Transcript

0:03
Hello, OK, welcome to Into the Channel podcast premiere about
0:08
What's football. I'm your host Dino de Cespedes
0:10
and as always I'm joined by my Co host Mr. Grant Engel.
0:15
What is that man? I'm feeling fantastic, buddy
0:17
Match week 18 is upon us and I'm just, I'm just ready to talk
0:21
about some more football with you.
0:23
I'm ready man. I think week 17 probably
0:26
represented like the league swing back into maybe maybe
0:30
shaking off some of that rust. I feel like we got some some
0:33
good football, not not great peak football, but I think we're
0:36
just about back match week 18. I hope we'll have a lot in the
0:41
store, some good match ups and shout out to us.
0:45
We did a thing. It's tough kind of knocking
0:48
through these seven match ups. You know, we don't necessarily
0:49
want to go chronology every time.
0:51
So shout out to you, you, you, you set up some tears for us.
0:55
And then I think we're able to group this week's 7 matchups
0:59
into 3 tiers. Excellent love a good tie ring
1:02
system, you know, a a watch guide, if you will the into the
1:07
channel. What should you watch and what
1:10
should you maybe put on the second screen while other things
1:13
are happening? Who knows?
1:14
But you know, we're not here to tell you how to live your life.
1:17
We're just here to to throw out informed suggestions.
1:21
I like it tier #1 we've we're we're calling this the absolute
1:27
must watch tear. This is basically clear the
1:30
schedule and for this week. I don't know, I'm not sure if
1:34
you agree. I'm I'm I'm I'm curious about
1:36
your take on this, but the match up that I'm dying to see for for
1:41
a few different reasons. Give me the Orlando pride
1:44
hosting Gotham FC. Obviously you get you get
1:48
Orlando, you get the the the post band Orlando situation.
1:52
You get potentially Lizbeth ovale situation, maybe join the
1:56
team. You get Orlando on an icy cold
2:00
streak. Have not won a match since June
2:03
13th. I mean that's not tough.
2:06
If if you if you bet that one props to you.
2:09
I don't think anybody had that. And and then on the other side,
2:12
you get Gotham who need need something.
2:16
I think you know, they're they're very dangerously close
2:18
to being on the outside looking in.
2:19
They're they're tied for 8th right now with North Carolina
2:21
Courage pretty healthy advantage goal differential wise, but they
2:25
really are hanging on to that final playoff spot.
2:29
And this is a team that had to have, I think, more lofty, you
2:33
know, aspirations than that coming into the year.
2:36
Yeah, no doubt. I mean, I think it's been a
2:37
frustrating season for Gotham. You have a stare, you know,
2:41
playing lights out, getting a lot of goals early, especially
2:43
before the especially before the international break.
2:47
And like you said, they're just kind of barely staying afloat.
2:50
So they're going to have to go to Orlando, probably play in
2:55
some more extreme heat. I don't know what the exact
2:58
forecast is down in Orlando. I'm going to take a wild shot in
3:02
the dark and guess very hot would be my assumption.
3:06
And yeah, we'll see if Elizabeth of IA Plays makes your debut in
3:10
front of the home crowd, nicknamed La MAGA for the
3:14
Magician. And I got to say, people down in
3:17
Florida probably very psyched when they read that her nickname
3:21
is La Maga MAGA. But then I think they'll be very
3:25
disappointed after they realize that it's a women's football
3:28
team. But I digress.
3:31
I had to get the La Maga joke in there.
3:34
I I'm very excited to see OVA play and I hope she does.
3:38
I love it. I'm the fully behind that
3:40
rebrand and actually you, you bring up a I'm glad you brought
3:43
brought this to brought this up refreshed in my mind.
3:47
Did did you ever see the Ali documentary When We Were Kings
3:51
or the Ali movie starring Will Smith?
3:54
Oh, I think I've seen most of the Ali movie with Will Smith.
4:00
I haven't seen the documentary though.
4:01
I should I should watch it? Must watch documentary it it
4:06
recounts the rumble in jungle, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman,
4:10
you know, from Kinshasa and Zaire.
4:13
Just a very super cool. I mean one of the it's my
4:15
favorite sports documentary for sure.
4:18
But in that documentary, there's a famous segment that was
4:22
recreated in the Will Smith movie where the crowd starts
4:26
screaming Ali Bumaye, which transit to Ali, kill him.
4:31
And I'm going to put the call out right now to everybody we
4:34
know. Orlando, John Luis Adastra,
4:40
Hayley Carter, Seb Hines. I need Lizbeth Obaye to the tune
4:45
of Ali Bumaye as often as possible.
4:50
Can we can can we make this happen?
4:52
Like I just want I just want this to be a thing.
4:55
You know, there there's an Orlando Pride sized hole in my
4:58
heart. I miss that glove.
5:00
I miss covering that glove every time I see something's happening
5:03
and I want to ask Kylie Nadaner about or said Heinz about.
5:05
It's a real bummer. But this would be, you know, me
5:09
having a little little foot foot still in Orlando with what's
5:12
going on. So our friends of Orlando,
5:14
please help us make that happen. I love it.
5:17
I know Ed Astra's like plugged into the supporters club down
5:20
there as as far as I know. So, you know, I think, I think
5:23
we could make it happen. Love it, Let's do it.
5:27
Some ovaa. Some OVAA.
5:31
That's all I had there. You go, how about 80?
5:34
That's the rhythm. 81 Maybe I can talk myself into a quarter.
5:38
81 appearances for the Mexican national team. 20 goals.
5:41
Eight years for Tigris, the club's all time leading scorer
5:45
for Ovi. 100 I love this part. 136 Goals, 103 assists, 239 goal
5:51
contributions and 294 appearances.
5:53
So a team that needs goals, needs assist, needs creativity.
5:58
A player like Ovi, much, much, much needed, but I think
6:01
Orlando's going to need more than that.
6:04
I think, you know, in our last episode, we talked about
6:06
Chulufia kind of on the ascent, but maybe needing to now take
6:11
another two or three steps up, you know, if if this year is
6:14
going to be salvageable. But another player I wanted to
6:16
call out Carrie Abello. We just have not seen Carrie
6:20
Abello affect matches the same way she did last season.
6:24
You know, so obviously last year 29 appearances, 28 starts.
6:29
This year, I think she's at like 10 starts from 17 matches.
6:33
And then you look at her shot creating actions per 90 and
6:36
they've, they've dropped the last three seasons, 2.79 per 90
6:40
down to 2.14 last year down to 1.66 this year.
6:44
So in a year where you need more stuff, you need, I don't know,
6:49
you just need stuff. I I feel like Abella is a player
6:52
that if you could get, if you can get her reinvigorated,
6:56
reintroduce into this offense that like, you know, like just
6:59
creating more. I think, I think that could
7:01
maybe also be an unlock along with a couple of players that we
7:04
are we have already mentioned. Yeah, for sure.
7:07
They need, they need something, they need a boost from one or a
7:12
couple different areas on the pitch.
7:15
Well, I love the Abello call out, you know, because we when
7:18
when she is really going, the attack looks completely
7:23
different. She changes the geometry of the
7:25
field. So from from your lips to God's
7:29
ears, my good man. Yeah, Speaking of the big guy
7:32
upstairs and Cariobello downstairs, let's let's let's
7:36
crack a beer to to some of the some of the All Star players
7:39
that we're talking about and highlighting in this episode.
7:42
You know, things are getting dry and thirsty around here and it's
7:47
just a lot to celebrate. It's a match Week 18, man.
7:51
You know, the football doesn't last forever each season,
7:55
unfortunately, maybe fortunately for the athletes rest and for
7:58
their well-being. But you know what?
8:01
We got this. And I guess that means nine
8:04
matches remaining in the in the regular season.
8:06
So some moving and shaking to be done on the table, except maybe
8:11
the number one spot. I think that one's pretty sewn
8:13
up. But yeah, I'll be interested.
8:16
I'll be very interested to see how this one plays out, because
8:18
if it's a straight up loss for Gotham, we're talking real scary
8:23
hours I think. Yep, getting very dangerous and
8:26
yeah, good math by you. I had some math from from my end
8:29
as well. I went to talk a little Ester
8:32
obviously leading the Golden Boot race, eleven goals this
8:35
season. I, I I want to zoom in a little
8:38
bit because what esters are able to do and it's going to lead me
8:43
to another discussion as well. But Ester in the box, she just
8:48
turns every chance into a shot. So I, I actually went and looked
8:51
at the numbers. I'm like, how, how drastic is
8:54
this? So this season you've got Ester
8:57
and Chewinga both on eleven goals.
8:59
Banda, obviously she's got the injury, she's got eight goals.
9:01
I'm going to compare numbers for, for these three players for
9:05
Banda to get a goal. She's averaging 17.1 box touches
9:10
this season. So every 17 touches, Banda,
9:13
Banda gets a goal. You look at Tem with Chewinga
9:16
9.8 box touches to get a goal. You look at Ester Gonzalez 7.5
9:23
box such as she's getting a goal every 7 1/2 box, such as that is
9:28
out of this world. That's out of this world that
9:31
you can get out of the ball 8 times in the box in a match and
9:34
you know you're getting a goal, You know you're walking away
9:36
with a goal. Not, not, not just like it could
9:38
be an assist, could be others, you know, like that's just off
9:41
the charts. I mean, she's just super lethal.
9:45
And it leads me to a point that I think is a real issue for what
9:50
what I'm going to call the American striker.
9:52
And it it, it really, it's been kind of ruminating in my head
9:56
for a while. But in the Angel City versus
9:58
Orlando Pride match last season last week, I'm sorry, the, the,
10:02
the match opens with Riley Tiernan kind of like breaking
10:05
away, getting a look and then like essentially rolling a shot
10:11
to Anna Warhouse. And the announcer's like, Oh
10:14
yeah, I, I love that, you know, like, you know, make Anna
10:16
Morehouse feel you're there, you know, put a shot on frame.
10:19
And I'm like, I can guarantee you nothing worries Anna
10:23
Morehouse less than a ball rolling at her at 2 miles an
10:26
hour, like 3 minutes into the match.
10:28
I can guarantee you that had zero effect on the match
10:31
whatsoever. And I keep seeing this with like
10:33
American Strikers. It's like, put it on frame, you
10:36
know, just like, just put it or roll it.
10:38
You know, they they had this too with, with Adriana Lyon against
10:41
Bloomer where Adrian Leon smokes a shot 120 miles an hour, looked
10:47
like it was going, it goes high. And then she was like, well, you
10:50
got to put that one on frame. I'm like, how about Jordan
10:52
Bloomer saving everything? That might be the only window
10:56
that you have. And it's a weird thing with with
11:00
it feels like the American strikers have this tendency to
11:04
like have this feel like it's additive when really it's not in
11:08
a game like, you know, like Angel City Orlando, that might
11:10
have been the only shot. I mean, Angel City's got to wait
11:13
another 70 plus minutes to actually get their goal at the
11:16
end of the match. So I don't I I don't think in
11:18
this league you can really give away those chances.
11:20
I'm very curious to hear it. Am IA weirdo?
11:23
Am IA little bit of a psycho or or does this kind of rub you the
11:26
wrong way as well? If you you know, if you can't
11:29
get around on one or if a defender is on top of you and
11:32
you can't get power on it, or if you're kind of falling in the
11:35
other direction and you and you think you can get a good hit on
11:38
it and you can't. I think that's all
11:40
understandable. But I'm I'm 100% with you that
11:43
that soft ass shot from right around the the top of the 18.
11:49
I don't think it does anything. Yeah, I don't.
11:51
It doesn't put any pressure on the goalkeeper.
11:53
All it does is give them some time to to pick it up and look
11:56
around and figure out how they're going to redistribute.
11:59
And when you think about a player like a stare and why, why
12:03
it's 7 1/2 box touches to get a goal, it's because what doesn't
12:08
she do right? She has a genius first touch.
12:12
She has great hold up play she had for a diminutive player.
12:15
She's she's really strong, like especially compared to a lot of
12:19
the defenders out there. And again, for someone her size,
12:22
she can win the ball in the air. These these are the kind of
12:25
things that you need to be, you know, the top, top tier as a
12:28
striker. Yeah, no doubt.
12:30
And I think Orlando will definitely have their hands full
12:35
with a stare. But you know, Gotham's they
12:38
they've definitely sputtered offensively.
12:39
So it could be, could be an opportunity for each of these
12:42
teams to get right against each other.
12:43
We'll see who comes out on top. That was my I don't know.
12:46
Did you have another absolute must watch?
12:49
I apologize. I kind of tiered these things.
12:51
I've got the next I've got four matches and Tier 2, which I I'm
12:57
calling strong watch and then football is football Tier 3
13:02
named by you Appreciate that. I've got two matches there.
13:05
How do you feel about how I've kind of how I've kind of set
13:07
these up to to date? The only ones that I think I
13:12
might bump up to a must watch is I, I think I'm with you on
13:20
Louisville Houston dash. Like I'm very I, I'm very
13:24
interested to see what that's going to look like.
13:25
Now, how well does Houston travel?
13:28
You know, what do they look like against Louisville who who
13:32
looked great in their win over San Diego?
13:35
And then I, I mean, obviously it's a must watch because I have
13:38
a press credential and I must go there to watch it to cover it.
13:42
But I mean, Seattle rain is 6th on the table.
13:44
San Diego wave is third on the table.
13:47
And the rain need a win about as badly as you could need it while
13:51
you're sitting at 6th in the table.
13:53
And if it's a six point swing, if they get it done, they will
13:58
tie San Diego Wave on points. They'll still, unless they beat
14:03
them five to nothing, they'll be behind them on goal differential
14:06
No 3. 3 Nothing because it was just plus 3 and -3.
14:10
Oh yeah, yeah, look at you. See, I, I I thought I was
14:14
crushing the math earlier and then here it comes to bite me.
14:18
But yeah, so I mean, although I'm not going to hold my breath
14:21
that they'll beat them 3 nothing.
14:24
But yeah, I think it's I think it's just a it's a pretty
14:26
important match. And if you look at San Diego
14:30
coming out of the break, what their one win, 2 draws, one
14:35
loss. So it's it's kind of a, it feels
14:38
like a gotta have it game for both of those clubs.
14:42
Yeah, I I agree with you that I don't foresee A3 nil Seattle
14:46
win. In my notes I've got first goal
14:49
wins. I have like either of these team
14:52
teams have a have any kind of rhythm offensively to the point
14:56
where you know, they're going to feel comfortable.
14:58
And I think each of these seems defensively can make it
15:01
difficult. You know, obviously the wave
15:02
don't let you get the ball. They connect every pass.
15:05
They press Seattle's physical and you know, they they do a
15:08
little bit of the same. And we'll see, you know, if if
15:12
San Diego's got the quality all the way up field to be able to
15:16
cash in And and if Seattle, I don't know, I I think Seattle
15:19
for me, the first thing I'm looking at is a line up.
15:21
You know, like how much firepower are they including the
15:24
last few line UPS we talked about last episode have been you
15:27
just look at the line and be like, this is going to be a lot
15:30
of things need to go right for them to even get one on the
15:33
board, let alone two, let alone walk away with some points.
15:35
So that's going to be the first place I'm going to look.
15:38
I wanted to rewind though, real quick to the Louisville Houston
15:42
dash that the other match up that we thought could be a
15:45
fringe absolute must watch. Yeah, I'm going to be watching
15:48
in this one. Emma Sears VS Avery Patterson.
15:51
I like that. I love that US women's actual
15:53
team matchup. We didn't talk about last
15:54
episode, but I got a such a kick out of Sam Coffey just
16:00
terrorizing Claire Hutton, Ali Sentinor, you know, for KZ
16:04
Curry, like, you know, just sending that US women's action
16:06
Team alpha message to those players looking over at the
16:10
sideline. Where's Michelle Cooper?
16:11
Why is she in the game? Oh, she's in the game now.
16:12
I'm going to go foul her. Like she was like, just like
16:15
that. I just love that energy.
16:16
Maybe we get a little bit of that with Emma Sears versus
16:19
Avery Patterson as well. Louisville, I mentioned to you
16:23
last episode, I've got them ranked three in my power
16:26
ranking, so check this out. They're currently in 7th, 4
16:29
points behind San Diego Wave, who they just beat away handily.
16:33
But the key thing that you're looking at here, so I mentioned
16:37
they're in 7th. They've already played two games
16:41
versus the Kansas City Current, two games versus the Washington
16:44
Spirit, two games versus the Orlando Pride and two games
16:48
versus the San Diego wave. So OK left on Louisville's
16:52
schedule, Houston, Portland, Seattle, Utah, Angel City, the
16:58
courage, Chicago stars, Gotham and Bay FC.
17:02
There might be two playoff teams amongst those nine.
17:06
So if you're Louisville, I'm go ahead.
17:12
If do it, go ahead and do it. I'm I'm not going to do
17:14
anything. I'm not going to do anything
17:15
crazy. I've already got them ranked
17:17
three in my power rankings. I, I defy anyone on the Internet
17:20
to have them ranked higher in their power rankings.
17:22
And you know, I'll send you an angry post on blue sky.
17:25
Or maybe I won't. Maybe I'll just ignore it.
17:26
But either way, I'm out here. I've got Louisville at least
17:31
earning themselves a home playoff match.
17:33
I'll I'll put my name. OK.
17:35
All right. That's where you that's where I
17:36
wanted you to go. OK, I was going to say if
17:38
they're 3 in your power rankings to me, I mean, the logic would
17:42
dictate they're hosting the playoff game.
17:45
Yeah, I was like, what are they? Are they lifting trophy?
17:46
I'm not going to, you know, you know, I go, OK, I take it.
17:49
I take it all the way out, take it all the way out to the.
17:52
You know, yeah, that's understandable.
17:54
That's why, that's why, you know, that's why the streets
17:56
love you, man. That's what we're that's what
17:57
we're doing out here. You know, out there playing Big
18:01
10 football. They got Sarah Weber and Emma
18:03
Sears from The Ohio State University leading the way.
18:07
I mean, really, Sarah Weber's not really leading the way, but
18:10
she's she's contributing. She's pretty well.
18:12
I like it playing pretty well. Yeah, I got got some edge to her
18:15
too. But yeah, like we talk about
18:18
Taylor Flint every single time. She's just been an absolute
18:21
beast all over the field, you know, bloomer and goal.
18:25
Yeah, I I like it. I think I arrow pointing up for
18:29
racing Louisville. Let's just see.
18:32
I mean, we've been warned. We've seen them kind of, you
18:35
know, have weird swoons at the wrong time in these last few
18:39
years of us following the league.
18:41
So let's see how it works. But I mean, I think they're
18:44
built. I think they're built a little
18:47
differently this year than the past couple years that we've
18:50
been paying attention to. Yeah, they're, they're, they're
18:52
so nasty. And I and I love how often
18:54
Bevyanez comes up when they when they talk about their identity
18:58
and like, you could just kind of see how it's woven through.
19:00
I don't really I'm not really too familiar with Bevyanez's
19:03
game when she was a player, but you can already you can just see
19:06
all you need to know from how how things get discussed and the
19:10
little snippets that we do get into our coaching.
19:13
But I continue to love this team.
19:15
I'm really pumped about this team.
19:16
Let's go to the match up that features the team at the very
19:21
top of the table against the team that's, you know, on the on
19:25
the outskirts for sure of the playoff picture.
19:27
Kansas City current hosting North Carolina Courage.
19:31
I think I think he had this one labeled exactly right.
19:34
This is a strong watch because Kansas City current is involved.
19:37
I mean, I think for anybody who who pays any little bit of
19:40
attention to the NFL, if Patrick Mahomes is playing, probably
19:45
going to watch. If Tim Watshawinga is playing,
19:48
probably going to watch. Like, I mean, this is kind of
19:50
this is kind of where we are. I think courage looks better
19:55
since the departure of Shawnee House.
19:58
I think they're probably. You know, a multitude of factors
20:01
or why they they are looking better, but I think they might
20:07
be in real trouble in this one because I mean it like what
20:09
other way? What other way do you see it
20:12
going other than another Kansas City current victory?
20:17
I think you know the thing about the Nahaw situation.
20:19
You know, you don't really know. You know what what the new
20:23
manager bounce situation was necessarily, but I'm not sure
20:27
how much better they look. They look different.
20:30
I'll say, you know, they're playing more wide open.
20:32
They're utilizing more of the skills that some of their
20:36
players have, like Lucy or Jaden Shaw or you know, like just kind
20:40
of like opening things up and then letting players giving a
20:43
little bit more freedom. I think that's kind of paying
20:45
off a little bit. They're also giving up goals the
20:47
other way, I think against Casey current on the road, I think
20:52
they're going to have to play somewhat of a perfect match even
20:54
just to get a result. But we talked about it on the
20:58
the week 17 recap episode. If you're Vladco, you know, we
21:01
saw him play Michelle Prince. We've seen some line up, you
21:05
know, sort of like we're getting to that point of the season.
21:07
I think you you kind of clinched the shield for them too last
21:09
episode. And if that's the case, if
21:11
that's kind of how they're feeling, you could see some not
21:14
necessarily take the foot off the gas, but maybe experiment on
21:17
some stuff, some different player combinations.
21:19
And sure, I I think they could still kind of cruise against the
21:22
North Carolina curbside at home even with some of that
21:25
experimentation. Probably, and it is weird too,
21:29
because, you know, I like so many other defensive players.
21:31
I mean, you already know what time it is with Ryan Williams
21:33
and Kaylee Kurtz, but they've just been they courage has just
21:37
looked so easy to beat in some of these, you know, attacking
21:41
runs where you're just kind of able to run through them.
21:43
So the last team in the United States of America that you would
21:49
want to look easy to beat on defense against would be the
21:53
Kansas City Current. So I don't have high hopes for
21:56
him, but I'm going to watch because it's the Kansas City
21:58
Current. We'll see.
22:00
I had one more match in the strong watch category and that
22:03
is the Washington's period versus the Chicago Lucia Milos.
22:06
Let's fucking go. I'm kind of, I'm into this one.
22:09
I think. I think we've seen Washington.
22:11
I mean, obviously Washington, they gave up two goals and they
22:14
were dying to give up another one to BFC and they they've,
22:18
they've just been beatable. So you're talking about teams
22:20
that look beatable defensively. I think they're right up at the
22:23
top of the list, especially for the good teams.
22:26
And it's very rare that you see a player.
22:31
I, I loved your Christian Okoye call off from last episode.
22:35
It was just so good because you rarely see a player that
22:38
physically has the tools where you're just like, if that player
22:43
does the right thing, if they if they make a precise run that's
22:49
perfectly timed, there's no defense.
22:51
And I think we saw Lujemila do that to North Carolina three
22:55
different times last weekend. And and it's just such a special
23:00
treat to watch a player that physically can offer something
23:05
that there is no counter for. And I think there could be
23:08
something in this Washington Spirit match where, you know
23:12
what we talked about Ali Schlagel ball Lugemila, we saw
23:15
Jimmy's Joseph get, you know, get some minutes.
23:17
I think I don't know the, the Chicago side's starting to get a
23:19
little bit of their mojo. And I don't know, it could be,
23:22
it could be a good formula for for some productivity from that
23:26
side against the Spirit side that's, that's looked a little
23:28
bit gettable. You ready for the heavyweight
23:31
fight or the match? It will be 1 Lugemila versus 1
23:36
Tara Mickey own, assuming she's healthy after.
23:39
I mean, she was really, she was kind of taking an ass kicking in
23:43
that match first Bay. I mean, she had a couple, yeah,
23:45
a couple rough spots there. I was, you know, really
23:47
concerned for her in a couple different spots.
23:50
But she's fucking tough, dude. I mean, she's she's got to be
23:54
one of the absolute toughest players in the league.
23:57
And I think that therefore one of the toughest players in the
23:59
world. So I'll be interested to see if
24:02
she gets the start. I mean, she was an Iron Woman
24:04
last year, I think one of the seven in the league last year.
24:08
You know, she never came out of the match against Bay FC either.
24:12
So I'll be, I'll be, you know, real interested to see what that
24:16
looks like. And you know, Esme Morgan gonna
24:19
have to try to slow down Luzhmila as well.
24:22
You still have Rebecca Bernal and how Hirschfeld kind of in
24:24
those defensive midfielder positions.
24:26
So Luzhmila's gonna have her work cut out for her.
24:30
But I mean, the 30 year old Brazilian feels like she is apex
24:38
of her prime ish right? She hits the the handspring into
24:42
the backflip after she scores one of those goals last week.
24:46
Like she's she's cooking on all cylinders.
24:49
So you know, I don't think she's going to be afraid of a physical
24:51
game. I expect Washington Spear to
24:54
play a physical game against her though.
24:58
It's funny because she hit the back, the back, the back spring,
25:03
the back, flip hand, whatever it.
25:05
Was I don't even know, I said back Spring.
25:06
I don't know what I'm talking about.
25:08
Back spring sounds right. Well, she she hit the maneuver
25:11
and the camera was still at the zoomed out angle like, you know,
25:14
usually like there's like this, but she did it so fast.
25:17
She's like her balls and she does she does like her her sick
25:20
tumble. I mean, just what a player to be
25:22
watching on the Washington side, though, I think offensively, you
25:28
know, they're they're they've got that All Star team issue
25:31
where they've got so many good players.
25:32
Like this weekend was just like, all right, this was not going to
25:36
be a quasi gift. You know, like they're, they're,
25:40
they just move the pieces around and, and I think like, I'm
25:43
really interested to see if some hierarchy starts to develop
25:47
offensively with them because, you know, they, they've, they've
25:51
got the firepower, they've got the talent.
25:53
But now the chemistry I think is still a little bit up in the
25:57
air, but plenty of time to get it done.
26:00
And I think a home match versus Chicago may be a good
26:02
opportunity to start, you know, cranking up some of that
26:06
chemistry. You know, and as we gear up for
26:09
our show, as we gear up for the UEFA Women's Champions League
26:13
over in Europe, you know, I often forget and lose sight of
26:18
Kagaf W Champions Cup, where Washington Spirit defeated
26:24
Alianza. Where's Alianza?
26:25
From El Salvador? They beat them by a humble score
26:29
of seven to nothing, where Kowasi had a hat trick, Ricketts
26:33
got one, Ratcliffe got 1, Rodman got 1 and Cantori got 1.
26:36
So I think that was partly responsible for some of the
26:39
rotation in the squad. But to your point, when you got
26:44
a ton of great players, you're able to do that kind of thing.
26:48
Yeah, I mean, but you also want to have, you know, every team
26:54
outside of the Kansas City Current, if they want to really
26:57
compete, if they're serious about competing, has to make two
27:01
or three or four strides between now and the end of the season.
27:05
You know, So if you're the spirit, you're not, you know,
27:08
you're nowhere near where you need to be.
27:10
I think I think anybody would kind of like think that even
27:13
within the organization. You mean look at Hedaldo's
27:15
moving on, you know, and I think like the the the change there
27:18
and like figuring out right, how do we establish ourselves?
27:21
So we're going to have to see a little bit more, you know,
27:25
consistency in the lineup in the attack.
27:27
You know, I think like, you know, I love your McKeon poet.
27:30
You know, they McKeon and Hirschfeldt combined on a take
27:34
away. I think it was Taylor health
27:35
that they took the ball away from that ends up leading
27:38
leading to the Corey Bethune goal.
27:39
Like I think it was 1 pass away. I think it was a McKeon take
27:42
away Hirschfeldt to Bethune and then the balls in the back.
27:44
And that that just had quickly reminded me of the the tandem
27:48
interview when I when Hal Hershfeld told me that they won
27:51
the Challenge Cup by thugging it out and then Terry McGill was
27:54
was behind. Hershfeld was like she's like,
27:56
yeah, quote that like. And I was yeah, I will.
27:58
That was a great quote. I appreciate it.
28:00
Thanks, Al Thanks, Sarah. So yeah, they did Terry McGill
28:04
and Hal Hershel continue to collab and cause trouble, you
28:07
know, within the most world. So I appreciate that for sure.
28:10
Two more matches to hit, though these two both in the football's
28:14
football category. Doesn't mean we're not going to
28:17
watch, but suffice it to say, we're not going to.
28:20
We're not cancelling any appointments or clearing any
28:22
schedules or moving moving anything around to to make sure
28:26
that we're in prime position to catch these two matchups.
28:28
But let's start with the first one.
28:30
Portland Thorns, Utah Royals. What do we need to know about
28:35
this one? I mean, I think it's bad news
28:39
for Utah Royals. I mentioned it on the last
28:41
episode. Portland tends to seems like
28:44
they have the ability to bounce back from a disappointing loss.
28:48
They did that when they defeated Seattle Rain FC in the Cascadia
28:53
rivalry. And I think you know, they're
28:55
they're coming off this the difficult loss versus Kansas
28:58
City current. I think they might take it out
29:01
on a Utah Royals team that is just understandably going to be
29:05
outgunned in this match up. So I don't know what the line's
29:09
looking like. I don't know what the goal line
29:11
is looking like. But if if there was a, if there
29:14
is a -, 1 1/2 available for a reasonable price, I'd absolutely
29:18
take it. And I might even take a look at
29:21
the -2 and. 1/2 Interesting. Let me make the case the other
29:26
way. Maybe I, maybe I, maybe I, you
29:28
know, kind of like play a little devil's advocate.
29:30
Utah, to their credit, since moving on from Ali Settinore
29:34
last four matches, just two goals allowed.
29:37
Like I said, I think they've been playing some spirited ball
29:40
no wins over that stretch, but they they did notch 3 draws one
29:45
against the Orlando pride once against one against Gotham FC,
29:48
one against Angel City. So this team not necessarily
29:52
getting rolled, you know, since since Ali 7 or leaves, you know,
29:57
as mentioned, 3 points in their last four, just eight points on
30:00
the season. So a little bit of a heater.
30:02
You can call it that, but either way, I think they're they're
30:06
going to show up and and try to continue to like put put good
30:08
film on tape. But Portland, I, I think I agree
30:11
with you. I think this they're going to
30:12
treat this as a little bit of like a sparring session.
30:14
You know, take it out on the heavy bag a little bit that that
30:17
is Utah. I think they are kind of like a
30:22
a notch below that that top that top class.
30:24
But I do have them in my top 6. Interesting couple stats here
30:27
for Portland. Fourth most goals scored this
30:30
season for Portland and 4th fewest goals allowed this season
30:34
for Portland. So for on those two metrics,
30:37
this is a top four team. The one thing that I think is a
30:40
problem is, you know, we mentioned this at the beginning
30:43
of the season. No Sophia Wilson, that was going
30:45
to be an issue. No Christine Sinclair, that was
30:47
going to be an issue. The goals are going to have to
30:49
come from somewhere. I think they got, you know, a
30:51
nice boost from Raylyn Turner, a nice boost from Pietro Torden.
30:56
But these four players, I'm going to read you the number of
31:00
shots they've attempted, the number of goals they've scored,
31:03
OK. Hina Sugita, 28 shots, zero
31:07
goals. Dana Castellanos, 28 shots, One
31:11
goal. Mimi Alidou, who looks shredded,
31:14
by the way. Shout out to the strength and
31:16
conditioning in Portland. I could barely recognize Mimi.
31:18
They're just fucking out here doing it.
31:21
Ten shots, one goal. Olivia Moultrie, 38 shots, three
31:26
goals. You look at those four players,
31:28
Sugita Moultrie, Alidou Castellanos, that's 100 and four
31:32
shots this season, 5 goals across those four players.
31:36
I think if Portland's going to be really serious about
31:39
contending with some of the big dogs, it can't be 5 out of one O
31:42
4. It's got to be 10131450.
31:46
They've got to do a little bit better than that.
31:48
They, they, they need these players to kind of stretch
31:51
outside of what's normal for them to make up for, you know,
31:55
sort of like the lack of firepower up front.
31:58
It'll be interesting to see if there is like a, whatever you
32:01
want to call it, a maybe not a regression to the mean, but an
32:05
advancement toward the mean. I guess.
32:08
I mean, Sugeeta, like from my recollection of the match
32:12
against Seattle Rain, she had something that looked like a
32:16
sitter. And, you know, Claudia Dickey
32:18
kind of like swallowed it up and like got it like right in her,
32:20
in her stomach. But I mean, it was a great
32:23
effort by Dickey. But if you're Sugeeta and you're
32:26
of her, especially of her quality, you feel like you got
32:29
to score that like from point blank range.
32:32
So I'll be interested to see if they're able to kind of, you
32:35
know, get it going and maybe they maybe they stop, you know,
32:39
hitting the rim and start going in like in basketball.
32:42
But it's a great point by you. Like if if you're taking shots
32:45
from inopportune areas and other situations and you're just
32:49
hitting those shots that we talked about like at the top of
32:52
the show where it's like I'm getting a shot but there's no
32:56
real danger whatsoever of the keeper letting it in, then
32:59
really it's just a shot for the sake of a shot.
33:02
And you're not going to win matches that way.
33:04
Yeah, no doubt. I think, yeah, we'll, we'll,
33:07
we'll see if Portland's able to kind of like generate.
33:11
I mean, they don't need much. They're in all these matches.
33:14
They're they're not really getting blown.
33:15
I don't think they've lost. I think they've got 2 losses by
33:18
two goals. There are other three losses I
33:21
believe are by one goal. So they're in every single one
33:24
of these matches. They don't need a lot, but they
33:26
need more than what they're getting for sure.
33:28
And again, that's just against this upper the upper echelon of
33:31
league. So Utah, probably a good
33:33
opportunity to kind of like get back on track here.
33:35
One more match to hit football's football.
33:38
What are you going to say? The battle of the big California
33:41
metropolis is Angel City FC versus Bay FC.
33:47
I think it's safe to say these two two teams are probably non
33:50
playoff teams, maybe arrows pointing, I think slightly up
33:55
for Angel City and maybe at best, you know, spinning in a
33:59
circle from from B for Bay FC. How are how are you thinking
34:02
about these two teams? I want to see what Angel City
34:05
looks like the rest of the year. I mean, you know, they're one
34:08
point behind Gotham now. Obviously, they're nine behind
34:12
them in the goal differential. But, you know, here's here's my
34:17
principle again. I like their roster.
34:20
They have good, talented players.
34:23
Yeah. I think it's going to take a
34:24
little bit for them to kind of get everything up and running.
34:30
It's a, it's, you know, a quality win over our Orlando
34:33
Pride. As heartbroken, as heartbreaking
34:36
as it was, Alexander Strauss needs to implement his system
34:41
and kind of figure out these players.
34:43
One thing that I think we did miss discussing, so we're going
34:46
to be way late on this discussing it, but did you see
34:51
after the after Angel City drew Utah Royals two weeks ago, they
34:57
they end in a nil, nil draw. Not an enjoyable football game
35:01
to watch. This is truly a footballish
35:03
football match. But the one of the reasons why I
35:06
was glad I watched it is as the post game is going on and
35:09
they're waiting, the broadcast is waiting for a player to come
35:12
over to interview. Alexander Strauss was laying
35:17
into that squad about drawing Utah in Utah.
35:21
And I think it was, you know, I'm not, I'm not a lip reader,
35:26
but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that he was telling him
35:29
that that effort was unacceptable if you want to be a
35:32
successful team in the league. And I liked it and it and it
35:37
seemed like the players were locked in and kind of nodding
35:40
along and we're like, yeah, we're better.
35:41
Like we that's that doesn't meet our standard.
35:45
And I, I kind of that that kind of made me raise a little bit of
35:48
an eyebrow and like, OK, let's see, let's see what happens as
35:51
the team goes on and now they they come back and they get a
35:54
one nil win versus Orlando. Yeah.
35:56
I mean the the results kind of or the results kind of speaks
35:59
for itself in that instance. I think we'll see what they're
36:01
able to do on the stretch. They're they're going to be.
36:03
I mean, I think the one spot that's available is the Gotham
36:07
spot. I think Seattle they're you
36:10
know, they're they're fully wobbling for sure.
36:12
But I don't I think they'll be able to get it back on track
36:14
only because they've got offensive talent that's for
36:17
whatever reason been sidelined last last few matchups.
36:20
But I think that Gotham spots gettable for Angel City.
36:24
I think about making a pick. It's funny man, because Houston
36:29
is like 2. They're they're two points by
36:32
I'm sorry, they're one point by Angel City, which is like I'm
36:35
still in the mindset of like, all right, it's Houston, Chicago
36:37
and Utah at the bottom. And I think I I've had the last
36:40
last week or so. I've had to like really change
36:41
my tune there. But I don't know that.
36:46
Let's see from Gotham, North Carolina, Angel City, Houston.
36:48
I think from that mix, I think I would pick Houston to grab that
36:51
a spot. So that makes this match up at
36:56
home for Angel City versus Bay a massive match up.
37:00
You need the 3 here. And if you're Bay FC, you know,
37:04
my home squad that I'm I'm covering a bit out here.
37:07
It's tough. I mean, I like, I like the
37:09
players, I like Montoya, I like the organization, I like, I like
37:13
what they're doing. The one thing that gives me
37:15
pause is nothing seems to be changing.
37:19
It seems to look a lot like it did last week.
37:22
And I think the last couple times I've I've gotten the
37:24
chance to talk to you, some of the players, you know, Sokowitz,
37:27
Montoya, my, my big question is like, what's what's new this
37:30
week? What did you change?
37:31
Like what, how did, how are you approaching this week
37:34
differently than last week? Because we're at like 3-4 weeks
37:37
in a row where it's like that nothing's happening.
37:39
I think this team's lost three O 5.
37:41
They haven't won in a while. I think they're going to have to
37:45
we're going to have to see. I mean, I'm not in in the in the
37:48
in the owner. I'm not in any kind of decision
37:50
making position, but I have to imagine the folks that are are
37:54
going to want to see something a little different than we've seen
37:56
the last five, six matches here from Bay.
37:59
Yeah, I mean, probably, I mean, you know what I was like coming
38:03
out, coming out of the break, there are two draws, 2 losses,
38:06
zero wins. So you know, you gotta you gotta
38:10
get points to to stay in the playoff hunt.
38:13
So, you know, I talked about the Bethune goal in our last
38:17
episode. We were kind of recapping the
38:19
last week. She just has way too much space.
38:21
There's a second opportunity where she just had way too much
38:24
space. Sometimes I think that the
38:26
defense in general just looks really stretched.
38:31
Even in moments where the ball is coming down the central
38:34
channel and the defense still kind of looks stretched.
38:37
I'm not sure exactly like what's happening there.
38:41
I know when we spoke to our pals from expected own Goals podcast,
38:45
you know, they talked about how last year when Bay kind of
38:49
started to make that run to grab the final playoff spot at the
38:52
end of the season, they played a more defensive packed in style
38:56
and then built out the attack from there.
38:58
And they've since gone away from it.
39:00
And it would appear that the results are looking more similar
39:05
to the early season results last year where they were giving up
39:08
way too many goals and and not getting enough opportunities
39:11
upfront. Yeah, no doubt.
39:13
I think you got to look at Abby Dalcampere who was the the big
39:18
acquisition last year, whose acquisition kind of aligned with
39:21
like your, your offense to defense mentality switch.
39:24
And then obviously Emily Manga is not not involved this year
39:28
either. That makes it tricky.
39:30
Yeah, it it's just a lot of flux and I can't, you know, honestly,
39:35
I can't really pick, I can't really pick on the players.
39:37
I mean, I think all those defenders, Hubbley, you know, if
39:40
she gets to go last, last, last match up.
39:42
And I think defensively she's been I I like how Hubbley plays
39:45
Didasco, I think has been more up and down this season,
39:49
obviously like a little bit more advanced age.
39:52
But defensively this team doesn't really have like they
39:55
don't look organized. They don't look like they're a
39:57
they're a step ahead. They don't look like they have a
39:59
strategy. They look like they're
40:00
constantly chasing. They're constantly just.
40:03
You know, running from spot to spot a little bit slow, a little
40:07
bit behind, not really kind of anticipating or, you know, they
40:11
don't really have a defensive identity.
40:12
Honestly, they're just out there kind of playing defense and
40:15
looking at, you know, got to get the ball and go the other way.
40:18
That's something that definitely is going to have to change for
40:21
sure. You know, I mean, I think this
40:23
season a little bit, you know, we're getting we're getting
40:25
really close to the to the wave, the white flag portion of the
40:29
year. But I think going forward,
40:31
they're going to have to figure out how to how to change it up
40:33
because this the way they're defending is just not they look
40:37
like sometimes they look like the like the worst defense in
40:40
the league. And that's that's a tough spot
40:42
to be in considering all the firepower, you know, top to
40:44
bottom. Yeah, I, I think it, it's one of
40:48
those situations where it's like maybe it takes 2 transfer
40:52
windows to be like, not to be too pessimistic, but like if you
40:56
got that many spots to fill, you know, I know in this league
41:00
we've seen, you know, obviously you have the Benda acquisition
41:03
last year for Orlando, a team that has historically been in
41:06
the cellar no matter who they had on that team surrounding
41:09
Marta. And then you, you get Benda and,
41:13
you know, things, things turn around.
41:15
But yeah, I think it's as the league grows more competitive
41:19
and the rosters are getting more and more stacked, as we've
41:22
talked about many times. I think it might.
41:25
It's either going to take a couple awesome moves in one
41:30
window or maybe 2 windows for for beta kind of get it turned
41:32
around. Yeah, I think that's right.
41:36
One thing we do know, get that goalkeeper position locked down
41:39
so I can go. All right, Damn right.
41:41
Episode calendar. We will be back with NWSL Week
41:45
18 recaps. We'll also be back with some
41:48
Champions League action TBD. We'll figure out what what's
41:50
happening when with regard to that, you know, so it was still,
41:53
I've still got the, the newborn haze, you know, floating through
41:57
my vein trying to figure out how to unfog that that part of my my
42:01
mind. But either way, we'll be back
42:04
very, very soon. Talk a little end of this week
42:06
18 as mentioned. And even though Champions
42:09
League's early, I don't know, but there's a couple matches I
42:11
think your your boys will have their eyes on and we might, we
42:14
might have some thoughts and takes on that.
42:16
So definitely keep it locked. All right, man.
42:18
Anything else you want to hit before we get out of?
42:20
Here. No, I think that's it.
42:21
I mean, do do I fully know how the Champions League works this
42:27
year? Don't don't ask me questions
42:29
like that. It's none of your business.
42:31
You, you will. We'll just do the show.
42:33
You worry about that. So like I do, I have a rough
42:37
idea of how this is going to work.
42:39
I think I do. You know, I'm, I'm going to try
42:42
to, I'm, I'm gonna try to, I'm gonna give you the benefit of
42:46
the doubt and say you're not being passive aggressive with me
42:49
for not doing a machinations episode, which, you know,
42:51
obviously it's, it's, it's August.
42:53
You know, we're, we're overdue for my UEFA Champions League
42:56
machinations episode. So I, I take your point, I take
42:59
your feedback. That's OK.
43:00
We'll, we'll, we'll get to it ideally before we before we
43:02
really get cooking here. There was literally no feedback
43:06
in that. I'm like very hazy on it.
43:08
I don't expect, I don't expect you to educate me, buddy.
43:11
I, I got, I'm owned 50% of this too, man.
43:14
I got AI got to figure it out, but we'll figure it out as we go
43:18
along. Look, Manchester United versus
43:19
PSV, very interested to see what that's going to look like.
43:23
Obviously, you know, the Brown battalion in full force taking
43:26
on into into Milan what our pals at Slavia Prague, they're
43:33
playing phone get Genschlik Vesport from some league.
43:39
I don't know what league they're they're they're playing in.
43:42
So we'll we'll kind of see how that goes.
43:44
Like this is the joy of the of the UEFA Women's Champions
43:48
League. Hammerby is playing medalist
43:51
1925 Kharkiv. I mean, come on, man Medalist.
43:57
Like. Let's go like.
43:59
They better come out to like, you know, Du Haast by Rammstein
44:03
or something like that. Like, I don't know, I'm not
44:06
exactly sure. Am I painting with A broad
44:08
brush? Am I going to sound culturally
44:10
ignorant for not knowing where they are?
44:13
They're in the Ukrainian Premier League, so let's go shout to
44:16
them. We'll we'll see how we'll see
44:18
how that one goes. So oh man.
44:20
And their logo kind of looks like the Michigan Wolverines.
44:23
All right, we're we're falling down the rabbit hole here.
44:26
Sorry, already getting excited for Champions League.
44:30
Yeah, Ukraine, Big 10 country, who knew?
44:32
All right, man, this has been another episode of into the
44:34
channel. Thank you, thank you, thank you
44:35
for watching, listening, hanging out.
44:37
If you enjoyed the show or love as well as much as your boys do,
44:40
make sure you kick it with us each and every single week.
44:42
Like subscribe, follow YouTube, Spotify, Apple podcast, wherever
44:45
you like to watch or listen. Leave us a review over your
44:47
favorite podcast app, links to all of our socials except one in
44:50
the show notes of this episode. And a big thank in my coast as
44:52
well, Mr. Graham Angle for putting up with the crying baby
44:56
in the background. I appreciate you bro.
44:59
It's a beautiful sound, my good man.
45:01
I'm happy for you. I'm I'm also happy that
45:04
everybody continues to rock with us.
45:05
Thank you for always dropping knowledge in the comments and we
45:08
will see you all next time. Jackie Ovaya, Jackie Ovaya.
45:13
Let's go. Champ is here.