#re-cap show

[lovelacefc7723]

"You will always undoubtedly be the best guest"

By now, we are used to Tobin showering Christen with compliments and celebrations. We know she is the most romantic in the couple (Christen told that), I think it's safe to say we've seen how greatly Tobin can love, whether it's a teammate, a friend, a family member or a partner. Christen on the other hand finds her calling in teasing Tobin every time she can! And it's hilarious because it's clear that she does it as a lifestyle but a loving and caring one!

There are though these times when Christen really shows not just how much she cares - obviously - about Tobin but HOW MUCH SHE RESPECTS HER and admires her. And I think it goes way back to their first times together on the USWNT, because Tobin really had something she maybe wished to have, aka that wild freedom, that colorful vision, that endless creativity while perfectly understanding the structure of the game, basically what made her in my opinion the heart and soul of this sport. And when Christen allows herself to talk about how she truly sees Tobin, it's sincerely everything, because it's sincere, genuine, felt and loved.

I wanted to focus on this because I really believe love isn't everything in a healthy functional relationship, this kind of respect, admiration and appreciation is to me the deeper foundation of a bond that has the real potential to actually win the race. At least that's what I wish for them.

[lightcastlenineteen]

Okay, calling the UK media “brutal” while coming from the US is kind of funny to me. 😅 But I understand Press’ point. Mary Earps is the example here but I mean in general. It’s pretty hard to tell your story without offending someone. God knows if I would write an autobiography my own sisters wouldn’t look to good in it. Ofc that doesn’t mean you should just write whatever you want but it’s an interesting take.

And I do think that the media plays a huge role. BILD could have titled “AKB personally blames former teammate Kiedrzynek for CL loss and claims she would have done it better”. But I fear nobody here (including AKB herself) would have cared about that.

[hardtchill]

it may seem like we lost this game by a millimeter but we lost this tournament by a mile

holy fucking fuck, Tobin dropping the truth bombs early

[ohsnapbaskets]

Tobin saying that Lauren was her family and then brought her another piece of her family while kinda motioning at Christen 👀

[futiledevice]

[greta--gill]

i know folks have been (rightfully) posting a lot about some of the other bits of this episode which really dissected what happened in the tournament, but this specific moment, for some reason, has been sticking with me.

“she had to watch that,” feels like a terribly perfect exemplification of how this world cup went down. the lack of distribution of playing time, the lack of quality coaching – this episode is a masterclass in actually not saying vlatko’s name lmao – and the general consensus that there are some things that could have been controlled and changed. it breaks my heart, mostly because i’ve realized that the reason this whole thing is hitting me arguably harder than i expected or maybe even harder than it should is because these are the players i grew up watching. i guess it just signifies to me that i’ve gotten older in a really tangible and substantial way. i was 15 during the last world cup. i’ll be 20 soon. my first memory of professional women’s sports was, “morgan in the box! wambach in the box!” and things are just different now – for the better, yes, but still: different. in large part, things have ended. people have moved on. and yes, i’m excited for this new generation, but lots of us who were kids then aren’t kids anymore. even players who should be on the field have got shows and podcasts, families, and great achievements outside of this team that, like tobin said, they dedicated their entire lives to, as they should. and they’re saying goodbye to the game and to the team they were once a part of.

it feels a little too simple to look at it and say “it makes me sad” because i’ve always wanted myself to have something more articulate than that, but it really does just… make me sad. it’s obvious to say, but anybody who’s been saying that these women should shut up and dribble have it wrong. their existence and their occupation is inherently political just by being women who plays sports. you realize how much of sports is so much bigger than sports – about how sports teaches emotion, love, most especially an unconditional kind of love: the kind of love that says, i will love you even if we lose, especially if we lose – and i’ll keep talking about it forever.

[noodle-fc]

The problems with US formation and tactics in the Portugal game were glaringly obvious. Simple and straightforward adaptations were likewise easy to identify.

Even so, It's very validating to see three world-class soccer minds (Tobin Heath, Christen Press, and Jess Fishlock) on the Re-Cap show express the same general ideas. Of course their solutions beat mine—I think we all would have loved to see Fishlock's 4-2-3-1 formation—but that is to be expected. They are professionals and I'm just a guy who pays attention. "Guy who pays attention" is more than those poor players have in Vlatko, to our collective misfortune.

[greta--gill]

tobin and christen have done such a wonderful job with the re-cap show up until this point, but this episode was just... so good. compassionate while also critical, loyal while also being level-headed about what went wrong. this whole day i found myself feeling really jumbled, trying to reconcile why this loss hurt so especially bad, and at least for now, i don’t think i’m going to share those reasons on my lil blog, but the re-inc team have done such a good job with breaking everything down in a way that feels right.