The Seattle Sounders’ run in the Club World Cup has come to an end, which is a perfect time to take stock of what we made of it. Jeremiah and Aaron discuss the high points and the low points. They came away feeling a bit more excited about next summer’s World Cup, with a sense that the gap between Europe and the rest of the world is a bit smaller than we previously thought and believing that the Sounders’ have a roster that should be able to compete going forward.

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***

Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here [https://www.sounderatheart.com/about/]. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa8GVYhPbOP3PnrH6WJct9d-jZ8Qh_XhA].

Aside from becoming a Sounder at Heart subscriber, you can also support the show by using this link to purchase MLS Season Pass [https://sounderathe.art/MLSPass] or checking out our merch table to buy various shirt designs [https://nosaudietis.threadless.com/].

“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here [https://despatchesfromseattle.com/].

Club World Cup showed the gap between Europe and world is not so big

The Club World Cup is about halfway through the group stage, with three of the six games scheduled in Seattle having now been played. It seems like a good opportunity to take stock of what we’ve learned about both this tournament and the Seattle Sounders’ place in it. 

To help give a broader picture, Jeremiah is joined by Niko Moreno and Tim Foss for another episode of “What we learned this week.”

Sponsor

🏠 Marnie Oshan Homes: With 20+ years in marketing, business, and negotiation — and an MBA from UW — Marnie Oshan helps home buyers and investors make smart, informed real estate decisions. From first homes to 1031 exchanges and development deals, she offers expert guidance backed by financial insight and local market knowledge. Expertise in new construction, and well-versed on all types of real estate. She’d like to talk about your goals and is here to help you move forward with confidence. Visit her website marnieoshanhomes.com [http://marnieoshanhomes.com/] or email at Marnie@windermere.com.

***

Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here [https://www.sounderatheart.com/about/]. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa8GVYhPbOP3PnrH6WJct9d-jZ8Qh_XhA].

Aside from becoming a Sounder at Heart subscriber, you can also support the show by using this link to purchase MLS Season Pass [https://sounderathe.art/MLSPass] or checking out our merch table to buy various shirt designs [https://nosaudietis.threadless.com/].

“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here [https://despatchesfromseattle.com/].

For all its foibles, Club World Cup has been fun

Jeremiah and Niko Moreno get together for another episode of “What we learned this week” and they’re pretty much focused on the Club World Cup. In addition to giving a preview of Botafogo and a general sense of what we expect from the Sounders, they also gave an update on the state of negotiations between the players and owners over the bonuses. 

The good news: Albert Rusnák says the players will play. The bad news: they aren’t happy and don’t think the fight is over.

Follow Niko Moreno on BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/elrolonw.bsky.social] and YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@pulsosports144].

Sponsor

🏠 Marnie Oshan Homes: With 20+ years in marketing, business, and negotiation — and an MBA from UW — Marnie Oshan helps home buyers and investors make smart, informed real estate decisions. From first homes to 1031 exchanges and development deals, she offers expert guidance backed by financial insight and local market knowledge. Expertise in new construction, and well-versed on all types of real estate. She’d like to talk about your goals and is here to help you move forward with confidence. Visit her website marnieoshanhomes.com [http://marnieoshanhomes.com/] or email at Marnie@windermere.com.

***

Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here [https://www.sounderatheart.com/about/]. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa8GVYhPbOP3PnrH6WJct9d-jZ8Qh_XhA].

Aside from becoming a Sounder at Heart subscriber, you can also support the show by using this link to purchase MLS Season Pass [https://sounderathe.art/MLSPass] or checking out our merch table to buy various shirt designs [https://nosaudietis.threadless.com/].

“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here [https://despatchesfromseattle.com/].

The players will play in Club World Cup, but they aren’t happy

One question that continues to haunt the Club World Cup is “why does this exist?” One of the only people to really attempt to answer that question is Yahoo! Sports reporter Henry Bushnell. Jeremiah has him on the show to discuss that very issue as well as many other issues circling the next two summer’s tournaments.

Follow Henry Bushnell on BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/henrybushnell.bsky.social] and find his written work at Yahoo! Sports [https://sports.yahoo.com/author/henry-bushnell/].

Sponsor

🏠 Marnie Oshan Homes: With 20+ years in marketing, business, and negotiation — and an MBA from UW — Marnie Oshan helps home buyers and investors make smart, informed real estate decisions. From first homes to 1031 exchanges and development deals, she offers expert guidance backed by financial insight and local market knowledge. Expertise in new construction, and well-versed on all types of real estate. She’d like to talk about your goals and is here to help you move forward with confidence. Visit her website marnieoshanhomes.com [http://marnieoshanhomes.com/] or email at Marnie@windermere.com.

***

Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here [https://www.sounderatheart.com/about/]. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa8GVYhPbOP3PnrH6WJct9d-jZ8Qh_XhA].

Aside from becoming a Sounder at Heart subscriber, you can also support the show by using this link to purchase MLS Season Pass [https://sounderathe.art/MLSPass] or checking out our merch table to buy various shirt designs [https://nosaudietis.threadless.com/].

“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here [https://despatchesfromseattle.com/].

Why is the Club World Cup happening?

The Seattle Sounders turned easily their most disappointing performance of the season. What makes it sting even worse is that expectations were quite high for their game against the Vancouver Whitecaps, who were missing more than half their starters and were coming off a nearly team-wide bout of “gastrointestinal symptoms.” The Sounders responded by looking flat and almost uninterested at times.

Jeremiah and Aaron dig into that performance before power-ranking the five teams they each think have the best shots at winning the Club World Cup.

Sponsors

🍷 Full Pull Wines: Love wine but not wine clubs? Check out the boutique wine seller who lets you browse their selections and pick whatever you want. You can join their mailing list here: https://fullpullwines.com/signup.php

🏠 Marnie Oshan Homes: With 20+ years in marketing, business, and negotiation — and an MBA from UW — Marnie Oshan helps home buyers and investors make smart, informed real estate decisions. From first homes to 1031 exchanges and development deals, she offers expert guidance backed by financial insight and local market knowledge. Expertise in new construction, and well-versed on all types of real estate. She’d like to talk about your goals and is here to help you move forward with confidence. Visit her website marnieoshanhomes.com [http://marnieoshanhomes.com/] or email at Marnie@windermere.com.

***

Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here [https://www.sounderatheart.com/about/]. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa8GVYhPbOP3PnrH6WJct9d-jZ8Qh_XhA].

Aside from becoming a Sounder at Heart subscriber, you can also support the show by using this link to purchase MLS Season Pass [https://sounderathe.art/MLSPass] or checking out our merch table to buy various shirt designs [https://nosaudietis.threadless.com/].

“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here [https://despatchesfromseattle.com/].

Has there ever been a bigger gap between performance and expectation?

Jeremiah is joined by Richard Farley and Charles Boehm to help preview the Seattle portion of the Club World Cup. They share some insight into all seven teams who will be playing here over the next couple of weeks.

Sponsor

🏠 Marnie Oshan Homes: With 20+ years in marketing, business, and negotiation — and an MBA from UW — Marnie Oshan helps home buyers and investors make smart, informed real estate decisions. From first homes to 1031 exchanges and development deals, she offers expert guidance backed by financial insight and local market knowledge. Expertise in new construction, and well-versed on all types of real estate. She’d like to talk about your goals and is here to help you move forward with confidence. Visit her website marnieoshanhomes.com [http://marnieoshanhomes.com/] or email at Marnie@windermere.com.

***

Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here [https://www.sounderatheart.com/about/]. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa8GVYhPbOP3PnrH6WJct9d-jZ8Qh_XhA].

Aside from becoming a Sounder at Heart subscriber, you can also support the show by using this link to purchase MLS Season Pass [https://sounderathe.art/MLSPass] or checking out our merch table to buy various shirt designs [https://nosaudietis.threadless.com/].

“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here [https://despatchesfromseattle.com/].

Club World Cup preview

It was an interesting week surrounding the Sounders, giving Jeremiah and Niko plenty to talk about. First off, they give some updates on the players’ protest and some of the reasoning behind why they believe MLS should be giving them a bigger cut of the Club World Cup prize pool. They also discuss the Vancouver Whitecaps’ situation, which has put at least some doubt into whether or not Sunday’s game will happen.

Follow Niko Moreno on BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/elrolonw.bsky.social] and YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@pulsosports144].

Sponsor

🍷 Full Pull Wines: Love wine but not wine clubs? Check out the boutique wine seller who lets you browse their selections and pick whatever you want. You can join their mailing list here: https://fullpullwines.com/signup.php

***

Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here [https://www.sounderatheart.com/about/]. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa8GVYhPbOP3PnrH6WJct9d-jZ8Qh_XhA].

Aside from becoming a Sounder at Heart subscriber, you can also support the show by using this link to purchase MLS Season Pass [https://sounderathe.art/MLSPass] or checking out our merch table to buy various shirt designs [https://nosaudietis.threadless.com/].

“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here [https://despatchesfromseattle.com/].

There’s interesting precedent for what players want from MLS

Jeremiah and Aaron are back with another mailbag episode, answering questions that were submitted in May. Before they dig into some of those questions, though, they spend quite a bit of time discussing the Sounders players’ recent protest over their share of Club World Cup bonuses and specifically owner Adrian Hanauer’s response. 

As a reminder, all these questions came from our private Discord, which is available to all subscribers at the Supporter ($75/year) level or above. If you’d like to upgrade your membership, you can do so here [https://www.sounderatheart.com/#/portal/signup]. If you’re already a Supporter or above and want to join the Discord, shoot us an email [support@sounderatheart.com].

Sponsor

🍷 Full Pull Wines: Love wine but not wine clubs? Check out the boutique wine seller who lets you browse their selections and pick whatever you want. You can join their mailing list here: https://fullpullwines.com/signup.php

***

Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here [https://www.sounderatheart.com/about/]. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa8GVYhPbOP3PnrH6WJct9d-jZ8Qh_XhA].

Aside from becoming a Sounder at Heart subscriber, you can also support the show by using this link to purchase MLS Season Pass [https://sounderathe.art/MLSPass] or checking out our merch table to buy various shirt designs [https://nosaudietis.threadless.com/].

“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here [https://despatchesfromseattle.com/].

May Mailbag: Why the Sounders are protesting Club World Cup bonuses

If you’ve spent anytime looking at various advanced analytics this year, you’ve probably noticed that the Seattle Sounders are looking an awful lot like a pressing team. Recently, Jamon Moore of American Soccer Analysis wrote about that [https://bsky.app/profile/jamonm.bsky.social/post/3llpb75smss22]. Jeremiah discusses what analytics are saying about the Sounders.

Jamon Moore is a contributor on American Soccer Analysis [https://www.americansocceranalysis.com/?author=5b16bfce88251b408d64c0ea]. You can follow him on BlueSky here [https://bsky.app/profile/jamonm.bsky.social].

Sponsor

🍷 Full Pull Wines: Love wine but not wine clubs? Check out the boutique wine seller who lets you browse their selections and pick whatever you want. You can join their mailing list here: https://fullpullwines.com/signup.php

***

Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here [https://www.sounderatheart.com/about/]. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa8GVYhPbOP3PnrH6WJct9d-jZ8Qh_XhA].

Aside from becoming a Sounder at Heart subscriber, you can also support the show by using this link to purchase MLS Season Pass [https://sounderathe.art/MLSPass] or checking out our merch table to buy various shirt designs [https://nosaudietis.threadless.com/].

“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here [https://despatchesfromseattle.com/].

What advanced stats say about Sounders

The Seattle Sounders are coming off a massive win over San Diego FC which sets up a pretty enticing stretch to send them into the Club World Cup break. If the Sounders can win their next two games, they’ll take over first place in the Western Conference. Jeremiah and Niko discuss the San Diego game and look ahead to Minnesota and Vancovuer on the latest “What we learned this week.”

Sponsor

🍷 Full Pull Wines: Love wine but not wine clubs? Check out the boutique wine seller who lets you browse their selections and pick whatever you want. You can join their mailing list here: https://fullpullwines.com/signup.php

***

Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here [https://www.sounderatheart.com/about/]. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa8GVYhPbOP3PnrH6WJct9d-jZ8Qh_XhA].

Aside from becoming a Sounder at Heart subscriber, you can also support the show by using this link to purchase MLS Season Pass [https://sounderathe.art/MLSPass] or checking out our merch table to buy various shirt designs [https://nosaudietis.threadless.com/].

“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here [https://despatchesfromseattle.com/].

Sounders just set themselves up for what could be an epic run into the Club World Cup

An unofficial podcast about the Seattle Sounders produced by Sounder at Heart's Jeremiah Oshan and Aaron Campeau, with Likkit Pocinwong