Sam's Army
232 episodes Last Updated: Jun 30, 25
The wild and wonderful world of soccer from an American perspective. Samuel Army and a rotating cast of fans, athletes and athlete fans discuss all the relevant goings-on from both sides of the pond. Headlines and a weekly recap plus previews and predictions with an emphasis on the Premier League and Champions League, along with the US men’s and women’s national teams, and just enough from the rest of Europe, MLS and NWSL to be dangerous. Episodes also typically feature candid interviews with players, coaches and other people of interest from in and around the sport. We aim to keep things light and entertaining but with enough analysis to appeal to fans new and old. Many people are calling Sam’s Army Podcast the best podcast they have ever listened to – not me, but many people. Note: true believers in #b2bwcw are eligible for a 22% to 26% discount at checkout. Holler!
Episodes
USMNT: Rapid reaction to nervy win on penalties over Costa Rica in the Gold Cup quarterfinal. Some individual shoutouts, thoughts on Max Arfsten's highly "eventful" performance and a preview of what to expect from Guatemala. STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs
Jun 27, 2025
Sam's Archives: San Diego FC's Milan Iloski on Cooking, Pranks, Fashion & Scoring Goals (from 2023)
INTERVIEW: San Diego FC's 4-goal hero Milan Iloski chatted with teammate/roommate Tommy McGunner and Sam in 2023 about his path to Orange County, his cooking "skills", some truly impressive pranks and big plans for the future in Denmark (now MLS)
USMNT: what we have learned about this team and individual players so far this tournament plus what to expect from Costa Rica and (unbiased) predictions GOLD CUP: the pluses and minuses of Jesse Marsch proactively painting himself as the bad boy of CONCACAF as well as whether Saudi Arabia give Mexico problems in other quarterfinal ROUND THE WORLD: thoughts on the Club World Cup so far, games to watch from the last matchday of group stage games and power rankings of both teams and fanbases STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets (#OverTrain is NOT cooking) and GOAWs
USMNT: takeaways from comfortable win over Trinidad & Tobago plus a look ahead to Thursday's tougher game against Saudi Arabia, including starting XI and predictions (plus some broader thoughts on the first round of games and what to watch for in the Gold Cup) HALFTIME: What If... Jesse Marsch had been hired as USMNT coach and Compliment Corner for Mr. (Manufactured?) Controversy himself, Alexi Lalas ROUND THE WORLD: early thoughts on Infantino's beloved Club World Cup and an extra abbreviated Hit-It-N-Quit-It MLS Minute STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs
Highlights and WAY more lowlights from Saturday's 1-2 loss to Türkiye and Tuesday's 0-4 shellacking by Switzerland. We scour the wreckage of another catastrophic international window for silver linings. How much of this is on Pochettino? Who from this USMNT roster is in the mix for World Cup 2026? Is Sam capable of criticizing Pulisic? Are we about to get grouped in the Gold Cup??
PREMIER LEAGUE: Top 5 battle ends appropriately with a damp fart as Newcastle backs into UCL while Aston Villa backs out (albeit somewhat controversially) and Nottingham Forest can't get it done. Long summer ahead for some teams, notably Villa. Also, flowers are festooned on deserving FPL winners... and one loser. HALFTIME: What If you could choose where Ronaldo plays next - where's he going? ROUND THE WORLD: the lads try their best to tear down Tottenham's European Championship, plus a preview of the Champions and Conference League finals, highlights from around the rest of Europe, MLS hit-it-n-quit-it minute and some quick thoughts on Poch's USMNT roster (notably the absence of Christian Pulisic). STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs
Maël Corboz and Isaiah Young -- two Americans from Jersey -- discuss Arminia Bielefeld's insane run beating three Bundesliga teams - including Bayer Leverkusen in the semis - to reach the DFB Pokal Cup final, plus how two kids from New Jersey ended up on the same German 3rd division club (albeit one with 2nd or even 1st tier history and fan support). Plus, a preview of Saturday's massive DFB Pokal Cup final versus Stuttgart.
PREMIER LEAGUE: Palace beating City (and fans' reaction) is everything great about soccer. Teams mostly hold serve in MW #37 setting up an interesting battle for Champions League spots on Decision Day - especially if Bournemouth can pull a midweek upset vs City. HALFTIME: What If you could own any one relic in history -- anything at all -- from your favorite club? ROUND THE WORLD: preview of one of the weirdest Europa League finals in history as 17th place Tottenham and 16th place Man United fight it out to avoid one of the more embarrassing seasons in recent memory, plus Tyler spits some hot fire in this week's MLS Hit-It-N-Quit-It Minute STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs
PREMIER LEAGUE: in defense of Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, explaining City's inexplicable Southampton setback, Tommy questions the importance of the top 5 battle and LOLing at the Zero F's Given Brigade (Tottenham and United) HALFTIME: Pop Quiz on the latest Sportico report listing the top 50 "biggest" clubs in the world ROUND THE WORLD: MLS hit-it-n-quit-it minute STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs
PREMIER LEAGUE: Arsenal's recent slide risks transforming five-team race for three top 5 slots into six-team race for four slots. The emasculating Guard of Honor tradition may have saved Chelsea's season. Aston Villa's tightrope walk (without a safety net) deserves more attention. HALFTIME: What If you attempted 10 penalties on Gianluigi Donnarumma - how many you making? ROUND THE WORLD: Champions and (abbreviated) Europa League previews of semifinal second legs plus the MLS Minute Man spits one of his best segments in a while STOPPAGE TIME: Ivan Toney's Best Bets and GOAWs