Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - #396: WoSo W-Day — Ertz concerns, Wash-LA report, Shaw balling

Episode Date: June 13, 2023

Tara, Vince and Belz talk at some length about Julie Ertz's tepid recent performances, the numbers, and some of the other options. It's all academic of course bc Ertz is a lock for New Zealand, but still worth discussing. Then a full rundown of the performers in the Washington-LA game, Morgan goes to a Taylor Swift concert, Jaedyn Shaw balling out in San Diego.----Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes once a week, plus access to the Discord and live call-in shows, by signing up for our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scuffed Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus any bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the field we discuss on the show, plus all patrons get access to our private Discord server, live call-in shows, and the full catalog of historic recaps we've made: https://www.patreon.com/scuffedAlso, check out Boots on the Ground, our USWNT-focused spinoff podcast headed up by Tara and Vince. They are cooking over there, you can listen here: https://boots-on-the-ground.simplecast.comAnd check out our MERCH, baby. We have better stuff than you might think: https://www.scuffedhq.com/store Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the scuff podcast where we talk about U.S. soccer. All right, it's also Wednesday, a day early. The Women's World Cup starts in 37 days, and people are worried about Julie Ertz. How about you guys? You worried about her? Tara? No. And I'm going to tell you why, even though I probably should be.

But, you know, backtrack a little bit. She started two games since the last time we talked. She had a 10-minute cameo in their cup game and then swooped right back into the starting lineup against Chicago. She went 58 minutes in that game. And then most recently, she went 90 against Washington Spirit. I personally have a hard time judging how she's played considering how much of a dumpster fire Angel City is right now. So all that aside, few things you can point out, she went 90 minutes, that is good news. Yes.

And I also think that although it's not going to be a popular opinion and it's not even one that we should really support all that much, I do fully believe that Julie Ertz, you know, she didn't come back to soccer from a two-year sabbatical to play for Angel City. She came back to get to a World Cup. She's checking a box that she's playing. And to me, I'm only considering this practice for the World Cup. I don't think she's really bought in to club play at all. So I'm not worried. I like that. It's a cheery interpretation.

Vince, what do you think? Have you been tracking her? Yeah, man, I'm worried. I'm worried. I can't lie. And really just for one reason only, it is because, okay, she went 90. She did go 90 in this past match. But, but, I mean, it was, I mean, she was out there doing the bare minimum. The bare minimum.

I like, like, I'm just here so I don't get fine type effort. And it's crazy. And for me, it's a stark contrast to Julie's first two matches that she played in against wave and against the Thorns So if y'all remember that Thorns game She scored a goal

And she conceded a penalty And at this point I would I would love for her To show enough Want to to even To even concede a penalty You know what I'm saying It's just like

It just seems like She's in the midfield Things are going past her She's just turning around Looking at it like oh man Somebody should do something about that But it's like Julie You

you're the one. You're the one that should be doing something about this. Yeah. So maybe she doesn't care. Maybe she doesn't care. Hopefully, for me and Tara's sake, she doesn't care. Because if this is, you know, some type of the beginning of the end, it doesn't speak well for us fellow 31-year-olds.

No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. But, I mean, we're seeing very similar things among other national team players right now. Alex couldn't even be bothered to go to Racing Louisville. Becky was back, but then she was out again. Megan came out in three minutes. I mean, things are happening. Yeah, she was at a, she went to,

she skipped the game to go to a Taylor Swift concert, right? Which is very relatable. I'm not critiquing her at all. Not, not relatable for me, but we didn't need to get into that. This is, this is what I'm hearing. I mean, but as a, as a man with a Swifty wife, you know I've

I've rode the wave with her along this entire tour luckily or unluckily she's not doesn't have the money or fame that Alex Morgan does maybe I should do something about that

but I don't know my point is those tickets are a hot commodity you see how to work when you have a chance to go yes fair so yeah the caveat is that she's only been back for four games I mean she's only played

a total of four games after that long layoff, but I agree with the, I mean, if the interpretation she doesn't care about Angel, about what happens with Angel City, I guess that's good, but her defensive counting stats, which you'd think would be especially good on a team that is losing a lot, and they've lost five of the last six, winless and six games, bottom of the table, tied on points with Kansas City. she's if you do tackles plus interceptions per 90 which i think is a decent uh proxy for just how busy

and disruptive you are she is at 2.09 per 90 tackles plus interceptions over these four 90 minutes periods. Sam Coffey and Jalen Howell are tripling that basically per 90. Andy Sullivan is a solid 1.21 ahead. Even Lindsay Horan and Christy Mewis not known for their defensive prowess over the past, over this season have done better than Julie Ertz has done in these four 90-minute periods. So yeah, I mean, really the only hope is that she doesn't care. but I mean those stats are significantly lessened by

Julie's played four games and everyone else has full seasons it's not it's per 90 I mean the significance of them is lessened you mean right I mean am I yeah yeah I agree

yeah it is a small sample size but you know it's the sample size we have so so so to my earlier point um you know we so one of these games out of the four, the last game that I was talking about where she was, you know,

where she had a ticket to just to watch the game. She had, she had no tackles and one interception. So, I mean, when you throw, when you throw that into a sample size of four games, that's, that's going to bring the average down quite a bit. So maybe, hopefully, possibly, potentially, I mean, Julie, I'm praying. I'm on my knees here. When she, if she if when she turns it on uh well we'll see her climb up that leaderboard hopefully to you know if she can settle just around andy sullivan levels it'd be cool to just just julie let me know you got a pulse let me know you got a pulse please please and i do you know and this doesn't have to do with counting stats but i do agree that she she's been fairly easy to bypass both mostly with passes

on the ground in close quarters, but also on the dribble a little bit, she's been left behind the last two games. She didn't have anything to do with either of the spirit goals that were scored in the two-one loss. The Angel City suffered in Washington. But the game winner for Chicago last Monday came on a set piece that caromed off the top of her head backwards into the danger area for the Red Star to settle and score. She could have headed that away.

It seems like she's losing a lot of aerial duels. too. I don't know. I don't want to be too negative because I don't really feel that negative, but I'm just trying to give information. I'm giving information. Yeah, I mean, I think those who are worried have every right to be. I just don't think it's that deep. Okay. By the way, we're going to revisit this. I'm sure we are. Yeah, I'm sure. Well, I just want to say that coffee, who, you know, she and Jalen Howler at, respectively 5.56 and 6.7 tackles and interceptions per 90,

which is just way ahead of the rest of the field, including Andy Sullivan. Coffee is also very high on the shot creating actions chart in this cohort. Only Christy Mewis is a little higher than her, but only by like six one-hundredths of a goal per, of a shot creating action per 90. So basically four of those per 90 from coffee plus a lot of defensive activity. I don't know, man. Seems like she's getting shafted.

Yeah. If NWSL stats are what we're going for, Christy Mewis should have a great World Cup. But that's not really what's going to happen. No, but Christy Mewis is really low on the defensive stuff, you know. I mean, she had a six, isn't it? Sam Coffey has had a fabulous season. Jalen Howell's had a fabulous season.

I wish this was the conversation we were having going into the World Cup. Like, who between those two are going to be our number one? But it's not where we're at. I just think that that's going to be a wonderful, exciting time come the Paris Olympics next year. I've got my fingers crossed. Okay. Yeah, Sealee. Let's stick with the Washington Angel City game. Oh, real quick, though, just if you, you know, you talk about coffee's defensive actions.

Y'all should check out that Adriana goal. Was it Adriana? Hold on. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Did coffee get roasted? I mean, she did not get roasted, but it's just the total lack of, the total lack of recovery pace was on full display. That game was great. Adriana did amazing.

I can't wait to watch Brazil. I mean, that's going to be a must watch this World Cup for me. Yeah, Brazil nice as hell. Uh-huh. Brazil nice as hell, man. We'll see. I said it in the Discord, but I saw a picture of Rich Arleson wearing the Beanie jersey. And I just, oh, the community, I just want our national teams to, you know,

know each other a little bit better. It's so beautiful. Hasn't Chris Richards worn a Ashley Sanchez jersey before? Yeah, I think so. I think so. Or at least he'd be likely to do so. With the, back to the Washington Angel City game, though, Tara, you got some stuff.

Yeah. Eventful game, Ashley Hatch scored her sixth goal of the season. It was a header. Sanchez hit a volley from outside the box. It hit the post and kind of just fell right to Hatch, who knocked it in with her head. That would have made Ashley Hatch the Golden Boot Leader, but Alyssa Neer let five goals in this past weekend, three of which came from Carolyn. And now she's the Golden Boot Leader. So I just wanted to bring it up because Hatch is doing really, really well.

It was good to see her get a goal. It was good to see Sanchez get a goal and another Washington Spirit a win, which is great because there's a lot of national team players on that team. So I like to see him succeed. Yeah, great game. Great game from the spirit. Ashley Sanchez also scored the game winner,

a header back across the goal from the back post. Very nice goal. She hasn't always brought her finishing boots in her career, and it's good to see her put one away. I thought Trinity was consistently dangerous There's so many When Washington plays There's always so much to talk about

Trinity was consistently dangerous In this game Just not on the score sheet That one That one where she cut to Cut to Defender both ways And then put it right at the keeper I'm talking about

In the Angel City game Would have been a really, really nice goal She did one similar A week ago against Louisville Ball over the top from Hatch Rodman cuts the defender both ways and then five holes the keeper. It's going to be fun to watch her

go to work this summer for sure. She's having a great season. She's getting better, which is insane to say, but it's looking good for Trinity. We need it. I thought Alyssa Thompson, who came off at about the hour mark,

was also tidy and explosive in this game. She just looks so good every time she gets on the ball, but she didn't get on the ball enough. been a bit of a problem for her lately. I guess we can chalk that up to Angel City's dumpster fire a little bit. I certainly am. She got an assist in the game before that one.

The 2-1 lost to Chicago coming off the bench. What was the significance of this assist? She got the assist on Sydney Leroux's first goal back, first game back, first goal back. Angel City played at home. No, they didn't. They played Chicago at home. And it was such an emotional come back to see Leroux on the field, a great ball from Thompson. It was just the crowd was electric.

It was so emotional. You know, Angel City's been battling injuries, their entire existence, which this is only their second year as a club. They're hurting badly. They're, you know, bottom of the table. everything kind of sucks, but at least Sydney's back, hopefully to help Alyssa out. I saw online that there's a 15-year age gap between the two of them, and I think that's really funny. But I think finally, Alyssa's not going to have to be carrying an entire team on her back. She's got some support in Sydney, and I'm hopeful to see what they can do, especially with the World Cup break coming up.

Hopefully they can get some points back. She just has nobody to combine with up front. She really doesn't. She really does. She turns somebody with absolute precision and then plays like a quick, sharp pass to somebody's feet. And then the return pass is like 15 yards off. Goes out of bounds.

It's like happens over and over. It's really frustrating to watch. I'm sure it's frustrating for her. Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely frustrating. But, I mean, Alyssa is still amazing. Another important note, Becky Sauerbrun is back.

Injured no longer. She came off the bench in the 67th minute to see out Portland's 2-0-0 win against O.L. Rain. But then she was out against Houston this past week. So that was a bit of a mystery. Portland's coach, Mike Norris, said that they're managing how she came out the game last week, so that it's a day-to-day thing with her. which could not be more vague, but worth noting. Managing how she came out of the game last week.

Interesting. Well, also for the Thorns, Sophia scored a goal. And it was awesome. It was. She's got five goals, five assists. Things are looking up for Sophia and for the Thorns. It's always good to have her scoring. I know we talked about her underlying stats last time we got together,

but it is kind of funny that what it was, What is she like, she's like fourth in the golden boot race. And when she scored, the announcer's response was the drought is over. Yes. They even asked her about it at halftime. And she's like, yeah, I was trying not to think about it. But it was just so ridiculous to even assume that there was a drought. She's been feeding goals to all of her teammates since.

I will say coffee. I know coffee isn't the fastest lady in the league, but she looked good in that clip too. kind of look like Prime in Yester or something, tracking down a loose ball, one touching it to a teammate, getting the return pass, one touching it to somebody else to set up a Sof's run. I don't know, I just like coffee. Yeah, I really like how, for Portland, she's consistently creating plays. She's more than just like a wrecking ball that I think Vladko is looking for. But yeah, she's doing great.

She's on a great team. All my love to Sam Coffee. Maybe less than a wrecking ball, too, to Vince's point. I think we need a wrecking ball, though. The primary responsibility of that sixth position, when you have Lindsey Horan and Roosevelt in front of you is the wrecking, They're wrecking. The playmaking, I mean, not necessarily need it.

Not necessarily need it. I don't think. But maybe if we're just going to kick balls to the opposing goalkeeper all the time, maybe we do need it. I don't know. No, no, you're right. You're right. Lynn Williams, scored a penalty kick.

Yeah, Gotham tied Houston this past weekend. Was not a very good game, but love to see Len do well. we're really going to need her in the next few weeks as we get closer to the World Cup so love to see her score but to me it wasn't all that good of a game and I got to say I'm not that impressed with how she plays

like I know she's a good player she probably deserves to be on the roster but this is the Lynn William's experience yeah I guess I mean, she's always going to be a danger. You know what I'm saying? Just on the fact that, you know, there might be like five women on the planet as fast as her. But, you know, it's a take it or leave it type situation.

Sometimes she might do a madness with it. Sometimes she might leave you mad with anger because of a chance that she somehow spoiled. Right. She had a She, go ahead Go ahead Oh, I just wanted to throw on there

Which I think it was on Her own podcast on snacks A while back Where she talked about how Like her youth coaches Just made her kicking I mean they just employed The pure kick and run strategy

And of course Lynn was the one running Yeah And so she never got to develop Like actual ball skills Because she was just running her ass off These youth coaches man somebody something needs to be done about him unbelievable in any case she's now surpassed christine sinclair on the all-time nwsl scores list with this goal and is only four from taking over for

sam cur as nwsl's all-time leading score so turned out okay i guess and she's still she's still young she's still got lots to go so she's she's going to run run those numbers up big time. Yeah. Like one of the scariest experiences that I had, that I've had as a racing Louisville fan was when North Carolina Courage came to Louisville. Like they were, yeah, racing Louisville's first year. When they had, when they had Jess McDonald, they could still, you know, do a little something.

Plus Lynn. Plus, shoo, who else was on that team? Crystal Dunn? Crystal Dunn was there? Still there? Maybe. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, it was a, it was disgusting.

It was disgusting what they did to us. I mean, they could have had like 10 goals. Fortunately, they did not. But, shoo. And Gotham broke their attendance record a week earlier versus San Diego. Yeah, they had over 15,000 people there. They did lose. Jaden Shaw got a fantastic assist.

More on Javan later, but it's good to see Gotham growing in attendance. They're winning for the first time in a while. and that's basically all things to Lynn Williams. Well, let's get right back to Jaden Shaw, because she is a player who's learned how to have ball skills and combine with her teammates in a beautiful way. Maybe an example of how the development system has evolved a little bit, even the last couple decades, or decade, I should say.

You've crafted and titled a new segment, Tara. What is it? I'm calling it Olympics Watch, or also known as no chance to make the World Cup, but still worth keeping an eye on because time is an illusion, and 2024 will be here very quickly. And the first one up is Jaden Shaw. So she got an assist this past week. She subbed in for Taylor Conyack at halftime and got to play what, to me, is her best position and it's that attacking midfield 10 role, which she doesn't always get to do

for San Diego. Casey Stoney, the coach of San Diego Wave, has her as a striker sometimes, a winger sometimes. She gets thrown in a ton of different positions because she's so dynamic. So, I mean, it's a compliment towards her, but to me, her best position is what she came in. this game against Gotham for Taylor Corniac. So like I said, Corniac came out at halftime, and in the 46th minute, Jadam played a beautiful ball in, and San Diego scored it. It took her seconds of coming in to create a game-winning play, and it made all of the difference in the world. When Taylor Corniac was playing in that first half, Wave weren't that dangerous. And the second she came out and Jaden came in, they won the game.

It could not have been more of a difference on the field. And if San Diego keeps her in that position and lets her flourish, I think that she has a real shot at making the national team. Compared to when she's on the winger, there are dozens of wingers we're going to be watching for the next decade. I don't know if she has as quick of a route to the senior team as she does when she's an attacking midfieler. So that's my whole point with Jaden. Interesting. She is so good.

It's like when you watch Thompson. She looks like she's better than everybody else on the field. She is San Diego Wave's best attacking player. and there's a lot of attacking players in San Diego Wave. So she's by far their best one, in my opinion. Yeah. Well, so we'll get to this when we get to our boots on the ground segment. But I was blessed with the opportunity to watch Jaden Shaw this past weekend when they came to Louisville.

But the one thing about that through ball, she played against Gotham. It's like some of the balls she plays are like next, next. level, you know what I'm saying? It's not just you receive it in zone 14 type of deal. Anybody doesn't know zone 14 right on top of the box

where that little semi-circle is type deal and slip somebody in to the penalty area and they score from that. She's doing like advanced like the best way I can put it is like second like second window reads

kind of like a quarterback? I don't know. I mean, for anybody familiar with American football, it's, it's kind of like she's playing, she's playing these balls into spaces that, uh, I don't know, that they really, nobody should be able to see this pass. It's not an obvious pass. Um, you know, if she, if she didn't play this pass, it would also not be like a ding on Jaden Shaw. It's just pure, creative, uh, wizard. Wizardry. Wizardry.

Like, she's, she's receiving the ball over by the left touchline. Yeah. And somehow plays a ball for an assist to the right winger. You know what I'm saying? Right. We throw the word dime around maybe a lit a bit loosely,

but these are dimes. They're absolute dimes. Like, like, truly, yeah, yeah. Truly in the, in the greatest sense, in the greatest sense. Just, I mean, capital, D-I-M-E, you know what I'm saying. It's crazy. It's crazy. And yeah, just being able to watch some of that on display this past weekend was great.

It was great as well. She's obviously doing it in training too because these runs being made by Doniak most recently and then Yaacobson scored on one that didn't count as an assist, but it was a similar type pass. And Bixby blocked the first attempt and then Yacobson got the rebound. I mean, totally created by Shaw. they know that she can make the pass they're seeing the window

and making a decisive run into that spot so they know she's got it and it does take two to make one of those connections happen so I'm just saying she's obviously this is something I think we can expect to continue to see from her if she's doing it in training and teaching her teammates to make these runs

so yep it's it's beautiful to see also just real quick I don't know, I don't know what's going on with Taylor Cornyack, man. You know what I'm saying? She needs to get away from Casey Stoney, change the scenery, something, something. I don't know.

I don't know. The Taylor Cornyack I saw last year is not in the room anymore. It's a great point, though, for Jaden's career. There is not a scenario where Jaden should be on the bench and Taylor should be starting ever again this season. Yeah, probably, probably not. If those two are each other's backup, like Taylor give Jaden a rest every once in a while, but Jaden is clear in starting for that team.

Let me say a couple other things about Shaw, which I know everybody knows, but she's really good with both feet. This really sticks out to me. Like she'll wind up and crack one from 30 yards with her left foot, and it's a credible shot. that's a that's a that's really something that solo breakaway she had where she cuts in on her left and just has one from 30 yards and draws a diving one-handed save from the racing keeper is uh something that i think is pretty rare for a right-footed player and then we already talked about

how good she is at passing she can create her own shot she is so tough to knock off the ball like ball security ball security ball security it's the same thing Same goes for Alyssa Thompson in a totally different way, but these two young players are just really difficult to take the ball from. Yep. I'm excited about Shaw. Oh, and then also just, you know, Tara talked about the fact that she was playing wing a little bit, play a little false nine or whatever. But the thing is, you know, she, especially, we talked about this, but when she played false nine, she scored one of her, one of her goals were scored playing. play in that position and like she just you you you wouldn't be able to tell that she wasn't a nine

based on the run that she made and like the one touch finish that she had just to put it top corner on the run uh first time like it was just i mean this is just a just just an extremely extremely gifted football yeah the word cerebral comes to mind for her and for um i mean she's got the sauce too but she's you know she's obviously thinking out there yeah yeah yeah she knows how to play But she knows that I play, obviously. Like, you don't make that run, like a little out-to-end run to get on the end of a cross and finish your first time. Like, you wait without just no one ball. And it's incredible because he's 18.

Yeah. So that's why she's the top of the class on Olympics Watch. Wait, wait, wait, before we go to the next one. Exactly. Olympics Watch, because time is illusion. 24 is coming, folks. next one up is Olivia Moultry

who has been very very good this season she's did something right in offseason she's she's growing she's looking better than ever it even made its way into her uncle's Twitter timeline

one Jared Moultrie tweeted out his his niece's stats for this year and they are very very good Yep Yeah he did a whole promo It did a whole promo for Nisi Boo You know what I'm saying

You love to see it It's one thing about Woso Man you get a catch of the wholesomeness All the time You know we talked about Chloe Ricketts And her Twitter You get Jared Motry Just so excited

Posting an FB ref screenshot Shout out to FB ref Yes I'm doing this pod On top of a FB ref scarf that's where my mic I don't have a boom I don't have a boom

hopefully scuffed HQ can help me up but anyway you want a boom buddy we can get you a boom nah no I'm good with how this is set up I'm not gonna go into my setup but anyway

yeah the screenshot is you know FB ref if you're familiar with well also another shout out for FB ref you know just getting WOSO into the into the into the system there. What a help it is.

Yeah, exactly. And, you know, all green bars, man. All green bars for Olivia Maltry. 99th, okay? 99th. 99th percentile, non-penity goals, non-penity XG, 96 percentile on shots, 99th percentile an assist per 90, 97th,

and expected assist. and 99th and non-penity XG plus XA. I mean, she's really doing it. She's really doing it. She's shutting us to hell up, bells. I agree on the offensive side. Yeah, she is. She's eighth percentile in tackles, first percentile in interceptions,

and ninth percentile in blocks. So she's a good attacking player, obviously. But, yeah. So I will say that she's moving a hell of a lot better than she was last year, which the Thorns Faithful told me she was going through a growth spurt, which makes sense. Because I remember when I was going through my damn gross spurt. Which you can also see.

Like she looks like a different person out there. She does. From the U20 World Cup until now, it's like, yeah, yeah. Olivia Motry is now here, here. And it's time. for Portland to get the courage to sit Christine Sinclair on the bench and let Olivia Moultry go. I've seen enough. Christine Sinclair is slow.

Christine Sinclair is holding them back. Yes, she's a legend. Yes, she's scoring and getting assist. Yes, I understand. It's time for Olivia Moultry. And I can't see this girl on the bench anymore. She's doing too well. Yeah.

Yeah. For those of you who don't know, Sinclair is 40 years old. Yeah. Crazy. She's holding back Olivia's development. Like, we can't have it anymore. Can't have it. You know what I'm saying?

She needs to find her a Canadian NWSL team and live your dreams out here. But here in America, we're worried about developing American players. You know what I'm saying? Portland, get on the train. All right? Come on, Bortland. I'm joking. But please don't get me for no xenophobia.

Oh, also, just real quick on Maltrey. She has played some similar passes to Jaden. You know what I'm saying? She has. Just extremely, like that one she played the Morgan Weaver that was, you know, right. Basically, she's over by the right touchline, plays a ball into the left winger to come on and score. Morgan Weaver did nice with it to score from a tight angle.

but yeah the vision wouldn't it be amazing to see those two on the field together with Alyssa Thompson on the wing really really would they'd be unstoppable and like I say a U20 World Cup or something Michelle Cooper on top you kidding me Corby now wow yeah okay enough of that

she's earned her place in Olympic's watch I'm gonna find you in the excellent Let me take that back. Tracy, you should be ashamed. You should be ashamed of yourself, Tracy Kevin's. We've got Tracy Kevin's talk coming up, but for now, Olympic Watch.

Olivia's earned her place. Next up is Sam Stop, who has been in the team of the month for the past two months in a row for the NWSL. She's a centerback out of Washington. She's so calm under pressure. She can score off a free kick. she can do it all. I'm ready to throw her on the list. I think there is a place for her in the national team.

But not, you know, like someday, right? Well, the whole point of the segment is not the World Cup, but coming into the Olympics. Just trying to maintain the through line here. Yeah. Stob is 26. Why does she get to be in this? Just be, okay, never mind.

No, no. I can take all the. criticism. She gets to be here. She gets to be here because she has not found a path into the national team because the national team of the past didn't let anyone ever go. We kept hold of players for decades. And I'm choosing to leave we are not going to be that way much longer. And 26, hey, it's young compared to a lot of people in our national team. So I think that's I think she gets a chance. Okay.

And who's your last one on this list? My last one to say, Olympic launch is Paramechion. She was drafted eighth in 2021 for the Spirit. She played forward and was fine, even teetered towards good. But she had hatch to compete with. she had Trinity to compete with.

She never really made it to great. The Spirit got a new coach this year, which I've mentioned plenty of times before. Mark Parsons came in and made this forward a centerback. And it was utterly bizarre. I did find it a little charming, though. And it turns out, forward centerback, Tara McKeon is very, very good already. She's going against Alex Morrill. Oregon, Alyssa Thompson, Sophia Smith, Lynn Williams.

That's a gigantic ask for a centerback, let alone a brand new one. And I think she's having a really impressive year. And if she can keep this up, I think we should have more of a conversation about bringing in some young centerbacks. I think she would be part of that conversation. All right. I love converted attacking players playing centerback. I find it so charming. I really do.

Yeah. Show a little enthusiasm. No, she's been good. She's been good. My thing, I was just in here thinking about how, like, I don't know, I feel like maybe we're going to need to start figuring out players' positions earlier in their careers. as the competition ramps up, you know what I'm saying? As all these serious brososos nations get serious about woeo.

Even like Terra is a great story. Don't get me wrong. It has nothing to do with Terra. I'm just wondering, you know, just as far as like, you know, the college system and the fact that a lot of different players can play a lot of different positions than they get to the pro game and maybe they're not suited for such positions. Like, you know, right now we don't have many fullbacks in the system. Like, we're pinning our hopes on Jazeel Thompson to come up and do her thing.

But other than that, we're looking at, you know, a lot of converted attackers. And I hope that as we go forward, we are able to assign players to position sooner in their young life. That's totally fair. I agree with everything you said. And I'm excited to talk about Jazele Thompson in a little bit. But first, Vents, boots on the ground is best. back. You went to a game. Let's hear it. Boots on the ground, baby. This time, solo. Solo, no kids. No wife. Just me. The

tranquility of being back at the ground. You know what I'm saying? Beautiful Lynn Family Stadium and Bucolic, Louisville, Kentucky. You know what I'm saying? It's always, it's always nice to get out. It's always nice to get out, man. With the baby and everything, it's been, it's been tough. It's been tough, but now I've made it to like four games now. All racing games. I haven't been to a Louisville City game yet. Unfortunately. Unfortunately, I don't know.

They're not good. But anyway, so the first thing, the first thing that I, that I, even before I got to the game, there were reports from the, from the stadium that there were a lot of people in Alex Morgan gear had signs. Like I saw people with like go, go wave signs, you know what I'm saying? everything, just waiting in anticipation to see Alex Morgan. I mean, like, I mean, just Alex Morgan jersey is all over the place, all over the place. In terms of Alex isn't there. Alex isn't there. Not on the bench.

She was not listed in the pre-report as injured or not coming at all. Sorry to cut you off, but there was no indication she wasn't going to be there. Yep. Dude. That's an important point. That's a little rough. It is. It is.

Like, I can't lie. And when I heard this, I was like, laughing. I was kind of laughing. I was like, ha, ha, suckers. You should be here for racing Louisville, not for Alex Morgan. But then I get to the game and I see these just cute little kids, man. And it hurts. I was like, damn, man.

This is just not a good look for the league. For the, I mean, Alex doesn't have to come to Louisville. You know what I'm saying? Like we said earlier, seems. like she was in Detroit at Erez. But, yeah, please let somebody know. Please let somebody know. You know what I'm saying?

There were just so many upset kids, and there was no Alex Morgan to be seen. And so I don't know. I do want to tell you what Casey Stoney said because she was asked about this. So this is from Casey Stoney. She said, I'm not going to put a player on the injury report when it's just a precautionary rest.

You know, she came off the pinch with a tight calf. We wanted to make sure it, obviously, it was a long travel trip here. She's got a World Cup ahead. So it wasn't a matter of if she wasn't fit to play. It was precautionary. We just didn't want to push her. We didn't know what the surface would be like. Notariously, we've come here and it's been a poor surface.

So yeah, it was about looking after her And also putting the players out there That could go All right Yeah So this is the thing NWSL You have to come down and be like Casey Stoney

You got to put it on the injury report Like he just got to You have to If she's not even going to be on the bench Come on dog You can't I mean like as a league You know when you have these stars

Or whatever that drive the league, the drive of attendance and, you know, in a lot of markets, right? I mean, Alex Morgan. Alex Morgan coming to your time. Like, like, there was, it was a bigger fanfare. Like, I was at the rain game and, uh, the wave, right?

There were many more people there for Alex Morgan than there was for Pino. Like, I mean, Tom's 50. You know what I'm saying? And then, and then it'd be from, it'd be Morgan Pino and then a long distance to anybody else, right? Right.

Yeah. Like, who else is there? The kids come out in full force for Morgan and Pina. Yeah. So, I mean, it's just, like, as a league, it's just something you got to, you got to look into and you got to take care of. If she's not going to be there, like I said, she doesn't have to show up. But if she's not going to show up, let the people know.

Let the people know. But anyway, on to the actual match, man. I just want to point out geographically, Detroit is further from San Diego than Louis. of all these. Just pointing that. Yeah. If we're talking about travel trips. It's up there a little bit.

Yeah. But yeah, the match. Where to start? I want to hear your thoughts on when Naomi Germa, if I can request. I came away from this match. Very happy that Naomi Germa is part of our national team. because, like, I don't know about y'all, but I have to say, I'm normally a pretty cool, a calm dude as far as, like, you know, just as, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like,

like, like, like, like, I try not and get out over my skis. I try to take things in as they come, but I've been getting a little bit worried about the national team and just how we're going to do in this World Cup. I, like, I still believe we can win it. Of course. Of course. We have enough talent to overcome even Tracy Kevin's coaching our team. I don't know about that. But it's just been on my mind, weighing

that, you know, I just don't know if Black Co's going to make the moves that we need to be able to win these games when, you know, the margins are going to be tight. But just seeing Naomi Gurma out there and just how, first of all, how elegant she is on the ball, both teams, were kind of playing like a mid-block type situation

where there was plenty of space for centerbacks to just go out and have fun if they really wanted to, if they back themselves to like carry the ball and like, kind of flirt with that line of confrontation. And the way Naomi handled it was just beautiful, beautiful, just so confident on the ball. Carrying it, like nobody could get it from her,

just really orchestrating build-out from the back. And, you know, defensively as well, just handling stuff. ushering people like just I mean it was it was beautiful to see it was beautiful to see and and that's my main takeaway from this match is I'm just so happy we have Naomi German and you know good so we throw Naomi in there with hopefully you know Becky potentially Alana I mean whoever is the partner there I'm I'm feeling good I'm feeling good at least about one half of the pair one half of the pair so um like a

The national team, we have a plethora of attacking talent. But Naomi Grima is going to be one of the best players in the entire World Cup in the world. We're so lucky to have her. I'm so glad you have positive thoughts coming out of this game. Yes, for sure, for sure. Any thoughts on Taylor Corniac? Yeah, so Taylor came on a half. and she proceeded just to like kick the ball or like it was it was crazy touch was heavy

she was getting she was losing headers she was literally uh you don't have so you know how the you don't have Taylor Corniac out on the field to lose headers yeah yeah she was uh multiple times she got like like uh jalen how just like climbed up her like a tree and just won the header each each time. It was fun to watch. I guess good at my third takeaway, which is Jalen Howell. Her consistency of performance is just

it's impressive. She's been there every match, man. Every match, she's cleaning stuff up, winning balls, whatever. She's all over the place. All over the place. On the day when there wasn't much, when there wasn't much offense,

Jalen Shone for the for racing De Mello we got some stuff going on with Sav got some stuff going on with SAB everybody's starting to play her a little bit differently

Yeah she's getting some good press Like what she was she was named She was NWSL Player of the Month NWSL Player of the Month for what May I guess But yeah how teams are approaching her is kind of different. I think she needs a little adjustment.

Like, as y'all know, she kind of hunts files a little bit. And you can see teams, they're kind of like bracketing her now. She receives a ball. And with Sive receives a ball, she wants to carry it. She wants to take that thing to the attacking third. Most of the time, there's like a player in front of her, player behind her. And she's trying to, and she's anticipating that foul coming from behind her.

But, you know, it's clear. It's clear that teams are just like, yo, do not foul this woman. Don't file it. Don't file it. She's going to go looking for it. Don't do it. And so they're not doing it. And it ended up in her doing a little, you know,

it ended up in her doing a little foul hunting that goes on call. She's looking at the ref. The ref is like, get up. You know what I'm saying? So a little adjustment needed there. Oh, of course. Jaden. Like, like, I had a, I had a great, I had a great seat for her first half.

She was basically like, she was more on the left side while she was playing an attack. Like, she was more on the left side. And I was on the left side of the pitch watching her go to work. And, you know, as we talked about, through, through balls just coming from all over the place. Probably could have had an assist. Played somebody in. I mean, played multiple people in. Let's see.

three, three, four times, had the shot that Bells was talking about, the left of the shot. That drew a nice save from Katie Lund. Also, um, there, this is something you get from being at the games. It's just that there were like two or three more balls that ended up

collected by the keeper, but you could, but you could see that they were actually dimes, but, you know, it was just, the person that was supposed to run after them was just too tired to go for it at that moment.

Hmm. They were just, they were just out of gas. you know it's too many jaden shaw through balls coming at me just coming at me full force you know what i'm saying but yeah everything you mentioned bells as far as uh being unable to knock her off the ball specifically that that was just in full in full effect she knows when to force the issue when when not to multiple times she just took that thing out and like you know passed it back to naomi and then they just kept possession and got it moving from there but extremely impressive extremely impressive man

I want to know, did you have any thoughts on Sheridan, the wavekeeper, who, you know, obviously it's not a national team player for us. She's the Canadian goalkeeper, but I have a little personal project going on with the World Cup. And I want to hear your thoughts on how she's doing because to me, she's the best keeper in the world. I'll allow it as long as we don't talk about Taylor Cornyack anymore. yeah i don't i don't got anything else to say but uh yeah sheridan was good sheridan was good okay yeah there wasn't it wasn't too much going on from a

from a racing perspective as far as like xg or anything like that but the shots that she did have to deal with and you know uh control of their box and stuff it was it was good good good from sheridan it wasn't as the uh the the the phallin performance was more impressive to me that I saw in person. Like when the rain came, Fallon really kind of put on a show for me. But, you know, there just wasn't as much to do. Wasn't as much to do.

Hey, I love boots on the ground, so thanks for letting me know. I'm going to keep going to games. You can't stop me. You can't stop me from going to show. Please do. One thing about Jalen Howl is going back to the Julia Earth's discussion, there is one stat where in this very small sample size, Julie looks good compared to the cohort, and that's progressive passes per 90.

She's top of the list. Jalen's like middle of the pack. Behind Sam Coffey ahead of Andy Sullivan. Just, you know, take that for what it's worth. Yeah, which is an improvement for her. Right. It's an improvement for her. She is improving with the ball.

Still, the one thing I would like to see is just, just heard being able to hit, uh, she needs to be able to consistently hit a switch. For me, she, she, she,

she, uh, turns down the opportunity to hit that pass. It was on, uh, against the wave quite a bit. I think she might have hit like one. And also just,

just, just, you know, a nice little over the top ball would be nice to. Uh, but, but, but, yeah,

she, she, she isn't proven as a ball player, but, you know, still room to grow there. You know, that's almost something for every soccer player

to remember is that when there's a when there is some kind of like incisive pass on you got to try it you got to go for it yeah because it's often a transition moment there's um you got the defense retreating and that's when goals are scored to turn and cycle it pass back into the press or pass into a centerback who doesn't have that much time is it's a major shoot yourself in the foot kind a moment. Anyway, what's next, guys? Should we talk about the U-20s? Talk about our friend Tracy?

Yeah, we don't need to go into much detail as we crashed and burned out of the final. But we qualified for the U-20 World Cup. Once again, our girls beat Costa Rica two to one in what turned out to be a really messy and frustrating game. Jazele Thompson got a red card for denying an obvious goal-scoring. opportunity, but it really wasn't. Like, it was a bad call.

The ref absolutely got it wrong, and it was kind of embarrassing. But all that to say, she was out in the final against Mexico, in which we lost two to one. I'm telling you, Tracy Kevin's tried to take these girls down. But she failed. She failed in the ultimate goal because Stephen Gough tweeted out a juicy little rumor that PSG is looking at Giselle Thompson which I am personally excited

because that means you, Adam Bells, will start to care about her a little bit. She's in France. Where's she playing right now for like the LASCEU-15 boys or something? I don't know off the top of my head. Whatever club Alyssa was playing at

before she went to Angel City. Yeah, I forgot the name of it. It's hard to pay attention to that club that you can't remember the name of it. Tara. Yeah, but hey, if this works out, you're going to have someone else to enjoy in the world of women's soccer. Yes. Yeah, I can't wait.

He said getting word, PSG has taken interest in signing USU 20 right back, Jazeel Thompson, younger sister of United States Women's National Team Player slash Angel City winger, Alyssa Thompson. She doesn't turn 18 until December. shout out Sagittarius sister. So possible sign in loan or pre-contract. So I'm really looking forward to this because as Vince alluded to the national team, we barely have right-back prospects. And she had a very good tournament aside from the red card, which actually wasn't her fault anyway. Yeah. Yeah. Can't. Can we just skip this World Cup and go straight to the 2027 one?

Man, that would be a joy. But I mean, also, no, I'm excited about this World Cup. No, I am too. But I'm like really excited about these young players. You're hopefully 2027 is in America. That would be crazy. It'd be a different kind of, it'd be a different kind of team. if these young players all come good. All right.

What else? We're getting a roster soon. There have been some conflicting reports. Basically every other country has put their roster out. Don't hold you to that. A lot of them have. Our general manager, Kate Mark Graff, is that how you say your name? I think it's just Mark Graff.

Mark Graff. She said that the final roll. roster is to be released on July 5th. But then Stephen Gough came out and said that the World Cup roster will be announced sometime during the week of June 19th. And camp opens up June 26th in California. But from what I understand, this is his wording, but from what I understand, players will be told whether they've made the cut next Thursday, June 15th. So this upcoming Thursday after the three NWSO Challenge Cup matches are out of the way. So we have Challenge Cup games tomorrow.

And then from what he's saying, players are going to be told who's made it. And then Camp opens up. And it's go time. World Cup time. I can't wait. It's go time. Yep. Yep.

Do you guys think Thompson is going to make the roster? I will be sick if she doesn't. I will be sick if she doesn't. Right, but will she? I mean, who we got right now? Trinity, Trinity, so, uh, Lynn. And then it should be Thompson, but you've got to throw Megan. It's going to be Pino.

You got to throw Megan in there. Midge is finally back in the picture for Gotham. She's training again. Things are up in the air, but she has got to be on this roster. I will be crushed. Well, go ahead, Bill. Well, we're going to have definitely, it's going to definitely be Morgan and Hatch, right? I think so.

Definitely so, definitely Trinity. Definitely Lynn Williams. It's five attackers. And then Pino and Alyssa. I mean, I could see Alyssa going over Midge pretty easily. So could I. But I guess it depends on what old man does in the midfield, you know? Uh-huh.

he can play around with it like looking at the past couple camp rosters we've had he's kind of overloaded defensively like it's clear that's where he was trying folks out at um but i think there's a chance and all my hopes and dreams are riding on her making the roster i think it's really needed yeah um also if i could just throw this in there megan uh came out the game this weekend. She couldn't even get three minutes in the game. With some type of strain, it seems. It seems hopefully a calf strain or something.

But I injury nonetheless. She came out and remember, it did look like her calf. And a calf injury is what kept her out of the last national camp this past April against Ireland. Megan wasn't there because of a calf injury. So to me, this is just a number. They are being very careful about the World Cup. It's an Alex not traveling situation. It's a Julie Barely trying situation.

A few of these players get the grace to bow out, and I think that's what's happening. There's plenty to be concerned about, I think, if you want to be concerned. Sure. Yeah. Well, all right, Challenge Cup games back. Tomorrow. I have one thing to say. Can I say it?

Yeah. Apologies. Sophia Huerta scored a penalty kick against Kansas City, which, first of all, why is Sophia Huerta taking penalty kicks for O'L Rain? No one knows. Also, she took a very long time to actually shoot, and she was asked about this at halftime, like, girl, you took forever to shoot this penalty kick, what was going on? And she said that she forgot that the ref blew the whistle.

So I thought that was like silly and charming. Anyway, she's had some good games. And any prediction, any roster prediction that you see online that has Emily Sonnet on the roster and Sophia Huerta off the roster is a joke and should not be taken seriously. And people need to watch these games because that's a joke to. ever assume Emily Sonnet makes it over Huerta is not watching these games at all. She also got an assist this game, so it was a good one for Huerta.

But you don't think, there's two arguments on it that makes sense to me here. One, well, three, actually. Sonnet's more versatile. She can deputize it centerback in case of emergency. Two, Sonnet's a little more comfortable in possession. Is that wrong? Yeah. And three, Sonet, maybe a more.

reliable defender. It's true. Emily Sonnet can play other positions, but boys, we do not want her to. That's my point of view. And I had to say it because I've seen so many of these predicted rosters. And I find them to be laughable. Well, you sound a little bit like Christian Pulisic talking about people who like sushi right now. I'm uncomfortable with it.

I take it and I will reflect. Anything else, Vince? No. Okay. Challenge Cup back tomorrow. Washington Spirit play the North Carolina Courage at 730 Eastern Time. Racing Louisville play the Houston Dash at 8 p.m. Hey, thanks for listening. If you are able, please consider joining the Patreon.

The link is in the show notes. Get the Monday reviews and a few other things. Thanks everybody for listening. We'll see you.