

Yes, I. I also hope that he's wrong.

[Landon Donovan]

But what do you think? You think Everton will first or Liverpool? Don't think. Don't answer with your heart.

[Jordan]

I mean, so what. What's really funny is if I answer with my heart, I hope that he's right. Like, we have a bunch of Champions League trophies and I would like for somebody else, I don't mind somebody else being happy for once, especially if it's not while we're in the same league, you know, like.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, all right. Wow. Jordan, you're a better person than I am, for sure.

[Jordan]

I also would just like to mention that a lot of people wrote in this week to tell me what song they would like to have added to our playlist. And this is the one that I think I liked the most. His name is Daniel and he suggested that we add Frank Ocean's song Biking to our playlist.

[Landon Donovan]

And then he said Tim likes to bike.

[Jordan]

He gave three reasons. One, Tim mentions biking around New York City all the time, so that's obvious. Plus, Frank Ocean resides in New York City. Landon has limited musical knowledge, but there's a Southern California connection. Plus, given who he mentioned, I think he'd probably enjoy the song. And then you, meaning Junior, have the best, most varied taste. So you're probably already a fan, so I really feel like flattery will get you everywhere. Daniel, congratulations.

[Landon Donovan]

Get your comment read. That's for sure. Serious question. I don't know. I don't know. Frank Ocean or that song. Where is that? Like, what is. Who is that? What's the.

[Tim Howard]

I'll.

[Landon Donovan]

I'll.

[Tim Howard]

I mean, maybe I should just let you listen after a little. Frank Ocean.

[Jordan]

Yeah. Then next week you can Come back and tell us what the genre is. How about that?

[Landon Donovan]

Okay, fine.

[Jordan]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Deal.

[Jordan]

All right.

[Tim Howard]

And the funny thing was, Landon put in. Can I. Can I tell them how naive you are with hip hop? Landon put in this song into our chat group and this weekend went, oh, my God.

[Landon Donovan]

Oh, what a song, by the way.

[Tim Howard]

Oh, my God. Guys, have you heard this song? So you're thinking, wow, what a song. A banger dropped. He was talking about casseroles. Everything Around Me Cream by Wu Tang, which got dropped in the 90s. And here's the kicker. Landon and I, although we didn't see each other because we just don't hang out in Atlanta, we're staying in the same hotel. And on the next day, I'm walking through the hotel and Method man is sitting on the couch in the lobby. And I thought, how ironic that my partner in crime doesn't know who this man is.

[Landon Donovan]

Is he Method Man's in Wu Tang?

[Tim Howard]

Wu Tang, yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Dude. What a song. By the way, I put in 90s best 90s rap hits, I think. And that came on. That's a song.

[Tim Howard]

Amazing search also.

[Jordan]

No diggity, right? Was the other one that you added into the chat.

[Landon Donovan]

Oh, yeah. That's a great song. That's a great song.

[Jordan]

Okay, if you would like your. I. I would just like to say on Tim and Landon's behalf, you guys could do a better job of bringing the smoke into the comments because those were like, the smokiest we kind of got so. Feedback, soccer.com.

[Landon Donovan]

come on, guys, challenge us. Yeah, I think they just like us.

[Tim Howard]

That's good.

[Landon Donovan]

All right. Thanks, junior. Another great show, Timmy. Really enjoyed it. We are heading back to Atlanta. Will be very interesting to see what happens. Thanks to Roger Bennett. Fantastic interview. Thank you all as always. Remember, Please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, anywhere you get your podcasts. Follow us on social media at Unfiltered Soccer. Thank you so much to our presenting sponsor, VW, our Fan Connection sponsor AT&T, and our stoppage time sponsor, FanDuel.

[Tim Howard]

Roger Bennett, you're a big, bright, shining star. Good friend of the show, good friend of mine, and the ultimate toffee. So great to have you on. Good luck with the book. Can't wait to read it and promote it. Brilliant job. Thanks to our unfiltered refresh sponsor, Corporate Coors Light, and our additional sponsors Airbnb and Walmart. Have an amazing week. We'll be back in two weeks with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.