We are joined by Joel Rydstrand, a Swedish footballer currently playing at CD San Roque de Lepe in Spain. Joel played at IK Sirius, before going to Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, and was drafted by Seattle Sounders FC in January 2019. 

Timestamps 

0:00 - Intro 

0:23 - Joel Rydstrand intro 

5:30 - How did Joel fall in love with the game? 

7:21 - Joel’s youth career in Sweden at Almunge IK, IK Sirius 

9:56 - Joel signs his first senior contract at IK Sirius at 17 

12:24 - Cwa’s experience of playing with Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Andreas Christensen 

14:45 - Joel’s experience of playing under Kim & Tolle, the importance of consistency, and taking care of your body and mind 

20:21 - Joel goes on loan to BKV Norrtälje, works at a factory, and quickly decides to move to the US 

22:47 - Joel leaves Sweden for Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska in January 2015 

23:59 - Getting sports scholarships at US universities 29:23 - Adjusting to life in the US 

32:53 - Joel’s college soccer career at Creighton University 

35:20 - Joel gets invited to the MLS Combine and MLS Draft 

37:00 - Premier League standard facilities at Creighton and US universities 

40:31 - Joel gets invited to a few MLS teams’ combines before the MLS Combine 

41:50 - Joel gets drafted by Seattle Sounders FC 

42:16 - Should the MLS revamp the draft format and turn it into a USL draft? 

44:24 - Interviews during the MLS Combine 

45:45 - Joel’s thoughts on what to do after Seattle Sounders’ first team decide to not use international spot on him 

47:13 - Joel's on the level of the USL 

47:41 - Joel leaves for Spain after 8 months in the USL 

49:33 - The surprisingly high level of 4th-tier Spanish football 

52:40 - Life in lower league football, being the only foreigner on the team, and learning Spanish 

56:19 - Joel’s view of the differences in football between Sweden, the US, and Spain 

1:00:35 - Joel’s season at CD San Roque de Lepe so far, and playing against Getafe in the Copa Del Rey 

1:04:33 - Next step? 

1:05:53 - Magnus Pehrsson and Jesper Norberg at Velez CF 

1:08:16 - Europa Point FC in Gibraltar 

10:10:20 - Outro 

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We're joined again by Konrad Grönlund for an episode on ownership models in club football.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

00:47 - Ownership models intro

02:06 - 51% rule in Sweden and Germany

02:35 - Vejle BK failure

05:47 - Is Konrad for or against the 51% rule

07:51 - Is Jacob for or against the 51% rule

09:30 - Football academy facilities in Denmark vs Sweden

10:25 - The Swedish FA and the upcoming presidential election

15:46 - Socio model in Spain

18:47 - Community-owned clubs (AFC Wimbledon, FC United of Manchester)

20:52 - State-owned clubs (PSG, Man City, Newcastle) and fit-and-proper person tests to own a club

26:16 - Multi-club ownership (City Football Group, Red Bull GmbH, Brentford & Midtjylland, Global Football Holdings at Crystal Palace and Brøndby amongst others, Pozzo family at Udinese & Watford, Leicester & OH Leuven)

45:41 - Private ownership models (Boehly focus)

51:14 - Conclusions on ownership models, with a focus on Swedish football

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Find Konrad Grönlund on Instagram @knrdgrnlnd or Twitter @karlkonradaxel

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

01:22 - Getting to know our first guest - Konrad Grönlund, sports journalist at the Swedish newspaper, Expressen

17.46 - The weekend’s matches

18:02 - Napoli 5-1 Juventus

19:39 - Is Serie A over?

21:26 - Manchester United 2-1 Manchester City

25:09 - Erik Ten Hag

26:54 - Are United in the title race? Can Arsenal sustain their form?

28:04 - Brighton 3-0 Liverpool

29:25 - Roberto De Zerbi

33:40 - What’s going wrong at Liverpool?

40:55 - Mykhailo Mudryk and Todd Boehly

43:36 - Tottenham 0-2 Arsenal - will Conte walk?

47:17 - Should Harry Kane leave Spurs?

48:32 - Barcelona 3 -1 Real Madrid

50:38 - Outro

Follow us on Instagram @whatsgoingon.podcast

Find Konrad Grönlund on Instagram @knrdgrnlnd or Twitter @karlkonradaxel

The culmination of the World Cup in Qatar also meant the resumption of several European leagues.

In this episode, we begin with a tribute to the King of Football - Pelé. Then we focus heavily on the return of the Premier League, beginning with Manchester United, where we highlight Luke Shaw’s phenomenal form. Next, we discuss Arsenal’s brilliant start to the season, their counter-pressing, and discussing two of their young stars - Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Ødegaard. We then move our attention to another Norwegian, Erling Braut Haaland, who is breaking goal-scoring records for fun.

We continue the Premier League talk, as focus on Liverpool’s below-par season and discuss what’s gone wrong at Anfield. After that, we analyze another team that’s having its own struggles - Tottenham Hotsupr, who look like a completely different team in the first half and the second half of games. The final part of our Premier League section is on Newcastle, who are having an incredible season.

Jacob provides a short update on the first round of post-World Cup games in the Serie A. Finally, we discuss two big news stories of 2023 so far, the Reyna & Berhalter family feud shaking the US Men’s National Team, and Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia (or was it South Africa?).

We review the dramatic events of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final between Argentina and France. It was a match for the ages. What a top advert for football that was. The star players - Lionel Andrés Messi, and Kylian Mbappé Lottin - stepped up big time and went toe to toe. 

We deep dive into the match itself, which was beautiful madness. We also touch on the celebrations, the referee Szymon Marciniak, Angel Di Maria, Scaloni's tactical flexibility, prize money, and more.

In this episode, we review the best round of knockout football we’ve seen. Four 10/10 quarter-finals. 

We have an extra focus on the semi-finalists: