Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America

Matt Sahag, who coaches high school girls soccer in Des Moines, joins the pod to discuss a recent pitch from a big ECNL club to players and their parents, discouraging them from playing high school soccer this spring so they can focus on league ECNL play and national showcases. Sahag has responses to the claims made by the club. It's interesting. 13-yr-old's flying out for the weekend to play regu...

Vince, Greg, Sanjay and Belz duke it out to see who can craft the best team in a draft of all the players Poch has called up. Let the games begin! I'll post the lineups and some polls shortly. Germany trip: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfI4Cp1VpS2eCphsNjf6QHdaRDq86Tf-FeUhJ2tQ0RzkbxQhw/viewform Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus episod...

We talked about what the World Cup will mean for the sport in America, how kids are introduced to and grow up in the game in Scotland, the heartbreaking end of Sacramento's USL-C season, some coaching talk, some Kenny McLean talk, and lots more. Good chat. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfI4Cp1VpS2eCphsNjf6QHdaRDq86Tf-FeUhJ2tQ0RzkbxQhw/viewform Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patre...

Vince and Belz return to the Monday Review desk, with Brenden Aaronson getting a spot on A1, some Christmas reflection, a stout defense of Cole Campbell's luxury watch and handbag, and a rundown of all the key USMNT player pool developments since before the holiday. Scuffed Germany trip: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfI4Cp1VpS2eCphsNjf6QHdaRDq86Tf-FeUhJ2tQ0RzkbxQhw/viewform Skip the ad...

The JPEG That Changed Everything, the True Blue Tussle Award, Dad of the Year, and much more. If you want the full version, including NT Goal of the Year, Club Goal of the Year, Breakout Player of the Year, Player of the Year, to name a few, join the Patreon. Also, the form to fill out if our Germany/Netherlands trip is somewhere in your realm of possibility: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI...

The host of long-running former ESPN podcast Caught Offside joins Vince and Belz to discuss what Poch has been up to, whether it's working, Banner the mascot, and where several players probably stand in the depth chart. Look for Caught Offside with Andrew Gundling and JJ Devaney on any podcast platform, and here's there subscription service (kind of like a Patreon, I gather): https://caughtoffside...

We talk through the quite encouraging events of the first half of the week -- Pulisic's big man on campus brace off the bench, Wes's lovely gamewinner in CL, Balo's gamewinner and Pepi's continued propensity to put the ball in the back of the net. Then we get into Poch's media tour after the World Cup draw a little bit, what will happen if we beat Paraguay in that first game, and the MLS champions...

https://www.patreon.com/posts/world-cup-draw-145187648 Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the field we discuss on the show: https://www.patreon.com/scuffed Check out our store, where you can get Scuffed hats and sweatshirts and other stuff: scuffedpod...

Vince brings back "El Loco" for Poch, but in a good way. Four players who weren't even involved in the last window had a great past week in Europe. Pepi's back in the XI for Eindhoven. The World Cup draw is coming up in four days and we talk through the options. Things are looking good, folks. Although there is some sad news from Thanksgiving dinner. Clip Notes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/14485...

Vince is back. He and Belz welcome Leander to discuss the past window, where things stand with Poch’s project, and the chaotic history of the US Men’s National Team, which is the subject of his forthcoming book. We end up covering the major action from the weekend, including Pulisic’s gamewinner in the Derby della Madonnina, McKennie’s continued energetic & intelligent play for Juve, another shiny...

We wiped out a historically-good national team, coached by Marcelo Bielsa, in Tampa! Greg Velasquez and Belz talk it through. Gio's return, a caution against certainty, a tetchy performance from Poch in the post-game press conference, and, you guessed it, some classic Velasquez wet-blanketism.f Clip Notes on Patreon, for $5 subscribers and up, coming soon. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Pat...

Sanjay sits down with Joe at the team hotel in Tampa on Monday afternoon, to discuss his nearly 10,000 Bundesliga minutes of experience, how things have changed under Poch, who from the team he would trust the least to run the family business in Lake Grove, and much more. It's a fast but substantive interview. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus e...

Charlie Boehm and Belz celebrate a credible victory in greater Philadelphia on Saturday night! Gio is back in the national team mix, emphatically. Arfsten keeps on performing. Our defense has to answer some questions about that equalizer. A fracas in stoppage time. What more could we want. Clip Notes on the Patreon, for $5 subscribers, coming Monday morning. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on P...

Matt Hartman joins Belz to talk about our two blue chip 16-year-olds and their eye-catching performances at the U17 World Cup after the USA beat Czechia on Tuesday to round out a 9-point window. We do a timeline of the game and then look briefly ahead to Morocco on Friday, mostly talk about Cavan Sullivan and Mathis Albert. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free...

Charlie Boehm joins Belz to discuss Tyler's head injury, Tim Tillman's mysterious inclusion, a rough weekend in France for our guys, the MLS playoffs, Dest's return to camp, Big Pat's big goal, and much more. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the fie...

Marcus joins Belz to talk about the messy 1-0 win over Burkina Faso at the U17 World Cup, what's promising about the team (Albert, Sullivan) and where it will probably continue to struggle. We also briefly hit on the big Champions League goals from Balo and Pepi. Check out Marcus's work, and follow the link to his website, here: https://x.com/USSoccerColl Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patr...

Sanjay Sujanthakumar joins Vince and Belz for the Monday Review. Sanjay rushes to Gio's defense. And we discuss who's gonna get the magic phone call with all these injuries piled up. Clip Notes for $5 patrons and up will be out soon. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video...

Full rundown of the action and inaction from the middle of the week, including Balo's goal and Wes's good performance against Udinese, Gio Reyna's quote to the AP, and Charlie gives us an update on where MLS playoffs stand right now. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video...

Vince, Belz and Marcus on the mics. Also, is Diego Luna actually cool? Not just soccer cool but universally? An in-depth discussion of his photo with Lil Yachty, Quavo and Yeat, which MEANS SOMETHING to Vince. And then we talk about a small part of the weekend action. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also...

The Fox Sports reporter joins the pod, again, to talk through the past window, a little about Champions League, and mostly to discuss who he thinks will be on the World Cup roster. There's a big surprise in there! And lots of good discussion of the state of the pool. Here's the Chris Richards interview: https://www.foxsports.com/stories/soccer/who-u-s-mens-national-team-defender-chris-richards Ski...

Belz and Vince talk through a few more things about the international window, including the Roldanaissance, Balo's supremacy at striker, Tessmann coming good and the problems at centerback, plus Banks's second start in a row for Augsburg, Gio gets minutes for a relegation-bound Gladbach, and Chris takes his struggles with him back to Palace. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get al...

Greg and Vince wrap up a pretty good window for the boys. Full treatment of the 2-1 win over Australia in Commerce City. Clip Notes for $5 subscribers and up: https://www.patreon.com/posts/clipnotes-usa-v-141371074 Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on t...

Tanner Tessmann, the midfield anchor for Olympique Lyonnais who started for the USA against Ecuador on Friday, joined Sanjay Sujanthakumar for a half-hour long chat in Colorado on Monday. The Alabama native talked about, among other things, Nemanja Matic's impact on him, how long of a field goal he can kick with his left foot, his love for Venice and what he thinks he needs to do to start at the W...

Vince and Charlie Boehm carry the flag and get into the 1-1 draw with Ecuador. Balo and Tillman have a great night in Austin, they zapruder the Ecuador goal, lots to discuss. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the field we discuss on the show: https:/...

Vince and Belz sit back and relax a bit -- youth sports, the meaning of Landon's hairpiece, and some other minor digressions. the weekend action starts at the 43:00 mark if you want to go straight to that. Clip Notes coming soon on the Patreon. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Note...