Episodes
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MANCHESTER UNITED host CHELSEA in a vintage Barclays encounter that happens to be the first Premier League match since Erik ten Hag's dismissal as United manager. The Dutchman is the latest casualty of the club's disorder and decline since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure a decade ago, but how much is down to his poor decision-making? How much is down to the players? And will the new ownership and football executive structure be the platform new manager Rúben Amorim needs to change the plot?
Of course, Chelsea have been a bit nutty too over the last few years, but they might just be getting it together under their own new boss, Enzo Maresca. Are the Blues from West London a bit of a model for United as they try to get back on track?
Joining us to answer that—and try to digest the madness of this week and the last few years—is journalist and United fan Usmaan Akhtar. We also took a minute to reminisce about the glory days of this rivalry, when these two English heavyweights were battling at the top of the European game.
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Arsenal-Liverpool, the Derby d’Italia, Le Classique…it’s a serious Football Weekend. But all that takes a back seat to the big one: El Clásico, REAL MADRID vs BARCELONA, the premier grudge match in world football. Nobody does technical quality and steaming spite quite like these two, and the storylines abound heading into this 258th meeting of Spain's great powers.
One Brazilian from each side—Vinicius Jr. for Madrid, Raphinha for Barça—scored a hat trick in the Champions League in midweek. They're two of the form players in Europe, with Vini a strong bet to take home the Ballon d'Or in a couple months' time, but there's also the 17-year-old sensation Lamine Yamal and some guy named Kylian Mbappé playing his first Clásico. It's an embarrassment of riches in the forward positions for both these sides—and in midfield, too: Barcelona have added EURO 2024 standout Dani Olmo to academy starlets Pedri and Gavi in the engine room, and could we see 39-year-old Luka Modrić in there on the other side next to Fede Valverde and Jude Bellingham?
The matchups everywhere are mouthwatering, and joining us to preview the match is Paco Polit of La Liga Lowdown. He explained how Barcelona have changed under new coach Hansi Flick and how the German has got Robert Lewandowski firing again, with 12 of their astonishing 33 goals already this season; how Madrid remain inevitable in the Champions League, if not La Liga, under Don Carlo Ancelotti; and why fans of Los Blancos aren't overly taken with Mbappé's performances after so many years of speculation that he'd join the club. We also spared a minute to discuss the reports this week that La Liga is angling to stage a Barcelona-Atlético Madrid match in Miami, and the unfortunate fate of Paco's Valencia CF.
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Episodes manquant?
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LIVERPOOL vs CHELSEA is a modern classic, a rivalry born when Roman Abramovich bought the Blues into prominence and kicked off 20 years of tumultuous encounters: The Slip, the Ghost Goal, the feud between José Mourinho and Rafa Benitez, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, Jamie Carragher and John Terry, Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba. There were transfer sagas, wars of words, Champions League semifinals.
But most of all, this one is an argument about what's important in football. For years, Liverpool fans would sing, "You've got no history," at their Chelsea counterparts, an ode to their many decades of trophy-stacking when the West Londoners were irrelevant. But now Chelsea have two Champions Leagues—some history, that—and have won enough to wonder whether it matters how they got there at all.
Joining us to preview this one is Beth Lindop, football writer for Reach PLC and a bona fide Merseysider. We got into all of the above and how Liverpool have changed in this young season under a new manager, Arne Slot. Plus: Jürgen Klopp's legacy, the Cole Palmer problem, and did you hear England have a new manager?
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It's a meeting of two old enemies in Guadalajara, two years before they co-host a World Cup, but this international friendly wouldn't mean much without big news on the American side: the U.S. Men's National Team has a new coach with serious pedigree at the top of the European game. Mauricio Pochettino took Tottenham to a Champions League final, he's coached Chelsea and PSG, and now he'll try to lead this young USMNT squad to the promised land—or at least a World Cup quarterfinal.
One man who knows a bit about all that is Kasey Keller, who represented the United States as a goalkeeper at four different World Cups. He was also among the first Americans to forge a serious career in Europe's top leagues, helping to pave the way for Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie today. Now he's an analyst at ESPN, and he took some time to offer his thoughts on Pochettino's appointment and the financial implications, including for women's coach Emma Hayes; the state of this U.S. squad and just how many more breakout players they'll need to compete in two years time; his own time with the national team and how the game has shifted Stateside over the last couple of decades; and how he nearly had his whole kit stripped off him during a pitch invasion at The Den, the cauldron where he kept goal for Millwall when he first arrived in Europe.
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This one's named for a region named after a road—the Via Aemilia—that the Romans built after they took this chunk of northern Italy off some Celtic tribes back in 189 BC. A bunch of towns grew up along the new thoroughfare, and now there are a number of football clubs scrapping over this turf. The two biggest and most decorated are BOLOGNA, from the medieval masterpiece known for its food, architecture, and the world’s oldest university; and PARMA, another ancient town that’s…known for its food. This is Italy, after all.
These two clubs have enjoyed very different histories: Bologna were a big deal in the early decades of Serie A, at a time when Parma were looking up at them from a league (or multiple) below. Then, in the 1990s, the Crociati (Crusaders) of Parma rose to the lofty heights of the Italian league when it was the greatest in the world, fielding a parade of famous names—Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Lilian Thuram, Hernán Crespo, Gianfranco Zola, Juan Sebastian Verón—thanks in part to some very rich and very volatile ownership. When the multinational dairy and food corporation with a controlling ownership stake, Parmalat, collapsed early on in the new millennium, it decimated the club.
Now Bologna are back on top again, playing Champions League football again after a fine season under Thiago Motta, now departed for Juventus. They lost a couple of key players in Joshua Zirkzee and Riccardo Calafiori, but they just played their biggest game in maybe 60 years at Anfield on Wednesday. You can hear all about that in this week’s episode with Christine Cupo, reporter and analyst on the CBS Sports Golazo Network and for Attacking Third, the hub for coverage of the women's game on CBS Sports.
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We’re headed over to Germany for an early Bundesliga title clash, and Derek Rae is our guide before he calls the game for ESPN. It’s BAYERN MUNICH vs BAYER LEVERKUSEN in a meeting of the perennial powers and the fresh-faced upstarts, with Bayern looking for a return to the normal order of things after Leverkusen posted a scintillating unbeaten domestic double last term, taking the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal without losing a match. They nearly won the Europa League, too, but Atalanta was a step too far in the final in Dublin.
How have these two teams changed since last year, particularly Bayern under new coach Vincent Kompany? Have Leverkusen lost the air of inevitability that carried them through last season and helped them grab late goals to rescue results? Derek offered all that and much more from his vast reservoir of knowledge when it comes to German football. Plus, on EA Sports FC 25 release week, he offered up some of his favorite lines from his role as a commentator for the world-famous video games.
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There are few feuds like the 111-year-old dispute between Arsenal and Tottenham over who exactly owns North London. These two first met in 1896, but that was when Arsenal were in Woolwich, south of the River Thames. It wasn’t until the Gunners crossed the waterway in 1913 and set up shop in Tottenham’s neighborhood that the trouble began, and it hasn’t let up since. Though as an Arsenal fan, I feel obligated to weigh in on who owns what: the red side may be seeking a first league title in two decades, but Tottenham haven’t won the first division for 63 years. They’ve won two trophies in the last 30, and they were both League Cups.
There might be just a bit of Arsenal partisanship in this episode, because joining the show to preview this North London derby is Andrew Mangan—blogger, podcaster, and proprietor at Arseblog, the foremost Arsenal fan channel. We delved into his path to The Arsenal as a Dubliner, Arsenal’s rather disastrous injury and suspension situation coming into this one, those frightening times when Mauricio Pochettino threatened to win Spurs a trophy, his memories of the Sol Campbell transfer—an all-time North London flashpoint—and why he wants bad things to happen to Tottenham, everywhere and all the time.
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It's the battle of Glasgow, one of the most combustible matches in world football. CELTIC vs RANGERS is a fixture like no other, a vehicle for ancient blood feuds and sectarian strife.
In the beginning of the 20th century, these two sets of fans marked the final whistle of a cup final by attempting to burn down Scotland's famed Hampden Park. After the 1980 final, supporters from both sides rioted on the pitch, fighting hand-to-hand and flinging bottles and more at each other until mounted police charged in to rescue control of the situation. This is a match that carries questions of what it means to be Scottish, baggage tied up in The Troubles of Northern Ireland and the quest for Scottish independence from Great Britain. And it's also, partly, about football.
Joining us to trace this history and preview this Sunday's match is Chris McLaughlin, Sports News Correspondent at BBC Scotland and a man of Glasgow. He also covered the Scottish national team at EURO 2024 and offered some insight into a raucous atmosphere and an ultimately disappointing campaign.
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La Liga is back and so is one of its true classics. BARCELONA and ATHLETIC CLUB have been duking it out in this division for as long as it's been around. Along with Real Madrid, they're the only clubs who've never been relegated.
Like Barça, Athletic represents a part of Spain—the Basque region—with a serious independent streak, but that hasn't always made them allies off or on the pitch. In the 1980s, especially, these two clubs entered an explosive feud, one that culminated with none other than Diego Maradona launching into a flying kick at an Athletic player in the final of the Copa del Rey. That's the competition that has revived this rivalry more recently, too, as these two clubs have a habit of running into each other in the king's cup final.
But the biggest story going into this league fixture might just be Nico Williams, the electric winger who starred for Spain at EURO 2024 this summer, who appears to have turned down a move to Barcelona to stay in Bilbao. What does that say about the state of the Blaugrana at the moment, about Athletic, and about Williams?
Here to offer some insight is Graham Hunter, who's covered Spanish football for decades and now does so for ESPN. He also hosts a podcast of his own, The Big Interview. He helps us trace the history of this fixture and its politics, explains the origins and consequences of Athletic's policy of only fielding Basque players, and offers a look behind the scenes of Spain's camp at EURO 2024. He followed the champions up close throughout the tournament.
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The Premier League is back following a breathless summer where we scarcely had any break from football at all. Still, it's a new season brimming with possibilities, and CHELSEA vs MAN CITY is a fine marquee fixture for the opening weekend. These are two teams making considerable news off the pitch, with Chelsea's freewheeling—some would say "chaotic"—transfer spending and City finally (maybe) facing the music on those 115 charges. Could this be Pep Guardiola's last season in Manchester regardless of how that inquiry turns out, or whether the Citizens take a fifth-straight Premier League title? And what will Cole Palmer do to his former employers under the tutelage of new manager (and Guardiola acolyte) Enzo Maresca?
Joining us to preview the match and the Prem season writ large is SANNY RUDRAVAJHALA, reporter for Sky Sports News and beyond who hails from the Manchester area. He zoomed in from his back garden to assess Chelsea's 40-something-player squad, the new-look Manchester United under the same old ten Hag, whether Tottenham could be a dark horse to compete at the top of the league, and whether Darwin Núñez is his dark-horse pick for this season's top scorer.
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The EURO 2024 final is upon us, and DAN BARDELL of Sky Sports and TalkSPORT returns to the show this week to preview ENGLAND vs SPAIN. Together we make the case that Gareth Southgate is among the very best England managers of all time, and Dan describes the unique joy of watching Ollie Watkins’ winner in the semifinal as a lifelong Aston Villa fan.
We also discuss the stress of watching players from your club team play international tournaments, Xavi Simons' wondergoal and the Netherlands' fine tournament, whether the French will be kicking themselves—and Didier Deschamps—about how they approached this competition, and of course Lamine Yamal's thunderbolt to crack their vaunted defense. Then there's some talk about how England might deal with the threat of Yamal and Nico Williams, the midfield battle between Rice and Rodri, and our unrelenting FOMO having missed out on a trip to Germany.
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The quarterfinals kick off at EURO 2024 on Friday with SPAIN vs GERMANY and FRANCE vs PORTUGAL, before ENGLAND and SWITZERLAND meet Saturday and the NETHERLANDS face TÜRKIYE shortly after to round out the last eight.
Joining us to preview this sweet schedule of seismic sporting encounters is CARL ANKA, a staff writer for The Athletic. He covers Manchester United during the club season but was deployed to Germany for the group stage of this competition and has some wonderful stories to tell from on the ground at the EUROs. We also covered Cristiano Ronaldo's tearful and torrid time in the Round of 16, the largely disappointing performances from Kylian Mbappé's France and Gareth Southgate's England, the exemplary coaching of Murat Yakin for the Swiss national team, Cody Gakpo's transformation when he represents his nation as opposed to his club, and Türkiye's distinction as this tournament's great entertainers.
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The Copa América quarterfinals begin Thursday with Lionel Messi's ARGENTINA against ECUADOR, while the marquee match of the round comes last: BRAZIL vs URUGUAY.
Joining the show to preview both—and the two other matches in between—is ALEXIS GUERREROS of The Cooligans podcast and Morning Footy on the CBS Sports Golazo Network. We also spared some time for the USA's disastrous group-stage exit from the tournament and Gregg Berhalter's future with the U.S. Men's National Team, COLOMBIA's fine performance at this Copa and their fans traveling in force, Jesse Marsch's revenge tour with CANADA, and the general vibe that Copa América is the EUROs after dark.
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The EURO 2024 group stage is done and dusted, and the tournament's sudden-death phase is upon us. It's the Round of 16, with SWITZERLAND vs ITALY and GERMANY vs DENMARK on Saturday, ENGLAND-SLOVAKIA and SPAIN vs GEORGIA on Sunday, FRANCE vs BELGIUM and PORTUGAL vs SLOVENIA on Monday, and finally, ROMANIA vs the NETHERLANDS and AUSTRIA-TURKIYE on Tuesday.
Joining us this week to preview the knockout rounds is @RoryTalksFootball, who returns to the show to offer some of the same insight he serves up to hundreds of thousands of followers across TikTok and beyond every single day. We of course touched on England's woes and the trials of Gareth Southgate, the power of Germany and Spain, the weakness of Belgium and France, the value of quality coaching for Austria and Switzerland, and whether a lack thereof could cost the Netherlands and Portugal. Or is Cristiano Ronaldo what will hold the Portuguese back?
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What a time to be alive as a football fan, as COPA AMÉRICA joins EURO 2024 on our television screens. Here to preview the Western Hemisphere's championship is STU HOLDEN, who played for the U.S. Men’s National Team and was one of the first Americans I ever saw play in a Premier League midfield. Now he’s a co-commentator and analyst for FOX Sports, which will be broadcasting the Copa América here in the United States along with the EUROs.
We touched on how American players have gone to a new level in Europe since Stu’s days, Jesse Marsch’s appointment as Canada’s head coach, Lionel Messi and the mighty Argentines’ clash with nemesis Chile, the North Americans getting torched by the South Americans in pre-tournament friendlies, how the USMNT should line up, the major threats posed by Colombia and Uruguay, and whether there’s a mismatch between Coach Gregg Berhalter and the current crop of American footballers.
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It's EURO 2024, the European Championships, and it all blasts off on this opening weekend with GERMANY vs SCOTLAND, CROATIA vs SPAIN, and ENGLAND vs SERBIA. Dan Bardell of Sky Sports and TalkSport joins the show to preview these matches and the tournament in general, and as a devout Aston Villa fan, he found a way to get John McGinn and Andrés Iniesta into the same sentence!
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With men's football in a very brief offseason, it's time for a change of pace. How does a football club get started in the first place?
Maximilian Mansfield can tell you first hand. He's the CEO of Brooklyn FC, a startup club that's sprouting out of the asphalt not far from TFW HQ here in New York. Max joins the show to chat about where BKFC fits in a football ecosystem that already boasts two MLS teams, finding a home court in the borough—they've signed up to share the Brooklyn Cyclones' Maimonides Park on Coney Island—and what items are top of your To Do List when you launch a brand-new professional outfit. He also shares his own story growing up in Brooklyn after he was born in Dortmund, and how he got here from a job in finance and a stint playing non-league football in England.
You can check out Brooklyn FC at their website to learn more, and the same goes for Two Bridges Football Club, a wonderful project Max also spearheaded that will now become the formal academy for BKFC.
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It's the Champions League final on Saturday at Wembley Stadium, where REAL MADRID will seek a preposterous 15th title and BORUSSIA DORTMUND will play the David to Madrid's Goliath.
CLIVE TYLDESLEY will call his 30th final in this competition for CBS and Paramount+ in the United States, but first he joins the show to run through some of the biggest moments to which he's borne witness—from Manchester United's last-gasp treble win over Bayern Munich in 1999 to Zinedine Zidane's wondervolley to defeat Bayer Leverkusen in 2002 to Barcelona's tiki-taka destruction of United in 2011—as well as some of his inspirations as a commentator, drinking champagne out of the European Cup at a Parisian nightclub with the victorious Liverpool team in 1981, parallels between the two Manchester trebles he called, and the mystical power of football heritage in this competition.
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MANCHESTER UNITED and MANCHESTER CITY will contest the FA Cup final on Saturday at 10am Eastern, and Jon Champion will be calling the game for U.S. audiences on ESPN. He also graciously joined the show this week to preview the match, look back on the Premier League season just passed, and offer his favorite stadiums to commentate from—including Goodison Park, where you've got to navigate multiple ladders to get to the commentary position.
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It's the Premier League's final day, and the title is still on the line. Arsenal have won 15 of their last 17 league games, but it may not be enough to topple mighty Manchester City. The Gunners must win at home to Everton and hope West Ham can get a result at the Etihad Stadium.
The last time City and Arsenal went head-to-head, Robbie Earle joined the show to preview the match and mentioned he might like to come back at the end of the season. He’s on location in London, where NBC will provide wall-to-wall coverage of Championship Sunday. For our American listeners, all 10 matches will stream simultaneously on Peacock with coverage beginning at 9am, and you can also catch Man City-West Ham on NBC and Arsenal-Everton on USA Network. For his part, Robbie will be watching pitchside at the Emirates with Rebecca Lowe and the rest of the NBC crew.
We talked the title race but also the relegation stakes this season, the points deductions for Everton and Nottingham Forest, Wolves’ proposal to scrap VAR, Ange Postecolgou’s Tottenham discontent, how Liverpool’s season has changed since Jürgen Klopp’s midseason announcement that he would depart the club, and the twisting fates of Chelsea and Manchester United.
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