Hi, I'm Grant Wall. And welcome to the Planet Football Podcast, where I go in depth with the most intriguing people in the world of soccer.

On today's show, Danny Carbacian tells his story of being at Arsenal, where he remains the only American ever to score for the Gunner's first team, including the surreal story of going on trial as a Virginia high schooler and being thrown into a first team

training session with Arsenal's famed Invincibles.

It was a remarkably special time at the club as well.

Guys like Henri Bergkamp-Perez-Vieera, all these guys were there and it was kind of just, they're already jogging around the pitch so just join in with them and have an hour and a half session playing with arguably some biggest stars in the world.

All that and my thoughts on soccer coming up.

Take one.

Here we go with my three thoughts on soccer.

First up, I love European soccer. I love the intensity, I love the passion, I love the way the

sport saturates the culture all over the continent. I'm fired up for the Champions League knockout rounds to start this week too, but I'm not thrilled about something important.

Here we are in the middle of February and teams are running away with the titles in the top European leagues.

Whether it's Chelsea, Byron Munich, or Yventis, the lead leaders are miles beyond the competition

at this point.

Even the race in Spain isn't as close as it looks in the table.

Real Madrid has a one-point lead on Barcelona, but with two games in hand that's more like a seven-point lead for

Real Madrid, with the away game at Barcelona already played.

I love European soccer, but it's frustrating when the league titles are decided so early

and this season it's happening earlier even than normal.

One U.S. television executive I know thinks the European League should have a one game final

between the first and second place teams in the league to decide the champion.

And while that idea would be sacrilegious to many,

I think it's an idea worth considering.

...