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Wolfsburg-Lyon | Arsenal-Chelsea | UWCL Recaps! · Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football

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OK. Welcome to Into the Channel
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podcast Primer by Owen Supply, my host Dean of Suspicious and
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as always, I am joined by my coast, Mr. Grant Engel.
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What is up man? I'm feeling fantastic buddy.
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Pretty 2 pretty entertaining, compelling football matches play
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today. Had to watch one like as work
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was going on. Saved another one for post work.
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But you know that's the life of a football fan in America.
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But I'll tell you very entertained by both matches.
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I've got something, but let me just let me just hit it here
0:43
because there's no way I'm going to remember this later in the
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show. I'm in the same boat.
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You know, I, I watched the early match got, you know, had a
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little work window, so I was able to watch most of it real
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time live. Second match less so and once I
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can't watch a match live, I go into like straight avoid social
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media at all cost mode, you know, so I have my go to so I'm
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like, all right, I can't go to social media.
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What am I going to go to One of my go to is I incessant?
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I incessantly refresh our YouTube to see like our
1:14
subscriber count and let me tell you when I saw the subscriber
1:18
count drop by two, what happened?
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Your boy, your boy knew what time it was.
1:23
I kind of knew what time it was. That was a little little tip of
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the I'm like, that's, that's odd, you know, that we don't
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usually get to in in the matter of half an hour.
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Yeah, like it's just, it's an odd happening.
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So I'm like, I think that that might have that, that might be a
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little a little bit of a tell. That's amazing.
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I've never, I've never clocked that.
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Yeah, I did see a drop by one at one point and I was just like,
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no, what did we do? What happened?
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But yeah, I didn't do anything, my man.
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I didn't put I didn't put it together that it was just an
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angry. I don't even want to hear about
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it. To somebody click and
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unsubscribe. You know what, to each, to each
2:02
their own. That's OK.
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Just come back in a few weeks after I've cooled off and, you
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know, just come back to Earth. That's it, all right.
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Man, where you want to get started?
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Let's get started with a beverage to celebrate that good
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football. That's pretty.
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Pretty. Entertaining.
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That's right. Compelling.
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I like that. That was a nice use of
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compelling early in the show. I appreciate that.
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And I thought it was I was, you know, trying.
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I was knocking through work during that that first match,
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just kind of keeping my eye on it.
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And I was like, man, this is this is happening, huh?
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We're here. I mean, that was a great one.
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Let's get, let's get to, let's get to that one.
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Let's get to 1. Leon Nil.
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Bit of a shocker. I think so.
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I mean, in the preview you and I talked about it.
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What or you know, when we were talking about the previewing the
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weekend matches when Wolfsburg defeated Hoffenheim, we it was
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before that match obviously and we were asking the question
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where we going to get the good Wolfsburg versus Hoffenheim and
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the not so good Wolfsburg versus Lyon, where we're going to get
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the not so good Wolfsburg versus Hoffenheim and the competitive
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Wolfsburg versus Lyon. And I think that's what we got.
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I mean, I think you know what they had.
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It was a relatively close win over Offenheim and then they
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came out and they looked good early in this one.
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They did look good early, I thought from from from pretty
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much the jump. I thought their passing was
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crisp, had some real zip on those.
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And they kind of like, were very purposeful in possession early.
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Like they kind of was like, all right, we, we, we got the ball.
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Let's let's make Leon run a little bit extra here, you know,
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And it was like they just kept stretching it, stretching it,
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stretching it. And they just but by by around
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half halfway through the match. And it's so funny because early
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in the match there was a couple of set pieces.
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You can really see the size difference between the two.
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And I was like, oh, my God, you know, yeah, like kind of set me
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back on my heels. I'm like, well, Leon looks
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bigger, stronger, you know, faster.
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It's like we're not really sure there yet, but but Wolfsburg was
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able to kind of run them ragged a little bit, kind of tire them
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out and, you know, I don't know, keep, keep a little bit of
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control of the match, a little bit command of the match, I
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thought, which was really awesome.
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Especially in that first like 15 or so minutes, Obviously they
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get the goal right before the the 15th minute.
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I want to say I think my notes have it as the 14th.
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Yeah, it was the 14th, you know, but there was there was that
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thing in my mind when they missed that early chance, it was
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like within the 1st 2 minutes, you know, you seen Jeland,
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former SK Brown player who I thought played well all match in
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this one or her entire time on the pitch.
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You know, she kind of had that that dink off the off the
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rebound of the corner and it just kind of like weirdly
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bounces off Handler and I was just like, oh boy, you don't
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want to miss chances like that. Like if you're going to have
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opportunities against Leon and you miss them early.
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We've talked about that very small margin for error against
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Leon and they still managed to to keep putting on the pressure
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in that first 15. Yeah.
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And I think Beardstein, we mentioned big part of that,
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Vivian Endeman, another big part of that.
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I I loved how they played. It's funny, like obviously we
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get the Alex Pop news, Alex Pop moves on.
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I kind of was thinking about Alex Pop like who, who like the
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cross sport comp might be for a player of that stature, kind of
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like moving on because you know, like she's such a great player,
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like her legacy. It's not it's like inarguable,
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right, right. But you do kind of see and you
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see what the German team to the German national team when she's
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out there, she has so much gravity like or with her own
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team, like her own team, kind of like moves around her in a
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specific way. And and then I'm like, who's
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this? Remind me of it?
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Remind me kind of like like Kobe and the Lakers, like post Gasol,
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where it's like such a big player, like you can't help but
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like you just can't. You could be they could be
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behind you. You could be looking the other
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way and you just feel them behind you.
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And I thought, you know, not that they're better without pop,
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but without pop, it kind of did feel like everything was
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available, if that makes sense. Like, you know, runs vision,
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like now we don't have to just look in One Direction.
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Not that they were doing that, but it just felt a little bit
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more open, a little bit more dynamic, right.
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And it and I'm just I wasn't used to seeing Lyon have to
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chase so much, you know, like to to kind of like win balls back
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and and effectively kind of stay in the match at like at one
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point I was like, is the Wolfburg like better?
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Like this is a weird. This is like at the 2025 minute
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mark. I kind of was taken aback.
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This is the thing with Wolfsburg that we talked about is that
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sometimes you get very, very good Wolfsburg and you kind of
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look and you're looking around the roster and you're like, OK,
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well, Pettimores is playing great.
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Biernstein that everybody's afraid of her scoring a goal,
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Endemon, Minga, Dykstra, Bielda and Linder I thought were
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playing great on defense, but particularly Bielda.
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She was all over the place. But I I see what you're saying.
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And then like, again, it's not that like all better better
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without Alex pop because even when the defense can key in on
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her, she can still make things happen because she's such a
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dynamic passer and she can score the ball.
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But to your point, when she's not on the pitch and like, maybe
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the attack might be, you know, 8% more varied, 12% more varied,
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then, you know, maybe that can throw a team like Leon off who
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may have been scouting, you know, spending a lot of time on
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like, hey, if we think Pop's going to play, here's what she's
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going to do. You know, obviously we don't
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have any insight into into what the Geraldus was was doing pre
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match. But I I, I think your point
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stands where, you know, it's not it's not anything against Alex
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Pop you, like you said, she's a legend.
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Her her career is unimpeachable, but they looked good out there.
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We got the good Wolfsburg, but how many times have we seen this
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with them where they come out and they super impress and then
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the next match they fall flat on their face and we're like, well,
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what the hell happened? Yeah, I mean that that that's
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always on the table. But you know, I thought this was
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a very inspired performance. Like I thought I thought they
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played really, really well. And I think I want to kind of
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shift gears a little bit, talk about Leon, because I think
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we're starting to see the the the ugly effects of playing in
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the league where you're just not playing teams that push you, you
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know, and I think we'll we'll talk about Arsenal like, you
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know, in in the second match up. But I think there's something to
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a team like Arsenal having won last season, you know, because
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they weren't the favorite. They didn't have a bunch of
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these games. You know, they just go out there
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and it's all right, it's four nil, but it's like 20 minutes
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in, you know, like they they were, they're chasing jealousy.
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They're chasing city last year. They're getting knocked around
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the Champions League last year and I think that kind of builds
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up a bunch of metal. Leon had none of that.
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We talked about that, you know, like would Leon be knockout
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stage ready? And they for sure today we're
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not knockout stage ready. You know, I mean, I think they
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looked they looked a little slow.
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They looked a little, you know, you know, uninspired on offense,
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like kind of kind of easy to defend.
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Like there was there was some spots where I mean Lindsay
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Heaps, my year of the heaps took a took a massive thing, you
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know, like she's got that on that giveaway.
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And then and then she tried, you know, like she tries to, you
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know, make it make it happen on offense and you know, obviously
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like gives it right. But and like when she was
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looking engaged, she's like, I'm like, I'm like, here's my get
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back right now and then gives it away and then ends up becoming
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the enema Dr. and the Barestein goal.
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Yeah, rough one, rough one for captain and Team USA.
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But I mean, her teammates didn't do a ton to help her out either.
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I mean, you know it, it's a bit like, you know, no excuses for
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it's a it's a terrible giveaway to endeman who who then drives
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up the field. I will say the goal itself,
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taking the ricochet off Orlando, FL native Tamara Sagarola is
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Speaking of Americans. Although you know, shouldn't
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play for USA. I'm not trying to be funny
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there, but like it is funny that she was born in Orlando, FL
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Orlando, FL to a highlight player.
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I believe her father is. I think that's what he was doing
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in Florida. Anyway, we digress.
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Per usual, kind of an unfortunate bounce, maybe a
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little bit of a ball. Don't lie in the in the sense
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that there was that other opportunity where Beerenstein
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misses a header that she should have at least put on frame.
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But like, it just felt like Leon's whole attack was just so
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blah. If I may use a technical
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football term. Yeah, I mean, I was, and I kind
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of, I was, I kind of blanked out for a second.
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But before the Heaps giveaway, I have it in my notes here.
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Remember the remember when Heaps and Coover got into the The
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Clash, like right inside the box and Heaps was kind of looking
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for a call and it was like it was a, it was a close, real
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bang, bang kind of situation. I wrote it down in my notes
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because I'm just like, damn. Like I really wish that Heaps
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would have tried to beat her there, you know, because it's
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like I get, I get it's probably the smarter play, you know, to,
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to cut, try to get the foul. And it was so close.
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It was really, really borderline, but in these types
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of matches and it's not like, you know, it's been eliminated.
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You know, they're down a goal, they're going to go back home.
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You know, they're they're probably still the odds on favor
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to advance. But you could desperately see a
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world where where they get tripped up here just because
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they they definitely don't feel, you know, like they're at the
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same, they didn't feel like they're at the same speed, you
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know, and I, and I thought that play from Heaps was a little bit
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indicative of like, you know, like are, are they really going
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to go for it? You know, they really going to
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go for it or they just going to be like, Hey, we're Leon.
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This will, this will all work itself out after 180 minutes.
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And I think, I think Heaps kind of realized in that moment that
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probably she should have gone for it.
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She doesn't get the call. And then the giveaway happens, I
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think within the within a minute, which are within 45
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seconds. It's very, very shortly
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thereafter where maybe she's trying to like really being a
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press and overcompensate and then obviously things kind of go
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off the rails there. But to their credit, they were
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able to hold, you know, like a pretty game Wolfsburg side.
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But offensively, I'm not sure where the answers are.
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I mean, there's, there was, there was a big sub that
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happened at 60 Speaking of heaps that kind of gave them a little
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bit of life, but I don't know what what is, what do they go to
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offensively? I mean, let's just get this out
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of the way. I mean, for our pals.
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If anybody's been waiting for it, what Dino's essentially
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saying about Lyon's schedule in Premier League are chemo.
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They ain't played nobody in their last five last five
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matches in in France. Let me see 10121822 they have
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outscored their opponents 22 to two.
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Then they're just. Get ready like that.
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Just rolling over teams and you know, I mean we talked about
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Flurry 1991 or Flurry 91, Pardon me, the 91 as you coined last
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time, by the way, amazing, amazing line by you.
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Yeah, I mean and that was two first half goals and then they
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just kind of see the match out when 2 nil.
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But to to your question like it when they when Gerald has
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brought on it was Brand and Schrader, right.
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And I think in the same in the same window.
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What? And that was around the hour
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mark, I think. Sorry.
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Yeah, that was at the end. Yeah, yeah, OK.
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Yeah. 6160 sixty one. Yeah.
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And like, yeah, it was, it was very clear that Geraldo's was
14:22
like, OK, we need to just start running more like, you know, at
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the goal faster attacking style. And it was like sort of
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effective. And, you know, the in the in
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that second-half, they had a bunch more shots.
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Let's see. It was, yeah, 11 shots to three,
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two on, but only two on target to, to Wolfsburg's none.
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And I thought Wolfsburg was just able to keep them at Bay.
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There was never, there were never any of those like super
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dangerous DNA moments that it, that I felt like, you know, she
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was really on the cusp of scoring.
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And, you know, and then correct me if I'm wrong here, maybe I'm
15:01
forgetting one because, you know, because I was, I was doing
15:04
something while I was trying to, while I was watching.
15:06
But like, I don't know, they just never looked super
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dangerous. No, they didn't.
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And I think it might be crazy to say, but I think we might be on
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the on the on the other side of the the DNA as a as a wrecker at
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this level. They just did not look honestly,
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they didn't look like a team that would beat any other team.
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Yeah. Any of the other teams in the in
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the field, you know, with kind of with that performance.
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Well, there's one we'll talk about later.
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Yeah, that's fair enough. Yeah.
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We go, but we're going to get a loser's bracket action.
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I did want to mention Lynette Berenstain the goal, You know,
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we, we, we kind of breeze through the goal, the, the, the
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footwork, the skills, the class, you know, and the, and stepping
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up in the moment. I mean, I feel like it's been, I
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don't know, 567 times or we've been we've gotten hyped up for
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the Lynette beard. We we feel Lynette beard psyche
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and it wasn't just the goal for her on this day.
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You know, she was sharp, she was pressing, you know, she wanted
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to kind of mix it up physically. Love to see that you want to get
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out and run, but she in in the skill on the on the goal just to
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pop up up like the the three touches to kind of get get get
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the defender, you know, on their heels a little bit.
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I just loved it. I just thought I've been I've
16:27
been kind of waiting for it. Culmination was great and you
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know, like it was just a a super moment and then I love it.
16:35
They were going to kind of hold them off.
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Yeah, and I like that, the announcer said, you know, even
16:40
after, you know, Endemont had the had the interception off the
16:43
heaps layoff to kind of start, start the whole thing, it wasn't
16:47
a good pass. And the announcer has said not a
16:49
good pass to Beerenstein, but, you know, she was able to she
16:53
kind of like had to turn around and then maneuver to the right,
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like you said it. Yeah, the footwork was
16:58
absolutely outstanding. And then, yeah, well, I'll go
17:01
back Coover as well. But Dykstra be Elda Pettimore's
17:06
Minga. Just so disruptive on the
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defensive end in in a lot of different spots.
17:12
Like they just didn't let Leon do all the stuff that they
17:15
usually do. There was and they were so quick
17:19
too. Sorry, this was the point that I
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was going to make. You could tell that Leon,
17:24
they're just used to like having time, you know, like, oh, you
17:27
know, like, oh God, I want to, I want to like do my move here,
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you know, and so many times like Minga, a poke, like a fast poke,
17:36
you know, like there was one where I'm forgetting the
17:39
attacker, but the attacker gets past Coover and Minga is there
17:42
just as like kind of poke it away like you like an instant
17:46
extinguishing of of what's available.
17:49
And you could tell Leon's like, we're not used to this.
17:52
We're we're used to having a little bit more good amount more
17:55
room just to kind of get busy. But things were closing down so
17:59
quickly. I thought that Wolfsburg once
18:02
things got compact, you know, and you can see it like Leon got
18:06
a bunch of shots. Most of their shots were from
18:07
inside the box, but it was so compact that none of the none of
18:10
the looks were were all that really good.
18:13
Totally agree. And you know, we, we've talked
18:16
about her a bunch. We, we love her game so much.
18:19
I think this probably says a lot.
18:20
Melchi Du Mornay completed 78% of her passes.
18:24
She was 28 for 36. She created one shot or one
18:27
chance. Pardon me.
18:28
She had zero shots on target. She only managed 2 shots and she
18:33
had one blocked. He's like, if you're going to do
18:36
that to Du Mornay, you're giving yourself a pretty good shot.
18:40
Now, obviously Lone Leon has talent all over the field.
18:44
You take Du Mornay out like that.
18:46
I mean, that's a real big step in your favor.
18:50
That that one chance of created, I'm not sure if it's the same
18:53
chance, but they had that one step play where Basha goes to du
18:58
Mornay and then du Mornay puts the cross into out of
19:02
Heigenberg. I mean, I don't usually do this,
19:06
I'd never do this, but I think if it's me, I think I'm
19:10
finishing that. What are you doing?
19:15
I'm just, I'm just joking, but. The all time leader in goals in
19:19
the history of the UEFA Women's Champions League.
19:21
What are we? What are we talking about?
19:22
Dude? She's got to let let the.
19:23
Ball hit her shoot. No, no, no.
19:27
The thought did. The thought didn't cross like
19:28
mine. I was like, I'm going to say
19:29
this on the show. I'm not serious about it, but
19:32
the the chance the chance was, I mean, that wasn't a mass a
19:36
massive chance and the ball kind of squirts under Hedgerberg and
19:41
it was like, are they kind of snake bitten?
19:44
But you know, like I ultimately I'm like, no, they're not snake
19:48
bitten. They're not used to having to
19:52
like like just basically scored this little sliver of a window,
19:56
right? Like that was the window.
19:58
That was probably their best chance.
20:00
The ball squirts in and. Hagelberg like she's she's she's
20:03
buried that you know, hundreds of times probably, but this is a
20:07
huge spot in a knockout. You know, like and you know,
20:11
first leg of two, but not encouraged.
20:15
I, I think, I, I think I'd be a little bit worried if I'm, if
20:18
I'm a Leo and Finn and, and I'm not sure even if they did get
20:20
past Wolfsburg, like, you know, how much, how much gas is left
20:24
in that tank. Yeah.
20:28
Unless they make changes, right, Like, I mean, I'm not sure like
20:30
and I don't know, like I thought a player I thought about
20:32
Sophie's fava, like who is like a different speed.
20:36
I'm not sure her injury status, but and we know we talked about
20:38
Lily coming in for for heaps. Koto comes in.
20:41
I'm not sure she was effective. Beto comes in.
20:44
I thought she looked exciting for, you know, a couple a couple
20:48
moments there, but I don't know, I think I think Gerald is
20:51
probably going to have to sort some stuff out because when I
20:54
saw that lineup of like, oh, this is this the A1 team?
20:57
It's like all the vets, all the experience, you know, it's all
21:00
the all the biggest names, which I'm sure you were fired up
21:02
about. But on the pitch, you know, it
21:05
didn't didn't look all that awesome.
21:07
You know, actually, Lawrence definitely look like she's
21:09
working her way back. And you know, it didn't on paper
21:13
looked much better than what it did on the pitch.
21:16
I'm I'm glad you mentioned that, because not to pick on Ashley
21:19
Lawrence because we, you know, we love her game.
21:20
I. Love Ashley Lawrence.
21:22
Awesome player, but there there was.
21:24
I'm so glad you pointed out in her work and her way back, there
21:27
was a ball that was kind of like bouncing in the attacking 3rd
21:34
for Wolfsburg and Endemon beat Lawrence to the ball.
21:38
And I was just like, oh, whoa, I don't, I'm not used to that.
21:42
That's like, and I know and a month and a month's quick and
21:44
she's smart and, you know, she gets in good position.
21:46
But to see Lawrence get beat like that, I mean, it's going to
21:49
happen to everybody. But I was just like, oh that,
21:50
that looked weird. That didn't look right.
21:52
I know which player you're talking about.
21:54
Pretty sure. All right.
21:56
So what do you think happens the return leg?
22:01
I I still believe, you know, losing 1 nil in the first away
22:08
leg, it's happened to the better team in a lot of these
22:12
situations. And so now Leon has a home
22:15
match. Yeah, they got to get to, I
22:19
think they're more than capable of it.
22:21
I think I I've just been bitten by Wolfsburg so many times, 2
22:27
where I see him play a good match.
22:29
I'm like, there we go. We got the we got it figured
22:32
out, let's go smooth. Surely this is smooth sailing
22:36
from here. And then I go back and then they
22:39
just put up a performance. I'm like, why?
22:41
Who's who's who's deciding any of this?
22:44
Like what's happening here? Yeah, I.
22:46
Was shot like 20 to 1. Or something bizarre have or and
22:51
at this point it stops being bizarre.
22:53
I will say like, remember our Norwegian pals in during the EUR
22:58
and it was like, you know, we had got some of the comments
23:02
that were like play Turland over Hegenberg.
23:04
Just do it like, you know what, that it's time.
23:07
And you know, Hackenberg, like I said, she's the all time leading
23:10
scorer in the history of this competition.
23:11
She's only 30 years old. You know, she's not like past
23:15
her prime or anything like that. But but you got Mary Antoinette
23:21
Katoto sitting right there. Yeah, and and, you know,
23:26
honestly, I'm not sure Katoto is the answer either, honestly.
23:29
You know, because like, again, you know, and, and I might be
23:33
wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure when we see Leon exit this
23:39
tournament, because I don't think they're going to win this
23:41
tournament, I think it's going to look like they, you know, it,
23:47
it's almost like when the preseason and the BSL team plays
23:50
in like a tournament, they're they're playing like a mid
23:53
season, you know, like, I think it's going to look like that.
23:55
I think they're going to kind of get run off the pitch and it'll
23:58
sort of be like, oh, now it's maybe it's time to kind of turn
24:01
the page a little bit because that that team didn't look like
24:07
the team, you know, like even though they were the biggest, it
24:10
was, it's weird. It's the biggest names that they
24:11
could put out there. And then when you see them
24:14
playing, you're like, this team can't they can't do it.
24:17
Like, this is not the right 11, you know?
24:19
And I feel pretty strongly about that.
24:22
I love it, Yeah. You're never shy about a strong
24:25
take, Yeah. I don't know what like what did
24:30
they do that we're just like, Oh yeah, it's not like they hit the
24:33
you know, like they hit the post a bunch of times and they kind
24:36
of dominated everywhere. You know, they they got more
24:38
shots off, but you know, shots on target, you know, like that
24:41
dissipates. What what did the stats end up
24:43
being? Shots on target was like
24:47
definitely in in range. What three that can't be no,
24:50
that's the first half three to three, even though Leon out
24:54
shoots them nineteen to seven. So it's like.
24:57
Yeah. That's not really going to work.
24:59
And the thing that I mentioned up top, they're passing, you
25:04
know, like Wolfsburg able to crisply, sharply move the ball
25:09
around, move the Leon defense around, just run them around
25:12
like, you know, just kind of keep them busy.
25:14
You know, they complete 80% of their passes against that Leon
25:17
defense. Like we're not used to.
25:19
Like when do we see that? Yeah, that's interesting.
25:25
I feel like. Yeah.
25:27
OK, so we've crossed a Rubicon. Here you are.
25:29
You are clearly more skeptical of Lyon than I am.
25:33
Do you think do you think they can win the Champions League?
25:36
No. OK, I I think they can.
25:39
I think they can. They cannot.
25:41
Win the Champions League, They cannot.
25:45
I think it makes the final. I think they can make the they
25:48
can't beat Barcelona. If they make the final, if you
25:51
could make the final, you could win, right?
25:53
No. You're the best I have.
25:58
No, I have no chance arguing against you.
26:00
You're the absolute best. I mean, I don't know, bro, like
26:04
can they they can't be Barcelona.
26:06
I I don't think you know, like they they looked, they looked
26:11
like a team that you know, it's well, I'm not sure if they're
26:14
going to be wolves. So what are we really talking
26:17
about? Like you only win two more
26:18
rounds. Can we play can we play a game
26:22
real real quick? I realize we're already at 26.
26:25
OK, we're going to play a game called when's the last good Leon
26:29
win? OK, so so I, I mentioned they
26:34
beat Fleury on March 21. They beat La Havre in Coupe de
26:39
France feminine 7 nil. They also they beat La Havre on
26:47
also on March 10th the week before 3 nil they beat Marseille
26:52
6 to 2. They beat St.
26:54
Antienne 4 nil. On February 1st they beat
26:57
Perry's Angermann away one nil. Good win I.
27:04
Mean the where did they finish of the in the group stage?
27:10
I think they finished dead last. Not great, pretty close.
27:13
I think it was pretty close to dead last.
27:16
They're not you know, they're it's sort of like the fighter
27:20
that's like from the Midwest, the boxer that you ain't fought
27:23
nobody. You know, you're 14 to know, but
27:26
like you know, you you Scroll down, you're like this ain't it.
27:31
I could I could be proven wrong. Obviously got friends over at
27:34
Leon, but I just I don't see it. I don't see it.
27:39
I mean, I think they would need to make some some that that that
27:43
squad is. I don't see it with that squad
27:45
period, right. If they move some stuff around
27:48
and, you know, reorient some stuff and now the attack looks
27:51
different and you know, the midfield there, there, there's,
27:56
there's more effectiveness, you know, more impact from them
27:59
maybe, but that's going to take some tinkering and there's just
28:02
not not a ton of time left. I yeah, I under, I understand
28:06
where you're coming from. I think for me, I want more du
28:09
mornay at #10 time, more Kototo at 9 Johannes.
28:15
Said I want Beto. I want Beto to start.
28:19
To to start is awesome. I love that as a great take.
28:22
I I would like to see it. I I would like you LeBron to
28:27
start on the wing sure so I don't know you know Jonathan,
28:33
hit us up. We got tips for you.
28:36
You know I'm sure you're dying for our insight in the coaches.
28:40
Oh. God, the last but I just.
28:42
I'm so traumatized from the last time I talked to told Yonah in
28:46
my head was spinning for two weeks after trying to figure out
28:48
what he was saying saying to me about real hardcore football
28:51
shit. I'm the the city was telling me
28:53
was like too football for me. I was like, I'm not, I'm not at
28:55
that level bro, but I appreciate you.
28:57
You, I mean that that speaks to the question you asked.
29:00
What Dino's referring to is, well, when Yonatan Geraldes was
29:03
the manager of Washington Spirit, he asked him a question
29:06
about an adjustment he made to the attack.
29:10
And Geraldes rattled off a, a, a, a paragraph, like a mid size
29:14
paragraph of the adjustments that he made.
29:17
And I think between us, we probably watched that clip of
29:22
him saying that semi large paragraph probably 250 times as
29:27
his just footballing computer brain just spit out everything
29:31
that was happening in photographic detail of why he
29:35
made the the choices he made. And it was fucking awesome.
29:39
That dude is good at his job. Yeah, it was so funny.
29:43
And it's a little bit of that sidebar, but did you see the,
29:48
the, the, the did you end up seeing the Alex Strauss answer
29:51
to my question? Oh, I know I haven't.
29:53
Seen it go to go to the it's the latest way into Bay video.
29:57
Go check out way into Bay, our new channel.
29:59
Everybody we're covering everything BFC.
30:02
But after the BFC Angel City loss, I'm sorry, BFC is lost
30:05
Angel City. I got a chance to ask Alexander
30:08
Strauss a question. Totally different vibe, very
30:12
philosophical, very growth mindsetty, very, very heady.
30:16
You know, kind of like AI don't know he he he could be he could
30:19
definitely live in the in the business world on the
30:22
consultancy circuit because just because he's got he's got he's
30:24
got a good vibe and a good a good way of storytelling, but
30:28
totally different than Yoda. A funny a funny watch.
30:31
Definitely go check that out We're.
30:34
Yeah, if I think over time, yes, but if I get a way into Bay,
30:37
you'd be foolish not to watch it.
30:38
Dino does great interviews. He has the great access to the
30:41
players, to Emma Coats, the manager in this in this episode
30:45
to to Alexander Strauss, manager of of Angel City.
30:50
Go watch it. It's always good.
30:51
I was super busy today but the episodes are like go ahead.
30:56
Spain does Jane Yellen still tier for our Wolfsburg crew got
30:59
a little Q&A with with Svendis after the player of the match.
31:03
For sure the end of yourself every week, front runner.
31:06
For sure I pick. Everybody knows.
31:09
Exactly, should have went on a different podcast and made that
31:12
pick. I know, yeah, I just got a fine
31:14
one, right? All right, we'll talk about the
31:17
other one. Let's let's skip it.
31:19
Arsenal 3 Chelsea won. I tried to tell them, I tried to
31:25
tell him bro, I tried to tell him that's it.
31:28
And whoever unsubscribe, if you're going to, if you're going
31:30
to subscribe, just just set yourself a Google account
31:33
reminder, come back in a few weeks, 3-4 or five weeks, we'll
31:36
all be cooled off. Come back, definitely come back.
31:38
But I definitely try to tell him about Chelsea.
31:41
But with that said, Chelsea was cooking early.
31:45
I don't think they dominated the 1st 1520 minutes, but it's like
31:49
they owned the 1st 1520 minutes with those chances hitting the
31:52
post, like getting the ooze and it's like, you know, a little
31:56
Rucker Park. They got all the oohs and ahs.
31:57
You know, you look at the scoreboard, the scoreboard still
32:00
even, but the vibes were all Chelsea the 1st 1520 minutes.
32:04
Without question, do like a couple quick things from my
32:07
notes looks like Codina might have her hands full with Alyssa
32:11
Thompson this evening. And then later I wrote now LJ
32:15
off the post. I thought for sure she was going
32:17
to score. And then as I close out that I,
32:20
I, I typically write my notes in the 15 minute blocks as I close
32:24
out that I wrote quote Arsenal, definitely the aggressor or no
32:32
Chelsea, sorry, Chelsea, definitely the aggressor over
32:35
the course of the 1st. 15 yeah, no doubt.
32:38
And they had those big chances. I mean, Alyssa Thompson, it
32:42
wasn't just Codina. I mean, she was frying The Cave,
32:45
too. I like, I can't run either.
32:48
I in my notes, I wrote another Alyssa Thompson run around the
32:51
corner. Slagers needs all caps an
32:54
adjustment ASAP. All OK, obviously ASAP is all
32:57
caps for sure, but I I was very I was very unnerved by that
33:01
point. And you know, slagers ends up
33:03
making the change at half time, moving McCabe inside, bringing
33:06
Taylor Hines in as a sub. But coach the next thing I
33:12
wanted the next moment I want to talk about was there was a
33:15
little bit of a turning point. Cena Blaxtenius, who you know, I
33:21
don't want to say her her time at Arsenal has been, it's not
33:24
checkered, but it's like it's, you know, a little some stops
33:29
and starts along the way. Great stretches.
33:33
Stretches were usually cooled off a little bit.
33:36
I thought this was her best game, definitely in a big game.
33:39
And I thought this was the best Blaxinius Russo game in a big
33:43
game that that we've seen. There was a moment where
33:47
Blaxinius, she doesn't really strike me as this kind of
33:50
player. She's very aggressive
33:51
offensively, but I don't think of her as like a bruiser type
33:54
player. And there was a moment where she
33:58
just kind of runs through Khadija Buchanan like he likes,
34:01
like, I'm going to get the ball, I'm going to run through, I'm
34:03
going to get the ball and I'm going to knock the ball to the
34:05
goal. And then you end up getting
34:06
called for a foul. But it was a little bit of a
34:08
close call. But I was like when I saw I was
34:10
like, OK, this is this is a different we're on a different
34:13
wavelength here today. And then to see the kind of game
34:16
that she put forward, all of it was just an extension of that
34:21
level of like locked in this aggressiveness, you know,
34:24
assertiveness, like it, it just, it just extended out from there.
34:30
Yeah, I mean, a goal and an assist from her, that's
34:32
interesting. Yeah, I probably, I mean, I
34:35
thought she played pretty well in the Champions League final,
34:37
but you're probably right, like in a big spot.
34:39
I think she probably looked better in this one.
34:43
Played 77, you know, and I imagine got those got those
34:47
counting stats looked aggressive.
34:50
I mean the the opener that she scored, I mean the quality of
34:57
the free kick was good. It was a it was a beautiful in
35:01
swinger from McCabe. McCabe was cooking on set pieces
35:05
when anytime she was hitting the ball, she was she looked great.
35:09
Her form was great and but you know, by standing is really she
35:13
just kind of had to nod it away. We talked about it when we were
35:18
when we discussed what happened in London City.
35:20
Lionesses versus Chelsea, their defense, Chelsea's defense.
35:26
Not great, man, Not great. Not I mean, I mean, to be
35:35
honest, I think I think Chelsea might be suffering a little bit
35:39
to a lesser extent what Leon suffering from, which is a long
35:45
time of, you know, not come non competitive, like non
35:50
competitive football. And now I think I've, I think
35:54
I've been on this all season. Like they're not used to playing
35:59
as, you know, like a 5050 match, like a -, 110 -, 110 match.
36:04
They're just not they're not used to it.
36:06
They don't really excel in those types of matches.
36:09
They're always grinds. They're always really nasty and
36:15
they don't, I don't know, to me, they don't really know how to
36:16
play in those types of matches with with this group.
36:20
I think they're used to kind of like front running a little bit.
36:24
I thought Alyssa Thompson to start was really great.
36:28
And credit to Chelsea, they kept going to that over and over and
36:31
over again and it was bearing fruit big time.
36:34
And then it end up, you know, opening up a little space for
36:37
LJ. But once that got closed down,
36:41
everything else that was positive from Chelsea was kind
36:44
of like a one off. It was like, oh, oh, ball
36:47
squirts off and oh, they're going to get a look like, you
36:49
know, but it was not a lot of it was replicable.
36:52
It was not like, oh, we found something else.
36:53
Now we can go here and we can't we now we can do something else
36:56
off of that. You know, it was all just what,
36:59
what can we get like, like in this moment, sort of Slim
37:03
Pickens. Yeah.
37:04
I think that's, I think that's a great point.
37:06
And it felt like it kind of bled into everything that they were
37:11
doing at the end of what, at the at the end of the half, I mean,
37:16
sort of the end of the half, right to close.
37:17
So Chloe Kelly's goal to put Arsenal up two nil happened in
37:21
the 32nd minute. You have that goal where Kelly
37:27
is standing in a lot of space. I mean, Bronzes is 6 yards off
37:31
her when she hits the shot now. I think the shot had to be
37:34
probably be around from like 26 or 27 yards.
37:37
I don't think bronze was standing.
37:38
Just outside the 18 gets by Hampton.
37:41
I don't know if Hampton was screened.
37:43
Usually Hampton stop stuff from stop shots from that far out.
37:47
But you have that goal and then you had that free kick play
37:52
where Aaron Cuthbert just kicks the ball out of play.
37:56
Oh my God. And I was just like.
37:57
Wait, what was that? Now, like you, that's not
37:59
Chelsea we've seen from the past few years.
38:03
Dude, you know what the the the exact thought that I had.
38:08
I'm sorry, my bad. Your your video is a little bit
38:11
laggy, but the exact the exact thought that I had that moment
38:15
was like Arsenal is doing to Chelsea what Chelsea used to do
38:18
to everybody else, because you used to play you used to play
38:22
Chelsea. Oh my God, I got a little
38:24
something hit the post. You don't.
38:25
All right, we're close. We're oh, hit the post again.
38:28
Oh, we're close. Like let's and then just cooked
38:31
like just all right, We we weren't close, right, right.
38:35
And I think that was a surprise. And I think it it sort of is
38:38
like this new, this new world where, you know, they're going
38:41
to have to figure out they're going to have to like and and
38:44
this was the point I was making. I'm not sure it was last show or
38:47
the previous show. That area of like that era of
38:50
Chelsea is like a level above everybody else is completely
38:54
over. Like they are now just in this
38:57
mix with these teams and they just that advantage has
39:01
completely dissipated. They're going to have to scratch
39:03
it. And like at this level, they're
39:04
going to have to scratch and claw to compete for WSL.
39:07
Then they have to scratch and claw to stay in the Champions
39:09
League, even at the quarterfinals.
39:10
Like they're just not they're not the the team of a year or
39:13
two ago. So it's like they didn't do
39:15
anything wrong. It's just everything around them
39:17
is kind of shifted a little bit. And I think Arsenal has
39:21
benefited from, you know, just playing in tougher matches,
39:24
playing the underdog role, like having a get crafty.
39:28
You have to think around teams that are, you know, better than
39:31
you, more skilled in you, more talented, deeper than you.
39:33
And I think all that stuff kind of pays off.
39:36
Definitely. And I, I, you know, I mean, we,
39:38
we can never undersell. I think you and I are two pretty
39:42
gigantic Mariana Caldente supporters.
39:45
And so like Arsenal makes that move.
39:48
Arsenal signs Olivia Smith. You know, Emily Fox develops
39:53
into a great player. They signed Chloe Kelly.
39:56
Like, you know, Arsenal is just really hitting on a lot of great
40:00
moves and Chelsea, you know, yeah, you like, you like the way
40:06
Thompson looks, you like the way Lucy Browns looks.
40:10
But. And, and you know, we, we talked
40:13
about it though, so I don't want to have like too short of a
40:15
memory here. Ellie Carpenter looked great for
40:17
Chelsea for a little while, but because she's coming off the
40:21
Asian Cup and she, she's not available, your whole defense
40:25
falls apart when Ellie Carpenter's not out there.
40:27
That's not great. Yeah, and I think, you know, we
40:32
arsenals down Steph Catley and Caleb Ford.
40:35
Should. And carving across, you know, so
40:37
it's like, you know, down down pairs as well too, you know, to
40:40
that same tournament. I just think there's more there.
40:45
There's nothing more chemistry, there's more connectivity going
40:47
on right now in Arsenal, more continuity, you know, and I
40:50
think that really helps them. I this it's one of those
40:52
instances where I think the depth on Chelsea hurts them a
40:55
little bit because there's been so much cycling.
40:57
It's just like they they still kind of play like an All Star
41:01
team. You know, it's like it's
41:03
Alyssa's turn. Oh, it's L JS turn.
41:05
Oh, like, you know, now like and it's, you know, nothing, nothing
41:08
really brewing, you know, from a connectivity standpoint.
41:16
Do you have any takes? Do you have any thoughts?
41:18
Are you, do you have any lead you can?
41:19
Can Chelsea dig their way out of this?
41:22
I mean, you know, they're playing at the bridge, but I, I
41:25
didn't see, I think this one much more than the, the, the
41:30
Wolfsburg Leon tie. This one feels like it's over to
41:34
me. And I'll say something that you
41:36
and I talked about after we watched that London City Chelsea
41:41
match, like on that show, which you guys can still go back and
41:46
watch or listen to on YouTube for free or on Spotify for free
41:49
or Apple podcast for free. You know, we won't charge you
41:52
any money for it. When we you and I were talking
41:55
about it, we had said that L they could be an LJ game and
42:00
Chelsea could still lose. And then maybe like, I mean, I
42:03
guess we should, we should take a second though, that hit that
42:08
she that she employs, that she unleashes for her goal where she
42:15
she settles the ball. You know, Beth Mead tries to
42:18
clear it. I, I do put myself in the mental
42:21
exercise of being a player. And you're like, I'm going to
42:24
head this clear. And you had it clear.
42:26
And you look up and you go, oh wow, that's going to fall right
42:29
to Lauren James, maybe one of the last people on Earth I would
42:33
want it to fall directly to. How long do you think the ball
42:37
feels like it's in the air for Beth Mead after she has it?
42:40
Just watch. It's slow.
42:41
Two hours of all the Yeah, I mean.
42:44
Yeah, I I love the the. Goal of the Tournament.
42:48
So far, I think so. Well, was that a I'm trying to
42:54
think of the athletic goal. I don't think it wasn't Fiamma.
42:58
It was one of the defenders. Remember the one that was like
43:00
way out off, like on the right wing and she hits it on a volley
43:04
on just like an absolute laser. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that one
43:09
was incredible. But.
43:12
I I still think I take this book I mean.
43:15
You know what I love about it? It surprised everybody, yes,
43:18
when it went in. No, it was.
43:20
It was shocking to see and what I love about it was as it falls
43:24
to her, LJ settles it with her left foot.
43:27
So she has to like kind of come across her body a little bit and
43:30
just does that like little move where you like kind of you're
43:33
taking like the top of your foot and you just want to set the
43:36
ball like on a nice little roll. And she's like, you know, she
43:40
could have just tapped it with her right foot, but she's like,
43:42
Nah, settle it with the left and then take a step and then hit it
43:45
with the left With the unbelievable curl.
43:48
I thought Chris Whittingham and Jed Beatty had a had a great
43:51
reaction to it too, especially when they show like the low
43:53
level shot from behind. So you could truly see the curl
43:59
and Whittingham was just like, which is the appropriate
44:03
reaction to that shot. I mean, I I lost my mind when I
44:07
saw I was just I I love LJ, but a crazy.
44:10
I mean that that was the goal so far in the tournament for me.
44:14
Incredible and they needed it and the placement was just
44:17
crazy. Like I couldn't believe how hard
44:19
she hit it and like the IT was like she was going for that.
44:24
I think she was going for that specific spot, you know, like,
44:27
and and she almost came back and got a second one with the same
44:30
like level of like foot. Like when she locks in, it's
44:33
it's, it's really incredible. This year just be like, I'm
44:36
locking in, I'm going to go boom, boom, boom, and I'm going
44:39
to let it RIP and, and and I'm going to make it like it's like
44:42
you don't just like there's nobody that, that really could
44:44
do that at that level. She just kind of do whatever she
44:47
wants pretty much, but she needs help like, you know, like they
44:51
they they need more than just her.
44:54
And I thought it was really telling that that was the only
44:56
goal that they got, like LJ magic, not really replicable.
45:01
What are we, what are we, what are we going to be doing, you
45:03
know, this time next week when these two teams circle back.
45:06
But I I thought who Arsenal brought off the bench was really
45:15
impressive. That's something that I think
45:18
kind of flipped it a little bit for me.
45:20
You look at players like Olivia Smith, freedom on them.
45:25
You know, Taylor Heinz comes on at halftime and it's just like,
45:29
these are players that I feel extremely confident.
45:31
Who am I forgetting? Yeah, Homework was gone.
45:36
Homework was really good. She's so, like, versatile.
45:39
She could play, you know, she could defend.
45:40
She can get up. I think they had her in the
45:42
midfield. And I thought, you know, Chelsea
45:46
kind of missed miss an opportunity with a Vika Kaptine
45:50
bring her on like pretty late because I think for me, the
45:54
it's, it's LJ, it's Alyssa Thompson.
45:57
I think nu skins in this category where they can like
46:01
really flip something fast, you know, anything.
46:03
I thought Kaptine was that kind of player, but I thought, you
46:07
know, they they were sort of missing 1 lightning rod and I
46:11
think bringing her in at 82 maybe a smidge too late.
46:15
Kevin Rude comes in at 57 a little bit interesting, but you
46:18
know, not not quite able to kind of breakthrough and and those
46:20
were the only two Subs if I'm, if I'm reading this right.
46:23
Yeah, yeah, you're totally right.
46:24
And I think that's what Bon Pastor was going for was she
46:27
thought JRK would be, you know, the the spark plug there.
46:31
But you know, she was she got forward in a lot of in a lot of
46:36
instances, but Arsenal's defense is just going to cut you off at
46:40
the pass and, and a lot of the those situations.
46:43
So yeah, I think you're right. I I think they could have had
46:47
captain earlier. We'll see how much different it
46:50
looks when LA Carpenter plays. But you know, even at the bridge
46:54
coming back from from 2 down, super tall order against the
46:59
Champs. Oh, by the way, who happened to
47:01
be your biggest rival? Yeah, and I think they're
47:05
they're playing well enough defensively that they could
47:08
just, you know, shut things down a little bit.
47:10
Homburg is a great player. The I think they were talking
47:13
about it on the telecast, able to play up and back, you know,
47:16
so I could turn it back four and back five potentially, if you
47:19
want to go that route. I can definitely see something
47:21
like that, but I don't know. Chelsea is not I don't think
47:24
it's they're going to be, but we'll see.
47:25
You know that I'm I'm not on the same page as you.
47:28
Interestingly enough, I think Chelsea is just just as live to
47:34
advance. You know, anything, anything can
47:36
kind of happen. I think they're still very much
47:38
live to stay alive in the tournament.
47:40
I'm not, I'm not really slamming the door on Chelsea yet, but
47:43
today was not a good performance.
47:46
OK, All right. Yeah, I O2 advances tough, Yeah,
47:51
OK. I think yeah, I think we're on
47:52
different different wavelengths there yeah.
47:55
I just, I think it's, I think it's going to be too much, I
47:57
think. And what if.
47:58
They what if they get one early, like and then they're they're
48:02
they're you know, they can get like, I mean, I'm not I would be
48:04
shocked if I don't know LJ does something in the 10th minute and
48:07
now it's like, OK, they've got 80 minutes to get one goal like
48:12
that game stayed is very interesting.
48:14
They hit the post twice in eight in the 1st 8 minutes of this
48:17
match. So I think that's, that's
48:18
totally fair. I just, I wonder, even with
48:21
Carpenter out there, can they not give up a goal?
48:23
And, and it feels as weird for me to say it as I'm sure it is
48:28
for people to hear when we're talking about a defense that has
48:30
Naomi Gurma as the, as the, as the center back.
48:33
But I mean, they're just so many, so many moments where the
48:39
defense is just open and on some of the set pieces, they just
48:43
looked confused in, in in some areas.
48:46
I do. I do think we would be remiss if
48:48
we did not mention if we're talking about great touches.
48:50
And we, you know, we spent some time on LJ taking that touch.
48:53
Unless you're Russo. She she was like, not to be
48:56
outdone. OK, LJ, you're going to go left
48:59
foot touch, then left foot strike.
49:01
I'll go right foot touch, right foot strike on the run.
49:04
The way she did it, that was disgusting, unbelievable.
49:08
I couldn't believe it. I mean, another audible, another
49:12
audible sound sound from your boy, just like come on.
49:16
And I love you know, this is this is the same thing that I
49:19
was saying that this is what Chelsea used to do to teams.
49:23
Sure. You think you're in it.
49:26
We're we're going to break you down and then remind you by the
49:30
end of it, you were never really in it, you know, and it's just
49:33
so weird. Again, Arsenal spent years and
49:37
obviously I have a bunch of, you know, Arsenal men's trauma
49:39
trauma in my in my past, you know, but Arsenal spent years
49:44
sort of second class citizen status, you know, in, in Premier
49:49
League. And also, I think since we've
49:50
been covering, they haven't really been world beaters except
49:53
for last year in the, you know, once we get to the end of the
49:55
Champions League, but seems totally flipped now.
49:58
Seems like Arsenal's, you know, the big sister, Chelsea's little
50:01
sister. And you know, I, I think I'm
50:05
still, I'm still trying to struggling to reconcile it
50:08
because I'm like, I think, yeah, it is still Chelsea.
50:11
They do still have a ton of firepower.
50:13
But I all we haven't seen it this season.
50:18
Like, you know, you mentioned that Lyon run of like art.
50:20
When was their last great win. Chelsea's had some good wins,
50:23
but nothing like we've we've we've gotten accustomed to where
50:28
it's like this is just a steamrolling like this is an
50:31
absolute like we just don't see those performances from them
50:34
anymore. And we're in crunch time.
50:37
You know, we mentioned that that Lindsay Lightness's match.
50:40
You know, it's it trips me out that the the announcers keep
50:43
talking about, oh, Chelsea still in the WSL.
50:46
We're still still sort of like everybody still kind of has to,
50:49
you know, go through the motions of being like, yeah, they're
50:51
still. But they're they're just not
50:54
they're they're not, they're way out of the WSL race and they're
50:59
kind of hanging on by a thread. I'm not going to close the door,
51:01
but you know, they're, they're certainly, certainly behind,
51:05
behind the 8 ball here. Yeah, totally.
51:07
And you know, if we if you want to play the the great wins game,
51:11
obviously Arsenal beat City a a couple weeks ago.
51:14
City kind of starting to really put the stranglehold on winning
51:17
the title and the WSLI mean that what was February 1st, Yeah,
51:22
February 1st, Arsenal, 3 Corinthians 2 in that incredible
51:26
match in in the the FIFA Women's Champions Cup.
51:30
I always butcher the name. I want to make sure I look it up
51:32
so I don't screw it up. But it's, you know, the
51:34
tournaments existed for like 25 minutes.
51:36
But yeah, like, but that's an awesome win.
51:39
And like the way they did it and that started, you know, we're
51:44
always honest about these things.
51:45
We always owe the audience honesty.
51:47
You know, you root for your takes, you root for your your
51:50
predictions until we're like proven wrong.
51:52
It's like, OK, that's fine. I got that one wrong.
51:55
But like, it just felt like from that moment Arsenal gets there,
52:00
you know, they had their little struggle, what they lost to Lyon
52:04
in the in the league phase of the Champions League, but they
52:08
just kind of started to turn it around.
52:11
They get what I, you know, was referring to as better than a
52:14
bye when they got to kind of get themselves right versus, OH,
52:18
Levin. And I know man, I think, I think
52:21
they're a real threat to to lift the trophy again.
52:25
I think they're definitely in the mix.
52:27
I'm going to wait until when do we I want to make some
52:30
predictions, but I mean, we're not going to make any tournament
52:33
predictions. But I I feel like after could we
52:35
do it after the first leg, after the second leg, we'll have our
52:38
final four. That makes a little bit
52:39
different. I already know after the first
52:42
leg I'm going to swing. I'm going to swing way the wrong
52:44
way. I'll be I'll be, I'll be I'll
52:47
I'll chalk it, you know, like I'll I'll pencil in all the four
52:49
of the the underdogs because they they were competitive or
52:52
got wins at home. But we'll see.
52:55
I'm, I'm going to do a couple of predictions.
52:57
Well, actually, do you have, do you have a, an, had you made a,
53:02
an official prediction for a Champions League champion?
53:05
I can't remember. Can't remember if we did either,
53:08
so we should be. We should do a better job of
53:11
that. I don't think I did.
53:13
I don't think I did on the show. I haven't really said who I
53:15
thought was going to and not not because I don't, you know,
53:18
whatever, but I just never sat down and went to the exercise of
53:21
who I who actually thinks and win and fill out my whole
53:23
bracket. I mean, we're never scared of,
53:25
of, of picking Hell, no. I mean, we're about that life,
53:32
Yeah. I don't know if you're here and
53:33
told people that I would have put a score on that multi duper
53:36
day cross. Yeah, you know, and a. 120 miles
53:38
an hour. I'll I'll tell you the
53:41
predictions I'll make right now if you're interested in doing
53:43
this. I think Leon go.
53:45
I think Leon goes through and I think Arsenal goes through.
53:49
OK, We're talking about these two, these two fixtures, these
53:51
two ties. Interesting.
53:56
Tough to bet against Leon. I mean, I think, I, I think I
54:01
would put Leon through. It's only it's only a single
54:02
goal, but I I'm firmly in the camp of if they get bounced I
54:08
will not be surprised. That's fair.
54:10
You know, and I think you know, player back to Wolfsburg.
54:15
I just want to hit my real quick core Zakai who comes in late in
54:18
the match. In my notebook, I write real
54:21
Waka Flocka energy since coming in.
54:24
Anyone can get it? Absolutely.
54:27
I liked it because you could tell that Wolfsburg was just
54:31
like how many Subs do we have to make and obviously Geraldo's is
54:36
like unload the bench, I'll make all 5 Subs.
54:38
I got good players everywhere and Wolf room was like well I
54:41
don't want to take all my best players off the field yet, but
54:44
the guy came in there really held her own.
54:46
I thought she did a great job. I love the guy.
54:48
She's she's a Wrecking Ball and a great a great player.
54:51
Bring it. And I love that they kind of
54:53
were sneakily like if we get a second one, we're not going to
54:55
we're not going to, you know, slow play it.
54:58
We're going. We'll go for it.
54:59
I love it all right. Let's talk about the slate
55:04
tomorrow. Early match 10:45 AM Pacific
55:09
Real Madrid will host Barcelona, the Death Star.
55:14
After that 1:00 PM Pacific, Manchester United will host
55:18
Bayern mutant Bayern Munich. 2 exciting matchups.
55:22
Can't wait for those. I think if we get a continuation
55:25
of what we got today, just competitive push and pull, you
55:29
know, we're not really sure we're going to land.
55:31
That's going to be really exciting.
55:33
The big measuring stick match. I think it's probably going to
55:35
be for actually both of them. I think for sure for Real
55:37
Madrid, this might be the year where they're going to push
55:43
Barcelona a little bit and you know, kind of be like we we want
55:46
to at least, you know, feel like we could punch with you a little
55:49
bit. Great opportunity for that
55:51
tomorrow. And then I think, you know,
55:54
Byron, I had to rethink Byron a little bit when I saw how, how
56:00
good Wolfsburg look today versus Leone.
56:02
I, I, I went through that exercise where I'm like, maybe
56:05
buyers really, really good. That's possible because I think
56:10
I had up to this point been like, right, You know, United,
56:13
it's exciting. I think they're going to, you
56:15
know, they're going to make some noise, but I don't know.
56:18
Ultimately I'd be, I'd be surprised if, if United kind of
56:23
puts, puts forth a big performance tomorrow.
56:25
But either way, 2 extremely exciting matchups.
56:29
No doubt. I mean, you know, their plan,
56:33
if, if I remember correctly, I think I have it in my notes
56:37
here. Yeah, I think that match is
56:40
going to happen at Old Trafford. Let's go.
56:42
I've also I've decided for this Barcelona, Real Madrid match,
56:45
I'm going to, I think I'm going to call it El Classico.
56:48
I think that name Fitz. So we'll go with that you.
56:53
Just come up with that. Yeah, off the Dome, TN.
56:56
Let's go. You know, I'll do another
57:00
prediction. Why not Barcelona?
57:02
3 Real Madrid Nil. I think Barcelona.
57:05
I. Don't like that I, you know, I
57:08
think it's just just more of, of what we've been seeing for, for
57:12
a lot of years, But we'll see. I I, I, I feel confident in that
57:16
might be, you know, I might be a little, a little drunk off the,
57:22
the Pep Guardiola Manchester City got about cup win and just
57:26
every time I'm just like, well, you know what, if I'm a Pep guy,
57:29
I should just be a Barcelona guy.
57:31
Like why not Like that's, you know, fucking love that guy.
57:34
So you know what, I'm just going to rock, rock with all of his
57:37
clubs. Not sure how I feel about that,
57:42
I guess I should. Pick Bayern Munich too.
57:44
That I mean we should have managed them to a treble.
57:47
It hark Harkins back to, you know, I don't know if you picked
57:50
up on this, but, you know, we mentioned your appearance on me
57:53
and say there's your show, the women's football show Talk
57:55
Sport. Go subscribe immediately.
57:58
But Lucy Bronze opened up that show.
58:01
Leanne's conversation with Lucy Bronze And Lucy talked about
58:07
watching last year's Champions League final, a former Barcelona
58:11
player, and saying actually, you know, I was kind of rooting for
58:16
Arsenal because like, some of my national team friends are on
58:19
that team and you know, I don't play for either of those teams.
58:23
I thought that was interesting and.
58:25
I was like interesting, you know, like so you know, and I'm
58:30
a, I'm a Lucy bronze guy. So I don't know.
58:33
I don't know. I wasn't sure how to feel about
58:34
Barcelona after that, she said that.
58:38
You know, I, I thought Leanne immediately hit a banger of a
58:42
point where she was just like, well, you don't want your rival
58:45
to win it. But then Leanne was like, yeah,
58:48
but you've, you've also won it a bunch of times.
58:50
She's like, yeah, I've won it a bunch of times.
58:52
Yeah. I mean, she's won it 5 fucking
58:54
times. Went to the Champions League
58:56
trophy five times. Like I just feel like she gets
59:00
to watch anything now, you know, 5 Champions Leagues, €2.00, you
59:05
know, there's one piece missing that she's going to figure out
59:08
in 2027. But I think the, you know, other
59:11
than that, like she gets to watch whatever she wants,
59:13
however she wants, I think. I was going to say, no, it's not
59:18
ITC Best 11 because you made that last year.
59:20
That's right. God damn right she.
59:22
Did let's fucking go All right, big football tomorrow.
59:26
Cannot wait for that. Want to shout out a friend of
59:30
the show at Delta 757-3 who says Delta's a legend, by the way,
59:36
just from for the Mike Watts. I mean that's that's that's show
59:39
history right now. So shout out to Delta.
59:42
But Delta writes and I love Leanne, but it's crazy crazy.
59:44
This was before the Chelsea lost.
59:46
She still thinks Chelsea will win Chimpzig.
59:49
Maybe they win the FA Cup, but that's it period.
59:52
Delta is coming in without the punctuation shot to Delta
59:56
football calendar already mentioned it Chimpzig tomorrow
1:00:00
and to be sold tomorrow. In a weird turn of events, more
1:00:04
end to be sold this weekend. So you know we'll be busy
1:00:07
spanning the globe. Make sure you're rocking with us
1:00:10
following your boys and all the socials.
1:00:12
All right, man, I think we did it.
1:00:13
Only 30 minutes and 19 seconds overtime was Kevin.
1:00:18
Anything else you want to hit before we get out of here?
1:00:20
No, I think, I think we've done it, except as as soon as I say I
1:00:25
think we've done it. I remember the thing that I
1:00:27
wanted to mention for all of our European pals, if you want to
1:00:30
talk about some great European football in top Syrian SK Bron,
1:00:35
not just a gigantic win over Molda in the Norwegian league
1:00:39
opener. Let's fucking go Bergen.
1:00:42
I cannot wait to go out there. I will be out there later.
1:00:45
I'm going to go out for the Champions League final.
1:00:48
Then I'm going to go catch a match up in beautiful Bergen,
1:00:51
Norway. So I'm very psyched and I was
1:00:53
very excited to see them open the season with A5 NIL victory
1:00:58
over Molda, birthplace of Ada Heckenberg, for anybody who's
1:01:02
interested to bring this whole thing full circle from the the
1:01:06
first conversation we had. Closing the loop, my good man,
1:01:10
that's that's why you're the best.
1:01:12
There's been another episode into the channel.
1:01:13
Thank you, thank, thank you for watching, listening, hanging
1:01:16
out. If you judge the show, leave us
1:01:17
a review. YouTube, Spotify, Apple podcast
1:01:19
where you like to watch or listen and be sure to like,
1:01:21
comment, subscribe and follow what we've got going on here.
1:01:24
patreon.com/into the channel. A great way to support the show
1:01:27
into the channel merch like your boys wearing right now.
1:01:31
Another great way to support the show.
1:01:32
We're not going to compare. You know what which way to
1:01:35
support the show is greater. They're both equally great right
1:01:37
links all the above much much more in the description of this
1:01:40
episode and a big take in my clothes as well.
1:01:42
Mr. Grant, angle for don't matter how sleepy things get
1:01:46
over here at the ITC, when the bat signal goes up, I already
1:01:50
know what time it is. I appreciate you bro.
1:01:52
Likewise, buddy, so sleepy, but that's OK because you guys buoy
1:01:55
us with your energy, with the knowledge you drop in the
1:01:58
comments. We always appreciate it.
1:02:00
Let us know what you saw in these two matches.
1:02:03
Let us know what you're expecting in the next two
1:02:05
matches. We'll you know, if Dino throws
1:02:07
up the bat signal tomorrow night, we'll do another one.
1:02:09
We're going to figure it out. We'll be talking about all these
1:02:12
matches as they progress. So thank you all for rocking
1:02:14
with us and we will see you all next time.