'No tolerance for not being winners' - CBS Sports host Kate Scott on the American soccer psyche, USMNT's 'statement' hire in Mauricio Pochettino, 'enormous' 2026 World Cup and why Liverpool will win Champions League

GOAL: What do you make of the new Champions League format? And how has it changed your job?

SCOTT: I think it's worked. I was skeptical at the beginning. Like everybody, I'm resistant to change, and I thought "I like the group format, why would we change it?" But I think what has definitely played out - which is what UEFA were targeting - was the fact that we would see bigger games with more jeopardy earlier on in the competition. So where before, because say Manchester City had a group wrapped up, they could then just rotate players out and kind of those were kind of dead matches - the last couple of match days, often matchdays five and six.

Now, especially with the way this season has gone, and Manchester City and PSG and Real Madrid and the position that they're in - these matches are so important. I'm interested to see what will happen on Jan. 29 [the final matchday of the revamped group phase]. Obviously that day is going to be absolutely mental with the live table and the way everything is going to be moving. All games played on the same day at the same time. So I'm interested how we handle that. I think it is going to be a day where it may feel more stressful than usual.

GOAL: The big team that everyone is talking about is Real Madrid. What's going on right now? Is it growing pains? Did they get it wrong over the summer?

SCOTT: I tend not to have an opinion about this thing. The privilege of my position is I get to ask the questions. Currently, you see people questioning Carlo Ancelotti, and has he got it wrong? Is he not managing the team well? But then you think about, hold on, it's Carlo Ancelotti. I think about all the things we've said about him across the decades, never mind years. I guess growing pains are inevitable. And I guess at some point you will have to question, "Does this really work for Real Madrid, having Vini Junior, having Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham in the same team?" Because they certainly seemed to be a better and more consistent team last season than they have been this season.

Focusing on the Champions League, because that's obviously the one I pay most attention to... just to see Real Madrid sit in 20th place in the table, just kind of leaves you scratching your head about what is going on. It's the same as all teams, it's cyclical. You're seeing the same with Manchester City. They maybe have run their cycle with that particular coach, or they need a refresh in some way and just kind of a reboot. But it is weird to see such a talented group of players having struggles for form that way.

GOAL: And if you had to pick a favorite right now, who wins the whole thing?

SCOTT: I think it's hard to pick against Liverpool right now. I understand that this hasn't been the best little patch for them domestically, but I think if you're looking at what they've done in the Champions League, they've won every single game. That record is perfect. They beat Real Madrid. They beat Leverkusen. I know that they're stuttering right now, but I think it's just it's hard to see anybody else who's performed better and performed more consistently in the Champions League.

So if you're going to focus on who's the favorite, it has to be Liverpool at this point in time, especially because I think other teams that you would generally see as the favorites, just haven't been performing at that level. If you take Real Madrid, Manchester City, PSG, definitely not any of those big sides. Barcelona, I think have been good. But even they've been inconsistent, and had their patches under Hansi Flick. So I'm going to say Liverpool. They'll definitely go through as a well seeded team anyway, and you would expect them to have a good draw moving forward into the next round.

GOAL: I want to switch gears and talk about American soccer. You've always championed the game in America. And finally, you have guys going abroad. Serie A is a hotbed of American talent, with Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, and those guys. Does that feel like a vindication of sorts on your end?

SCOTT: I think there's always been that kind of European snobbery around U.S. Soccer, whether it's been around the level of play, coaching, or even the television and punditry attached to it. It's always been like a butt of a joke. You remember when there was the whole Bob Bradley thing that Soccer AM did and all that kind of stuff?

And that just reflected what the cliches were. So, yeah, it definitely gives some vindication. But I do actually also think it's probably important for the American psyche too, in that if you continually know that you are the butt of the joke, there's something that is empowering. And just in continually seeing young Americans perform on that stage, it's always important as a kid, to be able to see other people in positions that you want to get to, because people that you can relate to, that you can kind of see yourself in there. It makes it feel reachable and possible.

I think it's huge for American soccer to see players being key players in major European clubs. It's huge for American soccer in terms of young players having a real sense of where they can get to within the game and what is achievable for them. But also, just the American psyche when they go into major tournaments like the World Cup. And don't get me wrong, I'm around a lot of former U.S. Soccer players, and I don't think they have a crisis of confidence, but I think that it's just natural that if you keep on seeing each other performing at the very highest level, you're going to go in with a whole newfound level of confidence.

GOAL: Did U.S. soccer get it right with Mauricio Pochettino?

SCOTT: Pochettino is a statement hire. It's a very different hire to what the Gregg Berhalter hire felt like. And I think internationally, it just makes people kind of stand up and watch a little bit. I think what Pochettino could do with a team that's evolving... he has proven in terms of what he did with Tottenham or maybe PSG. I think it's a good move. I think there's huge pressure on them - 2026 is just enormous. To have the World Cup in your home nation, to have that many eyes on you Americans. You know this from just living here, there is an expectation of achievement in sports.

There's just no tolerance for not being winners. Whilst there's huge excitement around, yes, this is our home World Cup, there's also huge pressure. And I don't know what would be seen as the minimum level of acceptable achievement. Is that a quarterfinal? I don't know, but I think they're definitely making the right moves. Do I think they maybe made them a little bit too late? Personally, yeah, probably. I thought that the rehire of Gregg Berhalter just didn't really make sense to me. I thought it was a time where it made sense to make a change, to kind of reboot the chemistry within the dressing room, get rid of all of that context and history that can't have been helpful, and move forward with a manager who you would hope was given even more time to to get things right for 2026. But I mean, that's really all irrelevant now. I think they're doing the right thing now.

GOAL: What about Emma Hayes?

SCOTT: I like Emma Hayes. I thought she was a great hire. Her demeanor is impressive. The way she controls a media room is the way you can imagine her controlling a dressing room or a training session. She commands respect. I think she has huge credibility and authenticity as well in the way that she communicates. And I think you just can't help but relate to her and like her and want to see the team win under her. We always talk in football about the kind of managers that players want to play for and players want to win for. To me, she comes across as that.

GOAL: You guys have so much to cover, with however many games kicking off at the same time. How do you stay on top of them?

SCOTT: It's just never really possible. I think that's one thing we've learned through the years of Champions League, is that as much as you want to be across every game, really, you have to divide and conquer and make sure, "Jamie, you're keeping an eye on those. Micah on those." ... There's no way that everybody can be part of the game. And the truth is that ultimately, you'll go to do some highlights of games that you won't have seen the full match of.

GOAL: With your co-hosts, you have to put so much trust in all of them to encapsulate every single game and bring their own bit of analysis to the table. Is that ever a challenge for you?

SCOTT: Yeah. I mean, they're all elite. They were elite when we started. I never lacked trust in any of them. Truthfully, they're going to end up having to talk about some games that they haven't seen, because with the quantity of games that there are, it's just not possible to do it otherwise. But I used to work at TNT and do Champions League there, and I've been around Inside the NBA, and they don't watch every game. They haven't seen every minute of play that they're talking about. So I never lacked trust. That was never something I had to develop in them. They're all very good at what they do. And they can read a football game very quickly. That's one thing I'm always impressed by ex-pros, is just how quickly they kind of understand the flow of a game, and they don't necessarily need to see all 90 minutes to to be able to tell a good story about it.

GOAL: Two of the most recognizable studio hosts in American soccer right now are you for the Champions League and Rebecca Lowe for the Premier League. What do you think it means to have two women in sports who are so recognizable, especially in the U.S.?

SCOTT: Obviously, as a woman, I think that's very cool, because one of the questions I sometimes get asked in interviews is, "Who did you look up to when you were growing up? Which broadcaster did you want to be like?" And I don't think I even considered broadcasting as an option for me because I never saw anybody that made me think, "Oh, yeah, that would be a cool job to do." Because I saw Des Lynam or older men who just didn't look like me and didn't feel relatable to me growing up in the UK, watching Match of The Day.

So now I think it's very cool to think that for young girls coming up, interested in football, watching football, they could see a Rebecca or me and think, "Oh, yeah, there's something that maybe I want to do." And I think that's like a door that that opens. I have huge respect for Rebecca. She's great at her job. And I think that's maybe kind of the biggest part of it for me is that both of us have managed to get to where we are with a really good level of credibility. That's so important to me, to represent women well in sports, because there can still be so many cliches about why women are given opportunities in sports. And so for it to be two people who, I think, by the soccer community, our leadership of those shows, or our understanding of the game is respected, that means the world to me.

GOAL: And finally, where is soccer in the U.S. right now? Is the status good? Could it be better?

SCOTT: I think it's in a very good place. Very good because of where it is, but also because of the potential for growth, which is inevitable in a sport that has always been king in other areas of the globe, but is getting more and more exposure in terms of the highest level in the US. I think social media made the world a lot smaller. It made the game of football and the stars of football way more accessible to young kids in America. I think the emergence of elite American players playing on the biggest stage, all of those things come together to put American soccer in a really good place.

But now, as you build towards 2026, this is like having the Olympics at home. It's kind of the biggest thing that could happen, for America to experience the culture of football. I know that American soccer has its own culture. MLS has its own culture, but there is something so special about the international culture of football that I personally love. And I think it's just a totally unique experience having been in Russia or Qatar at the different World Cups that I've been to, or been at Women's World Cups in Canada.

There's nothing that compares to that for kind of igniting a passion for the game and an interest in the game and exposing the world to it. I guess that's what's exciting about the World Cup. You don't have to be a football fan. You essentially just have to support your country, which pretty much everybody does. So everybody gets invested. So if you can get those parents invested and seeing the potential of the game for their kids. If you can get kids excited about watching and supporting and then wanting to play themselves, the potential for growth is huge.

Whenever you last had the World Cup in America, what that did for the game - if you speak to any of those guys that were involved in a home World Cup in the United States, they will just rave about what that did for soccer in this country. And so to think what that effect can be in these times where we have social media, where things become viral, the potential is enormous. So I think it's in a very good place, and the potential is through the roof.

Jan 13: USMNT legend DaMarcus Beasley on Lionel Messi's mindset, the 'good groove' for MLS and why Mauricio Pochettino is the 'right man for the job'

Jan. 9: Callum Williams on Lionel Messi and 2025 Club World Cup, 'naivety towards' South American soccer, 'preposterous' that Jack Grealish has 'lost it'

Jan. 2: CBS' Jenny Chiu on 'big changes' by Emma Hayes, Mauricio Pochettino's 'pedigree' and possible UCL glory for Inter

Dec. 17: FOX Sports' Stu Holden on the evolution of the American game, why Christian Pulisic will be 'best U.S. Soccer player of all-time'

Dec. 12: Turner, Apple TV analyst Brian Dunseth on Ricardo Pepi, Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna and USMNT's future under Mauricio Pochettino

Dec. 5: Anibaba on MLS Cup predictions, Inter Miami hiring Javier Mascherano and MLS's 'disheartening' coaching diversity issue

Nov. 21: Telemundo's Andres Cantor on Mauricio Pochettino's Argentine mindset, the USMNT and having a front-row seat for the rise of the American game

Nov. 16: Apple TV analyst Matt Doyle assesses Inter Miami's defensive 'insanity,' whether Neymar could join Lionel Messi, MLS Cup favorite

Nov. 7: Gary Neville talks USMNT World Cup hopes, 'hell of a player' Christian Pulisic, 'relentless' David Beckham, and Cristiano Ronaldo to MLS

Oct. 31: Herculez Gomez on Mauricio Pochettino's impact, the USMNT's 'wide-open' striker race, and a player pool 'that lacks accountability'

Oct. 29: NBC's Rebecca Lowe on the growth of soccer, the 'incredible' Emma Hayes and 'profile-raising' Mauricio Pochettino

Oct. 24: Apple TV's Andrew Wiebe on MLS playoffs, Lionel Messi's 'nuclear form' and how Inter Miami can become league's 'greatest team of all time

Oct. 17: Jamie Carragher talks USMNT, slams Man City over legal case, questions Mauricio Pochettino despite 'great' hire