July 25, 2025 • 41 mins
We break down and discuss the Women's EURO 2025's final: Spain v England | Spain vs England | England v Spain | England vs Spain
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Kate, welcome to Into the Channel podcast for mail about
women's football. I'm your host Dino de Suspidis
and as always I'm joined by my Co host Mr. Grant Engel.
What is up man? I'm feeling fantastic, buddy.
I know we've said it a couple times already when we recapped
Spain's victory over Germany, but we're here, man.
We made it to the final 2025 women's your own.
(00:28):
I mean, it's been a great tournament so far, and the crown
jewel is still up for grabs. That's right, the world's
greatest women's football pocket.
No, the the European Championship, UEFA 2025.
Let's get to it. England and Spain.
Big congratulations. In terms of like predictions,
(00:49):
you had Spain in your final. I had England in my final.
We'll eventually get to some picks, We'll talk about some
players to watch. I want to get into some some
match ups to watch. Kind of identified a few that I
I think are fun. I want to get into so much to
cover the final coming up Sunday, 9:00 AM Pacific.
Mr. Grant Angle, where do you want to get started?
(01:09):
Well, I think we should get started by just talking about
how we got here. And let's do that with a
beverage with a refreshment. Let's go.
Can I call this the third? Sounds great.
Can I call this the third to last or the what?
What would you call it as well? I mean, penultimate is second to
last. I'm not sure what what 3rd to
(01:30):
last is, but we have a beer for this show, obviously a beer for
the final. And then maybe like some will do
some kind of retrospective and Ithink that would conclude a
several beer series. Yep, it's the trend.
Ultimate beer. Cheers.
Cheers to you. Cheers to the football.
Cheers to the word trend ultimate.
That may or may not actually be a word, I'm not sure.
(01:52):
Hopefully it's not a terribly offensive word that that's like
awful connotations. But real quick, I, I, I want to
shout out some of our friends before we get to it.
I know I asked you where you want to get started.
So I'm going to pre empt that or, or I'm going to just side
swipe it a little bit and just mention some of our friends that
I want to kind of call out. We made a bunch of new friends
during this heroes, as as mentioned, we expanded the
(02:14):
tentacles. We produced a bunch of shows.
We got extra sleepy on the Sleepy Boys podcast.
It was it was a sleepy summer, but I think we we survived.
We're still awake. Stay posted to see if you know
how long that lasts, but L beg 323 Meg MO my guy Mark Gibbs, my
card corner brother Mark Gibbs. I appreciate you bro Summer
cook. How about John Rollins, loud and
(02:36):
proud Orlando straight while in our comments section just giving
it to the England detractors. Just let them know you do not
come to the ITC comment section and talk down about the
Lionesses. Carlo, you already know claw
hammer and I had one more JustinWilliams.
You already know what time it is.
We love you, love you Justin, but our guy MLSI don't know
(02:59):
definitely ITC community member,Hall of Famer, an eloquent chap.
I think we could say that right?Of course, but MLS got into it.
In our comments section. I'm not going to mention the the
user that started the conversation, but anonymous user
says sorry, but what do footballcoaches tell their goalkeepers?
Quote Guard your near post End Quote.
(03:19):
Honestly that was a poor goal togive away by Germany in extra
time and our guy MLS responds. Spain won Germany nil.
Stuck on that. Coulda woulda shoulda.
All right, Yeah, sure. Yeah, that I mean that
translates in any in any language.
MLSI guess that that's, you know, fair game A.
(03:42):
Little off. Brand for a guy?
Yeah, seriously, that would caught me off guard this
morning, but got a good chuckle out of it and I just really
appreciate it. Everybody you know opening up,
sharing their thoughts, sharing their emotions, sharing their
experience of watching the tournament with us and with
others. Oh yeah, no doubt.
I mean, just consistently dropping knowledge.
(04:02):
I mean Blau ground of blood another another new friend we've
made during these EUR shortly before the EUR.
Like look for Blau ground of bloods social media, you know,
Barcelona focus coverage, obviously talking about Spain as
well, you know, super informative researched stuff.
I think you mentioned Carlo P3 Speaking of the Spanish
contingent, Hizzy young always rocking with us.
(04:25):
Appreciate you Hizzy key KLC always hanging out too.
Just, I mean, just knowers of ball, friendly people, maybe the
occasional outburst, but that's OK.
We're talking football. It is.
We're talking sports. It's, it's all right.
We can. We can keep it friendly for the
most part. Hell yeah.
This is a friendly space. It's a learning space.
(04:46):
But I, I want to talk to football.
And the more, the more I kind ofdug into this final, you know,
there's just so many juicy ways to look at it, some storylines,
some angles. You know, there's the revenge
angle, there's the like kind of who wears the crown angle.
You've got the European champions, you got the World Cup
champions. But where do you want to get
started talking about the match?Let's talk about the challengers
(05:10):
for this trophy. Anyway, let's talk about Spain.
Young, up and comers. Oh yes, of course.
Obviously the plucky underdogs from Spain. 17 goals for, three
goals against. If you combine the group stage
and the knockout stage. LED in minutes by 31 year old
Alexia Patea's two time Bolland Door winner of course, and Patri
(05:32):
Gujaro, a 27 year old with 479 and 476 minutes respectively.
They've been objectively pretty great.
I would say Alexia, you know, not a not a huge match against
Germany, but that's a luxury that they have where their two
time Balandor winner doesn't play that great.
But Oh yeah, the other two time Balandor winner scores the
scores of the winner, Spain's margin of victory.
(05:54):
I thought this was a fun little set.
It's kind of been dwindling as the tournament has gone on.
They won the first match by 5, second match by 4, then two and
two and then one against Germany.
So that margin of victory is just kind of climbing down.
But the, you know, the trending's got more trending in
a, in a, in a good direction if you're an England supporter.
But you know, the, the tournament's also got more
(06:16):
difficult. They got more minutes under your
belt. The, the, the games have, you
know, are higher leverage. So Spain is incredible.
They're ranked #2 in the FIFA rankings for a reason, the the
reigning World Cup champions. But this tournament was not
totally a walk for them. And I think that that probably
surprised at least one or two people.
(06:37):
Yeah, I would say so. I mean Jeremy matchup was also
it was a tough matchup. They were tested for sure, but a
couple players that you mentioned, obviously Alexia,
three goals, 4 assists, incredibly productive, maybe
cool. You know, I, I wonder if her
lighter weight game versus Germany had anything to do with
(06:57):
Alessandra being out and just kind of like the distribution a
little bit differently, like thejust the ball just was going in
different directions. But to your point, great luxury
to have to have a player like that just eating up defensive
attention, you know, in the middle of the park.
But I wanted to talk about Batti, who's just been awesome.
So over the course of the EUR, Batti's leading Spain in
(07:19):
touches, tackles, interceptions,blocks and completed passes.
She's got 48 more completed passes than the second highest
in the entire tournament, which would be her team mate, Irene
Perez, who is also ball. And I, I think that that that
pairing, that center back pairing Perez and Alessandri, to
(07:39):
me, that's the first key of the game for me.
You know, can England do anything with those two players?
I mean, I think those two specifically super stout
defensively, but then the distribution, they get the ball,
they move it along and now all of a sudden you had an
opportunity in a dangerous area.You're sort of in the final
third or in and around or maybe sneaking in and all of a sudden
(08:00):
the ball is going the other way and now you're in your defensive
3rd. So I think what I'm thinking
about the keys, those two players, that's like the first
place that I'm thinking about. Yeah, I think that makes a lot
of sense. I mean, you know, we talk about
it. You can you can give a lot of
publicity to Spain's incredible scores that, you know, the magic
that Bone Mati can create on thefield.
(08:22):
Claudia Pina, you know, one of the most in form strikers in the
world. As we've talked about many
times, the defense sets the tone, man.
Like it's their press. And you know, those attacking
players, they are terrorizing the the opponent in that press.
And then if by some luck or grace or like great skill,
you're able to get past that press, now you're contending
(08:43):
with the with those great defenders as well.
So yeah, I think that's going tobe a key.
I'll go with the key to the match on England's side.
Then I think it's going to have to be beating that press to your
point and getting even being able to challenge those
defenders to make those center backs have to work.
You have to be able to get past that.
(09:03):
And you know, that's going to behonestly, that's going to be on
Alex Greenwood, that's going to be on Kyra Walsh, Georgia
Stanway. And they had some moments.
You know, I was kind of looking back through the tournament.
England had some really positiveresults.
What about that France match up,though?
You know, they get, they were getting cooked in in some of
those and some of those spaces in the middle of the field.
And it was because Stanway and Walsh were giving the ball away
(09:27):
and France punished them. You give the ball away against
Spain, you're definitely going to get punished by them as well.
You know, I'm, I'm really curious to see what Wiegmann
does defensively, You know, because when you rewind back, I
went back and checked the 2023 World Cup and it looked like
Wiegmann was either at a back according to the Internet
sources of back three. But it looked like a back 5 just
(09:48):
because they had bronze on the outside on the outside of one
end and I'm blanking who they had on the other side.
But I'd be curious to see how Wiegmann sets up defensively.
If you're thinking it's either Jess Carter or Esme Morgan at
center back, potentially againstthe Spain side, you know, that
could, you know, pose some problems for sure.
If, if you're in that traditional back four, do you,
(10:11):
are you expecting any kind of changes from Wiegmann?
Because I think there was one that I'm, I'm, I'm also curious
about upfront. What?
What kind of line ups are you expecting?
Real quick in 2023, Rachel Daly was on that squad, so she was
playing a lot of like that kind of like left left wing back
type. I'm a huge Rachel Daly guy, big
fan of her. Like, I mean, a great striker in
the WSL had, you know, had the commitment and the toughness to
(10:33):
play like wing back for for the Lionesses in the EUR and that
World Cup. I think, I think we're going to
see more of the same. I actually took a screenshot of
it to make sure I didn't screw it up.
But if I had to guess, I think England lines up obviously
Hampton and goal bronze, Williamson, Morgan, Greenwood,
Walsh, Stanway, James, Toon, Hemp and Russo up front would be
(10:58):
would be the 11 that I think she's going to have to put out
there. But I have changes.
Yeah, no changes. And I think with one caveat,
obviously, Lauren, Lauren James's health is, you know, the
concern there, but you know, thefact that she went out at after
the half, hopefully she's had some time to rest and heal.
The one caveat there, I would say to Wiegmann style, is when I
(11:20):
talk about beating that press, you're going to need to have
constant movement off the ball. You're going to have to be
constantly looking for space. I think Wiegmann might have to
go to the bench a little earlierthan she then we've seen her do
in the past. I could definitely see that My
my question and it's tough because there's a lot of really
good players, but I'm not sure how you keep Chloe Kelly out of
(11:43):
the starting line up, assuming she's healthy, because it's it's
a little bit past the Oh, she's playing really well and like, oh
super sub like this, a real injection of like, you know,
she's been a tournament saver, you know, like she's got to
like, I don't know, but keeping England in the tournament for
sure. So it's a dangerous game.
(12:04):
We talked about how late Wiegmann made some of those
changes. I'm not sure how comfortable I
would feel. You know, you look at LJI, love
LJ. I'm probably like the world's
biggest LJ fan. I would say my favorite player.
Five shots, two goals versus theNetherlands in a back against
the wall match up in a huge spotin the other 4 appearances.
(12:25):
Nine shots, 2 on target, zero goals.
So there was something about that Netherlands match, you
know, maybe it was health or fitness or maybe it was just the
moment. But I think there is an
opportunity here. There's an opportunity here for
a few different players. I think there's an opportunity
for a Chloe Kelly to kind of like now move into legendary.
(12:45):
You know, now I've, I'm just this player, I'm like just this
like the clutch player of a generation.
Maybe like that's that's maybe possible depending on what
happens in this in this final. I think LJ has a chance to kind
of like move into that upper echelon Bollindor type
conversation with a huge performance here.
Russo maybe has some potential there.
(13:08):
Hannah Hampton I think has some potential.
Like these are players that I think, you know, legacy wise, I
mean, massive, massive stakes. You think about the game, but
then like there's so much history woven into what's going
to happen in this match and whatwe'll remember for for so many
years on to the future makes it a really compelling proposition.
Yeah, no doubt. I mean, I think it's, we're
going to have to have a Hannah Hampton game.
(13:29):
I think, I mean, in the last twomatches, you know, when Spain
beat Switzerland, they were, I think it will, I'm going to do
some of this off the top of my head.
It was they were six shots on target out of 23 total shots and
that's 26%. And then in this match against
Germany, they were four shots ontarget out of 15, which I think
(13:50):
roughly also equates to like 26%.
I'll take more of that, please. As an England supporter, like, I
like them, you know, getting less than 30% of their shots on
target. And I feel good about Hannah
Hampton in that proposition. The only thing is some of those
shots on target might be ClaudiaPina wonder strikes or just a
missile from, you know, Bone Mati or, you know, Patri might
(14:13):
let one loose or, you know, Battier might get a rebound and
fire 1 into the corner or something like that.
Or, And as much as I admire her,and I was thinking about this
more and more as we are kind of doing this, like the Olga
Carmona goal in the World Cup final is like I, I think part of
the reason why I enjoy watching her play so much.
(14:34):
I know that sounds weird as a guy who like supports England,
but like she's just that kind ofplayer.
And like when she kind of stepped up, she's like on the
left wing. I can still see it happening for
what we had to. I had to watch that game at like
5:00 AM or whatever on the here in Seattle, and she just steps
up from the wing and just blasted into the corner to beat
Herbs. And I was like, well, shit, I
(14:56):
didn't. I didn't see that coming that
much. Like, like I, you know, you
know, she had it in her game, but anybody from Spain can
score. But I also have pretty good
faith that Hampton can stop any shot.
Yeah, no doubt. I think the that Carmona go, I
watched it today too, just before they brought it up.
Definitely shades of the I tonicgoal of totally different angle.
(15:17):
The I tonic goal to beat the burger to to make it to the
final. I'm glad you brought up Olga
Carmona, because she'll be on that same side versus Lucy big
game bronze. We might get Lucy big game
bronze versus Olga game just as big Carmona who scores in the in
the World Cup. You know, like just is that that
same love was like, all right, let's see who's got the bigger
game here. That's going to be a fun battle.
(15:39):
You know, we mentioned Hannah Hampton, who I thought has been
had some really big moments. Katakoya, I think has been
massive as well. And I I mentioned it on our last
show. I thought was the reason, not
the reason, but without her, I'mnot sure that Spain gets past
Germany. And you could look at Nan
Gladys, who started the first three matches for Spain.
Well, let's look at that last two matches.
(16:00):
Four shots on target against 4 saves, zero goals allowed.
Again, this is a knockout football against Switzerland,
the home country against Germany, you know, for for
pretty much all the stakes. And then you look at Nan Gladys
in the knockout stage, I'm sorry, in the group stage 3
matches, six shots on target against three saves, three goals
(16:21):
allowed. So big difference between non
Gladys performance. I got that going.
I think I got that going is just, you know, it's tough to
grade her. As mentioned, you know, she just
doesn't she's not as tested as some of these other keepers, but
she is, you know, the the 1A forthe best club team in the world
and the 1A for either the first or second best, you know,
international team in the world.So that's that stuff.
(16:43):
You got to account for something.
Hannah Hampton on the other sidewill get tested as mentioned.
But I think, you know, she's she's stepped up I think really
big in this tournament. She's she's had a lot more work
to do, 19 shots on target, faced13 saves, six goals allowed.
But obviously England has faced a bunch of flux defensively.
And I think probably I would sayabsolutely has faced A tougher,
(17:06):
tougher competition. You look at France, you look at
Netherlands, you look at Sweden,I think Italy also, I mean
Italy. Both sides had to face Italy.
But England for sure the tougherRd.
But I think the goalkeeping edgeI think probably has to go to
Spain and got the goy. Yeah, that's, that's probably
(17:27):
fair. It's close, man.
I was thinking about like this tournament.
I mean, I know we talk about like in NWSL you have on Katrin
Berger and Caitlin Sheridan and Lorena, you know, end goal.
And then I was thinking about this tournament, you have Coy
Hampton, Falk Burger again now in this tournament, obviously.
(17:48):
Yeah, Anna Morehouse. And there's Anna Morehouse,
obviously. I thought Giuliani for Italy was
good too. Yeah.
No, that's totally fair. Yeah.
I mean, just like a ton of like great goalkeepers, like all
over, all over the world. But I was thinking about what a
good goalkeeping tournament thishas been, some really, you know,
acrobatic, amazing saves, great instincts, things like that.
(18:11):
But yeah, I mean, you'll just have to see, like, I'm going to
go back to the 2023 World Cup final.
I want to say somewhere in maybethe 15th minute, somewhere
around there, I think another moment that that kind of lives
rent free in my head. Lauren HAMP hits the crossbar
and it's just like man, getting the opener would have been real
nice in that scenario. Now, you know, Spain probably
(18:33):
could have had two in that firsthalf.
They got the one from Carmona aspreviously mentioned, but you
know, herbs was herbs was showing up huge.
So it's it's hard to say like should they could they have got
2? I don't know man.
I you know it it. I think it's an edge to Koi, but
I only think it's a slight edge.Yeah, I agree with that.
I'm not sure it's going to come down to the goalkeeping, but I
(18:55):
think it's definitely worth the conversation.
No doubt. Managers was the next one I
wanted to think about. Obviously, Serena Vigman's got
the experience, championship experience, you know, dating
back a long time. But Monta Tomei, I think after
somewhat of a rocky start, taking over for Vilda, caught
her stride really, really well. Has seems to have a good handle
(19:16):
on what's going on, a good handle on the rotation, because
it just felt like there's been alot of, you know, good
rotations, a lot of good, you know, it feels like everybody's
got minutes. Yeah, no doubt.
I mean, you know, if you think about who's leading England in
minutes, you have Alex Greenwood.
She's over 500 minutes. What?
(19:37):
I, I think I said, yeah, I 400 is 479 and 476.
So Greenwood's over 500. And then Lucy Bronze, Kyra Walsh
and Leah Williamson are all over450 minutes apiece.
So I mean, you know, when matches go into extra time,
you're going to need, you know, players who are on the pitch for
a long time. I'll be interested to see how
that plays out. But no, I think this is the
(19:59):
second time I mentioned Alex Screen what I said she's going
to have to be key in beating thepress.
Greenwood is leading England in touches.
She's leading them in interceptions with 12.
She's leading them in crosses with 32 and she's tied for first
in recoveries with Williamson. And you know, she's going to
have to be huge. You know 3131 year old defender
(20:21):
from. From Manchester City Football
Club. You know, she's had good
moments. She's she's come up big in this
tournament. I'm just a little, I just tell
you, man, I'm an England supporter.
I'm a wee bit worried. What weak points are you
thinking about? I'm concerned that Williamson
(20:42):
Morgan and and Greenwood, frankly, I think they might have
a real hard time with the press when it when it's coming from
Cal Dente, who is one of the smartest players in the world,
especially the way she presses. And you have Cal Dente, Esther
Gonzalez and Claudia Pina pressing you and then the second
wave of players pressing you arePatri and Bone Mati and Alexia.
(21:06):
You could be in big trouble here.
And I I think there's that that leads me to another point when
we think about, you know, tryingto get the ball forward and
trying to get the ball in, not not just in, you know, the
attacking half, but the attacking 3rd for England, who
is leading England with the mosttouches in the attacking third.
You have Lauren Hemp at 1:44. You have Lauren James.
(21:28):
She's third with 122 and sandwiched in between with 136
touches in the attacking third. Lucy Big game Bronze.
I knew it. Now, how often, how many
opportunities is Lucy Bronze going to have with the ball in
the attacking third while Spain is just running down your neck
(21:51):
on the other side? Yeah, it won't be too many
because it'll be Olga on that side.
It's Olga and Pina on that side.Yeah, that's, that's painful.
It's tough. And this is where I thought the
France matchup that you called out early in the show pretty
prescient because what did we see in that France match?
We saw France controlling, you know, like the real estate and
(22:14):
in England having to defend, having to like win the ball back
and scrap. And then you're, you know,
you're seeing these like big players that are primarily
creators, you know, like the LJSand the Hemps.
And, you know, I don't think allthe tune was playing in that
game, but you just didn't see the same level of team defending
as you saw from like some of those teams that adopted defense
(22:36):
as their DNA, like the Italies and the Sweden's.
And you know, like it just was not at the same level.
And now England won't be playingthis match on the front foot
like they had played, you know, the the the the following four
matches after the France loss. Now it'll it's going to go back
a little bit too, I think even more so it's going to go back to
can you defend? Can you stay disciplined, be in
(22:58):
those passing lanes, think a little bit more
opportunistically? And then can you find success
offensively through the center of the park, you know, through
Kira Walsh, through Stanway, youknow, like, or are you just
kicking Hail Marys, you know, over the top or, you know, up
the sidelines and, and hoping that you can, hoping that
(23:21):
somebody could beat somebody else one-on-one.
Because if that, if that becomesthe game plan early, which I
don't, I don't expect it to, butif it does, I think that's a
bad, a bad sign for for England.It certainly will be.
And you have to look at like, where's Alessia Russo getting
the ball? If she's 5 yards on the
defensive side of the center circle, then you're in real
(23:41):
trouble because now think of howmany more passes you have to get
before you're even really putting any stress on Spain's
defense. So, you know, I I think those
are all very concerning. And I think it's worth noting
that, you know, England still had 57% of the ball in that
match against France. They were just getting fried in
a lot of those situations where France would be running the ball
(24:04):
back up. And we know that, you know, we
know France has a a want and indefinitely an ability to play
that kind of counter attack, kill you kind of football on the
rush. So, yeah, I mean, the the tricky
part when any team is going up against Spain is they can do all
of it now like they they tend to, you know, dominate
(24:27):
possession. You know, it's Spanish football
in general. But then, you know, there could
be those opportunities where Lauren James gets the
opportunity. She gets down on the wing, she
plays the ball across it, doesn't hit the target.
And then now Perez is running and like you talked about
earlier, getting the ball forward using great
distribution, couple touches andnow Pina or Mariona are are
(24:51):
flying down the wing with, with runners in the middle of the
field. I mean, you, you have to prepare
for everything against Spain. And that's just going to leave
your, it's going to leave your team stretched in a lot of
different situations. I think you've nailed a couple
different. I mean, this is England, so it's
your team. You know them, you know more
intimately than I do. But I'm in full agreement with
(25:11):
you that I think you nailed the two areas where England's going
to be the most vulnerable. 1 is when they're backed up into
their own third and they just get the ball nicked away and you
could just see, you know, getting getting swiped by
Mariona or Pina or or Alexia in a spot like that.
I think that's a real point of of danger.
The second one is transition like you mentioned.
(25:33):
You know, you could imagine a Lucy Bronze getting pulled up
field or and Alex Greenwood now wants to be at the edge of the
box. And yeah, I'm not sure what's
going to be if it's going to be Carter or Morgan, it's probably
Morgan. But you know, I've seen as an
Arsenal fan, I've seen Williamson in transition kind of
struggle a little bit when she'sgot to rotate her hips and kind
of get around and go from backpedaling to rotate full.
(25:56):
You know, that's, that's a toughkind of motion for her for
whatever reason. And I think England in
transition is just, it's just not the right look.
And then it leads me then to a player that I've thought a lot
about for Spain, which is Sama Bariuello player that we haven't
talked about too much, who got chances against Germany, got in
good positions, guide to dangerous spots.
(26:18):
I think we could see some bodyolo magic laid in this one,
especially if something like that that we're talking about
like a transition opportunity the other way.
I think bodyolo is like the perfect counter punch to that
type of situation. So, you know, who knows a game
within a goal or maybe even evendown the stretch.
I think a bodyolo on the counteris another another risky thing I
(26:42):
think that Eng is going to have to look out for.
I think she's appeared in every match.
I and I'm not, I think she's only started a couple.
But yeah, I mean, she is a clearweapon off the bench, you know,
just an injection of speed and spirit and smarts who's gonna
come on there and put pressure on your defense.
(27:03):
So yeah, I think it's a, it's the right call out by you and
it's just, it's no relief. So like, who comes off for is it
Ester? Is it, you know, is it Claudia
Pina? And then you're like, oh, OK,
thank goodness one of those extremely dangerous players are
coming off and you look on the sideline, here comes beta Ualo
to come, you know, smoke you on the run.
So like, I don't mean to, I don't mean to like totally sound
(27:26):
like England has no chance. I mean, they have, like I said,
they have great players. They have the skill to do these
things. And do I expect Kiera Walsh and
Georgia Stanway to both have a bad game?
Like I don't like I, you know, they're, they're great players
who know these Spanish players, by the way, played against them,
played with them. But it's just, you know, it's
(27:48):
always an uphill battle for Spain.
No, it's going to be, it's goingto be really tough.
I think the best I can hope for.And it's weird man, because like
that Germany game plan, you know, and like, you know, it's
funny that I, I went through thewhole German roller coaster this
year, you know, like picked up the window, the whole thing,
just trash them. They, they kind of like broke my
heart and stepped on my pinky toe.
(28:10):
And then I, I come back and I just was like really happy with
the, their performance against Spain and, and was, you know,
just very celebratory for how they played.
No knock on England. I like England, I like the
players. I don't think that they could do
that same thing that we saw Germany do, which was just sell
out physically, just be everywhere.
And just, I mean, give all of itto the cause.
(28:32):
And the cause being let's take this, let's take this to BKS and
see if Clara Boo or you LeBron could like steal one at some
point. The right game plan.
I, I don't think that England can do that.
And I feel like England might find itself against a team that
kind of wants to play the same way, but maybe is better suited
from a personal standpoint to doso.
(28:53):
I think you're 100% right. And the the caveat I would throw
on that is they won't be able todo that.
They won't be able to utilize that kind of game plan for 75
minutes of the match. What I think England has to do
is maybe they can do that for 60minutes of the match, but they
have to have what, however it's sprinkled in.
(29:16):
If it's 15 minutes in the first half, 15 minutes of the
second-half, they have to have 30 good minutes across these 90
where they are dictating some ofthe pace of the match.
And they're not. They're not completely flustered
by the press where they can get into their stuff and do some of
their English football control, some of the pace of the game it
(29:36):
around, move it from side to side and try to create a shot,
try to create a run for Alessia Russo.
Get Lauren Hemp out there playing physical wing play,
getting whipping crosses in. You know your point about Chloe
Kelly. I don't know if I don't think
I'm, like overly superstitious. But yeah, I think it would be AI
(29:57):
think it would be a gigantic swing to be like, OK, Chloe, now
you're starting like, do I thinkshe's capable?
Yes, but like, she's been awesome.
Now I think again, you know, I'mprobably just feeding into my
own thought process here, but maybe you bring her on at 65,
you know, like maybe maybe you bring her on at 60, depending
on, you know, how things look. I think in that World Cup final,
(30:21):
you know, Wiegmann took Alessia Russo off at halftime and put on
Chloe Kelly. Who else did she take off?
She took off. She took off Rachel Daly and put
on Lauren James at halftime in that final.
We'll see how she how she adjusts in this one.
But if you're England, it's unrealistic.
And yeah, this is just who Spainis.
(30:41):
Again, we're based in the USA. You know, we have our biases.
Whatever any team playing against Spain, you're not
winning the possession battle. I don't care who you are.
Like, you know, we like the USA.They have a lot of great
players. You're not beating Spain in the
possession battle. No chance.
So you have to be able to figureout where are our spots, when
can we kind of start to dictate the run of play for a little
(31:04):
while? And then how do we get back into
a defensive shell and counter all these all these great
players from Spain. And I think that's going to be
the the combination to give England a real chance to win.
Yeah, I think, I think the defensive shell is definitely
key. You know, it it's, it's
reminding me of a couple data points versus Germany where
Spain had like some like 380 or 390 touches in Germany's half,
(31:27):
but only like less than 40 in inside Germany's box.
So that kind of told me that Germany was like just
controlling that little chunk offield between the halfway line
and the 18 and just saying, OK, you could knock it around here,
but this is where we draw the line.
You know, kind of defensively, Ithink England's going to have to
(31:49):
do the same. And you know, to your point on
who they have out there, you're going to have to counter, you
know, so it's probably going to have to be a lot of Lauren Hemp,
you know, and you know, like then what is what is Alessia
Russo's role? Is it kind of like get down
there and let's hold it up and let's try to get the body
between the, you know, the ball and the defender and then let's
(32:10):
send in the Calvary. To your point, LJ, maybe Ella 2
and Hemp. I'm sure we'll beat everybody
there. She'll be, she'll already be
there. Just check at her watch and, you
know, probably guzzling a protein shake, you know, so
she'll be ready. And I think I'm going to be
interested to see the offensive approach that Beigman employs,
as well as the first 10-12 minutes because I feel like if
(32:33):
you're going to get Spain and you need a goal, you know, you
mentioned that hemp chance in the World Cup.
That was a, that was a heartbreaker.
Very close. But if I recall correctly, I
feel like hemp had some space onthat one and was in a pretty
decent area. And Spain will do that.
They'll kind of they'll kind of work their themselves into the
(32:55):
match in that way. You know, they're not going to
come out from the first whistle and just be all in your shorts
like they're you know, they'll kind of work, work up a sweat
and take a little time to do so.So I think that first eight 1012
minutes for England could also be really clutch if they can
score there. To your point, I think that that
really changes things in a huge way.
That's a great point. I mean, now I've also, you know,
(33:16):
had the had the thought process that sometimes scoring early
just pisses off Spain and then they they come back, you know,
with the hammer after that. But yeah, I mean, you know, I
think the key for England is, istrying to get one in the first
half. Again, you know, this is my
incredible analysis of score goals, but you're going to need
them. And it's an absolutely
(33:39):
fascinating match up from what you said between the duel
between Tomei and Wiegmann and then all the players on the
pitch obviously is what we're tuning in for.
I think it's, I think we're in for just a barn burner, to use
an American phrase, a real slobber knocker, if you will,
(33:59):
for all, for all of our new, youknow, we've already had a lot of
European pals, but all for, for all the new European pals.
I'll, I'll hit you with more American, American slang here as
we move forward. But I think it's going to be a
good game, is what I'm trying tosay here.
Love it. All right, I think it's I think
it's about time to make some predictions and you want to go
first. You want me to go first?
(34:20):
You go ahead. I kind of got, I got let off the
hook a little bit because as mentioned up top, I had a
England, I'm sorry, I had Germany to beat England in the
final. So I thought long and hard about
what would happen here. And my thought process, I think
coming into the tournament, one of the first key things, you
know, that I was just like, I'm not sure I can get past this.
(34:42):
This notion was it's really fucking hard to win two of these
things in a row. Like just it's a, there's a
reason that, you know, we don't get a lot of repeat World Cups
or repeat EUR, repeat Olympics. It's just, it's just a thing.
It's just really, really hard. And I think I came into this
tournament thinking it would be tough on England to, to get that
(35:04):
done, you know, and, and obviously Spain's looked really
good. They look like the best team.
I think England's cut it really close.
I think they, they, they easily could have lost either of those
knockout stage matches. They did lose to France.
So they're here because they're champions and they've got that
championship DNA. They know how to win.
They know how to not lose. So I do think this one will be
(35:25):
crazy competitive. I've, I think penalty kicks have
been the, the, the flavor of thetournament.
I don't think it's going to go to penalty kicks, but I do think
it's going to go to added extra time.
And I think my little curveball that I'm going to throw is I
think it's 11 when we go to added extra time.
And I think Spain hanged 2 on England and they went three to
(35:46):
one in 120 minutes. And a little icing on the cake,
I think Baddiello gets one of those last two goals against a
tired England defense to kind ofice it.
And then we set the stage for 2027.
At that point, you'd have Spain,you know, a couple different
banners hanging and then USA, obviously the rating #1 the
(36:09):
reigning Olympic champion, that long resume and, you know, the
potential for just a massive pay-per-view style, you know,
match up in 27. Yeah, that makes sense.
I like it. I like the specificity.
Look, I picked Spain to win thistournament before a ball was
even kicked. I do not think they're nearly as
(36:32):
tired as they were before that Olympic tournament.
And also I've I've just heard like, you know, you see
sometimes on like woso Reddit orlike some other social media.
And you know, I know we talk about like woso social media
sometimes. And you know, it is a better
version of social media than most other sports social media.
So I'm going to give it a littlemore gravitas than others, but
(36:53):
you'll see the occasional take of like at the Olympics.
It's like not a real football tournament.
And I just got to say I completely dismissed that.
Like usually I'll listen to people's ideas, but like people
have have tried to like lessen the, you know, US as win in the
Olympics. I'm sorry.
We're all the best teams except for team Great Britain there did
(37:16):
all the best teams have pretty much their full complement of
players? Yes, they did.
But in that case, you could see the exhaustion in Spain's side.
I don't think that exists in this tournament.
I don't think there's any evidence that that has existed
in this tournament. So to my pals Meg, Mark and
John, obviously I'm sorry. I picked Spain to win this
(37:40):
tournament before a ball was kicked.
I know I support England. I know I've rooted for them
since I was 12 years old playingFIFA.
But I picked Spain to win, sorry.
And I think they're gonna. Yeah.
Blade as well. Yeah, yeah, Now I doubly
disappointed Blade by not mentioning him in the mix.
Sorry, pal. I think it's going to be, I
think it's going to be two to one Spain.
(38:01):
And I think, I don't think it's going to get to extra time.
And I think Alexia Putais is going to score a goal somewhere
between the 80th and the 90th minute.
And I think she's going to lift the trophy.
And I think her team mates will celebrate her as one of the
greatest players who ever lived,as they should.
All right, I like it. All right, so you heard it here.
It's either going to be Spain 21or Spain 31.
(38:24):
You know, just head down to your, you know, I'm just
kidding. Don't do that.
Just go watch. That head down, head down to
your local sports book. Enjoy it.
I believe Spain is -135 in, in. I don't even, I don't know why
I'm saying. I believe it's saying from your
boy. I'm aware Spain is -135 yeah.
(38:45):
You know what my sources are telling me?
It's Spain -135 and I think now this one, It's a shameful.
Look at that. Shameful that I don't even have
it off the top of my head. Yeah, Spain -135 to win in
regulation. England plus 3:50 to win in
regulation. The draw, say 80 + + 260.
(39:06):
Pretty good guess. 60 OK. Anytime goal scorers better.
UA Low is a + 160 if you're interested in that.
Don't bet that nobody bet that. Do not bet that people out
there. We got to ask some questions of
the people making these lines. Plus 155 anytime Goal scorer
(39:30):
Elba Redondo. She has not played one minute in
this tournament. Don't bet that either.
Could you imagine if if that hits though?
This will be a great clip afterward, but I don't she
hasn't played. If that hits, I mean, still, I
would be pissed that you bet that that number is a terrible
number. That number should be 10 times
(39:51):
that, maybe more. All right, so we got it.
We got our picks. We beat our picks.
Anything else you want to hit before we get out?
Of here Lauren Hemp plus 340 I don't hate it.
I don't hate. It what?
Wait, wait, was it plus 340? Plus 340.
I don't hate it. But anyway, all right, we'll
see. We'll take it offline.
(40:11):
Take it offline. Yeah, yeah, sign up for our
Patreon for all our gambling dotcoms.
There you go. Just just look at whatever
Carlo's prediction is in the in the comments of this video.
Just bet that. Yeah, go find Carlo.
All right, man, I think we did it this for another episode into
(40:31):
the channel. Thank you, thank you, thank you
for hanging out. If you enjoyed the show or love
of some of all as much as your boys do, make sure you kick in
with us each and every single week.
Like subscribe, follow YouTube, Spotify, Apple podcast, wherever
you like to watch or listen. Leave us a review over your
favorite podcast app links all of our socials except one in the
show notes of this episode. And a big thank you to my coast
as well, Mr. Grant Angle, for being the only coast that I
(40:55):
would lift the trophy with. At the same time, you know,
along with that, I appreciate you, bro.
Likewise, buddy, the feeling is mutual, of course.
And you know what? Again, all of you, for all of
our new pals, all of the old pals, the Ogs who've been
hanging out with us this entire time, this has been incredible.
Thank you guys for supporting the show, the kicking knowledge
(41:15):
in the comments. And you know what?
One thing that is a sure bet theInto the Channel community are
the nicest damn people on the Internet.
A bunch of people who know Paul.Thank you again for rocking with
us and we will see you all afterthe final.
Kate, welcome to Into the Channel podcast for mail about
women's football. I'm your host Dino de Suspidis
and as always I'm joined by my Co host Mr. Grant Engel.
What is up man? I'm feeling fantastic, buddy.
I know we've said it a couple times already when we recapped
Spain's victory over Germany, but we're here, man.
We made it to the final 2025 women's your own.
(00:28):
I mean, it's been a great tournament so far, and the crown
jewel is still up for grabs. That's right, the world's
greatest women's football pocket.
No, the the European Championship, UEFA 2025.
Let's get to it. England and Spain.
Big congratulations. In terms of like predictions,
(00:49):
you had Spain in your final. I had England in my final.
We'll eventually get to some picks, We'll talk about some
players to watch. I want to get into some some
match ups to watch. Kind of identified a few that I
I think are fun. I want to get into so much to
cover the final coming up Sunday, 9:00 AM Pacific.
Mr. Grant Angle, where do you want to get started?
(01:09):
Well, I think we should get started by just talking about
how we got here. And let's do that with a
beverage with a refreshment. Let's go.
Can I call this the third? Sounds great.
Can I call this the third to last or the what?
What would you call it as well? I mean, penultimate is second to
last. I'm not sure what what 3rd to
(01:30):
last is, but we have a beer for this show, obviously a beer for
the final. And then maybe like some will do
some kind of retrospective and Ithink that would conclude a
several beer series. Yep, it's the trend.
Ultimate beer. Cheers.
Cheers to you. Cheers to the football.
Cheers to the word trend ultimate.
That may or may not actually be a word, I'm not sure.
(01:52):
Hopefully it's not a terribly offensive word that that's like
awful connotations. But real quick, I, I, I want to
shout out some of our friends before we get to it.
I know I asked you where you want to get started.
So I'm going to pre empt that or, or I'm going to just side
swipe it a little bit and just mention some of our friends that
I want to kind of call out. We made a bunch of new friends
during this heroes, as as mentioned, we expanded the
(02:14):
tentacles. We produced a bunch of shows.
We got extra sleepy on the Sleepy Boys podcast.
It was it was a sleepy summer, but I think we we survived.
We're still awake. Stay posted to see if you know
how long that lasts, but L beg 323 Meg MO my guy Mark Gibbs, my
card corner brother Mark Gibbs. I appreciate you bro Summer
cook. How about John Rollins, loud and
(02:36):
proud Orlando straight while in our comments section just giving
it to the England detractors. Just let them know you do not
come to the ITC comment section and talk down about the
Lionesses. Carlo, you already know claw
hammer and I had one more JustinWilliams.
You already know what time it is.
We love you, love you Justin, but our guy MLSI don't know
(02:59):
definitely ITC community member,Hall of Famer, an eloquent chap.
I think we could say that right?Of course, but MLS got into it.
In our comments section. I'm not going to mention the the
user that started the conversation, but anonymous user
says sorry, but what do footballcoaches tell their goalkeepers?
Quote Guard your near post End Quote.
(03:19):
Honestly that was a poor goal togive away by Germany in extra
time and our guy MLS responds. Spain won Germany nil.
Stuck on that. Coulda woulda shoulda.
All right, Yeah, sure. Yeah, that I mean that
translates in any in any language.
MLSI guess that that's, you know, fair game A.
(03:42):
Little off. Brand for a guy?
Yeah, seriously, that would caught me off guard this
morning, but got a good chuckle out of it and I just really
appreciate it. Everybody you know opening up,
sharing their thoughts, sharing their emotions, sharing their
experience of watching the tournament with us and with
others. Oh yeah, no doubt.
I mean, just consistently dropping knowledge.
(04:02):
I mean Blau ground of blood another another new friend we've
made during these EUR shortly before the EUR.
Like look for Blau ground of bloods social media, you know,
Barcelona focus coverage, obviously talking about Spain as
well, you know, super informative researched stuff.
I think you mentioned Carlo P3 Speaking of the Spanish
contingent, Hizzy young always rocking with us.
(04:25):
Appreciate you Hizzy key KLC always hanging out too.
Just, I mean, just knowers of ball, friendly people, maybe the
occasional outburst, but that's OK.
We're talking football. It is.
We're talking sports. It's, it's all right.
We can. We can keep it friendly for the
most part. Hell yeah.
This is a friendly space. It's a learning space.
(04:46):
But I, I want to talk to football.
And the more, the more I kind ofdug into this final, you know,
there's just so many juicy ways to look at it, some storylines,
some angles. You know, there's the revenge
angle, there's the like kind of who wears the crown angle.
You've got the European champions, you got the World Cup
champions. But where do you want to get
started talking about the match?Let's talk about the challengers
(05:10):
for this trophy. Anyway, let's talk about Spain.
Young, up and comers. Oh yes, of course.
Obviously the plucky underdogs from Spain. 17 goals for, three
goals against. If you combine the group stage
and the knockout stage. LED in minutes by 31 year old
Alexia Patea's two time Bolland Door winner of course, and Patri
(05:32):
Gujaro, a 27 year old with 479 and 476 minutes respectively.
They've been objectively pretty great.
I would say Alexia, you know, not a not a huge match against
Germany, but that's a luxury that they have where their two
time Balandor winner doesn't play that great.
But Oh yeah, the other two time Balandor winner scores the
scores of the winner, Spain's margin of victory.
(05:54):
I thought this was a fun little set.
It's kind of been dwindling as the tournament has gone on.
They won the first match by 5, second match by 4, then two and
two and then one against Germany.
So that margin of victory is just kind of climbing down.
But the, you know, the trending's got more trending in
a, in a, in a good direction if you're an England supporter.
But you know, the, the tournament's also got more
(06:16):
difficult. They got more minutes under your
belt. The, the, the games have, you
know, are higher leverage. So Spain is incredible.
They're ranked #2 in the FIFA rankings for a reason, the the
reigning World Cup champions. But this tournament was not
totally a walk for them. And I think that that probably
surprised at least one or two people.
(06:37):
Yeah, I would say so. I mean Jeremy matchup was also
it was a tough matchup. They were tested for sure, but a
couple players that you mentioned, obviously Alexia,
three goals, 4 assists, incredibly productive, maybe
cool. You know, I, I wonder if her
lighter weight game versus Germany had anything to do with
(06:57):
Alessandra being out and just kind of like the distribution a
little bit differently, like thejust the ball just was going in
different directions. But to your point, great luxury
to have to have a player like that just eating up defensive
attention, you know, in the middle of the park.
But I wanted to talk about Batti, who's just been awesome.
So over the course of the EUR, Batti's leading Spain in
(07:19):
touches, tackles, interceptions,blocks and completed passes.
She's got 48 more completed passes than the second highest
in the entire tournament, which would be her team mate, Irene
Perez, who is also ball. And I, I think that that that
pairing, that center back pairing Perez and Alessandri, to
(07:39):
me, that's the first key of the game for me.
You know, can England do anything with those two players?
I mean, I think those two specifically super stout
defensively, but then the distribution, they get the ball,
they move it along and now all of a sudden you had an
opportunity in a dangerous area.You're sort of in the final
third or in and around or maybe sneaking in and all of a sudden
(08:00):
the ball is going the other way and now you're in your defensive
3rd. So I think what I'm thinking
about the keys, those two players, that's like the first
place that I'm thinking about. Yeah, I think that makes a lot
of sense. I mean, you know, we talk about
it. You can you can give a lot of
publicity to Spain's incredible scores that, you know, the magic
that Bone Mati can create on thefield.
(08:22):
Claudia Pina, you know, one of the most in form strikers in the
world. As we've talked about many
times, the defense sets the tone, man.
Like it's their press. And you know, those attacking
players, they are terrorizing the the opponent in that press.
And then if by some luck or grace or like great skill,
you're able to get past that press, now you're contending
(08:43):
with the with those great defenders as well.
So yeah, I think that's going tobe a key.
I'll go with the key to the match on England's side.
Then I think it's going to have to be beating that press to your
point and getting even being able to challenge those
defenders to make those center backs have to work.
You have to be able to get past that.
(09:03):
And you know, that's going to behonestly, that's going to be on
Alex Greenwood, that's going to be on Kyra Walsh, Georgia
Stanway. And they had some moments.
You know, I was kind of looking back through the tournament.
England had some really positiveresults.
What about that France match up,though?
You know, they get, they were getting cooked in in some of
those and some of those spaces in the middle of the field.
And it was because Stanway and Walsh were giving the ball away
(09:27):
and France punished them. You give the ball away against
Spain, you're definitely going to get punished by them as well.
You know, I'm, I'm really curious to see what Wiegmann
does defensively, You know, because when you rewind back, I
went back and checked the 2023 World Cup and it looked like
Wiegmann was either at a back according to the Internet
sources of back three. But it looked like a back 5 just
(09:48):
because they had bronze on the outside on the outside of one
end and I'm blanking who they had on the other side.
But I'd be curious to see how Wiegmann sets up defensively.
If you're thinking it's either Jess Carter or Esme Morgan at
center back, potentially againstthe Spain side, you know, that
could, you know, pose some problems for sure.
If, if you're in that traditional back four, do you,
(10:11):
are you expecting any kind of changes from Wiegmann?
Because I think there was one that I'm, I'm, I'm also curious
about upfront. What?
What kind of line ups are you expecting?
Real quick in 2023, Rachel Daly was on that squad, so she was
playing a lot of like that kind of like left left wing back
type. I'm a huge Rachel Daly guy, big
fan of her. Like, I mean, a great striker in
the WSL had, you know, had the commitment and the toughness to
(10:33):
play like wing back for for the Lionesses in the EUR and that
World Cup. I think, I think we're going to
see more of the same. I actually took a screenshot of
it to make sure I didn't screw it up.
But if I had to guess, I think England lines up obviously
Hampton and goal bronze, Williamson, Morgan, Greenwood,
Walsh, Stanway, James, Toon, Hemp and Russo up front would be
(10:58):
would be the 11 that I think she's going to have to put out
there. But I have changes.
Yeah, no changes. And I think with one caveat,
obviously, Lauren, Lauren James's health is, you know, the
concern there, but you know, thefact that she went out at after
the half, hopefully she's had some time to rest and heal.
The one caveat there, I would say to Wiegmann style, is when I
(11:20):
talk about beating that press, you're going to need to have
constant movement off the ball. You're going to have to be
constantly looking for space. I think Wiegmann might have to
go to the bench a little earlierthan she then we've seen her do
in the past. I could definitely see that My
my question and it's tough because there's a lot of really
good players, but I'm not sure how you keep Chloe Kelly out of
(11:43):
the starting line up, assuming she's healthy, because it's it's
a little bit past the Oh, she's playing really well and like, oh
super sub like this, a real injection of like, you know,
she's been a tournament saver, you know, like she's got to
like, I don't know, but keeping England in the tournament for
sure. So it's a dangerous game.
(12:04):
We talked about how late Wiegmann made some of those
changes. I'm not sure how comfortable I
would feel. You know, you look at LJI, love
LJ. I'm probably like the world's
biggest LJ fan. I would say my favorite player.
Five shots, two goals versus theNetherlands in a back against
the wall match up in a huge spotin the other 4 appearances.
(12:25):
Nine shots, 2 on target, zero goals.
So there was something about that Netherlands match, you
know, maybe it was health or fitness or maybe it was just the
moment. But I think there is an
opportunity here. There's an opportunity here for
a few different players. I think there's an opportunity
for a Chloe Kelly to kind of like now move into legendary.
(12:45):
You know, now I've, I'm just this player, I'm like just this
like the clutch player of a generation.
Maybe like that's that's maybe possible depending on what
happens in this in this final. I think LJ has a chance to kind
of like move into that upper echelon Bollindor type
conversation with a huge performance here.
Russo maybe has some potential there.
(13:08):
Hannah Hampton I think has some potential.
Like these are players that I think, you know, legacy wise, I
mean, massive, massive stakes. You think about the game, but
then like there's so much history woven into what's going
to happen in this match and whatwe'll remember for for so many
years on to the future makes it a really compelling proposition.
Yeah, no doubt. I mean, I think it's, we're
going to have to have a Hannah Hampton game.
(13:29):
I think, I mean, in the last twomatches, you know, when Spain
beat Switzerland, they were, I think it will, I'm going to do
some of this off the top of my head.
It was they were six shots on target out of 23 total shots and
that's 26%. And then in this match against
Germany, they were four shots ontarget out of 15, which I think
(13:50):
roughly also equates to like 26%.
I'll take more of that, please. As an England supporter, like, I
like them, you know, getting less than 30% of their shots on
target. And I feel good about Hannah
Hampton in that proposition. The only thing is some of those
shots on target might be ClaudiaPina wonder strikes or just a
missile from, you know, Bone Mati or, you know, Patri might
(14:13):
let one loose or, you know, Battier might get a rebound and
fire 1 into the corner or something like that.
Or, And as much as I admire her,and I was thinking about this
more and more as we are kind of doing this, like the Olga
Carmona goal in the World Cup final is like I, I think part of
the reason why I enjoy watching her play so much.
(14:34):
I know that sounds weird as a guy who like supports England,
but like she's just that kind ofplayer.
And like when she kind of stepped up, she's like on the
left wing. I can still see it happening for
what we had to. I had to watch that game at like
5:00 AM or whatever on the here in Seattle, and she just steps
up from the wing and just blasted into the corner to beat
Herbs. And I was like, well, shit, I
(14:56):
didn't. I didn't see that coming that
much. Like, like I, you know, you
know, she had it in her game, but anybody from Spain can
score. But I also have pretty good
faith that Hampton can stop any shot.
Yeah, no doubt. I think the that Carmona go, I
watched it today too, just before they brought it up.
Definitely shades of the I tonicgoal of totally different angle.
(15:17):
The I tonic goal to beat the burger to to make it to the
final. I'm glad you brought up Olga
Carmona, because she'll be on that same side versus Lucy big
game bronze. We might get Lucy big game
bronze versus Olga game just as big Carmona who scores in the in
the World Cup. You know, like just is that that
same love was like, all right, let's see who's got the bigger
game here. That's going to be a fun battle.
(15:39):
You know, we mentioned Hannah Hampton, who I thought has been
had some really big moments. Katakoya, I think has been
massive as well. And I I mentioned it on our last
show. I thought was the reason, not
the reason, but without her, I'mnot sure that Spain gets past
Germany. And you could look at Nan
Gladys, who started the first three matches for Spain.
Well, let's look at that last two matches.
(16:00):
Four shots on target against 4 saves, zero goals allowed.
Again, this is a knockout football against Switzerland,
the home country against Germany, you know, for for
pretty much all the stakes. And then you look at Nan Gladys
in the knockout stage, I'm sorry, in the group stage 3
matches, six shots on target against three saves, three goals
(16:21):
allowed. So big difference between non
Gladys performance. I got that going.
I think I got that going is just, you know, it's tough to
grade her. As mentioned, you know, she just
doesn't she's not as tested as some of these other keepers, but
she is, you know, the the 1A forthe best club team in the world
and the 1A for either the first or second best, you know,
international team in the world.So that's that stuff.
(16:43):
You got to account for something.
Hannah Hampton on the other sidewill get tested as mentioned.
But I think, you know, she's she's stepped up I think really
big in this tournament. She's she's had a lot more work
to do, 19 shots on target, faced13 saves, six goals allowed.
But obviously England has faced a bunch of flux defensively.
And I think probably I would sayabsolutely has faced A tougher,
(17:06):
tougher competition. You look at France, you look at
Netherlands, you look at Sweden,I think Italy also, I mean
Italy. Both sides had to face Italy.
But England for sure the tougherRd.
But I think the goalkeeping edgeI think probably has to go to
Spain and got the goy. Yeah, that's, that's probably
(17:27):
fair. It's close, man.
I was thinking about like this tournament.
I mean, I know we talk about like in NWSL you have on Katrin
Berger and Caitlin Sheridan and Lorena, you know, end goal.
And then I was thinking about this tournament, you have Coy
Hampton, Falk Burger again now in this tournament, obviously.
(17:48):
Yeah, Anna Morehouse. And there's Anna Morehouse,
obviously. I thought Giuliani for Italy was
good too. Yeah.
No, that's totally fair. Yeah.
I mean, just like a ton of like great goalkeepers, like all
over, all over the world. But I was thinking about what a
good goalkeeping tournament thishas been, some really, you know,
acrobatic, amazing saves, great instincts, things like that.
(18:11):
But yeah, I mean, you'll just have to see, like, I'm going to
go back to the 2023 World Cup final.
I want to say somewhere in maybethe 15th minute, somewhere
around there, I think another moment that that kind of lives
rent free in my head. Lauren HAMP hits the crossbar
and it's just like man, getting the opener would have been real
nice in that scenario. Now, you know, Spain probably
(18:33):
could have had two in that firsthalf.
They got the one from Carmona aspreviously mentioned, but you
know, herbs was herbs was showing up huge.
So it's it's hard to say like should they could they have got
2? I don't know man.
I you know it it. I think it's an edge to Koi, but
I only think it's a slight edge.Yeah, I agree with that.
I'm not sure it's going to come down to the goalkeeping, but I
(18:55):
think it's definitely worth the conversation.
No doubt. Managers was the next one I
wanted to think about. Obviously, Serena Vigman's got
the experience, championship experience, you know, dating
back a long time. But Monta Tomei, I think after
somewhat of a rocky start, taking over for Vilda, caught
her stride really, really well. Has seems to have a good handle
(19:16):
on what's going on, a good handle on the rotation, because
it just felt like there's been alot of, you know, good
rotations, a lot of good, you know, it feels like everybody's
got minutes. Yeah, no doubt.
I mean, you know, if you think about who's leading England in
minutes, you have Alex Greenwood.
She's over 500 minutes. What?
(19:37):
I, I think I said, yeah, I 400 is 479 and 476.
So Greenwood's over 500. And then Lucy Bronze, Kyra Walsh
and Leah Williamson are all over450 minutes apiece.
So I mean, you know, when matches go into extra time,
you're going to need, you know, players who are on the pitch for
a long time. I'll be interested to see how
that plays out. But no, I think this is the
(19:59):
second time I mentioned Alex Screen what I said she's going
to have to be key in beating thepress.
Greenwood is leading England in touches.
She's leading them in interceptions with 12.
She's leading them in crosses with 32 and she's tied for first
in recoveries with Williamson. And you know, she's going to
have to be huge. You know 3131 year old defender
(20:21):
from. From Manchester City Football
Club. You know, she's had good
moments. She's she's come up big in this
tournament. I'm just a little, I just tell
you, man, I'm an England supporter.
I'm a wee bit worried. What weak points are you
thinking about? I'm concerned that Williamson
(20:42):
Morgan and and Greenwood, frankly, I think they might have
a real hard time with the press when it when it's coming from
Cal Dente, who is one of the smartest players in the world,
especially the way she presses. And you have Cal Dente, Esther
Gonzalez and Claudia Pina pressing you and then the second
wave of players pressing you arePatri and Bone Mati and Alexia.
(21:06):
You could be in big trouble here.
And I I think there's that that leads me to another point when
we think about, you know, tryingto get the ball forward and
trying to get the ball in, not not just in, you know, the
attacking half, but the attacking 3rd for England, who
is leading England with the mosttouches in the attacking third.
You have Lauren Hemp at 1:44. You have Lauren James.
(21:28):
She's third with 122 and sandwiched in between with 136
touches in the attacking third. Lucy Big game Bronze.
I knew it. Now, how often, how many
opportunities is Lucy Bronze going to have with the ball in
the attacking third while Spain is just running down your neck
(21:51):
on the other side? Yeah, it won't be too many
because it'll be Olga on that side.
It's Olga and Pina on that side.Yeah, that's, that's painful.
It's tough. And this is where I thought the
France matchup that you called out early in the show pretty
prescient because what did we see in that France match?
We saw France controlling, you know, like the real estate and
(22:14):
in England having to defend, having to like win the ball back
and scrap. And then you're, you know,
you're seeing these like big players that are primarily
creators, you know, like the LJSand the Hemps.
And, you know, I don't think allthe tune was playing in that
game, but you just didn't see the same level of team defending
as you saw from like some of those teams that adopted defense
(22:36):
as their DNA, like the Italies and the Sweden's.
And you know, like it just was not at the same level.
And now England won't be playingthis match on the front foot
like they had played, you know, the the the the following four
matches after the France loss. Now it'll it's going to go back
a little bit too, I think even more so it's going to go back to
can you defend? Can you stay disciplined, be in
(22:58):
those passing lanes, think a little bit more
opportunistically? And then can you find success
offensively through the center of the park, you know, through
Kira Walsh, through Stanway, youknow, like, or are you just
kicking Hail Marys, you know, over the top or, you know, up
the sidelines and, and hoping that you can, hoping that
(23:21):
somebody could beat somebody else one-on-one.
Because if that, if that becomesthe game plan early, which I
don't, I don't expect it to, butif it does, I think that's a
bad, a bad sign for for England.It certainly will be.
And you have to look at like, where's Alessia Russo getting
the ball? If she's 5 yards on the
defensive side of the center circle, then you're in real
(23:41):
trouble because now think of howmany more passes you have to get
before you're even really putting any stress on Spain's
defense. So, you know, I I think those
are all very concerning. And I think it's worth noting
that, you know, England still had 57% of the ball in that
match against France. They were just getting fried in
a lot of those situations where France would be running the ball
(24:04):
back up. And we know that, you know, we
know France has a a want and indefinitely an ability to play
that kind of counter attack, kill you kind of football on the
rush. So, yeah, I mean, the the tricky
part when any team is going up against Spain is they can do all
of it now like they they tend to, you know, dominate
(24:27):
possession. You know, it's Spanish football
in general. But then, you know, there could
be those opportunities where Lauren James gets the
opportunity. She gets down on the wing, she
plays the ball across it, doesn't hit the target.
And then now Perez is running and like you talked about
earlier, getting the ball forward using great
distribution, couple touches andnow Pina or Mariona are are
(24:51):
flying down the wing with, with runners in the middle of the
field. I mean, you, you have to prepare
for everything against Spain. And that's just going to leave
your, it's going to leave your team stretched in a lot of
different situations. I think you've nailed a couple
different. I mean, this is England, so it's
your team. You know them, you know more
intimately than I do. But I'm in full agreement with
(25:11):
you that I think you nailed the two areas where England's going
to be the most vulnerable. 1 is when they're backed up into
their own third and they just get the ball nicked away and you
could just see, you know, getting getting swiped by
Mariona or Pina or or Alexia in a spot like that.
I think that's a real point of of danger.
The second one is transition like you mentioned.
(25:33):
You know, you could imagine a Lucy Bronze getting pulled up
field or and Alex Greenwood now wants to be at the edge of the
box. And yeah, I'm not sure what's
going to be if it's going to be Carter or Morgan, it's probably
Morgan. But you know, I've seen as an
Arsenal fan, I've seen Williamson in transition kind of
struggle a little bit when she'sgot to rotate her hips and kind
of get around and go from backpedaling to rotate full.
(25:56):
You know, that's, that's a toughkind of motion for her for
whatever reason. And I think England in
transition is just, it's just not the right look.
And then it leads me then to a player that I've thought a lot
about for Spain, which is Sama Bariuello player that we haven't
talked about too much, who got chances against Germany, got in
good positions, guide to dangerous spots.
(26:18):
I think we could see some bodyolo magic laid in this one,
especially if something like that that we're talking about
like a transition opportunity the other way.
I think bodyolo is like the perfect counter punch to that
type of situation. So, you know, who knows a game
within a goal or maybe even evendown the stretch.
I think a bodyolo on the counteris another another risky thing I
(26:42):
think that Eng is going to have to look out for.
I think she's appeared in every match.
I and I'm not, I think she's only started a couple.
But yeah, I mean, she is a clearweapon off the bench, you know,
just an injection of speed and spirit and smarts who's gonna
come on there and put pressure on your defense.
(27:03):
So yeah, I think it's a, it's the right call out by you and
it's just, it's no relief. So like, who comes off for is it
Ester? Is it, you know, is it Claudia
Pina? And then you're like, oh, OK,
thank goodness one of those extremely dangerous players are
coming off and you look on the sideline, here comes beta Ualo
to come, you know, smoke you on the run.
So like, I don't mean to, I don't mean to like totally sound
(27:26):
like England has no chance. I mean, they have, like I said,
they have great players. They have the skill to do these
things. And do I expect Kiera Walsh and
Georgia Stanway to both have a bad game?
Like I don't like I, you know, they're, they're great players
who know these Spanish players, by the way, played against them,
played with them. But it's just, you know, it's
(27:48):
always an uphill battle for Spain.
No, it's going to be, it's goingto be really tough.
I think the best I can hope for.And it's weird man, because like
that Germany game plan, you know, and like, you know, it's
funny that I, I went through thewhole German roller coaster this
year, you know, like picked up the window, the whole thing,
just trash them. They, they kind of like broke my
heart and stepped on my pinky toe.
(28:10):
And then I, I come back and I just was like really happy with
the, their performance against Spain and, and was, you know,
just very celebratory for how they played.
No knock on England. I like England, I like the
players. I don't think that they could do
that same thing that we saw Germany do, which was just sell
out physically, just be everywhere.
And just, I mean, give all of itto the cause.
(28:32):
And the cause being let's take this, let's take this to BKS and
see if Clara Boo or you LeBron could like steal one at some
point. The right game plan.
I, I don't think that England can do that.
And I feel like England might find itself against a team that
kind of wants to play the same way, but maybe is better suited
from a personal standpoint to doso.
(28:53):
I think you're 100% right. And the the caveat I would throw
on that is they won't be able todo that.
They won't be able to utilize that kind of game plan for 75
minutes of the match. What I think England has to do
is maybe they can do that for 60minutes of the match, but they
have to have what, however it's sprinkled in.
(29:16):
If it's 15 minutes in the first half, 15 minutes of the
second-half, they have to have 30 good minutes across these 90
where they are dictating some ofthe pace of the match.
And they're not. They're not completely flustered
by the press where they can get into their stuff and do some of
their English football control, some of the pace of the game it
(29:36):
around, move it from side to side and try to create a shot,
try to create a run for Alessia Russo.
Get Lauren Hemp out there playing physical wing play,
getting whipping crosses in. You know your point about Chloe
Kelly. I don't know if I don't think
I'm, like overly superstitious. But yeah, I think it would be AI
(29:57):
think it would be a gigantic swing to be like, OK, Chloe, now
you're starting like, do I thinkshe's capable?
Yes, but like, she's been awesome.
Now I think again, you know, I'mprobably just feeding into my
own thought process here, but maybe you bring her on at 65,
you know, like maybe maybe you bring her on at 60, depending
on, you know, how things look. I think in that World Cup final,
(30:21):
you know, Wiegmann took Alessia Russo off at halftime and put on
Chloe Kelly. Who else did she take off?
She took off. She took off Rachel Daly and put
on Lauren James at halftime in that final.
We'll see how she how she adjusts in this one.
But if you're England, it's unrealistic.
And yeah, this is just who Spainis.
(30:41):
Again, we're based in the USA. You know, we have our biases.
Whatever any team playing against Spain, you're not
winning the possession battle. I don't care who you are.
Like, you know, we like the USA.They have a lot of great
players. You're not beating Spain in the
possession battle. No chance.
So you have to be able to figureout where are our spots, when
can we kind of start to dictate the run of play for a little
(31:04):
while? And then how do we get back into
a defensive shell and counter all these all these great
players from Spain. And I think that's going to be
the the combination to give England a real chance to win.
Yeah, I think, I think the defensive shell is definitely
key. You know, it it's, it's
reminding me of a couple data points versus Germany where
Spain had like some like 380 or 390 touches in Germany's half,
(31:27):
but only like less than 40 in inside Germany's box.
So that kind of told me that Germany was like just
controlling that little chunk offield between the halfway line
and the 18 and just saying, OK, you could knock it around here,
but this is where we draw the line.
You know, kind of defensively, Ithink England's going to have to
(31:49):
do the same. And you know, to your point on
who they have out there, you're going to have to counter, you
know, so it's probably going to have to be a lot of Lauren Hemp,
you know, and you know, like then what is what is Alessia
Russo's role? Is it kind of like get down
there and let's hold it up and let's try to get the body
between the, you know, the ball and the defender and then let's
(32:10):
send in the Calvary. To your point, LJ, maybe Ella 2
and Hemp. I'm sure we'll beat everybody
there. She'll be, she'll already be
there. Just check at her watch and, you
know, probably guzzling a protein shake, you know, so
she'll be ready. And I think I'm going to be
interested to see the offensive approach that Beigman employs,
as well as the first 10-12 minutes because I feel like if
(32:33):
you're going to get Spain and you need a goal, you know, you
mentioned that hemp chance in the World Cup.
That was a, that was a heartbreaker.
Very close. But if I recall correctly, I
feel like hemp had some space onthat one and was in a pretty
decent area. And Spain will do that.
They'll kind of they'll kind of work their themselves into the
(32:55):
match in that way. You know, they're not going to
come out from the first whistle and just be all in your shorts
like they're you know, they'll kind of work, work up a sweat
and take a little time to do so.So I think that first eight 1012
minutes for England could also be really clutch if they can
score there. To your point, I think that that
really changes things in a huge way.
That's a great point. I mean, now I've also, you know,
(33:16):
had the had the thought process that sometimes scoring early
just pisses off Spain and then they they come back, you know,
with the hammer after that. But yeah, I mean, you know, I
think the key for England is, istrying to get one in the first
half. Again, you know, this is my
incredible analysis of score goals, but you're going to need
them. And it's an absolutely
(33:39):
fascinating match up from what you said between the duel
between Tomei and Wiegmann and then all the players on the
pitch obviously is what we're tuning in for.
I think it's, I think we're in for just a barn burner, to use
an American phrase, a real slobber knocker, if you will,
(33:59):
for all, for all of our new, youknow, we've already had a lot of
European pals, but all for, for all the new European pals.
I'll, I'll hit you with more American, American slang here as
we move forward. But I think it's going to be a
good game, is what I'm trying tosay here.
Love it. All right, I think it's I think
it's about time to make some predictions and you want to go
first. You want me to go first?
(34:20):
You go ahead. I kind of got, I got let off the
hook a little bit because as mentioned up top, I had a
England, I'm sorry, I had Germany to beat England in the
final. So I thought long and hard about
what would happen here. And my thought process, I think
coming into the tournament, one of the first key things, you
know, that I was just like, I'm not sure I can get past this.
(34:42):
This notion was it's really fucking hard to win two of these
things in a row. Like just it's a, there's a
reason that, you know, we don't get a lot of repeat World Cups
or repeat EUR, repeat Olympics. It's just, it's just a thing.
It's just really, really hard. And I think I came into this
tournament thinking it would be tough on England to, to get that
(35:04):
done, you know, and, and obviously Spain's looked really
good. They look like the best team.
I think England's cut it really close.
I think they, they, they easily could have lost either of those
knockout stage matches. They did lose to France.
So they're here because they're champions and they've got that
championship DNA. They know how to win.
They know how to not lose. So I do think this one will be
(35:25):
crazy competitive. I've, I think penalty kicks have
been the, the, the flavor of thetournament.
I don't think it's going to go to penalty kicks, but I do think
it's going to go to added extra time.
And I think my little curveball that I'm going to throw is I
think it's 11 when we go to added extra time.
And I think Spain hanged 2 on England and they went three to
(35:46):
one in 120 minutes. And a little icing on the cake,
I think Baddiello gets one of those last two goals against a
tired England defense to kind ofice it.
And then we set the stage for 2027.
At that point, you'd have Spain,you know, a couple different
banners hanging and then USA, obviously the rating #1 the
(36:09):
reigning Olympic champion, that long resume and, you know, the
potential for just a massive pay-per-view style, you know,
match up in 27. Yeah, that makes sense.
I like it. I like the specificity.
Look, I picked Spain to win thistournament before a ball was
even kicked. I do not think they're nearly as
(36:32):
tired as they were before that Olympic tournament.
And also I've I've just heard like, you know, you see
sometimes on like woso Reddit orlike some other social media.
And you know, I know we talk about like woso social media
sometimes. And you know, it is a better
version of social media than most other sports social media.
So I'm going to give it a littlemore gravitas than others, but
(36:53):
you'll see the occasional take of like at the Olympics.
It's like not a real football tournament.
And I just got to say I completely dismissed that.
Like usually I'll listen to people's ideas, but like people
have have tried to like lessen the, you know, US as win in the
Olympics. I'm sorry.
We're all the best teams except for team Great Britain there did
(37:16):
all the best teams have pretty much their full complement of
players? Yes, they did.
But in that case, you could see the exhaustion in Spain's side.
I don't think that exists in this tournament.
I don't think there's any evidence that that has existed
in this tournament. So to my pals Meg, Mark and
John, obviously I'm sorry. I picked Spain to win this
(37:40):
tournament before a ball was kicked.
I know I support England. I know I've rooted for them
since I was 12 years old playingFIFA.
But I picked Spain to win, sorry.
And I think they're gonna. Yeah.
Blade as well. Yeah, yeah, Now I doubly
disappointed Blade by not mentioning him in the mix.
Sorry, pal. I think it's going to be, I
think it's going to be two to one Spain.
(38:01):
And I think, I don't think it's going to get to extra time.
And I think Alexia Putais is going to score a goal somewhere
between the 80th and the 90th minute.
And I think she's going to lift the trophy.
And I think her team mates will celebrate her as one of the
greatest players who ever lived,as they should.
All right, I like it. All right, so you heard it here.
It's either going to be Spain 21or Spain 31.
(38:24):
You know, just head down to your, you know, I'm just
kidding. Don't do that.
Just go watch. That head down, head down to
your local sports book. Enjoy it.
I believe Spain is -135 in, in. I don't even, I don't know why
I'm saying. I believe it's saying from your
boy. I'm aware Spain is -135 yeah.
(38:45):
You know what my sources are telling me?
It's Spain -135 and I think now this one, It's a shameful.
Look at that. Shameful that I don't even have
it off the top of my head. Yeah, Spain -135 to win in
regulation. England plus 3:50 to win in
regulation. The draw, say 80 + + 260.
(39:06):
Pretty good guess. 60 OK. Anytime goal scorers better.
UA Low is a + 160 if you're interested in that.
Don't bet that nobody bet that. Do not bet that people out
there. We got to ask some questions of
the people making these lines. Plus 155 anytime Goal scorer
(39:30):
Elba Redondo. She has not played one minute in
this tournament. Don't bet that either.
Could you imagine if if that hits though?
This will be a great clip afterward, but I don't she
hasn't played. If that hits, I mean, still, I
would be pissed that you bet that that number is a terrible
number. That number should be 10 times
(39:51):
that, maybe more. All right, so we got it.
We got our picks. We beat our picks.
Anything else you want to hit before we get out?
Of here Lauren Hemp plus 340 I don't hate it.
I don't hate. It what?
Wait, wait, was it plus 340? Plus 340.
I don't hate it. But anyway, all right, we'll
see. We'll take it offline.
(40:11):
Take it offline. Yeah, yeah, sign up for our
Patreon for all our gambling dotcoms.
There you go. Just just look at whatever
Carlo's prediction is in the in the comments of this video.
Just bet that. Yeah, go find Carlo.
All right, man, I think we did it this for another episode into
(40:31):
the channel. Thank you, thank you, thank you
for hanging out. If you enjoyed the show or love
of some of all as much as your boys do, make sure you kick in
with us each and every single week.
Like subscribe, follow YouTube, Spotify, Apple podcast, wherever
you like to watch or listen. Leave us a review over your
favorite podcast app links all of our socials except one in the
show notes of this episode. And a big thank you to my coast
as well, Mr. Grant Angle, for being the only coast that I
(40:55):
would lift the trophy with. At the same time, you know,
along with that, I appreciate you, bro.
Likewise, buddy, the feeling is mutual, of course.
And you know what? Again, all of you, for all of
our new pals, all of the old pals, the Ogs who've been
hanging out with us this entire time, this has been incredible.
Thank you guys for supporting the show, the kicking knowledge
(41:15):
in the comments. And you know what?
One thing that is a sure bet theInto the Channel community are
the nicest damn people on the Internet.
A bunch of people who know Paul.Thank you again for rocking with
us and we will see you all afterthe final.
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