The Final Third Soccer Podcast

MLS is so close! In this deep dive we preview the Major League Soccer Western Conference and talk about every team's key transfers, strengths and weaknesses, and possible finishing spot in the eastern conference table.

Teams:

1. Austin FC [AJ]
2. Colorado Rapids [AJ]
3. FC Dallas [AJ]
4. Houston Dynamo FC [Jack]
5. LA Galaxy [Jack]
6. LAFC [Jack]
7. Minnesota United [AJ/Jack]
8. Nashville SC [Jack]
9. Portland Timbers [Jack]
10. Real Salt Lake [AJ]
11. SJ Earthquakes [Jack]
12. Seattle Sounders [AJ]
13. Sporting Kansas City [AJ]
14. Vancouver Whitecaps FC [Jack]

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What a week. From the Club World Cup, to the Champions League, to Serie A, to the Premier League. We talk about it all. Stay awhile!

1. Chelsea FC beat Palmeiras to win the Club World Cup - Time for the new format?
2. Kurt Zouma - what do he and West Ham need to do in order to instill restorative justice?
3. Who’s Going to get top four in the Premier League? Spurs v Wolves (0-2), Man United v Southampton (1-1), Leicester City v West Ham (2-2)
4. Who is going to win Serie A?, Napoli v Inter (1-1), Milan v Sampdoria (1-0)
5. UEFA Champions League R16 Predictions - PSG v Real Madrid, Sporting CP v Manchester City, RB Salzburg v Bayern Munich, Villarreal v Juventus ,Chelsea v Lille, Benfica v Ajax, Atletico Madrid v Manchester United, Inter Milan v Liverpool

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It's MLS time, BABY! In this deep dive we preview the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference and talk about every team's key transfers, strengths and weaknesses, and possible finishing spot in the eastern conference table.

Teams:

1. Atlanta United (AJ)
2. Charlotte FC (AJ)
3. Chicago Fire (AJ)
4. Columbus Crew (Jack)
5. FC Cincinnati (AJ)
6. DC United (Jack)
7. Inter Miami (Jack)
8. CF Montreal (Jack)
9. New England Revolution (Jack)
10. NYCFC (AJ)
11. RBNY (AJ)
12. Orlando City SC (Jack)
13. Philadelphia Union (Jack)
14. Toronto FC (AJ)

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We are back after a short hiatus to talk about the week in soccer! We recount our experience going to the USMNT v Honduras game in the sub-zero freezing temperatures. St. Paul, MN in February may not have been the move for the USMNT. We also talk about Senegal beating Egypt in the AFCON 2021 Final. Along with a bunch of other things!

Topics Covered:

1. USMNT Window wrap- up: How Cold was the Honduras Game? Which players stood out? Luca De La Torre? Pulisic? Acosta?! How worried should we be about the March window?
2. AFCON Final Review - How did Senegal manage to beat Egypt? Did Egypt underperform in this tournament?
3. Scorelines: Inter Milan v AC Milan (1-2), Barcelona v Atletico Madrid (4-2), Lille v PSG (1-5), Borussia Dortmund v Bayer Leverkusen (2-5)
4. FA Cup Upsets/Almost Upsets: Chelsea v Plymouth Argyle, West Ham v Kidderminster Harriers, Manchester United v Middlesbrough, Leicester City v Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth v Boreham Wood
5. FA Cup Round of 16 Draw Reaction!
6. Club World Cup Semi-final Preview: Al-Hilal v Chelsea, Palmeiras v Al Ahly

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What a weekend full of ups and downs. We talk about a very serious topic in Mason Greenwood's alleged abuse, to the USMNT faltering against Canada 2-0, and give a huge review of every major January Transfer.

Topics Covered:

1. Mason Greenwood of Manchester United is arrested after allegedly abusing his ex-girlfriend
2. Africa Cup of Nations final four - who's winning it all? Burkina Faso? Senegal? Egypt? Cameroon?
3. USMNT Window Review So Far. Why did we lose against Canada? What is Berhalter doing wrong? Is Pulisic the worst player of the window so far?
4. January Transfer Window Review: (Rooney/Lampard to Everton, Turner to Arsenal, Paredes to Wolfsburg, Eriksen to Brentford, El Ghazi to Everton, Digne to Aston Villa, Coutinho to Aston Villa, Wood to Newcastle, Dusan Vlahovic to Juventus, Bruno Guimaraes to Newcastle, Luis Diaz to Liverpool, Adama Traore/Ferran Torres to Barcelona, Robin Gosens to Inter Milan, Anthony Martial to Sevilla, Boga to Atalanta, Bello to Arminia Bielefeld, and Wout Weghorst to Burnley)

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The January World Cup Qualifying Window is upon us. Let's talk about the key players, the weird exclusions, and what needs to happen on the field to ensure maximum points for the US Men's National Team.

Topics Covered:

1. Roster Breakdown - who are going to be the key players that leads the USA to victory? Adams? Pulisic? Dest? Mckennie?
2. Surprising Inclusions and Exclusions? Why is Arriola, Lletget, and Mckenzie here? Why isn't Scally and Brooks here?
3. How we should line up to beat El Salvador, Canada, and Honduras?
4. What do we consider a successful window?

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It's been a fun weekend in the soccer world! We recap the craziness that was the AFCON Group-Stage, which teams were disappointing and which teams can still win it all and we go over the biggest games this week. Can Barcelona recover from a bad season? Should Arteta leave Arsenal? Find out here!

Topics Covered:

1. AFCON Group Stage Review - Why did Algeria, Nigeria, and Ghana choke? Are Cameroon, Egypt, the Ivory Coast, or Senegal going to win it all?
2. Salah causes Islamophobic discrimination to drop in Liverpool
3. Athletic Club v Barcelona - Why are Barcelona bad? Is it their management or just cuz their players are bad?
4. Watford v Norwich City - Can Norwich survive with Josh Sargent on form?
5. Manchester United v West Ham - What does this mean for the future of Manchester United?
6. Chelsea v Tottenham - How did Chelsea boss Spurs like this?
7. Arsenal v Burnley - Should Arteta leave?

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The season is a little over halfway over, so Jack and AJ talk about the best 11 players of the top 5 leagues and the major storylines that defined the season so far in the Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, and La Liga!

Topics Covered:

1. Best XI + very brief honorable mention list
2. Mid-Season Review
3. USMNT get second place in World Cup Qualifiers
4. Mo Salah’s Form and Harry Kane being sad (Lukaku too)
5. Barcelona’s economic troubles
6. Vinicius Junior + Benzema lead Real to glory
7. The perennial favorites don’t break strides - Manchester City, Bayern Munich, PSG
8. Messi + Ronaldo Struggle
9. Covid-19 postponements
10. France recover from a rough summer to win the Nations League
11. PSG re-Assert their Dominance, but Lille fall off while Nice shock many
12. A New Northern powerhouse in Serie A, as Inter, AC Milan, and Atalanta impress + Juventus struggle 
13. Big 3 of goal scorers in Bundesliga feature a summer standout in Patrick Schick (and of course Haaland and Lewandowski)
14. Man United struggle BADLY, but who’s to blame?  The manager(s), FO, players, or something else?
15. Rayo Vallecano are the surprise standouts or La Liga this season

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AJ is solo this week to talk about a CRAZY weekend. From Everton, to Inter Milan, to Arsenal, to the Seattle Sounders - AJ talks about it all!

Jack's Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@the_lemon_test

To Infinity Saga & Beyond Podcast: https://twitter.com/toinfinitysaga

AJ's Newest Video Essay: https://youtu.be/eio2aZb_iiw

Topics Covered:

1. AFCON Group Stage Review: How are teams looking so far?
2. Inter Milan beats Juventus to win the Supercoppa Italia! Alexis Sanchez is a hero! Alex Sandro is a clown!
3. Real Madrid beat Barcelona in El Clasico and beat Athletic Bilbao to win the Supercopa de Espana!
4. Benitez gets sacked by Everton FC - who's to blame for his terrible tenure?
5. Arsenal get the North London Derby vs Tottenham Hotspur postponed. Why is the Premier League handling COVID so poorly?
6. MLS Transfers: Soteldo out of Toronto FC, Rusnak to Seattle Sounders, Kellyn Acosta to LAFC, Che to TSG Hoffenheim, Cole Bassett to Feyenoord
7. MLS Next Pro Details: how does this new reserve league compare to Major League Soccer and what does it mean for the USMNT?

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Matt Elder, former longtime goalkeeper for Minneapolis City, joins us to talk about life as a lower-league player. Minneapolis City SC are one of the most prominent lower-league teams here in the USA, playing in USL League 2 and the NPSL. He talked to us about what it was like playing for Minneapolis City and being a lower-league player, what his day-to-day life was like, the transition from college to the semi-pro level, and his favorite moments of his career. So If you're at all curious about what it's like being a semi-pro player in America, you came to the right place.

Topics Covered:

1. What it's like being a goalkeeper in the NPSL and what does it take to be a good goalie?
2. How much has Minneapolis City changed over the years?
3. What Matt's favorite moments of his goalkeeping career were.
4. How he juggled a full-time job with playing part-time with his club
5. What the transition from NCAA College Soccer was like to the NPSL level
6. What the best parts were of playing in the National Premier Soccer League were.
7. Advice for any potential players looking to play in the NPSL or USL League Two

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