Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
This One Position Broke the Seattle Sounders
1 Plays4 seconds ago
Lobbing Scorchers, Ari Liljenwall and Noah Riffe try to make sense of a Seattle Sounders team riding a seven game losing streak and looking overmatched in almost every phase. The rumors of signing a young striker have Ari and Noah asking the question: does any of it actually matter until the No. 6 situation is fixed?
The crew round out the show by assessing if the Seattle Sounders have enough urgency when it comes to making roster fixes. As we watch Cascadia rivals Vancouver Whitecaps reportedly targeting Dániel Gazdag and the Portland Timbers signing David Da Costa, are the Seattle Sounders being left in the dust?
Subscribe to the NEW Lobbing Scorchers Blog: www.lobbingscorchers.com
Follow Lobbing Scorchers:
SPONSORS
QED Coffee - a Seattle based roaster, coffee shop and coffee subscription service. Visit them in person at one of the three Seattle locations or online and use code ‘LS74’ for 25% off across the site.
Haxan Ferments - Specializing in unique, small-batch fermented hot sauces and vinegars, Haxan Ferments is handcrafted in Georgetown and made with the best local ingredients from across the Pacific Northwest. Use Code LS for a FREE Hot Sauce w/ purchase!
Podium Edmonds - Located at 114 4th Ave N, just off Main Street in the heart of Downtown Edmonds, come shop and explore the best menswear in the Pacific Northwest. Tell them Lobbing Scorchers sent you!
Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.
Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
Contact: lobbingscorchers@justoncemedia.com
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Weather Remarks
00:00:00
Speaker
Well sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be a real scorcher today. Quite the scorcher today. Well it's gonna be scorcher.
Seattle Sounders' Challenges and Roster Changes
00:00:21
Speaker
Good evening, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Lobbing Scorchers. We are laying this one down on Friday, August 7th, and the Seattle Sounders... have lost seven straight matches across all competitions. Let's count them up.
00:00:37
Speaker
One, two, three, four, five. One more hand. Six, seven, six, seven. It's historic times for the rave green and not in a good way. We got a couple of Sounders topics that we're going to talk about this evening. We're going to be talking about my agenda today.
00:00:57
Speaker
for why this team needs to sign a new number six and how that kind of informs and defines a lot of what's going on, I think, with this team and this roster right now. And then later on, we're going to talk about whether the Seattle Sounders are showing enough urgency during these trying
Lobbing Scorchers' Independence Announcement
00:01:11
Speaker
times. and those are the only two big topics I had to talk about, but we'll see where it takes us. Noah,
00:01:18
Speaker
A lot going on right now with the Seattle Sounders, obviously, and a lot going on with Lobbing Scorchers. As we all know, Lobbing Scorchers has been in the news and we are now an independent media entity. So that's a big thing.
00:01:31
Speaker
Yeah. um As you may have heard on Reddit.com. Yeah. we so We launched our own written product where you can also just go and support us and get our
Future Content and Audience Gratitude
00:01:41
Speaker
podcast. We'll be having a private podcast fee on there. All fun stuff. ah You can check that out at LobbingScorchers.com.
00:01:47
Speaker
Secret, if you're watching on YouTube or the podcast, scroll down. There is a link in the description where you get a little discount for your first three months. So click that. You can get a discount. Help support us. It is the best way to support our show as we grow and move into a new space. We're going to be writing.
00:02:10
Speaker
We already are writing. Yeah. we had we've We've dropped two articles so far, which... you know A lot more to come. you know It's just two. It's just a start. We're just getting warmed up, but ah I'm excited to do some writing and editing. That's my that's my bread and but um butter more than ah this podcasting stuff. So it's going to be good. ah you know i don't think we need to get into the fine points of how we got to this point, but like I think the final outcome of it with ah us going independent, having our own platform, me getting to write more,
00:02:41
Speaker
Overall, I am excited about the project and the and the future and what we can do with it. And ah thank you all for supporting us to get us to this point where we can get into a venture like this and see what we can do with it. Because I've always wanted to know, you know, if I was ah honed in on my own written platform like this, what could we do with it? I don't know. We've never found out. So I'm excited to find that out.
Young Talent and Team Strategy
00:03:04
Speaker
Yeah, it's been fun, and I love being able to you know make Ari's dreams come true. That is literally... That's what it's all about. live his birth to make Ari's dreams come true. I want you all to know that. and you better You better treat him with respect and love. Ari, I've missed you. I feel like we haven't potted in a minute. like I know we've done the post-game shows, but we haven't like sat down, written out a script, and done one of these for a while. And like I just want to say... as the people who started the movement for Paul Rothrock, as the people who started the Obed Vargas is worth $10 billion dollars agenda, as the people who started, you know, ah many other agendas. I wanted to check in before we start anything.
00:03:45
Speaker
Stuart Hawkins, how... how How much have we been supporting this kid? How much have we been supporting this kid for him to now look like an absolute baller? That's all that's all I want to say. And I know you got to do ad reads, but I just like I had to get it in there. no I mean, we we have been saying for the last two or so years, we were we were originally advocating for Stu Hawks to get out there because... of how highly they talked about him and thought about him within the organization. i think it's no secret that he is the most highly rated young defender that they've had coming up in the last few years. But then we got to this point where they were like, yeah, he's that good. And we're also not going to play him.
00:04:24
Speaker
And we were like, what is going on? Why not? Why not let him play? And they, they said, he's too skinny. And we said, I mean, i don't I don't know about that, but okay. And then so he bulked up and then they still wouldn't play him. Now they're only playing him by necessity. And lo and behold, he actually looks ah really good. yes His passing is truly excellent. like It's incredible. And you know there's been a couple of these sequences in these games where he's gotten scored on, but like I really, I don't know where you're at on that. I don't care, man. like This defense is, ah like in that Toluca game, they're just under siege the entire time. And there was also games where
00:05:01
Speaker
The other team scored a goal, but Seattle couldn't score themselves. So it's like, how much am I really supposed to blame the defense in a game where they lost by one goal and couldn't score? So ah the Stu Hawks agenda is through the roof.
00:05:14
Speaker
Yeah, no, I completely agree. He's looked awesome. His pass, like what you're saying about his passing is incredible. it's like ah It's like a different version of Jackson Reagan out there. Yeah, like think about two center backs who can distribute crazy.
00:05:29
Speaker
That's
Midfield Strategy and Player Development
00:05:30
Speaker
dude. I don't know, man. That's that's. And they can distribute in like different ways to like, you know, Jackson has his long passing and yeah. Stu's breaking lines with through balls and stuff like that. It's cool. It's been in these dark times. That is one thing that I look at and I'm like, yeah, that's okay.
00:05:47
Speaker
I think this plays into what our first topic is a little bit about how like, you know, a certain situation about the the pivots and like a defensive midfielder, but it's like, how much of an asset is it to have like a counterattacking team or a team that can like kind of spring those counterattacks, having two defenders that know how to break like lines with passing with accuracy while also being like incredibly solid defensively. Like, i don't know, man, that's a,
00:06:18
Speaker
that's, that could be like an insane weapon in LLS. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hopefully at some juncture down the line, this team and this roster will be in a place where they can capitalize on those attributes in a way that ah begets winning, which is not happening right now, which, and that's what we're about to talk about, but ah tough times right now. Certainly let's, let's get into the show. Noah, before we do to do that, ah Subscribe at Lobbingscourchers.com. I know we already said it, but we're going to be plugging the hell out of that.
00:06:51
Speaker
Any and all support that we can get on there is the biggest thing that's going to push this show forward right now. Lobbingscourchers.com slash coffee. Also a great way, phenomenal way to support the Lobbingscourchers kickoff title sponsor and Lobbingscourchers.com slash sauce as well. Do we still have the World Cup sauce in stock or what's going on with that? There's a low supply. All right. Get it while you Get before it's gone forever.
00:07:15
Speaker
Get it before it's gone forever. ah you know We'll do other projects with Hakeson Ferments, but this World Cup sauce, is it's one and only. Exclusive. One and only. And um if you're in Portland this weekend, there's a hot sauce expo.
00:07:29
Speaker
Hakeson will be there as well. You can buy some in person, I'm sure. There you have it. All right, Noah, let's ah let's lay down this pod. And like I said, i only have two Seattle Sounders topics written down. So I was i was thinking we could go in depth on a couple of these and then ah and then call it a night. It doesn't necessarily have to be the longest show of all time. But these are the things it was tough writing this outline. I'm not going to lie, because we've been covering this whole losing streak, doing shows about this whole losing streak. And it does feel like a lot of having the same conversation. These games feel like kind of watching the same movie over and over. And it's also like, especially during the Toluca game, I don't know about you, but kind of like the inevitability and the hopelessness of it. really started to settle in where it's like, yeah, this is exactly how I expected this game to go. It's actually a little bit worse than I expected it to go. I knew they were going to be under siege and absorbing pressure all night. I did not know that they were going to be giving up 39 shots, 18 shots on target and almost four expected goals. That is slightly worse than I thought, but it's also like, yeah, that's...
00:08:38
Speaker
That's where we're at right now. You're playing one of the best teams in Mexico that's liable to do that to even a good team that goes in and plays in there or a team that is equipped tactically to handle an opponent an environment like that. That still would have been a hard game. But when you have none of those things, it really, it just kind of underscored how like we can analyze this. We can talk about it all we want, but we've just kind of reached a point where, ah Everyone knows the situation. Everyone sees the writing on the wall. Everyone sees that this team as currently constituted until it gets a little healthier, doesn't have what you need to compete in in in these games right now and certainly doesn't have
00:09:21
Speaker
what it would take to compete in a game like that to Luka game. So before I go into my agenda, Noah, any thoughts on where you're at on what I was just talking about, just of the overall kind of how you're feeling going into these games and whether the sort of helplessness I'm talking about is that sitting, is that setting in for you too?
00:09:40
Speaker
You know, I take after you in this sense where I've reached a Nirvana I have accepted how tragic this team is with the injuries that we have. Frankly, I accept how tragic this team was without the injuries that we had. Because if you look back, there's a lot of, oh, well, this team is the most injured it's ever been. That's, you know, that's true.
00:10:04
Speaker
But also, like coming out of the break, you were missing Christian Roldan, you're missing Alex Roldan, but you have Jordan and you have some other players and you have like all of this.
00:10:15
Speaker
ah They didn't look good. like They didn't look like they were... world beaters, and even before the break, they had lost two games in a row.
00:10:25
Speaker
They didn't look good. They didn't look like they were doing anything that was impressive. So, you know, I find it interesting. We did our post-match show. I think it was after the first Portland game. Or no, was it after the first Portland game or the second Portland game? Doesn't matter. Or one of the games.
00:10:41
Speaker
And we went down the list of the next opponents. We pulled out the FOTMob and we said, okay, next we're playing, you know, away at Philly and we're playing Austin and all of this stuff. And we went down the list and we were doing it with you with with chat.
00:10:58
Speaker
Everyone was like, loss, loss, loss, loss. law Every single person, like not a single person was dissenting. Everyone was like, yeah, we're losing all these games. I agreed with you.
00:11:09
Speaker
you You agreed with me. And now we're sat here like... while we're home playing like a below average Liga MEC East team, there's some hope here for me that we get a win, but I don't think it changes anything. um And it doesn't make me more excited. And frankly, like,
00:11:32
Speaker
I know we'll talk about it more later, but this team is a disaster. And it is a disaster specifically because of the lack of long-term planning, selling off all of your youngster backups ah in in the last windows. And
00:11:51
Speaker
i mean, i don't know. I just, um it's hard to get excited about this team right now in any sense. Yeah, like going into this game on Sunday, i kind of I mean, and we'll see. Maybe we could be proven wrong and maybe a flip a switch will flip or maybe they'll figure something out tactically or they'll make an adjustment that we're not seeing and that'll change things. But assuming things are roughly equal with the injury situation and Yamar now out again and Christian now out three to four weeks, which I'm still just like, man, like this is the injury from the World Cup where Pochettino was talking about. oh, he might be able to play in the – maybe not this game, but he'll be good for the next game. Now all of a sudden he's out for multiple weeks at the club level, which is just –
00:12:40
Speaker
unfortunate But with with that situation, I feel like this game ah this game on Sunday feels bleak and it feels like we're probably in for a similar type situation that we've been watching over these last six to seven games. And you know I think you hit on a lot of the reasons and what you were saying right there. But I want to hone in on the thing that I've been talking about, but I want to talk about more about what I think is the...
00:13:06
Speaker
biggest reason why we're at where we're at right now. And obviously there's a lot of reasons we've talked about a lot of them. We've done the Rusnak discourse as ad nauseum. We've done the Craig Wives discourse ad nauseum. And we've done a little bit of the discourse that I'm, uh, that I'm about to do, but, uh, Noah, this is, this is, I'm going to, uh, this is a bit of an agenda check. Okay.
00:13:28
Speaker
Bringing back the agenda check. It's a bit of a soapbox that I'm about to get on, but I wanted to start off this discussion with a simple question, which is that does any of this matter?
00:13:40
Speaker
not Not in general, but does any of this matter until this midfield situation is addressed and specifically the number six situation?
00:13:52
Speaker
ah Because for me, I keep coming back to the same conclusion every time I watch this team. Every conversation that we've had on all these topics eventually leads back to the midfield. We can debate the striker. We can debate Rusnak. We can debate Schmetz. We can debate Craig Wives. We're going to keep doing all that stuff, but I don't think any of these conversations can really be answered until Seattle fixes the number six situation. And the biggest issue isn't that the midfield is playing poorly necessarily. It's that Seattle no longer has the profile of player. That's been the foundation of the team for years. So let's talk about what Seattle used to have in that area of the field.
00:14:32
Speaker
All right. Cause I think that's important to remember to start the Sounders identity was not built on ah superstar attacking midfielder or a dominant striker. Although they had those with Nicolás Ladero and Raúl Ruiz Diaz, it was built around elite double pivots.
00:14:48
Speaker
okay Think back over the years. Ozzie Alonso, Chao Paulo, Christian Roldan, Obed Vargas. Different players, but it's a similar principle. The midfield always had at least one guy and usually multiple guys who could win second balls, cover huge amounts of ground, clean up defensive transition, break pressure, progress possession, get the ball into the attacker's up the field in advanced positions more consistently. And none of that stuff is super glamorous, but that's the real platform that allows everyone else to shine.
00:15:25
Speaker
Right? So why does this year feel different? Obed Vargas off to Atletico Madrid, $3 million. dollars Seattle needed a contingency plan. And I think, uh, ah i'll so I'll stop here and and let you weigh in here because this is where I was wrong. I think I did the show on kickoff earlier this week of everything that I got wrong. This is one of the things that I talked about, but I think as we get into this discussion, it's worth pointing out again that ah I actually liked the succession plan. I think we both spoke highly of it at the time over the off season Snyder Burnett for, for a good reason. I don't think that faith came out of nowhere. Snyder Burnell showed real promise last season. Hassani Dotson,
00:16:06
Speaker
Felt like a smart MLS signing. And Christian was still around. And Christian is outside of his concussion issues. He's Ironman. So on paper, it looked like enough. But instead, the entire profile of the miss midfield disappeared. And now, without Christian, you're in a situation where there isn't anyone consistently providing those kind of pure defensive midfielder qualities. So the way I see it, that right there, if you hone in on that right there,
00:16:36
Speaker
That's the biggest genesis of what's going on right
Recruitment and Tactical Priorities
00:16:39
Speaker
now. Do you, do you think that that premise before I got into deeper into the agenda, do you agree with that premise or do you think there, that that's more of a smaller piece of a bigger puzzle rather than like the actual Genesis, like I'm honing in on.
00:16:53
Speaker
i completely agree with you. i mean, i I wrote a piece for our website identifying new players that they could sign to help out specifically with this. I think, and I truly believe, that...
00:17:06
Speaker
This is exactly what the problem is, right? They are unable to play through the midfield right now, and and anyone's able to play through their midfield right now. Hassani Dotson, unfortunately, has not been the player that both of us thought he would be, which sucks because he was a serviceable um MLS player. He was a solid backup. He was better than serviceable. He was good actively good for Minnesota. He was actively good in a lot of a similar role that Christian is here. And that's why I think the logic of him being a guy who could spell Christian made sense. It just has not panned out like that.
00:17:41
Speaker
Yeah, no, exactly. And I think you know Snyder, being a young player, he needs success around him. He needs confidence around him to perform well. This is his first full season being a starter. like You can tell that when the team around him is struggling, it amplifies his struggle. Whenever you put a young player in a position to fail, guess what they're going to do? Fail and probably fail even worse than you would expect a regular starter to fail. Like, he has looked actively bad in multiple games because he he doesn't have the support that he needs. His mistakes are amplified because he doesn't have that anchor next to him, that player that he can trust, those outlets that he can trust. Not to mention the players around him as as centerbacks or, you know,
00:18:30
Speaker
ah any other player, it's different. Like you see the flashes of brilliance from him when he takes that shot in, in that league's cup match and it just bends and, he you know, is saved by the keeper, but he's trying things, he's working towards things, but it's also a confidence thing. Right.
00:18:47
Speaker
And so without someone next to him who he can trust and perform with, he, he can also be a negative in that double pivot because I just think that that that is amplified so much by not having someone more senior next to him or someone who is willing to play more defensively. Hassani Dotson, for you know all of his downfalls, I do think is more of a defensive player in his in his past. I don't think he's been successful at that at this club. He gets beat a lot. He's trying to go forward a lot more. His progression, he's trying to be Christian Roldan when he is not Christian Roldan. The thing about Christian Roldan is that there is not another player that is similar to him on this team. He covers the entire field for the entire game. You look up, the ball's up at the top of the field, he's up there. You look back on defense, he's right in line with Jackson Reagan playing in the back. His engine is insane. He's crazy. Hassani doesn't have that. And frankly, right now, even though he's young, Snyder doesn't have that either.
00:19:55
Speaker
So you're missing such a key piece in something that your entire team is built around that... You, one, have to look at Schmetzer and say, how are you restructuring this team to be able to perform without that piece? He's he's been ineffective in doing that. i think I think he does need to take some responsibility for that. But secondly, how do you fill that position?
00:20:22
Speaker
Because to me, i get it. The striker position is important. They can't score. Danny Musabski, Jordan Morris, and Osaze De Rosario are, you know, the the three dragons where it's like two of them are mean and one of them's like goofy. It's all three goofy right now.
00:20:42
Speaker
But the reality is, if you, I would rather we spend a DP spot on a CDM or ah or even a central midfielder who can play like Christian Roldan than spending any DP amount of money on a striker because the amount of value that you are going to get out of a CDM is always going to be higher than that striker at the same cost. And we are in a place where Ari, I think you would admit the Sounders don't have the money to go out and spend $10 million dollars on a striker. They famously do not.
00:21:19
Speaker
they they They don't, and they won't. And so I would rather spend $2.5 million, $3 million dollars on a CDM, make them a DP, and just try and figure out the striker situation. Like, Paul Rothrock can tap in those back post goals all day long. I don't give a shit. Like, it's not going to be pretty, but it's going to steer the ship better than just throwing a striker into this setup. Because throwing a striker into this setup isn't going to change anything. It's not.
00:21:46
Speaker
It's not. Yeah. is Is it not just like ah before I go on to my next point, is it not just a fundamentally unfair ask to go into a game against Toluca on the road asking Snyder Brunel and Peter Kingston to quarterback the double pivot?
00:22:05
Speaker
right the the The difference between Christian and Christian Roldan and Obed doing that versus those two guys doing that. It's just one of those setups has the skill set to be able to do that in an environment like that against an opponent like that. And the other is just it's it doesn't seem reasonable.
00:22:27
Speaker
no to like And that's why i can't i can't crush, as much as Snyder might be struggling right now, I can't crush him for what's going on in these games. he's being me with peter gston can And Peter Kingston looked better than Hassani Dotson throughout this last run. And I'm sorry. He's trying, but like... it's yeah but But the thing is, is like Peter Kingston doesn't even have half of the pedigree as Hassani Dotson. And also, Hassani Dotson is making ah over a million dollars. Peter Kingston has got the wage of a fucking Amazon worker.
00:22:57
Speaker
Like, what are we doing? He's not. He's really... I know he can play as a CDM, but, like, to me, watching Pete play a little more now, he's a winger or an attacking wideback. He's not, a like, a six. And, like, so he's, like, playing out of position at this level, at least. In a game like that, he for sure is. He's playing out of position...
00:23:17
Speaker
Anyway, in a role that he's not suited for at this level with a 19 year old teammate who's very inexperienced and doesn't have the skill set ah to play off him in the way that the system needs anyway. And so, again, like right there, just you don't even need to analyze anything beyond that right there to understand, I think, like where.
00:23:39
Speaker
the problems with this team are starting that have led this to go off the rails. Cause you need for this system to work and for this team to function, like you need, you need to have just nails at that spot. And with Christian and Obed, they did have that with Christian. They do have that. And JP and Ozzy, like you have to have that short up. Otherwise nothing else matters. And like here, I'll, uh,
00:24:03
Speaker
This is where everything snowballs because when you can't control game states at all, you can't keep possession. You give the ball in dangerous areas constantly.
00:24:15
Speaker
Everything that's going on with this midfield right now and how they lose control of game states and can't maintain possession, it ripple affects everything else. The center backs constantly exposed, defending larger spaces, forced into emergency defending all all the time against to Luca every single time they had the ball, they were on the break, putting the back line under pressure. The fullbacks can't attack as aggressively, which is a big part of ah Schmetzer ball, have to worry about transition, less freedom going forward.
00:24:45
Speaker
And then, but let's, let's talk about the attack because, you know, you brought up the, ah the front four. And I think we've talked a lot about how that area of the field is letting this team down. And that's definitely true. But I was thinking about this more as, I just thought about how dire the the central midfield situation is. And this is where I think we might have lost a little bit of context. Let's talk about Albert Rusnak. Let's talk about him. Because, ah you know, I know the brigade is having a field day right now. And we've been we've been kind of giving the brigade their flowers and talking giving them their ah their due or whatever. And, you know, has he played well?
00:25:22
Speaker
No. Has he elevated or helped the situation? No. And can he be better? Absolutely. And is this team going to have to have a serious kind of come to Jesus discussion with themselves over the off season as to just not just him, but the DP and situation in general?
00:25:40
Speaker
Yeah. But if you look at what's going on with this team right now, and not just with Bruce snack, but the entire front four, where's he receiving the ball? He's not living between the lines. He's dropping 15, 20 yards deeper just to help progression. He's not getting his forte. In fact, at all, he needs to be getting the ball. Yes, he needs to be getting the ball in advanced areas, centrally, higher up the field to be able to do what he does as a player.
00:26:07
Speaker
This situation with the midfield, he's dropping so far back in these situations just to be able to help the team keep the ball and try and get something going from there that he's literally like...
00:26:18
Speaker
I really think, man, like any number 10, especially of his particular skill set would be chalked in this situation. That's not like to be a Rusnak defender. That's just the reality. He's helping. He's trying to help build attacks instead of finishing them. And like you said, that's not his game. That's not going to work. And it hasn't worked. It's definitely not going to work away at Toluca against a team that is super technically skilled and and disciplined and tactically astute and physical. Yeah. So like that, that right there is an example of how the ripple effect of having the midfield get run on like this every single week. It, it, it may, it basically means that we're evaluating Rusnak in the entire front four in an impossible ecosystem. You're asking a number 10 to solve problems that usually belong to a number six. That is an impossible job. So like, again, I don't want ah that to get taken as this like,
00:27:12
Speaker
we're actually ah like trying to tilt the discourse back to us being Roosnack defenders. I'm just saying, man, like, is, is anything I said right there about Roosnack wrong? Like, no, I think, I think we can have the conversation of he has been incredibly subpar even with. Yeah. Okay. Yes. Down. Like, yeah I think, I think the two things can be true of like, he has played bad. Like he has played actively bad. And there are times when I look at his play and I go,
00:27:40
Speaker
What are you doing? Like, what are you doing? Like, he's clearly frustrated as well. I mean, you can tell he's clearly frustrated. Like, his pressers... i mean Oh, and his body language. He and Osaze were having words after that. Yeah, yeah like he's chirping Osaze. It is not good vibes in there. And also, this position, losing Christian, losing a player like Christian, he is now being asked to do something that he's not good at that then degrades his own play even more. So if you want to say he should be able to do that, we can have that conversation, especially at a DP tag. But what we are talking about is,
00:28:20
Speaker
Yeah, he's he's he he's he is ineffective without Christian Roldan. he is in i He's in an impossible situation, dude. like yeah He's in an impossible situation. It's not a defense. It's just the truth. It's just there it's just the reality. And and like and i'm that's not to defend, TB. That's not to say, like oh, he this is why and like whatever. We should just forgive him and we should resign and extend him. Exactly. I don't want people think that that's what I'm saying. that's yeah yeah But like after this year, he should not be a DP on this team. You need to fill that spot with someone else. Whatever.
00:28:49
Speaker
But this is also context to understand how we got here. Yeah. And look, ah not to rationalize the number nine situation or say that they don't need to sign a number nine. They obviously do. But you could you could say very similar things about the strikers. You know, people, why is it that a front four of Paul Rothrock, Albert Rusnak, Jesus Ferreira, and either one of Danny Musavsky or Osaze was a perfectly credible front four to put out for an MLS game last year or even in the other competitions they were in if they put that front four out there not only was it adequate last year but sometimes it was really good and we could count on all those players to at the very least three on messy yeah like or and like the chance generation with a lot of those players as key contributors was really good for a lot of last year especially you know during leagues cup but like it was not a front four that was thought of as a total joke that was going to get clean sheeted before we even
00:29:50
Speaker
talk about anything like and that's what it feels right now so why is that I think that pass from Jesus Ferreira to Osaze de Rosario in that game the way he's unable to put that away awful awful and it was also the one chance oh yeah yeah I'm gonna say the entire that we're doing we're doing what we did like two three years ago where Jordan Morris would get two chances on the ball to shoot in the whole game and he would miss both. And you'd be like, well, we literally should send Jordan Morris into space on a rocket ship and never have him come back. Meanwhile, the offense is not generating consistent chances for him that he probably would have scored if you had given him more opportunities than one or two in the entire game. Yeah.
00:30:33
Speaker
The argument is that you're not making it easier for yourself. It's not a defense of these players. It's that it starts with the six and permeates and makes everything else impossible to determine what you have and what you don't have. Yeah. And if you're wondering why Jesus Ferreira and Danny Musavsky seem like they're anonymous and disappearing right now. ah Yes. Part of it is that they could play better or like even like you said with Osaze, like that's a horrible miss against Toluca, but it wouldn't wouldn't have made a difference. But like think about how many touches they're actually getting.
00:31:05
Speaker
How many attacks actually reach the final third under control where you're able to like produce a chance out of it? How many sustained thing? If you sign a fucking DP striker right now, that is, or this Danish guy, this Danish guy, it's not going to change anything. If they get, bring I've changed my tune on that. I was saying, bring him in just for the hell of it. It's he's also not going to have any chances to finish.
00:31:28
Speaker
Like, if you look at his numbers as well, even when he produced, like, somewhat regularly, if you look at the team that was around him, he's cooked. He probably will have less goals by the end of the season if he comes in than Danny Musavsky will. Like, I just... The problem is not the striker. And I feel like, and maybe we'll get to this, um I'll let you continue, and then and then i'll I'll say this if we don't get to it. Well, it's just... i think it just speaks to the...
00:31:57
Speaker
to the value of how you're able to perform in possession, you know, especially in a Schmetzer system. But I think the biggest point is like this. You isn't that Seattle keeps giving the ball away. It's but a lot of it is that they just aren't able to keep it for long enough. And when we're talking about grues snack, good number tens, you know, you become influential through repetition, touch after touch combination after combination. This team spends way too much of every match,
00:32:27
Speaker
Defending, chasing, resetting shape, winning the ball back, immediately losing it again. Eventually your attackers disappear because they barely see the game. Yeah. And here's my question for you. Yeah. Yeah. This is one of two questions that I have, but then this is.
00:32:42
Speaker
I feel like it's Groundhog Day.
Team Identity and Midfield Role
00:32:44
Speaker
I can predict exactly what's going to happen in these games, and I'm an idiot. I'm a guy with a microphone. How in the world, and this, I love Brian Schmetzer. This isn't a strike on him, but this is a genuine question.
00:32:58
Speaker
Maybe it is a little bit of a strike against him, but how do you continue to roll out the same formation playing the same way when you know it's not going to work? How have you not simplified your game plan at this point? How, knowing that your entire system is not working because you cannot even sustain possession, how have you not tried to figure that out? How have you not run something more simple?
00:33:22
Speaker
It's it's like astonishing to me. So I think you could you could say you could say to that, you know well, what's he supposed to do? Who's he supposed to put in this area? that That's the whole problem, is that especially with Hassani Dotson... nation Yeah, but like you still don't have a center midfielder who has the kind of ah skill set, the ball winning, the defensive, the dirty work, covering ground, ah you know, helping facilitate the attack.
00:33:50
Speaker
You don't you don't have that guy regardless. But like, you know, you know what I was thinking, man? Like if it was if it was me and, you know, it's easy to say this when our jobs aren't on the line, too. But like, what about this freaking Costa Rican kid that they just signed on Defiance? Does he not play this position?
00:34:06
Speaker
Like yeah just someone who it. I don't even know he's here yet. okay. I thought he was, but like, ah but you see what I mean? Like I would go that far into the well to try and change something up because, know, what I, and and I was, I was speaking with some sources about this. They see him as a one to two year plan. So like, I think that he's kind of raw right now. Does that mean that getting him some time wouldn't be wrong? No, I don't think it would be wrong, but it's like, I don't know. i I'm grasping at straws over here. going from playing in like the Costa Rican league, which the team he was just on basically folded because they couldn't pay the license fee. And now he's moving to the Sounders second team because they're like, actually, we've been tracking him for a while. And this was our opportunity to get him and we're going to get him minutes and then move them through the pipeline. Like, thrusting him into that game, like, what's it going to do? Like, I don't... And I don't even know if he's had any training minutes with the Defiance yet, so
00:35:00
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, that's um something outside the box. I don't know. like that Maybe changing the formation? I don't know. Simplify? Yeah. I just don't know what formation you change it to when you don't have the personnel to put there that would that would change anything. But likes i think I think we're actually harping on what the ah what the issue is. And you know again, I want to just emphasize...
00:35:24
Speaker
this This doesn't excuse everyone. ah Like, I'm not saying Rusnak's been good. i'm not saying Ferreira's been good. I'm definitely not saying the defense has been good. They haven't. But what I am saying is that I think that we're evaluating all of them inside an ecosystem that's just fundamentally broken. And when that happens, it's kind of just difficult. have idea, Ari. We play a 5-3-3.
00:35:46
Speaker
We just stack them at the back. Or a 5-3-2. We just stack them at the back. yeah Yeah. You've got two CDMs, five back, three three three center backs, two wing backs, and a double striker.
00:36:00
Speaker
And you just say, fuck it. So who's your mid who's your midfield in this situation? Who's the three? um I think you put Alex Roldan as a CDM and you put um you put you put either Hassani or or any ah anyone who can play defensively. And they're just basically like a sweeper. And then you have you have Snyder at that like CM position or or even or i guess you could do...
00:36:29
Speaker
You could do Snyder, like CDM, and um and Alex, CDM, and then Rusnak is like a 10-link player, but more of a like lower, and then your two strikers are Jesus on the right, and then either Osaze or Moose on the left. So a lot a lot of what you're saying sounds like delusional grasping at straws. Yes, that's what I'm doing. But the one thing that actually didn't, I think, is the Alex as as ah more of a six type yeah idea. like And ah that speaks to another, I think, issue that we have with the culture of this team right now, which I was talking about on ah on kickoff this week. But like so much of the Seattle Sounders...
00:37:14
Speaker
mantra and organizational philosophy comes down to Christian, please fix this. Yeah. Put a rolled on there. So just put the other one there, put the other one there and then re re dig in on that, dig in on that. Like, cause honestly,
00:37:31
Speaker
the philosophy of this team is Christian, please fix this. And if you can't, please have your brother fix it. Yeah. And that's a philosophy. It's good philosophy. Like I think it's, it's served it's a winning philosophy. It served them quite well over the years, but clearly, clearly, you know, as they both get into their thirties, they're going to have to think of another way to solve their problems rather than every single time something goes wrong, going Christian, please Christian. Well, you know, they probably have a pre-contract. They have a pre-contract on both of their kids. So I'm sure that will be fine. and like yeah They're like, we need another role. We need another role to run in their stat. Otherwise, we don't know what to do, guys. Putting out like a nine-month-old baby just like, hey, so you want to play the CDM today, kid? they Oh, man. Like...
00:38:17
Speaker
they they haven't had either of them for a lot of this losing streak. So maybe, maybe just maybe if you put Alex in the defensive midfield, that could help the situation a little bit, but like, yeah you know,
00:38:28
Speaker
I say this somewhere sitting here just pulling shit out of our ass. Yeah. And that's the problem. but And that's what you think we're doing that right now on a podcast. What do you think the coaching meeting rooms have been like? They're probably talking about all this. They probably have had these same discussions and come to the conclusion. They came, they had these same discussions and came to the conclusion that we have to roll Pete and Snyder out there and just see what happens. ah But that, that it's just like,
00:38:53
Speaker
Like, dude, you know, I know, uh, I know no one cares about the numbers, but like when you get outshot 39 to four, 18 on target, like it's just, you can't have that, man. Like that's a seven mil. If Fry didn't go like,
00:39:09
Speaker
Exactly. That's that that's non-competitive. like I know Schmidt said after the game, like the guys competed out there. and it's like No, they didn't. no they did ten minutes After 10 minutes, that team looked like it did not want to be there. Legitimately.
00:39:23
Speaker
um like i don't think I understand like he's he's trying to not fault their their effort when he he probably feels similar to we do that they're being put in a situation to to fail. But I guess it almost, that almost just doesn't matter to me. Like the outcome is the outcome, man. Like you got absolutely ran on the entire game. So regardless of why that happened, it would have been refreshing to hear some truth of like, we got absolutely outclassed. Well, okay. Save this save this. Cause that's my, this is my next topic. But, uh, like my, uh,
00:39:56
Speaker
Where I land on it at the end of the day is like, and I'm being slightly facetious, but not really like until Seattle has this area of the field figured out in the front, the plan can't just be wait for Christian to get healthy and fix everything. He's not going to be back for like a month. And also he's 32, man. Like you have to figure this out. You can't kick the can on this. If you kick the can on this, then like you, this is going to, this stuff is going to keep happening.
00:40:22
Speaker
It's going to keep happening. And eventually, Eventually, like whatever confidence, morale, and belief that is left in the locker room, if you keep getting beaten down like this and taking L's every week, that confidence and morale is going to go, and this could get even uglier. so like I don't care how broke you are. you need to You need to find a way to address this. Otherwise, this stuff, we might not even be all that close to rock bottom of how bad this could get. but like Until Seattle has someone who can who can play this role that we're talking about,
00:40:51
Speaker
I'm almost not interested in evaluating anything else. Obviously, the games matter. Obviously, the results matter. Obviously, the DP situation matters and needs to get addressed. But for where we sit right now, just from an analytical standpoint, every week, it kind of feels like watching the same movie, like you like you were saying. Midfield can't establish control. Everything behind it is getting stretched. Everything ahead of it gets starved to where the offense can't do anything. And then we all spend another week debating whether the number 10 or the striker played poorly when everything
00:41:25
Speaker
around them means that they probably weren't going to be doing anything no matter who they were. Like, and I know that that's probably not going to be a popular take that if like, I know a lot of people want to think, man, if you just dropped Rui Diaz back in here, like we would be vibing again. i really don't think so, man. I'm not, you know, and I'm definitely not saying that like one number six would magically fix everything. You know, if Obed walks through that door tomorrow,
00:41:49
Speaker
This team would still have issues. If Christian returns tomorrow and when he does get back, this team is still going to have issues. But I don't think either or any of the other conversations are really just all that productive until Seattle gets someone with that with this with this profile back into the lineup, man. Like, that's...
00:42:11
Speaker
i don't Maybe that's oversimplifying it, but that's my agenda for the week. No, i I agree with you, and I think that if they sign a nine and then don't address this position, i like i will be livid. This was the thing that I wanted to say earlier was like,
00:42:27
Speaker
They are addicted. they They are a one-track mind. We have to sign a, quote, nine that can come in and contribute right away. You think fucking Noah Ohio is fixing this situation? You think any of these random other guys are fixing this situation? These $2 million dollars no transfer targets? You need a $2.5 to $3 million dollars CDM who's like 25 to 27 years old, who has some pedigree, who's like a kind of a bruiser, but also can distribute, has a high work rate. In fact, I found four of them. I found four of them. And you can go read about it on Lobbingscourters.com of who I would sign if you made me the GM. So Lobbingscourters.com, can read that. But like I am fully in agreement with you. And if and probably when they sign a striker,
00:43:17
Speaker
I'm not going to be happy. Like everyone wants a signing. Everyone wants a signing. Yeah. Well, I don't want a fucking DP striker. I don't want a Tam striker. I don't want, I want you to figure this out and then, and then address the striker position or do it at the same time.
00:43:33
Speaker
I don't care. But one without the other is stupid. It's stupid. I think they, they need to do both things realistically. Yes. I agree. I agree. and like one but That's what I'm saying. One without the other doesn't make any sense.
00:43:46
Speaker
Yeah. And I guess I feel like ah we might've been underrating just the importance of general ecosystem in all this, or like just but oversimplifying.
00:43:58
Speaker
doesn't shock me though, because look, look what happened when we signed Nico. Look what happened when we signed Nico. This is exactly the position we were in. And we signed to Nico Ladero, who was an engine, who's someone who moves around the field, who motivates everyone. Different situation, obviously.
00:44:13
Speaker
That did turn it this from the worst team in the league to MLS Cup winner. Like him pretty much. You get Raul, all of that. Like those things change the game. Like, do you do you say that Raul changed it more than Nico changed it? Because I would say Nico changed it more than Raul.
00:44:29
Speaker
But they played together and needed each other. Yeah, yeah. But they didn't have Raul in 2016 when they first got Nico. Raul didn't come until 2018. And they went... That's what I'm saying. In 2016, they got insanely hot mainly because of Nico.
00:44:42
Speaker
Yeah. So... and But the thing about Nico is that he was this number six profile that we're talking about combined with the best number 10 in the league. Yes. How do you find one player who is both of those things again? That's not easy to do. How do you find a player like Christian who does literally everything? That's also not easy to to do. Exactly. Or go find somebody who will allow you to play at least closer to how you want to play ah and be competitive. As for the ah the attack, though, and the ecosystem with that, man, like I really think that
00:45:15
Speaker
it's ah you know, attackers don't exist in a vacuum. You know, you got to have possession. You got to be able to control territory, game states, sustain pressure, getting touches in dangerous areas. Like this offense right now, this team is not giving them any of that. Like you got Rusnak dropping so deep just to help get the ball out. You got Ferreira checking into midfield because nobody can progress play. The strikers are spending...
00:45:40
Speaker
Yeah,
Performance Challenges and Strategic Adjustments
00:45:41
Speaker
yeah. when when When you have like Paul Rothrock's bringing the ball down the wing, there's one option because everyone is back on the counterattack because they are defending. They're trying to win back the game state. It's sprung forward. Rothrock's on the move. He's got one guy and maybe it's Osadze, maybe it's Albert, and no one else. There's no options. There's no counterattack to be had because everyone's having to drop back so bad because the game state's so bad because they can't build up play. It's impossible. Yeah. And that's when, yeah, that's when Rothrock is able to get into attack, which is like pretty much never. He is finding himself defending in transition instead of attacking the back post for a lot of these games because of how much they can't keep possession and how much the other team is all. Yeah.
00:46:27
Speaker
are spending long stretches of these games just isolated with no support no runners ah because there's only like everything is just disjointed there's no like cohesion to it so this front four right now is spending half the game they're trying to solve problems that should already be solved by the midfield.
00:46:44
Speaker
Like that's what's happening, I think. And that makes all of them ineffective clearly because again, these are players that we all, we all know, like as much as you might be down on any one of those four guys, they were not this bad last year. Like they're not this bad ah two months ago.
00:47:00
Speaker
yeah Yeah, exactly. so like like did they only They may not be the right person at this time to be that position or fill that roster spot or whatever you want to say. The insane drop-off It has an explanation.
00:47:13
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. It's not that they all of a sudden now just suck or that everyone that was down on them the whole time, even last year, is like suddenly correct about that out of left field, man. Like there it's there's no way you see a drop off like this without something else going on somewhere else on the field. And I think, you know, we're talking about what we think is the most obvious and answer. But i mean, yeah, it's just.
00:47:36
Speaker
you know, Bruce that could play better for Rara could play better. The finishing could improve all of that stuff needs to happen. Uh, but I don't think we're watching four guys that just suddenly forgot how to play attacking soccer. I think we're watching four attackers operating inside a broken ecosystem, a system that literally can't support attacking players right now. And that's at least a distinction worth pointing out. You know, it's almost like, it's almost like evaluating, uh, to make a cross sport analogy. It's like evaluating wide receivers when the offensive line can't block, you know, man, Remember the late Pete Carroll Seahawks, you know, it's like, yeah, sure. You could look at the wide receivers if you want. Maybe they're not running their routes well enough or getting enough separation. But if the goddamn quarterback has half a second before he's under pressure, every single snap, how much are you really learning about the receivers? and yeah that's like, that's like, yeah, or the quarterback. That's where I'm at with this attack until the midfield can control possession, dictate tempo, actually connect defense to attack. Like we're used to seeing these Sounders teams do. Yeah.
00:48:35
Speaker
I don't know how much, i don't know how much value there is in even talking about Roosnack, Ferreira, Rothrock, or the number nine. They're all trying to operate in an environment that's fundamentally working against them. And I know I'm kind of beating a dead horse at this point, but like that's, it's, that's what we do. It's, it's, I'm passionate about this, man. Like it's, and, and, you know, maybe we could talk more about whose fault it is that they're in that situation. I'm sure a lot of people would say the, ah the general manager, but like,
00:49:05
Speaker
Honestly, if if that if that issue this issue in particular hadn't gone this far off the rails, I don't think we're talking about a team that's seven seven losses in a row right now. it's ah It kind of reinforces... I've always had this take that guys like Ozzie and JP are actually the ones who are...
00:49:23
Speaker
most responsible for the success the success of their their teams. And just watching this team right now, it kind of it just makes me feel like that even more. But I mean, I'll say... real I think just just a quick note on the general manager thing. I do think that he has...
00:49:39
Speaker
at least at the very least a medium amount of fault that he has to eat when you sell Obed Vargas and you know that Christian Roldan is getting a year older and you don't do anything other than bring in Hassani to shore up that position, that is a problem.
00:49:55
Speaker
like if you If you really think that Hassani, Dotson, and Obed Vargas are a one-for-one, no disrespect, but a guy coming off of a knee injury and a young player who is moving to Atletico Madrid and is just going to the World Cup. Like, the pedigree is not the same whether or not his his MLS history has shown that he's a talented player. It's just the truth of it. that This has been a continued kick of the can down the road band-aid situation at the 6 because you have Christian Roldan because he's been so durable because of all of this. And I think that that slipped his mind or whoever's mind to say, well,
00:50:34
Speaker
We don't really have to worry about that. Well, guess what? 32 comes along. 33 comes along. 34 comes along. 35 comes along. Is Christian Roldan going to be playing on the field until he's 40? Maybe. But even if he is, he's not going to be able to do the things that 25-year-old to 28-year-old Christian Roldan was able to do. And that's okay.
00:50:53
Speaker
But there is... the the The plan of succession is Hassani Dotson. And then... ah Fuck, I guess Peter Kingston? i don't know. Like, how is that your succession plan at the most important position on the entire field of the of your coaching staff's entire philosophy? That is a problem. That is a disconnect. I like Craig as a person. He should know that.
00:51:23
Speaker
I don't want to, like, be rude about it. But... He has absolutely failed in that space. And whether he wants to say that it was because they had no money to do it, I think that's true. But I also think that you have to think about it. spent 800K of money on Hassani Dotson. So like yeah that's i mean that's something that he's going to have to wear unless that unless that ah unless that turns around. But I almost almost feel like we're all like we've maybe even been unnecessarily hard on Hassani from the point of I don't think so. i think he's been awful. Well, but like the idea but the idea that he was ever going to be a Christian Roldan, that's not him who put himself in that situation. So, I mean, I don't know. yeah That's true. he was He was coming in to be a guy who fights for minutes. He was not expected to be the heir apparent to Christian Roldan. And you are exactly right. And I think that also plays into what I was saying of you didn't have a real succession plan. You had a plan for a guy to give Christian a little bit of a break, probably looking towards the World Cup and knowing that he may need some rest after that and during that. And instead of just game planning longer term, you decided to do the Band-Aid solution.
00:52:29
Speaker
Yeah. So, I mean, what's the solution in the short term? I think the obvious solution is, uh, Christian, please, Christian, please come back. Please help us. Christian, davis christian please fix this. Christian, Christian, we need you to fix this, please. We messed up again, please. So that's the number one solution. And yes, that actually, ah you know, as we joke about it, that will help. We all know Christian, one of the smartest midfielders in major league soccer covers an absurd amount of ground, organizes everyone around him.
00:52:58
Speaker
When second balls progresses, play makes everyone better. I mean, I don't need to give you guys the breakdown on why Christian rolled on is so good, but obviously this team becomes way better when he's healthy. ah But speaking of band-aids, like,
00:53:11
Speaker
Christian coming back is not like the permanent long-term solution to this. It's not, he is the bandaid in this solution, in this situation. The real solution is that we they got to sign a true number six, not another versatile midfielder, Swiss army knife type, not another guy who can play there like Hassani, not another good MLS player, genuine defensive midfielder, someone whose entire job description is win the ball, cover ground, control transition, progress possession, let everyone else play their natural game and let this thing do its this team do its thing again. you know Every great Sounders team has had that player. Ozzie, JP, Obed.
00:53:50
Speaker
That's not a coincidence, man. That is the identity of this team. And the fact that they don't have that is it's a lot a big reason why we're seeing what we're seeing right now. ah And...
00:54:02
Speaker
You know, maybe that's the bigger issue. Maybe this season has exposed something even more concerning, like you're talking about with that. There there wasn't a contingency plan. ah When Obed left, the plan wasn't here's the next guy. The plan turned into like, let's piece this together with a veteran signing and relying on internal solutions. And hasn't worked. It hasn't worked.
00:54:23
Speaker
So it is just... ah Christian can't be planning forever, man. And that's another one of my biggest takeaways from all this. We love him, man, but he's 32, still an outstanding player, but you can't build an organization around the assumption that he's going to keep erasing every mistake. You can't be the answer to every problem. Can't be Christian. We'll fix it.
00:54:45
Speaker
Need to control the midfield Christian, please. Leadership, Christian, energy, Christian, tactical issues, cover form, Christian needs to hold it all together. Christian. It's not sustainable.
00:54:56
Speaker
It's not sustainable. It's not, it's a good bit. But ah anyway, that's where I would, that's where I would challenge the front office, I guess, you know, your job isn't to hope Christian stays healthy forever, but it is to make sure this team can survive when he isn't. And That's true because every MLS team loses players. Every MLS team deals with injuries.
00:55:15
Speaker
He's getting older. The elite organizations have succession plans. And, you know, to be fair, like this organization used to be good about that. ah But in this situation, their plan didn't work. And it looks like they didn't have one for arguably the most important position on the field. So anyway, that's kind of my closing thought. I don't think signing a number six magically turns this team into an MLS cup favorite this year. There's still a lot of stuff to be dealt with elsewhere on this roster, but man, until they solve it,
00:55:43
Speaker
everything else feels secondary. you You got to have a foundation, man. So, you know, I know we just went 55 minutes on that, but it's important. It's important. It's what we've both been stewing on in our group text too. So like, yeah. And you wrote, you wrote your transfer targets. Like, I think this is just a,
00:56:01
Speaker
And and more than more than like beating the drum of like sign of six, sign of six, sign of six. I think it's it's it's worth talking about this much because it's very, I think, illuminating on what's what's gone wrong. Why are we here? like where How are we in a situation where we're not talking about a drop-off? We're talking about this team performing as one of the worst teams in the league, lost seven games in a row. I mean, I think a lot of what we talked about is why. They did Philadelphia Union their first home win in two years. like Yeah.
00:56:29
Speaker
You got have Shaw at 39-4 in a game, man. This is objectively embarrassing to the point of like I now feel
Community Engagement and Promotions
00:56:39
Speaker
bad for Portland Timbers fans. like I've never in my life been like, wow, i I get it. I get why you're so bitter and why the Sounders are your Super Bowl. like I get it. Because if you're playing like this all the time,
00:56:54
Speaker
it's the It's the moral victories. And they weren't even this bad. They were just kind of mid. like No, exactly. And being mid like that sucks. it's almost Honestly, being mid like that is almost worse than a full-on spiral like we're dealing with because this is at least like...
00:57:08
Speaker
interesting for now like you know downfall watch yeah but like you know a mid team like that's just in that 1.2 three points per game range that's where you like really don't want to be as far as content goes it's boring like at least this is somewhat entertaining yeah exactly or it's at least like i can be locked in on it like yeah yeah yeah what are we gonna get are we gonna go to eight are we gonna let's uh let's let's sauce an ad break right here and then we can come back and uh talk about our last topic for the night Hey everyone, Ari here.
00:57:40
Speaker
I'm excited to tell you about one of our sponsors, Hakes and Ferments. Hakeson is a Seattle-based hot sauce and vinegar brand, making some of the most flavorful hot sauce around. We've partnered up to craft a small batch green blended hot sauce fermented to perfection with bright flavor and medium heat.
00:57:55
Speaker
We love it so much, the label even has our faces on it. You sold out the first batch, so we made another. Visit lobingscorchers.com slash sauce to order and be sure to check out the full line of Hakeson Ferment Sauces, including their limited seasonal flavors.
00:58:09
Speaker
As you know, we're huge fans of supporting local business. We've partnered with Seattle coffee roaster, Huey D Coffee, to bring a full spectrum of coffees to our listeners. Matt, the owner, is a diehard Sounders fan and inaugural season ticket holder who can often be overheard talking about the latest match while he works behind the bar. Thankfully, you don't have to live in Seattle to get great coffee.
00:58:30
Speaker
Huey D's high quality coffee subscription service offers our favorite blends right to your door. at lobbing scorchers.com slash coffee. First time subscribers can get 25% off your order.
00:58:41
Speaker
Additionally, QED is offering Lobbing Scorcher supporters 25% off site-wide with the code LS74. What are you waiting
Management Critique and Strategic Direction
00:58:49
Speaker
for? Visit one of their three locations in Mount Baker, West Seattle, and Three Tree Point, or go to lobbing scorchers.com slash coffee and use code LS74 at checkout.
00:58:59
Speaker
I want to talk about how we shop for a second. Most of us buy something, wear it for two years, it falls apart, and we do it all again. Podium and Edmunds is built around the opposite of that.
00:59:12
Speaker
Quality menswear and home goods, stuff that's made properly, from brands that take it seriously, meant to be worn for years, and honestly, meant to be passed down. Filson, Red Wing Heritage, Taylor Stitch. These are not brands you throw away. Go see them at 114 4th Avenue North in downtown Edmonds or visit lobingscorchers.com slash podium.
00:59:34
Speaker
All right. Welcome back from another ad break that you definitely did not skip now that we're independent. You definitely really can't skip the ads. Better not just skip guys or not skip the ads. But, uh, I just have one last topic for the evening though, and we don't need to spend, uh, all night on this. Like we just did with the, with the number six discussion. Uh, but I, I wanted to, uh, get your thoughts on something that I've been thinking about, uh, thinking about this losing streak more, which is just the question of, uh,
01:00:03
Speaker
Do you feel like this organization is showing enough urgency right now? Because one thing that's really stood out to me over the past month is this is a club in crisis and it doesn't sound like a club that's in crisis. The messaging to me, at least watching these pressers, I would say both from Schmetz and the players, but definitely from Schmetz. The messaging has largely been, you know, stay together, trust the process, we'll get healthy. We've been in tough situations before. We don't want to overreact, even particularly after the Toluca game, where, you know, Schmetz only had three questions. They didn't take any Zoom questions. And it felt like his general demeanor was, it it felt like...
01:00:45
Speaker
It didn't feel like, to to me, a guy that was feeling a sense of urgency about what's been ah what's going what's been going on. And you know maybe he's right to feel that way. We'll we'll find out. But ah how long can you keep saying that before action has to follow? And the the reason that I thought of this was because ah you know you sent me this report today, actually, about ah the Vancouver Whitecaps.
01:01:09
Speaker
ah Going after reportedly Daniel Gosdog, former designated player for the Philadelphia Union, now a designated player for the Columbus crew. And I'm not sure if that deal has gone through yet, by the way, but ah just the fact that they were linked to a player like that. Forget whether Daniel Gosdog is the perfect player, how good you think he is. That's beside the point. The point is. The Whitecaps are arguably the best team in MLS right now. They're leading the conference. Yeah, they're having an incredible year already. ah And they just lost arguably their best player, Sebastian Berhalter. They had to sell him midseason to Middlesbrough. And they have an incredibly talented and deep roster that probably would have been able to stay upper tier in the West, even without Sebastian Berhalter, even if they didn't try to replace him at all.
01:01:56
Speaker
But after losing Sebastian Berhalter, the Whitecaps, what was their response? It wasn't, ah we'll figure it out internally, built, not bought. Their response is go get another MLS proven difference maker. That's urgency. Think about their their sporting director, Axel Schuster.
01:02:13
Speaker
You know, I don't know Axel Schuster personally. i've ah I've sat in on a lot of his media availabilities and press conferences, but this move screams one thing to me. He understands that success today doesn't guarantee success tomorrow.
01:02:26
Speaker
You know, you lose an important player, replace him immediately. Do not assume the system will absorb it. Don't hope someone develops. Don't cross your fingers. Go solve the problem.
01:02:37
Speaker
All right. And compare that to Seattle. Seattle's lost Obed. JP's prime. Christian for stretches this year. Jordan Morris, a lot famously. Pedro de la Vega, a lot famously. And what's their response?
01:02:49
Speaker
It's mostly been a lot of, you know, wait, stay patient. We know what we're doing. Hope people come back. ah Hope internal options improve. Hope chemistry develops. Eventually someone's going to get healthy. So it it begs the question, I think, is this organization too comfortable, complacent,
01:03:05
Speaker
this is where I'd pose the question instead of making it that as a declaration. But, uh, I think to, to be fair, Seattle, they've earned a tremendous amount of that trust. The trophies do justify that.
01:03:18
Speaker
I've argued that time and again, so I'm not going to sit here and say that I like that. I haven't argued that in the past, but like, I think just the question is, has that trust slowly become comfort? You know, has the organizational confidence turned into, we'll just figure it out instead of we'll need to fix this immediately. And ah I think a lot of why I'm thinking that is because of Schmetz's messaging. And I understand what he's doing, honestly. Like, I'm not going to kill him for that because it's a tough line he needs to toe. And I think there's an important distinction. His job is to keep the locker room together.
01:03:51
Speaker
And he's not going hold a press press conference and say, we are cooked. Like, that's not leadership. But if that's... if that's the internal organizational posture, I don't know, maybe that's a concern. And ah every front office has to answer the question at some point, you know, do you believe this is a temporary slump or evidence that you need to intervene on the roster? But those are, it's two completely different philosophies. But anyway, that's, that's what I was thinking about with that. and I'm wondering, what are your thoughts? Noah, do you, do you feel, do you think the response from the, from the club and the organization and the, and Schmetz and everything, do you think it's matching the moment right now?
01:04:27
Speaker
I mean, to start off, the guzz dog to Vancouver thing, from what I have read, is it's in the works. It's a little too early to say that it's done, but that there are people who definitely think that it there is a they're trying they're They're trying to get him. They're trying trying. They're trying. Like, when's the last time that you heard a Sounders rumor that you were like...
01:04:51
Speaker
oh, you're going to get a killer. Like, you're going out there to get a killer. It's like Nico and Raul and... Well, and if they had gone out and gotten Gauzdog specifically, people would have crashed out because that's like a total Roosnack style, like pilfering from inside the league move. But, like, the point is... I mean, we wouldn't have crashed out from that. we would have been like, oh, that's kind of sick. But, yeah but like... ah I think the the point stands the point stands. Because they're they're trying. They just lost one of their best players, and they're not sitting on it. They're trying to go out and replace him And he may not be a long-term solution from what it has been reported is he won't be a DP.
01:05:26
Speaker
He's going to be a TAM player. Do you know what I'm saying? It's like they are not they're not like, okay, well, if we do this, then we have to wait seven years before we're allowed to spend more than a million dollars on a transfer. So if we put him in the DP tag, and then this, and then this. And I think that also, you know, something that a lot of these teams are understanding is that we are in a new era.
01:05:48
Speaker
Roster rules are going to change. We have a new commissioner. We have a new calendar. We have all of these things. If you play a little bit more fast and loose with your money right now, it's a better gamble than what LA Galaxy did in you know, what was it, 2023, 24, whatever, to win Cup Like, they have been decimated because of that, and their whole roster is cooked. Well, now they're signing Chucky Lozano, which I think is really funny. But regardless, the urgency is there to win now.
01:06:22
Speaker
And the Sounders have made it clear that... We're a developmental club and we're ah we're a... galac Like what Craig Weibel said, I asked him specifically about this.
01:06:34
Speaker
And he, you know, i asked him, what what role do the Sounders play in growing the league? Like what role do you play in in bringing in new signings and like elevating the quality of play? His answer was, well, we're already a giant club. And like, I think when anyone plays us, we bring up the stature of whoever's playing us. And I'm like...
01:06:56
Speaker
That doesn't really answer the question, and it's also an answer in the non-answer of, well, ah we don't really have a plan to like be some kind of showrunner, to be a team that signs players that bring excitement. like We have a method, we have a methodology, we stick to it no matter what. Now, is that a smart business move? Well, yes, they are a profitable club. They are one of very few profitable clubs in the league. They make money. They're able to operate by making money.
01:07:29
Speaker
But as these roster rules and restrictions loosen, guess what? You're going to have a lot more urgency and a lot more willingness to bleed cash because if you don't, you are going to be so far left behind.
01:07:42
Speaker
You are going to be the next Houston Dynamo. You are going to be the next um ah San Jose Earthquakes who were massive clubs in their day.
01:07:55
Speaker
But they got left behind when the league kept moving. And so the inability and in not urgency to sign anyone, period, over the last summers, has continued to tell me, yeah, like, there's not even a link.
01:08:12
Speaker
that Like, there's the the conversations that are being had are being had with players that, like, it like Noah, Ohio, again, he didn't even want to come here. And the best part is he's playing on the second team and not even getting minutes.
01:08:27
Speaker
Like you, you, there's no urgency. They don't care if it works out or not. Like, I don't, I don't, I don't understand what's going on there. And like, again, I'm not in those rooms. I don't know the philosophy. I don't know the transfer budget, but it's like,
01:08:44
Speaker
If we lost, again, we lost Christian Roldan. He's our Sebastian Berhalter in a sense, right?
01:08:51
Speaker
They are immediately linked to someone else. Now, Sebastian Berhalter isn't injured. He's traded. And Gosdog is not his position, we should say. But i'd like to again, it it doesn't matter. like it's They're trying to improve their team.
01:09:03
Speaker
yeah That's what it is. Yeah. like it's it's
01:09:09
Speaker
It's just, I don't know. I say all of those things. in I'm tired of waiting, Ari. I'm tired of waiting. I don't care about waiting anymore. I've been patient.
01:09:25
Speaker
Now you are just sitting here telling me bullshit. This roster is not the deepest in MLS. Remember when we were talking about that? Oh yeah, famously.
01:09:38
Speaker
We said that. It's not. And I bought it and i sell I sold it and at one point it was, but it's not. If you want to keep being the deepest roster in MLS, you can't just not spend any money.
01:09:53
Speaker
Like, I think there's an identity crisis happening at the core of the team. And I think this plays a role in it. So I know that was a wandering path, but like no, no, that was, do you, do you think Schmetz could be doing anything differently in these pressers? Cause like, again, I'll reiterate, I want to be fair to him from, the standpoint of like, I understand why he's saying what he's saying publicly. If you're the head coach, what good really comes from going up to the podium and saying, man, my team is terrible.
01:10:23
Speaker
And I think the way he looks at it, these players are still showing up. They're doing their best to compete, even if the results and performances like in Toluca wasn't competitive, but like They were out there. They're still trying. I don't think a lot of people are going to point to effort. I don't think the effort has disappeared. And if you publicly torch your own locker room, you risk losing the players. You create panic. You destroy confidence even further than it already is. And that's bad leadership. But at the same time, dude, like there has to be some acknowledgement of the magnitude of what's going on right Now, this is not like this is not a rough two week stretch that you can like gut it out through or like a one. oh we lost to Portland 5-1 one time. But like other than that, it's been relatively a status quo. It's not bad luck. It's not like unlucky bounces are doing you in. This is seven straight losses. All comps. This is a team in every game. outplayed in every game, getting out shot dominated 39 to four, man. This is a team that doesn't look like itself at all. And like, at some point the messaging has to reflect the seriousness of the situation, whether it's from the coach or the GM or the owner, somebody, man, it's about tone, not anger. Like I'm not asking him to start throwing chairs in the locker room. That's not his his personality at all anyway, but stay it's he doesn't there he's not, yeah, he's not, I'm not asking him to throw chairs or call anyone out by name. But like, I think what I'm saying is that,
01:11:44
Speaker
I guess I wish there was more of a sense that everyone inside the building understands that this is just not business as usual right now. And the fire alarm, bro. Yeah. And also putting like your kitchen's on fire. There's a fucking grease fire. And the only thing you're doing is muting the smoke detector. Every time it starts going back off again, it's like you go to a Craig Weibel press conference, but there's only one every fucking quarter.
Final Thoughts on Leadership and Challenges
01:12:08
Speaker
Cause the, you're not allowed to talk to him. And it's the, God forbid you ever had a conversation with Adrian. He has not spoken to the media since he crashed out in the locker room and it was reported that he did that. But in all of these conversations, it's well, you know, like when the resources are, so it's like, no one's being honest.
01:12:28
Speaker
Like no one is just saying what needs to be said, which is this is a disaster and we are working to fix this. there' You have to acknowledge there's a problem. yeah like they don't It's like they don't want to acknowledge the losing streak. They're like, this isn't happening. no This isn't happening. this I refuse lose this. No, that's exactly it. It's a goal. We played better. So it's like it's all about small improvements and like we'll get better and this won't matter in the long run.
01:12:52
Speaker
And, you know, yeah. Did we get outshot about Toluca? Yeah, but, you know, that's like, this is is just we just got to get through this. wherere we' say It's fine. It's fine. Yeah. Like, I don't think, I don't think that they're seeing it's a you know, and I understand it from a coaching perspective is like Brian Schmetzer doesn't run player acquisitions. He doesn't run like the pipeline situation. He has a core of players that he plays with. He's controlling what he can control.
01:13:20
Speaker
I get it. Right. Like, cool. But brother, like at least say that it's a disaster that everyone's injured that like the, even, even though we're super injured, we're being dominated and outplayed and like all of this stuff. And I just like, it's failure. not feeling that. I'm not feeling that. I'm not feeling that from the coach. I'm not feeling that from the organization.
01:13:44
Speaker
No. So don't know. That's, that's just what I was thinking about. Leave your thoughts in the comments. If you have takes on either the number six discussion or this ah sense of urgency discussion, those are the two things that ah I was thinking about this week and we got a over an hour of pod out of it. But ah Noah, that was it for me. Do you have anything else you want that was on your mind that you wanted to talk about before we get out of here? or Should we ah call her a wrap for for this episode?
01:14:09
Speaker
No, I think that's good. Sign a six and Noah Reif for GM 2027.
Platform Independence and Future Plans
01:14:15
Speaker
Absolutely. Subscribe to LobbingScorchers.com, newly independent platform. Appreciate all the love and support we got from everybody on the heels of that announcement. Everyone is very, ah very supportive. We love you guys.
01:14:29
Speaker
ah And we're looking we're looking forward to... what the future holds for us here at Lobbing Scorchers. I think we're going be doing some great stuff on this new platform. i know that I've already been enjoying the little bit of written content that I have gotten to do. And it's, it's turning up next week. It's really going to turn up. I think this week was a lot about kind of getting our bearings and letting the dust settle. And then next week I think is when I'm, I'm locking in and,
01:14:55
Speaker
really treating this like a new era in earnest and and really getting on my writing game and turning up but uh yeah i mean as i said in my announcement we started this podcast in our basement we would not be here without all of you guys and we've really appreciated your support through all of the eras of lobbing scorchers and honestly in a way this feels like getting back to our roots this feels like getting back to what made us so successful, which was betting on ourselves and having fun and just like really trying new things and doing stuff that we we love and we believe in. And, you know, just just just all of that. And and you know what?
01:15:36
Speaker
I think it's going to be so much fun. Let the chips fall where they may. And um visit lobingscorchers.com. Subscribe to the YouTube channel. Check out QED Coffee, Hex and Ferments, Podium Menswear. Shout out with the hat. And um if you do, we are always looking for sponsorships. If you have a business, if you have anything that you think could benefit from the love of Lobbing Scorchers, whether it's on our website with Programmatic, on our podcast with Programmatic, collaborative product, whatever that is, um hit us up.
01:16:09
Speaker
There's a whole advertising space on the, but there's an email you can hit on the about of our website. And same, if you ever want to write for us or work with us, you can always check out that about tab on our website.
01:16:22
Speaker
Hell yeah. Until next time we out. Peace.