Latest / Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football / UWCL Favorite 11 Draft

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UWCL Favorite 11 Draft · Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football

0:04
OK, welcome to Into the Channel, a podcast primarily about
0:07
women's football, maybe primarily about the women's
0:09
champs. Like we'll talk about that one
0:11
later before we hit the pitch. If you enjoy the show or love
0:13
women's football as much as your boys do, come kick it with us.
0:16
We're doing this every single week, sometimes twice a week as
0:18
we are this week, spanning the wide, wide world of women's
0:21
football. Subscribe follow YouTube,
0:22
Spotify, Apple Podcast wherever you like to watch or listen at
0:25
ITC under score pod on X is where to find us.
0:28
I am your host Dino de suspicious and as always, I'm
0:30
joined by my Co host Mr. Grant Angle.
0:33
What is up man? I feel fantastic, buddy.
0:36
You know what you mentioned? Are we primarily a UA for
0:40
Women's Champions League podcast?
0:41
I'll answer it with this God damn right we are, because the
0:46
Champions League is awesome. I know it's over, Dino and I
0:49
know it's over. We don't want it to be over yet.
0:52
We're ready for the next Champions League, but we're not
0:54
quite ready to move on. So we're going to do one more
0:58
show about it. A little rundown of what we're
0:59
going to do. This was on the heels of UEFA
1:02
announcing their 11 for the tournament.
1:04
But we said get out of here with that.
1:06
We're going to do our own 11, not of who we think is the best,
1:10
but who we think our favorites. So we're going to call this our
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favorite UFO Women's Champions League 11.
1:15
We're each going to pick players.
1:17
We can't pick each other's players.
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So once the player's been selected, they are off the
1:20
board. And then we're going to do a
1:22
little handy dandy imaginary head to We're really just here
1:35
for the vibes. So I have to give you the first
1:37
pick. I want to give you the first
1:38
pick. Wow.
1:39
So a little bit of a curveball, you know, I want to put maybe
1:42
put a little psycho out here, little playing some mind games,
1:45
you know, see if see if you see I can catch you off guard.
1:47
So, Mr. Grant Engel, where do you want to get started?
1:52
Mission accomplished. Consider me psyched out.
1:55
Let's go. I can't believe I have the the
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1st pick here. Itana Bonmati, she's the best
2:01
player in the world. Real quick, in my notes I have
2:05
Itana Bonmati, Best player in the world, Yeah.
2:08
I mean, come on, what? Are you doing there?
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It's like all this, like you're looking at my screen.
2:12
This is a LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Darko
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Milichich draft. Hey, Carmelo, let's go.
2:20
Oh my God. Jesus Christ, I'm I'm half
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Knicks fan. I'm 50% Knicks fan.
2:26
What is the matter with me? Good, you want to show your face
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over there. Oh terrible, terrible by me.
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And I know you won't edit it out either, so.
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That's. Horrible mistake by me, no
2:38
disrespect. Darko, you took dark.
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You're like the Pistons. You're like, I went for the Cod
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world. You took Darko over Carmelo.
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Unbelievable. My God, I went for the joke with
2:48
Darko and I forgot about my guy Mello.
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OK, Anyway, yeah, there's a lot of good options here.
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In any other draft, there are multiple players who would go
2:59
first. Aitana Bombati is pretty clearly
3:03
the best player in the world. Ask Chris Sharples.
3:06
Don't come at Lucy Ward even suggesting that somebody else
3:09
could win the pal on door. It's Bone Mati.
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I'll take her first. I'll be happy with that pick.
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I like it. All right, well, I'm going to
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continue the Lucy Ward, Chris Sharples dynamic here, and I'm
3:20
going to take Caroline and Graham Hanson.
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Just some funny, funny stats. So in the Champions League, she
3:26
finished first in assists, shots, passes into the penalty
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area, goal creating actions, progressive carries and carries
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into the penalty area. This this one's my favorite.
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She was first in progressive passes received with 139.
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OK. And 2nd in that category was
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some up together with 99. She had 40 more progressive
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passes received in the second place in the entire tournament.
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I mean, she had an unbelievable year.
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Just couldn't play any better. Caps it off with the Champions
3:58
League victory, lifts a trophy. I mean, you can't go wrong with
4:02
I think either our first two picks, I think it wasn't going
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to not break this way. So I think we're off to a
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blazing start here. You got me with the psych out,
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but it was only because I expected you to have the 1st
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pick and take Bone Mati and then for me to do the thing that, uh,
4:16
whatever NFL draft that was where the Texans took Jadevi on
4:19
Clowney and then the Saints ran up to the podium, was like
4:22
Reggie Bush. Reggie Bush, we take Reggie
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Bush. That was how I was gonna treat
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CGH in this case. So yeah, that this was never
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going any other way. So with the third pick you
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mentioned her despite only having a lowly 99 progressive
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passes received in the UEFA Women's Champions League, you
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know, give me Selma, Betty Uelo. I I like my chances with her on
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the field no matter what all. Right buddy, Uelo's off the
4:48
board. I like it.
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I'm going to go with a little bit of a curveball here.
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So this player, she absolutely bossed the eventual champions in
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Barcelona and to my dying day, I will believe that Chelsea gets
5:03
past Barcelona. If this player is on the pitch
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in that second match up, give me at the forward spot #9 Maya
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Ramirez, Let's fucking go CGH. Maya Ramirez, I I already love
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that pairing. Absolutely fantastic.
5:18
You know, Full disclosure, I was going to pick her because that
5:23
that physicality, like the way she changed things.
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I think you're 100% right. I think things look different if
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she's not out there. I realized I picked Barcelona in
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that second leg just because I was terrified to pick against
5:34
Barcelona. Until we get to the final and I
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lose my mind and pick against Barcelona, it's fine.
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Well, a seal talked decidedly for 80 minutes, so you fell
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right to that track. I blame you.
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A seal. No shout to a seal the go.
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Okay, so yeah, you got Ramirez at #9 I got my left winger.
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I got a great center mid. Where are we getting value we
6:03
are gonna take? I don't know.
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I'm I'm curious to get your reaction on this at center back.
6:09
Give me Wendy Renar. She's one of the greatest
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players who's ever lived. The size, the smarts, the
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consistency. Every match she plays in, she's
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at worst the third best player on the field, no matter what
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game you're talking about. So give me, give me the anchor
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in defense. I love that picture.
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Absolute legend according to our friends at FB Ref as well.
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All these stats for the most part are our courtesy of our
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friends at FB Ref. Of course she was first and
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Ariel's won 92.3%. You know what I'm?
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Saying no chance. Go on again.
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Wendy Renard. OK, so I that one hurt, but I
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like where I'm going here. Give me Kira Walsh, good
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obviously another Champions League winner. 92.3% pass
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completion, second best for non goalkeepers.
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She was third in the entire tournament with 90 passes into
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the final third and I love this stat.
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Plus minus, a little bit of a little bit of a basketball
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sprinkle sprinkling in here. She was plus 27 for the
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tournament first overall. And you know, it's not just a
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Barcelona thing. I think Beau Mati was like plus
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22 or plus 23. So she was still amongst the
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Barcelona players above and beyond everybody else at plus 27
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and plus minus. And she was number one in
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minutes played. She logged 969 Champions League
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minutes. Let's fucking go.
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Kara Walsh, welcome to the squad.
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Great pick, Lioness. Let's go.
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You can't go wrong with that. Speaking of the Lionesses, I'm
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just taking her on just GP. Lauren James, our GAL, LJ.
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I mean, we talk about it, what at worst the 7th best player in
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the world. When she's out there cooking,
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the shape of the offense is is completely changed.
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That first leg against IX where she is offside and then she
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comes trailing back and she's not in the play and knows she
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can't be in the play, but every defender has to freeze because
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she's just in the vicinity. Of the ball.
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Incredible. She contribute.
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She contributed to a goal from an offside position where she's
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legally not in the play. You know, I have to go with LJ.
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On this one, tremendous. I'm a little bit bummed because
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now I know well, where are you? Where do you have LJ?
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I'm. Playing here at right midfield.
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OK, I like it. I got to do it, man.
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First ever ITC Hall of Famer, game winner versus Barcelona,
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5th at interceptions, first in tackles.
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Gimme Aaron. Smash a beer can on my forehead.
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Cuthbert, fucking go. She's off the board.
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And you know what they say? The draft starts at 9:00.
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Of course, I mean, come on, can't possibly argue that pic.
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You put the captain's arm band on her.
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Let's go. Between her and CGH, you just
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have an absolute stalwart and absolute professional to go out
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there. So I can't argue with that at
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all. Let's see here.
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OK, I'm going to go back to the defense.
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You named it. We love it.
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Basha ball, buddy. No, no, I'm sorry to do it to
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you. I know she's one of your
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absolute favorites. She's too good.
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It would be silly for her to last many picks beyond this.
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One of the best left backs in the game, I think over Carmona
9:32
would probably have a lot to say about that.
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But give me some of Basha, her service, her ability to kind of
9:37
initiate offense and just a fantastic Champions League
9:41
campaign for. Her totally.
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Yep, made it to the final. The stats back it up.
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Number one in shot creating actions, third in goal creating
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actions, first in crosses into the penalty area.
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So I mean, it was danger anytime you know she was on the ball for
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sure. I think I'm kind of overlooking
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my defense here, not liking the way this is going.
10:00
Give me Tabitha Chiwenga. Oh, good pick.
10:02
Yeah, great pick. 1st in successful take ONS, 5th in
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goals. As dangerous as dangerous got in
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that tournament, she was the one that every team that went
10:13
against her had the game plan for, even though they had, you
10:16
know, absolute killers all over that front line and just pretty
10:20
much all over the field. She does kind of balance out my
10:23
front three now. I've got CGH, Chiwinga and
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Ramirez which I really really like.
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That's a hardcore front 3 buddy. That's pretty good.
10:32
Yeah, I'm not too upset. Where are you going next?
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OK so I got 2 picks in the midfield, I got 2 picks in the
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fence. I only have I only have a left
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winger and Betty Uelo. I will not use the term right
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winger to describe anybody that I like.
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That's a different podcast. But playing on the right wing in
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the attack. Karidatu Deity.
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I knew it. Can score, can score from area,
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anywhere. I mean, you've had to listen to
11:00
me talk about her since the 2023 World Cup.
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She's just one of the most majestic footballers in the
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world. Can score from 30 yards out.
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If you need her to, we'll be in the right spot.
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Can give you some good minutes tracking back in defense.
11:15
Love absolutely everything about her game.
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Love it. Great pick.
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Let's see, let's see, where do I want to go?
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Where do I want to go? I'm going to kind of dip into
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this stuff. Give me, I'm going to need to
11:28
take a centre back here and I'm and I'm between two names.
11:31
I'm going to take Irene Peretis, good pick.
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She stepped up huge in really, really tough matchups.
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I think we were not sure, you know how the Peretis, Engen, you
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know, centre back pairing would hold up against just the best of
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the best in Europe and she held up and then some.
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She was great, completed 90% of her passes, which was good for
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fourth in the Champions League for non goalkeepers and she was
11:56
just rock solid. I mean, I think I feel pretty
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confident having Perettas back there.
12:00
Yeah great pick showed up needed.
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I always I wonder about this and this is with no insight
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whatsoever. But when you have to ask Ingrid
12:09
Engan to kind of drift back and be like OK, we're going to put
12:12
you in the center back role. We're we're down Mappy Leon, we
12:15
need you to fill this spot and you know, handled it about as
12:19
well as you possibly could. There were some questions early.
12:21
We talked about it in the group stage.
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How is she going to hold up? I always kind of wonder like,
12:26
you know, playing the crappy level sports that I played, you
12:29
need a good teammate next to you to be like, come on, you got
12:32
this, Like, you know what to do. Like think about it from this
12:35
angle and like to kind of help you on the field.
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I find it hard to believe without obviously without doing
12:40
the reporting, I would find it hard to believe that Barrez did
12:44
not help her in that transition. And I just like that part of
12:48
somebody being a teammate, aside from her just being a majestic
12:51
player on her own. Yeah, I absolutely believe that.
12:54
I mean, she's just, you can see her leadership out there and
12:57
Barcelona just never. I mean, how, how many times does
13:00
a camera catch a little side eye or a little thing?
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You're like, oh, I noticed that that was a little off, you know,
13:06
or maybe. Especially football.
13:08
Couple players not celebrating with, you know, and I think like
13:11
you never saw anything like that with Barcelona.
13:13
You just kind of have to imagine that their leadership top to
13:16
bottom, but must have been just absolutely cemented and they
13:20
just didn't waver at all outside of, you know, the one stumble
13:24
versus Chelsea, which they ended up overcoming the following week
13:27
anyway. So you are up or let me do a
13:30
quick count. Where we're at, we've got 12345,
13:33
so we're six in. So we've got five spots left.
13:37
Who did you pick before? Chiwinga before Chiwinga.
13:40
So I have Ramirez, Chiwinga, Graham, Hansen, Cuthbert, Kira,
13:44
Walsh and Perez. Oh, Walsh, Right, right.
13:47
So Speaking of club captains, for a team that that went
13:53
awfully far, I got to start thinking about my kind of
13:57
defensive midfield here. Give me grace, Gayoro.
14:02
Damn, another one of my favourites.
14:03
Scored a banger against my England side in in the
14:06
international play but what she brought to the Champions League
14:11
this season, all over the field, steadfast leadership.
14:16
She can take penalties if you need her to.
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She's going to give you toughness, she gives you size,
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she gives you speed and strength.
14:23
She's the total package as a defensive midfielder, I think.
14:25
Absolutely. 3 assists in the tournament.
14:27
Led the tournament in fouls drawn.
14:29
She drew 21 fouls. Hell yeah.
14:32
That kind of says a lot where she's just basically controlling
14:35
the game. I think you kind of made my next
14:38
midfield choice a little easy just because I was sort of
14:42
trying to decide between these two players.
14:45
I'm going to do it. I'm going to take the the
14:47
Supernova from IX Lily honest. Sure, got to do it.
14:52
You know, earlier this week we we kind of recounted her
14:56
explosive debut for the US women's national team and
14:59
friendly against South Korea. I mean, we've got plenty of tape
15:03
from your boys on Lily Johannes. You can go back and list you our
15:06
entire library. We've probably got, I don't
15:08
know, a couple hours at this point, so she's in my midfield.
15:10
Let's go. The wonder kid from Virginia in
15:13
the United States of America, playing for IX in Amsterdam.
15:17
Great poise. Wise beyond her years on a
15:20
football pitch. You listen to her interview with
15:22
Samuis. Wise beyond her years as an
15:24
intelligent young woman as well. I mean, you know, again, we
15:27
always say I, I always like to couch it.
15:30
You don't want to heap too many expectations on a young person
15:33
like this, but knowing Dan through these Internet streets
15:36
the way we do, she's got a great support system around her.
15:41
It's just hard to see anything but an upward trajectory for her
15:44
moving forward. Totally agree.
15:45
All right, who are you taking? Well, Speaking of youngsters, I
15:48
need a left midfielder. So let me think, there's there's
15:53
a club that I care about. I probably should take a player
15:56
from there. I'm gonna take senior Goutset
16:00
because she will bully motherfuckers out on the field.
16:05
She is strong, she is smart. She will hold the ball against
16:09
Barcelona when she needs to. She will score the critical
16:13
equalizer in the snow against Leon in front of the Battalion.
16:18
Let's go, senior, Gallup said. She's my left midfielder, one of
16:21
my absolute favorite favorite favorite players that when we
16:26
set off on this journey, if you would have told me like, hey,
16:29
man, you're going to start really loving a club from Norway
16:32
and you're going to make a bunch of Internet friends from Bergen,
16:35
Norway. I'd be like, OK, that seems
16:37
weird, but it's it's possible. Internet National Football.
16:40
I'm so glad it happened. I love watching golf set play.
16:44
Got to be on the squad. I, I kind of want to go back to
16:47
that first couple of Champions League shows because we were on
16:50
it. I think the first we're like
16:51
immediately who's that do it tough.
16:55
Yes, great pick, Bron. Also in the news this week.
17:00
That is correct. My good man Bron is in the news.
17:02
Let's read a little bit in a segment we like to call reading
17:07
Press release from SK Bron. Bron brings UEFA ruling to the
17:12
CAS, which is the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and it
17:17
all boils down to Uefa's disciplinary body has twice in
17:21
the past six months find SK Bronn for messages from the
17:25
stands in both cases and this is a quote from Bron now quote in
17:29
both cases. We believe that the message is
17:31
well within the limits of freedom of expression.
17:33
We have a good dialogue with UEFA at a higher level but feel
17:36
that the matters themselves are not dealt with in a satisfactory
17:39
manner. At the same time, the cases
17:42
raised fundamental questions about the conditions of freedom
17:44
of expression in football. We appealed the first case to
17:47
Uefa's own appeals committee but were rejected.
17:51
End Quote. So for anybody who's kind of
17:53
catching up to this story, we obviously we got a lot of pals
17:55
over in Bergen who still watched the show even though Bronze been
17:58
out of the Champions League. We love you guys, Bron fans
18:02
jokingly. And again I want to stress Bron
18:05
fans, no official statements from the club when fouls were
18:09
called against Bron, players were using the term UEFA mafia
18:13
in some of their chants. Just kind of say like, hey,
18:15
we're this little plucky club. You want to see the bigger clubs
18:18
in there. Dino and I, as NBA fans, we
18:21
already know what time it is when you play against the
18:24
Lakers, when you play against the Knicks, sometimes you
18:27
already know you're getting some calls against you in those
18:30
situations. We go against those cruddy
18:32
Celtics, you're getting some calls against you in those
18:36
matches. Bron fans jokingly are kind of
18:39
making these UEFA mafia references and UEFA says, you
18:43
know what, you hurt our feelings.
18:46
We're fining you €5000 for these chance.
18:49
An absolutely ridiculous decision by UEFA.
18:52
These are not official statements from the club.
18:55
Nobody is saying that UEFA is fixing matches.
18:58
These are fan chants. Please stop with this ridiculous
19:02
quashing of just chants that are clearly done in good fun.
19:07
Amen to that. And who knew there was a court
19:09
for arbitration for sport? How do we how do we get
19:12
involved? That's a cool job we got enough
19:16
jobs for. I'll scratch that.
19:18
All right, back to the draft. Where are we at 123-4567?
19:23
OK, I like what I got there. Give me damn, this is tough.
19:29
I'm going to take Ellie Carpenter right back.
19:31
Oh, good pick. 8th and plus minus, she stepped up huge
19:35
against another one of my players to have the Chiwinga,
19:38
just seeing them run side by side, that was some F1 shit
19:41
right there. Second in minutes in the
19:43
tournament behind Kira Walsh. 14 carries into the penalty here.
19:46
That was good for 6th and I mean she was just an important player
19:50
for Lyon, taking them to the final to love her game and I'm
19:54
happy to kind of drop her onto my squad.
19:57
Great. Pick.
19:58
A person who I believe we have, we have asked the question.
20:02
I know I have specifically asked the question throughout the UEFA
20:05
Champions League. Is Ellie Carpenter the fastest
20:08
person alive in some stretches where she.
20:11
I just cannot believe how fast she is.
20:14
And to see her running with Tabitha Truinga in those matches
20:17
were just fantastic. Yeah, you can't go wrong with
20:20
that. And I think, I think you've
20:22
inspired me to. Look back at my defense, 'cause
20:26
I also have two players back there.
20:28
I have Selma Basha at left back, I have Wendy Renard as one of my
20:32
center backs. I'm going to take another center
20:36
back and I'm going to take another French defender and I'm
20:40
going to take Elise de Almeida because my team will fight you.
20:47
I love it. The I love the fighting vibes.
20:50
I mean Dale Maida gallop set. I mean you, you guys are ready
20:53
to throw it down. I like it.
20:55
Lauren James might step on you if you're not.
20:56
Careful, Lauren. James Bosha, you know she might
20:59
fire one at you. Wendy Renard, she's there to
21:01
kind of intimidation, so I like it.
21:04
So that means I probably need a centre back and a left back
21:08
here. Centre back's down to two.
21:10
Who do I want to go with? I'm going to take Jess Carter
21:13
from Chelsea. Good.
21:15
I think she's super tough. She showed up big time against
21:17
Barcelona. She's just a big game player,
21:19
very smart, very effective and I, I need a little, little bit
21:23
of gruff next to Iri Brettis. Love it.
21:26
I think that's the right call, Carter.
21:28
Big physical center back. We're talking about my team
21:31
having the ability to fight. Carter doesn't really show a lot
21:35
of that, but it's just a bully out there.
21:37
So yeah, love that. Love that style.
21:41
I have yet to pick a #9 And now obviously part of that is the
21:45
draft strategy. We're only two squats Odd's
21:47
picking here, So I am between. Let me let me just ask the
21:51
question. Sam Kerr, is she she's not
21:56
available because of the injury, right?
21:57
I feel like I feel like that would be fair.
22:00
I'm glad, I'm glad you asked this because did a lot of stat
22:03
crunching. You know, I've, I've got my, my
22:06
Apple 2E back here. Just kind of a smoke coming out
22:09
of it trying to figure out who we're picking here.
22:11
So Sam Kerr somehow notched 5 Champions League goals, which
22:17
was good for fifth in the whole tournament.
22:20
The leader in the tournament was cutting out to DNE with eight.
22:24
So you you're getting a top five goal scorer.
22:26
I think we'll allow it if you want to go Sam Kerr.
22:29
I think that's fair. You know what, I do feel like
22:31
it's a bit of a cheat. I don't.
22:32
I want to. I want to back off.
22:34
Let's mention Sam Kerr because it's incredible that she had
22:37
five goals. One more real quick.
22:39
Yeah, real quick. 1.38 goals per 90 minutes.
22:43
Yeah. Come on now, let's go.
22:45
Yeah, she was cooking. Yeah, she had that one like that
22:49
super long range goal. I can't remember who was
22:51
against, might have been against Madrid.
22:53
I can't. She had one match where she had
22:55
like a supernova performance. She also had one header where I
22:58
I had to ask a question on the show.
23:00
Can she dunk a basketball? She's 5 foot seven and go on.
23:04
Just when we do our Olympic preview and when we talk to
23:08
hopefully we will talk to a journalist from Australia, I
23:11
feel like we should pose the question to that journalist.
23:14
Do you think Sam Kirk and dunk a basketball?
23:16
I think that's a question that has to be asked.
23:19
So let's just shout out Sam, get well in your recovery.
23:22
I'm going to name her because she's one of my absolute
23:24
favorite players. I'm going to take at #9 the only
23:28
Marie Antoinette we recognize on this year program.
23:31
Marie Antoinette. Katoto, just an absolute lethal
23:34
#9A pure #9 somebody who you want up there making the runs.
23:38
Really handled herself about as well as you could up there with
23:41
Chiwinga for PSG. You could do a hell of a lot
23:45
worse than than Katoto up there. A. 100% Marie AK second in the
23:50
tournament, goals with seven and obviously took her team to the
23:53
semi finals. Shout out to her.
23:56
That leaves me with one more field player and I'm going to
24:00
take at left back from your champions Barcelona give me Ona
24:04
Battier, what else can you say? Absolute gamer, 5th in assists.
24:09
She notched 3 assists, but I think her game is so much more
24:11
than that I mean she's up and down the field, super dependable
24:16
and obviously it was part of the team that that lifted the
24:18
trophy. Both trophies if you also count
24:21
the the World Cup last summer, so shout out Onabati.
24:24
Welcome to the squad, my left back for this year's UEFA
24:28
Women's Champions League. Favorite 11, vibes 11.
24:31
We're going to have to work on the branding.
24:33
We'll go with Favorite 11 for now.
24:35
I like it. So I am going to round out my Oh
24:40
no, that was my last. She Toto was my last pick, yeah.
24:45
That was your last pick. We got goalkeeper.
24:47
OK, my lineup's going to look a little funky.
24:52
Fuck. Shit.
24:55
OK, I know what. I know how I'm going to do it,
24:57
though. OK, so I got to round out this
25:01
this draft with a goalkeeper, perhaps the celebratory beers
25:05
during this, during these podcasts and the psycho.
25:10
Yeah, and the psycho. I think you got me, man.
25:12
You got me with that. That's OK.
25:14
We're going to be all right. We'll figure it out.
25:16
So with my goalkeeper pick, I think I'm going to surprise you
25:22
with this one. But maybe not give me Jennifer
25:26
Faulk. No BK Hacken 'cause she had a
25:31
hell of a tournament. That was my goalkeeper.
25:34
Fuck, that did not surprise you. Nicely done. 82% save
25:40
percentage, good for second in the tournament. 40 total saves,
25:43
also good for second. Second in clean sheets with
25:46
three. Imagine BK who who had money on
25:49
BK Hacken. I'm getting 3 clean.
25:51
She's did this tournament. If you did shout out to you.
25:54
She was really, really good. We talked a bunch about their
25:58
back four and fog like just being freaking fortress.
26:03
Like you just couldn't do anything.
26:04
I mean they they they blanked Chelsea like on the way to the
26:07
quarter finals. So I think that's a great pick.
26:10
I don't have any Braun players on my side, so I'm going to do
26:12
it. Give me Arora Mikkelsen from SK
26:15
Braun. She is my goalkeeper, so I can
26:17
go love the vibes. Now we've got, you know, a
26:20
little bit of Braun flavor on both ends and I think we've got
26:24
a couple pretty solid squads. Before we get out of here
26:27
though, I want to do name some players one of your favorite
26:31
games who are maybe some of your toughest cuts.
26:34
You know, after Ellie Carpenter thinking about right back, I
26:37
think the two toughest cuts are probably Ashley Lawrence and
26:40
Lucy Big game bronze. I think they both are locks for
26:44
a lot of a lot of elevens. I know Lucy Bronze was in the in
26:50
the in the Champions League, in Uefa's tournament 11.
26:53
So you got to shout out her and and Bronze's performance in the
26:56
final. That just speaks for itself.
26:58
Unbelievable. Yep.
27:00
For me, it came down to Carpenter.
27:01
Actually, Lawrence, I just kind of went with Carpenter on that
27:04
one. Wanted to shout a couple more
27:06
players. There were some favorites as
27:08
Romas, Manuela Giuliano, 4 assists in six matches.
27:11
I think all four benefits of Valentina Giacchinty, who should
27:14
we should also call out here. Just great player, great run for
27:17
AS Roma. Would have loved to see them in
27:19
the quarterfinals, but obviously Group of Life, that whole pod
27:22
was pretty stacked. Kika, Nazareth, Benfica, tough
27:26
cut for me. I mean, just an electric player
27:28
didn't really have the stats or productivity, but you know, she
27:31
obviously missed a couple of those matches, but you just felt
27:34
when she was on the field it was like some energy in the
27:37
building. Do you have any any other
27:39
players that you wanted to shout out here?
27:41
I mean, Speaking of Benfica, Lena Powell's was great in goal
27:45
for them. How many times have we talked
27:47
about Sakina Kharsha we had left back?
27:50
I mean, that's such a crowded spot.
27:53
Hard to get her in here. I was curious if you're going to
27:56
take her. I mean, Bhatia is obviously a
27:58
great pick. You got Bhasha and I mentioned
28:00
her earlier in passing Olga Carmona.
28:03
You could have probably tried to find a spot for her in multiple
28:06
places on the field. I'll talk about Selena Hossein
28:10
from Perry FC, I thought she was a great centre back, played
28:13
bigger than she was. We talked about her with with
28:16
our pal Cam Pope on the call. One more I want to throw out
28:21
before I pass the ball back to you.
28:22
You steam Jaland, you know, 22 massive goals for Braun.
28:28
Just an incredibly promising young player out there too.
28:31
So, I mean, you got to remember Jelen's goal to keep it close
28:35
versus Lyon in that in that first match they played against
28:38
them in the group stage. Oh yeah, big player and a huge
28:42
future in front of Ustine. So we're excited about her
28:44
couple. I'll, I'll mention a few more.
28:47
You mentioned Peri FC Chamaka and Nadosi Kanko a whole episode
28:51
without mentioning her. Lindsay Horan, you know she's
28:54
out there logging those kilometers, obviously takes her
28:57
team to the final fifth in assists as well in the
29:00
tournament with three and last one on my short short list, Rosa
29:05
Kafaji from BK Hack and also super young player, four goals
29:09
good for 10th carried Hack into the quarter finals.
29:12
And let's not forget BK Hacken got into the quarter finals by
29:16
overcoming per EFC, who we mentioned, and Real Madrid.
29:20
So pretty good. Not too bad.
29:22
Oh, what more Vanessa? Gill, there we go.
29:24
She was also first place plus minus, she was plus 27 for Leon,
29:29
tied with Kira Walsh, and she was number one all by herself in
29:34
XG plus minus at plus 25. So, you know, she had her, she
29:38
had her moments when you look at the totality of the tournament.
29:42
Excellent run for Vanessa. Gio wanted to give her a quick
29:43
shout out. Totally thinking about Leon when
29:46
you mentioned Gio, Damaris, Agarola, Daniella van Dunk,
29:51
Melchi Dumornay, other other great players, and then Delphine
29:55
Cascarino who came on relatively late in the Champions League and
30:00
was a fucking game changer from the time she stepped on the
30:02
pitch. Absolutely.
30:04
I'm glad you brought up Damaris Agarola.
30:06
You know, I love when when there's a stat where there's
30:08
just a huge gulf between 1st and 2nd.
30:11
So aerials 1 Leones. Lindsay Horan is second in that
30:15
category with 29. Damaris Agarola is first with
30:19
51. She was a beast and just kind of
30:25
dangerous from all over. She had a great tournament, too.
30:27
Yeah, she was absolutely incredible.
30:29
There is a reason we we talked about her so much in that battle
30:31
against Bon Moti, like going into the final, we knew that
30:34
that was going to pay dividends. I think if the last player I
30:37
know we're doing, let's name some players.
30:40
We've named a lot of players. The last one I got to mention,
30:43
Cecile Reddish, Gavame, that goal for Braun, the equalizer,
30:50
you know, the hands on the face in the 39th minute.
30:53
Come on man, if that's not we were alive when that goal was
30:59
scored. Oh, my God, we were living.
31:00
We were living. Great call.
31:03
Great, Great. Great call.
31:04
Yeah. Shout out to Braun again.
31:06
Great tournament. Martin Ho.
31:07
If you're watching, come on the show.
31:08
We want to hear, you know, you follow us on Twitter.
31:10
So come on, man. All right, I think we did it.
31:14
We will be posting these teams. Let's do a quick run through
31:17
other teams. I'll I'll run through mine, you
31:19
run through yours. I'm going to go from back to
31:21
front. I've got Edodo Michelson and
31:23
goal my back for Ona Bhatia, Irene Perez, Jess Carter, Ellie
31:29
Carpenter, Love it. Midfield Kira Walsh, Lily
31:32
Johannes, Aaron Cuthbert and then up top I've got Carolina
31:35
Graham Hansen, Tabitha Chiwinga and Mayra Ramirez.
31:40
That's pretty good. Lot, lot of good players.
31:47
All right, So I will go. Yeah.
31:49
So from goalkeeper, I have Jennifer Falk from BK hacking
31:52
left to right in my back four, which might occasionally turn
31:57
into a back three. But give me from left to right,
32:01
Selma Basha, Grace Gaoro, Wendy Renard and Elise de Almeida, the
32:07
French Connection back there in the midfield.
32:11
We're gonna go from left to right again, senior Gallup said.
32:13
On the left, Aitana Bone Matis in the in the middle, Lauren
32:17
James on the right, and then from left to right up top, give
32:20
me Selma Beta Yuello on the wing, Marie Antoinette Katoto in
32:24
the middle, at #9 and Kariratu Diani on the right.
32:28
Great draft. There's something about these
32:30
drafts that are a little bit magical here on the ITC.
32:32
Always appreciate it. Well, let's just kind of more
32:34
drafts, I think, unless you guys hate them, and then I'm sure
32:38
you'll let us know in the comments.
32:39
Also, please let us know in the comments who you think ended
32:43
this draft with the better squad.
32:44
We had a blast doing this draft and just kind of watching the
32:47
Chambers that you're winding all the way back, the the Sam Kirk
32:50
callback. Incredible.
32:52
Like we had, we had five Sam Kirk goals in this Chambers
32:54
League feel like they were a year ago.
32:56
Oh, yeah, what a tournament. I think we finally, finally,
32:59
finally can conclude our Women's Champions League coverage.
33:04
Let us know in the comments how you think we did.
33:06
Anything else you want to hit before we get out of here?
33:08
I think that's it, buddy. I feel like we have extensively
33:11
covered this tournament. I'm just excited to watch it
33:14
again next season. Let's go.
33:17
All right, man, I think we did it.
33:18
It's been another episode into the channel.
33:19
Thank you, thank you, thank you for watching, listening, liking,
33:22
subscribing, letting us know who you think ended the day with the
33:25
better squad to remember. Like if you liked and subscribe
33:27
or follow into the channel, YouTube, Spotify, Apple podcast
33:30
or wherever you like to watch or listen at ITC under score pod on
33:33
X. And a big thank you to my Co
33:35
host as well for maybe being a little susceptible to the psych
33:39
out man I appreciate. You know what, buddy, credit to
33:42
you for for employing the psych out.
33:46
I'll tell you, I was I was the frozen goalkeeper there for a
33:49
moment. I know that I know that's one of
33:51
your favorite plays. But yeah, thank you to everybody
33:54
for rocking with us. I mean, the the UEFA Women's
33:56
Champions League is the impetus for this podcast.
33:59
Just know all of you folks out there who check out the show,
34:03
you're all the number one pick for the into the Channel
34:06
podcast. So we will see you guys next
34:08
time.