NC Courage team looks a LOT different these days

Because of this NBA in-season tournament and my desire for Major League Baseball to do one of their own, I just gave Maniscalco a chance to take a shot at European football.

It's uncalled for. But there are a lot of trophies, here's the thing. I understand, because we as Americans, like for instance, and I'll be very quick here, relegation in the English football system, and honestly in all of European football, because it's very similar. Relegation is something that is unbelievable. The only drama of the final, I guess it was Saturday, Saturday or Sunday, of the Premier League this year, the only drama was at the bottom. Who's going down? We knew one team was going down, and then there were three teams trying to avoid it, and only one would.

There were three teams who all played at the same time, and only one of them was staying up. And that means a lot of money. A lot of money. And it matters to the players too, because what happens when your team gets relegated, if you stay with that team, you're probably getting your salary reduced.

That's a real life issue. So the relegation, we can't have that here because of what it costs to become part of ownership. Nobody is signing up for that.

Nobody. We're not going to have that in American sports. I think at some point, Major League Soccer, if there are enough teams, could do two tiers of MLS. If we get to 40, which frankly they're headed, if we could get there, then maybe we have an MLS1, or an MLS, a Premier MLS and an MLS Championship.

But the bottom line is we're probably not going to have that. But what English and the La Liga and the French League and the Serie A and the Bundesliga, what they all have, are in-season cups. And the English system has two. FA Cup involves every team, over 700 different clubs throughout the English system. That includes Wales. I mean, Wrexham got to, I think, the round of 16 this past year?

Almost advanced to the quarterfinals. Wrexham did. So that's the FA Cup. The AFL Cup is only the professional teams, so the top four levels. And those take up midweek spots. And occasionally they'll be on a weekend if the Premier League is off. And those trophies matter, and they matter because they've been around forever. But before we throw it away, before we say we will never appreciate them, the reason why we will over time is because they will matter. And it's up to the leagues to make sure that they matter. And if the leagues do them right, they will matter. They'll matter to players, they'll matter to clubs, to teams. So, look, whoever wins the FA Cup, that matters. That's a trophy. It's a big trophy. Europa, you know, Champions League lite, but it's still a trophy, a good trophy to win. But, yeah, they'll matter eventually. That is soccer there, football in Europe.

But I think if done right, it can work in the United States. We've got great football here in the United States as well. Sean Ahas is the manager, head coach of the North Carolina Courage, NC Courage. And they are atop the table in the NWSL. Nice runs, seven wins, one draw, one loss, last nine matches, eight of those in league play. I'm sure you feel really good about things as you head out to Angel City, but you're missing half a team. Yeah, I think, you know, the position we're in right now obviously is a good one, probably one that a lot of people didn't expect us to be in. But, you know, when we lose players, the caliber that we lose, I think all teams are losing players' caliber. So it's an opportunity for other players to step up and get rewarded for the time that they put in as well. So just like last week when we were missing all those players, our players stepped up, got the result.

So, you know, going across the country, you know, hopefully put on a good performance and get an opportunity for these players to get some time. Sean Ahas is joining us, head coach of the NC Courage. Here's the thing about it. You guys got off to a pretty slow start. What clicked, like, you know, by match five, because basically you guys have been a machine since. You're basically allowing nothing. Now, a lot of that may be Casey Murphy, but you're basically allowing nothing over the last almost two months now.

So what clicked? Yeah, I think it's a combination of things. Obviously, at the beginning of the year, we had so many new players and players that moved on from the club. And, you know, it takes time to find the right mix, you know, it takes time for players to get to the fitness levels that we expect them to be at. And once that started happening and we put players in certain spots and move players around, you know, I'd probably say for the first month or so, we didn't have the same starting lineup. We were really trying to find what was going to work.

And we still had players coming back from injury. So once we got the, you know, once we made some changes, you know, Malia goes into the back line, we put Ryan in her natural spot, we move Emily to the left. You know, we move not roomy to the six and next to Sully and players now have a different opportunity, different roles.

We move Caroline to the right rather than be on the left. So, you know, it's a combination of so many different pieces that as a staff, we have to find and piece together. And we haven't given up a lot, but, you know, Casey's been fantastic. Our back line's been fantastic. But I think also I say a lot, the more we have the ball, the less chance the opposition has to score goals. And, you know, we take a lot of pride in our possession.

And I think that's why we're in the situation we're in. There's been so much turnover in players with the courage. And if you look at the Women's World Cup roster, we see a name like Lynn Williams, who was a stalwart here, and there are others as well. Can you explain the amount of turnover in the players? Is Denise O'Sullivan like the only holdover from that era?

Denise, Mary Speck, Kaitlin Rowland, you know, Ryan and KK came in late, or a year or so in. But, yeah, I mean, most of them are brand new. But, you know, look, it's a credit to what we built. You know, when we won the championships in 2018 and 2019, we probably had arguably the best player in every position in the country, if not in the world.

So it's hard to lose games that way. And now, obviously, these players have moved on. And, you know, we're really proud of the players that used to play for us. But, you know, we have a lot of players that are going to be in the World Cup that we've been fortunate to coach. And, you know, they're going to represent their countries. And, you know, the courage, we're a small part in that. So, yeah, we're proud of the players that we've developed over the years.

Sean Nahas, head coach, NC Courage, is joining us here on the Adam Gold Show. I know we're a couple of weeks out. The United States will start against, I think it's Vietnam, in the first match in a few weeks. But, I mean, the U.S. goes into this pretty much every time as a heavy favorite. Are they as big a favorite? Do you see them as the team to beat?

Or who are the main contenders? Yeah, I think until someone knocks us off and beats us, we're going to be the main team to beat, right? I think, you know, our culture, our experience in those events, you know, we've had a lot of new players, young players.

We're definitely a young team now. Blackfish put together a good roster. And, you know, with the talent that the players have performed in, been rewarded in the league.

You know, the Lins, the Sophies, the Ashley Sanchez's. You know, I think, you know, the Emily Foxes, the K, all those types of players. So if you wear it, I think all the players have had good performances in the league. The difference this year, I think, compared to maybe years past, is the level of development across the world and the investment in the women's game and across the world has been so high. That it allows for the development of those players and the structure that they've put in place for continuous growth. So, you know, it's sad to see though, Adam, that you still hear these federations not willing to pay their players.

Like at some point we need to grow up and reward them, pay these players what they deserve and stop balking at it. But it'll be a really good, exciting World Cup because there's so much talent in it. There's so many great countries. You know, the England is always going to be a team to be careful with. Germany, Spain, you know, Brazil, you know, be careful with Brazil. It's marked as the last World Cup. So are they going to, you know, it's like the messy thing.

Are they going to rally around to try and get her one? But there's so much talent on Brazil and Pia has done a great job of giving them some structure and professionalism. So I'm excited about it. I think there's a lot of directions it can go, but until someone knocks us off, I look at us as the favorite. Shawn Nahas, head coach, North Carolina Courage is joining us here. By the way, at Angel City coming up on Sunday, that's the draw in the last nine matches. And if I did the math correctly, you've only allowed three goals in those nine matches.

That's difficult to beat when you allow a third of a goal every game. Just a couple of quick, few more things about the World Cup. You mentioned, you know, other nations have to kind of step up and start compensating their players. I know FIFA, we probably don't look at FIFA as a forward-thinking outfit, but they are upping the amount of money available to the women for this World Cup. And I think what we're seeing around the world, and we saw that in, was it in the Euros, was it last summer?

Just how popular the women's game is. Yeah, I think, you know, FIFA, it's like going, I'll put it this way. It's like Wimbledon or U.S. Open, there's prize money, right? So those organizations, you know, give out prize money to certain levels which you get in the event.

Whether you get out of the preliminaries, you get a certain amount, there's the stages to it. The federations also have an obligation. Those players are representing their country. They're representing their federation, and they're putting time in to represent them. And, you know, I think that part of it is, for me, they need to be paid as well for that, not be held against them.

You know, I think that's the part. You can't expect FIFA to push the envelope for that. They're already upping their money, which I still think needs to be more. But it's a tough battle that, unfortunately, these players, they're excited, they get called into the World Cup. They're announced to the team, and all of a sudden, bang, they're hit with a, we're not going to pay you. What are those players going to do, you know? And it's just a crazy time, but hopefully all those wrongs will be righted, and all these players can be taken care of properly. All right, final thing for you, and for those people who don't know, Megan Rapinoe is on the World Cup roster.

How do you put that into perspective? She is, I mean, she's in her really, I guess, late 30s at this point, but obviously still a very good player. Alex Morgan is also on this roster. I think she's the only striker on the team. But how do you put into perspective that Megan Rapinoe is still a part of this system? Yeah, look, I think, you know, Pino does a great job of taking care of herself and performing at this level.

She's always one that goes on the world stage and does her thing, and she thrives in those moments. You have to look at players like her and Alex. Their experience is so important when you have these young players. And I'm assuming that whatever their role is going to be, they've accepted that, and I know they've embraced that. But just having those types of players around can bring comfort to those younger players. If they get 10 minutes, if they get 90 minutes, you know they're going to go and perform at the highest level possible because they care so much about the crest and representing the country. So I think you need those types of players on these teams. It's not a team full of veterans, so having a couple here and there is not the end of the world. And let's be honest, they're probably the two most successful veterans that's ever played the game.

So they're for us, and hopefully that will be something that benefits our country for sure. Yeah, I don't think anybody expects Megan Rapinoe to play 75 minutes. But she certainly could come on in the 80th minute and finish out a game if it's a tie game or whatever.

You need a goal, you need to play. Who do you think will be their best player? I think the players to watch are Sophie Smith. Crystal is Crystal. Crystal gets into a groove. I think the goalkeeping situations are going to be an interesting one because I think we're going to be called upon a lot more with such a young back line.

Fox is Fox. I'm looking forward to seeing you. But if you look at the attacking side, if teams can't stop Sophia, life's going to be difficult for a lot of countries.

Yeah, she is dynamite. I appreciate your time. Sean Nahas, the head coach of the North Carolina Courage. Good luck at Angel City and we'll talk to you. World Cup starts in a little bit. I'm going to bug you. Alright, absolutely my pleasure. Appreciate you having me on.