SoccerWise - USWNT/NWSL Edition: SheBelieves Cup Emerging Stars, Portland Injury Woes & San Diego Sign Adriana Leon

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

SheBelieves Cup is about to end and we have learned so much about so many new players (thank you Emma Hayes!). Jordan & David discuss their favorite players so far, what they could add to the program going forward, the affect the new USWNT CBA has on building depth, and what they need to see against Japan. They also discuss Casey Krueger's comments on her final discussion with Hayes on the "Hey Spirits' podcast. On the NWSL front they discuss the devastating injury news out of Portland, and another big attacking signing for San Diego.6:50 USWNT Reactions9:00 Giselle Thompson's Strong Debut14:00 Claire Hutton National Team Star Turn19:45 Lily Yohannes' Team Now28:00 Jaedyn Shaw's Big Potential 202533:00 How The Change In USWNT CBA Plays Into The Squads Depth44:20 Casey Krueger's National Team Future51:08 Portland Thorns Injury Woes56:15 San Diego Signing Adriana Leon Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

What's up everybody? Welcome to Soccer Eye's David Goss in Jordan Angeley, the one-two punch with you right now ready to mime and mimic and dance our ways through the next few minutes. This is the portion of the show normally where I do find out about your hidden talents. We obviously know your sound effectability and your acting and now we know you're miming. Was that part of the school of theater that you were involved in? Theater. Yeah.

I don't remember mime class to be honest. I did do some acting classes when I was younger I did acting classes right when I was starting to get into broadcasts. Actually, I did some What's that called when you're like, yeah a little improv kind of stuff It was acting but there was some improv to it Which helped me just like be comfortable talking in front of people as if I had an issue with that. But it was really fun. I like being dramatic.

So you could tell I really liked that. Were you part of a club? Growing up or like- No, improv club. No. Oh, you just took classes. Yeah. I just took like-

Because a lot of times it's like you do a club then you do live shows people yell things from the crowd Oh, yeah, no, I wasn't that I wasn't that good. Not that involved. Okay, that's fair. I Go to like Rachel Bonetta or anything, you know good shout out shout out to Rachel Bonetta one of the best I think Julie sir, Binks does them as well. I think she was doing them in New York I think I may have gone to one of hers, not on purpose. Like she was good at it. And I went to an improv show and she was on stage, which I forgot about.

Yeah. Quick witted and a lot of yes ands. You're always supposed to continue. Always yes. I learned that from Just Go With It, the Adam Sandler movie, which I love that movie. The little girl wants to do an accent and she tells him how to do improv

that you always say yes. You can't say no to what. Just go with it is an Adam Sandler movie. Is this in the like Jennifer Aniston time period where he was just making family friendly movies? It was with Jennifer Aniston. Okay, there you go. I love that movie.

I love that movie. Is this a plane movie or an all time movie for you? Like do I watch it on the plane? Yeah It's not like top five all-time movies, but I like the movie. I've watched it multiple times because it makes me laugh It's so funny. I appreciate that Do you not have plane movies where you're like this movie is a great experience for a plane flight? But I probably would not put it on a TV when I'm in my home or with around other people No, I didn't know that definition. Oh my god definition

I am one of those stupid people that watches movies on a plane that you shouldn't watch like on my way back from Australia I watched this movie that Like playing crash movies No was about this woman and her husband and their life together and then she gets cancer and like I'm crying, you know, like really crying on a plane and you can't go anywhere and you're just like trying to hold it in and then it is just even more terrible of a cry. So they say that's also better movies. Apparently plane, the altitude or something does actually make you I'm not even kidding

right now. It does. It does make you more prone to crying. I don't know the science behind it, but I have been told that I'm also a plain movie crier because I always get stuck with whatever movie and then you're like, you're always like a little tired, you're out of it, whatever.

But there's a lot of movies that are like bad movies that are good plain movies because you're not trying to change your perception on life all the time. You're just trying to like waste two and a half hours. Hence anything with adjacent Statham or the rock or something like that, that just gets thrown on. I have a bad habit of watching movies I've already seen

over people's shoulders where I don't have the volume. And I'll like watch the whole movie instead of just putting it on myself. Cause then I feel like I can't put it on. I wonder what they're watching and I'll just watch it and I'm like what aren't you but I don't have mine on or I'm doing something else and I'm just looking up and I'm like oh it's that part. That's it.

Yep. Yeah. I've watched that Tom Cruise movie where the world restarts every day like multiple times over people's shoulders and I probably wouldn't put it on myself but that's what I do. This has been a perfect start to this show. We've got a big episode coming up. We've got She Believes Cup to break down of course the final finale. It's not technically a final but it is in now theory a final between the US and Japan coming up later tonight so obviously we won't be talking about that game. I will do some reaction for you coming up in the next few days off the back of that. And so we're going to dig into what we've seen so far in the

first two games, two completely different lineups, a ton of big performers. We also are going to talk about all the news in NWSL. Just before we started this show, we got breaking news out of Portland, some really big injuries for them that will affect this team for the full season is what we're getting, as well as a big signing for them that will affect this team for the full season is what we're getting as well as a big signing for San Diego as they look to sort of turn the page on 2024 and recreate this club. So a lot for us to talk about. One thing we won't get to talk about because I won't know it until later is I'm going to

go see Gotham FC play today. If you had asked me 12 hours ago, I would not have known that. But it turns out they're playing against Fort Lauderdale United, which is the USL Super League team here in my area. They are playing an open match tonight. Sweet. And I'm going to be jumping off here and driving up there to go watch it. Where is the game? At Fort Lauderdale's home stadium, which is in Davie, Florida. I believe it's on the campus of a college. I haven't gone yet. I wanted to go already since the season has restarted because of the different

calendar with USL Super League. So it kills two birds with one stone for me. And like, didn't really think I was in going to soccer game territory right now. Like we're still in preseason. And now I'm like, oh, great. What I'm going to do tonight is go watch a game which I am very excited about so I will bring you all of my news and notes from uh from Gotham and what I see going on um once I get out of there and we're gonna start our season previews starting next week so we're gonna do a big every single team season preview uh that we're gonna

put out and then we're gonna cut up and I'm gonna put them all on YouTube And we're gonna put everything out on social media as well We're gonna try and do some NWSL challenge cup preview stuff, which of course is a week from Friday That is how close we are Orlando hosting the Washington Spirit and then we are into the first week of this season So we've got a lot of good content coming out for you around all of that to get you geared up for the season I'm incredibly excited for this season to start. But before we get there, let's talk about a little US women's national team

and let's dig into what we've seen so far in this camp. 2-0 and 0 to open things up. A big win over Columbia, a tighter victory via scoreline against Australia, although maybe not in terms of performance. Completely flipped. Full 11 starter change from the first match to the second match. I said it on the recap show on Monday. You said last week if you're gonna call the players in, trust them and play them. I think we have a fan

in... I don't know what the title is. Dame? What is the title that Emma Hayes has been anointed with from the Queen? Oh, I, I, I don't know. Okay. I don't know anointing names. Uh, I'm not English. I'm American.

Yeah. She is OBE, Order of British Something. Uh, Emma Hayes, who apparently is a Soccerwise fan. Jordan, and listen to you. Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure she's just got me us plugged in. She's probably listening to us right now live to make sure she's prepped and ready for the

game tonight. I liked it. I liked that there was changes and I liked that it was uncomfortable because that game, especially the game on Sunday when there were 11 changes made, I think they said the last time that happened was what back? We got to go back 10 years or something to that effect where 11 changes made. I think they said the last time that happened was what? You got to go back 10 years or something to that effect, where 11 changes were made from game to game.

I thought it really put players in positions where it was like, a little bit go figure it out. Go out there and prove that you should be on this team. And I think we saw some good performances. Do you want me to start with that game on Sunday with a good performance or do you want to start on the Columbia game? The Columbia game was on Sunday. Australia was the second game but you can also talk about whatever you want. Wait, today's Wednesday though.

Columbia was last week. Oh wow, Columbia was last week. You know, I'm living in this world, but I'm not always fully locked in. I was like, was it on Sunday? I thought it was. I would like for you to start with whatever you found most exciting from any of the performances. Okay, let's go back then because before the tournament started, we talked about some of the players that we were really excited to see. And we were hesitant to think that we would even see much of Giselle Thompson. We saw her come in as a substitute in the first game and then she started the second game and she started on the right side which she had her sister in front of her and to be fair I was we haven't seen a ton from Giselle Thompson when it comes to what she's been able to do

with Angel City over her first year as a professional. And I didn't know how she would adjust to this next step. I was pretty impressed. I thought Giselle Thompson had a great first start when it comes to her attacking, like some of the things that she could add in the attack. I think it helped her that she was comfortable with her sister in front of her and those two could interchange between playing in the channel and then playing into that inside inverted

channel there. So there was a nice duality of those two and good combinations as they went forward. I think positioning wise in defensive moments and strength in defensive moments, that is something that I noticed. Okay, well, that's not quite up to par yet, but it wasn't like she was so far off in some of her positioning because Australia didn't challenge her a lot in defensive moments, but she's going to get stronger as she continues to get older and she'll put some more muscle on her, know how to go in and engage in those 50-50 challenges a little bit better. What I saw from her, especially her ability to get forward, was really exciting.

Because if the ball started on the left, you could already see, like she was getting on her horse and trying to get into the attacking third, had a couple of good crosses, good combinations plays down the channel. I was impressed, Goss. Yeah, I think I was the one pushing back being like, this is a last five minutes seeing out of victory sub. I was surprised how early she came in against Columbia and then the start against Australia and not just her, right. Alyssa also doesn't normally play on the right. So you have two young players who you're swapping the side of

the field they play on in a huge matchup against a team that was just in a World Cup what semi-final to less than two years ago and so it was a huge test for them. I agree with you. I thought she was phenomenal I think she doesn't bite too quickly when she's 1v1 and so she lets the play develop and Therefore she doesn't have to recover and I think that's kind of key where she probably isn't strong enough to get around Attacking players and pull them back and and recover in those moments She didn't have to and then she waits for support to come and Alyssa Thompson was there to do it a ton of time which is credit to Alyssa Thompson. There's one moment where she sort of decks a player coming back to recover and then is like rubbing her arm. It wasn't really fully purposeful but it was like a little enforcer mentality of like well

my sister's over here I'm gonna make sure everyone knows not to mess with her. I got a protector. But still probably two of the lighter players on the field. And yeah, a lot of what she does well on the left side and a lot of the reason she plays at such a high level at such a young age is her ability and possession. And you saw it all in this game and you see it in ways in which she's doing things that she can't fully finish yet because of the physical disadvantage, but they're the right movements that will come as she grows into

that. And so I think there's a ton to be excited about. And for her, now she's shown she can play on both sides, which is a huge part of the fullback conversation, which is going to be a large conversation we're going to have, which we have to note is a luxury. If you can stress about outside back and backup goalkeeper or even starting goalkeeper rotation and that's like your biggest stressor from a are there enough possibilities or are there enough options there?

It means your national team is in a pretty good place right now. And I think for Giselle Thompson it's massive that she showed she played out of position. So now she goes back all year, she plays with Angel City. If she plays on the left, which we also don't know, like Savvy King brought in in a trade, this might be where Giselle Thompson plays, which is also fine. Either way, if you're gonna be on the back end of a rotation and try and break into a national team, like showing that flexibility is awesome and huge. And I think she I thought she was maybe the best performer in that game at that position across the full 90 minutes. Yeah, no, I think so. She had a really good performance. And that's saying a lot from maybe we should expect it because Alyssa Thompson's first start she played in front of like what 80,000 at Wembley and was great too. So maybe that just runs in their blood.

They're just like, I'll just be me and be comfortable. So I thought yeah, she did really well in that game. But I want to know who else took out, do you want to stick with that game or? Well if we're doing who do you trust? Should you trust them? Who are we debating? Claire Hutton is the other one. That was kind of the crux of the conversation when we got into this of like the uncapped

players and you said, well, I think she gets the shot at the six and like gets to be the central piece and I was surprised by that and I was ecstatic when you texted me right before the game started when the lineups came out, Claire Hutton all caps with the exclamation points because Emma Hayes listened to you as she always does and Claire Hutton got her opportunity and showed exactly why she deserved it. I think what popped this year in NWSL and you saw in this game as well was the two-way ability. That she can be a true distributor in central midfield, help you play out of tight spaces,

but also play attacking passes out to the wings or straight up the middle, which is what we saw on the Centenar goal, or sorry, the Michelle Cooper goal into the feet of Centenar, and her ability to win the ball back and just be an option constantly. She, in one game, I think, just showing that everything she does in NWSL is scalable into the international game,

she's like firmly in the conversation for Central Midfield. I agree. Loved Claire Hutton in this game. I think there were moments where I wished it would have been played slightly more in the midfield, so we could have seen some of those things that she does like her distribution her range of passing. Just like Japan coming up that's a game that's playing in midfield. I'm hoping. I would like to see Hutton next to coffee in this game but then you're thinking how do you get

Lily Yohannes in there? So we got to got to talk about Lily Johannes, because she was excellent in the first game. But before we go there, let me just finish on Hutton. It is her ability to go close space. And her timing of, she can read, I think defensively, her ability to see where the passing lanes are and where the flow of the game is going is beyond her years. And so she'll see that a pass is coming into the player that she wants it to go to.

And her ability to close that space and win tackles and advance the ball. It's not even like a, sometimes it's a 50-50, sometimes it's just like she gets a little toe poke on it and then can get beyond and get into that passing lane first, win the ball and go forward. That is something, it doesn't always go right, but you can't hold her back in those situations and you can't tell her not to do that because I think that is going to be something that really differentiates her is how she closes space, how she

wins back possession in moments where maybe the opponent tries to counterattack and she can shut it down and then the opponent is a little bit more stretched and now you're back on the offense with more gaps between the back line. She's good, man. Yeah. She is. And then the next piece that she's impressive at on top of that is if she doesn't win that initial battle, she just chases and she like doesn't slow down. That was the thing at Kansas City. And I think it was most evident against Orlando, which is when Kansas City would push up in the three big matchups we saw and they'd get caught in transition, sometimes she'd kill it before it started. If she didn't, she's just hounding Marta or she's hounding Banda when she drops in and it allows a Labonta to

recover or allows whoever else is in that area to recover. And so she can take some of these risks because immediately she's able to cut, change direction and just start hounding players. And for her age, she doesn't have the things we talked about with Gisele Thompson which is physically she can hang in central midfield at an international level against an Australia team that is almost based more physically than technically and then gets to the technical side of things. She looked fine and she did the same at the highest levels in NWSL. She did in the Summer Cup series right against Gotham. She did in the NWSL. She did it in the Summer Cup series, right, against Gotham. She did it in the NWSL playoffs against the champion. Like, she has done this already.

And so I think the ceiling probably has no limit, which is what I thought I saw this year, but you never know. There's one moment in the first half where she plays a ball out wide to Alyssa Thompson on the run, which I thought she miss hit. It doesn't curve the way you expect it to. And it bounced directly into Alyssa Thompson's path of like she saw the hole. She saw the only way to get it there and she was able to do it, which is unbelievable. She was composed. She looked really, really good. I would hope coming out of this, she has clearly jumped Corbin Albert in the depth depth chart literally based off the performance of she was better in the same game. The two

next to them. I thought Albert was a bit of a passenger, especially in build outs, like didn't find gaps to be played the ball off the center backs foot kind of sat behind a lot of the Australian defenders and let herself get taken out of the game. But Claire Hutton was one of the shining stars. You mentioned the other one before we get there. Shout out to Zippy Tuna, who we have turned on Super Chats on YouTube. So if you want, you can contribute some money

and get your chat or comment put in. And Zippy Tuna gave us $1 for each goal Japan has scored so far in this tournament. They've looked fantastic and thanks for the great coverage. I am so excited in this tournament. They've looked fantastic and thanks for the great coverage. I am so excited about this game. Like this is the perfect finish to this tournament. It has been an awesome performance so far from Japan and the U.S. It's going to be a great game. In that central midfield though, do you want to go to Lili Ohanas now? Just as much praise as I have for Claire Hutton, Lili Ohanas could be the, in the next five years, the best player on this team.

I really think she could be. She is so technically proficient. Her body positioning in moments where she finds, like in the midfield, she finds a gap in the way that she opens her body up to receive a ball. And it's not just in one way, right? She'll receive on the front foot. Sometimes she'll receive on the back foot. She knows where the space is

and she knows where her first touch needs to be to set her up for whatever she wants to do next. And then her distribution is from that, a little bit deeper lying spot, so good, cause it allows her to show her range, but then there's moments too where she can use the space in front of her and dribble and get a little bit closer to goal and find the final pass.

I liked her in that position because I think it showed the fullness of her skillset a little bit more. I think I said that I was struggling to put her in that Columbia game. I was thinking maybe to play her as a 10. I liked her deeper, a little bit deeper because it gave her more field to see some more pockets that she could play in and combinations that she could play in front of her instead of sometimes, you know, when you're in the 10, you're kind of linking up behind and in front. Really good. I was super impressed. I think part of the progression for the US program, whether Lily Johannes is in it or not, is going to be how to dominate games through possession for more stretches of the game. And like, I think that's a progression

of where the game is going. Right. It's used to be more transitional all the time for everyone. The US was elite at it. Teams started to shift away. And then it actually worked out for the US to be elite in transition moments because they zigged when other teams agged and you were good at what other teams weren't. I just can't really remember. Maybe Lauren Holliday would be the one of a US center mid dominating a game without covering that much ground purely because of the way they play the ball and it all running through them. And that's where if she's an eight, the tempo and tone of the game

is set by Lily Johannes in the US women's national team every time they step on the field because of what she's capable of already. Which is like the wild part as a player of her age is like because of the technique you talked about and body positioning and like the base she has, she can really decide what she wants to do and spend time looking up and finding options because she's not worried about where the ball's going to land and where players are around her. And like it can be what you want it to be, which is she can pull all the strings and make all of it go. And I just didn't think a player of her age would be able to do that because I don't know that I've ever seen it before. And like 25, 30 minutes into that game she's hitting long balls into channels that are perfectly

played when she wants to, but otherwise she's letting pressure come in and playing around it and you're like, oh, okay, like this is Lily Johannes' team and you're like, wait, what? Like this team just won a gold medal and she wasn't even on the roster. Yeah. Yeah, it's wild. She also gives you, you had mentioned like the US used to be super transitional and then the game goes to more possession style.

And it sometimes benefits the US who wants to be in transition. But I do think under Emma Hayes, this team is going to be more possession dominant. But the best teams in the world have a multitude of ways that they can beat you. And it can be through transition. It can be through good progressive possession. And I believe that what Emma is going to do with them is going to instill this really good base foundation of this is how we should play the game. But when you play the game like this, there's going to be multiple things that are open. And now you have a freedom

to choose is it the right time to go long in transition and stretch a defense or is it the right time to as you said invite pressure out and players like Claire Hutton like Lily Johannes are a part of this next generation that are getting real-life experience in meaningful games and showing that they have the ability to play in that type of game, which is exciting. And I think, unfortunately, you know, we go into this She Believes Cup and we're thinking, oh, this is gonna be

three really good games. Unfortunately, Columbia and Australia are, I don't believe right now at what they were two years ago. They do not look like the same teams that they used to be. So I don't think those two games, we shouldn't like get too wild about the results in those games, right? Tonight's game against Japan is gonna be the tester.

And I hope there still are some of these opportunities for these younger players when the championship is on the line now, right? Do you still put trust in these players in these moments? Because now you say, all right, Lily Johannes, go play against Japan. When there's not as much space in the midfield and you maybe don't have as many options or what may be perceived as as many options in front of you

because of Japan's steady defense, how do you break them down? Those are the games that I think you and I both are really intrigued about because we of you because of Japan's steady defense, how do you break them down? Those are the games that I think you and I both are really intrigued about because we get to see more like holistically about these players defensively transition moment like the four principles offense defense and then transition from either one. How do they work through those different areas? So this is this is why Japan this game against Japan. It's the best game.

It's the last one in the tournament and it's going to be the most important as for some of these with their performance these players with their performances. Yeah you've got this Japan game and then the they play Brazil in April because I was just looking at the schedule and that popped up and that I think also is again I mean obviously you're talking about some silver medalists you're probably moving from top 20 in the world to top 10 in the world in the conversation of these two games. Now, I'll still say I like this Columbia team. Like if I non-affiliated was like pick a national team to root for, I'd probably, well besides

Japan, I'd probably pick this Columbia team because like they are feisty, they are fun, they are 85% of the way there and the 15% is what keeps shooting them in the foot. Australia, just before we move on, is I think we were texting about this. They remind me a lot of Canada in 2015, where the Home World Cup was this high point, and you felt like it was going to be the start of something new,

and it was actually the peak of what that group was, of like, when you have everything on your side, atmosphere, crowd, let's be real, referees probably shift a little. Like every home World's Cup team does well because of some of these reasons and the energy you're putting into it. But that energy, what Tony Gustafson was working on, all of that was to get results in 2023, not to build the program. And I think Australia is a step behind.

That happened in Canada and Canada, I think, found their... Whoa, I'm gonna break everything on the way there. Canada I think found their feet and eventually you get to the gold medal in 2021 and I don't know, we'll find out about drones and all that type of stuff later but I think that's unfortunate for Australia but I think it's the reality and Sam Kerr being available would change things Um as well, but this test is going to be awesome. It is going to be really cool to watch um I will throw in the last piece in that midfield Which is I think sam coffee's happy to be a part of this like her ability to then Take spaces forward when lily johannes dropped deeper. Yeah shows why this can all work whether whoever her partner is

deeper, shows why this can all work, whether whoever her partner is. And then you see Sam Coffey playing one twos as she bypasses central midfield and getting into the final third or taking shots when no one's stepping to her. And so I think that opens up the flexibility to play all these different pieces because I think Sam Coffey is a locked in starter.

And like that's probably non-negotiable right now with the way she's performing but she can fit with all these other pieces because of what she's capable of doing in the player overall that she can be which is really really fun. One of the other players in central area that Emma Hayes talked about was Jayden Shaw coming out of the second game. She got the start as the 10, played as the 10 pretty much the whole time. By the way, shout out to Jamie Watson, who I think is on the call

for some of these She Believes Cups games and one of our favorites and in the chat right now watching. And we saw Jayden Shaw as that 10 and it was sort of her game in the second game. Similar, not similar, but like Lily Johanna sort of set the tone. I felt like Jayden Shaw did a lot of that,

going out and covering different parts of the field. Emma Hayes said she's a permanent fixture in this group. I don't care. I don't want to talk about 10 or nine right now. What did you make of what you saw from her and how she fits into this whole puzzle? I can see why Emma doesn't want to talk about 10 or nine because I think she just showed as the 10 that she can be extremely effective. And again, it is, Jade and Shaw plays so beyond

her years in her positioning and the use of her body, I think is one of the things she does such a good job of almost shielding off defenders in moments to let the ball go by so then she could advance it. In tight spaces, her combination play is excellent. I felt like she popped up in moments, especially as the US was trying to break down Australia in a little bit deeper of a spot where you can feel confident playing the ball into Jade and Shaw in those tough situations and maybe not every time something good is gonna come of it but she has the ability on on her own to get out of it but she

also has the ability to bring other players in and combine through it she she is we're gonna talk about her a lot this year I think not just with the US team but with North Carolina. And there is a responsibility that has to be had at that 10 in how you press and what is asked of you. And I don't know how that's going to work out with Ashley Sanchez there.

Those two are going to play together with Jayden at the 9 and Sanchez at the 10. But those two, in the way that they see the field, if it works off of each other, the way that I think you and I both feel like it could, North Carolina is going to be a problem. Because Jaden Shaw is, her thinking is just beyond, she thinks beyond the next pass, right? She's already, okay, how do I advance it from right to left? Oh, well, I got to play this player in and now I'm thinking about that next ball. I just really like the way she plays and she's so calm on the ball in tight spaces, which is incredibly difficult.

And she's so comfortable in every area of the field because of that. So like in this game, you see her out left, fine, right? She's taking on fullback, she beats you down the sideline, she can play MSC'ers into space or come back inside. Like you said, you can play her as a true central midfielder when you're playing out of pressure or she gets pushed in moments where she's on the back line and now all of a sudden she looks fully like a striker. The way she turns her body, the way she runs the back line, the way she sets herself up for shots. And that's where it's like, okay,

Ashley Sanchez last year played as a 10, came out wide right with North Carolina and scored goals. Well, if Jayden Shor starts on the right and has to come inside or play on the left or play up top, you just don't know where you're tracking the two best players on the field who can score and create danger and all those types of things.

And that's where it's exciting for me with North Carolina and maybe not San Diego, which is like, they already have these positional play movements set into what they are. So she's gonna fit in perfectly to do the things she's great at. And you see it with the national team as well It's all part of this like logjam of there are too many players. We don't know how to fit them in

It's really exciting. We got a message on Twitch from an Australia fan I think who was like it's hard to say how exciting it was watching the Matildas on the ground in 2023 and like the excitement in the country. I actually watched this game with two Australia fans who work with my wife and know that I'm a soccer fan as well and came in, sat down and they were like, I think we're going to get killed based off the Japan game. And I was like, well, the US flipped their entire starting 11. So you've got that going for you. And then it should have been what? Two zero in the first seven minutes and probably worse than that going forward

And like I don't want to be cocky everything, you know is great and whatever But like this is you could argue a third starting 11 for the US that's beating Australia and could have beat them by more and like this is the pool now and Yeah, most of these players we're talking about are 19 to 20. They're not even 20 years old. It's absurd. It is going to be a very strong team for a very long time. It is really exciting.

I think we're very excited about the way Emma Hayes has handled this. But we want to talk a little bit specifically about how because we mentioned it a bit last week the changes for the US women's national team on the CBA side have actually helped spur a little bit of the way Emma Hayes can handle these types of windows. The fact that she really can call 50, 60, 70 different players over the course of a year. There's so for a number of years with this CBA that the US Women's National Team had, there were a number of contracts.

So you had 26 contracts and those players would get called into camp every single time with a handful of other players. Now with this new CBA, since you get paid per camp, there's not a restriction on who you bring into camp. And I think this is a really big point that people are missing and it's a massive point when it comes to the growth of women's soccer in the United States because Emma Hayes said on the pregame show with TNT that she wants to develop 50 players between the under 23s and the full team. That is a lot of players and we have talked about a number of them

here and have seen a number of them play in these games that we haven't even spoke about, right? But in order to do that you have to have freedom to bring players in when they're performing or when you want to see them against a specific team. And I think that Emma Hayes is utilizing the freedom in this new CBA to not just her advantage, but to our advantage as Americans, as these players who it doesn't matter if you perform well at your college or at the youth national team or with your professional club in NWSL or anywhere around the world. If Emma Hayes sees that game,

which she probably will because I think she's been scouting every single game, she will call you into camp and you will get a chance to have an opportunity. And isn't that what we want? The best players to be get recognized for playing well when they're playing well and give them a shot. I think the freedom at which she can bring players in allows us to now talk about a Giselle Thompson, allows us to now have questions about, maybe there's a little bit more questions, less questions about players staying around for a long time and not being, not having turnover, because now you're constantly turning over, right? All of these, maybe camp after camp, the roster looks different every single camp because you're really acknowledging

the depth of talent within the United States and honing it down saying, okay, here we're going to start big and then we're going to get smaller and smaller until we get to that World Cup year, which it feels like what she's doing. And I think that this is one of the biggest things about the new CBA that I really like is this freedom for the coaches to really be able to pick and choose who they want to come into camp. Yeah and I think one of the things before for years was it was really like a club team because you had those contracts that you had to predetermine before the season and you had to lock or for the year and you had to lock those players in then those players are

going to keep coming back and I think we saw a lot of players actually, or not even want to risk playing club sometimes to save themselves for a national team where now you're talking about players having to work their way in and then more players having more experience so you don't end up in a situation where a Savannah DiMillo is at a World Cup making a debut because you haven't been able to

pop in and out of camps for the last three, four years when a Vlachko at the last three, four years when, of lack of at the time would have looked and said, I think this could be a player that interests me going forward. And that's what you're seeing now where Emma Hayes can sort of take some risks on some players. Maybe she sees players in different ways and is like,

I like this player in a different position. I want to bring them into camp. We saw it with the January camp. We saw it with the futures camp to just have all those players under her and probably see that Giselle Thompson is ready. And like we didn't know that from the outside. She's played well in NWSL but not in a way in which you were saying she's banging down the door to be starting on the national team. But if you're seeing her in those environments and you're seeing her be able to carry that level and you see the potential,

then you can take that risk and you can give them the opportunity and you start seeing her be able to carry that level and you see the potential, then you can take that risk and you can give them the opportunity and you start to build depth and options. She has, Emma Hayes has talked about somewhat of a lost generation for the US and it's one of the things I think that was a little overlooked in 2023 of like that team was built on young players

who had no experience and then there was no gap to the experience of Omega Nopino and Alex Morgan. There was no like in your prime players in general, in the middle because you had this golden generation that was around for so long and you didn't have depth and options coming in behind them to be ready to take over at 27 or 28.

And Maze I think is very clear in not wanting that to happen again and has pushed this. And I think the talent doesn't hurt. Like the fact that all these players are good enough definitely helps. But then as you talk about the optionality in her physical ability to be able to do it is absolutely massive.

And all of these players now are gonna play themselves in and out of opportunities over the next two and a half years to try and build towards a World Cup. But you don't have to predetermine that, which I think is kind of key for this whole program and for the atmosphere of players like this being like, I have a true shot. If I do what I need to do, I feel like I'm going to get my opportunity and then it's on me to take it or not. And it pushes you as a player too, because you don't know, you're not a shoe in to the next camp. You gotta keep playing well and make sure

that you continue to earn those call-ups. And yeah, I think there's a lot of benefits to this. It continues to, you know, it breeds the competition that you want and then you can really test out. Do I like coffee with Johannes and Horan? Or do I like Hut coffee with Johannes and Horan or do I like do I like Hutton with Johannes and Shaw? I don't know. It gives you that freedom to be able to do things like that and tinker with different lineups, different formations, different combinations within each and every camp. and we're gonna see a whole nother set because no matter what, we're seeing massive changes to the starting lineup for this third game.

Let's hit on a few other stories and then we'll move into some NWSL conversation. Just awesome to see Katerina Macario back on the field, back able to do the things she loves. And I think you see the relationship with Emma Hayes that she comes off the field and it was like this long hug where Emma knew how much she had worked to get there and how proud she was that she got on the field, got the goal and could just go out and sort of play free.

Yeah. It makes me emotional because ACL is such a common injury and some people it is pretty like it can be a quick recovery. It can be something that, you know, you get through and it doesn't hold you back that much. Maybe you're back in nine months. And a lot of the times it's not that. And it's really tricky and you come back

and you have a little setback and it's up and down and it's emotionally grueling. And Emma Hayes saw that for a couple of years, right? With Chelsea and we all know Katerina Macario or I hope we all remember how good Katerina Macario can be for this national team. She's such a savvy, sophisticated player. She has that true Brazilian spirit within her too when she's playing like when she's tiptoeing the sideline or the end line there to try to get the pass off. I just, it makes me so happy for her because as somebody has gone through something very difficult,

really long recovery from ACL too, there's just, there is no feeling like getting back on the field and knowing that you can still do what you once did. And for her, you know, that's, that's going to probably mean a big role with this national team and I hope it means a big role with this national team but that was a nice moment to be able to to witness her score and then that nice you know comfort between her and her her coach yeah which it's uh you know a rare thing that your club coach becomes the national team coach but pretty special and she's a special player and like, I think it just allows her to have that sort of confidence coming straight back into things to be like, okay, I'm in an environment I understand. She hasn't really been around

the national team that much because of the injuries and we thought she'd be at the Olympics and in the end she's not able to make it. And so this is kind of a new group for her to come into. As well as for Ali Centenor who we did a you know we had a question from a Utah Royal fan about her and we had a conversation in the discord which if you're not a part of yet subscribe to the Patreon it gets you access to our discord where we're talking during all games that you're watching we're watching it all too and so it's really fun to be in and it gets you access as well to our NWSL depth charts, which I am working on updating because everything keeps changing as fast as possible. But they will be

there definitely before the season starts. And we had a conversation about Ali Centenor in there where someone worded better than me what I tried to word last week, which is she is not a 10 who has number 10 tendencies where she needs the game to be dictated through her feet. It's why I think she works sliding out wide or being a nine where the game can be a little bit quieter for her and she can do work off the ball and then pop up and have the biggest moment of the night and score a goal that I just watched the video about when they made the ball all round in 2010 and it kept moving in weird ways because it turned out the ball was rounder than normal. And I think that may have been-

Oh, at the World Cup in South Africa? In 2010. That's what happened. Oh, yeah. It was more round. They're normally slightly oval and that ball was so round that you couldn't predict where it was going to move because it had no air resistance. There was some wild goals in that tournament that's what allison norris looked like

that thing started on the left and got to the right and i have no idea when it moved but the thing is she does that all the time she did that for unc game after game after game and now she does it with the royals i think she scored five out of her six schools outside the box last year now she's as an outside the box goal for the national team. So much so that when her teammates scored from outside the box, I was like, are you going to the Ali Setanor shooting school? Because that is exactly what she does and how you get the green light too.

I think it's so crazy because it's predictable. You know that it's coming, but the fact that she can still be so dominant in a skill that's challenging from that distance and score goal after goal, like that is, I don't know how she does it, but I did really like her as a winger coming inside. That was a little bit of one of those double transition moments, where things get spread out and you could just see like the moment her hands

went to her feet in that gap before she even received the ball from McKeown, she's like, this is it. I, you could feel it about to develop. So, um, we'll see who's going to be on the field for the Japan game. Right. And then we will talk about that one coming off of it. Uh, as we continue to cover the US women's national team, Canada, I believe, won the pinnatar cup. So congrats there to Canada. A big victory over China-Taipei, which is what you want to see. And we are into NWSL

as our way to get there. We will mention this quote from Casey Krueger, who did a podcast with the Washington Spirit podcast and said this about the national team says, it's unfortunate I've had a conversation with Emma and it wasn't necessarily the one I wanted to have on the Hey Spirit show. It sounds like things are moving forward, which I understand. And I'm happy that the player pool is so deep. Getting everybody experience, giving people the recognition that they deserve, I think that's huge, but it also stinks. I wanted to continue playing with them for as long as I could and continue to push the pool forward and just give the experience that I have and help in any way that I can,

but it looks like that's not the case. So I'll be supporting from afar. This was obviously done outside of camp because she is not a part of this national team, but currently in pre-season with the Washington Spirit. And so going on one of the really good local podcasts that covers NWSL, Casey Krueger, 34 years old, arguably the best left back though in NWSL, started against England right out the gate after coming off the NWSL championship.

She was the only player who went from the NWSL championship to Wembley and got a start in that game. A little surprising maybe that three months later she's saying the door is closed to me. What do you make of all of this? Shocked a little bit because of what you said and just Casey Krueger is is the best left-back that I think the United States has If right now because Jen and I swung her is not there Crystal Dunn. I think in the game were it was it last game She started. Yeah, the last game showed moments where I think we would expect more from Crystal Dunn.

And to bring a player like Crystal Dunn and not a player like Casey Kruger, I don't understand the line there and why, what it seems, and we weren't privy to that conversation that she had with Emma, correct? So we don't really know what was said, but it doesn't sound like she will be called into future camps. That's what I'm getting out of that quote that you just read. And this, if you do have a team that is so young and Casey Krueger is performing well in NWSL, why would you not bring her in to be, you know, maybe she plays some minutes in whatever games you have, but also she,

if I'm a left-back, I want to be learning from Casey Krueger. I want her to be in camp teaching me the nuances of how to defend a Trinity Rodman, of how to defend a player like Malorie Swanson, because she's done it for a long time. That's a little bit I think of her frustration is like how with a group that is so it feels like very inclusive with players that are older and players that are much younger

How is her name not in there? I kind of agree with her. I think that it shocked me to hear that me too it shocked me one because It doesn't seem like a situation where the program's closing doors on people right now Like it's surprising to think You'd say that even though I think the obvious like reasoning is she will be 36 at the next World's Cup. This is a program we just said that is building depth in an incredible way. And so I think your hope would be that you have enough options in two and a half years

that you don't need a player. But if Casey Kruger is playing then the way she's playing now, then why wouldn't she be in the pool? Why wouldn't it be a part of the conversation? Because your job is to go and win that World Cup. And there's a chance she gives you that. Now, it sounds like Casey Krueger is acknowledging like that, you know, may not happen, but I'm happy to be around before then.

And maybe Emma Hayes is saying I want to give that opportunity to someone else. It is the weakest position in this pool, which like, as I said, is a huge luxury to have if you're complaining about outside back depth and goalkeeper depth, like you are in a spoiled situation and that's what's the case with the US. So that's another part of it. That's very odd to see because she has performed. So the case with the US. So that's another part of it that's very odd to see because she has performed. So she's earned the spot, it feels like on the field, and until she stops doing that,

it's odd to see that there'd be a reason not to, especially if she's open to understanding her role in the whole thing and where it can be. I was shocked when I went and looked. If you had asked, I would not have guessed she had 60 caps in her career. I was surprised when I went and looked. If you had asked, I would not have guessed she had 60 caps in her career. Like I was surprised because she feels like a player who has been stuck in a bad spot for a little while with the national team of performing at the club level, not getting that

many shots in camp and not making a big roster for one of the big tournaments. And a lot of that for her, you can imagine was frustrating because she was behind players who didn't play her position. So she was behind converted midfielders and right backs playing on the left side and center backs playing out wide and all that type of stuff for years while she was pretty consistently one of the top few starters at her spot in the league she played it. Yeah which makes you think both like wow she had 60 caps with all of those struggles But also with how well she's played for long stretches of her career. She only had 60 caps You know, it's kind of both of those it kind of goes both ways because she has been pretty consistent as a

great right back or left back in this league and You know, maybe that's's it maybe Emma doesn't see her versatility because even in this camp we saw Tierna Davidson play left center back and left back so maybe there's a lack of versatility there even though I think Kruger can play both outside back positions she could play center back if she needs to so anyways yeah I think I think it's also goes back to our conversation that when you have the freedom to bring in whoever you want, are you going to bring somebody in that's much older, when you can bring in somebody to get them experience when they're much younger?

I don't know. I think that is up to whoever is in charge and whoever's getting these rosters together week in and week out. And right now that's amazing. Yeah. For Casey Krueger, her Washington Spirit squad have officially signed Rebecca Bernal, which we talked about when it got rumored.

So more center back depth for that team, which center back slash center mid depth, which is probably the two spots they were looking to fill in this off season. Although I think we're still kind of trying to figure out where Ule Saar stands and what the center forward position is. Do have Ashley Hatch. It feels like Yonatan Haraldes is going to get the pieces

along that back line that can play his style. And I think they're going to take a huge step this year in their ability to play out of the back and control games. And that's, I think, really exciting for Washington fans. It feels like the next progression of this whole project. Let's talk about a team that we dug in on last week and then everything we said kind of went by the wayside and it's unfortunate for this Portland Thorn squad. Today they announced that Morgan Weaver, Nicole Payne, and Marie Mueller have all been put on the season ending injury list.

So all three of them are unavailable for the entire season going forward. I don't know that I've ever seen this where three players are at the same time. Maybe this was a roster date for them and this has happened over the course of the off season. They finally had to say it. I think it's devastating news because these are some players that we talked about being key pieces, but especially for Morgan Weaver. You talked about recovery from injury.

She missed most of last year with a knee injury. Now back out again with it sounds like the same knee injury. It's devastating. And actually we were talking about in before we even came on, Goss, you asked me like maybe are, is there anybody that has been overlooked by Emma Hayes and I would maybe say Morgan Weaver if she gets a good season underneath her. I don't see why she wouldn't be called in and be put in these situations where she could play with the national team. And so I also really bummed about that, that it is you know back-to-back years now for a really big knee injury for her.

I had the opportunity to talk to her last year when she was coming back and just how hard it was and how much effort it took to take her mind off of it and to be positive in moments where that recovery was happening and all she wanted to do was play soccer. It just breaks your heart to see that she's going to have to do this again. And then Marie Mueller was a big part of Portland last year, was probably going to be a big part of them again this year. And Nicole Payne had the same, both her and Mueller, Payne and Mueller, with ACL injuries. So it's not good for this Portland team,

feel so heartbroken for those girls and what they're gonna have to go through but there is gonna be some work to be put in by Portland because Now you have some really big roles you have to fill going into a season that starts in two weeks It is Terrible timing. It's absolutely brutal. And I think with Morgan Weaver, it felt like with the legends that had left, she was going to be a heart and soul face of the team this year. And that as bad as the injury was last year,

she actually finished the year where you wanted, right? And if you remember, she scored in Sinclair's last game. Like it kind of felt like not a passing of the torch because you're not going to be Christie Sinclair. Like no one is. And Sophia Wilson is going to be sort of the heart of the team and the top talent. But like Weaver was there, was one of the ways you could say

how does this team get better from last year when losing a Sinclair and a Sauerbronn? And it was like, well, Weaver will be healthy for a full year, second goal scoring option, terror on the wing, especially as a back post crasher as a goal scorer. And you talked about potentially wing backs and having they've added center backs, they have a surplus of talent at that position. Can Mueller and Weaver literally the two of them potentially be wing backs.

So to have both those players be unavailable for the full year is brutal. And you're doing it now with a new GM coming in. So you're already sort of chasing and you have to figure out, well, these players are under contract after this. So SEI means you can replace their spots this year. But then at the end of the year, if you sign players the long-term contracts to replace them, you have all of those players on your roster next year. It kind of makes it difficult to figure out now. It does make it difficult to figure out. The one thing I would say maybe to their benefit is there's going to be trade options because

of free agency with the two new teams coming into the league. So maybe you don't think as much about that and you know you have assets to trade at the end of this year or whatever that may look like. After the season that Portland had that was really difficult and challenging for them then losing three legends for their team I would say for the Portland Thorns losing Sinclair, Klingenberg and Sauerbrunn. And now having these major injuries, it's going to be a rough start to the year, I think. Yeah. It's not how you want to start it. It takes away some of that optionality. As we

talked about, it puts more pressure on some other pieces that you were hoping to bring along. Olivia Moultray, does she have to get pushed out wide? Does this push someone else out wide and she fills in centrally and she's coming back from entering in a young player that you're hoping to get more from. Spanstra as well. I think it was a little harder for her after the trade than I would have expected last year. Okay, your hope was she could be a factor off the bench and rotate in until she finds

confidence. None of that is the case anymore. Like a lot of this now hinges on a lot of those players. And so we're going to have to see how it all falls and how it's all put together as we go into the season. Let's talk on a more exciting note. San Diego Wave signing their next big piece Adriana Leone brought in to this team, the Canadian playing at Aston Villa up until this moment,

currently with Canada at that pinnatar cup. And now we'll be coming in to be the next piece of this revamped attack for San Diego. It's been a wholesale change over the course of this off season going back until the beginning of last summer as well with Cascarino getting signed. Juan Garcia says, how does this all fit together? How does Leon fit into this attack for San Diego?

That's a good question, Juan. Well, one thing I will say is, Jonas Eideveld, just coaching in WSL, have seen Adriana Leon play for a number of years over there. So is aware of her game, not just on the national team level, but on the club level too, very in very close up situations. I'm curious. I'm curious because when I've seen Adriana Leone most effective, she has been playing as a winger. And in this, this San Diego team, you have Maria Sanchez and you have Delphine Cascorino as your two

main wingers who, I'm not messing with Cascorino because you already know I think she's going to have massive year. Now where does Adriana Leon? You could play her at a nine because now there's no more Jayden Shaw and you're trying to fill in some gaps with Dali underneath her in that 10 spot. But she would be more of like, uh, in my opinion, a stretch nine. She's, she's not great at hold up play. Is she going to link, link the play like a Shaw would know?

I'm curious to see where, where she fits in and is it a roll off the bench? I don't know. I I'm not quite sure where Leon fits in this, but it'll be curious to see where she fits in and is it a roll off the bench? I don't know. I'm not quite sure where Lyon fits in this, but it'll be interesting to see how they maneuver the pieces to get all those players in, especially when a lot of that talent is in the channel. Unless you play Sanchez centrally, which you can't do. I think we saw Landon Donovan try a little bit. We saw it in Houston as well The obvious reason in San Diego that they did it was to just get her involved Like she just wasn't getting touches out on the wing your hope would be this year

That's not the case because of the amount of money you've spent on this attack the way you've revamped it under a new coach Leon was not starting at Aston Villa So I think it's one of those that's tough where it's like. On the headline, you say Canadian women's national team starting forward. And then you look at it and you're like, is, you know, basically, is she guaranteed a spot, is that the role she's being brought into play? I think you do have some optionality. I think when she plays center forward, she is a physical force

that can affect centerbacks. And that's where I've seen her at her best. I don't know that she's fully a natural center forward that is always sort of reacting when the ball goes wide, making the near post run, opening up her hips correctly for first time finishes. Like, I don't know if she's there on all of that, but she's going to make herself known in that area and like make life miserable and then you have a bunch of attackers around that that can take advantage if there's a physical battle going on of, oh, you've lost a little bit of focus. Now I'm going to drift in and create chances and I'm going to try and get to the end line and whip in crosses.

Yeah. And for Leon, the most I've seen her play is with the Canadian women's actual team. Like that is the most times I have watched her play. And when you have Christine Sinclair and Jordan Heidema as options at the nine, you don't, you don't see her often at the nine, right? I'm seeing her mostly play on the right wing and try to get in line to create crosses. It's an interesting pickup. And I think if you're looking for depth, that's good depth. And that gives you a pacey forward off the bench who can come in and wreak a little bit

of havoc in the ending moments of game when teams are tired. And if that's what they brought her in for, I think that there is a role there. But I don't know if I right now see a starting role for Leon in this wave squad. The other thing that's interesting about it, and it's one that I haven't been able to put my finger on yet, is so they brought her in on a two-year contract. I guess I thought nine months ago when we were doing this show, and Casey Stoney was let go for reasons that are still slightly unknown, and as Casey Stoney has said, including on this show reasons

that she's not super happy about in ways she's not super happy about, that they were going to go into a full rebuild and then selling Germa and trading Jade and Shaw felt like that. They have brought in a lot of pieces that are like win now and Leone's one of those, right? You're talking about a 32 year old Canadian starter who's coming from WSL and it's not a long long contract but it's like I'm still not sure where they think they fit and I'm not sure the expectation for 2025 for this club. I've liked some of the pieces that they've brought in and I think some of the work they did at the end of last year is helpful and I think where they're going to start off in this year. But you can't replace a Germa, you can't replace a Shaw.

And if you do, you're probably replacing in hopes of them growing into that type of talent. So maybe it would be somebody we don't really know much about. Maybe one of these younger players that they picked up will have that ability to fill in those roles not be those players but fill in those right but then you need to play those players like if you're saying okay we sold girma we're going to go out and get two 18 year olds and a 19 year old or sign someone i think they have they think they have that in kennedy wesley interesting okay yeah that that's my thought and until Wesley got hurt last year, she was playing a lot of minutes. Yeah. And maybe they feel comfortable with her stepping into a bigger role this season because of Germa's because of Germa leaving. Yeah, we'll see.

Well, I'm glad we were able to get to one Garcia's question. He asked Maria at the 10, which we talked about. I wouldn't be shocked if not all these pieces are here as well. It feels like one piece too many. And we just talked about a team in Portland that has holes. We don't totally know what Chicago looks like right now and when Mal Swanson is available. And even if she is, you know, how much is there? I think there's a couple other teams, maybe Houston, you throw in there where you're like, they are still looking for attacking options. And Maria Sanchez was from before this regime, right?

Like you have now a GM come in, you have Jill Ellis leave, you have Jonas Heidevall take over. Maybe she's the one. And I know there's some cost theory of like, you already put, you gave so much to trade for her. Do you not want to lose her for less value than that? But if she doesn't have a place in this team, she could go, no, probably not Houston. She could end up somewhere else or another one of these pieces. We've seen what Maya Jones gets sent on loan already to Toronto for

in NSL. So I wouldn't be shocked if it wasn't all of these players going into the year for San Diego in two weeks, but You know find out we will just one last thing I would be shocked if it is Sanchez because her contract was so massive. Yeah, remember She signed that really big contract and San Diego had to take it on so that means the next team would also have to take It on I don't see that happening. Yeah. With her performance for this last year. And that would mean a team right now would have planned their books in a way in which they have that opening. That's the other part that's really tough. But I agree with you in like how do all these pieces work together? We are going to find out. We have a huge season preview episode coming

up next week. We are going to have a couple experts on with us. Bigger experts than me, but equal to you Jordan. My, you know, superstar in the middle. We'll play you at center back. We'll build it up the spine. We'll create things straight through to the attack. And we're going to do a massive episode where we preview every single team. We're going to put that out and then we're going to continue to talk about NWSL and everything else that's going on. I'll have my weekend recap show coming up on Monday as well, which will have some She Believes Cup coverage in there and probably talk about it this week as well going into

it because we're up to the final game. So thank you to all of you out there for watching live and everyone commenting. Thank you to Zippy Tuna once again for your contribution. Thank you to everyone listening via podcast as well. Don't forget to rate and review us, which is the thing I was told I should be saying more, wherever you're listening to our podcast.

And no matter what, we will talk to you again very, very soon.