Real Madrid, Chelsea, Team Canada, and Soccer Narratives

hello dear listeners and welcome back to another episode of a win is a win podcast I'm your host edap we're back baby with another episode it's going to be a soccer Centric episode which might be a bit of a a funny time to record one it's kickoff weekend in the National Football League should I not be recording something about that it's also the international break in soccer in the sense that it's a break for the clubs there are no Club competitions at least in most parts of the world some competitions are still going on but the good players have been called up by their national squads to represent their countryes colors for either friendlies or or games that do mean a few few things down the line I know in Europe they've changed the format a little bit um the the international breaks are now for contests that will help ter determine who gets to play for example in European championships so on that note uh there was a game that happened in Kansas City on Saturday afternoon a soccer game in Kansas City during the international break what could that be well glad you asked Team Canada now led by manager Jesse Marsh who incidentally is an American and was in line to get the Team USA job The Men's National Team uh he's actually coaching Canada and the Canadians emerged Victorious 2 to one uh do not be fooled by the final score the contest was not nearly as close as that 2 to1 score suggests I saw a good chunk of it I didn't see it live I only found out what happened afterwards late last night and Canada did look quite good there was a lot of pressure I felt as though there are quite a few things that need to be put into context in a match like this number one it's a friendly uh this is not a World Cup this is not a World Cup qualifier this is not a kopa America it's not a con League of Nations it's not a gold cup it's not it's literally none of those things this was a friendly yes on American soil and Team Canada had not taken uh had not put the Americans to the sword on their ground in apparently 67 years so in that sense I guess you could make the case that it was a quote historical unquote win but a win that needs to be put in into context number one this was a friendly uh number two two the Americans are dealing with an interim head coach right now M Mikey varis who took over from Greg Burkhalter He Who was let go he was given his pink slip after a rather porous performance at the Copa Amer just a few months ago and third as admirable as I felt Team Canada played uh K Len was okay Jonathan David was okay uh aens Davis maybe wasn't as big of a factor but then again he technically he's playing um a defenseman a left back uh Jacob schafberg schafberg I always have I always struggle with his name Jacob schafberg uh he was all right he in fact scored the first goal uh Jonathan David scored the second goal in the 58th minute so shuberg in the 17th David in the 58th so one go in each half which is nice to know the produ was consistent that being said both goals were courtesy of let's be frank here atrocious turnovers by the American defense this was not it's not that the starting 11 for the Americans wasn't very good they simply didn't play very well so not a good performance it was a friendly both goals came courtesy off of turnovers and from what I could tell I tried to see as much as I could from this game for what I could tell from the Canadian perspective at least it looked like another one of those games where the Canadian Midfield is actually pretty decent and the forwards have good bow movement good dribbling they play off the ball relatively well they tend to put themselves in POS in positions to receive solid passes that create scoring opportunities the Canadians do a lot of things relatively well but they cannot finish I yes Jonathan David finally scored he missed chances um KY Len missed chances chelberg missed one of two chances it just it wasn't great a win is a win that's fine hey that's the name name of the show a win is a win uh but I felt like they were the benefactors of a somewhat of a lack of days ago American team uh that committed obviously extremely costly turnovers uh if Jesse Marsh and his staff can get this group the Canadians that is if they can get this group to just put the ball in the back of the net a little bit more often with with a little bit more regularity consistency then I genuinely think the the Canadian Men's National Team can be I'll I won't go so far as to say a threat they're not that good but I think they can be taken a bit more seriously whereas right now uh these days I I just don't think it's a side that that many rivals consider particularly threat threatening and for that matter the stadium was half empty uh I saw the images I saw the pictures I've already listened to some of the discussions like on ESPN FC that dove into what happened in this game they they took a slightly more American approach and ESPN is an American station but nevertheless they talked about the game and yeah the support was really poor granted the US players didn't give the few people who showed up much to cheer about but uh there was maybe an underlying sense that uh an underlying sense that the uh us uh Men's National Team fans uh sniffed out a rotten deal that that somebody tried to sell them you know it's an interim manager team just isn't playing all that well these days it's a friendly they'll due respect to Team Canada let's be honest you know and I say this as someone from Canada I'm interested in the Canadian team but let's be frank let's call it how it is most of the world doesn't care about Team Canada you know you're not going to sell more tickets because the visiting team is Team Canada that's just it's not going to happen it never has happened and I'm afraid I'm afraid it never will happen so I think a lot of things result in that Stadium being a little bit empty it sounds like I'm pooing the entire afternoon it's still a win it was still a good performance hopefully Jessie Marsh and his staff and the players find a way to just be a little bit more consistent um and and more clinical in their finishing CU I like I like a lot of what I see it's not great but I like a lot of what I see but they they are lacking uh in the final third and then that tends to be what haunts them and and that's as a good example of that that is what haunted them uh this past July at the ca Medica [Music] the second reason why I wanted to record this episode on the weekend of the international break is specifically and this might also sound strange but specifically because uh the clubs are not playing I feel as as though uh some of the teams the popular teams of course have some interesting narratives surrounding them in the media among fan bases on social media even though we're only a few weeks into the domestic leag League competitions uh there are some interesting storylines that are emerging know I'm not I don't want to take all day talking about these I like to make these episodes as bite-sized as I Ken uh in Spain it it's funny last weekend I was uh listening to uh to another podcast and they were discussing what was going on in La Liga uh specifically between bar Barcelona and Real Madrid uh Barcelona are undefeated through four games their goal differential is a stupendous plus 10 uh now to be fair uh they did beat a team they did beat a team 70 real V doid now real v v I'm sorry real viid it's not not a name I say very often so I apologize if I uh blunder that one uh they just got promoted they were actually in the second division last year um so that Barcelona would incinerate them 7 nil maybe it shouldn't be too surprising but to Do's credit they happen to to play Real Madrid relatively tough a bit earlier in the season uh and actually you know to their credit they they do have uh three points let's see what happened they have already defeated espanol that was actually their opening game they beat them 1 nil and they earned a draw versus is lianes or lianes I'm generally not sure how you're supposed to say that that is not a team name that I'm familiar with at all but nevertheless Four Points uh now granted a minus 9 goal differential but back to Barcelona and Real Madrid you know I was listening to this podcast and this was last weekend so those games had been played Real Madrid actually only have quote only have eight points they have two victories and two draw it take it took a little while for Kil mbappe to get going he actually did not score at all during the first three games of the season but he Ned a brace last week against Real Bettis he scored uh once in the 67th minute and then earned his brace in a 76 minute penalty kick and fact it was actually Venus Jr that handed him the ball so I guess he wanted old old old killing mbapp to find his rhythm but he finally and also that game was at the estadio Santiago berau so the fans got to cheer his name which as I understand it was a childhood dream of his I mean look good for him good for Madrid they might have a little bit of win their CES at this point but the conversation on that podcast was should predictions be changed um people said Real Madrid should win La Liga but Barcelona almost have no chance because of their money issues because they haven't been able to register all their players even though they still have some rather good players like Rafia like Robert leowski like Lin yamal um you know they're not they're not lacking in good point pedri is another one who's quite good you know it's it's a nice lineup but I think that's what a lot of people thought at the start of the season it's a nice lineup whereas Real Madrid with valde Rodrigo venicius Jr now K mbappe Jude bellinham kaminga and on and on and on and on and on Luka Modric it's a ginormous team it's a gigantic team Los gigantes and here we are four games into the campaign and it's actually Barcelona that have a a fourpoint advantage AG over their uh domestic Rivals with a considerably Superior gold differential um and I find it interesting when the media does that when the media starts it was the type of conversation where I felt that sometimes the media doesn't know what to talk about but they need to turn out some kind of content any kind of content cont as long as it is related in some capacity with the sport or the topic that they are paid to discuss or write about or film about then no conversation is moved no question is dumb no question is Superfluous I thought it was a bit of a Superfluous question I mean why why should expectations be managed because Barcelona lead Madrid by four points after four matches it's a long season you know whoever wins La Liga lifts that trophy in May it's September like let's calm down a little bit here now I do think that hanzi flick has done a very interesting job so far through four games through four games four games but he has done a very interesting job this team this Barcelona team seems to have a bit more guts than they used to they've won twice on the road they had to come back in one of those games they won close games they grinded those games out um they're pretty good but I do feel as though Madrid it's just a matter of time before they find their wings and I think when you insert a player of mbappe's caliber into a lineup uh it there's there is going to be that risk that it will take it will take some time for chemistry to to gel it's not because mbapp is arguably the best player on the planet right now that his presence alone automatically makes Real Madrid better from day one clearly that's not the case because they've won two games and drawn two through four matches and Trail Barcelona by Four Points so if everything just happened instantaneously well Real Madrid would be leading Le by tons of points and their goal differential would be plus 15 and everything would everybody would be heaping praises and showering showering Praise on them and yet that's not the case I do think it's just a matter of time gon chelotti is one of the best in the business if not the best in the business he'll find a way I'm not particularly worried uh I'm not going to hold my breath on Barcelona preser deserving this lead even though it is a two game lead you know a win gives you three points in soccer so it is a two game lead since their their advantage is four points but I'm not going to hold my breath on Barcelona leading the standings the table for the entire season I don't think anybody would be surprised if Madrid uh overturned this not too great a deficit at some point possibly in the near future so let's just calm down let's let's cool off that narrative that all the problems of Barcelona are solved and Real Madrid suddenly don't have chemistry and tactically they're not sound they'll figure out a way to get mbapp going of that I nor you should have any doubts [Music] and there are two narratives in England that I find quite interesting uh the first being how well Liverpool has started the season which make no mistake about it they absolutely have Muhammad Salah and Luis Diaz are tearing up the pitch uh they really really are uh one game less has been played in England uh whereas the uh La Liga has played four contests in the English Premier League only three have been played both Liverpool and Manchester City are at the top with nine points each they're both undefeated and they they actually both have a plus seven goal differential uh they both have teams uh they both have teams pardon me they both have players who are going absolutely Bonkers with goals obviously early in Holland in for Manchester City who scored backto back hattricks yes you heard that correctly backto back hattricks in weeks two and three uh in fact some of the goals he scored against West Ham in week three were Sensational can't remember if it was the first or the second where he hit it with his left just outside the box and it flew like a cannonball in the top Corner that was that was Sensational but Muhammad Salah and L Diaz are doing their thing for Liverpool and of course the The Narrative about Liverpool is can they win the Premier League title this season uh with schot ar schlot as their manager schot obviously taken over from yodan klopp who left at the end of the previous campaign so far so good I do you know it's funny it's only three games the sample size with schlot is so much smaller than with klopp klopp and schlot um it sounds like a disgusting drink uh it's a very small sample size on their schot but I do like the way they're playing uh they're playing fast I like their possession their possession football has been quite good so far but a bit like Barcelona I don't want to get too excited the reality is also that much more so in the Premier League than in La Liga and I don't mean to disparage La Liga in any shape or form but I think even La Liga fans will recognize this you really can drop points on any given Match Day in England you you absolutely can drop points on any match day you never know when you're really going to drop points that that sneaky awaya game that you think is going to be easy but because you're the big bad Club in town well the hosts who maybe don't have as much talent as you and they don't have the coaching staff that you do well they just grind it out and they halt you to a nil-nil draw or a 1-1 draw or they surprise you with a 2-1 win I I I want to see more from this Liverpool team as much as I've enjoyed what I've seen so far I think they've been very good through 3 weeks it's a long season and and I'd like to know if they can keep up with this style cuz it's been ruthlessly efficient through three games of course the the cherry on the top of this uh youthful 2024 campaign was the visit to Old Trafford last weekend where they absolutely demolished Manchester United 3-0 could have been worse an early Trent Alexander Arnold gold was weighed off W waved off because of offside yes United created a few chances in the latter stages but uh Liverpool pretty much had that game in hand uh so good stuff from Liverpool so far but I'd like to see a little bit more [Music] and lastly and I'll just spend a couple minutes on this cuz the episode is getting a bit long in the tooth here is a Chelsea Football Club not because Chelsea are playing especially well although they did have a stupendous uh 6-2 win at wolves a few weeks ago unfortunately I don't think Pedro Neto played in that game Pedro Netto who was with Wolverhampton a year ago and is now wearing Chelsea colors um Chelsea right now are 1 one in one so they've won a game they've lost a game they've drawn a game uh but even though they've drawn and lost a game that six to2 victory has still given them a plus two go differential they have four points pretty much middle of the table um the narrative of surrounding Chelsea Football Club has been their very curious dealings uh in the transfer window this off seon uh they have I believe over 40 registered players which is complete Madness I agree with that that that is utter Madness but there might be some I'm trying to defend them here in the sense that there could be some uh reason rhyme and reason to the madness uh and and and hear me out obviously one of the bigger problems is the fact that when you have so many players a lot of them are signed for like six or seven year deals it's it's a very strange setup over there in ch at Chelsea but when you have that many players I have to imagine that they think that most of these players are pretty good you know are they great maybe Cole Palmer can find a way to be great uh gel Felix I mean jel Felix is who he is at this point you know Nicholas Jackson seems to be playing a little bit better this season a little bit better uh they just got Central from Manchester United they just got rid of Raheem Sterling Sterling is with Arsenal right now but they do have a lot of a lot of parts they have a lot of forwards it's actually quite unbelievable how many forwards they have let's take a look at this squad right here particularly the forward position they have uh David D fana 21 years old they have Pedro Netto 24 years old Noni mad 22 J Felix 24 Nicholas Jackson 23 Christopher anduku uh 26 jayen Sancho 24 and then they have they have the kids Tyreek George who's 18 David Washington who's 19 Omari Kellan who's 18 and Mark Gulu uh guyu guyu how should you be that be pronounced I'm not sure um who's 18 as well that's an Inc that's an incredible number of fors a lot of them are very young I think for a manager like uh Marisa the deal is going to be I think this season as as much as it might be frustrating for some of the players who are on that lineup uh it's going to be a matter of finding out what should this team look like in a year from now two years from now I think when you have so many players on a roster although the juggling Act is very difficult and I'm I certainly don't envy marisca for being in that situation but if you look at the silver aligning it could be an opportunity to take the entire season to really understand what do you have where are your strong players where are your weak spots and go from there you know am I saying that 2024 2025 is a bit of a wash H maybe but through the Growing Pains of 2425 maybe 25 26 could be an interesting season for Chelsea I just I don't feel like limiting myself to just bashing Chelsea for for as strange and at times perplexing as their offseason wheeling and dealing has been and it most certainly has I'm strangely interested in seeing how that plays out at Str Stanford Bridge there you have it that was another episode of a win is a win podcast I have been your host Edgar Shep true we talked about a lot I tried to make it as quickly as possible did about four or five subjects in about 25 minutes it's about as quickly as I can do them I hope you enjoyed the episode obviously uh check us out on YouTube uh it's uh my channel is Edgar Shepu 1793 uh I'm I'm on Facebook it's just my name I'm also on X formly Twitter I'm Edgar shapu 1983 podcast itself is available on uh Spotify uh for podcasters U Apple music uh or apple podcasts rather uh Amazon music for podcasts YouTube of course so check us a little bit everywhere and uh we will catch you very very soon take care guys