VID- THE RONDO - FULL VID - EP 32 - ON TRIAL - 28APR2025.mp4

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 going to be the lawyer here, and he's going to 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 Gruther? It was at Kreuter 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 was a new team. Okay. 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. But one quick follow-up I would ask, though

Then why did you decide to move? Six months later. Six months later. Yeah, because in FUIT, for me personally as a player

I had difficulties or 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 technical less tactical That doesn suit me that well Yeah that why it was more difficult for me to get a lot of minutes in the second lead

than compared to the Bundesliga. And then that LA sunshine 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 got to talk to him for a little bit

And yeah, he knows ball. He's a very entertaining guy. He just likes the challenge 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 soccer fields too

Okay, the lawyer is going to need to know more about that, bro. Come on, come on. Tell me what it's like hanging out with Trav

Like when you talk about football, what are the vibes like? I know you said you might not have had tons of time with him

But like, tell us about the guy. It was just sick, you know? Like, like I said, so much aura and the energy just changes when he's arriving, you know

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

it just changes. And it's, it's crazy how he can impact people like that

It's, it's just wild, unbelievable. And it's a real, like, it's just a blessing or talent, you know, just to do that with people

When you first went up to him, what was kind of like his first reactions when he met you? Like, was he just like, what's good

Like, where do you play at? Like, what were some of the questions he had for you? Yeah, he was like, yo, did you watch the show last night

And I said, no, we had a game. 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..

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

your plede to fifth now. I did, yeah, but I have to plead to 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 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. And yeah, some in the second Bundesliga in Germany, some in the Bundesliga in Germany

What really made me come here to the US 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 and i really enjoy being here now right 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

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 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 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, 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

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 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, like 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, you know, 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

and Jeremy Abobisi. Oh, Jeremy Abobisi. That's my dog. J-Bo's good. J-Bo's nice

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