New year and new look for the pod as we talk all the news from the Premier League including the impact of COVID, the takeover at Burnley, the January transfer window, Bale's struggles, Balogun's new deal and more. We also somehow completely forget that there's a Premier League gameweek to preview, but rest assured we'll be back on Tuesday to go over everything from the first fixtures of 2021.  

Later, we rate the top things we want to see in the new year including Harry Kane moving to the Etihad, an undisputed British heavyweight champion, and a collab between the two kings of UK hip-hop.   

Tweet the show what artist or athlete you're most excited to see making moves in 2021 and subscribe so you never miss a show.   

Table of Contents 

00:00:00 Intro 

00:01:12 Liverpool Still Favorites Despite NUFC Draw 

00:02:30 PL COVID Cases on the Rise 

00:13:21 Americans Buy Burnley 

00:18:42 Bale's Spurs Future 

00:24:15 January Transfer Window Storylines 

00:40:26 Boca-River Plate 

00:43:10 Bundesliga Weekend Preview 

00:50:10 Real Chasing Atleti 

00:53:43 2021's Biggest Potential Transfers 

01:25:11 Fury-Joshua + Spence-Crawford are Big Aims for Boxing 

01:48:55 Aitch, Kendrick + More Music SA Wants in 2021

Get in touch on Twitter @statsideabroad. You can also subscribe on YouTube! (Stateside Abroad Football and Stateside Abroad Football Podcast)

To support the show, visit anchor.fm/statesideabroad/support

To follow and interact on your favorite platform, visit linktr.ee/statesideabroad

Music from the Show:

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Clocks by Smith The Mister https://smiththemister.bandcamp.com 

Smith The Mister https://bit.ly/Smith-The-Mister-YT 

Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/al-clocks

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/6MT6-JzUw1w

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Subliminal Messenges by LOWERCASE n https://soundcloud.com/lowercasen

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 

Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/subliminal-messenges

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/FCHHS2h-FyU

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Manchester United found a way to win and the resolve they showed means they may actually be a legit threat to Liverpool's throne. That said, we don't think so. We discuss how a thoroughly unpredictable season seems to be heading to a pretty familiar conclusion in most of the top leagues with a couple of notable exceptions.   

One of those exceptions, Barcelona, also goes under the microscope. We wonder what the club's direction is and once again question the decision to appoint a manager like Ronald Koeman. We also praise Club America's managerial appointment but predict that it won't end well and suggest that Brighton should find itself a new manager after yet another failure by Graham Potter and his players.  

Table of Contents 

00:00:00 Intro 

00:00:39 Impact of Fatigue on Performance 

00:01:42 United Outlast Wolves 

00:07:20 United January Targets 

00:15:53 Are Arsenal Actually Improving? 

00:17:17 Why Brighton Should Sack Potter 

00:26:00 West Ham-Southampton 

00:28:21 Burnley Safe, Sheffield Not 

00:35:41 Should Man City Keep Jack Harrison? 

00:43:12 Solari Hired by Club America 

00:46:16 Koeman, Barça Lack Direction 

00:52:02 Handicapping European Title Races 

00:57:22 More Barça Discussion

Get in touch on Twitter @statsideabroad. You can also subscribe on YouTube! (Stateside Abroad Football and Stateside Abroad Football Podcast)

To support the show, visit anchor.fm/statesideabroad/support

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The cancellation of Everton's game against Man City meant there was plenty of time for this episode to go off the rails and boy did it.   

We discuss why City shouldn't have to forfeit just yet, wonder how a string of cancellations could hurt City's silverware ambitions, and commend Roy Hodgson and Brendan Rodgers for staying level-headed in the press. We also discuss a pair of Leicester standouts, wonder about Villa's top four ambitions, and suggest that Chelsea's best lineup is Hakim Ziyech and ten warm bodies.  

Later, we predict which teams will make the top four come the end of the season, discuss Messi's potential move to PSG, and dig into the Guardian's Top 100 list. Needless to say, this is the point of the show where things went off script. (P.S. I realized while editing this that Marco Verratti isn't even ranked. If I had noticed that sooner I would've spent the entirety of this episode complaining about it.)  

Guardian article: theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2020/dec/21/the-100-best-male-footballers-in-the-world-2020  

Table of Contents 

00:00:00 Intro 

00:00:58 What Does the EVE-MCI Cancellation Mean for EPL?  

00:15:43 Palace, Leicester Draw  

00:18:05 Does Harvey Barnes Deserve a Move? 

00:23:08 Tielemans One of the World's Best 

00:27:09 More Likely to Make Top 4: AVL or CFC? 

00:31:21 Who Will Make Top 4? 

00:40:56 Why Messi to PSG is a Bad Idea 

00:49:51 The Guardian Top 100 Sucks  

Get in touch on Twitter @statsideabroad. You can also subscribe on YouTube! (Stateside Abroad Football and Stateside Abroad Football Podcast)

To support the show, visit anchor.fm/statesideabroad/support

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This episode was all over the map. We start by discussing the Premier League fixtures on Sunday and conclude the level of quality on display was definitely not what we hoped to find under our tree on Christmas weekend. We discuss the officiating gaffe that cost Sean Dyche's team a point in a loss to Leeds, the mediocre standard of play in Brighton's draw with West Ham, and the imperfections that title-chasing sides like Liverpool and Spurs carry.   

Later, we preview the midweek action in the Premier League including a suggestion that City are Liverpool's biggest rivals for the title and that Aston Villa may be in position to seriously dent Chelsea's hopes of getting top four. We also consider whether Foden could leave for Real Madrid and question what Chelsea plan to do if they really are able to sing Erling Haaland. Neymar's exploits this holiday season are also discussed as the Brazilian's ego appears to be clashing with Pochettino's style before the Argentine even signs on at the Parisien club.   

Table of Contents 

00:00:00 Intro 

00:04:15 West Ham & Brighton's Flaws 

00:14:23 Referees Need to Earn Respect 

00:22:45 What is Liverpool's Weakness? 

00:28:12 Why is Everyone Inconsistent? 

00:32:16 Spurs are Good not Great 

00:39:26 City are LFC's Biggest Threat 

00:42:42 PL Match-day 16 Preview 

00:54:33 Foden to Real Madrid; Are City Failing the Youngster? 

01:01:56 Haaland to Chelsea?! 

01:16:16 Neymar's Selfishness & Clash with Poch's Style

Get in touch on Twitter @statsideabroad. You can also subscribe on YouTube! (Stateside Abroad Football and Stateside Abroad Football Podcast)

To support the show, visit anchor.fm/statesideabroad/support

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Arsenal's youth served them well as they outplayed Chelsea for their first league win in almost two months. We discuss the fortunes of both teams and wonder if Mikel Arteta has righted the ship or if this is merely a blip during what will be a long season. The rest of the Premier League action on Boxing Day is also covered with Martial's continued ineffectiveness, Fulham's potential transfer window headache, and Everton's new look under Carlo Ancelotti all discussed. 

Table of Contents

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:48 What's Wrong with Chelsea?

00:07:16 Are Arsenal Turning a Corner?

00:15:12 Man United's Weaknesses

00:23:40 Leicester's Front Foot Struggles

00:25:14 No One is Consistent

00:29:00 City Lurking But in Need of a #9

00:30:58 Newcastle in Freefall

00:32:12 Palace Underwhelm

00:33:15 Mings Has a Moment, Villa Hold Firm

00:38:33 Character Building Win for Everton

00:41:00 Sheffield are Championship Bound

00:44:49 Saints, Cottagers Share Points

00:50:07 Fulham's Transfer Mess

Get in touch on Twitter @statsideabroad. You can also subscribe on YouTube! (Stateside Abroad Football and Stateside Abroad Football Podcast)

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Manchester United are suddenly in the top four and they have a chance to reinforce that position by beating Leicester City on Boxing Day. We discuss that game and wonder which team will get on the front foot given the way both teams like to counter attack. Later, we preview the rest of the Premier League slate over the Boxing Day weekend including a lopsided London derby, a massive chance for Pep and City plus a matchup of Portuguese managers which holds massive implications for both.   

We also question if footballers are embracing their lifestyle enough after James Harden put the entire NBA season in jeopardy.  

Table of Contents 

00:00:00 Intro 

00:01:35 James Harden, Footballers + Strip Clubs 

00:06:24 Man United-Leicester 

00:20:35 Aston Villa-Palace 

00:28:41 Fulham-Southampton 

00:37:30 Arsenal-Chelsea 

00:46:35 Man City-Newcastle 

00:55:27 Everton-Sheffield 

01:01:09 Leeds-Burnley 

01:06:24 West Ham-Brighton 

01:12:15 Liverpool-West Brom 

01:21:33 Spurs-Wolves

Get in touch on Twitter @statsideabroad. You can also subscribe on YouTube! (Stateside Abroad Football and Stateside Abroad Football Podcast)

To support the show, visit anchor.fm/statesideabroad/support

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In what seemed to always be a likely outcome given the team's up and down start to the season domestically, Thomas Tuchel has been sacked by Paris Saint-Germain less than twenty-four hours after his team beat Strasbourg 4-0 on Wednesday evening.   

We discuss the sacking of the German, the rumored arrival of Mauricio Pochettino as the new manager, and what that means for PSG.

Get in touch on Twitter @statsideabroad. You can also subscribe on YouTube! (Stateside Abroad Football and Stateside Abroad Football Podcast)

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Brentford may be one of the better sides in the Championship but Newcastle's inability to get things going against the Bees shows how dire things may soon become for Steve Bruce & the Toon. We cover that game plus the rest of the EFL Cup quarterfinals by pleading with Pep to give Foden more game time, wondering whether Ole might not be such a big fan of the United way after all, and questioning if Spurs have what it takes to put teams to the sword after a comfortable but not overly impressive win against a depleted Stoke side. 

We also cover the CONCACAF Champions League Final in the middle of the show. After giving LAFC the appropriate and deserved praise, we conclude that Liga MX still has a pretty clear edge on MLS with teams like LAFC standing as the exception rather than the rule in the battle for North American supremacy. We suggest that the composition of the corresponding national teams and the desire to spend money on players from abroad delineates the level in Mexico and the United States. 

Table of Contents

00:00 Intro

01:10 Brentford 1 Newcastle 0

13:50 Man City 4 Arsenal 1

26:07 Tigres 2 LAFC 1

30:06 Liga MX vs. MLS

38:36 Spurs 3 Stoke 1

47:33 Man United 2 Everton 0

55:41 Does Ole Actually Embrace the "United Way"

Get in touch on Twitter @statsideabroad. You can also subscribe on YouTube! (Stateside Abroad Football and Stateside Abroad Football Podcast)

To support the show, visit anchor.fm/statesideabroad/support

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Burnley's steady progress continued with a statement win over a Wolves side that are clearly missing their number nine. We talk about what Man United + Arsenal could learn from Sean Dyche and wonder whether Nuno will look for an ally to Fabio Silva in the winter window. We also discuss Chelsea's (sort of) comprehensive victory over London rivals West Ham and once again praise the game of Tammy Abraham up front for the Blues.   

Later, we preview the EFL Cup quarterfinals by discussing whether Newcastle can hang with Brentford, predicting that City & Arsenal will again lack creativity, and wondering whether Everton or Manchester United could challenge for the Premier League title. Plus, we beg Tottenham to take mercy on young Blondy Nna Noekeu on his professional debut. 

Table of Contents 

00:00:00 Into 

00:01:24 Burnley 2 Wolves 1 

00:19:59 Chelsea 3 West Ham 0 

00:35:10 QF 1: Brentford-Newcastle 

00:45:23 QF 2: Arsenal-Man City 

00:59:26 QF 3: Spurs-Stoke 

01:09:23 QF 4: Man United-Everton

Get in touch on Twitter @statsideabroad. You can also subscribe on YouTube! (Stateside Abroad Football and Stateside Abroad Football Podcast)

To support the show, visit anchor.fm/statesideabroad/support

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For the second time in five days, Spurs dropped points which leaves their chase for the Premier League title seriously in doubt. We wonder whether Leicester, Spurs (or Man United?!) has the best chance of chasing down Liverpool in the weeks ahead. We also question if any of West Brom, Sheffield, and Brighton have what it takes to stay up before speculating over the future of the all-talented Jack Grealish. Suggestions for how Sam can fix West Brom also feature towards the end of the show. 

Table of Contents

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:29 Brighton 1 Sheffield 1

00:19:15 Leicester 2 Tottenham 0

00:39:07 United 6 Leeds 2 Final Thoughts (Full Vid: youtube.com/watch?v=u5MCQZnYUUk)

00:47:08 Aston Villa 3 West Brom 0

Get in touch on Twitter @statsideabroad. You can also subscribe on YouTube! (Stateside Abroad Football and Stateside Abroad Football Podcast)

To support the show, visit anchor.fm/statesideabroad/support

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