For soccer in the US I world say the following for me. At least for American voices. As far as color analysts for games ho: Danny Higginbotham has to be near the top (I know he's British, but he lives in the US now) Taylor Twellman Brian Dunseth Mo Edu Marcelo Balboa Tony Meola Honorable Mention: Dax. He'll be top of the list quickly, as this is his first real year doing this work As far as PxP: Phil Schoen JP Dellacamera back in the day Steve Cangialosi Jake Zivin Nate Bukaty Pundits: Herc Clint Dempsey Jimmy Conrad (not everyone's cup of tea, but adds a different perspective) Tim Howard Wynalda (see Conrad) Lalas (his Podcast, and non TV stuff is good imo)
I'd like Twellman a lot more if he chilled out on his delivery a little. Not everything is worth shouting about.
I forgot about him, and John Strong. But then again Fox's coverage in general can be a polarizing subject.
I understand why Fox was hyping the U.S., but it became so grating listening to jingoistic Lalas and his overly dramatic delivery. Watching Rob Stone march around the stage holding a sign about Belgian waffles was also embarrassing. You could tell Dempsey was feeling the cringe. One thing the U.S. is really good at is overhyping everything and pretty much ensuring that there will be some kind of letdown.
Landon is doing well with Ian Darke. John Strong is terrific. I’d love to see how he sets things up so he can have so many illuminating factoids at his grasp. He works them in so smoothly that you might not notice. He also sells the drama well. Two women who’ve done studio work in the past and should do it again — Kate Markgraf and Meghan Klingenberg. I think Zlatan and Lalas should do a podcast together. It’d be hilarious.
That would quickly become the verbal equivalent of pro wrestling. Like when Timothy Leary and G Gordon Liddy toured the country together. BTW, this - "You are part of the problem!"– @KevinFrazier doesn't hold back on Alexi Lalas and U.S. Soccer 😳 pic.twitter.com/NWJ5Sc7S8B— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) July 9, 2026
I'm sick of hearing about "pay to play", like there's a magic wand that will turn us into The Netherlands or Uruguay. That's just US culture and it's common to all NCAA sports. More kids playing soccer, more coaches, more scouts and a talent pipeline into the pro academies. Pay to play isn't going away. Pro/rel is not a solution. By the way I've noticed more "pay" academies opening in the UK, as parents try and give their kids a "leg up" in terms of getting noticed by the pro scouts. There are two in my parent's small town as well as a free kids program at the local amateur club.
Henry and Lalas could again display their dribbling skills. The more hilarity the better! Ps...only one play by play guy for me...Toby Charles!
We dominate lots of Olympic sports. Does anyone think those athletes or their parents aren't paying to play/ get specialized coaching? If soccer was free tomorrow we'd still have problems.
We have dominated basketball because kids everywhere — not just rich kids— played it on their own on government (park or school) owned courts, and the game was the teacher. Only at the final stages before pro level did real high powered coaching (AAU, etc) become part of it. Now that is changing but paying to play is not necessary for success.
But eliminating paying to play will not create that. And how many countries can really challenge us in basketball? It's been a popular sport here longer than any other country.
A lot. Winning the Olympics is far from guaranteed now. They needed a furious rally to beat Serbia in the 2024 semifinals. The USA often doesn't get a full-strength team for the World Cup, and they lose. Spain's good. So is France. The NBA has a ton of people from other countries. The best player in the world right now is French.
Just as an aside, one of the preeminent soccer academies in the US was born out of a concept used for elite US Skiers. YSC Academy founder, financier, and owner modeled the Philadelphia Union's Academy after Burke Academy in Vermont (an elite Ski Racing School).
I have no idea, but I imagine the annual cost to get a kid to elite skiing costs more than soccer. Yet we're very competitive in skiing.
I could count on one hand the times that I've agreed with Colin Cowherd on pretty much anything. But he's absolutely spot on here 👇(🎥: @TheHerd) pic.twitter.com/aMErk27L9j— USMNT CORNER (@USMNTCORNER) July 10, 2026