Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Nos Audietis, Episode 279: Treading water image

Nos Audietis, Episode 279: Treading water

S2018 E279 · Nos Audietis
Avatar
63 Plays7 years ago

An eight-day stretch that saw the Sounders play three times and claim four points has left them pretty much treading water in terms of playoff hopes.

Was the latest result a positive sign or just another boring result? Aaron and Jeremiah discuss this while also taking plenty of your questions.

This week's music: RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Perry Como - "Seattle", RVIVR - “The Tide”, Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia"

Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you're looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.

Want to hear the music from the show in their glorious, full versions? Check out the Nos Audietis playlist on Spotify!

Recommended
Transcript

Introduction to '36 Bottles of Wine' by Fullpool Wines

00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of No Sadietes is sponsored by Fullpool Wines, a Seattle-based wine seller who recently released their first book, 36 Bottles of Wine. To eat those of the book, a highly curated look at wine categories that provide exceptional value right now should be familiar to Fullpool readers. But there's loads of fresh content, and since it's not trying to sell any wine through the book, there's a bit more of a sass factor.
00:00:20
Speaker
And there's food! Lots of it! Fullpool's unique writing style is applied to recipes like Leftover Thanksgiving, Turkey, Smaltz of All Soup, and Pregnancy Nachos. This book can be purchased through Sasquatch Books.

Seattle Sounders' Recent Performance Recap

00:00:32
Speaker
Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to... There's no study at this. The Seattle Sounders have done it! And now it's come out! And now they're working as science champions!
00:00:49
Speaker
The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle. And the hills, the greenest green in Seattle. Like a beautiful child growing up. Welcome to another edition of NOS Audio Disc, sponsored by Full Pool Wines, Queen Anne Acupuncture, Verity Creative Union, and our broadcast partner Bootstrapper Studios. This is episode 279, and we're recording on Monday, July 9th, 2018.

Sounders Youth and Rapinoe's Record

00:01:17
Speaker
I'm your host, Jeremiah O'Shan, and I'm joined always by my co-host, Aaron Campo, and our engineer, Lickett. It's been a busy couple weeks for the Sounders, who have basically managed to tread water in terms of their playoff hopes. It started with a dispiriting loss to the Portland Timbers, in which the Sounders' defense looked about as bad as they have all year, at least at home. That was followed by a road win over the Colorado Rapids, in which the Sounders did just enough to beat one of the worst teams in the league, and finally ended with a road tie against the New England Revolution.
00:01:42
Speaker
I should also congratulate the Sounders U16-U17 team on making it to the developmental academy finals for the first time in history, and also to Megan Rapinoe of the Seattle Rain for setting the Rain franchise record for most goals in a career passing Kim Little. In any case, back to the first team.
00:02:02
Speaker
Sounders are going to show show up against Atlanta on on the weekend.

Challenges in Sounders' Defense

00:02:07
Speaker
Oh, yeah, we're playing. Actually, we're playing the Senators Academy is playing Atlanta on Tuesday and the Sounders are playing Atlanta on Sunday. So anyway, it's kind of a nice coincidence.
00:02:22
Speaker
But I thought the revolution result in particular was not attractive by any stretch of the imaginations. But I do think the two, both teams probably share in that. They combined for two shots on goal between the two of them. The Sounders were actually the first team to get a shot on goal, which came in like the 73rd minute on an attempt by, a midfield attempt by Nicole Adero. And then a few minutes later, the revolution got their one and only shot on goal, which was more of a cross.
00:02:53
Speaker
But in any case, this was the first time all year that the Sounders had followed up a win with any sort of positive result. It was just the third time ever that they'd come out of New England with points. And it was just their second shutout. And in general, I actually thought it was one of the more encouraging results of an admittedly horrible season.

Path to Playoff Qualification

00:03:12
Speaker
The Sunners still have a massive hill to climb. They're 10 points out of 6th place, but they've managed to get to the transfer window without having their playoff dreams completely exterminated. Yes, it's going to take another near-historic run to get there, but essentially it's not that different than what they'd have to do, which they did in each of the past two seasons when they had 30 and 31 points respectively over their final 17 games. If they can equal that, they should at least be in the running,
00:03:40
Speaker
And given the way the season has gone, I'm not sure. We can hope for much better than that. No, I mean, we we definitely can't.

Western Conference Analysis

00:03:50
Speaker
The God bless Western Conference for being terrible, which shockingly, what's funny is that the bottom of the Eastern Conference is actually worse than the fifth, sixth place of the West. But anyway, go ahead. The whole West is not good.
00:04:04
Speaker
No, I mean, yeah. LAFC reminds me of Atlanta last year where they're flashy. Um, they're, they're, they can score a ton of goals. They're, they're good, but they're not great. They've still got some growing up to do. Um, if they turn into what Atlanta is this year, uh, next year, then we've got some problems, but yeah, it's not that it's pretty mediocre, but, uh, yeah, I mean, I dunno, I'm with you. I thought the new England game was encouraging basically because it was so.
00:04:35
Speaker
boring. And so, hey, this is a result we need. We're going to go in there and play for it. And they did. And it's not like New England's a bad team by any stretch. They're certainly not a completely impotent team. They've scored 30 goals. They were averaging 1.8 goals a game at home up until that game. Yeah, they've got good attacking talent. They were definitely very, very frustrated by the way the Sounders were approaching the game. It was a very professional sort of result.
00:05:04
Speaker
It's tough because I feel like we're kind of at the point now where maybe we shouldn't be playing for results like that. Maybe we should just be saying like, look, we're going to get three points or we're not going to get any points. And that's just going to be the way it's going to be. And if we lose three, no, whatever. But I understand why you maybe don't want to do that, especially at this point in the season. And, you know, especially given the fact that they were just coming off playing at altitude, you know, four days before.
00:05:32
Speaker
A game in the East Coast on short rest, I kind of find like I, if you'd told me the Sounders were going to go into that game and get a zero zero result, I would have absolutely accepted it. And I would say that I was more encouraged by the performance against New England than I was by the performance in Colorado, which I actually thought was, was borderline bad,

Sounders' Defensive Challenges and Key Plays

00:05:55
Speaker
frankly. I mean, you got the win.
00:05:56
Speaker
And I thought that the second goal that Bruin scored was actually a great play in that it had a lot of elements of things I would like to see the Sounders doing, a high press, and then a high press by Christian Roldan leads to a turnover.
00:06:14
Speaker
a really impressive pass by Victor Rodriguez and then an even more impressive first touch and goal by Will Bruin. I think all that together that was a great moment but I thought that overall the Sounders looked sloppy, they looked disjointed defensively, I thought they gave up way too many chances, Stefan Fry obviously comes up with

Spotlight on Stefan Frei

00:06:36
Speaker
The save that Stephen Fry made on Goshy to preserve that win has to be one of the best saves of the season. Yeah, it absolutely does. I think that that injury that Stephen Fry had before he came here, it's just
00:06:56
Speaker
It's crazy to think about what might have been, you know, because he was young, he was very widely regarded as, you know, one of the top young goalkeepers in MLS. I mean, we were talking 70 years ago about how we would, we would love to see him here. If he doesn't have that interruption to his career and then he comes back from injury and he's not, he can't win the starting job back.
00:07:17
Speaker
uh it's crazy to think about what might have been but uh because he's just he's such an incredible goalkeeper i mean i think it's it's completely fair to say that he is the best keeper that that we've had here um you know maybe something i think because it really is yeah i mean they've had four like marcus haneman
00:07:37
Speaker
Well, he wasn't necessarily great for the Sounders, but he was a, had a great career. Casey Keller, one actually goalkeeper of the year. Uh, Michael Spurning, who was only here two years, had a, you know, for a long time was like statistically one of the top goalkeepers in MLS history.
00:07:54
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And I mean, I think that, you know, he's, he's at that level. And I think that just considering what he's been able to accomplish with the team, you know, he's, he's surpassed it. Maybe peak Casey Keller was better than peak Stephen Fry.
00:08:10
Speaker
But it can't be that far off. And we're really lucky to have him. We're really lucky to have him on the contract that we have him on. And it's sad for him because I think that he could have gone to Europe and could have maybe become a regular with the US national team.
00:08:31
Speaker
if he hadn't had that interruption early on in his career. But, you know, it worked out okay for us, like I said. So, yeah, I mean, he just, it seems like once a game, he has a save like that. Maybe not as good as the one he had against Colorado to preserve the win, but he'll have an incredible save at least once a game. And that's just, it's wild. And I mean, if it wasn't for him this season, the Sounders would be, I think, unquestionably out of the playoff discussion.
00:08:59
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's crazy that he's only had two shutouts this year because I feel like in some ways he's had one of his best seasons and it just speaks to the Sounders defense.

Defensive Struggles Without Osvaldo Alonzo

00:09:11
Speaker
There's been times where I felt like the Sounders defense was as good as it was at the end of last year, but there's been a lot more times, the Colorado game being a great example of that, where I think what we're seeing is
00:09:23
Speaker
You know, maybe Chad Marshall's lost a little bit of a step. Maybe Kim Kihei is not quite what Roman, what peak Roman Torres is. But I really think the big difference in the center's defense is that there's not a defensive shield of what Osvaldo Alonzo was at the peak of his game, or even what Gustav Svensson has been able to provide.
00:09:45
Speaker
on occasion. Christian Roldan is still, I'm still very bullish about his potential as being a very good MLS player and maybe even something more than a very good MLS player, but he's not the kind of pure defensive
00:10:00
Speaker
midfielder that Ozzy was at his best or that Svensson can be. And my hope is that once Svensson gets back that the center's defense returns to being very good. And if they can put that together with, I mean, in some ways they are, you know, this post, this post World Cup period is going to be really great in that they're getting three
00:10:25
Speaker
depending on how you look at Roman Torres, they're getting two or three very, very good players who they haven't had virtually for the whole season. And so it's not just Rui Diaz that's coming back. I mean, we might be getting Svensson back this week, although that may be a stretch.

Team Strength and Contract Considerations

00:10:42
Speaker
I don't know. He didn't play a ton in Russia. So maybe he can just kind of slide back in. I don't know what's going on in Roman Torres,
00:10:53
Speaker
if they can solidify their defensive midfield, I kind of feel like there's a really good team here still. Yeah, there is.
00:11:05
Speaker
Whether or not Stenson is going to be back is, I think, a huge question. All accounts were that he was not, that he was going to be here for two years and then head back, but I'd like to think maybe that that's changed in the time sense. Because next year, if he's not, that's the game. That's the big blow on him. Yeah. That's the single biggest thing the Sounders have to take care of and they have to do it before the season starts. They just can't
00:11:29
Speaker
not have a traditional defensive midfielder with the way they want to play. So I'm really hoping that they can entice him back for one more year.

Managing Player Fatigue

00:11:41
Speaker
But I think, I mean, even if you don't think that Roman Torres is a good center back, a good MLS center back, I think he is. I think he would be an excellent MLS center back if he didn't do some of the things he does. But that's OK. That's why.
00:11:58
Speaker
Every MLS player has those things, right? But I think even if you don't think that he should be an unquestioned starter, having the ability to rotate, chat martial, and give him a day off here or there, same with Kim, I think he's going to be important. I mean, I think that we've seen games this season where the team just looks exhausted because it's like the same seven guys playing 90 minutes week in and week out. So
00:12:24
Speaker
Um, you know, I think that'll certainly be a boost. And then obviously I think that a lot of what we saw earlier this season was where, you know, the sounders looked semi competent, um, and just not getting results.

Impact of Ruy Diaz's Addition

00:12:38
Speaker
And that kind of devolved into, Oh God, this team is really shitty. It seems figuring out that they're, they just, they had no attacking threat. They weren't really going to, to do a lot to.
00:12:49
Speaker
you know, to, to bother the opposition's goal. And so teams started playing them differently and started putting more pressure on the defense. And it's just sort of a systemic thing. I think that.
00:12:58
Speaker
having a credible attacking threat and Rudy Az is going to make a huge difference and take some pressure off the defense. And so I'm excited about the last half of the season, even if, you know, even if they don't make the playoffs, I think you could argue that maybe not making the playoffs would not be the worst thing this season and give them an actual off season to recover and sort of focus on improving the squad. But yeah, we'll see. But it should be a hell of a lot more fun than the last month or two have been.
00:13:27
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I would say the most frustrating thing about missing the playoffs is potentially that there'll be a fun team to watch by the time the playoffs come around. And, you know, if they're playing as well as I think they might, I mean, you think you look at the roster that they can potentially put out, you know, starting this week and you have, you know, Rui Diaz is your starter.
00:13:49
Speaker
most likely, then you have like Victor Rodriguez, Nicolas Ledero. And then you can rotate in Dempsey, Wolf, Ship. You can rotate in Bruin. You have Roldan and Svensson potentially as your defensive mids. And if you tell me you can have Ozzie Alonzo as a 20 minute sub to help see out results on a regular basis, I like that role for him right now.
00:14:14
Speaker
Uh, similar, you know, in, and all of a sudden you don't need so much production out of Kelvin Lirdham and new who on the, on the outside. And I think their center back rotation is fine. Uh, if, you know, I actually liked this team's 18 man roster a lot once, you know, once it's all put together and it's fully back, it's a little old, admittedly. And I think that that's part of why.
00:14:39
Speaker
I think making the playoffs is somewhat imperative because there's a reality that this

Anticipated Roster Changes

00:14:44
Speaker
team is going to look very different next year. And as currently assembled, there's important pieces here that won't be back next year and whether or not they're better next year.
00:14:56
Speaker
you know, if you like this, if you are attracted to this team, like this is the, this is kind of the last hurrah, I think of, of what this, of this nucleus. And so in that sense, I hope that they can make a playoff run because I'd like to see them play a little bit more together.
00:15:12
Speaker
But you're right. I think that there are potentially some long-term benefits of missing the playoffs, at least missing the playoffs. I mean, at some point, having an offseason to rest, like getting to an MLS Cup final would definitely be a double-edged sword, I think. Although I'd like to think that they have learned a little bit more from this offseason or from last offseason. But, yeah, I don't think
00:15:37
Speaker
Garth is being crazy when he says that he looks at this roster and he likes what he sees because I look at this roster and I kind of like what I see too.
00:15:46
Speaker
I like some of what I see. I like what I see in terms of, hey, if they can make a run and get into the playoffs, they've got as good a shot as anybody. I like it from that perspective. But I think there are some systemic things that they've got to deal with this offseason that are probably going to be kind of painful. And I think you alluded to that. I mean, Ozzie Alonzo, I think, is almost certainly
00:16:09
Speaker
either done or back at an incredibly reduced capacity. Chad Marshall is certainly not getting any younger. They're going to have a decision to make with Roman Torres.
00:16:23
Speaker
Um, you know, so it's, uh, luckily the Ledero situation seems settled, um, because we just sort of randomly found out that he was extended for another 20, 21 was pretty, uh, was like, Oh, okay. Okay. I guess this is not a huge concern then. Right.
00:16:42
Speaker
Um, so yeah, I mean, I think they have a good quarter players to build around the Darrow, Victor, really eyes roll down.

Clint Dempsey's Form and Impact

00:16:51
Speaker
Um, you know, new who weird. Um, those are all guys you would expect to get chem. You would all expect to be part of the next great sounders team. Um,
00:17:01
Speaker
But there's going to be a lot of turnover and it's going to be key players. I mean, I would say that it's probably more painful changes than it is disruptive changes to like the actual talent on the team.
00:17:17
Speaker
The sounders are, it's hard for me, like my belief, I could be wrong. This has never been told to me. I would be totally honest about that. But my belief is that part of the reason that the sounders were somewhat indifferent about Clint Dempsey being
00:17:32
Speaker
a low grade DP in terms of his salary was because they thought that he was going to have more to offer this year than he clearly has like he just has not been just not been good like it like there was times early in this year where he was I thought underperforming what you know his his his goals were underperforming what
00:17:52
Speaker
the positions he was putting himself in. But the last month or so, he just has not been, he's not been a good player. He was not good against, like going this last week, I'd say the last three games, he does not look good in any of those three games.
00:18:05
Speaker
Um, but I, I almost think they almost had, like they weren't going to restructure Clint's contract in order to get him below a DP to make him like a Tamable player this year, partly because that would have required them to guarantee him from next year, which means that they would have probably been planning to buy him out. And I think they probably need to save that buyout for Ozzy Alonzo. Yeah.
00:18:29
Speaker
Yeah, because he does have another guaranteed year, right? As far as I know, I mean, I could be wrong, but that's my impression. That's my understanding is that he has another guaranteed year. And it's really hard for me to see Alonzo being back on this team, especially if he's requiring you to spend a million dollars in Tam to have him. So he's effectively counting. You're paying him a million and a half out of pocket and then another million in Tam money, which just seems
00:18:58
Speaker
you know, crazy way to, it's a lot of resources to be sunk into one player who at this point seems like probably best used as an injury, you know, like as a late game sub, you know, kind of like a Jordy Dellum plus, Jordy Dellum costs you 50,000 or $60,000 and nothing against the cap.

Victor Rodriguez's Rising Influence

00:19:20
Speaker
That said, I will, I would say the most, if there was one thing to be encouraged by during this last period is, it's probably the play of Victor Rodriguez who,
00:19:28
Speaker
you know, for the first third of the season was literally non, it was not a factor. And for the last, you know, that he played three games this week.
00:19:40
Speaker
all of which he played 85 minutes, I would say he was the Sounders most dangerous offensive player in all three games, was really encouraged. And I thought he legitimately, that goal he scored against Portland was a great goal. The assists he had against Colorado was a great assist. And I would say if anyone looked capable of scoring in the New England game, it was probably Rodriguez, but no one really looked that capable of scoring. Right. He is though, eventually he's going to hit one of those
00:20:06
Speaker
where he cuts inside and hits a you know a curler towards the top post and it's gonna be it's gonna be very nice when he does because they they're always so close and they would all be such good goals but uh yeah i think he's looked really good i mean i think that it's it's clear he's he's fit now that he's um he's fit both in a not injured sense and in a you know i can play for 90 minutes kind of sense um which is i think huge and i think he's just he's

Lodeiro and Rodriguez's On-field Chemistry

00:20:32
Speaker
It's crazy because he's been here for a year now, but he's had so little time, I think to really fully mesh with the team. And I think he's kind of starting to do that. He and Ladero seem to have a pretty good relationship, a pretty good understanding, which, you know, is encouraging. And, and I think that he is, you know, he's showing that he is the kind of player, okay, maybe he's not.
00:20:51
Speaker
a burner. Maybe he doesn't have a great straight line of speed, but he can help stretch the field. He can help the Sounders play a little more direct. He's capable of taking on players in a way that a lot of other players on the team aren't. So yeah, it's been super encouraging. And I'm glad that he's probably going to be around for a couple of years. And I think now that the really honest thing is settled,
00:21:14
Speaker
what they do with that other TAM signing is going to be really, really interesting to see. Is it going to be somebody who is a real straight line type speed winger to sort of act as a compliment? That could be pretty fun to watch. So despite the fact that the Sounders have been garbage this season, there is a lot of interesting stuff to still care about. And I think the fact that the team is going to be pretty fun to watch is certainly going to help.
00:21:39
Speaker
Yeah, that's certainly my hope. And I think that, you know, again, this was another player who I was kind of encouraged by, but Ledero did not play well, I don't think, in
00:21:53
Speaker
in either the rapids game or the revolution game. And he had a lot of, in all three games, I felt like he had a lot of passes that just didn't come off or a lot of moments that didn't quite come off. But what I will say is I appreciate that he's at least trying to do that stuff. That he's at least trying to take guys on, that he's at least trying to put passes through traffic. And I think for a long time,
00:22:20
Speaker
Just the fact that no one was even trying that stuff was what was really making the sounders so hard to watch was that there was no one on the field willing to take a chance on a killer pass. And at least Lidero is willing to make the pass, even if it's not coming off.
00:22:37
Speaker
Yeah. And I think that, that when you're a player like Ledero, when you are a creative player that is willing to make, make those passes, how good you look is dependent on the players around you to a large extent.

Upcoming Challenge Against Atlanta

00:22:48
Speaker
And, um, and that's why, that's one of the reasons I'm so excited for Rudy Oz and him to sort of develop their, their relationship. But you're right. I mean, there's a difference between being bad the way the sounders are with Ledero.
00:23:02
Speaker
And being bad the way the sounders are without Ledero and without Ledero, they're just borderline unwatchable. So it's very nice to have him back and at least trying to be proactive.
00:23:13
Speaker
So what are your expectations for this Atlanta game? Are you like, what would you, how would you put your mindset? Like, are you prepared for a, for a beat down? Do you feel like this is a game to sounders? I actually think it might be a decent test for if this, how far the sounders have actually come in the last month or so. Like, is this team actually any better than they were?
00:23:34
Speaker
Yeah, I'm prepared for a beat down. I mean, I think going in there and just getting whomped three-nil is entirely possible. Yeah, I would agree with that. And I don't think that if that happens that... All is lost. Yeah, that all is lost or that the team hasn't improved. I mean, Atlanta
00:23:52
Speaker
You know, they're a pretty good team. I think, though, that the possibility of, you know, maybe they're starting to turn it around. Maybe they're starting to sort out some of their defensive issues, especially if Svensson can play in that game. I mean, I think the possibility of a shocking result is not crazy. I certainly don't expect it, but, you know, Atlanta has some defensive vulnerabilities.
00:24:21
Speaker
They've been, I don't want to say lucky, but they have gotten a lot of fortunate calls this season that have allowed them to score a lot of goals. And I don't know that the Sounders are as prone to giving up fouls and penalties as other teams are.
00:24:38
Speaker
Um, so yeah, we'll see. We'll see how it goes. I mean, I'm not optimistic. Um, but I wouldn't be optimistic if the Sounders were in first place. I mean, Atlanta is a very, very good team. They went a lot of games at home. Um, although their home and away record is identical, which is, is crazy to me, but I guess when you win a ton of games, you're, you're, there's not going to be as big of a disparity between the two. And the Sounders best season, does it seem like they didn't have a huge discrepancy? Right. So I guess it's not that shocking, but yeah, I mean, uh,
00:25:10
Speaker
I will say Atlanta, there's a lot to be jealous of with Atlanta. I'll admit that. It's amazing to me how far they've come as a franchise. And I don't think, I don't know, it'll just be interesting. I think what's been most telling about the sounders is that here we are in year, is this year 10 or is this year nine? Nine, I think.
00:25:38
Speaker
You're nine of the MLS existence. We'll call it for the sake of this. I think it must be your nine. And, and there's still like, no, this is your 10 actually. It is your 10. Okay. So here we are in your 10 and sure. Like is the excitement around the team less than it was at its peak?
00:25:57
Speaker
probably, I think that's fair to say, but that there's still, you know, and I don't, and I don't necessarily believe that 39,500 people are in the stands every day for one of these games, but there's still solidly, I think 35, 36,000 people at every game, despite the scene being bad and borderline unwatchable.
00:26:14
Speaker
And that's, to me, kind of a testament to kind of them becoming really like a staple part of this team. Now, it'll be interesting with the city. It'll be interesting to see what happens if they miss the playoffs this year and they continue to be bad over the second half of the season. Maybe next year is where the bottom falls out. But in some ways, I think that's what's going to be. It'll be interesting to see where Atlanta is in 10 years. Maybe they'll be drawing 60,000 people a game like the Sounders had kind of set their aspirations of doing.
00:26:42
Speaker
But it's, you know, it would just be interesting to see. But for now for the time for the time being, I think I will be much more enthusiastic about the center's chances. If Kelvin Lyrdom and Gustav Svensson are able to play in this game.
00:26:57
Speaker
if Ruidias is at least available, I think that would give us something to look forward to. I mean, it would be great to see the Sounders look at least kind of like the team that we're expecting to see for most of the rest of the second half of the season, because this is potentially a great showcase game for them. Yeah, definitely. I mean, I don't know. It'll be interesting. Hopefully it will be more interesting than the last time we played Atlanta, because I was
00:27:24
Speaker
Not a fun game, uh, at all, but, uh, but hopefully it won't be interesting for the wrong reasons. We'll see. Yeah. Uh, it, the, the game, if you remember the last time the centers and Atlanta played Atlanta came in high flying and the sounders, uh, I actually. We're probably the better team. That was a zero. If I remember correctly, it was a zero, zero tie at home. And the best scoring chance was a Clint Dempsey header that he hit off the crossbar, I believe.
00:27:53
Speaker
Yeah, it was actually kind of similar to the New England game. It was just like neither team really did a whole lot. So hopefully it'll be more fun to watch than that. But if they can have the same game and get a zero-zero in Atlanta, I'm okay with that. Yeah, sure. Why not? I'll take that. But anyway, it's probably a good place to call it a segment. We'll come back. We're going to answer your questions. You're listening to NOS Adiates.
00:28:24
Speaker
Verity is a local credit union and has been headquartered in Seattle since 1933. They have branches throughout the Puget Sound area and know what is important to you because they live here too. Verity is not for profit and puts any money they make into good rates, products and services for you, the members. They have credit cards with competitive rates, checking and savings accounts and loans for all sorts of things, even bicycles.
00:28:51
Speaker
Verity is federally insured by the NCUA and an equal housing opportunity lender. Anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Washington state can become a member and we would love to have you. Learn more and apply at veritycu.com. Welcome back to NOS Adietes. So lots of questions. I'll just go ahead and let Lickett take it away.
00:29:20
Speaker
All right. Let's start with caps off sidest. Will Seattle make the playoffs? Will Toronto? Will Seattle and Toronto three-peat finalists in a Cinderella story to beat all Cinderella stories? Well, first off, thanks to Brent for asking a question that is, is it Brent? I don't know. I don't know what his name is. I think it's Brent. Is it Brent or Brent? I don't know. It's Brenton. You're not even close. Brenton. There you go, Brenton.
00:29:49
Speaker
We love you, Brinton. Uh, anyway, uh, I, I got, I, I don't, I don't think the sounders will qualify for the playoffs, but I definitely don't think Toronto is going to qualify either. I feel like that's going very safe and, uh, makes it very easy on my potential level of disappointment. But wouldn't it be hilarious if these two teams met in the finals for a third straight year?
00:30:15
Speaker
It'd be great. And if they did, the Sounders would probably host this time since they're slightly better. I know. Right. Right. Someone pointed that out after the Colorado game that the Sounders had moved ahead of Toronto and the standings. And so therefore everything must have been, must be going according to plan. Yeah. I think, I think Toronto making the playoffs is, uh,
00:30:37
Speaker
not even a long shot. Like I think it's, I just don't think it's going to happen. Well, they have, they're, they're even more, they're considerably more hamstrung than the sounders are. I mean, they have, so they are, they're only, they're only eight points out of the playoffs. So technically they're actually closer to the playoffs and weirdly the red line is set to be higher in the West than it is in the East. So in that sense, I suppose you could argue that
00:31:07
Speaker
Toronto is more likely to make a run. That said, unlike the Sounders, they aren't going to be adding a designated player. Unlike the Sounders, they don't have room to just go out and add a TAM without moving someone significant, although they may be moving a piece today. The Spanish guy whose name I'm not going to try to attach maybe is how you say that. I'm not exactly sure how to pronounce his name.
00:31:35
Speaker
They're supposedly transferring him, so maybe they'll have a little bit more room to add a TAM. But they don't have it, the sounders actually have more flexibility than Toronto does. And, you know, so I guess from the hopes of the sounders being able to put together a run based on adding talent, they're in a better position as well. Yeah, I mean, I think that
00:31:57
Speaker
I think the key piece is the one you mentioned is that Toronto is probably not going to get significantly better. I think they'll play better. I mean, they're certainly not.
00:32:07
Speaker
0.9 points per game Bad, but neither are the sounders. So I think the sounders have a better shot. I wouldn't be shocked if they made the playoffs Whether or not that's a good thing or not is kind of I guess a question for you know open new interpretation, but Yeah, I think the sounders I don't think they have a good chance of making a playoffs but but I don't think it's as crazy as maybe it seems and
00:32:32
Speaker
No, I don't think it's crazy. I mean, if you look at the last two seasons, the runs they went on the last two seasons.
00:32:41
Speaker
they don't need to do anything that is out of the realm of past two years. Now, those were both near historic runs. So all we're saying is Saunders needed to make a third straight historic run towards the playoffs. But that's also an example of them being able to do it. And back in 2016, they were just as far out of the playoffs later in the season
00:33:06
Speaker
um than they are now so it's like if they theoretically if they turn the season around now that makes you know the run a little more feasible than than two years ago and and really last year they the run they went on was not necessarily historic i mean they did get all the way up to second and they were tied for the most points in the west so i think their struggles last year may have been a little overstated but um
00:33:29
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's they got their work cut out for him. I my goal. My hope is that the Sounders make the second half of the season interesting. I don't know that my personal enjoyment of this is going to be predicated purely on them making the playoffs, so. OK, Bill Jones, TRPTS, if we are playing a four, two, three, one is Gustav, an automatic starter in one of the deep mid spots. He definitely should be.
00:33:59
Speaker
I don't know that I trust that he will be, but he definitely should be. Okay. Another question about four, two, three, one. Brian master mass. Is it guaranteed that Ru Diaz will be the, in the Ford spot in the four, two, three, one. Might it make sense to spend the 10 monies there since it will be the spot with the least depth.
00:34:25
Speaker
I would think that if you're going to bring in Rui Diaz, who, you know, I haven't watched him extensively, but I've talked to a lot of people who have watched him extensively.
00:34:37
Speaker
He's really a forward who, if you needed him to play out wide, he could. But he's not going to provide you any kind of real defensive work on the outside. He's really a number nine who could maybe play outside. So I don't think there would be much sense in adding a TAM forward for the sake of adding depth there.
00:35:00
Speaker
I would much rather see the Sounders spend that money on on a winger or even, you know, like an outside back, I guess, if you were really pressed. But I think we're going to see really ideas at least this year. No, when Jordan Morris comes back, I think you can kind of have another conversation about that. But if the centers are going to stay on a four, two, three, one, I think you need really ideas for the short term to be up at the forward.
00:35:23
Speaker
Yeah, and I think the depth forward isn't stellar, even with Rydia's being signed, but I don't think it's that bad. I mean, Bruin is a very solid backup forward. Nagel exists. So it's not great, but I think you're almost into some cost territory with the season where you've got to make the move.
00:35:46
Speaker
you know, for the longer term, and I think in the longer term, having a winger or, you know, a wide player is going to be the better bet. Following up on Ruy Diaz, Ken Wise 2020 asks, would Ruy Diaz's style and talents pair better with Deuce or Bruin? I don't...
00:36:10
Speaker
I don't want him to pair with either one of them, frankly. I don't know if that's likely. I think, you know, we'll probably see Dempsey starting fairly regularly the rest of the way. I don't, I don't like putting the only two forwards you have that are, you know, really MLS caliber forwards at the same time. I don't think that's a great idea. And Dempsey has just not looked.
00:36:36
Speaker
you know, anything like his former self this season, I'd much rather see them get, you know, Ledero, Victor, Ikram, Ship, have those guys on the pitch and save Dempsey maybe as an impact sub and Bruin as, you know, sort of the rotational forward option. But if you're going to pair one of them, I would guess that probably Dempsey is going to be the better, the better pairing. I think Dempsey is going to be able to
00:37:03
Speaker
play radio's in behind and maybe be more of a creator and I don't really think that's a Bruin capability too much. Yeah I mean I can see the inclination of why you might look at paper and think Bruin and Rui Diaz might make for a good pairing but I don't I don't know that their skill sets are really very complimentary and I think the potential of of Dempsey's
00:37:29
Speaker
Dempsey being, like his impact being improved by Rui Diaz is higher. And, you know, so I guess reluctantly I would, I would agree with you that Dempsey is probably the better pairing, but I think realistically the sounder's best formation is going to possibly feature neither one of Dempsey or Berlin.
00:37:59
Speaker
M. Rathkeberger22 asks, any reason to believe Ruy Diaz doesn't play Sunday in Atlanta? Also, will he score 30 or 40 goals in the last half of the season?
00:38:10
Speaker
I mean, there's always a reason to be skeptical, to be worried that paperwork won't get done in time. So I'd say until we get an official announcement from the Sounders that Rui Diaz is officially eligible to play, I think there's, it's perfectly fine to be worried that he won't play, but assuming he is eligible to play, I don't think there's any reason to think he won't play.
00:38:34
Speaker
Yeah, he didn't play a whole lot during the world cup. Um, he will have trained. I don't know whether he would start, but I think, I think it's almost a certainty. Like you said that if he's available, he'll play. Um, I think he can get 15 goals in the second half of the season. I really do. I don't think that's crazy. I mean, you figure he's got 17, I mean, they're at the literal halfway point of the season.
00:38:57
Speaker
he's got 17 games. I don't think it would be like if he's if he plays at the level that he played in Mexico, I don't think I mean, double digit goals, I think is perfectly achievable. Now, I don't know if that means it's realistic. But I think that it's something that's within the realm of possibility. I mean, you look at the guy that
00:39:18
Speaker
L.A.F.C. signed is a Diamandé who I will point out was when L.A.F.C. signed him I said this is the kind of guy I wish the Sounders would have just kind of settled on. Now I didn't expect him to have nine goals and three assists and seven games or whatever it is. But if a guy like that can go on that kind of tear, why can't Ruy Diaz? And Ruy Diaz is a much more impressive resume.
00:39:42
Speaker
He's going to score 65 goals. Okay, next question. NMP360 asks, if we sign another TAM player, that would make five for us. Six of Alonzo was bought down with TAM. Are we the team with the most TAM signings and how are we able to have so many? I haven't looked into this, but I think we would be the team with them. I don't think anyone else has five even.
00:40:08
Speaker
Yeah. And I think, I mean, I think a key thing is that a lot of the TAM players that we have are not making a ton of money. Right. So, you know, we're only spending like 150, 200 K. We also haven't traded TAM like a lot of teams have. And I think, you know, we're also, a lot of teams probably aren't going to max out their discretionary TAM. And I think the sounders probably are. So.
00:40:31
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I would really like to see us free up some of the time we have after this season, but for now it's, it doesn't seem crazy that we'd be able to, you know, sustain this for another year or two. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I think 4 million is the TAM budget. If you.
00:40:50
Speaker
include the discretionary funds and you know you look at like it's not that hard I mean you can kind of just do the math um the sounders shouldn't have they don't have to spend more than 600k on any one player they're only spending that much potentially on on um rodriguez and alonzo and so that that leaves quite a bit I mean that leaves you know
00:41:15
Speaker
2.8 million dollars essentially to spend on the the other for a guys and and It's not that hard to see how they're doing it We're still assuming Alonzo will get bought down Yeah, I mean he has to be right. Yeah, I mean in order to sign really ideas they have to sign I'm just saying that we'll get announced officially probably this week Well, yeah, I would assume that's what gets announced along with the movie is becoming official like is joining the roster and
00:41:49
Speaker
TRSPHDS, who in the current starting 11 will be writing the bench by the end of the season?
00:41:55
Speaker
Well, I think assessing who are starting 11 in right now is, is pretty tough. Like is Alonzo part of our starting 11? Right. He's going to, he's going to raise his women. Francis is, uh, Jordan McCreary, like those three guys to me pretty obviously are going to spend a lot of time. Dempsey is another one who I think almost invariably will spend some time on the bench. I mean, if you're looking at the starting lineup from.
00:42:21
Speaker
From Saturday, I think half those guys won't be starting by the end of the season.
00:42:30
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think McCreary is obvious. He's only starting because, because Lirdham's hurt. He's been very good. I think, I think he's really been kind of the pickup of the year. I would agree with you there. But yeah, it's, I've talked about this a lot, but it's insane to me that he was free, completely freely available and Waylon Francis cost actual money. But, but yeah, so I think.
00:42:55
Speaker
I, I got, I hope knew who is sort of the unquestioned starter on that note, you know, before the end of the year. I think Alonzo is going to be tougher to pull the trigger on, but I think it's the right decision. And I think Dempsey and Reedy Oz maybe deserve some, a little bit of time together just because I think we've seen before Dempsey goes through never this bad, but
00:43:22
Speaker
but sort of peaks and valleys. And usually when he has somebody he can play off of a little bit is when he starts to, you know, kind of round in the form. So I'm okay with them getting a little bit of time together, but if Dempsey's not turning it on here in the next couple of weeks, I think it's time to sort of relegate him to a reserve role as well.
00:43:48
Speaker
Queen Anne acupuncture has over a decade of experience healing the injuries of athletes. Marathon runners, snowboarders, yoga instructors and weekend warriors have all found relief from pain and have enhanced performance with the use of acupuncture and Chinese medicine. Queen Anne acupuncture has treated players from many of the Seattle area soccer leagues for a wide range of injuries.
00:44:13
Speaker
Acupuncture also happens to be one of the best treatments for stress. Located in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, you can conveniently book an appointment online today at QueenAnneAcupuncture.com.
00:44:37
Speaker
That was muted. Derek M. Young asks, what do we need to do to reintroduce wolves into our habitat? I think a key thing would be when he actually gets a chance to play well. I was pretty disappointed in the New England game because I'd been pretty adamant that he should be getting more time. But that game was also the plan was very, very obviously to do what the Sounders did, which is defensible, I think. I don't have any problem with that necessarily.
00:45:06
Speaker
Um, I don't know if that really necessarily suits him, but he does need to take advantage of the opportunities he gets for sure. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's unfortunate because he's, he hadn't started in like six weeks.
00:45:21
Speaker
And he kind of got thrown into a situation where the centers clearly had a defensive mindset going in. I don't, I think I agree with you that it, that does not suit his game, but at the same time he was paired with, you know, the, the attacking quartet was Wolf, Ledero, Rodriguez, and Bruin. And that they.
00:45:42
Speaker
didn't really do anything collectively was disappointing. And I think that's fair to be disappointed. And I think that as defensive as their mindset may have been in that game, the Sounders also didn't do themselves a lot of favors in terms of moving the ball forward. I mean, there was
00:46:00
Speaker
I haven't gone back and looked at, compared it to other games, but just anecdotally, it seemed like, and this is both teams, there was, it felt like there was more throw-ins in that game than I can remember, just because team, both teams were just kind of passing it out of bounds repeatedly. It was a very, you know, it was a, like, it was a tense game. I think as a viewer, I was
00:46:20
Speaker
I was very interested in it. I was paying attention as closely as I paid attention to a game for a while. And I kind of went into it thinking that I was ready to give up on it if they gave up an early goal. That said, it was not a very impressive, it was a very kind of sad offensive performance. And that's even given their defensive mindset.
00:46:45
Speaker
Yeah, and I think I can kind of excuse that with Bruin, who is hurt and has played a million minutes this season. And with Rodriguez, who I think is just now getting back to full fitness and played.
00:46:57
Speaker
100 and 170 minutes over the two games. Ledero has played a ton of minutes as well. With Wolf, I mean, what's his excuse, right, for looking kind of out of sorts. But, you know, it was one game, he has looked very good in substitution appearances. So I'm not, I'm not, you know, freaking out about it or anything. But it was just kind of disappointing that
00:47:22
Speaker
he was the guy that I think had to provide the spark if there was going to be one in that game and it just didn't come. And I would say that you look at the contrast of what he's done when given his rare opportunities and what ship has done given his, like I was much more encouraged by ship's play when he's gotten starts than Wolf's play and whether or not it's fair, it does seem like they are basically competing for time with one another.
00:47:51
Speaker
Yeah, I think that if if I had it to do over I would have preferred to see wolf against Colorado and ship against Against New England because I think that ship is just he's more of a possession type player. Yeah, I would agree with that but you know, that's Pretty serious hindsight second-guessing type stuff. So
00:48:13
Speaker
Okay. Uh, row says asks, am I missing something with Alex Rodan? He keeps getting minutes and I remain perplexed as to why he seems a bit of a liability on defense and offers little besides energy and attack. I hope he develops, but it doesn't seem like he should be off the bench as much as he is. Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:33
Speaker
Do you want to go first on that one? Because I think I have a feeling we're going to agree on this. But yeah, I mean, so I actually thought he was OK against New England. But I thought I think that he suited that game pretty well, where I think that his energy was what what they needed. You know, they they they needed somebody that can run around a lot and sort of create some havoc. I mean,
00:48:57
Speaker
The way that game was going, I was actually kind of hoping they'd bring Nagel on sooner, if that should give you any idea about how weird of a game that was. It was nice to see Nagel get in the one-minute performance. We hadn't seen him in a long time. It has for a while. I mean, I think with Alex Roldan,
00:49:17
Speaker
um part of it is that he's a schmetzer kind of guy um and i think part of it is that the bench just is not necessarily that deep um and so guys that you maybe wouldn't want to see are going to be getting some minutes but with that being said he has gotten minutes at the expense of harry ship and and wolf this season and i find that
00:49:39
Speaker
very perplexing. But I thought he was pretty good against New England. I didn't have a lot of complaints about the way he performed. So if he's being deployed correctly in the right context, in the right game state, I don't have a huge problem with it. When he's coming in 60 minutes into a game when we need a goal, that's when it's time to throw shit at the TV.
00:50:03
Speaker
Yeah, I'll echo that in that I broadly agree that this was one of those examples of a game where I thought he was useful. He did have a couple, I feel like he had one play in particular that I was a little, I think in my mind, I feel like I know where this person's coming from and saying that there are a liability defensively. And I was actually more frustrated when he came into the Colorado game, I feel like, just because it seemed like the sounders
00:50:33
Speaker
needed a goal to feel comfortable in that game. Whereas, and I guess that was partly because I felt like the Colorado game was a must win kind of situation, whereas a point in New England was much more
00:50:48
Speaker
acceptable and I also thought the sounders were in much better control in New England. Like there was no point at which the New England game felt like it was starting to just slip away from the sounders whereas in Colorado the last 15 minutes felt like it was a roller coaster ride of emotions where it just seemed like the sounders were looking for ways to give that game away.
00:51:10
Speaker
So yeah, I think that you're right. I think that what we're seeing broadly speaking is that Schmetzer airs on the side of either veterans who have a proven kind of presence in the team or with kind of try hard guys who are
00:51:30
Speaker
you can not deny their effort and training. And it's like he's deferring to players who he can sell as being good moves to the rest of the team almost. And rather than making moves that are tactically sound. And that's what I find kind of frustrating in general. And Alex Roldan has kind of become the
00:51:56
Speaker
the poster boy for that kind of stuff. And that's not the fault Rolled On, who I think could turn into a decent player and maybe these minutes prove really valuable down the road. But it just doesn't seem like there's been a lot of instances this season where I'm like, oh, yeah, Alex Rolled On makes a ton of sense here. The exception being the new England game. Yeah, it just feels like he's getting a lot of mince this season because they feel like he's a future player. Yeah.
00:52:28
Speaker
Drone637 asks, what is going on with the substitution strategy? They seem similar to Siggy, where you just put out someone out there and hope for a change most of the time. Yeah, I got nothing to refute you on that. Yeah, it seems like the approach to substitutions is who's going to bring the most energy.
00:52:53
Speaker
A lot of the time, um, you know, it's like, guys are getting tired. Let's bring some money that can inject some life into the game. Uh, I don't like it, but you know, that's not shocking, but I do think we have to be fair and say that a lot of the options on the bench a lot of the time are not necessarily great. Yeah. And I would say that at least for half the season, if not more.
00:53:17
Speaker
The moves that he's made are a result of there just not being very many good options, but there have definitely been more games recently where I just am looking at the bench thinking this is what this team needs. And not getting it and I think that was maybe.
00:53:33
Speaker
very well kind of articulated in the timbers game where the centers made two moves they were essentially both to remove full backs and put full backs into the game like in one of the cases it was to to move
00:53:50
Speaker
rolled on back a line to play right back. But the number of times the centers, I think I went back and looked at it, they've made like eight or nine fullback substitutions or eight or nine games this year. They've made a substitute of at least one fullback. And almost in none of those games, they actually changed formations.
00:54:07
Speaker
Which to me, just if you're going to remove a fullback, the only reason you should be removing a fullback is because they're hurt, ineffective, or you're planning on tactically making a change. And for the most part, the sounders are not doing that. They're pulling fullbacks just to kind of like change things up in hope that you'll get a different result.
00:54:28
Speaker
Yeah, and I think of all the things that we've heard this season, Schmetzer's explanations for some of those fullback switches have been the most perplexing to me. I think with Roldan, it's like, well, he's a good crosser. So if we put him back there, we feel like we can maybe get better service in the box. And I mean, that's not incorrect. Maybe you will get better service from Christian Roldan than you would from Jordan McCrary.
00:54:56
Speaker
It's not exactly an encouraging explanation of the thought process. The thing I find frustrating about that is that if that's what you think you're going to get better service than you're getting from the existing player, then why didn't that other player start? If what you think is that NuWho gives you a better chance, or if you think Francis gives you a better
00:55:16
Speaker
chance to win a game then knew who then shouldn't you be starting Francis not or conversely like if you think that uh McCreary is gonna give you a better chance to win than you know like I like the like the one that baffled me the most was when he brought him McCreary in order to move leered him up to outside back which just felt so like counterintuitive um yeah and I'm trying to remember which game I was but
00:55:42
Speaker
It was just pulling my hair out kind of thing. Well, he even said you're talking about new who and Francis he said I think he said something like Francis gives us more creativity going forward and then he subs him out for new and like when you're looking for a goal, it's like I don't that didn't make any sense. Yeah, exactly. Like he was weird is that he I don't I I don't know exactly how the question was phrased, but I thought it was weird that he answered that he
00:56:12
Speaker
The question seemed to be asked about the substitute, and he decided to answer why he started the game that way, which maybe is just him misunderstanding the question. But it just was not a very satisfying answer. I'll say that. We got one last question. I don't know how many thoughts you have on this one, but I'm going to ask it anyways. Why is S2 so bad year after year?
00:56:38
Speaker
Well, on some level, I think that S2 is designed not to be good in that I don't think we're going to see a S2 team win a USL title as long as they are this intent on playing
00:57:00
Speaker
guys who are, I mean, they're, they're really committed to like Francisco Norbron is one of the oldest players on the team. He's 24. David Estrada is probably the only guy is definitely the only legitimate veteran on the team. And the USL, especially now, uh, has a lot of teams that have seasoned pros. Now they're not necessarily future MLS talent, but they are guys that know how to win games.
00:57:23
Speaker
And the Sounders aren't apparently very interested in signing a bunch of guys who just know how to win at the USL level. And on some level, I think that's fine. I think you should be focusing on development. They should be focusing on signing. I love that they give as many minutes to academy players as they do. But I also think they need to find a better balance of
00:57:47
Speaker
putting academy players in positions to succeed and not just get the shit kicked out of them, essentially. And especially when we're seeing the defensive midfield overrun the way that we are. I mean, two games in a row, they played at home, they were up a man, and twice they lost those games. I mean, that's pretty tough to look at and justify. And I don't know that there's a great answer to that.
00:58:16
Speaker
But yeah, I mean, I think, I don't think they set out to be this bad. I'll put it that way. Yeah, I think, I mean, I do think if you look at the standings in USL this year and in years past, there are outliers. The Red Bulls team that was great.
00:58:34
Speaker
Yeah, or I mean, Rial, whatever, weird, Rial, Marnarks. Gotta hate that shit so much. But they're having a great season. I guess it's not shocking to me that the team that plays at a crazy altitude is winning almost all our games at home. But yeah, I mean, typically the MLS affiliate teams are not tearing up the league. They're typically much better than us too. But I think that...
00:59:04
Speaker
It's going to depend on how much talent is in the Academy. It's going to depend on sort of where in the cycle teams are. I mean, teams will, especially this too, will bring in a ton of players, you know, and, and give them a year or two. Uh, and, and if you're at the start of that, maybe you're not going to have great results. Um, there are a lot of explanations for it. It's a bummer, um, because it's not fun to watch, you know, a bad soccer team, especially when we're kind of at this stage right now where.
00:59:36
Speaker
You're starting to see Academy kids that have been brought up through the Academy and are going to be products, you know, actual honest to God Academy products.
00:59:46
Speaker
that just aren't quite at the professional level of quality yet. But there aren't a ton of them, you know? When the entire team, you know, is 18, 19 year olds that have come up to the academy, that'll be a lot of fun. Even if you're not winning because, you know, you've kind of watched these kids develop or whatever, but
01:00:07
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it sucks. It sucks. They lose a lot. It would have been nice if their first season in Tacoma, they could have been better. But I think the explanation for why they're bad year after year after year is that they don't really care about not being bad if it means good things to a first team.
01:00:23
Speaker
Yeah. And I will say that this year, I think rightfully expectations were a little raised in that they had more of a dedicated roster than they'd ever had before. Or not ever, but since 2014, at least, uh, 2014, was that the first year? Maybe it was 15. Um, in the other way, since the first year when they signed a bunch of guys who were more like borderline MLS players than they were, uh, prospects that they, and so this is the third year in a row that they've been.
01:00:54
Speaker
very bad, but this year they went out and signed more players whose only assignment was to play for S2. Now those were all like 18, 19 year old, 20 year old types. And so, you know, you're still looking at really young players, but I do, I will say that I would much rather the sounders air on the side of signing high upside guys who flame out than signing a bunch of players who they know are at least U.S.L. quality talent.
01:01:29
Speaker
Of course, I'm also not someone who's going to Tacoma every week and watching them play this bad. That's it. All right. Well, I think we end this week reasonably
01:01:46
Speaker
I don't think we're ecstatic by any stretch, but I am. I am honestly looking forward to this game in Atlanta on the weekend. I'm actually looking forward to watching it at at the Seattle Center. I'm hoping I can make that happen. I think that might be actually a fun doubleheader with the World Cup final.
01:02:05
Speaker
But yeah, thanks as always to our sponsors, Verdi Credit Union, Full Pull Wines, Queen and Acupuncture, and our broadcast partner Bootstrapper Studios. I am Jeremiah O'Shan, signing off on behalf of Aaron Campo and Likit. This is no sardietes. Remember, you'll never get alone.
01:02:26
Speaker
Green Douglas Square where the water's cut through Down to wild mountains and tangents you flew Canadian northwest to the ocean so blue It's Roll On, Columbia Roll On Roll On, Columbia Roll On Roll On, Columbia Roll On Your power is turning our darkness to dawn Roll On, Columbia Roll On
01:03:07
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!