USMNT Gold Cup Roster, Chaos in San Diego, and the English Premier League Season Wrap-Up

Summary

Podcast Summary: Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard Episode: USMNT Gold Cup Roster, Chaos in San Diego, and the English Premier League Season Wrap-Up
Release Date: May 28, 2025

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Introduction and Announcements

The episode begins with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard exchanging greetings and briefly discussing their recent activities. Tim shares his experience in Liverpool at Anfield after covering the trophy lift, highlighting his interactions with friends and his overall positive experience returning to England. Landon contrasts this with his challenging Memorial Day weekend, managing his son's soccer tournament amidst long hours and family logistics.

Notable Announcement:
Tim Howard [00:10]: "We have our first live show that's Unfiltered Soccer Live at BMO Stadium on June 11th."

Both hosts emphasize the importance of following their show across various platforms and encourage listeners to attend the live event in Los Angeles.

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USMNT Gold Cup Roster Analysis

A significant portion of the episode delves into the recently announced US Men's National Team (USMNT) Gold Cup roster, expressing concerns over the omission of key players such as Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, and Timothy Weah.

Key Points:

• Player Omissions: Landon lists several notable players excluded from the roster, questioning the team's depth and commitment.
• Leadership Issues: The hosts discuss Christian Pulisic's role as a leader and his dual responsibilities with his club, AC Milan, which might contribute to his absence.
• Impact on Team Performance: Tim emphasizes that missing these players undermines coach Mauricio Pochettino's ability to assess the best team during critical moments.
  Tim Howard [06:57]: "The national team is not a priority for them."

Notable Quote:
Tim Howard [04:20]: "Mauricio Pochettino will not know what his best team is made of in the most difficult moments."

The conversation highlights the lack of clear communication from US Soccer regarding player availability and the potential long-term effects on team cohesion leading up to the 2026 World Cup.

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Chaos in San Diego FC

Landon addresses recent violence involving LA Galaxy and LAFC fans during a San Diego FC match, urging fans to maintain civility and protect the positive image of San Diego as a soccer-friendly city.

Key Points:

• Violent Incidents: Reports of fan altercations, including an individual assaulting a woman.
• Leadership Lapses: Critique of club leaders like Lozano for not addressing fan behavior adequately.
• Call for Change: Both hosts encourage fans to support their teams respectfully to prevent further deterioration of the fan culture.

Notable Quote:
Landon Donovan [32:05]: "San Diego is a town that gets along and loves each other. This is not the way to show it."

Tim adds that club owners and league officials need to enforce stricter measures to curb such behavior, referencing previous disciplinary actions in the league.

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English Premier League Season Wrap-Up

The hosts transition to discussing the conclusion of the 2024-25 Premier League season, focusing on Liverpool's triumph, the tragic events during their celebration parade, and broader league dynamics.

Key Points:

• Liverpool's Championship: Praise for Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp and Arna Slot, noting their strategic play and leadership.
• Tragic Incident: Recognition of the attempted murder during Liverpool's parade, expressing condolences and hope for the victims' recovery.
• Klopp's Leadership: Admiration for Klopp's ability to manage player relations and fan expectations, especially regarding Trent Alexander-Arnold's relationship with supporters.

Notable Quotes:
Tim Howard [37:04]: "There was a tragic incident during Liverpool's parade, and we extend our deepest condolences."

Landon Donovan [38:56]: "Jurgen Klopp comes out and says this is not us, stop booing him. And what happens this weekend, they applaud him."

The discussion also touches upon other Premier League teams like Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, analyzing their performances and future prospects.

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Wrexham’s Promotion Success

Celebrating Wrexham's remarkable achievement of three consecutive promotions, the hosts commend the club's financial investment and strategic planning.

Key Points:

• Historic Promotions: Recognition of Wrexham's rise from League Two to the Championship, questioning the feasibility of another leap to the Premier League.
• Financial Strategies: Discussion on the role of significant financial backing in achieving rapid promotions, comparing to other clubs like Huddersfield and Hoffenheim.
• Future Prospects: Speculation on Wrexham's ability to sustain success and potentially secure a Premier League spot.

Notable Quote:
Tim Howard [57:57]: "Hats off to Wrexham. They say the hardest jump in all of promotions is Championship to Premier League."

Both hosts express optimism about Wrexham's future while acknowledging the substantial risks involved in maintaining their upward trajectory.

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Audience Questions and Discussions

The segment transitions into addressing listener-submitted questions, covering topics such as MLS roster rules, Manchester United's managerial situation, and the competitive landscape of the Premier League.

Highlighted Questions:

1. MLS Roster Strategies:
   Question from Stephen: Discusses Atlanta United's spending on Emmanuel Latte Lath versus spreading funds across multiple players. Landon Donovan [66:53]: Suggests creative roster management by signing multiple lower-cost players to enhance overall team quality.

2. Manchester United's Managerial Tenure:
   Question from Dan via Instagram: Inquires about the duration Reuben Amram should remain as Manchester United's manager amidst poor team performances. Landon Donovan [69:25]: Recommends giving Amram time to build and adjust, acknowledging the complexities involved.

3. Improving Newcastle United:
   Question from Carlton via Instagram: Seeks advice on how Newcastle can build upon their successful yet inconsistent season. Landon Donovan [75:51]: Emphasizes the competitiveness of the Premier League and suggests continued investment in strong managerial and player acquisitions.

Notable Interaction:
Tim Howard [68:18]: "We both wholeheartedly believe that you're better served instead of taking 20 million on one player, slice it down into smaller portions and get more players."

The hosts provide thoughtful, strategic insights into each query, drawing from their extensive soccer backgrounds.

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Conclusion and Calls to Action

As the episode wraps up, Donovan and Howard encourage listeners to engage with their live show, submit feedback, and participate in upcoming discussions.

Key Takeaways:

• Support Local Soccer: Landon urges listeners to support local teams and engage with various soccer leagues beyond the Premier League.
• Community Engagement: Tim stresses the importance of fan feedback in shaping future content and fostering a robust soccer community.
• Upcoming Live Show: Reminder of the live event on June 11th at BMO Stadium, emphasizing interactive segments and guest appearances.

Final Notable Quotes:
Tim Howard [79:35]: "Don't hold back, good or bad. This is going to be pretty polarizing stuff, the Gold Cup with players missing. How do we perform, who—with honest assessment."

Landon Donovan [80:20]: "We appreciate all of you guys, all your support as always. Please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your podcast."

Both hosts express gratitude towards their audience for their continued support and participation, highlighting the collaborative nature of the podcast.

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Sponsors and Advertisements

Throughout the episode, Donovan and Howard acknowledge their sponsors, including Volkswagen, AT&T, and Coors Light, incorporating brief promotional segments seamlessly into their discussions.

Key Sponsor Mentions:

• Volkswagen: Highlighted as a long-time supporter of soccer in America.
• AT&T: Promotes connectivity and fan engagement through various services.
• Coors Light: Emphasizes relaxation and enjoyment, aligning with the podcast's themes of balancing passion and leisure.

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Overall Summary

In this comprehensive episode, Landon Donovan and Tim Howard tackle pressing issues in the US Men's National Team, scrutinize fan behavior in MLS, celebrate success stories like Wrexham's promotions, and provide strategic insights into European football dynamics. Their candid discussions, enriched with notable quotes and real-world experiences, offer valuable perspectives for soccer enthusiasts seeking depth beyond the surface narratives. The episode balances critical analysis with constructive optimism, fostering an engaging dialogue that resonates with both casual fans and seasoned followers of the sport.

Transcript

[Tim Howard]

When the Gold cup ends, Mauricio Pochettino will not know I'm going on record as fact. He will not know what his best team is made of in the most difficult moments.

[Landon Donovan]

No, he'll have no clue.

[Tim Howard]

Let me say that again. He will not know what his best team has in the most difficult moments. Think about that for a second.

[Landon Donovan]

Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim. Presented by Volkswagen. Volkswagen has long been a supporter of soccer in America and has proudly been a partner of U.S. soccer for the past past five years.

[Tim Howard]

My guy, LD. How are you, bud?

[Landon Donovan]

Timmy. Welcome back.

[Tim Howard]

Thank you.

[Landon Donovan]

Long weekend, huh?

[Tim Howard]

I'm fresh as a daisy. I was doing doggies over the Atlantic, back and forth to, to England. Yeah, I was. Was in Liverpool this weekend at Anfield. Covered the trophy lift. Saw a bunch of friends from, from Manchester that went out to dinner, got a workout in. Just hung with my boys, had some coffee. So it was, it's great. It's always great to get back over and see. See friends and do some work. So back in New York, bro, how was your weekend?

[Landon Donovan]

I always say this holidays, summer is the worst. So Memorial Day is the worst three days in a row. My one son had a tournament, soccer tournament an hour away. And then they, of course, the time's like 8:30 in the morning and their second game's at 5:30pm so you're gonna sit in Temecula for seven hours with nothing to do. So my wife took them one day, I. I took them the other day, she took them yesterday, which means the other one is with our other two kids at home. It's a disaster.

[Tim Howard]

You're miserable. But this, this episode is not about American youth soccer. Because that's a book. That's a book that we're gonna write. Because that's horrific. Yeah, I hear you.

[Landon Donovan]

All right, so some exciting stuff. I know you've been traveling a lot. You got more traveling coming up.

[Tim Howard]

I do.

[Landon Donovan]

Tell our audience what's going on.

[Tim Howard]

I'm coming to the west coast. Cause again, I always gotta travel for you these days. Huge, huge announcement. This is a big show. We're talking about the Gold cup roster and Premier League and all that. But big, big announcement. We have our first live show that's unfiltered soccer. Live show at BMO Stadium on June 11th. That's June 11th is a Wednesday, 2025 at 5:30pm we're going to have guests, we're going to have live guests, we're going to have interviews, we have interaction with the crowd. Probably a Bit of Q and A. Even if our producers say no, we're going to get a microphone into the crowd and let you run. Run wild. We're getting. We're getting lots of this right now, but go to unfiltered soccer.com forward/live to purchase your tickets. I'm telling you, it's going to be a live event and it's going to be live. I can't wait. I'm excited to see you in the flesh, LD.

[Landon Donovan]

We've been wanting to do a live show for a long time, Tim, so it's going to be awesome. It's downtown LA at BMO Stadium. I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of stick for it not being at Dignity Health, but that's okay. The venue worked out perfectly. As always, guys, follow us on social media. Unfiltered Soccer. Subscribe to the show on YouTube. Make sure you follow on Apple podcasts and Spotify. Leave us a review. It helps people find us. And as always, email@feedbackunfiltered soccer.com I have no doubt that we are going to have a lot of emails coming in after this after episode as we discuss the Gold cup roster and most importantly, who's not there. So reminder, live show, June 11, 5:30pm Go to unfiltered soccer.com backslash live to get tickets. We're not opening it up to a lot of people, so I would go very fast if you want to be there.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

All right, Tim, let's get right into it. You know, like, when bad things happen in life, you go through all the emotions. You're angry and then you're sad, and then you're trying to find the silver lining. And all that's been my weekend as the Gold cup roster got announced.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. Let me just say for a second, you know why? You know what excites me about today is there's a good cop, bad cop going on between us. And I'm. I'm naturally the bad cop. I think we agree with that. I feel like today I'm gonna have to wear a different hat. I'm gonna have to wear the good cop hat because you, my friend, are very fired up. I'm fired up, but I'm trying to. I'm trying to. I'm trying to bide my time here because it's fine. This. This Gold cup roster is. If there were air quotes, and we all hate air quotes, it would be interesting.

[Landon Donovan]

It's complicated.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, it's complicated.

[Landon Donovan]

All right. So uslnt on usmnt all right, so we're gonna go all over the place here, guys. I apologize, but I just. I wrote down a gazillion things and they are all over the map.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

So let's just start with who is not in this omission. Omissions are more important that we think are of note. Okay, I'm gonna probably miss some. But number one by a gazillion miles is Christian Pulisic. We're going to get into him in a second. No. Tanner Testman. No. Cameron Carter Vickers. No. Joe Scally. Due to club World cup. No. Wes McKinney. No. Who am I missing here? Timothy Weah. And there's one. No. Gio Reyna. Also not there. Sergeant. No. Eunice Musa. Okay, I think I got all of them, but maybe I missed some.

[Tim Howard]

Is. Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Okay, so let's. Let's not bury the lead. Let's start with Christian.

[Tim Howard]

Sure.

[Landon Donovan]

You go first.

[Tim Howard]

Me? Before. What are you bringing me into this for?

[Landon Donovan]

You're not good cop today. You're. You're honest cop.

[Tim Howard]

I'm. No, I'm. I'm good cop. Okay. All right, I'll. I'll start. The entire. The entire premise of this show when it comes to the Gold cup roster is there are so many important vital players missing. And we're going to talk about. For every time someone misses an opportunity, there's an opportunity gained by someone else. I don't want someone.

[Landon Donovan]

No, Jedi. Robinson.

[Tim Howard]

Robinson.

[Landon Donovan]

You don't want someone. What? Go ahead.

[Tim Howard]

I don't want someone else representing us at the World Cup. I want the best American players representing us at the World Cup. Right. And because of that, I don't really care about these opportunities for some of these other guys. What I want is our best players to be performing together when the stuff is really hitting the fan and having to figure out and problem solve. Because here's the thing. Hear it from me. We have just missed. We haven't even kicked off the Gold Cup. We have just missed our last opportunity before the World cup to compete as a group. Don't tell me about the September friendlies. There are no competitive games as soon as the Gold cup finishes. There are no competitive games before the World Cup. It's over. And by the way, I'm highly, highly doubtful that we'll have our best squads together for even more than five friendly games this year.

[Landon Donovan]

Well, I'm. I mean, this group hasn't proven that there will be one game where everyone's together, right. Due to injuries or someone not wanting to be there, whatever. So.

[Tim Howard]

So that's my. You talk about. We could talk about Christopolisic or Anthony Robinson or Moussa. They're all in the same boat for me. But you in particular, those three.

[Landon Donovan]

Well, no, look. So look, there is nuance between them. Right. Because they're all unique situations. Right. And then with Scally and Sergeant and some of these were also soccer decisions that Pochettino said. I'm just, I don't want to bring them in. Testman. Right. And he said that publicly. So with Christian. So I understand very clearly what it's like to need a break.

[Tim Howard]

Okay.

[Landon Donovan]

As do you.

[Tim Howard]

Okay.

[Landon Donovan]

I got. In 2013, I had played probably 14 straight years of 11 plus months of soccer, 40 plus games a year.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

And I don't. I've have never said this publicly, but I was on the verge and I think I've mentioned this to you like I was on the verge of a real breakdown where it could have got scary for me.

[Tim Howard]

Okay.

[Landon Donovan]

And I'm just, I'm gonna leave it at that. And you can, you can understand where I'm going with that.

[Tim Howard]

Sure.

[Landon Donovan]

I want to say the caveat to all of these guys needing a break and not coming in. If there's something serious going on in your life, in your family, mentally, whatever, I get it. Okay. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna assume for sake of this conversation that's not going on, but I am admitting I could be wrong with that. If they would actually come out and give reasons, it would help us. But none of them want to say anything publicly. I think it would help them publicly to say this is why.

[Tim Howard]

Sure.

[Landon Donovan]

It would help people understand. So I'm going to preface it with that. That being said, with Christian, I think the hard part with him is he is, whether he likes it or not, the leader of this team. Okay. He doesn't have to wear the armband.

[Tim Howard]

It's not easy being a leader, by the way.

[Landon Donovan]

It's not. And everybody is watching everything he does.

[Tim Howard]

Okay.

[Landon Donovan]

And so the example I'm going to use is Eunice Musa. I don't have info on this. I don't have any inside info on this. I can imagine, and I could be wrong, that over the last few months, Christian and Eunice were sitting talking in the locker room multiple times, and Christian saying, you know, I'm. I'm just thinking about maybe not going to the Gold cup because I am tired. And Eunice, a 22 year old, impressionable young man, could also be saying, shoot, I'm tired too. I want to spend the summer with my family and not have to go play for six more weeks. And that's the kind of influence a leader has. Other guys here get wind of Christian not going, and they say, oh, maybe I don't want to. Maybe Jedi says, yeah, I don't want to go.

[Tim Howard]

Sure.

[Landon Donovan]

Okay, sure. So with Christian, he. I put him separate because he's played a ton of games. He's been a leader, he's been the man and he's performed and he cares. It shows that he cares when he's with the team. Okay. So I'm going to put him over here. The problem I have with Christian in the last few weeks, is he still playing for Milan?

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. Here we go.

[Landon Donovan]

Okay, so if you're. If you're tired and you're burnout, whatever. If you guys are still playing for a Champions League spot, fine. I get it. They had Tim nothing to play for this weekend.

[Tim Howard]

0.

[Landon Donovan]

They had the same thing to play for that you and I did. Zero.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Right. So that's my one thing. Okay, so. So I'm going to put Christian there. Let's get in. Unus Musa. I. I'm. I don't even have words because he's 22, he's played 16 games this year, and he's tired and wants to spend. Now, again with the preface. That or the caveat that maybe there's something serious going on. If there is, I apologize. I'm going to assume there's not because I haven't heard anything from you. So I'm just. To me, that's not even worth talking about the Jedi Robinson thing. So if people remember, he took time off during Nations League because he needed to get his. His knee right.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

You know what he did the next weekend?

[Tim Howard]

Tim played.

[Landon Donovan]

He started and played for Fulham. Okay. So he also now said he's not going to go to the Gold Cup. He doesn't want to go to the Gold Cup. Fine. You've had a long season. You've performed great. Why are you starting and playing 90 minutes the last two games for Fulham? If your knees so messed up, what are you doing? What kind of message is that sending if you are really injured? And that's no problem. You totally fine. We respect that. Everyone has to make the decision that's best for them. What the hell are you doing? Yeah, so my biggest thing. Tim. And then I'll stop.

[Tim Howard]

No, no.

[Landon Donovan]

My biggest thing with these guys right now is the national team is not a priority for them.

[Tim Howard]

Correct.

[Landon Donovan]

It's not. And I'm not going to Say they don't care. There's levels of caring. It's just not a priority. If it was, Anthony would have said, I'm not playing these last four games because I want to play in the gold period. End of story. So, all right, I'm off.

[Tim Howard]

Well, I appreciate your take, appreciate your honesty about mental health and what it took, the place that you were at when you had to step away for a time, because that's real and honest. And I appreciate that. I will say that our listeners, and we have a lot of them, thank God you make our show. God. I think our listeners right now are slightly gobsmacked that you said that the Gold cup isn't a priority one. I agree with you, by the way. I agree with you. But when you look at this all consuming, you then begin to realize it's impossible for the Gold cup to be a priority. If all of these decisions are starting to trickle down, then it shows that. Do I think US Soccer thinks the Gold cup is a party? Yes. Do I think that the coaching staff and. Or the players think it's a priority? No. Look, I also, I also. Because the Internet trolls, who we do love, actually, they will be onto us quickly. So, yes, I stepped away from the game. Let me give you context. Played in three World Cups, played for my country 110 times. And after the 2004 World Cup, I took a year break.

[Landon Donovan]

14, 2014.

[Tim Howard]

Sorry, sorry. 2014 World cup in Brazil. I took a year break. I then came back into the team in the summer of 2015 during the Copa America. I prioritized the importance of major tournaments and knew that after a World cup, the games are meaningless. Right. There's, for the. For the most part, first senior player like myself, the friendlies. If there was ever a time to take a break, it was then. And Also I was 35 years old, so there's that part. Oh, and by the way, just in case anybody wants to try and knock me off my high horse, I was the starting goalkeeper for the US national team by a mile. And in that year, because I chose to take off, the manager demoted me to number two, even though I was number one. So there was consequences for my decision, which I knew going in. Right. That's how this works. So I think you make a really interesting point. You know, with. With Christian and. And Anthony Robinson. Both players, I think are phenomenal players. And I've been on record as saying that the decision is perplexing when you begin to realize that these players are telling us they need rest. So we have to accept that. What I would then throw back to you, which you've said is both of your teams are mid table. And I'm not saying, by the way, you should bottle. You should bottle club games, because take it from me, I took every injection and tablet there was in the world to make sure I was on the field for both club and country. But if you're telling us you need rest for injuries, then rest to get fit, then you need to rest. These are meaningless games, essentially, because I think, and many of our listeners think the Gold cup is vastly important because it's our last chance to compete as a team. These friendlies are going to be nothing. We could say they're going to mean something. They're not going to push us to the limit that a tournament competition would push us. I think about even my own time. I know you were the same. Begging a manager, you get wind of things, right? Whether through group text or you get wind of who's going in and who's not. Begging my manager, hey, I might not call senior players in this, this summer. I'd call the manager, go, yeah, I'm fit, I'm ready. Were you planning on bringing me in? Like, just trying to egg him on to make sure that I was in. And by the way, I don't know if I. And I think that I think the generation slightly above us, who we, you and I were in at the back end of, I think they had some good leaders. Absolutely. I certainly think that we played with a lot of leaders. It was actually one of our biggest strengths and weaknesses was the fact that we had so many leaders.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah. Too many cooks.

[Tim Howard]

There was a time, yeah. We needed a sports psychologist, remember, to come in and basically say, like, hey, I, you know, all this, all of this energy, Tim, I can't have that. Jermaine Jones, Landon, Michael Bradley, Josie, Clint, like, I need you to bring a lot of this, but not all of it, right? So. So we had that. And I remember there being group texts where literally guys, for lack of a better word, we'd bully each other to go into, to go into camp. Like, if we got a message that, like, Josie wasn't coming in, Michael would side text us and we'd all text Josie, like, hey, I saw you, saw you come off in the 16th.

[Landon Donovan]

Coming in, huh?

[Tim Howard]

You're coming in, aren't you, bro? And, like, we'd have a giggle. Or Josie would text one of us, like, don't tell me I'm not going to see you in Chicago this summer. And you're like, you start getting this feeling like, oh, I feel like tons of pressure. I got to go in. My boys are giving me stick, right? And so there was a camaraderie and a leadership about the group. And I just wonder if the senior players are within this current group of U.S. men's national team players are holding each other accountable. Holding. Forget holding the younger players accountable. That's secondary right now. Are they holding each other accountable? You know, I also think it's generational ld and this is the good cop in me, I think it's generational. And because your guy LeBron, right, he's a Laker. And my guy Jordan, right? When you look at right and wrong or you look at generation. So what happened with Michael Jordan was, and this is well documented, he got his ass whooped in the Eastern Conference, right? The Pistons bullied him, and he played 82 games. You know what he did in the summer? He went, I have to get stronger, I have to get nastier. I have to hire the best personal trainer in all of sports. He did that, right? He bulked up, he got meaner, he got nastier. And by the way, I have a feeling he had a few niggling injuries. I just have a feeling about that, right? And he's the greatest. Fast forward to the other goat in the conversation. LeBron James. He is an is in the era of load management, right? And rest. And so I'm just. Hear me out here. I'm just trying to throw that out. And by the way, LeBron James plays all the games, too. I get that. But there is this load management that's creeped in, and they've actually had to make a rule in the NBA about that, right? And so they want players to play more. So maybe this generation is cut differently. I'm not saying that that's good or bad. Maybe I am.

[Landon Donovan]

But that's clearly are. Yeah, look, look, I try hard, Tim, not to be the old guy like the old grumpy. I really do. I really do. And I take in all the. I talk to tons of people during the week to try to get context and understand this one thing. Look, from Mauricio Pochettino standpoint, this is where I have a problem with. With what some of these players did. So Mauricio Pochettino was forced into a decision. Okay? When your best player calls you and says, I don't want to come in this summer, what are you supposed to do? Okay, so your options are you say, I don't care. I don't care how you're feeling you're coming in now your best player is pissed off at you. Oh, by the way, what happens if your best player then gets hurt while he's there? Now he's blaming you and we're all blaming him. Or he has to do what he decided to do, which is, okay, I'm going to leave you off and risk our team not doing as well and risk not having you here. Right. And he had to do that with multiple players. So multiple players ended up tying his hands. And it just makes it difficult for him. It makes it really difficult for him. What is he supposed to do, Tim?

[Tim Howard]

Well, yeah. Okay. But let me ask you this.

[Landon Donovan]

You can't tell Christian. No, you're coming in. Sorry. I mean, you can, but I tell.

[Tim Howard]

You what you can do. My thought was, and still is, but that's going to waver in the next month if things don't go well. That Mauricio Pochettino was much, much bigger than U.S. soccer. And I don't mean that negatively. He's a big name. He's coached big characters. So my hope would be that there was this plan in place that says, this is last chance saloon to get all of my guys together.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah.

[Tim Howard]

To see what I have. By the way, you talk about evaluating when the Gold cup ends. Mauricio Pochettino will not know. Hear me out. I'm going on record as fact. He will not know what his best team is made of in the most difficult moments. Do you understand? Let me say that again. He will not know what his best team has in the most difficult moments. Think about that for a second. So my thing is, there had to have been a plan in place that says, we are prioritizing the Gold Cup. We're going to win the Gold Cup. We're going to. You and I have been in rooms with managers on the US national team that. That have said. They've said to us this exact thing. Listen, boys, we're going to play this tournament exactly how we're going to play next year's World Cup. We're going to. We're going to use the same substitution pattern. We're going to use the same travel pattern. We're going to use the same training sessions. We're going to mimic. We. We. You and I have heard this, Landon. We're going to mimic what the World Cup's going to look like. So we have an idea of what that looks like.

[Landon Donovan]

Year that was easily Confederations cup in 09. First thing that came to mind. Exactly the same. Yeah.

[Tim Howard]

So we don't we? We as a, as a country. Mauricio Pono does not have that. So I'm saying this needed to be a priority. Okay? So when you ask what's he supposed to do because the player tied his hands, he's bigger than U.S. soccer, he makes it a priority and then says to. Because you know what, you know what's more important to Kristen Pulisic and Anthony Robinson and Moussa than having the summer off? What's more important is that they play in a World Cup.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. So if the, if the manager says, look, guys, this is how it's going to be, they're not going to throw their toys out of the pram. And if they do, they're going to.

[Landon Donovan]

Miss a World Cup.

[Tim Howard]

They're not going to miss a World cup, so they're going to fall into line. The fact of the matter is we need everybody there now. Look, within the team. Like we've always said, they're not beholden to us and we're not beholden to them. Within the team. They're going to go, Tim, go jump in a lake. You don't know what you're talking about. Obviously, I know what I'm talking about. And the fact of the matter is they need to be there. And by the way, we've been in Gold Cups. I've seen the first round. Listen, for everybody, for everybody here, I'm holding my hand up. I don't care about the first round of the Gold Cup. My daughter's high school team could get out of the first round of the Gold Cup. And I'm not being funny, even though I know you're laughing. So bring the players in. We have actually, in fact, ld. I've had a Gold cup where I've come in. It was the last. It was the one that we won in 2017 where Bruce. Bruce basically said, the senior players, you're not, you're not coming in.

[Landon Donovan]

I'm in for the knockout round.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. Until the last game of the, of the opening round, you're going to be around the team, everyone's going to high five. We're going to cruise at the first round. And when the stuff really hits the fan, you boys are coming in. He said that to us. This isn't unprecedented. So the fact that they could have their rest.

[Landon Donovan]

It was actually, Tim, it was. One of the things I wrote down is you. I was thinking through that. You could easily. Right, so let's say their season end ended last weekend. Right? What are we at end of May?

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

So you could have said you're, you're, you're not. Not even coming in for the friendlies.

[Tim Howard]

Well, don't play your. Don't play your last two club games, by the way.

[Landon Donovan]

Well, first of all, start by don't playing your last two club. Yeah. So now you've had since mid May all the way through, let's say, first week of June, we're gonna get you moving and running and doing a little bit on your own, but you're not even coming in with the group.

[Tim Howard]

Yep.

[Landon Donovan]

And we'll see you on June 10th.

[Tim Howard]

Yep.

[Landon Donovan]

Five, four days ahead of the first game. You're not playing in the first two games, period.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

If by some reason we need you for the third game, which we shouldn't, we might suit a few of you up, put you on the bench and get you going. And then you're gonna play in the knockout stages, or even if you want to do that, you're not playing the whole time, but you're going to be here around the group with the team so we can continue to build culture. You can see what I. What the expectations are, et cetera, et cetera. That's another compromise that could have been made.

[Tim Howard]

Totally.

[Landon Donovan]

And look, we don't know the conversations that were had or not had. Right. But that could have been an easy. An easy one.

[Tim Howard]

And by the way, yes, it is an easy conversation. Speaking of conversations, which is important to me, I'm not putting the blame necessarily on Maria Pochettino. What I'm saying is all of these conversations needed to be had with the global sporting directors at these clubs. So I'm putting a ton.

[Landon Donovan]

And a long time ago, a long.

[Tim Howard]

Time ago, I'm putting a ton of this on US Soccer. There needed to be people on planes, at restaurants in Milan, at restaurants in London, buying bottles of red wine for sporting directors saying, listen, I understand you have priorities. Let me tell you about my priorities. My job's on the line. The Gold cup in 2025 is my priority. Now, I know there's going to be a bunch of things in between there that you're going to say are hurdles. I'm saying those are nothing to me. I need to have my best team. I need to give the manager that I'm paying. How much? $6 million. The manager that I'm paying $6 million to, I have an obligation to get him his best team on the field. Now, that might not mean anything to you, but it means the world to me, and that's more important. So how do we figure this out. That's dialogue. And I don't necessarily know that those that. That dialogue has been had with sporting directors. And by the way, if it has, then it just shows that US Soccer has no gravitas and no power. Because if those conversations were had with sporting directors in Europe, then those sporting directors basically said, who is this? I don't have time for this call. I'll see. I'll speak to you never. And hung up the phone. Because that's.

[Landon Donovan]

Or they said yes. Or they said yes and just did the opposite. Well, just did whatever they wanted anyway.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

So, yeah, I mean, look, to your point, when the whole process of hiring Pochettino, all the emphasis was on getting the coach, getting the coach, getting the person you want, whatever, was there enough consideration, thought given to how the process was going to look over the next year and a half? Probably not.

[Tim Howard]

Probably not.

[Landon Donovan]

I mean, look, we both know people in US Soccer and, you know, given what we know, my answer would be probably not, because you're answering not the most impressive.

[Tim Howard]

Definitely. Right, yeah. So this is a problem. This is a massive, massive problem for where we are.

[Landon Donovan]

I think the biggest takeaway before we move on here, because I do want to try to get to the positive, is one, now Pochettino's making a bet, right? He's saying, fine, leaving all those guys off. I'm leaving other guys off intentionally so I can look at certain players and we'll get to them in a second.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

And I'm taking the risk that this could all go belly up and the Gold cup could be a disaster, and we're going to have more piles of pressure coming in the hopes that these players are rested, recovered, ready. But by the way, Tim, last thing for me here is these guys are going to play 50 games next year. So what's going to happen at the end of next year? And by the way, there is something to your body getting used to doing that.

[Tim Howard]

Of course.

[Landon Donovan]

I went into every January camp for 15 years, every single one. So we played till December 7 with the Galaxy. January 1, I was in camp, so I had three weeks off. I had a week to go swim and chill and go on vacation, and then I was training again. But my body got used to it. My body got used to it. So now if your body's used to taking the summer off, and now you gotta play next year in the biggest tournament of your life, how does your body react? Yeah, I don't know.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, it's Paul. I mean, I think there's a lot. I mean, this Is there, there's a, there's a lot to this. And I, and I think that this is just scratching the surface. And as you said, unfortunately, unfortunately, these, you know, when, when these are big moments, big conversation, these are big boy, adult conversations. And I just think we, we don't hear oftentimes from, you know, from these players publicly, you know. Yeah, you're right. And I think that's, I think that's a, it's a miss. It's a miss, you know, particularly, particularly when, when you're supposed to be a leader and be counted on and we don't hear from you. That's, you know, it's obviously their choice not to speak, but it's, yeah, it, it ends up, it ends up having to be speculated about. And oftentimes some of that speculation in our case isn't actually speculation. We know we have, we have a lot of friends and, and we're going to have to talk about it because this is what everybody wants to hear.

[Landon Donovan]

Whenever a door closes, another opens, right? So reminder from our friends at nhtsa, buckle your seatbelt to make it home safely. Don't risk it, Click it. Or ticket paid for by nhtsa. So, to me, NHTSA is always reminding us to get strapped in for every time we get in our car and for every opportunity. And for a lot of these guys, this is now an opportunity. And Mauricio Pochettino said that in his press conference, and I believe him. I think he said the guys who came into the last few camps are on the same level as some of these guys in Europe. And that's all he has to take. Right? And I know you don't agree with that, but, like, all he has to take is what he sees in camp and what they give him. So guys like Luna, Brian White, Sebastian Berhalter now coming in, Quinn Sullivan, Alex Freeman, Luca De la Torre. Big opportunity for them to get strapped in and take advantage of this opportunity. It is. And I know you don't think they're good enough, and I, or some of them are good enough, and I know you think you want to see your best players there, but this is what it is now. I mean, that ship sailed, right? So that ship sailed. So for these guys, do they take advantage of it? And, and to be honest, Tim, I hope they do, man. I hope some of these guys get punished for it. I do. And, and I'm not in a nasty way, whatever. But it'd be good for them to have some competition now.

[Tim Howard]

Well, I mean, I, I, you, you say you believe what Marisa Pochettino is saying? Look, I suppose we have to take it at face value until, until proven otherwise. When he has his full complement of players, will he, will he look at a guy who's been in and say, I trust you, and look at a player who on paper is better and plays at a bigger club and will he sit that player down and go, look, I don't trust that you're all in, so go over there on the bench and walk you away? Maybe, maybe. I don't know that. I don't know that to be true. You know, again, you, you, you prefaced it. I, I personally. And this is why our fans are so up in arms about it, why I am. I want our best players. I want Ballistic and Robinson and Moussa and Gio Reyna and West McKinney and Waya. I want these guys on the pitch to name and there's a few others. I want them all there. So I don't actually want them to get punished. I just, you know, because the best chance that we have of getting a result, a positive result in the World cup is to have our best players. And so look, do I think genuinely not because we had Diego Luna on the show and everybody in America as we do, have a love affair with him, but I think this is a moment where if he's able to say it fit, he's hungry, he's mls. So thankfully he's in the middle of his season and it just says, gaffer, I'm here. I'm running my socks off. I'm going to score the goals, I'm going to be tough. I want to play. I want to play every game. Don't leave me out. When he, when he gets left out, he knocks on managed door, don't leave me out. Right? And he, and he can get six, seven games under his belt this summer and have positive performances. I think that then starts to tilt the balance of things and that then, because naturally, right, he'll, he'll. He'll then have gained more trust, right? And his, he'll have more stock and someone else who didn't come into camp will have less stock, right? And then, and then even if that person with less stock starts ahead of him, they get it. They get a much shorter opportunity, right? When things don't go well, they go well. I can play, I can play Diego Luna because I can, I know I can count on him. So I think in that case, but, but you know what, it's one or two cases, Landon. It's not across the board. It's not across.

[Landon Donovan]

That's fine.

[Tim Howard]

But.

[Landon Donovan]

Okay, that's fine. I will tell you, having coached, one of the things, probably the most important thing for a coach is trusting your players. It is it. You will take a guy who's a six and a half out of ten, who you know is a six and a half out of 10, versus a guy who could be a nine, but might be a four every day. Every day of the week. And so far, guy like Diego Luna is showing. He is going to bring it every time. And it's like, you know, you're dating a girl and she doesn't really want to be with you, but she kind of does. Are you going to just keep chasing and, and for Po right now, he's like, look, you don't want to be here, fine. Yeah, this guy does. So, you know, I'm going to, I'm going to. I'm going to give him a chance.

[Tim Howard]

And look, we're, we're. We're, you know, get a chance to, to ask Poetino. And I think these are, these are real questions and concerns that we have and that, that the public has and the fans certainly have. Right. And so it will be interesting. I think there's. I think there's a lot of navigating that, that, that Pochettino is going to have to do, you know, over the next, certainly 10 months, 12 months.

[Landon Donovan]

All right, leave us your comments and questions. We'll have a lot for the mailbag next week and for the live show. Um, lots of. There'll be lots of good feedback and we want to hear your opinions. Last thing before we take a break. Tim. I'm just, I'm going to. You can comment on this if you want. I'm going to just. I'm going to make a plea here publicly. San Diego fc. Over the weekend, there was some really nasty fights with Galaxy fans in the stadium, outside the stadium. Some really bad. I saw some really bad images. One guy punched a girl in the face. It was really ugly. Really ugly. And I just want to say, first I'm going to say to LA Galaxy, and, you know, LAFC fans don't care what I have to say, but this also happened with lafc. Yeah, Galaxy fans, please cut it out. Like, we are way better than that. Way better than that. And I don't. You don't want this to end where something really bad happens before it stops. So just, just please go to the game, cheer the game, cheer your team and walk out peacefully and leave people alone. Okay, I'm gonna. I'm gonna start there. I know there are two sides to this story. Second half of this is San Diego fc. This is a city I live in now and I love. And what I see happening in the stadium is not San Diego. It's really not, Tim. And it's. It's starting to piss me off. San Diego is a town full of people that come here to live here on purpose because they want to be here. And it's a town that gets along and loves each other. I know there's hatred towards la, there's the sort of inferiority complex, all that stuff. This is not the way to show it. So cut it out. Stop. You're ruining a really good thing in San Diego right now. You really are. And Galaxy fans, you're complicit in this, and we're better than that. So let's stop. And that's all I want to say.

[Tim Howard]

Well said. My take is San Diego fc. I know what they're. They're trying to do. They're a new team. They're trying to create a history and environment that may not have existed before, and they're probably going over the top. There's been some homophobic chance that they've. They've needed to wind back in, and rightfully so, and they haven't done that. And I know in our comments, people have argued, given the translation between Spanish and English, that it's. It's not a homophobic chant. I'm. I'm going on the basis that it is. And if. Even if it isn't, it needs to be. It needs to be reined in. That being said, as. As a club owner, both previously and currently, San Diego is probably thinking like, we've got momentum here, like, how much of this do we want to do? We want to stop. So on the surface, I don't know if they're doing enough. And what I would say is, and I've tested Don Garber's resolve and lost, and I thought I was above the law, and I was subsequently hit with a. With a league at the time, unprecedented league high suspension for something that happened off the field. And Don Garber will be on the phone soon enough if he hasn't already been. So, yeah, I would say San Diego, make sure you're doing a good thing at the moment, but some. Some things need to kind of be reined in. So pay particular attention to that.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah. And unfortunately, what we're not talking about is that San Diego are second in the Western Conference standings. Right. Because this stuff is taken. So Chukilazano, other leaders on the team, get out there and say it, too. It's not okay. It's not acceptable. There's ways to be fanatical and passionate. This is not it.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. And from what I think we know, Lozano had the opportunity to go out and address the fans, and he chose not to, which again, is a huge miss. It's a huge lack of leadership and a big miss. So that needed to happen. Hopefully it subsides.

[Landon Donovan]

Agreed. All right, let's take a break. Thanks for sitting in a long segment. Lot going on there and obviously we're passionate about it. When we come back, we'll be talking Premier League. Other things going on in the soccer world. Right here on Unfairly Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim. As always, presented by our friends at Volkswagen. So stay right there.

[Tim Howard]

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 US Soccer at vw.com driving without a seatbelt could cost you everything, but despite that, there are still drivers on the road who just won't buckle up. Some of those drivers will be pulled over and given expensive tickets by law enforcement.

[Landon Donovan]

Some of the drivers not wearing their seatbelts will be involved in crashes. Some will survive, but some won't. Wearing your seatbelt could be the difference between making it home to your loved ones and not making it at all.

[Tim Howard]

Every day when you get in your vehicle and decide whether to buckle up, remember that it's the single most effective way to protect your life in the event of a crash.

[Landon Donovan]

Make it home safely to the people you care about. Don't risk it. Click it or Ticket paid for by NHTSA this message is brought to you by Abercrombie and Fitch. I've been ready for summer for a while, and now it's finally time for Summer outfits With a trip coming up, the A and F vacation shop has me covered. Abercrombie really knows how to do a lightweight outfit. Their tees, sweater, polos and linen blend shorts never miss. I wear Abercrombie denim year round. Their shorts are no different and have the comfort I need. For summer prep. For your next trip with the A and F vacation shop, get their newest arrivals in store online and in the.

[Tim Howard]

App LD that's a wrap on the 2024, 25 Premier League season. But before we get into that, we here at Unfiltered Soccer need to take a moment and extend our condolences and thoughts to the city of Liverpool. As you saw yesterday during the Liverpool celebration parade, tragedy struck. A man has now been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after following an ambulance into a closed part of the parade route on Water street and driving into the crowd. 50 people were hospitalized and as of this morning, 11 are still receiving treatment. Obviously this is a horrible way to end a big day for the city and the fans and we hope for a speedy recovery for everyone impacted. There's no easy way to segue out of that. But let's talk about what those fans were there to celebrate yesterday. And that was the joyous scenes at Anfield and a season well done and well played to Liverpool Football Club, the Premier League champions.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah, it was fun to see you there, Tim. And then the, the scenes after were, look, we don't like Liverpool soccer club, right, or football club as athletes, but that town is so special and the rivalry there meant a lot to both of us and it was really horrible to see. Hopefully it seems like, knock on wood, everyone has escaped without too serious of injury and let's hope that, that everyone gets back healthy. It was great to see you there. It was great to see you on the sideline. All the interviews and just the energy was, was pretty special. Even as an Everton fan, it was pretty cool to see.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, look, I, you know, I've. The people of Liverpool are dear to me. Um, and, and I think, you know, when I was able to be at the game, I've always said, because I've talked about the rivalry, I think you can't, you can't have a love hate relationship with a club if you don't have respect for them. And you know, I think that's, you know, having having been a Manchester United player and an Everton player, you definitely feel that, that hatred, that passion that, that respect for that, for that rivalry. You know, Anfield, as I've always said, is they, they Recognize moments. They've had so many big moments there. And it was really interesting to be in the stadium and feel, you know, it was the first time they've lifted the Tropian trophy, you know, with fans. Because remember back in. Was it 2020 they lifted the trophy. There's no fans in the stadium. So this is the first time that this generation has had an opportunity to do that. And it was, it was impressive. You know, it was impressive in. You always knew it would be. You know, Arna Slot did such a great job with this team that Jurgen Klopp essentially built. I mean he brought in, I think he brought in Chiesa, but he never really played and he was injured. So the team that played and the team that was internally restructured on the pitch was Jurgen Klopp's team. And I think Ernest Slot deserves just so much credit for it. It was, you know, when you're at the, when you're at the stadium, when you're there, I mean our, our seats for NBC. So we were at a pitch side desk and then when the game starts we, we're essentially next to the Liverpool bench, a row, not behind the bench, next to the bench. So we're like, you know, we're, we're, we're as close as on a slot and the substitutes are to the field. So you get a really good vantage point. You know, some cool moments where Crystal palace, because of how fate would have it, won the FA cup, which we talked about. So you're talking about two champions on the same pitch. And so therefore they both teams gave each other a guard of honor, which is the guard of honor is special in and of itself and just pretty awesome to see. But for both teams to do that was really, really an awesome measure of respect and a spectacle when you, when you witness it live.

[Landon Donovan]

You know, I couldn't help but think when with Trent Alexander Arnold now they booed him a week ago or two weeks ago. And Jurgen Klopp, you talk about leadership and we were just talking about this with San Diego FC and like what we think Chuki Lozano should be doing and what they're, you know, maybe their president should be doing or the owner should be doing. Jurgen Klopp comes out and says this is not us, stop booing him. And what happens this weekend, they applaud him. Right. They don't boom anymore. I mean that is leadership and that's the power that he has over that fan base.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

And I just give him a lot of credit for that because Trent Alexander Arnold, I Think we can all agree, deserves to be celebrated for what he gave to that club.

[Tim Howard]

Sure, we talked about that and, you know, it was really interesting because before the game, you know, it's obviously, you know, he's on the bench, you had a feeling he was going to play, you know, like he wasn't left out of the squad or anything. So you're like, oh, he'll probably get on. They actually needed him to get on because he changed the game a bit. Um, they dropped Raven Burke back to a back three and put him on as a right fullback. But essentially it went into the six and, you know, his passing range and his ability on the ball is special. And I just, I had so much respect for Alexander Arnold in the way that he handled himself because, yeah, I said a lot of things. I said a lot of things that I'm sure he, he felt like he's given the club everything. Don't you dare boo him. Like, who, who do you think you are? But he's never said anything. He celebrated a goal, a last minute volley at Leicester a couple weeks ago and took his shirt off. And there was kind of this, like, stern look at the crowd, and it was just very cinematic. And people were like, well, what's he thinking? Is he gonna stay? That kind of thing? But the booze hurt him, the boos hurt him, and it was always gonna be a case. While he was gonna get a medal, he was gonna lift a trophy. Like, what were they gonna do? Were they gonna, boom, he's gonna come on. There was some boos and jeers when he came on. We were listening for it pretty intently, but for the most part, uh, it was more love and more cheering. And then Landon, it was really interesting after the game, they, they basically put up a wall. So you have the, you have the Premier League trophy lift and all that. And then the media goes behind like a, like a gate they put up, like, they put up like this gate and you can have. Everyone has their camera and their desk. And so we were like right around the 18 yard box. And then after they lifted the trophy, they then went over to the cop because we're like, you know, 20 yards from the cops. So that's kind of where they did all. They're celebrating. And at one point, as you know, you've celebrated a lot of things. There's just tons of celebration. All your family's there. It's all the different people lifting the trophy. And they did a team picture, whatever. At one point they went and celebrated again. You're talking it's like an hour of celebrating. At one point Trent Alexander Arnold sat on the 18 yard box and butts on the 18 yard box and he's looking at the cop. He's very stoic and you knew that was his moment. We've seen other players at other clubs do that in their home state and he was very stoic. And then his mom and dad, his brother, his wife and someone else came on the pitch.

[Landon Donovan]

Bro.

[Tim Howard]

He basically melted in his mom's arms. Streams of tears. He was inconsolable. His family huddled around him and he just, he cried and he sobs for like, I don't know what seemed like 10 minutes. And you just realized at that point what the football club meant to him, how much it would have hurt him for them to, you know, for certain sections of Liverpool supporters to boo him. It was a really like, it was a really pivotal moment to see that and it was, you know, again it was, it was done the right way, it finished the way it should finish. And so you know, you know you look at a player a lot, he's a classy individual. So that was cool. And then you know we had, we had, it's, we had Virgil Van Dyke at our desk, Mo Salah at the desk, Andy Robertson and, and Arna Slot and it was just, you know, again they, they go to a lot of the different channels across global channels and, and, and broadcasters and they do interviews. But it was really interesting. You know I find it as someone who's played on the pitch and, and, and gone to battle with, with. I just like, I still find being there in the moment it's pretty amazing, it's pretty intense. Like I said to you off camera in this week, Virgil Van Dyke came over to the desk and he has an aura about him and he's the captain of Liverpool Football Club of the Netherlands and he's a big boy and I'm a pretty decent size and I just kind of remember perking up a bit like trying to feel, I don't know if it's the alpha in me but like trying to feel like bigger, you know, in the moment because this guy's so larger than life. And Mo Salah then comes to the desk and I mentioned this to you, he's very diminutive, he's small, there's not a lot about him. And you're looking at him and it's like conversely you're like this is the best, this is the best player in world football by the way. Like you can argue but he's one of the best players of world football. And you're like how, you know, like he's, he's that good in that skill football. You look at him like, like how so it was, you know, it was interesting. It's interesting to be in those moments. I'm very lucky. I'm very lucky to have the job that I have. And you know you can, you can see sort of, you know when it comes to the global game of football really in interesting intense, poignant moments. So yeah, it was, it was, it was good. It was good to be there. Close the chapter on what was another fascinating Premier League season. And you know, lots of good things to come in next year.

[Landon Donovan]

That's awesome. It was again, it was fun to watch and congrats Liverpool as as much as we hate to say it, they deserved it. They were the best team. The only other competitive games were around Champions League spots. The relegation battle was over. Man, I, I, we could have predicted who was going to get in. City, Chelsea, Newcastle. We could not have predicted. I don't think Tim how the games went. Yeah, Villa, Newcastle and Forest all lost.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Right. And so if you are Villa and Forest now you're kicking yourself because all you had to do was win a game. Yeah, just win a game. And for Villa was tough. Away to United, Forest, home to Chelsea, also difficult. But I, I felt for Forest because they've had a phenomenal season. They really have. And if they had crept into Europa League at the end, you'd say okay, amazing year. But because they fell out of a Champions League spot, you just feel like. Yeah, just feel bad for them.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, obviously something. Yeah. I won't get too much into it but some things happen at Villa. Referee got a call completely wrong. Villa had the opening goal. They were down a man. It would have given him something like hang on to. You know what I would say? What I would say is when you look at the building blocks of it, ld top five. Liverpool, Arsenal, City, Chelsea, Newcastle. It kind of you kind of like those teams. You kind of would say that those are the strongest five teams.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah.

[Tim Howard]

Forest is a, is a, is a example of the more you have, the more you want. They finished 17th last year. They're in the Champions League places for so long this year that like it feels like they lost something but ultimately they're back in Europe in some way shape or form. So like you obviously want Champions League but, but it's not a failure. It's an absolute massive success. Know the worry with Villa for me is I really have you played At Villa park before. Yeah, yeah, Villa Park. For those of you who don't know, you talk about, like. Like Goodison and Anfield and old Trafford, like St. James Park. Villa park, if you talk to people around, Villa park is like, it's one of the crown jewels and like, it deserves. Had amazing Champions League nights this year. They had an incredible run. And so you just think about where this team is. They kind of needed Champions League because that's how they're building. That's how dying. They almost needed Champions League to one. By the way, they've got a brilliant European competition manager in Unai Emery. He's won the Europa League countless times. You saw what he did this year in the Champions League. Like, anybody who's at that level may want him and may pinch him secondarily, and this may all come out in the wash. There are rumors, for lack of a better term, that says Villa are right up against PSR profitability and sustainability. Right. And so they've spent big.

[Landon Donovan]

So they needed that money.

[Tim Howard]

Needed. They needed that Champions League money. So you start to think, like, where does this go? So for Forest, it would have been a fairy tale. Still think, what a phenomenal season. When it's all said and done, those guys are on the beach in San Tropez and all that, they'll be like, what a time we had. And by the way, we'll go again. So they'll buy. They'll buy good. They have seen, you know, Morgan Gibbs White might leave, but they'll get a. They'll get a king's ransom form. So they'll be able to. They'll be able to replenish the squad. But just for me, I thought Villa needed it more.

[Landon Donovan]

Just the last couple things with the Premier League, so I. I just. Do we think Ange stays now? I know it's been a huge talking point after Tottenham win. Did you know, by the way, I didn't realize this till Andrew put it in our chat this morning. They lost 22 Premier League games this year. Tottenham 22.

[Tim Howard]

Premier League finished 17th, by the way.

[Landon Donovan]

That's incredible. It's incredible. That's the most. Without ever. Without getting relegated. 22 times. Tottenham lost.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, well, let's get to the relegation part of it at some point. Yeah, look, it's funny how. It's funny how how human nature and. And. And the joy and the pain of winning and losing can. Can tilt how you feel about something. Like, and I think we'll get to this later in the show, but, like, I felt like Angel's definitely gone, right? He's definitely gone. And then they win. And you see the euphoria and you see the bus parade and then they're. I don't know, they're somewhere in London. There's thousands and thousands of people. My best. One of my best mates is there sending me videos and I'm like, nice day. But then you're also like, they lost 22 games and I don't know, so I'll reserve judgment for a second, but. Yeah. What do you think?

[Landon Donovan]

I. I mean, I have the same feelings. It's. It's crazy how sports work in every sport. You watch it and then all of a sudden a team that's like, should be good, and they sneak in. They barely sneak in the playoffs and then they win it and you're like, oh, yeah, he's gotta stay, he's gotta stay, right? I don't know. It's always like that. All right, before we take another break, let's dig in real quick because Champions League final is this weekend. So. Two years ago, Tim, this is crazy to think about. Two years ago, PSG had Lionel Messi, Mbappe Neymar, and they went out in the round of 16 in the Champions League. And there is nobody, and I mean nobody before Champions League started that would have said they were going to be in the final and be the favorite. This year. There's no way. Inter has kind of backed in a little bit into this final. Not, not that they backed in by way of winning, but they lost the Scudetto to Napoli. They lost AC Milan in the semis of the Coppa Italia, squeaked packs past Barcelona in the that awesome semifinal two leg series. They're older and it's. It's a really fascinating. It's like this young, energetic, exciting PSG team versus, like, these wily vets. What do you think?

[Tim Howard]

Well, you know, interestingly enough. So your first point is well taken. Like, I posed the question to you and don't take, you know, more than three seconds to answer it. But, like, has anybody gotten the Galacticos, right? Aside from Real Madrid, has anybody, like, on the globe? Yeah, you can have a Galacticos and win your league. Like, you can win your league. Sleepwalking, right? But, like, has anybody gotten that right in global football? Like, I don't think so. Right. And so PSG tried it with Messi and Mbappe and Neymar and it was kind of a failure because they didn't do what they set out to do.

[Landon Donovan]

Right.

[Tim Howard]

Like, they can win.

[Landon Donovan]

Of course. It was a Failure.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

You know, so they can, they can win the Friendship three, maybe three of the best four or five players in the world.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, right. Yeah, so, so that doesn't work out. But yes, as you said, they're incredibly exciting. The, the problem they're going to run, run into. And anybody who is a soccer nerd like you and I, if, you know Italian football, they just listen, give them 90 minutes to figure. It might not be pretty. By the way, they, that's why they're so good in cup competitions. They can grind out a result, systematically grind out a result, and if not grind out a result, keep themselves in the game long enough to find a way to win, which is the brilliance of Italian football. And so, you know, I think we saw that a few, few years back now with, with Jose Mourinho when he, when he led them to the Champions League title. So it's, it's, it's interesting. I, I kind of like. It's a chess match. Finals are always a chess match and I kind of like matchups and styles make, make finals and so this feels like that, you know, it's like I think PSG are going to have a ton of the ball. I think they're going to create the excitement. I also think Inter will have their opportunities.

[Landon Donovan]

So, I mean, just like against Barca though, like, they were ruthless on the counter.

[Tim Howard]

Like ruthless and just what it's predicated.

[Landon Donovan]

And Barca's high line and like that was fun to watch actually. I just, I hope the final's fun to watch again.

[Tim Howard]

Well, you know, it's interesting. You make a really good point. Hang on. I think it will be exciting. You make a good point and let me, let me try and like put some human, Humanize the Italian football, right? When you and I are playing in a game, yeah. And our backs are against the wall, you and I, and I mean this because you and I have been in games, right? We're like, oh, we feel like we're going to concede and this does. This feels real uncomfortable. And you're having to defend and you're, you're a right winger, but you're all the way back on your 18 yard box, right? The Italians delight. They love it in that deep line. Like, like when you're at, when you're at home, you're going, oh my God. They haven't gotten out of their end in 10 minutes. They're just looking at each other like.

[Landon Donovan]

They'Re just smoking a cigarette in the back.

[Tim Howard]

We're supposed to do no problem, right? Because they know we don't. We're not going to win the game. We're just going. We're going to win the game on a break and we're going to get a break. We just don't know when it's going to happen. So like, just relax. And so it's a fascinating tactical battle, Tim.

[Landon Donovan]

And I think it was 2015. So do you remember after your career you probably played in some of these like charity games where they get a bunch of old players together.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

So I'm playing this game in Vegas. Right. And it's like a lot of, you know, some, some pretty high level players and the other team's backline, and I don't even remember exactly. It was just two Italian center backs that you would know. Right. Like, it wasn't like, I don't think, well, Maldini was a left back, but I don't think it was like Connavaro, but it was like two guys who were like, oh, actually, you know, I think Chiellini might have been in it.

[Tim Howard]

Okay.

[Landon Donovan]

It was two Italian center backs you knew, and I was playing against them. And this is a charity game. Everyone's old, nobody can run. Whatever. These two guys, dude, the way they handled the back line and just moved and felt every situation, read every long ball, moving together, pulling guys offside. It was like second nature, dude. And these guys hadn't played for a long time. And I was watching this going, I mean, Killini, obviously it wasn't Killini because he was still playing.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

And I'm going, dude, this is like they could do this in their sleep. Yeah, they could do it in their sleep. And they had just so drilled in them from the time they're like six years old.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

So to your point, I mean, they will not be uncomfortable with PSG having all the ball, but again, they are nasty when they break, dude. And so the best scenario in my opinion, inner score early and it's just a all out PSG trying to equalize for like 60, 70. And it's just back and forth. Just super fun. Yeah. So we will be following along and we will obviously come back with our analysis and breakdown after.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. All right, ld, it's time for the unfiltered refresh sponsored by Coors Light. Choose Chill. Get Coors Light delivered. Go to coorslight.com USLNT yeah, Tim.

[Landon Donovan]

A team we did not get to during all the commotion the last few weeks, who definitely chose Chill not only this season, but the past three seasons. Wrexham, with their third consecutive promotion. So they went from League two now to the championship next year. My question, my first real question is can they do it again? Can they now jump from the championship to the Premier League, which we know is the hardest jump?

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, it's the hardest jump. Hats off to Wrexham.

[Landon Donovan]

Agreed.

[Tim Howard]

Big clap.

[Landon Donovan]

Agreed.

[Tim Howard]

They say the hardest, the hardest jump in all of, in all of the promotions is championship to Premier League. Why? Because there is just more money in that league, Right. There's more money in the championship and than any other league. And you're, you're likely. Well, we've seen this, right? You're likely to. Even if you can't pay for players, the Premier League is happy to give to. To loan you their up and coming stars. Right? So we saw that with Burnley a couple years ago. They won the championship based on the fact or they got out of the championship based on the fact that they had a ton of loan players. Right. So you start to see that you can actually balance out spending with some, some loan signings. That being said, Rexam are doing the, the impossible. I mean, three consecutive promotions. Look, money makes the world go around when it comes to football or sports and they are pumping a ton of money into that team. They're just better if they continue to do that and they have that financial plan. Sure. I mean, I think they can. I think they could possibly do that. And it's. It's kind of mind blowing if you think about it. Like with, with the show and celebrity owners and the like. By the way, this could have easily gone the other way. Ld. This could have easily gone really bad. They could have spent a ton of money on the wrong players and not. And not got this success. So.

[Landon Donovan]

Yeah.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah. And I think I want to say we saw this with like Huddersfield and maybe, maybe like Hoffenheim did it a few years ago where they just. They kind of come from nowhere, spend all the money and they get to the top league. So look, I hope, because the Premier League is filled with all sorts of crazy stories, I hope they are able to do it because can you imagine.

[Landon Donovan]

The thing is, if you watch the show, you think it's some miracle, right? And it's not a miracle. It's an amazing story. But they also have spent at the top of every one of the leagues they've been in.

[Tim Howard]

Sure.

[Landon Donovan]

Now the question is, can they do it in the championship? My first thought was no, but I did see a report last week that they were will. I don't know who the player was. They were willing to offer a player £50,000 a week to play in the championship. So the thing is, is they clearly have the money to do it. Are they going to take the risk? Because now it's a big risk. It's not, you know, losing $6 million or pounds like they did last year. Now you could lose 30 or 40.

[Tim Howard]

Sure.

[Landon Donovan]

And not get promoted. So it's going to be interesting to watch. But most of all, cheers to them. They've been phenomenal. They deserve it. And it's going to be really fun to watch going. Going forward. So, Wrexham, you chose chill. I've got my cores on ice. To me. I can hear the cheers. How about a cheers direct?

[Tim Howard]

Cheers to Rex.

[Landon Donovan]

Cheers, guy. All right, Tim, let's take a break. When we come back, we will get into all of your questions. As always, lots of good Questions in the AT&T fan connection. Right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen. Stay right there.

[Tim Howard]

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&T is introducing a brand new guarantee, the AT&T guarantee.

[Tim Howard]

The AT&T guarantee means connectivity you can depend on, deals you want and service you deserve, or they'll make it right.

[Landon Donovan]

Whether you're in the stands, watching with friends, or just cheering from home, you can count on the AT&T Guarantee.

[Tim Howard]

Learn more at att.com forward/guarantee. Terms and conditions apply.

[Landon Donovan]

AT&T connecting changes everything. All right, Timmy. This used to be my favorite time of year. Playing all day outside as a kid. Summer, no school. Or playing during my career through the summer. The best times. Now it's the absolute worst. My kids are home. They're not exercising. Their brains aren't getting used. They're annoying. Daddy this, daddy that. So I try to choose chill as much as possible. Go for a walk, love to golf. My wife hates it. I'm gone all the time. Read. But I got to chill, man. I have to.

[Tim Howard]

I choose chill. In the summer more than any other time. I'm in airports all the time, traveling, get through security, straight to the bar for Coors Light. I love to chill out. Obviously, in the summer, I'm on the beach, reaching the cooler Coors Light and Of course, when summertime you go to concerts, you go to music festivals. That's all you do. Me, some friends, a bunch of Coors Lights. Perfect time.

[Landon Donovan]

Well, that's good to know. I guess that's what I have to look forward to. Coors Light is mountain cold refreshment, crisp and refreshing. As the Colorado Rockies make the most out of the times you choose to chill. Chill. Choose Coors Light.

[Tim Howard]

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

[C]

This.

[Tim Howard]

Episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime. From streaming to shopping, prime helps you get more out of your passions. So whether you're a fan of true crime or prefer a nail biting novel from time to time, with services like Prime Video, Amazon Music and fast free delivery, prime makes it easy to get more out of whatever you're into or getting into. Visit Amazon.comprime to learn more. 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, is to keep asking questions and keep talking about this sport. We all love at, AT and T. Connecting changes everything. And on uslnt, our connections with you will help grow the game. Oh yes, LD it's that time of the week. The AT&T fan connection. Everyone loves this. We love it. But you know, else loves it. Jordan, because she gets to have airtime. Welcome.

[Landon Donovan]

She is going to be insufferable today after the Liverpool celebration.

[Tim Howard]

She's one of those. She's one of those quote unquote Liverpool fans. You know the ones, you know, you.

[Landon Donovan]

Never heard of it.

[Tim Howard]

Never heard of it. And then they went to title like.

[C]

Oh, so excuse me, do you not see this 2018 jersey in the background right now?

[Landon Donovan]

Until you get a tat. Till you get a tat of Liverpool, I won't believe it.

[C]

I have a plan for one. Yeah, you should talk about it later.

[Tim Howard]

By the way, I'm. I'm. Say thank you to me. Say thank you.

[C]

Thank you, Tim Howard.

[Tim Howard]

I am a man of the people, Landon. You know that. And for everyone that thinks I'm a.

[C]

Bad guy and I am the people.

[Tim Howard]

In this story, there are a lot of people out there. I'm a good guy. I'm a good guy. I'll tell you why two things happen. Mo Salah, we were at the desk and we're getting ready to wrap up. Mo Salah comes out with like every award, he's got the. He got the Premier League trophy. He's got like three golden boots. He's got like another Premier League Player of the year award. He sets it down.

[C]

Playmaker of the year.

[Tim Howard]

Anyway, he sets it down, he goes, take a picture. And I'm like, I won't be caught dead taking a picture of Mo Salah right now. And sure enough, you know what pops in my mind? Jordan. And I was like. I was like, tim, Tim, swallow your pride and go over there and take a picture and send it to Jordan. I then deleted the picture, obviously, because I can't have that on my phone. Send it to Jordan. And then someone else gave me something small but really nice to commemorate the day. And I looked at him, I was like, hell am I gonna do with this piece of Liverpool? And I was like, okay, I can either. I can either put it in my patio fire, which I wouldn't do because it's disrespectful, or I could give it to Junior. So I'm going to send it to her. There you go. You're welcome.

[C]

Thank you, Tim.

[Tim Howard]

You're welcome.

[C]

You know what's really funny? I was with a bunch of friends, and one of them was on their phone looking at, like, the. The Liverpool Instagram. And they were like, look at this great picture of Mo Salah. And I literally turned my phone around and was like, that's so weird.

[Tim Howard]

Thank you. That's all I gotta say.

[Landon Donovan]

That's awesome.

[Tim Howard]

Oh, God.

[C]

Okay, well, this is not actually about me or Liverpool. It's the people who listen to and watch the show who have questions for you guys. So let's get into some of those, shall we?

[Landon Donovan]

All right.

[Tim Howard]

Y.

[C]

This one is from Stephen via email. Last week you mentioned that Atlanta United would have been better spending 5 million on 4 or 5 proven MLS players instead of the 22 million they spent on Emmanuel Latte Lath. While I don't disagree, I'm wondering how this is possible under the current MLS roster rules. To my knowledge, a $5 million transfer fee would make a player a D, and each MLS team is only allowed a maximum of three dps.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, sorry, I was. I. I was. I was hypothetically saying that it's a great question. Let's, like, if we could scrap the rules, create a salary cap, and then maybe create a luxury tax above the salary cap. I felt like that would be a way to do that. But that was somewhat hypothetical when I was explaining it. I thought. I thought I might have said that, but if I Didn't.

[Landon Donovan]

I'm sorry, who asked the question? Jordan?

[C]

Steven.

[Landon Donovan]

Steven, great question. What I want to do, we've been wanting to do this for a long time, is get someone on who can actually explain these things, because I don't have. All I know now is that you can make internal transfers. Jovalich went from the Galaxy to Kansas City. Other players. Evander went from Portland to Columbus. You can make internal transfers now. I don't know if you spend 5 million on the transfer, but only pay a guy 600 grand, does he still count as a DP or not? I don't know the rules behind that. It might be that you're allowed to and he's not a DP, or it might be that that 5 million gets factored into it. So I don't know the exact rules. What I would say to Steven is there are creative ways, lots of ways, so that you can have. Let's. Instead of saying three or four players at 5 million each, you could sign 10 players at 500 grand each instead, or 600 grand each, and that would make your roster much better. So. And sorry, Evander went to FC Cincinnati, not Columb. It's all the same. That Ohio. It's all the same. So that's, you know, we. We will have someone on at some point to explain that because we get confused by it and we lived it.

[Tim Howard]

So, yeah, look. And Stephen, sorry. And I made my point hypothetically. Landon made a much more poignant point about, like, another way around it. The fact of the matter is, Landon and I both wholeheartedly believe that you're better. You're better served. Instead of go taking 20 million, 000 and trying to scour the globe for a player, we think you're better served at slicing that down into smaller portions and getting more players. It's. It's. It's been tested. It's been tried and tested.

[C]

Premier League question here. This one's from Dan via Instagram. How much longer do you think Manchester United should hold on to Reuben Amaran before they sack him? Although the players are not performing, you need a coach who can bring out the best.

[Landon Donovan]

I mean, not for a long time, in my opinion. You. You have to give him time. If they knew, I promise you, they knew that this season was going to be a wash. They did. And so if they start next season and they're down near the bottom again and they're 10 games in or 12 games in or 15 games in, maybe you think about it. But he needs time. He needs his players, and he needs time. It's simple as that.

[Tim Howard]

Sorry. I'm running a list of manager since Sir Alex Ferguson. Moyes, Ben Hall, Mourinho Solskjaer, Ten Hogg. It was a guy in between Ten Hog. What was his name? Ralph Ranick.

[Landon Donovan]

Ralph Ranick, yeah. Ten Hog and Robin Van Persu. Interim.

[Tim Howard]

None of Van is interim.

[Landon Donovan]

I mean Van Nistroy and now.

[Tim Howard]

And now Amram. Amram's the right guy for the job. The problem with United since they, since Sir Alex Ferguson left was it's been a higher fire culture. It's been a disconnect between what players the manager wants and styles and chief execs and who was making decisions above the manager? Was it director of football? It's been a mess. It's been a mess at Manchester United. Now they start, they're starting to have this kind of like vertical decision making process with Omar Barata and Sir Jim Radcliffe since he took over footballing operations from the glazers with his 25%. So like, this needs time. I don't care what anyone says. Oh yeah, but how much time? It needs time. Reuben Amrom, by the way, didn't want to take the job in January because he knew that this was, this was not good. Now he had to take it because Manchester United, you have to take the job when you can't just pass it. But I think, and I would say, I would sympathize with people who say, like, you just can't come in and be worse. You got to figure something. You got to figure out a way to get results. Like I get that. So I would certainly argue that. But ultimately this, this squad needs to be completely stripped down. I don't, I don't think there's a, there's a lot of talented players, certainly not for Manchester United to get them to the next level where they want to be competing for Premier League titles and being in the Champions League every single year. So. And psr, by the way, has stopped that. You know, profit and sustainability rules to stop that. So this is going to take 18 months to 24 months. You hope that they get enough through the door this year where they can compete for a European place next year, a la Chelsea maybe, right? Chelsea was like, oh, we got a bunch of young kids. We don't know who we are yet, but like, can we get there? So Chelsea are nowhere near the finished article, but they qualified for Champions League. So I think, I think you're still looking at 18 months to two years.

[C]

I have a follow up question about Manchester United. Because I was thinking about this over the weekend. So we've seen what happened with Marcus Rashford. He goes on loan to Aston Villa and does pretty decently for himself over there. So who knows what was happening between him and the club while he was still playing, supposedly playing for Manchester United. Then it comes out this weekend that apparently Amarim has told Garnacho to basically take a hike. Right. So I know there's questions about, like, do certain players you need to get rid of just because they're not going to play the kind of football you want to play? Obviously, PSR becomes a part of the discussion as well. But, like, at what point is it just. It just seems strange that this is all coming out in the press. Like, is it a leak thing? Is it like a. Somebody should be saying, maybe let's keep that internally? Because I don't. I don't think it makes him look good that these. He's telling these players to bugger off and then they go somewhere and do really well somewhere else.

[Landon Donovan]

We don't know the truth behind any of it, Jordan. We don't know the context. And, you know, agents are constantly talking to and they're trying to make their. Their player look good and all that. So I just. I don't even listen to that stuff. The reality is when you have a new coach coming into a new team, there are going to be a number of players who just don't fit for whatever reason. Could be soccer, could be their attitude, it could be the way you interact with them, it could be how they are in the locker room, it could be at the end of their contract. There's a million reasons and you just got to get rid of them immediately. And it's not easy to get rid of them fast. But I'm sure he has a list. These five, seven guys got to be gone. These guns we want to extend. You know, we were sitting with. I was sitting with David Moyes when I was at Everton and he said to me, he's like, you know, there's about five or seven guys that just have to go, right. He had to get through the season with them. And he said, these other five guys, we want to give them contract extensions. And then we got to go find five or seven. So, like, they know exactly how that is going to play out in their head and it's going to come out because, you know, people are just going to make stuff up and agents will say what they need to say. And so I would. I would just disregard it.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, I just think I Want, you know, once the thing is the agents and once you tell a player he's surplus to requirements, he's got no loyalty to you, he'll drop little innuendos on social media, the agent will talk. I mean, look, ultimately I think I'll be corrected here at some point, but I think our nacho counts as a homegrown player. Which, which means, which means for PSR they'll get a full, full profit for him when they sell them on. You know, the only player within that team that I think can play in another top six team is Bruno Fern. And quite frankly, he's probably wasted away his best years or some of his best years. And so Saudi, I think there's an opportunity in the deal on table to go to Saudi. So he's probably thinking let's go take the money and the club should do that as well. So it's not always straightforward and by the book. So yeah, there's a lot of information that you also don't know.

[C]

Here's a question from Carlton via Instagram. While Newcastle have had a great season, winning their first trophy in some time, I felt that their season was filled with loads of ups and downs. How or what can be done to improve on this for next season?

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, I don't, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know if I agree with the ups and downs. You know, Eddie Howe at one point went, was, was hospitalized for quite a number of weeks. They have dealt with a ton of injuries, which again isn't an excuse. Every, every team does that. But they finished the season incredibly strong. Like incredibly strong. They won a cup in the EFL League cup and they finished in the Champions League place. Ups and downs. Yeah, you know, I don't, I don't know. I think every club goes to that, but I think for Newcastle it was a very successful season, one that they can build on because I do think champion, I do think Champions League football has kept Esac at the club. I think if they don't, I think if they finish sixth, he leaves because his price tag is so high. So I think they've done that, that, that allows them to get the windfall of money and add bigger, better players. You know, it sounds like they might be going after James Trafford from Burnley, the goalkeeper. So they're going big signings. I know they were. They got $70 million fee for Mark Gay last year at Crystal palace knocked back. So they'll probably be in for a center back. They're going to build and they're going to strengthen. So I, I'm not sure I agree with the ups and downs of this year. I would say it's a successful season.

[Landon Donovan]

I think people forget, Jordan, how hard that league is. And so when you say ups and downs, like if you get a Chelsea away, City home, even like a, even Tottenham away, which is a 17th place club, it's like, that's a tough run. You could lose three games. Right. And so it's, it's just a hard league.

[C]

I mean, half the league is playing in European football next year.

[Landon Donovan]

That's right. That's right. And the top two of the top strength teams historically are 16th and 17th.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah.

[Landon Donovan]

Right. So, like, it's just tough.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, it's crazy.

[C]

So we're gonna be off for the next two weeks from the show, which is weird to even think about. So I have a question for you guys for some of our fans to maybe think about in those two weeks while we are off. So I'm sure you guys have seen it too. There's a lot of like, memes that come out after the Premier League is over. Is like, oh, suddenly my partner is so excited that we'll be able to do things on the weekend because I won't be sat in front of my TV watching the Premier League. For the American fans who listen to the show, who are fans of a Premier League side, what would you like to see them focus on over the summer until their Premier League club comes back in August?

[Landon Donovan]

That's a great question. Okay, I got a few things.

[Tim Howard]

I want them to breathe.

[Landon Donovan]

No, Tim doesn't care. You want them to what?

[Tim Howard]

Breathe. I want them to breathe. This is going. It's going to come thick and fast. Your team is at some point going to start releasing players, selling players, buying them. The fixture list for next year is going to come out soon enough. Just give yourself a chance to breathe. I got nothing other than that.

[Landon Donovan]

I would say first, support your local team. Like, make an effort to go. It's not going to be like watching the Premier League. So whether it's an MLS team or a USL team or an NWSL team, go support that. Because supporting soccer helps everyone. I'm not sure I can in good conscience right now tell them to support the Gold cup team because I don't know what that's going to look like more. Yeah, I mean, but we're all going to watch, right? We're disappointed, but we're all going to watch. We're going to be paying attention. I'm going to be covering it so I'm, you know, I'm going to be invested. But watch the Gold cup team, watch the women's national team. And then I also think, and you know, people probably disagree with me on this, but I am genuinely excited to watch the Club World Cup. I don't know, Tim, you probably disagree. I don't know how many players are really going to care about it initially, but I think once you get into it and you're playing these different teams and the crowds are there and I think it's going to be exciting. So I am going to be paying attention to that quite a bit. And my kids are going to be off at camp, so I do not have to babysit. Let's go.

[Tim Howard]

You know, you know, when you have kids, it's not babysitting, it's actually parenting.

[Landon Donovan]

No, it's babysitting.

[Tim Howard]

I agree with you. It's daddy daycare. You know, the kids, daddy.

[Landon Donovan]

It's definitely babysitting. So that's it.

[C]

Well, they have two weeks to get their questions in about Gold cup and Club World cup and whatever transfer window nonsense is going on with their Premier League team. But we'll be back on the 17th of June.

[Tim Howard]

Can I just drop something in there? Jordan, like, I know Landon has mentioned, like, make sure you send us comments. This is important. Like, don't hold back, good or bad. Like, this is going to be pretty polarizing stuff, the Gold cup with players missing. How do we perform, who, like, just send us like no holds barred, anything, no filter. This is unfiltered. Just give us your honest assessment. Even with the conversation that we had today, like, it's really interesting. We're, we're incredibly passionate about it. We know you are, too. So make sure you send us your.

[Landon Donovan]

And by the way, some of the best, like recollections and stories come from the comments or from the questions you guys asked. So you actually get some of the best feedback because it's things we hadn't even thought about until you send them. So just send them even. There's no dumb question. A lot of dumb comments, but no dumb question.

[C]

Just be nice to me because I have to read them all and decide which ones get on the show. So be nice to the producer and be sassy to the host. That's my, my advice.

[Tim Howard]

You don't need to do this to me.

[C]

Thanks, guys.

[Tim Howard]

Thanks, Jordan.

[Landon Donovan]

Thanks, Junior. All right, Timmy. Another great show. Thanks for another informative and entertaining episode. I think people really enjoy that. We appreciate all of you guys, all your support as always. Please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your podcast, and make sure you follow across all of our social media platforms at Unfiltered Soccer. Do not forget our live show June 11 at 5:30pm at BMO Field in downtown LA. You can get tick tickets@unfiltered soccer.com backslash live. Should be a lot of fun.

[Tim Howard]

Yeah, go get those tickets. We'll see you there. I mean, it's live. What could possibly happen? We're excited for it. Can't wait to see you all there. Thanks so much everybody. Thank you. Our presenting sponsor, VW, our Fan Connection sponsor AT&T, and our Unfiltered Refresh sponsor, Coors Light. Have a great couple weeks. We'll be back with you all here on June 17th with with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.