Robert

Berlin is an interesting place. I remember my first visit a few years back when I went for a work conference. My first reaction was how big of a city it was. In many ways, it felt like a city in Texas: sprawled out, impossible to see all of it, and full of different zones […]

Brentford FC is trying to do things a different way. As fans of the Premier League saw last year, the club operates a little differently than others. Despite 2021/22 being the club's first top-flight season in decades, the club stuck to its scout-and-develop system. The other option tends to be spend freely to build up […]

I remember the first time I played futsal. I joined an adult league for exercise and fun, and thought trying indoor soccer would be a good idea. Watching the Continental Indoor Soccer League allowed me to know, more or less, what to expect. What I experienced was completely different than what I had in mind. […]

Fairly or unfairly, women's soccer is about more than just the game. For decades, the sport has been tied into larger cultural issues around women's rights and equity. Whether it is the immediate ask for comments from women's soccer players after the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, or the international interest in the US Women's National […]

The football fan autobiography is a classic genre on our sports’ bookshelf. Soccer, more than any other sport long invited fans and authors to write about their rooting experiences. These develop into valuable recruiting tools in places where European football fandom continues to grow. This author is a fan of Arsenal because of Fever Pitch, […]

Tracking the American soccer scene is a full-time job. Fans require time, energy and resources to go beyond MLS and learn how we got to the present as a soccer nation. Those who search find the repetition of tearing down American soccer only to be "rebuilt" again. Consequently, there are years of history and stories […]

Review: World Soccer Talk's Robert Hay Jr. details the autobiography of Paul Mariner, My Rock and Roll Football Story. Universal shock and dismay in the soccer world came in response to the passing of Paul Mariner this summer. Mariner was the epitome of a 'jack-of-all-trades'. Mariner won near universal praise for his larger-than-life personality and kindness […]

In 2021, we are witnessing a change in U.S. women's soccer. As the national team prepares for the 2023 World Cup, a number of players head to camp to form the next generation of American stars. The task in front of these young women is tall. They must replace the on-field production of Carli Lloyd […]

How did you learn soccer? If you ask a child today, they will likely say it's through playing with a friend/family member, watching highlights online, or playing video games. Probably none will say they learned by reading a book, which is how some of us learned about the game especially if we grew up without […]

The 2022 Men's World Cup is a fraught time for the United States. We are almost certain to automatically qualify for 2026, but the upcoming tournament is a building block to actually competing in the 2026 edition. With a number of very young stars expected to feature, the U.S. men's team is under extraordinary pressure […]