SoccerWise - NWSL Soccerwise | Vlatko Lands in Chicago as the Playoff Race Heats Up

Episode Date: September 22, 2026

Vlatko Andonovski is taking over in Chicago, but what does that arrival actually mean for the Stars? David Gass and Jordan Angeli break down the long-term project, the coaching search and what comes next before getting into Kansas City’s dip and a weekend that saw Angel City surge into the playoff picture.0:00 Intro1:47 San Diego & Tierna Davidson are Must-Watch7:26 What Vlatko’s Arrival Means for Chicago16:16 Chicago’s Search for a Head Coach22:21 What’s Going on with Kansas City?27:18 Bay FC’s New Chief Football Officer31:00 Angel City Rising39:53 Denver Keeps Its Playoff Push Alive46:45 Gotham Clinches a Playoff Spot57:18 Why Has Ashley Sanchez Been So Good?1:02:25 San Diego Rolls On, Portland Finds Its Attack1:07:34 Biggest Games of the NWSL WeekendFor the sharpest coverage of American soccer, we’ve got you covered:https://linktr.ee/soccerwisehq

Hey, everybody. Welcome back to SoccerWise. NWSL action here, David Goss and Jordan Angeli with you for another big episode. We have our first playoff team that has clinched their spot in the 26 NWSL playoffs. We also have a lot of jumbling in the standings. And Jordan, we've got a new CSO in Chicago. Yes, we do. There's a lot that's happened in the last couple of days since we talked last. And we got to see each other in person, which is always a delight. Yes. We hung out on Thursday or Friday.

I believe it was Thursday. Yeah. Because you were in the throes of a full week of NWSL action. You had Wednesday night action, which was all very relevant to our playoff race. Yes. So that was exciting. And then back on for a full weekend of games that had topsy-turvy finishes. great soccer.

I think we were texting yesterday as we were sort of catching up on games. There are multiple teams that are just like worth to watch, sit in awe type stuff. I think Gotham has moved

into that territory. San Diego lives there. I thought Denver was up there this weekend as well. That across three days, that was three different games. And that's as a neutral tuning in being like,

you just get to watch really good stuff of it feels like teams that are pretty cohesive. Yes. Yeah. And I like this part of the season because not only to the points matter, but every team has a true identity. And not only do you see that, but you get to see how they play up a goal, how they play down a goal, like how much they've really honed in on some of these bigger details within the game. But gosh, too many of my notes are just like the plays in San Diego that I want people to go back and watch. This, I've been in calling games in NWSL for 10 years now.

I think the way that San Diego plays could be the best football I've ever seen in NWSA. Champagne stuff. It's so, it is so beautiful. With Mel Barzanis, it's hard cider because of age. Yes, yes, of course. It's a combination. Sorry, soft cider. Sparkling cider.

Sparkling cider is what I meant to say. You can't get it out. You can't. Yeah. And I was talking to Laura Harvey the other week. They were playing San Diego and I had that game. And she's like, sometimes it's hard for me to watch San Diego. and not be like, okay, you got to scout them because they do do some really pretty things.

So just such appreciation for what they've been able to build and some of the players they have. So we'll get into that. But yeah, that was something that we were chatting about over the weekend. Just did you see this minute of the game and this minute of the game? This turn, this connection. I mean, there was other stuff. There's this moment. I think it's the first five minutes of the second half where they actually had a transition moment.

And you're like, okay, transition's fun. Like it's fun for everyone. I think, well, I shouldn't guess. It's probably Ken Zadali who goes out into the right channel. And it's this one touch pass. So it gets played out to her. And this one touch pass back in across the sort of the two centerbacks to someone making the run on the far post, maybe Godfrey. It is the pass that I try and play 100% of the time.

And it never works. Because it's like you have the space in front of you. You should take that space. let people get reorganized. And I'm always like, there's a half inch. I don't need to take a touch. Now, in fairness, I'm bad at soccer. So my touch means everything gets worse.

The more touch I take, the worse it gets. And I'm like, I could play this quick ball in back across the shape to the next person. And then they could go in on a breakway on the far post. And Kenz-Dolly hit it to perfection. And it was amazing. The other person, if we're in this space right now, I think Tierna Davidson, from a pure, like, if you were to go into a classroom and you were, were to say, here's 19 different passes, you're going to hit them all differently, right?

Different part of your foot, different weighted, leading your teammate, not leading your teammate in the air on the ground. I think Tina Davidson might be the best pure passer on the planet for any position. Wow. Yeah. Is that an absurd take? No, I don't think so. But I also feel like some of the positions she's in, she might have a little bit more time

to be able to execute. It's all facing the same way at the same time. But she does have a lot of like tools in her toolbox. And I like that. I like that thought. Yeah, I mean, you just mentioned Ken Zadali. She'll probably challenge you on that and be like, really? You're not going to choose me, Goss.

I go on the half turn in an attacking third and can do it. It's just you watch the game and it's like, there's these moments where it's like, oh, quick across like Tina Davidson's going to play Gora Wright and right, play her into space. Great. and she hits these balls that like backspin but are ahead of her enough that everything's on the run but doesn't run out and like all these things where you are. Doesn't slow the runner down. Exactly.

The game when you get down really granular at some point like winning and losing comes to how much advantages have you killed with bad touches, poor passes, you know, misplayed, stuff like that. And it just feels like even some of the stuff where it's like a clearance. It's not even a purposeful fully pass where Davidson like. like silences the bounce and can then like set up a teammate where it's like oh yeah you add in the fact that she's one of the best defenders she's very good in the world and it's like she's yeah very very good very good yeah that was not where we're going to start this show at all but that's

where we started because we yeah we love nwsum we love soccer and we are very excited to talk about all of these topics if you're listening via serious radio welcome thanks for being here um if we run long you'll have to go search uh on the on-demand player anywhere you get your podcast. Soccer wise, don't forget to follow SW Woso FC. That's where we have all of our stuff on social media. It's an Instagram account that is fully around covering the women's game in WSL. We'll have international break coming up in a little bit. I know some names started to come out of Canada group. We've got World Cup qualifying over in Europe. We've World Cup qualifying coming up in the U.S. and of course, USA against Spain, a double header that will be coming up in October. So we'll have all your coverage there. And Cat Push, who does work with us? is putting together these trade grades on these monumental trades. We broke the trade record, which is really a transfer record over and over and over again in this off season. So we've gone through with Jordan Heitima, now Ludmila.

And I think there's one other that's been out there. And then, of course, Claire Hutton and Croy Bethune to come, which are the ones I'm most fascinated to see where a cat falls on it. Ludmila was a bit of a lower grade. The Heitima one was interesting because out of context, I think it's like Jordan Heitama is a big name. doesn't score a ton of goals. Not very good.

But Kat put it in the context of you got the money for Ludmila and you turned it into a player who scored more for you when she was healthy, which in theory is kind of the job. Yeah. I mean, Jordan Haidima is still the leading score on Chicago, which is a hard place to be if you're Chicago since she's been injured since July. But yeah, I'd like those from Kat.

I've liked what's been put out there on our socials and looking at that and seeing what she's been able to figure. figure out. So go check those out for sure. But let's talk Chicago in a more positive note. It has been a tough season. They are on track to historically be the worst team of all time. They have like a negative 40 plus goal differential. But a little bit of light maybe at the end of the tunnel last week in naming Vlako and Anovsky as the new chief soccer officer. Vlako, of course, coming over from a similar role at the Casey current most recently, but I think is most famous for being the coach of the Kansas City Current over the last three plus years.

And then previously, the coach of the U.S. women's national team built Casey Current in their new building, in their new identity into one of the global powerhouses, not just an NWSL powerhouse, went out and signed Temwa Shawinga, who has got on to be back-to-back MVP's and I think the best player in this league and then built that roster through with Michelle Cooper and bringing in a number of different options that have gone in and out like Bia, of course, Lorena in goal, and put them as a shield winner last year,

a record setter that will still stand because Gotham probably doesn't have the juice to match that. And then moved out of the head coaching role at the end of last season into a front office role with Kansas City. It's been pretty quiet on that front since then. Hasn't really done media, hasn't really spoken. the club hasn't really put a finger on what he was doing.

We had Chris Armis on preseason. When he first took over, he talked about being in the opening meetings with Flacko and sort of their shared identity and shared style. And now Blacko Ananofsky is departing Kansas City, a city that has been home to him for a very long time, a club in multiple iterations that have been home to him, to take over for the Chicago stars.

Jordan, I was a little bit surprised, not shocked. a little bit surprised that it was Chicago, not that he left Kansas City, that it was Chicago that he chose to take this role with. So I think my opening question for this conversation is like, how do you perceive Chicago after this news verse before? I think that there's hope. It makes me feel like there's hope and that the ownership is willing to invest in really good people who have proven track records in this league in order to make Chicago back into the Chicago that we've known them to be. This was a perennial playoff team. This was one of the deepest teams in NWSL for a number of years back in the late

2010s. Is that what I call it? And I think when you, you know, it was very telling that Vlako said it was time for me to leave, which is a very interesting thing for him to say, time for him to leave Kansas City. But if I know anything about Vaco, he relishes an opportunity to do something that nobody has done. He took this Kansas City team. Yes, in the first FCKC, they won, they won back to back titles. This was a really prominent team. Then he came back after Kansas City came back to, the team came back to Kansas City. And he took a team that finished in last place the year before to a championship game. when they end up losing to Portland in that championship game.

But he has the ability with his leadership, with his knowledge of how this league works, with how he wants to play. And he has a very specific thought of how the game should be played. And he can turn things around. So I think if I'm a stars fan, I feel so much hope in this. And one of the things that really stuck out to me when he was talking about what he's hopeful for this Stars organization. He said, we're a Midwest team. And we've got to have a little bit of that Midwest grit in us. And I, when I used to play against Chicago, that was the thing that I hated

about it. It's like, they just had this workhorse mentality that they were never going to give up. And they need that back. And I think he's the guy to be able to bring it back. So I, what a wonderful move for Chicago and for Vlako, a real test. Like, you've done it before. Can you do it again? And I think he can. I will say, in my, mine, I think Flacco sits in a very rarefied air of like proven quantity, big sort of name. And so for me, it was if he is sold on the project in Chicago, then I'm sold and I think a lot of people will be. And I, you know, what he built in Kansas City, I think was in conjunction with the future

of the KC. current and the stadium and the infrastructure and what the money that the longs were putting in and now maybe that relationship is not as strong as it was at the start. But I do think what they built, they built together on the back of like a vision for what NWSL should be and what it requires. And Vlako, I think was the driver of a lot of that of like, this is the level of excellence that coming out of working with the Seattle rain, working with the national team, this should be the expectation. And I think we've seen a lot of players who have chosen to go be a part of that because

there's opportunity there to be treated the way. want to be and to compete and win. So if he is saying Chicago is my next destination, I think now it opens up the door for a lot more players who maybe four months ago or eight days ago were thinking, like if my agent brings me to Chicago, if they reach out for a trade offer or transfer, like, I don't know what this club is. I'm not interested, right? We had the conversation this year up until a couple of weeks ago, what stadium they would play it next year. And there has been big talk from ownership of we're going to be high investment. We're going to build a training center, like all this stuff.

And a lot of it has gone by the wayside. And there's been moments with this club where they're signing short term contracts last summer and the summer before so that they don't have to carry contracts through the international breaks and the Olympic layoffs and all that stuff, which is cheap. Like that's just the word it is. And I don't think Black-Oanofsky signs up. when he doesn't need to, right, again, he chose to leave Kansas City in this moment. He didn't choose to leave for Angel City at the beginning of this year, right?

He didn't choose to leave for, I don't know, what are the 18 other openings we've had for Portland earlier in the year. Like he chose this moment to finally walk away and go and take this job. And I think that says a lot externally about where they sit. Also, you mentioned recruitment. And I do think Chicago has some really, they do have. have some good pieces there. And I think Wahhabi sticks out to me. Wahhabi's a Spanish international, won all of the titles that you can win in Barcelona. And she looks irrelevant in this. And it's not

her. It's not her skill. It's not what she can provide. But it is the disconnection within the group. And if Vaco brings anything, it's connection. And it is, okay, we are unified and we have these principles. Like, if the ball gets past you, how quick can you get back past behind the ball? Like, there's certain principles within what Vlako does that it is going to really benefit these players and make them show off Grosso, I think has her moments of shining. How do they get her consistently? The ideas behind Vlako will be very easily identifiable. And I hope this is a long-term deal because one of the hardest things about Chicago is they have chopped and changed so many coaches with so many different styles of play. And now you bring somebody in who's

above at all, the chief soccer officer. And they really get to set the tone of like, okay, these are the coaches I'm bringing in because they identify with how I play soccer. And so we are going to build our team around this bigger identity. So it doesn't matter if the coach is XYZ, all three of those coaches want to play the style that I want to play. Let's talk about coaches. Because I think for this role, as you mentioned,

chief soccer officer, so he is not the coach. So he will put the roster together. He will set the direction. There should be some form of game model, philosophy, DNA that's set from that position. But the day-to-day coaching will go below him. My assumption is that in the roadmap of what he has to accomplish us probably almost first in what he has to do, mainly because of the timeline. Like you could have convinced me, okay, this is going to be a four-year build.

And, you know, we're going to take time on that specific thing. But to be ready for the 2027 season. like you got to be ready for preseason, you probably have about a month or two to do this and make the higher. And remember the season starts in February this year. Oh, yeah, because the World Cup is coming. So you don't have very much time at all.

So the assumption for many people, I think externally, is that Milan Ivanovich is most likely leading candidate. His assistant coach at FC Kansas City followed him to Seattle Rain, the national team and now is still employed as an assistant coach at the Casey C Current where he worked for Flacko. So that's over a decade as the assistant coach for the guy who just took over as CSO.

Does that feel like an obvious front runner? To me, honestly, when Blacko stepped away from head coaching and into this grander role at Kansas City, I thought there's no question in my mind that Milan is going to be the head coach. The fact that he wasn't made me question, you know, who's really making those decisions. And so I think that this would be a easy choice for him. Those two know each other so well. Milan wants to play the style that Blockco plays. They trust each other. They have a good relationship. And, you know, I've got to have some conversations with Milan over the years just when he's, you know, Vlocco's not available and he takes that role with our coaching calls. He has some real good

ideas about how he wants the team to play and it feels like there is trust there and it kind of feels to me if you're chicago that's what you have to build on like if you don't trust if there's not trust in the the leadership then that's not going to find its way on to the field within the players and the coaches so to me that i would be shocked if that is not the head coach of the chicago stars um the other piece of that is then i just an interview with randy waldrum that we're going to put out on our open mic channels sometime soon. And he talked about how, like, if I have trust in my assistant coach, then I don't need to be there as much. Vlako is going to have a lot of work to do. Like, one, he has to be involved in this training facility in the build and gaining some level

of political currency in the city. It's not 100% his job. He's not president of the team, but he, but he's CSO. But then player recruitment and scouting, reestablishing the name internationally, which I think we'll take a lot of in-person conversations of this is what we're building. This is how we're going to do it. This is the standards we've set. We're not going to give up 56 goals again next year. So he can't be there all the time. And I think you want someone he trusts for that work,

but also, as you said, for the players of like, okay, yeah, if this is what we're being told and this is the vision from on top. This is not a disconnection because these two know each other so well. So the assumption for us is that Milan, Ivanovitch will be the front runner for this. He does have a job right now in Kansas City, so we can't like say that. Also, we don't work for either of these. People that we were thinking about have a job.

That's true. Jackie Oatley did ask me this on the broadcast. And I had been thinking about it afterwards after Sunday. And a name that also popped up to me that just has, has trust with Laco and someone that has proven that they can coach in this league and maybe was a little hamstrung by where they're at is, is Bev Yonet. played for Vlako and Innofsky for a couple of years in Seattle has built her way into being a coach for the last few years in Louisville.

And I wouldn't be surprised if he's chatting with her too. Like if that would be someone that is in this conversation of, all right, can we make this happen in some way? Like you just said, she also still has a job in NWSL. I want to say your contract is up at the end of the year, though. I'm not totally, I don't quote me on that because I'm not fully certain. But I do feel like that would be another person that has already had an established relationship with FACO who is right here and knows the league and could be really beneficial.

Douglas thinks we're correct about Bev's contract, at least officially outwardly. Yeah. The other thing that we just haven't seen in NWSI yet that I do think is coming is the, transaction for a coach. We've seen it globally. We've seen it in major league soccer here where coaches are worth points at some point. It's acceptable to give assets over, whether that's allocation money, whether that is just straight cash. I don't know how that trade would look in an NWSL setting, but we're not far off from, okay, you have a coach. We want that coach. What can we do to make that happen? So it opens the door to some of this stuff as well. I've had Sean Harris.

on every list because I love the way Gotham played under him. And I think at this point, you have to say his resume is strong enough to be given a shot at a first team coaching job. And then the other one is Twyla Kilgore, who we have mentioned over and over again with everything, ended up as this technical director in Houston who just got let go a few days ago. So Twyla Kilgore is someone who Black-Oanninovsky brought into the U.S. Women's National Team Program. So again, they have that connection, they have that experience, and has really high-level experience. So that would be another name to throw in there.

I think we'd be remiss if we don't mention Seb Hines in any opening that happens going forward because he's a former coach of the year who's available. I would be surprised if it's the tactical fit that Blackhaw's looking at when you literally just talked about his DNA and what he wants and high pressure and intensity and direct play. It wasn't what Seab Hines played in Orlando. now I think we're going to learn over the next few years how much of Orlando was necessity. This was the players I had.

This was the style I had. And how much it was sort of the decision to make those moves. But those are not bad. I mean, that's a list of, I think if you're a Chicago fan, you'd be happy with any of the names there. Is it going to end up being a Danish league two-time champion coach? I don't know. Right. Let's hope not.

That hasn't worked for Chicago over the last couple of years. No. It hasn't. And this is where I think we laugh about it. We probably wouldn't be laughing about it a week ago, right? Like, Blacko being in the building changes the feeling about this club and what they're capable of building. And then he has to go to the roster. You mentioned there's pieces there to liken. I think the proof in NWSL is like, if you have a cohesive vision, there is good talent everywhere that you can use.

But is the straw that stirs the drink there? Is there that big piece? You know what? Douglas has like been MVP already. Yeah, he's cooking in the chat. One, Bev's contract is up. Two, you know who else's contract is up? Vanessa D. Bernardo. And when you're talking about the glue in a midfield,

like, Blacko has had that with her with Lola Bonta in Kansas City. Is it, you know, Vanessa Di Bernardo, who comes back to Chicago after a couple of years away, makes it full of soul. Naperville, Illinois native. Yep, yep. I don't know. Who knows? But you need those types of players because you can have the identity,

but you need the glue pieces that can really hold it down. But there are pieces there. You know, I mentioned the other ones, Brianna Pinto, a good piece as well, centrally for them. I think Gasper has a lot of bright spots, stob. And of course, you have Mallory Swanson. And if you have Mallory Swanson, you can probably get a lot of players to want to come and play for your team.

Yeah. And the money they put out for Ludmieland and Chowellon and, Like and the money they put on the line for the trade in Heitima like they've put resources out there. They just haven't been used correctly. And I think if you're a Blacko and you said, hey, you give me that. I'll go get you Debian and Bia and Temu Shwinga. Then it's like, okay, great. Yeah. Then it's worth the money to pay. And as you said, they've got that central piece in Mal Swanson, which makes building a lot of this stuff easier because you're building it around what she's capable of and around what she can do. Last year, I mean, last week, what

we yap about for 20 minutes because we just did it again on this one topic? Maybe Houston because they fired their coach last week. Yeah. That's what it was. Before we get out of here, though, thanks for giving us so many things to yap about. We have a lot to talk about. I want to touch on Casey quickly. Okay. Because it's been a weird 12 months. Like they set every record last year. Yes, they lost on the first round of the playoffs. Shwingo was hurt. Michelle Cooper was hurt. It wasn't the finish that they would like. But as you mentioned, like they were a last place team. They've built something really strong. And then Vlako steps into the front office, but it's not his longtime assistant who takes over.

It's this outside party and Chris Armis, who's brought into the club. Claire Hutton leaves, a couple other big names leave. They bring in Croy Bethune. And now Flacco is gone. Like he is no longer a part of this club. I think for many people around the game, we sort of knew some of this over the last few months. Like he wasn't doing interviews. He wasn't being on the press releases when they signed players.

The role he had been moved into didn't really understand what its effect was. Is there any different perception of Kansas City right now now that Flacco has left? As you just said, I feel like it has changed even over the last 12 months once he stepped away from head coaching at a time where you're like, what, you were so close. You were so close to winning a championship. Like, how could you step away? That brought the doubt and like planted the seed in my. mind and now this Kansas City team with just five games left,

since it's an eighth place, a team that blew away everybody last year, Goss. And I think that that is one of the things that I am most curious about is how did this team go from what they were to what they are now, where a lot of the pieces didn't change. Yeah. Yeah, it's, if a club is good and big things change, I get worried because there's no need,

change is inevitable. Like players want to move, all that type of stuff. So there's always going to be some level of it. But this level of change to me is worrying because there's ambition, right? We had Angie Long and Ryan Dell's on this show. They've built a club in Brazil. They've built a second division club in a second division that doesn't exist. Like literally built a stadium in a training facility for a reserve team in a reserve league that doesn't exist.

and have supported a team into Champions League, there's no doubt that there's ambition there and there's no doubt that there is passion to push it forward. My worry is in a salary cap league where there's only so much you can do, you have to still hit on the small margins to be successful. And Flacco was very good at that. And the nature of change is there's inefficiency there.

Someone new has to learn a role. Someone new has to learn the way it works. And then there are things that fall. through the cracks in between. I think you're seeing some of that this year. That even with the injuries, right now it's a team sitting in eighth place that last year had run away with the shield. One more piece of front office news before we move into the weekend. Paul Green has been named the CFO.

That is not the chief financial officer. It is the chief football officer. So you could just call yourself whatever you want. I think Jordan, we're probably going to need to make some official titles on this show at some point. I know. Did you have something in mind? Chief yapping officer. I don't know.

CYO. CYO is my basketball league that I played in. It is like it kind of gives you a little bit of how English this team has changed to over the last couple of years with the head coaches with the players they brought in with the front office that they are not even, you know, it's not even a soccer officer that you're just like, screw what CFO normally means. we're making into what we want it to be, which is chief football officer. So when you go to Bayfc's website under club, where normally it says front office or technical staff, it says football operations staff. And when you go into the football operation staff, you have the chief football officer and Paul Green, and then you have Emacotes and the head coach, and then everyone down.

So as you've said, it's gotten very English, very quickly. And listen, fine, whatever. I think maybe there's an over obsession with the game in England in the U.S. and over reliance on the belief that everything there is right and correct. But I do think we've seen some of the holes over the last few months of not knowing NWSL as well. Now, maybe that doesn't matter, right? Once Emma Coates is a year plus in, maybe that's where that experience comes from. And maybe what Paul Green is working on is bigger.

And it ends up being a portfolio of clubs around the world. And it's less focused on BayFC and they're week to week and winning. But yeah, I think we should work on titles. Yeah, that's number one. Number two is this Bay Club has proven that they have really big ambitions. I mean, they set a new standard for how much it costs to come into this league, really upped the value of every single team with their entry fee for expansion. Excuse me.

It took your breath away. Yeah, they did. They, you know, things weren't working. working over the first couple years. So they totally reboot and say, all right, we're going to go for something different. And I think Sixth Street has that mentality. Like this is, everything happens quickly. So if, if things aren't going right, we have to readjust. I like Emma Coates. And I think that she could be very successful in this league. And now you bring in someone who understands her perspective on what type of players she wants. It seems like a good move. And Paul Green is one of the,

winningest, you know, people in the front office that you could, or on the football technical side that you can think of in the women's game. So to bring someone over with that type of experience, you know that it was probably a pretty penny. And it just only up levels those expectations for Bay. And I think now people are probably going to think, okay, next year, like this Bay team is severely underachieved this season. Next year is it going to be like, we have to win. win a trophy. We have to win a title. I don't know, but that's what it's giving to me is like we've really invested and we put all of our our eggs in this one basket. Can it pay off in NWSL? Year one ended on a little bit of a high, but I think in general for Bay of C on the field

since they've become a team, that's been the feeling. It has underwhelmed. Let's think into our weekend recap, though. Let's talk about a team that is underwhelmed and may finally have hit. Angel City. They might be a real team. What? How excited are we? Remember how hyped we were at the beginning of the year for this Angel City team? First three weeks of the season. Every year Angel City comes out.

They play open. They play attacking. They score goals. And I am back. And now for the first time after the summer, I am back on Angel City. So last week, seven points in one week. They tied Denver at home. Emphatically.

A team that they were. sitting also right next to them in the standings. They were sitting behind Seattle, who they went and beat, and then they go and beat Utah in a bizarre game. Two red cards, straight red cards in the opening 24 minutes for Utah. It was the first one in the ninth minute on Togso, which is wild. And then a second one, which led to a penalty kick in the 24th minute, which I think, it was dangerous play.

So therefore you get a red card and a penalty, which is that double jeopardy. They've tried to take out of the game. If you're making an attempt on the ball, and it's a had to got called for pulling Ari Borgis's hair and ends up with a red card. So Utah played down to players the entire game. Angel City probably should win that game. Doesn't really matter, though. Seven points elevates them from ninth to six after one week of play.

And at this point of the season, Angel City is firmly in a playoff spot for the first time. pretty much ever. Yeah. Leif Shmurud has done a good job and I thought they got that boost from him right after the start of the break this summer. But then it kind of puttered out and they were not really winning games. But he switched recently to a 4-4-2. And I like this because Jazele Thompson is higher. You have stability defensively, but also you can utilize both outside backs getting higher up the field, he's really gone with that combination of Jan Stodder and Chilufia up front, like, try to try to stop us there. So then there's space underneath for a noose or a Borges or a Setnor Thompson to fill that gap, win the second balls, and then go, go with pace and create

at the top of the box. I really like this change in the system and the structure, because I think it gets the most out of the players that he has accessible right now. And also, we talked so much about the centerback pairing coming into this year. And Angel City is, I believe they're like second in the league when it comes to goals against. They've only given up 28 goals. So they're fourth. They're fourth. They're sitting in a really good spot. They haven't given up that many goals. And those centerbacks have helped them really stabilize. You know, you have the pace of Gordon and the some of the leadership of Sam's, I think, in moments and the ball playing of Sam's, it's really turned out to be not just a good stretch run for them, but also a team that now,

I think, feels like we have, we have to make the playoffs. Yeah. They are third and expected goals against. So like you said, they are in the upper echelon. It's San Diego. Then there's a pretty big gap. And then Washington and Angel City after that. The end of the season is so, interesting because sometimes all you need is that little spark, that little bit of momentum. The tie against Denver, that's why I say it was emphatic, because they're down two goals. And they come back and score two late in the game to tie it at home. If they don't get a result in that game, I don't know if they get the results that they get in the next two because it really boosted them to say like, hey, we can, we really can do

anything. It doesn't matter how far we're behind. We have the ability to score goals. We're going to stop you from scoring anymore. and I think that this Angel City team is exactly where you want to be with five games left. You have Ali Sentenor who's been on this hot streak to sort of help lead you along the way, which... I mean, she's gotten a couple of penalties. She's gotten a lot of penalties.

Yeah, I wouldn't call it quite a hot streak, but... But that's the thing. I fully agree with you on the like, oh, what's Ali Sentenor doing different in her game? She scored, I think, three of the five are penalties. But also, when Ali Sentenor is... is aggressive and confident. Now it changes the shape of the game a little bit. And so penalties will lead to that.

The other piece is they've had Yon's daughter healthy, right? She was out in the middle of the season. She is the first time Angel City has had a combination of ability to stretch the field, finish as the final piece, and drop in and play. Right. They've had players who can do one, Riley Tiernan could stretch the field a little bit, finish on the final third. They've had players that they've played at center forward in the past who can drop in

and sort of play to their feet, they've not had the combination. And that's where they've got this outlet where, like, when the game's against you, you actually have a half chance at all moments because if the team gets sucked in against you and you go into one of the channels, Yon Zetter can go and get it. But also, she now can also be a piece in buildup and be a piece in possession. And that combination has unlocked a lot for this team. And she's not solo in those efforts. Right.

I think that's why the thought of Chalufia next to Yon's daughter, you know, my choice, I would choose Nuse because I am so high on Nuce and what she can bring to a team. But I understand right now what is working is the combination between those two. And it's working. So why would you, why would you change that? Also, how freaking good is Jazeel Thompson? She's so good at soccer. She's fun.

Have you heard that the youngest sister is the best out of all of them? I have heard that. And she's around Youth National Team stuff and they're talking about contracts. I've heard that. It's not like shocking. You hear that a lot because it's like the youngest sister got beat up by the older ones. Yeah. You just got to get better to stick around.

And like watch and see it. But I mean, I still firmly feel Giselle Thompson's the best fullback in the U.S. Women's National Team pool. And we'll start at one of the two positions because she's so good. It doesn't really matter. She is a legitimate game changer. I mean, her and Foxy, that's a great fullback combination between those two. But now she's legitimately.

not playing fullback, it is a consistent game changer. Comes inside, gets on her left foot, can shoot to the far post, can cut back to the right foot, get to the end line, can link up. I mean, one of the things that I think makes her really good is because she's so comfortable in possession, she can give you a couple different looks in the buildout. And so she doesn't just hang on the sideline. She comes inside and takes space, which opens up space for Savvy King to give you with. And then now there's more space for Emily Sams to work because no one is coming as

the second pressing player and she can step into the channel. But because you watch, when they build out of the right side, if you watch four segments of play, Giselle Thompson's picking up a different position in all four of them and is comfortable in all four of them of, okay, if you play me the ball here, like we're not going to lose it. I can turn my player if I have to.

And all of that unlocks a lot of stuff. And this is, like I said, this is unprecedented for Angel City. They have never, they made a run last year, but they have never been a true playoff contender. They are sixth right now, three points behind Utah, who they just beat to try and potentially even get up into a home game. Yeah. And one last thing I will just say about Angel City before we move on, because we need to move on.

This is just so us. I do feel like Laguer, but also they played Martin a couple of times. Bringing in a player like that, Laguer is a little bit more forward-minded than Martin. but because you have so much attacking prowess with your outside midfielder's in this 4-4-2, but also that other that other midfielder and Borges, like there's someone that just sits and regains and has a little bit more of a, this is not a fancy role, but I'm going to do it and I'm going to connect the next pass and keep the pressure on. That shift has also really helped Angel City.

So Angel City has a big game this weekend. We'll talk about it coming up, but they play against Washington on the road. If you want to have a home playoff game. So for the three points, by the way, behind Utah, Utah are tied with Portland. So four and five are tied three points ahead of Angel City. If you want to try and jump up, these are the games you end up winning. It's not going to be easy, although Washington's been worse at home. But this is a huge moment for them.

Wait, there's 10 points between 10th place and third place. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, it's tight. Tight. Speaking of, we had Denver and Seattle in this conversation last week. Seattle was sitting in eighth. Denver was sitting in 10th right behind Angel City.

So Angel City jumping up has pushed Seattle out of the playoffs right now. And they lost 2-1 to Denver on the road this weekend. So this for Denver, a big win, keeps them in the conversation after dropping the two points from winning position on Wednesday. They went up to zero again. They conceded like 90 seconds after the second goal to make it 2-1. And I think everyone is sort of saying, oh, no, here it goes again. Denver has lost 14 points from a winning position,

which is second worse in NWSL. Portland fans do not want me to say the full stat of who is actually worse because it is a wild number. The gap between Denver and Portland is nine points. That's how much worse Portland is. But for Denver, this has been the big issue. Jordan, and they are able to confidently see this one out. That was so kind of you not to give the full number,

but make people do the math themselves. I was right there. Yeah, I was getting a little stressed watching the end of this game. And for Denver, I think they did a lot of, they've done a lot of good things over the last couple of games, even though, excuse me, the results haven't stuck. I thought one of the things that was impressive in this game against Seattle is you kind of change things up and you bring Flint into the nine position.

And this Denver team wants to play through and they want to combine quickly. And I like I like what heaps and Flint can do in that nine, 10 spot because they're both they're both combiners. They want to find those little tiki-taka passes around players in tight spaces to then open somebody else up in the channel. And so it was a different move from Nick Cushing, one that we haven't seen yet. But I thought it really paid off. The thing that I am curious about with this Denver team is when you are up a goal,

I just talked, you know, a little earlier about up a goal, down a goal tactics. When you are up a goal, right now they don't have the bench to be able to bring in veteran players off the bench. Because Carson Pickett has been excused absence over the last few years. years weeks um and to me that it would that would be the perfect player to bring in in these situations someone who knows how to just see a game out because it looked a little hairy for Denver at the end of the game there were still opportunities and i think iola a little too aggressive in her positioning and yes that is what makes her great as an outside back but in the times where you're up a goal in the last few minutes you can't be aggressive with your positioning high up on

the field. You have to protect the space in behind. And they almost paid for it yet again against Seattle. And so those are the little things that I think they have to clean up if they are going to push. Because as I just said, the gap isn't long, isn't far, but they have to have results right now. Yeah. So on that note, you, midweek, you only use three subs on the weekend. So again, leaving some opportunity out there, which is what's the trust in the rest of the And then Oka hasn't played in this league before, but is a young player. The next two players you brought in were rookies in Devin Lynch and Yuna McCormick. I think Devin Lynch is a logical addition to a game you're winning, ball winner,

but doesn't have a ton of experience doing this. And so I think, and then to then look at it and say, and Nick Cushing didn't have two more players that he trusted to help get you over the line. That's a little bit worrying in moments like this. I will say on the side with Tash Flynn playing at that center forward position, I think it works for this game where you dominate possession because you're not really looking for in behind. Yeah, exactly. And a center forward to be like that reference point.

And like you said, it became two nine and a halfs, two ten and a halfs between her and heaps. And it helps when Sonis is so aggressive and dangerous that, you know, you don't maybe need a center midfielder in all those spaces. I think you see it on the goal, right? Flint is able to run out of defender, but from a dangerous position and hits like a pile driver. That almost takes the back of the net off. Probably a little different in the game where you're sitting a little deeper and you need an outlet or you need someone to run into the channels. But it worked for this matchup. Yeah.

Well, you don't, I mean, you get a little bit more pace from Custler. But I think that if you do play like this, you have to get that from Ryan. Like, she has to be your player that stretches in behind. And she can't play in the pocket, but if you're playing those two up in front in the pockets, like we were just saying, like they're dropping to connect. That would be your only logical stretching player is Ryan, right? But that's not her number one thought of. No, she wants to come inside and connect and play and be linked up.

Because you're also not getting that from Uzuki on the other side. Like she's not going to beat anybody with pace. Although Uzuki had to play in this game where she got played under pressure. and like, Kreif turned someone from a deep position. And then it was like 35 yards at pace. And it was a nap. It was one of the moments where I say things out loud, where I'm watching a game.

And I'm like, oh, like out loud. And it's like, I'm not in the space. I'm not actually at the game. But it was a crazy turn. Yeah. On the flip side for Seattle, they only have two points from a losing position this season. Game states really matter to them.

They don't have more than one way to play. They sit in a deep block. they hit in transition. They try to be dangerous on set pieces. All of that stuff is harder when you're losing. And there was a couple moments. I think coming at a half time, they were a little bit more aggressive,

a little more dangerous. Mondecir came off at halftime, which changed things a little. But it is really like, can you get overloads to the right and find DeLean on the left to go 1 v.1? And that's like most of what they're trying to put together from an attacking role.

this is like short-sighted, but I think from a momentum point of view, it feels like, and we said this last week, Angel City in Denver are moving in one direction and Seattle are moving in the other. So it's kind of tough to feel like Seattle has enough

to get over the line and they don't control their own destiny anymore, which was what they had going for them coming into this week. There's a lot of big games coming up this weekend for these teams. We're going to talk about all of that coming up. If you're listening to Serious Radio, we're going to go a little bit long to do that.

So go search for the show on the on-demand player or anywhere you get your podcasts. Let's dig into some of the other games from the weekend that was Jordan. And we didn't even mention yet. Gotham officially clinched their spot, I mentioned on top of the show, but in these games.

And they did so against North Carolina on the road, a 2-1 win. You were on the call for this game. This was, again, as I said, another one of those games where it was car crash for the first 10, 15 minutes. until the goal, but then it felt like there were some really nice moments after that. There were so many similarities to these teams, but also very different, like a lot of differences

too, right? North Carolina, the highest scoring team in NWSL, Gotham has given up the least amount of goals. But the similarities where both these teams want the ball and they want possession and they can win it high up on the field. And it felt like they were just taking the ball back away from each other over and over again. And this is where you lean on your players. and moments of brilliance. And Dudley had a, she's had a lot of good games this year, but this game to get a brace and the first one to just wiggle through a few different players and shoot the ball.

I think it was a right-footed finish, which she tends to want to get the ball to her left. She finishes it really well. And that's the difference. That's the difference between a team who keeps their name at the top of the shield race and a team that starts to putter, right? is you need your players. Man, big putter week for you. Did I putter?

You puttered out twice. Nice. You know what's weird? Is it not peter? It is puttered. It's petered out, but puttered along. I think they both work. Okay.

So cut this out and say Peter, they petered out. No, I think you're right. I don't know. I don't know if I'm right. Who knows? But sometimes words get stuck in your head and you just end up using them. multiple times. I've noticed that of listening to my games over the last 14 years. Anywho, back to this, you need your players to step up. And I thought Dudley, as a young

player in this league, really prove that you can score a really good goal, but you can also score a scrappy goal. Gotham, man, they're hard to break down. Yeah. They are really hard to break down. And the two times that North Carolina breaks them down, they're offside on both of them, which shows you how good their back line is at staying together. And those little moments where Carter and Davidson are like, oh, I just got a step a yard. And this isn't going to be a play that is dangerous for us. When they did that twice on the biggest plays of the game,

which was a real disappointment because I wanted to be on the call when Ashley Sanchez scored her 20th goal. And it was a indicative finish of what her year has been that she gets to her right foot, no matter what, even though that you know that's where she's going. and then it's a moment where, yes, most players should finish. Most players don't. And right now she's just like untouchable shots in the corner and everything else. And then the flag goes up and it's a whole long thing to find the offside.

But it was offside in the end. It was a better second half from North Carolina than first half. But I message you watching this game. Gianna Paul was traded last week to the team on Wednesday, played like 90 minutes in this game from the start, which I thought was slightly aggressive, but also shows where North Carolina is. And I felt like I saw more from her than the whole season with Kansas City. I think there's like a little bit more agency and space and need with this team. I know Macklin sort of mentioned to you all on the broadcast call that they see her as a

center forward. She played out on the right. But I thought she looked really comfortable coming inside more as like a second 10 and playing underneath EJ and helping create turnovers there, playing into the channel, playing vertical. I thought she looked really dangerous and seems like a really good move for North Carolina. Yeah, and a move that they need. This team is so hurt right now,

which is part of the reason that Erica Meg, Parkinson, didn't go to the World Cup. Yeah, they showed Riley Jackson in the crowd with half the team. Yeah, Ali Schlegel, Riley Jackson, Lauren Thompson, and Natalie Jacobs. They're missing both of their starting centerbacks, Macy Bell, and still this North Carolina team has had a pretty good run with their two backups centerbacks, which is crazy.

And back to Gianna Paul, she played 90 minutes. Before this, she played 200 minutes at Kansas City. Yeah, and it did feel like to me, I like this inclusion with her because she has a lot of ability in 1B1, she can get in behind the back line. Like you said, she can play a little bit internal if need be.

But it did feel like it was her first 90 minutes in NWSL, you know, months into this season where there's just a few moments where you're like, oh, you got to press harder there. Or you got to be determined to get your shot off because Tiana Davidson is going to close you down. Even if you think you have space, you don't have the space. And sometimes as a player, especially coming into this league, the game moves a lot faster than you realize. And you need those moments.

And I think that this is going to be a big step in Paul's trajectory and what she can do for this team. Because I think she's going to look back and be like, yeah, I got to get to that. I got to exude like have a little bit more energy in these moments. So overall, it was a fun game. Like it had a lot of playoff feel to it. It was feisty. And yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Gotham, it doesn't feel like to me, like they're going to give up that shield with the

no, they're the first team to clinch the playoffs. So they're by far in first. It does feel like they sort of stand alone right now in terms of stability at that top. So they're five points ahead of Washington, six points ahead of San Diego. all on equal games played at the top of the standings. And I think, you know, as I watched this game and thought about it and talked about Gianna Paul and what she could bring, like it's what Dudley has brought, right? It is sort of this second attacking piece different.

So I think I was shocked before the season when Dudley chose Gotham because I didn't see where the minutes were. I understood from Gotham's point of view because I've said for like two years now from watching her at the U20s in college, I don't watch all of those levels that much. So I'm not an expert, but I was like, this is about. best player I'm seeing. I think this player is going to be an impact player day one. And that's where I was a little bit surprised because she was a center forward coming in. And you watch the goal that gets scored the first goal in this game where Sam Kerr goes out wide and drags way

too many defenders. Oh my gosh. There was like six players just whooped, looked at her. Yeah. There are five pink jerseys. Is that what they were wearing in this game? Yeah, who knows what that color is. That go wide with Sam Kerr and then Dudley comes inside and Kerr's able to and like the difficult part get the layoff in between all those bodies and then Dudley takes the first touch and his pat now there are six players behind her and it's now going into the box one v one but a ton of the goals she scored have been goal scoring you know center forward type moments on the far post center forward type moments as the last pass as the game comes across and you see for this team Shaw will come inside from the left right and will give you verticality on the left and then Dudley will play

sort of as a second forward stretching the game when Shaw drops in and wants to play inside of midfield. And that's what's worked like to perfection. And for a team that had Esther go out and Sam Kerr come back, Sam Kerr sort of find her feet and all of this, Dudley's carried a ton of the goal scoring and is only getting better. And now you look at a situation where as you head towards the playoffs, like, she is a match winner in herself on top of the fact that she stirs shit up, which I love.

I'm here for, and I think Juan Carlos loves, and I think the other players on this team love. But like, she sets the tone physically, but she really can be a match winner, which now puts, what, nine match winners on the field for this team? You need to read your other note that you wrote about this game, because I think, I'm thinking the same thing about Gotham's starting lineup. Oh, Denise O'Sullivan in the starting lineup. It felt savage. That's what I wrote in the notes.

It's tough. If you're North Carolina, and like, part of this is the, way it should be. There should be ecosystem. North Carolina doesn't spend and doesn't enhance the players' experience the same as some of the other clubs. Now, also, Raleigh's maybe not as desirable a place

to live or carry or whatever you want to call it. But I think it's, the pressure on the club is the first one. But to have the face of your team and Denise L. Sullivan say, I want to go back to England. And it's like there's nothing you can do about that at some point. But this is now in a trend of

Lynn Biondolo leaving your club, who had been the face of your team. Jane Shaw, who had come then to be the face of your team. Caroline leaving your club. Like, it's kind of been a tough run in that thing, in that side of things. DeSolving Ghost of Liverpool within months is like, I don't want to be here anymore. Comes back to NWSL, not to your team.

And now gets her second start back in the league in your building sold out from them. It just, and she's like not a locked-in starter. And it just kind of felt like you could have started Savannah McCaskill, but you chose not to. And like, yeah, I guess so. Yeah, it was savage. And they put her on the, like, the game day poster that they post on social. To be like, come see Denise.

Yeah. That's crazy. He was like, okay, we get it. You guys are just really digging in here. And just she looked exactly how you would expect her to look. There were so many times where she just regains the ball with such ease to keep Gotham in possession. Yeah, I loved that move too. It was a vibe. It was a big win for Gotham. So the two one victory obviously clinches the spot. North Carolina though, I think another game where you watch

them and you say, okay, they didn't get the result, but like you like what you see. And, you know, it's it's year one under Macklin. Like I think making the playoffs and being competitive in the first round, as much as North Carolina fans won't want to hear that because they've been sort of knocking on that door for the last few years. You know, it's your one for a lot of these pieces. Someone texted me this week and asked me if we've talked about why Ashley Sanchez has been so much better this year. And I don't know that we specifically have.

No. I feel like I've talked about it a lot on the broadcast. I know. But not here. Yeah. I would say there's a couple of things. One, when you speak to Mackland, he has an incredible story. He became a father when he was really young, 21 years old.

His oldest daughter has Down syndrome. And he said what the doctors have told me about her, how she, you know, can't do. Literally doctors have told them that she's not going to get married. She's not going to play sports. She's not going to do this. And he's like, yeah, she is. She's going to do all those things. And so he has from a very young age believed in people and believed in his daughter.

And I think that that way of leading has oozed into his soccer side. And so he sees potential in people and he instills a belief in them that they might not have themselves. And I think that that is probably number one. He told Ashley Sanchez preseason that she was going to score 20 goals this year. He said that. And he told us that in preseason. And we had an eyebrow to it. Like, okay.

But he saw the potential in her. And I think it leads back to like just how he lives his life. And that's why I give you a little bit of that background to say like this is how he leads. He just believes that if you instill that belief in people, they're going to believe in themselves and be able to get more out of than what they even think that they can. And then two, I think he's really simplified the game for her. He's put her on the channel where it is not 360. You're not playing all around you.

You're playing 180. The sidelines behind you. You're playing in front of you most of the time. And it is either Monaca centrally, Erica Meg centrally, or even Egypt. now like other players are playing well around her that it allows her to create the isolations that she's created and then it's just reps like he he talks a lot about they don't talk about success and failure they talk about attempts and in training she is attempting that same goal that we have seen probably I don't know 15 of the 19 times she she does it over and over and over again

and she scores it over and over and over again so she the those attempts is instilling confidence in her. And then when you're a player who's getting those results, you just bet on yourself a little bit more, right? You get in that situation and you're just like, I'm going to score this. Yeah. And that pans out. So those are my kind of my thoughts as to why it's been working. I had an answer. It did not start with children and, you know, human emotion and stories and stuff. So yours had a lot more color than mine. I 100% it counts. Yeah. It is 100% relevant. I think last year I was really high on Ashley Sinch as like Caroline had left. It was her team.

I thought she was going to score goals and create all these things. Now my first answer is much more simplified, which is she plays on the left to come in on her right now rather than playing on the right to get to her right to create for other people. Right. And then I think, but I do think the the emotion in the team is different. Right. And so there is a level of belief and comfort now. Like last year they felt,

because you have this coach who's saying, 100%. And last year, you can do whatever, you guys can do more than you even think. Like, we're going to be obsessed with scoring goals and you're going to score a lot of goals. And last year,

they felt desperate, which was if they missed a chance early in a game, it felt like that was it. And it felt like they knew that. And then the shift we only saw last year was, well, now they're throwing 10 forward and like, they're taking to crazy risk because they have to.

Where this year, that confidence, I think, brings this level of calm, which is, if I don't score this chance, we'll get another. We're just going to keep popping the ball around. Like, it just feels like a team that really knows that in the game states, if they play the way they can play, they can do the things they want to do. She has 19 goals. 10 of them are with her right foot and run of play, two penalties and two headers. Right. So she's got five of the 14 with her left foot. And she was playing out on the right side for the last year plus coming in on her left foot. So that to me is like base level stuff.

But as you said, it is bigger than that with the team. And I think also EJ's goal scoring has meant that she can still be central, but also be open. So it used to be, it felt like with North Carolina, if you wanted to get space, you had to go out really far wide. But if you're out wide, then you're not in a goal scoring area. If you come inside now, there's numbers around you. But because EJ is such a threat and making runs constantly and pulling centerbacks, even though she's picking up the ball for the most part, and a lot of these goals,

she gets them on the far post, pretty much, right around the 18, but on that far post, but she is still 1V1 long enough to get to her right foot and score the goal. So a lot has gone right for her. She will probably tie the record very soon. She will probably set the record. And we're getting ready to cover a U.S.

Women's National Team roster soon that we hope she will be a part of. The last two to mention here before we get out of here, San Diego, two, zero win over Kansas City, on Friday night and Portland, a 4-1 win against Orlando. Real quick on Portland, Kaya Hanks and Riley Turner, getting the starts with Wilson and Torden. I thought was really, really dangerous in this game.

You see it in the penalty kick, Kaya Hanks, draws. I have comps now for her, now watching a little bit more. I don't want to say them yet because it feels like too much pressure, but her game looks very similar to two specific players. And then Turner giving you,

you sort of speed and thread on the outside. There's so much space for Tordon, even though she's central. And now she can like pick and pop and cook a little bit. And you know that Wilson's going to be a factor at all times. They played Orlando off the field in this one. And my hope is if they can continue to stay healthy, they can grow on results like this. And I feel pretty good about Portland right now.

And then San Diego, Kansas City. We already, somewhere somehow, we brought San Diego up because we always do. Two zero win over Casey, though, at home. Another really strong performance from them. Not all the possession leads to chances, but all the possession is there. It's so good. Just so many, yeah, so many combinations. And when Dugina got her, I was talking to Idaval about like, you know,

how do you play that role differently? I think Corley and Godfrey, that combination of Godfrey, essentially Corley on the left really worked. And maybe it was because this was such a high possession game, but it's always a high possession game for San Diego. I liked the way that they moved. Escanio and Dali, like, get out. I just, I can't with them.

The way that they pass and find each other, they have a really good relationship off the field. You see it in some of their press that they release. But on the field, it is a delight to watch. And then I think for me, Mia Van Zanton is just like easy rookie of the year. That's the one who played that pass, by the way,

too, Dali on my transition moment. Yeah, I remember it. Easy rookie of the year. Like, she has been, well,

I don't know, Dudley. Yeah, but I don't think Dudley has produced enough. That's only your fourth goal on the year. I just think what Mimi Van Zanton has been able to do over the course of the year. And,

you know, this was different last year. I was saying Tiernan, but Tiernan had eight goals or something like, I got nine goals. And I, Real ended up getting rookie of the year. I would almost say like she's been so good that she probably would be up for defender of the year too.

But I think Janine Sonas has taken that from her from the outside back position. But yeah, what she does is so crucial to the way they play. She changes the shape of opponents. She, when they do defend deep, she gets them out into transition. Yeah. So there's centerbacks like McNabb plays the ball in for that, that eventually gets the set piece that then Wesley scores. So both centerbacks are involved.

McNabs, I haven't had San Diego, but like I wanted to do a break, like showing McNabs ability to just, she can ping passes everywhere. And I know you talked about Davidson earlier. I think she would be up there to just her ability to play through pressure, um,

her patience on this one to let the play develop a little. And then the next time it gets to her, find the space and behind. Yeah, I'm, San Diego, just what are you doing and why is it so good? And it's, so this is an interesting game now. Kansas City right now or not, well, not right. I mean, in this game, Kansas City looked out of it.

They didn't look like capable of playing at San Diego's level. I think that's unfortunate because what I thought this game could be is elite pressing versus elite possession. And like neither one is right. It is how committed you are to it and how well you can execute it. And for San Diego, it's like, interesting because they're in the game and, you know, Lori and Allie are at the game talking about it. And they're like, well, can they keep taking these risks?

Can they keep expose themselves? It's like they have to. Yeah. That, like, they can only overcompensate for what they do to win because if they take a half step back, now they lose that identity. They're not going to create chances. But they don't have possession to create 55 chances. Like that possession leads to three to five.

Like at half time of this game, I think both teams had three shots on goal. Yeah, and Kansas City, what they do, they should have scored a goal, at least one. Right. But Kansas City had 39% possession. Like, that's just, and it was sort of the nature of the two, which will sort of succeed and which will come out on top. Kansas City doesn't feel as threatening. They didn't in this game. Michelle Cooper had a chance and they had a half chance. It just didn't feel like DeBina and Schoingo were on the same page and in the right spots where, and maybe it's the backline's ability to get them into transit. It just didn't feel like Kansas City that we'd seen over the last few weeks or Kansas City at home, which sort of feels like that's that gap. That's that difference.

Which is going to be your transition? Kansas City at home? No. I can do it. That would be really, really good. They're playing Denver this weekend. They are.

They are playing Denver this weekend. I mean, we're over an hour and 10 minutes into this. We should probably talk about the games on the weekend. 12.30Bam Eastern Time on Saturday. This is literally a playoff game. It is a three-point gap between the two of them. Currently, Kansas City is the last team in the playoffs in eighth.

Denver is three points behind and Seattle is one point behind. So 12.30 Eastern time. A nice early one on Saturday. Nothing else going on. Nice to tune into. I assume, it's similar to what we saw, which is Denver will want more of the ball. In Kansas City, we'll try and set up to be dangerous against it. Yeah.

So that's the question, you know, which players? do you put in the game? Like, is it a Flint heaps type situation yet again? And you bank on that, which what you just did against the Seattle team. And in order for Denver to be able to execute with what they do on the ball, they also have to be good in rest defense. So that's going to be the biggest challenge for this Denver team is making sure that in transition, they have enough players forward. I wonder if they continue with Regan or if it's lynch that plays, because she is such a ball winner and, you know, against Kansas City, you're oftentimes trying to fight for that second ball centrally in order to stop the transition play. I don't know. I don't know how

Denver is going to set up for this one, but it should be, it's going to be intense. Yeah. Huge note is, Corey Bethune was listed out with a hip. I couldn't remember the injury. So that's why she didn't play. And that may have been the gap in that San Diego game. Yeah, probably. The level she's at, that's a huge difference maker. I've loved Regan, lately, I think it brings a little bit more two-sided. I think you see the limitations for Lynch right now as a rookie. And unless you're getting blown through, then I would stick with it. But I think there's questions on who starts in the attack.

Eva Gaetino came back in the last game. That's a huge ad for this team at the centerback position. It stabilizes things a little bit. And then we didn't mention it, but on Tosflin's goal, it's Janine Sonis, who runs 40 yards back to win the ball and then progress his possession, 40 yards back. Thank you for saying that because I wanted to, yeah, mention that. It was excellent from her. So even when she's not on the stat sheet, not scoring goals, she continues to be a huge factor.

She gets an assist on that, doesn't she? I guess so, yeah. Well, it's a lot of dribbling from Flint, but if you want to be. I'll give it to her because, you know. Colorado natives, stuff like that. I know. Stats for defenders. Who cares.

But this is, yeah, this should be punching. for punch between these two teams. And like with the run you have left, there are not a lot of six point games. No. On the docket, you have to get a result here. I think for Chris Armis,

like from an emotional point of view, things are starting to crumble a little late in this season. It's your year one. Flacco's just left, like all this stuff. This is a big one to secure three points and sort of reestablish yourselves, even if you don't have Corey Bethune in this one.

It is not the only six point playoff game, though, out there. We have two matchups that are pretty, big between teams that are both in the playoffs right now, thanks to Angel City moving up. So Angel City travels on Saturday night to Washington, that one at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. And then Utah hosts North Carolina on Sunday 7 p.m. Eastern Time, I think it's the last game of the weekend. Jordan, two games that have a lot on the line, teams we just talked about, the quality of soccer they're playing. And I think it's just, can you continue to push it forward?

Yeah. Yeah, I think more in this Utah, North Carolina. game too like yes the Washington Angel City one that will be that will be very interesting but the gaps a little bit strong like bigger between those two but Utah North Carolina there's only three points between the two and one of the things that I'm most curious about with Utah one they're going to be without Tejada and Cronin and this is a team who doesn't have a lot of depth as it is right now with some of the injuries that they have because of those red cards so yeah against North Carolina I think both of these teams, both of these teams haven't been playoff teams as of like Utah, definitely not, right? They don't know what it's like to be in this position.

How do you manage the emotions of you have to win this game to create some separation with also like not playing tight and playing nervous and all those things? That's going to be a, I can't wait to watch that game. It is fascinating to talk about as well with the red cards, just a team that hadn't really rotated. And they haven't used a ton of depth. I mean, Cronin was playing outside back in this game. That's how she gets the... You assume Tatum Malazo will get the start in this one. Yeah.

I don't know what you do as much with Central Midfield. So it'll be fascinating to see... Hammond has played a little bit, but yeah. That would be the most like for like. Yeah. So a lot to watch as you get towards the end of that game. We will have our power rankings coming out. We'll have more trade grades coming out on our social channels.

As I mentioned, we did an interview with Randy Waldrum. That's going to be one of our open mic episodes coming out on Friday, talking about the future of women's college soccer, talking about the Nigerian national team, the future of the game in Africa and sort of his experiences and everything around the women's game, which is fascinating and fun to talk about. And then we've got a lot more. We've got USM&T coming up.

We've got MLS action as well. We're always on and we're always soccer. So thank you to all of you. For listening, thank you to Doug's for us all together. CYOs. Thank you to Jordan, my chief yapping officer, and we'll talk to you all again, very, very soon.