Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Nos Audietis, Episode 332: Sounders don't seem to be slowing down
70 Plays4 years ago
We return to you almost a month after our last recording in much the same place we left you. The Sounders are still riding a best-ever start to the season, still undefeated and still leading the Supporters’ Shield race. They’ve also not yet conceded a goal from open play, a streak that now stands at 900 minutes which is the longest MLS has on record.
The latest win was in some ways their most comprehensive. Although the scoreline was a relatively close 2-1, the Sounders finally put together two very good halves and were easily the better team in both. They’ve still got some work to do in and around the penalty area, but they were getting into dangerous spots and didn’t give up a single shot from open play.
This was all despite using a lineup that was missing six potential starters -- not even counting Jordan Morris.
This week's music: Perry Como - "Seattle", "RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia", "Your Journey Begins" - OurMusicBox (Jay Man) (CC BY 4.0)
Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you’re looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of No Sadietes is sponsored by Full Pool Wines, a Seattle-based wine seller who recently released their first book, 36 Bottles of Wine. The ethos of the book, a highly curated look at wine categories that provide exceptional value right now, should be familiar to full pool readers. But there's loads of fresh content, and since it's not trying to sell any wine through the book, there's a bit more of a sass factor.
00:00:21
Speaker
And there's food. Lots of it. Fulpel's unique writing style is applied to recipes like leftover Thanksgiving turkey, schmaltz-a-ball soup, and pregnancy nachos. This book can be purchased through Sasquatch Books.
Podcast Introduction
00:00:32
Speaker
Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to... There's no study at this. What? Hey, Ocean! Let's go! Jordan Morris getting in behind Florian Youngford. Jordan Morris! Scores!
00:00:50
Speaker
And how's this for a save from Steph and Fry? Here comes Roy Deers from the middle to crowd it to Seattle. What do the Tigers dream of? They take a little Tigers in. It's the Sounders and an S-Com. I feel a lot better than Bob.
00:01:18
Speaker
The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle And the hills, the greenest green in Seattle
00:01:31
Speaker
like a beautiful child growing up. Welcome to another edition of NOS Audio Disc, sponsored by Fullpool Wines. This is episode 332 and we're recording on Thursday, June 24th, 2021. I'm your host, Jeremiah Shannon. Joining me as usual is Erin Campo and her producer, Lickety.
00:01:49
Speaker
We returned to almost a month after our last recording in much the same place we left you.
Seattle Sounders' Unbeaten Streak
00:01:53
Speaker
The Senators are still writing a best ever start to the season, still undefeated, and still leading the supporters shield race. They've also not yet conceded a goal from open play, a streak that now stands at 900 minutes, which is the longest MLS has on record.
00:02:06
Speaker
The latest win was, in some ways, their most comprehensive. Although the score line was a relatively close two to one, the Sounders finally put together two very good halves and were easily the better team in both. They've still got some work to do in and around the penalty area, but they were getting into dangerous spots. And this is the part that impressed me the most. They didn't give up a single shot from open play. This is all despite using a lineup that was missing six potential starters. And that's not even counting Jordan Morris. These are good times, Aaron.
00:02:35
Speaker
It seems like whatever Brian Jametzer does seems to come out good. Start AV Sisoko, two solos starts. Kellen Rowe, he's now writing what, seven, eight consecutive starts? Barely missed the beat. This is, I don't know, a lot to like right now.
00:02:53
Speaker
Yeah, I mean I'm having fun. It's, it's an interesting streak because it all feels like house money, you know, it's, I think, I would say that you and I were actually bullish on the team compared to a lot of other folks, you know, I think we, we recognize that there were
00:03:13
Speaker
some less than ideal situations with the roster, but I think we felt like the team could be pretty competitive. But I don't think either one of us expected anything like this. And especially if you told me Nicholas Ladera was going to play 20 minutes in the first 10 games, there's no way I would have said that they would be leading the sport at showrooms. Exactly. Exactly. And, you know, I just
00:03:34
Speaker
I think the best thing about it, and I feel like we've talked about this every time we've recorded this this year so far, but everything about this feels sustainable now, not necessarily the fact that they haven't lost. Of course, they're not going to go 34 games unbeaten, probably. Yeah, don't don't sell them short. But yeah, sorry. But yeah, I.
00:03:54
Speaker
Nothing about the way they're achieving these results seems unsustainable. The defense is this good. They will probably concede or run a play goal at some point. I think that that's, you know, it's starting to look increasingly unlikely.
00:04:11
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's it's I think it was you that that dredged up the timbers in 2014, the year that you're good and horrendously unwatchable. I think like went 15 games without allowing an open play goal or something like that. No, no, no, that they only allowed 15 open play. Oh, okay. Gotcha. And that was the best that that was the or actually was I guess it was 18 open play. I know there was actually 18.
00:04:38
Speaker
But yeah, the record for least amount of open play goals in a season is something like 14. And the Sounders are obviously, they're almost a third of the way through the season and they haven't allowed any. As far as we know, this is the longest record in MLS that a team has ever gone without allowing an open play goal. MLS only has this type of record that goes back to 2010.
00:05:06
Speaker
but, and they only had like the number of open play goals back to 2003 in total, but yeah, this is a team that is, this is, we're getting into somewhat unprecedented territory in terms of like defense. And it's like the two, the two free kicks they gave up were both kind of freakish free kicks. It wasn't like they were, like, I think it would be a different thing if they were giving up corners and, you know, like you lose corners, right? That happens.
00:05:36
Speaker
But there only be giving up penalties and direct free kicks is like pretty amazing. Yeah, I think it is. I mean, it's it's remarkable. And it's it's the kind of thing that you see in the big European leagues, you know, like you'll see like a Manchester City or Liverpool or Bayern Munich or
00:05:58
Speaker
PSG, teams like that, you'll see put up numbers similar to these in terms of goals allowed, goals scored. Because that's the other thing, right? The sounders, the defense I think is the story and it's why they've been so good. But the attack has not been too shabby. I think the last time I checked, the sounders were second in goals scored. Yeah.
00:06:20
Speaker
Still the case Kansas only sporting KC is has scored more and they've played, you know, one more game.
00:06:28
Speaker
I mean, their, their, their goal difference is, is ridiculous. Plus 13 at this phase in the season is, is absurd. So they're getting it done on both ends of the pitch, but I think the defense has clearly been more remarkable.
Strong Defense and Tactical Excellence
00:06:42
Speaker
Um, and yeah, so it's, uh, you know, you don't see numbers like this on each side of the ball and in MLS very often. Um,
00:06:51
Speaker
Obviously, 10 games in, plenty of season left. But this is the part of the season where the Sounders were supposed to be struggling, and we just haven't seen that yet, really. It's very encouraging. MLS is weird. The Sounders have had plenty of seasons where they looked like world beaters, and things kind of fell apart.
00:07:11
Speaker
a little bit for a chunk of time. But this just feels sustainable in a way that some of their heights in the past have not felt sustainable. This feels a lot more like 2014 and 2015.
00:07:24
Speaker
A couple of weeks ago, someone pointed out that we had kept saying that the Sounders were off to their best over start and they'd actually fallen off that pace because both in 2012 and 2014, they actually started better through eight games than they did this year. But now after these last two wins, the Sounders are back above those two years. But 2012 and 2014 are arguably the two best regular seasons in Sounders history. So that's the kind of,
00:07:50
Speaker
hey that's like the kind of pace they're working on right now they're they're working on you know they're like in i in 2012 i think they had 58 points and in in 2014 they had 62 but 64 something like that uh but those are both very good seasons and that's the kind of pace that they're looking at right now like at some point you figure they're gonna cool off they're gonna lose a few games they'll come back to earth at some point but
00:08:20
Speaker
They're also at some point going to get Stephen Fry back and they're going to get Nicholas Lidero back. And, you know, Josh Atencio just came back and knew who, you know, will presumably be back this week. So, you know, like they're going to be like, they're doing this with backup players in a lot of cases. Like that's what's, I think the most remarkable thing about it is, you know, and they've got like, they finally are producing players from their academy and the defiance that are contributing.
00:08:50
Speaker
You know, and it's, you know, they were traditionally they've been like the oldest team in the league. They aren't one of the younger, they still are on the older end of the league, but like, we're talking like their average age is like 26. Like these aren't, there's no reason that this can't be like everyone on this. There's no one, there's no one player on this team who you think like, well, this is his last good year. Right. And that's, that's another thing that's kind of remarkable.
00:09:17
Speaker
Yeah, I think that the big story of this season should, the story should always be about what's happening on the pitch, but I think that the bigger story has got to be on what Garth Lagerweil has done to keep this train rolling through a pretty difficult stretch.
00:09:33
Speaker
Brian Schmetzer, any question that anybody has about his ability has got to be put to rest. You're not a serious person if you can't acknowledge that he's an extremely special coach.
00:09:49
Speaker
And there are still people that don't want to acknowledge that, and that's fine. They're not serious people, like I said. But to take this collection of players, which is obviously extremely talented, but there are fair questions about them coming into the season, to have them play just a completely different style to the way they've played in the past, completely different formation with an extremely short turnaround between seasons after a draining, taxing,
00:10:17
Speaker
season that ended on a sour note to get everybody in the right frame of mind, to play this formation, play this new style, do it this effectively, and just win games that even good veteran savvy sounders teams of the past have not won. The LA Galaxy Road game was, in a lot of ways, a big statement.
00:10:40
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that's that's a team willing themselves to get three points on the right in a difficult situation. And that's that's not something that even great teams are capable of doing all the time. And so I mean, he just deserves all the credit in the world for this. And he would, of course, never say that. And I think at least but you know, it's that I think what he would probably say is
00:11:03
Speaker
You got to give some credit to the coaching staff and I think it does. I think there's a lot of there's a lot there. You know, this is a coach who thought very publicly to get his coaching staff raises last year and that was apparently a lot of what the you know, consternation over whether you know over his contract taking longer than
00:11:23
Speaker
than it should have was that there was a lot of negotiations also going on in the coaching staff. And I think that you have to acknowledge that he's built this a really impressive coaching staff. I don't think that should come as a surprise anyone like the resumes on these coaches are really
00:11:41
Speaker
unlike anything else in MLS, you know, you've got, you know, we've talked about this before, but you got a World Cup veteran in Gonzo Panetta, you got a Champions League winner in Jimmy Troyori, you have a two-time MLS MVP and MLS coach of the year in Preccy, Tom Dutras, coach, some of the best goalkeepers in the
00:12:00
Speaker
in the league history, you know, this is a team that has a lot of, a lot of smart people in the background. And, and I think if anything, Brian deserves credit for listening to them. Cause I don't think every coach is willing to always listen to, to his, his assistants in the way that he has and that he's kept this group together for as long as it has, I think also speaks to how cohesive that group is.
00:12:30
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, definitely. I think that that's the most important part of being a good manager in any discipline in sports or no, or no exception, where you have to trust yourself, you have to believe in yourself, but you also have to listen to other people, surround yourself with smart people that are complimentary to your strengths and weaknesses, and actually trust the counsel of those people. Brian talked a lot about that during, you know, when he was, gave us some time during Akan,
00:12:59
Speaker
about, you know, yeah, like I'm overruling these guys all the time. But I'm also listening to their suggestions all the time. And I'm always actually listening to what they say. At the end of the day, the buck stops with me, but like, they're here for a reason. And I want them to be here and fought to keep them for a reason. And I think it's pretty clear, just the fact that they're
00:13:21
Speaker
not only good, not only a good team, but they're so efficient, so professional, so mistake-free in pretty much every phase of the game, I think is a testament to how good the coaching staff is. It's rare to see a team, especially in MLS, that just doesn't make mistakes very often.
00:13:42
Speaker
And, you know, in the past, I think we've had even the great Sounders teams just their talent overcame, you know, mistakes that they would make and deficiencies in the team. This is a team that is.
00:13:54
Speaker
well set up to do what they want to do. And they go out and execute weekend and week out. And yeah, occasionally they'll have games like the 00 at home against Dawson. But occasionally they'll have games like the two won against the Galaxy, which frankly, they didn't really have any business winning. And they did, because they don't make mistakes for the most part. And they execute. They do what they need to do to win games.
00:14:21
Speaker
When you do that and you have as much talent as the Sounders do, even without Nico Ladera, even without Jordan Morris, they're going to win a lot of games. You mentioned the idea that they make decisions that oftentimes you question in real time, end up working out. And I think a great example of that this year has been the decision not to start Jaymar for those first two or three games. I don't remember exactly how many it was. And he kept saying, look,
00:14:51
Speaker
relax, he's going to get in, he'll play whatever, whatever reason it was that he wasn't starting. He was confident that they were going to work it out and it was going to be fine. And now he's been probably there, you know, if not for Nu who he would, he would be there, clearly their best defender. I think you could even make an argument that he's still in some ways been their, their best pure defender.
00:15:16
Speaker
And he hasn't put a foot wrong defensively. If there's any criticism of him, it's that he's maybe not the best pastor. There was a lot of people that were saying, well, this is the guy who should be starting in the center. He should be the center of the three center backs. And I think it's hard to argue that he's not been better than his best self as the right center back there. Yeah, no, I agree.
00:15:46
Speaker
He's, I think a key difference between him and new who is that, you know, we expected this from him. Um, maybe not as much from new who, but I think, I mean, he's been a best 11 caliber defender. Um, and that's, you know, whether or not he's been as good or better than new, um, you know, it is kind of irrelevant because we have two best 11 caliber defense team. Um, and you're going to want a lot of games when you, when you have that, but, um, you know, you're, you're right. Like it's.
00:16:16
Speaker
I think that it's very easy to forget the personality management aspect of professional sports and coaching and professional sports. And I think that a lot of the time, I'd say that we're both more analytically minded people or at least open to that side of the game. And I think that
00:16:35
Speaker
in those circles that the soft skills, like S for lack of a better term, aspects of coaching and things like that tend to get overlooked. But, you know, I just, it's hard not to trust a coach knows what he's doing when he has a track record like this. And, you know, you're right. I mean, and I was
00:16:58
Speaker
driven crazy by JMR not getting starts in those early games. But it's pretty clearly worked out. And I think it's hard to question that it was the right decision, whether or not it was the right decision. It's not the appeal to authority fallacy when the authority has given you plenty of reason to assume that they know what they're doing in situations like this.
Challenges in Adding New Players
00:17:21
Speaker
And I don't think that means we should stop ever questioning it. But I do think that it
00:17:28
Speaker
I think it's worth keeping in mind that a lot of these decisions are working out. I will still question whether Brad Smith is the best option at left back. I'll definitely question whether Shane O'Neill is the best option in the center of the three there. But it's been working out and it's hard to argue with that.
00:17:51
Speaker
I am really, really hoping that we get to see this team at something like full strength, though, because I would love to see what this team looks like with Nico Ledero and Nuhu and Jaymar and Ariaga, and I hope we get to see it. It'll be interesting to see what they're able to do in this summer transfer window.
00:18:16
Speaker
I honestly don't have super high expectations that they'll be able to bring someone in that's going to have an immediate impact because I just think they're having to thread a needle that's going to be really tough to thread. It's going to have to be someone that like, where are you going to, where's the obvious place to upgrade? I don't, I don't know where it is. Honestly, like it's, is it left wing back? Is it right wing back?
00:18:39
Speaker
I don't know. And those aren't necessarily the kind of players that you can just go out and you kind of have to build those players in a lot of ways. Right. And is whatever upgrade there is in terms of pure talent going to offset the chemistry that's there, the fact that you know you're going to get quality performances at those spots. Yeah.
00:19:01
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it, it, it's going to be an interesting, it'll be interesting. And, and I am, you know, I, I like the rotation right now at forward. Like I think, you know, Freddie wasn't great against the galaxy, but I think that he still brings like a change of pace that I like. Uh, Bruin has not found the net yet, but he, I think he showed again. He provides a lot.
00:19:27
Speaker
like he, like, I don't think it's a coincidence. The Sounders looked so dangerous yesterday and that Bruin was in the middle of a lot of it. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's, uh, I think I said during the game that will is very clearly cursed, but in a way that allows him to still contribute to, to victories. And I mean, it's true. He's, he cannot buy a goal and it's nothing that he's not doing correctly. Right. And it's not like he's missing sitters. It's just like, yeah. Yeah. And I mean, it's just like,
00:19:57
Speaker
Finishing is hard, you know, and like the shot that he took last night, I mean, he didn't do anything wrong with the finish, just keep your gusts right. And it was slow goal. It was slow goal. And that's how the curse comes in. Like you can be, you know, you can, your goal per 90 or goals in this is per 90, you can be off the charts, but it's gonna, you know,
00:20:21
Speaker
I guess that wasn't an assist. So that kind of falls apart, but you know what I'm saying? I mean, he's very clearly contributing to goals and beyond goals, just he's doing a lot of the dirty work that is so important to making a formation like this work. Um, and he's doing all of that dirty work without, you know, that being his only contribution, like he's still contributing to the buildup and really important ways. He's still getting into dangerous positions. Um,
00:20:51
Speaker
And, uh, yeah, I mean, it's been, it's, it's been very fun to watch him get an extended runout, um, in, in a role that I think really suits him because even in the past when he's gotten a lot of playing time.
00:21:04
Speaker
it hasn't necessarily been the sort of forward like work that I think he's really excels at. He doesn't always excel at being like a lone forward. Yeah, exactly. He's much more effective when he's got somebody that can play off of them. And that's, I mean, that's true of like, there are very few strikers that are as good
00:21:29
Speaker
playing by themselves because they are playing in a strike partnership. But I think just with Will's skill set and the way this formation works, he's just perfectly suited to play in the position he's playing. And he's done just an outstanding job. He's a much bigger part, I think, of the team's success than he gets credit for.
Rui Diaz's Goal-Scoring Prowess
00:21:50
Speaker
You know, on that same token, one of the things that's most amazing to me about Rui Diaz right now is that he's eight, he's got eight goals. He's tied for the league lead eight goals and 10 games. And I don't know that he has ever felt like he's in like a zone, like he, like it just like he's finding goals, but it's not necessarily through.
00:22:10
Speaker
exemplary like he's not he's not just like banging goals it's like he's finding them he's getting them off you know a rebound here a penalty there right uh you know he's in the right place at the right time i mean he had he had a nice goal against atlanta uh you know set the on a corner kick but he the most part is just kind of like figuring out how to keep scoring goals without being at his best and he's he's had you know he's missing good opportunities uh great example being the one that he had
00:22:40
Speaker
in this one where he does all the hard work, he rounds the keeper, amazing first touch, and then he gets picked from behind with just a defender in front of him. But anyway, if he really gets going, that's what's so funny, I think.
00:23:02
Speaker
This is what they're doing without any, any of their player, any of their offensive players, like really playing, like carrying any sort of like carrying the team. You know, I think Zhao Paolo has been good. Christian Roldan has been good. But, you know, no one's putting up these gaudy numbers that you're like, well, without him, they'd all fall apart, but.
00:23:24
Speaker
Anyway, that's probably a good place to call this a segment. We got a bunch of questions from you guys. I think you'll enjoy that. But yeah, we'll get you on the episode of this break.
00:23:41
Speaker
Full Pool Wines are based in Seattle, owned and operated by Sanders fans, and have been sponsoring Nota Adieira since 2011. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest. Their model is simple. One, they email compelling offers.
00:24:00
Speaker
Two, you request bottles that sound appealing. And three, your wine arrives at their soda warehouse and is ready for pickup or shipping. Their soda tasting room is also open to the public. If you're interested in joining their mailing list or learning more about them, visit fullpaulwines.com. Welcome back to NOS Adiades. We have some questions, some good questions. We were like kind of
00:24:28
Speaker
stoked about this so uh look at why don't you fire away yeah uh bt weber starts off us off with uh which is more fun uh which is the more fun deliver file by the sounders raoul's hand of god or deuce's distraction of the destruction of the ref's notebook any that we aren't thinking of
00:24:50
Speaker
Um, I guess, well, okay. So this isn't a foul, but I would say that one of the great troll moments was when Osvaldo Alonzo punted that ball. He had that coffin corner ball that, uh, against, I think it was against the timbers, right? Yeah, it was. It was like 2018 or something.
00:25:11
Speaker
to give them the ball back after a stoppage. Yeah, exactly. You know, it wasn't like literally a foul, but that was like, and the reason that was so great was that it was like ultimately kind of harmless. And I would say that I'd also say Rui Diaz's handball yesterday, like the stakes are so different. And Clint Dempsey's role in the red card winning has an obviously a special place in my heart, but
00:25:34
Speaker
I mean, really Diaz, it ultimately was like a harmless thing. Like he got his yellow card, no one got hurt. It was funny. Whereas Deuce's thing was, you know, verging on. Like it's a part of history. Right.
00:25:52
Speaker
I, yeah, I think, uh, Raul's, if that goal stands like in a different world, cause that goal is never going to stand with bar, but if it does, I think that it's got a much more nefarious bent to it. Um, to me that that strikes me as like, eh, this is worth the yellow card to see if I can pull it off kind of thing where, and I think like.
00:26:13
Speaker
Dempsey is was very much like, I don't really give a shit what's happening to me. And this is in like, it was bad and it had like a lasting effect on the team. So I think in that sense, that's like the more.
00:26:28
Speaker
uh legendary and like you know important of the two um but it's also funnier to me like just the sheer disrespect for everyone involved is like everyone involved way too funny you know and i i think one of the funny things about that is that is you know he never had to really talk to the press about it like ever like because he just disappeared for like a month and a half after because he went he came back
00:26:54
Speaker
I think he got a six game suspension or something. Something like that, yeah. It was like a really long suspension. On top of his red, right? Right, on top of his red. And then he played, I think he played like one sounders game that I think was on the road.
00:27:11
Speaker
And then he left for the national team. And so by the time he was in a position to talk to the press again, it had been months. And we were too, frankly, I think everyone was probably too intimidated to be like, yo, Deuce, you never heard the red card. You remember how you did that red card? You ripped that thing up. What do you got to say about that?
00:27:31
Speaker
I also think too, in that period, it went from being a thing that there was a lot of couch fainting and crocodile tears about it to something that everyone just kind of acknowledged was pretty funny. Pretty quickly. Yeah, because I think it was ridiculous to try to pretend like it wasn't funny.
00:27:52
Speaker
And because like, if it had been something that momentous, that in some way helped to the sounders, then people would have continued being mad about it forever. But because people realized, oh, this actually kind of fucked the team over a little bit. Like, people could think of, you know, other people could think of it as funny as we did.
00:28:11
Speaker
Yeah, in the vein of Alonzo's kick in the corner, Tyrone Marshall stomping the PK spot way back when. See, that's an oldie goodie. That's like a legendary thing because there's almost impossible to find record of that because it's not in any of the write-up. It's not really written about anywhere. The highlights don't really show it very clearly.
00:28:35
Speaker
I actually went looking for that a while back, um, because I was like compiling the great moments of sounders crew history. I guess it must've been the head of last year's almost cup. And I couldn't find any like hard evidence that it even happened. Although I very clearly remember it. And I think anyone who saw it remembers it and they miss the penalty. If I remember correctly, right. That's why it was a big deal. Oh yeah. So it was funny. It's great.
00:29:02
Speaker
Okay, next question's about Madranda. There's a couple questions on Madranda, but this one's good. KungFuSquirrel asks, regarding Madranda, his play last night got me thinking, am I correct in feeling that Seattle really brings out the best in players they grab from other MLS teams?
Player Development and Integration
00:29:18
Speaker
Madranda's spectacular night, Kellen Rose bringing the hustle this year, Shane O'Neill since last year, Will Brew and Fry post TFC, et cetera.
00:29:26
Speaker
I think that the sounders are good at identifying players that it's worth taking a punt on is, is the long and short of it. I don't, I don't know. It's as much that the sounders are doing anything special. Once those guys get here, it's that the sounders are good at identifying guys that have fallen off that still have something left in the tank or are good at identifying. Like this guy is likely to make a recovery from injury. I mean, that was the thing with Madron does that he was, I think like a borderline best 11 player.
00:29:56
Speaker
who just got a bunch of injuries in a row and wasn't able to really make his way back to that level because he just wasn't getting the playing time that was necessary.
00:30:07
Speaker
And Kellen Rowe was, I mean, similar, right? Like he was in the national team pool for a bit. And he's not of an age where you would assume that he's done for. And I think the Sounders are just pretty good at identifying those sort of low risk, high reward veterans and getting good things out of them. The environment, the coaching staff, the fact that they're playing with extremely talented teammates, all of those things, I think, are helpful.
00:30:36
Speaker
And there are also veterans that the Sounders bring in and just totally whiff on. They just never melt anything. But I do think the Sounders, you know, have a better hit rate with getting a second life out of those guys. And I've got to think that a lot of that has to do with the scouting process and that sort of thing. I think also it helps. A lot of players want to be here. I think that's one of the things that, you know, I heard this on
00:31:01
Speaker
one of the, maybe it was Garth talking on Sounded Weekly or something, but I think one of the things you can't discount is the value that you get from players who want to come here as opposed to feel like they're getting sent to, like no one seemingly feels like they're getting marooned in Seattle, right? Like they all are like seemingly genuinely happy to be coming here, you know, in the cases of like,
00:31:27
Speaker
like they're openly campaigning to come to Seattle. And so I think that gives them an advantage in that they're motivated to do well, they're motivated to win their spot, they're motivated to stay here. And like you said, you surround them with some talented players. I think this year has been an interesting test case though, because it's like,
00:31:50
Speaker
they're in an environment that expects success. I think that maybe is the other thing is that there's an expectation of success. There's no, like, no one comes here feeling like they can just dog it. And if they suck, no one will notice. Like, that's just very much not the case. So I think it all mixes together. And, you know, it's a little of this, little of that, but yeah, you know, I, Kellen Rowe right now, I mean, if he didn't play another minute,
00:32:13
Speaker
I think you'd say like, Oh yeah, that was a pretty successful season. I think too, the fact that the Sounders have a lot of, a lot of internationals helps too, because of those guys are actually going to get opportunities. You know, if they're not there, they're going to be expected to play and I'm going to chance to play. Whereas in other cities, they might just be there for depth and never actually see the field. Makes sense.
00:32:38
Speaker
Okay, Interpiercing will ask, the Sounders have been successful this season, even as more and more of their best players have been out of the lineup. Is there any one player anymore that we can say if he's missing, they will struggle? Well, I just submitted this story today, and that will probably be up by the time you listen to this, but I kind of make the case that Jau Paulo might be that player. You could probably make the case that Christian, you know, Christian Roldan and Jau Paulo have both played
00:33:08
Speaker
They played in every game. I think Jow didn't start the San Jose game, which they weren't that good in. Christian did start that game, but I think I would be worried about this team if one of them were to be out for an extended period of time. Like I kind of feel like that's the kind of the keystone, like pull that one out and there could be some real problems.
00:33:31
Speaker
Yeah, I wish I had a different answer, but I don't, because I think, I mean, everybody else has missed at least one game and they haven't lost yet. So I suppose you could argue maybe Ruidya, like, I think the centers would struggle offensively. If you take Ruidya's out, I think that would, you know, if you had to go, and that would have been an interesting thing to be put to the test, right?
00:33:54
Speaker
like we thought he was going to be missing him for a bunch of time right now, right? And he's not, so that's great. Okay, Freeman Mester is Alex around the best value in the league right now. He seems to be playing tax brackets above his pay grade.
00:34:15
Speaker
I think new who is still the best value in the league, because I'm pretty sure their own similar deals and new who's like a best 11 shoe in at this point if he doesn't slip the rest of the year. But, I mean, Alex is definitely in that, in that next year if new who is an S tier value. Alex is definitely an eight year, you know.
00:34:36
Speaker
wow are those like is that like stock talk no no it's it's much dumber than that um it's a tearing meme thing yeah um ester is is for reasons that i'm somehow not quite nerdy enough to understand this that is better than nature but uh yeah it's uh yeah he's been tremendous he's been um i think that
00:34:59
Speaker
knew who I think everybody always knew had the ability to be this good in him. Maybe not this good, but an extremely good defender in MLS. Alex just continues to surprise and I think
00:35:16
Speaker
If there's a position on the pitch that the Sounders could afford to upgrade, it would still probably be that right wing back slot or left wing back. It would probably be at wing back. But the fact that Alex makes you think twice about that, considering the expectations, is a pretty impressive step forward for him. I'll say, I don't know that there's a lot of players in MLS who I would say would be automatic upgrades over Alex at right wing back.
00:35:46
Speaker
And maybe that speaks to my lack of, like Aaron Herrera, I suppose from RSL seems like he, like I haven't seen enough of him, but I know he's in the national team picture. And, you know, so maybe, maybe he's up there, but there aren't a lot of players who I think are very clearly above them. I mean, you look at the national team pool to use the national team.
00:36:10
Speaker
And like all the top four players are all in Europe at right back. And I think you can make an argument that Alex would have, if he had chosen the United States, he would be kind of in that mix of players after that. So yeah, there's not a lot of right wing back types who I think would be automatic upgrades and he's definitely a good value. But I'm sure if we really broke it down, there's probably a bunch of like homegrown players that are,
00:36:38
Speaker
somehow better values. Like Cade and Clark just got transferred supposedly for $2 million. Um, you know, he's so, I don't know, but it's, he's very good. And I'm not, I, like, I, I would, I would love to see what his next contract negotiation goes like. Yeah. I think in terms of like MLS veterans that are not prospects, he's. Yeah. And that, and that conversation, that's a good way of, yeah. Yeah. Okay.
00:37:08
Speaker
We're going back to Madranda for a second. Matt Soccer Talk asks, I know it was only one game, but after that Madranda performance, is Smith's name no longer automatically in our starting element? I think it has to be a conversation. I suspect Smith will start this next game only for fitness reasons. I suspect that Madranda won't
00:37:31
Speaker
he'll just play two, they'll be very reluctant to play him two games in quick succession like that, start him two games in quick succession. But based on this performance, I would rather, the next time they are on full rest, I would personally rather see Madron to start. I thought he was amazing last night.
00:37:51
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I think they definitely bring different things, but not as different maybe as I would have thought. I don't know. I mean, I think my position on Brad Smith is pretty well established. I think he's a good player. I like having him around. I don't think he ever really should have been automatic at left back. And I think that there definitely has to be some consideration. I also think
00:38:16
Speaker
the way the schedule is, there's no reason to even have that much of a discussion about it for a while. I mean, because it's not an either or. Right. They're both going to need to play a lot. So there's going to be ample time to see who's better, who the better fit is for what the sounders want to do. I think if anything, though, the idea that SNF is warts and all integral to the way the sounders want to play, I think it's pretty hard to make that case anymore.
00:38:47
Speaker
Yeah, Madranda, the thing that really stood out to me was how good he was in possession. He just worked a lot of combination plays with his teammates, and I think he made smart runs. And I was very... And he gets in on tackles.
00:39:07
Speaker
He's kind of an energizer bunny. I would say if there's one thing he brought over from Peter Vermeer's system is that aggression going into tackle stuff. He wasn't shy about that, that's for sure. OK, A-bomb88 asks, AOC has yet to play in a first team match this season. Why? Well,
00:39:33
Speaker
I can only say that in the games that I've watched against Tacoma, or when he's been with Tacoma, he doesn't look like a player who is banging the door down to get onto the first scene. He's been frustratingly invisible a lot of the time.
00:39:52
Speaker
I don't, I don't know what's going on with them. I've heard he's had some fitness issues at various times, but I don't, I don't have a lot to offer there, but I don't, I wouldn't expect to see him in the first team anytime soon. Yeah. I mean, he's, he's still a baby and he lost an entire year of development last year. Um, I think that that's.
00:40:14
Speaker
a really underrated thing when we're talking about these kids. Um, there are some kids that it didn't affect, but I think it's crazy to think that it's not going to affect some of them in some way. Uh, and so I think that's, that's a factor, but also it's just hard to break in to, I mean, it's, that's the hardest step anybody ever takes in their careers from, you know, promising youth player to actual professional. Um, and you know, he's still plenty young enough that I don't think there's any reason to be concerned. I just think that,
00:40:42
Speaker
You know, people were hoping he'd make this the jump a little bit quicker than he did, but that doesn't mean he's a lost cause by any stretch. Just, you know, he's not there yet. Twimberly23 asks, with how well Nu has played this year and him still being relatively young, do you think any teams will come calling to try and acquire him this year?
Speculations and Future Prospects
00:41:06
Speaker
Yes, I think so. I think there's a very good chance of that. I think the Sounders probably have enough leverage
00:41:12
Speaker
I don't think he's going to be a team that you know illegal in team or, or wherever it is that the interest comes from in Europe says we've got to have this guy right away he's going to come and start for us right now. So I think the Sounders have a pretty good chance of.
00:41:29
Speaker
you know, being able to tell anybody that's interested, like, we're going to keep them through the end of the season. But I would be shocked if he keeps playing this way, if he's not getting some pretty serious interest, especially if he does get some national team time. You know, that's usually what seals the deal, I think, for talented MLS players. But I think he's playing well enough now, and MLS has been more heavily scattered than in the past, that teams have definitely noticed for sure.
00:41:56
Speaker
I would think especially if you're a French team, a legal team with playing three center backs, I don't know why you wouldn't think he can be an upgrade for you because he's great. Yeah, definitely.
00:42:17
Speaker
Let's see, Kowimo, I'm butchering that. Which upcoming games present the biggest threat to the undefeated record and or conceding a goal in the run of play? How long can the streaks last? Well, I think, you know, this is what's, of course what's going to happen is that they're going to somehow blow it against Vancouver. Even though on paper, that's probably the game they should definitely not.
00:42:46
Speaker
not draw points in but I mean honestly the the July 4th game their next game after that against the rapids rapids I don't know if I didn't realize this so I suspect a lot of other people didn't realize it but the rapids have been pretty good like they lost last night against sporting hands city but they've quietly been one of the better teams you know ESPN I was actually had them ranked third in their power rankings but they're they're five five three and one they're
00:43:15
Speaker
you know, essentially, um, one, you know, they, they, they're right there with the galaxy in the standings. Uh, they're, they're a formidable team. Sounders have, have oftentimes struggled in Colorado. I don't know. I wouldn't be shocked if they, if they lost that game. We've got to wear those ugly ass warmups. I might throw them off your name. Yeah. Is there some kind of, uh, like,
00:43:42
Speaker
America rivalry with the Rapids that I don't like, why do we play them on the 4th of July every year? That's a very good question. And I don't, I don't understand it at all. Because you're right, I think this is at least the fourth or fifth time we've played in Colorado on the 4th of July. Yeah, that's very strange. And it's like the most random recurring date that I don't that I don't understand.
00:44:06
Speaker
It's very strange. I guess maybe they're trying to make the 420 Derby happen. Oh God, maybe that's what it is. I don't know what's going on. Definitely should call it the America's Cup, though. It's a very funny quirk of the schedule that it's like they somehow, hey, remember we did this last year? Let's do it again. So if they get past Colorado, how long do you think they can go? All right, that's a good question.
00:44:35
Speaker
Minnesota is a tough one. It's a Sunday in Minnesota early game. That's the, which is the game after the rapids game or no. We played Houston at home.
Maintaining the Unbeaten Streak and Hypotheticals
00:44:48
Speaker
Um, sporting Kansas city is always tough, even though that one's at home. Um, I mean, there's, there's, I would say the skit there's, there's some games, there's going to be some tricky games coming up. Right. And the thing is, is that it,
00:45:05
Speaker
the most likely scenario is that it's the field, right? Like it's not any one good team. It's like San Jose on a Wednesday night or whatever. I hope, you know, I hope not. I hope it's a formidable opponent and it's the streak, but I mean, I don't see any reason to think
00:45:27
Speaker
They like I wouldn't be shocked if they got through August I guess through August. Yeah, I mean I'm not seeing any game like I don't know 15. I don't expect them. It really would. I don't expect them to get through August unbeaten, but I'm not.
00:45:49
Speaker
When I look at every game, I'm like, yeah, that's a game the Sounders could get a point from. I'll say this, I don't expect them to be significant underdogs in any of these games. Based on the way things have gone the last couple of years, they play Portland the 29th of August in Seattle, so that's the one.
00:46:10
Speaker
In Portland, they should be fine. They'll probably run by like six, but yeah, at home, at home against the timbers, they're, they're doomed apparently. So yeah, they have a 92nd minute of the game. They haven't beaten the timbers at home in like three or four years. It's crazy. Well, I guess it depends on how you choose to look at the two of the making playoff games.
00:46:32
Speaker
And on top of that, the rain will beat the thorn beforehand and then we'll lose. We gotta win that. That one we gotta win. You can't, that can't be it. It's gotta be one of these games before then. I would trade one of these games before then for sure. It's gonna be Vancouver. Let's see, next question. Drone637 asks, how do you think past teams would have played with our current formation? Not as well. I mean, it's kind of a,
00:47:02
Speaker
I know that they planned some things around putting this formation together and playing this way.
00:47:10
Speaker
It didn't hurt that they had Shavi Ariaga, Jamar, Nuhu, Shane O'Neal, a very attacking left back that they wanted to get on. They lost their only really threatening winger before the season.
00:47:34
Speaker
They, they, I don't want to say they walked into having this personnel because it was definitely planned out, but they have the personnel to play this way. And like, we've had this discussion in the past. Yeah. I think, I think the formation was a result of the personnel that they had available and not so much the other, like, I don't think they went out and sought to build a team around a three, five, two. I think they looked at their roster and were like, wait a minute.
00:47:56
Speaker
Yeah, what would be the best way to use this? And conversely, I think there's going to be a tempting argument to make like, oh, remember that Chad Marshall, Kim Ki-hee, and Roman Torres? Wouldn't that have been a formidable trio? And I think that, in a sense, it would have been a formidable trio. But I think there's some things to keep in mind. None of those three were natural central
00:48:21
Speaker
Center, like, none of them were that kind I guess you and I guess you could maybe argue that Chad Marshall could have been more of a sweeper type of thing, but then you need more mobile outside center backs can he he would have been, I think, okay and that, but Roman Torres was not someone that you wanted.
00:48:41
Speaker
running around, like he's not Yemar. I don't think he would have loved it, but I don't think that's the way, like, I think the sounders personnel would have struggled to play in this formation in years past. And it certainly was never built in a way that was meant to maximize this. Like, I don't think you would have ever maximized your roster with this formation.
00:49:05
Speaker
Okay. A Crafty Bear122 asks, you have an unlimited budget for one player, who would it be and how would they make the team better with the current roster? Well, I think Killian Mbappe would fit nicely into this roster. That's not a very fun way. He is really effective at wide and we don't play with wingers.
00:49:33
Speaker
limit to your flexibility can you can you play yeah you can what do you do like messy where's messy gonna play on this team huh yeah no it's true where's where's uh where's Lukaku gonna play uh no but Lukaku was actually a really good answer Lukaku and Rudy as a striker parent would be undoubtedly that's a good point that's a good um so maybe Lukaku was the is the answer i was gonna say like if you were to
00:50:02
Speaker
rather look at which player, if you could buy any one player, who would you bring? I mean, because obviously there's a lot of players you could bring in and dramatically improve this team. I guess if you're going to improve them the most, you want to find the best player possible. But if I were to use this as more of an exercise, like imagine Alfonso Davies as left back. If you could replace Brad Smith with Alfonso Davies,
00:50:27
Speaker
That'd be pretty good. Yeah, that'd be all right. I mean, I'm actually kind of liking the Lukaku idea. Like, I think that like a big physical target forward that's also like extremely skillful and can, you know, play off of Raul, somebody that's gonna play the Will Brew and roll, but no offense to Will Brew, but you know, like at a world class level. You might admit that.
00:50:54
Speaker
So yeah, I mean, somebody in that vein would be, I think, pretty good. Harry Kane, maybe, I don't know. I don't like Harry Kane at all on many levels, but he is pretty good. Do you think Harry Kane would fit in? I don't know if Harry Kane would fit in with this group. Probably not. I don't know.
00:51:19
Speaker
I can see Lukaku actually getting along with this team. I can see Alfonso Davies getting along. Yeah, we tried to sign Harry Kane, but he just wasn't good. He was on our short list, but we just had some conversation. It didn't seem like he'd fit in with Alex Rodin.
00:51:41
Speaker
It makes it feel awkward, you know? Right. In all seriousness, how it is kind of wild that, that, like, Raul Rui Diaz does seem like he's just like one of the guys. And how the Sounders managed to keep signing players that are, you know, cool, cool guys. It's great.
00:52:06
Speaker
Okay, last question. Jim C. Kim asks, if we could use the summing circle from at Sounder at Heart to either produce a new Sounder's Crest logo or a new Sounder's soccer-specific stadium, which would you choose? This is a trap question, isn't it? Yeah, it is. Completely trap. I mean, sure, I'll say the Crest.
00:52:36
Speaker
Um, I will also say the crust, but only for sustainability reasons. There you go. Yeah. I mean, this is the most pretentious possible answer. Right. I mean, I guess if the summoning circle doesn't require you to pay for, like it just like appears, like a stadium would be really, is it would be really great, but the reality, I mean, you know, I mean, if we were to kind of logic this out, like
00:53:03
Speaker
I don't know that the Sounders are ever going to get a new stadium for themselves. I've had this debate with people many times. I've always contended that their best hope is that the Seahawks leave CenturyLink and build a stadium in Kent or something like that. And they leave CenturyLink all to the Sounders and the Sounders can right-size the stadium and do everything they need to do.
00:53:26
Speaker
know, dig up the pitch, put in grass, do you everything they need to do, right? Like that's the, that's really like, I don't know that they could hope for a better situation on that. Yeah, I mean, I think that
00:53:42
Speaker
I have this weird paradoxical opinion that teams should play in the cities that they're from, but that it's an inefficient use of land in dense urban areas. So I don't really know how to square that circle with a new stadium, but Century Links or Lumen, whatever we're calling it now, is already there. I think that for whatever reason, I feel like soccer is
00:54:07
Speaker
better, like the NFL can move to the suburbs and okay, it's not ideal, but I don't think it takes any way from the actual game. It's just more like about the logistics of it. But like, I think part of what makes the Sounders experience so successful is that it's in the middle of downtown. Um, and that it's, you know, so interwoven with the environment and everything like that. So, um, but I just don't know where else in downtown Newport stadium without, you know,
00:54:33
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I suppose you can argue that Seattle Center would be a nice like if you put it where memorial is but yeah like I think memorial like that's I do think there's like a misallocation of resources there because like
00:54:47
Speaker
I think that land if you're going to reuse it for something, it probably should be a high school which is the thing that the school district has been talking about doing like the city is outgrowing at schools, pretty rapidly right now and right. So like, you know, like this is obviously a much more serious conversation than I think this person.
00:55:05
Speaker
intended, but I would have a hard time justifying the land. Like, don't get me wrong, I'd be really excited about going to a sounder stadium no matter where it was. But from a, you know, an urbanist perspective, I think it would be tough to justify putting a stadium where there's not currently, that's not currently being used for stadium like activity, because even if you say like, oh, well, you can put it in Soto where
00:55:29
Speaker
where they were planning on putting the Sonic's arena, you could argue that that land would be better used as housing, right? Like even though it's not being used for housing now, you could argue that that would be better used for housing in that scenario. And like honestly, I think the best thing that they could do at CenturyLink is like get rid of as much of the parking around the parking lots and make better use of that land.
00:55:55
Speaker
and you know kind of like really enclose the city like make CenturyLink even a tighter urban part of the urban space right? Yeah no I agree I you're preaching to the choir I mean I think um it it's like you said like it's if the sounders start building a soccer specific stadium in downtown Seattle I'm not going to complain about it but I do think
00:56:20
Speaker
I just don't see the justification beyond, well, it'd be cool. And I don't know if that's a good enough reason for me to get fully behind it. So yeah, so a new crest. There you go. Yeah, exactly.
00:56:34
Speaker
And we just some encircle for some kind of grass that's impervious to being killed by football players and that would also seem to have some really great implications for agriculture globally. So, um, you know, we'd solve every, we would invent something to solve world problems. Right. There you go. Yeah. Right. That's it. Oh, well, that was, that was fun. Always love the, I love our questions.
00:57:01
Speaker
I do. Well, that's it. That's it. That's our show. That's our show. Thanks to our sponsor, Foolful Wines. They're obviously awesome. And I hope everyone is enjoying what they do. Hopefully we won't be going month without recording again. But that's it. We didn't play for three weeks. What do you want from us? Yeah.
00:57:23
Speaker
But anyway, I'm Jeremiah Shands, ending off behalf of Aaron Campo and Likit. This is No Study Yet This, remember?
00:57:45
Speaker
Roll on, Columbia, roll on. Roll on, Columbia, roll on. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn. Roll on, Columbia, roll on. We love you. Let's win another one!