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

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. Here's where you can send us a voice message for future episodes: https://www.speakpipe.com/ScuffedPodcast Vince and Belz and George Quraishi are definitely taking a group to Rome fr...

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. Here's where you can send us a voice message for future episodes: https://www.speakpipe.com/ScuffedPodcast Vince and Belz and George Quraishi are def...

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. Here's where you can send us a voice...

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. Clip Notes from Vince, which is video of every action we discuss in the timelin...

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. Clip Notes for $5 patrons and up, coming soon. Send us a voicemail for us to use in a mailbag show on Thursday (say your name and...

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. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus episodes....

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 coache...

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. Still a couple slots open for our trip to Rome in May. Here are some details: http...

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. MORE DETAIL ON THE ROME TRIP IN MAY: https://earthlydelights.notion.site/Italia-25-with-Scuffed-1a3f3f1e0145804793e8e83e982168fd There are still a few slots available: h...

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...

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. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus...

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. NO EPISODE THIS COMING THURSDAY. Clip Notes for this episode, v...

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? The trip to Rome: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfp2O1bIr5KNSymt3ayP3ctERCooDo3ADM5Kf_kSHpmr6ITMg/viewform Skip the ads! Subs...

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. Like I said, he's a must-follow on Twitter if you know how to use the translate function: h...

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. Here's the Soccerwise Patreon, if you want to check in on what Gass...

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. Clip notes from Vince for $5 patrons and up: https://www.patreon.com/posts/121943808 Register your interest in the Rome trip, which is really coming together: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA...

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...

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. Clip Notes (a compani...

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. 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:...

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. Vince made a companion video of relevant clips for Supporters Shield and Ultra levels on our Patreon page (see below). Think about joining us for at trip to Rome to see Lazio-Juventus and Roma-Milan in May. The battles for a Ch...

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. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfp2O1bIr5KNSymt3ayP3ctERCooDo3ADM5Kf_kSHpmr6ITMg/viewform Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Pa...

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. Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or...

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...

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. Patrons can watch a 4-minute video of several of the clips we discuss, put together by Vince: https://www.patreon.com/posts/key-clips-from-119953459?utm_...