What’s up! I’m an MLS and USMNT insider with The Athletic as well as Apple TV. I’ve previously written for MLSSoccer.com as well as The Guardian. I’m here to answer some questions starting at 11am ET.
Let’s get after whatever you want. Messi in Miami, Phil Neville in Portland, USMNT stuff, who’s next to come to MLS, mustache questions, all good.
Which city did you not expect to announce an MLS side?
Are there any specific topics or aspects of the MLS that you feel are not getting enough attention in the broader sports media?
the actual play on the field!!! i don’t care a ton about the traditional media coverage – i do not blame shows like PTI or around the horn for not covering it. you can’t cover anything. what do we gain by people who don’t watch talking about the game for 2 mins cus they feel like they have to?
but a lot of the convo is dominated by messi, or who’s next, or what’s next, or how to fix this, or how to change rules. i’m super excited for the next rounds of the playoffs here. a lot of fun teams and great storylines (cincy v philly, maybe lafc v seattle, etc). this is what we’ve been grinding for eight months or whatever for. this is what all the time spent in may watching a random, bad wednesday night game is for!
tom, first time long time
would you ever consider living somewhere other than new jersey for an extended period of time
hahaha i absolutely love london but that’s not very compatible with being an MLS insider.
my lovely fiance is a small business owner near where we live so i’ll be in NJ for the long-term!
What was your first “scoop” that went viral and put you on the radar of the MLS media circles? And how did you get that scoop?
i think the first big one was when i broke the brenden aaronson to rb salzburg transfer. i had broke news before that so people recognized my name a little as ok this is a real person, but that one was like oh wow okay this is someone to pay attention to.
how did i get that scoop? you think im gonna reveal my sources? cmon now! 😂
Thanks for doing this Tom!
Do you like the playoffs changes this year?
If it was up to you how would you structure it?
thanks for caring enough to ask a question!
round one has been better than i thought it would be. but im looking forward to the single-elimination games in the upcoming rounds. what i love in mls is that the better seed hosts these games rather than a pre-deetermined neutral field for the final. i hope that never ever changes.
Hi Tom, do you have any insight on USMNT Dual National battles? Luca Koleosho’s name has been thrown about a ton, wondering if you have any info that Gregg hasn’t said out loud
Are there any rumblings coming from the Revs regarding the new coach and new sporting director? The MLS off-season really isn’t that long from the end of playoffs to training camps so I feel like they really need to get this squared away soon so they can make the necessary roster improvements to contend next season.
with the revs eliminated, the sporting director search will accelerate and im sure they want to wrap that up soon.
they have a good base. any team with carles gil is always gonna have a chance. but a potential attacking midfield group of borrero-gil-chancalay next year is tasty.
I’m so lost as to why Phil Neville keeps getting high profile jobs in football. Can you shed any light?
good character, really good interview. i genuinely believe he’ll be successful in portland but, if he’s not, might be tough to find a 3rd job here. but i will say portland absolutely were not the only MLS team who wanted him.
There are a few players from New Zealand playing for various MLS teams. Any of them look like exciting prospects?
Who is more likely to be back in MLS, Arena or Williams?
arena
How much do journalists rely on Wikipedia for rumors and player histories? There’s been quite a few instances of rumored transfers being “leaked” to Wikipedia, both true and hoax.
wikipedia for rumors? lmao literally never. well i’ll just speak for myself. and i’d highly recommend to anyone reading this to not use wikipedia for rumors.
and while we’re here to actually use some media literacy to determine whether the random twitter rumor you see is real or not.
i use transfermarkt and fbref for stats more than wiki but wiki helps with macro stuff too (and links out to a lot of stuff so that’s helpful)
Is there a genuine path for the MLS to become one of the top leagues in the world (i.e. as good as the 6th/7th best in Europe), or is it unlikely to happen without substantial changes to the American system
And as a bonus - do you see promotion/relegation as a realistic prospect of being adopted in the USA?
Do you have any Austin FC news too share (can dm me if you don’t want to publicly release)
So if the Union thought Bobby Wood did something egregious as well why did nothing come of it.
Also mls cup matchup and who wins.
Tom, I got a pork roll, egg and cheese on an everything bagel yesterday and covered it in blue agave Sriracha. Do you approve or should I repent for a New Jersey sin?
More seriously - who is the biggest name you could realistically see transferred into MLS in 2024 aside from Suarez?