Transcript
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. Here we go.
Speaker: Come on. Hey, O'Shaughness. Let's The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. The Sounders rule the region.
Speaker: Ooch of a gooch! All creatures, great and small! Rothrock gonna collect it, he does just about, runs into the advertising order. Low to our left, ball goes in! Oh, what a goal! Where's my copy? got bunch of them How many do you cost them? 50 bucks.
Speaker: I'll deadline you.
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 Sounder supporters.
Speaker: They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
Speaker: What's going on, Sounder Heart family? This is Nico Moreno coming to you guys live from the Sounder Heart Studios, bringing you the very first, the very first live episode of Monday Soundcheck. I'm sitting here with Adam Race. Adam, I want you to introduce yourself, say hello to the people, and then we'll go back and...
Speaker: Give a little bit of the mic to Jeremiah Oshan, who's in the back, running the board, producing, doing his thing. But Adam, go ahead, man. Say hello hello to the people. Hello. Thank you. I'm Adam. It's great to see all of you here. It's great to be here next to you, Nico. This is an exciting time to introduce myself. My name is Adam Race. I've been covering soccer in Seattle for a couple years now. My main focus has been as a broadcaster, broadcaster over at Seattle University Soccer over the summers at Ballard FC and Salmon Bay FC, calling high school soccer.
Speaker: um I am an enthusiast of all levels of the game here in the state of Washington, you'll be able to bring some of that here to this podcast, here to Soundtrack, Nico. It's a pleasure.
Speaker: I appreciate it. And that's what I wanted. I wanted Adam to introduce himself because I knew. I knew that he was going to resonate with you, our audience, the ones that love and are embedded and and just part of this sports culture within the Pacific Northwest in Seattle. I mean, that's what we're all about. And so today...
Speaker: It's going to be very, you know, we're still kind of running this. We're still trying to figure things out. But you know what? It's an informal setting. It's somewhere where you and I and Adam and Jeremiah, we can all be able to talk about the Sounders the week that was, which right now we're coming up with very frustrating 1-1 game against the Galaxy. But before we move on, let's give...
Speaker: just a quick spot to Jeremiah O'Shan who's doing his thing behind the board. Jeremiah. Hey, uh, well, we are still working out a few kinks here. Apparently uh, video is not quite, uh, coming through.
Speaker: ah no, no. It looks like we finally got it now. All right. Uh, good to see but We are, ah you know, this is all very exciting for us, doing a live show ah for the first time.
Speaker: And, um you know, we'll just hang with us here. But hopefully the, know, this will be fun. This will be a fun experiment. And we're sort of figuring things out as we go a little bit.
Speaker: Yeah, so the the lovely part or what what I'm hoping that this provides in in a different setting is obviously we're going to be talking about the sounders. We're going to try to interject with you guys. We're going to try to see what you guys got to say when it comes to comments. We're not quite ready for maybe doing any live conversations. engaging with the fans just yet but we are going to be listening to you guys' as comments where if you guys have any you know feedback please go ahead and say it now also remember that this is a live show but the audio will be available in your usual sounder at heart podcast network so you can go ahead and find it in a couple of of hours whenever it comes up and he gets loaded up but look without
Speaker: further to say let's go ahead and get into what we just saw from the sounder so the way i wanted to do this adam and for our audience is i wanted to just see what's the headline what what's the biggest take what what is it that if you could put as the headline for this one one draw against the galaxy for the sounders what would that be for me i think takeaway from this game it's not
Speaker: attacking decision-making costs the Sounders two points. you I think we could have won this game. I obviously think we could have won our last game against New York Red Bulls. It was a very similar story. And, you know if you want to look at statistically expected goals is the easiest to look at across those last two games, the Sounders have accumulated five expected goals and they've scored one, but it's not only that, but XG is based on of shots that are actually taken chances that you actually get to that final part of it of putting it on frame. And there was a lot of times in both of these last two games. and I think especially here on this last one against the galaxy, where it was just the decision of when to put a ball into the box, a decision, whether or whether or not to shoot that left more possible chances, just hanging there that the sounders absolutely need to start putting away
Speaker: Time's running out to win games, obviously, but to score goals this is not a good time to go cold. And Nico, right now, it looks like it's kind of starting in the midfield, in the wide play. Of course, having a number nine like Dejan Jovalich is something new for the Senators. This late on the season, having someone who you know can sit up front and bag goals.
Speaker: But when the decision-making leading up to getting it to the number nine and isn't there and it's not there right now, there's not a lot you can do. And that's what we've seen over the last couple of games. I totally agree. And look, quite honestly, there is a lot of those moments where if it's not a bad touch, it's a bad decision. So I totally agree with that headline. Right. I mean, and I hate to, you know, kind of point sometimes at at Albert, right. Cause he's someone that there was a couple of moments where in transition,
Speaker: maybe took it too long, maybe made made that pass. I think that Brian kind of throws him a a lifeline there in the post-game conference when he kind of mentioned that Jordan Morris' pass, when he got to that end line, is a little bit too hard. I really do think that just Brian helping out a guy that's clearly in his head a little bit, but I do think that there is, he's in a little bit of ah of a rut.
Speaker: and And that's what happens, right? I mean, this team, when it comes to Albert Rusnak, When that sort of pass comes at you, you have to be able to put it away because you are one of the biggest pieces of this offense. That is your your job as a 10 when you come in late into the box. And Jordan does a very good job. He could have played Jovillich short, but if he plays near post, I think his angle's not quite there.
Speaker: I think he sees that. That's why he takes that extra touch and and feeds Albert extremely well, in my opinion. So that those are all little bit of things that just weren't quite working. Yeah. And before we move on to to my headline, because it actually goes, it coincides pretty well with this.
Speaker: What did you think of about Paul Rothrock's performance? it's starting to get worrying, honestly, for Paul Rothrock. He looks like he's just back a step. It's not what we're used to seeing from him. He's a player who's really proven over the last year, especially in that run last year through Leagues Cup, that he can be a complete game changer.
Speaker: And i don't know, maybe that that is kind of feeling some pressure on him. I mean he's one of the players that Brian has had so much consistency starting. He's been one of the players with the most minutes this season. So it's kind of a question of,
Speaker: is this some physical fatigue? Is this some mental fatigue? Is it just a player in a rut? Because right now his decision-making is off and and you saw him get taken off after 45 minutes. And that to me, that's a pretty clear tactical decision that he he was just having a bat shift. And you saw at the end of that half, he gives away the penalty.
Speaker: And before that, he makes the poor decision on a cross, which he's done a few times. It felt maybe like a bit of a a frustration tackle. I mean, he shows the classic Paul Rock, rock hustle that he, He covers the whole field to get back and make a play defensively. But the play in the end, it's it's a tackle. it's It's a rush of blood. it's It's not a smart one. It's a clear cut penalty.
Speaker: um A lot of that first 45 not going the Sounders way. Unfortunately, it falls on a couple moments that Paul Rothrock just didn't do what he needed to do. it's ah It's a disappointing game for him. And you hope that he's able to maybe get a mental reset, get a physical reset, and get back to the form that he was at for a lot of last year.
Speaker: And that's what the i feel like you were spot on before we go to Jeremiah is that when you kind of put out that headliner, first thing that came to my mind was Paul Rothrock, especially in the 45. Now there there was some talk in the broadcast that maybe he took a knock. I don't know about that. I really do think that it was a change, a tactical change, as you mentioned, but Jeremiah,
Speaker: Yeah, so one of the things I wanted to jump in on the Paul Rothrock thing is I have to admit that it in at live, I was skeptical of the, I was frustrated. I was frustrated that on one side of the field, Christian Roldan gets taken down from behind by Chucky Lozano.
Speaker: And then immediately on the the ball back, the the foul happens. I did not think it was quite as clear cut of a penalty, but I'm going to agree with Adam that it's a, it's a, he made it easy call. I think he made it a little too easy. He doesn't get ball. He comes in from behind, but I'm just curious to your guys's thoughts on the Christian Roldan play that happened right before that, where Chucky Lozano essentially runs up his back, but he does get some of the ball.
Speaker: Yeah, well, Jeremiah, I was looking back at my notes for this game, and I did realize that in real time that not necessarily that I thought that's a clear cut penalty, but there was a couple times in this game where I felt like things maybe deserved an extra look on VAR. And obviously the VAR, they're checking it in real time and they're coming to a conclusion. And if they don't think it's an obvious overturn, they're not going to ask the ref to stop play. They're not going to ask the ref to check the monitor.
Speaker: I thought there was something more there. I, as I said, I definitely agree with the call that the Paul Roth rock foul was a foul in the box, but we saw this against New York red bulls as well, where it's just one of those, you make a drive to the top of the box, you get into the area, you get some contact from behind.
Speaker: That's always a situation where a referee is going to know, okay, he's taking that first step into the box. The attacker is going to be looking for some contact, especially from a defender that might have lost a step. The attacker is going to be ready to go down easily.
Speaker: And I think that maybe plays into what happened on that call and on some calls against New York Red Bulls. um I'm not going to sit here and say I thought it was a clear-cut penalty, but I thought it was a lot closer than maybe the referee and crew, the broadcast team, made it seem at the time.
Speaker: I think it is exactly what you said. It's it's when it's about the angles, the but the amount of contact and it's also about but the players selling a little bit better, maybe because there is more contact on the whole Rothrock one. It's an easier call. There's also the another galaxy player that kind of gets all in step in, in that same play.
Speaker: Whereas in Christian world, that maybe wasn't as clear. It seemed more as the correct angle that you want to challenge a ball. I mean, quite honestly, that ra rock he was not just about frustration, but maybe a little bit of wear and tear. I mean, he just thought he was tired trying to get back.
Speaker: ah It is ah a bad transition moment for the Sounders as a whole. I mean, if you look at that opportunity, Colony kind of like falls at the back of the the goal, like on the other side, as he's trying to you know, bring up all that can things i know that he's trying to put in. And just the whole,
Speaker: drawing right that the whole system kind of falls apart and is a very quick position moment for the sounder so look to me the referee wasn't all that
Speaker: day it is unfortunate for part Rothrock that right after that happens he gets taken off but to me Jeremiah and I don't know if if you had your own thoughts on that Christian Roldan Yeah, you know, Potential foul.
Speaker: Like I said, live, I was pretty adamant that it was essentially the same play, and that was what was so frustrating to me. I have to admit that after re-watching it a few times, it was probably 60, like maybe a 70, 30 likely to be called Rothrock, and then it was probably 30, 70 the other way. I would agree. So, like, you're going to see that called. You're going to see it called sometimes. You're not going to see it called every time.
Speaker: kind of the other way. You're going see the Rothrock called most of the time. You're not going see it called every time. But I think that what's so frustrating is that there are these two borderline calls. One goes against you, one goes for you.
Speaker: And then what kind of made it worse, and i and again, I would go back and rewatch it. I don't know how it come down, but the the one that everyone's talking about is the Jordan Morris offside call that would have tied the game. i don't know if do you guys want to get into that now. We can get into it later.
Speaker: No, we can get into it right after this because what I'm going to say is my headline for this particular game was about kind of what we saw here. And we kind of already kind of talked about it. We mentioned the difference between one half and the other. But but mine was very simple. It was Sounders fall short at Dignity Park despite valiant second half effort. And I do feel like in the second half,
Speaker: the team was was a lot better. And it goes to what we were just talking about. I don't want to crucify Paul Rothrock because we've been saying that he needs some time off. Maybe his mental wear and tear. Maybe it's just him being on a slump. But you you have to be able to read that. So in the second half,
Speaker: It's not just bringing in Seba but switching Jordan Morris to that left side, where I think he is more comfortable, where I think he's more dangerous, where I think he's easier for him to put inside and use his privileged foot. I mean, I do think that he's worked on using the left foot at least to put surfaces into the box. So I feel like that was a a very good move by Brian Smetzer. So the second half, completely different because, look, the first half, the Sounders had chances, but they absorbed a lot of pressure. There was a lot of bad moments.
Speaker: And going back to to to the call that happened in transition on that penalty, it was kind of, you saw it coming. that You could not be that, I don't want to call maybe sloppy or you cannot be that negligent with the ball. There was even a jovial moment where he crosses the ball. He's trying to switch the point of attack. He gets picked up, creates an opportunity, very easy opportunity for the LA galaxy. So all of that kind of went away when you shifted things. I think that Jordan Morris on the left side just was a lot more dangerous to cover. I also think that, and I want to bring this up because ah Jeremiah, I also don't want to forget about your point, but
Speaker: I don't know about you guys, but I thought that Kalani did not look 100%. To me, Kalani on that side, there was a lot of defending to do on that end because that's where the main outlet for the LA Galaxy was coming out of.
Speaker: But you heard from Brian Smetzer talking about what Peter Kingston was able to do when he came in and be able to make... Chucky defend and really go at him and and breaking lines with the ball. And Kalani typically does those things, but in this particular game, he just didn't feel like a fully healthy Kalani because of Rienci. And I do think that a lot of those opportunities that the Galaxy had in the first half, which were many came because he was either late to react or he didn't have the recovery speed that he typically does. He was getting hung up too high up the field in so many opportunities. So I don't know. What do you think, Adam? Well, I always have a difficult time judging a Kalanico Saranasi performance because he's such an attacking minded fullback. And I think he's been on a great run of form. I think he's been involved week in, week out on the attack, picking up assists, just driving onto the to the end line and causing a lot of trouble for for teams and also being in the right spot to score a goal every now and again. had a real breakout season.
Speaker: Obviously, he picks up that knock against New York Red Bulls. We thought he was going to out for a while. He came out of the locker room in a boot. It's pretty incredible that he started this match and played as long as he did. I mean, you look at the season that Kalani has had ah playing-wise. The only defender on the Sounders with more minutes played ah this season is Nuhu.
Speaker: Kalani is one of those top six by minutes players on the Sounders. And when you have someone as a deputy behind Kalani and Peter Kingston, who really has a similar outlook as ah as a fullback who wants to get up the field, who wants to get into the attack,
Speaker: I think it's going to cause some thinking for Brian Schmetzer yeah coming into this next game, obviously because of the fact that Kalani, he's coming off of a bit of a knock. He gets the start. He's obviously a tough kid. He wants to play as much as he can. And and and considering that he was in a boot in the last match, I was really impressed by the game that Kalani played, but you're absolutely right that Peter Kingston comes on in that preferred wide role.
Speaker: He's been playing in the midfield a little bit. And there's been times when I don't feel like Peter Kingston has looked comfortable That's kind of that holding midfielder, his ability to to turn on the ball and advance play through the middle of the park. I don't think that's really his bread and butter. I've watched a lot of Peter Kingston play.
Speaker: Most of what I've seen him play, it's been out wide. I've seen him play a lot as a winger, as an attacking player and not as a fullback, but I think he's really adjusted well to that fullback role here at the MLS level. He makes some really good cross blocks. He gets up and down the pitch. He's obviously has the the physical attributes to play that, but Brian was singing his praises in the post-game press conference.
Speaker: that he was the player to come on and immediately put that pressure on Shuki Lozano. ah Brian described it as Peter picks up the ball. He starts running right of the defense and Lozano just freezes. he He just takes him out of the play entirely.
Speaker: ah That run by Peter sets up Jordan, sets up the goal. There's a thought that maybe you give Kalani a rest. Maybe you give Paul Rothrock a rest and you get some different looks out wide. I think if there's one thing to look at squad selection wise going into this next match, that's going to be where you might see some changes from Brian. And I think a lot of that was also...
Speaker: his trust in Alex Rodan center center back. And obviously you're going against an attack in the galaxy where they don't have the, the bigger target nine. I mean, they did have him on the bench, which we'll talk about a little bit later, but but to start off the game, he kind of knew that he needed someone with the ability on the ball, maybe a little bit more speed, like ah Alex.
Speaker: Cause when Alex is not going to be your right back, you have no other choice than to go with Kalani. So I think maybe they rushed it a little bit. And I'm not sure if, you know, moving forward, maybe you try to be a little bit more pragmatic when it comes to that decision. Because as we mentioned, now you're done making mistakes. Like the the line for mistakes is is so thin. You have to be able to gain some points moving forward. So maybe we'll see more of Alex going back to the right back position. But going back to the Kalani decision, I just, I didn't quite...
Speaker: think that he was 100% and that created a lot of issues. So when in the second half specifically, you had Seba Gomez make a difference, Peter Kingston make a difference. After Jordan was so good, 33 touches, eight in the box, but every time he touched the ball, he looked dangerous. yeah He looked like a guy that could get to the end. He looked like vintage Jordan Morris and that's a great thing to happen. So to Jeremiah's point, the Offsides, to me, at first I was upset. I even asked Jordan about about it as a questionable or controversial offsides. But going back to rewatch the game a couple of times, I do see a couple of angles where maybe the shoulder, you know how they talk about the shoulder and the hand, maybe that might have been over the line. So, Jeremiah, what what was your take on it?
Speaker: Well, it's funny.
Speaker: It's funny because ah I, again, live, I thought 100% he's on. What's funny is that they the replay they showed, i swear he's on on the replay. Absolutely. But what kills me is that if you look at the live shot, the non-replay,
Speaker: the angle on that one makes it look like he may have been off by like a solid shoulder. So I don't know. again, i think this is one of those things where it's an argument, I suppose for automated offsides or, or semi automated offsides.
Speaker: I want to see the lines. I want to see the lines on the pitch. I want to know for a fact, whether or not he was offside, but you know, we're not going to get that. And I suppose it all ends well because, ah they get the the equalizer.
Speaker: But what's I think even more important is that Morris showed the composure that he needed to show. He doesn't rush the shot. He basically chips the goalkeeper, which is something people are constantly saying he never does.
Speaker: And so I thought it was good for his confidence, at least to see the ball hit the back of the net. And I'm not as worked up about him being offside or onside as I was live again.
Speaker: Yeah, I absolutely agree, Jeremiah. I was watching the broadcast. They only showed this one angle, like you said, and I was looking, i was like, he's on. like It didn't look that close, honestly. I thought at least that it was going to go to VAR.
Speaker: I'm not well-versed in maybe the financial aspect of why the and MLS doesn't have the semi-automated offside in place, but that's a situation where, obviously, to make the right call, you want it. But also, as a viewer, ah you want to, you want to see that because on the broadcast, it, it it did not look off sides. They didn't even take a closer look at it.
Speaker: And, you know, I hate, hate, hate to talk about refereeing as an excuse because it's part, it is part of the game. you know, some decisions are going to go your way. Some decisions aren't, but when you look back at this run, since the end of the world cup break, I don't believe the sounders have been given a penalty kick. Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think they've, they've been awarded a penalty kick. They definitely have not been given a penalty since during this entire, ah this entire winless run. Yeah. And there's been, there's been some shouts. i'm not going to say that, you know, every single match, there's something that, that they want, but there's definitely been some moments where,
Speaker: Like you said, Jeremiah, a 30-70, a 40-60 decision goes the way of the Sounders. They get an extra goal. They get a win. They break out of this slump because we've been hearing this in the locker room after a lot of these games that a lot of this, it's starting to get to the point where it is mental as well. When you go 12 matches without a win, you're just...
Speaker: in a funk. You just need to score goals. You need something to happen. And maybe you just need something to break your way. And, you know, the Sounders have, have not made their own luck on this winless run, certainly, but, but they also haven't gotten helped out at all. No, look, and I do want to i I wanted to make sure that when I got on today, i did not,
Speaker: dismiss how good the Galaxy played as well. Sometimes you got to credit the opposition, and I thought in the first 45, they just did a great job of taking advantage ah of moments in transition. I thought that Marco Reus is someone that we didn't talk about enough in the preview of this game, which we actually should have, and and he was outstanding. Just his movement of the ball, the way he slips guys in, how dangerous he's on the ball. I thought that the Suns got lucky a couple of times, giving him a little too much pace on top of the 18.
Speaker: Andrew Thomas, of course, also having some really good saves on him. Sergio Roberto was another guy that but he's barely played, but when he plays, he's outstanding. And I, again, completely forgot to talk about him going into this game because he has him he had things has two starts overall for for for the LA Galaxy, but he was so good at that six. He gave the LA Galaxy someone that can control tempo differently, that was very good, anticipating passes. um And I really do think that he put the midfield in a little bit of shambles now.
Speaker: Christian Roldan, to his credit, i mean, he was battling back and forth. i thought that his recoveries were phenomenal throughout the game. And that's why, you know, in the second half specifically was more of a Sounders performance than anything. ah But moving forward, like my question to Brian was simple.
Speaker: You know, how do you spin? How do you put a positive spin on, yes, a a game that you went and rescued a point? You're still giving yourself a chance. Funny enough, Jeremiah was letting us know that although the Sounders did not win this game and they're still twelve in a 12-game winning list streak,
Speaker: They are a little bit closer if they're able to get some, you know, matches won moving forward because the results of the weekend is San Diego getting smoked by um Philadelphia, which we'll talk about. i mean, other than maybe Austin beating Vancouver, almost every single result, including Minnesota, that they really helped out the Sounders. So I don't know if Jeremiah, you want to touch a little bit more on that?
Speaker: Yeah, so I just actually brought up the standings on the page right now. And what's wild is the Sounders dropped the 14th in the table, although i guess this this table is not totally updated. But the Sounders dropped the 14th in the table, but they are only two points out of a playoff spot. So they actually gained a point ah in the playoff race, even though they lost a spot in the standings.
Speaker: And if they were to win their games in hand, because the teams immediately ahead of them continue to drop points, The Sounders could theoretically move all the way up to eighth, which would mean that they have home field advantage in the, in the play-in game.
Speaker: which is wild wow that they are on a 12 game on our winless streak. And yet they are on the verge of making the playoffs. If they can just put together, I mean, if they go on a run here where they were to win the next four games, let's just say these are four totally winnable games.
Speaker: They are right in the thick of not only the playoff race, but they might actually be in the thick of getting out of the plan game. It's so strange because like at full time of this game, keep in mind at full time of this game, I also thought to myself, oh my God, Dan Jovalich is out.
Speaker: You know, he's hurt. And that turned out to not be the case. Brian confirming post game that that was cramps for day on and and he should be good to go. um But I was, it was just doom and gloom because it's just another game that you feel like you had to have all three that had to be the game that ended the streak and it wasn't.
Speaker: And I was dreading to look over at the table. I knew that some results went our way, but Look, I've been watching this team since 2009. I was at the inaugural game, a season ticket holder since then. This is not something that we're used to as Sounders fans. I'm sure all of you, this is,
Speaker: you know, quite factually, this has never happened 12 games in a row. It hasn't really come close to happening. ah We don't know how to react to that besides saying the season's over, you know, they give up, but that's just, it's just so far from the case. Not only is there hope that the Sounders control their own destiny. They can put themselves in a spot to make a playoff run. We've seen it happen before where maybe a, less than convincing sounder. Seems we saw it a couple of years ago, a team that you're, you're not thinking, yeah, this, this team could really do it, but they do. And they, they make it to the cusp of making a final. They make it to a Western conference final.
Speaker: It could happen again here. We get some players back. We find some form day on, you know, gets back to the form he was in his debut and, And this is a team that has the experience, has the coaching, has the culture to do something in the playoffs if they can just make it in. And and as you said, Jeremiah, we really got helped out.
Speaker: um I would say bailed out by a lot of the results around the league. And it's been happening for a few match days now. But what's important to remember is is yeah the Sounders...
Speaker: multiple games in hand, three games in hand over the galaxy, which is is ridiculous to think about, you know, when those next four games, all of which are winnable and are against the teams that we're competing with for these spots, it's so hard to call a game winnable when you haven't seen it happen and what in four months. That's right. Yeah. But may but they are.
Speaker: um I'd like to hear what you you have to say about this, Nico, but it's important for us as fans to not just give up on this because it's so, so, so far from that. Look, I thought they were cooked. I really did. And then, you know, I'm watching the games and I'm, you know, happy to see Navarro kind of take over this and Lewis game. Cause look, Minnesota started winning that game. Chankalai early on, he, he puts the ball in back and then I'm thinking, Oh, here goes.
Speaker: results going to start a turn. You know, I'm thinking that, that, that maybe it's not enough for you guys to get, you know, a win. I'm im trying to do the mathematics. I'm like, okay, hey what what are the games left over?
Speaker: But when it was all said and done after the game, I'm looking at the standings and you're absolutely right. When we look at the standard, we look at the numbers and we look at the teams that you got to have yourself. I mean, yes, Colorado's in a six game. When it's your guy home with, you know, some ah things like six consecutive, um,
Speaker: ah clean sheets which is incredible very very pragmatic team but i wouldn't put it past the sounders if they're able to get some players back if they're able to look again if you want to put a positive spin on things jordan morris being jordan morris is is huge right jovel is just cramping and if you are one of those that asked well hopefully this is not the same thing that happened with jackson reagan where it was a cramp and then it wasn't This one doesn't look like that. i mean, Jackson Reagan, I think watching that game back and you could physically see him in pain in this one, you could kind of tell where the cramp is at. They're trying to, you know, loosen him up a little bit. So i do believe that this is just cramps for Joe village. And that's, that's phenomenal news. Christian world, Dan getting back on the horse. I mean, so many positives.
Speaker: Stu Hawkins being so good. He had a phenomenal game, phenomenal game for the kid, just putting his body on the line, defending tough, intercepting passes, blocking shots. I mean, he was just so good on the ball with his passing as well.
Speaker: It was one of those performances that make you feel like there is a lot to work with here, right? As you wait for Jackson Reagan, as you wait for Yammer Gomez-Andrade, look, if this team can manage to, at the very least, get Joe Vlis into better positions, because that's something that definitely needed to happen. Get him the ball in more prime scoring positions will be important.
Speaker: this team could absolutely get on a run and, as you mentioned, not just get into the playoffs, but maybe make a run. I mean, who are we to not say that this is not another 2016? I mean, again, I'm not over here sitting and telling me that's going to happen, but, you know, that's why we play the game. That's why we don't just look at the the scores and or the the lineup and just see who wins. you've got to just play the game. Well, Nico, I want to look over at the chat here for a second because we've got a question about the center backs. and how important them getting back is going to be to the playoffs. because you brought up Stu Hawkins, I really did not think I would be saying this a month or two ago, but I'm not 100% sure that Jackson Reagan is maybe even the number one guy right now at center back. with the That's really hard just because he's an all-star. He's a great player, but...
Speaker: Look, not only did Stuart Hawkins play really well, but I thought that his, his center back pairing and Alex rolled on at times, let him down in that game. Obviously Brian wants, as he said before, to put Alex rolled on in that center back role. Cause he's confident on the ball. He's confident to move it up the pitch and he can be that more cover center back. Stuart Hawkins doesn't have that burst of pace necessarily.
Speaker: um And I thought, There was a couple of times in this game where Alex kind of got caught off too far up the field. And you saw a transition where it was really stuew Hawkins playing some hero ball against two attackers. And he did it.
Speaker: He shouldn't have to do that. That should not be the position that we're putting a very young, talented kid. She should not be in that situation. He showed that he can do it. And he's shown over the last, you know, month and a half,
Speaker: that he is not only ah serviceable and MLS center back, but he's a starting MLS center back. I think there's a lot of teams that he could come on to and start on. This is a pretty deep back line for Seattle. Of course, you have Jackson Reagan coming back from injury. Kim Kee, he, mean, he's just a pro. yeah He just goes out and he has good performances.
Speaker: um It really is about the center back pairings I think where you really need to be looking because Stu Hawkins is in great form, but he's really a similar kind of defender than Jackson Reagan. When you have a player who that established, literally it's going to always be hard for Stuart Hawkins to get those minutes. But right now he's proving that he deserves the minutes. He really does. Hey, look, to your point, I really do see...
Speaker: stewed like the succession plan for Jackson, right? I mean, they have the attributes of being the the passing center back, right? That you're allowed to do more with the ball, getting out, ah the the height. I mean, did this kid is shot up. I mean, I remember him, you know, being at six foot, if not a little bit below that. And now he's taller than Jackson Reagan. ah Jeremiah, am I right or wrong about that? He's getting close to Jackson Reagan height. He is close. I don't think he's quite as tall as Jackson Reagan, but he moves a lot better than Jackson Reagan. yeah i mean, he's got, i mean, he's actually got recovery speed and that's always been sort of the knock against Jackson Reagan.
Speaker: He is, you know, he's not as polished of a passer, but he's got a lot of the same building blocks that, that that Jackson Reagan has. And I would say that if Jackson Reagan is is is a pretty good comp, but I like, I think Stu Hawkins just has more innate abilities. He has ah he has more physical tools.
Speaker: I think he potentially is, you know, I'm looking at Jackson Reagan as maybe not his floor, but like, I definitely think he can be a better center back. Is he a better center back right now?
Speaker: I don't know, but I wouldn't mind. I mean, it would be an interesting pairing to see them both on the field together. it gives the center some options, but I think at this point, it's somewhat about, we got to see what we have in Sue Hawkins. Yeah. But I also just think he's earning those minutes.
Speaker: And I really, I've just really been impressed. And I was not sure how I felt about him, you know, before this whole run of games started. Yeah, and look, for me, it's what Adam said. ah I would actually see him with Yamar, right, next to him. Because he... Yamar's the type of guy that...
Speaker: allows you to have the freedom to get on the ball, push a little bit higher. He does it with Jackson all the time. He's the recovery guy. He's the one that's making sure something happens, he falls off with what's due with Alex. Alex is the one that just by design, by trade, he likes to get a little bit higher of the field specifically. because He's a right back, right? And he's his Kalani push. He likes to get a little bit higher. So I would like to see him with a yay mark type. But I do think that there' there's a lot of positives about him. Now we got to get,
Speaker: Brian's message to buy in a little bit. You know, we meant, but I thought it was funny that Jeremiah asked the question about Kim Kihee, you know, getting in and he, you know, Brian was like, Oh, well, you know, they put in the bigger guy and, you know, jaw claws. And so he got kind of manhandled. i don't know if he said those exact words. I think he may have said that you may have actually used that phrase. Yeah. Yeah, there you go. So it was some along those lines where it's like, look, I understand that Stewie's not the the the broadest kid. i' like I think he's been in the gym pretty strongly, and I think he'll continue to you know get some of that that that strength. But, hey, you got to give him the opportunity to just be smarter, quicker than than Joe Carlos. You don't got to try to beat him head-to-head. But with a guy like Yamar, you do kind of miss a little bit of that physicality because none of these guys have Yamar, Gomez, and Dorte type of physicality. And that's why I think if there is a profile –
Speaker: moving forward. If for some reason, GMR doesn't stay with the team, you need to bring a guy with those similar attributes, but here to, to kind of move forward a little bit there um and not get to cut up on the game.
Speaker: Any final takes from you, Adam, on, on, on, in regards to this game, I want to, and, I'm going to be upfront with this. I have a Peter Kingston bias. I have been watching Peter Kingston for a while. I've broadcasted Peter Kingston at the USL two level with Ballard FC, as well as at the UPSL level with Bellevue athletic. um And I just love watching Peter Kingston play.
Speaker: um I love the fact that he's getting the minutes that he has on the Sounders. um But beyond my own personal biases towards Peter Kingston, Brian Schmetzer was talking about it post game.
Speaker: He was great in off the bench and I've loved seeing him out wide. And I hope he gets more looks being able to get up and down that, that, that wing and run right at the defense. Cause he can be so good when he's doing that shout out to Peter. Good things coming for him. And I think more minutes on the way from him in the kind of wakes, you know, what look,
Speaker: and anyway your remind I just want to ask Adam something. You know, he has been on record, I think, as saying that he liked Peter better in the middle than out wide. And I'm just curious if that is a accurate. Am I remembering that correctly? And B, if you're having any second thoughts about that opinion or like if you really are starting to to grow into the idea of him maybe being a wingback type.
Speaker: Well, obviously I've seen him as an attacking ah winger. And I mean, there's been lots of games where I've watched Peter Kingston, you know, for Ballad FC, his profile was stick him on the left wing, hit a ball towards him, and he's going to take it down on beautiful first touch. He's going to beat a guy. He's going to go to the end line and he's going to put a ball in. They're going to score. And he could just do that with regularity. That's against USL two competition, which, you know, that's high level D one, but that's not MLS defenders. That's not the physicality or the speed um or the technicality that you're going to see at the MLS level.
Speaker: but I think he's proving that he can do it. I mean, you look at that goal, Morris with the assist, great ball, great drive to the end line, Areola, you know, obviously you have to finish that, but it was well set up by, by Jordan Morris, but it's the run from Peter Kingston. He just, he freezes Chucky Lozano sprints straight in. He, he zigzags through, he lays off a well,
Speaker: well-weighted ball for Jordan Morris to be able to get that in stride. um And noting how he played against Newark Red Bulls as well, I think that really tells the story of where I think Peter Kingston is going.
Speaker: Peter Kingston started that Red Bulls game in the middle, in the Snyder Burnell role for what we've seen a lot of this season. And it looked awkward at times. It's just some a couple heavy touches. i don't think that's, in my opinion, where Peter Kingston is best.
Speaker: I think he should be out wide. He needs the opportunity to run onto a ball and get going towards goal. I don't think he's best used as a player where the back line gets it to him and he has to turn and find someone forward. It didn't look...
Speaker: It didn't look natural in that game. And then when Kalani went down in that game, Peter has to shift out wide and immediately, immediately he's getting up the wing. He's creating attacking opportunities, putting in some really good defensive plays too. That's what I will say, Jeremiah, about what you said is that I hadn't had to see Peter Kingston do a lot of defending as he kind of came up through the USL to the collegiate ranks, but I've been really impressed with it. Obviously he has the drive and the physicality um and the work rate that you love to see, but, but just some of the cross blocks. You can look back through the game through his own little personal highlight reel from that LA galaxy game. He's shutting down plays. And especially in a game where transition defense was a little nervy at times, there was one too many breaks down the other way. Odd man rushes for LA here was able to plug up those gaps. you know, when he was called upon, you saw the same thing against New York Red Bulls. So I will say I'm becoming more and more bought in on him as a fullback as opposed to a winger. And Ryan, obviously, he's going to find spots for talented players. And if there's no room at the wings, there's a lot of different players that can play out on the wing.
Speaker: Getting Peter in at fullback, if he's allowed to get up the field as he has been, it's still been working good, in my opinion. Yeah, look, I initially thought that he would play well in center mid. I did not have nearly, not even close, as much of a background or I didn't have him as well-scattered as you have because obviously you've watched him play way before the Sounders. And I remember that it was that Spokane game against Vancouver, where I was like, man, you know, he does it well out wide. And then me and Jeremiah had an exclusive with him that you could find on Sounder at Heart where we asked him where he thinks he would fit best. And he said winger. And with me Jeremiah, we kind of like afterwards were like, did you hear him say winger? was yeah, he said winger. was that makes no sense. But he absolutely should be playing out wide. I think that for me and personally,
Speaker: But first first of all, beautifully put in the way you broke down his attributes and his place spot on. But if I had to dumb it down for me is he's got gamemanship. He has grown men's strength. it's It's kind of odd to to say that because Kalani is the more athletic player, but there's something about that that grown man strength that is just a little bit different, and he has that. It's some of that um ability to just create something out of nothing, and that willingness to just take your space, right? I mean,
Speaker: he throws Chucky Lozano, nobody's pressuring you, continue to be on the ball. He has his head up the entire time. He continues to push once. He see that the line breaks up a little bit. He threads the needle. He puts the ball where he needs to be.
Speaker: And you know who does that thread in the needle lot that we don't have anymore is Jesus Ferreira. Sometimes you've got to force a pass. And I feel like Peter is not afraid to force a pass. And that's what creates that moment for Jordan. Jordan gets to the end line. And then we did not talk about Paul.
Speaker: a riola which is criminal. Paul Arriola gets a goal coming right off the bench. He could not be happier. He's been working really, really hard at training, trying to you know get off the injury bug. i He's someone that I really do think we've seen glimpses that he could elevate this team's pedigree and and and ceiling, but just hasn't been available, which unfortunately is the the biggest challenge thing you could bring to the table as a player is just being available. But man, I was very pleased with that finish where he, the the space that he got into and the way he was attacking space.
Speaker: Yeah. And keep in mind that Paul Areola was maybe half a foot from scoring the winner against Red Bulls as well. He's had a good run, run of games. It's really good to have him involved, even as a bench player. That's been a good addition. You're right. e Yeah. So look, before we talk about something that I think is, is a big,
Speaker: topic because we saw Jeremiah put a phenomenal article on it on Sandra Hard. I do just want to take a quick look at the upcoming games and give the the audience a little bit of hope because look again, Colorado is the next game Saturday, right?
Speaker: That is going to be a difficult game. That is a very pragmatic team. They've been able to really get some, some wins especially at home. So that's going to be a difficult game. You got the elevation, you got a whole bunch of things. That's a quality team. That might be the Georgie Minungu revenge game. So that that that's something to definitely watch.
Speaker: Then you got RSL. RSL has been on awful form. I mean, just terrible. Just they're probably the closest thing to the Sounders when he comes. I think they're an eleven They're in an 11 game, a winless run. they They are actually the only team in the league that has a worst record since the world cup breaks. And other than the sounders. So they have three points since the world cup break in 10 games. Sounders have four.
Speaker: So not exactly either team is, is not lighting it up, but. ah RSL is in a really, really bad place right now. Absolutely. And then before you go, then you got Minnesota. Minnesota is a total coin flip and they like to get forward, but they're not the the Minnesota of old with the Ramsey ball that they will just kind of put you in this constraint and, and like the boa just come around you and just suck the life out of you. They don't do that. They open up. And I think that that plays well to what the Sounders have been able to do.
Speaker: So, man, i don't know you think.
Speaker: Hey, everyone. David Goss here from SoccerWise, and I am coming to you with our MLS Minute presented by Continental Tire. We are so excited to be working with some of the best local MLS coverage in the league as part of our new collective.
Speaker: So after you're done listening, hear about your team, come on over and listen to myself, Matt Doyle, and Tommy Scoop's talk about the entire league. Let's jump into the highlights of the weekend, which was shaped by the massive one-versus-two matchup between Nashville and Miami.
Speaker: Nashville played outstanding but needed a 91st-minute Sam Surge equalizer to rescue one point. But it might have been enough from the weekend, as Vancouver shockingly fell at home to Austin, with Superman Christian Ramirez scoring two goals on two shots in 85 minutes to steal the win.
Speaker: So Nashville has stretched their shield lead now to eight points with nine games to play. and While the Caps have a game in hand, they also head to Montreal on Wednesday night for Canadian Championship semi-final.
Speaker: Speaking of semi-finals, it's a good week. We have U.S. Open Cup semi-finals on Wednesday night, and three of the four participants come in off victories. St. Louis had a 4-2 come from behind win over Minnesota to extend its unbeaten streak to 15 games, tied for eighth longest in league history.
Speaker: Pafa Navarro has led them with four goals in his first two starts on his new team. His old club, the Rapids, debuted their record signing in Morgan Whitaker off the bench in a 1-0 home win over Montreal.
Speaker: Paxton Aronson had the lone goal from the penalty spot. May have to do so once again as Colorado hosts St. Louis on Wednesday in that win and move on game. On the other side, Orlando are riding in on the back of Antoine Griezmann, who has scored in five straight games the latest.
Speaker: in their home win over TFC. So a stumbling Columbus will host Orlando in the other semifinal on Wednesday night. We will have our previews in our Monday episode and reactions on Thursday.
Speaker: We also expect to have a full breakdown of the fall USMNT roster at the end of this week as well. Some final highlights to leave you on SKC record signing Andre Luis scored his first goal with a go lasso in an upset win over LA FC.
Speaker: Kevin Denke scored a stoppage time equalizer at home in a 3-3 thriller with Charlotte and FC Dallas have moved level with Texas rivals Dynamo for second in the West.
Speaker: We'll have all your MLS, NWSL, U.S. national team coverage for you on SoccerWise channels all week. This MLS Minute is part of our SoccerWise media collective sponsored by Continental Tire, where we are proud to work with local soccer media partners across the country.
Speaker: Senator Hart has been around in one form or another since 2009. In 2026, though, we make a pretty significant evolution when we go analog. Yes, that's right. In the year of our Lord, 2026, we are publishing a real life magazine. We're calling this thing four. as in Sounder at Heart 4.0, but we're stylizing it as IV because we absolutely love Roman numeral. And if you want to refer to it as IV, that's cool too. The first issue has a comic book style cover that was hand-drawn by local artist Kevin Newber. Features by Tim Foss, Susie Rance, and Charlie Bohm. A statistical deep dive by Kat Busch. A Q&A with b Brian Schmetzer. A column by G. Willow Wilson. And photographs by Noah Reif, Max Aquino, Mike Russell, and Jane Gershowitz.
Speaker: I could not possibly be more proud of the work everyone put into making this. And I think you're going to absolutely love it. If you'd like to get your hands on one of these limited edition copies, we're currently selling them for $15 on our website. Get yours now.
Speaker: Look, I'm, I'm reading the chat and I'm, I'm, and I'm reading what this, what the fans have been saying really the past few weeks is people don't want to be optimistic. People don't want to hear the word winnable anymore. Cause it just hasn't happened. And I get that. I get that. But,
Speaker: I implore you, please have some hope here. This is a good team. We know this. Look at how this team started the season. That's ah a more healthy squad. They got off to a huge start. And that's, you know, that's the reason they're still as in the hunt as they are right now. And, you know, you can't look at that many, you know, you can't look at four draws in a row and say, you know, that's four points in four games. But but really, we had this much XG and really, we should have scored this many. so it's It's four points in four games. It's not enough.
Speaker: that is absolutely true. I agree with you, Nico, that not favored in this Colorado ra game. That's, that's a tough out against, against the Rapids in Colorado. Would love to see the Sounders, you know, obviously would love to see the Sounders end it right there. Would love to see the Sounders get a point there as well and just put in a good performance. I think against l LA and against New York, those are the kind of teams that,
Speaker: The Sounders, even with the struggles they have right now that they match up well against, yeah I don't necessarily think it's the same for Colorado. So it'll it'll be a real proving ground if Seattle can go in and be competitive, get a point, get a win, you know, just to show that you can play a quality team that's not necessarily your best matchup and still put in that kind of shift.
Speaker: what I really want to look at is, is these three games at home, ah RSL, Minnesota, sporting Casey, obviously sporting Casey bottom of the table. They've kind of hit the eject button on the season already. They're really the only team.
Speaker: They are the only team in the West who you could kind of say are out of it at this point that they're not in competition for a playoff spot or to do anything this year. the The West is wide open, but Casey is at the moment, the exception to that.
Speaker: You need to win that game. it's so odd. Like we talked about before you're at a point in the season, you you've gone this many games without a win games are running out, but it's, it's still not the point where in a literal sense, every game is a must win. And I hate to say that because you want every game to be a must win coming into the final stretch of the season, but just, just statistically it's not, um you have to, I would say in these three games, ah RSL, Minnesota sporting KC,
Speaker: you have to get six, you have to get six points. um And I absolutely think they can. And I know, you know, we can, we can, we can, we have to do it. um I just think they need to see the ball hit the back of the net.
Speaker: And that's what... you know, obviously I'm disappointed that we didn't get a win against l LA. I think we absolutely could have win. Brian talked about it, that they should have been in his opinion, two Oh up at halftime. Um, and that they absolutely could that game, but they see the ball hit the back of the net. And not only that, but it's a really well-worked goal.
Speaker: It's confidence for Jordan Morris. Who's looked excellent. It's confidence for Peter Kingston. Who's hitting some form. It's confidence for Paul Areola. Who's become a nice piece off the bench. Um, they just need to see the ball hit the back of the net.
Speaker: And, I think if they don't show anything on this three game home stand, that's when you can really well and truly start thinking, is this season something to start forgetting about? Because against everything, against my instincts, I still think this team can make the playoffs, play home games in the playoffs with home advantage.
Speaker: And I think that they have the culture um and the, and the personnel and the coaching staff to turn some heads in the playoffs. Yeah, I'll say this. Two things can be true. One, the Sounders have not been good enough to get wins. Simple as that. They have dropped some points that they shouldn't have dropped, going back all the way to that 2-2 against Chicago.
Speaker: But the other thing could also be true, which is we're not sitting here giving you a delusional look at things. I mean, this is the way things stand. This is the standings and these are the upcoming games. You're not playing top of the table teams now. And look, Sporting in the city, I will give them respect because they put some work on LAFC 3-1 win.
Speaker: Nobody had that in their cards for sure, but they put in the work. So they're going to come in, try to ruin somebody's day, but that's what the Sounders need to just run their race and be able to. work through and get this, this sort of results. But Jeremiah, I don't know if you want to take the lead on the next segment. Cause man, I think that's a really, really good topic.
Speaker: Well, I will start by chiming in just to give you a little bit more background on these upcoming games. Minnesota has one win in their last 14. They are, and that was a ah randomly, they beat San Jose five to one.
Speaker: take that one out. They, they, not, not a lot of good performances for them. Uh, sporting Kansas city has won twice all year on the road. They have lost every other road game.
Speaker: And then, and when, what's the other, the the third game in that group is ah RSL. RSL, which we already went through. But I'll just say, I think you need nine points from these next four games. I suppose it doesn't really matter which four games you get them from.
Speaker: But if you can get, if you can get a point at Colorado, that does leave open the chance that you can climb all the way in out of the the plan game, which would be huge. But look, you got to get the results. You have to,
Speaker: You can't just talk about winnable games, to your point. You got to actually win some of these games. And if the Sounders don't, then it's over. And if they do, then then we got something to play for. ah But as far as this story that I wrote today, hopefully people have ah had a chance to take a look at it.
Speaker: It's basically an assessment of the ah the winner of the sa the summer transfer window And i don't know how much of this in there is truly revelatory.
Speaker: But the big piece that we were able to confirm is that the Sounders did not have really a firm budget for signing anyone new until the...
Speaker: losing streak was really starting to spiral out of control. And then at that point, there seemed to be a real budget to sign someone that ended up turning into Dion Jovolic, which is a great signing. I think it will most likely go down in history as the Sounders best summer signing since at least Raul Ruiz Diaz, if not even better than that. I am over the moon. I did not expect the Sounders to sign a designated player.
Speaker: that they were able to do that is a testament to the, you know, both the work of Craig Weibel and the willingness for Adrian Hanauer to spend some real money. But at the same time, I think the Sounders need to be criticized for only getting Caden Clark to be the other player that they signed. Now they were pursuing a whole bunch of players. I named like six different players, seven different players that they had discussions with.
Speaker: And But the problem is that they didn't really get very far down the road on any of those until after the Jovolic signing. And then they started to get this momentum of like, okay, we have real money here.
Speaker: And so it's sort of two pronged story. On one hand, I think there is genuine praise for the way that the Sounders were able to make a big signing and that they showed a willingness to do it.
Speaker: But there's also genuine criticism that they waited too long to do anything. And that there's not really a clear indication if this is indicative of a changing philosophy, they can't just keep like I have said a million times people, it drives people crazy that in MLS spending does not have a direct correlation to winning. That's just a, that's just a scientific fact. Like if you look at points over the regular season, there just is not a lot of correlation between winning and spending.
Speaker: But what we have seen is that there's a minimum level of spend that you have to get to in order to be an MLS Cup contender. And that's where people who start to get really frustrated with this line. Because it is true that if you are not like a top 10, top 12 spending team, you just cannot...
Speaker: really compete for an MLS cup. And if that's what the Sounders are trying to do, they need to be able to climb into that group. It does not mean that they need to be the most spending team, but they do have to spend something. And that is not something they have done for, you know, essentially the entire Craig Weibel era. But even before that, they had really stopped spending seriously, essentially since Raul Ruiz, they signed Raul Ruiz in 2018.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure. And and we've talked about it before that the Sounders, i mean, they do squad building differently than the other juggernauts of the league. This was a huge talking point ah on the other direction during the Leaks Cup run last year. The main talking point was, man, this team is deep and it's and it's all young guys that the that the team developed when you saw the development of Paul Rothrock and players and Kalani coming up and having a breakout season. And at that time, everything was rose colored glasses and all we don't need to spend this money to, to, to be elite and to be good. And that was a special team. And I think that says more ah just about the culture. And Brian talks about this in post-game press conferences all the time. You hear coaches talk about culture and sometimes you roll your eyes and you're like, okay, yeah, you know, not every team can have this amazing culture. The Sounders do. They really, really do um in a way that i think is very unique in this league that they haven't needed to go out and splash in the way that other teams do need to go out and splash but but but as the article that that was put out today jeremiah says you know getting that getting that budget late being you know a little bit behind the eight ball in that kind of way
Speaker: um you know, maybe it comes down to the fact that the Sounders aren't, it's a bit of a surprise that all of a sudden, oh, we're in panic mode. You know, we've gotten nothing done since we got back from the break. We, we need not only for on field performance to make a splash, but i think a lot of that came down to that they were losing trust with the fan base. There was just this, this anger and this frustration. There still is. It's been alleviated by the fact that Dan Jovolic, you know, just,
Speaker: objectively is looking like a really, really good signing financially. Um, you know, the talent that you're getting, the fact that he, you know he still has room to become an even better player and he's established in MLS. It checks all the boxes. It really does. Uh, and Caden Clark, I think that's a good pickup as well. Of course, we're, we're yet to see how much that's actually going to affect this season or how much he's going to get in and, and cause a difference.
Speaker: Um, I think it's a position that we as ah as a fan base aren't used to being in. And and Nico, I think you'll have you'll have a better perspective on this, that that financially it's it's not what the Sounders are used to. And they're they're needing to make this jump because of a really unexpected, you know, crash and burn type of couple of months.
Speaker: yeah well that's the problem. the The biggest thing I get out of Jeremiah's story is the fact that to me, there is a clear systematic issue that is beyond anything that a general manager can do. So we've been talking about this for the longest thing. And, you know, people have started to get away a little bit from the Weibel out chance because we're If the system isn't quite there, there is no organization in the planet when it comes to soccer that when the transfer window opens up, there is no budget.
Speaker: Because no GM, no scout, no one in the planet can tell you what it is that it can bring you. Because if you don't have a budget, I can't bring you players. don't know if I'm going getting you $3 million player or a $6 million player a $200,000 player. So the...
Speaker: the inability to have that initial impact early in the window hinders the the entire process of not just scouting, but negotiating. You saw a player that you wanted to bring in not be able to close them because you were putting him in a timeline. you were he had 24 hours to decide whether he wanted to come to America, whole new league, just all these things beyond the salary. Look, there is plenty of moments where the Sounders
Speaker: Back in the Garth Lagerweather days, we'd sit down and the negotiations, when he came when he came to the transfer money or the salary, it wasn't there. And Garth would walk away.
Speaker: And then he'll come back and be like, okay, you know what? It's fine. How about we do this, right? But when you don't have the time to negotiate and walk away from the negotiating table, you're putting your GM in a...
Speaker: Terrible situation. you're You're setting them up to fail. So to me, that's the biggest thing. The Sounders need to completely change the way they approach the transfer window in order to get their guys. And to your point, Adam, the reason why they're having to all of a sudden panic at the end and and make these things happen is because they should have been doing small purchases throughout the last summer windows. I'm not saying you got to be the highest spending team. I'm not saying I need a 15, $20 million dollars player, but you get a $3 million player, one window, you get a $1 million player, another, you create your roster one step at a time, just like the way Vancouver just did it. And that's what they have such a phenomenal team.
Speaker: So, That's the biggest thing for me. The Sounders need to completely change the way that budget is presented and the way they approach this transfer windows. And Nico, would you say that that comes down to the development of how MLS has changed over how you become a good team? Because the Sounders for so long, they're able to lean on an excellent academy, but you know the league's higher and higher spending. Teams are not only you know the the age of like you just bring in an aging star, that's not really how you bring in someone who's approaching their prime, who's going to, you know, immediately make a leap, you know, in the mid twenties into being an elite star.
Speaker: And I don't think the Sounders have made that adjustment as the league as a whole has done. No, that's true. And that's the problem, right? Because you have a sustainable academy product that keeps you relevant, right? But as I've said multiple times, you you can rely on the academy, but that can be the only thing that you want.
Speaker: get i mean, you cannot live on your academy and on your Tacoma defiance and on your pipeline. You have to be able to add. You got to be able to elevate the talent level. And you only get that by bringing in players. So I do think that it was a little bit of a complacency moment for this organization. I'm going to leave it there. Maybe Adrian Hanauer saw the opportunity, as you mentioned, the phenomenal Leagues Cup run, all the Snyder Burnells, the Ovid Vargas that you had, all these players you were able to really put together, develop, sell.
Speaker: But when you sell certain players, you've got to be able to bring some players in. You can't continue to just kind of get the water out of the well. At one point, it's going to run dry. So you've got to be able to feed that in at some point.
Speaker: Absolutely. And it also gets the point where the Sounders, they're generally not a selling team when it comes to those established presences. Obviously, you see a player like Obed Vargas, you know, big deal, get over to Atletico.
Speaker: you're not going to have many Obed Varkas's, you know, that might be one of a handful of players at that talent level that you're going to develop this decade. ah you You can't rely on that. And it's, as I mentioned before, it's strange to look back at a year ago when we had just won leagues cup.
Speaker: And so much of it was talking about like, this team just does development differently and it works and it just keeps working and they're just able to, to, to pop up all these talented players.
Speaker: It's not realistically sustainable. The Sounders, one of the best academies in the, in the league. This is one of the best regions for talent development um in all of North America. It is, that's a fact, but it's not going to be sustained every year. As you said, Nico, and you know, you need to supplement that with,
Speaker: you bring in a big player, maybe even you, you get a big outgoing deal for a big player to fund maybe signing in a, in a place where you need more assistance. Like right now, of course, the Sounders needed assistance at the nine and they get it in day on Yovulich.
Speaker: um I think that, This move built a lot of, maybe not a lot of trust back with the fan base, but it was it was the bare minimum that this, a show of intent that this team had to do it. But it does have to continue, I think, if the Sounders are going to continue to be one of the juggernauts of this league. Because the last few years, you don't have the run to the Western Conference Finals, but it has not been at the level that you saw in the 2010s. I think what it does, just to kind of conclude the the thought on on on on the article, is that
Speaker: To me, the Joe Village more specifically reminds ownership of how nice it feels, how how phenomenal it is to hear the sounders in headlines and news and everywhere saying, Blackbusters. Buster move for the Sounders. Best deal of the transfer window. like Those sort of things are positive. Those things keep you relevant, not to mention fans coming in with a big grin on their face, right? And they can go out there and buy the jersey of the new player and see it come to fruition immediately when he gets a brace on the debut. Those are the the things that I do sometimes feel like ownership needs a reminder that that money is worth it.
Speaker: that that That amount of money of you putting it out there early, scouting the player, bringing him in, showing him to your fancy tutors, it's all worth it. Jeremiah, you got any final thoughts on? well I want to say shout out to W for giving us our first podcast.
Speaker: our first super chat. So thank you so much for doing that. If anyone else wants to to give super chats, we are very much appreciative of those and we will always give you a shout out on here. But yeah, I mean, i think that the I would like to think that the biggest takeaway and what I've heard from inside the Sounders a lot is that they understand that bringing in new talent is an important part of the sports and entertainment with the entertainment part being a big part of the equation is that, look, you can win games and you can you can put trophies in the in the in the cabinet and you can do all these kinds of things and you can have a logical conversation about, well, aren't we doing all the things that we promised to do?
Speaker: And there's a truth to it, but there is also... it people want new stuff and it's not just about the new shiny object. It's about give me something else to root for change the, the, the narrative a little bit, give, you know, they see all their, their, their fellow fans around the league celebrating signings, which might not always be great. Like B don't be afraid to fail.
Speaker: And I think that that's one thing that I would like to think that the sounders learn from this. I'm skeptical. skeptical. that we're going to see too much more of it, but I am hopeful that they will under that at some point they will really understand that signing players, signing new players, signing, exciting players, ah signing young players, signing guys who require a transfer fee,
Speaker: All of that is positive and it and it builds ah energy. And I don't think it's coincidence that there was 38,000 that came to watch Jovalich. Yes, I know Robert lun out Lewandowski was in the house and you know whatever. Maybe that was a big part of it. But I do really think that Jovalich signing brought the energy up.
Speaker: And and i and i you know hopefully this continues to go forward and we'll see a different approach in the winter. Rodrigo DuPauld would tell you that he don't know who that is. He has no idea who Bobby is. So, you know, whatever. Maybe he knows jobless. But anyways, no, I totally agree. I will say one last thing about this.
Speaker: And I do not want get too ahead of myself, but... Maybe, i don't know, but we we could ask you guys, I guess. But to me, I don't really see a lot of moves that are going to happen in January, regardless of whether or not there's a change of philosophy, change of the system and the way things come up, only because the spring season is so unpredictable.
Speaker: that, you know, i really do think that a lot of teams around the league might be more careful right before that big change. i mean, you got what, is it 14 games, Jeremiah? 14 games, 14 games sprint season.
Speaker: You're going play seven home, seven away, all against conference opponents. It's going to be pretty wild. And I do think that you're right, that there's going to be some skepticism going into this, especially, which you alluded to. a lot of that is because the expectation is that at the beginning of the,
Speaker: Well, yeah, to begin before the 2728 season is when we're going to see the new CBA, when we're going to see all the new roster rules come online. And so it's entirely possible the teams are going to be a little reluctant to spend real money until they know what the new rules are.
Speaker: Excellent. Well, look, first of all, if you haven't already, make sure you like this video. Make sure that you subscribe to the channel. We're going to be adding a lot of things. We're going to have some giveaways right here. I'm telling you right here. We're going to have some giveaways. We're going to use the comment section. We're going to use you being a subscriber. We're going to have Discord for, you know, different ways of of providing, you know, the what funds the the studio and Jeremiah's pocket. No, I'm kidding. Yeah. What funds the project, right? So make sure that you like, subscribe, share.
Speaker: um I'm going to be using a little bit of that that headline segment. If you've got a really good headline coming into a game, go ahead and put it in the comments. I'm going to check out what the better ones are and we'll put them ah on a raffle. We're going to lot of stuff, but I just want to make sure that you guys know that we're reading you. We're checking you out. We'll know that you guys are engaged. we really appreciate you guys obviously coming on.
Speaker: Adam and Nico. I do want to give a shout out again. Another super chat. Pull a Magno 23 for the two. Thank you so much. oh You Nico, you're the Fabrizio Romano of of the, of the Sounders escape. Yeah. are there any free agents? The team is looking at if you got a a little quick preview because Brian has said they're still looking at free agents. The transfer window is closed, but they're always keeping their eyes peeled. If you have anything on that. They are looking at free agents, but the problem with the free agents that are available is there's a lot of question marks that come with it. There's lack of activity for a long time. There is question on, does this player want to come in for a longer period of time? So you kind of go to the negotiating table,
Speaker: without a lot of leverage a lot of times because yes, the player wants to come in and and and get another opportunity. But a lot of these guys, if they're sitting nice and pretty, they've made enough money through their careers. They're not going to just jump in in a situation that's not going to be beneficial either by locking them in for a prolonged amount of time, or that's going to be very under economical sense, right? I'm going to come and I'm going get a big load of money. And that puts the sounders out of this advantage because you don't want to bring in a guy that hasn't played in half a season, that's been a free agent, that maybe there's question marks about his demeanor or his play or injury stuff. And all of a sudden you're giving them two year contract or you're getting locked in or you're spending money that maybe you could have spent somewhere else. So I really do think that they they're definitely looking, but as of right now, there hasn't been anything that I thought was,
Speaker: good enough for the team to bring in. And so they're they're being careful. I think that they're they're definitely scouting, but they're not going rush into anything. They're assessing what they have. i'm I'm ready to see Caden Carter hit the field. I mean, i that's one question that I wish I would ask, Brian. but i mean, we'll see this week of training because he's looked really good. I want to see him come in. I want to see him perform. I think as you get bodies back as well, Jackson Reagan should be ready to go against Colorado. So what does that do for your depth? Where does that put Alex? Now maybe Kalani is a guy coming off the bench. Kalani could play up in the wing for you if you need him to. So there are some of these things that right now, I don't know if it's a total need immediately, but there it is. That's kind of what it is.
Speaker: Now, let's go ahead and move on to a little bit a broad aspect. and And maybe you guys out there want to hear more of about but the Sounders. Go ahead and comment. Let me know if there's any final questions. We'll leave a segment of the show to answer anything that we might see out there. But I did want to...
Speaker: Try to bring in a little bit of a broader view around the Sounders, not just right here, but maybe the league in general. So I got this thing that I just wanted to put out here. me Every Monday, me and Adam going be sitting here letting you know what the best game of the match day is for each one of us. So I want to start off with you, Adam, because yours, I think, is more relevant to the Sounders team.
Speaker: ecosystem Yeah. And what he could definitely be, you know, the Western conference that is wide open and you got everybody kind of fighting from the bottom. So, yeah. Yeah. It's a result that I don't think the Sounders are very happy about that. Austin FC go into Vancouver. They go into BC place against the top seed white caps at the moment in the Western conference. And they beat the white caps to one.
Speaker: in a game where Austin had seven touches in the Vancouver box all game. They had four shots and they get two goals. Vancouver, they miss a couple sitters. They, they ring a penalty off the crossbar. This is in a week where so much went right for Seattle, as far as the other results go around the league. This one, it really, everything pointed towards this one being Vancouver taking care of business at home against an Austin team that's one of those squads battling for a good playoff spot or a playoff spot at all. And they were just, they were clinical. I mean, they were everything the Sounders haven't been over, over the last little while is that they did not need much to get into the area and score Christian Ramirez bagging a brace of the distribution ah down the right side, Joseph Rosales, as well as Fakundo Torres, you know, I'd like everyone to go watch the assists on these goals for Austin. Beautiful, especially that, that first goal, the,
Speaker: curve ball ah into the box right to the foot of Ramirez. And he he takes it. I believe that's the first touch Austin had in the box all game. And it found the back of the net. You cannot draw it up any better um on the counter attack.
Speaker: Fun game to watch fun for, you know, a bit of an underdog Austin team to go into Vancouver, to take everything that was given to them and get a result. There was a red card in the 90th minute as well. Austin had to defend the final six minutes down to 10 men and Vancouver,
Speaker: even in that just six minutes are going to be very unhappy that they weren't able to find an equalizer. But that that's an entertaining game. a Austin's a really fun team to watch and Vancouver, obviously they're one of the best teams in the league.
Speaker: um It's not a happy result for the, for the sounders standings wise. Austin's one of those teams that they want to drop points, but, but all credit to Austin FC, you know, they did everything they could and they got the win. They got the three points in Vancouver.
Speaker: ironically, Austin is one of the teams that has put money in a big bag and just lit it on fire for the last three or five years. But look, this team, they are fun to watch. And Again, kind kind of ironically, the guys doing it are not the guys with the biggest paychecks, right? Because look, Superman, I love Christian Ramirez. That guy, he's been around the league for the longest. I have pitched him over here. Like, bring this guy in because he's always everywhere. He's like the guy that's just in every single team and he scores everywhere. so but But he's finishing. It's just outrageous. But Facundo Torres in that game, playing a little bit deeper than he's typically used to playing. like, like you said, that, that, that curb on that first assist, I mean, it's just beautiful as the pace has the location is playing him into the ball. I mean, it's just beautiful. And of obviously the, the finish now Vancouver on their end, lot of chances, lot of opportunities, their inability to really get going without Mueller is something that I've pointed to before.
Speaker: Like, ah Thomas Miller is not just a guy that is scoring for you and his assistant, but he's like this beacon of confidence for the team that makes absolutely everyone better. Ryan Gold with that penalty kick, typically the guy taking that PK is Thomas Miller, but who's going to have to take it? wrong And he hits it on and the post. That could have been your one-one. So there is a little bit of that need for Vancouver to have Thomas Miller, but this is something to watch, man. I mean, obviously top of the,
Speaker: standing against one of the basement teams kind necessarily, but you look awesome. They can get on a run as well. Yeah, absolutely. And Ryan golf, great player. He's been, he's been a great player for Vancouver for a while, but this is just one of those games, you know, when you, you know, to bring it back to, to how it relates to the Sounders, the, the Sounders game against NYRB they had,
Speaker: ah depending on which you look at around 2.06 to 2.32, I believe XG in that game and failed the score, which is their biggest XG underperformance of the year. It's very rare to see a team underperform their XG by more than two goals. Vancouver in that game, three and a third expected goals, 20 total shots, and they are only able ah to find the back of the net one time.
Speaker: you know, it's hard not to watch this game as a Sounders fan and look at how Austin FC played and think, you know, that could have happened for us once on this run. We could add one of these games where where we, where we sneak a result with some good finishing. And when you look at, you know, the delivery from Facundo Torres, the way he played, that's the kind of, that's the kind of wing play that the Sounders have been looking for. As, as we now mentioned at the, at the top of the show, that decision-making in the wide areas into the attacking third, I think was a big reason Seattle wasn't able to get more done against LA. But yeah, as I said, credit to Austin, that's going to be a fun team to watch. If they get into the playoffs, watch out for them.
Speaker: Vancouver, you know, it is showing kind of how Thomas Miller, obviously it's very well put Nico that, that he's just, he's this figure that he's on the field. It inspires confidence in the players. It inspires confidence in the fans. You have someone who you know can get it done and can lead a team and can come up with that clutch moment. And is Vancouver a top of the Western Conference team when he's not on the field?
Speaker: Maybe not. Maybe that's what we're seeing right now. Yeah, look, I love the coaching, love Jasper Soresen, love Ocampo, Brian White. I mean, there's a lot to like about this team, but there is that extra level that makes you maybe from a a contender to just an elite team or or a top team. and And Thomas Mueller could definitely move that bar for Vancouver very well. I'm going to go a little bit more probably to the side that our audience hates. But listen me for a second. It's not why you think. It's because I do like to see inner Miami suffer. And there is no team that makes Miami suffer as much as Nashville FC. Not to mention SC. Not to mention the fact that we had one, Reeve Baker-White playing that game. Unfortunately, he gets on the bad end of what he was trying to clear a header off of a corner and puts his own goal in into you know the the back of the net. But...
Speaker: very good game, man. I just love the way BJ Callahan handles his team. Love the way that we've seen this resurrection out of um one Rebecca White. I mean, that's a guy that we watched here that we like, that he was, up he had the frame, he had very polished footwork, but he hadn't quite broke through. I think that he's done that. He is locked down that left back position with BJ Callahan and he's been phenomenal. And look, there's nothing better for me than to see a guy like Sam Surridge
Speaker: for me my favorite nine overall like in the league completely because he's one of those quiet killers he is not talking mess he's not you know like messy early suarez chirping at the ref he's just doing work man and and the way that he gets in the back of uh these two goals is phenomenal he could have had a third and Crazy enough, this is probably the the easier finish out of all the opportunities he had, and he was unable to put it away. He would have won this game for Nashville had he put that away. But, like, Miami on their end, they continue to be the Miami of old. They lean completely on Lionel Messi. It's the Lionel Messi show. Everybody's playing for him. You see it on his goal.
Speaker: There's like three, four passes on top of the box, and they're just waiting to pass it back to Messi. But Messi being Messi, if you give him enough space on top of the box, nobody's pressing his shot. He's going to put it in the back of the net. He does that very well. But look, to me, Nashville, as a team overall, when he goes from the back to the bottom, when they see what Palacio has been doing for this team,
Speaker: I like them better than Miami. I really do. I think that they are the one team in the East that can contend, that can make them uncomfortable. in And I like them better to me. That is the number one team for me in the East is, is, is Nashville. And I think you you kind of saw that in, you know, the, the, the playoffs a couple years ago with inter Miami leaving early. And it's,
Speaker: i don't I don't like to be to be hateful of a team, but I'm i'm with you, Nico, that I do enjoy seeing Inter-Miami drop points, drop ah decisions, and...
Speaker: you know, they make it entertaining when they, when they don't get a result, they certainly make themselves heard when they, when they don't come out with three points. And it's one of those things where, of course, it might be frustrating to watch a team play completely for one player year in, year out. But ah I mean, of course you're going to do it. It's, it's Lionel Messi and you can do it. Inter-Miami has shown that, you know, that,
Speaker: equation, it's going to lead to wins. It's going lead to trophies. And it and it and it has done that um for them. You know, there's always the conversation of what is going to happen to this team when this era is over. Sure. um I would say, do you remember what Inter-Miami was like before Messi? But you don't. No one does. No, I don't. I don't remember them doing her and anything. um I don't think anyone was there to watch them ah do much of anything before Leo Messi arrived. Philly Neville will tell you. Oh, no, that and not not even Philly Neville might tell you. But it's definitely one of those situations where this is a safe space, people.
Speaker: So if you want to hate on a team, you can do that here. You can do that here on Sounder, sound on Monday Soundcheck. You could absolutely do that. So for me, look, it's not just that Inter-Miami is an unsufferable team, but they continue to get unsufferable players, man. Casimiro is one of the one of my least favorite players of all time. It's almost like they're trying to, like, pick at me. Like they say, Nico...
Speaker: hate us you know it's between him rodrigo de paul cannot stand him at all either so obviously what happened here against the sounders the fact that losers came at my guy gene the way he came at him i mean just just i do not like this team so the reason of bringing this game though it is to kind of put it a little bit of a broader prospect on on what it is and mls in general what do these teams are going to be In the finals, they're going to be one of the teams that fighting for those final spots. I mean, two great teams. But for me, for my money, I do think Nashville, they are the the top contender in the interim. Jeremiah, what you anything to say about that, Jeremiah? I mean, I think you are correct that Nashville is, i mean, they're they're on 54 points. They're still on a record-breaking
Speaker: pace to set the all-time points record in MLS. were I guess that was the first point they dropped at home all year this year.
Speaker: um ah they They have just been a juggernaut. ah i do want to I feel like we are remiss, though, if we don't at least have some time to talk about the sensation that is Kevin Sullivan.
Speaker: Uh, he led Philadelphia union to a five zero win over San Diego doing the sounders a big, big favor, by the way, ah the sounders or would be in a much different situation right now. If San Diego had, had, had managed to win that game, but they knocked them down both, uh,
Speaker: in the table or they they kept them in eye on 30 points through, ah through 25 games. They also pulled their goal difference down to zero. So the Sounders are not even that far behind on goal difference when it comes to San Diego.
Speaker: But Kevin Sullivan is just on an absolute ah breakout right now. He had two goals in this one, including backheel goal with everyone is just praising Milan Olavsky for leaving alone and letting it come in off the post when he was right there to finish it.
Speaker: But Kevin Sullivan is just, you know, he's he's an amazing, i was skeptical as anyone of this guy. He was getting so much hype and it was just like, is it too much too soon?
Speaker: But man, maybe it's somehow, maybe he was undersold. I don't know. he He's looked great. He absolutely has. And I'm with you, Jeremiah, that I was, Very cautious. I've just, I've been a USMNT fan for too long. I've seen too many of these young stars, not necessarily fizzle, but not get nearly to the point where they were supposed to, um at least not as quick as they were supposed to.
Speaker: um And obviously it's a big talking point these days. You know, the the star players are getting younger and younger of, Um, you know, do you rest guys who are teenagers? Do you, do you put them out on the field for, you know, every single match for as long as possible? How is that going to affect them when, you know, when they're 24 and 25 and they've already got years and years and years of, of first team high level soccer under their belt?
Speaker: How is that going to physically, um, affect them? argument Are you, are going to peak too soon? But you, you cannot blame the Philadelphia union for what they're doing. They started this season, ugly. it was it was It was not a good start for the union. And immediately what people are saying is, know, put Kevin out there. you sure You don't have anything to lose. And that's a situation. You're a 16-year-old kid.
Speaker: And not only are you a 16-year-old making your debut in MLS, but you're hailed as like, this is the hope for your team. You know, you are the team. And What's so impressive about Kevin Sullivan is he's he's in front of the spotlight, obviously on the field for Philadelphia, but he seems so comfortable in it off the field. It seems so natural to him. And I think that's what when it comes to the USMNT aspect of Kevin Sullivan, that's going to be a big difference because.
Speaker: when it comes to young players coming up for the U S national team, there is a unique spotlight in the fact that there's only been a handful of those, those true, like this is going to be the guy players in, in the teams in the country's history. And for a few of them, that's hurt the player a lot. um And you don't have anything else to lean on It's just you, you are, you are that guy.
Speaker: And at 16 years old, this is, you know, younger than Christian Pulisic was, was, was becoming the guy at, at, at a, at a team. It's, he carries himself with such a maturity and and such a readiness to be in that spotlight, which that's just, you can't teach that, that that's just, he's just like that. And that I think is what really sets him apart. He's showing right now that he has the talent.
Speaker: The worry point is if he's ready for that spotlight and everything from, as I've seen from him right now is he's ready for that spotlight on and off the field. Look, I was a skeptical just as you guys, and it wasn't about the talent. It was about the attitude. had heard some things about maybe some laziness, maybe a little bit of entitlement, things off the the pitch that can affect the end product. But watching him play recently, I mean, this guy has – Six goals, five assists in MLS play just alone. It's not just the goal scoring. It's not just his ability on the ball. It's his vision. It's the passing. It's the hustle. I mean, the goal that he gets in, I think it's his second goal, you know, it's him just hustling to to the play, being able to get at the end line of a ricochet. So he's a guy that has proven on the field that he is not afraid to be the man that he can put the the team on his shoulder because every single team is coming after him. I've seen him get into scuffles and they they they hit him hard. They foul him hard.
Speaker: And like ah to your point, he's comfortable with that aura. He has that swag. yeah He has a little bit of that Clint Dempsey f FU attitude, kind of like, I'm just going to do me, right? And, you know, I am the man and da-da-da-da. He does the LeBron celebration, gives a shout out to LeBron. I mean, all of those things that...
Speaker: I don't know if you if you're a guy that don't want the spotlight, if you're a guy that maybe wants to stay under the radar or just wants to do his job, you're not doing all that, he's almost bringing in some of that pressure, and he he's doing it, man. I mean, he has been absolutely incredible. You mentioned the way this team started.
Speaker: It costs Bradley Cornell his job. Everybody's running for the hill. you're trying to figure out if you let too many players go. But look, both of Sullivan brothers have been phenomenal, right? He gets an assist as well in this game, his brother. And and it's just, it's all working. It's all coming together. But it does take one phenomenal player. that That's what a game changer does, right? That's what a game breaker does. That it doesn't matter what you put in front of him. You always have a guy that,
Speaker: He's going to have magic in his feet. He's going to have magic on the ball, off the ball, with a shot. And maybe he's a guy that has to provide maybe some of that confidence to all those around him because I have not seen this team play this entertaining much of soccer in a very, very long time. And the conversation right now, i want to bring Jeremiah's opinion in on this, is that people are saying that it's already time for Kevin Sullivan to be getting looks from Mauricio Pochettino.
Speaker: I'd like to to get to... survey the room on that if if we think that that's a conversation that really needs to start get going. i think I think absolutely. Before you, Jeremiah, I think absolutely 110% yes. That's what national teams do. You don't see Hilbert Tamora not getting called. You don't see you know that the young prospects across the world, in Brazil, everywhere. you You bring in the guys, regardless of age, if he's killing it, if he has the potential, you bring him on and have him just – you know, trial by fire, figure out, try to swim or sink.
Speaker: I totally agree. I think you got to bring them in, especially for a window like this, where we're talking about a bunch of friendlies. There's going to be four games in this window, by the way, ah we should probably mention that the Sounders three game homestand, two of those games are going to be played during the, and or right around the international window. So they they may be missing some people just to, you know, raise the level of difficulty a little bit for them. But there are going to the U.S. is playing four games in this window.
Speaker: It's a combined window. It used to be two separate windows in September and October. They are doing it all at once, I guess, just to to kind of bring it together. But yeah, for a window like this, especially like, look, I'm not going to sit here and say Kevin Sullivan needs to be the starter when World Cup qualifying starts again.
Speaker: But who knows? He might be. I mean, we're, you know, but as of right now, he needs to be in camp. I want to see him on the field. And, you know, look, you're probably going to call in 30 players if he's not in. And I don't know what we're doing.
Speaker: Yeah. And it, it does, it seems pretty obvious to at least get him in the setup this young, because you, you want him to be, you know, when he comes to, you know, age 20, he comes to the next world cup. You want him to have been in that camp, in that setup under Mauricio Pochettino for as long as possible. I think the question is like, you know, does he, you know, how much does he play?
Speaker: As you said, it's friendly. It's some, it's some good opponents. um You know, you've got South American opponents in there. You've got a friendly against Mexico. Absolutely. Absolutely. This is what I was saying about the fact that he has, like you said, the swagger and the the technicality and the hustle all combined into one. I think that's exactly what you need to go into that next level at the international level. We saw it in both the goals. One of them, hustle goal completely. And one of them, it's just audacious. I mean, yeah yeah you you don't have players trying that very often, let alone having it come off for them. No, exactly. And and for me, it is going to be as well about a learning curve and a can you fit in, right? Because look, Mauricio Pochettino is not going to maybe give you the freedom that you're getting right now with Philadelphia. So can you fit a system? Can you fit a role? Because if we've learned anything from Mauricio Pochettino is that he likes the Christian role dance. He likes somebody that's going to be able to come in you're going to know what you get out of him. So, you know, he... In the national team in general, we've seen what happened to the Gio Reynos of the world, and I don't want to call him a Gio Reynos of the world, but if he is, he's going to have to figure it out pretty early. So why not right now?
Speaker: Why not get him while he's young, put him together, bring him to the team, and show some of this, you know, USU system working to our advantage, man. Absolutely. Get your young stars out there, baby. I'm with it, man. But look, time is running out. We are almost done here. Thank you for to everyone that tuned in, that spot in to the 1000 likes of this show. I'm sure it's going to get 2000 views. Really appreciate I had a time. We're going to keep working. We're going to be getting better. We're going to just give you this platform to talk, to comment, to listen. So if you guys have feedback, you guys have things we should talk about segments. We should get in.
Speaker: This is your show. We do this for you guys. Thank you to Jeremiah Shan working the back. Let's go Jeremiah. And then of course my guy, Adam race, he's the young star man right here. The Kevin Sullivan of Sounder Heart right here, baby. So I really appreciate y'all being with us, man.
Speaker: Thank you so much. Thank you. And I'll just one one more note. I'll close on Mondays at 1 p.m. We're going be doing this, I think, every Monday. That's the plan. We're going to try to do it as live as possible. We're going to try to keep this thing going.
Speaker: I also want to just give ah a big shout out to the SoccerWise HQ community who today unveiled their, I think, their our network of other, so they what they've done is they've, they've, they've started sort of like giving us funding for a bunch of local sites.
Speaker: It's us, it's top in 90 who cover Charlotte FC. It's a six one five soccer who covers Nashville. It's happy foot, sad foot who covers LAFC. There is a whole bunch of us that have ah the the bent musket, which is covering the revs. I'm forgetting a couple of them. I think men in red, which does Chicago fire.
Speaker: And shoot, I think I am missing one. Maybe we are the other one. But in any case, i just want to say shoutout shout out to SoccerWise for helping make local coverage work and sustainable. It's been awesome.
Speaker: I'm really excited about this project. I'm excited to be working with Nico and Adam. And hopefully people enjoy this. And yeah, we'll catch you next time.
Speaker: Let's go at Sounders.
