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What We Learned This Week: The Orca Boys beat Tigres at home but fail to move on in CCC and preview of St. Louis City SC
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Niko Moreno joins special guest host Noah Riffe of Lobbing Scorchers to talk about the Sounders 3-1 win versus Tigres that was a positive result but not enough to move on to the next Concacaf Champions Cup round. The two chat about the grass installed for the World Cup at Lumen field and how it held up in two matches with some of the wildest PNW weather we’ve had. The guys took a look ahead to the weekend’s MLS matchup against St Louis City SC and touched on a report that claims Seattle held back communications with Obed Vargas regarding some youth national team callups.
Follow Niko Moreno on BlueSky and YouTube. Follow Noah Riffe on BlueSky.
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Transcript
Introduction to Will Bruin's New Role
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here we go.
00:00:11
Speaker
Come on. Hey, O'Shaughness. Let's The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. The Sounders rule the region.
00:00:43
Speaker
Ooch of a gooch! All creatures, great and small! Rothrock gonna collect it, he does just about, runs into the advertising order. Low to our left, ball goes in! Oh, what a goal! Where's my copy? got bunch of them How many do you cost them? 50 bucks.
00:01:08
Speaker
I'll deadline you.
Sponsorship by Full Pull Wines
00:01:18
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.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
00:01:43
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Audientes, hosted by me, Noah Reif of Lobbing Scorchers. That's right, Jeremiah Oshan is out living his best life. And he called me and he said, Noah, you are the person that I trust the most to handle Nico Moreno. That's right. It is what we learned this week here with Nico Moreno. Nico...
Sounders vs. Tigres Game Recap
00:02:04
Speaker
How are you? You just got back from training. We have a ton of stuff to talk about. We have a Seattle Sounders heartbreaking win against Tigres. We are going to preview the upcoming match against St. Louis City. We have some drama with the Mexican National Team Federation in the Sounders. There's beef going on. Not to mention, we have some injury updates as well as talking about Lumenfield, the grass, how that's holding up after two rainy matches. It's a good one here today.
00:02:33
Speaker
Nico, what's going on, man? Hey, what's going on, Noah? I've been excited to once again share the court, share the field with the one and only, the rifter, my man Noah. I'm excited to get on here and discuss...
00:02:49
Speaker
A game that we'll get into the particulars, but that, you know, I was encouraged by and just the style of play and other things, but that I also want to...
00:03:04
Speaker
be very clear that the objective wasn't reached. I did get to be at trading today, see the, the feel of the team. And I'll share some of that with you and the fans. So yeah, man, lots to talk about quick turnaround as well.
00:03:18
Speaker
We got San Luis coming up. So yeah, it's going to be a exciting and different of course, because we got the man Noah, what we learned this week. So man, I'm excited. I'm ready to go.
00:03:29
Speaker
My voice is little raspy because I was doing some, ah some things at practice that that I typically don't do but um you know just some extra work that I had to do there with some things and and my voice a little raspy but still here baby still representing of course This is why we call him the Sounders insider because he's he's inside and outside. He's yelling, he's talking, he's pod and he's doing it all. Let's start off with this T-Race game. um In the first league game or yeah, real league game at Lumen since February 22nd, the Seattle Sounders tallied a heartbreaking win, 3-1 against T-Grace, tying the series on aggregate, but losing on the away goal tiebreaker. It was an Albert Rusnak brace that impressed. Danny Musavsky played the super sub.
00:04:16
Speaker
Well, Dawn had two assists. Jordan Morris even had an assist as well.
Referee Decisions and Player Reactions
00:04:20
Speaker
But the theme of the night was hardly the scoreline. Instead, it was it was the referee's left wrist. It was. Seattle felt hard done by the lack of extra time being given after Tigres employed the classic CONCACAF tricks. And the Sounders were watching the clock tick down. Very frustrated. You could see Brian Schmetzer.
00:04:38
Speaker
frustrated You could hear in the post-game press conference that you recorded and posted with Daniel Musavsky. He said, i don't understand how there was only six minutes when the goalkeeper was down for five of those. um It was a flashback from the Mexico leg as well. A set piece goal from Joaquim ended the Sounders hunt for CONCACAF Champions Cup this season.
00:05:00
Speaker
That's it. An exit did it Didn't get to the the the finish line there, but what does this match say to you, Nico? Look, first of all, Danny Masowski was cooking. I mean, he... He was cooking.
00:05:15
Speaker
I upped him ah three or four notches on my book. I mean, he he's on the come up when he comes to respect on my end because he went after the referee and talked about...
00:05:27
Speaker
the lack of extra time, which, look, if we're not going to allow fans to be disgusted and upset about the dark tactics and guys rolling around in the ground for 20 minutes, then we need to make sure that the mechanism, which is in place to
Player Analysis: Musavsky and Rusnak
00:05:47
Speaker
counter a lot of that, which is the extra time, we need to make sure that that's at its best. Otherwise, both need to be criticized.
00:05:57
Speaker
Because one thing is, yes, colmillo, colmillo and doing your thing and trying to, you know, slow down the game. but But that mechanism needs to be better at just assessing the extra time. I mean, six minutes? Six minutes, really? Yeah.
00:06:13
Speaker
one foul was six minutes and there were multiple of those. There were fouls after you assess the six minute mark and you're obligated as a referee to add a couple more minutes when that happens. I mean, it's not that simple. You don't just say six and then after that, you just let it go. And as soon as is that six minute mark, you cut it off. That's not how it works. So,
00:06:37
Speaker
frustrating, but I did like that everyone, Jordan, Christian, even Danny Mussofsky said, it's not it's not excuse, right? I mean, we can't be mad about not doing it in 90 minutes and then be upset about an extra six or an extra 10 or whatever. So I thought that was good. I like self-reflection. I like self-criticism.
00:07:00
Speaker
So what did I get out of this game?
00:07:04
Speaker
it's a little bit of mixed feelings on one end is that you kind of lost the series in the first leg because if, Some of what you saw at El Boca and what you saw to this team, maybe 75% of the time in the second leg, is that they had the tools to win this game, is that they had the tools to really put this Tigres team under pressure. And I don't want to be overly critical because it's very easy for me to sit here and talk about how easy it would have been to be more aggressive,
00:07:38
Speaker
at Tigres and Monterrey, at El Volcan. But that is kind of what it felt like. I mean, it does feel like maybe there were some missteps. And and I love that Brian was very self-reflective and he took accountability for the fact that he did not start Ferreira. He said it didn't work out.
00:07:57
Speaker
And maybe there could have been more done to get that away goal, which is what ultimately costs you this game. But the encouraging component of this whole thing is that you have a very good team that offensively, maybe they have not gotten the goals that they want, but boy, can they create some chances. And and there were plenty of them. I thought Albert Rusnak needed this sort of game.
00:08:23
Speaker
He needed the validation that he's still a very good player. I hear a lot of criticism on Albert and and I understand some of it. And that I think the DP tag is what's weighing him down and what everybody kind of really focuses on. But man, he's an he's a very good player when he has the right pieces around him. And in this game,
00:08:44
Speaker
It wasn't just the two goals or el golazo that he had to equalize the series. It was the... He was putting balls in a dime. I mean, he he was out there like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, just dishing a baby, just into the pocket, into space, set up Kalani, you know, set up ah Jordan Morris. I mean, he was just...
00:09:06
Speaker
on one And I feel like he needed a game like this one. So overall, I do think that there's positives to come out of this. Give this team believe that if they play their game and they don't overthink it and they...
00:09:21
Speaker
just focus on their principles and their concepts. They can beat about every team they can. And i do get that Tigres is not the Tigres of all, but there's still a very talented team. And I thought Seattle was the better team in this specific game for the majority of it.
00:09:37
Speaker
And although there are no such thing as moral victories in the world of sports and you still eliminated, I do feel like it is encouraging for this team to hold on to those positives and put them into St. Louis and put them into the rest of 2026.
00:09:54
Speaker
I feel like there are moral victories here and and a couple of things I want to ask you about. For me, it felt like the Sounders needed a series like this to challenge them, especially early on. We've looked at this club so many times and seen losses like this or even wins like this in a challenging environment, a comeback moment, something that really brings the club back together. i think very specifically, Albert Rusnak, this is a game that could send him to another level or more likely back to the level that he's been. at consistently for the last few years.
00:10:26
Speaker
I think I have even been critical of him over the last few weeks. And it's pretty crazy to say that when we know his track record and he has had maybe a slow start to the season and you're comparing him with Jesus Ferreira, but you look at them both on the field And they look incredible in this match. You see Jordan Morris tallying in an assist. You see him looking dangerous. Maybe he's not exactly there yet, but this is a game where you saw him turn on what we like to call the angry Jordan mode. He was out there Everyone got behind the idea that they could win this game.
00:11:01
Speaker
And I think that's something that Brian is really good at getting his team to believe, but this is one of those games that ties your group together. This is one of those games that helps propel you forward in the season, win or loss. So I want to know, looking forward, looking past this game, even, do you see specific things that this team can take with them?
00:11:22
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, a hundred percent. I mean, you talked about Jordan Morris, who, you If there is something that I always look at Jordan for is the mental component and having that goldfish mentality. Because it's hard to do. It's easy to say, hey, you know what? You you mess up. You have a ball, an opportunity, a breakaway moment that you can...
00:11:47
Speaker
You're supposed to put away or that you're supposed to make a better option on. And I'll just forget about it. It's easy to say, but it's hard to do. and And Jordan Morris did it in this game. He took him a little bit because that first half, I think was hindered by that very first opportunity he had in which he could have done better. I could have made a better pass, could have taken a shot. He doesn't do either. He kind of gets dispossessed. And so I think he did weigh on him on the first half. But once, and this is credit to, to,
00:12:16
Speaker
the substitution by Brian Schmetzer of bringing Moose on, he had somebody else up there who took a little bit of pressure off him. He was able to play wider, and he had a a good game overall. I mean, he creates the assist. He creates a lot of opportunities.
00:12:31
Speaker
It's almost as if some of that pressure of being the low nine and some of the opportunities he had just kind of went away and he was able to just play his game, trust his instinct, trust his speed, be able to get behind the defenses. And after thought he had a decent game. So the takeaways for this is you do have guys in this roster that in my opinion are built to come from the bench I think Danny's one of those guys that, because he's a poacher, he could come in at any time and perform. Guys like Paul Rothrock, who we'll talk about in a little bit.
00:13:09
Speaker
And you have a Jordan Morris that you got to try to figure out if if he can hold... everything that comes with being the low nine. And then maybe you start to decipher if maybe you have to play them with two forwards or you play them in the wing. So I think that there are some things that you take out of this.
00:13:28
Speaker
I think Christian Roldan had a phenomenal game, probably his best game this season. And I feel like he needed that because he was starting to create a little concern with some of the turnovers, easy giveaways, something that is uncharacteristic of Christian Rodin. So a game like this, I it's going to really catapult him to create our second conclusion from this game, which is Snyder Brunel and Christian Rodin. It just works.
00:14:01
Speaker
It works. And it really is probably your best option there. And I say that almost... with a little bit of not mixed feelings, but it is difficult because I do like a Sonny Dodson. I like him. I've actually got to know him a little bit more, talk to him. And I think he has a different skillset, which is great to have in a team, right? You need different profile players for specific positions. But right now for this system, it does feel like after this game, you can make the conclusion that Christian Rodin, it's not a Brunel.
00:14:40
Speaker
It's your number one duo there at the midfield position. It did feel to me like Snyder in this CONCACAF Champions Cup run did establish himself so much to be that starter just in the way that he played, the way he was able to take on all of these opponents so fearlessly. And honestly, there were moments where he was embarrassing. Some of the best players, not only in MLS, but in Liga Mekis, it's insane how a guy has relatively unknown last season. We knew about him, but he wasn't stepping up as much as, you know, how many minutes did he have last season under, under 200, something like that. Uh, and coming in now starting looking like the number one, that's very, very, very impressive. And I think too, what we saw when Hassani did come in, in this match, he played a lot more of that defensive role, a lot more of that distributor role, a lesson that moving forward role, So he is such a utility when you need that out of that double pivot instead of more of the going forward tactic. So I liked that look.
00:15:44
Speaker
I agree with you. I think there's a lot to be, to be gauged from Jordan's play, Albert's play Christian's play. But the question that I have Have we solved who the number nine is? Did Musavsky cement himself as that player? or Are we still just going to be cycling between Jordan, Osaze, and Musavsky? Because I don't know if that question was answered, but how are you feeling about it? Yeah, no, I don't know if it's been answered because I'm going to pass it on to Brian Smetzer, who after training today basically said, Jordan looked really good at the nine.
00:16:26
Speaker
But Masovsky came in and showed you that he did have double-digit goals last season and that he's still scoring goals. So it sounds like that's probably his most difficult choice moving forward. So I definitely don't think that that is all set and dusted and ready to go.
00:16:47
Speaker
I would even say that, you know, there's opportunity for 3-5 to look. I mean, I don't know. I think that right now Danny Mussovsky deserves, at the very least, making you scratch your head a bit.
00:17:01
Speaker
And nothing against Osase because Brian also mentioned that, look, Osase, he got his chance. He just wasn't able to necessarily...
Sounders' Striker Position Debate
00:17:10
Speaker
do a lot with it. And I'm just paraphrasing here, but but he just basically said that they both got their chance. And, you know, Danny Mussovsky is the one that right now was pushing for that starting job. So when I look at this lineup, I do feel like there are moments where you can have two nines, but with the, and I say two nines just by the formation. I mean, you could obviously put Jordan ah jordan out wide in the same four, two, three, one formation that you do have.
00:17:41
Speaker
But it does create even more problems, right? Who do you take out? Is it Rusnak? Is Ferreira? Is it Paul Rothrock? What do i do with Paul Arriola, who I'm trying to incorporate quite often? He's usually your first sub off the bench. So it does create a lot of other components. So I don't think that the question has been answered.
00:18:01
Speaker
I think that right now, specifically, Danny Mosavsky is making a very good case for himself. And it's going to be about Jordan. trying to beat him for that spot, that role. I can tell you right now that by listening to what Brian said in the post-training scrum, Danny's starting.
00:18:25
Speaker
Mussovsky's starting on the weekend. I mean, there's no doubt about that. So if Moose gets in there and gives you a brace or he has a really good game, It really, he takes the driver's seat on on this topic, on this discourse. So I don't think it's settled, but I do think that in this game, Danny made a very good case for himself to be a guy that could potentially steal that spot.
00:18:55
Speaker
I am interested to see what comes of that. Danny Musovsky has been someone who at times I have publicly doubted. And every time it seems. Yeah. I mean, we, we had set in the press box next to each other saying things that probably we ah would like to take back at this point, but the reality is he is scoring.
00:19:12
Speaker
Osaze was not able to convert. outside of preseason. I still believe in Osase. I still, I still see it. He still has that big body, but Moose's holdup play has been excellent.
00:19:24
Speaker
He's just continuing what he showed in the past and being consistent and as and as a striker is the one thing that you kind of need to do. So that's going to be interesting to see him this weekend. You said you wanted to talk about Paul Rothrock, something that I noticed in this game Man, were they fouling him from the jump. They were fouling from the jump in Mexico. He was taking the blows. It seemed pretty clear that they knew he was an explosive player, similarly to how they were trying to get Nuhu sent off in both games. We'll talk about that later.
00:19:57
Speaker
Paul Rothrock, I don't think he had the best performance. He looked tired in this game to me. um He looked like he needed a little bit of a rest. He went three games in a row playing. um How we feeling about Paul Rothrock? What do you think about his performance? And is that wing spot still in question?
00:20:16
Speaker
It could still be questioned, but I think that it's his job to lose still. And although I would agree that in this game, he went from... Very effective to not so much.
00:20:31
Speaker
I really do think that it was a lot of what you said. He did a lot of wear and tear. I mean, he had Diego Linus and Angel Correa to worry about on his end. So he he did a lot of running, a lot of defending, a lot of tracking back.
00:20:47
Speaker
And that needs to be highlighted. I mean, that dirty work sometimes is what you got to do when you play the wing position. I thought that he was in the first half, at least, relentless, ah winning headers, getting himself into positions. He didn't put the ball away, which is ultimately what we judge a lot of wingers and strikers and forwards on. But his tenacity is...
00:21:15
Speaker
Undeniable and extremely important. But in the second half, I would say after the 60th minute, you could tell that it was starting to wear on him. I mean, as much as Paul...
00:21:28
Speaker
could probably tell you that he's super he could play he's a dog four ninety s your body tells you something otherwise so you know it's like your mind is telling you yes and your body's telling you no the opposite of the song you know but uh you know my body my body is telling me no yeah that's exactly what he was feeling because he he wanted to go he wanted to push but he just couldn't he started you can see him yeah trying to to get there and to push and it was one of those things that like yeah your body just it's that lactic acid it'll kick your ass yeah and he was getting dispossessed and and I do think that as the game went along and Tigres started to get deeper and deeper into their own half and that bus started to back up to eventually park completely in front of the goal there wasn't as much room for him to run on and so
00:22:19
Speaker
I think that affected him in some sort of way, but I still think that it's his starting position to lose and maybe almost ironically, the thing that almost makes me doubt a little bit or, or still,
00:22:36
Speaker
have the conversation about him not being a starter is because he's also so good coming off the bench. Like yeah it's almost like a curse. It's, you know, he's, it's, it's a blessing and a curse, right? It's great to have a player like Paul that could just come in and fight 10, 15, 20 minutes and make a difference because it's a it's a trick to do. It's a trade. It's something that not every every player has and he has that, but it would be unfair because of his work rate, his productivity and everything he's given you so far to sit him on the bench.
00:23:11
Speaker
I am just so happy that the Sounders were able to sign him to a new contract because what an absolute deal that is. I mean, yeah he took a pay cut to stay here and he has overperforming, in my opinion, already the contract that he has. There's a million and MLS teams that would kill to have a player like that. There were championship teams that were in conversation with Paul. So, and that's, that's a league that's in some people's eyes,
00:23:39
Speaker
partially in my eyes, even more physical and ruthless than the MLS. So I think you have to be happy with Paul Rothrock's performance, even if, yeah, it past the 60th, I saw it too. He was getting tired, but taking those knocks is a skill. It is something that...
00:23:59
Speaker
you need a guy to do and get up and and keep pushing. But ah let's talk about a guy. he got hit butted to the point where I thought he had a concussion. yeah i mean, that was like Linus...
00:24:12
Speaker
I mean, he's not the the most physical guy, but he just kind of put his head down because he's kind of short. I mean, Rother just took it in the face. I was surprised he got up right away in all of it. but And I think that leads to the VAR check at some point for Albert Russ next goal. But man, yeah, he stays down. He was getting beat plastic He does a classic conca calf trick, ah which is you lay on the ground for as long as possible so that VAR will eventually call over the referee to check on the goal. So shout out to Paul Rothrock for that. That is some dark arts that we approve of because obviously it helped us. Let's talk about some dark arts that we don't approve of, which is Linus, as you mentioned,
00:24:55
Speaker
getting
Criticism of Diego Linus' Actions
00:24:56
Speaker
fouled. I'm air quoting here for the audio listeners by new who when new who gave him a little tap on the back. I saw this clip in places that it should not have been. Why is a an eight P eight 30 PM kickoff Cogic half champions cup match on every soccer page across the world. And everyone's calling Tigres disgusting and floppers. And this, we need to get this out of the game.
00:25:21
Speaker
I saw every soccer show talking about it worldwide, universally in agreement that this is one of the saddest, lamest things of all time. For those who didn't see the clip, Minas was just basically tapped, jumps up in the air, rolls around, does the Neymar on the ground there and was shocked that he didn't earn a foul there. So Nico, I got to get your take on all this. i'm I'm pro dark arts at certain points, but something like this, it it ruins the game for spectators. It ruins the How am I supposed to defend this to my friends who watch American football? I can't.
00:26:02
Speaker
I can't defend that. I mean, if they watch the NBA, maybe you might defend it. You know what mean? People were comparing him to LeBron. People were comparing him to LeBron, but I don't even think ah the King would would do something that bad.
00:26:16
Speaker
No, that was bad. I mean, to be quite honest, I'm with you. Sometimes you got to sell a foul at the right time with the right angle, with the right force. But if you're whispering in my ear,
00:26:34
Speaker
and I'm falling to the ground because I say you bit it off, that that's pushing it, right? And this was very much like it. I mean, he might have just, you know, poked him, and he goes down like he got punched or shot, and there is no defending. It's almost kind of productive to every extent, right? Because he's not going to get that call. VAR is not going to do any good.
00:27:02
Speaker
And other than maybe... losing some time or or gaining time for your team, you ain't doing nothing with it. So this is one of those situations where if we're going to uphold VAR, give this guy a a yellow, right right? The referee should be doing more to prevent what you would call outrageous or far-fetched moments in the field to be you're already gonna take time if somebody really hits me if somebody really elbows me or he looks like he elbowed me but if we're gonna allow this sort of thing then it becomes a clown show then he becomes then he feeds to the narrative of oh this is just soccer a bunch of floppers yada yada yada Same thing that happens in the NBA or the that new NBA soft. What happened to the bad boys from Detroit? You know, what happened to the Ron Artest, the Isaiah Thomases, the Reggie Millers, right? So feeding the nerve is never good. So it's never going to stop unless you force it to stop. And that is on the referee. If I'm seeing that as ah as a referee and I see it on the monitor or somebody is telling me, yellow card immediately.
00:28:16
Speaker
Knock that shit off. Simple. I think that goes for a lot of things, including what the Sounders were so aggrieved of with the amount of time wasting that happens.
00:28:28
Speaker
And I'm someone who believes that if it's a yellow card, it's always a yellow card. I don't care if you're on a yellow already. Send that guy off. That's the way that it should be. Time-wasting wasn't something that was really taken seriously until the end of the game. There was maybe, I think, a single yellow or two yellows shown for time-wasting.
00:28:49
Speaker
Linus should have had a yellow for this. I mean, that is that is simulation clear and simple. You have VAR for that reason. you Your assistant referee also was standing right there. You were communicating with them consistently.
00:29:03
Speaker
The referee knows that it's simulatism. He knows what's going on. And I think there were so many instances of that in this game that I am fine with you letting people play, but that is something that ruins the experience across the board for the players, for the fans, for the sport in general. You never want to be the guy who people online are saying you have embarrassed this sport as a whole. So The Sounders do get their ah their international prominence yet again, but maybe for a moment that they wish they could have seen a little bit of help from the referee. i'm I'm super, super duper was disappointed with the officiating in this match, but what are you going to do?
00:29:49
Speaker
No, and it should have been like, I understand. and And this goes back to the comments by the Sounders. I could appreciate it. And I think I asked it just like this to Christian.
00:30:01
Speaker
It's not an excuse, but it is a circumstance. And the circumstances is frustrating, right? Because if you have this mechanism that's supposed to alleviate and discourage teams from doing this sort of behavior, right?
00:30:16
Speaker
then you have to uphold those minutes to what they are. So the fact that it was anything less than 10 minutes was shocking to me. And it is almost
00:30:29
Speaker
negligent from the referee to act like he saw anything less because I just don't know how you see six minutes. So it's it's frustrating at the end of the day.
00:30:44
Speaker
CONCACAF, soccer in general, referees need to do better because there is a fine line between savviness and dark arts to just playing clown show and and just trying to do the least.
00:30:59
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I don't want to belabor the referee point, but I do have one more referee complaint. Let's just get them all out here. Everyone's feeling it. But ah there was a moment in this match where a lot of people feel as though there was a missed handball in the box going against Tigres.
00:31:17
Speaker
i think I can't remember exactly ah if they reviewed this at VAR or not. i For some reason, I'm remembering that they did, but don't quote me on that. It looks very clearly like it hits the outstretched arm of a Tigres defender off of a shot.
00:31:34
Speaker
How do you feel about that? Or are you still in my camp, which is you concede a very lame set piece yet again, and you're not even in that moment of needing that extra goal if you don't concede that.
00:31:48
Speaker
Yes, i i do know that they checked it and it wasn't like a, I don't know what you would call like a full-on VAR check where they stopped the game and they went to look at it. But he's on his earpiece the whole time and he's trying to hold players, everybody's coming to him, he's right here, hand on his ear, hand on his ear. So it definitely was reviewed and it looks like VAR didn't see enough to get the referee to go watch it or maybe his first his first look on it, he didn't feel like it was or that there wasn't enough evidence to overturn it into a handball. So I think that's what happened.
00:32:33
Speaker
Watching it firsthand, watching the game over again, i think he could go either way. And it's one of those calls where if the referee blows the whistle, then it's a thing. But if he doesn't blow the whistle, is there enough evidence to overturn that decision to not blow the whistle? I don't know if it was.
00:32:52
Speaker
There is a bit of a gray area between what is natural positioning. Not every defender puts hands in their back. And as much as that can sound,
00:33:04
Speaker
unfair and and there is really a thin line in between one and the other and and almost a gray area, ah think it goes back to the referee, depending on the call on the field. And when the call on the field is, I'm not making a call, then I don't have a problem with it.
Release of Sounder at Heart Magazine
00:33:27
Speaker
Sounder at Heart has been around in one form or another since 2009. In 2026, though, we make a pretty significant evolution when we go analog. Yes, that's right. In the year of our Lord, 2026, we are publishing a real life magazine. We're calling this thing 4, as in Sounder at Heart 4.0. But we're stylizing it as IV because we absolutely love Roman numerals. And if you want to refer to it as IV, that's cool too. The first issue has a comic book style cover that was hand drawn by local artist Kevin Newbern. Features by Tim Foss, Susie Rance, and Charlie Bohm. A statistical deep dive by Kat Bush. A Q&A with Brian Schmetzer. A column by G. Willow Wilson. And photographs by Noah Reif, Max Aquino, Mike Russell, and Jane Gershowitz. I could not possibly be more proud of the work everyone put into making this
00:34:14
Speaker
and I think you're gonna absolutely love it. If you'd like to get your hands on one of these limited edition copies, we're currently selling them for $15 on our website. Get yours now. Nos Adietes admittedly is not exactly known for our spicy takes, but that doesn't mean we want our food to be mild.
00:34:29
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:34:54
Speaker
That's
00:35:00
Speaker
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00:35:13
Speaker
Use the code sounder at heart at checkout for a free hot sauce with your order. Hacks and ferments is a proud sponsor of that sounder at heart podcast network.
00:35:26
Speaker
That is what it is. We move on. no more CONCACAF champions cup. We are back to regular MLS play. ah But before that, We got to witness two matches already played at Lumen Field with grass.
00:35:44
Speaker
It was some of the craziest weather I've ever experienced in my years of living here in Seattle. We had a literal tornado water spout in the Puget Sound. There was hail, snow, rain.
00:35:58
Speaker
what I call East coast rain. Cause that's an unnormal Seattle rain. That's a massive downpour lightning, everything. I mean, wind, it was insane. um You had the u S women's national team losing one nil to Japan on that game before this match was played. And during that whole day, that whole match, that whole night, that whole next day, it was raining, raining, raining, raining Sounders play.
00:36:23
Speaker
How did you feel like it held up personally? I was very shocked and surprised and thought it looked very good.
00:36:31
Speaker
Yeah, no, look, it looked great firsthand. It looked great going down there, feeling the grass, but it played great. Like that's what I was looking for.
00:36:44
Speaker
The bounce of the ball, the trajectory of the passes was there, or was there not going to be chunks of grass just falling off? Right. And none none of that was there. I mean, it it it held very firmly. i didn't see players slip or, or push through the grass, the unevenness of grass that isn't set for a very long time.
00:37:09
Speaker
can have a real effect on how players run. So i was I was all over it. I mean, there was a point where I was with my phone just magnifying um on players' cleats to see like residue of certain, like are they are they pushing too far deep? I'm way into it. So I was really trying to figure it out. And no, it looked good. I talked to the players after the game and everyone had nothing but great things to say about it.
00:37:37
Speaker
Is it European ready, European team level ready? I don't know. Cause I thought that in the club, World Cup, the grass was okay. And all the European teams just dogged it. So I don't know, but, but as far as me, the way I saw it and what I heard from the players, I thought it was very good surface. Yeah.
00:38:01
Speaker
I think this looks much better than what they put down for Club World Cup. And I also do believe that this is a a different method as well. There's a lot more material that the grass is sitting on top of.
00:38:16
Speaker
The way that they installed it, I believe, was different. I could be wrong, but it looks... 10 times better. And there will be less back to back to back to back to back events being played on it. So it'll have a little bit more time to set and all of that. FIFA is not going to let bad grass play. That's just, I mean, true. That's kind of just the truth. I mean, if you go look through, they released the contract that Seattle signed with FIFA. I mean,
00:38:44
Speaker
there There are like specifications down to the the blades of grass, basically, on on what they have to do. So they have this thing down to a science. It looked really good. I'm excited to see this team play a little bit more on grass. Made me a little jealous, though. I've always been pro turf. I've always been like, I love the advantage at Lumen Field of having the turf. People play people don't know how to play on it. I was concerned before this game that, oh, the Sounders are going to lose their home field advantage, like not getting to play on that wet turf. That's like their, that's like their superpower.
00:39:17
Speaker
But it seemed like it didn't matter. It seemed like this played much better and this match was just as entertaining. No, no, he played great. and and And he does benefit the entertainment of of of the game and better soccer played. ah I thought it was great. I'll tell you something that i didn't like that had nothing to do with pitch.
00:39:37
Speaker
the new seats installed with the big Seahawks logo. You're going to get in trouble. I mean, I got that, you know, the dog with his leg up trying to pee on the area feel. That's what I got out of it. The Seahawks would not be denied when he came to World Cup.
00:39:59
Speaker
You could take away the name of the stadium. You could take what you want, but the logo, baby, is going to live on. You know, Nico, you say that, that's hilarious. I posted about that on the Everything app.
00:40:13
Speaker
um And my tweet is sitting now at like 3 million views, thousands of replies. I got basically got ratioed saying it's really cute that the Seahawks pretend like they own Lumen Field because, you know...
00:40:27
Speaker
famously yeah that'll do it uh so they were very upset at that and um i will say to the seahawks fans go hawks i'm a hawks fan you're not so you're you're you're happy with all of this hawk slander but i mean but i would i i go for as long as they're not playing the uh on uninfluential and unimportant Raiders, um which is hard for me to say, but it's the reality. ah I'm good with the Hawks. I mean, they're the second team. They're the ones that I hope that they win since we're not. Yeah. And, and you know, this is far from ah the Sounders, but ah you're welcome for ruining your franchise for five more years with giving you the worst quarterback of all time and getting, you know, our our seconds and head coaching. But we'll keep it moving here um because I don't want to get canceled anymore by you. We love you. We love the Seahawks. First and goal is amazing. no problem with the Hawks nest seats, even though they would not be there without FIFA demanding them. So just remember, that you owe it all to soccer.
00:41:38
Speaker
Let's look ahead here to
Preview of Match Against St. Louis City
00:41:40
Speaker
this weekend. The Seattle Sounders are facing off against St. Louis City FC, who currently sit in 14th place. That's right. One place above last place, born in Kansas City on six points, one win, three draws, three losses. St. Louis just played in the U.S. Open Cup midweek against FC Tulsa. They advanced in the competition.
00:41:58
Speaker
Four nil win on the road with Roman Berkey, designated team goalkeeper, logging an assist in that game. how do we expect the Sounders to line up for this weekend? Let's just start there, Nico.
00:42:11
Speaker
Yeah. So ah what I learned this week is that there's going to be a lot of rotation um looking at, and I think we all expected that, but I mean, there's some that we might've predicted like Tino Lopez. I think that he's going to be one of those guys that's in without a doubt.
00:42:32
Speaker
Um, um, But I think Hassani Dotson has a really good chance to start in this game. And whether that is ah with Brunel playing, he's either as a pocket winger or maybe you go straight up with that 3-4-2-1 where, you know, you got him playing on the inside pocket still and the width is given directly by the wingbacks. I think those are a couple of the changes that I think we might see.
00:43:05
Speaker
And Hassani, he had a really hard time trying to get cleared from that concussion protocol. He's gotten some minutes, but I think he is due for a start.
00:43:17
Speaker
And what I mean by do is that... A lot of these players in this rotation, which the Sounders have done an excellent job at having like 18-player rotation, you've got to figure out what you have in Hassani, and I think that this is the time to do it. Hassani looked very good, all training, physical, good on the ball, good delivery.
00:43:40
Speaker
He looks motivated. He looks like somebody that knows him. that Snyder Brunel is in some way just beating you out of the job, you know, for lack of a better phrase or word. I think he knows that. And so trying to see how he performs in this game is going to be interesting. I like the vibes. Christian, Christian,
00:44:03
Speaker
talked about the importance of having this quick turnaround and grabbing some of the positives from this Wednesday game and taking it to the start of the MLS season. so in my opinion, i think we're going to see a very motivated,
00:44:20
Speaker
strong cemented unit against San Luis city, who is a, a team that I like what they're doing in terms of their concepts and their desire to play out of the bag, their possession um system, a lot of their passing patterns, even some of the players that really do like, but in terms of the sounders, I think that we'll see something along the lines of,
00:44:50
Speaker
Of course, Andrew Thomas back at goal. I think we'll see Alex Roldan back at um right back. I think we'll see Tino and Jackson and Nuhu on the left side. I think we're going to see Hassani and Christian Roldan.
00:45:11
Speaker
And I think that we are going to see ah Snyder there as a pocket winger on the on the right. with Albert Rusnak. And this is the one that I think we've got to focus on. Danny Masofsky starting this game.
00:45:26
Speaker
um So it's going to be interesting how it plays out. I think Danny... knows that this is his time to shine and how that's going to work out. But that's that's kind of what I see it. The biggest ones is Danny starting at the nine, Hassani Dotson getting a shot, and potentially Alex Jordan being back on on on the right back position.
00:45:50
Speaker
looking at St. Louis city FC, obviously they lost their, their number nine to the LA galaxy in the off season in a cash for, I believe.
00:46:01
Speaker
Um, what and who should we be focused on as Sounders fans against St. Louis city? It's a good question. Um, for me,
00:46:14
Speaker
Anytime that this St. Louis team is on the front foot and they have ah good game, there's only a couple of players that I like to look at.
00:46:26
Speaker
Hardo, and I always kill his name because I'm and terrible with the German European names, but ah he's there. X factor. He's the one player in their team that can do it all, whether it's through set pieces, whether it's on the ball, whether it's putting through balls. I think he's the guy to look at when it comes to St. Louis city. um They are a,
00:46:50
Speaker
possession based team, but I think they press very well. And I think that they like to be selective on weight. They press. Uh, so whether it's batcher or toucher, uh, up at the nine, they, they have tried both at the same time. Uh, but I think those guys do a very good job at both being energizer bunnies, Paul Rothrock types, if you will, right. They're going to be work rate guys, more than technical. Um, um,
00:47:16
Speaker
But I think their biggest issue right now has been defensively. I want to say Orozco is hurt for this particular game. So I think in the back line, they have some difficulties. But in terms of their best players and the players to look at, I think Hardell is the the one guy that you cannot allow him to take over a game.
00:47:38
Speaker
Well, we will be interested to see that. Let's check in on some injuries here because I want to know if you have any of those deep insider information.
00:47:48
Speaker
Obviously Petkovic, he is now on the season ending injury list that will open up a U22 spot. It does seem like Brian Schmetzer is keen on keeping him though.
00:48:00
Speaker
From what he'd seen you, you weren't so high on the guy, but Brian Schmetzer seems to be, and they are seemingly looking to try and get a deal on him. Since again, he is out and is going to have a knee injury, which is a bit of a problem for a young player. Um, yay more also out Stu Hawkins seemingly coming back. Are we going to see him in the rotation? Uh, just, just, going to just pass the baton off to you.
00:48:27
Speaker
How are our injuries looking? Do we have any updates from training? Yeah, great question because I forgot completely about it. Kim Kihi and Ryan Saylor were both full at training. Stu Hawkins as well, ah full at training.
00:48:42
Speaker
I only expect...
00:48:46
Speaker
Kim Kihi to be a potential player that can get on the field if you need to. I think he's ahead of the other two guys so far, where he has been more part of training consistently. So I think he's the guy. There's no news on Yamar and Pedro De La Vega per Brian Smetzer. He said that he's hoping to get Yamar back before World Cup.
00:49:13
Speaker
But when he came to Pedro, he just... Oh, no, Yamar before, or... Yeah, but when he came to Pedro, he he just put it way out there. I think that it's going to be past past that. He didn't really commit on a on a timeline for Pedro De La Vega. But when he comes to those guys that could potentially come in, i think Stu Hawkins and Kim Kihie are the most relevant. I think Kim Kihie is the one that is more ready to go if you needed to make a change in the back line. Oh.
00:49:40
Speaker
It is good to know that the back line is getting some reinforcements considering we have seen obviously Alex take up that mantle at center back. And the only person behind them was Tino Lopez who has done a phenomenal job. And I think if you look at this depth chart right now, we'll sit above Kim Kiki in my opinion, but who's to today who's to say.
00:50:04
Speaker
Yeah, no, no, I i totally agree. But but when it comes to San Luis, I will say this. They are fourteenth in the Western Conference in the standings, but they feel like they play a little better than that. I really do. i like what they're trying to do with the ball. I like to do what they possess.
00:50:21
Speaker
Cordova is is a guy that I've been high on since he very first came into the league, but he has been a disappointment. I honestly feel like they, this is my opinion.
00:50:34
Speaker
I feel like this team plays better with without Cordova up top. um But there are some things that I think could influence this game.
00:50:45
Speaker
And i think we all know what it is. Set pieces. this St. Louis team is going to want to change the game in set pieces. And the Sounders have given up some pretty easy goals on set pieces. There's a lot of physical players that can go up and beat you on some set pieces, whether it's corner kicks or set pieces with crosses into the box. So Seattle is going to have to be very adamant about not allowing guys to get behind them, ah deciding
00:51:17
Speaker
The difficulties of whether you're manning or you're zoning, being strong with your marker, not allowing them to get through you. We saw what happened with Jordan Morris. Those kind of things cannot happen in this particular game because if you do allow San Luis City to get up early on a goal, they are not afraid to lock it down and make it very difficult to break them in a deep lock.
00:51:41
Speaker
The Sounders are sitting in fifth right now. They are tied on points with Real Salt Lake. um It seems as though it's not out of the question that they could technically push for the shield. The Whitecaps are leading that shield race on 18 points. The Sounders have a game in hand on the Whitecaps.
00:52:00
Speaker
The Sounders now have a run of home games against opponents that, you know, I wouldn't say ah they can't beat. St. Louis City is definitely a beatable team. They'll play FC Dallas. They will go on the road to Sporting Kansas City, but then they also host San Diego, San Jose, which is the big test, and LA Galaxy.
00:52:19
Speaker
How are we looking? How are you feeling about the prospects of the shield, which was one thing that Brian Schmetzer and Paul Rothrock both noted at the beginning of the season as something the players were interested in pushing for?
00:52:33
Speaker
Look, I'm not a shield guy. I've never been. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I am. To me and only me, it feels like a consolation prize, although I know it's not because it comes with a spot to, I believe, CONCACAF Champions League. And there is a level of home game advantage in the playoffs. Home field advantage, of course.
00:52:56
Speaker
Yeah, that's part of it. But in it means nothing if you don't win that to me, right? Hopefully, I mean, diddly if you don't win it, right? So that's that's what I mean at times.
00:53:08
Speaker
And most times at that, if we go back to the history of the shield, it does feel like a consolation press because that team doesn't always go out to win MLS Cup. However,
00:53:19
Speaker
I like the mentality. I love the mentality by the team of saying we're going for it. We're going to win it all. I hear that all the time, right? From, from fans. Why don't we win it all? Why don't we go? I think that the depth of the team has shown up. the The fact that this team can be competitive in every game, the defense has given you a platform to do that and be able to bring in players and then switch them around and have a solid and very high floor. yeah,
00:53:47
Speaker
to me is more about the mentality, whether they go out to do it. I think it's difficult. I think that the LAFCs, I think that the the Vancouver's, those teams are built a little more for that sort of thing. But but but look, the Sounders have surprised even me so far this season because I've always...
00:54:10
Speaker
From the very beginning of the season, I said the first six months all the way to the summer window is going to be more of an assessment. There's going to be a checkpoint, and then you're going to have figure out the players you do bring in. Because if there's a guarantee, it's that LAFC is bringing some guys. And that ah Vancouver and San Diego for sure is bringing in some guys. So, you know, how do you...
00:54:33
Speaker
raise your ceiling as a sounder is still to be so be seen but because they have surprised me and they have done phenomenal better than I think either you or I could ever think of away from Lumen in this with this many games on the road which think that they have a chance to do it yeah i they have a chance to do it MLS is by far, statistically speaking, the hardest league in variance to play away. So you are way more likely to lose away than any other league in the entire world. That's how hard it is to win on the road.
00:55:06
Speaker
The Sounders just played a lot of their road games. They are now front loaded with home games. And I mean, you have to look at that and be encouraged, if not to win the shield, to get what they truthfully needed in the last few MLS cup runs, which was home field advantage. I mean, you look at that l LA galaxy game a couple of years ago where, you know, Ricky push tears his ACL keeps pushing. They score that game winner. You gotta, you gotta kind of wish you're like, man, if we had that at home, could that have changed the calculus? So every opportunity to get,
00:55:43
Speaker
little bit more advantage, a little bit more advantage, I think is very important for this club when it comes to MLS Cup. I'm quite impressed with the start. The Sounders are not historically a impressive start team. So the fact that they're high in the power rankings, they're high in the general table. This is a, this is quite an interesting start. So I'm, I'm interested to see how this goes. Cockley cap champions cup. Okay. Done and dusted. Keep it pushing. That gives you a lot more breathing room. You're going to be fighting against a team like LAFC. Correct. Correct.
00:56:17
Speaker
But they are also fighting for CONCACAF Champions Cup. And that is going to be a brutal battle. They're playing America, correct? So have fun with that is what I will say. Have fun with that.
00:56:34
Speaker
I mean, I do like the the Final Four. I mean, i i wish that the Sounders would have... you know, been there and, and, and giving themselves a chance.
00:56:44
Speaker
But look, Nashville has been impressive. I've been high in Nashville since BJ Callahan first came in. I've been a big BJ Callahan. He's not just a motivator, but he seems to be a guy that can quickly implement his curriculum or his soccer module. And look, i thought they were going to be Inter-Miami last season. And it's not just because I'm an Inter-Miami hater, but I really did think that Nashville was going to beat them last season in the playoffs, but they didn't do that. But this year, they've been unreal. And they got the first win, like you mentioned, at Azteca. I mean, that's a good, a very good team. I do, though, believe that we're getting an early final.
00:57:24
Speaker
in LAFC and Toluca. I think that the winner out of that game to me, Toluca, I'm sorry, not America. My bad. Yeah. Toluca. Yeah. Toluca and LAFC. The winner out of that matchup is going to go on to win this tournament, in my opinion. So that that's your early fight. What happens then of the day with Nashville and Tigres, it'll be whatever. It doesn't matter who wins. They're going to lose in the final, in my opinion, because the better squats are on the other side.
00:57:53
Speaker
Listen, I, I have been saying that I foresee a Nashville and the final, I think that they're a good team. And I also just think it would be really funny for Reed Baker Whiting to win two CONCACAF champions cups. That would be a a good little moment for him right there. Well, let's keep it pushing here with our final story.
00:58:16
Speaker
There has been some drama, uh, as happens from time to
Controversy Over Obed Vargas' Call-Up Block
00:58:21
Speaker
time. But this time, the Mexican Soccer Federation and the Seattle Sounders are beefing? Question mark? Is it one-sided? Apparently, Brian Schmetzer doesn't know what's going on what What is going on in the world of international football? Obed Vargas has brought a lot of conversation.
00:58:38
Speaker
towards this club, you can read Jeremiah Ocean's incredible reporting on how the transfer almost blew up because of Obed's agent and other things that happened in that this has just been constant content. But Recently, in an interview with Record, Andres Lini claimed that the Sounders hid Mexico's call-ups from Obed Vargas. This is the exact quote from him. I had just arrived.
00:59:07
Speaker
I sent Obed a call-up to the Sounders. This is translated, by the way, I want to say, so grain salt on this. I sent Obed a call-up to the Sounders, but the Sounders never notified the boy. Obed made his professional debut against Pumas in the final that the Sounders beat me, and that's when I identified him.
00:59:25
Speaker
I called him up again to the youth national teams and the Sounders told me the player wasn't going to come. They denied me the call up. At that moment, I decided to go with the player to try and find out why he didn't want to come, what he felt.
00:59:39
Speaker
Lelini claims that he had to fly out to Alaska to meet with Obed's parents and Obed ah to get him to know that Mexico was interested in him coming up for CAPS. Now, who is who is this mystery man? Well, he is the director of youth teams for the Mexican national team, a management position that is in charge of coordinating all of the representative youth teams of Mexico. So, you know, your U21s, your U18s, all of that kind of stuff.
01:00:07
Speaker
This has been something that the Sounders, I am positive, know that it's been claimed. But it seems, Nico, like we haven't really gotten a straight answer from them.
01:00:21
Speaker
We also feel as though maybe there's a little embellishment happening or mixing up happening with this whole situation. I'm going hand the baton to you.
01:00:32
Speaker
It's a hot potato, but ah good luck.
01:00:39
Speaker
So let's start by adding a couple of things. like There's a lot of this story when it comes to Lelini's allegations against the Sounders that sound very far-fetched. And let me start by laying those out.
01:01:00
Speaker
Anyone who watches this show and anyone who is familiar with MLS and the Sounders knows that the U.S. Soccer Federation and most MLS teams don't always or almost never see eye to eye.
01:01:17
Speaker
The Sounders are no exception. They've had their quarrels with U.S. soccer. Famously, so for Jackson Reagan, Seattle Sounders center back, was asked to come to a camp. The Sounders said, can we have two extra days with him?
01:01:32
Speaker
And they said, absolutely not. And they basically never came to an agreement. They've had beef when they did not let Jordan go to the Olympics. These are the things that I would say u soccer and the Sounders have a fraught relationship, if anything.
01:01:48
Speaker
And in all those cases, the agents and the players involved in those controversial conversations and debates with U.S. soccer have been told, have been mentioned. that They all were part of those those talks. So there was nothing hidden. But the the idea that the Sounders will go out of their way to shield in some sort of way Any calls by Mexico to benefit the U.S. Soccer Federation makes no sense. There is literally zero that the Sounders are getting from that sort of situation.
01:02:31
Speaker
i mean, there's nothing. Even when it comes to having a player an extra game, if that's what you want to think of, the Sounders have always...
01:02:42
Speaker
been a player first organization. There have been moments like the Jackson Reagan thing where conversations happen and the Federation just says, no, this is the way it's going to happen because they are the Federation. And then things go out of whack and,
01:03:00
Speaker
it affects the player, but always the sound. I have to know what the Jackson Reagan situation to the Federation made exemptions for other players, but we're few exactly same exemption for Jackson Reagan. So there was, it was a situation that is different than we're, we're set in stone and we're set in stone and there's gridlock. There was things to point to that made the situation bit insane.
01:03:25
Speaker
Totally. So number two, Are we to believe that the U.S. Soccer Federation has a hard time and can only go by contacting Ovid Vargas through the club when...
01:03:41
Speaker
You or I or I don't know, any journalist starting off might even slide in the DMs and and try to talk to a player through there.
01:03:52
Speaker
An agent, a family member. I mean, come on. Are we to believe that that's what it took you to fly to Alaska when the Sounders, when As far as I know, Obed Vargas and his family have lived in Seattle their whole time, but they flew to Alaska to talk to Obed Vargas because that was the only way that you could contact the player about making the switch from the U.S. Federation to the Mexican Federation.
01:04:18
Speaker
It seems perfect to me. I don't know about you guys. I'm just laying it out here. But the reality is this. And what I've been able to find out is this. And and we need to clarify a couple of things.
01:04:32
Speaker
Per sources, Andres Lelini is looking to move up in the world and go from the youth development guy from the youth for the Mexican Federation into a club, specifically Tigres as a club.
01:04:47
Speaker
There is a vacancy that Culebro left to be the president of soccer for Atlanta United. And so that vacancy opens room for... for not for the same position, but it opens room in the structure of the rules of that front an office for someone to go in.
01:05:08
Speaker
And I was able to confirm that during the game against Tigres that Andresolini is without a doubt a candidate for that position. So,
01:05:20
Speaker
If I am trying to market myself because I want to move on in the world of soccer, what better way than to come up with this elaborate story about how I always knew that the guy who is now at Atletico de Madrid was a talent. And the only reason why me doing my job, it took so long to move him or to talk to him, to switch him from the U.S. Soccer Federation to Mexico was because...
01:05:49
Speaker
the Sounders had this evil plan to block them, block conversations, reject call-ups, and be subjective to a fine and scrutiny and everything that comes with the possibilities of a club getting between a national team and a player.
01:06:10
Speaker
So is it... funny? Is it coincidental? Is it just convenient that this is the timeline of things for Lelini to bring up all of these things? I don't think so. And that's why I reported on it, because it is clear that this guy is doing a whole lot of talking to market himself as this phenom, as this brilliant guy, because he's looking for the next job. But the clarification here that I did want to have is that I understand that
01:06:46
Speaker
the next the next guy involved when he comes to that specific role that Culebro's leaving is Carlos Emilio Gonzalez. He will take over for that specific role on June 1st.
01:07:01
Speaker
But that opening, that vacancy, I... I pointed to a vacancy with Tigres that Lelini is going for. <unk> It's for another job, but it's within the exact same administration, the same front office. So take it for what you will.
01:07:18
Speaker
Those are just the facts. I'm not sitting here telling you that I know for sure that that's what motivated this agenda for Idris Lelini to say all these things. And don't feel too bad that it's only targeted towards the Sounders. He also tried to...
01:07:36
Speaker
basically say that Brian Gutierrez wasn't quite telling the truth about when he was it switched over for the Mexican team. So all of this, all you should know is that he's doing a whole lot of me, me, me, look what I can do, look what I can do type of situation where, in my opinion, he's being very negligent and loosey-goosey with his statements. And I'll finish on this. As I said in my very first post, I don't speak for the club.
01:08:09
Speaker
This is the information that I've gotten. And I do believe that the Sounders should put out a statement denying those allegations. And I would even go over and figure out if there's any sort of legal action for what I believe to be inflammatory statements from Lilliany.
01:08:30
Speaker
I will say, as someone who does know a thing or two about slander and libel law, it's very unlikely that the Sounders would ever win anything like that. What they would try to be doing is getting a settlement. I don't think that makes any sense in terms of legally speaking. You're going to be spending lot more money to... Just libel law in America is It is impossible. You have to prove the impossible. You have to prove physical harm as well. There's multiple markers of things that you have to hit to actually be able to win a case like that. 90% of the time, someone's just trying to get to a settlement. And a lot of times that settlement will just be an apology. And I don't think that makes any sense for the Sounders to do that. You don't really want to get involved in legal litigation
01:09:17
Speaker
with anyone in the soccer world. You just don't want to stay in your reputation period. I am interested to hear Brian sch Spencer. You did ask him about this. He did answer the question.
01:09:28
Speaker
What was his response? He in very strategic way. And I know that it might not sound like that by maybe his delivery when I asked the question, but
01:09:44
Speaker
The idea was to keep the focus on the game at hand. And that is a very logical thing to do, right? They don't want to feed into the narrative, if it seems. They don't want to entertain that idea.
01:09:58
Speaker
As of right now, at least, that could change. But Brian basically focused on... the way the team handles call-ups for guys like Raul Reed Diaz and Clint Dempsey and all of these started players that have been part of this team.
01:10:15
Speaker
And if they, obviously, he indicated basically that if he allowed all these players to go and play for whoever they wanted to play for, why would this be any different?
01:10:25
Speaker
So with without necessarily denying those claims, he basically put an example of how the club handles those situations. And I felt like that was fair. Now, his delivery wasn't necessarily the best, or but in that particular moment, the phrasing wasn't necessarily there because...
01:10:44
Speaker
I have a really hard time knowing how good the Sounders public relation team is, that he was in briefed on it, that he didn't know about the the allegations because he kind of talks to me and i don't know, sometimes he'll banter with me. So maybe he, he tried to make it seem like he had no idea what was going on, but I have a really hard time believing that he didn't know that this was some serious allegations. But I think that,
01:11:13
Speaker
The idea was just to not fuel something that doesn't need to be fueled. And he went around it. um So, yeah, I have no doubt that the Sounders PR team had them had him briefed of what was going on. And that's the angle that decided her to go with.
01:11:31
Speaker
Yeah, I do think it is an interesting conversation to be had because it is ah it's it's something that's fiery. You touch it, you can get burned because it is a he said, she said situation. People are going to believe whatever they want to believe. He's making his claim there on a podcast. People who have priors about Major League Soccer in general, especially a lot of you know Mexico fans, they don't necessarily...
01:11:56
Speaker
like and MLS. So i think I think people are going to feel the way that they feel. It is the drama, the news, the you know the the classic um you know ah the tabloid style situation. You're pulling a quote from a longer form interview or podcast and making it a good big deal. Listen, and I do the same thing for lobbying scorchers, but... That's just the way the world works. And I am interested to see what comes of it. But frankly, i do feel like nothing's going to happen. And this will just die off.
01:12:30
Speaker
No, and let me just end by saying all of the information that I have gathered, everything that I know about the way the Sounders operate in 15 years of covering this team would lead me to believe that those claims are bullshit.
01:12:45
Speaker
I don't speak for the club, but that is what I know for the information that I have on this team. They actually would... hindered themselves by doing anything like this because... There was like eight people that got called up, I think, last year or two years ago. There was like eight or nine players that got called up, and all of them were gone.
01:13:07
Speaker
Every single one. When you're an organization that has... put so much into your development system and your academy, and there is this huge level of investment. You want to make that your baby. You want to make sure that there's nothing but positives coming out of it. And nothing comes out better than you have in these younger players in different youth national teams. Right. So I know that,
01:13:34
Speaker
Henry Browner, Wade Weber, Craig Weibel, Sean Henderson, all these guys, if they're doing anything on a daily basis, is making sure that that academy is pumping talent and that all those guys that they're bringing in, that they're comfortable, that they are getting the best chances they can so they can build, grow, develop in every single way. So it's laughable to me that these allegations are out there, but We'll see what comes of it. We'll see if the team, and it maybe is a fair stance. I mean, I don't know. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I guess it could be a ah fair stance to say, I'm not even going to entertain it.
01:14:14
Speaker
Silence is also a response, but we'll see what they decide. We will also see how unemployed Lenny is in the next few months as well. So we will see if any more inflammatory statements about the Seattle. It is good to be the boogeyman a little bit sometimes though, Nico, it does feel good that this club is important enough to, yeah.
01:14:37
Speaker
have a guy think that he can leverage our name to get a a big time job. But ah that will do it for this week of what we learned with Nico Moreno. I am Noah Reif. I host Lobbing Scorchers. For those who don't know, you can check us out anywhere.
01:14:52
Speaker
Jeremiah will be back for his regularly scheduled programs next week. But if you do want to hear ah anything I do, you can check out the Lobbying Scorchers. Nico is with Pulso Sports, Sounder at Heart. He's also Monday mornings. Lobbying Scorchers kickoff with Ari Lillianwall. Anything else you want to share before we go?
01:15:12
Speaker
Nope. Nope. That's it. You know, Thursdays with soccer down here with John Nelson. Check that out as well. Always a good time. But that's it, man. Check out the Pulse of Sports. We have all of the interviews. You don't want to miss that Danny Masofsky. Danny Masofsky one is really good. You guys should go watch that.
01:15:30
Speaker
It's so good. Well, we will see you all soon. And thank you for listening. Bye.
01:16:04
Speaker
Let's go Sounders.