Let's Fix Football

WORLD CUUUUP! WORLD CUP! We hate that we are so excited for the World Cup. We hate it. We're not the people vigorously defending Sepp Blatter online. We're the OTHER guys. We shouldn't be this excited. But WE ARE. WORLD CUP! 

And this is the ONLY World Cup preview you'll need. The only one. Hosts Gabe Lezra and Evan Mateer go through each group (who will win the Group of Death, Uruguay, Russia, Egypt or Saudi Arabia? Not Saudi Arabia.), each narrative, and each thing to watch. There aren't any other World Cup previews online. Don't Google that. Seriously. 

Also: Alexi Lalas and Gary Lineker having extremely regular ones, shoutout to the guy who tweeted @BallondOrder assuming we award the Ballon d'Or (who do you THINK he supports for the award?), and non-soccer people writing about soccer.

It's a BONUS Let's Fix Football! Gabe Lezra is flying solo in this bonus episode, as he chats with friend of the show Teddy Maglio about the UEFA Champions League final between Gabe's Real Madrid and Teddy's Liverpool FC. They discuss each team's post-final narrative, and how each fanbase shaped their vision of the game to how things played out in the aftermath. And, of course, the obligatory Sergio Ramos discussion.

Then: Gabe goes on English radio! And talks about Real Madrid's coaching situation! And how Madrid should hire Pochettino (sorry Evan). 

Check out more football banter (and Gabe, this summer!) on LoveSport Radio 558AM in London or online at https://www.lovesportradio.com/radioplayer/

Hosts Evan Mateer and Gabe Lezra talk everything Champions League, as Gabe's Real Madrid were victorious once again (back-to-back-to-back, baby!), including Sergio Ramos's VICIOUS INTENTIONAL MAULING MURDER OF SALAH (and the resulting TOTALLY REGULAR lawsuit and petition), Gareth Bale's all-timer (is it the best ever?) and more.

Also on offer: a look into the USMNT's youth revolution. Timothy Weah is bae. That is all. 

Finally they dive into how countries use sport as soft power and how FIFA is basically Mac from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ("you see, I'm playing both sides").

Gabe Lezra and Evan Mateer are back to talk about the only story that matters this week: Real Madrid captain and generally hilarious person Sergio Ramos making the much vaunted transition from athlete to Soundcloud rapper. SR4 is the song, and it is generally available on iTunes, Spotify and all your other streaming services. 

OK cool bye good show. 

Alright fine, they also talk about all the different end of season news, including Chelsea's victory over Manchester United in the FA Cup final (an indictment of Mourinho, his transfer policies, both?), Bayern losing the DFB Pokal final (funny), and Barcelona losing its invincibles season to Levante 5-4 (funnier). 

Then it's a conversation about Christian Pulisic, who is apparently being shopped for about GBP 40 million (low!) and Tottenham's potential interest in the American winger, and the transfer market generally. 

Mario Balotelli come to MLS!

Hosts Gabe Lezra and Evan Mateer are back to discuss this week's breaking FIFA news about the Club World Cup, why they might sell the rights to that stupid tournament to a group of anonmymous rich people and companies (lol you know who), and what effect that might have on the creation of a European SuperLeague. Also--why on earth would Gianni Infantino (@infantino) only invite seven teams to discuss this proposition?

But first: they take on the hilarious takes from FourFourTwo's thread on the most overrated goals ever. Oooooh it's a doozy, folks. Also, anyone who thinks Zlatan scored an overrated goal every is a cop. Nice try, FBI.

Hosts Gabe Lezra and Evan Mateer bring on their buddy, data privacy attorney Keir Lamont to discuss Trump's feud with FIFA, and the totally regular people responding to it who are having extremely normal ones. They also dive into those (annoying?) 23andMe World Cup ads--everything from the questions of how to pick a world cup team, their inanity (and the use/misuse of genetic testing), and the very real data privacy concerns in transmitting genetic information to third parties. 

They also recap some #SaveTheCrew news, plug some MLS news, and dive into the Champions League final. Liverpool look great at home, but less so on the road; Mo Salah is a legitimate Ballon d'Or candidate. AND they feature the worst take on the show so far (in an epsidoe that quotes Donald Trump and Trump online sycophant Jacob Wohl): some English pundit saying how Ronaldo sucks, actually, and couldn't start on any top EPL side. 

The end with a chat about legacy and how to think about this Real Madrid side as they progress to their third consecutive Champions League final.

Host Gabe Lezra talks with attorney and prolific soccer analyst Miki Turner about all the recent updates in the #SaveTheCrew litigation. They touch on everything from the very recent motions (and cross-motions) from the parties (Precourt Sports Ventures and MLS on one side, the city of Columbus and the state of Ohio on the other), the Art Modell Act (ORC 9.67), and game out some endgames as the litigation continues. 

Miki is an attorney in Washington State who writes at SoccerEsq.com; you can follow him on Twitter at @turneresq. We highliy encourage you to follow all of his work on the #SaveTheCrew litigation, as well as other pressing legal matters in US Soccer (including the dreaded NASL anti-trust lawsuit).

Hosts Gabe Lezra and Evan Mateer are joined by their friend Shay Khatiri to discuss the Iranian government's prohibition on women attending matches, and the regime's recent arrest of 35 women and girls for trying to attend the Tehran Derby. They discuss some of the history of the current Iranian regime since the revolution, and focus on how the regime is responding to the current crisis. 

They also, of course, take FIFA to task for their tepid response to the arrests, including president Gianni Infantino (twitter handle @Infantino) and his hard-to-defend reaction while he was attending the match. They end the discussion with a conversation on FIFA's role in internal policy-making (hi Jerome Valcke), and how to go about discussing and criticizing governments like Iran's without feeding into the racist, islamophobic agenda that many people in the United States are pushing. 

Shay is pursuing an MA at the Johns Hopkins School of International Studies focusing on international policy towards the Iranian regime, and is also a MBA candidate at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. 

PLUS: Actual Zlatan ASMR at the end of the show, and why liking your own tweets is a power move.

Hosts Gabe Lezra and Evan Mateer are BACK from their short hiatus to discuss all things Champions League, starting with Barcelona's shock elimination by Roma, coming all the way back from a 4-1 deficit to shock Messi and company....our heart will go ooooooooonnnnn.

They also chat the Real Madrid-Juventus match, and especially the Gigi Buffon post-match comment controversy, and Gabe again lashes out at the Catalan media. Lots of people having really regular feelings about this. No overreactions. 

ALSO: Zlatan goes on Kimmel, and Sepp Blatter, Sir Alex Ferguson and Buffon all seem to having normal ones.

Hosts Gabe Lezra and Evan Mateer check in on friend of the show Registability after Pep Guardiola's Kloppian Champions League nightmare. They break down the funniest Champions League storylines, including Spanish media's Cristiano Ronaldo thirst, before welcoming Managing Madrid's Kiyan Sobhani to talk about his recent article for FourFourTwo on Pep Guardiola's father, Jurgen Klopp.

Oh, and there is a LOT of ZLATAN, including a long discussion of some of the absolute worst MLS takes related to our personal savior's debut for the Galaxy.

Kiyan's article: https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/features/how-jurgen-klopp-became-pep-guardiolas-kryptonite