Landon Donovan on Mauricio Pochettino, San Diego Wave, and coaching the U.S. in the future

Start of Pod would you someday like to coach the US men's or Women's National Team uh yeah I would um that's a long ways down the road but uh I do I really do enjoy coaching [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello sunshine I'm Alexi lws and welcome to the State of the Union podcast we look at the beautiful game on and off the field through the lens of red white and blue colored glasses this show well it's a very special show we welcome in US soccer Legend our friend our colleague Landon Donovan and the new inim coach for the NW usl's San Diego waves so we welcome Landon in but first joining me as always my friend my colleague my Guiding Light David mossier soccer Savant and Fox Soccer research and writer extraordinary M how are how are you doing on this Labor Day I am doing very well happy to be here and wishing everybody out there a happy labor day yes we are recording this uh and I am still on the road I uh continue on my cross country trip with my son that we've been uh telling you about everything is going smoothly on the road and off the field and off the road I'm having a wonderful wonderful time MSI uh have you watched anything you want to let the folks know about yes uh you might recall I mentioned recently that when my parents came to visit I took them to the academy Museum of Motion Pictures they had a Casablanca exhibit and a Godfather exhibit so I have since uh made a point of watching Casablanca and Godfather part one and Godfather Part Two it sent me down those rabbit holes wait a second had you never seen Casablanca I had seen all those movies but not in a very long time so this sort of gave me the impetus to go back and watch them again because I think you'll agree that's three of the top five greatest movies of all time oh my god um okay I I I mentioned that I'm driving cross country one of the things that we are doing is listening to you know audible books on tape so the only thing I have for you here is we're in the middle of um a book called unbroken and this is for my uh for my son on his reading list and it's this insane incredible story um uh and you know it's about this long distance or this uh this this this incredible Olympian who then went into World War II and just an incredible Story of Survival and resilience and Redemption and we're just glued to this this story so I can't recommend it highly enough we're not even done and it's just just this insane story so that's all I have uh have to offer uh mossi should we like this candle my friend let's do it all right Landon Donovan joins the pod there he is the great Landon Donovan US soccer Legend uh our friend our colleague and the new inim head coach for the San Diego wave thank you Landing for Landon for joining us all right my friend uh early days but uh how's it going down there with the with the wave uh it's been interesting it's been enjoyable um but a lot of work to do so I think anytime you come into a new situation it probably means things haven't been going well probably means there's issues that need to be resolved so it's been in some ways challenging but also very very rewarding and I'm really enjoying it so far so when you say issues like what are some issues that uh you're having to deal with there I mean is this a um you know a situation where you're going to change players or change philosophy or Implement I don't know no Coke in the locker room or something like that what's the what's Landon Donovan on his approach to coaching the San Diego Wave the deal what are you going to do uh well there's there's a lot of things that are I'm just evaluating right so for the first few weeks you're trying to kind of build the plane as you fly it and you're trying to figure out um where the challenges are the good the starting point is really good group of human beings here in the locker room uh they care a lot I think they've just they've kind of lost their way a little bit and so instilling belief in people again helping change some process processes and some of the structur so that there's more stability um I think there's been a a lack of real leadership in the last couple months as they've gone through this sort of interim period with coaches and so just trying to sh Shore that up a little bit so people feel stable so they can express themselves and and play better and ultimately that's what we that's what we're all paid to do is to perform on the field so that's what we're trying to do all right before I bring mossi in you know I can't let you get away with that I mean because these you know these vague type of things that we hear coaches talk about so how does that manifest you say a lack of leadership well okay so a lack of leadership give me an example of something that either you're doing to show that leadership that was missing or you want one of your players or are making one of your players to to show no no this is what I mean so when the previous coach Casey was let go they brought in Paul Buckle to sort of fill the Gap during this time Paul very clearly said I only have so many weeks that I can do this before I need to be back home and taking care of my family this isn't what Paul does you know on a day-to-day basis and he was never going to stay throughout the year so because of that there's been a lot of things sort of influx and people waiting for Clarity on things Clarity on roles on the field where they stand uh on the depth chart who owns what you know who's running training who's taking control of training who's handling the physical output what's the interaction with the medical staff all of those things have kind of been amorphous and just floating so just bringing some clarity around that I think has helped stabilize things a little bit I have a very clear way I like to do all those things I'm also though listening to what's been done in the past because you know if a new coach come in and just thow you know they've had Skittles in the locker room for six years and you take the Skittles away they're going to go crazy so um they don't have Skittles here by the way just to clarify so you're trying to implement some small changes while also not up rooting everything that's gone on because there are a lot of positives too so just trying to bring some structure and stability to all of those things so they know there's a clear Direction you know whether it's good bad or the other we're going to find out over time clear Direction um clear leadership and then Difference between coaching Men & Women soccer players people can better understand where they fit into all of that and I think that was just that's been lacking for a little bit uh Landon we often debate whether somebody who's been coaching women's soccer can transition to the men's side we don't talk about the transition as much the other way but as somebody who's been involved in the men's game your whole life what kind of an adjustment has it been now coaching women way easier um and in a lot of ways way more enjoyable as you know Lex the male ego is an evil thing um it's it's powerful in locker rooms and it's it's hard to manage and deal with at times so so far my experience here has been all the women are eager to learn uh they listen they very literally do what you ask them to do and they're they're just they they learn faster and they're smarter than than men that I've been around my whole career so in that way as a coach it's way easier and so far it's been really really enjoyable this is a a situation where you are an inim coach um is this something because you know when this happened a lot of people not just talked about it but even some people kind of bristled the notion that you are using this as a you know a stepping stone and you look and I know that that's kind of used as a perjorative but every coach uses the opportunity to step to hopefully something bigger and better when you look at this is this a situation where you're just dipping your foot in here and if you're not 100% committed is that a problem for the job that you have to do yeah it's a fair question so first of all every job is an interim job right you could be fired tomorrow you could be fired in 10 years you could leave tomorrow you could leave in 10 years so I don't even I don't even think about the interim title I think it helps people sort of wrap their mind around what this is but for me it doesn't matter whether I'm here three days or three years or 30 years I'm everything I do Lex I'm all in so I spent time lots of time processing all of this thinking about it talking to my wife talking to my family even speaking to my kids about what that means for us and how much I'm home and I told Jill I'm not going to commit to this until I know I'm all in and once I am I am Allin all in all in that's the way I do everything in my life so I took time getting there and when I did I told Jill I'm all in now whether that lasts these three months or beyond that we still don't know let's see how it goes so far I am loving it so if you had to you know put a gun to my head today I'd say I would lean towards wanting to continue doing this whether they want me or not is a different story right and that's not something I control so I am all in the players know I'm all in if you ask any one of them they know that I am fully committed and all into it so I don't know where it goes um as far as people asking you know like is this a stepping stone um I've had you know loyal was quote a stepping stone and I had the ability to coach in MLS four different times and turned it down because it wasn't the right fit so I do what I love to do I do what I'm passionate about I work with people I like to work with I don't need to do this I'm very fortunate so I choose to do it and and I'm going to do it where I want with the people I want and right now I'm there's nowhere better for me to be than right here uh Landon I ask this question because it'll help us Would Landon Donovan want to coach USMNT or USWNT? transition to our next topic would you someday like to coach the US men's or Women's National Team uh yeah I would um that's a long ways down the road but uh I do I really do enjoy coaching the challenge with coaching is you're hired to be fired and you have to move you know every year two years three years four years and right now in my life I don't want to do that to my family so um if that opportunity comes I would very much be open to it if a different opportunity came at some point in a few years down the road and I'm in a different place with my family life also something I would consider um but right now I'm happy to be here wave is right in my backyard it's a a community that I love and I love representing and so it's a perfect fit for me right now well I mean not that anybody listens to me but I if the US soccer Federation was putting together a list of people to interview as they did over the last couple of months I would absolutely have your name on it for what you have done from a coaching perspective which I know relative to others is is limited but also who you are what you have done from a playing perspective um and just the quality that I think uh that I think you bring and at the very least sitting down and hearing you talk about the job I think would be beneficial whether you got the job or not but I recognize that there's other there's other things and you still have a long way to go and I wish you luck all right listen uh when it comes to the uh United States soccer Federation they Landon on Mauricio Pochettino being reportedly hired have evidently hired Mauricio pochettino thoughts on this hire when it comes to the the national team and this last cycle that ultimately didn't end well for the team on the field with a incredible failure in Copa America and off the field from Greg berhalter getting fired are you booed are you happy are you excited about the prospect of poao coming in and leading this team in less than two years to the World Cup in 2026 I'll answer in a minute but I do have a genuine question that's going to sound stupid but is that confirmed yetal media so I don't it's not confirmed yet but I'm uh you know we're doing it as if it's confirmed okay I keep reading articles like what does this mean for the national and I keep thinking wait is this confirmed or is this not confirmed okay um let's assume for the sake of the question that it is confirmed um I would say I'm cautiously optimistic um we have seen over the last decade plus that a big name and I have seen it in my club career and national team career a big name means nothing um so I think I believe my personal opinion is poino is much more than just a big name and I think he's a very good manager um but we just don't know how that's all going to gel together there are great managers who go into situations and have very little success for lots of different reasons there are not great managers who go into a situation and have tremendous success and even though maybe sometimes it's shortlived they do have tremendous success and there's all sorts of reasons for that so at this point um I don't really care which way it goes I just want us to be successful because this event this is the biggest opportunity in the Men's National Team history for us to Showcase ourselves and it's a really big opportunity to gain literally tens and tens of millions of new fans and players so it's a huge opportunity uh Landon the last time the US hired a foreign coach it was Jurgen clintsman we know how that went for you we don't have to rehash all that but talk to me about this Dynamic of an outsider coming in who's not steeped in American soccer culture how do you foresee that Dynamic uh with the us player um it's definitely challenging it doesn't mean it can't work you know Bora was here Lex as you know there's there's other examples around the world of foreign coaches um going into situations and doing a good job but it's incumbent upon the the manager the coach to really learn about the players the culture the country and really uh ingrain themselves in all of that and I I and integrate in in a really meaningful way and then you get buying from the players really quickly so from everything I know and have heard of boino he's going to excel massively in that way um but that is a big piece of it you need to just like you know when a player goes to a foreign country immediately learning the language learning the culture fitting in in that way is a big big plus and it it goes a long way to your teammates and your coaches when you try to do that and I think it's it's no different the other way around Lon you talked a little bit about with uh with San Diego now coming in and susing things out and trying to do it as quickly as you possibly can if as I had uh proposed the US soccer Federation had interviewed you for the job again it's from the outside but everybody's from the outside until you're actually on the inside what are the some of the things that you have seen from the outside that you would have pointed to and said this is problematic this needs to be fixed this is good this is going forward either names or maybe bigger types of things from your soccer perspective no from your persp perspective when you are looking at this US Men's National Team that poao is coming into what are you what are some of the things that you see that hey this is this needs to change if in order for them to be successful well I'm not I'm always hesitant to give an opinion when I don't have the context of being inside because being inside is way different than anything other people see from the outside but you wouldn't have the but you wouldn't have the context if you were being interviewed just like any coach either right everybody's on the outside till you're on the inside I'm going to give you the big picture issue with uh US soccer on the men's side because that's what I know the most about our biggest issue is not with the national teams or the senior national team or MLS it's with Youth Development that's where the problem is so if you you know I was at the Euros right and some of those squads France England Spain Netherlands I'm looking at those squads and I couldn't help but think how how many players from our Squad would get into those squads and make that roster for the Euros and if I was being really honest there's not a ton not a ton and so the the challenge is is are we developing enough players of that quality where we have super super highly difficult decisions to make on the roster because we have so many good players all those squads left really good players at home really good players like world class players and we don't we don't have that problem yet and so we need to Dev V players of that quality all over the field if we want a real chance of competing for a World Cup and that's the big picture I mean that doesn't help for two years from now but that's the big picture that's the only way to solve it but that is that a logical progression or is this something that we've dropped the ball with because we've we've been around for decades yeah I mean I'd be curious to hear your view it was progressing I think quite well but I've also spent a lot of time now I you look my kids are in youth soccer and I see the youth soccer environment it's a disaster it is it's an absolute disaster and the kids are not they are developing because they're spending time with a ball and doing things but not nearly at the rate they could be and it's it's it's wasteful it's really wasteful there are some very talented young athletes and players and they get better but not the way other players in other countries are getting better so but whose fault whose fault is that disaster um it's a it's a cultural problem in America uh one thing this is look we're getting very theoretical here but this is my opinion one thing that's amazing about America is we want to win everything and be the best at everything the problem is is that trickles down to six-year-old soccer games right and the the emphasis for a six-year-old should be on getting better not winning soccer G and I have you know there's coaches that I hear say this coach we're coaching against next week is my arch nemesis we have to win this game and and he's coaching seven-year-olds and I'm thinking what the hell is wrong with you that's not what it's about or this tournament is really important to our club we have to win so of the 10 players five of you might not play as much because we have to win this tournament at 7 years old it's it's ridiculous it's absolutely ridiculous the incentive structures totally backwards and we're never going to we will never compete at that level unless we get that part right Can USMNT realistic win the 2026 World Cup? Landon I was going to ask you about your time at the euros and you did a great job by the way for us all summer but I was going to ask how sobering it was to watch these teams like France and Spain and England up close and how that affected your view of how far the US is I mean there there is a type of us fan out there that thinks 2026 at home with this generation of players a coach like pochettino the US can actually aspire to win the World Cup do you buy that or do you think that's a complete St stretch well it's not a stretch to say could do we have good enough players right now to go on a magical run through seven games and win that's not a stretch we we've played some of the best teams in the world and can beat some of the best teams in the world but I don't look at it every four years can we win the World Cup I look at it every four years are we one of the teams that is competing realistically to win the World Cup so this France team you might say oh they're a little bit off for that reason or that reason Spain a little bit off for that but every time you go into a tournament you go oh they could definitely win and we don't look at our at our team that way yet could we go on a magical historical run yes I think we could we have we do have that much quality but we're not consistently competing at the top end like these other countries I mean we didn't get out of a group in Copa America right that consisted of Bolivia and Panama so we're we're not in that Echelon yet and back to what I was saying is we we just aren't developing enough of the highlevel Weston Christians Tyler Adams Super highle Players to compete at that level yet Landon before we let you go everybody that comes on the State of the Union I asked this question and sometimes multiple times when they uh they come back um so this is this is two two-part question uh number one and it's more detailed which players specifically do you think will benefit from if it is poao pochettino coming in uh either that they were good players and they'll be even better players or they were kind of peripheral players and will become good players under him and then I'll ask you my final question uh you're G to be mad but I I can't say I know enough about him specifically and how he interacts with player because there's the technical Tactical Team side that he might help but I don't know individually he might connect with someone that never anticipated you know there could be a player that we never thought maybe Serino D he for whatever reason just really really connects with personally he's able to motivate him Inspire him in a new way and serginho has enough quality and talent to just go through the roof so it's hard to know that without knowing how he interacts with individuals personally all right uh this is a question that I ask everybody on the State of the Union uh that comes on as a guest the best thing and the worst thing about American soccer yeah well the worst thing you just heard is the youth development um that by a million miles is where we are still way way behind um the best thing is our spirit um call us foolish but we think we're going to win every game uh we think we should win every game as players fans coaches Etc we expect that and that's sort of the American dream any anything is possible and I love that about us and as you know Lex for many many years we've competed with teams we had no business competing with because of that spirit and it's what I love about Americans I love it Landon Donovan uh our friend and our colleague uh and I Echo Moss's um sentiments when he talked about how good you are and certainly how good you have become and we saw it on display this summer and while I know you have your aspirations when it comes to the coach uh uh situations um we don't want to lose you when it comes to the TV because you are that good you were that good on the field and you're proving that good off the field I wish you all the luck in the world when it comes to this new coaching leag the interim coach down there for uh for San Diego wave looking forward to seeing you uh you got a lot of work to do they're out of the playoffs right now but you can bring them back in and I'm looking forward to the future when it comes to you as a coach and as I said uh on television so best of luck my friend thank you for coming on on behalf of David mossi myself go forth my friend have a wonderful wonderful time and good luck and all the best on and off the field for everything that you're doing a true American an American soccer Legend a true American Legend Lon Donovan I appreciate it Lex MSI thank you good to see you guys have a great week all right again thank you to Landon Donovan uh for coming on some really really interesting stuff when it comes to not only his his new gig with the San Diego wave but also this uh this possibility of pochettino and the way he thinks about not just the US Men's National Team but the way he thinks about American soccer a lot to to bite into there mossi anything stand out for you well the fact that he does hope someday to be the US national team coach that was a bit of a bombshell he dropped I suspect we'll make some news with that it's it's logical like I said before he should have been interviewed I I thought for this uh this time around and who knows maybe he made it very clear that this was not at this moment something that he wanted to do um but it's GNA be fun and I love talking to him not just about soccer but about life he is a unique character he is a unique personality you know he's got his own drummer and I love that uh about him and it's amazing to see his trajectory when it comes to the world of socer from just a legend on the field to um I think well in his way to achieving certainly some legendary status when it comes off the field and as I said and you said does great work when it comes to uh television we're very lucky to have him at Fox and we're very lucky to have all of you for in everything that you do and the downloading and the reviewing and the subscribing coming to you here on uh on Labor Day we'll continue to crank out the uh the uh the content out there and you know whether it's over there on YouTube when you're smashing the button two-handed boom boom boom boom boom or Spotify or X or any of the other platforms that we have out there we really really appreciate it we're really thankful that we are able to do this and so many people either are with us now or have come to us uh uh recently and hopefully are coming to us in the future anything before we go Mossy that's it all right we'll talk to you again next time here on the State of the Union until then and as always my friends size the day