Lo’eau LaBonta

Di Bernardo in the middle is helping lock down.

That's just elevating Labonta, both of them with their partnership.

Obviously Croy is still out, but that has opened the door for Debinha to step in.

Goal last week, hat-trick this week, and then, I mean, listen, Chuwengo.

So we'll set that one aside for a second.

But f- for the other thing, like, number one, Temwa Chawinga never had an opportunity to score or not score a penalty in 2024 because the Kansas City Current had a designated penalty taker, Lo'eau LaBonta.

And if Chawinga had taken all three of those penalties that Kansas City were awarded, like, she's maybe on 22 or 23 goals.

So that's one thing.

Because they had...

They've Croix Bethune, they have Debinha, they have Lo'eau LaBonta.

On KC.

On Orlando they're not winning.

... 'cause Katie, um, chose not to.

But, um, but at the same time, Debinha, Vanessa DiBernardo, and Lo'eau LaBonta, their ability to get some control and start to find the right gaps for the players in front of them really, really changed the pace of game.

Mm-hmm.

You know what's interesting if I, like, just this Denver team is they, I think they play some of the best soccer in the league, and they showed that.

Two, you know who else's contract is up? Vanessa DiBernardo.

And when you're talking about the glue in a midfield, like, Vlatko has had that with her, with Lo'eau LaBonta in Kansas City.

Is it, uh, you know, Vanessa DiBernardo who comes back to Chicago after a couple of years away, uh, makes it full circle and-

Naperville, Illinois native.

She's talking about those coaches.

And that's an important statement, I think, from a player of Labonta's stature.

And it conveys a very specific tone, one that I do think probably felt to be very important to sort of disseminate through media that indicates that they obviously had this incredible on-field success with Andonofsky.

At times, she talked actually about possibly overperforming sort of what they expected from some of the other things going on, sort of roster building and in play.

Vanessa DiBernardo has come back from maternity leave, built her minutes.

We've seen her more as an attacking midfielder traditionally, but she's really helped bring some bite and some balance to that midfield alongside Lo'eau LaBonta.

I think we saw her active throughout this w- a near olympico in this game as well, production on set pieces, and throughout the, the midfield in open play.

I think she was Exceptional, and she really provided them what they needed.

But Vlatko I think is one that really, really stood out, being a different situation than a coach departure.

But the whole thing around it, the press conference, Lo Labonta's remarks, it feels Something feels off here.

Indeed.

Yeah.