Latest / Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football / NWSL DECISION DAY 2025 🏆 A PREVIEW!

Transcript

NWSL DECISION DAY 2025 🏆 A PREVIEW! · Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football

0:04
OK, welcome to the inter channel podcast premiere football.
0:10
I'm your host Dino de Suspicious and as always, I'm joined by my
0:13
Co host Mr. Grant Angle. What is up man?
0:18
Buddy, I'm feeling fantastic. We have made it to match Week
0:22
26. Let's go the NWSL, one of the
0:27
premier football leagues in the world, and just a little ASMR
0:31
for everybody. Just feeling like Birdman, just
0:34
rubbing the hands together, just ready to get into this decision
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day. Let's go.
0:40
Yeah, let's yeah, yeah. We need to get off.
0:43
What is it? Decision Day is like the that's
0:47
the official title, right? I think so I I don't know is it
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the? Official, unofficial people call
0:52
it I, I think I heard it. I saw it come across in a press
0:56
release. We got to do better than this.
0:58
We're not going to crack this nut on this show, but it might
1:01
be something that we have solved in the next.
1:03
But by the time we circle back with our next into the NWS
1:06
episode. But tons, tons, tons of stakes
1:10
tied to match Week 26. A lot of playoff machinations, a
1:15
big glob in the middle of the standings, a lot of different
1:19
spots that teams can, can, can finish in and just a lot of
1:23
moving parts to this weekend. I'm really excited to get into
1:25
it with you just because I needed like a little bit of a
1:30
primer myself in terms of like going to match week 26.
1:32
What's at stake here? What am I watching for?
1:35
All of these matches but one are happening at the same time,
1:39
which introduces like an interesting quirk in of itself.
1:42
But Sunday's going to be wild. And I'm, I'm excited for it and
1:46
I want to break, I want to break everything down.
1:48
I want to make sure we know what's at stake, what can
1:51
happen, and we want to make sure that all of our friends know
1:54
what can happen as well. I think that makes sense.
1:56
I mean, look, do you do you tune in to this program for amazing
2:02
predictions? You might Dino and I have been
2:05
known to have several in our day.
2:08
You know, some, some predictions miss, but we're not here to talk
2:11
about that. We're not going to dwell on any
2:12
of that. There's so much going on.
2:15
Let's just talk about the machinations.
2:17
Let's talk about what we want to see, what we, what we may see
2:21
and just and just kind of keep it pushing like that.
2:23
I haven't, I've I've been on the hunt pre production.
2:26
I'll take you guys behind the curtain.
2:27
I've been on the hunt for some gambling odds.
2:30
I cannot find any. I'm going to have to look, you
2:33
know, for a, for a back alley bookie.
2:35
There's maybe some NBA players I can call to discuss that with.
2:39
That's another, that's another show.
2:40
That's another topic. We'll figure that out.
2:43
But let's get into it. Let's talk.
2:45
Yeah, who knows? You know, I've, I've, I've been
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known to play some Texas hold'em too.
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So we'll, we'll see if I'm looking for a poker, but no.
2:54
Honestly though, free free scary Terry, free big shot Bill UPS
2:57
immediately. But let's get into the NWSL
3:01
before I take us way too far into left field.
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Let's crack a beer. Let's do it.
3:08
Cheers to staying above the law. Cheers to doing everything
3:13
responsibly, whether it's maybe having a beverage, maybe it's
3:16
gambling responsibly, you know, maybe it's, you know, keeping
3:21
your mouth shut when it's time to keep your mouth shut
3:23
responsibly. You know, all, all things that
3:25
we care very deeply about as two men hosting a podcast.
3:29
There's nothing more we know about than keeping our mouth
3:32
shut when the time comes. That's right.
3:34
Look at all this wisdom my guys spewing out here.
3:37
I want to get started with what used to be the ITC Darby.
3:42
So maybe like a little of the ITC Darby of the heart possibly.
3:46
Spiritually. The Orlando Pride hosting your
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Seattle Reign, this one major, major stakes.
3:54
You look at the table here. So Orlando's in 3rd, Seattle's
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in fourth. One point separates the two.
4:01
Orlando. A win guarantees Orlando the
4:02
three seed. That's what's at stake for them.
4:05
Orlando can fall all the way down to 7th though.
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If they lose, obviously Seattle gets to win, Portland gets to
4:10
win, Gotham gets to win. So that's a pretty wide band.
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Even if they draw, Orlando could fall down to 6 or could stay as
4:18
high as third. So this team that we were a
4:22
little bit afraid of potentially falling out of the playoff mix
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to have like, you know, 3, like 3 through 6:00-ish, you know,
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kind of be where we think they're going to finish as high
4:32
as three. I'm pretty surprised that
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Orlando was able to kind of like get things back on track even
4:38
though they didn't blow the doors off with any of those
4:40
late, late season results, but did enough to kind of get
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themselves into a good spot here.
4:45
Such a good point by you, Orlando Pride.
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Three wins, one draw, one loss in their last five.
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They were just on a horrendous run there for a while where it
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didn't look like they could score.
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It didn't look like they had an identity after the Barbara Benda
5:02
injury and they were just searching for answers.
5:06
And it appears that Marta playing better and just just
5:12
generally them kind of starting to gel, Lizbeth Oviah coming
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online a little bit, kind of starting to get get familiar
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with the squad a little bit. Turns out that's a recipe to
5:23
turn things around as you hit the end of the season.
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And now they have a home match where they control their destiny
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to finish top three. Yeah, no doubt.
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Yeah, I think, Oh, Yanni Hernandez got to get a shout out
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to for sure just getting way, way incorporated into into the
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offense. And I think we talked a few
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weeks back about sub Heinz going full, you know, science
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experiment with the the backup of the season that Oliani moved
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to kind of put the ball in into her, you know, and into her
5:55
hands. But get get the ball more to
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Oliani, like way more than than they had been to that point.
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I think that move worked out brilliantly.
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She's been really valuable for them offensively.
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Seattle though, the team heading to Orlando on not a bullshit
6:11
flight. That's a long trip.
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Those are a lot of miles getting logged and then you obviously
6:16
get an early in the day start. I think all the well, no two PM
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2:00 PM Pacific, I think 5:00 PM Eastern is are most of these
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tips so or kick offs not crazy. I'm in I'm in NBA mode.
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Obviously you got me all riled up, but what what can what can
6:33
Seattle expect here? Obviously a win gets them the
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three seed, so they've got a ton to play for and the three seed
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wee importante because it allows you to avoid that one team in
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Kansas City until possibly the final.
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So you want to be in that 2-3 spot.
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If you can see where you get the home playoff match, you get to
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avoid the current and you know, ideally get to stay, stay alive
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for as long as possible. But Seattle?
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What can they expect here? CC very intrigued.
7:02
What I would say is when I spoke with Seattle Rain FC manager
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Laura Harvey after the Utah Royals victory, because I am who
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I am, I had to bring up to her, hey look, last year the club
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transferred Sofia Huerta over to Lyon on September 12th.
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You then proceeded to lose 6 of the last seven matches to which
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as I as I'm saying that in the setup of my question, Laura
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Harvey looks at me and says, thanks, Grant, because obviously
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she was very happy that I reminded her of that.
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But I asked her like, what is like aside from Huerta being on
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the squad like they're finishing the season much stronger.
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They are two wins, 2 draws, one loss in their last five and just
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look miles better than they looked at the end of last
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season. Obviously, I asked her what the
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biggest difference was. And you know, she cited the
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influx of young talent. Like there was no Sally Menti
8:00
last year. There was no Maddie Dolly last
8:02
year. There was no Sam Meza.
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They were kind of just like they were struggling through some
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injuries and they just couldn't do anything offensively.
8:10
I think they they still have some of those attacking
8:12
struggles now. But the number one thing that
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Laura Harvey said, and I don't think it was a bullshit answer,
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was she said belief is that the team actually has played well
8:23
enough and has stacked enough results and has done enough
8:26
through this season to where if they fall a goal down, they
8:30
actually believe they can they can come back and score a goal.
8:35
If they if they go up by a goal and there's 30 or 35 minutes
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left in the match, they actually believe they can see it out.
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There is no kind of overarching doom and gloom with this squad
8:47
because they've been been able to put together the results.
8:51
And you know, when when Jess Fishlock and Lou Barnes at the
8:55
post game press conference, they kind of chuckled because when I
8:58
when I formulated my question to them, I said, hey, I thought
9:01
Laura Harvey made an interesting point that even when you don't
9:04
play well, you can still get a result.
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And I can tell obviously, you know, me, some dude sitting in
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the press conference telling Jess Fishlock and Lou Barnes
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they didn't play well. They probably, you know, they
9:14
probably get a little bit of a kick out of that.
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But that's what that's what their manager said.
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So you know, Seattle should have the belief that they can go down
9:23
to Orlando and get a result. And I'm glad you mentioned the
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flight. Not a bullshit flight.
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And if I had to guess, the longest possible flight you
9:31
could take in the NWSL from Seattle to Orlando.
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I'm no geography major, but that's probably right.
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I think I like it. I think Seattle has to believe
9:41
they can get get a victory, but they're going up against
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champions, they're going up against the double holders.
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And you know, there's no Barbara Banda, yes, but that DNA is
9:53
still in that squad. So I think it's going to end up
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being a hell of a game. I think it's going to be a
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really good game, too. Seattle's the kind of team that
10:03
is in every, it seems, seemingly in every match, even if even if
10:07
they're down a couple goals and the result is not looking
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likely. They don't.
10:12
They don't really get washed any week.
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They play really tough. That belief definitely shines
10:17
through. I I'm not sure a win is not on
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the table this this get for Seattle.
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With all that said, I think I think Orlando is is in full.
10:31
Let's let's defend mode, you know, and obviously, you know,
10:35
some injuries down the like there's just so many things that
10:38
can happen down the stretch and it's just three wins.
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Like once you get to the playoffs and if you are Orlando
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and you do get one of those match one of those three at home
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and the finals, obviously on a neutral field, I think they're
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they're going to be tough to beat on Sunday.
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I mean, I think a draw is is is for sure on the table,
10:59
especially for Orlando stalls out in Seattle, so good
11:01
defensively, but you know that there's a lot to play for and I
11:04
love that these two teams are in the in the three four slot.
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So obviously we'll be locked into this one and I'm I'm
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excited that both of these teams will be in the playoffs.
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That's going to make for some fun one the next match I want to
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talk about though big stakes in this this one as well.
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The team in 9th currently North Carolina Courage will be hosting
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the team currently in 7th Gotham FC.
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Now the courage. This is the definition, the
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textbook, the definition of a must win.
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They must win to stay alive. Love a must win.
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We're we're here bro, we made it.
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And and the courage needs Louisville to lose or draw to
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secure the ATC now and the courage have a better goal
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differential advantage. So if Louisville does draw to
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BFC, you know Courage is definitely in business Gotham
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now they can jump all the way up to 4th with a win and an Orlando
11:59
Seattle non draw. So they need somebody to win
12:01
that match and they need San Diego loss and they need a
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portant loss and Gotham can get up to 4th.
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Realistically, they'll probably finish in the in the 7678 range
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and they can fall down to 8th potentially if they lose and
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racing gets a win. So this courage Gotham FC match
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is going to be another banger. A team that Gotham started slow,
12:22
got hot, cooled off a little bit, and the Courage not really
12:26
ever able to find their way. Although maybe very, very
12:30
recently, there's something to get excited about for Courage
12:33
fans. They've been on a little bit of
12:35
a nice mini run here. Anything that you're going to
12:39
be, I mean, this is going to be a banger matchup.
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It's almost impossible to kind of predict.
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I really just kind of want want to sit back and watch it.
12:44
But what what, What's your take on these two teams?
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I just don't think it's sneaky at this point.
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Manaka Matsukubo is in the MVP race.
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Ten goals, ten goals for assists.
13:00
Coming on hot lately, we've talked about her.
13:04
I mean, she's a brilliant young player.
13:06
What a moment it would be for her to really kind of make this
13:11
happen and clinch a playoff spot, even if it is, you know, a
13:15
spot to then take on Kansas City current.
13:19
I mean, it'll be interesting to see, you know, this is This is
13:23
why you watch sports. You you watch for these kind of
13:26
must win scenarios, these like lay it all on the line.
13:31
Can't hold anything back. How many, how many cliches can
13:34
we rattle off in the matter? Leave it all in the field of 30
13:36
seconds to leave it all on the field you know.
13:39
How much percentage you think they're going to give today?
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I would if I had to guess, 110% got to be.
13:46
Minimum, minimum, minimum. 100 debt.
13:49
So yeah, man, I, you know, and the Bats, I got to say about
13:54
that, man. Like there was a, there was a, a
13:56
portion where like, and rightfully so, look out for
14:00
Gotham FC. They were on an absolute tear
14:03
there for for a while they were up.
14:05
I think they were, I think they climbed as high as third or
14:08
fourth in the table at one point in their last five.
14:11
Their one win, 3 draws, one loss in these last five.
14:16
Just kind of like a weird set of circumstances and you know, they
14:21
now they they got to feel like they're playing for something
14:24
because, you know, they're sitting on 36 points and then,
14:28
you know, like you said, they'll jump to 4th with a win and some
14:32
kind of either non draw result for for Orlando or Seattle.
14:36
So the bats have a lot to play for too.
14:39
I think each team is going to have to come out there and try
14:41
to throw some haymakers. Yeah, no doubt.
14:44
And, and I mean, Gotham is their season's kind of been like that,
14:50
that really nice meal that, you know, either you you cooked at
14:54
home or you at the restaurant and you brought home and you
14:56
forgot to put it in the fridge. You just left it on the counter.
14:58
It just kind of still there. It's still maybe it might still
15:01
be tasty, but it also might be gay me a little borderline.
15:04
I think that's kind of where this Gotham season is kind of
15:07
gone. I want to talk a little bit
15:09
about the one match that, if I'm reading the schedule correctly,
15:13
kicks off early, 3:00 PM Eastern, Kansas City current
15:17
versus San Diego wave. Now, Kansas City obviously
15:21
clinched everything. San Diego, currently in 5th, can
15:26
move all the way up to third if they win.
15:28
And again, there's an Orlando Seattle draw that that bumps
15:32
Seattle, San Diego all the way up to third, which would be
15:34
crazy. They finish in fourth with a win
15:37
and a Orlando Seattle, not a draw, and they could finish as
15:40
low as 7th. They've got a pretty solid goal
15:43
differential advantage, but what makes it tricky is they play KC
15:47
early. Now if San Diego loses, Gotham
15:53
now can play for the draw and they would ensure that they
15:56
would jump San Diego because of a better goal differential.
15:59
So San Diego out of a little bit of a disadvantage playing early.
16:03
Now if the wave draws Seattle, who's one point ahead would also
16:08
know this and know that they they would then be even on
16:11
points. San Diego better goal
16:13
differential advantage and now Seattle will know what they need
16:16
to be able to keep 4th and then have that four or five playoff
16:19
spot at home potentially if that's how it shakes out.
16:21
So San Diego a little bit of a disadvantage playing early.
16:26
Obviously they're playing KC. We, you know, with not a ton to
16:28
play for. But and this this wave side has
16:32
been super up and down, finishing on a bit of a high
16:35
note. I'm not sure if it's fool's
16:37
goal. I'm not sure really what to
16:38
expect from this side. I remember when the XOG guys
16:42
were on on the show, I kind of made a big deal about thinking
16:45
that this wave side would be a tough playoff match up.
16:48
And it could be, I mean, if they end up in that four or five spot
16:51
going to Seattle, I mean I could see that match kind of going.
16:55
I mean, if if the wave do all of the wave things that they like
16:58
to do that that could be tricky for Seattle.
17:00
But, you know, have have the wave kind of sorted anything out
17:05
here down the stretch, do you think, you know, the schedule
17:08
quirk could could work against them?
17:10
You know, like, what do you, what do you think they're going
17:12
to be dealing with heading into the playoffs here?
17:15
So courtesy of Rachel Palmer of the equalizer, Tim Watchowinga
17:20
is nursing and adductor injury. She you know, she was obviously
17:25
helped off the pitch in the in the team's loss first Houston
17:28
dash last weekend. You know, so I got to imagine
17:31
that you just wrap her in bubble wrap.
17:33
It's not even a consideration. Don't bother Shields wrapped up.
17:36
You know, you you get as much rest as you possibly can.
17:39
She's skipping international duty.
17:42
You know, and and I don't mean this to to sound like cold
17:44
hearted or whatever or anything like that.
17:46
Like we we wish him watching. Well, it is that's a plus for
17:51
San Diego wave. It just is what it is, right.
17:53
So you have that like added peace.
17:56
I I do want to kind of flip the question back to you as an
17:59
Arsenal supporter, as my favorite Arsenal supporter.
18:04
Do you trust Yonis Idoval in a big spot?
18:11
No, I didn't think so. No, I mean, if I'm betting on
18:17
them, I'm betting on, you know, Kenza and Dudina and Cascarino
18:21
and and and some of the youngins out there.
18:24
How about, you know, newly inducted ITC Hall of Famer
18:27
Caitlin Sheridan. Shout out to Jordan Sikowitz for
18:30
looking forward that that nomination.
18:34
So, yeah, I think I think their ceiling is probably one playoff
18:39
win. I think they could they could go
18:41
as far as winning one. There's no way.
18:45
I'll I mean, I don't want to, you know, I'm not going to sit
18:48
here make any crazy proclamations, but there is no
18:51
way that the San Diego Wave led by you on the side of all, is
18:56
beating a team that won an an NWSL playoff game in 2025 in the
19:01
semifinals. It's not happening.
19:03
So I can see them winning one, you know, maybe get making the
19:07
semifinals, getting to get into the final four, but they're not
19:09
going to beat a a playoff team to to make the final.
19:13
Do you trust them to beat Kansas City Current on the final match
19:16
of the season with no Tema Chuinga?
19:20
I mean, they could win that match.
19:22
I, I was they, they could, they could, they could win that match
19:25
before. I wouldn't be, I wouldn't fall
19:26
out of my chair if they won. You know, they, it's a big, it's
19:33
a big win for them. If they do.
19:35
I mean, that puts them out 40 points.
19:38
The flip side though, is this a team?
19:39
Is this a 40 point team? Probably, probably not.
19:42
So you look at through that lens and I would, this is probably a
19:46
3738 win team. So through that lens, I think we
19:50
maybe a draw might be the best they can hope for.
19:52
And that would, that would put them in a good position to, to
19:55
kind of like at least avoid, you know, 6-7 and, and, you know,
19:59
slipping 2 too far down the standings heading into the
20:02
playoffs. If they get a point and Rain FC
20:06
loses to Orlando Pride, they will jump up to 4th in the
20:09
table. I mean, obviously if, if
20:12
Portland Thorns either gets a draw or loses or if Gotham FC
20:17
doesn't win, see, they're just a, they're just a trillion
20:20
machinations out here. That's why you tune into the
20:22
show. So we'll we'll try to, you know,
20:24
not make it all that confusing. I don't know, man.
20:28
I think, I think it's a weird spot.
20:30
I think it's an opportunity for some Kansas City current players
20:33
to be like, Oh yeah, you, you think so, you think, you think
20:37
we're cooked. You like we lift the shield and
20:39
then we disappear because of the because of the Temua Chewinga
20:42
injury. Yeah, let's see about that.
20:44
I think it, I think it's a weird, kind of prove it spot for
20:47
Kansas City that could be really dangerous for San Diego.
20:51
Yeah, and San Diego, not a team that has overcome the stuff in
20:55
the league as currently constituted.
20:57
So this is the team of, you know, been through it, kind of
21:01
winners. You know, they've been they've
21:02
won in other places and then then now have kind of
21:05
reassembled in San Diego. I want to talk a little bit
21:07
about Portland because Portland's Portland's a little
21:10
feisty, a little dangerous, you know, and another team that I
21:13
can see winning a playoff match no problem.
21:16
They can finish also as high as third with a win.
21:20
They'd have to win by two plus goals versus Houston Dash.
21:24
That's not out of their own possibility.
21:26
And they need an Orlando Seattle draw.
21:30
And then they would need to sort of leapfrog Seattle, I'm sorry,
21:34
San Diego. So a lot of stuff would have to
21:37
happen. But third, is their ceiling
21:39
still on the table either way? They're going to kind of, I
21:41
think they're going to come out and hang a hang a pretty big
21:44
number on Houston. Not a lot to play for.
21:47
That's a tough team to go go against without stakes when
21:51
they've got the stakes. So I could see Portland notching
21:55
a win here that would put them on 40 and then it really just
21:59
depends on what happens above them.
22:01
I think that would be that would be huge.
22:02
That would be huge for them to get to 40 points.
22:07
That's maybe 30 points more than I expected that they would.
22:11
They would have the season once we learned about the Sophia
22:14
Wilson, you know, that wouldn't be available this this year.
22:18
And obviously Chris Christine Sinclair moving on and all the
22:20
the different moving parts. But shout out to Portland and
22:23
and what they've got going on this season.
22:26
The city of Roses. RIP City again.
22:30
Free Chauncey. That's our guy.
22:32
That's right. Look, we were, I mean, me
22:37
especially. I know we, I, I know you were
22:39
relatively low on Portland. Let me just wear this one.
22:42
I mean, it's just full accountability.
22:44
I was so hilariously wrong about Portland Thorns this year.
22:49
I was a fool for doing it. This is one of the greatest, you
22:52
know, franchises in the history of the NWSL.
22:55
And I was just like, well, I don't know.
22:57
What are you going to do? You lose Christine Sinclair, you
22:59
lose Sophie Wilson for the season.
23:03
Like I can't remember what the exact numbers were, but we were
23:06
talking about like nearly 20 goals, nearly like like 10 or 15
23:11
assists, somewhere in that ballpark.
23:13
I was like, where are you going to find that?
23:14
You just going to pull that out of thin air?
23:17
Kinda like they they were able to like really put together a
23:21
very nice season. So this team getting to 40
23:25
points, it's a great point by you.
23:28
It'd be an awesome achievement, but it's also one of those
23:31
things, it's just like, it might be one of those things where you
23:34
kind of look at it and say, oh, yeah, Oklahoma City.
23:36
I know they won the title last year, but like in the NBA,
23:39
they're usually like pretty good.
23:42
Where it's just like the Miami Heat.
23:43
What am I talking? Who am I talking to?
23:45
What am I doing here? Let's go.
23:47
Oh, what a surprise. The Miami Heat figured out a way
23:50
to be good. Likewise, what a what a
23:53
surprise, the Portland Thorns figured out a way to be good.
23:56
Sorry that was such a long journey for me to get there.
23:58
No, we made it. I mean, we went it was it was
24:00
about as long as Miami to Portland.
24:04
Yeah, pretty much. I want to talk one more match
24:07
up. I mean, I'm I'm I'm fully with
24:11
you on Portland. They're I would be 0% shocked if
24:14
if they win a playoff match and if they if they finish on
24:17
another high note. And now everybody's like, you
24:20
know, we don't want to play, you know, that team that that plays
24:23
really rough. And it seems like they play
24:25
almost every match on their terms, which is so cool.
24:28
And definitely every home match is on their terms.
24:30
It's like pretty, pretty awesome to watch one more match I want
24:33
to hit. This is the last match to
24:36
feature a playoff team or a team with some stakes that is racing
24:40
Louisville taking on Bay FC. So Louisville can technically
24:44
move up to 5th if they score, you know, like a million goals
24:47
they're sitting on -4 goal differential.
24:49
They got a lot of ground to make up and they're taking on Bay FC,
24:53
so not on Silky's watch. I, I, I don't predict any, you
24:57
know, eight or nine goals getting made-up.
25:00
So racing Louisville is going to have to do it with points.
25:03
There's currently sitting on 34. They're probably they're not
25:06
going to be able to catch San Diego or Portland who are on 37
25:09
ahead of them just because of the goal differential situation.
25:12
But Gotham's at 36. They can leapfrog Gotham, but
25:17
you know, they've got, they also have a worst goal differential
25:20
than North Carolina, who's 2 points behind.
25:22
So Louisville needs a win to ensure the playoff spot.
25:27
If they draw or lose, they're in real danger.
25:32
I mean, a draw puts him at 35 and there are One North Carolina
25:35
win away from from being bounced.
25:39
And I, I very, you know, the second time I mentioned XOG
25:42
guys, but I very loudly proclaimed that racing
25:45
Louisville would be a playoff team.
25:46
They would they would avoid that ninth spot ranking, you know,
25:51
for for another year and and and heartbreak for another year.
25:54
So I I'd be a little bit bummed if they missed the play offs.
25:57
I think they deserve to be in. They've had really great moments
26:00
and they're exciting. I think they could give they
26:03
seem to be able to give teams that are on paper much better
26:08
than them big problems more often than than we would expect.
26:12
I think that they're in a lot of these games and, and they just
26:15
win matches that you, I think you, I don't know that come as a
26:19
bit of a surprise a. 100% I mean, look, I'm, I'm, I'm going
26:24
through the roster here. I just want to make sure, I
26:26
wanted to make sure that I have the age right.
26:28
Janine Sonas, Canadian, 31 years old, cagey veteran.
26:34
Have have loved, I've loved her to play this year. 5 assists,
26:38
three goals. Ms. Sears look, we we did we did
26:42
an episode on the US Women's National team losing 2 to one to
26:46
Portugal. You should watch that.
26:47
It's totally free on YouTube. It doesn't cost you anything.
26:50
You might as well watch it probably hit like on the video
26:53
if you're into that kind of thing.
26:54
If you like, I don't know if you like the US women's national
26:57
team. Anybody like them.
26:59
I thought Ms. Sears look good ability to get to the to the end
27:03
line play and passes. She has ten goals to assist this
27:06
season. I think she sometimes she does
27:09
things on the pitch where I'm like, holy shit, how, how good
27:14
could this player really get? Like her speed, her strength,
27:19
her, her, her shooting ability. There's just a lot to really
27:23
like about her game. I think you're right.
27:25
It would be a real bummer. And you know, we're journalists,
27:30
you know, we, we have a, we're looking at this through a, an
27:34
objective. I I do think though, it would be
27:37
a real bummer if Racing Louisville doesn't make the
27:40
playoffs because I want to see them in that spot.
27:43
Yeah, totally. I think I, I definitely like
27:46
your point of some of those racing Louisville players
27:50
evolving into, you know, this team has evolved quite a bit,
27:54
you know, as a squad and Ms. Sears specifically, you know, I
27:58
just keep thinking about that run she made against Portugal,
28:00
like up the right hand side, you know, and kind of laser the ball
28:03
in. She, she kind of reminds me of
28:05
like that relief pitcher that comes in and can pitch like 2
28:09
innings if you need and can throw 104 miles an hour.
28:12
And, you know, it's, it's a little reckless, but can also
28:15
just strike out six batters in a row like on, on, on a given.
28:19
And not once a year, you know, four or five times a year.
28:23
Just a tremendously exciting player to watch and a player
28:26
that could flip a playoff game just flat out.
28:28
This isn't a player that, you know, yeah, there's a lot of
28:32
stuff like she could come in and and flip a game upside down for
28:35
sure if if she gets a match up that she can kind of feast on.
28:38
So I'll be absolutely locked into that one.
28:42
Hopefully, you know, with Silky and go, I don't want to see, you
28:46
know, too many, too much. Crazy.
28:48
She won't let him in. I mean, she's a beast.
28:51
I mean, we, we, anybody who hasn't checked out the Jordan
28:54
Silkowitz interview on the Into the Channel podcast, again,
28:57
totally free. We're not charging you anything
28:59
for it. And what an intelligent, well
29:03
spoken, smart player to have on our podcast.
29:07
I mean, she was extremely generous with her time.
29:10
Like seriously, you should check out what she said.
29:12
Like she had great things to say about like her approach to goal.
29:17
She's like, it's it's cool to say.
29:19
I feel like I'm just going to sound like an old guy at this
29:21
point, but like Dino and I, you know, we're turning 20 for the
29:25
second time here and then different points of our lives.
29:28
It's just cool to hear a young person talk about their goals
29:33
and the things that they want to achieve with such clarity.
29:37
And I feel like Jordan Silkowitz really has that in spades.
29:40
And it was awesome to to get the opportunity to chat with her.
29:44
So you know, like Silky, she's our she's very clearly the
29:49
starting goalkeeper on the ITC 11.
29:52
We got Silky and goal. We got Corey Dyke at left back.
29:56
We have a seal 2 Finally as our number 10.
29:59
We have we have Leanne Sanderson as our number 9.
30:02
Come on dude, we're we're building a massive team over
30:06
here. Yeah, I love that.
30:08
Yeah. No, I, I, I totally agree with
30:10
the this the sick of its interview.
30:11
I learned so much, you know, this era.
30:14
Yeah. She's a genius.
30:15
Like what was important? Yeah, absolutely.
30:16
I mean, that's that's that's a football, A football brain for
30:20
sure. Also want to give a little, you
30:22
know, love to our UFO men's Champions League match day two
30:26
recap where we went through all nine matchups.
30:29
We looked ahead a little bit to that match.
30:31
Match day three, some of those, you know, tasty matchups that
30:34
are right around the bend. And then I don't know, we might
30:36
as well, we're halfway here. Let's do a little quick episode
30:39
calendar next week into the NW cell returns.
30:42
We're gonna we'll have match week 26 under our belt.
30:45
We'll know the playoff matchups. We'll talk a little bit about
30:47
that. We'll hit some end of season
30:49
awards as well. Champ Z coverage also returns
30:52
next week. Couple fun shows planned there.
30:55
Match day three for the Champions League right around
30:57
the corner. November 11th.
30:58
November 12th. So much, so much good football.
31:01
Is this the most loaded part of the football calendar?
31:05
NWSL playoffs? Yeah.
31:07
A little international breaks sprinkled in.
31:08
A little, you know, sprinkle sprinkled in and then we, we're
31:11
kind of like right in the, in the midst of Champions League
31:14
league phase. I mean, I'm not sure.
31:16
I'm not sure there's a better time on the calendar than than
31:18
where we're at right now. I think you're about right. the
31:22
Champions League coming back, NWSL playoffs, all kinds of
31:26
other sports going on that they you we enjoy.
31:29
Obviously we've referenced the NBA.
31:31
There's like a sports equinox happening where all the sports
31:33
play on the same day. That's going to be pretty rad.
31:37
Yeah, I mean, I, I maintain I think October, November is the
31:44
best time of the year in terms of the sports calendar.
31:48
I think there's just like playoff baseball, playoff NWSL,
31:54
you know, men play football too, you know, like they're going to
31:57
be doing some stuff that's cool when and you know, the way for
32:01
Women's Champions League, everything's out here for us.
32:03
I think. I think it's great.
32:05
Yeah, 100% yeah. Men playing football.
32:06
I've heard about that. I haven't checked it out.
32:09
We'll see if we circle back that well, I'll clear some time out
32:11
and see, see what they're up to. All right, man, I think we did
32:14
it. This has been another episode of
32:15
Into the Channel. Thank you, thank you, thank you
32:17
for watching, listening, hanging out with your boys.
32:19
If you enjoyed the show or loving football as much as we
32:21
do, make sure you're kicking with us each and every single
32:23
week. Like, subscribe, follow or leave
32:25
us a review. YouTube, Spotify, Apple podcast
32:27
where we like to watch or listen.
32:29
If you want to support the show, patreon.com/intothechannel an
32:32
excellent way to do that into the channel.
32:34
Merch maybe an even more excellent way to do that.
32:37
Links to all of the above, much, much more in the description of
32:40
this episode. And a big thank you to my host
32:43
as well, Mr. Grant. And go for always, always always
32:46
ready, always down to work out some of these machinations with
32:49
me. I appreciate you bro.
32:50
It's been a great end of BSL season.
32:53
Still more left on the bone. I cannot wait to hit the stretch
32:57
run, get to the final, lift the trophy and and maybe, maybe save
33:02
a little gas in the tank for the Champions League.
33:04
But either way, I appreciate you bro.
33:06
Though there will be more than enough gas in the tank for the
33:08
Champions League, my good man, the feeling is mutual.
33:11
I wouldn't, I wouldn't tackle this amazing part of the sports
33:14
calendar with anybody else. And, you know, the same goes for
33:18
all of our pals out there on the Internet.
33:19
Thank you for continuing to drop knowledge, letting us know what
33:23
we're missing, what we should be considering.
33:25
We always appreciate that. And I would be remiss if we're
33:28
going to say that men play football too.
33:30
I think it's just probably worthy to note.
33:33
Braun 3 Rangers nil in the Europa League, the men's Europa
33:38
League. What a victory for what?
33:40
A victory for our pals in Norway.
33:43
Shout out to all you. But you know what?
33:45
I had to get a gratuitous Braun reference in there.
33:48
Either way, thank you all for checking out the show and we
33:50
will see you all.