Ice Man Freese Delivers for USMNT, Jesse Marsch is in the Hot Seat, and Inter Miami Out of CWC

Summary

Podcast Summary: Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard

Episode Title: Ice Man Freese Delivers for USMNT, Jesse Marsch is in the Hot Seat, and Inter Miami Out of CWC
Release Date: July 1, 2025

Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard delves deep into the latest happenings in U.S. Men’s Soccer, offering insightful analysis and candid discussions on team performances, managerial decisions, and broader league dynamics. In this episode, hosts Landon Donovan and Tim Howard explore key moments from recent matches, the evolving landscape of Major League Soccer (MLS), and notable stories impacting both the national teams and club competitions.

---

1. US Men's National Team (USMNT) Performances

Matt Fries' Stellar Performance

A significant portion of the discussion centers around Matt Fries, the emerging goalkeeper for the USMNT. Landon Donovan highlights Fries’ pivotal role in a high-stakes shootout:

Landon Donovan [03:33]: "Matt Fries made himself into a star overnight... he's getting the opportunity and he's doing the business."

Tim Howard commends Fries’ preparation and execution under pressure:

Tim Howard [04:35]: "He has clearly done his homework... his radar was right on."

Strategic Decisions by Coach Pochettino

The hosts analyze Coach Mauricio Pochettino’s decision to entrust Fries with critical moments, despite Fries being relatively inexperienced:

Tim Howard [06:58]: "He's getting the opportunity and he's doing the business. Forget all the other nonsense."

Landon extends the conversation to the broader implications of such decisions on team dynamics and future selections:

Landon Donovan [08:43]: "Pochettino, like, he can do whatever he wants now."

2. Player Evaluations and Opportunities

Rising Stars: Malik Tillman and Diego Luna

Donovan and Howard delve into the performances of Malik Tillman and Diego Luna, emphasizing their chemistry and contributions to the team's offense:

Landon Donovan [09:02]: "The combination and the chemistry now between Malik Tillman and Luna has been really fun to watch."

Tim Howard praises their intelligent play and adaptability:

Tim Howard [09:51]: "Tillman starts. He is comfy. He wants the ball in big moments."

Competitive Edge and Roster Depth

The conversation shifts to the competition for spots within the team, highlighting how emerging players are securing their places by consistently performing:

Tim Howard [12:39]: "Ajimang has staken his claim... he's earned the right to play five of those games."

3. Managerial Decisions and Team Cohesion

Jesse Marsch Under Scrutiny

A significant segment addresses Jesse Marsch’s management of the Canadian national team. Donovan criticizes Marsch’s public statements and their impact on team morale:

Landon Donovan [25:26]: "He's saying, we were missing half our group... How do you feel if you're a player?"

Tim Howard offers a balanced perspective, acknowledging Marsch’s managerial skills while recognizing the fallout from his remarks:

Tim Howard [25:27]: "But he's comfortable. He's comfortable doing that."

Team Togetherness and Resilience

The hosts emphasize the importance of team cohesion, especially when facing challenges like missing key players:

Tim Howard [14:09]: "This group coming together... shows they can come together."

4. MLS Spending and League Dynamics

Comparison with Global Leagues

Donovan critiques MLS's spending strategies, comparing them unfavorably to leagues like Brazil’s and Mexico’s:

Landon Donovan [34:11]: "The way we do it in MLS is absolutely hindering us."

Proposed Financial Reforms

The discussion includes proposals for MLS financial restructuring to enhance competitiveness:

Landon Donovan [37:04]: "A minimum spend... call it whatever, 15 million, 20 million that every team has to spend."

Tim Howard supports loosening financial restrictions to allow clubs more flexibility:

Tim Howard [35:31]: "It's a really good point. It's a really good point."

5. Club World Cup Insights

Inter Miami's Performance

Analyzing MLS teams’ performances in the Club World Cup, Donovan notes Inter Miami’s loss to PSG and reflects on the broader implications for MLS clubs on the global stage:

Landon Donovan [33:15]: "It was what I probably would have expected. Given the competition."

Impact on Player Health and Scheduling

Howard raises concerns about the congested match calendar and its toll on players:

Tim Howard [39:16]: "There are probably too many games... leading to players needing to make decisions based on their priorities."

Donovan suggests innovative solutions to manage player workload:

Landon Donovan [40:13]: "What if there was a maximum number of minutes a player was allowed to play in real competition?"

6. US Women's National Team (USWNT) Updates

Recent Friendlies Against Ireland

The episode covers the USWNT’s friendly matches, highlighting Rose Lavelle’s impactful performance after a seven-month hiatus:

Landon Donovan [46:33]: "Rose Lavelle in the second game... let her get a little curtain call and it was fantastic."

Tim Howard praises Lavelle’s contributions and the coaching staff’s strategic decisions:

Tim Howard [46:51]: "She gets a goal and assist in the first. So yeah, she’s a stud."

7. Controversial News: Pochettino's Interview for Brentford

Speculation and Reactions

Donovan addresses a report about Pochettino interviewing for the Brentford managerial position, discussing its timing and potential fallout:

Landon Donovan [22:54]: "When you're talking all the time, you're going to get tripped up... it's not good."

Tim Howard normalizes managerial negotiations, emphasizing their commonality in global soccer:

Tim Howard [24:36]: "If they get knocked out... you don't think he should have a backup plan?"

8. Fan Interaction and Audience Questions

Co-Head Coaching Proposal

A fan’s imaginative question about Landon and Tim co-head coaching the USMNT sparks a playful yet thoughtful exchange:

Landon Donovan [62:30]: "A national team would be interesting... we're very good at."

Tim Howard [63:19]: "I would happily serve my country... But coaching is not something that's ever interested."

Innovative Ideas: Shot Clock in Soccer

Another listener suggests implementing a shot clock in soccer to enhance the game's pace. The hosts discuss the practicality and cultural resistance such a change might face:

Tim Howard [58:04]: "The only thing I would say though is like the most traditional sport in America... it's a terrible idea."

9. Non-Soccer Banter and Final Thoughts

The episode concludes with light-hearted banter about food preferences and humorous anecdotes, maintaining the hosts’ signature engaging and relatable style.

Landon Donovan [69:18]: "Hopefully, they get some good Italian American, Italian food during the September friendlies."

Both hosts express appreciation for their listeners and encourage ongoing engagement through social media and subscriptions.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Landon Donovan [34:11]: "The way we do it in MLS is absolutely hindering us."
• Tim Howard [04:35]: "He has clearly done his homework... his radar was right on."
• Landon Donovan [37:04]: "A minimum spend... call it whatever, 15 million, 20 million that every team has to spend."
• Tim Howard [35:31]: "It's a really good point. It's a really good point."
• Landon Donovan [40:13]: "What if there was a maximum number of minutes a player was allowed to play in real competition?"
• Tim Howard [58:04]: "The most traditional sport in America... it's a terrible idea."

---

Conclusion

This episode of Unfiltered Soccer provides a comprehensive look into the current state of U.S. soccer, blending tactical analysis with personal insights from two of the sport’s respected figures. Landon Donovan and Tim Howard offer their perspectives on emerging talents, managerial strategies, and the financial structures influencing MLS's growth. Additionally, their candid discussions about fan suggestions and broader soccer-related topics make for an engaging and informative listen for both avid fans and casual followers of the beautiful game.

Transcript

[Landon Donovan]

There might be three or four owners in the league now who say we have to really be careful with spending. Still, the other 24, 5, 6 are like, take the guardrails off. Let us go. These are billionaires. My biggest takeaway, when you watch the Brazilian teams, the Mexican teams, the difference in the way MLS team rosters are constructed versus them is becoming more and more apparent. The way we do it in MLS is absolutely hindering us.

[Tim Howard]

What does everyone always ask us, you know, where would an MLS team finish in the Premier League? Now we see some of those questions being answered.

[Landon Donovan]

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.

[Tim Howard]

Welcome in to another edition of Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim. Landon, big one, huh? You were in the studio. In the studio, crushing it, as people would say.

[Landon Donovan]

I don't know if I would describe it that way, but that's what.

[Tim Howard]

That's what the Internet.

[Landon Donovan]

Job done.

[Tim Howard]

That's what the interwebs.

[Landon Donovan]

It was, you know, like, I don't know if you feel this way when you maybe still watch Everton or something, but, like, when you're working, but then you're watching the game. Yeah. And it's the US Team and you want them to win. And so you're like. You're just a fan.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

So you're watching and you're screaming and yelling with every pen, whatever. And then like, all right. And you're. We're on in 30. 30 seconds to your mic, Rob. And I'm like, oh, shoot. Like, settle down, dude. Like, so you're trying not to. You still have your job to do. But, dude, it was so fun to watch. It was so fun because it was this group, Tim, and you're just watching the group grow. Girl before your eyes. And this. I just want to. Yeah, we'll get into it, but it's just. It was so fun to watch. Where did you watch? Were you home?

[Tim Howard]

I was. Yeah, I was home. I was home watching and agonizing. I. You know, in those games, it. It was so. And obviously you said, we'll get into it. It was so tight. It was back and forth. It was exactly what I was. What you would think, like, Costa Costa Rica US game in the knockout stage would be. You knew there was a twist in the tail. You knew there was another turn coming. Yeah, it was exciting. But again, as you said, you try and watch as a fan, but also as a. As a, you know, Someone who you think knows the game. Right. But the fan, the fandom part is it always. It always captures you.

[Landon Donovan]

I know. It's like it just gets emotional for a bit there and then, you know, it was fun. As always. Follow on social media. We, Timmy and I both sent out a reaction video. We send out lots of bonus content throughout the week at Unfiltered Soccer. Subscribe on YouTube. Make sure follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Wherever you get your podcast, you can leave a rating and also email jordan/useedbackfiltered soccer.com. all right, straight into it. US LNT on USMNT. So the big talking point, obviously, Matt Freeze and I. Nobody needs to hear what I have to say. You tell me you're in a shootout. Okay. I don't know if you're ever in a shootout that early in your career where you're still trying to make a name for yourself. Nobody knows. You know, we were on Big Fox yesterday and being on FS1 where, like, die hard soccer fans will go versus being on Fox where you got a lot of new eyeballs, people are just like, oh, USA is playing. I'll watch. You know, I see Pat McAfee tweeting about the game, right? So people are paying attention. People don't know this guy at all. And now they get into a shootout in this crazy moment, and he has a. He has a game of a lifetime. So have you been in those moments? If so, yeah. I'd love to hear that.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. Good description. I mean, heck of a time to stand up. I think, you know, I. I applaud Matt Fries. I think we, you and I and everyone else, but certainly on this show, have discussed, you know, what's Potch. What's Potch doing? You know, like, what. What's his. Not. Not like, what's he doing? Is he crazy? But, like, what's his thought process? Is he going to play? Play Matt Freeze a bit and then give Matt Turner a game. He ended up rolling the dice and saying, like, you're my guy to Matt Freeze. Well, for this tournament anyway. And I thought it was good because, you know, it's not like a. I always say goalkeepers make mistakes, right? And so in the last game, you know, he gets a ball back from Tim Ream, he tries to play, makes a mistake, gets punished for it. And I was saying, like, yeah, I want to see now what he's made of. Can he puff his chest out and say, heck with mistakes, it's me. I'm the guy, and he did that he did that yesterday. I thought in the shootout. He was very good. It's an element of, it's, it's, it's not the only element of goalkeeping, but it's an element of, of the game. And he went, you know, he was, his radar was right on.

[Landon Donovan]

He, he, he, he was on everything.

[Tim Howard]

Dude nearly went, you know, even in the penalty. So when he says penalties are his thing, I think he's lying. Penalties are no goalkeeper's thing. They're miserable. But what I would say is he has clearly done his homework and technology has helped. I, he's either done his homework or if he says he didn't do his homework, then he's the luckiest human being alive.

[Landon Donovan]

No, he said he did. He said he was watching it on a plane.

[Tim Howard]

So that's great. It's brilliant that he, that he studied that. You know, he went the right way. He made it really difficult. And the one he, you know, the one is, it's like playing roulette and then bet, and then betting on green, right? He stood in the middle. That's a hard one. It's, it takes a lot of guts. You've got to be really dialed in knowing that the striker's going up the middle and he read it to perfection. And so that's a difficult one. I, I, I've tried that before. You know, you always, then he looks.

[Landon Donovan]

Stupid if they just roll it in the corner.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. I mean, what I would say to you is, Landon, in, in, in a shootout, in any like, end of game scenario where there's, where there's five penalties, one more than likely is going to go down the middle or close to it. And so it's a gamble of, of knowing which one, which shooter is going to do that. So anyway, he, you know, he made himself into a star overnight, which isn't fair because he's, you know, he's putting together a decent body of work, what I would say is, with this whole group, which, which we'll touch on, he's the one getting the opportunity right now, so we can discuss all the rest of it. He's getting the opportunity and he's doing the business. That's all. Forget all the other nonsense. The manager says, you're my guy right now. You got to take advantage of it. And he currently is taking advantage of it. And here's the other thing you talked about moments, right? Don't forget the way the games change. Ld one of your goalkeepers, of your three that goes to a World cup might actually be good at Penalties. We've seen it time and time again. You get to the knockout stage, 90th minute, you substitute a goalkeeper on because he's better at penalties than your others. That might. It's a long way to go, but that might just get him on the plane to the World Cup. So, again, more time to come, but he's. He's doing it.

[Landon Donovan]

I actually said that yesterday on the. On the broadcast because I'm not sure how many times in the history of the World Cup a third goalkeeper has actually stepped on the field. No, I mean, that would be interesting to know. Not often, if at all.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

So if that's your thing, and he said penalties are my thing, then that's good. So what I'm curious now is, you know, last night when I got home, I was thinking, like, okay, but he's still like, the fourth or fifth or sixth choice. But then I was like, you know what? Pochettino, coming into this tournament, we talked about it, he was like, nobody's shown me anything in Nations League that I can hang my hat on and say, you are the guy. And I'm talking about goalkeepers and everyone.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

And so now a bunch of guys said, I'm not coming in to this camp, or they're with Club World cup or they're injured, or they weren't playing, in Matt Turner's case. And so he said, okay, here's a guy who's playing. Zach Stefan gets hurt, Schulte gets hurt. Now he puts him in. And I. I want to differentiate. It's not like he's been perfect in the game. Amazing. But he had big moment, right?

[Tim Howard]

Yes.

[Landon Donovan]

And if you're Pochettino, and let's say he has another good game on Wednesday against Guatemala, and then he plays a great game against Mexico and they win, he's starting in the friendlies, right?

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Don't you think? Even if Matt Turner's playing Zach Steffens, But, I mean, isn't he the guy starting in the friendlies?

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. So. Yes.

[Landon Donovan]

And Pochettino's made it clear, Tim. Like. And even in. Even in this tournament, in his lineups, you play, you win, you play again, you play, you win, he wins his hair. He doesn't care where you're from, what your name is, whatever.

[Tim Howard]

He doesn't care, actually, which we'll get into. Pochettino, with all the noise that was on the outside and all the players who didn't come into camp and all the rest of it, Pochettino desperately needed A couple of players to step up and to star in this tournament and to win. Because then, then the power dynamic straight back onto his lap and now he can go.

[Landon Donovan]

He can do whatever he wants. Now.

[Tim Howard]

I gave this guy a chance, and he produced with three or four or five goals. I gave this guy a chance and he kept clean sheets and penalty saves and all the rest. So these are big performances because again, Pochettino was true to his word. And he's saying, nobody's showing me what I want to see. I think this group of players is. And there were some good performances.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, you're right. All right, so let's dig into the rest. Malik Tillman again, I thought he was excellent. Missed penalty aside. Fantastic. Diego Luna was excellent again. The combination and the chemistry now between Ajamong Tillman and Luna has been really fun to watch. Like they just. All the little combinations and how they're playing off each other. It led to Arston's goal. It's just been fun to watch. And I'm not saying those three are starters. I think Malik Tillman now makes big case to say he's starting whenever everyone's back. Yeah, I'm not sure Luna's there yet. I don't think Ajamong long term will be there. But how can you imagine that the any of those three would not be on the plane? They don't have to be on a plane. Well, they have to be on a plane somewhere, I guess, but would not be on the roster next summer. Right?

[Tim Howard]

Right. Well, you make. You make the point till it starts for me. And our best. And our best 11. Tillman starts. He is comfy. He wants the ball in big moments. He's not afraid of it, you know, Luna is Luna's. Luna is not going to be a starter right away. Luna is going to be the first guy when things don't go well, that pops looks on the bench and goes, diego, let's go. Because you trust him, right? And then. And then Aja man, again, you said it. Maybe not super long term, but he's another one who is currently getting the opportunity and he's making the most of it. And I'm telling you, he mucks it up. He makes it nasty on the. He's good on the ball. I think he makes intelligent runs. And again, sometimes you have to be vertical and run offside and the rest of it. The second goal. So Arson's goal, right. The thing about ajimeng, and you mentioned it, Tillman and Luna, it's this like triangle. They always look for him to bounce the ball off. So the second goal, Tillman's in space on the half turn when he gets it. He wants to play around a corner to Ajamang and he does. By the way, Ajamang isn't first to that ball. If you remember correctly, the Costa Rican defender gets a slight nick on it and he's so big, he just goes bang, nudges him off. And then his next touch is just to facilitate it back to Tillman and he does the rest and slides it. Perfect one time pass. But I think for me, those players, I'm looking at him going, if we're saying Ajamang isn't the out and out striker long term, then I'd throw the question back to everybody who is. I know there's a bunch of names who we think could be world beaters. Where are they? They're either injured or they're not playing. Like, where are they? So, yeah, Ajahman just needs to keep his head down, keep scoring goals, you know, keep being that focal point of the attack. And, and I think he'll. He'll. He'll continue to do the business. And like I said, he'll be there thereabouts. And the fact of the matter is these guys are staking their claim right now, LD So the people who aren't here, guess what they got to do. They got to come in and they've got to stake their claim. They're already behind.

[Landon Donovan]

They already way behind, way behind. And you know, like Tim with having coached, it's all about trusting guys. Not just trusting them on the field, that they're going to do what you want, but trusting that they will be available to play, that they want to come into camp or that they are not going to be injured and that they can, they're available. And these guys have been available, knock on wood, every minute of the games, right?

[Tim Howard]

And think about. Yes, and think about. Because sometimes we talk about these things like in a phone booth. It's just like pie in the sky for everybody who wants to talk Strikers, right? And you know this because you're a goal scorer. Anjamang has been doing the business. Five with five goals in 10 games, right? He's going to play the next two games. Okay. When the Gold cup is over there. I don't. What. LD is there, what, 13 games before the World Cup? I don't know. Something if that.

[Landon Donovan]

I don't know. I'm not sure it's that many.

[Tim Howard]

Let's call it 10. Let's call it 10 to make a nice easy number. Ajimang has staken his claim to the extent. Is he going to play every game? No. But he's earned the right to play five of those games. Okay, so now, so now what we're saying is the next striker who potentially could start is only going to get five opportunities. He's earned the right to take some of those opportunities away and give them to himself. Right. So it's not like he had a great summer. And now for the next 10 friendlies, they're going to start someone else up top. Nope, that's not how the football works.

[Landon Donovan]

Right.

[Tim Howard]

He's forced the manager to say, you got to play me at least half the games. At least four or five of the games. So, yeah, time's running out for some guys.

[Landon Donovan]

And the funny thing, Tim, is think about the games this group has played. Trinidad. Awful. Saudi Arabia. Okay. Haiti. Nah. Costa Rica, a very weakened Costa Rican team because they had four or five guys missing due to cards or whatever. It's not like they're playing top teams and destroying top, but they're getting the chance. And so Pochettino, like, he can't judge and say, well, this Costa Rica team had a few guys out and now we're playing Guatemala Wednesday. All he's looking at is what he sees.

[Tim Howard]

Correct.

[Landon Donovan]

And for the other guys who left the Dome, we've said this a million times, do not ever leave the door open, ever, ever, ever. And they left the door open and guys have kicked it down, as you said, and they're like, okay, I'm here.

[Tim Howard]

Well, we've been critical, right, because the door has been allowed to be left open for these guys. You and I talked about this at nauseum. It's been allowed to be left open because who's going to take my spot? That was the whole big thing. Well, now there's some players who are gaining the trust of the manager. You know, you look at that game last night, ld There was fight and there was grit and there was toughness. And like, I. I love the smug Costa Rican player that came up to Tillman after he missed, because it was a tight shot of Tillman, wasn't it? And then, sure enough, well, Tyler Adams can start. Start fighting an empty house. So he didn't need an invitation. So he goes over there. Someone else, I don't know if it was maybe Burholter. He goes steaming in there. And I was just thinking, that's it. That's. That's it right there. So you're starting to see this collection of togetherness, brotherhood. And again, it's. It's in a small snapshot because this we talked about at the beginning of the tournament, who wasn't here. That's what it. That's what we all talked about then. It was like, all right, well, now the whistle's gonna blow. And it's not about who's not here. It's about this group coming together. And this group has shown me they can come together. And that's. It's exciting. It's exciting to watch that togetherness, that fight, that grit, that hunger to claw back in games, stay in games, big moments overcome them. So, yeah, I really, I thought again, I thought Luna took his goal well. Big deflection. But guess what? He's in the box. He's in an area where he's dangerous. He took that. I thought the second goal was. Second goal was really good football. And for arson, you know, he, He. His day didn't start good.

[Landon Donovan]

You know, it was a really bizarre game.

[Tim Howard]

It was a really rash penalty. And I was thinking, oh, no, because that's like, that's a. That's a clear and obvious, like, you don't need to. You don't need to make that tackle there, like you're going to give a penalty away. And I think you mentioned that the Costa Rican player is so clever. He's like, let me just get myself in between here and then you can kick me and I'll go down. And then. And then he responded with a goal and assist. Like, this is how you get judged by. By your national team manager, by your teammates. So it was a really good response, you know, as.

[Landon Donovan]

I'm just thinking ahead, big picture. So the one guy we haven't talked a lot about because of the. All this stuff with Pulisic is Unus Musa. And he's played a lot of different positions, whatever. But one of what I think when the national team was at their best over the last few years, it was Tyler, Weston and Eunice in the midfield. And now with that door being open, Malik Tillman has said, you've got no chance. Like, he decided not to come into camp. He wanted to rest. Whatever. Tillman's like, you got note, this is my spot now, right? And that's what happens. And that, guess what? That's what's going to happen.

[Tim Howard]

Guess what? I'm not saying you and I were right, but you and I were right. Because here's the thing. U.S. soccer, soccer in America needed a wakeup call. It needed to kick up the backside, right? So all These people talking about, like you're being critical of the players not coming in. This is what happens everywhere. So guess what? If you're. If you're Musa, for whatever reason, you didn't come in, you're now behind it. You're not behind it. Tillman has skyrocketed to the top of the list. And you can again, we can talk about competition and whether Haiti or, or Saudi Arabia or Trinidad, we're going to good enough. Doesn't matter. They were presented an opportunity, and when you present an opportunity, you have to take it. And Tillman's taking it. How he's not. How he's not nearly first name on a team sheet. Second name on a team sheet. I'd be shocked. I'd be shocked. He's been. He's been productive. He's been there. You said he's been available. Really, really well done.

[Landon Donovan]

All right, Timmy. Well, that leads us to the unfiltered refresh sponsored by Coors Light. Choose Chill. Get Coors Light delivered. Go to Coors Light.com USLNT who chose Chill this week? Tim?

[Tim Howard]

Well, you know, I, I could tell you it's the usual suspects, right in contention. Diego Luna getting his goal. Lee Tillman getting his gold, playing a brilliant role. But it's Matt Freeze. It's absolutely Matt Freeze. He's on the tip of everyone's tongue. The name fits. You know, I just, I just think he believes right now that he's got things rolling. His manager, Mauricio Pochettino, believes that he currently, for this, this tournament, is the guy and, and big moment, man. Big, huge moment.

[Landon Donovan]

Massive moment.

[Tim Howard]

You know, when you talk about a penalty shootout, what can your goalkeeper do? Well, you know what your strikers are going to do. They got one job. You know, your goalkeeper has to figure out a way to come up with saves. And he did that. He believes penalties are his thing. As he said, it's a big moment for him. He chose Chill in such a moment where most people don't. And my hat's off to him. It's a difficult position to be in, to come in and get a run of games the way he has and the way he's conducted himself. So he's got probably, hopefully another two opportunities to push his name further up the goalkeeping list. And here's to you, Matt Fries. Well done.

[Landon Donovan]

Cheers to you, Matt Fries.

[Tim Howard]

Crack it open. Beautiful.

[Landon Donovan]

All right, so just a few other talking points from the game. So I was, you know, as we were watching, it was about 70 minutes in. I was thinking we're looking tired and is Pochettino going to make substitutions and if so, who are the substitutions going to be? And obviously the game state matters what the score is at the time. But the one thing that came to my head, Tim, is that he trusts 11, 12, 13 guys here, but the rest have clearly for him, not made enough of an impression because he just hasn't used them. And you know, the Haiti game was a good example of a time he didn't need to play his same team. But he's like, these are the guys I'm evaluating.

[Tim Howard]

Sure, sure.

[Landon Donovan]

And if you're one of the other guys, I would be concerned for sure. Doesn't mean you have no chance of next summer. But that was going through my head. Brian White.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Kenzie Walker Zimmerman, Nathan Hariel, you know, guys like that that just, yeah, it's just those are guys that are, you got to be concerned because that's true. He's just said, I'm just riding with these guys.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

And he'll do it again Wednesday and if they win, he'll do it again on Sunday. Of course, it felt like to me so like could we could judge should he have made him earlier. But in his mind, I think he's just saying these are the guys I trust.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. And I, and naturally some managers use substitutions more than others. Some managers use them to prove a point in certain games. You know, I don't know if he makes substitutions. Earlier during that game, there was Costa Rica had some really good chances. We had some really good chances. It's a feel, it's a feel thing. Right. He's on the pitch, he senses breathing patterns of his guys, running patterns, conversations that he's hearing on the pitch. You know, he's talking to his staff. So it's really, I know it's a really key thing that people like to latch onto on the outside, us and everybody else, like try and figure out why he made a substitution. There's so much feel involved in that. Oftentimes you second guess yourself. There's, there's, there's a bunch. I, I, I couldn't be critical of him there. I think, I think ultimately, I mean, made a couple subs. You know, McGlynn comes on 83rd minute. Brian White comes on in the 90th minute. They didn't take a penalty. I, I, I suppose at least one of them was coming on.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, that was bizarre.

[Tim Howard]

But again, it, you know, it, it could be, could be they were coming on and take a penalty and then you get to Those moments right in when it's time to make the list of five and a guy maybe doesn't want it. We don't know what happens, you know, in those moments. So.

[Landon Donovan]

All right, I want to talk about. Well, first of all, up next is US Guatemala, Wednesday, it's at 7 Eastern. So 4 Pacific, I believe it's on FS1. I'll be doing that game the other quarter or the other semifinals after. And that is Mexico playing Honduras. I believe that's at 7 Eastern. I think I'm calling that game. So. Be interesting to watch, obviously, both. But I want to just dig in real quick, Tim, to. There was some other news around Pochettino, and then dig into Jesse Marsh a little bit with. With Canada. So there was a report by a guy named David Snade. Snade, an Irish reporter. And it came out right before we went on air. And it was really bizarre. It said that Pochettino had interviewed for the Brentford job. And that was sort of it. It was like, you know, when Brentford hired. Who's their new manager. I forget the guy's name. When they. When they hired their new manager. Pochettino and someone else were also in consideration and had been interviewed. And we were sitting there like, wait, what? During the Gold cup. And of course, Alexi, like, you know, went berserk. And if this is true, you know, guys should resign and da, da, da. So can you help fans understand, like, these scenarios a little bit? And. And, you know, I know. I know we both have opinions on this, but it was just the timing of it was weird.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. I mean, if this is true, he should not resign. This happens everywhere in the world. We're so. Again, we're so coddled in US Soccer that we. We've. We don't know. We don't know the way the world of soccer works, but the way the world of soccer works is. Is. Is agents do a lot of sniffing around. Agents do a lot of have a lot of conversations. And do. I think Pochettino physically sat down and had an interview with Brentford? Maybe, maybe not. I think there must have been conversation with him. Brentford would be silly not to have that conversation. And quite frankly, he would be silly not to have some sort of conversation. You always listen. Because the fact of the matter is this US Soccer thing wasn't trending in a very good direction outside of, like, last night or two or two weeks ago. Right. So if they get knocked out of the Gold cup in the group stages and everyone's calling for Pochettino's Head. You don't think he should have a backup plan? Everybody has a back. Everybody, like every person who has a job has a backup plan, and they should. And that's just. And unfortunately, in the world of soccer, you're. You. The. You know, there's three months out of the year where you can really have meaningful conversations. Right. And so that just happens to fall in the summer. So I'm not surprised by it. I'm not put off by it. I think it. I think if, you know, the world of football, it happens all the time. It happens. You know, it happens during the Premier League season where a manager has a really good Premier League job. And guess what? A job opening comes and someone's talking to his agent or his agent's talking to them. It's the way it works.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah. And. And by the way, to your point, that's every job in the world, like, correct. You're thinking about. Or you're. If someone comes and talks to you, have the interview, talk to people. You never know what's going to happen. And by the way, you know, who else has a backup plan? I hope. I mean, I'm not. I shouldn't say this. I was going to say U.S. soccer, but in the way they're not going to run right now. Is you. Maybe not, but they have. You know, they were probably thinking if we go three and out in the Gold cup, we.

[Tim Howard]

Someone's had that conversation.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah. We have to have conversations with people. So. I agree. I don't. I don't think it's. It's crazy now. The timing of it was not great.

[Tim Howard]

Sure.

[Landon Donovan]

Right. And you hope those things aren't made public if they don't need to be. But, yeah, I totally agree.

[Tim Howard]

And Pots is clever enough to distance himself from it, you know, in the media, so.

[Landon Donovan]

Right, right, right. Yeah. Okay. So the Jesse Marsh stuff, you're unhappy.

[Tim Howard]

You're.

[Landon Donovan]

This is your guy, dude. This is your guy.

[Tim Howard]

I do believe in Jesse. I'm on record. I'm on record.

[Landon Donovan]

Look, my thing with Jesse is I think Jesse does a good job at a lot of things. Like, there's a lot of nuance here. He's good at a lot of things. I think Jesse almost exclusively cares about Jesse. And he. And he will. He'll mask it in a lot of ways. But the problem, Tim, is, is when you're talking all the time, you're going to get tripped up and you're going to trip yourself up, and he's got something to say about everything. You know, he's Got something to say about tariffs, and he thinks the players who went to Mexico were poisoned. And he's just always got something to say. And so before the tournament, he went out of his way after a bunch of the US Players didn't come into the tournament and said that they didn't want to be a part of the Gold Cup. And he said, well, not one guy called me and said, coach, I don't know, it's been a long year. Maybe I don't want to come into the Gold Cup. Not one guy, right? So he goes out of his way to say this. We didn't have anything close to that conversation. So yesterday, Canada lose to Guatemala. And look, I was going back thinking about results in Canadian history. This is, this is the worst result in Canadian history, and I'll tell you why. They've had bad losses. They've got blown out. They've, you know, they lost 80 or something to Honduras in a qualifier. The expectations on this team, a lot of, because of the good work Jesse's done y but also because of all the crap he's said publicly, were through the roof. They're through the roof. So they lose the game to Guatemala. And after the game, he gets asked amongst a bunch of questions. And I just want to say, again, before the tournament, he said not one guy called and said they didn't want to be here. So basically, he's saying, everyone is here who I want to be here. So then after the game, he says, look, if I'm being honest, we were missing half of our group for this tournament. And then he went on to say, you know, that's not an excuse, but. And I'm like, the hell are you talking about? You can't. He's talking out of both sides of his mouth. And I, I, I also, Tim, as, as you do, you talk to a lot of people, right? And I talk to people who are inside the Canadian Federation as well. And they speak to players and they speak to people. They are fed up with this bs, too. And, and they're getting to a point now where at first it was fun and it was funny and it was helping Canadian soccer. And now they're to a point where they're like, shut up, dude. This is not good if you're one of the players on this roster. And he just said, well, we were missing half our group. That's why we lost. How do you feel if you're a player? Right?

[Tim Howard]

That's always tough.

[Landon Donovan]

So. All right, well, go ahead. No, I, and I know Jesse's your Guy.

[Tim Howard]

So, no, no, you're.

[Landon Donovan]

You're.

[Tim Howard]

You're completely entitled to your opinion. I think you're right. Jesse does a lot of things good. I think one of the things he does really well is. Is. Is manage football teams. And the other thing he does really well is rub people the wrong way, you know, But. But he's comfortable. He's comfortable doing that. And I take your point about it being the worst loss because of expectations that were set. And what I would say is Jesse has gone into Canada soccer and had to reset and reshape expectations, and he's done that at quite a few different stops. And so I think that's a good thing. The loss obviously hurts. I do think they were missing a couple of players that are important to them. They're not a tremendously deep side, so they're big players who are obviously injured or Club World cup, etc. That's going to hurt with them missing. So I think it's a. I think it's a great reset for, you know, this next year for. For Canada, US and for Mexico kind of again, without any World cup qualifying to see how they go. And they're going to be judged very critically in the World cup, all three of those teams. So it's definitely. It was definitely not a great result for Canada. And I was. I personally was looking forward to a really strong Canadian team versus a. A strong US Team, but it wasn't. Wasn't to happen.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, it was. I just wonder the players in that locker room when they. Because I've been. We've both been around coaches who talk a lot and say a lot, and, and, you know, they bring the attention sometimes that's good because it takes attention away from you.

[Tim Howard]

Yep.

[Landon Donovan]

But now if I'm sitting in that locker room, you're getting to a point where you're like, okay, hold on a sec, dude. You know, hold on a sec. Let's. Let's. Let's maybe have an honest conversation here and, and make sure. Because I think channeled the right way. I think Jesse's been excellent for Canadian soccer. I do. I really do. But there comes a point where it's just too much and people start to turn off, and it feels like we're at that point. And so hopefully, for his sake, for Canada's sake, for the World Cup's sake, that settles down. Hopefully he learns from this. And then going into next summer, they can. They can adjust.

[Tim Howard]

Yep.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah. Okay, let's take a break. When we get back, let's talk about the club World Cup. It's crazy all the stuff going on yesterday. There's also Club World cup going on, so we'll dig deep into all that right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim. As always presented by Volkswagen.

[Tim Howard]

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

[Landon Donovan]

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.

[Tim Howard]

And power wheelchair soccer to beach and futsal, VW is actively supporting all the communities and teams within the U.S. soccer ecosystem. They've signed U.S. soccer talent from across the portfolio of the federation and will be helping to give these less popular forms of soccer a platform moving forward.

[Landon Donovan]

As a longtime friend of Volkswagen, I'm excited to support them in their mission to increase visibility of all forms of soccer. I was recently on set with them shooting their new campaign to do just that.

[Tim Howard]

Keep an eye out for that launching soon alongside the all new redesigned 2025 Tiguan. It's a beautiful car. We've even had one with us at a recent live show. Make sure to check it out in person and learn [e-mail] all right, Timmy, it's summertime.

[Landon Donovan]

You remember these days, kids are home. It's exhausting. You're babysitting all day. I know you don't think it's babysitting. It is babysitting. In order to choose chill, I'm on the golf course, man. My wife knows when it's time to get away and choose chill. See you later. I'm gonna go play golf.

[Tim Howard]

I gotta be honest. I choose chill a lot in the summer. Going to concerts, family barbecues. I spend a ton of time on the beach. I reach into the cooler, get a Coors Light for me, I choose chill very, very often.

[Landon Donovan]

Coors Light is mountain cold refreshment, crisp and refreshing. As the Colorado Rockies make the most out of the times you choose to chill, choose Coors Light.

[Tim Howard]

Get Coors Light delivered straight to your door. Visit coorslight.com USLNT Celebrate responsibly. Coors Brewing Co. Golden Colorado Beer with.

[Landon Donovan]

A Venmo debit card. You can Venmo more than just your friends. You can use your balance in so many ways. You can Venmo everything. Need gas? You can Venmo this. How about snacks? You can Venmo that. Your favorite band's merch.

[C]

You can Venmo this or their next show.

[Landon Donovan]

You can Venmo that visit Venmo me debit to learn more. You can Venmo this or you can Venmo that.

[Tim Howard]

You can Venmo this or you can Venmo that.

[Landon Donovan]

The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp bank and a pursuant to license, my MasterCard International, Inc. Card may be used everywhere. MasterCard is accepted. Venmo purchase restrictions apply. Okay. Club World Cup. So lots of talking points. I don't want to get into all the games, Tim, because, you know, there's been great games and moments and all that. Inter, Miami got walloped by psg. I don't take a ton out of that, to be honest.

[Tim Howard]

No.

[Landon Donovan]

PSG are so good. They're just so good. Can't compare the two.

[Tim Howard]

No.

[Landon Donovan]

Right. It was okay. Tournament for MLS teams, probably. What about what we would have expected? Maybe one of them get through, the other two don't.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. I mean, Sounders, no wins, three defeats. Lafc one draw, two defeats, one win, two draws for Inter and a defeat. Yeah, I. I wouldn't say it's okay. I would say it's what I probably would have expected. Given. Given. Given the. The competition.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

My. My biggest takeaway, and this has been a conversation for a long time with people who are invested and care about soccer in this country, with MLS in the early days of mls, and we can have a big conversation about this later, there were a lot of rules put in place to essentially protect clubs and owners from themselves.

[Tim Howard]

Right.

[Landon Donovan]

A lot of spending rules so you wouldn't outspend a certain level just so the league could progress healthily.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Right. And that was necessary. Other leagues had failed in the past, NASL had failed in the past, and the league wanted to make sure that was the case. We're at a point now where you talk to owners, Tim. I talk to owners. There might be three or four owners in the league now who say we have to really be careful with spending. Still, the other 24, 5, 6 are like, take the guardrails off. Let us go. These are billionaires.

[Tim Howard]

Sure.

[Landon Donovan]

They can do what they want with their money. They know how to make good decisions. They're hiring people who can make good decisions. My biggest takeaway, when you watch the Brazilian teams, the Mexican teams, even Esperance from Tunisia Sundowns, you watch these other teams. The difference in the way MLS team rosters are constructed versus them is becoming more and more apparent. And the way we do it in MLS is absolutely hindering us. It. Absolutely. So Miami's total spend. I don't have the exact number on this, Miami's total spend, including Messi, who, who's, you know, an anomaly, has to be $30 million. Plus there are a lot of teams in this Club World cup who don't spend $30 million on their roster.

[Tim Howard]

It's a really good point. It's a really good point.

[Landon Donovan]

The problem is, is 20 of that goes to Messi, couple to probably Suarez, couple to Busquets, couple to, I don't know, whoever, Jordi Alba, whoever. Yeah, and the rest is guys making 2, 3, 400 grand and eventually that you get what you pay for. Yeah, like those guys are. There's a big drop off between Suarez, Messi, Busquets and a lot of guys on their team.

[Tim Howard]

I mean, what you're saying is it's a, it's a very healthy league now where the league's not going anywhere. Profits and valuations are certainly still going up. And so it's been proven in other leagues, which, what I'm reading from you is you can create a hard cap, you can create a luxury tax, and then you can basically say, go spend the money how you want. If you, if you mess it up, okay, well, that's kind of on you then you need to hire someone better in that position. And we found that there are really good people in the position of sporting director, technical director, presidents. Right. And so the league isn't, isn't now at a place it once was. It's in a very healthy, intelligent place. And so, yeah, some of those guardrails are hindering and look at, I think it shows. And sometimes you need this, right? Sometimes you need the Club World cup for that. Because what does everyone always ask us, hey, Tim, what is an, you know, where would an MLS team finish in the Premier League or whatever? Well, now we see some, some of those questions being answered. Right? And, and, and you, you need that a little bit in order to, you need those comparisons in order to kind of get some of those wake up calls.

[Landon Donovan]

But Tim, we've been having this conversation for decades. I remember when we first started playing Champions cup against, yeah, well, Central American teams, Caribbean teams, but mostly against Mexican teams. And it was like, why can we, you know, I remember Garber being like pissed off, why can't we beat these Mexican teams? We spend the same as them. And I'm like, no, we don't. You pay me 4 million. You play Robbie Keane 4 million, pay David 6 million. So we've got a 15 million, $17 million cap. These Mexican team spend 17 million, but they got 17 guys making a million dollars and it's just way better for your roster. So they. The simple thing to me, and I'm just making up numbers. But this is something I've thought about for a long time. So it's not just half ass. You have a minimum spend.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Call it whatever, 15 million, 20 million that every team has to spend. So the players union and the players are happy. Then you have a maximum number for your cap. 25 million, 30 million.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

If you spend over it, maybe there's a luxury tax, dollar for dollar.

[Tim Howard]

Luxury tax, dollar for dollar.

[Landon Donovan]

Or you say it has to be 30, but you can have one or two players above that, like a Messi or whatever. Don't count. That's it. That's it. Nothing else. Right. And you can factor in how do you account for transfer fees and how does that play into it. And that's fine. But that's workable. But it's not that difficult. And it is time, it's long past time to just take the guardrails off. It really is. Okay. Just a few other interesting comments. Did you see Jurgen Klopp's comments this week?

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

This guy, man, I think the Red Bull's getting to his system.

[Tim Howard]

The Red Bull's not wearing off.

[Landon Donovan]

No, it's. I think it's pumping. So on the Club World cup he said, I'm going to quote, it's a pointless competition. Whoever wins it, it will be the worst winner of all time because they have played all summer and then gone straight back into the league. All right. You like my German accent?

[Tim Howard]

Terrible.

[Landon Donovan]

There are people. It was pretty good. To be fair. There are people who have never been involved in the day to day business of football and are now coming up with ideas. Yeah, fair. It's too many games. I fear that next season we will see injuries like this like never before. If not, then they'll come during or after the Club World Cup. There's no real recovery for those involved, neither physically nor mentally.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

All right, go ahead.

[Tim Howard]

Look, I think there's. I think there's probably overall there's too many games. You know, again, we keep going back to Rodri at the Brazilian, not team player at Manchester City. And he said those comments and then tore his ACL right after. And so I don't know, I just think as at a certain point there, there, you know, there's probably too many games in the calendar which then leads itself to having play ne players needing to make decisions based on their priorities, which we've seen this summer. Yeah, I don't disagree with him, though, that, you know, there's going to be a physical and, or mental toll, you know, as we go through this next year. And it's. That's the sad part because it's the, it should be the most important year, given that it's a, you know, we're on the cusp of a World cup. So.

[Landon Donovan]

Can I make a suggestion? I literally just came up with this just off top of my head. What if calendar year to calendar year, so365, you can start in January, you could start in June, July, whatever, to the next July or the next January or whatever. What if there was a maximum number of minutes a player was allowed to play in real competition? I literally. That just came to my head as you were talking.

[Tim Howard]

Well, how would that work? They'll have to be something like that, right? Because those guardrails only get put in place on maximum number of games when horrific injuries happen. So we're gonna have to. Unfortunately, we're gonna have to cross that bridge first. You know, there's going to have to be injuries, which. Which we're already seeing, by the way. We're gonna have to. We're gonna see a ton of injuries where some sort of governing body gets involved and then tries to scale it back. But I don't know if we're. We're close to that, if I'm being honest.

[Landon Donovan]

I don't think so.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, I think the players have to.

[Landon Donovan]

Well, look, it would be then very interesting to see how the clubs manage that. Do you not play them in these third round Carabao cup games?

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Right. Or do you, you know, because it, like, I understand Jurgen Klopp's comments, but he was guilty of all that too. Like, he was playing guys to the bone too. And I just think it's interesting now that he's not there day to day, that it's easy for him to say, well, it's too much now. It's too much.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. I mean, I mean, the big, like, the big problem is. I don't disagree with that. The big problem is this doesn't affect every team. So. So if you look at England, I could easily say, correct.

[Landon Donovan]

It's disproportionate, right.

[Tim Howard]

If I, if I could say I have a solution, right. Hypothetically, if I said, like, we'll get rid of the league cup in England, right, and you only FA cup, no replays, which they've gone to, and you show you're playing just Premier League games and just FA cup, right? And then you have your national team and then. And then this tour, this tournament in the summer Club World cup only affects a couple teams. The fact of the matter is, if you're a team that's never going to play in the Club World cup, you're going to be like, well, don't take away our opportunity at glory and take away the League Cup. Right. So. So you're going to get people who are like, they're going to vote for keeping the League cup involved because that's important to their club. The Club World cup isn't important to them because they're never going to be in it. So it's a hard.

[Landon Donovan]

But then the idea of games would be good or minutes maybe possible maximum minutes played.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Cause then you decide, you decide how you're gonna. Right?

[Tim Howard]

Players are already deciding.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, players are deciding.

[Tim Howard]

It's important.

[Landon Donovan]

Let the club decide.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

And the player.

[Tim Howard]

Sure.

[Landon Donovan]

Okay. This one's really funny. Before we finish up here. So, Enzo Maresca, I love this. Enzo Maresca. Chelsea manager went off after his game on the weather and the tournament being held in the US with four minutes left to go in the game, they went into a two hour weather delay. Welcome to America, baby. I love this. If you haven't sat in the Frisco locker room for two hours, oh, God, it's always there.

[Tim Howard]

I did as well.

[Landon Donovan]

Not played in this country. But when they returned, Chelsea conceded a penalty which Benfica converted. So of course it's the weather's fault. Had nothing to do with them conceding a penalty, taking the match to extra time. So he said, I think for me personally, I'm not going to do his accent here. I think for me personally it's not football. It's already seven, eight, nine games that they have suspended. It's actually six. I think it's a joke, to be honest. It's not football. It's not for us. It's not for us. You cannot be inside for that long. It's completely something new. But I struggle to understand. I can understand that for security reasons you have to suspend the game. But if you suspend seven, eight games, that means that this is probably not the right place to do this competition.

[Tim Howard]

I mean, listen, we hear it's strange. I will give him this credit. It's strange because we, you know, I played in England nearly my entire career. It chucks it down in England and there's never any. There's no lightning, there's no thunder. Like they don't cancel games. It's like not severe tornado watches. Right. You Just play through the rain. But I get it here in America, and, like, it's weird and it's frustrating. I think back when I came back to the mls, we were in Colorado, and we were playing Bruce's New England revolution, right? And there's a weather delay, and Bruce is like, we don't need halftime. Let's just come back out, right? Because. Sorry, Bruce. That was a terrible Bruce, but you get the point. But basically, we had like a. We're in the 40th minute LD stoppage, right? So we go in for God knows how long, come back out, play the five minutes, then halftime. And then he's like, why are we having halftime? I'm like, well, Bruce, you actually can't make rules. I. Right, you think you can? So what you. I think we probably listen to him. Then we go in at halftime, come back out, then there's another two hour delay, at which point our brilliant chef Nancy whips up some banana bread. So I've got, like, five extra pounds on me, trying to go back out and warm up, and I'm like, this ain't going to be good. I think we lost. But, yeah, I get the point. Like in a. In a game. And there's nobody in the stands, by the way, because it's like, all right, everyone at home after the third. Third weather break. I don't know, what are you going to do? Does he. Does he. All I would say to Maresca is, after this tournament, he's going to go to Ibiza and he'll have a bonus check that came in, and he's going.

[Landon Donovan]

To be just fine.

[Tim Howard]

And that got paid because America is a great place to play soccer when there's a lot of money involved. So I don't know. Enzo. I like Enzo Maresca. I get what he's saying. The weather's miserable in the summer at some of these places, but don't see that change anytime soon.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, I love that people are finally realizing, like, everyone's like, america sucks. It's so easy to play there today. I'm like, yeah, come play and see how you feel. Tell me how that weather is.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, exactly.

[Landon Donovan]

All right, last thing here. US LNT on USWNT a couple friendlies for the women's team. Both were 40 wins against Republic of Ireland. Biggest takeaways for me were lots of players played, which was great. It was kind of a starting ish group in the first game, and then a bunch of changes for the second group. And then the second biggest takeaway for me was Rose Lavelle in the second game. She only played a few minutes, but I just love that Emma Hayes is so aware of those things and alert. She put her on for the last few minutes, let her get a little curtain call and it was fantastic.

[Tim Howard]

And after seven months away, gets a goal and assist in the first. So yeah, she's a stud. You talk about women getting opportunities. Like she's making a lot of changes. She's giving players some time to rest and bringing a new one so you know they're, they're in the shop window. And two, four no wins isn't bad.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, Ireland weren't great, but still two good wins for them. All right, let's take a break. When we get back, we will get into your Questions in the AT&T fan connection and talk anything but soccer right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen. Stay right there.

[Tim Howard]

There's nothing better than feeling like someone has your back and that things are going to get done without you even having to ask.

[Landon Donovan]

Like fans who start to sing and chant at the exact moment their team needs to rally.

[Tim Howard]

A coach who can change strategies at halftime to help their team win.

[Landon Donovan]

A keeper you know is defending your.

[Tim Howard]

Goal or a forward who is always ready to receive the ball.

[Landon Donovan]

AT Unfiltered Soccer. Tim and I know all too well how important it is to be sure someone out there has your back. That's precisely why AT and T has a new guarantee.

[Tim Howard]

The AT and T guarantee is all about having your back when you're with AT and T. If there's a network interruption, they'll proactively make it right with a credit for a full day of Service guaranteed.

[Landon Donovan]

Visit att.comguarantee to learn more. Terms and conditions apply.

[Tim Howard]

AT&T connecting changes everything.

[Landon Donovan]

Credit for Fiber downtime lasting 20 minutes or more or wireless downtime lasting 60 minutes or more caused by a single incident impacting 10 or more more towers. Restrictions and exclusions apply. See att.com guarantee for full details. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Sports are all about teamwork and so is insurance. Whether you need an in person or digital assist, State Farm is there to help you choose the right coverage for your home, car and more. Get a game plan that helps fit your life and talk to State Farm today. State Farm State Farm with the assist. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability and eligibility vary by state. This episode is brought to you by Polestar. There's only one true way to experience the all electric luxury SUV Polestar 3, and that's to take a test drive. It can go from 0 to 60 in as little as 4.8 seconds with the dynamic handling of a sports car. But to truly understand how it commands.

[C]

The road, you need to be behind the wheel.

[Landon Donovan]

Up to 350 miles of range. The 3D surround sound system by Bowers and Wilkins. It's all something you have to experience to believe. So book your Test drive for Polestar.

[Tim Howard]

3 [e-mail] 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. The best way to grow the game of soccer in the US Is to keep asking questions and keep talking about the sport we all love. At, AT and T. Connecting changes everything. And on uslnt, our connections with you will help grow the game. Yes, it's that time again. The AT&T fan connection. One that we love, you love and Jordan loves Jordan. Welcome in. Portland Thorns Inc. Is out. It's summertime. Let's go.

[C]

It's so hot. It's so hot.

[Landon Donovan]

Is it? It's hot in New York.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. Sleeveless all the way.

[C]

90 something degrees today, so.

[Landon Donovan]

Oof. Hey, can we. You know that Portland Hearts of pie, hearts of palm, hearts of pine.

[C]

Different Portland.

[Landon Donovan]

Oh, I love hearts of palm by the way. How good are those? So underrated. Can we get them to send a shirt that the stage is yours? Guys, will you send me a shirt.

[Tim Howard]

Please, properly, not hearts of.

[Landon Donovan]

I'll send you a signed copy of my book and Tim's book if you send me a jersey.

[C]

I didn't write a book. Not yet, but if this show keeps going, you never know, you could write.

[Tim Howard]

You will after year one. What do you got for us?

[C]

I gotta. I got some questions for you. This one is from Tony via email. He said first off, love the show. Haven't missed a single episode. Thank you, Tony. I was watching a report from Alexi Lawless on the Costa Rica game and.

[Landon Donovan]

That was your first mistake, Tony.

[C]

He said he didn't like the wing backs in the game. That's what Alexi said, according to Tony. I'm a Columbus fan and I gotta show love to my boy Max Aron. A goal and an assist in response to a mistake. 10 minutes in. Thoughts on what it takes to be good enough in the wing back position.

[Landon Donovan]

He's actually. You're actually answering the question a little bit. Max Aron is not a left back. He's a left wing back. He is, he is like prototypically designed to Be a left wing back. He, he struggles in really tough moments defensively. Like really, I'm not talking about every day, every week with Columbus, but like in these really high pressure. There was the play later in the game where they scored, where they, he, they split. He. And I don't know who it was. Luca De la Torre. Maybe he's just like, that's not his strength, but he's really good. I mean he can run and run and run. He's really good actually getting forward. His service is good and he can actually run by people, you know, like he can make a touch, make a yard and serve the ball. So that's what he's really good at. And by the way, I said this to Moadu yesterday, Tim. It's so rare that a guy who is very left footed and most people who are left footed are very left footed to be that good with his right foot. It was a phenomenal finish. Like people overlook that. That's a really hard finish for someone who's right footed.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

And he just rolled it into the far post. It was a great goal. So I think that's, that's the key is he's a wing back.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. Look, I'll. I'm going to say something. I want to see if you agree. Oftentimes we talk about players who are cerebral. I think, I think on the pitch, Landon, of the 11 players, the person has to think the game the most are the outside backs. Yeah, it's a good choice because forgetting that in today's game. Geez. So as an outside back in buildup, right, you. It's all about balance and counter, right. So as the ball's building up onto the right side, the left fullback has to decide how far can I go? Do I stay tighter to my center back shoulder? Do I go in, pinch into the number six area to try and thicken it up like. And then by the way, as soon as you make that decision and my right winger who I see the pass on, he should play the ball into the channel. Now the pass gets cut out. Now I got to sprint back to get myself into, into a position I was just in. So the game just completely ebbs and flows and you've always got to be reading it. Like you said, you've got to be really good at one on one defending. You got to be able to head the ball well.

[Landon Donovan]

You have to be then connected with your center backs, right. So you're keeping the line, the integrity of the line. And then when balls get hit like back post and you're backing up, trying to head the ball. It's hard, man.

[Tim Howard]

It's a really difficult. So I think decision making. And again, we can be critical of him giving away the penalty early on, but these are moments very much like goalkeeping. You're going to make a lot more mistakes than you are solid plays, particularly when you're young and you learn from them and you build off them and that's how you create the experience. So, yeah, I think it's for. For both fullbacks, it's a. It's a challenge because they're both young.

[C]

Okay. I have a question for Tim from Matt via email.

[Tim Howard]

All right.

[C]

Matt is a longtime fan since the Metro Stars days.

[Tim Howard]

My guy, Matt, love you, but he's.

[C]

Actually asking you a question about Everton. He said, can you talk us through the goal that you scored while playing for Everton vs Bolton? What was your original intention with the ball? Did you mean to hit it on goal or was it just a hard, hard clearance? And then how did you feel afterwards? Did you speak with the other goalie after the match?

[Tim Howard]

No, it's. Yeah, it's a good question. So first of all, anyone who, like, like, anyone who, who wants to get on my good side, just say, yo, dog. I remember the Metro Star days because those are some tough days. Like, if you were in it with me back then, God bless you. You know what? It was Sylvan Distin, who's one of my best friends, he played me a dodgy back pass, but he had played me so many dodgy back passes that I was prepared for. So I think Chris Eagles was chasing me down. And look, I just. I was waiting for the ball to bounce and just stuck my foot through it. It's odd that I connected that way. It's probably like, you know, like a good golf swing. Like you have ld because it's coming from that direction. And I swung with my right foot. It probably should have kind of gone anywhere, but I just got really clean contact. You remember that night you were on the pitch, it was blowing a gale. Like, I mean, wow. I mean, it just got up there and just kept going and going and going and. And then big Dennis up front chased it down, which I think made the goalkeepers, like, had Dennis not chased that ball down, the goalkeeper would have just stayed back. But, like, Dennis started chasing the ball. Strakalosi, I think. Stra. Anyway, I can't pronounce his last name. He chased it, made the goalkeeper kind of hesitate, like he needed to come out. And then once the ball Skipped. Cause it was also wet. It was night night. But I don't know. I never scored. I'm never going to score again. Like, it was a weird feeling. Like, I. I think if. I always tell people, if I scored now, knowing what I know, I'd go crazy. Go crazy?

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah. You didn't celebrate at all.

[Tim Howard]

But I'm also. You celebrated with me, Johnny Heitzig and D. But I'm. I don't know what this means. And. And like, it's. I don't know. I'm a pessimist. We saw that with the Algeria game. Like, get the ball, Landon. He and he and Clink. Go do the rest. Landon scores his bedlam, and I'm kind of like, all right, well, we still got like three minutes left.

[Landon Donovan]

They can score.

[Tim Howard]

So I scored, I scored. And it was in the first half and I was like, all right, but I mean, if it stays 1 nil, this will be awesome. But we ended up losing 2:1, so, like, whatever.

[Landon Donovan]

Anyway, you know, the thing about that, the only thing I'll add is that night, the wind, it was really weird that night. It was. It was like blowing from. Literally from midfield. It was blowing in opposite directions. So, like, he hit it and it was blowing. I'm just pointing to my right on the screen. It was blowing into him, so it was kind of hanging up for a second, but then when it got past midfield, it was just whipped the other way, so it was just up and then it just took off. And then with the wet pound, and it was. It was so windy that day.

[Tim Howard]

Like, I'm not sure. Like, do you even think. Do you even think ld. Like, I. I'm saying no, but, like, if you pass me a ball in any way, shape or form on like, the best day ever, like, quiet, no. No rain, no wind. If you pass me a ball and I stuck my foot through it, like, one time, I don't know if I could. Even with like, a roll and a bounce and a more roll, I don't know if I could get it into the other goal. That's a long way, I think.

[Landon Donovan]

Well, you mean rolling into the other.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, I don't know.

[Landon Donovan]

I think you could get it rolling in on your, like, strongest days, but not by a lot. Not by a lot. I couldn't. No chance. I could.

[Tim Howard]

No, I wasn't celebrating. I wasn't. I wasn't celebrating with Bogdan. He was a red anyway, even though he's playing for Bolton, so it's all good.

[C]

I would definitely go and watch that if You've never seen it because it is pretty hilarious to watch everybody else on the field get so excited. And Tim's just like, we have other things to do. People like, let's move it, Move it along.

[Tim Howard]

I'm a man of the people. I've constantly said that I hide in plain sight. It's easy when you wearing the camo kit. Because that camo kit was unbelievable. Legendary.

[C]

I'm still looking for it.

[Tim Howard]

It's a tough one.

[C]

It is. It's hard to find. How about one from Brian via email? This may be controversial. He said, why not have a shot clock in soccer? Start it with established possession in one's offensive half of the field. A shot clock works in other sports the world has embraced like baseball, American football, basketball, even tennis. The shot clock would create things like new strategies to develop shots quicker, avoid the keepaway approach, etc, Goalkeepers, stay on your toes. Maybe all the VAR fanboys would still be satisfied so they could get VAR shot clock violations to review. Who.

[Tim Howard]

Who was that? Who's that?

[Landon Donovan]

Brian.

[C]

Brian.

[Tim Howard]

Brian. Hats off to you, man. Hats off to you. You go then, and then I'll go.

[Landon Donovan]

No, I don't think I have anything to say.

[Tim Howard]

Well, it's a great suggestion if you want to see all the German and English and Dutch people in the world.

[Landon Donovan]

Crazy.

[Tim Howard]

Lose all of their hair like they. That you think VAR is bad. The only thing I would say though is like the most traditional sport in America, I think, is baseball.

[Landon Donovan]

Right.

[Tim Howard]

Like, like, in terms like traditionalists. And if you'd have probably told us in the mid-90s, totally. That they're going to be like, oh, there's going to be a clock. Yeah. They're like, sure, okay. Cool. Terrible idea. God, anything's possible. I guess. It's weird. I mean, Americans get a bad rap and I'm. I played an mls. When did you have. Did you play in the long 35? No, I played an MLS when we had shootouts. It was comical and, and terrible and. And we look like a bunch of Muppets. But I don't know. I mean, crazier things have happened. Have they? I don't know. I can't. I can't.

[Landon Donovan]

Well, no, I mean, it's. It's crazy till it's not like you didn't used to be able to pick or you used to be able to pick the ball up when they passed it back to you. Right. So, like, things do change. I mean, I'm just. The reason I was laughing so hard is because what you said, like can you imagine people in Germany, in England and Italy?

[Tim Howard]

I have a feeling if that law got passed, I think they would, they would counter sue, make a counter law, like kick Americans out of the game of football.

[Landon Donovan]

Anyway, so good.

[Tim Howard]

Interesting suggestion.

[C]

I think there are a lot of traditionalists out there, but I think one thing I have to give American sports organizations credit for is that they are always trying to find ways to keep things interesting to like entertaining people. Yeah. And so like now you've got all these like crazy home run derbies going on in MLB and stuff like that makes it more exciting. But yeah, I can't imagine telling the English that we're going to have a shot clock.

[Tim Howard]

Here's a caveat for you, like we're on crazy, crazy ideas. So LD I played in 1997. I was a senior in high school and I signed a professional contract. I swear, I think I got paid 250 bucks a week. Right? That's a true story, which is a lot of money for me. Me, right? At 17, I. I played in US ISL for the North Jersey Imperials. And this is the, this is the year LD they introduced kick ins from 35 yards. So anytime the ball went out for like a. I'm 17 years old, right? Couldn't catch a. Couldn't catch a cold. 35 yards out, they'd put the ball, all these, all these plumbers and like, like bar keeps would come like because they were like semi professionals and they would just, they put the ball in the box and they would pummel you. And I was like, this is crazy. But like they tried it. It never stuck.

[Landon Donovan]

But that's so good.

[C]

Kickens you can watch. Maybe not with Tim Howard in goal, but you can watch lots of clips of that on YouTube too, and I highly recommend doing that. It's very entertaining.

[Tim Howard]

I love that, J.R. love that.

[C]

Okay, last one. This one is from Steve via email. Given the incredible. I feel like I'm not going to get all the way through this question. Given the incredible rapport and mutual respect you've always shown for each other, I was wondering if you would ever consider the possibility of co head coaching the US Men's national team. Your combined experience, leadership and deep understanding. I'm so sorry. Deep understanding of the game could undoubtedly bring a unique dynamic to the team. I often find myself thinking about how well you two work together and the positive impact that could have on the national program. It's a fascinating thought to consider whether we might ever see such a flight. Formidable coaching partnership.

[Tim Howard]

Pause, JR I only realized Halfway through that question, you were taking. Taking a piss out of me and landing there. So that will come back to. Come back to haunt you. Take it away. LD you've coached. So what are your thoughts, man?

[Landon Donovan]

I have a lot of thoughts about that. My biggest takeaway is I watched, you know, I'm doing the Gold cup right now. I've watched Rafa Marquez with Javier Aguirre with Mexico. Rafa Marquez, we played against iconic player. And then Javier Aguirre is just an old school traditional coach. I can hear when I'm doing the games, sometimes you hear like what's going on on the sidelines. And I speak Spanish, so I can hear Rafa Marquez and how he's impacting and influencing the game. And I think it's so crucial and it is one of my critiques of Pochettino is that having someone like that on his bench I think would help him tremendously.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

To the actual question, I don't think Timur. I. Well, I can only speak for me, the national team job is a hard job. I think if there was a real. I think a role like that could actually suit guys like Tim and me. We're not. We're not going to be the guys who are moving every two years across the country or across the world to chase club coaching jobs. It's, you know, I had that opportunity and. And turn those down. But a national team's different and a national team would be. Would be interesting in particular because you don't have to spend so much time trying to ingrain so many different soccer ideas. You get some basic ideas, but then it's about managing people and the situations and the staff and sharing your experiences and leading and I think those things we'd be very good at.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, well, look, I would happily serve my country on the U.S. soccer level above the coaching staff in a role that served above the coaching staff and higher up in terms of getting the right people in the job. But coaching, it's not something that's ever interest. I've had an interest in the only issue with what he's asking or what you're saying with Rafa Marquez LD is I might get this wrong, but anybody who's going to have substantial influence on this generation, yourself who coach. But you're not all in. You have other interests. Right. Clint doesn't coach. Josie doesn't coach. Gooch doesn't coach. Carl Spar doesn't coach. Steve Trendelow does. Right. Stevie Trendelow does. Michael Bradley is tailor made for that. In a couple of Years. He's, you know, he's just starting, you know, a couple years into his coaching career, so. Absolutely, he's going to be that guy. I can see a Jesse Marsh, Michael Bradley coaching staff, and I laugh at that only because I think that we will see that. But what other players that, you know? Rafa Marquez. Totally. I mean, he's an icon in Mexico. Right. And he can connect those generations. And he has. He kind of has the chops to coach, but we do. We. I'm trying to think who we have. Like.

[Landon Donovan]

Well, you just. I mean, Trundle would be phenomenal.

[Tim Howard]

Sure.

[Landon Donovan]

I'm saying guys, Tim. Who know what it's like to be in the fire.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

And you don't have, like, Clint in his own ways, you know, he's unique. But having him there, just an example. Right. Eunice Musa calls and says, I don't. I'm not. Don't feel like going into this camp. You imagine if Clint picked up the phone and called him, said, eunice, let me talk you through this for a minute.

[Tim Howard]

Sure.

[Landon Donovan]

Before you make a decision, let me talk you through this.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Right. That's valuable. Really.

[Tim Howard]

I agree. I agree. But from. But. But to be on the coaching staff, here's the other thing. You have to be all in. You have to show that you're not just like a talking head or you're not a personality, that you're actually a coach. You're going to carry bags and put cones down and do. Do the hard work. And none of the guys that. That I'm mentioning have gone down that.

[Landon Donovan]

Path, is what I'm saying. It's true. But there's. There are guys. There are guys.

[Tim Howard]

But again, should that. Should that not also come from U.S. soccer? And of course, the mandate when you have a conversation, you're gonna hire pot, you're paying 6 million, you're gonna dictate he can bring. Hey, also, it's important to us as a country and as a federation that we have someone. Yeah, okay.

[Landon Donovan]

For sure.

[C]

Well, when that day comes, I'm sure we'll all be thrilled. I'm going to be doing this podcast by myself, though, so I apologize.

[Landon Donovan]

You will be thrilled to deal with us.

[Tim Howard]

You'll be thrilled. Not a lot of people will be thrilled.

[C]

All right. That's all I got this week.

[Landon Donovan]

Thanks, J.R. thanks, Junior.

[Tim Howard]

Appreciate it.

[Landon Donovan]

Tim.

[Tim Howard]

What's up?

[Landon Donovan]

Anything but soccer.

[Tim Howard]

Anything but Soccer.

[Landon Donovan]

Controversial food takes this week. Interesting one from Weston. And Tim Waya.

[Tim Howard]

I'll be honest. I'll be honest. When I saw this on A rundown. I thought if I say anything remotely bad about Weston or Tim, I not. We could get, we could get shunned. We're already shunned. Weston already says he wouldn't come speak to us because God knows what. So I'm going to be careful about what I say because, you know, just saying that. Just saying that.

[Landon Donovan]

All right, so that you, you guys need to go watch the actual clip. It's on the Uve Twitter Fear, or on their podcast. Okay, so I'm just, I'm quoting a little bit of it. But Weston says to Tim, you Italians don't have any variety. It's pasta, pizza, fruit, fish, steak. You know what the problem is with Italian food? It's great. It's good, specific food that you do very well. But in America, if I go to a burger joint or a steakhouse, then I go to another place 10 minutes down the street, I'm still eating a burger, but it's a completely different taste. In Italy, I go to this restaurant and I get a pesto pasta. I go 10 minutes down the street and order a pesto pasta. It's the exact same thing. And Weah said, I prefer American Italian food. Okay, go ahead.

[Tim Howard]

Why, why you pass it to me? I don't want, I don't want to be in this segment. I, I, I like American Italian food, too, because the guy in Brooklyn that I get it from isn't from Brooklyn.

[Landon Donovan]

Came from Italy. Right.

[Tim Howard]

You know, he's from, he's from Italy. So, like, I, yeah, I mean, you got to kind of know your surroundings. I, I've been to Italy. I've played there. I visited there. I tend to like their food. But I, it's in a snippet. I, I don't know. I don't know what else to say about. They prefer burger joints and steakhouses and, or something like that. And I don't know. I think Italian food's good. I'm guessing if they get it every day, I get a little less variety. Have you ever been to Liverpool? Because if you've been to Liverpool, I ate that every day. English food, but I don't know.

[Landon Donovan]

There's a lot of foods you could hammer. Like, English food is shocking. It's not great shocking. But Italian food, I was kind of like, you know, it's funny. So forget about the food. But, like, what I thought was really interesting about this is, and we've said this, and this is kind of, you know, we're, we're having fun here. But this is kind of part of the bigger issue with some of these guys is who's advising them.

[Tim Howard]

No.

[Landon Donovan]

Right. Honestly. All right, so I. Look, we can all have our opinion and whatever, and. But I'm guess, Tim, I'm guessing that comment didn't go over real well with Uve fans or. Or Italians. And, like, in the end of the day, who cares, right? It's just his opinion on, like, who cares? But my bigger thing is, like, who's advising them? And my other thing was who from Uve? This was not a live interview, I don't think. Right, Right. Why would you put that out?

[Tim Howard]

Because content sells, baby.

[Landon Donovan]

But it's not funny. It's not like. It's not helping. It's not helping anybody.

[Tim Howard]

Different world, man.

[Landon Donovan]

Okay, but I just. That's the first thing that came to my set in my head. I was like, why would they release this? Yeah, you could just cut that part out.

[Tim Howard]

Social media manager had one job. Edit this. Edit this interview.

[Landon Donovan]

Okay. Hopefully.

[Tim Howard]

Well, hopefully they get. They get some good Italian American, Italian food during the September friendlies. So that there for them to look.

[Landon Donovan]

Forward to if they're there. We appreciate, as always, guys, thanks for being with us today. Remember to subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, anywhere you get your pods. Follow all across social media at Unfiltered Soccer for bonus content.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. Thanks, everyone. Thanks for representing sponsor VW, our Fan Connection sponsor AT&T, and our unfiltered refresh sponsor, Coors Light. Have an amazing week. Enjoy your football. We'll be back next Tuesday with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.