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Foreign. Welcome into the Unfiltered Soccer live stream presented by Volkswagen. We love the game so much, and we love you all so much that Landon and I are both on vacation. Not in the same place, in different places. And we decided we're gonna come on and chat to you all because you got a lot to say and I think a lot. How's vacation, by the way? How's vacation?
B
Amazing. Amazing. Good for you. We ordered room service tonight. I'm in Cabo. You're in Salt Lake Park City. Yeah. Ordered room service, lobster tacos, watched the game. Amazing. I love my wife, dude. After, like. I'm like, let's watch the game together. She's like, yeah, let's do it. After, like, three minutes, she walked outside.
A
Yeah, she knows.
B
Yeah, she knows.
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Whatever.
B
It was almost over after three minutes by the.
A
Yeah. Jeez. Down.
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All right, guys. As always, follow us on social media. Unfiltered Soccer. Subscribe to the show on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, anywhere you get your pods. And we have a ton of questions already in comments. But as always, email your questions to Jordan Feedback at Unfiltered Soccer. Full disclosure, I've had a few glasses of wine enjoying that one, so if I slur a little bit, you know why. But let's get right into it. Tampa was good to us tonight, man. Wow, that was. Tim. One of the wildest first halves I've ever seen. And I'm not being dramatic. I don't, like, come on here and try to, like, be dramatic, but, God, it was crazy. I was just. My wife kept coming and going, what? What? What? And I'm like, another goal, another goal, another goal. What a dominating performance. I don't know what more you could ask for. If you're Pochettino, you have to be absolutely thrilled.
A
It's kind of crazy. It was wild. I just thought that, like, it was a bit of anomaly. And then. And then I thought, like, Uruguay stunk, and I don't often, because then that takes the gloss off the U.S. yeah, that's not what I'm trying to say. Very often do I think, like, wow, a team stunk, and yet the US and we'll get into why. I thought. Played a really good game, and I thought there was some really good individual performances, but, yeah, such a strange. You know, you get. I know it was a friendly, but, like, you get the halftime. Like, the game's over for.
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For.
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For all intents and purposes, it was over somewhere halfway between in the first half. But some great performances. Pochettino has this team Humming.
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Yeah.
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Both the first team and what you consider maybe the second team. So that's a brilliant thing, Tim.
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They made nine changes to the lineup. And honestly I was like, this is a bunch of guys who have never played together. A bunch of guys. And it's rare. Like, people need to understand, it is very rare in a professional soccer game that the game's over by halftime. Very rare. Like at any level, it just doesn't happen. Like sometimes it's 2, 0 and you're like, all right. I feel like it's. Or maybe even 3 0. You're like, all right, that's it. But very rare. Do you just say this game's over? And this was, these were two, you would say, equal ish teams. One ranked 15th, one ranked 16th.
A
I was shocked. I was shocked that that was a 15th ranked team. Well, in fairness, when we were 16 and we had, we had a lot of our second team players in. But look, Borholter, we know, you know, start giving a rundown. I mean, Burholter, we know he's got a, he's got a credibly wicked set piece delivery. I mean, it's, it's, it's special. It's not like world class elite yet, but give him time. This kid's dialed in really good first goal. The fact that he moved the ball, I thought actually he thinks beyond his years because he took the first free kick, right, and he whipped it in. So then my thought process was he'll do the same again. So at some point between the referee blowing the whistle and say, I don't like this foul, let me put the ball back down here. At some point he either made eye contact with somebody. I didn't quite see whether he went and spoke to somebody, but he completely changed the script. And he played short. And then he.
B
And then, well, he had to be on the same page with Sergino, right? Because he, he knew to lay it back. Right. First time. Yeah. And I didn't at first. I was like, did they work on that? Is that. And it just felt like he just said, hey, I'm going to play it. Just roll it back to me and.
A
I'm going to smash it. He must have. And then, you know, and then obviously Freeman, big, big standing, standing ovation for you. I didn't know you had that in your locker. I didn't know. I mean, didn't know that either.
B
Slalom.
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It kept going.
B
Was that like Reyna, Was that Christian? Was that who.
A
No, Freeman. And then he did it. And then he did the business at the back post, which. Where you expect him to be, you know, in terms of the header, obviously, Luna, unsurprisingly, pops up for the fourth. Right. Like you kind of expect him. That's his. That's his kind of bread and butter. Late runs in the box. A real cultured finish. I mean, you can speak to this. How often does a guy run onto a ball, his eyes get really big and, like, he balloons or he drags it like there was never a chance, and he just slapped it right in the corner.
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Great contact. Yeah.
A
Yeah.
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All right. Speaking of Sebastian Berhalter, we have a question from jr. Are. It's going to pop up here. Lots of questions from you guys. So should. I'm sorry. Should we design set pieces around Burhalter? That's an interesting question. So I played with someone that we did that for. Mr. Beckham. Yeah. I mean, what do you think? Do you. I mean, he has got to be in the team, obviously.
A
I think that was. I think that was Kenneth asking the question. He was kicking a soccer ball. It looked like a gender reveal party and was pink. So congratulations. I don't know when that picture's from, but congratulations on your daughter. Girl, dad, that's amazing. I would imagine if. If Burhalter's in the game again, we have to just. We have to figure out what type of game it is, what the lineup is. But, yeah, I think he's on the ball. I think he. I think he's in and around it for sure.
B
And generally, Tim, what happens is you design. Like, when you design a set piece, you're designing it for someone to go attack it. Right. Someone like Omar Gonzalez. We used to just pick and try to get him free.
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Yeah.
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To either score or knock it back across the goal mount. But when you have that kind of quality, man. And. And I watched it closely when I was commentating with Fox during the Gold cup, and after a while, you just go, okay, this is not just, like, happenstance or, like, oh, we got that one. Good.
A
He does it every time.
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Every. Every corner. Every. It's just like, up and dipping and whipping, and it's really hard to deal with.
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And. And. And I think. I think to answer the actual. I hang on a second. Kenna said his daughter is due next Saturday. Amazing.
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Oh, that's awesome. Congrats.
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It's all happening. I think when you talk about designing a free kick, the answer to the question we saw tonight, I don't think you need to. You know this. You don't need to. If it's. If it's right in and around the box, he's going to curl it and he's going to try and put it up and over the wall or the keeper side. If it's a wide free kick, well, that's not for him. He's just going to put in a good area, probably for Chris Richards. The ones that you're talking about are the. Are the ones that are off the cuff. So. So what you want to do is, like tonight, when he's standing over a ball, delivering it, you want to have like one or two wrinkles that say, like, what happened tonight? I'm going to play it and stop it or play it and play it back and I'm going to whip it. So there's not a ton of, like, you don't really overthink it. It's just giving him one or two different little wrinkles off of a normal set piece that he can go to. And they obviously have done that because we saw that tonight, and give him.
B
The autonomy then to make that decision.
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Right. Make that decision.
B
You don't want to say you have to do this every time because he saw it and he was like, oh, this is on. So, you know, we used to, when Bob was coaching us, Tim, when we would go away to Europe, a lot of times he would say, guys, when people wake up in the morning and they, you know, they went to bed and they didn't watch the game, let's be like, when all those friendly results pile in, let's. Let's be one of the teams that people go, oh, my God. They went to Poland and one. They went to Switzerland and one. They went to Germany and one. And this was one of those nights, like, people are going to wake up if you were like, oh, it's a friendly. It's Uruguay. What? It's not. It's the quote B team and all this, you're going to wake up and go, what? Yeah, you're going to watch the highlights and go. And not only was it five, it was not like they scored three in the last three minutes. Right over at halftime.
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Totally.
B
You're right over at half.
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Shout out to Bob. Bradley always had us prepared.
B
He did. And it was like a source of pride. Like, we wanted to be that team where people wake up and go, wow.
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All right.
B
Another question about Tyler. Well, interesting Jordan question about Tyler and Weston losing their spots. I didn't say that. Have we lean. Have we learned yet that this team doesn't need Weston and Tyler to win? Have they lost their starting jobs. All right, that is from Mike. I'm gonna have everyone settle down a little bit. We're all excited about the result. I want to remind people that in a World cup, you need lots and lots of players. There's very few World Cups where you use 11 or 12 or 13 players. Have they lost their starting spot? I don't know. That's up to Pochettino. But you take all of this with a grain of salt. You do the games that really, really mattered and meant something, the Gold Cups, the Copa America's, all that. You put more stock in as a coach than a friendly. You do. And it doesn't mean this wasn't important. I'm not saying that, but everyone can settle down a little bit. But I would say this. There are a bunch of guys, Tim, that six months ago we would have said, no, they're not going to start over. These guys and a bunch of those guys. Alex Freeman, how do you keep him off the field right now? So whether it's Sergino Dest or whoever's playing that position, Tim Waya, whatever, how do you keep Freeman off the field?
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I don't know. You don't? Yeah.
B
Aron. Right. Like, Jedi has been hurt, and we're obviously. We're all hoping he gets better, but, like, how do you keep that guy off the field?
A
Yeah.
B
Right. Burhalter, when he's doing this, how do you keep these guys off the field?
A
Yeah, look, I. I'll dig deep into this. Tyler Adams and Weston McKinney, for me, are out andout starters. Not just based on. Not just based on their, you know, past performances, but I think they're the best players, and I think they give the US the best chance. What this does, though, is this. And we haven't seen this. This lights a fire under them. Consciously or subconsciously to where.
B
Oh, it's conscious.
A
And I've been. And I've been a part of it where you're the starter. But by the way, I've got two guys sitting over here that I have so much confidence in. And if we get to halftime and you've laid an egg, I'm hooking you.
B
That's right.
A
We get to 60 minutes and things aren't going well, which happens with players. I'm hooking you. And then. And then the trickle on to that is if one of these starting players doesn't have a good performance. Okay. And they get hooked, and the guy coming in that the manager has confidence in then has a good performance in the Second part of that game. Now the manager's got a decision to make in the next game right now. And now in the next game, that player might play. But I think it's a great thing. This is competition for places we've been wanting, we've been hoping for, and it's great. And I'll tell you what, I'd say the two players will benefit the most from all this is Tyler Adams and Weston McKinney. Because I think they're great.
B
All the guys.
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I think they're great players. Yeah, I think they're great players. And I think that. And I think what makes Tyler and Weston great is that they step up to the plate is that they. They understand competition. They thrive in those. In those environments. So the more the better.
B
That's right. And Malik Tillman, right. Like, guys like this who are watching now, they're going, gosh, I. I gotta get into camp. I want to get into camp because these guys. I don't want these guys taking my spot.
A
So.
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All right, we have a question on if the US Won or Uruguay lost the game. Okay, that's interesting. Lnt. Did USA win this game or did Uruguay lose the game? So I'm going to take a stab at it first. So we played in a ton of games, Tim, where for whatever reason, your opponent didn't show up to play. And I also played in games where I didn't show up or we didn't show up as a team. And sometimes you get away with it because the other team also isn't at their very best. The problem with Uruguay today is they were shocking. Like that first half was absolutely shocking. That's as bad as I've ever seen Uruguay playing. I've probably seen them play seven or eight times, like live watching like that in my life, and that was as bad as I've ever seen. And Bielsa, he will not stand for that. So that was bizarre. However, this US Team with nine changes to it, were highly motivated. Yeah, they were not your guy. Were kind of out there to kind of like, let's go through the motions. Maybe we get a tie like we did in Mexico a few days ago. And whatever. You just were like, no, this is a real game and we're getting after it. And if you show up like that, you will get your ass pounded like that.
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And.
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And that is what happened. And the US Showed up and absolutely dominated.
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Yeah, I don't. I don't disagree. Look, I think you. I think the US Team won the game. I thought you're. I I thought you were stunk on the night, like badly. But I do think in those moments, and I've seen it before, where a team stinks but they don't get punished for it. And, and the only. And so the US had to go punish them and they won the game. So fair play them. I'm going to give you a few minutes off if you want to go get some wine because we have a question for me about emotions from goalkeepers. Tim, do you agree that goalies do not show enough emotion and drive that has been missing since you left. You let your defenders have it when they messed up? Yeah, I think emotion is, I think emotion has gone out of the game. I think that's part of the, that's part of sort of the evolution. And I know this for a fact that, you know, managers have tried to take the emotion out of the game to play better football or whatever, but it comes in cycles. You know, just, just for the record, my, and I think Landon, you know this. My, my yelling and screaming, shouting or not, was all, was all manufactured. It was for the moment.
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Okay. I was, I actually, I didn't know I was just going to ask you that question.
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Yeah, yeah. And so, and so, so meaning, like it, it depended. If you really look back on it, there were times where a guy would get a shot on goal and depending on what kind of game our left back was having, I might not have a go at him because I know that's going to rattle him even more. Maybe I just say, like, no problem. It's my job to save it. And then there were times that we needed a bit of a pick me up. It's just, it's just kind of how it was. There were times where, you know this, you'd have a go at the goalkeeper, excuse me, at the referee as a goalkeeper. And you're like doing anything wrong there. I just, I was just trying to get our guys going so it's come out of the game a little bit, but I think emotion in general has come out of the game.
B
Yeah, it kind of has. And I, I actually, I mean the, the bets and core red card was really nasty, like a really bad challenge, but at least they cared and they showed up. And you know, I, I, some of these friendlies, like, just looks like nobody cares. And so that was, it was crappy. I appreciate the emotion and yeah, definitely, I'm not like super into stats all the time, but one amazing stat. At halftime, all four goal scorers had come on our podcast. There you go, Tim. I'M not saying there's a correlation. I just know there is. Guys, when we asked, and then Testman.
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Ruined it when we asked you to come on the show. There's a reason for the show.
B
You want to score?
A
Don't, don't. Just, don't just blank us.
B
Okay. Question about Ricardo Pepe.
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Yeah, bring it to us.
B
Question for LD and Tim, is Pepe not getting any minutes today a concern for him? He. Yeah, that's a good question. I, I would say, yeah, I would say, yeah. I mean, this is a game where you can't wait to get on the field. If you're watching from the bench because you're like, there's going to be chances, especially when they went down to 10 men. You're like, get me on the field. Get me on the field. And yeah, I don't, I, I can't. I'm not In Pochino's head, I can't speak for him, but he had a chance the other night that he fluffed and should have scored. And it's clear, pretty clear right now, though. This thing, this is always changing, but, like, it goes Balagun and then Haji, right? And I think Pepe right now is third. And that's, you know, that's the way he views it.
A
Yeah, I, I, I like what, I like your explanation. Let me, let me put my spin on it. I, if you're Pepe tonight and you're on that team bus, you're like, damn, you're bummed. Like, like, like you, he personally would be bummed. And here's why the math ain't mathing, right? You only have a certain amount of strikers who can play. And in this game, if I'm him, right? If I'm going into the game, unless he had a conversation with Pochettino before. If I'm going to the game, I'm thinking, we know those players all know Baligan's number one. So he starts. Then Pepe comes in right for him in the game prior in the power play game, right? So now Pepe's going into this game going cool. Flow's the number one. Get him, get, get him on.
B
He's not starting.
A
Yeah, get him, get him on the subs bench. Oh, how's your right start? Okay, well, that's, that's a bummer. But guess what? That's fine. I'll come in at 60, 70 minutes and I'll show what I can do. Bang. Now Baligan comes in. So now Pepe's going, oh, he's just like, so It. It. It's. It'll be. It'll hurt him. And it is a sign because, like I said, the math ain't math. And, like, you didn't get a chance, you know, And. And. And that it's not great. I don't love it. I. I actually felt the same way about Gio, to be brought. Brutally honest. I'm like, he. He's a guy who I wanted to see get back to back. Starts when he doesn't. I'm like. But then Gio comes on and does what he does, right. He gets a. He gets a really good assist. He gets a yellow card, which kind of a prerequisite for him, which I love because he's feisty. And so, like that. That was actually then a good camp for him. Right. Pepe goes on as a sub. Yeah. Misses a chance and then doesn't get a chance in the second game. So you're kind of again.
B
And you have to remember with Pepe. So a lot of these guys have been through these camps now, and now they know what the expectation is. Pepe hasn't been around a while, and I'm solely guessing here, and I'm not saying this is the case, but I'm saying this could be a scenario where he kind of came in and thought, like, I'll get some minutes. And the rest of the guys are on edge right now. They're like, I better get after it every day. Train.
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Training. Yeah.
B
I'm just saying off the field, like, he really bought in. And. And, you know, it could be a scenario where maybe just he has to learn that, like, okay, that's what Pochettino wants. I'm not saying that's the case, but that could be. That could be part of it.
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B
Okay, question about the scuffle on Saturday's game. That's a good scuffle from Alan Potter. Is that a coach or something? Oh, that's grand. Potter, LD and Tim, with the lack of fight and fire that has been a complaint for the last year, does seeing the fight in this window mean more to you than it looks like? As a fan, that is. Super happy to see it. I'm thrilled to see it. I'm. I'm thrilled to see it in general because Tim just said it. The emotion and the passion has come out of the game quite a bit over the last decade or so as we've focused so much on playing beautiful soccer all the time. And, man, national team games. That's what this should be. Qualifying. That's what it should be. A battle. Like a real battle. And it doesn't have to be. You can play home to. To trinidad and win 5 0. And it's beautiful. But sometimes you just go to Cuba and the field's terrible and the lighting's terrible and you just go battle. You get out of there one zero. And so watching, watching the guys, I think in a smart way, thank God there was no var. But, like, in a smart way, get after it and protect each other is great. I think that's great. Just don't get sent off.
A
I have no questions about this team, this group, and I say that because we saw a lot of fight in the Gold cup. So we're like, okay, well, that group will fight in scrap. But I. This, this. The, you know, the big boys came in the Chris Richards and Pulistic and all these guys, they showed me a hell of a fight last camp. And then we see it again. This. This camp. So I. I think this group as a whole is. Is again humming, and they're. They're. They're clicking and they're together. And again, you talk. I. I think you and I have been brutally honest when we say, like, look, this is. This is an educated guess or this is something we know. My educated guess is that the Gold cup team set a standard that Pach liked and maybe he lit that fire. And I. And I. I tend to think he probably, once he had everybody in, probably said, hey, this is what I want to see. I've seen this from these guys. I need to see it from you again. That's a. It's an educated guess on my part, but either way, whatever. I don't care what.
B
That wasn't a. It wasn't a bluff to him because then he followed up by playing those guys again and playing a lot of those guys and giving them more minutes and more arst and Luna, giving Freeman, giving these guys more chances because you can it all you want. And then all of a sudden the same old guys are starting again and like, totally.
A
But he.
B
He followed.
A
And.
B
And let's take a second to like, let's really give a lot of credit now to Po for. For just the mental side of how he's played this whole thing. Because it was ugly in the summer, Tim. There was some real stuff flying.
A
Yeah.
B
And I think he's masterfully put this together, pieced it together. Now. Was it intentional? I have to assume yes, but maybe kind of looked into some of it, made of it, you know, but like, I think it was intentional.
A
I think so.
B
Yeah. And now the team, it doesn't matter who shows up in place, dude, they get after it. And the thing about pressing and running and fighting and it's fun to watch.
A
I'm like, yeah, I think the thing we have to give. I mean, Pochettino is a brilliant manager. He. He is. I think what we have to probably give him a lot of credit for is his experience. Meaning I think he is. I think he is. I think he has understood over the course of his coaching career that there. That there's one more than one way to get a result from your players. Meaning he's bided his time. He's the biggest name in the room. Right. So he could have either easily just said, do what I do, what I do, do what I say. But you forget where he's been. He's been at Tottenham with big players, been at PSG with big players. I don't know. I'm guessing he was like, I'm not just going to go give Lump Neymar and tell him what to do. He probably thought, I got to go around this way to get, you know, to get performances. So he's. So he's doing that. I digress. By the way, I saw an amazing hockey fight the other day. Speaking of tussles, right from. Right from the first puck drop, they all scattered these Two big fellas dropped their, like, yo. And they beat the stuffing out of each other. And then you know what? It was a great fight. And they were both, like, patting each other on the back while they were like, this is amazing. Anyway, I digress. More questions. Oh, this is another goalkeeper one. Let's see. Question about Matt Freeze. Decision making in the year on the goal. What are your thoughts on Matt Free's decision to come off his line and challenge before the Uruguay goal? Here's what I would think. I didn't like it. I think I thought it was a bad decision. Here's the great part. When you make bad decisions and your team wins 5 1. It's awesome. It's awesome because you get to learn from it. Here's what I would say to Matt Fries, and this is what I. What I. What I truly believe. If you see the play, he made a decision and he was aggressive with his decision. Aggressive mistakes, I don't mind. Whether you're a striker or a midfielder or goalkeeper, if you're going to make a mistake, be aggressive. So we did that. So credit to him. What I would say is, when you saw the play, he had two defenders versus one Uruguay attacker. I truly believe in the gospel of let your defenders defend your job. Let them defend. That's their job. They want to do it. They want to do it. They want to scrap. They want to get in the right places. If that breaks down, then it's your job to save the day. I thought he came and got mixed up in a play that he probably shouldn't, but again, that's great. It was an aggressive mistake and we won 5 1. Right? If it was a reluctant mistake and we lose two one, okay, this is a whole different kettle of fish, but that's kind of my thought process.
B
And this is. By the way, this is why he's playing every minute of every game. Because as you've said over and over, he needs to get whatever it is, 12, 15, 20 caps. Because if you do this in a World cup, you lose 2:1, right? And you cannot. You cannot do it. So he has to learn. It was just. It was the same in the Gold cup with. Was it the Haiti goal where he made the mistake? It's the only. The only way you learn is by doing it. And. And so this is another moment where he goes, you know What? We're up 4 0. It's right before half. I'm just gonna let my defenders defend and. And deal with what happens after.
A
So going back. Going back a step, Landon and I made a note about it, right? What I liked about this group, and they're clearly the second group, right. It had filtered into the national team, where everything was just kind of, like, blase. Guys were just kind of coming and going as they pleased, and that sets a precedent. And when. And when I. When the bigger players do it, the younger players follow. And what I loved about tonight is whatever the scoreline was, 4, 1, 5 1, they kept going, they left. There was no egos. It was like, I. I'm here to represent this. The amount of players that tapped the crest and pulled on their shirt when they scored like it. That to me, they just kept going. And that. That. That. The pressing and the fighting and the spirit and feeling like that felt tangible tonight. And so that was a good sign.
B
You know, Pochettino said at one point in one of his press conferences, he said, when I got here, guys would tell me. He said, I talked to Christian, and they would say, we want you to change the culture. Right. And. And in his understanding of what. Of that. In speaking to him and other people was, I'm not going to change the culture in America. Right. He's like, what are you talking about? Like, eating cheeseburgers or French fries, like. But he didn't really understand what they were saying. And I think the. The. What he's done is he's made. He's made people proud to play for the team again. He's made people really care about playing, like, not taking it for granted to play for the national team. And now it's as. As bad as it was previously, and it was spiraling and out of control, and it was a habit. Now it's flipped. And now the habit is, like, when I get on the field, I run my ass off.
A
Yeah.
B
And it doesn't matter who I am or what the situation or the go get after it. And now that's. That's the expectation, and there's no reason why that's going to change between now in the World Cup. I think it's only going to intensify. That's right.
A
And let's dispel the myth. Players create culture.
B
That's it. Yeah. Yeah.
A
All right. We got questions, everyone. Yeah. But the players have to implement it.
B
Yeah. All right, Go ahead.
A
Lots of questions. Questions about Christian. Rolled on. Talk to us. What are your thoughts? Cute dog. Is that Smokey?
B
Rock Smokey. Rock, Smokey.
A
I feel like that. I feel like that's a Knoxville thing. But anyway, hang on a second. Rolled on. All right. What are your thoughts? I I mean, I think, I think he, I think Christian rolled on is, you know, he does what it says on the tin. He, he goes about his job. You know, he's, he's an experienced guy. I think a guy who would probably be on the fringe to make the World cup roster, but I think he will make the World cup roster because of the intangibles, because of, but he trains really, really well. You know, he's a team guy, he's a winner and, and he's feisty and can keep the ball moving, create tempo in the midfield. So yeah, that's, that's my thoughts on.
B
Here'S what's going to happen. So if it's 26 players and we're going to, again, we'll get to this soon here, whatever, in the next few weeks, months, how do you fill out your roster? And there's always a couple guys at the end who are like, okay, we have enough players in that position, but we want this intangible or this set piece delivery or this in the 90th minute, a 6 foot 6 guy who can go cause that, cause havoc in the penalty or whatever. So you're going to have Testman, Morris, Tyler Adams, Weston McKinney rolled on Burhaltzer. I don't know if I'm missing anyone.
A
Why are you?
B
I'm talking about like central midfielders and Tillman, you know, he's more attacking, whatever. And maybe I'm missing someone. But you're gonna have basically those six guys. Do you take five of them? Do you take six of them? Do you take four of them? Right. And if the question, if the answer for Pochettino and his staff is we're going to take five, but now you've got Christian Rodon or Burhalter sitting out there at the end who are amazing teammates, amazing in the locker room. Great culture, guys provide something different. In Burhalter's case, phenomenal set pieces. You know, you're up a man and there's 10 minutes left. You have all the ball, you're getting free kicks. Put him in the game, he can create something. What's the decision making? And maybe he's your 26 guy. And I think that's what Roldan has put himself in contention to be right now. And that's, that's what it feels like to me. Okay, question on the most important moment of the game, most important moment. Gio sprinting all the way back to the top right of the defensive third to shut down the counter attack around the 83rd. Yeah, I remember watching that play. And this goes back, David, to the culture piece, right?
A
Yeah.
B
Three months ago. Gio Reina wasn't doing that. Six months ago. He wasn't doing it three months ago or six months ago, Christian Pulisic wasn't going into the game with a hurt ankle in Austin to play 10 minutes or 15 minutes. There's just, there's been a culture shift and now guys are desperate to get on the field and desperate to stay on the field, and that's the easiest. I mean, that's why that happens.
A
Yeah.
B
Yeah.
A
Well said. Let's take another question. Question about the defense being short. Lol.
B
Physically short.
A
Don't know. Don't know. We're going to find out.
B
I love Jordan's captions in here.
A
What was, what was the factor on the US not being able to deal with the ball before Uruguay's goal? Maybe missing freakish height from our center backs or. Gooch, Omar. Gooch. Omar.
B
John Brooks. Yeah.
A
Johnny Brooks. Yeah. No, on. On. It's a good question on that particular goal. It was just sloppy. It started with the mat. Matt Freeze coming out. They were a little bit disjointed. Sometimes when you get disjointed and I, I know this is a fact, and I see it all the time when you get disjointed as, as, as a defense, you lose track of people and there's a, there's a certain, there's a certain sort of moxie that, that experienced defenders have. Forget your height where when you're in a scramble or an emergency mode, you scramble and you're in emergency mode. But then, but then there's a moment to be set. And I thought the US Actually saw it out, saw the danger. It was just, it was a header. They had more numbers. There was more US Jerseys in there. Relax. Get a fist of someone's shirt, get your arm in someone's chest, and then just go head the ball. They just kind of lost track of people. So I don't think that had to do with physical height.
B
Yeah, I agree with that. All said. All right, so let's talk about, you know, now we have 20, 25 as a whole, right? We have. I think it's 11 wins, a draw and five or six losses. Six losses, maybe. Man, it's been a weird. It's. It's been a weird year, Tim, because think about if you go back to the summer and, and we have receipts on this show of what we felt and what this thing looked like, and we were as pessimistic as they come, and rightfully so.
A
True.
B
And now you end the year and you're like, wow, that was the top 15 team in the world we just played. And by the way, the World cup next year, we're not playing any of the top nine teams in our group, for sure. Right. So if you get the 20th best team and the 35th best team and the 45th best team, chances are, like, you're going to be very favored in all those games. And so now you look at it, you're like, God, this thing's trending really, really well. Really well.
A
Yeah, no, I'm. I'm pleasantly surprised by how the year ended. I think the record is good, but I think what we're seeing, the eye test, the. The performances with the ball, without the ball, the goals that we're scoring defensively, how we're. How we're playing like that, that, to me, is what's most important. It really is. Now, I, like, obviously, you want. You want the. You want your record to show that you've done pretty well, and they have with those 11 wins. But ultimately, I think it's. I think you come out. I think you come out of this now really confident with your 30 players that you're going to pick your. You're going to pick your roster from. Like, I think. I think Pochettino and his staff can go, cool. These are our best eight players. These are, you know, these are the eight that we think are going to be on the bubble. And then everybody in between is confident in fighting for positions. And I. And I. I think that that's something that happened very quickly, because, by the way, I didn't see that 60 days ago.
B
No, definitely not.
A
So.
B
And who we've beaten in the last few months matters too, right? Because early it was, you know, Haiti and Gold cup matches, and, you know, it was. It was like, okay teams, but not great. And the last three windows have been World cup opponents.
A
Right.
B
And the next, you know, March, it. The rumor is it's Portugal and Belgium. Those are real opponents. Right? So. All right, let's do our favorite game.
A
I gotta get to that Portugal game. Where's it. Where's it supposed to be?
B
Atlanta.
A
When is it? March.
B
I think it's end of March. Is the.
A
I gotta have Roberto Martinez take me to dinner or something.
B
Martinez. I want to go to dinner with him.
A
Maybe come to the. Come. Come to Atlanta.
B
Never invite me, pal. All right, let's do our favorite game. So this was year 11, after the October camp freeze. Richard's ream. IDK. I don't know.
A
I don't know. He's good. He's good.
B
Yeah, he's a good player. Jedi, Weston McKinney, Tyler Adams, Weah, Tillman, Pulisic and Baligan. Do you want to change any of that now that you've seen two more games?
A
Those are the best ten and a half players for me. Those are the best for me.
B
Yeah.
A
Jedi is the one. Jedi. Jedi plays for me if he's healthy. Right. But if he doesn't. Yeah, I'm. I'm being bullish here and sticking with it, but I do think Arson has put himself right in the shop window. Segino, Des.
B
I.
A
I think he's going to be a tactical decision because he's. He's a wing back and he's complaining of four, but they're not really playing in the four. He can play midfield clearly, apparently.
B
Right.
A
So, ah, he. Des is definitely in. In the. In the top 11, but I just don't know what. I don't know what form, what tactically they're gonna do and then I don't know it at center back. What, like. I'll let. I'll let you figure that out because I still got cc.
B
I said I'm officially taking Cameron Carter.
A
All right.
B
I was gonna say erase that just because he hasn't been called in. Right. So, of course, I think that could be a tactical thing too. Right. Depending on the game. Like, they used Joe Scally the other night as a really attacking right set. Like he was overlapping Dest at times. So they. They were just like. Basically it's two center backs and you're just going. So in a game where you're playing is New Caledonia or someone gets in somehow or whatever and. And a team you're going to dominate. Maybe you do that.
A
But.
B
So my, my 11 was freeze, CCV, Richard's ream, Arfston, Weston, McKinney, Testman, Waya, Tillman, Pulisic and Baligan. So I think. Yeah, well, assuming they're healthy, Tillman, Pulisic and Baligan stay. But I will say this, Tim. If Gio Reyna shows up in March and plays two games against Portugal and Belgium and plays well and like everything we hear is that the attitude is right and he's committed and all that, I don't know how you don't play that kid. So I'm not. I'm not putting them in yet.
A
Here's what I would say. Yeah, I don't disagree. Here's what I would say. It's gone on record. The world has receipts. I'm a Gio Reyna fan. I just think with the times running out before the first game of the World cup, right. That window shutting, I think someone has to play themselves out of the position in order for Gio to get himself into the position. I think now Gio can. I don't know if there's going to be enough opportunity. Like, Gio's not going to start tonight. Start in March, start. Like, there's going to be other players that get an opportunity. Right. And so the players ahead of him or the player ahead of him who gets the opportunity is going to have to play himself out of the position to open up a door.
B
Right now it feels like that the only guy is Tillman. Right. Because Pulisic is going to be on the field. So I don't know who else that is.
A
Okay.
B
Right. So it just. It just feels like if Tillman's not in or not in great form or whatever, it feels like Gio's the next guy.
A
Yeah. Yeah.
B
I think. I mean, it could be Luna, but I. I just. Just. There's so much quality, so it's hard to keep them off.
A
It's great.
B
Yeah, it's great. All right. So getting back to mine. So I'm gonna say I have no clue. For the third center.
A
I don't know. Who is it?
B
I don't. I don't know, dude.
A
I have no idea. No, what I was just gonna say because you. You talked about some of the overlapping runs and all that. There's a caveat here, and I'm speaking to someone who's done it at the highest level when. When the fur starts flying. Okay.
B
Yeah, you're right.
A
And we're playing. We're playing a few of the big boys. There's probably. Oh, Jesus. I was gonna say 10. There's probably eight, nine players that. I'm going. Go, go sit over there. Keep your boots unlaced. You ain't getting on a pitch today. This game's too big for you.
B
Yeah, I don't know.
A
I. I don't know how else to say it because it sounds disrespectful, but, like, some of this stuff is good and we're getting some things from the friendlies, but when the fur starts flying. Yeah, so you're only picking.
B
You know what that was for me, Tim? That was watching. Well, being there at the World cup In Qatar in 2022, the group stage games, and obviously England's a good team, whatever. But then playing Netherlands. Yeah. And I was like, oh, this is a whole different level. And, and in fairness to our team at that point, a lot of those guys were very young and inexperienced and much more experienced now. For sure. Yeah. But like when you have Cody Gakpo running at you and you've got Xavi Simons and you have like, these are like real world class players. Right. Some of these guys. And so then it's. No, I get it, I get it. And, and you're not going to have 60 of the ball and you're not going to be creating 12 chances a game and all that. So I get that. But I guess to, to finish up, I think. So I'm Gonna put Weston McKinney back in next to Tyler Adams. I do think that'll be okay. I think Arson is going to start. That's just my gut. In place of Robin. Yeah, I mean Jedi I think is the better player.
A
Yeah.
B
Not by a ton, to be honest. I mean Arston, if you put him in Fulham and he was doing the same thing, you'd be saying, oh damn, he's good. He would.
A
Yeah.
B
And so I just, I, I just don't know what's going to happen with Jedi, with Disney. So that's that. I hope he's back, but I think it's going to be Arson. And I honestly think at the rate he's going, it's not recency bias because of tonight is Freeman I think is going to find a way because he, he's just been so good. He's just been good. Everything you ask, you know players, Tim, where it's a young player and you're like, okay, but let's see if he can do it the next jump and can he do it at the next level and can he do it? And every time. He's passed every test. He has. He's passed every test.
A
You. Yeah, I don't. Yeah, he has. I just, I want to shoehorn somebody in at this, at this third center back spot. Like I, I'm actually like saying you, you remember on the left side I said like can we play Anthony Robinson at. And on the left center back, you know, you have two lefties so that doesn't really work. But then Chris Richards and Tim Reams somewhere in there now Chris Richards has kind of shown he has to play in the middle. Like can. Could Freeman not play as a right sided center back with a wing back? Maybe. I mean, maybe. But times running out. I don't know. I want to shoehorn one of these guys.
B
Then you Lose, then you lose his ability to go forward.
A
Forward.
B
He seemed like you saw what he did tonight.
A
But you. I'm just trying to get our best players on the field. That's what I'm trying to do. And I. And like. Like, can you play him at right side, center back and Sergino Des as a wing back. Right. And then you're get. Yeah, I know. You know, because. Because I'm also. Think again. This is a. You and I talked about this last camp. This is also a tactical thing because if you go into a. Into a World cup game and you've talked about the rankings and we're playing a team where you're like, dominated here, then really you only need two center backs in possession because then your third center back can release. And that'd be great if it could be Jedi Robinson or. Or Freeman.
B
Freeman in a given west or. Right, Right. Yeah.
A
Anyway.
B
Yeah, you're right. Okay. So there was other qualifying around the world today. The Scotland. I haven't watched the highlights yet, but I was falling on my phone, Tim. So they were playing Denmark at home. I think they were down at one point.
A
Yeah.
B
Anyway, they get into the 90th minute, it's two. Two. They have to win to qualify directly. Have to win. And they score in the 90 +3 and then again in the 90 +14. I can only imagine they were at home. I can only imagine what the entire country of Scotland is like.
A
Yeah.
B
I mean, Jesus, that. That hearing, like the flower of Scotland anthem at the Euros last year and thinking about next summer. What? That's. Oh, I cannot wait, by the way.
A
By the way. Yeah, the Scots travel well. America. Oh, look out. It's coming to a city.
B
They bring the party, too. All right, here's a look.
A
Hang on. Are we wearing kilts? Are we gonna wear kilts at our live show?
B
I'm not wearing a kill, dude.
A
Why not? Come on.
B
You can wear a kill if they're in the semis. Sure, I'll wear a kill. Here's a look at all the teams that have qualified. I'm not gonna name them all off. They. Jordan also said Panama five minutes ago. Just qualified. Good for them. That's awesome. Yeah, I don't know. There's not too many left now 10. That's like 40 teams or so now qualified. So I think only about 8 or so left. I think Suriname work.
A
But I think they were losing 11 nil.
B
They're losing in Guatemala. That would have been a shock.
A
Amazing. By the way, this is for another show. Well, actually, it'll be over for that December. But CONCACAF get eight teams in the World Cup.
B
They could.
A
There's something completely wrong with the world of soccer if CONCACAF gets eight teams in the world. I'm going to. I'm going to say, though, I'm going to refrain from what I'm going to say because.
B
Because it's. It's the three hosts, and then three more qualify automatic, right?
A
Yeah.
B
And then two more could go to the playoff and qualify.
A
Yes.
B
Yeah. That's how. That's. That's what it has to be. That would be insane.
A
That was so great. I'm not certain that would be great for the game of soccer. I'm gonna get a phone call from someone at Concept, but, like, I. We gotta be honest.
B
Victor's gonna call you, though.
A
I'm just saying concacaf, if it puts. Actually, if it pumps more money into concaf, that'd be great, because then I think it's great.
B
Yeah.
A
You love it.
B
Okay. So coming up. So all those teams have qualified. There's, I think, eight or nine, if I'm doing my math right there left. And that won't be for a little bit. But we are doing. We will. I will actually be at the draw. You going to the draw? You're going.
A
No, I don't think I am.
B
Oh, you're not going.
A
We're doing a live stream. But I'm not doing. I'm not.
B
We're going to do a live stream right after the draw. So after the draw, I think it's the draws. I think at noon Eastern, they do it early. So I'll be there in the room. In the room where it happened. And then at 3pm we'll be doing a live stream to break it down. Eastern time, 3pm Eastern. That's going to be so fun, dude. I cannot wait to, like, break all that down. We might be on for a few hours that day, guys. So if you want to turn it off, you can.
A
But your hair looks great. Well, now, but it also looks good on that. On that graphic.
B
Did they put a. Oh, they put hair on me. Let's go. You know, like, now that I have hair, they're doing all. All my. Whatever. Like when you do an appearance or you have cards printed or all that, it's all with me bald from before. So I'm like, dude, we got to get new graphics.
A
It's amazing. Shut up. What's the kids game where you could do, like, the. Not Mr. Potato Head? But that's actually quite funny. You can do, like, the face and then you can do, like, the hat, the hair, and then the beard and the mustache and I don't know, shout out to whatever.
B
Sure. This is what people want to hear us talk about.
A
It's fine.
B
All right. That was fun. Really great night. Really, really great night for us. Soccer. Great way to finish the year. That was an early Christmas present for all of us. Thank you all so much for listening. This was. This was really fun. We love these live streams. So we'll be back on the 5th of December, like we said, 3pm Eastern for the World cup draw. Remember, as always, to subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, follow Unfiltered Soccer. Unfiltered Soccer for bonus content. And then you can always email Jordan with more questions. I'm sure you guys had a lot more questions, so email her and we'll get to them next week.
A
Yeah. Unsurprisingly, you all crushed it. We love our unfiltered Soccer faithful. These shows are fun because it's live, it's emotional, it's reaction to the game. So thank you all for sticking with us and riding this thing and sending all your comments and questions. It was great. Thank you to our presenting sponsor, vw. Have an amazing week, Landon. Enjoy vacation. I know I will. And we'll be back next Tuesday with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.
B
See you guys. Sa.
In this special live episode, Landon Donovan and Tim Howard, both on vacation but too energized to skip the analysis, break down the USMNT’s astonishing 5-1 victory over Uruguay in Tampa. The show is filled with their signature mix of banter, deep soccer insight, and live audience questions. They discuss the match’s wild first half, breakout performances, what the result means for roster battles and USMNT culture under manager Mauricio Pochettino, and look ahead toward the 2026 World Cup buildup.
For fans seeking a thorough pulse on the USMNT’s direction, squad battles, and locker-room chemistry, this episode delivers sharp insights, real talk, and plenty of reasons to stay tuned all the way through 2026.