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Episode 427: What’s going on inside the Sounders’ locker room?
80 Plays2 years ago
There's been a lot of talk about what's going on behind the scenes with the Seattle Sounders. To help us get to the bottom of that, we asked Niko Moreno to join us. As you might imagine, it's not all rainbows and unicorns but possibly not as messy as you might fear. It's also becoming apparent that the players are aware that change is on the way and how some of them are positioning themselves for their next moves.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:00
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. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest.
00:00:21
Speaker
Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to... There's no study at this. Here we go. Come on! Hey, Ocean! Let's go! What a save by Fry! The Seattle Sounders have done it! MLS co-pointers! Here come three games through the middle to crowd it! The vehicle! And now they truly can't stop the celebrations.
00:01:04
Speaker
Seattle Sounders the greatest MLS team in history This is a tiny doll
Episode Overview and Hosts
00:01:31
Speaker
Welcome back to another edition of NOS Adietta, sponsored by Full Pool Wines, Watson's Counter, and our subscribers. This is episode 427, and we're recording on Monday, August 28th, 2023. I'm your host, Jeremiah Shan. Joining me today is a special co-host, Nico Moreno, and our producer, Lickit.
00:01:34
Speaker
Is that why you young people call twerking?
00:01:49
Speaker
So I'll bring Niko in in a second.
Sounders' Recent Performance and Challenges
00:01:52
Speaker
But just to set the table a little bit, the Sounders came into this week knowing that their season was potentially on the line, that they started it with a 1-1 tie on the road against Minnesota United. It doesn't really do much to relieve any of that pressure, but it at least doesn't put on a lot more. Rather than digging into particulars of this game, however, I did want to have Niko on mainly to discuss how the Sounders got themselves into the position and what it means for their future. So welcome to the show, Niko.
00:02:18
Speaker
Hey, Jeremiah, always happy to be on with you. And, you know, I am, I'm like a distant cousin of Sandra Hart, you know, I don't know, not too distant, but, you know, maybe you don't hear me every week, but when I do, I come with lots of love, lots of desire to see my cousins and just, you know, happy to, to be on your, your podcast, especially when we have so much to talk about there.
00:02:44
Speaker
You know, this cloud that it's beyond just the fall coming is just a negativity cloud in this region when it comes to soccer and this fan base. So we can shed a tiny bit of light maybe, or at least explain the weather to everybody. There you go. Exactly. I like that. That's a good line. Explain the weather. So, Nico, I think you have a better sense of this.
Player Unity and Team Dynamics
00:03:11
Speaker
And let's just start here.
00:03:13
Speaker
What's the mood in the locker room right now? I mean, honestly, it's not great, right? I'm not saying that there's a broken locker room. I'm not saying that guys are going at each other's throat. But I think that it's obvious, at least in play, that there is some
00:03:39
Speaker
miscommunication. There is maybe a lack of of that unity that before used to turn into resiliency. And now you constantly see it right. I mean there is no doubt that there is such a difference of where players are at that it makes it so the language and the
00:04:06
Speaker
The way you approach a game is so different, right? You got your players that are veterans or captains that maybe are concerned with other things like contracts, like future, like uncertainty on that level. You have guys that maybe are going through tough spots, really difficult.
00:04:27
Speaker
moments in their career where things are just not going their way. I'm talking about Raul Rodriguez. I'm talking about a bear. Um, and then you got the young guys that are trying to develop as quick as they can provide and contribute consistently, but they're in a learning curve of their, of their own. Um, then you got the guys that are trying to be the everyday guys that are still like
00:04:51
Speaker
you could say they're prime, but they're also having difficulties with everything going on around it. So I just think that there's so much different concerns within the locker room that there is some sort of lack of unity. And now this is me bringing you
00:05:08
Speaker
some light of what I've seen and talk to maybe guys individually, right? The team has been very forward, including Brian, about saying, hey, we're united, there's no problems, we're here. The team rallied behind Cleveland because of the passing of his father. Then we talked to Jackson Reagan and he's like, well, I'd like to just go out and say that there's none of that happening when I asked him about whether this team was kind of
00:05:38
Speaker
falling apart. And there was, I think I put it as in like, there was problems in that foundation and just gaps and things breaking up. So when, when players and maybe even Brian come out to talking so straight forward, maybe there is some sort of insecurity in that sense. So
00:05:58
Speaker
For me, and this goes back to the last game against Atlanta, which was a lot worse than this one. If I could say it that way, obviously not just because of the result, but the overall performance, the body language, the lack of communication, all of those things. So I do think that there's something there. And I remember
00:06:21
Speaker
a Colombian soccer player, Totono Grisales, he no longer plays. He used to say that every loss for a team is like an earthquake. And if there are cracks in the foundation, those cracks are going to get bigger. So that's what technology. Yeah.
00:06:36
Speaker
And that's what's kind of happening right now, right? Because when you're winning, you don't really see this, right? Maybe there isn't the best group. Maybe you're aren't as united, but you're winning. So there's no problem with those little, you know, cracks in the foundation. But when you start losing, those things get bigger and bigger. And now everybody starts to see it. Right. So that's kind of where I'm getting at here.
Key Player Performance Issues
00:06:55
Speaker
Sure. Well, let's let's start right at the top of this roster. And it seems like maybe the two players that have the biggest
00:07:03
Speaker
I think for, you know, to use your analogy that are hanging out over them are Nico Ledero and Raul Ruidias. Ledero, you know, he got off the, you know, he got an assist yesterday. He had some moments that he looked like his old self, although I would still say that he had an uneven game. And then, I don't know, this is the
00:07:24
Speaker
Brian said that he might've had a, he has an adductor issue or something, and that's why he didn't play. I don't know if that's cover or if that's legit, but, um, he has, you know, started pulling him out of games more often. And then Rollroy Diaz, that is to me, Rollroy Diaz is, uh, an even bigger concern. I got it. He's gone 732 minutes since his last goal. That's wild.
00:07:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's uncharacteristic because I think me and you have talked about it off the mics that with Raul, usually there's something that we can kind of make sense of why he's not performing at his best, right? He's coming up an injury or he just came back from international play or perhaps he's trying to catch some sort of rhythm because he had a setback. But that isn't the case, right?
00:08:15
Speaker
not in this particular moment. He's been with the team. He's had rest. I guess the one thing you could say is that there's been rotation within the team, but that's just not what it's been about. It honestly has been about him just being in a.
00:08:30
Speaker
in a bad moment, just not being in sync with his own play. I mean, there's been times where, or he gets the ball first touch and either he'll make a bad pass or he doesn't bring it incorrectly. His first touch is too heavy. So it could just be something that is
00:08:50
Speaker
going on with Raoul that I think he's seeing that he's coming to the end of his last big contract. He has one more year obviously with the team. But physically, I just don't feel like he's been at his best.
00:09:08
Speaker
And it's a little concerning because being a striker is also about confidence, is about being at your very best. And I feel like that's something that he's lost a little bit, right? There were times before where he'd have two, three opportunities and out of those two, he'd put at least one of those away or at least one of those on frame. But lately that just hasn't been the case. And that confidence, that mental component is what really
00:09:33
Speaker
is concerning about him. Now you got him very likely and almost certainly going with the national team. Does that help him? Does that make it worse? I don't know. And so are we starting to see that maybe Raul, if he's not at his best and he's not giving you that finishing that he's been known for and being that lethal guy up top that really handicaps the entire team.
00:10:00
Speaker
Yeah. And what's I think most shocking about his recent slump is it's not like it's just a run of bad luck. He has only one shot on frame in his last six games. He's not even looking dangerous right now. And I go back to that game. I can't remember exactly when it was, but he was on a breakaway with
00:10:23
Speaker
Uh, with Albert Rusnak and his first touch, uh, he was in on goal and his first touch just basically goes right to the keeper. And I'm thinking, man, that is a very un Rui Diaz esque touch. Like that's just, those are not the kind of opportunities that, uh, he wastes.
00:10:40
Speaker
And it feels like ever since then, it has gone from, you know, maybe he was struggling a little bit with health or whatever else. But, you know, he came back, he had those two goals against Charlotte and I thought, OK, Rudy Diaz is back. You know, all of his numbers at that point looked like they were trending exactly how you would expect him to be trending. And instead, it's just been off a cliff in terms of his production, in terms of his like his confidence doesn't seem to be there. I'll give him this.
00:11:08
Speaker
The effort seems to be there. He's tracking back. He's doing little things. You know, there was a play, uh, early in the game yesterday where he got it taken off of him and he, he like hustled. He really hustled to win the ball back. And I thought, okay, that's a good sign. That's a good sign. Cause. And what's, I think maybe even more concerning though, is that you can see the will is there. It's just that the body isn't maybe ready to follow.
00:11:33
Speaker
100%. And the effort was there yesterday, a couple of balls from Nicolás Odero up ahead where he's going, he's dueling, he's trying to win the secondary balls, he's pressing. So yeah, the effort is there. And I think that's him trying to get himself back that confidence because you're right, sometimes your mind and your desire is there, but your body or your legs aren't following. And it could be something of
00:11:59
Speaker
an aging striker that's just trying to adapt to a whole new way of approaching each and every game. So I'm totally with you. I saw the effort, but over the last couple of games, he just has some like dangers. And again, even when he tracks back, he said issues dribble in the ball, which you don't usually see it. So it's something that I know Brian wants to continue to give him time and
00:12:30
Speaker
After this game, he talked about that time maybe running out. But usually when it comes to your star players, even when they're in that streak of games, cuz you see it all over the league, right? Javier Hernandez had a terrible streak for a while. You've had very good strikers in general like Brenner before that first, that second season with Cincinnati was really bad.
00:12:54
Speaker
forwards and strikers go through that stretch of the games. But how much time do you provide him? How much opportunity do you give him? And I'm not sure if Brian has the answers. And is that patience running now for him as well?
00:13:12
Speaker
Yeah, you know, you could see when I asked him yesterday about Rudy Diaz, you could see like the pain almost on Brian's face. Like this is not a like he in Brian's perfect scenario. He doesn't have to change anything. He did like the guys just start clicking and
00:13:30
Speaker
And there, you know, there does become a point where you just can't let them keep doing that forever because it, it's dragging down, you know, it's not just dragging, uh, the team down, but there's also a negative, you know, reinforcement on Rui Diaz. Like the more he, the longer he goes without scoring, the more it's in his head. And, uh, you know, at least I'll give this to a neighbor is he's at least
00:13:55
Speaker
looking dangerous sometimes, you know, like he had, you know, he got, he was a little, he was a little unlucky to not score against Monterey. Uh, like the, the goalkeeper made a good save on them, but you can see it with him too, where the, the longer it goes without scoring, the more it starts to weigh on them and the more they, they just are, cause these are players who are.
00:14:16
Speaker
You know, they're confidence players, right? Uh, like all strikers, it's all, it is partially a mental game. And when you're not getting those goals, it's, it's tough. Uh, I'm going to put you on the spot a little bit. What do you think ends up like almost regardless of what happens the rest of the season, what do you think is going to go, like, what's your prediction on, on what happens with Rudy Diaz?
Future of Key Players: Ruidias and Ledero
00:14:35
Speaker
Is he back next year? Do the Sounders figure something out?
00:14:39
Speaker
I think he's back next year. Look, I'm still, I'm not going to shy or hide away from the fact that Raul is not performing recently and he's had some tough games, but I am a Raul Rodriguez talent believer. And I think that he's going to figure it out. I think all strikers always do. I can
00:14:58
Speaker
count in one hand the times I've talked to strikers about having long streaks of games without scoring and it's just about one falling and then it'll just flow like a river. I remember asking Hercules Gomez when he was happening to Jordan and he used to tell me look that's just something that happens and everybody has to know that you've got to just put your nose down to the ground continue to work continue to shoot.
00:15:24
Speaker
And just like a shooter sometimes does in a basketball game, you've got to shoot your way through on that streak of bad shooting. And that's what's going to have to happen here. I think that the coaching staff is in that mindset as well, doing a lot of finishing drills, doing a lot of these things with the players. So I do believe he'll be here simply because his salary is so high. Yeah, it's hard to move. It's it's it's it would be a hard one to swallow to just like eat. You know, he's going to be owed something like three and a half million dollars or something next year. It would be hard to just eat that.
00:15:54
Speaker
You would have to have a situation similar to Joseph Martinez, where you're taking half of that salary and moving it on to maybe hopefully an Eastern Conference team and not a Western Conference team. If you really wanted to do that and then figure out what you're gonna do with that capita and obviously that DP spot, but I just don't see that happening. I don't think that we've reached that point of desperation, that Atlanta reach.
00:16:23
Speaker
But this is me talking today, right? Yeah, in the next couple of games, we'll see what happens. But I do believe that he's still a guy that puts in the effort, that still has the talent, that is a locker room guy, that everybody loves him. He has that spark still in him. So as long as a spark doesn't completely disappear, I believe that Raul Rodriguez will be here for another year.
00:16:47
Speaker
Yeah, and I will say I guess personally, my hope or my belief maybe is that, you know, maybe they can get if he can get a goal off the bench, that would almost be the best scenario best case scenario for him. Like don't like take a little bit of pressure off of them. You know, I would hope I would think he's not going to start against Austin. But if you can get him
00:17:08
Speaker
30 minutes at the end of the game against Austin. He sneaks in a goal. You could see that just totally having a rebound effect for him. And, you know, if he can get hot, uh, that's good for the Sounders too. It's not just about getting, you know, it's not for selfish reasons. Uh, the Sounders are a better team, uh, full stop if Raul Reed is the scoring goals for you because it gives them a lot more flexibility everywhere else in the roster.
00:17:32
Speaker
I'll give you the perfect scenario. Once he goes to the Peruvian national team with Juan Reynoso that believes in him, breaks him high, is likely to start him. La Padula is not part of the international team. If he scores a goal, something that he has not been able to do with this team, I think he has like four goals overall in all caps for Peru. It's been a long time too.
00:17:54
Speaker
If he gets one, gee, if he gets one, oh my God, he's going to come in at different change men. So to me, I'm hoping that he's able to go to the Peruvian national team, get a different type of feel and atmosphere around him, and then come back rejuvenated. And dad, Raul Rodriguez, that used to not miss a shot in front of goal. That's what I think will be the best scenario for this understand.
00:18:21
Speaker
Yeah, so the other player I mentioned there was Nico Ledero. What's your sense of what's going on with Nico? It seems to be a very different situation.
00:18:31
Speaker
It is, look, Nico is a very complex individual. He is methodical. He is someone that no matter what team he's on, he's gonna tattoo it on his skin and he's gonna bleed that color of that club regardless of what it is. And he's been doing that for a very long time here. And now that his country is coming to an end, that weighs heavy on someone like him. Because when you have,
00:19:00
Speaker
bled for a team when you've cemented the pillars that today resound the success of
00:19:08
Speaker
close to and in the conversation of a dynasty almost, if you get one more, or at least one of those two finals that you lost, it does wear heavy on you. So I just see a player that wants to do right by the team, that's still giving you absolutely everything he has that in his mind, in his heart, honest heart feels like he can give you 90 minutes every single game and be outstanding.
00:19:36
Speaker
And then maybe not getting that result every single time. Because like you said, against Minnesota, I thought for 60 minutes, he was great. I thought he was putting great balls on target, getting the team with the day needed. A couple of times it was a perfect ball to Jordan Morris running behind the defensive line.
00:19:58
Speaker
That cross to Yemar, I mean, the delivery is perfect, right where he wants it, right where he needs it. Obviously, Yemar's that pedaling and his technique to put that away is also fantastic. But I thought Nico was very engaged, very old Nico. He always covers a ton of ground. But in this one, he was covering the right ground and he was conducting the ball better. And yes,
00:20:24
Speaker
In the second half, specifically, there were some passes that I know he wishes he get back. And I think that's why.
00:20:33
Speaker
It's difficult for a player to just get sent, get taken off the field. Cause you feel like you're going to put it all out there. And for Brian, he's starting to protect the player. And even when it's good intended and there's a good will behind it, a player can't take it differently. So it's just a very complex situation for a player that I think knows that his contract is about to
00:20:59
Speaker
finish here in December, and he's likely going to come back. Just the fact that he volunteered his captaincy to Stephen Fry.
00:21:11
Speaker
just tells you that there's a guy that's just trying to get the next man up, someone who's going to be here in the future. And maybe that's not necessarily certain for Stephen Fry, but someone who he believes is another leader in the team because he wants to just pull away. He wants to disengage from
00:21:31
Speaker
anything that has to do with slowing, slowing the team down or creating any sort of weight in for this team. So that's why he did it. And in all of these games, I'm seeing that from Nicolas Adero is just a player that wants to give you his all, but that
00:21:51
Speaker
maybe feels like he's not being given enough respect for what he's done. And that's respectable. Every player has their own way of looking at things. And I could see that. I could see that from Nicolas Odero where it's just difficult to understand that his time in Seattle is coming to an end.
00:22:10
Speaker
Yeah. So you, you know, you, you alluded to the, the captain seat, uh, issue. We haven't really spent a lot of time digging into that. It happened at a weird point in the calendar. It happened right before the Monterey game, which, uh, may have called, but I, I actually was not there. I was on vacation. Uh, and it's, it's something we've talked about a little bit. I talked about it in my column last week, but can you shed a little bit more light on what you know of how that whole situation went down?
00:22:35
Speaker
Without giving too much, as much as I've been able to gather, it was definitely Nico who approached the situation, and that is coming from someone who perhaps understood that
00:22:54
Speaker
there needed to be a change within that team. And knowing that he might not be here, continuing on, moving on with this team, he wanted to provide that competency to somebody else. So it was a mutual decision, but it was Nico who
00:23:17
Speaker
triggered that move and that's to my understanding of how everything happened. Mutual in the sense that the sounders weren't trying like Brian didn't try to talk him out of it necessarily but one that Nico definitely initiated and that it was at his behest is basically what you're saying.
00:23:37
Speaker
That is correct. That is kind of what I've been able to gather now. We obviously would love to get Niko's take on everything directly from him. But as much as I've been able to gather in terms of information, that's kind of what he has seen now. Nobody in this team has looked at Niko any less. Everybody knows who he is.
00:23:59
Speaker
I talked to Freddie Juarez just this week, and he mentioned that Nico's still the guy that everybody looks to. Nico's still the guy that wants to win absolutely everything that he does, whether it's soccer tennis or finishing skills or whatever training exercise they're doing. He wants to be that guy. He's the guy that people look into when it comes to that leadership
00:24:20
Speaker
not just talking out verbally, but just with his presence on the field and what he does in it. So that hasn't changed at all. But I think it was more of a symbol of I'm passing the torch to the next person because my time here could be done. Yeah. So on that same token, as I've written about before, as I think most of our listeners at this point are probably aware, there's quite a few high priced veterans that are either out of contract or have an option coming up.
Veterans' Future with the Team
00:24:50
Speaker
uh, this upcoming off season. And, uh, I'll just real quickly kind of run through the, the list of the, the higher price guys, you know, Lidero, uh, top of that list. Uh, gel palo has a, had an option due. Steph Fry is out of contract. Javier Arriaga has, uh, an option. Albert Rusnak also has an option. So that's five players. I'm curious, which of those five, if you had to guess right now, which ones do you think are still wearing rave green in 2024?
00:25:21
Speaker
That's a good question. I think that once I would say have the better odds of still being here would be Stephen Fry that I think
00:25:37
Speaker
could either, I'm not going to say he's going to give a hometown discount type of situation, but he wants to stick around. I think his desire to stick around is probably the highest. Exactly. He's desired to be here and continue to be here. He's such an important part of his community. You know, we've seen in social media.
00:25:54
Speaker
the amount of effort he's put into his home. I mean, just, just everything away from the pitch and any on the pitch. I mean, he was fabulous against Minnesota. You could argue he was the man of the match. You know, he made a few big saves and the one he didn't make really, you can't blame them for. No, absolutely not. It was a very unfortunate one to Yaymart that, you know, if he doesn't have that ball,
00:26:16
Speaker
Vauxhall had the insight on that run and he was going to put it away. Yeah. You know, the, the funny thing about that is, uh, it, to me, it read like Yemar should have probably played it better. But even then, if you serve that bull up 99 times, the chances of Yemar scoring an own goal there, that's probably the one like,
00:26:35
Speaker
It's just a very fluky thing. For sure, he could have handled it better. I think he absolutely needed to intervene there. You can't just say, oh, if he had let it go, it would have been fine. No, it would not have been fine. He needed to intervene. But it was just tough luck. But anyway, go ahead. So you think Fry's back? Fry's back. And I think that Albert, simply because he's on the lower end of that DP,
00:27:01
Speaker
aspect in terms of money and salary. And he's someone that although I still don't know where his best position is for this team.
00:27:12
Speaker
He's a very useful player. He's a safe player. You know what you're going to get out of Albert Rusnak. He might not be brilliant every game. It's not going to be something that, and I know he gets a lot of heat for this because you're like, well, you're paying a DP to be the past before the past or the goal. Well, you know, you need those guys on the field. So I think just in terms of odds, he would be the other guy that is certainly going to be here.
00:27:34
Speaker
Yeah, and I tend to think Jalpaolo is going to be back too. I guess it's maybe a little bit more, but he's not on a DP contract. Yeah. JP, I wouldn't even put in the aspect of him not leaving. The clarification on that, I'm not saying that he's going to be gone. I think there is no future where the sounders move on from JP. When they're getting on the field for the price tag, you can't change that up. Yeah. No, I would agree there.
00:28:05
Speaker
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00:28:35
Speaker
Um, so the other thing, um, I'm curious and then there's a couple other things I want to get into, but one other thing, as far as the current team goes, um, you know, Brian has alluded to some, uh, potential lineup changes. You can tell he's just really reluctant though, to do anything too drastic. Like he's willing to tinker. You know, we saw this week, he, he put in, uh,
00:28:59
Speaker
He sat Leo Chu and he basically installed Obed Vargas. I actually think that move worked out okay. You know, and I thought Chu looked good coming off the bench. I was a little frustrated that he didn't use his bench more aggressively. I thought, you know, they probably could have brought in, you know, either Rothrock earlier or Atencio for Rui Diaz later in the game. But I think
00:29:24
Speaker
I understand his reluctance to make big, bold lineup changes at this point, even if it's frustrating, in part because I do wonder if there's a real danger in losing the locker room if he tries to get too aggressive with the lineup, in part because maybe it looks like he's like,
00:29:43
Speaker
putting the blame on the veterans that he benches. What's your sense of that? Do you think, like, is this a situation where if he makes the wrong change, that could really end up backfiring? I do. I do believe that. And look, Brian is in a very difficult situation when he comes to that particular thing. I believe that he's been such a
00:30:11
Speaker
clever and savvy coach for, since 2016, that now that he's having to deal with this
00:30:21
Speaker
who he's given all the trust in the world. He's given him the keys to the car and said, hey, you've taken him this far. It's kind of hard to take him away. It's hard to say, you know what, give me those keys back. It's time to give someone so the reins of this specific spot, right? He's not gonna come across like that because that's not Brian, especially because I do believe that regardless of what
00:30:51
Speaker
one specific moment might seem or, you know,
00:30:57
Speaker
In this sport, there's always gonna be moments where a coach and a player are gonna not see eye to eye. And you might swing your arm and be like, come on, man. But they still love from a coach to a player. And I'm never gonna, me, I'm never gonna doubt that from Brian. I think he loves his players. I think that he wants to do right by them. So I think it'll be difficult. And I asked him straight up. And the one thing that you do have to
00:31:24
Speaker
credit Brian is that he never shies away from things. But I'm not sure if I buy the answer he gave me. He said, hey, you know what, like, I'm never going to shy away from having a conversation with a player and I'm going to let him know. And as much as maybe he does want to say that and he maybe believes it, going from believing it and doing it are two different things. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that's, you know, the thing that kind of frustrated me in Brian's answer yesterday, you can tell that he's
00:31:53
Speaker
he's a little bit at a loss. You know, I asked him about his, you know, not making earlier, uh, substitutions. And I realized that's like, that's, that's such like, that's low discourse, right? Like making, like getting frustrated with a coach about when he's making substitutions is like the base level, like armchair quarterbacking, right? It's, it's like, it's not interesting for the most part, but I do think in this case, there's a pattern here.
00:32:21
Speaker
where Brian is maybe a little bit too trusting of his veterans to figure it out, even within a game, even when he admitted the players were looking gassed, even when the players themselves said, yeah, we were looking at, we felt a little tired out there. It's like, man, inject some life into this thing. And, and I get it. Like he wants to get some of these guys going. Uh, and, and that's going to, and maybe they're going to come off and they're not going to shake your hand. Uh,
00:32:44
Speaker
But I'm starting to get a little worried that he doesn't want to have those conversations. And maybe there's a good reason for him. Maybe he knows it's fragile. Well, it's not just fragile, Jeremiah. It's hard to imagine if there was a guy biting at the ankles for Raul's spot.
00:33:02
Speaker
then you'd be like, okay, he's got that guy that he's gonna come in and he's gonna make the difference, right? You wanna talk about Jordan? We can't, because when you put Jordan up there, then you immediately take off your DP, put him in the bench, and there's no one to replace Jordan, cuz now you're gonna go with Leo and Christian. You wanna talk about Leo? Yes, he's been offensively a guy that's given you a lot. He's a guy that has been very effective, that he's been dangerous, but
00:33:30
Speaker
people need to see away from just the attacking them. There's a defensive end. Yeah. There's moments that little hasn't been good that he needs to grow. He is a very one dimensional player as well. He's going to get to that end line. He's going to cross a ball or he's going to have space to maybe dribble to go and take a shot. But that's about it. When he comes to pacing himself, slowing down, doing some, depending, you're not going to get that.
00:33:58
Speaker
Right. He's not very selective about how he picks out passes. There are, there are definitely holes in Leo's game. And I think that, you know, we see the three goals and, uh, and his assists and you go, Hey, he's very productive. And he is, he is productive, but.
00:34:14
Speaker
you at the same time you see all these miss passes you see sometimes he's a lackadaisical on the defensive end and you can understand why Brian still is a little skeptical of just like handing him the keys and and and I will say the one criticism or the one defense of not putting Jordan up top Jordan's not exactly scoring a lot either
00:34:35
Speaker
you know Jordan has one goal in uh he's he has that goal against New York he had the goal against Monterey but other than that he really hasn't been doing much uh since his hot start and uh and sure I'm I'm a like I can sit here and say I think the Sounders would be better with Jordan up top
00:34:53
Speaker
but i don't have to deal with the fallout of explaining to roll the reason we're benching you is because the other guy who's not scoring we're gonna put instead and and i guess that could be jordan it could be ever it could be you know whoever else you decide to play up at the nine but that's sort of the crux of the sounders problem is that there are there aren't
00:35:10
Speaker
a lot of obvious options. Now, you can argue that, okay, Josh Atencio deserves more time. And I think he does. But if you're Brian, you say, look, he's gotten all the minutes I've given him he hasn't done enough with. And you can kind of go down the list. And you can sort of say that about everybody, like, sure, you could argue that Cody Baker deserves more minutes.
00:35:32
Speaker
But is he clearly a better option than New Who? I don't think we can really say that right now. The same thing with Reed Baker Whiting. You can say, well, if we gave him 1,000 minutes, maybe he would be better than Alex Roldon. But based on the minutes we've seen from him, he hasn't been better than Alex Roldon. And so it's kind of this long thing where it's one thing for us on the sidelines to say, I want to see this player get more minutes. And I will say that. But I have to admit, none of these players
00:36:00
Speaker
doing like demanding or showing with their play that they need to be playing significantly more minutes than they're getting. And I think that's sort of the problem right now.
Team's Limited Options and Patience
00:36:10
Speaker
Absolutely. And look.
00:36:12
Speaker
I want to talk to the Seattle Sounders fan base and say, look, I think that it is your right to demand perfection and want this team to be the Real Madrid of this league, Barcelona, where there every year they win a title, but that's not the reality. But it's okay because you're a fan and you're allowed to be irrational and not necessarily
00:36:35
Speaker
Care about what me and Jeremiah have to say. All we're trying to do is kind of paint What's happening so you can take it for one way or another but you are allowed Just as Brad has alluded to say absolutely whatever you want, right? But this team is what it is Jeremiah We knew that this team was going to be limited and sometimes we get so caught up on trying to Specify how to fix it. What's wrong? Yeah, it's statistically But there's even where teams go through bad moments and
00:37:05
Speaker
Look, if this team had had the opportunity or the leverage or the space to bring in another couple of players, maybe that would have been the change. But you didn't have the luxury. So now you just got to hope that the town of this team wakes up and the young players in this team
00:37:24
Speaker
grow quick and contribute or this season is going to be a playoff run with a couple of games and then it's over. But that is because you did everything you could and you gambled and you got immortality and you got CCL. Now you're going to have to wait for the generational change. And that's just it. You don't have to understand it. You don't have to
00:37:47
Speaker
factored into numbers is just the way it is. Look at Atlanta. I want everybody to look at Atlanta. They were a mess. They got completely embarrassed in League's Cup. This is a team with Armada, with Gigi, with Robinson. Look at the talent of the team. What happens? They bring two players that they needed, two wingers in SAVA and Silva.
00:38:11
Speaker
And immediately they look like a different team. And then you got Mascara who you also brought back because he was out on loan. And that spark just kind of changed things. And then winning creates momentum and momentum turns into good play. And there you go. Seattle didn't have that luxury. So I just want guys to just look around, see what you have. Look at the great times that was and understand that this team is at the end of an era and a generational change is coming and you might just have to wait for it.
00:38:38
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, and that's the thing, right? Sports fans are not particularly good at being patient and especially Sounders fans who, you know, let's be, let's be real. We've been spoiled. Uh, we have, you know, from 2009 to 2022, uh, you know, in mid summer of 22, we were winning titles basically on one a year. I mean, that's on going to finals basically every year. That's, that's an unprecedented, uh, run of success in, in by those metrics.
00:39:06
Speaker
And, and I don't want to say like, Oh, well they can do no wrong now. People have a right to be mad. They absolutely have a right to be mad. They have a right to be frustrated. This is a frustrating time for Sounders fans. But, uh, I suppose where the, the disconnect comes is I, I, everything I've seen this team is getting ready for a big investment.
00:39:28
Speaker
It might not all come this winter, but I think some of it will come this winter. And then I would presume next summer, they'll make some more investments. But the team's very aware that 2024 is an important year for them. They've set up their roster to go through a lot of change. And I think that change is going to happen. It might not happen overnight, but I mean, you know,
Comparisons with Other Teams
00:39:52
Speaker
We were just talking about this off the air. You look at a team like the Timbers or RSL, or you can kind of go down the list of teams that have spent a lot of money in recent times. And it's not really coming out the way that they thought it was going to. I mean, the Timbers right now are on pace to have another horrible season. They spent $10 million on a Vander this last season. And he's a fine player. I don't think he's a bad player.
00:40:22
Speaker
But he's not, he doesn't strike me as a $10 million player, but that's what happens when you, when you just spend money thinking like, well, we got to do something here. Uh, and I think RSL is in a better place, but you know, this was a team that after they beat the Sanders three zero and leagues cup, every, a lot of people were saying like, this might be the best team in the league. They haven't won a game since then.
00:40:42
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, and that puts it in perspective is what we're talking about. And it really does. I mean, you're talking about a team that just recently went and got one of the most Kara that is a Colombian national team guide that looks fantastic initially. Now he can, he's getting a lot of trouble defensively. I got like me help Nigela Raujo also national team Peruvian guys center back what they needed and still not working Santiago Moreno. I mean, over the last couple of years, they've got some really, really good talent and he still wants to work.
00:41:12
Speaker
This is the timbers you're talking about. So we're kind of mentioning and and he still doesn't work. So it's not about just putting money in saying, hey, I need to go out here and transfer market my team into a better team because it's not going to work. That's Toronto about it and see how much they did good with everything they brought in. So all in all, you just got to respect the process. If the centers have done anything over the last decade is
00:41:40
Speaker
have the benefit of the doubt and understand that with that, like you just mentioned, the 2024 window, where you're going to be able to do a lot more, maybe things are going to change. But at the end of the day, that's just kind of what you have to work with right now. And that's why, you know, I can't go every single training session and ask Brian Smith, sir.
00:42:01
Speaker
Is it about possession? Are you going to change adjustments in the offense? No, because those are already being made. I took the frame for 15 minutes and he's like, we're not going to change anything. We got to trust that everything that we worked on from February here is going to pay dividends because there were times when it did. There were times where early this season, even goals that weren't supposed to be going in went in. And that's just the nature of the beast. So we got to trust that what we've built that we'll be working with.
00:42:29
Speaker
is gonna pay dividends and these guys are gonna shake off this bad losing streak and the bad moments and inability to score and it's gonna work out because that's just what you have to do all the time you can just blow it up when you're in fourth place when you got teams under you that are very likely not gonna
00:42:49
Speaker
get close to you. So you are going to be in the playoffs. You got to work with what you have and build from it, rather than what people want to do is just panic. Just blow it up. And let's just sit. Nico Raoul and JP and let's bring the kids. Come on guys. Again, all of your right to be
00:43:10
Speaker
upset, disappointed, irrational, whatever. But at the end of the day, this team is going to do what they can to win. They're going to shoot themselves under foot. You think Brian and Freddie Juarez are sitting there? Oh, how can I mess this thing up? No, their jobs are on the line as well. They're going to do what they can to get this team on the right path.
00:43:27
Speaker
And I think it's important to note that these are smart people. They know what they're doing. It doesn't always work. But I feel a little bad for a guy like Freddy Juarez, who has put in a ton of time. Everyone I talk to
00:43:47
Speaker
says this is a guy who knows what he's talking about. He understands the game. He has good ideas. You go down the list. People say the same stuff about Andy Rose. They say the same thing about Preki. These are not dunces. These are not just roll the ball out and we'll figure it out type of coaches. Even if Brian gives off that vibe, that's not actually what's going on. These guys are working on... They're doing the video work. They're doing the analytics work.
00:44:17
Speaker
And it doesn't always come off, admittedly, and sometimes you just have to make a change. But I'm skeptical. A lot of people point to when Gonzo and Jimmy left back in the summer of 2021 as sort of like this turning point as if the sounders never replaced them in the brain trust. And I don't know, I understand why people make that connection. It's a very easy timeline to connect.
00:44:45
Speaker
I'm just skeptical. I think that this is just really a matter of a group of players who are sort of hitting their expiration point collectively. And Garth knew what he was doing. Craig knew what was happening when he presumably signed off on most of these extensions as well. I think it's unfair to put too much blame on anyone because the whole point of this
00:45:11
Speaker
was to create a roster that was mature and ready and at its peak to play for Champions League. And they did and they won. And this is the fallout. I think it was maybe you one time who told me, immortality has a price. And maybe that's paying for it. Now they're paying for it, exactly.
00:45:32
Speaker
And that's exactly what the reason is. So look, I hear Chris Henderson left as the reason Jimmy Gonzalo. No, it was gonna happen regardless of those guys being here, not to knock those guys. Those are all great geniuses in their particular fields. But at the end of the day, that's where the wheels of the bus were gonna start to run out.
00:45:53
Speaker
And that's just what you're kind of dealing with right now. So what you have to do as Brian and Freddie is try to maximize and do what you can to take the heat, take the pressure, take the anger from players and try to figure out how to make it right. And it's up to the players to get off this funk.
00:46:14
Speaker
Because it is a funk. It is a moment where things aren't going right. For Jordan or Nico or Albert or for Raul, I mean, all those guys, they're not at their best right now. They're not putting shots whether they should. They're even starting to hesitate at times where they're on top of the 18 and rather than taking a shot, they're taking a pass because you begin to question yourself.
00:46:37
Speaker
It's gonna be a process, but I think mentally they're gonna really need to fix that up before it gets better. You're gonna rotate heavily here for this next upcoming game. And then you got that Portland game. The Portland game is gonna be a very big deciding factor on how the end of the season might play out. And it's gonna be up to the veterans and some of the players that we just talked about to really carry the load, man. And that's just plain and simple.
00:47:03
Speaker
Yeah, no, I totally agree. I think that it's funny to say this about a game that's going to happen at the beginning of September. But I mean, I think that game, the Portland game is probably going to end up defining the season for better for worse.
Upcoming Crucial Game Against Portland
00:47:15
Speaker
If they come out and they win that game, I could see that that could completely change their trajectory for the better. And if they lose that game, especially if they lose it in a, you know, they they get outplayed significantly.
00:47:30
Speaker
I mean, I think some very, very difficult decisions and conversations are going to start happening pretty quickly, especially since there's a two-week break after that game. And I hope that's not what happens. I really do. I really hope that the Sounders come out, and if they can get five points this week, totally doable, I could see this being a real turning point in the season.
00:48:00
Speaker
But if they finish this week with two or fewer points total, it's gonna be tough. It's gonna be tough. You can go against a Portland team that no longer has Gio, that was the guy that was unbeatable for the Sounders, that have a baseball goal differential and all the problems that they have and allow them to come into your house and just bully you. So yeah. That's not been particularly good themselves.
00:48:26
Speaker
They just fired their coach. They just they just lost to Vancouver at home. They just got beat by zero on the road to Houston. I mean, this is not a team that the sound no matter what form the Sounders are in. There's no there's no reason that the Sounders should not feel like they can win this game, but they have to win this game.
00:48:42
Speaker
And I don't say that very often about, uh, about, about non-playoff games, but this is a game they have to win. I think this is in some ways, this is a more important game than that game in Kansas city last year, where they ended up getting eliminated from the playoffs. Because even if they had won that game, they still had work to do. Uh, this game, I think from a mental perspective,
00:49:03
Speaker
This is just, it's a final. It essentially is a final for them, I think.
Episode Conclusion and Future Content
00:49:10
Speaker
And in some ways it's even, you know, you can almost say, and maybe it's not more important than a final, but it does feel like a final. But hey, Nico, thank you for hanging out. I think we got to do exactly what we wanted to do on the show. I think it went exactly as planned, right?
00:49:23
Speaker
I think it did, man. I got exactly fired up like I wanted. I honestly had answered questions that fans typically have. I like to think that I have a good relationship with fans and I want to answer their questions. And that's kind of what I wanted to do today. Just shed a little light on what's going on and allow them to be frustrated. But maybe give them a reason to just be a little bit more methodical under
00:49:47
Speaker
And if it doesn't, then at least they got to have some fun and watch me, you know, kind of almost have an aneurysm for an hour. So I really appreciate it, man. Hopefully we do it again. I think that there is more to, you know, be discussed here soon. So always happy to join you, man.
00:50:04
Speaker
Yeah. And I'll give a little teaser. Our hope is that you have some written content that I think people are really going to want to read as well. So I'll just leave it at that. And we'll go from there. But Niko, it was a pleasure. Where can people follow you on Twitter? Where can they read your stuff?
00:50:23
Speaker
Oh, yeah, for sure. L-ROLO-N-W, yes, that's it, like the candy. So, ROLO-R-O-L-O-N-W is where you can find me on Twitter. And then, obviously, everything on English is gonna be on here. Pulsosports.com, as well as Pulsosports YouTube, where we have a lot of Spanish content. And we should be having some very good upcoming interviews, as well, with not just players here within Seattle, but also in other clubs.
00:50:53
Speaker
Awesome. Awesome, Niko. Well, thank you for joining me. I'm Jeremiah Shan signing off for our sponsors, Full Pool Wines and Watson's Counter. This is No Saadietes. Remember, you'll never get alone.
00:52:03
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!