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From causal and seasoned fans to fresh new fans to the game, Casual FC is your Angel City FC podcast previewing all upcoming matches, highlighting what to look for as the casual football fan.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Welcome
to Casual FC, an Angel City Preview Pod.
I'm your host, Mario Salazar, with
my fired up co host, Angela Morales.
Shit's not good, guys.
It's not only.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
go so far to say that shit's bad,
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Yeah.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
where past's not good.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
This team, if it sounds like we're
yo yoing from like super optimistic
like an episode or two ago to like
down in the dumps what's going on, it's
because this team has us like this.
And also, yeah.
We'll get to all of that.
All right.
this is our match preview
of our Pride match.
It's the Pride match against the Pride.
It's going to be at 4.
30pm.
it's going to be broadcast on a bunch
of places, so like you can't miss it.
It's going to be on NWSL
Plus, which is free.
It's going to be on the Golazo Network.
It's going to be on Valley Sports, and
it's also going to be on Paramount Plus.
It's also going to be on the radio
with iHeartRadio, listen to Isaac and
Tracy, the homies, we love listening
to them every single chance we can.
And, in Spanish, 1330 IMA, Tu Liga Radio.
It's going to be, yeah, like we
said, pride match, there's going
to be a giveaway at the stadium,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Woo!
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
going to be an ACFC pride bandana.
Be aware that it's only for
the first 10, 000 people.
It's one of those gate giveaways.
So as you come into the stadium,
they'll be handing them out.
Most likely.
Don't quote me on that.
They've done a couple of them where you
get them handed out on as you leave.
But
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
I'm sure it'll be as you walk in,
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: yeah.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
that there's gonna be a huge fan fest.
It's Pride.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: but
they did post it up on their website,
on their Instagram, that It's going
to be for the first 10, 000 people.
So I always makes me wonder, they know
there's 22, 000 seats and they're like,
Oh yeah, let's do it for less than half.
But it is what it is.
If you want a pride bandana,
make sure you get there early.
All right.
Yeah.
let's just get into
everything that's been.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
our Chaos Award, talking about this last
week, before It was going to be three
games in eight days, a lot of travel,
what Casey Stoney said that the league
needs to figure out the situation with
scheduling, until Casey Stoney got let
go, slash resigned, slash got fired
by San Diego, then five hours later,
give or take, Bay FC's GM resigns.
It's Monday.
Like, Monday.
It's Monday.
I've been up since 4.
30.
This is too much.
Yeah, it, there's a lot happening now.
San Diego, their new GM, who is Kansas
City's old GM, Kasey Stoney signed
like a four year extension in January,
moved her whole family over here.
And got cut by San Diego, which is wild
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: It's
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
given that
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: wild.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
coach of the year, or was in the
running for, I don't remember now,
like, the Shield, got to the playoffs.
This is an expansion team.
I don't understand.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
I, it's, today has been a whirlwind.
that just, a lot of information,
both over the weekend,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
A billion text messages
today, so many screenshots,
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
yeah, there's lots of banter and stuff
and opinions going about from this.
that, yeah.
Bay FC GM, the Casey Stoney thing,
our match, which we'll get to,
unfortunately, in a little bit.
national team interviews,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
which I
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: it's,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
about.
I'm so angry,
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
it's been a hell of a weekend.
Weekend.
So yeah, we're just gonna keep on rolling.
This one might not be as
cheery as most of our episodes.
maybe we'll, try to pick it back
up, but it's been crazy, guys.
yeah, as we know, we all, both San Diego
and ourselves, and I believe Gotham might
have been in that round two of Basically,
everybody who was down a match, who had
that match in hand, got penalized by
playing that match in hand on a crazy
short week of three games in eight days.
And the thing that Casey Stoney was
pointing out and was complaining about
was the fact that they had to travel
across the country multiple times.
And then still play like within a,
like a day or two, it's just, it's the,
we all circled this week as a crazy week
because of how short it was, especially
going leading into the Olympics.
But
look, don't do stuff like this.
yes, I know the Olympics are going on.
Players are going to be gone.
You know what?
You have no problem creating
an entire stupid ass.
Challenge Cup 2.
0 tournament, to keep the players going,
just let the players, just stretch out
the matches during that, stretch out that
one extra match during that time, it's not
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
There's national team
replacement players for a reason,
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: yes.
And the reason is for, player safety
and player load management, not for
we want to create a new tournament.
I'm, I love the tournament, I love the
idea, it's like all of, or not all of,
but, Liga Amekis versus, NWSL, it's,
it sounds great on paper until you
start looking at the reality of where
it's being placed, what it's affecting,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
right,
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
and, yeah, and how it's becoming
essentially this, it's, Let's
face it, it's Challenge Cup 2.
0.
It's oh, we made a lot of
money during Challenge Cup.
That was pretty cool.
What can we do to keep going with it?
Oh, look at what, the MLS did over
there, creating the League's Cup.
maybe we go with that.
All right.
He,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
quick roundabout from the midweek games.
As Gotham played San Diego.
In New York, or New Jersey, Gotham won
2 we played Racing Louisville, we won,
very well, maybe the last win until
after the Olympics, given our upcoming
schedule, but there's one note that
we forgot to mention about Merritt
that Zach sent in, he said, and can
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: okay,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Merritt?
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
He sent this first one right
after the throwdown happened.
during the game, he sent this first one.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah.
He said, and can we talk about Merritt's
throwdown moment with a bunch of, grimace
y emojis, but three fire emojis, was
ready to cheesemade, for the cheesemade
to escalate, which all of us were,
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: yeah.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
wasn't going to let that go after
coming back, so many dangerous
and risky plays that the ref just
didn't call, which, absolutely true.
After watching Coach's reaction,
she was by far not impressed.
player safety didn't seem to
be a priority, but blowing his
whistle arbitrarily seemed to be.
Like Nathan Shelley from Ted Lasso.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Just,
when in doubt, just blow the whistle.
If you don't know why, just blow it.
yeah.
So that was
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
around, not important.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Ah, jeez.
yeah.
So those were the midweek matches.
And then we go into this weekend,
Orlando won over Utah six to zero.
And guess who we're playing next?
Oh, jeez.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
This is great until play them.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Until we're next on the chopping block.
Yeah.
All right.
Houston and Wave tied.
Wave being another short rested
team that, just came from, they
went from Gotham to Houston.
they didn't, they didn't
even get a home match.
Portland lost, 1 4, against the Current.
The Courage won 3 1 over Chicago.
Seattle and Racing tied at one
and Gotham lost to the Spirit 0 2.
Which brings us to our
match, which was against Bay.
bum.
We were on that short rest.
We flew up to San Jose to play Bay FC.
And, yeah.
the match was 1 0.
there was one score by
Boade at the 33rd minute.
Nobody on ACFC scored.
And the one very depressing stat
that came out while I was trying to
listen to this while on my phone, I
was out and, I was trying to listen
to whatever my speaker can pump out.
This was only the second
shutout that Bay FC had.
And guess who the other
team that they shut out was?
It was us when we played
them in the very first match.
Meaning we are the only team in the
league to have not scored on Bay FC.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
and for those who don't remember,
that was our home opener.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
What the hell?
we were coming off this high, this
kind of false high of we, we played a
really commanding game against racing.
We change the lineup, things were
like, we're trying new stuff.
And that's the, that's
what we've been asking for.
We get to this game, we see the lineup
again, being the new lineup, being this 5
3 2 lineup, we're like, all right, we're
going to be doing a little bit more.
Yeah, that didn't happen.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
and I don't know if it was just
third game in eight days, but
load management kind of made sense
for some players, not for others.
Syd played every minute
of those three games.
Every single one.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: three,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801: Syd
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
three nineties.
No.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
every single minute of
three games in a week.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yet, we still haven't seen Kasey Fair.
We didn't see We didn't see Bright.
She was there because I saw pictures
of her taking pictures with fans.
in She was geared up, so like
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah.
She was in the lineup.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: What?
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801: I
just don't understand what's happening.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Becky, you're making it hard
for us to keep defending you.
Because we do know this
is not 100 percent on you.
there's also I was speaking to
someone in our DMs, about, about the
strategy, about what the idea was.
And, it's one of these things where
okay, Becky is doing what she's doing.
she's getting it.
Trying to get them in line, trying to
get them into a system, but there's
only She's not the one on the field,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: right?
she can't score the goals for them.
as we've been talking about, our
complete breakdown in the final third
has been the hard thing to see, and
I don't know Honestly, I don't know
how to fix that, and Now our back
line is starting to fall apart.
I want to say, I want to say that this
loss definitely had some, third game in
eight days and like, and load management
and super tired, vibes going on.
But also like among that tiredness
was just a complete breakdown like
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah.
I don't know.
the team from Wednesday went.
Like it, it felt like different.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Yeah,
like You would see glimpses of that
team at least with the new formation
and with the new kind of attack.
It looked like They found something new
in that win against racing and That was
the game plan moving into this one Knowing
that we're gonna be tired, so it's gonna
be a kind of a slog, but at least there
was something new that was working.
And then everybody forgot the script.
And everybody got the
wrong draft of the script.
They all were playing something different.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
That's what it feels like.
That four people are on one game
plan, two people are on another,
three people are on a different one.
So it's what, nine?
And then two more somewhere else.
It definitely feels, it just feels
like, I don't want to say it,
it Feels like they're not trying
because that's not what it is at all.
It just feels like nobody knows what's
going on with the other players.
the folks on the pitch are
all on different pages or are
interpreting the game plan
differently and there's no cohesion.
So it's just very frustrating.
That's all.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
It is, and Yeah.
there's always been this
idea of we are definitely
marketing FC first, right?
It's more about the, how can you sell
the team and talk about the team?
And we have the makings.
It's my favorite quote from, do
you remember Rookie of the Year?
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Absolutely.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Yeah.
Yeah.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Come on.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Come on.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
I've actually seen.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Funky butt loving.
they go down to the lake
to work on their boat.
And then when they're talking to the girl,
finally, and they're like, we have a boat.
And he's No, we don't.
We have wood in the shape of a boat.
We don't have a boat.
that's what's going on with this is we
have players in the shape of a team.
Individually, these
players are amazing, right?
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
we have Sydney Leroux, we have
Ali Riley, we have both Thompsons,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
We have World Cup champions.
Yeah.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
like players.
national team players for each
one of the respective countries.
On paper, we have the makings of a team.
For some reason, it's not coming
together, and I don't understand why.
And I don't know, I personally am not the
type of person to figure out why there was
this jump from last season to this season.
And we were talking,
I was talking to Gabe.
And then, his thing was, the turnaround
happened by playing very pragmatic.
which wasn't that much
different with, that Freya had.
It was just playing better under Tweed.
But going into this season, it seems
like the front office explicitly
told them, don't play pragmatic.
make it something different,
and it's just not working.
And like we said, it feels like
everybody on the team got a
different script, and they're not.
doing what they're doing.
And some of them, instead of
doing what they're supposed to
be doing, are reverting back
to oh, shit's hitting the fan.
if this is going horribly, I'm going
to revert back to what I know, and
I'm going to play the way I play.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Right.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
again, a lot of individual talent.
Guys, I, we're frustrated.
And I know you guys are too.
We don't, this is.
I don't want this to
be the downer episode.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah.
I think it's going to be.
And the hard part is that while we're
struggling, we're going to play the team I
think is the best team in the league with
some of the best international players.
And it's just going to rub our nose in it.
We are going to be exploited
and it's frustrating.
I wanted to be so excited
about the Pride match.
You get to see Marta, you get to
see Barbara Bonda, and I'm just not.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Yeah.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
let's talk about what
other people have to say.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: yes.
Okay.
so as we do after the match, put
up the prompt, this one was just,
Welp, 12 more matches to go.
Dustin came in first with, frustrating.
That's the same team from the other day?
Question mark.
Definitely missed Curry out there.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
And then after that, sent us a
DM with follow up match thoughts.
I've never played soccer, so I'm
newish to the sport and to the way
clubs and leagues work, but it feels
like the front office and or Coach
Tweed aren't putting the players in
situations where they can succeed.
When we do well, it feels more in spite
of instead of Because of the tactics.
Personnel decisions, roster building.
Probably should have submitted that for
the mid season check in, but This week
really typified that thought for me.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah.
I think that's spot on.
I think that's what a lot of people
are feeling right now is that When we
score, when we have these great plays,
it's happening spite of everything
else, not because of the work that
they're putting in or the connection
that the team has or whatever.
It's oops, we did something right.
And it, a bummer.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
And then Kay writes in
I gotta give this, I gotta give this,
I'm gonna put my acting chops on.
Bay is terrible.
And if they're terrible, we're terribler?
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yep.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
period, was, period, bad, period.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
The hard part is that we had some
great chances the first half.
I watched about 15 minutes of the
second half and I got mad and I
turned it off because I was going
to my friend's birthday party and
I didn't want to be a complete.
Raincloud.
I also wasn't feeling good.
that didn't help.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Yeah,
I got a I sent a message to Angela because
I was watching it on my phone also,
and I was like, oh, I'm turning it off.
Not knowing that she was going to a party,
I thought she was at home, so I was like,
Oh, just turning it off now, to conserve
battery during the halftime break.
And then, Angel's Oh yeah, we're heading
to a party and, we're just gonna stay
in the car to recharge a little bit.
And I'm like, Definitely.
Definitely.
And then the game starts.
A couple minutes in, I text
Angel What the hell's going on?
And then, yeah, straight up.
I stopped watching.
It got frustrating.
And it was.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
didn't want to be like Debbie Downer
at my, like for, with my friends.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Yes.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
yeah, so Jeff came in and said the
response character limit is too
short, haha, which I agree with.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Yeah.
Yeah, so he had to DM
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
said,
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
this, but
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
yeah, so here's my response
to the possible bright side.
I'll play devil's advocate and you could
say four points is positive in the short
week, We also could have empty pockets
from today till the Olympic break.
We have zero today and we
have Orlando and Gotham after.
Both home, but good chance we lose both.
Hopium points to ties as a miracle.
We win, or both.
Honestly, we get a draw.
Okay, cool.
rest definitely was a factor
as I feel we didn't have our
best 11 on at the same time.
And as the game went on, mental slash
exhausted mistakes shone more and more.
issue is consistency.
Tweed may get flack for her
tactics and times, but the players
need to put the chances away
and be better game after game.
beating ourselves up with
sloppy passes and bad giveaways.
We get to rest up, and hopefully we're
ready for a tough two weeks ahead.
We can win, but what team will show up?
The one that beat Racine or
the one that showed up today?
Volamos.
I'll always try and stay positive.
Thank you.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Thank you, Jeff.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Jeff.
But that's the question.
It's which version of
this team is showing up?
We don't know.
And I don't think they know right now.
I think they're a little
lost in their sauce.
Our boy J'Anthony.
So that build up to the
Rocky shot and miss, dot.
the starting 11 from Wednesday night.
Close.
And Ethan,
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
came in Clutch.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Ethan to the pod because we joked,
like, give us a poem, give us
something silly, give us a haiku
And he came in with a haiku.
He said the text box won't let
you enter a haiku, so then he
messaged us with Lack chem.
Youth?.
All vets, right formation,
but did give it up, Pass up.
Balls in nets.
That last line,
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Yes.
At
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
just, it's infuriating at this point.
And
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
this point, I'm like, yeah.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
drive me crazy for doing it.
I'm not going to name names because
I don't want to talk major shit.
But I think it's a collective thought
that there's certain players that when
they come in, don't actually try to move
the ball forward, whether they come in or
where they start, because they do both.
And we need to get the
ball past the midfield.
We have strikers, but they can't do
anything if they don't have the ball.
They've been saying that for
three years, two and a half,
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
I want to print this on a shirt and
just be like, yes, this is, this
should be, this is what's going on.
And this last line should be
like the biggest thing on there.
yeah, there's, I just can't
state it more about this last.
Final third.
Also, as Ethan wrote, pass up.
We need to stop passing backwards.
We love DeeDee.
She's solid back there.
We are lucky to have her as, as Angela
has mentioned before, we're basically on
borrowed time with DeeDee because, she
was at a point of retiring at one point,
decided to come back, and has been.
Really doing great, she's had a
couple of knocks and issues that
she's come back from in great fashion,
yet we know what her weaknesses are,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801: I
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
yet we keep,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
any keeper wants to touch
the ball as much as she does.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: yes,
there's, and there was plenty of times
where I was watching that game And
there were some, short passes, It almost
felt what was that, what was the match
that was just completely waterlogged?
was that a national team match,
or was that an ACFC match?
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
No, it's Houston.
Oh, the Waterlog game.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Yeah.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
game.
the national team versus
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah, where it felt like anytime
they kicked the ball, it felt
like it was going through sludge.
Because it literally was going
through sludge, like it couldn't move.
At times, that's how this felt.
Yet there was no, no rain.
It, it's nice and sunny.
some passes were like, so half
heartedly kicked that it led to giving
up the ball in our defensive third,
which means in their attacking third.
And then, That's the reason Deedee
had to make so many amazing saves.
Not because they were just amazing saves.
They were amazing saves in desperation
because of really bad giveaways.
Okay,
but thank you everyone who, yeah, thank
you everyone that, that sent us, you
know, that's what we're doing here.
It's footy therapy.
We're releasing the demons.
Making sure we feel heard and we
exercise when we need to exercise.
So let's talk about the standings.
We're currently in 10th place, 15 points.
We are tied with Bay
FC and San Diego Wave.
So all three California
teams are on 15 points.
I believe Bay is in 9th
and Wave is in 11th.
the big thing about this is that
because racing ends at a bad time,
tying in their match, we're still only
one point away from the playoff line.
Racing is at 16, we're
all, which is, it's wild.
It's wild how this year, usually the
gap doesn't start widening till the
very end and everything's super tight.
Right now, everything is super tight
in like fourth through like 10th.
11 now like 4 to 11 everything's like
super tight pretty close to each other
and then you know Orlando and Casey
are on a different planet right now.
Just going crazy
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah,
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: But
again, we're only one point away from the
playoff line as We stated before every
single match is going to be super crucial
to at least walk away with a point We
can't walk away completely empty handed.
hopefully the Olympic break
ends up doing us some good.
Where we don't really have many or any
players heading off to, to the Olympics.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
we have Cap, but she's
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
but she's her, so who knows
if she's gonna end up playing.
But, Hopefully this Challenge Cup 2.
0 doesn't screw us over
and we get injured.
like you said, we don't
want to throw any games.
We don't want to just be like, we're not
gonna play in this, we're fine losing.
I think losing more matches during that
tournament is gonna be worse for morale.
So let's use the, if we end up losing.
All our matches in that tournament.
If we come away from that tournament
trying something different every single
match, even every single half, every
single 45, we try something new, we change
something up, we use this as like a rapid
experimental time, and we come out of it,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Cup last season.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
yeah, and we come out with a game
plan for the rest of the year?
For the rest of the season?
I will call that a win.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
I think we're at the point of
the season, and this is leading
into talking about the match.
we're, we just need to put it together,
if that means that we just F around and
find out, then that's what it means.
try something crazy, try literally
anything, we need to show up to
play with intent, an intent to win.
An intent to score while also being this
defensive force that we've always been.
I made a decision not to talk about
any specific players for Angel City
tonight because I don't know what to say.
And it makes me really sad because,
I love this team, but it's just
a big bummer right now I just
keep, my eyes and seeing backward
passes or no real desire to score.
I don't know what to say.
And then when we get those opportunities
and we don't make the goal or it gets
intercepted or whatever, you see the
shoulders drop and you see in demeanor
and it's oh, we're real close to giving
up and that, that sucks real bad.
So I just really hope that whatever
is going on this week in the
locker room, if there's a players
only meeting, if there's, like a
closed locker room kind of thing.
And everybody hashes it out and
figures out what they're going to
do, and bands together to figure
out what the hell's going on.
I really feel like that's the only
thing that's going to change the system.
Because as somebody who's played on
a lot of teams, there comes a point
when you and your teammates have to
be like, I don't like this anymore.
I don't like losing.
I don't like feeling like this.
I don't like, as much as our fans
love us, they're disappointed.
nobody wants that.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
There's going to be an exodus at some
point of fans as the results don't.
Come, right?
It's, there's the hard, as
we've mentioned this before.
we've talked about this before when we're
talking about there's the hardcore fans,
the fans that have been here through the
many iterations of women's leagues, right?
there's those fans.
There's the fans that are also used
to You know, they might be fans of
teams from Europe, where it's like,
they've gone through, a 25, 30 year
spell of not winning anything, right?
And they are there for that hurt.
but then you have the casuals, right?
The casual fans that are getting hyped on
what's going on, but if The game starts to
become, yes, the atmosphere is electric,
but if the game starts really becoming
boring or really becoming depressing,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
don't know how much an electric
atmosphere is going to stay there, And,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
this city is fickle.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: yes.
and it's no secret that, every single
team is fighting for your money, right?
every single team is It's
finding not only for your money
versus the other teams, right?
come to ACFC and give your money to
this team rather than giving it to the
Sparks or giving it to the Lakers or
Clippers or Dodgers or Rams or, whatever.
Name your sport.
USC, UCLA.
Or even come spend, two to five, six
hours at the stadium for this game.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Instead
of going to the beach, going hiking,
going camping, going to the movies,
you're competing with so much more in
this area that you have to keep it up.
And like, there's, take a look at like
the teams that have been here for a
long time and then you get to the point
where like the free hot dog giveaways.
At Dodger Games and it's there's
a reason why they've gone down
to free hot dog giveaways.
it's still an exciting thing when
it can't, when it is, but you also
gotta get butts in seats somehow and
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
this might drive that prematurely,
if this was happening, if they
were doing like, free hot dog with
your ticket purchase in 10 years.
Okay, understandable.
Not in like year four, right?
I don't want to see year four be
like, if you buy a ticket to the
Pride match, we'll also give you
a ticket to this other match.
no.
And if you hit that point,
something went wrong.
And we know what went wrong.
Okay, yeah, previewing the match,
we have our Pride match against,
Orlando Pride at BMO Stadium.
Really, the one person we're going
to be talking about is Barbara Bonda.
yeah,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
And I mean that in the best way.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: no,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
the record for braces.
had 10 goals in 10 games.
She's
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
there was a whole, this year
there's been a whole crop of players
that have come into the league
that have been, like, lights out.
And although she's playing Oh
no, wait, I was thinking of I
was thinking about that on Bay.
I was like, although she's playing on a
team that hasn't been winning, but no,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801: Oh,
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Bonda's
playing on a team that's killing it, so
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
killing it.
And if you've listened to this podcast
since its inception, you will know that
I will scream from rooftops about African
soccer teams, and how good their players
are, and how underappreciated they are,
underfunded, underrespected, everything.
They are so good, and we're starting
to finally see that in the NWSL, with
Asasat, Barbara Banda, these players that
are slowly coming in, Rachel Kundanonji.
And there's no cap to this.
there's no ceiling to greatness.
And with Barbara Bonda, we're watching a
living legend in the same way that we're
watching Marta being a living legend.
to give you some background.
So Barbara Bonda is a
Zambian national team player.
She's a forward.
She, a boxer, like a semi pro
boxer, and was so good, people
wouldn't compete against her.
They're like, no, thank you.
Which, if you watch her play and
you watch her footwork, you see it.
She dances around people.
And, Man, it's wild.
Um, this next thing up because I think
it's abhorrent and I think we need to
talk about it because it happens a lot
in women's sports and there's a big push
to quote unquote save women's sports
and protect women's sports and I have
really big sarcastic air quotes this.
the idea that you can or
should be disqualified.
If your testosterone, your natural
testosterone levels are too high.
This is something I think I talked
about it before or last season when
we were talking about World Cup stuff
about Kastor Semenya from South Africa,
who's a track and field athlete who
has gone through hell because of
having a different genetic makeup
where her testosterone levels are high.
There's a million reasons for that.
And Bonda and another player from Zambia
were disqualified from the African
Cup of Nations in 2022 because they
failed their big air quote, gender
verification tests, because Africa
has stricter than like Olympics.
Because the idea is that women, the more
testosterone you have, the more, advantage
you have, which is not always the case.
It's usually not the case.
That's not how hormones work.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Yeah,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
I have big issues with this.
It's so disgusting.
And it, it's a human rights violation.
At a certain point, the
human rights jumped in on it
and was like, what is this?
this is so awful.
But with that said.
Barbara Bonda also has her own foundation
to help women and girls in Zambia
access to more things through sport.
economical help, schooling, supplies,
like life things, just to, to get it.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
give them the chance.
Give them the opportunity and
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
have a little more equity in their lives
and it's just to do it through sport.
And I think that's fantastic because
she's, I feel so old saying this.
She is 24 years old.
she's so young.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Oh, that
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
let Mario do the calculations in his head,
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
That, okay.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801: for
everyone listening to that, because, ugh.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
I'm taking this in the other way.
I'm taking this in the, so far this
pod has been a little bit more,
moody than, and down than our usual.
But I just love the fact that, I love
the fact that we're at this point really
where we're looking up to these players
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
are like crazy younger than us.
some of the players in the league,
are our age and they're still
running around and amazing athletes.
But, as the league starts getting younger
and younger, we're looking up to like
players like Alyssa and, Gisele or,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
McConaughey in Dazed and
Confused, and I hate it.
It's so gross.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
But, yeah, so I laugh because
I kind of love it, it,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
for sure.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
I remember the very, I remember
the very first time having this
feeling of like, I'm I'm getting
so intense about this player.
And then realizing, wait, this player
is like 18, 19 years old, is when I
was like, watching college football.
after I, I think I was still in college,
but then also I was a transfer, so
I was like the elder in college.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Right.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
and then watching college football
and being like, what the F, oh.
And then realizing, wait,
these guys that are playing are
literally, 18, 19, 20 years old.
Most of them aren't legal age to drink.
Yet, we're putting all this emphasis
on them not performing, right?
And then I thought that's when
I like, this is hilarious.
And I love it.
Love it in the sense of
they're doing amazing things.
And so the fact that she's 24,
and doing this amazing work too.
Build up her community.
It's just what the hell was I doing at 24?
not that.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah.
You have visceral memories of realizing
I was the same age as Major League
Baseball players and going, Oh my God,
at 24 and going, Oh, that ship sailed.
No, but I completely agree to be so
young and so talented and have the
opportunity to play where that wasn't
always an option in previous generations.
Like it makes me so happy.
I'm expecting that we're going
to, we're going to get wrecked.
Like they, they blanked.
Utah.
Two people had braces.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Six to nothing.
I think this one's very much a,
we come out of this with a draw.
We call that a win.
Like
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
absolutely.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
it might end up being ugly,
but like we've stated before,
a draw means that we played.
A draw that feels like a win means
we played up to their level and
were able to hold them back, right?
And then there's the draw where it feels
like a loss where we should have won that
and we let it go and we got the draw.
This one definitely is going to
be one of these where we need
to play up to their level and
literally play up to their level.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
win, that's
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: if
it'll be another episode of us going
crazy and being like, we're the best
in the world, we're gonna win the
next one, just face it, it will be.
We, as much as we're down on the
team right now, we do love this team.
We are, lifers.
in not the kind of creepy psycho way.
but.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Justin, I will support
this team until forever
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Yeah.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
because they deserve it.
But historically, I don't up
against Orlando, we've won once,
lost twice, and had two draws.
So it's very even.
Who knows?
Who knows?
Alright, and with that said, keep an eye
out for some really fun Olympic stuff.
are in the works of planning
and setting dates and recording
and all sorts of stuff.
The next episode will be
our matchup against Gotham,
which is the send off game.
for Gotham so basically the national
team is half their roster so it works
out and it will be the last regular
NWSL season episode for a minute but
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Yeah.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
don't worry we've got stuff
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Yes.
We're definitely gonna be
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801: us
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: There
will be some Olympic footy from Casual
FC, so please keep an eye out on all that.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
and friends casual FC and
friends i'm so excited
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
alright.
reminder of where to watch and listen.
Again, Sunday, June 30th, Angel City vs.
Pride.
It's a home match, and it
will be our Pride match.
Pride, Pride.
It'll be at BMO Stadium.
Uh,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Yeah.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
it's going to be at 4.
30 PM.
Broadcast schedule is going to be
on NWSL Plus, Colossal Network,
Valley Sports, Paramount Plus.
It's also going to be on
the radio with iHeartRadio.
Listen to Isaac and Tracy
because we love them.
and we actually got a message from
someone who was like, Oh, I listened
to Isaac, and Tracy this for this game.
And it was amazing.
I'm like, yes, see, that's why.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Richie,
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
and it's also,
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
was listening to them and
was like, They're so great.
Like I
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
so Isaac, Tracy, there you go.
And then it's also going
to be in Spanish on 1330 a.
m.
Tu Liga Radio.
And remember, there's a match
giveaway for the ACFC Pride Bandana.
Check out their Instagram if you
want to see what it looks like.
but it will only be for the first 10, 000
people, so arrive early if you want it.
get early.
there's a fan fest probably going
on, which means there's going to
be a lot of stuff to do beforehand.
there's going to be all the SGE stuff.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
Bring
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
bring water.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
extra deodorant.
It's gonna be hot.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
It's gonna be hot.
you can hang out with all of the
SGs doing their, tailgate for Pride.
And, when the gates open, 90 minutes
before kickoff, make sure you get in
there if you want that Pride bandana.
And
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
see me, come say hi.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Yes,
Thank you, everyone, for being here for
this really intense footy therapy session.
I hope it was as therapeutic in a way
for you as it has been for us, for real.
So yeah, thank you.
If you like what you hear,
hit the subscribe button
wherever you're listening.
Check out casualfc.
com for all the pod links,
best ways to support the pod.
Share, or comment on any of the posts or
episodes or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
It's all about engagement.
Grab some merch at shop.casualfc.Com
as we keep putting more stuff on there.
Angela just Pride Glass with some
nice iced coffee today, which
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801: It
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
if you didn't see on our socials
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
was protein shake and coffee.
We do what we
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801: Uh,
and then if you feel so inclined, help
support the pod by buying us a coffee.
Check out our link on our socials or
go to buymeacoffee.com/casualFCpod.
All our socials is casual FC Pod.
On Instagram, Twitter,
Threads, and TikTok.
And tell a friend about the pod.
It brings us good luck.
Look, we bank all the good luck.
We send it to the team.
How they use it is their prerogative.
I know you guys are telling friends
and telling people about the pod
and giving us that good luck.
And we're sending a good amount over.
just like I said.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
in translation right now.
mario-sanchez_1_06-24-2024_211801:
yeah, but we'll keep sending it
as long as you keep giving it.
thank you everyone, and we'll
see you at the Pride Pride.
angela--shot-put-_1_06-24-2024_211801:
It's Pride Pride!