Scuffed

Sometimes the recap is more interesting than the game. I believe this is one of those times.

Greg and Belz both give a starting XI for the USMNT for the friendly against Mexico late tomorrow night in Arizona. Quick episode.

Tara, Vince and Belz discuss Ertz finding a club, Rodman replacing Swanson, Sanchez not doing enough, Albert balling for PSG, and much more.

Not our finest hour. Maybe some people played themselves out of World Cup contention. Fluke goal wins it. Full timeline, Vlatko prosecution. Then we briefly discuss the USMNT roster for Mexico.

Greg and Belz talk through the extreme lows but also the encouragement of the USWNT's 2-0 win over Ireland. The agony of Mallory Swanson's injury followed by a deeply reassuring Julie Ertz appearance headline the game. We mourn Swanson's likely loss, talk about how it affects the team, and celebrate Ertz's dominant cameo.

Vince, Tara and Belz work their way through the player pool's exploits ahead of Saturday's match against Ireland. Excitement over Ertz's return builds, Korbin Albert is playing quite well for PSG as a deep-lying midfielder, Sophia Smith got a hat trick over the weekend, and much, much more.

Another tight scoreline vs Don Hugo's men, but lots of chances, Gio at a 10ish position, Miles back from his injury, Dike with the chance to start up top. Some things were learned. Also the USWNT dropped a roster this morning and we discuss that a little.

A Scuffed patron and part-time server in San Diego, BasedGallagher, joins the pod to explain how he learned that Balogun would be visiting Orlando last week. However it all ends up, this was a Tier 1 scoop and we (Watke, Vince and Belz) had to hear from Gallagher, on his impression of Batson, and on the moment he spilled the tea about Balogun's visit.

Greg and Belz talk through the goals and all the good vibes from the Friday night stroll at Kirani James Sports Complex.

Vince, Tara and Belz run through the bigger topics of the past week or so -- Macario's statements on her return to play outlook, FIFA prize money, Korbin Albert first start for PSG -- and then preview the NWSL season from a USWNT lens.

Greg and Belz do a quick reaction to the roster for the games against Grenada and El Salvador. It's a good roster!

Greg and Belz talk through who could be called up for the matches against Grenada and El Salvador, and Greg gives a starting XI for each game. Lots of striker discussion, and hopes for trialists in midfield, and some experimentation with Tim Weah at left back.

Belz, Vince and Tara cover the waterfront (details below) with the NWSL season just over two weeks away.

Vince, Watke and Belz discuss Leeds and McKennie, Adams, and Aaronson getting a much-needed win, double pivot szn, the all-important search for a U17 game-changer as the U17s fall to Mexico. Lots more in the patron-only cut, including the return of MLS, Dike's brace, Pepi's goal, Reyna DNP, the Old Firm and Catholicism. Link's in shownotes.

The U.S. is quite good at women's soccer, but there's lots to worry about. Greg and Belz talk about the messiness at the back, the quality up front, the uneven but improving decision-making up front, revenue from the press, our easily-bypassed midfield, Dunn looking like she's almost fully back.

Vince, Tara and Belz debrief about Nashville, discuss the Crystal Dunn profile in GQ, recap the 1-0 win over Japan with special attention on the midfield and the fullbacks, and Alex Morgan, and look briefly ahead to Brazil tonight.

Greg and Belz recap the action from Orlando. Perhaps our best performance in the last 12 months. Lots of patient buildup, a ferocious press. Maybe we're on the right track!

Greg and Belz talk about the USMNT coaching vacancy and the state of the player pool, which Greg is bullish about.

A Thursday edition of WoSo Wednesday with Tara and Vince. We discuss the upcoming SheBelieves Cup, Kornieck at the 6 and the ghost of Julie Ertz, and keep being weary of Vlatko.

Two cycles ago Tim Weah, Sergino Dest and Josh Sargent led the U17 men's national team. One cycle ago it was Gio Reyna and Ricardo Pepi. A new U17 cycle is upon us and Matt Hartman joins the podcast to talk through the roster for the Concacaf championship, which serves as U17 World Cup qualifying and starts Saturday. Now it's Cruz Medina and Oscar Verhoeven, Pedro Soma and Keyrol Figueroa who we'll be watching. Let's see! Let's go!

More an oral history interview than a typical podcast episode. Mankamyer was a real estate broker and youth soccer volunteer in Colorado who rose through the ranks of U.S. Soccer governance in the 1980s and was a key actor in promoting girls' youth soccer, the creation of a women's national team, and the addition of women's soccer as an Olympic sport in Atlanta in 1996. She also worked with and against Werner Fricker, and helped Alan Rothenberg get elected as president.

No big winners from January Camp! Except perhaps Zendejas. Greg and Belz were morally obligated to recap this soccer match, but we did find some things to discuss.

Paul Arriola is gonna hit 50 caps tonight, most likely. He sat down with Sanjay Sujanthakumar yesterday to discuss how a cancer doctor helped persuade him to make his return to the national team for the camp he's in now. Plus a detailed discussion of how he learned he wouldn't be going to the World Cup, how he came up in southern California, his signing with Tijuana as a youngster and who brought the best party vibes at his wedding.

Greg and Belz recap the 2-1 loss to the Serbs, and discuss Earnie Stewart's exit from US Soccer.

Vince, Tara and Belz convene to pick through the performances in the most recent camp. Agendas grow and converge, and new ones come to life. How good is Sanchez? How good is Kornieck? When is Cat coming back? Where is Sam Coffey? How hard is it to learn Mallory's new last name? Lots to discuss. Join us.

A better performance from the USWNT, the real test comes in February. Greg and Belz talk it through, including that lovely sequence for Hatch's opener.

The USWNT started its two-legged series with New Zealand on Tuesday, and finishes it on Friday. Greg and Belz talk a lot about crossing, and not combining or moving off the ball very well in the middle of the park, but also get to detail some lovely goals. At the end we briefly discuss the January Camp roster.

The era of HBO Max, TNT, Telemundo, Universo and Peacock is upon us with the U.S. women taking on New Zealand tonight under the new TV deals. Also, Major League Soccer embarks on a historic 10-year deal with Apple. John Ourand, a reporter for the Sports Business Journal and co-host of Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast, joins Belz to help us understand what's going on, how it compares to what's happening in other sports, and what it means for soccer's bargaining power in America.

Greg and Belz talk through the year ahead for the men's and women's programs. First a brief discussion of the urgent tasks ahead of the USWNT, then whether Berhalter can continue, then the year of (hopefully) experimentation that's ahead for the men's program.

Belz, Tara and Vince kick off a new series, scheduled for once every two weeks. On the agenda today, the camp in New Zealand, Vlatko gets another shot at addressing the team's attacking woes, the NWSL draft, and a full USWNT player pool report from Cat to Girma.

From playing on fields of crushed cinder in the German-American League to broadcasting World Cup games from Qatar, Joe Machnik has pretty much seen it all. A few days before his 80th birthday, he joins for an interview to discuss the builders of American soccer, the 1990 World Cup, what exactly a handball is, how MLS teams disposed of those clocks that were used to count down the 5 seconds given to a player for a shootout in the early days of the league, and much, much more.

Greg and Belz talk through a bunch of big-picture player pool stuff, and the USMNT players at the World Cup one by one, with an eye toward 2026.

Matt Hartman, Marcus Chairez, Alex Calabrese and Belz pick XIs of players who were not on the World Cup roster and have fewer than 5 caps. Some surprises. Some surprising omissions. We call it the Future Draft. Hopefully it introduces you to some names to keep track of over the next three years.

Greg and Belz review the action -- the three big lapses, the tactical setups and adjustments, fatigue, pressing in a 4-3-3 vs setting up in a less confrontational 4-4-2, and our continued lack of final third cutting edge -- all within the context of a World Cup that was all-in-all a real step forward for the USMNT.

Greg, Vince, Belz and Watke enjoy the moment, talk about the goal on Tuesday for a while, and look ahead to Saturday.

The best day for fans of the USMNT in a LONG time. A fantastic first half performance, and we're on to the knockouts. Greg and Belz go long.

Greg, Belz and Vince ponder the England game and the tournament up to this point a bit more, express our appreciation for the performance, talk about the off-field stuff drifting around tomorrow's game, and then discuss Iran's likely setup and what we'll need to do to beat them.

We talked about how Iran will set up (probably a 4-5-1), how much they will push forward, how Queiroz will likely get both Taremi and Azmoun on the field, how the flag controversy plays in the Iran locker room, and what Iranians think of Jurgen Klinsmann's comments.

An encouraging performance on a huge stage, in some ways unprecedented, but still we couldn't score, and some of our decisions didn't align with the naked math of World Cup advancement. Must-win against Iran on Tuesday.

Gio Reyna not playing controversy revisited, mea culpas from Belz and Watke. And then shouts from all over the country on how we're gonna beat England.

Greg, Watke, Vince and Belz continue to celebrate Weah's goal, talk about Gio's health, mourn the two lost points, and try to cover the waterfront as the US starts to prepare for England.

A bolt of blue from Pulisic and Weah, a big mistake from Zimmerman, and a disappointing draw with Wales at the World Cup. Greg and Belz talk through it.

With Watke and Vince, irrational optimism, first goalscorer, first assist, best goal celebrations, Dest's bleach job, the Esquire photo shoot, who we sub on in the 30th minute to protect our lead, and much more.

Sanjay Sujanthakumar interviews reigning NWSL defender of the year Naomi Girma (perhaps the USWNT's top centerback now?) about everything from her Ethiopian-American upbringing to her academic work in "symbolic systems." And then Greg and Belz recap the two friendlies against Germany. Last non-USMNT episode before we happily enter the World Cup gauntlet.

Greg and Belz watch a bunch of Wales footage and report back. Gareth Bale is still very dangerous (once in a while), we're likely up against a 5-4-1 defensive block, and they'll hit fast in transition. Tyler Adams needs a good game, we need somebody to get on the ball between the lines and cook (Reyna, maybe Sarge or Ferreira or Aaronson), and we need quick runners off the ball to break Wales down.

Greg and Belz talk about why you should care about the U.S. men's national team and watch them play at the World Cup. This is for sharing with friends and family, ideally.

Dest looks fully back, lotta smiles at camp in Al Gharrafa, Vince beseeches us all to enjoy ourselves, Weah's team playlist unearthed on reddit, Sargent scores (so does Pepi), team jersey numbers assigned, and a lot more with Vince, Watke and Belz.

We talk about Steffen quite a bit, work through the 26, mourn the snubs (but especially Belz mourns Pepi), and then we build up to Greg predicting a 2-0 win over Wales.

The Monday Review with Watke, Vince and Belz. Leeds 4, Bournemouth 3, Adams and Aaronson playing well, Weah at fullback, Gio's cold penalty and the AB dance, Pulisic with Nippa and his crew in the bowels of Wembley, injury report, Pax to Frankfurt, etc. etc.

Our World Cup roster episode. First Greg and Belz go over Berhalter's locks, then we each give our 26, then we project who Berhalter will call up.