- 16 hours ago
Listen as The Junkies break down Landon Donovan’s harsh comments about Christian Pulisic.
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00:00Yesterday, we spent some time talking about the disappointment of the U.S. men's national team in the World Cup.
00:06And started tackling the whys.
00:09Is it the pay-to-play system in the United States?
00:12Is it the cultural rank of soccer?
00:16Other sports are ahead of soccer.
00:18Is it too expensive for some kids?
00:21I was thinking about this this morning.
00:24Because we had this discussion, a pretty lengthy discussion yesterday about it.
00:28And everyone made good points.
00:30But it really hasn't affected the females in this country.
00:33No, the females dominate.
00:34But that's also because in other countries, in terms of the popularity of female sports, it's way down there.
00:42It's growing.
00:43I get it.
00:45So female soccer here is much better than male soccer.
00:48Way better.
00:49In the World Cup, they've been dominant.
00:51They've won two of the last three or three of the last four.
00:54Won a bunch.
00:55Yeah, so it's much different on the female side.
00:56I was just wondering why, but you make a good point about, in other countries, how popular the men's sports
01:02are.
01:02But we were kicking around all these different possibilities.
01:05And they're probably all part of the equation.
01:08But one thing that I've come around to, and maybe it's dumb, it's simplistic, is when you watch the World
01:14Cup this year in particular, all the stars are showing out.
01:17The stars are carrying their team.
01:20And Mbappe's got seven goals.
01:22Holland's got seven goals.
01:23Messi's got eight goals.
01:25The stars are showing out.
01:26And the United States supposedly had a star.
01:29And he fizzled.
01:30Now he got hurt, and he didn't play that much.
01:32He had one good half.
01:34One good half.
01:34But that was, I agree with your larger sentiment.
01:38But the soccer geeks, like even Sebastian said, that Balogun was going to be the guy that was going to
01:43be the breakout guy.
01:44Yeah.
01:44And he kind of was.
01:45He kind of was.
01:47I mean, not to the level of those other guys.
01:49He's not their number 10.
01:50I know it's not always the number 10.
01:52I know.
01:52I understand.
01:54And he was, Pulisic was for sure for the normies, like us, the regular folks.
01:59He was kind of the big name.
02:00He was the big name.
02:00Yeah.
02:00But the soccer geeks did say that Balogun was going to be the guy.
02:03But Pulisic was the most accomplished international player.
02:07Now I know his previous six or seven months.
02:10Wasn't great.
02:11He wasn't scoring in Italy.
02:12But before that, he was like the American who was doing the best in the international field.
02:18So anyway, I kind of came to this conclusion.
02:21Well, your superstar has got to show out if you're going to win.
02:23And it's almost like a basketball philosophy.
02:25Like in the NBA, usually the team has the best player wins.
02:30Or at least the team that has a very good superstar that plays well.
02:35Because, you know, like you had Wemby against Brunson.
02:37It's like stars that carry teams.
02:40And that's what we're kind of seeing in the World Cup.
02:42Well, Pulisic was supposed to be the star.
02:45Landon Donovan has been a star for the national team in the past.
02:48Here's what he said about Christian Pulisic.
02:51I believe I am uniquely qualified the only person probably who's been in his shoes.
02:56The level of which he is dealing with this is much greater than the level I dealt with.
03:01Because this was 2006 for me.
03:03Not many people were paying attention.
03:04It was not a home World Cup.
03:05Social media didn't exist.
03:07So this is exacerbated by a ton.
03:09I have been in his shoes.
03:10I had a horrible World Cup.
03:12Completely let the team down.
03:13Was getting criticized for the first time.
03:15Not to the extent he is.
03:16I know the feeling.
03:18The feeling is identical.
03:20And I would just say this.
03:21It led me to therapy.
03:23It led me to take a look at my life and my career honestly for the first time.
03:27It allowed me to have massive important conversations with people I love in my life about all things.
03:33Not just soccer.
03:34And it changed my life forever in a positive way.
03:36I don't know if Christian will cares about that.
03:39Wants to do all that.
03:39We don't have a great relationship now.
03:41I'm sure he doesn't like me.
03:43Doesn't respect me.
03:44I'm saying this to you Christian.
03:45You probably don't listen.
03:46This is an opportunity to help and to change your life forever.
03:50One of the biggest problems.
03:51I speak to people who are at U.S. Soccer.
03:53I speak to his sponsors.
03:55I speak to his teammates.
03:57I speak to the staff and the coaches.
03:59People are fed up with the way things are handled around him.
04:03And it's not necessarily him.
04:05But it's his agents.
04:06His family.
04:07His hangers on.
04:07The people are influencing.
04:09People are fed up with it.
04:10They treat people poorly.
04:11They do things poorly.
04:12It's always a no.
04:14Whenever you want to ask, can we do an interview?
04:16It's always a no.
04:17You can't get near him.
04:18He doesn't say hi to the commentators who do all the games all the time when they walk by.
04:23All the other guys come over and shake hands and say hello.
04:25There's just this sense about him that you can't get near him.
04:28It's too big.
04:29And I actually don't think it's from him.
04:30I think it's from the people around him.
04:32They need to stop.
04:33And he needs to man up and have a conversation with them and say, look, guys, this is not helping
04:37me.
04:38He needs to get some training on media.
04:39I did, too.
04:40I said a lot of dumb and people are like, hey, Landon, you don't want to come off this way,
04:44do you?
04:44And I still make mistakes all the time.
04:46All of these things can be a positive.
04:47He has.
04:48I have to say, though, he has a big challenge ahead because, Tim, I'm thinking ahead to the next game.
04:52And J.R., like if we happen to be at this game, the next U.S. game in this country,
04:56what do you think that's going to look like?
04:57Like, think about that.
04:58Is he going to get booed when they announce him?
04:59Maybe people are livid.
05:00So, anyway, it's a long-winded way of saying this can be a good moment in your life.
05:05A lot of things need to change.
05:06And I actually think it's not him.
05:07I think it's the people around him.
05:10I don't know.
05:10I don't think that affects the way he played on the field, though.
05:13But I think it's valid criticism, probably.
05:16I mean, he would know.
05:17He sounds like he knows.
05:18Sounds like he would know.
05:19People don't like him for some reason.
05:21Is it because he caught a lot of criticism?
05:23He thinks he's better than he is, and that's what all the people around him are telling him?
05:26Could be.
05:26He caught a lot of criticism for his comments after the loss.
05:30Because he said, now I have time to get some rest.
05:34People didn't want to hear it.
05:35Well, he also made a comment about how the future's bright for U.S. soccer.
05:39And people are like, we've been hearing that for 30 years.
05:41What do you mean the future's bright?
05:43It looks pretty miserable.
05:45So, he wasn't with the team during their Gold Cup run.
05:49Because he was resting.
05:51Yeah, he was resting for that.
05:53Was it because of an ankle, or just because he just wanted to rest?
05:56Here's what I'm going to say, though.
05:58No, no.
05:58It was last summer.
05:59It was last summer, the Gold Cup.
06:01And he sat it out to get prepared for this season in the World Cup.
06:04And then he started off at Milan really hot, and then he had one goal after December.
06:09I know he didn't score in his last 15 games.
06:10Everyone wanted him to participate in the Gold Cup because they just got the new coach.
06:14And they have a new system, and you want to prepare with your teammates before you go
06:20to the World Cup.
06:21But he wanted to prepare on his own.
06:22It sounds like if it's not him or the people around him, he's acting like he's Tiger Woods
06:26or something.
06:27Just one thing you defend him on, it's not his fault he's overhyped.
06:31Yeah, I agree.
06:33Part of this is he's overhyped.
06:34He's not that good.
06:36Well, that's going to stop.
06:37I mean, we kind of saw it in the Belgium game, right?
06:41We don't watch that much international soccer.
06:43He could have been playing hurt.
06:44It's true, but the better players look like they were on the other side.
06:48Well, to a man.
06:49They were.
06:49Yeah, that's the thing.
06:51Yeah.
06:51But he's supposed to be kind of the standout.
06:53And I would say he did for a little while before he got hurt in this World Cup flash.
06:58Like every time he got the ball, it seemed like he was electric.
07:01And then that just kind of went away.
07:03I'm going to say he probably was still dealing with something.
07:07And it might have gotten exacerbated during that game.
07:08It looked like it did in the second half.
07:10So he probably was at 100%.
07:12I feel like the moment got to him.
07:14And I saw a Taylor Tillman.
07:19Is it Twillman or Tillman?
07:21Whatever.
07:22We've actually had him on the show.
07:23Sure.
07:24Saw him do an interview.
07:25And he said the same thing.
07:26He thought they came out flat.
07:28And just the moment was too big.
07:30It was almost like they were pressing.
07:31Yeah, it wasn't just him.
07:33I mean, Belgium's probably a better team.
07:36And probably if they played 10 times, Belgium wins 8 out of 10.
07:39I said that yesterday.
07:41But they didn't play well.
07:43I mean, they just made dumb turnovers.
07:45You could tell within the first minute that they were a superior team.
07:49They were a superior team.
07:50And I thought the announcers made a point of saying, Belgium plays big games like this all the time.
07:55This is the biggest game of basically all these guys' lives.
07:58And it looked like it.
08:00Right.
08:00It looked like your first set at bat in the big leagues.
08:04The fact that Donovan said that he doesn't say hello to media members and doesn't associate with them.
08:11I don't think that affects his play on the field.
08:12No, no, no.
08:13But it tells you what's going on in his head.
08:15Possibly, yeah.
08:16Right?
08:17I don't need to talk to you.
08:18I'm better than you.
08:20If that's what he's referring to.
08:22Or I'm just going to give the kid a benefit of the doubt.
08:24Or it's just like, I need to concentrate.
08:25I don't have time for small talk.
08:27Maybe.
08:27I don't know.
08:28But if all the people around him are a-holes, then that's probably the way he is.
08:33Possible.
08:34I know this.
08:35I didn't like his...
08:37I didn't like the way...
08:38You can see it's almost kind of flippant there.
08:40Like, well, now I can rest for whatever's next.
08:42Well, there's nothing...
08:42There's nothing next that we care about.
08:45That anybody cares about.
08:46And also, he just didn't seem devastated enough.
08:50No.
08:51That bothered me.
08:53Right, right.
08:54I don't know how to articulate that, but when we played those clips, Matt had them a day
08:58or two ago.
08:59It just did not...
09:00He was not devastated enough.
09:02If it was anybody else attached to his...
09:05He was just like, ah, just didn't play my best.
09:06And if it was anybody else attached to his statement, there wouldn't be venom towards it.
09:12But you mentioned this was the exact statement that he put out on Instagram.
09:17And again, it's correct what he says.
09:21He says, the support carried us all the way through.
09:23It simply wasn't good enough for us in the end.
09:26And I want to deliver so much more.
09:27I still feel blessed to be part of this team.
09:29The memories this summer will last a lifetime.
09:31It's just a start for us and for this sport in America.
09:35Because it's from him, though, there's resentment.
09:38Only have the last sentence.
09:39The other stuff's all fine.
09:40Yeah.
09:41All that other stuff's fine.
09:42It's the last sentence about the...
09:44People wanted to hear...
09:45But maybe he shouldn't have said from us.
09:47It wasn't good enough from us.
09:48You know how they always want a quarterback to take the hits and not throw the team under
09:51the bus.
09:52Okay.
09:52If he's the leader and he's the best player, maybe he shouldn't say it wasn't good enough
09:56from us.
09:57Because you know what?
09:58It was good enough from Tillman.
09:59But JP...
09:59Tillman was good enough.
10:00People wanted to hear him say, look, I look like I'm the leader of this team.
10:06I feel like I'm the leader of this team.
10:07I didn't show up.
10:09I blew it.
10:10I played like butt.
10:11Yeah.
10:11That's what people wanted to hear.
10:12I'm devastated and I'm going to work my ass off.
10:14I'm going to work my ass off to try to get back to that level.
10:16If he would have just taken a different direction than how he talked about the performance,
10:21I think we would be fine with it.
10:22But he didn't.
10:23I mean, that's his personality, I guess.
10:25Maybe that's the way he was taught.
10:26I was thinking about it the other day.
10:27I mean, all these other guys are making appearances into their 40s.
10:31He's 27 years old.
10:32I don't think I need to see him on the next team.
10:34He's not going to be 31.
10:35I was thinking that, too.
10:36What's the point?
10:36He's not going to be there at 31.
10:38He probably will be.
10:40You think?
10:41Until we get better guys.
10:43I mean, I would think...
10:44If he indeed is one of the best players.
10:45I know, but you would think that he would decrease over the next four years in his level.
10:50I mean, it's prime.
10:52It's the prime.
10:52I would think just because of the lack of production.
10:54All right, well, he won't be looked at as the best player on the team.
10:58I can't imagine.
10:58When he's 31.
10:59You would hope?
11:00He might be a role guy.
11:01If he is, then you really know we're getting smoked.
11:03Right.
11:03That's what I mean.
11:05I would be shocked if he...
11:06He's not going to get any better.
11:07Right.
11:08He's not going to get any better between 27 and 31.
11:10He's going to get worse.
11:11Very unlikely.
11:11Yeah.
11:12He's going to get physically worse.
11:14And we talked about it.
11:15We could kind of blame the coaches, too, and the manager, because he kept them in so long.
11:19Kept them in.
11:20He should have pulled himself.
11:21I wouldn't have started him in the second half.
11:24Looking back, didn't the U.S. not qualify for the World Cup?
11:29The only reason they played in it is because they're the host country?
11:32That might be true, yeah.
11:35Well, you don't have to qualify.
11:36I think...
11:37When you're the host.
11:38Wasn't there something that they didn't qualify for within the previous years?
11:42Was it in Russia?
11:43Yeah.
11:44Do you think they would have qualified, though, if they had to?
11:46Yes, yes, yes.
11:46They were a top-16 ranked team.
11:48They would have been fine.
11:49They finished about where they were expected.
11:52That's the reality.
11:53And there's always this hope every four years that they're going to break through, make it
11:59a little bit further, make it to the quarterfinals.
12:01I'm not getting bamboozled again.
12:04Yeah, because they scored...
12:05Was it the first game in Paraguay?
12:07Yes.
12:07When they scored three goals in the first half, it was like, oh, this team's different.
12:10Yeah.
12:11And Paraguay beat Germany.
12:12But Paraguay almost beat France.
12:15Right?
12:15I bought into it.
12:16It was a more attacking approach.
12:17It wasn't a counter thing.
12:18They weren't just packing it in and just trying to keep it close and steal it.
12:22I bought into all that.
12:23But they had some Achilles heels, and the goalie was one big Achilles heel.
12:27Oh, my God.
12:28They looked like a doofus.
12:29It literally looked like co-ed soccer.
12:31Can you imagine?
12:31That guy's going to be thinking about that for the rest of his life.
12:34What was he doing?
12:35And he won't be the goalie in four years.
12:38And that's one position that the Americans usually have been good at.
12:42Like, they've had really good goalies over the years.
12:44Well, Draft made that point yesterday.
12:46It's kind of the easiest position.
12:48I fully bought in after Bosnia when they were down a man, and you could tell how they were
12:54just swarming all over the field.
12:55It looked like it was 12 against 11.
12:58It didn't look like they were down a man.
13:00Right.
13:00And I go, this team's got something.
13:03And they scored, right?
13:04Yeah, they scored down a man.
13:06I mean, I don't know Bosnia's history.
13:08Like, are they typically pretty mediocre?
13:10It doesn't even matter what the history is.
13:11The fact that you're playing 11 on 10, almost like you're playing 5 on 4 in basketball, that's
13:18got to be impossible to do.
13:20I'm with you, though.
13:21I've actually seen enough of him.
13:24I don't, even if he's one of the better players, give me Tillman.
13:28Just put him on the bench.
13:29Give me Richards, and then just find new guys.
13:33Give me new guys.
13:34Maybe Gav.
13:34What about Balogun?
13:35Yeah, he's all right.
13:37I liked Balogun.
13:37Yeah, you like him.
13:38I mean, he's a scorer.
13:39What's his age?
13:3922, 23 or something?
13:40Nah, I think he's in his prime, too.
13:42He is?
13:43Yeah.
13:43I'd have to look up.
13:44But you can't not, until you get better, you've got to play Balogun.
13:48He was like our only threat.
13:50Yeah.
13:50I thought he was our only threat.
13:51Didn't he lead him in goals?
13:52He had four years to find another striker.
13:54Yeah.
13:55I don't know.
13:56They should do what we probably do best, just fleece him from other countries.
14:00Pull some okie-dos with birth certificates or whatever.
14:03I mean, that's what we do.
14:05That's what we should do.
14:07But it's not just us.
14:08All these teams do that.
14:09Of course.
14:10Yeah.
14:11I mean, I look at, I don't know if it was Belgium.
14:13I look at some of these teams, and half their lineup are...
14:18Africans.
14:19Yeah.
14:19I'm like, are they really from Belgium?
14:23Yeah.
14:23Yeah.
14:24I don't care how they do it.
14:25Just get the best players you can.
14:27It's like NIL.
14:28Just go out there, get the best players you can.
14:30It's kind of like that.
14:32Yeah.
14:32I mean, it's too bad.
14:33I feel bad for the kid.
14:35The one thing is, is that I just don't know that he feels the ownership of it.
14:39And I just, you know, I'm not sure he realizes how big the bloom is off his rose.
14:46I don't know how to articulate that in a better way.
14:48But, like, I think that his legacy is pummeled.
14:53So, it's devastating.
14:57You know what he should just do?
14:58Go to MLS.
15:00If he's paying attention...
15:02And maybe he can ball out against those mediocre players.
15:05Maybe he's just not paying attention to what's being said about him.
15:08Maybe his people around him aren't letting him or telling him something different.
15:11I know, but...
15:12I don't even think that would help.
15:13He's public enemy number one.
15:15I think it would help because he...
15:17I would assume he would come here and dominate against the lesser competition.
15:19Yeah, but how would him dominating rehab his image?
15:22He wouldn't really rehab his image.
15:24Not internationally, but it might...
15:26It's what Landon Donovan did.
15:28Landon Donovan struggled and then just took a big payday to finish out his career here in MLS.
15:34I think that's...
15:36Especially if he's going to go over there and struggle.
15:37I just think people aren't going to care until he delivers on the biggest stage,
15:43which is the World Cup stage.
15:44This was his chance.
15:46Yeah, this was it.
15:47This was it.
15:48And people have moved on.
15:49Like you said, Balligan delivered to an extent.
15:52What, he scored three goals?
15:53Yeah.
15:54I mean, it was solid.
15:55Yeah.
15:58Tillman's fantastic on free kicks for sure.
16:01Got to build up the rest of the team.
16:04I mean, I don't know how that...
16:05If he's on the team in 2030 or whenever in the next four years,
16:10no one's going to have any expectations based on what happened this year.
16:14No.
16:14I had no expectations going in until they had that breakout performance.
16:18I was buying into it.
16:19I was buying into it.
16:20Yeah.
16:21It's too bad.
16:21All the analysts said how fast the team is.
16:26Did you see, by the way, speaking of Landon Donovan,
16:28the hair transformation on that guy?
16:30I think he admits he's using a hairpiece.
16:33Oh, it's just a hairpiece?
16:34I thought he had a thing.
16:35No, I think he's using a hairpiece.
16:37Is that he didn't have a drabby?
16:39I don't think so.
16:40He didn't have a drabby?
16:40You can check.
16:41I think it's a hairpiece.
16:42He has a hair system.
16:44What does that mean?
16:45A toupee.
16:47I thought...
16:47Didn't they see something where there was a viral clip where it looks like they took some hair out?
16:51He had a failed hair transplant at one point.
16:53He did.
16:54Probably went to Turkey.
16:55Got botched.
16:56He's got a piece.
16:57Because that thing is a huge rug.
17:00Yeah, yeah, yeah.
17:01It is huge.
17:02I actually thought he overdid it.
17:04No, no, no.
17:06He'll show you his samples on his Instagram stuff.
17:09He took you through the whole process and shows you, like, should I wear this style, this style?
17:13He's like...
17:14That's a good way to be transparent.
17:15That's good.
17:16That was very transparent about it.
17:16That's good.
17:18He looks better with it?
17:20I thought it was too much.
17:21I think Drab did a good job because Drab explained when he had his.
17:24You can't go too low because then it looks weird.
17:27You're older.
17:28You should have it receding a little bit.
17:30You know what I mean?
17:30No, no.
17:30I understand.
17:31But, like, Donovan, we could find it online.
17:34There's a picture of one of his hair when he wasn't using the piece.
17:37Oh, yeah.
17:37He looked horrific.
17:38He looked so bad.
17:39I know, but...
17:39That's what I'm saying.
17:40It looks better.
17:40It does look better.
17:41Yeah.
17:41But it's almost too much.
17:43Open line Thursday.
17:44If you want to chime in throughout the show, your chance to steer the program, 1-800-636-1067.
17:51We're the Junkies.
17:53Coming right back.
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