Tab Ramos on Pulisic's woes, Chris Klein on Galaxy exit & more

Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast

FOX Sports

News, Sports, Sports News, Soccer

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2026

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this very special edition of State of the Union Presented by Zillow, Alexi Lalas had the chance to dive into the beautiful game through the lens of red, white and blue colored glasses with four guests with an eye to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Up first, Tab Ramos dives into the USA ahead of this summer. Is he worried about Pulisic's slump and how far should we expect the U.S. to advance? Soccer writer Leander Schaerlaeckens then joins the show to pull back the curtain on the history of U.S. Soccer, including a glaring issue with this current batch of players. His book, "The Long Game: U.S. Men's Soccer and Its Savage, Four-Decade Journey to the Top, or Thereabouts", is out now. Up next, former Galaxy President and current co-chair for the LA Host Committee for the World Cup, Chris Klein, dives into what fans can expect this summer. Last, but certainly not least, Host City Executive and CEO of Philadelphia Soccer 2026 Meg Kane dispels any rumors on the tailgate ban and what we can expect with her city as we are under a month from the world's biggest sporting event kicking off. 0:00 Intro1:41: Feeling on U.S. team ahead of World Cup7:12: Ramos on American soccer development13:02: Matt Crocker leaving NOT a “Shock”, who is next?14:33: Pulisic’s slump… concerned?17:30: How far with the USMNT advance this summer?18:17 - Leander Schaerlaeckens joins the show20:45 - How far have we come since The Miracle of 1950?24:10 - Profiling the current stars: Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams, Jedi Robinson & Co.27:23 - Team America: A forgotten past29:57 - The biggest issue with the current USA stars…33:01 - What does U.S. Soccer need to do to take the next step?35:15 - Chris Klein joins the show36:50 - Biggest issues planning a World Cup39:19 - What can fans expect in LA?39:35 - Expectations for USMNT41:59 - On his time with the Los Angeles Galaxy47:39 - What would MLS Commissioner Klein do to grow the game first?50:34 - Meg Kane joins the show51:19 - What is keeping Meg Kane up at night hosting a World Cup?52:32 - Context on working with FIFA58:45 - Tailgating in Philadelphia61:37 - France vs Germany on the 4th of July?! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'll now hand you over to my best man, Eddie.
0:04.0	Wow, wow, wow, second time's a charm, eh, Billy Boy?
0:09.0	Oh God.
0:10.0	Substitution, courtesy of Paddy Power embarrassing Eddie makes way for sensible Samuel.
0:15.0	Cool, that was close.
0:16.0	You might not always pick the right starter, but your sub can still deliver.
0:19.0	Because with Paddy's super sub, your bet rolls over to the player coming on. Paddy Power. Valid on selected leagues and markets only. Pre-match and in-play bets on qualifying player outcome selections only. T's and Clusions apply. 18 plus scummelawmerware. Dot-org. I found it funny now when, you know, Matt Crocker decided to just get up and leave. I knew that it would be extremely difficult for a foreigner to understand all that it takes to improve American soccer. I don't really have an issue with his level at this point. I think he will do great at the World Cup. But, you know, in terms of the pressure, I'm welcoming that, right? You want to be the guy. This could be the first time that two guys that were fired by the galaxy have ever appeared on one shelf.
0:55.7	But you're one of my first texts, by the way, when I was fired.
1:05.1	Hello, Sunshine.
1:05.9	I'm Alexei Lollos.
1:06.7	Welcome to the State of Union podcast presented by Zillow.
1:10.5	Someday starts today. We've got a really
1:12.5	special show for you today. Four interviews in a row. I'm on the road. So we put this together,
1:18.9	and I think you're going to really enjoy it. First up, we talk to Tab Ramos, friend, teammates,
1:24.8	U.S. soccer legend about the state of soccer right now as we barrel down towards the World Cup.
1:29.8	Then we're going to talk to Leander Charlochans, who has written a book, The Long Game,
1:34.4	that goes back and looks at the history of American men's soccer in depth.
1:39.2	Then we got two interviews, one with Chris Klein and one with Meg Kane.
1:43.4	Chris Klein is with the LA
1:45.2	host committee for the World Cup that is upon us. And Meg Kane is with the Philadelphia
1:49.3	host committee. And we talked to them about their efforts and their challenges when it comes
1:56.5	to hosting a World Cup and a bunch of other things that we talked to them about.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 6 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from FOX Sports, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of FOX Sports and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.