Fired/Hired in MLS and EPL, and Is McKennie the Best USMNT Midfielder? | Unfiltered Soccer

Summary

Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard

Episode: Fired/Hired in MLS and EPL, and Is McKennie the Best USMNT Midfielder?

Date: January 6, 2026

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Episode Overview

Landon Donovan and Tim Howard return to dissect a wild week in global soccer management, with significant coaching changes in both MLS and the EPL, and debate whether Weston McKennie is truly the best midfielder in USMNT history. The episode spans topics from emotional manager sackings and hires, the challenges of coaching transitions, major player injuries, the rapid growth of soccer’s popularity in the U.S., to in-depth discussion on USMNT selection and Premier League dynamics. Sprinkled throughout are candid opinions, personal anecdotes, and fun banter that keep the discussion engaging and insightful.

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Major Discussion Points & Insights

1. Managerial Upheaval in MLS

• Rapid-fire MLS Coaching Changes

  • Rafael Wiki to Sporting KC – Formerly of Chicago Fire and Young Boys, his record (12-25-14 at Chicago) raises questions about recycled coaching hires over new American talent.
    • Tim: "We have some really good coaches in America who just will never get a chance in the MLS. They just won't." (03:00)
    • Both praise Ben Pirmann (Charleston Battery) as an overlooked domestic candidate.
  • Matt Wells to Colorado Rapids – Former Spurs assistant faces challenges transitioning from a club with vast resources (Tottenham) to a notoriously frugal MLS side.
    • Tim: “Going from Tottenham where you have endless pockets, to Colorado... that's a tough one too.” (05:04)
  • Discussion on assistants vs. head coaches:
    • Landon: "I’d much prefer a coach who’s coached really, really low... versus someone who was an assistant... Assistant coach vs. head coach are two completely different roles." (06:20)

• Other Moves with Context

  • Mark Dos Santos to LAFC - The news was unveiled during the World Cup draw, possibly to deflect attention.
    • LAFC praised for operational savvy but questioned for their announcement timing.
  • Michael Bradley to New York Red Bulls – Despite limited head coaching experience, Red Bulls’ clear system and pathway provide context for the appointment.

• Wilfried Nancy Sacked at Celtic

  • Nancy, highly regarded, fired after only eight games (six losses). His risky mid-season move from a stable job in Columbus to Celtic sparks passionate disagreement between Landon and Tim:
    • Landon: “Coaching hires are about timing for the coach and timing is everything.” (12:08)
    • Tim: “US-based coaches... can’t pick and choose. If Celtic comes knocking... you’ve got three minutes or we're moving on.” (14:10)
    • Both weigh the pros and cons of ambitious jumps versus measured career steps, with cautionary tales from personal experience.

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2. MLS Player Moves & Injury Fallout

• Riqui Puig’s ACL Injury (LA Galaxy)

  • Major blow, forces Galaxy to rethink team structure, possibly moving on emotionally and tactically.
    • Landon: “Everything was built around him... It feels like they're almost starting over.” (19:09)
    • Tim: “They have to mentally move on from Riqui... build a really good competitive team.” (19:36)

• Inter Miami’s Blockbuster Offseason

  • Additions: GK Dayne St. Clair, Sergio Reguilón, Facundo Mora, Rodrigo De Paul (full transfer), Luis Suárez re-signed.
    • Tim: “The rich get richer. Dane St. Clair is a good signing. Sergio Reguilón... jury’s out for me a little bit.” (21:26)
    • Landon: “Messi factor, Tim. If he's doing it, everyone's going to do it.” (22:03)

• Other Moves:

  • Jacob Shaffelburg (LAFC), Walker Zimmerman (Toronto FC), changes at Philadelphia Union & under-the-radar move Luca De La Torre (San Diego FC ➔ Charlotte FC) as he fights for a World Cup spot.

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3. Soccer Surges in U.S. Popularity

• Soccer Surpasses Baseball
  • Recent APMR analytics: soccer now the third-most popular self-declared favorite sport in the U.S., overtaking baseball.
    • Landon: “Soccer's now the big four, so you can stop referring to hockey as the big four... now you can say the big three include soccer.” (25:45)
    • The hosts reflect on how seismic this shift is compared to their playing days, where soccer was an afterthought.

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4. USMNT Roundup – Players & New Faces

Key Performances (Weekend Highlights)

• Brenden Aaronson scores for Leeds vs Manchester United.
• Weston McKennie scores for Juventus, two goals and two assists in last six games, ever-present under new coach.

Notable Debate: Is Weston McKennie the Best USMNT Midfielder Ever? (31:04)

• Doug McIntyre’s Tweet: “With all due respect to Michael Bradley, Tab Ramos, Claudio Reyna etc., Weston McKinney is the best midfielder in US Men's National Team history.”
• Tim: “False. Weston’s in the conversation, no question. But Doug is saying this as if it’s a landslide... not even close.” (31:51)
• Landon: “[McKennie is] arguably second or maybe most talented... But what those guys did for the national team, there’s... maybe he’ll be there in five years, but not now. No way.” (33:43)
• Discussion on recency bias versus recognizing past greats (Bradley, Reyna, Tab Ramos).

Breakout & Bubble Players

• Who Could Rise by the World Cup?
  • Tim’s Pick: Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), nailed starter in the Premier League, emerging USMNT leader.
    • Tim: “He became a leader, a vocal, physical, outspoken leader. That’s huge for me.” (36:01)
  • Dark Horses: Matt Freese (GK, NYCFC), Alex Freeman, Max Arsten (left back options), as potential breakout stars.
  • Consensus: Deep, young talent emerging on the wings and at goalkeeper, some uncertainty at center back.

Biggest USMNT Question Mark for 2026

• Consensus concern: Third center back slot, depth and consistency at the heart of defense for knockout rounds.
  • Tim: “That third center back for me is still a bit of a coin toss... Not an easy one.” (39:15)
  • Landon: “We need to find someone who is like, that is the guy. And I think that’s the biggest question.” (40:47)

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5. Premier League: “Manager Madness”

Manchester United Sack Reuben Amorim

• Contextualizing Amorim’s Record:

  • Worst win and clean sheet ratios in United’s Premier League era.
  • Only Nuno Espírito Santo (Spurs) lost more games in a similar timeframe.
  • Key Stat: “He lost 19 games in 14 months. Sir Alex lost 19 his whole career.” (42:45)

• Should Amorim Have Been Sacked?

  • Tim: “He shouldn’t be sacked. Those stats need context... He and the board agreed: play a certain way, figure out who belongs... but egos got in the way. He didn’t have enough currency to ask for more power.” (43:11, 45:36)
  • Discussion on shift from powerful “managers” to “head coaches” with limited autonomy. Clubs now seek pliable coaches, not personnel czars.
    • Landon: “Clubs are saying, we're not doing that anymore. We're going to hire the guy who will play ball... Assistant coach vs. head coach are two completely different roles.” (49:58)

• What’s next for Man United?

  • Open conversation about who takes over: interim vs. big names possibly after the summer (Tuchel, Ancelotti, Pochettino).
  • Will United cede power to a big name or keep “board-first” philosophy?
    • Tim: “You want someone to fall in line? You ain’t getting one of the best coaches in the world. Because they're going to want power.” (52:22)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Landon, on recency bias
  “There’s like recency bias... very few people have the ability to like come to the middle and figure it all out.” (33:00)

• Tim, on the shift in coaching power
  “In football, the director of football and the board is now more powerful than the manager... Managers used to—everything began and stopped with the manager. Now they name head coaches so that all of the decisions can be made above his head.” (45:30)

• Landon, on USMNT center back worries
  “If nobody really emerges, it’s kind of like when you have two quarterbacks in the NFL, you don’t really have one.” (40:47)

• Tim, on emotional fallout of failure
  “What made me successful or the greats great is the ability to battle those demons on a daily basis. Because it's a dark place... when you failed in front of 80,000 people... it’s not a fun place.” (62:01)

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Fan Questions & “Fan Connection” Segment (59:32)

• Dealing with Regret & Mental Resilience

  • Athletes constantly replay pivotal moments—both Landon and Tim reflect on battling the mental side of disappointment.

• Perceived Bias Against Certain EPL Clubs

  • Listeners ask about the hosts’ supposed dislike of Arsenal; both clarify, revealing the unique scrutiny from fanbases and impact of social media.

• Landon Nearly Playing for Real Salt Lake

  • Reveals league/administrative hurdles, possibly due to salary cap or registration rules, scuttled the move after he had agreed to join.

• College Soccer & Roster Building (UW Example)

  • Both support varying models—local kid cohesion vs. recruiting internationals—but note the “cheat code” is extended, year-round team experience in lower leagues (like USL2).

• New “Chaotic” Rule Proposal

  • Home coach decides after a draw: penalties for 2 points, loser gets none, or both settle for a point with a draw. Both hosts love the chaos and fan engagement.

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Other Notable Segments

• Premier League Stoppage Time Picks

  • Arsenal vs Liverpool preview: Landon predicts a cautious, low-scoring match with Arsenal win.

• Rapid-fire banter on MLS, USMNT roster headaches, and the fast-evolving soccer landscape in the U.S.

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Notable Timestamps

• Managerial carousel & MLS coach hiring philosophy: 02:19–09:47
• Wilfried Nancy debate – risk and reward in career moves: 12:08–18:19
• Riqui Puig injury fallout: 19:24
• Inter Miami revamp: 21:24
• USMNT “Best Midfielder” debate: 31:04–34:13
• Breakout USMNT stars discussion: 35:26–38:48
• Man United sacking, the changing role of the coach: 42:47–53:56
• Fan questions—dealing with regret, bias, college soccer roster-building, new rules: 59:32–73:20

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Summary

This episode is a must-listen for any U.S. soccer fan hungry for both high-level analysis and honest, behind-the-scenes takes. Landon and Tim are unafraid to question American coaching pathways, call out MLS front office habits, and deconstruct the volatile environment facing modern EPL managers. Their USMNT discourse is nuanced, bridging the excitement for young talent with reverence for “old guard” legends. Above all, the show brims with witty banter, fan engagement, and the veteran perspective of two icons unafraid to tell uncomfortable truths.

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Email Feedback/Questions: feedback@unfiltered soccer.com

Transcript

[A]

Calling this manager madness. Wilfred, Nancy got sacked this morning at Celtic. This one is a massive scar on his resume. Now, wherever he ends up next, if that doesn't go well, Tim, he might not coach again.

[B]

If I'm Ruben Amarim, I'm actually saying, chill the f out, man. This isn't a bad gig, by the way. And if you're the board, and I say this about the Chelsea board, too, because they're guilty of it, sit down and talk like adults.

[A]

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 U. S. Soccer for over five years.

[B]

Welcome into another episode of Unfiltered Soccer, presented by Volkswagen. He's Landon Donovan. I'm Tim Howard. LD. What's happening? I like this shirt. Give me some. Give me some juice on Boise.

[A]

First of all, it is pronounced Boise.

[B]

Boise. Okay.

[A]

So I used to go to Boise all the time as a kid. We had a lot of family there, so we would drive from Southern California. Tim, what a drive. Southern California. 16 hours. We'd stop halfway. My poor mom. And then go to Boise. And Nate Miller, who was our old coach at Loyal, then went to Salt Lake, is now the head coach there. So they sent me this kit. It was a little big, so I had to roll it up. Not as strong as I used to be. Pretty sweet, right?

[B]

It's cool.

[A]

I mean, it's a nice kit. I like the colors, too. I love it.

[B]

Yeah, I have some fancy friends who have houses in. In Coeur d'. Alene. Is that.

[A]

That's Idaho. Is it? Yeah, but that's, like. That's so far away.

[B]

It's all the same thing.

[A]

You're so rich, dude.

[B]

I, I, I don't. I don't.

[A]

No, you do. You do. Don't lie. All right, guys, as always, follow us on social media at Unfiltered Soccer. Subscribe to the show, YouTube. Make sure you follow Apple podcasts and Spotify. Leave us a review if you'd like. I never check out our reviews. Do you?

[B]

I don't check out reviews in general. When it comes to social. I put stuff out there, and it just stay. I don't. Whatever, people. Yeah, okay.

[A]

And you can email Jordan feedback, unfiltered soccer.com.

[B]

Jordan. Jordan checks it. Jordan checks.

[A]

She definitely checks. All right, we're going to start today, Timmy, with MLS New Year. And, man, there's a phrase in the NFL. Black Monday. So yesterday was the last. Yeah, was the last day of the season. And on Black Monday, all the. Everyone gets fired. Had a bad season. There were a bunch today.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But in MLS at the end of last year, there were a bunch, too. And so we'll start with a bunch of the changes. The first one, Rafael Wiki went to Sporting Kansas City. So Peter Vermese got let go last year. Carrie Savage took over. And now Rafael Vicki, he was at Chicago before. His record there, they just let us know. At Chicago was 12 wins, 25 losses, 14 ties. I believe so. Not great. And then he went off to, I don't know, somewhere in Europe and came back. Thoughts on that one?

[B]

Somewhere in Europe to. As a head coach or an assistant coach?

[A]

I. I think as a head coach.

[B]

My, my. Oh, you're going to get me started. All right, so my, My thoughts, My thoughts are this. In the mls, we have some. We have some really good coaches in America who just will never get a chance in the mls. They just won't. They just won't. You know, I think of a guy. I think of a guy like Ben Pearman, who, Who is the head coach at Charleston. Charleston Battery. He's a, by the way, for, for all of America. He's a brilliant head coach. He should be. He should be in the frame for MLS jobs.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because he's one of the best coaches in America. At what level? We can, we can discuss that. But a guy, with all due respect, what was his record at Chicago?

[A]

He had one season, 12, 25 and 14. In fairness, he was at Young Boys and I think they won the league. So he did a good job and that's Switzerland. But he was here. He had his chance. You're right.

[B]

I mean, okay, yeah, I mean, yeah, he went, he went to Young Boys. I actually, I played there in Europa League plastic, pitch terrible. And yeah, I mean to have success. But again, these, you know, I, I would, I would argue that. That I'm not going to argue because it's going to, it's going to sound terrible. I don't want to say. I mean, look, wishing the best, I'm not sure, you know, in terms of the Young Boys is like one of the best teams there and. Yeah, okay. Anyway, keep going. I'll let you go.

[A]

Okay, Another one. Let's get you even more fired up. Matt Wells, who was at spurs, he was an assistant at Spurs. Took over for your former team, the Colorado Rapids. Okay, thoughts on that one? I don't have thoughts. I don't have thoughts because I don't know these guys. I mean, I don't. I Mean, Rafael, Vicky was here, I remember when he was here. And he was not successful by any stretch. And he's going to a team that's not a, like a massive city, massive club in the league. So he's going to have probably less resources than he did in Chicago. So it's going to be tough. And Matt Wells, I mean, going from Tottenham where you have sure sort of endless pockets, to Colorado who are notoriously very, very cheap, that's a tough one too.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, look, I think, I think Sporting kc, although not in a big market, was always very well run. And maybe that was down to Peter. That was Peter. I know.

[A]

I mean, they have great ownership, but it was Peter. Right, so.

[B]

Right. So tbd. Look, I think with Matt Wells, the, the issue is always when you. Because of the, because of the restraints that we talk about in MLS in terms of roster construction. We talked Don Garber about this. Like, do these managers that come from Europe just want a job and are desperate to get their, you know, be a head coach? Do they truly understand the mechanisms at play, sort of how it is to build a roster? What are some of the frustrations that entails? So I don't know. I don't know. I mean, obviously I wish Colorado's dear to me, the people there still so many people there. You know, Por Smith is, is the president and general manager. I mean, he's someone who I consider a good friend and he, you know, in all my times looked out for me there. So I, I hope Colorado do really well. I hope Matt Wells can transition from, from spurs to the Rapids. But it's, it's very difficult.

[A]

I will say that my, my challenge. I always use this analogy with people who were assistants who become coaches. And I understand that's how it works. Right. Usually you're an assistant, but I would much prefer me personally a coach who coached really, really Lola's fourth, fifth tier in England.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

And then coached in the league one and then coached in the championship versus someone who was an assistant on a staff totally. And then became a head coach. Because the analogy I use is, I use ticket sales. If you sell tickets and you're really, really, really good boots on the ground selling tickets, it doesn't mean you're set out to be the ticket sales manager and manage people. It's a totally different skill set. And it's always bizarre to me. And it happens in the NFL all the time too. The assistant then becomes. And they don't have the sort of structure to be in a head coach at A different level. So you sort of have to be an assistant. So I get that. But it's like being an assistant coach versus a head coach are two completely different roles.

[B]

Completely. Well, so, so, so that was my point. And I used Ben Pearman at, at Charleston as an example.

[A]

That's right. That is someone who's been in the seat knows what's going on.

[B]

I know he can drive a ship and he can be successful driving a ship.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

An assistant coach who's really good as an assistant coach at any particular team. I don't know if he can drive. If he can. If he can drive the ship and he can lead and he can win. I don't know.

[A]

He may be able to.

[B]

Maybe. Able.

[A]

Course he can. But if I am the head of a franchise or a team, I. I'm most likely putting my money on. On the person who's done it in that seat. It is so different. Nate Miller used to say to me all the time, he's like, man, it's so different sitting in your seat, Landon, when I was the coach and he's like. And he had been a head coach and he's like, it's just different when you sit in that seat. It's totally different. And it's true. This was sort of a news dump. I think we're going to get into this. Mark Dos Santos named the new LAFC head coach. And. And I wasn't even, like, aware of it. Pants. They probably did it on like New Year's Eve or something because they just wanted to, like, slide that one. I actually like Mark a lot. I think he's going to do a good job because Mark was also a head coach previously. But that was an interesting one from lafc.

[B]

They. Wait, hang on, hang on, hang on.

[A]

What?

[B]

Did they not. Did LAFC not do. Did not. Didn't they make the announcement on the day of the World cup draw?

[A]

Oh, is that right? Well, there you go.

[B]

I think. I think so. I'm gonna. I'm gonna have our. Have our production.

[A]

We gotta get John Thornton on here.

[B]

I'm almost sure. And here' other thing. Here's the thing. If you're. By the way, I know they're your. They're your crosstown rival. Even though you respect them. LAFC do almost everything right. Everything. Like, they are so good and so buttoned up. If they decided that they were going to announce their head coach on the day of the World cup draft. I've got a lot of questions. Oh, draw. Excuse me.

[A]

Draw.

[B]

I've got a lot of questions because they knew what they were doing.

[A]

Johnny, come on, bud, let's go. Let's get you on here. One we've happened over the break, while we weren't really in, was Michael Bradley.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So we had Michael on. We have a track record of when we have people on. Good things happen to them. We got Michael hired.

[B]

I can't wait to text me.

[A]

So Michael, congrats to him. Now the new head coach of New York Red Bull, he has a new toy to play with. Cade Cowell came back from Chivas, so that'll be interesting. It'd be really fun to watch him and watch his development as a coach.

[B]

I mean, here's what, you know, here's the thing. So just so people don't think that this is like he's one. You know, he's one of our best friends and we're talking him up because then. Because we still put him in the. In the. This is the Matt Wells category.

[A]

Right.

[B]

This is the guy. A guy who hasn't been particularly a head coach. He was with Red Bull 2.

[A]

Well, he was for six years.

[B]

He was.

[A]

But. Yeah, but not.

[B]

But I would. What I. What I would say there has to be a caveat with Red Bull. Just has to be because they have shown that their system, their way of bringing coaches through and then promoting them through the system has worked. Hasn't been perfect every time, but they have a. They have a structure and a strategy that is so much different than any other club in the world. Well, not every club, but most clubs. Right. And so they have a. They have a pathway for players, they have a pathway for coaches. They have an ideology of how to play tactically, technically.

[A]

So, yeah, it makes it easier.

[B]

It makes sense because they, they. They're not just going to go get a random coach. They want to coach who's already been in their system to implement their system, if that makes sense.

[A]

That's right. So, yeah, 40 years of his life, he's had a head coach.

[B]

Correct. Oh, he knows how to coach. Yeah.

[A]

Henrik Rydstrom named Reachtrom Redstrom, the crew head coach. And the. I think the interesting thing there is that his predecessor, Wilfred Nancy, got sacked the. This morning at Celtic and he lost six of his eight games in charge there. He's. He's a great coach. He's a great person by all accounts. Everyone I speak to says he's phenomenal. Here's my issue, Tim, and, and I know you disagree with this, but coaching hires are about timing for the coach and Timing is everything. It really is. Unfortunately, in Europe, what happens most of the time is it's not like Black Monday in the NFL. It's usually middle of the season. Things aren't going well. There's a relegation threat or not getting in, a Champions League threat or not winning the title threat. And emotional owners make rash decisions and they change things. And if you're Wilfred, Nancy, and you're in Columbus and all of a sudden Celtic come knocking, the emotional response is, yes, of course I want to do it. Of course I want to do it. The problem is, if you are not good at getting results now while trying to build, you're putting yourself at risk, big time at risk. And there's a reason why these guys, Sam Allardyce and guys like this are hired mid season because they can get results today. They're not building out some elaborate style that's going to change the club for years to come. They're just getting results now. And for Celtic, if you're Wilfred, Nancy, and you go there during the Christmas period and there's lots of games and you're. You're struggling and you're battling, I just think it was a bad decision. And, and, and, you know, he got bad advice or he made an emotional decision. I didn't like it at the time. I'm not, like, looking at it now and saying, oh, my God, I know what I'm talking about. I just hate when that happens. Could he have waited till the summer? Maybe they would have moved on. Right. They would have had someone else. But I just. It's tempting. I get it. I really get it. But I just think it was a bad decision. I do.

[B]

Yeah. You. You and I differ on this, and we've talked about it quite a lot off, offline. The other question I have before I give you my take is, is Columbus Crew looking at the contract they just gave the new manager and gone. Is there a way out of this? Because we could get Nancy back Because he was so. He was so good.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So look, with Will, for Nancy, what I would say is, and I believe this to be true. I just do. And I would. And I would carve out a caveat for you with the way that you handled your career, but I truly don't believe in my experience, that us based coaches or us based players can pick and choose. Because what you're saying is right. Yeah, what you're saying is right. If you're Carlo Angelonti and the right job comes up and it's not the right time, Carl just goes, hang on, I'll just smoke some cigars in Milan. Just chill out till the next job comes up because I'm still going to get that. They don't care about Wilford, Nancy. They don't.

[A]

Right?

[B]

They don't. Hey, do you want this job? Celtic? Have you been to Celtic Park? Have you stood in front of 66,000 green and white shirts? This is a massive European club in the Champions League. If you want it, say yes now, you've got three minutes or moving on. And by the way, you might not get that chance again. So as much as you say it's about timing, I appreciate that he doesn't have the luxury of timing because if he gets passed up for the Celtic job, that Celtic job may not come around for him again. And same for US players. You look at some of these US players and they go, and you and I have discussed this. Some players will go like, they go to the championship. Well, don't go to. Like, you shouldn't go to the championship. You should go higher. Sure. But guess what? I can tell you firsthand. And you know this. European clubs don't care about US players. They don't. Literally, I'm saying this to a US audience who adores us men's national team players. And I do. And I love my country and I wanted to play for my country every time I got an opportunity. They do not care. European clubs, they look at American players like we're under this massive illusion. Like, I know, like people we've come up in the world, they don't care about, like European clubs don't care about US players. They don't. And if you don't take your opportunity and go like with Manchester United, and I won't bore you with the story, Manchester United came in for me in 2003 and there was some other rascal agents somewhere in Europe trying to get a piece of my deal right. Again, I won't bore you with the story. And then there was an issue with MLS and the, and the payment and I basically said to my agent and he agreed, I will pay out of my pocket to make this happen. I will take less money on the first contract to pay these other dodgy ass agents who want a cut of this deal. Just get me to Manchester United because if I say no and this is bullshit and how dare they take my. Then Manchester United is going to go. Yeah, okay, good. Thanks very much. We're going to go with the next guy and I may never get my chance.

[A]

That's how it is. So I do get that and I really do. I really do. The problem with coaching, and we know by the way, from speaking to Moyes behind the scenes, he's had many offers throughout his time when he wasn't coaching. And he was very smart because he saw what happened at United. He saw what happened when he went to Spain and he's like, I have to make sure the next one is the right one or I'm done. But with Wilfred, Nancy, he's not as accomplished as David Moy. So. So this one is a massive scar on his resume. Now, wherever he ends up next likely in mls, if that doesn't go well, Tim, he might not coach again. Right. And so, like, you're. I. I just think you have to really be smart. And I understand. It's one thing if you are desperate for a job. Okay, he was doing great. The grass was really green and he was watering it and everything was going great. And he took a big risk. He did and he paid for it.

[B]

It's calculated, though, because I. Because again, but that's my point.

[A]

It wasn't calculated because it's calculated. You go in when you have time to build and develop what you want to do. You're not a guy who has this experience where I can. Moyes can go in and win tomorrow at any club in the world. He's not necessarily going to win every game, but he's going to keep them safe.

[B]

I'm saying it's. I'm saying it was calculated because I would. I would argue this. If you're will for Nancy, you go to Celtic. Worst case scenario, you get chucked out on your backside and anybody in MLS is going to hire you and you're going to be successful. Now you say, okay, if he goes to the next.

[A]

Next job, but maybe not like that.

[B]

But he will, though. But he will, though, because he. He now hang on. So. So to your point, right, because there's levels to this, he now can say, okay, I'm going to take my severance package from Celtic now. I can wait. Yeah, I'm going to coach back in MLS and I'm not going to go to the team that stinks, that wants me. I'll wait and I'll wait until I can get power so I can get coach Ngm status. Yeah, I can name my players. And then he's doing exactly what you said, although I'll be at different levels.

[A]

Yeah, I guess just to tie a bow on it. That's really his chance, though, in Europe, right? Like, gone.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

And so that was his chance. It's unfortunate because I'm sure he. He's much better than, than what he did there.

[B]

You gotta win, bro. It's Celtic.

[A]

I know, I know.

[B]

And that's.

[A]

That's why. That's my point. Curious what you guys think about all these different coaching changes. Want to hear you guys thoughts, so leave Jordan a message or, or on social media. Leave some thoughts. You guys always have good, interesting takes, so let us know. Okay, so moving on to some of the player stuff and club stuff. So we saw. This is heartbreaking. Ricky Pooch will now have another surgery on his left ACL and will miss this coming season. And putting aside the devastation for him, which I can't even imagine, I'm curious now what the Galaxy do, right? So they're going to put him on ir, I think so they can bring in another dp, but it feels like you have to emotionally move on and, and start to build differently because everything was built around him. Everything. And last year they tried to, you know, do some different things and it did not go well. So it feels like that it's. It feels like you're almost starting over. In some ways, I feel bad for.

[B]

Wilk there because, like one of the. I remember, I remember this is probably a decade ago now, which sounds dated, but Danny Ainge built this really good team when he was a general manager, the Boston Celtics. He brought this kid, and I think he brought him in from, from Utah, the Utah Jazz, I think. Anyway, first game of the season, Danny Ains sitting courtside. He's got this beautiful team. Kid snaps his leg, right? And now it's like, oh, that's it, it's done. I. I just. I just did what I was supposed to do and now it's done. So I feel for Will at, at the Galaxy. I think I'm not talking about in terms like roster exemptions and restrictions and IR and all that. I think they have to mentally move on from Ricky, right? Just mentally move on. And if he comes back fit and healthy, there's a place for him, but we don't need to rush him back. We're going to build a really good competitive team. They weren't competitive last year, right? We're going to build and we're going to sort of, sort of figure out a way like, like not create a team that Ricky Poo can come back into to be great. We're just going to build a really good team.

[A]

And in fairness, they've done that with Justin Hack and Glassness, the two center backs. So it feels like they're starting to. But it was such a big piece.

[B]

Yeah, that's it. Yeah. I think you have to. Because two years is just a long time.

[A]

It's a long time, Ricky get better. And everyone's hoping for the best. The other side of the country, Inter Miami, they've had a phenomenal off season. They signed Dane Sinclair, the goalkeeper of the year from Minnesota. Sergio Reguillon and Facundo Mora, defenders. And then Rodrigo DePaul is now. I think he's. Yeah. Fully, fully acquired now. So he's. He's a Miami player and resigned Luis Suarez. So I. It seems like it feels like they're almost better. I mean Busquets and Alba of course are huge, huge losses. But those are really good signings.

[B]

The rich get richer.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Dane Sinclair is a good sign. I mean Sergio Reggie on. To be honest, it juries out for me a little bit. And here's why he is at Tottenham then I think he went on a weird cup of coffee loan at Manchester United but didn't really play. I, you know, I still. And I would imagine you do given my experience in mls. I still question the motives of certain European players for sure. Or you know, players. Yeah. And so. And so Jordi Alba was brilliant. It's brilliant. So if you're in a company that's.

[A]

The messy factor, Tim. Like if he's doing it, then you're gonna do it right. If you're doing the work and doing the job, everyone's gonna do, do it.

[B]

That's fair.

[A]

David did that and so everyone followed, you know.

[B]

Sure, sure, sure. That's fair. So hope hopefully. But again they, I mean, Rodrigo, Paul, really, really good. Louis Suarez, I mean, interesting. Didn't think he'd be back, but okay.

[A]

Yeah. Also in the East, Jacob Shaffelberg. Go Nova Scotia. It's where my family's from. You don't even know where that is. Probably is the only Nova Scotian in the league. He went to LAFC from Nashville. That's a big deal. He's a good player. Very good player. Left sided, very fast and productive. It's gonna be fun to watch him next year with Sonny and Buanga and all that they do. So I thought that was a really good move. And then Walker Zimmerman went to Toronto fc. Yeah, he feels like he's right at the end but that's. I think it's a good move for both teams. Time to move on from Nashville and for Toronto. I think helps them leadership and will help them a lot.

[B]

Yeah. Leadership wise. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. I think That's a good move by Robin Frazier. And then Philly, you know, on first glance you lose Kai Wagner, who had a great debut for Birmingham City this weekend. Ty Baribo went to dc, Glessness went to la and you're like, how are they going to replenish? But there's their, the way they do things and their academy is so good, really good. And so last year they lost Jack McGlynn, Jack Elliott, Leon Flock and they still won the Sporter Shield. So, like, they're going to be fine. Those are three big losses.

[B]

They're three. But they have a, they have, you know, you don't talk about calculation. They're very calculated in terms of how they operate their front office. And they're not, they're not just giving these players up for the sake of it. They know, you know what I would like in Philadelphia too is, is Brighton in the Premier League. Like Brighton have this system of like bringing players in, selling them on. But then you, they replace, they replace them with someone you've never heard of, but that player's good, they're talented, they'll probably sell them on at some point. So, yeah, credit to Philly to be fair to how they do their business.

[A]

Yeah, they're doing a good job. And then the last one is Luca De La Torre went from San Diego FC to Charlotte and just, you know, a little under the radar. But let's for his sake, hope that he does well, plays well. It's his last chance to make the World cup roster, so we'll be following that closely too. All right, Tim, that brings us to the unfiltered refresh sponsored by Coors Light. Choose Chill. Get Coors Light delivered. Go to coors light.com USLNT a lot of times I ask you who chose chill this week. This time there's only one answer. Soccer fans, all of you in America chose amazing. So ampere analysis did a study and this, the question was who is, as a fan, who is your self declared favorite sport? What is your self declared favorite sport? This was last quarter of 2024 and this is percentage wise. So 36% about said American football, 17% or so said basketball. You would have thought next would be baseball. However, it is not. It is soccer and that comes in about 10% and baseball falls behind around 8 or 9%. And then hockey, tennis, boxing, slash MMA and golf. This is phenomenal for a lot of reasons, Tim. I remember vividly. I don't remember the exact day or time, but I remember I used to go to ESPN all the Time, like, on the Internet. And they would have, like the. They would have, like, four sports, or they would have all the sports highlighted across. And it was in order of importance. So it was NFL, basketball, baseball, hockey. And then for a while, it was, I don't know, tennis, and then soccer. And one day I clicked on it, and it was NFL basketball, baseball, soccer, then hockey. And I was like. And people always use the common. What are the Big Four? Like, what do you do? The Big Four? And I'm like, well, soccer's now the big Four, so you can stop referring to hockey as the Big Four. And I love hockey, by the way. Now you can say the big Three include soccer.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And that's phenomenal.

[B]

It's incredible because, I mean, you go back decades, and, you know, when I was growing up as a kid in. In the 80s and the 90s, soccer was an afterthought. And the question was constantly raised, like, can the US Ever crack the Big Four in America? And now, not only they cracked it, they're part of the discussion. And I think that's really. It's a really difficult thing to do in our country, because when you go across the world, there's only really one sport. Soccer is the only sport in most of these countries. You may not have cricket, you might have rugby in certain, but, like, soccer dominates the.

[A]

The.

[B]

The sporting landscape and oftentimes the cultural landscape. So, like, it's a big deal in America. We have so many sports that take your attention. The fact that soccer is now part of that discussion in terms of the.

[A]

Top four huge, phenomenal soccer fans in America, we're cheersing you this week for choosing Chill. Great job, guys. All right, Timmy, let's take a break. As always, guys, remember to hit that subscribe button down there. When we come back, we will be Talking about the U.S. men's National Team and the Premier League right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim. As always, presented by our friends at Volkswagen.

[B]

The Unfiltered Soccer podcast is brought to you by Volkswagen, the presenting partner of U.S. soccer.

[A]

As the U.S. gets ready to host the world for soccer's biggest moment, Volkswagen is helping people discover new turfs and new ways to play the beautiful game right here in the US from deaf.

[B]

And power wheelchair soccer to beach and futsal, VW is actively supporting all the communities and teams within the U.S. soccer ecosystem. They're working with talent from across the U.S. soccer Extended national teams and are focused on helping to give these less widely known forms of soccer a platform.

[A]

Moving forward as a longtime friend of Volkswagen. I can tell you they're really making a difference, opening up new turfs and new possibilities here in the us.

[B]

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[B]

All right US MNT on US LNT big weekend. Big weekend. Brendan Anderson scored for leads. They drew 11 against Manchester United. Big game. Leads in Manchester United at Ellen Road. I played there once with United. Not a fun place to go if you're a Mancunian. Not a Fun Place. West McKin score for Juventus 1 1. They draw with Le.

[A]

Yeah, let's hey, do you think Reuben Amaram is like Brendan Aronson's the guy who got me fired or do you think he doesn't know his name?

[B]

Sort of Baron. We sort of buried the lead there yeah. Because Aaron has been sacked. No, I don't. I do not think. I do not think that he's blaming Brendan Aronson.

[A]

Although we'll get into AM in a minute. But west scored again. Yeah. He's got now two goals and two assists in his last six games played every minute. I think for this new coach, almost every game. Timmy, you know our guy, Doug McIntyre.

[B]

Dougie.

[A]

Doug.

[B]

Dougie Fresh. This is my guy, Doug McIntyre.

[A]

McIntyre.

[B]

I don't love this take.

[A]

He made a really bad tweet. Said it before. We'll say it again. With all due respect to Michael Bradley, Tab ramos, Claudio Reyna, etc. Weston McKinney is the best midfielder in US Men's National Team history. Your thoughts, Tim Howard?

[B]

False. Here's the thing. I. I'm trying to think, if I played with. Did I, would I have played with Weston? No. Right. Like, I wouldn't have played one game with him. I don't think.

[A]

I don't think I did either.

[B]

I played with all the other ones, which is why I ask. Play with Michael. Tab. Claudia. Yeah. Weston's in the conversation. There's no question about that. That. No question. He's. He's in the.

[A]

He's in the conversation.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, I think he's in the conversation.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[B]

But I mean, Doug is saying this as if. It's. As if. If it's a landslide. It's not even close. And to me. Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure. I think. I think that you have to, you know, given. I. I also. I also sometimes want to. We might be getting too, Too deep into the weeds on this, like, best midfielder in hashtag USMNT history. So he's saying, like, overall, from a club standpoint, is he saying, like, the best player to pull.

[A]

Certainly not for the country.

[B]

That's what I'm asking. Because if he's saying he's the best midfielder to pull on the U.S. shirt for the U.S. i'm saying false. All caps. Yeah.

[A]

It's ridiculous. Yeah.

[B]

Western conversation for sure.

[A]

I don't even know where to start with this. I don't know if he was trying. And by the way, I love Doug.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I really love Doug. I don't know if he was trying to get a reaction. I don't know if he really believes this. I would. I can't wait to have a conversation with him about it.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

But there's always this recency. But there's two ends of the spectrum. There's, like, recency bias where you're.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You're just like, I see what I see now. And those guy Claudio could have never done that.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

Or you're like, oh, the old guys were the best and these guys have no work either way. And very few people have the like, ability to like come to the middle and try to figure it all out. The things that Michael, Bradley and Tab, in a different way and Claudio in his own way did for the national team and at the club level was insane.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And all, by the way, all of them were insane winners and competitors.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Weston's probably arguably second or maybe most talented. If you just say like his attributes.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

Certainly more talented than Michael is, naturally. But what those guys did for the national, there's, I mean, maybe he'll be there in five years, seven years, but not now. There's no way. There's, I mean Michael's got 150something caps or something for the national team. It's like no way.

[B]

And the other thing about going back to Brandon Anderson real quick. More of that. We need more of that because there's a lot of, a lot of industry, There's a lot of desire. There are actually some really good moments up until the final third, but not enough. Not enough. And so more of that.

[A]

Tim, he should and I think will be on the roster.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

My thing is who's he going to play over? He's not playing over Christian, he's not playing over Weston. He's not playing over Waya, he's not playing over Tillman. He's maybe not even playing over Luna and others. I'm missing others. For me, he's just not going to play. Right.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, I don't think there's even an argument here. I think he is a squad player. I think he absolutely makes a roster and he's a squad player. Right.

[A]

But I mean, good for him. Absolutely. That's not an easy feat to score goals against Man United. And he's playing well and he continues playing so long. May it continue. Okay, so question, few, few questions here and some question time. The new players we saw for the US this year, Alex Freeman, Luna, Matt Freeze, Chris Richards, Arsten, who do you think from that crew? Or maybe someone else is going to go either from relative, still unknown to like the man in the World cup or someone who's there, Matt Fries maybe, who becomes indispensable and a superstar breakout player in the World Cup.

[B]

I'm on the Chris Richards train at the moment and I have been for a while. Yeah, you know, he, he's just, you Know, in the last year, he's a guy who, who has performed well for the national team is basically, you know him, he and Mark Gahey have a brilliant partnership at the heart of the Crystal palace defense. And now, as I've said to you, and I've said multiple times on the show, for an American to be nailed on in the starting 11 in the Premier League is freaking difficult. And by the way, Chris Richards spot is not even in question at Crystal Palace.

[A]

No, there's no chance.

[B]

So then he brought that to the U.S. men's National Team, solidified that. And then he became a leader, a vocal, physical, outspoken leader. That's huge for me. Right. And so the World cup, you know, this is a guy with respect to Crystal palace and you know, if he has a standout performance in the World cup, he then can take another jump.

[A]

He can go to a really big club.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, he can. Because physically he's brilliant. Obviously for me, you know, Matt Friesen, and I'm not a card carrying member of the goalkeeper union, I think it's a little shite. But, you know, and I say this because I love the kid and I say it out of respect, like you and I, and I mentioned this to you on the show sitting here May of last year. If I'd have said to you, Landon, I got a little tidbit for you. There's a kid in New York you've probably only seen play three times because you don't watch New York fc and his name's Matt Freeze. He's going to start in the World cup and he's pretty damn good. You'd have been like, what's in your coffee? Right? This wouldn't even been a conversation. And I've said this up until probably about two months ago, can Matt Freeze really play in a World Cup? With going into the World cup having only like 15 caps? And the answer is yes. And he's going to. And I think he's going to perform well. So.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, I think. And, and the reason I say this is because Poetino is really high on him. Really high on him. And that's Alex Freeman. And it's not, by the way, this was before the last performance against Uruguay. He just really believes in him. And you can see that when Alex plays.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And there, there's something that happens with. And I remember when I first started, every challenge you're given, you either can meet it, you don't meet it or you exceed it. Yeah. And I remember thinking to myself, every time I got a challenge Like, I need to exceed this, not just me to exceed it. And Alex right now is doing that every time. It's the next game, the next step, the next level, the next good team, the next good player he's playing against. He just goes and goes and goes. And so I think there's a chance that we'll see what happens in this off season if he moves or not. But I think there's a chance that he just becomes like a real star, like a real starter in the World Cup.

[B]

Yeah, you know what? Look, all these names are great, and the other thing is Max Arston is super talented.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And so this is about. This is also about shop window and opportunities. Like, I think if. And you. You've talked about the way he. How silky he is left and right foot. There's an argument that if. If Max Arson starts a game in the World cup or plays really well in. In certain minutes against a certain opponent, he's gonna be in the shop window for. For big clubs as well. Because he's that talented.

[A]

No question. Yeah, no. And. And it's a good problem now for Pochettino because Anthony Robinson is back in the play.

[B]

Thank goodness.

[A]

Every minute. Thank God. You're going to have Sergino Dest and you're going to have Alex and Max Arston, and those are your four sort of wing backs right there. And those are very good options to have, so it'd be interesting to see who plays. All right, biggest question for the national team right now, and there are a lot of ways you could go with this, but do you have one that comes to mind immediately? What's your biggest question mark as we head into the next six months?

[B]

Yeah. We have a couple suggestions here on a rundown, and I can give some of those to you, right, like who's a third center back Wednesday? Robinson's, you know, fitness be good. Can Matt Freeze handle the biggest stage? What is Weston McKinney's role, if anything, will we see Giorena and his resurgence? I sort of think. I'm being honest with you, LD. I think in order for us to have success at the World cup, we're going to be under it in moments. Not to say that, you know, in the first round, maybe we won't. We'll have. We'll have sort of. But in the big games, right? The. The question for me is, can we win the big games when it counts? And in order to do that, you gotta be rock solid at the back. And so that third center back for me is still a Bit of a coin toss. And even then I wouldn't necessarily say like the back three is like brilliant in terms of like talent, you know what I mean? Across the board. So then it's not as if you're like you've got your two and then you're figuring out who's the best of, of one or two to slot in the third position. I, I, I, yeah, it's a little bit of a worry for me.

[A]

The center back position, I think it is too. Tim and the Anthony Robinson questions getting sorted. I think Matt Freeze, I think will be fine. Wes is an interesting one because we'll see where he ends up playing. Right now with the way he's going at Juve, he's got to play.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then with Geo, we just don't know. But they're. The first round is the first round and we should get through that no matter who's the third center back.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

Then you go to the round of 16. Yeah. And if you're, I'm just making this up. You're playing Norway and now you've got Erling Holland and Odegaard and like good players. Sorlot. And now you need like real players who can handle that. And if not, I can promise you whoever the third center back is is going to be matched up against or, sorry, round of 32 or round of 16, whatever. Whoever you get matched up against is going to be a horse and, and they're going to find you and they're gonna pin you and play off of you and make life miserable. So I think if nobody really emerges, it's kind of like when you have two quarterbacks in the NFL, you don't really have one. Yeah, right. Like we need to find someone who is like, that is the guy. Yeah, right. That is the guy. And I think that's the biggest question. Curious what you guys think. What's your biggest question mark right now about the national team? Leave comments, email Jordan, etc. We want to hear what you guys have to say. Yeah. All right, let's move on to the English Premier League. Calling this manager madness. This is crazy too. So we talk. We touched on amin, who after 14 months got sacked by United States in the Premier League. Amram had the worst win ratio, 32%. The worst goals conceded per game, 1.53. Jesus. And the lowest clean sheet ratio 15 of any Manchester United manager. Is that in history? Jesus. That's pretty bad. That's actually really bad. Andrew has a trivia question for. Let's do this before you get, take, get in on this. During Amaram's time in the Premier league, he lost 19 games in 14 months. Sir Alex lost like 19 his whole career. Only one manager lost more games than him in that time in the Premier League. Can you name him? 19 games in last 14 months. Who would have lost more? I'm trying to think who's been in the league.

[B]

Santo in the league through another, you know, Spirito Santo.

[A]

You think so that's my guess.

[B]

Do we have it?

[A]

Because he would have been there. That's a good shout. I'm gonna say that too. Andrew, Survey says answer. That's right. Duh. He lost 21 times with Spurs.

[B]

Yeah, interesting.

[A]

So.

[B]

So there's a lot in this for me.

[A]

Go on.

[B]

On both sides. On both sides of, of, of this. He shouldn't be sacked.

[A]

Look, why do you say that? Based I just read some stats that were really interesting.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

So.

[B]

So those stats have to be, have to be given context. So when he took over, yeah, this team, this team wasn't very good. He basically he and essentially the board agreed they were going to play his system, they were going to play a certain way. And by doing that, that season, last season was going to be a bit of a wash. But what they were going to do was, was they were going to figure out through an exercise of trial and error who can play in the system, who needs to be chopped as dead weight, what positions need. So, so he's basically experimenting with the, with the current squad to figure out who needs to go, who needs to stay, where do they need to upgrade. So bearing that in mind, and we saw that last season and bearing that in mind, it was like, okay, well we're just going to have to accept this is going to be tough for a while. So, you know, again, going back to the Wilford Nancy thing, he didn't have to go in and win right away. He had to. They were trying to figure out how to, how to make this better. Look, the fact of the matter was he got them to a, to a European final. He. He has them in touching, you know, with, with players way African combinations and injuries to key players. Big, big players. You know, he has them in touching distance of the top four. And so look, there's two sides to this. There's how I feel about the board and there's how I feel about Ruben Amren. And the fact of the matter is the board ultimately in, in football, what people have to realize is in football, the director of football and the board is now more powerful than the manager. Managers used to. There was never a scenario going. You would never go Arson. Wenger has to leave because our sports science department has more power or our director of football, who probably didn't even exist at certain. At certain times has more power. The manager was a figurehead. Everything began and stopped with the manager. Now they name head coaches so that all of the decisions can be made above his head. And all he's supposed to do is manage a team.

[A]

That being coach, the team is coach.

[B]

Sorry, coach. Excuse me. It's just coach the team on the grass.

[A]

Sorry. Yep.

[B]

So. So that being said, Reuben Amram knew that coming in, he took the job knowing that what ended up happening is egos got in the way and he said, I want more power. What I would suggest is he didn't have enough currency in the bank to. To ask for more power. Could he have received that over the next 12 to 24 months? Sure. Mikel Arteta did that at. At. At Arsenal. People forget now with this landscape of Maresa get Maresca getting sacked at Chelsea and Amaron getting sacked at United. How big of a win that was for Mikel Arteta that Edu left. The Kroenke family said, right, let's restructure this. Mikel, you're the manager. You're no longer the head coach. You're going to make the decisions. And Adu has to go. He won that battle. You don't often win that battle. And so when I look at this, Reuben Amram wanted more power and the board was basically saying, well, we want you to sort of restructure your tactics. We're not going to buy a ton of players in this January or if any, and you kind of have to deal with it. And if I'm so. So if I'm Ruben Amarim and let me jump to him for a second, actually saying, chill the f out, man. You're the. You're the manager at Manchester United. You're in touching distance at the top four of getting this team back into the Champions League, like things are. This isn't a bad gig, by the way. You want more power, I get that. But continue to earn that. And if you're the board, and I say this about the Chelsea board too, because they're guilty of it. Sit down and talk like adults. Marie, you know this. Mareska got sacked because the sports science people department was saying, you've got to rest certain players. And his ego was, well, I'm not going to be told what to do. Can you all just get in a room? Can the director of Football just get in a room and go, we actually don't want. We don't want to lose you. You know why we don't lose you? You won a European trophy for us last year. You won the Club World cup for us last year and you got us in the Champions League. You're a really good manager and it's going to be really tough for us to find another one like you. Why don't we just sit down and talk a little bit? Maybe you need a little bit more here, maybe we take a little bit more from there, but we want to keep you instead. Nobody talks, nobody acts like adults. And they sack a really, really good manager for a guy in Liam Rose senior, who's basically going to come on from Strasbourg, who's owned by. By. By Chelsea, which we'll get into a second. And he's just going to play ball. He's going to go, yep, sure, whatever you want. I'm just going to. I'm just going to coach the team. But the Reuben Amaram bit, it's the same thing. It was tactics, LD it was buying players like Reuben Amaram, with respect, was a nobody. Okay? He was a young, up and coming Portuguese manager. If I had a dollar for every time I heard there's a really good up and coming Portuguese manager, you'd be a billionaire. He did well. But you're at Manchester United, so play ball a little bit. Win the games you're supposed to win, get into the Champions League and then claw back some power. I don't know.

[A]

So, okay, so that's fascinating to hear you say. So there's a lot in this on both sides. Again, there's a phrase that was taught, and I think this is so true. People get hired for their talent and their ability and they get fired for their inability to get along with people. Right. And Reuben Amarim and the board, I'm not. I don't know whose father, who's it.

[B]

There's.

[A]

I'm sure everybody's. There's blame to go around. Yeah, they weren't getting along. And the same with Maresco, right. Like Maresca was. Was similar. The. The challenge here is there is a change. There's a changing of the way managers. And we're sitting. We're intentionally using the word. Coaches are looked at now by clubs around the world. And what's happened is it used to your point, the manager had all the power. Yep, all the power. And what clubs realized is, that's great until it all goes upside down because now you've signed seven Players that the next manager, we go higher, might not want at all. Yeah. Yeah. And now you're £150 million behind the eight ball.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

And you're struggling. And so clubs are saying, now we're not doing that anymore. We're going to hire the guy who will play ball.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Do exactly what we want him to do, play exactly how we want. And to your point earlier, there are a thousand people who will do that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Who will do that. And, you know. You know who wouldn't have done that? Sir Alex. He wouldn't go to a new club and say no. He'd say, no, I'm making the decisions. I'm the man. And so there's. There's this, like, minimizing of power. Yes. For coaches and managers now and the clubs. And. And I don't necessarily disagree with it. If I'm a club and I'm responsible for the club. Reuben Amaram's flash in the pan, we'll never even remember him. But the club goes on. Right. And so it's. It's just. It's an interesting dynamic and you're seeing it play out over and over and over in all. All parts of the world. All parts of the soccer world. It's fascinating. Yeah, it's fascinating.

[B]

So. So what's next?

[A]

Yeah. So what's next? So there's interesting. Let's talk about Man United. So there are people who are going to be in this conversation, and you made a good point earlier. You said when. When United are looking at this, they're looking at someone who can come in right now, meaning who's available. And by available, it doesn't mean they have to be out of a job, just who's able to come now and who's able to come in six months in the summer.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And as it pertains to us men's national team fans in the summer, I think this is absolutely something that PO would consider. I think we have to assume that between Tuchel, Ancelotti, Po, guys like that, United is reaching out, Right?

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And do you think, like what. What path do you think United go down? Do you. Do you think they do what Chelsea are doing and try to find someone because they're clearly asserting their power, or do they go after someone who is. They're going to give the power to and say, you are the manager. This is your job, your role?

[B]

It's a good question, I think. I think given. I think give. Given, sort of. It's weird because so many of these clubs fluctuate. LD Right. Like we talked about Brighton, they don't, they don't fluctuate from how they operate. But so many of these teams fluctuate based on who's available. Like right now, I would say, well, Manchester United's gonna. Going to get somebody who's going to fall in line and do what they say. Well, if you want someone that's going to fall in line with you, do what they say. You ain't getting one of the best coaches in the world, not getting the top. Because they're going to want power. Right?

[A]

That's right.

[B]

But if one. But it's like flirting. If one of the best coaches in the world, if they knock on their door and one of the best coaches in the world says, yeah, I take that job, then you might have to concede some power. Look, I, I have no doubt, look, Manchester United right now are. The situation became untenable, so they had to make the decision. I don't think they wanted to. So. So do I think they're prepared with. With someone straight away? Probably not. That doesn't mean they haven't done their homework. Here's how this works. Do you get someone in now or do you get someone in six months after the World Cup? Right. In order, in order to make that decision, you have to be having conversations now with people who might not come until six months. Right. So Nagelsman, Too cool. Angelotti, Pochettino. Their agents will absolutely have been on the phone or are on the phone with Manchester United because Manchester United needs to say, would, Would. Would you come and manage Manchester United after the World Cup? If the answer's a yes. And we align on a lot of things. Okay, you've made our decision. We'll wait and we'll get someone in and we'll. We'll tell our supporters in the world that we believe in an interim manager. We're going to give them six months to blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So. But if no one. But if, but if no one's available and all the doors you, you knock on, people are like, nah, we don't want that job, then you might have to go get a name like a Reuben Amram that we didn't really know much about. Right. Like, so there's, there's. This is. This is a completely fluid situation and it's not an easy one, by the way.

[A]

Well, it's also, it's become. I don't. You say it's Manchester United, everyone wants the job, but now they've gone through. Since Sir Alex left, they've gone through Moyes, Ryan Giggs as an interim van Hall, Mourinho, Olegun as Carrick as a caretaker, Rangnick as an interim 10 Hog van Nistelrooy and Amaram. Like, I don't know how many people want to just keep getting put in this situation. Yeah, no, I know it's United. It's hard to say no. It's back to the Wilfred Nancy thing like on a different level. But yeah, that's interesting yourself in that.

[B]

I mean Michael Carrick could very well be a caretaker manager like or intervention at the end of the season. Very well.

[A]

All right, it's stoppage time. Sponsored by FanDuel. New customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if you win. Download the FanDuel sportsbook app to get started. All right, this weekend, Arsenal versus Liverpool. Tasty one, top of the table. I believe Arsenal continue their winning ways. They're on a good run of form. Arna Slot really struggling. He's now got Ekatike and Isak out. Cody Gakpo had to start at the nine this weekend. I like Arsenal to win. I like Martin Odegaard to either score or have an assist. I believe it'll go under two and a half goals. I don't see a lot of goals in this game and I think all the goals will happen in one half, meaning there won't be goals in both halves. Don't forget to check out the full list of unfiltered soccer futures on our socials later this week.

[B]

Week.

[A]

All right, this the time of the show where we have to pay for Tim's house in Idaho. When we come back, we'll get into your Questions in the AT&T fan connection. Right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim Howard. Presented by Volkswagen. 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.

[B]

Happy New Year, 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.

[A]

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.

[B]

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 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.

[A]

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 or helping your kids chase their own soccer dreams, your.

[B]

Home might be worth more than you think. Find out how [e-mail] host all right, Tim.

[A]

It is that time of year, the end of the year, New Year's Eve, and I'm boring, dude. I'm really boring. I watch the New York ball drop and New Year's, and once it hits 9pm I'm out. But leading up to that, I'm not going out. I want to be safe. I don't like to be out with traffic and noise. So I'm chilling at home with a Coors Light, choosing chill with my family. We put the hot tub on and just chill. Love that.

[B]

Yeah. New Year's Eve for me is. Is the perfect time for me to choose chill, because I'm the same. I've done the party and now I like to be home with friends. Reach in the fridge, get a Coors Light, crack it open, celebrate at midnight, watch the ball drop. I can hear the cheers from my apartment, like that's how close I am. That's cool. And that's just what we do.

[A]

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

[B]

Yeah, choose chill from the start this year and then reach for a Coors Light. Get Coors Light delivered straight to your door. Visit coorslight.com UFS or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer.

[A]

Celebrate responsibly. Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado.

[B]

There's nothing better than feeling like someone has your back and that things are going to get done. Even without you having to ask, like your crisp new Jersey waiting for you in the locker room or a perfectly set up wall for a free kick. Yeah.

[A]

As we unfiltered soccer get ready for next summer, we know that very little in the beautiful game is Guaranteed. But as we prepare to bring our unfiltered brand of non stop soccer coverage, it's good to know AT and T has your back. With the AT and T guarantee, staying connected matters.

[B]

That's why in the rare event of a network outage, AT and T will proactively credit you for a full day of service. That's the AT and T guarantee.

[A]

Learn [e-mail] guarantee@&t Connecting changes everything.

[B]

Credit for fiber downtime lasting 20 minutes or more or a wireless downtime lasting 60 minutes or more caused by a single incident impacting 10 or more towers must be connected to impacted towers at onset of outage. Restrictions and exclusions apply. See att.com guarantee for full details. 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. All right, ld Time now for the AT and T Fan Connection. Yes, Junior, talk to us. How are you, Junior?

[A]

Connecting changes everything. Tell us how you're connecting this weekend.

[C]

This past weekend or the week.

[A]

How did you connect? How did you connect?

[C]

I ha. I am making a transatlantic connection. I have some friends from the UK who are staying with me. They do not follow soccer, but their dad, who's in his early 80s, is a Liverpool and Stoke City supporter and he was here during the Liverpool Fulham game and it was actually amazing.

[A]

He's.

[C]

He's hilarious and great. And also when there's someone who's like, been a fan of your club longer than you've been alive, you just have to shut up and let him do his thing.

[B]

Just roll with it.

[A]

Yeah. All right, what do you got for us, Junior?

[C]

I have a couple things for you this week, including a new rule, so we'll get to that. I also just want to reiterate what Landon said earlier. I do read the reviews and I'm just going to leave it at that. Also, you have to sign into your Apple account in order to leave them, so your name is there.

[A]

Love it.

[B]

Love it.

[A]

That's so good. Does anyone leave bad reviews?

[C]

Yeah, they do.

[A]

Oh, really?

[C]

Keyboard warriors? Yeah, it's fine.

[B]

Bad reviews are good, but I would.

[C]

Still say, like, our rating is pretty good.

[A]

Do you. Can you imagine what you have to be going through in life to log on and actively leave a nasty review to someone?

[B]

I thought about that before.

[A]

I would. I won't even leave a good review because I just got, like, more things to Do. But imagine going on to leave a.

[B]

A bad review.

[C]

Don't listen to Landon. Leave all the reviews. Here we go. First question is from Rafi via email. As a professional athlete, how often do you find yourselves replaying certain moments from big games and wondering, what if I had just done something slightly different?

[A]

The slightly different thing all the time. I mean, if you, Tim, let in a goal that he wants back, or I missed a. A shot or a penalty, that those kill you. When I would go to sleep, if I was not inebriated, I would lay in bed. And you could. I could replay every moment through the game that involved me. I mean, literally, I could replay the whole game. It's. It's similar, actually. When I golf now, when I go home at night, I can remember every shot, like, to a T. Exactly. And it's a weird. I don't know if everyone's like that. Were you like that, Tim? I mean, you had less moments of action probably in the game, but I'm sure you remember every.

[B]

No, I think it's a great question. Yeah, it was always. It was always the bad moments that I replayed that I wish I had done something different. And I think it's. I think it's a really interesting sort of talking point. What made me successful, or you or the greats great is the ability to battle those demons on a daily basis. Because it's a dark place. Let me tell you for our listeners, when you failed in front of 80,000 people and millions across the world, and you know what the headlines are going to be tomorrow, and you know what the Internet's going to say about you. It's a dark place because all you do is replay it and you go, I knew where it was going. I knew what I was supposed to do. Why didn't I do it? And you're questioning yourself and you're worried. So it's literally just these demons you're fighting, and you got to get back on the train, training ground, you got to put it behind you. So you're just constantly shoveling away. Literally, it's just in your face, and you're shoveling away. It's in your face. You're shoveling away just to gain clarity. And it's a really, really interesting place. It's not. Not fun. I say that. It's not a fun place.

[A]

And I was. It's funny. I was watching Ted Lasso last night with my boy. He's way too young to probably be watching it, but that was the goldfish line. There was, like, the Goldfish line at the beginning of season two. And I'm sure it came up before that, but it was like so interesting that, that, that came up last night. It's true though. You gotta.

[C]

They're the animal with the shortest memory, right?

[A]

Correct.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I love Ted Lasso. Anyway, another question.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Yes, this one is from Philip, also via email. Why do Tim and Landon both seem to dislike Arsenal when they discuss the top teams in England? I know they show some dislike toward Liverpool as Everton fans, but how come? I also think it's really funny when they refer to you guys as Everton fans. I mean, I know you are Everton fans, but you also play played for the club. But how come they never show dislike for Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham like they do Arsenal? Well, I will tell you, Philip, Tim played for Manchester United, so that might have something to do with it.

[B]

But guys, no, I, I'm guessing Philip is an Arsenal fan and I always find this fascinating. Mikel Arteta is a dear friend of mine. I have, I, I work for this pretty big television company, NBC and I'm on every weekend and for the last four years, three years, I've picked and pushed Arsenal for the title. So like, when, when, when, when people say things like this, I'm fascinated.

[A]

I'm like, huh, me too.

[B]

Like I'm, I, I, I can't ever remember saying something bad about Arsenal. Like, I don't know, I don't even know how to answer the question. And even, even, even like, again, like, even like with, with my, my rivalry as an Everton player and Liverpool, like the receipts are so long about like waxing poetically about how great Liverpool has been last. So I don't know, I think, I think fans get this idea and if you talk for an hour and you spend 10 seconds of saying something like slightly negative about their team, they don't remember the other 59 minutes of it. They're just like. Anyway, I don't know know.

[A]

There are two, there are two things that come to mind when. What's this? Is it Philip?

[C]

Philip.

[A]

So when, when social media first started and Twitter first started, 96% of like nasty comments about me came from Arsenal. Like if you clicked in the profile, it was like, Arsenal supporter. And I was really. What is that? I, I don't under, I couldn't figure it out. I have, I don't, no idea why.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It was just bizarre. The other thing is, is when I really learned this was in commentating, like when I was commentating with Fox for the World cup, the Euros Whatever. If you then go into comments after the game, let's say I was doing Scotland, Germany.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so. And people would be like, why do you hate Germany so bad? Why do you do. And I'm like. Or, you know, why do you hate whoever you're. You know, Georgia. And like. And you go back and think, and you're like, was I biased towards one team? I feel like I was just saying what I saw. But if the game turned out a certain way and your team got shellacked, I'm gonna say your team got shellacked, you know, But. But you're right. Like, people pick up on that stuff, and it's so bizarre.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I don't know what it is, essentially. But. But. But you think, like, you convince yourself that people are against your team, but it's.

[B]

But it's. It's okay. It's okay.

[A]

It's the same.

[B]

I don't have an issue with it. It's the same way, you know, and we. We get. We get this on the show. Sometimes, like, again, if you go. If you go through, like, the, you know, it's a Christian Pulisic thing. I think I've criticized him twice, but. But I'm certain on this show, I've praised him 200 times. He. He and I no longer get along because I criticize him twice. Right. So, like, it's.

[A]

Yeah. People will. To that point. People, like, if you say something good now about whoever. Weston or Christian or whoever.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The. The comment will then be like, shut up. You don't pretend like you're a fan now.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

I've always been a fan. It doesn't mean I'm not going to be honest about what I see.

[B]

I know, but. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway.

[A]

All right.

[C]

I don't know if you got. If, if these fans got upset every time. Like, I wouldn't have a job if I was getting upset every time you guys went in. I would have to run away and hide.

[B]

You have to deal with us. Yeah.

[C]

Here's another question. This one's from Sage via email. I love this question. I'm so sorry, Landon, but I'm holding you to answering this one. Okay. You ready? Sage says on the pod a while back, Landon said the story about him almost landing at RSL was a story for another time. Well, it's another time, and I'm very curious. We would have loved to have him in Utah, and it would have been a lot of fun to see him, Kyle and Nick all together on the same team. How close did he come to saying yes. And why did he eventually decide not to?

[A]

I agreed to saying yes. I want to say this. The, the league didn't allow it. And I, to be honest, I don't know if it's just fuzzy or I don't really remember, but I don't exactly know why. But the league said we're not allowing it. And I don't know, I don't know if it was a salary cap thing. I don't know. I don't know what it was. But they wouldn't allow it to happen. Maybe because I had been, it might have been because I had retired or no. I don't know if I, maybe I had been retired and they were saying, like that mechanism doesn't work. You can't just go sign with someone after you've been retired. That might have been it.

[B]

So, yeah, I think that's. Well, I, I, I say this as a Colorado fan who doesn't like Salt Lake. I'm only teasing, but there's a good rivalry there. But I do feel bad for Salt Lake fans. They never got to see you because there's an indoor team in California got to see you. There's a Mexican team that got to see you. I mean, you made, you made the whole rounds and couldn't, couldn't make.

[A]

There's a hockey team tonight that's gonna see me.

[B]

Do they drop the gloves in your league? I'd love to.

[A]

There's no checking, there's no hitting. They don't. You can't fight.

[B]

Imagine you could dropping the gloves. I'll give you a two for me. Oh, not for you. It'll be terrible.

[C]

Okay, this one is a little more technical and logistical. It's from Greg via email. Internationals and transfers seem to be a large part of nearly every D1 men's program roster strategy. However, the UW men this year clearly bucked the trend. 19 of their 29 rostered are from Washington State. Many of those kids played together in the summer for USL 2 Ballard FC and played together at Seattle United Crossfire Eastside before College coach Jamie Clark has shown you can be very successful building a program from local kids that have year round cohesion. Do you think other programs are likely to reevaluate and copy this approach? Or will it take the adaptation of rules such as the ones proposed by U.S. soccer to make an impact? I personally would love to see a local emphasis or roster requirement, especially from public universities in the top conferences.

[A]

Great question, Greg. Congrats to U Dub. First of all, Jamie Clark is phenomenal at his job. A family that I'm very close with. The Jabara family had their son go there and play. Jensen went there and played. So know a lot about them, and it was really fun to watch them succeed. I'm okay with, with both happening. I'm okay with teams bringing in all European players they want, and I'm also okay with if you want to build your roster that way. We saw it with Vermont last year, too, by the way, with playing in the summer together and how valuable that is. Right. So I think there's a good thing going there. It's all going to get changed a little bit now. US Soccer is working on changing the college system, which will be, I think, better for everyone, but I'm okay with all of it. I would. Yeah, in. In the pro game, I'm. We can get into this another time, but I'm. I would be okay with having some roster restrictions so that Americans need to play more if there's a creative way to do that. But in the college game, like, there's 200 plus D1 schools and many. Or D1, D2, D3, there's hundreds of them. Do what you want. I'm okay with that.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, I think. I think you have to. I'm, I'm. I'm along those lines. I mean, if the rules are allowing you to bring in tons of foreign players and you think that's what's going to make you successful, do it. I mean, I do think the cheat code is sort of what they're doing in Vermont is what they're doing in Seattle. Right. Like, these college coaches get like three minutes a year to coach their team. They get no time at all to coach your team. So the cheat code is, by the way. Yeah. We're going to do. We're going to have a fall season that's going to go by in a blink of an eye. We're going to have five games in the spring, which is not nothing, but it ain't a lot. And then here's what we're going to do. We're actually going to be able to train and perform together all summer long. And then you're going to come into preseason like that.

[A]

Of course.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, that more teams should be doing that whether they want to or not is a different story.

[C]

Okay. Should we try a new rule?

[A]

New rules? New rules.

[B]

It depends. It depends. But we'll see.

[C]

This one is particularly chaotic, but I love the chaos.

[B]

Oh, rules, Rules. Yeah.

[C]

This is from Eric via email at the end of Regular season games that finish in a draw, the home team's head coach must immediately decide whether or not to go to penalties or leave it a draw. Choosing a draw would allow both teams to keep a point. Winning the shootout would give the winner two points, but the loser gets nothing.

[B]

I don't mind this at all.

[A]

That would be fascinating. And they have to be mic'd up so you can hear the conversation.

[B]

It's great.

[A]

No, we're good with a draw. We're good. We're good. You, baby.

[B]

So. So then you get.

[A]

Yeah. How long do they get? A minute to decide? There's got to be a time limit.

[C]

Yes, I agree.

[A]

Or what if they have to unveil at the same time, 1, 2, 3, yes or no?

[B]

So the home team. That's. That's. It's amazing. It's amazing.

[A]

Wait, what did you say about the home team? I was still caught up the first.

[B]

No, the home team decides.

[C]

The home team decides.

[A]

Wait, what?

[C]

So he's saying the home team's head coach must decide whether or not to go to penalties or. Like, that's. That's part of home. Home team advantage.

[B]

Oh, I like it.

[A]

Well, at home, you. Of course, you want to, don't you?

[B]

What?

[A]

Because you got. You want to take pens, right?

[B]

Maybe.

[C]

Maybe take the draw as the goalkeeper. Do you think, if this was an actual rule, would you have a conversation with. Excuse me. With the coach before the game starts? If we go to a draw, this is what I think we should do.

[A]

He always wants the pens.

[B]

No, Whatever got me out. Depending on what point in my career. At the end of my career, just get me off the field as quick as possible. No, I don't know. I. It's a hilarious question. I mean, I don't mind it because it's a bit like going for two at the end of a game. It's like the penalty shootout in NHL. I'm. You know, crazier things have happened. That's one that actually is hilarious. Just because it's like, it's weighted based on the home team and so the.

[A]

Home coach says yes, then you have to do it.

[B]

Yeah. Well, let me. Let me ask you. Yeah, yeah, you have to do it. But my point in this, Landon, is like, let's say. And you've been in these games, let's say you're down two nil and you stink, or three nil and you claw your way back. You're going.

[A]

You're going.

[B]

No, no, we're good.

[A]

We're good.

[B]

We'll take the plug because we stink. Or. Or you haven't won a game. You haven't won a game in three, and you're like, no, no, we'll take the draw.

[A]

Yeah, but if you climb back, like claw back three goals now you got all the momentum too. You're probably. Let's go.

[B]

But. But penalties aren't momentum. They're just.

[A]

I know, 12 yards ego.

[C]

Are we also assuming that if you decide to take the penalties, you get to take them in front of your home supporters?

[B]

Of course.

[A]

That has to be a must. Yeah. So that's an added advantage. I like the idea of both coaches having have to agree. So, like, you go 1, 2, 3. And they both have to say yes or have to say no. No, they both have to say yes for it to happen.

[C]

I do kind of like some of the. The fallout from it, like ending up being a club who only wins on penalties away. You know what I mean? Or something like something weird like that is balanced to happen. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah, for sure. Playing for draw or you just play.

[A]

For a draw this right now? Yeah. Okay.

[C]

Please continue to send your new rules and your wonderful questions to feedback@unfiltered soccer.com and we'll get some of them on the show next week. That's it.

[B]

Thanks, J.

[C]

Thanks, guys.

[B]

Appreciate it.

[A]

All right, Tim, another one in the bag. I am off to rest and then play hockey tonight. It's gonna be fun. I will send you pictures. Maybe we'll post some online. Thank you guys all for being with us. We love being here every week with you guys. Remember to subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your pods. Follow on social media at Unfiltered Soccer. Thank you so much to our presenting sponsor, VW. We love you. Our Fan Connection sponsor at&t. Love you too. And our stoppage time sponsor, FanDuel. Love you guys in the new partnership, L.D.

[B]

You love everyone. I. I love. I love. I love everyone, too. I love our. Our supporters, our listeners. I love you. Love all of our sponsors. But certainly thank you to our unfiltered refresh sponsor, Coors Light and our additional sponsor, Airbnb. Have an amazing week. We'll be back next Tuesday with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.