Bridget
0:15
Welcome to another episode of the queen's pitch podcast. I'm bridget. And I'm kara. And here we are after a tough game. We had a little bit of a break, but we came back, played the new york red bulls tonight and we ended up tying two to two. That was a bit of a struggle at the end, wasn't it, kara?
Kara
0:35
Yeah. And we had such hope. We had a lot of positives. I feel like coming into this match, especially with the way it started out in the first half, I don't think this is the result that we would be happy with. Yeah, I
Bridget
0:52
know everybody says you should be happy with the fact that if you go away and you actually come back with a tie or a point or any points, that you should be happy with it. But this tie ended up feeling like we lost the game. But let's start out with some good stuff. So the starting lineup was a little different today. We had carujo back starting now since october of last year. That was exciting.
Kara
1:15
It was really great to see him coming back and starting. I think that's one of the things that made me happiest about today, even though I was really nervous going into it, because we all know that New York Red Bulls are a very physical team, and when we play them in the past, it's been limbs flying and bruises and potential actual calamities and casualties and things like that. So to have him coming back and starting this game, it's just smart to have
Bridget
1:42
fear. They're one of the toughest teams that we do play. They're aggressive when they play. They're not scared to do things to foul. They had a lot of fouls, especially in that first half. I think we kept up with them in the second half, but the first half they were pretty aggressive. I felt like it was tough. But we also had enzo back starting, too, so that was good. And we had camille starting on the bench, so we had a lot of hope going into that, into this game. I know we didn't have carol and Bill because they were on international play. Hopefully they'll be back by saturday, but just going out there, we were like, yeah, we got a good lineup. We're going to do this. The first half seemed awesome. 1s Bender came out there, got himself a little bit of a brace. We were all like, married life's, treating Ben Bender really well, which, by the way, if you didn't know, bender got married on June I think it said June 10 or June 11. I think it was June 11 because it was the day after that game. So he got married. So congratulations, Bender. And the marriage seemed to do well for him because he came out just he played some beautiful soccer, or beautiful foot, as they like to call it in that first half. So let's just start out you want to go ahead and do our favors and our ras?
Kara
2:50
Yeah, I think you've already started,
Bridget
2:53
right? But yes, my first favor this week is going to go to Benny benjamin Bender, as you like to call him. It's going to go to him. He did great. He was super excited in that I saw did you see that? After that first goal that he had, he kissed his he didn't have his weding ring on, but he had on, like, tape on the wedding ring. On the wedding finger, whatever the ring finger they call it. And he kissed the little tape on his ring finger. Did you see that? No, he did. So that was kind of cute. I was like, I'm sure that was a sign. He did rub it. He did like, forehead wipe, too, so I don't know if that was a sign, too, but he did after everybody cheered him, he gave his little finger ring finger a kiss, and it had, like, a little piece of tape. Where your ring? I guess maybe they can't wear their rings out on the field. So anyway, it was kind of cute. Oh, he was on point tonight. He was making plays happen. That one that he got from Kalina was pretty sick. 2s I don't know. I don't often see a goalie assist somebody, but that was pretty cool. And Ben seemed to know what he was doing out there. So I'm going to get my first favorite of Benjamin Bender.
Kara
3:53
I think that is well deserved. Ben had a fantastic night, and you it coming right after his wedding. Well, maybe that's just a lovely wedding gift that he was able to make happen or. 1s It's all coming up roses for Benjamin Bender this week, so hopefully that'll continue into Saturday. You know, his new wife has to be proud of him in the way he played tonight because his communication with Kalena thought had a lot of foresight. And, you know, we've seen him have great vision like that in the past, but it was just so smoothly executed. The team worked together on the second goal. I think Miram passed it up and it went to Capetti. And Capetti is able to muscle New York Red Bulls off of the ball enough to, like, he takes on, like, three players or two players or something and falls to the ground, but is able to still get that pass off to Ben, who just slots it right in, and it's just very pretty. And kudos to him.
Bridget
4:56
Did you see that he's been doing his gymnastics, too? Did you see that corner kick where he kicks the flag? His leg got way up. Well, when he stopped the ball, too, on that one. Kalina did. His leg was way up. There's a photo that Charlotte FC put out there. I'm not sure who did that, but it is beautiful. But he also did that little corner flag kick, and I think he did it better than pull a stick did on Sunday. So I'm going to go with all that. But I think he's been doing his gymnastics, too. 1s But as we're talking about this kind of leads into your favor, your first favor. You want to go and tell us that one? Yeah,
Kara
5:28
I think the game here, even though the results doesn't go our way, I do think that Kalena deserves the second favor because I feel like the score line and the momentum against us for most of the match, other than our two goals, is just heavily weighted for the Red Bulls. And so with those two goals that they do get off us in the second half, I don't necessarily think they're all Kalina's fault, but he does save us from many more here. He does pull off some very good saves since we weren't doing too too much to help him or to keep it together or something to at least disrupt their momentum enough to put Red Bulls off their front foot. He deserves it. Didn't he do like he did like a hero save with his feet on that one kick, like that one that dude nailed into the goal and he saved it with his feet, his knee? Yeah.
Bridget
6:25
I think that's always cool when they do that because it's like a jerk reaction. They got it. There was a couple of times 1s I got a little scared, and there's a couple of times I got a little angry because I thought he should have stopped that. That second one, I believe it was the second one that's just a natural goalkeeper should have stopped it. But like you said, we have to give him credit. We all make mistakes. 2s So I'm going to give him credit. He did make that hero kick to Ben, because I have to say that maybe he's been working on kicking his direction, how he can control the ball with that. And then he also had a lot of saves in that second half when we didn't have a defensive line at all. So we got to give credit where credit is due. So I'll give him a little bit of props. I'm definitely not going as far out as a lot of people and as you are, but I'm going to give him some props.
Kara
7:16
And that's the first assist that a goalkeeper has got off in Charlotte FC, so I feel like that pushes him over the line. Those two things put together well. He has them mainly the only goalkeeper, too, for Charlotte FC. Let's not get too crazy with that stat. But I also think that any goalkeeper that can assist like that should get props anyway because that doesn't happen very often in MLS and it doesn't happen in the Premier League. It doesn't really happen very often, period. So
Bridget
7:43
I'll give him credit for that one, although I definitely think he should have stopped that second one.
Kara
7:48
So, Bridget, do you have any other favors on the side
Bridget
7:52
or let's do like many favors because there's not like, a lot of favors to give. We should give a partial one at least to Carujo Guzman. Carujo?
Kara
8:03
They said his name right. That's awesome. I still wish he dyes hair back because that was pretty cool. But I think he did a good job. He joined the Yala Club Crew like everybody else, his first return back this year, so he wanted to be a part of that and he did well. 1s That guy knows when to make plays to stop them from scoring.
Bridget
8:25
And I think that's a big quality to have on that back line. I think for the first half when he was on his role that we did well on that back line, don't you? Yeah, I agree. I think that him starting meant he was always going to get a yellow, especially against this team. I mean, it's just kind of a given. He's going to rack him up if he's going to start. It was really nice to have him out there. And I think one of the things that if you watched the videos that Charlote FC put out recently about Guzman and his recovery from this injury, he basically was like, look, I'm going to play the same soccer that I did before, 1s so you're going to get the same guy, the same style of play and things like that. Like the decision making. That doesn't always mean it's going to come off because again, 1s he's come from behind this year with his setbacks and with the timing and not as much obviously game time and 1s gelling time with the rest of the team. But this is the first look we get with Guzman and Adil together in that back line. And I really liked that teamwork that they had tonight. I felt like
Kara
9:41
looked more cemented at times than I expected them to look. 1s And maybe they have just learned to kind of read each other in a different way. But I think that it was a good encouraging sign. Now I do hope that Guzman, he went down midway into the second half and he was taken out in favor of SoBo. So we're hoping that it was just something small. He just maybe had some cramps potentially or something. That's
Bridget
10:10
what they're saying. Fingers crossed, that was all it is,
Kara
10:13
right? So hopefully that just means he's still good. But I was proud of him today, and I'm glad that he didn't. Hopefully that's not much more, and I couldn't tell you much more that I wanted to see improve from him. Honestly, I thought the real card was tactical. I don't have a problem with
Bridget
10:29
it. I was talking to my daughter and we were talking about how you kind of forgot how Guzman played. We've lost that because Fuchsia played a lot like Guzman did on that back line. They were really aggressive. They knew when to make those plays happen. They weren't scared to get the yellow cards. They weren't scared to go after it and to make those plays happen. And you kind of missed that without Fuchsia and without Guzman. And then when he was out there today, it was like, he's back. We just need to expect the fact that he's going to get those yellow cards. Kind of like DJ guy his gets his. Guzman's going to get those cards because he plays aggressively, but we know that when he does it, he's doing it tactically and he's smart about it. He's just not just out there willy nilly and getting cards because he's flopping around the ground and arguing with the
Kara
11:13
refs. Yeah, I thought that one of the nice things about when he was hurt, nathan Byrne comes up and encourages
Bridget
11:22
him. He tapped him on the chest and pulled him up. I
Kara
11:25
thought that was nice because they didn't get a chance to play together. Byrne came after Karuja had already gotten injured. Yeah. So I think that relationship also on the back line is new for us. I mean, we've seen Lindsay and him play well together. 2s But we've never seen this back line, right?
Bridget
11:44
And they probably can't even speak the same language. I think it's kind of cool that they're there for you know, they're like, bravo how Colina says it. I mean, I'm sure they can encourage each other even if they don't speak the same language.
Kara
11:53
Circling back to what I said before about this back line being new, this is where I think I want to point out the criticism against us is what we have 35 is this 35 goals against us now,
Bridget
12:09
I think Eric even said it. We have the worst back line in the league, right?
Kara
12:14
So 35 goals against us, worst record for goals against in the MLS. But when you stack that up against, like, you're just saying that. Like it's so flippantly that people keep saying this, but they don't recognize what what that backline has gone through this year. First of all, when Carujo got taken out at the end of last year, it was plain that there was a huge hole and that he was a backbone of the team, which is why we leaked goals astronomically in August and that it struggled until we could plug Milanda into that hole. 1s And then it was the same thing again once we kind of lost walks and so then we had Bill coming in, we had Sobosinski, who took a long time to get up to par. Adilson can only be perfect.
Bridget
13:12
Three different goalkeepers,
Kara
13:13
right? We've had three different goalkeepers. That whole back line has just been completely new. We lost Fuchs, which is difference in lead ship there. And I just think that this team, while it has been leaking goals, 2s I'm not sure I can be too upset about all of it. Yes, we've had a number of them that were just what felt like slap yourself silly mistakes and a number of times to where it almost feels ridiculous, but they can't all be that. And you can't all put that to like, oh, Charlotte's back line because it's not been the same.
Bridget
13:51
Right. Because if the midfield was doing their part, then the back line would have to be doing all the playing the whole game. Right. 1s I think a lot of that when we get to our rafts, we can talk about that, but do you have a half favor before we totally go sideways?
Kara
14:07
I think Jalen Lindsay had a good game today, even though it's not terribly obvious. But I do think that he kept things pretty solid on that line and he was playing very good defensively that not very many things got around him. I didn't see things that I went, oh, that was Jalen. He needed to get that. So I think he had a pretty good game on that back line when no one else really did. And I also want to say I really like the defensive out of McKinsey Gaines tonight. I thought that made a significant difference when he came in, even though he's supposed to be very offensive. I think he made a difference trying to put Red Bulls on the back heel.
Bridget
14:51
I think that Jalen did a great job in. Too. I mean, obviously they all made mistakes, but Jalen did his part. He's definitely earning that starting position on that back line. I definitely would say start him. And I also agree with the Gaines situation. And here's the thing, a lot of people were getting upset that Latanzio put in Gaines instead of Cambridge. But I think what you just said made that big of a difference is because Gaines can play that defense, you know, do the defensive and the winging stuff, whatever you all call that mess. And he can do that. Whereas I don't think Cambridge is up to the experience and the level because I think also Latanzio was getting ready to put in Najimon and you have a lot of these inexperienced people, you need that. We needed Gaines quickness out there, we needed Camille, we needed that. So I think that that had a lot to do with because Camille is very defensive and so is Gains, and we needed that. And Cambridge is just not up to that part where he can do all that. That's just what my personal opinion is. I think with Lilatanzio put Gains in instead of
Kara
15:52
Cambridge. Yeah, and I also think you saw something weird happening in the midfield there too, because when he took Bender out, he put in Harry and so Harry was playing a weird midfield role and so I think with Gaines in that. 1s Spot, too. Like, I think Gaines was supposed to stay back more and play that defensive spot more. But I also think he had a very nice pass up to Ajimon. That almost 1s made a goal. 2s Our heart cracked
Bridget
16:29
a little. I think with Tom Ajimon. Will get those. That's just going to come with the spirit. He really was trying really hard. I think Jorge, our friend Jorge had texted us and said he wanted to put that on his right foot so bad he just couldn't get it there. He couldn't get there. But he'll learn to be able to once he's out there a little bit more. I think he'll get those. Yeah.
Kara
16:50
But I also think it was just placed very well by McKinsey Gaines for him to go get
Bridget
16:55
much better than when Enzo kicked it out in the middle of nowhere. Well,
Kara
16:58
plenty of people did that tonight, but 2s do you have any rats this game that you'd like to single out? I don't want to be
Bridget
17:08
mean to people. Just so everybody, let's just give a little free cursor thing. When we give rafts, it's not like we're saying somebody is awful or bad. We're just saying, like, we just could see better out of these people. So that's where we look at the rasp part of it. So I'm going to go with my raft tonight. I'm going to go with the mayor. I know that it was his birthday yesterday. He's at UNC Charlote Grad go 49 ers, I'm there with you all the way. I like the dude. He's really nice. He's cut that mullet off. But Bronco just struggles. He's just struggled a lot of games and I really don't understand why we continue to start him every single game. He just didn't have it together tonight. And I think a lot of his mistakes cost us. He just cannot control the ball. Granted, he was double teamed a couple of times, but he can't control the ball. And I have no idea what he was doing. I just think he can do better. He grinds so hard, 1s he works so hard at it, but it's just like the production is not coming out. It's just not showing up. And I know that it's got to frustrate him because it frustrates freeze us. 1s So my first rascals for Bronco.
Kara
18:18
Yeah, I don't disagree that something was kind of wrong in the midfield here. I don't think Bronco had a great game. I also am not sure how much better he could have done. I mean, we also know that Red Bulls play a heavy press game and so that's Bronco's typical Mo 1s and so was bound to be a little more frustrating for him to play this match. But I also think we had way too many passes go weirdly astray and maybe that's just because it's Red Bulls we should just accept it. But I don't like that opinion. 2s I don't think he had a very good game today. He's not alone in that. Westwood didn't have a great game today either. I think Westwood's passing and choice of passing was also off somehow. I
Bridget
19:13
think maybe I shouldn't just give it to Bronica. I could just give it to the whole 1s other than Bender, I could give it to the midfield because they just struggle bust it today. Yeah, they couldn't make anything happen and it's like the passes that they were getting to them, they just let him buy. I saw one that Westwood clearly just was like what? It just went right. It was like, oh, there it goes. Really? Where's it going? Oh, right past you, dude. But Bronco was over there. I don't even know what he was doing. He was like back there in the back in the defensive line. But then at the same time there was one point where it was like he was kicking it around. It was like he was going to kick it right to Kalena. And I was like, what are you doing? The dude is right there. That's normally a burn type of thing to do or whatever. Bill type of thing. Not a Bronco type of thing. But Bronco was like, hey, Bill's not here so let me try to do this too, let me get an on goal. I don't know, but it was just frustrating because I know he can do better and he's just not so sitting his butt down and do something about it. Put DJ. Back in.
Kara
20:17
Yeah, I think that was going into my wrath in that
Bridget
20:22
we noticeably did not have DJ. And I think that's why Charlotte FC. Has no hope in the second half controlling the game enough to give people a break to be in the right spots. And I think DJ gave them that little bit of respite when he is on. 1s This eleven. And without him, this is kind of what we get. We're not always able, especially in this high press, high intensity sort of game that Red Bulls plays, we're not able to hold it long enough for the people to be in the right positions for our passes to come off and things like that. So our midfield was unable to gel together in the way that they really needed to be. And I really do think that's partially because of missing Derek Jones, and some side note is also that maybe partially what was up with Bonico and Westwood was that weird thing that happened at halftime where Red Bulls Casseris Got said some sort of comment and they had to keep Ashley from going at him. Enzo had to do it. And so that was extremely surprising to see that bit there. 1s Okay, so here's combing into my actual wrath after this long spiel to get there. Sorry
Kara
21:46
about that. But it's more like, why is our depth still so problematic that we can't find up for Derek Jones? We can't win a ball to save our dang lives without DJ. It makes absolutely no sense. If I was one of them coaches, I would take these boys out there and we would all seriously just sit there and let Kalina kick that ball and we would try to win headers all day long because we cannot win the ball. 1s The
Bridget
22:16
only one on our team that can win that ball is Derek freaking jones.
Kara
22:19
I think that's just because of where he is on the pitch, but I would say that carujo had some of those Dilson. Did, as well.
Bridget
22:27
Enzo did not have any. That bothers me about Enzo. He needs to win stuff. He
Kara
22:33
was against nadame this time, was he not? And Sean nielas is no shorty, either. Okay, so he's against two taller guys.
Bridget
22:42
Okay. I'm just trying to understand
Kara
22:44
he does win more of them than 1s you expect. Okay, well, I just know that I felt like Enzo wasn't doing what I wanted Enzo to do. But then, as our great friend carol let me know. Enzo did assist bender, so I need to shut my mouth sometimes. He did. She
Bridget
23:02
didn't say that way. 2s I think she said it a lot nicer than that. But I got the point. But that's also another thing I wanted to bring up in that our last match against the red bulls, weren't we talking about how often everybody fell down and laid all over the pitch? Well, that's not the game we saw today. I mean, not that people didn't. I just felt like it was a normal amount, which is honestly, frankly, very refreshing to have that sort of game. And I also thought Enzo it wasn't Enzo.
Kara
23:31
Right. That's what I'm saying is Enzo, he got down once, but he popped right back up, and he was happy and smiling, and he was letting things go, but he was also trying to bring his team up in many ways. And I also felt that while he might not be. 1s On fire. He's been gone for a month
Bridget
23:51
now. He tried. He ran his little butt off. It's nice to see him out there actually attack, or whatever you all call pressure, whatever it's called in that final third. Like when their goalkeeper has the ball, he's not scared to just run at the goalkeeper. He's not scared to attack, where a lot of times, if the goalkeeper gets the ball, we just back up and wait for him to kick it or whatever he's going to do. Enzo is not scared to just run around and expend all his energy like he was. He just does it. And so it's nice to see that Vargas was trying to do it when Enzo was out, but he can't quite do that part of it. The only thing also frustrated me, though, is Enzo. When he got the ball, he would always go out to the freaking wing. I can't understand that part either. He goes out to the wing and like my daughter said, maybe that's the only place he can get open. But if he gets the ball, can he not just just straight to the goal? Isn't that what he's supposed to do? So why does he always end up on the outside?
Kara
24:43
He's drawing defenders.
Bridget
24:44
Okay, I just don't get it. Because he's in the middle and then he runs like he's in the middle and instead of going towards the goal, he goes towards the outside. So I'm like, why doesn't he go towards the goal and try to score like Ajamon. Did?
Kara
24:56
His job is to draw the defenders away and they know Enzo is a big threat and so he can sometimes carry two and three defenders away, leaving space for another Charlotte FC player to come into that. See,
Bridget
25:10
that has to frustrate him because, you know, he wants to score, too, and he's never going to score if he keeps doing that mess.
Kara
25:16
I think it's just a difference in service in those things, but also a difference in tactics on the part of Red Bulls or a part of our opposing team.
Bridget
25:24
Whichever we go against, whatever team we go against, his position changes.
Kara
25:30
Yeah. And if you look at Ajimong. They're not going to wait him as seriously as they're going to wait Enzo capetti as far as coverage and defensively. So I just think it has to deal with different tactics. And they know how Enzo plays and they know he's a tank, so they're going to track him. And Enzo knows the same. And so I think his job has typically been to drag it out, to leave space for someone else because that's how typically it has worked better. 1s But I also think he's extremely smart and so he's going to understand which tactic is probably going to work better in what situation, whereas we just have to sit there and watch it happen.
Bridget
26:11
Yeah, he didn't seem upset. And halftime, after 2s he calmed down Westwood, which was great because he had to push in. He had to push Westwood away. A couple of times,
Kara
26:22
I was like, look at that.
Bridget
26:23
And saw suits. Go over to him and talk to him. A lot when they were walking out. So it's good to see that he's taking the coaching, he's listening to it, he's trying. So I'll give him some grace on that. 2s I just want to score more. 2s Is that bad?
Kara
26:43
No, I think we did well to score twice today. But if we didn't have Bender, where would our score line have been? Right.
Bridget
26:50
Exactly. That's my understand in. We have all these good guys and we're not scoring.
Kara
26:56
And is it only because we don't have Carol?
Bridget
26:58
No, 1s I think it's because our midfield I don't want to say that because I love our midfield. I do love the guys. Westwood is a great leader sometimes and Veronica is a good guy. We go back to being a good guys. The good guys is not going to win
Kara
27:14
well, and that might be the reason why they're going after Scott Arfield coming up soon, which we're expecting them to officially announce a signing here once the window opens. Scotchman, scott Arfield, who was playing for the Rangers, is going and formerly played with Burnley and Westwood in the past, is going to. 2s Hopefully choose Charlotte FC.
Bridget
27:44
And he's a midfielder, so that'll be a replacement for one of the S's. So that'll be good. I don't know. He's older, too. Yeah.
Kara
27:52
And he is a scorer, so I'm not sure whether that means he will be a cam level or what the deal is here about where he slots in because we haven't exactly used people in the midfield. As expected.
Bridget
28:10
Someone says he can do Bronco's job really well, but they also said he could do vendors too. So I don't really care. I just want somebody to score on our team. I know that we love the fact that vendors scored. I think Benders got promised, so I love the fact that he's continuing to get that opportunity because I do think he's shining at it. But Latanzio gave a really weird response when they asked him about Bender's two goals. He just said that he knows Bender can do stuff, but he still wasn't satisfied. So I don't understand. 1s I don't quite
Kara
28:43
get it. Well, maybe he's talking about the rest of his performance. Who knows? Who
Bridget
28:48
knows? He's probably still upset from the game like we were. 1s They don't put us on the spot right after.
Kara
28:54
Yeah. And looking forward into Saturday, I think it's going to be rough because now we're also not going to have Nathan Byrne again. He finally went out with his fifth yellow.
Bridget
29:05
You could have easily got a red card for that, too. He put his leg between that dude's leg and yanked the dude down.
Kara
29:13
But the guy punched him in the stomach.
Bridget
29:15
Okay. I didn't see the punch.
Kara
29:16
Yeah, that's why they had a big argument afterward is because of how that all happened.
Bridget
29:22
I mean, we knew it was coming up, we just didn't know when it was coming up.
Kara
29:25
But with Montreal on a roll, it doesn't look too good in what we're going to be facing against Saturday, even though we're going to have hopefully the benefit of the 12th. Man, dude. I think sometimes Latanzi is crazy. I like the guy, but in his interview he said I would have liked us to play more with the ball. But it's not because we took the foot off the gas. Is that maybe we feel more comfortable to play a certain kind of game, thinking we were in front and we are going to get away with a result, which we did not.
Bridget
29:55
No, you took your foot off the gas. You took it off. You parked that bus as soon as you got up. How does he not see that?
Kara
30:04
Yeah, but there's a difference in between him doing it and the team doing it. When it's his instruction, he'll take the fall for it. But when it is, the team not being focused and determined enough to see out that result and again, have that grit. I think they lacked
Bridget
30:19
it here. Well, they definitely like 1s that's what I'm saying. These are wednesday night games. We do not gritty it. We don't do the gritty on wednesdays.
Kara
30:29
But you know what? One of the things that I'm not frustrated about this game, too, is that as much as we pointed out how many yellows I've decorated, our team, especially today, what's really hilarious is the red bulls have just as many as we do. So super. The ref was good today. I wasn't frustrated at the ref. I thought he tried to call a pretty fair game. I think red bulls might be a little mad about some of those calls, especially that handball
Bridget
30:57
bit, but
Kara
30:59
other than that, you can't be upset pretty much. Honestly, it was a very fair game. Yeah.
Bridget
31:04
I'm really happy about the ref. My daughter was looking up who the ref was at halftime because she's like, can we have this one a little bit more? She wasn't as happy in the second half as she was in the first half with him, but we were definitely loving the fact that it wasn't uncle or
Kara
31:18
ukrainian.
Bridget
31:20
He was a good guy. I think he did a good job. He kept it under control. That's all we can really ask. Well, do you have anything else to say about tonight? No. I don't think I do, either. We will see you after the game on saturday. Lord. 1s Kara. This is after that wonderful game against Montreal, we ended up with a zero to zero tie. What it is that I think this is our third time no, it's not our third time around. But anyway, it's a tie, and it sucks. I'm just gonna be honest with you. I'm tired of tying.
Kara
31:53
It's our third tie at home, I think something like that.
Bridget
31:56
Some some ridiculousness I mean, it's not a loss. It's
Kara
32:00
not a loss. And we wore purple, and we're still undefeated in purple.
Bridget
32:05
Can we just win in purple? I know we tie a lot in purple, but let's win in purple. Let's just go ahead and do it. By the way, those kits tonight were on fire. Oh,
Kara
32:14
yeah. The black excellence kits were very
Bridget
32:16
pretty. Yeah, I wish they would sell those. I might buy one of those. But anyway, it was a great night. We had Carol back in the starting lineup, and we also had Bill as a write back. How about that?
Kara
32:29
That was a surprise. And we
Bridget
32:31
had Carujo in the middle. Thank goodness he's back. 1s The front was Vargas, Merriam, and Enzo. And instead of Bronco today, we had Bender. So Bronco got to sit down, like we've been saying he needs to do, and come in as a super sub, and he got to do that today. So that's pretty much oh, and DJ his back today, so that was great. Yeah. He slotted in from Alanda, who we found out after the game he got hurt on the last play of the game in New York, and they thought it was just a slight injury, but then they had an X ray, and it looks like he got a little fracture in his toe. He got a little toe fracture, but hopefully he can get that fixed quickly. I've
Kara
33:13
had one of those. I'm glad they got him in a
Bridget
33:15
boot. He likes that boot. They throw it in People in Boots real fast, though. Well, that's good because yeah, we need him. But luckily luckily we only have one more. Wait, do we have any more games before the
Kara
33:24
break? We have a short break, but we come back and play
Bridget
33:28
the fifth. Okay, so we got a little break. They get a little breaky, break for the fourth. Hopefully his toe will get better on that. So let's talk about the game tonight. You want to go ahead and let's just get into the nitty gritty. Let me start off with my favorite tonight. Go for it. My first favorite. I'm going to go with Carolyn Vargas. Carolyn? Does that really say like I sound? Danny says I sound like I say carawinds when I say carawind. But anyway, karen Vargy Vargas. I like it. He did great job tonight. He's getting better out there. He's a real good staple on that wing. I like it. And he can switch sides. How cool is that? I
Kara
34:03
thought he was better when he switched sides today. Yeah,
Bridget
34:05
I think he's really aggressive. I like how he gets into it a lot. He does have a little bit of an issue with when he does shoot. It's not necessarily on the right path. I think there's some times where he shoots that once he gets honed in on his skills, that it'll be great because he's not scared to shoot anymore. So that's awesome. He's a little like dancy, dance with the ball and burn a couple of people today. So I like that. And he's good at crosses. I think he's one of our best crossers out there. So I'm going to go with my first favorite to Carolyn today. Yeah, I really liked that.
Kara
34:39
He had a shot on target. He attempted another shot that went a bit off. He also had two key passes. I mean, I thought he last couple of games, we haven't seen as much out of him. We saw a little more out of him today, and he almost had a very good attempt that we really thought would have been excellent if we had scored it, because he scored them before. And so it just seemed I think that's why he got kept in so long was because he was being very dynamic, even though it really would be nice if we had more creativity. But I think he's probably one of the few that is just tries to be creative.
Bridget
35:15
You can see him out there. You can see his mind working. He's not scared to cross the field, make it happen. I like that. And I think with his the his youth, he's he's not as fast as Gaines. You know, Gaines has that quickness, which is he's a good he's a good guy, too, but Vargas didn't have that necessary quickness. But he has more of a ball control, is how I look at it. He can seem to control that ball more, and he makes things happen. And I do think that eventually, once he gets it all worked out, gets his co, he's going I think he's going to be like a really key striker, aren't winger, striker. I think he's going to be a really key striker on our team. Yeah. So who's your first favor?
Kara
35:56
My first favor has to go to the man back, starting for the first time in a very long time, which is Guzman carujo. Carujo. It was really awesome to see old Carujo back in there. And I felt like even if he started and I was just waiting for there to be more hype and more excitement because this is the first time we've seen him start since last August when he got hurt. 2s Seen him start at home. Obviously, you're right.
Bridget
36:33
You're talking about
Kara
36:35
right. With all of us to cheer him on. And that's not to say he was perfect tonight. He wasn't. But just him in that back line gives you more confidence because of what he meant to the team last year. And he had a number of things where he saw things happening and was there to patch those holes. And it's really interesting because we haven't seen him beside Derek Jones before. That was weird. Again, another one for our back line. Bingo.
Bridget
37:09
Right? We got a new backline this week. Yeah,
Kara
37:13
all new again. Here we go. 1s But you also notice that he's not 100%, 90 minutes worthy. And I'm glad that he does keep being able to be taken out, because I think nobody wants anything worse to happen to him. But we want him to keep getting time to play and to build up to that 90. And I just think he's not there. And Latanzi is probably being cautionary in replacing him with Silva Chinsky. Yeah. I wonder why he has his arms taped up. Not really taped up, but he has white tape around both his arms. Did you notice that? No, you probably didn't. But anyway, he does. And one of them has this little thing that hangs down. I'm like, Couldn't that be annoying? But he has them on both arms. He did on Wednesday night, too, because I remember my daughter telling me, I didn't think about it then. So I'm wondering I got to find out what that's about. But his touch on the ball is great. He's not scared to get in there. There was a couple of times Bill got manhandled on the outside, and thank goodness Guzman was there to help him and back him up. I like that. I also was telling you earlier. I like it when they're all, like, say they're in their final third, but then something happens and they have to back up up. And
Bridget
38:18
it's like crujo knows when to back up.
Kara
38:21
He has Kalina's back and I haven't seen that a lot with the back line that we have. No offense to milandon and bill, but I just don't in sopacinski I just don't see them doing so much as that. But crujo knows when to back up. He controls the ball. I think he controls it about as much as westwood does. He's back there. I can see him back there talking, telling clean and what to do, kind of like don't do this, do that, keep it low. It's just great seeing him out there and I just missed him so much. I didn't realize how much we missed him. But when you see him out there playing, you're like, man, no wonder our backline was playing so horribly. We needed him. So I just need him to color his hair again
Bridget
39:07
so I can see him from my seat. But other than that he's doing awesome.
Kara
39:11
So, bridget, do you have another favor?
Bridget
39:13
My second one is going to go to derek schultz. DJ. I'm not going to sing tonight but it was nice seeing him, too. He was only out one game. Wait, he didn't even get a yellow card tonight, right?
Kara
39:27
No. Yeah. That's what I'm very impressed by. Yeah.
Bridget
39:31
Nor did carujo. That's so awesome. I don't even think build. I think our whole back line didn't get a yellow backline. 3s Miracles happen. Miracles happen. I thought lady was going to get one at one point but he didn't. I think it was great. I think that derek being there. He can win those headers we were talking about after the red bulls game. We needed somebody win the headers. Derek was out there winning them headers. He's fighting for that ball. He's not scared. Sometimes when the ball got past him he would back up really fast. He's got that speed. And also I was telling you it looked like he was moving up to midfield some. So it looked like we had a back line of three, which is fine because crew was throwing it down. And Derek would be moving forward doing what he's got to do. We just definitely need that guy. We just need him. So my second one's going to Derek.
Kara
40:17
Yeah. And he had an interesting job today, just like you said. He wasn't being typical center back. He was still playing that midfield role. But it's really interesting because I felt like Guzman typically did that a lot before and so I think they were kind of taking turns in weird ways. But you also saw Derek Jones move farther out of his space. Like at one point, I remember he was dribbling up the sideline, which was very bizarre. And he did a very fancy move on the sideline. Oh,
Bridget
40:51
yeah, he was he was doing like an inverted pullback, like you all like to talk about.
Kara
40:55
Yeah, it was really strange. But he did very well tonight and I was happy to have him plugging that hole for
Bridget
41:00
Milanda. I like having Derek Jones there. I like him a lot. He's a beast. He's got a good personality, too. So who's your second favor?
Kara
41:08
My second favor is unexpectedly going to good old Bill, because even though he was there at right back, I thought he played well for a right back tonight. I thought he seemed atypical, obviously, but for the job he was given, he did well. I really liked those times he was trying to muscle people off the ball. He had some times where Montreal would come down his side and then just straight up dribble out, which was pretty great. And I was like, Good job, Bill. We saw some different things from him tonight and I felt more confident with him being on that side, taking Burns place because Burn is out for his yellow card accumulation. I like Bill as a write back. I'd rather him be right back than be CB. Anytime 1s he did get burned, Burn gets burnt, Bill gets burnt. We just get burned on that side. We just have to go. It's going to happen. But he didn't get burned as much. A lot of times he was handling it. Crujo was over there with him. So when Crujo was trying to play up and go get a little bit taken on the back or burnt, whatever you want to call it, then Bill was there to help him, too. So I think he did well on the outside. I don't know if it was because he's playing with Cruujo and Crujo is giving him direction or what he was doing out there, but he did a good job.
Bridget
42:32
Let's go keep him out there. Well, don't we have other options? Obviously, but if we have to play him, I think he did a great job there and he just got back from playing with New Zealand. He took up for his teammates down there when they got a little squirmish. I like that about him.
Kara
42:49
Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to say. Him coming back from New Zealand this week and having to make that adjustment and then here you're in a strange spot. Honestly, it it feels weird. But he was solid in the role and he also generated a key pass and I really liked his crosses and his passes to the front I thought were pretty well done. I mean, I don't think they all landed his long balls and stuff, that's fine. But he's still fur playing right back and sometimes inverting going up that line, it was interesting. I'll take
Bridget
43:26
it he looked good in that jersey, too. That jersey looked good on him. He was on my side so I could see him a lot over there and I think it was funny. Latonza said in his press conference after someone asked him about playing Bill as the right back, and LaTanza's answer was, it's not like I put him in as the goalkeeper. I mean, that's hilarious. Right back CB. I think that Bill's played a right back or left back before anyway. I don't know his history, but I do think I've heard something about that before. So I think he's played one of those positions. 2s If anybody else can play on that back line, let's just move him around. It worked and they did better than I think they've done mostly all year. So if it's going to work with him being there, then let's do it. My daughter was like, mom, if Bill scores, you have to get his name on the back of your jersey, too. And I said, absolutely not. We're going to cut the line at Burn because Bill's already scored. He scored three on goals. I would have to be getting his jersey just because he on gold it and I'm not doing that.
Kara
44:26
No, you only get him then you'd have to get it for the opposing team. You need to get it for us when he scores for
Bridget
44:32
us. Yeah. I'm not planning on getting an opposing jersey or Kit unless George goes somewhere else.
Kara
44:38
Okay, 1s that makes sense.
Bridget
44:41
Anyway. So you ready to do Wrath? Who's your first wrath? My first wrath. I'm going to probably surprise you all because it's going to go to Kalena. While I agree that he made some great saves in the
Kara
44:55
match, he did get a clean. Nobody scored.
Bridget
45:01
I'm just playing. That's what a lot of people have been saying this week, just saying,
Kara
45:06
yeah, but honestly, he was off today. I'm not sure why, but part of it was you saw his weird distribution. Just, I mean, I couldn't tell you how many times I was like, look, can you get it to one of our players, please? Honestly, what did you just do? Passing it to out. Or that one really wacky one where we had two of our defenders within the six yard box and he's also in there and then making dumb passes. 1s Oh, it was just your heart was in your throat, and you were like, kaleina, this is not okay. I don't know what was up with him today. What do you
Bridget
45:42
think? I'm gonna be honest with you. I think he's been off for the last couple games. It just happened to be that he made enough saves in the last couple games that it worked out. And he did make, you know, some saves today, too, but his distribution is just ridiculous. It's ridiculous. He can't he can't do it. I thought it was just as long passes, right? And that's just whatever. Maybe our guys weren't 50 50 winning it. You could just say whatever. We could blame it on the wind. But when he did that pass in that box, I thought I was going to lose my ever loving mind, and I thought Westwood was going to lose his ever loving mind, too. And it was right there in front of me. So I really was trying not to get thrown out by jumping the fence, but I didn't. I sit there and be quiet, but, like, Westwood was foot. Did you see it? Westwood was yelling at him. He was yelling back. It was good times. And then Jalen had to step in because then Enzo came in and was trying to calm down clean. And then cleaner didn't like the fact enzo was trying to calm him down. So Jalen's in there having to calm everybody down. Like when Jalen's up in there calming all of us down in the box. We have a problem,
Kara
46:45
all right? Especially when Enzo was getting in on it, too. All the dad are mad. All the dads are mad?
Bridget
46:51
Yeah, the dads. And then Carujo is out here trying to tell Kleena, hey, what to do, like, don't do this. And Kleena is not paying attention to what Carujo is saying half the time.
Kara
47:02
Well, that's what I'm saying. It's just. 2s It's just too much disruption. And it felt very disjointed with 1s us gelling together as a team, and especially in passing. But you could really notice it because especially in that last one, where Kalina was like, oh, I got it. It's what, 1s 92nd minute, so it's after the 90th or whatever, and he's like, no, I got it. You all go up. I was like, look, you've done this before and you just kicked it straight out. So I'm going to need you to give it to a Charlotte FC player, because this is down to the wire, sir, right?
Bridget
47:40
Because you're going to kick it and it's going to go right to the middle, right to their player, and they're going to scoot it on fastest and we're going to oh, yeah, it was a nightmare. If I shouted at anybody tonight other than the ref, it was Kalina. I don't mean I'm ugly. I'm not ugly because I shout for him when he does great saves and stuff, and when he made that a great assist last week.
Kara
48:02
But since I gave him my favor last week, this week, I got to be honest, we're going the other way, because he did not get those saves for him in the same weight.
Bridget
48:12
You know what my preference is? I think George most definitely has a better touch than the ball in that aspect, but at the same time, it used to be where everybody was listening to Kleena and he had that leadership role and then now that that back line did really well tonight, we can't blame the back line for it, right? So it comes down to who was it? What was it now? Was it clean as fault that we had a zero zero score? No, because our Strikers didn't do crap either. But if he can't kick it out of the goal and get it to one of our players, then they don't even have a chance.
Kara
48:46
Right. And for the leakiest back line in MLS, like, 2s we cannot be happy.
Bridget
48:54
We can't do set pieces. We're not good at that period. Which leads me to Iraq, which is the midfield. Okay. The midfield is rough. I thought by sitting, Bronco was going to get better. Bender did it. Okay. I don't know. 2s He just wasn't hot. He wasn't hot. But then even Latonzo is upset with Westwood. He said he's expecting more out of Westwood. So if our midfield is not working out and then we got our defensive line working and our Strikers, Enzo, is up there on the left wing hanging out, doing Enzo things. How are we ever going to score?
Kara
49:29
Yeah, it's really interesting. Westwood only had one key pass, so he didn't push too many things forward. That actually landed, I think, today.
Bridget
49:40
Well, when did he get the ball? Kalina was air mailing it to the other team, so it wasn't like he was passing it to
Kara
49:47
Westwood. Westwood did get it a lot from other people, but, yeah, he did get it a lot. But I just think maybe because the difference was westwood was playing farther back in a Bronco role today, and so he was leaving the more forward stuff to Bender and Carol. I felt
Bridget
50:05
like I saw Carol run around a
Kara
50:07
lot. I think Carol was trying, but obviously he needed to try Tad harder. Mostly because, oh,
Bridget
50:13
he just got back, too. We got to give the guy some breaks. He just got back from traveling
Kara
50:19
and he had some shots. He created something. 1s But yeah, he couldn't land
Bridget
50:24
him, like, 13 shots, but only like, four or five on target. Yeah, that's got it. We got to do better. I mean, at least we're having shots. There was one podcast that we said we wish we would just take shots. Right. So now we're to the point where we just take shots.
Kara
50:36
We're taking some, but they're not that great. They're not like shots and shots and shots and shots and shots. Like the song, no, please, but no. And we're kind of lucky that we've got a we and a half to go here or something like that before we play again, because I think they probably need some.
Bridget
50:52
Yeah. Do you have any other wrath?
Kara
50:54
Well, my other wrath is probably going to be like, what on earth was happening to the refereeing this game? And I don't mean that. We've had way worse referees, so I'm not mad, but I'm more like, what was he looking at? Because sometimes it was like, oh, Montreal, you can't do no wrong. And Kerwin, I think, breathed on the guy, and he's like, oh, yeah, here you go. You get a yellow, which is fine. I think they were calling for a red, but you can't just be like, oh, excuse me. He wasn't even trying to tackle him. He was literally trying to get out the way. I don't know. It just seems very disjointed. And then what really made me upset, I think, was more at the very end when it was like Ajimang was getting calls against him, and it was like, oh, you're tall, black, and broad. Well, you look like you probably pushed the guy over. You're going to be like, oh, we're whistling it off of you, even though he didn't do anything. And so he was getting stereotyped there just because of how tall he
Bridget
51:52
is. We did get a couple of yellows. We got carolyn got a yellow,
Kara
51:56
enzo got a yellow.
Bridget
51:58
Enzo needs to stop touching the ref. Okay. I understand. It's not an aggressive touch. He's not doing it because he's angry or anything like that, but he touches that ref all the time, and it's just uncomfortable for me to watch. You know what I'm saying? It's like, get your hands off of the ref. You're not supposed to touch him. But he does it. I don't know. I think that someone told me it's like a South American thing. He's not doing it as a mean thing. He's just doing it like, hey, listen to me, please. 2s But 1s did you see Enzo shaved his head, too, today? So I couldn't tell who he was half the time because he has, like, no blonde on his head either. If they have a hairstyle at the beginning of the season, they're going to need to keep it so I can't keep up with them.
Kara
52:48
There was one moment where I thought Westwood had gotten it, and I thought he dribbled forward really amazing these through, like, six people. And I was like, oh, yeah, wow, nandana. Then it was like he turned around and it was Enzo. And I was like, way to go, man. First of all. But second of all, yeah, he looked different to me up in the stands because of his hair, but I also really liked his hustle, especially that one ball where he was actually watching the threat against us. And he was supposed to be up there in that nine roll at the front, and he was all the way back in the back past Lindsay, trying to track that ball so that Montreal didn't get that run. So I thought he had a great hustle. I thought he had a great attitude today.
Bridget
53:31
He did. He had a really good attitude. I think his attitude is a lot different.
Kara
53:35
He just missed his chances. Yeah,
Bridget
53:37
he had, like, a really good chance, too, and he missed it.
Kara
53:40
Well, I think he slipped. Yeah, that's true. But either way, he needs to make those in my mind. But then again, I'm over here sitting on the bench or not on the bench. I'm sitting in the stands. But another thing I know that you think I'm crazy, but it was really cool. And I told you this while I was there. It's the cleats thing, and I have to bring it up because it was so awesome today. They color coordinated by. 1s The right side had pink shoes. The right side had yellow gold shoes. The left side had pink shoes. The middle ones, Enzo and
Bridget
54:15
carol and Crujo had the same shoes. And the midfielders all had the same shoes, so I could see the positions by their shoes. So way to go, guys. Keep that up, kit. Dude, whatever your name is.
Kara
54:27
Honorable mention to McKenzie Gaines, who had a very great chance, and he was only in for like seven minutes. 2s That Carol carol missed or had an attempt on. But good job, McKenzie. If you're coming in and producing, McKenzie
Bridget
54:42
just isn't like someone behind me was saying, it's got to be hard for those guys that come in for about seven minutes because it doesn't give them a lot of time to get their groove. Yeah,
Kara
54:49
I liked Camille's chances, too. There were a few times where there's miscommunication and he didn't get the ball, but there was one other one where he ran on it and I thought we were going to get something really pretty, but it went right into the Montreal's butt and he doesn't get counted for it at all. 2s I
Bridget
55:08
like seeing Camille out there. He has, like, a fire to him. It's fun seeing him out there. It's fun seeing Carol out there, too. It's fun seeing them. They did well enough today. I think that's my takeaway is that the defensive line did really well. So that gives us hope because we really have had no hope on that line all year. So this gives us hope on the defense on the back line. So there we go. We've seen, like, little sparks of our strikers in our front doing okay. When they're on, they do well. Now all we need to work on is in the midfielders, is we get them all working together. Can we just do them all together? All together now. 2s It's just falling prey again to all of us, the changes we've had. And sometimes when people come back, their passes don't land their camaraderie. Their chemistry just isn't gelling. And especially when you get people the cohesive leadership not. 2s Being cohesive, then you get confusion and miscommunication. And I just felt like that's more what we got today. So the result is not great, but also not like, I can't be as mad because we're like, okay, these are things you need to go into this next week and a half and just improve and just get on the same page, everyone. And I really hope they can do it, but I also felt like they were trying. You can't say that they weren't trying. They weren't landing. I really liked how even though things were frustrating with the referee,
Kara
56:48
it wasn't being so frustrating that it was making them blow up and get upset about it. I thought they were keeping their cool really well. And so that I was happy to see. Yeah, they didn't do like they did Wednesday night in the second half, where they just threw up all over themselves. They actually hung in there and they tried. That's what I'm saying. From tonight's game, I see potential and I see it's optimism. Like, if we can get them all working together and all stay healthy and all stay.
Bridget
57:19
On the same path that we're on. Once everything starts clicking, I think that we'll be able to hang in there.
Kara
57:26
And so that's the other thing, too, is they just announced our field, so you got to think like, he's going to be here, he's going to be practicing with them so we could see his debut come as early as July 5 when we next play.
Bridget
57:38
Right. I'm going to put another person out there to throw the chemistry off
Kara
57:41
right in the middle. That's what I'm saying. So maybe whatever they're practicing here coming up really soon is going to make a difference there because they've got to land some things and they've got to be smoother in this execution. They know it, though.
Bridget
57:55
Yeah, I think we'll do good. I think we'll do well. We got one point. We got another point. We didn't lose any points. So I'm going to say it's not a win to tie next time. Let's win. One more thing about tonight, it's a favor, but it doesn't have anything to do with the team. I have watched that drum line halftime show. I actually got to go see it, like up close and personal, and if you didn't get to see it, hopefully they'll put video of it online. It was the bomb. Charlotte FC needs to do stuff like that every single game. That's the way to do it. They should have put them out there on the Mill field, but it was the HBCU drum line, I believe it is. So props to you all. They did very well. And it was my jam. I was jamming. Yeah,
Kara
58:44
I loved it. That was a great experience. Wish I could have seen more, but I'm glad you were able to go and really get up close and personal and see to see
Bridget
58:52
that it was by accident. But it happens sometimes when you're just the right place at the right time. Also another thing, we're going to post it on our Twitter or something. We found a way to if you accidentally put the wrong name on the back of a kit or a jersey and need to remove it or just feel like changing it up, we have a little kara, learn what to do and what to get and the product to take care of that.
Kara
59:19
And I will share. So now I have a new name. 2s So I finally got my purple kit. I was able to wear my purple kit today. Finally,
Bridget
59:28
if there's anyone out there that needs to revamp their kits because of some things that happened in nature, in life, then we have a way to do it without you ruining a kit you already bought. So, on that note, let's wrap this up. We hope everybody has a great week. We hope everybody has a wonderful July 4. If you're going out to the stadium to see the men's team, we shall be there. We hope everyone has a great time and go Team USA. Other than that, we'll see you back on July 5. Yes,
Kara
59:58
July 5. We're playing New York City FC. And it's going to be at New York City for the first time, I think last time we played them at the Red Bulls. So it'll be interesting to see what Charlotte FC makes with a smaller pitch. So
Bridget
60:10
we get to play with them on the baseball on the baseball field.
Kara
60:13
Yeah.
Bridget
60:15
I hate that, actually. I hate watching games on that. But we're going to do it. So, on that note, everybody have a safe July 4 and have a safe week. Thank you for listening.
Kara
60:25
Goodbye.