Latest / Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football / (1/2) NWSL Week 7 RECAP | Big Wins for Angel City, Racing Louisville, Portland Thorns, San Diego Wave... plus much more!

Transcript

(1/2) NWSL Week 7 RECAP | Big Wins for Angel City, Racing Louisville, Portland Thorns, San Diego Wave... plus much more! · Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football

0:05
OK, welcome to Into the Channel podcast primarily about women's
0:08
football. I am your host Dino de Suspis
0:10
and as always I am joined by my Co host Mr. Grant Engel.
0:14
What is that man? I'm feeling all right, buddy.
0:17
I'd say that was a pretty full and eventful in most places.
0:21
Eventful and WSL weekend for us. Big weekend.
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I think this was the first. I think a post championship
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semifinals. This was the first like OK, full
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bore all 7, let's go top to bottom as much as as much as I
0:35
can squeeze in considering all the life changes.
0:39
This, this was a deep dive. End of this weekend for your
0:41
boy. Nice.
0:43
I'm glad to hear it. It's nice to to be able to sit
0:45
back, watch a little football and now we get to discuss it
0:48
all. Let's go.
0:49
All right, man, let's go. Big week, as mentioned, match
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week 7. Where do you want to get
0:53
started? Let's get started with a frosty
0:58
beverage to commemorate this weekend.
1:00
End of the USL match Week 7. I'm with it.
1:08
There we go. Delicious.
1:10
Cheers. Cheers to you.
1:12
And I would say for the most part, we'll we'll give you guys
1:15
a little insight as we go through this.
1:17
For the most part, what do you say we just kick it through
1:20
chronological order? Love it.
1:22
Let's go. I think these two matches kicked
1:25
off at the same time, but just for shits and gigs.
1:28
We'll start with Houston dash 1 racing Louisville 2A battle of
1:33
you know, some a couple teams outside of the playoff mix.
1:37
But you know, we did we did a bunch on racing Louisville last
1:39
week. Basically the up and down nature
1:41
of them, the XG, the the the mysterious XG situation, which
1:45
is funny. They win this one.
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They lose the XG battle for the first time in the season.
1:50
But yeah, racing, they grabbed their second win of the season.
1:53
The stats were interesting. I think the Dash played pretty
1:55
well. 6040 possession to Houston, shots were even 12 to
2:00
12. The Dash had one more shot on
2:01
target. Avery Patterson, though, I think
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we're seeing a big time player kind of growing up in front of
2:08
our eyes here. Yeah, got that, that first
2:11
appearance for US women's national team.
2:13
Great skill from a right back to kind of take those couple
2:16
touches and fire in that, that right footed shot.
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Phenomenal, phenomenal strike from her.
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Yep, Arrow pointed up. Patterson five shots, 4 on
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target. She gets the goal early.
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When was that 8th minute to kind of kick things off?
2:35
The downside though, for Houston?
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Patterson the only player five shots, The only player with more
2:40
than one shot in this match. Houston had seven other players
2:44
that notched a single shot. We've talked a ton about
2:46
calibration on the show for sure.
2:49
You switch gears, you look at racing Louisville Emma Sears
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four shots, 3 on target. Fisher, Demelo de Grande two
2:56
shots each. They got a good mix racing
2:58
Louisville of of offense from different spots on the pitch.
3:01
And wouldn't you know, another another weird showing, a weird
3:05
result. They come in on the road and get
3:07
the big three points here. Yeah, I I remain confused on
3:12
what to do with racing Louisville.
3:14
I think they may be a conundrum wrapped in a Riddle as we go
3:19
through this season. But what I do know is that
3:22
Jordan Bloomer had a couple hell of a saves.
3:27
She had a double save right after the hour mark that was
3:30
obviously massive. She had a great reaction too.
3:33
Like she's like like super pumped up as she should have
3:36
been. But then like it felt like 6
3:38
minutes later, 5 minutes later, she had a really nervy moment.
3:42
So there was a little bit of a roller coaster aspect, but you
3:46
know, you play well enough to win.
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You only let in one goal. Your, your team picks you up
3:50
with the other two. You rolling out of there with
3:52
three points. And they have a date with the
3:55
Seattle Rain FC coming up this this weekend here in lovely
4:00
Seattle. Excited for that one.
4:03
Excited to get your perspective on that one for sure.
4:06
But yeah, basically Louisville, they don't take any points if
4:08
not for Bloomer in this one. You look at the goalkeeping on
4:11
the other side, Jane Campbell, little bit of a rough go.
4:14
SO3 saves off of five shots on target.
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Bad mistake right on the 20 minute mark when Fisher scoops
4:20
her to equalize where she's just kind of caught way off her line
4:23
for no real good reason. Just kind of like way out of
4:26
position gets beat there. And then the second goal, what
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was that? Oh, yeah, that was the Demelo.
4:33
Just a sizzler of a ball up field that finds Emma Sears
4:36
right in stride. Absolute dime.
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I mean, Sears can't do anything but smack it past Jane Campbell
4:42
in that one. Rough, rough, rough.
4:43
Not not the best Jane Campbell performance, but I thought
4:46
Louisville grab the points here, deserve the three points.
4:49
And yeah, I think we'll see. They're still they're sitting in
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11th, still well outside the playoff mix.
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But obviously we've we've talked about it long season.
4:57
Anything else to take away from this one?
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Yep, live edit I'm a total dope. Racing Louisville is not coming
5:02
to Seattle to play next week. That would be the Houston Dash.
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The other team who I meant to refer to, I was like, oh, I'm
5:09
getting that in sometime in this segment.
5:11
Racing Louisville. They're gonna stay home and play
5:14
Gotham FC next match week. But now that that's out of the
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way, no, I think I think that's about it.
5:20
I think Campbell almost got the kick save on that Sears finish.
5:24
But I really liked Sears poise on it.
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You're right. The ball was so good.
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Like it's one of those things where it's such a perfect pass.
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You kind of have to finish the chance.
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But you know, I, I, the youngsters poised to kind of
5:36
say, OK, I'm going to keep the shot low, tuck it past Campbell.
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Campbell got like a little bit of a boot on it, but just
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couldn't get there. Good football all around.
5:45
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
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We'll we'll keep an eye on both these teams for sure.
5:49
Yeah. And I guess you'll get a look at
5:50
the dash next week and have to wait a little bit for your
5:54
Racing Louisville experience. Let's shift gears though.
5:57
Maybe they probably the match of the weekend.
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I think, I'm not sure. There's a ton of competition for
6:02
that title here in the at least in the NWSL.
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Washington Spirit 3, Angel City 4 absolute barn burner.
6:10
I got to watch a ton of this one live in the moment and it was
6:14
wild. I think the teams decided they
6:16
were going to play a little defense and they're going to
6:18
play not so much defense and they're going to kind of go up
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and down. No Yona Geraldos in this one, no
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Aubrey Kingsbury for the spirit and just a lot of a lot of back
6:29
and forth man. What was the I'm not sure where
6:32
to start with this one. Where?
6:33
Where do I get started here and I'm.
6:36
I'm not a great guy to ask where to start.
6:38
So like, I had a long, long work day on Friday and then I needed
6:43
a rush to Lumen Field to cover the match.
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So I get in, I get into the press box and it's like, you
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know, we're like 20-30 minutes out from kickoff and everybody's
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just like, who knows what's going on in this match?
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I'm like, wait a second, hold on.
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So I got to like pull it up just a just a couple of the
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takeaways. I mean, the reaction of the
7:11
Thompson sisters, Alyssa assisting Giselle on that goal,
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the, the level of, I'm not sure like what the cocktail is, but
7:21
the level of surprise mixed with the elation really brought me a
7:26
lot of joy. It's like, it was like those two
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young people realizing like, whoa, that was a really special
7:33
thing that just happened for us. Like they looked like shocked is
7:37
a funny word because they're both elite players, you know,
7:40
like in the, in the scope of they play in the national team,
7:43
you know, they're, they're very good players.
7:46
So they shouldn't be surprised that they made a great play.
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It was just there, it was clearly something washed over
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them that they're like, oh, this is a real moment that's
7:54
happening. And that was very cool to see.
7:56
I think part I think part of it is, you know, see like the
7:59
different positions, because Giselle made the run from real
8:03
deep. And if you see where she comes
8:04
from, she is like just galloping and she runs past two defenders
8:10
and like past one and then cuts inside the other one.
8:12
There's still another two that she doesn't quite reach, but
8:15
she's in the mix of four defenders in there.
8:17
And Alyssa, you we've talked about like kind of her turning
8:21
the page, you know, kind of like unlocking more the play making.
8:24
So to be able to hit just sell her sister from way deep off a
8:27
sick run. You know, I mean, my brother and
8:30
I never played at any kind of crazy level, but we definitely,
8:32
you know, hooped in some interesting spots.
8:35
And there is something to when I do something special and he did
8:38
something special and that those two special moments come
8:41
together and it's like it definitely goes up a level where
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you're just like, oh man, that was great.
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I think we're going to remember this one for a while.
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Obviously I I feel like a jerk comparing our crappy celebratory
8:52
moments to the Thompson sister similar, but here we are.
8:56
Don't sell yourself shortly. How many times are are you and I
8:59
going to talk about, you know, pick up basketball stuff a lot
9:04
to our friends to to our pals watching his show, At least give
9:07
us that look. We're not comparing ourselves,
9:09
but come on, give us some grace on that.
9:11
Yeah, yeah. And we're, I mean, I can compare
9:13
the elation. That's really what what we're
9:14
talking about here. OK, back to the game, Riley
9:17
Tierdon. Apparently this is a real
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player. That's a player right there gets
9:23
our 4th and 5th goal and this one opens the proceedings in the
9:26
8th. We already talked about the
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Giselle Thompson going the 22nd to put Angel City up two nil,
9:31
but then the spirit fight back two goals before halftime.
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SP Morgan the 30th assisted from Ashley Hatch gift Monday assist
9:39
from Rose Quasi, which was on a very cool play where it kind of
9:42
went in and out. Pings are pinged around and
9:44
Quasi is like this balls getting to where I want to get it Gift
9:47
Monday kind of slots it in quasi interesting game.
9:51
A player impossible not to notice little reckless, little
9:54
fearless all over the place just making stuff happened in in in
10:00
pretty much the best ways. I I I definitely missed having
10:03
the Kiwasi minutes front and center.
10:06
I thought I thought she had a really big impact on the game.
10:09
But yeah, this one goes in the halftime 22 and an electrifying
10:12
first half. Yeah, gift Monday certainly has
10:16
a lot of moves definitely has some acting chops.
10:19
I get got the penalty called back, but definitely but had the
10:23
ref fooled on 1st blush like I thought that was pretty
10:26
interesting. Yeah, you're 100% right on
10:29
Rosemont Quasi have kind of missed her.
10:32
I've I've missed her, her addition to that squad, you
10:36
know, obviously with, with Gerald as off the sideline,
10:41
that's a little bit of a factor. But they're playing, they're
10:45
playing a European style. You talk about the way the ball
10:48
is kind of like pinging around and they have super athletes.
10:52
It's it's a they're trying to implement.
10:55
And I know it's a, it's a big capital B saying, but they're
10:59
trying to implement some Barcelona stuff into, into their
11:03
game. Like that's, that's Geraldo's
11:04
DNA, Like that has to be a make an imprint on the squad.
11:09
And you know, the the tricky thing is, though, when you're
11:12
dealing with just the rash of injuries that that club is right
11:16
now, they still they have good depth.
11:17
They had good, they have good players.
11:19
There's no relief on the schedule when you talk about
11:22
Riley Tiernan's kind of ascension here, It it's just
11:26
going to be it's going to be hard for them to to manage these
11:29
injuries. But if there's any, if there are
11:32
any clubs in the league that I think could handle those
11:34
injuries, it's probably spirit, current pride that maybe Gotham
11:39
is probably right on the fringe there.
11:41
So I'll be interested, interested to see how they
11:43
bounce back. And I'm not.
11:45
I'm not going to lose hope after two straight losses.
11:49
Yeah, I think I agree with you. I mean you, you talked about the
11:51
injuries. I I think it's it it's it's
11:55
taken with a little bit of a grain, a little grain of salt, I
11:57
would say, because in this one, no, how Hersh felt, no Trinity
12:01
Rodman and there's something about those two players mix
12:05
missing from the mix that was just like took a lot of bite.
12:09
You know, a lot of a lot of physicality, you know, a lot of
12:12
toughness from this team, a lot of defensive kind of like just
12:16
harassment on the pitch. And, you know, Angel City kind
12:20
of had their way a little bit. Let me see this.
12:23
The the stats here. I think that yeah, the the, the
12:25
shooting stats, they way out shot them.
12:27
Angel City 22 to 11/9 to three shots on target.
12:31
Angel City nine corners, Washington just one.
12:33
Angel City also dominates possession almost 6040.
12:37
And this is all with Alexander Strauss coming in.
12:39
So really, really nice performance from Angel City
12:42
defensively, though, I thought Washington was really kind of
12:45
Swiss cheese, you know, and, and, and had a tough, tough time
12:49
dealing with with that Angel City kind of like unpredictable
12:53
attack. And then late in the match, what
12:56
do we get? We get a cross coming in a great
12:59
just an absolute divine Christian press flick just to
13:03
get it over to who else? Riley turned in again, who
13:06
smashes the ball into the roof of the net.
13:09
Just I mean, I'm surprised the ball didn't just come out the
13:12
other side. Just a ferocious finish there to
13:15
kind of seal it, but a lot happened to this one.
13:19
What? What do we take away from this
13:20
one? Angel City is going to be good
13:24
You you've, you're all over this relatively early.
13:29
I think, you know, I think we can start to the evidence is
13:32
mounting that they're going to they're going to challenge for
13:35
things. Shout out shout out to our guy
13:39
Michael Cocaine, the internet's greatest Angel City FC supporter
13:44
and and analyst, frankly, you know, dropping knowledge in the
13:48
YouTube comments, letting us know what to look out for for
13:51
Angel City. And we just got to see some
13:54
players get back for for Washington.
13:57
And you know, Corey Bethune, she gets the minutes doesn't have a
13:59
huge impact in this one, but she shouldn't yet.
14:02
She's coming back off a major injury that had her, you know,
14:05
out for months. It's just going to it's just
14:07
going to take a little time for her spirit to get it going.
14:10
But you know, we still have 19 matches left to play.
14:13
Yeah, I think I think no Kruger in this one, no Lacey Santos in
14:16
this one. Top talent missing and
14:20
Washington still almost pulls it out.
14:21
But I mean, tough to come in and win on the road.
14:24
Props Angel City for coming in and taking three points and and
14:28
carving out a nice spot in the standings.
14:29
They're they're well in the playoff mix here.
14:31
One more Friday match on this and the Bissell slate.
14:35
That was your Seattle rain hosting the legal in the Kansas
14:38
City current. We're not going to talk about
14:40
this one here. That one will work its way into
14:44
a Part 2, but I don't give the audience a little little
14:49
appetite. Appetite on what?
14:51
What to expect in that Part 2? Obviously a surprising result.
14:57
Seattle rain won Kansas City current nail.
14:59
We are joined by the great Tom Bomb from the Current Moment
15:04
podcast from Shades of Blue, the internet's greatest Manchester
15:08
City Football Club podcast, of course, as well as the 12 that
15:13
Tom Bomb hosts with with three of his pals on the Women's Super
15:17
League and Tom based in the middle of the map, Kansas City,
15:21
MO. So me and him chopped it up him
15:25
from the Kansas City perspective as a journalist, me obviously
15:28
another unbiased journalist here working in Seattle.
15:31
So we took a little time to discuss what we saw there.
15:34
I think you, I think people will enjoy it.
15:35
I hope you check it out. Let's go.
15:37
OK, I haven't heard it. Can't wait to check that out.
15:39
Looking forward to it. Let's shift gears and head to
15:42
Saturday. This would hurt.
15:45
This one hurt. I think both of us for different
15:46
reasons here. Portland won Orlando Pride nil.
15:51
The double winners, the double holders, the holders.
15:54
Holders go to Portland. Don't get it done.
15:58
I think my biggest take away here, obviously Reyna Reyes is a
16:01
great a great goal in the 16th assist from Raylan Turner at
16:06
that move from Reyes kind of reminded me of that kind of
16:10
snatch behind the back Steph Curry dribble where it's like
16:12
ends in a sidestep and you know, just kind of like drains the
16:15
three of the same same footwork, same kind of same kind of
16:18
cadence and rhythm on that one. So I I definitely recognize it.
16:22
But Portland just a tough, tough, tough side.
16:25
They really made it difficult. They created a lot of chances
16:29
and I continue to think that Orlando kind of missing another
16:34
connecting piece there. Seems like they've got like
16:36
Marta up front, they've got banned up front, you know, like
16:40
and they're just missing that that piece in the midfield or
16:43
that attacking midfield or somebody to be alongside Marta
16:46
to kind of create more from from different spots on the pitch.
16:50
Maybe that's an Angelina, maybe that's Natalie Watt, maybe
16:52
that's a Grace Chanda who came on looked good.
16:55
But either way, offensively, you know, this doesn't look like a
16:59
team that that that has that same unbeatable sense when you
17:02
look at this pride side and they obviously take the L on this
17:05
day. It's.
17:07
Just going to be a different season, man.
17:08
You know, I mean, we, we talked about what a dream season that
17:12
is last year. You have a lot of a lot of great
17:14
players returning. How how much does the Adriana
17:20
loss loom large, you know, over this, over this squad?
17:24
But you still have tremendous depth, like you said, like
17:26
you're not going to get that kind of Ali Wap match too often.
17:30
I felt like she had like 2 really good chances that she
17:34
probably could have put away and probably does put away at least
17:36
one of those on most days. I'm with you on the Grace Chan
17:40
of minutes too. She's another player coming off
17:43
a bad injury last year, like traveling home from the Olympics
17:47
if I remember correctly. So, you know, let's, let's get
17:52
her more comfortable. It's just you can't expect a
17:56
team to just ransack the entire League Two seasons in a row, not
18:01
in this league like it. I just don't think that's
18:04
totally feasible now. I don't, I mean, I would be
18:09
absolutely floored if they finish worse than third in the
18:13
table. I think that still stands.
18:15
But, you know, and it also is just a weird quirk of the
18:19
schedule and the and the way they rested last year.
18:21
Kind of bizarre that Portland not having a great year last
18:25
year and then this year kind of having a lot of questions.
18:28
Obviously with Sophie Wilson, you know, on maternity leave.
18:33
It's it's kind of weird that Portland is the team that that's
18:36
now beat them twice in, in like less than a year, less than a
18:39
calendar year. But you know, it it it's going
18:44
to be a little harder this year, but it should be for the
18:46
defending double winners. Yeah, I agree with that.
18:49
I mean, I think, you know, a a lot of changes in this line up
18:53
too, you know. So Shivoshi starts on the on the
18:56
back line. Oh, Yane gets to start.
18:58
Also, I think Ali Limo starts in the midfield.
19:01
So there was definitely a lot of changes.
19:03
Ali Watt, I thought she had a good game.
19:05
I thought she was in good position.
19:06
To your point, those couple chances late, Arnold had a big
19:10
time stop. I think on the second one, just
19:13
like full extension kick stave, which is nasty.
19:16
I don't really blame Ali Watt there.
19:18
I want to talk a little bit about Portland though.
19:20
Hina Sugita, she was great. 5 tackles, 3 interceptions.
19:23
She connects on 87% of her passes.
19:26
Just in great position. Athletically, she looked fit and
19:29
fast, which was great to see. And you know, we've talked about
19:34
Sophia Wilson, you know, obviously not available for this
19:37
Portland side. What would that mean?
19:39
Where's the scoring gonna come from, etcetera, etcetera.
19:42
We might be ready to turn the page on that conversation
19:46
because Portland just has some creators and they have some
19:49
attackers. You know, I think, you know,
19:52
there's something about Sam Coffey who plays great for the
19:56
the national team and it kind of has her role in the national
19:58
team. But there's something about her
19:59
in Portland where she's just. The hub, like she's like she's
20:03
getting the ball and she's getting plenty of touches and
20:06
she's having a tremendous impact on the on the games.
20:08
And then Olivia Moultrie, you know, obviously she's been
20:11
around a long time, but a still young player.
20:13
It feels like she's taking a step up this year.
20:16
Like she's aggressive, she looks fast, she looks more athletic as
20:19
well. And she's just she's getting the
20:22
ball to where she wants to get it.
20:24
One step that kind of stuck out to me.
20:26
She's at 5.37 shot creating actions per 90.
20:31
I think that's good for second in the league.
20:33
And she just looks really good and she's just doing a lot of
20:36
creating. And you know, this is another
20:39
side that less talent but outshoots a better team.
20:44
More shots, More shots on target for Portland.
20:47
Yeah, it's a great point on Moultrie.
20:49
I think our pal GOOG on Reddit and Blue Sky has pointed out
20:54
that people were pretty quick to start making some sweeping
20:59
judgements on Olivia, Olivia Moultrie, which and I, and I
21:02
don't say this pejoratively, like me and you, we're old.
21:06
We're old men. But she's a kid, man.
21:08
Like, you know, it's, it's not fair to make some like big
21:13
overarching statements on who she's going to be as a player.
21:16
She's now 19 years old. I think when she came in LA, she
21:18
was the youngest player at that point to, to play in the league.
21:22
And you're exactly right. Like she's always, you could
21:25
always see the footballing intelligences there.
21:29
She's out there playing against grown adults.
21:31
So you got to give her a little time to kind of and she was, she
21:34
was playing at the level through through portions of the past
21:37
couple seasons. But you're right, she's kicking
21:39
it up a notch now. And it's probably not a
21:41
coincidence that, you know, she's getting older, more time
21:45
with the, you know, strength and conditioning coaches and stuff
21:48
like that. Like, that's just how this is
21:50
going to go. She's going to get another look
21:52
for the US women's national team, and she's going to
21:54
continue to play well for for Portland.
21:56
I don't think there's any doubt about that.
21:59
I, I think there's also more touches to be had.
22:01
You know, the defensive side of the pitch, it's coffee, you
22:04
know, that's kind of remains the same.
22:06
And then up field it, it seems to be Moultrie who their offense
22:09
is running through. And I think that is a good thing
22:12
for Portland, to be honest. In this one.
22:15
Orlando also miss Kylie and Danner, and then they also lost
22:19
Anna Morehouse to an injury. McKinley Crone comes in and then
22:24
there's a set behinds quote that I want to hit here.
22:26
So Seb says, quote, McKinley has been waiting a long time for
22:30
that opportunity. It is in a way that we didn't
22:32
want it to happen. Obviously, you never want to see
22:34
a player get injured. Mack has been patient waiting
22:37
for this opportunity and I thought she did well when she
22:39
came on and quote, I I, I, I tend to agree.
22:42
I think it was tough to see Morehouse go out and then
22:45
obviously I haven't given up the goal.
22:48
But Crone, I think came in and played pretty well.
22:51
But I think the story of this one, the Orlando offense kind of
22:55
stalls out. Portland gets an early goal, is
22:57
able to kind of hold on and then they walk away with three
23:01
points. Now Orlando, they've lost two or
23:03
three. Seb Heinz.
23:05
I mean firmly in the hot seat, sorta In the hot seat is the
23:11
seat relatively? No, I'm just kidding.
23:14
We'll take him at Manchester City I.
23:17
Bet you will. Yeah, if you want to get, if you
23:19
want to give up, that's fine. Yeah, Last thing I'll I'll say I
23:23
think you're right. I think the the attack obviously
23:25
stalls out. You don't score, You know,
23:26
you're it's a clean sheet. Shivosi looked good.
23:30
I I thought I thought that was interesting.
23:32
Obviously you lose a lot losing Kylie Nadan are like Gary, you
23:35
know what time it is. I think you and I have said
23:38
multiple times her and Sam's are likely the best center back duo
23:41
in the league. But Shivosi definitely looked
23:45
interesting. So I I think that's what 22
23:48
years old, I want to say somewhere in that ballpark.
23:50
So Seb keeping keeping that recruiting train, keeping that,
23:54
you know, keeping that depth going.
23:57
Yeah, and I think like a good spot to get some minutes for for
24:00
some players that, you know, might not just be in the
24:04
starting line up week in week out.
24:06
So I think a good look for the team.
24:08
But yeah, hopefully we can get things back on track in Orlando.
24:11
Hopefully they could get things back on track over there on the
24:14
other side of the the country here.
24:16
Let's let's slide back out West though.
24:18
Utah Royals NIL North Carolina Courage to Utah Just.
24:26
Yeah, having a rough. A rough goal of the whole season
24:28
here and on the flip side, the courage maybe starting to get
24:32
get back on track. I don't know.
24:35
What's the first thing that stuck out to you with this one?
24:39
They, you know, with with no Zornosa to knock a knot in the
24:43
starting 11 for for Utah, coming back from an injury, they Utah
24:48
needs a lot of things to happen. I mean, they need to get
24:51
healthy, they need to start generating some chances.
24:56
It's not entertaining to watch. It's not pleasant to watch.
25:01
Ali, Ali Sentinor is is trying to drag the team in the right
25:06
direction. And I don't mean to like blame
25:10
everybody else around her because I think there's some
25:12
things that there's some decision making that maybe
25:14
Sentinor could be could could be doing better.
25:16
But obviously she's a young player too, having a rough go of
25:21
it. Pretty well said, my good man.
25:23
I think that's just what's kind of happening all the way around.
25:27
And then they have to, they have to play.
25:31
They have to play a team coached by Shawn Nahas with a lot of
25:34
good veterans and a good defensive team who just got like
25:38
a little bit of a shot in the arm after that, after that
25:41
dramatic win over Kansas City, it was not in the cards for
25:45
Utah. And it's looking like this
25:47
season. I know we said we got a lot of
25:50
matches left. This this this one's barely
25:53
hanging on to the rails, buddy. Yeah, I agree with that.
25:56
They they look to be in some trouble for sure.
26:01
They did manage nine shots in this one to to North Carolina
26:05
16, but just one on target. And I think if if memory serves,
26:08
it was a sentinor one from distance that provided no sweat
26:12
whatsoever to North Carolina. And then I think outside of that
26:16
defensively, or I'm sorry, the passing stats, the possession,
26:20
those were all fairly even actually.
26:22
Sanchez, though, three shots, three shots on target, one goal
26:26
in this one. Her Sprint onto that loose ball
26:28
was just that was something I love.
26:31
I love how the ball's just kind of knocked around the the the
26:34
game that I like to play is like, who's going to get on to
26:35
the end of this one? And she just flies into the
26:38
frame. Her last two matches she's got
26:41
five shots, 5 on target, two goals.
26:44
She's on absolute fire. And there was just good, you
26:47
know, distribution from the Courage side.
26:49
We talked about that earlier. They had three players attempt
26:51
three different, I'm sorry, three different players attempt
26:53
three shots. So they definitely were
26:55
spreading it around. And then the last child here,
26:58
Shinomi Koyama, 20 years old, seven appearances, 3 starts.
27:02
The only player with more shot creating actions per 19 and
27:05
Olivia Moltre is Shinomi Koyama 6.45, good for best in the
27:10
league. Also mentioned on the broadcast,
27:13
Shanomi is best friends with Minaka Matsukovo, so that's
27:16
pretty cool too. That's kind of review the source
27:18
of the chemistry. But yeah, it's nice to kind of
27:21
see this this North Carolina Courage side, maybe turn in the
27:24
corner here. Only a matter of time.
27:27
And, you know, I think I can't remember what the exact Nejas
27:30
quote was, but the announcers were talking about it where he
27:34
had said something about Jaden Shaw to the effect of, you know,
27:38
when the when the numbers looked like they did in the last match.
27:42
I, I couldn't start her after that.
27:44
Like it can't start anybody after kind of the performance
27:47
that she put in, which, you know, I, I like that kind of
27:51
honesty from a coach. And again, we don't know these
27:54
people, but Jaden Shaw, from everything I've seen, strikes me
27:58
as a player that goes, OK, bet yeah, I didn't.
28:01
I didn't play great in that, in that last appearance, in that
28:03
last appearance that's not going to last because I work too hard
28:06
and I'm too smart and I'm too, too gifted of a player to do
28:09
that. So I'll be interested to see how
28:11
Shaw starts to to kind of fit back in.
28:13
And we knew it was going to take some time anyway.
28:15
It took, it took a little longer than we expected, even even in a
28:19
young season, You know, they had that weird, they had a weird
28:21
stretch to start it. It would be a fool's errand to
28:25
count out the North Carolina courage, though.
28:28
Yeah, I definitely agree with that.
28:29
I mean, it, it's almost as if Jaden Shaw's explosive, you
28:34
know, introduction to the national team is kind of working
28:36
against her from the standpoint, you know, if she was a player
28:40
that that just kind of like, you know, shot 2 fastballs at the
28:43
goal, they were just like, oh, whoa, where'd that come from?
28:45
But they, she doesn't score. You know, you almost feel like
28:48
she gets more of a pass. And she's considered one of the
28:51
young American players that could be coming next.
28:54
But I think she started out so hot that I mean, the expectation
28:59
just got they they balloon to like a massive extent.
29:02
And even still, this is a player that goes from San Diego to
29:06
Cary, NC. And this discouraged team has
29:10
played seven matches. This is a 20 year old player.
29:13
Like I think, you know, we can all kind of benefit from a
29:17
little pumping of the brakes to give Shaw a chance here.
29:20
But I think either way, Shawn Nahouse and them girls in the
29:23
Courage are are they're definitely kind of putting it
29:26
together, you know, after a rocky, choppy, weird kind of
29:32
slog of the start to the season. So I don't know, it could be
29:35
could be the courage kind of coming on here.
29:36
I had them ranked 4th come into the season.
29:38
I'm not sure if they'll reach that apex necessarily, but good
29:42
to see them kind of on the right track.
29:44
Yeah, I, I think I was right there with you.
29:46
I I know I had them pretty highly rated as well.
29:49
So I think it's, it's a matter that Ryan Williams has been
29:53
playing well all season despite the slow start.
29:57
So that's, that's good to see too.
29:58
Yeah. I mean, you know, they're too
30:00
disciplined. They're, they have too much
30:02
talent. It's a matter of time.
30:05
So I think that might have been the 3rd or 4th matter of time
30:07
between the two of us. But that's, that's what's
30:10
happening here. It's a long season, everybody.
30:12
When's the fifth one coming? Just a matter of time.
30:14
Ryan Williams also has a cross towards Monaca that deflects off
30:18
Del Fava for their own goal. That becomes the second one and
30:22
ultimately the the final nail in the coffin for the Royals.
30:25
Let's shift gears to Sunday though.
30:27
Gotham FC nil, Chicago stars nil the first match post Lauren
30:33
Donaldson enter the Misaki Hemi era.
30:37
Quick, I don't know. Quick, quick shout out to
30:40
Lauren. Well, what do we need to say
30:42
what what we to say about Mr. Donaldson?
30:44
He's a good manager man and I and I don't like it.
30:47
I don't like the firing. I don't like the rationale
30:49
behind it. I don't like the GM coming out
30:51
and saying some of the effect of like, oh, we got the players, we
30:54
have the right, you know, we got the right formula for him.
30:58
I I think that's. No, you got the players.
31:03
Yeah, like I the the results would dictate otherwise.
31:07
And like Mel Swanson's not out there.
31:09
Sam stops coming off a bad injury.
31:12
You know, Donaldson helped keep that thing together last year
31:16
with the players that they did have.
31:20
You know, there's just a there's, there's something that
31:23
happens in sports where certain managers and coaches don't get
31:27
as much time as other managers and coaches.
31:30
And I I find that continuously frustrating.
31:34
And I think Donaldson will land on his feet because you saw what
31:38
the Jamaican national team was able to do in 2023.
31:41
I think he, I think the Chicago stars, when last year the
31:44
Chicago Red Stars had had a lot of good things going for them.
31:48
And I think a lot of that is because of Lauren Donaldson's
31:51
footballing ethos. And I wish our guy well.
31:54
Yeah, I agree with that. Yeah, I think a season with
31:57
Swan, I mean, this is a tough league.
32:00
You know, even if they have Swanson and stop at full health,
32:02
that that that that guarantees nothing.
32:05
You know, talking about Chicago, having the players in my notes,
32:09
just let's compare these attacking, you know, units in my
32:12
notes. I write, I'm a fan of this
32:14
Joseph Ludmila Schlegel attack. That's kind of how I describe
32:18
Chicago. Yeah, and.
32:20
Then you look at the other side, Jace Astaire and Ellis Stevens
32:24
front three and then they can bring Mitch purse off the bench.
32:27
Schipansky looks like a beast, you know, just creating chances
32:29
left there. You know, they they don't score
32:31
in this one, but the difference between us attacking right,
32:36
quite, quite a, quite a gulf there.
32:38
Yeah, I mean, hard to line up that way.
32:41
I just don't, I just don't like anytime the somebody from the
32:45
front office is just like, well, they have the players.
32:49
It's it's the it's such it's such a chicken shit way to be
32:52
like I did my thing. I don't know what that guy's
32:54
problem is. It's just like, wow.
32:56
Gave him some great players. Now, just Speaking of great
33:00
players, Alyssa Nair, probably the player of the match, 5
33:03
saves, five shots on target, busy early, tested in a big way
33:08
late as well. So she definitely logged the
33:12
full 90 plus and then was active kind of all the way through.
33:15
Big game from Melissa Nair. Yeah, but just to kind of circle
33:21
back and I I don't believe the Chicago necessarily has the
33:24
players. They have some players that I
33:25
like that are interesting, but credit to them, you know, they,
33:29
they first, they, they claw out the first draw of the season
33:32
going to Gotham, you know, one of the one of the big four or
33:36
five of the league and hold them scoreless and walk away with a
33:40
little sum sum. Yeah.
33:42
And I don't know if it's a a new manager bounce, you know, maybe
33:46
there's something that's that's happening in the back that that
33:49
we didn't see. But it there hasn't been, at
33:52
least to my knowledge, there hasn't been a whiff of that in
33:55
any of this reporting. And sometimes you naturally,
34:00
sometimes you get the the new manager bump, not because
34:02
players didn't like the the last manager, but because the players
34:06
are like, whoa, what's going on here?
34:07
Like there are there big changes happening here.
34:10
And sometimes that's kind of like part of the psychology
34:12
game. So I'm not quite sure.
34:16
But it's it's a good result to get that draw.
34:19
And, you know, it's a football game that happened.
34:22
Emily Sonnet had some weird moments.
34:24
She had some pretty good moments.
34:26
It's nil Nil. I won't act like I was
34:29
particularly enthralled watching this one, but football was
34:33
played and I watched and you know, nil, nil, share the
34:38
points. A fair result.
34:40
We'll call it a fair fair indeed.
34:43
Last quick note here, Mack with McKenna with 14 years old checks
34:48
in at the 81st minute I think now the youngest player ever to
34:50
play in the game puts a header on target late, easily dealt
34:53
with by Nair. She gets an even better look
34:55
layer a few minutes later that Nair also deals with but has to
34:59
make a big save. Interesting introduction.
35:02
I'm not sure what you can expect from a player at that age, but
35:06
you know, wish wish that player the best.
35:08
And I'll tell you didn't look like a 14 year old player.
35:11
I think with them, you know, at that age got minutes and then
35:14
for Houston, KK Reem, 15 years old also, I think she was
35:19
playing in the midfield to totally look the part.
35:22
I mean, it's it's pretty it's pretty nuts seeing these young
35:27
players and even these first year players like a player like
35:29
Carly Lima for AFC just looks like a Mont.
35:33
I'd like Riley tiered in another another player athletically just
35:37
looks like a, you know, full like a fully formed, just peak
35:42
peak of their powers type type athlete.
35:44
I think it's it's probably something that we're going to
35:46
start to see more and more and you don't.
35:48
Maybe this could be something that the NWO has up their sleeve
35:52
to kind of compete with some of the European leagues, some of
35:55
the leagues worldwide. I know it's been a hot, you
35:57
know, topic on on social and on Reddit, etcetera.
36:01
But either way, good good showing for with them and a
36:05
player that I think impossible to ignore that this player
36:10
hasn't survived. It's a very high ceiling.
36:13
Yeah, I think that's definitely true.
36:16
I just want to make sure that I haven't completely lost my mind
36:20
here. So we're going to do this live
36:22
on the show because I thought Witham got some minutes against
36:25
Seattle to. Oh, that's possible.
36:29
That's definitely possible. Yeah, she came on, but it was
36:32
like right at stoppage time, it was right on the 90th minute.
36:37
And so I think at one time you had Emery, Adamus, McKenna with
36:42
them and Jordan Bug all on the field at the same time.
36:48
So it's like multiple teenagers out there.
36:50
There is something and I think all of our pals who watch the
36:53
show know I'm squeamish around injuries.
36:57
Like, you know, I'm always for it.
36:58
Like if a player's like I can't go, that's I think that makes
37:02
sense. Sometimes I I tell coach, like
37:04
my advice to coaches is like just wait, just wait to let him
37:07
get more healthy and stuff like that.
37:09
I am a little squeamish about players who are that young
37:14
getting on the pitch and playing like against Barbara Benda and
37:19
Martha and you know, like Mal Swanson, Sophie Wilson, like
37:24
full grown adults, Trinity Rodman, like you, just like the
37:27
list goes on and on and on of just like absolute, truly peak
37:32
of their powers athletes out there.
37:35
So I think there are some some questions, but if you know, you
37:40
hope the parents are involved, you hope the parents are
37:42
thinking critically about this and thinking about the players
37:45
future as well. So sorry to be a bit of a wet
37:49
blanket. I'm not trying to be.
37:51
But your point stands that it's exciting that these young
37:53
players are here. I just hope they are treated
37:56
with the utmost respect and care to make sure they're not put in
38:00
any in any really difficult spots.
38:04
Yeah, the care point's a great 1.
38:06
You know, obviously, you know, we, we all played sports.
38:09
We probably played with folks that were older.
38:11
It's like, you know, like I think on the pitch is the least
38:14
of my concern. It's probably more off the
38:16
pitch. And what's the support system
38:18
look like? You know, there's care and
38:20
there's documents and there's, you know, parents and guardians
38:25
and contracts and money and like it we as soon as that that all
38:28
that stuff starts to happen. That's kind of where things can
38:30
get a little tricky, maybe go off the rails.
38:33
But I think on the pitch with them look good.
38:35
I think a lot of these young players will look really good.
38:37
You just hope to your point that the parents are are doing what
38:40
they need to do. And then even extended beyond
38:42
that, there's a good support system in place.
38:46
All right, I want to talk about a couple California teams, kind
38:49
of rounded up the site here. San Diego 2 AFC one this one was
38:53
fun. Goes into halftime 11.
38:57
You know, I don't like to use the L word, but I I got to
39:00
imagine that Bay FC was probably feeling a little lucky at
39:02
halftime. You know, San Diego gets a
39:05
penalty kick stuffed and a couple point blank chances kind
39:10
of turned away. San Diego probably should have
39:13
gone in to the half ahead, but either way, they kind of squeeze
39:18
in a late winner here to take all three points.
39:21
And I think Bay probably would have been really happy to walk
39:26
away with something. But they didn't really play very
39:28
well and I think the results kind of fell into place, I think
39:34
as as it should have. Yeah, I mean, Speaking of
39:36
teenagers, great showing from Trinity Armstrong, center back
39:40
for San Diego Wave. You know, forces essentially
39:44
sets up the quarter kick near the death, plays a great pass to
39:48
Adriana Lyon to set up the corner.
39:51
Leon does the does the right job by by forcing the quarter kick
39:54
and then Armstrong bounces home the header for the win and
39:57
everything's coming up San Diego right now, man.
40:00
I mean, they, you know what third in the table after that
40:03
victory, running at the goal, you know, playing extremely
40:08
well, you know, but we had our questions coming into this
40:13
season. We had our shoulder shrugs.
40:15
We had our eye rolls. Your guy Jonas Adeval comes in
40:19
from Arsenal with some. You know, some questions around
40:23
him and how players, you know, like working with him.
40:27
After a few months, we're still in the early stages, but it's so
40:33
far so good. I would say so he's got the
40:38
attack looking really good. All the player moves that that
40:42
have been introduced. I I think Kenza Dali is a great
40:45
example. So that this is a player that
40:47
I'm like, OK, you know, like we've seen Dali play, you know,
40:50
she doesn't look like this tremendous stand out player in
40:54
Europe, definitely not at the level of Cascarino.
40:57
There's something about the both of them kind of coming over and
41:00
the chemistry kind of from day one.
41:01
And then Gia Corley, another young player from from coming
41:05
over from from Germany, who just looks awesome.
41:08
Like they the attack is like just it's hard to contend with.
41:12
They come from different angles. Cascarino one-on-one is just
41:17
nothing you can do. She's just a real problem.
41:20
Dolly could put the ball anywhere.
41:22
And then I I was marvelling a little bit at Hannah Lundquist
41:26
kind of gets on my radar last year when she joins the Wave.
41:29
Prior to that, two seasons at Electrical Madrid and then prior
41:33
to that one season at Hammerbee and Thomas Fenske.
41:36
And obviously this is a Swedish player.
41:38
I was shocked to learn she's 22 years old.
41:42
Lundquist, for some reason, I'm like, you know, and it's
41:45
probably I'm not sure if she had international appearances, but
41:47
I'm like, oh, this is a player like like a 2720 year old, 28
41:50
year old inner prime. OK, this is a good person to
41:52
kind of fit in that spot. And now we don't have to worry
41:55
about it for the next season or two.
41:57
She's 22 years old, just like rock solid.
42:01
And you can see that that's one piece that was going to stay
42:05
there, you know, with the change over 2, eight of all.
42:08
And then now it's like, let's, let's kind of build pieces that
42:11
are are in that same rhythm and the chemistry just looks great.
42:16
Yeah, no, I I think that's spot on.
42:19
I mean, Lundqvist looks like a maybe not, not like a
42:22
centerpiece, but a, a, a solid building block.
42:25
You know, in the context of the team, you know, Caitlin
42:29
Sheridan, you already know what you have back there in goal.
42:33
Can you and can you get players to come to San Diego?
42:36
I mean, what in just in the last year you mentioned Dolly, you
42:39
mentioned Cascarino Maria Sanchez comes over like you're
42:43
going to be able to attract talent.
42:45
And I, I think now, you know, obviously like early on I was
42:50
like, OK, it's, it's looking all right so far.
42:53
I'm going to reserve judgement. I, I continue to be moved to the
42:58
line of this might be a real thing.
43:02
I'm I'm getting there. I don't want to stay.
43:04
I'm not staking any claims yet because I, I don't, I can't
43:06
swing so wildly from, you know, what's this team going to look
43:10
like to Yeah, yeah, they're definitely, you know, a top four
43:14
seed. I mean, they're sitting in 3rd
43:15
right now. But you know, I, I, my mind can
43:19
be changed by evidence, and that evidence is mounting.
43:23
Yeah, top 4 is going to be, that'll be a dogfight because
43:27
it's going to be Gotham, Washington, and you could have
43:30
some some some new faces kind of spring up there along with KC in
43:34
Orlando. I think they'll definitely be in
43:36
the mix defensively. I think they've they they've got
43:39
something they play tough, they've got good goalkeeping and
43:44
I don't know, not not a ton of tape on them.
43:46
And I think it wasn't as if we went into the season being like
43:50
this teams, they're in trouble. We came into the season being
43:53
like, what does this team look like?
43:54
Because this is a completely different outfit and just so
43:57
many variables. It was, it was easy to kind of
43:59
be like, I don't know about this, but to their credit, they
44:03
they kind of pieced together something that I don't know,
44:06
maybe it's got some flavor to it.
44:09
Definitely looks like it. All right, so we will keep
44:12
tracking that. I think this might be the end of
44:15
Part 2, My good man, I'm sorry. The end of Part 1, the end of
44:21
Part 2 will be coming very shortly, but end of Part 1-6 of
44:24
the seven matchups in Part 2, definitely, definitely,
44:27
definitely stick around for that.
44:29
Our guy Mr. Green Eagle. We'll be talking to Tom Bomb
44:32
from shade to blue from the current moment podcast and
44:36
chopping up that big Seattle rain upset of the Kansas City
44:40
current. Yeah, they just the March to the
44:43
playoffs continues. Definitely stick around for Part
44:48
2. All right, man, anything else
44:49
you want to hit before we get out?
44:50
Here, I think that's it. I mean, Tom Bomb predictably
44:52
great. Anybody who's out there on these
44:55
women's football Internet streets knows this about Tom
44:58
Bomb. We I mean, we've hit everything
45:02
from we talked about Claire Hutton, we talked about Sam
45:05
Meza, like two young midfielders on each side.
45:08
Obviously we talked about what the offense looked like with
45:10
minus Chewinga for the first hour of the match.
45:14
We got into some some of the VLAC go, Laura Harvey chess
45:16
match, lot of ground covered and just, you know, a warning and
45:21
they shouldn't dissuade anybody. Everybody should be more psyched
45:24
about the episode. Like Dino mentioned Tom Bomb
45:27
from the shades of blue podcast, the greatest Manchester City
45:30
football club podcast in the universe.
45:33
Tom Bomb was wearing a Manchester City jersey.
45:37
I obviously wearing my Mr. Rogers sitting at home in my in
45:41
my office hoodie with the city Crest on there.
45:44
There were a couple city references in the interview.
45:47
That's just going to happen when you get me and him on the show.
45:50
But I, I promise it, it's good stuff.
45:52
And Tom covers the current better than anybody.
45:55
So I I recommend everybody watch.
45:58
Awesome, can't wait to watch. Can't wait to listen.
46:00
All right, man, there's another episode of Into the channel.
46:02
Thank you for hanging out. If you enjoyed the show or love
46:06
1 football as much as your boys do, make sure you kick in with
46:08
us each and every single week. Like if you liked, subscribe,
46:10
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46:13
watch or listen. Leave us a review over your fair
46:15
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46:16
We love hearing from you. Links to all of our socials
46:18
except one in the shows of this episode.
46:21
And a big thank you to Michaels as well, Mr. Dan Angle for being
46:26
my running mate and in the in the tip as the tip of the spear
46:30
of this 22 headed attack on offense.
46:33
I appreciate you bro. Likewise, buddy, you know, Pip
46:36
and Jordan, you know, I mean Peyton to Kemp, Curry and KDI
46:43
think I feel like we're probably Curry KD status maybe more than
46:47
than some of those others, but. Cascarino Dolly, you already
46:50
know there. We go.
46:51
That's what I'm talking about, right, Right there.
46:55
Thank you everybody for watching, for rocking with us,
46:57
and we will see you all next time.