The Swan Dive with Meg Swanick

Ryan Tolmich (GOAL): USMNT & US U20s Deep Dive


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Ryan Tolmich, American soccer correspondent for GOAL, is back on the pod!

Ryan’s last visit featured a long, cathartic debrief attempting to make sense of the US performance at the World Cup in Qatar. 5 months later…. we reflect on everything that’s happened since.

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0:00 - 6:32 The Soccer Tournament

* The first ever TST event in Cary, North Carolina!

* Expectation, preparation, reality

* Why did the “legends” teams fail?

* Wrexham’s huge fan section, a sign of the times

* “A wild collection of people”

6:33-19:46 the US fall to Uruguay in the U20 world cup

* Another US loss in the quarterfinal

* Two catastrophic mistakes

* Can the US scrap like Uruguay can? (Did they have to?)

* What do we learn about US soccer from the U20 World Cup?

* The legacy of this team

* Checking in on the 2019 U20 World Cup team

* What’s next for the talent in this pool? (Cowell, Luna, Craig, McGlynn)

19:46 - USMNT Abroad, USMNT in Las Vegas

* “A pretty crappy year” of Americans abroad

* Nations League, amid uncertain times

* Too many wagons hitched to Leeds

* The **worst** intersection of American and English soccer culture?

* My future graduate degree thesis

* Do Americans overprotect players, is it the same with other national teams?

* Weston’s options

* The price of keeping Tyler Adams at the top

* The curious case of Sergino Dest’s constant disappearance

* Dortmund is still the place

* Christian Pulisic, new lease on life

* Is Pulisic really endorsing Gregg Berhalter’s return?

* The most important thing to watch in Nations League

* Trophy confidence in this dual trophy summer



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The Swan Dive with Meg SwanickBy Megan Swanick