Scuffed

CCV sits down with Sanjay in SoCal to talk about the respite of national team camps, building racecars with Legos, jumping on the field at the 2022 World Cup, and much more. As usual, good rapport in the conversation.

Belz and Vince with a lengthy "what's up with Poch" opening segment, Johnny shines for Betis, Malik back and fresh in Eindhoven, West starts under new coach, Josh scores, we're definitely going to Rome. A great question from Mike in the Buffalo area.

Those and lots of other questions came through in voicemail (thank you very much to everyone who sent one!), and Charlie Boehm joins Watke and Belz to respond to them. Others include which two players from the XI vs Panama that we’d cut from this roster, and which two we’d bench, what percentage of blame to assign Poch and the players and Panama, and much more.

The Poch-led USMNT fails magnificently in its first real test, fails to meet the standard set under Berhalter, which is all pretty ironic. Greg and Belz break it down, try to identify 2-3 intriguing plot-lines as we limp toward 2026. We need those fullbacks back. The World Cup won't be like this tournament was. No way.

Brutal. Vince and Belz talk through what we got wrong, what else might be wrong, and the cruelty of a sport that doesn't let you take 5 seconds off. Vince IDs some problems with the scheme. Everybody IDs problems with the selection. Maybe this lights a fire under Poch.

Two and a half hours of Vince holding court and agendas flying like a swarm of mosquitoes. Totally unabridged, might be a little language here and there. The first real test of the Poch era. Failure. Justified frustration after another bad loss. Detailed, more responsible game recap coming later today.

Watke and Belz check in with Sanjay Sujanthakumar less than 24 hours before USA-Panama in Los Angeles as he hustles around SoCal covering the team. We touch on the back-and-forth with Tim Ream on who tonight's left back will be, what the midfield might look like, what we've learned from lots of press conferences and the mixed zone in the last few days, the various responses from players and coaches to the politics questions, and more.

Sebastian Salazar built Futbol Americas from scratch with Herc Gomez and now he hosts ION's NWSL studio show. He's veteran of covering soccer in America, a native of D.C., a lifelong El Tri fan. He plays the game, he's coached the game. We spoke on Thursday and he was very generous with his time. Great conversation.

Who's in, who's out, whether Poch sees Yunus as a midfielder, why Brendo is missing, what the coach expects from Gio, and Greg and Belz give preferred lineups versus Panama and the second opponent. First match kicks off in a week.

Paul McGlynn, the father of Jack McGlynn, has been developing soccer talent in New York City (and now western Connecticut) since the beginning of the century. Not only does he have the perspective of a parent of a pro player, he coached Tim Weah from ages 9 to 12, he's in the trenches of the ongoing chaos between MLS academies and youth clubs, and he watches soccer all the time. Great conversation. Highly recommend.

Bob Morocco, the longtime friend of the pod and multi-decade battle-hardened BigSoccer poster, joins Belz and Watke to discuss the key takeaways from the first two months-and-change of 2025 Anno Domani. Pulisic's level, Johnny's status, Poch's (dis)regard for Atlanta and Richy Ledezma, and much more to discuss.

We round up some of the MLS action from opening weekend, try to figure out why first division sanctioning matters, big segment on John Textor, Tanner Tessmann and the big match in Lyon vs PSG, Pulisic misses a penalty, Gio starts but doesn't really impress anybody, Sargent gets a brace and an ambivalent OptaJack tweet, plus much more.

Also Celtic is out, but makes a good show. Sanjay Sujanthakumar joins the Monday Review crew for a fun, rambling episode. The Weah banger, Vince thinks most of Juve is a bunch of frauds, Theo's madness interrupts a Yunus masterclass, does Joao disrespect Pulisic?

Rik Elfrink, the world's preeminent source on PSV Eindhoven -- the club, its players, academy and front office -- joins to talk about the American contingent in Eindhoven, Earnie Stewart's performance as technical director, the best away grounds in Holland, how he got into sports journalism, and a lot more.

Gass, the long-time fixture on Extratime, now the founder and host of Soccerwise, joins Watke and Belz to talk about the state of our domestic league, the Americans he's most excited to watch, how much Cavan Sullivan will play this season for Philly, and a bunch of lesser-known U17s and their prospects for minutes. Plus much more.

Nice second half from Sargent vs Derby County, Milan wins and both our Americans are showing well, Scally is solid as hell for Gladbach, Nathaniel Brown unfollows the German national team, and much more.

Marcus Chairez and Matt Hartman join Belz to discuss the U17s. We start with the roster for U17 World Cup qualifying, but really the conversation is much more expansive than that. Who's the best XI in this age group? How does it stack up with past classes? How is MLS doing at running elite youth development in America since US Soccer abdicated responsibility? How good are Cavan Sullivan and Mathis Albert, really? Those questions and many more discussed at length.

Belz, Vince and Watke cover the weekend action, including Richards' strong performance at Old Trafford, Sands v Banks in Hamburg, Musah's apparent inside track with Conceicao and Jedi captaining Fulham to a win in Newcastle. Also, a song in Italian about Pulisic, transfer rumors and facts, Cardoso puts in a good shift for Betis, and Tessmann gotta turn on his defensive brain.

Watke, Belz and Vince on Pepi's massive goal and assist, that work of art from Gio off the bench, Musah's meltdown and Pulisic's goal in Milan's loss, and a few other odds and ends.

Plus Tyler and Bournemouth flying, Sargent back in the XI and scoring, Noahkai gets his first top-flight start for Augsburg, and much, much more with Vince, Watke and Belz.

Greg's back on the mic with Belz to recap the second of two enjoyable January Camp victories under Mauricio Pochettino. Why are we more fun this January? Who from this camp will get called up in March? And, of course, Big Balls Diego is canonized in the lore.

Vince, Watke and Belz talk about the Miljevic penalty incident, whether Jack McGlynn could be a first-team USMNT factor some day, who from Saturday's game might get a chance in March, Tyler Adams getting after it for Bournemouth, Weah's big goal, transfer rumors, and lots more.

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.

Matt Hartman and Marcus Chairez, both close observers of the youth national teams and youth U.S. player pool, join Belz to break down the full U20 age group. The news hook is the ongoing camp in Florida but we talk about the actual best XI ahead of this fall's U20 World Cup (many of whom were not released for this camp) and the probable XI at the World Cup, considering who will be released by then.

Belz, Vince and Watke go deep on 18-year-old Noahkai Banks' debut for Augsburg, and Tessmann's big chance for Lyon with Matic on the transfer block. Then Pochettino's latest comments, the rest of the action from the weekend, transfer rumors, etc.

MLS senior writer and veteran podcaster Matt Doyle graciously joins us and we each pick 7 players (one goalkeeper, five field players and a sub) from Mauricio Pochettino's January Camp roster for a make-believe 5-a-side round robin. Who got the best team?

Milan v Juve, Pulisic's new coach, McKennie excelling at left back, Richards v Chelsea, Adams back from injury, transfer rumors, injury reports, and much more. Watke, Vince and Belz get back at it for the first Monday Review of 2025.

Greg, Vince and Belz (with Tara contributing in absentia) give a series of awards for what was obviously a very successful 2024 for the U.S. Women. Player of the Year, Breakthrough Player of the Year, Retirement of the Year, Most Patriotic, and much more.

Greg, Belz and Vince talk through the events of 2024 for the U.S. Men's National Team, and give traditional awards like Player of the Year and Goal of the Year, voted on by Scuffed listeners, but also less traditional awards like "Most Inscrutable Player" and "The Kingslayer." Join us to look back, celebrate, mourn, etc.

Vince and Belz talk through the action from the weekend, including Celtic's Cup triumph over Rangers, Jedi's big performane at Anfield, Gio's nice goal and otherwise forgettable performance, Cardoso back in the XI (but not very good), Alex Zendejas's clutch Liguilla showing, and much more.

Greg and Belz roll the recaps/catchup episode into one. Whose stock is up after this last window of 2024? Whose stock is down? Thank you Alyssa Naeher.

Vince, Tara and Belz get back in the WoSo saddle, long overdue. Triple Espresso gets a much-needed break, Lily in, Phallon gotta work on rounding out her game, who starts at the 9, starting XIs for the England match at Wembley, Vince pours more honey over Michele Kang, and much more.

Greg and Belz talk through a very fun-to-watch match in St. Louis.

The Club America and USMNT winger met up with Sanjay Sujanthakumar in St. Louis to talk about that scuffle with Edson, the Poch experience, who's better at golf between him and Wes, his choice to play for the U.S., life in Mexico City vs Guadalajara, and much more.

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.

Greg and Belz talk through the roster Pochettino called up for the Nations League matches against Jamaica. Greg calls for a "mean" performance from us down in Kingston on Thursday. Plus Lily Yohannes committed to play for the US Women's National Team!

Greg and Belz do a more general and less timeliney discussion of the last two games. Timeline items on the goals, then ~10 (mostly positive) takeaways from the window.

Tim Weah scores and Wes gets two assists in an epic edition of the Derby D'Italia. Pepi gets a brace, Tillman scores and continues to deputize at the 6, while Vince believes Cardoso's performance was the most moving by an American in club play in at least two years.

Thompson and Shaw show out, Smith does too. We only grow stronger each day. Greg and Belz recap the action from Austin on Thursday.

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.

Who will partner with Girma in the back? Who’s gonna be the Dunn replacement? Will Sanchez make a mark in this window? Who’s gonna shine in the midfield? Lots to mull over ahead of a two-pack of friendlies with Iceland and then Argentina in Louisville on Wednesday.

Gotta show for the ball with energy and intelligence if you want to beat a good or even committed pressing team. We didn't do it. Soccer 101 eludes several of our national team players when they get a chance to impress the new coach in a game against our biggest rival. Greg and Belz ruefully recap a barren evening in Guadalajara.

The Pochettino era begins in Austin, Texas, with our new coach leading a largely second-choice squad into battle with Panama. Greg and Belz recap it and try to suss out the differences in the way the team played.

Tara and Belz talk in some detail about the European contingent's latest action as Champions League draws near, Emma Hayes' recent comments on "futures," an NWSL run-down and general lookahead to the next two international windows.

Greg joins Watke and Belz for the Monday Review. Rundown of the key action from the weekend, plus each panelist offers a surprise inclusion and a surprise exclusion in Poch's first roster, likely out later this week.

Journalist Evan Ratliff joins Belz to talk about his fascinating new podcast, Shell Game, which has some poignant USMNT-related moments in it. He also expresses his affinity for 2011 Brek Shea, talks about going incognito to a WC qualifier in Salt Lake City when he was doing the famous WIRED vanishing act, and explains how he thinks the USMNT is in need of a couple Clint Mathis or Jermaine Jones-style characters.

Tara and Belz talk through the USA's performance at the U20 Women's World Cup, and discuss briefly who's playing well in NWSL ahead of the three friendlies at the end of next month.

Belz, Watke and Tara go through several key clips from the press conference with Mauricio Pochettino, his first public appearance as coach of the USMNT. And they react to them. It's a great time to be alive.

Greg and Belz on the Mauricio Pochettino hiring, and then a recap of the mostly dreary affair in Cincinnati on Tuesday night.

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.