← Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
01:10:03
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- [00:00]
Tim Howard
What I often think about when I watch the women, how exciting they are. One, they're the best in the world. They constantly have one to two women in the conversation of world's best player every single year.
- [00:14]
Landon Donovan
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen. Volkswagen has long been a supporter of soccer in America and has proudly been a partner of U.S. soccer for the past five years.
- [00:24]
Tim Howard
LD my guy. What's really good. How was your weekend?
- [00:27]
Landon Donovan
Is that a pullover?
- [00:28]
Tim Howard
It's a cardigan.
- [00:29]
Landon Donovan
It's a cardigan.
- [00:30]
Tim Howard
Thanks for asking.
- [00:31]
Landon Donovan
Nobody knows that reference. Dumb and Dumber. If you haven't seen it. 90s. Go watch the movie.
- [00:35]
Tim Howard
If you haven't seen it, you live under.
- [00:37]
Landon Donovan
How could people not. Okay.
- [00:39]
Tim Howard
Anyway, how was we Can.
- [00:40]
Landon Donovan
I had a. I had a great weekend yesterday. Do you ever have those that you probably don't? You're so busy. You ever have those days? I woke up, I looked at the calendar on Sunday, and I had nothing to do. Literally nothing to do. So I went. What did I do? I went for a swim in the pool and I took my boy to see Snow White. We were going to see the. What's it called? Movie Minecraft, but it was sold out completely, so we went see Snow White. Really well done. It was. It was actually really fun to watch. And we went to one of those, you know, those, like, Benihana type places. Teppanyaki, whatever it's called. I don't know. That was really fun, too. The kids love that.
- [01:21]
Tim Howard
Love that. We do the fire and the shrimp.
- [01:24]
Landon Donovan
Thing, the volcano, onion volcano and all that. So.
- [01:28]
Tim Howard
Well, it's funny that, that my daughter and I saw the preview for Snow White and we looked at each other like, yeah, we'll come back. Because, because my. We. We try and go see the movie. It's not even like you recline in these big chairs. You can get a glass of wine and some popcorn. It's just like spending time with your kids is great, but they got a. I worked all weekend, so.
- [01:46]
Landon Donovan
Soccer, Soccer, soccer, soccer, soccer. You love soccer. Well, let's start. Let's start with everything you saw all weekend. So Premier League before we get there, don't forget Jordan gets mad at me. Don't forget to follow us on social media at Unfiltered Soccer. Make sure you subscribe on YouTube, follow on Apple podcasts and Spotify, and please leave a rating. Tell your friends about us. It helps everybody find the show. And then you can also email us. You guys have great questions as always@unfeedbackfiltered.
- [02:13]
Tim Howard
Soccer.Com yeah, I mean it's so this is so important. Our whole show is about engagement. And yeah, you all have been incredible. Keeping us honest, agreeing, disagreeing, being critical, praising. It's, it's all, all, all these engagements are, are amazing. So keep it up.
- [02:28]
Landon Donovan
All right, now Jordan's happy at the top of the table. The title race. So Liverpool dropped points at Fulham. Arsenal were not able to capitalize on. I think it's over anyway, Tim. But it was interesting to like, I wasn't watching in the beginning and I saw Fulham up. Were they up three nothing at 1.31?
- [02:48]
Tim Howard
No. So Liverpool scored first. Alexis McAllister bombed.
- [02:52]
Landon Donovan
That's right.
- [02:53]
Tim Howard
And then. Yeah, then it was three one by halftime.
- [02:55]
Landon Donovan
Yeah. And so I was like, oh, I better watch this. So I turned on the second half and Liverpool were poor. Huh?
- [03:01]
Tim Howard
They were, they were poor defensively. It was really interesting because I think both the pre match interviews of Slot and Van Dyke were like, it's a really tough, be a tough game. And obviously Marco Silva has Fulham playing well. And we, we laughed and joked on air because off air I said like, Fulham's one of the best places to play in the Premier League because it's.
- [03:24]
Landon Donovan
One of the easiest.
- [03:25]
Tim Howard
It's a day out. It's easy. They don't give you any stick. And then Rebecca pushed me on it and on, on air and I was like, yeah, it just, it's fun. They don't give you stick. You got like the whole back stand is the, is the away stand. It's like it's a nice day out. And Liverpool's like, oh, it's tough. And I think I don' they got in their own heads, kind of took their foot off the gas a little bit, but like two or three bad defensive like mistakes. So they paid the price.
- [03:50]
Landon Donovan
Yeah, it's hard, Tim. Over the course of a season, it's hard. Like in MLS for sure, I had times where either you were running away with the league or you were bottom of the table. I did both. Or you're in a spot where you can't go up or down in the table. And that's where it's really hard to get motivated because you just have, you feel like you have nothing to play for. Fulham have a lot to play for. Total are still knocking on the Champions.
- [04:12]
Tim Howard
League and they're good and they're good.
- [04:13]
Landon Donovan
And they're good and they could get there. Like that was a, that was a game. They probably said, if we get a point out of we can make a run at being a Champions League team. Now they get three and they're like, okay, maybe we're on the doorstep. So it's going to, it's going to be interesting to follow them.
- [04:26]
Tim Howard
Yeah. The problem, the problem with, with the title race is you know where Arsenal have messed up this year is they just, they need to keep pace like right now. So they lost.
- [04:37]
Landon Donovan
They drew.
- [04:38]
Tim Howard
Yeah, we'll get to the Everton. They drew to Everton but Liverpool lost. They needed to beat Everton, right? And then at some point, I don't know which date it is, they go head to head with Liverpool, right. They, if you, if you can go ahead and then beat, beat them, then it starts to get a little bit touchy. Not to mention all the points that, that Arsenal have dropped and it's just like they needed to keep a tighter pace because what you just said, you have to anticipate that the leaders are going to drop points somewhere. Now look, if the Arsenal of 2003 and the Invincibles go all the way, you hold your hand up. If the man cities of the world that win 14 on the bounce leading into the, into the championship Sunday, you hold your hands up. But most teams aren't that they're going to falter at some point. We've seen Liverpool do it. Knocked out a Champions League, lost a League cup final. Dropping points in the Premier League. It's there, but Arsenal aren't close enough.
- [05:29]
Landon Donovan
Yeah, it feels like it's a foregone conclusion now. And at the other end of the table, officially now officially over. Southampton relegated. Sad because it's, it is a good Premier League club and they lost a, they lost away to Tottenham 3 1, which is, you know, nothing to scoff at, but it's sad to see them go. And you think they come back up right away or.
- [05:54]
Tim Howard
No, I don't know. I don't know. I don't, I don't like, you know, I have my, I have, I have my opinions on how, how relegation should be, should be run from here on out. Because what happens in the Premier League is the product, the product gets diluted if, if all of a sudden we're having teams that can't even barely reach. Right? And so I think, I think teams, and this is for a larger conversation about relegation and parachute payments, but I think teams should have a percentage of their parachute payment taken away if they can't reach 10 points or 15 points. I mean think about this and not this teams. And we talk about how great the Premier league is now. 40, 40 points used to be the target. It's going to be half of that. Probably not, but it'd be close half.
- [06:36]
Landon Donovan
Of that, you know, 25.
- [06:38]
Tim Howard
Yeah. I mean you can, you should be able to get, you should be able to get 20 points with your eyes closed. It, it's, it's, it's not great.
- [06:44]
Landon Donovan
And you're saying because, just because they didn't, they're not spending, right? I mean they're not, they're not putting together a product that's capable, they're not spending.
- [06:51]
Tim Howard
And I think, you know, my other big and, and nobody mean. Obviously we, we, we look forward to your comments but nobody will convince me that there aren't a number of ways to win football matches. What they basically did was they came in, the owners, came into the club and created an ethos of how we're going to play. So we're going to play, we're going to do the pep style. We're going to be expansive, play in between lines, right? And we're going to hire managers that, that fit, that fit that train. That way we're going to sack one manager off because he's not getting results, but then we'll bring another manager in who plays that way. We're still don't get results. The bottom line is when you get into the Premier League, you stay in the Premier League by hook or crook, it doesn't matter. And if at a certain point you get enough years in the Premier League and you have enough money in terms of investment, you can then go buy higher quality players. What nobody is telling people in the world of football, if you want to play like Pep Guardiola, you have to have stars. You have to have stars. You cannot play like Manchester City or Barcelona or the other couple of teams in the world that play that style and have average Premier League players. You just can't do it.
- [07:54]
Landon Donovan
So what Tim, what happens if in the championship Southampton under Russell Martin are playing this way and they're, they just destroy the championship. So you're suggesting now they come up to the Premier League and they've got to change everything.
- [08:06]
Tim Howard
My suggestion is, and we see this with an Tottenham which we'll get to top world class players which you and I both were enjoy the challenge of different formations and different ideas. If on your best day your team was playing a 4, 4, 2 and all of a sudden, right, someone changed and said Landon, today we're going to play a 4, 3, 3 and you're going to be on the wing and you're going to do this is the new job for you. You'd relish that. You can put. You can take these ideas on board. What these managers do is they marry themselves to formations and then they go, this is how we're going to play no matter what. And by the way, if the stuff hits the fan and I have to change now, I look weak, so I won't change. No, you're actually saying, hey, we're going through an injury crisis a la Tottenham, or we have to match up with Manchester City today. So guess what? We're not going to play the same way. We're actually going to try and like, be a bit more stout defensively and give ourselves a chance to hang in the game. No, we'll go toe to toe with them. We'll be expansive because this is the way I play. The managers have got a responsibility to be more flexible or hire a manager that has the ability to play. You know, Nuno Espirito Santos, a perfect example of that. He has a flexibility sometimes in the back three, sometimes they're in the back four. Thomas Frank, he all. Thomas Frank always says, when we play teams that we think we can beat, we play one formation. When we play the top six, we play a different formation. He doesn't look weak. He doesn't look weak. So managers got to do a better job.
- [09:36]
Landon Donovan
I learned this coaching the. The. When you were scouting for an opponent, a team that played the same way consistently all the time, they might be really good, but they're easy to prepare for.
- [09:47]
Tim Howard
Right.
- [09:48]
Landon Donovan
The days that were hard were when you're like, I have no idea what they're going to do and they might be a bad team, but you just have no idea. And that would make it really challenging. So. Good point. All right, so on Tottenham fans organized a protest of the club's ownership, the Enoch Group and chairman Daniel Levy and said prior to the match they had a change for Tottenham march into the stadium. Seems like everything's gone wrong since they fired our national team coach. Now Pochettino is, you know, is Levy. The problem is the Enit group. The problem, it seems like, I mean, when you get. When you have this long of a period of not having success, eventually you have to point to the top, right?
- [10:28]
Tim Howard
Yep.
- [10:28]
Landon Donovan
Yeah.
- [10:29]
Tim Howard
So, you know, it's interesting, a dear friend of mine is a Tottenham season ticket to holder and he has been for many moons. And as much as much as he's critical of parts of the club, which supporters are. He also, you know, he wrote me a. We had a long chat back and forth on text, he wrote me a long text about so many of the good things that have happened at Tottenham Football Club under Daniel Levy. And so there's a balancing act, I think. I think you have to, I think you have to figure out as a supporter, like what are you willing to live with, right? Because no ownership group is perfect. So I know you get a lot of these protests and I think sometimes fans, they feel the sense of ownership with the club and I get it because they're passionate and they do invest at a certain level into the club, you know.
- [11:15]
Landon Donovan
Well, it's also, it's also an expectations, right? They expect to be a top, top club and then, you know, similar to Manchester United, which we get to in a sec. They're just not the players on the field. They're not, they're not a top, top club. So it is what, is what it is right now and they want to get back to that glory.
- [11:30]
Tim Howard
And to your point, Tottenham as a whole, from the hierarchy have said, have told the, the global public they are a big six club. We are a top club in the world. So they've set the bar. Yeah, that way.
- [11:44]
Landon Donovan
All right, so referencing United, that awful, awful Darby I put in our chat, this is woeful game. Woeful. I don't even want to dig into the game because it was just, it was garbage. But Kevin de Bruyne, before the match, announced he'll be leaving at the end of the season. A few things all immediately. This conversation, I know you guys talked about it on air. Is he, you know, someone's saying, is he the best midfielder in Premier League history? And I was like, are you crazy? Have you watched the Premier League? Like, I mean, he is a top, top, top, top player, but some of the guy. I mean, I wrote down a list. Lampard, Gerard, Cole, Schi, Ryan Giggs, still a different position. Vieira, Robert P. As Fabregas, Essien. I mean, I'm missing a ton. You guys tell me who I'm missing, but I mean, he is, he's a top player, but I, I don't put him in, in the top three, five, 10 of all time, but he is a top player.
- [12:36]
Tim Howard
It's kind of crazy because, like, on one hand, I do agree with you. I mean, like, you, you can start rattling off the best midfielders in Premier League history and, and quickly get to like 8 without even like batting an eye, right? And then you're questioning like, could he, could he even get in that team? Which speaks to the power of the Premier League. But Also, like, hang on a minute, he's won like 14 trophies or something, you know, in his time at City. Champions League, Premier League, FA cup, like, he's done it all and he's been the captain and he's been brilliant and sensational regarding assists and goals, like, and some of the spectacular variety. So it's like, wow, like, how great is the Premier League and how great is he? So those debates are always, are always really fun. I had the interesting thing about, about De Bruyne and I think Mo Salah is the only one. I think there's probably three that I can really name that have ever done this to any real extent is Kevin De Bruyne, to use English terminology, failed in England. He was at Chelsea. Wasn't good enough. Right. Went to Germany. Very few people re enter the Premier League and have this sort of career. People come and go in the Premier League and like, oh, yeah, he played on a certain team and now he's okay. But to do, to basically fail. Mo Salah was the same. Mo Salah was the same at Chelsea. Right Then he ended, I think he went to Roma and like, you couldn't have seen this coming. I played against Kevin De Bruyne at Chelsea, Wolfsburg City and with Belgium. I mean, to see the rise, you know, it's absolutely incredible. So hats off to him. I mean, what's next? Formaldehy?
- [14:10]
Landon Donovan
Importantly, he didn't say he was retiring. He said he's leaving City. So there have been a lot of rumors about him coming to San Diego fc. And I have to be honest, anytime an older, aging player comes to America, I'm skeptical. Now I have to, I have to take myself out of that mindset because there have also now been a number who have done it, and I'm just a couple off Benteke Zaha looks like he's going well at Charlotte, Messi, obviously. Suarez at Inter Miami. Right. There's a lot of guys now who have come and done a good job. And so I watched him the other day and I saw him pick up a few balls in midfield and start running. And I was like, oh, on that team, which we're going to get to, that works.
- [14:54]
Tim Howard
Right.
- [14:54]
Landon Donovan
And the question is, though, that team's going really well right now.
- [14:58]
Tim Howard
Yeah.
- [14:58]
Landon Donovan
And between Godoy and Lucatore and Sverkov, who do you take off? Who do you take out of there? Luca De la Torre or Godoy, maybe, I don't know. But who do you take out of that team to put him in? And that, that causes whole different dynamics But I have to say, I think he would make that team a playoff team 100% right away. And then really with a chance to. To compete.
- [15:22]
Tim Howard
Yeah. I mean, we're talking based on some substantiated rumors, right, that he'll go to San Diego. I. I love it. I gotta be honest. I know. 34 years old, but he's fit is a fiddle. Right? Let's start there. He's really easy on the eye. You know, you are one of those players kind of glide across the grass. He. He does that. He operates.
- [15:41]
Landon Donovan
He.
- [15:42]
Tim Howard
He's very efficient, right? He's very efficient in tidying his touch. He lets the ball do the running form a lot still, you know, Pep's weird. Pep Guardiol is weird because he didn't play a lot this season, right? And so with Pep, he falls in and out of love with players very quickly, right? Phil Foden last year had a career year. Now everyone's getting. He's crap. He's been dropped, right? So he falls in. And I love. Don't. Don't mistake the fact that Kevin De Bruyne can play 35 games in the Premier League easy, right? Like, easy this season. So I think he goes there. And the other thing is, and Miami's a perfect example of this, they've got some real talent in San Diego. That team's going well. You all of a sudden put a guy into a team that's going well. That's a different story. Like so many of these big players, because this is what we do in mls, you get this player from abroad, he's a star, and you're like, sell some seats. Be our savior. That's different because that is going to gas these players out. They're gonna be like, I ain't got time for this, bro. I passed the ball to a guy and they can't even kick the ball right. That's different. You're putting a guy. And your Galaxy teams did this a lot, really good teams. And now you're inserting a world class star. That's different and I like it.
- [16:51]
Landon Donovan
That's Robbie Keane in 2011. We were a good team. He came in in the summer and it was like we were not losing totally. And that was it. Yeah, he's got that feeling. So they absolutely pummeled the Seattle Sounders.
- [17:04]
Tim Howard
Yeah, they did.
- [17:05]
Landon Donovan
So just. I want to dig into San Diego. Um, Chicka Lozano back, had a goal and two assists. Looked really good. They have four wins from their first seven. They've only lost once. They've had an interesting early schedule. Not a lot of away games.
- [17:17]
Tim Howard
Yeah.
- [17:17]
Landon Donovan
The teams they've played, and this is my only caveat with them right now.
- [17:21]
Tim Howard
I.
- [17:22]
Landon Donovan
My, My two things are they have to stay healthy because they're not deep. But now you add de Bruyne and maybe one or two in the summer. Now you're a deep team. Now you're a real team. The second is they've played a bunch of teams this year who have been playing in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. So they've had a bunch of these midweek games. So they played lafc, they've played the Sounders, they've played Salt Lake, they've played the Galaxy. So that's at least four. I'm trying to. There might be one more where you get them after they've traveled midweek, they're traveling to San Diego. It's a good environment for San Diego. They're not ready. Bang three goals before halftime, which they did to lafc, and now they've done to the Sounders. So I want to see them as it continues through the summer, when it gets harder, when teams are healthier, have less games. But they're in a really good way, man. And they look very good.
- [18:10]
Tim Howard
They look good. What I would. What I would say is, and for all of our listeners who've never had the opportunity to cross the white line is when you're a footballer and I take on board what you're saying, like, they've had a. It's been favorable for them early on, but I think that's great because you know as well as I do, when you're not winning football games, you just think you stink. Right. Which isn't fair to you. And when you're winning football games, you think, bring on Brazil. Like, we got this. You think you're better than you are, but that's a healthy thing. Right? And so now, whether the schedule's been favorable for them or not, they think to themselves, we've only lost one game, one, four. Like, this is a brilliant start of the season, and we're a really good team. And so that's only going to give them confidence, and confidence in football is everything. I mean, what's it been like? I was watching the game. What's it been like in San Diego? Is there, like, a real vibe? Their supporter section looks great.
- [19:02]
Landon Donovan
So I think I'm in North county, which. San Diego is a massive place. Right. So I have friends who have season tickets. And ironically, they both got season tickets. No, all three of them got season tickets separately. But Ended up sitting literally next to each other, and they're all friends, so it was totally random.
- [19:19]
Tim Howard
That's strange.
- [19:20]
Landon Donovan
They said, I haven't been yet, but they said it's phenomenal. The atmosphere is phenomenal. The one thing they need to get under control is the fan behavior stuff. They had the initial chance. They had the initial chance that first week. That subsided. But after the LAFC game, there were fights in the park, like, real fights in the parking lot after the game. So they've got to get a handle on that because that's what's making headlines and it's taking away from what the team's doing on the field. So.
- [19:44]
Tim Howard
Wow.
- [19:45]
Landon Donovan
I'm confident they will, but it's been fun to watch and it's great for San Diego, for sure. Over in the Rockies, Diego Luna, they used to call him Moon Boy. I think they're going to start calling him Moon Man. Scored twice against the Galaxy, who, again, look really bad. But a good win for Salt Lake and Diego Luna, I mean, he has been the big winner. We said in January camp, there will be someone who comes out of that camp or maybe two or three, who will make a name for themselves and might find themselves on the World cup squad. And I have to say, Tim, if. If Pochettino was picking a World cup squad today, he's on it, right? Luna's on it.
- [20:19]
Tim Howard
Yeah. Yeah, he's on it. So. So I watched. I watched him, and I just think, feet are tidy, he sees a pass. We know he's tough as nails, right? So these are like, this is all praise. Love him. I do. I love him. I love what he's. What he brings. And you take him on your team all day long. My first question to you would be, where do you play him for the national team? And my second question, and this is real, and I hope, by the way, he gets an opportunity to answer it, but it's a real question for me. I often say, and you'll hear me often say, you can be really, really good. You can be a really great Premier League player and not be quite up to par for the. For the, you know, England national team. You can be a really good MLS player, like, top of the, you know, top of the picks, and not be international level. Like, that's a real thing. Even though we, as fans, we say, like, look, he's doing brilliantly. Call him the national team. So I just wonder, like, when. When the fur starts to fly in a World cup and you're talking, we're playing Italy or. Or like, Is. Is he out of his depth at that moment or can he compete?
- [21:27]
Landon Donovan
Here's my. So my answer to that is the type of player he is, I think allows him to get a spot on the team.
- [21:35]
Tim Howard
Yeah, he's got a spot.
- [21:35]
Landon Donovan
And because he's different. Right. So we were talking about guys in the past who, you know, score some goal. Taylor Tolman. Right. But Taylor wasn't different. He was really good in the box and whatever, but he wasn't like Diego brings something different. And by the way, the kid isn't scared of anything.
- [21:52]
Tim Howard
Yeah, I get that.
- [21:53]
Landon Donovan
He could give an F who he's playing against, where it is. He's not like odd by it. So that to me is why I don't think he's starting. You know, athletically, he's not nearly as good as some of the guys we have. But if you're in a game and it's 00 and you need a play for 10 minutes, you throw him on and he'll do something unpredictable and make a play. And that's where I think you. And maybe it doesn't play at all, but I think if it started today, he's on the team.
- [22:15]
Tim Howard
Fair. Fair.
- [22:16]
Landon Donovan
Miami tied at home to Toronto. We don't need to dig into that. Messi scored again. What else is new? But actually a big point for Toronto. They've been in a bad way. So really good point for them. But I think Inter Miami, right now their focus is on Champions Cup. They lost midweek at LAFC 10 and they have the return leg this week.
- [22:32]
Tim Howard
So interesting about that game is. Well, I spoke to Robin Frazier this morning and he just said, look, things are starting to come together, which, which, you know, it wasn't a good start. So it looked that way. Like that kind of checks out. The other thing. You're going to love this. I'm watching. I'm watching the intergame Inter Miami Toronto game and Messi did like one or two things that I audibly laughed. Like, I chuckled. If it was a save, I'm not sure who was watching, saw it. He's on the end line and he sold this guy a lollipop, right? And then he goes by him and smash it. Shawn Johnson saves it off his chest. But I re. I rewound it and I. This guy like spun around and like, you got the line there. Like, keep the line there.
- [23:16]
Landon Donovan
That's right.
- [23:16]
Tim Howard
Whatever. He. And it's easy for me to say defense, but I. But I. I was on my couch and I laughed. Like, I chuckled and I was like, that's so funny that he's.
- [23:24]
Landon Donovan
It's because, like, when you. That, you know, when you've been in between the lines, it's. It's a play that, like, should never happen. You should never wiggle out of there. And that's why you just go, you know what? He's. It's like Arian Robin, when he used to do that, like, he's going to his left.
- [23:37]
Tim Howard
Hello.
- [23:37]
Landon Donovan
Yeah, we played against Pre. Used to. Like, he's going to chop you. Yeah, you know it's coming. He just can't stop it.
- [23:43]
Tim Howard
It's great. But it's like he's still doing things that are making me laugh, that I'm like, that. Good for you.
- [23:48]
Landon Donovan
All right, last one. I thought this was interesting. So San Jose dc. Oh, boy. So they were commemorating the match, was commemorating the 30. 30 years of MLS. The first game ever was San Jose clash against D.C. united. Eric Wilda scored that day.
- [24:04]
Tim Howard
Yeah.
- [24:05]
Landon Donovan
Jordan, our producer, was trying to see if we could get the starting 11 for the teams. I have no absolute clue. For the San Jose. No clue. Maybe like a few for dc I could get.
- [24:15]
Tim Howard
I could get a bunch from dc.
- [24:16]
Landon Donovan
You could go ahead.
- [24:17]
Tim Howard
Yeah. No, let's do this first and then I'll do the best of 11.
- [24:21]
Landon Donovan
The game was a disaster for D.C. and it 6 1, San Jose 1 Joseph Martinez. Hat trick. I just want to. This is a time where we need to hammer D.C. a little bit because we've been hammering New England and just down the east coast there. DC is a disaster and they need to figure out. And it starts with ownership for sure, do you really care about this? And if not, take your profit and get out, because the league is too mature now to have teams like this. They're just a mess, man. There. There's few people in the stands. People don't care. The way I used to hate going to DC to play dude at RFK and like, with the Bara Brava. And it was a nightmare. And their teams were good. And now it's like they're just a shadow of themselves. And they're cheap and they don't spend money. And by the way, you know who DC could have hired at any point in the last year and a half?
- [25:18]
Tim Howard
Who's that?
- [25:19]
Landon Donovan
Bruce Arena.
- [25:21]
Tim Howard
Right.
- [25:21]
Landon Donovan
Like, he was ready to go. I mean, you talk about David Moyes going back to Everton. It's the same thing, Tim. Same thing. They had a chance to hire Bruce. They didn't want to for whatever reason, whatever your reason is, but they're Just a mess. They're just a lack of leadership. They're. They're a total mess. And they've been admired in this for years and years now. And those of us who love the league and know the league from the early days, we want to see DC get back to prominence. It's good for the league.
- [25:46]
Tim Howard
Yeah. You know, the interesting thing is you make a great point. You really do. And I think the. I go back to Southampton and hiring Russell Martin and then Ivan Urich and the mess that that gets created. It's so interesting because you always hear me say there's more than one way to win a football match. Doesn't have to be super ultra progressive and you just have. You just need winners to win. Hire a manager, give him autonomy of the squad and let them go. And that's what. That's what San Jose is doing with Bruce and like, duh. So I oftentimes think when it comes to these sports franchises who just kind of like, are they just wallow away in the muck and the bottom, it shouldn't be that hard. It's okay to have a couple, like three down years. Totally. Like, that's. You're just human. But it shouldn't be that hard to, like, figure it out, get yourself out of it. Like, you shouldn't be in this run for this long. It's just. It's not. It's not.
- [26:40]
Landon Donovan
But now in mls, Tim, and we talked about it with Southampton, you have to spend some money, right? So I know Troy Lesan, who's the coach there. He was in New Mexico. We coached against him. Fantastic guy. Very. He is a very smart guy and a good coach. He has no pieces to work with. I mean, it's like, it's so. It's just a mess. They need to figure it out and figure it out fast because it's. It's bad for the league. And to be honest, Tim, the other team in dc, The Washington Spirit, and we're going to talk about Michelle Kang and what she's doing. They're the opposite. She's investing, she's committed. She's got a superstar on her team who. People talk about Trinity, Rodman, and she's. She's doing it right. And right now that, you know, they're the advertisement for soccer in the city, not D.C. united, and they should both be. So let's take a break. When we come back, we're going to talk men's national team players back with their club teams. We're going to talk women's national team who played Brazil, and Washington Spirit owner Michelle Kang, who's doing amazing things for women's soccer in this country, right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen. Stay right there.
- [27:45]
Tim Howard
Foreign the Unfiltered Soccer Podcast is brought to you by Volkswagen, the presenting partner of U.S. soccer.
- [27:58]
Landon Donovan
Since 2019, Volkswagen has been on a mission to drive the future of the sport we all love, and VW is committed to making it more diverse, inclusive and accessible for everyone.
- [28:08]
Tim Howard
They're not just talking about it, they're out there doing it. VW's partnerships, programs and soccer clinics are unlocking opportunities for the next generation of players and fans.
- [28:17]
Landon Donovan
As a longtime friend of Volkswagen, I've seen firsthand how VW are connecting with fans and driving the sport forward. From working with them on clinics to being part of their incredible campaigns, it's clear U.S. soccer is truly powered by the people.
- [28:30]
Tim Howard
Thank you to VW for being our presenting partner. Learn more about how VW are supporting U.S. soccer@VW.com every day when we're on.
- [28:39]
Landon Donovan
The road, people around us endanger themselves and others by using their phones while driving. They think they're hiding it, but we've all seen them and know exactly who they are.
- [28:48]
Tim Howard
For instance, there's a sneak a peeker who darts their eyes between the road and their techs. There's also the got a ticketer looking upset because they just got a ticket for using their phone while driving?
- [28:59]
Landon Donovan
And what about the Fast Scroller who can't drive five minutes without updating their social feeds? Or the night lighter who has that mysterious glow illuminating the inside of their car after dark?
- [29:08]
Tim Howard
Do any of these sound familiar? If they remind you of yourself or someone you know, rethink your behavior before you find yourself becoming the fender bender, the veering off the rotor, or worst of all, the driver who killed someone.
- [29:20]
Landon Donovan
Put the phone away or pay paid for by NHTSA McDonald's meets the Minecraft.
- [29:26]
Tim Howard
Universe with one of six collectibles and your choice of a Big Mac or 10 piece McNuggets with spicy nether Flame sauce. Now available with a Minecraft movie meal at participating McDonald's for a limited time. A Minecraft movie only in theaters. Using your phone while driving could kill someone. Put the phone away or pay Paid.
- [29:46]
Landon Donovan
For by Nita yeah, you're right, Tim. You definitely don't want to be distracted while driving. And you know who's not distracted and who's focused on what they're doing right now is Michelle King. We referenced her earlier. She has announced that in addition to her $30 million contribution to U.S. soccer last year, she's now donating another 25 million. And with that, she has turned over her Kaniska innovation hub to U.S. soccer. So total investment now, Tim, $55 million to help women's soccer in this country. Incredible. And I had a conversation this morning with Tracy Messier who, who helps facilitate all this for U.S. soccer. And she gave me some, in some, some more info on it. It's really fascinating. So US Soccer has a soccer forward foundation where they're trying to innovate, try new things, see how they can improve the sport. A lot of it, for sure, around injuries with women, ACLs, things like that, and then just research on how they get better. So here's something that's incredible. So more camps, player identification, more money to develop coaches and referees. All women.
- [30:52]
Tim Howard
Yep.
- [30:52]
Landon Donovan
And so I, I tried to dig in a little. So what I found is double the national team camps for youth national teams now on the women's side. So if they had three a year, now they're going to have six camps per year per age group, which is incredible. They will now be reaching 12 times the number of players they would have in the past as far as identifying players, which gives them access now to over a hundred thousand female athletes. This is incredible. You have a daughter. I have a daughter. Amazing. They're going to double the amount of female coaches that are being able to be helped by U.S. soccer as well as female referees. And she said a big part of this, too, that helps is the new national training center that's coming to Atlanta. A lot of the camps will be there now, so you don't have to pay for the facilities, the meals, all that. That's all baked into the training center. So this is a massive, massive investment from Michelle Kang. Kudos to her. She, she, her statement was, by working together, we're ensuring that players at all level benefit from innovative insights and best practices. Women's soccer is experiencing historic growth, but there's still work to be done to break down systemic barriers and secure the investment needed for female athletes. So my, my first comment, my first thought was, incredible.
- [32:04]
Tim Howard
Yeah.
- [32:05]
Landon Donovan
My second thought was, can we get someone on the men's side to do this too? Can we get. Because the women that, last time I checked, they're still winning everything.
- [32:13]
Tim Howard
Right.
- [32:14]
Landon Donovan
And, and they need to keep pace with the rest of the world, but we need this on the men's side. But Michelle Kang is a hero and, and I'm, it's an honor to have Someone like that investing in the sport.
- [32:26]
Tim Howard
Really is hats off. Hats off to her for having the foresight, the, the investment couldn't praise her enough for what she's done and what she's doing. You know, it's going to, it's going to drive women's soccer in this country to levels that are. Were once probably thought untouchable. What I would say is, and I think this is an important point, when you talked about all the list of things that, that, you know are going to go into that investment, one of the trickier pieces for me is, yes, they're going to be more young women identified, right. But with the current model, the one. The ones who are getting identified are still the ones who are basically paying to play the game, right? So we still have a. We still have an issue with the sport not being accessible to all young boys and girls. And so I think hopefully with the soccer forward component of U.S. soccer, that they will use some of this investment to subsidize the sport for, for youth that haven't otherwise had an entry point.
- [33:33]
Landon Donovan
You know, what's happening, Tim, is we're reaching a tipping point. I feel it. And there's going to be a point where all of the greedy clubs, youth clubs who are taking money hand over fist from people, there's going to be a change and there's going to be a new opportunity and a new option for people. And once that takes off, it's going to take off massively. And we're right at that. I can just feel it. We're right at the tipping point. You and I have tons of ideas on this. I've said publicly and privately, if there's anything I'm going to put my time and effort into going forward, it's going to be that. And so if we get the right people investing like Michelle Kang with bravery to really change the system, I think there's big opportunity. So kudos to her on the field. We will now move to US LNT on uswnt and then we'll get into the men's national team. So the US Beat Brazil the other night. Speaking of Michelle Kang, her superstar Washington spirit player Trin Rodman after five minutes. What a goal. The only way I can describe this is when I watch her play, and I've said this before, when I watch her in person, she just plays differently than 90% of any player I see and 98% of the other women's players that play. And she like the way she just received the ball and just kind of like flicked it into the corner and she's fast and she's technically sound and she's. Her mentality's so good. Like she is a. She's a winner and she's a warrior. So she was phenomenal. Just so fun to see her back on the field.
- [35:11]
Tim Howard
It's fun to see her back and to our listeners, let's get her on the show. We're going to reach out to her. You all get into her, her inbox and tell her she's got to come on.
- [35:23]
Landon Donovan
I want to hammer her inbox.
- [35:25]
Tim Howard
I want to pick her brain. She is awesome. And it's interesting. I was talking to a friend of mine who's a, who's a women's college coach at a very, very high level. And he said to me, it's almost been taboo to have a nasty, hungry dog up front. It's become, how do we get these kids to play tippy tappy between lines? False9. Right. And his point to me was, why are we not, why are we not accentuating the forwards and the strikers who can just run and be tough and be nasty? Right. Cause we've gotten away from that in this country. And to the bigger point, it's like, careful what you wish for because that's what we always were. Right. And now it's a bit like, well, we want to see the nice football. Well, sometimes we can do all the buildup and that's what we do in this country. It's great. We figured out how to do all the buildup in the pieces, but you need someone at the top end and that's what Trinity Robbins doing. It's awesome to see. I mean, you know, long may continue. There's another game coming up here shortly, so looking forward to seeing what they can do.
- [36:30]
Landon Donovan
Yeah. There was an interesting clip going around when Emma Hayes was about to sub sub Avery Patterson in who got her debut in the 88th minute. She asked her, what would your 10 year. I get goosebumps because it's like what my mom used to say, what would your 10 year old self say to yourself? And Avery said, have fun. And Emma Hayes said, then do it. Congrats. So really cool. I love Emma. I think she's doing a phenomenal job.
- [36:54]
Tim Howard
Big, big, big shout out to Avery Patterson. She's awesome. Super psyched for her. It's funny because many of you don't know this about me, but like, if my coach would have asked me that, I'd have been like, have fun. I was shit scared every time I went on the field. It was a. It was just a battle. I had to go to a really dark place, and I would not have said to my manager, have fun. I don't know. That's great, Avery. Amazing. Well done.
- [37:20]
Landon Donovan
Also, good news. Us to host the 2031 Women's World Cup. It was the only viable bid, so just think of. This is crazy, man. 2026, Men's World Cup. 2028, the Olympics. 2031, the Women's World Cup. What a decade to be a soccer fan and a sports fan.
- [37:38]
Tim Howard
2025, FIFA World Cup. FIFA. Club World Cup.
- [37:41]
Landon Donovan
Oh, Club World cup this year, right?
- [37:43]
Tim Howard
Dude, there's so much soccer in the country.
- [37:45]
Landon Donovan
There's so much, man. And it was only a time, but I cannot, cannot wait for that, Tim.
- [37:51]
Tim Howard
I know.
- [37:51]
Landon Donovan
As excited as I am to take my boys next year.
- [37:54]
Tim Howard
Yeah.
- [37:56]
Landon Donovan
To go see the men, I can't. My daughter will be. She was born 28. She'll be 13. I mean, I cannot wait to take her to the women's world. And this is going to be incredible. Incredible. All right, let's move over to US. LNT on usmnt. Latest FIFA rankings were announced. They have a little more credibility than they used to, Tim. The rankings, but it's still kind of a joke. We're 16th in the world. We're not even fourth, and we're barely fourth in our region. We're 16th in the World. But Andrew asked a good question. He said if there were a panel of voters, let's just say coaches for every national team, and they were, you know, like in college football, like the AP Top 25 coaches poll, where do you think they would put the U.S. yeah.
- [38:38]
Tim Howard
I mean, that's the thing. Like, the algorithm that gets used for. For these rankings is certainly. I've never seen it.
- [38:46]
Landon Donovan
And nobody has.
- [38:47]
Tim Howard
No one. It's. It's. They locked it up. But look, I think. I think if you're. If you're arbitrarily doing it right, you'd have to look about. You'd have to go around to the top. Who you think are the top teams and think, like, could the US Beat that team? The answer is probably no to, like, the top 20 teams, at least. Right. Like top 20.
- [39:05]
Landon Donovan
Well, it's not could they beat them? It's are they the better team over 10 games? Okay, who's going to win more over 10 games? Because on any given day, you can win at soccer. Right, Right.
- [39:15]
Tim Howard
But. Right, but what I'm. What I'm saying is to the. To the point, and we mentioned this about Like Nations League. Like England's in a 10 game run. England are playing far stiffer competition than the US is playing over 10 period. 10 game period. Right. So where do you think they put them? I don't know. I think they put them just outside the top. 25.
- [39:35]
Landon Donovan
Yeah, I was going to say 25 to 30 is probably. Yeah, whatever. All right, you guys tell us, where do you think we should fall? I don't know. Not 16 though. That seems, that seems a little high. But, you know, whatever. It's all subjective anyway. Okay. A.C. milan, good news for Christian Pulisic. Back had an assist, played well. Happy to see him just get back right into it and do well. Bad news on the other hand for Eunice Musa. So had a really bad error which led to the Fantina goal and then he was subbed off right after in the 23rd minute. And I kept thinking, is he injured? Is he like, what's going on? No injury. He didn't shake the coach's hand, walked straight into the tunnel. This is. Those moments, Tim, are really bad. I never saw much of that in mls.
- [40:21]
Tim Howard
Yeah.
- [40:21]
Landon Donovan
For whatever reason, just wasn't like a thing. But I'm sure you saw it a bunch in England and it's just, it's never a good thing.
- [40:28]
Tim Howard
Yeah, I just, I feel a bit, I feel a bit for you as Musa because, like, you see that oftentimes. And I'll give a, I'll give a manager a pass if a guy is just a bad egg, right? Like if a guy's a bad egg and he's been crap in training, they've been doing the same things and you trust him to start the game and he messes up, I'll give you a pass. That's not Eunice Musa. No, that's not who he is. So like, I hate when coaches have this. Like, soccer is not a game where you're a starting pitcher. You give up a home run, next pitch, you're getting hooked. That's normal. That's not how soccer is. You can make mistakes in soccer, right. And then be allowed to continue to go. Now look, if you just, if you're just rolling one bad play after another, of course 60th minute, halftime, you're going to get hooked. But like, it's just, it's messy. It causes a problem where there isn't. Doesn't need to be one, right? Like if, you know, if you know Eunice Musa, he's not trying to make a mistake. And by the way, probably not going to make another one. So Let him ride that out and let him. Let him work through it. It just seems like you. You sub a guy right after a mistake, and you're looking for. You're looking for a problem that you don't need to actually have.
- [41:34]
Landon Donovan
Totally.
- [41:35]
Tim Howard
Yeah.
- [41:35]
Landon Donovan
And you know what happens now, Tim, is next time he gets the ball in that same situation, he's going to do something unnaturally, hook it up the field 40 yards because he's scared.
- [41:45]
Tim Howard
Yeah.
- [41:45]
Landon Donovan
Right. And that just. It solves nothing. I always had a rule when I was coaching. I never, ever criticized a technical mistake. Okay? Now, if I told a guy 15 times during the year, don't make this pass here, it's not worth it. And then he did it in a game, I'd be pissed.
- [42:01]
Tim Howard
Yeah.
- [42:02]
Landon Donovan
But if you're trying to do something and you make a mistake that we want you to do, fine. You make a mistake, get on with it. You can't criticize that. Right. And then the ultimate. I mean, you can say, hey, that was a bad decision, but the ultimate, to me, the most disrespectful thing you can do to a soccer player is pull them off before halftime.
- [42:20]
Tim Howard
Yeah.
- [42:21]
Landon Donovan
And to your point, if you didn't have another option, it's a bad person, or his effort was bad, the effort's bad. Then you say, okay, you're out of here. But as long as you're trying and you're trying to do the right thing, you make a mistake, you make a mistake. I think it's. Look, we don't have all the context, but it begs the question, what happens now? Like, is this reparable or is this irreparable? Like, is this going to be.
- [42:43]
Tim Howard
Yeah, hopefully. Hopefully they can. They can solve it. And this happens a lot at the highest level. Funny, funny story to kind of tack onto that Roberta Martin, as. Or as you would say Roberto Martinez.
- [42:54]
Landon Donovan
Or everybody would say, he.
- [42:56]
Tim Howard
When he came to the club, I'll never forget it. So David. He replaced David Moyes, and he came to the club and he started. He had. He. The way he. He had sets up. His tactics are very specific and which are great. And the first game, he hooked someone after 35 minutes, right? I don't remember. I don't remember the scene. He hooked someone after 35 minutes, and then he did it again the next game. It wasn't the same person. And we started talking in the dressroom, and we were like, yo, don't be the guy who gets hooked after 35 minutes. Because basically what he was saying was it was his way of saying, like, we're going to do it my way. Right. Which is fine.
- [43:36]
Landon Donovan
He's trying to put a stamp on it.
- [43:37]
Tim Howard
Put a stamp on it. And he's also trying to light a fire under everybody. So that probably where had the conversations of like, don't be the dude who gets hooked at 35. But I just remember thinking, oh, the first time he did it, everyone was looking around like, what it's. Yeah. As you said before, halftime is always.
- [43:51]
Landon Donovan
Like a. Oh, dude, it's brutal.
- [43:53]
Tim Howard
Although I wish. I wish I'd have got hooked before halftime on a lot of occasions.
- [43:57]
Landon Donovan
Well, I should have been for sure. But that's all right. Also, also in Italy, Juve drew 1:1 with Roma. Wes and Timothy, we have both started at wing back for you. I swear, every time I turn on fot mob Tim, when I look at the Juve game, Wes is in a different spot on the field and. And sometimes it's like f mob trying to get it their algorithm figured out.
- [44:17]
Tim Howard
Yeah.
- [44:17]
Landon Donovan
But now I'm like, I think he just plays him all over the damn place. And it's, you know, my, my opinion is his best positions in the middle of the field, but he just plays everywhere.
- [44:27]
Tim Howard
Yeah, he does.
- [44:27]
Landon Donovan
And where does too, a bit.
- [44:29]
Tim Howard
Yeah. Italian football is fun. They. If you, if you ever worked under an Italian coach or someone who has that ideology, it's so rigid. It's crazy. But it's fun. It's. They. They have a way of doing it. And so, yeah, I mean, for me, Weston in the middle of the park is. Is where he should be. I like Tim waya wide and high. You know, I guess you can get. You can achieve that in the wing back role given the team. Yeah. But we think about us team, obviously high and wide is where I, I like them.
- [44:55]
Landon Donovan
I. I'll never Forget in the 22,002 World Cup, Bruce came to me at one point. I think I started the first game as a. As a striker or right midfielder. It was one of those. And then in the second game, he said, would you be open to playing? And I was like, yes. Before the words got out of his mouth. I'm like, yes, I want to play.
- [45:13]
Tim Howard
Put me on the field.
- [45:14]
Landon Donovan
I don't care where I play. And now I see kids, young kids are like, I play the 10. And I'm like, you play where the coach puts you. Otherwise you can sit on the bench. Right. Like I play like you're as a pro, 100%. Very few people are playing the 10. So you're going to play wherever you play and just shut up and get on with it.
- [45:30]
Tim Howard
You know what? That's such a good point. For all the young players who are listening, all the parents who are listening, I've said this and I can hold my hand to God and tell you it's true. If I. If the manager at Everton, I was the goalkeeper. Everyone knows that. The manager of Everton said, I'm sitting you today, Tim. I'm starting someone else, but I need you to play left back. Obviously that would be very dumb for him to do that, but hypothetically, I'd be like, dope.
- [45:55]
Landon Donovan
I've been working on my left, coach.
- [45:57]
Tim Howard
I can ping it down the line. Like getting on the field. Who cares?
- [46:00]
Landon Donovan
That's right.
- [46:01]
Tim Howard
Who cares? Like, it's a great point. Yeah.
- [46:03]
Landon Donovan
And for those two, let's just. They just need to keep playing and it's good for them for their development just to play in different spots. Good. Moving west PSV Malik Tillman finally returned to the starting eleven over the weekend and also scored a great goal. So I think he's another one of those guys who's definitely on the roster.
- [46:19]
Tim Howard
Yes.
- [46:19]
Landon Donovan
Assuming he's healthy and then, you know, can he work his way into minutes? We'll find out in the championship. Our two strikers keep scoring. Josh Sargent and Haji Wright. Again, it's just. It is kind of frustrating with Josh Sargent and he's comfortable there, he's playing well. He knows they count on him and depend on him and he just. He scores some goals for you. Like, Jesus, what a goal.
- [46:41]
Tim Howard
Can. Can Josh and Haji, you know, bring that to the next level? Because they are. They are showing that in the championship, which is a really good level, that they can score goals consistently. So that's a good thing.
- [46:51]
Landon Donovan
I know. And that it is a good level, man. And. And we need to see that. Hopefully if they get another chance in the Gold Cup.
- [46:56]
Tim Howard
Yeah.
- [46:57]
Landon Donovan
See that. Continue. Another pause here. When we come back, we'll get into your Questions in the AT&T fan connection. And we also. The return of anything but soccer. It's been a while because we had a lot of fan questions last few weeks right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, as always, presented by our friends at Volkswagen. Stick around.
- [47:25]
Tim Howard
There's a lot in life that feels like it should be guaranteed that just isn't your team winning the championship. The weather being good on game day, your friends remembering who has the tickets. Some days you're just a goal scoring machine.
- [47:36]
Landon Donovan
Yeah. And some days the ball just passes you by. Right here on Unfiltered Soccer, we know that no matter how much you love the beautiful game, nothing on the field is guaranteed. Thankfully, AT and T is introducing a brand new guarantee, the AT and T Guarantee.
- [47:50]
Tim Howard
The AT and T guarantee means connectivity you can depend on, deals you want and service you deserve, or they'll make it right.
- [47:57]
Landon Donovan
Whether you're in the stands, watching with friends or just cheering from home, you can count on the ATT Guarantee.
- [48:03]
Tim Howard
Learn more at att.comforward/guarantee terms and conditions.
- [48:07]
Landon Donovan
Apply AT and T Connecting Changes Everything.
- [48:11]
Tim Howard
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying Big Wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying. No judgments. But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway. Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment.
- [48:34]
C
Of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms@mintmobile.com Eczema isn't always obvious, but it's real. And so is the relief from EVGLIS. After an initial dosing phase of 16 weeks, about 4 in 10 people taking EBGLIS achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.
- [49:00]
D
EBGLIS Lebricizumab LBKZ a 250mg 2ml injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies. EBGLYSS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to ebglis. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with ebglis. Before starting epglis. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection searching for real relief?
- [49:34]
C
Ask your doctor about eglis and visit ebglis.lilly.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979.
- [49:43]
Tim Howard
It's time for the Fan Connection, presented by AT&T. Every week, we invite you, the listener, to connect with us by submitting your questions. The best way to grow the game of soccer in the US Is to keep asking questions and keep talking about this sport. We all love at, AT and T. Connecting changes everything. And on uslnt, our connections with you will help grow the game. Okay, LD time for easily our favorite time of the week, the AT&T fan Connection. Without further ado. Jordan, get on in here.
- [50:13]
C
What's up, guys?
- [50:14]
Tim Howard
What's happening? Oh, I like that shirt.
- [50:16]
C
Thank you. It's from Leo.
- [50:18]
Landon Donovan
What is it? I can't read. Leal.
- [50:20]
C
Yeah. Lille Olympic Sporting Club.
- [50:23]
Tim Howard
Yeah.
- [50:24]
Landon Donovan
Oh, is that why it says losk?
- [50:26]
C
Yes, losk League.
- [50:27]
Landon Donovan
Got it. What's that?
- [50:28]
C
Yeah, I think they finished top of the league a couple years ago, right? Something like that.
- [50:32]
Landon Donovan
All right. No, that's probably psg. I'm probably so wrong.
- [50:37]
C
It's always psg.
- [50:38]
Tim Howard
What do you got?
- [50:39]
Landon Donovan
All right, go on, Jordan.
- [50:39]
Tim Howard
You got some good stuff.
- [50:40]
C
I do have some good stuff. Okay, so, Chris, via X or Twitter, depending on how you say Twitter asked. I have to ask this to be on this week's podcast. Congratulations, Chris. You were successful in making that happen. U.S. women's National Team in a friendly, had what some are saying is five times more attendance than the U.S. men's National Team semifinal in the same stadium. Thoughts on why?
- [51:03]
Landon Donovan
Great question. Well, interestingly, the US Game, women's game, was a friendly. The men's game was meaningful, which is also part. Now, 1. Did they play on Saturday?
- [51:17]
C
Yes.
- [51:18]
Landon Donovan
So a weekend is part of it. For sure. There's nuance here. It's not one easy answer, but his points. Right. I mean, to be honest, if after watching that performance from the women versus what I saw from the men, if I'm spending my money, I'm going to watch the women.
- [51:34]
Tim Howard
I am.
- [51:35]
Landon Donovan
And so that. That is part of it. And yeah, I mean, we've talked about this ad nauseam, but that is part of it for sure.
- [51:41]
Tim Howard
Yeah. I mean, I think there was a. There was some sort of. You talk about nuance, like, you know, CONCACAF being the ones to kind of hold the rights and run the event versus your soccer, but whatever. That. That's. I think that's probably unfair to the women. You know what I often think about when I watch the women and how exciting they are. Right. So you get one, they're the best in the world consistently. Right. Whether they're one or two or three, they're the best in the world. And Then you get the other side of it where. And we talked about this a lot on this podcast. They constantly have one to two women in the conversation of world's best player. Every single year it might be the same player. Every couple of years, it changes. The other part about it is their, their conveyor belt of young women coming through along with their stars is also incredibly exciting. Think about it. When they change and they play half of A, call it B team. People like us fans get excited about, like, who's this next young star, Right. And by the way, they still win that game oftentimes when the US Men will play a B team, probably don't win, or they play such a low competition that they win and it's not really even that fun. So I don't know, I just think there, there's. There's an excitement about the women currently or, or certainly for a while now that, that are. That get people excited and put butts in seats and then the proofs in the pudding. So I, I like it. I love it. I mean, hats off to them. Hopefully they'll have another really good showing.
- [53:15]
Landon Donovan
And the reality is, Jordan, people decide where they're going to spend their money, right? And they're, they're making it very clear. So it's not our. Just our opinion, it's everyone's opinion.
- [53:24]
C
I will also say I just looked. You can get tickets to the game that's happening tonight if you're listening to this on Tuesday for less than a hundred bucks. So that might also have something to do with it.
- [53:35]
Tim Howard
Great.
- [53:36]
Landon Donovan
No question.
- [53:36]
C
I have a question from Trent via email. How should we think about the relative importance of the various cup competitions? Is a Premier League title more important than a Champions League title? Does a Carabao cup or an FA cup championship equal a successful season for a team that is in the middle of the table in the Premier League, which competition is given preference?
- [53:58]
Tim Howard
Yeah, it's a, It's a great question. There's layers to it. So again, depending where you are, right, like if you're Fulham, you never win in the Premier League? Well, not. Not anytime soon. Could you win a cup? Could you win a League cup or an FA Cup? Absolutely you could. So it's not really a priority because you're probably not going to Champions League or even be in the Champions League. For so many of the Premier League teams, you're probably not going to win the league. So, like, domestic competitions start to have higher priority. If, if we're talking about. And I think the question is probably angled at the. The winners, the champions, the top teams. Right? So we're going to talk about Liverpool, man, City, whomever, Always, always, always and forever. The Premier League title is the holy grail. Okay?
- [54:40]
Landon Donovan
More than. More than Champions League, more than Champions League.
- [54:42]
Tim Howard
And I'll give you an example. In the city of Liverpool, they win European comp. They've won. They've been super successful in European competitions. You know, also mainly Champions League. When Sir Alex Ferguson took the mighty Manchester United and overtook Liverpool for league titles, the only thing that Liverpool fans wanted was a league title. That's all they wanted. Right. They won the Champions League in there and they loved it and they celebrated and they thought, this is really freaking good. But what they really wanted was the Premier League. So always and forever league title trumps that again. If you're Manchester City as an example.
- [55:17]
Landon Donovan
I was going to say, let me push back because City, they've won zillion leagues. So now is it the Champions League?
- [55:22]
Tim Howard
Yeah, so. So that's, that's, that's where I was going next. Right. So City decide the Premier League, that ain't really hard to win. We'll just win that every year. That then became their chase in this Champions League that they can't seem to freaking win. So that was. But, but Landon, that example is. There's only like one team.
- [55:38]
Landon Donovan
You know, I know it's the anomaly.
- [55:40]
Tim Howard
Maybe Byron is that way. Maybe.
- [55:42]
Landon Donovan
Right, right.
- [55:43]
Tim Howard
Barcelona, Real Madrid are that way. And maybe man, psg. Psg. But everybody else, right. You know, the rest of the, you know, the other 99%1 league title. But yeah, really good question.
- [55:55]
Landon Donovan
Great question.
- [55:56]
C
We have another Premier League question here. This is from Justin via email. When managerial jobs open up in the Premier League, why is there never any conversation about promotion from within like there is in some American sports when the head coach leaves?
- [56:10]
Landon Donovan
Great question. And that's very much a thing of American sports in general, certainly in mls. Yeah, I have. I have an opinion on this. And this is just a general opinion about coaching in general and in life. The difference between being an assistant coach and a head coach is massive. And it's not that one's easier, harder, whatever. They're just totally different skill sets. If you are a ticket salesperson and you're amazing at selling tickets, that doesn't necessarily mean you should get promoted. I'm using air quotes to becoming the manager of ticket sales who's now managing personalities under them. That's a whole different skill set than selling tickets. So my opinion is it's a weird way to hire people, it doesn't mean it's not successful. Sometimes I just think you'd be much better off hiring someone who's been a head coach, whether in MLS or in us. I'm using USL example, or in USL or somewhere else around the world than hiring an assistant coach. Now it doesn't mean that assistant won't be good. It's just a totally different skillset.
- [57:17]
Tim Howard
The stakes, when you have promotion, relegation, the stakes become so much higher if you're, if you're a Major League baseball team and I can name 15 of them, but I won't. There's some throwaway seasons now. They'll tell you there's not right. But you can hire the guy who was a third base coach who's like, he's, he's hot, he's ready, he's ready to roll. He's ready for his, for his time. In the, in the managerial dugout, they promote the third base coach to the, to the manager. But by the way, they might be out of the, they might be 70 games out by the all Star break, right? So then they go, well, we'll give this guy an opportunity to see how he manages players. And so you see more of that in the Premier League and in most of the European leagues. Promotion, relegation, the threat of that is so high that you couldn't possibly give the job to a guy. You don't know what he's capable of. Like Landon said, I don't know if this guy can manage personalities because by the way, everybody loves you when you're an assistant coach.
- [58:14]
Landon Donovan
Exactly.
- [58:15]
Tim Howard
You're their best friend. You're not managing anything. Right. It becomes much harder when you're the head coach. And so I think the threat of, of relegation is something that teams owners aren't even, aren't even prepared to. You have to get a, hopefully a tried and tested manager through the door.
- [58:35]
C
Okay, my next question is directed at Tim Howard specifically.
- [58:39]
Landon Donovan
Let's go.
- [58:40]
Tim Howard
Go.
- [58:41]
C
This comes from Chris via YouTube. All right, Tim, man, I'm so baffled by your thoughts on Tarkovsky's challenge into McAllister not being a red. I mean, why be coy? I know you are all Everton in your blood, but honestly, dude, it was a straight reckless. Oh, it was straight reckless. Even Mike Dean was emphatic that it was a straight red. Wow.
- [59:04]
Tim Howard
Yeah, Chris, dude, bro, man, whatever you said, I, I get it. But I, I think you got to be careful when you speak to me about being biased because I'm on the, I'm on television every week Every weekend. And if you look at my comments about Liverpool and about Everton over the last five years, I think you'll see how wrong you are.
- [59:28]
Landon Donovan
You got receipts?
- [59:30]
Tim Howard
Yeah, I always have receipts. So Chris, you gotta keep up Walmart receipt. So yeah, look, I, I, I got, if I, if you think I got it wrong and the referee and Var got it wrong and that, that, yeah, that's fine. Like I, I, I've said what I said about the red card and, and I thought I, you obviously listened to the pod, which we love so we appreciate that. I riffed on it and I, and I went in depth about examples of a similar tackle and what I thought about it do with being a blue or a red. That's absurd. So yeah, then we put that to bed. I, I said, I said what I, what I thought about it. Again, it's one of those plays which again we see not every weekend but really often where everybody's torn. The Internet's torn, referee Var is torn, former officials and former players are torn. And on another given day a call can go the other way. So that's not like outrageously egregious what I said.
- [60:26]
Landon Donovan
We also played in a time, Chris, where I talked, Tim and I talked about this on Friday. As long as you got the ball, you could basically do anything, right? I mean within reason. But that it, especially during a Darby like that, that was just go back and watch games and from the 80s 90s of the Merseyside Derby that was a play on like there was nothing and that's just, and so it's not that we're not evolved and we're dinosaurs and all that. It's just in those games, Tim's been in them and it's like, okay, get on with it next. And by the way, Liverpool's going to do the same thing and you get on with it. So. But it was a red card by the way.
- [61:04]
C
Okay, last one. And maybe Tim, you'll like this one better. Tim, which Scotsman scared you more? Sir Alex Ferguson or David Moyes? And which one did you understand better when they spoke Joke?
- [61:18]
Tim Howard
Neither. I don't understand either of them because when, when you have a really strong Glaswegian accent, the name Tim sounds like Tom? Because I say all right, Tom and see, I thought, I thought Fergie was calling me Tom for a long time.
- [61:32]
Landon Donovan
He didn't know your name.
- [61:34]
Tim Howard
Which he might not have known my name, but no David Moyes because I was such a young pup at Manchester United and I was brought in in such A big team and you know, from day, so. So he was silent. Ferguson. Scary. He's scary as hell. I've got amazing stories about, about what scared me about him. But ultimately, when David Moyes, I wasn't, I wasn't counted on at Everton. I was, I was just one of many, right? And I was down. I was low on a totem pole when I went to Everton. I sat down with David Moyes the first day in a hotel in Bolton and, and this was before the 2006 World cup when I was, when he was wanting me to bring me to Everton and the trust that he gave me and my desire to never let him down. He became a father figure to me. He became. I feared him because I feared letting him down. And that's, that's way more powerful than, than actually being afraid of someone.
- [62:30]
C
When your parents say, I'm so disappointed.
- [62:32]
Landon Donovan
In you, and you're like, oh, no. But also, yeah, I feel the same way because the people I feared the most were the people you didn't want to let down. Not they didn't scare you per se, but you were like, I cannot let this guy down. Yeah, he has done so much for me. Literally the first film session, of course you don't remember this, Tim, when I got to retain at Finch Farm, we're sitting there watching film on, I think Arsenal because we played away that week and Moyes kept saying and embody, embody do this and anybody going to do this and anybody going to do that. And I was looking around going, what the is he talking about? And then I realized he was saying anybody.
- [63:11]
Tim Howard
Yeah.
- [63:11]
Landon Donovan
And so like for the whole 30 minutes I had no clue what he's talking because he threw that word in every 30 seconds.
- [63:17]
Tim Howard
The Glaswegian accent.
- [63:18]
Landon Donovan
This is going to be interesting, Emily.
- [63:20]
Tim Howard
Well, and, and then, you know, and everyone shall remain nameless. But my first season at Everton to kind of put a bow on this, there was, there was a player who, after the game, you know, everybody run like, we won the game. Everyone's buzzing, manager comes in, gives us chat, and then it goes out. Guys get in the shower and then the guys who didn't play have to go on the pitch and run. You see it every weekend. They got to run, they got to get their stats up, got their running stats up to, you know, with the guys who played in the game. So we had this one Joey on the team and he said, I ain't gonna run, I'm not running. And the fitness coach is pleading with them. So finally the Boys go out to run. And obviously the fitness coach is like gaffer, listen, we're going to. We got to go do our fitness. But so and so is not running. Well. We won 4 nil. Everyone was jovial until Moisey came back in the dress room and he got to grips with this fella and she starts pinning him up against the wall. He says, you're not going to do what you're not. This guy was talking big before the guy forgot him. Anyway, got his clothes and left and said he's going to call the police and whatever. Anyway, job on, mate.
- [64:26]
Landon Donovan
That's great.
- [64:27]
Tim Howard
So I was scared of Moisey for sure.
- [64:30]
C
I will personally take with me from this experience. Having to write the transcript of the David Moyes interview for the closed captions took me hours, hours and hours to do. All right, thanks, guys.
- [64:42]
Tim Howard
That was Jordan.
- [64:43]
Landon Donovan
Thanks, J. All right, Tim. Been a while. But back to anything but soccer. There was really only one after this weekend. We were waiting on ov. Alexander Ovechkin to score his record breaking goal to break Wayne Gretzky's incredible, incredible record. Wayne Gretzky has so many. Yeah, go Google Wayne Gretzky and see how many records that guy has. He was the absolute goat. But congrats to Ovechkin. What stood out to me, Tim, is that his teammates were just as happy as he was. And that's a guy one. He's been at the same place forever. So he is. He's so ingrained in that club and I love that. That's so rare in modern sports. But his teammates loved it too. And I just, just. I don't have much to say except congrats.
- [65:28]
Tim Howard
Yeah.
- [65:28]
Landon Donovan
To break a Gretzky record is a really big deal.
- [65:32]
Tim Howard
Yeah. And Gretzky was there, right? Am I, am I. Am I correct in saying that? I think he.
- [65:35]
Landon Donovan
I think I saw him. I don't know if it was that.
- [65:37]
Tim Howard
Day or I know I saw the day before. Look, I mean, Ovechkin has been incredible. I mean, his name's in hip hop songs, for crying out loud. Like, he's. He's incredible. I often think about these go. These records, these goal records. And like, yes, you have to be talented, but you have to have longevity. You can't, you can't. You can't have one or the other. You have to have both. And I think the longevity piece for me, like, to be that good and that consistently good over, over. Over so many years, like more than a decade, it just, it blows my mind. You know, your hat goes off to him and you're just kind of speechless. Like, there's not many of these guys out there. And to break the record of, you know, not only does Gretzky have the record, Gretzky is the greatest ever, right? So, like, that, that to me was pretty fun. And yeah, I think that's the cool thing about team sports, man. Like, you feel it when you're. When one of your teammates breaks a record. Like, you feel like you were a part of it, you know? So, yeah, that was fun to see.
- [66:31]
Landon Donovan
Your point's so good about the longevity piece because for really talented, high quality players, getting to the top ends up being the easy part. And staying there long time or right near the top for a long time are the people I admire the most. Those are the people. I'm like watching Marta still go in Orlando, right? I'm like, she's been incredible forever and she just keeps going. And you just, you have so much respect for people like that. So congrats to him. What a stud, man. And hopefully he keeps playing. I mean, he can obviously can still play. And hockey is a sport where, you know, for 45 second bout, you're out there on the ice, but you don't, you know, you can play into your 40s, no problem.
- [67:11]
Tim Howard
So he will for sure.
- [67:12]
Landon Donovan
Hopefully it keeps going. All right, another great show. Thanks to all of you for being with us today. Remember to subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your podcast. Follow across all social media platforms at Unfiltered Soccer for lots more bonus content.
- [67:27]
Tim Howard
Yeah. Thanks everyone. El, that was fun, man. Thanks to our presenting sponsor, VW and our Fan Connection sponsor at&T. Have an amazing week. Have fun, do something you love. And we'll be back with you next Tuesday for another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.