Transcript

0:03
Hello Kate, welcome to Into Channel podcast primarily about
0:08
women's football. I'm your host Dino Cespedes.
0:11
And as always I am joined by my Co host Mr. Grant Angle.
0:16
What's up, man? I'm feeling all right, buddy.
0:19
Some, some decent football was played today.
0:22
Some results I liked. Some results I didn't like.
0:25
That's OK. That's that's how it goes
0:27
sometimes. Yeah, I guess we'll get to
0:29
those. Lots of results today.
0:32
All in all, good football day. I would say I like these
0:35
international break days where the calendar's loaded.
0:38
Pretty much everywhere you turn, There's there's there's good
0:40
action going on and we've got some football to talk about.
0:43
So I'll kick it to you, Mr. Great Angle.
0:45
Wait when you get started. Let's get started with some
0:48
delicious beverages to celebrate that football.
0:51
Let's go. Excellent idea by the way.
0:54
Thank you very much. Cheers to you.
0:58
Cheers to the football. Cheers to you, couldn't find any
1:04
red. Stripe, the old grocery store
1:07
would have been appropriate. But also, let's just say real
1:11
quick, today is June 3rd. It's our first episode of June.
1:15
So happy Pride month to all of our LGBTQIA plus pals out there.
1:21
Thank you for rocking with us. We got love for you.
1:24
We got your back. We know it's a difficult time in
1:26
the world right now, but we're here to talk about the football
1:29
and hopefully bring a little Peace of Mind to people every
1:33
once in a while. Hell yeah.
1:35
This is a this is a loving space.
1:37
We like to say learning podcasts and also a loving space.
1:40
All right, So yeah, kicking off Pride month, wrapping up this
1:44
international window, we've got a little USWNT versus Jamaica
1:48
action. Not not the full on Jamaica
1:51
squad, but a good, you know, a little bit of exhibition feel to
1:55
this to this matchup. Definitely a different flavor
1:59
from the China matchup. So I'm definitely excited to get
2:01
into, you know, I think we had expectations coming into this
2:04
one, what the lineups look like, what would the play style look
2:07
like? Would it be a continuation of
2:11
something like the, the offensive?
2:14
You know, it, it's, it's weird. I think I think the keyword that
2:18
I, I drew from Emma Hayes and her press conferences, which
2:22
they talked about it quite a bit on the telecast was the
2:23
rotations. I think you really, really start
2:26
to see those. I think after the last China
2:28
match up, one of my main takers was like, OK, why is why are all
2:32
these different players in different spots?
2:34
You know, and I think today I think I start to wrap my head
2:36
around a little bit more. It's like, OK, let's let's take
2:40
the bumpers off. Let's let everybody operate.
2:43
But when an attacker moves, let's make sure whoever's on the
2:46
backside takes that space and then the third person takes that
2:49
space and now the whole rotation.
2:51
And that's kind of why you see Lily in the corner or Macario
2:55
way deep or Centinor kind of like in a nine spot, which he
2:58
scores the first goal and like seems like everybody's all over
3:00
the place. And I think I was finally able
3:03
to put those 22 together. Like why why that was the case.
3:06
Having to do probably a lot with with Emma Hayes and those
3:09
rotations she's been talking about.
3:11
I think it's a good call out. I mean, can you tell me if I'm
3:14
crazy here? I I guess just from looking at
3:17
the lineup again, I kind of, I had a feeling this might be the
3:21
case before the match started. This felt like a fast athletic
3:25
lineup. Did you get that sense?
3:27
Absolutely, yeah, yeah, I I put that on blue sky that this was
3:30
like a very fast twitch just kind of twitchy line up.
3:33
And I think the first place you look at I mean, obviously we we
3:36
got our our pride representation here for pride month.
3:39
Carrie Abello, welcome to the party.
3:42
Talk about a player who looked fast, who looked twitchy, who
3:45
looked dangerous, covered a lot of ground.
3:47
I was I was joking with you before we hit the button.
3:50
A lot of camera time today for Carrie Abello.
3:53
But then you add to that. McKeon, Emily Fox, you take
3:58
heaps out of the midfield, replace her with Claire Hutton
4:01
and then up top Cooper centenor that that's kind of a little bit
4:04
of a wash. But centenor Macario, Alyssa
4:06
Thompson up top and then a midfield of coffee Hutton and
4:10
Johannes. It's just a lot of quick
4:13
decision making. You know, it's not just the the
4:15
the speed physically, it's really the IQ and like the
4:19
pigginess of how, you know those front six are are able to kind
4:24
of like interplay, move the ball and and just kind of like crank
4:28
up the attack when when the time comes.
4:30
Yeah, man, totally agree. It just felt like the extension
4:33
piece from the match against the People's Republic of China was
4:37
that there was a lot of good passing, you know, and that was
4:40
spearheaded once again by Lilia Honest in the midfield.
4:44
It felt like she was just playing players open.
4:47
She was immediately turning with her head up and looking to to
4:50
find where to where to distribute the ball.
4:53
I mean, it's just like she's a genius passer already and we
4:57
might as well talk about that, that first goal.
5:00
If you want to talk about genius passes, I think the ITC record
5:04
book should reflect that. Johannes should get an assist
5:08
for that great ball in. She's becoming.
5:10
I mean, she is clearly or she does clearly have a mastery of
5:15
that diagonal pass in. She's a perfect ball in and what
5:19
a genius play by Fox. I know I'm I'm probably going to
5:22
overuse the word genius, but I mean, come on man.
5:24
Like that was such a smart. Just a lit just enough of a
5:28
touch to put it right into scent.
5:29
Norse path and then she does the rest for the opener.
5:32
Pretty awesome. I I wrote my notes.
5:34
Lily goes through her progressions like Peyton
5:35
Manning, then also sends the defenders the wrong way, also
5:39
like Peyton Manning. Just, I couldn't find any other
5:42
athletes to compare her to on that play other than Peyton
5:44
Manning, apparently. But yeah, awesome, you know,
5:47
awesome reflexes by Fox and, you know, not easy to do.
5:50
It's a leaping stride. Put that right into the path of
5:54
set Noor and then set Noor. You know, I, I, I made a promise
5:59
to myself, I'm not going to pick on Cat Macari like 'cause I
6:02
think, you know, she's just one of my favorite players.
6:05
But like, you know, that the whole number nine thing has been
6:06
such a, a stick in my craw. But watching set Noor and we'll
6:09
get to Libby Andola too in the second-half.
6:12
In my notes, I, I just write like natural goal scorer, like
6:16
the ball is there and it's a goal.
6:20
It's going to be a goal unless something gets derailed.
6:22
And like that to me is like a natural goal scorer.
6:24
And then you look at we'll, we'll get to Ali Sitnor's second
6:28
goal, But it's kind of the same thing, you know, it's not, it's
6:31
not so much right place, right time.
6:32
It's Ali Sitnor reacting before everybody else, you know, And
6:37
that's, guess what, that's what natural goal scorers do.
6:39
They're a step ahead to the ball and they get there and then they
6:43
finish. We've talked about it with Kika
6:46
Nazareth, we've talked about it with Alba Redondo, where it's
6:49
just like you're just a player who has a nose for that.
6:52
I mean, Esther Gonzalez has a lot of that too, where it's.
6:55
Claudia Peeta might, you might say.
6:57
Yeah, I think so. She's got a lot.
6:59
You can say a lot of things about Claudia Peeta right now.
7:01
She's fucking best player in the universe right now.
7:05
Except in the Champions League final, oddly enough.
7:08
But a tough defense but. Yeah, I mean, she she looks
7:14
great. And we I remember when we had
7:16
talked a couple months ago, you know, when the Brazil Japan
7:21
matches, we kicked it around with brighty O'Toole of busy
7:24
watching women's soccer, which you should obviously watch and
7:27
subscribe to. I'm going to do that plug every
7:30
time we mention her. We kind of kicked around like,
7:33
should it be Sentinor in that starting lineup, or should it be
7:36
Alyssa Thompson? And Emma Hayes has just decided,
7:39
well, how about both? Could it be both?
7:43
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think I had, I had a
7:46
note here about like kind of like one of my main takeaways.
7:49
And I got the sense that Emma Hayes is exploring this number 9
7:54
role, even during the China match when I think she swapped
7:57
out Biodolo for Macario. And then it was just like, OK,
8:01
this is like a this is a pretty clean like for like, you know,
8:05
we're going to. And I think Hayes has got to be
8:07
looking at because I, I'll say it like if Bien Dolo looks like
8:11
this, you know, like the only case in lesbian Dolo is like,
8:14
oh, her age. Can you count on her and such
8:16
that, but she's going to play like this.
8:18
Like for the US1 sash, the version of lesbian Dolo where it
8:21
really is just like 4 matches, five matches.
8:24
And can you can you just kind of like keep it together for this,
8:28
you know, 456 week run for one of these tournaments?
8:32
I, I think Biendolo is, is going to get a real look maybe at #9
8:35
but I think a front floor of Alyssa Thompson, Lily Johannes,
8:40
who was playing a lot high at the pitch today for sure, like a
8:43
lot of times even further up than Mercario.
8:46
But if you put Thompson, Johannes and Cooper as the three
8:52
across and then maybe at the number 9, you have either set
8:55
nor Biendolo, I think that's a pretty devastating line up.
8:57
And then if you want to stay with Mercario, you know, maybe
9:00
Mercario stays at the 9 or the 10 and then it becomes Thompson,
9:04
Johannes and then either set nor and Biendolo.
9:07
I think in that in that in that alternative set up.
9:10
But it does either way. I think it does feel like Emma
9:13
Hayes is like kind of getting closer to like nailing down a
9:17
first team. Like I think seeing like 6
9:19
starters return from the China match to this one, you know, and
9:23
then like the Subs kind of kept everything in the same, you
9:26
know, sort of like vain offensively.
9:28
I don't know it, it feels like we're getting closer to, you
9:31
know, some, some steadiness within that starting lineup,
9:34
maybe maybe a first team started to develop here.
9:36
I, I, I think so I could see that.
9:39
I mean, definitely the thing with Hayes is that she could
9:43
just pick. I mean, she's she's already
9:45
shown she could just pick a totally different like a largely
9:48
different 23 next time around, though, and then play like
9:52
similar players over over those two matches against Ireland in
9:56
in about a month or so. I was surprised not to see Emily
9:59
Sam's. I was surprised not to see
10:01
Claudia Dickey, but I think you're right.
10:04
She's probably circling some some things and at least
10:07
figuring out like, OK, what are the like you talked about, like
10:09
the units or the OR the combinations that they have out
10:12
there. Also, Trinity Rodman is just out
10:15
there on the rehab trail. So you're just going to drop in
10:18
one of the 10 best players, 1015 probably at worst, best players
10:22
in the world. And then you got to figure out
10:25
where to put her and, oh, I figured out where to put her in
10:28
the starting line up at right wing.
10:30
So Emma Hayes will have a decision to make.
10:32
That's not a hard decision. But then she'll have to move
10:34
some of the other pieces around. Yeah, for sure.
10:37
And I think, you know, all of it's going to be dependent on
10:41
not just health, but health and form.
10:43
And I think to a third degree, it's now it's like, it's like
10:45
health and form and chemistry. Because we had some folks in the
10:49
in the YouTube are the YouTube YouTube comments last week were
10:54
were very exciting. We had folks saying that we were
10:56
kind of too easy on the team. Folks say they were too tough on
10:59
the team. What are we watching?
11:01
Are we watching? Are we not watching?
11:03
A lot of fun was had in the YouTube section.
11:06
But one of the things that I talked about that was that that
11:09
was discussed was like the lack of punch from that offensive
11:13
second unit. And it was like, well, how do
11:15
you know? How do we expect these players
11:17
to like, you know, Gel, you got like Sears and Biadolo and
11:20
Sentinor come in and they're all come in the same time.
11:22
They can't figure it out. It's like, well, but the first
11:24
unit figured it out. And it's not like they've been
11:26
playing together on this national team for years and
11:28
years. Like they they were kind of
11:30
thrown together just the same. But I think when you think about
11:33
personnel, you have a couple players at that have played in
11:36
both matches, like Avery Patterson, his example starts
11:38
one comes off the bench in the other.
11:40
Heaps starts one comes off the bench in the other and then you
11:42
got Lebanta who comes off the bench in both.
11:45
So could that be tipping Emma Hayes hand a little bit like,
11:48
hey, this is the player that we're looking at to come in and
11:51
eat up those last 2020 25 minutes of a tough, you know,
11:55
grueling type or just like we need we need some Levant energy
11:58
in this kind of match. So I do think the starting line
12:01
UPS, the Subs and then some of those patterns I I think could
12:05
be could be tipping Emma Hayes hand.
12:07
I think as we go, because even if Rodman, I don't want to say
12:11
even if Rodman's back, but I think if Rodman were to be
12:14
healthy just on the heels of a big tournament, I wouldn't be
12:17
surprised if Emma, he is kind of like slow played Rodman coming
12:20
back just because you know, you can kind of see like she's
12:24
trying to figure she's trying to put some stuff together
12:26
offensively. And you look at the two goals in
12:29
the first half, who who are the actions?
12:31
It's Lily Fox and Sentinor. And then the second goal it's
12:36
Alyssa Thompson, Lily and Coffee and then Sentinor just kind of
12:40
gets the rebound there. So right the the unifying theme
12:43
there, Lil Johannes involved in both of those first half scoring
12:47
triangles, Centnor smashes in both, but Sam Coffey and other
12:51
player Alice Thompson, those are the players that have started
12:53
both matches and I think are really, really solidifying their
12:58
places on this team. Yeah.
13:00
No doubt I would. I would keep an eye out.
13:02
And we're going to have to ask the world's greatest Houston
13:05
Dash supporter, Mr. GOOG R Pal Big X, the hug on blue sky.
13:10
Let's go. I'm I'm I'm way I'm more in on
13:14
Avery Patterson every single time I watch her play.
13:18
I think she's awesome. She had the great pass in to
13:20
Biendolo for the goal. I think it was Biendolo's second
13:24
goal that she had the pass in for that.
13:26
And I liked the fact that Patterson was out there and you
13:31
know, we saw it last year from her for Houston.
13:33
She's done some of it this year where she I mean, you could play
13:36
her on on as a right midfielder. You could play her as a wing
13:39
back. You could play her as a right
13:41
wing more forward. And so she was out there with
13:44
Emily Fox and then Michelle Cooper was shifted over to the
13:47
left with Biandullo on at the 9. So it's just like wild these
13:52
he's. Amazed.
13:53
I mean, she's just moving the pieces around like, yeah, you,
13:57
you do this over here and you do this over here.
14:00
And it's it's seems to usually be playing into the strengths of
14:04
of everybody on the pitch. Yeah.
14:06
And I think I I had a little bit of a mini realization.
14:10
We we talked about like People's Republic of China last episode.
14:14
It's like, all right, well, why do they need to play a low
14:16
block? They're out here trying to work
14:17
stuff out. They're trying to, you know, win
14:19
tournaments, you know, in their home continent.
14:21
And, you know, like they're they're playing a different ball
14:23
game. You could kind of make the same
14:25
case for Emma Hayes in the US. You know, it's like, we're not
14:29
trying to win a tournament here. We're trying to and it's clearly
14:32
happening. Like we're we're clearly.
14:35
Playing a more clever brand of football, a more possession
14:39
brand of football, the passing. I mean, obviously it's this is,
14:41
this isn't the same Jamaica that we saw in the World Cup, But you
14:45
look at the passing, it's 83% possession for the US, 89% pass
14:49
accuracy for the US. And obviously, you know, we, we,
14:52
we take that with somewhat of a grain of salt, but it is a
14:56
different flavor of football. Like it's, it's, it's these
15:00
crosses and I think a player like Avery Patterson, what makes
15:02
her so dangerous? It's kind of like a power
15:04
puncher, you know, that can like land a big shot and like turn a
15:08
fight really quickly. Like when it's international
15:12
football, a player that could like strike with tenacity can
15:15
make that run like, you know, that that kind of like serious
15:18
hard driving run late in the match.
15:20
And like that cross, she just like chopped it like so, so
15:25
hard. We're just we're not used to
15:27
seeing that, especially that late in the match, you know,
15:29
from a sub. And then Biendolo's finish, just
15:33
like it looked like it blew a hole through the back of the
15:35
net. I mean, like that was thunderous
15:38
and just not something that we're used to seeing.
15:40
And it's like, it's really, really nice to be like, oh, wow,
15:42
if we can unlock this, break teams down, you know, take
15:48
advantage of different channels and different combinations of
15:51
players and different players taking different spots on the
15:53
field. I mean, we're going to be a
15:54
nightmare. US is going to be a nightmare to
15:56
defend these big tournaments coming up.
15:59
Yeah, I, I mean, you raise a good point.
16:02
It's not it's not the Jamaica that we saw in the World Cup.
16:05
Obviously no Bunny Shaw. They just they couldn't get any
16:10
of the ball. I mean, and they were kind of
16:13
playing that low block just like hold on for dear life and try
16:18
not to lose by 8 type of game. But I think, you know, I know
16:25
our pal MLS architect is, is rightfully pointed out a three
16:30
nil win against the People's Republic of China is, you know,
16:34
nothing to really like shout too loudly about, which is fair.
16:39
And then a four nil home win against Jamaica, who I think
16:43
they're ranked like 40th. I want to say somewhere in there
16:45
in that ballpark in in the FIFA rankings.
16:48
Yeah. I.
16:48
Think they said that? Yeah, I.
16:49
Think Wilderman's said that like you know, but you, you play who
16:55
you play, who's lined up across from you.
16:58
And if you're if you're winning matches by three and four goals
17:01
against that weaker competition, it's it's a lot better than than
17:06
other results. It doesn't it feel like we're,
17:09
we're out of the straight experimentation phase and then
17:14
now it's a matter of like, I don't know, just getting,
17:16
getting a little closer start to develop a little bit of
17:18
identity, which is cool. We talked about this being like
17:21
right around the halfway point between 23 and 27, like the
17:25
summer of 25 with some big matches coming up here.
17:28
So I don't know, I think stuff bubbling for sure.
17:33
I think Abello in that mix as well as a player that can like
17:36
just strike with ferocity. You saw what she was able to do
17:40
in the 80th minute and she's just involved in a bunch of
17:42
stuff. She's like up the pitch, she's
17:44
back, you know, like she's up and back and like kind of all
17:46
over. I mean to be Abello and
17:49
Patterson are US women's Ash team type players.
17:54
You know where they just their their their play style, their
17:58
physicality, like their punch, like it.
18:00
It just fits not only the international game, but like
18:03
this U.S. team specifically. Now, obviously I'm fresh off
18:07
watching Neve Charles play for England, but you think about
18:12
what she could give you as a full back and getting forward
18:17
and hitting some good passes and, you know, factoring in the
18:20
attack. And obviously she was an Emma
18:23
Hayes player at Chelsea. It just felt like Carrie Abella
18:27
went out there and was like, I could do this stuff.
18:29
Check this out, Emma. And I'm, I'm sure I would
18:31
imagine Emma Hayes was encouraging her to do some of
18:34
that kind of stuff. And like you said, a lot of
18:37
camera time. She was not shy about anything.
18:39
First, first start, first appearance for the US women's
18:42
national team. I thought she showed out, man.
18:45
I, I, I think that she has to consider, be considered for a
18:48
real look for the roster moving forward.
18:51
Yeah. I mean, I think my favorite part
18:52
of her game, obviously she's tenacious.
18:54
You know, Julie Foudy, you commented about Abella giving
18:58
that ball away, you know, before the Delasco winning it back and
19:02
then that that kind of like leading, you know, to that, that
19:05
final score. But she's also effective in
19:08
other spots, not just up the left hand side of the park.
19:11
So she can kind of like float in.
19:13
So speaking about those rotations, you know, if things
19:16
are, you know, if the ball's heading that way and like now
19:19
everybody's kind of sliding and and occupying different spaces.
19:22
I just trust Caribello, like at the top of the box to, you know,
19:26
unleash one or make the right pass, you know, just kind of sit
19:29
or do it pretty consistently at or at Orlando.
19:31
And that, yeah, that's just kind of what makes her so dangerous
19:34
and such a great fit. Yeah, man.
19:37
And and you could say that about a lot of players all over the
19:41
field is that they just feel like they're a good fit.
19:44
They feel like they're in spots where they can, where they can
19:47
maximize their maximize their skill set.
19:51
We haven't even said the name Claire Hutton.
19:53
I thought she looked a maybe a little shaky the right word in
19:58
the first, in the first half. I mean she wasn't like as active
20:00
as you usually see. Again, there was, I think it, I
20:03
think it was a little bit of a function of those rotations
20:06
because you know, it's it's Lily was playing high.
20:08
But then it and then Coffee. I saw Coffee get interviewed
20:13
after the People's Republic of China match.
20:15
She talked about kind of Emma Hayes employing her to get
20:19
further up the field and like kind of like work out more of
20:22
her offense, you know, and I think, you know, we've seen that
20:25
too. So now you have a midfield of
20:27
Coffee, Johannes and Hutton. They've got to figure out how to
20:30
rotate and get a feel, you know, and figure out how to when to
20:34
get up and when to get back. You know, obviously coffee is
20:36
like pretty devastating defensively to Lily.
20:39
What I think was playing up, but it it was a little tricky for
20:42
Hutton. She overcooked a couple passes
20:45
didn't wasn't generally as sharp as as we've seen.
20:48
There was 1 moment where Abella was like pointing hey, so she
20:50
was like, hey, go that way with the ball.
20:53
Hutton goes the other way with it and turns it over.
20:55
So I think it like it. It's just kind of these are
20:58
great players just trying to figure out the chemistry.
20:59
But you know, it, it is funny to see all this stuff kind of take
21:05
shape after spending so much, so much time watching club
21:07
football. And then you're like, we know
21:09
all the players. We know all these pieces.
21:10
It's just like, I wonder how this is going to go.
21:11
You never really know. But with that said, I think
21:15
she's figuring it out, man. It's pretty.
21:17
Oh, yeah. It's pretty exciting to see some
21:18
of this stuff click, especially some of those early results
21:20
where it's like from where where Ms. started to where we're at
21:24
now. I think there was like a South
21:25
Korea match that went like one nil early in the proceedings.
21:29
I feel like a big step forward and a big step or maybe step and
21:34
1/2 in the right direction. I think it's it's exciting times
21:38
for for the USW and T yeah. Total totally fair.
21:41
I think again, I I think there were some there was some talk, I
21:46
know whoso blue sky about how athletic the midfield really
21:51
looked and maybe some digital kind of head nods toward the
21:57
fact that Lindsay Heaps was not a part of that midfield and it
22:01
looked fast and athletic. That's going to be part of the
22:06
transition for this team. And I think I think it was
22:10
Weileman's who said it before the match.
22:12
I want to make sure I get it right.
22:14
I believe he said this was the fewest combined caps of any USA
22:19
starting 11 in 24 years, which is pretty amazing considering
22:23
there was like one of those matches a couple friendlies ago
22:27
that I think somebody described it as.
22:29
And my apologies for the person who said this on social media, I
22:32
can't remember who it was who basically called the lineup.
22:35
Emily Sonnet and a box of kittens I believe was the.
22:40
What's the phrasing? There but Emily Sonnet has so
22:43
many damn caps that it's like you could put her on the field
22:45
and then you know even if everybody else has nine caps
22:48
that you you still won't be have the fewest of of any line up in
22:51
24 years. But you know this is this is
22:55
what Hayes has to do right now. Like you said in, in this, in
22:59
this bill up to the World Cup and for nothing against Jamaica,
23:02
when Jamaica doesn't look like even they are interested in
23:07
playing attacking football, it's it's good.
23:10
It's a step in the right direction.
23:12
I look forward to I, I think Ireland is probably going to be
23:16
a little bit of a step up. So I'll be excited to see how
23:20
that looks. But then we we might not even,
23:23
it might be difficult to assess it versus these two matches
23:25
because we might get 12 new players on the roster.
23:29
Yeah, I think honestly, I think that would surprise me.
23:32
I, I think, I think we're maybe getting to the point where,
23:35
because your point about the players with fewer caps is an
23:39
interesting one, because I feel like this hasn't been, this
23:42
wasn't the first time where MA has called in a bunch of players
23:45
with not a bunch of caps, but this is the first time that this
23:49
has looked like a team, like a team team, you know, like a
23:52
bunch of young players, bunch of new players, new faces,
23:54
etcetera. You know, so you, we, you kind
23:57
of give them a pass. But this camp, still new
24:00
players, still new faces, still new combinations, but the
24:05
chemistry's starting to kind of develop.
24:07
But you know, and MA has talked about like, you know, not
24:08
getting a ton of time with these players.
24:11
And so trying to like really maximize that.
24:15
And then you throw into the you throw in that we're playing a
24:17
little bit of a different style of offense.
24:20
You know, so all of those things, you know, new players,
24:22
like not so many caps, new offense starting to look good.
24:27
And then we've we've seen this roster make up rewind like 12
24:32
months not look so good, you know, with, with the same kind
24:35
of like injections of new personnel.
24:37
So again, I think pretty encouraged.
24:39
I I did also want to call out, you know, Emily Fox, you know,
24:42
Champions League winner. Congratulations to the legend.
24:47
I think they mentioned on the telecast 67 caps for Fox, like
24:51
that's kind of kind of sneaking up on one of the mainstays of
24:55
this team. And then you see her play like,
24:58
you know, covering so much ground on the other side, up and
25:01
down the park involved, obviously you could see a
25:03
sisterly dueling another player that can Mosey in more centrally
25:09
and like just kind of occupy different spaces, a player that
25:11
you trust, obviously. And the, the matches don't get
25:14
much bigger, you know, than like, let's say the Olympics
25:17
final, GMC final, Let's see, with the World Cup coming up, I
25:21
think that's a player that is probably heading towards like
25:25
truly foundational USP, you know, now like that's, I think
25:30
where my head is going. It's like, I think coffee's
25:32
there. I think Lily's there.
25:34
Yeah. I'm ready to kind of put Alyssa
25:36
Thompson there and you know, you know, Germa and I I think Fox is
25:41
like that very next name where it's like, OK, there, there is
25:44
no there there's no like real serious starting lineup if if
25:49
I'm not here. I think that's probably fair.
25:51
And I think that's what intrigued me about Patterson
25:54
playing in the midfield and playing on on the attacking wing
25:58
is, you know, if she could, and there might be those matches
26:02
too, where she could spell Fox occasionally, right?
26:07
Like, but the fact that they were on the pitch at the same
26:10
time, I think is exciting. And I I think you're right.
26:13
I mean, 67 caps in. She's a Champions League winner.
26:16
She's unbelievably aggressive and smart.
26:20
She can uncork a shot every now and then.
26:23
I mean, you just like you. You can't.
26:26
I mean that that's what a right back should play like in in my
26:31
view. And so, you know, USA is lucky
26:33
to have her for sure. Yeah.
26:36
I. Guess I I, you know, you know
26:39
what, what you get to like Champions League, the upper
26:42
crust of that Champions League territory.
26:43
I think like all the players are sort of in the mix for best in
26:46
the world in that position. I never really thought Fox was
26:49
like seriously in that conversation, but I now I really
26:53
do have to reconsider that just because she's such she's so
26:56
devastating. Both a great two way player too,
26:59
like as you mentioned. But yeah, definitely excited.
27:03
I'm excited to have her on my countryside and my club side.
27:05
So let's go Emily Fox here. I know what time it is anyhow
27:09
for you. I love it.
27:12
Any other big picture takeaways from, well, let me zoom out this
27:16
match. Maybe we could do this match or
27:18
China or or the combination of the two.
27:22
I mean, I I think I think we touched on the big picture stuff
27:25
is just like Emma Hayes's she's installed AI know the word
27:32
culture can be overused, but she's installed at least like a
27:36
general attitude of like the line UPS going to look different
27:39
today, but you're still going to be in a position to do the
27:44
things that you're good at. And so it it feels like that is
27:47
permeating throughout the roster where every like I mean, does it
27:52
look like Johannes Thompson and Cooper are playing with great
27:57
confidence? Does it look like coffee and
27:59
Germa and Fox and Mickey owner playing with great confidence?
28:03
It sure as hell does. I mean, like everybody seems to
28:06
be out there with a pretty good idea of what they're supposed to
28:10
be doing out there. And I don't mean to take just
28:13
like an unnecessary shot at flat go out Ananowski, but that even
28:17
when he had some the real found not real when he had
28:22
foundational legends a part of the program, it didn't always
28:25
look like that. So there there is a clear when
28:28
you talk about like the growth. I think that's probably my
28:31
biggest take away is that like everybody looked out there like
28:35
we know the plan and we know how to execute it.
28:38
And by the way, my piece of the plan, I know how to do really
28:41
well. Yeah, it it, I mean, we always
28:46
talk about this as a learning podcast.
28:48
And I think one of the things that I've learned is like, it's
28:51
not that the players and the talent doesn't matter, but it
28:56
doesn't really matter so much. I I think when you when you look
28:59
at and Emma Hayes talked about this too, like she's like,
29:02
there's so many good players in the pool, so many good players
29:04
in this country. And it's like we how many times
29:06
have we had the midfield conversation now?
29:08
Now we have to consider Avery Patterson might be that midfield
29:13
outside, you know, or Lola Bonta as an outside, you know, like,
29:17
you know, shot to make a, you know, like a World Cup roster
29:20
maybe. And then you think about, it's
29:23
not like the teams of Emma Hayes from 12 months ago where they
29:27
were more or less talented than this team.
29:30
I, I don't think this is the most talented 23 that Emma Hayes
29:34
has put forward, but they played really well, you know, and, and
29:38
it's not like this team has looked, you know, this team has
29:42
looked bad against lower competition as well, you know,
29:46
against like the Panamas or, you know, take your pick.
29:49
Like there's definitely been matches we really should be
29:52
doing more than one nil 2/1 against this opponent, but we've
29:57
seen the team get better. With.
30:00
That and I don't want to say I don't want to say that what
30:02
seeing the personnel get worse, but we we we're missing a lot of
30:05
really good players. Sure, and I I don't know that I
30:09
would look at this 23 be like this is the the most talented 23
30:11
MA he's ever put forward. That wasn't my first thought
30:13
when I saw it, but this team might be playing the best of any
30:18
any, any Emma Hayes team. Even trying to do the math of
30:21
OK, well, it is China, it is Jamaica.
30:23
How do we kind of square that circle?
30:25
But I don't know. That's something about the way
30:27
they're playing. I think they're they're on the
30:29
right track. If you think about OK, world
30:33
football, trying to win a World Cup.
30:35
We're we're we're seeing a little bit of what's happening
30:36
in Nations League, trying to even project forward.
30:39
What do we what would we have to do to to compete and be able to
30:42
be be some someone in driver's seat?
30:44
It probably looks a little bit like what's happening now.
30:47
I think that's a that's a fairpoint and wow, what a pro.
30:51
What a pro. You are talking about rotations,
30:53
talking about people being put in the best position to succeed.
30:57
You mentioned the Nations League.
30:58
What kind of teams might the old US of A have to beat should they
31:04
compete in the World Cup? Well, well, now that the one
31:09
collision course is over, maybe we're on to another maybe a
31:12
spade USUSA collision course. But yeah, Nations League kind of
31:18
came and went barely, barely knew you.
31:21
The semi semi finalists are in. But I, I want to, I want to hear
31:26
from you. Obviously, you know, you're our
31:27
our resident, you know, lioness, you know, you're the driver's
31:33
seat of the of the, you're of the, the lioness double Decker.
31:37
They had a big one today against Spain.
31:40
What do we what do we, we, we teased in a little bit talking
31:43
about that killer Claudia Pina. But what do we need to know
31:45
about this one? I am qualified, I guess.
31:48
Well, I don't have my passenger endorsement, but I can drive a
31:51
vehicle. I am legally licensed to drive a
31:54
vehicle heavy enough to be a double Decker bus.
31:58
That's right. So yeah, Spain 2, England one in
32:05
a match that was going to send the winner to the Nations League
32:10
semi final. England had to win though a draw
32:12
was still going to send Spain through to the semi final.
32:17
England looked good and jumped out to an early one O lead on
32:20
the strength of an Alessia Russo goal that was set up by a great
32:23
pass by Neve Charles Selma. Betty Uelo was certain she was
32:28
fouled in the build up to that but I didn't see it.
32:31
Ref didn't call it so everything's fine.
32:33
Nothing to see here. McLean.
32:36
Definitely McLean, but I mean to be to keep it a Benny here.
32:41
Spain dominated the match. England was having a hard time
32:46
getting the ball out of their side of the pitch, especially as
32:50
we got into the end of the first half.
32:53
And by the by the middle of the second-half, the world champs
32:57
were completely choking out the European champs.
33:00
And at a right around right around the hour mark, I think it
33:06
was maybe a little before. Yeah, it was a little before.
33:10
Just live Fact Check here, because I do know.
33:14
Yeah, right around the hour mark, Claudia Pina comes on the
33:17
on the pitch for Selma Pediuelo. The announcer astutely points
33:21
out, well, these two are used to to that swap.
33:24
That's usually how this goes for Barcelona.
33:27
And within like 90 seconds, Pina scores.
33:32
And then 10 minutes later, she scores again.
33:37
And that was it. And England was not going to
33:40
score again. I'll I'll say Jess Park had a
33:44
difficult time dealing with that tricky midfield of Alexia
33:49
Putais, Patri Guillaro and Aitana Bon Mati.
33:53
Turns out that's a that's a pretty great midfield.
33:56
I just love looking at at Spain play their starting line up,
34:00
their front 3 Beta Uelo, Esther Gonzalez and Mariana Caldente.
34:04
They're middle 3, they're midfielders, Poute, Esquiaro,
34:07
Bonemati, they're back for Carmona, Alejandre Barnetas and
34:13
Battier all playing in front of Kata Koi.
34:16
It's just like, I don't know, dude.
34:18
Like England has a really good fucking team too.
34:21
They play they rolled out Hemp, Russo, Mead, Park, Walsh,
34:24
Stanway, Bronze, Williamson, Greenwood and Charles and I
34:27
thought Alex Greenwood looked really good by the way, in front
34:30
of Hannah Hampton. Hannah Hampton had to make a an
34:33
incredible save in like the first minute or two of the match
34:38
for off of Ester in in point blank range, but Spain was just
34:42
too much. What England?
34:45
England beat Spain in the Euros in England and then in the
34:49
reverse fixture, this one beat Spain in England.
34:54
So, you know, watch out Spain. If you're playing in England,
34:57
the Lionesses can beat you. Anywhere else you might have an
35:01
advantage. Well, yeah, I mean, I guess
35:04
we'll see. Well, we're getting close to to
35:06
to the EUR on the calendar. Got to be exciting to see both.
35:10
Well, three of them, Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood and Georgia
35:14
Stanway all missed significant time this season with injury.
35:17
So really happy to see all three of those players back in the
35:21
mix. But yeah, apparently Stanley.
35:26
Oh, go ahead. Stanley looked good out there,
35:28
played the first half, came off at half time and she she came
35:34
off for Missy Bo Kearns from from Aston Villa.
35:38
I don't know if it was like it had to be one of her and
35:41
apologies for the ignorance here, but it had to be one of
35:44
her first caps for England, which is a hell of a way to do
35:49
that again against Spain. So I I thought she she played
35:53
all right. But you know that midfield is
35:55
just too much. Yeah.
35:57
And yeah, talk about chemistry. I mean, that's that's a side
36:01
that doesn't need to do do a whole lot to kind of get that
36:04
together. But yeah, happy to see Russo
36:07
score that second Pinot goal is, I mean, just a yeah.
36:12
Come on man. Like.
36:14
A like a heart, I mean like it really.
36:15
That's just the stomach punch of all stomach punches.
36:18
Just yeah, slicing the the inside of the post.
36:22
Another ferocious strike. And, and I'll, I think to my
36:25
dying day, I'll, I'll be thankful that Perez Romeo went
36:30
with Bina in the starting line up and then brought Padillo in
36:33
later because that move, I mean, was disastrous.
36:38
It's a weird wrinkle. Yeah, those.
36:40
Players looked anywhere near what we're used to seeing, you
36:44
know, from with an upper echelon performance from from either of
36:48
them. I think both of them looked off
36:49
kilter. But yeah, it's a different
36:52
conversation for for another day, maybe 10 days ago.
36:56
Any who let's go to episode calendar so NW self back online
37:01
this weekend some big matchups buddy clash of the Titans here
37:06
San Diego wave hosting Seattle rain let's get let's get ready
37:10
for a big one Gotham host Kansas City current that one will be
37:13
fun spirit courage. I mean, all eyes on the spirit.
37:16
I, I got to imagine with that you and I around this situation
37:20
looming. Bay FC host Portland Pride host
37:24
to Dash Racing host Utah and Chicago heads to LA to take on
37:28
Angel City FC and we will be back to talk a little bit NWSL
37:33
after this weekend wraps up. I love it.
37:37
Friday Night Football, Friday Night Lights if you will.
37:41
That's the the wave rain match and the Louisville Royals match.
37:46
Should be interesting to watch. Yep.
37:48
Can't wait, can't wait. Feels like it's been gone for a
37:50
while. It really does another.
37:53
Reminder if like me, you're in the market for AUS women's Sasha
37:57
team gear, check out the collection we put together over
37:59
at our link tree in partnership with fanatics.
38:01
We've got a ton of great gear available link in the show notes
38:03
of this episode. Go get geared up, get ready.
38:06
A lot of big football come up this summer and a lot of cool
38:09
men's stuff too, right in the USW and T store.
38:13
Some of it's pricey, but a lot of nice stuff.
38:14
So I'm excited about that. All right, Mr. Grant Angle,
38:17
anything else you want to hit before we get out of here and
38:20
put the the final, the final bow on this international window?
38:26
I think that's about it. I mean, I guess if if we want to
38:29
take one more nod, make one more nod toward Europe.
38:33
The four semi finalists for the Nations League are Germany,
38:37
France, Spain and Sweden. Ever heard of them before?
38:42
Pretty good, pretty good teams. The draw for the semi final and
38:46
the other playoffs in the Nations League will be held this
38:49
Friday at 6:00 AM Pacific. He'll be very interested to see
38:54
how that shakes out. Both legs of the semi finals
38:56
will be played between October 22nd and October 28th, and then
39:00
the final and the third place playoff match are going to be
39:02
played between November 26th and December 2nd.
39:06
So right in the heart of the European football calendar as
39:10
well. So very much looking forward to
39:12
those. Awesome, cannot wait.
39:16
A couple of the quick show notes.
39:17
Congrats to Congrats to our guy Mike Watts.
39:20
Welcome to another little baby Mike to the world.
39:22
Let's go. Congrats to Mike and the family.
39:25
And then also just to close, another close up, another loop.
39:28
Did hear back from Leanne Sanderson via text.
39:32
This was the day after I texted her just to go.
39:34
We did mention on the show she texted me.
39:35
I know I cried. She said I know I cried.
39:37
What a night. Hope you enjoyed.
39:39
So for anybody curious about that, Leanne did get back to us,
39:43
not during the 1st 10 minutes of the final, but that's all right.
39:46
We forgive her and then anybody else keep you square at home.
39:49
There are now 7 people following my my Spotify.
39:52
It's Arsenal. It's Arsenal playlist.
39:54
I don't know who you are, but I appreciate you.
39:56
I thank you. And every day we probably listen
39:59
to the same playlist. That together and recreate that
40:02
special moment. I love it.
40:06
It's a service you've done, a service for the Arsenal fan base
40:10
across the world, so more people are gonna get up on that.
40:13
I guarantee it. I've done something.
40:17
Anyhow, this is another episode of this channel.
40:19
Thank you. Thank you for hanging out if you
40:20
enjoyed the show or love and symbolism, which is your boys
40:23
who make sure you're kicking with us each and every single
40:25
week. Like if you liked subscribe,
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40:29
watch or listen. Leave us a review over your
40:31
favorite podcast app. We want to hear from you.
40:32
We love hearing from you links to all of our socials except one
40:35
and the show us of this episode and a big thing in my clothes as
40:38
well. Mr. Grant Engel for, you know,
40:42
just, you know, you're not the guy to to wrap yourself in the
40:46
flag, but when the US and his actual team, you know, put that
40:51
jersey on and get ready to run out under the lights, I can
40:53
always count on you to to help break it down with me.
40:56
And, you know, I'd like that you keep it objective.
40:59
You know, it's, it's good analysis.
41:02
We can have a good conversation, keep it civil.
41:05
And you know, I also learned from you, so I appreciate that.
41:08
Likewise, buddy, I mean, you're always given given the new
41:10
angles on, on what we should be looking at here.
41:13
I always appreciate that. Thank you everybody for chiming
41:16
in, dropping knowledge in the comments.
41:18
Couldn't do it without you guys and I don't know how do I want
41:22
to wrap it. I talked myself into a corner
41:24
there. Let's just let's just roll with.
41:26
We got an exciting weekend of NWSL football coming up.
41:29
We'll be back to cover it at some point.
41:32
Shout out to our guy Michael Cocaine Svendis, Jane Joan's
41:36
daughter going to Angel City FC. We'll talk more about that,
41:40
especially when she hits the pitch.
41:42
But just like Michael, thank you to all of you for rocking with
41:45
us and we will see you all next time.
41:48
Michael, get that sub stack going.
41:49
Let's go.