New NWSL Collective Bargaining Agreement, Matchday 17 Preview |Attacking Third

heyy everyone welcome into attacking third for a great show today because we have groundbreaking news the nwsl has announced a new CBA giving a lot of freedom to the players plus the nwsl returns for the regular season alongside Daren Jenkins and Duda paval I'm Lisa Carlin Duda I'm here I always see you like she's in the girls room know I feel so special to be here the last time I think we had you on were in Brazil or had just left Brazil after winning the bid for the 2027 Women's World Cup yes that was it yes um Thailand and Brazil oh that's where you were yes that's where was yes at the FIFA conference for Brazil I knew you'd tell us it was amazing it was such a like a dream come true it's so hard to believe that everything happened and as a Brazilian to be there to be a part of it I had no idea to be honest with you what I was going to do I had no clue well hey you won the World Cup for your country won so I'll see you in 2027 and you got to interview Ronaldo oh yeah my legs are shaky I would be so nervous no when I tell you I was interviewing him like this my legs like were literally Shak cuz I could see it behind him switch my legs I'm not even joking oh that's funny at least your hands arey drop the mic that would be terrible no of course you did amazing and then Brazil goes on to be in the gold medal match at the Olympics you find yourself there as well I did you're all over but we can never get you enough here suda I'm glad we got you today thank you very much of course I would come here but I was like who I'm trying to fool Brazil is playing at the in Olympics I had to go so I booked the flight and I did it and now yeah I went to R to celebrate too but we're we don't have to talk about that anyway happy to be here so after this you're going to take a nap maybe or something okay I I get it well bring the same energy today Duda because the biggest news of the day has dropped the nwsl and the Players Association have dropped the CBA that becomes uh gives the n WSL becoming the world leader in their standard services and competition it eliminates the draft it gives players a lot of autonomy to be free agents it guarantees contracts it is so incredible Darien it it's absolutely groundbreaking for the league it's I I can't even get my words together because it's been such a long time coming thinking of when I even first entered the draft how almost archaic it felt to do that um and now especially the removal of the draft to me is a huge part now players can jump in with proper representation can figure out what team actually suits them what coach suits them what Market you want to be in because now there's markets that are incredibly beneficial to you off the field there's so many factors that go into now being a professional that have needed to happen for so long so I cannot wait to see how players just fully take advantage of this and it's only going to make the longevity for their careers in this league so much better it comes 2 years earlier than expected Duda because the original CBA going through 2026 now this one reestablished and it runs all the way through 2030 it's pretty cool to see how much power the players have given themselves it's amazing it's just the players they're free in a way right and something that we all expected and think about just being an employee right we working for a company you want to have the right to choose where you want to go where you want to play where like what you deserve your rights on and off the page where you want to live exactly and not knowing if you could literally just have to pack your bags like tomorrow pack everything up and leave M it's a huge change it's a good day it it is such a good day what a Thursday th Who would thought who would have thought some of the biggest talking points of the CBA um is one of them being the elimination of the draft and all events surrounding the draft so that means expansion draft college draft the discovery rule as well because this now moving forward all players will be free agents able to chat with coaches use their agents to find out which clubs they want to play for that suits them best how much autonomy does that give the players Duda oh he gives so much autonomy um like we're saying he gives them the freedom too but I think even something that we were talking about early this morning that it's such it makes a huge difference for the players and a simple example it's Maria Sanchez that we saw when she was playing for Houston Dash correct she was a restricted free agent correct me wrong correct restricted free agent and we knew that you know she wanted to move she she wanted to go to San Diego there however if the team owns your rights they could just match the salary so she wasn't able to leave the Houston Dash during that time so it gives the players the autonomy of picking and choosing leaving the company that they're working for when they would like to so it's a big change and a great change well specifically going back to the draft as well there's so much anxiety that goes into a draft are you entering at the right time are you looking at who else is going to be drafted Oh if I'm not drafted top 10 that affects my money that affects if I'm most likely to get a contract the scope of even saying where you got drafted can be humiliating in some ways and it actually doesn't dictate how well you're going to do on a team by any means so by eliminating that to me is so important just to allow players and E even playing field to enter negotiations the right way to make sure you're getting paid properly to be in a market you want to live in to just have the confidence to put yourself out there in a way that's best for you not just best for a team that's using you as a chess piece to make moves one of the points dudo you were mentioning there was that now the CBA requires consent for trades from the players so the players have to be aware of the trades they have to agree to them there's just so many elements of this that put the nwsl on the FIFA standards and regulations how Daran does that affect the players lives off the field that my word I mean everybody's got a business now # no moreid hustles no they're full-fledged businesses people are buying homes they have families they have established their lives in certain markets and where they're trying to live some people want to move to a different Market because it could be beneficial to them off of the field I mean well if you play for Gotham you're in proximity to New York there's there's so many opportunities that are good for you if you can negotiate and pick where you want to go and not be shipped somewhere where oh this doesn't benefit me I'm I just bought home I can't work here anymore I can't have the second job the supplemental job that helps my income so it's it's incredibly important for that and I think we're really going to see these players flourish yeah how many players have we that we know to talk about every time they move to a new apartment They Don't Really decorate as much because they don't know I never did I didn't hang up anything CU they they know because you literally just never know when you're going to get the call and say hey sorry you just got traded so that's a huge change and it's also sad imagine yeah now players have the choice of that there's so much packed exactly there's so much packed inside this CBA of the points that we didn't get to touch on dudo when you were reading through this flipping through the bullet points what is your best point in this one that that stands out to you I mean it's hard to pick one but obviously we talked about the free agency but something that we haven't talked about give me a charter bus sorry a charter plane not a charter bus they now are able a charter plane the players they have the the um the respect right they're going to be treated the way they actually deserve because now not every single team was able to do it and the teams that were doing it they were getting in trouble so now they're expected I like to to have Charter planes and also the bonuses increased bonuses huge yeah no more incredibly long layovers or flight delays or can't train the day before a game because you were at the airport for 12 hours I digress I've been there it sucks my favorite part of the CVA is the increase in health professionals I don't think that there's scope on how previously in the nwsl certain teams have very minimal medical help there's not enough athletic trainers physical therapists performance coaches doctors even at your disposal that you need so for that to be something that is guaranteed going forward and there's an increase and just more support for these players to have more longevity in their careers and know that they are going to be taken care of with their health 360 is so important and I can't wait to see what this does for the careers moving forward I'm all about the money in this one the CBA has raised the minimum salary and in 2025 it'll be 48,500 and by 2030 it'll be over $80,000 as the minimum salary in the nwsl and that's absolutely fantastic it's also contingent on League Revenue overall so as the league continues to grow the players are going to continue to benefit monetarily I think my first salary my when I got drafted was 17,500 and I was like woo take me to the bank what I'm going to shop online is it that's hilarious but that's a massive Improvement yeah I can't wait for that and and think of how happy you were to get that because that above the standard right and and now that's no longer the case you shouldn't just be happy to be there you should be paid to play you should have good resources around there you should be safe you should feel protected you should have autonomy and that's what the pa has given the players in the league as well don't go anywhere we've got the nwsl PA Representatives huster and Megan Burke joining us next to dive even deeper into this newest [Music] CBA the biggest headline news today is that the NWS L and the PA have secured Freedom over their careers announcing a brand new CBA in 2024 for the nwsl exciting news all across the league and with the PA and for more on all of this we are so pleased to welcome in nwsl paa president Tory houster and executive director Megan Burke to break down everything in this CBA because we're not lawyers uh but we know you two know how to read it congratulations Megan and Tori I this is groundbreaking this is exciting this is celebratory Tori what is the biggest point in the CBA that you are most proud of I can't even say just one biggest Point there's so many that I can point to so many that when I read through the document over and over again there will be another point that I I know that we were able to acquire for for the players um I think the headlines that we're seeing though um that that we've voiced this morning guaranteed contracts free agency for all no trades without player consent those types of player rights issues right off the bat really do it for me I would have loved to have those things uh through the length of my my career and I'm I'm really really proud of of the fact that we've got those for players now Tori I like that you constantly have new ones and they're chaining TR changing all the time throughout this day all right Megan for you which one are you most proud of well first of all thank you all for having us here we're so excited to finally get to talk about this new collective bargaining agreement and it's great to be with with all of you um there as Tori said there's a lot to be proud of in this contract and and not just as players but the whole nbsl ecosystem I think we recognized an opportunity to truly create the most elite league in the world to level up to the rest of the world on global standards like free agency guaranteed contracts no trades without player consent but also Embrace some of the uniquely American Commercial Concepts like Revenue sharing and a collectively bargained salary cap that ensures players can now make long-term commitments to these clubs even in free agency and uh ensure that for the foreseeable future NW cell is ready to take on the rest of the world I love it it's been such a long time coming and I just love seeing where you guys are and how far the league has gone especially even since I retired there's just been Leaps and Bounds what can you tell us about what's going to be effective immediately because we know the contract is until or the CBA goes until 20 30 but what happens right now that benefits the players well most immediately I'm really excited for the upcoming free agency window opening on September 1st that is right around the corner just days away um we anticipate about a hundred or more players will be free agents when the window opens on September 1st and free to negotiate contracts that begin January 1st 2025 um they now know what the salary cap for next year is going to look like um and there are some other provisions this contract thatting to level up the playing experience uh NW cells hired a field services specialist for example and my daughter is saying hello sorry guys this is family vacation week of course um so there's a number of things that going to improve the playing experience immediately and then a number of things that you know it didn't make sense to change the rules in the middle of a season so for example um contracts will be guaranteed after they you know the initial termination date new every new contract will be guaranteed and there's some other things that you'll see uh take effect next year but I will say for the salary cap one of the things that's pretty neat is this year's sharable media and sponsorship revenues will inform next year's salary cap on top of the collectively bargain based salary cap so there's a number of things that do take effect immediately am amazing Megan and toor thanks again for joining us today such an exciting day for all of us Megan I have a question for you so um we definitely also saw from the newba that that was announced this morning there was increased number of health professionals that will be around the team can you tell us a little bit more about that in my personal question that we also want to know it's very important how are we going to keep the teams accountable for that because we know the teams they definitely have different uh structure in the nwsl so how we going to keep them accountable for that well the union is still needed moving forward I'm not planning on leaving this job anytime soon so that'll be my job and the Union's job to ensure that the the CBA is complied with and that's what we do every single day you know the central function of a union is to negoti a collective bargaining agreement but then moving forward it's just words on paper unless we actually live into it and thankfully we've got really great Partners uh at the league and at all the teams that work hard to implement these agreements once they're executed and entered into um you know things come up and sometimes things are solved with just a phone call and sometimes if we do have a genuine disagreement we have a collectively bargained process for that we certainly don't expect or anticipate that we're going need to pursue that mechanism right away but it's there if ever you need it um you know I would say on the health front there are a number of things look there's a club World Cup coming online in 2026 qualifying that's happening right now there's an increased number of competitions under the new contract the season may get longer we may see more games expansions coming online and so the flip side of the increased demands on players is managing that workload with adequate uh you know guard rails around game frequency rest recovery players having access to their data being able to monitor their own health and then on the team staff side we're going to see for example instead of h under a previous contract there was one massage therapist that's required now there's two um we're gonna have an additional physical therapist you know the players do a lot more than just train as Darien knows you know during the hours that you have a training session you have prehab rehab LTS in the afternoon we've got Sports scientists uh strength and conditioning I guess now it's called that's what we called it when I was playing now it's high performance forgive me um but yeah and then we're we're increasing the staff that are required to travel with the team away uh but then of course teams need to carry enough staff for players who aren't traveling with the team to be able to continue to train when they're still back in Market um so I appreciate the question because it does speak to all the ways in which our ecosystem is leveling up not just on the more headline grabbing pieces like free agency and compensation Megan how is the PA putting structures into place to help players uh make educated decisions about what is best for them in their careers well so one of the things that I think is important to point out is that um the flip side of this conversation around free agency is also loyalty you've got a player in this call who played every one of her 11 seasons for the same team the Washington Spirit where he's a long time veteran of nwsl um I think there's something powerful in a player and a team mutually agreeing to enter into a relationship together and continuing every single day to earn the right to be in that relationship and to make the decision to renew that relationship so I think we're going to see longer lasting relationships between teams and players when there's Freedom of Choice involved and players are choosing to make a commitment to a team um really excited to see with this upcoming free agency window you know what choices players make we provide our players with a lot of resources and information so they understand the labor market but they also understand what considerations might go into play in negotiating contract it's not always about where you can make the most money we certainly think that's important we want players to get paid getting paid well is important to the union but there's also so you know where can I win a championship where can I get minutes is there a coach that I want to play for are there Players I Want To Play With or a certain city I want to be in um it's not only about compensation although that is a major factor it's also about this short window of time that professional athletes have to be elite professional athletes and trying to make the most of that window of opportunity that they've got Tori for players that are coming out of college and previously they just enter the draft they show up at the convention and they hope hope they get chosen and they go to that team now they have are free agents and they get to choose where they want to go are there any resources available for those Collegiate players who would have entered the draft to learn more about teams or players or Styles or as Megan said which teams are potentially eligible to win a championship I think that's the beauty of you know having a broadcast deal and players being able to watch the teams play um you can pick up a lot of nuance through a 90-minute match and how a team chooses to play as opposed to another um I think there's there's something to be said about how small the soccer World is and um things can travel by word of mouth and I think that will be of great use to Collegiate players that are that are looking to enter the league I know that college coaches for as long as as I've known have been a very valuable resource to their players especially if they're looking to make that jump to the next level um the network the NW working that is available and very useful for these players is there um we will be a resource to anyone that's looking to join the League we um certainly value having very good players and very interested players in our league and we'll always look out for them um I think something that you've seen as a shift over the last couple of years is that more more and more players are represented by agents and there are some very good agents in our in our league that will be able to help players um get to a market that they will really you know thrive in um I think that there are a number of things at each level that will be just really really helpful for younger athletes that are that are looking to join the League and certainly the players that are in the league will do their best to um pass on any information that will be helpful you know way Tori this new CBA because of the draft elimination it's kind of giving back the freedom right to the players to decide where they want to go but Megan you mentioned that some of the changes are going to be effective immediately my question is I heard that also the bonuses are increasing they're double and tripling is that also included for this season yeah yes amazing so that is great new I can elaborate but yeah go ahead no no no so if you want to talk to us about the bonuses as well which is a huge change and a very positive too for the MVP and also the Golden Boot winner The Shield winner um that's also expected for this season yeah so I mean look I I think it's important when we're talking about the bonus structure to acknowledge the role that sponsors play in this ecosystem um we did collectively bargain over a bonus structure in our first contract and very quickly you saw that sponsors were PR prepared to pay more than what we had negotiated for in the CBA and so I think that's an important acknowledgement that we're seeing um more money come into the system we're seeing blue chip brands uh fantastic sponsors come in like allly um you know we've got other the league has a whole list of Blue Chip sponsors you can go to their website and see who they are and I hope that that all of you use their products because we are certainly loyal to the people who show up for us um but I think you know that I say that because uh we've already seen that bonuses are higher than what's in the CBA um and we're going to see that I think that Trend continue so e even the numbers you just cited that we increase the minimum it's really matching I think where the market is uh and there are some pieces that we needed to to negotiate for in the CBA and some are some others that we think the market itself will solve which is kind of a funny thing for a union leader to see to say but we we've seen that be true in the last few years so um I do anticipate that uh the numbers are going to be even higher than what you see in our CBA During the period of this contract Megan it's all about the money dud is like give me the money let's goers the players exactly exactly Tori this negotiation and this CBA came much earlier than people expected the first CBA wasn't initially up until 2026 the negotiations happened and a new one has already been signed so what was the Catalyst for starting these negotiations so early yeah I think it was uh it was the time um the league has certainly evolved we've seen increase investment we've seen the momentum throughout women's sports um and it it was time to come back to the table and credit to the league they were the ones that sent um you know a letter recommending that we come to back to voluntary bargaining we had already kind of had that on on our radar as well um I think what we saw last year and several of the of the international teams that kind of bummed out of the T of the World Cup early um USA Brazil um Canada were knocked out early in that tournament and I think that kind of got the conversation going a little bit like is the world going to pass Us by here or are we going to do something about it and I think that's that was kind of the um yeah that was the Catalyst for us coming back to the table to negotiate some some better terms and um I think I think we've done I think we've done well there the league has evolved and we have gotten some really good aspects of this contract um certainly the revenue sharing I think is one of the things that is is huge for this and um yeah looking forward to to seeing what what the next couple of years looks like well the league has surely involved Duda actually reminded me earlier of hash no moreid hustles and what an era that was for the PA and the enemy so players um but I wanted to ask obviously there's so much work done in this CBA for years to come and the game is going to continue evolving and women's soccer and the NW is just going to take over the world as it already is is there anything maybe you were wanting to include in this CBA that you're already thinking for the next iteration of the CBA that you know that's the next goal you're just looking ahead well I can tell you that's my job is always be thinking around corners not she's a yeah got uh it's called job security right um so look what I would say is that um we achieved our highest priorities in this contract and when I say that when I say we I don't just mean the union the players uh when the players win the whole ecosystem wins that's our philosophy and so this levels up the entire league this is good for teams this is good for the league itself this is a good deal for everyone um we all had to work very hard to get to this outcome it was not an easy negotiation by any stretch and you know I think each of us have a different role to play but uh you know credit to the league and the teams for being willing to make a pretty rapid Evolution and you know in this contract and you look at our first contract to this one um this league is going to continue to take year of your growth I anticipate is going to be exponential probably beyond anything we could predict or anticipate today based on today's assumptions and so I would expect in the next negotiation that Revenue sharing increased compensation I think dud you said it earlier show me the money right that's always gonna be at the heart of a negotiation um but one of the things I feel really good about is that we negotiated a collectively bargained base salary cap that ensures your- over-year increases in base salary in in compensation and injecting enough money into the system over the term while also adopting Revenue sharing that more closely aligns incentives um so that as the league grows in terms of media and sponsorship so too will'll player compensation I would anticipate future iterations of this agreement will evolve on that concept Megan Tori congratulations this is absolutely incredible and thank you for sharing your time and Diving a little deeper on the cbaa Tori I don't know how close you are to the beach but Megan I hope you get right out there into the Sun by the ocean to enjoy this and celebrate today thank you for that I'm actually I'm not far from Tori I'm trying to convince her to come down to the beach with the kids here in a minute so to go down there you don't have to convince us thank you very much the nwsl regular season returns this weekend and Santa Herrera is joining us next to chat all about it [Music] welcome back to attacking third the nwsl regular season returns with match day 17 and a Full Slate of games Friday we've got two matches Houston Dash hosting the Orlando pride and the expansion sides Utah Royals and Bay FC take on each other at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Saturday you can watch nwsl right here on CBS with Gotham taking on Portland Thorns at 2:30 and then right after that match it's the SoCal derby with San Diego wave against Angel City and racing Louisville against the red stars Saturday night Sunday Washington Spirit against Kansas City current and Seattle rain against North Carolina courage now it has been quite a long time since we have seen the nwsl regular season and the standings let me remind you Orlando Pride undefeated at the top with 38 points Kansas City they've only dropped one game against the pride so they're right behind them in second as we take a look at the top seven teams right now Gotham and Portland they take on each other this weekend both fourth and fifth with the Chicago Red Stars rounding out the Seventh Place spot the top eight teams make the nwsl playoffs and with just 10 matches left in the regular season it's an opportunity for teams like Louisville San Diego Angel City Houston Seattle Utah to climb up the standings and try to play spoiler for those teams in the top eight of the nwsl table we welcome in now the fourth member of our attacking third crew Sandra Herrera to join us and chat all about the nwsl weekend but before we get to that Sandra Bud the biggest news dropped today nwsl and the PA announced their newest signing of the CBA effective immediately with so many incredible points in here giving the players so much freedom and autonomy but for you Sandra what's the biggest thing that stands out to you in the CBA oh my gosh I don't I don't know if I could just kind of choose one I could probably go through each one and give you a reason for each one I so I'm going to say all of it all the above really it's an iconic day for the NWS slpa and something that's really been years and years and years in the making so all of my congratulations and and thoughts are with all of the players past uh and current and and really even future players as well on this on this moment um it's been a long time coming and you know I make no I don't hide my belief very proud of who I am I know where I came from you know I'm the granddaughter of of a union steal mill worker my my mother was Chicago public school teacher for decades and um a member of the Chicago Teachers Union and I understand the the value um of of unions and and what they provide uh for for families in this country so thrilled for the players it's a big day it's a historic day and it's you know I think of the future players as well because you know this this means that the fight is also now in their hands they have to keep this going um so it's great to see that this is you know in place all of these wonderful things are effective until 2030 and you know who knows maybe the next one will be even bigger wins for more of Sandra's takes you can read on W Andress CBS sports.com I think you spoke to some players too maybe Simone Charlie in there to get more of Sandra's and player perspective takes on everything CBA but the nwsl regular season returns after a very lengthy Olympic break the last time the regular season games happened was early July July 5th 6th 7th that weekend and Darion when you think about how everything has changed rosters with trades um players playing in the summer cup in the cona Champions Cup Now teams are back playing so which team in the nwsl benefited the most from that OIC break dang I got to pick one I'm going to go with Gotham I think they had really good experience they got to play Chelsea they got to flex their depth and really train and give players minutes that never get to see the field in a regular season which is the beauty of having kind of a congested schedule in a lot of games you can really add depth to your squad and they picked up my home girl Jess Silva who's coming into the NW C welcome back so they to me are a team that benefited the most during the Olympic break dudo what about you who are you thinking uh you know made some steps forward the past couple of weeks what's right who which team in the nwsl made some steps forward and really benefited from this Olympic break yes I think that uh well I also agree with you Dari and that Gotham did a very good job but I think uh for example Seattle rain I think they definitely could use that special break coming out um for the Olympic break with Seattle rain and Utah Royals you know when teams are going through not such a great time but they will appreciate a little break so they can kind of recuperate we saw that had also had some moves now with Jaden Howell joining seatt rain so that's what I have I know so many of the teams are going to look so different once they take the pitch this weekend Sandra for you who benefited from this break I think I want to piggyback off of what L was already spitting a little bit I'm looking at at racing Louisville made a couple moves had a pretty eventful summer cup these are all things that maybe they could use and build upon in this Return of the second half of the Season all right as we take a look at the schedule ahead this weekend all 14 teams are back in competition dude I'm going to start with you which is your game to watch of the weekend okay hard to pick not going to lie but to me it would be Gotham against Portland we see Gotham at fourth place with Portland in fifth place Gotham with 31 points correct yes and Portland with 27 points to me this is the game to watch and of course there we have it Jess Carter who's going to be playing her first actual season regular season in the BSL game for Gotham FC and you know we don't know but if there is Sophia Smith there isn't Sophia Smith I cannot wait to eventually see Jess Carter against Sophia Smith so we'll see that's a good matchup I like that I'm going to go with Kansas City versus the spirit though both of these teams got to play against Arsenal and Chelsea during this break they added Lacy Santos to the spirit Cory Bon and how herfeld are now back there's evidence I know that I hope they'll be playing this weekend hopefully some minutes but I think it'll be really fun to see that competition on that team see how Lacy Santos is incorporated o they saw is on fire right now and Kansas City just looking like they haven't lost a beat I mean they didn't lose any players during the Olympics they look fantastic I think this will be a really good match up and the first time we see these two teams play this season I'm really looking forward to it and seeing who can come out on top between these two that's crazy to think that they haven't played yet this season considering all the competition that's already happened with the summer cup and everything but I'm excited to watch that one Sandra who are you watching this weekend oh my goodness listen in everyone's picks that just making me so hyp for this weekend so I'm going to go with racing Louisville versus Chicago red stars I maybe kind of talked about racing a little bit already but again I want to see them build off of what they did kind of in this little summer break they went unbeaten during the summer cup and as of recently they kind of have Chicago's number they've won four of their last five meetings against Chicago across all competitions kind of in narrow margins but we'll see what the second half of this season brings will Chicago kind of finally break that losing streak against this side I don't know stay tuned o I like that pick a lot Sandra I'm going to go with the So-Cal Derby because San Diego takes on Angel City and San Diego has really struggled in the regular season they're winless in their last nine regular season matches but they have a new permanent interim head coach and Landon Donan that's coming off a two-nil win in the champions cup over Santa Fe and this San Diego side is rejuvenated if you start a a match and in the first two minutes find the back of the net shout out Maria Sanchez you are fired up to play your rival in California against Angel City meanwhile for Becky tweet side they've got Kristen press coming back getting more and more minutes and this is an opportunity for Angel City to solidify themselves in the standings both of these teams sit 10th and 11th San Diego and Angel City in the standings at those points so they need these points it all starts right now the second half push in the nwsl season so San Diego uh Angel City that's my match to watch you can watch that one on CBS too all of the nwsl matches are happening this weekend and we are so excited that it's back don't go anywhere we've got more attacking third coming up next the W Championship Cup group stage action continues today with the Liga M feminal Showdown T Grace hosting Rayas you can catch that match on the Gazo Network at 900 p.m. Eastern the nwsl is back this weekend baby and CBS is bringing you a double header on Saturday starting at 2:30 when Gotham hosts the Portland Thorns followed by the SoCal Derby between San Diego wave and Angel City nwsl action continues on Sunday you can tune in to CBS Sports Network at noon when the Washington Spirit take on the Kansas City current [Music] [Music] hey everyone welcome back to attacking third Sandra Herrera is back with us because we're playing a little bit Up Make Your Case Sandra she's got the gavl she's our judge for this segment um so Duda put on your best behavior you've got to impress Sandra up there she's like a in the wall you never know what you're going to get okay before we get to that though in March we made our nwsl predictions for who would be in the top eight of the nwsl standings so Darien Sandra and I rolled out with what we predicted all the way back in March and I've got to say for my top eight I am six out of eight correct right here I predicted San Diego wave would be up there and currently they're in 10th in the standings and racing Louisville I also predicted they would be in the top eth but they're only ninth one point out of the top so uh when you look at it in terms of six out of eight it's not bad but that's only 75% correct which could be better could be better all right Dar it could be and I say that because I'm I'm on par with you but also you did a little bit better than me because I have Angel City who are an 11th and you said sand dieo is intense so you you kind of get the one up um I also had Louisville in there who are currently l in 9th so close just on the edge six out of eight it wasn't a bad guess it's it still passes it definitely passes all right Sandra let's see how you did because your predictions are always pretty on par and the winner Hey listen I got to take the dubs where I can get them seven out of eight ain't bad but yikes Seattle rain in 13th right now I was way off on that one yeah I mean that's got to knock you down maybe we could we could call us all even that's knock a couple points yeah curve we have a curve now oh that's absolutely hilarious the bell curve well Sandra congratulations now you get to be the judge as we play Make Your Case we're going to start with which team is going to win The Shield uh so the nwsl shield winners Daren you're going to go first I have who do I have Orlando for the my pride girlies for the shield winners yes uh they're you know I I kind of burn some bridges no doubt burn some bridges but they're going to use my motivation last week the bandage shinga argument uh as motivation but I do have them winning the shield because I think that they're just Unstoppable they're still leading the nwsl they are unbeaten in the regular season I think they are just going to keep building on that and ride that momentum but when the tournament comes I have a little bit of a change up that's what got for we'll get there we'll get there I know playoffs are a whole different story but for this The Shield Sandra it's going to be Kansas City they are bringing in some new players they have goal scorers out the wazu they've got a deep bench and they have a Target on Orlando's back to beat them in that next matchup and once Kansas City beats Orlando in that meeting they're just going to rise to the top and stay at the top you can't slow down Kansas City they're my shield winners can I yeah dude all you are you ready cuz we both know cuz we both know The Shield winner is going to be Gotham FC baby I thought you were going to say Chicago said no it's going to be Gotham after I don't know how many Olympians they had on their team 20 maybe they're flying back from uh from Paris to join Gotham again and now Jessica Silva with Jess Carter they're going to rise to the top in my opinion during the regular season and they going to be the shield winners we both know that Sandra just saying I I love it I love the confidence I really love it Lisa you're speaking to my Midwest Heart I love that too but I'm gonna go with Darion on this one darion's got the dve Orlando you won yes SRA the pum fake I'm here for it absolutely heartbreaking Sandra okay we're moving on nwsl Championship Duda who do you have winning that's the pride baby it's Pride or die that's what I'm thinking they're going to go back there so that's why that's what I'm also thinking about it okay I see Gotham winning the shield Pride's not going to win The Shield okay so that's for Gotham and in Orlando Pride they cannot be stopped there is Bara Banda she's probably scoring 20 goals a game or uh something like that right po hat tricks that's the thing but I don't think anyone can stop the pride I just think it's a beautiful story for them to rise back again and be the champions of the NSL this season going be hard to stop Sandra just forget about that let's go over to Kansas City I think that they want Redemption against the pride they look like they aren't slowing down in fact they're Shoring up their defense bringing in Alana cook over to the team I think that this is a team that's just going to outscore their opponent regardless if you know they meet up with Orlando again say it's in the final I think it's going to be a high-scoring game so I'm going to go with Kansas City Sandra uh it it's hard to do but the one team that could get it done backto back nwsl champions are Gotham FC this is a team team that went from just squeaking into the playoffs last year to running away with it and they look different this year because they are stronger they're more solidified in what they want to do Juan Carlos amoros ran throughout the summer cup without conceding a goal making it all the way to the summer Cup Final and doing it with a lot of rotation and a lot of depth at Gotham now you add in all the pieces that he has brought onto this roster and they're just going to create Magic especially throughout the playoffs it's Gotham back to back Sandra I just want you to keep in mind last time Kansas City played Gotham shinga kind of kind of tore that High Line apart so just just keep that in mind hey Sandra I respect it I I respect the back and forth on making the cases I think you're making it difficult for me to to to nail this one but I'm going to go with Lisa for her case I think she made the strongest case in this one woo I absolutely love it Sandra okay now let's do Golden Boot I am going to first as I am the winner of the nwsl championship make your case I am going to go Golden Boot goes to Orlando Prides Barbara Banda this is a player that has 12 goals in just 12 matches so the stats don't lie at all Sandra and with 10 matches left in the nwsl and Orlando hoping to win the shield hoping to make it all the way to the playoffs Vanda is going to be just on another level she's going to continue to level up elbow shinga out of the way and win the Golden Boot at the end of it that's who I'm going to go with Judah I think that Banda sorry I think that scha is going to Elbow Banda away and scha is going to take the Golden Boot for Kansas City and for this years she's Unstoppable in my opinion I think she's literally taking so much responsibility for Kansas City current no one can stop her her speed her power obviously I think it's going to be between Banda and chinga but I have chinga all the way well she left out who I wanted to say Sandra and I'm going to say Sophia Smith the hair I I have to add some sort of drama into it the reigning Golden Boot Sophia Smith she currently has 10 goals six assists on the year and this is a player that makes something out of literally nothing even when her team isn't doing well they're not performing she can take the ball from half and go to goal take a shot from rain she gets on the end of crosses she's really a 1V one Artist as well so for me she is going to get the Golden Boot I love all of the narrow margins in everything whenever we're talking about N St women's soccer in general and even in this debate I didn't expect this to be a a speed round in equality but I'm going with Duda on this one it looks like each of you won one of these rounds I I got to go with because you know what I believe in Tena I think maybe the difference breaker might be the expected goal uh R and I think chingas is a little bit higher right now at the moment so also with Golden Boot you have to take into account a Cy that's the first tie breaker all right Sandra I like your logic there so now we're 1- one and one for make your case we have one more category to do League MVP Darion you go first I mean Barbara Banda come on Pride how can you deny Barbara band she came into the nwsl late and has just taken it over by storm similar with shinga she's Unstoppable I mean she just flicks Defenders off of her she creates something out of nothing she's an impeccable finisher she gets a lot of assists I think now that she has a little bit more of a Runway of the season in the second half and there's a little bit more pressure there's a lot of talk even what we're doing now it's just going to motivate her more so she's MVP nwsl MVP is always someone that changes the game for the team that they're on this player has changed the league we talk about how do you stop her how do you slow her down Barbara Banda she's my MVP too oh two for two Duda who you got three for three there's no way there's no way you're talking about how it's a player that changes the game it changes everything I don't think they probably would have been where they are now absolutely not be different Banda so all right Sandra who wins what are you about Sandra shout out to Wendy's four for four we're going Banda all the way let's go absolutely love it Sandra thank you so much we're all tied up we'll have to play Make Your Case again so I can win and show uh Daran and Duda you know who the real knower of all things is up here at this I'll be back then Duda this was great thank you for being here with us Sandra as always Daran you know good to see you nwsl regular season turns this weekend enjoy all the action we'll be back on Monday to recap it all [Music]