Any Given Thursday

Maxwell Brown & David Blomquist
  • 5.0 (5)
  • SOCCER
  • UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY

On Any Given Thursday, football enthusiasts Maxwell Brown & David Blomquist cover all things Europa League & Europa Conference League. Match-day reactions, club spotlights, untold stories, unique narratives — if it happens on a Thursday, we're talking about it. So from Reykjavík to Roma, Zürich to Zagreb, Bodø to Baku, and everywhere in between, join us as we explore European football beyond the oil clubs.

  1. Lyon & Villa claim top spots, Roma earns bye, Brann & Lille survive, & title power rankings | Europa League, Match-Day 8

    FEB 3

    Lyon & Villa claim top spots, Roma earns bye, Brann & Lille survive, & title power rankings | Europa League, Match-Day 8

    The Europa League league phase's final match-day as come and gone, and the knockouts are finally set! We take you through the play-by-play of how all the drama unfolded, including how Lyon and Aston Villa claimed top seeding in the knockouts, how Roma secured the final bye to the Round of 16 despite an early red card in Athens, and Brann clung to the final knockout spot thanks to Young Boys' conceding a devastatingly late equalizer in Stuttgart. Then we move on to our title power rankings. Which clubs are in the top tier of likeliest tournament winners? Who's on the outside looking in? And what underdogs could pull shocks as the rounds progress? We close with a look-ahead to the first knockout round, which features some elite matchups (looking at you Forest-Fenerbahce) and a whole bunch of tossups, and of course a healthy dollop of David's Coefficient Corner. Cheers Per-Mathias Høgmo!

    1h 50m
  2. Forest & Betis beaten, Lyon & Villa seal top 8, and League Phase goes down to the wire | Europa League League Phase, Match-Day 7

    JAN 26

    Forest & Betis beaten, Lyon & Villa seal top 8, and League Phase goes down to the wire | Europa League League Phase, Match-Day 7

    The Europa League is finally back, and we're covering all of the best Match-Day 7 action! Big boys fell across the continent Thursday, including Roma and Celta Vigo besting Stuttgart and Lille, and Nottingham Forest and Real Betis putting up stinkers on the road. Elsewhere, Lyon and Villa become the first clubs to seal top 8 and qualify for the Round of 16, Celtic embarks on their second resurgence under Martin O'Neill this season, Brann and Midtjylland gift us a six-goal thriller mired in VAR decisions, and Nice FINALLY WINS A EUROPA LEAGUE MATCH! What a time. We break down the day's best action, check in on the favorites, and work through the table and Match-Day 8 fixtures – all 18 of which will have an impact on the final standings and qualification. Finally, we take a look at last week's Conference League knockout draw, including a tasty matchup between Fiorentina and Jagiellonia, and give some love to our Any Given Thursday alumni making some waves in the Champions League – Qarabag, Bodø, Pafos, and Olympiacos. Cheers Martin O'Neill!

    1h 20m
  3. Chelsea torment Strasbourg, another messy Celtic divorce, and aimless Man United | The UK coaching carousel

    JAN 16

    Chelsea torment Strasbourg, another messy Celtic divorce, and aimless Man United | The UK coaching carousel

    We're back from winter holidays to talk about the wild coaching carousel January has brought us – particularly in the UK. Our main story is Chelsea, who parted with Enzo Maresca and replaced him with Strasbourg's Liam Rosenior. But was he ever really Strasbourg's? We discuss Chelsea's treatment of the proud French club as a minor league feeder team and why UEFA refuses to enforce its own rules. We also speculate on Rosenior's success at the Bridge. Can he make it longer than Maresca? Is he too corny to relate to players? Next, we address other Any Given Thursday alumni struggling for direction in Britain – Manchester United is out a manager yet again, and we spend some time admonishing their business practices, as well as Spurs' and West Ham's. Are these badly-run clubs making the Premier League less watchable? We then turn to Glasgow, where Celtic cut ties with Wilfried Nancy after a catastrophic 33 days in charge. We debate what went wrong for Nancy, where Celtic go from here, and why clubs continue to make the same mistakes in their coaching hires. Finally, we move to the continent, where we comment on floundering Mainz welcoming new manager Urs Fischer to the fold. Can he save them from the German Conference League curse and relegation? All that and a bit of transfer business from Italy and Portugal. Cheers to Ron Jans!

    44 min
  4. KuPS conquers, Universitatea unravels, Palace and Fiorentina miss out on top 8 | Conference League Match-Day 6

    12/22/2025

    KuPS conquers, Universitatea unravels, Palace and Fiorentina miss out on top 8 | Conference League Match-Day 6

    The Conference League league phase concluded with a bang Thursday night, and we're breaking down every game! Universitatea Craiova was the day's top story for all the wrong reasons. We discuss the series of unfortunate events that led to their heartbreaking elimination, including the Romanians blowing a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 in Athens, a stoppage time Zrinjski Mostar equalizer, a late Sigma goal, and of course, KuPS' dramatic draw at Selhurst Park. That's right, little old KuPS took it to the South Londoners for a period in the second half to dramatically qualify for the knockouts and force Crystal Palace out of the Top 8 and thus the Round of 16 bye. We give our thoughts on how the Finns accomplished such a feat and debate how serious the setback is for Palace. Meanwhile, there was plenty of other Top 8 drama throughout the continent. Mainz and Rayo secured the bye, and a late AEK Larnaca winner launched the frisky Cypriots into the coveted final spot. Of course, we must also talk about Fiorentina, who lost yet again (this time at Lausanne). We wrap things up with a title-contender power rankings and a look ahead to the knockouts draw in January. Cheers Jarkko Wiss!

    1h 13m
  5. Balkan bonanzas, Ascending Athens, Rampaging Red Imps, and Fiorentina and Nice's living nightmares | Europa League Match-Day 6, Conference League Match-Day 5

    12/16/2025

    Balkan bonanzas, Ascending Athens, Rampaging Red Imps, and Fiorentina and Nice's living nightmares | Europa League Match-Day 6, Conference League Match-Day 5

    We're back to break down all the action from last Thursday's Europa & Conference League bonanza. We start in Bulgaria and Romania, where Ludogorets and FCSB played host to two extraordinarily entertaining goal fests, with the former taking down struggling Feyenoord. We also take a stop in Greece to discuss why AEK Athens is in such good form and why they have a real shot at challenging for the UECL grown. Then we move on to the BIG BOYS in both competitions, stopping along the way to marvel at Aston Villa's ability to pull out close wins, laud Vincenzo Italiano for the work he's doing at Bologna, and pile on Fiorentina, Mainz, and Nice , who are all experiencing the worst of times. Of course, we still have time to talk Lincoln Red Imps' historic second win in the league phase, plus examine Wilfried Nancy's rocky start to life at Celtic. All that, and a look ahead to what's at stake on the Conference League league phase's final day on December 18. Cheers to Marko Nikolić!

    1h 29m
  6. Club Spotlight: Ferencvárosi TC

    12/10/2025

    Club Spotlight: Ferencvárosi TC

    Our Club Spotlight series returns to bring you a very non-controversial topic! That's right, we're covering Hungary's own Ferencvaros, the most decorated club from the proud footballing nation — and often its most contentious. Real-life history major David Blomquist takes us back to the club's founding through its dense history to find out how it became the domestic powerhouse we know today, and also to flesh out its complicated identity and relationship with far-right nationalism. So a super light episode, basically! Let's all hope Viktor Orbán does not come after David. We also discuss the current iteration of the squad under manager Robbie Keane and why they've had such a good start to their Europa League campaign. So join us on a tour of the layered history of a famous club, whose political entanglement reflects a broader sporting reality across the globe — and yes, is also a good football team! Cheers Robbie Keane!

    34 min
  7. Underdogs upend favorites, Strasbourg beats Palace, and Dutch clubs despair | Europa League Match-Day 5, Conference League Match-Day 4

    12/01/2025

    Underdogs upend favorites, Strasbourg beats Palace, and Dutch clubs despair | Europa League Match-Day 5, Conference League Match-Day 4

    We're thankful this week for a full Thanksgiving slate of Europa and Conference League action that delivered some of the best games and storylines of the league phase thus far. In Europa, Ludogorets shocked Celta Vigo with a 3-2 in Bulgaria. How'd they pull one of the biggest surprises of the tournament thus far? We then break down the struggle of Feyenoord, Utrecht, and Go Ahead Eagles, who all lost amidst grueling schedules. What's going wrong for the Dutch sides? Can any of them rebound and qualify for knockouts? Are Robin van Persie and his son up to the challenge? We also touch on Roma's win over Midtjylland, Bologna's impressive run of form, and naturally, the carcass of OG Nice, who now sit rock bottom of the table. There we upsets galore in Conference League, with each of the top 4 league sides falling. Strasbourg got a signature win in their triumph over the visiting Crystal Palace, and we hone in on what made the fixture such an exciting watch and why the clubs have established themselves as clear favorites. Then, we examine Rayo Vallecano's penchant for making life hard on themselves, Mainz's mediocre play catching up with them, and the dismal existence that is Fiorentina. And, naturally, we give Hamrun Spartans some love for becoming the first Maltese club to win a UEFA group-stage match. All that, some table takeaways, more VAR vitriol, and of course, David's Coefficient Corner. Cheers to our old friend Vincenzo Italiano!

    1h 26m
  8. Inaugural Women's Europa Cup check-in, World Cup qualifying, and a look-ahead to a Thanksgiving Match-Day!

    11/25/2025

    Inaugural Women's Europa Cup check-in, World Cup qualifying, and a look-ahead to a Thanksgiving Match-Day!

    We're back to hit on a number of topics as we return to European football this week! First, we dive into UEFA's new European tournament, the Women's Europa Cup, as it reaches the quarterfinal stage of its inaugural season. We discuss how it could benefit the European women's game long term, why the qualifying process is so damn complicated, and who advanced out of the Round of 16 (hello Scandinavia!) — including some stoppage and extra time drama. Then we touch on some of the best stories from the international break, including Scotland, Haiti, and Curaçao qualifying for next summer's tournament, before finishing with a quick look ahead to Thursday's packed slate. I hope you're as grateful for Thanksgiving-day Europa and Conference League action as we are! Cheers to Maxwell (listen to the end to learn why)!

    39 min
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On Any Given Thursday, football enthusiasts Maxwell Brown & David Blomquist cover all things Europa League & Europa Conference League. Match-day reactions, club spotlights, untold stories, unique narratives — if it happens on a Thursday, we're talking about it. So from Reykjavík to Roma, Zürich to Zagreb, Bodø to Baku, and everywhere in between, join us as we explore European football beyond the oil clubs.

Information

  • Creator
    Maxwell Brown & David Blomquist
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    161
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026
  • Show Website
    Any Given Thursday