Sorry soccer fans – work, reffing and the full summer of soccer has me worn out and behind this weekend. European leagues are kicking off and to be honest I am not ready. Up to 4 games a day during the Euros and Copa followed by 2 a day during the Olympics and I need a break. I will have full updates and predictions next week on the Euro Leagues and American’s playing abroad. The opening weekend schedule and some predictions are of course in the stories below along with some great saves and Ref calls. d
Huge congrats to the US Women – I don’t think anyone expected this group with new coach Emma Hayes to bring home the Gold Medal after just a few games on the job – but they did with the huge 1-0 win over Brazil and Marta. I will say again – the world has not passed us by – US Women despite pay for play and all the things wrong with US soccer are still some of the best in the world – but you have to have coaching. And lets me real the last guy was not a decent coach – Emma might be the best in the world and she turned this thing around quick. Our players don’t suck – they simply need to be coached properly – put in the right formations and coached up. Wow – how good can we be by World Cup time in 3 Years – it will be fun to see. As for the final itself wow what a goal by Swanson off the pass from but the final saves by GK Alyssa Naeher were legendary. Two late saves in the final and the semi’s to cement herself as the best ever USWNT GK in my book. Great Save by Naeher.
As for the men – WOW – Pochettino- honestly — I did not think we would get a coach of this caliber to coach our national team. After Klopp (which was never gonna happen) I really thought Pochettino was the next best option. I thought sure we were gonna get stuck with Henri or Southgate from overseas. This is a huge hire — listen he won with Tottenham – got by with less, learned to win with what he had and dang near won a Champions League title with not that impressive a team. He won with Southampton, then Totttenham and then PSG – no he never won the title – but his teams over achieved. Which is what we need the US Men to do now. Huge get for US soccer and GM Matt Crocker !! WOW!!
Congrats to our Carmel FC Players who made their High School teams. Especially our current and former CFC goalkeepers – CHS Girls Lily Bose, Eli Diehl, Mary Grace Knapp, Boys Griffin Rothenburg, Timothy Paciorek Avon, Cooper Cass Noblesville.
Sat 8/14
12:30 pm NBC West Ham United vs Aston Villa
12:30 pm CBSSN Genoa vs Inter Milan
2:45 pm Para+, Fox Desp AC Milan (Pulisic, Musah) vs Torino
3:30 pm ABC Valencia vs Barcelona
6 pm MLS Apple Columbus Crew vs NYCFC Campeones Cup
8 pm MLS Apple Seattle Sounders vs LAFC Cup
10 pm Univision America vs Colorado Rapids
Sun 8/18
11:30 am NBC Chelsea vs Man City
2:30 pm CBSSN Hellas Verona vs Napoli
US Men –
US Women Win the Gold Medal
USWNT’s Olympic gold medal win restores respect on world stage Jeff Kassouf
USWNT targets World Cup glory after taking gold
USWNT edges Brazil to win 1st gold since 2012
‘Welcome back’: LeBron James, Patrick Mahomes lead reaction to USWNT Olympic win ESPN Staff
Who is new USWNT coach Emma Hayes? Her story from those who know her best Jeff Kassouf
‘I don’t care, I want a drink’: Hayes’ best quotes in USWNT’s run to Olympic final Sam Borden
USWNT returns to #1 in FIFA world rankings By Donald Wine II
Golden moment: The USWNT is back on top of the world
San Diego Wave hire USMNT legend Landon Donovan as interim head coach
EPL Is Back
Premier League: Predictions as the 2024-25 season begins
The 🤖 AI vs Humans: Predicting the results of Premier League Matchday 1
Premier League’s biggest stars show off their goal celebrations 🤫
MLS
🔮 Previewing every Leagues Cup quarter-final showdown
Free agent Marco Reus completes MLS move
🎥 Columbus sucker-punch Miami with rapid Leagues Cup comeback
Reffing
Bad Decision Does Not Mean you’re a Bad Ref
Become a Licensed High School Ref
Become a Licensed Ref with Indiana Soccer – must be over 13
GoalKeeping
Thibaut Courtois makes the earliest possible claim for save of season
Great Save by US GK Naeher in Gold Medal Win
Chelsea and USMNT goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina joins Barnsley on loan
Saturday American’s Abroad
AC Milan v Torino
Christian Pulisic missed AC Milan’s final tune up match midweek, but is reportedly set to start the season as the team kick off their season against Torino on Saturday afternoon. Pulisic played over 3,500 minutes last season, scoring 15 goals and adding 11 assists for AC Milan as they finished a distant second to Inter in the Serie A title race. Yunus Musah also played over 2,000 minutes, and indications are that he is looking at an increased role in the midfield this season. Torino finished in ninth place last season, and the two clubs split their matchups, with each winning easily at home.
- Joe Scally and Borussia Mönchengladbach face Erzgebirge Aue at 7a on ESPN+. Erzgebirge are a third tier side, presumably lead by the Swedish Chef.
- Brenden Aaronson and Leeds United will face West Bromwich Albion at 7:30a on Paramount+. Daryl Dike remains sidelined for West Brom following his Achilles injury in February.
- Jordan Pefok, who has returned to Union Berlin following his loan spell with Borussia Mönchengladbach, will face fourth tier Greifswalder at 9:30a in dfb Pokal action.
- It looks like we won’t be seeing much of Matt Turner this season as he is reportedly now third in line at Nottingham Forest. Forest face AFC Bournemouth, who are without Tyler Adams for the start of the season following back surgery. The match will be at 10a on Peacock.
- Josh Sargent and Norwich City face Blackburn Rovers at 10a on Paramount+. Norwich lost their opener to Oxford United last weekend, while Burnley defeated Luton Town 4-1.
- Gio Reyna has returned to Borussia Dortmund and apparently is set to stay for this season following his unsuccessful loan spell at Nottingham Forest. Dortmund will have their first match under new manager Nuri Sahin as they face fourth division Phönix Lübeck at noon on ESPN+.
- Folarin Balogun will look to start his season on a high note as Monaco face Saint Etienne at 3p on beIN Sports.
Sunday American’s Abroad
Lazio v Venezia – 2:45p on Paramount+
Gianluca Busio and Venezia finished last season by winning the promotion playoff after finishing third place in Serie B. They will start their Serie A campaign against a Lazio side that finished in seventh place last season. Not with the team to start their campaign is Tanner Tessmann, who also played a significant role in achieving promotion but whose agent has seemingly botched the summer transfer process as several clubs, including Inter Milan, were reportedly close to a deal for the American only to have it collapse at the last minute. Currently there is no deal in place for Tessmann to move elsewhere, but leadership at Venezia have moved on and are not planning for him to play a role with the side this season.
- PSV started their season off with a 5-1 win against RKC Waalwijk, including a goal from Malik Tillman last weekend. Ricardo Pepi came off the bench in the match, while Richie Ledezma started the match at right back. PSV face Heracles at 6:15a on ESPN+.
- Chris Richards and Crystal Palace kick off their season against Brentford at 9a in a match that can be seen on the USA Network. Palace finished in 10th place last season, but have lost a number of pieces this summer and it will be interesting to see how they transition.
- Mark McKenzie is reportedly set to join Toulouse of France’s Ligue 1 on a permanent basis, though it looks unlikely to happen in time for him to join the side as they get set to start their season against Nantes at 11a on beIN Sports.
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Who is Mauricio Pochettino? Is this a coup for the USMNT? Will it help them at 2026 World Cup?Jack Pitt-Brooke The Athletic
Aug 15, 2024
The U.S. men’s national soccer team received a huge boost on Thursday morning when Mauricio Pochettino agreed to become their next head coach.The Athletic revealed that Pochettino, who had been a top target for the opening, had come to a deal with U.S. Soccer, the sport’s governing body. Pochettino has never managed at international level, but he is a very well-respected name in the club game.This is a big-name arrival ahead of a men’s World Cup that the U.S. will co-host with neighbours Canada and Mexico in 2026, staging the bulk of the games including all matches from the quarter-finals onwards. But just who is Pochettino? How much of a coup is this? What is his style of play?Here, The Athletic’s Jack Pitt-Brooke answers everything you need to know about the 52-year-old Argentinian.
So, who exactly is Mauricio Pochettino?
Mauricio Pochettino is considered one of the best managers in European football.
As a player, he was a very competitive centre-back, leaving his native Argentina at age 22 to play for Barcelona-based Espanyol in Spain, before brief spells in France with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Bordeaux, then returning to Espanyol to finish his playing career. He played for Argentina at the 2002 World Cup, and won 20 caps overall.
Pochettino, left, playing for Espanyol (Luis Bagu/Getty Images)
Pochettino also started his coaching career at Espanyol, in 2009, earning a reputation for playing brave high-pressing football with young players, turning the fortunes of the team around and saving them from relegation to Spain’s second division. His next job was at Southampton in England’s Premier League in 2013, where he took the team to new heights with his energetic style of play. Then he stepped up to Tottenham Hotspur the following year, where he oversaw their greatest sustained run of the modern era, finishing third, second and third in the Premier League in successive seasons, as well as getting to the final of the 2018-19 Champions League.
Tottenham’s Ajax miracle: the stories you’ve never heard before
Since then, Pochettino has managed PSG, winning a French Cup and a Ligue 1 title, and then spent last season as Chelsea head coach, where he guided them to sixth place in the Premier League, enough to qualify for European football in the coming campaign, and into the Carabao Cup final.
How much of a coup is this for the USMNT?
It is huge to land one of the best coaches from the club game to manage the men’s national team.
The closest comparison might be Jurgen Klinsmann, the former Germany striker who coached the USMNT from 2011 to 2016, but Pochettino comes to the job with far more of a track record in European club football management than he did. Klinsmann had only had one disappointing season at Bayern Munich (2008-09) before he got the United States job, as well as taking hosts Germany to the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup.
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Pochettino, by contrast, has been one of the most impressive coaches in the European club game for the past 15 years.
What he did at Tottenham remains one of the best-sustained spells of management in recent years, even if it did not end up with them winning any trophies.
Why would Pochettino take an international job?
Pochettino has always been a romantic with a love for the game’s history.
He knows the World Cup is the pinnacle of the game. He remembers as a boy watching Argentina win the 1978 (as hosts) and 1986 World Cups, the latter of which made Diego Maradona his hero for life. He is hugely proud of playing in the 2002 World Cup, even if he is remembered by some for giving away the deciding penalty in a 1-0 group-stage loss against England — he still has a photo of that dubious ‘foul’ he committed on Michael Owen, signed by the England striker, up on a wall at home.
Pochettino ‘fouling’ Owen at the 2002 World Cup (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
He told me in an interview in 2022 how much the World Cup means to him. “You don’t think about anything, you don’t think about money, you think only to deliver your best, and to make the people happy,” Pochettino said. “Because you know very well your country is behind you. The feeling is completely different from other competitions. That is why the players feel so different.”
Pochettino told me he would “of course” want to manage in a World Cup one day, and not necessarily with Argentina, saying: “You never know what happens. I am open to everything.”
What about club football?
Since being sacked by Tottenham in November 2019 after they began that season poorly, Pochettino has worked for two of the highest profile and wealthiest clubs in Europe, PSG and Chelsea.
In Paris, he got to manage Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, one of the highest-quality front lines ever assembled at club level. Ultimately, he performed in line with most PSG coaches, both before and after him, and was released at the end of the 2021-22 season.
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He was brought in at Chelsea last summer to impose a new style of football onto their oversized squad and after a tough start, he got there in the end, setting them up for a great finish to the season (they won their final five matches, scoring 14 goals) and winning over fans who had doubted him at the beginning because of his connections to London rivals Tottenham. In the end, he left Chelsea in June with his reputation improved.
But both of these were difficult experiences at points, with plenty of internal politics to manage. European club football is in a strange place right now, with not many clubs offering their managers/head coaches the chance to build something.
That would be part of the attraction of taking a very different challenge with the USMNT.
What kind of football does he play?
Throughout his managerial career, Pochettino has tried to get his teams playing a brave, aggressive, high-pressing style.
It is a positional game, focused on maintaining a good structure in and out of possession, so the players are in the right places to win the ball back quickly — ideally within three seconds — whenever his team lose it. He wants his sides to dominate the ball and defend high up the pitch.
Pochettino’s Tottenham mastered this style of football, taking the north London club to new heights.
At their best, a Pochettino team are physically relentless, powerful and dominant, not giving the opposition any room to breathe. With PSG, it was not always possible to play exactly like this because of the big-name personnel up front who did not always want to press from the front. But in the second half of last season, Chelsea started to look like a Pochettino team, and the wins followed.
Are those methods suited to international football?
Fitness work is hugely important to Pochettino and his coaching staff but the nature of the international game is that coaches do not get to work with their players for that long. It is harder for them to improve their players as individuals, something that Pochettino has always been big on, during those short periods together before they return to their clubs.
Pochettino with his players at PSG (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
One thing that has always been important to him has been bringing through young players, right from the time he was starting at Espanyol and then Southampton.
When he was discussed not so long ago as a potential England manager, the point was made how many of their current squad owe their career to their development under Pochettino: Luke Shaw (Southampton), Harry Kane, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier (Tottenham), Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer (Chelsea). He will hope to develop a similar generation of youngsters now he has the USMNT job.
How will he deal with the scrutiny that comes with this role?
Pochettino is used to the media spotlight, especially after those spells at PSG and Chelsea. But international football is different. There will be less day-to-day attention than his days at those clubs, certainly, but there will be times when Pochettino has the eyes of hundreds of millions of Americans on him. The U.S. public are unlikely to be forgiving if they feel the team are not heading in the right direction as that 2026 World Cup looms larger.t that is also part of the attraction, given what a huge event it will be in two years’ time. Coaching that team in their home World Cup, in front of 70,000 people for their opening group-stage match at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on June 12, 2026 will be the equivalent of standing in front of the eyes of the whole world.
Does it matter he’s not an American?
The team had non-American coaches before, and not just Klinsmann. There was Bora Milutinovic, from Serbia, in the early 1990s, the last time the U.S. staged the World Cup. Men from Poland, Greece, the UK and more have also had the job. There is no reason that nationality should be a barrier to Pochettino in the role. He has worked for three different Premier League clubs and while he initially had an interpreter at Southampton, his English is now certainly good enough to work in the States.
The most important thing will be to demonstrate a commitment to U.S. soccer, and a deep knowledge of all the players at his disposal, whether they play in MLS, Europe or elsewhere. This will mean lots of hard work, and air miles, getting to know them all.
How much does this improve USMNT’s chances at the 2026 World Cup?
It is hard to know how proven club managers will fare in the international game. They are effectively two different formats of the same sport.
Antonio Conte, a serial title winner at club level, improved Italy but could only get them to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016. Luis Enrique had a great European Championship with Spain in 2021, reaching the semis, but they were knocked out of the following year’s World Cup in the round of 16 by Morocco. Hansi Flick won the treble with Bayern in 2020 but could not even get Germany out of the group in Qatar.
Making predictions about international tournaments is almost impossible, given how fine the margins are between success and failure at that level. But we can say Pochettino will bring fresh ideas, energy and proven methods to the U.S. job, as well as a sense of confidence and optimism the whole country can feed on.(Top photo: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
Premier League predictions for 2024-25 – title race, relegation, Golden Boot and City’s charges
The Athletic UK Staff Aug 14, 2024
Follow live coverage of Manchester United vs Fulham in the Premier League season opener today
Is this the season Mikel Arteta’s obsessive methods take Arsenal to the top? Will Arne Slot sink or swim as Jurgen Klopp’s successor at Liverpool? Can an off-field revolution at Manchester United transform their fortunes on the pitch? Or will Manchester City simply make it five titles in a row?
Also, what are Chelsea doing?
Yes, that’s right, the Premier League returns this weekend and The Athletic will be with you for every kick, goal, VAR review and ‘Inside the sacking of Manager X’ long-read between here and when the music stops on Sunday, May 25.
To get you in the mood for the next nine months, six of our writers here predict who will shine, who will sink, the signings to look out for, what a possible resolution to City’s 115 charges relating to their finances means and much more. Plus, we reveal our predicted final 2024-25 Premier League table.
Let us know your predictions in the comments section.
Will City win their fifth title in a row? And if not, why not?
Jack Pitt-Brooke: Nothing lasts forever. At some point, Manchester City will not win the league. You could make a case that this will be the year the run ends. City were less convincing last year and the team is starting to look old. Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, John Stones… these are not young players any more. Arsenal have far more players coming into their peak-age period than City do. There was only a two-point gap at the top of the table when last season ended. All it will take is for City to dip a bit and Arsenal will be there.
And yet the power of City’s muscle memory is something else. No one else can put together winning runs in the spring like they do. Look at Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Celtic domestically in recent times. When winning becomes that habitual, it retains a momentum of its own. You will not make much money betting against it.
Carl Anka: Betting against Pep Guardiola’s City is a fool’s errand. The team looks finely built for the here and now, and they have a manager who is constantly innovating, forcing the rest of the league to play catch-up.
That said — *dons clown make-up* — this might be the season Arsenal win the league again. They took 2023-24 to the final day, and the squad is approaching a critical mass of talent that makes them formidable in several ways. They should win at least one of the next three titles, so why not this one?
Jacob Whitehead: City have the best squad, but winning five titles in a row is unprecedented in English football. Arsenal are ravenous — they came close last season and have improved more than City in time since. City are facing 115 charges of breaking financial fair play rules and a decision could come towards the end of the season. Will that provide a distraction? And could a punishment even take the title away from them?
The first of how many trophies for Erling Haaland and Pep Guardiola this season? (Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
Nick Miller: Saying City won’t win the league is like that scene (that has become a meme) from sitcom Arrested Development, where Tobias Funke says, when asked if an open marriage would work, “No, it never does. I mean, these people somehow delude themselves into thinking it might… but it might work for us.” With that in mind, I am saying they will win it again, because I don’t quite think anyone else is ready to be better than them. Arsenal will be the closest but not quite good enough.
Caoimhe O’Neill: City will win five Premier League titles in a row. Their quiet summer isn’t fooling me. Even with 115 charges looming overhead, Guardiola will parade his way to a fifth league title in England and then walk away. It won’t be another procession — at least not until April, when any remaining challenger(s), probably Arsenal, will fall away. I hope I’m wrong. One team winning it over and over again is boring. Unless you support that team, of course.
Mark Carey: This will be the season that Arsenal top the table. It would be foolish to say that City will not win five titles in a row simply because it is unprecedented. For too long, Guardiola has shown that historical records are there to be swatted away with the nonchalance of a man in the conversation for the greatest manager of all time.
City have put in some relentless winning runs to come from behind in recent seasons. It might be one odd bounce of a ball or a referee’s decision, but those fine margins might swing the other way this time. Just three or four points dropped by City could mean Arsenal do not need to improve upon their tally from last season (89) to overcome Guardiola’s side. Matching it may suffice.
The top five, in order, will be…
Pitt-Brooke: Manchester City first, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United.
Anka: Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester United (note: I have given a different answer to this question every day for the past two weeks).
Whitehead: Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester United.
Miller: Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle United.
O’Neill: Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United.
Carey: Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United.
The bottom three will be…
Pitt-Brooke: Leicester City, Nottingham Forest, Southampton. I have a probably irrational sense that Ipswich Town will scramble together enough points to stay up. Maybe just because I don’t want to wait another 22 years for them to be back in the top flight.
Anka: Southampton, Forest, Ipswich. And this campaign’s relegation battle will go right down to the wire.
Whitehead: Leicester, Southampton, Ipswich. All three promoted teams to go back down, again.
Miller: Leicester, Southampton and Ipswich — the first two will be cut adrift from pretty early on, but Ipswich will be in among a gaggle of other clubs who have panicked and sacked managers, got points deductions or are just not quite good enough… but they will drop too on the last day… just.
O’Neill: Forest, Southampton, Ipswich.
Carey: Forest, Southampton, Leicester. Ipswich to carry on their soaring momentum in recent years to secure Premier League status for 2025-26.
Our predicted Premier League table
The Athletic writers tip Manchester City for another title win
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Man City | 57% | 43% | ||||||||||||||||||
| Arsenal | 43% | 57% | ||||||||||||||||||
| Liverpool | 74% | 17% | 9% | |||||||||||||||||
| Tottenham | 13% | 48% | 13% | 13% | 9% | 4% | ||||||||||||||
| Newcastle | 13% | 39% | 13% | 22% | 9% | 4% | ||||||||||||||
| Man Utd | 9% | 4% | 17% | 43% | 22% | 4% | ||||||||||||||
| Chelsea | 9% | 13% | 9% | 30% | 30% | 4% | 4% | |||||||||||||
| Aston Villa | 4% | 9% | 9% | 22% | 9% | 43% | 4% | |||||||||||||
| West Ham | 9% | 39% | 9% | 13% | 17% | 13% | ||||||||||||||
| Brighton | 35% | 26% | 13% | 13% | 4% | 9% | ||||||||||||||
| Crystal Palace | 4% | 13% | 30% | 17% | 17% | 4% | 13% | |||||||||||||
| Fulham | 9% | 22% | 9% | 17% | 9% | 17% | 17% | |||||||||||||
| Wolves | 9% | 17% | 22% | 13% | 17% | 13% | 4% | 4% | ||||||||||||
| Everton | 9% | 17% | 22% | 13% | 17% | 13% | 4% | 4% | ||||||||||||
| Bournemouth | 4% | 4% | 9% | 13% | 4% | 22% | 17% | 9% | 9% | 4% | 4% | |||||||||
| Forest | 4% | 9% | 9% | 22% | 13% | 22% | 22% | |||||||||||||
| Ipswich | 13% | 26% | 17% | 22% | 22% | |||||||||||||||
| Brentford | 4% | 17% | 26% | 9% | 30% | 9% | 4% | |||||||||||||
| Leicester | 4% | 22% | 30% | 22% | 22% | |||||||||||||||
| Southampton | 4% | 13% | 30% | 52% |
The new manager who will make the biggest impact is….
Pitt-Brooke: I am fascinated to see how Julen Lopetegui gets on at West Ham United. He is replacing the best manager of their modern era, David Moyes but he has a talented, stable squad and a fanbase ready to be enthused by a new brand of football. He is clearly a good manager who has done well in his previous jobs.
Perhaps he will be their next Manuel Pellegrini, coming in with a plan to change the style but failing to get any real grip on the club. Or maybe if everything clicks and the players and fans buy into his ideas, he could be the next Slaven Bilic — a West Ham manager able to conduct and channel the club’s emotional energy the right way.
Anka: Arne Slot shouldn’t have to make too many adjustments to keep Liverpool at the front of the non-City/Arsenal pack, so let’s talk about Lopetegui. His Wolverhampton Wanderers side in 2022-23 weren’t the flashiest (and there were some worrying performances away from home) but there’s a solidity to his methods that should guard against any post-Moyes implosion.
West Ham have used the transfer market to address the major weakness in their squad and should be more entertaining this season. Providing Niclas Fullkrug can avoid the yips that seem to befall every West Ham striker who isn’t Michail Antonio, Lopetegui should steer the side towards Conference League qualification.
Whitehead: At Brighton & Hove Albion last season, Roberto De Zerbi’s tactical nous was still evident but the vibes had been lost. That means I’m very excited to see Fabian Hurzeler — St Pauli were one of the best stories of last year as they won Bundesliga promotion, and the German’s innovation was a huge part of that. Brighton knew what they were doing when they hired a 31-year-old.
Hurzeler of Brighton is the Premier League’s youngest manager at age 31 (Masashi Hara/Getty Images)
Miller: Kieran McKenna’s agent has been the performer of the summer, leveraging apparent interest from the big boys into a bumper new contract for the Ipswich manager, but there is a reason those big boys were keen. His reputation is sky-high after successive promotions in his first crack at senior football and pound-for-pound he’s probably been the best manager in the country over the past two seasons, but the Premier League beast can swallow young and bushy-tailed managers whole. I’d love him to succeed.
O’Neill: I’m going with McKenna, too. Everyone loves rooting for an underdog and after a season of covering Luton Town in the 2023-24 Premier League, I am battle-hardened and so ready for Ipswich to succeed where Luton failed (even if I did just say they’ll be relegated). McKenna reminds me of Luton counterpart Rob Edwards in a lot of ways and his side will be a refreshing addition to the top flight, just like Luton.
His team will play brave and fun football — that may be their undoing or we could see their most famous fan, Ed Sheeran, in the dressing room singing tunes after an opening weekend home win over Liverpool.
When music and football collide
- ‘Goosebump moments’, Greasy Chip Butties & Ange’s Angels – clubs’ victory soundtracks
- How Ed Sheeran reignited his Ipswich love to help their Premier League promotion
- Dortmund’s Adele dressing-room anthem and the power of team singalongs: ‘It is a legal stimulant’
- From Taylor Swift to Beyonce: How pop music took over football stadiums
Carey: If we are still counting Oliver Glasner as new, I am intrigued to see how Crystal Palace fare in the Austrian’s first full season. The loss of Michael Olise — sold to Bayern Munich — was big, but I like the signings of Ismaila Sarr and Daichi Kamada, who offer different skill sets in attack. If Palace can keep hold of their other talents through the spine of their team — Marc Guehi, Eberechi Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta — they could surprise a few people. Palace had the fifth-best record in the Premier League last season from the point Glasner joined them in February. If they can have a similar one across a full campaign, it will be down to the transformative work of the 49-year-old.
The new manager who will struggle most is….
Pitt-Brooke: No prizes for originality here but it has to be Enzo Maresca. It took Mauricio Pochettino more than half a season to get his arms around Chelsea and he came into the job with years of managerial experience. Maresca has only had one full season of senior management, winning the Championship with Leicester last season, as he walks into one of the most difficult jobs in the English game. He has to manage an oversized and unbalanced squad, work within Chelsea’s unique structure, convince his players of his new style of play and start getting results quickly. Perhaps he will become the next Arteta, but he will need to be given the tools to do the job.
Anka: There was a point last season when Leicester fans cheered their players for punting the ball long rather than slowly building from the back, as per Maresca’s instructions. The Italian is a fine manager, but his adherence to a preferred tactical plan means there could be a spell at Chelsea where things have to get worse before they get better. Their squad is so big that he should eventually figure things out, but there’s potential for a big skid partway through the season.
Whitehead: Steve Cooper faces a tough task. This Leicester squad lacks outstanding individual talent, and they may find themselves facing a points deduction. The loss of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea is big — he is an established Premier League performer and was a central figure in the squad dynamic.
Miller: I say this with a heavy heart, because I have a houseplant named after him, but Cooper has been given the ultimate hospital-pass at Leicester. Then again, he joined Nottingham Forest when they were absolute no-hopers early in the 2021-22 Championship and got them promoted eight months later, so who knows what miracles he will perform 20-odd miles up the road?
Elsewhere, people already seem to have memory-holed how bad Manchester United looked for long spells last season. I’d be surprised if Erik ten Hag makes it to May as their manager.
O’Neill: Slot is a name not many people will think of but hear me out. He has to pick up where Jurgen Klopp left off after one of Liverpool’s most successful periods in their history. It is not going to be straightforward. That’s not to say I’m expecting him to struggle the most of any manager, there are plenty who will struggle more, but Slot’s testing moments will be highly publicised. Imagine the panic stations if Liverpool have a couple of bad results, for example. The pressure on him will be gargantuan as he tries to get a team built by his predecessor clicking for him.
Carey: Chelsea’s pre-season has already experienced some teething problems, and history tells us that managers at Stamford Bridge are rarely afforded a long time to get things right. Maresca arrives with clear ideas based on positional principles and a methodical way of working the ball through the thirds. Whether Chelsea can implement that style consistently and effectively is where the question lies. If it goes well, it could go very well — but we said that for Mauricio Pochettino, Graham Potter and Thomas Tuchel, didn’t we?
The new signing who most intrigues me is….
Pitt-Brooke: Fullkrug. You can have all your false nines, your inverted wingers, half-spaces, hybrid pressing and the rest. But there is nothing else in football — or life — quite like getting it launched up to the big man.
Fullkrug has proven in recent years for Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund, and for Germany in their past two tournaments, why he is the world’s greatest exponent of that traditional style (with all due respect to Wout Weghorst, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Martin Adam and the rest). With a few long diagonals, floated crosses or whipped set pieces, Fullkrug could become West Ham’s new Andy Carroll, if not their new Ilan. And in doing so, he will say to the world: Big Man Summer is for life.
Anka: Brighton have picked up two of the players who made Arne Slot’s Feyenoord side so impressive. Mats Wieffer is a highly intelligent midfielder who can offer multiple solutions to several on-field conundrums. But it’s Yankuba Minteh who is the great variable. During his 2023-24 season on loan at Feyenoord from Newcastle, Slot asked Minteh to get chalk at his boots and run at defenders. He was rather good at it, too. Can he step up to the Premier League, or will he get lost in the ‘Antony swamp’?
Whitehead: Emile Smith Rowe. After being short of opportunities at Arsenal, this is a chance for him to be a Premier League side’s main man. Fulham need to replace Joao Palhinha in midfield, however, if Smith Rowe is to be put in the best place to shine. I’m also excited to see if Fullkrug can turn Big Man Summer into Big Man Winter — there’s a lot to love about the German striker.
Miller: I like the look of Samuel Iling-Junior at Aston Villa, Fullkrug to West Ham is terrific fun and Joshua Zirkee to Manchester United could go either way. But it must be Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea. These signings to very specifically fit with a new manager often end in tears, particularly if things don’t go well from the start.
Fullkrug – a big man for all seasons? (Stefan Matzke – sampics/Getty Images)
O’Neill: Arsenal’s new centre-back Riccardo Calafiori. Mostly because he looks like a throwback of an Italian footballer from the 1990s with his long hair held back in an elasticated headband. The 22-year-old signed from Bologna certainly has the style, and it will be interesting to see how he gets on in north London.
Carey: City have picked up fearless dribbler Savinho from one sister club, France’s Troyes, after shining on loan last season at another, Girona in Spain, in a move that could see Pep Guardiola double down on pacy wingers on both flanks if he switched him to a right-sided attacking role. For context, no La Liga player attempted more take-ons than the Brazilian in 2023-24, which shows how direct his style of play is. We already know about Jeremy Doku going ‘meep-meep’ on the left side last season — if he and Savinho played on either wing, there could be a whole new world of fun in Guardiola’s attack over the months ahead.
The player who will finish second to Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot race is…
Pitt-Brooke: Tottenham have finally replaced Harry Kane by signing Dominic Solanke, and he could be set up for a bumper first season. Coach Ange Postecoglou is all about creating high-quality chances for the centre-forward with low cutbacks from wide positions, but it never felt Richarlison had those Sergio Aguero-type instincts you need in the box. Solanke got 19 league goals for Bournemouth last season — more than Richarlison has scored in a single campaign — and if he can continue that form for Spurs and stay fit, then he can get well into the 20s this time.
Anka: Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa.
Whitehead: Newcastle’s Alexander Isak has looked incredibly sharp in pre-season after a summer off, as Sweden didn’t qualify for the Euros. He was third last year (21 goals to Haaland’s 27) and would have been even closer to the Norwegian if not for injuries that kept him out of at least six matches.
Miller: Solanke. If not, this is Darwin Nunez’s year — I can feel it. The Liverpool striker might take a billion shots, but he’ll score many, many goals.
O’Neill: Cole Palmer again, the same as last season. He will score every penalty he takes and continue to be Chelsea’s guiding light, especially in games that finish 3-3, 4-4 and 5-5.
Carey: Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian has had a full pre-season, a hair transplant, and has a new style to adapt to under Arne Slot — he looks hungry for more goals. Slot’s style could be perfect for him to arrive in those dangerous areas. Salah doesn’t need reminding where the goal is, but this season could see more opportunities for him to finish and that is a scary prospect for opposition defenders.
Ten Premier League players to re-watch in 2024-25
Manchester City’s charges finally being heard this season means…
Pitt-Brooke: There may eventually come a moment when Guardiola wishes deep-down that he was on a beach in Ibiza or Sardinia — or off playing golf with Jurgen Klopp somewhere — rather than fielding constant questions about it.
Anka: Jose Mourinho is going to say something bizarre/hilarious/petty that will be quoted for the next five years.
Whitehead: European Super League plans may be being resurrected in north-west England by May.
Miller: We won’t actually hear the verdict until next season.
O’Neill: Guardiola’s touchline behaviour will intensify in the build-up to it.
Carey: We can finally, hopefully, stop talking about this narrative hanging over the Premier League.
By May, we’ll all be saying….
Pitt-Brooke: If Manchester United can just add one more member of the 2018-19 Ajax team, they could really make it work. Worth a cheeky bid for David Neres? What’s Lasse Schone up to?
Anka: “I can’t believe Pep has signed another contract extension. I will never trust a bald manager again.”
Whitehead: I didn’t realise Mikel Arteta knew how to smile.
Is this the season for Arteta and Arsenal? (Stefan Matzke – sampics/Getty Images)
Miller: Ah, well. Nevertheless.
O’Neill: Next season will be our season.
Carey: So, everyone looking forward to the Club World Cup?
I really hope that this is the season….
Pitt-Brooke: We get full abolition of the video assistant referee system. Do not demand anything less.
Anka: More strikers remember that they’re allowed to chip the goalkeeper.
Whitehead: We remember for the football rather than legal disputes. Will not happen.
Miller: There’s a collective recognition that sometimes referees get things wrong, as we all do from time to time, and there’s not much point in complaining about it.
O’Neill: More fans think before they chant.
Carey: Owners elect to stick with their manager for a full season rather than roll the dice.
Build-ups, line-breaks and counter-pressing: How Premier League sides may evolve next
(Top photos: Getty Images. design: Dan Goldfarb. Graphic: John Bradford and Mark Carey)
What we learned from Emma Hayes’ victorious USWNT at the Paris Olympics
By Jeff Rueter Aug 11, 2024
For the first time since 2012, the United States are the gold medalists in women’s Olympic soccer. A well-played ball from Korbin Albert to Mallory Swanson made all the difference, with Emma Hayes’ side overcoming an inspired Brazil 1-0 in the final.
Making the gold medal match is an achievement in its own right. Nobody knew what to expect from the USWNT at this tournament. The logistics of Hayes’ Chelsea departure meant she had just 360 friendly minutes to get her new team ready for the Games. That truncated ramp-up could have left the team ill-prepared to contend.
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Instead, the players rallied behind their new boss. They reminded the world they’re able to score in bunches, to the dismay of Zambia and Germany. They showed impressive tactical nous amidst the crash-course implementation of Hayes’ ideology, neutralizing a previously terrific Japan and again using in-game adjustments to best Brazil. And, as any great team must in a major tournament, they found ways to win ugly: first against Australia, then in the semifinal against a more composed version of Germany.
There was no single method for success this summer, which is very much in line with Hayes’ whole vibe. Rather than coaching from a strict structure that forces opponents to adjust to her team’s tried-and-true approach like many modern coaches, Hayes studies an opponent to modify her approach — guided by principles and areas of emphasis rather than a team shape carved in stone — and use her team’s strengths in unique ways.
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For those reasons and the small sample size of one tournament, any attempt to compile the definitive dossier of Hayes’ tactical ideology is a fool’s errand. That said, Hayes has undeniably passed her first test. One would expect her to only improve on this performance as she spends more than two months on the job and further builds the team around her principles. World, be warned.
(Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
Prominent principles
A few clear tenets of Hayes’ vision emerged across the entire tournament and seem likely to stick around based on these six performances. Let’s dig into those before looking at a few areas we might expect to see evolution in the months and years to come.
The USWNT in possession
Although this tournament was marked by changes and reinventions, eight of Hayes’ first-choice lineup — all but Tierna Davidson, Sam Coffey and Mallory Swanson — were regularly involved in last summer’s World Cup. Under Vlatko Andonovski, the United States held a narrow advantage with a possession rate of 52.9 per cent but often didn’t seem to know what to do with the ball. It led to some sloppy forced passes and frustrating turnovers at the edge of the final third, giving opponents plenty of time to set up sequences of their own as play changed hands.
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Confident in her players’ collective abilities on the ball, Hayes’ version doubles down on controlling play. Their 65 per cent possession rate trailed only hypnotic defending World Cup champion Spain this summer, with rates ranging from 42.9 per cent in the final against Brazil to 78.1 per cent in the opening blowout against Zambia.
Alyssa Naeher’s utilization in build-up has been more radical than any other player’s. In the World Cup, exactly 50 per cent of her passes traveled 35 yards or further. This summer, that clip dropped to 29.5 per cent through the semifinal — the second-lowest rate of any goalkeeper in these Olympics, behind France’s Pauline Peyraud-Magnin. That change alone goes a long way toward ensuring your team keeps the ball, relying less on winning aerial duels or lobs that can fail to find a friendly target.
The reverse played out in the final: the one time the United States failed to win the possession battle, Naeher’s launch rate skyrocketed to 100 per cent (yes —each of her 27 passes went over 35 yards) and the United States held just under 43 per cent of the ball.
The gold medalists were patient in build-up, directing 34 per cent of all passes forward — down from last summer’s rate of 37.6 per cent. Rather than overly relying upon risk/reward passes, the USWNT was far more comfortable with recirculation. Critically, Hayes has quickly remedied the attacking struggles that held the United States back last summer.
We’re not done talking about Triple Espresso yet
It’s hard to overstate the importance of Swanson’s return. Her interplay with Sophia Smith is the smoothest of any left-sided option, as both players (and, often, in tandem with Trinity Rodman) weave in and out of open lanes to unsettle a defense before they even see the ball. Swanson has also provided a far greater threat while shooting and creating than Alex Morgan managed last year, while Smith looks far more at home as a striker than shunted to the wing (as she was last summer).
Meanwhile, Rodman was perhaps the attack’s heartbeat. No player came close to matching her industry in terms of entering the box.
“Put your best players in their best spots and let them cook” isn’t exactly worthy of a master’s thesis, but it works wonders in a major tournament. No team at these Olympics exceeded the USWNT’s rate of four big chances per game, nearly double the field’s average of 2.4. The United States’ shots came from an average of 15.1 yards out — third-nearest of any team, evidence of well-worked sequences setting up golden opportunities.
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Unsurprisingly, that big-chance generation helped the United States rack up expected goals, an advanced metric that measures the likelihood of a chance leading to a goal based on historical data. In total, their 12.8 chances created per game trailed only Spain (16.7; they were still very good this summer) and considerably ahead of the tournament’s average of 10.5. The USWNT averaged 2.2 expected goals per game, also well above the Olympic average of 1.6.
Having great attackers is a good start toward consistently scoring, but talent only gets you so far. The forward line looked rejuvenated after years of relatively lean output by the program’s lofty standard, especially in 2023, and helped actualize the at-times frustrating potential from Hayes’ first four friendlies.
Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith pose with their gold medals (Brad Smith/ISI/Getty Images)
A modified defense that still gets results
For all the faults that emerged during the USWNT’s brief stay at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, few could be found in terms of defending.
Andonovski’s defense was one of the tournament’s best. Only the Netherlands and Brazil exceeded the United States’ average of 7.4 high turnovers per 90 minutes last summer, giving ample opportunities to start short-field counters (albeit, ones upon which they failed to capitalize). Their pressing was incredibly proactive, with their 7.1 PPDA (that is, passes allowed per defensive action made) registering well below the tournament average of 9.97.
Once again, it’s worth reiterating two crucial differences between a World Cup and the Olympics. Rather than carrying 23 players on the roster, Hayes has only had 18 (save for four alternates to bring in whenever players have gotten hurt). Olympic matches take place every three days, whereas the USWNT played every five days last summer.
Either as a result of that format or in line with her vision for the team, the USWNT has relaxed a bit against the ball. Their 4.0 high turnovers per 90 are well below last year’s rate, fifth among the 12 competitors. Their PPDA of 11.5 also looks far more languid, yet it’s in line with the tournament average of 12.05.
Naomi Girma (Daniela Porcelli/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
Only time will tell if this approach follows them home from France. However, the end result was still a staunch defense, allowing just 11.3 shots per 90 (tournament average was 14.4) with an average xG of 0.08 per shot faced (average was 0.11). Having world-class defenders like Naomi Girma will help no matter a coach’s approach, but the focus on energy conservation and retaining defensive shape hasn’t made the United States more vulnerable.
Areas to refine
Fouls and dead balls
Although there’s no specific term for a fear of a whistle’s blow, it nestles into general phonophobia — a fear of loud sounds. Throughout the tournament, the United States was less effective after the referee stopped play.
Heading into Saturday’s final, the United States ranked third by averaging 8.5 set plays per 90 minutes, 20 per cent more than the tournament average. However, it took them an average of 25.5 set pieces to yield a goal. 16.7 per cent of their goals came from set pieces — the lowest rate of any team that converted at least one dead-ball situation this summer.
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Corner kicks also proved difficult to convert. Only 9.7 per cent of their corners were converted into shots, far below the average of 20.5 per cent. Considering the United States averaged the second-most corners of any team (5.5), it added up to a lot of wasted opportunities that could have given some breathing room in their closer contests — roughly one shot per every two games.
Out of possession, the United States played to keep the ball rolling. On average, a team fouled an opponent shortly after committing a turnover 4.6 per cent of the time. The United States checked in at a 1.3 per cent rate of these tactical fouls, making them the only team to register a rate below 3.3 per cent. Their 5.2 fouls committed per game was well below the average of 9.2. While that does keep players from risking seeing a card and limits conceded set pieces, it also allows opponents to sustain momentum on the ball.
There’s no one best practice to win a game using the referee’s whistle as an asset, but it’s a bit of gamesmanship that’ll likely evolve in the coming years.
A miasmic midfield
In the ‘pros’ category, we touched on the team’s patience and willingness to embrace recirculation sequences. A typical sequence of build-up often looked something like this: Naeher prodded the ball to one of her center backs, who then shunted it wide to their nearest full back. That full back would check their corresponding winger’s run and either launch it beyond the defender — either lobbed to wide areas, or on the ground in the half-space — or pass it back to the center back to switch play to the other side.
Ideally, that full back could also consider the central channel and get the ball to a midfielder to operate in the middle of the field. Too often, that option is not presenting itself if Coffey is not in the right spot every time. Why? For all of the players who are seeing improvement in Hayes’ early days, the same can’t be said for Lindsey Horan, the team’s captain and a rare remaining holdover of the 2019 world champions.
Horan has been a mainstay of United States lineups since injuries so cruelly curtailed Sam Mewis’ career. Converted from being a striker to a midfielder during Jill Ellis’ tenure, Horan played as a box-to-box midfielder under Andonovski. Her reading of a game allowed her to operate as the team’s main possessive hub last summer, trusting her to judge whether the team should progress into the final third or hold onto the ball by sending it backwards.
(Julian Finney/Getty Images)
This summer, Horan’s role has changed slightly. When the team is out of possession, she plays level with Coffey at the midfield’s base. In possession, she scurries to play on the same line as Rose Lavelle, serving as an auxiliary striker to complement Lavelle’s playmaking. In theory, Horan should be able to crash the box later than Smith to offer an aerial threat for late crosses and an edge-of-box shooting alternative. Instead, Horan has been stationed by the center circle, struggling to make as much of an impact in all phases as she previously had.
Entering the final, Horan completed 69.8 per cent of her passes in the attacking third. In theory, that suggests she played higher-risk balls to find a shooter. However, it’s the lowest of the four USWNT midfielders who logged 200 minutes in the Games, trailing Korbin Albert (81 per cent), Coffey (77.8 per cent) and even Lavelle (72.5 per cent).
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It ended up being a moot point in the final, as Lavelle’s injury concerns brought Albert into the lineup and pushed Horan closer to the forward line. Still, one would assume that Hayes will want to incorporate both Horan and Lavelle in her lineups moving forward. We’ll see how that ends up being working — or if it’s possible — in the coming months.
Subs (or the lack of)
Along with questions about Horan’s performances, one criticism of the team’s run has been Hayes’ unwillingness to rotate and relatively lax substitution patterns. Only three teams averaged fewer substitutions before the 75th minute than Hayes’ 2.0 per game, while her average time of making a change (74.1 minutes into a game) was tardier than the tournament average of 68.6. If that seems insignificant to you, ask a player how difficult another five minutes of high-stakes play can be when you’re already gassed.
It’s one thing to trust your starters when you’re swapping out starters to ensure as many players are at full fitness as possible. However, Hayes’ insistence on playing with a set preferred lineup that only changed after injuries or suspension often left the team lagging in the second half. Whereas the United States averaged 1.2 goals in the first half of games, that rate plummeted to 0.5 in the second half. Some of this can be attributed to opponents making adjustments, but such a staggering drop-off is also cause for concern.
(Carl Recine/Getty Images)
That said, Hayes’ final season with Chelsea shows that she may be quicker to make in-game changes as she gets more familiar with a greater number of players in her pool. In the WSL last season, Chelsea averaged 3.1 subs before the 75th minute, with her changes coming with an average game clock time of 67.9 minutes.
The good news now is that, with the tournament concluded, her regular starters can finally enjoy some rest. They’ve certainly earned it, with hardware to show for their perseverance.
It’s all a work in progress, even as the United States has returned to a more prominent place on the Olympic podium. The early signs under Hayes could hardly be more encouraging — and she’s only just getting started.
(Top photo: Getty Images)
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USWNT’s Alyssa Naeher is a brick wall to her opponents, her teammates have found a way through
By Meg Linehan THe Athletic Aug 10, 2024
PARIS — U.S. women’s national team defender Naomi Girma always runs to her goalkeeper, Alyssa Naeher, after the final whistle of a win. Saturday night was no different, even as this one had resulted in an Olympic gold medal — a first for both of them, despite the age difference (Girma is 24, Naeher is 36).
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“As soon as the whistle blew,” Girma said in the mixed zone Saturday night, “I was like, my last sprint of the tournament is to give Alyssa a hug.”
Naeher once again played a massive role in the USWNT’s victory, providing a poster-worthy save in the final few moments of the win over Brazil — this time pawing a close-range shot with a hand — just like she did in the semifinal win over Germany.
The U.S. doesn’t reach the top of the podium without Naeher. They all know that.
There’s been so many emotions through the past three weeks in France for this team. The physical challenges, too, have forced them to suffer. But there’s been so much joy, too. There’s been karaoke, there’s been dancing, there’s been a lightness, a trust, a sense even from the outside that something new was being built both before our eyes and behind closed doors.
Naeher and Girma helped keep three clean sheets in the knockout stage of the World Cup. (Photo by Justin Setterfield, Getty Images)
At the heart of so much of that was a player most might not have expected: Naeher. It’s not because she’s anti-fun, but it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking she’s nothing but business with her game-day face and massive saves, followed by pushing her teammates away as they try to swarm her to celebrate. It goes back to 2019, her first major tournament as the No. 1 goalkeeper, and even before that.
There’s the growing bond between Naeher and Girma, of course, but there’s also been something special brewing between Naeher and the starting front line of Mal Swanson (Naeher’s Chicago Red Stars teammate), Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith.
They’ve slowly, lovingly, cracked open whatever remains of her shell.
“Alyssa has been the best person for Mal, Trin and I,” Smith said Saturday after the game. “She’s our biggest supporter, but I do feel like we’ve helped her open up a little bit, even if it’s uncomfortable for her. We give her hugs and tell her how much we appreciate her, because obviously we would not be here right now without Alyssa. We just want to remind her of that every day.”
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Rodman stressed how Naeher has been a mentor to her as well. “I’ve asked her for so much advice and comfort through everything, even just sitting next to me and not saying anything,” Rodman said Thursday.
But she was also delighted by how they’ve gotten Naeher to open up a bit over the past few months — and all of them are still thrilled by that one time they managed to convince her to participate in their group TikTok. It’s a multi-pronged effort, after all.
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“We’re making her a little more mushy gushy with us, which I think is nice. We’re opening up a side that I think has always been there, but it’s hidden a little bit,” Rodman said.
There’s no better time to embrace the mushy gushy than in the first few moments after winning gold medals together. After the group pile-on, led by Girma, Naeher shared a moment with Swanson and Rodman, all three of them giving into tears.
For Naeher, that moment was never about her (it usually isn’t).
“To see (Swanson’s) journey, to see her maturity, to see her come in,” Naeher began in the mixed zone, warning she was about to get emotional all over again, “I’ve been fortunate to be with her every step of the way the last few years, and to see her come into this tournament, to score that goal in this game, I mean… I love her to death. To see her emotional, to see that joy in her face again of being back on the field, it kind of all finally hits when you look in each other’s eyes again.”
Swanson missed the 2023 World Cup due to a knee injury. (Photo by John Todd, Getty Images)
She knows, too, that the three of them have been working on her — in a good way, of course — since the tail end of last year, before Emma Hayes joined the team and there was still the uncertainty of the post-World Cup transition.
“They truly have made me feel a part of it,” she said. “I felt like if I could allow myself to be a little bit more vulnerable with the younger group, and buy into that, and be able to share the experiences that I’ve had and have them soak it up.”
She has felt their embrace, even as she’s only barely tolerated the push to be included in social media videos. It’s been fun. It all goes back to that.
“It’s made me feel quite special as part of the group, like I feel like I have something to give to this team as an older player,” Naeher said. Naeher hasn’t talked about her plans moving forward, but there is perhaps the slightest hint of knowing she should take advantage of the chance she has now, to share everything she knows — to help them, and be rewarded with their love right back.If she has to tolerate a few hugs here or there, then it’s a price she doesn’t seem to mind paying even if she’s still putting on the bit on camera, even if she struggles to accept the praise in real time. “Mother-daughter besties forever,” Rodman declared in a team video, after forcing Naeher to hug her back.
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“It’s funny because I’m not a touchy person,” Rodman said Thursday, laughing about that very video. “Just in that moment, I wanted to shout her out. You’ll never see us hug, so that was a once in a lifetime thing. Maybe. Hopefully if we win, there’ll be another one. But I love making her uncomfortable; it brightens my day for sure.” As hoped for, they won. And they got that second hug. And a third, just to be safe. Consider the shell fully cracked.
Is becoming USMNT head coach the right move for Mauricio Pochettino?
By Oliver Kay
Aug 16, 2024
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In late 2022, out of work following his departure from Paris Saint-Germain that summer, Mauricio Pochettino found himself reflecting on the unpredictable nature of a coaching career.
“Football is timing,” he told Spain’s Radio Marca. “It’s about the moments that coincide and then for that marriage to happen. Sometimes it is only a question of time. I don’t believe in trains passing only once. I think sometimes you need the patience and you have to know how to wait.”
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The “train” he was referring to was the Real Madrid job. The timing had not been right when they sounded him out in the summer of 2018, given he had just signed a five-year contract at Tottenham Hotspur, but by the end of the following year he was out of work. The stars never quite aligned for him with Manchester United either, despite a long on-off courtship. He ended up coaching PSG and then Chelsea, where he lasted 18 months and a year respectively.
Why Pochettino and Chelsea parted ways: ‘Loneliness’, injuries and resistance to club structure
And now, to widespread surprise, Pochettino is on the verge of becoming the new coach of the United States men’s national team, enthused by the challenge of leading them into the 2026 World Cup they will host most of. If you had asked him five years ago, even two years ago, it probably wouldn’t have been a position he envisaged taking at the age of 52. But football is timing. The past years have taught him that.
It is an unexpected leap from Pochettino — away from the Premier League, away from the Champions League circuit and away from European club football, where he has worked as a player and then a coach since he left his native Argentina to join Barcelona-based Espanyol as a 22-year-old in the summer of 1994.
It is a prestigious job, particularly given the looming prospect of a World Cup played primarily on American soil. It is the type of challenge Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Jose Mourinho and others have often said might tempt them at some distant juncture — just not now, as Klopp made clear when the U.S. federation sounded him out this summer in the early stages of his post-Liverpool sabbatical.
For Pochettino to take the jump at this point in his career underlines not only the appeal of the challenge in question but also, perhaps, a level of disillusionment with the European club scene.
Pochettino suffered bad timing at Chelsea last season (Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images)
His reputation as one of the world’s brightest coaches was built on spells at Espanyol, and then Southampton and Tottenham in England, three clubs where he found a vision and an energy that appeared to chime with his own. In terms of showcasing his coaching ability, all three seemed like the right jobs at the right time.
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PSG, by contrast, had begun to resemble a circus by the time he took that job in early 2021; “flashy bling-bling” is how club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi described the dressing-room culture the following year. Chelsea have so far appeared pretty much unmanageable in two turbulent years under the co-ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
Wrong place, wrong time. Twice.
There were talks with the Manchester United hierarchy after he left Chelsea at the end of last season, but he received little encouragement before learning that Erik ten Hag was to be kept on after all. A wide range of coaches attracted interest from Bayern Munich and Barcelona before they appointed Vincent Kompany and Hansi Flick respectively. Pochettino did not seem to be among them.
In comparison to the fresh-faced figure who arrived on the Premier League scene more than a decade earlier, he seemed a little jaded at times at Chelsea. He certainly found it harder to get his tactical message across than he had at Southampton and Spurs, where young players gave the impression they would happily run through walls for him.
But perhaps it was less about Pochettino and more about the state of dysfunction he encountered at his past two clubs.
As his time at Chelsea headed towards a predictable break-up, there was a sense a young team had begun to turn a corner. They lost just one of their final 15 Premier League games last season, scoring 39 goals in the process, and won their final five to secure a sixth-placed finish and European qualification. Several of their players reacted to his departure by expressing shock or sadness on social media. Their Senegal international forward Nicolas Jackson posted a “facepalm” emoji and wrote, “Love you, coach. Wish we could stay together more.”
This is what the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) is buying into: a coach who tends to win hearts and minds — young, fresh, enthusiastic minds in particular — and to impose his playing philosophy. His high-energy, high-pressing, possession-based style is far more mainstream now than when he brought it to the Premier League in early 2013, but even if his principles are similar to USMNT predecessor Gregg Berhalter’s, it seems like a bold as well as highly ambitious, eye-catching appointment by the USSF, whose technical director, Matt Crocker, briefly overlapped with Pochettino at Southampton.
A fresh-faced Pochettino with Southampton in 2013 (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
International football is a strange beast. Many successful club coaches have proven less suited to that version of the game — far less about the tactical challenge and far more about the rhythm of the calendar, where they go months without seeing their players or spending time on the training field, then find themselves plunged into a tournament where the tests are so much harder, the stakes so much higher and the pressure ramped up dramatically.
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Pochettino has the emotional intelligence to be able to adjust to those different dynamics and connect with players in a different way. There are unlikely to be many coaches at the 2026 World Cup with more elite-level management experience — not that this is all-important, as Spain’s Luis de la Fuente, Lionel Scaloni of Argentina and England’s recently departed Gareth Southgate have demonstrated of late.
Southgate, De la Fuente, Scaloni: Why summer 2024 was powered by the federation coach
The English FA has considered Pochettino in the past and, despite a preference for a homegrown candidate, was expected to do so again following Southgate’s exit last month after Euro 2024. Instead, having considered the free agents on the market, they have just put their under-21s team coach Lee Carsley in interim charge of the senior side, perhaps with an eye on continuity post-Southgate rather than the type of game-changing appointment the USSF had in mind from the start of this process.
It is easy to imagine that, in Pochettino, the USSF have found a coach who could not just improve the national team but further energise the sport in America; someone who can change the culture around the entire national team setup and bring long-term benefits.
Equally, it is possible to imagine him getting itchy feet as he counts down the months towards the 2026 World Cup and the challenge of trying, in those sporadic international breaks, to transform a squad that contains plenty of young talent but which fell so far short of expectations by failing to get past the group stage at this summer’s Copa America, beaten by Panama as well as Uruguay.
There is a lot of work to do to get the USMNT up to speed — specifically to Pochettino speed — by summer 2026. Conversely, though that is nearly two years off, there is not an awful lot of time in which to do it.
That is the strange thing about international football. Anything he does between now and then can be filed under experimentation. Then the World Cup will arrive, expectations will be high and judgements will be made on the validity (and value) of the Pochettino project.
At “flashy” PSG in 2021 (Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images)
It is easy to see why so many leading coaches tend to regard international football as something that can wait until they are at the tail-end of their careers. But sometimes, as Pochettino said, it is about how moments and opportunities coincide.
Looking beyond finance, if he is inclined to feel any regrets over his choices of PSG and Chelsea, there must be something that has convinced him this is an opportunity that will engage and excite him for the foreseeable future and re-energise his career in the longer term.
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Perhaps it comes back to something he said while he was in Qatar, working as a pundit for the BBC during the 2022 World Cup. He spoke about how excited and enthused he felt by the feeling around the competition — probably pretty easy for an Argentinian at that tournament — and how, yes, having appeared in the World Cup as a player in 2002, he would love to do so as a coach in the future.
At the time, it was presumed he meant by taking charge of Argentina — or even England, such is the way he’d come to be regarded as an Anglophile since his arrival on these shores over 11 years ago.
Instead, he has now been lured Stateside, just as his compatriot Lionel Messi, now 37, was when he joined Inter Miami of MLS last year, just as German veteran Marco Reus, 35, has been now that his move to LA Galaxy in the same league has been confirmed.
In some ways, Pochettino’s move feels more unexpected because it’s all happened in a matter of days rather than being flagged months or even years in advance.
Football is timing, as Pochettino said.
Perhaps the past few years have taught him something different about coaching careers and the difficulty of trying to plan too far ahead.
Sometimes the opportunity to board a particular train doesn’t come along again.
Pochettino didn’t want to hang about waiting. He is evidently enthused by the journey that lies ahead, wherever it may take him.
Indianapolis – Visiting Western Conference leader New Mexico United scored three second-half goals in a 22-minute span to rally for a 3-1 road victory over the Indy Eleven at Carroll Stadium.
Indy Eleven played an impressive first half with an 8-4 advantage in shots. In the second minute of the match, a header from Romario Williams set up an chance for Augi Williams for a left-footed opportunity in the area that was saved by New Mexico keeper Alex Tambakis.
In the 23rd minute, Neidlinger struck a nice cross from the right corner to the far post to defender Aedan Stanley, but his header was just over the bar.
The Boys in Blue took a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute when 18-year-old midfielder Logan Neidlinger became the youngest player in franchise history to score a goal. Neidlinger is also the first Indy Eleven player on a USL Academy contract to score. Neidlinger, born in Indianapolis, has played the full 90 minutes in all three of the team’s August matches.
Defender Adrian Diz Pe started the scoring sequence with an interception at midfield. Three quick passes got the ball to midfielder Laurence Wootton, who quickly passed it to Neidlinger on the right side of the box. Neidlinger fired a shot into the top left corner. It was Wootton’s second straight match with an assist.
Indy Eleven had a great chance to take increase its lead just three minutes later when Neidlinger delivered an excellent cross from outside the area on the right side to the far post to Augi Williams, who headed across to the far post, but Romario Williams was not able to finish.
In the 39th minute, forward Sebastian Guenzatti spun and passed to Stanley, who hit a cross that just eluded both Augi and Romario Williams.
Indy Eleven are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 35 points. Their next match is at the Las Vegas Lights FC on August 24.
Indy Eleven 1:3 New Mexico United
Sunday, August 11, 2024 – 5 p.m. ET
Carroll Stadium | Indianapolis
2024 USL Championship Records
Indy Eleven: 10-8-5 (-3), 35 pts, 4th in Eastern Conference
New Mexico United: 13-6-2 (+4), 41 pts, 1st in Western Conference
Indy Eleven 1-3 New Mexico United
Carroll Stadium | Indianapolis
Attendance: 10,013
Weather: Partly sunny, 75 degrees
(Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
Smith celebrates her winner against Germany (John Todd/ISI/Getty Images)
Claudio Villa / Getty Images
Sam Borden, ESPN Senior WriterAug 5, 2024, 07:00 AM ET
Pochettino managed Chelsea last season (Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Fans in North Carolina were evacuated before Manchester City played Celtic (Peter Zay/AFP/Getty Images)
Canada’s Maxime Crepeau helps assistant referee Humberto Panjoj in Kansas (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Rain delayed Manchester City against Barcelona in Orlando (Rich Storry/Getty Images)
The Ole BallCoach 