The Best Soccer Show

Special Edition: The Long Game with Leander Schaerlaeckens

Jason is taking some time off, so this week he's sharing his full conversation with Leander Schaerlaeckens — journalist, USMNT beat reporter, and author of the new book The Long Game: US Men's Soccer and Its Savage Four-Decade Journey to the Top (or Thereabouts). It's the definitive history of the program, written just in time for the World Cup. Jason calls it a must-read, and this conversation shows why.

[0:00:28] — Jason introduces the episode and Leander's new book, The Long Game. He'll be back live soon — catch him at patreon.com/thebestsoccershow for Wednesday office hours, the Bestie Slack, and bonus content.

[0:02:50] — Interview begins. Leander on the writing process: three-plus years, 150+ interviews, every US World Cup game since 1990 rewatched — and then US Soccer fired Berhalter and he had to rewrite the whole thing.

[0:07:50] — The book's structure: a chronological USMNT history woven with profiles of six current players — Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, Ricardo Pepi, Matt Turner, and Antonee Robinson — each chosen because their story says something bigger about American soccer.

[0:20:00] — The Dark Ages (1950–1990): the USMNT once went 11 years without winning a game and nobody noticed. A 1974 qualifier where they didn't have enough players and pulled one from the stands. A $5 per diem that players were sometimes asked to forego. It was a circus — and Leander went deep on why.

[0:31:00] — The big structural question: is a US World Cup win inevitable, or does it require investment that doesn't make financial sense? Leander's take — it's not just a matter of time. The FC Dallas academy director's point lands hard: a kid in Dallas is still 12 times less likely to end up in a professional academy than a kid in Madrid, which has the same population but a dozen pro clubs.

[0:43:00] — Closing thoughts: buy the book at your local bookstore or bookshop.org. Jason wraps with a thank-you and outro.

Join the Bestie community at patreon.com/thebestsoccershow — Wednesday office hours with Jason, a bonus podcast feed, the Bestie Slack, and World Cup content on the way. Your support keeps the show going.

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Special Edition: The Future of MLS Next Pro

Jason is on the road to Pawtucket, Rhode Island for a live Morning Kick Around at Centreville Bank Stadium — so rather than leave you hanging, he's crossing the streams. This episode features the full Morning Kick Around interview with Eben Novy-Williams, deputy editor at Sportico, on KKR's blockbuster investment in MLS Next Pro through the newly formed Hometown Soccer Holdings.

Jason and co-host Rob Kerr dig into what it all means for the soccer wars, lower-division soccer in America, MLS valuations, the Vancouver Whitecaps crisis, and what the World Cup might — or might not — do for the game's long-term trajectory.

TIMESTAMPS:

[0:00:28] — Welcome & road trip intro: Jason heads to Pawtucket for Morning Kick Around live at Centreville Bank Stadium, Rhode Island FC vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies, May 9th

[0:01:02] — Check out Morning Kick Around on YouTube: youtube.com/@MorningKickAround

[0:03:35] — Support the show at patreon.com/thebestsoccershow — World Cup content incoming for Besties, plus Wednesday office hours and the Bestie Slack

[0:05:00] — Interview begins: Eben Novy-Williams, deputy editor at Sportico, joins Jason and Rob Kerr

[0:05:46] — Why KKR? MLS launched Next Pro in 2022 with a minor league baseball vision — teams in non-MLS cities building a full pyramid. Four years in, most clubs treated it as a sunk cost, not a business. KKR changes that calculus.

[0:07:12] — The moat strategy: MLS wants to control the entire pro soccer pyramid in the U.S. — and this deal widens the moat against USL considerably.

[0:09:03] — KKR's timeline is likely five years. They want to build the commercial structure, prove the concept, grow the league, then find a successor. From MLS's side, this is Next Pro 2.0.

[0:11:25] — The real estate angle: soccer stadium investment in mid-sized cities is as much about surrounding land development as the sport itself — just like minor league baseball.

[0:19:33] — A quiet rule change: US Soccer dropped the required controlling ownership stake from 35% to 15%, opening the door to bigger consortiums and more institutional investment across all pro divisions.

[0:22:18] — World Cup reality check: hotel bookings are flat, the ticketing process has been a mess, and once the tournament ends, MLS loses its biggest sales pitch. What does the league look like in the rearview mirror?

[0:25:44] — Valuation tension: every MLS team is roughly in the top 50 most valuable soccer clubs globally. No pro/rel and a salary cap create cost certainty investors love — but fans see a ceiling on quality.

[0:27:00] — The two-tier ownership problem: some owners paid under a million dollars for their clubs. New owners paid $500M. Those groups see the league's future very differently.

[0:28:00] — Grant Gustafson and the Vancouver situation: Eben confirms the Gustafson family (Public Storage heirs, Kentucky thoroughbred farm) are the main Vegas-connected group in talks. Phoenix and Indianapolis also mentioned as relocation candidates.

[0:34:45] — Find Eben's work at sportico.com and on X at @Novi_Williams

Support the Show

Join the Bestie community at patreon.com/thebestsoccershow for Wednesday office hours with Jason, bonus podcast feeds, World Cup content, and the Bestie Slack. Or just share the show with a friend — it all helps.

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Jason goes live on a Thursday night to cover two of the biggest stories in American soccer right now: the ongoing saga around the future of the Vancouver Whitecaps — including a wild "liar liar pants on fire" tweet from someone on Don Garber's account — and the breaking news that private equity giant KKR is investing in MLS Next Pro through a new entity called Hometown Soccer Holdings. He also reacts to comments from USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino about American soccer culture that are, let's just say, bothering him a little.


Save the Caps: savethecaps.com


Jason's Newsletter: Jason Davis Soccer Eagle (search it, sign up)


Morning Kickaround


"Stick to Football" podcast: The Overlap with Gary Neville — Pochettino interview


Jeff Rueter's writeup of Pochettino's comments: The Guardian


The Athletic reporting on the Whitecaps: Tom Bogert, Paul Tenorio, Jeff Carlisle


Hometown Soccer Holdings / KKR x MLS Next Pro: mlssoccer.com / Business Wire


Simon Evans' Soccer Business Newsletter — recommended by Jason for MLS Next Pro coverage

Love the show? Want more Jason Davis in your life?

Join the Best Soccer Show Patreon at patreon.com/thebestsoccershow and become a Bestie. Perks include:


🎧 Wednesday Office Hours with Jason — live, interactive, drop in and pick his brain


🎤 Studio link access — Patreon subscribers can jump into the office hours stream directly


🗣️ The Bestie Slack/Discord — the community for American soccer obsessives


🎁 Bonus content drops — including random appearances from Jay Rodius and more

It doesn't cost much. It means a lot. See you in there.

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This week's episode has a little bit of everything. Jason starts the show with some catch-up on recent events in American soccer, including a review of the wild Wednesday night MLS action. Young players are making waves and Bruce Arena is doing his magic in San Jose.

Jason also checks in on some of the American abroad news, including Ricardo Pepi's Wednesday brace and word out of Germany that Malik Tillman might want out of Bayer Leverkusen after just one year.

Then the Rodius posts to do a very TBSS thing: A draft of players from past USMNT World Cup rosters.

Here are the rules, which made it a challenge:

First, Jason and Jared drafted which rosters they could pick from. Each selected 3 modern rosters, leaving out the 2022 USMNT.

Each round was for one position. First round for GK, second round for LB, etc.

A max of 4 players could be selected from each roster.

A player could be selected more than once, provided he played different position and in multiple World Cup.

We'll be posting the final teams on socials and in the Besties Slack, so be sure to join the TBSS Patreon to join in the debate.

patreon.com/thebestsoccershow
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This week's episode hits on all the big stories in American soccer. Thomas Pinzone from The Blazing Musket podcast sits in as co-host to help Jason cover the game from post to post.

We start with Matt Crocker's sudden departure as sporting director from US Soccer. Did Crocker make any headway on the big problems facing the game in the US? How will we judge his tenure?

Then Jason and Thomas discuss Javier Mascherano quitting on Inter Miami seven games into a title defense season. Was there drama behind the scences?

MLS went two-and-two in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup against Mexican opposition. The guys get into the problems MLS faces in the CCC and the wide issues with a tournament that only two leagues can win.

There's round-up of the US Open Cup action from this week with a special note for the cupsets sprung by lower division teams and some love for the SOCCER HERITAGE moments like the plethora of lines on the surface in Mount Vernon, NY for Westchester SC's match against NYCFC.

Finally, Jason springs on Thomas the story of the Fernando Mendoza photo shoot that has an eerie similarity to a photo shoot featuring the 2002 USMNT. Photogs apparently can't say not to an athlete sipping from a water fountain.

Get access to Jason's weekly Office Hours, other bonus content, the Besties Slack community by signing up for our Patreon page at patreon.com/thebestsoccershow.

You can by a redesigned TBSS t-shit at our Fourthwall page.

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