SoccerWise - NWSL Rookie Rankings, Savy King Update & ORL-KC Top Of The Table Preview

Episode Date: May 14, 2025

Well Jordan has FINALLY allowed David to rant and rave about this incredible rookie class in NWSL. Our hosts breakdown all the star performances we have seen so far from these young players. They also preview upcoming weekend around the huge 1 vs 2 KC-ORL matchup, and wonder if Gotham should be worried.4:05 Savy King Update11:30 NWSL Rookie Deep Dive39:25 Gotham Worries42:00 ORL-KC Top Of The Table Clash Preview Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

What is up everybody? Welcome back to Soccer Wise. David Gaston, Jordan Angeley with you on a bright and sunny Wednesday, kind of morning, morning for you, early afternoon for me, a little bit of an earlier record as my understanding is you're going to give a tactical presentation to every head coach in NWSL about the way they could, should play and what they haven't done so far. Yeah, well, you weren't supposed to tell everybody that but now that they know I do have a presentation at 11am my time so. So we have to get done before then. But I think I'm really excited to watch a league molded and shaped by Jordan. Yes, it should be really interesting. I just figured I might as well give them all of my

knowledge since I clearly know more than them. Yeah, that's the nature of being a broadcaster. Commentary is another term on it and when you commentate on things, you of course know more than them and that's what everyone will say. But we've got a great show coming up for you. One that I think we've been anticipating for a while. Me, because we're talking rookies and I love this rookie class and I love what I've seen. Another huge weekend for the rookie class in NWSL. I think then you and me as well on the Kansas City Orlando side of things. This is the big matchup. It's the top two teams in the league at the top of the table this year. They were for the most part at

the top of the table for most of last year. The two matchups we saw last year in the regular season were fantastic. The matchup in the playoff, of course, playing in the semifinals as well. So we get the top of the table clash finally happening. That will come up on Friday night. So we will do a large preview of that for you. And then we're going to try and pull in a soccer wise segment, our takeout containers because you know, we do this show for the most part on Wednesdays. Last weekend is super relevant, but it's not fresh. But that doesn't mean there's not good tasty morsels in there to pull out of the fridge, throw in a microwave, throw in a toaster oven. I had said yesterday, I think to Tom on our MLS show,

like I think sometimes leftovers are better, which he was offended by. Wow. We got some good commentary though from people. I think it depends on what it is, don't you think? Yes, so we got lasagna as one that's like better as a leftover. Okay.

I think we got pizza in there as well And then someone had a very specific if you put something in an air fryer It becomes on the second like heat up cook. It becomes better Yeah, I wonder what that was I could something crispy I could find it But then I would break everything I'm doing on my yeah, don't do it. Don't find which was We'll take their word as well thing that is better in an air my computer. Yeah, don't do it. Don't find it. Which was my fear as well. We'll take their word for it. That thing that is better than an air fryer.

Yeah, I don't have the real air fryer. I have like the fake sort of knockoffy one. And so nothing gets better when you put in there. It's a different angle for me today, but that's my air fryer right there. You can see it. Oh, yours is like my like toaster oven you want like mine. Yeah, well, it is. It is a toaster oven, but it's also an air fryer. Yeah, like it has, I think five different modes. Our place. I really love it. It's a great. So mine does that too.

But I see people in the recipes I would want I like read online, which then have the videos, I see what comes out of their air fryer, which has the baskets. Yeah, it looks way different than what comes out of mine. So that's why I call mine kind of fake because it's like, it's like well toasted, but not like, whoa, this could have been fried. Yeah. Like I'm not making French fries. Mine come out as like pretty good baked potatoes. Yeah.

Okay. Well, maybe that's what mine is too. Maybe that's the problem. Maybe we're safer. Yeah, okay. Well, maybe that's what mine is too. Maybe that's the problem. So we'll go through... Maybe we're safer. Yeah, exactly. No, I don't think I should be allowed near anything like that. So we'll go through a couple of our favorite takeouts from the weekend. Maybe we can start to connect them with specific foods. To start off here, I did the weekend recap show on Monday and I started off in the same place. I think the biggest story from the weekend, of course, was the medical emergency for Savvy King during the Angel City game on Friday night. You Jordan were on the call for that and I think I said it on Monday.

We could all hear sort of the distress in your voice as we all felt it watching from afar. We got really good news coming out of that event that we talked about on Monday, that she was stable and in fine condition at the hospital. Then we got another update early this morning. So the update from Angel City is that Savvy King was admitted to Cedar Sinai Medical Center on Saturday morning after receiving immediate care

at California Hospital Medical Center following a medical incident during Friday night's Angel City FC match. After thorough evaluations, doctors discovered a heart abnormality and Savi underwent successful surgery today to address it. She is now resting and recovering surrounded by her family and her prognosis is excellent. We are incredibly thankful for the outstanding medical care she has received, the overwhelming support from our community. We kindly ask for continued respect for Saviour's privacy as she focuses on healing."

And then her family put out a statement as well saying, we're blessed to share that Saviour's recovering well. We are looking forward to having her home with us soon. We want to thank the incredible Angel City medical staff and players who acted swiftly as well as the medical teams that have given her such exceptional care. We'll never forget the kindness and care you've shown. Our gratitude is endless in moments like these. We're reminded of God's constant presence and protection.

Thank you all for lifting Savi up in your prayers. Yeah, it was, man, we just talked about this and I wasn't emotional, but it makes me emotional. It was really hard, Goss. Like, I think it was hard for everybody. You could tell it was hard for people in the stadium. It was hard for Maura and I. And it was really difficult for those players out on the field. You could, you know, I just think of Ana Tejada on the other team. She was bawling in the huddle and she's not even on Savi's team. It was emotional. It's something that you never prepare for as a player, as a broadcaster. But it also touches all of us as human beings. And I think that that

was the most difficult part of it is you just want to have no answers and know that she's okay. And I think the update later that night was nice. And to get another update, I think puts a lot of us at ease knowing that Savi could get the help that she needs and they were able to perform a surgery to help her hopefully fully recover and be the healthiest that she can be because clearly she had something that needed to be addressed. So I'll just say like a lot of props for the medical staff, both the local team, the medics, but also the people on staff at Angel City. Props to all those players for somehow continuing to play. And you know, yeah, just thankful that she is okay and on the road to recovery.

And I think the biggest thing is that this, like I said, this is not an event that you can ever prepare for when you're going to work, like going to do your job, no matter what that is. But I am hopeful that this is an event that we now have protocols in place to be better the next time in, in the biggest hopes that there is never next time. Yeah. That this never happens again.

But I think that there are little things that, you know, even from my perspective, from a broadcast perspective, like I know we could have been better and we talked about it all weekend. Um, you know, really in between tears because we didn't know what to do. And um, I, I got some really nice messages from players, Paige Monahan being one of them just saying, I can't imagine, but like you handled that really well from a player's perspective. And that just means a lot to me because I don't know, it's hard. It was really, really hard. And I just hope that we continue to evolve and get better as a league and as people handling difficult situations. And I think that it's a learning moment. But the biggest thing Goss is she's okay. She's getting help. And yeah, just really nice to get that update this morning.

update this morning. Yeah, it's terrifying. It's absolutely scary. I can say from not just player point of view, but from fans, I think you guys handled it as well as humanly possible and brought some level of calm and understanding in that moment, which I think is what everyone was trying to experience. And I can say watching it back yesterday just to kind of understand what happened and maybe I shouldn't have, I was crying again. Like it is so intense and it's so emotional.

And you mentioned protocols, like I've been lucky enough to work around people who work in operations and this space and 99% of their work is never seen and your hope is 99% of their work will never need to be seen. And then when it does, you just see how good they are

at what they do and you build protocols in place so that there doesn't have to be thinking and on the spot, ideas like, and to have this player to have this happen, you never think it's gonna happen. Yeah. And to have her be okay and be safe, I think is really, really special.

And as you said, our hope is that nothing like this ever happens. You don't have to have the ideas going forward, but this also should be a learning experience. And that's these moments become that, which is, okay, what did we do right? What did we do wrong? What could we do better going forward?

And part of that will come from talking to everyone who was involved, teammates, Savvy herself, as well as the medical staffs, the coaching staffs, everyone in the building, and hopefully make things even safer going forward. And we're not doctors. We don't know. We don't fully understand what happened to her and we won't know. But there also might be some learning coming out of that because we have seen this happen in pro sports. Like there are heart problems that just go undetected. I mean, to have LeBron James, the greatest athlete on the planet, son, have something like this, who's

probably had the best medical care any human being could ever have at USC. Like, we know that these things exist. And I think the medical field is still trying to figure out exactly what's going on. And so maybe there is some learning there going forward But as you said the only thing that matters at this point is that she's okay, and I think I Think that makes all of us feel a little bit better and I mean Christian press after the game when you guys interviewed her like Talk about a rock and the ability to just do that let alone play out the rest of the game and do what she did I know there's a lot of and the ability to just do that, let alone play out the rest of the game and do what she did.

I know there's a lot of consternation around whether or not that game should have been continued and should have been played. I think it's still a little emotional for us to talk about. So I think maybe that's something we'll come back to in the future. And I think it's one of those things that, as I said, the research now has to be done by the league to say,

what did we do right? What did we do wrong? And what can we figure out going forward? And I don't know that it's as black and white as everyone wants it to be. But it was really hard to watch. And I mean, after the game, just watching the emotion on the players face, which now is this weird 20 minute delay, and it's starting to hit them. I think that was a really, really tough thing to go through. But as we finish, fortunately, she is okay. She continues on. And we continue on on the show. And we're going to dig into our rookie class because there are so many

good young rookies, including a couple on Angel City and a couple across the league. So we're going to do we're going to talk about a number of players in a few different ways. Jordan, I, you know, I've been texting about this for six weeks and you've been holding me off. So I'll allow you to start. I'm like slow down, slow down, slow down. I'll allow you to start here. Well, let me ask you this.

I was excited out of the gate because there are so many rookies that made a difference. And I think part of that is you see teams come together a little bit slow. And so you maybe have teams that have big players that weren't fully signed and weren't fully ready. Like it felt like there was playing time available to rookies early in the season.

But a lot of those players have not gone away, right? They've maintained those spots. Do you think something different is happening? Big picture, is this a good class of players? Is this a post-draft reality? Like, what do you make of the rookie scene? I Think it's a post draft reality I think it's also a free agent reality that maybe some spaces were opened up on certain teams because the free agency

Like I think of Gotham look at all the players that left Gotham and then Sarah Chepanski can come in and start playing right? But that's also due to injury I think there's also there's been a lot of injuries at the beginning of this season where them and then Sarah Schepanski can come in and start playing, right? But that's also due to injury. I think there's also, there's been a lot of injuries at the beginning of this season where players can step in and have a role pretty quickly, which is a testament to this rookie class. So I do think in general, this rookie class is solid, really good. And it would have been interesting to see them go through a draft to see just

people. Yeah. Yeah, how people ranked them, like what the order was as to like, who was the number one pick and all all of that. But I think it's been really cool to see them get to go to the teams of their choosing and to understand how that could fit their style of play and then continue to be excellent. Yeah, it's interesting to think about a draft too and like, if you look, let's say you looked at Portland and Portland would have gone into a draft and said, well, we need a center back, non-negotiable,

we need a center back. And so would they have taken a center back even if Akaiya Hanks, and that's probably a bad example because she probably would have been top two pick, but whatever it was, would you have leaned that way where in this scenario now you have the openings in the space in your lineup you can go and get both? And I think that's sort of part of this change and shift that you see in terms of opportunity in space.

Well, just on that point right there, Kaia Hanks, like, would she even have entered the draft? Yeah, 100%. Yeah. Because she didn't get picked up by Portland until later because of the Sophia Wilson announcement for pregnancy. So I just think it creates more opportunities for players in ways that we just haven't seen before. So yeah, and even that, like, would Portland have chose Jade and Perry or Lily real over Jade and Perry

because there's a lot of hype over Lily real and they end up getting Jade and Perry and I Think they got the better of the two. So I I just think that it well, I know where your rankings then Yeah, I I think it's been really fun to watch them Put a stamp on the league so quickly into a lot of these players careers. So Yeah, yeah hit us with your first list of high performers top rookies so far Okay, do you want names just like names and then we talk about them a little bit more in depth or what do you want to? Do yeah, give me a give me the list to start.

Okay, my list I did four of of the top players that I thought were top right now. Okay. Riley Tiernan. Taylor Huff. Trinity Armstrong. Jaden Perry. Two centerbacks. Yeah, which I think is a massive part of this conversation. And we said it on the show a few weeks ago of like, you know, Naomi Germa, Tiana Davidson's out. I would have said five months ago,

like, I'm a little worried about the centerback position. I love Jordan Bug. And then we sort of have now, I think, even outside of this, Bug. And then we sort of have now I think even outside of this, some of the best prospects from this group that I think will play a lot more going forward, our center backs as well. So you went with Tiernan, Huff. Yeah. Perry. And Armstrong. And Armstrong. I can't really- Do you have any, do you have any similarities in those top players? An Armstrong. An Armstrong. I can't really- Do you have any similarities in those top players?

I have all of those players. My group is larger because I have trouble making decisions in life. I have a lot more players on my list, but I had to separate them. Yeah. I think all of those are in the clear top conversation. I think most people would then throw Maggie Graham and Rylan Tiernan in that because you're talking about the two rookie of the month winners so far. No, Tiernan is my number one. Oh, you said Tiernan number one. Sorry. Yeah, Tiernan. Yeah, Tiernan was the first one. So then yeah, I think then Maggie Graham would be the big

one that many people would add. Trinity Armstrong is an interesting one just because she's come on as the seasons got along. Yep. Didn't start, played right back, then played center back. But I have no reason to say that I don't think she's one of the top in this list. And I have all those players in my list as well. And I think I would probably put Jayden Perry right now. And I know the PKs help a ton. You're scoring goals, you're a center back, that's uncommon. The assist she had, was it two weeks ago against Louisville with the ball over the top?

So good. Ability to play out of the back, a little bit of change around her. It's not being cohesive in who's playing left back, who's playing right center back. So now you're talking about a rookie who is kind of the staple of that back line and a team that struggled defensively last year, where now I think that defense is the staple

of they stay in games, even though there was an early red card to only give up the chances they gave up against San Diego, which I think now at this point feels like the second best attack in the league. Like they have taken such strides second best attack in the league. They have taken such strides and both sides of the ball. I think Perry has proven that she's one of the best in the league across the board, not even mentioning rookies. Yeah. What's interesting to me with those two centerbacks is Perry to me has this quiet, calm confidence about her. She's a left-footed player.

As you said, her distribution can be direct, but it can be short and simple. Like her range of passing is excellent. I think her positioning is really good and she learned quick, right? She, her first game, she had to start against Kansas City in that first game. And I don't think that Rob Gale really wanted to start her in that game, but felt like that was their best option at the time. And she got burned a few times. And I think she adapted so quickly to understand, okay, these players are way faster than they

were. Right. I can't step the way I did against Utah or... Exactly. And now I think her positioning when she holds the line, when she drops her cover defense, her positioning in the box to help with clearances, her ability to be stoic and knowing that, okay, I am going to score a penalty. I don't care if I'm shooting against the best penalty stopper in the league. She just has this-

In the 95th minute of a 1-0 game. That was a walk-off penalty. Yes. I just think that quiet confidence about her is what I really like. Whereas Trinity Armstrong, I think has swagger. It's a confidence, and I wouldn't say it's a loud confidence, but it feels very different to me than Jayden Perry or even Jordan Bug who you mentioned. I know she's not a rookie, but Trinity Armstrong's confidence is different to me. I think she's now started five games in a row. Her presence is felt. Her first game was against Shewinga, and she played as a right back. Shewinga didn't do anything. Yeah. And the fact that Schwinga didn't do anything is, and she was at a position, to me, feels like a pretty good start in this league and has really gained the trust of the players around her.

I think she has been excellent. We have seen her now play in three positions, right? As a right back, a right center back and a left center back. She's excellent. And I, I'm really excited to watch her progress and I think these are two young center backs who we're going to talk a lot about as the season continues. In danger of making this a messy conversation for people, I will say that I think right outside of this tier is Lily Reel, who has played left back, is naturally a center back.

I think we'll probably end up there in her career just because a lot of what I see even from the left back position, the attributes make more sense there. And I'm a little surprised that she hasn't gotten the chance just with the injuries they've had. But I can understand like making the game simple for a rookie and now that she's settled in not changing things up on her. So I don't mind that. And then Sarah Shavushi, I think is another one that has found a way to get starts in a Orlando defense that might be the best in the league, got caught in on the goal in this game twice,

got caught upfield and then didn't track for Roush to finish. But I think shows the confidence to play and I think is a really interesting pairing with Nadena in that I think Shibushi can kind of hunt a little and go and like win the ball and try and win it earlier and higher up the field or follow center forwards in to midfield where then Nadena can sort of like manage things and work and I think Sam's the same and so I think she'll get more playing time

as the season goes along. And then Brooklyn, Courtney, all that too. You do even with the number of center backs that Orlando team has, if they're all healthy, you think she's still getting? So I think you're talking about two players that are getting called up to national teams all the time. So managing and going into those camps

and out of those camps. I think you're talking about a player in Afaela that hasn't been healthy for now a year or so. And I think that's where you're seeing Shavush again minutes now. And she showed she could play right back as well. So I think she, I will say this, I think she's going to play more minutes now, my guess would be than what I thought a month ago or when she signed when I was a little surprised that that's where she chose to go in terms of where the depth chart starts. Depth chart sits. Say that three times. Yeah, 100%. Let's start at the top now with Riley Tiernan. First rookie of the month of the year scoring big goals. You've watched her a ton up close. What have you seen from her and sort of what's the pathway for her? I've seen her come into this position and she just had to work hard to even get a spot on this team.

And so I think the base of who she is is just a really hard worker. She has the work rate to be successful, not just this season, but to know that it's not going to be handed to her. And she's got to keep going and going and going. And I really like that about her. She's pretty humble and pretty driven when we've gotten to speak with her. But more than anything, I think with the players that Angel City has, she gives them a centerpiece. She gives them the ability to have this focal point up top and she can occupy center backs to create isolations for Alyssa Thompson, but also occupy the center backs.

So when Claire Emsley comes inside, it's like, who the heck is going to take Claire Emsley? And I think her positioning of being between the center backs, being off a center back shoulder has been elite for a rookie. It really has. I would put her in top three nines in this league right now. Probably be a stare in her with just the way that she has been playing right

now. Barbara Banda in there. Oh, and Barbara Banda. Okay. Yeah. Let's put then top four. And so I just think she, because of the simplicity of her game, she actually allows everybody around her who are very creative to be more creative. I mentioned those other two, but also Kennedy Fuller, her, her combination play with Fuller has been great. And she knows where the box is and she's getting better at staying central. So she can be the target when they do get into those isolations and the channel. There's a lot of things to like about Riley Tiernan, five goals already, one assist.

I think she's going to get a lot of goals this year. Yeah, it's one of those spots where I think we've seen other players come into a role like this and you're you can sort of see, all right, this is a whole of a position, right? So then the route unavailable. It's is a hole of a position, right? Selena Rue unavailable, it's been a hole for this club the entire time. And then you kind of often see like, well, we found one attribute we can work with.

This player can stretch the field or this player can occupy centerbacks and Riley Tiernan has a complete game already. So to do what she does in the buildup, which I think is like the key to why she got on the field, what she's able to do, like you just talked about for Thompson and Emsley and Fuller and then have the five goals is where you now elevate into that top five conversation of, okay, so you can do all the aspects and you can finish. I think

there are some other players in this league that you're watching right now and it's like, okay, you do a lot of it and the finishing is normally the last thing to come because that's that high level quality. It's also the comfort, comfort of the speed of play and her finishes, she has a lot of different ones. Yeah. I mean, the one against Washington, I guess she sees the goalkeeper out of position where she cuts in from the left wing and then sort of sneaks the shot back to the near post.

You see headed finishes, you see set piece finishes, you see crashing on the far post, you see crashing the near post hard. She has shown the full gamut of what you can do out of that position and then I think starts to grow and you see her get out into the channel. So now it's not just my job is to occupy and create for the wide players, but now I'm seeing the spaces where I can take advantage of other teams. And I think that's that next step that we're seeing her push into. It'll be interesting because Sydney LaRue is off of mental leave. So she is back available, but working back. And I think that that will be a nice competition between those two now, right? Because you know, Sydney is an uber competitive person. She's going to want that starting spot. She's going to work to get that.

And how does that help Riley get better? And how does she step up when there's now competition in that spot? But it's going to take a lot to get her off the field because she has been one of the best players for this Angel City team. Yeah, the last player that you mentioned in your top list, which is kind of one of the ones that has sparked this for me is Taylor Hough. And just watching how complete her game is so quickly. It's just the one position to me that is the hardest to like,

go to the next level at because as fast as things might move for a defender and attacker and has out as big as your mistakes look to be able to play the game with things going on 360 degrees around you and to affect the game both ways is the hardest thing I think. And my favorite soccer players are soccer players that are center mids that cover ground and connect the game and Taylor Huff has done that year one and then you see pretty quickly her ability to push the game and not just be at the level where I think we've seen some other rookies at central midfield like be able to hang but Huff now is I think like you are taking her out of the game if you're in opposition like she is the game plan now her ability to shoot from distance her ability

to create and what she can do on the run so whether it's on the half turn or in transition moments the decision making the passing quality at that speed just shows you the technical ability is really high and like I think we're talking about a player where we can't really see the ceiling right now. This game against Kansas City was the first time she's come out of a game. She's played every single minute until this game. And that's, to me, makes me feel like, okay, she is so important to Bay. If you take her out of Bay, a team that's already like, I think in my ideas of what they're doing going forward, kind of struggling with their identity and who they want to be,

if they kept the ball more, everybody would be talking about Taylor Huff. Yeah. Yeah. But it is so quick for them. It is so transitional that I think she can sometimes get lost, not to her fault, but the ball, the game almost bypasses her. But when she is in the mix and they play through her, this is a completely different team. And like you said, covers ground, she wins the ball back, she is forward thinking. And I think more than anything, like she's

tenacious. She is so competitive. Albertine Montoya actually told us a story that when they're doing fitness drills, she runs next to Rachel Cunananji because she wants to beat her. Not that she wants her to challenge her, she wants to win. She's like, and if I'm gonna win, I gotta beat her. And I just love that competitive drive about her

and that's why I think we can feel that the ceiling is far away. But with a mentality like that, the ceiling is far away. Yeah. And she you and I, I don't know if we spoke about this on a show, did we about how her similarities are we think are very like Lindsay heaps like with the way that she can cover ground and connect the defense to the attack and drive forward, drive forward, hopefully get on the end of I think there's a player that can make runs onto that far post. Yes. Yes. And I think that that's where I want Bay to have the ball a little bit more so she can get herself into more advanced positions. So hopefully that will happen for

them. But she's been she's been excellent. And if you can't take a rookie off the field, you must be doing something right. And also ability. I think it shows you whether you're winning or losing. She matters, right? Because she's so good against the ball, tackles winning the ball, staying in your shape. And then she's so important in possession. Like that to me shows normally it's like, all right, 55th minute, we're down to zero. 55th minute, we're up to zero. Let's start to make some changes. The rookie comes off the field because they're good at this one aspect. And that's not the case with Taylor Huff. It's not the case in that midfield for her of like, she's the most well-rounded player for a team that has some pretty good names in that spot. So I think that right now, probably that clear class above Maggie Graham

would be the next one in who won rookie of the month if we were talking about this award going forward and Graham a Massive piece right now of this Houston team and they are not scoring a ton of goals They're not creating a ton of goals and she is the leader in both those categories for this group You know, what's interesting is they're not creating a lot of goals. But then when they create the goals, especially that Graham scores, I don't know if you heard her in her interview after the game, she was like, my teammates are just making it easy. It's their tap ins. They literally are tap ins.

Or her runs, excellent in front of the last defender. Yes, her runs are great. But when they create, it's like they create so well that they make it so easy on the person that's finishing, minus that Patterson goal, which is so interesting to me for Houston, because it's like this weird dichotomy of like, can't create anything, but then if we do- Well, it's kind of like creating the perfect goal, which doesn't come around that often. True, maybe, yeah. So you probably have to be able to step away from it. But yeah, Graham, clearly in the convo,

and I think one of the ones we expected coming into the year to be a to step away from it. But yeah, Graham clearly in the convo and I think one of the ones we expected coming into the year to be a part of this. I think the class down one now or the grouping down one now that I think can push into this. We've mentioned Kaia Hanks' name. I think that's an obvious one. I think Maddie Dillene is in there. Sarah Shipansky, you mentioned.

And Lily Reel is probably in there as well because of the pure amount of minutes she's playing. Those are, that's my whole list as well. Look at us on the same, on the same wavelength. I think of that group, I think you have probably the player that I want to see understand the speed of play and style the most is Deline because I think as she realizes where and when she can put defenders on their heels and attack, now you're going to start to see the best of her. And we've seen it in spurts of like, okay, for seven minutes, she's super aggressive and the whole game goes through her and then

sort of floats out of it. And I think part of that is like figuring out where you fit in the wider picture. And then part of that I think part of that is like figuring out where you fit in the wider picture. And then part of that, I think is on Laura Harvey and making sure like you're getting service there and you're creating lanes for her to run into. It's interesting because Laura Harvey has been now playing out of this three, five back and Darlene is now a left wing back, which in theory should work to her advantage because she's way better with space in front of her, right?

But I think how can you find ways to get her higher on the field in moments? But then also, I think it has to do with G. I think it has to do with if Mondasir is back and playing in that 10 or whoever's drifting into that 10 spot. I do think you want to isolate Dahlene, but I also think that there her game calls for combinations at times quick one twos where you can get around that outside back with a short little combination. And I think just recognizing that by players around her and the more they get to know her and she gets to know this league, those things will start to develop. She's been great. Her work off the ball is just as good as her work on the ball. And a reason for Seattle being so difficult in the way that they're defending is

Darlene and her willingness to put in the work. So yeah, she's right on the cusp there for me. I just think she hasn't had as many, not even goals, but like as many great opportunities where I would have been like, okay, you got to put her in there because of that. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's creating those big chances. I think that comes from being higher up the field, like you said, which is part of the

question of like, where you fit in this formation and how you start to shift it as you, after you've built out or whether you're maybe going to try and push her higher earlier, maybe even before you build out and rotate around so that she can be high up the field as one of those attackers. But a ton of promise there. Shipansky is one that I'm excited as, and we'll talk about Gotham in a little bit, like as the Mitch Purses of the world come back, maybe even as Roosevelt comes back of like, I think the game becomes a little easier for her and we could start to see even

more aspects even though there'll be less responsibility, because I think she's got a ton of goal scoring in her. If other players can have the bulk of creativity. And I think it's kind of similar to what we saw from Ella Stevens last year of there were moments where she was great when no one was available, but then was even better when other pieces came back in. And I think that could be the case with her. I think then, Kaya Hanks you have right on the edge and that one seems a bit more like playing time. Probably the first piece out right now for Portland from the starters consistently, or at least when they're on the road. And so trying to fit in there and as you said, like join the pro ranks late. So probably still getting up to speed. But awesome to watch. And Karli Lima in here as

well. That Bay attack is struggling, but we've seen the flashes of a player who could be a difference maker. Yeah, she can be a difference maker. I think what's difficult and maybe why I feel like she is not in my list is I don't feel like she's as well-rounded as some of these other players. When you're talking especially about forward players, you know how Lima's going to beat you and is it hard to stop? Yeah, absolutely. It's hard to stop. But I think these other players provide a little bit more on the defensive side, a couple of

different looks. And so I think Lima could work herself in there throughout the season, but I would say she's on the out, barely out of my top list. I would say so I have her at the bottom of the list with a group that I think I see a path forward for them this season. I think Pietro Tordine as well is one where I could see starts to get goals, starts to get in the team a lot. I think Meg Bode in there, we saw get the start for a team that's obviously struggling with injuries and needs people to fill minutes. I mentioned Brooklyn Courtenall already who I think, especially if they're playing in this three back set up for North Carolina, could see some minutes. And Macy Hodge is the other one. I think we've seen Kennedy be so special in central midfield that it's

probably taken away some opportunity where both of them are a bit more defensive. And so now we've seen Zalem come into it, but I didn't see anything from Macy Hodge and I sort of said of the like the things she does well, she did well in NWSL for a rookie. She doesn't do a lot in possession that takes you to the next level. And so it might be finding minutes here or there. But I think if she's on the field, she makes a difference. She's a ball winner. She covers a ton of ground.

She makes life easier for the players in front of her. And like I could see long stretches where she gets minutes and then starts to enter a conversation like this. Yeah. I think the one player that I wish was eligible for this and probably isn't because she played, what did I say, in Sweden before? Yeah, I think so. She played in Scandinavia somewhere, is Shinomi.

I love Shinomi. 20 years old, so younger than a lot of these rookies that are coming out of college, but I don't think she'll be eligible for this because she did play pro prior to coming to NWSL. But man, her vision, her ability, she's the player, the best player in the league at the corner of the box. Like that service that she has to be on a dime, to find runners centrally, she works at half space so well.

And with a team full of really creative tens, she's found her way into the starting lineup. And that says a lot about her. I love her humbleness. I like the way she works with Monaka. Yeah, sign me up. Shinomi is, she is my eligible, like I wish was eligible list. And I think that's going to be a convo we have going forward, which is post-draft. And now that you have the U18 initiative fully set up, and now you're seeing teams spend

money on overseas players who are of a young age. This award probably starts to shift into a, either it's first year pro or young player under a certain age. I think Okuchukwu is one that goes in a similar category of like 19 years old, played pro, although none of us can really see it because it's not really like an available setup on broadcasts.

Obviously coaching staffs and scouting staffs have seen it where, okay, is that a player that's eligible for an award like this? Or do you create a new one where you have a rookie, post-college rookie, and then do you have a young player? But either way, really good to have good young players coming into the league and being available. I mentioned we would talk about it in a bit

before we get to Kansas City, Orlando. We had a couple big stories from the weekend or thoughts that we had. Take leftovers? Yeah, and we were selling takeouts. Takeouts. Our takeout containers. And let's start with Gotham.

Are they in trouble? They lose one zero to Louisville, which one of my other things was the soccer wise bump. We did a full segment questioning Louisville last week, worrying about them. So they went out and got a victory. So Gotham, you might be welcome for this segment that we're about to do. Should there be worries for this team? I'm kind of like in the middle here because I want to say no because of what Juan Carlos

has been able to do and the talent on this team. But it does feel like if you take a stare out of the game, it's very difficult for Gotham to be successful going forward right now. And it felt like they did create some chances in that Louisville game, but they struggled with the intensity I think that Louisville brought and the ability for them to close down space and the pressure that they had. So I'm slightly worried about them. Can they get Ella Stevens rolling? Can they not realize so much on Midge Purse after she's coming back from this injury?

She gets the most minutes we've seen yet. But yeah, I just feel like there is a missing, like if you take a stare out, how do they find goals? And that doesn't seem to be clicking right now. Yeah. I think all of these are the questions I had coming into the season, which was with all the losses they had, I didn't think they actually lost that much in terms of like the main starting players, but they lost depth. And so they've had injuries, which is question that depth, and then it puts the pressure on. Like you losing depth means you need these, you need the estares of the world to play and play at a high level every single time. They're capable of it, which is why

I think most of the conversation still Gotham's a top four team. And I think we see it off and on, you see it in the game against Washington, we see it off and on you see it in The game against Washington you see it at Angel City But it's hard for it to be consistent when you're requiring that pressure on the same players Over and over again. So I think all of those are fair question marks I think this is a team that at this point you could probably ask them behind the scenes and they'd say if we can get Settled and healthy going into the postseason, that's our best case scenario.

Like challenging for a shield probably isn't really in the cards for this year just because of the way the injury bug has gone for them, which isn't the first time. I think it's probably why they built the depth that they did last year. But then players don't like sitting on the bench and players don't like being depth options when they're capable of being starters. Out of the weekend there was a bit of a apparently false report that Rose Lavelle is on her way back from her injury. I think it's an ankle surgery. It was said that there was a timetable set and Juan Carlos Amoros said that's not exactly true. We're still working on things. Let's dig into our Kansas City Orlando

game because I'm excited about this one and I want to get to it. It is the top two in NWSL on points. It's the top two in NWSL on a ton of different categories that we can rattle through. It's a rematch of last year's semi-finals as I said and I And I think for Kansas City, it's the big one. Like you have to think, on November 12th of last year, this one was circled for everyone in this Kansas City group to say, okay, can we finally get one over? Can we get our revenge?

And I think with the way this season's built up for Kansas City, it's like, this is the statement game. You have come out, you have blitz teams at home, you have blitz teams though that weren't maybe expected to be in the top half of the table. Here's your big one to show that you've taken steps from last year and it's against the reigning champions. Yeah, it's interesting because I am looking back

at those games last year and one was 2-1 at Kansas City and the other one was 0-0 at Orlando. And that Orlando game, oh, it was so hyped up. And this is where I get a little nervous about hyping these games up so much is because both of these teams have the same plus side, right? Is they want the space in behind to let Schwinga go, to let Banda go, to get in behind defenses. If you take that away, can they break you down? We saw Kansas City struggle with that against Seattle. We've seen Orlando struggle against, I think Seattle was a good case. Who else did they play recently where they struggled with a team really?

North Carolina this weekend. North Carolina this weekend. I haven't watched that game back, but I've heard it was unreal. North Carolina basically didn't have the ball for the first 26 minutes and then scored in transition. And it was like, I've never seen North Carolina score in a four pass sequence before in my life. And I was like, here you go.

So I am very curious. I think this is going to be a really big test for both of these teams. Like who is the better team when you take away the space that both of these teams want, because both of these teams are going to do that defensively they're strong and they're going to know where the strength are, strengths are for the opponents and they're going to say play in front of us. So who's better at breaking that down? I don't, I don't know which team is going to be better at that.

I really don't. I would say that's hard, right? You think of the frontline for Kansas city and there's a couple of more players that can be playmaking players on the frontline. But then if you think of the midfield for Orlando, you're thinking, okay, that's got a lot of good playmakers that could make the final pass in a really tight situation. I, that's what I'm

looking for. If the team, the opponent is in a really deep block with a lot of numbers behind the ball, who is better in those moments? Because I think it's going to come down to that. I would throw out, by the way, in terms of the excitement rankings, it was 3-2 in the postseason and the 2-1 game had a miss Piquet, if you remember. Okay. Okay. Okay. Good. That makes me feel better but also I just... Could have been four and five goals out there in those games.

But the point you make is absolutely true and you watched the Orlando game this weekend and I think the question will fall on Kansas City. Who do they want to be? How do they want? Because I think we kind of know from Orlando, they're happy to sit deep in a big game. We saw it in the final. Like that's not going to change. I think for Kansas City, the pressure because you're at home in front of your crowd, who you want to be. No, no, no. This is in Orlando.

Oh, this one's in Orlando. Sorry. Yeah. That's a good point. Orlando, Kansas City. Yes, you are correct. Which maybe helps Kansas City a little bit then in that decision making. But I think if you ask me right now now which of these teams is better at breaking down a block, I would lean on Kansas City because of Bia and the way she can play at the center forward position and because of the way Dabinha is playing, who's now apparently been called back into the Brazilian national team. Finally.

Which is good and bad. Yeah, right? As I've said for Kansas City, it's like, oh, well, she's doing really well. I don't know that we need to change up her routine and lifestyle, but you're obviously never going to complain. But I just think Kansas City right now has a little bit more creativity in whether it's on ball or off ball, right? To being able to make runs past midfield and find spaces.

I think for Orlando, one of the concerns that I see coming out of these last two games is right now, Banda is going out wide to find space, but not in the ball over the top in transition where when I cut in, it's a shot. It's more like a playmaking. Yeah. Creating. And you've lost Adriana. And so I think there's some pressure on everyone else to be finishers.

And they've done it by committee at times over the last year. But Angelina probably needs to score more goals. And if it's not her, it just has to be someone else in this group. I say Angelina, because she's getting a lot of them. But someone else has to probably score more goals. And that pressure is going to fall on them in this big moment. I also think of when, say, Orlando does have the ball in there trying to break down a low block like rest defense for both teams is going to be has to be top notch because both of these teams in three passes can squirreled.

If that three passes. Yeah, two, let's just say two passes and a long dribble can squirreled. So what is your rest defense look like? Do you keep a couple of players higher to try to keep some of the attackers for the opponent getting high on and their attack and cheat almost like cherry pick a little bit? And it'll be interesting.

I think it'll be a really interesting game with both of these coaches who tactically can switch a few things and can rely on different players to have big roles. Who does stab, hind, start in the middle of the field? Who does block go start up top? I think those are huge questions to ask right now. And I think you look at an Orlando team as well that has not won in three of their last four. So you have a draw in there. You have the loss at Portland. You have the loss to Washington and the other come from behind win against Angel City, which you fork in its moment,

but overall performance below what you expect. So an Orlando team that has looked like they had no holes in their armor for the last year plus they are coming in at their lowest moment against the most dangerous opponent. And then on the flip side for KC, they fell off last year. They need to prove that that's different this year. And I think that's where this game's a huge opportunity for them. And as you said, there's a ton of different levers that these coaches can sort of pull. I think for Seb Hines, he has to be working on, okay, what's plan B's for us? Like, how do we break teams down?

And this is a huge way for you to prove that you're good at it. And then on the flip side for Vlako, I think it's that defending. They've been much better, but that's because they can sit in against a lot of teams and be condensed. If they can't do it here, does he have the right group to defend 1v1 in these big moments?

We saw what Banda did to them at the center back position in the playoffs. Those were isolated on the island mistakes against the best attacker in the league. Can you do better this second opportunity? And this might be a game we look back on when we talk MVPs or look at Golden Boots and say like, this is one of those big deciding factors wherever it ends. Okay. That's all for us here. Be a good one, guys. It will be. I have my confidence and I'm not going to let you shake me from that. I will be back, of course, with the weekend recap next week. Then we'll be back on to talk about this and everything else going on in the NWSL space. So

thank you to all of you for listening. Jordan, of course, thank you for being here once again. We look forward to this game. If you don't like our rookie rankings, feel free to let us know in the Discord, in the comments, anywhere else and let us know how we're and we'll talk to you all again very very soon.