Planet Fútbol With Grant Wahl

Grant has a fun discussion with ESPN's Fernando Palomo, who's also well-known for his role on the EA Sports FIFA video game. They talk about suffering Champions League withdrawal and the knockout matchups ahead, including Real Madrid-Manchester City, Dortmund-PSG and Atlético Madrid-Liverpool. They also get into Palomo's thoughts on Chicharito Hernández coming to MLS, how much distance the Mexican national team has right now over the USMNT and why his native El Salvador has a good shot to get back in the CONCACAF Hexagonal this time around. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grant and Luis Miguel break down the soccer weekend, including the reasons for Man City falling 22 points behind Liverpool, Chelsea's Frank Lampard benching Kepa for Willy Caballero, which teams we see making the Premier League's top four, two more goals for Dortmund's Erling Haaland, the undderrated goal-scoring machine Ciro Immobile of Lazio, why we're aching to re-start UEFA Champions League, Inter Miami closing in on Rodolfo Pizarro, the USWNT cruising as expected through Olympic qualifying, the goal-scoring debut of USMNT 18-year-old Ulysses Llanez and our frustrations with the cookie-cutter and uninteresting MLS kits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grant has an in-depth conversation with The Athletic's Meg Linehan about the NWSL and the state of the USWNT as it moves forward in the Olympic qualifying tournament. Will Carli Lloyd perform under the microscope at centerforward? Is Lynn Williams the most important new player under Vlatko Andonovski? Where is Megan Rapinoe in a pure soccer sense right now? They also discuss Linehan's story of how she got to The Athletic and ask why she's one of a very small number of full-time women's soccer writers in America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grant and Luis Miguel devote the first part of the podcast to the tragic deaths of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others in Sunday's helicopter crash; the impact that Bryant had on so many millions, including in the soccer world; and then transition into the other news of the week. Topics: Erling Haaland's remarkable goal-scoring run; the exciting title race at the top of the Bundesliga; Barcelona's toothless possession under Quique Setién in a 2-0 loss at Valencia; Inter's missed opportunity with Juventus losing at Napoli; Liverpool's surprising tie against Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup; the frosty relationship of Chicharito to the Mexican and Latino media in the aftermath of his viral video; and the USWNT's start of Olympic qualifying this week (as well as the story behind TV coverage). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grant has a fun interview with Hérculez Gómez, who co-hosts Ahora o Nunca on ESPN Deportes and appears on ESPNFC. They talk in depth about LA Galaxy's signing of Chicharitio Hernández, why Herc thinks the Mexican national team has frozen out Chicharito due to his stance on labor issues, his thoughts on the MLS season ahead, what it's like to move from Connecticut to Los Angeles and how he's stepped out of his comfort zone on his talk show to interview guests like Mike Tyson, Dana White and others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grant and Luis Miguel break down Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Man United, in which LFC fans sang they’re going to win the league for the first time; the debut hat trick for Dortmund’s Erling Haaland (and Gio Reyna’s debut in the same game); Barcelona’s victory in Quique Setién’s first game; Juventus starting to pull away in Serie A; LA Galaxy’s long-awaited signing of Chicharito Hernández; Luis Miguel’s trip to DC to interview Edison Flores; Grant’s trip to LA for MLS Media Day; Mal Pugh being cut from the USWNT Olympic qualifying roster; and Sam Kerr bringing her goal-scoring ways to Chelsea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grant sits down in LA with Alexi Lalas of Fox Sports, who hosts the State of the Union Podcast. They talk about the impending arrival of Chicharito Hernández to LA Galaxy, the potential of labor strife ahead of the MLS season, what he's excited about in MLS 2020, what he thinks about surrounding MLS's 25th anniversary, whether he ever issues an opinion that he doesn't really believe just to stir the pot, why he became an AYSO referee, and much, much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In an action-packed pod, Grant and Luis Miguel discuss José Mourinho's "dark force" impact on Tottenham in the wake of Saturday's loss to Liverpool; Grant's big Jürgen Klopp story coming out this week for SI; Sergio Agüero's place in the Premier League; the managerial chaos at Barcelona (which will miss Luis Suárez for four months); the LA Galaxy's Ahab-like pursuit of Chicharito Hernández; Luis Miguel's thoughts on the Liga MX Clausura; the hiring of Brian McBride as the new general manager of the USMNT; the big NWSL moves of the past week; the problematic impending hire of Farid Benstiti by Reign FC; and your hosts' true life stories that sound like a lie, from Luis Miguel's birthday party attended by Pras of the Fugees to Grant's beef with Urkel in a locker room. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grant speaks about all things Liverpool with Michael MacCambridge, an Austin-based writer and author who's one half of "Red Letters," a weekly season-long series of letters about Liverpool FC for the Liverpool Echo with Neil Atkinson of The Anfield Wrap. They discuss MacCambridge's origin story with Liverpool and his thoughts on Liverpool fandom, what makes Jürgen Klopp and this Liverpool team special, and how we consume global sports in the 21st century. Grant and Michael, both Kansas City natives, also discuss their fandom for the NFL Chiefs, how they sat together in frigid conditions at last year's AFC championship game and what they would do if the Chiefs can win their first Super Bowl in 50 years. MacCambridge's books include '69 Chiefs (a new coffee table book on the only Chiefs Super Bowl winners), America's Game (on the history of the NFL) and The Franchise (on the history of Sports Illustrated). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grant and Luis Miguel reconvene and hop around the world of soccer, starting with a discussion on all the new Premier League managers (Arsenal's Mikel Arteta, Everton's Carlo Ancelotti, West Ham's David Moyes and Watford's Nigel Pearson. They also discuss how Liverpool beefed up its Premier League lead over the past month; whether England plays too many games; why stale Barcelona feels like it did during Frank Rijkaard's last season (2007-08) and how it could set up a Pep-like return for Xavi to coach the club next season. Additional topics: New MLS coaches at Inter Miami (Diego Alonso) and NYCFC (Ronny Deila), Kate Markgraf landing Laura Harvey to coach the Under-20 USWNT and South American transfer targets in 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 soccer, explains two bits of important wisdom that he took over the years from his former coaches Jürgen Klinsmann and Bob Bradley, and reveals why he's serious about the possibility of going to culinary school. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 cover women's soccer and her story of how she got into the media business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 2022); how much money they'll have to spend on players; and what he would consider "success" for the team in 2020. Ayre also provides his thoughts on the current success of Liverpool, where he worked until 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 of his Venezuelan national team and how his family in Venezuela has dealt with the turmoil in that country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 d'Or awards, the 9-year anniversary of FIFA awarding World Cup hosting rights to Russia and Qatar and the draws for Euro 2020 and next summer's Copa América. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices