Analysis

It's a wild time to be a fan of American soccer, leaving those who follow it plenty to be grateful for this holiday season

Kalvin Phillips left Leeds United for Manchester City to chase his dreams, but since penning an emotional, two-page letter to his boyhood club to mark his departure from Elland Road, his career has been a living nightmare. There have been multiple runs of bad luck, injuries and humiliation, and when his former club visit the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, the England international is highly unlikely to even be on the bench.

Whether hearing the team news over the tannoy in the stadium or seeing the line-up graphics revealed on their television screens, there are likely to be many England fans who encounter some unfamiliar names when watching the Lionesses play their final two matches of 2025 over the course of this next week - and they can certainly be forgiven.

GOAL spoke to a number of former NCFC players, who outlined the harsh realities of a volatile league after being made redundant four days before a playoff game

A new league, a new routine, and a surprisingly “boring” life in Germany - John Tolkin tells GOAL he’s finding stability at Kiel just as his USMNT chance reopens.

England are missing a lot of key names for their final international camp of 2025. Captain Leah Williamson remains sidelined, making the absences of both Alex Greenwood and Jess Carter all the more notable in a depleted centre-back unit, while Lauren James remains out of the squad having only just returned from injury at Chelsea. Perhaps the most significant bit of team news, though, concerns Hannah Hampton, who could miss the rest of the year with a quad issue.

Three games into the 2025-26 season under new head coach Thomas Frank, Tottenham must have believed they were onto a sure-fire winner. They showed tremendous promise in their eventual UEFA Super Cup defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties, destroyed Burnley in their Premier League opener, and then tore apart Pep Guardiola's Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

You'll Never Walk Alone? Liverpool supporters started streaming out of Anfield long before referee Andy Madley brought an end to Saturday's shambolic showing against Nottingham Forest. They knew that there was no way back for their team after Morgan Gibbs-White fired in the visitors' third and final goal with 12 minutes remaining. Truth be told, it felt like the game was up for the hosts as soon as Murillo opened the scoring after just over half an hour of play, because this is a side suddenly bereft of backbone.

In an interview with Andrés Cantor for Futbol de Primera, Mauricio Pochettino discusses the work behind the USMNT’s recent turnaround - and calls out coaches who have criticized his approach.

GOAL’s writers found no shortage of drama in the Conference semis, highlighted by Messi’s Miami rolling on and Son Heung-min’s LAFC crashing out in dramatic fashion.

Everton secured their first victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford for 12 years on Monday night despite a first-half red card, but the game will be best remembered for the bizarre manner in which the Toffees were reduced to 10 men. In a rare example of the lesser-seen on-pitch team-mate bust-up, midfielder Idrissa Gueye and defender Michael Keane completely lost it with one another under the eyes of 74,000 fans and plenty more watching on at home.

One year should be more than enough time to transmit your ideas to your squad and mould them to your way of playing. But Ruben Amorim's first anniversary as Manchester United coach against Everton felt like being back at square one, his players still no closer to working out how to beat mid-table Premier League opponents, even when playing against 10 men for more than 77 minutes.

Losing Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona in the summer of 2022 was a bitter blow for Bayern Munich. The Pole had scored 344 goals in just 375 appearances for the club, after all. Replacing him was never going to be easy, but it ended up taking Bayern more than a year to find a worthy successor, as Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting rather unsurprisingly didn't exactly prove himself up to the task.

When Manchester City signed Gianluigi Donnarumma, most of the reaction focused on his ability, or lack thereof, with the ball at his feet, in sharp contrast to the man he was replacing, Ederson. But nearly three months into his spell with City, the Italian is struggling with a different challenge: the Premier League’s attitude to pushing in the box.

Gary Neville thought taking the Valencia job in December 2015 would begin his route to eventually becoming England manager; instead, his four-month stint in Spain drained his confidence, made him ill and put him off coaching for life. Neville's was a shock appointment as the former Manchester United defender took over one of the biggest clubs in La Liga despite having no club coaching experience, little knowledge of Spanish football and no grasp of the language.

Saturday's 4-0 rout of Athletic Club was a very meaningful match for Barcelona - and not just because it marked the Blaugrana's belated return to Camp Nou. Indeed, the Catalans winning without conceding a goal was arguably of far greater significance than the long-awaited reopening of their beloved home ground, as it was their first clean sheet for nine games in all competitions. Not since the facile 3-0 win over Getafe on September 21 had Barca shut out an opponent.

Messi produced 12 goal involvements in the playoffs already, and Miami’s defensive improvement could be the difference-maker on the road to potentially winning MLS Cup.

GOAL sat down with the Real Salt Lake star to talk personal growth, awards, and why 2026 might be even better than 2025.

GOAL brings you the lowdown on how British players are doing away from home, with many footballers now taking their talents abroad in search of prosperity. Despite the riches and the glamour of the Premier League, it's far from the be all and end all. You can still carve out a fantastic career even while out of the intense spotlight of the English media.

When Manchester United meet Everton on Monday it will be exactly one year since Ruben Amorim took charge of his first game against Ipswich Town. It has been a highly eventful and not always happy 12 months featuring explosions of anger, fall-outs with players and many defeats. Many people, including the man himself, thought he might not even end up completing a year in the job.

Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT just delivered its best camp yet - but the emergence of new standouts has created a real selection dilemma ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

With Weston McKennie and Christian Pulisic playing in big games, and others hoping to establish themselves again, it should be a captivating week

The Conference semifinals are set to serve up plenty of drama this weekend, with Inter Miami hoping to stay alive.

Barcelona's famed La Masia academy has long been the envy of every other top club in Europe, and for good reason. It has forged dozens of legends over the last 46 years, from Pep Guardiola and Albert Ferrer, to Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and a certain Lionel Messi. Every generation produces multiple superstars, with Lamine Yamal leading the current crop after bursting onto the scene as a 15-year-old.

Following his mid-season arrival at Manchester City, Nico Gonzalez went through the strange experience of being hailed as an oven-ready replacement for Rodri during his first week at the Etihad Stadium, only to then be ignored by Pep Guardiola during the most important stretch of the campaign. Any fears, however, that he would become an expensive flop have since disappeared, with Gonzalez having stepped back in to anchor City's resurgence as they emerge as Arsenal’s main rivals in the Premier League title race.

The Western Conference semifinal presents an all too rare opportunity for two world class talents to face off in a single elimination game in MLS.

Robinson spoke to GOAL about his USMNT comeback, his life in Cincinnati, and the bigger questions shaping the way he sees the world.

With the World Cup just months away, GOAL looks at how the U.S. squad might look next summer after a November camp proving no spot is guaranteed and depth runs deep.

At one point during the international break, it appeared as if both Napoli and Atalanta would have new coaches in place for this weekend's meeting between the two sides at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. However, while the Bergamaschi inevitably sacked Ivan Juric the day after their shocking 3-0 defeat at home to Sassuolo, Antonio Conte remains in charge of the Partenopei - which is actually something of a surprise.