Liverpool vs Galatasaray & Brighton Match Reactions | Sivako, Rise to the Challenge

Molly Anne, Annika, and Stephanie break down a rollercoaster week for Liverpool FC fans 🔴 From the electric Champions League win over Galatasaray at Anfield (sending Liverpool into the quarterfinals) to a frustrating Premier League loss against Brighton, we’re talking emotions, inconsistency, and what’s really going on with this squad.

We compare the week to Disneyland rides (yes, really 🎢), discuss injuries, accountability beyond the manager, and what needs to change moving forward. Plus, we highlight standout performances and key moments you don’t want to miss.

In this episode:

•  Liverpool vs Galatasaray Champions League recap 
•  Brighton vs Liverpool Premier League reaction 
•  Mohamed Salah’s 50th Champions League goal 
•  Milos Kerkez goal vs Brighton breakdown 
•  Player of the Week picks: Ryan Gravenberch, Milos Kerkez, Hugo Ekitike 
•  International break preview: World Cup qualifiers & friendlies 
•  Adidas World Cup kit drops 👀 
•  Matchday experiences (including watching from Disneyland!) 

If you’re a Liverpool fan looking for weekly analysis, match reactions, and fun football conversations—this is the place for you.

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Transcript

Ep 31

SPEAKER_02 0:00

I will have the largest collection of Darwin and Mina's kits in the state of Washington.

SPEAKER_03 0:08

You heard it here from you.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Maybe even like West Coast, maybe even United States.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

It wants to talk about everything from qualifying for the Champions League quarterfinals to this truly never-ending emotional roller coaster of a season. We're almost there, y'all. My name is Molly Ann, and I'm here with Annika and Stephanie. We are three friends who share a love of Liverpool and dream of one day having a cup of coffee at the AXA

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SPEAKER_02 0:55

Training Center coffee bar. Welcome back, y'all. We are here. We've done it another week in the books.

SPEAKER_03 1:02

We are here, period.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

I guess first I'll just start with like a pulse check, a vibe check. How are we doing this Sunday morning? Post Galatasser I win and Brighton defeat.

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SPEAKER_00 1:15

I refuse to let Saturday defeat my Wednesday joy. That's how I'm too honest.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

Yeah. I do. I agree with that. I feel using the roller coaster metaphor that we love, I do feel like I just got off of a spinny ride, like and maybe went through the queue twice. So I'm a little bit disoriented, I feel, but I agree that when I think back on the week, thinking of what we did on Wednesday, I'm really proud and very excited about heading to the quarterfinal.

unknown 1:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

I feel the same. I think obviously last week I was like, that felt like my breaking point. And I was like, I just don't understand anymore. Galatasurai match was so good. And I feel like I just want to hold on to that. And yeah, I'm just like, I'm this is not gonna steal my joy. I love this team. I love this club. I want to see them do well. I believe that like in the long run, this will be turned around. And that's where I want to focus now. I've aired my, you know, my like realistic thoughts last week and I'm ready to move on. And still be realistic, but like I want hope and joy and positivity.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

I mean, speaking of roller coasters, two of the three of us have been to Disneyland in the last like 10 days. So if you could take a Disneyland or Disney World ride and to describe this last week, what would it be?

SPEAKER_02 2:47

I'm like, I just don't know how it's anything other than mission breakout because you're like at the top and then you fall really fast to the bottom. But you go back up again, right? We know like so. I feel like that's like a and you get fun music along the way. It's a great story, it's a thrill.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

My thought is the other coast guardians ride. If you have motion sickness issues, so you really enjoy it and then you really don't later.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

I to a similar beat, my gut instinct was the matter corn coaster because it's like whimsical and it draws you in, and you're like, wait, this will be so fun. And then you sit down on the car and you kind of realize your back can't take it anymore and you have a headache for the rest of the day. So, but there are like fun elements to it, like it is a roller coaster, but it kind of lures you in. That's how I feel a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

It's I think it's the teacups, and Wednesday was the teacups when I was a kid, where so much fun, absolutely. And Saturday was the teacups as an adult where I just get so much dizzier now.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

So okay. Or, or, or, or Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway, and hear me out because the plot of that ride is that they show up and they're gonna have a picnic in the park, but the train accidentally switches over to the wrong track and they end up on this adventure. But at the end, they do make it to the picnic and Mickey sings a song in the ukulele. So there is hope, but like you do go on a little bit of a wild goose chase.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

We're just waiting for Mickey to stroll in with ukulele. Any moment now I'm expecting the ukulele.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

Okay. We just need David from the Ragamuffins to just show up with a ukulele or a guitar or something at the end.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

Correct. Correct. Actually, during the Brighton game, they were singing a lot of player songs.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

So I like how we're just avoiding talking about the rest of the No, I'm like, let's talk about Galatasserai for a second. Yeah, Galatasserai. Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Let's just talk about this week as a whole.

SPEAKER_02 4:58

Yeah. No, but Hope is not last. I love this team. We have not a lot of time left in this season, but still a lot to play for and a lot to prove. So I'm excited to see what happens. I'm interested to see what happened. Like now we've got this international break, you know, and I looked at the rest of the schedule today, which I hadn't done, and obviously we'll talk about it later. But I was like, whoa, baby, do we come back and hit a ground running until the end of May?

SPEAKER_00 5:34

I feel like we do better when we have something to prove like that. I feel like they lock in a little bit different mentally. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

I agree. But that is kind of also, I think sometimes where I struggle, where I'm like, sometimes you just have to be able to prove the consistency and it can't always be the high, you know? So I love that. And I hope we do show up that way with like that galatasserai. Like we have to prove this intensity. And I would just really love if when we're playing Brighton on a Saturday, we do really well.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Yeah, no, I agree. It is there is something that's hard seeing us be able to pull it together and like do what we did on Wednesday, and then to watch us on Saturday and be like, this is the same team. Okay. Cause it it feels like there's some level of like, could we not play this great all the time? And I understand there are a lot of other elements involved, like tiredness and injury, and yeah, but even so, just the mentality. I don't

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SPEAKER_01 6:37

know. It is.

SPEAKER_02 6:38

Yeah, I would personally love to go back and track how many times on this podcast I've said, guys, this was the turning point. This was the game. Because I can think about at least five minutes.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

The first one was after Aston Villa, like our first match against Aston Villa, because that game was incredible.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

And really, I thought we had kicked it in, but that was like right before our biggest they're all little notches, like climbing the right way, but one every you know, singular moment that goes really well, like is to be celebrated. Like our game against Galataster, right? Like, we should celebrate that. That was incredible. It was so fun to watch and is a big deal for the team.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

What makes me feel a little bit better is like the players are not happy, the management team is not happy, like they're not just settling for this. They all know that they have work to do, they are not just like, okay, whatever. Everyone has the attitude that they're supposed to have about this. So I still believe in them, you know. They don't owe me anything, they don't owe me anything to be amazing. I just I'm bummed out, you know.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Well, and also, um someone had commented this last week on our YouTube uh video about basically the fact that RNA is not solely responsible for the performance of the players. Thanks, Chris.

SPEAKER_02 8:03

Um I loved this.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

Yeah, I loved this takes basically together, those three people manage Liverpool and their performances and players that they sign. And so Chris had mentioned that, but then I actually did see on I think it was Sky Sports, someone also bringing up the sporting director for Liverpool and saying, you know, not all this responsibility falls on Arne. Like it is, and Arne said in his post-match um conference, like too, that he it's his job to see the problem and come up with solutions for it.

SPEAKER_02 8:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

I I appreciate the the widening perspective on the elements.

SPEAKER_02 8:37

Because it's different than the role that Klopp took, where right he was the manager, like he had the influence in like who we bought, who he sold. That I think slot is considered, but you know, it's just a different dynamic. He's the coach now, and I think that was intentional from FSG to bring him in as a coach and not bring somebody in as a manager, but it does mean you know, other people have to take accountability. I thought it was interesting in slot's postmatch from Brighton, you know, he was talking about everyone's focused. We spent $450 million. We also sold, you know, $300 million worth of players. Like it wasn't a true addition, it wasn't a one-in, one out. You can look at our bench last season, we had two full starting lineups almost.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

And we're honestly in the negative in terms of that now. Like we did not replace everyone.

SPEAKER_02 9:35

Yeah. And so we, yeah, we don't have those replacements. And then, you know, right now we've got an injury list that's like a mile long. So no, I thought that was really I loved that Chris pointed out that observation for us. So thank you. Cause I would have some things. And I love when the media can also like step in a little bit and say, it's not okay, but there are other factors. So yeah, I think that's a great point, Annika.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

It was a great response to our crash out.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

So

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SPEAKER_01 10:05

thanks for the support that everyone provided us as we crashed out last week. We are happy to be back.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Yeah. Well, so this is normally when we talk about off-the-pitch moments, but there really wasn't. We were fed a lot last week. It was so much, and this week not a lot happened. We didn't have an inside training. There wasn't a lot of social media, really anything.

SPEAKER_02 10:29

I mean, I do think it speaks to how busy the schedule is in this little stretch. And, you know, I think that contributes to our performance at Brighton. I don't think that's the only factor, but yeah, there are busy boys. They didn't have time to entertain us. Inside gigs.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

My favorite sitcom. Hello. I'm like, I don't care if we lose games, just give me inside screening.

SPEAKER_00 10:53

Give me photos of them at the coffee bar. That's all that I want.

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SPEAKER_00 10:57

Okay, so this week's trivia question. Um at Euro 2024, there was a Liverpool player who became the youngest person ever to captain a team in the history of the European Championship at 23 years, seven months, and 21 days. Who was it? So the most recent Euros.

unknown 11:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

And you said 20 years 23 years old. Connor Bradley?

SPEAKER_02 11:29

Nope. It's cut like I'm trying to think who's been a captain and like who stepped in somewhere to be captain. Like it had to be a backbone, right? Well, I think I might know.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

I think it was Ibu.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

That's what I was thinking, but I thought he was older.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

He might be too old.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

That was my guess. That was my thought, because he's the only person I remember at some point talking about being a captain. But I think Annika and Unison, do we want to go with Kanate? Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:05

Yeah. I mean, I already guessed something, so technically this is all you.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

Dominic Sobasly.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Oh, well, Daw.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

Wait, for youngest captain, period, or at the Euros? At the Euros.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Uh okay, so Dawn was 23 in 2024.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

23, 7 months, and 21 days. I thought y'all were gonna get that immediately. I was like, oh, this is gonna be too easy.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

Well, you got us thinking, Steph.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

There we go.

SPEAKER_02 12:38

Way to go, Sobo.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

Way to go, Sobo. This week's Liverpool Girlies Trivia was brought to you by the irreplaceable serotonin gifted to us by each of the four goals scored in the Galatasserai match. That nothing can ever be, nothing can ever replace those. It's true. Hold on to the memories. They will hold on to you.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

All right. Well, speaking of those four magical goals, it's time to talk about our Galatasserai game on Wednesday. We played leg two of the round of 16 at Anfield. What was your guys' viewing experience? I did not watch it with you, so I would love to hear how it was. I watched it at home by myself.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

Nice. Steph? Usually I can like work and watch the game at the same time, but my workday was already really stressful. And so I chose to not add more stress and anxiety to the match. So um found out afterwards what the match was, and then I rewatched it by myself because I was off, I was out of town dog sitting. So it was a fantastic rewatch.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

I love re-watching a match knowing the result. Yes, it's so fun.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

Um my favorite from you, Annika, was you were like, yeah, I was in line for Space Mountain while I was watching the first part of this game.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

So you know I me watching Galatassara was actually a crazy experience. I can take you through the places that I watched this game because I was at Disneyland on Wednesday, which was so fun. But I was there with um my family. And so I was like, you know, I may not watch the game. I'm not going to pause our day at Disney for this game. So I was like, I just kind of knew in the map of my head what time it was on. I was like, if I get a chance to put it on for a few minutes on my phone, I will. And when the game started at noon, I was in line for Big Thunder Mountain. So I was like, you know what? Perfect. I'll just put it on my phone. Because it was a Champions League game, I could get it on my phone, but only in Spanish. So that was already an interesting element. So I was watching, I had the game on on mute. And I think I saw through Sobo's goal. Um, and then I was like, okay, well, I finished the line queue and I stopped and had some food, finished lunch. I was like, time to, I gotta move on with my day. But then I ended up in the Space Fountain queue and I was like, well, I'm I'm just standing here, so probably should check in again. Um so it was quite hectic, and I actually missed both Eckie and Ryan's goals, even though they were on on my phone, because at the those moments I happened to be going through some part of the line or whatever or talking to someone. And I looked down and I was like, what happened? I was like, and then I mean, correct me if I'm wrong because I also missed this, but I think Fremmi made them score an own goal that was then over was VAR with rolled off sides. Yeah. Okay. I was piecing it together. It was like an adventure of like, what is happening in this game? Can I figure out what's going on? Um, but then after Space Mountain, made my way to the Grand Californian hotel and was sitting in a lounger and could actually watch the conclusion of the game with my full attention on the game.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Sounds like an incredible viewing experience.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

It was great. And then by the end, I had Jamba Juice in hand watching the match. And when Mo scored, I did make my whole family, I said, Mo score, paused it, rewound it, made everyone come and watch it. So I did do that.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

I mean, what a way to celebrate his 50th Champions League goal.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

Truly. I was just so and it was so beautiful. Oh, anyway, so I had a very exciting game experience. I don't know how much in that game I really retained, but I definitely felt the emotional current.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

That's all that matters.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

It was the end of that game where I was like, oh, I wish we did a midweek episode to like capture the excitement of this moment.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

Truly. It just like going into it, I felt so, you know, you just it it's a tough moment to go on being like, if we don't produce at least two goals and don't let them score, like, story's over. We're done. That's a like, I don't obviously that's the whole point of the Champions League, but it's stressful. Um, and to see us rise to the challenge to Sibaco, if you will, was so exciting.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

Yeah, it was really good. It was really interesting seeing their attitude going into this game, just because Galatasserai, both times we've played them, it's been so rough and in Turkey, and so just not in our normal element. And you could just see it behind the Liverpool players' eyes of how determined they were to show up well for this match. And Galatasserai did their Galatasserai things where there were a lot of injuries. Um, they were trying to find a lot of excuses to slow down the game because really all they had to do was prevent us from scoring. But we preserved, we prevailed, we went through. And since I watched the replay of it on the all-red app, I got to hear like the Liverpool commentators, and they were incredible. At the beginning of the match, because I didn't watch the first Galactaserai game of this stretch. Um they were explaining towards the beginning of the match, they were like, Yeah, there were a lot of times when it should have been a corner kick for Liverpool. It wound up being a goal kick for Galactas Rai. There were a lot of injuries, they wasted a lot of time. They were just explaining a lot of that, but they were also still very fair. They were like, wow, that was a really great defending for them. It was just a really interesting experience hearing them commentate on it. And that's how I only ever would watch it now. Um, but in the second half, when we were up like 2-0, they were like, okay, you can now recognize how Galatassaray is now matching the pace of Liverpool. Like they stopped flailing around, they stopped trying to waste time because they were like, okay, well, we actually have to show up and play because what we've been doing isn't showing up. And then they actually they played decently. Oh, yeah. Um, so it's just kind of refreshing to like get to watch the football that I really enjoy getting to watch, you know.

SPEAKER_02 18:45

I think watching that game, what I also loved was just the energy at Anfield. You know, I think week after week there's obviously been a lot of criticism, but outside of, you know, some moments where there have been booze or whatever, like the supporters that are there really show up and make such a great environment. Um, and I think that's also a really important like factor in them being able to perform so well. I mean, we saw the Galatasserai supporters make that such a hard place to play in the impact of our team. And then for Anfield to be able to turn around and do the same thing was really great.

unknown 19:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

And the fact that every single person in that stadium was a Liverpool supporter, like no Galatasserai at all. But of course, they still traveled to Liverpool and were creating a lot of chaos on the streets.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

So you imagine traveling, but you're not actually going to the game. I'm like, this is commitment. Now, could I do that? Would I do that? Probably. But but I didn't. So would I do that for my Seahawks? Yeah, yeah, I would.

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SPEAKER_00 19:51

Would you uh shoot fireworks outside of hotels and well incriminate yourself on again?

SPEAKER_01 19:59

No, I would not do that.

SPEAKER_02 20:01

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

Um, I do want to say regarding the Champions League, I really like that both for the round of 16 and the quarterfinal, that we have the second leg at home. That feels like to me the advantage where you kind of you're in your home environment to know, okay, this is what we've got to do to make this happen. Um, and if like, for example, I think that if we had played Galatasserai the other order, uh, I fear that that would not have worked out in our favor. Going into Galatasserai's in home stadium, knowing that you had to produce something would be tough. So I'm grateful for that. And I am excited for our next leg and so terrified, but it's so fun. I love Champions League.

SPEAKER_02 20:47

It's revenge tour. We've made it past Galatasserai. Now we get to make it past PSG. Like the script writers want us to play Real Madrid. Real Madrid. Let's be real. Like that is a revenge match. So that's what it

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SPEAKER_02 21:03

is.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

And we know I love a revenge tour.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

So we were literally talking about that last night, Anika. Young was like, Annika loves a revenge tour, so it's PSG next, and then it could be Real Madrid Madrid, and then it could be Arsenal, so it's exactly like the Seahawks.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

I like love it and it makes me squirm, but I think in like a good way.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

If we make it to the final, then Sobo and Kerkes get to be at home.

SPEAKER_02 21:31

I was watching a post-match interview with Kerkez, and he had like like mentioned about it being back in Hungary, and his face just like lit up. You can tell they want it so badly. Bad.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

Yeah. I want it bad. Yeah. The Champions Like this season has been like a very satisfying roller coaster to me. We're definitely there have been highs and lows, but it's been so fun to watch. And I always say it, but I really love watching Champions League games. They are really fun to me.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

I'm gonna be in Edinburgh for the Champions League final. So I'm just excited that I'm gonna be in the UK to watch the Champions League final.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

The Bully Caring. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:15

Yeah. Yeah. Like that. Those arms are gonna be great.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

I can't wait. I believe. I think we can do it. Yes. I believe we can.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

And Champions League play just suits us so much better this season against just imagining a finals against Arsenal, which no, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

I don't know. So we don't need to imagine that. We have there are so many teams who can defeat Arsenal before that pointing.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

Yeah. Well, speaking of the Premier League teams, let's talk about our Premier League game. We gotta do it. Liverpool v. Brighton. What was our viewing experience? It was 5 30 in the morning for us out here in the Pacific Northwest.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

I was laying in a hotel bed.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

Well, the game was delayed 15 minutes, and I was like, it was really guys, because I could have there's traffic around the stadium. That's what they said on NBC. So I was like, could have slept for 15 more minutes. Would have really appreciated that.

SPEAKER_01 23:09

Yeah, I was texting Molly Ann. Well, I was texting both of you, and then after about 10 minutes, hadn't heard anything from Steph, so I said just texting Molly Ann.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

Yep, I I saw the first two text messages and then nothing after the first like 20 minutes of the game. And then I was like, oh yeah, they probably realize I'm not up watching this. So yeah, spoiler, I did not watch the game. I stayed up really late the night before. Young girl is not a morning girl. Call me a bad um fan. I was dog sitting out of town, so I chose to sleep and I would watch the replay if I felt like it. And I didn't feel like it, so I did not watch the game. I've seen one clip of the game. Um, well, I it's always a fun experience finding out what the results of the game were uh by opening up my phone and seeing all the text messages. It was just a series of gifs and emojis in our Liverpool chat. And I went, well, that's not good. And then it wasn't even the first thing that I saw when I opened social media, it was the score. Normally that's what I see. It was not there. Um, so a little bit later I found out the score, and that was that. So and then I the one clip that I've seen is that an edit that Molly had made for our TikTok of just Milo's goal comparing it to Darwin Nunia's. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

Of course. Which was awesome. Um yeah. That was a great moment. I had realized I used to like really get excited about the early morning games because I was like, oh, it's like, well, first off, it is done early in your day, so you have more time. Also, I sometimes I think it's really cozy to be at home and like be in your PJs. Granted, I was out of town. But the last I've realized the last two, I think we've only had two matches this year that I've like it's been too early for me to get up and watch officially. And I actually just end up sitting in my bed like so stressed. I don't know what it has been about those matches, but now I'm associating early morning games with like stress and agony. So I'm done. I'm ready to like just take me. I might as well just go to the pub if I'm gonna be that awake and that anxious at 5:30 in the morning. That's how I feel.

SPEAKER_00 25:13

That's fair. So since you guys did watch the game, what are your thoughts and feelings?

SPEAKER_02 25:18

Yeah, it was just more like a how but how I think was my, you know, where I was just like that was some of the text that you said. How, how, how, how, how. Yeah, I was like, we just did so well. And I think if we lost, but had still been able to show up, you know, like 80% of how we did versatasserai, it could be like, okay, Brighton played really well, whatever, blah, blah, blah. But it just to me, it felt like Tottenham 2.0. Yeah. Where it just kind of felt like that same yeah, same style, same effort. Like we have so many injured players. I know they just played a really intense game, but it just felt really like lacked communication, disjointed, you know, yeah. I mean, it just I feel like anything I thought about Tottenham, like I could just kind of put in this place, place of this game, too.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

I mean, I think there were a couple like moments that stood out to me as like he like shifts. The first couple minutes, the game's just getting started. When Eki went down um with his injury, like I mean, of course, I was like, oh no. But then when he stood up, I was like, I think he just has cramps. Like, I literally think he's just cramping, he'll be fine, he just needs to walk it off. But then when he went down again, I I just felt the pit in my as the moment Eki was going off. Mo is already injured. I was like, Yeah, how possibly is this gonna go any direction? Um Kirk is getting being able to score off of a Brighton mistake. I'm like, yes, that is what we need to be doing is taking advantage of the mistakes that um other teams are making because they take advantage of us in that way. A lot of the times when we end up losing matches, it's because someone has taken advantage of the fact that we made um a silly mistake. So seeing us be on the scoring end of that was very satisfying. And I just really appreciate Kirk's.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

Why was Kirk is so high? He was talking about whoever caused that mistake, I think also plays for hungry. I heard and he was kind of saying he knew that that player likes to give the ball back to the goalie in those moments, and so he kind of had, and maybe I'm thinking of it, maybe he was referring to a different moment. I thought that's what he was saying was like, I kind of thought this could happen and he could capitalize on it.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

Like it was very strategic of Milos, and so that was awesome. And to level it for me, I would have been like, okay, great, because there was something in it once Ecky was down, Mo being injured, and just the momentum of our players. I was like, I don't think we can score goals today. So I think all we can do is just hope that they don't score goals um or stop them from scoring goals. So when they got the second goal, I was like, I don't see how coming back was would have been hard. It would have been very hard with how I mean it was going. Brain was playing so well. They were playing well, and Rio was on to something. There were a couple moments where like the who the guy who was defending Rio, like it was hard for him. So there was a world where Rio could have scored, but it felt so slim.

SPEAKER_02 28:37

And yeah, Milner was like I was a this man is everywhere. Anyone that's getting the ball, somehow he has appeared to shut them down.

SPEAKER_01 28:47

And he's huge. I kept thinking like Milner, do you not remember? Like, you used to be a red, like you know, like maybe cut us a deal here.

SPEAKER_02 28:56

Help us out, don't take Hugo down. And it was not, it was just like a great duel. Like it was not malicious at all. But they just showed up, they and I think they knew like this team's gonna be tired. They just had a big game, like, and they they found a way to capitalize on that.

SPEAKER_01 29:13

They did.

SPEAKER_02 29:14

So what I thought was crazy was strategic. Yeah, looking at Galatasserai, we had 62% possession, 16 shots on target, 10 shots off target. Brighton, 47% possession. So just like yeah, totally, totally different.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

Because

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SPEAKER_01 29:33

I did feel like watching Galatasserai, what felt so great to me is I was like, oh, we have so many chances. We're creating like it felt inevitable. I mean, clearly we scored four goals. So, like, there were just so many great moments, and I think that is what has felt awesome. A lot of games, like what we saw with the Brighton game, where it's like, I'm just not seeing like we could get really lucky and score a goal, but that's about it because we're not building what we

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SPEAKER_01 30:01

need to build.

SPEAKER_02 30:02

In my mind, I'm at the Liverpool Galatester I match, and I'm gonna stay there as long as I want.

SPEAKER_01 30:08

We briefly touched on the injury list, and I am feeling that you know, apprehensive about all the names that are here and just I guess the unknown factor of some of them.

SPEAKER_02 30:19

What we've got nine, eight players out like eight. Nine? Yeah, eight. Yeah. So like it's a decent list when we already, you know, were lacking some of that bench strength. I was reading an interview, Virgil did, and he's like, I showed up to practice before the Brighton match, and was like, this is it. Like we don't have more people. So, you know, I think there are a lot of factors that contribute to the performance on Saturday. But the hard thing is, like, when injuries weren't a problem, we weren't necessarily playing much better all the time, you know. But I forgot I was oh, because I was looking at that clip of Darwin when he kind of did the same uh goal, like stink over the goalie that Miles did. And there was a baby, baby, baby, Connor Bradley, because that was from Klopp's last season that like ran over to hug him, and I was like, Oh, how much I miss Connor Bradley, and I really want him back.

SPEAKER_01 31:27

Alan, I miss Connor so much.

SPEAKER_02 31:30

So Frimi's great, and yeah, for Frimi, both matches, I just still am amazed by his speed and like where he's able to wiggle himself into and show up. But yeah, I miss Connor too. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

We when we have space in our heart for all of them to be healthy at all times. And so does our bench.

SPEAKER_02 31:53

I'm not picking, I'm not picking any of them over the other.

SPEAKER_00 31:56

Nope. But yeah, I want to throw a party the day that we get to see Prince Leone play on our team again. Guys, what if we get to see him in New York City?

unknown 32:06

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:07

There is a chance that we totally could.

SPEAKER_02 32:09

Because even if he's better, if he's not gonna be on the World Cup. Well, Italy hasn't made it yet. They used to have to qualify. Oh, that's so fun. All right, well, speaking of Italy potentially qualifying for the World Cup, we'll leave Brighton behind us, live in an eternal Champions League uh qualifying state, and also like head to international break. Um, so this international break, we have some teams that are still looking to qualify for the World Cup. For us, Italy has Chiesa that they called up. They called him up. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 32:49

I am so proud of him.

SPEAKER_02 32:51

Yeah, I'm so excited. So he'll be on the hopefully they qualify, and hopefully that he is, you know, impactful in that and makes the World Cup team. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

So that's our only so proud of him. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:06

All of our other players are gonna be unfriendly. So he's our only one that's kind of um like something to play with. Northern Ireland is trying to qualify, but obviously Connor won't be there. So Cheese will be our only uh player that's on a team that's still looking for qualification. And then we've got the team, the team that we collectively follow, the Netherlands, has some friendlies against Norway and Ecuador, which I thought was great, two great matches. I was like, oh, I love that. Um, and then my beloved team, Uruguay, has a friendly against England. They're playing at Wembley. Speaking of Kwanzaa, he also got called up. Yeah, incredible. So that'll be such a great match because obviously Darren will be there, Kwanzaa will be there. Yes, like I think just good. I don't uh it's like a rare matchup to see those two. Yeah, uh that's great. And then Uruguay will be playing Algeria, so lots of great friendlies the next two weeks, lots of great qualifying games. Um, I think all the qualifiers finish by the end of this month, so we'll know officially everybody that will be playing at the World Cup. How exciting. And the

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SPEAKER_02 34:19

kids drop. Listen, the way

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SPEAKER_02 34:22

I I will have uh the largest collection of Darwin Nunez kits in the state of Washington.

SPEAKER_03 34:30

You heard it here first.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

I would argue maybe even like West Coast, maybe even United States.

SPEAKER_02 34:39

But the Uruguay kits are beautiful. The home kit is like so classic Uruguay, but the away kit, I the minute I saw it, I was like, it looks like Black Panther. And then I watched another clip and the guy was like, it's giving Black Panther. They are, which they're beautiful, is what Darwin's nickname is on the Uruguayan team. The Panther. Really? Black Panther? Pantera, yeah. So I don't think that's that, but in my heart, you know.

SPEAKER_00 35:12

It is can be it's why the person who designed it. The design closet Darwin fan.

SPEAKER_02 35:17

Yeah. So I'm marveled. There's also some beautiful Adidas, uh, the Chili's kit. I don't know if y'all are Chile. Sorry, I'm just American. You're really in the know. Um, it's AutoCode, you have to look at it. It's stunning. It's stunning. Um yeah, you'll love it. Oh. It's like flowers, it's purple. This is what I'm talking about. It's stunning. Hello. Yeah, there are some really great kits um for this upcoming Francis Kate is like a spin on the Statue of Liberty. Take that how you will.

SPEAKER_00 35:58

So okay, how do you feel about the US MNTs? I'm sorry, where's Waldo? Is not for me. It looks really good on Big Meeks. It looks really, really good on Big Meeks. They debuted it on CBS and then he put it on, and I was like, it looks really good on you, but I'm not liking it.

SPEAKER_01 36:22

It looks better on the players or on people than it does look on the camera.

SPEAKER_02 36:26

I've not seen it on anybody. I've just seen I'll give it that uh images, still images. So anyway, so we got some great kits. I will say I'm excited to see Netherlands Away kit because the home kit, it wasn't giving me. It's just like white, it has an orange stripe. I think I just wanted like color drench orange. Like, I'm like, if you're gonna have the color orange, just like oh, and having the color orange, it's meant to look good on Virgil van Dyke and not me.

SPEAKER_01 36:57

So there you go.

SPEAKER_02 36:59

And we are very different humans. What? I don't know. If you saw me do the leg press, maybe you think we're the same person, but Molly Anna's quads, Virgil van Dyke's quads.

SPEAKER_01 37:15

I don't think you could spot the difference.

SPEAKER_02 37:17

Oh man, anyway. Okay, so all that to say, if you haven't checked out the World Cup kit drops, they look great. I am very excited about the World Kit. I mean the World Kit work. I feel like the last couple weeks I've been feeling like more hesitant, like just hesitant about it with the you know, the world. But I'll seeing all the drops this week and stuff, I was like, no, this is fun. It's like for for me, it's like my OG, what got me into soccer and football. And so I'm just really excited.

SPEAKER_01 37:49

Yeah, I am very excited, it'll be fun.

SPEAKER_02 37:52

I feel like I've finally released my hopes that I would go to a game, and so with that, I know I was okay, because Steph, I was like, well, Steph is gonna be your not gonna be your remote to the World Cup. I was like, can I move Steph's TV into my living room and set up an ultimate world anyway? Side conversation, but I was like, how do I turn this room into the world camp? Um viewing 2.0. I know it's just yeah, so anyway, we're not there yet. We're not there yet.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

But two minutes Annika's dad loves um the NFL, and there are three TVs on the wall in their living room. And so when we watch NFL, there's constant every single TV has something on it. One of them usually has four games on it at all times. So red zone.

unknown 38:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:48

Hashtag red zone.

unknown 38:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:50

No, I'm expecting the summer to be every morning. I just am picturing Molly An outside my bedroom with a bugle horn. Wake up! These are the games schedule. Not today.

SPEAKER_02 39:00

This morning I started pulling it out and I was like, okay, I gotta and I was like, we got time. Let's get through Liverpool seasons first. We don't need to start planning this quite yet. Yeah, at least it won't be so early. I was up at 3 45 in the morning to watch matches. So yeah. Oh, I'm so excited.

SPEAKER_00 39:16

I'm excited to be in the UK all summer. Yeah. But at the same time, again, I'm in a different time zone and I'm gonna be working on this. Because like some of the games are late here.

SPEAKER_02 39:27

Like we have games that start at like 7 p.m. Pacific time.

SPEAKER_00 39:31

And in the UK, that's eight hours ahead of us. So that's three o'clock in the morning for me.

SPEAKER_02 39:35

Any other thoughts, feelings about international break andor Liverpool pre-post international break?

SPEAKER_01 39:44

We're heading the ground running when we come back, the FAA Cup quarterfinal.

SPEAKER_00 39:48

So yeah, Elos's post his caption from this game was really great. He was just like, We're gonna come back stronger than ever. He was like so hopeful.

SPEAKER_01 40:01

Yeah, I love that. I do think their own attitudes about it carry so much weight. Like we have all the ingredients to make this happen. And so, yeah, if they're coming in clear-minded, excited, confident, that's great. Okay, well, until then, let's talk about our players of the week. Do you want to start us off, Stephanie?

SPEAKER_00 40:26

My player of the week is Ryan Gravenberg. We got to see glimpses of the classic midfield Ryan Gravenberg. He has not been as consistent this season as he was last season, but we've really got to see him shine during the gala game on Wednesday. His goal, like the way that that was set up, I just keep watching it on repeat. The way that he set that up and moved that play all the way down the field and ended up scoring was absolutely beautiful. And he just really impressed me on Wednesday. So he is my player of the week.

SPEAKER_01 40:57

Love it.

SPEAKER_02 40:59

My player of the week is my boy, Miles Kirkez. I love him. I say it anytime I get to call him as my player of the week. Uh incredible goal. It didn't hurt that it was giving glimpses of Darwin Nunez to me, whom I also love. Yeah. Um, I love the way that he shows up on the pitch. He works so hard. But I think the past couple weeks, we've also really seen him become a voice off the pitch in like the media sphere. And I just think that takes a lot of um like courage and bravery to be so new and to step out to talk about his performance, the team's performance, especially when we've not been playing so well. Um, and so you know, I think you can just see like he's young, but in a lot of ways, like he's gonna grow into being like a really strong leader for this team. So I love, I just love him. I'm so proud of him. And one of in this last post-match interview, you know, they kind of I think were trying to felt like trying to bait him to be like, well, we couldn't play well because, you know, we played an early match on Saturday and we played a late match. And so they were kind of asking him about that. And he was like, he was like, that's not an excuse. Like, I don't want to, you know, just like in a really polite way. He was like, that's not a factor. We show up and we have to play our best game. And so I think he shows up really well on the pitch. He has a great mentality. I'm so thankful that we signed him for this season.

SPEAKER_00 42:34

So I mean, he has chosen to align himself with the leaders of this team. He spent so much time with Sobo, so much time with Mo. And so you are who you surround yourself with, and all I see from him is him, yeah, is him on the pitch and hanging out with Dom or Mo. Like he's so locked in, and you could just see how his maturity has improved and his confidence has been improved since the very first match. So he's absolutely incredible. Just he feels so much centered, so much more centered now.

SPEAKER_01 43:06

Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's great. Love it. All right, my player of the week is gonna be Hugo Ekitike. Um also your boo. First, because I'm always my boo. Uh first because I'm wishing him, well, I guess a speedy recovery. It sounds like he's already recovered. So excited to see you play after a national break, I guess. Um, but also just his goal on Wednesday felt like, you know, obviously it got us to the 2-1 spot. So it was the moment where you were like, okay, if if we just hold on from here. And then of course, Ryan and Mel came in and just made it all the sweeter. But that moment felt really big. And every time Hugo gets a moment to do his magic, I'm here for it. I'm thrilled. I'm saddened to see him more on bright and I know he was probably super. Disappointed too, especially considering it was actually not that bad of an injury. That's always a hard decision, but appreciate him listening to his body and not pushing himself to an insane injury because we cannot handle that.

SPEAKER_00 44:13

So I also want to make it very clear to everyone listening that even if we don't mention Dominic Sobasly, he's a constant player of the week every yeah, he's the player of the season. So I just want to make that very clear.

SPEAKER_01 44:30

That and also it did take everything in me to not talk about Curtis Jones, but I didn't. I held it in.

SPEAKER_00 44:38

It's okay. He's always right here. I know this moment represented Curtis Jones. Yep. Well, that's all for this week's episode. We will back. Are we coming back next week? I think if we come back, it'll be a surprise.

SPEAKER_02 44:49

Yeah. Stay tuned. You'll find out. Because, but I feel like probably not because I don't know what we're gonna talk about.

SPEAKER_01 44:57

If you want to hear me talk about the Muppets in Liverpool, it doesn't.

SPEAKER_00 45:02

Well, we'll be back here eventually, but until then, you'll never walk alone.