Scuffed

Belz and Doug McIntyre, the USMNT reporter for FOX Sports, talk through Pochettino's fascinating press conference yesterday, the fun little dust-up with Jeff Carlisle, Poch's quest to create competition and a more team-focused culture, where Musah likely stands, and a little bit of catch-up on the midweek Champions League action.

An in-depth show about the U.S. men's national soccer team, the players who could one day make it better, and American soccer in general.

Vince and Belz recap the weekend action. Tillman vs Scally & Gio. Tim scores a beauty at Real Madrid but is he thriving on the left wing for Marseille? Richards showing signs of turning into a big player. Tanner enjoying what amounts to a 12-month bar mitzvah at Lyon. And much more.

Cole Campbell, Diego Kochen and Peyton Miller are present and accounted for. Marcus joins to discuss who's exciting, who could make up a good starting XI, what factors lead to translating U20 success to the senior team, and much more.

Vince and Belz go the distance with one of the deans of American soccer broadcasting, Jason Davis. Covered everything from the Byzantine World Cup ticket-purchasing process to the meaning of Balo's performance vs Japan, three at the back, whether Gio's jogging is a problem, and who gets called for Poch's first-choice midfield.

Greg and Belz celebrate a solid victory, a sensible defensive shape that sparked the attack, and a bit of a coming out party for Folarin Balogun.

Belz and Vince talk through the action, the contrast in minutes at striker, the problems we caused ourselves with our defensive shape, and our inability to adjust in-game, and whether a better list of call-ups solves anything (we think it does).

Vince and Sanjay sat down with USMNT and Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter on Friday morning to talk about his rapid rise to the national team, growing up ias U.S. soccer royalty, whether his dad would have been able to give him the same opportunities he's gotten under Poch, whether he'll get to take set pieces in this window, and a lot more.

Ryo Nakagawara, the author of Shogun Soccer, a detailed newsletter focused on the J-league and Japanese national team, joins Belz to talk about a likely lineup for Tuesday's game, where the goals and the holes are, the state of the Japanese men's national team, it's long-tenured coach, fan culture in Japan and lots more.

Steve Han, a longtime Goal.com reporter and now FIFA's content lead for South Korea and the host of YouTube channel FairPoint Football, joins Belz to talk about soccer in the Korean Republic, Son's move to LAFC, what the 2002 run meant for the sport in the country, and of course, who's likely to make an impact in the game on Saturday.

Charlie Boehm returns to join Vince and Belz for the Monday Review. Seattle's triumph over Inter Miami leads us off, then Balogun and Sargent come into camp in form, and lots more after that, including a big win for Tyler at Tottenham.

Why not tell kids to "space out"? Can you teach 7-yr-olds to defend? What to tell your intimidated 4-year-old? How to progress from U6 to U12? We wrap up this series with a bunch of listener-submitted questions and comments, and Mike and Jim (and Belz) responding to those. Lots of good ones, and this was a fun one to record. Respect and gratitude to Mike and Jim for their service to the game.

Greg, Vince and Belz convene to discuss the soon-to-be-released roster for the upcoming friendlies against South Korea and Japan, and Greg classifies each position into Locks, Poch Favorites, All Eyes on You, and Shrugs. We work our way through who's going to get called up bc he absolutely should, who Poch WILL call up, and who might deserve it but may not get the phone call. Lots of news to sprinkle throughout, including Reyna to Gladbach, Balo's very encouraging first start of the season, Pepi's return, and much more.

Buzz Carrick, the founder of the 3rd Degree, the Dallas soccer blog and podcast, joins Belz to explain why the pipeline of elite talent at FC Dallas, once so full, has stopped producing (at least for a little while). Detailed conversation about a multi-faceted phenomenon with a guy who knows the pipeline from valve to valve.

The venerable Meg Swanick joins Belz and Vince to talk through the Pulisic & Weah vs the pundits news cycle, plus a full rundown of the weekend action.

Foxes & Hounds! Sharks & Minnows! High Fives! Pinecones! We’re getting into the nuts and bolts of helping little kids learn to master the soccer ball with Mike Idland, a college women’s soccer coach in New York state who’s spent a lot of time working with rec soccer and club coaches, and has been a huge help to Belz in his rec soccer efforts. Lots of practical stuff here to cap off this series of interviews on youth soccer.

Doug, Belz and Vince talk about Poch's summer of (resetting) the vibes, when the wave of enthusiasm about the World Cup will hit (soon), where Johnny Cardoso stands, whether Sebastian Berhalter really has a better chance of making the WC roster than Gio Reyna, Doug's early years as a soccer reporter, what several other players have to do to make the World Cup squad, and much more. Then we run through the weekend news faster than we ever have on the Monday Review, including Dest's belter and Aidan Morris's imperious showing vs Swansea.

We're on to part 2 of our grassroots series, this one bridging the gap between Tom Byer's soccer starts at home message and some practical tips for rec soccer coachs. Our guest is Jim Harte, one of the people really fighting to grow soccer in America. He’s spent most of his life working working in the trenches of helping kids fall in love with the game. He's a six-time high school soccer state champion in Florida as a coach, and was simultaneously an elementary physical education teacher and club soccer coach for decades in the Tampa area. He’s also the founder of the high school champions league, which we get an update on in the last part of the interview.

Vince, Belz and Charlie Boehm talk through all the latest transfer news, Dest's winner against Go Ahead Eagles, the upshot of all this Leagues Cup action, a full transfer news rundown, and how bad is it really for a player to be one-footed?

(This is the first of three parts, all available to patrons on the patron feed TODAY.) The best soccer players all have one thing in common. They learned to love the soccer ball at home. Tom Byer, a former pro in Japan whose book “Football Starts at Home,” is probably known to many of you, is a passionate advocate not just for early childhood ball mastery, but also for the critical importance of the parent-child relationship in skill development, and the knock-on benefits for kids of learning to focus on the ball.

Vince and Belz recap the news from the weekend. That includes Eintracht Frankfurt's friendly in Louisville, where Vince watched Pax and interrogated Dino Topmuller, plus the upcoming USL League Two final, Sargent's decision to spurn Wolfsburg, Parma's ongoing negotiation for Gio, and much more.

Henry Bushnell, one of the key figures in the USMNT press corps, joins Watke and Belz for a discussion of Poch vs Pulisic, what the coach is actually interested in (culture), and a lot more.

Vince, Belz and Watke get back to the business of the Monday Review, working through a lot of the transfer news, and a few other things that might have slipped through the cracks if we hand't brought them up.

An in-depth show about the U.S. men's national soccer team, the players who could one day make it better, and American soccer in general.

The USMNT played in a 4-4-2 block and mostly denied Mexico the big chances despite getting totally dominated, but a key mistake got us on the first one, and then we just couldn't keep it level after that. We also did very little with the ball, and one player in particular comes under the microscope for that.

We get a satisfying brace from Diego Luna, and then we turtle up. Greg and Belz talk it through. Greg mostly blames the midfield for not getting control of the game after the opening 15 minutes. Full timeline. On to Mexico in Houston on Sunday.

Greg and Belz talk through the win in penalties last night in Minneapolis. Lots on the new look with both fullbacks high, Tillman, Arfsten, how Richards' protagonism helped create chances, a little cackling about Jesse Marsch's fate at the GC, and much more.

Greg and Belz talk through ALL the details on the 2-1 win over Haiti. Malik and Chris continue to be a cut above. Big Pat is a phenomenon, in both negative and positive ways. Everybody else is pretty much failing to distinguish himself.

Vince and Belz react to and recap the 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia basically immediately after the final whistle. Richards comes up big. Tillman keeps building his NT chops. Most everybody else had a forgettable night and the Saudi opponents treated Arfsten like Shaq at the top of the key.

Charles Boehm helps us once again, joining Belz and Vince to recap the 5-0 win over the Soca Warriors. We do a full timeline and several takeaways, bearing in mind the opponent "wasn't at the races," as Dwight Yorke put it post-match. Malik getting blooded as a goal-scorer and foul-sufferer in Concacaf was big. Poch still has a lot to prove. Freese does himself favors. Etc. etc.

An in-depth show about the U.S. men's national soccer team, the players who could one day make it better, and American soccer in general.

The USMNT and Nashville SC centerback joins Belz and Sanjay Sujanthakumar to discuss how he practices attacking set pieces, aerial prowess in general, the differences in how centerbacks are instructed to operate under Poch compared to Berhalter, his mindset coming off the bench against Iran in 2022, that goal-line clearance, that penalty against Wales, his Christian faith, and much more.

Belz and Vince walk through the timeline and some takeaways from a loss in Hartford, but easily the best loss of the past three, and there are some positive things to take away from it.

Greg joins Belz to talk about who they're excited to see play over the next month, why Josh Sargent was left off, and respond to several listener questions as the USMNT embarks on the Gold Cup and the final 12 months before World Cup 2026. As usual, Greg zigs while most everyone else zags. He's not panicking.

Schaerlaeckens, who writes for the Guardian and will soon publish a book titled "The Long Game" on the modern USMNT, joins Watke and Belz. We talk about what's happening with the USMNT these days, his access to Berhalter while he was working on his book, the ways the current generation is different from previous national team generations, and much, much more. Really good, lively conversation.

Jack, one of the hosts of the Five Year Plan, a Crystal Palace podcast, joins Belz and Vince for to talk about Crystal Palace winning its first-ever major trophy, with Chris Richards as one of its best players on the day. It's a celebration pod!

A bunch of our best players will be missing, and Sean Zawadzki will be there. We talk through the call-ups, the omissions, and what the hell is going on. Watke has some positive interpretations. See you in Nashville!

Vince, Watke and Belz reconvene after the trip to Rome. Lots of celebrations from the weekend to recap, plus we talk about Rome and the football we saw there a bit, Milan's struggles, and the USMNT roster coming out tomorrow.

Belz and Vince (and Goerge Quraishi) record their second episode from Rome, the morning after Bologna's 1-0 win over Milan in the Coppa Italia final, which we miraculously were able to attend. Quraishi, the founder of Howler magazine and the guy helping us navigate Rome, joins in. Pulisic had a night to forget, but we did not.

Coming to you from a 4th-floor apartment next to the Tiber River, Belz and Vince talk through their takeaways from the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday -- the intensity of the match, the scene outside, Wes's assist, a theory of what supporters groups are doing when they chant, what it's like in Rome right now, and much more. We take a handful of questions from some of the fine people traveling with us, and also run quickly through some news from the past week.

Polis was at the scene for Paul Caligiuri's shot heard round the world, he was also (for Umbro) the English language press liaison for the Brazilian national team (Romario, Bebeto, Dunga) in 1994. Polis joined Belz for a 75 minute conversation. He was prepared and he has a good memory and he brings a lot to the table, including a more relaxed perspective about the USMNT heading toward next summer than Belz has. Good medicine.

Charlie Boehm joins Vince and Belz to talk through the weekend action, he lends his MLS expertise to the discussion. Balogun starts and scores for the first time since October. Good game from him. Dike's back on the scoresheet too. Wrexham is headed to the Champo, Leeds is headed out of the Champo and Brendo is looking for a home. Vince and Belz are headed to Rome on Friday.

The guy behind Sounder at Heart and SB Nation's soccer coverage is running an independent shop in Seattle now. He joins to talk about that, about the real Brian Schmetzer, how pro/rel might play out in the Pacific Northwest, his grandmother's high school career in South Dakota, and much more.

We start off with MLS because it feels more interesting right now. But also Pulisic makes scoring look easy vs Venezia, Malik’s teammate says “one man’s death is another man’s bread” after he’s late to something and has to sit, Tyler gets away with an orange-ish challenge, and much more.

Wiebe's a feature and sideline reporter for Major League Soccer, talks about learning the art of sideline reporting which is fascinating. Also discusses Extra Time Radio, the show that got inexplicably binned by the league earlier this year. Good young MLS players, the Sullivan bros, meeting Luca de la Torre's parents, buying boots with Brandon Vazquez and going to a rodeo with Jack McGlynn. Plus lots more.

Vince, Watke and Belz work their way through the news of the weekend. Red cards for Chris, Mark and Diego. Big win for Utrecht and a goal for Paxten. Leeds wins promotion. Lots more.

El Paso-based Dan Vaughn, the founder of Protagonist Soccer and one of the most knowledgeable people in the country when it comes to lower-league American soccer, joins Watke and Belz for a wide-ranging conversation that often circles back to the CFC-Red Wolves rivalry, geography, and Ricardo Pepi.

Larsen, a former NASL Sounders ballboy and co-chair of the Congressional Soccer Caucus, sat down to talk about border challenges, drone defenses, getting visas and some of the other work that's ongoing in preparation for World Cup 2026.

Ley ran the PA system for the Cosmos in the late 1970s, was one of the earliest anchors for Sportscenter, hosted several World Cups on television and has been one of American soccer's great advocates. He sat down with Belz and talked about what he tells college kids about the future of sports journalism, the state of the USMNT, the potential impact of the 2026 World Cup, what pro/rel might mean for USL, and much more.

Vince and Belz wrestle with the implications of that last window, weigh whether USL's pro/rel gambit will move the needle, recap the weekend action and answer voicemails from listeners in Forth Worth and Chicago.