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Leagues Cup is a massive opportunity
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The Seattle Sounders are two wins away from qualifying for Concacaf Champions Cup and three wins away from winning their ninth trophy of the MLS era. Unsurprisingly, MLS Season Pass’ Brian Dunseth sees this as a huge opportunity.
Dunseth also shares some of his thoughts on what went through his mind while calling Pedro de la Vega’s wonderstrike against Cruz Azul and what he thinks of the Sounders’ roster-building strategy.
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“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here.
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Transcript
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. Come on. Hey, O'Shaan.
00:00:13
Speaker
Let's go. What a sorry, Bud Fry.
Sounders' MLS Cup Victory
00:00:18
Speaker
The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. Here comes Rui Diaz through the middle to crowd it for Seattle.
00:00:28
Speaker
The Saunders rule the region! Seattle Saunders is good! This feels fucking awesome. And Portland can't say it's genius! Nice work on your little
00:00:46
Speaker
Ooch of a gooch! All creatures great and small! Villaviga!
00:00:54
Speaker
me
00:00:59
Speaker
you know What was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use and you didn't? Ever since I wrote a commentary that we didn't take the overcome seriously.
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 another episode of No Sariotis on the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network.
Brian Dunseth's Contributions
00:01:48
Speaker
i am Jeremiah O'Shan. Joining me today to help talk about this upcoming League's Cup game, to kind of just talk about the state of the of the league a little bit, is Brian Dunseth. You know his voice very well.
00:02:01
Speaker
We've had him on the show a few times. I always appreciate his time. Dunny, welcome back to No Sourientes. Yeah, no, it's been a while. I'm glad to be back, man.
00:02:11
Speaker
You do a great job up there. And I always love our conversations in, what are we calling it, cafeteria, lunchroom, food area, where we end up making fun of Max Brethos, T.O. Max, for him doing something outrageous or trying to claim that he's created some drink or some new cookie in his mouth or something. But yeah, it's always good to see him, man.
00:02:32
Speaker
Yeah, it's always nice to have. i think I've come to really appreciate you and Max especially. and i will we may as well start here. i am reminded that you guys were on the call for the Cruces 7-0 game.
De la Vega's Extraordinary Goal
00:02:45
Speaker
seven zero game You're I'll just start with this there. It has to be kind of neat to know that there's a chance that your call will be on a Puskas award nominee.
00:02:57
Speaker
Like that's, that's cool. Right? Yeah. Listen, it's amazing. It's been an amazing year personally. um and to think about in that moment, what that goal meant. I mean,
00:03:10
Speaker
Because that goal was scored in the manner in which Pedro de la Vega hit it after an incredible ball from Alex Rodon, you know, thinking about the trajectory of the flight of a ball that struck maybe five to 10 yards in the opponent's half that then doesn't again, touch the floor or touch the surface until it goes 60 yards.
00:03:31
Speaker
First time, then hit our posts that then hits the underside, hits the other side of the post and then bounces out and then finally touches the ground. I didn't even realize it in real time until I went back and watched it.
00:03:43
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, it's, it's, a it's one of those moments where the goal is extraordinary. You kind of forget that Seattle's on the field pissed off because Cruz Azul is three or four minutes late coming off and the amount of goals that and De La Vega scored an amazing goal, but you don't even think about that goal
Broadcasting Challenges and Emotions
00:03:59
Speaker
beforehand. Right.
00:04:00
Speaker
because this goal was one of the best goals I've ever seen live. and ah And I'm not trying to you know overshoot the shot, but this was a phenomenal moment, which in my mind, when I see it happen, I become kind of this weird insecurity of like, don't ruin this call.
00:04:18
Speaker
Make sure you're matching Max because he went he went off on the deep end, um which I love. And so, yeah, it's incredible to think about that goal and just seeing...
00:04:30
Speaker
seeing the look on Pedro's face after he hits it. And then like, Oh my God, dude, I really did that because it's outlandish to even think about taking that ball first time, much less have the technical ability to actually do it. So yeah, a special moment in time. And I
Impact of De la Vega's Goal
00:04:47
Speaker
think Max and I are very aware that we get to be a part of something so extraordinary.
00:04:52
Speaker
Yeah, it was really a extraordinary strike. And I think what got me about it is a, first of all, there's the audaciousness of I'm going to take this 50 yard ball and I'm just going to hit it first time.
00:05:06
Speaker
He doesn't overhead it. He just kind of calmly lets it fall. He hits it with the open and part of his, and he, he sort of like, lofts it over the goalkeeper. He doesn't, you know, this is the guy who has sort of become known for kicking the shit out of the ball for lack of a better term.
00:05:21
Speaker
ah Even his first goal is sort of like that where he just blasts the ball off the, off the post and in, and he's, he's had a few goals like that this year where he just kicks the ball really hard. I like to say, and that was not what he did here, but just the it's, it's that perfect mix of it's a really hard to repeat goal, but it's not so outlandish. It's not a fluke, you know, it's not like hitting a 50 yard or where the goalkeepers off his line, or, you know, there's a lot of, we see a lot of amazing goals that there is a flukishness to him. It's like, you could, like, you just, you're almost not even thinking that's realistic, but this is sort of that,
00:06:01
Speaker
that perfect little nugget where it's, it's an impossible goal in a sense, but there is an element of it that is repeatable. That's like, it's a goal that a million players have tried to score in training or in their backyard or whatever.
00:06:15
Speaker
Yep, that's it. It's one of those fresh off the training ground types. It's like training's over. Oh, here comes this ball. Let me just have it. Let me have a go. Let me see if I'm good enough to actually try it.
00:06:26
Speaker
And he does it. And to do it in that run of... I loved how Kevin Meere, the goalkeeper, kind of just looks back at him and like, you mother... how dare you uh because he just you know the idea of getting posterized he just got posterized so yeah yeah a a brilliant moment in time i'll also love the kind of the cutaway later you know when schmetz is on the sideline he's just like effing kid like when he's looking at Preck and you know I was I was fortunate enough to play with Precky and Precky was certainly technically gifted enough to do things like that as well you know Precky's like you know hey buddy that guy does what I used to do you know that's a good that's a good Precky uh you practice that a little bit that's good
00:07:11
Speaker
Well, having gotten scalped by Precky so many different times as ah an opponent. And then, you know, one time my my favorite Precky story is, are we allowed to curse? Can I do Precky? Sure, yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
00:07:23
Speaker
So Precky, I was playing with him in Miami and i was on the left-hand side of a back three. Precky checks the ball. I bypass him, find the run. And Freddy goes, hey, man, give me the fucking ball. And I was like, Precky, you weren't on. I was playing around. He's fucking tell you, man. Give me the fucking ball, man. And I was like, yeah, whatever, Precky.
00:07:40
Speaker
And then Ray Hudson comes over. He's like, Brian, it's fucking Precky, man. Give him the fucking ball. I go, yeah, but the ball's on. He goes, Brian, you're Brian Dunstead. He's fucking Precky, man. Give him the fucking ball. on I was all right, fair enough.
00:07:53
Speaker
So I learned my lesson. I think I was like 24 at the time. But I love Prack, man. And Pracky was 40 probably at the time. Probably. Like Pracky went up to, I need to go get the massage.
00:08:05
Speaker
That's like, okay, cool. You go get the massage. Yeah. It's, it's been fun having him around. again We don't talk to him a lot, but whenever he does talk, it's always, there's, he's always got something interesting to say and he's, and it's always listening fun to fun to talk to him. But yeah,
00:08:22
Speaker
this So, you know, talking about Pedro, or actually, let's let's stick on this call. ah Max also has a very memorable, your call I think is perfect in that year're you're literally talking to the viewer as if, hey, it's 7-0, it's 6-0 this game, you may have started to tune out.
00:08:39
Speaker
yeah pay attention and come watch this before you know why yeah it's like you like literally you're saying come back into the room and watch this replay which i think is a great like an underrated thing sometimes we just need to walk uh the viewers through what's going on here but max's call is just this sort of at least from the word my interpretation of it is that he is just yelling things that are flooding into his brain like uh bachelor coach Yeah. u i think is yeah
00:09:09
Speaker
What do you know? What, is that a thing that he says? Is that, where did that come from? No, I I've heard him say it before in a broadcast. Um, cause Max and I have like 300 games. I mean, I think sometimes people don't realize that he he's, it's so much fun to work with Max. I'm so, I'm so lucky.
00:09:26
Speaker
He's one of my best friends, both in the broadcast booth and outside in real life. We spend so much time with one another.
00:09:34
Speaker
He actually did my very first game at Fox Soccer Channel back in 2006. And so we probably have 300, 350 games together that we've called.
00:09:45
Speaker
And so Uchimaguchi is like, that's like as top tier high level that he can possibly go. where he's at such a loss of words.
00:09:56
Speaker
And I know he's told me before what it really means and where he's pulling it from. But for the life of me, I can't remember right now. So that that was that was as kind of atypical of a max, like, holy shit type of goal that he can't say that on air.
00:10:16
Speaker
Um, so yeah, I, I mean, we were all in that moment and when he finished, that's what I was like, I, in my mind, I went back to when I started on radio calling real salt lake games.
00:10:27
Speaker
I remember one of the local radio guys was like, be as descriptive as possible because there's a guy drinking a beer, working on his car, or, you know, there's somebody somewhere not paying attention, you know, just walked into the kitchen.
00:10:42
Speaker
i was like, you know, if you're in the other room, get on back in here because you have to see this goal. I just remember that was the first thing out of my mouth. And i was like, that's not really television, but like it worked. And so yeah then, you know, I tried to describe the audaciousness of a decision in a split second for a guy that should have taken the ball down with his chest.
00:11:04
Speaker
And instead he scored one of the best goals I've ever been a part of. Yeah, that was,
Sounders' Leagues Cup Performance
00:11:09
Speaker
it was pretty fun. And obviously it sort of was the, the cherry on top of a very impressive performance by the Sounders that they were able to ride the momentum a bit into, they they were the only team in the first phase of leagues cup to go undefeated, to win all three of their games.
00:11:25
Speaker
And they set themselves up pretty nicely. Although there was a chance it, kind of the funny way that Leagues Cup is set up. There was a chance that Tigris could have ended up with the number four seed. And if Tigris had the number four seed, I guess the Sounders would have had to play on the road.
00:11:39
Speaker
But as it was, they end up getting Puebla, who is... easily the worst team on paper left in the tournament. They have been, ah you know, I would say that, and I would put them but below the galaxy because the galaxy at least looked really good during leagues cup.
00:11:56
Speaker
And they, other than the Sounders game, they've, they've had some decent performances recently. Puebla has been in down bad. They, they got basically one really good result in this one against a New York city FC when New York city FC rotated pretty heavily in their first game.
00:12:13
Speaker
And then they sort of, got through the the last two games. They, they ultimately beat ah Montreal in a shootout, but what's been your take on Puebla? They just fired their coach.
00:12:25
Speaker
ah They haven't, they have a ah new coach. ah Is it Martine Bravo? Is that right? Am I getting that right? Yeah. Yeah. The former. Yeah. Yeah. who has a ah pretty good playing career, but almost no managerial career. He'd been, I think, the U21 coach ah for up until for this season, maybe even last year a little bit.
00:12:45
Speaker
But I don't know. what it it's It seems like there's always a possibility of ah of a new coach bounce. But other than that, I don't know that there's a lot to look at Puebla as. think like This is a game the Sounders should win.
00:12:57
Speaker
Yeah, no, they're they're heavy, heavy favorites, and i and I agree with you. I think um Puebla is the clear outlier in this conversation ah because, yeah, they took advantage of an NYCFC team that you know was was rotating and thinking that their rotation was good enough to beat Puebla, and they were stomped.
00:13:18
Speaker
Wilford Nancy and company handled their business. What was that, a 3-1 win, I believe? Yeah. And then finally, if Joel Waterman doesn't have a ah rush of blood and is shown red card in like the 23rd minute, Montreal is cruising in that game.
00:13:34
Speaker
And so, you know, they control their controllables and they get through to the stockout round. there's There's a weird, there's a weird, Jeremiah, there's a weird thing here. your point, a 38 year old first time manager who's been coaching the youth and the reserve team,
00:13:49
Speaker
He's going to motivate them. It's going to be a quick bounce. Pablo Guerra, who was basically sacked or quit, but did the press conference. Yeah, kind of weird. it was ah It was a weird form formula.
00:14:01
Speaker
They're in 17th position, back-to-back, apertura, clausura. They got stomped by Tigres 7-0. Then they lose to, was it San Luis at the weekend? Yeah, San Luis.
00:14:11
Speaker
Yeah. So, yeah, I don't like even going through their games. Like I'm trying to catch up because I didn't call any of their matches. We were based out here on the West Coast between LAFC.
00:14:22
Speaker
We also like in Seattle. I'm trying to catch up in real time. Every single formation that I go through is different. Every starting 11 is effectively different outside goalkeeper and back line.
00:14:33
Speaker
Emiliano Gomez had a couple of goals. um You had Marine with a goal and an assist. You had Lozano with a goal that, you know, I'm trying to, um I'm going through Y scout and I'm trying to pick up tendencies and I can't, I mean, I really, really can't. So for b Brian Smetzer, what he'll always say is we worry about us.
00:14:53
Speaker
We respect the opponent. We're going figure out what our shape needs to be. And in a weird way, I think there's a benefit from losing at Minnesota, not because, you know, you you want to lose and you're on this run coming out of, you know, the FIFA club world cup.
00:15:08
Speaker
And there's a level of consistency and you're coming off a fantastic win against LA galaxy. Minnesota is a weird outlier. I can't figure out how their grittiness is causing so many teams, so many problems.
00:15:20
Speaker
it's It's so, so weird. And credit to Eric Ramsey and everything that they're doing. um But I think almost that slap in the face is a wake-up call to be like, okay, guys, you did the business at LA Galaxy. you know Whether it's Kent or it's Albert Rusnak or it's Joe Apollo or whoever, know return of of Steph Fry and Goal, all of these things. like Let's recalculate and understand what we're trying to do and what's necessary.
00:15:46
Speaker
you know Because these next couple of weeks, I think, is an extraordinary opportunity. You think about a trophy, you think about the opportunity face Messi, potentially if they go through, you think about Champions Cup, you think about FIFA Club World Cup.
00:16:00
Speaker
there's There's a lot of really big things with just a couple of games remaining.
Leagues Cup Format: Fairness and Entertainment
00:16:04
Speaker
um And the quickest, most reliable way to lift a trophy is coming through the League's Cup. Absolutely. no I think what, if anything, the Minnesota match to me highlighted is there's a like you never know what's going to happen in MLS. These teams are all very evenly matched.
00:16:23
Speaker
The reality is that you're in a quarterfinal of this tournament. You have a very winnable quarterfinal game. And at that point you're in the semis and you're one win away from CONCACAF champions cup qualification, yeah you know, either way. Right.
00:16:37
Speaker
And so to me, it makes sense. Like this is, it just underscored the opportunity that they have right now that's facing them. ah and And I, and I've, you know, I think that, I understand the criticisms of Leagues Cup as well as anyone. You know, it's it's ah it's a new tournament.
00:16:52
Speaker
It's not exactly a fair tournament. I get all that. But it's been, these games have been entertaining. and And that's, to me, what it comes down to is that, From minute one to minute 90, these are entertaining games and there's, and I've never doubted that the teams are equally motivated.
00:17:09
Speaker
You know, say what you will about Santos Laguna and say what you will about Club Tijuana and the and the two games after Cruz Azul. Say what you want about Cruz Azul even. The first half of that game was extremely competitive and Cruz Azul did not look like looked like a team that was ready to play. I think they were, you know, maybe at some point during that, they they they just had a tendency to like what do you want us to do here? that fourth goal they quit on themselves um but no listen jim i agree with you 100 um and before the first game brian smetzer said something to us and it was more of like hey a quick reminder because we were talking about the value of this league's cup and more like theoretical bigger picture you know 36 000 feet type of conversation and
00:17:56
Speaker
He said, the one thing that I think people forget about us is that we've had so much competition with Liga MX squads. Whether you talk about Club America or you talk about Pumas, you talk about Cruz Azul, talk about Monterey, you talk about Tigres.
00:18:11
Speaker
Who else did he point out in that conversation? Chibisa Guadalajara. He said, and what what people forget I've utilized my starters and I've utilized my bench.
00:18:24
Speaker
And in this weird conversation between Leagues Cup and CONCACAF Champions Cup and CONCACAF Champions League and all of these things going back, even the international friendlies, that guys like Obed Vargas have thrived because they've grown up in real time because of this competition.
00:18:43
Speaker
And similar to the conversation, how we think down the line, the FIFA Club World Cup is going to benefit this group of players and benefit the next generation beyond that. um we we have an understanding of how to compete against these teams.
00:19:00
Speaker
And we have a self-belief of how to come. And, you know, listen, he's like, we've had failures and successes and we've lost players throughout the process. Speaking to Paul Areola down on the road against Cruz Azul. But in the midst of this, there's been benefits that we didn't realize in real time that would come down the line.
00:19:19
Speaker
And I think that's a by-product of the group stage. And I think it's one of the reasons why, Schmetz has always taken things like this really, really seriously while contemplating substitutions and injuries, return from injuries and all of that, that there's not a lot of wiggle room.
00:19:35
Speaker
And we've heard from plenty of coaches that, Hey man, the moment that we kind of stumbled, we knew how difficult it was because of how unforgiving this format is. And I like it. I like that the format is unforgiving because there is jeopardy and we can, you know, Max and I,
00:19:51
Speaker
as well as calling Seattle, we're calling Real Salt Lake and LAFC and saw, you know, like when LAFC rolled out that starting 11 against Tigres, nobody in the world thought that they were going to win 2-1 with the strength of the roster that Tigres had rolled out.
00:20:05
Speaker
So, I'm a big fan of it. I know it gets in, we get into the the details and the the, you know, the grittiness of social media um and the pontification of people's opinions over other people's opinions, but I do like it.
00:20:21
Speaker
and And yeah, I'm getting paid to be a part of these broadcasts, but man, I've seen some, I've seen some great games in those, what, six games in eight days that Max and I were on the roll couple of weeks ago.
00:20:33
Speaker
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00:20:46
Speaker
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00:20:59
Speaker
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00:21:21
Speaker
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00:22:18
Speaker
Hacks and Ferments is a proud sponsor of the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Yeah, you know, i um um since we're talking about may well ask where you come down on this new format because I thought, I'm with you, I i liked that the games felt like they had jeopardy. there You could not, every drop point, you knew that that could potentially be the difference between moving on and not moving on.
00:22:43
Speaker
ah i I know there's some debate as to whether four teams from each league is enough, but I do think it strikes me, it strikes an interesting compromise of having jeopardy, having games mean something and not turning this into, you know, a month long ordeal where you have, where you have to pause the whole season.
00:23:03
Speaker
Yeah, and I think there was concern, and rightly so, about the teams that were knocked out early and and what that was going to mean for the return to season play. um and And then you get into kind of the breakdowns of games in hand and all those other things that come into play.
00:23:20
Speaker
um would would i Could I see a world in which maybe they went to eight teams instead of four teams, top eight teams? I could. I still think there's complications in that.
00:23:32
Speaker
But again, i think they were really intelligent and thoughtful in the process of trying to figure this out. um you know I could also see a world in which maybe there's a home game and then a road game in Mexico and then back to a home game, something like that at some point.
00:23:47
Speaker
But again, i I'm one of the believers that on the backside of COVID, I think there was room for you know and an opportunity to throw a lot of ish against the wall and see what stuck.
00:23:59
Speaker
and And I do think, and I'll put a I'll put some credit on Steve Trundle on LAFC because, you know, he brought up something that i thought was fascinating. He said, you know, each and every time that we play a Liga Mequis team, we're looking at a different shape, a different identity, a different approach, a different philosophy.
00:24:18
Speaker
So tactically as coaches, we're then taking this back to the drawing board and saying, you know, Hey, this is pretty interesting. How can we implement this? I can remember sitting with BJ Callahan in the studios when Botafogo beat PSG.
00:24:33
Speaker
And as he was watching it, he was literally furiously texting. And I was like, BJ, what are you doing? He's like, no, I'm sending this immediately to my coaching staff and being like, hey, let's cut this out because I've never seen a team deal with PSG the way Botafogo dealt with them.
00:24:49
Speaker
And so it gets your mind working of like, okay, and we're we're all kind of bitter and sour in some way. And we all kind of have our ways about the sanctity or the purity of the game.
00:25:00
Speaker
But in real time, there's something to be said that something maybe you know in in these lower levels of our of our psyche of like, how can we steal this? How can we adapt this? How can we use this?
00:25:13
Speaker
And I think that goes back to some of the things that Brian Spencer said to us before that Cruz Azul game of how we are going to play Sounders football, how we're going to talk about our homegrown process, how we're going to talk about Wade Weber and Tacoma Defiance and the development there.
00:25:27
Speaker
And then how do we create these game models that are kind of seamlessly ebbing and flowing into the first team? And that's why, you know, Max and I are so complimentary that everything that's happening, and it's a byproduct of having so many Sounders games over the list last couple of years,
00:25:42
Speaker
that now we understand kind of the nuance and the conversation of what's being built there and why I think we're we're so complimentary of everything that's happening in the kind of Seattle Sounders folklore of real time.
Significance of International Matches
00:25:54
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think you can say at the very least that MLS is better off by being involved in international competitions and playing more international opponents is good.
00:26:06
Speaker
I think playing, a it just raises the the level. it i think does there's an element of it keeps everyone honest. And because the the worst thing i think you can do is think you're getting better in a vacuum. And then as soon as you get outside of that and ecosystem, you realize that you're not doing so well.
00:26:23
Speaker
But I agree with you also that the Sounders, I think that the thing I found most impressive about their group stage performance or sorry, phase one performance was ah the depth that they showed off where, you know, they they're missing a bunch of guys. You know, they're they're missing Jordan Morris.
00:26:39
Speaker
They lost Albert Rusnak. they They were missing Stephen Frye. you know, obviously Paul, Ariel, a Joe Paulo, you can kind of go down this list of players who are out or were out during the the club, during the phase one.
00:26:52
Speaker
And the sounders still rotated their lineups. ah Even yeah it wasn't like they just relied on the same guys every game, but they also got production out of a lot of players. I want to say 13 players had a goal or an assist yeah in the, in phase one.
00:27:06
Speaker
That's remarkable stuff. Yeah, no, I know it is. and and And listen, I can't imagine a world in which um Craig Weibel and Brian Smets predicting that you know Danny Masofsky is going to be either your leading goal scorer or one of your leading goal scorers at the start of the season.
00:27:27
Speaker
That Ryan Kent is a name that's ever going to be legitimately talked about. um that what reed baker whiting danny leyva snyder burnell uh kosarianzi all of these guys are going to have opportunities to maybe mimic important roles that we saw paul rothrock walk into last year ah georgia munungo uh that you want to continue to see his development of being not an outlier but a guy that's an impact starter and player in that rotation I think we all kind of hope that Jesus Ferreira would have the role that he's seemingly starting to walk into at this point, but he's still one of those weird, how do we identify him the right way type of players.
00:28:10
Speaker
um and And yeah, listen, I think it's competition for spots and it's depth for roster. And I think in a weird way, as important as these moments are from a branding perspective,
00:28:22
Speaker
so was the FIFA club world cup as important as it was for LAFC. And as important as it was for inter Miami to continue to plant the flag on more of an international stage. um Because, you know, let's be honest that, you know, the investment in this team hasn't looked like the investment that it was for Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey and the transfer from, you know, Raul and Nico, they've had to do it differently. And that's acquisitions of different teams.
00:28:46
Speaker
It's the, you know, exquisite spin that we've seen on the ah training facility. So it's been leaner times than most. and And maybe we look at a world where, and I see this in Salt Lake City, and at Real Salt Lake, where the transition of power and ownership has included four different billion dollar investors. you know And in you know I never had that on my bingo card to see one billion dollar investor you know being bought out by investors
00:29:18
Speaker
different individual billion-dollar investors, and then one of them divesting of their investment to have another billion-dollar group come in. so and And maybe that comes in with the recent news that Vancouver ownership is no longer interested in selling, that they're looking for investment. I think that's a byproduct of the slowing down of expansion.
00:29:40
Speaker
This my own theoretical, philosophical rant. But seeing multi-billion dollar investors coming in and that then offsetting what the extraordinary nuclear arms spend is for the cost. And I think that's a real big byproduct of David Beckham or Amos, enter Miami, looking to spend extraordinary sums, pushing the thresholds and you know the high tides are raising all ships.
00:30:03
Speaker
um so Yeah, it's it's from a bigger macro kind of perspective, what Seattle is doing in real time really is incredible considering, quote unquote, the lack of spend and the way Craig Weibel has utilized all the mechanisms that we see in ah in roster complicity.
00:30:27
Speaker
Yeah, it is interesting. And ah it's sort of one of the things where on one hand, you know, I look at this as someone who follows this team closely, who knows how they used to operate.
Challenges in Player Acquisition
00:30:37
Speaker
And here's the chatter from inside the club. There is some frustration over a, you know, a sense that they don't have the transfer budget that they used to.
00:30:46
Speaker
And yet you look at the roster And you go, okay, so we have this U22 mechanism. We can spend some money there. Do we really think we can get a U20? Like it raises the bar for what kind of play. Like I respect that they don't want to just bring someone in to shut people up and say, look, we spent some money.
00:31:04
Speaker
Like they they do, they there is this And I think there's, ah there's also some, some pressure for them to do that. There is some pressure for them to just get us someone so that we don't have to hear about how we didn't make any moves this summer.
00:31:15
Speaker
Like yeah just, Let us be sporting Kansas city for lack of a better term, just bring someone in and we can, and we can get off that list and then we can, and then we can kind of regather. But on the other hand, i do, I get it. Like, look, if you're not going improve on Osase De Rosario, why are you going to bring in,
00:31:33
Speaker
Why are you going to bring in another forward? If you're not going to improve on Georgie Manungu, why are you going to bring in another winger? If you're not going to improve on Reed Baker, Whiting or Snyder Brunel, why are we going to bring in another, you know, a fullback or central midfielder? And so you you're raising the bar for what you need to find.
Craig Weibel's Player Negotiation Philosophy
00:31:50
Speaker
And that doesn't mean those players aren't out there, but it does make it a little bit more challenging to fit them in your budget and do all these other things. And I don't know, it'll, you can I add to that really quick? I think it's important because I've known Craig wobble a long, long time from our playing days.
00:32:07
Speaker
When I covered PAC 12, when he was assistant at UW to his time out here in salt Lake, when he transitioned from an assistant coach to general manager. And he and I have spent a lot of time together.
00:32:17
Speaker
And the one thing I can say, and I, and I know, you know, this, but you know we We do this thing as fandoms and our tribalism you know really wants us to go out and compete with the best.
00:32:30
Speaker
On the international market as well, the difficulty, and I know there's one big non-negotiable with Craig Weibel, and that's that's character, test of character. Because I can promise you, Seattle Sanders could go out and spend money.
00:32:44
Speaker
And they have. And they've hit on a bunch of them. And their their strike rate is really, really high. they haven't missed on many. And you don't want to go out and spend the money on, say, a Leo Chu. You want to find a Pedro de la Vega.
00:32:55
Speaker
But none of us were really sure what Pedro Delevega was because of the injuries last year. Now we get a better idea of who he is now, right? so And by the way, that's not a shot at Leo Chu and who he is as a person or anything.
00:33:07
Speaker
It just didn't work out. um yeah i hear yeah the The one thing with with Craig is on an international market, he refuses to be played. yeah if you're an agent or if you're a player and at the very end of the negotiations, it's like when you're dating somebody for the very first time and like six months in that partner says something, you're oh, wait, what? You're not who I thought you were.
00:33:32
Speaker
That striking moment. If there's any part in the negotiation with Weibel where he feels like the strength of character would not be ideal for this group, he's going to walk away.
00:33:44
Speaker
At the same time, understanding that international windows don't line up, there's moments where the club's going to be like every other club in MLS. And we saw this with Chris Albright last year and FC Cincinnati talk about we couldn't close deals because agents understood that they could take our offer and play it against another offer because the window was still going to be open. It was going to be beneficial for them.
00:34:09
Speaker
So it is, there's so much nuance to the conversation, to your point of how do we find somebody? And in the midst of this, how do we not create a glass ceiling for some of these young and up and coming players?
00:34:20
Speaker
Because I think you guys, you know, I think Seattle does it the best with, This theoretical approach of, you know, hey, we we're trying to develop, you know, how many teams out there saying we're a development team.
00:34:33
Speaker
You're like, no, bro, you're not because your coach doesn't play these kids. ae You know, give credit to Schmetz and company because is when the kid's ready to play, the kid's are ready to play and he's going to give them an opportunity with the first team.
00:34:45
Speaker
Yeah, you just look at the number of players. I think half the roster at this point has come through either directly from the from Defiance or from the Academy. And that's, i don't I assume that's probably the highest in the league, but it's not just...
00:35:00
Speaker
guys filling out the bottom of the and end of the roster. It's a lot of, you know, it's starters. It's guys that are rotational players. It's up and down. you know, there are some guys at the bottom of the, every team has guys at the bottom of the roster that don't play a ton, but the Sounders just don't have a lot of those guys. They have almost everyone on this team has a role to play and is, and is doing something. And, and it'll, you know, and I go back to like the Minnesota game where they did rotate a little bit.
00:35:27
Speaker
And they, you know, sometimes it doesn't work out, you know, but I think the game plan against Minnesota was solid. They, you know, they dominated. They, I don't think Minnesota went into that game thinking, look, well, if we can get 30% possession and get lucky on a set piece, that'll work for us.
00:35:45
Speaker
i mean I mean, you'll take the result, but I don't think that's a, that's not a, a roadmap to long-term success. they're They're different than like a Mikey virus in San Diego, who we thought that was going to, you know, suffer through the summer months and they're absolutely flying, um you know, same with a very but the schedule that lines up very, very nicely for them.
00:36:06
Speaker
um Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's going to be a few. And then, you know, I think it's next, not this upcoming weekend, but the next weekend they're on the road at LAFC. Yeah. Can't wait to see how they set up the play against lc Yeah.
00:36:18
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, listen, i mean, this with the utmost confidence or and and respect for Eric Ramsey and Minnesota United. They're not, they're not visually pleasing. Their grit and determination transition moments and keep the game in front of you, kick the shit out of you, you know, look for look for manufacture moments.
00:36:37
Speaker
But Eric also, he's smart enough to recognize what he doesn't have. And how can I accentuate the positives and his tactical shape is built on what he doesn't have and what he does have.
00:36:48
Speaker
and And he's, he's i mean, the way that they grind out results, it's mystifying. it's it's It is. i mean, this was a great example. Like the first game against, between the Sounders and Minnesota, I thought was,
00:37:01
Speaker
kind of that's how they want to play. yeah They got into transition. They got some set pieces. It was how they wanted it. This game. i don't, I still don't, I'm rewatching the game before I, before we got on the call here and I'm just watching the whole game. They're talking, the announcers are talking about, Oh, Seattle really is controlling this game. They're getting the better chances.
00:37:21
Speaker
I don't see, you know, they're just, you know, Minnesota is really just looking for a set piece here. And lo and behold, and it wasn't even like a well-taken set piece. That's what kills me. It's a dangerous call.
00:37:32
Speaker
And, you know, Steph comes off his line. He's kind of caught in between. He's kind of reacting. He's, it's almost like he's trying to stay big, but being able to react if there's a deflection. And when, yeah you know, it doesn't, like a double deflection doesn't happen, then he's stuck.
00:37:47
Speaker
Yeah. I remember saying to Max, we were watching, we we had the game up at the same time. was like, ooh, he's going to want that one back. Like, that's one of the But again, and just goes... don't know if he saw it either.
00:37:59
Speaker
I'm not 100% sure he saw where the mole was. I agree. and And I think it's one of those moments where we it's like one goal changes everything, right? Like watching at the weekend, West Ham at Sunderland.
00:38:12
Speaker
If Bowen gets that goal in the third minute, all of a sudden it's completely different game. So yeah, manufacturing moments and, and, and these create the, and that's where so you see, you know, this, ah this on Wednesday, Seattle has got to figure out a way to,
00:38:27
Speaker
you know, visually be dominant. And how do you do that? You know, it's, it's obviously matching the intensity of the game. That's necessary, sending some messages physically getting stuck in, trying to see if you can crush the confidence of Puebla, who is most certainly crushed.
00:38:42
Speaker
They're going to be look for, you know, they're they're going to try to apply themselves individually. Who's going to try to outperform the collective. Yeah. And then ultimately punish the mistakes. And I think, those are those are Those are always kind of the data points for me that I'm looking for because it is an odd pressure for Seattle to recognize that yeah they are going to 100% be looked at as a team that's going to go through and face the winner out of la Galaxy and Pachuca you know in that in that next round.
00:39:13
Speaker
Yeah, and looking at Puebla, they also have some interesting stuff. Like they they possess the ball a ton, at least under their former coach. They like to have the ball, and they usually play out of a three-center-back formation.
00:39:27
Speaker
But that even that three-center, like you said earlier in the show, that three-center-back formation can take a variety of different looks. Sometimes it's narrow. Sometimes it's more wide. yeah and And so i don't I don't really know what to expect from Puebla.
00:39:41
Speaker
But they, you know, this is a game where they probably are looking at this as this is kind of, even though it's early in the season, this is kind of their best shot probably yeah at winning something. And so I'm sure they're going to put everything into it.
00:39:55
Speaker
ah Looking more broadly, where who do you see as the favorites in this tournament at this point? um I would say whoever comes out at Tegades Center Miami is the favorites for me.
00:40:06
Speaker
um Just because i i respect, and again, I'm coming from a defensive standpoint from my career, I respect goalkeepers in defensive shape and identity, but there's something about teams that can just flat out score more goals than their opponents, kind of the old Bruce Arena theory.
00:40:23
Speaker
um Every time Bruce would hey, Bruce, what are you doing? ah We're scoring more goals than our opponents. And he'd just start chuckling with his shoulders. um and And that's what, you know, I just think they are the power.
00:40:36
Speaker
Toluca Orlando, that's going to be fascinating to see who comes out of that one. But I would say the easier of the four teams, the lesser of the evils of the four teams is going to be Seattle, Puebla, LA Galaxy, Pachuca.
00:40:49
Speaker
Because we yeah we recognize that Pachuca can get smashed, as we saw against LAFC. Can't figure out LA Galaxy. Nobody can at this point. And yet, similar to Puebla, they'll be looking at this as the opportunity to get something out of the season. yeah There's been nothing more than a complete disaster.
00:41:09
Speaker
Yeah, it's I for sure think the Sounders are getting the just desserts of being the top seed. They have the easier side of the bracket for sure.
Sounders' Tournament Advantage
00:41:20
Speaker
it it seems like the other – you would hope if you're a Sounders fan that there's going to be some ah so attrition going on on the other side of the bracket. Yeah, of course. and And I mean, I don't know. I think the sound, I do like the sounders chances in this. I think they are a good, you know, they they have a, if they, and then honestly, if they can get to a final, that's, that's great.
00:41:39
Speaker
um Well, especially after the teams that they drew in the FIFA club, a world cup. I mean, Oh God. Right. Drawing PSG and Atletico Madrid and Botafogo.
00:41:50
Speaker
I remember Maxi and I, you know, because was calling it and Max was going to be involved in the broadcast as well. was like, man, Brian, he's like, we have gotten a more difficult draw.
00:42:02
Speaker
And, you Maxi and I were like, no, man, there's points in there somewhere. And Brian was like, listen, this is amazing. Like an opportunity to play these clubs. Yeah. I think
Experience from International Tournaments
00:42:10
Speaker
everyone's stock starts to rise. Obed's stock certainly rose.
00:42:14
Speaker
And it's a great, to your point earlier, i remember you said it's it's a great understanding of like who you aren't, you know, like how much more you need to climb. And so, you know, maybe maybe maybe this is the backside of the FIFA Club World Cup, thinking to yourself, how are we going to get anything out of this versus like, hey, man, we've got a pretty clear definitive, you know, chance and path to the final.
00:42:36
Speaker
So let's take advantage of this. Yeah. And I do think that there's been a real balance in terms of confidence and sort of self-belief and knowing that, look, if we can play with PSG, we should be able to wipe the floor with Puebla kind of that sort of mentality.
00:42:50
Speaker
And, and hopefully that serves them well. Well, Danny, I've taken enough of your time. I really appreciate it. so You're going to be on the call for ah Sounders Puebla.
00:43:02
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. We got a couple of sounders. We've been listening to you a lot this year. Yeah, i've we've we've been I think we're coming up. Oh, we've got Seattle RSL in two and a half weeks' time as well. So I always love coming up. I love seeing the crew. i love hanging out in the lunchroom with you guys.
00:43:22
Speaker
I love when we go up and get our coffee, always I always say to the young lady that's serving the Starbucks ah and busting Max's chops, was like, we got a big tipper here, big tipper. So just ruining it for Max where he's got to drop a tenner in the cup.
00:43:36
Speaker
No, I love being up there and seeing everybody. And it's always fun seeing Danny and everyone on the broadcast. And obviously with Craig Weibel, getting to give him a big old bear cut, even though half the time he's playing pinball somewhere and the Seattle. Yeah, right.
00:43:51
Speaker
He's out at shorties pregame. That's what he always tells me. Yeah. was like, how to go? He's like, fingers are sore. Been killing it. Been killing it. You are a weirdo. And I love every second of it. Well, thank you for doing this, Brian.
00:44:04
Speaker
This is Nos Adietes, part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. I am Jeremiah O'Shann, signing off for Brian Dunsteth. We will catch you next time.
00:44:38
Speaker
I expect the LAFC who is motivated ah to prove themselves at home, to prove to their fans that that they're capable of winning in this league. And it's up to us to really ruin the party.
00:44:54
Speaker
i feel a lot better than