Latest / Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football / Weekend's Best Matchups | AUS v Japan | Thorns v Reign | Bay FC v Angel City | Man City v Tottenham

Transcript

Weekend's Best Matchups | AUS v Japan | Thorns v Reign | Bay FC v Angel City | Man City v Tottenham · Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football

0:04
Oh hey, welcome to into the channel podcast for another
0:09
about owns football. I'm your host Dean suspicious
0:11
and as always, I am joined by my Co host, Mr. Grant Angle.
0:16
What is that man? I'm feeling fantastic, buddy.
0:19
The the football schedule, man, it's going to get real crowded
0:22
here. I think we may.
0:24
It might already be very, very crowded.
0:27
I think a little too crowded. I mean, I'm not complaining, I'm
0:30
not going to complain. And I think what I what I think
0:33
what we're doing here is we're kind of pivoting a little bit.
0:35
We're turning a negative into a positive.
0:37
So we're going to do something fun.
0:39
We're going to kind of draft our most intriguing matchups of this
0:42
weekend. Like you said, a loaded slate.
0:44
We're going to kind of span the globe for sure.
0:46
We can kind of go alternating order, but I don't know where
0:50
should we get started. Let's start with a beverage.
0:53
You know what? And this isn't necessarily a bad
0:56
thing. I don't think I've had a
0:58
beverage since the last time we convened this year.
1:01
Podcast. No way that is something.
1:07
I just was like, let me, let me see, let me just go weekend.
1:11
No, no, no, no beers necessary last weekend for your boy.
1:15
Healthy pour on this end. What are you?
1:17
What are you sipping on over there?
1:19
This is This is the last of my I'm doing a little free ad the
1:23
Balbany Double wood, aged 12 years, single malt Scotch.
1:27
Let's go. Yeah, I've got I've got one.
1:29
Like I was telling you, I've got one more show left in this bad
1:31
boys so or I don't know. We'll see how we'll see how this
1:34
show goes. I mean, I know we've got a,
1:37
we've got a time target, but you know, we've been known to blow
1:40
through a stop sign or two. Every once in a while.
1:43
But you know what? Cheers to you.
1:45
Cheers to the football. Cheers to blown through stop
1:47
signs when it's safe and necessary.
1:50
Virtually. Cheers.
1:52
Cheers. Let's see here.
1:54
So you ask me where I want to get started.
1:55
I think we should get started. How about how about you do the
1:58
honors? I feel like the last time we did
2:00
a draft of something, I think I went first.
2:03
So if you would like to get us started, and again, like Dino
2:06
said, the concept here, a lot of football on what are we most
2:09
excited to watch or what do we think is most interesting or
2:11
really what do we, what matches do we want to talk about on the
2:14
show? That's the draft.
2:15
Yeah, no doubt. I mean, I made a terrible
2:17
mistake. I, I, I listed for, I actually
2:20
screenshotted like 1010 matches. I flipped through the fat mob
2:24
app. I got my 10, made a terrible
2:25
mistake leaving this match off the AFC Women's Asian Cup final,
2:31
Japan versus Australia. We were chatting a little bit
2:34
before the show. That Australian lineup all of a
2:37
sudden got got healthy, got more mature, you know, got got some
2:41
championship. You know, you think about Steph
2:43
Catley and Caitlin Ford and Kudy Cross, some like Champions
2:46
League winning champion experience under their belt, a
2:49
healthy Sam Kerr back that goal that she had.
2:53
I mean, I rarely get fooled when I'm what I'm like, oh, touch too
2:57
heavy. Oh, she's going, you know, like
3:00
that never happens to me. And I'm just like, God damn, Sam
3:02
Kerb missed that. And I'm like, oh, no, she made
3:04
it. That was made an absolute fool
3:07
out of me. But this, this final, and that's
3:09
not to speak of Japan on the other side, who I know you love.
3:12
It's just going to be an absolute slugfest.
3:15
I am so pumped. Two AMI believe this match is
3:19
happening in the Lord's time zone, Pacific Time over here on
3:24
the western part of the United States.
3:25
Live post game. There we go.
3:28
You know, we'll see. We'll see if you're up for it.
3:31
We'll see if the the children are awake.
3:33
You know, maybe you get a wake up call.
3:34
Just shoot me a text. I think I'm going to watch.
3:36
I mean, at least I'm going to give it a shot.
3:37
Look, I'll be covering a match that we'll talk about here
3:40
shortly. I'll just kind of be chilling
3:42
left of my own devices. And who knows, if I can make it
3:46
to 2:00 AM, then I might as well just put the match on and see
3:49
what's cracking. Yeah, I love that.
3:51
I mean, this Japan side from a lineup standpoint is loaded.
3:55
I love Micah Himano also had a goal.
3:58
Great to see you know, you know her score.
4:00
Rico Uecky was I think open scoring against South Korea.
4:06
But you look at the the lineup and who's playing a player like
4:10
Monaco, Matsukubo, not starting and like not coming off the
4:14
bench in every match either. They're they are so talented and
4:19
they're cycling through their their top players, But I think
4:22
it's going to be really high level football on display
4:24
because I think both those sides, opposition
4:27
notwithstanding, you know, not that not the toughest opponents,
4:30
but they both still look really sharp, right, independent of who
4:33
they're playing. Should be a close game.
4:35
I think it's always on the board.
4:37
You know, maybe you have the Sam curd detonation or maybe it's
4:42
just the, you know, the Japanese team just completely overwhelms
4:46
the opponent. So I do think a blowout, I would
4:49
say a blowout is probably more likely going Japan's way, but I
4:53
think it's still on the board for for Australia.
4:55
So all that to say, wide range of outcomes, Late Night
4:59
Football, let's get after it. I mean, I'm excited to watch it.
5:02
Yeah, this one, I mean, going down in Sydney and you know, you
5:07
can't, I can't help but rewind back to the 23 World Cup.
5:11
Sam Kerr kind of like makes the LA kind of really makes her
5:15
return return against England gets that goal and that place
5:18
just exploded. I mean, if if that if the
5:22
environment here is half that or 2/3 that a blowout.
5:27
Just that's off the table. It it's going to be, I think a
5:29
lot more hotly contested. Super excited, but let's keep it
5:33
moving. 5% six minute mark. We're not we're not we're not
5:37
doing too too slow, but I do want to keep it zippy.
5:40
What was your first matchup that's got you really pumped for
5:43
this weekend? To nobody's surprise, Portland
5:46
Thorns Football Club versus Seattle Rain Football Club in
5:50
the lovely city of Portland. This one will be 7:00 PM Pacific
5:54
Time Friday on Amazon Prime. I believe it is.
5:58
The Cascadia rivalry is back the March edition.
6:03
Thorns are coming off a nice one nil away victory over Washington
6:05
Spirit. Olivia Moultrie scored that
6:07
deciding goal. Rain FC had an eventful week.
6:10
So I'm going to look at this through the through the prism of
6:12
travel. They had the two one away
6:15
victory over Orlando pride, a great result, but it included a
6:20
four hour flight delay delay on the way to Orlando and then a
6:24
two hour weather delay during the match.
6:27
And then the squad faced multiple flight delays and
6:29
cancellations before making it back to Seattle on a flight on
6:33
Tuesday. Then they they just travelled to
6:36
Portland today, Thursday. You know, earlier we're
6:40
recording this late at night, of course, sleepy boys time.
6:43
So it's all after an already tight turn around from playing a
6:46
Sunday night match as far as you could get geographically in
6:49
Orlando to playing a Friday night match.
6:52
Portland has the rest advantage. Portland is at home.
6:55
It's their home opener. Sophia Wilson's going to play in
6:58
the home opener. Lot of things going Portland's
7:01
way. I'm and I'm really, really
7:03
interested to see how Seattle deals with all that.
7:07
Absolutely. I mean, well, you, you, what was
7:10
your, what was your read on that Seattle match versus Orlando?
7:13
Was it kind of like Orlando, you know, not really be able to link
7:20
and take full advantage of of what was happening there or was
7:23
Seattle kind of like really stymieing them?
7:25
We've watched a lot of football and talked about a lot of
7:28
football together, my good man. And I got to tell you, it felt
7:31
like Orlando missed some opportunities that maybe mid
7:34
season or obviously with, oh, I don't know, the greatest player,
7:38
whoever lived who's in her second or third prime at this
7:41
time. Marta, you know, maybe
7:43
unavailable Marta turns the tide.
7:45
Or maybe, you know, Benda with a little more.
7:48
I know she scored a goal, but maybe with a little more
7:51
connectivity there, that result could have gone a different way.
7:54
I think it's a good, like I said, it's a great result for
7:57
Seattle. I think they played well.
7:59
I thought the the the back line stood up nicely.
8:02
But Yep, I thought there were some elements there.
8:04
There were some moments where Seattle looked a little exposed
8:08
on defense. Yeah, yeah, I would.
8:10
I would agree with that. Outshot in a pretty big way, 22
8:14
to 13 I think XG. Was a huge.
8:17
Yeah, yeah, out of whack as well.
8:18
I thought Montesiro had a really good game, kind of like turn the
8:22
corner a little bit. Well, I mean, like with a lot of
8:24
people in preseason form, it was great to see Montesiro like
8:27
really, really sharp in that one.
8:29
So we'll see. And then on the Portland side,
8:32
the one thing that I'm kind of, well, actually this this ties
8:35
into a couple players here, but the two players that I'm kind of
8:40
kicking myself not considering them more seriously for MVP.
8:44
Barbara Benda, duh. Olivia Moultrie, duh.
8:46
Like, you know, I'm just, I'm just watching.
8:48
I'm just like, oh man, how did I kind of like, not really
8:51
fruitless. These two players seem pretty
8:54
obvious in retrospect. I was really hoping I appeared
8:58
on the women's football show with Leanne Sanderson.
9:00
You should immediately subscribe to that podcast.
9:02
One of the the the greatest women's football podcasts.
9:05
One of the greatest podcasts, football or otherwise, in human
9:09
existence. I joined Leanne's, I joined
9:13
Leanne's podcast and I was hoping she would just ask me for
9:16
an MVP pick so then I could just on her show pick Barbara Benda
9:20
and then just have and just have multiple picks.
9:23
But she didn't ask me. So I didn't have the opportunity
9:26
to pull the true scumbag move. Yeah, I I wasn't so upset by
9:30
that. I would have been crushed by
9:31
that actually. I mean, it's a good move.
9:36
You, you, you spread the chips out a little bit, no?
9:39
It's a terrible move. That's not a good move in any
9:42
way, shape or form. I'm glad you didn't do that.
9:46
Now you got to stick with your pick and and yours was so, so
9:49
wild that like, it's a great pick.
9:50
I appreciate great appearance by you.
9:53
Also on the women's football show hosted by Leanne Sanderson,
9:58
but following Lucy Bronze, who recounts the story, the broken
10:05
leg story. Oh my goodness gracious.
10:07
And my, that was even the craziest part, my favorite part.
10:10
Sorry, I mean, you were you were unbelievable.
10:12
Shout out to. You, buddy, I I can't be your
10:14
favorite part on a podcast where Leon's talking candidly with
10:17
Lucy Bronze. It's all right.
10:18
I won't take offense. Sorry, well you were tied type
10:21
of person. Appreciate it.
10:23
When Lucy When? When I think Leon, Ezra is like,
10:25
oh, how many more do you happen to take, Lucy?
10:29
The first Ezra was like, I think psychologically I've got a lot
10:32
to take. I'm like psychologically, Oh my
10:34
of. Course she does.
10:36
That was so that would that's a chills, you know, through me.
10:39
I'm just like, damn, that that's that's how you know how she
10:44
views the game, you know, and then when she recounts the story
10:47
of like playing on the broken leg, just because that was her
10:50
moment to prove that she was a really about that lioness life.
10:54
I'm just like holy, I think Leanne was even taken back.
10:57
But again, great appearance by you, great appearance by Lucy
11:01
Bronze. Who's to say who's?
11:02
I mean, we don't need to say it was appearance was better.
11:04
I think they were both A+ plus look.
11:07
Between Lucy Bronze, Leanne Sanderson and myself we have a
11:10
combined 6 UEFA Women's Champions League trophies.
11:14
The Monumental podcast episode there.
11:18
Absolutely. All right.
11:21
All right, So you're taking Portland, Seattle.
11:24
That's a great matchup. I'm excited about that.
11:26
Should be interesting. I'm going to stay in the NWSL to
11:30
this is a great a great match up of two teams that do not want to
11:35
fall to OO and two. And for those newly initiated on
11:39
the ITC, we go win, draw loss. You know, the the the natural,
11:45
the only natural way to to report on standings.
11:47
But both these things I thought, you know, played, played OK,
11:52
played pretty well. You know, neither of them are
11:54
walking. We're being like, oh, we got,
11:56
you know, we got hoes or like, you know, great performance, bad
12:00
result, you know, like both results where I think a little
12:03
bit shaky. And I think both of these teams
12:06
have really high expectations and with good reason.
12:11
Yeah, I mean, they definitely should.
12:12
I mean, you think about the scoring power between Racing
12:14
Louisville and Washington Spirit.
12:16
You know, they both teams are going to expect to score goals.
12:20
Louisville kind of breaks the seal, gets over that, you know,
12:24
gets past the barrier that was making the playoffs.
12:27
I know you know, some people have have mentioned like, well,
12:30
yeah, they they got past the, you know, they got over the
12:33
hump, but they barely made the playoffs.
12:35
But I, I think just, you know, Speaking of like Lucy Brown's
12:38
talking about the psychology of, of football, I think that
12:40
matters. And so that's good for them to
12:43
to buoy themselves. Sarah Webber looked like she was
12:45
playing with great confidence. Emma Sears continues to look
12:48
super dangerous in all spots, whether it's national team or
12:51
Louisville, and both of these teams are going to really,
12:54
really, really fight it out. I don't know if this is a tepid
12:57
type prediction or not, but I'm sure you noticed no draws in
13:02
week 1 action of NWSL and this feels like we might find the
13:07
draw in this match up I. Don't know.
13:10
Let's take a look at that number.
13:11
I can definitely see that. I was surprised because actually
13:16
we didn't really get to talk too much about it when Mike Watts
13:19
was on. But you guys both pick
13:21
Washington and win the shield. And I wasn't really taken aback
13:25
by it. But my main thing was like,
13:28
right, it's Washington. Mine is Cory Bethune and some
13:33
people coming back and some people, you know, in their
13:35
second season get, you know, get more into the system, you know,
13:38
like and they've got they've got a great track record, but it
13:41
seemed much less like a slam dunk to me that the spirit were
13:45
like, all right, they're they're they're tracking towards the
13:47
shield. I'm like they'll be in the mix.
13:49
You know, they got really good players, but I don't see that
13:52
team as an example running away with the league.
13:55
Like we saw Kansas City in Orlando, like that's not what
13:58
that wasn't my read at all. And then that that that opening
14:02
week result. It was a surprise.
14:04
Obviously they're at home, but it I wasn't blown away by it.
14:08
You know, and I think the questions that I had coming in,
14:10
I think we're we're still kind of there, you know, and it's
14:13
funny how we we pool these players like all right, quasi
14:16
gift Monday and then Bernal and Santos, and then it's Rodman and
14:20
then it's like, you know, it's I don't want to say that it's like
14:22
kind of cliquish, but we haven't really seen the whole the whole,
14:27
you know, the whole thing slide, you know, slot exactly into
14:30
place. I think that's totally fair.
14:32
And you know, in that, in that those examples, we didn't even
14:36
you didn't even mention Hirschfeld and Rudd, who kind of
14:38
feel like a like a pairing also. And then you you drop into Julie
14:42
Elmo, you got Gabby Carl there, Gabby Carl in there.
14:48
You know, for me, I don't think because we had two runaway
14:52
winners and there's no signs to this.
14:54
I mean, that's not what we exactly what we do on this
14:56
podcast. Like we like some stats.
14:58
We like to talk about that stuff, but you know, we like a
15:00
lot of feels and vibes as well. Three years in a row to have a
15:04
gigantic runaway shield winner. I don't know.
15:08
I just feel like at some point, you know, like if you are, you
15:12
know, playing Texas hold 'em and like you, you draw out a couple
15:16
times or like you're, you're an underdog multiple times in a
15:19
row. Eventually you're not an
15:20
underdog anymore. That that's my math analysis.
15:23
So if anybody's wondering why we're not a math podcast, but I
15:27
think you're following me here. So I, I could see spirit winning
15:32
a closely contested shield this year.
15:34
And they, I just think they're also the kind of team with the
15:37
way Adrian Gonzalez coaches them.
15:38
And then like their style of play, They're gonna, they're,
15:41
they're like a, like a freight train where like they got to get
15:44
going first. I can see that.
15:47
I can see the momentum getting going because you look at some
15:51
of those players and like some of the pairings, you know, like
15:53
if if the the chemistry UPS itself, you can see the
15:57
productivity follow against Portland, though, Washington 12
16:01
shots just won on target. That was by gift Monday.
16:04
The XG the box touches roughly even between those two sides.
16:08
Louisville on the other side, they out XG the North Carolina
16:12
courage 2.5 to 1. You know, just really doing
16:17
really good work. They're earning much much, much
16:19
better chances. They outshot them as well, but
16:22
they end up losing that one to North Carolina.
16:24
My pick to win the shield. I'm not.
16:27
Off to a good start. I feel good, not off to a bad
16:31
start. I'll say, you know, points wise,
16:33
but there's a there's a lot there that you know, you know,
16:37
didn't make me feel super awesome about it.
16:39
But this match up, the find the the draw is interesting, but I'm
16:45
going to just going to see, you know how hard these teams play.
16:49
You know, if if they do kind of go for the win because I mean,
16:53
you don't want to start old like that for for some reason feels
16:57
really, really scary, maybe scarier than than in previous
17:00
seasons. Even in even in a 30 match
17:04
season, I could I could see that and you know how bunched up
17:08
teams get. I wouldn't think like, I don't
17:11
know, I guess I wouldn't be too scared of it, but I don't like
17:13
again, we'll use it. Maybe it's the the word of the
17:16
podcast psychologically, you know, for both of these teams,
17:20
right. So if you're watching and you
17:21
come in, you're second on the table again last year, you make
17:24
another NWSL championship appearance and then you start
17:27
the next season with two losses in a row.
17:28
You don't want that interesting. And if you're Louisville, you
17:31
make the playoffs and then you start with two, two losses in a
17:33
row. So I got.
17:34
No, that's so interesting because with the expectations,
17:38
if you're the spirit and you lose 2, you know, you lose 2 to
17:42
start the season. It feels real bad.
17:45
But for for whatever reason, if you're Louisville, you know, Bev
17:48
Yunes, they're kind of wonky, like they're they're winning.
17:50
They're, you know, like it feels like they could lose 2 and win
17:53
5, you know, in a row. And it's just exactly it's old
17:56
news. But for some reason I feel like
17:58
two straight for Washington could could stick to them a
18:02
little bit more so than then Louisville.
18:04
I I could see it. Anybody interested on
18:07
DraftKings? The draw plus 2:30.
18:12
You like you like a home underdog racing Louisville plus
18:15
235. Washington Spirit to win
18:19
outright, plus 100. Interesting.
18:24
Yeah, I think it's split the baby on the both sides of
18:27
Louisville. All right, Who's your second,
18:30
second match? What do you like?
18:31
Well, unsurprisingly, buddy, let's talk about it's It's
18:35
happening overseas in lovely England.
18:39
Manchester City Football Club versus Tottenham Hotspur, 5:00
18:44
AM Pacific Time Saturday. Now I will look, even if I watch
18:48
Japan, Australia, I'm not going to be able to stay up quite that
18:52
late. So I'll be watching that one on
18:53
delay. You can find that one on the
18:54
ESPN app. Manchester City Football Club is
18:58
fresh off their FA Cup Round a 16 victory over Sheffield United
19:03
and they're hosting, like I said, our pals Tottenham Hotspur
19:06
with old friends of Into the Channel, Martin Hoe, the manager
19:10
and senior Galset Norwegian Wunderkid.
19:13
After thirteen wins in a row in league play for the Sky Blues,
19:18
they are one win, one draw, one loss in their last three,
19:21
including that weird nil nil draw versus Haston Villa.
19:24
They had 50% of the ball versus the Villains and they only
19:27
managed 4 of their sixteen shots on target.
19:30
Weird result 0 out of 10 did not like.
19:35
I mean, how, where, where are you coming in, in terms of like,
19:40
where's your heart for this one? Because are you, are you split
19:44
at all? Are you like?
19:46
No, I can't be. I refer.
19:47
I root for city. Yeah, it's it's too, it's been
19:49
too long now, you know, I, I, I got love for our Norwegian pals.
19:56
But yeah, I, you know, I'm too, I'm too far in.
19:59
I'm too invested in in city for what like 15 plus years at this
20:03
point? Fair enough.
20:04
Well, they're in. They're in a solid position. 7
20:07
points clear of Chelsea and getting getting down to the
20:10
stretch run. I think there's five matches to
20:12
play. So a win here doesn't I don't
20:17
know if they quite clinches it doesn't quite clinch it, but I
20:20
mean, they're so, so, so close and definitely a winnable game.
20:25
And they're in a good they're in, you know, not not the best
20:28
rhythm, but the the season is such a slog that if you're still
20:33
like playing positive football at this point and relatively
20:37
healthy, it's like that. That's almost as much as you can
20:39
hope for a. 100% And I'm glad you say that because there it
20:44
just feels like something like, again, kind of looking at the
20:47
math, but it just feels like a win here getting the full 3
20:52
points. That just feels like it goes a
20:55
long, long way toward winning the title.
20:57
And just a real time observation here when I said I've been
21:01
rooting for City for 15 plus years.
21:03
Claudio Reyna signed with City in 2005.
21:06
So I've been rooting for Manchester City Football Club
21:08
for like 21 years, which is just, you know, I, I, yeah, I
21:13
usually, I'm like when people do that kind of stuff, I'm like,
21:15
yeah, the passage of time, that's how it works.
21:17
But that, that one kind of surprised me.
21:18
I I forgot that it's been just that long.
21:21
Yeah, it's it. It's also the COVID math where
21:24
it's just like every. We still think it's 2020.
21:26
Yeah, exactly. It's like these years I got to
21:28
count, but I that's going to be a great match to bat match up to
21:32
watch. And, you know, Tottenham's like
21:34
kind of dangerous, you know, fifth in the table.
21:37
You know, they've they're also kind of like redefining, you
21:40
know, their identity. You know, they kind of feels
21:43
like if this is a multi year project and they might be right
21:46
in the middle of it. So kind of dangerous.
21:48
But those are the ones where when you do win them in a title
21:52
chase down the stretch, they just kind of feel like they're
21:54
like almost worth like 4 points. 100% and you know, look, they're
22:00
Tottenham is 3 points behind Arsenal for 4th, they're six
22:04
points behind United for 3rd. Now they Arsenal has two games
22:10
in hand versus both of those squads.
22:14
But you know, if if you're Tottenham and you actually if
22:16
you, if you get a win out of this, you got to believe Kevin
22:19
Garnett style, anything is possible at that point.
22:22
For sure, yeah. And I think when teams are in
22:25
that kind of like a that multi year ascent, it kind of helps
22:31
them mentally to be like, right, let's you know, it.
22:33
It went up in packet in territory.
22:35
Like all of these, it's like all these minutes, all these touches
22:38
matter because they're all building towards something
22:40
bigger. I want to stay in the WSL.
22:44
You mentioned Arsenal. I'm not going to pick Arsenal,
22:46
but I find I find it interesting that they're sitting in fourth.
22:51
There were four points behind Chelsea, three points behind
22:54
United, but they have two games in hand.
22:56
So everybody else has got five matches left.
22:59
Arsenal's got 7. But Arsenal do not play another
23:02
top four team down the stretch. So it's all teams that are
23:05
either Tottenham in 5th or below.
23:07
Tottenham's their toughest matchup and they get them at
23:10
home Saturday, March 28th. So I say that to to say that the
23:17
top three race in the WSL, it's got four teams in it.
23:21
City, I think they're they're locked, right?
23:24
We think they're going to win the title.
23:26
Champions League spot is locked. So really what we're talking
23:29
about is 2 spots for three teams.
23:32
Chelsea sitting on 36, United on 35, Arsenal on 32.
23:37
But two games against lesser competition, they they should be
23:40
able to jump. Chelsea at least be able to
23:43
match them right? And hardly with with a better
23:46
goal differential. But the one, the match that I
23:48
want to watch Chelsea versus, well, they're going to be
23:51
visiting the London City Lionesses this weekend.
23:56
And we, we've just seen kind of an up and down Chelsea.
23:59
You know, the WSL race is kind of like, you know, drifting
24:03
further, further away. And it's just going to be I'm,
24:07
I'm just really curious how they approach the, the, the rest of
24:10
the WSL slate. Obviously Champions League.
24:14
That's the one big, the one big one looming for them, but I
24:18
don't know what. What do you, what do you think?
24:20
What do you think we're gonna see this weekend from Chelsea?
24:23
Well, so they got their trophy, so they won't be trophy less.
24:26
They win the League Cup over Manchester United.
24:28
That's good. You got to you know, we talked
24:31
we talked a few times about the prospect of them going trophy
24:34
list. So they don't got to worry about
24:36
that. Bone pastor doesn't have to
24:37
worry about it, but she didn't really have to worry about
24:39
anything anyway because she got the extension.
24:41
Alyssa Thompson has been looking good and comfortable for
24:45
Chelsea. And so I think that's that's,
24:47
you know, a huge upswing for the Blues and I and I, I think
24:53
you're right here, like Chelsea should be approaching every
24:58
match, like the Gunners have two in hand on us, Like we got to
25:02
just win every match from here on out.
25:05
Oh not, I mean Saturday, how about Saturday, May 15th to
25:09
close the season? Chelsea, Manchester United,
25:13
which is probably probably going to be for a Champions League
25:16
spot. I mean, just put that one on
25:18
pay-per-view right now. The writers cooked with that
25:21
one. Unbelievable.
25:23
London City line this is pretty live.
25:26
They've got six wins on the season, 20 year old Freya
25:28
Godfrey, four goals, 3 assists on the year, only one of eight
25:32
players to reach both of those numbers in the WSL and certainly
25:37
the youngest. So shout out to Freya Godfrey.
25:40
I think this one's this one's going to be a really fun match
25:42
up to watch. All right, who's your is that my
25:44
third? That's my third.
25:46
Who's your third? Let's go over to Germany.
25:50
TSG 1899, Hoffenheim. We'll just call him Hoffenheim
25:54
for the, you know, time purposes for the rest of this.
25:58
But they are playing champions. 90 Niners.
26:01
They are playing Champions League contenders or Champions
26:05
League participants, depending on how you feel about them.
26:07
Wolfsburg, That's that one's going down. 6:00 AM.
26:10
Pacific Time Saturday on the zone after that 41 ugly away
26:16
loss that we watched Wolfsburg suffered a Byron on February
26:20
22nd. Wolfsburg has won three in a
26:23
row. They had the one nil victory
26:25
over on track Frankfurt in the DFB Pocal quarters.
26:28
Then they beat labor crews in two to one.
26:30
Then they beat Carl Zeiss Jana 2 nil.
26:33
Carl Zeiss Jana Not just some dude a football club named after
26:36
a guy who invented like a glass factory or what is it like a.
26:41
Lenses. Lenses Factory, Thank you.
26:44
Alex Popp has scored in each of the last two matches.
26:47
We know she is moving on at the end of the season.
26:52
She's headed over to Dortmund, so you know, that's obviously
26:56
going to be interesting. She's kind of on her on her
26:58
farewell tour for Wolfsburg and Hoffenheim is fourth in the
27:02
table. They're only one point behind
27:04
Eintracht Frankfurt and they're only one goal behind them and
27:07
goal differential. So they got a lot to play for
27:10
and I think this one should be pretty interesting.
27:14
I I definitely agree and and, you know, Wolfsburg strikes me
27:19
as the kind of team that always just seems to roll over against
27:24
better competition and then happy to just rough up lesser
27:28
competition. Hoffenheim, I think in this
27:31
instance falls kind of in the beginning, kind of in the
27:34
middle, you know, like, you know, they they're they're
27:37
certainly the underdog. They're at home.
27:40
And Wolfsburg probably is has shifted, or maybe has shifted at
27:44
least a portion of their attention and energy to
27:47
Champions League, even though, you know, that match with Lyon
27:50
is you know. Looming.
27:53
Looming, looming dangerously. I'm going to be interested to
27:58
see what Willsburg does. Alex Pop having decided to move
28:02
on is massive, I think. Culturally, you know, but also
28:06
maybe needed because I think things had kind of gotten.
28:11
I don't want to stay still, you know, with Alex Pop.
28:15
But you know, sometimes when when somebody of that stature is
28:20
just sitting in the middle of the park, the kit, you know,
28:24
their lockers in the middle locker room, you know, like it
28:26
does make it tough for people to move around a player like that
28:29
sometimes because such a such a legend of of stature.
28:32
I'm going to be interested to see what they do post Pop, you
28:36
know, but I think for this season, Wolfsburg is probably
28:39
just, you know, like I'm running on fumes a little bit, both in
28:43
from Bouteziga and brought in the Champions League.
28:46
Yeah, and like, you know, they're they're not going to
28:49
they're not going to catch Bayern, who's 11 points ahead of
28:53
them and A and a robust 38 goals ahead of them in the goal
28:57
differential. But Wolfsburg pretty firmly in
29:00
second. I mean, they're eight points
29:01
ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt, but I'm I'm right there with
29:05
you. Like So what they play Lyon,
29:08
what on the 24th, the Champions League is is coming back.
29:13
So you know, your boys will be will be covering those matches
29:15
closely. And that's what that's what led
29:18
to me putting them on here. Is that like I I just want to
29:21
see like this is a good team that they kind of get as a warm
29:27
up to Lyon and then how, which, which Wolfsburg are we going to
29:31
see? Like you said, we we've seen
29:32
them have like super disappointing results and then
29:35
we've seen them come out and be like, well, they do have a lot
29:37
of good players. Endemond, you know, went off in
29:39
this match and like, you know, they they have it in them.
29:42
Are they going to are they going to have the good match first
29:44
Hoffenheim and the bad match first Leon, or they going to
29:46
have the bad match first Hoffenheim and look super
29:49
competitive first Leon. You know, you never know with
29:52
this group. That's true, yeah.
29:54
I mean, a good match up to call out though, because it's going
29:57
to be very, very fun and a lot on the line.
30:00
I think for for positioning to front boost to get down the
30:02
stretch. My third match, I, sorry, my
30:06
fourth match. I'm going to shift back to the
30:09
end of yourself. I had two to pick from here, but
30:11
I'm going to go with my hometown squad, Bay FC.
30:15
They're going to be hosting Angel City Saturday night, not
30:18
at 4:00 or 5:00 AM, so a bit more reasonable hour or 5:45 PM
30:21
Pacific. What's interesting about this
30:25
one is both sides on three points and with wins that I
30:32
don't want to say were questionable, But the closer you
30:36
look, you know, Bay FC obviously gets the win over Denver, who is
30:42
down to 10 players after like 20 something minutes.
30:44
I kind of broke this one down in detail on way into Bay.
30:47
Go check it out over there if you haven't already.
30:49
But you know, odd stacked against Denver expansion team
30:54
down to 10 on the road week 1. You know, like all everything
30:58
new. You know, like you if you're
31:00
BAE, you got to win that game. And they do to their credit tune
31:02
1 Angel City versus Chicago. Chicago is just borderline.
31:11
I can say this borderline making a mockery of of end of this all
31:15
football team to me like that was just a fart.
31:19
It was like it was it was a little bit of a farce.
31:21
It wasn't great of a past It's week 1.
31:23
It just didn't look like, you know what it looked like when
31:28
you play FIFA or Madden on beginner mode because you just
31:30
got it. You just want the shit out like
31:34
that. It looked like on beginner mode,
31:35
like you know, that whole game Angel City is on beginner mode,
31:39
you know, against a non defense from Chicago.
31:44
That was a tough watch, man. I mean, yeah, Angel City had him
31:49
outgunned. What they so Fuller scored in
31:52
the 33rd and I was going to say yeah, it it felt like they were
31:56
scoring like every 15 minutes after that.
31:59
Like they had they had the two goals like right in succession
32:02
with Borges and New House. But yeah, I mean, I Bay FC
32:09
versus a Angel City that should be like, you know, I I think
32:13
that when those teams came into the league, they got built up as
32:16
a rivalry. You know, they both have like
32:19
cool uniforms, cool colors, you know, they're in cool cities.
32:23
Like there's just like they each have a lot going for them.
32:27
I just want to see can we how many more times are we are we
32:32
going to get Alex Pfeiffer on the left on the right wing?
32:35
Pardon me bringing the ball in on her left foot, because let me
32:40
tell you, that worked verse Denver.
32:43
I mean, yeah, I mean I wish I had the the persons name, but
32:47
shout out to the person who said that the comp that they were
32:52
they liked for Pfeiffer was Phil Foden.
32:55
And I think, I think they they had mentioned that Pfeiffer
32:58
called out Foden as a player that that that she bottled a
33:01
game after I I have in fact checked that.
33:04
So if that's wrong, I don't blame that person on red air
33:08
YouTube comments. I can't remember where, where,
33:10
where that story came from, but Pfeiffer is a very, very high
33:17
ceiling talent. Looks like it, you know, and I
33:19
think like I love that one in the post games, like, oh, you
33:23
know, like they asked about the go.
33:24
She's like, you know, I haven't scored in two years.
33:26
And she was just like, like really pissed about like for
33:28
almost like pretty slam the table.
33:31
And that media day she was like, you know, I want to score and I
33:34
want to assist, I want to create and like she was just dead
33:37
serious about it. And to see her do that 8 minutes
33:39
since the season was pretty awesome.
33:40
But I think this is absolutely a measuring stick match for both
33:44
of these teams. If you're Angel City, you know,
33:46
Ali Boja, so you mentioned so happy to see her happy.
33:50
You know, I'm playing either scoring and, you know, playing
33:52
cool football. Emily Sam's acquisition, that
33:56
frontline, you know, tearing in Jones doe tear, you know, you
34:00
know, just so Thompson's playing really great.
34:03
I don't know they they've got a lot going.
34:05
Strauss, I think with a with a full offseason under his belt,
34:08
you're starting to see, you know, like I liked the variance
34:11
of in the attack. Like all of a sudden they could
34:14
like go over the top or take a weird angle to come back or it
34:17
just felt like he's like, we're going to make you play
34:20
everything defensively. And it really exposed Chicago in
34:26
a big way. So this is a major test for BFC,
34:29
you know, but I think ultimately A measuring stick batch for
34:31
both, for both sides. I like that.
34:34
And you're you're so right about Angel City.
34:37
And I think, you know, Leanne talked about it when I was
34:39
chatting with her on her podcast is like, you know, with the
34:44
benefit of the full offseason and a full camp, like Alexander
34:48
Strauss, like really kind of talking to his team about the
34:52
like his vision for how they should play.
34:54
And it's pretty clear that his vision is really playing up the,
34:59
the kind of broad range of skill sets like that he can put on the
35:04
pitch at any given time. So I, I think it's spot on by
35:07
you that they could do multiple different things, change the
35:10
points of attack when needed. Yeah, I, you know, you don't,
35:15
you never want to overreact too much to to week 1.
35:20
I know you know, me and Mike Watts in our, in our season
35:23
preview episode, when you would ask like can Bay FC challenge
35:27
for top four, we were like, whoa, like, like, like, that's
35:31
that seems lofty, but I, I don't think it's outside the realm of
35:34
possibility. I see them kind of in the six 6
35:39
to 8 range, but that doesn't mean it's outrageous if they're
35:44
5 and challenging for the 4th spot.
35:46
But the part that I don't really want to super overreact to
35:49
because again, I, I'm with you. I don't think Chicago is very
35:52
good. I think Angel City might be
35:54
challenging for for a home playoff match too.
35:58
That's so that's so cool because you know, I don't want they
36:03
haven't been sleeping giant, but you know, they're in a huge
36:05
market. They should be said.
36:06
They've got a cool, they've got a cool set up.
36:08
They should be good. You know, so I mean, we could we
36:11
could just be at that point. And then last little bit on Bay
36:14
FC, I think everything hinges and I've just been like
36:18
borderline obsessed with the mid, with the midfield to ask
36:21
about the midfield and try to learn everything I can about
36:24
everything going on there. But head coach Emma Coates
36:27
talked about this specifically. You know, you look at it, Claire
36:30
Hutton, Hannah B Barr, Taylor off that trio is excellent.
36:35
They played really well connected on they did, you know,
36:40
I think 88% pass completion, those 3 starters and then you
36:44
throw Pfeiffer in there and that's like that's like a pretty
36:47
fierce foursome. Kunagi's up on the left on the
36:50
other side and they played Carly Lima up top, who I think missed
36:53
some chances. But obviously young player, just
36:55
second season. I don't know, I'm pretty pumped.
36:59
But you've got, I've got one more pick, you've got two.
37:03
Who did you have remaining? And I'm did.
37:06
Did I get that right or was that my last pick?
37:08
I think. That was your, I think that was
37:09
your last pick and I got 1 remaining.
37:11
We got some honorable mentions that we could throw out there
37:13
rapid fire style. The last one that I want to talk
37:18
about, Flurry 91 verse Lyon, 1:00 PM Pacific Time exactly on
37:25
Saturday on the zone flurries 5th in the table, only three
37:30
points behind Perry's Anjuman. However, in their last three
37:35
matches versus Lyon, Leon is outscoring them thirteen to two.
37:41
Their last match on December 20th earlier this season was a
37:45
three nil victory for Leon where Leon had 71% of the ball and got
37:50
goals from just. I mean, I don't know if there's
37:52
a more ITC trio than this. They get goals from Marie
37:56
Antoinette Katoto in the 32nd, Lily Ohanus in the 61st and
38:00
Vicki Betcho in the 70th. Unbelievable.
38:04
I mean, this was a fun one to watch too, because Leon likes to
38:09
treat sometimes these matches as like sparring sessions and
38:12
really just be like, Oh, shit, I think we'll know from the
38:15
lineup. Like if the lineup is serious,
38:18
you know, then then I think we know what it's going to be to be
38:22
a really, really fun matchup. And I I don't know.
38:25
This is this weekend is a great primer for for just a champions
38:29
action coming up next week. You know, and I think we're
38:32
going to learn about some priorities, how people are
38:35
thinking about, you know, like how they're splitting the chips.
38:38
So it's going to be a lot to to to key in on and Saturday.
38:43
How are we going to do this? Why?
38:45
Why? Just so you know, we got to stay
38:48
off social media trying to watch him in chronological order.
38:51
You know, we're big fans of that.
38:53
So, you know, I don't know what like I got to watch City, but
38:57
then what the the Hoffenheim Wolfsburg match starts an hour
39:02
after the City match. So yeah, we got to, we got to
39:04
figure something out here. It's funny you mentioned stay
39:07
off social media. I, I, I stay off social media
39:10
for sure. I mean, I try to do it just, you
39:12
know, as part of life, but definitely weekend when there's
39:16
football happening that I don't want to know about, I stay way,
39:18
way off. So I actually missed the news
39:21
about the weather delay. You know, the Orlando, Seattle
39:24
weather delay. So I had no clue.
39:27
So I fire up my NWSL plus app. I'm like, or Orlando, Seattle
39:31
live, boom, hit that. I start watching it and I'm
39:35
like, you know, I'm looking at it and I'm like, damn, like, you
39:39
know, maybe did I like underestimate Orlando because
39:43
they look loaded. You know, Barbara Banda's out
39:45
there. You know, Angelina's out there.
39:46
Angelina looks great. You know, she she makes a run.
39:48
I'm like, all right, let's go, Angie.
39:50
And then like, you know, then I look at the defense and I'm
39:53
like, who's that defender that looks a lot like Emily?
39:55
Sam's plays like Emily. And and then I realized after
39:59
four or five minutes that I was watching every play from last.
40:02
There we go. Last season I'm just like, OK, I
40:06
just wasted 5 minutes of my life.
40:08
You know what, it's never a waste to watch and I do think
40:11
it's a funny quirk of the schedule and the playoffs and
40:13
the way everything. We're third match in the row
40:16
between Rain FC and Orlando Pride, all in Orlando too.
40:21
So a lot of a lot of what knowledge is that Central
40:25
Florida, Northern Florida. Yeah, that's, that's Central
40:28
Florida, but I mean, that's some, that's some solid frequent
40:31
flyer mileage just being racked up.
40:33
Oh yeah, very big way. All right.
40:35
Honorable Menchie's, do you have any?
40:38
Let's see. I mean, So what I named three
40:41
European matches. So I mean, in in the NWSL, as we
40:47
just talked about Orlando Pride playing Denver Summit FC.
40:51
Now Janine Sones is going to be out for this one because of the
40:53
red card in the previous match. But let's see if Denver can get
40:56
through the whole match. And I'm not saying this to like
40:58
bust their chops or whatever, but just play the whole match
41:00
with 11 players. It's easier that way.
41:02
I'm sure Nick Cushing has probably pushed that message.
41:06
And I just want to see what they look like.
41:07
I want to see what you know, how the Pride bounced back.
41:11
Should be an interesting one. Yeah, you mentioned PSG and I I
41:16
got to see Bay FC Denver in person with my son.
41:20
So he he made a little difficult to to watch, but I got to see
41:23
Evigatino defend and probably, you know, probably their their
41:28
best, most physical, toughest defender, you know, in that in
41:32
that matchup. So I was I was like really
41:34
impressed. So that's that's a big loss for
41:35
PSG on my list from an honorable mention standpoint, I think I've
41:42
got to go Gotham, North Carolina courage.
41:47
So these two teams got them. They obviously get the one no
41:51
win over Boston at home. The other expansion team and
41:57
it's hard to underwhelm more than what they did like 0.84 XG
42:02
to get out shot by the expansion team and just just a weird kind
42:08
of look. The most XG for Gotham in this
42:11
one was from 21 year old rookie Jordan Dudley 0.37 who only
42:16
played 45 minutes came in the second-half.
42:19
So Gotham from a productivity standpoint, really kind of
42:21
stalled out. And then I talked about North
42:23
Carolina courage. No man, no Manaka Matsukubo, my
42:26
pick friend to be yourself MVP, still representing Japan at the
42:30
AFC Women's Asian Cup, but they get a big two nil win over
42:34
racing Louisville despite, you know, their performance XG
42:38
etcetera. Caleb Sheridan had a huge stop
42:40
on the messiers. So they kind of won that one,
42:44
you know, despite the odds, actually, Sanchez kind of
42:47
turning back the clock, finding 22 weird ways to to to score
42:51
goals. But I mean, two big goals and a
42:52
big win. And now they go on the road to
42:55
Gotham to face a team that I think they could, they could,
42:58
they should be able to be. Competitive with You Want to
43:01
know what Vegas thinks? Yes.
43:04
Gotham FC to win outright -120 The draw is +2 O 5 N Carolina
43:13
Courage Big dogs plus 330. Meaning if you if for anybody
43:20
who doesn't gamble, good for you first of all.
43:24
But for anybody who doesn't gamble, that means if you bet
43:26
$100, you would win $330. If you're getting plus money
43:30
means you get more than what you would bet.
43:32
If you get minus money it means you win less than what you bet,
43:36
but obviously you win your bet back plus a little bit on top.
43:40
Yeah. And that that also means that
43:43
the odds makers roughly put it at these teams would have to
43:46
play if it's 3:30, these these two teams would have to play 4.3
43:50
times for North Carolina's to win one at Gotham.
43:54
So you could think about it that way.
43:56
And that seems. That seems a little a little
44:00
wide. I would say, you know, for this
44:02
early in the season, you know, I mean, I don't know, maybe I'm
44:07
I'm hoping that my my shield winning North Carolina courage
44:10
pick can can, I don't know, grow and look a little a little bit
44:15
more stout after after two weeks.
44:17
Sounds like a guy likes that plus 330.
44:19
Pretty good value. I'm retired.
44:24
I'm retired from that side of the biz.
44:26
That's. Fair, understandable.
44:28
Bay FC -105 slight favourites first Angel City.
44:33
So that's really pretty interesting.
44:35
Yeah always. And it's it's it's funny too in
44:38
woman's football, you know, a little bit of gambling corner
44:41
here, though, like Dino and I have talked about it like we
44:45
wonder who in Vegas is like making some of these odds
44:48
Because sometimes we've seen some stuff and we've had the the
44:50
luxury of winning some bets being like, oh, I'm not so sure
44:54
how much folks in Vegas are watching these NWSL matches.
44:57
It might just be making bets based on which team has AUS
45:01
women's national team player. OK, now, all right, now, now,
45:04
now you suck. Could be in.
45:06
Who's Chicago playing and what's the line?
45:08
Oh wow, let's go. Because of them, if I'm going
45:12
to, I'm not betting obviously, but if I if I'm going to make a
45:15
prediction and a prognostication, I, I would, I'd
45:18
say, I would say the Vegas cannot make a number big enough
45:22
to dissuade me from from betting against a Chicago Stars flat out
45:28
loss. Well, they're trying.
45:30
So they are playing Kansas City. Current reigning NWSL Shield
45:35
winners. -600. Well, that's the thing though.
45:38
I mean, that's what I'm saying when they're trying, but Kansas
45:40
City is only -200. I mean, that's, that's freedom.
45:47
So bet a bet 100. What win 50?
45:50
No, no, don't do anything. Don't do any of that.
45:52
Watch the game and enjoy it. Well, no, no, yeah, I'm just
45:55
saying that's what it that's what it would be if you were to
45:58
indulge in such things. I'm not.
46:00
Yeah. Yeah.
46:00
We're not giving gambling advice here.
46:02
Far be it Must ever try something like that. -200 seems
46:06
very generous. I think that seems where I would
46:10
go if I had to if forced. Of course, but nobody is forced.
46:15
We do everything, everything in moderation, everything
46:18
responsibly. My other just a quick hit.
46:22
My other honorable mentions like I want to see Houston Dash play
46:24
Boston Legacy, obviously Yasmine, Ryan and Delaney.
46:27
Love Houston Dash? Yeah, but Yasmine Ryan and
46:30
Delaney Sheehan leave Houston, so now we got to see what that's
46:33
going to look like. Boston, you know, go ahead, play
46:36
the full match with 11 players. That's my recommendation in
46:40
terms of strategy. And then my other two honorable
46:42
mentions, Manchester United plays Everton, Barcelona plays
46:45
Athletic Club. You know, I think the United
46:49
match is going to be on ESPN and I think Barcelona Athletic Club
46:52
should be on the zone. Yeah.
46:55
You know, we just wanted I, I want to see the Champions League
46:58
build up. You just broke some news for me.
47:05
Houston dashed to receive $1 million in fees for Yasmine Ryan
47:08
and delete Sheehan. I didn't know that.
47:11
I just, I just, I'm just learning this right now.
47:14
That's incredible. I'm on this.
47:16
Good to see. Yeah, it's 16 hours ago, so
47:21
looks like it. I'm bum letting it see these two
47:23
players play for Denver. I think Denver already looks
47:27
like a professional team. So these two additions, I don't
47:31
know, make them make them really interesting.
47:33
I mean, it's I don't know, I wouldn't go so far as to say
47:35
that they're going to be in the mix, but they're going to beat
47:38
some teams this year. I I feel very comfortable saying
47:40
that they're, they, they've got the talent to do that.
47:43
They're clearly building to try to, you know, make the playoffs
47:46
in this very first run. You know they'll get heaps in in
47:50
July when they return from the break.
47:54
How about Mike Watts also hopping on the year, The year of
47:57
the Heaps? He he was way in.
48:02
Yeah, I mean, well, you know, I had floated the idea the year of
48:05
the heaps like I I think I I have such a boring of did you?
48:09
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, I floated.
48:11
Wait, did you float it or was it me?
48:12
I I I wouldn't more than floated.
48:14
I was like, this is the year of the heaps.
48:16
Oh. OK, sorry, sorry, sorry.
48:17
It was a light cosign by me. OK, I think OK, yeah, yeah.
48:23
I just remember my line of being like, could she be coming off a
48:25
Champions League win? I don't know.
48:27
But yeah, yeah, sorry, I did not mean to steal your stuff there,
48:29
but. Don't know, it's all right.
48:31
And you can have it too because I I feel like my heaps my heaps
48:36
opinion is too boring where I just like, I agree with you that
48:39
I think people underrate her, but I'm also just like, I think
48:44
she's fine. Like at this part of her career.
48:47
I think she's she's a good player and I think some people
48:50
overstate it that some of her misses are really bad.
48:53
But I also don't want to go too far the other way and act like
48:55
she's like total superstar. I think that part of her career
48:59
is over. I get no, no, and I think maybe
49:02
to clarify my year, year of heaps.
49:03
What I'm saying is like, I think we see her best year since 23
49:09
World Cup, like not saying that she had a great year that year,
49:12
but I think we see like that post prime great year this year,
49:18
you know, and you're just like, oh, OK, Like we do need to kind
49:21
of reintegrate heaps into like, I don't know, whatever top 10 or
49:25
how we want to think about the the best players in the world or
49:28
we sure might be on the outside ready to creep back in.
49:31
I don't know. I was, I was, I was happy to get
49:33
a little bit support from from our guy Mike Watts.
49:37
Definitely I I when I gave the show a re listen to, you know,
49:40
study the tape. You just, you let out the
49:44
thunderous let's go. When he said he, when he was,
49:47
you know, heaping praise on Lindsay Heaps, if you will.
49:50
Couldn't help it. All right, any other honorable
49:53
munchies to get out? I mean we're we're we're close
49:55
to time, but I don't know if you if you got anything burning.
49:59
I think the time. No, I, I, I got through the
50:01
rapid fire. Yeah.
50:03
I want to see how how United, you know, gets ready versus
50:08
Everton. I, you know, I, I just think
50:13
we're getting into the nitty gritty here where we might be at
50:16
the weird point where United, a team that hasn't been in the
50:19
Champions League for a while and definitely hasn't progressed
50:22
this far in the Champions League.
50:24
Now, you know, they had the League Cup, they have the WSL,
50:29
they have the Champions League. What?
50:30
What's it going to look like? I mean, it's weird, but I'm,
50:37
I'm, I'm kind of pulling for this United team.
50:40
I, I like how much they want it. And I think it starts from Mark
50:44
Skinner, who we, you know, we, we kind of give him shit on, you
50:46
know, early, early in the Mark Skinner era, but he's gotten to
50:50
a point where he way past kind of like what, what I thought was
50:55
even possible, just exciting, just exciting.
51:00
And I think they, they really want it and they play so hard.
51:04
They, they didn't, they play like they don't want to be
51:07
outside that top three. So they're going to be a tough
51:10
out, you know, for pretty much every single week for every
51:13
team. Yeah, no doubt.
51:15
And I was stumbling over because I was trying to remember not to
51:17
butcher it. But yeah, so they have United
51:20
after extra time. You know, they have the dramatic
51:22
Germa goal. So they lost 21 to Chelsea in
51:25
the FA Cup round of 16. Then they lose in the League Cup
51:28
final. Then they have that weird draw
51:30
versus West Ham. They got to want to get off the
51:33
schneid versus versus Everton. So I think they're going to be,
51:36
you know, kitchen sink game, if you will.
51:41
Got to be, got to be. Now's the time if you if you
51:44
have it, time to use it. Quick episode calendar, we
51:48
covered it. There's a lot of football every
51:50
everybody's playing everywhere. All the good teams are playing
51:52
other teams. We've got to watch all of it.
51:55
NWO sells back all the The leagues in Europe are hitting a
51:59
stretch run. Champions League returns next
52:01
week. We're going to see what we do
52:03
about these post games. Maybe we'll do a live or two.
52:06
We'll see what we'll see if we can sync up on the schedules.
52:09
So make sure you're subscribed and following your boys on the
52:11
socials. All right, man, I think we did
52:13
it little, little lengthier than we were hoping, but we covered a
52:17
ton of ground. I I had too many takes.
52:19
I had takes. I just had to get out of my
52:22
system and I think I successfully hit that mark.
52:25
Is there anything else you want to hit?
52:26
Any other final takes before we get out here?
52:28
No, Yeah. You had so many good takes that
52:30
I accidentally almost stole a take of yours that I didn't even
52:33
believe in. That's how many takes you got.
52:35
We just got takes on takes on takes.
52:38
And you didn't almost steal. Yeah, kind of did.
52:40
Yeah, Sorry about that. I stole it.
52:43
Now I'm just like hands up, slowly walking away from the
52:46
take. Like no, I didn't mean to.
52:47
I didn't. I didn't have you stealing my
52:49
Lindsay Heepstake on my being a card, that was weird.
52:51
You're not a heaps. Guy Bizarre.
52:54
Yeah, totally. You know, Sleepy Boys podcast,
52:56
we're chalking it up to that. Absolutely.
52:59
All right, man. This has been another episode of
53:00
Into the Channel. Thank you, thank you, thank you
53:02
for watching, listening, hanging out.
53:03
If you enjoy the show, we do this every single week.
53:05
YouTube, Spotify, Apple podcast, wherever you like to watch or
53:07
listen. Go go support the the boys where
53:10
we're doing stuff outside the show.
53:12
Go listen to our guy Mr. Grant angle chop it up with LeAnn
53:15
Sanders in, you know, kind of up up the level after Lucy, Lucy
53:20
Bronze's, you know, snoozer of a first time.
53:23
Come on, what are you doing? I'm just kidding.
53:26
Go listen to our our episode with with My Quats previewing
53:28
the 2026 NBLSL season. Go all the way back to episode
53:32
200 and listen to Lily, Johannes and Leanne hanging out with us
53:35
talking football. That one absolutely Evergreen.
53:38
We didn't we didn't really get into anything real time, but a
53:40
ton of good stuff there as well. Patreon, the Comm sessions, the
53:43
channel, great way to support the show.
53:44
It's a channel merch even great way to support the show.
53:47
Links to all the above much, much more in the description of
53:50
this episode. And a big thing to my close as
53:52
well. Mr. Green angle for being the
53:55
you know, the the person that that I need in my life this
53:58
weekend with all this football. I mean like the you know, like
54:01
my go to. I mean, top of my list of of of
54:04
who I need in in, I don't know, but maybe.
54:07
But are you the left winger and I'm and I'm the right winger or
54:10
are are we in the midfield? Where where are we?
54:11
What? What are we doing?
54:13
That's a that's a great question.
54:15
I kind of like the left wing, right wing, you know, in a
54:19
football sense dichotomy. I think that makes sense.
54:22
We're both scoring centre. Back, maybe centre back, left
54:25
back, I don't know how. How are your wheels?
54:28
These days, buddy, not great, but you know what?
54:33
We we got the string backs. Yeah, yeah.
54:35
Center back pairing. Strong center back pairing.
54:37
Go just follow the shit out of you.
54:39
Yeah, I think that's where we fall.
54:40
Yeah, the tear to Davidson, to my name and girl.
54:43
There it is. I appreciate you bro.
54:45
Likewise, buddy, nobody I'd rather chop it up with.
54:47
And yeah, busy football weekend. Let us know in the comments,
54:51
what did we miss? What are you looking forward to?
54:53
What are the individual matchups that we should be keeping our
54:55
eyes on? Hit us up.
54:57
And if you're awake at 2:00 AM, we're going to see, I guess our
55:00
East Coast pals like you wake up early for a 5:00 AM match.
55:04
We'll see what's up. You know, let us know what we
55:06
should be watching for. Probably, you know, I'm going to
55:09
be in Portland. I'll be spending the night there
55:13
post Cascadia rivalry. So you know, who knows, there
55:18
might be some blue skying with a couple beverages post on
55:23
Cascadia Rivalry. So you know, hit us up wherever
55:25
you see us. Thank you for always checking
55:27
out the show and we will see you all next time.