Transcript
Speaker: Hello and welcome to episode 79 of the Cooler Guild. I'm Van k Crisp and this is Weird. ah Coop is out on van vacation. vancation no vacation ah So today i have a special guest host. Welcome Grant.
Speaker: Well thanks for having me. It's an honor and a privilege to be on the program. Thank you. Grant has his own show with a buddy, a friend, a colleague called into the channel on YouTube. Are you guys on any other platforms?
Speaker: YouTube, Spotify, Apple, I could name all the podcast platforms, but we'd be here all day. Excellent. Today we're recording on Monday, September 21st, 2026. Today's episode, we're going to cover the two games that the rain had over the week and weekend, the two unfortunate losses.
Speaker: to Angel City, and to Denver. But first, let me read the plug. The Cooler Guild is part of the Sound at Heart podcast network. You can either listen to us on our public feed or, if you're a Sound at Heart subscriber, on the private unified feed with the other podcasts on the network. If you'd like to become a subscriber, just visit our page at soundertheart.com forward slash the Cooler Guild. New subscribers get 10% off the normal rate and you'll help support everything we're doing.
Speaker: So obviously, i do this podcast every week, normally with Coop, who is on a lovely road trip vacation and can't be here, unfortunately. So I asked Grant to come help me out. Grant sits with me in the press box at the rain games and we really enjoy each other and talking about soccer.
Speaker: So tell me, tell me a little bit more about what brought you to the rain and what you do. Sure. And I agree with you. I enjoy chatting about football with you. You taught me a lot about goalkeeping, which always very helpful. And I want to tell your listeners that you've always said to me in the press box that you're always looking for more opinions on women's football from men. So I'm happy to join the podcast for that.
Speaker: Yeah, obviously. Why not? Yes. I love men's opinions. That's my favorite thing. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. um No, but but seriously, yeah, based in Seattle, i live in the beautiful Central District of the Emerald City. And the show Van mentioned into the channel is, for my money, the greatest UEFA Women's Champions League podcast hosted by two dudes in America.
Speaker: I think we have that vertical sewn up pretty well. And yeah yeah yeah, just being based in Seattle, despite kind of the European focus of our show, i applied for a press pass. I follow the ring closely. And, you know, Ryan Perez, who I know you've mentioned on this show several times. I am a listener to the Cooler Guild, of course. Who wouldn't be?
Speaker: um But yeah, Ryan was nice enough to give me access via press pass and just been covering the league as well. So it's been a good time. What brought you to listening or like paying attention to the Champions League for the women? Yeah.
Speaker: So I was like like a lot of people. So I was 12 when like the big bang happened. Brandi Chastain makes the winning goal in 1999 in the Rose Bowl. And then like other dudes, frankly, i just thought that the U.S. women's national team was like the extent of women's football for just years and years and years on end.
Speaker: um And then like the 2015 World Cup happened and I got to watch like way more matches. and i was like, okay, this is cool. Were you living up here during that? I was living in New York during that, actually. you're in in New York. Okay. um And then, not to turn this into a big, long story, but essentially, you know I tried to watch the NWSL on like the Go90 app and all that stuff kind of in those primitive days. It was like, oh, this is weird. It was so underground.
Speaker: But then after 2019, I started to follow more closely, and then I moved out here. And then there was a team that I could actually come see. So that's kind of what got me interested in, like really interested in women's football as a whole. And when Dino and I were watching the 2023 World Cup, Dino's my co-host, we were texting about it, we were talking about it. And we were like, well, you know, what's a good, do you have you found any good podcasts to listen to?
Speaker: We didn't find anything that we like totally loved. And Dino being the entrepreneur that he is and me with my journalism background, he was like, well, why don't we do a show and let's do it about the Champions League?
Speaker: And I said, okay, good idea. And so he's ah he's dragged me this far. That's cool, though. I asked about 2015 because those lot of us that were in Seattle at the time went up to Vancouver to those games for that World Cup. And it was fantastic. But yeah, I think that's one of the reasons we started the Cooler Guild was because there wasn't coverage of the rain weekly.
Speaker: Yep. So yeah, find your niche. I'm glad you guys are here and covering it. And you have a lot of crossover now with the rain. And ah even in the beginning, kim Little, lot of players in and out.
Speaker: So that's one thing that's great about the rain is there's always some sort of international talent there. No doubt. And my co-host Dino is a huge Arsenal supporter. So obviously you got the Kim Little crossover there. or Harvey won trophies for Arsenal as the Arsenal connection. So yeah, it's been, it's definitely been cool.
Speaker: Nice. Everyone should listen to Grant and Dino's podcast or watch the show on YouTube. It's excellent. um Let's talk about the two games. Obviously, Grant and I sit there and thought in in the press box and I turn to him and voice my frustrations a lot. But... ah I think over these two losses, which heartbreaking, i was on vacation, you were busy, but I didn't expect a lot from these two matches, honestly.
Speaker: It was a short travel time for the Wednesday match and then to travel up to Denver and try and deal with it at at the altitude was going to be hard, but...
Speaker: They did score a goal in both matches. And so the post-storing streak record continues. We're at 16 straight consecutive matches with a goal since I hired the Etsy wish.
Speaker: Of course. um Yeah, I mean, I think you're totally right. Like these were always going to be challenging. That was the so the me make sure I get my math right here.
Speaker: But like the the match against Angel City, that was their third match in 10 days. Yeah. And then what the the match against Denver, that ends up being their fourth in like 23 days, 22 days, something like that.
Speaker: um And then you think about the travel, you think about playing at altitude in the second match. And I think as especially during like the the middle of the first half against Angel City, it kind of started to dawn on me. Oh, yeah.
Speaker: Maybe they were always going to look a little sluggish. Yeah, I didn't expect them to look as sluggish as they did. It's fair. And as kind of discombobulated as they did. The start of the Angel City match, I think, was the worst they played out of the two matches that first half.
Speaker: But it just, yeah, just looked discombobulated in Angel City. And I was hoping, as I said in the last episode, that Sam Meza was going to just go all out because last year in her first game against Angel City at Angel City, she had probably the worst match of her career. Hmm.
Speaker: Do I think she played bad? No. But the team just as a whole did not look great in that first half. Yeah. I mean, and they had, felt like they had like a mini chance early.
Speaker: um Bug played that long ball forward and Fishel was able to pounce on it when it was like a heavy touch from the defender. She plays it forward to Fishlock. But yeah, other, you know, I think we had another shot. um One of the few shots on target, I think a little after that, but.
Speaker: It's just, you you mentioned it before recording, the lack of a midfield presence in these two matches really seemed to rear its ugly head. And I think it's great that Ainsley McCammon is so good.
Speaker: But I think when you think about like where the club is, I talk a lot about this on on my show, is like where a club is and where players are in their footballing journey, like in the development. It's good that Ainsley McCammon really holds the midfield together, but that's a lot to ask of a teenager. Yeah.
Speaker: It is. And it was very apparent to me between these two matches that sure, Jess Fischluck is very good and the team looks better when she's on the field. Sure. But that's not the constant presence that they need to be a successful team.
Speaker: And I think Ainsley is very helpful. Sam Meza is very helpful. But who's the third there? Yeah, that's totally fair question. I think that really showed in the Denver match. um They looked better when the subs came in.
Speaker: They looked exponentially better when the subs came in. And i don't know if that's because they changed formation, if they changed any sort of press, but it just seemed like the way that they started was not good enough. And then the subs came a little too late.
Speaker: At 55th minute, it was earlier than normal, to be fair. Right. But it just it it seemed lackluster in the first half again, which is not kind of the DNA of the rain in this season. They've been really, really good to start matches and then been pretty bad to close them out.
Speaker: yeah And so this was just such an opposite sort of thing. i think you're I think you're spot on. It's a great shout, especially in the in the Denver match. um Laura Harvey did not hold back in the post-match presser after that Denver match either.
Speaker: um She said, quote, I very rarely will speak out against the group, but that wasn't good enough for the first 50 minutes of the game. She later went on to say, quote, if you want to actually win things and go on and compete at the highest level, you got to turn up. And we didn't do that for long enough tonight.
Speaker: So I think, I mean, she definitely agreed with your assessment. I think I love that Laura's being more open in her pressers. Yeah. i don't know if you've noticed that over the last year or two. Yeah.
Speaker: But I think that that just speaks to the fact that they know that they can do better. And it's so frustrating that they aren't. Because you have you have a team that can compete in the playoffs. You may not have a you know, shield winning championship roster, but you have a team that can compete.
Speaker: But when you go through these two away matches and then just don't really show up, it's really frustrating to watch. Totally agree. And I know you and Coop have talked about it a lot of times. And, you know, it's it's always good to not get too wrapped up in what people on whatever flavor of social media you like is, whether it's Reddit or whatever. um But it's why the Laura Harvey discourse sounds so fucking stupid to me is that because she is such an accomplished manager. you both sides of the pond with the with the U.S. women's youth national team.
Speaker: And that she very clearly has a vision for the club. you know People talk about Harvey Ball, whatever that is. Well, they're scoring a lot more goals than what people used to say Harvey Ball was. I think Harvey Ball is more the players trust what I'm telling them. I trust my players to play well. And if they don't play well, I'll tell them they're not playing well. And she has enough cachet to do that kind of thing.
Speaker: I think that's exactly right. i And I think that that's how things are kind of functioning right now at the club. Because she does give the players and the group credit yeah when they follow the game plan and when they do put out big personal efforts.
Speaker: But in these two matches, it just didn't seem to be working. How much of that can we credit to Ainsley McCammon being on? I don't know. i don't think that...
Speaker: The switch off between Menti, James Turner and Montessir, I don't love it. Yeah. I think that in a different team, Montessir could be really good.
Speaker: But the role that they're trying to have her fill in this team is too broad. I think that is a really good point. I've never really thought about it in those terms because I remember when Mondesir was signed, like I was excited about it when she was at, ah was it Roms? I think she was Roms in France, in France, all francez if you will. um And I was really excited about it. I was like, all right, cool. Yeah, let's get obviously, you know, like cover European women's football. It's not like I had seen her play a bunch or anything like that. But I was like, OK, yeah, let's inject some of this style in. You know, you have a midfielder who has some speed. But even when she came to the club, Harvey had said she's got to get way stronger to play in our league, which we saw bear out in Montessori's first matches.
Speaker: but I think you're right. Like, you know, she can she can give you some some forward pacey play and she's in it. She's intelligent on the ball, which I really like. But then if you get her like when you say like her, maybe her role is too broad. If she's she's not like a number eight box to box midfielder. I just don't think that works for her. And the tricky part about Harvey's system, as I you know applaud her, her great coaching resume and her abilities, is, and we've seen it with Emory Adamas, if you don't play defense hard, she won't give you a lot of minutes. Yeah.
Speaker: Which is surprising because what the hell is Sally Banty doing on the field? There we go. Yeah.
Speaker: let's get If you want to get into it, this is a common refrain in the press box. And it's it's it's defendable, so I'm not you know busting your chops here. I know. um But i just it mystifies me because I feel the same way about Salimente that I do feel about Modisier.
Speaker: There are moments of brilliance that i love. I love seeing it. But I just don't think that that's the caliber that should be acceptable in this league. Yeah.
Speaker: I think that's fair. Is it safe to say, mean, with Menti, I like, like you point out, some of the moments of brilliance, what, she played a ball into Darlene the Denver match. Oh, that cross, yeah, that just dropped? Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: And you see that it's like, awesome. I want as much of that as you could possibly give me. But then I, I feel like, and please correct me if I'm wrong here, like from what I see, because it you know, what it frustrates some of the rain fans in my life too, is lot of turnovers and then a lot of fouls after turnovers or just fouls and just not being in good defensive position. That's what seems to really frustrate you in the press box.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, that's what it is. it's There's really not a lot of consistency there. That's it. And when you foul like that and you're just picking up yellow cards because you're too far behind the play, you're not defending well. And I realize that Laura Harvey has said that Sally Menti, this is the first time that she's really been asked to defend.
Speaker: Yeah. And I get that. But then you we talk about a player like Emery Adamez and her defending is the reason that you're not playing her. How do you square those? Yeah. How do you square those two things?
Speaker: So just I'm just a little confused at that. And I do love Angra James Turner. i think she's a very solid player, but it's become apparent that that it the midfield just not good enough for us right now.
Speaker: And you see that in the possession stats. You see that in the turnover stats. And you see that when you watch the game and all of all of the reigns attack really comes from the outside channels.
Speaker: I mean, you think about Mercado and Darlene, you know, being able to play down the wings, Huerta and Curry kind of being able to mix and match there. It feels like, and I'm totally with you, Angra James Turner is ah is a clever player. She's tough. she obviously She very clearly has the respect of all her teammates. Like you see the way, like even in the press conference, the post-match pressers, like you see the way almost like her teammates, especially her young teammates, just kind of like look at her like with this like reverence. Yeah.
Speaker: And she's deserving. She's deserving of that. She's earned it. But, you know, she's 32 years old and Jess Fishlock is an anomaly. Like yeah as you get as you get older, like you aren't supposed to meant, you aren't meant to be a physical beast to the way Fishlock is. And sometimes when Turner has to get forward, man, it looks like it takes an awful lot of effort to get up there. And sometimes when she's facing some of those really, really fast, skillful wingers, particularly in the NWSL, she can have a hard time staying in front of them.
Speaker: Yeah. So there's just really no good choice in the midfield here. Doesn't feel like it at the moment. No. And I and i want, that's why I really wish they would have picked somebody up.
Speaker: Yeah. But alas, here we are. And this is the kind of thing that I've struggled with is like, I'm rooting for this team, but I see the, I see the spaces that need to be filled.
Speaker: Like, why don't we buy somebody? Where are these players? you watch You watch the WSL. You watch Champions League. If you see a team like this, what are they doing? They're buying a player, right? More often than not.
Speaker: And I think, you know, in in Europe, you you still have a lot and all over the world, frankly, and some could argue even in NWSL in some spots, that that some franchises, some clubs are not nearly serious enough about the development of their women's clubs.
Speaker: But like, you know, Reign, even though they're now owned by the Sounders Group, like they are a standalone outfit. Like they need to purchase players, at least in, you know, an ethos, they should be. They they need to be thinking about purchasing the contracted players to win the league, to win trophies. And I think you and Coop have raised some valid points that it doesn't feel like they're doing No, it doesn't. And I don't quite understand why.
Speaker: i don't think that it's a mystery or like some sort of black magic that they just don't have somebody. That it's like a real ringer. Everybody knows it. So what what are they doing?
Speaker: And I think that if this was an English club or if this was a French club or some big other league, fans would be asking questions. But because it is the NWSL, fans are asking questions of Laura Harvey. Right.
Speaker: Right. Fans are asking questions of the lineup and things like that. When really the problem is the front office at times. And I think here there's just everyone's out reaching out. They're reaching out. They're finding things. And the rain just seemed to be stuck.
Speaker: And it's frustrating as a fan. It's frustrating. But i think there were some good things that came out of these two games. um We talked about this before we started recording. But Claudia Dickey in that Denver game.
Speaker: Come on now. Insane. Yeah. Amazing. um Back to back to what we knew. Like she hasn't had to do much lately. yeah And like I've stated before, things that are hard, she usually makes look easy.
Speaker: So but she made a couple saves in the Denver game that I was just like, oh, anybody else that would have been in. Totally agree. I mean, she had some of those reaction saves. There was the, can't remember if Sonis played it in or, yeah, because I think it was a Natasha Flint header. that Oh, the one that went down? Yes.
Speaker: And like, the the reaction is the reactions are just incredible. um I got to ask you as a goalkeeper, she makes the one save, i believe it was in the second half. where you know she does like yes the keeper like the keeper splits and like i just don't i can't think of like all the times that you see those keeper splits i could probably think of maybe a handful where you can where you like sit on the ball to get it like you just don't see keepers get down into the split that deep of a split that quick but i know nothing about goalkeeping so i'm gonna leave this to you
Speaker: I will say that the splits new. So that's that's within the last 10 years of goalkeeping. In my day, it was a lay the body out left or right. There was no split. There was no leg opening like kind of thing. um But which I learned when I started playing competitive indoor soccer and you guys face a lot of like close contact things. And so they teach you that.
Speaker: ah It makes sense. Goalkeeping evolves. It's one of the wonderful things about like soccer and goalkeeping is that evolves. um But the thing is, is that mostly with tall goalkeepers, you don't quite get down that quickly. Right.
Speaker: And if you get scored on above that, fine. But your ground game and getting down there, like that's really important. So i give Claudia Dickey a lot of credit with getting her body down and really getting spread and get out and to get that underneath her, no matter which way it had to be.
Speaker: Yeah, that was that was incredible. And it was nice to see her make a save on the ground that way. I can't remember from the broadcast, but usually I do take ah take a swig of whatever drink I have when any announcer reminds us, did you know, Van, Claudia Dickey used to play basketball?
Speaker: What? In case you haven't heard. She did. Yeah, I thought she played really well in these two games, especially in the Denver game. And I mentioned it in the Discord.
Speaker: And if Sounder, if you want to join Sounder Hard, you can get access to Discord. It's really fun conversation. But I said before the game, because watching the I get goalkeeper highlights, of course, on my social media. But Fallon Tulls Joyce made an incredible save in Manchester United game that day, that morning. Yep.
Speaker: And I said to myself, they're competing, so she's going to have to do something crazy this game. And she did. Maybe Dickey gets those same goalkeeper highlights on her social media feeds. You could only think. You could only think. can only think ah Was there anything else that you wanted to point out that was like a positive, net positive from these two matches?
Speaker: Um, you know, I, nothing new, but I continue to like Darlene down the wing. I think, you know, she's kind of trending toward, uh, being our, probably being the reigns, like what pound for pound second or third best player. I think like she's, I think she has the, I think she has the skillset to be in the mix. am Am I too high on her though?
Speaker: um know I think that I think that I need a breakout sure and I so when Brittany Radcliffe scored that goal the last home game and just kind of dribbled through and scored i was like what's stopping Maddie Dolling from doing that it's fair question because she has the speed definitely she tends to cut in when the ball's on her left foot or she tends to not cut in when the ball's on her left foot because she wants to take it left footed And I know she wants to cross and I know she wants to keep it on her left foot. But I'm like, girl, create yourself some space. You're so quick.
Speaker: So I think that's just learning. i think that's just I agree with you. But also the learning curve is very hard to deal with when we're in a situation like we're in. That's a good point.
Speaker: And what she is, i always got to double check with her. Yeah. So she's only 22. So she has time a little older because, you know, the time she spent in college compared to like McCammon.
Speaker: um But yeah, I think the speed is there. Yeah, I'm i'm totally with you. I'm just waiting for her to get it. Right. That's what I think that there's going to be a moment where she scores a goal and she's like, oh, yeah.
Speaker: right. Here's what I got to do. But I think she has the drive because she loves going to goal. But I compare like the long ball to her and the long ball to Ratcliffe and how Ratcliffe just drives, drives, drives. Right. And there's just that hunger.
Speaker: I don't see that with Maddie Darlene right now. I think that's fair. And I wonder like how how she will work on that and how she can work on that. And you know I never try to pretend like I know any of these players, right? Like you talk to them like a couple minutes here and there at at press conferences over the course of an entire season. You know you watch some of their other so there are other comments. She strikes me as an intelligent young person, though, who seems to really care about her craft. And you can see like she's savvy in the press conferences, like give praise to my teammates, talk about what I'm doing right, like all that stuff. like She seems smart enough to get it, but I like where your head's at of like, okay, well, when's kind of the next step coming?
Speaker: Yeah, don't think it's a I don't think it's a mental block necessarily, because, well, I think the last time Harvey came in first and then the players, it was like, Maddie will tell you she's the first person that will get mad at herself about this. Right.
Speaker: And i think it was the one where she. ah third, third, second last home game where she got fouled twice in the box and the second one she had that ah like scrape on her Achilles. Oh, right, right, right. um But she was like, yeah, I'm the the first person to be mad at myself about like not not following through with that.
Speaker: So it's just it's for me. I don't think it's a mental thing. I don't think that like she's not good enough. I think that she just needs a moment to figure it out and to get there and then she'll be fine. Yeah.
Speaker: But when does that moment happen? it's It's also one of those things, too, where, like, yes, the question is, when will that moment happen? And it's kind of like the, it's the upside and the downside of having such a young team of, like, yes, they're fighting for a playoff spot.
Speaker: And like you said, are they a Shield-winning team? Obviously not. Are they a championship contender? Also, probably not. But... it's ah You could tell Harvey is pushing them in a way of it's good to get young players like Darlene, Bug, McCammon, even Ryan Brown to an extent, Sam Meza. like It's good to get them playoff reps, like like playoff matches. So then the next year. So like maybe you're not a year away. Maybe you're one of my favorite sports terms, a year away from being a year away. But but you're like, you got to win matches and and build those good habits to do those things in order for two years from now for you to actually, for people to actually look at you like a real contender and plus maybe sign somebody in the transfer window.
Speaker: For sure. I think about the question that you asked um after the Bay game in the presser, ah talking about Bay's coaching staff and everything. Oh yeah. And Laura talked about it a bit, but One of the main things I remember from it was her saying, ownership needs to give coaching staff, quote unquote, the the time to like have a project and to complete it And I think we're in the middle of that. And I don't think that we ever expected for this to be the greatest season that the rain ever had.
Speaker: And Koop and I talk about this a lot. Like, I'm very happy to be in the conversation of being in the playoffs. Yeah. Because I don't think that that was really um ah a guarantee when we started the season.
Speaker: I think that's totally fair. um And yeah, you and Coop have done a great job talking about it. I think Coop's line is what she she says something like, don't pay attention to us yet, or I don't want to be on people's radar. Like, don't look at us, basically.
Speaker: yeah Which is good. It's a good way for young players to make some mistakes on their way to kind of developing the good habits. But as a fan, it's it's very frustrating. And I think that Seattle Storm fans can probably attest to this right now. sure ah We're in a better situation here with the rain. But yeah, it's it's difficult when you have these young players and then you have some of them like absolutely exceeding expectations like Jordan Bug, like an Anthony McCammon, like ah like a Matty Mercado. Yeah. And then you have other players kind of not really getting it yet, but on the verge.
Speaker: It's like, OK, but I'm a professional sports fan. I want my team to win. I think that's one of the things that women's soccer kind of struggles with with other professional sports leagues is they kind of expect you to understand the narrative.
Speaker: Whereas if you're talking about an NFL team, if you're talking about an MLS team, there's no growth here. You need the team to win. i think that's I think that's fair.
Speaker: i think, yeah, especially in a meathead sport like the NFL. Like, there is no, like, you're either a winner or a loser. But I think it's it's one of the things I like about your guys' show, frankly, is that, like, you guys talk about the rain, like, okay, like, we want to see the wins, we want to see the goals. Like, let's let's fucking do this. It's no, like, oh, everybody played hard, you know, orange slices after the match whatever.
Speaker: But yeah, I do think it's also helpful. I don't know. Maybe i'm just like patting myself on the back here, but I can tell you're you you what like, you know, enough to where I feel like we're similar, though, is like more savvy fans tend to try to take at least a little bit of a longer outlook and never with like I i hate the NBA fan who like, oh, we're tanking this year. Let's lose on purpose. Like, i fucking hate that. I don't want any hear that. But you can at least be savvy enough to be like, OK, well, it is a building year.
Speaker: And like, let's just make sure everybody gets through healthy and we everybody gets a little better. Yeah, there's nuance, right? Yes. But with the growthss of the end of the growth of the NWSL, I worry that nuance gets lost at times.
Speaker: Sure. And i kind of want the league to be a little bit more cutthroat. Do I love Gotham? No. Do I hate that they like skirt the league rules? Absolutely not. Do I respect it? Kind of. Yeah.
Speaker: And so I just wonder with the rain, like you have the ability, you have the opportunity, like where, where do you see yourself going? It's good way to look at it. And you just got that, you know, going back to the transfer window, you got a big old pile of money for selling Jordan Heidema's contract. So how does that, you know, what happens to that? Like, where is it? Where are we putting that? I think it ah it's a fair question for every fan to ask.
Speaker: And they're not putting it anywhere. They signed a couple like replacement players for the U-20 World Cup, but they were all former UW players. Right. And there's no real... it doesn't seem like a plan.
Speaker: Yeah. and From a front office standpoint. Yeah. And I don't know about the new forward signing. Don't know a lot about her. But like that's not impactful to us right now.
Speaker: And you lose two games, people are going to ask questions. Yeah, i think that I think that makes sense. um And Harvey, I thought she she had something. She said something interesting after the Angel City loss. Let me see, where did I put that? Where she was basically asked about the stakes being raised for the Denver match after Angel City. Yeah.
Speaker: And she had said, quote, is it a must win for them? Yeah. Is it a must win for us? I don't think so. But you can't keep giving up games. That's reality. End quote. And i I think it makes sense. And maybe we could do some schedule talk. I know we talked about, I think some of your ah some of your Reddit pals are...
Speaker: Sounder at Heart Discord Pals had asked about the you know the remaining schedule. I do like that. Obviously, you want to get every result. And she was much angrier after the Denver matches we talked about earlier. But I think her having that perspective is good um because she still can see, hey look, we can still get into the playoffs with these like five remaining matches if you think about like what points total they need to achieve. And without disrespecting your opponents, I mean, when we look at the upcoming matches, there are points available for the rain there.
Speaker: There's so many. Was that the main thing you got from the Angel City Presser? I think so. I mean, you know, because like we talked about Harvey too. Yeah, she's not afraid to hold her players accountable, but she holds herself accountable in every every press conference that we're in.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. More than the players usually. 100%. Like she wears it first, which I think is a quality you have to have in your manager and you have to have in any of your captains. Like you can't be throwing everybody under the bus. And even when she said she didn't think that they turned up enough, I don't think that was throwing anybody under the bus. I think it was an accurate read or whatever. Yeah.
Speaker: Did she, because I didn't watch it. I was on vacation, but after the Denver game, I felt that after Ratcliffe scored, there were a couple other opportunities. What did she think that you heard?
Speaker: Yeah. She said the, like after the, she said they did, I think, and I don't want misquote her, but I'm sure. Pretty sure it was something very close to the team didn't wake up until after Denver's second goal, like going back to her comment on the first 50 minutes of the match. And then she was asked about if anything felt different in the buildup. And she had said nothing was different in preparation. and then she went on to say that she didn't even feel like a different attitude or a different vibe from the group in training leading up to the match. And so she it was hard for her to put her finger on it, but she just didn't like their effort.
Speaker: That's fair. i think that's good accountability. Yep. I mean, i think we have a good idea of the capability of the squad. Like we said before, is it a championship winning team? Probably not.
Speaker: But they're better than that. And it's okay to expect better than none that. And when you're playing teams that are right around you on the table, then you should like you should expect better than that.
Speaker: You should. Yeah. Alas, we ended the two-game road week with two losses. Unfortunately. No shutouts. ah We do need to award a cooler player of the match, and this is ah okayed by Coop, FYI.
Speaker: But the cooler player of the match is brought to you by the doctor's office, a great little 12-seat bar on Capitol Hill. The owner is a big fan of the rain and is proud to be our first sponsor. Grant and I talked about this, and I think that it's very appropriate because the losses could have been worse.
Speaker: But with the talk of the number one goalkeeper spot in the U.S. Women's National Team, I think Claudia Dickey absolutely the fuck showed out against Denver. so oh No doubt.
Speaker: Two games. Claudia and Dickey, here you go. Congratulations, you are the queer player of the matches. Thanks again to our sponsor, of The Doctor's Office. The Doctor's Office is the best place to get a grab a drink before or after a rain match. Make an appointment today and check out their Instagram at TDOSeattle or better yet, go drink there in person.
Speaker: ah We did have some, I told the Discord, what do you want to ask us? Because this is going to be a weird episode either way. So, like, let's talk about the season. Because you and I have been watching the season, and you watch it in a different lens than I do, and then and and that Coop does, because we talk about it every week. So, um Steve asked, is it finally time for Harvey and the team to start talking about every remaining game as a must-win? Or alternately, what do you see as the bare minimum for acceptable results from these last five games?
Speaker: I wrote them down on paper because I'm 100 years old, like I told Grant. Yeah. But I think the team can get nine points. They're at 32 now, ah or 37 now, sorry.
Speaker: um And Laura Harvey has talked in several of our post-game pressers that 42 is the goal. i I think 42 makes sense. Let me see here. 42 is the goal, but if they get nine, they'd be at 36. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, which um they're smooth in if that happens, I think. So let's talk about it. um So we're home against Boston on Friday. You think they'll win that one?
Speaker: I think they should. And at the at bare minimum, you know, sports fans love calling something a must win. at At absolute minimum, that's a must perform well.
Speaker: Like even if you get like a 2-2 draw, like i know i know Harvey won't be happy with it, but you got to play you just have to play better than the last two matches and get something out of it.
Speaker: Which is why I think they'll get three points out of it. But I think one one would be respectable there. um Disappointing, yes. ah North Carolina. It's the second to last home game.
Speaker: You're going to play as Ashley shan Sanchez. Yes. do Do they win? McCammon will likely be back at that point. I would be i would be really surprised if she played versus Boston. right They just got knocked out by Brazil. don't know. Alex Buck was back.
Speaker: Oh, wow. Okay. It'll be interesting to see. um Do they beat North Carolina Courage? I'm going to say they beat they beat Boston and they draw the Courage, I think. Okay.
Speaker: And then they're away at Chicago. Got to win. I mean, you got to beat Chicago. You do. I already have my results touted down, so like I'll put them up after I ask you. um But then they're away at Utah.
Speaker: Tough game. ah I wouldn't be surprised if they lost. okay And then they're home against Orlando for the last game of the regular season. in the would As far as I know, at this point, it's mandated by federal law that we have to play Orlando Pride in the final match of the season. Multiple years in the row. So many.
Speaker: um Man, Orlando's been having a rough go of it. I mean, but it's funny when you have a goal scoring machine like Benda, like it feels like Orlando's having a nightmare season, even compared to like Orlando's history of like not having great seasons. It feels like Orlando's been terrible and they're 11th. They're only seven points behind.
Speaker: and know. So i I mean, that one could be really tough. And like, you know, Barbara Benda is at worst, at absolute worst, the third best number nine in the world. At worst. Yeah.
Speaker: Oh, yeah, that was just me sitting on the fence and not giving you an answer. It's a whole match, last match. I will say, sneaky with the courage while ah while i'm when I pick that to be a draw. North Carolina Courage is the match where they honor Jess Fishlock, I believe. yeah So you've got to turn up.
Speaker: So you're going to guess three there?
Speaker: hate betting against Benda, but yeah, Pride hasn't been very good. So yeah, Harvey gets it over the line. So what, did I just predict 10 points? Yes, you got one point against North Carolina. You're draw against North Carolina and then three against Orlando.
Speaker: Yeah. Six. so Yeah, you got ten. All right, well, let let me say... I mean, you're not far you're not far out from me. So yeah I think we'll beat Boston at home. I think we'll tie North Carolina at home. I think we'll beat Chicago away.
Speaker: think we'll tie or thai Utah and then tie Orlando at home to finish it out. So I had nine points. Okay. But either way, ah they break the 42-point threshold that Laura Harvey has created for a playoff team.
Speaker: There you go. And yeah, I mean, it's hard to compare it to the last few years, right? Because like 36, the bats were on 36 points last year, snuck in in the eighth seed, but there are 14 teams.
Speaker: um And then 2024, it was 32 by Chicago that got them the eighth seed. What a time to be alive for Chicago to make the playoffs. And then 2023, there are 12 teams. so there's not even a point looking at it. But I like 42 as the magic number. And I think they should exceed that, obviously, by by the predictions.
Speaker: Yeah, I think so too. ah We need the team to show up. um Who will be team MVP? And will they rename the honor to Meza MVP going forward or Meza VP going forward?
Speaker: That is a good question. That is, wait, that's your friend of the show, Mongolian BBQ? Yeah. Excellent. um I mean, it's probably, if it's not Meza, it's Dickie, right?
Speaker: Yeah, I don't know if it'll be Dickie this season. She's really not had to show out a lot. That's true. I think Sam Meza is so underrated and we see it every game. Yes.
Speaker: There was a slide in the last game of the game before where it just looked like she'd done it every game and it was just like the craziest thing I've ever seen. I'm like, oh, that's just Sam Meza. She can slide tackle you and pop up, run around, you know, and then get the ball to one of her teammates. She just has great instincts. She plays bigger than she is. Like she has a little bit of a diminutive stature, but man, she's tough, real smart. So yeah, it feels like when I said it felt like Darlene could be pound for pound the second or third best player on the squad. It's because I look at Meza as pound for pound. I think she's the best player in the club.
Speaker: i I agree. And I wonder what the team would look like if she had somebody else in the midfield ahead of her. Yeah. That really helped. Because honestly, the team looks better when Sam Mezik gets into the attack.
Speaker: and She definitely has the intelligence, yeah. Yeah, it's one of those things like when Jordan Bug comes up and Jordan Bug can get into the attack, there's always an opportunity. Same thing with Sam Meza. But there's nobody in front of them that could really, like said, pound for pound, like really, really take on the reins there.
Speaker: I wish they had someone else. But alas, here we are. um ah bearon Steve also asked ah bare minimum for acceptable results. I think we took that. I would say it's nine points. You you took it as 10. What do you think the bare minimum is, though? I think bare minimum.
Speaker: We get three against Boston. I think we get one against North Carolina, three against Chicago. If we take zero at Utah and we take zero Orlando at home, you're at six, seven, you're at seven points.
Speaker: So that takes you to 30 or that takes you to 44.
Speaker: i I think I might be with you on seven. Between Boston, Chicago, Orlando, you should win two of those three. Yeah. And then you figure out if you can scratch out. think Boston's the biggest hot or cold kind of there because either Boston's going to come out and like kill you or Boston's going to come out and be like, meh.
Speaker: But North Carolina, that's either a win or loss. But I think they should tie that game. Because if you if you really understand how North Carolina works, they have a couple really, really good players.
Speaker: And the rest of it is just kind of meh. So you isolate those players. It's a game plan thing. And I think Laura Harvey's smart enough to make a game plan to at least get a tie out of those games. It'd be hard to trust many more managers in the league over her to formulate that plan.
Speaker: Yeah, I think so. I think they get over the 42 point goal. I just wonder if that's going to be enough. I think so. I mean, yeah, it would it would take us all all evening to play the who else, ah you know, the other teams around them. what's all their What do all their schedules look like? So I think if you get to that 45 point mark, you're... Oh, you're upping the bar because Laura 42. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, because, well, I think I'm with you. maybe Maybe we don't so much agree with Harvey because I don't know if 42 guarantees you a spot. I think 45 guarantees you a spot. Okay, yeah. Where are the other people at? Yeah, because Denver's on 35. I don't know. And the Pride are next with 30. So, yeah. like Are the Pride going to get 12 points out of the next five? I think that feels unlikely.
Speaker: No, I don't think that the rain are in a bad spot right now. I think they just need to get results. And I think that from the questions we gained, I think they all are must wins. You're kind of out of the learning curve now.
Speaker: Because if you drop points somewhere where you shouldn't drop points, then you're pressuring yourself somewhere where you thought maybe, you know, you drop points against Boston, then your North Carolina game is like, oh my God, we need to get points here.
Speaker: So every game's going to be, it's your points here on out. An intriguing match on September 26th, you got Denver, who are two points behind Reign, versus Kansas City, who are one point ahead of Reign. So you see kind of how that shakes out. And yeah, I think it's a good shout by you that like, yeah, it should feel like a must win. And I'm guessing Harvey and the coaching staff are treating it that way because it is good for these young players to kind of feel what that's like.
Speaker: Yeah, they kind of got to be that way. i know they want to get a home playoff match, but that's going to be a struggle. I would rather they just got a playoff match. For sure. i think I think that's a reasonable goal and something that they should be proud of. Because like you said, like i mean how you know some people didn't necessarily feel great about how they were looking coming into this season based on the the past two seasons.
Speaker: And I wasn't feeling great after the break and not signing anybody. Yeah. Also true. But here we are. We're talking about the playoffs, which is much better than I thought. um So, way from Matthew, friend of the pod.
Speaker: He's talked to me a bit about Montessir. What do you think about Montessir? well Well, you know, when we when we discussed her earlier, i think, yeah, she probably probably could benefit from a more narrow role of, hey, be creative. You can float out into the wing, dode do your thing out there. Don't be afraid to get out into the middle of the park and kind of like soak in some pressure, dish the ball off when you need to.
Speaker: ah Try not to get too many yellow card fouls, which I think she's cleaned up a little bit. kind of later on, but I still have faith i still have faith in her. What, she's she's like 25 or 26. Do I have that right? Yeah. um So there's a little room to grow. I don't think it's a giant space for her to grow. She's probably pretty close to a fully formed player.
Speaker: But yeah, i what you had said earlier, like she could be a useful player. You just gotta gotta get her in the right spots. Yeah, you're gonna define a role. You have any other takes from the last rain games?
Speaker: I think I feel like we I feel like we covered it. Let me see. I don't think I got anything else in the notes. I mean, well, I guess I will say the Flint goal that she just roofed against Dickey where there's nothing Dickey was going to be able to do with that. The whole thing starts, and it's a great thing about having Jess Fishlock, but for Denver, having Janine Sonis to have the wherewithal when the ball makes it way better, like she pokes it out, her teammate gets it back to her, and Sonis just drives upfield to create that opportunity. Having a veteran who knows when to step on the gas like that is so valuable.
Speaker: Yeah. Well, there's a reason that she's having a record year for herself. Yeah, she's a great player. So the next game, we've got, what, three days, four days, the rain play against Boston at home.
Speaker: Boston, they're not terribly terrible offensively. Yep. um They'll get you. If you don't if if you you take your foot off the gas, they'll get you. um I think that the back four need to have a solid game.
Speaker: I think that Madison Curry needs to start this game. She came in. yo you say Oh, questions here. Over Ryan Brown, you think? I think so. Ryan Brown gives me I'd love Ryan Brown. I love Madison Curry. I think this is an incredible team on this side. yeah But I think Madison Curry in this game where they're going to have so many forward option plays like.
Speaker: it's going to be a a better matchup for Madison Curry because she can cut those things off. Ryan Brown's better when she distributes and wins the ball. But as far as like defending against really quick players that are going to be, that are going to give you problems. I think Madison Curry, absolutely.
Speaker: I like it. I think that makes a lot of sense. And you think about Michelle Prince, um Sarah Schupansky, which I will say as somebody who lived in Ohio, attended college in Ohio, the name Sarah Schupansky is the most Pittsburgh name ever. And I found out that she was born and raised in Pittsburgh. And I was like, okay, yeah, that sounds definitely sounds like a Pittsburgh person. I digress. But It's crazy to me.
Speaker: side note, but she was so good in her rookie year and has gotten passed around since. She needs to find a home and she will thrive. 100% with you. I think she's a good player. Good size, smart, pretty quick, can pass the ball. Yeah, I like a lot of her skills. And she's only 23. I know. She has a lot of room, too.
Speaker: Do I want us to take her? No. But I think she could be a good player in this league. Yeah. But yeah, as far as as far as the Boston game goes, they're going to have to have a lot of defense on the turnovers because Boston's really big on turnovers. um But I think that Boston's defense is also not great.
Speaker: And if they can get they get Mercado in, I think this could be one of the games where Darlene figures it out. There's so many options and so many good things that could happen, and I want that to happen for them.
Speaker: But they have to put in the effort. I'm with you and you. And you think about you know whether it's Darlene or Fischl, if Boston puts Bianca St. George out there, always liable for a red card or possibly conceding a penalty. So like you attack, attack, attack if she's on the field.
Speaker: And i I will say i really like – and you know i'm not going to again, I won't act like I'm some kind of like super expert here. But Boston's manager, Filippa Patau, she managed Benfica in the 23-24 Champions League. And that team had Kika Hernandez, who now plays for Barcelona, is a ah wonderful Portuguese player. Yeah.
Speaker: And I like Patau's, I really liked Patau playing, you know, because even though Benfica is a massive club and in the men's game, they're a huge underdog in women's football, especially the Champions League. um But she was able to kind of coalesce and play still in an aggressive, like counterattack, counterpunch style. I've been a little surprised that she was not maybe a little more pragmatic coming into coming into Boston. And you saw she was lining up that Portuguese three four three at first. Yeah. And Boston was conceding a when they were doing that. But it seems like she's kind of starting to lean a little more toward pragmatism lately.
Speaker: So how do you think the how do you think the rain beat that?
Speaker: I mean, you and I have talked about, like, we want to see Fischl use her skills to come in deep, you know, use her hold-up play, and then be a little more of a distributor.
Speaker: And I think if you combine that with maybe Boston, if they if they try to press, or you try to get Bianca St. George in a bad position and try to get Darlene to sprint by her and get her jersey pulled or something like that, i and maybe this is wishful thinking, I want to see...
Speaker: Beat the drum. Treat me official like prime Shaquille O'Neal. Dump it off to her and yeah let her do some work. Yeah, I think that they're not quite using her well enough now. That's a good plan. I agree. Use her.
Speaker: I'll email Laura about it. ah um But Boston also got li Lily Real. so Have you ever stood in the vicinity of Lily Real?
Speaker: No. me tell you. I went down to San Jose last year for the NWSL final, got a press pass. And my podcast partner, Dino, is based in San Francisco. So he covers Bay FC regularly. He hosts like a spinoff show of ITC called Way Into Bay. And he like talks to Emma Coates all the time. it was It was actually the genesis. You mentioned the question that I asked Laura Harvey about Bay's coaching and like how I because I watch a decent amount of Bay matches to to talk to Dino about him. Yeah. And i I totally agree with her that I don't think they're bad. And I like a lot of their players, obviously. Kudanaji, Kennedy Fuller was a great signing. I think their keeper, Silkewitz, is like sneaky good. ah Maybe not so sneaky. She has like a super high save percentage.
Speaker: But she's always getting pelted with shots constantly. Yeah. um But... I stood, Lily Real came up in the, in the mix zone and she is fucking jacked. Like ah if she, if Lily Real was the marketing manager at a software company and she walked up to you, you would be like, this person is a really good athlete. Like even like outside of outside of, you know, professional sports, but even in the context of standing next to her and interviewing her compared to the other top level professional athletes in what is arguably the greatest women's league in the world.
Speaker: Yeah. She looks like a super athlete compared to other super athletes. That's crazy. Yeah. So you think that she's young, right? Oh, yeah. i She's another player because Schipansky and Real, when when Gotham moved on from both of them, particularly Real, I was like, whoa, bold choice because I think she is super good.
Speaker: Yeah, Lily Real's 23. There's a lot of youth in this league. But that's very interesting. So you think that she's going to have an impact on the next match?
Speaker: Well, i I put her name in our doc just so mostly so I could tell the story that like she is an unbelievably impressive athlete. But yeah, I think anytime I see her on the pitch, I expect her to have an impact.
Speaker: That's fair. Yeah, i I knew that that was a big deal when they when Gotham got rid of her. Gotham is an anomaly in the lineup sense. Yes. um But yeah, so the rain played Boston on Friday. that game is on NWSL Plus. It's at 5.30 p.m.
Speaker: Go to the game if you can. But there's also other women's football throughout the throughout the world. And you've got Champions League happening, right? Absolutely. So, yeah. So we're, we're through all the qualifying stuff. yeah And so what people will probably be, this will hit people's fees like what, like Thursday, Friday, probably tomorrow. Oh, all right. Excellent. Well, if it hits tomorrow, what do you know?
Speaker: League phase of the match day one of the league phase of the UEFA women's champions league happens tomorrow. That's Tuesday, September 22nd. First round of matches happened Tuesday. The second half of a match day one happens on Wednesday. You got some bangers on there. Wednesday will probably be when ah when people will probably be paying attention. so There you go. um We'll serve that from Switzerland on Wednesday. They'll be playing Leon.
Speaker: Obviously, the club that features Lily Ohanas, little American tie in there. um Another super impressive athlete, a friend of Into the Channel Pod. She's come on the show to chop it up with us.
Speaker: But yeah, I mean, so you got Chelsea playing Austria-Veen. Really interested to see what Chelsea looks like. I think they might be, now I'm a full disclosure, I'm a Manchester City Football Club supporter. They play Bayern Munich on Tuesday. Ooh, bad draw. That's going be interesting. Yeah, Bayern looks really good. I saw some people are like Bayern is like a sneaky. I know it's funny to call Bayern Munich an underdog in anything, but like in the women's game over in Europe, like obviously Barcelona and Lyon reign supreme. Arsenal won the Champions League a couple of years ago.
Speaker: But people like Bayern is like a sneaky contender. So that will be a great match for City. um But I think outside of City and my own rooting interests, I think Chelsea might be one of the most fascinating clubs in the tournament.
Speaker: They've been great. They won those five straight WSL titles. They have not yet been able to get their mitts on that Champions League trophy. I don't think they're going to do it this year either, but I think it's going to be real interesting to see how it shakes out because when you are the manager of Chelsea, and Emma Hayes is fully aware of this, being responsible for those four of those five consecutive titles, if you don't win the Champions League, people still end up really disappointed because they just they're dying to get their hands on that trophy.
Speaker: So what Americans do we get up in the Champions League right now? So I'll name the obvious ones first. as Speaking of Chelsea, obviously they signed Alyssa Thompson from Angel City.
Speaker: I think she's going to be sort of an X factor for Chelsea. They do not have like a a standard true blue goal scoring number nine. Myra Ramirez from Columbia has been dealing with some injury issues. And then now there's a rumor that Perry Zangerman is looking at Mayra Ramirez, so she might be out of Chelsea.
Speaker: Aggie Beaver Jones, their English 22-year-old forward, has been like not in a great run of form recently, so she hasn't even been getting as many minutes as you might like to see. Aggie Beaver Jones is only 22. I think so let me so. Hopefully, I didn't just totally make that up. I am nearly certain.
Speaker: Agnes Beaver Jones, little quick fact check on the pod, 23 years old. What a liar am. But still. Yes, still young. I didn't realize she was that young. Okay. um And then obviously, you know speaking of Americans, Naomi Gurma, I'll say, big signing, big price tag on the transfer fee. um I believe her salary is a deserved nice price tag in itself.
Speaker: Picked up an injury recently. Their manager, Sonia Bonpastor, said on September 13th, quote, she maybe won't be available for the next weeks. It's unfortunate, but hopefully she'll be back soon, end quote.
Speaker: Gurman's time at Chelsea has been weird. like she hasn't There have been times where she hasn't looked as good as as ah we all know her to be, conceivably one of the best center backs in the world. And now with this injury, I just want to see her play well in the Champions League. So hopefully she gets back healthy soon.
Speaker: it It kind of mystifies me. Like sometimes we see these big players go over to the WSL and then they just get marred with injuries. Yeah. I mean, Fischl is one of them. It's true. Macario.
Speaker: still dealing with that. I just, I get that they, that maybe that's like a, just a taking care of their players thing where they just allow them to like recover. But it's still interesting to me that we have these big players over there they're not playing, but I think it's a little bit more relevant or evident when there are big, big name American players playing in a different league. And we like kind of just focus all the way in on them.
Speaker: Yeah, that's too that's a great call. And I will say on our – and I appreciate you teeing me up to to plug the show. Into the channel's latest episode, which is a preview of Match Day One, we welcomed UEFA Women's Champions League winner and all-around great broadcaster and very nice person, Leanne Sanderson, former Arsenal great. um And she talked about, you know, that – American players have not historically had a lot of success in the WSL. And Leanne covers both leagues so closely. Like she is the first to admit that the NWSL is the best league in the world for her money, like in terms of pace and like a really direct play and goal scoring, great athletes.
Speaker: But she had a, I thought was a pretty spicy take. She mentioned Kristen Press and her time she played at United, right? I think United. Arsenal. Arsenal. Oh, this sorry. you know Kristen Press.
Speaker: Sorry. I conflate her. Now I'm wondering, did Tobin Heath play at United? know Tobin Heath played at Arsenal, but... Okay, yes. And yeah, yeah, Press played played for United. um Scared myself there for a second. Okay. Okay.
Speaker: But, and you know, obviously press was good there, but Leanne said, and I think this is probably right. I trust her judgment. Emily Fox, the greatest American player in the history of the WSL in terms of WSL performance. And I have a hard time disagreeing whether Emily Fox was absolutely crucial to them winning the champions league and lifting the 2025 trophy. And I think she had an incredible game that day. She was awesome That tackle that she made, I think in the second half. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: Before they scored, like, yeah, she's she's been a player that's gone over there and done really, really well. I think she's got better for the national team during her time at Arsenal, too. Absolutely.
Speaker: um I think that I kind of felt the same way about Lindsay Heaps. Agreed. Am I a fan of hers? No. But do I think that her time Lyon, like, was really helpful? Yes.
Speaker: For sure. um But Emily Fox, yeah, she has just kind solidified herself with Arsenal and been so good there. Definitely. And the fact that Leanne mentioned that, that's incredible.
Speaker: i think it's ah I think it says a lot. And yeah, you know Fox was always a good, tough defender. But there was something about, you know especially leading up to um in the Olympics, where Fox had just such a great chemistry with Trinity Rodman on that right side during that Olympic run yeah that you were just like, You know, like on a team of superstars, again, I'll go back to the kind of like the pound for pound ratings, whether you like to compare goals or like defensive, you know, contributions or whatever. It felt like Fox was one of our best players in the Olympics. She looks like one of the best players for the U.S. s Women's National Team, which says a hell of a lot on that all star team.
Speaker: Yeah, it really does. And think that I don't think she gets overlooked because I think she's kind of made a name for herself wherever she goes. Sure. But I think it's pretty incredible for her to go over there and not get on the and injury train like everyone else.
Speaker: Yeah, definitely. A couple more. You've got Sam Coffey at City. What's going on there? I mean, obviously, Manchester City Football Club, close to my heart. She is paired with as kind of your double pivot, number sixes with Japanese legend Yui Hasegawa.
Speaker: On this latest episode, Dino interviewed her because I was off doing my day job. So it was just Dino and Leanne talking in a segment in the middle of our show. But um I thought Leanne raised some interesting points about Coffey's development and kind of talking about that learning curve and the different style of play and how, you know, at Portland, Coffey could push the pace, play physical, run forward, do, ah you know, break lines with with a lot of her passes. and she can And she is such a good player that she's able to do all that stuff at City, in the WSL, but under within within the context of kind of a European style. Mm-hmm. And i think I think we'll see Coffey get better too. And I've been i've been super high on Sam Coffey for a lot of years. it's not i mean you know It's not exactly rocket science too because because he's a great player.
Speaker: yeah But like i I do expect her to continue to get better also. That'll be cool to watch. I have generally kind of so kind of tuned in to the Champions League, especially when ah Arsenal was trying to win it. So I watched a lot of those games, but it's cool to see. And I think that I'm probably going be tuning in and listening to your show.
Speaker: what's ah What's another thing that's about to BK Hacken? What is this club? BK Hacken. They wear yellow and black out of Gothburg, Sweden, which I think is just a little south of Stockholm, I think. um Emily Sonnet played for them like way, like mid-2010s, I think. The yellow with the black? That's exactly right. Okay, yeah, okay.
Speaker: So they play a fun defensive style. i can't wait for people to check out their home matches. They have such a great home atmosphere. I think their stadium might sit like they have a, I think it's a specific women's stadium. i might be wrong. Anybody could please feel free to correct me in the comments, but um it sits around like 10 to 13,000 and they pack the place and the vibes are extremely good. you know They're singing songs, they're waving flags, doing the whole thing.
Speaker: They play a defensive style. um and But they're they're still like an entertaining Swedish club. And so they have a couple of Americans. How about 31-year-old midfielder Tabby Tindall?
Speaker: She is leading the club with eight goals in their league league season this year. The Swedish league is Damo Svensken, which is a fun name to say. Hmm. When you look at back at Tabby's career, she's 31 years old now, played played for BK Akin for a few years. When she played for Florida Gulf Coast University from 2013 to 2016, how does 66 goals in 74 appearances sound?
Speaker: How do we not know about her? It's a good question. I think it's it's fun to see, like, you know, obviously the the Champions League squads, I find a bunch of, ah you know, ah European players, like they're like players from Kosovo and like ah like swis Switzerland is really starting to come up and and develop some really great players. But it always kind of like raises my eyebrows when I see a player like Tyndall, who I had never heard of.
Speaker: you know She's 31 years old. She's deep into her career. And I see that little American flag next to her on FB Ref. I'm like, oh, what's the story here? So it's it's always a fun ah a fun discovery to make. Yeah, she's from Ocala, Florida. Interesting. Yeah, what a cool career development.
Speaker: But getting to play the Champions League? Hell yeah. So you think that um BK Hacken's kind of a... a black black jeep in this well like i like hacking style of play they didn't make last year's champions league uh me and dino really liked their style um two years ago when they had qualified um again like they played chelsea like superstars chelsea like prime sam kerr chelsea like real tough years ago um and they were able to like you know make some noise there so
Speaker: I generally like the way they play. They open up away at Inter. um And so that should, that promises in my view, at least if you take an Italian club and a Swedish club, it's going to be a defensive battle should be, should be interesting to watch. But ah Hacking also has Delaney Agbuka, who's a 22, 22 year old defensive midfielder from the United States of America, 77 appearances for Notre Dame. I won't hold that against her cause I don't like Notre Dame, but that's fine. But again, I figured i would shout out for your for your program. i'll I'll give you a BK Hacken as one of those teams where it's like maybe not a lot of people know them, but they play an entertaining style and I think people should check them out.
Speaker: That's great. do you have any ah other dark horses for the Champions League? Or maybe not a dark horse, but like a team that may be in the tournament and you hope does well, but like probably doesn't have a chance.
Speaker: So O.H. Leuven is a is a where the hell is that? OK, Belgium. yeah out of belgium Made their debut. They were debutantes, as everybody likes to say, debutantes in last year's Champions League. And, you know,
Speaker: it's I know it's hard to believe, hard to find any Belgian women's Super League broadcasts here in the United States. never you know At that point last year, had never seen them play.
Speaker: Was looking through the roster. They're a roster mostly full of Belgian players. Had no idea what to expect. They play great defense. um They play with a lot of style. they They play smart. And they ended up qualifying for the knockout round last year as – one of the smallest clubs in the tournament, one of the lowest, UEFA uses like this coefficient ranking of like, you know, where you fall and all that stuff. And they were one of the lowest coefficients in the tournament last year, if memory serves. And they qualified and they made it out of the league phase. So, you know, they were they were cool. And my ah podcast partner, Dino, identified it right away. It was like after their first match, he was like, I actually think this team is pretty good. And so we've had a soft spot for him ever since.
Speaker: Nice. Well, we'll look forward to that. um How do we watch the Champions League? It is now on Paramount+. plus They're now the home of both the Men's and Women's Champions League. So I got to subscribe again. Got it. Okay. There you go.
Speaker: I'll say our first, I think our first two years covering the tournament, um it was on DAZN, D-A-Z-N. Oh, yeah. That like super niche sports app. And they did a good job. And like we talked to like some of their announcers. Their coverage generally pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. I was like really thrilled with it. Um, but it was, it was also cool to see him make the move to Paramount plus like we had Chris Whittingham on the show, like after the final, um, and to see, see the champions league get like a little more, ah like mainstream American coverage. I thought that was pretty cool.
Speaker: Gotcha. That's rad. Well, I'm excited to get a little bit more in the champions league and be able to text you about it. And, uh, everybody can watch into the channel and pay attention to this. It'll be really fun.
Speaker: Yeah. Um, I hope that the rain can be this exciting as the Champions League. We'll see. They've got ways to go. I mean, I'll probably see you on Friday, right? I'll be there.
Speaker: It'll be a big one. It'll be a big one against Boston. But is there anything else you want to shout out, Grant? I think we covered it. I guess the only thing I will shout out is I really do appreciate you having me on the show. I know i've told you this in the press box.
Speaker: You guys are like my one of my absolute favorite football podcasts. And so when I shout you guys out on our show, I tell people, if you like two people who have fun talking about football with a genuine friendship, and I hope they do if they're watching our show, then I tell them to watch this show because I think you and Coop just do such an awesome job. And so... I won't get overly sentimental, pal, but I'll just tell you, I fucking love the Cooler Guild, and I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker: I appreciate you being here. asked a couple people within the soccerverse, and there wasn't a lot of availability, and I thought, well I could do it by myself.
Speaker: And then I thought, i don't want to do that. I think i I could have a really cool conversation with my buddy. So I texted Grant into the channel. It's our new ah brother podcast, sibling podcast. take that.
Speaker: That works. But yeah, it's just where we fill two different niches and it's really, really fun to have have you around. And ah thank you for being here. I appreciate it. Thanks again for having me.
Speaker: Yeah. ah Do you have any shout outs? So we always do a shout out. you have like a good thing in your life you want to shout out? I feel like I just used my shout out on you guys. And I guess I didn't say it. Maybe you can have a You can have like a normal, like personal shout out.
Speaker: Like you could shout out your cashier at the grocery store or your mom or like whatever you want. Okay. i like that. Let me shout out. And Van knows this about me. I'm a union organizer.
Speaker: I want to shout out King County wastewater workers who do a fucking excellent job of making sure everything stays in the pipes in King County. They're working on, you know, settling a fair contract with their employer. The King County government is the largest employer in King County, as you might guess. Yeah. And those people work really hard and they deserve a fair wage. And I love working with those folks. So shout out to them.
Speaker: Union strong forever. um i would like to shout out the pronto pup in. ah
Speaker: I went to Pronto Pup. I went to the home of the corn dog this week. It was incredible. Shout them out. But what a wonderful week. It was a big, long week of soccer. And we're getting even into even more soccer with Champions League, with the end of the NWSL. So thanks again to Grant for being here.
Speaker: Go listen to to the channel on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. And I'll try and link it in the podcast. I'm not sure how to do that. I'm figuring this out as I go. Yeah. But shout out to our main sponsor, the doctor's office. It is the best bar.
Speaker: It's great. ah You can also follow us on blue sky. Instagram at cooler guild pod. You can just shoot us an email. I love to read emails at the cooler guild at gmail.com. You can also visit us on our website, center heart.com forward slash the cooler guild or on YouTube where I'll probably drop this whole episode and not edit it. and That's youtube.com forward slash at the cooler guild.
Speaker: Cheers, Grant. Cheers to you till next week. Stay cool. but Stay cool, y'all. I've been waiting to say that. Hell yeah.
