Latest / Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football / KC Current and Orlando set for battle | Washington Spirit look to bounce back | ACFC is weird | NWSL WK16 PREVIEW EP 162

Transcript

KC Current and Orlando set for battle | Washington Spirit look to bounce back | ACFC is weird | NWSL WK16 PREVIEW EP 162 · Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football

0:03
OK, welcome to Into the Channel podcast Premier about 1
0:08
football. I'm your host Dino de Suspidas
0:10
and today I am joined by my Co host Mr. Grant Angle.
0:15
What is up man? I'm feeling all right, buddy.
0:18
That was certainly a week of football that happened for a lot
0:22
of different reasons. Something's happy, some sad for
0:25
some. But yeah, I think about it.
0:28
That's kind of pretty much how it always goes.
0:30
I mean, I guess sometimes I just kind of leave with a shrug.
0:34
But you know what? I'm I'm ready to to talk a
0:36
little bit about what happened, but why live in the past?
0:39
Let's talk about what's in front of us.
0:41
I like it. Yeah, we had some.
0:43
Some decent football last weekend.
0:45
We're we're still not back to good football yet.
0:48
I think NWSL wise, I think, I think, I think somewhere the
0:50
rust gods are are clinking glasses and cheers at each other
0:54
and high exchanging high fives. Just enjoying, enjoying the shit
0:58
out of what's happening as the NWSL really tries to get back
1:02
into its groove. You know, not not a ton of
1:05
goals, but on the flip side, you know, the defense not that great
1:08
either. So it's a little bit of a
1:09
conundrum. We'll we'll talk about it.
1:13
But I think the NWSL season definitely keen to start heating
1:17
back up here as we head down the the stretch.
1:19
I think we're, you know, the the play offs sort of getting into
1:23
getting into view a little bit. You can kind of start to think,
1:26
all right, you know, 10-11 more fixtures until we get there, But
1:30
I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves.
1:32
Good week of football coming up in a couple days here this
1:35
weekend. Where do you want to get
1:37
started? Start with a beverage.
1:40
I think it's, I think we've earned it.
1:45
Oh yeah. Cheers.
1:49
Cheers to you, cheers to the football.
1:51
Cheers to earn in it. Damn right.
1:55
Let's if we're going to talk about week 16, let's just do
1:58
chronological order. I think, I think a couple times
2:01
we've done an order of interest. I think we'll, we'll, we'll go
2:04
back to chronological. So, first match of attack at
2:07
Washington Spirit versus Racing Louisville.
2:12
Let's go. I mean, this is not quite the
2:16
match of the weekend, but this is a really good one.
2:19
I mean, we talked about Louisville, you know, in that
2:21
crazy rough stretch that they had.
2:23
So the two against Casey Current they over 2 against the the the
2:29
leaders in the clubhouse here. But the Orlando pride two
2:32
matches Louisville able to clout 4 points from those two.
2:36
We talked about kind of what they might need and I don't know
2:41
recently Louisville keeps looking like a really good team.
2:44
I mean, you know, I, I mentioned 4 points from that Orlando
2:47
pride, a couple of matchups could have been 6.
2:50
To be honest, I think they were well in control of that second
2:53
match up too. And they're just a tough team.
2:56
They defend really well. They play hard.
2:59
Taylor Flint kind of like slowly moving up my personal favorite
3:03
player power rankings to watch real Ed Reed vibes in the center
3:06
of the park. Just can reach everything, can
3:09
get to everything, can disrupt everything.
3:12
And I think, you know, their, their success kind of starts
3:14
from there. And, you know, there's just a
3:17
lot of a lot of like unpredictability to their
3:21
approach. I think this week we saw Sarah
3:22
Webber, you know, get a little busy, put some pressure, you
3:25
know, on the on the pride. And I think I kind of like week
3:28
in, week out it, it just comes from a different a different
3:30
direction. And they they continue to be
3:32
really interesting. Yeah, I mean Jordan Bloomer,
3:35
obviously, probably the story of the match, I would say against
3:39
Orlando Pride. I really like the Marissa de
3:42
Grande goal, which also gives me the opportunity to talk about
3:46
Melissa de Grande, or pardon me, Marissa de Grande, because
3:51
Northwestern grad. Yeah, your number one spot for
3:54
Big 10 football here on Into the Channel.
3:56
But a bonus one in case you're interested.
4:00
Marissa's father, Tom Viggiano, apparently a hell of a hockey
4:04
player. He is the all time leader in
4:06
goals, points and hat tricks for beautiful Kent State University
4:11
in Northeast Ohio, coincidentally my alma mater.
4:15
If anybody cares, and I know you don't.
4:17
But back to the football. I yeah, I think racing I it's
4:22
interesting that you said that they're kind of they were in
4:24
control of that game. I think that's fine.
4:26
They also could have lost it like 4 to 1 like if the
4:29
penalties go in and if that been to Howler.
4:33
Just a terrible that one of the worst things I've ever seen
4:37
Barbara Benda do at 90 + 9 in that match.
4:40
I thought racing, even with some of the control they had, I think
4:45
they could have absolutely lost that match.
4:48
Yeah, they could have lost that match.
4:49
I mean, I think, you know, the penalty gigs definitely
4:53
mattered. The I mean, the XG is funny to
4:55
2.96 to 0.77. Yeah.
4:59
I think I'm probably more leaning into like the game state
5:01
stuff where it just felt like right around the 70th minute,
5:05
I'm just like, Oh my God, like Orlando really.
5:09
I I don't know if they're going to get there.
5:11
You know, it just felt like, you know, the the goal had happened
5:13
so early. They got they had gotten so
5:15
frustrated, but they did end up obviously equalizing.
5:20
I really liked I think it's what's interesting about Orlando
5:23
is I think they're turning a corner a little bit with regard
5:26
to that attack, you know, working in like Simone, Charlie
5:30
Simone Jackson, You know, we obviously saw Julie Doyle, you
5:34
know, starting this one. Obviously missed the battle of
5:35
the kick Allie, you know, and I think they're just kind of
5:38
moving players around. Angelina returns as well.
5:40
So I feel like we're this is the beginning of a new look Orlando
5:47
offense down the stretch, you know, so we'll see, you know,
5:50
kind of like if that bears fruit.
5:51
But sticking to this matchup, obviously the Washington spirit.
5:56
What's your take? I know you, you kind of like
5:59
were keen on them last week. You know, this, this, this past
6:02
weekend against Gotham, a little bit, a little, a little bit, a
6:05
little bit a little more tepid. What was your take on on how
6:08
Washington looked? And then what are you, what are
6:10
you going to be expecting this weekend?
6:12
Did not enjoy that match versus Gotham FCI.
6:16
Did I did mention the betting line.
6:20
You know, I thought it was it was relatively relatively even
6:25
through the 1st like 30. And then Jace gets that red card
6:30
and I was already thinking, well, I I wagered a few a few
6:35
ducats on this match. How will I spend my riches?
6:39
What kind of jewels or, you know, fancy oils or or, you
6:44
know, furs will I buy with my new riches?
6:47
You're the ones. Nothing, nothing, just couldn't
6:52
get past that that Gotham defense and it just felt like
6:56
they were they were getting Washington was kind of getting
6:59
pushed out wide. I think, and I, and I wanted to
7:03
say this even after the Portland win, because I I still obviously
7:06
I'm not selling any of my Washington spirits stock.
7:08
They're still great. I think they're even in the
7:12
Portland match that they won. It feels like Narumi is still
7:17
kind of working her way into Washington spirits attack and
7:21
still kind of find her way. And I don't know, I don't know
7:24
if this makes any sense. So please, you know, correct me
7:27
if I'm, if you think I might be off on this.
7:30
Narumi plays like a it feels like a structured, very
7:36
intelligent style of football and in this kind of like free
7:41
flowing, very Spanish like attack that Washington has.
7:45
They're just moments in the match.
7:47
And even it was it was even happening versus Portland where
7:50
she's just like, well, this is the right place for me to be,
7:54
but it wasn't fitting in the flow of the offense.
7:58
So I think I don't think she's obviously not hopeless.
8:01
She's obviously an incredibly smart player who could drive the
8:03
ball down the field and give you good some good defensive
8:06
moments, but it just feels like she's not quite online yet, if
8:11
that makes sense. Yeah, I think I agree with that.
8:14
And I think, you know, watching Washington, we obviously saw the
8:19
debut of Sophia Cantore, who is probably the opposite of that,
8:22
like a player that will thrive with a little bit more free flow
8:27
ability, you know, and I think we see like players like Quasi
8:30
can, you know, I think to a lesser extent gift Monday, you
8:33
know, get to kind of roam around and and be effective different
8:35
parts of the pitch. It's, it's definitely an
8:38
interesting question, you know, and I think it it's not just
8:42
Mira and her positioning, you know, like, I wonder if, if you
8:45
know a, a specific spot in the field where she can kind of
8:48
like, you know, log some miles, you know, one part of the pitch
8:52
would would definitely help. But Washington's also playing,
8:56
you know, through their back line, through ESB Morgan, you
9:00
know, and like through Gabby Carl and just kind of like just
9:02
choosing to go that route to to some success.
9:06
But I, I think, you know, this Gotham match I think was was
9:10
real emblematic of like what what else can they go to when
9:13
things are not working? You know, I think to Gotham's
9:15
credit, they go down to 10. The Jace red card very harsh.
9:20
You know, you, you can't help but wonder.
9:22
I don't know if that's Ali Sentinor, not Jace, you know,
9:26
neck tattoo Jace, you know, grumpy face, Jace, Boogie
9:29
cousin's face, Jace, like, you know, like if it's if it's a red
9:34
just to say. But either way, credit to
9:36
Gotham. You know, they locked in, you
9:38
know, they, they play, you know, they, they do that thing where
9:40
when you go to 10, they they just play extra hard.
9:42
And now it's almost like you're playing against 11 1/2
9:44
defenders. I found myself kind of rooting
9:46
for Jess Carter in a moment when she had to go 1V1 versus quasi.
9:50
The very scary stuff. Jess Carter held up in in what
9:54
was effectively a foot race. And then I found myself doing
9:57
something interesting. Little little subdued fist pump
10:00
when when Jess Carter, you know, kind of stood up to it, which I
10:03
think that might be my first Gotham FC related fist bump
10:07
maybe in history. You know, you come on over to
10:10
the Lionesses side, you know England supporters.
10:13
We need all the help we can get, obviously.
10:16
Downtrodden. Time.
10:18
Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, no, I welcome it.
10:21
And I'll say we talked last week too about the spirits press
10:25
really disrupting everything Portland was doing.
10:27
We'll say like I I know we've had our questions about Gotham,
10:31
but you want to try to press Lily reel, Emily Sonnet, Jess
10:36
Carter, Rose Lavelle, Jaylen Howell.
10:39
It's harder to press them like they like.
10:42
I think they I do think they have a good defense.
10:44
What they've allowed fourteen goals this season, among the
10:47
fewest in the league. And even with on Katrin Berger
10:52
just losing her mind in a couple different spots versus the
10:55
spirit and kind of trying to give a goal away.
10:59
But to, you know, to that end, Roseman Kawasi did not let on
11:04
Country Burger give that goal away.
11:06
She smacks it off the post. What I thought was going to end
11:08
up be being a tap in. So again, not selling my
11:12
Washington Spirit stock, but disappointing results obviously
11:16
against ten. I think that could spell trouble
11:20
for Louisville if you ask me. Yeah, I mean, I, I guess, I
11:23
guess we'll see. I mean, Washington, you got to
11:25
be able to score goals and they just are not able to score that
11:28
many goals recently. And so that's a key thing.
11:31
And I, and I think Louisville, I don't know they can, they can
11:33
get, they can make it real gritty in there.
11:36
So I, I would, I would expect at least a highly contested match.
11:41
I think that's, that's going to be an absolute no brainer for
11:43
sure. But let's scoot ahead.
11:46
This one will be contested, maybe not hotly contested,
11:49
somewhat sort of contested. 2 teams, yeah, trudging around the
11:54
you know, the the the bottom of the table here.
11:56
Utah Royals hosting Angel City FC, still alive, Angel City FC
12:00
and and not a terrible performance.
12:02
Angel City FC. Where do you want to start with
12:04
this one? I think Angel, Angel City
12:09
continues to have some questionable defensive moments.
12:13
I think what it was like early second-half against San Diego,
12:17
where Madison Hammond just gave the ball away to Kimmy Oscano,
12:21
who almost scored. But at the same time, you know,
12:26
Angelina Anderson stands tall back there on the back line.
12:31
I think, you know, she's a good keeper.
12:32
She's obviously getting a look from the US women's national
12:34
team for a reason. I liked some of what Riley
12:38
Tiernan was doing in that last match where she had she had a
12:41
nice play where she played Alyssa Thompson in on goal that
12:44
I thought was a certain goal. And just to be to channel our
12:48
our friend Leanne Sanderson. I think Thompson could have done
12:51
better with it, probably should have done better with it.
12:54
And a player who we hold to the standard that we do of Alyssa
12:58
Thompson, she probably should have scored that opportunity.
13:01
But I just, it's going to be Angel City.
13:04
I think I'm I just came to the conclusion when they get that
13:07
late equalizer, I was like, yeah, they're just going to be
13:10
weird all season. I I think I agree with that.
13:14
I mean, you know, you watch TNA and you watch Alyssa Thompson,
13:18
you watch Alana Kennedy, you know, a player that to me, I
13:21
mean, you know, you, you got, you got a lot of Alana Kennedy
13:23
minutes. I thought Alana Kennedy was
13:25
cooked and apparently, I don't know, maybe it was just a bad
13:28
stretch, bad four, maybe it was overcoming an injury, but
13:32
looking better and better, impacting the game now
13:34
offensively in addition to defensively and defensively
13:38
holding up, you know, against like, really, you know, tough,
13:42
tough competition and tough attacks.
13:45
I just wonder though, too, like, you know, I know Alex Strauss is
13:48
getting a little bit of a, you know, a longer leash and you
13:51
know, the pressure's not necessarily on, but you would
13:54
like to see a little bit more. You know, like, you know, it's
13:58
like you want to see the one step back to see like 2 steps
14:01
forward or maybe one step forward step and a half forward,
14:03
not just two steps back. And then we just stay back
14:06
there. And I think like, you know, like
14:09
I'm really looking to see what is coming, when is coming, You
14:13
know, Stevenus Jane, obviously you get the assistant in this
14:15
one, but hasn't really been unlocked either.
14:19
You know, they, they've got talented players.
14:22
They're they're not absolutely without talent, they're not the
14:25
most talented roster. But I don't know, I don't feel
14:28
like things are really coalescing there necessarily.
14:32
And if you have playoff aspirations, a match up against
14:36
Utah, even though you're heading there as the road team, you got
14:40
to be looking at this being like this has got to be 3.
14:44
Yeah, for sure. And I think, you know, we need
14:46
to afford a little bit to a little bit of time to Alex
14:51
Strauss, who's, you know, going to come in and, you know, kind
14:53
of has to help the team play, like figure out the pieces that
14:58
he wants to move around, you know?
15:00
I think. The the best managers, you,
15:04
their teams kind of play in their image, but they're still
15:07
maximizing the skill sets of their of their players.
15:10
So, yeah, I just think, you know, that whatever happens with
15:15
them, whether it's a big dip or they start to kind of figure it
15:20
out and move in the same direction, I think it's going to
15:22
be interesting no matter what happens.
15:24
I don't know if that's, that's a pretty general take, if you
15:28
will, but I I'm going to watch their matches because it's like
15:33
there's enough, like you said, there's enough talent there to
15:35
be like, OK, I want to see what happens here.
15:37
But it's also like, you know, it could go sideways.
15:41
Yeah. Yeah, which it kind of makes for
15:44
more, you know, more fun television, But I don't want to
15:47
spend a ton of time, you know, the maybe the least of the
15:50
marquee, the least marquee of the marquee matchups of this
15:52
week, Utah, Angel City. I want to scoot ahead.
15:55
Let's jump ahead to Saturday and oh, let's fucking go.
15:59
I'm just looking at what what, what actually kicks things off
16:02
on Saturday. The Kansas City Current, the
16:05
Orlando Pride, 1:00 PM Pacific, Saturday, August 16th.
16:11
What do we need to know about this one?
16:13
Oh, this date's been circled for a long time, my good man.
16:16
Just a gigantic spot for our Orlando Pride.
16:20
I think at this point, yes, Orlando Pride are the reigning
16:25
double winners. But at this point of this
16:28
season, Kansas City Current is the measuring stick for which
16:34
all contenders are lining themselves up against to figure
16:37
out, OK, where do we stand in the play offs?
16:40
Kansas City Current is clearly the best team in the league.
16:43
How are we going to stack up? How much confidence are we going
16:46
to have going into the playoffs? And obviously, you know, they
16:51
Orlando Pride already lost at home to Kansas City Current 00
16:55
to 1:00 on May 16th. And so they're going to be
17:00
showing up to Kansas City looking for some get back.
17:03
Easier said than done. I want to make the case for
17:07
Orlando here and and I think, you know, some something that
17:10
you've talked about this season, you know, Kansas City, you know,
17:14
hasn't always like won the possession battle or the touches
17:17
battle necessarily. Like, you know, they they've sat
17:19
back a little bit and, you know, invited offenses to play a
17:23
little bit more forward, gives them an opportunity to kind of
17:25
like go over the top or go around and run, gives them a
17:28
little bit more space as well. I'm interested to see if that
17:32
strategy gets employed against a team like Orlando.
17:35
The other thing that I continue to think about is Kansas City
17:41
has looked really good this season has like notched the
17:44
results. You know, like can't argue with
17:47
it. But I mean, I am of the opinion
17:53
that I don't know that they've looked necessarily dominant.
17:57
You know, to where you where you watch this team and you're like,
18:00
there's no beating this team, you know, and I think I can tell
18:03
you like right off the bat, the 1st place I'm looking is their
18:06
depth. You know, you lose, you know,
18:09
Dee Bernardo, you know, obviously there there's there's,
18:12
you know, various injuries that this team is dealing with, but
18:15
you just start to see who who this team like, you know, like
18:18
brings off the bench. It's not the same level caliber
18:21
of talent. Now Kansas City benefits because
18:24
they have very versatile players that could do different things
18:27
offensively and kind of mix it up.
18:28
You had Ally sent N to the mix, but I don't know, like I don't
18:33
know that Kansas City has kind of blown my socks off or or had
18:37
like a performance, you know, where you know, they beat
18:41
they're beating a Washington or they're beating a you know, like
18:43
a like a team handily that that really.
18:46
I mean, maybe this Orlando match up is that match up where we
18:50
just like we're like, OK, we thought we thought these teams
18:52
were close and Kansas City just hung 4 on Orlando like this
18:56
could be the weekend, but I don't know.
18:58
Correct me if I'm wrong. I, I, I'm just, I'm still
19:00
waiting for that, that slam the door kind of performance from
19:04
this current side. What a take.
19:06
I absolutely love it. They had the they had the two
19:11
nil victory in Washington on March 22nd, but I think that was
19:17
a very injured Washington side. Yeah, No, no Rodman, no
19:27
Hirschfeld, no Bethune or pardon me, Rodman came on in the 57th
19:33
in that match. So yeah.
19:36
I mean, dude, are they lacking a signature win?
19:39
I haven't heard this from anybody else.
19:41
So good job out of you. I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm sitting
19:44
here thinking about these wins and I do see like they
19:47
definitely, they beat the brakes off the teams that they're
19:50
supposed to, right. Like, you know, they they've
19:54
been able to pull away. There was that that 4/2 win over
19:57
Racing that was not nearly as close as like the the score
19:59
indicated. You know they're plus 22 goal
20:03
differential. You know, they're it's 12 ahead
20:08
of of of the Orlando Pride, who's second best in that in
20:11
that category. But I I like it.
20:14
I like where your head's at. You know, if you're Orlando
20:16
Pride too, you know, you yeah, you've lost one nil at home to
20:20
them. But you know, you can you know,
20:22
Barbara Bendis should should make that up in the next match,
20:25
right? Or like you think about it or so
20:29
I, I love it as an idea from you.
20:31
I don't know how super. I don't know if I'm super
20:34
confident going into Kansas City like with that, with that kind
20:39
of atmosphere. But you know, why not?
20:41
They're the double winners. They they shouldn't be scared of
20:43
anybody. Yeah, you know, I mean, I guess
20:45
maybe it's that might just Eagles fandom shining through
20:47
where I'm just not afraid of anything going on in Kansas
20:49
City. I'll talk about that one later.
20:51
But I think the other thing tactically on the pitch, I think
20:57
Emily Sam's and Kylie Nadan are give Temu Chuinga problems.
21:01
And I think the the reason they're able to do that is
21:05
because they're so locked in, you know, you know, wavelength
21:09
wise, connectivity wise, they they just are able to just, it's
21:14
almost like when when they want to squeeze somebody, they both
21:16
break at the exact same time. You know, they just are on the
21:20
exact same wavelength and they've given Chewinga trouble
21:24
before. I don't think that, you know,
21:28
Orlando's going to give away a goal like they have done a few
21:30
times this season. I think they'll be locked in
21:33
from jump. And if Kansas City scores,
21:35
they're going. They're going to have to earn it
21:37
for sure. And then they're going to have
21:39
to defend a little bit, you know, maybe more than we've
21:42
seen. I think defensively they've been
21:43
really good. Kayla Sharples has been awesome
21:45
this season. You know, it's going to be a
21:48
tall task, especially with a player like, you know, Prisca
21:50
Cholufia, who I thought in a starting spot opposite Banda
21:55
looked really good looked, you know, get a hold another set of
21:59
headaches on the other side of the on the other side of the
22:01
pitch to deal with and and a different player profile than
22:04
Banda. So I think if that continues,
22:07
could be a really, really fun, you know, maybe maybe playoff
22:10
preview here this weekend. Yeah, absolutely.
22:13
I mean, it's, yeah, it's it's lining up.
22:15
I mean, it could, it could be the final, you know, I mean, it
22:19
might get to start betting against Orlando Pride and when
22:21
the playoffs come around, probably not.
22:23
I I don't think so, but I don't know.
22:26
I still got, I still got all that Washington Spirit stock I'm
22:28
holding. So we'll have to see.
22:29
But either way, 1:00 PM in in the greatest time zone, 1:00 PM
22:34
Pacific Time, obviously on Saturday, very much looking
22:38
forward to it. Hell yeah.
22:40
Let's go. All right.
22:40
Next match up on the board, the North Carolina Courage.
22:44
Nobody's North Carolina courage. Just kidding.
22:46
Versus the Portland Thorns, where do we get started with
22:51
this one? Obviously, you know, North
22:53
Carolina and then North Carolina, as we saw last week,
22:56
Portland, you were in the building for the for that, that
22:59
painful one. A lot of different places to
23:01
kind of kick things off here. Where, where?
23:03
Where should we get started? I think there are a multitude of
23:07
factors why I want to start with Portland Thorns FC, and one of
23:11
which would be there coming off a gigantic victory over there
23:15
hated rivals Seattle Rain FC. As you mentioned, I was there,
23:20
Portland punished Seattle for every silly mistake that they
23:24
made in that match. And they were just, they were
23:28
vultures. They were, they were just on top
23:31
of everything, the set piece goals.
23:32
You know, Seattle pulls 1 back to make it 3 two.
23:35
And you're like, OK, what, what kind of life are we going to
23:38
have here? And they just run the ball up
23:40
the middle, essentially. Speaking of your Philadelphia
23:42
Eagles, Saquon Barkley to the house from the kickoff.
23:48
Just a bizarre goal for for Seattle rain to give up, but
23:52
Portland was up for it. You know, Sugita and and coffee
23:57
are just a horror show for their opponents.
24:01
They just make your life miserable out there.
24:04
And then you have Olivia Moultrie, who is playing with a
24:07
motor and intensity right now that just if the ball's within
24:13
25 yards of her, she's she's tackling you, man.
24:17
Like she is just a maniac out there.
24:20
Yeah, she's just running through you and and then her, her it,
24:24
it, it's so punishing that she had that one Juke for the, the
24:30
Reyna Reyes goal, you know, so not only does she when she's
24:33
coming at you, she's hurting you, but then she she'll faint
24:37
you like go the other way and you just are just you're just
24:40
bracing, you know, for, for, for the impact that's coming your
24:42
way. I'm glad you mentioned Sugita.
24:45
Sugita was unbelievable in this one.
24:48
I, I, I couldn't could not believe how effective she was.
24:52
She did have that one point blanker, Claudia Dickey on those
24:56
obvious side, I thought had a real great moments early in the
24:58
first half, got a great stop on a Sugita point blanker that I
25:03
just couldn't believe that she caught it.
25:05
I've seen we're going to the heavy NFL, but I've seen a lot
25:09
of wide receivers and tight ends miss, you know, drop that one
25:12
from from that close for sure, you know, and and not even at
25:14
that velocity. So that was incredible from
25:17
Claudia Dickey. But vultures is such a perfect
25:20
descriptor because in the first half, I kept thinking about the
25:26
play when Raylan Turner beats Jordan Bug twice on the same
25:30
play and then the second the second time ends up being the
25:32
penalty and then bug essentially melts down for the rest of the
25:36
first half. Is just thinking, you know,
25:40
overthinking, you know, like you just sort of second guessing,
25:43
you know, you know, like not stop start and just kind of like
25:47
just off off kilter in in a big way.
25:51
And I thought Portland really, you know, to your point, they
25:53
find that weak point and they just pick at it, pick at it,
25:57
pick at it, whether it's just an errant pass or, you know, a
26:01
player that's a little, you know, confidence, a little bit
26:04
rattled, even if it's for a 10 minute stretch, they'll they'll
26:06
kind of pounce on that. Yeah, and I think he was.
26:09
They were one of those teams that they're coming off that
26:12
disappointing loss against Washington Spirit where it was 2
26:15
to one. But we talked about the way, you
26:18
know, Spirit disrupted them with their press and controlled the
26:20
ball and all those things. And you could tell Portland was
26:23
just like, we can't, we're not dropping 6 points, you know,
26:27
we're not losing 2 matches in a row.
26:29
They were leaving there with something to quote the great
26:31
Denzel Washington. And yeah, I mean, they were
26:35
just, they were just way up for it.
26:36
Now, Yeah, they're traveling across the country, but they're
26:40
playing in North Carolina. Courage, who appears to just be
26:45
in complete disarray at this point.
26:48
Like I don't, you know, like I know you and I try to do this
26:51
with a, you know, with like a, a reasonable view, but I'm not,
26:58
I'm not exactly sure what's going on over there.
27:00
They have good players, but just nothing feels like it fits right
27:04
now and nothing feels like it's right right now.
27:08
Yeah, I mean the I think the this team is definitely hunting
27:15
for an identity for sure. And I think, you know, seeing
27:18
post Shawnee house, I thought Jaden Shaw had A at a very
27:22
positive game and some of the most positive moments that we've
27:26
seen Jane Shaw have. So what does that tell me?
27:29
That tells me that like Shawn inghouse out the door and now
27:34
nobody's really sure what's going on.
27:36
Like I think it's a lot of like sort of like, or we'll see what
27:39
we have. And and you can see how that
27:42
scenario kind of created the right circumstance for Jane Shaw
27:45
to have a little bit of a good performance here, but they just
27:49
can't really get anything going. They can't generate any offense.
27:53
You know, Monaca's dangerous, but they they can't really get
27:56
her the ball. You know, it it just I don't I'm
27:59
not I'm not sure. It seems to be a little bit
28:01
impatient offensively to like where it's like, OK, well, well,
28:05
we we've started a little slow. So it's kind of like catch up
28:07
here. And they're just not able to
28:10
string much of anything together.
28:12
And what used to be their calling card, you know, tough,
28:15
you know, tough defense, good possession, smart, you know,
28:19
kind of passing just kind of control field position to
28:22
control the tempo that seems to have gone out the window, you
28:25
know, just the same. Yeah, totally.
28:29
I mean, they held the ball versus Houston.
28:31
They they, it felt to me like they probably had the better
28:35
chances against Houston. It's just, you know, they
28:38
they're they're just not able to put put it together in the final
28:42
third and in the midfield. It looks a little, it looks a
28:45
little weird at times. So I think I think you nailed
28:48
it, man. I think it's a great way to put
28:49
it, searching for an identity. So, you know, they gotta, they
28:53
gotta sit down and, and think about all the all the factors
28:57
that they need to consider and, and how to get back on the right
29:00
track. And I'm not sure the Portland
29:03
Thorns are the are the team to do that against.
29:06
Definitely, definitely not the team to do that against.
29:08
I expect, you know, a messy, you know, a messy game.
29:13
You know, that North Carolina feel like kind of picture it
29:16
just all chewed up and you know, Jack Nicholson departed yelling
29:19
in the mosh. You know, I just I think this is
29:21
a game going to be in the mosh for sure, and I think Portland's
29:25
going to thrive. You know, I think North
29:27
Carolina, you know, this is just probably just not the season.
29:31
You know, I think we, we like, we like the, you know, the
29:33
franchise, like the, the, the, the roster, we like the talent,
29:36
but you know, we've seen it time time and time again.
29:40
You have to be able to by this point of the season, you have to
29:43
have something that's coalescing in some kind of way.
29:48
And North Carolina doesn't have anything to my view that they're
29:52
like, oh, we could build on this or we could build on these two
29:54
things. And it's like we don't have all
29:56
8 or 9, but we've got we've got the foundations of something.
29:58
I don't think they have the foundations of anything
30:00
necessarily. Granted, it's only been a couple
30:02
minutes since NEA AUS has moved on, but that's putting the
30:06
season in real peril. Yeah, I think you're totally
30:11
right. So I mean, I think at this point
30:13
they might just need to rely on, you know, whether it's Monaca,
30:17
whether it's Jayden Shaw, they might, just might need to get a
30:20
couple moments of brilliance. And with their roster, they
30:25
should be better than the let's rely on a couple moments of
30:28
brilliance type of team. Yeah.
30:31
And I think, you know, O'sullivan's been good.
30:33
Rye Jackson's been good yeah, you know, they like I said,
30:36
they've they've got good players.
30:37
It's just they're they're the chemistry is just non existent.
30:41
So this is A to your point, this is a really, really tough task
30:45
going against Portland, but let's shift gears.
30:51
BFC, my BFC. This is very this is a little
30:54
conflicted here. I got no rocking my BFC, you
30:56
know, a little bandana back here just to represent shout out to
30:59
the the people at BFC who are very friendly BFC hosting all of
31:05
a sudden the reeling, the wobbling, you know the talk
31:10
about looking for an identity. How did this happen?
31:12
San Diego wave trying to figure some stuff out.
31:14
They're going to head to PayPal park in San Jose to take on VFC.
31:19
I'm curious. I've got I've got thoughts on
31:21
this one. But what are you, what are you
31:23
going to be looking for from these two teams?
31:27
You know, three straight draws for your San Diego Wave FC2
31:31
obviously coming out of the break.
31:33
Felt like they just got NWSL after dark on that last one with
31:37
the kind of weird Alana Kennedy equalizer way late after after
31:41
Roby's goal in the 86th, I believe it was.
31:47
You know, Wave continues to look threatening in the attack, but
31:52
I, I wonder how much they're just going to move the ball
31:55
forward and not score. Sometimes I, I just think it, it
31:59
feels like that's been happening a lot the, the last two weeks.
32:02
But also with Adriana Lyon and Delphine Cascarino, there might
32:08
be two 3-4 week stretches where all they do is move the ball
32:13
forward and score. So, you know, I think that they,
32:17
they could just be on a, on a little bit of a downturn.
32:23
But I, I think the one thing I was thinking about, the main
32:28
thing I was thinking about rather in that wave versus Angel
32:32
City match was a lot of these teams are close enough to being
32:38
even like, I think we, I think we would probably agree that San
32:41
Diego has a talent advantage over Angel City.
32:46
Sure. And but like, how pronounced is
32:49
it really when you go player for player?
32:51
And obviously we love Cascarino, Corley, Dali, all all those
32:56
players, but it just feels like in this league, in the last 10
33:02
minutes of the match plus stoppage time, what do you got
33:06
left? What do you have left in the
33:07
tank? To your point, to your point
33:09
earlier about depth, who do you have coming off the bench and
33:13
what kind of metal do you have? And I know that's a that's a
33:15
little bit of a do you know, squishy concept in, in sports,
33:19
But so many of these matches are just going to come down to the
33:23
last 10 minutes plus stoppage time in the second-half.
33:26
And you got to be able to figure out a way to get something done.
33:30
And I am 5050 on San Diego in those in those spots.
33:35
I, I just, I think I, I might need to see it more.
33:38
And obviously their Shield winners two seasons ago, but the
33:42
this last that last season really had me start to raise
33:45
some questions. And you know, you and I have had
33:47
our thoughts about Yonas Idivol, who we did not mention in that
33:53
in that San Diego Wave, Angel City match, Yonas Idivol versus
33:57
Alexander Strauss and the last time those two managers met
34:02
Bayern Munich with the 52V in the Champions League, so.
34:06
Pretty harder game, yeah. Exactly.
34:11
But you know, I guess Yonas, did you tell me he still gets the
34:14
Champions League medal? I guess I'm not sure.
34:17
Oh, good question. Hey, he shouldn't.
34:22
There we go. And that, my friend, is why I
34:25
have my questions about San Diego Wave.
34:29
Oh no. I'm not going to do a guy like
34:30
that or a guy like that. Yeah, he could be your guy if
34:35
you want. No, no, I'm not going to do a
34:36
guy like that. You know, he's probably a nice
34:38
guy. Never spoken to him first hand.
34:40
That's any who you know, San Diego, we talked about this with
34:45
the XOG guys, Adrian and Leon and and it really it really
34:49
haunted me because we talked about it with them.
34:52
I was like Adrian and Leon's great and like what what I told
34:55
them was like, I think she's always in the right position,
34:58
which is why she's always getting the ball and getting
35:00
looks at goal and getting shots and having space.
35:03
But the finishing is so hit or miss.
35:06
And in this one she had a couple looks.
35:07
They're just like, oh man, could have had if we had one of those,
35:10
you know it, which I think, you know, it just kind of puts her
35:13
not at that top top level or maybe not even at that second
35:16
level. Maybe refer to that in that
35:17
third ish tier. But to me, she's going to be the
35:21
player to, you know, really decide where this team falls
35:27
because I think the league to some extent has caught up with
35:31
Kenzo Dali and McCaskill and Cascarino, I think is still a
35:35
step ahead of most of the league.
35:38
You know, she's she's just terrorizing, but she needs to
35:41
play. And Gia Corley, I think has been
35:43
really good. But they they need a place to go
35:45
with the ball and they need somebody who can finish.
35:48
You see in this one, you know, they get the goal from Roby, but
35:51
that's got to be Lyon. But that's got to be Lyon
35:53
getting a goal or two, you know, pretty consistently and in big
35:56
spots. If his team's going to compete
35:59
down the stretch with some of these huge teams, you know,
36:01
obviously we know their strengths, but that is just
36:04
going to be the one place where it's like we got to see it.
36:08
Yeah, I think that's totally fair.
36:10
So if there's an opportunity for us to see it, no offense to your
36:16
current squad there that you're living in that general area.
36:21
Is Bay FC the the team that we might see it against?
36:24
I think it might be pretty likely said that defense scares
36:29
me, but not in the way that defenses hope to scare
36:33
opponents. I mean, you know this this past
36:37
weekend, you know, they they tried it out of back 3 Kelly
36:40
Hubley in the middle, Didasco on one side, Milan Assad on the
36:43
other and Silkwitz back there, who I got a chance to talk to
36:47
last week. I was going to put it up, but I
36:48
didn't get a chance to do it. But just a great conversation
36:53
heading into this, this this weekend's matchup.
36:56
I I think their defence get to sold a little short.
37:00
I'll say I you know, I think they they do kind of play
37:03
spirited. I think their midfielders like
37:06
to get after it because all of them are unproven.
37:10
You know, you can look all the way across the line hill Huff B
37:14
bar, you know, like whoever you're looking at Conte, you
37:18
know, I think at the start last week as well.
37:21
All of them need to do stuff, you know, to like, really like
37:25
prove that, you know, this team is for real and they've got
37:28
their spot. Their spot is free on this team.
37:31
And this is a great, this is going to be a great test because
37:33
that's, you know, midfield is an absolute nightmare.
37:37
So I think on one hand, you know, you're catching San Diego
37:41
on a little bit of a cold streak.
37:43
But, but to your point, you know, Bay FC, they, they, they,
37:46
they do, they will have breakdowns defensively, They,
37:49
they will give you alleyways. You know you're not going to
37:52
beat them all day long, but you know they, they, they will give
37:55
up opportunities for sure. I think, yeah, I think so.
38:00
I'd like and, and Mellonson, I I thought she was, she was good
38:03
against Chicago. You know, I think she's been on,
38:08
on balance good this season. I, I don't know.
38:12
And maybe this is the, the Big 10 football in me a little bit.
38:15
I think I'd like to see him play with a little more of an edge.
38:19
You know, you tell me if maybe that's AI don't mean it to be a
38:23
criticism, but you can tell me if it's a fair comment or not.
38:27
But I mean, I, I just want to see, OK, we don't have the best
38:34
midfield, so we're just going to attack you like in the sense of
38:39
not even like on offense, like we're, our defence is going to
38:42
attack you to try to do everything to muck up the game,
38:45
win the ball. And then in that mess, try to
38:49
create some opportunities out of it.
38:51
And, and so I, I feel like if, if you feel like you might be a
38:54
little deficient in the midfield, that might be a, a
38:57
strategy you try to employ to create counter attacks and
39:01
things like that. But again, it's another, it's
39:03
another 7:00 PM on a Saturday match.
39:06
So NWSL after dark, it's in play.
39:10
I'll be, I'll be tuned in for this one.
39:11
I'll be very interested to see how it goes.
39:14
I. I get the feeling too, that
39:18
here, you know, Bay AFC or home club, I think, I think the, the
39:23
patience level is starting to dwindle a little bit.
39:29
I, I'd have to go back and check the tape.
39:30
But I want to say that Coach Montoya at one point answering
39:37
another reporter's question, said, well, as long as we're
39:40
here, we're going to do XYZ, you know, which kind of raised my
39:44
antennas and I was like, what does that mean?
39:46
Like, you know, like, is that already kind of like on the
39:49
radar a little bit? So I feel like we are, you know,
39:53
I, I don't, I don't think that this, this is a second year
39:55
expansion team. So I mean, you, you do what you
39:58
want from a, from a, you know, leading of the organization
40:02
standpoint, But I could see an organization getting a little
40:05
bit impatient at this point for sure in the experiment.
40:09
And you know they haven't looked.
40:12
You know, clueless, but you got to see something, you know, and
40:16
I think this is a good spot. You know, I think they had a
40:18
couple opportunities last couple weeks to to get something draws
40:20
in both matches. I think this is 1 where a little
40:23
bit tougher, tougher customer, but you know another draw here,
40:28
a loss here could could kind of crank up the volume on on some
40:32
of that pressure. Yeah, I think that's totally
40:34
fair. And you, you know, you see
40:36
managers go in football, you see, you know, presidents of
40:43
football operations, you know, get the sack, all that stuff.
40:47
I mean, the the expected own goals guys mentioned it when
40:51
they were on the show that they weren't particularly impressed
40:55
with some of the leadership. Let's just remember that, you
40:57
know, Sabi King now plays for Angel City.
41:01
She was the second overall draft pick.
41:03
She was drafted in front of Kre, Bethune, Hell, Hirschfeld and
41:08
Raylan Turner, and that doesn't feel great right in this moment.
41:16
I mean, you know, they it's it's tough because you look at some
41:21
of the players, you know, with Taylor Huff, another player that
41:24
we talked about with XOG guys, who was the best player?
41:27
I mean, you could talk Kundanagi is always sort of in that mix,
41:29
but was maybe the most positive player, you know, in terms of
41:33
like, you know, just creating, you know, moving the ball along
41:37
and, you know, putting pressure on the defense.
41:39
This is a young player, you know, first, first year in the
41:41
league. So it's like you're you're
41:44
looking at somebody's Hannah Biebar as well.
41:46
I think I always forget if she's Harvard or Duke or Duke or
41:49
Harvard or some, some combination.
41:50
Silkovitz, another player, you know, kind of like earning the
41:54
first real deep NWSL minutes of her career.
41:57
So it's like, I'm not sure how you look at this team and be
41:59
like, well, why aren't we better?
42:01
Why aren't we like 5th or 6th or 4th or whatever, knowing that,
42:05
you know, this is how it was constructed.
42:08
And then the other thing was talked about on the on the
42:09
broadcast. Kundanagi needs another player
42:13
up top to run with her. Like, it fucking sucks.
42:16
Like she's, she's up there and it's like she's doing wild shit
42:20
and like just running around in and out and looping around and
42:23
she kicks it one way and run around you the other way.
42:24
And like, you can't believe some of the stuff she's doing.
42:27
And again, you know, added another handful of almost goals
42:30
to her tally. It's now probably in triple
42:32
digits, but she just needs another player up there that she
42:37
could, you know, just to kind of like alleviate some of the
42:40
pressure, give her somebody else to dish to.
42:43
You know, Hawking was involved early in this one, but that kind
42:45
of faded down the stretch. I I think they were thinking
42:48
Oshawa would be that player, but I don't know they it would be
42:51
it. It would seem a little unfair,
42:53
but I would understand. It's like, hey, second year we
42:55
we want to see something. Especially considering this team
42:58
was a playoff team last season. That totally makes sense.
43:01
And just for the live Fact Check, good job out of you.
43:04
Hannah Biebar played two seasons, as far as I can tell,
43:09
two seasons. She played multiple seasons for
43:13
the Harvard Crimson and then in her graduate season for the Duke
43:17
Blue Devils after a transfer. So look at you got them both
43:21
right. You know, I mean, you know, I
43:26
haven't lost, right? Yeah, We we haven't.
43:29
The newborn hasn't arrived just yet, so I'm still getting decent
43:32
sleep. You know, We'll see.
43:33
That'll start to deteriorate soon enough.
43:35
Let's go ahead, though. We're we're we're running way
43:37
into overtime. Gotham FC, Houston Dash.
43:43
This one a Sunday affair. The only Sunday affair.
43:45
Sunday, 1:00 PM Pacific. What do we need to know about
43:49
this one, Gotham? I don't know.
43:52
Spirited. Spirited showing.
43:53
Houston exploded for two goals in in in a week where there was
43:58
only two teams that that had multiple goals.
44:01
You know, Houston just, I mean, blew the doors off with with
44:05
that second goal. What?
44:08
What do we need to know? Yeah, now, now I'm thinking Fact
44:10
Check. Seattle rain had two.
44:11
So now there's three teams. OK.
44:13
I think it's three. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
44:15
Close enough. I mean, you know, Houston gets
44:18
the win. Shout out to Houston, by the
44:19
way. But yeah, Gotham, Houston, where
44:23
did we get started? You know, I mentioned on Contra
44:26
Burger when we were talking about the Washington Spirit
44:29
earlier. I mean, burger who we who we say
44:32
often is at worst, at absolute worst, the second best
44:39
goalkeeper in NWSL. Like, I hell yeah.
44:44
I mean, like, yeah, I, I, I mean, I guess in terms of
44:50
accomplishments, she, she's probably the best.
44:52
I just think like, pound for pound, like Lorena, her size,
44:56
her diving ability, I just love her as a keeper.
44:59
And then Caitlin shared and she shared, I mean.
45:01
Oh my God, the Caitlin shared goal.
45:04
Oh, my God, yeah. I mean, it should have been a
45:06
goal. It should have been a goal
45:07
against Caitlin Sheridan. But she that dive that she made
45:10
reminiscent of of Burger. We talked about like rarely
45:14
getting fooled, and that one was when I was like, oh, fuck, she,
45:18
she got her. And then I was like, oh, you
45:20
know what a save. I was just like, you know, like
45:22
just from the angle I was like, oh, that that's in.
45:25
But yeah, unbelievable. I mean, the goalkeeping in 2025,
45:29
this is the year the goalkeeper's got to be.
45:31
Yeah, it's, it's absolutely fantastic.
45:33
And so that and that's what makes it so tricky.
45:35
I I was thinking about, you know, these, these goalkeepers
45:40
in the league when, when Dickie made that save that you talk
45:42
about on Sugita where she just like makes herself big and then
45:45
somehow just traps it in her stomach, like from point blank
45:48
range. She had a couple other saves.
45:50
Like, you know, we'll talk about Seattle rain.
45:52
They could have lost that match 7:00 to 2:00 if it wasn't for,
45:55
for Claudia Dickey. But going back to Berger, who
45:58
uncharacteristically was just making multiple dangerous moves
46:02
against Washington, almost gave away.
46:04
It felt like two goals. I, I still man, I, I think I'm
46:10
very interested to see Yasmine Ryan line up against this Gotham
46:14
defense. Like I mentioned what they have
46:17
they've they've, yeah, like you, you never know.
46:21
And I mean, maybe she's just happier in, in Houston.
46:24
And even if they're not contending, you know, maybe
46:26
she's a big fan of the of the food.
46:29
I've got, I've got something on that not contending real quick
46:31
'cause you talked about like these teams being close
46:33
together. There's a fun little band
46:36
between 8:00. I'm sorry, 7 to 12 in the
46:39
standings. So let me do a little, little
46:43
episode of tiers football real quick.
46:44
KC tier of their own, whatever. I threw a little curveball
46:47
earlier with a fire second tier, second tier.
46:52
I was doing a thing. I appreciate that.
46:53
Orlando Washington Tier 2. I think we, we agree with that.
46:56
Tier 3 San Diego Portland, Seattle.
46:59
I I feel like those teams are sort of in a clump, you know and
47:03
then we get to six teams separated by 6 points Racing
47:09
Louisville Gotham North Carolina Bay FC Angel City Houston dash.
47:15
Not dead yet, though. Not dead yet.
47:19
Houston dash. You know, they go late into this
47:22
match. Stop, stop me if you've heard
47:25
this before. Stoppage time ball goes in,
47:28
Sophie Schmidt, the killer just slams it home.
47:32
I'm not I'm not a historian. That might have just been the
47:34
second time it's happened, but it happened two weeks in a row
47:37
and and Houston big, big, big win.
47:40
And now a chance to, I don't know, Gotham.
47:43
Are they catching Gotham at a good time?
47:47
Maybe. I mean, you know, Gasmy Ryan did
47:50
so much on that. She did so much work to get that
47:54
winner to Sophie Schmidt or to get the ball to Sophie Schmidt
47:58
to deliver the winner. Let's just say.
48:01
I, I mean, there was some of that too, where I'm just like,
48:03
OK, do I need to be? How encouraged should I be for
48:09
the Houston Dash getting a late victory over the North Carolina
48:13
Courage? Or should I be a little
48:15
discouraged that Houston Dash needed a very late winner over a
48:20
team that's in complete disarray?
48:21
I don't think. It's not fair.
48:22
That's not fair. So I think I'm here to tell you,
48:27
I still, and we talked about it a couple weeks ago, like Houston
48:32
Dash are better than they were. This is not the Houston Dash
48:35
from last year. They they clearly have some
48:39
things going in the right direction.
48:41
So I think we have a game on our hands.
48:44
It's just we haven't seen an Anastere Gonzalez game lately
48:49
that not in a Spanish uniform. And that's, that's looming my
48:53
good man that's out there. The I, I, I'm, I'm glad you
48:57
brought up a stair. I, I'm kicking myself for not
49:00
having the stab. But anybody that if you're, if
49:03
you've got the free time, go look up the, the number of shots
49:08
that some of the top players in the league get Banda Chewinga,
49:12
you know, Ester, you know, Kununaji.
49:15
And then compare that to the touches in the opposition box.
49:20
Esther gets a shot like two or three 2 or 2 1/2 times as often
49:26
with the like you get you get her the ball and the ball's
49:30
going toward the goal. You know, it's just the
49:33
frequency of it is freaking off the chart and it's like it blows
49:36
away every other like, you know, top, you know, attacking goal
49:41
scorer type player in the league.
49:43
She's incredible. But they have to have players to
49:47
get her the ball. Like, I I mean, it's a real,
49:50
real issue. You know, you lose Jace, that
49:52
sucks. But that's not really Jace's
49:54
game necessarily. She is creative and she she can
49:57
dish. But this is another team that's
50:00
got to, you know, like it's one of those things where it's like,
50:03
all right, Estera's Sharpie did you know?
50:05
And then it's like, what do we do to kind of maximize Estera's
50:09
impact because she is absolutely balling, you know, it doesn't
50:13
matter. International Spain EUR doesn't
50:16
matter, you know, NWSL doesn't matter.
50:18
No, no distribution, no service doesn't matter.
50:20
Like she is just a gold machine, you know, so it's like you would
50:25
almost look at that whole setup, that whole roster and be like,
50:29
can we just wipe the board clean, restart and be like, how
50:33
do we just get how do we double triple S stairs touches in the
50:37
box from the final third and and see see what that does for us.
50:40
If we can kind of change our identity on the fly here.
50:44
Yeah, that, my good man, is a job for Juan Carlos Amaros.
50:48
That's two figure. He needs to figure that out
50:50
expeditiously. And I think, you know, Gotham
50:54
FC, Houston Dash, you know #8 verse #12 on the table.
50:58
But to to your point, I mean, there's a potential point swing
51:02
here in either direction that could put Houston Dash in in in
51:07
real trouble with Angel City right above them going against
51:10
Utah Royals, who I think we said maybe 2 words about maybe we'd
51:14
be only use the word Utah Royals and then the preview of the
51:18
match that they're going to be playing in.
51:21
So. Shout out to Kate Delfava LED
51:22
led the weekend in touches for I think, I think for all players.
51:25
I'll double check that, but there you go, there's a few more
51:27
words. There you go.
51:29
I like it, but yeah, that'll do. Brecken Brecken Huzengo.
51:34
Also really fun to say. There we go.
51:36
We just started naming some, naming some players.
51:40
Well, yeah, I think I, I'm going to, I'm going to be locked in
51:43
Sunday one PMI think it's going to be interesting between Gotham
51:46
and Houston and yeah, I, I just think, you know, if, if, if the
51:52
Gotham I'm, I'm going to say it again.
51:54
I'm just going to mention it one for the third time.
51:56
If the Gotham defense is what I think it is with Berger behind
52:02
them, then they can start to climb a little bit.
52:06
Like I, I don't think that they're not going to get to top
52:08
4, but we've seen in this league if, if you can just be a
52:14
lockdown defense, then you can, you can frustrate teams and win
52:19
on the counter. And when you have a stair up
52:21
there, you know, you, you give yourself a chance, but they need
52:24
more than a stair. You know, they need a healthy
52:27
Rose Lavelle Mitch Purse was out there for a little bit, I think.
52:32
Did she did she get a couple minutes?
52:35
She. Did yeah, yeah.
52:36
She came out with like, like late.
52:38
Super late against Washington. Yeah, yeah, So, yeah.
52:41
And like, they they got to figure out the attack, but with
52:44
that defense, I think they're they're going to be a threat.
52:47
The only reason I know Mitch person came on is in my notes.
52:49
I wrote real Royal Rumble vibes because it's like Trinity
52:53
Rodman's coming on. Oh, Mitch purse is just like all
52:55
these famous players, like one at a time.
52:57
Like it wasn't two. It was just like one at a time.
52:59
Just drips and drabs like the last half an hour of these, you
53:03
know, I don't know very, you know, recognizable faces.
53:06
But I'm with you, man. I think I think it's going to be
53:09
an interesting match up. I think Houston can really push
53:13
this Gotham side and I think, you know, to to your Gotham
53:15
defense take, it's going to come down to team defending.
53:19
You know, are those midfielders going to want to do that work?
53:23
You know, are those attacking players the wingers want to get
53:26
come all the way back and like really mix it up and can that
53:29
team continue like as a team to commit to defense?
53:32
I think they they had that in their DNA.
53:34
We saw it. They go down to 10 and they
53:35
fucking they locked everything down and that was that was
53:38
pretty impressive, pretty spirited, but it'll be a matter
53:41
of like, can they continue to do that?
53:43
Can they scare you from an offensive standpoint?
53:46
Because I'm not sure outside of a stare, they have a ton that
53:49
you're just like, we got to make sure we shut that shut that down
53:52
or shut these four or five things down.
53:53
It's pretty much just all right, let's AA stare and we'll we'll
53:58
kind of roll the dice that way. But that's going to be an
54:01
absolute fun one. Which leaves just the final
54:04
match up. Little little Monday Night
54:06
Football for your boys. Let's go.
54:09
What will you is? Are you attending this one?
54:12
I will absolutely be in the building.
54:14
I will be. I'll have to rush there after
54:17
work. I got a long day that day, but
54:20
I'll, I'll figure it out. I'll get there.
54:22
I'll be in the building. Seattle Rain FC versus Chicago
54:25
Stars FC, as Dino mentioned, 7:00 PM and as once I, as I
54:31
already said, in the great time zone of the Pacific Time zone.
54:35
So 10:00 PM Eastern late night Monday Night Football for our
54:39
pals back East Seattle Rain FC. Just frankly coming off one of
54:44
the worst, I would say probably their worst performance this
54:48
season. Just really sloppy mistakes.
54:52
I, I want to get right to it because I'm, I'm, I've had no
54:56
doubt that you were going to pick up on it.
54:57
Also, it was a puzzling Jordan Bug performance and I asked
55:05
Laura Harvey about it specifically in the in the post
55:08
game presser. And I think my question was I, I
55:13
think I framed it as it was an uncharacteristic performance
55:17
from Jordan bug today. What what did you see from her
55:20
out there? What what do you think happened?
55:23
And I really, I like this answer from Laura Harvey.
55:26
And I don't think she was trying to be a jerk about it, but she
55:30
looked me right in the eye and said, I don't know, like, and
55:34
she kind of expanded on that and was like, and I won't, these
55:38
aren't direct quotes. The, I don't know, was
55:40
absolutely a direct quote. But the but then she started to
55:43
talk about more broadly. She was like, look, sometimes in
55:47
like really hot temperatures because it was, it was like 90°
55:51
out there in Portland. And they play on that.
55:53
They play on that thin turf. And in the postgame presser,
55:57
Fishlock was talking about Jess Fishlock was talking about just
56:00
like how hot it was on their boots and they're running around
56:03
and it like hurts to hit the ball hard and like the tackles
56:06
hurt more. And, and Laura Harvey just
56:09
mentioned, you know, sometimes with, with players in, in the
56:13
heat like that, it's not your, it's not the physical fatigue
56:16
that gets to you. It's your mental fatigue that
56:18
can get to you like real early. I think anybody who's played
56:21
sports is aware of this. They could happen in in extreme
56:24
cold too. It's kind of both ends of the
56:25
spectrum. But you know, Harvey had just
56:28
said, like she, she she couldn't pinpoint it.
56:31
Why bug seemed so off in that match.
56:34
And and, you know, rightfully so.
56:36
It was just like, it is, it's interesting to say to like kind
56:40
of throwing my question back to me.
56:42
She was like, it was an uncharacteristic performance to
56:45
your point, but she's a teenager, so that it's good.
56:48
It's pretty amazing that that's an uncharacteristic performance
56:51
from her. I don't expect to see it many
56:53
more times, but I think it's kind of underscored the entirety
56:58
of the match for for Seattle against Portland that just not a
57:01
lot of players played well. Yeah.
57:05
And I mean, we know we talked about the Jordan bug situation.
57:08
I think, you know, when a player gets you in a way that is
57:14
uncomfortable, you know, like it just takes some time mentally to
57:17
kind of like check back in on that.
57:20
And yeah, you add the weather to that, maybe a little dehydration
57:23
and like, you know, those things compound and it could these are
57:25
just at the margins, but you had four or five of those at the
57:28
same time. And and it does get tricky.
57:31
But yeah, I think to your point, maybe it maybe it is
57:33
characteristic of a of a teenager player just so it
57:36
doesn't matter who it is. It's just a function of like,
57:38
you know, lack of, you know, some experience there.
57:41
But I was a little puzzled with Laura Harvey's line up, you
57:45
know, to be honest. You know, you, you think about
57:47
all these attacking players that have been brought in and then
57:51
you kind of roll out, you know, sort of a packed midfield and
57:56
then Jordan Heitama up top. And, you know, you, you had
58:00
Dalene out on the left, you know, who was, who was getting
58:03
active. And, you know, it didn't feel
58:05
like, feels like that. You know, Dalene's been moving
58:07
around a little bit this year as well, But I, I felt like this
58:11
was a weird, a weird attacking unit to put forth.
58:16
And then once the game kind of goes off the rails a little bit,
58:20
you could see that they it just makes it tough to find a way
58:23
back into it. No doubt, and I think, you know,
58:29
I pointed out and so I'll go back to the to the post game
58:31
presser because I actually got to ask some people about these
58:34
things. So that's kind of the
58:35
information that I'm that I'm working with here is I I asked
58:39
specifically to Jess Fishlock and Madison Curry who are
58:42
available in the press conference.
58:43
I pointed out I said Maddie Darlene, Sally menti, Sam Meza
58:49
and Jordan bug. It didn't feel like any of them
58:52
played very well today. And like, you know, looking at
58:56
and I understand Madison Curry as a young player herself in her
58:59
second season in the league. But I asked Jed, I started with
59:01
Jess and I just said, how much of this do we just chalk up to
59:05
this is a Darby and the they were it was, I think it was it's
59:11
the highest attended NWSL match this season.
59:15
It was like 21,000 plus I believe it was.
59:18
It gets loud in there, dude. Like, it's not it's not a big
59:21
arena And, you know, 21,000 was pretty packed.
59:26
And so it and the press box was outside.
59:29
So maybe that like added it added to it a little bit.
59:31
Like, you know, it's covered, but it's like, you know, you
59:34
could hear it and it was like rumbling in there.
59:36
And so the fans were going bananas.
59:39
It was super hot. The thorns were on fire.
59:43
They were in attack mode. And I just don't think it's a
59:46
coincidence that almost none of the young players played very
59:50
well except, you know, save Madison Curie and, and, you
59:54
know, Jess Fishlock gave me a, a, a very thoughtful answer,
59:57
which she doesn't really give any other kind of answer.
1:00:00
I'm not just saying that because I I like her as a player, but
1:00:02
like she really like wants to talk about football.
1:00:04
It's something I appreciate about her.
1:00:07
And she just, she basically told me that like young players kind
1:00:10
of have to learn like what these games are and how to play in
1:00:15
them. And she mentioned that she
1:00:17
talked to Sally Menti and Sam as a specifically and encouraged
1:00:20
them like. And, and she had used the phrase
1:00:22
don't let this game hit you too deeply and then talked and then
1:00:27
basically said, like, this is this is the kind of game that
1:00:29
you have to go through as a pro and learn from and understand
1:00:33
that like in this match, the environment is different and you
1:00:37
need and, and you'll need to prepare and remember that in a
1:00:42
specific way. And so, you know, I just think
1:00:46
Portland knew they needed to put put the young players of Seattle
1:00:51
Reign under duress and they did exactly that.
1:00:53
And I think, you know, both Fishlock and Harvey said they
1:00:58
don't expect that moving forward.
1:01:00
It's just a kind of a bump in the road, in the learning curve.
1:01:04
That's such a an easy to overlook factor, right?
1:01:09
Because it's not just big rivalry game, but all the
1:01:14
coverage. I'm not even remember like, you
1:01:16
know, you know, like they were really like playing up the
1:01:18
rivalry week, you know, sort of stuff.
1:01:21
And it's like, you know, thinking about Orlando versus
1:01:24
Louisville. It's like the battle of the
1:01:25
purple lavender hued teams. I guess that's a rivalry.
1:01:31
But you know, the Portland Seattle one they went really
1:01:35
hard on just kind of like what this rivalry meant.
1:01:38
You have to imagine some of that trickled through to the team.
1:01:41
So it's not just, you know, you got to show up there and and
1:01:45
deal with it, but it's the whole lead up of being like, oh, this
1:01:47
is a big deal. This is a big deal.
1:01:49
Yeah, we're going to be watching this now.
1:01:51
You know, media folks are asking about it and like, you know,
1:01:53
the, you know, it's like it, it becomes somewhat of a distress.
1:01:56
It's somebody that you have to deal with and then the game goes
1:01:59
off the rails. Then the game goes off the rails
1:02:01
and now all that stuff starts to resurface mentally.
1:02:04
And now it's you just it's more hurdles that you have to clear,
1:02:08
you know, from a cognitive standpoint.
1:02:09
So you can see how that happened for sure, But this one's going
1:02:13
to be it's going to be fun. I want to talk about Chicago a
1:02:15
little bit because I thought they were feisty.
1:02:18
You know, specifically, I thought Sam Staub super
1:02:21
impressive. I mean, I think playing lights
1:02:24
out defensively, big plays from Staub.
1:02:27
Listen, Nair had some moments for sure.
1:02:29
Ali Schlegel wanted to give Schlegel a shout out as well.
1:02:33
We're great, awesome. You know, I think it it's almost
1:02:36
like, you know, you know, she's almost calibrating from a career
1:02:39
standpoint where she's sort of like settling into maybe like a
1:02:44
post Mal Swanson Chicago attack, you know, kind of like carving
1:02:48
out like that one a like roll, which is cool to see.
1:02:52
She got Luis Jamila as well. Jamies Joseph still not active,
1:02:56
but I thought Schlegel, I I think Schlegel's going to be
1:02:59
really good. I think she's going to continue
1:03:01
to get better. She kind of reminds me a little
1:03:04
bit of Alessia Russo, you know, with like what she's able to do.
1:03:08
She's able to spin both ways. She she could, she'll go in any
1:03:11
wherever there's a lane or space she'll go, you know, and I think
1:03:15
her work rate's awesome, as mentioned, not not as lethal A
1:03:18
finisher, but who knows. I think in this league that's
1:03:21
something that you can kind of develop over some time.
1:03:23
And I think that's that's a player that CIA was going to
1:03:26
have to account for for sure in this one.
1:03:29
No doubt. I mean, she'll fight you in the
1:03:31
air for the ball. Like, I mean, I think she's
1:03:33
she's obviously a real competitive header winner as
1:03:38
well. Yeah.
1:03:40
I mean, I don't know how much of it was The Mirage of of Bay FC's
1:03:43
defense, but Shay Groom's goal was pretty good.
1:03:45
I mean, she found a way to like kind of walk down their defense
1:03:48
and and and RIP the shot. I mean, it takes like poised to
1:03:51
be able to do that no matter what defense you're going up
1:03:54
against. I've liked the, you know, the
1:03:57
stars General STEEZ these these two matches coming out of the
1:04:01
break. We'll see like what that's going
1:04:04
to look like, you know? The the club announced the
1:04:08
incoming manager Martin Shogren, current manager at Hammerby, who
1:04:12
we obviously have some familiarity with from the
1:04:15
Champions League. He's coming in next season as he
1:04:19
coaches Hammerby through this Damos Fensken season.
1:04:22
In the meantime, I think the press release said that Anders
1:04:25
Jakobsen is set to join the team in the next like few weeks.
1:04:29
I can't remember what the exact verbiage was.
1:04:32
As the interim manager and current interim manager, LMSR
1:04:37
will stay on as an assistant to Jakobsen.
1:04:39
So I'll be interested to see how all that plays out.
1:04:42
But I think, you know, for, for whatever it's worth, you know,
1:04:45
LMSR the the third manager this season for Chicago Stars.
1:04:51
It feels like they're playing better under her.
1:04:54
So again, we talked about her experience.
1:04:57
She's played in in leagues all over the world from Buddhist
1:05:00
League, you know, the busy noon feminine as it was in France,
1:05:05
etcetera. Top Serian, Donald Fensken, Dan
1:05:07
WSL all those I It just feels like Chicago's a little feistier
1:05:12
than than we expected, especially after the start of
1:05:15
the season. I agree with that, yeah, and fun
1:05:18
to see should make for a good seven seventh of seven week 16
1:05:24
match up. So we'll be locked into that one
1:05:26
Monday night. That'll be fun to I'm I'm glad
1:05:28
we're getting this football spaced out a little bit.
1:05:30
That'll help our boy for sure. And then quick episode calendar.
1:05:33
We're probably going to stay on this weekly cadence for at least
1:05:36
the next few weeks NWSL wise. So we'll be popping into your
1:05:40
feeds later in the week with the weekend preview.
1:05:43
A little sprinkling, little sprinkling, sprinkling of some
1:05:46
recaps from the previous week, some player news.
1:05:49
You already know what time it is, so definitely keep it
1:05:52
locked. And then, yeah, we're just,
1:05:54
yeah, two weeks away now from from that August 27th date you
1:05:58
talked about, you know, dates circled on the calendar and
1:06:01
Sharpie. That one is a big one.
1:06:04
I think that's when we're going to kind of get to swing all back
1:06:07
into some Champions League, you know, you know, the vaccinations
1:06:11
as well. So, I mean, I'm excited for that
1:06:13
date as well. But yeah, definitely, definitely
1:06:15
keep it locked. You know, the football never
1:06:16
stops. Your boys.
1:06:18
We don't stop either. What time it is?
1:06:22
Through, you know, busy work schedules, through through
1:06:25
newborn children, just everything that could be
1:06:28
possibly thrown at us. You know what?
1:06:31
We're not, you know, hot weather, cold weather, We're not
1:06:34
going to let any of it stop us. No matter what the elements are.
1:06:38
We'll make sure we sit down, have a beverage and do a podcast
1:06:42
like re a couple of real tough guys.
1:06:45
Yeah, yeah, like high 50s, low 60s, smattering of fog.
1:06:49
Doesn't matter to this guy. I still go outside.
1:06:52
I don't care. No shout out to you, man.
1:06:56
That, that that Portland heat didn't it didn't look like any
1:06:59
kind of joke. So we'd for sure appreciate you
1:07:02
being on the scene. You know, just kind of hold them
1:07:05
accountable. Just just make it let him know
1:07:08
that the IT CS in the building, which is always, always, always
1:07:10
appreciated. All right, man, we went super
1:07:14
duper long, but that's all right.
1:07:16
I think we cover a lot of ground, a lot of meat, a lot of
1:07:19
meat on them bones. Anything else you want to hit
1:07:20
before we got here? I think that was it.
1:07:22
I, I, I do want to shout out Alberto from Portland Thorns
1:07:27
media team, media communications team helping your boy out get
1:07:31
the credential. Give me the directions to get
1:07:33
there. Fine folks at Portland Thorns
1:07:36
FCI know in Seattle, you know, rain supporters may might not
1:07:41
agree with that statement, but I've been to Portland a few
1:07:44
times for work. It's, it's generally good vibes
1:07:46
down there and it's fine. There has to be a silver
1:07:49
medalist for the best city in the Pacific Northwest, and I
1:07:52
think Portland's a fine choice. Well, the good news is obviously
1:07:56
this is this was in season, but Portland's sitting in five,
1:08:02
Seattle's sitting in six. We could get a first round four
1:08:06
or five matchups, you know, like for heading into the play offs.
1:08:09
So, you know, save Alberto's number lock, make sure you lock
1:08:12
that in. You might need to hit your guy
1:08:14
back. I mean, that's that's assuming
1:08:16
Portland holds down the four, which could definitely go
1:08:19
Seattle's way. But I don't know, I'm kind of
1:08:21
angling for a Portland, Seattle rematch in the playoffs.
1:08:26
I'd like to see Washington Gotham go at it again in the
1:08:29
playoffs. I thought that was a fun match
1:08:30
up and definitely, definitely left me wanting more.
1:08:33
I'm just like so many good players.
1:08:35
I want to see these two teams play again, but but play good.
1:08:39
So I think that could be something that that that could
1:08:42
be headed our way as well, but I don't know.
1:08:44
So a ton of time between now and the playoffs.
1:08:48
With that said, thank you for listening this penal episode
1:08:51
into the channel. If you enjoyed the show or love
1:08:54
of football as much as your boys, you make sure kid with us
1:08:56
each and every single week. Like subscribe, follow YouTube,
1:08:59
Spotify, Apple podcast where you like to watch or listen.
1:09:02
Leave us a review over your favorite podcast app.
1:09:04
All of our socials except one showing this episode.
1:09:07
And a big thank you to my coast as well.
1:09:09
Mr. Grant Angle sitting in the pea chair, finger on the button.
1:09:16
He's going to let you know when the episode starts and the
1:09:18
episode ends. But we need this because you're
1:09:22
obviously, you know, your boys got some life changes, life
1:09:25
changes coming right around the Pike here.
1:09:27
But either way, EP Co host, Co creator, Co writer, Co producer.
1:09:34
I appreciate you, bro. Co everything You already know
1:09:36
what time it is show impossible without you.
1:09:38
I'm going to need more. I'm going to need more.
1:09:40
Mr. Grant Engelman. It's down the stretch here as
1:09:42
your boys, as your boy goes into the the deep, the deep, deep
1:09:46
dark dungeon of of newborn fatherhood for the second time.
1:09:50
But I already know there's nobody I can count on more than
1:09:53
my guy. I appreciate you bro.
1:09:56
Well, likewise, buddy. I mean, I'll try to live up to
1:09:58
all that. And obviously I, I feel like I,
1:10:00
I know our pals and the community well enough to speak
1:10:04
for everybody. Congratulations early.
1:10:07
Congratulations becoming a dad, the dad of the year for the
1:10:11
second time in a row. So you already know.
1:10:14
And thank you to everybody for checking out the show.
1:10:16
I'll try to do a good job editing the show.
1:10:18
I'm not going to be nearly as good as Dino at it for the first
1:10:22
several weeks, so just bear with us if you can, please.
1:10:25
Thank you for dropping knowledge of the comments.
1:10:26
If you got editing tips, hit me up too.
1:10:29
I can use all the help I can get and we will see you all next
1:10:32
time.