This week on Cleared off the Line...
I tell you about a soccer league in the States that you've never heard of before, introducing you to some of its most well known players and coaches, all while giving you insight into why this competition is making a difference.
The MLS Cup Playoffs are ongoing and we are right in the middle of the first round after the wild card games. I'll break down the three key reasons that this system is unique in the Soccer Explainer.
Also, have you seen the official ball for the World Cup next summer? I have... and I have a quick take on why it's just okay.
That and more ahead on Cleared off the Line.
This week on the Cleared off the Line Podcast…
The USMNT is unbeaten in three matches under Mauricio Pochettino and it's their most recent good run of form.
The Yanks beat Japan and Australia along with a draw to Ecuador in September and October.
Those results have shown that this team is taking great steps forward to become a World Cup winning contender.
I’ll explain why that is and how they can keep up the positive momentum in the Red White and Blue Report.
I also break down another key piece of soccer knowledge— the American women’s pro soccer pyramid— in the Soccer Explainer so you can know all about the ins and outs of the women’s game.
Lastly, several cities across the country are trying to grow the game by starting professional teams but one has the unique challenge of doing that in a town where sports fans have been downtrodden for decades.
If you guessed that town is Cleveland, Ohio you are on the money.
Gina Prodan-Kelly, the Chief Marketing Officer from Cleveland Pro Soccer, joins the show to give us an inside look at how an expansion team finds it’s identity from scratch, how they’re actually listening to fans opinions and when you can see them play on the pitch.
Tesho Akindele's journey around the world as a footballer gave him the chance to see places he never would've dreamed of going, literally and figuratively.
The former Canadian international raised in Colorado thought he'd be an engineer before MLS came calling as he neared the end of his college career. Then, he didn't know what he'd do after playing until a lightbulb went off and his travels became the perfect primer for his career as a Development Analyst.
Tesho is passionate about building communities that are vibrant, accessible and friendly for everyone. He talks about that and connects the dots from college to his life now on this episode as well as delivering insight to what his day to day life is like working in community development.
The Soccer Explainer is also back with an emphasis on the American men's soccer pyramid breaking down each tier and league with insight into how it could change very soon.
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds once were a team that wanted to get fans to attend at a handful of games per season.
That was success in their minds. Not anymore. The fanbase is thriving and the club is expanding.
That's why the Hounds are expanding their stadium capacity by thousands of seats to become a hub for Pittsburghers, a beacon of USL expansion and a model for modern American soccer.
Club President Jeff Garner joins to discuss how the Hounds are becoming a great example for all of those things.
Plus, a new segment called The Red, White and Blue Report launches as I dive into how boss Mauricio Pochettino has used his talent base in his first year in charge of the Yanks.
David Gerson has spent countless hours on a soccer pitch with a flag or whistle in his hand refereeing matches.
One day, a funny TikTok became an overnight sensation and Refs Need Love Too was born. Gerson's page highlights controversial calls in the professional game, gives referees tips on how to improve and explains the laws of the game while promoting respect for refs.
His thousands of followers also see how he advocates for safer soccer matches for referees and gives back to his community of yellow shirted friends.
We talk about how he started the page, the ongoing issue of referee abuse, how to have a better playing environment and his unique approach to a better youth soccer community.
If you've ever wondered how professional football clubs use data to scout players who could be the next big signing for the team, then this is your lucky day.
Charlotte FC's Lead Data Analyst, Daniel Wicker, joins the pod to discuss how his role and those of his fellow analysts and scouts brings ideas on paper to ink dried on a contract. (1:30-27:45)
Join us as we begin the pod with his interview with some insight into how the club nabbed Wilfried Zaha this year on loan.
Also, dive into the Top 5 Best Things to Ever Happen to MLS and American Soccer. Stadiums, TV deals and a few marquee players are in the mix. But, who's number one in Tuck's Takes? (28:00-38:50)
Lastly, in the Soccer Explainer, what are the major barriers of entry to soccer fandom in these United States? A lot of bad perception and a ton of subscriptions is part of the answer. (39:00-48:05)
We start today's episode by breaking down two huge pieces of news from MLS.
First is the Leo Messi All Star Game snub to one-game suspension drama in Tuck's Takes, where Forrest tells you why the GOAT should've been held accountable and how he exposed a major MLS flaw. It's not the one you're thinking of though. (1:15-7:30)
Then it's onto the pros and cons of the MLS schedule change to an August to May-ish season. Three reasons for each as Commissioner Don Garber says it's on the table after the next World Cup. That's ahead in Soccer Explainer. (7:30-14:15)
Finally, we have Lloyd Owers, Head Coach of the Marshall Islands Federation, as they embark on their maiden voyage as a national team playing in a tournament in Arkansas for a reason we reveal.
Also, hear from the Englishman about how he got involved in bringing soccer to the southwest Pacific, who some of his players are and their journey to becoming an official FIFA nation. (14:15-1:03:00)
The USMNT flipped what we thought would be the script during the Gold Cup.
Skeptics believed the blunder of two friendly losses to the Swiss and Turks was just the top of the slippery slope.
But, no avalanche of despair this summer for US fans after the team made the finals of the Gold Cup losing to Mexico 2-1.
We had questions then. We seem to have more now.
Who helped or hurt their case with a B-Tier team showcased?
What does Mauricio Pochettino have to do to create a culture?
How do you bring in the best 23 players next summer for the World Cup?
CBS Sports journalist Chuck Booth joins the show to discuss.
Simon Evans of the Soccer Business Podcast makes a claim on this weeks episode that's neither hot or cold, but is everything we know and love about football.
The fans were the best part of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
They saved the tournament.
From what?
The litany of detractors from hours long weather delays to load management of players to Saudi sponsored sports-washing.
Boca Juniors, Flamego, Esperance and several other teams brought foreign fans with authentic ties to their clubs to the CWC. They made us smile from ear to ear despite whatever happened on the pitch.
Forrest and Simon speak on the two finalists, Chelsea and PSG, but more so address which sides showed up throughout the tournament, what FIFA must figure out ahead of the big dance next summer and how we should remember this new edition of the CWC.
The 2025 Club World Cup has more than its fair share of disappointments.
Tickets too expensive, mostly empty stadiums, heat too hot (for Europeans), no offseason for the likes of Real, Bayern and Chelsea too, issues with Saudi Arabian funding and so on.
In Philadelphia know for "Brotherly Love" (ok maybe sometimes not so much) the goals have been coming fast just as the fans have been through the gates from Brazil, Africa and England to watch several teams so far.
Larry Henry Jr. of SBI Soccer and The Athletic breaks down what he's seen on the ground at Lincoln Financial Field.
That's where we begin, but there's more to this tournament.
Flamengo and Botagofo bossing their groups, City and Juventus still to be tested and who do the lads think will lift the trophy in a few weeks time.
Also, what the impact of this tournament does in a positive manner for FIFA and he US with the World Cup under a year away.
Cameron Lancaster and Louisville City are synonymous with longstanding USL success.
The Englishman is the club's all time leading goalscorer and bagged the lone strike in the team's first ever title win in 2017.
He is as club legend as club legends get. But, he moved on awhile back.
Lancaster has been in Lexington with the Greens for two seasons.
Eight goals in USL1 last year, but nothing to show for in just over 200 minutes of action thus far in 2025.
So... what happens next? A loan move. Seems obvious.
But, back to Louisville? A now direct rival to Lexington?
Yup, that's right.
Benton Newman of Vamos Morados joins the show to discuss.
Mike Kozlowski and Joe Stadlin came up in the soccer world as Maryland natives who let the beautiful game take them across the world.
This month, outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, they are playing in TST (The Soccer Tournament), an annual small sided competition with a prize of one million dollars.
Every year, teams from professional clubs around the world bring household names to the set-up.
But, for these two futsallers, this is a chance to show why their game matters just as much as the 11-a-side that millionaire pros play on TV every weekend.
Teams who have won the first two tourneys have all been from tight-knit, small sided competition background.
For Joe and Mike, they know this is an opportunity of a lifetime to prove they can play no matter how bright the lights are.
The soccer balance of power in Ohio may be shifting as the MLS season kicks off!
Forrest is joined by Kenta Hagiwara (Area Sports Network) and Justin Blair (Cincy Soccer Talk) to break down the expectations for two Ohio state superpowers.
FC Cincinnati has aced the test of signing replacements for several key departures, one of which is probably the best player in club history, to get ready for the new campaign.
00:00-16:30
Columbus Crew are in the hunt for players who can lead the line and the chase for another deep playoff run after two storied strikers left the Ohio capital just weeks before MLS ramps up.
16:30-28:00
Both have jockeyed for top Eastern Conference spots in years past and will look to do the same this season making the Hell is Real Derby a must-watch fixture.
The real questions is, no matter how well both sides are playing, will there be a rematch of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals?
28:00-39:00
Women's soccer has seen a rollercoaster of a past 20 years.
Right now, the sport is seeing something that has never happened before. Does that sound familiar? 100%.
For the first time in United States soccer history, there are two women's professional leagues with Tier One status.
The United Soccer League Super League is playing in its inaugural season this fall.
Anna Witte, a sideline reporter, was one of the first people to see this league in action as Carolina Ascent FC beat DC Power in the inaugural match.
Witte is a native North Carolinian, former college player and has seen her sport rise to new heights for years.
On the podcast this week, Anna tells all about her once in a lifetime experience at that match and gives the lowdown on what the Super League is.
In the middle of the horse racing and Kentucky basketball kingdom a new soccer club is trying to make its way into the hearts of the Commonwealth.
Lexington Sporting Club is a United Soccer League franchise that's made it clear that it wants to succeed as one of the emerging powers of American lower and top league soccer.
Within three years of existence, the club has professional, pre-professional and academy teams on the men's and women's sides.
But, how is this possible? The short answer is ambition and investment.
While that's one question to be asked, there's more to consider especially as the club moves its men's side up a division in the USL.
As die-hard soccer fans are overjoyed that this club gives them a pro soccer option in the Bluegrass, will the wider audience within an already Kentucky Wildcats crazed city fall in love with the club?
To answer these questions and examine how LSC is a prime representation of modern American soccer, Forrest has some help from Lexington-based journalist Cameron Drummond.
Listen to hear what the pair thinks LSC must do to have an overwhelming return on investment and to make soccer a top of mind sport in Central Kentucky.
Interesting people happen to kick a ball for a living all over our world.
One of them is Lauren Chang, a player of FC Sparta Praha Zeny in Prague, Czech Republic.
Chang is someone who I've watched play for awhile, but off of the pitch she is just as interesting as on it. I covered her and the South Carolina Gamecocks Women's Soccer team in college.
Whether its being a bookworm, master (home) chef, LGBTQIA+ advocate, community volunteer or just an Atlanta native putting on for the 404 Lauren is one of a kind.
We talk about all those things plus her life in Prague as she adjusted and now is fully immersed in her local culture.
The most important coaching search in US Soccer history is happening right now.
Whoever comes in to manage the Yanks will have to take this team to new heights during the 2026 World Cup.
As names swirl and days pass, it's clear that US Soccer has to take its time with hiring a new manager at the most pivotal time in its history to date.
So, when will the new manager be in place? In time for the September friendlies? Who is the best choice anyway? What qualities are the best in the current pool of candidates?
Those questions answered (with a few different takes) and more on this episode of COTL, where we bring in Justin Blair of Cincy Soccer Talk.
Cincinnati is one of the next places that the USMNT will play in for the September window and perhaps a new head coach will be on the touchline.
Becoming and being a professional footballer is a challenge unlike any other in and of itself.
Nothing can diminish the hard work that players must pay to receive a trial, contract, spot in the match day squad and even a start or substitute appearance.
Goalkeepers have it harder than anyone because, unlike outfield players, they are one of one in the starting eleven.
Our guest today is a young, up and comer keeper in the United Soccer League Championship.
He’s the second choice at his club, but whenever he’s between the posts, showing up is the least he does.
On this episode we talk about how he handles being the second choice goalkeeper with a first class attitude.
Welcome in to Charleston Battery shot stopper Daniel Kuzemka.
Pundits and analysts are everywhere when you turn on a match of football.
Some have had illustrious playing careers. Others have had careers that are not as well known. Regardless, being a professional at any level is a remarkable accomplishment.
Whatever the caliber of their career, someone in the broadcasting industry has vetted these ex-pros to be on television or radio, which is a tough process in and of itself.
But, what if I told you that one pundit's path was nothing but zig zags, that he was working as an estate manager for high profile families for years at a time and that you might've never heard of him.
Well... you do now.
Devon Kerr is our guest on this week's pod. Listen to hear about how his life has come full circle in the broadcast booth.
Copa America, The Olympics, The Euros, International Friendlies, The Soccer Tournament, MLS, USL, NWSL, The Open Cup, The Leagues Cup AND SO MUCH MORE soccer is on the way to the American public this summer!
It's a schedule that many U.S. footy fans would've though was a pipe dream years ago, but not anymore!
So the question is... how much soccer is too much?
Men in Blazers Director of Marketing, Evan Raimist, kicks off the new season of COTL to let you know what one of the most popular soccer news outlets in the nation thinks about that question. Plus, how does he think the game will grow this summer to levels we have never seen before?