← Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Loading summary
Transcript193 lines
- [00:00]
A
Foreign.
- [00:14]
B
Welcome in to all of our listeners and viewers for the first ever unfiltered soccer live ever live stream. What could go. What could possibly go wrong?
- [00:23]
A
Hopefully not the last, my friend.
- [00:25]
B
It's not the last. It's live. I'm sure you guys are going to come over the top with some haymakers about the team, but we're coming to you off the back of a really good performance. Good result against Japan. USMNT 2 Japan nil. We want to dive into that so ld give them all the important information. Hit him with the social Dive in.
- [00:44]
A
Yes, sir. So follow us on social media. Unfiltered soccer. Subscribe to the show on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, anywhere you get your podcasts. Hit that little subscribe button I haven't mentioned in a while. You can rate us, you can leave comments, you can hammer us, whatever you want. It's fine. We can handle it. We like it. And you can also email jordan@feedbackfiltered soccer.com all right, Timmy, let's dive in. So we do our normal show on Monday. It comes out on Tuesday. In this case, the US was playing Tuesday. So we said let's try our first live show which gives our producers tremendous anxiety and but we're here and we want to unpack what happened last night. So I'm going to give my quick thoughts and then we'll dive in more. I say the best way to describe it is good solid performances all around. I wouldn't say anyone was insanely good outrageous, but just good, solid professional performances. The Japan team that they trotted out was it wasn't their best team but still good players that play in good clubs all over the world and we were the much better team. I thought at times Christian made some really good like Christian like plays, especially leading up to the second goal. Y flo Baligan looked good. Christian Ron fit in seamlessly. The back three and we'll talk about going to a back three I thought were great. Matt Freeze some of the plays, you know, that were great saves kind of hit him and I want to dig into that a little bit. But he was in the right spot and made some big plays. So it's just great. I just thought great solid performances all around.
- [02:25]
B
It was Columbus. We couldn't have possibly lost, could we?
- [02:28]
A
Thank God for Columbus, Ohio, by the way.
- [02:30]
B
That's amazing.
- [02:31]
A
You need a two nothing result.
- [02:33]
B
Yeah, right. Yeah. So much of that. Well, all of that I agree with. It was a needed result for a lot of reasons which obviously will unpack. Yeah, I, I Don't I that that was getting banned around a lot last night, that this is like Japan's B team and that they played their best team against Mexico and sucks to kind of hear all that stuff. But ultimately, look, I'm a firm believer. The game is played, the whistle blows, you have to win. And we needed that performance. It was a good, good team that they put out. Whether it was their best team or not doesn't matter. And it, and it looked, and it felt really good from people who had been desperate to see performances like that. That was a good one. And I thought in a multitude of areas, Christopolisic being one, Matt Freese, Arfston, a few others. I thought there were some, I thought there were some really good performances. And so again, happy with it, happy that we didn't have to come on here. I was worried about the two and out scenario in September, worried that it was, you know, we were going to lay an egg, not get a result in September. And then it just heaps on more pressure and, and of course, consequently more, more criticism and questions. So, yeah, I'm glad for, for the group that they got that result.
- [03:55]
A
Let's talk about, let's dig into. Well, let's start with the goalkeeper. Let's start with Matt Freeze. So I, I always had, I was thinking about this last night. When a goalkeeper is confident and playing well and the team trusts him and believes him, the ball seems to hit him. Yeah, got a hair on my mic. The ball seems to hit him. Yeah, right. And so there was a chance that Chris Richards gave away in the first half and a ball's played in behind. I think it's in behind Ream and. Or maybe Ream is the one. Yeah, I think it's in behind Blackman maybe. And Ream makes a good plan, but he gets like good purchase on the ball and it kind of hits. It's right at Matt Freeze. And I just thought from my perspective, and this is my amateur perspective, from a goalkeeping perspective, that he looked confident, his face looked different to him. Like when the ball would come to him, he was comfortable on the ball, everything was safe. And I was like, that's a goalkeeper that you want behind you. That's how it felt to me.
- [04:56]
B
You know that look that you're, you're, you're talking about, you know what that look is? Look of a number one goalkeeper. Yeah, it is someone who knows currently someone who knows that he was handed the gloves, given an opportunity in the Gold cup, took advantage of it, and then September was What's the manager going to do? Because. Which we'll touch on. He uses a bit of experimentation and more evaluation. So I thought, oh, there'll be other goalkeepers that get this game. And it wasn't. It was Matt Freeze who got two games. And so I would say right now he is in pole position. It's his job to lose. You heard what I said over the summer. I would be shocked if we go into the World cup. And I, and I like everything about Matt Fries. You know this. I'd be shocked if we go into the World cup with our number one goalkeeper having 13 caps. Because as I said, and you know this, at the highest level, those windows open and shut so fast. And you need more than 13 games. But forget that for now, he is in pole position to be the number one.
- [05:51]
A
Yeah, he made the other. It was good save the ball that was clipped and it ended up being offside. But that's such a hard ball when it's in swing, guys coming across to head it. You don't know if he's going to head it or not. So you have to wait and then you got to get down and. And he just, he did everything right. He really did. And I, I, I have to say, at this point, you have to give Mauricio Pochettino credit because he has said, I don't care where you play or who you are. If you're playing and you play well, you get a chance to defend the shirt again. Correct. And is there any chance anybody else is in goal in October if he's healthy? No.
- [06:22]
B
Well, I think, I think that will be, that will be the big one. Right. Like, if October come. If October comes. Right now he's. If October comes and goes and he's played both matches, then I'm.
- [06:34]
A
That's it, then that's it for me.
- [06:35]
B
That's it. That's. Well, the manager would be telling me that too, so.
- [06:39]
A
Right.
- [06:39]
B
We'll see. Yeah.
- [06:40]
A
Okay. So Pochettino went to a back three.
- [06:43]
B
Yeah.
- [06:44]
A
Very interesting. A lot of people were not happy that Tristan Blackman was getting another cap. I thought he was great. I thought the game suited him well. He could use his physicality. The game was in front of him most of the game, which meant he could go attack what's in front of him, defend what's in front of him, and he's a good player. Is he national team quality? I don't know. You know, maybe he sneaks into the World cup side, but I thought he was great. I thought they just looked so much more comfortable in a back three. And I learned this again from coaching, that they are much different roles playing with two center backs versus three, but you just feel safer as a center back. And they would always say, I just feel like I have just more cover, more protection. And I thought they were good. They weren't flawless, but I thought they were very good together. So you think that's the way forward now?
- [07:33]
B
I don't know if it's the way forward. I agree with what you're saying. It feel, you know, I'm a lover of Chris Richards, man. I think he's. I just think he's phenomenal for both club and country. And it kind of, it frees up, it gives you more insurance. It all in a back three. I always kind of feel like it allows one guy to be uber aggressive, right? Because you've got this insurance. You want to stay in your slot, but you have, you have the ability now to go close spaces, to go get tight and get tackled, because by the way, if you get spun, you're still kind of safe as houses, right? You have the insurance policy there. I liked it, I think more than, more than anything what I liked. And we, I think we talked about this just two days ago, you know, when, when the way that Poch was playing, it looked really good in the Gold Cup. We talked about that, right? Against opponents that we're supposed to dominate the ball and we're supposed to win. The big question for me was when we're. We don't have the lion's share of possession, when we're up against it and we have to sit deep in a block, how. How do we get out from there, right? So there has to be like a plan B or, or, or a plan 1A or 1B or something. And I'm just, I'm. That was what I liked about it, that we're at least trying something and it worked, which always is helpful when you're implementing a new system. When you implement a new system and you win, that makes everybody use buy in collectively, just more, right? If you try something and you get pumped, two nil, you're like, this sucks. We're not good at this system. You know that. And so I was just happy to see, like, okay, that worked. So now if we need to be flexible and change systems in the middle of a game or from game to game, that approach is starting to be there. So I like that about it. I also like. And this is something you actually said to Arsen when we interviewed him at the All Star Game, you said, I, Landon Donovan, think you are a better wing back. Right? So not a left back in a four, but a wing back in a five. And he showed that. I mean, the assist for the goal was picture perfect, I have to say. And I'll look back, but like that, for me, one of the best US Men's national team goals I've seen in a long, long time. I can't nail that to a wall and say it's the greatest I've ever seen. But like, it is what Arson did on the wing just to get that yard of space, leave his guy in the dust. That cross, by the way, you and I both know this, that that finish doesn't usually go. It doesn't usually go, by the way, so.
- [10:03]
A
Good, man.
- [10:03]
B
There's a. There's a souvenir. It's a souvenir. It was brilliant. So it freed him up to do what he does best. And he's a winger. Not that he can't defend, but he's a winner.
- [10:13]
A
No, I mean, he grew up as a winger. Right. A lot of players grow up as attacking players and move back. But he even said, when I said, you're a wing back, he said, I'm a wing back.
- [10:20]
B
In that interview.
- [10:20]
A
He's like. He said it right away. And so. But not only him. So Sergino Dest. Yeah, he can play as a right back in a four for sure, but he is naturally. Like, he's a wing back.
- [10:29]
B
Correct.
- [10:30]
A
Jedi Anthony Robinson.
- [10:31]
B
Yeah.
- [10:32]
A
Little more defense, but, dude, he flies and he goes forward and he gets into the attack. So I just think when you. When you have personnel. Yeah, go ahead.
- [10:40]
B
No, it's. It's the person who's missing right now. I mean, in a four. I watch Anthony Robinson every week in a four, his starting position is damn near left wing. Like, that's how good. That's how good he is.
- [10:52]
A
Very high.
- [10:52]
B
He will eat this up. If we play in a back three with. With Robinson as left back. Mate, listen, it's perfect for him. It's perfect. It's perfect. So he'll eat that up. And he. I mean, and then covers such good ground.
- [11:05]
A
And so what comes with that, Tim, as we move up the field is. What comes with that is someone else has to be sacrificed then. Right. Because you're putting another. And in this case, it was Tim Waya was sacrificed.
- [11:14]
B
Yeah.
- [11:15]
A
And they brought Zendayas in. They brought Christian Central. So they had those two under Baligan, and they had the wing backs, and then they had two Guys, and I just. I think this suits our team better. They had two guys and Tyler Adams and Christian Roldan wasn't supposed to be there. It was on vacation before this all happened. But he was excellent and not just, look, guys in that position. I was talking this morning with Andrew, one of our producers, and I said, Andrew, you're like a number six.
- [11:46]
B
Yeah.
- [11:46]
A
You're like. You don't get any credit. I use the word underwhelming, which he didn't really like. You don't get any credit. You just do your job and your team wins when you're on the field. And that's Christian, Ron. But he was. He was also. He played the ball forward. He was like, clever with his touches. He was very good player.
- [12:03]
B
He's a good player.
- [12:04]
A
He is a good player. And I'm not. I'm not saying necessarily he's going to be starting World cup, but he was very good. I thought he was very, very good. He looked really comfortable next to Tyler Adams, and Tyler felt comfortable with him. And he's just one of those guys, Tim. You know, there's a million of these guys.
- [12:18]
B
Yeah.
- [12:19]
A
That are. So it's like Leon Osmond, right. At all the tournament. Like, you just depend on him and you know you're going to win when he's on the field.
- [12:26]
B
Look, I. I think of Christian and just bear with me with this comparison. He feel he. There's a. There's a world where he sneaks onto this World cup roster because he is. His best ability is his steadiness. Right. And although Kyle Beckerman would have had a better national team career, he does feel to me like I can see a moment if he snuck onto the roster, let's say that the US Are in a big game. And he's like, you said that cog. That's like. Well, I don't even know he's out there, but he's putting fires out, you know, that type of thing. So it's possible. I mean, hats off to him. He deserved the opportunity. You know, the other thing, when we look at, like, Christian Pulisic's position, I just. One of the things about three across the back and your wing backs is it frees Christian up to just play in the middle a little bit more, find more pockets. Look, we know he's brilliant on the left wing coming inside on that amazing dribble that he does and finding those spaces, but there's just. There's more pockets of space because your wing backs are occupying both of their defenders.
- [13:32]
A
Right.
- [13:32]
B
You have your striker having to occupy the two. Now you try and start outnumbering people in the midfield with, with, with a, you know, three across the back and then, and then the numbers ahead of it. So I like the position form. I think again, you see, he's. It just seems like he has to do. Not that he does less work because he's a hard worker, it just seems like he has to do less work to find those magical moments, which he did last night. Right. When you know this, when you're central, you're, you're, you're, you're one step closer to that key pass.
- [14:02]
A
Right.
- [14:02]
B
As opposed to being on the wing, having to manipulate the ball to get yourself inside and find an angle. Those angles are created kind of by the spaces he's naturally picking up anyway. So I like that for that reason as well. It seems to suit the team, so it's interesting.
- [14:16]
A
Yeah, he's, it's what Diego Luna does well at Salt Lake. And Christian's on a, on a different level. And so what it is, is it's hard to account for him.
- [14:25]
B
Yes.
- [14:25]
A
Right. So when he's on the wing, it's basically. If he's on the left side, it's the right fullback against him. And you can basically account for him with your right midfielder and deal with him when he's central. There was times where he came all the way back to pick up the ball, but he importantly didn't do it too much. It wasn't like, I need the ball, I need the ball. He would come back, get a touch, he would move forward, find it in good pockets. I thought it was really interesting. We have a question about our attack being too conservative. Jr, you throw that up in a second. All right. From Mark Leech. Beautiful family there. Mark, do you think we played too conservative on the attack? Often we would not play through lines more directly when we had the opportunity to do so. Or would we have them full pressed up top on the counter and then circle the ball back to the defense when we had them on their heels? Okay, so this is an interesting, I think where he's going with this. So, yeah, I want to paint, yeah, I want to paint this picture for people so there's a real balance and mature teams do this really well. Man City does this really well in building and getting into good spots. But if you don't have the numbers to go, what I say is finish the play, get a shot across a corner, a goal, whatever, then it's better to then have the ball and pin a team in their end. So Japan a few times came after us and we did a really good job breaking pressure and now you're out. And I would always say this with loyal. If teams come after us and we break the pressure and it's 3v3 go, free license, don't care what happens, go. Now if you break out and you get someone out wide and it's 1v3 or 2v4, get deep in and then come back and keep them pinned in. And so I know from a fan's perspective, you're like, let's go, go, go, go, go. And I used to have this argument with Bob Bradley who actually texted me yesterday, I love Bob. There were times, and it's probably because I was just lazy, but we would break. Like, I'd be playing as a right midfielder and we would break pressure and be out on the left side and I'd be like, patient. Keep it patient. Patient Landon. You know what I'm saying? Landon, look, it's not just about you. We got a chance to go score, we go score. And I was like, no, let's just keep. So we'd always have this argument. But yeah, there's a balance, right?
- [16:39]
B
I remember the arguments because Bob. Bob would literally stop training and go, what the hell does keep it mean?
- [16:45]
A
He'd get so mad at me.
- [16:47]
B
I can remember having the conversation with him because we were like, well, I don't know. But we have that, that like round white thing. We haven't seen it in a while. Like, we've been defending for like 30 minutes. Can we just keep it for a second? But his point was, right, like you don't just keep it to keep it. But yeah, I mean, it's a, it's a. It's a great mark. That's a good question and a good observation, actually. But the game ebbs and flows. And what you would say is barring two teams in the world and three teams and Man City being one of them, very few teams can be on the one keep the ball. So you have 11 players who know to keep the ball in the team and. And 11 players who are willing to press and stifle other teams. It does. The game ebbs and flows so much. But, you know, I go, no, Tim.
- [17:30]
A
I would say too. So it's game dependent, right? So the Japanese, the way the Japanese team lined up was for the most part, they let us have the ball. And then when we got in there and this where Tristan Blackman, I thought was great. Like when we're attacking, he went all the way in with their, whatever their 10 or their nine or whatever. And then they couldn't get the ball back. And so you suffocate them. And when you lose momentum is when you sit off, you let them, their forward receive the ball, get fouled or break pressure. And now you got to run back and defend. And so he did a great job defending what was in front of him. And I think that was more effective. Over 90 minutes in one play, you can say, oh, we should have gone and scored.
- [18:08]
B
Yes.
- [18:08]
A
But over 90 minutes, you just wear a team out. We did. We just wore them out totally. So. All right, let's go up top. Yeah.
- [18:13]
B
The big one.
- [18:14]
A
Yeah. Flo. You know, I like Josh Sergeant and I think he's. I think he's a good player. I do. I think Flo is a better player. I do. I'll just say that. But this whole like I was almost. I wasn't disappointed that Flo scored, but I was just like this. I know what's coming now. Like he's so much better than Josh Sargent. He's. They're different players and Flo is a better player. But this whole Josh Sargent hate has to stop. It's just ridiculous. I mean, yes, he hasn't scored for a long time. I get it. For whatever reason, it's not worked out for the national team, but he's not a terrible soccer player.
- [18:49]
B
No.
- [18:49]
A
So Flo was great. We have question from the fans about Sergeant and flow. So let's see what you guys have to say. Landon, can you talk about the differences you see especially in the off the ball play? Sure. So for in Baligan and Sergeant, for the non strikers amongst us. So you have different types of. Different types of strikers in modern soccer. You have many more solo nines who are by themselves. Right. When. When I played, it was more often bigger nine, smaller.
- [19:20]
B
Large.
- [19:21]
A
Yeah, yeah. Smaller guy like me who could run beyond them, could also receive the ball underneath a lot like Christian does. Flow is more vertical. So he on his goal is a great example. Right. Right. When Christian breaks. And there was a few times in the first half too where Christian breaks pressure and he's running and flow is gone. He's like, give it to me. Right. And Josh is a little more. Get it wide. Get me in front of the goal. Serve it in front of the goal. Let me go make my play like that. So in that way they're a little bit different. I think in a lot of ways they're similar. With back to goal. I thought Flo was really Good holding the ball. One of the hardest things to do as a striker and people don't understand. Bruce used to yell at me, like, hold the ball, hold the ball so the ball comes into you, it's bouncing into you. Right. Someone clips a ball and it's bouncing and you have a 6 foot 4 center back, like down your back.
- [20:10]
B
Yeah.
- [20:11]
A
Trying to smash you. You have a six or two sixes collapsing on you.
- [20:14]
B
Yeah.
- [20:15]
A
And coaches would get mad when you don't hold the ball. I'm like, what do you want me to do? I'm trying, you know. But Flo did a great job of like little first time layoffs in the stride of the player, not behind the player who was running. And then you're out and you're breaking pressure. So I thought he did a good job. I think he's a little better at sergeant than that. And look, just in the end, I think his quality in front of goal has been better for the national team. Josh's quality for Norwich is fantastic. And it just makes you wonder like, what is that mental block going on. Flo is the better, better option, but Josh should absolutely be on this team.
- [20:51]
B
Yeah, yeah. Josh's goal. Josh's goals are needed in, in the team. Look, what I would. To your point, holding the ball up is so difficult, particularly someone of your stature. When you get these bigger strikers, then that has to be like really in your arsenal. And we talked about it against, with ajimeng against Mexico, remember saying, look, we're not going to see a lot of the ball, so when the ball goes up, it has to stick. In fact, that's actually as good as a goal right now. Like we don't need a goal. We actually need you just to hold the ball and fall over and get a foul. Right. And so you spoke to how difficult of the skill that is fair or unfair? Because you talked that, you said that Flo and Josh Sarge are two different strikers. They are. But unfortunately strikers only ever get judged on goals and dangerous chances created. That's. That's the way it is. There's no, there's no getting around that. And so unfortunately for Joshua, I think is a good striker and his goals or his ability to score goals needs to be in the team somewhere somehow ultimately dangerous opportunities and goals are really what's going to judge someone. And flow right now has the edge. So that, that's, it's a little bit black and white, but that's really how it is.
- [22:04]
A
And the guy waiting in the wings now is Ricardo Pepe. And Ajamong a little bit. But to be honest, if that was. If those were our four, and I don't know if he'll take four or five to the World Cup, I feel pretty good about it. Like, there's different. Different profiles there. They can do different things. But I would feel pretty good about. If any of them were in a game or starting a game, you'd say, okay, I think they can handle it. Right. They're all different, but I think they can.
- [22:27]
B
I. I'm not as bullish as you are, but what I would say is our. The striker, any one of those strikers is not going to carry this team as in. As in other iterations of the U.S. men's National Team. You could say, like, we know where the goals are coming from. They're coming from two sources, three sources, right? Where this team. The striker's not going to carry the team. They might chip in with a few, but across the course of a tournament, you're going to get an eight, some wingers, nines. They're all going to have to pitch in.
- [22:57]
A
So, yeah, yeah, you're right. I think big winners from, we'll say, the window overall, but Matt Freeze for sure. Baligan for sure thought Arin was great. Again, you know, he's not. He's not going to start over Jedi, if Jedi is healthy and fit, but a great backup option. Zendaya House we haven't talked about. I mean, he came in the other day and then he started, and all you can do, Tim, is make the most of your opportunity. He hasn't been in a lot of camps. He hasn't been on anyone's radar. Fantastic goal. I mean, we just talked about. They. It's. It's. It wins the game, right? It wins the game. And I thought he was pretty good otherwise, very clean on the ball. You could tell the relationship, like, with. He and Christian was good. He and Flo was good. Tyler felt comfortable with him. So is there a place for him? Yeah, it feels like it. It feels like he can fit in, too. So I thought those were the big winners.
- [23:48]
B
Yeah, I don't have too many to add to that, but I have a question for you. Is there. Is there a world right now? I would have called myself crazy for suggesting this prior to last night. Is there a world that Arsten and Jedi can play together? So I don't know what that looks like. If that's a four. If that's a four. And I guess we don't really play a 442. Like, I don't know, I just see like they're both so talented on the left. You know what I mean? They're so, so incredibly talented and athletic and it can be ball dominant when it's at their feet. I don't know.
- [24:27]
A
It's actually not a bad shout and because Arin is, he is now a left back and he's a left wing back but he's had enough experience as a left back. You trust him defensively. If he's playing as a winger, like he's going to come back and help. That's going to be his natural instinct. Now he's not a guy who stood out on the wing forever. It's possible. And he's also comfortable coming inside, dribbling inside, which is rare for a left footed player. So he can come inside, Robinson can go. If for some reason they get flip flopped. Arson's comfortable playing as a left back.
- [24:58]
B
So yeah, maybe could j. Here's another one. Okay, so I'm stuck on this now. Could Jedi play less of three? Yeah, I know he's. I know, I know naturally he wants to go, but I'm thinking Tim Re in the middle.
- [25:11]
A
Yeah.
- [25:11]
B
Chris Richards on the right.
- [25:13]
A
Yeah.
- [25:14]
B
And. And Jetta. I'm just thinking of experience like that. Those, those are three players that are just like Premier League experience.
- [25:20]
A
Yeah. I don't know, maybe I was having this conversation, Tim, with, with someone yesterday about we did this at Loyal. We played a guy at left center back.
- [25:29]
B
Yeah.
- [25:30]
A
And when we knew we were going to dominate a game. So this is like, you know, Gold cup first round opponents. You know you're going to dominate a game. Do you play someone at left center back who is comfortable literally just bombing on. Right. So now you have a 3, 5, 2. But you can add another number in these and if you play with two sixes, you have plenty of COVID So maybe, I don't know if this is in the World cup, but maybe the first World cup game you play a, a really, you know, lower ranked nation that, you know you should have all the ball.
- [25:56]
B
Yeah.
- [25:56]
A
Maybe you do that and, and I'd like to see Pochettino an option.
- [25:59]
B
Yeah. I mean, look, that's probably not a great thing to say at the moment, but Man United do do that with Luke Shaw and Lisandra Martinez to like non traditional center backs playing a left of a three. Anyway. Yeah. Cool. Let's move on.
- [26:12]
A
All right, we have a question. This is an interesting one. Was Japan better or worse? Throw that up, Jordan. Yeah. So do you feel Japan's quality was better? Than Korea. So the Japanese team that was on the field, it's hard to compare like apples to apples, but I felt the team they put out was pretty similar to what we saw from Korea the other day. Yeah, Korea had a superstar in sun Japan. It was a lot of Japan's B team and they had three or four or five guys on the bench who are like borderline world class players. So I would have liked to have seen that.
- [26:46]
B
Sure.
- [26:47]
A
But I think the team we saw was pretty similar and actually the games were pretty similar to be honest, other than defending well in our box and scoring the goals. Right. So it felt like they were actually pretty similar type games.
- [26:58]
B
Yeah, yeah. I would say they're close and the rankings are close, but I agree with some of the players that weren't, weren't on the bench.
- [27:05]
A
So. And this is a good, this is a good test, right? That level of team 20, 25, 30 in the world, that's a team now I think we comfortably say. And we didn't have our best team either, by the way.
- [27:16]
B
Yeah, no, I agree with that.
- [27:17]
A
We say that's a team, especially at home, that we should beat. Yeah, okay. We're not going to do it every time, but we should beat now when we get 15th in the world, 10th in the world, fifth in the world. Now how do we compete against those teams? That's what we've talked about and that's where we're going to have to. We haven't seen it yet from this group. We haven't. Just being honest, but you feel like they're starting to get closer.
- [27:38]
B
I also, I also think, look, this is the game we talked about. They needed to win. They didn't play well. They didn't play well against South Korea. So no matter who, who, who Japan runs out there, you have to win the game. And they did that. And that is also a mental test that I think they passed.
- [27:55]
A
Agreed. So let's, let's dive in. I want to talk about some of the post match stuff because there were a lot of, a lot of questions for Christian Pochettino about their relationship, just about the team in general. So Christian, when asked about his relationship with Pochettino, he said, we have good conversations. Honestly, probably what you guys experience and what the media sees is a bit not exactly what we experience. I mean, I would hope so things are good, we spoke, we had a normal camp and everything is good between us. Good between the team. There's probably not as much drama as thought that was an interesting one. Not as much drama as you guys think. Meaning there is drama, I guess it feels to me, Tim, like obviously they must have spoken in camp. And it feels to me like they're probably both a little exhausted just with all of it and they just want to get to playing. And I was thinking about this this morning. There are. There are things that. That keep you accountable in soccer. Okay? Number one, yourself. Okay. Sometimes that doesn't happen. I think with. With this team, sometimes that hasn't happened. Your teammates, we know from speaking to people inside camp, there's not a lot of accountability amongst the teammates. Okay. It doesn't mean that it can't work, but generally that's the best way. We both agree on that. Your coaches, I think Mauricio Pochettino now is starting to hold these guys accountable in a real way.
- [29:25]
B
Yeah.
- [29:25]
A
And then the fans and you see this in England, like I felt it in Everton, my first game, one of my first games, someone didn't go press. Like Louis Saha didn't go press the goalie. And I could feel the crowd go. And then the media, too. And you see this a lot in England too. And I think that. I think their accountability now is coming from a lot of places. And it's good. It's a good thing. In the end, if they have a high level of self awareness, they'll look back and say, you know what? We weren't good enough during that time. And we needed to be either held accountable by ourselves, our teammates, the media, the fans. And they are. And that's good for U.S. soccer. That's good for the growth of soccer in our country. They've been held accountable and they were good last night. And you have to say it. And this has to now be the way forward has to be.
- [30:09]
B
So, okay, so my take on all of. Of all of that ld is this. I don't care what Christian Pulisic has to say. All I care about is that he shows up and he performs. Because when he performs, he's very good. Okay? And so is there drama with his coach? Do they speak? I don't care. Because here's what I know. Pochettino knows that he's his best player and Christian knows he's the best player. So whatever drama is happening behind the scenes, we know if Christian Pulisic gets on the plane and he laces his boots up and plays or is in camp, he's going to play. I don't care about conversations. I care about results and performances. And he delivered that and he told us that. Remember, he stuck it in Our face. He said, when I get back, I'll do the scoring and everything will be fine. Correct. Because that's what we know. And here's the other news flash for everybody involved in the Pulisic camp. He's the best player on this team by 100 miles. Your best players get held to a higher standard. Simply put, that's not a Christian Pulisic thing. That's not a soccer thing. That's been happening since the beginning of time in sports. End of conversation. The other side of that, when it comes to criticism, and by the way, at the top of my receipt, I want everyone to hear this. I love Mauricio Pochettino. I respect him. I always have. We've been around him. We've had lunch with him, we've interviewed him. We like him. I like him. Here. Here's the thing about the noise on the outside. You're welcome. You know why? You're welcome?
- [31:45]
A
Yeah.
- [31:46]
B
Because I, and you, and better players than me, that it came before me, created this, okay? Because I played in a country where soccer, there were nobody in the stands. They didn't really care. We didn't get criticized like this. There used to be. There used to be a blurb you could barely find called Big Soccer. And they used to hammer us. There was nothing. Nobody cared. So for everybody in U.S. soccer, players, coaches and executives alike, you're welcome. Now there's criticism. Now people care. So this message that comes out of U.S. soccer, we all have to believe. We all have to support the team. We do support the team. And by the way, everywhere else, in Milan, in Paris, in London, none of these players and coaches would sit up at a press conference and say, we haven't performed. You guys have questions, but you should just support us and shut up. They wouldn't say that. Pochettino coach spurs, he never would say that in a press conference. So they can't start saying it here.
- [32:50]
A
Well said. And I want to take you back. 06. So 2002, World Cup, I get named the best young player of the tournament. Okay. I think. I think I'm God's gift to the world. Okay. We go into 06. Probably the worst three soccer games of my life. I got home. If I had gotten home, Tim, and it was like, oh, nice try. We'll keep believing in the team. We'll see you in four years. Great job, guys. I would have gone on that same path. Ego would have grown. Head bigger. I would have thought, oh, okay. It wasn't me.
- [33:20]
B
Yeah.
- [33:21]
A
I'll never forget to. I'M getting goosebumps. I'll never forget. I landed in LAX airport from Germany. I picked up the LA Times on the front cover. Donovan lets down team slash nation. Okay, that's a wake up call. And looking back at the time, I was like, f these guys. Yeah. And looking back, thank God, you know, because in that month I went, I was like, fully depressed for a couple weeks. And when I woke up one morning, two weeks later, I was like, okay, I'm never doing that again. I'm not playing like that again because I don't want to feel this. And from that day on, I'm not saying I was perfect, but every time I showed up, I was like, okay, let's go. And so you're right, you're right. Like, you're not. It's not like, oh, look what we did. It's look collectively, everybody keeping them accountable. And I said it before. We know that it's not happening teammate to teammate. Okay. I hope it starts to going forward. I do, I do. I've never seen one of them yell at each other on the field ever. In six years. I've never seen it once. I saw it every six minutes with you and Jagielka. Okay. I've never seen it. So someone's gotta hold them accountable. Hopefully the coaches now, the media is. That's good. The fans are, you know, fans are here. So that's good. That's okay. Sure. Like, that's a sign of. And I'll give one quote from Pochettino after the match and talks about what you just said. Oh, I'll give two. He said, we're, we're a very strong group now. People who talk need to think a little bit. There always can be another way to assess and analyze things, not only be negative, I think we try hard to see both sides of it. I really do. We speak to a lot of people. We don't just blindly, like, go on Twitter and rant about all the bs. And then he said, being critical is one thing, because I like the critiques. When you say things that are right, you know, I guess maybe there's only one right way. But when it's critiques, just for critiques, it's not damaging me. You're damaging your country. We need to all be all in behind them to provide the best platform. I would say this to that with your children, sometimes they do something wrong and you want to be like, it's okay, don't worry, it's okay. It's you made a mistake and you. And sometimes that's okay. And sometimes they need to hear you really messed up.
- [35:45]
B
Correct.
- [35:46]
A
And you're going to pay for that. And there's consequences in life and. Right. So it can be both, but it can't always be. It's okay, honey. You did fine. Don't worry about it. Let's. We'll still. We're still here. Support. Of course you're going to support them. We do support the team. We love the team. But. But that critique sometimes is very good.
- [36:04]
B
It's just such. Yeah. I think the example about your kids is an interesting one. You and I sit in such a unique position, and I feel fortunate and lucky because here's the thing. We are. We are critiquing a team because we know what we're talking about.
- [36:22]
A
Yeah.
- [36:23]
B
We don't always get it right, but we know we're talking about. So ultimately, with Pochettino, he should be defending his troops. Of course he should be defending his troops from people on the outside. He's doing the right thing. What I would say is my critique or your critique isn't letting our country down. Poor performances let your country down. And they didn't have that last night, so hats off to them. But this team deserves credit when they do the right things. And yes, not everybody has all the answers on the outside because there's only a handful of people on the inside. But unfortunately for them, what they show us on the pitch with results and performances is the message. It will always ever be the message. So that. So you and me and everybody else in the soccer world, that's what we have to go on. And people who can see it, who know the game and who know how things work should speak on it. And we do.
- [37:21]
A
Yeah. So, interestingly enough, exactly one year ago today was Pochettino's first day in charge. First day, first game.
- [37:32]
B
Yeah.
- [37:33]
A
First day he was officially hired. So let's take a little temperature check. What have we seen from this group? High level. I don't. I said in one of the very first podcasts we had, I said, what? Someone asked, what do we need to see? I said, clarity. It's been a long slog, I think longer than any of us wanted. And for whatever reason, I think it's taken Pochettino and his staff longer than expected to find out what the clarity is. Maybe last night was, we're gonna play in a back three. Maybe that was. Maybe it was, Matt Fries is our guy. Maybe it was, we're not going to play with wingers. Maybe it was on certain players. Right. Maybe Roldan is on this team somehow. So I just think. I don't. I have not seen a discerning style from Mauricio. I've not seen that. And part of that is being a new national team coach. It's hard to implement. I'm starting to see some cultural shift towards what he expects. And one of the big things for him is you play, you play well, we win, you get to wear the shirt again. And I like that. There's clarity there. The players know Max Arston. I played well. I'm going to play now come October. Is it Jedi, or does he have to wait his turn now because Arston played well? We'll see. But I think that's the biggest positive takeaway is cultural shift you're starting to see. I don't see a sort of style or way of playing that's unique or different, and that's okay. I'm not. I'm not opposed to that. I'm just that. That's sort of what I've learned.
- [39:12]
B
Yeah, I've learned in the year. I'm not surprised. I still think our best players are our best players. No one's like, I think the Gold cup gave us a few more names to add to that, to say, like, you know what? There's four or five other guys who we can count on. So that's good. That's a huge positive, you know, to help. To help kind of carry this thing forward. Look, I said this in the last episode, and what I have. I have more clarity on now than I ever have is when Pachettino was asked about when decisions will be made over trimming the roster. And he said, we're not amateurs. We're professional people who are looking at all types of players in different situations. You need to bring some players with the possibility of giving them game time. You asked me why. Because if Malik Tillman is injured, who is going to replace him? So I get that. And so what I said the other day stands true. That's one hell of a riverboat gamble. That is taking those dice and chucking them down the fell. That's fine. He's. He's basically saying, I. It is more important for me to nail down the guys I have question marks over.
- [40:22]
A
Right.
- [40:22]
B
And we will then have time to have our best players together enough. I worry about that. I worry that maybe there's not a. Because then you're not. You're. Again, you're not accounting players who are injured. Like, let's get our best team together in November. Cool. What if someone picks up a knock and you can't do that. Right. Let's do that in March maybe. So I don't know. I would love to have kind of had the continuity of the starting group together. And as you kind of know, ld in a two game window, you can give guys who you have question marks, about 45 minutes. But I would still like to see our best players play 90 minutes together, a game and a half together, something. But okay. I now know that he's saying, no, I'm evaluating as much talent as I can and at some point in time there'll be enough time to have togetherness.
- [41:14]
A
So.
- [41:14]
B
Okay.
- [41:15]
A
And it's, look, from his perspective, it's fair because definitely, again, I've said this a million times, he didn't know who Max Arston was a year and a half ago. He had no idea. So he has to learn the player pool.
- [41:28]
B
Yeah.
- [41:29]
A
He's not at every MLS game every week. I'm sure he's watching, but he's, he can't be at every MLS game. So he doesn't know every player. So he needs to see them. And that's totally fair in our opinion. It's taken longer than, than needed. But you know, Jordan said there's a few follow ups on his press conference.
- [41:46]
B
Scuff.
- [41:47]
A
What do you got, junior?
- [41:49]
B
Chuck him up.
- [41:51]
A
From George Kim. I feel Pochettino needs to run his press conference or any press release in his natural in Spanish, so he can always express in the most natural way. It's a really, it's a great point, George. People I've spoken to within U.S. soccer, they, they remind me every time English is not his first language. And sometimes he says things that, they just get lost in translation. And I think it, it is a challenge because all you can do is take what you're hearing and dissect it. And if what you hear in English is, oh, that doesn't really make sense or that that's totally fair. And I always try to take that context. And I know you do too, Tim. It's a challenge. I mean, it is. I played in Germany. I tried to speak German. I said stupid things all the time. I speak Spanish. I say don't. I say the wrong thing all the time. And it's hard. So I understand it because I've been in a situation, situation. But when people read comments, they might be like, what is he talking about? So it's a good point.
- [42:47]
B
Yeah, look, I, I, I, it's a good comment question, concern.
- [42:53]
A
George.
- [42:53]
B
I love my time speaking to Pochettino over the years. I enjoy our conversations. English is his second language is his English is very good. I don't have a second language. So I, I like. He's, he's well ahead of the game as far as I'm concerned. Look, I think there needs to maybe be some clarity from someone inside U.S. soccer who can be front facing. They don't have that. So Pochettino was there left on his own to, to do that. The only other, the only other part of that I can say, good God, Lord. Can you imagine the comments if he only did press conference Spanish? So you know, damn if you do, damn if you don't. But yeah, I mean, I'm sure he does. He does. He speaks great English and, and as a second language, some things do get lost in translation.
- [43:40]
A
I appreciate as someone who's been in that. Those shoes trying to speak, you know. Okay, up next for the US October 10th, I will be there. That is in Austin, Texas. That is coincidentally, I think it's mental health awareness day or something, which I've spoken about publicly. So I'm going to be there. Big part of my book. I'll be promoting my book there. Big game against Ecuador. They have qualified now for the World cup. They are ranked 25th. I feel like we're playing teams in that exact range. Mark Leach with another question for me. Ecuador is going to be a great benchmark for us in many ways. A very similar team. Young talent. Yeah. This is what I would say about Ecuador versus Korea and Japan. Ecuador athletically are so superior. And so if you, if you take a snapshot of, of yesterday, our center backs, Reem, Richards, Blackman, when the ball, when we were pressed in there and pinning them in and the ball came out, we could just go hammer the ball, win the first ball, win the second, keep them under pressure. That's going to be much more challenging with Ecuador.
- [44:43]
B
Yes.
- [44:43]
A
Like strong attacking players. Athletically, they're going to, you can't run by them. Right. They're going to be, they're going to be very good. So that is going to be a totally different test and a great test. I think it's a great test.
- [44:55]
B
It is. And it's funny. Ecuador and Colombia remind me of each other where they're just these strong. I'm thinking of players that I play with or just tree trunk for thighs and they can run all day and they tackle hard and they run well with the ball at their feet and yeah, it'll be a good test. You know, I'm looking at this Upcoming USMNT schedule and I'm, I just haven't. I get the feeling, I get the feeling we're, we're, we're going to win both of those games. I will dissect them as they come. I think we're going to win both of those October games which will be included because if I'm right, we'll be on a three game win streak. And then we go into Paraguay, Uruguay and again, big test. So exciting fall to come.
- [45:40]
A
As always, shout out to Tom King and U.S. soccer for like these have been great, great games. Right? Korea, Japan, so unique in how they play. Even between them there's differences. Ecuador and Australia, very different in how they play, but very good teams who have qualified, Paraguay, Uruguay, more similar. There's rumors of Portugal coming as a warm up team either in March or right before the World Cup. So these are good top Australia.
- [46:06]
B
Australia hasn't lost in over a year.
- [46:08]
A
Right. So that's, it's going to be.
- [46:10]
B
They're on a high.
- [46:11]
A
Yeah, it's going to be very good. So I, I anticipate those games are going to be great. It's going to be great to be in. Austin was there for MLS All Star. It was fantastic. They have such great fans there. Yeah, yeah, it's going to be, should be a great game. And then Australia as well, who's going to be fantastic. All right, before we wrap, Tim, overall takeaways from the window. We'll do, we'll do our way, way, way too soon. Starting 11 in the world cup in a sec. But just overall takeaways from the window.
- [46:47]
B
Yeah, it was good. This win helped, you know, I mean recency bias, you always try and try and shade away from that, but this helped. There were some good performances, you know, from, from the bigger players from, from Christian and Flo and Arfstein gave a good performance and you know which, he's not one of the bigger players but he's, he's on the up and up. Tyler Adams was again solid, steady, steered the ship, which is what you expect. So good performances, good performances and I think, and I think with some players back and healthy and we start to then see what this team looks like as, as the strongest starting 11 we have, which I think we'll get to see. Fingers crossed over the next four games. Yeah, yeah. I'm certainly more optimistic but again it's, I don't want to, I don't want to have recency bias because how we lost this game, I'd be miserable and thinking, well, you know we need to win at some point. So more than anything before, like, you're judged by your wins and losses, but performances mean everything they do because. Because that. That. That's an indicator of whether you can actually win games. And so, yeah, feeling lighter and more upbeat about this team. You.
- [47:56]
A
Yeah. You have many texts I got from people saying, we're back, we're back. We're gonna win the World Cup. I'm like, settle down. And it was like, Japan's like, A minus, B plus thing. But it's still a great win. Great win. No doubt. I want to see hopefully Malik Tillman.
- [48:11]
B
Yeah.
- [48:12]
A
In October, Jedi Weston, if he's fit in playing and, like, see what that looks like now you start to get to a point where you're like, okay, that's a real team. This is what I'm saying. Real depth on the bench.
- [48:23]
B
This is what I'm saying to you. Like, like I mentioned it in the last episode, ld like, if it's. If it's. I'm going to miss some names, but if it's Flow and Christian and Timothy Weah and Weston of some sort, or Tyler and Jedi and Des and Chris Richard, I'm like, this is a good team. Like, all right, all right. You want to roll your sleeves up and go toe to toe. Let's figure this out. I would have confidence in that team. My. My. My issue is I haven't seen that team right enough.
- [48:53]
A
Well, let's hope. Let's hope we do.
- [48:54]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [48:56]
A
All right. One last question here. Englishman here. No one's perfect. Curious to know what you guys and the American fans expectations are at the World Cup. Like, where do you expect to finish? That's a good question. So we've talked. I think I've talked about this certainly a lot privately to people. So the caveat here is it's a 48 team World Cup. And so nobody knows what to expect. Right. Because getting in the past, getting to a knockout to round a 16 for certain countries was successful. That was very successful. Now you're. If, especially if you're. You're us, Mexico, or Canada, you are one of the 12 seated teams. So presumably the next group of teams you get are teams you probably equal to in the B pot. In the C pot, you're better than. In the D pot, you're definitely better than. So you should get out of your group. And then it. It just depends on who you get. If you finish first and somehow Brazil slips up and finishes second or third their group. Now you're going, oh, Shoot, I'm not sure. Right. But if you get a, I don't know, Cape Verde, who might qualify for the World cup or Uzbekistan or someone like this, and you're at home, you say, okay, that's a game we should win. We should get to round 16. So I. My minimum expectation out of the group, and I would say we should win a round of 32 game and then sort of 50, 50 from there. That's my sort of expectation.
- [50:26]
B
Yeah. No, I would. I would. I would be. I would be the same. Given the number of teams now and there's an extra round, getting out of the group for any US Team is a prerequisite. I mean, that's. That's the.
- [50:36]
A
The standard that's been set, especially now with 48 teams.
- [50:39]
B
Yeah, this team.
- [50:39]
A
And you're seated.
- [50:40]
B
This team can do that. I think they will do that. Then the next round. Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. It's. It's going to depend on matchups, but again, there's still a giant sling that needs to happen.
- [50:52]
A
Right.
- [50:52]
B
You get to. If you get out of your group, you got to beat a big boy. You got to beat a big boy. And this, again, the knock on this team is they haven't quite done that. So that. That, to me, is. Would be a large measure of success. No doubt.
- [51:08]
A
All right, let's get into our way, way, way, way too soon. Starting 11, first game of the World Cup. Okay, I want to. I want to tell you your previous 11. When we did this a little while back, you had Zach Stefan in goal. I did Dest Richards, Ream, Robinson, Tillman, Adams, McKinney, Waya, Pulisic and Baligun. Anybody you want to change there?
- [51:31]
B
Well, I have to change Zach Stefan now. Right.
- [51:34]
A
Because you never know. Things change. But, yeah.
- [51:37]
B
Yeah.
- [51:38]
A
This is not what you want. This is what we think will be the starting lineup.
- [51:42]
B
Think will be. Well, I'm saying Freeze is winning the race based on. Based on time. Back four. If we play in back four. I'm confident with that. You have the same.
- [51:53]
A
No, I had Carter Vickers in there.
- [51:57]
B
Okay, so who do I have? Tillman. Yes. Adams. Yes.
- [52:04]
A
You have McKenna and Waya.
- [52:05]
B
McKenna and Wea. Yeah, I think. I still think I'm okay with that. And then Christian and Flow. Yeah. I mean, I'd make one change to mine.
- [52:19]
A
You think it's Freeze instead of Steph and everything else the same?
- [52:22]
B
I think. I mean, Jesus. I mean, McKin's a. He's a question mark. He's a question mark. I. I I. Again, I need to. It's all wait and see. I need to see what Po does with him. But yeah, I mean, he's. We're a better team when he's on the field. There's no question about that. So good. You all right?
- [52:40]
A
All right.
- [52:41]
B
You also had Zach, Stefan and goal.
- [52:43]
A
Yep.
- [52:43]
B
Back four of Des Richards. Camera. Carter, Vickers and Anthony Robinson. Midfield, Adams, McKinney, Tillman. And up front. Way up. Pepe and Pulisic.
- [52:55]
A
All right. I got quite a few changes.
- [52:56]
B
Do you?
- [52:57]
A
Shows what I know. Good for you. All right, so here's what I think. I think we're going to play in a back three slash five after one game. Yeah.
- [53:06]
B
I love.
- [53:06]
A
We got them all in, baby. I remember us soccer fans, 90 of whom only started following like five years ago.
- [53:14]
B
Yeah.
- [53:14]
A
Don't remember, but Steve Sampson in 98. 98. 98. He the. Like the game before the World Cup.
- [53:22]
B
Yeah.
- [53:23]
A
Again, I think it was against Austria. Played in a 3, 6, 1, which at that time was like, what are we doing? And we like battered. I think it was Austria or something. Battered them three zero. And everyone's like, like, we're all in, baby. And went to the World cup and got smashed. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So. But anyway, recency bias. All right, so Matt Fries and goal. I think he's going to start ream on the left. Richards. And still I think there's a way that Cameron Carter, Vickers gets in there. Dest on the right, Jedi on the left. Adams and Aiden Morris, who I still is the one player. I cannot figure out why he's not there. Wow.
- [54:00]
B
Has he been capped under Pochettino? We need to find that out because that's a hell of a shout. If you think a guy's coming steaming and over the top.
- [54:09]
A
If it's. It's either Weston. But I think Aiden and Tyler together, I'm like, we can win with that team.
- [54:15]
B
Okay. Yeah.
- [54:15]
A
Fair. Two tens. Pulisic and Tillman underneath Baligun. That's a nice team, dude.
- [54:22]
B
It's a great team. So you.
- [54:23]
A
And. And then you go like, Aron on the bench, Freeman on the bench. Diego Luna on the bench. Waya on the bench. Pepe on the bench. Sergeant, now you're like, okay, now we have a real bench, too. We have a real bench, like, you know, solid options off the bench, which is good. What you need.
- [54:40]
B
You're tinkering.
- [54:40]
A
You're. You're tinkering and you have good goalkeepers on. You have Stefan and Turner on the bench.
- [54:44]
B
Wholesale changes.
- [54:45]
A
I like it.
- [54:45]
B
I like it. Who's.
- [54:46]
A
Who's a Chelsea wholesale? It's not wholesale.
- [54:48]
B
Who's a Chelsea? Who's a Chelsea manager? The Italian hoop, mate. Who used to be. They call them the tinker Man.
- [54:52]
A
I don't know. That's me.
- [54:54]
B
That's amazing.
- [54:54]
A
Claudio Ranieri.
- [54:55]
B
Claudia, you're the tinker man.
- [54:57]
A
Thanks, ag. All right, guys, this was really fun. We didn't screw it up. Too bad that I enjoyed that. Let's. We'll do that again. I'm assuming we'll do that maybe again after. In. In October after the Australia game because we want to keep up to date with you guys. So thank you for joining. Thanks for the questions. Great questions. Appreciate all of you being here on today's live stream. Remember, as Always, subscribe on YouTube. Hit that little red button. Apple podcast, Spotify anywhere you get your pods. And follow nfiltered Soccer on all social media for bonus content.
- [55:28]
B
Yeah, this was dope. We're going to do it again. Thank you for all your attention for. For all of your comments because this is why we did it for you guys. So much, much appreciated. Thanks, everybody. We'll be back Tuesday, September 23rd. It's a new edition of unfiltered Soccer. Have a great one.
- [55:44]
A
Thanks, guys.