The Rondo - Football on Trial with Timothy Tillman

Dude, that's got to be a little bit awkward, though

You're pulling up to meet Travis Scott for, like, the first time, and he's like, did you come to my gig

And you're like, uh... Rahimovich in the building, and welcome to another episode of The Rondo

We got a very special guest in the building. Come on now, my brother from LAFC, Tim Tillman

Give him a round of applause real quick. How you doing today, my guy? Thank you

Bro, listen, to start off today's episode, I'm wearing a judge outfit because we're about to put you on trial

my boy so listen we got five questions for you you have one plead the fifth so you could only

skip one question and if the question's not good enough tom's gonna be the lawyer here and he's

gonna make you elaborate on that question if you don't give a proper answer are you ready

i hope so yeah all right my boy order in the court order in the court first question did you

ever say no to MLS before accepting their offer from LAFC? Yes, I did

You said yeah? I said no before. Tell us how it happened

What's the backstory? Was this coming off of Bayern or at Gröther? It was at Gräuter Fürth after the Bundesliga year

Basically just six months before LAFC came. But still, yeah, I denied an offer there

What made you kind of say no at the time? It was a new team. I could say that

it wasn't your team and yeah i just didn't know what to expect from them you know yeah bro i think

it's difficult when you're trying to navigate between mls and europe what could be the next

best option tom what do you think as a lawyer man you got any questions you want for tim honestly i

think he smashed it in terms of the answer there um but one quick follow-up i would ask though

then why did you decide to move six months later six months later um yeah because in food for me

Personally as a player, I had more difficulties playing in the second division in Germany

than playing in the first. That's crazy. Coming off that, it was just a no-brainer to go to LAFC then, you know

Why was the second more difficult than the first, mate? What was the difference Is it physicality Is it intensity Or like what Yeah the way of playing is just less less technical less tactical that doesn suit me that well yeah that why it was more

more difficult for me to get a lot of minutes in the second lead then well compared to the

bundesliga and then that la sunshine came into the came into the equation bro yeah you can't

say no to that you can't say no to that next question timothy does travis scott actually know

about ball yeah i was i got to talk to him for for a little bit and yeah he knows ball he's a very

entertaining guy he just likes the the challenge of of making soccer bigger here in the us i hope

he will bring all the aura he has and all the energy he has on on soccer fields too okay the

lawyer is gonna need to know more about that bro come on come on tell me tell me what it's like

hanging out with trap like like when you talk like you talk about football what the vibes like

I know you said you might not have had tons of time with him, but tell us about the guy

It was just sick. Like I said, so much aura and the energy just changes when he's arriving

It's like bringing so much to wherever or whatever place he goes to, it just changes

And it's crazy how he can impact people like that. It's just wild, unbelievable

And it's just a blessing or talent, you know, just to do that with people

When you first went up to him, what was his first reaction when he met you? Was he just like, what's good? Where do you play at? What were some of the questions he had for you

Yeah, he was like, did you watch the show last night? And I said, no, we had a game

Dude, that's gotta be a little bit awkward though. You're pulling up to meet Travis Scott for the first time and he's like, did you come to my gig? And you're like, uh

Yeah, it was wild. Next question. 2014 World Cup. US versus Germany in the group stage. Who were you rooting for at the time

I plead the fifth here. You plead the fifth there? I knew I had a feeling

I had a feeling. I had a feeling, but just know it's going to get a little bit tough because you did lose

your plead the fifth now. I did, yeah, but I have to plead the fifth here

When you got your first professional contract and having it be for a club like Bayern Munich was it expected I would never say something like that is expected but of course it been a dream Yeah and when you a young guy

when you're talented in youth, then you get to hear it from a lot of different people too

But actually making it there and especially staying on that level is amazing

It's a privilege. I hope I can do it as many years as possible. But yeah, like I said, it's never been expected

but it's always been a dream and something I always worked for and tried my best

Our mom always raised us that we don't expect things to happen

We just need to do something for it. In the end, we got lucky, me and my brother

Both of you guys, bro. Let me ask you something. When you were leaving Gröder, who were the other clubs that were in contention to sign you

A couple of different teams. Yeah, some in the second Bundesliga in Germany

some in the Bundesliga in Germany. What really made me come here to the U.S

was that I wanted to have a new challenge, not only as a player, but also as a person

Because I felt like I needed to get out of my comfort zone because I've always been close to my family and friends

And I just felt like I needed a different environment, you know

I didn't expect to go that far away from home, but... Yeah, it's still cool, and I really enjoy being here in LA now

last but not least your last question as you're on trial and you cannot plead the fifth yes

do you think it's easier for a young american to play in europe or an aging star to play in mls

whoa because we get a lot of like look for a young american guy they say it's difficult over

in europe for americans whereas over here in america when they come over here sometimes it

doesn't work out because they don't expect the level to be as high yeah so which one do you think

is harder it's always harder as a young guy you know just to to arrive especially arrive in a

different culture arrive in a different different place so i think that would be more challenging

um than just being an aged star and coming to the to the mls but that basically based on on like experience and and just knowledge of the game and and stuff like that i wouldn say it because of the level but just like like i said the experience makes a big difference here

i got a follow-up on that bro so you play with with olivier geroux right he's won a world cup

he's won stuff with chelsea arsenal wherever he's gone what's it been like training and like

being around him because he's like he's a you know he's a vet and he's like a legend probably

a modern legend of the game right? Oli is amazing he's an amazing guy I still remember

meeting him for the first time at the facility I was injured then and he just came in to see the

facility once yeah talking to him was just incredible you know he you feel like those

guys are so far far away from you but they aren't they're just human beings you know and they're so

cool and like I said Oli is a really really nice guy and hanging out with him on and off the field

is just very nice. And yeah, then talking to him, learning from him

hearing things from him is always, always nice. Playing with a guy of that class

obviously Olivier Giroud has scored goals everywhere he's went. But obviously in MLS

he hasn't scored as much as he has typically in his career. Do you ever see him

in the locker room get angry at himself for not scoring yet? Or does he add any pressure

to himself? Because I feel like a lot of young players would do something like that. It's not only in the locker room

when he gets mad at himself for not scoring. It's every single time he misses a shot, he's so mad

Even in practice or wherever. Even if he plays ping pong at the facility, he's getting mad if he does a mistake

And yeah, that's something we could all learn from, I think. Who's the best ping pong player at LAFC

And why is it you? Listen, I can't say me, but I'm top three for sure

Top three for sure? Maybe top, but I'm top three 100%. Nathan Ordaz is very good

Okay. And Jeremy Abovisi. Oh, Jeremy Abovisi. That's my dog. Yeah, J-Bo's good

J-Bo's nice. J-Bo's good. J-Bo's nice. Now we have our final deliberations

You're not guilty, my boy. You're good. You gave some good explanations, bro

Well done