Episode 11
Bridget
0:15
Welcome back to our 11th episode of Queen's Pitch. My name is Bridget. And I'm Carol. If you didn't catch our 10th episode, we released an interview with Carol Walton on Wednesday morning. We did that interview a couple of weeks ago and we've just been holding on to a special time, and I thought this week would be a great time to release that. That was really fun to do, wasn't it, Kara?
Kara
0:35
Yeah, I really enjoyed getting to talk to Carol and listening to her. She's a really great
Bridget
0:40
storyteller. She is. And she makes it easy to do interviews, actually. So it was great that we had her as our first one because we kind of, like, eased into it. And she's awesome on that, on actually making us feel comfortable enough to talk to her. So we thank her a lot for that. But if you haven't heard it, make sure you go back and listen to it. I think about 45 minutes. We're all over the place, obviously, because I'm part of it, but it is a great interview and we appreciate her for doing that with us. Carol also writes football Friday for the Charlotte Ledger. And she wrote a wonderful article on Friday. I always wait till Friday morning, and I think it comes out at 1115. I get super excited. I'm like here's. Carol's football Friday. I don't know if I say it in that voice, but I get excited. And so this week she did her Football Friday. She did a list of the podcasts in Charlotte, and I was amazed that there's so many there's. I think eleven of them. Is that what it said? That's
Kara
1:34
how many she counted so far.
Bridget
1:35
I think it's great, I mean, for it to be such a new team and for it to be a fan. Most of the podcasts, I think, other than three of them, are all fan oriented, like fan driven, fan done. So I think it's really cool. But if you haven't seen that, also go to Charlotte Ledger.com and you can look up her Football Friday article and you can pick out all the podcasts that there are. There's so many different ones out there. Each one brings you something different. And we just want to say we appreciate everybody's views. And for you all that have chose to listen to us, thank you so much for doing that. But there are wonderful ones out there. We appreciate everybody. We respect each different one. But if you have a different you just want something different, you can always pick a different one. And so that article is something cool to look at. I think I found two new ones on there that I hadn't seen anyway.
Kara
2:20
Yeah, I think I listened to 1s like seven of them. 1s We're a big fan of them, too,
Bridget
2:28
right? And a lot of them have a lot more stats and are a lot more knowledgeable as far as the technical side of things. So if you're looking for technical, there's a lot of those. If you want some humor and some fun, mix with a little bit of stats, because Carol's on top of it, you got us here, too. So we just really appreciate Carol adding us to that list, too. And we just want to say we respect everybody out there, and we just hope you keep listening to us. But if you want to try something new, there's so many, and it's awesome for a new team. 1s So let's talk about the US open. Kara. I didn't really get into the US open last year. I think by the time I started watching Charlotte FC. Well, we I started the gun of season, but I wasn't really into it into it, I think until May. So I didn't catch on to the US open until we were already past the first couple rounds. So this year I'm at the beginning of it, it was exciting to see the draw on Thursday night. I didn't even know they did it like that. So I guess they just picked the names out of and then that's who you
Kara
3:21
play. Each of them have certain rounds and who's eligible, I think, for the round. And I don't know much of the ins and outs in that, but I do know that this year it was like there were four of us in the pot for this drawing, and it was Independence, US, Charleston Battery, and who were playing Tormenta. We were really hoping for the Charlotte matchup but didn't happen again. We'll just have to keep waiting for the future. Instead, we are playing Tormenta, and since we already played Charleston Battery, that's pretty cool that we get to play something new.
Bridget
3:55
Yeah, I think so. I was expecting I was really hoping we got to play Independence. I think that would have rocked the town of Charlotte if that would have happened. I'm not really sure with the format. So if you're in the same bracket, though, if we win our game and Charlotte infants was their game, do we not play them then? I
Kara
4:13
have no idea what's in the next round. I'd have to go do some googling.
Bridget
4:16
Either way, it's going to be a fun thing. And I think that game is on April 25. It's a Tuesday night. Yeah, I believe it's at 730. Start at the Matthew Sportsplex complex. I know we got our tickets. Tickets were reasonably priced, I think, for that kind of a game, in my opinion. I think if you were a season ticket holder and you got the code in time, it was $15 minus the fees by ticketmaster, and then if you weren't, it was only $25 apiece. 2s I think that's a decent price to see them. And we went and saw the Legacy games there and you were so close. Do you think we'll get the same type of environment?
Kara
4:55
I think it'll be a great opportunity for people who haven't really gotten to see the team up close because it's such a more intimate environment. And also with it being a lot more affordable for the average person than typical Charlotte FC games, I think it's a real opportunity to get some for other people to be able to come and see that. Although it's a Tuesday night, so that's kind of the other thing. It's a school night, and while it's a very family friendly environment, I'm not sure that that will so. 1s Get a lot of kids unless they live in that area. A lot of the people who travel for the Child FC games probably will not come simply because it's a weeknight.
Bridget
5:34
Yeah, I guess so. And plus soccer games, kids are playing their soccer games this season and a lot of soccer practices for kids or practices for any sort is on Tuesday night. So if you're a parent, it's going to be hard to not I think actually my kids might have a game, but we're not going to that game. We're going to try to FC one. Sorry, Lily. But anyway, it's going to be neat because I think everybody's telling me in the US open, since we're playing that Saturday at home right before it, and then you got that game on Tuesday. So you're thinking most of your starting lineup is not going to start in the US open. Hopefully they're going to rest them and let some of the second people so if we haven't seen Kalina by that time, do you think that we could possibly see Kalina in the goal in the US open? Would that be a bad thing for him to do?
Kara
6:16
No, I think that's pretty realistic because the idea is that our players who are coming back and recovering either get an opportunity with Crown legacy so they could see him for that. But I also think with George doing so well, that doesn't push him to come back earlier, too. But I think we could see him in the Open Cup. The only thing is that there is a limited eligibility for any international players, and a lot of our team is international. And so you can only have I think it from what I remember last year, and I was trying to look it up this year was there was you can only have like five on the field at a
Bridget
6:52
time. Oh, okay, that are international. Yes, they could still be on the team, they just can't be on the field.
Kara
6:57
Correct. But you only get 25 players and our roster has a little more. So there will be some players who will not be eligible automatically. And I'm not sure if the actual roster has rules for whether they get to be how many internationals or not, but I know on the pitch it's only five. And since what, we have like eleven. And if Carujo doesn't count anymore, is that because congratulations, he got a green card,
Bridget
7:24
right? That's something awesome to find out. I was going to talk about that actually in a minute, but we can talk about it now, too. But Latanjo said this week that Caruja had gotten his green card, so he's no longer considered an international player. So that obviously opens us up for another spot, right. Come summer. The summer I don't know how all these transfer windows work, but I would think come the summer window, then we can possibly go out and get another international player because Crujo is now not on that list.
Kara
7:50
Maybe. But it also depends on whether we have enough roster spots in general or we. 1s Potentially pull up a player from Crown Legacy who's on an international spot like Petrovic?
Bridget
8:02
Yeah. I still think he's got some time on Legacy, though. That's just my opinion.
Kara
8:05
Oh, absolutely. But I'm just saying, like, that's a scenario that is possible.
Bridget
8:09
I wonder if you can pull those guys up. Not that guys, but, like, say, Jack Neely and Brian Romero and let them play during the US. Open cup since they're officially on the team.
Kara
8:19
Absolutely. No, that's exactly what it's for. I think we might see some of our younger guys. Oh, that'll be
Bridget
8:25
great. I'd love to see Jack Neely out there on the back line with Kalina and the goal and maybe like, Cambridge out there. I mean, I just would like to see I think that will be super neat. So, anyway, that's April 25. Tuesday, April 25, at seven or 730 at the Matthew sportsbacks. I do know there's still tickets available, so if you haven't gotten them, you should do so if you can make it happen. And I think that's about it. And I think it's about time to start talking about that game.
Kara
8:54
Yeah. So should we start talking about the lineup?
Bridget
8:58
Yeah, let's do it. This is a neat lineup tonight. We're playing a real Salt Lake, which, honestly, I forget that real Salt Lake has a team. Yes, but
Kara
9:06
remember, it's real because they're after Real Madrid. I learned that this week.
Bridget
9:11
Okay. Sorry. But, you know, I'm redneck and I'm country. So I'm going to call it real Salt Lake City. No, I'm just kidding. It's the Rio. Let's call it Rio. Yeah. I don't even know if I can say it right. Rio.
Kara
9:22
Rio. Rio. Salt Lake. Okay. Real Rio. I can't do it. Anyway, on that name, I'm going to say RSL.
Bridget
9:33
RSL. I haven't even had a full sundrop yet, so hola we know
Kara
9:37
what's going to defeat you. Bridget.
Bridget
9:41
We're playing RSL tonight. 1s We played RSL, and it's a pretty neat little lineup. I think I've been telling everybody I'm going to go ahead and say I've been telling everybody vendor starting and guess what? Vendor started and go ahead and say the rest of the lineup.
Kara
9:56
Yeah. So we've got Mark's back in goal. We've got Lindsay, Melonda, Tuiloma and Aful, who that's been our solid back line. The one defensive change here that may be a surprise to some is Bronco is in for Jones. And Bronco was serving out a suspension last week, so we're glad he's back because he's just a solid player. And we have Swadersky back as it looks like Cam again playing beside Bender in the midfield. And then our dynamic forwards from last week who had a great game, yosuiak, Copetti and Vargas.
Bridget
10:32
And it's interesting if you look at the substitutes we have tonight, byrne, Cambridge, which is pretty awesome to see Brendan get his shot up. I think he's been doing so good in the legacy that they're bringing him up. It'd be nice to see him playing his first MLS game tonight. I mean, I wish he would do it in Charlotte, to be honest, but it'll be really neat to see him get pulled up. And then you've got Jones, Mellow, Mora, Santos, Shinoshiki and Cincinnati. It looks like we've got two great teams fielded tonight. Yeah.
Kara
11:01
And I think you and I were noticing when they were sharing some photographs of the training of the players who went to Salt Lake, because isn't that always what we look for? Who went? Who went? Who didn't go? Just in case we spied Cambridge within one of the photos, but we also saw Walker and Kalina in the background, and Westwood traveled, even though he's not confirmed back yet. Something else I noticed, too, didn't mention this, but last week Westwood was at the Toronto game with his family in the suites. So I'm feeling like Westwood I know I gave him a really hard time about being the captain. And don't get me wrong, I kind of like the fact that he's not been the last couple of weeks. I mean, granted, I wanted to play, but I do like the fact that he's willing to travel with the team and make himself like an instrument in the team, even when he's not playing. And that means a lot to me. I love that aspect. 1s And it's really cool to see that. So I really think they took the entire team this week just in case maybe, like you said, it was because of the air and they didn't know how people reacting to the change in the atmosphere
Bridget
12:07
or they just wanted the whole Darn team out there to see what they're going to do. But either way, they took a lot of them.
Kara
12:13
Yeah. And it's really great to see Kalina being allowed to travel again. I think having just this talented depth at Goalkeeper really says a lot for who we have out there and that hopefully with these guys getting to travel together and like you said, I completely agree with you that I love that Westwood is traveling with them, too. And I think Kalina has that, too, because he's also a leader in the back. So that competition is good. Yeah. And as
Bridget
12:41
much crap as I give Kalina too, I want March to start. Obviously. I have since last year, but I think it's awesome to have cleaner there to push them, too, and to see him interacting with the goalies and to see him practicing with them, I think he pushes them, too, so seeing them is great. And then also, let's just note that Harrison's captain again this week.
Kara
13:02
You know what's a surprise. What? There's no McKinsey. Wait, hold up. Wait a minute. Let's rewind. There's no gains. There's no gains.
Bridget
13:13
He was their prize, and I swear I saw him in the prizes.
Kara
13:16
Yes, but I think they've got Cambridge on the roster for him instead. So I'm assuming this is some sort of reward for how well Cambridge has been playing, because I feel like that's Latanzio seems to be his style. Like, since Bender was so good, he's going to be like, all right, you're good enough to meet the field again.
Bridget
13:33
And Cambridge, you've done well off in the Legacy. Let's pull you up. But whoa, that's a big I mean, you know how I like to notice weird things, and the fact that I noticed that they had every one of the goalies there, even Walker, which was kind of funny. But then they also like to have games there and then to put Cambridge in. 1s Okay. Just how, on a side note, do you get dejected as a player if you're knocked down like that or I know like Lindsay was saying in his interview this week, you have to just take it. You can't pout about it, you can't be upset, you got to go work harder to make sure that you get back on the field. But I'm not going to lie, if I was all the way out there and then all of a sudden my butt got sat for an upcoming person off the legacy team, I'm might take that a little hard. Well, I
Kara
14:18
think one of the reasons is they all go together. 1s Like we just said, what if someone suffers an injury or feeling well after travel and with the air, I think there's a little bit different. We also see the way he seems to honor performances and players know that if they do well in training, they do well in a game, then their ticket is going to be he's going to
Bridget
14:44
reward that. Like, as much as I love that about Latanzio Laddie, you don't want that to also be the negative, too. I could see that as a negative. Like, oh, my gosh, I had one bad day in practice, now I've got to sit because I didn't do what lady expected this one day. So you can never have an off day. I don't think that's fair either if you look at it like that either. So I hope like you said, maybe they're waiting on Gains to sit gains out. So when Enzo gets his next yellow and he has to sit his butt out next week, then they'll have gains on the ready. I
Kara
15:14
think probably they'll put Mellow out there if that happens to Enzo.
Bridget
15:19
I know, I'm just saying. Well, I also
Kara
15:20
think, too that that's what gains needs to be looking at doesn't make sense. Like
Bridget
15:24
punishing him by not putting them on. There's just a lot of people and you got to pick somebody, right? Some days you're on it, some days you're not on it. And you can't be mad about it. Like George was saying when he got like last season when he got down, you can't be mad about it because there is so many people out there. But at the same time, you're a human and humans want to be on that field. If you're getting paid to play and you practice all week, you want to be out there playing. So let's not look at it like gains anything wrong, but let's just hope that Gaines buses little tail this week and gets back up there. Yeah,
Kara
15:58
and I think that's the other thing, too, is like he was talking about how even if you're not out there, even if your chance isn't coming right, then you're still part of the team that needs to be making the first team. The people who are getting that chance to be out there better so therefore, it makes all of you better. Just elevating the competition for that and the skills. So you're still out there working just as hard you can to get that chance, but also pushing the guys to get better. 1s For their next chance. Maybe if Latangio or Laddie is doing his picking of the team based on the teams that we're playing and what their skill set is each week, maybe they don't need necessarily games in this week, and maybe we might need them in the next week or the next week. So Latango is picking the people for each game based on maybe the team that we're playing against and how they're set up. So every week you may not be on the lineup because that game is just not going to suit your skills, and I don't think that's a negative. Right. Or do coaches do that, or am I just making this up in my head? No, I don't think you're making
Bridget
17:02
it up. That might just be the Premier League because they got, like, superstar after superstar, but you know what I'm saying? If you're watching Man City, they only play half their team half the time. So half the time you don't have a Phil Foden on the team. Half are going to have Grealish, and then the other time, they're not even on the pitch. You don't even know where they are. Like, Namar has not even been on PSG for years, and we're just like, hey, I think he's hurt. But I'm just using that as an example. Maybe, just maybe, that's what Lasanzia is doing a little bit, too. Yeah,
Kara
17:26
I think so. All right, so are we going to take a break and come back after the match?
Bridget
17:33
Yes, let's take a break and we'll recap after the match and see who wins the favors in the raft. And let me promise you, it's not going to be Vargas this week, and I'm not going to promise nothing anyway. We'll see. We'll take a break and we'll be right back with you after the game.
Kara
17:46
Bye. And we're
Bridget
17:48
back. That was hard to watch, to be honest with you. That was
Kara
17:52
disappointing, for sure. We were as shell shocked as the team.
Bridget
17:55
They won three to one and it was like our guys I don't know what happened. I don't know, Karen. I just don't know.
Kara
18:02
As Jess said on the broadcast, though, to me, our title this week, I feel like has to be coined by Queen Jess. She said she called it a catastrophic crumble.
Bridget
18:14
I like that.
Kara
18:16
It's such good wording. But also I hate that we had to use it,
Bridget
18:20
right? Who wants to even say that? We went into it thinking we were going to win this game. Go to Salt Lake RSL. They lost the last two games. They're on a four game losing streak, I guess on the four game losing streak, you know that it's going to end at some point. But they lost the last two games, zero to four. And then even the first half, george is out there making saves like nobody's business and then all of a sudden you're like, where did our team go at halftime?
Kara
18:46
Yeah. So, Bridget, I know it's really hard, but do you have any favorites to give
Bridget
18:51
this game? I only have one. It's not a shock. I hate doing this one every week, which actually it is what it is. King George Marks. I think that if Marks wouldn't have saved the first 1800 shots in the first half, it would have been way worse than it was. Poor guy was, like on fire. I mean, he was saving him with his feet, his hands. I mean, you can't even fault him for his height this week because he was hitting them over. He was doing what he had to do, clearing them. And I really think if he wouldn't have been out there, we would have lost by way more than what we did. 1s He did have a couple of kicks that were a little questionable, but I just think at that point he was just, like, trying to get the ball there. And I don't understand why we backpassed so much, but that's another story. Thank God he didn't give up because he could have easily gave up after that first half. And then when they started scoring, he still didn't give up. It didn't seem like he was still there. He's still making the saves. So my only favor this week is going to go to King George.
Kara
19:50
Spider George. Spider George
Bridget
19:53
catches everything. So that what the defense can't get. 4s Yeah. George to get man of the match hands down. If they're giving it to somebody else, no, I'm going to come take it. It needs to go to George because he doesn't deserve that score line, I don't think. I think he did everything you asked of him and extremely more. It would have been like. 1s Seven to one
Kara
20:22
had we not had George. It felt like
Bridget
20:25
I looked at my daughter at one point, which, by the way, she got so mad she stopped watching. We really have to work on sportsmanship with that kid. But she got so mad at the end that she left the room and went in her room and couldn't do it. But I told her at one point, if you're George, when you go in at halftime, do you not look at your teammates and say, look, bro, I can only do so much. I can only do so much. And you all are literally leaving me hanging. I'm sure he doesn't because he's a nice guy, but oh, my lanta like, come on.
Kara
20:56
I'm sure someone is doing that for him, even if he may not be. But I think also she probably just gets so upset because she feels a kinship for George. And so when everyone is disappointing him, she's just like, I can't watch because he's doing so good and I feel for him and he can't walk out of there, but I can for him. Right? I think Carol Walton even posted, I think on Twitter. She was like, can you imagine George's parents right now? And if you read her article, I know his dad was out driving around probably the block. His mom's probably screaming at TV like, me and we're just too old for this. I don't know about you all, but I can't be handling this at 11:00 at night. It's too much. But I don't know, I felt like something was crazy. I'm not going to go there. We'll go there for the rafts. But George did a great job. I hate the fact that we have to rely on him to keep us in a game where we don't even have a chance. Yeah, 2s he deserves it. Do we even give anybody a man of the match when we lose? Yeah, somebody gets it. Ain't nobody else getting it on our team. So, yeah, he has to get it then. Or maybe the man of the matches, them red shoes on vendor to take them home because they need to come on home and do something.
Bridget
22:11
But anyway, what is your favorite this week before I go off?
Kara
22:15
Okay. Can I give half favors this week? Yeah, I do. I don't think any I can give anybody a whole favor, right? I give
Bridget
22:22
partial favors all the time. I do. Two for one, three for one.
Kara
22:25
Okay. So I've got some half favors and they're going to kind of go out a little bit equally here.
Bridget
22:30
Okay, let's go. On the defensive side, my half favor goes to Ideals and Milan up. He had some excellent tackles. He had some just good blocks from some shots. I thought his composure, despite being where we were, was a lot better. I also thought he had that knock. He was winning some ground jewels and aerial duels.
Kara
22:56
He didn't have as bad of a game as most of the defense, I thought. So I'm not sure where we got beat on the defense just because it seemed like again, it was like six to seven minutes of actual play and it was just too painful to watch and go back again. So I'm going to wait for someone else to go and find that I'm in pain. 1s So
Bridget
23:19
I can't yeah, Karen's not going to go rewatch it today. I
Kara
23:22
can't. But I thought he hasn't had as great of games some other times while we've held it together, but I thought this time if you gave it to anybody on that back line, to me, it'd be him.
Bridget
23:32
Right. The only thing I saw flubbing him up and I told you was that one goal where he just was like Superman in it on the marks, and I was like, Where is Mark? Oh, he's underneath Melonda. No wonder the going in. But you had said that wasn't really Melonda's fault on that one. No, Melinda was trying to help him. And Melonda did edge out one of the attempts for RSL, definitely where they thought George had saved it, but it was a miss because it was a missed shot. But no, that one, it looks like George is going for it. Melonda is coming. George gets hit by the RSL player and so he ricochets back into Melonda's path, making Melanda do like, a push up on top of him.
Kara
24:12
Pancake, George,
Bridget
24:14
pancake. Yeah. I mean, Melonda is a big kid and George is not. So that was fun to watch, but, I mean, luckily they were both safe. Okay, so we got Milanda, where's our other halfers?
Kara
24:24
Okay, another half favor is to Carol Swadowski. Even though I don't think he was as on point this game either. He did get a goal. He did make good attempts. He
Bridget
24:38
got the goal with his left foot.
Kara
24:39
Yes. He had a couple of other shots off. He had a number of shots, actually. He had a couple of dribble attempts. But he wasn't all there.
Bridget
24:51
No, he was definitely not all there. I think maybe that I don't know if the altitude really messed with him or not, but something was off.
Kara
24:59
Well, you remember we were talking because at the half he was bending over and trying to stretch his calves. Yeah,
Bridget
25:05
I thought he was winded.
Kara
25:07
Well, that's what I'm saying. So the altitude sickness can sometimes manifest in that in that your body isn't getting the same amount of oxygen right because it can't carry as much, and so therefore it probably doesn't go to your muscles as much either. So I think that's one of the things that was affecting him this time. He's probably not used to that as much. Maybe he's just more sensitive to it.
Bridget
25:31
Maybe. I mean, he did look a little tired in the second half. I thought when he got that first goal that his confidence was going to come back and then we were going to see like, confidence with ERC. And then when he was down on the ground, I was like, what is he doing? And maybe that was something that had something to do with it more than we thought at the time. Yeah.
Kara
25:49
And I don't necessarily think we play our best when we are moving backward in time, meaning, like, playing on the west coast forward in time, because we don't like to play at, like, noon and we don't like to play later at night. We just don't have our best games at those. And so to me, those are vulnerabilities
Bridget
26:09
for sure. Do you have any other halfers? Okay, my
Kara
26:12
last halfer is for Andre because I thought when he came on as sub, he really was trying to make a difference, even though not that I think any sub did poorly. I think they all brought something to the table, but I definitely think he was actually trying very hard and he was fighting for balls, especially some balls that weren't necessarily being caught. And he went all the way down and got a corner on one of them. 1s That was the energy that we needed from the subs because we weren't getting it from the team that was out there. That's the one that was just we'd already he had the three goals and it was extremely vulnerable and we needed our momentum to change. And so I thought he went out there and went. 2s Had the focus to try and change momentum.
Bridget
27:02
He can only do so much when he goes in for that many minutes anyway. Oh, I do have a little favor, though, before we go to the raft.
Kara
27:08
All right, I'm sure you
Bridget
27:09
did. I'm going to say Hagar had a good game, even though he was only in for a little while. He pulled a foul on the other team, which no one else on our team really did a good job of that other than Josiak, but he's like the king of pulling fouls. So Hagart came out and pulled fouls, and then he also did a couple of corner kicks and and some free kicks, and I thought that for the time he was out there, he did a good job. He played his spot, what he was supposed to play, and so I know people give him a hard time, like, what a double Tanzio, put Hagart in and blah, blah, blah. But Hagart came out there and did what Hagart was supposed to do, and he showed up, and you can't fault the kid for that. He went out there and brought an energy into the game, and if he can do that, then I would hope that other players that were more experienced than him could maybe feed off of it and do a little bit better, too.
Kara
27:56
What about our debut player? Brandon Cambridge came up from crown legacy because McKenzie had taken a knock and didn't travel. I mean,
Bridget
28:06
Brandon. Good. I didn't really see a lot. I mean, I didn't mean nothing bad about that. I didn't see a lot because at that point, I was so angry in the game, I probably was just seeing red and not Bender shoes because he was off the field at that point. But he did a good job for his first MLS start. I mean, it was kind of shocking that he came in, I think, but he didn't do anything to warrant he wasn't anything negative. So I think he should get another shot. I don't think he will again if gains is okay and healthy anytime soon, but if anyone deserves it, he did, too. He definitely did. Yeah. It says it gave him 13 minutes, but with the seven minutes extra time, not sure really what that amounts to, but it only officially gave him 13 minutes. But I thought for his debut in such a hard match, he came out there with the attitude to make a difference, too. Like he didn't let that stop him and made a good showing, made some things happen, and that's pretty much all you can ask of him. Okay, so, Bridget,
Kara
29:03
who gets your wrath? Or I guess who doesn't get your wrath this week?
Bridget
29:11
This was tough. I can't really pick one wrath. I would pick, like I could do two for one ers or one for twelvers or whatever my wrath is. I think the team as a whole, I don't think that some of these guys even gave half of what they're worth out there on the field today. I don't know if it was the atmosphere. I don't know if it was they weren't motivated. I really don't know what it is, but I don't see the chemistry coming. Like, they had it, they have it, and then they won't have it, and they have it, and they won't have it. And maybe we can blame LaTanza for it, but I don't know about you, but I feel like some of these guys come out there some weeks with everything in it and say, whoa, I'm going to do whatever. And then sometimes they come out there the next game, and it's like they're lazy as app. And I think, like. 1s One of the commentators on TV said our defense is just or Charlotte FC's defense is just lazy. And that's kind of how we fail at some point. I know the first half we played up for play way up. The defense did, so that left some holes in the back, I think, but I just don't feel like everybody gave 110%, so I'm just going to give it to my first race is going to go to the entire team. Other than marks that was out there, I just don't feel like they're given an 110% and literally trying. I don't know, maybe my expectation is too high. Maybe I should just say, oh, we got a team that's going to suck it up and then when we win, then it's great. But if you're not going to go out there and play at 110 every time you get out on that field, then give someone else a shot. We've got enough players that you can just say, I'm not going to do it today, and then say, I'm out. They won't feel bad for you. We might talk crap about you, but
Kara
30:46
I think that was exactly Lady's attitude, honestly. I think that's why he put all five subs out there on the field, like, we need something to happen and this ain't it. It was funny because on the broadcast with WFNZ, with Willie P and Jessica Charman, she said it felt like the team had lost the plot to what was happening. And I think that. 1s Explains it entirely that they were shell shocked. The composure was just not there. Once we started getting goals, it was just like somebody, how do you stop this thing? No one could find out the brakes and no one could put some momentum on the other direction. And I remember I was yelling at you, why can we not go the other way? And I was almost like, I know it was funny, but then at some point it was really painful for him to keep going. Another saved by marks. And I was just like, no. Yes, but
Bridget
31:42
no. After 1000 kicks on goal, marks can only going to save so many. It's just the odds. I mean, they're going to get it in and we're just allowing it. And we had a more aggressive, striking team, I felt like out there on the field today as opposed to a defensive side, but then they didn't even do anything. And Enzo gets down there and can't pass it to save his darn life. And I don't know what's up with that mess, but whatever. Half the balls that were kicked, enzo, he doesn't win. And I don't want to know if it's because we're not kicking it to him or he just isn't a winner in the winning of the ball level. I don't know. But then you see half of them like, where are you at? 1s It's frustrating. I can't do it.
Kara
32:25
So part of this to me, you can pin down on not being able to win those ground duels. Because we were winning aerial duels for the most part and Enzo was, too. I think Enzo's passing is typical of him, shall we say? So I don't know that you can point out this and go, well, that was different because to me he's been like that plenty of other games that we've had him. But I also think that the ground duels were really the problem. And if you have to think who's probably getting the most of those ground duels? I mean, I didn't go back and compare because I didn't have time. But I think probably the person winning those ground duels is Jones who wasn't on the pitch. So in sacrificing to me, you can't have bronco and bender out there. You can't. This proved it doesn't work. You have to have jones. You can either have bender or bronco. I just don't think this was the same thing that was needed and it shows you needed that person to have composure. Slow down. What happened? 1s I think we missed something in not having jones out there earlier and this was why.
Bridget
33:36
I agree. And I think that a lot of us were under the impression that bronco is a defensive guy. High. 1s Where was he today? I don't know where he was. I don't know what he was doing. He did not have another good game, and I'm actually not quite sure why, because it looked like Bender did, and he got rated much higher. And I'm like, I didn't necessarily see was it because Bronica was helping to were they engineering Bender to get in those positions and how they moved around space. And so depending on who
Kara
34:14
got beat, like, it just fell more on one player, AK Bronco. This game, I'm not sure. I don't know.
Bridget
34:22
But we felt like it was on Bronco the last game, and it was Bronco when lady had him out of plays
Kara
34:27
two games ago.
Bridget
34:28
Technically, yeah. Not last week, because he wasn't there. But lady had him out of place and was trying to play him back. So that was the problem. That's why he didn't do it. And then we have a lot of excuses for Bronco, but I don't mean this in a bad way, but maybe grump. Bronco isn't what we need right now, and DJ is what we need. He's got the height, he's got the defense. And like you said, he wins those second balls or wins the ball. So we need that. And if Bronco can't perform that right now, there's no reason he can't be a sub. And I think that people are scared to let Bronco be a sub, but dude can be a sub if anybody else can be a sub. If Nuno can be a sub, Bronco can be a sub, too. And we've got to stop thinking that he can't. I think
Kara
35:10
that's exactly what was the point where we were like, okay, Bender needed to come in. Like he felt he deserved the reward for starting right. So you should have kept Bronco seated and then subbed him in when Bender needed it,
Bridget
35:24
because Bender was doing well. I thought for the first half, at some point, Bender was all over the place. You could see him because of the red shoes. Can't make a point of the red shoes, but Bender was where he needed to be. He was very aggressive. He got the tactical foul that he needed to get. I think that's why lady said he took Bender out when he did, because everybody's like, Why take Bender out? He took Bender out because Bender had a yellow, and he was afraid Bender might get that second one, which I can understand because Bender was playing very aggressively, which is what we wanted to see out of vendor, and you saw that out of vendor, but you didn't see it out of Bronco. And like you said, if you're not going to get what you need out of both of them, then one can sit down while the other one performs, and then you bring that one in. I think that was one of the big mistakes is today, was putting Bronco in instead of DJ, but I think it was because Bronco was out last week and lady wanted to let Bronco come back in. Yeah. So who's your wrath? Your first wrath this week?
Kara
36:16
So mine was sort of not putting in Jones team composure, but I think we hit on all of those things. So this one's an aside. It has nothing to do with anyone actually on the pitch at all. You ready
Bridget
36:30
for it? Let's go.
Kara
36:31
It's that stupid offside official not calling anything offside earlier. Like, why are we wasting so much time when it's clearly offside and was offside, but we're just going to let it play out again and again and again. I mean, I swear that happened at least ten times. They did
Bridget
36:49
work in our favor, though. They would have more goals if it weren't for the freaking offsides, dude.
Kara
36:53
No, I don't mean like that. I mean, when they know it's offside, you don't let them continuously get shots on marks when it's already
Bridget
37:00
off. Yeah. They're like, oh, we know it's offside, but we're going to let you play it out anyway.
Kara
37:05
Yes. And that's what I think was to me, like, let's just waste George's energy here blocking shots that don't matter. Poor dude. And so that's what made me like, are you for real right now?
Bridget
37:17
They were insane about that. You were right. It was crazy. They would let them just keep on going. And then it was like, even with the goals they scored, they knew they were offsides before they scored. That was clear, that one. And they let them just go on down, score, and then they're like, oh, by the way, that was all sides. Just kidding. Just kidding. Yeah. We can't blame the rest for tonight's
Kara
37:35
catastrophe. No, but I do think it's interesting to point out that if this isn't a side but you know, when Melanda was hurt in the box? Oh, yeah. And we thought, maybe it's a penalty, and we're like, checking, and the VAR got
Bridget
37:47
checked. Well.
Kara
37:49
I noted that Ismail Elfass was the fourth official checking the VAR. So he was the official of the year. And he was officiating some, like, the World Cup matches and
Bridget
37:59
stuff. Oh, so then he must know what he's doing. He
Kara
38:01
had our game against maybe it was Atlanta. We had him one game and it was good officiating that.
Bridget
38:07
I know we had him one time. My other rasp is going to go to the freaking defensive line. I know you gave him your props, but I'm going to give them mine wrath.
Kara
38:16
I just gave mine to Milanda,
Bridget
38:18
okay? Because I'm going to give him my rafter rest. I mean, I'm about to say what I'm about to say, and if I'm going to say what I'm going to say, you all going to know it's pretty bad. I was wanting Burn put in tonight, okay? I wanted them to put in Burn. And if it gets so sad that I'm putting in my eternal wrath, then you all know we have an issue, okay? And 1s I'm just saying it was that bad. It was that bad.
Kara
38:44
And he was on the bench.
Bridget
38:45
I was pulling for him and put him in. We were too far behind. There was no point in defending anymore. It was just like, no, we need to just all offense. We're just going to keep whatever we got. We're going to do what we're going to do because for everything Bill does good, bill does negative. You know what I'm saying? So, yeah, I'm kind of done with that. Okay, well, you got to give Bill credit. Okay? Well, no, because for that credit, I give Bill for one step forward. He takes 14 back, not 240 14, and he's supposed to be the superstar or not superstar, but some big old time CB that we brought in to replace Carujo until Carujo gets here because unfortunately, loss is gone and then he's not performed. He has not performed. We're in seven games he has not performed where he needs to be. And at this point, the team should have already got another CB to back him up because what the heck are we doing in life? I don't know that
Kara
39:37
you can put it all on Tuiloma because I feel like a fool. Getting that yellow so
Bridget
39:44
early meant
Kara
39:46
that he couldn't get it later. And I think too, that some of the times, again, I think it was a classic case of in transition or something. What happened was we got beat on the wings and so that our defense was too compact. And I just kept noting that most of the time that our defense was so compact in some areas and then the midfield wasn't coming in because there was. 1s The other team was in the space, and that's why they were getting so many goals off. Yeah, and my daughter was saying that the defense was up so far because I was like, what in the world is at one point, I think it was Vargas was with them, was hanging out with I think it was A Fool. And I'm like, what in the world are we doing? She's like, the midfield is not doing anything. And so the defense is so far up that they're playing together. And I'm like, well, that's stupid. It if Vargas, Bronco and a fool are all hanging out together, I got a problem. I
Bridget
40:43
got a problem. Now, one or two is okay, but if we're all hanging out in the midfield together, then of course they're going to leave them wide open. And they didn't figure it out at first in the first half, but whatever they did at halftime, they figured it out, our plan. They knew what we were going to do, so they drew us forward. Absolutely. And as soon as they drew us forward and if I'm figuring it out, then anyone can because I'm just a layperson, but they drew us forward. As soon as they drew us forward, they would kick it over the Duterte or they beat us at the rush, and then we'd have to either foul or do whatever we had to do. Pray to God that Milanda doesn't fall over Bill. Bill doesn't fall over Melonda, that George is there. And at this point, you're just praying the whole time, oh, my God, oh, my God, my God. And that's a lot of pressure. 1s I guess that's why our defense might have done what they were because they had a lot of crap on them and they were playing so far up they had to run back to try to fix it. It was a hot mess express is all I got to
Kara
41:39
say. With Vargas in that lineup. It's really funny because all the stats afterward have Vargas as a midfielder.
Bridget
41:46
See, and that's the problem, too, because I wanted to give Vargas my rapid. I did it last week. We had all these amazing stats and my daughter started again and she's worse than me, but she was like, Pull Vargas. I mean, you can't pull him. It's the first half, bro. But she's like, bro. I'm like, Vargas is playing midfield now,
Kara
42:04
this game. It looks like he did from his heat map. It's really weird how they have it. They have
Bridget
42:08
Carol. We don't have a striker, so that's even dumber. No,
Kara
42:12
they have Carol on it. They have Carol as the top
Bridget
42:15
left. Well, then that means we totally just got out there on the field and started doing what we wanted to do. We just willy nilly was like, Carol's, like, guess what? I want to be a winger. And Vargas was like, I want to play midfield today. So we're going to do what we want to do. And then guess what? After the game, lady is going to be on top of block and get fired because we didn't do what we wanted to do, and it's Lady's fault. And we still going to get paid millions.
Kara
42:35
Sorry. I was just waiting for you to throw in there. And I wanted a yellow card, too.
Bridget
42:42
Vargas got a yellow, didn't he?
Kara
42:45
No, bender, yosuiak and a fool.
Bridget
42:49
Okay, so now bender has two. Okay, so that's another thing. It's a stupid yellow card crap, which I'm surprised Enzo didn't get one and I said, go, Enzo. I mean, we're just waiting on that to happen. So I guess he's going to get one in the next game and then be out in the Columbus grew game, which is going to suck tastic on us all. But whatever.
Kara
43:06
To be fair, he's only got one
Bridget
43:08
last week, too. That was Haggert. Okay, good. So anyway, now we have 13 players with yellow cards. Okay. So we got well, no, we got 15. Okay. So this is a great stat that I think Charlotte FC. Podcast put out. Or somebody did. I saw it the other day. Or maybe it was MLS news. I don't remember. So basically, Enzo has four yellows. Nathan bird has two.
Kara
43:29
Hold on, Paul. We have to give Enzo some props today. I mean, I know we just lost terribly, but we have to give Enzo look. Good job, dude. He did not get a yellow today. There is
Bridget
43:42
a this big, tiny,
Kara
43:43
tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny win there.
Bridget
43:47
Maybe that's why he didn't play so well. It's because he couldn't because he was afraid he's going to get a damn yellow and he didn't want to get a yellow. There we go. Maybe. So what, we're going to have that every game now? But no, enzo's got us four and then go figure. Nathan birds got two of them.
Kara
44:01
Y'all's has two and I full has two now. Oh, great. So we got we were doing great. And then we have another eleven with yellow cards just chilling. So basically half our team more than half a third of our team is sitting there with the yellow cards. I think that what we should do is just put in the players that don't have a yellow and let them go in and get yellow cards. And then that way our whole team has yellow because that's their favorite color. The team color just needs to go ahead and change our jerseys yellow because that's what we seem to want.
Bridget
44:29
And instead of getting goals, begin yallow cards. But that's what I'm trying to tell the team. Yellow cards do not get you points. Winning games does. I
Kara
44:37
really do want to know what Westwood would say about this game because I feel like if he were out there in that midfield, he would have been telling some people, correcting them. You know how like he was at the beginning.
Bridget
44:49
Oh, he would have wrapped that up real quick. Yeah, he did. Jerked up some of that. You know how he jerked that one play up on the other team that was faking it. He would have jerked some people up on our team. He wouldn't have to worry about them hitting their heads with other players. He'd have hit Veronica's head before it ever happened. I don't know
Kara
45:04
that any of our team was faking an injury. I
Bridget
45:07
didn't say faking it. I'm just saying, you know how they were hitting their head, like there were two head on collisions with our guys.
Kara
45:12
Yeah. I think he would have been yelling at them. No,
Bridget
45:14
if Wes would have been out there, he just shook them hard enough. They wouldn't have had to have a head on because he would have done it. I don't know if that would have helped. Anyway, let's stop talking about my raft. Do you have another
Kara
45:25
raft? I do have another rap. And it is for whoever is running the production team because they can't seem to get the fact that the score and the minutes wouldn't be up there. I know we were losing. They were just like, okay, you can't see the score, so we're going to keep letting them score. So you don't see it. You don't see it. And you don't know what time it is either. So shit didn't happen. Well, I was
Bridget
45:46
like, texted you. I was like, how many more minutes is it in stupid game? Because you never knew how many minutes was left.
Kara
45:53
No. And there was another point where 1s at the very beginning it was like fuzzy and cutting out and oh, man. 1s And the commentators said, Juice weak.
Bridget
46:09
Oh my God, the way they said his name is insane.
Kara
46:12
And haggett haggett
Bridget
46:14
haggett haggett haggett.
Kara
46:18
So that was real fun. But yeah, mine mine would be on the oh. 1s Really irritatingness of the production team. And I don't know, I hope someone did actually tell
Bridget
46:31
them. I mean, I don't know. Lady says they had some frank conversations after the game. Tell you, it better be a lot of frankness coming home. They play like crap. I mean, I know that's rude and I love this team. I try to defend them at every corner they can, and maybe Laddie needs to learn how to sub. Earlier
Kara
46:48
they played like crap, but at more like they just checked out of playing.
Bridget
46:51
Last week, I gave them all this favor for their grit and their fight. And this week, like you said, yeah, mentally they was like, peace out, cuz scouts. Like after literally they after the half they were gone. And I don't know what in the world was what made them gone, but something made them gone. So whoever did the halftime speech needs to stop and let them do somebody else because whoever did it didn't work.
Kara
47:13
And with the production team, I don't know if this is connected. I don't think this is connected. But since I'm sitting there watching it on Apple, I've got the radio in my ear because I want to hear them. But also sofa score now pings my phone. And I don't know how many times it was like, RSO goal OJK. RSO goal OJK. And then another time when it was like off the back netting and we all
Bridget
47:40
knew it was not a goal, they were like, goal. So I think I mean, they were just about to give them goals anyway.
Kara
47:47
The momentum was against us ever since that first fake
Bridget
47:51
call. I think also, if you're a betting person, which I'm not really good at that stuff because I lose a lot of bets, but I think a gambling person, I think in Las Vegas, they had us as losing this game all along anyway, and we were all, there's no way we're going to lose this game. They're freaking crazy. We should just believe it. It was on the Charlotte soccer show. Danny was like, they know something. They know something. They knew something. And I believe that they knew something because 3s I don't even know. I don't know if you're one of the guys on the plane home, you're probably just crying at this point because I don't really know what you say. I don't know what you do. I don't know. We hope that they do better next week, weeks. So that's all we can hope for is that they come home and they take this and learn from it.
Kara
48:34
I got one more thing that irritated me, and this is just like. 1s Over the whole season, sort of sort of deal where today Kammel's yellow card for his shirt tug, right? The commentator was like, that shirt tug will get a yellow all day. Well, why has that happened to us? Like, a lot and not gotten yellows? If he's like, oh, that's going to happen. You're going to get that call all day and you're going to get yellows. Liar.
Bridget
49:01
Well, there was one guy that had Enzo by the arms and was holding him back on. I think they were throwing the ball in and somebody literally had a hold of Enzo. You could see him from our angle, lean back and the guy had a hold of him and they never called that. So how in the world can you grab a shirt and it be a yellow card? But that dude can legit hold on to both the ends of his shoulders and pull him back and it not be do you remember that one time in preseason where who is it like Charleston Battery or something grabbed on the mora and straight up ripped his shirt off. He had a giant gaping hole
Kara
49:36
hanging down it and there was still no yellow. 2s I
Bridget
49:41
might have put more in. Today it's
Kara
49:43
these just asinine calls that are
Bridget
49:46
like, oh, yeah, that's a yellow.
Kara
49:48
But when we're getting frustrated in games multiple times over the season where that doesn't happen and I get it, there are different games, different officiating, but come on, commentators,
Bridget
49:59
these commentators said a fool was a young guy, too. 2s We're going to have to give them a little bit.
Kara
50:05
I need Lloyd, Sam and Eric crackhower back, please. I don't want to listen to that guy, these RSL people anymore. I know they probably put the last team on this, but. No, thank you. I'm done. I want to
Bridget
50:18
pass. We're going to get a lot of last teamers, so we're going to need to get used to this until we decide to pull ourselves out of it. But true, I think on that night we need to wrap it up before we completely go insane and it's getting late anyway. We got Easter in the morning. So let's say next week we play Colorado at home. I want to say we're going to win that game. We are in front of our own crowd.
Kara
50:38
I'm not saying squat.
Bridget
50:40
No, I said want to say we're going to win. I didn't say
Kara
50:43
I know
Bridget
50:44
I want to, but I'm not going to dog the team like everybody else yet. I'm going to give these guys a little bit of grace because it is Easter and I got to kind of do that. But I'm going to give them grace and I'm going to say you all need to work hard this week. They don't need a day off. LaTanza, if you're listening, which are not lady does not need to give them a day off. They don't need to have this crap of I'm going to lay around shinoshiki at the freaking pool with his book. I don't care because it ain't working. So get your butts out there and I need to see you all sweating and grinding and pretending that you all like it. And if you don't, then let somebody else play. But I mean, I have faith that you all can pull it together. I feel like you're so frustrated. You're like, I'm going to bring it all out here. 2s But we do believe in the team. It's just really so hard when this happens in a span of six to seven minutes and it's just devastating. Hey, guess what, though? What? Did you know George Marks can play a different sport? It's called volleyball. 1s Yeah, he did it
Kara
51:49
today. He secretly become a volleyball player.
Bridget
51:53
I like that. We need to tell him that he's got a second career. This one don't work out. His little short self, his little six foot one self can go out there and play. 2s Everybody says he's short. I know he's not. You can tell the way he hit that ball over
Kara
52:11
aerial. Yeah, he's
Bridget
52:13
got the jump and he got Ariel. He even stopped that one with his foot. That one. It was like a miracle that he stopped it. It was kind of cute. It was like, oh, my with my you know, he had his hand out like it was supposed to be and then it stopped and he was like, yeah, I
Kara
52:25
did it. And I love it when that happens because it happens to our kids. I know. And when it happens to my daughter, I'm like, she meant to do that. But you know in their face that they totes didn't mean to do it. It just happened to work out. So when that happened for him. I was like, look at that. At least he's in the right place at the right time, doing the right things. And so, if nothing else for our team, at least we know we have some good goalies.
Bridget
52:46
True. I mean, we would like to have some good strikers if we're paying some for some people, but at least we got the good goalies and let's keep it up. Otherwise he's going to get tired and go to a different team where he'll have to do all this. Please don't, George. Please don't. We need you. We need you to stay here.
Kara
53:01
I know we would seriously go cry in a corner, probably. I
Bridget
53:05
ended up following another team. I mean, I'd still like Charlotte FC. But I'm probably going to follow George for a minute because I think he's good.
Kara
53:12
Man, you were savage tonight. 1s I said
Bridget
53:16
I'll still follow Charlotte. I told George I would follow him wherever he went last year. Shush 1s jokes
Kara
53:23
are hurting me.
Bridget
53:27
On that note, let's wrap this up. I hope everybody has a good week. I hope we can pull it together. I hope the team can pull it together. Let's try not to hate on the team too much. I know Twitter is already on fire. I can only imagine what Facebook is going to be like. So let's try not to hate too bad. Let's try not to be too evil and let's try to pull together for this week and get these guys back on track. Because without us, they're going to get really in their head and at least we need to be there for them at home so that they can do something.
Kara
53:54
And for those of you who celebrate, have a happy Easter, have a lovely passover and have a happy spring break. Those of you who are on spring break this week, which we hope Charlotte FC. Is not no, if I see one of their photos of them doing something fun this week, I'm going to probably rail. No, I'm just kidding. They get to have a life. They get to have a life. Anyway, hope everybody has a great week. Be safe. Spider George.
Bridget
54:19
Spider George. Good night. Good night.