Grant sits down in Houston with DaMarcus Beasley, the only U.S. man ever to play in four World Cups, who recently retired from a club career that saw him win 13 trophies in North America and Europe. Beasley talks about his new work as an executive with Matrix Athletic Club and looks back on a rich career that saw him reach the World Cup quarterfinals with the U.S. (in 2002) and the UEFA Champions League semifinals with PSV Eindhoven (in 2005). He also shares his thoughts on the state of American...
Dec 30, 2019•43 min
Grant speaks to Suzy Wrack, who covers women's soccer and women's sports for The Guardian, about a number of topics: Her blockbuster investigative story revealing sexual, physical and emotional abuse of Afghanistan women's national team players by the leaders of the Afghan soccer federation; her thoughts on the England national team and the rise of the English women's league; her visit to New York to interview Megan Rapinoe; the growing trend of British media outlets hiring full-time writers to ...
Dec 23, 2019•43 min
Grant speaks to Paul Tenorio, national soccer reporter for The Athletic, about a host of topics, including his career path, how he ended up choosing to cover soccer full-time instead of other sports, how he approaches covering MLS, his thoughts on the MLS collective bargaining talks, how his terrific story on Jesse Marsch came together and what he's hoping to do in the future covering the sport. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/priv...
Dec 19, 2019•42 min
SI's Luis Miguel Echegaray welcomes guest co-host Kay Murray to discuss each #UCLDraw matchup, another EPL victory for Liverpool, Man City's win at Arsenal, Tottenham under Jose Mourinho, who should manage Arsenal, La Liga action, a preview of Wednesday's Clásico and much more! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Dec 16, 2019•56 min
Grant speaks to Ian Ayre, the former CEO of Liverpool and now the CEO of Nashville SC, which begins its first MLS season on February 29 when it hosts Atlanta United. They discuss what he has been doing over the last 19 months to prepare Nashville for MLS; the choices that went into hiring coach Gary Smith, signing DP midfielder Hany Mukhtar and assembling a roster that includes Dax McCarty, David Accam and Dominique Badji; the progress on Nashville's 30,000-seat soccer stadium (set to open in 20...
Dec 12, 2019•27 min
Grant talks to SI senior writer Jenny Vrentas about her new Sportsperson of the Year story on Megan Rapinoe—the sports figure who made the most lasting impression of 2019. They talk about Rapinoe’s athletic and social impact, the forces in her life that have shaped those things and how Vrentas approached writing a signature story on one of the most heavily covered athletes in the world. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Dec 09, 2019•30 min
Grant and Luis Miguel discuss Megan Rapinoe’s SI Sportsperson of the Year award, Man City falling 14 points behind Liverpool, Man United’s huge week, amazing backheels by Luis Suárez and Mohamed Salah, another Messi hat trick, Jesse Marsch’s huge Champions League opportunity on Tuesday, the crazy race in Germany and Earnie Stewart’s policy requiring U.S. Soccer coaches to live in Chicago. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Dec 09, 2019•48 min
Grant has a wide-ranging conversation with Portland Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese in which they talk about Diego Valeri's potential return to the team for 2020, what happened with departed DP Brian Fernández, how Savarese works with GM Gavin Wilkinson and owner Merritt Paulson, what has (and hasn't changed) in MLS since he played in the league's first season for the MetroStars, how winning three NASL titles with the New York Cosmos has shaped him as a coach, his thoughts on the current state o...
Dec 05, 2019•27 min
Grant and Luis Miguel kick off a busy December in the Premier League with talk of whether Liverpool can stay on cruise control without Fabinho, Arsenal's next move after dismissing Unai Emery, a flat performance by Chelsea in a home loss to West Ham and Wednesday's return of José Mourinho to Man United. They also discuss Lionel Messi saving Barcelona yet again, Inter moving into first place in Serie A, Jurgen Klinsmann's new gig at Hertha Berlin, Lyon buying the NWSL's Reign FC, Monday's Ballon ...
Dec 02, 2019•45 min
Grant has a fun conversation with Astead Herndon, a national political reporter for the New York Times and a diehard Tottenham Hotspur fan. They talk about Herndon's soccer origin story, how he became a Spurs fan, his thoughts on José Mourinho replacing Mauricio Pochettino, how easy it is now to find Premier League games on the campaign trail, which presidential candidates are the biggest soccer fans and why President Trump has embraced soccer more than just about anyone would have expected. Adv...
Nov 27, 2019•33 min
Grant and Luis Miguel break down a busy week, including Tottenham's decision to fire Mauricio Pochettino less than six months after making the Champions League final and replace him with José Mourinho; Man City's important 2-1 win over Chelsea; Flamengo's thrilling come-from-behind 2-1 victory over River Plate in the Copa Libertadores final; and the Chicago Fire's controversial rebrand (and why Grant thinks a real Chicago turnaround, Kansas City-style, would help fans get over a not-great badge ...
Nov 25, 2019•53 min
Grant sits down with Yael Averbuch West, a former USWNT player, University of North Carolina star and 10-year club pro who these days works as the executive director of the NWSL Players Association and owns the soccer training app Techne Futbol. She talks about how she's able to wear so many hats, why she had to step aside from playing in the NWSL, and what daily life is like for the rank-and-file NWSL player. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://red...
Nov 21, 2019•21 min
You'd think things would be quiet during a FIFA window, but that's hardly the case this week. Grant and Luis Miguel break down the USMNT's 4-1 win over Canada (which could have been Gregg Berhalter's last game); Earnie Stewart's strange all-is-well-here press conference; Mexico's 3-0 win at Panama; El Tri's run to the Under-17 World Cup final; Zlatan Ibrahimovic's MLS legacy; MLS moves involving Thierry Henry, Darwin Quintero, Brian Fernández and Darlington Nagbe; the fight for the final spots i...
Nov 18, 2019•46 min
Grant sits down with Landon Donovan to talk about why he decided to become the manager of the new San Diego Loyal USL team that starts play in 2020, why he wanted to name a woman (Carrie Taylor) as one of his assistants, what his aspirations are as a coach and what he'll do if owner Landon Donovan has issues with coach Landon Donovan. Donovan also shares his frank opinions on the state of the USMNT under Gregg Berhalter. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: ...
Nov 14, 2019•27 min
Grant and Luis Miguel break down a huge soccer weekend on both sides of the Atlantic, including Liverpool's 3-1 victory over Man City in the game of the season (so far) of the Premier League; Seattle's 3-1 win over Toronto to win the Sounders' second MLS Cup title; Christian Pulisic's fifth goal in the last three Premier League games for Chelsea; Arsenal's continuing troubles after a deserved 2-0 loss at Leicester City; the remarkable scoring form of Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski, who now h...
Nov 11, 2019•48 min
Grant has a lively conversation with The Guardian's David Squires, the world's top satirical soccer cartoonist, about how he creates his biting (and hilarious) weekly cartoons that have focused on the English Premier League, the men's and women's World Cups and soccer in Australia (where the Englishman is based). Squires tells the story of how he got started in the business and why he loves tweaking the absurdities of the modern soccer world. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands P...
Nov 07, 2019•43 min
Grant and Luis Miguel break down the come-from-behind wins by Liverpool and Manchester City and look forward to Sunday's showdown between the Premier League leaders. They also discuss another goal-scoring performance by Christian Pulisic in Chelsea's victory, this Sunday's MLS Cup final between Seattle and Toronto, the U.S. Under-17 World Cup fiasco, the departure of Niko Kovac from Bayern Munich and two more incidents of racial abuse in Italian soccer. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.c...
Nov 04, 2019•50 min
Dan Altman, the creator of the free soccer data site SmarterScout.com, speaks with Grant about data analytics and goalkeeping, answering a bunch of intriguing questions. Who are the best shot-stoppers in world soccer today? Who are the best goalkeepers with outfield skills? Which keepers are overrated and underrated in the data? What makes Brazilians Ederson and Alisson so good? And who are the top keepers in MLS and on the USMNT? Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy &...
Oct 31, 2019•34 min
Grant and Luis Miguel hail Christian Pulisic's breakthrough hat trick for Chelsea and Sergiño Dest's decision to play for the USMNT and break down Liverpool's comeback win against Spurs, as well as the misery at Southampton (9-0 home losers to Leicester) and Arsenal (where the home fans booed captain Granit Xhaka). On the MLS front, they discuss two mouthwatering semifinals in LAFC-Seattle and Atlanta-Toronto, and Grant shares from his experience covering the NWSL final in North Carolina, where ...
Oct 28, 2019•44 min
Grant interviews Kashif Siddiqi, the player/diplomat who co-founded the NGO Football For Peace. Siddiqi, whose organization has drawn support from Prince William, Pelé, Ronaldinho, Mesut Özil and the United Nations, explains the soccer and non-soccer reasons why he decided to go on loan next week to the team Real Kashmir, located in the region disputed by Pakistan and India and the site of recent unrest as India has moved to exert control there. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brand...
Oct 24, 2019•24 min
Grant and Luis Miguel break down a memorable weekend of MLS elimination-game playoffs, look ahead to a monster El Tráfico playoff in Los Angeles, explain how Manchester United pulled off its 1-1 tie against Liverpool and dissect the NWSL semifinals that have set up a North Carolina-Chicago final. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Oct 21, 2019•48 min
Grant interviews Michelle Akers, viewed by many as the greatest women's soccer player of all time, about her decision to sell her memorabilia at GoldinAuctions.com to fund her horse and animal welfare work, her farm relocation and family time. Akers explains what she has been doing on her Georgia farm rescuing horses in recent years, how she has responded to USWNT teammates who have expressed their skepticism on the memorabilia sale and what she hopes to do with horse rescue work after she moves...
Oct 17, 2019•29 min
Grant and Luis Miguel discuss Tuesday's Canada-USMNT tilt, a proposal to improve CONCACAF Nations League, Vlatko Andonovski's USWNT coaching candidacy, the Mexican MNT, CONMEBOL friendlies, a game-by-game breakdown of this weekend's MLS and NWSL playoffs, our favorite soccer books and our recommendations on the best recent soccer videos on Netflix and Amazon. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Oct 14, 2019•59 min
Grant interviews Jason Davis, the host of the United States of Soccer on SiriusXM FC, about his path in American soccer media, the relaunch of his popular soccer podcast with Jared Dubois (JD & The Rod: America's Best Soccer Podcast), the transition from "Labor of Love" soccer journalism to a full-time media job and what he has learned about American soccer fans. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy...
Oct 10, 2019•27 min
On their usual Monday look at the weekend in soccer, Grant and Luis Miguel break down Liverpool's last-minute win against Leicester, which combined with Man City's shock home loss to Wolves to give LFC an 8-point Premier League lead; the terrible weeks for Man United and Tottenham; the statement victory for Juventus at Inter and the smart choices by Maurizio Sarri; Jesse Marsch's breakthrough in European recognition after his viral video and Red Bull Salzburg's epic 4-3 Champions League loss at ...
Oct 07, 2019•1 hr 10 min
Grant has a revealing conversation with Joe Mansueto, who became the full owner of the Chicago Fire recently when he bought out the majority share of Andrew Hauptman. Mansueto, a billionaire who founded the financial services firm Morningstar, explains why he wanted to buy the Fire outright, how it came together, why he thinks Chicago is a sleeping giant in soccer, why he's bullish on spending more money on Chicago and loosening the league shackles on spending in general, his thoughts on the fut...
Oct 03, 2019•31 min
In their new weekly Monday podcast, Grant and Luis Miguel discuss harder-than-expected wins for Premier League leaders Liverpool and Manchester City, another DNP for Chelsea's Christian Pulisic and the big win for Schalke (featuring Yanks Weston McKennie and David Wagner) at RB Leipzig. They also have share their thoughts on Asif Kapadia's fantastic new Diego Maradona documentary (out Tuesday on HBO) and preview this week's marquee Champions Leagues games, including Spurs-Bayern Munich, Barcelon...
Sep 30, 2019•50 min
Grant sits down in New York City with Uli Hoeness, who as a player won the World Cup and three European championships and then went on to become a formative figure as an executive at Bayern Munich over the last four decades. Hoeness, who's stepping down as Bayern president in November, speaks about a number of topics, including his thoughts on manager Niko Kovac and the new season, whether he thinks last season's Champions League loss to Liverpool was the "end of a cycle," the addition of Oliver...
Sep 26, 2019•17 min
In their weekly chat on the weekend that was, Grant and Luis Miguel break down Liverpool's 15th straight Premier League win (this one vs Chelsea), Christian Pulisic's struggle for playing time, Man City's 8-goal romp against Watford, the potential of Xavi to replace Ernesto Valverde at Barcelona, Josef Martínez's injury with Atlanta, Sam Kerr's goal-scoring binge for Chicago and Neymar making nice with PSG fans by scoring another winner. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privac...
Sep 23, 2019•50 min
Grant has an enlightening chat with former SI soccer writer Liviu Bird, who left journalism to start a career as a professional soccer coach. Bird shares his story of coaching Kitsap Pumas to surprise success in the U.S. Open Cup, taking his current jobs with Sounders Under-23 and Kitsap Alliance and the work he's currently doing to earn his UEFA A and U.S. Soccer B coaching licenses. Bird also details the advice he has gotten from coaches like Bob Bradley, Caleb Porter and Darren Sawatzky and e...
Sep 19, 2019•38 min
