SoccerWise - Chawinga Pushing Records, Davidson Injury Fallout & USWNT CB Depth Pool

Episode Date: April 2, 2025

A wild weekend of NWSL coverage has come to a close and The Soccerwise crew is here to break it all down. From Temwa Chawinga's record tying goals to some heartbreaking injuries and everything else in between. Then they talk USWNT focusing on the CB depth chart and then previewing the first Brazil game. Finally the rumors connecting the Utah Royals to a new ownership group abound how could this affect their future.4:00 Chawinga Tying Chawinga Records & KC Cruising11:05 Orlando Keeping Pace + Strong Showing From San Diego21:15 Ashley Hatch Moves In Top 5 NWSL All-Time Scorers In Spirit Win29:00 Saluting Becky Sauerbrunn & The Thorns Improvements32:00 North Carolina’s Offensive Struggles39:30 Tierna Davidson’s ACL Injury & How It Affects Gotham48:35 USWNT Camp Preview51:50 Debate Around USWNT CB Depth Chart1:03:50 Utah Royals Potential Ownership Change Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

Welcome everybody back to Soccer Wise. David Goss, Jordan Angeley with you for another big show. Jordan, you just caught me in a moment of contemplation figuring out how I should start the show. I guess in reality I just have to find a way to get to my final goal which is to in some way get you to perform musically, artistically, whatever. That's the key to all of our openings and I didn't know how to get there so I was thinking about it and I never really came to a solution. So now it's on me to figure out what song I'm going to sing. Yeah, pretty much.

You could just sing our theme song but we don't actually have any lyrics in it. Maybe we should write lyrics so that we can sing to it. Maybe we should. Did we talk about jingles once? I feel like we did. We have talked about it. We have talked about it extensively and it is one of the many skills that you have in your back pocket, which is why I love doing this show with you.

It is a big show for us. NWSL, a big weekend in the book, so we're going to talk about a ton of different stories. Tamuashawinga is setting another record or tying another record that Tamuashawinga held. So that's something to talk about. Ashley Hatch joining the record books as well, which is a really cool storyline. Some weather delayed games, some big performances from some unknown characters and some big injuries as well, which unfortunately we'll have to touch on. We will talk US women's national team as we head into the first of the two friendlies against Brazil coming up on Saturday. So no NWSL this weekend. We'll preview that one. We'll talk a little bit about the player pool,

what to expect, what we're looking for. And then news coming out over the last week that the... there is not a good name for it, but RSL and the Utah Royals, which are co-owned by the same owner, are rumored to be on the verge of being sold to a new ownership group. So the Utah Royals would be changing hands. There's not like a good consortium name because they have different names.

Like you need like a Utah soccer group, whatever you want to do. Yeah, because it's Utah and it's Salt Lake. So you're like, You've got Utah, it's Salt Lake. So you're like... You've got Utah, you've got Salt Lake, you've got Rial, which is hilarious. There's a comedian who does these videos on Instagram that I watch. And he just did one about MLS being stupid. And in it the person asks like, oh, so MLS stands for Major League Soccer. And they're like, yeah. And they're like, then why are we watching Charlotte FC against Rial

Salt Lake? And he was like, doesn't matter and no one ever knows. So you've got Rial on one side, you've got Salt Lake on one side, you've got Utah on the other and then you've got Royals. There's not really good connections between all of it. No, there's not. It's hard to just give it one easy intro. So good work with that. So maybe the new ownership group, they could start out by finding one single name to make an umbrella for

all of it to live under if they do take it over, which we will talk about coming up later in the show. No NWSL in the upcoming weekend though, Jordan. Are you going to have withdrawals? Are you going to struggle? I had a difficult weekend calling games. so I'm okay having a weekend off. I had no games through a hundred and, what, a hundred and eighty minutes. No goals. And then no goals. I was like, you were off for a hundred and eighty days? What season is this?

No, no, no. A hundred and eighty minutes. Two full games with no goals. Yeah. One that was like not a game we should ever talk about again and NWSL history, the Gotham Houston game and unfortunately, we are going to talk about it. And then my game Sunday was just like so hectic. So I I'm happy to have a weekend off and we get to watch the national team play. So it should

be fun. It should be great. I like some of these moments where you get international soccer, I think one, to sort of rest and reset a little and I think especially for a lot of these NWSL teams it feels like two weeks of training with a lot of pieces still there, not everyone, could be really fun but then the other is you get that collective experience of like, you know, Friday night there's two consecutive games on so it's like some people are watching half, some people are watching the other. And then as the weekend went along,

things got shifted because of weather and all of that. And it's just fun when I think when everyone's watching the same thing and hanging out and talking about it. And obviously the national team is always a show and a gold medal rematch is not a bad way to do it. Let's start on the weekend and let's start in Kansas City. So I said, Tenwa Shinga setting a record or tying a record that Tama

We can get set so last year from June to September. I believe it was Ten was showing a scored in eight straight NWSL regular season games Then did not score and I believe since that game has scored now in eight straight NWSL regular season games so ties the record that was set last year The long time window last year was I because you had the Summer Cup series because of the Olympics So it's spaced out really really far But showing I think the point being this is not a heater This is who this player is and to do it once again in the first half, the second straight

game they've scored three goals in the first half at home. It shows how special she is as a player and how special this team is right now. Just don't know how you stop her. I really don't. I feel bad for other teams. I feel bad for defenders in this league right now because all right, guys, you give her space in front of you. What is she going to do?

She can pick the ball up and she's going to dribble at you and then she's going to beat you on the dribble. If you go tight to her, she's going to lay the ball off and then get it on a one-two and utilize the space in behind. She is getting a lot more savvy about how she can use her movement to draw defenders away and create space for other people. Hello, Dabia on a real heater, right? I think Dubinia's playing excellent. But a lot of that has to do

with just how much attention Shewinga should be given. So it's honestly remarkable and it feels like at the same time there's still growth for her to get better in areas. And she's very focused on getting better while still scoring goals every single game. Yeah, there's a moment in this game that the goal gets called off for nothing that Shewinga is a part of,

where Michelle Cooper deflects a ball. It turns out it went off her hand. You can't really see it. And Labonta gets the ball and just scoops a ball over the top and it's a flat-footed foot raise and showing a wins the raise and then finishes under pressure and it's like okay so you can't like you said you can't be near her but you can't drop off her and then she does so well floating through different areas that

defenders should be marking her in right coming in from the left wing floating wing, floating in centrally, dropping a little deeper, back out left. So you have to constantly be communicating and moving around. And I think what it feels like this year is everyone else has a better understanding even of how she's affecting the field. I think Michelle Cooper is taking advantage of a lot of that right now. I think Michelle Cooper's playing more centrally more often because when DiBonardo drops in a little, Schwinga and Cooper both pinch in and become like an old school two forward up top. And Cooper I think knows, well, every center back has to be shaded towards Schwinga. So I'm going to be the one who's going to get chances to fall for me.

I'm going to be the one who's going to get 1v for me. I'm gonna be the one who's gonna get 1v1 opportunities. We saw the shot from distance in the first game. She sets up Shewing on the first one in this game. We see her then also getting into the box and getting goals. It feels like that's been the next step for KC is everyone getting super comfortable with where that space is as well as confident in themselves. And so maybe Shewing hasn't taken the huge step herself internally, but the way she affects the team feels even stronger now than it was last year.

Is one of the big reasons I talked about Bia, we saw Bia come back in this match, which was excellent to see. But one of the big reasons why I said she was gonna be the golden boot is because of all those things that you just said. And because Bia is the best nine in this league. One of the big reasons why I said she was going to be the Golden Boot is because of all those things that you just said. Because Bia is the best 9 in this league. She's the best 9 in this league. If you can put all those things next to Tem with Shewinga, she's going to score a lot

of goals. Now, is that affected for not playing now? Probably even a few more games, full 90 after this? Yeah, I don't know if she's going to be the Golden Boot now. And Shewinga's like, I'm going to do it again. Right. Um, 10 VP over here. But I, I think that that was my thought. And Michelle Cooper is the one that is benefiting from that right now. Um, getting some goals, but also you're so right. They,

they feel like a more cohesive team. Like last year's success felt early for Vlachko and Anoski. This year he's like, this is where I imagined the team would be. And it's nice. You score three goals in the first half and then you feel like you can actually not have to expend as much energy in the second half and maybe work on some defensive things, right? Like say, okay, if we sit in this block, if we sit a little bit deeper, if we do XYZ, like are we still, are we still good at that? Yeah. And, and that mid block that they sit in, you know, what, it's a 30 yard gap from center back to center forward. Um, D'Bernardo does really well shadow marking centrally.

So she drops off, you can't play into that space, so then where are you going to play? That's what killed Utah in this game. It killed Portland in the first game. It is not the same as a year ago when it was, if we set everyone's hair on fire, we're going to win games because we're better at it than everyone else, but we can't really control it. Now it's goals and scored in similar ways, but out of controlled moments. And I think it feels a little more like what Orlando looked like last year from Kansas

City, I think, than what Kansas City looked like last year. And that's all in that progression. And you add in the pieces they've added. Lorena clearly is a good fit. Alana Cook called into the national team. We'll talk about her coming up in that center back pool. What a resurrection for her to go and play under Vlako, a coach who knows her and values her coming out of a struggle in Seattle and now is a locked in starter for one of the best teams in the league. As we have said, they are box office. I think if Kansas City

is playing at home, it's 1A no matter who they're playing against in NWSL. And then you start to like check in the other games underneath that of what do you want to watch? What's your weekend built around? But Kansas City at home unquestionably is much watched stuff. Orlando kept pace though. They got a 2-1 win in their home game early on Sunday against San Diego. It's the first goal they've conceded all year for this Orlando squad and so it was not the easiest win for them, but it was once again another big victory for them and it feels like we are in this, you know, Clash of the Titans, the same one we were in for the first half of last season of when is Orlando and Kansas City going to

match up, which I could look up and figure out. Yeah, yeah. Yes, impressed by Orlando, but it wasn't as easy of a game as I think other people thought it was going to be. San Diego put up a real test, looked dominant in the first half, looked like they were a team really going to challenge Orlando, which they did. 2-1 win for Orlando is a tight game. You going into last weekend, Goss, said this was your game of the weekend because you wanted to see how the back line of

San Diego matched up against a true center forward. What were your takeaways from that? Do I have too much of a loser mentality if losses don don't bother me and like I'm like because I said week one Houston mission accomplished when they lost and I feel the same about San Diego here is that okay or is that why I think no I feel good about San Diego okay so we yeah I think McNabb and Wesley dealt with Barbara Banda as well as you can and they did it in moments where you're at your worst threat. It was a lot of Wesley getting pulled into the channel one-on-one with Banda, McNabb having to line up 1v1 in the box where you don't know if Banda is going to go left or right, has the quicker foot or has the quicker first step.

Those are the moments that centrebacks in this league struggle with. And I thought they were constantly connected to each other to understand where the other centerback was. I thought Wesley did a great job. Anytime she was stuck in one V one situations of knowing which way to push Banda that the support would be. And it was a center back pairing every time that led to that support. It wasn't the reason they conceded any of their goals.

And in the first half, especially, it built the platform to allow the attacking pieces to stay high. They never had to drop in and sit in and defend from a deep block in that first half. And then Cascarino starts to go to work and Corley starts to go to work and Maria Sanchez is in the right areas.

And those were all my questions of like is San Diego gonna get here? Are they gonna get frazzled because it's frenetic and it's intense and Orlando's good at it of Attacking you 1v1 or being direct or whatever and then lose all of their fundamentals to their game model And we just hadn't seen it really and so I thought it was mission accomplished even though they don't get a result Yeah, I think maybe one of the things that I was just thinking as you're talking is And so I thought it was mission accomplished even though they don't get a result. Yeah. I think maybe one of the things that I was just thinking as you're talking is we were really questioning this build from San Diego, the players they were bringing in. And I don't know all of the players that Cammy Levin had her stamp on, right?

Who she was bringing in, I would imagine is these players that came in over this last transfer window. But there's something to be said about that because where else did she do that in Kansas City? She built this Kansas City team that now is running away with things and it like looks really cohesive. And if she can continue to do that, I think in one more window and maybe get a couple of other big players for this San Diego team. Already they look great but you think about this team with a nine. So I should look this up as well but Akwu Chukwu came off the bench, scored in a minute and a half, should have had an assist, set up Carusa in a really dangerous area. Basically played her in. One clean touch leads to a shot on goal. Could have been 2-2. I don't want to over emphasize one sub appearance, but looked really, really dangerous in a different way

than Lyon. I agree with you. I think that's one of the big question marks. I think the other is How consistent can Coralie be like is this people don't really know your game. You're excited. You're playing with confidence That's great the ebbs and flows of being that wide attacking player where you're gonna You're supposed to lose more take-ons than you win, right? Like that's the nature of the position Can she continue to create chances for this team out of those? I think that's going to be another question. And then I think the hope is that they already have the depth at center back because of the college signings that they've made.

And so that's going to be tested. And they just brought in Danielle Arias, the Colombian International, which is huge for them just because this center back pairing has really worked. But the only thing that can make that stronger is competition and making sure that you have really solid pieces in there. And Arias is good. Like, would look really good in this system, can play out of the back, which is something that Jonas Eidevall clearly wants to be able to do.

But they aesthetically, this has been my favorite soccer we've seen in NWSL. So I was going to say I was going to have a do a segment that I didn't bring up. So I'm glad we got there, which was like any takes so far three games in, right? We've got a weekend coming up of off. Like obviously it's too early to assess anything. But I think San Diego for me, what I was going to say is they've surpassed North Carolina in the like, from a soccer point of view, they're the team to watch right now in NWSL. Do you remember when we were in the off season and I was like, I'm kind of intrigued about

San Diego. Like this is the team and you were like, San Diego, what are they doing? I remember our conversation and I just felt like- Impersonation is also a skill of Jordan's. It felt like watch out because I think Eidevall has something to prove and I really liked the signing of Dali and we're seeing that really pay dividends. I don't think we've seen Savannah McCaskill be this good in a long time because of the system that they're playing and how she can get on the ball and she can be free in her movement and she can connect

like she's a connector she loves that part about being a central midfielder they look good yeah I really love the way they play and they surpassed North Carolina in in the style points right now for me because in the attacking third you know things are gonna happen The threat it's gonna look a threatening. Yeah threatening on goal. I like The wave is making some way For anyone listening to the podcast we both did a wave signal there just to establish Jordan's nailed line there Just to establish Jordan's nailed line there

They they make things happen in the final third, right? There's a lot of 1v1 player like, you know risk whatever but then it gets scrappy, which I like it's like Counter-pressing scrappy you lose the ball You're immediately physical with the first player who picked it up on the other team Trying to make something happen saving balls on the end line Like we've seen a couple dangerous chances for them of like a lot of people thought the play was dead, running it down, keeping it alive. And then Sanchez is making that run into the box. Even in this first half, I think it was Cascarino's quietest game. And yet the two or three moments she breaks out are the you get off your seat moments

in a game because it's like oh my god it's happening it just happens at such high speed yeah like oh the ball don't blink don't blink you're like all the balls gonna run out of her then it's cuts a defender cuts back in plays a ball in yeah it's really fun to watch and I was talking center back depth just cuz the we were the information we were getting out of the San Diego camp was they think Trinity Armstrong is the next Naomi Germa. And so to feel that way about a player who hasn't had to play yet because the center

back pairing is so good and you bring in Aries, it feels really, really strong from this group, but you are 100% right in that I had no idea how this was going to come together. And I didn't know that Corley would be this dangerous this early and I think that's been a huge factor and I felt like last year Maria Sanchez played better centrally when she was more connected but I thought there was a feeling that you couldn't push her there. That she was too high paid and big of a piece as such a dangerous winger that it was like almost internally and maybe that's one of the things you get no longer being connected to Jill Ellis or Casey Stoney of like, yeah, it's not Jonas Eidevall's problem.

How much was given up to bring her in to be a winger? It's like I think about the players he just had at Arsenal. He's like, you're gonna play where I think you should play. That's true Yeah, and and it's worked fantastic And I don't think Sanchez complains But I just think the concept in San Diego's head was like she's gonna be this 1v1 demon out wide So if we slide her inside we lose that lose that but there was a reason that it's worth doing Yeah, it's worked out. She's never been that she's been excellent at early crosses, right? Because she doesn't want to get to the end line.

She doesn't want to do that. So now you're actually allowing her to play in that space that she liked to play in just with more options to find in front of her because you're not always coming from an isolated position on the wing. You're coming from a central position. And the calendar, which I read, which I was supposed to read right here where did I put it? It's May 16th is the first time that Kansas City and Orlando match up and then they match up again I believe on August 16th maybe. I feel like I'm on that

game for a weird reason let me check and see. Boom that would be. We're doing a lot of schedule checking. Okay this is kind of of, I think, what people like. I think people- Would you say 16th? Yeah. No, I'm not on that game. Okay. It is going to be a ton of fun. I believe it's Orlando home first and then Kansas City home second.

And if anyone remembers what it was like last year. Oh my God. I know we can't just talk about a matchup in six weeks, four, six weeks, but like Marta going back to CPKC Stadium and these two teams playing as tops in NWSL is, last year I thought both of them starting undefeated in the game right before the summer break when Orlando went and won was gonna be the best

regular season game we could ever see. And this year might actually top it, which which is really really cool to see as well. Let's start, let's continue on the positive and then we'll go into some Saturday news from the weekend. Ashley Hatch, two goals in the first half in like a five minute span to celebrate her call up back into the US women's National Team, which we talked about a little last week, and pass Jessica McDonald for fifth all time in NWSL history in regular season scoring. It shows her longevity. I mean, she wasn't a starting center forward for this team last year.

She wasn't even a starter for this team last year, but it is over the course of her career continuing to be this specialist, be able to fit into a lot of different teams, continue on doing the things she does well. And the two goals she scored are true center forward goals. And it's one of the reasons we talked about why she gets back into the national team. They were, they were such good goals. I love headed goals. Cause I just think it's just such a different skill than playing with

your feet and being able to technically do everything with your right or left foot. I just loved both the goals. They were excellent. I actually saw Jessica McDonald at the studio the day after the record got broken. I was like, how are you? She's like, good. And we started talking and she goes, yeah, everybody's just breaking my record. And I'm thinking, Jess, everybody's just breaking my records.

I'm thinking, Jess, at least you had records. That's what happens. Records are made to be broken. I'm excited for Ashley Hatch because she has been very similar to Jess McDonald, a little bit of a warrior, not always given the spotlight that I think she should be given, but I don't think she really cares. She actually hatched to me feels like a player you want on your team because she's going to do everything right for the team to be successful.

She is excellent defensively in the work rate that she has, but more than anything, when you get her inside the box, she can score with any surface. And these two headed goals were a sight to behold. And especially the second one where she's like fading away almost on the set piece. Yeah, I'm happy for her. It was an excellent performance from Hatch. So Hatch has three goals this year. Last year, without being the full-time starter, she had seven goals. So if she scored four more this year at a minimum, she would tie Alex Morgan for fourth

by the end of this season. Then the next jump is Christine Sinclair at 64. I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that she finishes this year third all-time in NWSL scoring. Don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that she finishes this year third all-time in NWSL scoring Lynn Williams number one right now at 80 Hoping or I guess Lynn B and Olo hoping she can come back healthy at some point and continue to add to that then Sam Kerr sitting right in the middle at 77 all-time career goals, but this I think is one of those cool things where it's like

Sometimes you have records because a player like Sam Kerr is like this outside of the world realm talent and then sometimes now that you have a league that is established and can have a long track record and players can play in it for their entire careers you have other records which are about like you said like longevity like battling continuing to stay in your career getting into the team under multiple coaches under multiple multiple ownership setups like things continue to change and Ashley Hatch has continued to find ways to be a part of it which is why I think she is really intriguing for a national team because she's had so many different roles and I think she accentuates her teammates really well

in all of them and then you get into the things she's great at. And these two headed goals are that. The first one is that quick first step. You read the ball off the cross. You get away from your defender. And then you don't try and do too much, right? It's the flick on and then as you said, you sort of show the power and ability on the second goal.

It was really impressive to watch. For Bay, it was a big win. Trinity Rodman comes back into the starting lineup for this one, which is huge for them to see, or excuse me, for Washington to see. Rodman made some comments at the end of last week going into this game about how she's probably never gonna be fully over the back injuries.

It's one of the scariest injury areas for an athlete, for any human being, but for an athlete especially, there's so much unknown, there's so much, it affects literally everything and is affected by everything. And I think her saying it was good in that she's setting some expectations of like, she's not gonna go out and be able to throw her body around

and get hit 15 times and jump into players every 90 minutes, twice a week, forever. But I think it feels like there's a program times and jump into players every 90 minutes, twice a week, forever. But I think it feels like there's a program in progress for her of like, how does she continue to be her best self now in this scenario? That will be the interesting thing because Trinity Rodman hasn't had to adapt to anything. She has been the most athletic. She has been at times the most skillful and she's been able to really put her stamp on the game every single time she's out there

because maybe it doesn't come off in goals but it comes off in how she affects the game and how it's played. So now when you have an injury like this, that you can't do those things that you maybe rely on at moments, how do you adapt? And you know, you wish you weren't saying this about a 23 year old who's just getting, not even, not even in her prime. That makes me sad for her, but I think we'll really get to see how good she is and how she adapts and how she still is effective. Like we saw this weekend, right? Her ability to utilize the knowledge of her threat to make defenses have to decide, okay, we're going to give, we're going to respect Trinity Rodman here and then it opens up space for other players. Whatever it may be.

I'm not saying she's never going to be excellent again. Like I do think she, she has that in her. It's just going to look different than maybe what we've seen before. Yeah. I would say one of the most fun things in soccer for the last few years has been when Trinity Rodman plays on or over the edge and not like she doesn't lose control very often, but the speed and energy at which she plays changes the feeling of a game.

And I think the clearest one is last year in that playoffs against Gotham, when the way she plays, her aggression, the way she runs down balls, her physicality, her speed, caused the tackle, then Emily Sonick comes over there yelling like, everyone enjoys that whole experience, that speed cause the tackle. Then Emily Sonic comes over there yelling like everyone enjoys that whole experience that amps up the energy in a game and makes it fun to watch and it feels a little harder to think that you can play that way in those moments as often. That doesn't mean that she won't be elite. I mean even you see in this one

McKenna Morris almost scores off the rebound of her long shot where it's like ball striking is still elite, her touch, her vision's elite, the IQ's still there, athleticism is still there. She just will have to manage it feels like, probably especially games played. And then you look at national team stuff of like tight, condensed, high level games in a tournament, probably isn't 120 minutes every single game for a six game span going forward but she will be back in the national team coming up against Brazil which is going to be really exciting to watch. Two more big storylines from the weekend. One is that Becky Saarbrunn was

celebrated after retiring for the Portland Thorns. It was of course, a retirement that was announced in the off season, so no opportunity like with Sinclair sort of see her off. So she got that opportunity. You were on the call for this game against North Carolina. It felt like a very meaningful moment for Becky. You saw the emotion on her face, especially, I saw post game when they went over to like celebrate

with the fans as they do. And you could see her sort of taking it all in, which was really, really cool to see for someone who deserves it has had so much of what has been successful built on her shoulders both from the national team and from the league sense. As a player you never know when your last game is gonna be whether you know for Becky she didn't know if she's gonna play another year sometimes it happens with injuries sometimes you don't you know find another club to play for.

And so I think it was really, it was a really nice gesture that she got to come back and be on the field and go in front of the Rose City Riveters and have one more moment to be in front of them and feel that energy and soak it up because it's special. It's special to be a professional. It's special to affect a city, affect a team, and she's been able to do that for so many years in NWSL but in Portland as well. but they're gonna be happy with the results given just the performance and maybe the potential outcome with the penalty. It feels like week one alarm bells went off with Portland and everything they've done since then has taken down the anxiety. They are not going to be a championship contender

probably this year, but they are a good soccer team right now. It feels like from top to bottom. I liked the 4-4-2. I don't know how you felt about it. It puts players like Segeeta in a little bit higher of a position. I thought Moultrie was in the position that she typically then tries to operate in, which is that half space. And then I thought Hanks and Turner up top was dangerous in times. If those two can figure out a way to... And this just takes games, right? They haven't played in this system. But with a two forward system, when do you maybe spin out and find the channel when does one check in and one go in

behind just little movements and little ways to operate better with each other in combination and relationship I think there's there's some real good hope there and I think Hanks is gonna have a really good rookie year. Yeah. I was very intrigued by Turner's performance two weeks ago. I thought there was less space for her to run into because there was, hence occupying similar space. But I completely agree with you, which is if they can find ways to work off each other and be dangerous, it probably helps this team in that there is not

pure individual danger. And so you kind of need an option higher up the field more consistently. And if you have this setup, it gets you there faster than another player having to make a run at a deep midfield or one of the fullbacks having to get higher up the field and get connected to everything. I think they look like the better team in this game, which I would not have expected to say. Of of course North Carolina on the road It's one convo North Carolina in general is another convo Jayden Shaw has the penalty kick saved which is brutal But they have been one of the least dangerous teams in the league now across three weeks

I think I read off some of the stats last week this week They had 27 more passes into the final third than Portland did in this game and they had five less passes Into the box throughout the game than Portland did so North Carolina is doing everything In the attacking third and they're doing very little in front of goal and whether players are finishers or not It doesn't matter if you're not in that 15 yard area and you're not in front of goal at any point, it's going to be hard to score. It feels like the way that North Carolina plays, and I'm not saying it is like how Barcelona

played when they had that super team with Messi and In in Iesta and Xavi but I think the concepts are the same right that team wanted to keep the ball they wanted to play around you and dominate you in possession so much but the thing that distinct like is that their X factor is when they went they went yeah when they decided we are going towards goal, they went to goal. And I think that's what North Carolina is lacking. It is so, I told Sean Ehas this week, I can watch you guys play out of press forever.

The way you know relationships, you trust each other to be in a space before that space is even occupied so you can play that ball there and someone will make it there. They can, their rotations are nice. occupied so you can play that ball there and someone will make it there. Their rotations are nice. I like so many things about North Carolina, but there's never change of pace. There's never, we're going to make you pay for now having the ball for 25 passes. Now this is the time that we go.

We've been patient, patient, patient. That gap gets a little big centrally. We're going straight into our nine and there's people going around. Like that's the difference to me. Yeah, I completely agree with you. It is one note and it's maybe eventually it'll break you down and I think all of that is true. And then I keep saying like at some point on the half turn, you gotta go up field. That is true and then I keep saying like at some point on the half turn you got to go upfield. At some point, whether it's someone fouls you, a ball sneaks out and then picked up by a teammate or creates chaos, some way to break it.

I think Nurumi had a little bit of that, right? More of it passing out of midfield, but taking some risks. And as you said, that Barcelona, I mean, the tiki-taka thing, the whole thing is it was possession to not defend like it was Defending yes possession, but at some point you also have to possess to score goals if you're gonna want to win games And I think unfortunately the feeling I know for me was okay You didn't have Caroline last year Jane Shaw comes in like that's a whole huge bonus of a player who has that intent and has Those ideas and I thought it would be very easy for Shaw to step in because so much of the model is

built to just find her moments inside of that. And it feels like, I mean, the look on her face after the penalty of like, it feels like she is actually feeling a ton of pressure to help elevate this team. And it was the last thing you wanted for a player at her age trying to refine herself at the professional ranks I think there's a really interesting Conversation in women's sports right now, especially end of his cell is like there is a lot of talk about You know, we want to be treated as professional athletes now regardless that we're women right like there

There's we want the same responsibility, but with those same responsibilities come expectations, I think. The hard thing is those expectations are now falling on really young players. Players who mentally maybe can't carry that load right now, or should they? I feel sad at times. Jayden Shaw is 20 years old. She should not be the make or break for this team. She should only elevate.

And I think that is something that Shawn Nahos is trying to establish too, is like, Jay, just go be yourself and we'll help you be successful, but to not feel like she has to carry this team. And it felt like in times in this game because she got on the ball a lot that and maybe because she's given a lot of freedom teammates don't know quite where to be yet to help her in certain attacking situations but it felt like she had to do a lot in those moments like get on the ball and she did a lot like she would get on the half turn she would dribble out a player

beat them but then like what's next after that? So I think that there's this really interesting dynamic and it's not just Jade and Shaw, right? Shinomi is now coming in, gets her first start. I thought she was excellent. Still, young player, right? How do you give a player with such little experience and mentally maybe not at the place where they need to be the freedom to fail but also the freedom to succeed without the expectations and

without the pressure. It's difficult. And the dream situation is you have opportunity to be on the field with someone else having those responsibilities and I think even even though she's younger and I know Jayne Shaw went through some of this with San Diego you look at Olivia Moultrie right now and it's like she got to watch other people do it. And I don't think Portland, maybe because of where they sit, came into this year and was like, Olivia Moultrie is the reason we will or won't succeed

and that's gonna elevate us. And now she's stepped up to that performance and that it's almost like now the performances are leading the assumption that she can do it rather than the other way around. And it's a tough convo with Jayne Shaw just because she has done all of this and then got hurt and missed time and sort of had a year that went away. And so it's hard to state where she sits right now in her career and what she's doing.

But you're absolutely right is like you can feel some of the tense nature and the pressure and like, it is really, really hard to deal with and it's really hard for young players. I think you see it a bit with Ali Centenor, like you're seeing it with everyone. And all of these players are performing. Like what Sean Centenor did in the She Believes Cup is elite stuff. So that was high pressure.

And so it doesn't mean they can't deal with it. It's just how do you every single week when you're the first on the other teams? Game plan and when you know, there's responsibility on your shoulders and all of that How do you continue to find solutions and find answers? And it's why when we talked a lot about North Carolina coming into the year I kept saying like play Ashley Sanchez in the middle still so that Shaw can find the game and They made the change at center forward this game, which I thought helped a little bit

in that you take some of the responsibility off Shaw's shoulders, but it is really, really difficult. It's been difficult. I mean, we're gonna talk about the Thompson sisters, right? It's been difficult for Alyssa Thompson. And it was, I think one of the mistakes Angel City made so early was they didn't really have other players on the field in the attack to

take pressure off her and whenever they do she scores. Like the moment she doesn't have to do everything she pretty much delivers every single time and that's the way you want to set your team up. Let's finish off NWSL weekend with the brutal news that Tina Davidson has officially torn her ACL and will be put on the season ending injury list for Gotham FC. This occurred on Friday night during the Houston-Gotham game. You were on the call for this game, Jordan.

I think anyone watching could sort of sense the emotional reaction for you and for a lot of us watching in just seeing a player who tore her ACL in 2022, broke her ankle in 2018, has missed multiple years playing at her peak and it was just like that most unfortunate moment of non-contact ACL injury. She goes down and it felt like you knew immediately and she knew immediately.

Yeah, it still sucks. Every time, you know, it's not often you get to see it in a game, right? A lot of the ACL injuries that happen are in training and so it's not often you get to see it in a game. A lot of the ACL injuries that happen are in training. And so it's not happening in real life in front of you when you're supposed to talk about it. And it's just hard that exact thing happened to me. But it was my third time and I was playing in a game. It was my first game of season.

I could just feel myself in that situation. And it's hard to disassociate yourself from the memories that you have when moments like that happen. And I don't think I'm supposed to get emotional, but I think at the same time people need to remember that these are human beings. And when the game continues, Tierna's life has changed forever. And that's what I think about in that and you know I just bummed seeing her reaction. I knew she knew I

couldn't say anything that that's what it was because you can't assume but yeah it was really hard it's really hard and I just for any player going through an ACL injury you just yes it is way better outcome now to be able to get back and be healthy and be yourself again. But it's still brutal. It's still brutal. It's going to be a year, right? Probably until she feels like herself again.

And yeah, I just get really bummed for people. I don't want anybody to experience that, especially if they, no, not especially if they've already experienced it, just anybody. I don't want them to go through that. So I'm sad for her. I'm sad for what she was hopeful for, for what this year would look like. But now Gotham sits with another difficult injury where I feel like they've had just kind of a tough time getting a team out on the field healthy. As you said, you don't want to see anyone hurt. And it is absolutely brutal. I just and this comes off the back of the conversation we had about Trini Rodman. I from afar feel

like we've experienced Tiana Davidson have this potential and then have injuries get in the way. And even when she got to Gotham a year ago, it felt like we were never gonna see her ceiling because she was never gonna be fully healthy enough and comfortable enough and confident enough because you said it takes a year plus with some people like to get fully back.

And we had seen her get there. And I think that on top of everything else is really heartbreaking of like, this felt like not her team, but like her team. And she, from the player at Stanford, that was the college player who'd get called into national teams and the future of the position for the U S and all this pressure, and then the injuries off and on and some chaos in Chicago off the field, which had nothing to do with her, but like kind of set Chicago behind a little

and then she comes to Gotham and she's healthy for the national team and she wins a gold medal and then the way she has played with this group has been the ceiling of what a center back's really capable of. And so to go into this year where it felt like a lot was built on her and Sonnet

and Berger and all of this, it's just on top of all of it really, really unfortunate to see and I think that for me watching from afar added to the like, you've got to be kidding me, like that this is going to happen now when it felt like she was finally over some of it and as you said, the injury she's been through. We never really plugged it here on the show. Can you talk a little about ACL club before we move on? Oh yeah. Well, I tore my ACL three times on my left knee and when I was going through that process

of recovery, I'd always just have other people be like, hey, this person tore their ACL. Can you talk to them? Can you talk to them? And I just started talking to all these people and I felt like everybody kind of had the same pain points and really everybody in the end just wanted to feel like they had somebody there to support them as one does, right? That you know what they're going through. So I started the ACL club my last year playing 2015.

So it's been 10 years now just to be that, to be a support, a community to help people through the highs and the lows, the trials and the triumphs of the ACL injury recovery and for people to be able to tell their stories about how they've been able to get through. So yeah, always here for anybody who... So anyone listening here, because we've talked about your injuries at time, but we hadn't brought that up of... Right.

Well, thanks, Goss. If you need any sort of support or you're going through anything similar that is a resource for you or something you can connect to I highly recommend following it I get inspired by a lot of the stories that I see come out of it as well now we have to do the thing that you talked about on the broadcast which is look at the team and the soccer going forward without Tiana Davidson. It was Mandy Freeman that came on to replace Davidson and I was a little surprised like for like at center back for the rest of this game. We have seen Freeman play there before, played in preseason there this year, has played there in the

past in spots, but Lily Reel was naturally a center back in college, has been playing at left back. How does this affect the team overall and what do you think their plans will be going forward? I would imagine since it happened in the heat of the game and you already have Lily Real is a rookie and you have given her her responsibilities as an outside back going into this game. You don't want to throw all of this like now you're playing center back like figure this out and do this and mark this game. You don't want to throw all of this like now you're playing center back, like figure this out and do this and mark this person. And this, I don't know, there's just different pressures you feel as a center back in those moments. I think it was smart

to put Mandy Freeman into this center back position. But I, if I was Juan Carlos and I'm looking at this team, Mandy Freeman did a really good job outside back last year and you can plug her in as a left back and then play Lily Real as a center back. I think what we've seen from Real is she can get forward on the dribble and has shown that she can be effective in in finding that like connection in the attacking third but one of the things that Tiana Davidson has done so well and I think has been one of her x-factors as a center back is her ability to pick and choose the times where she does Dribble it out at midfields from that center back position

So can you just harness that from Lily real and say hey we actually want you to do that from time to time from a center back position that that would be what I would do but Those are good those are pretty solid options. And I would add Jess Carter can play center back as well. She can play center back as well. I think she started there for Gotham last year because of when she came in was during the Olympics and summer cup stuff. And so you didn't have Sana and Davidson and has played left back, center back and right back. One of the tough things for Gotham is of all the positions back line their quote unquote depth was all of these players can

play multiple positions. It still leaves the numbers kind of thin, right? If Jess Carter is playing center back, is it Bruninha at right back? Is Taryn Torres playing left back and Mandy Freeman? Is Lily Real again a rookie who isn't naturally a fullback out there and so I think this was my most worrying position for them and now you have this whole year where I think all of the options we just named at center back can get you where you want to be by the end of this year but if anything else happens or depending on matchups as well you might not have the options you want because I think part of Jess Carter playing right back is many of the best attackers in this league are going to come

from that left side. White, Tim West, Rwenga, Trini Rodman. We just talked about two of them. You want Carter out there 1v1. That doesn't happen. Do you play her there sometimes? Do you move her around? It is a step back for this Gotham team and a step back as well on the attack.

Which what Davidson does out of the back and your hope is fingers crossed at some point Roosevelt comes back and Mitch Purce comes back and that helps things because also this is a Gotham team that isn't scoring goals which is the huge danger and now you lose your star center back in a US women's national team starter as well on top of all of that speaking of let's go into a little national team conversation. Tieriana Davidson replaced on the roster officially by Giselle Thompson. Thompson of course getting the start in the She Believes Cup, has gotten the start at right back for this Angel City team

since then, has looked really good I think at the right back position for Angel City. You were able to call her game to close out on Sunday and it felt like another opportunity in game in which she showed that she's up for I think a lot of these battles physically that she needs to be able to do with the national team. Brazil is like if you're going to be challenged as a fullback it's against the Brazilian national team right because it's not just skill and speed it's physicality it's high pressure it's counter like it's everything that can threaten

a player in that position, this Brazilian national team does at a high level. I was a little surprised that Gisele Thompson gets the call when it was a center back getting injured and you bring in an outside back. But I do, I think both you and I, after she believes we were most pleasantly surprised with Gisele Thompson and how well she handled playing at the international level in the outside back position. She's really interesting because she can affect the game. She's exactly the outside back that Emma Hayes wants, right?

She can play in the channel, she can play in the half space, she can invert at times, be another midfielder. She has all of those qualities. Will she play against Brazil? I don't know. I'm not sure. Maybe she'll get some minutes. I think if you're Emma Hayes, you want to get her some minutes because, and maybe she doesn't start, but even if you come in at the end of games, you know Brazil is going to have people coming off the bench with fresh

legs and fancy footwork that you're going to be able to have to defend. So there's a really good opportunity here to really see what Giselle Thompson can do against the best. I think in general, Brazil has played a couple of different formations as of late. In the Olympics, they were playing more of a 4-4-2. They have been playing out of a three-back as well. So then there's questions about, do you tuck in with the winger with the overload of the outside or the wing back?

How do you handle that if you're outside back for this US team? I think this Brazil team will ask questions of the United States that they haven't been asked as of late, which I don't think we're going to get like an Olympic final type test, but it's going be it's gonna be intriguing. Um, It does feel like giselle thompson was probably the 25th player on the 24 list And so a player goes down for maybe The eighth defender of seven defenders like you said and there are a number of centerbacks So the center backs in this pool right now already alana cook called in this time time alongside Tara McKeown and Emily Sams alongside Sonnet of

course. So you have probably enough options at that position that you didn't have to go specifically with the center back. But it does bring us into this convo which I wanted to have about this center back pool. So the opening game of course is Saturday 5 p.m. Eastern Time. That one's at SoFi Stadium. And then the second game is Tuesday 10 30 p.m. Eastern time that one's at PayPal Park. I believe it's still called in San Jose And the conversation is just so you have the players who have been called in

Sam's Mickey own who we saw get a ton of starts She believes cup a lot of cook the new one added to that obviously Naomi Germa unavailable right now Alana Cook, the new one added to that. Obviously Naomi Gurma unavailable right now. Sonnet in this group and playing as well. And then I sort of put together a couple other names where I do think this is a position that's up for grabs. I don't know that anyone that we're saying is fully locked in as the next person to step into this,

especially if Gurma is dealing with injuries and now you're looking for two center backs to start. How do you feel about the pool in this position and maybe in absence of Davidson, what you're looking for from attributes? The pool has like really, really like not old because I'm old, older players. Yeah. Older players and really young players.

That's what I feel like the center back pool has. But in that game on Sunday, Angel City Seattle game, we talked to Emma Hayes and she said her back line. She needs more depth, right? Outside back, she has questions. And I think now with this injury, there will be questions at center back. So you have Abby Dahlkemper and you had written Sarah Gordon down. And I think a lot of people have talked about Sarah Gordon.

I think Sarah Gordon is an excellent professional. And we haven't seen her at the full national team level. So I don't think you know until you see. But to me, I don't know if she has what it would take to be a national team center back. But does it mean that she's not really good? I think she's very good. Go ahead, were you going to say something? So my argument there and why she was one of the first ones that popped up.

One is if we're doing the whole I'm watching everyone thing, then you got to start talking about some of these names of players who for some reason or maybe for a correct reason had gone under the radar. A lot of that as we've talked about was previous CBA and the way the team was and all of that. The other reason that she pops in my head is she's flexible. So when you talk about a tournament roster, you're talking about a player who could play across all four positions on the back line if that's where you end up in the depth chart but has played with a lot of different partners and I think that's what interests me because when I watch this group and I if it ends up being let's say this camp right Emily Sonnet

you're locked in one and you don't have another locked in piece you need to complement Emily Sonnet you need to be able to pass it back you need to be able to make dribbles into a midfield to change shape a little bit You have to be able to cover over the top as well If your fullback pushes high or you don't have a real fullback, right? You have a winger playing out of position who goes up and gets into attack and I think Gordon has a lot of those attributes That's where that triggers in my mind Totally and I I think I thought of a lot of those points, the one that you said about playing with a lot of different players.

I haven't thought about that and that's a really good shout. So I would say those are the two that are on the higher end of the age list, right? And then you go on the opposite side and I was trying to talk about Jordan Bug and our game on Sunday. No, no, no. You don't need to be sorry. I was trying to talk about Jordan Bug on Sunday. No, no, no. You don't need to be sorry. I was trying to talk to her and I just couldn't get the...

There's a lot happening. A lot happening. I was trying to say she has so many of the qualities that you want in a center back. Her footwork is excellent, her timing on when to tackle, when to drop, her cover, her passing ability. I think Bug has everything. Laura Harvey has said she is the most Naomi Germa that you can get out of a different center back, right?

She just is so skilled and works hard and is talented and reads a game well. I don't think Jordan Bug is ready to be with the national team. I don't think, similar to what I was saying about the pressure on Jayden Shaw, I don't think you want to put the pressure on Jordan Bug right now. I think you want her to play a couple years in this league. As a professional, maybe get, like I would like to have seen her in this under 23 use group but get her some time to figure out little nuances to her game like how do you drop step how do you like how do I bump a defend or bump an attacker to get them off and all those little things that come with just age

and sophistication. I think Jordan Bug just needs a little bit of time until she gets into this mix truly. But I think she'll be there. So last year in NWSL play, obviously Seattle maybe not as much to play for as the year went along, we saw the flashes from Bug early and then it was like, okay, you don't want to rush her in too quickly. And then you get through the end of last year and into the start of this year and like, she looks ready to start in NWSL. And so I think your hope would be that the national team has a similar plan like you're talking about of like, here's a timeline.

These are the things we want to see you do and if you're accelerated then like the door is open for you but we're not going to push you too hard and your hope would be that Laura Harvey with her experiences from the other side talking saying like let's not push too much on this player too soon right let's find the right level because everything you said is like very clear sometimes when you watch of like this is a prospect this is a player who can be at the top of the game at this position and is not that far off at her age in this team but she's really the one super young option and the pieces in the middle are the question marks I think if Sam Stobb hadn't been coming off the injury we'd probably be saying like she deserves the chance to

get in. Obviously, Emily Sams will now probably get the opportunities at center back, which is interesting because she's not playing there for her club team, which is also a little bit of a weird part of all of this. I put down Abby Dahlkemper in the conversation because I'm still a little confused why she's not getting called in. I don't- But that's like the Casey Krueger thing too. Yes. I think she's in the Casey Krueger boat Yeah, me too. But now you've got a hole at this position, right? So what are you gonna like? How far how often can you look this way and pretend you're not looking that way at some point as the sun's in my faceless entire time

that way at some point as the sun's in my face this entire time. Gaetino is another one. Eva Gaetino hasn't been starting for PSG, is in this Futures Camp, so that's an opportunity to train around the team. Savvy King is playing center back at Angel City. I would be shocked if we are years close to Savvy King being a center back for the national team. But I think different than the convo we had at center forward, where it was like there's not a lot of Americans

starting in this position around the world, it feels like there are a lot of options to, at a minimum, say, this is a player who's doing the job week in and week out. I mean, we talked about San Diego and what we've seen at their center back position. I think there are enough players who are playing at a high level, Kate Del Fava, whoever you

wanted to be. And Alana Cook, I think is at the front of that list right now because Casey's been so successful and she has the international experience to say like these players could all step in. In saying all of that, I would still guess that Tara McKeown is the next starter in place of Tina Davidson because of the attribute she has. Ability to dribble into midfield, ability to pass out of the back, comfort in a lot of those moments. The problem becomes right-footed, left-footed.

That's the issue that I see a lot of is she's been playing on the left side with national team but she's a right-footed player and she just gets stuck. She just gets stuck as she goes up the field because she can't play with her left foot where that tends to be where the space is. But Sam's is a right-footed right center back. Sonnet usually plays on the right side. Sonnet, a lot more flexible, I would imagine is going to play on the left. That's what I would do. I would play a steady piece on the left and I would say all right you each get a game or you each get a good amount of minutes on that right side. Alana Cook also right-sided, correct? Yes, there you go. Yeah.

Here we go again. I would try to say, okay, you know, you're facing the same problems and you have a depth of players in the right center back position. All right, go tell me why you're better than the other player. Interesting. Show me. Rather than, because the flip side is, well, if it's not Sonic, it's going to be Germa and they're both right sided.

So everyone gets a chance to prove they can fill in on the left side. That's OK. Or you can go that. Which I thought there were moments where Tara McKeown struggled with that in the She Believes Cup, including the turnover against Japan. I think it was early on. And it's a lot to ask to step into the national team level and then play off your dominant foot and have an opponent ending up pressing you towards that foot. Right. I'm just

going over all these players. Dahl Kemper right center back. Jordan Bug right center back. Sarah Gordon right center back. Sam Staub left center back. Yeah and he's back. Started another game. Yeah, and is back. That's started another game. Not sure that from a style point of view, she gets to show all the attributes. For Chicago, it was a tough watch for the Chicago team this weekend as it has been for a lot of these weekends. But yeah, there are options out there. I mean, the other one.

Yeah. There's a lot of deep into centerbacks here. Yeah, which I love I absolutely love this condo And I think I would like for a situation to be like, okay have your pool But if Davidson's hurt and Girmes hurt, do you think whoever's playing at the highest level in? Especially NWSL where it's like that's your league has to get opportunities And if that person changes off and on, like that person should get opportunities, whoever it may be. And if it's Sam Stobb, you know, at some point in the season, if it ends up being McNabb,

like whatever it is, I think it should be earned through that as well as your play with the national team. Let's- I have a question just since we're digging in here. Let me dig in a little bit more. If if I was Tara McKeown and I knew that there was an opening at left center back and that's what I needed to play. I don't know. Do you think you could go to to Jonah and be like, can I play on the left? I don't think so. Because isn't your first job to win an NWSL championship?

Totally. Yes. And not only are you better there, is an SMA Morgan better on the left? As a left center back. I get the question and I think that's something more if I'm Emily Sams, I'm having a conversation about. Stop playing the Brazilian who are about to play again. Well, I think Sams is fair to go and say, I'm playing out of position. There are three of us that are high level, if not elite center backs.

I'm the one playing out of position and I'm fighting for this spot. Can I have that opportunity? It's not an ideal situation to happen for a team. I think Mickey owns is a little bit tougher because the way they're set up and the way they're set in. And maybe they don't even have these conversations. Maybe these are conversations that happen in the background with the staff for both teams to be like, Hey, this is what we're looking at.

Like, what do you think about this or how Or how could this work out with your team? Or how could we, whatever it is. Yeah. I think it's a great question because I think it's also, I'm gonna say a positive development, which is the league and clubs don't exist to feed the national team. That probably hasn't been the same conversation

for the last 20 years. So Washington Spirit is such a huge entity and the league has grown so much that like maybe Terry McKeown's role is to win an NWSL shield and championship and all those other things and like that's what you do at your best. But it's a fascinating conversation I think. Yeah, 20 minutes later, here we are. And I'm curious how they would go about this convo. Let's finish out with this, which

is the potential of a Utah Royals sale in NWSL and across Major League Soccer, and MLS Next Pro, I believe, would be all the three teams. So it would be that the Utah Royals and RSL would be sold from the Blitzer Group to the Miller family. The Miller family bought the Utah Jazz originally in 1986 in the NBA and sold it in 2020 to Ryan Smith. Ryan Smith is a minority owner of RSL and Real Monarchs and Utah Royals, and the majority owner of the NBA team.

And of course, inside of the NBA setup, the Miller family owned a WNBA original team, which was called the Utah Stars in 1997, and they sold the rights to that team in 2002, which was eventually moved to San Antonio, and then moved on to Las Vegas, and my great rivals, the Aces Liberty going to win another championship. So watch out. That is a bunch of the Miller's history.

If this feels familiar talking about a sale in Utah, it's because it is. So David Blitzer bought the group originally in 2022 after Deloitte Hanson, the owner was sort of pushed to sell the team. Blitzer acquired RSL Rio Tinto Stadium at the time, the training facility and Real Monarchs for 400 million dollars and the right to repurchase NWSL rights for the Utah team which had come from Kansas City and had already moved back to Kansas City and become the current in that moment. He triggered that right. The reports are that he paid $2 million to bring back a Utah Royals NWSL club. I don't know if you've heard,

but the latest expansion number in NWSL was paid $110 million. I think it was in Denver. Is it? Yeah, I think it was in Denver. Is it? Yeah Yeah, yeah So that is the latest expansion fee and right now the valuations that Sportico puts out I don't know how accurate these are or that RSL is a valued at 525 million dollars and the Utah Royals are valued at 70 million dollars Which would mean if you did nothing else and didn't price this up in any way, from the $400 million plus the $2 million put in to get the NWSL team

three years ago, you would now be at like a $200 million profit just to flip this for the Blitzer group. There's I think fairly a lot of worry. I think things like this are always worrying for fans of like, one, the time it takes. We saw what happened in Seattle last year and Laura Harvey has said like, we were just in a holding pattern.

And players left because they didn't want to sit around and wait and deal with the unknown and they couldn't replace them. And so I think that's scary for Utah fans as well as the unknown of just what does a different ownership group look like and all of that. It is just an odd time now for this Utah group. It is an after a end of 2024 that I think was pretty hopeful for both teams.

I can't speak to the Monarchs, but I think for RSL and for, um, the Utah Royals, looking pretty good at the end of the 2024 season, excited about what they're building, especially on the Royal side. Now, you just don't know. You don't know what the ownership will or will not do, how much they will support every single team.

When you invest that much money and if it is a $600 million sale price, you're hopeful that there's a lot of money to go around. But I also think to me it also feels like a win in a way, getting a new owner with that number and even for the Bl, the blitzer group selling it like the amount I would sell it if I'm making $200 million, right? And it shows you the growth of soccer in the United States, especially on the women's side to go from 2 million to 70 million in a couple of years is incredible.

It's really incredible. So I think it's good business, but you're just hopeful that the right people are in and now at this point, as opposed to previous points of sports ownership, this new ownership group will realize how important all three entities are for their own, on their own. Yeah. There's a lot to sort of understand. I think the big one is that commitment that you talked about of just even this ownership group, the Blitzers, I think their understanding of the commitment

12 months ago is different than it is today, right? The team that started on the field one year ago in the expansion year was not capable of competing in NWSL. Right. And that was from a front office build point of view and a resources off the field point of view and then a spending on the roster point of view as well. Unlike RSL who have struggled in this off season to replace pieces and add, the Utah Royals have added, right? We talked about it of like they added internationals at left back, right back, depth Royals have added, right? We talked about it of like, they added internationals at left back, right back, depth at central midfield.

All of that are full internationals where they were paying transfer fees or bringing in pretty big contracts, players on loan from Bayern Munich. So they've continued to push this thing even with the unknown of where the team would stand. Now you have to understand, okay, is the next ownership group gonna get what it what it takes, and how to be competitive, and how important this is, and keep the level going

for this team. And I think that's a lot of the worry. The belief from the article is that the Miller family would take over majority ownership in April, but that the Blitzers would then move to minority ownership. So if you feel like some of the things are going in the right direction, there'll still be a voice in the room, which is good. One of the things I always say is I do think having local ownership is important

and the Blitzer Group is not connected to Utah in any way. They own seven soccer teams around the world and they own the Sixers and I think part of the Devils and the Washington Commanders. So it's like a Northeast group that has global aspirations where the Miller family is, Salt Lake City through and through. There are some conversations or hopes or reports around a potential new stadium in downtown Salt Lake. I think the stadium is a really cool one. Like I enjoy watching games from afar there. I've been there as well. The mountains are in the background. It is in the middle of nowhere,

but like you can't always be in the middle of a city. And I don't know that every city is also built. It's kind of easy to get to though, and easy to get out of. Which is a positive if you're attending. And like you sit there with mountains in the background in a cool soccer specific stadium that feels loud and energetic

when the team is in any bit good. And I think it's one of the better setups in the league. And so I, of all this markets where I'd say, can you get a new stadium? Is that what ownership does? You talk about Chicago way before you're gonna talk about this. And so I don't know how important that is,

but it is something to note. It's something that I think is now going around the team. And so it's something that might affect them or might not. They obviously have the weekend off so we won't know this weekend but we'll be back of course with all of your US women's national team coverage next Wednesday so we'll have both teams to talk about. I'll have the weekend recap show for you on Monday. We'll have your NWSL preview and talk about everything going on around the league as well and until then Jordan you're off. You don't got any games.

You've got nothing to do. You can enjoy things a little bit. I'm going to enjoy. I'm going to enjoy a weekend off. You enjoy your MLS watching. Yeah, I will be miserable with it as well, but I'll be back tomorrow with Tom. We've got some interviews lined up for later this week and next week. So keep here. And thank you all for listening. We'll talk to you all again very, very soon.