New Ground Show
New Ground Show
Podcast Description
⚽️ Melanin-rich conversations about soccer and life with Allen Hopkins Jr. & Jalil Anibaba 🎙️ Episodes premiere Thursday nights on SiriusXM FC 157 & SiriusXM App ▶️ Full interviews, Extra Time Content and Behind the Scenes New Ground explores the vibrant intersection of football, culture, and identity. We delve into how the beautiful game shapes and reflects global trends, sparking conversations about race, society, and life itself.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast explores the rich intersection of soccer, culture, and identity, covering topics such as personal journeys in professional sports, societal impacts of soccer, and global trends related to race and community, with episodes spotlighting unique narratives like Chukwuemeka Eneli's balance of education and soccer in MLS.
It’s your favorite player’s favorite show.
Welcome to New Ground, where the conversations hit different.
Hosted by Allen Hopkins Jr. and Jalil Anibaba, this is where the locker room opens up. These are melanin-rich conversations about life, soccer — footy, whatever you want to call it — and the real stories that shape the game in America.
From Major League Soccer to the USMNT pipeline, from player identity to leadership, culture, pressure, and purpose — nothing’s off limits. This isn’t media-trained soundbites. It’s lived experience. It’s perspective you only get from the guys who’ve been in it.
Allen and Jalil sit down with current and former pros, coaches, creatives, and culture-shifters to unpack the moments you didn’t see on the highlight reel — the setbacks, the locker room truths, the growth behind the grind.
If you love the game beyond the scoreboard, this show is for you.
Real players. Real perspective. New Ground.
Talent is widespread, but opportunities are not. Eddie Johnson made his mark on the USMNT and MLS and now runs player development day in, day out.
Eddie shares his journey from growing up in Florida to becoming a key figure in American soccer. He reflects on his career, the challenges he faced, and the pivotal moments that shaped him. Now a renowned player development coach, Johnson discusses mentorship, the transition to European soccer, and his mission to change the narrative around youth training—encouraging young players to dream big and highlighting the role of former pros in shaping the next generation.
We get into:
– Arsenal wins EPL
– Winning Coaches in Europe
– Coaching changes in MLS
– Eddie Johnson’s intro to soccer
– Capitalizing on opportunity
– Youngest MLS Hat Trick
– USMNT Experience
– Transition to Europe
– Finding his calling in player development
– FLOWERS: the unsung Staff heroes
Disclaimer
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