Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football

Episode 167! Dino and Grant look back at NWSL Week 19 action including: Racing Louisville v Portland Thorns | North Carolina Courage v Utah Royals | Bay FC v KC Current | Chicago Stars v Orlando Pride | Washington Spirit v Seattle Reign | Gotham FC v Angel City | San Diego Wave v Houston DashDino and Grant also look ahead to this weekend's NWSL matchups including: SD Wave v Gotham | NC Courage v Angel City | Orlando Pride v Bay FC | KC Current v Washington Spirit | Chicago Stars v Portland Thorns | Utah Royals v Houston Dash | Seattle Reign v Racing Louisville Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the NWSL, WSL, USWNT, and UEFA Women’s Champions League! Find INTO THE CHANNEL on: LINKTREE: https://linktr.ee/itc_podYOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@IntoTheChannelPodBLUESKY: https://bsky.app/profile/intothechannel.bsky.socialINSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/intothechannelpodTHREADS: https://www.threads.net/@intothechannelpodTIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@intothechannelSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/24oUNPqWhHyPR9ox8JFjig?si=963a9acfb6774dfcAPPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/into-the-channel/id1716497139Hosts: Dino Decespedes & Grant EngleMusic: ketsa.ukLaura Harvey footage courtesy of: reignfc.comAlbertin Montoya footage courtesy of: bayfc.com

In this episode, Grant had the privilege to sit down with one of NWSL media's OGs: Susie Rantz of the incredible football news website, "Sounder at Heart." After that, Dino gives an update from the good vibes at Orlando Pride training camp, where the double champions look to follow up an all-time season. Dino spoke with Kylie Strom, who played great after switching from LB to CB between the 2023 and 2024 seasons and played a key role in the league's best defense. Ya know, normal stuff. Then we hit some WSL news. Did you hear they play football in England, too? And some of our NWSL players went there? We talk about *those* moves and preview the matches you'd expect an Arsenal and Manchester City fan to preview. 0:00 - Susie Rantz from "Sounder at Heart" 29:30 - Orlando Pride's opening day of training camp with audio from Kylie Strom 37:20 - Kerolin to Manchester City Football Club! 42:50 - Naomi Girma to Chelsea Football Club! 48:05 - WSL vs. NWSL because everything must be a battle for global supremacy (but in a fun way) 53:50 - Chelsea vs. Arsenal 56:10 - Aston Villa vs. Manchester City Big thanks again to Susie Rantz from Sounder at Heart. If you're interested in Seattle Reign FC, you should immediately check out and support their work. If you're MLS-curious, they also have great stuff on the Seattle Sounders, as the website name would suggest. Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Check us out: YouTube: ⁠www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod⁠ Bluesky: ⁠@intothechannel.bsky.social⁠ Threads: ⁠⁠@intothechannelpod⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠@intothechannelpod⁠ Tik Tok: ⁠@intothechannel⁠ X/Twitter: ⁠⁠@itc_pod

We're in the middle of the transfer window and NWSL training camps have only just started, but that's not going to stop us from previewing the upcoming 2025 NWSL season. In this episode, Dino and Grant are joined by Mike Watts, one of the longtime voices of the NWSL across multiple networks. Mike gave us some great stories from discussions he had with coaches and club executives last season and was just an overall good dude to chat with. We ended up bouncing around a little bit, so we touched on the recent Jaedyn Shaw news, how he thinks the top-4 will shake out this year, how he defines "team culture" based on what he sees from each club, who from the broadcast teams picks the coffee joints and restaurants on the road, and so much more. Listen for Mike's sharp insights into the teams and players across the NWSL, and stick around for Mike chastising Grant for making a ridiculous ask at the end of the show. (For the record, Grant stands by this request and will defend it moving forward.) Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Check us out: YouTube: ⁠www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod⁠ Bluesky: ⁠@intothechannel.bsky.social⁠ Threads: ⁠⁠@intothechannelpod⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠@intothechannelpod⁠ Tik Tok: ⁠@intothechannel⁠ X/Twitter: ⁠⁠@itc_pod

We have our eight contenders qualified for the UEFA Women's Champions League knockout stage, and the heavy hitters are all represented. In this episode, we go alphabetically through the groups one more time and discuss how we feel about every team we saw in this eventful and fun group stage. The format is pretty straightforward: - We focus on one group at a time - We start with the two teams that qualified for the KO stage and talk about their prospects moving forward - We show love to the eliminated teams and players we enjoyed watching and learning about - We go to the next group This episode is packed with stats and information, so if you think you noticed a trend, it's possible we're talking about some of the data to back it up. And if you saw something we didn't, please drop a comment and let us know what we missed, please! Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Check us out: YouTube: ⁠www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod⁠ Bluesky: ⁠@intothechannel.bsky.social⁠ Threads: ⁠⁠@intothechannelpod⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠@intothechannelpod⁠ Tik Tok: ⁠@intothechannel⁠ X/Twitter: ⁠⁠@itc_pod

The fate of Group C and Group D in the UEFA Women's Champions League is on the line in Spain and England Wednesday evening. In this episode, we discuss an ailing Manchester City flying to Barcelona in hopes of keeping a close scoreline and holding onto the top spot in Group D. After that, we head to London to ponder the idea that Arsenal have completed a stark turnaround in form and can avenge their 5-2 loss to Bayern Munich on Matchday 1 of the group stage. Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Check us out: YouTube: ⁠www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod⁠ Bluesky: ⁠@intothechannel.bsky.social⁠ Threads: ⁠⁠@intothechannelpod⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠@intothechannelpod⁠ Tik Tok: ⁠@intothechannel⁠ X/Twitter: ⁠⁠@itc_pod

Matchday 5 in the UEFA Women's Champions League offered further clarification on the eight teams making the knockout stage and where they'll land in their groups. But there are still a few things to be decided, as well as some intriguing matchups to get excited about. In this episode, we lock in on Real Madrid hosting Chelsea in a match to decide who will win Group B. We go over the squads' recent form, the tiebreakers to consider, and then make our predictions. After that, we discussed Lyon vs. Wolfsburg. Even though the group has been decided after Wolfsburg's MD5 victory over Roma, we're still psyched to watch these two powerhouses compete. 0:00 - Intro and Real Madrid vs. Chelsea discussion 9:25 - Lyon vs. Wolfsburg Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Check us out: YouTube: ⁠www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod⁠ Bluesky: ⁠@intothechannel.bsky.social⁠ Threads: ⁠⁠@intothechannelpod⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠@intothechannelpod⁠ Tik Tok: ⁠@intothechannel⁠ X/Twitter: ⁠⁠@itc_pod

The conclusion of Matchday 5 in the UEFA Women's Champions League promises to be a good one. We open the day with Bayern Munich vs. Juventus and Vålerenga vs. Arsenal. While the German and English giants are jockeying for position to win Group C; the Italian and Norwegian sides are looking to play spoiler. Then we get to see if St. Pölten can recreate some of the set-piece magic they employed vs. Manchester City on Matchday 2 and if Hammarby can exact some Swedish revenge on Barcelona after their 0-9 loss to the Holders nearly two months ago. Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Check us out: YouTube: ⁠www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod⁠ Bluesky: ⁠@intothechannel.bsky.social⁠ Threads: ⁠⁠@intothechannelpod⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠@intothechannelpod⁠ Tik Tok: ⁠@intothechannel⁠ X/Twitter: ⁠⁠@itc_pod ⁠⁠

The UEFA Women's Champions League is back. After three weeks of international matches and domestic league play, the best teams in Europe are back at it for Matchday 5 in the group stage. In this episode, we start with what we believe will be the match of the week between Wolfsburg and Roma, which has some major stakes attached to it. (Grant's explanation of those stakes is a little shaky on the show, but he never promised he'd be good at this.) From there, we cover Galatasaray vs. Lyon; Chelsea vs. Twente; and Celtic vs. Real Madrid. Will Lyon's blistering form continue? Will Real Madrid keep pace and setup a meaningful showdown vs. Chelsea on Matchday 6? We'll talk about all those things because this is a podcast, and that's really the whole reason behind this enterprise. Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Check us out: YouTube: ⁠www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod⁠ Bluesky: ⁠@intothechannel.bsky.social⁠ Threads: ⁠⁠@intothechannelpod⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠@intothechannelpod⁠ Tik Tok: ⁠@intothechannel⁠ X/Twitter: ⁠⁠@itc_pod ⁠⁠

Peter Weis, the intrepid German football reporter and analyst from Bulinews and the Over the Bar podcast, joins the show once again to share his perspective on the UWCL, Frauen Bundesliga, and the German national team. In this episode, we largely focus on Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich, the two German teams in the UWCL, but Vicey also gets us up-to-speed on the very competitive race for the top-four spots of Frauen Bundesliga, which includes our old pals Eintracht Frankfurt and a team we haven't seen to much of yet: Bayer Leverkusen. Peter was also in the building for three of Germany's last four friendlies, including the two most recent matches vs. Switzerland and Italy. He gave us the rundown on Germany in a post-Alexandra Popp world and who he expects to step up heading into the 2025 Euros. Near the end of episode, Vice City helps us out with our German pronunciations, and things take an odd turn when he checkmates Grant into almost defending Bruce Arena, of all things. (It'll sort of make sense when you listen.) There's a lot to chew on in this episode, and it all adds up to why Peter is one of the most popular guests in our show's history. Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Check us out: YouTube: ⁠www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod⁠ Bluesky: ⁠@intothechannel.bsky.social⁠ Threads: ⁠⁠@intothechannelpod⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠@intothechannelpod⁠ Tik Tok: ⁠@intothechannel⁠ X/Twitter: ⁠⁠@itc_pod

The USWNT went down 1-0 to the Netherlands in The Hague. It was a dark, scary time for many. USA was chasing the game for large stretches of the match. They allowed multiple chances for Jill Roord. They were getting cooked by Romee Leuchter, and the team looked downright slow compared to the Ducth in many spots on the field. But whaddya know: The Stars and Stripes got a little bit of luck on a Netherlands own goal before halftime, and then the cavalry showed up in the second half to put the match away. In all seriousness, there was a lot to break down in this one , so we tried to do just that. Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Check us out: YouTube: www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod Bluesky: @intothechannel.bsky.social Threads: ⁠@intothechannelpod⁠ Instagram: @intothechannelpod Tik Tok: @intothechannel X/Twitter: ⁠@itc_pod

In this episode, we give a quick preview of the USWNT taking on the Netherlands in The Hague. Will Lily Yohannes take the pitch for the first time since fully committing to the USA for her international career? Will the Dutch put all their stars in the starting 11 and push for a big win on their home soil? Will Grant and Dino make oddly specific predictions in hopes of getting at least one right so they can vigorously pat themselves on the back when the next episode comes around? There's only one way to find out. (It's listen to the show.) Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Check us out: X/Twitter: @itc_pod  YouTube: www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod Instagram: @intothechannelpod Threads: @intothechannelpod Tik Tok: @intothechannel

Even with plenty of star-power missing on both sides, the USWNT and England put on a pretty good show at Wembley Stadium. In this episode, we discuss everything from the relatively quiet first half to the much more open second half. We highlight some of the individual matchups that caught our eye, and we try to look ahead at what this could mean for future squads. At the end of the episode, we salute Alyssa Naeher, who helped the USA win the 2019 World Cup and the 2024 Olympic Gold Medal (among other trophies, of course), after she recently announced her retirement from international football. Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Check us out: X/Twitter: @itc_pod  YouTube: www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod Instagram: @intothechannelpod Threads: @intothechannelpod Tik Tok: @intothechannel

Orlando Pride defeated Washington Spirit in the NWSL Championship, capping a historic season. It turns out, in fact, "the Double [was] on" for the Pride, whose season included the league's most dominant defense, the immediate impact of an MVP-candidate at forward in Barbra Banda, and incredible contributions from the greatest footballer who ever lived, Marta. In this episode, we recap the final, where Washington Spirit put up a great fight -- and maybe had the advantage in some spots throughout the match -- but the NWSL Shield-winning Pride found a way to win. At the end of the episode, we try to put Marta's incredible career into some more perspective, and you'll get to hear Grant fight for his life as he tries (and largely fails) to pronounce the names of the Swedish clubs the Brazilian legend played for years ago. Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Check us out: X/Twitter: ⁠@itc_pod⁠ YouTube: ⁠www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod⁠ Instagram: ⁠@intothechannelpod⁠ Threads: ⁠@intothechannelpod⁠ Tik Tok: ⁠@intothechannel⁠

After an eventful Matchday 4 in the UEFA Women's Champions League, the eight teams that will be progressing to the knockout stage seem to be coming into focus. In this episode, we talk about what happened on MD4 and what we're looking forward to when the UWCL returns on Dec. 11. 0:00 - Wolfsburg vs. Galatasaray 5:45 - Twente vs. Real Madrid 9:30 - Lyon vs. Roma 14:50 - Eugénie Le Sommer scored her 49th UWCL goal (Sit back and enjoy when Grant makes an idiot out of himself by forgetting Marta played for Tyresö and thinking Ada Hegerberg is older than she actually is) 16:10 - Chelsea vs. Celtic18:35 - Hammarby vs. Manchester City 29:30 - Vålerenga vs. Bayern Munich 35:05 - Arsenal vs. Juventus 39:30 - Dino makes an appeal for Rosa Kafaji to play more 42:30 - St. Pölten vs. Barcelona 51:00 - Programming notes! Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League and the NWSL. Check us out: X/Twitter: @itc_pod YouTube: www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod Instagram: @intothechannelpod Threads: @intothechannelpod Tik Tok: @intothechannel

It's here. We've arrived at the NWSL Championship match between Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit. In this episode, Dino and Grant talk about the two classic semifinal matches that led us to this point and give a quick preview on what they expect on Saturday. Before we end the show, we chatted about the USWNT roster that was named for the upcoming international friendlies vs. England and the Netherlands. Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League and the NWSL. Check us out: X/Twitter: @itc_pod  YouTube: www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod Instagram: @intothechannelpod Threads: @intothechannelpod Tik Tok: @intothechannel

Let's talk about the Thursday slate for Matchday 4 in the UEFA Women's Champions League. In this episode, Dino and Grant focus on the Group C and Group D matches. - Hammarby vs. Manchester City - Vålerenga vs. Bayern Munich - Barcelona vs. St. Pölten - Arsenal vs. Juventus *Quick note: We didn't talk about Lauren Hemp and Viv Miedema's injuries because we didn't know much about them at the time. Turns out we still don't know much, as the club hasn't given any real details on the nature of the injuries. We'll talk more about this on the next UWCL show. Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League and the NWSL. Check us out: X/Twitter: @itc_pod YouTube: www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod Instagram: @intothechannelpod Threads: @intothechannelpod Tik Tok: @intothechannel

The UEFA Women's Champions League is back again, and there's a lot up for grabs on Matchday 4. In this episode, Dino and Grant discuss the MD 4 fixtures in and what they're planning to see: - Wolfsburg vs. Galatasaray - Twente vs. Real Madrid - Lyon vs. Roma - Chelsea vs. Celtic ***We heard that uploading a video file to Spotify would produce better sound quality. Please let us know what you think! Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League and the NWSL. Check us out: X/Twitter: @itc_pod  YouTube: www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod Instagram: @intothechannelpod Threads: @intothechannelpod Tik Tok: @intothechannel

Lily Yohannes, star-midfielder for Ajax, has announced she will be playing her international football with the USWNT. If you’ve seen her play football in Vrouwen Eredivisie or the UEFA Women’s Champions League, you will likely immediately understand why this is important and good news for the USWNT and its supporters. In this episode, we talk about the implications of this 17-year-old supernova bringing her talents to Team USA, and what it could mean for the team’s midfield, all the way out to the 2027 World Cup. Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League and the NWSL. Check us out: X/Twitter: @itc_pod  YouTube: www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod Instagram: @intothechannelpod Threads: @intothechannelpod Tik Tok: @intothechannel

The 2024 NWSL Shield-winning Orlando Pride was a defensive juggernaut this season, and one of the squad's key contributors joined the show before taking on Chicago Red Stars in the Quarter-finals. In this episode, Cori Dyke drops by to chat with us about her excellent rookie year, the culture at the club that enabled such a wildly successful season, how her time at Penn State prepared her for the pros, and much, much more. Cori kicked it with us for about 20 minutes, and she handled the rapid-fire questions like a seasoned vet. Many thanks to her and the Orlando Pride for making the time before the start of the playoffs. Subscribe now to catch all of our women's football talk, including our ongoing coverage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League and the NWSL. Check us out: X/Twitter: @itc_pod  YouTube: www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod Instagram: @intothechannelpod Threads: @intothechannelpod Tik Tok: @intothechannel

The NWSL Playoffs are here, and we have four excellent matches ahead of us. In this episode, we take a look at every matchup and discuss our picks for some of the major awards: NWSL MVP, Defender of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Rookie of the Year. 0:00 - Orlando Pride vs. Chicago Red Stars 7:55 - Some awards 14:45 - Kansas City Current vs. North Carolina Courage 17:05 - More awards 24:35 - Washington Spirit vs. Bay FC 31:45 - Shout to some of our media pals 33:10 - Gotham FC vs. Portland Thorns FC 39:00 - Last award and a few other great moments Check us out: X/Twitter: @itc_pod  YouTube: www.youtube.com/@intothechannelpod Instagram: @intothechannelpod Threads: @intothechannelpod Tik Tok: @intothechannel