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New Ground with Allen & Jalil

New Ground with Allen & Jalil

Written by: New Ground
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About this listen

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.

New Ground Show 2025 Football Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Is Good Enough to Call Champions League an Annual World Cup for Clubs?

    Is Good Enough to Call Champions League an Annual World Cup for Clubs?
    Mar 13 2026

    Unravel the magic of the Champions League, where legends are born and every match is a clash of titans.

    Miami Heat's Bam Adebayo just dropped 83-points in an NBA game and hosts Allen Hopkins Jr. and Jalil Anibaba explore what would be the equivalent achievement in the world of soccer. Hours after Bam's game, Real Madrid's Federico Valverde dropped a first half hat-trick during a round of 16 Champions League clash against Manchester City. But are those two things the same?

    We also get a wild story about the time Jalil volunteered - yes, he asked for it - to play Goalkeeper as a member of the Houston Dynamo.

    We get into:

    • Soccer's Equivalent to 83 points in the NBA
    • Champions League is Like a Yearly World Cup
    • Who Was Elite at Neutralizing a Bad Ball
    • Jalil Subs In for Goalkeeper?!
    • Oscar Pareja's Out in Orlando City
    • Nashville / Inter Miami Rivalry
    • The Rise of LAFC's David Martinez
    • Philadelphia Union Winless without Key Players
    • FLOWERS: Brooklyn FC's HC Marlon LeBlanc & New England Revolution II's HC Pablo Moreira

    - - -

    If you want real conversations from inside MLS and all things global footy, follow New Ground and SHARE this episode with someone who lives and breathes the game.
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    50 mins
  • Arsenal Fans Hold Your Breath, All Love to the USWNT

    Arsenal Fans Hold Your Breath, All Love to the USWNT
    Mar 6 2026

    With Arsenal FC having a lead in the Premier League, we encourage supporters around the globe to hold on tight.

    On this episode of New Ground, Allen Hopkins Jr. and Jalil Anibaba talk about the Prem, the US National Teams and the top stories in Major League Soccer.

    We get into:

    • Allen and Jalil discuss all-time favorite boots
    • Hold your breath Arsenal fans
    • Naomi Girma shows out back with USWNT
    • Swag don't lag with Rose Lavelle
    • Weston McKennie extended through 2030
    • Messi bags a brace or Inter Miami CF
    • NY Red Bulls values their youth
    • Chicago Fire reestablishing themselves a destination
    • DC United flipping the script from '25?
    • Does MLS need LIGA MX for All-Star Game?
    • Flowers: Giselle Thompson and Community Service

    - - -

    If you want real conversations from inside MLS and all things global footy, follow New Ground and SHARE this episode with someone who lives and breathes the game.
    Show More Show Less
    50 mins
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