Latest / Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football / NWSL: Pride vs. Spirit; Reign FC vs. ACFC

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NWSL: Pride vs. Spirit; Reign FC vs. ACFC · Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football

0:05
OK, welcome to into the channel podcast premier about women's
0:09
football. Before we hit the pitch.
0:10
If you enjoy the show or love women's football as much as your
0:12
boys do, come kick it with us already.
0:14
Subscribe follow YouTube, Spotify, Apple podcast wherever
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you like to watch or listen. Leave us a review over your
0:20
favorite podcast app. Links to all of our socials in
0:22
the show notes of this episode. I am your host Dino de Suspides
0:26
and as always I am joined by my Co host Mr. Grant.
0:30
Go what is up, man? I'm feeling fantastic buddy.
0:33
We've almost made it to the weekend, which is good in
0:36
itself, but secondly it means it's an NWSL weekend.
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That's right. I mean NWSL weekend, Champions
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League, midweek next week. It's basically like high level
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football. 5 out of the six days or six out of the.
0:49
However the math works out on that very exciting stuff.
0:53
I think we could call this the stretch run of the NWSL season.
0:57
Yes, I think that's totally fair.
0:59
We're what, 20 2220 sixths of the way through simplifies to 11
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thirteenths if we're going to do it that way.
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Run some numbers here. Nailed it.
1:14
Nice work by. You 6th grade math.
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I say I'm the math guy, how about that?
1:19
I'm catching up. All right, man, big weekend, as
1:22
mentioned. Where should we get started?
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I don't think there's any other place to start other than your
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home city, the beautiful city of Orlando.
1:32
As your pride, take on the Washington spirit.
1:36
This one's going to be a big one.
1:38
So I think we're using, you know, college football season.
1:41
You know, you always think about that when you get one versus 2,
1:44
there's always some kind of SEC something on the on the calendar
1:47
late in the season. Sometimes there's a big 10 one
1:49
versus 2. This is the big one versus 2, I
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think bigger than maybe we've ever had.
1:54
So if you look at where these teams are in points, Orlando's
1:57
at 54, Washington's at 47, that's a combined points of 101.
2:02
So no two teams in the same season have ever had 101 points,
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let alone playing each other OK this late in the season, let
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alone with one of the teams having a chance to clinch the
2:15
shield in the match. You've got to rewind all the way
2:18
back to 2018. The North Carolina Courage
2:20
finish the season 57 points, Portland 42 points.
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They combined for 99. So not quite the 101 that
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Orlando and Washington have. And I know what you're thinking,
2:29
this is a 26 match season, but that 2018 season they played 24
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matches. Oh, OK.
2:36
We are only 22 weeks into this season, and Orlando and
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Washington already have the top two combined points totals.
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Great, the entire history of the NWSL.
2:46
Oh, Nikes, OK, that's incredible that see you are the math guy
2:50
you see you snatched it right back for me.
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I did basic fraction conversion but.
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Nailed it though. You reign supreme as the math
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guy, and foolish me, let me crack this beverage in honor of
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your math skills. Thank you for bringing the
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numbers into this. I mean, what are we doing here?
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That's one and. 2 The math continues.
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This is a math podcast as well. Cheers to you.
3:15
Little math, little learning. I've got a couple other fun ones
3:18
that I want to kind of hit before we get cooking on the on
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the actual match match, Orlando's 54 points total,
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second most all time in the history.
3:25
Again, in the history of the NWSLI mentioned that Courage
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team that had 57. So Orlando's going to probably
3:30
with four matches left, blow through that record of most
3:34
points. Oh yeah.
3:35
So the last quick math thing I wanted to mention, we've talked
3:37
a lot about this Orlando defense, how tough it is to
3:40
score against them. Only 13 goes loud in 22 matches
3:43
this season. Now the record again.
3:46
These both took place in 24 match seasons, but the Courage
3:49
gave up seventeen goals in 2018 and the Thorns 17 goals in 24
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matches in 2021. If you break that down to per
3:56
match, 0.7 for that, those courage and thorns teams per
4:00
match, Orlando is at 0.59 for the season.
4:05
So not only are they crushing on points unbeaten in 22.
4:10
We don't want to skim over that, But you add on top of that the
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greatest defense the league has ever seen.
4:17
I mean, I'm at the point where I'm, I'm like, I don't want to
4:20
get to get too worked up, but I I spent a lot of time getting
4:23
prepped for this conversation with you just figuring out his
4:26
story. How good is this team even cross
4:29
sport if they're able to finish the season undefeated?
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And then maybe let's get crazy here, win three straight, take
4:36
home the double. And I don't know, that kind of
4:38
changes maybe historically how we need to take this team into
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consideration. I think it absolutely will.
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I mean, your your point about them being tight for the second
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most points of all time already in fewer matches than those
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other teams had had, I think that's a, that's a great point
4:54
in itself. I do expect them to blow by that
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point total because they never lose, they never drop the full
5:00
points. So I expect him to kind of race
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past that. And if you want to talk about it
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in a historical perspective, you think about every great team we
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talk about in every sport. It's almost to every single
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example. A lot of them do have great
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offensive firepower, but every team in every sport who reaches
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that peak level of greatness, it's really built on a defensive
5:21
strategy. Great point.
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I mean, I made a little list of maybe the greatest, maybe the
5:27
most memorable, great teams of my lifetime.
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Sure. So in no particular order, sorry
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to bring this one up. 73 and 9 Warriors, I think they got to be
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in there good. Yeah, 9697 Bulls.
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I'm old enough to remember them going 72 and 10 and mowing
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through the playoffs. Obviously with the greatest
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player of all time and a bunch of all time greats, 2001 Miami
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Hurricanes got to be on the list.
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I threw your Manchester City probably the trouble season it's
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got to be. Yeah, 2001 Lakers.
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I'm sure there was an Alabama football season there.
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I'm sure there was a Kentucky basketball season somewhere in
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there. The Invincibles Arsenal season
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predates my fandom, so I've only kind of read about it.
6:02
I wasn't there wasn't sort of following week in week out
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sweating that out. But I feel like an undefeated
6:08
Orlando season and a run, you know, basically taking home the
6:11
double. I think I would I would have
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Orlando in that top tier. One other quick note on that,
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all the other teams I mentioned had Hall of Fame type talent
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players. Obviously this Orlando Pride
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team has probably some Hall of Fame trending players.
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Marta is obviously their Banda. You could probably imagine she's
6:29
gonna have a Hall of Fame type career.
6:32
But no like real like World Cup heroes, especially when you
6:36
think about this as a team playing in the US league.
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No real US women's national team hero slash legends on this squad
6:42
or Spanish team, or you know, some of the like.
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They don't seem like an obvious juggernaut, but every stat that
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you look at basically tells you this isn't flat out historic
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team. No doubt, and just remember, you
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never have to apologize for bringing up the 73 and 9
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Warriors because I'm trying to remember who won the title that
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season. So that's that's fair play.
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I think you're right about the treble winning City side.
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I think the 18 men's City side that had 100 points that had to
7:10
like stretch. I think they might have like 50
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away points and like absolute domination in the league.
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But yeah, I I'm so glad you bring this up that match against
7:20
Houston. There's a moment, I want to say
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it happens within the first minute or two of the match.
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I think Houston, they had the kick off.
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They start to play the ball back and Julie Doyle just rushes up
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to try to attack the ball and put on the press in the first
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like 90 seconds of the match. And she basically like mucks up
7:38
what Houston is trying to do. I think she may have, I think
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she fouled a Houston player, but she gets up and she has this big
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grin on her face like, Yep, it's only attack mode right now.
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We don't we don't let you, we don't let you do anything.
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It is fortuitous. And I know we say this a lot.
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We've been doing this podcast quite often with each other.
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I saw that and said, man, that's like the best prime warriors
8:01
where they would just just get out and start whipping your ass
8:04
pretty early. And even if they would let you
8:07
come back, then you would just end up getting third quarter
8:10
Warriors and they would just destroy you again.
8:13
You're right. They have those two absolute
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superlatives. Marta, possibly the greatest
8:16
player, whoever lived. Barbara Benda may be the
8:18
greatest player alive right now or the greatest striker alive
8:21
right now. But then they have all these
8:22
other really, really good players who can just put a knife
8:26
in you at any moment in a match and they all know it.
8:30
Absolutely. Julie Dole is a great call out
8:32
because that's not a full time starter, right?
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So we talked about this last week, we were, you know, talk
8:38
about Manchester City going to the Champions League and like
8:41
sort of the versatility. You got to love a player like
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Julie Doyle gets a starting nod and just his Max level and the
8:48
keyword. I keep thinking about that.
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I asked Set Pines about a couple different times it's come up in
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post match pressers with him is he loves to talk about the
8:54
intensity. Yeah, for a lot of teams, a lot
8:57
of coaches, that's like lip service for this Orlando Pride
9:00
team. Like you see it from from jump,
9:03
exactly like you said. I wanted to hit one more really
9:06
quick, really quick. Funny thing here because this
9:09
Spirit side, obviously we're loosely previewing this match.
9:12
Spirit did score twice on this Orlando side.
9:15
Right now, Orlando has only given up two goals three times
9:20
this season and all three times were away from home.
9:22
Well, haven't given up 3. So it's either 01 or two they've
9:26
given up to three times. And I think the addition of
9:29
Yonatan Hidaladas has paid some dividends and you can see it a
9:34
little bit in the numbers. So points per match for
9:36
Washington, they were at 2.06 before, now they're 2.28.
9:40
Scoring wise, they were at 1.93, up to 2.14 per match.
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And then defensively they were given up 1.2.
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Now they're given up 1.0. Defenses a little bit tighter.
9:51
And those numbers also take into consideration that three, no
9:55
loss to the current right, which kind of skewed it the other way
9:58
away from all this. But I think All in all, you're
10:00
starting to see some of their effects.
10:02
Really interesting to hear how you've experienced the hit all
10:05
this, you know, his last seven matches with the spirit side.
10:08
They play like he's their manager already.
10:11
They play like he's been their manager for a while.
10:13
So our pal Arsenal legend, England legend, just all around
10:17
legend Leanne Sanderson was on the call.
10:19
Let's go when the Spirit were playing Angel City last week.
10:23
And she was talking about that style of build from the back
10:27
starts with the the keeper passing the ball around.
10:30
And if you're able to beat a press there, it can be a
10:33
dangerous game at times. But once you're able to beat the
10:36
press and you kind of create that extra layer of space and
10:39
you have more room to operate in the middle of the field and then
10:41
getting into the attacking third, they have players who can
10:45
absolutely kill you up there. But here's the thing that that I
10:48
thought was really interesting about this Angel City match.
10:51
So Trinity Rodman was out. She has that back injury that
10:54
she suffered I think late in the Kansas City match.
10:57
Casey Krueger was out out. Ulay SAR has missed three
11:01
straight matches with a back injury as well.
11:03
We obviously know they already lost Kroy Bethune, a superlative
11:06
young talent earlier this season.
11:09
So without Kroy Bethune, the rookie of the year, without
11:12
Trinity Rodman, somebody who's a top five at worst MVP candidate,
11:17
a crafty veteran, a great defender in Casey Krueger and a
11:20
really solid second striker in Ulay SAR, they still had on the
11:25
field Ashley Hatch, Lacey Santos, well, Hirschfeld, Andy
11:29
Sullivan, Gabby Carl and Tara Mickey own and I'll tell you who
11:33
I also really liked is Rosemont Kowasi, 22 years old, developed
11:38
a flurry in D1. Arkema showed really good
11:41
instincts versus Angel City, like running into space.
11:45
She had a good moment where she like put herself perfectly into
11:47
space for a pass, but then used a dummy so Paige Metier could
11:51
hit a good shot. And then later in that match,
11:53
Kowasi has just a brilliantly executed pass McKenna Morris,
12:00
she's running at speed outside of the right foot, perfectly
12:03
weighted, doesn't hit it. Like if she hits it a little bit
12:06
too hard, the keeper dives on it.
12:08
And if she hits it not hard enough, Morris can't get to it
12:12
to hit that clever little chip that she did.
12:14
So I don't want to overreact too much.
12:16
I haven't seen a ton of colossi, just Full disclosure.
12:19
But from the few appearances, I think I want to say she has like
12:22
5 appearances this season as the injuries kind of starting to
12:25
pile up. She looks good.
12:27
She looks like a Geraldo type player and that's what you get
12:30
when you bring in this 32 year old kind of prodigy head coach
12:35
who's already coached one of the greatest teams we've probably
12:38
ever seen. Totally, and I think his
12:40
experience runs the gamut of the biggest, most experienced
12:45
players to, you know, the Vicki Lopez's of the world and that's
12:48
me, Brooks of the world that are still years and years away from
12:51
from their prime. I want to hit one last quick
12:54
thing. I mentioned it up top.
12:55
The points difference very important in this match.
12:58
Orlando on 54, Washington on 47. Four matches to go.
13:02
That means mathematically for Orlando wins.
13:05
The Shield is theirs, which has kind of dominated the online
13:09
discourse about the stakes of this match.
13:11
But if you flip it, if Washington was able to go to
13:14
Orlando and get a win, now they're down 4 points, three
13:18
matches to go. I'm not sure if that creates a
13:21
race anew. You know, for the Shield, you
13:24
know, we talk about a six pointer.
13:25
You know, this is, this definitely has like some 6
13:28
pointer plus got some extra stakes both ways.
13:30
Yep. I mean, is it too soon to say
13:32
HIDAL? This is the kind of manager that
13:34
could go in there under these circumstances, get a win and
13:38
really make a late season Shield run here.
13:42
From what we know about him, he's a genius.
13:45
Players seem to like him. They always look prepared out
13:48
there. Probably not with Trinity Rodman
13:50
I don't think. I think this probably is A1 nil
13:53
loss for them. It's just man, it's a tall order
13:57
without SAR, possibly without SAR, possibly without Rodman.
14:00
That is a really tall order. I mean, they haven't lost.
14:06
It's hard for me to kind of get past that.
14:08
Like let's say it does happen because I don't think I don't
14:11
think spirit are going to get killed.
14:12
That's probably like a 2% chance.
14:14
But let's say they do. Let's say they do win.
14:17
Maybe they they nick a A1 nil victory here.
14:19
I still think you guys probably secure the shield in the next
14:23
one or two matches like you guys are again, this probably maybe
14:27
sounds a little oversimplistic. You're nearly impossible to
14:30
beat. Could I see a draw in the mix?
14:33
Sure. But dropping the full, getting
14:36
no points out of a match? What's the recipe to do that
14:40
against the Orlando Pride, especially at home?
14:44
I don't think there is one. I mean, it's probably selling
14:47
out defensively. That's probably your best bet
14:50
and hoping that, you know, Ashley Hatch, you know, you
14:52
mentioned her briefly. You know, she obviously makes a
14:54
huge play in that one to kind of get them on the board.
14:57
So probably something like that super scrappy, flip the field
15:01
sure on just kind of like a singular defensively brilliant
15:05
play and then be able to finish. It's fun to think about the
15:08
historic ramifications as well, because I talked about those
15:11
Orlando Pride numbers. This team, because they're
15:14
undefeated, has the incentive to go out and win every match.
15:18
So yes, not only can this team finish undefeated in the regular
15:22
season, but they might put up a points number that might not be
15:26
reached or approached for a decade.
15:29
Like that's very much in play. And I think Heinz is the kind of
15:32
guy who, whether he would say it publicly or not.
15:35
And I I mean, you already know what time it is with like Marta
15:38
and you see the intensity from like Adriana or Angelina, who
15:42
had just a banger of a goal in that Houston match.
15:45
Like, I guarantee they want that too.
15:48
They want to be able to stamp this, especially we're looking
15:51
toward the end of Marta's career.
15:53
A double and you clinch this historic season.
15:57
What better way to send out the legend?
15:59
Incredible. Well, I mean she's going to play
16:01
10 more years, so it'll be the beginning of the send off.
16:04
Here we go. Very excited about this one
16:06
going down Sunday, October 6th, 5:00 PM.
16:10
Closing out the weekend. This one's going to be a biggie.
16:14
Huge stakes. Anything else you want to hit
16:16
before we hop off? This Orlando Washington Spirit
16:20
little little mini preview we got going on here.
16:22
If I could do one more thing on Herald does here.
16:24
Let's go. There's a quote he had in a
16:26
press conference about Trinity Rodman.
16:28
And you know, I like this kind of stuff.
16:30
So when asked about Trinity Rodman coming back, Geraldus
16:33
said, Quote, for me the most important thing is to be
16:36
available. But 100% available, 60% for me
16:41
is not enough. You have to report 100%.
16:44
You help the team in the most important part of the season
16:46
because playoffs are very important.
16:48
So everyone, pardon me, must be ready and available as soon as
16:51
possible. But for sure, being healthy is
16:54
most important. End Quote.
16:57
So for me, I want to hit this before we move on to the second
16:59
thing, because I love this attitude from a manager because
17:02
I don't think he's just talking about, oh, you have to feel like
17:05
you're fresh, like at the beginning of a new season fresh.
17:08
I don't think he's saying that, but I think what he's saying is
17:10
I need Trinity Rodman to be at whatever is equal to 100 percent
17:15
22 matches through the season, right?
17:17
Because if we're going to set ourselves up going into the
17:19
playoffs to potentially win the NWSL Championship, to win those
17:23
three straight matches, you are greatly diminished in your
17:27
chances if you don't have Trinity Rodman pretty much near
17:30
100%. I think it's a really smart
17:32
attitude from him. Totally agree with that.
17:33
And I think coming from Barcelona, you have to imagine
17:37
you got a roster like that. Any player that's at 85%, even
17:41
like Obama T like is somebody else's 100 better than Itana's
17:44
85? Like, you know, it's probably a
17:47
push, but they're, you know, the, the the the more you push
17:50
that number down, you know, the the more likely it is it like,
17:53
hey, I've got a better option. I don't care the name on the
17:55
back of the jersey or how many replica jerseys are in the
17:59
stands. You know, kind of waiting for to
18:00
see this player like we're out here trying to win.
18:02
And I think Hidal does is probably playing that game.
18:05
I do think he's going to try to push, try to get the win in this
18:08
one. But I think to your point, you
18:10
know, once the shield's off at the table, we're gonna see some
18:13
big wholesale changes to where we see that team shift gears and
18:16
start to think more about the playoffs 1. 100% and I think
18:19
that would be the right move. So Yonatan, you got our cosign
18:23
now. I'm sure that's very meaningful
18:25
to you. Put it up on the wall.
18:27
Let's shift gears. Your Seattle rain Angel City FC,
18:31
this one going down Friday as mentioned.
18:33
What do we need to know about two teams outside shot to are
18:38
are they still playing for playoff hopes?
18:40
I know it's like very very low low low probs but what?
18:45
What are the vibes like in in Seattle?
18:47
It feels a little over, to be honest with you.
18:50
Like it feels like Seattle rain. They're currently eight points
18:54
out of 8th. Angel City is 6 points out of
18:57
8th place. It felt like if Seattle was
18:59
going to get it done, they needed to get victories against
19:04
Houston and against or at least a home draw against Bay FC.
19:09
Really, they needed that away win at Houston.
19:12
A-Team that's been struggling throughout the season to say the
19:15
least. The vibes after the Bay FC loss,
19:19
it felt a little like resignation, but they know
19:22
they're not mathematically out of it.
19:23
Laura Harvey spoke to that. Well, as long as you're not
19:25
mathematically eliminated, you got to go out there.
19:27
It's never going to change our idea that we should go out there
19:30
and play to win. I do want to point something out
19:32
here. So when we got to the must win
19:35
proceedings of the season for Seattle, when things were just
19:37
really stagnant and then they came out of that Olympic break,
19:41
they went into the transfer window.
19:42
They won three consecutive matches between August 25th and
19:46
September 6th. And we had talked about it.
19:48
I said Seattle rain arrow pointing up and it definitely
19:51
looked like it. So that last match they won,
19:53
that was on September 6th, if I remember correctly, and I do,
19:57
that was a three, two win over Angel City in LA.
20:00
On September 12th, Sofia Huerta was loaned to Lyon in France,
20:06
Big club and between pretty good club.
20:08
And between September 16th and September 29th, they've lost
20:13
three matches in a row, and they haven't scored a goal in any of
20:16
those three matches. So that's not great.
20:18
And I got to say, I understand Sophia Huerta is a defender, but
20:22
anybody who's watched her play, she plays way high up the field.
20:25
She is the best passer on the team, serves and crosses.
20:28
She's the person who takes good corner kicks and that's been,
20:32
that's been a meaningful loss for them.
20:34
I can see that. Obviously the results hurt.
20:36
I mean, gotta wonder about a move like that, especially when
20:40
you look at the rain schedule the next three weeks.
20:43
Obviously they've got Angel City this weekend, as mentioned.
20:46
Then they go at Utah, winnable, winnable.
20:50
And then there's that that reverse fixture, the revenge
20:52
match against the Houston Houston Dash come to town.
20:57
You know, so I think those are three matches where under
20:59
different circumstances. And I got to imagine in the
21:02
building, Seattle might be looking at those three matches
21:05
and saying, hey, if we could put something together here, maybe
21:07
put some pressure on those, you know, 7th and 8th seeds, there's
21:10
worse ways to spend your time and energy.
21:12
And obviously, you know, these jobs are are finite, you know,
21:15
so these players want to play and make a good impression.
21:17
Seattle does close the season at Orlando to be a tough one.
21:21
If we're still undefeated and on this unbelievable tear, I would
21:26
not want to be a Seattle rain player going to Orlando to
21:28
basically try to be the the last line of defense to make sure
21:32
that somebody's able to hang an L on this team.
21:34
Yeah, 100%. I could see that one getting.
21:38
It would be tough because Laura Harvey is a defensive minded
21:40
coach, a defensive genius. But yeah, that would be, that
21:43
would be tough sledding. I think if you're Seattle and
21:45
you think about these next few matches, you're chasing Bay FC,
21:48
who you just lost to. But Bay FC's next four matches
21:51
are at Gotham and and Bay has two consecutive home games, but
21:56
those home matches are against the Kansas City Current and the
21:58
North Carolina Courage. So yeah, if you think about the
22:02
next 3 fixtures, if you're Seattle, if you want to paint a
22:04
sunny picture of it, you might feel OK about that.
22:07
But I mean, being realistic, the fact that they haven't scored a
22:10
goal in three consecutive matches since Huertas departure,
22:14
pretty troubling. In the post match presser after
22:17
the Bay FC loss, I asked Veronica Lasko, who's playing
22:20
right back, actually, who kind of switched from that attacking
22:23
midfielder forward position and is now playing right back to
22:27
kind of provide some of that passing and some of what Huerta
22:30
used to do. I asked, let's go what she
22:33
thought was missing in the final third.
22:35
Why can't you score it? Basically?
22:37
I worded it nicer than that. I mean, I thought she kept it
22:40
$1.50 here. She said, quote.
22:42
I mean, I'm going to sound like a broken record.
22:44
And I say this because I put this on myself.
22:46
It's quality. I think I had a ton of crosses
22:48
and I didn't connect nearly as many as I needed to, and that's
22:51
on me. Yeah, quality and creativity.
22:54
So not just being a crossing team, but being a team that can
22:57
play around the final third, break the team down and go
23:00
through the middle of them, not just from the wide in, but just
23:03
working from the inside out. To End Quote, and I'm no
23:08
football genius, but you and I watch a lot of football.
23:11
I think she's 100% right. This team can't do anything in
23:15
the central channels. One thing I was impressed by
23:18
when I hear you talk about like the discourse in the building is
23:21
there seems to be a lot of self-awareness, yeah, about the
23:24
team, what the team has it doesn't have and kind of like
23:26
where it's going. I do think that's kind of like
23:28
the hallmark of a of a good solid franchise.
23:31
Not a lot of finger pointing, hey, we know where we're at.
23:33
We know where we got to improve. Even thinking ahead to next
23:36
year, we know what we want to kind of try to work on this
23:38
Angel City side, though, I haven't really kind of been able
23:40
to put my finger on what hasn't gone right for them.
23:44
So obviously they're right there in that 1112 mix in the
23:47
standings. They've got a much tougher last
23:50
four. They go at Seattle at the
23:52
Courage, they're going to have Utah at home and then they go at
23:55
Portland. So a couple playoff teams in
23:57
there going to make things a little bit tricky for them.
23:59
But when I think about Angel City, they've got good players,
24:02
yeah. But I feel like they they do
24:05
lack a little bit of, I don't want to say tough, like, you
24:08
know, toughness or grit, obviously.
24:10
Like, you know, Sydney LaRue is a player that plays tough and I
24:13
think steps up in big moments, but I don't feel like she's been
24:17
able to lift necessarily enough of her teammates up to that
24:21
level. You think about, you know, the
24:22
Thompsons as well. You know, Thomas been on an
24:24
absolute tear. Yep, recently.
24:27
But I don't know what what's missing from this Angel City
24:29
side. I think there was some some real
24:31
expectations come into the season.
24:33
I think from early on, I kind of wasn't totally into what I was
24:36
seeing. I didn't really see this team as
24:38
like a playoff team and it's just kind of persisted.
24:41
But what's been your main take away from kind of watching them
24:43
muddle through the season? You were way early on it, buddy.
24:46
You were. And you were 100% correct.
24:47
I mean, they've allowed a league worst 37 goals across their 22
24:53
matches played. Now, The funny thing about that,
24:57
though, is that so they've had two away matches where they've
25:00
let in four goals. One was at Kansas City, one was
25:04
at Washington. So like, do you hate that?
25:07
I mean, obviously you never want to let in four goals, but those
25:09
are two of the three. Like those are two of the three
25:13
best teams in the league. You went away to play those
25:15
matches. I just think, and maybe this is
25:18
easier for fans to kind of absorb.
25:21
I realized this watching these these two teams play a few weeks
25:24
ago in that Wild 32 Seattle victory in LA is like kind of by
25:29
the end of the match, I was like 11th and 12th.
25:31
That sounds about right. For these two clubs.
25:34
Like Seattle can't really score. Angel City let's in way too many
25:39
goals. I think that's just kind of who
25:41
they are. Like Angel City does have good
25:44
players. I want to double check this.
25:46
I'm going to do this live on the show.
25:48
I mean, live in this recording. Messiah Bright, that goal she
25:52
scored against the Washington Spirit, that's her only goal of
25:56
the season in 17 matches now. She's also only played 455
26:01
minutes throughout league play for Angel City.
26:04
That's not nearly the kind of season that I was hoping she
26:08
would have. I think she showed good things
26:09
for you guys over in Orlando. I don't think that's her future
26:13
as a player, but I'm glad you mentioned like Sidney LaRue
26:16
can't really like drag the whole team up to that kind of like
26:21
killer instinct level that she has.
26:23
She's not supposed to. And I I don't think you were
26:26
saying that she was supposed to. I mean, she's 34 years old.
26:28
Like she doesn't have that in her game anymore.
26:32
Kristen Press, one of the best US players that I think I've
26:35
ever seen in my life as like a super sub for the USWNT in the
26:39
2019 World Cup. She doesn't have that in her
26:42
game anymore. She's coming back from
26:43
devastating injuries and it's amazing that she's come back to
26:47
play. But they're just not going to be
26:48
able to give you what they were able to give you 5-6 years ago.
26:52
I love Sarah Gordon in defense. She is tough as hell.
26:55
I don't think anybody could ever, anybody could ever
26:57
question that. But like they made the playoffs
27:00
last year, actually lost in Seattle on Seattle's March to to
27:04
the final. I just think Angel City, they
27:06
feel a couple years away, but because they have so, so much
27:10
investment and they have a couple star players and good
27:14
names, maybe before the season, not you because you're too
27:18
sharp, my good man. I can't remember how how high I
27:21
was on them. Hopefully that's not me ducking
27:23
anything. I don't think I thought they
27:24
were anything too special either, but.
27:26
No, no. I think people expected a little
27:28
too much out of them compared to what their.
27:30
Roster had I think that's fair. I think that's probably what it
27:33
was a good run last season, some recognizable players.
27:37
But I mean, I'm a big, you know, like I, we watch the games, bro.
27:40
I think that's just seriously like I'm looking for some body
27:43
language. I'm looking for the chemistry.
27:46
I'm looking for what these people, you know.
27:47
Another one we were on early obviously was the San Diego wave
27:50
and stuff being a little bit off kilter there.
27:52
We're just like, this seems got really fucking good players and
27:54
they're really not good. Like it didn't make any sense.
27:58
So I think probably just another proof point on the maturation of
28:01
the league where it's like, hey, you can't just roll out some
28:04
good players and have them kick it around and go by players and
28:07
just stick whoever, wherever. You really got to be building a
28:10
team, a proper team with an identity, with a philosophy,
28:14
with strengths that they want to lean into.
28:17
And I think Angel City is probably the kind of team that,
28:19
you know, maybe you need to probably go back to the drawing
28:21
board a little bit. And I think when you think about
28:24
Angel City in Seattle, I do feel like Seattle has maybe a bit of
28:27
a better grasp on who they are, where they're at and maybe
28:30
probably a little bit better position to a, finish this
28:33
season now a little bit stronger and then B, probably be better
28:36
position going forward here. I think that's probably true.
28:39
I think people think very highly of Becky Tweed, and I think she
28:42
is a capable coach. I know Leanne Sanderson was
28:44
talking about it again in that Angel City Spirit match.
28:47
She had to just be driven crazy by the transition defense.
28:52
You know, we obviously like basketball here.
28:54
I always think about Avery Johnson when he was a coach of
28:56
The Mavericks and there's the one Prescott where he goes
28:59
transition defense, transition defense.
29:02
It was like, I don't know. That's forever in my mind and
29:05
with. Your spirits.
29:07
I know it's bizarre. I loved Avery Johnson though.
29:09
I thought he was fucking hilarious.
29:12
But dude was the best. And so, yeah, like, I think they
29:18
gave up two transition goals to Portland.
29:20
They gave up the transition goals of the Spirit.
29:22
I do think it probably needs to be said when you lose June Endo
29:27
before the season starts, that is really tough.
29:31
And then they lose Ally Riley, kind of one of their like
29:33
central defensive like figures. Those are tough injuries to kind
29:37
of overcome. But I think you're probably
29:40
right. Like when you just have Laura
29:42
Harvey in the center of your pro, like everybody has to be
29:47
accountable and everybody has to be realistic about where you are
29:50
because she does not mince words about where you are.
29:54
She will be very honest that you do not have the quality to score
29:57
goals right now. And she's said that throughout
29:59
the entire season. Yeah, probably a really good
30:01
person to kind of have at the helm.
30:03
Yeah. In a time like this, you really
30:05
kind of hope that, you know, obviously coach gets another
30:07
another year to kind of get things on track because you do
30:10
feel like the plan is there. It's just maybe a little bit of
30:14
a year that went off the rails here.
30:16
Obviously Seattle, Angel City, the stakes is not.
30:20
High. No, they are not.
30:24
But should be a pretty fun one. Anything else you want to hit
30:27
about this matchup before? We get out of here.
30:29
I do. I have one more thing to hit.
30:31
We're talking about Laura Harvey.
30:32
We've mentioned our pal Leanne Sanderson multiple times on the
30:35
show. They're both former lady
30:36
Gunners. Your squad.
30:38
Laura Harvey, the latest guest on The Women's Football Show, a
30:42
podcast hosted by Leanne Sanderson.
30:45
You would be a fool. A fool.
30:47
I tell you not to check that show out.
30:48
Go listen to that on Spotify or wherever you listen to your
30:51
podcast immediately A. 100% cosign.
30:54
Great show. Love Leanne, Love Coach Harvey.
30:56
I'm excited for that conversation.
30:58
So as soon as we hop off here, I'm gonna get that bad boy
31:00
loaded up. Get ready, throw on the sleep
31:03
timer because it's late here on the East Coast.
31:04
So I might, of course, boy might doze off a little bit to to the
31:08
sweet sounds of Leanne and Coach Harvey chopped it up.
31:10
It's amazing. So round out the 23 slate, we've
31:16
got Houston, Chicago Friday night, 8:00 PM.
31:18
We've got Seattle, Angel City. We mentioned North Carolina, San
31:20
Diego, Saturday, 7:00 PM. That's going to be a good one.
31:23
Gotham FC, Bay FC Saturday, 7:30 PM.
31:27
Some playoff implications there Racing, Louisville, KC current
31:31
Saturday night 730. Great weekend for playoff
31:33
implications if you're into that sort of thing.
31:35
The late night Saturday affair, Portland hosting the Utah Royals
31:39
and then obviously Sunday all by their lonesomes, the Orlando
31:42
Pride hosting Washington Spirit 5:00 PM Eastern should be a
31:46
killer killer and WSL slate this weekend. 100% all those times, I
31:50
know Dino said it on the last match, but all those times that
31:53
he mentioned Eastern Standard Time, East Coast biased on this
31:56
podcast, I cannot abide that. But it's all right.
31:59
I understand the way you're living over there.
32:01
It is late. So yeah, I mean, like you said,
32:04
and we've had the conversation before, playoffs in football, do
32:07
I love it? Love it?
32:08
Not really. I kind of treat it like it's a
32:10
separate cup, but it does. It does mean that they have
32:13
pulled a trick on us that we very much care about the teams
32:18
that are in 7th through 10th place in the league at the end
32:22
of the season. Like, we're not talking about
32:24
like UEFA Conference League spots, but we're talking about a
32:27
spot in a tournament, so that's fun.
32:29
I mean, the cup versus Shield is for every, you know, for
32:32
everyone to reconcile on their own, you know, in a private
32:35
moment, in quiet times. I mean, I obviously, I think I'm
32:38
a Shield guy. I believe you're also a Shield.
32:40
This is a Shield show. I think this is a Shield.
32:41
It is. It's much tougher to kind of
32:43
plow through 26th and get on a hot streak for three short ones.
32:48
Not taking anything away from the playoffee Cup, the playoff
32:51
Cup, why do we want we'll come up with a cutesy day for it.
32:55
There you go. Still a huge feat.
32:56
If Orlando wins the Shield and not the Cup, you know, obviously
32:59
I'll have a fresh take to to unfurl.
33:02
When that happens, there you go. But stretch run.
33:06
Very exciting times. Can't get much better than that,
33:08
man. I mean, you know, like you said,
33:10
it's sort of imbalanced, but not really.
33:12
I think you're, I think your Orlando Pride is going to take
33:14
it. But we got to watch the matches
33:16
play out. And with that said, I think we
33:18
did it. It's been another episode of
33:20
Into the Channel. Sincere thank you.
33:21
Thank you for watching, listening, following, liking,
33:23
subscribing, just plain hanging out with your boys.
33:25
And remember, like if you liked and subscribe or follow into the
33:28
channel, YouTube, Spotify, Apple podcast, wherever you like to
33:31
watch or listen, leave us a review over your favorite
33:33
podcast app, links to all of our socials in the show notes of
33:36
this episode. And a big thank you to my coach
33:38
as well, Mr. Grant Engel, for always being at the top of the
33:42
table in my standings. I appreciate you bro.
33:45
Likewise, buddy, I think, you know, you and I, we're going to
33:47
take home the Podcasting Shield and the Podcasting Cup
33:51
Championship. So you know what?
33:53
We're we're out here cooking. I call it a double where I come
33:55
from. Damn right.
33:57
Thank you everyone for rocking with us.
33:59
We will talk to you very soon.