Episode 6 - CLT Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda...Didn't
KARA
0:00
Welcome to this week's episode of the Queen's Pitch podcast. I'm Carol. And I'm Bridgett. And welcome to the Charlotte Atlanta Derby. That wasn't well,
BRIDGET
0:10
you know what my dad always said when you hit rock bottom, there's only one way to go, and that's up. We can either stay at the bottom or we can go up. And I have a feeling that we're not going to stay at the bottom, because if we do, this entire fanbase will revolt. So let's go off with saying that we're going to do better, because I really do feel like we're
KARA
0:33
going to be a lot of me laughing from this episode just to survive.
BRIDGET
0:37
And another thing my dad used to say, you either laugh or you cry, so there's going to be a lot of laughing because otherwise we will be crying.
KARA
0:45
That's exactly what Jessica Charman said today on the broadcast.
BRIDGET
0:49
Okay, well, I did not hear that. But, hey, great minds think alike. Did
KARA
0:53
you go into this with a little bit
BRIDGET
0:55
of hope? Okay, so I went in it with lots of hope, let me just tell you. So last week after the game, I was a big mad again for the second week in a row, and I heard from one of our followers, Morgan, that they have Bloody Mary's at the game. So I was like, I'm going to go get me a Bloody Mary before the start. I'm excited. We're going to win today. We got this. You know, it's St. Patrick's Day celebrations. Let's go. So I went on Bloody Mary. I sat down with my lady daddy t shirt on from Matt Barbie, and I got on the dance camp. I was I was pumped. I
KARA
1:29
was like, woohoo ho ho ho ho.
BRIDGET
1:32
And then about five minutes in the game, I was not woohoo in anymore. I was like, oh, but you know, I really did have I think I had a lot of expectation that we would somehow rebound, that the guys would do something this week. Yeah, I think there was some hope since there was some change of lineup for Atlanta that we expected because of some people being out and then one of their DPS not starting. But ultimately it came down to, I think, trying to shut down the threat of Almada because he's really good, right. I just think that the team didn't really prepare for some of the other great people, like Wiley, props to him. Very talented young player. He's the 18 year
KARA
2:16
old, correct? I think so, yeah, 18 years old, and I think he had a brace today. He had a brace. He
BRIDGET
2:22
had an assist. He
KARA
2:23
was the best one on the team.
BRIDGET
2:25
He's the best one on both teams. Well, I mean, okay, we're not going to go there, but yeah, he was really good. I mean, for 18 years old, that's pretty awesome,
KARA
2:32
right? He's a homegrown player, I guess, came to up through their academy and yeah, he did amazing. And if he doesn't get on the best young players of MLS this week, he should. Yeah, he definitely should. But I think it was like he kept finding all the holes that we had, which there were many, in my opinion. And I think he found them and he knew where they were and he knew how to play off of it. And I was just scared he was going to have even more goals than what he already did. Yeah, but let's talk about our players,
BRIDGET
3:03
not the ones for the other team that did great.
KARA
3:06
Well, I feel like that's a high for them. 1s I know they want to really promote the rivalry with Atlanta, but I'm not here for that. I feel like there are other teams in soccer that I really don't like, so I would rather be on good terms with Atlanta because of Anton. I mean, I understand that they beat us, and I'm okay with being legitimately beaten. Those were good goals. They exposed a spot that we had and capitalized on it. 1s That's what we would do to another team if it existed that way. Right. That's what you want in soccer. So 2s I can't go against that one.
BRIDGET
3:45
Their coaches did a great job. Their coaches did a great job looking at our film and figuring out where we were going or what we did wrong in St. Louis. They knew exactly where to hit us.
KARA
3:54
Right. And they had been going, I guess, down most of the left flank before, but this time they knew to expose the right flank. So I guess the note is learn from this, cover up the right
BRIDGET
4:04
flank and Latanzia maybe switch up the formations in the lineup. And on that note, we did have the exact same lineup as last week. I think I had messaged you earlier telling you that I had a feeling that Latanzio is going to do the same thing. He's one of those guys that I feel like if he's got a plan, he's not going to just do one and done. He's going to let them try to figure it out. And I think he thought we beat ourselves lastly last week, which on my mind we did. So he was going to let them try to play that out again this week. And so he kept the exact same line up as last week. This week, it just I feel like it hurt us way more than it did last week.
KARA
4:37
Yeah. So my thoughts in this experiment, I understand he's trying to go for consistency and trying to build up camaraderie and rapport between the players who are on the pitch because we have a lot of new shake up on this lineup in general, but this experiment is not working in that. We have good opportunities at times, but I don't really think the players felt comfortable in their positions. He had Andre at cam again this week. He had Carol at right winger. He had Broncos at left back again. It's nice to see Jones still in the lineup. I think that worked to our advantage in many ways. We know. I think that his job is not to pass it up the pitch. His job is to win the ball and deliver it out to the side so it can move up somewhere
BRIDGET
5:27
else. So you think he was more of like a CDM position? Yeah, that's what he's making sure. I'm getting exactly where everybody was at on the field because I think it wasn't a shiny shinosiki was playing the winger today and Swedeski was supposed to be the cam, but that's how they put it on the screen.
KARA
5:45
Yeah, they're wrong.
BRIDGET
5:47
Okay. Because that's what threw me off because I was like, oh, they're going to put Shashiki on the wing and then you're going to have Carol as the cam. But then when they got out there, that is not how they actually did. No. I
KARA
5:56
don't know who keeps giving these lineups. Even when I was trying to look at apple and Apple had the same screwed up one from last week. They keep saying that we're doing four. Three, three. 1s And that's not what we did, either. I still feel like we're pretty much doing a 4231, but it's just which is what we should do. But the way we're doing it, I don't think is working.
BRIDGET
6:17
So my question because I know we we had a little heated discussion about this after the game, and you were like, look, why don't we leave the lineup from last year? Why don't we just go line up from last year? And my thing was, well, we have new players from last year. You have the Westwood and you have a competitor. And so in order to put your westwood, wood and your capetti in there, you can't have the same lineup you did last year. So you've got to move something, lose something. And I feel like the times he was trying not to push out the bronco or the DJ that performed last year, so he's trying to put them in there somewhere where they can keep them and also fit in these new guys. So what is he supposed to do? Is he's supposed to sit these new guys and let Veronica and DJ and then play like they did last year and keep it going? Or do you take these guys out that did perform last year because they're not playing their same position? Instead of moving them to a new one?
KARA
7:05
You're going to wade right into my queen's ire for this match.
BRIDGET
7:10
Let's do it. Let's just go for it.
KARA
7:12
So, yes. So, in two ways. One, I think it's Latanzio. And two, I think it Enzo again. We've seen this experiment. We know he's new. I understand what he's trying to do. He's trying to get all these great players on the pitch. I appreciate that. But it's not working. It's not working in the way that it's not flowing well. The connections are being missed. And I feel like at this point in the season, bottom of the table, it's not working. So I think with this lineup, I think you do see that Westwood is taking the eight with Jones as the six. That's fine. Veronica at left back is it depends on what lady is telling him to do. And I think that's part of the hard thing that we don't understand from what we're seeing as fans. I think he is having him play the left back. But whatever he's telling him about the midfield that is doing some things is at times clogging up some ways. And so you never quite know whose fault some of them are. But whatever it is, it was making them cheat. 2s To the left side, leaving the right completely exposed. But I feel like with Kopetti, he's up there, he's been complaining to the ref when he shouldn't be. We're three games in. He's not making the best connections at times. And I will give him the fact that he is really trying hard at times to score goals. That one flying almost header is brilliant, brilliant. But he's got to settle down and he's got to be clinical. And there are some really excellent balls that were delivered to him. I think Swedeski had one, definitely that we saw, and he's not making them happen. Now, I don't necessarily like that is going to happen, but he needs to stop complaining and he needs to have a better attitude on the pitch. And if he's not going to have the right attitude on the pitch to be there, then you need to sit him down until you can talk to him and let him come in and bring something else as a sub.
BRIDGET
9:25
I agree. And I think that my whole thing was Enzo. I don't ever know if he's faking it or not. Like you said, he's like the boy that crowd wolf, that little story or fable, and you don't ever know if he's being for real or not. So, like, when he went down the pitch and he's like waving his arms around and he's hurting, I don't know if he's really hurt or he's not. Or is he wasting time or is he just trying to draw? 1s Fouls that don't happen. I just don't know. And then he literally acts out all the time. Like, I get it, some of the calls aren't going to go your way. Yeah, really? I haven't seen anything. I mean, yeah, he makes good shots, but we have a lot of players that can make good shots. So right now I don't see anything that ends up doing that some of our other guys hadn't done last year. Right. And that bothers me that we, we have paid that much for him and he's not doing it and yeah, I get it, there's chemistry and we keep making excuses for him. One week it's the pitch, one week it's the grass, one week he just had a baby and one week it's he played in the other league.
KARA
10:23
Well, he's not getting the rep calls
BRIDGET
10:25
right. And I think Latanzo even said it today. If you aren't giving the team positive outcomes and you're not helping and you're not giving everything you have, he did say he would sit you down. Now, whether he does that or not, or if he's just talking and it's a lot of talk, I don't know because I haven't heard lady actually get down on some of those players like he did in today's press conference. If you haven't listened, you might want to listen to it. 2s He still says the stuff that you don't want him to say, but he also does this time at least point out some of the things in some of these players that he expects that he's not getting. So we have to see if he walks, he walks, the walker talks, the talk. We have to see that this week. But he did mention that there are some of these players that just came in and they're wanting to have the results like they did in other leagues and they're not, and their attitude is just not what he wants right now. So I think that was directed a lot towards Enzo, but at the same time, I'm going to even. Go out on limb and maybe say that Westwood's not performing the way I want Westwood to perform. I don't think Westwood needs to be the captain. I agree with you. I think that's also taking down the team. The team is not used to him being the captain. He doesn't rally the team together. He's not yeah. We thought he had that father of a figure, so we gave him an opportunity. But it's not working. And if it's not working and the guys aren't rallying around him and it's not doing on it, then change it up and see that's where I don't know if it's a Latanzio. Thing or it's coming from the Zorin or I don't know where it's coming from, but who's making these decisions that Westwood comes in and right off the bats, the captain of a team that he's not even played with yet. 1s I get it. He's got the experience, but it doesn't make sense to me. And I think that's shaking up these guys, I think it's getting in their heads. And I just didn't see a lot out of Westwood today that impressed me either. Now, he's good, but so is Veronica. I don't really see why Veronica couldn't start where Westwood is. That's just me. I
KARA
12:22
think Westwood's quality shows in his play on the pitch. Yes. But I do agree with you. As far as the captain, I feel like I'm not sure whether we want to go through this like now or later, but I think there's at some point we should talk about what recommendations that we're like. No, this is what we want to see for next game. Like with the captaincy, I want to give it back to Spadeski because I think he plays to his top quality. He gives everything when he is captain of that team. And I think the team sees that in him. And then I think they do play with more heart and play with more grit and that's not what they played with today. I think they were trying, but that heart and grit and just plain, I don't know, blood, sweat and tears that you put on the pitch that we saw last season, I haven't seen that yet. I think last week we saw some tears, probably some blood, but not everything and not all at
BRIDGET
13:19
once. No. 1s I don't understand it. 3s I think it's their head, but it doesn't make any sense to me now. I guess I'm going to throw something in here where one, I think part of this problem was always going to be mental. We knew that. Especially with the loss of walks. 1s We can say we can dedicate this team this season for Anton, but I do think that he was a big part of their heart of this team. And he was in there getting in the thick of things. When it was tough and when it was tough and there was mistakes, he was also the one going, that was me. It's my fault. I need to do better, better now. I don't know that we're seeing anyone one make that mistake and then be able to come out and talk about it now. It shouldn't be necessarily like last week on Tuiloma or Milanda. I feel like Milanda is probably a little too young for that. And then to elima hasn't been here long enough. I just think he had that quality and I think the team does miss him in that way. And you can say this, but it's up to the team to find that heart and to find that grit and push through these hard times, and we're seeing them get rattled more often than not. And whether that's because 1s in the locker room you need to see that leader. And I think there are some people on the pitch showing the leadership. I think bran does especially. We saw it last game with him going up to Miland after that mistake. I don't know that we made any of those egregious mistakes like that. Obviously the goal line didn't quite show that. I think that's why it needs to go to switzerky to see if it can bring out a different quality.
KARA
15:16
In the team or go to Bronco.
BRIDGET
15:18
If you're going to start Bronnico, why can't you give him the captain? Like, you're asking so much of the dude anyway and you know he's got the heart and if you're going to say, hey, dude, take on a new position, let's go. Why can't he have it? I think this decision is coming from somewhere higher up that it's not coming from the team. Does the team get to vote on who's their captain
KARA
15:39
sometimes? Yes. I think so. Think that does play a part into it.
BRIDGET
15:42
I just don't see that team saying, okay, Westwood, you're going to be archiving. I mean, maybe he's a good guy and he's the fatherly figure, but I just don't see them saying, 1s you know what I mean? Like, I just don't
KARA
15:54
you bring up a good point. Part of the reason maybe it's not going to Swedeski and Veronica is because they're both actually playing new positions. Like he has them out of their regular positioning. When we saw Carol at Cam, it for whatever reason didn't land that first game against New England. He didn't get the captaincy that game. And I think maybe if you give him the captaincy, you did, but as a winger, which is new as Bronco at left back, then you're asking them to learn a new position but also be wherever they are. 1s Pulling up the other players, dragging the team along, putting them on their backs, and then also go talking to the ref and trying not to get fouls because Bruno could have a great game today and that he didn't get a foul. Again,
BRIDGET
16:40
that could exactly be what it is. He's got them playing out of position, and that's a lot more responsibility to put on their shoulders and when he wants them to focus on just doing what he's asked them to do. Yeah, okay, we figured it out. So there we go. Now we know why he picked west with his cap and figure out the rest of the things and work it all out to where they win.
KARA
16:59
I think if he puts Switzerski back at camp, then he can give him captaincy. Well,
BRIDGET
17:04
maybe he'll do that next. I mean, I don't know. He likes Andre. For some weird reason, he did not like Andre. Last year, we couldn't get him to put Andre in to save his life. This year, it's like Andre and I get it. Andre is working really hard. I think Latanzia does reward their work in the practice, but at some point you got to say, hey, look, I know I appreciate your work ethic, but we're going to instill it usually as a supersorb. Yeah. And I think one thing, too, that we need to remember while we're going back to this mental attitude, is that the team we're seeing, they didn't have an entire week of preseason. That all the other teams got. And I don't know how that affected Atlanta, of course, but for us, it stopped. It all stopped. And so everyone else has had an extra week to make that thing gel, which we didn't. And maybe that's one of the reasons why we're starting behind,
KARA
18:00
especially on these experiments. On the pitch. It's going to be one result. Like, again, I can't make excuses for that. 1s They're on the pitch. They're the ones who are going to have to make this happen. But I do think that weak a preseason could have meant more jelling between Capetti Swedeski, you know, our final third attacking chances, especially because we didn't have to Iloma at the time. Oh,
BRIDGET
18:23
and Westwood, right? Westwood. Remember, he had to go back and get his visa or something, whatever he's doing. Right. We have issues with those. So he wasn't really here for they really haven't played together like every other team. Right.
KARA
18:37
And while I feel like other teams, of course, had people missing, atlanta had their Greek striker, he was gone for a while and only just came back last game. So, I mean, yeah, we're not the only one, but I feel like we've brought in a lot of players and we've haven't given them much time to gel. And we're seeing it. We're seeing that lack of connection and just understanding where their player is going to be, what they're going to go for. 1s Where they need the ball to be, and that's why some of these connections are are being completely missed. And then you add to the fact that they're out of position that we practiced in, and out of positions that they understand, and then that's why you're getting more of them. I think the fact that we, we got, what, twelve chances on goal was an improvement.
BRIDGET
19:25
It frustrates me that when we do get chances, that we just don't capitalize on them. Like, that. One time, I think there were six people to touch that ball in that box, and not one went in and the goalie was on the ground. So I told my daughter it was kind of like looking at one of your soccer games where the ball is right there and you just want somebody to shoot it in, and the goalie is over here on the ground. So you're just like, somebody get it in, but nobody wants to hit it in, and then it goes the opposite direction. It was so frustrating because it was like, come on, guys. They were trying so hard, but then they try so hard. They make mistakes, mistakes, and they trip all over themselves. So we have to stop getting in a position where we're down and we have to come back, and then we end up just making even more mistakes. Yeah,
KARA
20:04
I think they're just as frustrated in that moment, especially as we are. I think that was the exact play. I completely lost my voice. 3s You can hear it's a little bit gone.
BRIDGET
20:17
I mean, it was just frustrating because you were like, just get it in. And then there was another one. I don't even think it was the same play, but there was another one that they did the same thing in the box. The one where I think it was Milanda or somebody did, like, the bicycle kick and kicked it right out. It was, like, real close. So there was, like, two times that they were there that they could have I mean, I know that one was close. Yeah, milanda had an excellent chance. The only thing is, he is so tall that if he would have actually laid on the ground and bicycle kicked it, it would have gone in. But he didn't.
KARA
20:48
Right?
BRIDGET
20:49
User shinoshi would have done that. It would have went right in, 3s but at least he was trying. And on that night, I think Milano was the only one that I could even say that I would give a favor to this week. But Milana did the best of anybody out there on that little field. He gave his all, and even, like, I think he blocked one for Pablo with his head. Like, if it wouldn't hit Milana's head, I was kind of a little worried about it. So Milanda was all over the place. But Milana is good. So whoever was last week wanted to talk crap about Milana and his mistake. They need to back off because Milana came back this week and showed up and he was there. He was present the whole game. Yeah,
KARA
21:28
I got to call this out because on extra time, kayla Kyle said she was coming out to Ilama and Milan for being poor defenders, in her words, even though she was a midfielder and she's never been a defender. Milanda has just turned 21 and mistakes happen. A mistake happened today, but it didn't you know, luckily, it didn't capitalize on that one for Milanda. But I do think part of the reason that we missed one of those goals was because the defense had shifted. And you have the three defenders on the left side, like, within three ish 4ft of each other. And then Burn was hung out to dry, and then no one told told him to watch his back door. So while we can say Milanda had a good game and all, there are holes in the back line. And who do you fought that for? Yeah, but I think a lot of those holes aren't Melanda. It's Bill. And I don't mean like I was all about Bill the first game, but I don't even think Bill did that great today. I do think our defenses I mean, I wasn't a defender. I didn't even play soccer. But I watched Bill today, and there was a couple of times where I'm like, Bill, get in your spot. I get it. But I don't know if it's because of Bill or it's because he's covering for where Brunaco was going to be at. You see what I'm saying? So I don't know if he's out of place. I don't know with Latanzio, how he's doing it his formation, how it's going. So there was a couple of times I was like, well, Bill would have moved over a little bit to help cover Broncos. It would have been better. But then Bill's out there going, I don't know what to do either, because I don't have a left back. I
BRIDGET
23:01
don't have anybody over here because Veronica is up in midfield. So I don't know if I can blame that on Bill or I blame it on the fact that we don't have our formations down. But there were a couple of times where I did see Bill Hiccup today, and then I didn't really understand why Bill kicked that free kick. I didn't get it. But then somebody told me because Swedeski doesn't kick with us with that size of that foot. So that's why Bill did it. But then Bill didn't put any power to it anyway. Why did that happen? Well,
KARA
23:27
because that's the kind of ball that Tui Loma does great at. Actually, I expected that ball to either be two Elma or to be Westwood again, because Tui Loma has scored on chances like that, not that Swedesky can't, too. He can, too. Well, he didn't
BRIDGET
23:42
have any power behind that. He
KARA
23:44
did. He had power. I think the goalie just. 1s He put it too close to him, I feel
BRIDGET
23:50
like, I don't know, I just thought it was like weak sauce for me, but then I'm not playing so it's going to be weak sauce. I was already upset at that point, I think, in the game, and I just wanted it to go in and I was just like, why is Woodski not kicking it in, Bill? That's not even my point. Okay, Bill did okay on that one, but whatever. But I did see some holes where there were times where he didn't cover. And I think that one that did go in where there was one where I think Bill just was out of place. But like I said, I don't know if that was his fault or it was just because of our formations.
KARA
24:19
So personally, I did not see that fault necessarily on Tui Loma, I felt like he did pretty good. I think there's one where the first goal, we were in transition and no one was watching again, burn wasn't watching back door because he was cheating too far inside and maybe Pablo was watching the play, but that's where defender got to. You be communicating, somebody's got to be communicating. And if you're talking about the winger who's supposed to track back there, that would be Swedesky or one of the midfield who should be also watching that. And I think that's part of the reason why so much pressure was put on Burn is because typically your wingers are supposed to be tracking back to defend and you don't see Swedeski and Yosuyak tracking back as much as you sometimes see Gains or Vargas. And I think that's part of the reason why, and
BRIDGET
25:15
maybe that's why I don't see Swedeski doing anything. 2s Maybe that's the times where I don't see Swedeski doing anything is when I feel like he should be in the middle of the play and he's just standing there. I just think he's not tracking back the way that he probably needs to on those. If that back door is going to be left open for Burn and your left and right sides are going to be open on that back line, then you need your either somebody from midfield to be calling that to somebody and communicating that there's a hole, or that should be Pablo because he can see the whole field. And I don't think he had a good game today. And I'm not just saying that because he had three goals scored him, I don't think his level of communication was up to date. If he's seeing the whole field and he's seeing those gaps happen that he needs to be.
KARA
26:01
Telling his back line where they are. And with Federski and Yoshik not coming back to defend as much, to stopgap some of those holes and or call to burn or something, then, yeah, we're going to get beat. And I think that's where you notice the difference sometimes between Vargas and Gaines on those edges, our traditional, more traditional wingers, because they do track back because they're so fast. So
BRIDGET
26:29
I didn't realize that wingers are supposed to track back. Okay, so you're telling me something new. So that's why when Nuno comes out there as a winger, he's always back there in the freaking goal with Pablo when it comes back
KARA
26:41
there. He's been playing cam, but okay, well,
BRIDGET
26:45
anyway, either way, all I know is Nuno's back there with Pablo, and I feel like there should be defenders back there with Pablo, nuno's back there with them. So I'm just wondering why Nuno is playing all the positions. I think
KARA
26:57
the reason you're seeing Nuno and Kirwan come all the way back there is because they're desperate to prove themselves on the pitch. They're desperate to make a difference, and they have fresh legs, so that is on them because Nuno didn't get very many minutes today. He is doing everything he can for every minute he's getting to try and make a difference. And I think there was one important ball he missed, but he had plenty of other people where an important ball was missed. If you gave him more time, maybe you'd see better quality out of the time he's given and not just fault to him for that one.
BRIDGET
27:29
Oh, yeah, we can't say anything about him. But going back on Pablo, and I'm a March fan, I'm going to be a March fan forever. But then I was on a Pablo train, and even when they came out today, I even messaged him like, there's no boys Pablo Marks. But I agree, pablo did not have a great game today. And I think the thing I've noticed him with Pablo is he doesn't communicate. Someone mentioned that last week and I denounced it, saying that those goals weren't his fault. But I don't see Pablo communicating with the guys at all. And I don't know if that's because he's new, he doesn't have that confidence or whatever with the guys. But then there was one time that he had the ball and instead of just kicking it in the middle, which I get, that they don't want to always kick it because you don't have control. But there was, I think, two Atlanta guys back there and he rolled the ball to a defender, and I thought, oh, my gosh. And it's just those things that I don't know if Pablo is right there and what he needs to do. But today was not Pablo's best gaming or. But he's got to start communicating with this back line, whether they don't trust him or they don't have to respect him or vice versa or something, or they just don't know how to communicate something's going to happen because they don't talk to each other at all. I think that's you're noticing the differences in types of goalkeepers. I think it's been kind of pointed out a little bit that Pablo is more of a Stoic goalkeeper. He tries not to let anything rattle him. It also it means he's not necessarily delivering the leadership on the back line the same way that Kalina, I feel like, does kalina is a shot stopper. Pablo can be a shot stopper. I feel like we did not necessarily see him do that today. He maybe got two saves. Kalina was so, so good in those moments this time last year. I think that the goals that are going against us now are partially ones that where if we had Kalina, he might have stopped maybe two of those, not necessarily today. Two of those,
KARA
29:27
maybe one today, maybe one for St. Louis, who knows, right? But I think that is making a difference and I think also that's where Kalina is not afraid to holler at his back line and let them have it. But I think
BRIDGET
29:40
you have to as a goalkeeper and even my daughter, she's a goalkeeper at her age, at ten and that's one of the things we have to talk to her about, is she's got to start controlling the game. She's got to talk, she's got to tell the people, tell her defenders what to do because if she doesn't communicate to them what to do, they're going to do whatever they think they need to do and that could get in there her way so she couldn't see the ball. So that's how I feel like some of the ones that went in today was that there was no communication, so Pablo couldn't see where the ball was. I just don't feel like there's any chemistry out there on that field or those guys talking to each other or why they're out there on the field. I just don't think there's a Cohesion and maybe that's what Anton dying and then Carujo hurt. 1s And then you throw him bill in the right off the bat and then you don't even play a fool who's been there forever and knows what to do. It's just weird. I mean,
KARA
30:31
he got in today but yeah, he didn't have a bad time. Yeah, a
BRIDGET
30:34
fool came out there and he played, he played great. And I can see the difference because 2s I thought Burn did great. I didn't see anything with Burn. And then I know that some of the other people, my friend Danny in the Charlotte soccer show doesn't really like what Burns been doing lately. So then I started paying attention today and I was not impressed with Burn at all. But then a fool comes out there and you see it a fool's defending the ball, fool's attacking a fool is there and he's like all over the ball. So why are we not starting the guy that's all over the ball that has the experience? I get Burns older too, but a fool knows what he's doing.
KARA
31:12
Maybe they're asking too much of
BRIDGET
31:13
Burn. That might be what it is and so he just can't handle it all. I don't know. But then the Burn may upset me as well because there was a pass from Milana to Burn, and Milana passed it over to Burn and Burns open and so Milana's passing in front of him and Burn just let them go out of bounds. And then instead of just taking it responsibility for it, burn turns and gives Milana an evil eye. At that point, my mom myself about jumped over that railing and went over about just had a talk of Burn and tell him to stop it. But I didn't because I didn't want to get arrested. And I do like my season tickets because I've already paid for them. So I'm going to go, but come on, stop it. Play your game. You get paid six figures to go out there. 1s Do it. Attack that ball all the time you're out there on that field or don't play, just say, hey, that's not my day. I'm going to go sit down. But don't look at your other player at passage. You because you didn't want to just speed up 2 seconds and kick the ball so you let it go
KARA
32:12
out. I think you've made a good point for why Latanzio pulled him out. I feel like it was not much after that. No,
BRIDGET
32:17
it wasn't. Because I think I had a little yale. Maybe Latanzio heard me about jumping better that railing because I almost did anyway. That's my rant for that one. Don't look at the 21 year old when you're a 30 year old and like it was his fault. Stop it. I
KARA
32:33
feel like we need to move on. I feel like we probably need to move on to whatever we saw that was actually good on the pitch today. That way we can end on some high notes here or what we want to see maybe at the next game. Is there anyone you want to give kind of a favor to?
BRIDGET
32:48
Not really. No. I'm just kidding. I'm going to give my favorite to Milanda. I thought he did a great job. I think he's withstanding the mental attack that everybody else is not doing well with. So I have to give it to him. Veronica is trying his heart out, too. I can't give it to him just because he made mistakes but, I mean, he's doing what he can and you just have to respect the fact that he's given it is all. So those two are going to get my queensaver. I'm going to split it between those two. Honestly. Can't find anything else to say. 1s I can't beat the guys up, but, yeah, that is only two. Okay. Embargas did well and nuno did but they played like ten minutes so I can't really go off that ten minutes. Oh, yeah, I
KARA
33:26
agree with you there. So I feel like my two are going to go to our two polish princes even though neither of them had a good result at the end. And I feel like we saw the same yosuak from last game. Josek did some good dribbling. He made some good chances. Whatever hate he is getting is not what he should be getting now again, did
BRIDGET
33:46
you see that dribble right out of bounds, though? Yeah, he
KARA
33:49
had a poor touch. Everybody had a poor touch and meant different ways.
BRIDGET
33:53
Yeah, that was frustrating.
KARA
33:56
Yeah, that was a good opportunity. And he screwed that one up.
BRIDGET
34:01
Everybody. They screwed
KARA
34:02
one of them up. Yeah. That was just a very glaringly obvious one. I wanted
BRIDGET
34:06
to make sure you saw that one because that's when I showed my kids and said don't do that.
KARA
34:11
Rewatched that one three times. And let's just let me let you know that you all don't want to come to one of my kids soccer games because I am that person. Like, I actually showed you I had that shirt. That's it. Someone's loud mouthed soccer mom. Yes, that is me. So whatever I give to this team, I give to my kids that much more. But she has to see me and go home to me and get my car. Think about that.
BRIDGET
34:32
Anyway, sorry. Go ahead.
KARA
34:35
And I do think that while we saw again, I don't think Carol's in the right spot. I do think he definitely tried. Maybe he's not giving 1s 110% like he would with the captaincy. I do think he's giving up there. And I don't mean giving up. I mean going to 100, maybe at least 90 ish. I think the one that he does miss is probably egregious. I think he has a bad slip, maybe because the grass is wet or something, but I feel like he went for it. 1s He couldn't get there because his foot slipped or something. I think he had some good passes into the box. I think he was trying to be dynamic. I just think that the winger isn't for him because he doesn't track back enough to give the relief to some more defense. And we saw that in the last game a little bit with that's how he got the penalty, because he's not used to being back there, and he's not used to being in the path of the ball in that way, and that shouldn't be necessarily the case. I also think Kamal didn't hate that we didn't get that penalty for him whiffing in the moment. He tried he tried two really good balls with power. It
BRIDGET
35:48
was not a penalty. It wasn't. I was going to the restroom and I saw him fall down, and I was like, oh, and then they said, penalties. So I ran out of my fever fast, but I couldn't believe they were going to even call a penalty. 1s That wasn't a penalty.
KARA
36:01
If he would have connected, it would have been. If he would have connected the ball, there would have been a case for it. Yeah, definitely more of a case than there was. But he did not connect to the ball. It went a straight check mark underneath his flying foot.
BRIDGET
36:15
He did a good acting job, though. So, Enzo, if you're going to do it, do it like Josiac, and then that way at least we get a chance. Yeah.
KARA
36:23
I mean, you could tell he was trying to go for that ball with the power that he put behind it. Both of the two times he had blocks from the defenders for shots that he tried to have. I just wish it would have worked a little better than it executed. So yeah, I don't necessarily think Carol had a bad game. I think he's in a bad position. Anything else good that you want to say about this? Other than I guess we got to brush this
BRIDGET
36:49
off? Well, the Tfo was great today. It was
KARA
36:51
beautiful. Oh, yes. I love that was my favorite part of the whole thing. Oh, the national anthem, that one. And the TiVo is my favorite part of today. And being on the dance cam with my lady daddy T shirt. Although I almost toured off off before the game was over. But I do want to say, like, I heard some booing at the end of the game, and I don't. Know if it was we booed the score or we were booing the players or what we were doing, but I don't think that we should be booing anyone. These guys play their hearts out and I am the biggest one because, you know, I ranted and raved and texted a lot. Very angry at these guys. But they go home at night and I can't imagine what they're thinking. If we're thinking this about them, think about what they're thinking about themselves. They want to win too, right? And so I think the more pressure we put on them, the worse it is because then they really are in their head. And so I think that we need to give them even more grace than what we want to. Yes, we can be down on them and say, so and so is not the greatest deeply or so and so is what we all have our own opinions. At the end of the day, they're people. And I don't think they go out there and say, I'm just going to go out here and stand around, do nothing. You know, I don't think that's them. So as long as they're going out there and playing, then then I don't think we need to be filled with them. And also, I don't think we need to fire lady after two games. Three games. If he doesn't do after six, I can have this combo with you. But I just don't think that we need to fire lady after three games and that's all fire. The tango mess needs to stop too, because we have to all get behind our team. Yeah, he needs to make better decisions. We all agree on that. I'm going to need to give him a phone call later, tell him to put NU in way earlier than the but at the same time, if we get a new coach right now, that would be even worse.
BRIDGET
38:35
So let's just try to see if we can work it out and hope that our guys pull it together. Pray for a miracle that's not all the positive I have. 1s I still love our team, though.
KARA
38:49
Oh, I do too. And I was real upset the first half, but by the second I was like, oh, cool, I'm just going to sit here. I'm freezing. So I feel like putting pressure and getting mad is just not the answer to this game. So why don't I just sit here and enjoy what we've got? And then at the end of the game, I feel like so when he blew the whistle, I booed. I did not boo the result. I just want to put that on record because I was booing the ref because he ended the game. And I felt like there was one more minute because of that whole subbing thing. So I was like, no, we had one more minute. Somewhere in there. I wanted one more minute, even though I wouldn't have solved any of our problems. Which is? I mean,
BRIDGET
39:31
it would have made a difference.
KARA
39:35
Stupidly hopeful 1s and wouldn't have made one lick of a difference. But I was just, I guess, upset that it was over. Not Necessarily. That would not boo the team. I feel like it would be completely different if somebody was very unsported. Sportsmanship conduct. If someone was doing that on the thing, I would feel okay to boo a player for extremely unsportsmanlike conduct. But no. I feel like the audience was booing the team
BRIDGET
40:05
at it. We were all frustrated. Maybe they were born lady. A lot of people wanted. On his head, but I do think that we need
KARA
40:13
it. But that's not how they hear it. They hear it for all of them collectively. No, that's not it's. The players here and then people are like, oh, they didn't sign autographs after the game. And you're like, well, first of all, they lost. They got embarrassed. We were embarrassed for them, they're embarrassed for themselves, and then they're booed. So yeah. Do you think they're going to come over there and sign an autograph?
BRIDGET
40:32
Probably not. 1s What do you think we should do nextly week to make it better? So I think we need to put Carol back. His camp with Papetti acting this way, I think you need to sit him down. Not that man does not have talent, but I feel like he needs to settle down and he needs to show that he can stay calm and he can be wise and just play the game like he needs to play the game smart and not wasting time and pulling the team down in some ways. That's not to say he's pulling the team down by any means for the whole time, but I think we need to give him moments to shine as opposed to putting that 90 minutes pressure on him when this is happening. I feel like if we put Carol back in as Cam, I don't necessarily think that Shiny Shiki has the best connections with Carol at all. That's really never worked just about that. We've had them both on the pitch at the same time. Last year, it was successful because we put Shiny Shiki in for Carol, and we saw that in New England where he put him in as Cam, and that's fine. I feel like the Shiny Shihi at Cam is an experiment as well. And we can't expect him to play with the level of talent as a I guess, regular Cam, because this is a role he's learning, too, and he's coming to it very secondary. And he does have raw talent. And last year when we put him in, we put him in up there at the nine. And so I think if you're going to bench Capetti and you can't have Mel yet, what harm can Shinichiki do there? Put him there. Put Carol at Cam. Let's bring back out Vargas on the wing. I guess you can give the other wing to Josiak. That'd be fine. I think he is doing well there, and I think his connection with Carol is usually pretty good except for that New England game. I don't think he had a good game there. I think that's just because maybe the talent they had, but something's wrong with Burn, and 2s I can't necessarily blame Veronica for this thing. I feel like he did give his all. I do think that some of those holes were
KARA
42:39
jones didn't come to cover on that second goal for Arujo, and the other two are exposing the right back. So if Burn isn't doing what you want him to do, it right back. Maybe because you're asking him too much. Put in Lindsay. I want to see Lindsay play. He hasn't gotten any time today. Or a fool. I think that a fool can't play all the time, though. And Lindsay is on senior roster slot now. Let's give him some time. The other thing that isn't. 1s Quite working again is the captaincy. Give that back to Carol. I think with Fouks gone, he had a lot of fire. Westwood does not have that same inspirational fire even though he has the same premier league talent. And you're seeing the same quality that folks had at left back isn't quite coming with Bronco. But it might come. They have to have more time, I think, in that role. And that's one of the things we're lacking. Hopefully we're still out there working on the left back because I don't think this experiment needs to go on for much longer because we're going to have more games. We're going to have the Open Cup, we're going to have more MLS, we're going to have the League's Cup. And that's a lot of games to be putting on these guys. And so we're going to need a couple more pieces other than to just rely on some of the rest of our depth. And they're going to need to get warmed up sometime as two. So I'd like to see more subbing next time, too.
BRIDGET
44:07
So when Carujo comes back, where does too long ago can he go left back?
KARA
44:11
I don't know. Okay. I don't think Caruj is coming back anytime soon. I think you're going to give him until late April maybe. I think it's going to take him a lot longer than anyone else simply because one, that's a really important dare to your knee that you need to build up. And I think that he lost a lot of muscle mass. I felt like that he's all lean muscle now, which is fine, but he's got to be out there being able to shove some guys and he's not got that right now. So he doesn't have the same weight that he's going to need at that back line. And hopefully now that he's started training, he can start building back back up. That being said, I do think that theoretically Mello could be playing by the end of the month. As long as he doesn't take another knock, I think that armor we could see him maybe beginning of April would be great. And I think around that same time frame, kalina needs to be ready to come back. I think we need the same leadership and vocalness and just fire that we got out of Kalina and Carujo and that's what we're missing, those shiny things. So for us, 1s gosh, I hope this is almost like our September, our August September line because I'm not sure I can take this all season.
BRIDGET
45:26
Yeah, that's true. When you were just saying that, I started thinking everything's changed. You literally took food out, you took out crujo, you got out Kleena. So you really don't have your leaders on the fit. You don't have your leaders on those pitch. And those were the guys that led that team last year on that. They were always colleen was always in it. Whether we like what Clinton was doing or not. He was always in it, and Carujo was building them up. You had that and you don't have that. And when you just said that, it hit me. I'm like, that could also be a problem. That's why we don't have that out there on that field, because all your guys that were leaders are not there. Foo isn't there. I mean, Pooch is on the sideline, but he can only do so much, right? So. Feel like we don't have that on the field anymore. We need crew or
KARA
46:14
cleaner back. That's one of the reasons why you have Bronico still. I think he does do a lot of caring for the team. I think Swedesky does as well. And I think with Westwood coming in, then then maybe people are confused about what leadership is there because you're also seeing that kind of brash vocalness from Capeti. So it's almost like there is a confusion of leadership. And I feel like maybe that you streamlined that a little bit and maybe we can give a little more drive and direction into what needs to go because we're a little bit more directionless with our energy and it needs to be cohesive into a more directed way. So I want to see Karen start. I think if we put Andre up front because we're benching
BRIDGET
47:00
Capetti, he's not going to bench Confetti. He's not doing he needs
KARA
47:03
to I'm going to stick by that. He needs to I want him to come in. I want him to come in, but I want him to get a message.
BRIDGET
47:10
Oh, I agree, but I just don't see it happening. He will pitch a holy fit if they sit him. I don't care. You think he's pitched to fit now? If you think he's shown his face, you wait till they sit him and don't start him and sit him on that bench. He will flip a script.
KARA
47:29
I don't care. I mean, to me, if lady's the coach, then he needs to pull his rank and if he's given him a talk, he needs to back it up and then so I think we know Andre can't last a full a full game. No shame in that. He hasn't been able to even get a full game anytime soon. Right. So I think what you do is you pull Carol and you pull Andre out right around the 60 Minutes mark. You put in Nuno, you put in Capeti and you put in Gaines Explosion. I
BRIDGET
47:58
think that would work. Like, I totally and then on the back line, you have your you have a Lindsay and you have a More, a Heck. Just put more in. I have more faith than more. And take DJ. Out. Go ahead. Just take DJ. Out and then let's put Veronica there. Right. Either way, I think that would work, but I just don't think that it's going to happen. Like, I just don't see it happen. He will pitch a holy fit and I just don't think they're ready for that yet
KARA
48:22
with his comments after the game today. This is the reason why I'm arguing this. I would not be arguing this if he had said something different. But I feel like if that's what he's calling for with his attitude on the pitch saying that's not what he wants to see from his players, then I think you need to back it up and you need to give Copetti time to shine and not have to have so much pressure to do something. Maybe. And that way, it would relieve some of our pain spots. That's all I'm saying. Oh, I think it'd be great. I mean, I totally think that it would be awesome to sit him in Westwood. I mean, I know that sounds bad because Westwood he hasn't done anything wrong to warrant to sit him, but sit. Okay? That's how we could do it. You sit your Westwood and Enzo and let your bronigo. Get back where he's at. Let them get their feel back, you know what I mean? Let them get their groove back and then sub. Sub them in if you need to submit. And then you got that fire out there. Not that Westwood did anything wrong, like I said, but just so that the team can get back to feeling like a team again. That's not going to happen either.
BRIDGET
49:30
I think that's about all we can say. I mean, we could probably say a lot more. That's probably all we should say.
KARA
49:35
Think we need to rest it here for tonight. I don't know what to say for next time. I will say that I just kind of want to put into the ether and see if anyone knows anything about it. Was that they have it says they've loaned out Cambridge and Scardina. To who? I don't know. Does that mean they've gone down to Crown Legacy? I don't think so, because I don't think the first team players, they can just go down to Crown Legacy. It doesn't necessarily mean loaned out. So I want to know more about
BRIDGET
50:03
that. Yeah. Who did we loan these? Who did we loan them to? Anybody who knows, let us know. But
KARA
50:07
congratulations to Walker coming on to the team. That's pretty cool. Oh,
BRIDGET
50:10
yeah. All right, I think that's it. Have
KARA
50:12
a good week, everyone. Can't wait to hear your thoughts about what we said and what you want to see next week, but I think we just got to keep her cool. I think we need to maybe put no hope and just I'm going to go on the record and go maybe we're just going to lose the next three games. No,
BRIDGET
50:28
we're not going to go there. We're just going to just not show up. I'm just kidding. We're going to show up. We're going to show up. We're going to win. I think we're going to win. We're going to win one of those three.
KARA
50:37
No, I'm just going to say we'll lose and then we'll be happy if it's anything different.
BRIDGET
50:41
Hey, I didn't pick the score today, so I did say we were going to win two to one, and I got it wrong.
KARA
50:45
It's not on you today.
BRIDGET
50:47
No, not on me today. I'm not going to take it. Not taking it. All right. We wanted to give a shout out today, our little buddy. Not little buddy, but our buddy Jorge. He got to go out there on the field, do the media releases, do the photos, and he did a great job. We'll tag him on our podcast so that way you can check him out. But he did a great job. You should look at his photos on Instagram, but he did a really good job. So I wanted to give him a shout out today, and we hope for only the best for him going forward, and we will be behind him all the way. But me on that note, everybody have a great week, and thanks for listening to us. We greatly appreciate it.