Transcript of Messi & Miami Out, Bruce Arena In, MLS Playoff Recap, USMNT vs Jamaica Preview

Hey, guys, and welcome to today's show. We're talking inter-Miami's stunning elimination from the MLS Cup playoffs, the insane fact that Manchester City has four losses in a row, and what staffing change I absolutely hate. It's all coming up on unfiltered soccer.

Welcome in, everybody, to unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen. Ld, we got the dream team back together after all these years. How about that?

Timmy, what's up, man? Good to be with you. Excited for this. First of all, love the picture behind you. Well done there. Right on brand.

Showing you some love, and you're showing me some love.

Celebrating. Is that Algeria? Of course it is. Okay. Of course I'm making sure. All right. You're on brand. Look, we got together a few weeks back and said there's a lot of podcasts, soccer podcasts. We have a lot to say, and we're both at a point in our lives where we can be unfiltered. We can talk about the game honestly, openly, with insight that I don't think anyone else in our country can do or is willing to do. And so we're going to have fun with this. We want to be... It's in the title. We want to be unfiltered, but we want this to be about you guys, too. We want you to send comments, questions. Let's make this conversational, and we want to hear what you guys want to hear from.

Yeah, listen, this is going to be the hard-hitting podcast, we hope. From our standpoint, there's nothing we haven't seen in this game, both here and abroad. So love the interaction that we have, trying to create that community with you, all the listeners, with each other. But most importantly, it's about the listeners. It's about being unfiltered. Too many people today I think, LD, dance around issues. That's not something that you or I have really ever done. So make sure you follow us on social media, unfilteredsocker. Subscribe to this show on YouTube. Make sure you follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. If you like what we're doing, which we're pretty sure you will, even if you hate it, send us your question.

They might hate it. They might.

Which is okay, by the way. At least send us your comments, questions, concerns. You can email us at feedback@ unfilteredsocker. Com, and we're going to jump right into this episode with MLS. The playoffs are heating up. There's been some incredible results, some great series. Lafc beat Vancouver, NYCFC upset Cincinnati. I was surprised at that one. Orlando City just advanced past Charlotte. But the one everyone's talking about, LD, the one everyone's talking about is the one with Lionel Messi and Enter Miami going down in three games to Atlanta United. Wow.

Yeah. First of all, from MLS's standpoint, they have to be ecstatic about the way the playoff format has gone. But I'm guessing there were a lot of tissues and tears cried at the league offices after Messi went out the other night. I think the only person who was more upset than Messi was Don Garber, probably. I can imagine. It's sad for the league to see him go, but Atlanta deserved it. Our boy Brad Guzon was the hero. I think he was the star of the show. Do you see the video of him and Arthur Blink after Arthur Blank, the Atlanta United owner? He have Home Depot stardom. They're hugging together, drinking beers together. Brad's pumping him on the back and saying, Great job, Artie.

No, it's so good. Anybody who's been pored on the back by Brad Design knows that's not a nice feeling.

It's going to leave a mark.

But listen, that series had everything. It's always fun, I guess, if you're neutral to watch the Underdog win. It's such an interesting concept when you look at Messi and what they've done, supporters Shield, chasing the points total, all-time points total, them winning without Messi at times during the season. I mean, it's been one heck of a sideshow, but unfortunately, they lost, and that happens.

Atlanta, first of all, Atlanta deserved it. If you would do it over three games, you deserve it. This is not some fluke, right? The somewhat controversial, I don't know how you feel, but somewhat controversial play, Thomas Avilaes for Inter Miami. Miami had just tied the game, messy with a header to tie the game. He's trying to will his team back, so it's 2-2. Atlanta are attacking, and Avilés, Inter Miami player goes down in his own penalty area while the play is developing. And seemingly, he's either cramping or injured. Somebody goes down in the Inter Miami players, some of them stop playing. And Atlanta United have the ball and serve it into the box and great header score to make it three, two and end up winning the game. And Miami were aggrieved by it. But you don't have to kick the ball out. The rules say you do not have to kick. It's the referee's discretion, player's discretion. You don't have to kick it out.

Look, you'll never convince me otherwise. If there's a head injury and it's an apparent head injury, the referee has an obligation to stop the game. We all know that. The fact of the matter is, and you and I have been on both sides of this, you don't have to kick the ball out. If a player is injured, the rule states you do not have to kick the ball. It's at the discretion of the team in possession. By the way, keep playing. If you want to stop the game because you're so worried about your player being down, go hack somebody down. Go take a foul, take a yellow card, whatever the case But don't stop playing and then pretend you're going to argue. That's not even in question. So for me, that's null and void. Atlanta won this fair and square. I thought it was great. It had everything had spice. I mean, even so much so that Miami players after the game didn't want to shake hands For me, that's brilliant. I think it's great. Good for them.

Well, I mean, I don't like that. I think, oh, just shake their hand, right? Yeah. I can say congratulations. For sure. I mean, I saw Messi walked right off the field, and maybe in the locker room, they came out and said congrats and whatever, but they were... And by the way, your fans are out there, too, right? So at least congratulate them on a great season and thank them for all the support they've had. Just getting back to this by going down in the box thing. I was coaching in NWSL the last part of this year, and I saw this in almost every NWSL game, literally like clockwork, 10, 15, 20 minutes into the game, goalkeeper's on the ground saying she's injured, ref calls out the trainer, Every player comes over to the sideline and the coaches change everything about their whole game plan that they had. My first comment is, well, if your game plan is always changing that much, what are you about? Do you have any identity? Are you just always changing to the opponent? Second, it just It came such a joke. Everybody knows what's going on. It's just such a joke.

What I'm waiting to happen, and I bet you this does happen, because anytime there's new rules put into anywhere in life, people take advantage of it. Any walk of life, there's a new rule, people take advantage of it. There's a new tax code put in, everybody's taking advantage of it. The caveat is if you go down with a head injury in your own penalty area, the referee has to blow the whistle, stop the play. And guess what happens after the play resumes? It goes to the team that was defending. So if Carlos Bocanegra is defending your penalty area, goes down with a head injury, the ref blows the whistle. The other team could be a breakaway. Totally. Blows the whistle, you get the ball back. You, as the defending team, get the ball back. Be more clever. Yeah. I'm wondering if he had gone down with a head injury, the ref might have blown it, and they would have got the ball. They would have stopped the attack. At some point, I'm waiting for this because it's becoming a bit of a joke. So I'm waiting for it to happen.

I tend to agree with that. Look, when I talk about sportsmanship aspect, I do a little bit of shithausry. When you can get under the skin of another team. Should they have shaken hands? Of course. I even hated myself when I walked off the field sometimes because I was angry. It's good to shake hands and give people their flowers. Listen, we know you all have comments and opinions on Messi. Send them to us at unfilteredsocker. We'd love to hear what you have to say. Some tasty matchups in the second round. There's going to be some single elimination games. You've got the Hudson River derby, New York City FC Red Bull, you got LAFC versus the Sounders, you've got the Dirty South derby, which you named it that. Dirty South. Orlando City and Atlanta, and then LA Galaxy, Minnesota. So I mean, these are going to be some spicy, tasty matchups. Really looking forward to them.

Yeah, it's going to be fun. It's going to be a good few weeks, few games coming up as Ricky Puj said for the Galaxy, I think he said, We have 22 days in between games. So can you please be better? And I think he and the Galaxy were happy with the format. One who was not happy with the format was Jordi Alba from Miami. He said, It's clear to me that it's been done this way for years, but if you ask me, and if it were up to me, I'd have the champion of the conference against the champion of the other to make it as fair as possible. I don't know where he came up with that. I do repeat, congrats to the rival team. He wouldn't even say their name. Probably doesn't even know their name. I think they competed very well against us. They knew their weapons. The goalkeeper was spectacular and good. I think that is clearly what marked the difference. But he's not happy with this form. You know about the format going in. Don't complain Bro, this feels like a welcome to America moment.

We love a playoff. We love and upset. I get it. Most people aren't on the fence. They either love the single table or they love the playoff. I get it. I played in both systems. In America, we love a playoff. We love an underdog, and that's just how things are scripted for us. There's always next year for Jordi Alba and Inter Miami, but this is the format, and this is how you got to do it.

Well, also coming Coming next year, good friend of ours, back on the sidelines. Bruce Arena named MLS Coach and General Manager of the San Jose Earthquake. I just want to say real quick, the important part there is that he's the general manager. Correct. The way they They've built that roster over the last five years or so. It's been a total disaster. It's just a total mess. Bruce has a lot of house cleaning to do. I remember he would always say this when he first came to the Galaxy in '09. From '09 then to 2010 or maybe '08 to 2009. I think he only kept four players on the roster, and he just did a full house cleaning.

I would expect him to do the same thing. I mean, San Jose was the worst team in MLS in 2024. And again, he has the autonomy from having the role of GM. And what I would say is you look at people like Bruce Arena, Bob Bradley is another name, Greg Berhalter. These are guys in the game who are going to have those titles. They're going to go into an interview and look at the club holistically and say, I have to have more than just being the coach because I have ideas, I have thoughts, and they have the power to do it. So hats off to Bruce.

Well, he wouldn't have done it otherwise. I mean, everywhere he's gone, he's done that, and that's how he's successful. So just to address real quick what happened in New England, because I think it's important for people to hear. So he went to New England, did a great job turning around the club. To some of his backroom staff made some, what he would agree, are inappropriate comments. Those comments were, in my opinion, disgustingly then used against him, as opposed to just saying, Hey, Bruce, please don't say that. He has said that he made mistakes. He was suspended by the league, and only in December was he able to be reinstated after doing a lot of work and working on themselves and being contrite? Those of us who know Bruce, and I've known him since I was 16, he's like a father to me. He is a very good human being who says a lot of bad things at times. We're in 2024 now, Tim. There's things you cannot say and that are not appropriate. He's aware of that, and I'm sure he will change for the better for it. But this is not a bad human being.

There are a lot of people in MLS who probably shouldn't be there, but he is not one of them. I agree with you.

Look, we are in a new day and age, and it's not just about telling someone to not say it. It's about helping to educate them and they can better themselves. Bruce Serena has done that. He's been very apologetic, and ultimately, America is the land of second chances. We know that from top to bottom. And so I'm glad he's getting a second chance that he hasn't been completely ostracized because the league is going to be a better league with a coach like Bruce Serena in it. So happy to see him back.

Yeah, agreed. And one guy we also hope to see back at some point is Jim Kerton, who was let go by the Philadelphia Union. I hate this. I cannot tell you how much I hate this. Sports are about expectations. Philadelphia Philadelphia Union, when Jim Kerton took over, were an afterthought. Nobody thought about them. They were an exciting new club, whatever, but nobody thought about them in the same way. Since he's been there, this is the first time this year, they've missed the playoff since 2017. Two-time MLS Coach of the Year. They won the Supporters Shield in 2020. They lost the MLS Cup final to LAFC. Three times, they've been the Open Cup runner up. Twice, they've been to the semis of the ConcaCaf Champions Cup. I mean, what else can this guy do? And by the way, according to capology. Com, they had the second lowest payroll of any team in MLS this year. And now you're firing him because he has one bad year. And look, we don't have all the context of what's going on behind the scenes, except for him. But he's a great human being. Jim's a great Everybody loves him.

And this is just a joke. To me, it's just a joke.

I think the good news is that somebody soon is going to get a very, very good coach. And look, the expectations side, and you'll never convince me otherwise, so don't try, even though you can send us your comments. Winning is everything to me. If you have a guy who's a winner and you happen to have a down year, so be it. Forget all the outside vitral and all the noise. You've got a really good to great in this league in the MLS head coach. You've had one bad season. Certainly, his resume and his history dictates that he gets another chance. And what he's done on a low budget at a club sells young players. The fact that he's had that success, it's difficult. It's difficult to see that and for him to be let go. But as I said, someone is going to get a very, very good head coach.

Tim, the grass is very rarely greener, and people just don't understand this in sports. What else could he possibly have done with that team, given the roster he had every year? Imagine they spent Inter Miami or the Galaxy or Sounders or whoever, LAFC. They don't. They get to this point. It's a miracle. It's literally a miracle that they do as well as they do. Now, just be careful what you wish for, man, because it's going to be hard to find Jim curtain again.

Yeah, somewhat short-sighted.

Anyway, let's take a break. We will be back on the other side talking a lot of US men's national team. We'll get to the Premier League this weekend as well. Lots to chat about. We'll be right back.

This is a segment we like to call US LNT on US MNT. It is international break. International break. We all love an international break. It's the best time. Best time of year. Us will face Jamaica in the quarterfinals of Conquercaft Nations League. Big game for you. Talk to me. What do you think? No.

Where have we gotten where people are worried/ talking a lot about a quarter final against Jamaica? I mean, this should be But this should not be a contest, right? So I understand all of the challenges with travel and are the players fully, fully up for it, whatever. But it's Jamaica, man. We beat Panama a few weeks ago and everyone was going crazy, and then we go to Mexico and look terrible. So this is a two-leg series that we need to win, and we need to win convincingly and move on. It's simple as that.

I mean, listen, without being disrespectful, it should be a lap, right? In terms From a talent standpoint, the US should take care of business. Hopefully, I think the ideal situation would be take care of business in the first leg, right? And then be able to chop and change a little bit for Pochetino to see some players. We'll see what happens. I tend to think like you, the US should take care of business, and it shouldn't be that big of a deal. I think the bigger question is the roster and the audit of the roster and how we feel about it. Of course, Pochetino is looking at new faces. You have any concerns in any particular areas with this roster?

Well, yeah, I do. I'm just going to go through positionally, and I want to hear your thoughts, too. My bigger thing is we expect now probably unrealistically what this roster should look like and how this team should play. When I just objectively, and obviously I'm a huge, as you are, national team fan, men's and women's. If you just objectively look at the roster, where our guys play and what impact they're having, you have to then be realistic about where this team is. I've said this before, but when you look at France's roster or Brazil's roster or Spain's roster, they have world-class players all over the field. That doesn't mean we can't compete with these teams. It doesn't mean we can't compete with them. But let's not go into these games saying we should be on par with these. No, we shouldn't. I mean, we went to Mexico and got our ass kicked three weeks ago. That's the reality of where the roster is. Now, the best players make us way better. I spoke to someone inside US Soccer a couple of days ago who's very, very close to that team. He said, look, when our best players are on the field, we can compete.

When they're not, we're just not that good. I'll just run through it. I'm going to hear your thoughts on this for sure. Goalkeeping, to me, is a massive concern. We don't have anybody playing at a high level consistently right now that I would say has absolutely just said, This is my spot. Wide with Sergino and Jeti, solid, but centrally, there are a lot of question marks. There are. They're just question marks. Our midfield is, I think, strongest part of our team. Outside of Christian in the attack, Tim Weia now playing well. Hopefully that continues. As always, number nine is going to be a problem, depending on where it flows at in any given time. And then our depth is just a huge, huge problem. The depth is a huge problem.

I echo some of those thoughts. The fact of the matter is, one of my biggest gripes going into the 2022 World Cup was, I just don't see our best players in the lead-up, and the lead-up can be a year. We didn't get our best players on the field consistently enough together. Then at the World Cup, they were together, but they hadn't been in the trenches. They hadn't been through the difficult moments together. That's where you build trust. That's where you build team camaraderie. That's where you build this ability to get through big moments. We go back a few weeks to Mexico, and Christian Poliz, the captain, left to go home. That's fine. That's fine. People have an opinion on it. But going down to Mexico with your full squad in a game that's going to be tough, away from home, and nasty builds character. You can lean on that in two years time. Every time you miss an opportunity like that, it's tough.

Well, don't forget, we don't have qualifying. Correct. These other tournaments are great and Gold Cups great. But qualifying is when you're really up against the wall. Definitely. You know it. I'm getting goosebumps talking about it. There's games where you go in and you're like, If we lose, we're not going to the World Cup. And those guys lived it in 2018. We're not going to the World Cup. And you have to feel that. So when you go to Mexico, it's like, okay, it's a friendly whatever. But you're in that stadium, you're like, shit, this is real.

What you don't get, and I worry about not having to qualify. You and I have been on that bus down that long, desolate road heading to San Pedro Sula in Honduras, and it's two hours before a kickoff. And there's people, streams of people walking down a country road, and you pull into the stadium, and it is packed. People are dancing music. There's not a seat to be had, and you're like, Oh, we're in something right now. And you don't get that when you don't have qualifying, simply put. So, yeah, look, I worry about the makeup of the team. I Again, a lot of our goalkeepers currently aren't getting top minutes. I think a couple of them are getting overlooked. Defensively, under Greg Brohl, these defenders were asked to play expansive, and probably, to me, it seemed like square pegs and round holes. Is there enough to have a solid back four that don't go too far, that defend? Yeah, maybe. The midfield for me is where, as you mentioned, our best players are, simply put. If we can get a collection of them together, you look at Gioreina, you look at Moussa.

Tyler's back playing.

Tyler's back, which is great that Tyler is back fit. Can he stay fit? That's going to be where games are won and lost for us. Then up front, big question mark. We haven't had a number nine in a long time, a reliable number nine like a Josie Altador that's going to get you goals on a regular basis. And don't forget, the last generation had Josie Altador who was the goal getter, but they We also had you and Clint Dempsey, who are US soccer's leading goal scores. So when the number nine couldn't carry the weight, you guys jumped in. So we don't necessarily have that with this team. It's going to have to happen fast.

Yeah. Well, what happens, Tim, the reason why that's valuable, having people adding in goals and putting fear in players is you cannot then just focus on Christian. If Weston is getting forward and consistently scoring, if Tim way is consistently scoring, flows, playing well, now you go, okay, well, you want to hone in on Christian and try to take him out? Fine. Other people will score. And that everybody else was a benefit. I was a beneficiary of Clint being on the field. Correct. When Clint and Josie were on the field, I could sometimes float and hide and show up in the right spot, and they'd forgotten about me. Bang, it's in the net. Right now, we don't have enough of that. So hopefully, Tim Weia keeps going and we can find that. I'd be curious from our listeners, leave us a comment on unfiltered soccer YouTube page. Let us know what you think is the best team right now. Walk with us what we just talked through. Are you concerned? Feel good about all the different facets, goalkeeping, defending, or midfielder, our attack and our depth. We'll find out on the coach over time, but there's not a whole lot Pochettino can do in a short period of time.

It's going to be an interesting break. I hope, I hope, Tim. I could be wrong. Hope we skate through it easily. I also similarly hope everyone doesn't go crazy if we do and say we're the best team in the world because we We still have a long way to go, but this is now where it really starts to matter for Martina.

It does matter. And by the way, if we don't skate through this, not saying the games are hard, then we've got a whole lot more to dig into on the next few episodes of this podcast because there's a problem if we don't, simply put.

All right, we'll take a break when we come back. Some Premier League. We'll get into some other stuff, some mailbag questions from you guys, and some Anything But Soccer, one of our favorite segments.

We'll be right Okay, LD, let's get into some Premier League action. Man City fans don't hate me or do. I've dealt with it before. But what is... They lost... City lost 2-1 to Brighton on the weekend, making it the fourth straight loss for Manchester City, all competitions. What's going on there? Talk to me.

Sports is all about expectations, right? If you're not expected to be in the top six in the Premier League and you finish fifth, you're the best team Everyone's in the way. You're Man City and you lose four in a row. People are like, What's going? Can we just take a moment? Pep has never lost four games in a row. Yeah. Okay. Now, that's a phenomenal record. I don't care what great teams you've played at. City haven't lost four in a row since '06. So this guy is a genius. But I will say, I will say, teams now are not fearing them.

Yeah, totally.

And that is the biggest thing. And we've been in those shoes where you're like... This is a national team parallel, too. When we would go to Jamaica, they were like, we're playing the national team. Now they're probably like, I don't know. There's a little sign off, right? I remember the first time, Tim, the first time Panama beat us at home. You could see in their eyes, they were like, Oh, my God, this is possible. Right now with City, Brighton's like, Hey, we can win this game. Totally. They believed it. I mean, they really believed it.

Well, you could see it as well. I mean, this is what happens when you're at the top and you set a standard. City is the best team in the world, and for all the obvious reasons. And the fact of the matter is, you end up losing four in a row, and it's like a boxer, right? A boxer has never been knocked out before. As soon as he gets knocked out, that chin is a little bit wobbly, right? And fighters don't fear you as much. That's what's happening with City at the moment. Teams feel like they have a chance. And look, the stats are telling you they're conceding early goals. That's never been the case before, Normally, they score a goal, and then they go on to score three or four. Teams think, Hey, if we stick at this long enough, if we stay in the game, City are going to concede because the stats are telling us they've been conceding at a rate that hasn't really happened under Pep Guardiola. What I would say is, Am I concerned? A little bit if I'm City. But here's the other thing. I have nothing to back that up with.

Every time under Pep Guardiola, there's been a problem, they bounce back. They've figured out some way to hit some form, win 10, 12, 20 games in a row and go on a run. So my expectation is while there's calls for a concern, do I think City will go on a run that matches something they've done in the past? Yes, I do. I do think that, which then for me puts the onus on Liverpool. I think City are going to make a run. That much I know. The question now is, with Liverpool being at the top of the table, playing brilliant under the new manager or in a slot, can they handle the onslaught and the pressure of being on top? That's the question for me.

Well, I know if I was Rodri's agent right now, I'd be on the phone with City saying, Hey, guys, there's a coincidence here, but I don't think it's a coincidence. When he got injured, this is when this happened. You always find out how valuable a player is when they're not on the field. Not when they're on the field. Because when they're on the field, you get used to it, and everyone thinks it's just normal and natural, goes off the field, and you go, Oh, damn. He's so vital to that team and does so much for that, and for Spain, by the way. It just makes you realize how good that guy is.

By the way, Pep knows that, too. He can play with a false nine of Holland's not there, even though Holland's the best striker in the world. Kevin N'Abrana, people can fill his boots even though he's brilliant. Pep knows there ain't nobody filling Roger's boots.

Why is it always that position that's so bad? I remember early days with the national team, when Chris Armas was on the field, we It's just different when Claudio was at his best, when Pablo and Michael Bradley was at his best, you just be like, that's the guy who can't come off the field. I don't know what it is, just that position.

I think it's the heartbeat. I think it's their ability to drop into the back four, protect the back four, be good on set pieces, create tempo, be unselfish in terms of like, Hey, I'm going to break things up, give you the ball, you go forward. It happened on our teams, right? Sixes, Michael Bradley, particularly in our era, he would break things up, facilitate, give the ball to you, give the ball to Clint, and watch it go. And then there's a leadership element to it that when I look at a Rodri, Rodri is basically Pep Guardiola incarnated on the pitch, right? And not everybody can do that or be that. So interesting.

He's the Dax-McCarty of Man City, isn't he?

That's big praise for Dax-McCarty.

You're welcome, Dax. It's a big shout-out. It's big praise for Rodri.

I wasn't expecting you to go there. We talked about city struggles and how Liverpool are essentially the beneficiaries of that, although they're playing a really, really well. And yes, City are stumbling, but they're playing fantastic, probably ahead of schedule from everybody. I don't think anybody could have seen this coming. I know Klopp left a really solid squad, which is why people were like, Well, Klopp, why are you leaving? But the fact of the matter is, Slott has come in and done brilliantly for them. He's changed the tune. He's gone away from that heavy metal football pressing, counter pressing to sitting back a little bit, creating tempo in the right moments. And the team has responded with unbelievable performances, individually and collectively. So Yeah, hats off to them.

Yeah, he's now the blueprint in how you come in after a legend. Totally. Most fail, but he hasn't. He's been brilliant. Speaking of Liverpool, this is an interesting story. Premier League referee David Kut has been suspended. This just came up this morning following the release of a video of him making some interesting comments about Jurgen Klopp. He had some not safe for internet or work comments about Jürgen Klopp said he was a seaward. He said Liverpool are shit and went on to disparage him quite a bit. I'm guessing he's never reffing again in the Premier League.

I can't see it. I can't see it. I think it's a big problem. Look, let's dig into this a little bit. What I saw in the video was his eyes were telling a different story than his mouth was. So that's a starting point, right? And I can't make any accusations of what was ingested before that. But I don't have this massive problem with what he's saying. Hear me out. I abused referees. I said things I should have never said. Most of the time, I was very apologetic afterward, or I went home, looked myself in the mirror and thought, Tim, you shouldn't have said that. But the fact of the matter is that referee also went home because he's human. I would be shocked if he didn't go, Oh, that Tim Howard, what a lovely guy. He probably said, You know what? He's a beep, beep, He has an opinion, and he's a human being, and he's supposed to be neutral. Of course he is. But the fact of the matter is, if you abuse somebody, don't expect them to have something nice to say about you. And that's what happened in the case with David Kuh and Jorgan Klopp.

And so the big mistake he made was not having an opinion on how he felt about somebody because he's human. The problem is he allowed himself to be video-recorded. And look, let me speak on this. I've had teammates get in big, big trouble because their mates or somebody from home had a recording of them and they wanted to sensationalize it. And you know this because you and I played at Everton together. Football players in England and around the world are Godlike figures. Even your schoolmates, even your family want a piece of the pie. So what happens is, is it malicious and blackmail? No. But what this guy did, I guarantee it was like, Hey, my mate, he's a Premier League rep. You'll never guess what he said about Liverpool. Boom. He sends it to somebody else. Then a spiderwebs, and then the game of telephone It's what happens. And someone ends up with the tape they shouldn't end up with. And it's a sad state of affairs, man. Again, I don't have a problem with what he said simply because that's his opinion of a situation he's been in that wasn't really nice, an interaction with a manager that wasn't really nice.

You got to be careful. Once you say in the side of the bag, the PJMOL is going to have to suspend them. They're going to find them.

Yeah. Well, he can't rough. I mean, he can't rough again. I don't think so. So this was an issue when I went to Everton, and I think you were more used to it because you'd been in the Premier League for so long at that point. So we played a game away at Wiggan. And just before halftime, I got into a tackle. I fell on the ground, and I don't remember who it was, but he kicked the ball, and I thought he kicked it hard. I'm laying on the ground, he kicks it at me, and I look at the ref and I said, Just kick the ball at me. What's going on here? And he looked at me and he goes, Get up. My grandma can kick harder than that. And so in the moment, I was shocked because I had I've never heard a referee speak to me that way, ever. And in some ways, when I hear people like you and other players in England talk about it, it's funny because it's banter or whatever. But then I was thinking to myself, you can't be speaking to players like that. You shouldn't. And they do.

And there's this culture in England where it's funny and they can banter. I'm like, no, just shut up and do your job. If I berate you and go after you, book me, fine. But don't be trying to be cute and make all this banter and stuff.

I'm like, get out of here, It's hard.

And that's where the line gets crossed, right? Because he's like, oh, whatever. Clops this. And it's like, okay, well, you're going to suffer for that.

Yeah. That's why you just have to walk the line, even though he has an opinion. Moral of the story, just don't let people videotape you. It never ends well in any walk of life. Speaking of more controversy, Manchester United, who are under the tutelage at the moment of Rudolf and Estoroy before Amaran comes in from Sporting Lisbon to take over. This week, actually, they beat Lester pretty handily, 3-0. Alejandro Garnacho, a player who I really like, young player, starlet on the wing, scored an incredible goal, an incredible goal, but refused to celebrate. It was at Old Trafford. He's been taking some stick. The team has been taking some stick. My issue with it is this. Going back to not videotaping yourself, his brother, by the way, he's got a lot to say on social media as well. Sort your family out, tell them to come to the games and clap and then go home, never mind being on social media. And here's the other thing. I know he's a young kid, and I don't think Manchester United have a lot of leadership, because if you do, you can grab him and say, look, this is how it works.

The team's stunk. They got your manager fired. The fans have a right to boo and to be upset. And this whole concept of you're not going to celebrate, that's only... And he's a young player. It's only going to heat more pressure on the kid because the fact of the matter is, you know this, I've only scored one goal for those listening. I was there. You were there. I was there. You celebrated with me. But you scored a lot of goals. And that's actually a time to let out your anger and your frustration and your emotion. There's no need to keep it in because it's going to backfire.

Well, if he let it out, he might have done something stupid.

Which is fine. I don't mind that, right?

Well, Look, Amaron starts today, started today. So this is one of his first big tasks, not just Garnacha, but everyone. Can you get them to believe in the club again and love the club? Because players go... I mean, he right now does not... He doesn't like the club. He doesn't. He doesn't like the fans. He doesn't like his experience. He doesn't like how it's going. So they need somebody who will help them. But forget about the on the field and winning and all. That's a byproduct. Can you love the club? Can you be connected to the club in a meaningful away. And that's Amarim's, I think, his number one. That's Amarim's, I think, that's his number one priority early. Of course, he wants to win. They have to win, but they're not going anywhere this year, right? So mid table, top of the table-ish finish is fine. But you need to start to build a new culture because this This is the low of the low. When you players aren't even celebrating at home, that's bad, man.

That's the problem. There hasn't been culture since Sir Alex Ferguson left. It's been 11 years. So big job for Ruben Amarim, but I think you can get it done. I like him.

We'll find out. I think so. I mean, he, by the way, His first real derby with him beating City last week was pretty special.

The football guys are real.

It's a real thing. It's amazing how that happens. Well, you guys let us know your thoughts. I'm curious, are you okay with Are you okay with Garnacho doing that? Are you not? Let us know. You're probably more fine with it than I am. I'm not a huge... I can understand why you're frustrated if you're him, but they do need leadership, by the way, Tim. If I had done that, you would have grabbed me by the throat and said, Hey, what are you doing? Enough of that.

They don't have it.

All right, let's get into some mailbag. Jordan. Jordan, get in. Jordan, come on in.

Hello. Jordan, one of our producers is our mailbag expert. She takes all of your questions and feeds them to us. So hard-hitting ones, please. Okay, let's start with, if you could insert one retired USmen's national team player into the current lineup, would it be?

Just one? That's a great question, by the way. Okay, give me a sec.

Tim Howard. To be honest, all right.

To be honest, right now, given the goalkeeping situation, I think I would. I think I would. I I think that's what this team needs more, probably more than anything right now. Yeah. Well, that's a terrible question, by the way, to stroke his ego.

Listen, the answer is simple. You and Clint, I can't pick one. I mean, you guys, between you, there's goals, there's hunger.

One of the two, for sure. Yeah, but we can't keep the ball out of the net, pal.

No. It's a tough job.

All right. What's next? Next.

How about a fake scenario? In a Freaky Friday situation where you guys swapped, do you think Landon is a better keeper than Tim is a forward or vice versa?

That's a great question, actually.

Give me your opinion. There's only one answer.

No, there's not, actually. Let me tell you this. When I came to Loyal, or sorry, when I was at Loyal, I would go to goalkeeper. So I was out coaching. I would walk over to the goalkeeper's. You know in warmup where the goalkeeper coach holds the ball, drops it and volleys it at you and you catch It's like every goalkeeper in the world. Sure. This is like 10 yards away. Sometimes the goalie would drop the ball, right? When it comes to him. I said to our goalkeeper coach, Matt Hall, I said, Matt, I played sports my whole life. If you gave me gloves and you kicked a thousand balls at me from 10 yards, I would never drop one, ever. I would never drop the ball, ever. I'm like, how is this possible? No, it's not a lie. It's a lie. It's just like hand-eye cort, and it's easy. I could do it all day. But I'm like, how can these guys not catch a soccer ball every time it comes to them. Now, look, there's other parts of goalkeeping that matter, and I would be terrible because I'm a chicken and scared. But I just don't understand how you can't catch a ball that's kicked you from 10 yards.

How is that possible?

You bring up a good point. Let me ask you. Let me counter that by saying- Wait, can you just answer, how is that possible? I'm going to answer it in a formal question. How is it then that your first touch sometimes got away from you and then you get yourself into a tackle?

No, that's different. That's in a game with other things going on. I'm saying you and me standing 10 yards apart, you kick, and I'm not saying blast it. I'm just saying the way you guys kick it and warm up. At my hands, I will never drop the ball.

Honestly, I can't speak to that. Especially with the gloves. The gloves, the ball just sticks to the glove. I didn't either. You had a bad goalkeeper. That's it. I don't know what else to say. I would be a better outfield player than my end goalkeeper.

I saw it at Wave. I saw it at Loyal. I know you didn't.

Answer the question directly. You'd be a better goalkeeper than me than I would be an outfield player?

I think physically, you're just better. If I was four inches taller, I'd probably win.

Fair enough. So I win. Keep going. Okay, one more for you. So whether things are going great or everything has gone wrong, fans are always talking about four groups of people in soccer, the players, the managers, the owners, and the referees. What is a role in soccer that you think doesn't get enough credit or doesn't get held accountable enough? Yeah, In my opinion, your director of sports science is one of the most important people at the club because we know that when you miss game time, you drop points. The more games missed by your best players, it correlates to a lack of points. So keeping players fit and healthy, sports science and being innovative in that field, that deserves more credit.

Yeah. I would say, actually, I think recruitment department, so whether it's your director of football or whoever handles that, general manager, whatever. There's a huge problem. You saw it with Chelsea over the last few years, you see it with United. When a new manager comes in, it's like everything thrown out the window. Eight players gone, eight new players brought in, and there's no consistency about what the club wants to do and what they want to be. Then oftentimes you have a GM signing players without the coach agreeing to it. Then it's a big disaster because if there's no alignment there, if you're going to play a certain way, let's use Man City as an example. Man City would struggle mightily to play without Kyle Walker on the field, without Akanji, without guys who can run and defend half the field by themselves because they always in the opponent's end, they're always attacking. So on the counter, you can't have a slow center back who's really good on the ball. You'll just get destroyed. So if you don't have alignment there, you're in big trouble.

Yeah. And to answer that even further, what Brighton are doing at the moment in terms of how they create their recruitment model, they've got their next three head coaches lined up. They know exactly where they're going to find their next players. So it used to be just you have to find players and figure out the rest. They know who's going to come in from a scouting point. If Hertzler leaves like Dzerby left, like Potter left, they know exactly who's coming in. They're never going to be left hamstrung. So I think that's the new model.

Yeah, agreed. All Jordan. Awesome.

Thank you. Well, thank you for answering my questions. But as your producer, can you tell the people where they can submit their questions so I don't have to be on them? Go on, Tim.

On brand. Go ahead, Tim.

Well, @UnfilteredSoccer. Hit us on YouTube, any of your social channels. Like I said, hard-hitting questions are the best.

All right, let's move into ABS. We've been looking forward to this. Anything, anything but soccer.

Love it.

First one, Tim. I want your thoughts. Bronnie James. James already heading to the G League.

That's completely scripted. I'm here for it.

Scripted? They had this plan?

100%. What do you mean no?

Why would they even have him on the roster? Why didn't they start him there?

Okay. So LeBron James, deservedly so, by the way, whether I agree with this or not, and I don't, wanted as part of his legacy to play with his son. That's amazing. You think of Ken Griffy, Ken Griffy Jr. It doesn't happen very often, and it speaks tremendously to his longevity and also to the talent that Bronnie James has. The fact of the matter is when you go into NBA circles, Bronnie James is not a NBA rotational player. He simply isn't. That's not me making it up from New York City. No, right. That's right. So when you look at players of his caliber who have been drafted where he's been drafted, they're in a G League. They're not in an NBA rotation. He was in the NBA rotation at the start of the season to get that golden moment, which I believe LeBron deserves to have scripted.

Tim, they had it like the first game. So why didn't he just go after that? Why did he keep him around for another 10 games?

Well, because I honestly don't think the number matters. It just happened to be in the first part of the season he was going to go. I don't think it was going to be play the first game, sub in at the 23-minute mark, and then, okay, off you go. It was never going to be one and done, but I think he's in the right place now. And by the way, LeBron James makes all the decisions at the Lakers.

Don't kid yourself. I was just going to say, was he in on this?

Yeah. Oh, definitely.

So he was saying, send my son down to the G League.

No, I don't think that. I think the conversations happen at the board level and like, Hey, we're going to do this. We're going to appease your wishes, but also understand that we're not going to use a roster spot on him for the full season. I think there was definitely those conversations. Nobody's surprised by this. He will have had to sign off on that 100 %.

Okay. Well, by the way, by all accounts, I don't have any inside info, but everything I read and see is that he's a phenomenal kid, a really good young man. Yeah, totally. Let's hope it goes well for him. Totally. All right. One other. In the Niners Bucks game, I was watching because I had Baker Mayfield as my fancy QB, and it's not the best choice, but he's been phenomenal. Niners kicker, Jake Moody missed his third field of the game. He's been really good, by the way. And then was greeted on the sidelines by Debo Samuel, who voiced his frustration with Moody and his long snapper. And long snapper, Tabor Pepper, came to Moody's defense and got into it with Debo Samuel. So I... Devo Samuel, when you watch him play, he's old school, and I like this about him. He's like, If I don't like what's going on, I'm going to tell you. And so you have to remember, man, this is these guys' livelihoods. And old school, it was like everybody on the roster and the kicker. Everyone hanging out, whatever. And then there's the kicker, right? And so they all hated them. Now it's all changed a little bit, and there's more camaraderie around that, whatever.

But it was a pretty spicy moment. And honestly, I don't have a problem with any of it. I don't have a problem with Debo doing it. I don't have a problem with Moody saying, Hey, man, I'm trying my best. I don't have a problem with the long snapper coming in and protecting Moody. And in the end, Moody kicked a game-winning field goal. So maybe it worked. People have this idea, and we saw this a little bit with Berhalter in the national team where everything has to be nice and friendly. We love him and we're happy. It's like, No, you need to get elite performance out of people. And sometimes do that, you got to ruffle feathers.

I'm with you. I got no issue. I mean, football in general, by the way, I'm a big NFL fan. It's a little bit overaggressive. You get coaches fighting with players. Every time a coach speaks, he's yelling. There's a going on there. And kickers have always been outkast. They're like goalkeepers. Totally. We touch the ball way more than kickers do. Kickers get like one moment, and you have to be amazing. That's why the greatest kickers are so clutch and lights out. This happens all the time. Got no real issue with it.

I feel for kickers because most of them used to be soccer players, right? So I wanted to be one. You know the best story I heard about a kicker, actually? Do you remember a guy named Morton Anderson? Yeah. I think he kicked for the Titans.

Titans, Saints. The Saints, the one bar helmet.

Yeah, that's right. I remember someone telling me in his contract, I can't verify this, but I'm just going to pretend it's true for sure. He had in his contract, he was like 40 years old, and the Titans wanted him to kick. And he said, All right, I'll kick on Sunday, Monday through Friday. I'm flying back home. I think he was in New York or somewhere. I'm flying home all week. I'll come Saturday, do some practice, and I'll play on Sunday. They were like, no problem. He made like a million plus bucks.

Yeah, totally. Him and what was the other guy, Sebastian Genakowski, the guy from Florida State? He was a unit as well. What a legend he was. Happy days.

All right, Timmy. Episode one is now in the books, presented by Volkswagen. Thank you for being a great partner of ours. We appreciate all of you for being here with us today. Remember to subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast, and also follow us across all social media at unfilteredsocker.soccer..