sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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Italian fans aren't laughing, Pirlo is one of the most creative midfielders in the history of the sport, Maldini touted as the greatest defender of all time, must be devastating for the tiffozi.

The sponsor in question is Russian sports betting company Fonbet.

---

But Pirlo and Maldini are too old to play. Having them involved gives a small emotional boast, but there are lots of good Italian coaches, they will find one.

Better for the team would be if Italy was more welcoming to immigrants.

---

Maldini was going to be in charge of a much needed organizational overhaul, and Pirlo had one of the highest football IQs ever as a player, and these guys have an incredible amount of aura and reverence in their country and beyond, as well as superior leadership skills.

The current squad has a good half dozen Black players of African origin, a lot more than world champion Spain, or runner-ups Argentina, so that point above is not really appropriate here.

---

In their final game where they lost to Bosnia they had one black player, Moises Kean, and no North Africans. A couple countries can get away with almost exclusively white players but Italy is no longer one of them. The cupboard is bare.

Maldini was an amazing player but I don't think he can't be replaced as a leader.

---

There are 5-6 players of African descent that have played in the last two Italian friendlies:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy_national_football_team#Current_squad

The problem in Italian soccer is not race, it is more about a stagnant system that Maldini and Pirlo were going to rebuild from the ground up.

Cal88 said:

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sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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Italian fans aren't laughing, Pirlo is one of the most creative midfielders in the history of the sport, Maldini touted as the greatest defender of all time, must be devastating for the tiffozi.

The sponsor in question is Russian sports betting company Fonbet.

---

But Pirlo and Maldini are too old to play. Having them involved gives a small emotional boast, but there are lots of good Italian coaches, they will find one.

Better for the team would be if Italy was more welcoming to immigrants.

---

Maldini was going to be in charge of a much needed organizational overhaul, and Pirlo had one of the highest football IQs ever as a player, and these guys have an incredible amount of aura and reverence in their country and beyond, as well as superior leadership skills.

The current squad has a good half dozen Black players of African origin, a lot more than world champion Spain, or runner-ups Argentina, so that point above is not really appropriate here.

---

In their final game where they lost to Bosnia they had one black player, Moises Kean, and no North Africans. A couple countries can get away with almost exclusively white players but Italy is no longer one of them. The cupboard is bare.

Maldini was an amazing player but I don't think he can't be replaced as a leader.

---

There are 5-6 players of African descent that have played in the last two Italian friendlies:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy_national_football_team#Current_squad

The problem in Italian soccer is not race, it is more about a stagnant system that Maldini and Pirlo were going to rebuild from the ground up.

---

But when the game counted, there was only one. And they have had no internationally rated black players other than Balotelli, who they kind of hated when they had him. And no North African players that I can ever remember.

We will not get to see what Maldini and Pirlo would have done, so we will never know, but I am skeptical that anything would have changed or now will change. Italy is not about change. The world has passed it by in many ways, now including football. When I grew up watching there was a certain skill that all Italian players had like what Spain has now, but that is long gone. Their players are unskilled and unathletic.

It is still a nice place to visit, I was there this summer. Food is still great.

sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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Italian fans aren't laughing, Pirlo is one of the most creative midfielders in the history of the sport, Maldini touted as the greatest defender of all time, must be devastating for the tiffozi.

The sponsor in question is Russian sports betting company Fonbet.

---

But Pirlo and Maldini are too old to play. Having them involved gives a small emotional boast, but there are lots of good Italian coaches, they will find one.

Better for the team would be if Italy was more welcoming to immigrants.

---

Maldini was going to be in charge of a much needed organizational overhaul, and Pirlo had one of the highest football IQs ever as a player, and these guys have an incredible amount of aura and reverence in their country and beyond, as well as superior leadership skills.

The current squad has a good half dozen Black players of African origin, a lot more than world champion Spain, or runner-ups Argentina, so that point above is not really appropriate here.

---

In their final game where they lost to Bosnia they had one black player, Moises Kean, and no North Africans. A couple countries can get away with almost exclusively white players but Italy is no longer one of them. The cupboard is bare.

Maldini was an amazing player but I don't think he can't be replaced as a leader.

---

There are 5-6 players of African descent that have played in the last two Italian friendlies:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy_national_football_team#Current_squad

The problem in Italian soccer is not race, it is more about a stagnant system that Maldini and Pirlo were going to rebuild from the ground up.

---

But when the game counted, there was only one. And they have had no internationally rated black players other than Balotelli, who they kind of hated when they had him. And no North African players that I can ever remember.

We will not get to see what Maldini and Pirlo would have done, so we will never know, but I am skeptical that anything would have changed or now will change. Italy is not about change. The world has passed it by in many ways, now including football. When I grew up watching there was a certain skill that all Italian players had like what Spain has now, but that is long gone. Their players are unskilled and unathletic.

It is still a nice place to visit, I was there this summer. Food is still great.

---

That is a bit of a sweeping generalization of Italian culture, which is not that unlike Spain's. In fact Spain is the closest culture to Italy, more so than France. You also have the American bias of "athleticism" on the sport. Italian soccer culture is excellent, their problem today are concrete issues that can be addressed like the clubs' neglect of youth academies, poor leadership at the top (which Maldini and co could have solved), bad marketing etc.

Cal88 said:

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sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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Italian fans aren't laughing, Pirlo is one of the most creative midfielders in the history of the sport, Maldini touted as the greatest defender of all time, must be devastating for the tiffozi.

The sponsor in question is Russian sports betting company Fonbet.

---

But Pirlo and Maldini are too old to play. Having them involved gives a small emotional boast, but there are lots of good Italian coaches, they will find one.

Better for the team would be if Italy was more welcoming to immigrants.

---

Maldini was going to be in charge of a much needed organizational overhaul, and Pirlo had one of the highest football IQs ever as a player, and these guys have an incredible amount of aura and reverence in their country and beyond, as well as superior leadership skills.

The current squad has a good half dozen Black players of African origin, a lot more than world champion Spain, or runner-ups Argentina, so that point above is not really appropriate here.

---

In their final game where they lost to Bosnia they had one black player, Moises Kean, and no North Africans. A couple countries can get away with almost exclusively white players but Italy is no longer one of them. The cupboard is bare.

Maldini was an amazing player but I don't think he can't be replaced as a leader.

---

There are 5-6 players of African descent that have played in the last two Italian friendlies:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy_national_football_team#Current_squad

The problem in Italian soccer is not race, it is more about a stagnant system that Maldini and Pirlo were going to rebuild from the ground up.

---

But when the game counted, there was only one. And they have had no internationally rated black players other than Balotelli, who they kind of hated when they had him. And no North African players that I can ever remember.

We will not get to see what Maldini and Pirlo would have done, so we will never know, but I am skeptical that anything would have changed or now will change. Italy is not about change. The world has passed it by in many ways, now including football. When I grew up watching there was a certain skill that all Italian players had like what Spain has now, but that is long gone. Their players are unskilled and unathletic.

It is still a nice place to visit, I was there this summer. Food is still great.

---

That is a bit of a sweeping generalization of Italian culture, which is not that unlike Spain's. In fact Spain is the closest culture to Italy, more so than France. You also have the American bias of "athleticism" on the sport. Italian soccer culture is excellent, their problem today are concrete issues that can be addressed like the clubs' neglect of youth academies, poor leadership at the top (which Maldini and co could have solved), bad marketing etc.

---

Fair. When you don't qualify for a 48 team world cup, you need to look deeply in the mirror. I get that Spain is similar to Italy culturally in the bad ways, but their football is the best in the world. Their clubs seem to have marketed themselves better and their youth development is second to none. At some point, say in the 80s and 90s, the top clubs in Italy were not so different from the top clubs in Spain. But now they are worlds apart. You probably know more about what happened than I do, as I really don't know anything. I do know that after Inter Milan, who don't spend that much, none of the other clubs are internationally competitive any more. I know that construction in Italy is considered incredibly difficult, but I don't know if that was a factor.

As to the game becoming more athletic with the infusion of more players from black majority countries, I don't think there is much doubt. I think Italy has lost its culture where I guess you think it is resting. Whoever is the best player from Italy (Locatelli?) is not all that great. And they now play too slow without the skill that they used to have.

I think the USA has a much brighter football future than Italy. It will be interesting to see. I do appreciate your comments as you know so much more about what has gone on off the field.

concordtom said:

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sluggo said:

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Traditionally Russia is better than China but I have not seen either national team in years. I guess qualifying results tell us but I am not looking them up.

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Russia?
Qualifying???


both UEFA and FIFA suspended Russia, and that prevented Russia from participating in 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying.

Here's how it worked:

* On February 28, 2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, UEFA and FIFA jointly suspended Russian national teams and clubs from their competitions.
* Because Russia is a UEFA member association, it would normally qualify through the European qualifying tournament. However, its entry was invalidated before the qualifying draw, so Russia was not placed into any qualifying group.
* The suspension has remained in effect, meaning Russia also did not participate in the 2026 World Cup itself.

A small distinction:

* UEFA barred Russia from UEFA competitions and did not include it in the European qualifiers.
* FIFA also suspended Russia from FIFA competitions, including the World Cup.

---

Shows how much I pay attention to European qualifying, which is not at all really. Until the final game as I was hoping Italy would qualify. I have to make choices or I would never go outside.

I did see Russia play in person at the 1994 World Cup. They were not good but they were there. My memory is that China has only qualified once since I started watching (1986). There are some good club teams in Russia on occasion made up of foreigners.

Pirlo not getting the Italy job because he was an ambassador for a Russian betting site made little sense to me. But maybe this is the real reason (from an AP report):

Pirlo, who had been prepared to leave his current job as coach of Dubai United, was an unpopular choice after unsuccessful stints coaching Juventus and Sampdoria despite having been one of the standout players when Italy last won the World Cup in 2006.

I just wanted to show that I know something about European soccer that you two don't. I was feeling left out.

A "stupid person's idea of a smart person" is going after FIFA and Trump for their handling of the World Cup:

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/gianni-infantino-faces-grilling-us-160429157.html

Infantino is being called to a transcribed interview.

I'll next look for the actual interview.
I had asked my friend Guillermo in Madrid what Cucurella had said and he said nothing. I guess that has changed.

concordtom said:

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I just wanted to show that I know something about European soccer that you two don't. I was feeling left out.

---

Heehee. You probably know more than me on lots of topics. But when I dig in, I dig in, and I have been going deeper into soccer every year for the last 15. It used to be mostly a World Cup/USMNT thing.

This is not going to play well.

EXCLUSIVE: Fifa's president Gianni Infantino is planning to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors under a scheme that could potentially earn him tens of millions of pounds.
Investor discussions held with figures close to the Trump administration, say sources.…

— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) July 28, 2026

Cal88 said:

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This is not going to play well.

EXCLUSIVE: Fifa's president Gianni Infantino is planning to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors under a scheme that could potentially earn him tens of millions of pounds.
Investor discussions held with figures close to the Trump administration, say sources.…

— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) July 28, 2026

---

Insanity. I hope his time in charge is over. He could end up wrecking the whole thing.

sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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This is not going to play well.

EXCLUSIVE: Fifa's president Gianni Infantino is planning to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors under a scheme that could potentially earn him tens of millions of pounds.
Investor discussions held with figures close to the Trump administration, say sources.…

— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) July 28, 2026

---

Insanity. I hope his time in charge is over. He could end up wrecking the whole thing.

---

Dead in the water. UEFA would not stand for this.

UEFA statement on The Times article: ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ye1tjfWRCb

— UEFA (@UEFA) July 28, 2026

Bottom of the statement cut off from the preview above:

"None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA's to sell"

Damn right.

Kushner was in the picture on that deal...

FIFA plan for Kushner-backed $20 billion operation to run World Cup meets fury from Europe’s UEFA https://t.co/KnbdfDkgVi

— Inside SoCal Sports 📰 (@InsideSoCalSpts) July 28, 2026

Edit: it is Josh Kushner, Jared's brother, who is involved in that potential deal.

But this is how the whole thing breaks down. UEFA goes its separate way. Or there is more of a Super League model. Hopefully UEFA's money is enough to stop this. But given how Trump's family is involved, we can't count on the United States to do the right thing. Ugh.

sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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This is not going to play well.

---

Insanity. I hope his time in charge is over. He could end up wrecking the whole thing.

---

Kinda like someone else we know!

Oh, wait, did you think I was talking about….

Cal88 said:

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sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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This is not going to play well.

EXCLUSIVE: Fifa's president Gianni Infantino is planning to sell stakes in the World Cup to private investors under a scheme that could potentially earn him tens of millions of pounds.
Investor discussions held with figures close to the Trump administration, say sources.…

— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) July 28, 2026

---

Insanity. I hope his time in charge is over. He could end up wrecking the whole thing.

---

Dead in the water. UEFA would not stand for this.

UEFA statement on The Times article: ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ye1tjfWRCb

— UEFA (@UEFA) July 28, 2026

Bottom of the statement cut off from the preview above:

"None of us are the owners of football. It is not FIFA's to sell"

Damn right.

Kushner was in the picture on that deal...

FIFA plan for Kushner-backed $20 billion operation to run World Cup meets fury from Europe’s UEFA https://t.co/KnbdfDkgVi

— Inside SoCal Sports 📰 (@InsideSoCalSpts) July 28, 2026

Edit: it is Josh Kushner, Jared's brother, who is involved in that potential deal.

---

Getting into a position of power, originally advertised as a service to others, or to a cause, and then shifting things around this way and that way so that you end up benefiting and serving yourself….

That's like a classic CEO playbook, never mind politicians.

Mankind is selfish and greedy - to degrees.

And we know this, and that's why checks on power exist in corporate structures and in politics. But then even the people who are supposed to check power end up benefiting, and so they don't perform oversight. They become part of the corruption.

We shall see how effective any roadblocks UEFA puts forth! (They may get ou-voted by the minnows, who will get fed portions by Infantino.)

oski003 said:

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A "stupid person's idea of a smart person" is going after FIFA and Trump for their handling of the World Cup:

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/gianni-infantino-faces-grilling-us-160429157.html

Infantino is being called to a transcribed interview.

---

I hope and pray Jamie Raskin is the next Democrat to get caught doing something unethical that forces him to resign. One of the fakest politicians in Congress. We got Goldman and Crockett this year, but he's next on the list.

FIFA needs to deal with their own corruption problem, but a performative Congressional interview will have no effect on anything.

I am on pins and needles waiting to see if Poch comes back to the USMNT. He said he would decided last week, but nothing has been announced. I wonder if they are waiting for an auspicious date to say he is returning or if HE is waiting to see if a job opens up. I hear Italy is open .

I love this article about him. There is a difference between playing and competing, and if there is no relegation, then who cares what happens in too many games?

I think the German style he is teaching with the Argentinian fighting spirit is perfect for us. I want him back.

I was listening to my favorite soccer podcast, scuffed, and one of the sidekicks said that Chris Richards should be the next captain. Which makes sense. He is smart and gives a good interview and is an essential player. His father was a pro basketball player in Europe and he is middle class. Host Adam Belz said "I don't know. I looked into Ottamendi's (Argentinian central defender) eyes. Richards would have to kill three people to get eyes like Ottamendi." We need leaders like Ottamendi and countryman Poch knows this.

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mauricio-pochettino-says-american-sports-171250268.html

Knowing who our coach is interesting, sure, but is it really going to make much of a difference?
If USA had won 1 more game in this WC, we'd have all said they did great by making it to the quarterfinals and bowing out to the eventual champs.

Belgium match aside, contests in this sport are often determined by one little thing here or there. Is the coach really going to make that big of a difference?

I guess you could point to T&T, what a disaster.
I guess if Wondolowski knocks that ball inside the post late instead of just outside. Maybe Landon would have connected it.

I admire that you are still in the fight. I love the WC, and I really want the US to do well.
But I am pretty fatigued with watching 20 men run all around for 90 minutes just to see if the ball hits the post or not, and either way to be an also ran same as it ever was.

concordtom said:

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Knowing who our coach is interesting, sure, but is it really going to make much of a difference?
If USA had won 1 more game in this WC, we'd have all said they did great by making it to the quarterfinals and bowing out to the eventual champs.

Belgium match aside, contests in this sport are often determined by one little thing here or there. Is the coach really going to make that big of a difference?

I guess you could point to T&T, what a disaster.
I guess if Wondolowski knocks that ball inside the post late instead of just outside. Maybe Landon would have connected it.

I admire that you are still in the fight. I love the WC, and I really want the US to do well.
But I am pretty fatigued with watching 20 men run all around for 90 minutes just to see if the ball hits the post or not, and either way to be an also ran same as it ever was.

---

I think Poch had us playing the best we have ever played. Not only did he improve our attitude, but he taught us to counter press properly, which we never did before. Compared to an MLS lifer nothing like Berhalter, I think he made a big difference. There are tens if not hundreds of coaches as good in Europe, but we are unlikely to hire another one of them. When we hired Berhalter we had an English fluency requirement and a requirement to move to Chicago. And Berhalter's brother was, I believe, the top guy on the business side of US Soccer, or close enough that I might be mistakenly saying he was the top guy. US Soccer the organization has mostly been a disaster.

Winning is better than losing but I really just want us to play well. Wins will come eventually when we play better. As much as I get emotional for games, I mostly think back on our quality, not the wins or losses. We were head and shoulders better in 2026 than 2002, I don't care what the results say. We did not play well against Belgium, but I think the moment overtook us and we were better than we showed. Let's get better and let the chips fall where they may. Life is full of uncertainty, which makes it fun.

Speaking of which, there is a statistic called XG that is widely used. It stands for expected goals. It is calculated based on the quality of shots during a game and does not take into account who took the shot. As actually getting the ball in the goal can be a little lucky, the stat hopes to be more objective as to which team played better in a game. No stats are perfect, but this one does not suck the life out of the game, IMO. Here is our XG in the modern era. It is kind of interesting.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49463728/what-advanced-stats-say-every-usmnt-world-cup-game-1990

Italy hired Mancini, with Claudio Ranieri as technical director, so no sweat there. Like many other big European countries, they have never hired a foreign coach. Not sure if Pochettino was ever in the running even being of Italian descent as he's never coached in Italy.

Mancini is a rethread, Italy failed to qualify to WC22 under him, losing to North Macedonia 1-0.

The USMNT should find a sugar daddy, when you think of the number of billionaires sponsoring college sports, or the number number of billionaire sport team owners, all it would take is one patriot billionaire enamored enough with the world cup action. The USMNT should be able to retain the coach of their choice.

Seems a bit low for the MLS.

Top 50 strongest leagues in the world, ranked by Opta's Power Rankings 🌍⚽️

1. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 English Premier League
2. 🇪🇸 Spanish La Liga
3. 🇩🇪 German Bundesliga
4. 🇮🇹 Italian Serie A
5. 🇫🇷 French Ligue 1
6. 🇧🇷 Brazilian Serie A
7. 🇦🇷 Liga Profesional Argentina
8. 🇧🇪 Belgian Jupiler Pro…

— World of Statistics (@stats_feed) July 28, 2026

...
9. Portuguese Primeira Liga
10. English Championship
11. Polish Ekstraklasa
12. Danish Superligaen
13. Colombia Primera A
14. Japanese J1 League
15. Norwegian Eliteserien
16. Ecuador Liga Pro
17. Swiss Super League
18. Croatia Prva HNL
19. US Major League Soccer
20. Paraguay Primera Divisin
21. Mexican Primera
22. Dutch Eredivisie
23. Spanish Segunda Divisin

Cal88 said:

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Italy hired Mancini, with Claudio Ranieri as technical director, so no sweat there. Like many other big European countries, they have never hired a foreign coach. Not sure if Pochettino was ever in the running even being of Italian descent as he's never coached in Italy.

Mancini is a rethread, Italy failed to qualify to WC22 under him, losing to North Macedonia 1-0.

The USMNT should find a sugar daddy, when you think of the number of billionaires sponsoring college sports, or the number number of billionaire sport team owners, all it would take is one patriot billionaire enamored enough with the world cup action. The USMNT should be able to retain the coach of their choice.

---

HA!!
How can I insert a cackling sound here?

Cause I've been saying that same thing about CAL BASKETBALL for 20 years!!!

It'll never happen.
I'm resigned to finding my greatest thrills elsewhere.

Cal88 said:

---

Italy hired Mancini, with Claudio Ranieri as technical director, so no sweat there. Like many other big European countries, they have never hired a foreign coach. Not sure if Pochettino was ever in the running even being of Italian descent as he's never coached in Italy.

Mancini is a rethread, Italy failed to qualify to WC22 under him, losing to North Macedonia 1-0.

The USMNT should find a sugar daddy, when you think of the number of billionaires sponsoring college sports, or the number number of billionaire sport team owners, all it would take is one patriot billionaire enamored enough with the world cup action. The USMNT should be able to retain the coach of their choice.

---

Just joking about Poch to Italy. I think if he leaves us it is to manage a big team, probably one in the premier league. I don't think he would take another national team job over us right now.

Hard to believe someone who failed to qualify would get hired again. The retread Italian coaches all occupy the same part of my memory, I don't know the difference between Mancini and Inzaghi, for instance, although I do know Inzaghi as a player and not Mancini.

The US does have a sugar daddy, billionaire Trumpy investor Ken Griffen. I would not care about his politics before today's announcement about FIFA possibly being sold to investors. I don't think the issue with Poch is money, it is whether we are big enough for his ambition.

https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/citadels-griffin-pays-talent-including-us-soccer-coach-2026-06-26/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_C._Griffin

sluggo said:

---

Speaking of which, there is a statistic called XG that is widely used. It stands for expected goals. It is calculated based on the quality of shots during a game and does not take into account who took the shot. As actually getting the ball in the goal can be a little lucky, the stat hopes to be more objective as to which team played better in a game. No stats are perfect, but this one does not suck the life out of the game, IMO. Here is our XG in the modern era. It is kind of interesting.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49463728/what-advanced-stats-say-every-usmnt-world-cup-game-1990

---

This article does match roughly what I have seen from the US team over the years: they actually do look a bit better in each World Cup but just haven't gotten the right draw or the lucky breaks to make a deeper run (with 2018 being a clear down cycle even if they had qualified). This recent time they were really up against a tough bracket from the Round of 16 onward.

Should have beaten Ghana in 2010.

How do we sign this guy up?




Great song.

He's making $6M/yr now apparently, I am not sure if he is good enough to land a big EPL club for a raise, and a more difficult job.

Surprised to see that Simeone from Atletico is the top paid manager in soccer (and every other sport), though he's done a solid job there. Enrique is clearly underpaid, at a Qatari-owned club at that.

Top 25 Highest-Paid Football Managers

• Diego Simeone (Atltico de Madrid): 25.9m / $33.5m
• Simone Inzaghi (Al-Hilal): 21.8m / $27.2m
• Pep Guardiola (Manchester City): 20.7m / $26.8m
• Mikel Arteta (Arsenal): 15.6m / $20.2m
• Stefano Pioli (Al Nassr): 15.5m / $20.0m
• Steven Gerrard (Al-Ettifaq): 15.2m / $19.6m
• David Moyes (Everton): 12.5m / $16.2m
• Oliver Glasner (Nottingham Forest): 13.0m / $16.8m
• Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain): 11.1m / $14.4m
• Matthias Jaissle (Al-Ahli): 9.6m / $12.4m
• Luciano Spalletti (Juventus): 9.7m / $12.5m
• Antonio Conte (Napoli): 9.7m / $12.5m
• Carlo Ancelotti (Brazil): 8.7m / $11.3m (Highest-paid international coach)
• Andoni Iraola (Liverpool): 8.5m / $11.0m
• Ruben Amorim (AC Milan): 8.1m / $10.5m
• Julian Nagelsmann (Germany): 6.1m / $7.9m
• Mauricio Pochettino (USA): 5.2m / $6.8m
• Thomas Tuchel (England): 5.0m / $6.5m
• Xabi Alonso (Chelsea): 4.6m / $6.0m
• Roberto Martnez (Portugal): 3.5m / $4.5m
• Fabio Cannavaro (Uzbekistan): 3.5m / $4.5m
• Didier Deschamps (France): 3.2m / $4.1m
• Ronald Koeman (Netherlands): 2.5m / $3.3m
• Marcelo Bielsa (Uruguay): 2.5m / $3.3m
• Jesse Marsch (Canada): 2.1m / $2.8m [1, 3, 4, 5]

(first number is in British Pounds, the BI software doesn't recognize the symbol)

Cal88 said:

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He's making $6M/yr now apparently, I am not sure if he is good enough to land a big EPL club for a raise, and a more difficult job.

Surprised to see that Simeone from Atletico is the top paid manager in soccer (and every other sport), though he's done a solid job there. Enrique is clearly underpaid, at a Qatari-owned club at that.

Top 25 Highest-Paid Football Managers

• Diego Simeone (Atltico de Madrid): 25.9m / $33.5m
• Simone Inzaghi (Al-Hilal): 21.8m / $27.2m
• Pep Guardiola (Manchester City): 20.7m / $26.8m
• Mikel Arteta (Arsenal): 15.6m / $20.2m
• Stefano Pioli (Al Nassr): 15.5m / $20.0m
• Steven Gerrard (Al-Ettifaq): 15.2m / $19.6m
• David Moyes (Everton): 12.5m / $16.2m
• Oliver Glasner (Nottingham Forest): 13.0m / $16.8m
• Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain): 11.1m / $14.4m
• Matthias Jaissle (Al-Ahli): 9.6m / $12.4m
• Luciano Spalletti (Juventus): 9.7m / $12.5m
• Antonio Conte (Napoli): 9.7m / $12.5m
• Carlo Ancelotti (Brazil): 8.7m / $11.3m (Highest-paid international coach)
• Andoni Iraola (Liverpool): 8.5m / $11.0m
• Ruben Amorim (AC Milan): 8.1m / $10.5m
• Julian Nagelsmann (Germany): 6.1m / $7.9m
• Mauricio Pochettino (USA): 5.2m / $6.8m
• Thomas Tuchel (England): 5.0m / $6.5m
• Xabi Alonso (Chelsea): 4.6m / $6.0m
• Roberto Martnez (Portugal): 3.5m / $4.5m
• Fabio Cannavaro (Uzbekistan): 3.5m / $4.5m
• Didier Deschamps (France): 3.2m / $4.1m
• Ronald Koeman (Netherlands): 2.5m / $3.3m
• Marcelo Bielsa (Uruguay): 2.5m / $3.3m
• Jesse Marsch (Canada): 2.1m / $2.8m [1, 3, 4, 5]

(first number is in British Pounds, the BI software doesn't recognize the symbol)

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His pay was complicated by being fired by Chelsea with years on his contract. I believe his salary was paid by some combination of Chelsea, US Soccer, and Ken Griffen. It is awkward because Emma Hayes, the women's coach, is earning much less, 1.6 million according to a quick AI search.

I am not sure where Poch stands in the coaching hierarchy. He was at the top after Tottenham, but then there was less success at PSG and Chelsea, although his tenure was short both places and maybe he needed more of a chance. I don't think what the USMNT does matters to his reputation one way or another. I do think he could get a job in a top 4 league, but such jobs are not always great when you have little chance due to budget.

I think Simeone is the best coach in the world given Atletico's relatively modest budget. I am also a fan of Luis Enrique. He made Barcelona better than Pep's Barcelona, and then has had an incredible run with PSG.

Cal88 said:

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Seems a bit low for the MLS.

Top 50 strongest leagues in the world, ranked by Opta's Power Rankings 🌍⚽️

1. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 English Premier League
2. 🇪🇸 Spanish La Liga
3. 🇩🇪 German Bundesliga
4. 🇮🇹 Italian Serie A
5. 🇫🇷 French Ligue 1
6. 🇧🇷 Brazilian Serie A
7. 🇦🇷 Liga Profesional Argentina
8. 🇧🇪 Belgian Jupiler Pro…

— World of Statistics (@stats_feed) July 28, 2026

...
9. Portuguese Primeira Liga
10. English Championship
11. Polish Ekstraklasa
12. Danish Superligaen
13. Colombia Primera A
14. Japanese J1 League
15. Norwegian Eliteserien
16. Ecuador Liga Pro
17. Swiss Super League
18. Croatia Prva HNL
19. US Major League Soccer
20. Paraguay Primera Divisin
21. Mexican Primera
22. Dutch Eredivisie
23. Spanish Segunda Divisin

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Whatever these rankings are they are absurd. The right way to rank to me is value of the players from transfermarket. I don't know where MLS comes out in that, but I bet it is top 10. THe Mexican league and the Dutch league being ranked so low also makes no sense.

She's the highest paid manager in the women's game, not sure that she has grounds to complain:

Highest-Paid Women's Football Managers

Rank
Manager
Team / Country
Estimated Annual Salary
1
Emma Hayes
United States (USWNT)
$1.6 million / 1.3 million
2
Sarina Wiegman
England (Lionesses)
400,000 / $520,000
3
Sonia Bompastor
Chelsea FC Women
300,000 400,000 (Estimated)
4
Jonatan Girldez
Washington Spirit (NWSL)
$350,000 $450,000 (Estimated)
5
Marc Skinner
Manchester United Women
200,000 250,000 (Estimated)

OneKeg said:

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sluggo said:

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One last piece of soccer news. In addition to the USMNT there are national soccer teams that go down to U15. They are fun to watch as you get to see up and coming prospects. Right now the U19 team that will play in the U20 WC next year is in qualifying. They play Saturday, Tuesday and Friday at 7pm pacific on FS2. Some matches may also be streamed. They need to come in the top 2 in their group and then win one more game to qualify. Not qualifying would be a huge disappointment.

Top players on the team that I know are Christopher Cupps, a center defender, and NImfasha Berchimas, a winger. If they qualify better players like Sullivan and Albert and Mehmeti may play in the U20 WC.

https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2026/07/ynt-u19-mnt/how-to-watch-us-under-19-mens-national-team-concacaf-u-20-championship-mexico

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I watched most of the USMNT's first U20 match against Haiti. A 3-0 win, though not truly dominant until Haiti, down 1-0 in the second half, got a red card stopping what would have been the second goal with an intentional handball, leading to a converted penalty anyway and a 2-0 score.

Cupps seemed solid/decent at center back. I was not all that impressed by Berchimas. A few good plays here and there, but also dribbled into traffic and lost the ball several times, and did not show the game-breaking speed you want from a right winger. Maybe I am too harsh on right-winger prospects given my previous opinions on Zavier Gozo (which weren't nearly as harsh).

---

I watched the USU20 second game and I warn everyone else, it is only for sickos. If we qualify, which we probably will, we will send many of our best prospects. For instance, in the last U20 WC we had Banks and Gozo and were supposed to have top keeper prospect Kochen but he got injured. But we sent the C team to qualify, and boy is this team bad. We did beat a dirty, talentless El Salvador team 3-0. Jaidyn Contreras from FC Dallas looks okays, as does Cupps from the Chicago Fire. But the team is full of professionals and there is no excuse for being so bad.

Good if true.

Según fuentes fiables, entiendo que las conversaciones para la renovación de Mauricio Pochettino marchan avanzadas y bien. La intención es anunciarlo lo antes posible para que pueda empezar a preparar la fecha FIFA de set/oct. ////
—-
Through reliable sources, I understand that…

— ANDRES CANTOR (@AndresCantorGOL) July 28, 2026

sluggo said:

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OneKeg said:

---

sluggo said:

---

One last piece of soccer news. In addition to the USMNT there are national soccer teams that go down to U15. They are fun to watch as you get to see up and coming prospects. Right now the U19 team that will play in the U20 WC next year is in qualifying. They play Saturday, Tuesday and Friday at 7pm pacific on FS2. Some matches may also be streamed. They need to come in the top 2 in their group and then win one more game to qualify. Not qualifying would be a huge disappointment.

Top players on the team that I know are Christopher Cupps, a center defender, and NImfasha Berchimas, a winger. If they qualify better players like Sullivan and Albert and Mehmeti may play in the U20 WC.

https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2026/07/ynt-u19-mnt/how-to-watch-us-under-19-mens-national-team-concacaf-u-20-championship-mexico

---

I watched most of the USMNT's first U20 match against Haiti. A 3-0 win, though not truly dominant until Haiti, down 1-0 in the second half, got a red card stopping what would have been the second goal with an intentional handball, leading to a converted penalty anyway and a 2-0 score.

Cupps seemed solid/decent at center back. I was not all that impressed by Berchimas. A few good plays here and there, but also dribbled into traffic and lost the ball several times, and did not show the game-breaking speed you want from a right winger. Maybe I am too harsh on right-winger prospects given my previous opinions on Zavier Gozo (which weren't nearly as harsh).

---

I watched the USU20 second game and I warn everyone else, it is only for sickos. If we qualify, which we probably will, we will send many of our best prospects. For instance, in the last U20 WC we had Banks and Gozo and were supposed to have top keeper prospect Kochen but he got injured. But we sent the C team to qualify, and boy is this team bad. We did beat a dirty, talentless El Salvador team 3-0. Jaidyn Contreras from FC Dallas looks okays, as does Cupps from the Chicago Fire. But the team is full of professionals and there is no excuse for being so bad.

---

Turns out, I'm a sicko too. I blame you, sluggo!

I watched most of the match and agree with you. Uninspiring despite the 3-0 result. In addition to Contreras on the right wing who moved over to replace the injured Berchimas early on, I thought Cupps again looked decent/solid at center back and #6 Guskie looked ok at holding midfielder (one great through pass near the end that should have been a beautiful goal if the center forward didn't loft it over the bar). Overall, though, not nearly enough chances generated against a terrible El Salvador team.

Having no live play goals until the 89th minute in this match was just embarrassing (first two goals were on penalties - 4 of the 6 US goals so far have been on penalties). Even Cupps' 89th minute goal off a set piece was pretty sloppy and probably doesn't happen against a better opponent.

I guess at least all four penalties have been well-taken (by 3 different players I think), so there's that.