Transcript

0:03
OK, welcome to Intel Channel podcast primarily about one
0:08
supply. I'm host Dino de Suspitas and as
0:11
always I'm joined by my Co host Mr. Grant Angle.
0:15
What's up, man? I'm feeling all right, buddy.
0:18
It was. There were some interesting
0:20
results in the NWSL, but also a very serious matter that we have
0:23
to discuss and we'll try to do our best to to treat it with the
0:28
seriousness it deserves. But All in all, another eventful
0:32
week in the NWSL. Yeah, definitely like AI mean a
0:37
choppy week in the NWSL and and just a bummer of an end note for
0:42
the weekend. But yeah, I mean, probably like
0:44
a good place to get started. I'll kick it to you.
0:47
Well, Mr. Grannon, go where you want to get started.
0:50
So Seattle Rain FC played Racing Louisville in Seattle toward the
0:54
end of the first half. Play was was stopped because
0:59
Savannah Demelo, who has made US Women's national team
1:03
appearances and has been an excellent player in the NWSL,
1:06
particularly this season, collapsed on the field been
1:10
required immediate medical attention.
1:12
It was a scary scene. It was a harrowing scene, but
1:17
since then, Racing Louisville has released a statement saying
1:21
that Savannah Demelo is under the care of a physician and
1:25
responsive. She issued her own statement
1:28
saying that she looks forward to watching her teammates and that
1:31
she's appreciated the support and the well wishes from
1:33
everybody. But I do want to, I'll read this
1:37
directly from the NWSL statement.
1:39
After they suspended the match, they mentioned quote, Savannah
1:43
received immediate on field care for medical personnel and was
1:46
transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
1:49
She is stable and alert. Our first priority is her health
1:52
and safety and we are in close communication with Rain FC and
1:56
Racing Louisville medical teams. End Quote.
1:59
So there are a couple things I want to point out here.
2:03
I think there was, there was some reading of the NWSL
2:07
statement that they kind of wanted to flip it to say, hey,
2:12
look, we we did. We did the thing because
2:14
obviously they were under heavy scrutiny when Savvy King of of
2:20
Angel City FC had a similar medical event, collapsed on the
2:24
field and they resumed the match.
2:27
While I do think that resuming the match after the Savvy King
2:31
collapse was not the right move, I guess we can give them some
2:37
points here for taking that criticism and suspending play in
2:42
this match and not expecting the players to go on.
2:45
So for what it's worth, I would say the a 1 by 100 million miles
2:51
most important thing is that Savannah D'mello seems to be OK.
2:55
But then I think the second thing we can look at here is
2:58
that maybe, maybe the league learned to something and that
3:02
could be a positive. I mean, you know, you and I
3:05
follow lots of different sports and lots of different leagues
3:07
and there's plenty of leagues out there and plenty of people
3:10
running those leagues that don't learn anything, You know, year
3:13
in, year out. It's, it's the same issues that
3:15
that are being dealt with. And I, I mean, I'll, I'll go out
3:18
a little bit on, you know, even if I'm a little lonely out here,
3:21
I think that the league does deserve credit because, you
3:24
know, we talked about it with the savvy king situation that
3:27
it's like, Hey, until that happens, you know, a protocol
3:31
has to get written. You know, you can't pre write a
3:34
protocol for every conceivable thing that could happen, right?
3:37
It's not possible. So I think to have, you know,
3:41
this awful experience, you know, be handled in this way.
3:45
The the league and the Commission are they're going to
3:47
get their share of, you know, detractors and, you know, kind
3:50
of negative or, you know, responses pretty much anything
3:53
that happens. But I think to to your point,
3:56
you know, I think it it was handled correctly and maybe it
4:01
wasn't handled perfectly. And then I don't think anybody's
4:03
out here pining for perfect. But, you know, it is an
4:06
improvement. And this is a growing league.
4:08
This is a young league, you know, like you look at the
4:10
largest leagues across the biggest sports that they're all
4:13
decades old, you know, so I think they do deserve a little
4:16
credit for getting this right. And you look at some of the
4:19
scenes, some of the players, you know, kind of like walking off
4:22
the pitch, you know, Emma Sears that, that that image is kind of
4:24
burned into my brain of, of that player kind of like in tears.
4:29
And that that was almost as harrowing as, you know, seeing
4:33
the clips of, of Savannah, you know, herself kind of like
4:36
struggling through through that moment.
4:38
I'm just glad that she's OK. And again, the most important
4:40
thing like you mentioned is you know that it it looks like a
4:43
full recovery is probably expected.
4:45
Yeah, I would hope so. And you know, this is not
4:48
anything, this is not new for Savannah D'mello, who asked out
4:52
of a match, I believe it was against Bay FC actually, where
4:55
she had to leave the pitch and and get medical attention.
4:58
She later revealed that she is dealing with Graves' disease,
5:02
which is like from my understanding from the article I
5:05
read on ESPN.com, can sometimes she can have like an accelerated
5:09
heart rate or she can feel like light headed or dizziness or
5:11
confusion, things like that. So I'm going to hold out some
5:15
open in me being the cynical bastard that I usually am.
5:19
If she was cleared to play after that initial incident, then I
5:23
would think that those doctors in the league itself would have
5:27
the foresight to look at that and say, OK, this, this is not
5:31
a, you know, long term damaging or potentially fatal thing.
5:35
Because I know you and I talk a lot about basketball on this
5:37
podcast. Well, you know, compared to
5:39
women's football of maybe like it's 1% basketball.
5:43
But in that 1%, you and I, you're a Miami Heat fan.
5:48
I admire the Miami Heat organization.
5:50
When Chris Bosh had the blood clot issue and they said there
5:54
is even a small chance that Chris Bosh could suffer A fatal
5:58
accident on the floor. They said, you are out of here,
6:01
dude. You will never play again.
6:03
And he tried to lobby them and get second and third opinions
6:06
and they said no way, you'll never, you can't do it.
6:09
And so I would hope that Savannah Demelo was treated with
6:12
that same care. Yeah, definitely hope so.
6:14
I mean, you know, we're we'll we'll leave it to the
6:16
professionals, but if that's if it's on that side of the line,
6:20
you know, obviously nothing Trump's, you know, health and
6:24
you know, just. You can't.
6:25
Stick it around on the on the old planet Earth, you know, as
6:28
they say, a couple other big ones match.
6:31
Week 20. I want to talk about a weird one
6:33
in KC. What was the the marquee match
6:36
up And shout out to Mike Watts. I love our grand Mike Watts, but
6:39
he was covering that the Friday night match and he was like, no,
6:41
this is the marquee match. And I was like, no, it's not
6:43
Sorry, Mike. Love you buddy.
6:45
Marquee is one day later Kansas City current washed in spirit,
6:49
but a nil nil draw and not the fun kind of nil nil draw.
6:55
More of like that's true. More of like the the deflated
6:58
balloon kind of nil nil draw. What?
7:00
What did you see in this one? What was the Friday Oh yeah,
7:04
wave Gotham that Mike said it was the match of the weekend and
7:07
I had the exact same reaction and I was like not quite buddy,
7:11
but we got love for you Mike. You got to do what you got to
7:14
do, man. You're out there.
7:15
Always be always be closing Mike.
7:17
I know what you're doing. It's all good.
7:19
Yeah, it was a weird one. No 10 Watt Chewinga that kind of
7:22
put a little bit of a damper on it from jump St.
7:26
They were getting some cardio out there.
7:28
Like you said, it's a nil, nil draw.
7:30
There was a great block. This is this is what we're
7:33
reduced to in the highlights. Great, great block by Izzy
7:38
Rodriguez right after halftime. I thought Bethune was going to
7:41
score that chance 100 times out of 100, but you know, she yeah,
7:47
Izzy Rodriguez got right in the in the perfect spot.
7:50
And then like, I think around the hour mark, Terry Mickeyon
7:53
had a great block down there on on the other end of the pitch
7:57
and I was just like, OK, he's my the 2 highlights that kind of
8:00
stand out to me. It kind of shows you what kind
8:02
of match it was. Yeah.
8:04
Just blocks of the match, Yeah, No 10.
8:07
And then obviously the Hal Hirsch felt the double yellow
8:10
red. That kind of threw another
8:11
monkey wrench in there. Just not the match for not the
8:14
match that we were hoping for. You know, I didn't quite account
8:16
for the. Let's get 10 with a little bit
8:18
of rest. And but it was just a choppy
8:20
game. I thought.
8:21
I thought defensively there was some moments there.
8:24
There was some exciting stuff I would say.
8:26
And I think Tara McKeon, I'm glad you brought her up because
8:29
she's having for me a really great borderline, you know, like
8:34
all eleven. I'm not this.
8:36
It's going to be hard for somebody to try to take that
8:38
spot for McKeon, for me, she saved a bunch of goals.
8:41
She's involved in a bunch of stuff, like she's just super
8:44
active and like a really good player and just doesn't make a
8:48
lot of mistakes. Like she puts her foot on the
8:50
ball, she takes a step. It just seems like it's she's
8:52
always doing the right thing. You know, I mentioned that block
8:55
earlier by Izzy Rodriguez. It gets started by a run that
8:59
was an action that was created by Mickey on where she ends up
9:02
going all the way down the field.
9:04
Ball gets served into the middle.
9:06
It kind of trickles out to Bethune when she rips the shot.
9:09
Yeah. I mean, Mickey, you know, it's
9:11
it's well documented that she came of age as a forward.
9:15
So she has that part in her game.
9:17
But her scrappiness and toughness as a defender and then
9:20
her ability to turn up, find the right pass, get the ball moving
9:23
forward and get forward herself. Yeah.
9:25
I mean, she's she's one of the best center backs in the league.
9:28
And I've said it before, I think it puts her in the conversation
9:30
among the best center backs in the world.
9:33
And that's why Emma Hayes continues to give her a look in
9:37
these in these national team windows.
9:38
And I don't expect that to stop because as you, as you've
9:41
pointed out her club form, it is great right now.
9:44
And I got to tell you, just another quick side note, I'm
9:47
very thirsty. So I'm gonna crack a beverage
9:48
for this NWSL show. Go for.
9:51
It I'm still finishing up this one, but I might, I don't know,
9:54
I might. I might hop in soon.
9:56
Maybe I'll come in the 75th. You're that early second-half
9:59
sub and I'm that late second-half sub and then shout
10:02
out, shout out to our guy Jack O'quinn quote.
10:05
I drink my beer in a glass too. End Quote.
10:09
Fucking go JOQ. Jackie boy, that's my guy.
10:14
You are right. It's less.
10:15
It's less filling the Jon Taffer science that I quoted in the
10:18
last episode. It's got to be true.
10:20
Yep. He was on it, you're on it.
10:22
Let's move ahead. Well, actually, but before we
10:24
move ahead, do you feel like we learned anything?
10:29
Obviously no Chewinga. I thought Washington, you know,
10:33
like their their talent is impressive.
10:35
You look top to bottom and you're like, this team is
10:38
stacked. And it's not just the starting
10:40
11. It's, you know, you could got to
10:42
go down that list. It just always seems like they
10:45
have world class players not in the starting line up.
10:48
And I look at KC Casey's not quite quite made-up that same
10:52
way. You know, Casey's a little top
10:54
heavy, a little attack heavy. The defense is really taking a
10:58
huge step up. Kayla, Sharples, Lorena across
11:02
that whole back line. It's it's real trouble.
11:04
They they really shut down Washington even though they were
11:06
down to 10. But what did we learn?
11:09
Did we learn anything? I mean, other than I think
11:11
Washington is a smidge better than I was expecting.
11:14
Obviously, No 10 more joining us.
11:16
So you take that with the greatest help, but I don't know
11:18
what what what, what was your big take away from watching
11:20
these two go at it? Yeah, I think I did leave kind
11:23
of thinking, kind of wondering how much more did I really
11:28
learn? I mean, Ellie Wheeler didn't
11:30
play in this match and she's started quite a few matches for
11:33
Kansas City. I think Kansas City's pretty
11:35
deep too. I think.
11:36
I think you're right. Maybe if you're going to give
11:39
the depth edge to Washington, I think it's it's slight, but I
11:44
think you can make that argument.
11:45
The Hirschfeld, you know, second yellow throws a monkey wrench
11:49
and things too. But I, I think I left this
11:51
thinking this team is Speaking of Washington spirit.
11:57
They're going to continue to gel.
11:59
You know, they already have good experience with Adrian Gonzalez,
12:02
but like the next several weeks are going to kind of help them
12:05
continue to understand his system and then the way he wants
12:07
to play. Even though I'll say maybe we
12:10
didn't learn a ton, my mind remains unchanged that in a
12:17
strength versus strength, both teams fully healthy, one game
12:21
sample size. If these teams continue to be
12:23
the one and two seeds that would end up being in the NWSL final,
12:27
I think Washington Spirit could win the match.
12:30
I agree with you. I agree with you.
12:31
And I think if that match were happening tomorrow, I think I'd
12:35
take Washington, even both teams at full strength.
12:39
Wow. I just feel like there's
12:42
something funny that's happened with Washington.
12:44
And obviously we saw Adrian Gonzalez lead this team last
12:46
year, sort of keeping the seat warm for you.
12:49
And Geraldo's Geraldes comes in, you know, and I was thinking to
12:53
for for some reason, I was thinking today about the
12:55
Challenge Cup that I covered in Orlando versus, you know, when
12:58
they took out Washington. I got the chance to talk to
12:59
Heraldez and it was clear that there was something there was
13:03
some kind of sea change going from Gonzalez to Heraldez.
13:07
And then there was like they were excited, there was
13:09
excitement, but there was also a notion that things a lot was
13:12
changing and they were going to be adopting this new identity,
13:16
maybe going, you know, like some evolution was going to be
13:18
happening. I feel like with Hidal's having
13:20
moved on to Lyon, going back to Gonzales, it feels like this
13:25
team is not going back to where they were last year, but
13:29
building on where what they built last year versus let's
13:33
swap out and let's swap it. I think Gonzales has been got
13:36
the chance to go back to it and you can kind of see like this
13:40
team is now looking like playing like they did down the stretch
13:43
of last year when they looked really good and pushed Orlando
13:47
to the absolute brink. And then they come back, you
13:50
know, a few months later, not even a few months later, 6-7
13:52
weeks later and when the Challenge Cup to kind of set the
13:55
tone for this year. So I also think that Gonzalez,
13:58
you know, kind of settling into that seat having a really good
14:01
effect on Washington. I think that's.
14:03
Totally true. And you know the you can almost
14:06
see and I wouldn't have been, I wouldn't have been surprised if
14:09
this was happening with Jonah Geraldes as well.
14:11
But the placement of Abiyadun, the Nigerian international 21
14:17
year old kind of defensive midfielder type.
14:19
Oh my God, that one. That.
14:21
Feels. Yeah, exactly.
14:23
Yeah. I mean, so they're they're just
14:24
loaded for years, but I think that that kind of fits in with
14:30
that Spanish style of football of like we're building from the
14:34
back. We have a couple of genius
14:37
defensive midfielders that we can rotate in there with some
14:41
smart center backs. You know, again, like Casey
14:44
Krueger has been playing sparingly.
14:47
So you you don't know how they're going to look.
14:49
I think my only tweak on your take, which I love that, you
14:54
know, if they play for the title tomorrow, you would take Spirit.
14:57
I'm going to adjust it a little bit and say if they play for the
14:59
title tomorrow, I might take Kansas City, but they're going
15:03
to play for the title in several weeks.
15:06
That's when I think I might take spirit kind of building on that
15:10
Geraldes or pardon me, the the Gonzalez vision of what their
15:14
team should look like. I.
15:16
Like that, yeah. So, yeah, we're probably
15:17
expecting, you know, some some improvements there.
15:20
A little quick look ahead to next week.
15:22
You know, so I mentioned these two teams are already racing
15:24
Louisville. They will be heading to Utah,
15:27
take on the Royals and your Seattle rain will be heading to
15:30
KC to take on this current side that we're talking about
15:33
Washington spirit. They're also on the road heading
15:36
to LA to take on Angel City. That one going on Thursday so
15:39
that the the Thursday action that you were pining for that
15:42
one kicks off this week. So we'll be we'll be officially
15:44
back in the mix. And then as I bring that up, I I
15:46
see myself, you know, kind of like moving around here.
15:48
I want to just a little what you got.
15:50
There. Why don't you look at that?
15:53
What a what a sharp sweatshirt that what a handsome sweatshirt
15:56
that is. Thank you my good.
15:58
Man, it's into the channel, It's our show.
16:00
You know, these aren't, these babies aren't, aren't available
16:03
for purchase yet, but the store is getting stood up, let's say.
16:07
So you know, if it, if it caught your fancy or if you're
16:10
celebrating a birthday such as yours truly this week, these
16:14
will be these will be ready. And, and you know, it's, it's
16:16
not just me rocking the gear, bro.
16:18
I've got I've got a care package headed your way with a bunch of
16:21
sharp goodies that I think will will maybe take your your full
16:25
look up a notch. No offense there.
16:27
We go, I could use that and so you know, I'll be wearing it in
16:31
the press box, letting everybody know what time it is.
16:33
So I appreciate that. You know, as I always tell
16:36
folks, Dino's the mastermind behind everything that's that's
16:39
going on here. So you know, if if if you like
16:42
the merch, obviously, you know who to thank.
16:45
I am the. Mastermind behind the Birch?
16:47
I'll take that. I can live with that.
16:50
All right, let's go ahead. I'm calling this one Arrows and
16:55
opposing directions. San Diego Wave nil Gotham FC2
17:01
talked about this one, a real big one, according to our guy
17:04
Mike Watts, the biggest match to go down this weekend, at least
17:09
in the top 2. Gotham, though, they came, they
17:11
came through, they got it done. Well, you know what, like San
17:14
Diego Wave, we talked about it. You know, they're on an icy cold
17:17
streak, not able to score. And credit to Gotham, they were
17:20
just, you know, they they they let wave kicking around.
17:23
They let wave hold the ball, rack up some shots and you know,
17:28
they're like, all right, well, when it comes time, we'll do
17:30
what we got to do Ester, you know, maybe the the best
17:33
finisher in the league. We'll just stick on the midfield
17:35
because, you know, you're not going to be able to score
17:36
anyway. We'll just have some fun out
17:38
here. And, you know, Gotham puts a
17:39
stranglehold on this game and, you know, really kind of proves
17:43
the point that they're probably a cut above this wave side.
17:45
Certainly. Feels that way right now.
17:47
I mean, I, I got to say, it is very disappointing to me.
17:55
I don't like living in this world where Delphine Cascarino
18:00
is on a soccer pitch. She's on a football pitch and
18:05
she's not getting the ball in space.
18:08
Like, she's not getting the ball in in areas where she can kind
18:11
of take, take a touch and RIP a shot.
18:15
And it's just frustrating to me, man.
18:17
Why am I watching football matches where Delphine Cascarino
18:21
doesn't look dangerous? What is what is not adding up
18:25
here to not get this dynamic player into the spaces she needs
18:30
to be in? I kind of feel like it's, well,
18:34
the, the one note that I had that I feel like to me
18:37
encapsulates everything San Diego is a bunch of lob throwers
18:40
and no lobcatchers, right? So when you've got that, you
18:44
know, like you could just shade defense in the direction of
18:48
Cascarino and Dali and Gia Corley and like be like, all
18:51
right, let's let's kind of make sure that this little axis
18:55
doesn't break us. You know, and I think when you
18:57
look at what they're able to do possession wise, they're
19:00
connecting 8685% of their passes.
19:03
I mean, anything that they do works except for getting shots,
19:08
testing the keeper or, you know, kind of putting shots on target.
19:11
They get 15 shots in this one, only two on target, you know,
19:14
and they're trying to figure out what to do with that number 9
19:16
spot. Adriana Leon got minutes there
19:19
in this one. Kyra Caruso gets a start coming
19:21
into this 129 year old Caruso, 242 minutes and she only
19:26
averaged 1 1/2 shots per 90 heading into this one.
19:29
So it's like, what are we really like what what kind of
19:33
productive are we really expecting?
19:35
And that's with players that can get the ball in there.
19:38
They can kind of like serve it in and, you know, make things
19:41
dangerous. You look at Adrian Leone who
19:42
came in for Carusa logs, 30 minutes plus stoppage time, just
19:47
19 touches, 14 in the attacking 3rd, just one in the attacking
19:51
penalty area. This is your number 91 shot
19:54
logged in 30 minutes. So, you know, when you're at
19:57
that level, it's like it doesn't matter.
19:59
You know, like Ida Balls burying it out.
20:02
It doesn't matter how how much you possess, it doesn't matter.
20:05
How far up the pitch you're able to kind of like, move the ball.
20:08
Doesn't matter how many passes you're able to connect.
20:10
It doesn't even matter how many shots you're able to attempt.
20:13
If you cannot get the shots to a specific level of quality,
20:17
you're just not going to be competitive.
20:19
Yeah. And if you add on top of that,
20:22
you make one horrendous mistake in the back line and you're
20:29
going to make that mistake when Jace and Astaire are standing
20:33
there, you're going to pay. I it was it was either Armstrong
20:39
or Kennedy Wesley, I think. But yeah, the the pass back was
20:43
just a complete disaster. And, you know, Jace puts the
20:47
pressure on Sheridan and then Astaire has the tap in from
20:50
like, the like right around the 18.
20:53
And I got to tell you, you know, we, we already spoke about our
20:56
guy Mike Watts, but God love him as as an announcer.
21:01
When somebody gets their 13th of something, you know, you know,
21:06
Mike Watts is going to be there to tell us.
21:09
That's a Baker's dozen. Our guy loved it.
21:13
I loved it so much. I mean, you know, it's the
21:17
dependable guy kind of came through in a big moment there.
21:20
I, I mean, the Mike Watts moment, you know, we gave him a
21:23
little a little shift for, for what we did earlier.
21:25
But his call on the Jaden Shaw goal, I mean, I mean, natural,
21:31
you could feel the emotion. You could feel like the
21:34
satisfaction is kind of you could hear his Jaden Shaw fandom
21:37
inside kind of like spilling out.
21:39
That was a very, very cool moment.
21:41
And if Jaden Howell and Jaden Shaw are going to be connecting
21:45
for stuff like that, if Gotham's going to be able to put Jaden
21:47
Shaw into tough positions with chances, I mean, look out, I
21:52
think, for the rest of the league.
21:53
And I think we finally are getting to the point where I
21:56
don't know Jaden Shaw, You know, San Diego didn't quite feel
21:59
right. You know, she had that young
22:00
phenom kind of feel to her. North Carolina felt way wrong.
22:04
It's like this is this feels just like an absolute mismatch
22:06
that bore out. Now, there's something about
22:09
Gotham that feels like the right place for a player.
22:12
Jade like like Jaden Shaw at her point in her career, A. 100% I
22:17
mean, I guess we'll just do the game because, you know, I love
22:21
the game. Let's listen.
22:23
This was their eleven. It's you Love this.
22:26
Game it's. Burger Lily, Real, Jess Carter,
22:31
Emily Sonnet, Bruninia Midge, Purse, Jalen Howell, Roosevelt,
22:34
Gabby Porcio, Esther Gonzalez, and Jace.
22:38
That's a fucking amazing 11. And then you have Shaw coming
22:42
off the bench. Shoe Pansky didn't even get
22:44
minutes in this one. Mandy Freeman coming off the
22:47
bench as well. It's good depth that the pieces
22:51
make more sense. It feels like that might have
22:53
been the biggest issue with Jaden Shaw in North Carolina is
22:58
that like we talked about it when they made the acquisition
23:00
and we're like, OK, Nejas has to get has to get the configuration
23:04
right. And it just felt like they never
23:06
did it. It feels like maybe, and I know
23:09
what we're reacting off A1 match here where she does get a whole,
23:13
a great goal, a glancing header goal.
23:15
It just feels like maybe it'll be easier for Amoros to to fit
23:21
Shaw within those other pieces. Well, you know, she doesn't have
23:25
to be a featured player. That's right.
23:27
You know, it's like she just doesn't like Ester is the
23:30
featured player. It's like, you know, we put
23:31
Ester in the midfield and now we learn that.
23:34
I I I at first I kind of cringed when I saw the line up and like
23:37
I was just like, what is this? But credits on what else do to
23:40
just kind of get an experimental with it and knowing that, you
23:43
know, realistically, probably San Diego wasn't going to be
23:45
able to hurt them. I I went through, you know, I
23:49
love to kind of go to the mental exercises, play the personnel
23:51
game as I'm kind of racking my brain.
23:53
I'm like, who, who, who would make some sense here, San Diego
23:57
to kind of be like that, that finisher of all these great
24:00
chances. And Jaden Shaw came up second on
24:04
my list. I was like, she, you know, like
24:06
that player would be interesting.
24:07
I'm like, oh, yeah, I already tried that.
24:09
So that that was a little bit of a bummer.
24:11
But I I think Shaw really has. I'm just going to predict.
24:14
I think she's going to carve out a real role there as it kind of
24:18
reminds me of like we talked about in the NBA when you get
24:21
like an Aaron Gordon that goes to the Denver Nuggets, like
24:25
somebody that was like a #1 who's like a, he's going to slot
24:29
in and it's like, hey, pressure's off.
24:30
Oh, all I got to do is like, because like when you, when you
24:33
see the Shaw goal, she, she, it looks like she's invisible.
24:36
She gets completely lost in a super dangerous area, you know,
24:40
in the direct like line of sight with Jalen Al.
24:43
It's like, how do you lose that player?
24:44
You lose that player because there's a fuck ton of other
24:47
really good players around and there's a lot to look out for
24:49
and there's a lot to keep track of.
24:50
And you're San Diego away, so you're not that good defensively
24:53
to begin. But I think Shaw's just going to
24:55
be awesome and I think she will absolutely be heard from down
24:59
the stretch and she will absolutely be heard from in the
25:02
playoffs. That's my prediction, I think.
25:05
It's a great prediction. And don't look now the bats are
25:08
third in the table. Let's go.
25:11
I tried to tell him. I tried to tell him last week.
25:14
With with the collapse, the unfortunate collapse of Orlando
25:19
Pride, with the slowing down of Portland Thorns and they what
25:25
frankly is starting to feel like a real collapse of San Diego
25:28
wave. Gotham FC have kind of snatched
25:31
control of the possibility of taking of, you know, earning a
25:36
home playoff match. And I think it's it's gigantic
25:38
for them. And I, and I think we mentioned
25:41
it last show, they just have winning players.
25:44
They have players who have hardware, a bunch of trophies.
25:47
Even if the a lot of the players on this team, a decent amount of
25:51
the players on this team actually that I'm looking at the
25:54
roster again, we're not on that NWSL championship winning team.
25:58
A couple years ago, Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnet were in that
26:02
championship match. It's just unfortunately they
26:04
played for the losing side. Can't remember who that team
26:07
was, but they, but then you know, they have the
26:09
international hardware to go with it.
26:11
So if we're buying stock, I mean, is there any Gotham FC
26:16
stock available? Because I think they're they're
26:19
in the mix here. Definitely.
26:20
Down for that. So yeah, Speaking of Gotham,
26:23
well, yeah, let's go. Let's go through both of these
26:24
teams. Gotham they had to my hometown
26:27
take on Bay Sunday, 5:30 PM San Diego they head up the West
26:32
Coast to Portland. Let's take on the thorns That's
26:34
going on Saturday 7:00 PM couple good matchups.
26:37
San Diego we'll see if they're able to kind of get off the the
26:39
scoring schneid ice cold offensively talked about Bay.
26:43
They're going to have their hands full with this Gotham side
26:46
that's really cooking. I don't see any reason why they
26:49
would slow down. And you know, like, I just keep
26:51
thinking about there was a play where Mitch Purse, you know, you
26:54
talk about that experience, kind of went at Trinity Armstrong and
26:58
just kind of cooked her, you know, like Armstrong took a bad
27:00
step. You know, you we're usually
27:02
where Armstrong is like, oh, I can take the step in the ball's
27:04
mine here. Purse was like not, not, not,
27:07
not against me and just went right around her.
27:10
Ends up, I think, I think that play ended in a goal that ends
27:13
up being called back for offsides.
27:14
But a real learning moment for Armstrong, who shows flashes of
27:19
absolute brilliance, flashes of absolute dominance sometimes,
27:23
but still can kind of like, you know, take a wrong step.
27:26
And it's clearly the player that's that's still learning and
27:29
clearly a player that a player like Mitch Purse is going to be
27:31
able to take advantage of in spots, You know, just using that
27:35
that that that extra IQ and that experience kind of like, like
27:39
make the difference there. But I agree with you.
27:41
And I think Gotham a great mix of not just American players
27:45
with hardware, but players internationally like, you know,
27:49
I don't know, just Carter on Katrin Berger.
27:51
These are players that played, you know, all the all the
27:53
Brazilians players, Bruninia, Jays, Yeah, like it's like these
27:55
are playing massive stairs does. Astaire play for a good
28:00
international team. I can't remember like come on
28:02
man. I mean they got.
28:03
Everything. They're loaded.
28:05
Yeah, they're loaded. And I think they're coming
28:06
together. It's very, very cool to see,
28:09
especially for a Gotham hater like myself.
28:10
I kind of feel myself shit in that here as we go, before we
28:15
get to the Week 21 matchups, we've hit a bunch of them.
28:18
Any Week 20 action that you want to kind of quickly circle back
28:22
to or any kind of anything that deserves a mention.
28:26
No, I think we did it. I got one thing.
28:30
I got one thing. I think Orlando, you know, we
28:33
talked about it major slide for the Pride one one versus BAE at
28:40
home. Obviously massively
28:42
disappointing. You see Steph Hein's face at the
28:44
end of it and he's got this like smirk.
28:48
Like, I cannot believe we let this team take points from us in
28:52
our house. But I I feel like Orlando might
28:56
be turning a corner a little bit.
28:57
I thought Ovaya looked good. I thought Orlando has
29:01
incorporated Oyane into the offense in a way that's really
29:05
interesting getting way up the pitch.
29:06
They're they're just letting her RIP.
29:08
Like she's, she's putting in, you know, longer balls, shorter
29:11
balls, like she's her, her distribution is much more varied
29:14
than I think we've seen. And I thought Marto's more
29:17
aggressive and it's kind of like between Oyane, you know,
29:21
obviously Aliwa gets the goal in this one.
29:23
Ovalle, I feel like they're kind of giving Marto a little, you
29:26
know, some new toys to play with and I was encouraged.
29:29
Didn't like the result, but I was absolutely encouraged.
29:32
I think Orlando hits the woodwork a couple times.
29:34
It could absolutely have walked away with the three.
29:37
I'm now feel more positive about them holding on to that playoff
29:41
spot. That's that was my last quick
29:42
note before we get out of here. No, I think.
29:44
That's totally fair. Yeah, holding on to the playoff
29:46
spot. Now, they got a match against
29:48
the aforementioned North Carolina Courage, who did get a
29:50
good win themselves. Again, on just the chaos table
29:54
that is the NWSL. They get that win over Angel
29:57
City. You know, Angel City, they got
30:00
their two wins in a row, and we're like, oh, OK, how
30:02
interesting is this going to be? And now they have their two
30:05
consecutive losses. They get killed by Gotham and
30:08
then end up losing to North Carolina Courage.
30:10
So, you know, we still have that glut right there.
30:13
Where Angel City is on 23 points, they're behind.
30:18
Houston Dashes on 23 points with a better goal differential now.
30:21
North Carolina is on 25. And then you have racing at 26,
30:25
Seattle at 27. At the time of this recording,
30:28
that match has not been finalized yet.
30:30
And Orlando Pride sitting there at 29.
30:32
So big big old match happening at year old stomping ground
30:38
Inter and Co stadium. Orlando Pride would love to
30:42
scoop up a full 3 versus North Carolina Courage.
30:45
Yeah, and. I think, I think 3 will be in
30:48
play. I think if you, if you asked me
30:49
this last week, I would have been much, much cooler on that
30:51
idea. But I I feel like they've got a
30:53
little something cooking. And, you know, these teams that
30:57
were mentioning not the only squads that were ice cold.
31:01
Some of the results from this past weekend reminded your boy
31:03
why why I retired from from gambling.
31:07
It's like, yeah, it's just, it's.
31:08
Just insane. Book it.
31:09
Angel City, they're taking out the courage.
31:12
Didn't happen, didn't come close to happening.
31:14
And then I also gave out, you know, in a very borderline
31:18
pompous way. The dash over Utah didn't that
31:21
one didn't even come close to happening either.
31:23
The dash look completely gassed, leggy.
31:26
They look like they they got beaten down by that Houston
31:28
heat, even though that one was going down in Utah.
31:31
But you know, a good reminder do do whatever you're going to do
31:34
responsibly and a good reminder why I retired there you.
31:37
Go, I mean, do you, are you interested if we're going to
31:39
look at the the matchups coming up here?
31:42
Not interested, Not interested. Not interested in any gambling
31:46
lines, Huh? Let me, let me see if I could
31:49
be, let me see if I have a prediction that I'm interested
31:51
in. You know what, Orlando, I think,
31:58
I think Orlando gets a big we're back on track kind of win versus
32:02
the North Carolina Courage. Give me give me a big win by
32:05
Orlando and and everybody being like, whoa, whoa, did you see
32:08
what happened to Orlando or are they back all of a sudden?
32:11
Did they figure out what to do post Banda?
32:13
That's my big prediction for the weekend.
32:15
I'll tell you what. I think I like what I'm
32:17
interested in here. OK, so Portland Thorns at home
32:21
Saturday night. They're sitting at plus 180
32:24
versus the San Diego Wave. The Wave are only plus 1:40 to
32:30
get the win. Now.
32:31
I don't know what Vegas is seeing here.
32:34
I don't know Portland at home at night.
32:38
Think I think I might like that. Plus, 180 feels like a nice
32:41
number. Yeah, San Diego, I mean San
32:44
Diego is just going to continue to struggle.
32:46
I mean, I don't see, I don't see a wave out of the out of it for
32:49
them. Actually.
32:51
Let me rewind that. I did have two thoughts on San
32:53
Diego. I think I texted you about this
32:55
and I completely forgot about this.
32:56
I'm glad we circled back. I think they have one of two
33:00
ways out of it in terms of a score.
33:02
They've got two young players that are just scratching the
33:06
surface of their potential, Camius Ganio and Melanie
33:10
Barsenis. Sure they don't.
33:12
Usually play those players like in those spots, both of those
33:15
players have have logged goals. I think they're they're only
33:19
Hail Mary is figuring out can one of these players slide into
33:23
that spot and grow into that role, even though that's not
33:29
really who they are right now? Because I don't think they have
33:33
they have another option on the roster.
33:35
You look at kind of like where they're at.
33:36
I don't think they have another place to go.
33:38
And I think that's if, if I might have all that's probably
33:40
like the next place that I'm looking.
33:42
Can can one of these two players take that leap?
33:45
Yeah, it's an, it's a, it's an interesting thought.
33:48
I mean, I think this is kind of the Adriana Lyon experience,
33:53
right? Is that as a #9 she can get you
33:56
some goals occasionally, and then other times it's just like,
34:01
yo, if you're my number 9, I need you to score goals more
34:05
often than this. So, yeah, I mean, you're right.
34:09
They're they're in desperate need of a consistent goal
34:11
scorer. They're in desperate need of
34:13
somebody who can kind of interplay better with the
34:18
magician that is Delphine Cascarino.
34:22
They they got it. They got to do something up
34:24
there because I'll tell you too, like going from watching Seattle
34:28
Rain FC matches to San Diego Wave FC matches, it's just like,
34:34
bro, I'd like to see some goals be scored here.
34:36
So that that's always that's always tricky.
34:39
And now, you know, obviously I'm going to watch Kansas City
34:42
Current versus Seattle Rain and I'm probably going to watch
34:45
Thorns versus San Diego Wave. So, you know, somebody's got a
34:50
score. I just have a feeling it's going
34:52
to be one team from the Pacific Northwest.
34:54
I don't think it'll be Seattle, yeah.
34:56
Could be we'll keep an eye on it.
34:58
Houston Chicago Friday that that might that might scratch an
35:00
itch. You got to lead me on that one.
35:02
And Houston may be a little salty, you know, from from
35:06
getting getting roughed up by Utah.
35:08
Shout out to our guy Philip Sullivan, who says with regard
35:11
to being a Chicago supporter, quote, the season hasn't been
35:15
the kindest to stars fan, and yet somehow it's been one of the
35:18
most fun to watch. End Quote.
35:20
Shout out to our. It's a great take.
35:22
Yep, excellent take. Shout out to Shinta and Michael
35:25
T, who chimed in on Orlando. Hang on, fam.
35:28
I think I think Orlando's going to kind of get it right.
35:31
And then shout out to our guy Dave Palms, who who had some
35:34
takes as well. Appreciate you, Dave.
35:36
Dave is the best. All right, man, I think we
35:39
covered quite a bit of football. Anything just went here before
35:41
we got there. No it.
35:42
Seems that seems about right. I'm I'm ready to to get into
35:45
this next week. You know, I mean one of the only
35:48
two teams to defeat Kansas City current this year, but maybe
35:51
before I start talking to brazy, one of the only two teams to
35:55
defeat Kansas City current is Seattle rain FC.
35:58
So you never know. You never know what could happen
36:00
here, but I, I also, I kind of know what's going to happen.
36:04
Revenge match, Yeah, Episode calendar into the NWSO will be
36:08
back next week after we wrap week 21 of 26.
36:12
We're also going to be back. Talk a little Champions League.
36:16
Did you know that we've got Champions League action on
36:19
Thursday, September 18th? But not only that, we've got the
36:22
group stage draw Friday, September 19th, which means when
36:26
we come back with more Champions League action, not only will we
36:30
have our results, our leg 2 results, we're going to know the
36:33
group stage draw. We're going to know who's
36:34
playing whom and we'll be able to get fired up about that.
36:37
It's going to be freaking awesome.
36:38
I cannot wait. I'm.
36:39
Extremely excited for it and I got to figure out what time that
36:43
draw is. I might just set myself a late
36:46
night alarm and wake up and watch the watch the draw and
36:50
alltheuefa.tv or whatever it is, wherever it is I go to watch.
36:54
I'll give you UEFA credit for that.
36:56
They do. They do televise the draw and
36:58
it's even though some of the some of the moments in the draw
37:01
could be painfully awkward, it is always an interesting watch,
37:05
no doubt. Probably not going to be up for
37:07
that one unless I'm feeding the baby.
37:09
But if I am uefa.tv or you can catch me there or anywhere else.
37:15
Couple other quick updates. You know, we've mentioned the
37:17
merch, merch stores come in and the merch get ready for the
37:22
merch. It's going to it's going to set
37:24
your your mailboxes of fire ablaze once it once it reaches
37:27
your homes. We also launched our Patreon
37:30
where we're going to be releasing player interviews,
37:33
coach interviews, voices of the game interviews few days early
37:37
for our members. So definitely hop over to our
37:39
Patreon, support your boys. You already know what time it
37:42
is. We appreciate it.
37:43
Link in the bio and I think we did it, man.
37:46
I already asked you did anything else?
37:47
We hit. There was nothing else.
37:48
We went to hit. I think we had everything that
37:50
was. Comprehensive.
37:51
We got in a little gambling corner at the end.
37:53
I think we got some comments too that like, yeah, you could do
37:55
some gambling. Don't make it the whole show.
37:58
Do a little bit. I like just a little bit, maybe
38:00
5 minutes at the end of the show, live producing, live, live
38:04
production meeting here on the show.
38:06
I like just a little bit of gambling at the end.
38:08
Like you said it, we're not out here.
38:10
It's not our whole lives, but it is interesting to look at.
38:14
I want to see. If we could have some fun with
38:15
the predictions, because I think that that allows us to get a
38:18
little think a little bit outside the box and have a have
38:21
a little bit be a little more creative with what we think is
38:24
going to happen. So we'll see.
38:25
We'll play it by ear. But either way, when we do, if
38:28
we ever do hit it, we'll we'll nudge it into the end of the
38:31
episode anyway. Live production meeting over
38:34
this has been another episode into the channel.
38:36
Thank you, thank you, thank you for watching, listening, hanging
38:39
out with your boys. If you enjoyed the show or love
38:41
ones football as much as your boys do, make sure make sure
38:44
you're kicking out with us each and every single week.
38:46
Like subscribe, follow YouTube, Spotify, have a podcast where we
38:49
like to watch or listen? Leave us a review over your
38:52
favorite podcast app. Links to all of our socials.
38:54
Oh boy, boys getting sleepy, sleepy boys getting sleepy
38:57
tonight. Links to all of our socials
38:58
except one of the show notes of this episode.
39:01
And a big thank you to my coast as well, Mr. Grant Angle for
39:04
being being as sleepy as your boy.
39:06
Sometimes a little sleepy or sometimes a little less sleepy.
39:09
But either way, I can almost count on you to not be that much
39:13
more alert than me. We're always kind of in the same
39:15
neighborhood and that's why the chemistry is there, man.
39:17
That's why that's why we do what we do here at the ITCI.
39:20
Appreciate you. Likewise, buddy, you know what
39:22
that's it's the challenge that that we're living here, you
39:25
know, a couple of full time jobs raising a newborn, helping raise
39:29
a news newborn as as you accurately say, the draw is
39:34
going to be at 3:00 AM Pacific Time.
39:36
So maybe I will set that late, late night alarm to hop on Blue
39:40
Sky, see what's cracking, see who Bron draws in the league
39:44
phase. I'm excited to see it and I'm
39:47
excited to hear what you guys have to say in the comments.
39:50
Always dropping knowledge about the NWSL and other leagues
39:53
around the world. We appreciate all of you and we
39:55
will see you all next time.