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Are Cruz Azul overlooking the Sounders?
326 Plays1 day ago
As frustrated as Sounders fans were with the scoreless tie against Cruz Azul, it seems like their fans were even more mad. On “What we learned this week” Niko Moreno shares that Mexican media were practically beside themselves that one of their giants couldn’t beat the Sounders, short-handed or not.
Jeremiah and Niko also discuss the ongoing situation around Jesús Ferreira and the joint press conference between the Sounders and Reign.
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Transcript
Episode Sponsorship Introduction
00:00:02
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounders supporters.
00:00:16
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
Will Bruin Joins as Guest
00:00:25
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. Come on! Hey, O'Shea!
00:00:38
Speaker
Let's go! I'm sorry, Mark Fry! The Seattle Sounders have done it! I don't know!
00:00:57
Speaker
sounder that has come nila
00:01:17
Speaker
This is a tiny dog. Nice work on your little yacht thing.
00:01:30
Speaker
Ever since 7th, I wrote a commentary that we didn't take over seriously.
Press Conference Highlights with Jeremiah and Nico
00:01:42
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adietes. I am Jeremiah Shan, joined as always on Fridays by Nico Moreno with what we learned this week with Nico, part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network.
00:01:56
Speaker
We are here at Long Acres. We just had a very long day at Long Acres. It 2 o'clock. We're usually done two hours ago here, but they had a... little special joint press conference-y thing with the Reign to sort of mark the beginning of their season.
00:02:14
Speaker
And we didn't just get both Reign players. We got a Reign player. We got Jesus Ferreira and Jordan Haidema from the Reign. We got lauren Laura Harvey and Brian Schmitzer. And then we also had ah the Sounders sort of like front office, or not front office, but ownership with Adrian Hanauer, Hugh Weber, and Maya Mendoza-Extrum, and But Nico, I've talked a lot without you saying anything. I should have given you a chance to say something. How are you? Hey man, you you are the the guy who starts it off, man. You know, I'm just playing out for your vibe, man. You know, I'm like the point guard, you know, you the shooting guard. That's the way we run it, man. But no, I'm excited to be here as always.
00:02:54
Speaker
ah It was a long day. And I think that might be part of this start. You know, we're just trying to kind of get it together. ah A lot of information, all that I don't know if we'll be able to necessarily reflect upon in today's episode because it is so much. and i think we're going to all go back and listen to some video, get some questions.
00:03:15
Speaker
But I feel like we all got, at least I feel like I asked the questions that I wanted to ask. so i yeah um And so did you. and And that provides good content for our audience. And plus, we got LAFC coming to town. Oh. and a second leg at Cruz Azul that's do or die. So man, there's plenty to talk about. There's no shortage of things to talk about. But I think broad strokes, let's just open with this joint presser. And I think for me, the broad strokes of this was sort of just...
00:03:46
Speaker
opening the season in a way that said we are one organization, we want to find more ways to shed light and and sort of bring people into the Seattle Reign, that they do want to really put forward a image that this a different organization era That this is a one unified era. And i i must say the symbolism of doing this right now when so much of our world right now is divided and sort of like diminishing this type of joint effort where we're elevating women's sports to be on an even playing field as men's sports.
00:04:24
Speaker
It is kind of like, I don't know. They were not... They were trying to steer clear, I think, of political stuff, but that wasn't lost on me. I think it's kind of neat that, ah you know, I like to see this. It was kind of a there was some imagery there that I thought was relevant and
Community and Soccer Development Discussion
00:04:40
Speaker
useful.
00:04:41
Speaker
i don't know. I thought it was a, i thought I don't know how much news came out of this, but it was a neat gesture and an in a interesting sort of like ah walk yeah introduction. Yeah. Yeah, and look, people might say that, you know, at times, these kitzanas, people always say the right things when they're on stage and when it's prepared and when there's an event. But to me, I feel like that there was a lot of genuine sentiment in terms of community, developing soccer within the region, both in the women's soccer and the guys' soccer. I thought it was cool that...
00:05:20
Speaker
Adrian shared with us that there's potential to start sharing some of the facilities, training together with with the RAINN. So there's definitely a big intent to unite both of the franchises.
00:05:31
Speaker
um It seems like the RAINN for the long term, at least the way Adrian put it, was a multi-year contract at Starfire. They'll continue to be there, but there is some sort of I don't know if a plan, but but maybe a possibility that in the future, everybody's here. and They definitely left open that possibility. they don't like by No means were they going out of their way to say that's not going to happen.
00:05:57
Speaker
You also brought up the possibility of the the rain having being in a cold, different community. ah not part of the greater Seattle area, but as a sort of putting their footprint somewhere else, which I thought was interesting. was first time I'd ever heard that possibility as well.
00:06:13
Speaker
But the thing that struck me was this idea that, you know, Laura Harvey was at the game, I guess on... Was it on Wednesday that she yeah we it wasn't clear exactly what game she went to, but she was at a game.
00:06:26
Speaker
There was some photos of her actually on the bench, which I guess was pregame. But then during the game, she sat in the in the booth with ah Henry Browner, I believe, and Freddy Juarez and sort of did the in game. It was like giving her opinions on what was happening.
00:06:42
Speaker
And that's a level of intimacy. I guess that she also did that for the Montreal game last year, that the Sunners won 5-0. But that's a level of intimacy that I don't think you're seeing in most of these joint efforts.
00:06:54
Speaker
No, absolutely not. e And you could tell that she was very careful about saying, hey, you know what, I'm... If somebody asks my opinion, sometimes I'll say, sometimes I won't, right? I mean, i don't think she wants to step over anybody. And ah it is so intimate. That's exactly why she was so careful with what she said.
00:07:10
Speaker
But it's a is an interesting approach. And yeah and and and if anything, it it does show that Adrian Hanauer, and the question was asked about whether there was a possibility of the rain leaving if another owner came on.
00:07:23
Speaker
It really does seem like he's doing a his best effort to keep both clubs very united, very entwined. And I thought it was interesting that Brian seems to like embrace the, like he seems to really like Laura from a on a personal, so yeah, he seemed very like thrilled to be on a the the stage with her and sort of to be sharing, to be able to bounce ideas off her and him. And he he's, you know, even saying like, there's things I could think I can learn from them, which again,
00:07:51
Speaker
it's all words, I suppose, on some level, but they're not words that they have to say. No one's making them say these things. We might need to bring her along for like bad post-game press conference. Exactly. you know, that she'll keep him happy, right? This is the best movie he's been in a post or like in a ah press conference with us for a while. I don't i don't know I just thought it was interesting. i don't think I have a lot more to say about it right now, but it was, I thought it was some symbolically useful and interesting and,
00:08:21
Speaker
I don't know, I'll be curious to see how this evolves over time. I don't know that we'll do this a lot. I don't know if there's a lot of usefulness in doing this all the time. But again, that was part of what I thought was interesting about it is that it wasn't really a, there was no reason to do it other than to to make the public gesture.
00:08:39
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And I think they wanna engage more more media, more coverage yeah that was brought up in the past. And now I've never really done it consistently, but I had asked in the past, and it seemed like it was a little bit more difficult to talk to players than I initially thought, maybe a couple of years ago.
00:08:58
Speaker
Don't know that's changed any. I think that's true. For sure, it was true for a long time. Okay, well, that's exactly what I think today. That's kind
Challenges of Building Soccer-Specific Stadiums
00:09:06
Speaker
of cool that they were able to bring us on. I think they want us... provide this but openness so more people come to cover. And I think that's all valuable. i don't understand why a team would close those doors or make it difficult, right? I mean, it's odd.
00:09:20
Speaker
One thing that did catch my attention, and i don't know how much you want to talk about it, but, because you asked the question, but Adrian talked a whole lot about,
00:09:33
Speaker
having a soccer only stadium and how the, you know, that the smell of the field and the the the feel of the stadium when it's, you know, he's gone to all these places around the world where soccer specific stadiums are so important. And I think we all agree with it.
00:09:51
Speaker
But I don't know like how much, and obviously he talked about how difficult it is, but I don't know how much urgency there is to get that done. yeah That always wasn't talked about today, well necessarily, but what's your take on that? mean, I think it's it is interesting because they have a lease at Lumen Field, I believe, until 2032. that's...
00:10:10
Speaker
so that's seven years away from now. That's a long way away. So even if they decided that they were going to build this facility, chances are it's not going to be open until 2033 at the earliest.
00:10:23
Speaker
And that is ah and and this sort of the question I asked was about bridging the gap between let's even assume best case scenario that they have decided that's what they're going to or not best case scenario, but let's just say they decided what to do.
00:10:37
Speaker
there's a lot of time between now and then, and they can't afford to just punt on making things better at Lumen Field. And that's sort of what my question was about is like, how do you, you know, let's assume for a second that you have made that decision,
00:10:53
Speaker
there is You're going to have to find a way to continue to build your fan base and to keep people happy. and to keep people Because people aren't going to just buy season tickets in 2025 because they want season tickets in 2033. That's not how it works. People don't think that way.
00:11:07
Speaker
Nor should they. And so there's a lot of work, I think, to be done. And they did talk a lot about improving the and environment and the sort of concourse experience at Lumen Field in the meantime.
00:11:19
Speaker
I noticed they didn't have a lot of details in that way. They did not. And I think that's one of the things that concerns me. They talk about wanting to do it. And like Adrian said, well, it's a lot of hard work. It's a lot of grinding.
00:11:30
Speaker
Okay, but what does that actually look like? We don't know. Because I don't i don't know. I don't get the sense that that's been dramatically improved since last year. So I think they do have a lot of work. It's good to hear them acknowledge that they need they have work to do, but I think there's a big question as to what that work actually looks like.
00:11:48
Speaker
And that's kind of what I was getting into. I could hear Adrian trying to be... very mindful of it, indicating his desire to do it, but there was not really a a plan or idea or anything like that. I was i was even gonna, during my question, kind of put them in the category of Cruz Azul, where they were like, man, we're just done. Let's just cut it here. We'll go figure it out, but we just need to move on from here.
00:12:16
Speaker
And they kind of pushed themselves out of that comfort zone of being there, but it was in the stage four, so I didn't go there. But that's kind of what I ah want to see. like How much is is this art the Seattle Sounders and Adrian Hanauer be willing to be uncomfortable or or make a push to do something before that timeline? or you know I'm sure that if they talk to Lumen, i mean we're talking about ah scheduling conflicts that might be coming up, they might not be coming up.
00:12:42
Speaker
So if you as an owner, have that desire. Sometimes it's just pushing yourself. lets That should be priority number one. Let's sit down. Let's talk the numbers. Let's figure out how to get that done. And that's what I don't see.
00:12:53
Speaker
i don't I don't either. And I'll be interested, you know, right now coming up, if the Sounders advance, we can all you have to do is look at the schedule of Lumenfield. And there the dates of the first leg of the quarterfinal, assuming they get there, are are filled.
00:13:11
Speaker
There is no way at all that the Sounders can host the first leg of the CCC quarterfinals because there is a monster truck rally and a dirt
Scheduling Conflicts at Lumen Field
00:13:21
Speaker
bike race. That is out of the question.
00:13:24
Speaker
That's not something that you would have happened, presumably, if you controlled your own facility. and that is you know And so we don't know what's gonna happen if they end up hosting that. The Sounders have not announced anything. They have not actually even acknowledged ah publicly that they can't play. Why would they, right Because they're not there. There's no reason.
00:13:42
Speaker
But it is goingnna it is an interesting situation, and it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. And we're not going to, you know, but this is all stuff that's going on. And, you know, for all their talk, I don't know that their relationship with First and Goal, who controls Lumen, has gotten any better.
00:13:58
Speaker
It seems like it's gotten worse every year. even though between the Sounders and Rain, they are by far the most, ah the most they they play the most, of they they hold the most events there of anyone without even question. I mean, between the two of them, they host twice as many events there, more than twice as many events than the Hawks.
00:14:19
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that's exactly why, I thought it was an interesting point. I think that is something that a lot of the fan base is consistently harping on. So, you know, I thought it was good.
00:14:30
Speaker
um In a lesser scale, there wasn't really much clarity, and I don't want to get too much into it, but I do want to mention it. I just asked about Club World Cup. It sounds like there isn't really a lot of clarity in terms of, like, how much sales they've been done. It didn't seem like you was...
00:14:45
Speaker
you know, trying to talk about it. I just, I had a real curiosity about what it looked like early and maybe not even that early. right I mean, we're not, this one we're a few months away. yeah You know, I did see today, I think that the club seats finally went on sale for the Sounders games. And I think I saw that they're $600 piece. Ouch. $600 a piece.
00:15:05
Speaker
mean, that's six hundred dollars a piece there i mean that's a That's a pretty penny? yeah That's a pretty penny. it'll be interesting. I have heard rumors that more inventory might is is supposed to come online that's in the lower bowl.
00:15:18
Speaker
We'll see what happens there. That might be why Adrian was very clear about saying, prices are not on me. Prices are not on me. Prices are not on me. I think it was you who asked about the reports of the payday, the participation payday.
00:15:35
Speaker
ah The latest reports were that the European teams at least are
Financial Uncertainty Post-Club World Cup
00:15:40
Speaker
expecting to be guaranteed between 12 and 16 million. i don't know that the Sounders would reasonably expect that much, but there's going to be millions of dollars, which would presumably pay for at least a transfer fee or two if they wanted to do that.
00:15:55
Speaker
ah So, i don't know, these are all things that are gonna be interesting. We didn't get a lot of clarity on any of it today. No, not at all. That was literally quoted, like that's literally, there's not a lot of clarity, a lot of clarity. Right, yeah, exactly. And you know also in terms of like where the money was gonna be used, as I think most people should know and understand,
00:16:14
Speaker
There's probably not all of is going to go into a player. Not all it is going to go into a transfer fee. Adrian talked about, you know, the the the developing of youth players. There are all kinds of things. all kinds of things that that you need to kind of come about. But again, these are just things that I hear you guys talk about, comment, ah question, and that's why I brought it up. Yeah, and I think it was a good question. And it was good for him to at least go on the record. and I mean, he did imply that some of it would be used on transfer fees. he And he definitely said they would all be reinvested back into the club. That is true.
00:16:43
Speaker
we'll see what form that actually takes. But talking about we got a lot of stuff going on the field. We should probably talk about that as well.
Match Analysis: Sounders vs Cruz Azul
00:16:51
Speaker
i You know, we had the game against Cruz Azul. I think I felt like the Sounders were the better team. They created the better chances.
00:16:59
Speaker
admittedly against a shorthanded Cruz Azul, who still, I thought, looked pretty good, which weirdly gives me more confidence because it wasn't like they came in and just were parking the bus and let this and said, oh, get hit us with your best shot, and the Sounders couldn't land the punch.
00:17:15
Speaker
It was more that the Sounders took their chances and it it didn't quite go out, but Cruz Azul came to play. I actually was pretty impressed with Cruz Azul's play.
00:17:26
Speaker
I don't know what... and And I do think that going into the second leg, knowing that all you need is a road goal to get the tiebreaker is helpful.
00:17:37
Speaker
Not exactly the result the Sounders would want, but I was not as discouraged by how they played than it felt like maybe some of the discourse around it was. And that's kind of it, right? I mean, look, there are no two ways to look at it.
00:17:50
Speaker
This was a missed opportunity yes because of the end result. Did they play well? Absolutely. And that might even be more frustrating for the coaching staff, for the fan base. The players themselves have to be frustrated that they had every chance to win this game. They did all the right things. The intensity was there. Physicality was there. The movement was there.
00:18:09
Speaker
The chances. Look, Jordan... He does so much work. He gets himself in such good positions. In this one, he did. But he has to finish those two chances.
00:18:21
Speaker
At least. There's one in the first half, and then there's one in the second where he hits the post. I actually thought that one was a better... More difficult. More difficult finish. He had a header and a breakaway in the first half that I thought were from a just...
00:18:35
Speaker
pure chance quality perspective, maybe little bit better. I actually was very, i it would have been a huge goal for him to get that one, but he he actually hit that from a pretty tight angle with his left foot, he beats the goalkeeper, and gets a little unlucky that it hits off the inside of the post and stays out.
00:18:52
Speaker
i But he he was not on the ball a lot, but this was sort of a classic Jordan game where he did a lot of work. He did. But it wasn't showing up in a lot of touches. And that's exactly why that position is so difficult and why sometimes the criticism is valid in a certain way. Yeah, sure. Because you expect your guy to finish those moments when he doesn't touch it that many times because that's what he comes That's what he's there for That's what the role is, right? That's what that's what that's what the role is.
00:19:20
Speaker
So there's the... goal that was taken back because of the offside that was very thin line. yeah It sucks because Pedro was so excited. Oh, man. was like a kid. I feel so worn bad when I see him because I see the flag go up and then I see him running off in the other direction and I'm just like, oh, that sucks.
00:19:39
Speaker
That sucks. And it was a good finish. It was good finish. He hits it between three gold three defenders. He's kind of shrugging off the goalkeeper who is literally pulling on him. it I would like to think he gains some it it continues his confidence.
00:19:53
Speaker
He has looked much more confident this year, but it was a shame that it didn't count because it was a good goal, and the replays were at best, It's inconclusive that it was offside. I think if it had been called onside, there's no way it would have there's no way at all that it would have been overturned.
00:20:10
Speaker
I thought he played very well. I thought that he was i thought he was good too i thought he was good on the ball. His half turns, he was a special guy on on the ball. I was surprised that Brian took him off. I thought that maybe Jordan was going to be the guy that was going to come off just because he's played so many minutes. started every single game.
00:20:28
Speaker
He looked a little bit exhausted. ah Maybe Paul would have been someone else that you could take off and see if all these four pieces combined together. What I will say is that...
00:20:41
Speaker
ah Pedro ah coming off the field, although upset, clearly he wanted to stay on, which is normal. He had go the time. yeah There's no nothing crazy about it. sure But I've been encouraged by how much he wants to just be there and make a difference. And play. And all of those things.
00:20:59
Speaker
I was speaking to somebody off the record, off Mike's from Cruises Soul, and he's like, man, we were just excited that he came off. you know it it is It was an interesting thing because it's we've been talking about this a lot. We talked about it today with Brian. We talked about it with Jesus as well about there is essentially i what we what Brian definitely he said in as many words, we have four players, Jordan, Jesus, Pedro and Albert.
00:21:26
Speaker
who are essentially we see filling three spots. And and that was a that sub was a pretty clear illustration of that mentality where he comes off where Jesus replaces Pedro.
00:21:39
Speaker
Now, in hindsight, maybe not even in hindsight, I think you probably said this in real time, that it would have maybe been nice to see him replace Areola because Areola ended up coming off about 10 minutes later.
00:21:51
Speaker
and it would be one thing if you're like, look, we just we feel like it's very very important for Areola to be out there to bring cohesion to this whole formation. That's a valid point. But if you're going to pull him off in 10 minutes, why not just let him see how the four of them look together?
00:22:05
Speaker
Because we have not seen them all four on the field. I don't think even in preseason. Thank you for listening to the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network, which now includes No Sanietes, Lobbing Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild.
00:22:17
Speaker
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00:22:35
Speaker
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00:22:57
Speaker
Thanks for listening.
00:23:00
Speaker
It's getting to be that time of year when you need to figure out how to watch Sounders games. If you're an a Alliance member, you are getting a free subscription to MLS Season Pass and you're covered. Similarly, if you're a T-Mobile subscriber, you're also covered.
00:23:13
Speaker
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00:23:30
Speaker
Just to make things extra easy, we'll put a link in the show notes too. Thanks.
00:23:37
Speaker
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00:24:32
Speaker
Hacks and Ferments is a proud sponsor of the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Not all four. Not with Albert. Right. and so so you want to right right there's We've seen various combinations of the three of them, ah both with Jesus up top. We've seen combinations with with them.
00:24:49
Speaker
ah But I would have really liked to have seen what that looked like. Just because I don't think Pedro needed. Pedro clearly wasn't ready to come off. he I'm sure had a few more, like you could have gone, even if it was only 10 minutes, just to see him on the field, play a little bit more.
00:25:04
Speaker
It would have been, i would have liked to have seen it. And it's a little bit of a missed opportunity in that sense. And we're not, I don't know when we're going to see the four of them. i Brian sort of talked about, well, once, you know, maybe after this, after the Cruces school game, we get into a ah month or so of more regular game patterns.
00:25:22
Speaker
No, I mean, I thought that he, is very clear that this is the design. I mean, he was very clear. He he said, you cracked the code. I got to give you credit because b I had been scratching my head about this yeah since the game against Cruz Azul. And then me and you talked this morning, you kind of put it perfectly. That's the way I asked it.
00:25:40
Speaker
And that's kind of the way he said, yes, that that's what I'm planning on. Right. And I get it because of the rotations right now and how things are working out, but I would like to see how it works at some point. Yeah, yeah, and I don't i mean i don't know. I think it's fair for Brian to take the position. it's We're not in a rush to make this happen. Correct. But why not see what, like, don't I understand you don't want to play 90 minutes like that. I can understand why you don't want to play 70 minutes, but 10, 15 minutes just to sort of...
00:26:10
Speaker
get a sense of what that might look like, especially in a game like that where you were chasing a goal. They they felt like they needed to score and they weren't as effective after Pedro came off. They were not.
00:26:21
Speaker
They were missing his his spark. They were missing his ability to beat lines with the ball and just take guys on. And again, like I said, they were worried about it. they weren You could see them shift on that side where Pedro was playing. So...
00:26:38
Speaker
the depth's still there. I feel like a lot of it goes, well, you know, more depth and more things, but you still got Paul Arriola coming off the bench, essentially, or Georgie, or, you know, Paul Rothrock. They've got depth either the way. Yeah, so but those are the things. And, or, the other thing that I asked you, or or I mentioned to you, was that maybe you could have seen how Ferreira would have done up top because I don't know how much more you can play Jordan consistently.
00:27:04
Speaker
And Danny Masowski, you know, bless his heart and and and the the effort he puts in. It's just difficult to see him as a guy that you can trust. I mean, it doesn't he's not giving us a lot of reason to trust him right now.
00:27:16
Speaker
Although, who knows? Maybe we'll see. it maybe we'll I do think he's going to have to play some against LAFC just because... The thing that's so tough about the second leg is that it's two days. It's one less day of rest.
00:27:28
Speaker
The game's on Tuesday. They got to fly to Mexico City. Luckily, the game is early enough on Saturday where maybe they get ah to rest a little bit. But my assumption is i guess they're going to train here. Will they get Sunday off? I don't know. But they're probably going to travel on Monday.
00:27:44
Speaker
and then be in Cruz Azul and probably train that evening I thought they were flying out on Sunday. Oh, are they? That would make sense. hadn't heard that they were going to Sunday. That makes more sense. Okay, so that makes more sense. So they'll fly out on Sunday. They probably won't train on Sunday, but they'll fly on Sunday, and then they'll have all day Monday. That makes sense. But that's a tough... That's not an easy trip.
00:28:06
Speaker
It's a you know four or five hour flight. you know It's like flying across the country. It is. the The good things are this, right? You you said it. Not conceding an away goal is huge. I could argue, and not only anybody could argue otherwise, that out of all the MLS teams in this competition, they gave themselves the best chance. Why? yes Because of that away goal. yeah Cincinnati couldn't do it.
00:28:29
Speaker
LA Galaxy definitely didn't do it. oh They lost you know with Ed Ediano, at Ed Ediano. ah Vancouver couldn't do it. They gave up a goal. So because of that, ironically, you know we're upset. And we'll talk about ironic because I want to give you guys the other side of why not being happy with this result seems maybe even outrageous to some people.
00:28:49
Speaker
but But yes, Seattle gave themselves the best chance. ah Now, Oh, I just want to add, I think it is kind of... The funny thing about that is that I would imagine most fans would feel better about a 1-1 tie, but from a practical perspective, 0-0 is absolutely, undeniably the better result.
00:29:07
Speaker
Absolutely. I mean, it's it's spot on. Because any... goal draw puts you through. 2-2, you go through, right? And 0-0, obviously, you go PKs, but you're giving yourself a better chance. Scoring, if you if the Sounders score first, it is effectively A ah
Cruz Azul's Coaching Critique
00:29:23
Speaker
two goal. ah It's essentially two goals. Yep. So that puts you in a good position. Now, I've heard a lot of people, and I've heard fans, and I've heard some of our friends at Hunter Hart say, well, you know, Cruz Su, they're probably happy with this result.
00:29:35
Speaker
As anybody would, right? yeah But you'd be wrong. I mean, you would absolutely wrong. From the moment that me and Jeremiah were sitting at the press conference and Vicente Sanchez, head coach for Cruz Azul, was getting drilled about how he could possibly have drawn...
00:29:53
Speaker
on the road without six players was insane. People were upset. Yeah, was getting lit up by, so to give you a little insight, so the way that the press conference worked is they had Zoom press conference where all of us media were in person, but there was all this Mexican media that was Zooming in, and the first four questions all came from Zoom, which was the first time I've ever had that experience, but all of them were lighting him up.
00:30:19
Speaker
How could you not get result not get a result here They didn't want to hear any excuses. They didn't want to hear anything about, and because thought Sanchez would come in sort of like, yeah, we got it. This is exactly, ah let's put it this way. If Brian Schmetzer goes at Cruz Azul on the first leg, his attitude is, nope, we got exactly what we wanted. All we have to do is go home and win.
00:30:41
Speaker
You remember his grin in the 2-2? Oh, my God. Against Pumas at Estudio Limpico? He was grinning. Him and Nico were just like... We won the series. We won the series. And that's the crazy part. So I did want to put that out there because the talking point in in Mexican media right now is how do we get rid of Vicente Sanchez, who's lost one game out of nine, who is the interim head coach that took the job in week two? yeah I mean, it's it's insanity, but that's just the way it's kind of built out. So wanted to put that out there because i feel like people...
00:31:09
Speaker
we're we're We're talking about that consistently. And they have a big game coming up on, but that's part of it, right? yeah They have a big game against Monterey coming up this weekend, and that is a much bigger game in their mind than this game was. Or this is or the next leg is. i think ah the way that, you know,
00:31:29
Speaker
Siggy Smid once talked about this, and then he didn't really allow, he didn't coach this way necessarily, but he was very clear, i am never going to get fired for going out in the Open Cup or not doing well in Champions League. I will get fired if I don't do well in league play.
00:31:46
Speaker
And I think that's very much the attitude that Vicente Sanchez probably has, which is, look, we might we might be Sounders, we might lose to Sounders, but that's not going to cost me my job. What will cost me in my job if the league season falls apart. is If I go get blown out by Monterrey, it's going to be outrageous. If he gets blown out, he not me might not be the coach on Tuesday. Exactly, because it's it's it's that serious. so ah I think Monterrey was a main reason why, now that we have all the context, obviously there were six players that they felt like they were fitness players.
00:32:21
Speaker
They had fitness and risk where they could overload a muscle, where they could have an injury. And the the the the best way to handle it, especially with if they were going to play against Monterrey, which I'm curious to see what team he puts out against Monterrey and if he's just going to rotate for that Concacaf game at home or if he just has people just double down, which I think that's what's gonna happen. He might double down with most players. I mean, it's it is for them too. A two day turnaround isn't, even though you're at home, it's not an I mean, is the Monterrey game at home or is that on the road?
00:32:53
Speaker
Oh, I don't know. That's a good question. but But either way, right? Either way, it's it's better than not having to travel internationally for that one. And you're talking about no rest, necessarily, render when you practice. I mean, it's a Tuesday game. There's not going be training for real training.
00:33:07
Speaker
But it's, ah you know, and and the thing was is that Monterey was, or that Cruz Azul was missing mostly offensive players. were missing their four leading scorers over the this 24-25 season.
00:33:19
Speaker
But defensively, they were stout. I mean, they they had two center backs who were as, I mean, were great. They saved two or three goals. Man, I talked about Willardita, and maybe I did not do him justice. I mean, he was my guy to watch on that defense, and he was a boss on his side. Yeah, he was. Not just defensively and physically, but on the ball. So sharp. Mm-hmm.
00:33:42
Speaker
able to just take pressure off them. There were times where Seattle got some pressure, and the way they passed the ball, and we talked about this in the pregame show, they were very good at just passing through some of the pressure points.
00:33:53
Speaker
And those center backs had a lot to do with it. What'd I say about Kevin Meir? Dude is bananas, right? um he was He's as excited as he gets with the goalkeeper. Most of you guys maybe do not know who Rene Higuita is.
00:34:07
Speaker
If you don't, hit it up on YouTube, Rene, R-N-E, Higuita, and you'll just be amazed with the highlights. But that's the sort of... crazy, just on the field, I'm gonna take you on.
00:34:22
Speaker
that The whole you know goal that Pedro got was half his fault, he should've just cleared it, but he's trying to shake you. Right, exactly. yeah And that was a part of what killed me about the goal not counting, is that we finally beat, because he was doing that all the time, where he was coming, I mean, he came way off his line to to to pull up, to head a ball out, or he I guess he kind of rainbowed yeah Jordan one time. And it was just all kinds of crazy stuff. He he was constantly, you know, it's funny because he was you would come up almost like a ah third center back and be ready for, and be part of the possession. Exactly. he was It was...
00:34:53
Speaker
It was an interesting display. We don't see it a lot in MLS, almost never. And it was kind of neat to see. It have been nice if the Sounders could have taken a little bit more advantage of it. i don't know. Maybe they can actually take more advantage of it. in Because I would imagine he's going to be even more aggressive in at Cruz Azul.
Upcoming Match Preview: Sounders vs LAFC
00:35:08
Speaker
yeah So it will be... and don't know. I'm i'm interested. i'm I'm intrigued by this. ah But before we get that second leg, we have... LAFC on Saturday.
00:35:20
Speaker
ah apple or Fox is gonna be broadcasting this game. It's not quite the national TV ah broadcast that they do where Weeby and everyone else is here, but Jake Zivin and Taylor Twelman will be calling the game.
00:35:33
Speaker
ah This is a big game for the Sounders, and it's it comes at a time when LAFC seems to have once again remade their roster with no real drop-off. They are, I think, 5-0 in all competitions right now. yeah ah And they look very, they they haven't been scoring a ton, but they just scored three against Columbus. columbus ah And before that, they had been struggling to score, but they're i don't think they've given up a goal yet this year.
00:36:01
Speaker
Not that I can think of, no. Oh, against, oh no, they didn't. No, they have not. Yeah, so this is, a I mean, they're there again, they're a tough team. i think. Minnesota got closed. They should have been ahead in the score, but they didn't. Exactly. ah But look.
00:36:16
Speaker
This franchise, it's it's, you know, I don't know, all on its own. the in In Spanish, we have this thing about not reinventing the wheel when it comes to, so you know, soccer, your team, your franchise.
00:36:28
Speaker
And it seems like they just... Sorry, I should correct myself. They are 4-1. I forgot they lost the first Champions Cup game to Colorado. Oh, that was the one. They're on a four-game winning streak. There you go. That was the one. But, yeah, and they've not given up a goal in the last four.
00:36:47
Speaker
Yeah, well, there you go. so But this team, not as star-studded as in the past. They kind of have more MLS veterans of some sort, if you will.
00:36:59
Speaker
I think Ibubusi has been really good. yeah i feel like he gives them the best – attributes of what Chirundolo likes in terms of pressure and trigger points and effort and running off the ball. He's been you know he's he already got a goal.
00:37:16
Speaker
ah Marky Delgado was another player. Marky Delgado has been really good. He's been really good. He's the guy from LA Galaxy that they let go. They're missing him now. And he he's been a guy that really controlled that midfield recently.
00:37:29
Speaker
Tillman gives you a little bit more dynamism. He gives you a little bit of guy that can get forward, hit you with some mid-range shots. So this is a good team. I'm very curious of what the lineup will look for the Seattle Sounders, but not an easy game.
00:37:43
Speaker
Not an easy game at all. It will be interesting to see. I mean, LAFC comes in able to rest. ma Their rotation situation a little different. They played a day earlier, and they have, although they do play also on Tuesday, but they have one more day of rest coming into this one, so they might not have to rotate quite as much. We'll see. Cerundolo, no known for rotating. No, he is not. i mean, I've seen him go with a full lineup, add Las Vegas lights, and then play the team all over again. So this is, I will say this is their first road game since the Rapids, uh, championship game. So i don't know. but Maybe that's good for the Sounders. i don't know if that, that we haven't, the Sounders have not beaten LAFC at home.
00:38:28
Speaker
in a very long time. i don't, I'm trying to remember. i don't, I think it was the 2020 playoffs, the last time they beat LAFC at home. Yep. It's been a bit.
00:38:41
Speaker
my I called the draw on our Thursday show. um I hit it off on the Charlotte, maybe in an unusual way, when I said it was going to be a draw. I feel like this one is similar.
00:38:52
Speaker
i feel like a draw you know might be a decent scoreline. I saw your players to watch, and I did not see La Jolla Martinez. I will tell you that that guy is a handful.
00:39:05
Speaker
Yeah, he Young, Venezuelan. People have been very excited about him ever since they picked him up, and he didn't play a lot last year, but he has been given a much bigger role this year, and he's been very good.
00:39:16
Speaker
He's cut inside. he He's very much of the game. I'm not saying he's buanga. I'm saying that that he he likes to do a lot of buanga-ish things, right? That cut inside, that curl to the... far um corner of the goal. He's shifty, good on the An opposite inverted winger. Absolutely. That's exactly what it is. And he's very creative on the ball.
00:39:37
Speaker
He's going to give you a little back heel. He's going to rainbow you the way maybe Brian or something like it. This kid, it's a handful, and that's a guy I'm going really looking for.
00:39:48
Speaker
Delgado's another guy that I thought. And of course, any time that L.A. stays here, Know where Hollingshead is at? Let's put a bell on him or something that you know where he's at at all times because he tends to disappear and appear in front of the goal. sure does. he sure does.
00:40:05
Speaker
ah Of course, Denny Buonga is a terror, yeah an absolute terror. He's coming off of a two-goal game in Champions Cup on the on Tuesday. ah He has been very good again.
00:40:17
Speaker
ah So the Sounders have their hands full. ah i i am not at the point where I am panicking at all sort of about their league form. I they didn't look you know, we I guess we could talk a little bit about it. I didn't think they looked awful against ah RSL.
00:40:31
Speaker
They weren't obviously they weren't good, but they I think sometimes I feel like the reactions to that loss were maybe a little over the top. But it would be nice to get a good result here yeah because I think there is a growing frustration about their inability to beat. You know, Brian said it.
00:40:51
Speaker
The reality is that they've only beaten Antigua so far. And not to take anything away from the Guatemalan league, but it is not MLS. And I think that's a that's good to sort of understand that, to appreciate that this is a chance to, you know, if you're going to be competitive in MLS,
00:41:09
Speaker
These are the kind of games you need to be competitive in. You need to be able to win these games. And yes, it's going to be a rotated lineup, but there should be enough talent. The Sounders should have enough talent where they can they can hang. ah You know, um I wouldn't say i am super confident, but I'm not pessimistic either about this one.
00:41:30
Speaker
And for what it's worth, yes, they're coming from a very good game against Columbus. But before that, it was they hadn't looked that great very uninspiring. They obviously play against the the the the ball.
00:41:43
Speaker
They don't necessarily need to possess. They're just looking for that direct play. They had won three straight 1-0 games. Their defense looks very good. Their offense up until Columbus was not looking particularly good. They'd only scored four goals through their first four games.
00:41:57
Speaker
So I don't know, it's this is not a juggernaut team. It is a team that knows how to get results. That has gotten results. That's gotten results. Knows and and has gotten results. Yes, absolutely. I feel like this is an opportunity for that depth that we've been praising to actually come out of play. If they get a win, i think would be Huge.
00:42:15
Speaker
If they get a draw, I feel like it'd be a decent result.
00:42:20
Speaker
The rotation is something that we're all going to be looking for because there's no doubt in my mind that um your best team has to come out against Cruz Azul. I'm very curious if Ferreira starts tomorrow or if he starts i i Tuesday. I think he'll start this game. I'm more curious what position he starts in.
00:42:40
Speaker
because he's been used almost exclusively as a sort of, a he actually was playing more of a winger on Wednesday than he had really been before, but he's really he's been playing underneath the striker, one way or the other.
00:42:55
Speaker
And it'll be interesting to see how that how that plays out I would like, I mean, he's, I, there's been a lot, it's funny, he's been an interesting player because ah i think there's a lot of frustration around him and it's from two different camps who I think folks like you are more frustrated with how he's being used, which I think is fair. And I've also been surprised how many people were frustrated with his play. I thought he looked good. understand I thought looked good.
00:43:22
Speaker
he he He's very much, much, much more creative of a passer than I think I anticipated. yep You know, I'd like to see him score some goals, but, you know, where he's played a handful of games, I'm not, like, stressing that. I think he's poisonable. I think his IQ and vision are excellent. people i don't think people realize how good it is because, honestly, minutes have been limited.
00:43:45
Speaker
and He's also a good counterpressor. Very good kind of person. We talked about the repress yeah and the way he does that well. Not the fastest guy that that you might see, but his explosiveness to get from point A to point B is pretty good.
00:43:58
Speaker
I think he has a great understanding of spacing, yeah and that's been evident. So I like that. And my guess is that if he's playing those inside channels, then Arreola is going to be on that left side because they consistently be playing with Pedro on the other side.
00:44:13
Speaker
So if Pedro does start, I mean, it's going to be... It's gonna be a game where a lot of things that we've we've been wanting to see from Ferreira need to come out.
00:44:25
Speaker
um This LAFC team, as much as they haven't been scored on, I look at the back line and I mean, I'm not, you know, it's not like when they had Mourinho and Chennau and Long. I mean, this is different. It's not those three monsters back there. No disrespect to Marlon, good player, but he's just not a guy that I'm like, man, you gotta to watch out for that guy.
00:44:45
Speaker
So, There's opportunities there. ah Seattle at home need to come out swinging. If there's something that's been common denominator. An early goal would be a very nice treat.
00:45:00
Speaker
I feel like Cedar has always had, and ah people told me online that, you know, that's just their MO. The second half is always the better half. But I mean, in this one, I feel like they should come out soon. They should come out and and really dictate the tempo right off the bat. Yeah, I would agree with you there. All right, well, Nico, thank you for doing this. I think we both have things we need to get to today. It's already getting late in the day.
00:45:22
Speaker
But Nico Moreno, you can see him on Blue Sky, El Rolo, NW. You can find him on Puslo Sports' YouTube page. And, of course, you can read him on Sounder at Heart and hear him on Lobbing Scorchers as well as this podcast. So thank you, Nico, for doing this. No, thank you, man. Thank you to everybody. ah t l 2015, love your comment. I really appreciate your you know your thoughts on Brian's critique. And then the fact that, and I'm gonna have a shameless plug here.
00:45:55
Speaker
ah Thank you for watching our Thursday show on Soccer Down. yeah She says she likes it, or he says he likes it. I really appreciate it And yeah, keep it coming.
00:46:07
Speaker
ah No. This one's for soccer down here. think this one's for Thursdays, yeah. Oh, okay, okay. yeah so Oh, that's you're doing Mondays on Lobbing Scorchers. Yeah, that's right. That's right, that's okay I got confused. yeah So now you're still doing soccer down here.
00:46:18
Speaker
yep Oh, sorry. Down here as well. Yeah. So we're, you know, yeah trying to get out there. So i really appreciate everybody um commenting and helping us out. um Glad you guys enjoy it. So in this one, comment more, let us know what you guys like. And thank you for having me, man. Yeah, thank you. All right. Well, I'm Jeremiah Shan. This is Nos Adietes, part of the Sounder Heart podcast network.
00:46:39
Speaker
And we will catch next time.
00:47:18
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!