The CBS Sports analyst and former New York Red Bulls forward joins Mic'd Up to talk Serie A, MLS Cup, and his on air banter with Thierry Henry

Mike Grella remembers the old days – the ones where you couldn't even access soccer in the United States.

"20 years ago you couldn't find a football match on American televsion," Grella tells GOAL. "Now you wake up on a Saturday or Sunday morning and it's in your face. The Premier League is there, the FA Cup is there, the Serie A is there."

The New York-born journeyman has seen it all. After an 11 year professional career that spanned 10 clubs – including stops in England, Denmark and MLS – Grella retired in 2018. These days, he's pitchside or on the panel for Paramount+'s Serie A coverage. He will be on the ground when CBS broadcasts the Juventus-Bologna game this weekend, with pre-match studio coverage originating live from Juventus’ Allianz Stadium, beginning at 11 a.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.

For Grella, it's a landmark moment.

"I think it says a lot about the growth of football in general, and especially for us Italian football fans… I'm hoping it sticks, and it gains more popularity."

And the CBS crew have picked the right season to go big. Reigning champions Inter Milan might just have a little too much for everyone else, but glance at the Serie A table, and it's packed. Seventh placed Milan – home to USMNT star Christian Pulisic – are a good result in their extra game away from getting back into Champions League contention. It's what makes the league great, Grella says.

The American influence in the Italian top flight is palpable. Pulisic is the headliner, and "among the best in the world" according to Grella. But there are others. Weston McKennie and Tim Weah have both impressed for Others will undoubtedly also come. And in the broader soccer landscape, two decades removed from being inaccessible, that's not a bad start.

He discussed all that and more in the latest edition of Mic’d Up, a recurring feature in which GOAL US taps into the perspectives of broadcasters, analysts, and pundits on the state of soccer in the U.S. and beyond.

Getty ImagesON THE SERIE A SEASON

GOAL: You've got this live broadcast of a Serie A ground, this weekend, for a national TV network. What do you think it says about where soccer is in the U.S. right now?

GRELLA: I think it's really exciting. One of the most important things about football, is the education of football and understanding it, and not just on a tactical level. Falling in love with the game is very important, and I want young kids to see that. 20 years ago you couldn't find a football match on American television. It's very telling. Now you wake up on a Saturday morning or Sunday morning, and it's it's in your face.

The Premier League is there, the FA Cup is there. Now the Serie A is there. We're making that jump where we're going to be on CBS this weekend, so I think it says a lot about the growth of football in this country. I think it says a lot about the growth of football in general, and especially for us Italian football fans. I think we want to see it move in the right direction. And America's obviously huge market for Serie A also. So I'm hoping it sticks, and it gains more popularity.

GOAL: Serie A has been interesting so far. I wanted to talk a bit about Juventus, who are yet to lose, but have more draws than anyone else. What do you think is going wrong? Is Thiago Motta just not figuring it out?

GRELLA: This summer there was a merry-go-round of coaches in Serie A, more than I've ever seen, and I've watched the League my whole life. As we know, being in the game of football, it takes time to understand your teammates. It takes time to implement your way of playing. It just takes so much time to sort of understand what your best 11 is, how you want to play, what that looks like. Obviously, you need more than one transfer market to make it work as well. So I think, for all these managers: Raffaele Palladino, Vincenzo Italiano, Thiago Molta, Paulo Fonseca, even. I think they need time.

I think they're really good managers. You don't get those jobs in those positions if you're not a good manager. I think we can start to judge them towards the later part of this season and start to say, "OK, well, what have the results been? What is the style of play? What's it like in the locker room? Do they follow them? Do they want to play for them? What are the energy levels like?"

I think all those things need to be taken into account the end of the season. If you want to know what I think about Motta… I think that it's not been overwhelmingly convincing just yet. I think the squad was made a lot younger. I think that's what a lot of Juventus fans wanted to see. I think the squad plays a little bit better football when it actually has the ball. They have the first or second possession in Serie A. There's been sparks of these games against Inter in San Siro, where they tie 4-4, against Leipzig, away from home, where they're down a man, and they go back and win the game. So there's been these sparks and glimpses of this old Juventus DNA of winning and fighting and feeling them fight to the end.

And then there's been the reality of growing pains. They [drop points to] Roma and Napoli. I was there for that game. They play Stuttgart at home and they take one shot on target. And they look like they're never gonna score, even if they play 500 minutes of football. It's sideways and backwards, and it's slow, and it's predictable, and it doesn't look great.

Dusan Vlahovic is a microcosm of what's going on at Juventus. There's days where he looks like "That's the player we signed for €75 million!" and there's other days where you say, "My god, I mean he can't be the answer. He can't be a Juventus level striker." Some of the misses, some of the hold up play, some of the just bad games that he has… And I think that's just where Juventus is right now, a giant European Club, with unbelievable history that's just trying to find its feet. But I don't think it's been very convincing thus far.

AdvertisementGettyON AMERICANS IN SERIE A

GOAL: Tim Weah and Weston McKennie have been a bit in and out of the lineup for Juventus. Obviously, McKennie had an injury recently, Weah had one at the start of the season. But what have you made of their contributions thus far? It seems like when they're on the pitch together, things go well.

GRELLA: I think they're both very good players. I think we've learned to love them. I think they're a major reason why Serie A has grown in this country as well and rightfully so, because they have a lot of great tools.

We are launching a documentary later on this week about [Christian] Pulisic… Without spoiling too much, one of the things in it was having McKennie on, and his take on what it's been like being in Italy and being in Serie A, playing in Champions League football and he hinted at the fact that he always feels like he's on the out every single season, and then you have to sort of find a way to get him back in, and then he has to re-prove himself every single season.

So I think it's been a little unfair. I think there is a little bit of a stigma with American footballers. I think if you look at what McKennie's done, he's been their most reliable player. When it comes to professional football, I think you want to know there's got to be seven guys of the 11 that you start, that you know exactly what performance they're going to give you. They might not give you a 10 performance, but they're definitely not going to give you a three. I think McKennie embodies that. I think he's you're always going to give you that seven to eight performance. He's always going to work hard. He's always going to tackle. He's always going to be a good teammate. He's good aerially. And every team needs guys like that.

Yeah, maybe he's not the most technical. Maybe he's not gonna pick the past that unlocks teams – although he does have that in his locker as well. But he definitely brings an honest, solid performance that you can rely on every single week.

With Weah, he just has so many tools. You know, [ex-Juventus manager Max] Allegri is quite defensive. So he was playing as a wing back. I think you look at him playing up top now for Vlahovic. He's got four goals, which is the highest total he's had in a very long time, he's got pace, and he can strike a football, and he can play well anywhere.

With all the American players, even with Pulisic, the attitude stands out a lot. I think they're really good professionals. I think they work hard. I think they're good teammates. I think they have great character, and you can rely on them, and that's been the most important thing for American players.

AFPON CHRISTIAN PULISIC

GOAL: For sure. And on Pulisic, is this the best version of him we've ever seen?

GRELLA: Yeah, for sure. The first stage was when, he signed at Chelsea. And then you think, "Oh, it's the big American market. That's why he's there." And he goes on, wins the Champions League, and looks the part in some flashes. And then there's the injury concerns and the physicality of the Premier League…

And then he comes to Milan. You think, "OK, this is another marketing play. He's probably gonna be a guy that's in and out of the team. He's gonna be competing for a spot with Samuel Chukwueze, who they've also brought in and I don't think he's done very well."

And then he turned into a guy who was the first name on the team sheet every single week for Milan. I think that was very impressive. Then he notched it up another level to being the leading goal scorer in the team, the leading creator in the team. Then he turned out to be the guy that when moments would go bad for Milan and Fonseca, he was the most reliable player in the team. He still is right now.

You look at Liverpool right now. That's just as good as Klopp's best Liverpool already, and we haven't even seen them hit their peak yet, and you look at Pulisic. The goal he scores against them is fantastic. Milan's not in a good way. They're playing at home. He carries the footballs 50 yards, half the pitch, to do that at, that speed, at that pace, at that technicality, and know where guys are the whole time, and then be able to slot it.

I think he's shown a new level of now we're not talking about just an American footballer. We're talking about one of the best, being in the conversation of one of the top footballers in the world, regardless of the country, which I think is special.

GOAL: Fonseca has kind of played around with him a bit. Rafa Leao seems to be the guy on the left, but Pulisic has sometimes played as a 10, sometimes off the right. Let's say you're the Milan manager, where does Pulisic play for you?

GRELLA: If you have to pick one spot, I think you could probably say the 10 because Milan don't have a lot of really good options there. I think he's he can play in between the lines, he's super quick on the wing. As a No. 10, he can do a lot of damage.

But again, he's the type of guy that you just want in the in the team, regardless. You asked me about Motta before. I think this is an interesting point, because we're covering Juventus on the weekend. But you know, Fonseca's come under immense amounts of pressure. I was there and got to interview him after one of the games, when they played Inter away from home and won the game. The relief on this man… you could feel it, you could actually feel it!

And I think it's interesting because he's only four points behind Juventus with a game in hand. And so if they win against Atalanta – it's a tall task. But if they win against Atalanta, they're one point behind Juventus. And now we're talking about Fonseca, who everybody wants out, who's put under an immense amount of pressure, and Motta, who everyone's saying he's doing a great job. The lines are very blurred here early on in the Serie A season. Also, Milan have a point more than them in Champions League, so you could really make the argument that Fonseca's really not doing any worse. And Juventus have spent more money in the offseason. So it's a really fun, interesting season this year.

AFPON THE TITLE RACE

GOAL: Who wins the Serie A title?

GRELLA: I think it's still Inter's to lose. When you watch the way they play football, I think they're comprable to Liverpool in that they can dominate over 90 minutes. They create so many chances out of nothing, can control possession, can control tempo, can defend really well. They have game changers within the team. They have depth. I think they're very similar to Liverpool in that way.

But there is more parity in Serie A. Inter has shown a little bit of age. They're the oldest team in the Serie A, as well, and they're dealing with a lot of different competitions. So I think it's been difficult for them, but it's theirs to lose because of the quality that they have in their team and the job that [Filippo] Inzaghi has done. He's done such a phenomenal job.

GOAL: He's unbelievable, isn't he? That Champions League final between Inter and City in 2023, a couple of balls bounce the other way, Romelu Lukaku puts a couple of those away, and you have an Italian winner of the Champions League.

GRELLA: I think they surprised themselves. I think that was around the time Man City was starting to show some abnormalities and some cracks. The way that they were playing with the high line… they were very nervous as well in that game.

If [Inter] would have got one, it probably would have been a difficult night for Man City. But in the end, Man City walked away. But that was sort of a snapshot into what Inter is about. I mean, they play really good football. They're fun to watch and hard to keep a clean sheet against… they have so many game changers in Marcus Thuram, Lautaro Martinez. They can bring Mehdi Taremi now off the bench as well. The midfield three are unbelievable, probably the best midfield in Italy as well. They have a long way to go, but I think it's theirs to lose.

GOAL: Nicolo Barella is one of my favorite players to watch.

GRELLA: He's a monster, man. One of these little guys that can compete with the biggest. You look at him and you're like: "Well, he's not very tall. He's not the fastest. He's not the strongest." But man, he competes. He'd be great to watch in the Premier League one day.