Angela: Been doing this for four years.
Doesn't remember which button
is record, which one is
hang up on Angela.
I get
my hair and what, stranger danger?
Mario: Ah!
Angela: Hey, everyone, and welcome
to Casual FC, an Angel
City match preview and footy therapy
pod Featuring two
certified footy therapist.
I'm your
host, Angel Morales, with my very wavy
hair
co-host
Mario
Salazar.
Mario: Hello everyone.
I
mean wavy hair,
but look at the brand new haircut
that
Angela's
Angela: my hair guys.
It's
gone.
Mario: It's
gone.
It
was long.
You mostly saw it
in the top bun.
Angela: Mm-hmm.
I rarely had it
Mario: it, the garlic knot.
there were times where it was down, but
Angela: that's the
longest it's been probably
is been since I was in college and I,
I forgot how much I like it, and I just
keep playing with it,
but
Mario: say that your friend posted
a happy birthday collage, and I
thanked her, because there was
an awesome picture of
Angela: Oh, no.
Was it the one Emily
posted?
Mario: I think
so
Angela: Yeah
Mario: There's
a picture of you with like some
bangs, it was like a
Angela: Oh yeah, I had same
haircut with, straight
across fringe bangs, like curtain bangs.
Yeah.
Mario: Good stuff.
Angela: I don't, I, I cut
my hair however I want.
It
grows back.
I cut it off, whatever.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: I'm still getting
used to it.
Like, what's this?
So
yeah.
Hi, everybody.
this is our match preview of our
upcoming match on Sunday, May
17th, against the Portland Thorns.
Mario: Again.
Angela: Uh, again, already
it's been two weeks.
it-- this one will
not be a BMO.
It'll be up at Providence Park
in Oregon
at 3:00
PM, again, Sunday
the
17th.
Stay after my mom's birthday,
so if you know her, if you
just wanna DM us
and wish her
happy birthday,
she will love it.
Um, the game
will be broadcast on ESPN two and
the app.
It'll also be on
iHeartRadio with Isaac and Tracy.
Angel City is hosting a party
at Untamed Spirits
in at
there early.
Parking is atrocious because
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: there park on
Griffith Park Boulevard walk
versus
parking on the street that
Unchained Spirits is on.
That's a 45 degree
angle because it's Silver Lake.
Definitely park on Griffith Park
yeah.
It's gonna be a game, and
the coolest part about
it
is that thanks to listeners
and viewers like you on our PBS shit,
are
going
to the next,
we are
Mario: Casual.
FC away.
Angela: I
know.
So
we'll be flying up there
Sunday morning and flying
home Monday morning.
we are spending
approximately nine seconds in
Portland outside of the soccer game.
I am
pumped
because
a friend of ours is gonna be there
because their family member plays
for
the team, and you can guess who that is.
we
get to hang out with Emmy's
brother, hopefully, if
we can figure out getting together and
everything up there with the limited time
we have,
I'm sure We'll,
Mario: will.
Yeah.
Angela: I'm super excited.
It's gonna be a super quick trip,
so
wish luck that no flights are delayed,
all transit is working, hotel is chill.
this
is how you know we are like best buds.
" Mario text me and was like.
Wanna a hotel room
like
we're in college because we're just
get up and I was like, I don't,
Mario: I mean,
Angela: Jen cool it?
okay
Mario: you know,
there,
Angela: Jen knows me and I'm
just
" Mario: Well, I mean, Jen
was like, "Isn't she?"
And I'm like, "Yeah."
And she's oh yeah.
eh, you
know?
Angela: it.
Mario: Yeah.
so I,
we, we all reach a certain
age where, pre-college into
college, like you go on a
Angela: you do some weird shit.
Mario: you're staying at Motel eight,
you're staying at Best Westerns, right?
Angela: We don't do that anymore.
Mario: then you get your job and then
you start staying at, oh, I
get to stay at the, at the uh,
the Hilton or the Hyatt or the
Angela: Ooh, a
Holiday Inn,
Mario: Ooh, holiday Inn.
And then you hit a point where you're
just like, "Okay, I need a room that
is
clean, and if I'm gonna stay
there multiple days, someone
will help me clean this.
but for this trip, it's yeah,
no, we're going 24 hours, Uh,
turn and burn.
screw it, we're gonna be
in a, in a room together.
And then,
Angela: For
Mario: yeah.
I'm pretty sure after the match, it's
just gonna be like, "All right, peace.
Go to bed."
And so yeah, I was just a
total, And
the thing is that I was gonna
book a hotel that I really like,
in Portland called The Moxie.
Angela: It's my favorite
thing about this whole trip.
Mario: I've stayed there before.
I didn't book that one.
I booked, I booked a different one.
but I, we were gonna book there
because I really like the hotel.
It's really chill.
It has a really nice bar, in
the lobby and it's literally
straight shot up to Providence
Park, like just walking distance.
then I remembered The Moxie is
in a really old historic kind of
building in downtown Portland,
and.
the rooms with the double beds, the, the,
you know, the, the double queens usually,
um, the rooms are so small
that the double beds are bunk
beds.
And I messaged Angela, I'm like, "Hey,
you wanna, you wanna do a bunk bed?"
Angela: I told him, only if
you're sleeping on the top bunk
' climbing a ladder.
Mario: So
we
at least
Angela: quickly
switched
Mario: We, got an adult room,
a, a grown-up room with actual
beds,
Angela: a.
Mario: without
a ladder.
so yeah, we'll be up there.
If anybody is traveling up to the
Portland match, let us know and,
let us know what you guys are doing.
We're,
like, we said, we're flying in.
We're gonna be there, a few hours
before the match, so We're essentially
just gonna, swing by the hotel,
drop our stuff, and then head over
to
Angela: Eat and
then go to the mess.
Mario: Yeah.
So, but I think it'll be fun
and yeah.
Angela: this will be
Mario's first press box
moment, which is so
fun
the
Portland media team has graciously,
um, permitted us to have
press we'll be in the box.
We'll likely be the
post press.
I'm just super
excited and I just
wanna, give a huge, huge,
huge
like you to anyone who
has
bought
us a coffee,
bought merch, bought
I
don't know.
whatever we sell.
Just, just
thank you
for supporting us and for being
Mario: pins that we have.
Angela: Yeah, like pins and shirts and
silly things and
just letting
us do this because thank...
You know, like
legit, thanks to
viewers like you, we get
to go
do with this trip.
It's very PBSI love
it very much.
Um, but
yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you, thank you.
I'm so pumped.
Mario: I mean, when I,
Angela: But here we
Mario: day, the day I
message Angela to be like,
Hey.
And, I mean, this is over the course
of a couple years of doing the podcast
now, and mainly because, I just noticed
that I didn't have our banking details
or my banking details on the thing to
even cash out, so I never cashed out.
but I texted Angela and I was like,
know, crazy thought, we
have enough to cover our
flights,
Angela: Yep.
" Mario: You
know, and then.
Angela: wanna go?"
And
I was like,
" Maybe?"
Mario: That, that was the,
that was the tough part.
I think I, I, I also, sold
you by, "I have hotel points,
so hotel's free too.
Angela: I was
like, dope.
Let's go."
Mario: Let's go.
thank you Angela's mom for not
being mad that we're heading up for
24 hours.
Angela: it's good, it's good
because we're flying out on
Sunday, which is not her birthday,
because I'm flying home on Saturday,
which is her birthday, because
I have to go
in Texas and
But it's okay.
It's, it's a
family thing.
I don't wanna say it's whatever
because that's,
dismissive and that's
bad.
But it's,
For me at least, it's more
relief than it is, super
sad.
So
Mario: yeah,
Angela: grief is a part of
life and I'll talk about it
until I'm in the face
Mario: Yeah, so.
Angela is gonna be jet setting all
over, the US this week into the weekend.
And on top of that, this past match,
which we'll get to in a minute,
but the fun part of the match,
Angela got surprised
by her mother
with some sweet tickets, so she got--
She was living the sweet life up there.
So-
With the family,
right?
We're busy.
Kids.
Kids got me.
I was gonna say me.
we're talking about me right now, okay?
Angela: It's not even your birthday
yet, dude.
Mario: of course,
I have kids.
and then when we
have things, I, I've told my wife and I,
you know, we've all agreed that, like,
whenever we have events for the kids,
we're gonna prioritize those first, right?
Because, you know, kids' birthdays,
friends' birthdays, things like that.
it's good for them to be with
their friends and stuff like that.
And my daughter's birthday is
a few days after mine, which
is at the end of the month.
Um.
the whole entire month of
May is completely booked
with so many things.
School activities, other friend, kids'
friends, activities, everything.
Angela: Mario, don't
get to breathe in May,
both of us.
my birthday is on the first.
His is
towards the end of the month.
My best friend's birthday is the
last day of the month.
It's Mother's Day.
It's my mom's birthday.
Isn't it, your brother
or your mom's birthday.
Somebody else's birthday's in me besides
Maddie
Mario: No.
Angela: Or
I making that up?
Mario: No, you're, that's
probably somebody else.
But, um, No, but then May is also
gearing towards the end of the school
year.
So there's a bunch of events with
school, and then there's also other
kids' birthdays, things like that.
And my mom
loves-- She's a hostess.
She loves throwing parties, and she
will always throw her own party for
the, the, the kids, the grandkids.
and so the only weekend that was
available was either this past weekend
or
the first weekend in
June.
But the first weekend in June is
now, now belongs to, my niece who
was born at the beginning of June.
And so we're just like-- My mom was
like, "No, she might have a birthday.
And we're like, she, she's
two years a year old, so with
that being said, this was the
only
Angela: are gonna grandma,
Mario: Yeah.
No,
and, and you know what?
as, as,
my wife, likes to remind me, food
and
the hosting is, is my mom's love language.
that's what she loves doing.
She-- That's what makes her feel good.
So we do it and not
reluctantly, we love it.
I just
had some bombass salad or food
Angela: I was
gonna say, I just get
pictures or text messages
Mario: yeah.
but I-- So all that to say that I
told Angela, I was like, "Hey, sucks
I'm gonna miss a San Diego match,
but, you know, and she's "Oh, okay."
And then we were talking later, and
then she tells me about the suite,
and I was, like, making a joke like,
oh yeah, thanks for the invite."
Angela: I was like, "Bro,
you said you had plans."
And he
was just like
But no, I, I'm
so grateful that my mom
did that for my 40th birthday.
She's
" You get that once.
This is a big
deal."
Um, big shout out to the,
the staff at BMO though.
Everyone
know.
Super nice.
They were super, super helpful
when it came to food allergy stuff
and making sure that gluten stuff
was not near food I could eat.
Um, we
got
a special order of their sliders
that they have in one of the food
packages that were gluten-free,
um, and then they let us take it home.
I
had,
like a dozen...
I
ate
four
sliders throughout the game, along
with, fruit and vegetables and snackies
and cheese and, you know,
all the little things.
And then
I
had these sliders on top of it.
and
then I still had a dozen when we
got home, and I was like, "Oh."
" So I have
not...
I had some Sunday night, because
we went to a basketball game on
Sunday.
I
took them for lunch
on Monday.
I've just
been like
this little gremlin
eating little,
little ham- little
cheeseburgers.
but no, I'm, I'm so grateful I
didn't
get sick,
which
is the biggest
yay.
Mario: the biggest win on that, yeah.
and we got reports from people around
the stadium that we had a happy big
birthday for Angela up on the big screen,
which.
Angela: my...
I
don't know if it was, like,
part of the package with
the
suite or whatever, but it was like
happy 40th birthday, Angela, at casual
FC Pod or something like that, and I
was just like, "What is happening?"
Because I'm sitting there
and, my aunt, some friends
of ours some other Angel City friends
that we've made like 2, 2,
7 families essentially was
up there with us,
come
here."
And I was like, "What?"
They're like, "Oh, we missed it."
And I was like, "What?
What did I miss?"
And they're like,
"You're up
Mario: took a picture of it.
Angela: And
then my friend Dustin and his wife Jen
were texting me my friend Dustin.
So our
volunteer of the Match is my friend
Dustin.
He listens to the podcast.
He is a good friend of mine.
His wife is dope.
we
love them.
We hang out with them.
we met them through the
podcast.
They're...
You might remember way back three
years ago,
I talked about
going
to get coffee with Eva before a game,
these people stopped
me on the street,
and I freaked out, and I was just like
That was them.
And now we're,
like, buddies.
And
then my friend Richie,
who's also a friend from
2 2 7 and
listens
to the
show
got me
this
Claire Emslie auto from 2022.
Mario: Ooh,
Angela: We had it homage
whole, posted
up in
the suite.
So I'm just super grateful.
Yeah, it was, like,
pre Mother's Day.
Claire is back.
to everybody who came in,
celebrated with us and
friends
and all the good
things.
That's all.
Mario: Yeah.
Well, I'm glad that you had all of
that.
because again,
Angela: there.
Mario: it, you
know, FOMO is real, but, you know,
I'm really, I'm really happy and we
had a great time, Maddie's birthday.
She had a blast.
She performed For the family, which
by her own volition--
Like, for me, it was always
like, you know, perform and
like, I don't want to, she's
yes, I wanna do this here, mama.
Put on the music.
they
do a cultural dance every year.
and so she put on that.
Plus, she is in school musical
that will be happening this Friday.
and so she performed some of her,
piece, Once Upon a One More Time,
which is a fairytale musical
Angela: I love
Mario: on the
Britney Spears.
on Britney
Spears music.
Angela: Shut
up,
Mario: So they're
singing Toxic.
They're singing Baby One More
time.
They're singing,
Angela: know millennials are teachers.
This is how you know we are the curriculum
makers.
This is amazing.
Mario: it's recorded, so I'll
show you when, when we get it.
Angela: can't wait.
I can't wait.
I'll watch that
immediately.
Drop
everything I'm at work.
Sorry,
guys.
I got
the video.
Mario: Gotta watch this musical real
quick.
Angela: like my pseudo niece
at this point, I got a support,
and if we're doing a Britney Spears
musical,
I'm, front
of the.
Mario: Oh,
yeah.
I'm I'm getting, I'm
getting rehearsals every day
when we go to work, when we go to school.
yeah.
it's great.
I'm excited.
I'm excited to see it.
um, I'm really glad that
you had a great time
because I we're about to say,
talk about--
Angela: about it.
Mario: now we have to talk about it.
Yeah,
we, we played.
We lost.
it was a two to one loss.
they scored, in the second half and
we answered fairly
quickly, which was great.
Angela: And that goal by
Emily Sams,
Mario: by
Amway
Angela: by Sarah Gorden, Amazing.
Mario: there was some
really great trackbacks.
Amazing.
Saved by Sarah Gorden.
but ultimately they did put in another
one.
so we ended up losing, two to one.
So I think everybody was
a little bit discouraged.
The footy therapy.
a
lot of it, went through a
lot of different emotions.
so let's-- first of all, let's start it
off with our, our tried and true haiku.
by Ethan.
Drained, no cohesion.
We are all Sarah Gorden.
Scottish.
Welcome back.
So
as we mentioned, Claire Emsley
made her triumphant return on
the Mother's Day match, which is
amazing.
I think they were just like...
Angela: And I just wanna say
something.
I know we
lost,
but for a
bazillion reasons, this
Mother's Day match was
better than last year's
Mario: What
Angela: last year's was tragic, and
this year we got cleared back.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: Savvy
Mario: Oh, savvy went down less.
The
Angela: I will
take a
loss
any day.
But, uh,
and I think everyone honestly
kind of like held their
breath of just it's been a whole year.
What?
So.
And I almost wonder now
that, I said that out loud,
if
that
was part of the
distraction of just "Oh
my God, it's been a year.
holy shit."
But people are
panicking.
People are throwing the baby
out
with bath water.
there's
a lot of lot
of freakouts
going
on, which I--
get.
Mario: I mean, I will
say I'm the one that,
put the prompt
out there.
so the prompt was, is it
now time to brush it off,
to worry, or to panic?
We've lo now lost four in a row.
does not
bode well.
Uh,
and like I said, the, the
emotions were everywhere, from
Hey, it's, it's, we can brush
this off.
We can still keep going.
to the worry, to the panic.
it was the full gamut.
And with that, as I started seeing
those kind of comments come in, I
ended up just putting up a poll.
'cause I was like, it's easier, at
this point, just click the button."
Um, and, you know, I...
60%, 61%, uh, of
" people who tapped were like,
it's time to worry a bit or a lot."
you know.
a little bit more people
agree that it's panic time.
and you know, there's a sprinkling
of "It's it's just brush it off.
Let's keep going."
Um,
so we have four losses now,
and they were all in a row.
I think we can find
in this position again where we
can keep finding a reason, right?
Fluky goals in the Orlando one.
the,
Angela: this
match and
our Portland
match,
Thanks, NWSL Review,
mean we are down my, M.A.
is out again
Mario: it's two.
It's a two men suspension, which is so
stupid.
but, there's-
There's
things that we can point and the
thing is that, it's starting to sound
Angela: We sound
Mario: us
making it.
Yeah.
like us making excuses like no matter
what, it's "Our team is awesome
no matter what, but these are the
reasons why it didn't go our way."
The, I think at a certain point, you
also have to ask yourself, "Okay,
that's kind of a lot of things.
Angela: and like we've been
perpetually unlucky with
health, with really
weird, card
rules, with
coaching
decisions
previously.
not so much now, we're kind
of getting into a rhythm now
with,
with my being out that kind of
shook everything up in a way I don't
think anybody really wanted it to,
But right...
It's like right
as we had started to get
steady in the midfield,
it was
like, "Oh, well, you lose a
player for two games for no good reason.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: I
have issues with that
whole situation and the
red card, but
so does everybody else, we
don't need to go into it.
But yeah,
it's, it's
hard to remain hopeful
When you've been here for
four Seasons and you're like,
oh, cool.
Again, Neat."
But I
still think
like
even I were talking about
it the other night or
last night today, I don't even remember,
But we
were both like, "This team has it.
We've seen it."
But it's
like somebody turned the pilot light off,
or somebody turned it, the flame down
and cooled us off, and
it's like, "Hold up.
Mario: Yeah,
Angela: Crank that shit
back up."
we'll
get into that a little bit later.
Mario: We,
We,
we, had so many gains
Angela: Mm-hmm.
Mario: In the first couple
matches and we were riding high,
and these brought us way back down,
so we're, we're essentially at
like square number one again.
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: maybe maybe square zero
Angela: still positive.
Mario: gold differential, still positive.
Angela: that's a miracle in
Mario: that,
that's still a
miracle.
I mean, that is not something
we've historically had.
and I will
Angela: at any point of the season.
Mario: And
I will say, if we're looking for any
type of, uh, silver lining on this,
we are still the leaders
in the San Andreas Cup
because of gold differential.
So
Angela: I'll take it.
Mario: I'll take it.
I'll, I
mean,
as
made up as it is, I will take it.
Angela: The
C Andrea Cup, the pseudo cup as it is, has
like a fake crack in it, And now it's like
Band-Aids over
the crack.
has been run over by a car a
couple times.
But, no, I
also wanna remind
people,
a
team
rebuild
on
average takes
three years, three
seasons.
We're kind of in one and a
half right now.
half to one and a half,
depending on who you ask.
So We're
gonna see the big highs and the low lows
and some
weird shit in between,
but That's what happens.
Sports are cyclical and
It's
irritating.
as hell to have to be the
Mario: that's why we're here.
That's why we're here.
'cause it,
Angela: to be
the sanity
check.
Yeah.
Mario: irritating because it is, but
also when it's amazing as it was in
the first couple matches, it's fucking
amazing.
So
Angela: good.
Mario: it...
You know, we're only a
quarter of the way through.
other little silver lining
that just hit me right now,
yes, we're
a quarter of the way through.
Remember this is also
Merck type of, league where
we still got the playoffs.
So
Angela: Mm-hmm.
We just have to
make the playoffs
Mario: ultimately the goal is
you just gotta make the
playoffs.
Angela: And we still have
games in hand.
I know
we sound
like we are freaking
foil hat
members right now, but
honestly, I'm being really
realistic.
We
have games in
hand.
We have people who are
out for no good reason.
Claire is coming back, which
that already s things
up.
I'm just excited.
I'm excited to see what
this team, does in the
in the next couple weeks
because they're gonna
be pissed.
The way
I said.
San
Diego is gonna be pissed
after losing to Bay ffc
on, a wild one goal.
Pk, no pk, whole thing.
I feel like we're gonna be
that mad coming out of that game because
we
had it.
there's no
reason why we
should have lost.
And one of the answers I saw in
the Footy Therapy post was that,
even the players are like, "We
can't keep losing when we're
playing
well."
And I
don't remember who said it.
Oh shoot.
it's somebody at the national team level
years and
years ago, but it was like
if you, you
you will never lose or,
as long as you stop them
from scoring, the other
team will never win.
you
you have to cut the, cut
your bleeding and, cut the
losses, stop the bleeding, that
kind of thing at some point, and
we're so close to putting it all
together.
But again, I'll talk
about that in a minute.
Lee, ground up,
Mario: League roundup real quick.
there was, Uh, a number of matches.
There was a couple matches that were
midweek and then we went into the weekend.
so Utah beat Houston, two to nothing.
Louisville beat Portland three to one.
so that's what we're going into.
They had a loss too.
Orlando beat North Carolina one to zero.
Gotham and Boston, both, tied.
One, one we lost to, San Diego.
two to one.
Denver beat
Houston, four to one.
Again, all of these matches at-- you.
you've heard Utah, you've heard Houston.
We've heard Houston again right now.
this is where all the wackiness
is happening and why we
have two matches in hand.
So
At a certain point, I need to, I
need to do my homework and find
out where's the, even out point,
where's the point where we're all
going to be back, back on even ground.
But, Denver beat Houston four to one.
Casey beat Chicago, three to zero.
Angela: Temwa Chawinga had a hat trick.
I just, That's just...
Mario: all three in
this one match.
Oh, that was her.
Damn.
All right.
Then
we've got Bay and Utah drawing zero,
zero, and then we had the spirit win over,
Angela: and I just wanna...
I know it's part of this next week's
matches, but it's Tuesday
night, there was a game today.
Boston got their first win.
Two to one over
Orlando.
Mario: second win.
Angela: No.
Oh
yeah.
Yeah.
Second win.
Second win.
Yeah.
Big
time.
Mario: over Orlando too.
Angela: Over
Orlando, there were
two pks.
Apparently it was
bonkers.
Mario: Okay.
yeah, I
haven't seen the recap
or anything about it yet,
but two
pks,
Angela: Two PKs, one for
each
team.
One of them
everyone was like, "I don't know
why this is PK, but okay, sure."
neat,
Mario: all
right.
Well,
Angela: soccer is crazy, y'all.
If, If, you
are also
big into, uh, women's sports
Summer, PWHL playoffs right
now, at WNBA has kicked off,
Soccer is happening.
I There's so much.
I love it.
I'm so happy.
Life's so fun.
Life's so.
Mario: Well, we just did this, so Angela
is going to give a truncated version, but
let's talk about our next matchup against
Portland.
Angela: Okay, so Portland Thorns
in Providence Park, they're going
to be
rowdy as hell
because Portland is the
do what they do.
It's respected wildly
the thing is, is I'm gonna talk
about any players this episode
because I just did it two weeks Go
listen to that episode when Mario
and I are, like six I how many
apart, about a billion it
feels like from Sacramento to
LA.
Um- Six and a half hours on a good day.
So go watch
that episode.
Sophia
Wilson's amazing.
Olivia's amazing.
pie toin.
insane
season she's having.
They are--
There was this, little moment in
the beginning
of
the season where people
were like, "Does Portland suck?"
And
I'm like, no.
Give it,
Give it, a minute."
So if it's coming back in, 10 seconds.
Take a
deep breath.
They'll figure it
out.
Here we are.
There are
teams
that
Portland, North Carolina, Gotham
now is becoming one of them, there
are
teams that just
know how to win
win winning needs to happen,
and Portland is one of them.
They're gritty, they're defensive.
They're
persistent
and
it's
really frustrating.
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah,
it is.
Angela: it's really
frustrating when you're on the
receiving end
of that, especially
when you're the team that unlocks
Sophia Wilson's scoring return.
Rude.
Don't do it again.
Um,
but as, we, we were
talking about it last week
and it's like as
happy as I'm to have her back,
Why us?
Why
did it have to happen against
us for once?
We just have one nice thing.
Mario: She scored the next game too.
It's couldn't you just wait till that next
game,
Angela: Wait a week.
But yeah.
So
the majority of the stuff
is very
unfortunately, because
we've had a lot of deja vu over the
last couple weeks.
But the biggest
thing for me is we have
to find the confidence in
our attack again.
we were sharks
in the water.
We were poaching balls from
keepers.
We were beating up defenses,
and
something,
something changed and now
our attack is kind of,
there, question
mark,
sometimes.
So
I'm
really curious
how we figure this out,
because It's the Ys.
Maybe somebody is just kind of having
a little freak out, and that happens.
Like we said it
with Alyssa when after the World Cup.
It's like well, she, you
can tell, not intentional.
And it's
not
fear.
It's like this weird in between
thing of just
ah,
It
happens.
Mario: this is like a whole team.
yip though.
Angela: Yeah.
Yeah.
And it's like something
happened.
Mario: every, everything,
everything is just a little off.
Like we were
talking about, a couple matches ago, like
all the passes seem to either be like
half hit, like not enough behind it, or
they were hit, but they were
like two steps too far ahead of,
of who you were passing into?
the,
I, and then I, I wanna
say even the, the next
game or, or maybe it was the same
one or whatever, but there was
another match where every single
pass that we were doing or we were
hitting was just being intercepted.
we could not
find a clean.
Yeah, and, and it was just
like someone, someone, one of our, our
team kicked the ball, and it's "Oh,
well, there's the other team.
They have it."
Like it.
Angela: There's a defense.
Cool.
Mario: Right?
And for some it, and it
definitely was this night and day
from how we started.
And every single time that kept happening,
we were like, oh, something's off.
But, you know, they're
gonna, they're gonna flip it.
Strauss is gonna give them that, that
halftime pep rally, that
happened with Houston.
And then we're just gonna come out
the gates, because oh, they, you
know, he's keeping an eye on it, and
they figured out what's going on.
Came to fruition in those last
couple matches, But then again,
like I said, we find a reason for
Angela: and that's the hardest
part because there's so
many moving parts on a team.
We know Spinus has been getting rocked.
Like literally she's gotten her
shit rocked the last few games.
Her ankles are probably screaming at
her, and that sucks, and it sucks to run
eight, nine miles on a body that hurts.
It sucks to run any distance
on a body that
hurts.
Um, ask me how I know.
it, it's-- What you were saying, is
like, we're putting it together in
pieces, but we really, really need
a couple of really good, great games
in a row in order to pick up wins.
At this point, I'm fine with the
draw
because it means we still get a point, and
it,
it's, a course correction.
You
know what I mean?
if it can't be all
at once, give incremental.
That's fine.
I would
love to see us run on all
cylinders for a full 90, even with subs,
even with whatever
happens
in the game.
I would love
to see that happen for the last
couple games
before
the June break because that'll help
regain and build that
confidence
into that break as, a
mini international break,
a break
for men
and allow
the team
to, build
off
that.
You can
clip that one.
I broke Mario guys.
Mario: I just think it's
hilarious that every time, like,
you realize it's because of
the man, you're like, Ugh.
Angela: Well, yeah, because it's also
in my neighborhood, and I don't want it.
But
no, I, I really
think if we can put together
a
really solid three game run
going
into three, four, I dunno
how many games we have left.
I think
it's
three
Mario: I think we have three left.
Yeah, I do
think what if we can string
together a solid, a solid
couple of games with a
result, right?
Angela: Yes, with
results.
Mario: point, at this point, draws,
Are that we're
saying draws are acceptable?
yeah, I mean, they are
because
Angela: the point.
Mario: well, one, we'll take the 0.2,
a draw means that we were able to, either
break down what the,
whatever defense they had
and scored, and then held
them to the same standard.
or even in, in a nail nil draw.
Angela: already
that
I think
everybody
believes one, we should have won,
but if not, it shoulda been a draw.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: Orlando being one of them.
the San Diego game.
you know what I mean?
Where it's like we didn't have
to lose,
Mario: yeah.
And, and you know, the way we, the
way those are being lost with like
towards the end of the match, it's
very much like
giving
flashbacks of the
last
Angela: a little PTs reminiscent.
Mario: yes.
So I, I do think that
them putting together
something.
is going to be
beneficial for the team in the long run.
And like at this point, you know,
we're getting, we have June back, and I
believe she played the full 90, right?
no, she got pulled out?
Okay.
Again, guys, I was at
my daughter's birthday.
I didn't see this mouse last match.
but we have Claire coming back.
Karsyn Cherry got, reactivated and
was on the bench, for the last match.
we have
Angela: merch
dropping this
week.
Mario: It's actually out now.
Angela: Taylor
Su Suarez is this close to being
scary and it's fun 'cause that's fast.
Mario: yeah.
Angela: She's
getting a lot more confident on the ball.
She took a
hell of a
shot that went wide, but, like.
she's a real
deal and I'm excited to
see it once it connects.
Mario: Yeah, yeah.
So I.
I do I do think we're gonna
find our rhythm again.
I do think we're gonna find the sauce
that we had in those first couple matches.
whatever is going on, hopefully
it's being, worked out, tweaked,
you know, whatever they have to do to
get that gel back because it, it, it
was cooking, for those first couple games.
the Houston game is the, the, the kind
of the weird, like we stumbled a bit,
but we wrote that We were, we finished
really well, but then after that, it
just kind of all started unraveling.
So whatever,
whatever confidence was, has been shooken,
we, you know, hopefully get that back.
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: again, if you want to hear more
about Portland, listen to the last episode
and then the preview episode before
that, you'll get a lot more information.
We just did this so.
Angela: I,
I really hope that with Claire being
back in the rotation, Sid being
back in training with everybody,
things start to solidify again, like
you said.
And I hope it
turns that that flame back up.
you know, reignites the pilot light.
I want to cook with gas.
Like, I want big flames.
I
want, I want theatrics.
I think everybody does
at
this point, and, the team deserves
it.
We
deserve it, because it's
not like they're not
working hard.
And I think that's the biggest
thing
for me
is I don't wanna
sit here and shit all
over the team.
There's still
so much good,
and they're so-- they're
playing so much
better than they have in past seasons
when they're in this position.
We didn't give
up that goal, the second goal last weekend
because
we weren't playing well,
The deep and or, continuously.
It was a, it was a
lapse.
It wasn't this, six to one game or
something crazy where you're just like,
" Is this real life?"
You know?
it's
it's these
moments
where
you see the breakdown in the run up to it.
You don't
see it the whole you
don't see a degradation
across the whole game.
And I think it's really
easy, and I'm saying this
as a fan of
historically very prolific
winning teams, because I am from LA,
the
teams I cheer for win a lot.
We forget what it's like in the
first few seasons for a team when
they're trying to figure their shit
out,
Coaching
changes,
injuries, players
in and out.
there's
so many
things that have changed.
where for, Orlando and
Gotham and Portland,
yeah, players have changed, people have
retired, people have been
traded, whatever, but
they've, they've been
around for a decade,
or, 15 years
almost.
You know what I mean?
So it's like they, there's,
there's still
stability in that, and
it's really easy for
us
as no longer
the newest expansion
team, but still expansion
like, you think
about it business wise,
if you as a small business
make it five years,
you're
better already than, 85% of
businesses
ever opened.
Like it's some crazy stat like
that.
Mario: if you as a podcast make it
Angela: Yeah.
if you make it.
one year,
there's what?
What was the stat early on Mario I
was like, "Oh my God, there's like
millions
of podcasts with three
episodes and that's it.
Mario: yeah.
Angela: And we're
now in year four and a half, five,
essentially.
we still have so
much to be proud of on
this season,
and just because we've lost the last few
doesn't mean the whole
season is thrown away.
Mario: No,
Angela: I just
want to help recalibrate.
We were only, two
months
Mario: the way
Yeah, we're only a quarter of the way in.
Again, playoffs.
right?
Right sizing.
Right
Angela: playoffs, anything can happen.
Mario: Right sizing the vision.
right?
Tu tunnel vision.
Right sizing it all.
I, laugh because the idea of lowering
the bar of "We're gonna win it,"
know, "We're,
we're gonna be good," and then,
we're gonna make the playoffs.
Angela: honestly, I
think I said it in one of the first
episodes, if we have a 500 season,
I'm
happy
Mario: Yeah,
Angela: Because we didn't have that
last year, or the year before that,
or the year before that, or the
year before that.
We
hit 501.
we make
the playoffs, two, it's the best
season we've had.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: right
now we're
sitting
just a little bit below,
but like right there.
So
if we pull this off, which kind of
feels like
it'll be a miracle, but whatever,
we pull it off in Portland,
it's gonna be
very hard
to contain me
in the press box, and I
have to be very careful.
we will-- I will have my iPad.
I don't know if mine's gonna
bring this computer, but I will be
tippy tapping on Blue Sky
and in the
Mario: we'll
end the discord, so join us in the
Discord.
Yeah, everyone, we'll we'll be we'll be.
Doing almost play by play, with
us up there, 'cause we have to
keep a decorum in the press box.
We can only, we can only
yell with our fingers,
So.
Angela: Lots of caps,
screaming, screaming.
So
that's
my, that's my
pre-
preview in big fat
air quotes.
But again, thank you
everybody for the birthday wishes.
thank you for being fantastic
listeners that allow
us to.
like
go to
Portland for a game and
have a crazy whirlwind day.
weekend.
No, It's
four hours,
Mario: It's gonna
be awesome.
I can't wait.
It's gonna be really fun.
so yeah, with all of that, if you've
gone this far, do us a favor and
subscribe wherever you're listening.
Check out casual fc.com
for all the pod links
and the social links.
or also on YouTube.
You can see us, You can see
Angela's brand new haircut.
Angela: I honestly was not
posting pictures because I
was waiting for this
moment because Mario didn't know We logged
on and he went, "Oh my God."
Mario: come join us in the Discord.
we've been...
A lot of footy therapy, a lot
of footy therapy sessions happen
on the Discord because it's a
little more one-on-one rapid fire.
not one-on-one, one on
everybody, but, rapid
fire, we get
Angela: not a character limit
Mario: we got, we got, we get
to talk to each other, which is great.
best ways to support the pod and the
way you've guys been supporting the
pod has been great, and let's keep
this growing and sharing with people.
So share, comment on the posts, comment on
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wherever you're listening on YouTube.
it helps with all the engagement and
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go check out our merch
store@shop.casualc.com.
Uh, we
have merch there.
We just dropped one for Karsyn Cherry,
uh, with the, uh, cherry bomb.
And, again, more
stuff.
We have stuff waiting in the
wings just for the right moment.
and if you feel so inclined, help support
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It's the easiest way to
send us a buck or two.
really that's how
viewers,
listeners like you and viewers
like you have helped support
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and it's really means fucking a lot.
It means amazing.
And the fact that we get to go to this
based
on what we've been
doing and, and the support you
guys have given us, over the, the years.
it took us this long to, to
do it, but you know what?
that's still amazing in my book.
go...
You can throw us a couple bucks.
There's actually some subscription
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just wanna make it regular.
And the subscription
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Basically like just a dollar a
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And best way to support the pod and
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the pod it gives us, brings us good luck.
We package all that up, and we send
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going up to Portland with the team.
Not with the team, but
you know, with the team.
So we will hand deliver it when we're up
there, and we'll make sure that, you know,
all that goodwill is, is passed along.
So.
we'll see you at
the
in Portland,
yeah.
Bye, everyone.
Angela: Portland, bye.
Mario: the
finger
Angela: I
dunno what that was.
And
then my friend Dustin and his wife Jen
were texting me
And
I'm sorry, my record player is
on?
Ghost.
Hold on.
I...
That's so
weird.
Hold on,
I'm texting Eva.
Mario: There's a ghost in the house.
Come turn off the
Angela: It's
just spinning.
Mario: With
no record on it?
Angela: No
record.
It's closed.
there's stuff on top of it.
so we
have a running joke that we're, like,
semi haunted by her uncle 'cause he
would play pranks like this on people
while
living.
And when we first moved
in, one of
the breakers,
because,
you know, they redid
this house we moved in,
one of the electrical breakers
cut flipping, and it was only
in the
kitchen
And it was, like,
in the middle of making popcorn
or, in the middle of
reheating food and like...
the garbage disposal will just turn off.
you just run it and
you'll go and just turn
off.
And we're like, oh, Uncle
Pete.
What the
fuck?"
It's just
spinning.
I'm sorry, I'm a little freaked out.
Mario: This is gonna be a beautiful post,
post episode comment.
Angela: okay,
so there ghost to my house.
Whatever.
Uncle Pete, quit it.
Turn it off.
Thank you.
Still What
the fuck?
It would've
been scarier if started playing music
Okay.