The Play: Pro soccer players talk shop

The Play: Pro soccer players talk shop episodes:

• 01.25.2018

  Podcast Excerpt: This Football Life

  The Play is making friends and we want to show them off. This week's episode is a sample from a similar soccer podcast, This Football Life, designed to take fans into the (real) life of people around professional soccer. Just...

  
• 11.23.2017

  Answering questions on WtDBR, life as a pro player, youth development, regret, and sexuality

  Bobby Warshaw answers questions from listeners about his book, When the Dream Became Reality. He is joined by 11-year MLS veteran, Stephen Keel, to get help on the questions and to provide a different perspective. Bobby and Stephen talk about...

  
• 11.02.2017

  How it went down: a giveaway, a counter, and a big playoff goal

  Bobby Warshaw is joined by Michael Stephens, eight-year professional veteran, to dissect Columbus' second goal in the first leg of their playoff matchup with NYCFC. Bobby and Mike also talk about how a team deals with going down a man...

  
• 08.10.2017

  It's been real

  In our finale episode (for now?), we just hang out and talk. Host Bobby Warshaw is hanging up the mic. For his last show, he is joined by friends and fellow former MLSers Michael Stephens and Cole Grossman. They meander...

  
• 07.27.2017

  What's love got to do with it?

  Ever wonder what it's like to date a professional athlete? Or how a pro player - always moving from team to team, city to city - holds a boyfriend or girlfriend? To put it simply, it's not easy. There are...

  
• 07.20.2017

  Bobby wrote a book! Q&A with the author

  Host Bobby Warshaw wrote a book, When the Dream Became Reality, about his life becoming and being a professional soccer player. He wanted to give fans a deeper look into life as a pro player, so he went ahead and...

  
• 07.13.2017

  Making moves: the players' end of the transfer window

  The summer transfer window has arrived. For fans, it's a time of excitement and entertainment. For players, it's their life. What's it like for a player to get bought, sold, traded, or cut? How does it feel to make a...

  
• 06.29.2017

  Opara walks us through his overhead kick goal

  When you score on a bicycle kick, you get an invite onto the show. Ike Opara of Sporting Kansas City saw the ball rise into the air toward the goal, turned his body, and volleyed an overhead kick into the...

  
• 06.22.2017

  Sorting out if home field advantage is actually a thing

  Pundits and fans often discuss the power of home field advantage. It's become a key part of the soccer lexicon. Sometimes we need to stop ask: is it actually a thing? We turn to the pros - the guys that...

  
• 06.15.2017

  Could Beasley have prevented Mexico's goal? And more USMNT musings

  The US Men's National Team went to Estadio Azteca in Mexico City and got a draw against Mexico. The US took the early lead, but conceded when Mexico's Carlos Vela got the ball on the counter and cut inside on...

  
• 06.09.2017

  Pulisic’s first goal against Trinidad and Tobago

  Bobby was running out to catch a plane to Mexico City, so he and George are giving you the full episode of today’s Dummy podcast. They taped a segment near the end in which they analyze the build-up to the...

  
• 06.01.2017

  The differences between MLS, USL, and NASL

  With the US Open Cup in full swing, teams from the US's top three leagues are taking each other head on. We know MLS is the top league, but how big is the gap to the NASL and USL? We...

  
• 05.18.2017

  Breaking down the match winner with the match winner

  Justin Meram completed a hat trick with the game winner in the 92nd minute against the Montreal Impact. Who better to discuss the goal than Justin Meram himself? The Columbus Crew winger and MLS Player of the Week joins The...

  
• 04.27.2017

  Catching up on recent events

  The players discuss recent events from around the soccer world and provide the kind of discussion that is taking place in pro locker rooms. George John, former MLS defender, and Matt Pyzdrowski, current Helsingborgs IF goalkeeper, join host Bobby Warshaw...

  
• 04.13.2017

  Diving deeper into expansion seasons

  If the margins of victory aren't small enough, try finding an edge when everything is brand new. Two players who have been through playing for an expansion team open up about the experience. Jay DeMerit, former USMNT defender and captain...

  
• 04.06.2017

  Do soccer stats pit quantity vs. quality?

  After Minnesota United’s Jeb Brovsky wrote about the shortcomings of statistical analysis for whatahowler.com two weeks ago, our friend Oliver Miller-Farrell emailed George and Bobby to say that while Jeb wasn't wrong, he might have been “stats-abused.” (Oliver works for...

  
• 03.23.2017

  Ask the forwards: Do you prefer to be alone or in a relationship?

  Remember the days of the striker partnership? Cole and Yorke; Owen and Heskey; Henry and Anelka. What happened to that? It's all about the single striker nowadays. Ever wonder how the forwards feel about the change? Do they like the...

  
• 03.16.2017

  Mentor and Mentee: GK edition

  Being a goalkeeper is a tricky, lonely job. On this week’s podcast, we give a young, up-and-coming goalkeeper a chance to ask a seven-year MLS goalkeeper everything his heart desires. Charlie Lyon is in his third year as a professional...

  
• 03.09.2017

  Don't get fooled by the randomness

  In his books The Black Swan and Antifragile, author Nassim Taleb touts the importance of looking past the noise and finding the actual signals, searching beyond the random events and finding the variables that actually matter. There are a lot...

  
• 02.23.2017

  Where have all the defenders gone?

  The world watched as Radamel Falcao muscled John Stones off of a loose ball in a Champions League match and Stones stumbled to the ground. Our minds wandered to the days of Maldini and Nesta and Cannavaro. The quality of...

  
• 02.16.2017

  Mentor and Mentee: A young pro seeks wisdom

  A young professional has a steep learning curve to survive as a pro. He or she needs to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible. Usually, though, it's tough to walk up to a veteran player and share...

  
• 02.09.2017

  An inside look at life during preseason

  MLS teams have started their preseason training. We give you an inside look at life for a player during preseason camp. The guests tell stories from on the field and in the locker room. Zarek Valentin is in his 7th...

  
• 02.02.2017

  Dealing with injuries, physically and emotionally

  It's the thing every athlete tries to avoid, but nobody can. Injuries get everyone at some point. Whether it's minor and just slightly impacts the way you can move, or if it's something bigger that sidelines you for a couple...

  
• 01.26.2017

  Someone has to do all the running for Pirlo

  All of the pieces need to fit together. NYCFC head coach Patrick Viera has declared Andrea Pirlo will be his defensive midfielder. An undoubtedly world-class player, Pirlo has also been exposed for his lack of mobility in MLS. Pirlo can...

  
• 01.19.2017

  Uncertainty of the offseason: hearing on Twitter that you got traded

  To spectators, the offseason brings the glorious gossip of silly season. To others, the players, it brings uncertainty. On the other side of our news feeds when we read about a trade or signing is a player, a person. One's...

  
• 12.08.2016

  MLS Cup preview: the players' scouting report

  With MLS Cup around the corner, we asked two players that know a little about the teams for a scouting report. Chris Wingert plays for Real Salt Lake and faced Seattle three times this year. Chris played in two MLS...

  
• 12.01.2016

  Build-up to a wondergoal

  Pedro scored a bender to the far post that we won't quickly forget, but it didn't happen in a vacuum. What happened to put Pedro in the position to take the shot? How did he get so open?! New York...

  
• 11.23.2016

  The good stuff

  It's been a weird year and a lot seems to be going wrong in the world, but it's the time of the year when we can remember what we have going right. For our Thanksgiving edition, we asked a couple...

  
• 11.17.2016

  The Drogba Dilemma

  Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. When Didier Drogba was told by his Montreal Impact coach that he wouldn't be starting, he left the stadium. It makes most people uncomfortable and upset that he would leave...

  
• 11.02.2016

  How it feels when everything is on the line in the playoffs

  It's playoff time in MLS. A player and team work all year for one game. When the playoffs roll around, it comes down to a single match to keep playing or go home. How does it feel when everything you've...

  
• 10.27.2016

  Alone and essential, the life of a goalie

  It takes a special person to stand all alone and be the last line of defense. Two professional goalkeepers break down the mindset, the training, and the camaraderie of being a goalie. Kevin Hartman played over 400 games in MLS...

  
• 10.21.2016

  What it’s like to play for Bob Bradley

  Two of Bradley’s former players join to talk about being coached by the new Swansea City manager. Jimmy Conrad played under Bradley for the U.S. Men’s National Team and Cole Grossman was with him day-to-day at Norwegian club Stabaek. They...

  
• 10.12.2016

  Truth or Dare! Teammates, Friends Open Up

  This week on The Play, Bobby (midfielder, Harrisburg City Islanders) is joined by Matt Pyzdrowski (GK, Helsingborgs IF) and George John (former MLS defender) to, well, just shoot the breeze about soccer. With the international break, they took the chance...

  
• 10.03.2016

  Playoffs Time! From Inside the Locker Room

  This week on The Play, Bobby (midfielder, Harrisburg City Islanders) is joined by Eric Alexander (midfielder, Houston Dynamo) and George John (former MLS defender) to discuss the mood around the locker room as the playoffs approach. Do players feel the...