Beyond the 90 Podcast

Tatum Thomason scored a brace against Fort Lauderdale to earn USL Player of the Week honors recently. A standout at both University of Washington and Arizona State she’s been one of the revelations of this young Gainbridge Super League (sprint) campaign.

We spoke to her about her youth development, college career, time in Portland Thorns camp and her adjustment to the Super League in this interview.

USL has the highest fail rate historically of clubs in terms of major professional leagues globally. Rumors have flown the last 72 hours about two clubs folding immediately after this season. But there is a broader vision now at USLHQ, which is different from the thinking that was in place when most of the current ownership groups were brought into the league. We unpack all this.

What is a very complicated topic related to Prime Minister Andy Burnham and needs nuance as well as a deep understanding of the transformation of Manchester as a city as well as the UK economy (and some basic understanding of the UK political system) is being simplified to sensational headlines bolt by proponents and opponents of Manchester City FC.

I do my best to unpack it here although full disclosure I’m not sure “my best” is going to hold up in the midst of this fire storm.

As someone who follows the airline industry, I was very aware and paying attention to the Obama administrations crusade ( my word, not theirs) against state-subsidized foreign carriers in the mid 2010’s. It wasn’t a policy I was wild about as it was excessively protectionist for my taste. And I certainly didn’t think it would ever impact football but here we are. I explain.

There has been a change in the Confederation of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Certain powers that dominated this region in Central America are giving way to the Caribbean. It started with the Final Round of Qualifying for this past summer’s World Cup and continues in this new edition of the CONCACAF Nations League.

NOTE: this is a developing and highly-fluid story and the analysis might be dated by the time this podcast is consumed. I am sure we will have more on this in the near future.

Tactical storylines, top performers, and the biggest surprises from the opening weeks ahead of the international break.

We’ve done a deep dive and are tweaking our content accordingly.