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HEADLINES: making sense of MLS and US Soccer's high-profile pissing match over US Open Cup plus the best and worst of MLS's 2024 jerseys WHAT IF: Matt Turner picks up a blue card in the 80th minute up 2-1 against Brazil in the WC26 final at MetLife... which USMNT field player are you putting in net? PREMIER LEAGUE: thots on Chelsea holding City; what happens when you play AngeBall without AngeBall players; confusion about United continues and Carabao Cup final preview ROUND THE WORLD: USMNT striker depth chart; singing Pulisic's praises and LOLing at the downfall of Pulisic hater-in-chief Terrorist Tommy Tuchel STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs

HEADLINES: pros/cons of FIFA's plan to test blue cards giving players a 10-minute timeout; Duncan McGuire's star-crossed move from Orlando City to Blackburn; China stays butthurt over Messi and US Soccer's decision to grant USL (Women's) Super League D1 status WHAT IF: USMNT played in AFCON or Asian Cup... Which would we do better in? What would be the bar for success? PREMIER LEAGUE: West Ham gets COOKED and other weekend observations; definitive midseason Power Rankings and games to watch this weekend f/t City hosting Chelsea ROUND THE WORLD: Ivory Coast and Qatar earn their flowers and preview of this week's Champions League first leg R16 knockouts STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs

HEADLINES: FIFA unveils the where's and when's of World Cup 2026; Inter Miami's preseason tour is off to a hot start (not) and Bay FC making some early splashes ahead of first NWSL season POP QUIZ: Euro 2024 PREMIER LEAGUE: thoughts on Arsenal's convincing win over Liverpool and a rebuke of Jamie Carragher and his fun police; flowers for Wolves and Luton Town; will Chelsea stick with Pochettino and coming around on Gio Reyna to Nottingham Forest ROUND THE WORLD: AFCON and Asian Cup updates STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs

HEADLINES: the good, bad and ugly of Jurgen Klopp's extended farewell; why Xavi's decision to leave is a harbinger of more problems for Barcelona; Belgium sets a horrible precedent for (mis)use of VAR; and where oh where will Victor Osimhen be playing next season? WHAT IF: you were in charge of making the next Bond movie... which Premier League manager would you pick as the Bond Villain? (Bonus : who would be the worst Bond villain?) PREMIER LEAGUE: an unusual amount of craziness on and off the field in last week's FA Cup (where Cinderella lives on!) plus a look ahead to the not one but TWO full slates of league action coming up over the next week, culminating with Arsenal hosting Liverpool on Sunday ROUND THE WORLD: some of the wildest narratives and storylines emerging from AFCON and Asian Cup STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs

HEADLINES: Sir Radcliffe makes an interesting (perhaps even shrewd) first move with United; Saudi imports having second thoughts; combatting racism in Serie A (and elsewhere); even more bad news for Everton plus why Mitch might go back to ref school WHAT IF: quick housekeeping announcement PREMIER LEAGUE: waxing poetic about Sheffield Utd vs West Ham; is Arsenal or Liverpool better placed to disrupt City's dominance and a look at this week's FA Cup matchups ROUND THE WORLD: winners and losers from USMNT's January Camp (and highly forgettable Slovenia game) STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs

HEADLINES: Premier League is back knocking on Everton (and Nottingham Forest's) door about alleged Financial Fair Play allegations while simultaneously refusing to disclose a timeline for a decision on Man City's 115 charges; Newcastle owner gets hit with some HEAVY accusations; Messi beats out Haaland (and Mbappe) for FIFA POY; trash bag behavior by Reading's owner and level-headed discussion about Miles Robinson's decision to sign with FC Cincinnati over PSV WHAT IF: the rumors are true and Gio Reyna leaves Dortmund this month... what is his ideal landing spot? PREMIER LEAGUE: abbreviated weekly review focusing on United/Tottenham draw and City squeaks past a surprisingly game Newcastle plus an even more abbreviated weekend preview ROUND THE WORLD: Saudi-Spanish Super Cup beatdown highlights the directions that Real Madrid and Barcelona seem to be headed plus earlier thots on AFCON and Asian Cup STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs

HEADLINES: thots on January transfer moves including a glut of USMNT-related moves and Timo to Tottenham, along with an under-the-radar but potentially serious concern for Serie A fans WHAT IF: you had the opportunity to produce a Netflix documentary like the one in the works on Dear Leader Jozay... what player or coach you picking? PREMIER LEAGUE: what to make of Arsenal's inability to score plus a preview of a weekend slate that is low on quantity but high on quality ROUND THE WORLD: what clubs will be affected most by Afcon/Asia Cup and reaction to USMNT roster for January camp STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs

HEADLINES: Fuck Soccer Get Money European Super League is back but is anyone actually buying it; is it fair for United fans to get a little excited now that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has finally bought in; pluses and minuses of MLS following Japan's J-League by realigning the schedule with Europe WHAT IF: Pulisic leads the USMNT to back-to-back World Cup titles in 2026 and 2030 cementing his name in soccer lore... should the USSF retire his #10 jersey? PREMIER LEAGUE: making sense of a busy holiday period including what to makes of the recent risers (eg West Ham and Wolves) and fallers (eg, Arsenal and Newcastle), plus some FA Cup games to watch this weekend ROUND THE WORLD: fallout from the last minute cancellation of Turkish Super Cup due to 11th hour demands by Saudi hosts plus some transfer chatter involving Johnny Cardoso to Betis, Hugo Lloris to LAFC (!?) and Antonee Robinson to Liverpool STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets where the Over Train is cooking with thermonuclear gas again and GOAWs

HEADLINES: MLS (disappointing) roster rule changes and (frustrating) decision to drop US Open Cup; USMNT/WNT players of the year; debating how big FIFA's Club World Cup could become; Boehly leaves his mark on Premier League and do we care about this winter's Messi vs Ronny matchup? WHAT IF: college football implements some form of promotion and relegation... would that sneakily be the best/surest way for it to happen for soccer in the US? PREMIER LEAGUE: Tyler is #notmad about United holding Liverpool to 0-0; Everton deserve some flowers; Mikey wakes up with a new most-hated team (apart from Spurs) and we get some shocking predictions for this weekend's massive Arsenal vs Liverpool game ROUND THE WORLD: Champions League R16 matchups; Girona: La Liga contender or pretender and America's latest strategy for keeping up with the European (women's soccer) Joneses STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs

HEADLINES: US and Mexico confirm joint bid for 2027 Women's World Cup and Bundesliga votes in favor of exploring sale of future broadcast revenues to private equity to better compete with Premier League WHAT IF: Ted Lasso was flipped on it's head and you had to pick a Premier League coach to come to the US and coach an American sport (eg NFL, NBA or MLB)? PREMIER LEAGUE: Aston Villa burnishes title contender qualifications by beating City and Arsenal in a matter of days; should Pochettino and/or Ten Hag be on the hot seat; if Newcastle should be hitting the panic button and wtf has gotten into Everton? ROUND THE WORLD: giving Columbus Crew their deserved flowers and how much (if any) grief does MLS deserve for punishing LAFC supporter's group shenanigans and what to watch in Champions League this week STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs

HEADLINES: UEFA announces changes to women's Champions League, best- and worst-case groups for USMNT from Copa America 2024 draw (on December 7) and high/lowlights from this week's UEFA 2024 group draw WHAT IF: you could change one rule/thing about soccer? PREMIER LEAGUE: Spurs walked away winners from 3-3 draw at City, Tyler waxes poetic about Liverpool after beating... Fullham, abbreviated Power Rankings and what to watch from full slates this midweek and weekend (f/t Chelsea vs United and big week for Aston Villa) ROUND THE WORLD: Preview of Columbus vs LAFC in MLS Cup, what to watch in this week's final Champions League group stage games and shoutouts for Brazil's Serie A title race finale and MASL is back STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs

HEADLINES: FIFA discusses expanding use of VAR, Premier League votes *against* temporary ban on loan deals between "affiliated" clubs and MLS looks to add 4th DP slot WHAT IF: the Premier League did away with designated home and away sections... net plus or minus? PREMIER LEAGUE: takeaways from City/Liverpool draw and Spurs "encouraging" loss to Villa, plus Power Rankings and previewing United's chance to shush the haters at Newcastle ROUND THE WORLD: Tim's opinion on MLS's playoff format plus reactions to VAR-heavy controversies in Cincinnati/Philly and Houston/SKC games, plus a quick look at this week's marquee Champions League matchups STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets (OverTrain cooking with thermonuclear gas again!) and GOAWs