ATL - Final
Bridget
0:15
Welcome to this episode of Queen's Pitch. I'm Bridget. I'm Kara. And we are here to talk about all things Charlotte FC. We're going to start off with this US. Open game that we had on Tuesday night. We played against Orlando. It was beautiful under the sunset out there, perfect weather. There was a lot of people there. I had a great time. How about you, Kara?
Kara
0:38
Yeah, I had a blast. It was packed full. We got there a little bit early because we were like, oh, parking was pretty rough last time, so I wanted to get there
Bridget
0:46
and get the full
Kara
0:48
effect. And did you know we were playing with Orlando? They won last year. They won the US. Open cup
Bridget
0:55
last year. I didn't know that at the time, but I had realized that since that we just beat the reigning US open champ. So that's a good thing. It was nice. I got there late. That's not a surprise. I had to work, and then by the time I got home and then back there, I was late. And we actually got a good parking spot. So I'm kind of lucky about that because it got so full that they didn't have anywhere to park. So let's park, like right up on the sidewalk right there where you came in. So obviously we hope we win this next one that's coming up. But if you do get to go to one, definitely get there early. That's the key. But on that note, since I just spoiled everything we did, we end up winning. It won nothing. So that was a great night. We like winning
Kara
1:35
with a goal. That was sheer determination by Camille Yusufiak.
Bridget
1:40
It was fun because we were watching and Carol got knocked down and he was doing Carol's things that we seem to forget that Carol used to do. But Carol fell down in the box and was making a scene trying to get that penalty. And while he was doing that, Camille just slides on by and scores. And then about that time, Carol jumped up faster than you can believe. Like Carol, he never had done it. So it was just great to see Camille just keep on. That's one of the things tell my kid if something happens, just keep on. Just keep on with the play because you just never know. And Camille came in and just swooped it right past the goalie and into the net, and it was great. Yeah. And the game itself looked to be, like pretty close. At least possession was 50 50. Typically, the ones where we've won, we've had less possession, I would say up until the point where we score a goal, we definitely. 2s Have more possession, and I think Orlando wins some of that possession back because they just relentlessly battered
Kara
2:36
that goal. They were trying very hard.
Bridget
2:39
Well, supposedly they have a really good team, but they're not doing well this year again. I think I read some of the Twitter verse afterwards on their site. It was pretty funny because they were pretty rough. They were about as rough as we were. They were wanting to fire their coach. But I thought, like you said, it was an even team. But even Kill to me, I thought we could have done way better. I know that we noticed in the first half that since they didn't start Carol and they didn't start Westwood, they started a lot of the younger ones. It was like you had said, they were just trying to wear them down. And maybe that was what it was, because as soon as they put in Westwood and Carol, it was like a Camille. It was just like a new fire came and obviously all of a sudden the game just started happening. It was like plays were being made, passes were happening, and then that's when it happened. So I do think we noticed a big difference into the first half, the second half, just by the substitutions that Latangio made. And for once, we all really enjoyed the substitutions he made.
Kara
3:36
Yeah, you're 100% right. That switch over around that time really changed that momentum. I thought for the first half, it was kind of like, we're okay. We're just kind of kicking it around. It wasn't too, too much. Although I will say that some of the fouls and yellow cards that kind of came out just disproportionate and frustrating, and we were like, wait, 1s is the curse of the crown going to come back and get Sobasinski and Jones, too? Please. No, because Yon went down there pretty hard and gave an Orlando player a yellow for it. But when he did, it took a while for him to get back up and we were kind of scared. But what was really nice is while Orlando, which we all know that Orlando is pretty fiery and frustrating as a fan to watch because they had lots of attitudes when that happened. Miram came in to defend SoBo and then Kalena was right after him. So it was really a team effort. You're
Bridget
4:34
right. I thought Kalina was straight up going to fight. I thought it was going to be great. I was like, well, that's one thing Marks is not going to do. I very much doubt that we will ever see Mark straight up go in the fight. But Kalina was like, Nah, we ain't doing this. I'm coming out. I'm ready. And I think it's great to see the team rally, especially with Maram since he's so nude. He seemed to have grasped that chemistry with the team and they like him a lot. So I think that says a lot for him even since we don't know a lot about him. But that says a lot that the team rallies around him already with
Kara
5:04
Jones at the center back. I also thought that I was surprised that we won so many balls in the midfield. 2s Typically it's been him helping that statistic in the midfield, so I thought the odds there were very good. 2s Hopefully for this coming game that we can hold our own in the midfield with the people who are in there.
Bridget
5:28
One of the things I want to say is that Diop played on Tuesday and Diop is doing really good.
Kara
5:34
Yeah, he got his debut.
Bridget
5:36
He did really well, and he played for a while, too. Right. I think that he showed a lot of promise. So I'm excited to see what Diop can do for us in the future, see if he gets game time on Saturday or today. But we'll see. But I just noticed that he was out there. He's one of the ones that I would give a shout out to if we were doing favors. And Rafts, obviously, I don't want to tell who I'd give my wrath to, and we all know who it would be, but the favors 2s my favorite. If I have one, we got to dip. He did a great
Kara
6:07
job. He really stayed with Fakundo Torres. They said that Fakundo Torres kept coming down that side and Hamadi was trying to really pay attention to his tactics. And while he was learning some of it, fukundo Torres stopped going down the side that Hamadi was on and started switching sides when he saw that he was really keeping up with
Bridget
6:27
him. I think Diabs came a lot of good playing time for The Legacy, and obviously we, as Charlotte C, thought he was a great pick, and so we did. So I think. 1s We need. We're going to need him with the depth in that back line. And so the faster that he can get up to par and I think he is, so I think with the more playing time, I'm glad that we have another US. Open cup. I think the more time he gets, the better it'll be and that'll even strengthen that line that we need right
Kara
6:51
now. I think we'll see him today. We'll have to come back and see how we did. But other than the fact that it really felt like a cohesive team effort, that they all really gave their best, I do have to say Jan Silbasinski played a very good game Tuesday and so did Burn Your Eternal
Bridget
7:07
Wrath. He played for ten minutes. We're not going to even talk about
Kara
7:11
he played for 30. Okay, well and while he was out there, he went for a header. He defended with a header. Like
Bridget
7:19
I'm not going to follow. He tries. He gives his little heart. It just doesn't work a lot of times, but he tries. I hope he tries tonight. I really do. I hope that he shows me up and that I can give him favor. Honest to God, if I could give him favor after this game, I'm going to give him a hug next time I see him, and then I'll probably get arrested. But I'll do it. I will really do it. You can get my high five
Kara
7:42
like the kids did too long.
Bridget
7:43
Pound or something. I don't think he wants there
Kara
7:46
you go. But yeah, I really feel like SoBo deserves some praise from Tuesday night. He did a very good job falling in that last line.
Bridget
7:54
See Barbie, she does give him some praise.
Kara
7:56
Yeah, that's what I'm going to say.
Bridget
7:58
We do like our sobos. We like our Polish we like our Polish trio. Before we wrap up about this game, I just wanted to say that we had a great time. Wore my lady daddy shirt. I can't not talk about it, obviously. Wore my lady daddy shirt out there. Went out, made a fool of myself. My kid did. See, before I tell you about my story about making a fool, my kid did see Marks out there. We saw him in a boot, sadly, but that obviously tells us why Marks was not even on the lineup last week, so I should chill myself. We saw him and we saw Bill and we saw Mora and we saw Vargas, so we saw a lot of them and they were very nice to our kids. They were very friendly. I really do appreciate that. And I do like the fact that obviously they have to support them. Probably. It's probably one of their rules, you got to show up for a game. But it was just nice to see them there and nice to see that they were getting along with the fans, too, and that they're out walking around and it seemed like Bill didn't have a lamp, so that's a good sign for me. And my daughter asked Mora when he was coming back, and he said, I'm going to train soon, so I'm hoping that I think we've seen him out there. So he's telling her that he was back to training soon, so I'm hoping we'll see more really soon too. And anyway, my story about Laddie, I did make a fool of myself so that he would come over. He saw my shirt, he signed it. He signed it on my shoulder very appropriately. I was super excited about him and it was just nice to meet him. He's very short. I thought he would be a little bit tall. I mean, I knew he wasn't tall, but I thought he'd be a little tall. He was. I'm taller than, I'm taller than lady Annie's, older than me. So finally found someone older than me. Anyway, on that note, you want to talk about lineup for tonight? That just came
Kara
9:34
out. So in our starting eleven tonight against Atlanta, our sometime rivals, we have a really great group down there today cheering for the team. So I hope this is a good game and certainly hope we put out a better showing than last time. With that three to zero loss was just absolutely crushing. It was go hide in a hole. Probably not as bad as DC. But anyway, we want to see something out of our team today. I have a
Bridget
9:58
feeling like the fans, they showed up, I was supposed to go and just didn't make it this week, but there's a lot of fans, I think they said over 1000 of them and that just makes my heart just happy. I think that's going to be great for our team to see that and I hope that they respond well to it, honestly. I think it can only help them out. So talking about your starting lineup, let's go.
Kara
10:17
We have Kalina in goal because as we know, Marks is. 1s Injured for a few weeks and Sydney Egg is on the bench. So there's our goalkeepers for this week. Kalina had a very good showing Tuesday night, too, so that was really nice. He's very commanding in the back and so he's going to really hold that back line of Lindsay Milanda's back doing well. Sobasinski and Byrne. I
Bridget
10:41
like Jalen out there on the outside. Glad that SoBo is getting his opportunity even though it had to come the way it did. He's stepping up to the plate and they got his name right on the starting lineup. He's not Joe Basinski today, so that's good to see. Great job, media team, for getting that right. And then you got my fave ton of flame. Byrne on the outside. I think he's going to have a great week this week. We're going to speak a life into it.
Kara
11:07
In the mid, we have Bronco, Bender and Westwood, which we were all kind of talking right before this going. Which one of these do we think is going to be Cam? My
Bridget
11:16
daughter seemed to think that they were going to let Bronica be Cam. I seem to think that she's crazy and out of her mind. 2s Right. I don't think I think that Westwood is going to be Westwood. Yeah. It's good to see Bender back. I mean, obviously, we don't really have a lot of options, but it's nice to see him. They need to get his picture retaken because this is just dumb to have this long hair bender on here. They had a week. They've had lots of months to get this fixed. So let's get this fixed. Media team. Not that you're listening, but you know what I'm saying. We got Westwood. I think Westwood's great at this point. He's become one of my faves. If you didn't read Carol's article about Westwood with a Charlotte ledger, go read it. It'll make you cry. It will legit make you cry. And he said he loves soccer because of Charlotte FC. He loves soccer again because of Charlotte. Because of Charlotte. And Charlotte. Anyway, sorry about that. I'm
Kara
12:04
ready to cross some more this week. That'll be okay. I really do think Bender is going to place some at Cam here. I think it's going to be up to Westwood to kind of instruct. And so I think you're probably going to see Westwood telling him some things to do, gaps to fill, places to go. But. I think that'll be smart. And then on the front line, we have Yusuiak Swaderski and Miram. I think Carol is taking Enzo's place today,
Bridget
12:31
and that's great. We were talking about was lady going to let Carol move up and what was he going to do? He did it. And we've been wanting to see that all year. Like, a lot of people, a lot of fans have been like, let Carol play striker. Let Carol go up there. Let Carol play that position. And now we have Carol and Camille there. And then with Miram, it seems like Miram is really good at, like I said, the chemistry with the team. So today we actually have the Polish trio back on the field. I think it's been a minute since that has happened.
Kara
13:01
First game. Yeah. I think
Bridget
13:02
that hopefully Carol is going to take advantage of today's game. On our substitute bench, we have a full Ajimang. Cambridge. Diop Gaines, Hagert. Private Scardina and Cisnega. And you know what? We all are looking at this bench going. We are lacking some depth and talent here as far as from our experienced players. Of course, Enzo and Jones are out for their serving, their suspension, for their getting their fifth yellow card, and so we're disappointed to not have them, but hopefully we will get to
Kara
13:34
see them, of course, this coming Wednesday as we play Chicago. But
Bridget
13:37
the good thing is we have a fool on the lineup around the bench and we have games, so we do have some experience there. So it's not all not all newbies. So there we go. Yeah. And
Kara
13:45
Hagert's been playing a very good solid showing, too.
Bridget
13:47
They're going to put Hagert in for sodarski. No, I'm just kidding. There Please do not please do not. Oh, my God. It'll be for bender.
Kara
13:53
It'll be for bender.
Bridget
13:55
But that's my thing. But what do you think? What is your prediction? Because the game is about to start in like, five minutes. You know, I don't predict this. Okay, well, I'm going to say that I'm going to go out here on a limb and say that our team is going to show up today. We're going to show up. I'm not going to predict a score. I'm just going to say our team is I'm going to pull a lady. As long as you go out there and do the best that you can do, that's all I can ask. Not really win. Okay, win the game. But I do think the guys are going to show up because if they don't and we took six buses down there, if we show up in six buses, you can show up on one bus. But I really do think that they're going to show up for us today. I think that it's going to be interesting with the line to see who Latangio is going to we didn't talk about the bench. You can look on the starting line and look that up. But anyway, I think it's going to be interesting to see who he sub. So on that note, let's wrap this up and hope. Hopefully our moods are just as good at the end of this game or the second half of this. And until then, peace out.
Kara
15:00
And we're back. Whoa. Whoa. And
Bridget
15:03
we won. It was like a reverse of the game in Charlotte. We won three. Well, no, it wasn't. I was wrong. Anyway, we won three one. I was hoping we'd have a clean sheet. We didn't, but we still won three one in the dirty Atlanta city. Not like physically, but they call like the dirty Bird because of the NFL. Anyway, we won, and I'm super excited about it. How about you,
Kara
15:27
Kara? I'm just sparing you all from hearing me scream right
Bridget
15:30
now. A good scream,
Kara
15:31
right? What kind of scream is that? Yeah, I'm just saying. I mean, like a Charlotte scream. Like, if I was in a stadium losing my mind, 1s I'm not, because my kids are above me and this would blow everyone's ears out, so I'm not. You can hear the silent
Bridget
15:47
one. Basically. You are super excited. The silent one. Super stoked about it. But it was great to come out with a win today. It was tight, like always. We had to wait and breathe really hard, have extra minutes at the end of the game because we can't just get through without that. Let's go ahead and do a little bit of a bitty recap. So we won three one. They didn't even get the set their first shot off or go until the second half. So big ups to Kalena. I think he was the best one on the defense today.
Kara
16:23
Yeah, I would say the first bit of like, five to ten minutes, we weren't playing our ball. We were kind of on the back foot there. 1s Kalina gets a really nice save and then gets conked in the nose with Atlanta's player's Foot. So he had a really valiant effort there. Was it about like ten to 15 minutes into that, lindsay gets a bloody nose.
Bridget
16:50
So what did his bloody nose come from? Because I did not catch
Kara
16:52
that. Beats me.
Bridget
16:54
Oh, just maybe the weather dryness.
Kara
16:56
No, I have no idea. I didn't see it. I just know that he got one because that's what the camera panned to.
Bridget
17:04
Well, Kalina got hurt, too. I cringed. I was like, oh, my God, here we go. He had a bloody nose and it was really red. They had to go out there and do all that precautionary stuff. I was like, oh, great, here we go. We just can't afford to have two of our goalies hurt. But anyway, he was okay. So we had two bloody noses in the first 1015 minutes, right?
Kara
17:26
Something like that, yeah. I don't think Kalena's actually ran. I think his just got really red. I think. Okay. They just had to concussion test him. That
Bridget
17:35
sounds about I mean, either way, it was a little sketch moment. I didn't like the fact that that dude ran all over him. But, I mean, I'm sure you can't help it, so we can't be mad, but you can
Kara
17:44
really tell. I mean, everything after that point. Kalina doesn't seem rattled by it.
Bridget
17:49
No, it didn't bother him at all. KLEINA was very aggressive tonight, I noticed. It didn't seem like his back hurt him at all either. So I was happy to see that. And that little save he did at the beginning with his leg out, he's pretty flexible. So that was good. Yeah, that was an impressive save. He was trying to go for a meg underneath him and did not work.
Kara
18:10
Denied
Bridget
18:11
Cleaner did a good job. On that note, we have a couple of favors, I bet, today because we're all excited that Atlanta got baked, but I'm going to let you do your favor first today.
Kara
18:24
Coming out the bat here,
Bridget
18:26
I'm going to throw you off. Let's do it. You do the favor because mine are a little off the wall, obviously. So let's start with your normal.
Kara
18:34
I mean, it's so hard, this game. I really feel like I'm just proud of the whole stinking team. 5s I can say some people did well. 1s But we didn't talk about this beforehand. And what if we picked the same person?
Bridget
18:52
That's why we're doing this. I am throwing you off today. I'm just telling you. Well, we can start off with this. How about this? So I can just be honest and say that without having Enzo and DJ. I was very skeptical about how this was going to go down, even though I've been for a week, a couple of weeks.
Kara
19:10
I was going to say, I hope Enzo is out because of a red cards. I want to see what it was going to be like without Enzo. But after Enzo has started performing lately, I was really scared. But at one point during this game, my daughter even looked over at me and said, mama, this is like an old school lineup and it's working. And I'm like, it is. It's just working. It's actually doing what we're used to. It's like from last year we came back. 2s I know we have Wesley in there, but 1s it's comforting to know that even without Enzo, we can do well. We don't have to have him to perform. And maybe 1s I hate saying this, but maybe he slowed down a little bit of that chemistry that we've seen because I don't think that it was Camille, obviously, Camille and Carol, but at the same time, something was different out there. Something worked
Bridget
20:03
flawlessly, kind of in the first half. Right.
Kara
20:07
Just because it looks similar to what we would have and we were all kind of happy about the lineup doesn't mean that tactics haven't changed and we still could get caught in transition. There were a number of times where on both ends, it was just kind of a mass chaos. So there are things we could have gotten caught out in. However, I think one of the key things that has been pointed out is that we've typically had less possession. And so in those moments of possession, which I think you saw tonight, which is probably my wrath, we're still just giving the ball away in random, terrible times. Yes.
Bridget
20:46
I'm trying to be nice and not say what I think. 1s I agree with all that you're saying. I'm just trying not to point out where I think that some of these issues lie. But you're right. Absolutely right. Okay.
Kara
20:58
So if you give a favor to Justin, Miram, rightfully so, he's one of the ones who gives it away a few times. Oh,
Bridget
21:05
yeah, there's a couple of times I'm like, what are you doing? But at the same time, I think Miram was making up for some other places that we had holes, and Miram was like, well, if you're not going to be there, then I'm going to go do it. Okay. And so that makes me mad. And I'm just saying I'm trying to be cool. Trying to be cool. Okay. Anyway, on that note, I wasn't giving my favorite to Maram, but he did a good job. Were you going to give yours to Maram?
Kara
21:29
I'm happy to give one to Miram. That's fine.
Bridget
21:31
No, I was just asking. You don't have to do it. I was just saying. Is that what you were doing?
Kara
21:35
I think if he deserves one, I think if you don't give it to him, then I've got to I think he deserves one today. So, I mean, two goals against his former team, and not only that, he shows pure class with how he celebrates them or really not celebrates
Bridget
21:52
them. Yeah,
Kara
21:53
he doesn't gloat over Atlanta. He obviously still has some that feels like family to him. So did he play for Atlanta before? He played for wherever he was when we got him. Yes.
Bridget
22:06
Rio Salt Lake.
Kara
22:07
Yes. Okay. Yeah, that was where he came from before, so pretty recent. Like, only like two years ago or so.
Bridget
22:13
Okay, I wasn't aware of that. I'm not into the nose. Yeah, that's pretty cool.
Kara
22:17
They do feel like family to him, and he was in the spaces. He was making some really nice through passes. One of the things that I think you're about to point out is that his extra work on defense was really helping out Nathan Byrne. It
Bridget
22:34
really helped because there was times where if homeboy wouldn't have got Miram was back there, and he knew that burn was getting burnt, so Miram saved the day. I think there was one point where Miram thought burn was going to have him, but he didn't. But I think even one time I was at the TV, because I'm funny when we watch from home, I'm literally, literally and I stand up, like 2ft from the television. So it's like we're at a game. We don't sit down the whole game. We're like young, but except I can see it. So I'm like, pointing at the TV. I'm like, is this burn? Is literally burn up here? Burn was like, in the final third, and here's Miram back here on the back line, and obviously the ball is back here on the back line, and burn, it got burnt. But I'm like, why in the world is Miram back here? And I don't think that that was always but I think it was just a time that Miram was trying to do what he was doing. So there was times where I'm like, Miram. 2s Where he should be. And I don't know if it's because he's covering another spot, but then, like you said, he was told, like, Burn was doing a certain specific job. And if that's the case, then maybe Miram was supposed to go back. But I've never in my work much. I don't know a lot about soccer, but I've never in my life thought that an outside striker supposed to or winger is supposed to be back there on the back line as an LB. But I don't know. So I think that sometimes Miram was way back there. And I don't know if it was because he wasn't supposed to and he was just trying to be a hero and save the day or if that was the plan. So, yes, I think he made some things where I'm like, what? But then sometimes without his two shots, we would not have been three one.
Kara
24:09
Yeah, and he's in the right place at the right time. But I think also he is working to fill those gaps and spaces. And so if Byrne is getting beat or trying to fill, he's trying to backfill his hole, which is his job. So he's on our team, right? Because he's an experienced player. And so that's part of the reason why is he's being a leader. He's going to fill those spots. He knows where those things are. But
Bridget
24:37
wouldn't Westwood back up first? I don't mean this bad, but I don't know. I'm asking legit so if one as the back line is out of place, wouldn't you think that the midfielder would back up first? Or would it necessarily go to the winger? I'm asking because I have no idea. Well, I think that's important to point out for this game. Tactics for this game are different than normal. 1s For Atlanta. You have a pretty threatening front five, right? Yeah. So you have Almada, you have Arugo, you have Gutman, you have Caleb Wiley, and as we well know, Brooks Lennon and all of them have either gotten goals or been threatening on us. And so I think Latanzio's strategy this game 1s is different than normal. However, he is using his wingers to come back and trap, and we've seen that for the last few games. He's using Miram and Yusuiak to come back pretty far into that midfield and be like a four four to issue that trap on the sides. But I think here the midfield is not going to help because we have such a dangerous midfield that they're the more threat. Okay,
Kara
25:52
staying around Almata, the World Cup player, right, is more important. And Arugo is no slack either, as you saw tonight. But they would rather not give Almada the ball in most cases or Arugo and favor that to stay on the wing as long as you don't let them in the box. Cool.
Bridget
26:12
Oh, and they were on the wing when they made their runs. It was on the wing. Yes,
Kara
26:16
they made their runs, but they came into the box. 1s They came around the man, and we didn't have extra men. So with this time,
Bridget
26:24
Bronco men weren't where they were going to be supposed to be. Right. And Bronco in the mid because we don't have Jones. And Jones maybe is doing this some of the other times. He's slotting back in to that back four, and it's becoming a back five. So 1s if a left back or right back gets beat, then that kind of shifts it. There's still enough men there because we have so many coming back. Yeah,
Kara
26:49
I think it's trying to make more of a wall and more space to allow them to protect our box better.
Bridget
26:57
We did a better job, I think, tonight, because we did not have the possession we didn't have the best possession score or whatever percentage. But when we did have it, I guess we did what we were supposed to do with it. Yeah, we capitalized on some really excellent options. And that's the thing, is, if we didn't have Maram, would we still be doing that? Would whoever was on that left wing still be making those runs, be in those spots that you can tell are just experience? And not only that, but the first one goes to Ashley westwood crosses at
Kara
27:33
Tamarim. Right. And the second one is youth react.
Bridget
27:36
I don't mean it's bad, and I love Vargas, but he's young. And you can see the difference in having Vargas on that outside as opposed to having Miram. And I know a lot of us not me, because I don't think that was what I thought was Latanzia's problem. But a lot of people thought that Latanzia was kind of crazy because he kept saying, Experience, experience. We need experience. But we can clearly see that now with Miram on that outside versus Vargas. Now, am I in any way saying that Miram should start over Vargas? No. But when Miram is out there, we can see, like you said, the control. We can see that leadership. It just throws in 1s that extra thing on that outside that we kind of were missing with Vargas because he hasn't gotten to that level yet. Being that he's young. I particularly
Kara
28:21
like that first goal where he comes in and he crosses it over pretty far to Westwood, who grabs it right along the byline. And that drags the whole defense, including Ben Bender, who has two defenders on him, leaving Miram in this beautiful space to just. Top
Bridget
28:43
bidding. And I thought that was crazy when it happened, I was like, he overshot Westwood. What in the world is he doing? Well, I found out what he was doing. The tactic
Kara
28:53
worked. It worked. Yeah, it did. 1s At one point I thought, are these guys just going out here playing what they want to do, doing what they want to do? Or are we actually playing the way that Latanzio wants us to play the way he has it set up? But we were all like, no, we don't like what Latanzi is doing. We don't like how he's setting things up. We don't like having a plan or whatever. But you got to have a plan, first of all. So second of all, it just seems like this plan is actually working. It takes time. We weren't patient enough to see it to work. And now that he's got the right people in the right places, we're seeing something happen. I think the players are buying into whatever he's selling better because they feel more confident in it because it's working. And I think having Miram out there has added that. Having Westwood back and having Miram has helped with whatever's happening because they're buying what Latonzo is selling and that's getting these kids to buy it, too and saying, look, if we can complete this, look what can happen. Well, my first favor, I'm going to go ahead and just scoot on to mine. Mine's going to go to Kalena. I know it's going to shock everybody, 1s shock myself sometimes in life. I love my marks. I'm going to always be a Mark stand. Think Marks thinks I'm weird too, sometimes because of how much I stand him. But anyway, I'm going to go with Cleana. He did a great job. 1s I really do hate it when everybody's just like, oh, so glad clean is back. Yeah. Cleaner stays today. Thank God. Clean us back because I do think that Marks and Pablo did a good job while cleaning was out. But I do think Cleaner may be getting back to super cleanest style. I don't think he's 100 there, but he's doing a great job. I saw a lot of potential in him tonight. I saw that the team responds really well to him and I don't like how he comes out so far. I know that says something that a lot of like, especially you and a lot of.
Bridget
30:50
Other Cleaner fans likes how he comes out of the box, that he gets off his line and he is more aggressive. And I do think that he does that better than Mark's does. Still scares the crap out of me after last year in Columbus. And I'll always hold that against him. But he did a great job tonight. That was his back. Okay? We can blame it on the win too, if we want, but it still screwed us over on that playoff run, so I'm going to go with it. But anyway, he did good tonight or did well tonight in proper English. And he had that great save. At the beginning, I was kind of like, can he really do that with his back? And then when he fell down, it was his nose. I really thought that the dude had kicked him in the back, too. I thought it was a problem. So I was just real on the edge about his back. But then I think it was a corner, if it was a corner or penalty kick they had. And he jumped up so high and just knocked that ball out of the way. 2s He was just super clean tonight. And so in all fairness, that's who I am. I try to try to stand fair on it. I'm going to give my favorite to Cleaner tonight. I think he did a great job and I'm glad to have him there, especially since Marks is hurt and I think Pablo even had a pulled hip muscle or something. So it's good to see that Cleaner is back and that the guys are responding really well to him. Yeah, he had some really great saves and I really liked it at one point where just something happens terrible in the back line and man, he just lets them have it. And so I just really like his vocalness when he's like, look, we all have to play together. He's trying to rally them and. 1s I think, too, that communication doesn't work as well this game without his probably vision, and he's probably communicating that to his backline, which I feel like Bronico was really trying to hold it all together and tell them who to cover and when to slot in and when to go up. So I feel like they were all moving as a cohesive team. And on that backline, your first person is Kalina. He's going to have to be the one to take the
Kara
32:49
responsibility if something goes in. And on that goal, 1s I don't fault him as much. However, he's supposed to be the one telling someone to cover that pole and DIAP had just gone out. So do we agree that's like a fool out there?
Bridget
33:08
I don't know, because I don't know who's supposed to have that back post. No one had that. But even my daughter, who is a goalkeeper, and that's one of her big things, everybody likes to stand too far up. No one covers that back post. No one covered that back post. And clean was pissed. I don't know who Clean was pissed at, but Lindsay was back there and Lindsay even motioned like something cleaner pointed somewhere. I don't know what they were doing, but then whatever happened when the guy was going to get the goal, cleaner was tripped, fell over, rolled over. I don't know what happened there, too. So something went down in that goal box. I had to rewatch that to see what was going down, but I know they were upset. He was not happy at all. He didn't look at Lindsay like he was mad. I don't know where a fool was even at at that point, but it was funny because my daughter was like, look, it went right over Burns head. But Burns too short, he couldn't get to it. And I mean, no fault to Burn, he can't help. He ain't taller, you know what I'm saying? Poor guy. Yeah,
Kara
34:02
but he'd played a very long game. That's the he'd been jumping all over the place. I
Bridget
34:07
wasn't faulting him for that. I'm just saying, if it would have been Derek Jones in the game, we would have had another tall person. So I'm saying or Bill, because Bill could have had it. 1s Normally
Kara
34:19
Burn can jump that high.
Bridget
34:20
Well, I don't know. I'm just saying, it was by the 82nd minute having run all over the place from Brooklyn High, so I'm not faulting him for not jumping. I'm just saying we could have had some taller people had DJ been in or Bill been in, you know what I'm saying? Well. Sobosinski. Well, that too. Or Diop. Diop is taller than Burn, too. But no, he was pulled. We'll talk about that later, too. But anyway, we're back to Kalina. I don't know how we got anyway, I love pulling up that I'm not going to wrap him because I'm going to bring him up in every freaking segment that's really great. Anyway. Do you have another favor?
Kara
34:55
Probably. I'm, like, so tired. 1s It's a double favor because they go hand in hand.
Bridget
35:03
I want to hold your hand. 1s I want to hold you. Okay. Hopefully they didn't hold hands. They might at some point. Who really knows? He says he doesn't remember when he gets goals, but that would be the dynamic duo of Yusufiak and Swadersky, because without Yusufiac getting that shock, amazing VAR call and attempt on goal, we wouldn't have a beautiful Swedeski penalty.
Kara
35:32
That's true. And our momentum from there.
Bridget
35:34
I know when the VAR happened, I was like, what are they doing? Yeah, then we all were like, what's going on? Nothing happened. And then you were like, no, it was really a foul. And I'm like, no, it wasn't. And then the people on the TV were like, It's clearly a foul. And then they gave the dude a red card, which even helped us better, because then we got to play the whole game when they only had ten players. Yeah, that moment. Normally, us Charlotte players were used to all this momentum against us. We're used to getting crap VAR calls, and we're used to being like, really lustily being like, please give us
Kara
36:08
a call in this game. We're all just sitting there, and everyone's puzzled, and we don't know what's going on, and we have to even explain it to some of our lovely friends who are down in Atlanta. And we're like, no, wait, it's a Jersey tug. He yanks Anne because that happens earlier. So he calls a Jersey tug, I think, on Westwood, I want to say. And he calls it just for this, like, Beatty bitty little Jersey tug. So he has to call it later in the game.
Bridget
36:43
It worked in our favor. It did.
Kara
36:47
And so he pulls him down by the back, and he just does a little bunk on his butt right in front of the goal.
Bridget
36:53
Yosevak is I just said it right 1s anyway, yosevak actually, he can pull a foul, that kid. I think I say this every time that kid pull a foul, if they nobody's business, like, he has got it going on. And, I mean, granted, it was a foul, but he's super dramatic in how he does it, and it just worked in our favor. We were all like, what? And then, obviously, Camille takes that shot. Carol. Yeah, Carol. Carol took that shot. And it's beautiful. Carol is just beautiful.
Kara
37:25
It's so calm. Just pops into that goal. 1s And then we also have to give credit to Swedeski back, pulling at striker again. He's in Enzo spot so that he of course, has to run all over the place. But he also has to hold up the play. And he's not Enzo, he's not Tank, but he does do his job.
Bridget
37:45
He fell down a couple of times just to make sure that we didn't forget that. Enzo does that some, too. Carol fell down a lot, too, last year, but he fell down like one time. He got hurt. Really? I thought he got hurt really fast. He's supposed to draw fouls. Hey, he does it. He's not as good at drawing the fouls as Camille. As buddy. Camille. But he did a great job. Yon pulled some fouls, too. I don't think those Polish guys was into the foul pulling. They know what they're doing over there. They teach him how to do it well. Yon
Kara
38:12
committed more fouls than he did that which is why he
Bridget
38:15
yellows. I was afraid Yan was going to get reds, but he didn't, thank God.
Kara
38:19
That's why he got pulled out. Also, I think, if you notice, Yusufiac gets that a nice assist, too, for the third goal. Miram second
Bridget
38:29
right, which was confusing, too, because Atlanta put it down as an ongoing when it was clearly not an ongo. That was hilarious. Yeah. Lillian was like, Momma, it says on goal. I'm like, it didn't ongo. Like there was no ongo at all. It said, no Justin
Kara
38:43
Miram. Like he still plays for Atlanta.
Bridget
38:47
They haven't updated their roster yet. It's been a
Kara
38:50
while. Easter egg, right? For everyone. 2s So my other favor is going to go to the fans. I think the fans helped a lot. I know that Latani said that he loves it when the fans there was over 1000 fans down there. They had, I think, five or six buses that they took way over Whims and you could hear from at home, you could hear them chanting. I just think the fans helped out a lot today. I think it's awesome that they went. I think the team did a good job organizing it. I wish they could do that for more games. I know more of them are further away, so we can't, but.
Bridget
39:23
It. I think it really, really helps the team to have so many people down there. I know that from here, not home, the land of people were, like, making fun of our chance and stuff, but it was just funny because they were losing, so we were winning. One of the recordings which cracked me up hilariously was saying that it was like a library in the stadium.
Kara
39:49
And I'm sorry to correct everyone, but libraries aren't quiet anymore. So let me just put that in your ear. Stop expecting them to be quiet. But the joke is funny, so I will take that part. Also, I would like to read what the official said about the foul and VAR and penalty. So the ref gave an explanation that said, I saw Atlanta United player number 15, Andrew Gutman, pulling the shirt of Charlotte number seven Yusufiac as the ball was crossed into the penalty area. The poll was impactful on the attacker's ability to play the ball and denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity. Atlanta number 15 was required by law to be sent off for this foul due to the fact that this challenge was not an
Bridget
40:34
attempt to play the ball. Well, he had to send them off then. He did. Sure did. You know what else? I want to give some honorable mentions in here. 1s To some other players. I think that's important. We had just an all around great time this time. So one of the honorable mentions I want to do is Ashley Westwood for that assist to Justin Marin for the first goal. And I also think that he was orchestrating the play a couple of times and he played well in the midfield and was trying to communicate. But I also felt that he was doing his job so well. And this is kind of a couple of them. They were doing their jobs well, the
Kara
41:14
job they were supposed to do, and so sometimes it's not as noticeable. He did a
Bridget
41:18
good job. Annie wears black shoes, so you don't notice it as much. That's just me. I'm sorry. The two English dudes wear the black shoes, the black cleats, so they're not as flashy out there when they're running around in the field. But they're working well. He's working
Kara
41:33
and he's part of that key passing network right in the middle, which you can't get it up the pitch if it's not connecting. I also think honorable mention goes to Idealson Melonda.
Bridget
41:44
Oh, yeah. Melonda was good tonight. I'm glad he came back, that he wasn't hurt worse, for sure. And there was a time where I thought he got hurt and I was like, oh, no. And he was kind of mad. He told that dude, leave me alone. I'll get up. You don't need to help me up. I can do it myself.
Kara
41:58
He took that foul really nicely, or drew that foul really nicely. He also had some really great clearances, some intercessions, some good tackles that I think are important in the line. But I think if you give it to him on that one, I think Burn also had some very nice tackles.
Bridget
42:16
Stop. Not going to do that.
Kara
42:18
True. He did.
Bridget
42:24
You open the door for this one? Here we go. No. Burn was not where he needed to be. Burn might open some doors. Burn opened everything in the life. At one point, your husband messaged me and told me at like I think it was a five minute mark to stop watching Burn because I was going to have a hard time buying the game.
Kara
42:43
We're just looking out for you.
Bridget
42:44
I mean, I was livid. I almost brought my TV. I was like, is Burn really here? It's this burn right here. And then they would go on the outside and burn him. And I was like, oh, my gosh. My eternal flame. Oh, my God. Burn. I don't get it. I don't get it. I just don't. 1s If somebody could help me with this, I think that you might want to help me. But the kid, I mean, he's not in position. He played a winger today. He is not a winger. He is a left. He played overlapping. So we didn't have a fool on that side, right? A fool has traditionally been playing that side. Byrne we're used to him playing right back. So we're used to the pattern and way he plays of that right back, which is not the same as what Latanzio has been having his left back do. If you remember what a full does. Aful slots into that midfield, right? And then he also goes up and overlaps with Miram. And so part of that is that he's trying to use him as defense and his offense a little more than normal. That inverted fullback, right?
Kara
43:50
And I'm saying this like I really, really know what I'm talking about. 1s Somebody could correct me a little bit, too. That's fine. But also, I really think that was a tactical choice because you got to think Nathan Byrd played in the Champions League, right? So. 2s He was doing. He he knows this stuff. He used him in a press conference really recently.
Bridget
44:13
He used him. He knows he's got hold. I don't care. He
Kara
44:19
knows he's going to get beat. That's okay. That's why he had Sobasinski beside him even though Silasinski wasn't.
Bridget
44:25
We know Burns going to get beat, so we're going to put some other dudes to cover him. That is the craziest mess I ever heard in my life. If we know the guy is going to get beat, can we not put someone in? Sorry, I'm getting allowed. Can we not put someone in that is not going to get beat? Does that not make common sense?
Kara
44:40
Who are you going to put in there? Because AFOL has the same problem, and Diop, as we saw, got taken out, 3s so what is he going to do? So he has to use what he's got. And not only that, like, Nathan Byrne then slots into center back. And that's why he puts C up on that side, because he knows he needs people. First of all, even though Nathan Bird had a yellow, he doesn't get it until 95, right?
Bridget
45:10
More than one yellow, because dude ain't put to got it at
Kara
45:14
the that's where he's like, okay, I'll leave you in for another ten minutes, but I can't leave you in the rest of the time because what if you get another yellow and get a red? So he takes him out. Diop comes on. Dioparently doesn't perform how Latanzio wants, and Nathan Byrne had slotted into center back because he does not want Hamadi to play that center back role because it's such a leader role and he doesn't want him to get taken advantage of. So rather him be on the outside where he can have the extra support in the mid from Bronco, from Byrne, from Melanda, from Kalina, and Diop make up some of that speed.
Bridget
45:55
I just don't get it. Burn was up there playing winger and Miram is back there on the back line. And it was just like Miram knew that, like you said, everybody and their brother knows Burns getting burnt, so we're going to
Kara
46:07
have the same thing. I think it's just your bias against Burns.
Bridget
46:12
Well, fool might have, but I didn't see it. And fool can at least pull off some stuff. And he actually makes some blocks sometimes, and it works. And Burns doing I don't know what, and he just kicked it out of bounds one time for Lord knows why, and I don't know. And that just irritates the crap out of me. I just want the kid to do something so that I can give him a favor. And every week I say this, and every week he shows me that I can't, and it's just frustrating. And then he has that pretty smile. I just wanted to say, oh my God, you're just so cute. And he just irritates the crap out of me. He just does.
Kara
46:44
I mean, I do think he gives the ball away a couple of times where he makes 1s a good dribble. 1s But then he loses it because he doesn't pass it quick enough. But like you see acted at a time or two. He's not the only one. Our timings and passes again were kind of off. Are we done with Burn?
Bridget
47:02
You just know if he goes down that side that he's on that he's going to be missed. If they go down, whatever side Burns on, he's going to get burnt. And I don't understand,
Kara
47:12
but you got to think who was with him? Brooks Lennon. Brooks Lennon was not a threat. It in the same way that Arugo Wiley and Almata were. He was not they
Bridget
47:24
were fine with he loves Burn. He was cheering them on and just talking to him and they having Kiki moments out on the field while I'm chewing him out and hoping he'd pull Burn. And he pulls freaking Diop after freaking ten minutes because diop don't have the attitude he wants. And I'm over there praying he pulls Burn because I don't think Burn has it. So obviously I don't know what I'm talking about, but that's how I feel. You
Kara
47:46
know who also played pretty well? I think Ben Bender had a pretty good time playing some tight defense today. I mean, that's not to say he's perfect. He wasn't, but I thought he did a very good job trying to shut down Almata
Bridget
47:59
today. 1s They were double teaming him a lot of the game. They thought he was a force to be reckoned with, obviously to double team him. And he's very aggressive this year as opposed to last year. I love it. Yeah, he wasn't as aggressive last year. And I just noticed that this year that he's pressing. He's just going after the ball. He's not scared, he's not backing off. Everybody on the team got tired. I was going to say he got tired, but everybody towards the end got tired. Poor guys. Oh,
Kara
48:30
absolutely. By the that's why we get that goal.
Bridget
48:33
They just played Tuesday. 2s A lot of these guys played a lot of those minutes. Yes. Never play again. But for that, Bender looked good. I just think he's going to get better and better. I mean, do I think he's going to start every game? No. But it's good to have him there and that eventually I think that he will. And with the next few games was playing so much knows we need all the help we can
Kara
48:58
get. And I also think Bronco did a good job slotting in for Jones this game, too. He was trying to win a lot of them first and second balls. I think most his second ones. But he also again, he's trying to protect the defense. He's trying to be that fifth man. He's been calling out and telling. 1s That leadership on that back line, which is abnormal, I think, but also because we have such a young back line. And then he blocked shot. He had some nice tackles. I was pretty proud of him. I think he showed his quality better this game than some of the others, where it's more like it's not good, but it's not bad. It's not good either kind of a thing in this game. I felt like he was erring on the positive side,
Bridget
49:46
I guess I didn't see that. But again, I think maybe we're watching some of different games sometimes. But no, I didn't see it. But I think it goes back to where you're saying with Westwood, if they're not making mistakes and they're doing what they're supposed to do, you don't necessarily notice all the stuff that they're doing. So I didn't notice that Veronica was out there giving up chances or that he was the reason that the ball was coming where it was. I didn't see him doing that. There was sometimes where I was like, what is he doing out there? But I said that a lot about a lot of the players, so I can't fault him for that. So I think that I'm going to ride with that. I'm going to ride with you on that. I'm going to trust that you saw more than I just because I wasn't paying attention to him specifically and he didn't draw my attention to him. So in that aspect, I think he was just doing his job and he must have done it well enough that I wasn't screaming at
Kara
50:37
him. And I don't feel like it's fair if we don't say something about Jalen Lindsay, who got two secondary assists today. So good job. Jalen Lindsay. I
Bridget
50:45
like his pink shoes. He's got some fun pink shoes. He went on right after the game in the locker room. He went on his Instagram live. He was super stoked about winning. I think the guys really are excited because we're on a winning streak. Three wins in a row. We haven't had this in a while. We're riding it. I want to keep riding that wave. Everybody likes laddie right now. We're not on the Fire laddy train. We're actually saying, oh, ladies got some good tactics. How about that? How fast that tide turns. The
Kara
51:18
hardest part to take is the fact that, again, our depth is just our depth is just so shallow and we've got a lot of those young guys coming up from Crown Legacy and we don't have other options. And that's really hard because it's not necessarily Latanzio's fault. But what are we going to do better?
Bridget
51:36
Well, the good thing is, well, we do have a game coming up on Wednesday. I'm just like I think I text you this week. I'm like, we have a game Wednesday and we have a game Saturday.
Kara
51:47
And we have a game
Bridget
51:47
Tuesday. And you were like, yes. And I was like, oh, yeah, here we go. So the good thing is, though, Enzo will be rested and so will DJ. So we got two legs that are four legs that are well rested. Hopefully I think Bill is on the road back. So maybe Bill will at least be back by next Saturday if we're lucky. And then Hagart, he's a good guy. We still got him on the bench that didn't play. So I think we still got a little bit there. I don't really know what we're going to do about that back line. I still say bring Neely up. They can't do any different.
Kara
52:25
Not yet. We're not that desperate yet. And plus, he's doing such a good job at Crown Legacy, I
Bridget
52:29
think you leave him there to do a good job. But I do think it's important that you bring up our injured players because 1s Bill, we hope, will be here in a few weeks. But it's kind of case by case. Mora is still like he just went back to training. And weirdly enough, Fot mob says that Mora and Vargas and Carujo and Marks are on the same timetable. They're all slotting them in at early June 2023. So I'm kind of wondering if we're going to have Vargas out for another
Kara
53:06
three weeks.
Bridget
53:07
I didn't know that they said he was injury was like that.
Kara
53:10
I don't think they've said I'm just saying that this is what Fotmop is saying on their timeline. It doesn't necessarily mean it's right. But I do think he has something more serious. Since we didn't see him even on the bench this time, I don't think it's been confirmed to anyone. But he's obviously going to need a little more time. And I think Marks was saying that it's going to be a few weeks. So I'm thinking like four weeks at least from the time he's already been out a week. So that's one of the four weeks. Well,
Bridget
53:40
I mean, June is in three weeks.
Kara
53:42
It's kind of hidden that Bill is going to be the first one back. Well, Bill, like we said, we saw him the other night. He wasn't limping. My daughter asked him how he's doing. He said, good. That doesn't mean anything, you know what I mean? I'm hoping that that's a good sign that he's okay. You know what I'm saying? Like Lasagna said, most of they're not going to do much practicing this week because they can't, they physically cannot wear these guys down. They're already tired. But
Bridget
54:07
I'm hoping that at least they can get some of these guys back. 2s Maybe they'll let them work out on the side. I don't know how it works. At least our games are at home this week, right? Both of them are. So we'll be able to stay at home and they won't be traveling so much.
Kara
54:25
And our two coming up, we have Chicago Fire on Wednesday, and it is important to note that even though we won tonight and we have 15 points, we are still 12th in the table.
Bridget
54:39
Yay. We're tied with other people, right? It is tied all the way up to 6th place because right now, Philadelphia is still playing as we're recording. And it looks like they are edging up the table to fifth.
Kara
54:53
So it was fifth and down was a tie. But with Philly moving up, it's different. But Chicago is one point below us.
Bridget
55:02
But they won today. Yes. Against St. Louis.
Kara
55:05
Well, good for them. I'm happy for anyone to beat St. Louis. Saturday is going to be a tough match, too, because we see Nashville again. And Nashville is at 19 points in the table, so they are at third.
Bridget
55:18
We haven't seen them this year, so that's going to
Kara
55:21
be we have not. 1s But we did beat them last year, the one time we saw them.
Bridget
55:26
I know we got a tough week ahead. I hope that everybody shows up. I know Wednesday night games are tough, but on that note, I don't think there's anything else I have to say. But I hope that everybody has a great week this week and stay safe. We hope. We'll
Kara
55:40
have another interview for you done soon, but it's been busy. We've had a lot of matches and a lot of things to catch up on, so so forgive us. We're all just trying to survive here, just like Charlotte is. And we just wanted to say a happy Mother's Day to all of you moms and those of you who have moms because we want to remember them too. They just got a win just for all the moms out there, didn't they, today? So we're all going to be happy with that. But we hope that you have a lovely one whenever you
Bridget
56:09
listen to this. Thanks for listening. Thanks for listening. Good
Kara
56:11
night.