Welcome to the scuff podcast where we talk about U.S. soccer.

Hey, everybody, we're now three weeks away from the Friendly Against South Korea.

It's all going to start happening very soon.

We have a special guest today. She's covered two World Cups. She's written for the Guardian and ESPN

and the Philadelphia Inquirer, and she writes a newsletter called The Swan Dive, which I will put

the link to in the show notes. Meg Swanik. Welcome. How are you? Hi, I'm good. Thanks for having me. What do you think is the story

of the men's national team right now? What's going on? I think that right now, this team is almost

trapped by its own excitement and potential. I think that it's a really talented generation. I think that that is true.

There's a lot of caveats in there, but I think that the excitement they generated amongst younger

fans and a broader fan base was very real, but they've failed to really deliver at a level

we haven't seen from previous generations. And the past year and a half has

been disappointing as an understatement. So I think that it's still a likable team, likable

players, but the results have been disappointing for a very long time. And the players and the fans are going further and further apart.

So right now we're staring down a year toward the next World Cup with a team at odds with

its fan base and struggling to really get the results that I think that they do deserve.

Meg, I want to drill in on one of those points that you made.

You said that the team is likable.

A lot of people would disagree with you, including one, Hercules Gomez.

So where do you think that disconnect is amongst the fan base?

And I think the three people on this call think the team still likable.

I mean, I find them to be very likable as individuals.

I think they've got really interesting stories, a very wide array of different backgrounds.

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