Casual FC | Transcript: 2025 NWSL Season Preview

2025 NWSL Season Preview

February 26, 2025 / 01:25:06/E94

Mario: Oh, this is gonna be fun.

Alright.

Angela: Let's go, let's go, let's
go, let's go, let's go, let's

go, let's go, let's go, let's go.

Mario: That's gonna be the intro.

Angela: Yeah!

Mario: Just full screen.

Alright.

Welcome to Casual FC and Angel City Match
Preview Pod and Footy Therapy Pod with

two Podcast certified footy therapist.

I'm Mario Salazar with my always amazing
Lego building partner, Angela Morales,

and we've got a special guest y'all.

And if you probably can see her on
the screen already, but it's Eva.

Woo.

Yeah.

Eva: copyrighted.

Mario: Yeah.

Yeah.

We're not going to get
the copyright strike.

Angela: jock jams.

I'm already

Eva: Three seconds.

Mario: Yeah, you can only do,
pick your, pick your favorite

three seconds of Jock Jams.

Eva: exactly.

Yeah.

Angela: Welcome to the big show.

Mario: All right, well, welcome to
our NWSL season preview episode.

we've been doing a couple of
fun things over the off season.

Seasons is less than 30 days away.

We are recording, miraculously.

An early episode, so we're
going to have some time to rest

after we record this thing.

So you might hear this intro again when
you hear the second part of this episode.

That's totally fine, because guess what?

We're going to have a brand new intro
every single game because there's going to

be one, there's going to be a game, then
we're going to record, then there's going

to be a game, then we're going to record,

and it's going to happen.

Eva: Yeah.

Mario: It's going to get crazy.

Angela: is, we don't have a
gigantic international tournament.

Where we have to

Mario: yes.

Angela: till the 2 o'clock in the
morning and be incredibly delusional We

Mario: be delusional on

Eva: That

Mario: can

Eva: only

Mario: on our

Eva: year?

The Olympics were only a year ago?

Angela: Yeah,

Eva: I have age have aged 30 years.

Since that gold medal match.

Angela: think we all have at this

Eva: Yeah.

Mario: wait, no.

Oh yeah, it was the Olympics, right?

And then the World Cup was two years ago.

Angela: Yeah.

Mario: Oh, shit.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

It's, it's, what is time?

I don't know.

Okay.

we, we are going to be taking an in
depth look, or as bout as in depth as we

can get, of all the other teams in the
NWSL, who, what has been happening during

their off season, what it means to us.

the good, the bad, the ugly, the who
knows, and then we will be doing our

deep dive on Angel City in an upcoming
episode before the season starts.

with all that being said, we are
recording this post the first match

of the Coachella Valley Invitational,

pre the second match of the
Coachella Valley Invitational.

So we only know what
happened in the first one.

Angela: Yeah, we're both speaking
to you from the past and the

future and also real time.

Nobody knows what's going on per ush.

Mario: Again, what is time?

Angela: Honestly.

But, okay, so first game of the Coachella
Valley Invitational, we actually

looked like we had something planned.

Mario: It look good?

Angela: It looked good.

Mario: Dare I say?

Angela: obviously there's
always, it's preseason.

nothing is set in stone.

There's always stuff to work on.

Things aren't set in

Mario: Is it?

There's a million subs and yeah.

Angela: more subs than normal.

You're trying different things out.

But, we made sense.

And I, granted, I came in.

Right as the second half was starting,
because I was out doing yard work with

my mom, because we have this house
now, and I just have to consistently

be outside, but, yeah, we came
in and I sat down and I was like,

forward motion?

What is this?

Eva was like, giving me the lowdown, this
is what happened, this is what happened,

and I'm just like, okay, and then,

Mario: I like that, I like that
Eva was just like watching it.

She's just oh yeah, yard work, that's you.

Angela: Yeah, I had to

Eva: I was also doing,

Angela: plants.

Eva: I was doing other things.

I wasn't just lounging, letting them work.

I couldn't tell you what I was doing.

I already don't remember.

I was actually doing something.

Angela: you were.

You were doing charts.

That's what you were doing?

Eva: Yes, I was doing music stuff.

but.

I agree.

We looked good.

ball was moving forward.

A lot of players looked like they
were ready to start the season.

Mario: had an attempted bicycle kick?

Yeah.

Eva: Fuller almost had a bicycle kick.

Mario: Yeah.

Eva: They, yeah.

Angela: okay, like I'm
gonna make myself some food.

And I'm like, we have the TV on.

I tilt a little bit so I can
see it better from the kitchen.

And she's oh, by the way,
Kennedy Fuller almost had a bike.

And I was like, excuse.

Mario: I saw the highlight.

I was like, oh, we're going
to have to update our shirt.

Angela: I

Eva: Yeah, time stopped
while she was setting it up.

And I really thought she had it.

Angela: Oh

Eva: but I, I mean, I
love that we went down.

they were up 1 0 and then we still won.

I don't know when the
last time we did that was.

that, it, what's the
thing from the Avengers?

Don't give me hope where there is none.

I think there's reason to have hope.

it gave me hope.

I feel good.

Angela: Yeah, the young guns
in general were showing out.

Casey Fair looked good.

get to see Kennedy because they
subbed her out at halftime.

Scottie Antonucci, who I think is an

Eva: Scottie Antonucci.

Mario: If they don't, if they
don't, if they don't sign her

just purely for the name, like

Eva: It's so good.

Angela: vibes.

that's it honestly like no but she
looked great Richie was texting me, and

he said one player number 73, and we
couldn't figure out who she was, then

we found out it was Hannah Johnson.

And I kept asking who it was, and
he was like, it's Hannah Johnson.

in, she's in here forever now.

but no, we, I honestly think for the first
preseason go with a lot of upheaval in

the offseason, I think we looked alright.

We didn't revert back to that weird,
you know, Second half Angel City thing

that happens of just mm, I don't know.

We made big subs and then
things got a little weird for

a second, but nobody panicked.

Everybody was like, okay, hold up.

Reset.

got this.

Lily Nabet is a completely
different player.

I don't know what happened.

I'm not upset.

She's faster.

She's feistier.

She was sliding on the ground.

She scored.

I don't

Mario: Nice.

Angela: I'm not mad.

Eva: I, I love when, so the
thing when you're, you want

everyone on your team to do well.

You, like, when we play Portland, I
hope Sophia Smith has, or formerly known

as Sophia Smith, is having an off day.

I hope that she just, everything for
her is just a little bit to the left.

I hope, nothing is really going
according to plan for her.

I want all of our players to do well.

for Lily Nabet to show up, kill it,
score the equalizer, get us going and

everything, good for her, good for her.

It's good for us, it's good for her,
it's good for everyone, and I am very

happy for her and very, very excited to,
I think we should all be really excited

for her to prove us wrong this year.

Mario: Nice.

Well, like we said, we're post the first
match where everything was sunshine

and rainbows out in Coachella Valley.

The second match is going to happen
this weekend from when we're recording.

We've got some emotional capri sun because
you never know what's going to happen.

We looked good.

There's times where we look real good and
we get really excited in the next game.

But hopefully,

Angela: I think I said it in one of the
earlier, preseason episodes, I really

feel like we've got a do it for CAP, do
it for LA, there's a different energy

right now in this city as a whole.

It's inspiring and like
feeding itself into sports.

Mario: I think there's, it feels,
and this is purely speculation based

on social media, which is a lie,
but, it feels like there, there

are good vibes going on, right?

we have the new training facility,

Angela: Oh, it's

Mario: The, the team feels like they're,
like, they're having fun and they're

gelling, even though there's a interim
coach at the moment, there's still a

bit of familiarity with the rest of
the support staff, so it's not like

everything's just completely brand new.

There's just a couple of new ideas with,
this new head coach or this new interim

head coach, and then, you know, we
always, there's always the talk about the.

The new coach, bounce, right, and that
might be what we're looking at right

now, but hopefully that's something
that carries on into the season, and

it's something that we can kind of keep
building momentum, and then hopefully it

looks also, other things in the positive
is that it looks like the front office, at

least on the sporting side, is looking to
be a bit more in line or have a direction

of what they actually want to do so
slotting in a head coach later on in the

season may not be that jarring because
they're already building towards a style

of play or at least an idea of play where
They're going to find the right coach that

fits that style rather than here bring in
a head coach and then let them like, but

their philosophy is completely different
and then we gotta start from zero again.

Angela: Yeah.

I think it'll be an interesting start to
the season for Angel City, but we'll talk

about that the next time with a different

Mario: Look at, look at me,
I sound like I know stuff.

Eva: womp womp.

Mario: I saw both of you give me a
look as I was going on that rant ooh,

maybe.

Maybe.

Eva: guest,

Angela: Yeah.

We have a

Eva: special guest.

Angela: Not

Eva: My sad

Mario: Not.

Eva: for myself, not for you.

Mario: We appreciate all our guests
equally because everyone is amazing.

Angela: Yes.

Mario: Alright, so let's
get into all of this.

without further ado, I will hand
it off to these lovely sports

brains and we'll go from there.

Let's talk about the
NWSL off season chaos.

Angela: It We went through
it this off season.

And if you are both an NWSL
and a W fan, good luck.

I'm sorry.

We've gone through a
lot the last few months.

Free agency has been difficult on
all of us for different reasons.

yeah, a Las Vegas ACEs fan, Eva has
had a very difficult few months, but

Mario: ha ha.

Angela: as a fan of the sport, hell yeah.

let's start with talking about who's
retired because we had a whole bunch

of retirements this off season, which
is heartbreaking in a lot of ways.

We all had a

Eva: We are so excited to have
you all back with us tonight.

Today, we are going to be talking to you
a little bit about how we are going to be

using this technology and how to use it.

this is a program that we are going
to be talking to you about today.

Angela: it really, I don't care.

There's other people probably, but
like those two alone have been such

stalwarts for Portland that like,
okay, have fun rebuilding your whole

entire philosophy and leadership team.

Kerri Lawrence, who was with
Orlando, also retired, but she has

a super cool role with FIFA now.

it's in player development?

We were talking about it last

Eva: It's,

Angela: I can't think about it.

Eva: I think she's with an agency,

Angela: Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

But she's like

Eva: yeah,

Angela: to FIFA

Eva: something like that, yeah.

Yeah.

Star

Angela: want to do that.

But here I am with a podcast.

Jen Beatty, who we all know is
living her best life with Kriegs.

just traveling, doing cool shit,
commentating, and more power to her.

Yeah, Desiree Scott, who was with Kansas
City this last run, stepped away, and

she is an incredibly gritty defensive
player who will be missed on the pitch.

what a force.

This, tiny little human, kind
of like Jasmyne Spencer in that

sense of, so small, so gritty.

There's just a different,
a different vibe.

we saw Katie Johnson, who
had been with us, our KJo.

She stepped away from the game.

It was time.

Injuries had kind of built
up, and it just sucks.

Nobody, nobody wants to
walk away on an injury.

We're not going to talk about it.

I've already cried about
sports three different times.

Today, I'm not going to do it.

Michelle Betos, who was a keeper.

With a, just a great keeper, a great
career, she's retiring, like, all these

people who've done really cool things
have retired, I talked about her every

single time I could, but Nicole Barnhart
also stepped in, which is a huge end of an

era goalkeeper land, she's a keeper that
I feel like doesn't get talked about as

much as others did or do, which is wild
to me, given the national team tenure and

the, the she's given teams, just kind of
quietly as she's moved around the league.

Yeah, we also had some huge
players leave the league.

Obviously, we talked about
Naomi Germa heading to Chelsea.

Jenna Neiswanger heads to Arsenal Emily
Fox, who scored a banger of a goal

this last weekend from outside the box.

It was, oh, it starts to be a banger.

that's what they called

Eva: Spangled Screamer.

Yeah.

Angela: Oh, yeah, it was just,

Eva: Yeah.

Angela: it was outside the box.

She was literally in midfield.

I was just like, what?

Yeah, Crystal Dunn left Gotham and
went to PSG, which is a whole thing.

I have theories.

I'm not gonna get into them because
it's all hearsay and me pretending

and we're just gonna leave it there.

But, yeah, we had a few players
leave for the Canadian League.

Jasmyne Spencer, Quinn, and
Nikki Stanton being the players.

I'm glad they all landed somewhere.

I had a feeling Quinn would leave.

Given the state of things in this country,
and also having a league in Canada.

Yeah, have these for a reason,

but yeah.

But yeah, there's been a lot of movement
that we'll talk about a little bit more

as we get through the team breakdowns.

But that's a big overview of,
holy shit, everything's different.

Most teams across the league
are going to look different.

There are very few that
have similar rosters.

your starters might be similar, but
your bench is going to be completely

different, and a lot of times,
so will your starting lineups.

I mean, for Angel City, who knows?

Mario: Yeah, yeah, there's
been, there's been quite some

movement with, Angel City too.

So I mean, we'll touch on a couple of
them as we're talking about the NWSL, and

with all of, I mean, I was even surprised
by the number of extra retirements that

happened in the off season, which means.

We didn't get to talk about them
in our retirement retrospective,

which means we might need a 2.

5 of, of that.

And, you know, there is a couple
breaks during the season, you know,

maybe we can hit up one of those and,
and have a really nice, you know,

give, give each one of these
players their flowers of, of

what they've done for the league.

okay.

So as we've talked all of that.

Let's get into our outlook.

Let's start in the east
with the Chicago Stars.

Angela: Red Stars, got it.

Eva: The Red Stars.

Angela: refuse, because

I've

Eva: Why?

Angela: say it again.

The Red Stars are part of Chicago.

Everything.

the Red Stars are on the flag.

It's not just stars for no reason.

I'm about to tag in our mutual
friend, Randy, who actually

introduced us to like come in here
and talk about Chicago because she

will soapbox hard for that city.

She lived there for a long time.

She worked for the Tribune.

I don't even know if she knows
about this because she didn't

really follow sports like that,
but like she'd probably be so mad

Mario: Okay, insert,

Angela: like this.

Mario: insert Chicago
snippet of stuff here.

Angela: I'm gonna get a video.

I'm gonna text Randy tomorrow.

Be like, please send
me details about this.

But they, they've made some moves.

They got, what's her face, Tan from
Gotham, and that's a huge, huge signing.

Mal, oh, I almost said Mal Pugh,
Mal Swanson has been out of the

preseason for personal reasons.

I hope she's okay.

been a lot of

information about that.

She hasn't been with the national team.

She hasn't been with the stars.

who knows?

I just hope she's okay.

That's about it.

I think they're going to be a problem
because they're kind of middle of the

table problems, especially for Angel City.

Mario: a lot of what was
happening, no, no, that was,

I'm thinking of the wrong team.

Okay, let's keep going.

All right.

Boss Nation.

Angela: I feel like they just held steady.

They kept a lot of their same players.

They didn't really have much
changing office wise, I think,

because of the sale last season.

They already went through
a lot of upheaval.

You kind of keep it the same on
coast, get used to everything

and then start making changes.

We'll probably see a lot
of shifting going on.

Trade window or next season, I
think, for them, depending on how

the first half of the season goes.

That's it.

Gotham.

Dun, dun, dun.

The coast to coast rivalry
that people are starting to try

to make happen, I don't care.

I don't think anybody cares.

I don't know.

Eva: Well, our rival is Boss Nation.

read the website.

Angela: is Boss Nation.

Eva: I saw on the website we are
listed as their rival, so it's, if

it's on the internet, it's true.

Angela: Yeah, Balls FC
can, can come get it.

Ha ha ha.

Mario: Balls FC just put a
target on themselves, from

everybody just to be like, that's

stupid.

No.

Angela: in every stadium that
just say more balls or just jokes.

It's just gonna be bad,

Mario: I can't, I can't wait.

Eva: it's not Hungry Hungry Hippos.

They have too many balls.

Mario: I can't, I can't wait to see, TIFOs
this, or when they come into the league.

Yeah.

TFOs for, for Boss Nation.

it's going to be so good.

All right.

all right.

We're moving on to Gotham.

Angela: Lots of movement, lots of
shocking movement, lots of rumors, lots

of, lots of everything in the news.

There was a lot of Gotham news, so I
mentioned earlier the biggest loss,

wise, is probably Crystal Dunn.

She kind of went mid season last year.

Nobody really knew why or what
was going on, and then she signed

with PSG after being waived.

There's just a lot of, nobody really
knows what happened with that, and I

don't think we'll ever really know, but
who does know wants to share, I'm really

good at keeping secrets, like I said, I'm
down for the drama, this is not my own.

Well, they lost Crystal Dunn, they
picked up Jalen Howell, who can kind

of fill a similar slot, which is a huge
pickup, and I know, Eva, you appreciate

Jalen Howell, probably more than
most people, just given her history.

That sounded

Eva: I think,

Angela: didn't mean for it

Eva: no, no, no, I think she's great.

I think Good.

You know it, it's interesting as
the years go by seeing how the first

pick, like the first draft picks do
and how they go, and she seems to be

like still kind of on the fringes.

I think that, she's great.

I think, I would love to see her play
her way back to the national team.

I think that with Gotham, she has a
really exciting chance to, step out

of being, you know, a rookie or a
younger player and have, you know, now

she has a little bit more experience.

She's played on, you know, a
couple or two teams now, I think.

This will be her third team.

I think this gives her a chance to
just kind of Wipe the slate, start

over, and, you know, just show, remind
everyone why she was the first pick.

I'm, I'm excited to see
what she does with them.

I think that, overall, Gotham really
wants to, is gonna wanna come out

and, You know, kind of quiet down
the noise by playing well, I think

they're gonna, I think they're gonna
have a huge chip on their shoulder.

Angela: Yeah.

That's, yeah.

Gotham's gonna be a

Mario: Well put.

Angela: Yeah.

Eva: Yeah.

Angela: I mentioned, Jenna
Nighswonger went to Arsenal.

They re signed Midge Purse after
what felt like a hundred years of

off season moves and free agency.

We finally got the notice that
Midge re signed at Gotham.

I hope she's healthy.

Honestly, I hope she has a great
season except when we play Gotham

because I don't want to deal with that.

yeah.

They had goalie movement.

They had, there was just a lot of
movement for Gotham as a whole.

Lynn left,

Mario: I, I want to say part, well, okay.

So there's, there's the rumor mill
about Gotham and, culture and whatnot.

But I think the other part of these
big moves is ACFC got hit with a big

ass fine because of violations, right?

And then they announced that
they will be doing, they will

be keeping tabs on everybody.

Now, why couldn't you keep
tabs like that actual season?

Oh yeah, no, we'll give everybody a
season before we start keeping tabs.

so with that, they, I mean, a
lot of these moves took a lot of

these heavy hitters off the books.

Now, were there other reasons that
were helping along these moves?

Probably, but

there's also that aspect of it.

And, I mean, who knows, but if If other
sporting leagues are any indication

of how things go, they can always
get dinged for past, money infringes.

Angela: salary cut issues, yes.

Yeah, but I really feel like
Gotham is coming to win.

They've made a lot of roster
changes in that direction.

They still have Emily Sonnet,
they still have Roosevelt,

they still have an insane team.

they did lose Yasmeen
Ryan, which is bonkers.

That'll come later, though.

But yeah, I think they're gonna
be a tough team regardless.

They didn't, they're not a
team that loses their identity

when they play another team.

A lot of times, and this kind of
happens across sport, you play to the

level of your opponent, you could be
a top tier team, like best in league,

best everything, and then you play the
team that's last, you play, you shift.

Mario: was, that was us.

That was, we, yeah.

Angela: percent, we play up, but we also
play down, and Gotham doesn't do that.

Gotham just plays their game, and that's
scary, because that means you have to

conform to their system run through it.

You don't have the option to
really, manipulate it and play

with it and mess it up for them.

Mario: Yeah.

Angela: a team comes out so assertive.

Same thing goes for basketball, baseball,
football, as we, as we saw in Super Bowl.

which leads me to talking
about Kansas City!

Yay!

Mario: Look at, look at that segue.

Angela: That's all I'm
going to say about that.

I was

Eva: Second place say what?

Angela: I was specifically
cheering for philly, for

Doug, who is a listener to the podcast,
A good friend, but also I was actively

cheering against specific people on
another team because of their actions.

Mario: Mahomes.

I don't have to cough.

I didn't have a cough.

It was fine.

Eva: Bunker!

Excuse me,

Angela: Yeah,

Eva: excuse me.

Angela: issue with folks
in Kansas City, but.

Their soccer team is great, which is cool.

Players are fantastic.

they also made crazy moves.

They picked up Laurel Ivory.

They picked up Rocky, which
they re signed Temo Chawinga.

in our notes, it just wrote
they're going to be insane.

That's it.

That's all.

That's

They are exactly who we thought they
were going to be last season with

Vlatko returning to club Vlatko form.

Mario: Yeah.

They have a new GM.

Yeah, they're one of the many
teams, actually, as I was

putting this list together.

There was quite a few teams
that all have new GMs.

Angela: front office movement this season.

Mario: Right.

yeah, all of that.

And then there was a couple of notes
that I was like, oh, Beatrice Zhao,

was a recent signing and then went
immediately, almost immediately in SEI.

it, it sucks for, for her.

and then I, okay, I'm going to
need help on this one, but Opeyemi.

Angela: Aja, Aja Kay,

Mario: Ajakay?

Okay.

when I was looking at the history of
this was like, she, she got signed,

then immediately loaned out to the USL
in November, then brought back from the

USL, and then was released in January.

Angela: Yeah, weird moves.

Probably salary cap, honestly.

Mario: there's

a lot of their team, like a lot
of their team kind of made some

like moves and stuff like that.

But I think they're still scary.

Yeah.

Angela: For sure.

Their team is so good, and
they didn't have to make a lot

of moves, and yet they did.

they just got themselves better,
which, again, forever mad about Rocky.

Yeah.

And what we did to Rocky season,

that's what happens when
you F around and find out.

We're in the finding out phase.

Anyway, that's all I have
to say about Kansas City.

They're gonna be good.

Get ready for it.

There will probably be more, what are
they calling their balls in the river?

Oh shoot, they have a name.

No,

Mario: Too many, too many balls.

Boss, boss balls.

Angela: no, I don't know.

I don't know.

They had a name, I thought.

But.

If anybody remembers when you listen,
please DM me because it's going to

piss me off until somebody tells me.

That's it.

That's all I got for Kansas City.

They're good.

Their stadium's too small for how good
they are and for how many people come

to games, but that's here nor there.

Let's hope they can put an upper
bowl on it and just it on like Legos.

Yeah,

Eva: they chose that.

They do, they do.

Angela: Yeah,

Mario: I think, I think it's
just called river balls.

Angela: really?

Mario: Yeah.

Or like a river goal.

That's what they're,

I don't know.

Quick Google search.

Angela: Kansas City, it a cool name.

Yeah.

Mario: Okay.

And now we're on to
North Carolina courage.

Angela: So we're recording
this on Tuesday, the 18th.

Like we said, we're recording this
early because we're ahead of schedule.

Shocking.

And that's cool.

got news today that Bianca St.

George's and the team mutually parted
ways, which that's, that's fine.

Usually it just means that you
can't come to a salary agreement.

You can't come to some contract
terms or the player's not happy.

The team's well, that's fine.

whatever.

Eva and I are speculating that she's
going to go to Canada in the Canadian

League, because she is Canadian.

She plays on a national team.

because of her and actions and
thoughts that have been made public,

I hope we don't bring her to L.

That's all.

That's all I have to say about her.

it's one of those where it's no
offense, but I'll be offense.

That kind of thing.

But

North Carolina, again, that's a
team that is just inherently good.

At this point, they've won championships.

They have a very winning
culture in North Carolina.

It is a soccer hub, collegiately.

up Jaden Shaw from San
Diego, which is mega huge.

They, they didn't have to make
too many moves, is one of those.

They're

Eva: No, when you add,

Angela: because they're always good.

Eva: you add Jaden Shaw, it's
similar to, Seattle adding Lynn.

Like,

Angela: Mm

Eva: when you add a player of that
caliber, you can kind of take a breath

and, if your team is already in a
good place, it's okay, now we're,

like, this might work itself out.

Mario: Yeah.

Angela: And for those who aren't sure
who else is on the team, if you are a Day

One Angel City fan, Dani Weatherholt is
there, Tyler Lucey is there, there's a

lot of players who have been around the
league, who have spent time in different

cities, and just are doing great.

North Carolina is just one of those teams.

every sport has them, just the
teams that are just good, and

that's, that's North Carolina.

Mm hmm.

Eva: Yeah, they're just
always gonna be a contender.

They're always gonna be in the mix.

Even their down seasons, they still
end up making the playoffs and

everything, or getting right there.

Angela: they're downseasons
are like still above 500,

Eva: And Sean Neha seems to have
done a really good job of turning

the culture around there and picking
up the pieces from the Paul Riley

of it all, and it seems like he's
been able to preserve the winning.

aspect of things without having
to keep any of the terrible

things that were happening there.

so I, I think that they're, they're just
kind of always in a good position to,

you know, come out and just kill it.

Mario: All right.

Well, then we've got the, defending
champions, Orlando Pride, who looks

like, I mean, from my point of view,
really just have become better.

Angela: Yeah, March is
back for two more years.

very I'm just I'm so happy.

I'm still mad about that,
announcement video because my heart

sank and then it was like, and
she's just With her big brimmed

Mario: And,

Angela: But I'm so happy for her.

is her in like the
most, just the best way.

Marta is Marta.

And any team is going to
be better with her on it.

they, they have this really
cool mix of veterans who have

kind of flown under the radar.

like Morgan Gautreaux.

Old school folks know her as Mo'Brien.

And she's one of.

The last, right?

One of the last 19 ers?

Yeah.

Eva: yeah, it's her, yeah,
one of the last 15ers.

It's her and Alyssa Nayer, and,
if Megan Klingenberg re signs.

were signs with someone.

another thing we'll talk about later.

But, I think it's, I think
it's just the two of them.

Angela: Yeah.

Eva: I,

Angela: Mo'Brien Morgan Gautreaux, now
that she goes by her full name and her

married last name, she has had an injury
riddled career, but she is insane.

And she showed up so big for Orlando
towards the end of the season

and into the postseason, where
it was like, oh, there she is.

That's right.

You've got Carson Pickett.

You've got Barbara Bonda.

you ha This team is so good!

And they just were like, oh
hey, let's, let's get better.

And then Emily Sands is
having a hell of a moment.

getting called up.

She's getting, accolades.

She's just having a great couple years.

And,

Mario: they, yeah, it really only seemed
like they just added, there's only, well,

two players that they have went on SEI,
Rafael Souza at the end of the year, and

then Amanda Allen was, like, during this
off season, I believe, And then only,

they really, only two players have left.

Like I didn't see, I mean,
I did my best to try to,

Angela: Kari

Mario: I did my best to trip one.

Oh.

Eva: Two

Mario: Two.

Eva: Megan Monofusco.

Angela: Mhm.

Mario: Oh, they, they
didn't show up for me.

Or maybe I just had them in the
wrong spot, but there you go.

They didn't have much, and then they,

Angela: She was on the SEI.

Eva: yeah.

Angela: This last season,

A lot of a lot of SCI
retirements, which but

Mario: Yeah, it's a sucky way
to kind of be forced retired,

but, yeah, you know, we get it.

They're good.

you know what, let, let, let them be at
the top again, but, you know, this is

Myrka and we have a playoff system, so

Eva: This

Mario: they can be good
all year if they want to.

This is Myrka and we have playoffs
and, cause that's, you know,

that's the American way to do it.

And so they can be good
all year if they want.

It's, we can be.

Angela: them.

They said we were gonna win
it all, and then they did.

Easily.

Eva: wait, maybe I'm gonna regret asking
this while it's recording, but do other,

we the only country that does playoffs?

Angela: yeah.

Mario: Yes.

Angela: have relegation.

And then Champions Leagues.

It's all

Eva: but,

Angela: season champs.

Go to Champion Leagues.

Eva: right, but what do they call it then?

Like, how do they, whittle down?

Mario: You don't, you just,
you're the best of the season.

Like just best of the season gets
the trophy, which would, which

we call the supporter shield.

Angela: You're gonna have
to go get another Capri

Eva: I should've kept my mouth shut.

I should've kept my mouth shut.

outed myself as an American.

Angela: Playoffs are inherently American.

It's wild.

Eva: I had no idea.

I knew that trades were,
but I did not know.

I think I assumed there was some, I

Angela: The more you know.

Yeah, put in the, the more you
know GIF right there, please.

Mario: We'll do.

All right, now we've got, we've got
two more teams to wrap up the east.

We have Racing Louisville.

Angela: so Louisville didn't do
anything too loud in the offseason.

They just kind of made some smaller
moves, re signed some folks.

they have a new GM as well,
so I think that's part of it.

We might see more stuff happening
closer to the trade deadline

and like midseason stuff.

But they're a team that's,
again, always a contender.

They're feisty and they're gritty.

And they show up.

That's, that's Louisville.

Eva: yeah, I thought they started, I think
if they can build on what they did last

year, which ideally they, theoretically
they should because it's pretty much the

same roster, but I think they're like
kind of right on the cusp of hitting their

real potential, and I think Bevianas is
just doing a great job, and She's been,

it's, it's just been such a joy to watch
her succeed a head coach and see things

go well and I, I would, I will go on
record saying that they're making the

playoffs this year for the first time.

I think they're gonna do it.

Mario: Really?

They haven't made it yet?

Eva: No, yet.

Not yet.

They had early culture problems, and
I know it's so hard to believe in the

NWSL that a team could have had issues
with coaching staffs and everything, but

Mario: I mean, that's kind of unheard of.

And

Eva: in shock, that's why no one
really talks about it, because

we're like, in our league?

What?

But think that Bev has done just
a tremendous job of making it a

place that players want to play,
and I, yeah, and I think they're

gonna have a really big year.

Angela: Yeah.

I just hope they don't have a light show.

That's all.

Eva: Yeah, and I

Mario: a what?

Oh, the, the, the light show thing, yeah.

Eva: I hope that their year
isn't bigger than ours.

Mario: Oh, geez.

All right.

Well, last but not least, in the
East, we've got the Washington Spirit.

Angela: So they're another
team with big winning culture.

And they've got big money behind
their winning culture now.

Mario: I mean, they've got

Angela: like they got bigger
money than Bob Iger, by the way.

they've got, they got Michelle money,
and we don't know how much money she has.

She owns three teams, and that's a lot.

You own three teams in
three different leagues.

Eva: Do we think she has
more money than Bob Iger?

Angela: I don't know.

Eva: No, I'm asking, I'm posing
the question, I have no idea.

Angela: I

Mario: Yes.

Angela: I think she's
got, scary quiet money.

Like,

Mario: Yeah.

Eva: she's got three teams money, but,
Bob Iger has, head of Disney money.

Angela: yeah, but

Mario: I'm gonna, I'm gonna,
yeah, I'm gonna go with Anne

here and say she's got that like

Angela: Remember

Mario: She's got that like

Angela: and

Eva: Yeah, she just, she
just has, a rich aura.

That Bob Iger

Mario: Yeah.

Eva: yeah, that's a good

Mario: She's She's got that I'm so
rich, I don't have to tell you I'm rich.

Right?

Angela: know.

Mario: you just, you just,

Eva: nothing to talk about.

She would be like, even in ten
minutes of my life, I have never

had as little money as you do.

I never, I have no idea what it's
like to not have a thousand dollars.

Angela: Yeah.

She's, she's different.

Different, different, different,

Mario: but she's also headstrong
and determined to be like, look,

this is, this is legit product.

This is legit everything.

This is sport.

This is not women's sport.

This is sport and we're going to
invest and we're going to do shit.

We're going to make things big.

We're going to go loud.

We're going to do all of that.

Angela: female

Mario: to study.

Angela: own entity, which is huge, huge,

Mario: Yes.

Yeah.

Angela: huge, huge, until this, Don, I'm
also curious to see how the Spirit does

injury wise this season, because Don Scott
is not working with the team this season.

It was the first season
since Michelle Kang came in.

Don Scott is the ex team player.

just, she broke the code of
how to help and how to foster.

Women in sport, tracking how hormones
change your, your productivity and your

ability to run and your speed and your,
decision making and how your menstrual

cycle impacts your ability to play, and,
down to, cellular levels of how to eat,

you know, you eat this thing on this one
day because your hormones are here, then

that means you can do X amount of this.

the science behind what Don
Scott did for the national team.

For the spirit, bonkers.

Absolutely insane.

but the team itself, still very good.

They had a lot of front office movement
last season, outside of the team.

They had a lot of like ticket
sales, the, the player, or not

player, the, the membership reps.

A lot of community was messy.

Last season, so I'm curious how they
have or how they are going to rebuild

a lot of those relationships their
Supporters still because there's a

lot of people that are like nah, pass.

a lot of bridges burnt So I'm hoping
that the team figures some stuff

out They get folks back in the
stadium because the team is good.

So, they also have Trinity
Rodman, which is insane.

She just, she, I can't even
talk, she's just that good.

fun to watch, she's

as she's played through injury
and fatigue and all this, she's

still so youthful in how she plays.

She plays with a different type of
energy that I don't know how to explain.

It's just, she just
played, this is what it is.

It's the way I was describing
Unrivaled earlier tonight.

There are people who play basketball,
and there are people who hoop.

are people who play organized soccer,
and there's people who play pickup.

she plays like she played.

on a random, grass circle with
six other kids for her whole life.

it's the kind of thing
of it's inherent in her.

It's not oh, I learned this through
a system and I learned these plays

and it, I had to learn the game.

She just plays with natural ability
and is also incredibly skilled.

it's one of those, she has the
IQ that's not organized sports.

It's, oh, I see the pitch and I
can go here and I can go there.

Eva: the creativity is off, Tobin
Heath levels, off the charts.

And I mean, they're all gonna be, I think
they're all still pissed off about how

they feel the championship game went.

So that's going to be
a big thing to watch.

I think they're going
to come out swinging.

Yeah,

Angela: have a winning culture there.

They're used to being good.

Teams that are used to being good
and have a history of winning

don't magically just suck.

Big things have to happen
for that to start happening.

They're fine.

They're gonna be good.

gonna be a problem.

They're gonna disrupt teams.

But that's what good teams do.

Mario: All right.

so far you have not put any
confidence in me from the whole East.

The whole East is just, the East is good.

Angela: This league is good.

the league as a

Mario: It's the league.

Yeah.

Angela: the league.

It's not one specific team or

Mario: The keyword of the day.

Parody.

Eva: anyone can win it anytime.

It's the best and the worst
thing about the league.

Angela: Yeah.

Mario: Oh, on any given Friday,
Saturday, Sunday, possibly a

Monday, sometimes a Wednesday.

Eva: Yeah, maybe

Mario: Yeah.

Yeah.

Eva: Tuesday if it's too hot.

And they don't

Mario: Yeah.

Eva: on Saturday.

They don't want a player to
pass out again, so they, they

Mario: I think, I think, I think we
only have like three midweek games

that like, not, not counting like
a Friday, but you know, like a

Monday to Wednesday kind of game.

Yeah.

So there aren't, they did better with
the schedule this year, but still.

Angela: It's so complicated.

Mario: Yeah.

Eva: Yeah.

Mario: Alright, well, now we're
moving on to the West, and,

Angela: West Coast, Best Coast.

Mario: yep, but, you know, as
we talked about in the East,

they're good, I mean, is it
going to be any different?

The league's good, so let's keep going.

Let's start with our,
friends up North, Bay FC.

Angela: Bay FC is, I feel like
they have really bad vibes right

now, but they've got a team.

it's not that they're not good.

They're just new.

they came out hot last season, and
then it was like, oh, right, they

don't have, they haven't figured
out all the things yet, but,

Mario: They did not, they, they
did not draw at all last season.

Eva: That's

Mario: It was either a win

or a loss.

There was no draws at all last season.

You

Angela: it was wild, but they picked
up a three time All American, We

stole Savvy King from them, which,
woo hoo, that's gonna be super fun.

they released Dana Castellanos,
there was a mutual parting of

the waves with Alex Lallera.

there's been a lot of weird stuff.

But they're, like, they have,
Rachel Kundinanji, they have

someone else that they signed
that I can't remember that's good.

they have a team.

They have a very good team
that was already there.

I don't know.

This is a team where it's I don't think
they're good, I don't think they're bad.

I genuinely don't know what
is going to be on the pitch.

Because I was getting intel from
folks who were at Coachella,

and they looked a little off.

Looked like they didn't exactly show
up to the preseason fully formed.

You know, like a fully fledged

Mario: know, it's a long drive from
the Bay Area down to Coachella.

you know, maybe they need a
little more time to stretch.

Angela: Yeah.

But

Mario: Yeah, on,

Angela: curious how Bay is
going to, work this year.

Very curious.

Because there's just been a lot.

Eva: I think a f I think a full season of
Abby Dahlkemper for them is gonna be huge.

Angela: they had Abby D.

Eva: Yeah, yeah, and her and any team with
Caprice Didasco has at least one baller.

you know, I think they, I think they've
got, I think they have the players.

They just have to, you
know, figure it all out.

Mario: yeah, kind of like us, except they
did better at, they did better than that.

Angela: better head start at figuring it
out, but then that little drawing they

had on their Etch a Sketch got, full on

Mario: Yeah.

Angela: five,

Mario: Yeah.

Angela: who knows?

Who knows what's gonna happen?

Mario: Yeah.

Yeah.

all right.

Well, so we're, we just don't know.

They're, they're a little more
of a question mark, as we're

going through the season.

Now we've got the Houston Dash.

Angela: Okay.

I have so many questions.

Because I wanna know who was the decision
maker in all of their off season moves.

Because if it was Angela Hucles Mongano,
why couldn't she do that for Angel City?

That's what my question is.

Mario: I, I,

I would say that.

Angela: no brakes.

Mario: I would say that these moves
feel like they were things that were

already being put in place before she
got there and maybe some of them were

finished?

Angela: or they have a new GM.

The, the ownership group
is chan it, there's so much

changing in their front office.

what I learned from our folks
at, Noodle Time, that they're

like, Oh no, we've got this.

They're handling the teams
differently than they have before.

So I don't know.

did what?

I don't know.

I think some of the moves
happened, but I don't know.

I would like, I would like to know some
things that, again, I will not find out.

So if anybody wants to tell me, I, like
I said, I'm good at keeping secrets.

They signed Mo, Brian, Mo, Morgan
Gautreaux's husband works for this team.

again, it, everything is just good.

Everything's coming up Houston,
and I don't like it because

I'm not a fan of Texas.

But.

They got Abby Smith, who's one
of the backup keepers at Gotham.

They picked up Kristen Westfall
from San Diego, which I want to say

is, in relationship with who used
to play in San Diego, but is now in

Utah, so I have mad respect for folks
are in different states and cities.

It was hard enough when Eva and
I were on opposite ends of L.

A.,

But like Utah to Houston,
that's countries away.

that's a far distance.

So I hope they're good.

Mario: I mean

Angela: that.

Mario: different parts of L.

that feels like driving
countries away sometimes too.

Angela: honestly.

Mario: The sun will have moved so far
by the time you get from one end to

the other that it feels like it's been

Angela: hours of driving just
to go to work and go home.

Eva: Oof.

Mario: Today was insane.

just remind me just never to go
into work on an after a holiday.

Like Just yeah.

Yeah.

Eva: Yeah, for, don't,
don't use the, additive

Angela: asterisk.

Eva: just don't go.

Angela: Yeah,

Mario: just not gonna go in today.

Eva: Yeah, what's the
worst that could happen?

Angela: he's please no.

Eva: I mean, the Yankees did it in the
World Series and look how that turned

out, so I think you'd do just fine.

Angela: womp.

Eva: I'm wearing the black hat
because I'm still grieving.

Angela: they also picked up
Danielle Colaprico, Messiah Bright,

that's gonna bite us in the ass.

And they also picked up Yasmeen Ryan,
who played in college with Messiah.

And I just, damn it.

All gas, no brakes.

I don't even.

We know Paige is there.

we know they're defensive good, Tarsean.

just,

I don't like it.

Eva: This is, this is the most promising
they've looked in, a couple of years.

I'm

Mario: Yeah, which

Eva: so

Mario: Yeah, which I'm ha I'm I'm
happy for them, cause they were

having a really, really bad time.

you know, it's one of those things
where, we've talked about it, ride or

die, we're diehards here for Angel City,
we're gonna be there through thick and

thin, but not all fans are that way.

There are some fairweather fans, and
if you don't have a good and, you know,

Angel City's probably already dealing
with some of that too, If you don't have

a good product on the field, this is LA.

There's so many other things that,
instead of going to the stadium to

a game, you can take your family
to the Natural History Museum.

it's, it's, you know,

Angela: is right there.

Mario: it's right there.

Like, or,

Eva: dos?

Angela: yeah.

Mario: No, you should do both, everybody.

Yeah.

Eva: food is really good there.

Mario: And then Butterfly
Pavilion, Spider Pavilion,

the whole new wing, yeah.

Eva: gems and there's a wall that
I always almost walk into because

it's black and it's so shiny.

And there's, it's like a gem room.

Yeah.

Angela: goes on.

Eva: Yeah,

Mario: Yeah, yeah.

Yeah,

Angela: Definitely

Eva: Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Angela: at Expo Park.

It's a

Eva: a P 22 mini exhibit.

Mario: yeah, yeah.

There's the California Science Center.

You can go there and do
a bunch of stuff and,

Angela: is going to eventually be open

Mario: Yeah, you can no longer
see the shuttle yet, but you

can, but it's, it's on its way.

It's standing up now.

Angela: Mm hmm.

Mario: It's fully this way now, it used
to be like that, now it's like this.

I was gonna use a different word, but then
I was like, no, I was gonna get the whoa,

I was gonna get the, yeah, the, the, yeah.

Yeah.

The Too

Angela: That was great.

Mario: many balls.

Alright.

Okay, where, where did we leave off?

Oh, okay, Houston having
a really good time.

Yeah, they're, they're, they're, yes.

Angela: Yeah.

Mario: Speaking of space
shuttles, Houston, right?

There you go.

See, that, I wasn't going on a tangent.

Eva: No, we

Mario: all right.

All right, now,

Angela: is great, and you should do

Mario: yes.

Angela: should always keep learning,
because then you end up dumb.

And

Eva: And having fun isn't hard
when you've got a library card.

Angela: That part,

Mario: Boom.

Eva: Boom.

Angela: also, support LATL.

That's what that's

Eva: Queer

Mario: We go.

Yeah.

Eva: Free on Libby.

Angela: Yeah, that's a, a remote
library in case anybody wants it.

Or, in case you were wondering,
we're big ol nerds in this house.

Eva: New podcast yeah, yeah.

The podcast is now go no, podcast
is now going by Tangent FC.

Mario: Yeah.

Alright, to try to reel us back in,
we're gonna talk about our friends

down south, who sometimes don't
know which way they're running,

and it's San Frenemies?

Angela: so

Eva: so

Mario: Yeah.

Eva: there.

I was like, I don't think

Mario: San Diego wave.

Eva: What a disaster.

What a mess.

Angela: So the Wave, so much has happened.

Eva: They waved goodbye
to a lot of people.

Angela: They did.

They waved goodbye to Naomi Gurma.

They waved goodbye to Emily Van Eggman,
who got married in the offseason.

Yay!

they waved goodbye to Alex Morgan,
and they waved goodbye to a bunch

of their fan office, because
now they're all suing them.

I don't know what's going on in San Diego.

They've, oh, they've waved
goodbye to Kasey Stoney, which,

whew, still a weird decision.

really happy that she landed with the
national team, because she's wonderful.

Mario: Yeah.

Angela: I don't think she's
pro spying on other teams.

there's that.

yeah,

Mario: She doesn't even like drones.

Angela: shouldn't even go here.

I, I just don't know what
to expect out of San Diego.

Because they're in a rebuilding
phase for a variety of reasons.

New coaching.

honestly, half their team
left, Jaden Shaw left.

they just, I don't know.

Becky's an assistant
coach there, Becky Tweed.

That'll be interesting to see.

Again, I mentioned it earlier
this season when we saw her in a

millisecond of a clip in a video.

I'm really happy a female coach
was picked up again after having

a not great tenure somewhere.

Same with Freya.

it is so rare across sport that, Female
coaches get a second chance, a third

chance, get, get any chances aside from
the one stint at head coach that you

saw them for half a season and they
couldn't do anything and it was weird.

But I'm really curious how,

how the wave functioned through this
season and how the impact of the

lawsuits impact, like the impact of
the lawsuits trickles down to the team

and how much they're impacted by that.

Because A lot is going on for them.

I made a joke to a friend of
ours that maybe that transfer fee

from Naomi Gurma is gonna just
go pay out part of the lawsuit.

Because What?

Yeah.

I was like, ooh, a Millie?

A Millie

Eva: Oof.

Oof.

Angela: at least, but

Mario: It's still not enough, but,

Angela: Yeah, I don't know.

I, you know, I hope for the
players who are there, for those

in the FO, I hope it's okay.

I hope things level out.

I, I don't have confidence given the,

what seems like from the outside and
from what I know from folks on the

inside, Given what we've heard, given
what we've, learned about what's been

happening in the front office, the
league, the players have a player

association, they have a union, they
have, folks who go to battle for them.

Employees don't.

team employees don't.

And that's where things are getting
hairy, so I hope this starts.

towards a better era for their front
office and their employees because nobody

deserves to work for shitty employers as
somebody who's had to work for a couple.

Harassment at work sucks.

Yeah.

When the labor board tells you you
could sue, it is not an enjoyable.

You're like, oh, okay.

So that was as bad as I thought it was.

We'll see.

Dee Dee's there now.

I don't know.

I, I'm just curious what's
going to happen down there.

We'll see.

Mario: well, we'll see when they, you
know, when they run up the five and,

come.

Angela: day.

Mario: Yeah, we'll see them
on opening day, there you go.

Okay, so now moving on to, we're
gonna go into the Pacific Northwest

and we'll start with Portland.

Angela: Yeah, so they've got,
everything I am assuming, Bella

Bixby back from maternity leave.

She was at Coachella.

they signed Dana Castellanos from Bay.

They have a new GM, they signed Sam Hyatt,
they signed Dana Castellanos from Bay.

there's a lot of movement in Portland.

Again, they lost a lot of
players over the last couple

seasons from retirement trades.

Free agency really kind of blew
up the Portland legacy, I think.

Kling, Megan Klingenberg left
the team, hasn't been re signed,

better be re signed somewhere.

This

Eva: Yeah, I

Angela: we say goodbye to Kling.

Eva: I think she's got another I think
she's got another year or two in her.

Angela: Yeah, I will riot
for Megan Klingenberg.

Eva: Yeah, I was shocked to
see, even just from a leadership

standpoint, you're losing Sink,
you're losing Becky Sauerbrunn.

It felt like a weird
time to let go of her.

but, I, I mean, they, they
can, they can do that.

Angela: yeah, new direction,
new, new all the things.

Justice for Kling.

Eva: they're pretty
different this year, I think.

Mario: our current interim head
coach is, was in Portland, right?

Angela: No, Seattle.

Mario: Oh, Seattle.

Eva: yeah.

Mario: Well then that's the next thing
we're gonna be talking about is Seattle

Angela: so Seattle made
big moves in the offseason.

Re signed Jess Fishlock, waived Sierra
King, which also, has she been re signed?

No.

Again, justice.

I, I understand that at some point teams
kind of have to move on or change the

system or blah blah blah, but that,
that's a player I would, I would want

to retain for a variety of reasons.

and a lot of it is that she
kind of plays under the radar.

She scored on us last season
and it was a banger and I was so

mad because I like her so much.

Same with Fish, Fishlock scored
on us a season before and I was

so mad because she's so good.

It's one of those, Y.

kind of moments, like you couldn't do
this every other game, but they picked

up Maddie Curry in the offseason,
which is still a little sad about,

Mario: I think that was

Angela: big, big, big, big, big signing
was Lynn, Lynn Williams, Lynn, Lynn,

Eva: Andolo.

Angela: so many new last, thank you,

Eva: Bye, Andolo.

Angela: names, and I'm so happy for her,
she looks like she's just pumped, Richie

was at Coachella and texting me going,
a problem, and I was like, great, Super.

Love that.

yeah, I, they also picked
up one of Gotham's keepers.

This is, this is a new team.

This is a new Seattle.

Again, Pino retired.

they're coming for blood for those,
last few, Fishlock, Lou Barnes, Sarah

King should be there, but whatever.

I think they're gonna
be frightening, frankly.

The Lynn Williams of it all.

Alone.

Eva: Yeah, I think when When they, or
when she signed with Gotham, I think

Ally Krieger was like, team gets 100
percent better when you add Lynn Williams.

Now, Lynn by Ndolo.

So I think, I think they've been
like kind of missing an edge.

The last, year or two, they've
been missing that, scores when

she wants And, if you need that
player who better, you can't,

Angela: That's Lynn.

Eva: you can't do that much better.

and I think given, yeah.

Angela: in the league for
a couple years running.

Eva: She was the fastest in all of U.

soccer, men's and women's.

she's nuts.

Angela: she's Lynn.

That's it.

Mario: All right.

You're not giving me too much
confidence going into the season.

Angela: That's it.

Eva: Parody.

Angela: But, yeah, why the

Mario: All right.

Angela: is going through this
weird thing of, really good players

are leaving to go get more money,
but at the same time, really good

people are coming to get the parity.

Because the second you leave the
NWSL, you're going into leagues

where you've got teams that have
gazillions of dollars, with buckets

of money, then teams that have 10.

a lot, it's just a different
environment because you have to

figure out how you're gonna play.

you're at Chelsea.

If you're Naomi Gurman, you're at
Chelsea, and you're like, okay, cool,

I'm playing with the best of the best,
but you're playing against teams that

aren't necessarily in the same caliber.

You're used to playing in a specific
environment, and then you have to

adjust your game to maintain through
that, through the mental process of

playing a team that's not as good,
and not on the same level as you.

Or you're playing in a stadium
that's A high school gym, you

know, just a beat up kind of thing.

And then you go play at Wembley.

it's insane.

The, the lack, I don't want to say
lack of parity, but like the, distance

between top tier and teams that are
closer to relegation in, in other

Mario: Yeah,

Angela: it goes the same in the Italian
leagues, in Spanish leagues, like

all over the world, you have teams
that are so good because they have

Mario: there.

Angela: of money.

Mario: Yeah, they're the juggernauts.

You have the ones that are going,
the ones that are going to be

winning every single year, like
without a question, like there's no,

there's no question in our league.

Angela: There's

Mario: never know.

You never know.

Angela: You had Orlando and Gotham
win the last two championships,

and the years before that,
they were bottom of the barrel.

that,

Mario: Yeah.

Angela: in a split second,
it's a different league.

And this season, it is a different league.

Mario: I still wish we had ProRal and
there was a way we can do it with USL,

but that's a, that's a whole nother thing.

Yes.

Well, I mean, but that
would encourage development.

Okay, whole nother thing.

We can talk about that
in a different episode.

Last team.

Angela: the league,
and then we'll redo it.

Mario: All right.

Last, last team in the
West, the Utah Royals.

Angela: yeah, another
big, huh, how the season

Mario: The

Angela: them.

a variety of reasons, again,
gonna have a new head coach.

They have lots of
players coming and going.

They, they picked up Alex Loera.

I really hope she's comfortable there.

I have so many questions for folks
who are playing in the league.

Utah, who don't fit the Utah stereotype
of very white, very conservative, very

honestly very heterosexual, because
I'm concerned for their safety.

Like, same thing in Houston, but
at least Houston is a bigger city.

I, I have concerns, but

I have concerns about their freaking
rosters, or not roster, jersey sponsors.

Mario: Jersey Swans are

Angela: questions I have
about Utah Royals as a whole.

now.

I'm curious how the season goes for them.

They have a good team.

Like I said, Pogarch is there.

Paige Moynihan is there.

Alex

Eva: Centner.

Angela: huge pickup.

Eva: Centner.

Angela: Oh, yeah.

Ali Centner, who's the star.

Eva: The final top draft pick ever.

Angela: And we were there.

yeah, it's, it's just an interesting
conundrum that the Utah Royals are in.

Because they have, they have the pieces,
but they don't necessarily have the

system for the pieces to fit in yet.

But they also need a few
more pieces, I think.

Eva: Also rumor, also rumor mill
stuff there, in terms of culture.

I think they have a lot of work to do.

on and off the field this season.

Angela: but honestly, at some point,
when I feel comfortable going on a plane

or something, traveling, I want to go
to their stadium for the view alone.

Eva: It's beautiful.

Angela: that you see, oh
my god, it's beautiful.

Eva: It's

Angela: in general, I've said it
before here, Utah's beautiful.

Eva: the view is, the view is
as good as you want it to be.

Like, it,

Angela: there, right?

Eva: yeah, I went in their
inaugural season, I think.

It was the season that it North
Carolina was undefeated, and then

Brittany Radcliffe scored on them
and ruined the undefeated thing.

But that's a whole other podcast episode.

But yeah, I've been there.

The stadium's great.

And yeah, I mean, it's beautiful there.

So it's if you put that in a
vacuum, it's like a very desirable

place to play, would think.

It's the everything else, right?

Is,

Mario: Yeah, it's, it's
the reality of life.

Outside, yeah.

Angela: of their players,
Mia Justice, or who's this?

I don't know her last name.

I should have texted.

Ali and I'm from Soccer Moms.

She is, they know her.

they were at her announcement

Mario: yeah, she

Angela: when she announced it.

She got picked up by Utah.

yay!

Eva: That's cool.

Angela: friend kind of thing.

and she was super pumped.

Her family was there.

it was one of those where
they were telling me about it.

oh my God, it's so cool.

That was on the podcast
that got messed up.

Ha, ha, ha.

The audio got jacked up, so it's oh,

Mario: I was, I was gonna ask you,
that never came out, but oh well.

Angela: got super messed up, and Ali
couldn't separate, we were, like, it

was, like, tripled on top of each other.

All the mics recorded everything.

It was not good.

Yeah, but

Mario: yeah,

Angela: how the season's
gonna go for them.

We'll see.

I hope everyone has a decent season,
but I hope our season's better.

Mario: I, yes, yes.

I'm hoping, I'm hoping
our season is better.

you know, tempered,
tempered of a better season.

you know, I'm not saying like undefeated
season, but Also, let's get above 500?

Eva: I was gonna say, I would, I would
love a season where every team is at five.

At least 500.

Angela: Can that happen?

Well, yeah, because then

Eva: That didn't

Mario: I mean

Eva: I, I didn't put too

Mario: I thought you were

Eva: Yeah, I didn't put much
thought into it before I said it,

Mario: Half, half my brain was like,
are you going undefeated with this?

do you want all teams undefeated?

That can't happen.

Angela: No.

Eva: I have a little

Mario: I mean,

Eva: have more brain cells than that.

But I

Mario: I mean Oh,

Eva: think ideally, Utah sucks,
everyone does good, And we do the best.

And I think that, that is my
dream scenario for this year.

And

Mario: we will break them.

Eva: bottom the table.

Angela: Crash.

The waves

Eva: Yeah, I think, I would like, the Wave
and, this is so bad, I'm gonna, there's,

someone's gonna find this and stitch it at
the end of the season, when the find, the

championship game is Utah and San Diego.

But I want Utah and San Diego, for the
bottom, everyone else, everyone else.

then Angel City.

And I think we can all agree that
would be an incredibly enjoyable

season of soccer for the entire league.

Mario: Yeah, yeah.

Eva: I think it'd be

Mario: You know what?

As long as, as long as
we don't get, an EDM game

this season, I think we're gonna be good.

alright.

I had planned to ask, The
interwebs about, a prompt of

who are you looking forward to?

And then I completely forgot.

So I did it really quick on
discord and we got a few responses.

alright, so Zach came in with, us
versus San Diego, which is going to be

the first match, the highway rivalry.

also in a weird way, Seattle and
Portland for the last game, wanting

to end the season with a final finish.

yeah, there's a little bit of, of, I
kinda like that Portland is our last game.

Cause Portland was our last game.

Angela: Two years ago.

Mario: Two years ago, right?

Yeah.

Angela: kick,

Eva: Legendary.

Angela: yes.

Mario: Portland was our last
game every year, like that's

just the way you end the season.

And then like we switched it off,
like where, where we played, right?

Like it was like a home
one year away one year.

That'd be awesome.

It'd be a fun.

That would be a fun way to
build up that rivalry, right?

And also NWSL not going half assed
on a two game on a decision day and

actually make it a decision day,
not like a decision two parter.

So stupid.

okay.

And then, Jeff came in with,
he's looking forward to Seattle.

Curry might be kind of a salty
game and see if we can shut

down their attack with Lynn.

Also games against
Kansas city and Orlando.

They left bad tastes in my mouth.

want to see if they're better than
last year against the top teams.

Could be a good litmus test.

Yes.

Okay.

Angela: also texted me back because
I was like, send me something.

He said, oh, this is a tough question.

I feel like I've been more out of the
loop during this offseason and just

started getting in tune in Coachella
because he was there this last weekend.

Immediately pumped to see how ACFC
reloaded the roster, buying all available

Alana Kennedy stock, which I don't think
there's much available given Eva's pre,

Eva: Let's go!

String bean, string bean,
string bean, string bean.

Angela: he also said, it's
counterintuitive to root too much for

our rivals, but I'm hopeful San Diego
gets their shit together so we can have

some firecracker games against them.

Because I will say.

June 17th is when M.

scored at Snapdragon and,
literally shifted the whole season.

we that is a good litmus
test of where we're going.

He said, I'm super stoked not
to have to see Landon Donovan

on my screen this season

disappears.

We love it!

We love it, and I'm not even I don't care
about the men, but I care about that.

Um Have you met Cobi?

He's so nice.

So he also said, because Richie sits
right in front of us, so he said,

I'm excited for 227 shenanigans and
to see if we have new neighbors.

I was led to believe that we
maybe have some new neighbors.

We know some folks aren't, returning,
like they're doing like smaller

ticket packages moving, so we're
very curious who's moving where.

Again, I'm here for the
drama, just not my own.

But yeah, that's what
we got from the folks.

Mario: Then, well, then let's
go with our round table here.

And Eva, who are you looking forward to

for the season?

Because

Eva: I feel like the
tide might turn for them.

so them, I'm excited to see all
of the, African nation players.

Again, because they came in last
year and just, threw ice water on

all of us and were like, oh, you
thought you knew women's soccer?

You thought you knew how good it could be?

Guess what?

It's even better.

So I'm excited to see, you know, that
contingent of international players.

Seattle, I think everyone's kind of
got their eyes on them, but I think,

I think, aside from them, I think
Houston is who I'm most curious

about, and then not necessarily soccer
wise, but I'm excited to see who

does the first three clap this year.

And I'm saying it now because in the
event that I'm right, it documented,

but I think Kelsey Plum is gonna do it.

Angela: Oh my God.

I didn't think about that.

Eva: That was my whole agenda to be here
tonight, just to say that I think Kelsey

Plum is gonna do the Home Opener 3 Clap.

Angela: K.

Eva: Yes.

Angela: an Angel City game, that entire
stadium will just, light on fire.

Eva: She'll wear a jacket where you
see, her sternum and everything.

Angela: of

Eva: She'll do the 3 Clap.

be so good.

Angela: have rhythm.

Eva: She'll definitely have rhythm.

We know she has rhythm.

I'm just curious, that, all of these
people put on different, positions, and

I'm not sure, where you want to put them,
but, I, I think, which is interesting,

Angela: yet land.

for Kling and Sierra
King, if they re sign.

And gonna be so pissed off.

But, I'm just curious how some of these
teams, Eva said, Houston looks really

great on paper and it hasn't come to
fruition, but all of these teams look

so good on paper, are the teams that
are actually going to put it together?

I have a good feeling we're going to be
one of, me, we're going to be one of them,

but I just want to know who else because
I, too, would like to run the table.

I want to just, have requested
the day off after Opening Day, St.

Paddy's Day.

Do not

Eva: And finally, please, I think
that's all the time we have.

Angela: do me right.

I want the best season.

That's all.

I'm just excited for sports, guys.

It's summertime.

Well, it's almost, I hate the summer,
but I love women's sports and I don't

know why we have to play in the summer.

Mario: it's too damn cold
in parts of the country

during the winter.

Angela: football.

Mario: Yeah, but they're also wearing,

pads and

Eva: stop football.

I don't know that that's

Angela: just kidding.

I was just kidding, guys.

I was just joking.

Eva: concussions

Mario: I mean, I don't care.

Eva: like they're in their
own way at this point.

all for

Mario: I, I always, now, with, not,
not forcing it to be a rivalry,

but, I, I like the, the California,

idea of, the

Angela: Cup.

Yeah.

Mario: gonna say it, but
yes, the San Andreas Cup.

TM.

Nobody steal it.

but the, just the idea that
like, look, California is so big

and we've got the teams here.

That kind of just proves look, there's,
there's markets for everything, right?

And there's ways that this play,
that, that all of this can grow.

And so thinking of how Being able
to bring up smaller markets and

kind of bring them into the fold.

let's, let's have a women's US Open Cup.

let's have a, let's not make a
stupid tournament for no reason.

Let's have a tournament where we bring
in all the other divisions of women's

soccer and then have one kind of big cup.

that would be an amazing thing.

It would be an amazing way to get,
eyes on, All these other markets,

all these other smaller teams.

yeah, I mean, there's, there's,
there's things that I would

like to see in the league.

and then beyond that, I think, Portland,
Portland has always just been a really

fun match, for different reasons whenever
we do play them, but it's always, I

feel like Portland has always been an
exciting match regardless of the outcome.

It's always been an exciting one.

We've talked about There's been, you
can have an exciting game where you

lose, you can have an exciting game
where it was tied 0 0, 1 1, but it

was the most thrilling match ever.

And I feel like we have
that a lot with Portland.

So I kind of, I kind of, I'm
always excited for that matchup.

you know, we'll see, we'll
see how it all goes down.

Angela: I think Portland, too, is
like the that kind of just happened,

Eva: all of you for being here today.

Angela: long time.

or like the easiest team to get to.

So it was like, okay, that's my
team and now it's okay, well, you're

kind of my team, but not really,
but I want my team to win, you know,

Mario: Yeah.

Yeah.

Angela: and I still want you to
do all, but not against my team.

And I think with Portland, one of
those, and it happened, this is when

I love how rivalries happen naturally.

backheel that Bella Bixby did is
the reason why we won 5 1, because

that pissed every single player,
specifically Syd Leroux, off.

It pissed everyone off.

It pissed every fan off.

It was just like, how dare you come here?

You know, like, how?

Ugh.

Everyone

Mario: It wasn't even here,
it was up there, but still.

Angela: there.

Yeah, like, how dare you come all
the way across the pitch and do this?

you

Mario: Yeah.

Yeah.

Angela: assertive, so dominant,
and so aggressively scary.

Cause Syd's bicycle kick from
that game was it's so legendary,

but it was also so vengeful.

oh, you thought,

Eva: That's kind of every
goal that Syd scores.

Angela: that's fair.

That's fair.

She's, that's just Syd, and I

Eva: It's the best.

It's the best.

Angela: kind of thing.

Every, every game is so Aggressive.

every game is so full of tension,
and it's so intense, and it's

not all games happen like that.

And it happened so naturally.

It was the backheel.

It was the 5 1, and now
it's do you want to fight?

are you doing tomorrow?

You want to fight?

Okay.

kind of thing.

And it's just one of the, it's
like an rivalry like, when we play

Portland, hurt people's feelings.

Let's go.

Make somebody cry.

That's fine.

Let's go.

This is not my team.

My team is the one making somebody cry.

That's all.

Mario: Alright, well with that,
that was our NWSL preview.

Whichever one you heard right now
is either East or West, but it

was all good and You know what?

We're excited for the season and if you
like what you hear, hit the subscribe

button wherever you're listening.

Check out casualfc.

com for all the pod links.

We're also on YouTube.

We're also on video on Spotify.

So check us out on all of those places.

headphones Listen Anywhere

Listen Anywhere