Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Tue, 31 Dec 2024
Time to ring in the soccer New Year! On Unfiltered Soccer, Landon Donovan and Tim Howard give out the first ever Unfiltie Awards including Best Team of the Year and Red Card of the Year. The guys also make BIG predictions for 2025, like who will win the Premier League and what new things FIFA might have up their sleeve. PLUS a bit of Unfiltered Soccer trivia, an extended mailbag including reflections on THAT 2009 Confederations Cup run, and what the guys hope for soccer (and the podcast) in the new year! New episodes of Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim drop every Tuesday. Subscribe to the show on YouTube and follow on all your favorite podcast platforms. For bonus content and to send your mailbag questions in to the show, follow on all social media platforms @UnfilteredSoccer. (https://link.chtbl.com/unfilteredsoccer). Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard is presented by Volkswagen. Learn more at https://bit.ly/4g8bZG3. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Intercontinental World Global Championship Tournament Cup. Wow. I mean, we need more soccer. Who needs more soccer?
We need more soccer.
Welcome to Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard presented by Volkswagen. Volkswagen has long been a supporter of soccer in America and has proudly been a partner of U.S. soccer for the past five years.
LD, I took my daughter to see Hell's Kitchen on Broadway. The Alicia Keys produced show last night. Second time I saw it. When I go to see a show more than once, you know I love it. When I first saw it, it was top three for me. I know it's up there with Jersey Boys. And then last night it's moved into the top two. I mean, amazing.
Amazing. Is Hell's Kitchen because of the area in New York?
Yeah, it's because of how she grew up and it's actually in that area. But yeah, it was a special show.
This show today- Wait, did you ever see Wicked?
didn't supposed to be good what about book of mormon yeah yeah that's dangerous i think i've watched that like seven times book of mormon like people told me it was wild like i can do wild and the more you know about the mormon religion right there it is i dated a girl in high school who's mormon fantastic maybe that's what do you think of my sweater bud look at this it's amazing by the way like i
Golf clap for it. Did you buy it? I asked you if you bought it.
Fox gave it to us. It was like a whatever. holiday present they gave us. It's cool. It's got my name on the back, so I can't wear it out, but it's really cool.
I love it. Please just spin around. Let me see a little bit of the back. All right. It's all stitched and everything. We got a great show today. This is going to be fun. We're going to go a little off kilter, rip up the format a little bit, and we're just going to talk about some interesting things about the show so far and things to look ahead as we end the year in football.
Yeah, it should be fun. Follow us on social media at Unfiltered Soccer. Make sure you subscribe on YouTube. Anywhere you get your podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, if you like what we're doing, please leave a comment. It helps other people find us. You can also email us at feedback at unfilteredsoccer. All right. So first thing, Timmy, just a few questions. Let's go back and forth on this.
What so far have you enjoyed about the podcast?
Well, this is a space that I love. You and I chatted early on in this process. And we're like, what do we want this to be about? And ultimately, it's about... talking a load of nonsense and fun and opinions on soccer, but more than anything, interacting with our fans and hearing what fans of soccer and fans of this podcast want to hear. Like, the real stuff. Absolutely.
The way that media works now, you're getting all the scores and highlights right at your fingertips. As soon as you wake up, you roll over, you check your phone, check your favorite teams. But we can actually use this space and the time to dig into, like, issues that are on the tip of everybody's tongue and the front of mind. So I've enjoyed that.
I've enjoyed not always agreeing with you, but with respect, always back and forth banter and debate. But most importantly, the fans. It's just awesome to hear their feedback.
I have to say, man, I've been really surprised at the reaction. When I was at MLS Cup, there were a lot of obviously all soccer people, MLS people, et cetera. almost every single one of them came up unsolicited and just said, hey, I'm loving listening to the podcast. And I'm like, you're listening to this podcast? These are people like in MLS circle. I'm like, why the hell are you listening?
But I guess the reality is, is, people can't, they've said to me, we can't go anywhere where people can just give an honest opinion. There's so many things they say, I'm so glad you said that about him or that team, because nobody will say it, but it's so true. So that's been really fun for me. I had my buddy that I golf with yesterday. I had no idea. He said, I'm loving listening to the podcast.
And I said, okay, well, give me some feedback. What do you want to hear more of? What do you want to hear less of? He actually said something interesting, and you and I have debated this. He said, I want to hear more stories about, like, can you guys do an episode on your time at Everton and just everything that happened, how it happened, everything that went down beyond the scenes.
We're taking note of all that, guys. Totally. And, you know, whatever you guys want to hear, we're going to talk about. So it's been really fun.
I think the other fun part about LD is, like, when I think about some topics that we've touched on but we're going to get more into is, you know, even, like, systemic issues in the game, right? Promotion relegation, the building of youth soccer in America, the pros and cons. Like, this is what everybody's dealing with.
These are, like, high-level soccer fans who are dealing with this and moms and dads who have their kids in soccer are dealing with it. And it's like, it's really interesting some of these conversations that we're going to be able to get into because they're going to be very, I think, informative. And I've talked to, as an example, the promotion relegation thing.
I'm on one side of the argument, but you know what? I've had conversations, as I mentioned, where I've been talked off that side to the other. So like, it's so complex, but also fun for our listeners as well.
It's going to be great. It's a new way to help grow the game. So I think it's been a lot of fun and we'll continue. All right, we're going to start, do something a little fun today. The first annual, hopefully not the last annual, The Unfiltees. So we got a few categories here and we'll lay out some nominees.
You guys feel free to chime in on YouTube, give us your comments on what you think, but we're going to give our opinions and then we'll go from there. So first one. Your favorite, I think. Best shithousery, best actor, best just deceiving deception. So potential candidates here. Jamie Vardy mocking Spurs fans over Leicester's Premier League title. That was great.
If you don't remember that, go back and take a look. Um, Holland, I think Holland getting the last word on Mark Kukurea.
Yeah.
Saw that earlier in the year. We have to throw in now a little bit of the Kyle Walker the other day. Kyle Walker. Now there's been a lot of them and I'm sure we're going to miss some, but, um.
Well, that's what, that's what, that's what you all need to send us in some things we missed or your favorite shithousery moments. Hit us at unfilteredsoccer.com. Look for me, if the category is going to be named best shithousery, um, I do think like your name is on the MLS MVP trophy.
I think Jamie Vardy's name has to be on the trophy because like this guy who I played against, by the way, in the Premier League winning season of 2016, he just drinks Red Bull and is up for a fight. Like that's what he does. His team's down 2-0. No problem. He's going to run the line. He's going to be nicking balls off. He's going to go down in the box. Like he...
The fact that he scored and then celebrated that with Spurs fans and gave him a bit like, I love that. I love that. And also, by the way, it's Jamie Vardy. That's what I expect from him.
It's just fun to watch him because he's a guy who should never have been where he is. The odds were so stacked against him. And he doesn't care. He couldn't care. And that's the best shithousery is when you just don't care. Also, the one I just thought of was when Erling Haaland chucked the ball at the back of...
of uh was it was it the arsenal game it was an arsenal game was it maybe gabrielle or something like that he grabbed the ball out of the net just threw it at the can't figure out just can't figure it out he's a machine um all right let's move on to team of the year yeah this one's hard team of the year right here are the candidates the nominees buyer leverkusen uh people forget they won
They won the Bundesliga, beating out Dortmund, beating out Bayern Munich. Spain at the Euros, I was there. They were phenomenal. U.S. women winning the Olympics. Yeah. And then Orlando Pride, who would have gone undefeated all year. They rested their starters in one game, but then went on to win the NWSL trophy. They were phenomenal all year. So your thoughts?
Did you cover Spain at the Euros at all?
I did. Many games.
They were special. They were so fun to watch. They were fun to watch. Without massive names. Correct. Big names, but not the traditional. I mean, Bayer Leverkusen for me under Xavi Alonso has just been so impressive. With the young manager playing progressive football, taking on German players. footballing giants in Munich and Dortmund and did it unapologetically.
But for me, for me, you know, because I get a vote, as I keep saying, it's our show, the US women's national team winning gold, it's, it's so difficult because of the standard that they set it, if they don't win a gold medal or a World Cup, it's a catastrophe. Literally, the team gets ripped up and questions are asked and manager gets changed. And like,
It's incredible that that's the standard now, right?
It's incredible. And I, you know, when I, whenever I get a chance to speak to some of the women players, just offline, it's like that mentality of always number one, going in and having to win. And then by the way, when you do win, it's like, Yeah, that's kind of what you're supposed to do. Like, it's almost, it's such a thankless position when you set such a high standard.
But for them to do it again and again, and to kind of rebound, right? Like, to get back to the footballing summit, I thought it was awesome. Always exciting to watch them. And doesn't, you know, my daughter, who is, you know, as you know, a soccer player and going to play in college next year, like... we get an opportunity together to like cheer this team on and wear the jerseys and go crazy.
So it's always fun.
It is. It's remarkable what they've done. And that's my vote too. And I'll tell you why. Women's soccer has caught up to the U.S. national team, right? The rest of the world has caught up and in some ways had surpassed it. In the last few years, there was a lot of talk internally and externally in US soccer circles about what are we doing wrong? And Emma Hayes came in.
And by the way, Tim, she had like a couple months to prepare the team, right? And we talk about how long it takes new managers are looking at Ruben Amorim at United, how long it takes teams to start to play in a certain way. And she made hard decisions. She left Alex Morgan off the team. And she said, here's my front three. I got a few
I got a few reserves that were going to come in and play, but I'm playing the same team seven games in a row and we're just going for it. And we're six games in a row, seven games in a row. We're just going to go for it and we're just going to win it. And yeah, I mean, you talk about unapologetic with Xabi Alonso. I mean, she just went in, it was her way.
And now all of a sudden she's just grabbed that team. They will do anything for her. And now the future looks much brighter. And by the way, it wasn't a bunch of 33 year old women at the end of their career. There's a bunch of young, women who are going to be there for a long time. So I thought they were phenomenal.
Yeah, I thought it was awesome. Moving it along, biggest shock of the year. Now, this category is interesting because there's a couple of things. Whatever shocks you is fine. Winning, losing, that type of thing. In the category, we have Manchester City. Take that how you want it. The fact that they've won the title last year, last season, and now they're in the position that they're in.
Nottingham Forest in fourth place in the Premier League. Massive, massive, massive shock. Chelsea in the Premier League, where they are second, chasing a title after just things being upside down for the last couple of years. Atlanta knocks off Inter-Miami and Messi in the playoffs, first round.
That blew our mind.
That blew our mind. No one saw that coming. San Marino, the lowest ranked FIFA national team, breaks a 20-year losing streak.
What? I'm reading that.
I'm thinking there's a zero.
I know.
When they put that on there, I was like, what? If it was a two-year losing streak, we'd think it was good. 20-year losing streak.
That'd still be crazy.
And a 1-0 win over Liechtenstein. So... Talk to me.
Well, look, there's a lot of shocks here. I'm just like, I'm still reading this. 20 years of losing. 20 years. Can you imagine? I mean, there's probably guys on that played there for 12, 14, 16 years. 20 years of losing. So San Marino, congrats to you. You get my award for biggest shock here. The first unfilty for biggest shock. Congrats on winning a game against Lichtenstein. Poor Lichtenstein.
For sure. You take it. You have it.
You're the biggest shock. It's all yours.
All right. Biggest. We're going to call this biggest red card of the year or biggest fail. So it doesn't have to be a literal red card. It could be. We've got a couple on here. Yeah. You know, we're trying to rack our brains. How do we define biggest, et cetera? So literal red card. Yeah. Tim Wehs versus Panama. And that because... There were a lot of dominoes that fell from that.
Obviously, Greg Berhalter gets let go. Pochettino comes in. I always say, Tim, in life, some of the worst things that happen end up being the best things. You learn from them, and you grow from them. So I ultimately think that was probably the best thing that could have happened, maybe for Tim Weah personally and for the national team. He learned a lot from it. He's been in incredible form since.
The other one we have on here, the Canada drone scandal. And if people don't remember, Canada got found out in the Olympics, women's Olympics, for having drones fly over their opponent's field, training field during training. And head coach Bev got let go. John Herdman sits from Toronto who was...
implicated i would say and all of that got let go from toronto fc because he was the former men's national team coach for canada and if you talk to people again internally they say they've been doing this for years yeah and i guess my first thing is like can we just talk about this what the hell were they thinking right i mean this is crazy
Yeah, look, the Tim Weah red card, as you said, he's still a young player. And that's such a big moment. And I know he felt it in a heavy way. And he's bounced back. And it's amazing how quickly you can mature from these things. So that's an interesting one. Look, I'm not sure. The Canada drone scandal, it could actually fall in best shithousery. It really could. I mean, here's what I would say.
Here's what I would say. There's legalities and lawsuits. I'm going to say CONCACAF, don't you dare. Don't you dare start making scapegoats out of Canada. They might've done wrong. They might've done wrong. But you and I have been in Azteca. Yeah, we've been in El Salvador. We've been in San Pedro Sula in Honduras. We've been in Jamaica.
There's a whole lot of folks at our training match day minus one that ain't supposed to be there. And they pretend to have other jobs around the stadium, but I can assure you there's one job that they have. So before we go picking and choosing who we're going to blame and who we're going to bring scandals upon, and yes, Canada, if you messed up, then shame on you and you should be dealt with.
But deal with everybody, CONCACAF.
Yeah, right. So there's the CONCACAF piece. There's the FIFA piece. And FIFA, same thing goes. It holds true for you, FIFA. But yeah, I mean, what people don't know is when we travel anywhere, There'll be some guy in the corner fixing a brick in the stadium. And you're like, oh, that's great. He's here working on a Friday before the Saturday game.
And next thing you know, he's pulling out a notepad, writing stuff down. And you're like, oh, wait, what's this guy doing here in El Salvador?
Your penalty gets saved the next day.
Yeah, exactly. And the next day, goalie guesses the right way on the penalty. I'm like, what the hell? So there's all kinds of now. Yeah. deception that goes on in day before game trainings. You'll put out a different team in pennies. You'll definitely take penalties a different way. Don't do set pieces the same way. But Canada took it to a whole nother level. So for me, that's a big red card.
You just can't. How dumb are you, by the way? Flying a drone over? If no one's going to notice a drone flying over? Right. So anyway. All right. Last one here for the first annual unfilties. Best performance. Best performance. So we're going to start May 4th, 2024. Take you guys way back, about seven months.
Lionel Messi had a goal and not one, not two, not three, not four, but five assists for Miami against your New York Red Bulls, Tim. Go Metro Stars, yeah. That's number one. Number two, 16-year-old Lamin Yamal, who I watched at the Euros, had a goal and four assists. A 16-year-old, Tim. As a 16-year-old, a goal and four assists.
And I wouldn't say led his team, but was a huge part of his team winning the Euros. And then finally, Jose Lu scoring in the 88th minute. And then again in 90 plus one. Versus Bayern Munich to send Real Madrid to yet another Champions League final.
Yeah, look, my take on all these is, Messi, I mean, just keep doing what you're doing. Like, there's no surprise there. Like, we're giving you a nomination, but like, also not surprised. What I am surprised at, like, the last two blow my socks off. Here's why. 16 years old. Like... It was so hard.
It was so hard for me to compete at the top of my game and to be motivated and not worry about the outcome and not be afraid because I was all of those things at 16, like on the biggest stage to have, I admire these young players. They have just, they just have so much,
freedom and and it's it's incredible what what youth can do so that for me at the european championships is like one goal four assists for spain at 16 years old pretty amazing the jose lu one is personal because here's why i didn't know he still played soccer and don't laugh no that's not to be disrespectful i knew you were gonna you're a bad guy Jose Liu. I'm a bad guy. You said it.
You're terrible. Jose Liu, he lived in my neighborhood in Manchester. We went to the same gym, country club gym spa. And he was playing, I think, for Stoke City at the time. And he might have either come from or gone to Newcastle, right? And he was like- at Stoke city playing sometimes like that's it. Right. Like end of story. And so that's not, he's a good, good player on his day, but okay.
Next thing I know, probably 10 years go by before I hear his name, this pops up and I'm thinking, I called my mate who was our trainer in, in, in England and he was friends with him. And I said, Tom, I just saw a Jose Lu. It's not the same one, right? No, a Jose Lu scored for Real Madrid. He went, yeah, expletive, expletive, expletive. Can you believe it? I'm like, that's not the same person.
Sure enough, same Jose Lu. That's incredible. Maybe he gets the nod. All right, he gets your nod.
All right, guys, that will end the first annual Unfilty's. You guys let us know who should win. What did we miss? I'm sure we missed a lot. Let's take a break. When we come back, we're going to preview what's to come for soccer in 2025. Some predictions, our ideas. right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.
The Unfiltered Soccer Podcast is brought to you by Volkswagen, the presenting partner of U.S.
Soccer. Since 2019, Volkswagen has been on a mission to drive the future of the sport we all love, and VW is committed to making it more diverse, inclusive, and accessible for everyone.
They're not just talking about it. They're out there doing it. VW's partnerships, programs, and soccer clinics are unlocking opportunities for the next generation of players and fans.
As a longtime friend of Volkswagen, I've seen firsthand how VW are connecting with fans and driving the sport forward. From working with them on clinics to being part of their incredible campaigns, it's clear. U.S. soccer is truly powered by the people.
Thank you to VW for being our presenting partner. Learn more about how VW are supporting U.S. soccer at VW.com. There's a lot in life that feels like it should be guaranteed that just isn't. Your team winning the championship, the weather being good on game day, your friends remembering who has the tickets. Some days, you're just a goal-scoring machine.
Yeah, and some days, the ball just passes you by. Right here on Unfiltered Soccer, we know that no matter how much you love the beautiful game, nothing on the field is guaranteed. Thankfully, AT&T is introducing a brand-new guarantee, the AT&T Guarantee.
The AT&T guarantee means connectivity you can depend on, deals you want, and service you deserve. Or they'll make it right.
Whether you're in the stands, watching with friends, or just cheering from home, you can count on the AT&T guarantee.
Learn more at att.com forward slash guarantee. Terms and conditions apply.
AT&T. Connecting changes everything.
We're so done with new year, new you. This year, it's more you on Bumble. More of you shamelessly sending playlists, especially that one filled with show tunes. More of you finding Geminis because you know you always like them. More of you dating with intention because you know what you want. And you know what? We love that for you. Someone else will too.
Be more you this year and find them on Bumble.
LD, this is going to be a little bit of fun or a lot of bit of fun. 2025 preview segment, right? So we're going to have a couple headlines, which are real. And then we're going to have some fake headlines, which we're going to have a ton of fun with. And we hope that you listeners do too. But the real part, this could be the last year of the February to October MLS schedule.
Oh, boy.
I, I think I'm in favor of it. I do. I mean, I think, I think it poses challenges, right? Geographically and with the weather, it's just, I think it'll be, there'll be some places where you're just going to have to accept that that's the norm, but ultimately it favors us as a whole in America to be on the FIFA schedule.
Yeah, so there's a few things to unpack here. So Garber has hinted at it. Commissioner Don Garber has hinted at it. I know internally the league has been looking at this very seriously. Currently, there are so many challenges with the way the schedule is. So one, in the latter part of the season, you're going up head-to-head with the NFL, which is a nightmare for every sport. Anybody talking...
sports in this country knows that that is the biggest disaster so the challenges are the weather i think that's the biggest challenge every time i talk to someone at mls they say it's the weather right the weather is the challenge in january february december even march whatever totally but i said this previously on our podcast i think the league is mature enough now where if it's
where if it's 31 degrees or 26 degrees or 12 degrees in Kansas City or Toronto, whatever, people are still going to come out and support the team. I mean, look, people have been coming out to Dallas and Houston at 103 degrees within a few minutes, and DC and Kansas City and everywhere, Chicago in the summer. So I don't see that being that much different.
I like it mostly for the players because it's really hard to coordinate international breaks with the way the mls schedule is now and it just it would streamline everything so i'd be curious i'm sure they've done um a study to to monitor the fiscal impact and how much it's going to impact the league in that way but i'm for it and i think it'd be great
So the other thing that I think it does is the American sports fan is so resilient, right? That like it will then start to believe that they have an actual home field advantage, right? Because you're like, oh, I don't want to go to Minnesota in December, right?
And then people will, it's like when we played with the national team and we brought Mexico up to Columbus, people like started to really engage that. And look, the fact of the matter is geographically, I've never, ever, ever understood why more teams, don't build their clubs around the weather. What do I mean? You shouldn't be losing at home in Denver. You shouldn't be losing at home in Texas.
Now you're going to lose at home. You shouldn't be losing at home in Toronto and Minnesota and Montreal in the winter months. Like you should build these teams to be resilient to the weather. That way you automatically gain this horrific home field advantage. So yeah, I think, I think it'll be a good thing.
Well, it happens in the NFL, right? I mean, Miami Dolphins go play in Green Bay and they just can't handle it, right? And they can't deal. And it's a big advantage. So the TFG takeover at our former club, Everton, I believe is now final. I hope, you know, I'm like cautiously optimistic, Tim, because we've talked about this. The grass isn't always greener. And when Everton were a mid-table club,
Top eight, top seven, top six club. The fans wanted more and more, and we need to spend money, and we need to spend more. Okay, so bring in new ownership, spend more money, and now look where Everton are. So cautiously optimistic, but what are your thoughts?
Well, look, this has needed to happen for a while, right? TFG has a task on its hands now. to rebuild the club kind of from the inside out. And what I would say is anytime you get a takeover because of how Premier League fans, English fans consume the game. It's like mana from heaven. It's like, okay, you're going to get a runway of like, they're here to do good, let's go.
Now, that's a short runway, right? Because ultimately, what we know about fans, particularly in the UK, is... if they have a bag full of excuses and gripes, let's call them gripes, not excuses, right? If you're winning, those gripes stay in the bag. If you're losing, then it becomes about the stadium needs to be redone. We need a new manager, right?
So as long as you're winning, now that seems simplistic. What happened with Moshiri, and I was part of the team when that transition of power happened from Bill Kenwright, God rest his soul, to Farhad Moshiri.
and everybody at the time and i say this because i was part of that that culture it was sell the damn club bill sell the damn club and bill can't remember it yeah yeah i don't want to sell to just anybody because i love this club right and it's always about dollars we get that so he sells right to an ultra rich billionaire and everybody at everton was going yeah
Fast forward eight years later, seven managers later, three directors of football later, fines and sanctions because the money that they demanded be spent was spent and it was spent irresponsibly, right? So- New ownership, they've got to build the trust of the supporters. They get the new stadium involved in the deal and the package to transition the team from Goodison Park to Bramley Moor Dock.
So that's good. What I look at, and United are starting to get it right. Look, Manchester United, everybody's got something to say about them. They're on the tip of everybody's tongue. But Ineos is creating this... this hierarchy from the top down from Sir Jim Radcliffe and Brailsford down. And I know they brought in Omar Barada from Man City and they just fired or let go of Dan Ashworth.
But the fact of the matter is they're building a sustainable structure between ownership and the playing staff. So They have their work cut out for them. I think Sean Deitch's contract is up at the end of the season. I don't think they'll retain him, not because I don't like him, and I think he's a really good football manager.
And what he did, and you know this over the last three years, to steer this football club to safety, Has been football genius because, look, they were under sanctions. They got fined. They sat to sell, you know, some of their better players. They couldn't bring players in.
They got dot points, right.
Got dot points. They have, you know, they have probably three top players and he got them to buy in. So, like, yeah, Landon, I think their work is cut out for them. But it's sunnier days, certainly from where this club has been over the last couple of years.
Well, let's hope it turns around. Club, we obviously both love dearly, and you spent a lot more time than I did, but I think our feelings for it are very similar. Totally. All right, let's move into, this is fun. We are going to do fake headlines. So these are going to be fake future headlines. What I'm going to do, Tim, I'm going to run through each one
And I want you to tell me then yes or no if you think this headline is going to hold up, and you tell me why. And then I'll give you my thoughts, okay? Okay. First fake headline will be in May of 2025, and it will say, Chelsea have won the English Premier League. Yes or no?
Not as fake as one might think.
There's no levels of fake.
There's lots of levels of fakeness in this world. No, I think that... I think it could happen. I still wouldn't put them as my favorites, but I like them, and I think that not a terribly fake headline.
Okay. Now, would you say they are the most likely to challenge Liverpool? Yes. Obviously right now. Yes.
Okay. Yeah. Easy to say now, but they're not showing us any signs that it's fake.
I really, really want to go out on a limb here and say it's a real headline. Yeah. I just think they're just a little young and immature. If this was a year or two from now, I'd say I think they could do it. It's a fake headline, but we'll see. Maybe it'll be real. We'll see. All right, next one I got for you. FIFA announces... Another FIFA tournament.
Amazing.
It is called the Intercontinental World Global Championship Tournament Cup. Do you think this will happen?
Wow. Wow. Another FIFA tournament. The Intercontinental World Global Championship Tournament Cup.
Yes, and they were citing a lack of funds at FIFA. They needed to bring in more money. That's the reason they decided. That's amazing.
Here's the thing. That is... The wildest headline ever, other than the fact that, I mean, we need more soccer. Who needs more soccer?
We need more soccer.
The players don't need more soccer. Oh, my God.
No. Massively fake headline. All right. Forget the name. I love the name. It's a brilliant name we came up with. We have to trademark that. Is there a chance that FIFA somehow comes up with yet another tournament? No. We said no two years ago. Yes, yes. Nations League. Yeah. World Cup expanded. I mean, who the hell knows, right?
Other than the fact that I can't imagine there being another competition, but I didn't think there'd be another competition a couple years ago. Did you think Nations League would exist? No, I'm glad it does, to be fair.
But I know. I know. Slightly did away with all the friendlies. Yeah. Okay. Last one. Yep. U.S. men's national team. Fake headline. I believe I'm just going to say it right now. This will be a real headline.
Yep.
USA wins the Nations League and Gold Cup double. Yes or no?
Not a fake headline. The U.S. need, U.S. men need to win the Nations League and the Gold Cup double. They need it for morale. They need it for confidence. They need it because, let me go on the other side of glory, they need to get to semifinals and finals of tournaments together in big moments to know what that feels like. Because, again, we're beating this horse.
there is no World Cup qualifying. They need to be in those moments where it hurt, where that sour feeling in your belly when you wake up because something is on the line that day and your whole group needs to feel it. And there's not enough of those moments. I mean, when we were playing, there wasn't enough of those moments.
And so I think if you look at the headline of them winning both the Nations League and the Gold Cup, that means they will have gotten to those moments and surpassed them. And so, and I think this team can do it under Marcio Pochettino. So yeah, I'm excited for that.
I think they will too. All right, you guys let us know. Will Chelsea win the Premier League? Will FIFA announce another tournament this year? And will the national team win the Nations League and Gold Cup double? You guys let us know. All right, we're going to take a break. When we come back, last segment of 2024, we're going to face off in a little bit of trivia that Jordan has for us.
We have no idea what she's going to ask. I'm kind of scared. And then we're going to get into quite a few mailbag questions. You guys have left a lot lately, so we're going to try to answer your questions right here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.
This episode is brought to you by Love Hurts. Kiwi Kwan has had quite a career, from childhood roles in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies to a recent Academy Award win for Everything Everywhere All at Once. But now, Ki finally stars as a leading man in the film Love Hurts. Love Hurts is the perfect date night movie with its mix of over-the-top action, comedy, and a ton of heart.
Love Hurts, only at theaters February 7th.
This episode is brought to you by Intuit TurboTax. Didn't file with TurboTax last year? That's in the past. Now, Taxes is getting the TurboTax app and filing your own taxes for free if you didn't file with them last year. File by February 18th. All tax forms, all 100% free. Now, this is taxes. Intuit TurboTax.
New filers and filers who didn't use TurboTax last year only must start and file your own taxes in-app by February 18th. Excludes TurboTax Live. Full terms at TurboTax.com.
Yeah, we are back. Listen, Landon, this is everyone. This is what we're hearing. Everyone's favorite time of the week when Jordan, our wonderful producer, joins us for mailbag questions. But first, today, because it's the holidays, we have a trivia game. I love trivia. Yeah, I'm good at trivia, by the way.
I'm just throwing that out there. JR, bring it. I love trivia. I love trivia. Okay.
Where's your Houston dash at? Let me see.
Have you sent it to me? Because. I'm certain.
I'm certain it's on Santa's sleigh.
Yeah.
Okay. Just saying. All right. We'll get that up in the new year.
Okay.
So you guys recorded the show. You should probably.
I don't remember anything. I try to forget it. All right.
All right. Are you ready?
Always. Do we have buzzers? Do we have bells? How are we ringing in?
I mean, you should just jump in with the answer. No?
You didn't think through this very well. It's just like, whatever. All right. Here we go.
Okay. In our first ever episode, which two MLS coaches did you mention? I can give you a hint. Greg Berhalter and Bruce Serena. You're half right.
I'm going to say, when was our first episode?
It was a million years ago. It felt so long ago. I'm going to say... Definitely Greg Berhalter, by the way.
Definitely. Don't look to her for answers.
I'm going to say Tata Martino and Bruce Serena.
Okay, so you're both half right. We talked about Bruce Arena and Jim Curtin. Oh, Jim Curtin. Landon was so mad. Right, because he got fired. He got fired. Yeah.
All right. It's hard.
Okay.
God, out of sight, out of mind, huh?
So you guys have half a point apiece. All right. Here we go.
Okay.
On Monday, December 2nd, which is when we recorded an episode, who were the top three EPL teams in order and why?
That's the worst question ever.
I know.
Oh, I know. I know.
I know. I know. Go. Come on. Liverpool.
Yep.
Arsenal, Chelsea, and Arsenal were ahead based on alphabetical order.
That's right. My guy. That's my guy. That's my guy. Good job. Yeah. Proud of you.
Sometimes you carry us and most of the time I carry us.
It's fine. Sometimes this big forehead carries a lot of knowledge.
Okay. Next question. This one's really hard. I don't know if you're going to get this one, but maybe. Maybe. In what year did NL Jackson write that all players taking part in England in future international matches be presented with a white silk cap with red roses embroidered on the front and these will be termed international caps?
What a guy he was, huh?
18.
1883.
I'm saying 1897. Okay. So Tim's actually closer.
It was 1886.
1886.
86. Yep. All right, I'm up one and a half to half for those keeping track.
What made Marta's experience in the NWSL championship game… Her mom coming to the game for the first time in America. Boom.
You weren't going to… I just rung in. It doesn't matter. Yes, her mother came to the game, the final, for the first time ever coming to America from Brazil. Amazing, amazing story.
Okay. How many English players pulled out of appearing for their national team in November igniting the ire of Captain Harry Kane?
Nine. I was going to say eight or nine.
Wow, Tim. I'm on fire.
I told you I'm good.
I told you I'm good at trivia. Let's go. I was going to say it and I didn't say it. All right, Landon. Come on. This is the last one.
LD, you're getting house right now. I'm still winning one and a half, too.
The two and a half? Yeah. Okay.
Oh, God.
All right, Landon. I know you know the answer to this question.
Okay.
How many episodes of this show mention Ricky Pooj? Jesus.
Three. That's a really good question.
Three is my answer. Three is wrong. You don't like that answer. Come on, Landon.
See, I just helped you.
I'm going to say two.
Five. Oh, my God.
That's too many. That's too many.
The only time you have not mentioned Ricky Pooj, because we just did now, was last week.
Oh, you know. You know what? I'm an investor in the Houston Dynamo and Dash, and I'm going to speak to our bosses because this is completely slanted towards Galaxy. And you've done something in your contract five times.
Hey, listen, pal. If you want your players' names mentioned, then win some trophies.
Next episode is all about Houston.
I mean, I think we're going to have to do that since Tim technically did win two and a half to one and a half points in our trivia game.
So good job, Tim.
All right, let's do some mailbag questions. How about that?
Congrats, Tim. Thanks, brother.
Five?
Wow, five? It's you. It's you. It's ridiculous. Not the podcast. How many times has it landed?
That's ridiculous. Okay, go ahead, J.R.
Okay, here's a question from Xavier via email. As a professional athlete, how do you limit distractions from the media, rival opponents, as well as potentially harming relationships off the field?
Hmm. Wait, say the first part again? How do we know? Or when we were playing?
I think he means when you were playing. So as a professional athlete, how do you limit distractions from the media, rival opponents, and potentially letting it impact your relationships off the field?
It's a brilliant question. The answer to it is this. I don't think... I don't think you can be great or chase greatness or be considered amongst the elite as an athlete if you don't sacrifice everything.
i miss weddings and funerals and birthdays um i i closed off from everybody on the in on the outside world by the way i'm not saying this is always healthy and i'm not saying it's always good i needed to get to a level and i've experienced this with other players around me where you where you just create this bubble around yourself you let very few people in um performance wise you have to go to these
these incredibly dark rooms in your mind to get yourself focused, to block all the other nonsense out that says you aren't good. There's a lot of takers out there, right? And people fall victim to that because ultimately with what I'm saying, and I know Landon agrees is, is, you isolate yourself to make those performances happen day in, day out, but then you're lonely.
And so you search for people to come to, maybe you go to the nightclub and you buy them bottles of alcohol, or you bring them on shopping sprees with you, you bring them on vacation. We see that all the time. And it's just simply to bring someone close to you. And those people are usually leeches. And so it is so hard. It's so hard. But again, for me, I had to sacrifice everything.
I'm not always proud of that, but certainly proud of the career.
Yep, same. And yeah, to get to the top, that's just part of it. The media part's interesting. Tim and I played in a time where social media wasn't as prevalent. Thank God, because now anything you say or do is under crazy microscope.
And so, and you're also just, if you could sit on, I could sit on Twitter today and read hours and hours and hours of people telling me how crappy this show is or how big my forehead is or how, it could just go on and on and on. And so fortunately we didn't have that, but you have to find a way and hopefully it happens quickly for young players now to just either stop reading it
Or just you can read it and almost just laugh at it because actually you just feel compassion for these losers sitting in their basement, like typing things on Twitter.
Yeah, and I also think to add to that, Jordan and Landon, look, I mean, the question is brilliant. When it comes to, you know, I put a lot of onus on and blame and responsibility on the agents for not protecting some of these young players. On the clubs, now the clubs are doing a better job in terms of bringing in welfare officers and making sure that
um they have they have people men and women around the team first team academy players who are looking out for for their welfare on and off the pitch so that that's help but look for me the social media aspect is difficult and a lot of players fall victim to it ld and the fact of the matter is I've always believed someone buys a ticket and someone watches a game and that's what they get.
They get a 90 minute experience. You give everything you have. And if on a certain day it's good enough, great. And if on a certain day it isn't, okay. But the amount of times that these athletes feel compelled to explain themselves and explain performances. They have to learn to let things live where it's going to be.
When they say something, as long as it's thought out and maybe fact-checked with their agent or their manager or their best friend that they trust, let it live out there. This constant internet, social media battle isn't healthy for players.
Very strong answers. This one's from Johnny via email. What are some of your favorite books about the game?
Oh, good question, Johnny. Tim doesn't read, so it's going to be tough for him.
Look at those glasses. Come on.
He's got lots of books. He's got his Volkswagen. He has his Volkswagen. Oh, yeah, you wrote a book. I'm in the process. This show is going to feature heavily.
I can write the foreword if there's enough coin involved. Keep going.
I like a lot. I don't know if you read Soccernomics. That was interesting. Mm-hmm. I have read a lot of biographies or autobiographies including Tim's. I'm trying to think what would be my favorite. Do you have a favorite?
Yeah, The Keeper by Tim Howard. It's still on shelves. You can get it by Christmas Eve if you'd like. Did y'all set this up, by the way, Jordan? Did he tell you to ask this? No, listen, listen. I'll be honest. The book I wrote is great. If you have trouble sleeping, if you tuck into chapter one about 10 o'clock, it'll put you right to sleep.
My favorite book was Roy Keane's autobiography, and I think he wrote two. But he's one of the most fascinating, amazing human beings I've ever been around, one of the greatest players, top. three that I've ever played with. I mean, I think the world of him on and off the pitch. And, um, I remember having his book and, and, and I was in the main address room. I was a kid.
26.
And I remember, I think he, he, he joked about having like boxes of, of his books still like in his car, in the trunk of his car. And I remember saying like, you know, you know, can I, can I have a, can I have a book please? You know? And he's like, he brought me the book in the next day. And I was like, could you sign it? He's like, to you? I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, to me, to me.
And so he signed it. But anyway, in that book, he talks about, it's one of the craziest, greatest stories that I, football stories is when he tore his cruciate ligament making a run in the penalty area in Alfie Holland. Erland Holland's father at the time stood over him and told him to get up and told him that he was faking. And a lot of people won't agree with this or think it's okay.
And maybe I don't either, other than the fact that it speaks to who Roy Keane is as a person. He spent a year
know eight months to a year rehabbing a cruciate ligament and he comes back and most of the time for all most players and human beings that the anger towards an individual would subside right after a year yeah you want to get back on the pitch and Roy lined Alfie Holland up and snapped his leg and looked at looked at him stood over him and
said some things that maybe Alfie Holland said to Roy a year before. And he took his armband off, accepted the red card, and he walked off the pitch. And whether we like that or not, we're not teaching you to be overaggressive and snap people's legs. But the fact of the matter was, he's different. And I love the fact that I play with him and have the book. Great book.
The book actually... Yeah, that's a crazy story. The book I'm reading right now is... rest his soul, Grant Wall's book. And it's not a soccer book, but there are a lot of soccer stories. So it's a lot of his stories or it's all of his stories that he wrote. And a lot of soccer stories in there that are really good. So that's what I'm reading right now.
Nobody asked me my opinion, but Johnny, if you want them, just email feedback at unfilteredsoccer.com. I want your opinion.
Go on, Jer.
My list.
No, no, no.
What are you reading? The Keeper? What? No. What are you reading? No, because nobody sent it to me yet. So I don't have it.
You got a book and a hat coming. What's your favorite? You read a lot of soccer books in general.
I really like soccer books that are about like culture and society and how football like kind of impacts all of that. So stuff like How Soccer Explains the World. Yeah, that's Franklin. I think Franklin Four, right, is the guy. Or Football Against the Enemy by Simon Cooper. Like those kind of things. But also like the first soccer book I ever read was – Fever Pitch, right? Oh, yeah. Nick Hornby.
It's just people have seen the movie and think it's like a fiction thing. It's like a bunch of essays about how much he loves Arsenal. And who doesn't like to just listen to stories about how much somebody loves their football club?
Totally. Well, not Arsenal.
No, not. Okay. So this is Evan on YouTube. What made you guys want to start a podcast together?
We've talked about a little bit, certainly offline, but we wanted to get into this arena for a while. I'll speak for both of us. We've both had many offers from people to try to... get us involved in this world. We're both selective about things we do, and we both care about the product we put out. I think that was exhibited in our careers. And so
We have the same agency, different agents that we've both had for a long time, and it all kind of came together quickly. Would you be interested in Landon? Yes. Would you be interested in Tim? Yes. And we kind of talked through structure, format. You guys were involved in the process, Sinclair, and it just felt right. And I guess that's the simplest answer for me.
It felt right and the right timing. leading into the World Cup in 26, giving people a place where they can ask questions like this and get really honest feedback in a way that they haven't before.
Yeah, I mean, I think the easy answer is this space is really an awesome space to be in. It allows for freedom of kind of connectivity and expression. And I think when it, more than anything, podcasts allow you to build a community, right? And this is what we're doing.
It allows you to kind of have this steady stream every single week and a touch point for us with each other and our listeners, but for...
our listeners and viewers uh back to us as well right and there's this constant communication and collaboration and um you know when it comes when it comes to talking soccer it's it's what everybody wants to do and we we're very fortunate to be a part of that also you know the logistics are there's a lot of podcasts out there that aren't done very well and and being a part of a
good team is something landon and i have always hung our hat on on and off the field and so when sinclair came and said that they have the right formula to create a successful podcast and they wanted landon and i um you know the relationship between between the three groups just seemed to mesh so yeah but most importantly it's community it's just like we're you know as we build this thing the unfiltered soccer community is going to be the largest in america and we're going to have the loudest voice and so we're just happy to take that journey with you
I am really uncomfortable with how warm and fuzzy I'm feeling, so I'm going to move on to another question now. You're welcome. Again. I hate it. She's the Grinch. That's me. I'm the Grinch. I'm Ebenezer Scrooge. This one's from Danny Yall via email. The U.S. men's national team's second-place finish— in the 2009 Confederations Cup is one of the greatest achievements in the program's history.
To beat that legendary Spain team in the semis and go toe-to-toe against Brazil in the final was something special. How do you look back on that tournament now, and what was the magic in that group, you guys were talking about teams just before, that allowed you guys to achieve what you did?
Great question. So let me take you through. This is crazy how tournaments work. So I'm going to start. This might be a long answer. 2002 World Cup, my first World Cup. We lose our final game. So we have four points in the group. We win our first, tie our second, lose our third. We lose our final game.
The only reason we advance out of our group is because South Korea beat Portugal at the end of their game. Otherwise, we would have gone home. Portugal were the favorite to maybe even win the World Cup, but to win that game, certainly. Next thing you know, we beat Mexico. We get to the quarterfinals, and it's the most successful World Cup ever.
It all hinged on another team's results, or we could have been going home, and it would have been a failure. 2006, lose our first game, tie our second. Miraculously, had we beaten Ghana in the third game, we would have gone to the next round, we end up losing on a really bad penalty call. But it all could have been way different based on one play.
2010 World Cup, the Algeria goal, we are minutes away from going home. Instead, it turns into a successful World Cup. So just so people understand how tournaments work in the US's case, it always comes down to a play or two. So in that Confederations Cup, our final game against Egypt, we had a minus, correct me if I'm wrong, Tim, I think we had a six-goal goal differential.
It was six or seven, yeah. Six-goal goal differential, meaning we needed to win our game and have Italy win their game, and a combined six goals change. We win 3-0, Italy wins 3-0, and that means we advance. So we shouldn't have advanced. We shouldn't have gone on. But we end up advancing and then we play Spain. And in my opinion, that's the best game I've ever been a part of for the Nationals.
The best overall game we ever played against Spain. Spain hadn't lost in 35 games at that point. And we beat them 2-0. Went to the final. We were up 2-0 on Brazil. They ended up coming back to win 3-2, but phenomenal tournament. But I just want people to understand, when you're watching tournaments, we're not a team that wins three games in the opening round yet. We will be someday.
But they all hinge on one play.
Yeah, great explanation in terms of taking us down that road. What I would say about the Spain game was... When you're in South Africa, or depending on geography, you feel a million miles away, right? And South Africa felt a million miles away. You know where you are on the map, but you're also like, You're together in this hotel for a month, and you just feel far away, right?
And so there's so much camaraderie. And we barely, as Landon said, squeaked by getting the Egypt result. I don't think we were playing brilliant football in that tournament. In fact, I think we got battered in our opening game. But we go into this Spain game, and now everyone knows, like, we're not under any illusions. at the training table, in the training room, on the training ground.
We know what's going to happen. We understand how great this Spain team is. And to just explain to the listeners, this wasn't a fluke. This Spain team didn't go... Uh, it's, it's the, it's the U S we'll roll over there. Maybe they thought that, but they didn't perform that way. We hit him. We, we smacked them in the teeth and they didn't like it. And Josie, Josie was rolling.
Josie out the door was putting world-class center backs on his back and turning them and rolling. And by the way, it wasn't because they didn't decide to turn up. It's because Josie was strong. He was an ox. And on that day, he gave it to him. Clint Dempsey, he was another one. He produced magic. I think Charlie Davis was on the team. We earned every ounce of that.
And the craziest thing for me is like in the moment, like explain to our listeners, you're trying, I can speak for myself. I'm desperately trying to stay in the moment because I am feet fluttering off the ground, mind racing, like we could do this. And I'm like, no, no, no, we haven't done anything. Like get back to the moment, right? There's still 25 minutes left.
And then five minutes goes by and another shot goes. And then you start to think, oh, we could win this. And this constant trying to refocus my mind to be like, Stop thinking about this monumental achievement you're about to create and focus on the moment. And then ultimately, I think the biggest, as amazing as that is as players and Landon will attest to this,
People have been asking for the last 20 years, when's the U.S. going to win a major tournament? That question is going to get asked 500 trillion million billion times over the next 18 months. We had a chance. We were up 2-0, I think, against Brazil, right, with 45 minutes to go. We had the opportunity to be that team. And look, Brazil was just freaking incredible too, right?
But that's the takeaway is that that game was just so – Um, so incredible because we, we, we shouldn't have been there. We shouldn't have been in that moment and we shouldn't have performed the way we did, but that's the beautiful ball.
Awesome. Okay. I only have one question left for you. It is from Jr via grumpy producer. Um, and she would like to know, what are you looking forward to doing with this podcast in 2025? Good question. Well, for me, um,
I'm still trying to figure out and we're trying to figure out what you guys value the most, right? What do you want us to speak about the most? What do you care? When we do our production meeting, there are 15, 20, 25 stories we could talk about. And we end up trimming it down to things we're passionate about or think that you guys are going to be passionate about.
But we want to know what you guys care about. What do you want us to speak about? And I have anecdotal evidence and feedback from people I know. We read comments. You get your emails. But you can feel free to tell us. And if there's things you don't want to hear about, tell us. It doesn't mean we're going to always listen.
But we want to, as Tim said, create a community here that is inclusive and everyone feels a part of. What I'm most looking forward to, honestly, is... getting to go places and do this live together and in person and with you guys around, fans around.
So whether I'm not committing to anything, but I don't want to make Jordan nervous, whether it's Nations League, Nations League, Gold Cup, maybe go to a Premier League game, go to an Everton game, go places and be there on the ground with you guys where we can do this live and in person. I think that'll just be, that'll be really fun.
Yeah, I mean, I think for me, that's it. To grow this show organically with our listeners, create that community. For me, two things stand out for the new year. definitely want to do a live show. I want to take the show on the road. I want to be amongst our people.
I want to feel that energy of what a live show is like, whether that's a Q&A or a moderated session or just Landon and I rapping and doing it in front of a live audience. I know what that energy feels like, and I know it's going to be just awesome for everybody involved. So that's going to be a huge undertaking, but also one that
again continue and again continues to build community get it get some merchandise out there make sure everybody's waving it around um excited about that i'm also excited about about bringing on and we talk about how i think we had a question recently jordan about like how do we continue to build this momentum of soccer in america and build this community like i'm excited to bring on um
some cross-cultural guests on the show, right? That want to get into soccer or have invested in soccer or have some sort of tie to soccer, but they're not soccer people. And I want to hear what their journey is like and kind of share that with you all and get a chance to understand how far we have and that reach we have.
That's really good. And Tim, I was just saying, as you were saying that when we were with the Galaxy, being in LA, obviously a lot of stars, whatever. The two for me, I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it now. We would have people come into the locker room sometimes after the game, mostly after David Beckham arrived, because they all wanted to meet him, see him. But I was a benefactor of that.
But Wayne Gretzky came in with his son one day after a game, which was really cool. And then God rest his soul, Kobe Bryant came in after a game one day. And you don't realize that they're soccer fans, right? But everyone who has kids... Almost all of them play soccer at some point and the ones who really love soccer and are part of it want to be there and be part of it.
So getting to speak to people, I know Patrick Mahomes now with Kansas City Current and it's just, there's so many people now involved in the game, which is awesome.
Well, this has been a lot of fun. Just as a reminder to anybody who's listening, you can email me at feedback at unfiltered soccer. If you've got questions for future episodes or if you just want to talk about what what these guys just asked you, like, what do you want to hear about on the show? Let's definitely talk about it. Leave your comments on YouTube.
And thanks to both of you for the seven episodes we put out so far. It's been a lot of fun. I haven't wanted to rage quit my job just yet. So it's going.
You've had some moments, be honest.
um you've had some no comment no no comment i don't know listening to you talk about these live shows and thinking about running around oh yeah the microphone is definitely giving me some fear but um we've got the best through it we got we've got the best listeners and the best production team thanks jr enjoy the holidays jr thank you thank you guys well timmy uh i was just actually thinking how many episodes seven episodes it's been awesome man really enjoyed it um
Wishing you and your family the very best for the holidays. Thanks to all of you guys for everything. Remember, subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify. I know I'm a broken record, but it helps people find us. Follow the show across all the social media at Unfiltered Soccer. Lots of bonus content. But thank you all. Happy holidays to all.
Yeah, thanks so much, everybody. And thank you to our presenting sponsor, VW. Have a great week. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Kwanzaa. Whatever you're celebrating, do it with love with your family and others. We'll be back next Tuesday with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.