Latest / Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football / UWCL: Drafting our most-anticipated "pivot" matches

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UWCL: Drafting our most-anticipated "pivot" matches · Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football

0:05
OK, welcome to Into the Channel, a podcast primarily about
0:08
women's football. Before we hit the pitch, if you
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enjoy the show or love one's football as much as your boys
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do, come kick it with us already.
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Subscribe, follow YouTube, Spotify up a podcast wherever
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the Channel pod on IG. Leave us a review over your
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favorite podcast app. Links to all of our socials in
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the show notes of this episode. I am your host.
0:29
Do you know de Suspitas? And as always, I'm joined by my
0:31
Co host Mr. Grant Angle. What is up man?
0:35
I'm feeling fantastic, buddy. I'm feeling extremely, extremely
0:38
fantastic. Actually.
0:40
I want to get to this beer if we can do that.
0:42
You have a frosty beverage with you.
0:44
Absolutely, buddy. These are celebration beers.
0:51
We celebrating. Cheers to you.
0:53
Cheers to you and cheers to a bunch of our Internet pals.
0:56
I want to get to this real quick.
0:57
I'm doing this at the top of the show.
0:58
If you don't mind me hijacking things, let's go.
1:01
We got a comment on YouTube from a Mr. Harold Lund who said hi
1:06
guys. Maybe you remember the team SK
1:08
Braun from last year. Today they qualified to round
1:12
one of the Champions League 2025.
1:14
They've won seven games in a row now.
1:16
Hope you'll cover them next year.
1:18
All the best to you guys from Bergen, Norway.
1:20
Harold, you're damn right we remember SK Bron.
1:23
We wouldn't forget him back in the Champions League, back to
1:27
qualifying. Cheers to every single one of
1:29
our pals. I'm going to try to.
1:31
I'm going to try to name as many as possible.
1:32
Charlie, Pair, Board, Morton, Simon, Braj, Frederick,
1:36
Frederick, Siendre. I think those are our heavy
1:39
hitters. Anybody.
1:40
Get Charlie. I got Charlie in there.
1:42
Charlie was the first one. Frederick.
1:44
Sorry I butchered your name first time around.
1:46
That's not even really that Norwegian of a name.
1:48
I should have got that right the first time.
1:50
It was a layup. You guys are the best.
1:51
Congratulations to the Brown Battalion.
1:53
So psyched that you are back. I cannot wait.
1:56
And we got a lot of tournament left in this one that we are
1:58
very excited to cover. But you're going to be back in
2:00
the fold next year. We're very excited.
2:03
Congratulations to you all. I love it.
2:05
Somebody let coach Martin Hoe know that we we're we still
2:08
trying to get him on the show. I think that happened.
2:10
Quick updates from my end. Great friend of the pod Leanne
2:14
Sanderson took us through the ringer.
2:16
She was firing questions at us, JRK style.
2:20
I'll say just with absolute ferocity.
2:23
We did our best. Very fun appearance on the
2:26
women's football show on Talk Sport 2GO check that out, give
2:30
it a listen and we'd love to know what you thought about
2:32
that. Another quick programming
2:34
reminder, we'll be back in a few days time with our international
2:37
break show. USW and TS going to be in
2:38
action. They've got it back-to-back
2:40
against Iceland. They'll be taking on Argentina a
2:42
few days after that. We also got some Euro
2:44
qualifying, Portugal, Sweden, Norway all battling for a spot
2:48
in the final sixteen of the €2025.
2:50
And then soon thereafter, we'll switch gears, head back to the
2:53
NWSL, announce a couple of awards, do a little playoff
2:57
preview as we kind of hit the stretch run here.
2:59
But for this episode, we're going to talk about the eight
3:03
reverse fixtures, match day three, match day four of the
3:07
UEFA Women's Champions League. That's where things really start
3:10
to get chippy, and we're going to throw a little curveball on
3:12
it. We're going to draft our most
3:14
anticipated matchups of the bunch.
3:16
I hate to do it to you. I'm going to go first, but I'm
3:18
still going to ask you a question.
3:19
Mr. Grant Angle, where do you want to get started?
3:22
Well, I think I'd like to get started with you making the 1st
3:25
pick. What match on match day three
3:28
are you most excited for? I got to.
3:30
I mean, this is probably the least, the least dramatic reveal
3:37
in the history of the show. I'm going to take UVA Arsenal.
3:40
They kick off November 12th. They run it back November 21st.
3:43
So we got that nice nine day break in between Arsenal.
3:46
I mean, totally up and down season so far, 11 matches, six
3:51
wins, 2 draws, 3 losses. The departure of manager Yonas,
3:55
Ida Ball possibly an upgrade. You know, no shot at Yonas.
3:58
I mean, I think they seemed a little bit directionless at
4:01
times, I think especially on defense.
4:03
But I do want to talk real quickly about the offense.
4:05
Arsenal leads the field 22 shots on target.
4:08
That's good for first out of 30. That's also the best percentage
4:11
in the field. My big issue offensively,
4:14
though, is there doesn't seem to be like a great pairing or a
4:17
great group or some great chemistry between like two
4:21
players or three players. We talked about this with Leon
4:23
on her show. Mariana seems to be standing out
4:25
just because she's so skilled and she's so smart.
4:27
You could kind of plug her probably into any team in the
4:29
world. She's going to figure it out
4:30
pretty quickly. But everything around her just
4:32
doesn't seem to have quite gelled.
4:34
What's been your kind of watching this Arsenal offense?
4:37
I think I completely agree. So I'd like to do a thought
4:40
exercise with you. We think about the back 6.
4:42
I think you pretty much Pencil and Kim Little and Leovalti as
4:46
kind of like your two defensive midfielders.
4:48
And then you're back four. We're usually looking at Fox,
4:52
Codina, Williamson and McCabe. What do you think about if
4:56
you're going to play? And you're right, Cal Dente is
4:59
what's fantastic. If you play Cal Dente on the
5:01
right and you know she'll she'll move about throughout the match,
5:04
she'll spend some time on the left.
5:06
What if you had a young, excellent, creative, smart
5:12
Swedish player to play as you're #10 for more minutes than she's
5:16
been playing so far? And so obviously the player I
5:20
have in mind here is Rosa Cafagi.
5:22
And I realize it's easy for me to say sitting over here in
5:25
Seattle. Hey, Arsenal, have you
5:28
considered playing the the great young player that you signed?
5:31
They see her in practice, they see her in training.
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You know, they might have some questions about how she's going
5:36
to hold up. But I got to think that time is
5:38
coming. So if if.
5:39
Maybe maybe they didn't think she was quite ready yet because
5:41
of these questions that you're raising that I think a lot of
5:44
people are raising. The attack doesn't look quite
5:46
cohesive enough. Why don't you put a genius
5:48
player in there who can kind of help create and add a little
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more offensive punch with Caldente?
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Yeah, not not only a genius player, but a player that bossed
5:56
the Champions League group stage last year and dragged her Donmos
6:00
Venskin side into the quarterfinals.
6:02
So I was glad to see Kafaji get on the board this weekend
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against West Ham, assist Estina Blaxtenius.
6:08
And I thought that really interesting because it feels
6:11
like Arsenal hasn't put together the assist to score combination
6:16
more than one time. It feels like every single time
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it's a different combination when you think about all the
6:21
attacking players that are available.
6:24
Is Tina Blaxtenius, Beth Meade, You already mentioned Caldente,
6:28
Alessia Russo, freedom on him. Like didn't even, you know, kind
6:31
of mention her. My one fear as we like kind of
6:34
get deeper and deeper into this tournament is, is Arsenal a team
6:37
with a lot of B plus players, you know, where, you know, maybe
6:42
a Caldente might be like an A minus, you know, like so you
6:45
look at these top, top, top teams, I mean, and they're
6:48
cooking for huge, huge portions of the game.
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We just haven't seen that from this Arsenal side.
6:52
I'm glad you mentioned freedom on them and I and I wonder how
6:54
much of that is at play. You know 25 year old Norwegian
6:58
can get out there and kind of give you a lot of good minutes.
7:01
But like you said about cafagi, I know she's young.
7:03
I know she is has a little more of like a slight build compared
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to some of the other players out there.
7:08
We've already seen her do it in the group stage of the Champions
7:11
league play with a defensive minded BK Hackin and just really
7:15
handle herself extremely well. So a trio of Cafagi, Caldente
7:21
and then Russo up top. I think you can.
7:23
You can do a lot worse than that.
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And then you're still going to have Caitlin Ford running
7:28
around, likely on on the other side.
7:30
So for anybody who's stuck around with us from last year's
7:33
coverage, you'll be very surprised.
7:36
Here's Dino and me calling for more Rosa Cafagi who could have.
7:39
Seen that coming? Yeah, we're in reruns.
7:42
And Speaking of that BK hack inside, we're just over a month
7:45
away from hacking beating Arsenal in the first leg in
7:49
Gothenburg, one nil. So I think we're we're going to
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get into the to the very iffy parts of the tournament.
7:55
But yeah, to to to zoom in on UVA here.
7:57
They scored 26 goals over their first nine matches of the
8:00
season, all competitions, including two huge wins over
8:03
PSG. But they've been held scoreless
8:05
in two straight, once versus Bayern, once versus
8:07
Internazionale. They've had, they've got 12
8:11
different goal scorers this year, all competitions.
8:14
So they're getting it from every direction.
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Sophia Cantore, we've talked about a lot in this show, Six
8:18
goals for her, three a piece for Christiana Gidelli and Emily
8:20
Vangsgard. I want to kind of talk a little
8:23
bit about Vangsgard. Obviously she comes over from
8:25
PSG. I feel like she's got to be due.
8:27
She's getting shots off, but I don't think she's been able to
8:29
cash to the level of her potential now defensively, UVA,
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they look shaky. They've looked shaky against set
8:36
pieces. I think Bayern definitely took
8:38
advantage of that. The real question is though, I
8:40
mean like they're sort of up and down style.
8:43
There's definitely a scenario where where that style gives
8:45
Arsenal problems just because of how unpredictable they can be.
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I think it could and I and I think it is at times up and down
8:54
and up and down style. I think that's a good way to
8:56
kind of describe it. But I will say they gave Bayern.
8:59
Bayern had nearly 80% possession in their two nil loss on match
9:04
day 2 and Volaringa had nearly 60% possession in Whova's one
9:08
nil win on on the strength of Sofia Cantori's banger.
9:12
I also will just say a quick editorial note, if you want to
9:15
use your Italian accent to pronounce Amelie Vangsgaard,
9:20
even though she's Danish, I think total green light on that.
9:25
But that to the side. We've also seen who they
9:28
dominate the ball versus PSG in the qualifying stage.
9:32
I think I'll take my one take chip about this.
9:34
These two matches coming up, I think Arsenal will be able to
9:39
win the possession battle versus who they.
9:42
And I think the bigger question is going to be can they take
9:46
advantage of that or will who they be able to soak up some of
9:50
that possession on defense and then use that up and down style
9:53
to kind of counter. I think that's where the these
9:56
two matches are really going to be won and lost.
9:58
Yeah. I think it's going to be
9:59
interesting to see because Juventus is really good at
10:02
getting the most out of their chances.
10:04
So it's like whenever they get into the final third, they're
10:07
getting a shot off and it's going to be a a pretty high
10:10
quality shot at that. Now the flip side of that is
10:13
they got really frustrated against Bayern.
10:16
Bayern's just more skilled than them, better than them pretty
10:18
much across the board. And you could see visibly on the
10:20
field that they were frustrated. Now, I think this matchup is
10:24
going to come down to, can Arsenal basically frustrate that
10:27
side just the same? You know, sort of like bend but
10:29
not break and then be able to kind of like cash in on the
10:33
other side. Either way, this is the top of
10:35
my board in terms of like matches I'm excited about.
10:37
Maybe a little bit of a spoiler, but I think these two back to
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backs are going to be very, very hotly contested.
10:43
Excellent pick and it doesn't matter if it's predictable or
10:45
not. Sometimes that's the way you got
10:47
to go in the draft. Totally agree.
10:49
Now second pick in this draft, who's your matchup?
10:52
Get ready to be surprised. Manchester City Football Club
10:54
versus Hammer B Nope, couldn't have predicted that one.
11:00
Draft starts at 3:00. That's right.
11:02
So, OK, look, yeah, obviously Dino and I, we have our
11:05
allegiances. But I just want to say I think a
11:08
lot of football fans, I don't think it's crazy to say that a
11:10
lot of football fans think there is something cosmic about this
11:13
game that we all love and enjoy so much.
11:16
And I will just tell you, there is something so beautiful about
11:20
watching a team that you know is a top team fall behind an
11:24
underdog and then watching that favorite come back, get the
11:28
equalizer. And then you have to watch
11:30
whether it's like the last 20 minutes, the last 10 minutes of
11:33
like, OK, is the heavy hitter going to do the thing and get
11:37
the winner before the game ends. And so when I was first watching
11:41
City take on Saint Polton on match Day 2IN Austria and St.
11:46
Polton goes ahead shortly after halftime, credit to them.
11:50
Fair play to them. They took advantage of City,
11:52
kind of fallen asleep in front of the goal on two different
11:54
occasions, but then watching City get that back, claw their
11:59
way back into the match, that to me is a good signal of a team
12:05
that is really, really hard to beat no matter the
12:08
circumstances. Absolutely.
12:10
I mean, I think the city can just do it a bunch of different
12:12
ways. I mean, against St.
12:14
Bolton, you look at that Alana Kennedy Wolf kit, I don't think
12:19
that I don't think that was on the on the old scouting report.
12:21
It's like let's we got we got to look out for a lot of from 30
12:24
plus yards out top quarter across the goalkeeper,
12:26
incredible strike in the conversation for one of the
12:28
goals of the weekend. But I mean, I don't know, the
12:30
City team does get kind of like a a level play from a lot of
12:34
players really consistently. I think you can start from the
12:37
back as well. Alexandria Greenwood, Caspari, I
12:41
think they've been rock solid. And then Yui Hasegawa, like it's
12:44
like. You know it.
12:45
It's sort of like a worry free zone.
12:47
So when you've got that kind of core cooking like that, I don't
12:51
want to say the score doesn't matter, but whoever's leading on
12:54
the scoreboard doesn't necessarily mean that team is in
12:56
control of the match. And I think when you've got that
12:59
set of players, it just felt like City was always in control
13:02
of that match, was going to find a way one way or the other.
13:05
I got to give her a shot at as well.
13:06
Talked about her with Leanne as well.
13:08
Lauren Hemp, Awesome. I mean, I just continue to be
13:10
blown away by her just tenacity. It's not like an unhinged wild
13:16
tenacity. It looks targeted and she's just
13:19
like, she just looks like she shot out of a cannon in whatever
13:21
direction she's going. Like, I don't know.
13:23
I don't understand how a player can just be running full speed
13:26
at all times but also within control.
13:28
Yeah, it's a. That's a great way to put it.
13:30
I mean, it is just a a laser focus and then an anticipation.
13:35
Like on top of that focus and that tenacity that she is like
13:38
it's always seemingly just challenging for the ball when
13:41
she runs. The high press defenders are
13:43
just like they're never in for a good time or an easy time with
13:47
her out on the pitch. I want to say this because I
13:49
mean, you talk about hemp. Glad you mentioned the back line
13:51
plus UE because that's obviously a huge key to what city does.
13:56
I know you're the resident stats guy.
13:58
I'm going to throw this around here.
14:00
So since match week one of the WSLI went back and looked at
14:05
City's XG in both league play and Champions League play,
14:09
there's no XG data for their Champions League qualifying
14:13
matches versus Perry FC. Fairly confident they did pretty
14:15
well in XG in those two matches. But in those in those matches.
14:19
So ever since we got to the group stage and match week one
14:22
of the WSL, Manchester City has a total XG of 12.
14:27
Now I know you. You have your thoughts about XG
14:29
and you prefer the real GRG, if you will, their RG in that in
14:35
that stretch also 12. So they're they basically, you
14:39
know, they have the quality up top.
14:41
So when you you have this good defense, you're sweeping away
14:44
the ball a lot of times. Again, I didn't love the two
14:47
goals they conceded to Saint Bolton, But when they are
14:49
sweeping the ball away and you are getting the ball up to
14:51
Lauren hemp, Viv Medema, I mean, come on now, Bunny Shaw, Chloe
14:55
Kelly's up there. Alba Fuji know now Jess Park is
14:59
like running show and just running with great pace and a
15:02
lot of a lot of skill and anticipation of her own, kind of
15:05
like passing players open. Mary Fowler was absolutely
15:08
incredible against STP. Fowler was awesome against
15:11
Barcelona, especially in the first half.
15:13
You're just able to convert on your chances.
15:16
And so I thought, I thought it was it was funny to see the XG
15:18
and the RG kind of match up in those.
15:20
In those cases, they're sharp, yeah.
15:22
There's there's no other way to put it.
15:24
And I think like it's funny because like what you is doing
15:27
kind of like on the on the defensive side of the field, I
15:29
feel like just parks doing the same thing offensively in the
15:32
middle of the park, you know, just bossing, super slippery.
15:35
Nothing you can do. Just going to find a way.
15:37
Just find a way to get to her spots.
15:39
I've been really blown away too by just park and just kind of
15:42
how productive she's been. I want to talk a little bit
15:43
about Hammerby though. I mean, this is a side that that
15:46
you've got to take on and back-to-back.
15:48
So what are we looking at? Yeah, the same, same, same
15:50
couple dates here. November 12th for the 1st,
15:52
November 21st for the second. What you pick up from the
15:55
Hammerby's first couple of matches and and what are you
15:57
going to be looking for when they take on your side?
16:00
What do you take from losing 9 to nothing to Barcelona?
16:03
That's pretty tough. You go to the Estadi de Johan
16:06
Kroy and you just get absolutely smashed pretty much from 10
16:11
minutes on. I think that's when when the
16:13
first goal may have been scored. I just don't think there's a
16:16
single thing that you can really prepare for when you play the
16:21
title holders in their first home match back in the Champions
16:26
League and they're coming off A2 nil loss away in the Champions.
16:30
Like you're like dead team walking going into Barcelona at
16:36
that point. Totally agree.
16:37
I mean, I think we were excited about this hammer beside for
16:39
sure they did kind of keep it to three mil at halftime.
16:43
Not terrible. And I think the third one was
16:45
Alexia right right before the half.
16:48
The real question is gonna be one of groups of Men in Blazers
16:51
terminology here. What's the bounce back ability
16:53
for this Hammer B side? And I think they do have some
16:56
things working for them. So I mentioned the dates when
16:58
match day three kicks off November 12th.
17:00
Hammer B season ends November 9th.
17:03
So they've got two more matches and Adamos Fenskin.
17:06
They're currently three points behind Hakkin, two matches left
17:08
to go. They've got a better goal
17:10
differential than Hakkin. So I think if they can clear the
17:13
bar in these next two, it's pretty much only Champions
17:16
League from there. If you're a Hammer B fan, that's
17:19
got to be something that you got to be a bit hopeful about.
17:21
Yeah, totally. And I think when they when they
17:23
go and play at Joyce Stadium against City, you know, they're
17:26
going to try to absorb Cities attack.
17:28
I think they're going to play a level of underdog football and
17:31
then they just got to try to get the ball into dangerous areas,
17:33
you know. Vilda Hassand, Asado Miyagawa,
17:36
Ellen Vongerheim, Julie Blochstad and Katinka Tomberg,
17:40
who, you know, scored a hat trick against Rosen, our old
17:43
pals Rosengaard from last year's Champions League at the weekend.
17:47
Tomberg just continuously looks impressive every time she's on
17:51
the field. They got to get the ball to them
17:54
in some dangerous areas. And we saw, you know, City
17:56
conceded the two goals to STP. It's a much improved St.
18:00
Polton. I, I like a lot of things about
18:02
that club right now and I think Hammer B, if we, if we want to
18:05
talk about bounce back ability, I think they have some, it's
18:09
just a really tall order to say, hey, what's your bounce back
18:13
ability look like in Manchester during the Champions League?
18:17
Yeah, you mentioned that City defense, so they've conceded in
18:20
three straight, and that was after four straight clean
18:22
sheets, including five out of their first six.
18:24
So, yeah, not sure if that's a trend, but that's going to be
18:26
something we're looking at. Either way, I think Hammer B is
18:29
going to definitely show up for this one.
18:31
All right, let's go to head third pick in the draft, give me
18:34
Roma Leone. I mean, this is going to be
18:36
fireworks, I think from jump. I love that it opens in Roma.
18:40
I want to start with them. So Roma, they've got the best
18:42
goal differential of the teams on 6 points.
18:44
They're second in the tournament, shots on target with
18:46
21 and two matches. I mean, they held Wolfsburg
18:49
scoreless even though they gave up 23 shots, 5 on target against
18:54
Galatasaray, hostile environment.
18:56
They notched six goals to kind of like crank up that goal
18:59
differential. And then we can also rewind back
19:01
to qualifying when they took on Cervette from Switzerland, who I
19:05
think a lot of people were kind of sneaky interested in.
19:07
Just mush them. 2:50 in aggregate.
19:10
Got to give a shout out to Manuel Giuliano.
19:12
She's playing like the absolute best player on the planet.
19:16
Give me one second because I could have sent you this real
19:18
quick. This is courtesy of FB.
19:20
This is courtesy of FB Ref. Let me know when you get it.
19:22
OK, yeah, that looks, that looks CGH ish.
19:27
For our audio only audience, but we're just looking at where
19:31
Giuliano stacks up against her peers.
19:33
FB ref shout out to them. They give players a rating from
19:36
1 to 99. I'm just going to go down the
19:37
list. 99979998999999 she is all in.
19:43
She had a goal to assist versus Galatasaray.
19:45
She's first in the tournament in goals plus assists per 90 with
19:49
2.4. I know it's only been two
19:51
matches, but that's a fun stat. 1.44 XG per 90, also first in
19:56
the tournament. Real G though she's in 6th.
19:59
Only 1.2 real G per 90, but not to worry, Valentin Giginti, her
20:03
running mate is 4th in that category. 1.34 per 90.
20:07
And again, we're talking real G here.
20:09
Roma, the only team with two players in the top eight.
20:11
Also wanted to give a shout out to Emilia Javi, 32 year old
20:14
Norwegian who's been an absolute beast.
20:16
Also in contention for goal of match day 2.
20:19
She had an absolute rocket. I think it's still rising
20:22
totally. Across the goalkeeper, top
20:24
corner, little bit of Dijon on it.
20:26
She's one of three players who've notched at least ten
20:28
shots, along with Pernil Harder and Kati Diani.
20:31
This room aside, man, they're just impressive.
20:33
Shout out to Javi too because when she scored it just a stone
20:37
face just like Yep that's what I do like that it was so business
20:42
like I was like good and is she mad that she scored like that?
20:47
He's a killer. Yeah, absolutely fantastic.
20:49
I mean, you're totally right. Like when we talk about Roma, we
20:52
talked about these two players a lot last year, but Valentina
20:55
Giacinti and Manuela Giuliano, these are two of the absolute
20:59
elite players over in Europe, no question about it.
21:02
And now if you have a player like Javi really kind of rise up
21:06
or you have a player like Evelyn VN, really kind of rise up to
21:09
compliment those two. This team just has a shot
21:13
against anybody in this tournament.
21:16
It is just it's going to be really, really tough to compete
21:21
against Leon. No arguments here man.
21:23
So looking at Leon, how about 106 shot creating actions?
21:29
Sure, over two matches. Okay, for first of the
21:32
tournament. All right, Yeah.
21:35
Hard, hard to wrap your head around that.
21:37
That's 10 more than Barcelona. But who is second in that
21:39
category AS robot? Let's fucking go with 99.
21:43
It's going to be some fireworks, as mentioned.
21:45
So who on this Leon side is really cooking offensively?
21:48
You got to look at Melchi du Marnay.
21:50
She notched 23 of those shot creating actions again in two
21:54
matches. I mean, that's like really hard
21:55
to wrap your head around. You can also rewind all the way
21:58
back to the beginning of the round where her absolute dime to
22:01
Wendy Renard from about 35 yards out basically kicked off the
22:04
scoring. She was so far away from Renard,
22:07
she was like the seventh player to reach Renard in the
22:09
celebration. That's a good stat, I like that.
22:13
I know Giuliano tied for second shot creating actions with 20.
22:16
So I mean, I think the offense is just going to be flowing
22:19
pretty much in every direction. Also had to give it a quick
22:21
shout out to Vanessa Giel who is 11 for 11 on passes over 30
22:26
yards. So she's letting it RIP as soon
22:29
as she wins back possession. I mean, this Leon side feels
22:32
like they've got something to prove, but I don't know.
22:35
On the flip side, Roma feels like a team that could be kind
22:38
of like elevating up like into this upper echelon.
22:41
I know they're not quite having this success in Syriafemineal,
22:44
but you look at their ages as well.
22:46
I mean, this is a team of like rock solid veterans, as you
22:49
mentioned, like Emily Javi, 32 years old, been there, done
22:52
that. Saki Kumagai, 34, GHT and LA and
22:55
Illinari, they're 30. And then they've got a whole
22:58
fleet of great players, like in that 2627 range, Giuliano, VN
23:04
did, Julie, Elmo, Hawa, Sassoko, and then they can also bring on
23:07
the wunderkind Julia Dragoni, 17 year old rock star.
23:11
So they've got a lot of different moves that they can go
23:13
to, but yet Lyon absolutely cooking, Haran's cooking,
23:17
Matozan's cooking. This is going to be a battle.
23:20
Can I hit you with a bit of a strange narrative piece of this?
23:24
Maybe it's not that strange, but I think you had mentioned this
23:27
match is going to happen on November 13th, the second day of
23:32
match day three. Can we assign any value to the
23:37
idea that Manchester City Football Club, Arsenal and
23:42
Barcelona play on November 12th? And I would assume that, no
23:47
offense to you, at least Barcelona and Manchester City
23:50
are going to win. Come on man.
23:54
Free, free shot and likely, I think likely Arsenal is going to
23:59
win. Does Leon kind of look at that
24:01
result, especially because Leon probably honestly, Lyon fans
24:05
would probably look at me and be like, go ahead.
24:07
How many Champions League have you guys won?
24:09
None. OK, maybe you take a seat on
24:10
this one. Maybe they look at that
24:12
Barcelona match and the Lyon players go, OK, bet you guys
24:16
beat St. Poland.
24:17
Maybe you beat them five to nothing, 6 to nothing.
24:19
So it, you know, could get ugly over there.
24:20
Watch what we do to Roma, who's one of the better teams in this
24:23
competition. Honestly, I just don't see it.
24:25
I don't see that happening. Wow.
24:27
They're playing really intense and they just look so much
24:30
sharper and more confident than last year.
24:33
Like I think there was a huge benefit to them bringing back,
24:36
bringing the band back together. Pretty much.
24:37
It's like mostly the same team. And, you know, we saw, you know,
24:40
just to kind of rewind all the way back to the top of the show
24:43
Braun last year. You.
24:44
Know Braun took a point from Lyon.
24:46
Obviously. Snow game.
24:47
Heart of a lion. Sports movie shit, Yes, go.
24:51
You already know, but apologies to our friends the Bergen, but
24:54
this Roma side looks like the better, you know, better side
24:57
than than Ron was last year. And they're real stakes for
25:00
Roma. They're sitting at the top of
25:01
the group and I think they're ready to kind of make a leap.
25:05
You know, I'm going to kind of throw out a tepid take here and
25:08
say I feel very confident that Roma takes a point, maybe a
25:12
couple, maybe 3 from this reverse fixture.
25:15
I don't think that they get blanked in these two matches.
25:18
All right, so maybe a win in one of the two matches, but also
25:22
possibly, maybe at least, at least a draw.
25:24
Can we say at least a draw? At least a draw.
25:26
Yeah, I'm out. OK, at least a draw.
25:29
I'll hang my Rep on that. Let's go.
25:31
All right, I like it. It's funny to say, like we're
25:33
talking about, you know, Champions League group stage.
25:36
Lyon is a giant. I mean, you already know what
25:39
time it is with with the pedigree and the roster, the
25:42
history, but that's why you play the matches.
25:44
I I like. I like how in you are on Roma's
25:48
development, and I think it's played out so far in the results
25:51
that we've seen. So I don't think you're foolish
25:53
for thinking that. Yeah, man, excited about that
25:55
one. Also excited to hear who you're
25:57
taking fourth in our draft here. I think there's one pretty
26:01
obvious pick here that I would be, I would be foolish if I did
26:04
not make this pick. And I think we got to look at
26:07
Real Madrid versus FC-20 because those are going to be two
26:12
matches back-to-back. You talk about the chippiness
26:15
that happens, I mean, let's go these teams playing each other
26:21
and there being a lot of chippiness and physicality.
26:24
That's like if we're going to talk about betting that's like a
26:26
-, 800 like that's happening. There's going to be some shoving
26:31
at some point in these two matches between these two teams.
26:35
Your squad Las Blancas Real Madrid go looking good man
26:40
Melanie Leopold's Evan Navarro senior Brune Caroline Weir.
26:45
This is not last year's Real Madrid.
26:48
There is a lot of quality. Their last victory was their
26:51
first win in the group stage in six matches.
26:55
Wow. I believe you refer to that as
26:58
growth. Totally.
26:59
And you couldn't even zoom in all of last year's group stage.
27:03
Five goals for Real Madrid in two matches.
27:05
This year, six goals. So they're already ramping up
27:10
their their production for sure. Their shot on target rate jumped
27:14
from 34% to 42%. And then their goal conversion
27:17
rate, basically how many shots on target are they cashing on
27:20
33%, up from 23% last year. So pretty much across the board.
27:25
I mean, you already know the the kind of injection of talent that
27:29
they saw, whether it's players come back from injury or new
27:31
signings that I think have really worked out in a huge way.
27:33
This Real Madrid side looks for Real, both of these teams on
27:36
three points as well, so there's a ton to play for.
27:39
Essentially, if you think Chelsea's got that one seed
27:42
locked up, then this reverse fixture is for the remaining
27:46
spot. Yeah, in the knockout stage.
27:48
So this is going to be some big time football. 100% I mean one
27:52
thing I want to I want to look at here and this is going to
27:55
sound real nitpicky, so my apologies to Linda Kaiseto, any
28:00
Colombian pals that we might have on the Internet.
28:02
There were multiple moments on match day two against Celtic
28:06
where Celtic, you know, they hung in as best they could.
28:08
We've talked about like these clubs kind of being different
28:11
places in their footballing journey.
28:12
There were multiple points during that match where Kaiseto
28:15
was out on the left wing and she is very obviously trying to get
28:20
the ball onto her strong foot, onto her right foot.
28:23
And the defender just had the scouting report in their head
28:26
very clearly. It was like, I'm not letting you
28:28
do that, I will, I will not let you do that.
28:31
And Kaiseto is a great passer with her left foot, and she was
28:34
firing in some crosses, but she was a little hesitant, it looked
28:38
like, to take shots on goal with that left foot.
28:42
I just want to monitor that as this goes, like, how much can
28:46
the book be out on a young player like that?
28:49
And the on the reverse side, she is a young, unbelievably dynamic
28:53
player. Wait until she gets that left
28:55
foot. If she's able to develop it then
28:57
she might turn into the player goes yeah, yeah, I'll just start
28:59
firing near post with my left foot and let's see if your
29:02
keeper can stop it. Yeah.
29:04
And that that might actually happen on November 13th.
29:07
She's just a super computer player that I, I wouldn't, I
29:10
wouldn't put it past her to be like, OK, this is what I'm going
29:12
to work on in these 2-3 weeks. But I mean, she looks so fast
29:17
and so quick to process, so just unholdable, unguardable that I
29:22
think like to your point, once she harnesses all of that power,
29:26
she's definitely on track to get into that best player in the
29:29
world conversation. I'm hoping this is the
29:31
tournament where, much like the 23 World Cup, where she
29:35
definitely announced herself on that Colombian side, where she
29:37
can announce herself on the European stage.
29:40
Yeah, no doubt. I mean, just so fast, so smart.
29:43
Can't say enough about her. She has a role to play.
29:46
And these are massive matches for Real Madrid.
29:49
I mean, F say Twente is a really good side out of the
29:52
Netherlands, but you know, they weren't around last year and
29:55
Real Madrid had such a sour experience last year that Madrid
29:59
has to be looking at these two fixtures like, OK, this is our
30:02
time. We're level on points with
30:04
Twente. We have to separate ourselves
30:06
from them right now. This is the only time for us to
30:09
really do that. Maybe in a in a on a draft where
30:13
you have two neutrals, not an Arsenal supporter and not a
30:17
Manchester City supporter, I think this probably would have
30:20
gone higher in the draft. I think that's fair to say.
30:22
I mean, this is going to be this is a great even match up for
30:24
sure. And 20 we you know, we talked
30:26
about that in shows past, you know, championship DNA.
30:29
They play like champions. I think they played Chelsea to
30:33
at the very least a draw in the last 30 minutes of that that
30:37
match, you know, obviously and and you know, like, I think
30:39
there's no reason to take your foot off the gas either.
30:41
Goal differential matters. You know, you kind of want to
30:43
kind of separate yourself as much as possible and 20 looked
30:45
really great once they kind of settled into that game over two
30:48
matches. They're ten shots on target from
30:50
19 attempts. So they're pretty clinical.
30:53
You know, once they get a look, they've turned that into three
30:56
goals. Nikki Van Dyke, she's got four
30:58
shots, four shots on target, one goal.
31:00
So you already know what time it is there.
31:01
And then I found some interesting stats as well.
31:04
So defenders and a Knoll and Liska Carlier you look at their
31:08
long pass attempts, they're one and two in terms of long passes
31:12
completed in the entire group stage field, you know, so you
31:15
already know what kind of ball they're trying to play.
31:17
And an old 25 for 33 Carlier 24 of 27.
31:21
And again, this is according to FB ref long passes defined as
31:24
passes of 30 plus yards or more. So I think if they can get that
31:28
going against Real Madrid, that's what they want to do.
31:30
That's that's the recipe that I think they're going to bring to
31:32
the table. And then upfront, I think they
31:34
can be dangerous. 100% and carlier had that great assist in
31:39
on match day one against Celtic, long ball over the top,
31:43
excellent passer again out of Arizona State.
31:45
You know, just your just your standard Arizona State Sun Devil
31:49
playing in the Champions League. That's how that works.
31:51
I will say another thing like you talk about them playing as a
31:54
champion and and having this DNA from air to Izzy Brown.
31:58
I think it's really interesting. I was looking at them on FB ref
32:01
as we have cited one of our go to stat machines, the stat
32:05
databases that we look at. First I sorted by goals and then
32:08
I noticed I was like, oh man, everybody who has either a goal
32:11
or an assist is I either 25 or younger.
32:15
And then I kept looking down the roster, this roster, the oldest
32:20
player on their team is Kaylee Van Doren, who is only a few
32:25
months removed from her 25th birthday.
32:28
I think the average age of this team is not higher than 23.
32:33
Like, this is a young, young team.
32:35
They have a few teenagers on the team.
32:36
A couple of the teenagers are goalkeepers who don't get much
32:39
playing time. And they play from at least what
32:42
we have seen. And again, we're not going to
32:44
pretend like we're experts in narrative.
32:45
Izzy Brown It's a little tricky to try to watch their league
32:48
matches over here. You know, that goes.
32:50
But they play smarter than their age.
32:53
And I don't want to sound pessimistic about this, but
32:56
like, yeah, I know you've heard the cliche.
32:58
We've heard of watching sports all our lives.
33:00
Sometimes announcers and broadcasters love to say they're
33:03
too young to know how big of a spot this is.
33:06
Like they they don't, they don't even know they should be feeling
33:08
the pressure. That can work in certain spots.
33:12
It can work for a game. It might work for a stretch of
33:14
like a game or two. And I guess we're only talking
33:17
about two fixtures going up against Real Madrid.
33:20
But eventually the experience, experience and the smarts and
33:23
the know how that does catch up to you.
33:25
It's no fault to them. The only way you get that stuff
33:29
is by playing in these important matches.
33:31
And so I just, I, I have that in the back of my head.
33:34
Will that catch up to them at some point in this group stage?
33:37
I think it's possible they're they're kind of like the anti
33:39
aroma in that sense. Yeah, even though they are young
33:43
physically, I mean, whatever they're doing, strength and
33:45
conditioning wise, yeah, they're killing.
33:48
Give that person a raise, whoever's in charge of that
33:51
department, because they look tough, man.
33:54
Like they, you know, they, they kind of stared Chelsea down.
33:57
They look big, they look strong, they look fast and they know how
34:00
they want to play. Like are they going to be able
34:02
to get it done? Do they have the skill level
34:04
player for player? Like we're going to see how they
34:05
stack up against Madrid. But physically, I don't think
34:08
there's any question. And I think that probably, you
34:11
know, Chelsea's obviously playing in the WSL, so they've
34:13
got a a big workload. But that could be the reason why
34:16
20 looks so good the last third of that match just because, I
34:19
mean, it could just be a physicality.
34:21
The advantage, Yeah, I like that.
34:23
And it's only a matter of time. I mean, I know you obviously got
34:26
pals down in Florida. You're a Miami native.
34:29
Eventually the Miami Heat is going to look at FC Twente's
34:32
strength and conditioning team and be like, hey, who do you got
34:34
over there that we can recruit? Because you already know Miami
34:36
Heat are good at that kind of thing.
34:37
So hell yeah, they'll just go and pluck.
34:39
Yeah, I'm speaking out. Let me.
34:43
Give a squat shout here of course.
34:46
Let's go to head 5th pick of the draft.
34:48
Give me the team that definitely caught my eye in qualifying.
34:52
We haven't quite seen them hit their stride.
34:54
Full, full, full Galatasaray, Wolfsburg November 13th and the
34:59
20th. Really looking forward to this
35:00
matchup. Really looking forward to see
35:02
what Wolfsburg's going to be able to do.
35:04
We talked about this a couple weeks back.
35:06
There was going to be a good team or two sitting on 0 points
35:08
after two matches. That just so happens to be
35:11
Wolfsburg now when you look at how productive or not productive
35:14
their offense has been, how about 35 shots?
35:17
Zero goals for this squad with all that talent.
35:20
Not sure if it's bad luck, not sure if it's just, you know,
35:23
maybe pushing too hard what other teams are doing against
35:26
them defensively. Galtastri probably exactly what
35:29
the doctor order for this. Wolfsburg signed.
35:31
Kind of excited about this one. I I really want to see if
35:33
Wolfsburg is going to be able to get things back on track here.
35:35
I think they will, and I feel like I've learned a lesson and
35:38
I've realized this is our Champions League show.
35:40
I know some of our pals from around the world don't tune into
35:43
our NWSL shows. What I know, I can't believe it
35:46
either, but early in the NWSL season, the team that plays out
35:52
in San Francisco Bay FC, they employ both Rachel Kundanagi and
35:57
Azisa Oshwala. And I said early in the season
36:00
when they were down, I said I still think they could make the
36:03
playoffs. Obviously, American style, we
36:05
have playoffs over here. I said I think they could still
36:08
squeak into the playoffs because the attack is good.
36:10
And then there was like they had another loss after that and I
36:13
was a coward, a huge coward. And I backed off of it and I was
36:17
like, you know what, I'm coming up on Bay FC and I was wrong.
36:21
They're going to make the playoffs.
36:23
And so I say all of that to say this.
36:25
I said Wolfsburg was going to go on the Revenge Tour.
36:28
I said they have enough attacking talent.
36:29
They have enough talent across the roster in general.
36:32
I realize they're sitting on 0 points right now.
36:34
You gave some great stats on our last show about how you got to
36:37
get at least to like 9 or 10 points if you want to think
36:40
about making it out of the group stage.
36:42
So I'm here to tell you the Wolfsburg Revenge Tour starts on
36:47
match day three. They're going to win both
36:49
matches versus Gala Tasra. That'll get them to six, and
36:52
then they're going to beat Roma. They're going to get to 9.
36:57
I'm making the prediction right now.
37:00
They're going to rattle off three wins in a row in this
37:02
tournament, get to 9 points, and then anything can happen from
37:04
there. That would be incredibly
37:07
interesting because then, you know, Roma's got Gala one more
37:10
time. Yep.
37:11
And then Wolfsburg. That would be the the decider.
37:14
Wolfsburg will have another one against Leon.
37:16
That's the tricky part at the end.
37:18
Yeah, that's where it gets. That's where it gets a little
37:20
shaky. Either way, they're going to
37:22
have to get things back on track.
37:24
Galtasaray. I mean, Roma cooked them.
37:26
You know, I think like they, they really, I think I texted
37:29
you this the day of the match. Galtasaray played tougher
37:32
against Lyon than they did against Roma.
37:34
Roma gave them a harder time. I'm not, you know, transit to
37:37
property. Who know?
37:37
I'm not. I'm not sure what to take away
37:38
from it. We'll see.
37:40
But I think that's something to keep an eye on, man.
37:42
Because I think like, all of a sudden now, if you're Wolfsburg,
37:45
there's a lot of pressure. You know, you've got to go to
37:47
Turkey. Hostile environment.
37:49
You know you've got teenagers smoking in the stands as we
37:51
covered that. I love it, Streak one.
37:54
I love it. What a tournament.
37:56
Yeah, that's a tough team. You know, Andreas Tashkova, she
38:00
gets on on the score sheet, I think for Gautasray's first
38:03
Champions League goal, if I'm not mistaken, definitely for
38:05
their first group stage goal. You know, she's a handful.
38:07
Cut that oozma. You already know what time it is
38:09
with her. I think they're going to play
38:10
Wolfsburg tough. This is definitely not going to
38:12
be a walk. I absolutely expect the trend to
38:15
continue with the shrinking goal differentials.
38:17
You know, obviously Barcelona Hammerby aside, I think we're
38:20
going to continue to see tough, hard fought matches, especially
38:23
as the group stage kind of gets deeper and deeper here because a
38:26
lot of teams, you know, realistically they're still in
38:28
it. Yeah, I think that's a great
38:29
point. And I wouldn't think that
38:31
Wolfsburg is going to blow out Galatasaray, especially not in
38:33
Turkey. But I just think the talent is
38:35
there. They got a big win recently over
38:37
Bayern Munich and league play. I think they're starting to kind
38:40
of right the ship. And honestly, like, if we talk
38:43
about like just what the doctor ordered, no disrespect to
38:46
Galatasaray, like you said, like Stashkova and the attack there,
38:50
they can be threatening. But I think if you're Wolfsburg,
38:52
you just have to look in the mirror.
38:54
Beerenstein has not yet scored in the Champions League.
38:57
She's putting up a good amount of goals already in frown
39:00
Bundesliga. Time to make it happen in the
39:02
Champions League. It's really, I mean, it's scary
39:05
hours for Wolfsburg. With your pedigree as a former
39:07
Champions League winner, you can't go out of this tournament
39:11
without collecting it at least six points.
39:13
And if you're going to get those six points, you you probably
39:16
should get them against Gala and then see where you go from
39:18
there. All right man, you're on record.
39:20
I love it. I love the wolves for pick.
39:22
I mean, I, I, I called Wolfsburg to get to the group stage before
39:25
before the tournament even start, before the group stage
39:27
even started might have been a little bit premature just
39:30
because obviously Roma's in that mix.
39:31
I think when you look at Leo and Roma, Wolfsburg 3 teams for two
39:35
spots. This is essentially why we watch
39:36
Champions League. Let's go to head though 6th pick
39:39
in the draft. We got 3 matchups to choose
39:42
from. Where do you want to go from?
39:43
Here I want to talk about Barcelona.
39:45
They're good at football. Yep, they won a football match 9
39:48
to nothing against Hammer B Hammer B is not a bullshit team,
39:51
and they beat them nine to nothing and they just started
39:54
pouring in goals at like the 80th minute.
39:57
They're like, can we add four more here quickly?
40:00
Or however many they scored, They are goal differential
40:02
destroyers. Yeah, there was a time in Liga F
40:06
earlier this season where Real Madrid was top of the table, and
40:10
then Barsa just rattles off like a 10. 12:50 victory and then a
40:13
seven to nil victory. Or like, you know, whatever it
40:16
looked like. Carolina Graham Hansen is
40:19
playing football as though she is absolutely furious with me
40:24
for not naming her and my top three players in the world on
40:28
the Women's Football show with Leanne Sanderson.
40:30
When Leanne asked me my top three players and I did not name
40:33
CGH, you, to your credit, did of course.
40:36
Named her first, by the way, just just so I'm on.
40:38
I want to be on record just in case you've missed the episode
40:40
with. Leanne a good call and she's
40:42
playing like it. I mean, St.
40:45
Polton and again, an improved St.
40:48
Polton who can look threatening in spots and is able to play
40:52
physical, especially right in front of goal where they kind of
40:54
took advantage of city on two of those chances.
40:57
I just think that they are going to have to hold on for dear life
41:01
in these two in these two fixtures.
41:04
And honestly, like I agree with you that the talent gap is
41:07
closing in in all of world football.
41:10
The goal differential is going to start to close in all of
41:13
world football. I think St.
41:15
Polton would feel pretty OK about themselves.
41:18
I think they have the right to feel OK about themselves if they
41:21
leave these two fixtures with a goal differential of -8 because
41:27
I think that Barcelona is going to lay it on.
41:30
And honestly, I don't, you know, obviously I like a little
41:33
hyperbole. I would not be surprised if
41:35
Barcelona leaves these two fixtures with a goal
41:39
differential just against STP of like plus 15.
41:43
The plus 8 Interesting because on the year so far there are 36
41:47
goals for five against. The gold differential in in each
41:51
game is over 4. It's like 4.4.
41:54
Do some quick math here. 4.43 is there gold differential.
41:58
So you would expect an 8.86 if I if my math is correct in those
42:03
two matches against like Bolden. I pulled some other interesting
42:06
stats here. I did a little boy, did a little
42:07
bit of analysis here. I got the Apple two EE warmed
42:10
up. You know, I, I, I.
42:11
Loaded my paper in the printer with A with the holes on the
42:14
side. You got the dot matrix, you
42:15
know, really cooking. I looked at the goal
42:17
differentials in each match across Liga, FWSL and NWSL.
42:23
So as expected, the NWSL goal differential on average in a
42:27
given match is 1.31. Pretty close.
42:30
WSL is 1.45 Liga F is 1, 1.81 right off the bat, you can see
42:35
that, you know, league F if we just take that as an indicator,
42:38
a little bit less competitive. Now what I find interesting here
42:43
is Barcelona's chasing city. Now City's going to have a, you
42:46
know, a little bit of a haul through the WSL where where
42:48
things are tougher and I think the attrition is going to start
42:51
to kick in. Ours is going to be looking at
42:53
the City side like, hey, like let's put our foot on the gas.
42:55
Let's crank up the school differential.
42:57
We're going to meet city again. Barcelona's got to be thinking
42:59
we do not want to be the two seed because if you're the two
43:02
seed, chances are you got to play three straight 1 seeds to
43:06
win the whole thing or even just to reach the final.
43:09
You know, you'll have a one seed in the quarters, probably one in
43:11
the semis and then you're probably going to be the one in
43:13
the in the in the final. Much, much too much tougher Rd.
43:16
to get. There's two seed best team in
43:18
the world. We already know that you know
43:19
the story there, but that's got to be something that they're
43:21
thinking about and let the last fun stat I have Houston dash
43:25
this year, they've had nine different goal scores.
43:27
Houston dash last year, eight different goal scores.
43:30
Barcelona versus Hammerby 7 different goals, scores just.
43:34
Ridiculous. Sure.
43:36
Yeah. OK, Yeah.
43:37
We can compare Barcelona to the Houston Dash.
43:40
I think that's fair. No, no, no.
43:42
That's fantastic. I love that.
43:44
Shout out to the Houston Dash. You guys can do something.
43:46
Tarsiane. Great young player, Brazilian
43:49
defender, one of the better center backs in the leg.
43:51
Balandora you know finalists, right?
43:54
You know, I gave you the Wolfsburg take.
43:56
Let me, I'm going to crack a beer ski to beer show for this
43:59
celebration of life. All right, here's the other take
44:04
on the goal differential between Barcelona and Manchester City.
44:08
It's over. You can't even consider it if
44:10
you're Manchester City, it doesn't matter anymore like
44:12
that. You have to go to Barcelona.
44:16
And now you have this amazing 2 nil victory at Joy Stadium in
44:20
Manchester. That's great.
44:21
Bully for you. When you go to Estadi de
44:25
Johancroif and you play Barcelona, you have to get a
44:29
result in order to make sure that you don't end up level on
44:33
points with them. Because the the gold
44:34
differential conversation that's in the rearview mirror, you have
44:37
absolutely, positively 0% chance of winning that against
44:42
Barcelona. They just score too much.
44:45
You cannot keep up with them. If you're Manchester City, it
44:48
gives you something to play for in that final match of the group
44:51
stage. Absolutely.
44:52
The beauty of City getting that first win is like we're going to
44:56
get tense football all the way through this entire group stage
44:59
and 10 was going to be awesome. The last thing I want to mention
45:02
about Barcelona, this is just an embarrassment of riches.
45:04
As you mentioned, there was a play where I think Bomati puts
45:07
in a cross right to Eva Payor. She like very
45:11
uncharacteristically whiffs on it, but Claudia penis like
45:14
standing right behind her and does the exact same sweeping
45:17
motion. Just drill ashes at home.
45:20
It looked like, you know, you know, in Madden when like the
45:22
two players are like do following the same, you know,
45:25
computer like track. I was just like, this is like
45:28
pretty eerie. And then, yeah, shout out to
45:30
Claudia Pina, who I think on any other team in the world is
45:35
essentially one of the focal points on offense.
45:37
She is so good and so deadly. I just love her game.
45:41
I, I, I want her to get more minutes.
45:43
I I hope they can find a more substantive role for her because
45:46
she's just awesome to watch. A. 100% I mean, just add her to
45:49
the list of just players that you just cycle through.
45:52
They can get a goal at any time. Doesn't matter what's happening
45:56
in the match. I mean, you think about the
45:58
synchronized tacklers or the divers in in Madden, it's just
46:02
like everybody on Barcelona knows what to do and they know
46:05
like where the pass is going to be, especially if it's coming
46:08
from bone with T, you know, it's unbelievably assistant.
46:10
You know where where to swing by your.
46:12
I think uncharacteristic is a good way to put it, but don't
46:15
matter. Her teammates there to pick her
46:16
up 3 or 4 yards right behind her.
46:18
Yep, easy 3Z, let's go ahead. 7th pick in the draft.
46:22
I'm going to go with one of the teams in my group, give me
46:25
Bayern, Valeranga. I think this is going to be a
46:27
sneaky fun one. We talked about Bayern, we're
46:30
going through UVA's results here.
46:32
Bayern just looked better than Juventus pretty much at every
46:36
facet of the game. And I think they look, I mean,
46:38
for lack of a better word, serious about this tournament.
46:41
They got caught up in the group of life last year, that Group C
46:44
with all those like magical teams that all had a shot to get
46:47
through. This year, none of that.
46:49
They smash Arsenal week one. They outclass UVA Week 2.
46:53
Now they get Valarenga in the back-to-back with match day
46:56
three happening at home. So they've got a chance to get
46:58
to 9. I mean, they've got a chance to
47:00
cruise to 9. Realistically, I think when
47:02
Byron drew Arsenal or vice versa, when Arsenal drew Bayern,
47:05
I think Byron was like, hey, let's not fuck around here.
47:08
We need this one seed every match, every minute.
47:10
We want to win basically every match up on the pitch, and
47:13
they're playing like a team that at least wants to go out and do
47:16
that. They've always had the class and
47:19
now the players are playing up to that level.
47:21
Per Neil Harder, four goals in two matches.
47:24
No other player in the fields got more than two goals.
47:26
Wow. So she's doubled, She's doubled
47:28
the field. She's absolutely cooking
47:30
notches. That hat trick and 15 or so
47:32
minutes against Arsenal gets on the scoresheet of getting into
47:35
UAI. Just think Byron's like really,
47:37
they look like a team on the mission. 100% I mean you just
47:41
look at the names on the team sheet.
47:43
Perneal Harder, Clara Buell, Dalman Loman, Georgia Stanway
47:48
has been awesome, Julia, Gavin, Vigo Stotier has been great,
47:51
Gross has been good in goal. Like just an unbelievable array
47:56
of talent. I underestimated them before we
47:59
came into this tournament. You were on it early with Real
48:02
Madrid and Bayern Munich. Talk about two gigantic clubs.
48:06
But these are these are just entities that are not used to
48:09
going out sad in the Champions League, even if they're women's
48:14
clubs are like in different spots in their footballing
48:17
journeys. But Bayern Munich and Madrid are
48:20
both just very clearly on a mission in this Champions League
48:24
to kind of look back at last year and go never again.
48:27
We don't do that anymore. We have the talent, we have the
48:31
infrastructure, we know what to do to compete in this tournament
48:35
and I think Bayern Munich is showing it in spades.
48:38
Absolutely. And I think a couple players
48:40
that haven't really seen a lot of a lot of burn, Jovana
48:42
Damianovich, like Schuler, like these are heavy hitters that you
48:46
know, can't log too many minutes.
48:48
The last quick thing about the Revenge Tour piece, you rewind
48:51
back to last year, all 7 knockout stage matches went to
48:54
the favorite. I don't think we saw any upsets
48:57
in the knockout stage. You could make the case that
48:59
there was only really three upsets for group stage teams not
49:03
making it. You can say, OK, hacking over
49:05
Madrid, that was an upset. I axe over Bayern, huge upset.
49:09
And then maybe you can look at, you know, Benfica and I trek
49:12
Frankfurt and kind of quibble with that.
49:14
So for the most part, it was pretty shocked Now for Bayern to
49:17
have gone out, clearly the biggest failing from a favorite
49:21
last year. So I think that's kind of what
49:23
kind of fueled me coming into the season.
49:25
It's like this, this is a super team that really didn't show up
49:28
last year. They're second in the field in
49:30
terms of passing, just fractions of a percentage point behind
49:33
Barcelona. So they're playing super crisp.
49:35
And then when you look at Valeranga, they're the least
49:38
effective passing team in the field. 67.7% of their pass is
49:42
completed. That is going to make for a very
49:45
long couple of 90 minute affairs against a side like Bayern.
49:49
It's going to be tough sledding for Valeranga, but I mean, there
49:52
there are a lot of things to still like about this side.
49:55
They obviously win the league this year in top Syrian against
50:00
Juventus, even though they lost that match one nil, they did a
50:03
lot of great stuff in that match.
50:04
They won possession. They pretty much did everything
50:06
but score, which obviously pretty important metric.
50:09
And then things kind of got away from them versus Arsenal.
50:11
I just think with Savic, Godo, Thompson, those are good players
50:17
in the attack. Again, I'm going to I'm going to
50:19
encroach on your position as the stats guy here.
50:21
In that match against Arsenal, Savik, Godo and Thompson, they
50:25
combined for four progressive carries in the match and
50:29
unfortunately, that was everything the entire squad was
50:33
able to muster against your Gunners.
50:35
In contrast, Alessia Russo had six progressive carries by
50:39
herself, and then Caitlin, Caitlin Ford, Mariana Caldente,
50:43
and Emily Fox combined for another 9 of aggressive carries
50:47
between the between the three of them.
50:49
So Valeringa, you know, they had a hard time just moving the ball
50:53
up field against Arsenal. I got to say, you know, I, I
50:56
don't want to count them out early, but if they had that kind
51:00
of difficulty against Arsenal, we want to talk about the
51:02
transit of property. It might be real tough sledding
51:06
against Bayern Munich. I think so, yeah.
51:08
They've only managed one goal and I think 34 shots total
51:11
across the two matches. Let me just Fact Check that,
51:14
because that sounds not right. Yeah, Fact Check, Complete 34
51:18
shots over two matches, just six on target, just one goal.
51:22
I think they're going to have to definitely get the efficiency up
51:24
if they want any chance to kind of hang in and and claw away a
51:28
point against Bayern over these two matches here.
51:30
Yeah, and you know what though? It's football and Valarenka are
51:34
champions and they play in a tough league, so we'll see how
51:37
it goes. I mean, you know, crazier things
51:39
have happened for sure. Yeah, and I think like think it
51:41
back to Roma last year, obviously we talked group of
51:43
life. They were on the outside looking
51:45
in along with Bayern. Huge bounce back here for them
51:48
as well. So I think it's great to see
51:50
teams grow on the basis of kind of like playing in this
51:54
tournament, hanging tough, playing it's the big dogs and
51:56
just turning that into growth and maturity for their programs.
52:00
Yeah, no doubt. I mean, it's going to be, it's
52:02
going to be tough sledding going into Munich on match day three,
52:07
but you take him into Norway and then you see what happens on
52:10
match day 4. Love it.
52:12
Yeah, maybe a little snow. It will be mid November, latest
52:15
November. I don't know how I can see.
52:17
I could see it. All right.
52:18
One match up left to hit. Where are you going with your
52:20
8th and final pick? Only one place to go Chelsea
52:24
supporters. Please feel free to yell at us
52:26
in the comments not to take you last pick.
52:29
Celtic versus Chelsea on match day three, November 13th.
52:32
I'm not taking your last pick because we I think you are
52:35
uninterested Chelsea and Celtic fans as I hope to make more
52:39
friends in Scotland as I can. I'm not taking you guys last
52:43
pick because I think you're uninteresting.
52:45
I just think it's going to be really, really, really difficult
52:49
for Celtic. Whether you're playing in
52:51
Glasgow, Scotland or Glasgow, Delaware, Glasgow, KY, Glasgow,
52:56
Missouri, Glasgow Montana, Glasgow, PA or Glasgow,
52:59
Virginia. I think you're going to have a
53:02
very difficult time playing Chelsea Football Club.
53:05
No disrespect, respect to you and where you are in your
53:07
footballing journey. Chelsea looks like they are on
53:10
an absolute mission. You had mentioned Leanne
53:12
Sanderson on her podcast how she moves at a Johanna Ritz and
53:16
Kanaru type of pace when she talks about matches and when she
53:19
goes through her program. Johanna Ritz and Kanaru is an
53:22
absolute world beater right now. I don't think Celtic has an
53:26
answer for her. I don't think any club in the
53:28
world might have an answer for her right now.
53:31
I think if you're Chelsea, you're not going to be happy
53:33
with these two fixtures with anything less than six points
53:37
and probably adding another seven to your goal differential
53:41
on the positive side. Well, I totally agree with that.
53:44
And I think Kenroot if she plays like this, she's she's got to be
53:47
playing her way into the bound our conversation next year.
53:50
She's I mean, it's hard to imagine a player that you can
53:55
say this player is clearly playing better than than Canada.
53:57
She looks fast for she looks decisive.
54:00
I mean, just an absolute sharpshooter.
54:03
You know, when she lets it RIP and playing super aggressive.
54:06
I don't know if it's the absence of a Lauren James or just sort
54:09
of some lineup machinations. You obviously to Sam Kerr not
54:12
back yet, but she's definitely stepped into that.
54:14
Hey, like jump on my back. I'm ready to just take on pretty
54:18
much everybody. And I think Chelsea, they've got
54:21
to feel a little bit disappointed.
54:23
I mean, you know, not, not to kind of like rewind back to last
54:25
season, but they got to feel like they left one potentially
54:28
on the table. You, you do the hard part, you
54:31
go to Barcelona, you get a big time result and then things kind
54:35
of crumble from there. I wouldn't be surprised if if
54:38
Chelsea goes on an absolute tear.
54:39
We didn't see any team clear the group stage last year with 18
54:43
points. Chelsea might be the team to do
54:45
that this year. Oh, I like that's a good take.
54:48
That's. Excellent.
54:50
That's that's good. You blew my mind a little bit
54:52
with that. No, I I think you're probably
54:54
spot on. I mean, you know, you got to get
54:56
to 1st Real Madrid if you're going to do that.
54:59
Obviously on the board Girl writing looks incredibly
55:02
dangerous right now too. In case in case your defense
55:05
doesn't have to worry enough about JRK over on one side,
55:09
Aaron Cuthbert, we already know she's going to be good for like
55:12
1 banger of a goal every like three to four matches.
55:16
You mentioned Lauren James in her absence.
55:18
Really interested to see what this is going to look like.
55:21
Like, do I think it's going to play a role in these matches
55:25
versus Celtic? Probably not, but you just have
55:29
to monitor a superlative player like Lauren James.
55:32
You got to monitor her health moving forward in the
55:34
tournament, but we don't have to worry about that right now.
55:37
LJ speedy recovery to you, Get your rest.
55:40
We'll see how it looks down the road.
55:41
Totally love you, LJ. And just to kind of hit the
55:46
conversation we had with Leanne as well, we talked about all the
55:48
newcomers at Chelsea, Sandy Baltimore, Sonia Bone, Pastor
55:52
Millie Bright back from injury, Lucy Bronze.
55:54
So I think like a tremendous injection of talent and kind of
55:58
didn't really lose anybody. You've got Aggie Beaver Jones
56:01
kind of growing into a role, JRK obviously playing on Fire Girl
56:05
writing on the other side. I think there's a lot to be
56:08
excited about if you're a Chelsea fan.
56:09
And yeah, no, no disrespect. I'm sure we're not going to hear
56:12
from any Chelsea fans at all, no, about hitting their team
56:15
last, you know, they're they're just so super chill.
56:17
I mean. A known reasonable group of
56:20
football fans, Chelsea Football Club supporters.
56:23
So that's that's totally fair and keel straight down the line
56:28
what I will say about Celtic yet.
56:31
To Oh my God, Micah Himano. I, I, I do a boss.
56:36
No absolute boss. Yeah, she is out of her mind
56:40
right now. Follows you for the
56:41
interjection. No, no, great shout.
56:43
Amano has been absolutely fantastic that she had a chippy
56:46
over over the weekend, Just like completely audacious.
56:51
Like, yeah, yeah, I'll score from like 35 yards out and we
56:54
can knock this home to talk about Celtic tall order going up
56:59
against a group of giants in London.
57:01
I will say I like Saoirse Noonan's activity up top.
57:04
I like Shannon McGregor's delivery on crosses and in set
57:07
pieces. This is how we have seen.
57:10
And again, like, we don't purport ourselves to be like,
57:12
total historians. But the way this thing kind of
57:15
works almost in any sport is you got to get to the dance.
57:20
You might get smoked a couple times and then you get back to
57:23
the dance and you and you learn and you, you and you acquire new
57:26
players and you think about the strategies and you take little
57:29
bits from other teams and other clubs and you kind of figure it
57:32
out. This is an important step in
57:35
Celtic's journey and their supporters.
57:37
They travelled to Madrid to watch them lose 4 nil, but their
57:41
supporters were chanting. They're doing the don't worry,
57:43
be happy chant through multiple parts of the match.
57:46
They travel well. I think they sold out their
57:48
complete allotment. If I heard the announcer on the
57:50
zone correctly for their away tickets, obviously London a bit
57:54
of an easier trip from Glasgow, so I'm sure they'll sell out
57:58
their away allotment there as well.
58:00
Enjoy it, man. You guys meet the you guys meet
58:02
the Champions League. Like this is a great
58:04
accomplishment. It's part of the journey.
58:07
And you know, Celtic, you have to think if their ownership has
58:11
the right mindset, they're just going to keep investing in this
58:14
thing and keep on growing. Totally, Yeah, I'd love to see
58:17
that. Obviously, great club, great
58:18
energy, great history, and I think that history can kind of
58:21
continues to get written here on the women's side.
58:23
All right, man, Eight matches up, eight matches down.
58:26
Anything else you want to hit before we get out of here?
58:28
That was a marathon, buddy. We had a lot of thoughts.
58:31
This is what happens when you and I don't podcast solo within
58:34
seven days. But you know what?
58:36
As I always say, the UEFA Women's Champions League is a
58:39
celebration of life and I'm glad we covered all these matches the
58:42
way we did. Let's go so I think we mentioned
58:45
it enough on this episode, but yeah, we we made an appearance
58:47
on Leanne Sanderson's women's football show on Talk Sport to
58:50
go check that out. That was the episode that
58:52
dropped Monday of this week. Quick programming reminder will
58:55
be back with an international break show talking to some USW
58:58
and T and Euro qualifying. We'll be back after that with
59:01
some NWSL awards and an NWSL playoff preview.
59:05
All right, man, I think we did it.
59:07
It's been on the episode of into the channel.
59:08
Sincere thank you, thank you, thank you for watching,
59:09
listening, following, liking, subscribing, just plain hanging
59:12
out with your boys. And remember, like if you liked,
59:14
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59:17
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59:20
Leave us a review over your favorite podcast app.
59:22
Shout out to everybody that's done that.
59:23
We appreciate you 5 stars, by the way.
59:26
That's fucking go. You already know what time it
59:27
is. Links to all of our socials and
59:29
the show notes of this episode. A big baking red coast Mr. Grant
59:32
angle for stepping out of the way.
59:35
Let me get my arsenal takes off my chest.
59:37
And that was a very gentlemanly thing of you to do.
59:40
Let me go first. You already know what time it
59:42
is. I mean, it's been it's been
59:43
much, much, much too long since you and I have done this show on
59:46
our turf. But here we are back again.
59:48
I appreciate you bro. Likewise, buddy, the chemistry
59:51
is right there. You know, we could be, whether
59:53
it's where Jess Park and Bunny Shaw, maybe where Rosa Cavaggi
59:57
and Alessia Russo or Mariana Caldente, who knows, That's just
1:00:01
what we're doing. But we could not do it with all
1:00:04
of you fine folks. Thank you for being our Internet
1:00:06
friends. We appreciate you.
1:00:07
Again, shout out to SK Bron coming back to the Champions
1:00:10
League. Thank you for all the other
1:00:12
supporters of other clubs who are checking us out and we will
1:00:14
see you guys next time.