Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - #561: Tim Ream joins the pod

Episode Date: January 18, 2025

The dean of the USMNT player pool joined Sanjay Sujanthakumar in the lobby of a hotel in Fort Lauderdale on Friday to discuss centerback development in America, how he got to be so comfortable on the ball, Poch's mentality campaign, whether he wants to coach after his playing career ends, watching his national team teammates grow up before his eyes, and much more. By the way, he says Joe Scally is the most underrated USMNT teammate he's ever had.Follow Sanjay on Twitter: https://x.com/tha_Real_Kumar Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus any bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the field we discuss on the show, plus all patrons get access to our private Discord server, live call-in shows, and the full catalog of historic recaps we've made: https://www.patreon.com/scuffedAlso, check out Boots on the Ground, our USWNT-focused spinoff podcast headed up by Tara and Vince. They are cooking over there, you can listen here: https://boots-on-the-ground.simplecast.comAnd check out our MERCH, baby. We have better stuff than you might think: https://www.scuffedhq.com/store Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the Scuff Podcast where we talk about U.S. soccer. Welcome to the Scuff podcast. Sanjay here, and I'm joined by Charlotte FC and United States men's national team defender, Tim Ream. Tim, thanks for coming on the pod. No problem. Thanks for having me. So you're known as a very calm player and person, but we've all heard the story about you getting pulled over and not batting an eye. Is there anything in life that unsettles you? Snakes, spiders, anything. your kids do? What gets under your skin? Unsettles me? No, I wouldn't say anything that

unsettles me. I think the one thing that gets under my skin, maybe with my kids, is if they're being rude or just rude people in general, really. But other than that, like you said, I'm pretty laid back. I'm pretty calm, pretty relaxed. And a lot of times just let a lot of things. Let a lot of slide. Switching to soccer here. Why do you think centerbacks take longer to develop than other positions? I think there's a lot of things. I think as a young player, you're more prone to taking things in instead of being kind of a commanding vocal, taking on a leadership role type. It takes a lot longer for people to kind of, you know, they may have those kind of attributes to begin with, but to develop them and then understand the game as a whole and completely, and what's going on around them.

I think it just takes, it takes a little bit longer to understand. And also, the idea of not stepping on other people's toes, as much as you want to be a leader in command at the back as a, you know, 22, 23, 24-year-old. It's hard to do that when you have guys who are, you know, older than you and you feel like you have to defer to them because they have more experience. Yeah, that's interesting because a lot of people talk about obviously the physical side, but I guess there's a social side to it too, yeah? Yeah, for sure. There's definitely a social and a mental side to it. And it's things that I think as younger players, myself included, you don't even realize, you know, you're trying to take social and. so much in and you're trying to learn from from others but at the same time you're also it's a

not so much as a respect you know those who have done it before you but at the same time you you do kind of have to watch before you can step into that and and learn you know and it may take a little bit longer because of that but I think that's you know for me that's That's the way I kind of see it is that you have someone who is vocal. You have someone who's demanding and a leader, and you want to try to learn from them. So you're not the one being that kind of vocal leader type. You're almost playing second fiddle. So one of your strengths is your comfort on the ball,

and that seems to be pretty rare among centerbacks developed in the States. Why is that? That's just a development thing. That's something that when I was younger at club level, that was something that we worked on constantly. Every single training session we worked on technical ability, being comfortable on the ball, being comfortable with the ball, being comfortable in pressure situations,

you know, constantly playing tight area 2 v2s and 3 V3s. and knowing that, you know, if you can play in those types of situations, you know, you can, you can play in bigger spaces. I mean, we played on tennis courts. We played in warehouses. We played, you know, we, anywhere where we could find, and our coach could find access to space to train those, you know, the technical ability and the, you know, the comfort on the ball, we did. And it's something that, similar to, you know, a foot saw or something like that.

But we did it with not heavy futsal balls. We did it with regular. So it was constantly having a battle, you know, good, perfect touches, close control, very good technique on passing because, again, the ball wasn't heavy. It would bounce. You know, you'd have to hit it, hit it. you know, perfect for it to roll on concrete and on a tennis court.

And I definitely, without a doubt, attribute it to all of those hours in those training sessions in those small areas on the, I guess, the unnatural, you know, soccer field. So do you expect to see more centerbacks with your level of comfort as time goes on? Because what you're talking about that upbringing on the hard surface, right? I mean, that emphasis on the technical side. That's not a secret anymore in the States, at least. We like to think we made progress in terms of how we develop players. But at the same time, it seems relatively rare.

So are you expecting to see more ball playing technical centerbacks? Yeah, I mean, I would expect to see it more, especially as, like you said, as it's not a secret. You know, with the way the game is going, with the way the coaching is going. All players have to be comfortable on the ball, starting with your keeper all the way forward. And so, yeah, you know, you expect to see it, you know,

happening more often. But, and this is not being, you know, big-headed or, you know, thinking that I'm the greatest. It's not, I just don't, it's so, I think it also has to do with, with you as a person. and for me, like you said, in the beginning, just a calm individual. I don't know that the level of calmness, I don't know that you can teach that aspect of it. But in terms of on the ball, yeah, no problem.

You know, guys, even now you see it, there are guys so comfortable as centerbacks being on the ball. But then what is it, you know, when the real, like, pressure situations and tight moments, You know, I don't know. I'm not one of one, but I definitely think I'm, like you said, more comfortable than just about anybody who's come through. Could you talk about the differences between playing alongside a younger centerback rather than veterans, someone who's similar in age? How do you go about building that chemistry with someone who's? A bit younger. Yeah, so with someone who's younger, it's trying to help them see things, right?

It's see different scenarios, see different situations, see where pressure is coming from, see where, you know, if a winger's pressing you, or if it's a striker pressing you, or if a number eight is jumping from, you know, from the six onto you as a centerback. And it's all body position. It's all reading situations before. before they happen. And again, that's another thing that comes with time. And just trying to, and I've had this conversation with Mark McKenzie loads of times,

he asked me, okay, well, when the ball is on that side, what are you looking for on your side? And it's just knowing where pressure is coming from and knowing where your teammates are in order to alleviate and beat that pressure. And then on the flip side with older players, it's, okay, I've seen this, but in their eyes, they see something different or they've trained something different. And so it's kind of a two-way street in that situation. At the same time with the younger guys, it's not, okay, this is what you have to be doing.

Because they also have their opinions and their ideas and the way they've been trained. And it's interesting to see how and communicate those things with each other. to know what they're thinking and what they're seeing because it's been 13 years since I was a 24-year-old, right? So to kind of have an idea of where they are and what they're doing and what they're thinking in those moments is also beneficial for me. Again, the other day, someone was like,

oh, do you want to play on the right side? And I said, well, yeah, I want to get an idea of what my partner or what the right back is seeing and thinking when a ball is coming out to them from one of my passes, right? So just having an understanding of each and every position I think is unique in that you can then you can then understand where they're coming from and help them kind of see things in not just the way that they're seeing things. and for me it's vice versa. I want to see and hear things that they're thinking in the moment as well. We'll talk about the World Cup in a bit, but adjusting to playing with Walker on somewhat short notice,

what was that like? What did you guys do to try and really get on the same page and get a feel for each other with such big games around the corner? I mean, just that, like I just said, just a lot of communication, understanding what his strengths are and him understanding what mine are. Listen, we've, you know, we've been around the game at that point. We've been around long enough to know, you know, what each other was good at and what, you know, what each other was, you know, the, the, what's the word I'm looking for?

The, how we complimented each other, right? And it was just, it was, I mean, conversations from, from the get-go, making sure, okay, listen, when I'm doing this, you know, what, what are you going to be doing? okay if you're doing that this is what i'm going to be doing um and just just knowing you know what each other was going to do before they before they do it i think is is really was the biggest key in going back in there and communicating and understanding that what's the most difficult part of defending the prem um oh the most difficult just the quality that is in every position um you could argue that every, every player on every team is an international level quality player. And having to, you know, having to be so switched on mentally from the first whistle to the last is,

is something that, you know, can be very difficult. And it can, you know, we talk about it all the time, you switch off for a second and there's so much quality that you get punished for. it. So I think just knowing that every single game is going to be, you know, at such a level that you have to be totally intuned and focused for 90 minutes is it makes it, you should be coming off the field physically exhausted, but also mentally just completely fatigued and, you know, down on your knees. You had a ton of games under your belt with Jedi and the Prem. Could you talk about how that your guys' partnership has translated from club level to the national team? And any adjustments that you have to make tactically?

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, obviously, Jed came, you know, a few years ago. And just getting to know him, again, on and off the field is so – I think it's underrated how important it is to have connections. off the field because it really does translate. I mean, you know, him and I, we ended up really just, we could look at each other

and know what was going to happen, right? What each other was going to do, what each other was thinking. You know, I could say his name and he already knew what I was thinking, and he'd get going and running forward, and he could just give a little bit of a shout, any word really, and I would know, you know,

what he was doing. So it's just the idea of connections and playing with somebody over and over and over again and understanding the nuances of how they position their body and how they want to receive the ball to be able to do the next step was something that, like you said, we developed over many, many, many games. And so now even with us playing at different clubs, being in different kind of parts of our, career and we come back together, I still know, we still have the same type of communication. I still know, you know, whatever, what he's going to say, I know where he's going to be, and vice versa.

What did you think about how he did in that role against Jamaica coming into the midfield a bit? Thoughts on that? To be honest, we worked on it the day before, and it was, it was, it opened a few eyes, to say the least. and I think his most of all, and I love him for it. He was wide-eyed, and everyone was like, well, what do you think? You think of you do? And he's like, yeah, of course.

And so we were like, cool. You know, just to see him kind of change his role up, obviously with the managers and the staff's kind of idea for him for that game, to see him kind of take to it. and do really, really well. I think it was just a huge, listen, he's a confident guy anyway, but to see him kind of move into that role and really dictate play from that position was, it was awesome to see.

It was fun to see him be able to do it, and I think it just gives him even more confidence knowing that he can play so many different roles within not just our team, but back at Fulham and going forward beyond. wherever he's going to be looking back at the World Cup now a bit you knew this question was coming what was it like to be the oldest guy in the roster and you can just talk about the difference in generations culture honestly well I didn't even I didn't even think about it going

in that I was going to be the oldest I felt bad when when I actually brought the average age up to to not be the youngest team in the World Cup, and I brought it up too far and ended up being the second youngest team. I did apologize to the guys for that. But, no, I've played with so many of those guys for years, right, and, you know, with the national team. And I didn't really feel like the odd man out or the old guy or what have you. I still don't in every team I go into.

And, you know, even here now, most of the guys are, what, 24, 23, 22, Ben Haas, what, 19, 20. And I don't, maybe with Ben Haith, do feel a bit old. But most of them, I just feel like I'm, you know, mid to late 20s and only four or five years older than them. And, you know, with the World Cup, again, I've been around them for, for, for so long and missed out, obviously, on 14 months of qualifying. But, you know, it didn't feel funny to me. It didn't, you know, a lot of them were closer in age to my oldest.

That's the running joke. And pretty much all the camps I end up in is that a lot of the guys are closer to my 10-year-old than they are to me in age. So I kind of have that little bit of the cultural kind of, or not cultural, but the age kind of lingo down, so to speak. So, yeah, it's not all like, oh, man, I feel so old or I'm the old guy. Like, I don't fit in here. It's the complete opposite.

Yeah, so I was wondering, is it a lot of these guys, they're younger, but they're very mature, right, because of the way they've come up in Europe, they have to be on their own. But then you're saying with your kids, they also keep you a bit younger. So you think it's a combination of those things, or are you just that young and cool? I definitely think it's a combination. I think definitely being able to go back in there, especially in the fall kind of, you know, the September, October, November, where it's quick succession, right?

You're in and you're away for three weeks and then you're back in with the group. I feel like you get, I get enough of their mid-20s. attitudes and all that in quick succession and then I'm good for the rest of the you know the rest of the winter but yeah it's it's definitely a combination but it's also you know I tell them all the time they watching watching them kind of operate they are they are mature in a way but at the same time they they still have have that kind of boyish kind of humor and you know nonsense that that goes on and um That for me is great.

Like I love listening to it. I love watching it. And I think it's, you know, absolutely hilarious to then join in. And, you know, they give me looks. They're like, wait, you know, like, what we're actually, like, talking about and saying? And I'm like, well, yeah. Like, you just got to sit around you guys for a day and you figure it all out. So it's good.

They do. They keep me young. And at the same time, I'd like to think that I'm helping them mature. But I think it's actually working the other way around. Is that still? the same, that sense of humor, that vibe, because they are, like, some of them are getting engaged and married now and having kids. Like, is that still there? It's funny because they all come to me, they're like, hey, listen, like, I'm going to get engaged or, you know, I'm having

a kid, and I'm like, man, cool, you guys are all growing up, like, you're right in front of me, right? Nations League last year, I sat back and I watched all of them walk up and get their, get their medals before me, and I'm like, it's like watching my kids, you know, go up. But it, like, Yeah, they're all kind of growing up right for your eyes. And we're all in different kind of different stages of life, right? I have older kids and they're just now having their first and they're getting engaged and they're getting married. And, you know, it is kind of neat to see and still be a part of that.

But it is, you know, you tend to, I tend to get kind of the first little bit of news. if anything big is happening in terms of an engagement or a, you know, a wedding or, you know, a birth. And that's, I mean, that kind of makes me feel old because I'm like, I mean, I've been married for 13 years. I've got three kids and all these guys are just starting out on that path. So, but no, it's good. You know, I enjoy seeing them hit their milestones and, you know, grow up and mature a little bit more. Who do you hang out with during camps usually? Like, what do you guys do during the downtime?

Um, that would depend on the camp. Most of the time I'm hanging out with, uh, with staff members because I'm closer in age of the staff members than they are to me. Um, and, and staff members, I mean like admin, uh, you know, medical staff, um, and, and those types. But when, you know, when, when we're in, when we're in camp, it's, it's usually, you know, anybody. We, there's no, there's no, like, oh, we, this is a set table and all the guys end up, you know,

the same guys end up there. It's, I, I, I, love to mingle and, and mix with, with everybody.

I, connection to me, like I said earlier, connection to me off the field is, is, is so important, um, because it allows,

it allows better connection on the field. And so I like to, I like to sit down with everybody. I like to hang out with everybody. I like to have conversations about life, about video games, about nothing. Um,

like just literally just letting, let in guys and myself just talking back and forth. about family, about moving, about this country, about that country, about travel, food, anything, books. And so there's not one person, two people, three people that I gravitate towards. It's, you know, it's all of them because I want to know, I want to know what makes each player, the player that they are. What makes them tick?

What makes them, you know, what gets them in a good mood, what puts them in a bad mood type type thing. So, yeah, I wouldn't say there's anybody that I sit down with religiously. It's, you know, I try to mix and mingle with everybody. Are you in on the golf with everyone that seems like a big, big thing? I can be. Honestly, once I broke my arm, I stopped playing because it just freaked me out a bit. I think of one chunk shot and my arm's going to rattle. So I will play periodically if we are, you know, we have the opportunity to play.

But it's not something that, you know, a lot of times I'll prioritize, you know, treatment and recovery over going out and playing 18 holes of golf. Because let me tell you, at, again, 37, playing golf, midweek, back, arm, probably not the best situation for me. I'm probably not going to recover from a little bit of a back gate quicker than the rest of the guys will. I'm not even 30, and I feel the same way. So I hear you, man. What were the conversations, going back to that pre-World Cup period,

what were the conversations like with Greg when you were excluded from the group? And then when you were talking to him ahead of the World Cup, was he giving you specific feedback about your game? Do you think that actually helped you get back in the team? game. What was that period like dialogue? Yeah, I mean that was for me it was tough because I made a decision for one of the camps and I just couldn't couldn't go in. We had some family stuff come up and that was that and you know the conversations after that were okay we're you know we're going to go this route and and take these guys and this is why and at the end of the day I understand

this game is about opinions when it boils down to it, right? We can be good players. There's a lot of good players, but at the end of the day, it's what does the manager want? What's his opinion on this player and the way that the staff and the manager wants to play, and he's going to pick his players for that. So, you know, we had conversations, oh, we're not going to bring you in this one, but, you know, we're still watching. We're still paying attention.

To be honest, it didn't spur me on any more than, what I'm normally spurred on by, and that's to play games and play every minute. And I didn't change as a player. I didn't do anything differently. I didn't do anything more. I didn't do anything less. The one thing I didn't do was sulk and pout and, you know, ask all why me or why not me. It was just, okay, like, that's your decision?

That's your decision. It's no problem. You know, where it changed was going into the World Cup once there were injuries. So, yeah, again, I'm not one that's, you know, if I'm in, I'm in, if I'm out, then that's a decision that is made from somebody else. And the only thing I can do is take care of what I can at club level. Potch talks a lot about mentality and the importance of that for the U.S. How does he go about working on that and like cultivating that with the school?

squad. And what does that look like for you as a player and as a leader? I mean, I think it's just for him, it's making sure that we know that when you step onto the pitch, it matters. The warm-up matters. The first touch matters. The pass matters. The communication matters. It's just, you know, knowing that, okay, we have, he has an idea, he has a philosophy,

but at the end of the day it's, you know, it's about winning. You know, if we have to change something to win a game, then we change something to win a game. It's not, okay, I'm stuck in my ways. This is what I'm telling you to do, and it doesn't matter. You know, you have to do it no matter what. He's very much what matters is going about each day as if it's the most important. Each training is if it's the most important, each pass is if it's the most important. And each kind of challenge and small-sided games or possession,

you want to be on the winning team. You want to be the ones who dominate those situations. In terms of that emphasis on doing whatever it takes to win, and I guess this is tough to compare because you guys haven't played a quote-unquote top-tier team yet with Podge. but do you think when it comes to playing out there's a noticeable difference compared to before in terms of now doing what it takes to win the World Cup on the horizon? Yeah, I mean there's definitely, you know, again, he has his ideas, he has his movements, his rotations and the things that he wants to do, but at the end of the day, it's about, you know,

going out there and implementing what he wants, but also making sure that the intensity is there in order to to fight, to scratch, to claw, to do whatever it takes to win within obviously the laws and rules of the game. But there's a little bit of a different vibe, a different feel,

because it's not, you know, well, you have to pass here, to pass there, to pass there, to pass there. It's, well, we can start here, but there's a hundred different variables that can happen in, hundreds of different movements that can happen in a game and now you have to figure out the pieces of the puzzle

and he gives the players kind of that confidence in that comfort to go out there and be able to perform and do those things right to build from the back if we have to build from the back but also if teams are pressing

and it's crazy and we've given a ball away no problem let's figure out a different solution we don't have to just stick to this short stuff. And I think that's where it differs. And it's been a breath of fresh air.

You know, hearing him talk to each of the guys and talk to the squad and the team and, you know, understand his mindset and his mentality and knowing that, okay, yes, this is what we want to do, but there's also other things that we can do to win those battles. So,

Greg, obviously, mostly moved the program forward a lot. But he wasn't, he wasn't the first manager to stay on for more than one cycle and have it not work out. Do you think there's something to that theory about a national team manager, maybe getting stale going beyond a cycle, or was this just, you know, a case in time where it didn't work out? No, I mean, I think there's a little bit to it. voice gets, you know, voice gets a little bit old and you're thinking, okay, you know, we've had, we've had X number of years and now we're trying to go for another one.

And, you know, I think, I think it takes the right situation for that to really, you know, really take hold and work out. And I don't know, I don't know if that coincides with, you know, a new group of players, right? If it's, okay, you have a new coach and an old group of players, it's, okay, it's a new voice, right? Or if it's where you have a coach coming back and it's the same group of players and you start to get too comfortable. And I'll be the first one to say there's loads of instances at club level that that happens, right? and you see it all the time.

And so I think there is a little bit to it. I think if the coach stays on and there's a, you know, for another cycle and there's kind of a new wave of players coming in, then maybe it could potentially work. But I think with it being same coach, same players, I think there does have that unfortunate kind of level of comfort. and the foot gets taken off the gas, without a doubt. And that's not a knock on the players. It's not a knock on Greg.

I think it's just human nature. And so, you know, for now where we're at, I think everybody sees how good it is to have a new voice and to now make another jump forward with the program. Do you want to be a coach one day? No. Absolutely not. I thought about it.

And then I realized, yeah, no. We all thought you were in like player manager mode for a second. No, I mean, I was a little bit, to be honest with you. There was a little bit of that happening. But not because of, you know, bad voice or we didn't, you know, believe in a voice. It was just trying to help, you know, trying to help guys individually to see things. like we talked about earlier, just to understand different ideas and nuances and seeing different things. But I'll tell you what, if I wouldn't have been in the national team program from the time I started in 2000, oh gosh, 2010 was my first, yeah, November 2010 up until now, if I wasn't in like regularly and if I maybe finished my career earlier, yeah, maybe.

I would consider being a coach, but I've been away so much. I, we were, my wife and I, six weeks over Christmas, right, with the offseason. And we were kind of doing a little bit of the math and trying to figure out, kind of going through the years of national team and club and time off. And it's crazy. Like, it's actually, when you, when I look back on it, I'm like, wow, I have been, I've missed a lot, and I know how much coaches work, and I love them for it. Like, they are, it is a dedication that I just, I sit here and I'm like, I can't, I can't, I can't sit here and say I would, I would want to do that.

A lot of people think of your longevity now in terms of where you are in your career, but when I was prepping for this, I couldn't believe when, when I heard that you got the call to go over to Europe right after your wedding, right, and you'd have to miss the honeymoon. so you sacrificed a lot, obviously. Yeah, and that's part of not kind of wanting to be that coach. Now, I mean, you never know what happens 10 years down the line when my kids are done with school and off to college, right? But, yeah, it's, you do, I missed out on the honeymoon. I've missed birthdays, I've missed, and this isn't a woe with me. like this is, I've, I've been able to travel the world and see incredible things, visit incredible places, and, you know, earn a very good living for myself and for my family.

And there's nothing that I would change and nothing that I regret in doing that, but there is a lot that you miss. And going into coaching would be a lot more to miss. you know, from a family standpoint, and that's not something that I'm prepared to do. Seems like managers, too, the modern manager. It's like 10 times the stress. I mean, I don't know what the stress is like as a player, but to want to be in control of everything and thinking about everything.

It seems insanely demanding, right? It's crazy. It really is. The point that they're there from whatever time in the morning to the evening and then, you know, coming back, And then you have the stress of the outside, you have the stress of results, and, you know, you can prepare your team as much as you want. And at the end of the day, your job security is actually less than any of the players. Your job security is almost non-existent, right?

So, you know, players have contracts, coaches have contracts, but, like, you can't fire a player, right? You can sack and fire a coach. And so, yeah, that kind of security aspect is not something that, you know, I sit here and I think about it and I shudder because I feel, you know, it's got to be tough on them as people, but then also their families as well. So there is a historic equal pay agreement with the women's team in which the men's team played a role. What role did you play as one of the leaders in getting that across the line? Yeah, I mean, I was, you know, doing some of the lake work in the beginning in terms of jumping on on Zoom calls and jumping on phone calls and understanding the ins and outs of the finances and the numbers and, you know, the equal pay portion and the World Cup pay portion and just understanding kind of what. and how we could come to that agreement. I was doing a good amount from the beginning.

And then, you know, as it progressed, we had to do a little bit less and less, but I had to make some decisions in terms of, you know, concessions or agreements or, you know, can we move this and agree to this and, you know, equal this and to equal this? And, you know, can we get that if they're going to, you know, can the women and get this if we're going to give this. And so, yeah, I mean, it was on a lot of calls in a lot of meetings and played a part. But, I mean, at the end of the day, it's, you know, the representatives of, you know, the women's and the men's and U.S. soccer, you know, we're able to do that. But without, again, without the women's side and the men's side saying, yeah, you know what, we want to do this together.

We want to be, we want to make this equal. we want to be equal. You know, we want them to have what we have. It was, you know, for us it was easy. It was a no-brainer. It was something that we wanted for them. And, you know, that was kind of our stance as players. And we just had to myself and, you know, probably three or four, five others.

Walker was definitely one of them. And everybody was on the same page. I say it. But there were, yeah, there were a few. few voices, older voices, who were, you know, who were ready to kind of do that. And we just kind of spoke for the group. We would get the group, the men's side and kind of pull them and say, listen, this is what's going on.

And then it was kind of down to us to then relay that to the relevant parties. There's some athletes who try to tune out social media, but you've been involved in the media, so it was probably a bit hard at a certain point. Could you tell us about your personality online and your tendencies? I don't really have one, to be honest with you. I try to stay off of it as much as possible. I mean, I know I was doing, you know, posting quite a bit there. And for me, again, it's about connection.

When I was on it and active, it was about connecting to the fans, to supporters, to people that were enjoying the game, and less so about, you know, about trolls and people who were nasty. And so, but now I just, it's like the coaching thing. It just takes so much work. It just takes so much energy that I just, it's just not somewhere where I want to put my energy and my little free headspace that I have, you know, to put energy into that and have a presence. It's not

Yeah, it's not something that I'm Follow or look at or really pay attention to ever You've got three kids, two sons and a daughter Your wife played soccer Are your kids into soccer? How old are they? Are they into soccer as well? I do have three I have a 10-year-old son and an 8-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter

They are kind of into soccer They want to play now But they want to play for fun They don't want to, it's not competitive, They would rather do other things and other sports. My boys are really into competitive swimming, which is great for me because I know how to swim, but I know nothing about stroke. I know nothing about technique.

I know nothing about any of it. So I just get to be a fan. I get to be in their corner and cheer them on and not have them come to me and be like, oh, am I doing this right or am I doing this right? I don't know, guys. I know how to swim from one side of the pool to the other and not at a fast pace. So you have your coaches for that. And for us, for my wife and I, it was we want them to find something that's theirs.

And that was important to us. I didn't want them to do something because dad did it, because mom did it. I wanted them to do and pick and decide what sports they want to play because that's what they wanted to play. You returned to MLS after 13 years in England. What did you notice about the league you returned to? How has it changed? biggest thing is that the kind of the tactical side there's so many different systems so many different styles of play the level of of a lot of the players is has has increased i mean you look at

the guys even here in january camp and um you know i'd argue that it's a better kind of technical stronger group than than my first one in 2011 um but i think yeah just the the different styles that coaches kind of roll out to where before. And I've said this in the media before it was, we're just going to be physical. We're going to be fitter than you. We're going to run more. We're going to overpower you. And now you actually have to think the game to beat teams and understand how to break teams down and understand what they're trying to do in order to win a game.

It's not just about pace and power and fitness anymore. We're going to go rapid fire to wrap it up here. Appreciate you taking this much time. So it doesn't have to be like a one-word answer, but we're just going to get through these quick. Ready? Best place for ribs in St. Louis. Oh, best place for ribs would probably be Pappy's smokehouse. Most difficult away atmosphere you've ever experienced as a player.

Most difficult away atmosphere, I would say, Millwall. You probably swapped a lot of jerseys over the years. Do you have one or two favorites? I have a Kevin DeBreonna and I have a What's my other Another favorite? Harry Kane I got a few years ago as well. Most underrated player you played with for the U.S.?

Most underrated player I played with? Oh, wow. I would say most underrated player I played with the U.S. would be, I got to give it to Joe Scali, actually. Yeah. Toughest center forward you've ever had to play against? Did he ate jogbo? You had to pursue a career as a professional athlete in a different sport. Which sport do you think you'd be the most successful in?

My wife's going to kill me for that one. And last one here. and this is a rapid fire. You're the global athlete liaison for virtual soccer schools. Could you tell us about that and why you got involved? Yeah, that came about after, actually, during COVID, when we realized how much we were missing the game of soccer, playing games. And we also realized that if we were missing it,

that the fans were missing it as well, which evolved into kids missing out on meeting people that they look up to, meeting players that they usually get to go and see and watch in person and see them before after games and get autographs and meet them. And COVID was an awful time for everybody. A lot of people, especially in England, stuck in their houses, doing homeschool, struggling through weeks and months of just being confined. and we thought what better way to reconnect than to jump on to Zoom calls,

to Google Meet, to jump on any of these virtual schools or virtual calls with groups of, you know, athletes young from anywhere from six because it's never too early to start talking about mental health to teenagers. And just connect and let them know that, A, they're not a little. alone if they're feeling any type of way. But B, also kind of give them an idea of, you know, us as athletes, we've all been in their position at one point or another. We've all felt the things that they're feeling. We've all thought the things that they're thinking.

And what have we done in order to help ourselves? But then what have we asked of others to help? us. And that's really what it what it boiled down to is the mental, mental side and mental health side of, you know, just giving kids the kind of the idea that we're all, we're all people. Even their heroes and the people they look up to have gone through challenges, both physically and mentally. And, you know, with the right help, the right communication, the right, you know, having conversations with different people, you can, you know, you can go on to to achieve great things and, you know, live a happy and healthy, you know, mental and physical life. That's awesome. And that's, I think, a great way to wrap this up. Tim, thank you so much for coming on.

No problem. Thanks for having me.