Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes"

Release Date: March 4, 2025

In this engaging episode of "Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard", hosts Landon Donovan and Tim Howard delve into the latest developments in the soccer world, spanning Major League Soccer (MLS), international play, and both the U.S. Men's and Women's National Teams. Presented by Volkswagen, the episode offers insightful commentary, humorous banter, and thoughtful analysis, enriched with notable quotes from the hosts.

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1. MLS Weekend Recap

A. Chicago Fire vs. D.C. United – Jacob Morrell’s Phenomenal Goal

The hosts kick off the discussion with an exciting highlight from the MLS weekend—the remarkable goal scored by Jacob Morrell of Chicago Fire. Landon Donovan praises Morrell’s technical prowess:

[05:22] Landon Donovan: "If you didn't know who he is, now you're gonna know. This is an insane goal. The way the ball was coming and the ability to make contact would have been difficult. He looped it into the back post. Phenomenal goal."

Tim Howard echoes this sentiment, emphasizing the goal’s impact:

[05:22] Tim Howard: "Big shout out to Jacob Morrell. It was especially because it was an equalizer as well. It's a proper bicycle kick. Sweet contact left the goalkeeper no chance. Massive shout out to Jacob Morrell."

B. San Jose’s Strong Start Under Bruce Arena

San Jose's impressive performance under head coach Bruce Arena is a focal point. Donovan discusses Arena's effective management and team cohesion:

[07:00] Landon Donovan: "Bruce Arena is getting it right. They look really good. Joseph Martinez and Arango look good together. They've got Christian Espinoza playing as a right wing-back. That's working out well for him. They're good defensively."

Tim Howard concurs, highlighting Arena's strategic acumen:

[07:36] Tim Howard: "If you give a good football manager the right pieces, you'll get performances like San Jose. Bruce Arena is a master tactician, focusing on team strength over rigid formations."

C. New England’s Struggles with Stadium Attendance

The conversation shifts to New England's disappointing turnout at their recent match. Donovan criticizes the club’s management and stadium logistics:

[12:15] Landon Donovan: "Robert Kraft, Phil Anschutz, and the Hunt family kept MLS afloat for years, but now the stadium is an hour from downtown with poor attendance. It's a nightmare, especially seeing enthusiastic tailgating in San Diego and then empty stands in New England."

Tim Howard adds his perspective on fan dedication:

[10:38] Tim Howard: "New England fans are known for their dedication, but the low attendance reflects deeper issues within the club's setup. It's not just about weather; it's about how the club engages its fan base."

D. San Diego FC’s Home Match Controversy

San Diego FC faced backlash during their home opener against St. Louis City Snapdragon due to homophobic chants from a segment of fans. Donovan expresses disappointment:

[12:42] Landon Donovan: "San Diego is one of the most accepting communities, but this incident was really nasty and ugly. The community loves San Diego, and this shouldn't define their home opener."

Tim Howard emphasizes the need for immediate corrective actions:

[15:35] Tim Howard: "San Diego's head coach and sporting director condemned the homophobic slur, which is crucial. My hope is that future games won't see such behavior again."

E. LA Galaxy’s Dependence on Star Player Ricky “Pooch”

The hosts dissect LA Galaxy's recent loss to Vancouver and the team's reliance on their star player, Ricky Pooch:

[16:06] Landon Donovan: "Ricky is their most impactful player. Every time he’s not on the field, the team struggles to adjust. It's like when Michael Jordan is not on the court—it fundamentally changes the team dynamics."

Tim Howard agrees, noting the challenge of replacing such a dominant figure:

[18:15] Tim Howard: "Replacing a player like Ricky is impossible in MLS. It requires other players to step up significantly, which takes time. Early season struggles are expected."

F. Houston Dynamo vs. Inter Miami – Messi’s Absence and Club Response

Donovan critiques Lionel Messi’s recent disciplinary issues and absence from the Houston Dynamo match against Inter Miami:

[24:43] Landon Donovan: "Messi should never have played that game due to his actions last week. Grabbing an assistant's neck warranted a suspension, not just a fine. Justice should prevail, and he shouldn't be part of that game."

Tim Howard discusses the broader implications for MLS:

[25:24] Tim Howard: "Not retroactively suspending Messi creates a precedent where multiple players could face similar issues, disrupting the league's integrity."

Donovan further comments on the financial and logistical challenges of charging premium prices expecting star players:

[21:53] Landon Donovan: "Charging $1,000 for tickets without guarantees is flawed. Clubs need to be transparent about potential absences and offer flexible pricing."

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2. U.S. Men's National Team Updates

A. Josh Sargent’s Performance and Manager’s Public Critique

The discussion turns to Josh Sargent's outstanding scoring streak and his manager's public remarks:

[29:14] Tim Howard: "Sargent has seven goals in seven games, but his manager’s comments about needing him to run more publicly are confusing. It might be an attempt to maximize his potential."

Donovan questions the appropriateness of such public critiques:

[31:09] Landon Donovan: "Why would a manager publicly criticize a player when they have a relationship? It suggests underlying issues with communication."

B. Tyler Adams’ Consistent Impact

Tyler Adams is highlighted for his continuous positive influence on the team:

[34:02] Tim Howard: "Adams consistently up the team’s chances of winning. He's reliable and unwavering, crucial for team stability."

Donovan shares anecdotes about Adams’ influence:

[34:02] Landon Donovan: "When Adams plays, the team wins. Coaches recognize his silent but significant impact."

C. Christian Pulisic’s Struggles with Club Performance

Christian Pulisic's recent form with his club is scrutinized, attributing his struggles to the team's overall performance:

[36:45] Tim Howard: "Pulisic's nine-game goal drought isn't solely on him; Milan hasn't been performing well. Team dynamics greatly affect individual performance."

Donovan adds context regarding club management changes:

[38:09] Landon Donovan: "With coaches like Joao Felix being moved around, Pulisic lacks a stable environment to thrive. Consistency in management is key."

D. Chris Richards’ Emergence in the Premier League

Chris Richards' rising performance at Crystal Palace is celebrated, with hopes it translates to national team success:

[38:55] Landon Donovan: "Chris Richards has been phenomenal for Crystal Palace, becoming a mainstay in their defense. His consistency is promising for the national team."

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3. U.S. Women's National Team Updates

A. First Loss Under Emma Hayes

The hosts address the U.S.WNT's first defeat under coach Emma Hayes, analyzing its implications:

[40:01] Tim Howard: "A single loss doesn't define the team. Emma Hayes is a fantastic coach who will use adversity to strengthen the squad."

Donovan provides insights into the team's challenges without key players:

[42:13] Landon Donovan: "Outside of the Olympics, the team is facing tougher competition, and missing stars like Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith makes it more challenging."

Howard emphasizes the importance of resilience:

[41:38] Tim Howard: "Resilience is crucial. The team's response to this loss will determine their strength moving forward."

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4. FA Cup Red Cards and On-Field Incidents

A. Dangerous Tackles and Red Cards

The episode covers recent red cards in the FA Cup, highlighting concerning tackles:

[42:48] Landon Donovan: "The tackle on Mateta was unnecessarily dangerous. Goalkeepers shouldn’t put themselves at risk, and players need better spatial awareness."

Tim Howard shares personal experiences to underscore the issue:

[44:32] Tim Howard: "As a goalkeeper, seeing a tackle like that is terrifying. Players must prioritize safety."

B. Anthony Gordon’s Suspension and Its Impact

Anthony Gordon’s red card situation is discussed, with Donovan stressing the importance of fair suspensions:

[46:10] Landon Donovan: "Gordon missing the Carabao Cup Final is a significant loss. Red cards should be consistent across competitions to maintain fairness."

Howard critiques the overlap of disciplinary actions:

[47:00] Tim Howard: "Red cards affecting multiple competitions complicate matters. Players shouldn't miss Premier League games for actions in the World Cup."

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5. Listener Questions and Fan Connection

A. Goalkeeper Time-Wasting Rule

Listener Mel inquires about the new rule penalizing goalkeepers for time-wasting during corner kicks. Both hosts express indifference and skepticism regarding its effectiveness:

[55:40] Tim Howard: "I don't care. It's a dumb rule. Referees' subjective enforcement will lead to confusion and inconsistency."

Donovan adds practical insights based on his playing experience:

[56:10] Landon Donovan: "When the six-second rule came in, it didn’t change much. The last thing referees want is to give an indirect free kick that leads to goals."

B. Impact of Pay-Per-View and Streaming on Fans

Joe raises concerns about the financial strain on fans due to multiple streaming services hosting MLS and Premier League games. The hosts empathize with the frustration:

[57:51] Landon Donovan: "There's way too much content, and fans are being gouged with multiple subscriptions. It’s unsustainable for passionate supporters trying to follow their teams."

Howard acknowledges the dilemma but points out the necessity of supporting leagues:

[59:44] Tim Howard: "It's a tough balance. While streaming platforms offer more accessibility, the cumulative costs can be overwhelming for fans."

C. Career Paths After Retirement for Players

Chris Vi asks why retired players often choose roles as analysts or managers instead of stepping away from the sport. The hosts share their personal motivations:

[60:36] Landon Donovan: "It's about staying connected to the game. I enjoy commentating and studio work more than coaching. It's fulfilling and keeps me involved."

[60:38] Tim Howard: "Football is my identity. After retiring, I want to stay involved through analysis and ownership-level discussions. It’s not just a career—it’s who I am."

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6. Personal Connections and Celebrations

The episode takes a heartfelt turn as the hosts celebrate their birthdays with messages from listeners and special guests. Landon and Tim exchange jokes about their ages and share amusing anecdotes about their personal lives, reinforcing the camaraderie that defines the podcast.

Additionally, a special shout-out is given to Diana Taurasi, celebrated as one of the greatest WNBA players of all time. Donovan and Howard laud her outstanding career achievements and lasting impact on the sport.

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Conclusion

In this episode of "Unfiltered Soccer", Landon Donovan and Tim Howard provide a comprehensive and insightful analysis of recent soccer events, blending professional commentary with personal stories and interactions. Their candid discussions on MLS dynamics, national team developments, and broader issues within the sport offer listeners a nuanced understanding of the current soccer landscape. The inclusion of listener questions and celebratory moments further enriches the episode, making it a must-listen for soccer aficionados seeking unvarnished perspectives from two of the sport’s esteemed former professionals.

Remember to subscribe to "Unfiltered Soccer" on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred platform, and follow @UnfilteredSoccer on social media for bonus content.

Transcript

[Landon Donovan]

Messi should have never been playing in this game, period, because of what happened last week. He gets a yellow card right at the end for dissent and he walks over and grabs the neck of one of the NYCFC assistants. He got fined, which I don't know what the exact rule is, but you can't put your hand on something on assistant's neck. 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 the past four, five years.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, baby. We are back. LD it's been a whirlwind of a couple weeks, traveling, doing all sorts of crazy stuff.

[Landon Donovan]

You, you were in England, weren't you?

[Tim Howard]

I was. I was in England.

[Landon Donovan]

New stadium.

[Tim Howard]

I was in England. I. You know what, you know what I did? I went to the Tottenham Hotspur game against City and I went with my dear friend, my good mate, L. Hardy, who's a legendary, world famous tattoo artist in London. And yeah, I was like, there's not many people I would, like, go and sit in the terraces and in the stands with.

[Landon Donovan]

I saw that video. You're in, like, you're with the people.

[Tim Howard]

I went to be. I'm a man of the people.

[Landon Donovan]

So I was like, wow.

[Tim Howard]

If, like, do you have an extra ticket for the City games? Like, yep, let's go. So went, yeah, dude. Climb the stairs at the new stadium. I mean, Spurs Stadium's awesome.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, I've been actually.

[Tim Howard]

You. You went.

[Landon Donovan]

That place is sick. How was the Everton Stadium?

[Tim Howard]

Oh, dude, it was majestic. So, like, I went over, I interviewed David Moyes and Jordan Pickford for a piece on plp and they, they, they were like, you want a private tour of the stadium? I'm like, yes, I want to.

[Landon Donovan]

Absolutely.

[Tim Howard]

It was incredible. Like, literally, you know, they had a group of people there with me who I, who I've known at the club and like, it was unbelievable. It was the first time ld that I was like, it's going to be sad leaving Goodison. Everybody's going to feel that. But I remember standing outside and then. And then standing at the center circle and walking on the terrace. And I was like, the, this is actually a stadium we can be really proud of. And I thought, and I think a lot of the supporters felt the same way as they've also toured the stadium. So, yeah, I'm super stoked, man. What have you been up to?

[Landon Donovan]

I was in New York, actually, in your hood for just a day or two doing an appearance and then back been doing A little bit of travel, but chill weekend with the family. My son's team there. It's insane. My son's soccer team has. They have a kid on their team, Tim, like you, you know this because you were watching your daughter play. And I don't know if your son played, but they have a kid on their team. He plays like a professional. And what. I mean, and he's. They're seven years old, so I watch him play and, like, he moves and he sees passes and he anticipates like a pro does.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

And you don't see that with kids. Right. They're just kind of out there doing their thing.

[Tim Howard]

Totally.

[Landon Donovan]

And every time I watch this kid, I'm like, if. And he's physically. His dad, I think, was on the verge of being like an MLS player. And so. And he's physically really good too. He just dominates. I mean, he must be by far the best 7 year old in the country. And I'm just. Every time I watch him, I'm like, this kid is insane. So they played in State Cup. They just dominated everyone. One State cup. They were like, whatever. Not that that matters, but this kid is so fun to watch.

[Tim Howard]

And you were, which is amazing, especially at that age. And you were in New York, in my hood, doing Tim Howard things. You went to. Did you. Did you. Someone said they saw you at Bang Bang Tattoo Studio. What were you doing there?

[Landon Donovan]

Can I confirm or deny I was there?

[Tim Howard]

But you might. But. But you might have.

[Landon Donovan]

No, I got a tattoo that's symbolic of my kids.

[Tim Howard]

Oh, I love that.

[Landon Donovan]

Some point, we'll show. It's actually not done yet because it took 10 hours to do half of it.

[Tim Howard]

So I was like, oh, you went. You went deep, bro.

[Landon Donovan]

That's crazy. He was so good. The guy was so good and so detailed, so. That's amazing.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, I mean, you know, it's one.

[Landon Donovan]

Of those in the moment, you're like, dude, can I just get out of here? And then after, you're like, thank God he took his time.

[Tim Howard]

Oh, you know, I. I'm at the point now I'm super heavily tattooed, where I tap out after, like two hours. I'm like, I'm bored of this. This isn't fun anymore.

[Landon Donovan]

All right, let's get on to it. Make sure to follow us on social media. Unfiltered soccer. Subscribe to the show, YouTube, Apple, podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your pods. If you like what we're doing, please leave a review. Lots of reviews already, and we appreciate that. Also, I had a Family member. I'm not going to out. This person yesterday said to me, you know, if I wanted to submit a question to your podcast, how would I do that? And I said, first of all, you're listening to the podcast. Second of all, if you're listening, you should know every week. So anyway, so for this person, who I'm not going to disclose, and for everyone else, you can also email@feedbackunfiltered soccer.com. so there you go. Now you know. So send in the. Sending the questions. All right, let's get right into it. MLS this weekend.

[Tim Howard]

Big weekend.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, there was a lot. So it's. It's classic. Like, two weeks in, everyone's overreacting to everything. First we had Chicago Fire, D.C. united, Greg Burhalter, not the perfect start. He will get it right eventually. But I don't know if you saw there was a goal. I saw at the end of the game, this bike at the end of the game, off a corner kick. Jacob Morell. If you didn't know who he is, now you're gonna know. Go Google it. This is an insane goal. The. The way the ball was coming and the ability just to make contact would have been difficult. And he looped it into the back post. Phenomenal goal. I'm guessing it could be goal of the year after week two, but what a phenomenal goal.

[Tim Howard]

I mean, the timing of it. I mean, big shout out to Jacob Morrell. I. I was watching and thinking that's. I'm thinking, shirt off into the stands, like, go crazy. It was especially because it was an equalizer as well. It's not like his team was just. I mean, that would have been a brilliant goal, no matter what. I mean, a proper bicycle kick. He meant every ounce of it. Like, sweet contact left the goalkeeper. No chance. It was, yeah, Massive. Massive shout out to Jacob Morrell.

[Landon Donovan]

All right, time for me to eat a little bit of crow. So I said, philly, why are you hiring a former Red Bull coach? Looks like it's working out well. So their first two games, they beat Orlando 4 2. Now they beat Cincy 4 1. So scoring goals, clearly not an issue. Again, we're going to overreact, but damn, they look good.

[Tim Howard]

They've got a lot of good pieces as well. Like, I think, you know, I think your. Your take on it was probably in the preseason accurate because you just don't know, you know, what are all the moves that they make? The right ones, are they going to gel? They look really. I mean, Baribo, by the way, what a Player, you have to have a goal scorer in this league. And he just looks bang on it, man. Like, he, yes, he's scoring the goals, but he's also like, dangerous and hungry and like, I'm like, wow, he's really, really good player. But again, they've got good pieces around, I think Sullivan on the wing, there's just some. There's a good makeup of this team that feels right. And, and look, I think when you score, when you score goals like that and back to back games, there's not like a coin. There's not a coincidence to it. Yeah, a little bit more sloppy in the beginning of the season, but like, they're, they're knocking on the door often when they have the ball.

[Landon Donovan]

There are times of the season where you score four or five and you're like, okay, where you know everything went in. But when you do it back to back games earlier, like, okay, there's something right here. So they're good. All right, so shame on every club who passed on Bruce arena over the past 12 to 15 months. Again, overreaction Monday here. Bruce is getting it right. They went to Kansas City and 1, 2, 1, they were down, I think 10 men for like 30 minutes or so, but grinded out a result. They look good, man. They look good. Joseph Martinez and Arango look good together. They got Christian Espinoza playing as a right wing back. That's working out well for him. They're good defensively.

[Tim Howard]

So, yeah, I'm, I'm with you on the Bruce arena hot takes, man. You just, like, you look at the team and they're so scary in the attack. Like, I look at that front four and I'm like, man, goals can come from anywhere. They're playing between lines, as you said. Like the wing backs, fullbacks are getting forward and it's just a, you know, it's just a reminder to everybody, if you give a good football manager the right pieces, you'll get performances like, forget, forget formations and like, style of play. Like, stop with all that. There's so many ways to win a football match. And if you get a good manager, that right, players, top quality players, you're going to win games. And that's what Bruce arena does. So, yeah, hats off to San Jose. They look really good.

[Landon Donovan]

I was having this conversation with someone the other day, and it's same with David Moyes, right? And obviously we're biased because we love both of them. But the most important thing is people are like, oh, change the formation and move this guy here. And that it's not. It's about having principles. And your principles can be physical and on the field and tactical. They can be how you treat people, how you get the players to play. But you have to have core principles that you stand by, that you believe in and you stick with. And when you vary is when you see problems. David Moyes is a principled man, and he's principled in how he plays and sets up a team. Bruce arena is the same way. So you know what you're getting there is zero ambiguity, zero. So they don't have to worry, what do I feel? Where am I at? Da, da, da. They're going to tell you, you know, you're not starting today. Here's why you're starting today. If you do well, you're going to play next week. And there's no bs they just get it done. And it's starting to come to fruition. And for San Jose, it's been a great.

[Tim Howard]

Looks good.

[Landon Donovan]

They've been great. And you said, give players. Give a manager players. But Bruce went out and brought in all those. Yeah, no, I know, but, like, a lot of coaches have someone above them doing that, but he just said, no, no, no, this is how we do it. Okay, let's get into the not so good from the weekend. One right here in my backyard that we'll get to, and one on the other side of the country, New England. You sent a picture, Tim, to our text. That was you watching the Columbus England New England game. And I mean, it looks like a preseason game in the middle of nowhere. There might have been. I think I was trying to count. There might have been 200 people on one side of the stadium that I. On the shot that I said this was home in New England, and it's not good. I mean, the team is poor. They look all out of sorts. And then when you see what's going on in the stadium, I don't. I don't know what's going on there, man.

[Tim Howard]

Well, I sent you that because I was like, they. Okay, let's. They announced the. Announced the attendance. And I'm using air quotes at 22. 274. So 22,000 people. Oh, sure. If they're gonna announce that, we're gonna go with that for a second. But, I mean, you saw what I saw. Like, you. You read things online. Like, it's called. You know what, you know where else is called Buffalo? You ever heard of Buffalo Bills?

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah.

[Tim Howard]

Let me tell you something. Like, number one, number two, it. Show. Show me a football fan. In the world. You can't stop them from going to their team's home opener. That's the one game like, of that they're so desperate for all season. And New England fans, who, by the way, live in that weather are going to say it's because of the temps. Like I looked at. Honestly, Landon, I looked at it and I. And I remember MLS 1.0 because I was a product of that. And I'm there playing for the Metro stars in the old giant stad and it. It looked exactly the same. Right? To your point, you can count to 200 and get and see how many people understands, like, man, New England show up and show out, because that. That's not great.

[Landon Donovan]

It's. Look, there's nuance here, right? Robert Kraft, along with Phil Anschutz and the Hunt family, kept Major League Soccer afloat for a long time, and they deserve credit for that. But now we're 30 years in and the stadium is an hour from downtown. There's nobody there. They're playing on turf that they don't spend on the team. It's just a nightmare. Yeah, it's a nightmare. And by the way, and this is not to harp on the Bruce arena stuff, but you had a really damn good coach who had started to turn things around there, and you didn't stand by him through a tough situation. He ended up getting let go. And it's just a mess, man. It's a mess and it's hard to watch. And when you watch all these other games and people are lined up and we'll get San Diego, you know, tailgating for hours ahead of time, filling up the stadium, and then you see that and you're like, what the hell are we doing, man?

[Tim Howard]

Totally.

[Landon Donovan]

That. That cannot be allowed to continue. Yep, something's got it.

[Tim Howard]

Something should change. Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

All right, let's move on. Late night Saturday night, MLS After Dark. San Diego FC with their first ever home match against St. Louis City. Snapdragon. Very cool stadium. Coach there. Been there. It's still desolate around the outside. So people who show up there, it's a long process to get, you know, trees and make it look. But in the stadium, it's beautiful.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

And it was a tough night for them. The game was shocking. I think the total XG between the two was just over one or maybe one and a half. 30 minutes in Chuqui, Lozano goes out with a hamstring injury, which is just a disaster. And then the real ugly. In the second half, there was a. Every time St. Louis, not every time, but multiple times when St. Louis goalkeeper was taking goal kicks. This traditional, it's either Mexican or Latin in origin. And they use a really nasty word in Spanish that I'm not going to repeat here. And it happened once, happened again, happened a third time to the point where they had to put up on the big screen. Listen, stop doing this. This is not acceptable. And I. I'm not sure really where to go with this, except that San Diego has to be better. And like this community, Tim, I. I know I live here now for 10 years, is probably the most accepting community I've ever lived in.

[Tim Howard]

Right.

[Landon Donovan]

If you go along the coast, you got surfer bros, skateboarders, whatever. You go inland, you have families and you go north county and there's like more affluent wealth. You go into downtown, there's more like hipster liberal. You go south, it's like the whole Mexican vibe and you get near the border and it's really cool. You go east and inland and you get more like rural America and everybody loves each other and there's no hatred here. And it doesn't happen. It really doesn't. Everywhere you go, people are just happy because they love San Diego. It's an amazing place to live. And then the first home opener ever for an MLS team. And this happens. And credit to San Diego. See, obviously they denounced it quickly, but this was really nasty. It was really ugly to see.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. So, I mean, obviously your take on it living there is such a poignant one. You know, I. Look, San Diego's head coach and sporting director both condemned. It's a homophobic chant and slur, and they condemned it. Look, what I would say. Anybody who knows me knows I don't. I don't put up with any of that crap like I am. I. None of those things should be said. I don't like it. What I would say is my hope is, and I like that the sporting director and the head coach came out and condemned their own fans for the homophobic slur. My hope is that moving forward, what happened was a group of fans got overzealous and it was the first home game and they were trying to, in their own way, albeit wrong, create this San Diego atmosphere style thing. And they got it completely and utterly wrong. And I pray moving forward, that in the second home game, in the third and fourth and beyond that, that doesn't get mentioned again. If it does, obviously San Diego is going to have a problem and they're going to need to fix it. So let's just leave that there and hopefully it Stays there.

[Landon Donovan]

So here's how, here's how it stops immediately. Chuki Lozano comes out during the. He is a Mexican legend idol. During the week social media. Before the next home game, he's on the microphone. Not acceptable. Don't do it. I promise you it won't happen again.

[Tim Howard]

So great point.

[Landon Donovan]

I'm going to urge him to do so because they love him, they idolize him and that would help it go away quickly.

[Tim Howard]

Good point. Let's move up to your team. LA Galaxy lost to Vancouver 2 1. How you feeling?

[Landon Donovan]

I have to say, Tim, I'm not surprised and I think this is going to continue for a while. Um, this is why. So before the final last year I was, you know, like really taking a deep dive and I know we make fun of it with the Ricky Pooch stuff here, but he is not only their best player, he is their most impactful player in everything they do. Okay. So every time they build.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Everybody is trying to find him wherever they can and he is always going to get the ball. Now that's a good and a bad. Right? Because when he's on the field, you win an MLS Cup. Yeah, he's not on the field. How do you adjust? And so this is there. There are a lot of analogies I can use here a little bit like when Michael Jordan, right. Like you get in a pinch, just give the ball Jordan get out of the way. He's going to make a play when he's not on the court. Okay. Now you actually have to play and you have to. You know the triangle that was built by Tex Winter and Phil Jackson. You have to actually execute now. And it's a lot harder when you have a guy who's a cheat code and can get you out of problems really helps you. But I anticipated and using or losing Yovalich a big one Painsil being injured start season. So these are big, big misses. I think long term they will be fine. They just need to get in the playoffs. They can go anywhere and beat anyone with Ricky Puj if they get a striker who's effective, which they might do in the summer window and then from there they'll be fine. But early on they are going to struggle. I mean they're. They're just. They're an average MLS team right now. They are. That's just the reality.

[Tim Howard]

No, I give you that. And I think the interesting for thing for our listeners is like when you have. You just mentioned it there. When you have someone so dominant who has a cheat code, you like, you give Them the ball, right? And it's like in anything else. And I've been on these teams, players are so dominant even in a leadership role. There are some times where I can remember they're being such strong leaders that you're like, I don't have to say anything or do anything. Like this is going to take care of himself. Boom. They get a long term injury or they're, they get submitted. Now you turn up at the game and you're in the dressing room and no one's talking and you're like, you know why? Because this guy did everything for us.

[Landon Donovan]

And it's eliminated everything.

[Tim Howard]

On pitch, I get into trouble, my back's go, I don't know there. I know my mates around the corner. I just played to him, he'll sort it out. And by the way, he's got two people on him. I'll still give him the ball. And so when that happens, it's hard one to replace. To replace that person with a like for like change.

[Landon Donovan]

Well, it's impossible in mls.

[Tim Howard]

Impossible, right? It's impossible. But it's also then you're. You're now asking other players to take more responsibility when they're like, wait a minute, I'm had to take responsibility. Just give him the ball. You know what I mean? It's a different dynamic. They'll get it right, the Galaxy will get it right. But obviously slow start.

[Landon Donovan]

It's also in the dressing room too, Tim, to your point. So from coaching I learned this. If you add one new player to a team, the whole dynamic of the dressing room can change. If you take one player away who's not on the field or who's gone or whatever, the whole dynamic changed. Like different people take different roles. Some people step up, some people shy away. So there's going to be a, there's going to be an adjustment. I know Greg Van will get it right. He's bright and they'll figure it out.

[Tim Howard]

Yep.

[Landon Donovan]

Okay, now to your. Well, not team you played for, but team you're part of now.

[Tim Howard]

Funny how, funny how our producers did that back to back. But your team went to.

[Landon Donovan]

They're not stupid, are they? Okay, so Houston Dynamo. Um, I'm going to lead this and then I want to hear your thoughts and I'm sure everyone wants to hear yours more than mine because you're part of this. So Houston Dynamo put out a message on Saturday that said, you know, we welcome Inter Miami. On the report for who's available, Lionel Messi was not included. He will not be traveling To Houston will not be playing in the game. He didn't play in the game. I'm going to walk through the whole thing first and then we'll, we'll get into it. Didn't play in the game. That certainly didn't matter. Inter Miami were dominant. 41 win. And then after the game, Houston Dynamo offered all of the fans, I believe, who had a ticket to the game, a ticket, a free ticket to a future match because Messi did not show up. So I have my thoughts, but people want to hear yours first. And then I'll jump in.

[Tim Howard]

I want to hear your thoughts. That's great. Yeah, it's an interesting dynamic when it comes to Lonel Messi and the MLS and Apple TV and I mean, it's, it's. Everyone knows the, the story. Look, I think, I think as an organization, we did the right thing in terms of compensating, you know, our, our fans who bought tickets in the hopes to see Lionel Messi by, by giving them a, you know, allowing them to come to a game complimentary of the Houston Dynamo in, you know, at some point in the season. So again, I think we did the right thing. That being said, Lionel Messi missed 15 games, all competitions last year. My expectation is that Lionel Messi will miss 15 games, all competition, if not more, in all competitions this year. That's just the, that's the pink elephant in the room, you know, no pun intended, with their pink jerseys, like he's going to miss games. And I don't know, you know. Well, I do know that's not, that's not on the away organization when he doesn't turn up in your city. That's not a reflection of the away organization, in this case the Houston Dynamo. But, you know, we're certainly sensitive to our fan base and, and felt, you know, felt the need to try and compensate them and in the best way we could, you know. But ultimately someone recently mentioned to me that, like, well, like, if Earl and Holland for City doesn't turn up because he's been rested for playing Tottenham, Tottenham doesn't compensate their refund.

[Landon Donovan]

Right.

[Tim Howard]

But, but I, you know, I get.

[Landon Donovan]

The argument, I hope, Tim, that this is a growing moment for the league and in a lot of ways, number one, if you are an organization, I understand you have one of the greatest stars in the world and maybe the best player to ever play coming potentially to play a match at your stadium. Here's where clubs get it wrong. The average ticket price was a hundred dollars. Now they charge people a thousand dollars. So People go, okay, well, I'm gonna really commit to this. By the way, I you and I talked about this. I almost took my son to the game this weekend in Houston. Right. And I was considering doing it. Thank God I didn't now, but I was considering doing it, right. Because of our connection. I thought it'd be great, whatever. But that would have been an expensive trip, right, for the weekend. So I clubs, if you can't be on both sides of this, right. You can't take both sides. You can't say, okay, we're going to charge you $1,000 now, but if he doesn't show up, you're just screwed. So in that way, Houston, yes, did the right thing because those people paid a lot of money. But I hope it's a growth moment where when you're on the phone and I know it's hard, ticket salespeople are trying so hard to fill out the stadium. It is a hard job. I've watched it in person. But we got to get to a point where you say, here is the price for every game, regardless of it's Messi or Toronto or Columbus or San Jose. Yes. Maybe there's flex pricing based on who you're playing. Every club in the world probably does that. But with the caveat, hey, by the way, Messi missed 15 games last year. We cannot promise he's going to show up and we're not refunding if he doesn't. You make the decision and I promise you, Tim, people are still going to go, all right, I'll take the chance. As long as you have the info. Have the info and then you can make the point or make take the. Take the risk. Yeah. One, this happened when I was playing with the Galaxy one year. We went up to Seattle. We talk about this all the time still on our Galaxy Group chat. We went up to Seattle, we battered them 4 0. It was like a. It was like a Saturday afternoon, like 2pm game, and we absolutely battered him. 4 0. We go back home on the Monday, they sent out a message to all their fans that they would get refunded for the game because it was such a poor performance by the team and showing by the team. So we forever, we'll be like, remember the refund game? So every time we talk, every time it's Galaxy Seattle, we go, remember the refund game? But I also thought that was a terrible precedent. Like, it's the sport, things happen, you know, you can't just then refund. So this is a messy one. No pun intended. It's tricky. Is.

[Tim Howard]

Is Beck's on the Galaxy Group chat?

[Landon Donovan]

No.

[Tim Howard]

Has he opted out?

[Landon Donovan]

Does it say, like, he's removed himself? Every time we write, he says, who dis? So, no. Anyway, it was, it was, it was difficult. But I will say this about that game. Messi should have never been playing in this game, period, because of what happened last week.

[Tim Howard]

Oh, right.

[Landon Donovan]

So last week he gets a yellow card right at the end for dissent, and he walks over and grabs the neck of one of the NYC FC assistants, which, at a minimum, should have been a yellow card. So that should have been a second yellow. Then when you go back and review it, you should be suspended. Right. He got fined, which I don't know what the exact rule is, but you can't put your hand on an assistant's neck. Right. So I'm, I think justice came out in the world and that he shouldn't have been a part of that game anyway because he should have been suspended for. For what happened last week.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. Well, the problem. First of all, first of all, the powers that be ain't retroactively suspending Leon.

[Landon Donovan]

I know. They're not. I'm not.

[Tim Howard]

No, I know. My point is, though, that creates its own problem because there's going to be a melee of some sort in the MLS this season, and that's going to.

[Landon Donovan]

Happen, and they're all going to get.

[Tim Howard]

Suspended and they're all going to get suspended. You can imagine Lee's going to get flooded with, like, pictures of, wait, did Messi get suspended for that new NYCFC game? But, yeah, totally. Way.

[Landon Donovan]

All right, let's move on. That was, it was good MLS weekend. There was lots to talk about, lots of talking points. All right, we'll take a pause when we come back. We're going to talk to U.S. men's National Team. There's a lot going right and some not going very well. Also on the women's side. So right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen. Stay right there.

[Tim Howard]

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

[Landon Donovan]

Since 2019, Volkswagen has been on a mission to drive the future of the sport we all love. And VW is committed to making it more diverse, inclusive, and accessible for everyone.

[Tim Howard]

They're not just talking about it, they're out there doing it. VW's partnerships, programs and soccer clinics are unlocking opportunities for the next generation of players and fans.

[Landon Donovan]

As a longtime friend of Volkswagen, I've seen firsthand how VW are connecting with fans and driving the sport forward. From working with them on clinics to being part of their incredible campaigns, it's clear U.S. soccer is truly powered by the people.

[Tim Howard]

Thank you to VW for being our presenting partner. Learn more about how VW are supporting U.S. [e-mail] There's a lot in life that feels like it should be guaranteed that just isn't your team winning the championship, the weather being good on game day, your friends remembering who has the tickets. Some days you're just a goal scoring machine.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah. And some days the ball just passes you by right here on Unfiltered soccer, we know that no matter how much you love the beautiful game, nothing on the field is guaranteed. Thankfully, AT and T is introducing a brand new guarantee, the AT and T Guarantee.

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[Landon Donovan]

Talk to me LD on Fire On Fire. He didn't score this weekend, but that's now seven and seven. He's got seven in his last seven. I want to talk about a couple things where he fits in the national team, but his manager at Norwich, Johannes Hoff Thorup Hope I got that right. He I don't know if this was like a mind games thing or something. He went to the media. He he said he needs to run more. He told the Pink Gun, whatever that is. Website magazine, never heard of it. He said when we look at the best nines in the league above us, they run more and they are more involved than he is in the game. There are still moments in the game where it seems he can be out of it for five or 10 minutes where we need him to be involved, because when he is, he's very good for us. What do you think about that?

[Tim Howard]

Well, and as I say this, our producers will frantically tell me, I think one of the games recently scored like two goals or something on like seven touches. Something. Something crazy like return. Right. And I think what the manager is trying to say is essentially like, that's 12 touches. Two goals and 12 touches. But, hey, if you get 30 touches, imagine what you could do. I think that's kind of what it is.

[Landon Donovan]

But it doesn't work that way.

[Tim Howard]

No, it doesn't. But I think the other part. I'm not. I think he sees a striker in form. This guy. Clearly the manager knows what he's talking about. He sees a striker in form, and I think he's trying to get more out of him. Maybe he knows the character and makeup of Josh Sergeant and knows that he can.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, but Tim, say that. Just say that in private then.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Why is he saying it publicly?

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, No, I. Look, that part.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, No, I understand. I don't. I'm asking. Why would he say that public? I don't get it.

[Tim Howard]

Maybe he had the conversation with Josh. Maybe he maybe genuinely had the conversation.

[Landon Donovan]

Maybe Josh F'd him off. I don't know what.

[Tim Howard]

You know the other part? And I say this to say this to all younger players. I certainly say it to my daughter. Like, here's the thing, don't leave anything to question. And this is actually quite good because if Josh reads this and he's playing well and he's. And the manager says, need to run more, need to be involved in buildup, whatever it is. Now, there is no gray area. And if there is, go to your manager and go, I heard what you said. Like, how do I implement it? In your eyes? What does running more look like? Running deeper, running beyond vertically, getting side to side. Like, talk to me. And now. Now he'll have, like a checklist of, like, one, two, and three things that I can do. Right. And I think. And I think that's helpful because what ends up happening is there's always. And you know, there's always a miscommunication between players and managers. I don't know what he wants. And he's always. He's always on my back. And it's really easy if you're a player, ask the manager what he wants. And in this case, you didn't have to ask him. He actually said it. So I think this is a good thing. Josh is in a good Vein of form. I know you don't love it.

[Landon Donovan]

No, I don't like it at all. If you have a relationship with someone that you can speak to them in that way, you don't go like you wouldn't go talk. If you have something to say to your significant other, say it to them. Don't go say it to their friend. Right. And then it gets back like, just say it to him. And why he needs to say this publicly is bizarre to me. So it leads me to believe either he. By the way, this was not an off the cuff. Oh. Some random reaction. Oh, I shouldn't have said that. I mean, he knows what he's saying. He knows what he's doing. He knows. So something interesting is going on there. He's not going to sit Josh like the guy.

[Tim Howard]

No, no, not seven and seven form.

[Landon Donovan]

But I'm totally fine with him saying this in person. Like, hey man, you want to play at the next level? This is great. Here's your running numbers. Here's Esox running numbers. You want to play it for Newcastle, you better do that. Right. Or here's Rory or Dilap or whoever you think is that next level that he can be like. So just interesting. I have to think that Baligun and Pepe out that sergeant, you would assume he's going to be starting in the Nations League semis and hopefully finals in a few weeks. Yeah. I mean, if he doesn't start now, he's never starting from re.

[Tim Howard]

That's a really good point. That's a really good point. And look, it's a great time for him to be in this form. You know, no Baligan, no. No Pepe, which stinks for. For the, you know, for the team and for the depth. But next man up, Josh Sargent is playing really well. And this is again an opportunity to kind of get in there and look, you get into Naft's team and you score the Nations League, now you have more of an argument.

[Landon Donovan]

Well, we said this about Pepe, right. It was crazy form. He gets in does well with the national team. Crazy form. Unfortunately he got hurt. But all of a sudden we were like, yeah, he's the guy. Yep, he's the guy right now. Until. Until he's not. Right. So that's right. Big moment for. This is again falls into the headline of things you don't even bat an eye at anymore because of where we've gotten. But Johnny Cardoso scores a header against Real Madrid. Yeah, I mean, I don't know the stats, but how many Americans have scored Against Real Madrid.

[Tim Howard]

Not many. Not many. I'm not sure if any of any. Yeah, yeah. I feel like maybe. But big moment for him. I mean, Jesus, big moment for anybody just to score against Real Madrid. So that's. Obviously, we love to highlight those other.

[Landon Donovan]

Things going well for national team. Tyler Adams just continues. I mean, I don't know their exact form of late, but they won again in the FA Cup. Basically, when he plays, they win. I mean, it just. It just all there is to it. And he is one of those guys. Every coach will tell you. I'm sure Jesse Marsh will tell you this when he had him. When he plays, your chances of winning go through the roof. And he's not going to show up on the score sheet. He's not doing anything flashy. So he's in the right place, right time, does all the little things. Well. His coach, Andoni Areola, is very high on him. He's been speaking about him publicly, full of energy. We think he's a player that fits well in our system. We hope we can keep him in a place where he's healthy, because when he is, he's very good for us.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, I mean, I think the thing for me has always been, like, I love seeing American players thrive abroad, but also, more than anything, I read between the lines. Playing well. Being a part of a team is. Check number one. When your manager's talking about you publicly, about, like, how great you are for the team and how important you are for the team, it's like that's a different level.

[Landon Donovan]

That takes each other level publicly. Right. Again, so that's the opposite of the start. Like when they go out publicly and that means they trust you because it means it's not going to your head. Cause a lot of times you're like, oh, man, I'm invincible. I'm gonna start it. So when they say that publicly, you're like, okay, that's good. I'll actually. I'll never forget. I'm just kidding. That just triggered a story in my head. The first week I was at Everton, we played. My first time, we played Arsenal away, and I played like 70 minutes in the snow. And that week in film, you won't remember it, but I totally remembered it in film. There was a play where, like, the ball turned over, we were attacking in there and I was on top of their box and it turned over and I sprinted back like 60 yards and tackled the ball out of. Bound off the guy. And we got the ball back and Moyes showed it to the team and he was like, that's what it means to. And I was like, this is my first week here. He's showing that. But in some cases, you would say, oh, my God, that's going to go to your head. And I was like, oh, my God, that's a big responsibility. Like, I better do that every time. And I wanted to do it every time because he showed me. And so Tyler's thinking, my manager's got my back. He's talking about me. Put like, let's go.

[Tim Howard]

But you're right, it's a great story. And it's also. But with Tyler's. No surprise, man. Jesus. I feel like every coach thinks that way of him, which means this isn't an accident. He doesn't just turn up every now and again. Like, that's a. That's a kid who turns up every single day at training, every morning for breakfast and is like, let's do this. And he can be counted on. That's a. That's a really special player.

[Landon Donovan]

Let's keep him healthy. Man just needs to. Oh. Christian Pulisic scored against Real Madrid. Okay.

[Tim Howard]

Unsurprising.

[Landon Donovan]

What a shock that is. He scored against everyone. Okay, so let's move on to Christian. Speaking of Christian, So now he is. This is crazy. I didn't realize. This goes fast. Nine games without a goal, Tim. They were eliminated from Champions League by Feyenoord. He missed his first penalty of career, which is going to happen. If that's not a. That's not a slight on him. Once you goalkeepers have more information on you as someone who took 60 or 70 penalties. It's hard, man. It's such a mind game. So it's hard. Their ninth place in Syria, nine points back of fourth place Lazio, who they lost to, I believe, this weekend. He posted this on Instagram last week. Really tough week. Hate letting down this amazing fan base. We'll give everything to finish the season on a positive note. That was before two losses to Bologna and Latio. So do you think there's something there going on? Is this just a. A hiccup is what's going on now?

[Tim Howard]

I mean, look, he'll. He'll probably tell you, look, nine games without a goal. He's probably kicking the wall in this house. Right? But Milan just haven't been in a good way this season. Things seem off with them, you know, in terms of like, on the field, in the dressing room. We're obviously not there, but you can. You can tell with some of the changes that were made and. And obviously What' On. In terms of results? Look, you know this as well as I do. When you're playing in a team that's on bad form, like, it's. It's hard to stand out. You know, it's. I mean, his job is to score goals. Defenders, it's their job to keep it out. But you've been in teams, you've been in teams that just have no vibe and no flow and it's. And it's difficult. So, no, I don't. I don't put that on Christian Pulisic at all, other than the fact that his team just isn't where. Where they obviously need to be.

[Landon Donovan]

And they, you know, they made that coaching change, right, with Paul Fonseca leaving and Conse Sao coming in, and I think they just gotten worse. And I'm, you know, Christian, before, I think Joao Felix came in. Joao Felix, yeah, he was comfortable. He was in a role that he was clearly thriving in. Now he's been moved around a little on the front line. He's moving positions, and I'm thinking to myself, he's the best player on your team by a mile at that point, he might be the best player in the league right now. And remember, during that time every week, it was like a goal, a goal, an assist, two goals, an assistant. Why are you messing with that? Yeah, well, like, just leave him alone. Yeah, you can work on the other things, but why are you messing with that?

[Tim Howard]

That's always. That's always a clever part, is like, why? What? Managers trying to overthink things. But I guess real quick, I want to give a shout out to Chris Richards. He's a player who, you know, I really like. He started going back to the Premier League. Started 12 straight matches for Palace. In that time, they've only lost two of the 12, conceded eight goals. They playing it back three. You know, he's. He's on. He's on either side of that center back. So it's. He's kind of found a home there, which is great under. Under Oliver Glassner and Palace. And, you know, it's. He was kind of in, kind of out, but now, again, a player really being countered. And I'm just curious as it will putch, you know, in Nations League, will he think that, you know, that's nailed on as well? Are you. I mean, written into the starting lineup.

[Landon Donovan]

What else do you have to do except being a prominent starter for a successful team in the Premier League? As a center, I mean, you're playing. You are playing the best players of the world every week. Every single week. So I think Jordan wrote in our chat, he said, you know, is Chris Richards name written in ink?

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

And I said, well, I think it's probably still in pencil, but that eraser might be getting lost pretty soon. Like, it's starting to be where you're like, okay, he's playing. Every week he's playing.

[Tim Howard]

And if you're him. And if you're him, you're like, who's going to play ahead of me?

[Landon Donovan]

Like, yeah, and what else do I have to do?

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, correct.

[Landon Donovan]

What else? There's nothing else he can do. Yeah. So no, he's been fantastic. And that is, that is a position of weakness. When we went back and talked about the national team, that has been a position of weakness. And if that can be a guy who is doing it consistently, that's a huge, huge boon leading into the World Cup.

[Tim Howard]

Totally.

[Landon Donovan]

Okay, so let's switch over to the women's side. Been a while since the women played. So this is us. Lnt on uswnt. They lost their first game, Tim, under Emma Hayes on Wednesday. It was actually here at Snapdragon. They lost to Japan, who, by the way, are so good. So fun to watch.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, they are.

[Landon Donovan]

Allie Sentinel score. She's a young player. She's really good player in the 14th minute, first goal and first appearance for her. My question is, is this concerning at all? It's their first loss under Emma Hayes. What does that mean? Because we've been in, we've been a part of teams where things go really, really well and then you have the first hiccup and then what does that mean?

[Tim Howard]

Nothing. I think it's, it's good for the team. We always say we judge. We judge the women's national team by a higher standard because they win. They win all the time. Right. And so it's not about, you know, when you have, when you have a loss, it is magnified when you're part of the women's national team. So look, Emma Hayes is a fantastic coach. She has won everywhere she's been. She's won with this team, you know, protect. Talking about the gold medal. And as you form this new group, like, you know as well as I do, and Emma's a really good coach. She'll take that loss and use it to their advantage. Because by the way, in order to grow as a group, you need to have adversity. Right? Like, you can't just be great all the time. No one ever is. Right. And so more than anything, the quality of your Team is. Is oftentimes measured on how you react to adversity. So, you know, adversity sounds like a really dramatic word given that they. They lost that game to one. But I think. I think the manager will use it to their favor and I think, obviously everything will be fine because there's some incredible talent on the team. Not just the same old faces that we know that are household names, but like Alexentore and these, you know, some of these women who are coming through, really trying to make a name for themselves. Like, the. The pipeline is really healthy and strong.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah. And, you know, there's two sides of this. One is outside of the Olympics and playing Japan, it's not like they've been playing these top, top teams. Right. So, like, there was going to be a loss along the way. The other side of that coin, though, is no Malpu, no Trinity Rodman, no Soph Smith. Maybe a few. But even just those three who were so dynamic as a front three in the Olympics and were literally unplayable. So you don't have those three. It's going to be tough to win. Right. Against a good Japanese team. So I don't see any issues here. I just wanted to just broach the question and they'll be fine. They do have qualifying, I believe starts in October.

[Tim Howard]

That's right.

[Landon Donovan]

For concaf. Women's Championship. FA Cup.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Interestingly, I. I never know when these FA cup weekends are coming because I, like, I turn on my Fat Mob app and I'm like, yeah, let's go to my Premier League fantasy. Yeah, first place, by the way. And then I'm like, oh, there's no games. But then there's FA cup games, and when there's FA cup games on a weekend where there's no Premier League games, they're really good games because they play all the players, everybody, like it's a real game. So outside of one game that we'll get to at the end, palace, we talked about beat Millwall. I'm sure you. We saw this tackle on Mateta.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

You know, I have to be honest, my first perception of it was everyone was freaking out about it. I was like, okay, like, he's got his foot high. Whatever. The more I watched, I was like, oh, that's pretty bad, man. Like, I've seen some battle. It's not the worst I've ever seen. I mean, you might think it's the worst you've ever seen, but maybe from a goalkeeper. It's not the worst tackle I've ever seen, but it was. What could have happened was really dangerous.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, it looked nasty. I mean, Liam Roberts was a Millwall goalkeeper. And, yeah, comes flying out. You know, you oftentimes see with goalkeepers, and I've been guilty of this. Like, these compound errors of, like, oh, I made a really bad decision. And all right, I got an idea. I'm gonna fix it by making another really bad decision. Like, but also, it's like, it lives in the psyche that every goalkeeper coach, I don't know if they do it now, but every goalkeeper coach for forever would constantly say once a week, like, take everything. If you make the wrong decision, take everything. Like, that was the thing. Like, if you come off your line and you've made a bad decision, just clatter into somebody. Like, literally. It's common knowledge. And so. But, yeah, obviously, keepers flying, like, literally, like a karate kick with his studs up, catches Mateta in the face. You know, the only thing I would say, actually, again, I reference my career and, like, my daughter, and she's a striker and she was. She's tough and she's strong, and she'd always go in these tackles with goalkeepers. Ld And I said to her, you can probably appreciate this, there was a point in time where she was getting injured. And I said, yeah, if you see the goalkeeper coming, get at, like, get out of the way. And I'm telling you this, it ain't worth it. I'm looking in the eyes, I'm telling you, get out of the way. Like, because it's not worth it. And when in that case, you're like, oh, my God, you just wish, yes, it's a goalkeeper Liam Roberts fault. But you just, like, thinking, oh, my Tet, I wish you just protected yourself. There was nothing there for you. You know what I mean?

[Landon Donovan]

I'd be curious, actually. Just, like, people ask me a lot, did you ever get injured in your career? Like, seriously? And I said, no. They said, well, how's that possible? I said, well, a few things. You definitely have to be lucky. Take care of yourself. But to me, the biggest thing is having, like, this. And this is just genetic a spatial awareness of what's coming. So you feel the tackle coming, you're like, I ain't going for that. And coach at Bruce. Bruce arena used to hate this. He'd be like, get stuck in and tackle. And then. And I'd say, bruce, dude, do you want me to break my leg on that play at midfield? Is that really worth it that I'm out the rest of the season?

[Tim Howard]

Totally.

[Landon Donovan]

And maybe one out of 50, I break my leg. But that one's going to happen, right? And so, and I was just hoping that he could like feel the goalkee Liam Roberts coming and being like, this one ain't worth it. Right? Like this one ain't worth. Now maybe it's a World cup final and you're like, okay, maybe that one's worth it.

[Tim Howard]

It.

[Landon Donovan]

But some of them, they just ain't worth it.

[Tim Howard]

The only problem is sometimes and, and I get this spatial awareness but it's also in your peripheral. Like there's a defender there. So he looking at the defender, did he?

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah.

[Tim Howard]

What point did he take the snapshot of the goalkeeper? Was it a couple.

[Landon Donovan]

I don't know.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, that's true.

[Landon Donovan]

I don't true that, that one like when the ball's coming over your head in the box and you're like, I know the goalie's coming out and then you kind of chicken out of it and the goalie was still standing on his line, you're like, God dang it, why don't I just watch the ball? So anyway, let's hope. I think he got a bunch of stitches, but it sounds like he got released from the hospital. He is going to be okay.

[Tim Howard]

Big jp, mate be all right.

[Landon Donovan]

A couple more red cards. Cunha got one. He'll miss their next three matches. Pretty ugly red card against Ipswich.

[Tim Howard]

He, he saw red. Not actually like, yeah, he was, he, he was looking for a fight and like there was no stopping him. I've been there before. I get happens it was nasty.

[Landon Donovan]

Newcastle, Brighton, Anthony Gordon sent off and he will now miss the Carabao Cup Final which is a big loss for them. So that's going to be, that will be impactful.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. Let me say this. I, I, you saw that Anthony Gordon, it was just frustration at the end. I mean shoves, he shoves the, the Brighton defender over, he ends up catching him a little bit like in the neck area. There wasn't a lot in it. But when you, when you put your hands up above the neck, you can't do it. But here's what I hate. And I know, I know the argument. I'm not dumb to the argument. Like it's the same governing body, right, the fa. But I hate, I hate when, when red cards carry over to different competitions. Like I'm all for him being suspended for the next FA cup match next season or whatever. I'm all for that. But like, yep. And I know it's the same governing body. I get it. But like you know, when you get sent off in a World cup, you shouldn't be, you know, you're not going to miss Premier League games.

[Landon Donovan]

Club game, right?

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, I don't like it, but whatever, it's part of it.

[Landon Donovan]

All right, last one. Just because I kind of secretly love this.

[Tim Howard]

You and a lot of people.

[Landon Donovan]

United lose to Fulham on penalties. Losing on penalties at home. Missing your last two penalties is tough. This felt like it was the last thing United had this year. And now it's just kind of like they're just gonna finish out the season in the Premier League and be a mid table team. And, you know, it is what it is. Interestingly, of all people, Eric Ten Hag decided to open his mouth this weekend or last week. Sorry. He had an interesting comment. He said, this generation usually find it difficult to deal with criticism. Criticism really gets to them. The generation that I grew up in had much thicker skin. Agreed. You could be much more direct. Agreed. I was approached much more directly. Same. If I would do that with my current group of players, I would demotivate them. If you do that to the current generation, they find it offensive. So I have a lot to say about this.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

First of all, you don't have a current group of players. You're out of a job.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Second of all, that's BS to me. Like, I think people take that. I think coaches now, they're just afraid to confront. And if you have a demeanor and an attitude and a way about you that says you ain't taking that, the players are going to fall in line. And this is so like David Moyes, a great example at Everton. I can promise you, the first day he walked in, everyone was like, okay, I ain't messing with him. Right. And that's just the way it is. And it's fine. And it's not good or bad or whatever. It's just the way it is. But to, to say that you can't criticize, that you can't be hard, I don't think that's. I don't think that's accurate. I think people are just chickening out to that and you're allowing that to be and perpetuate.

[Tim Howard]

I hear that, bro. I'm on both side. I see it. On both sides of the fence. Yes. Questions been asked. Okay. Are players hypersensitive to criticism, more so now? Yes, absolutely. You wanted to get the best out of me, give me tough love, drive me, criticize me. That's how I thrived. But no, I think players today have struggle with that. Based on a whole host of things. But yes.

[Landon Donovan]

Okay, why, let's do. Why. What do you think it is? Because I have very clear opinion on it.

[Tim Howard]

I think some managers, you know, popular managers have kind of allowed that to creep into the game.

[Landon Donovan]

So I guess two things. One, it's parenting, right? So these kids grow. I see, Trust me, dude, I see it where I live. I see it all over. Parents are like afraid of their kids to discipline their kids. Right. And that has been a generational thing. And in our generation, you and me, I was scared to death of my parents.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Like, because they would wallop me. And now kids, I hear kids speak to their parents now. I'm like, what? Yeah, like what? I feel like an old man here yelling. But that is one and two. I think social media, right. I think everybody's so hypersensitive of how they're viewed and likes and comments and all that. So they're like, oh my God, you said I'm not running enough. Am I fat? Am I this? Am I that? Am I, you know, I'm not good enough, whatever. And it's like, no, I'm just trying to help you out. So I just think it's interesting that a manager at that level feels like he can't walk into a locker room and command it or else he's going to. And by the way, I used to. I said this to our owner, Andrew Vasiliotis at the Loyal. If there is a player who does XYZ and is acting that way or whatever, do I have your permission to just cut the contract out the door? Because I know he's bad for culture.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

And he said yes. Now that was, you know, fifty thousand, a hundred thousand dollars. When it's, you know, terminating a contract that's $10 million a year, that's a different story. But that's. You ultimately hold the trump card. Right. In that, in that case, because you're the manager and you decide whether they play or not and you can impact their career. And so if they're going to do that, you say, okay, fine, then leave. Right?

[Tim Howard]

I mean, look, look, they still have something to play for. You know, they play real Sociedad in Europa League on Thursday. Sticking with 10 hog, though, I think the managers have a lot to, to. To be responsible for as well. Like so many managers who put on this brave face, they're not that behind closed doors they're afraid to have like one on one conversations and have confrontations. Like, it's okay to disagree. Like, I think one of the one of the greatest coaches in the world is God's gift to coaching is Thomas Frank at Brentford. And if you watch the way he operates and he talks to his players and the way he recruits his players, like, he has an understanding that things aren't always going to be great. And he. And he gets his arm around these players, like, ultimately, like I said, I do think there's some tough love involved. And if we're talking about Man United, I remember them saying, and this is. You talk about parenting, which is a reason social media, which is absolutely a reason. One of the other things that they've taken out of and certainly in England was the youth team. And this is going to be based on laws and children and work and labor. But they used to clean boots and people are like, what does that mean? Like, literally, you know, Phil Neville would have to go to the first team and get Eric Cantona's boots.

[Landon Donovan]

Totally.

[Tim Howard]

And you have to clean them and every day. It wasn't the kit, man, it was Phil netlify. So you learning these lessons, right? And then. And then Cantona gave you a shirt or put his arm around you and gave you a money bonus at Christmas. But, like, you learn these things, these young kids now don't have to do anything. They think they're God's gift to soccer. It says it on their social media. They get a really nice car and they post. You weren't allowed to do that back then. You were put in your place and you were told to earn it.

[Landon Donovan]

Destroyed.

[Tim Howard]

Totally.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah. Okay. All right, we're off our soapbox. Two old men yelling at the cloud. All right, let's take a break. When we come back, AT&T fan Connection. So to my family member who wanted to submit questions, I don't think it'll be this week. It'll probably be next week. And then we'll also talk anything but soccer. Right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen. Do not go anywhere foreign.

[Tim Howard]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. 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&T. Connecting changes everything. And on USLNT, our connections with you will help grow the game. We love a bit of a T fan connection, don't we? And Landon loves it. Jordan. We always say her favorite time of the week and we love. Jordan. Get in here. Jordan, how are you?

[Landon Donovan]

Hello, Jordan.

[C]

Hello.

[Tim Howard]

What shirt are you wearing? You always have something crazy.

[Landon Donovan]

Oh, is that an Everton shirt?

[Tim Howard]

No, it is.

[C]

And this is like Umbro did a thing with Factory Records and I'm a big.

[Landon Donovan]

You just got paid by Ambro, didn't you?

[Tim Howard]

You got such a crazy.

[Landon Donovan]

Tim, do you remember that color Everton shirt? Do you remember that one?

[Tim Howard]

Vaguely, Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

I have one in my yellow in my garage.

[C]

Was it an away. Away shirt or.

[Tim Howard]

It was a third kit or away. Yeah, I know which one is.

[Landon Donovan]

It's cool. Like that color is really cool.

[C]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

So anyway, it seems.

[Tim Howard]

Welcome.

[C]

All right. Should we do some questions?

[Landon Donovan]

Let's do it. Did you listen, Jordan? By the way, My family member is saying, where do I send a question?

[C]

Send it to Feedback and Unfiltered Talker.

[Landon Donovan]

No, but I was like, 1. Why are you listening? 2. You really want to submit a question? I'll tell you offline what their name is. So if you see it, you know.

[C]

Well, I was just gonna say, please let us know that you are Landon's relative in the subject matter in the subject line so that I can prioritize.

[Tim Howard]

Just. Just a side note because I want to make sure we get clarity. If any of my family members text or calling. Do not read it live on air, but keep going.

[C]

Please send baby pictures of Tim and landon@unfiltered soccer.com.

[Landon Donovan]

Thank you.

[C]

Tim, this first question is for you. What are your thoughts about the new goalkeeper rule about awarding. Oh, sorry. This is from Mel via email. What are your thoughts about the new goalkeeper rule about awarding a corner kick if a goalkeeper is time wasting after eight seconds?

[Tim Howard]

Don't care. I don't care. I think it was.

[Landon Donovan]

You don't care.

[Tim Howard]

I don't care. It's a dumb rule.

[Landon Donovan]

You don't care what the rule either?

[Tim Howard]

No. So what's the evolution? It was you when I started playing. Pick it up. You have four second. Sorry, four steps, right? And they change it to six seconds and then now it's eight second. They. They're going to enforce it for. I don't know, like, what are they going to do? Are they going to count like a. Like a. Like a NBA referee? Like, I'm fine With that, by the way, if the referee like one, two. Like it's good. It's so subjective and like.

[Landon Donovan]

Right.

[Tim Howard]

And by the way, you know it's going to lead to, to lead the managers on the sideline going, 1, 2, 3. And they're like so players too. Yeah, of course.

[Landon Donovan]

So crowd's going to be like, what?

[Tim Howard]

And which probably will happen. Which is good. I mean if it speeds it up. To be honest, I didn't realize who, who, who, who made that rule? Like, who brought that in? I don't remember. Landon, would you say that like goalkeepers have held the ball too long, they waste time when the ball's gotta play.

[Landon Donovan]

My thing. It's a joke. It's a joke because when that first, I mean I was playing during when the six second rule came in and I would count to like 18 in my head and the ref wouldn't do anything and I'm like, what's the, what's the point of having this rule? Because the last thing a ref wants to do is give an indirect free kick right there at that time. That's what it was. Leads to a goal, the game's over. It's like, so it's going to be the same thing. Like they'll do it a few times and then it'll go away. And it's the same with the mass confrontation thing now people mass confront the ref. Now they don't. They should be throwing out yellows everywhere then according to the rule. And I'm actually a big fan of that. Like get away.

[Tim Howard]

Agreed.

[Landon Donovan]

But they're not going to enforce it.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, it was I fab International Football association board. But look, ultimately as just give my. My big thing with wasting time, which I always wasted time. Right. At some point I'd be first half. But at some point, like mid second half when the team's winning, just book the keeper, man. I'm telling you now, if I got.

[Landon Donovan]

A booking right, you ain't going to miss.

[Tim Howard]

I'm going to get the ball and I'm not getting sent off. So like don't care about the rule. Thanks, Mel.

[C]

Our next question is from Joe via email. He says with MLS and the Premier League being aligned with Apple and NBC, slash. Peacock, what are your thoughts on pay per view and how streaming affects fans? Trying to follow these leagues and specific teams.

[Landon Donovan]

Okay, how deep do we want to go here?

[Tim Howard]

Go deep. There's a fan connection.

[Landon Donovan]

There's just a bigger. Yeah, this is a deep connection. There's a bigger, deeper problem in that there's Just way too much content in the world. And so all these companies are producing way too much content and they can't afford to do it. So they then have to pass on the feed of the subscriber. It's like, dude, we pay enough money for either cable or DirecTV or dish or whatever. I'm. I have by myself, Peacock, Paramount, Apple tv, ESPN plus maybe one other. And it's, it, it's not even the money. It's just like, dude, are you gonna keep gouging me every time for all these. Like, I'm just trying to, I'm trying to support you. I'm trying to watch the games. And it's getting, it's getting to a point, Tim, where, like, I don't have Netflix, right? So I can't really. The Women's World cup in a couple years unless I get. I'm not gonna be able to watch. Right? And I just, I'm sick of it. But I get it. I get that they're trying to, they're trying to justify all these platform, these streaming platforms that they've.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, but you're, you're, you're going. Here's the thing. You're going to watch the Women's World cup, so you will have Netflix. Right? Like, that's. That. Yeah. And also.

[Landon Donovan]

Right.

[Tim Howard]

And also your, your seven eight, nine dollar Matcha latte that you got this morning in San Diego also would have paid for a lot. Would have also paid for two.

[Landon Donovan]

I do drink Matcha, but not a lot.

[Tim Howard]

I don't know.

[Landon Donovan]

No, I get it. I get it. I would have paid for a month of. I get it.

[Tim Howard]

Kind of the way that things are going, I. It's, it's, It's a tough one. It is. I mean, I. Look, I, I hear what people are saying. I watch everything and I own. I subscribe to, I think double the platforms you subscribe to. Like, because there's shows I want to watch and things I want to see on all these different ones and they're getting us. But I mean, I think there's also.

[Landon Donovan]

Did I get mad at your, your employer, NBC, for, like, they'll have like City Liverpool on Peacock. And I'm like, you don't want that game on. And I get it. There's all sorts of nuance involved. I get it. But I'm just, you know, you do get it.

[Tim Howard]

I'm old. I'm old and jaded.

[Landon Donovan]

I'm old and jaded.

[C]

I have a suggestion for Joe. Support a team at the bottom of the league. So that you don't have to worry about Champions League and Europa League and all that stuff. And that's one less streaming platform that you have to sign up.

[Landon Donovan]

There you go.

[Tim Howard]

There you go.

[Landon Donovan]

Support a team like Manchester.

[Tim Howard]

That's why you're here, Jordan. That's why you're here.

[C]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Or Tottenham.

[C]

This one's from. From Chris Vi. Email. What causes players after they retire to become an analyst or to work in management or to step away from the sport completely? Why did you each pursue the path after you retired that you did?

[Landon Donovan]

Good question.

[Tim Howard]

Great question.

[Landon Donovan]

I was bored. No, you're. You. Okay, so there's a few for a few, and we. We don't need to mention names, but we know who they are. It's about ego and being relevant and hearing their own voice and hearing themselves speak for others. It's a way to stay a part of the game. I find it enjoyable. This. I never knew I would find this as enjoyable as I have. I could really enjoy it. I never thought I would find commentating and studio work as enjoyable as I do. I've tried other things. Coaching is enjoyable to some extent, but a lot of stress. Tim and I both do appearances, which can be enjoyable. Sometimes it's, you know, whatever, but I find it's. It's what I find joy in personally. But there's not that many jobs in that way. Right. If you're not going to go into a football club or a soccer club and be a part of a club. So you have to find what you. What you find passion in. But also, players are getting smarter and smarter about starting that process earlier, even while they're playing.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. I mean, I think that for me, like, I love. Like, I love football. It's who I am. It's my identity. I love everything about it. It's giving me the greatest joys of my life. I don't.

[Landon Donovan]

Dude, you were watching New England Columbus in an empty stadium. Fair enough.

[Tim Howard]

Case in point. You know, I don't enjoy playing anymore. One, because it hurts and I can't. And I don't know. That bucket is empty for me. Right? So, like, I don't. I don't get any joy or satisfaction of playing the game anymore. But I love being around. I love watching. I love watching my daughter play. I love being involved in soccer conversations at ownership level, at analyst level. I love it. So, you know, look the other side of it, I think, Jordan, which is, you know, it was a great question. People oftentimes are like, you're an athlete. What do you do Next. And I'm like, nobody ever asked a lawyer after they went to law school and they've practiced law for 15 years to go, what are you going to do next? They never asked a doctor after they've performed thousands of surgeries what, this is who we are, or you would never ask that question because you'd be like, it's a dumb question. So the same thing goes for me. I've had friends who are like, I'm going to pivot. And I'm like, yeah, but why? This is who, like, you have. You have your PhD through. Through incredible life experiences in soccer. Why would you pivot to real estate? Now? Some have. It's. It's fine. But, like, I look at it like, that doesn't make sense to me. No one else does that. So I'm going to naturally stay in my lane, which is football and soccer, because I love it. I adore it. I can't play anymore. So what's next? And, yeah, I find, as Landon said, trial and error. Some things in the game you like. I don't like coaching, don't enjoy it. Never really wanted to do it, so I kind of ticked that box and said, that ain't for me. But, yeah, love the game.

[Landon Donovan]

But you also have other skill sets, right? And some players don't have much of anything, right? They just have. They didn't go to college. They didn't. That's all they have. So we are fortunate in that way that we have other abilities to do things. But, yeah, it's fine. What you're passionate about.

[Tim Howard]

Definitely.

[C]

Before I go, I just thought I would mention something. As this episode is released, it will be the 4th of March, which, if I. If my calculations are correct, is Landon Donovan's birthday.

[Tim Howard]

Wow. Your birthday's tomorrow.

[C]

And also two days after that is the birthday of one Tim Howard.

[Tim Howard]

Shout it out loud. Shout it out loud.

[Landon Donovan]

Oh, really?

[Tim Howard]

Pisces. Yeah. Oh, you. Pisces, right?

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah.

[Tim Howard]

Amazing. Fourth Pisces on the sixth. That's why we connect. Happy birthday to us.

[Landon Donovan]

Fan connection.

[C]

So we actually asked some people if they would like to wish you a happy birthday.

[Tim Howard]

I've been some people who wanted to wish me other than that, but keep going.

[C]

So we've got. We've got some messages that we're gonna play for you now, so buckle up. YouTube, here we go.

[Tim Howard]

Lynn's so nervous.

[Landon Donovan]

Yo, what's up, fellas? Larry, Timmy. Hey, man. Just want to say happy birthday to both of y'all. Timmy, when you're back in Houston, man, I owe You a dinner for sure. And Larry, I'm sure you owe me a couple of days a lot of times. I paid for all your food. Nah, but just want to say happy birthday. Love what you guys are doing with the podcast. Keep it up. And yeah, man, we're supporting you from here. So happy birthday. Enjoy it. We'll catch up soon. All right, Peace.

[C]

That's so nice.

[Tim Howard]

By the way, very few people know that on the inside, we called Landon Larry, and that's just amazing. Also, by the way, bees. Demarcus Beasley, one of the greatest players and greatest human beings you're ever going to meet. I absolutely love him. We're doing dinner.

[Landon Donovan]

If that Larry piece ever airs, everyone on here is fired.

[C]

Just for the record, I just need you to know that when he sent the video in, we were like, does he think it's somebody else? Like, who does he?

[Landon Donovan]

We had. I don't know where it came about, but sometime in, like, the 17s or the 20s or something, I started calling him Mark and he started calling me Larry. And Larry.

[Tim Howard]

He's not a Mark. You're definitely a Larry.

[Landon Donovan]

No, he's a Mark. He's the mark.

[C]

Demarc, we've got another one.

[Tim Howard]

Don't give it to us. LD and Timmy.

[Landon Donovan]

Happy birthday, boys.

[Tim Howard]

Ex pros, podcasters all around.

[Landon Donovan]

Great guys, great dads. You guys are crushing it, man. Hope you both have a great day. I was gonna do something funny and, you know, whatever, but, you know, you guys are both great guys. Guys.

[Tim Howard]

Miss you both. Hope you have a wonderful day, boys.

[Landon Donovan]

Happy birthdays.

[Tim Howard]

You know, you know the great thing? God bless Stu. I love that kid. The great thing about Stu is you all as a production team, have to reach out to people. Stu just sent that here. I got an idea. I got an idea. Let's wish him happy birthday. As long as I get some airtime. Love you, Stu. We'll always have you on.

[Landon Donovan]

Oh, Stew.

[C]

One more, one more.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on.

[D]

How you doing, boys? Happy birthday to both of you. You're both getting older. A bit like myself now. It's getting a bit long in the tooth. I wonder how I'm sitting here doing this job again. But I have to say, you2 are two of the finest USA players. Still are two of the finest boys I've come to know in my time. And I'm really proud to say that you are both my players, but also proud to say that you're friends and also people who are respect greatly. So have a great birthday. I hope that you continue to drop in and see us here at Everton. Everybody thinks so highly of you both. So when you get the opportunity, do so great to see you and happy birthday.

[Tim Howard]

Amazing. Wow. He's like. He's like a father figure to me. Everyone knows that.

[Landon Donovan]

I think someone left onions in here.

[Tim Howard]

Crying, right? Like, Jesus.

[Landon Donovan]

He.

[Tim Howard]

I got to spend some time with him last week in. In England and sat down. Not just interviewed him, but sat down in his office and chatted. It was just like, God, we had so many great days. And he. I mean, the things that he's still doing as a manager and that you can like call on him as a friend and. And still get advice. He's. He's a 10 out of 10. He's amazing. Absolutely amazing.

[Landon Donovan]

All right, to all our crew who we give a lot of crap to, thank you. That was awesome.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, appreciate it.

[C]

And big shout out to DeMarcus Beasley, Stu Holden and David Moyes and the team at Everton for sending us those videos.

[Landon Donovan]

We really appreciate it.

[C]

All right, thank you. Happy birthday and enjoy the abs.

[Tim Howard]

Thanks, John.

[Landon Donovan]

Feels a lot of feels here, Tim. All right, let's be professional.

[Tim Howard]

How are you, by the way?

[Landon Donovan]

43, pal. Are you.

[Tim Howard]

You 46? Oh, I'll be 46 on Thursday.

[Landon Donovan]

I don't. 43 does not feel good.

[Tim Howard]

You know what's really funny? Real quick for our audience, you know, it's really funny. We're three years apart and that like, that's like normal. We're the same. Basically the same age. When I was in camp with you, the first camp you have, we ever. Was it my U20 team landing or something and it was in Chula Vista and you came in because they were like, this kid's a wonder kid and he's playing for whatever team we're going to bring him to training. And I just remember you feeling like you were a baby. Like that gap felt huge. And now you're like, oh, it's three years.

[Landon Donovan]

Same thing.

[Tim Howard]

Maybe it was then. Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

All right. That was Certainly a unique AT&T fan connection. A lot of connecting there. Thank you guys. That was awesome. I enjoyed that. Okay, little abs. Anything but soccer. First thing, we both want to give a shout out to Diana Taurasi. You know, the word goat gets thrown around too much, but she is absolutely. I'm just going to run through her stats so people can understand. For young people who don't understand. So she was, in my opinion, the greatest WNBA player of all time and probably greatest college basketball player all time leading scorer, WNBA. The only player to ever exceed 10,000 career points. 3 time WNBA championship with Phoenix Mercury. 5 time WNBA leading scorer. 11 time All Star, 2 time Final MVP, 6 time Olympic Gold medalist. It's one thing to win a gold medal and how hard that is. Think about she did it over the span of what would that be? 20 years. To get you through 24, 20 years and to play at the top and win six times. It's just a stud, dude. Congrats to her on an amazing career.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, goat. I mean and, and by the way, one thing you didn't mention about her stats, she kept her shorts long. She rocked those knee length shorts all the way through. Like such a baller. Like, I, I, I think I marvel at, you know, the goat conversation. The best of all time. I marvel at it because I think there's levels, right? Ld like how do you make it? How do you make it to the be a professional? That's a level. How do you have one good season? That's a level. How do you become an all star or champion? That's a level. When you're doing that consistently over the course of whatever it is, 20 years, like that's like that. Just amazing. I don't care what sport is, but like she literally one, she stood on the shoulders of giants, but she also put the league and the sport on her back and like massive credit to her. I mean I, I can't wait for her to put her feet up in retirement because she's earned it.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, it's one thing to do it one year or two years or three years, but when you do it that long that consistently, it's not just because she was talented, which she was. She just had more about her that other people don't and absolute legend. So congrats to her on an amazing career. All right. Really good show. That got a little emotional at the end there, I'm not gonna lie. We appreciate all of you for being with us again. Subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your pods and always, always follow on social media Unfiltered Soccer for lots of bonus content.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, thanks everybody. Always love spending time with you. Thank you to our presenting sponsors, VW and our Fan Connection sponsor AT&T. Have an amazing week. Look forward to seeing you all back here next Tuesday with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.