Mario: if you feel so inclined and
you wanna help support the pod,
you can always support us by, whoa
Rewind
Did the camera just like
completely shake or was it just me?
Angela: Everything was like this,
Mario: These
Angela: dang, I know you're in
Reseda, but you don't need to
reenact the Northridge earthquake.
Mario: Welcome to Casual FC,
an Angel City match preview and
footy therapy pod featuring two
podcast-certified footy therapists.
I'm your host, Mario Salazar, and
with my all-knowing arborist of a
Angela: Yeah, If only
Mario: knowing enough that
helps me with the shit that I
have, my co-host, Angela Morales
Angela: Hi.
also, I might bring this up again later,
but real quick 'cause you don't even
know this happened, big shout-out to
Duda Pavão who I ran into after the game
Mario: Ooh
Angela: last week, and we
chatted it up for, 15 minutes.
good to see you.
We love you.
And, see you in DC.
Mario: Nice.
Angela: I'll tell you the
rest of that off the record
Mario: nice.
But big news out of all of this,
six point, six point, sixth place.
Angela: Sixth place.
Air horn, air horn, air horn.
Like confetti, confetti guns.
yay.
Oh,
Mario: did not drop the
ball with our game in hand.
Angela: this is my Koosh ball.
We did not
Mario: we will get into that.
but today's episode is our match
preview for our match against the
Washington Spirit on Saturday,
September 26th at Rowdie Outtie, at
Angela: honestly, I can't wait to go.
I can't wait to go to a game at
Raviaudi, especially knowing that,
the playoffs are coming and the
playoffs are a mystery as to who's
actually gonna peak at the right time.
I'm so excited
Mario: is
I'll, I'll ask this question.
Hold on.
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: PM Pacific Time.
Angela: Woo
Mario: it's gonna be on ION TV and
also iHeartRadio, and, Angel City
is having an official watch party at
Commons Space Brewery in Hawthorne.
Everything starts at 2:30.
It's usually an hour before.
Goes till, 5:00 or 6:00,
Angela: Get there super early.
Parking sucks.
They have a big lot.
It fills up so fast
Just
Mario: there you go.
You heard it from, you heard it from
Angela: Yes
Mario: but question about Rowdy Audi,
Angela: Yeah
Mario: Audi Field in Washington, in
the Washington, DC area, Do you think
it's going to live up to its name?
does it have its name because of the
spirit just because of the location
and, you're gonna get the finals
crowd, so it's gonna be hyped up also?
I'm just wondering if
it's one of those, home
crowd type things or, now
you got a mixed neutral crowd
Angela: No, I think based on how
much fun it was last year in the
Bay, like mixed crowd, we were next
to the Spirit cheering section.
Like it, it is going to be so much fun.
I, I have complete faith that Rowdy
Outy will live up to its name.
I'm excited to chant Free
DC in the 51st minute.
Like I'm excited to participate
in the, in the vibes of it all
Mario: are you gonna go
early and run the 5K?
Angela: No.
no, because in our group text,
Yessy, Eva, and I are like,
"Okay, this got announced today.
This is what's going on.
This is what happened last year.
thisâ¦
Are youâ¦
I'm already getting this.
The tickets from here, make
sure you have this account, make
sure you have that account."
And Yessy is like, "Tell me everything."
And Eva and I are like this, "Drr."
So I'm not running a 5K because
we will be walking, and on the
Metro all over DC that weekend.
The nicest thing is that Eva's aunt, who
we're staying with, thank you Bobby for,
letting us stay with you, lives within
walking distance of Rowdy Audi and The
Wharf where everything is gonna be for
Fan Fest and, like, all of the, the stuff.
I'm
Mario: Oh, that's awesome
Angela: so excited.
I'm so excited
Mario: for everybody who's not, aware,
today actually it was announced,
a bunch of extra programming
surrounding the final got announced.
So there's a 5K, there's going to
be the, skills challenge, two other
events that I don't have the graphic
in front of me and we didn't put it in
the notes, so I don't really remember.
But go check out the NWSL,
Instagram, and, and find
Angela: Onâ¦
I can just tell you.
Mario: okay.
Angela: On Wednesday, it's the
award, the NWSL awards, which
voting will go live for soon.
Thursday, it's the, it's theâ¦
I just lost it
It's something plus the, Time Wasting or,
Just Women's Sports show that they put on
similar to the one they had last season.
Kelly O'Hara is gonna be there.
I think Cap is gonna be with her.
I'm not sure if it's Time Wasting
official or all of the Just
Women's Sport shows together.
followed by the Women's Games Night
of a Thousand Stars where they
have, both teams showing up and, and
players from both teams interviewing,
which was also super fun last year.
Yeah.
Then the skills challenge on Friday,
and then the game on Saturday
with Fan Fest before the game
Mario: Okay.
So yes, the 18th is the awards, the
20th will be the skills challenge.
The 21st, I'm guessing in
the morning will be the 5K.
There's also the Fan Fest on the 24thâ¦
21st, sorry, and then the match on the
21st at 8:00 PM Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.
yeah, I'm wondering, which I have
not r- read up on, if the game's
gonna be broadcast at the same
time that it actually happens
Angela: The game, yes, the
Seals Challenge is a week later.
It's so stupid.
Mario: so stupid
Angela: Yeah, it's the same
thing they did last year.
They need to learn from the WNBA
and broadcast it the same weekend.
also there will be other programming
that we'll be hoping to go to.
Ally House is usually a pop-up
that happens, and then there's
a couple other thingy things.
So we'll see.
Mario: All
Angela: And who knows?
We might just run into people and
get brought into other things.
It's, it is so much fun, and I'm
so excited that it's gonna be so
much more central than it was in
San Jose 'cause, it's California.
We're a lot more spread out in general.
But yeah, I love DC.
I love the people of DC.
I cannot wait for this.
I'm so excited
Mario: Sounds like fun.
but to the big headline of the weekend
Angela: Yeah, yeah, yeah
Mario: Pretty much everything that
needed to go our way went our way.
All except for one result went our way.
Angela: And that's fine
Mario: That's fine.
We are in sixth place.
is even.
25 matches across the board.
Everybody has played.
we are in sixth
place.
Angela: We,
did it.
We did it
Mario: we still got a couple weeks to go.
We've got, five more weeks to go.
and I'm pulling up the, the l-
the latest standings right now.
We're s- it's, it's still tight.
we're in, sixth place with 39.
Fourth and fifth is Portland
and Utah tied at 42.
right?
So only three points away.
San Diego's only at 45.
Washington's only at 46.
Angela: Yeah, like it's,
it hasn't stretched yet.
it's starting to stretch
between the bottom of the table,
that's getting further apart.
But second through eighth is all jumbly.
Mario: Yeah,
Angela: And
Mario: As always.
But we're, we're, we're in sixth.
We're above the
Angela: We're in sixth place
Mario: We were, we were hovering just
below the line for so long, and we just
have to remind everybody we had two
games in hand for the longest time.
Then we
Angela: Yeah
Mario: had a game in hand, so our
point total wasn't fully baked yet.
It is now, and look at us.
Look where we are.
Who would've thunk?
Angela: I love it.
I love it.
So
Mario: we have five more games,
to hold onto this sixth place.
Angela: or higher
Mario: Or higher, g- or,
Angela: We don't know yet
Mario: in a crazy-ass world, there's
a possibility we're in second.
Angela: Shit happens
Mario: In a crazy-ass world.
You never know.
Um, we've got five games
to really hold onto this.
it's not going to be completelyâ¦
It's not a cakewalk.
Angela: Oh, absolutely not.
Mario: no.
we've still got three more m- three more
matches on our road trip before we come
back to do, Our fan appreciation match,
October the 24th, 25th, something like
Angela: 24th
Mario: yeah, against, Bay FC and, the,
the San Andreas Cup match is going
to be, at home, one of the last ones.
and that's going to be the
fan appreciation match.
And then if you've been listening or
watching to the announcers on NWSL+ for
the last couple weeks, who keep getting
it wrong and have not gotten the update
that the final match is not going to be
played at BMO, and is going to be played
at Dignity Health Sports Park, on the,
on November the 1st for decision day, and
that one's going to be against, Denver.
so w- we'veâ¦
We got a ways.
We got a
Angela: Yeah
Mario: you know what?
Let's, let's revel
Angela: I fully believe
we can do anything.
I'll get to that.
I'll get to that.
But I need to read you a haiku by Ethan
that the haiku bot in the Discord did
not agree with because they don't know
how to say PKs, 'cause it's a robot.
It's not picks.
It's PKs.
so Ethan's haiku this
week was, "PKs by Ali.
Big swings into playoffs.
Feels good to believe."
And damn, does it.
Does it.
Oh my God.
Okay.
Vero threw in the
Discord, "I like winning."
It feels so good.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: feels so, so good.
I think everyone is just "This is the
most hope I've ever had in my whole life."
"Ah."
Every millennial's like,
"I feel alive again."
"This is the best day of my life."
yeah, overall the general
consensus, consensus?
Wow.
Consensus was just, "Hell yeah."
there's a sceneâ¦
I, and I feel like six people
would be like, "Angel's about
to talk about Bring It On."
At the end of Bring It On, the,
the Rancho Carne Toros come in
second to the Clovers, right?
And Kirsten Dunst looks at Eliza
Dushku and she goes, "Second place?
Hell yeah."
That's what this felt like.
Sixth place?
Hell yeah.
That was the, essentially the
footy therapy prompt on Instagram
'cause I was just like, "Ah."
I could've run through a wall.
Even I were like, "Oh
my God, best day ever."
so for those of you who didn't get
to watch the game, quick recap.
There were two reds in the
first 20 minutes of the game.
One was dogì, the other was
violent conduct in the box.
Whatever was happening for
Utah, I don't know, girl.
What was that?
Uh
Mario: I don't, I don't know.
I was g- I was getting, I was
getting the F- FOTmob updates
Angela: Yeah
Mario: the first couple, 'cause
we were, we were finishing
up some, some family stuff.
I was getting FOTmob updates,
but, they were coming in sporadic.
then the Discord is blowing
up, and I'm like, I can't look
at this right now," so itâ¦
And yeah, I caught up after the second PK.
Angela: No,
Mario: I was like, "What the
Angela: after the second red,
'cause there was only one PK.
Mario: Sorry, after the second red I
Angela: Oh, yeah.
Mario: PK.
Angela: Yeah,
Mario: the second red, that's when
I caught up and I was like, "What
Angela: What?
Mario: going on?"
And everybody was like, "Oh, hey
Mario, just, just, caught up."
Angela: Oh, Byron's here, guys.
He knows what's going on.
It was wild.
It was absolutely wild.
And, it, it took usâ¦
And it, this happens when teams go down,
the opposing team also has to adjust.
It's different 'cause now,
who do you match up with?
Like, where's the extra person go?
How do you readjust your brain,
your attack, all that good stuff.
So we had to adjust to that.
Then the second, the second P-
or the second red card happens.
We earn a PK.
what?
Okay, cool.
that happens, and then Ali Centner
scores her third PK in three games.
Okay, her fifth goal in five games.
I don't hate any of this.
Everybody was chirping, "She's not
doing anything, da, da, da, da, da."
But w- you gotta give
somebody time to adjust.
it takes a minute
Mario: I, I'm, I'm gonna say it just
to play devil's advocate, but, granted,
they're, they're the PK goals, but
Angela: I don't care.
A
Mario: the
Angela: goal's a goal
Mario: goals
Angela: She's had two in the
run of play and now three PKs.
It's fine.
Mario: I was gonna say the two
Angela: And
Mario: play were, were good
if I remember correctly.
I
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: yeah
Angela: Yeah.
And it was after that PK, it's like
the whole team just went, "Oh, okay.
We in.
lock in.
Let's do this again."
And then it's halftime.
W- it was the kind of thing, like
you could tell both teams were a
little shaken, because of those two
red cards of just what the hell?
'Cause even in like Cascadia when they
had the two reds, they were spread apart.
It wasn't like within five
minutes of each other.
It wasn't like bam, bam, bam,
Mario: Yeah
Angela: it happened.
They had space between them.
This didn't, and Utah was just
like, "Just hold onto your pants.
just, just hang on and defend, damn it."
And then Angel City's like,
"Let's do everything."
So it was a little jumbly.
We got that figured out.
Mario: Yeah, but y-
Angela: Prisca or
Mario: even, even Utah didn't,
just completely sit back though.
they
Angela: No, absolutely not.
No, no, no.
Mario: were
Angela: they defended, and not, not
so much in the first half though.
In the second half, yeah.
First half was, "What are we doing?"
We come out in the second half, Prisca
had earned a yellow right towards the
end of the first half, so we subbed
her off, put Taylor Suarez in, eight
seconds later, again, Taylor Suarez goal.
Duh.
two games ago, Leif said, "We
have asked her for output.
She has the skills, she has the,
the mindset, now it's output.
You have to convert."
After he said that, the very
next game was when she broke
that record, and then this game.
the crazy thing, so she broke that
record, the very next day, Brittany
Ratcliffe broke her record by, four
seconds of, fastest goal of a sub.
It was wild.
But insane, insane, insane.
that substitution was so good, and
we talked a few games ago about, or
earlier in the season, Taylor Suarez,
she didn't know when to put the jets on.
She was still calibrating with the
rest of the team, "When do I go?
When is it my turn?"
And that is starting to, to settle in,
because she was right there to get that
service, and it was just like, "Oh, yep."
And then SveindÃs is "Oh,
hey, I'm still in this game.
Remember me?"
Bink.
And it's, this super cheeky,
"Oh, I'm right here."
Mario: that one was, I laughed when
I saw that one 'cause, recovered
really well from, she basically
just picked it out of their pocket.
Like
Angela: Yeah.
Oh, yeah
Mario: then, and then from there it was
like a, a, a little stroll and a boop,
Angela: Yeah.
Boop
Mario: just kind of like, "Yeah, yeah.
I don't, I don't need
Angela: Oh,
Mario: power this in the back of the net.
just,
Angela: Exactly.
I need to make sure it gets in.
Mario: Yeah
Angela: we locked that in.
We subbed a whole bunch of people off.
We brought a whole bunch of
people on, got people more rest.
it's so weird to see
Sarah Gorden subbed off.
It l- it makes me nervous, but at the same
time, I'm like, "We're up three-nothing.
It's okay."
we're up three-nothing.
We're up two players.
We're gonna be okay.
Utah made a charge.
everybody in the Discord really
found out how competitive I was
because someone mentioned U-
"Why is Utah playing this good?"
And I was like, "They're professionals.
Like, why shouldn't they be?
Duh."
I got really aggressive for a
second, and I was like, "Hello?"
But this is expected
Mario: it's Angela's, if you're
not here to play, then don't come,
Angela: Yeah
Mario: So
Angela: If you're not trying
to win, why are you here?
in general, that is what sports is.
It's either winning or not winning,
and I'm not trying to not win.
I'm not trying to drop a game.
I'm just here to win and make
the other team lose, 'cause
sometimes that's more fun.
But yeah, that was, that was the game.
It was so much fun.
The Discord was so much fun.
This whole week has been so much fun.
Everybody I've talked to,
"Did you watch the game?"
Of course they did.
duh.
They're like, where, where
are we in the standings?"
Sixth place.
Ah!
Oh my God.
We're watchingâ¦
Eva was working at the card
store, and we're in the like, the
online stream, like chat room.
Everybody's like, "Angel said it."
just everyone's losing their mind
because as we mentioned last week,
we're the last game on Sunday.
we wereâ¦
There were games after, but
they didn't contribute to
Mario: yeah
Angela: and I don't wanna
say they didn't count because
that's not how sports work, but
Mario: weren't
Angela: they didn't count for us.
Mario: results.
Yes
Angela: Yeah.
So that likeâ¦
That alone, like we knew what we needed,
and everyone all weekend, 'cause we
have, for those who aren't in the
Discord, we have like a, a match day for
our game and then all the other games.
n- every game doesn't get their own
'cause that's too many, but all like, all
other matches this week was popping off.
Everyone was like, "Okay, who
do we need for this game?"
Everyone, "Okay, this is
who we're cheering for.
This is what's going on."
Mario: Yeah
Angela: to people on Threads 'cause
I've got new soccer friends on
Threads, and we're like, we're,
"Angel City's cheering for this."
"Why?"
"Because we need X, Y, Z to happen.
We jump to this place."
"Sick.
Let's ride."
it was so much fun.
It, it feels electric right
now to be an Angel City fan.
I don't hate it.
Mario: If I can tell all of you
Talking about this, you can hear it.
It's hyping her up.
Angela: I have to go to sleep
Mario: pod with, a yawn and "Yo,
I've been up since, 3:00 AM, and
let's see if we get through this."
Angela: Yeah.
I had a
Mario: honestly really re-experiencing it
is like it, it was that fun of a match,
Angela: I had a yerba mate at 3:00.
I could go to sleep right now, but
talking about the game, I'm like, "Oh!"
I'm, like, so jacked up.
this is just cold water.
That's all I've been drinking.
I had, four sips of a Gatorade.
I, I ha- cut the caffeine at 3:00.
I could go to sleep right now.
But, yeah, this week was alsoâ¦
Mario: cutoff.
Yeah
Angela: I, I don't reallyâ¦
nighttime, nighttime, I'll do, a half-caff
or, a decaf little situation, but
I'm not trying to, stay up all night.
Not these days.
No.
But
Mario: all of that, we were
hyped this weekend because, we
had all the things go right.
like we were saying, this
was our catch-up weekend.
This is the catch-up weekend
for the entire league.
Angela: Yeah
Mario: the two matches midweek that
happened, were the game-in-hand matches.
So the four teams that had a
game in hand left over was us,
Seattle, Denver, and, Bay FC.
Those m- matches happened on Wednesday.
Bay and Denver tied 2-2.
We beat the Seattle Reign 3-1.
That brought us up even
Angela: Really quick, one of
my best friends from college is
a Bay FC season ticket holder.
It's Sarah.
I talk about her all the time.
Sheâ¦
So the Bay FC game and our
game are going on same time.
I'm in the press box,
Mario: they were like
Angela: and
Mario: away from each
Angela: w- she's like, "They just scored.
Crap."
We're just like, "Ah!"
And I'm like, "We just scored.
Oh my God."
And we're just, screaming at
each other for the whole game,
the whole duration of the game.
It was like, "Oh my God.
Oh my God."
And then she was like,
"We just got one back."
I was like, "Oh my God, we
just put in another one.
Oh my God."
And I was like, "Shit, they just scored."
She's like, "We
just tied it up.
Ah!"
'cause she knew we needed them to
either tie or win, so she's like,
"Ah, we're doing it," 'cause she
was an Angel City fan first before
Bay FC was announced, there's love
in both places for both of us, and
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: it was
Mario: the, she has the
Sol Rosa under the, the
Bay Blue.
Yeah,
Angela: Absolutely.
Absolutely
Mario: All right, so that game brought
us even with, the entire league.
But we were still in, ninth place, right?
but it, it kept us in a very safe ninth
place, which was exactly what we needed.
and then the results for the
rest of the weekend went, San
Diego beat KC two to nothing.
Portland beat Orlando four to one.
N- Gotham beat, North Carolina two to one.
Denver e- ended up beating
Seattle two to one.
So Seattle's, on a little bit of a slip.
Nah, we won't call it a
complete, but,
Angela: Yeah
Mario: Houston beat, Boston, two to one.
We have Spirit beating the
Stars three to nothing.
Bay got their, revenge and, won
two to nothing against Racing.
And then our match, essentially
ended the, the weekend with a
three to nothing win over Utah.
with all of that, everybody's even.
We're up.
We're on sixth.
We're in sixth place.
I, NWSLPlayoffPicture.com
is an ever-evolving thing.
I'm constantly fixing little bugs, right?
Little things here and there.
initially, the, the website and the
way it calculated everything said
that if we won, could not clinch.
Angela: Ha.
Mario: That was wrong.
I see, I see the NWSL post after
us being like, "Clenched," and
I'm like, "No, that wasn't right."
I found out why.
I fixed it.
So yes, they did clinch.
this week's possible team
to clinch w- is Washington.
we're the ones that ruin that.
they do need to win, in- but they
also need other things to go.
So it's not an automatic in
for them, this week, right?
Gotham's kind of, they're, they're
far away most everybody else.
two, Angela said, two to, 10 is a
mixed bag of, flip-floppy everywhere.
you never know.
But with all of that, sixth place is
sixth place is sixth place is sixth place.
We are in sixth place.
Did I tell you we're in sixth place yet?
Washington, like I said, can clinch,
but we're not gonna let that happen.
Three teams can be eliminated
this week, Bay FC, Boston,
Legacy, and Racing Louisville.
Now, each one of those
are, this is just headline.
they can be eliminated.
If you really wanna find out
or, or why, go to the website.
It actually breaks it down for you.
here's this
Angela: Yeah
Mario: to happen or that combo.
I've actually changed it to the point
where it's gonna give you combos
of stuff that need to happen or the
single game that needs to happen,
you can see all of that And then
for us, now let's talk Angel City.
We are at 39 points and we are
at a plus 15 goal differential.
What the hell is that?
Who, what?
It's the largest goal
differential in the league.
Angela: Yep
Mario: if we rank this whole thing by
goal differential, we'd be in first place.
Angela: Which I think we should do.
Change the rules right now.
Mario: yes.
Angela: First place on goal differential
Mario: so with that, can move up to as
far as fourth place this week, our win,
and then we need two games to go our way.
We need Houston to beat Portland
and North Carolina to beat Utah.
Now, Utah is down
Angela: two players
Mario: that they're gonna have
to replace in their lineup.
So who knows?
North Carolina might get that.
and then, Houston and
Portland, maybe not as likely.
but,
Angela: But you never know.
M.A.
is out currently.
She has a lower hip injury, and,
that's caused a little bit of a
weird thing in their back line.
They're having some weird defensive
things, but at this time, like right now,
everyone wants to spoil the big guns.
Everybody wantsâ¦
So you never know.
Mario: yeah, but
Angela: Houston isn't a team to
sneeze at or dismiss completely ever.
They're in a weird could be
good, could be weird game.
So good luck.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: If you wanna choose this
week to beat a ranked, like a,
top eight team, do it please.
Mario: Yeah,
Angela: This one
Mario: moving up to fourth i-
in the best-case scenario has
those two matches going our way.
One of those matches could
get us into fifth, right?
It all really depends on what's going on.
We could win and still stay in
sixth place if both of those
matches go the other way, right?
If Portland beats Houston and
Utah beats North Carolina.
Angela: I'm okay with that.
Mario: yeah.
You know what?
We, we gotta maintain.
Right now we're,
Angela: Yep
Mario: We hit our goal right now.
We, we wanna maintain and just
kinda get as, coast us into the,
the next, version of all this.
there is the oh no scenario of, if we
lose and a bunch of other things happen,
we could drop back down to ninth place.
But, we're not gonna go over that.
We're not gonna dwell on it.
We're looking at, reaching
fourth place here.
if you wanna go see the
predictions for any other team,
go check out nwslplayoff.com.
It's, nwslplayoffpicture.com.
And, around.
There's a whole bunch of stuff there now.
I'm surprised how big the thing
got, and, posted it on Reddit.
People s- it sounded like people, really
took to it and, and was really good.
Shared it on a couple threads, and got
some good likes and stuff like that.
So share it around with everybody.
Make your own
Angela: Yeah, it's fun.
Mario: You can easily share
the graphic of what you did.
So yeah.
so yeah, it's gonna be an,
another exciting weekend.
and from here on out, this is the funâ¦
This is the closest I get to
fantasy, fantasy l- league of
anything sports.
because this is the point where I
start to really pay attention to the
other results, to the other teams.
that's I'm, I'm occasionally active in
the all other games match thread, because
I'm not able to watch every single
Angela: Yeah
Mario: or even one at, at
that, like beyond the NWSL,
but beyond the Angel City one.
But this is the point where I'm like,
if I'm not watching it, I've got
Angela: You're paying attention.
Mario: attention.
Yeah.
Angela: I've seen Mario's lock
screen during the playoffs.
Like the, what was it?
Season two, when we were making
that playoff run, and everything was
dependent on all these other scores.
He sent me a screenshot of his lock
screen, and it was just all of the
games, the FotMob like widget, and I
was just getting screenshot updates,
like screenshot sent, screenshot sent,
like finished, finished, finished.
And I was like, "Oh my God."
And it's like the back- the,
the, the bicycle kick, the Syd
Leroux bicycle kick happened.
Everybody lost their shit.
Let's do it again.
Mario: Yep, yep, yep, yep.
okay, in order to do all of any, all of
that or any of that, we're gonna have to
get through, Washington at Audi Field.
So letâ¦
Tell us what we're in for.
I, I'm excited and I'm hopeful and I
think we can do this, but I also know
who the Washington Spirit are and I'm
Angela: Yeah
Mario: All right.
This will be a goodâ¦
It's a, this will be a test."
also we make it into the
playoffs, correction, when we
Angela: Win.
Yeah
Mario: gonna have to face
these good teams again.
So
Angela: Yeah.
So we drew against the Spirit last game.
So
It's one of those things where
there's a saying in sports that it's
hard to beat a team three times.
Three times in one season is
incredibly difficult to beat a team.
So if you are going into the
playoffs, you've already beat them
twice, that game will, statistically
be harder, that third game.
Thankfully, 'cause we didn't beat them
that first game, we can beat them this
weekend, and then should we match up with
them in the playoffs, all bets are off.
Anything can happen,
and I love this for us.
But the thing is, is that, historically,
as everybody knows, the Spirit is good.
The Spirit has investment, the
Spirit has, infrastructure to
maintain their skill set, maintain
their, rehab, all the things.
They ha- they have that
Michelle Kang money.
that's different.
It's a different level, and
that's coming from Angel City,
who has a shit ton of money.
That is Michelle Kang is, the, super
villain of women's soccer in the
sense that she's, not doing harm,
but she's just, collecting all of it.
I have one from you and one
from you and one from you and,
Mario: she's the
Angela: now I have an institution so that
I can create better women's soccer, so
that we can understand bodies better.
I love this.
To work for the Kang Institute, ugh,
Mario: she's
Angela: amazing.
Mario: with Wayne Tech, like Wayne
Angela: Yeah,
Mario: Like that's,
Angela: basically.
Thatâ¦
Yeah, essentially.
And having, experienced her in person,
that woman does not touch the ground.
She just hovers.
It-- That, that's a
different kind of money.
I will never have that much.
But all that to say, this is a
very, very, very good veteran team.
Yes, there's younger players.
Yes, there's rookies.
Yes, there's folks that have not
been in situations like this yet.
But you've got Trinity Rodman,
you have Andy Sullivan, you
have Hal Hershfelt, you haveâ¦
and those are just, the Americans.
You have Rebeca Bernal, you
have, Cantore, you have Kowase,
you have players who have played
international soccer for a long time.
These women are very good.
Their attack, their normal starting
attack is Trinity Rodman, Sophia
Cantore, and Rosemon Kowase.
Enough said.
I, I will talk shit.
I am a shit talker privately.
I don't like doing it publicly
because there's no reason
to disrespect this lineup.
Are these my favorite players?
No.
Does it mean, does that diminish
from their talent or their skill
or the threat they have to beat us?
Absolutely not.
and I think that's where a lot
of stuff gets lost in talking
about matchups like this.
I'll talk shit in the sense
of we're better than you.
Of course.
Of course I'm gonna think my team
is better than you, but I'm not
gonna disrespect you in the process.
And that's how I feel about this
matchup, is you cannot disrespect
them by not preparing for them.
Regardless, they could be
having like a 0 and 24 season
and be like, you never know."
they have a history of
winning, they know what to do.
The issue I have
They're starting to lock in and
they're starting to figure it out,
and they're starting con- to control
themselves a little bit more.
I have talked for years now, three
seasons worth, this is season
three of me saying the spirit is
so good, but they're so emotional.
I have had it co-signed by soccer
players in the league on other podcasts.
I've had people be like, "Yeah,
that's exactly what it is."
There's a difference between playing
emotionally and playing with emotion.
You s- you have seen itâ¦
Or go ahead
Mario: I was gonna say, you had it, you
had it co-signed by the one and only
Angela: Yeah.
Yeah.
The Tracy Bailey.
Mario: Tracy
Angela: yeah.
Mario: Bailey.
y- yeah.
Angela: Exactly.
But the issue is, is they're starting
to figure that out, and they're
starting to figure out how to get
frustrated and reel it back in.
We have that same issue, but it's more,
player specific, where historically
a certain player that everyone was a
little "Is this gonna work out or not?"
came into the team.
It's Ary, we all know it.
Last season at Louisville
was very difficult for her.
Came to LA, everybody's
like, "She's really good, but
ugh, what's gonna happen?"
The way she has matured is amazing to see.
playing some of the best
soccer of her career.
Emotionally, like the mental side
of things, she's so locked in.
That is what the Spirit
is doing as a whole.
They are all so fiery in different
ways and they swing up and down.
They're hot and cold that way, which
is good if you can channel it, and
they haven't always been able to, and
they're starting to figure that part out.
That's the part that I'm like, "Stop
it," because that's been our secret.
I shouldn't have talked about it.
but we, we have to find
a way to disrupt them.
I have ideas.
I honestly don't even wanna say them
out loud to, the general public.
I willâ¦
If, if someone needs me to tell them, I
will shout it in the Discord, but, I'm not
trying to get this in front of the Spirit.
I have accidentally manifested a
lot of things the last two weeks.
Not this.
but we have to figure out the ways to
disrupt them, to frustrate them, to get
under their skin, and to force the issue.
We have to keep the gas on.
we have to just push, push, push,
push, push and, and scramble
them up a little bit so that way
it's like, "Oh, shit, what now?"
And That's really the key for me is
like getting them in their heads a
little bit more and getting them more
frustrated because they are so good.
And this is when so many people hate it.
This is when you play to the refs.
This is when you like say
something snide and keep going.
you like, "Eh, neh, neh."
"Oh, your hair's ugly,"
and you just keep going.
You have to pick.
And I say this from a lot of experience.
If you're good at it, you're real
good at it, and you don't get
caught, and it's like they reacted.
I don't know what that is.
I, I didn't do anything.
It's, it's throwing the first
punch, but not actual- like you're
not trying to start a fight.
You're just like, "Stupid."
or you go up and you
just pull like one hair.
Mario: You're
Angela: Yeah, you're just, you're
egging them on, but not in a like over-
Mario: We,
Angela: overt way
Mario: we need the, level
one shit house already.
The level one, two
shit.
We-- the end of the game when you're
winning, you, you crank it up to 11,
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: you,
Angela: But
Mario: and
Angela: you have to chip away.
Yeah
Mario: But this is-- So you're saying
this is one of those where, let the
shit house restart from the beginning.
You gotta, you
Angela: A little bit.
Mario: you
Angela: You gotta be careful though.
You gotta, manage it well.
You have to know which buttons to
push and whose buttons to push.
'Cause you can't just go, hard at
one person, 'cause then it's targeted
and everybody figures it out.
You, you have to do it quietly.
I'm, Iâ¦
Maybe I'm very good at this.
I, I
Mario: do
Angela: have friendsâ¦
Mario: of your,
Angela: No, thank God we don't,
because growing up, a lot of you
don't know this, I was a very,
very, very competitive bowler.
I had scholarships and I walked
away from it for track and field.
But I was, ranked in the state,
ranked in the country as a adolescent.
I had people who are very good
friends of mine, like to this day
friends of mine, who were like, "You
were so mean in the nicest way."
You'd be like, we're chopping up,
hanging out, having a great time.
The second we were on the
lanes, I don't know who you are.
I don't look at you.
I don't talk to you.
I ice you out so hard.
Mario: hence
Angela: And when you're, like, 15
Mario: came out during the Discord
Angela: Yeah.
When you're like 15 too and you're
like, "Oh, I can just be like
the mean girl for 10 minutes?"
Okay.
And like you're not doing
anything to be likeâ¦
You're not bullying them, you're
not doing anything, you're just
like, and you just turn away.
okay, and you just dismiss everything.
It's so dumb and I'm a professional.
But that's back to the Spirit.
You have to respect a team like that.
If you don't, that's when
you get bulldozed, and
they're very able to do that.
I don't think that's gonna
be what's gonna happen.
I think it's gonna be a very, very solid
game and very stressful for all of us.
but the best part is that we have
never seen Angel City like this.
I literally, I wrote, "If I talk too
much about the team, I'm gonna cry."
This has to be very
strategic 'cause I'mâ¦
There's a lot going on.
I have cried like three times today
already about some other stuff, so
like I'm already like, you can see it.
My eyes are glassy.
But this is a team that trusts each
other, and they trust themselves, and
they believe in themselves, and they have
fully, fully bought into the fact that
no matter what, they can beat anybody,
and that's the best part 'cause they're
having fun while they're doing it.
you're, you're getting glimpses of them
being silly gooses in the middle of the
game, after the game, before the game.
they're having fun.
They are a team.
Everybody's on the same page.
Everybody's going for the same mission.
And like obviously, yeah,
like that's the point.
This is the team.
The goal is to win, duh, but
it's different when it clicks and
everybody knows what their jobs are,
and everybody knows what to do, and
everybody knows what's expected of them.
So then all that pressure is off because
you don't have to figure it out at
the last minute, like during the game.
Everyone knows their role.
Everyone can settle into that and produce,
and that's exactly what's happening.
Like I s- I said it earlier
about Taylor Suarez.
Leih was like, "I told
her she needs output.
She's doing everything else.
She needs to score."
And now she's like, "All right, bet."
okay, now what?
do it again.
but like per usual, our defense and our
midfield will have their work cut out for
them because of how skilled the Spirit is.
But again, I'm not, I'm not scared
like I was last season of just
"Shit, please just hold it together."
like
Mario: if
Angela: I don't expect a clean
sheet, but I'm okay with that as
long as, again, one more goal.
I don't care.
I don't care how many goals
are scored as long as we end
up with one additional goal.
That's always the plan is one extra one.
We end up with a goal on top.
Mario: Yep.
if we go with what, from the match
that we had earlier with, the Spirit,
we held, if it was this season, we
held Trinity Rodman down that whole
Angela: We historically have.
Yeah.
Mario: And, and
Angela: and her matching up is fun
Mario: Yeah.
And and then, w- the team kinda
has their number, and it's been
fun in that way, where they've
been very competitive matches.
and if we can do that to, to your
point of, frustrating them, of,
getting, slowing them down and
then getting them to the point
where, we're breaking down the
connections that they have lets us
be better at what we're doing, right?
So I'm, I, I'm excited.
I
We've always been excited for the team.
We
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: watch the next
Angela: It's different right now
Mario: however shitty we might feel
from the previous game, we always, we
always by the end of these have "Okay,
but the team is, is gonna figure this
out and they're gonna get there," right?
There's always this, a tinge of
optimism when- whenever we get
to this, and right now we're, on
a, we're on a good trajectory.
We're on a
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: to the
Angela: And
Mario: of
Angela: it feels nice to
watch this team and notâ¦
Like, when, when they get a goal scored
on them or when they get scrambled
and, they lose possession or whatever,
it isn't just like a, "Ugh, damn
it," and you see the, the little, w-
the little ounce of give up come in.
It's bet, and they c- you know,
they get the ball back, they
score to equalize or whatever.
This team is more cohesive and
more complete than we've, I
think, ever seen, and I love it.
Weâ¦
our defense, y- from where our seats
are, it's really fun because in
the second half specifically, but
you can see it throughout the game,
you can see the back line and how
they move, for both teams really.
But our, our midfield and our defense
shifts, and it, it's so cool to watch.
And you, you can see it more
when you're watching soccer on
TV or, or from, a, a upper view.
You can see when everyone's in sync
and everyone is defending as a team.
Everyone is, is shifting
and moving together.
It's like a school of fish almost.
Mario: Yeah
Angela: everyoneâ¦
That's what we're doing.
That is the f- it's been slowly
getting better and better,
but now everyone is locked in.
We're not letting them get
ahead of us because we're, we're
cramming them up in the midfield.
We're, we're doing things together
and it's not just, a last ditch
effort to try and, and do something.
There is a directive, there is
a mission, and it's so palpable.
And I just want the win, damn it.
we, we drew against the Spirit,
like I said, the last game.
overall now we have three wins, two
draws, and four losses against the Spirit.
If we can knock and get that,
that fourth win, you literallyâ¦
you can't tell me nothing.
I don't, I don'tâ¦
Cannot be told anything.
And if I feel like that, bet the
bad team is just like, "What?
Who, who do you think you are
to question our abilities?"
And, we've been saying and we've
been trusting that the team that
is so good on paper will eventually
be good on the pitch, and we'reâ¦
It's paying off and we're getting there.
And I don't know if it's just the fact
that we haven't fully made Leif our
official head coach, but, don't do it.
Pay him the benefits and the,
whatever the contract is.
Don't change the name.
It's interim head coach.
We do better under interim head coaches.
Let us have that right now.
D- just don't change it.
Leave it as it is.
Don't mention it.
Don't talk about it.
Everything stays the same.
Mario: yeah, it's, it's
gonna be a fun one.
It's gonna be a
Angela: Yeah, it is
Mario: hopefully we don't get, blurry
beer goggle vision if it rains or,
Angela: That was rough.
Mario: That was
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: this,
Angela: Oh, Chicago.
Yeah
Mario: and it, yeah, just for anybody
who's not aware, some of the coverage
this weekend was not ideal and what
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: Chicago match,
Angela: It was the
Chicago-Washington match.
There-- It was raining.
The main camera at the game, like the,
the overhead camera didn't have the like
umbrella or windshield wipers on it, so
it was just blurry highlighter and blurry
green and blurry white-ish until they
Mario: to be a, a spinning lens.
Like it's a spinning lens
Angela: Yeah, no, it,
Mario: pl-
Angela: it didn't have that
Mario: yeah, no.
all right.
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Good and bad takes on
Angela: been decisions made, like
Mario: Yes, yes.
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Angela: Bye