Landon Donovan, Tim Howard & Cristian Roldan talk REAL football in San Francisco| Unfiltered Soccer

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a special edition of I'm your host, Tim Sackley, live from the block in San Francisco, with your hands together, here's your hosts, Landon Donovan and Tim Howard. Let's go. What's happening? Let's go. Hello. Hello. Hello. So we heard there was a lot of people in this room doing a lot of different shows, but they said that Unfiltered is the best. The best show. So we appreciate you. Thank you, guys. You guys made it all the best. Thank you. And we have an incredible guest today, one that I'm delighted to sort of – Yeah, you guys, I think, will be excited about the guests we have. Yeah, tuck into. Someone you might be seeing a lot this summer, we'll say. Let's get a little tease. We hope so. Is that a Clint Dempsey jersey? Yeah, it is. I like it. Atta girl. Yeah, that was a good one. That's it. oh my god donovan i like it yes did you say you saw 10 of his saves at least at least 10 oh i was gonna say what about the other ones you're gonna see the others yeah well got it got it got it well we uh we certainly appreciate the love and when we when we started this thing we didn't know what it was going to become but it's uh it's blossomed into just an incredible um something beyond our wildest dreams and land and i always talk about it we like to talk about soccer but we're constantly digging into what you all want to hear and what you all want to see from us. So that's the most important thing. We appreciate your support. Yeah, we're very grateful, guys. And like he said, we didn't know where this thing was going to go, but you guys have made it really enjoyable for us. Tim says this all the time. We have things we like to talk about, but hearing from you guys is what we want. We want to talk about what you guys want to hear. So keep following, keep listening, keep sending in questions, all that. We really love it. Let's kick this thing off, make it official. Welcome, everybody. Thank you. Unfiltered soccer. He's Landon. I'm Tim. Today's show is presented by NHTSA. We all seem to be in a rush these days, but when you're behind the wheel, please do not speed. Follow the speed limit. A few minutes saved by going faster is never, ever worth the risk. Paid for by NHTSA. Amen. Welcome, guys, to the show. As I always say, raise your hand if you actually subscribed to the show. Landon loves us. Okay, if not, you're in a lot of trouble. So, all right, so why do you subscribe? Why do you need to subscribe? Every time I talk to someone about our show who has not listened, they say, okay, should I listen? I say, yeah, listen. So they listen to the show, and then they call me or they text me. They say, God, I really loved it. When you subscribe, it helps other people find the show and fall in love with it too. So it's my plea to you. Please subscribe to the show. Follow us on all the social media channels. You can get it everywhere you get your podcasts. Also, she is not here today. She's in New York, but Jordan does all of our emails and does our AT&T fan connection, which we love. And you can always email us at feedback at unfilteredsoccer.com. All right, Timmy, without further ado, we are joined today by a Southern California native, one of our own, U.S. Men's National Team midfielder. Let's see if you guys can get who this is based on the clues. They will. he won the gold cup in 17 and 21. Oh, you already saw him. He has two MLS cups, a CONCACAF Champions Cup, and the Leagues Cup. That's insane. All with his current club, the Seattle Sounders. Please welcome to the stage Mr. Christian. Roll down. Good job, Chris. How are we doing? Good to see you, bud. Really good to see you. Here's the crazy thing. We didn't even realize we were on the same 2017 Gold Cup team. Oh, interesting. Yeah, which was here. We won the final year. He played until 2017? He was a boy. I was a young man. I mean, now I'm just old and washed up, and he's still crushing it. Yeah, okay. Do you remember that team? Yeah. Great team. I got kicked off the team a little early for guys like Michael Bradley. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Oh, that was right. That was the time where they could change the roster. Yeah. But he came to the party, so he's part of the team. gets a medal. He got a medal. Yeah, that's it. That's how we roll. Did he get to celebrate? Oh, yeah. Did he come back at the end? Yeah. I got a call from Fleischman. Fleischman, yeah. He was just like, you want to come to the game? I was like, of course. I got to celebrate with my boys. That's awesome. Cool. So you guys, you were just saying you were in Marbella, right? In Spain. So it's crazy, man. The season is right upon us. A couple of weeks, right? Until the season starts. How are you? I mean, how are you feeling? How are you physically? I know it's exciting when you go into a World Cup year. We remember those. So how are you feeling? But also then just as you're looking ahead to the summer, how does that impact how you're doing things now, if at all? Yeah, I think this offseason was really important for me as I'm getting towards the later part of my career, right? The offseason is extremely important. just understanding that the World Cup is six months away, making sure I take care of my body, making sure that I take the necessary time to recover mentally, physically, and then just be ready, physically fit to compete for a spot. If you do it right, you should get better with age, right, if you take care of yourself. And last year you had the idea of making the MLS Best 11 for the first time. you've won everything that there is to win, but you're getting better individually. Sort of take us back in time. What's different now at 30 than, let's say, 22, 23, and 24? And the reason I ask is because you're in preseason. You just flew back from Spain, literally 24 hours ago. And I can remember the older I got, and I don't know if you can attest to this, but I used to say to my They'd give us an off-season training. A plan, yeah. They'd give us an off-season training. And I'd literally say to my manager, I'm not coming back fully fit. I'm just not. I'll use the preseason to get fit. And that's sort of how I operated. But I'm just curious sort of like your mindset from when you were 22 to now when you're 30. Oh, when you were 22, you just kept playing through the off-season, right? You played small-sided with your buddies back home. you found the field as much as possible once you turn 30 you understand your body so well in the off season it's alright you got tenanopathy here you got tenanopathy there what kind of loading do I need to do to get back in the best place possible to do some damage right I feel like the game has slowed down for me I have switched from being on the right side left side attacking mid defensive mid to now a 6 And I think that's helped me tremendously. Just seeing the same situations in games day in and day out, the repetitiveness has helped me so much, I think. You can't help, I'm sure, but think about the summer, right? You're human. You're a guy who is probably, I mean, we both have said on the show too, we think you're going to the tournament, but it doesn't matter what we say. It matters what Mauricio Pochettino says. You're probably a guy who's right on the bubble and we think leaning in. Do you let yourself go there and think about it? And how much does it maybe motivate you or inspire you? Because I knew during World Cup years coming into the season, I was like, I want to be at my best. Do you feel that way? Because realistically, probably your last chance, right, to make a World Cup. Yeah, absolutely. And I feel like I have the nothing to lose attitude right now. You know, three months ago, I still had that nothing to lose attitude. You know, I wasn't getting called up. Right. I was playing the best footy of my life, of my career. And I finally got that call up. Right. And I treated it like it was my last. And I still to this day feel that way. You know, when you're two years removed from the national team and you get that first call up, oh, it's so special. You don't take that for granted. And so for me, I have the nothing-to-lose attitude. I've already come back to the national team with a fresh set of eyes, even though I'm 30, two years removed. I feel like I'm, I don't know, rejuvenated. I feel like Tim Ream right now, who was four years ago. Tim Ream's still playing, man. And he's still playing and he's still doing it. And so I feel great. You know, I have confidence that if I'm playing well, I'll be there. But I'm excited. I'm excited to see what the roster looks like. So Landon has had interactions with Pochettino. I've had interactions with Pochettino both in my professional career and now on this side of it. But we're essentially all fans, really. Everybody in this room besides you who's the player, we're all fans. So take it like what is that after the fact you come into camp and Pochettino basically says, and I'm paraphrasing, Christian is the perfect player. If I was to build a player, this is who I want. So you're out of the national team frame for two years, and he calls you. What are those conversations like? What is he seeing to say, look, I need you to come in and be a part of this? Like, what is that conversation like? Yeah, he told me to be myself. I think that he spoke to a few different coaches about me before calling me up to understand what he was going to get out of me. So he did his homework. And then when I got there, it was about showing my personality. And, you know, for me, I'm a competitor. I hate to lose. I got to be honest with you. Whether it's a possession drill, a passing drill, I'm a perfectionist at heart when it comes to soccer. I hate losing. And so it was about bringing that attitude into camp. You know, things weren't going as smooth as they were over the last three months. And so just going there and having that attitude mentality and then understanding what he wants, right? He wants warriors at the end of the day, right? He wants guys that are going to defend the crest, that are going to battle in training, that are going to show up each and every day when you're at camp. And I think that that is my mentality every time I put that jersey on. Can you help everybody here understand? So you got called in because someone got injured, right? Can you just take us through? I just want to know the process. Is he the one calling you? Is it the team admin? How that process happened? Because we were all surprised, and I'm sure you were surprised, right, when that call came. Yeah, so it was after the League's Cup final. I was a late call-up three months ago, four months ago in the September window. I wasn't originally on the preliminary roster, but I had a good League's Cup final. I had a good summer with the FIFA Club World Cup. And I got a call from our GM, and I was on vacation. He was like, would you like to come out? You might want to come back. Yeah. He was like, would you like to come out all the way to New York? I was like, absolutely. Got on a red-eye train the next day. Wow. And, you know, my wife, you know, actually, she couldn't sleep that night. She was like, I just feel like you should be called up. And I'm like, it's over with, you know, maybe next camp, right? Wow. And the next day we get that call. It's unbelievable. That's incredible. Which, remind me, which of the two games did you, you started one of the two games, right? Japan I started. Japan you started. I came in for South Korea. And then the next game, it was Australia. That was October window. So with Pochettino, Christian, you're doing a lot of things right for him to say what he's saying, for him to bring you in and even consider you for the World Cup team. So take us sort of inside Pochettino's non-negotiables for the team. So you're obviously an example of what he wants, right? And he's building that, and the team's starting to come together. So when you get together as a group and you're getting ready to go on the field, what are sort of his, like, yeah, you want to win the game, you want to score goals, yeah, great, we don't know if that's going to happen. But what are his non-negotiables for you as players when you step on the field? Well, no individual is bigger than the team. That's first and foremost, right? And, you know, I've never gotten along with players that have been selfish, and, you know, I always feel like the team comes first, right? And he said that from the very beginning. number two is intensity and the way you train and also the duels Argentinians it's duels, duels, duels and you've got to show that in training it's not about just showing it in games for a lot of young people practice the way you play And so for me it a mentality from what he said to me what he brings into camp, that the non-negotiables are the way you train, the mentality, the intensity, but also the individuals not above the team. Let me ask you a follow-up to that, because I'm curious. Landon and I talk about it ad nauseum. Fans are talking about it. on the outside those non-negotiables that you talk about putting the team first no one's bigger than the team the effort that seemed to sort of be lacking i maybe there's a better term for that but but then and now we've seen a switch was that like from someone on the inside was that was that tangible have you seen that or was it always there or maybe you can tell me tim you're full of shit and it's always been there but on the outside it seemed like it had been lacking and now it seems like there's a massive buy-in. Yeah, look, I can't speak for the time that I wasn't there, right? You know, I was a fan like you guys, but I remember vividly, and this is where I think it flipped. Australia game, Christian Pulisic gets kicked a couple times, right? I don't know if we can swear on that. Yeah, you can. We'll believe it out. You can swear, bud. We got our asses kicked in the first 45 minutes of just getting fouled and just not bringing it, right? Next camp, he shows the film sessions, right? And he just said, like, why are we waiting to get punched in the face? Why are we the second team to finally kick someone or win this duel, right? And I think that's when it's switched. You see players like Tillman, who is probably more of a luxury player, right, number 10 going into tackles and training and that's when i'm like oh my god like okay that's i think when the culture really flipped at least for my time being there amazing it's hard for us to it's almost hard for me to hear you say that because that was a given or it felt like it should be a given when we played and if someone did if i came into camp when i was young and didn't do that and i probably didn't these guys would kill me like berhalter and agus and these guys they would Kill me. So I was talking to someone about this generation and it feels like, and you tell me if I'm wrong, it feels like there's a lack of people who are willing to hold each other accountable in the team. It's one thing to have your coach doing it all the time. But my guess is, and you tell me if I'm wrong, you do do that. I'm guessing in Seattle you do that. And that is something that this group, I think, desperately needed. Do you believe that's one of the reasons also you're here? And do you feel comfortable having not been around the team constantly holding people accountable in those moments? Yeah, that's a great question because being two years removed and then hearing a player that, you know, hasn't played in the biggest games at the World Cup or some of the biggest friendlies over my course of time. I haven't started that many games, but I'm yelling at Christian Pulisic to get back and defend, right? And you feel comfortable doing that. Absolutely. I mean, I've played in big enough games at my club, and I've played in 400-plus games in Seattle in big moments that I feel comfortable pushing guys, I feel comfortable bringing into training, tackling guys in training, right? I have nothing to lose, like I said. And so if that's my role, then I'm going to try to perfect it to the best of my ability. I want to sort of segue back to Seattle for a second, and then we'll talk a little bit about MLS versus Europe. But I always say, Landon, I'm jealous because he played for MLS Blue Blood, right? And the Galaxy is the biggest organization in the MLS, and it has been since its inception. We had your manager, Brian Spencer, on the show, who's brilliant, by the way. He's absolutely brilliant. And my uncle is a Seattle Sounders season ticket holder. He's the one who got me into soccer when I was little. And there's just something different about Seattle. You've been there. You're a part of the fabric of that green. and I'm just I'm so fascinated by Seattle Sounders culture you know when I first came back from Europe and I was playing with Colorado and we came to Seattle boy you guys kicked our ass but I remember going out on the field Christian for warm up and I've told this story to you and I went back in the dressing room and I just said look lads for any of you who don't make it to Europe this is a European environment I get goosebumps telling the story I was like playing in that environment in Seattle is incredible and yet you guys always win what's it like to sort of be a part of that and help have help grown that culture yeah i think um trophies in general is part of the the the culture the the the goals that we set each and every year right it's it's a disappointment if you if you don't win in our locker room and so uh we carry that we believe it too i think it's one thing to just say it but it's another thing to actually believe it and going out there and and feeling like you have a shot um and i think the the the beauty of it is that when when players from the homegrown and we have a lot of homegrown we have a lot of guys from the seattle area they have seen it through the course of time and so they start believing it they start thinking that this is part of our DNA. And it is. And so I think that, A, it's the closest thing to Europe, and MLS to me as well. And also, I think the DNA within the Sounders organization, we don't make splashy findings, but we compete. And I think that's the standard that we set throughout the year. This is what I was saying yesterday. The use system is so broken. And so fracture, like you need a, you need youth clubs, a youth system all the way through that. These kids are desperate to play for Seattle Sounders one day. And they understand what the, what the club is about. Cause every club is different, but those kids actually firmly believe that the galaxy is different. Galaxy young kids don't really believe they're going to play for the galaxy. The galaxy are spending tons of money on, but those kids believe. I mean, like they really believe they can come through the system and play. Can you give us your opinion on, So the schedule change in 2027 is changing from whatever, March to November to the European. What is it from a player's perspective? I was trying to put myself in your shoes. How do you like how are you processing that? How are you guys thinking about that? How are you preparing for it? Well, I think, number one, it's going to grow our league. I think that's the most important thing when you talk about transfers. Right. Obed Vargas just left. Yeah. Right. In the December window. Right. Can we get guys to either leave or come to MLS during the start of the season. So I think that, number one, is going to help our league tremendously. As a player, when I think schedule change, I think weather. I think that is going to be difficult for teams that are in the north to have to play away for the first parts of the year. But also it could create an advantage. If you're on a roll, first 10 games of the season, and then now you get to go home and have that advantage of a lot of home games in a row, it could be a huge advantage. But overall, I think it's great for the league. I think it's great for transfers, number one. And I think that the quality of games, I think we might have to invest a little bit more in some of the grass. But I think overall it's going to be great. In Seattle, it doesn't matter because it just rains all year. That shoulder season, I can't remember exactly what MLS is calling it. It's going to be crazy. It's going to be so fast. And you almost have to build. And we're going through this in Houston. You almost have to build a roster out for basically a season and then that little shoulder season. Interesting. Yeah. So Pochettino's talked a lot about, now that we're touching on the international and MLS in Europe, Pochettino's talked a lot about, well, I don't even know if he's talked a lot about it. He's proven with his decisions, which is way more important than talking, that he values MLS players. And past coaches, Klinsman certainly didn't. Bob Bradley, maybe a little. Berhalter, I don't know how much. But he really values MLS players. Does he talk about that overtly? Is it just through his decision making? You must feel like MLS guys really feel like they have a chance. Because I know in the past that's not always been the case. Yeah, I think we feel that. Especially based on his decisions to bring in guys like myself who had a good year. And, you know, if you have a good year, you might get rewarded. And I think that that's the belief that you need to have. But day in and day out, he's shown that he's not afraid to choose a player from MLS and put him under pressure. And if you provide, if you show that you can play under pressure, you know, you can have a national team career with Pochettino. And I think that it truly doesn't matter where you play. It's how you're playing. And I think that's what I've appreciated with Pochettino, that he's given chances to a lot of players this year. When I think about this next World Cup, right, it's always such a gimme sort of question, like, what do you think is going to happen? I expect everybody inside of the team to go, we're going to win the World Cup. Of course, that's normal. Sort of what's being talked about on the inside in terms of not realistic expectations, but what are you guys focusing on, right? Like you want to win the tournament. Of course you want to win the tournament. But what's the absolute first step in focus once that whistle blows in the first game? Well, I think the bare minimum is to not get outworked. It's intensity, right? It's the nuances of the game that we sat down and watched film over against Australia, right? It's the duels. It's the intensity. We cannot be outworked on our home soil. That's number one. It's a given that we need to be there at that level to maintain it. And then at that point, you can be anybody if you bring it, right? And for us, if you win the group, you put yourself in a good spot. But getting out of the group is going to be so important. But for us, yeah, tactics are really important, right? Sometimes you build out in a three, sometimes in a four, sometimes four, two, four, one. But you can throw that all out the window if you don't bring it. You said that. Sorry. It makes me think. Is there a preferred system with a back three or a back four? Is it opponent dependent or does Potch sort of think, okay, this is our best sort of formation and then we can morph into this? Or does it matter? Yeah, I think it changes depending on who you play. depending on your personnel. You want to put the guys that are in the starting lineup in the best position possible. And a guy like Alex Freeman at right back could also play center back, for example, right? And so depending on how they're pressing, you can decide on how you want to play. But I think for me, we've had a lot of success in the four in the back and building out in three. and things probably will change, but again, bare minimum, you've got to bring it. Well, Christian, you've been very gracious. I have so much respect for you as someone who also played at a club for a long time. I talk a lot with Tim about the grass not always being greener and you've had a truly, and people use this term too flippantly, a legendary career with the Sounders, and I really hope you go to another World Cup. I think you deserve it. We both think you're going to be there, wishing you all the very best. And thanks for being gracious with your time here. Thanks for having me. Thanks for holding on. Thank you, guys. All right, you all stay there. We're going to let him go get back to his wife and his 18-month-old kid. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to talk about more U.S. men's national team players and the team right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by NHTSA. Stay right there, guys. I'm U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. We all seem to be in a rush these days, from work to driving our kids around. But when you're behind the wheel, please do not speed. A few minutes saved by going faster is never worth the risk. So follow the speed limit enjoy the drive maybe bring some snacks for the kids and know that along the way you getting quality time with your family Paid for by NHTSA Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by NHTSA. All right, Timmy, we are now going to jump in, and Christian was so gracious with his time. More of his teammates, things going on with the U.S. Men's National Team. This is USMNT on USLNT, presented by ZipRecruiter. Let's talk about... I want to talk about you for a second. What? U.S. Men's National Team. I want to talk about Landon. I forget that you were a legend in San Jose. You do? Right? Kind of. Kind of. Because I think of you with the dirty, nasty Galaxy, and then everyone thinks you got a statue there, and then you've got a mural here in San Jose. Yeah, you were pretty good. I had some good days here. I mean, there's a Landon Donovan. That's an amazing Everton jersey, by the way. That is cool. That's amazing. Wow, yeah. You were good. It's just a national team thing, and we're here, and I wanted to give you love. Keep going. That's all I got, man. Move on. Moving on. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you. I had four amazing years here. Yeah. I missed this place. All right, let's talk about Christian Pulisic. So, you know, we follow every week, and I'm, like, checking the scores, or sometimes you get to watch games. I didn't realize Andrew put this in. So from mid-December to today, Milan have played 10 games. He's appeared in eight of those games. Six of them starts, two sub appearances. He has just one goal and no assist during that time. And it kind of stuck up on me quick because, and this tells you how good he's been there. You're so used to him showing up on the score sheet every week that now he doesn't. And you're kind of just, I kind of just assumed it was happening, but it's not. So does this concern you? Are you worried about this? No, I don't care. He's got, like, bursitis now. I don't care. Here's why. He's a top player. He trains well. He plays well. He's going through a purple patch. Everybody, like, the only people who don't go through purple patches are named Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, right? Like, they score 50 goals every season for 15 years. Everybody goes through this. I'm worried about, is he training well? Is he playing and performing well? Like, his numbers were brilliant for Milan. So if he's going to have a dip, yeah, sure, whatever. I don't worry about that because I also know we also can get lulled into this false sense of security. And he still has time to regain that form before the World Cup. But you understand, he could be in blistering form coming out of the season and then lay an egg in the World Cup. So if you're a top player, you're going to do all the right things. He knows. He's not dumb. He's elite of the elite. So he knows, you know what? Maybe I haven't been scoring as much. Maybe I haven't been getting as many assists. He's going to be doing things, number one, stay at the top, but also tweak things to change it. He's not just going to rest on that. So, no, I don't worry about it. Do you? No, I don't, but I'm just thinking, let me give you a crazy hypothetical that's not going to happen. If for some reason he didn't play another game the rest of the club season or he played only a few games, then do you worry? You're talking about injury? I'm talking about injury or whatever reason. or he only comes on as a sub. Does that bother you? No, not really. He always has a point to prove. He always has a target on his back. And so, yeah, do you want your best players in the best form, fit and healthy? Of course. He's stupid of me to say otherwise. But I still think no matter what happens in his club season, I do think, and he's going to regain the form that we've seen, but he's the man on that. He's the best player. He's going to be inspired. to World Cup on home soil. I don't worry one iota about Christian Pulisic. Yeah, I think I agree with that. I get PTSD sometimes with these guys, especially when they get injured, and you're like, oh my God, here we go again. But let's hope for his sake, for our sake, for everyone's sake. Okay, we're going to do a little thing. This is fun. Let's actually engage with the fans. So we do this segment called On the Team, On the Bubble, or On the Outs. okay we're going to name a player from the national team and you guys actually i'm going to help you yeah have you guys tell us what you think um tanner testman tanner testman so so so as the game goes on the team is obviously he makes the world cup roster he's at the world cup on the bubble it's pochettino's thinking yeah maybe he goes maybe he doesn't and then on the outs as of now he's watching like we are okay by show of hands you guys think tanner testman is on the team. Not many. Not many. Not many. Interesting. On the bubble? Majority. And on the outs. Alright. I think he's bubble. He is a bubble guy. So it's interesting. He's another guy who plays every week. He plays well. Important role. But there's, and we just talked to one of them, there's this sort of logjam of guys in there. Berhalter, Roldan, Tessman, Tyler Adams, Weston McKinney, Sebastian Berhalter, so if he takes six, but if he's taking five, who's the odd man out? Do you think it's Tanner Tessman? I tend to think he's on the bubble, but on the out. Really? Yeah. Here's the thing, and Landon brings up a really good point, and we talk about this on the show a lot. It's not a perfect science, or maybe it is a perfect science. So when a manager is building a World Cup roster, they always take a certain number of positions, right? Correct. The most positions you'll take is probably midfield, i.e. wingbacks, right? You take a certain amount of defenders and a certain amount of strikers. So you have, what, three strikers, four strikers? Probably. And if your four striker isn't necessarily good enough, you might add another midfielder. Right. So it's just sort of like a puzzle to create a roster. I think he's firmly on the bubble. you know what makes it so the problem with tanner testman is he plays one specific position he's a six and you think about weston mckinney he can play all over the field christian rodon through his career has played in a bunch of different spots he can do that tyler adams can play in different spots so that could end up being a detriment to him oh aiden morris is the other one by the way i forgot so that's seven guys now so he's next oh yeah look at that we have good producers okay let's move on to aiden morris by a show of hands on the team aiden morris only a couple on the bubble nobody wants to raise their hand on the outs oh jeez on the outs i wonder why you another guy playing important minutes first club no i know he is at middlesbrough he plays a lot the problem with aiden again is one very specific position and i i learned this from nate miller who was our coach at San Diego Loyal, he would always say to me, I like players that have a star quality. Yep. And when you're building a roster, you need people who are solid, but then you also need people who have a star quality. Like with Christian, just listen to him speak. Christian Roldan, he's a leader. He's a dog. He impacts. He's nasty. Yep. He has some of these star qualities and tangible things that really help him, and that can help you make the roster. Or you can be supremely talented, or you can be really athletic, or great at set pieces, and with Tanner and Aiden both seem like they don't have a superstar quality but they're very good players so what do you think I would take him but if you're asking me as the manager he's firmly on the bubble I don't know if both of these players go. No I don't think so I don't think Tessman and Aiden Morris go and I think given the way Pochettino has treated them in the minutes and etc I think Tessman's ahead of him I think Tessman's ahead of him no doubt No doubt. All right, the next one's an interesting one. Okay. Boy, he gets a lot of airtime on this show. He gets a lot of airtime. Gio Reyna. For a guy who really rarely plays soccer, he gets a lot of airtime. On the team. People like him. On the bubble. Cool. A lot of on the bubble. And on the outs. Not many. Yeah, one up front. Okay, so. It's really interesting. He's polarizing. He's an enigma. Yeah. Because I think you can argue, as I sit next to arguably the greatest U.S. soccer player, the greatest. My man. Heard it here. Heard it here. But you can argue that, like, and I'll say this, like, when I talk about Zach Steffen, right? We come from a long line of brilliant American goalkeepers. I look at Zach Steffen, and I've said this. He should be the greatest U.S. men's national team goalkeeper of all time. Physically, his body is incredible. He can do things that others, we couldn't. Not all the time. And so I look at Gio and I think this might be one of the most talented, like physically gifted footballers. Ewan Clinton had it. But like not many U.S. players have that. So that's why I think he's such an enigma. Because people want, in the spurts that we see, we're like, holy heck. Like nobody does this. And so, look, there's a lot of reasons why he could be on the bubble. Partly because he's not playing consistently enough. But you know me, and I do think at the World Cup you have to have a difference maker. He's special. He is special. When he's on the field and he's on the ball, he's special. He's nasty. He's willing to mix it up. I think he has magic in his feet, and I would put him on the team. I would put him on the team. I would. This one's hard for me. You know, I always say sports are the ultimate meritocracy because they don't care who you are, where you've been from, who you love, what you look like, what language you speak. You have to do the job, and if you don't do the job, you're out, and if you do the job, you're in. But in some cases, it's just not the case. And with Gio, if you said right now and you take his body of work with his club team and with the national team and say he does not deserve to go to the World Cup. however if he's fit and he's healthy and you need a goal in the last 20 minutes you're looking down the bench there's not many people you're gonna look past yeah right or there's not there's not many people you're gonna choose over geo if any right and so now it's like it's not fair and it might not be fair right but he probably needs to go for that reason especially if the roster is 26 players correct yeah he probably does but i personally i think given everything i would say he would be on the outs but i think in pochettino's mind he's like i got something here maybe i can just squeeze a little out of it and maybe it's maybe you only need a little bit of juice out of him like like to your yeah agreed let's sort of take you inside inside a team when it like when the when the fur starts flying sometimes you have this amazing game plan and you train right and you're laughing because you know and then you get into a game and the game plan was get in the half spaces get on the half turn take the ball and all of a sudden for whatever reason there's players on your team like deer in headlights can't get on the ball that might be that might be a moment where he goes okay i'm making a change at 55 minutes geo you're on because guess what we have no focal point we can't get out we've got nobody who's willing to take the ball and maybe in that moment for those 40 minutes he becomes an asset so yeah that i think he's on i think he's in i think he's going what i know is that we're going to have this conversation all the way till all the way Until the roster gets announced. Okay, last one. Interesting one. 18-year-old, I believe, playing at Augsburg, center back, consistently and playing well. Noakai Banks. So if you don't know about him, you're going to learn about him. I'd be curious if he gets called into these March friendlies by a show of hands, assuming you know who he is, on the team. Okay. On the bubble. I'm not sure many know of him yet. He's going to be an out. And on the outs. Yeah, I think not many people know about this kid. I have a bold prediction. Go on, give me. I think he is going to be starting for us in the World Cup. It's amazing. It's an amazing prediction. You said that. I do. And this is why. This is why. Give it to me. Tim Ream is locked and going to play. Chris Richards is more than locked and going to play. I think Pochettino wants this team to have the ability to play in a back three. Yes. I think the team performs best in a back three. so your options become McKenzie Miles Robinson I don't even know Akai Banks you can maybe move if Joe Scali makes the team maybe Alex Freeman can play there maybe Anthony Robinson can play on the left but I think he's a kid who's in his last game played I believe on the right side of a three earlier in the season played on the left side of a three so he clearly comfortable he playing in the Bundesliga every week as an 18 year old And I just think when push comes to shove Pochettino might go okay yeah he young but what are the alternatives Yeah, I mean, just quickly, I think with respect to him, he might make it and might start by default. And what I mean by that is I don't believe we have a right-sided center back to playing three. We've got Tim Ream. We've got, as you said, Chris Richards. and the other one sort of, it's a bit piecemeal together. Like there's not a stand-alone right-sided center back. And so, or it hasn't seen to sort of show itself with Pochettino's selection. So I think he might, you know, again, playing in the Bundesliga, even though he's 18, that's a big deal. That's a real deal. So we will, but I think. You've got to overlook that. I think to your point, though, we'll know the answer to him as opposed to Gio, which I think we'll know way further down the line. I think we'll know the answer to Noakai Banks probably in the next month or two. If he comes into camp or doesn't come into camp or comes into camp and doesn't play, Tansha and Al. Yeah, that's true. Right? And so I think we'll know the answer probably back in the March. Well, Pochettino, I just saw before we came on, like an interview he did, and he said, for him, the World Cup starts in these March games. I mean, that is the way he's viewing it. So I'm taking him at his word. I don't know if it's just media speak or whatever, but it feels like that's where his head's at. It's going to be interesting to see. All right, let's move on to MLS. There was a really interesting signing this week. Big signing. James Rodriguez signed a six-month loan deal with Minnesota United. You guys like this, huh? What do you like about it? Coming to MLS? That's one way to put it. He's had an interesting journey. The last three stops were vacation stops. You got Athens, Sao Paulo, and Rio Vallecano, right? I mean, you have to have – Is Minnesota considered? Minnesota is definitely not going for a vacation. So that I'll give him. Yeah. Yeah. When I first heard about this, Tim, I could not hate it more. Could not have hated it more. I was like, this is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. Yeah. Then I found out that it was a six-month contract. Correct. And so he's still an important piece for Columbia. still captains the national team. They're going to be playing in the World Cup. And for him, hey, six months, let's see how it goes. This is my biggest fear. And you see this all the time in soccer. He comes for six months. He's amazing. Tears up the moon. And Minnesota's like, oh, man, what a guy. Let's sign him to a three-year deal. You have to. And then. You have to. I know. And he just falls off. I have a fan base in Minnesota after he has six good months. Right. And the owner's going, no, we're getting rid of him. Here's why I like it. Hot take, and you can disagree if I'm wrong. I think he comes to the MLS, and every time he steps on the field, he's the best player on the field unless they're playing into Miami. You think he is going to be, or he's the most talented? Sure, most talented, whether he brings it on the day or not. Yeah, for sure. I mean, he's like a top 15 most talented player in the world still. I mean, he oozes now. So that's why I like the six-month thing, because I don't love his injury record at all. So if you talk about signing him for two years plus two or three years, I'd run the other way because of his injury record. But for six months, knowing that he has to and wants to play in the World Cup, of course, I think it's a great sign. It's worth a flyer. I think it's brilliant, yeah. Yeah, for sure. um okay it is time now timmy for crossroads presented by nitza as you said earlier we're always in a rush we're always doing things fast but please guys when you're behind the wheel do not speed follow the speed limit um my mom did this calculation with me one time where she was like whether you go 75 or 85 if you're going like 12 minutes it's going to save you like 14 seconds And I was like, God, that's not a way to think about it. So, yeah. So, don't speed. It's just not worth it. Okay. So, for me, you can tell me if you agree or not. And I'm saying it because it's close to home and close to my heart. I think this is a big crossroads season for the Galaxy. So, you win it in 24. 25 is a total disaster, including Ricky Pooch getting hurt. Now he's injured again this season. and they've made some defensive signings that are going to help them but i think for the galaxy and for greg vanney candidly you can if once you win a championship i think people understand this in sports you get some leeway like you get some time you can't be as bad as the galaxy work consistently or you're going to lose your job and so to me they're at a real crossroads i have no idea what to expect. They were so reliant and dependent on Ricky Pooj in 2024 that in 2025 it all just fell apart because they didn't know what to do. They didn't know how to play without him. And so has Vanny learned from that? What things are they going to change? How are they going to look different to be competitive again? Mine would be Inter-Miami and here's why. I know they brought in a ton of good players. Six probably key acquisitions. But they lost Alba and they lost Busquets. those were major pieces. Those were guys who came to the MLS and didn't mail it in. They were brilliant for Inter-Miami. My other concern is just the human element of Lionel Messi. They win the Supporter Shield. They win the MLS Cup in back-to-back years. And now, in the middle of the season, he's got the World Cup. And this is going to be... And by the way, it's almost impossible to doubt Lionel Messi and say, okay, after the World Cup, he gets a few weeks rest, he'll come back. the guy never steps on the field and isn't highly motivated. I just wonder, like, it's the end of the road for him in regards to, like, he's in the sunset of his career. This will be his last World Cup. There's an emotional toll there, right, that giving him two weeks off isn't going to, like, change. And so I just sort of wonder, like, where will my inter-Miami be going into the World Cup and then sort of coming out of it and Messi's motivation. Again, it's nearly impossible and blasphemous for me to sit up here question is motivation i just know that the end is really difficult that's a really good point and i'm i i i said i said last week i read this book that paul tenorio uh wrote about the messy effect yeah he the one thing that came through so clearly in that book is how competitive he is yeah messi is and so we're gonna learn a ton about him not that we don't know everything about leonel messi but this is one of those moments now after the world cup forget about what happens before then whatever after the world cup can he do it again and like be crazy motivated like he's all i yeah everything about human nature tells me no way except but he's an al mesi so it's gonna be really interesting to see um all right before we get out of here anybody going to the super bowl yeah wow okay can i come with a ticket how are we getting tickets people in the back ask her in the back if you need tickets i think she's got extra um all right so let's touch on the super bowl do you have curious your thoughts on any of nbc's doing it right so you're on the desk this morning this guy was up at 2 a.m this morning by the way and tomorrow you can tell and tomorrow we do so we do he's the hardest working man in unfiltered soccer that's a fact that's a fact that is a fact I just golf all day so Super Bowl thoughts on it do you care do you have a team do you I don't know some people don't care no I know I'm a huge I'm a huge this weekend Patriots fan I like the Patriots here's why I'm a Giants fan they gave us two Super Bowls so I love the Patriots they're incredible that's what I got you? I don't get caught up in fandom someone asked me who do you want to win I'm like I don't really care but I feel I did not bet that doesn't mean I won't but I feel like I don't know my gut is telling me I'd like Seattle to win the game and I don't really know why Can you walk me through this? Therapy couch. I have no idea why. I just feel like I want them to win. Now that Christian's not here, maybe it's because you beat up on Seattle your entire career. We beat this shit out of Seattle. Maybe you just feel bad for the city? Maybe I feel bad. They deserve a championship. I don't know. It should be a great game, though. It's going to be a lot of fun. You know what someone asked me the other day, which is going to sound dumb and crazy, given my answer? but I was with a bunch of kickers, so bear in mind that plays into it. So I was doing Radio Row, and someone said to me, what would be harder for an NFL player to play top-level soccer or for a soccer player to play in the NFL? And I said it would be harder for an NFL player to play soccer. Because you can kick. You can be a kicker. No, no, but if you took that out of you. Hell no, I ain't getting on the field. You would be fine. I'd get killed. You know, the one thing that's... I've talked to people about this, about soccer is if you're not kicking a ball from three or four or five years old, you can't just catch up later. Right, correct. Like, LeBron could have started catching a football at 16 and been the best tight end in the history of the game. Yeah. Right? So, like, you can't learn how to kick a soccer ball way later in life. Good point. So we're clearly much better athletes than football players. Oh, this is a good question Andrew put in. What is bigger, the Premier League in the U.S. or the NFL in England? Oh, that's not even a question. Really? No. For sure. But are we biased, though? Like, is that you guys really believe that? We are biased, absolutely. Premier League in the U.S. Do you really believe that? I saw a guy in the elevator today with a San Francisco jersey on from Australia. like he flew here from Australia to watch them I tell you what, that's an interesting question here's one for you some, I don't know, NFL maybe did it someone did it the highest selling team merch in the UK you'll never guess what NFL team no, you'll never guess New York Jets why? I think it's because so many Brits go to New York Like, they were saying, like, there's no other reason. I don't know. No idea. Isn't that wild? That is wild. I never would have guessed that. What do you think the highest-selling Premier League merch is in the U.S.? I think – Oh, yeah. No, it is. I think it's – It's not City. It's not Liverpool. It's United before Liverpool. It's probably Arsenal. No, no, no, no, no, it's not. It's not. It's Liverpool or United. Definitely Liverpool or United. I'm almost certain of that. All right. All right, final thought. Do you have a prediction for the game? I asked you for your betting. I said I'd like to pay. If you had to bet money. If I had to bet, given what the experts are telling me, I'd bet the Seahawks. Someone would win money. Yeah. Yeah. You'd like money. Do you play the games with squares and all that? Yeah, that's fun. It's not fun. I never win. Yeah, I never win either. All right. Thank you, guys. Enough football talk. We appreciate you guys all being here with us. I hope you guys had fun. Tim promised me before the show that he would stay here for three hours and sign all autographs and take pictures as long as he wants. Actually, he has to get to bed because he's got to be up at... Eventually, yeah, soon. 2 a.m.? Yeah. 2 a.m. Thank you all for being us. Remember, like I said in the beginning, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your podcasts, and you can follow us on all of our social media platforms at Unfiltered Soccer for bonus content. Thank you, thank you, Thank you so much to NHTSA. Reminder, guys, be safe out there. Don't speed. Our segment sponsor, ZipRecruiter. And thank you to our all-the-time sponsors, VW, AT&T, FanDuel, Airbnb, and Coors. And thank you, guys. We mean it. It's so delightful. We sit behind cameras, and we do the pod every week. And being here in the flesh and sort of getting a taste of what you all want and appreciate and love means the world to us. So thank you. We really, really do appreciate it. Thank you, everyone, for tuning in. Have an amazing week. no episode next week. We'll be back on February 17th. So have an incredible Valentine's Day, whatever you're doing. And we'll be back with all new episodes. You're welcome for the hint, all you guys. Go get some. Thank you, guys.