“I’ve worked with Alexi for 10 years,” says Fox Sports commentator and former U.S. men’s national team midfielder Stu Holden. “He’s one of the first people I get asked questions about. They say, ‘What is that guy like off-camera?'”
That’s the thought that many will have while watching Alexi Lalas, the once-bearded U.S. center back who rose to fame at the 1994 World Cup and is now best known for his powder keg contributions to U.S. soccer television.
Lalas has had an impressive football career, representing his native Italy for nearly 100 years and playing in Italy’s Serie A and Major League Soccer. A sign of his influence came in 2021 when the International Football Federation (FIFA) conducted a feasibility study as part of a failed attempt to introduce a biennial World Cup. Lalas was invited to a seminar hosted by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, along with Brazil’s Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos, former Denmark and Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel and Australia’s Tim Cahill.
On US television, the 54-year-old Lalas, who was a studio commentator for Fox at this summer’s European Championships and Copa America, is bold and outspoken. Already this week he compared the England team to the Dallas Cowboys and said the English are “as insufferable as they are talented”.
He’s the same way when we talk for more than 40 minutes at a Manhattan coffee shop. Our topics range from Gregg Berhalter’s future as coach of the U.S. men’s national team (“I’m going to leave the players alone,” he insists) to his “video game” approach to social media. This is pure, undiluted Lalas. Sitting next to him, ordering a piccolo coffee (“What’s a piccolo?” I ask, and Lalas says, “Don’t encourage him”) is the more reserved Holden, 38, but his analysis is just as forceful.
I told Lalas that some people took a deep breath when I told him I’d be interviewing him. He smiled. First and foremost, Lalas told me he sees his role at the studio as “hopefully having an interesting and informative perspective and doing it in an entertaining way.”
He falters. “But I’m in the entertainment industry. I’m a performer. And sometimes people cringe when I say that. I’m not saying I can’t be authentic and sincere, but I realize that how I say something is just as important as what I say.”
“When I go on TV, I put on a costume and when the red light comes on, I don’t want you to change the channel. I don’t care if you like me or not. I try to be as human as possible, with the realization that on TV things have to be bigger and bolder.”
Holden interjects: “He’s one of my good friends, and people ask me, ‘Does he believe everything he says?’ And I say, ‘I have the same conversations in the bar that I have on air.’”
“What I learned from Alexi is that to have longevity in this industry, you have to be intriguing. Whether it’s the characters that he plays, who he is, what opinions he has, but add a little bit of energy to it to make it exciting. You never want to be in the middle, in the middle where people think, ‘Oh, that guy is nice.’ So be on one side, be bold, don’t worry about opinions, be yourself. And that’s who he is on camera and off camera.”
Holden played 25 times for the U.S. national team before injuries ended a career that included Premier League stints with Sunderland and Bolton Wanderers. He and Lalas are committed to delivering, meeting with coaches, players and front-office staff the day before games to brief viewers on what the team is trying to accomplish.
Lalas on the 1994 U.S. World Cup team (Photo: Michael Kunkel/Bongarts/Getty Images)
While times have moved away from modern locker rooms, Holden said it’s important to “get people inside the tent.”
“It’s not so common in England,” he adds, “but it’s common on American sports TV to go to NFL training sessions, sit with the coaches and hear exclusive game analysis. It’s hard for Europeans to understand this when they come here. Patrick Vieira (when he was manager of New York City FC) didn’t want to meet us, and neither did Frank de Boer (Atlanta United). Coaches from Europe and South America often say, ‘Why are you here?'”
They believe that a little distance in terms of age allows them to be more strict with those they are analysing, where appropriate. I think many within the sports industry should be closely monitoring themselves when appearing on television or radio these days for fear of public backlash.
“Life’s too short to fuck them,” Lalas says bluntly.
“At the end of the day, I’m talking about football. I know we can be incredibly passionate and emotional about these things. That’s what I love about sport. I try to be honest, but sometimes it comes out differently and is taken differently by different people. Interactions through a keyboard and interactions in normal life are very different. People sometimes come up to me who disagree with what I say, but even if we have strong disagreements on and off the football field, we have cordial, civil and respectful conversations.”
He says his characters are inspired by more than just live sports: “It’s part shock jock, part political commentator, part late-night TV host. And in terms of actual sports, I grew up in the ESPN era of hot takes, but I also love Gary Lineker.”
“When you listen to the way he talks, you almost forget he was a player. And not just a player, a goddamn great player. When you listen to him talk about the game and about life, even if you agree or disagree with the way he talks, you forget he was a great player because the way he talks is interesting, informative and entertaining. So I have a lot of respect for what he’s accomplished.”
Lineker and Lalas have something else in common: They both seem to have a love-hate relationship with social media. Lineker’s Match of the Day show, the BBC’s Premier League highlights show, was in crisis last year when the BBC was unhappy with his political commentary on Twitter (now known as X).
If Lineker is center-left, Lalas seems to be his political antidote, recently announcing on Twitter that he will be attending the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Like Lineker, Lalas can’t seem to resist getting caught up in the whirlpool of culture war politics. He’s recently shared posts sympathetic to Donald Trump and regularly engages in playful exchanges with his critics on social media, but has already said he values in-person interactions far more. So why the obsession with X?
“Yes, I have to admit there is an element of addiction,” he acknowledges, “that’s the world we live in. There’s an element of ego. But I’m not under any delusion that I’m not solving the world’s problems. Nobody is interested in what I have to say about most of this stuff. For one thing, Twitter is an information machine.”
But it can also be a machine for spreading misinformation.
“Sometimes,” he laughs, “it depends on who you ask and where you look. I look at it like a video game I play.”
“The element of poking the bear and being provocative is something I enjoy. When it comes to things off the field, like politics, there’s something cathartic about being honest, especially in this day and age. There was a time when we were all bold, and unfortunately now we sometimes live in fear that there may be a real backlash if we just say something people don’t agree with. I don’t want to live in that world, whether it’s politics or sports. Maybe this is my way of getting revenge.”
“I’m not saying that’s wise or thoughtful, especially if it has the potential to alienate people. Separating sport from personal can sometimes blur the lines and affect the other. But you only live once, so I want to be as honest as possible, no matter who listens or who cares.”
With the U.S. looking for signs of progress under Berhalter at this summer’s Copa America, Lalas has been more outspoken than ever and Holden has made his expectations clear.
How to watch Euro 2024 and the Copa America Athletic…
“We’re non-negotiable on getting out of the group,” Holden insisted. “If we can’t get out of a group that has Panama and Bolivia in it, then what are we going to do? It’s time for a change.”
Lalas interjects: “Is that impossible? Maybe from an outside perspective, maybe from our perspective, but ultimately it’s (U.S. Soccer technical director) Matt Crocker who makes that decision, and he had the opportunity (Berhalter was reappointed as head coach of the U.S. men’s national team in June 2023).
“Nobody would be happy to wipe out the organization and fire everyone, but he (Crocker) didn’t. So something really bad has to happen for U.S. Soccer to make a change.”
“But there’s a lot of people sitting there with their arms crossed saying, ‘OK, Greg, you have a long lead, you have a second chance, you’ve got to show something different, you’ve got to show something that makes people believe that when the 2026 World Cup comes around, for the first time in history, the U.S. Men’s National Team has a chance to win a World Cup.’ But we haven’t had that moment. He needs a statement game and a statement summer to assuage that feeling.”
Holden noted that the U.S. men’s national team, which was eliminated in the round of 16 at the last World Cup by the Netherlands, was the second-youngest team in Qatar, and pointed to the U.S.’s draw with England, in which they “fought evenly,” as evidence of the potential.
Lalas said: “By constantly talking about the manager, we are spoiling the players a little bit. They have been given every privilege, every resource. Nothing was spared from them since they were young. It is natural to expect more from them, individually and collectively. They are not teenagers anymore. Some of them are playing in the best teams and leagues in the world. It is time to put up or shut up.”
“We place a lot of emphasis on coaching. I’m not saying coaching can’t be effective, but this is the players’ game. When the whistle blows, it’s up to the players to decide what happens and the responsibility is on them. If that’s what they want, great. If they don’t, don’t blame the coach.”
Holden smiled and said, “If the U.S. wins the Copa America, it will be arguably the greatest achievement in men’s soccer’s history.”
(Top image: Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
