Latest / Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football / Into The Channel's Best XI ⚽️

Transcript

Into The Channel's Best XI ⚽️ · Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football

0:04
Oh hey, welcome to into channel podcast pregnant about 1 safari
0:10
my host Dean suspicion. As always, I'm joined by my Co
0:13
host, Mr. Grant Angle. What is up man?
0:18
I'm feeling fantastic, buddy. Some could say I'm feeling the
0:21
best I felt in 2025, which I think is probably fitting for
0:26
this episode. An 11 out of 10, you might say I
0:31
want to get to it. We're here, we're at the end of
0:34
the year. It's been a great year of
0:36
potting bunch of highlights, not too many low lights, thankfully,
0:41
but it's time to pretty much crown who we think.
0:45
Well, let me rewind a little bit.
0:46
I kind of racked my brain a little bit about how we were
0:48
going to do our best at 11. A lot of different ways to do
0:50
it. You know, we love a draft.
0:52
I love a draft, a Dora draft, but I, I, I kind of also have
1:00
been rubbed the wrong way, way too often with some of these
1:04
other lists and superlatives and awards.
1:07
And it's like, why can't we get this right?
1:10
I was like, you know what, we're going to try, we're going to get
1:13
this right. We're actually going to, we're
1:14
going to try to get it right. We're actually going to get it
1:15
right. And I put the prompt out like
1:20
your direction and let me make sure I get this right.
1:24
I said let's bottle up the entire 2025 that these players
1:28
had and assemble, you know, assuming we're going to bottle
1:32
up their 2025 and roll them out for one game.
1:36
Let's assemble the absolute best 11 that we can so that there is
1:41
no other 11 on this planet, on the Internet, not on the
1:45
Internet, that can compete with what we're going to put forward
1:49
in this episode. But I think it's it's an amazing
1:52
prompt. So I mean, look, I'll pose this
1:55
to the to the viewer, take a quick detour into the NBA.
2:00
Think about it like this shot for your life, Steph Curry
2:04
versus Larry Bird. It's it's a life, it's a life or
2:08
death situation, right? Like what you like, what are you
2:11
doing? So you, you were bottling.
2:13
Like you said, we're bottling. Go ahead, please.
2:17
I was working on this earlier. This is my NBA topless.
2:21
I've got yeah, I've got Curry 6, Bird 7.
2:24
So if you're if you're curious, that's how I got the ranked.
2:27
I got curious Spinch ahead and here we are.
2:30
It came up thankfully I've got my I snuck some NBA notes into
2:34
an ITC personal record, but we'll talk about that one later.
2:36
But I digress. Sorry to interrupt.
2:40
It's amazing that you just working on your NBA top ten.
2:43
I like that. You want to have it locked and
2:44
loaded. That's fantastic.
2:46
I would be lying. I'm not, you know, and I'm not
2:48
mocking you here because I would be lying if I didn't say I have
2:51
the rough top ten in my head. And I've workshopped it too.
2:55
So yeah, the similarities never end at this point.
2:58
So, you know, shot for your life, game for your life,
3:03
bottling up the 2025 performances, the moments, the
3:06
stats, the output, and then you got to field an 11 for your
3:11
life. Got my.
3:16
Sharpie, that's right. Got my, my, my extra dramatic,
3:21
you know, super serious uncorking of the Sharpie.
3:24
With that said, how many positions did you have Sharpie?
3:28
Because I'm sure you did an 11. How many?
3:30
I put together 45 names one page after my, my NBA, what ended up
3:36
being an NBA top 23. So shout out to you.
3:39
I, I, I listed a bunch of names here because we, we lost power
3:43
here in San Francisco also. So I was 10 1/2 hours without
3:45
power. So all my prep had to move to my
3:47
IT personal record book. But I've got my, my, my whole
3:50
like, sort of like formation here.
3:52
And then I've got my, my little Sharpie said situation where
3:56
I've got formations and I've got boxes and I've got 123456 seven
4:03
names in 11 boxes. So you could say that I've got 7
4:07
names Sharpied. I'm very curious to hear how
4:11
many names you've got Sharpied. I want I wonder how close we are
4:15
because I it's hard to think of it as like I didn't really do it
4:19
in the, in the sharpie sharpie. But honestly, I would say when
4:23
you asked me the question, I looked at my 11, I think 6 that
4:26
I kind of was going into the exercise like they got it, got
4:29
to have, I can't do it without without them.
4:32
Yeah. So I think we're we're close.
4:34
I think if I had 6 and you had seven, I think we're right right
4:36
around the ballpark. I'm going to guess that I'm, I'm
4:41
curious to see how many overlap Sharpies we have.
4:46
So let's get into it. I want you to pick our
4:50
formation. And again, I've got a bunch of
4:52
names. So whatever, whatever route we,
4:54
you want you, whatever route you want to take us, whatever you
4:57
put up here on the whiteboard, you know what?
4:58
We'll, we'll put the personnel in to make it work.
5:02
And I'm here to collaborate. So you tell me how we're setting
5:05
up and then let's let's let's get some superstars into our
5:10
lineup. I appreciate you trusting me
5:12
with this buddy. Can we start with a beverage?
5:16
I'm on wired headphones, so I've got to like run for a second.
5:18
But yeah, I definitely want to get a beverage.
5:20
But you can. You can, yeah.
5:21
I'll be right back. Fridge is right here.
5:23
All right, you go ahead and go ahead and do that.
5:26
I'll start cracking the beverage.
5:28
Yeah, do some filibustering. I can do that.
5:32
All right. Well, Dino, does that just give
5:35
you the the sneak preview? I'm going to pick a little bit
5:39
of a strange formation. We'll just see how our guy
5:42
reacts. Still not used to this wired
5:45
situation so I didn't hear anything you said.
5:47
Hopefully it was entertaining. Oh, it was riveting.
5:50
Smartest thing I've ever said, if you could believe it.
5:53
All right, so beverage is cracked.
5:55
I'm mid poor. I'm way behind.
5:59
Cheers to you. Cheers to the football, cheers
6:01
to syncing up. There it is.
6:05
I want to start with this. I know everybody that I saw on
6:08
social media was really happy with FIFA's best 11.
6:12
Just a lot of just a lot of high fives and Pats on the back for
6:16
our pals over at FIFA. And in fairness to them, the
6:20
panelists that they had who voted on this, we're not just a
6:24
bunch of rich dudes in suits. They had a lot of serious bald
6:28
knowers casting votes. I I want to shout out
6:30
specifically Desiree Ellis. She's the manager of South
6:33
Africa, Banana Banana, who had a great showing at the 2023 World
6:38
Cup. She knows ball, obviously a
6:39
great manager. Vlatko Andonovsky was a
6:42
panelist, not so great at the 2023 World Cup, but his team did
6:48
compile more points than any team ever in the NWSL.
6:51
Just last season they had Gemma Granger as a panelist, she's
6:55
Norway's manager. LED them to a very solid EUR.
6:58
Heather O'Reilly was there. She was A252015 World Cup
7:02
winner, 4 time NWSL champion, three time Olympic gold medalist
7:07
with US women's professional team.
7:10
But now it is time for us to construct the perfect best 11
7:16
that I'm just assured nobody will argue with.
7:19
I fully expect this episode to be our most watched ever and for
7:24
it to just be received with universal applause.
7:26
Because, you know, that's how best elevens work.
7:29
Absolutely. I mean, if people want to, you
7:33
know, bring it, bring it. I'm ready.
7:35
Like I said, I've got my Sharpie and I don't fuck around.
7:38
When I get my Sharpie, let's get to it.
7:40
What do we want to do? Back to front for me?
7:42
Where do you want to start? Let's go back to front.
7:44
I think. I think we'll we'll start with
7:46
the goalkeepers, but would you like to know what I landed on
7:51
for the formation? I would.
7:54
Let's give it the all 352. OK, OK.
8:05
You text, you texted me and said, hey, the more exotic the
8:09
formation, the better. And I thought, you know what?
8:12
In this game for our life, if you have a game for your life,
8:15
OK, you have a game for your life, wouldn't you like to have
8:21
more of the ball? Wouldn't you like to control the
8:25
midfield because like game for your life?
8:29
You don't want to play counter attacking football.
8:32
That's not, that's not like that doesn't inspire confidence, I
8:35
don't think. No, no, we wanted to play
8:37
attacking, attacking football. I like this because my midfield
8:41
was overfloweth for sure and I've got 2 killers up top.
8:46
So I'm I'm excited to get into it.
8:48
Let's kick it off. We start with goalkeeper, right?
8:52
Yes, please, let's do it. You want to go first.
8:58
I mean, I'll throw out the name. I'd be I'd be surprised if you
9:02
and I differed on this, but I I'm open to being surprised.
9:05
Let me just throw it out there. I think it should be on Katrin
9:09
Berger. Bang, let's.
9:11
Go. That was my J Triano Bang.
9:14
Love it. I I mean look. 10 clean sheets
9:17
in the NWSL. She helps win the 2025 NWSL
9:21
Championship. She had an incredible safe at
9:25
the death versus our Orlando Pride.
9:28
Yes, that made us sad in the moment, but it was an absolutely
9:31
unbelievable diving backwards versus Marta of all people.
9:35
Come on, what are we talking about?
9:37
Insane safe and I think you'll be excited about this.
9:40
I think this is a thing that I have kind of adopted from you in
9:45
our time together talking about sports and and specifically
9:48
football is I have a moment for every player in my in the 11
9:54
that I would like to suggest. And you know, we'll we'll you
9:56
know, but there'll be some give and take here.
9:58
I'm sure. You know, you'll name some
9:59
players and be like, all right, yeah, let's put them in the
10:01
eleven they got. Germany gets to the semi finals
10:05
of the EUR and the save that on Katrin Berger made to prevent an
10:11
own goal in that quarter final verse.
10:14
France was the first version of what she did against Marta later
10:19
in the year in the in the semi final versus Orlando Pride,
10:24
where you know, the ball takes a weird bounce.
10:27
If I I can't remember what took a weird bounce off of from
10:30
Germany, but she has to go back and then she you know, she makes
10:34
a very similar safe diving backwards, pulls it off the
10:37
line. I think this one was left-handed
10:39
that that she had pulled off the line and then they go into
10:43
penalty shootout and of course she scores a goal in the penalty
10:46
shootout to win it. And I just think, you know, 2025
10:51
was AKB's year. 0 arguments here.
10:56
AKB one of my sharpie names for sure.
10:59
I mean, you already know what the resume is.
11:03
You know, you, we know what Berger did for Gotham at the
11:06
beginning, you know, at the end of like last end of BLC, the BSL
11:10
season coming in, obviously those performance for
11:13
performances for Germany. And then if we're being honest,
11:18
carried a Gotham team that was a middle of the pack team for the
11:24
the grand majority of the NWSL season down the stretch and and
11:29
really was like absolutely integral.
11:33
Like without Burger, it's like that championship just does not
11:36
exist. And then it doesn't mean that
11:38
she's the reason they won. But without her, I don't think
11:41
they get it done. You know, I think that's pretty
11:43
clear to say she she instills A tremendous amount of confidence
11:47
into the defenders and her entire team ahead of her.
11:50
So she was an absolute lock for me.
11:53
And I love that she's got the international experience and
11:55
also the club experience and then caps it off with lifting
11:59
the trophy. No doubt.
12:02
Quick, quick accounting piece here in FIFA's Best 11 they,
12:09
they, you know, they categorize the year as August 11th, 2024 to
12:16
August 2nd, 2025. Is that kind of the window that
12:20
you were looking at or are we doing or were you doing calendar
12:22
year 2025? No, we're doing calendar year, I
12:25
mean like. OK.
12:27
Yeah, I mean, if somebody was cooking last weekend, why do we
12:30
have to count it next year? Let's just count it.
12:32
OK, fair enough. Now I was doing a little bit of
12:35
2425 based on FIFA's calculations because you
12:39
obviously FIFA represents everything that's right in the
12:42
world, but that's OK. I think a lot of the the pics
12:45
are still going to play even if we're looking at calendar 2025,
12:50
so OK. You kicked us off the
12:53
goalkeeper. I I have one.
12:55
I have two Sharpie names on my back line.
13:00
OK. I'm very interested to hear
13:02
where you're at now. I'm going to start with, I'm
13:08
going to start with the name that I think maybe you might be
13:11
less likely to have. And for me at center back,
13:16
that's just Carter. And you think about, obviously,
13:23
Carter's play on the pitch doesn't always jump off the
13:26
screen. You know, we're just like, like,
13:29
look at the ground she covered or closed down the, you know,
13:32
the space or, you know, but super smart in the right place
13:39
most of the time when through her positioning, you know, it's
13:43
tough to be, you know, one-on-one when she's got that
13:46
positioning right. And then in my conversations
13:49
with Jess Carter during the championship week, I was just
13:54
fascinating because this is a player that won everything this
13:55
year. You know, when's the EUR, when's
13:58
the NWSL? You know, racism comes, comes
14:03
looking for just Carter. Just Carter beats racism in her
14:07
own just Carter way as well. You know, just an incredible
14:10
year for an incredibly inspiring player.
14:15
You know, And like, this was the year that I became like a girl
14:18
dad. And it was important for me to
14:21
ask just, Carter, Like, what message do you have for some of
14:25
these young women that are going to face someone's adversity?
14:29
And her answer was like, incredibly inspiring.
14:32
I actually kind of want to drop that here.
14:33
So I'm going to do that real quick.
14:35
Can you talk a little bit about? Maybe some of the young girls
14:37
that might be looking up to. You in this moment and.
14:39
Obviously the perseverance that you showed this year, you have a
14:42
message for them. I think they just keep going
14:45
that you are as good as you believe that you are.
14:47
It's don't listen to the outside noise and you deserve to be
14:51
where you want to be. And that's the biggest thing.
14:53
And we're all going to have major setbacks.
14:55
I mean, I've had a lot this year and here I am with two huge
14:59
trophies. So I think to just ignore the
15:02
negative side of it and just to keep doing what you love.
15:06
I mean, you can see from her answer too, from, from a lot of
15:08
her answers as we could see her kind of going down the line
15:11
after after winning the final. She still had like a level of
15:16
game time intensity like in her eyes and in her answers, like,
15:20
you know, there are people and obviously, you know, you and I
15:23
played like low level sports. I know you played some college
15:25
hoops, which is far higher level than anything I haven't reached.
15:28
But like you, you always had those players who took a little
15:32
longer to kind of like wind down from the competition.
15:35
And it it certainly felt like, I'm not going to pretend like I
15:37
know her well at all. I've had one post match
15:39
interview with her. But like that intensity bears
15:44
itself out on the pitch for her. Like, and in a way, like you
15:48
said, I think it's important to to to mention that she plays the
15:52
game with an intelligence that is supported by her physicality
16:00
and then the way she's kind of able to push people around out
16:02
there. So I mean, she has a lot of the
16:04
goods that you need for a player.
16:06
She was certainly on my list. I did not have her sharpied in
16:12
and you said you would you would play her at center back here or
16:15
I I know she spends time at left back as well.
16:19
What do you, what do you kind of, if we're playing three in
16:21
the back, where, where would you prefer to have Jess Carter?
16:25
I would I would put a pin in it to see who who are the three
16:29
are. But I'm just in the, of the
16:32
opinion that what Carter did this year, you stack on top of
16:40
it, you know, the, the, the detractors, you know, and still,
16:45
you know, 'cause like, I mean, remember we were talking to
16:47
Jackie Oleo over the summer, you know, who was talking?
16:50
And remember, just Carter kind of was not played off the, the,
16:54
the England, you know, squad, but ended up missing a game.
17:00
You know, I think after, you know, the big blow, the Internet
17:03
blowback. So it like it was really in
17:05
question whether she was going to come back or not.
17:07
And then comes back for the final and is awesome in the
17:11
final. You know, it's just like not,
17:13
you know, not enough that you know, OK, she's back playing and
17:16
like representing, but was awesome and was integral.
17:19
And then does it again in the NWSL championship.
17:21
Again for this Gotham side that was an 8 seed that even the week
17:26
of the championship, I'm like, I don't know, man, this this
17:28
Washington side is like they're loaded, super talented, tons of
17:32
like potency offensively. I don't really see it.
17:35
You know, you look at like Gotham defenders, they they
17:38
don't look that overwhelming, that overpower, you know, like
17:43
you kind of feel like the spirit could, could get around them and
17:46
get through them. Didn't happen.
17:47
They were super stout. And for me, I know it's probably
17:52
a little bit of a alternative pick, but for a lot of different
17:56
reasons. For me, Jess Carter was an
17:59
absolute sharpie, like a winning player if we have to, if we if
18:03
we're going to stick to the the rubric of like, let's go out and
18:06
win a game. Like what are we talking about?
18:09
What are we talking about? That's a great point.
18:12
I mean, she's got the trophy, she's got the hardware to prove
18:15
it in 2025. And I think that, you know, we
18:17
talked about like the intelligence of her game is it's
18:20
a great call out by you, the mental toughness to to to kind
18:24
of to kind of get through, you know, that abuse, there's really
18:29
no other word for I mean, there, I guess there are a lot of
18:31
words, but I think abuse is like a a, an accurate word to
18:35
describe. So to power through that and
18:38
then still continue to compete at that high of a level.
18:40
It's great shot by you all. Right, let's do it.
18:43
Who else? We got back line.
18:44
I've got one other Sharpie, but I'm going to kick it to you.
18:48
OK, now this is the player who I thought you were introing here.
18:51
I think Leah Williamson, She was one of my Sharpies.
18:56
Look, she played in 12 of the 13 matches in the UEFA Women's
19:00
Champions League. Thinking about, you know, this
19:05
this past Champions League, she played the full 90 in every
19:08
match that she appeared in. She fought through some injuries
19:11
during the league season. She had two goals in that league
19:13
season. But you know, 17 and 19
19:15
appearances were starts in the in the WSL.
19:20
She captained England's second consecutive Euro victory.
19:24
And if you want to think about a moment, she was absolutely
19:29
critical in that Champions League final against Eva Payor,
19:33
CGH, Claudia Pina, Bon Matisse, the incredible attack that
19:37
Barcelona had to offer in that match, she had 14 clearances, 2
19:41
interceptions and five recoveries.
19:43
She was a beast out there when she absolutely needed to be.
19:46
And I mean, when I'm thinking about center backs for this
19:50
year, you win a, you win a euro as a captain and then you're a
19:56
key part in a, in lifting a Champions League trophy.
20:00
Gigantic year for her. Yeah, it's going to be, I mean,
20:03
it's so tough to, you know, you look at like those England
20:07
results and like, you know, it it massive.
20:12
It's hard to argue with. And then you couple that with
20:15
Arsenal in the Champions League and, you know, just takes it up
20:18
a level. I want to talk about this,
20:21
Blair, because we're, we're I, I feel I feel a bit of a trend
20:26
developing here. My other sharpie was yet 1/3
20:31
Lioness and I had Lucy bronze. Yeah, sure.
20:35
Me too. Because we're talking big game,
20:39
we're talking to play. You know, we we saw what Lucy
20:41
Bronze did against Wolfsburg in the Champions League.
20:44
And I think, you know, that there's something about Bronze
20:47
moving on from Barcelona where I think that kind of put a little
20:51
bit of an imprint on my mind where it's like, OK, well,
20:53
Bronze may be entering a different phase of her career.
20:57
No, still unbelievable. Still.
21:00
Yeah, turns out. Still take over, you know, an
21:03
entire match, you know, like, really?
21:05
She had two massive stops against Wolfsburg in a match
21:09
where Chelsea was stuck in neutral for most of the first
21:12
half and then scores the first goal, saves two goals, scores
21:18
the 1st. I have equalizer and sets
21:20
Chelsea on the road to, you know, beating Wolfsburg,
21:24
clinching on top 4. And that's just again, Lucy
21:28
bronze. Every week she does something
21:29
that's like really off the charts and you talk about resume
21:33
and big games her I mean her her 2025 is where is right there as
21:38
well. She doesn't have to change the
21:40
you know, trophy that that Williamson does.
21:41
But I don't know, are we too? This is some heavy lioness bias,
21:47
but are we in the wrong here? Do we?
21:49
Do we have, I'm not sure if we have the right three, but I
21:52
don't know. I, I feel like do we need to
21:54
take a step back? I could certainly live with
21:56
these three. Let me let me give you some of
21:58
my Lucy Tough bronze AKA Lucy Big Game Bronze stats as well.
22:04
So I I am a big fan of the scouting report statistic on FB
22:11
Ref football reference. A great website if you're if
22:13
you're interested in woman's football stats.
22:16
They use this scouting report metric which is where a player
22:19
is compared to their positional peers in the woman's top 9
22:23
competitions. So it's like all the big leagues
22:26
plus the Champions League essentially.
22:28
And it's, and it's for the the previous 365 days.
22:32
So in this metric, I'm kind of operating with you sort of on
22:36
the calendar year, considering we're like late in December and
22:38
I'm I'm looking at these statistics.
22:40
Lucy Bronze is in the 97th percentile compared to her
22:44
defender peers in interceptions. She's in the 99th percentile in
22:49
aerial balls. 1 when she went to Chelsea, they immediately win
22:52
the domestic treble. It's not something they've done
22:54
since the 20, 2020-2021 season. She's obviously gigantic in
23:00
helping England win the EUR. She revealed after the after
23:04
they win the final that she had been playing on a broken tibia
23:08
throughout the tournament. And for me, the moment in that
23:12
EUR, they're down to nil to Sweden.
23:15
There's like 11 minutes left and there's Lucy Bronze on the back
23:20
post to pull one back with like 10 minutes remaining in those
23:25
quarterfinals. Ajerman gets the equalizer
23:27
later. They win it in penalties.
23:29
But you know, what can you say about Lucia?
23:33
Tough bronze? I mean, she is still at what
23:36
she's got to be 3233, somewhere in that ballpark, one of the
23:40
absolute best players in the world.
23:43
Yeah, it's like age doesn't throw that out the window.
23:47
Just one of the best players like I'm in and like, you know,
23:50
wreck a game and then and that Wiltsberg match.
23:52
I'm just like, you know, I know. And I think Bronze has some ball
23:57
indoors and or at least one in her.
23:59
She's FIFA Player in the year, in 2020, I want to say yeah.
24:04
So that's what I had in my head. And I'm like, this player is not
24:10
that far off from just the best player.
24:12
Like when you see what she's able to do in the, in these huge
24:15
matchups. So, so we've got 3, and I know
24:19
you've got to set up in a 352. I'm sure there's some honorable
24:24
menchies that we want to knock through.
24:26
Now there's one, there's one kind of behemoth on my list that
24:30
I've got to talk about. And for me, it's Moppy Leon.
24:36
You look at Barcelona, you look at the, the, you know, the
24:38
international stuff in the Champions league #1 progressive
24:42
passes this season. You know, her free kicks just
24:46
off the charts, the corners, what she's able to do
24:50
defensively. She just doesn't you know, she's
24:53
she's she's just never the weak link.
24:55
You know, like and and she just is her effectiveness touches so
25:00
many different parts of the pitch.
25:03
Cannot have a conversation without talking about Mapi Leon
25:06
and and and strongly considering is this a player that has to be
25:10
here again, We got to we got to win this one.
25:12
We need we need this one. We cannot we cannot go come out
25:16
of here and not walk away with three points.
25:18
So what are we talking about? What are we looking at?
25:21
We're going to have to, and I'm sure there's more names.
25:23
I've got six or seven that I want to kind of knock through,
25:26
but were there any huge ones? And out of shit, now that I'm
25:30
saying it, there's one other I think we got to own a Bossier.
25:33
What? Why don't we just lump those two
25:35
together? Because those are those have to
25:37
be in consideration. So Ona Botte was the left back
25:42
on FIFA FIFA's Best 11 this year in 2025.
25:46
At least that's how they, they listed it out.
25:48
And for anybody who's interested, I'm sure most, most
25:51
people know, you know, they're back.
25:54
They did it back for FIFA and it was Botte Patetas Williamson
25:59
bronze. And so I, I want to shout out,
26:03
and this will come as a surprise to nobody, I want to shout out
26:06
Olga Carmona. And look, Ona Botte has been
26:09
awesome. I don't think there's a lot to
26:13
discuss, you know, to argue there.
26:15
And Batte has better attacking stats than Olga Carmona.
26:19
But in Liga F last year, if if like when I'm operating in this
26:24
window, August to August, Carmona had nearly three times
26:28
as many tackles as Battier. She had more than double the
26:32
tackles one as Battier. She had more than two times the
26:35
blocks. She had more than three times
26:37
the interceptions. She had more than three times
26:39
the clearances. And if you want to talk about a
26:42
moment, Olga Carmona opening up against Portugal in the EUR, the
26:49
pinpoint accuracy of the ball, the pass right to Astaire, who,
26:53
yes, had a lot to do, had to chest the ball up and then have
26:56
that amazing turn to score the goal.
26:58
But I mean, for that Astaire opener versus Portugal, for
27:01
Carmona to be the one playing the ball in to get the assists,
27:05
Hell of a moment for my pal Olga, one of my favorite players
27:08
of all time. I like it.
27:10
I love those stats too, because those were surprising because I
27:14
I think to me, I I've got battier like in a a notch, maybe
27:18
1 notch above Carmona, especially recently and we're
27:21
looking at 25 for sure. But I think yeah, tough, tough
27:26
to argue. And I think Olga definitely had
27:28
the moments and you know, we can week out.
27:32
I mean her time at PSG, though, really kind of kind of clouds
27:37
what's happening because I think things have gone there.
27:41
I want to throw a couple more names at you just to make sure
27:44
that we're mentioning everybody. Sandy Baltimore, I think he's
27:49
got to be in the conversation offensively.
27:52
Super dynamic cover of not the not the same defensive, you
27:55
know, you know, profile, but she is playing back there.
28:00
And then you look at the end of yourself, Kayla Sharples, at
28:02
least on it, Terry McKeon and end of the defender of the year.
28:07
I think all deserving all at the same level.
28:09
Like these are all really, really great players that were
28:12
deciding against Katie McCabe, Emily Fox.
28:14
I think I didn't mention those two Lily real as well.
28:18
Lot just the talent defensively is like crazy.
28:22
It's almost impossible putting together a global list and
28:25
trying to land on four, let alone 3.
28:28
But where do we go from here? How do we how do we whittle this
28:30
down? Let's make some final decisions.
28:34
I mean, I think if you have Jess Carter and Sharpie buddy, you
28:37
know, I trust you on this. So what do you think about, what
28:41
do you think? Think about Carter at left back,
28:43
Williamson at center back, Bronze at right back.
28:46
You could you could realistically play that.
28:48
I'm pretty sure in some attacking formations, Serena
28:52
Wiegmann has played that. And what's the worst that could
28:55
happen? Somebody could yell at us for
28:57
having too many English players in our best 11.
29:01
I haven't heard of that before. So I mean, I guess that could be
29:05
the case. The only push back I'll say is
29:08
are we sure Leah Williamson over Moppie?
29:15
Beat her in the final beat her in 2 finals.
29:21
Maybe that is that is that it a scoreboat?
29:25
I mean it's a little bit of scoreboard on that one.
29:28
I mean, you know, I, I think Leon is a is a great player,
29:31
obviously all. Right.
29:33
Williamson gets a nod. All right, three Lionesses on
29:36
Kachenberger. That's our defense.
29:39
All right, let's move up. Let's move up into the midfield
29:41
where we'll knock through five names.
29:44
Let's go controlling the ball, buddy, and your wingers are
29:48
basically extra attackers. We got we got all kinds of
29:51
options here. Yeah, Head to go head to head's
29:54
about to be on the swivel. I want to mention this player
29:58
because talked about this player on our last episode, Pathetici
30:02
Ghijaro. I think a player that's no,
30:09
there's no player like potty in the world to me, where, where,
30:12
where she plays, what she's able to do the the range of of blades
30:18
of grass, where she's able to be effective.
30:21
I think to me that she's a one of one.
30:23
So I think for me, potty has to be in, in, in at least my, my
30:28
11. Let's see if she makes it into
30:29
our. 11 buddy, right there with you wasn't wasn't necessarily a
30:34
sharpie for me. I wasn't going to die.
30:35
I wasn't, I wasn't going to die on the hill or fight on the
30:39
hill. As I, as I like to say in my day
30:41
job, I say we never die on hills, We fight on hills.
30:44
But yeah, right there with you. Seven goals, 8 assists in League
30:49
F last season, 5 assists in the Champions League, One goal and
30:53
one assist in the EUR, which he played every minute but four in
30:57
that tournament. For Espana, she's in the 99th
31:00
percentile with 101 passes attempted per 90.
31:05
And I know maybe some people might roll their eyes and be
31:07
like oh OK, so she attempts a lot of passes.
31:09
She completes 86.2% of those passes, putting her in the 96th
31:13
percentile. Compared to everybody else
31:15
playing in the best competitions in the world, she's in the 99th
31:17
percentile and progressive passes per 90 in the 93rd
31:21
percentile in both aerial balls 1 and interceptions.
31:24
She is a metronome. And I want to point this out
31:27
because I think there is something, there is something
31:29
important about this. And I and I make this defense of
31:32
Scottie Pippen in the NBA again, I'm going to do another thing.
31:36
Yes, Pottery gets to play with at least one multiple time
31:41
Bollandor winner at a time. And sometimes she is flanked by
31:45
two multiple time Bollandor winners and that is a benefit to
31:49
her. But also she has to play with
31:53
those two players and she has to figure out how to still be great
31:57
and still play within a system and still maximize her talents
32:02
while understanding the superlative talent around her.
32:06
And so I for her moment that I want to pick out against Germany
32:10
in that semi final, she completed 109 of 125 passes
32:16
versus Germany. She led the squad in touches,
32:19
progressive passes, carries and was tied for first in both
32:22
interceptions and shots. And I think it's a great, great
32:26
shout by you that there are not a lot of players in the world
32:29
who can do that. And that's kind of floats into
32:31
your concept of there might not be a player in the world like
32:34
her. Yeah, it's a great point that
32:38
you mentioned about playing with those Bondur winners and having
32:44
to deliver for them, having to produce for them.
32:48
And not only does bother you like meet the level, but she's
32:52
right at the level. Like, damn, you'd never feel
32:54
like it's only part that you could like do a little better
32:58
job getting the ball to Alexia or Donna or Vicki or whoever's
33:01
up there. It it's always it's.
33:03
Just a good job. You know, so it's like I mean to
33:06
absolutely dependable. I think that to me, she she was
33:08
one of my locks. I had her absolute sharpie.
33:12
I'm not sure who's leapfrogging her.
33:13
You can make maybe a same coffee case, but there's just no, I
33:18
don't know. I didn't really have any.
33:19
I, I I couldn't make a strong argument for anybody in that
33:22
spot. I'm so glad that you mentioned
33:25
Sam Coffey. She was obviously on my list.
33:27
The statistical resume is just not close.
33:31
So that's what kind of let me to to leave her off.
33:34
But I do want to say because because it's hard to quantify
33:39
all of Sam Coffey's impact through stats.
33:43
Jordan Angeli, who does work for CBS and you know, calls a lot of
33:48
NWSL matches, had a take that I still to this day remain jealous
33:52
of after the EUR. And you know, I think USA played
33:57
a couple friendlies during that EUR month.
33:59
And then Coffee was playing great for the Thorns, where
34:02
Jordan Angeli said, I think Sam Coffee, she said something to
34:05
the effect of Sam Coffey might be the most informed player in
34:10
the world right now. And I was so jealous of that
34:13
take. I was like, that's a great,
34:14
that's such a great take coming off the EUR.
34:17
We're like, obviously we're excited about that football.
34:19
We love it. But Sam Coffey just had a run in
34:22
the middle of that NWSL season where she was disrupting
34:25
everything the opponent was trying to do and also kind of
34:28
quarterbacking so much of what Portland was doing that she had
34:33
a great year. And I take nothing away from
34:35
her. It's just hard to to make a case
34:37
for her over some of these other midfielders.
34:41
Yeah, I agree with that. And I think, yeah, I mean, so, I
34:44
mean, I, I've got coffee jotted down for sure.
34:47
And was it was in that conversation and he was just
34:49
right out the the pottery box. So assuming pottery is one of
34:52
our 5 or what else do we want to do in this midfield?
34:58
I mean, I think Mariana Caldente should be in there.
35:02
Look, nine goals, 5 assists for Arsenal and the WSL.
35:05
That's that's fine. Seven goals, 2 assists in the
35:08
Champions League winning campaign for your Gunners.
35:12
I want to point this out as her moment.
35:14
And I know, look, it was hard to watch.
35:16
Not hard, not difficult, like to watch with our eyes, but like
35:19
difficult to find. Is that in the second qualifying
35:23
round of that Champions League? Your Gunners lost the first
35:28
match to BK Hackett, then you guys go to London and then
35:33
Leavalti scored the equalizer on aggregate to pull it to 1 to one
35:38
who gets the go ahead goal. It couldn't be anybody other
35:41
than Mariona Caltente to do that.
35:43
She brings the champion and you had said it at the time she she
35:47
brought the Champions League winning culture from Barcelona
35:51
over to Arsenal and she was just magnificent throughout that
35:56
Champions League stretch. I just think like if I if I had
36:01
a 5 player midfield I would like to have Mariona Caldente on the
36:06
right wing. Love it.
36:09
Zero argument there. Monster year for Mariona, we
36:13
joked at obviously. Three straight Champions League
36:15
trophies for Caldente. A dynasty unto herself for sure.
36:20
But I was also played huge in Spain and I don't think you can
36:25
really discount, obviously one of the best friends of the show,
36:28
Leanne Sanderson, a former Arsenal, you know, stand out
36:33
Champions League winner in her own right.
36:37
You need a player like Cal Dente to take you from, you know, a
36:42
content AWSL contender to a champion of Europe.
36:46
Now, obviously, you know, are they going to be a perennial?
36:48
You know, are they going to be the final every year of the
36:50
Champions League? Probably not.
36:52
Are they going to be in the periphery?
36:53
Probably. And that's because you get a
36:57
player like Cal Dente who shows up and it's like, no, no, no,
37:02
no, no, no, we're going to play this team.
37:05
Is it? This is just a team like we're
37:06
A-Team and we've got all these things that we can do that
37:10
they're going to have trouble with.
37:12
And her impact, You cannot. I mean, I feel like such a dumb
37:16
ass because I was like, all right, Cal Dente, all right.
37:19
And it was the same Lucy Brown situation.
37:22
OK, Barcelona moves on. What does that mean?
37:24
Does that mean that this is a player past their prime and
37:27
we're not really sure what to expect?
37:28
You certainly see that with some players when they move on.
37:31
But I, I, my expectations were fairly low around Caldente.
37:36
I wasn't sure how she was going to fit and just made me look
37:40
like an absolute dummy because she has been unbelievable and
37:46
she has raised the level of pretty much everyone that's one
37:50
to two passes away from her on the pitch.
37:53
Like everybody is just playing better, more connected, playing
37:57
a brand of Mariana ball that is just working.
38:00
And we saw it worked on the the stretch for the last season.
38:03
We'll see if they can recapture some of that.
38:06
But when you zoom out, none of this happens without Cal Dente.
38:09
And I think that's that's a huge testament to to her as a player
38:12
and as a leader. Yeah, and I thought it was one
38:16
of the picks that the FIFA Best 11 got absolutely right.
38:18
They player up at right wing in the attacking in their 443 or
38:23
probably 433. But I figure if we're going to
38:26
do this 352 business, part of the reason was I was because I
38:31
thought we needed to get Mariona in there.
38:34
Love it. OK, I'm just going to nominate
38:39
the Bondor winner. Ayton Obama T Best player in the
38:43
world. It's tough to argue.
38:46
But at at worst in the, you know, at the one of the best
38:51
players in the world where I don't think you can say it,
38:53
there's no player better than Beaumonti.
38:55
It's got to be in there and also had a big season for Barcelona
38:59
and for Spain. I feel comfortable part of the
39:02
Mariona Itana as three of the five, unless you were you were
39:07
thinking something different. Absolutely not.
39:10
I have I have Caldente on the right wing midfielder and then I
39:13
have and then I have Bulma T as the right center midfielder.
39:18
I mean, it would it might be easier for me to tell you what
39:21
what metrics that she's not in the 99th percentile in, but
39:24
she's in the 99th. She Yeah, exactly.
39:28
She's in the 99th percentile in shot creating actions per 90,
39:32
which I just want to say this one, 6.38 shot creating actions
39:36
per 90 and then 99th percentile in non penalty goals, non
39:41
penalty XG shots, progressive carries, touches in the
39:44
attacking penalty area, progressive passes received.
39:47
She had twelve goals, 6 assists in League F, three goals, 4
39:50
assists in the UEFA Women's Champions League, two goals and
39:53
an assist in the EUR. And if you want to talk about a
39:55
moment she beat on Katrin Berger in that semi final with just an
40:00
just a very clever shot to send Spain to the final.
40:04
Like you said, she's the best player in the world.
40:06
It'd be foolish to have a best 11 without her.
40:09
I love you calling back that, that moment in the EUR where she
40:13
beats Burger near Post because that was just a best versus best
40:18
situation. And we got another version of
40:21
that you mentioned at the top, Marta versus Ann Kutchenberger,
40:25
Gotham versus Orlando in the playoffs.
40:27
I love when those the matchups come down to that our best
40:31
versus your best in a moment where it's like, wow, we're
40:33
going to we're actually going to see it like, you know, because
40:35
in the preview, that's what you do.
40:37
Oh, Marta on one side, burger on the other world.
40:39
But then you get to see on the bitch and in that moment on the
40:42
EUR where Boma T slides went past burger, another one of
40:45
those moments, you know, where he's like, wow, you actually the
40:47
two faces on the graphic. It actually came down to those
40:50
two and Boma. Very cool.
40:55
Now is where it gets interesting.
40:58
All right. Because we got three of our five
41:02
and I've got, I've got at least six names for these two spots
41:10
that I'm not sure we need to look at all six, you know, under
41:15
a microscope, but all all deserving of at least a look.
41:23
How how do you want to handle this?
41:25
Well, how many more do you have that are in that you had in
41:29
contention for your next two spots in contention, in serious
41:35
contention, I'm sure you had a lot of.
41:36
Names, yeah. I mean, really, I think I have
41:39
the two that I think I like, but I could be talked off them.
41:42
Do you have any Sharpies left? Not in the midfield.
41:46
I have two Sharpies and both because we're going through 52,
41:49
Actually, both Sharpies got shoved up up top.
41:54
OK. So I have no.
41:56
Other sharpies in my midfield. Who do you feel?
41:59
So if we want to feel field a left wing midfielder and a left
42:02
center midfielder, who do you like most on your list?
42:12
It's going to be hard again, if we're going to bottle up a 2025
42:18
and get everybody in the kit and go out there and win a game,
42:23
it's going to be hard for me to be like, there's a player better
42:26
than Melchi du Marnay, like love it.
42:28
There's a player I'd rather put out there and I'd rather and I'd
42:32
and I'd put Melchi du Marnay on the bench in favor of this
42:35
player. It's I can't think of that
42:37
player Du Marnay fearless. I mean dynamite in her boot.
42:43
Creative has the has everything to me has everything like, you
42:48
know, if she just stays on this track, she's on the, you know,
42:52
best 510 players in the world track right now.
42:55
So and had had an awesome year and in the Champions it
42:58
continues to produce. And for Lyon, we talked about
43:03
this last episode. Lyon's decide, you know,
43:07
overflowing with talent, but they have, you know, uneven
43:11
performances and more often than not, it kind of feels like Du
43:15
Mornay is the player that match in match out.
43:20
You you already know what's going to like get produced from
43:23
that spot. Now is Chewinga going to cash in
43:26
off of Du Mornay, chance or Koto or Haggerberg or he's or, you
43:30
know, like, but you know, the chance of going to create it.
43:33
I I I don't think there's a better mid.
43:35
I don't think there's a midfielder that I'd rather have
43:37
And, and we still have another midfielder spot, you know, to
43:40
fill and I think Du Mornay for me has to be one of the five.
43:44
South du Mornay in last season, Which would, you know, in FIFA's
43:49
mind, would would count toward this, this award?
43:53
In the Premier League, du Mornay had sixteen goals, 7 assists
43:58
just in the Premier League, and then in the Champions League she
44:00
added another six goals and two assists.
44:03
In this year's Champions League, she already has four goals in
44:06
six matches. She has two goals, 4 assists in
44:10
her nine appearances. Can I?
44:12
Add one more thing real quick, Really good because you
44:16
mentioned those four goals in the Champions League, 2 of them
44:19
versus Arsenal right at at Arsenal.
44:22
That's right in a 21V. So this is not a player that
44:27
scores bullshit goals when they're up when Leon's up five
44:30
to one and she scores two goals in the 85th and 89th minute.
44:33
This is a player that went to Arsenal with Leon down one nil,
44:39
scores two goals within inside 25 minutes, and they went 2:00
44:43
to 1:00. And it's on the heels of just
44:45
her spectacular ceiling as a player and her just audacity to
44:51
just fucking be like, I don't just like, fuck this team, but
44:54
we're going to, we're going to dominate this team and we
44:56
dominate every team. I love it, I'm into it.
45:01
And now you, You. So let's put her in.
45:05
Let's make du Mornay our left center midfielder.
45:10
I think if, if you're comfortable with her playing
45:14
that position, I think you know, the the more in the center of
45:17
the park we can have her, I think the the better off we'd
45:19
probably be. So, so that puts me in into this
45:23
situation where I've been kind of waiting to reveal this my
45:27
5:00 that I had. We're all Spaniards.
45:32
So now, so now I am left to choose for our left wing
45:37
midfielder. I am left to choose between
45:40
Claudia Pina and Alexia Putais. And I got to tell you as if
45:47
we're if we're doing it this way, as as great as Pina was in
45:53
the Champions League and in the in the 2425 UEFA Women's
45:57
Champions League, she had ten goals and one assist and was an
46:01
absolute force of nature in that tournament.
46:06
I would feel, I would feel relatively ridiculous if I
46:10
didn't put Alexia Poutaeus on this, on this team.
46:13
Now you can talk me off it and I totally, I totally understand.
46:16
But Poutaeus had sixteen goals and 11 assists in league half.
46:22
She had three goals and four assists in the in the Champions
46:26
League, another three goals and four assists in the Euros.
46:29
She's still in contention as the best player alive.
46:32
I think, you know, after the devastating injuries.
46:35
And for her moment, she had those two assists versed a
46:39
surging Italy in the group stage of the EUR.
46:43
She assisted on the opening goal and the final goal of that
46:46
match. And I was going back and looking
46:48
at my notes and I rewatched the highlights and she was even on
46:53
Spain, she was way the best player on the field.
46:57
Like by by enough of a margin where I was like, you can't be
47:01
the best player on the field by that big of a margin when you're
47:04
playing on an All Star team. And she still was.
47:08
She's unbelievable. I mean, definitely on my short,
47:11
short, short list. Can I throw some names at you
47:17
that I had? Of course.
47:18
And we had left center mid, so this is a left attacking
47:22
midfielder. Yeah, I mean, we could.
47:24
I mean, you could put Puteus on the wing.
47:26
You could you, I mean, you could put Du Mornay on the wing too.
47:29
Like, I mean, I don't think we got to.
47:31
So medium wise, I'm going to throw some names at you that I
47:34
had that I thought were worth mentioning from a defensive
47:40
standpoint. I know we kind of zoomed past
47:42
this, but I thought UE from City took a new skin.
47:48
Are our names that we I think we have to kind of mention couple
47:51
of the names in the midfield. Marta.
47:55
I mean this it's weird if we need to win a if we need to win
47:59
a match and obviously Marta raises the 2025 NWSL
48:04
championship, you know, makes a run with Brazil, you know, over
48:07
the summer and then you know, kind of like performs, you know,
48:11
in some in some spots there maybe a stretch, but I think
48:15
definitely worth a mention. Roosevelt kind of like re
48:20
entering the US women's actual team core conversation, you
48:25
know, game winner, end of Brazil championship.
48:28
Got to mention her Kendra Dali absolute beast, you know, coming
48:33
over to the end of Brazil leading San Diego wave and
48:36
Olivia military then says, you know, midfielder of the year.
48:41
I'm not sure. I mean, when you, when you
48:44
mention those 5 Spanish players, you could drop Olivia Moultrie.
48:48
I feel like it's any one of those spots with, with any four
48:51
of those other players. And you don't miss a beat
48:55
because she's got the IQ skills are are in the neighborhood.
49:01
And then like basically her moment potential is at the
49:04
level, if not higher than some of these other players because
49:07
she is absolutely capable of elevating, you know, when the
49:12
situation calls for it, which is phenomenal to say, you know, to
49:16
for a player at that age. I think that's all that's all
49:21
fair. I would all all our Spanish pals
49:25
direct your ire at Dino for for saying that she is relatively
49:30
Olivia Moultrie is teenager Olivia Moultrie.
49:34
Is it? It's in in the ballpark of
49:37
Alexia Patias. Hey, hey.
49:38
Well. We're going to be 2027 will be
49:41
here very, very soon and Olivia Moultrie will be heavily
49:45
featured in what happens in 2027 and let let it happen.
49:50
Some of these European players come see what?
49:53
Come see what we're about. Because I listen, I know it
49:57
feels weird to say, but shout out to the XOG guys.
50:01
They were talking about this. And it's so funny because it's
50:04
like our coach of the year, you, you mentioned black at the time.
50:06
Rob Gayle, our coach of the year gets fired at me, of course, but
50:10
unjust. Everything Portland did was on
50:13
the heels. Everything, every single thing
50:17
was on the heels of Sam Coffey and Olivia Moultrie.
50:20
The the combination of those two players just wrecking
50:22
everything, you know, and that's in the end of USL.
50:26
I, I firmly believe, and maybe you maybe let me cheat and say
50:29
we'll drop these as a tandem. You drop that tandem into any
50:32
team in Europe. You put them on the lowest team
50:34
in Europe and they'll go and wreck a Barcelona afternoon or a
50:38
Chelsea afternoon or a Leon afternoon.
50:40
Even if you only have those two players, they're that good.
50:45
Man, you're on. You got some heaters right now.
50:48
No, that's you. I mean, look, I'm high on those
50:51
players. I'm high on the.
50:53
Yeah, I'm really high on those players too.
50:55
But I mean, you know, if we're talking about player versus
50:58
player, you know, I mean, who has The Who has the skill size,
51:04
speed, smarts, combination of Putaeus, like I mean, Alexia's,
51:08
I mean we're talking about a two time Balandor winner here.
51:11
And I understand the Balandor is not the end all be all, but like
51:13
we're like, what doesn't she do? I'm not, I'm not arguing
51:17
Moultrie over Alexia, you know, because we, we still have some
51:21
spots, you know, I mean, I'm just, I'm just mentioning the
51:25
names that I had listed alongside Alexia.
51:27
I'm not making the argument, but you know, I feel like it's worth
51:31
it's worth discussing. Now I am going to get a little
51:35
spicier. I had Claudia Pina as one of my
51:39
locks at forward because she came in, you know, spelled some
51:45
of Padiuello when Padiuello, you know, kind of got a little, you
51:48
know, went a little sideways little bit and then obviously
51:50
has the injury. Pina can play everywhere,
51:52
anywhere, but got a ton of minutes on that left hand side
51:57
play the 10 minutes as a reserve coming in for Bariuello on the
52:00
left hand side. And I just think shout out to
52:05
our guy MLS architect. Hopefully he's still listening
52:07
at the 52 minute mark, who I think has predicted Pina as his
52:10
bondor winner next year. I'm I'm fucking with this.
52:13
Let's go and I'm not going to I'm not going to take any credit
52:16
for this take. I'm writing, I'm writing shotgun
52:19
with our guy MLS because I think Pina, she's trending in that
52:24
direction. We're we're, we're heading
52:26
there. And I think even when you look
52:28
at last year, she was there. So to me, I don't know.
52:32
I don't know that there's a player that I I would stick in
52:34
that spot and be like, all right, Pina, we don't really
52:36
need your services today. She's just so devastating.
52:40
And I, I actually had her and as a lock as one of my forwards,
52:45
but you know, before I heard about 352.
52:47
But I think even still, I I think would keep him in.
52:50
OK, and now FIFA FIFA's best 11, they had Pina as their left
52:55
midfielder in the 433. But I'm OK, I'm with you.
52:58
I mean, I referenced Pina's stats.
52:59
I mean, ten goals, one assist in the 202425 UEFA Women's
53:03
Champions League. She was an absolute menace out
53:04
there for my moment for her, I put the the two goal one assist
53:11
game that she had against Chelsea.
53:13
Oh, wait a minute, two goal one assist game.
53:15
Let me double check. Oh yes, that was in 25 minutes
53:19
in the first leg of the UEFA Women's Champions League semi
53:22
final to crush Chelsea's spirit to take it to a four to one
53:27
victory for Barcelona and end Chelsea in that tournament.
53:31
So if we want to put Pina up top with one of the forwards, I
53:35
think that's fine. I'm good with that.
53:37
So would that put our five as going from right to left?
53:44
Would that be Caldente Bone Mati Patri du Mornay Pouteus?
53:52
I'm with that five, yeah. Nobody's beating that five, just
53:56
so you know. We're destroying.
53:58
We're rolling everybody. It's not competitive.
54:02
Yeah, you can bring anybody out there.
54:05
No, that's a monster 5. I already tipped my hand a
54:08
little bit up top in our 352. I had Peena on one side and then
54:17
give me DNWSLMVP, bro. There we go.
54:20
How much Chewinga you talking about doing fucking with this
54:24
team? Like, no, but he's fucking with
54:28
this team. Like Chewinga on one side, Peena
54:31
on the other. That midfield, I don't know, I
54:35
I'm feeling pretty solid about it.
54:37
Is there. I'm I'm sure there's I'll I'll
54:39
give you. Well, let me let me actually hit
54:43
reverse here, because I I had some names.
54:45
I don't want to I don't want to like spill, spill any of the
54:47
beans of of who I was considering.
54:50
But who did you have? I'm sure you don't have the the
54:53
same top 2. So who did you have top 2?
54:56
Well, I had one of my Sharpie players was Tim Watt, Chewinga,
55:01
the 2025 and 2024 and WSLMVP. Now Chewinga plays primarily on
55:08
the right. Now Chewinga and PETA, pardon
55:11
me, they're both right footed. Chewinga like almost exclusively
55:16
plays on the left. I'm pretty sure she exclusively
55:18
plays on the left wing. Pina has spent some time over on
55:20
the right wing. So if we want to do this,
55:22
they're not exactly wingers if we just have two forwards up top
55:26
so we can play them both. I would play Pina on the right.
55:28
I would play TE MO on the left because she's more comfortable
55:31
there as far as I know. But chewing it was sharpied in
55:34
Golden Boot winner. And I understand, you know,
55:36
whether we're doing the August to August or the year, some
55:40
people might be like, you can't really count last NWSL season,
55:44
the 2024 FIFA Best 11. And no disrespect to obviously
55:50
either of these two players, two players we have talked about and
55:53
fawned over for a long time, Selma Betty Ualo and Carolina
55:57
Graham Hansen were the two up top.
55:58
They did a 442 last year. And look, I I think about this
56:05
with like NB AM VP and like some other awards, we just can't keep
56:10
having FIFA Best Elevens and not have Tim watch chewing get in
56:14
it. She has to be in it.
56:15
She has to be that's. Stupid.
56:17
Yeah, she's the she's the Golden Boot winner twice in a row, the
56:19
MVP twice in a row in one of the world's best leagues.
56:23
This year she had fifteen goals, 3 assists for maybe the greatest
56:27
team in the history of the league that set the points
56:29
record. She's an offense unto herself.
56:32
If you want to count like in that August window from August
56:35
to 2024, you could add 9 more goals onto her resume for this
56:40
this 2025 year. And I just don't, I, I just do
56:44
not want to see any more best elevens without her while she's
56:49
on this run. And for a moment I was trying to
56:52
think of like what her moment was.
56:55
She just had multiple stretches throughout the season where she
56:58
was at least scoring one goal per game, like 5 games in a row
57:03
in a league where it's nearly impossible to do that.
57:08
Yeah, I keep thinking about the the two nil victory of the the
57:12
the flavor of the year for KC. One of the two was also was
57:15
always chewing and it was usually the second one to kind
57:18
of slam the door. I fully agree with you, man.
57:21
I think you can't take a list seriously that doesn't include
57:24
chewing a a player that kind of has dominated the end of your
57:28
cell. And we talked.
57:29
About the last episode, when you see Alyssa Thompson go over to
57:33
Chelsea and do what she does stand out, jump off the screen
57:38
athletically. The production's there.
57:42
Thompson is not until we go she she might be two levels below
57:49
the MVP time of showing if we're if we're really and I love
57:52
Alyssa Thompson. I was like I was driving the
57:55
bandwagon for Alyssa MVP end of yourself earlier this year.
57:59
I floated it past the end. She wasn't really playing ball,
58:01
but I gave it a shot. But you look at what Alyssa
58:06
Thompson is doing at Chelsea, if you swap out Alyssa Thompson for
58:10
Temuchewinga, what are we talking about?
58:13
Come on man. Like, like this is, I mean, it
58:17
wouldn't even look like the same sport really.
58:21
And, and, and, and it's not really, it's no knock on any
58:24
specific player, but Thompson looks so fast and so dynamic at
58:29
Chelsea. And when I tell you that when I
58:31
tell our European and global watchers that Temuchewinga was 2
58:35
levels better than this, 2 levels faster, more dynamic,
58:40
more dangerous, more productive, like it's real shit.
58:45
And you mentioned it back-to-back MVPS like that's
58:48
that's rarefied air. And I mean, let me Temple was my
58:55
second Sharpie. Like on names.
58:59
First name was just Carter. Just Carter just, I mean the
59:02
unassailable 2025. Right after that, Tema Tawinga
59:05
was my was my, the second name on my list in terms of Sharpie.
59:09
Botany was third. Pina was fourth.
59:12
Itana was fifth. I like that Chewinga was my, was
59:17
my #1 as soon as I saw the release of the FIFA Best 11.
59:21
And I know I've I've done this where, you know, again, I'm
59:25
going to, I'll do this quickly for I don't mean to bore our
59:27
pals who might not care that much about the NBA, but like
59:30
people will say, like, oh, well, the last year doesn't matter for
59:33
this year's MVP. It's like, well, then how do you
59:36
account for like voter fatigue and like years that like Michael
59:40
Jordan should have been the should have been the MVP of the
59:42
league. LeBron James, there were years
59:44
he should have been the MVP of the league, but like those
59:47
didn't count. So like when players roll over
59:50
to like several consecutive great seasons, why doesn't that
59:56
count like in the inverse of like, oh, you know, this person
1:00:00
kind of came out of nowhere, whatever, right?
1:00:02
Like there's like a lot of like mental math that people are
1:00:05
doing with this. And the moment that FIFA best 11
1:00:07
came out and obviously their top three were Puteus Russo and Cal
1:00:13
Dente. I'm not going to I, you know,
1:00:15
don't disrespect any of those players.
1:00:17
Like I I put Puteus and Cal Dente.
1:00:20
Like in my best 11 and Alessia Russo was amazing in the EUR and
1:00:25
was and was great in the Champions League.
1:00:27
But I the my first gut reaction of looking that at that was I
1:00:33
don't want to see this. I don't want to see a best 11
1:00:35
without chewing gut. She's without question one of
1:00:39
the absolute best players in the world.
1:00:42
Your your point about telling European football fans that
1:00:46
Tamwa Chiwinga is better than Alyssa Thompson.
1:00:48
And look what Alyssa Thompson is doing.
1:00:50
Tamwa Chiwinga is better than her sister and her sister's
1:00:53
awesome like she is. She is undoubtedly one of the
1:01:00
most dangerous scoring threats in the universe today.
1:01:05
I, I don't think this is hyperbole to say, and this is I,
1:01:09
I promise you, if you're not in the US, then you're not up on
1:01:14
the end episode. This is going to sound stupid,
1:01:16
but I promise you this is true that Kansas City current would
1:01:21
not trade Tamochuinga for any player in the world.
1:01:25
I told him about Monti, Alexia, Lamar, James Kaiseto.
1:01:29
You're paid. Take your pick by you like
1:01:31
peanut. There's there's no player that
1:01:34
the Kansas City current would say, I'll trade you Tamochuinga
1:01:37
for that player. And it's not it's not
1:01:41
sentimental when you say she's an offense unto herself.
1:01:45
She is an absolute offense unto herself.
1:01:48
You could stick her there and then figure out everything else
1:01:50
around her and you're probably going to win.
1:01:53
Like she is unbelievable like, and to say she belongs on that
1:01:59
list is like an understatement. It's an it's an absolute
1:02:02
understatement. If she's not on your list, you
1:02:06
are not informed. I'm being very gentle and saying
1:02:11
if she's not on year 11, you are not watching.
1:02:14
You're not watching. You're not watching all of it.
1:02:16
You're just not there was. I don't reference this very
1:02:21
often. I don't know if I've ever
1:02:22
referenced this on the program. Maybe once or twice.
1:02:27
So my college tuition payment plan was I joined the United
1:02:31
States military for four years. This is what great of a this is
1:02:33
how great of a country we live in, guys.
1:02:35
So for somebody of my economic stature growing up, I needed to
1:02:39
join, give four years of my life to the United States military,
1:02:42
the Navy to be specific to, to make sure I could afford a
1:02:46
college education. And there was a saying in the
1:02:49
military, in the Navy specifically, where they would
1:02:52
talk about like some rule or something and they would say if
1:02:57
you didn't do it this way, you're wrong.
1:03:00
And that's what you reminded me of right there of IF101 chewing
1:03:04
is not in your best 11. You're wrong.
1:03:08
I mean am I wrong? No, I don't think you are.
1:03:11
Like, and and I'm not going to say, you know, I'm not going to
1:03:14
go say this about my 9th pick. They're really all the way down.
1:03:17
Like, you know, I'm not going to get, you know, up in arms or
1:03:19
adamant, but but dude, come on, like.
1:03:24
She's. Not on your list.
1:03:25
You're just not watching. You cannot be watching and be
1:03:28
like that player. She's not so good.
1:03:32
It's not possible. All right, so with all that
1:03:36
said, you you had Tema up top. That leaves you with one one
1:03:41
free spot. Who else do you have in this
1:03:42
spot? You'd be shocked to find I I
1:03:45
feel like I can defend this. Senior gaps at the links.
1:03:54
A second. Hold on a second.
1:03:57
This isn't homerism. I'm glad we're at the hour mark.
1:04:00
This isn't homerism. This isn't just me rocking with
1:04:04
our friends in Bergen, Norway. Tell me how this sounds.
1:04:08
I talked about Alexia Potea's having sixteen goals and 11
1:04:11
assists. How does 15 goals and 14 assists
1:04:15
suit you while SK Brian marches to the top Syrian title?
1:04:20
No, she senior gallops at #3 in the league in goals, tied for
1:04:24
first in assists. That sound good?
1:04:26
I think that's pretty good. She made a star turn in the EUR
1:04:31
you want to talk about. She had one absolutely
1:04:34
incredible performance stacked on top of several other very
1:04:38
good performances. My moment for the Lynx?
1:04:41
Two goals, 2 assists versus Iceland, where she stamped
1:04:44
herself on the global stage as a budding superstar.
1:04:51
Oh my God, I mean I you left me speechless.
1:04:58
You want to win game for your life?
1:05:00
Get the links out there buddy. What's up?
1:05:03
I can't argue with that. That's the honestly, that's the
1:05:06
best argument that you go with game for your life.
1:05:08
I just it's it's an argument because there's nobody that's
1:05:12
playing harder than seeing you gobset in a game for there's
1:05:15
something that's playing harder in a game for nothing to be
1:05:17
honest. Also true.
1:05:18
You could just be playing for a bag of skills and you just will
1:05:21
just put you in the hospital if need be.
1:05:24
I love the extremely spirited. Excited to see what Gobset can
1:05:31
do here in Tottenham. I mean, I don't know.
1:05:33
I don't I don't really have any pushback.
1:05:35
I can't really. And I don't have another player
1:05:37
in this spot because I had peanut up top Potema, but I
1:05:43
can't hit a couple. It's such a dummy.
1:05:45
I thought when you, when you said no homers, Amir, I was
1:05:48
sure. I was sure that you were going
1:05:51
to go. Khadijah Bunny Shaw who?
1:05:54
Monster Hard. I didn't I didn't like not
1:06:00
having Khadija Banja in one of those spots.
1:06:03
Eva Pyor, same situation, Mr. Gonzalez, same situation.
1:06:06
Part of a Benda who is who is we lost the the last portion of
1:06:11
Benda's end episode season to injury.
1:06:14
But from what we saw the season, what we saw last year, like in
1:06:18
the conversation, one of the best number nines in the world,
1:06:21
one of the best attacking players in the world, full stop.
1:06:26
Ton ton of talent. Do we?
1:06:30
I can't believe I mean 15 goals, 14.
1:06:35
Assists and there's nothing to sneeze at for the title winning
1:06:38
team. No, no, I don't think you are.
1:06:40
No, I don't think you are. I I think other people are going
1:06:43
to be like, all right, dude, the top series is a good league.
1:06:45
And she had fifteen goals and 14 assists.
1:06:49
So what? What?
1:06:50
What did we end? What I do with Pina?
1:06:54
Not up, not in your midfield, right?
1:06:56
No, I put I put Pina. I had her as my left wing
1:07:00
midfielder on my personal 11. But I like yeah, but I like your
1:07:04
addition of du Mornay in the midfield.
1:07:06
And then I'm like, if I have to choose between Pina and Galp
1:07:10
set, you know, as much as much as I admire the Lynx as a great
1:07:14
player, a budding superstar, she will get her FIFA best elevens
1:07:18
or her into the pardon me, her into the channel best lives much
1:07:21
more prestigious than the FIFA Best 11.
1:07:23
She'll get her ITC best Elevens in the future.
1:07:26
I think Pina's performance in the Champions League, I think
1:07:31
she has to be in. All right, man, did we do it?
1:07:36
I think we did it. That's an 11 Buddy 352.
1:07:39
Let's go. Back to time, Back to front.
1:07:41
Alan Kochenberger, Lucy Bronze, Leo Williamson, Jess Carter.
1:07:46
Spot the Ghiharo Marion Caldente Eitana Bomati Alexi Potayas
1:07:52
Melchi du Mornin, Melchi du Mornin Temo Chuwinga Claudio
1:07:56
Pina. Spot the ball.
1:07:59
Tell us, tell us when we take off, who's beating our team?
1:08:02
What do you want? Just.
1:08:04
I mean, who's showing up? Who's showing up to play this
1:08:07
team? You don't want those problems.
1:08:10
It's this is when people like they like to make their little
1:08:13
jokes like whoa, I'll give the 2 examples in college football
1:08:18
back, back in the mid twenty 10s, people when a college team
1:08:21
would be playing well, they would say, we want Bama.
1:08:23
And I would always say no, you don't.
1:08:25
And now like with, with the Ohio State Buckeyes, people always
1:08:28
like to make their little jokes about us.
1:08:30
You don't want those problems. You, you come to find out be
1:08:32
like, oh, wait a minute, this other team has a lot of good
1:08:34
players. Maybe I don't want that.
1:08:38
It's a big talk, It's a big talk.
1:08:43
Yeah, I didn't even put it together.
1:08:45
All right. Yeah, we'll, we'll see how it
1:08:47
goes. This.
1:08:48
This has been the rest of the show.
1:08:50
Thank you, thank you, thank you for watching listen, I get out.
1:08:52
If you join the show or love us as much as your boys do, make
1:08:56
sure you're kicking with us each and every single week.
1:08:58
YouTube, Spotify, Apple podcast where you like to watch it.
1:09:00
Listen, make sure you're liking, subscribing, following,
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commenting, leaving us a review, doing all that twice even
1:09:06
though, or maybe once, even though I said it twice.
1:09:09
Don't hold it against me. This lady on the IT was.
1:09:11
Three times. Four times.
1:09:13
What are we talking about here? patreon.com/into the channel,
1:09:16
great way to support the show. You can only do that once, but
1:09:19
we would greatly appreciate it if you do Into the channel Merch
1:09:21
even greater way to support the show.
1:09:22
You could do that as many times as you want.
1:09:24
Like let's go, maybe new new wardrobe.
1:09:27
Where do we 2026 right around the corner there for a refresh
1:09:29
here. I know what time it is released.
1:09:31
All the above. Much much, much more in the
1:09:33
description of this episode. And a big thank you to my coast
1:09:35
as well. Mr. Grant Engel. 4I mean they
1:09:38
don't make a sharpie big enough for my guy.
1:09:41
You already know what time it is.
1:09:42
I hate you bro. What a year.
1:09:44
What a fucking year for your boys. 2025 I think this is our
1:09:48
last recording. I'm not going to, I'm not going
1:09:51
to, I'm not going to write that in sharpie because some oh shit
1:09:53
might happen but what a year. I appreciate you bro.
1:09:56
None of this possible without you.
1:09:58
Likewise, man, I think it was a pretty great year.
1:10:01
I think we had a good run in the EUR ourself.
1:10:03
We we talked a lot about that in this episode.
1:10:05
We had a good NWSL run, got to see the NWSL final recorded
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however many shows in a row, talk to the absolute legend
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Jackie Oatley during this year. I mean, come on, man.
1:10:18
We're all we're stepping up our game, making sure that we make
1:10:22
the best elevens in the future ourselves.
1:10:26
And it's all possible because of all of our Internet pals who I,
1:10:30
who I will go out and say again, as, as this year is coming to a
1:10:35
close and as many different things are happening in American
1:10:38
Society and all over the world, we have somehow found the only
1:10:41
kind corner of the Internet with very smart, nice people who even
1:10:47
if they disagree, you know, we'll, we'll give those
1:10:50
disagreements with a level of tact and kindness that we always
1:10:54
appreciate. So thank you guys so much for
1:10:55
rocking with us. Thank you for educating us,
1:10:58
dropping knowledge in the comments, just being hilarious
1:11:01
in the comments. You guys are the absolute best.
1:11:03
We could not do this without you.
1:11:04
We wouldn't even bother doing it without the conversations that
1:11:08
we have with all with all of you.
1:11:09
So thank you so much and we will see you all next time.