SoccerWise - USWNT Split Series W/Brazil, Hosting World Cup 2031 + Buy Or Sell Early NWSL Attacks

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

The USWNT had an up and down set of games in their gold medal rematch against Brazil. Jordan & David dig into all of the good and bad we saw in the two games. Then they dig into the WAY TOO early NWSL stats and buy and sell some team & top player performances6:00 Thoughts on USWNT Roster Decisions32:00 2031 US World Cup Hosting Announcement43:20 Olympic Soccer Expansion for 202845:00 Buy Or Sell Early Elite Attacks49:50 Buy Or Sell Early Struggling Attacks55:30 Best Early Attackers1:02:00 San Diego’s Wows Us Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

What's up everybody? Welcome back to Soccer Wise. The Dulcet Tones here, David Goss and Jordan Angeley ready for another big show. Jordan, I'm kind of in the dark here in my room so I feel very jazzy, relaxed right now. Oh, yeah. We need some elevator music happening. I think we're people's elevator music. I think we're people's elevator music.

We're the background noise. We are. We are, yes. I am also dark. I changed my tone to match elevator music. Also dark because my tripod for my light broke earlier today. So this is how we're going to be. Just a little dark, just a little mellow.

Probably not that mellow once we start talking about soccer. A lot to talk about. Not only has the US women's national team played two games against Brazil since our last show, but in the meantime, they basically announced that the women's world cup is coming back to the United States and they expanded the women's Olympic tournament, all happening in the US as well in LA in 2028. So we have a lot to talk about on that side of things. And then NWSL back around the corner. I missed it this weekend I will say Friday night was like the most glaring because you had we had the US women's national team game on Saturday and then on Sundays, I don't know you have the weekends weak scarys anyway, so it's like Sunday scarys, but Friday night

I was like, all right time to get the weekend started and I kind of sat down on the couch and was like, oh interesting There's nothing to watch Yeah, I am glad you had that because I needed a weekend off and I felt very happy on the couch and was like, oh, interesting. There's nothing to watch. Yeah. I am glad you had that because I needed a weekend off and I felt very happy to have a weekend off. Yeah, so I am ready, though, to be back. I'm very excited. And I do think Friday, I've loved the schedule

over the last couple of years with NWSL, how Friday really kicks it off. And Prime, they have a lot, not that they have freedom, schedule over the last couple of years with NWSL, how Friday really kicks it off. Prime, they have a lot, not that they have freedom, but they really utilize being on site well because they tend to do good features and interactions. The Cooler Kids were last year, or Leanne with the band in Seattle, all those things. I feel like their show gets you. Did we talk about the Bodie Sisters?

The Bodie Sisters. It was great. What an interview. Bodie on Bodie. It was so great. What Bodie Sisters unite. Yeah, and I used to, I coached them when they were little. I texted, not Meg, I texted Tess and I was like, this is the best thing I've seen.

Their whole family was there. It was cute. So they do things like that that I feel like set the tone for the weekend and kind of get you Even more excited to for whatever the game is at hand Yeah, and we've had some very good cappers to the weekend as well on Sunday afternoon or evenings of like Okay, this is sort of the talking point right now in the league and we've had high-energy games I think Angel City's been a good part of that of like they've kind of played some open games that have been a little chaotic which has been fun and

we've got another weekend of spaced out games for us to get into coming up. For the US women's national team game I was very excited. I went for a run. I ran to a bar. I got to the bar and I said to the bartender, it was like 10 minutes before the game started, I was like, can you throw the game on? He's like, of course. He put it on every single TV, full volume, everything. Favorite new bar in Miami. And it was like everyone was like, yep, now we're watching this.

And then all of a sudden these women come in and they're like, yeah, they called someone. They're like, we're watching the U.S. Women's National Team. I was like, were you guys going to ask for this game too or is it like convenience of moment? So I would just like to say that I was able to create change in this bar and now that's my US Women's National Team bar because they won that game. What's the bar? Tell us.

The Alde Dubliner. It's a soccer bar in Miami, in downtown Miami. So if you're in the area, you should go. I was going to go to a different place because I went to this brewery once and they had a USL Super League game on TV. And I was like, if you've got that on, I can get you to put anything on. I think it was a Fort Lauderdale game, so maybe they have a connection that I don't know about, which I should go find out.

So I went there and they were closed for a private event. So I went to the El Dubliner and ended up watching the game. That's a little longer of a run than you probably planned, huh? It's like midday in Miami so anything past one block is I keep being like oh I'll go for a run later like it's still spring and I run in the shade a lot and I'm like oh be in the shade and it's like oh That's not what that feels like that. It feels like a microwave all around you But in the end the US did win so maybe it's my new tradition on that first game

They beat Brazil 2-0 at SoFi Stadium awesome crowd by the way I know there was a little bit of worry of like it's a huge stadium pricing whatever it is It was really fun I think especially from afar to like watch the engagement and the experience early goal for Trinity Rodman great to see Trin back the celebration is absurd like with a back injury that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen and then of course they go on to win 2-0 and then you get into the second game which was late last night and you end up with a 2-1 Brazil victory. So a split across the two games, massively different lineups as well.

Only four players carried over from the starting lineup in the first game to the starting lineup in the second game. It was the center back pairing of Emily Sana and Tara Mikhione, it was Caterina Macario up top and it was Alyssa Thompson Along the wing or in the attacking positions, whatever it was a Huge change over for a team. That's already To some extent pulling out of their a team to the B and C level groups that we have available Because of injuries to triple espresso injuries to the Rose Love LaVelles of the world, Tina Davidson, Naomi Germa and whatnot. So the US ends up losing.

I guess my first question to you is how big of a deal is that and what do you make of the decision of how the US women's national team staff handle the roster, but most importantly the lineups across the two games. I'm going to say this again. I think I said it with the games earlier in the year. I wasn't really concerned about the U.S. winning both of these games. I actually, I kind of prefer them to lose in these scenarios to be able to have something to say, hey, this is where we have to get better. A loss really highlights those things, Goss.

I wasn't opposed, I'm not mad about the loss or upset about the loss. I think the changes in the roster from Saturday to Tuesday, I have questions. One, I actually think you could have done most of the changes if you kept one more piece in the middle of midfield. I think if, well, I'm not going to take Claire Hutten out because I thought she was so good in this game in comparison to how the game was. I think if you have Lindsey Heaps in the middle of midfield Instead of a Lily Yohannes or actually keep Lily and take Corbin Albert out

If you have a Lindsey heaps there, then you have Emily Sonnet as a center back heaps as a midfielder and Macario as the center forward And that's your spine. It felt like there needed times in this game. I was tired from watching the game. Were you tired? I texted you very early and I was like, this is chaos. There was like not only, I don't know if it was the early goal, if it was the energy of the crowd at PayPal park in San Jose, But the combination of how the crowd was reacting to everything and a bunch of players who had

never played together on the field, it was making me feel like this weird energy of... It was really chaotic. It really was. But I think because you make so many changes, and maybe this is what Emma Hayes was looking for, is in the midst of that chaos, does anybody calm the game down? Who rises? Does anybody make a difference? Does anybody change the feeling in a game when the ball

is at their feet? And I actually felt like there was a couple of players who did that. And I don't think I think there was a couple players who didn't. And I think there was a couple players that were like, are they going to be able to do this? But I think it was a test in a way saying, here's all these new players who really have no relationship with each other, figure out a way to solve some situations in the middle of a game. Yeah, I think that's like a very interesting way to go about it is like if we throw everyone

in the deep end, we'll learn who can swim and some people won't swim and some people will. I often as someone who believes in giving young players opportunity across the sport. I do believe in having guardrails to help them get there. And like I rail about this a lot because I do a lot of coverage around like MLS next pro and lower division stuff. And there are teams that will throw a U17 out there against the pro team and get smoked. That doesn't help young players. This of course is not that because you are talking about players who are,

Lily Johannes is the heart of a Champions League team in Europe, Alyssa Thompson is the best player on her team in NWSL. You're not talking about players in that scenario, but I do think if you can make it slightly easier and also realistic, like you wanna put players in situations they're going to be in. What's fascinating about all of this is you had game one against Brazil and you knew exactly how

Brazil was going to play, which is we're going to spread the game out. We're going to turn everything into an island. We're going to go 1v1 everywhere. And like that, I think as I watched the game was like, oh, okay, if you do this against the full national team, like it would have been fine, right? You have a lot of players in that group who would have been ecstatic. If Trini Rodman and Mal Swanson healthy are like, oh, we're gonna do everything 1v1, there's space.

Okay, cool. Yeah, that's amazing. And then you look at this game and like, Tara McKeown is chasing into space and dealing with 1v1 battles. And I think you had Lili Johannes more isolated than she wanted to be to be able to link up with players. And so it's interesting to have watched the first game, knew it was going to happen, and

then choose to do it for the second game. But I think this is all the license that Emma Hayes got by winning a gold medal. Like she can actively say sort of what you said, which is like, I don't really care if we lose and like it's acceptable for this because I can take my risks and when else are you going to do it? And so I think it's good to see that Emma was happy to do in this and not just say like Ireland at home is where we're going to do it, but like Brazil is where you're going to do it. But I would agree with you that you could have added a little bit more composure even if it was just why not start Emily Fox in this game and not the

first game and just have a little bit you know rather than two fullbacks who have no experience doing this you have one I thought Patterson was alright I don't disagree with you but that was also like better than Thompson which like yeah shocked me. Yeah, which is because of Thompson's performance in the previous game, where she was very, very good. So yeah, it was a fascinating experience, I think, to watch it play out.

And it was like, I mean, especially after the first goal, you're like, this is the whole game. It's just gonna be these one-on-one battles, and everything was like half turn. If you turn the right way, you're like, this is the whole game is just going to be these one on one battles. And everything was like half turn. If you turn the right way, you're out. And if you don't, or if the other team turns you, it's a goal. And I think it, Brazil created a lot of problems from the, for the U S because they were playing really out of a three, four, three.

Right. And so it was three players centrally on the back line. And so that's why McKeown was challenged, right? Because she couldn't let the player run into midfield alone because the midfielders already had players that they were trying to take care of. And there were questions. Giselle Thompson was getting pulled to the fullback and then it's truly a 3 v 3. I thought the times where the US looked most comfortable were the times where Claire Hutton

was in a free roll and able to shadow the back line and maybe not prevent the pass in, which she's so good at, but double teaming with Carolene or Gio or whoever was receiving the ball on that back line of just holding the player up and allowing the midfield to double back and help. But then there was another question like it's 3 v 3 up front for the US, right? It was three players high and are you going to ask Michelle Cooper to come back and do all that work or do you want those players to stay high and say, okay, we'll deal with whatever is coming at us as long as we know we have a three, three going the other way, which, which made

the game super stretched. And, um, I think that's how Brazil wanted the game played in those individual one V one battles. But I do think not a lot of players have ever played against what for the majority of the game was a man on man defense from Brazil. You don't play against that. Only the really one time I've seen it is in MLS when Almeida was the coach of San Jose. You don't know how to create space for somebody else by just running your mark out of the space unless you already see it. I think that there were moments where that could

have happened and maybe a central midfielder with a little bit more experience could have guided in that so I think that's what you're talking about those guardrails how do you solve these situations what are we asking out of our centerbacks and and it just felt at for a lot of it, like the US weren't really in control, right? They were kind of like, what's going on? I got to go with this player. I got to step into this midfield instead of like, okay, Caroline, if you're going to go into the midfield and receive the ball, go receive the ball.

We'll just drop off. Yeah. Yeah. And I think it was compounded by the fact that right now, I think across now from She Believes Cup through to now in NWSL as well, Mandy McGlynn is really struggling and she's struggling in her decision making. There's some struggles technically, like she's making right decisions sometimes and she has issues technique wise of like striking the ball, hitting the pass with the right strength, all of that. But like we've seen it in NWSL, these moments where she's trying to play on the ground up

the middle off a goal kick between two center forwards to a center mid's feet who can't turn in that position anyway and then miss hits it and it's like, well, the issue is not just the miss hit, it's the decision making. Emma Hayes said this to Melissa Ortiz who sort of brought it into her head after halftime Specifically, she said like the whole team needs to work on this, but I think that Put you behind the eight ball in possession on your build outs And then once you got into 50-50 challenges and second balls and all of that Then you were in Brazil's game plan,

which was to create that chaos and isolate the game. And so it was, they never really were able to find their feet outside of moments where Alyssa Thompson turned and ran into space, or Michelle Cooper was able to get out into space. And then the composure in that final third wasn't fully there to take advantage. And it's a friendly.

So like winning, losing is not everything. And I do think if you're going to try and teach these players this experience, there's no better place to do it. Like Brazil is probably is not only the only team in the world doing this, they are most elite at winning these 50-50 duels and making the game about it. And it's one of the most fascinating things I find about the game of soccer, which is everyone associates Brazil with Yogo Bonita and like all this beauty.

Any person you know who's from Brazil, plays in Brazil, plays in the Brazilian league or against their national team, they're like, oh no, it's physicality. Like, that's the game starts and ends there. You basically, in Brazil, you have to earn the right to be a Flair player after you've won all these physical battles or survived all these physical battles and you saw it in this game. What's their head coach? Is he Brazilian? Elias, yeah.

He coached Corinthians or Palmeiras, one of the big clubs. Yeah. And I think they've switched over the last couple of years. It feels more Brazilian. It feels that gossip, what you're just saying. Whereas I believe before under Pia, like I don't think it had that. It was more possession based. Yeah, it didn't have that. And they will possess. But when you have Yasmine coming out of the back as an outside back and what she can do, like, yes, she will be aggressive, but it's also layer upon layer upon layer of really good

footballers. There's no escaping a player who can play through pressure with the ball at their feet, either on the dribble or through passing. I think that that's a challenge as well, but they wanted it to be a battle. They made it a battle. Um, I, I was impressed. I was impressed by Brazil. I feel like they're, they're continuing to progress right now over the last year and a half, like love them at the world cup.

Excellent at the Olympics. It feels like they're on the right trajectory of continuing to get better. And yeah, you got to try these things. I think you would expect you know you said there were chances missed. You would expect Alyssa Thompson some of the breakaways she got she held on to the ball too much and she can't do that because yes she can break away from players but players are gonna catch up to her and and she can't do that because yes, she can break away from players, but players are going to catch up to her. And she doesn't have speed that is like a Barbara Vanna and nobody can catch her.

She has pace to break away and she has good timing in her runs, but she has to be clinical in those moments because I think in breakaway situations, she could have two more goals. And the pass to Trinity Rodman in the first game was what you're looking for. It was at full speed. She gets her head up, assesses the field after break, you know, gets out on the half turn, a little bit of a slip from the defender,

and then makes the right read at full speed, where the opening goal in this game was, she basically didn't make a decision. It gets tackled off her foot as she gets into the box. And then it gets knocked around in a little friendly fire on the goalkeeper. And all of a sudden it falls from a cario. And that's sort of the question mark, I think, for Alissa Thompson at this level. And I thought Emma Hayes said it really well, where she said,

she's one of the best one V1 attackers in NWSL. But in the international game, teams don't allow you to attack 1v1 because they sit in more often and it like clicked for me hearing someone who obviously is elite saying that and I think someone in Emma Hayes that's going from club to International in this process and I think trying to figure out for herself and her game model like how it shifts is like I think teams are more often willing especially especially against the US, to sit in. And so you take away some of those things and she said like we need her to become a more dangerous player in the final third.

That's in the final third against set defenses, but also in transition moments when you get to that final decision. And it wasn't just her. I think Katarina McCarty had a chance to slide Michelle Cooper in, basically looks off the pass, like doesn't really read it. And then Cooper in, basically looks off the pass, like doesn't

really read it. And then Cooper had the chance late in the first half, where she takes an unbelievable first touch to get her body in front of the defender going towards goal, and then takes her second touch back outside to cut her own angle. And that if she keeps coming inside, now can finish two footed and decide whatever she wants to do. And so I think for all of them, there were these huge moments where if you make that game 2-0, the stress probably goes away. Brazil probably loses a little bit of their energy. Maybe it becomes game one again, which just becomes

a lot of fouls and physicality. And there just wasn't that finishing quality at up top. Yeah. I'm going to pivot back. I know you talked about Mandy McGlynn, but I want to go back to that. I think one of the most difficult things as you progress to different levels in the game is taking your understanding of how you play as a player and meshing and molding that to what your coach is asking of you because I think there are times we see an NWSL where a team is like, well,

we're supposed to play this way and it's not working and it feels like it's forced for McGlynn right now. It feels like, can't she play out of the back? Yeah. She's been playing out of the back since she started playing an NWSL. Like that's what she's been doing. But now she has to take those, the request from Emma Hayes to play more out of the back with the knowledge of the players that are playing around her and the pressure that an opponent is having against her.

I think of that pass where she tried to play Lili Yohannes almost at midfield and it was a straight ball and I think it was Angelina that steps in front and wins it and comes back. That pass is probably absolutely fine if that's Lindsay Heaps. Because Lindsay is ready for that and she is strong enough to hold off that defender. She can take the ball under pressure. But if it's Lily Johannes, you can't play that ball right now. And instead, can you play the long ball into Macario and win the first and second?

Like those things where, yes, I understand what my coach is asking of me, but this is not the right decision right now because of the circumstances, X, Y, and Z. And it just feels like you're trying to fit a little bit of a square peg in a round hole and she is capable of it, but it is, you can almost see the thought pattern happen as the ball is coming back to her and it feels a little nervy because she just wants to do well. And so I believe she is capable of that, but it was difficult to watch some of the situations that happened playing out of the back. But I think that is not just on her right? It's it's everybody Trying to figure out how your game fits into a coach's style

And when is the right time to play that way and when is the right time to just? Okay, actually, that's not what I see and i'm gonna i'm gonna play what I see Yeah, and it's one of those things in this setup for a lot of people because We are Just passing the generation of I was raised this way. A lot of players are learning this as a professional of how to build out through pure possession and to take risks and try things where you still have

a generation of players that didn't do it as academy players and youth players and maybe not even in college. And so it's like you're learning it on the fly in these big moments. I believe in it. Like I like that type of soccer. I would like to play that way. I would like teams to play that way.

And I have a ton of space for, yeah, it's a mistake, but it's a mistake we'll live with. It's just, it gets tough to watch when the confidence starts to compound on it. And then it's like, my technique is off cause I'm so focused on the decision and the moment. And so then it all starts to snowball on itself. And I think to her credit, Falon Tullis Joyce was very good on Saturday. So the pressure's on as it should be.

Like you're trying to fight for the first spot on the national team, but there was mistakes across the board. I think yesterday, I think you saw, we talked about Mickey Ohn. I think Corbin Albert, it feels like from the outside, now you're looking at, Claire Hutton has elevated her games in the national team level.

Lily Johannes has shown capability to play at the national team level. Sam Coffey's probably on the verge of being the next captain of this team over the next five years with the way she's playing. You have Lindsay Heaps in that position as well. And then that doesn't even go into the like, Yasmine Ryans can play in there and we could kind of keep going. And so I'd be surprised if Corbin Alvarez continues to get first choice opportunities in that group without changing performance levels.

But the whole midfield was isolated. levels but the whole midfield was isolated and there's this moment where Lily Yohannes sort of like beats first defender in 15-20 minutes into the game around midfield and cuts back and second defender comes flying in on this physical tackle and Yohannes actually gets out of it but you could see the look on her face of like oh there are players everywhere right now yeah and so it was just it was a tough experience and I think in the long run, I think we kind of started this with both of us appreciate the value that will come from this game. And I won't be surprised when we hear in a year or two from some of these young players

of like, well, I was ready for it because I've been in this experience and I've had this opportunity. But it was a little tougher to watch, I think, last night. Yeah. Do you feel like anybody had a good performance that you were like alright I think they did. And granted you have to, I think this is where it's hard because if there were some more stable pieces I think those performances would have stood out a little bit but because it was hectic when somebody made a mistake you're just thinking ugh.

Whereas before you would think oh that was like four good When somebody made a mistake, you're just thinking, oh, whereas before you would think, oh, that was like four good things and now one mistake. I think, I think all and now it's trying to dissect away from just last night's game. Okay. Over the last two months, I don't know how you're not impressed by Michelle Cooper and her ceiling, but also her floor. Like there hasn't really been even this, if you want to call this her worst performance across the board between Kansas City and the US, she was dangerous.

She was a difference maker. She got them out of trouble a couple of times. She came back and defended very well a couple of times. I think she shapes her pressure from that wide spot when they press better than Alyssa Thompson does of like funneling the ball where they want it to go. So I don't think it was a bad day for I would say her teammate as well Claire Hutton another one of like wasn't a bad day and therefore in the grand scheme of the way the game played out, probably a positive if it's not a bad day in this game.

And those would probably be the two that stand out. And then I think the reality now we're going to talk a little bit about the small sample size we've seen so far this year, progressive carries, passes, all of that. Alyssa Thompson's a superstar and it took a year or so to get there. And I think anytime you see it, it's a good feeling to know like she's continuing on that path. I thought the front three were pretty good. I think we're asking them to level up when we're saying you have to finish these chances. And that is the next level.

That is them from going, okay, I'm going to start maybe some games when triple espresso is not out to like, I'm going to be in one of those spots instead of that. Rather than a super spot. Yes. So I think it's interesting. Kat McCarrio at the nine, I thought her hold up play was pretty good. But I think each one of those three forwards you could say there were some really good pieces from them. On the other side, I do think Claire Hutton in the scenarios that she was being put in,

I thought she did a good job. She gets the tackle that leads to the goal right at the beginning of the game she I Liked her double team on the back line and when she shadowed the back line I thought there was a moment where she got played into from a glen and like recovered and toe poked the ball I was that was like Yeah was like suicidal passing. It's so dangerous. Yeah.

But I was impressed with her and her calmness. I mean, she's going to be gritty. She kind of like probably thrived in that game. And then I do think Avery Patterson was all right. But I didn't feel a lot of the play for Brazil came down her side. So defensively, she wasn't super challenged. But there was a couple of times when she got into the the attack and that's where she's going to thrive. But she's also proved that she is not a liability in 1v1 defensive situations.

So yeah, I would say those are probably the players that stood out to me even in the midst of like, are we all drinking Red Bull or what's going on here? That's what it felt for a second. I was like, is everybody having a Celsius? Yeah. Game one, as I said, it was a bit more of a veteran roster. Only the four holdovers. So you had Emily Fox and Crystal Dunn,

Lindsay Heap, Sam Coffey. So all players who have a bit more experience. So there's less question marks in what you're seeing and what you're not. In that game. Centinore got the start along with Trinity Rodman. It was just good to see Trinity Rodman back, and I think it was an example of what we talked about the week before, which was she, I think we're all pretty confident she's going to

find a way to be one of the best players in the world as she adjusts her game to no longer being the, I'm playing on the edge and I'm flying around and it's okay if I get knocked off my feet and flipped over and all of that. And I think to see her read the space, make the run outside of the foot finish, you know, play within the group, play within the team. I think that's all the steps forward of like, okay, this is Trinity Rodman with this physical capability going forward of being one of the this is Trinity Rodman with this physical capability going forward of being one of the best attacking players in the world still.

And I think that was pretty exciting to see. I love Ali Sentinor on this team because she can be this like individual attacking piece and just kind of like run like a chicken with her head cut off if she wants to and it's okay. But she was disconnected from the rest of the team. And I think part of that was just the way Brazil played and how physical it got and how disconnected the game got. But it all still shows why she'll keep getting calls in because at worst she's one of those

players you just said of like can fill in can be a super sub. I mean, unbelievable option as a super sub, but is on the cusp of breaking through into the starting conversation. And so those would be the two that popped out to me. Although I wrote down on the rundown, I thought the best American player over the course of the week in these games was Geo of Brazil, who is eligible for the US women's national team, played for the US U-17s, grew up for a little bit, I think in Florida after being born in Brazil and then moving to Spain and now coming through and playing with what? Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Madrid.

So all across the top of La Liga. I thought she was unbelievable in that 10 for Brazil and when you talk about like, oh, you want that flair of that Brazilian flair but it comes with physicality, I think Gio is like an unbelievable example of that. She was so fun to watch. I'm thinking like what team do I want her on in NWSL? Because I want her to play in this league. Maybe North Carolina and then Jadon Shaw can play center forward. That's what I was thinking.

Also speaking of North Carolina, Caroleen, it's just awesome to see. We mentioned it last week of like what are you looking forward to in these games? It also makes me so sad. I'm like I want her here. But it's just you don't know a player is gonna get back there and like I mean Yeah, she looks to shake a defender just fully fake facing away from goal and get to your spot whipping crosses finish goals Celebration was like pretty cold as well in the corner. It's it's why she was an MVP Yes, she looks like she's back to her old ways, which is really fun to see. And it is huge for Brazil. As you said, they are building up. They are hosting the World

Cup in two years. It's going to be a huge moment. I think as we were sort of saying, feels like the national team's on the right path. Post-Marta, post-Formiga of like what's the future of this team? There is a serious spine of really young attacking pieces. It's cool that Angelina's like a central piece of that and wearing the captain's armband I think in game one and it's like, okay she's got that championship pedigree now and she's bringing that and it felt like I think we talked to her on this show last year at some point of what's it like to sort of like get to call up to the Brazilian national team with Marta. And it felt like she was talking

like almost she was tagging along and now she's the leader of it all. And that's really cool to see. They will be hosting the 2027 World Cup and then they will travel to the United States four years later because the US is going to be hosting the 2031 Women's World Cup it was unofficially announced by the FIFA president Gianni Infantino in I think it was a meeting of UEFA

In Europe and he said offhand that they had received one bid for the 2031 World Cup that they had received one bid for the 2031 World Cup, which would be the US and potentially other co-hosts, which we'll get to, and one valid bid was the phrase he went back and used about 2035 in relation to the United Kingdom bid, which has been awarded to England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland as one set of co-hosts across the United Kingdom. So the World Cup's coming back the third time ever in the United States. I have many thoughts about all of the discrepancies and the phrases that are used here, but let's

just start with how exciting this is. We're talking about the growth of the game and having this tournament come back in a situation where it could be an NWSL specific stadiums for the first time ever. Whatever it is, it's going to be the biggest, I think it's going to be the biggest World Cup we've ever seen. Yeah. It feels very like Denver NWSL announcement at first.

It's not officially official, but the World Cup will be in the United States maybe in 2031 I Yeah, I think that that's really excites me is the growth of the game from You know in the late 90s in the late 90s in the early 2000s to now and how much How much the game has grown the fandom grown, to think about Kansas City hosting a game at their women's specific soccer stadium, Denver hosting a game at their specific women's soccer stadium. An official bid is in from Denver.

Yes, it is. We'll make that officially official right here. That is just, gosh, what a cool evolution of the game. There was talks in that conversation that the pool would be expanded even to more teams, which I actually am not a fan of. I like the 36 teams right now and how that played out and the amount of newcomers we saw but we also and to see them play on a world stage was amazing but we also saw the gap right and so I think the big question is how do you make that gap

smaller without inviting everybody to the biggest tournament of the in the world but regardless if it's 36 or 48 teams, the United States is gonna be the best place to have it. I think they'll probably learn a lot from the World Cup here in a couple of years from the men's side and be able to implement that to make sure that we have the best facilities, the best training sites, the, you know, they'll know things about travel that they

won't be for then and so I'm just excited. I think it'll be great for this country honestly. Yeah it's I mean it's massively exciting of course of like this festival of the sport to have what ends up being like six weeks of it's all anyone's talking about as fans here It's amazing. You can go to games but like it I don't remember World Cups in the United States But I've been to World Cups in other countries of you get the friendlies before You get teams training in other markets so you can go out and watch teams train and be around it And then the excitement and the energy plus the time zones Which is another huge part of all of this and it will be Brazil which will be

primetime United States time zones followed by 2031 with we will talk about in a moment and expanded Olympics right in between So you're putting the biggest names and the best players in lights as often as possible To then build off that. Whether you're building internally in NWS Olive, here's a star no one's talking about, now we put them in these scenarios, now people come watch. Or the flip side of like Linda Caicedo and then teams go out and get those players and try and bring them in.

Or it grows competition like a club World Cup or an international champion series or you know, CONCACAF W where it's like people are more familiar with other opponents and that elevates all of these matchups. So all of that is absolutely huge. It is going to be a ton of fun. It's also gives everyone a point to look for because I do think sometimes in these conversations of like growth of the game, we lose ourselves of like, well now everyone's fighting for their fiefdom and you get into multiple leagues at the same level and all of these things.

And then these are these nice opportunities for everyone to sort of rally around and be like, well, we all want to get here, which is we want to build the best program and platform for the US women's national team in 2031 coming up on the expansion side of things, I don't have a great answer. I think from a experience point of view, from a quality point of view, 32 teams is the right level. Oh yeah, 32. I think I said 36. Yes, 32. Yeah. The question becomes, is it help a national team to get elevated to this platform and Push a country to say oh we need to be better

Or does it hurt a program and the progress of a game in some of these other places? because a national team goes to a tournament and loses 6-0 or 13-0 and I don't have an answer to that and We Don't know which way it goes, unfortunate there, which way it goes and what it ends up being. I think back to two things. One is the Argentine national team, where in 2019 looked at times completely out of their depth

and then looked a little bit better in 23. They beat Canada yesterday in a friendly first loss under Casey Stoney. And it's like, okay, now you've elevated the team. You've elevated the opportunity and people acknowledge that it needs to get better. But the problem is you have the flip side, which is then sometimes people give up on a team if they don't see what they want, which is yeah, this team's completely underfunded and has no opportunity. And so that's the results that happened. And I look at 2023 and I did a little piece

before the tournament started about the Philippines. And like, they were one of the teams that was running, you know, looking for dual nationals across the US and the opportunity. And through two games, they only conceded two goals. And it was like this national story. Then they lose six, zero. Does that do more good or more damage?

I have no idea. The ideal situation would be for FIFA to have all the funding coming out of a World Cup properly distributed across all the national teams and create opportunity for national teams to get better and for players to have more chance to be fully professional to get the proper medical funding their facilities to get all of that. Short of that does jamming more teams into a tournament so you can pay them out for being in the tournament make the opportunity better?

I don't know. I know on the men's side, they're expanding from 32 to 48 for this upcoming World Cup. I think it's gonna be a bit of a failure from a competitive point of view. Like I think 32 is the right setup. Groups of four, it makes sense.

You don't have third place teams, which makes a lot of tournaments really difficult of like, oh yeah you advance over this team you've never played because you play different opponents and of course there's not as big of a professional setup across the women's game and it would be perfect if it was elevated to meet it but this is kind of the like fake fix of like, oh no no we want it to be bigger and it's like well you got to build grassroots first so that it's ready to be bigger. Yeah. And I just struggle with it being bigger on the world stage when you then you have

the best of the best from the world and they end up stomping teams. It's like that's people aren't going to want to watch that either. Like that's not fun to be a part of those games, whereas it's fun to go to a game that is a close game. Yeah, it will also potentially be played in some other parts of Conker Calf. So again, the wording on this is all bizarre because it's kind of like Gianni Infantino went to a meeting and like half said this and the US came out after and was US soccer came out I think the next day and was like we're so excited The bids have not been put in yet. The deadline has not occurred. And then there has to technically be a vote next year.

It will be hard to lose because you're not competing against anyone, which is sort of what the point of this was. And it's what we saw on the men's side to sort of push the next World Cup to six co-hosts so then Saudi Arabia could host the following World Cup. The rumors are that Costa Rica and Jamaica are the two conca-caf nations That are connected my assumption being Canada like can't because they just hosted the World Cup in

2015 I don't know that's true. I'm just making that up and I don't know why Mexico wouldn't be a part of it except for if you look at the news and look at the world Maybe those three parties were having trouble getting to the table and agreeing on stuff. And again this is a situation where funding will come through this to help build up facilities in Jamaica and Costa Rica and it'll be spread out it'll be weird but it'll be really cool to bring that to these other parts of the world. I mean I wouldn't mind a couple of games at Jamaica. It's a pretty good spot.

We hit, in our soccer wise World Cup tour in 31, we'll go to the Jamaican games first. Costa Rica's not a bad spot either. Yeah, I know, I know. Just a little farther, just a little farther. And then we come back and we hit up all the US places. Are we going via boat or are we allowed to fly? Yeah, boat, boat.

Swimming, probably swimming there. And at that point we will have seen 16 teams play in the Olympic tournament in 2028 getting ready for the 2031 Women's World Cup which will happen here in the US because it has been expanded from 12 to 16 teams on the women's side. The men's side is then being contracted from 16 to 12. So it will be a full four groups of four tournament With I assume the top two teams going through on the women's side It was just voted I think by the IOC and this of course will be in LA and I think

I haven't actually seen the details on this yet But normally one of the fun parts about soccer is soccer is one of the sports that gets spread to other sites I think it was in Columbia, South Carolina? No, Athens, Georgia. I knew it was a college. In 1996, outside of Atlanta, and then you get the finals. I wouldn't be surprised if we're seeing it in the Bay Area or San Diego or whatever it is.

But this is going to be really cool because we talked about the Olympics last year when it happened. It's fun. It means a ton. It is a massive opportunity. I don't think it's going away as the relevance of the World Cup gets increased. But it was such an odd tournament because you don't have enough rest time and you don't have enough games to really get into a flow.

Yeah. Hopefully with that increased amount of teams, they'll increase the roster size because I know that is a big conversation too. But it is nice because once you get past the group stage, you're just thinking, okay, I got to do all these calculations. Is this the third place team in group A or is this the third place group team in group C and you're just like kind of confused about what's coming next? Let's just make it easy. group team in group C and you're just like kind of confused about what's coming next.

Let's just make it easy. Four groups, the top two go on and you're settled. I'm here for this. And it will let some national teams have some continuity of good performance in 27. You start to get fans on your side and all of that. Obviously, one of the tough ones is like England doesn't really qualify for the, But we've seen momentum for England and then it goes away because they don't play in the Olympics Where for other national teams like a Spain or even a Sweden you see like, okay Everyone's behind this team now one year later you get to see them again in a big competition Yeah, you get an opportunity at revenge

Whatever the big storylines are you get to see all of that play out the following year, and that's gonna be really cool in context to this four years of soccer now we're gonna have in which you'll have three major tournaments across it, and all of them are gonna be in our time zone and in our region. It is a lot to be excited about, and I clearly am. I'm already an Olympics nut. I'm already locked in for everything now you add this to things

It's just gonna be even better going forward. Okay on the national team side done Let's move back to a little NWSL conversation reminder That is still the league that we cover for the most part here at soccer wise and it is returning this weekend So on the docket We've got one game Friday night, a full slate of games on Saturday, and then two games to close out the weekend on Sunday. We're going to talk about our top games, but before we get there, I am going to make you make some unsound financial decisions. I am going to make you either buy or sell a couple of trends early on in this year. I think most data people, front

office people will tell you like you need to watch a team play six or seven times before you can really trust any of the numbers. I am gonna use the numbers after three games and say screw it. So for starters... It feels very on brand for us. It feels very on brand. We're gonna start team numbers overall and then we're gonna get into some individual numbers. So right now three games into the season the top three teams in expected goals are Casey Curran at 8.1, Racing Louisville at 4.9, and

the Orlando Pride Tide at 4.9. Those are the top three. I am asking you, are you buying or selling each of these that they will end the year in the top three? Then we will go to the bottom three, which is Utah Royals at 2.3, Angel City at 2.6, and Gotham FC at 2.6 and Gotham FC at 2.8. I am buying Kansas City. I think that's an easy one. That's not one that takes much thought because you stop one attacker, fine. They've got six more that can score goals against you.

Here was one of the, someone at American Soccer Analysis put out a chart of best expected assists and expected goals players across the start of the season. Tenwa Showinga is in a different universe. Atmosphere. Yeah, when it comes to expected goals. Number two is Marta tied with Dubinia. Michelle Cooper is close.

Michelle Cooper is then in a different stratosphere when it comes to expected assists and DaVinia is second on that list as well So you could argue the three best attackers in both asset in both aspects are on Kansas City And they hence are as you said a buy team at the top. Yes by that team I could do both of the other teams or I just pick one to sell I don't know you do both sell I could do one. I Think the next one was Louisville. I will sell Louisville for being top. I think for being top three I Feel like one that that's a lot more expected goals and I I thought that they were gonna have

It's more than you expect but their issue right now. What do you say more than you expected? It's more expected goals than expected. It's more expected goals than expected. I say that five times fast. And they will create, but their question is who is going to finish those goals. And I think that's going to be the issue for them. And I actually think Orlando is lower XG than I thought they were. So one of the issues for Atlanta on this stat is they do tend to draw a lot of penalties. So they'll probably finish high on XG but low on penalty XG, like run of play stuff.

So that gap for them is 1.6 right now and it's not that large for any other team because Orlando tends to get a lot of PKs. Yeah, yeah. So I would buy their stock too. Okay. I'm into Orlando creating a lot of chances and scoring those chances. And Orlando and KC tied right now for goals overall on eight each.

Both of them off to incredible starts. I will mimic you on all of those. I will say for Louisville, I think, I wonder how much of ends of it being game states. They're pretty good possession team and they get behind. And so pretty good possession team playing from behind plays into the box a lot. And you said, we don't know who's going to finish it. And not all of it is like highest threat. But over the the course of games you end up with a ton of quarter chances half chances all that type of stuff Which this stat calculates I don't think they'll be top three, but I won't be shocked if they're top five Come the end of the year and then the hope would be does a balsa come back at some point this year

We still don't have official confirmation on Samantha DeMillo and her status and we're hoping for the best for her and see her back out on the field again. But I will mimic you on all of those. Then on the flip side, Utah, bottom of the pack, Angel City slightly above them and then Gotham FC who on one goal scored are tied for worst in the league, third worst in XG. On these three, I will start, so I don't make you do it again. Okay. I'm gonna say Gotham, I don't buy

being in this bottom three group. I think they will get better. Ellis Stevens and Sarah Schepanski are both higher on the list so far of expected assists. I think Jesse will bring them a decent amount of attacking flair. At some point you hope Rose Lavelle will. I think this team will settle into their identity as the year goes along and there are half opportunities that I think are still out there that they haven't taken advantage of and as

they find who they are in those moments. And a lot of that I think is players being more aggressive in their 1v1 moments like what we talked about with the US Brazil game Gotham has moments where they stretch the field out wide and players often will play east-west rather than north-south or turn and be aggressive on the half turn and create chances and so I think Gotham will be more aggressive in those moments as the season goes along and the coaching staff can isolate of like this is what we need from you and this is where you need to be and Roosevelt is one of the best in the world at all of that and I think

that's going to be a huge help for them. Angel City I'm going to sell. I don't think they'll be in this at the end either. Alyssa Thompson fed but many reasons. And then Utah I'm going to have to buy right now. I love everything from midfield back, but if we're talking expected goals, we're talking about the attacking front three and it doesn't feel cohesive. Oh, it feels like a dagger. Because I just, I was so pumped about this Utah team, but

they don't have anything going on in the attacking third do they? I think Chloe Lacasse missing her with that ACL really hurts them. They are now trying to get Centenor and St. George on the field at the same time but it's switched the side at which Centenor is on which she's more effective as a left winger. Can she play the right? Of course. Um, so there's on, Oh, I'm still, I have question marks, but I'm with you on. Really all of these, I think for Utah specifically, they got to find that next level when they get into the attacking third, otherwise it's going to be set pieces that they score on if they can get a set piece because they have options there

Yeah, if Angel City plays like they played in that last game Before the break against I can't remember who they played against now Seattle When they played against Seattle, I'm I'm buying like the, like, I, I think Angel City is going to look really good this year, but that was the first time we've seen them play that aggressive, that front footed, um, really dictate the tempo at which the game was played. So I guess mine would be dependent on is that the Angel City that we're city team that we're going to see every single week? Because I think in all reality through their through their time they have underperformed every year that team should not be

one that team shouldn't be making playoffs every year with the the front office that they have the amount of money they have with the stadium they have being in LA, they should be able to recruit and put a good product on the field and we haven't seen enough from Angel City. So yeah, I think that is my tipping point. Is this the team they're going to be? Is this the style they're going to be? Then I'm into that and I think they won't be in the bottom three if they do play like that.

The big thing sticking out of course is they don't have a full-time head coach and we don't know who that will be unlike what we saw with Washington last year. So what are the growing pains when that person finally gets hired? The longer that goes. So far every week they've gotten better. So does it follow that trend which is like, okay, if Sam Lady's doing the job then everyone settles in and sets a bit of a game model. You assume that's coming down from Mark Parsons

and people start to fit into that, or is it the flip side of like, it starts to get a little chaotic and uncohesive inside the locker room because you don't know what's happening and it's not really a guaranteed project. I still think they need to upgrade at the center forward position

because I do think the best we've seen of Alyssa Thompson was when Sydney LaRue played at center forward and that was literally the goal they created or Alyssa Thompson created in the Brazil game. It's a give and go. It's a one-two with a center forward. That center forward pulls attention from center backs and then the space exists for Thompson to run into. If you don't have that central force at center forward and not even finishing just helping create, you can't get the best of Thompson and I think that's one of the things they've run into. Kenny Fuller has been awesome but it's a lot of pressure on an 18 year

old at that position and I know Julie Dufour is there and there's some options but that's what I'm looking for. From Utah I think the hope would be they're so good centrally that if they can get healthy at center back and get to Hara and Zorinosa consistently in central midfield, they will at least start to dictate terms of where they play. And you go back to even the Louisville conversation of like, if you're playing in the attacking third, most of the game, the mistakes you force are ones that turn into offensive opportunities and can you start to score goals because of that? Yeah.

No, I think those are all good points. Let's finish off with our individual ones. So we're going to go top three in three different categories and then we are going to buy or sell if we believe in any of them. In progressive carries we've got Barbara Banda number one, Giselle Thompson number two, and Emma Sears number three just ahead of Avery Patterson. Are you buying or selling any of those three ending up in the top three? I am buying Barbara Vanda. She finds, finds space and usually can get on the dribble and eat up 10, 20 yards. So I will say I'm keeping that. I feel like I'm selling Giselle Thompson.

Okay. I think the way that Angel City wants to play, she will be integral, but I don't know how often she will be able to run with the ball at her feet and advance into the attack. That might be, as teams have now seen that for a few weeks, that might be mitigated a little bit more. And it's easier to stop that than it is to stop Barbara Banda, am I right? Yeah. I think the Barbara Banda one is like the safest money we could probably find. It may even be safer than the KC leading the league in XG. But the fullback stuff is interesting of like, do you clear out enough space for that player to constantly be able to take huge chunks of yards with the ball at their feet?

I think one of my questions, which is L Thompson, is like, she's clearly a starter. Which side will it end up being on? As the season goes along, does she get swapped back to the left? That changes the spacing because now you're playing behind your sister who likes to stay out wide. And so I think that changes it all. Emma Sears has been an interesting one. Just because of sort of the flash opportunities she got in the national team

Louisville needs her to be aggressive and my assumption is the directive will always be run out players run out players and run out players And she probably ends up pretty close to this list I think we would both say we would be shocked to not see a cascarino in here when the year ends Geocorley if she stays on the field the amount that she's been playing probably as well. Um let's go into progressive passes. Ryan Williams, Olivia Moultray, and Savannah McCaskill. The top three with Claudio Zornosa and Lil LaBonta right behind. This is like a dream list of soccer players. If I was building a team I'd have five Jess Carter directly behind Lola Bonta and Kenza Dali Lily Real just behind that and Sam Coffey we actually could build an 11 out of this group how do you feel

about the top three of Ryan Williams Olivia Moultray and Savannah McCaskill which one would you buy on I am going to buy on, ooh that's hard because Williams you know she's going to have the ball a lot. And so maybe, my original thought was Olivia Moultrie because she is consistently one of the best final third passers. She has the most passes into the attacking third, into the attacking box I believe. She leads or was leading that stat at one point during this very young season.

So she gets on the ball and can progressive pass into really dangerous space. But because of North Carolina's possession and how much Ryan Williams gets on the ball, I think I convinced myself to just pick Ryan Williams. I think that makes sense. and with the shape of that team It feels very clear like that space is gonna be there But I'm gonna land on the Olivia Moultrie for the reasons you said of like it's the game model the team needs it

And it's gonna be forced and the last one I put in here was progressive passes received So everyone on the other end and it is is probably not shockingly, Alyssa Thompson, number one, Temu Shinga, number two, and Dabinia right now in a five-way tie for number three with Jayden Shaw, Alyssa Sanchez, Delphine Cascorino, and Emma Sears. I think originally you just think Temu Shinga, right? But I don't know. I, Dabinha is back. I feel like we saw glimpses of Dabinha last year, but she wasn't Dabinha.

And I feel like she's really more integral in the success of this Kansas City team and she's popping up in the right spots. And as teams try to take away Temua I think I might go to Dabinha. It's interesting because Bia came off the season ending injury list and it's like something's gonna change and I don't know what it is. I don't know who starts where and I don't know who finds the gaps because in theory you would say Bia's back So Dubinia is sort of gonna sit in and be the 10

But that's not the way they play Bia is gonna drop in and create and Dubinia is probably gonna continue to get the same chances Running past her that she does with DiBonardo. Also, where is DiBonardo gonna play and where is she gonna start? So there's a lot of options with this team and I think that's where it's a little bit harder to guess. But I think my safe bet would be that 10 with Schwinga ends up on this list because right now it feels like Schwinga is going to break the game. And yeah, I want to switch to Schwinga because of that what you just said. Just like you don't know which players are going to play at which spots. And actually there might be games where it's not best to start to be near it's best to bring her off the bench and I don't feel like that they're ever going to be that with it's going to be that way with showing up. So as I said there's like a

big tie for third place on this one Delphine Cascarino is in here Savannah McCaskill was on the progressive passes list that we talked about Gia Corley right behind on the progressive carries as well it takes us to, I think for both of us, the must watch game of the weekend, which is San Diego hosting Kansas City. So San Diego went on the road to close out the start of the season before the international break at Orlando. The number one team in the league tied with Kansas City. Now they come back to face them. I talked about how impressed I was by San Diego in that matchup against Orlando but they didn't win they didn't get a result. Now they come home

to a team that is absolutely on fire except for their game against the Spirit which they did end up winning. Also shout out to Douglas Reyes-Saron in the chat who's throwing some good stuff in there and I missed the chat before so now I'm back to say thank you and what's up because I love having you in here You I believe are on the call for this game I am I say it's must watch Explain to people why explain to people what they're gonna get Is it just because are you saying that because of me is that no everyone has to watch every game Jordan Angelie down We are we're for dead here. Yeah, so I cries is for Denver Yes, soccer wise is for Denver.

Yes, exactly. This is not about me. It's really about the way both of these teams are playing right now. Kansas City is the most dangerous team when it comes to how quickly they can impact the game and flip a game on its head. This San Diego team probably has the best structure I've seen out of any of the teams and they give me feelings of North Carolina's possession with the grit and bite in the attacking third

where you're just like, ooh they're actually gonna score a lot of goals because of the way that they move. Where I don't feel that with North Carolina right now, San Diego, I'm like on edge of my seat like, oh, could this soccer get any better? Are they really one-twoing? Is that just a combination? It's just exciting to watch them play. This is going to be a test for a back line with no Naomi Germa.

I know that we said that against Barbara Banda, but now you're talking about multiple players in this front line who can really truly challenge this back line. I think what San Diego has done well in the way that they build, they kind of build lopsided. They use Kaylin Sheridan to play out. Their center backs are really wide and they keep Lundquist really low. So then it kind of invites this pressure from the front three of an opponent in order for them to find the line breaking pass into their two 10s, which have really been Corley and Sanchez.

And then from there, it's a lot of movement. It's some really beautiful soccer. If you have not watched San Diego play yet this year, you should go watch them play because it's so nice. You can watch them on Saturday night at 10 p.m. Eastern time. They will on Saturday night at 10 p.m. Eastern. On ION, I assume? On ION, yes.

I am interested to see how Kansas City deals with those two 10s because that has been difficult for teams to be able to stop. And then from there, there's such good movement with, they keep possession for so long that they can get, at one point they had six runners in the box. Six. Like that's how good of movement they have and possession they have off the ball and they are ready to score goals So I think it's gonna be a challenge for Kansas City defensively

Alana cook did not have a good game with the US women's team and I think that you know Can she recover from that and have a good performance against? San Diego team who's gonna give provide a lot of different challenges for that back line. Because a huge thing for Kansas City, and we talked about a little bit after the Washington game is like, they have shown this new club this year, which is they can be really solid defensively if they sit in. Last year, if they sat in, it was like, we can't defend.

So we're going to try and defend with numbers and we know Shinga can kill you in transition. This year with Lorena and Cook playing at the level she's played and Hutton coming in as not a rookie and having a little bit of experience, it feels like this team can be elite defensively if they wanna sit in. Do they choose to do that in San Diego? That I don't know, which is why you have to like,

wanna watch this game, because I think we're gonna learn a bit about Vlako and how he about this team and what they want to do this year and what they can be as Well as then San Diego how good they can be at the things they do and the one thing I would add to everything You said is there are Some teams in the world that we watch who are aggressive attacking teams But there's not always that individual flair. And you called it grit. I think it's a combination of grit and flair where it's like the style takes over from

the individuality. And so the players are going through the motions and the coach creates a pattern that's aggressive, but it's not always on the person. And San Diego has both. Like what Corley and Cascarino do and what Maria Sanchez can do and what they are allowed to do in the system and what they attempt to do is must watch by itself

and then you add in the way the team shapes themselves to take risks and open up the game. And in the Utah game at home, it was chaos. And like that is part of their game model. You add Kansas City to that. It has the potential to be like a six five game and I am hoping that it does. And I think it's again for San Diego,

like they've come out and been one of the surprise starts to the year, but you need to get some results combined with that to say, yeah, we can threaten in a top four because I think that's how good they are. I think that should be the conversation. But you've got to get a result across these two games to really be able to say, like, no, that's who we are. And it's not just on paper stuff and underlying numbers stuff and all of that.

So I think for both of us, that's the much watched game Friday night, Utah hosting Portland, I believe, correct. That is the prime game, the only game on Friday night then on Saturday Louisville hosts Washington Houston hosting Angel City, which is a fun one as well and then Seattle hosting Orlando It's not a matchup. We get to see a ton out in Seattle and then on Sunday We close out with Gotham hosting North Carolina and Bay hosting Chicago. Chicago getting a little bit of positive injuries news, but I say a little bit because there is so much going on with them on the injury front and it is not the big names that you are hoping to see back and Gotham are gonna continue to

have to try and find ways to score goals as is North Carolina. So that is a recipe for two teams trying to figure it out in what we would call in week four a must-win game already. So We've done our bad financial decisions. We've decided to buy and sell on all these teams. We are finished now Thank you to all of you for listening. Thank you to all of you for joining us again. Tune in to Jordan on Saturday night for that San Diego KansasKansas City game. And we'll be back, of course, next week with all your weekend recap action, with all of your preview action, and so much more. We'll talk to you all again very, very soon.