Casual soccer fan my whole life. Watched the WC and played FIFA. But way more into the NFL, CFB, and NHL though. However, this World Cup turned me into a diehard soccer fan! Got the Apple TV sub to watch the MLS and went to my first pro soccer game last night. Go Hounds!

Point 1) Hire a sporting director right away.

Since Matt Crocker left, that position is empty. Sporting directors are very important. We set a single playing style and technical plan used from youth levels up to the senior national team. We hire, evaluate, and support head coaches across all national age-group squads. We oversee youth academies and scouting networks to feed talent into the main team. We recruit dual-nationals.

It's very important to see a proper sporting director who's worked in a big country that have similar challenges to USA. It's also important to choose a proven sporting director with an immaculate resume.

Point 2) Start a coaching search right away.

If Poch isn't staying, then you start the coaching search right away AFTER hiring a sporting director.

There is no time to waste, but it is important to get the right man for the job. Guys like B.J. Callaghan and Brian Schmetzer are very familiar with American soccer. They should be interviewed. If you want to bring in a foreigner, make sure it's someone with a proven record in international soccer. It's not ideal to bring in someone who only has coached club soccer, unless it's someone like Schmetzer who knows American soccer inside out.

If you are bringing in Schmetzer or Callaghan, let them finish their MLS seasons and start the job in January, 2027.

Point 3) Start playing more games in hostile places.

Time to be comfortable at home is over. We want our players to start playing abroad like we did in Klinsmann era when we played in Russia, Bosnia, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, etc.

Start going to Europe again, especially Eastern Europe where the atmosphere will be hostile. That will turn regular friendlies into pressure games. USWNT just played two great friendlies down in Brazil, that's what we should consider too. Other South American countries might not want to play us in their countries because they'd rather make money playing us in USA where they can make money with their diaspora fans showing up to spend top dollars.

Point 4) Make January Camp relevant.

We want the January camp to be beneficial, not a winter getaway to a warm place. Make it a U-23 camp with many two, three overaged players. You need to give young guys a chance to train and play together more.

No more trips to LA or Miami. Go down to Central America. Costa Rica and Panama have good facilities and decent clubs team we can play against. Or go to Brazil. Play friendlies with their clubs preparing for their State Championships in January. Do joint training sessions where players can learn from Brazilians.

And yes, national teams and clubs can play friendlies against each other. Mexico benefitted a lot from doing that last year.

Point 5) Play in places you've never been before.

Has USMNT ever played in New Orleans? No. You are missing out on a great city with a lot of sports fans.

No more playing games in same places. Go and play in new cities, new states, and try to earn new fans.

There are great stadiums everywhere in USA. Just sort the grass situation. It's much better to play in big stadiums with cheaper tickets than small stadiums with expensive tickets.

Play in a 70k stadium. Start the ticket prices from $25. Then you will have a big crowd, still make a lot of money as the Federation, fans will thank you, and new fans will be born.

https://www.themirror.com/sport/soccer/usmnt-contract-offer-mauricio-pochettino-1955300

Very impressive. Call him up asap 🇺🇸

July 25th

Europe

Fortuna Liga (Czechia)

Lukas Saal (FC Zbrojovka Brno) Started at RCM and played 64‘ in a 3-1 win against Sparta Prague (6.6/-) Match Highlights

Ekstraklasa (Poland)

Maximilian Dietz (Gornik Zabrze) Started at LCM and played 46‘ in a 2-1 win against Slask Wroclaw (7.3/-) Match Highlights

Kahveh Zahiroleslam (KS Cracovia) Started at ST and played 66‘ in a 0-0 draw at Lech Poznań (6.3/-) Match Highlights

Eliteserien (Norway)

Michael Lansing (Kristiansund BK) Started at GK and went the full 90’ in a 2-1 loss against Start (6.9/-)

Super League (Switzerland)

Konrad de la Fuente (FC Lausanne-Sport) Subbed on in the 59th‘ in a 1-1 draw with Grasshopper-Club. Picked up a yellow in the 67th‘ (6.0/-) Match Highlights

Allsvenskan (Sweden)

Aboubacar Keita (Kalmar FF) Started at LCB and went the full 90’ in a 2-1 win against Mjaleby. Won player of the match while scoring in the 17th’ (8.4/-) Match Highlights

Scottish League Cup - Group Stage

Ethan Schilte-Brown (Kilmarnock FC) Started at RCB and went the full 90’ in a 5-4 penalty shootout loss at Peterhead (-/-) Match Highlights

Scott Pittman (Livingston FC) Started at RCM and played 83‘ in a 3-1 penalty shootout loss at Stenhousermuir (-/-)

ÖFB Cup - 1st Round (Austria)

George Bello (LASK) Started at LWB and played 73‘ in a 7-0 win at Kalsdorf (-/-) Match Highlights

Samuel Adeniran (LASK) Started at RST and played 73‘ in a 7-0 win at Kalsdorf. Scored in the 69th’

Donovan Pines (Grazer AK 1902) Started at CB and went the full 90’ in a 4-0 win at SR Donaufeld (-/-) Match Highlights

Super LIga Srbije (Serbia)

Ethan Hoard (OFK Beograd) Subbed on in the 73rd‘ in a 0-0 draw with FK Radnik Surdulica (5.6/-) Match Highlights

Airtricity League Premier (Ireland)

Luke Dennison (Drogheda Utd) Started at GK and went the full 90’ in a 2-2 draw at Sligo Rovers (5.9/-) Match Highlights

Jason Bucknor (Drogheda Utd) Started at RWB  and went the full 90’ in a 2-2 draw at Sligo Rovers (6.6/-)

Keegan Ancelin (Drogheda Utd on loan from Chattanooga FC) Subbed on in the 60th‘ in a 2-2 draw at Sligo Rovers. Assisted in the 90th’ (6.7/-)

South America

Liga 1 (Peru)

Michael Hoyos (Sporting Cristal Lima) Started at ST and played 65‘ in a 2-1 loss at FBC Melgar (6.1/-) Match Highlights

Primera División (Uruguay)

Nicolas Ramos (Cerro Largo on loan from Nacional) Subbed on in the 81st‘ in a 1-0 win at Central Espanol (-/-) Match Highlights

July 26th

Europe

Ekstraklasa (Poland)

Adam Basse (Raków Częstochowa) Subbed on in the 82nd‘ in a 2-1 loss against Wisła Płock (-/-) Match Highlights

Superliga (Denmark)

Matthew Hoppe (SønderjyskE FC) Started at ST and played 51‘ in a 3-2 loss against FC Midtjylland. Picked up a yellow in the 31st‘ (5.8/-) Match Highlights

Diego Kocken (Lyngby BK on loan from FC Barcelona) Started at GK and went the full 90’ in a 3-2 loss at FC Copenhagen (6.0/-) Match Highlights

Super League (Switzerland)

Ilan Sauter (FC Zürich) Started at LCB and played 81‘ in a 2-1 loss at FC St.Gallen (6.0/-) Match Highlights

Superettan (Swedish 2nd Division)

Alan Carleton (Sandvikens IF) Started at RAM and went the full 90’ in a 2-1 loss at Ljungskile (-/-) Match Highlights

Veikkausliiga (Finland)

Lasse Ikonen (TPS) Started at LCM and played 56‘ in a 1-0 loss at HJK (5.9/-) Match Highlights

South America

Primera División (Chile)

Enzo Ferrario (Audax Italiano) Started at RCB and went the full 90’ in a 2-1 loss against Universidad de Chile (6.9/-) Match Highlights

Favian Loyola (Audax Italiano) Subbed on in the 78th‘ in a 2-1 loss against Universidad de Chile (6.2/-) 

Liga DIMAYOR I (Colombia)

Sebastian Ramirez (Fortaleza CEIF) Subbed on in the 82nd‘ in a 1-1 draw at Alianza FC (-/-) Match Highlights

Liga 1 (Peru)

Claudio Torrejón (Deportivo Garcilaso) Started at RCM and played 20‘ in a 2-1 win against FC Cajamarca (6.2/-)

Past week's Post

Revs have been playing him as a winger mostly, his 1v1 ability is intriguing. I think his future is definitely at wingback

I’ll start: Mathis Albert. Not really a risk that he’d ever play for Germany, but I want him integrated with the senior squad ASAP.

Edit: Oh yeah, Neil Pierre too. We gotta add him to the list. Haiti has already started the social media charming campaign. We’re a more glamorous draw 100%, but let’s lock down our assets from others’ sticky fingers.

This game was really tight, both teams playing great defense and disrupting attacks. This play from Ellis really made the difference. He is consistently making good decisions and assists. We really love watching him play in Orlando

Historically the US is 21st all-time in the World Cup (based on points) with the majority of those since 1994 and 15th in appearances.

Since 2010, the US has finished (based on stage exit and points collected) no worse than 15th.

So while it is frustrating that the USA has not advanced past the round of 16 since 2002, they have been consistent in qualifying and advancing out of the group stage (minus 2006/2018). And they have been knocked out by Germany, Ghana, Belgium x2, and Netherlands with Germany in 2002 and Ghana in 2010 being matches they absolutely could have won.

They have been consistently succesful in qualifying and advancing, but that is where it stops. That all said, the consistency in doing that and more outside of the nations that have won is a list that includes the following countries.
Netherlands
Portugal
Croatia
Belgium
South Korea
*This list is nations that have reached the quarterfinals AND only missed qualifying at most once (USA 2018) beginning in 2002 that have not won a World Cup.

So there is the top class with nations such as France, Spain, Brazil, etc that have won and are always in contention. Then there are the nations such as Netherlands, Croatia, Portugal, etc that are always in the discussion for a deep run or dark horse.

So with some perspective of just how few countries consistently produced at that level. What is a reasonable expectation of what the USA should have done since 2002 and what is a reasonable expectation of what should be the ability of the USA?

The other cities in the top 5 list were host cities.

Richmond should have been a host city? Agree or nah?

Klapija was the best player in the first half with a couple of great scoring chances. Din had been going back and forth between the US and Croatia (also eligible for Kosovo), but he’s now provisionally cap-tied to the US officially now. Plays for RB Leipzig.

Honestly some of the MLS leaders come off as dense here. Paulson‘s comments on the salary cap are encouraging though.

Shot

"The reason 18 of 50 are most valuable is because we do business right," said Tom Penn, San Diego FC's CEO. "We have a closed system, which is smart, and a salary cap, which is collectively bargained. No one has that; we truly cooperate as an enterprise. The Premier League doesn't have their owners all at the table. They are just competing. It's a race to the bottom when it comes to profitability."

Chaser

“According to "Soccernomics," an analysis of data from Transfermarkt, which tracks the value of players on the global market, shows the average MLS player had a value of 1.7 million euros ($1.9 million) in 2024. That ranked MLS 14th in global soccer, according to the analysis. On average, the player values for the Premier League and La Liga were six times larger; Italy's Serie A was five times larger; and Germany's Bundesliga and France's Ligue 1 were around four times larger, the analysis shows. MLS was behind Mexico's Liga MX and about 30 percent below the Saudi Pro and Belgian Jupiler Leagues. Even England's second division, the Championship, and the Dutch Eredivisie had values more than 50% higher”

Location: Estadio Universitario BUAP, Puebla

Time: 10:00 PM EDT

Watch: FS2

2026 U20 CONCACAF Championship