@leanderalphabet
Pre-order my book on the United States men's national soccer team here! https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/722130/the-long-game-by-leander-schaerlaeckens/ Lecturer, Marist University. Soccer contributor, The Guardian, etc. leanderalphabet.com
Honored to have the legendary Mike Breen with us at Marist this week. An absolute prince. Spent something like three hours with students, until every one of them had their question answered.
It’s 2026. The World Cup is in North America. The top flight league has so drastically cut its own media presence and has a fully paywalled broadcast that’s effectively made it invisible to casual soccer fans. Second tier league is openly trying to bust a union.
I don't think I like any livery this year. Except Alpine, obviously.
Also, who the fuck shows up at their town council meeting in their chef's whites?
Inter Miami became the latest team to become wallpaper in Trump’s White House. Even by the standards of this administration, and even by the standards of American soccer, it was a truly bizarre thing to watch.
Me, on @us.theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/football/202...
And there it is. Good work, everyone.
Enough footballers were killed by the Iranian Islamist regime in the space of forty-eight hours in January to make up two full teams. Fifa’s response? Silence.
By Zohreh Abdollahkhani
josimarfootball.com/2026/03/05/s...
Floyd Patterson
On Thursday, Inter Miami will go to the White House. Which means its players will have to make a politically fraught decision on whether or not to go and be seen and photographed with Trump.
Why do we keep putting athletes in this position?
The week's column @theguardian.com
Lied about his age and joined Dutch marines at 16. Trained at Camp Lejeune, NC, discovered baseball. Spent 2 years in the jungle fighting off guerillas as a sniper, on the wrong side of history. Got malaria twice and yellow fever once. Became a manager of a welding company. Started 2 baseball clubs.
On Thursday, Inter Miami will go to the White House. Which means its players will have to make a politically fraught decision on whether or not to go and be seen and photographed with Trump.
Why do we keep putting athletes in this position?
The week's column @theguardian.com
My student @ryaneichem.bsky.social is studying abroad in Madrid this semester. He's trying to go to a home game of every soccer team in town and reviewing the experience. His dispatches are fun. Have a look, if you would.
oh my god lmao
Good for Wes, thrice discarded and then put Juventus in a position where they had no choice but to give him that Premier League Money
What if Brazil's best athletes played soccer
To this MLS non-ball knower, the birds-eye impression is that the paradigm shift has been to go from building around your DPs to using DP slots to fill the gaps in key roles you can't plug any other way.
It did always feel like there was some kind of spill in the lab where Fellaini was made
Emily is, by consensus, the most discerning reader in all the land.
Emily is, by consensus, the most discerning reader in all the land.
Thanks, Emily! I'm so flattered that you read and liked it!
I got a chance to read @leanderalphabet.bsky.social 's The Long Game and really, really enjoyed it--particularly as someone who comes at the sport primarily as a women's soccer fan but also general nerd. If you've absorbed a lot of USMNT-adjacent media, this was great for connecting the dots.
Valid
Actually almost literally. My (American) father-in-law was like, "I'm going to introduce you to American candy," went to the gas station, and bought a shitload of it.
Tasted it. And, well, yeah...
In the wake of another stellar Weston McKennie shift for Juventus in the Champions League last night...
This immigrants had his first corndog today. I was missing out on nothing.
Add it to the list of dogshit American snacks, already containing popcorn, pop tarts, any American candy, and any American chocolate.
Fortunes at the World Cup are largely dictated by the timing of primes and injuries and form. After months of concern, the United States men's national team suddenly find itself in a very good spot with all three.
There are 107 days to go until the U.S. plays Paraguay.
Column @theguardian.com
Fortunes at the World Cup are largely dictated by the timing of primes and injuries and form. After months of concern, the United States men's national team suddenly find itself in a very good spot with all three.
There are 107 days to go until the U.S. plays Paraguay.
Column @theguardian.com
Appreciate the plug
The Long Game "vividly chronicles the [USMNT's] tumultuous journey ... by placing the team’s recent rise in the context of decades of institutional disorganization and on-field struggles. Fans will find this a boon." - @publisherswkly.bsky.social.
www.publishersweekly.com/9780593653876
Pre-orderrr
Mooi man. Langste boekrecensie ooit.