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Seattle Sounders Improvisational Comedy Troupe - Ep. 30
54 Plays1 year ago
Ari and Noah take on the Seattle Sounders 2-1 loss to DC United, then breakdown the upcoming midweek matchup with the Philadelphia Union, answer your questions and chat about winners and losers around MLS.
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Transcript
Sounders' Season Challenges Begin
00:00:09
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? Welcome in to episode 30 of Lobbing Squirtures. This is Ari Lillian Warr. I got producer Noah here with me. Noah, say what's up to the people. Sorry, Ari. I was I was a little bit late today. My my Uber, it was it got stuck in traffic and I just you know, I couldn't couldn't really do anything about it. Yeah. Good. Good topical reference there. As Noah alluded to, we're going to be
00:00:37
Speaker
going over a certain uber-related suspension that took place for the Seattle Sounders as part of just another doozy of an L-Pod that we're cooking up for you this evening, unfortunately. Ultimately, the Seattle Sounders fifth loss in nine games to start their 2024 season, this time 2-1 at DC United.
00:00:59
Speaker
um so we're gonna we're gonna stick to our usual routine here we're gonna do the game review on that uh lay down all those takes and and then we're just going to jump into the winners and losers from the latest match day in mls and also we'll be hitting your questions that i've been taking after every game once again uh always appreciate everyone who submits for those i know we don't hit all of them on every episode but
00:01:23
Speaker
It's good to have the discourse flowing, and I'm happy to have my mentions be the place for that, even though, you know, it does sometimes go off the rails a little bit, but that's fine. That's fine. This season's kind of going off the rails, so I think it's actually fair enough.
Subscriber Appreciation and Growth
00:01:36
Speaker
Before we get into all that, though, just quick housekeeping at the top of the show here.
00:01:40
Speaker
I want to thank all of our paid subscribers. We got two new ones after the last episode, which is my first time plugging it so much appreciated to Andy Hill and Ian Mitchell. Really appreciate you guys becoming our latest paid subs, joining Greg Hoecker. That's big time, guys.
00:02:00
Speaker
We can't emphasize enough here at Lovings Gorgers how much we appreciate that gesture. And if anyone else wants to join Andy, Ian, and Greg, it's not obligated, but it would be much appreciated. You can do so if you go to podcast.lovingsgorgers.com. There's a little support button with a heart next to it that you can click on, and you can choose to subscribe for however much money you want, whether it's $3, $5,
00:02:27
Speaker
$10 $10,000. Yeah, I think we'd have to add that boy. That's doable, you know contact us Yeah, if you if you want to pledge 10k to lobby scorchers We can certainly arrange that and if you're extra lazy if you click in the show description There is the thing that says support this show click that it'll take you right there. There you go. Even easier
00:02:47
Speaker
But, once again, thank you and much love to Andy, Ian, and Greg. You guys are awesome for that. Guys, the sounders charged my credit card too much money accidentally, so we're going to need some more subs. Noah's broke. Guys, I'm broke. Feed producer Noah.
00:03:05
Speaker
Oh, and then also, as I did last week, I wanted to plug the new Lobbing Scorchers YouTube page. We're up on YouTube now. All of the shows are getting uploaded there. And we got a few subs after my initial plug on the last episode, which I really appreciate. But we're still only like 19 or 20 subs. We need more subs on YouTube. We want to start growing our presence there. So any subs that we can get on there are also much appreciated.
00:03:35
Speaker
Without it in a way, let's get into this game, Noah, because like I said, this was another doozy.
Arriaga Traded: Legacy and Impact
00:03:42
Speaker
But real quick, before that, a news item took place since the last time we recorded, which was that Javier Arriaga has been traded to the New England Revolution. The end of an era. Javier's been on the team for about five some odd years now.
00:03:56
Speaker
through ups and downs, I would say is a fair way to describe Javier Ariaga's tenure on this team. The hall coming back is an international roster spot from the revs and 75K in conditional general allocation money. I think this threading on the wall had been there with this for a while. In fact, someone asked about it in our questions last week, why Javier Ariaga hadn't been moved yet or why he hadn't been moved sooner.
00:04:23
Speaker
Now he's been moved. I think, you know, getting that salary off the books was something that the front office had been looking into for a while here, especially with Nathan getting brought into the team and Jackson Reagan emerging and taking obvious starting spot.
00:04:42
Speaker
This was this was gonna happen now it finally has happened Javi Ariaga is going from the second to last place team in the Western Conference To are the revs the last place team in the entire league? I think they're the world. They're tied with San Jose.
00:04:58
Speaker
So I'll be switching coasts. I mean, I don't think we need to get too into the weeds with that. I think most people saw coming and understand the reasoning. But I do think
00:05:13
Speaker
You know, not to not to clown on him on his way out, but I thought it was kind of funny slash fitting that his last act in a Sounders jersey was a giveaway that led directly to a goal. And I honestly do say that a little bit in jest because I think since Jackson Reagan became the starter at that position and obvious playing time had decreased to more of a role player and a depth CB.
00:05:35
Speaker
I thought he he played decently well in his appearances like that that giveaway against Vancouver was like his first bad bad bungle in a while and I think that could arguably partially be a function of the fact that he hadn't been playing as many minutes, but you know, I will give him credit for For playing well in in those short appearances and overall
00:06:01
Speaker
I think you could argue that he maybe took a little more heat from the fan base than he deserved. He definitely, when he first got here, there was a lot of defensive errors. But I feel like that got short up to a reasonable degree in the years after that. And I always thought he was a very good passing center back. That was kind of what he brought to the table.
00:06:29
Speaker
But you know it's a defense purse position and that was lacking at times yeah, so a mixed legacy I
Exciting Lineup Against DC United
00:06:36
Speaker
guess is I mean he won he won CCL with the Sounders he he posted he sure posted online that was definitely a note of hobby, but you know I think overall he was a I mean he he won a lot of trophies with the day he did do that. That's that's a good point and
00:06:54
Speaker
And actually, I saw someone bring it up on Twitter, too. He had a really big game in the famous 2019 Western Conference Championship at LFC, which I still cite as the greatest win in Sounders history. And he was big time in that game. And specifically, his remember his challenge on Carlos Vela. Yeah, that was nasty. That was a great challenge. And it was like it was a tone setting moment.
00:07:17
Speaker
Yeah for that game and I think it's like kind of it's fair to wonder if that game plays out differently if you didn't have that kind of tone-setting moment, so Javier Iaga era has come to a close and That actually ended up. That's a good segue because it ended up kind of Affecting what took place in this game against DC United. Yeah, I was gonna ask you. Do you think that what a Inconvenient time to be traded away perhaps
00:07:46
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. So Nathan, who was brought in over the offseason from San Jose, he picked up a hip injury in training. So if Javi was still on the team, he would have been starting in this game. Instead, we got a John Bell cameo, which we'll get into the lineup. But I thought the John Bell cameo actually went pretty well. Yeah, I'm ringing that bell. Anyway, let's just get into this game, because I mean,
00:08:08
Speaker
Oh, okay. Do we have to? Yeah, let's just do it. They didn't even score multiple goals, Ari, I thought. I know, it's true, but their antics, merit. Yeah. So merit leading the show. That's fair. The Seattle Sounders took their traveling improvisational comedy troupe on the road to Washington, DC.
00:08:27
Speaker
Unfortunately, it did not go especially well. They lost 2-1 to DC United and are now 1-5-3 with 6 points in 12th place in the Western Conference. And it started off inauspiciously when, as Noah alluded to at the top of the show, Nuhu got suspended for this game because apparently Schmetz updated after the game. His Uber got stuck.
00:08:49
Speaker
in traffic, which made him late for a team meal and a team meeting, I believe, maybe like a film session. Either way, he was late for a team function. And I mean, this is why I'm kind of calling it a comedy troupe because you've got all this other stuff going on already. You've got an extremely short-handed lineup for this.
00:09:08
Speaker
for this East Coast road trip coming off a game where you managed to get two red cards and now the left back is suspended because he was sitting in Washington DC traffic in his Uber instead of attending the team meetings. So I mean it's just like
00:09:23
Speaker
We're going to get into the lineup, and I was actually excited in some ways when I saw the lineup. But it's just like, OK, that's how we're going to start it off. Coming off this debacle of a game where you got two red cards and lost at home in a rivalry game that you needed to win. And lost your two starting center backs. And lost your two starting center backs. Now the left back is. Sorry, not two center backs, but you know what I mean. Yeah. Sorry. The left back got suspended, and you don't have them for this game.
00:09:51
Speaker
So, but let's talk about the lineup reaction with that in mind. When this came out, Noah, I was actually, I was happy to watch this cook. You had Cody Baker starting, which we've been clamoring for on this show. And I think a lot of people have been on that same page. You had John Bell in there, which is kind of a fun new variable, new guy to the team. You had to see him play it. Let's see what he can do. Sure.
00:10:16
Speaker
you had right back rolled in Christian that is which anyone
Setbacks and Discipline Issues Arise
00:10:21
Speaker
who's followed me on Twitter for a really long time will remember the right back rolled in bit of Christian used to have to emergency fill in at right back with kind of
00:10:34
Speaker
like unexpected frequency. It seemed there would be these situations, you know, when you're in the dog days of the season and you're rotating lineups and stuff. And especially it would happen a lot during games where they would make a sub that would necessitate him dropping back there. And I thought it was I always had fun with the bit of right back, Roland, because just the novelty of it, like it's not his
00:10:53
Speaker
position and then but it was kind of funny how it worked out because then they drafted his brother Alex who Ended up getting switched to write back. So you had like an actual starting Write back rolled in Which kind of undermined the bit a little bit but Christian really has not had to do this as much did it under my base or did you did you like manifest that into being a
00:11:17
Speaker
I mean, apparently I manifested it because you ended up back there this game with his brother suspended. And we are kind of back to the whole just kind of plugging Christian in. This was a thing for years, like back when he was more consistently playing as a deeper lying midfielder.
00:11:36
Speaker
They would kind of plug him in wherever. He played a 10 a fair amount. He played right back world and a fair amount played midfield, right? Whatever. He was, he's, he's just a jackall trade. So we're kind of with, with the personnel situation this season. We're kind of back to that. I would, I was happy to see right back world and for a old time's sake, you know, it made me, it gave me some nostalgia vibes.
00:11:58
Speaker
And then you also had moose in this lineup. So yeah, like let's you know you have Rudy Diaz Resting for this because he has to play in the Philly game coming up on Tuesday so this was a logical place to start moose and Moose has been playing well this year like for all the for all the guys that you could name that have been underperforming moose is not one of them he hasn't gotten a lot of minutes, but he's played well in the minutes that he has gotten and he's scored a goal and
00:12:23
Speaker
And he's looked pretty good. So I was like, okay, you know, this is kind of this is a little bit of a debacle of a lineup with the new who suspension and Right back rolled in and and all that but I'm at least like interested to watch it play like it got changed like this and
00:12:43
Speaker
out of necessity, but it's sort of what we had been asking for in a way, was just to kind of throw new darts at the wall and see if anything sticks. So I was interested to watch it in that sense. And Noah, I think the funniest thing about this game and how it played out is that it started off about as well as it possibly could have.
00:13:06
Speaker
They were balling. Moose and Morris connection looked nasty. It was looking great, and it got rewarded with an MLS goal. They scored a goal, Noah. And it was on a great buildup. Leo Chu got the finish, but the sequence was very well-worked. Albert Rusnak takes the initial shot. That sort of starts like it pinging around in the box. It deflects back out to Rusnak. He regathers.
00:13:34
Speaker
good job to find Jordan out wide great assist from Jordan he puts in a wicked ball and great header from Leo Chu who was making his return to this doesn't know that was another he was making his return from his I think was that a hamstring injury probably so Leo Chu finds the score she
00:13:56
Speaker
Within the first 20 minutes of the game with and you know like way would you you don't really consider him an aerial threat? I don't I think that's the first header. He scored in MLS so it was kind of surprising to see but great finish and it was just not how I Expected the game to start it to start like out of all of the outcomes for the first 20 minutes of the game Seattle scoring with that wasn't even on my my radar of consideration and
00:14:22
Speaker
I mean, no, like just given the offensive struggles that we've seen this season combined with the fact that it's a bit of a mix and match lineup, which I was excited to watch, but not like I'm not going to say I was super confident they were going to be that they were going to be scoring goals.
00:14:38
Speaker
see it. And I, uh, I, I was, you know, I was thinking of this game as, you know, if you can get out of here, zero, zero one, one, that's probably a good result given the circumstances. And I definitely thought it would probably be a bit of a grind to get to any goal that did occur. I was surprised to see how good that they looked off rip. And for them to actually create, I mean, I wasn't shocked to see them create that chance, but I was surprised to see them finish it that clinically.
00:15:07
Speaker
I mean, I was on Twitter posting, as I normally do, posting my Ls mostly, but I saw the lineup and I was actually pretty stoked about it. I thought this had more attacking threat than any lineup they had put out this year, simply because, and they were talking about this, shout out KJR, they were talking about this on KJR, about how
00:15:29
Speaker
No one has seen moose play or start. No one has seen this wrinkle choose just coming back. You have all this stuff It's basically like you can't really even prep for this because no one had any idea this was coming And you know DC is a little bit fraudulent. They have an incredibly incredible player in ben teke, but like
00:15:50
Speaker
you know their defense isn't anything like amazing they're not bad but it's nothing amazing and you had jordan who's been playing incredible atencio is back in the lineup he balled out this game which i'm sure we'll keep talking about but
00:16:04
Speaker
I don't know. I saw Moose. I saw Jordan and I saw Leo and I thought this is an attacking threat that like is scrappy enough in this moment and in this game where like those dudes want it, they'll get it done. And I honestly, I thought they were going to win this game when I, when I saw that lineup and maybe they would have if, well, you know,
00:16:25
Speaker
Yeah, interesting. I guess I'm a little more jaded than that at this point. The cynicism is kind of taking over, but I mean, I'll give them credit for how well that they started the game. They got the goal and the vibes were good. Unfortunately, they got
00:16:46
Speaker
chalked in the aftermath of that goal about as fast as the vibes can possibly get chalked. I mean, first of all, you know, when you get an early goal on the road like that, there's a lot of the times there's going to be a wave of pressure that you have to absorb in the aftermath of that because
00:17:05
Speaker
The home team is going to be pushing for an equalizer. They just got scored on and I felt like that was the case here and the game state Shifted pretty heavily in favor of DC United after the goal scored Stephen Fry had to make a really that was probably his best save of the season. Oh, I'm wrong considering the events that that took place after it but
00:17:32
Speaker
That was also reflective, I think, of how the game was going after Seattle opened the scoring. But like they had absorbed it without conceding to that point. The beginning of that game was I think DC was also on the front foot a little bit. They were pushing the gas as hard as they could to try and break them open early and dictate that tempo. And the Sounders did a really good job of controlling that up until
00:17:59
Speaker
Well, so yeah, exactly but uh, I mean so the first uh, the first vibe-chalking moment came actually before the red card Which was that the moose moose got injured. Yep, which that was it is hammy, baby. It was I think it was a hip
00:18:14
Speaker
Oh, yeah, it was a hip either way. That was a pretty just. It's just like, are you kidding me moment? The lineup that you have out there is playing well. You actually, for once, get rewarded with a goal for it. You're winning one zero and then you have a player who, you know, I think a lot of us were excited to watch and see what he could bring to the table, given how he's played this season, get injured. And it's just like a facepalm. Like, God, like, why?
00:18:43
Speaker
Why? Why? So best wishes to Moose. I was unfortunate to see. He was understandably pissed about it as he left the field. And I haven't heard any update on what the injury, like the status of it is, or the prognosis, or the timeline. He was walking around, but I don't know. I guess we'll find out next week.
00:19:14
Speaker
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00:19:40
Speaker
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00:20:09
Speaker
I think in the post-game presser Brian kind of, I don't think he outright said it, but maybe he alluded that it was a little bit more cautious in terms of the pulling in. But I could have been reading into the way that he delivered his response in the incorrect way. Okay, well let's hope that's the case and we get to see Moose back on the field soon, but either way he had to come off here. So the sub that took place
00:20:31
Speaker
after Moose came off was Obed came on for him in the 21st minute and Jordan shifted over to the nine spot so Obed was playing like higher up the field. He was playing some some right mid in this game Yeah, I mean we can we can talk about that a little bit later But I actually thought he had some nice nice moments It was it was kind of fun to see him in a little more of an attacking role where he was more kind of tasked with making things happen in attack and I thought I
00:20:57
Speaker
I seem to remember him generating a couple of decent little chances. So I thought that actually came off pretty well. But the defining moment of this game, unfortunately, was another red card, this time to Stephen Fry in the 28th minute, just before the half hour mark. So we're going to break down this play, divvy out the blame, and just give our takes on this.
00:21:28
Speaker
So, what happened was, what precipitated it was a long ball into the box that saw Cody Baker in a one on one in the air with Jared Stroud. Not a player you want to be one on one with.
00:21:43
Speaker
Yeah, and this was a bit of a welcome to MLS moment for Cody Baker. So that's the first thing, I think, to address on this play. I mean, he gets bodied off the ball by Jared Stroud and goes to ground. And at that point, Jared Stroud keeps his footing, and he's in a one-on-one with Fry. And I mean, with the way that he controlled the ball, he was going to round him easily. And the first thing I want to say about this is that
00:22:10
Speaker
I really don't blame and I'm not going to harp on Cody Baker at all. As people who were pining for Cody Baker to start and get more minutes with this team and who have liked what he's brought to the table so far this season, sometimes with a young player like that, these are the moments
00:22:28
Speaker
that you have to live with. They're going to be growing pains like that. There's going to be moments like that. That's just the reality of working in an Academy kid like this. So I'm not going to sit here on one hand and advocate for him to get more minutes. And then when those learning moments and then those growing pains have in bag on them for it, like that is, uh, but that also.
00:22:48
Speaker
I mean, I talked about this when I was trying to kind of caution the Cody Baker hype a little bit as a purveyor of it. I was also trying to caution that like you are you are making a little bit of a trade there where you might have moments like that defensively where, you know, if that's new right there, you know, he would probably have been out of position.
00:23:11
Speaker
but he would not have been there but if you grant for the sake of argument that he would have been in position on that play which I realize might be a little bit of a stretch but if you do grant that I don't think that he gets bodied off the ball there so that this is the kind of trade that I was talking about that you might have to make but anyway so after Cody Baker got bodied off the ball by Jared Stroud
00:23:35
Speaker
Stefan Fry was left with two truly terrible options. He could let Jared Stroud round him and let him score, or he could do what he ended up trying to do, which was, I think he was trying to make a play on the ball. And I think that's what he was arguing to the ref, is that he was coming off his line to try and get to the ball.
00:23:58
Speaker
But in the process of doing that, he took down Jared Stroud in the box for what was pretty clearly, very clearly a dog. So red card and a penalty kick. So.
00:24:13
Speaker
I mean it's just silly. It's just like okay in that situation I realized that it's tough and it's easy to say you know from our chairs here like what he should have done but I mean I think in that situation you just you have to
00:24:30
Speaker
You have to just let him round you and score the equal because like the alternative is the dog. So red card that gets you thrown out of the game and puts you down a man again with so much time left in the match. So out of the two truly terrible options that he had, he picked, he picked the worst, the worst one that he should not have taken.
00:24:55
Speaker
just silly just silly why and it's just like this team has three red cards now in the last two games the Jackson Reagan one I Mark that up as more of a freak occurrence where he's going into a challenge that you know I was saying that he
00:25:12
Speaker
He should be more thoughtful about whether he goes into that challenge to begin with, but I think it's a little bit of a freak play. But these last two red cards that this team has picked up, the one on Alex Rodin in the Vancouver game and now this one on Fry, these are just avoidable situations.
00:25:35
Speaker
Alex rolled on one was an act of frustration Where he was lashing out let his emotions get the best of him this fry one is just I mean, it's just not it's it's like Yeah, it's lack of poise. It's not a smart play to make in that situation and even more so because You were ahead at this. Yeah in the game if it's a different
00:25:58
Speaker
point in the game and maybe you're you're down a goal or whatever or maybe you maybe you have a bigger lead i don't know if it's if the circumstances are different maybe you think about that differently but you're ahead you're ahead if Jared Stroud scores there it's 1-1 and you still you've got all 11 guys and you still got a chance to get a result in the game and as soon as you take the dog so red card
00:26:24
Speaker
it's probably chalked it actually we're going to talk about this it actually didn't end up being as chalked as I thought it was going to be as soon as that happened I was like okay well I mean this is over let's say there's literally zero percent chance you take a result in this game and they they actually got reasonably close to pulling a point
00:26:41
Speaker
this game, but it's you just make it a very, very difficult mountain to climb as the road team in this game, getting a dog. So red card to your goalkeeper with that much time left on the clock, you make it. It's it's just makes it a
00:27:01
Speaker
A borderline impossible task really is how I felt about it. Yeah. I don't understand as the leader of the team, as the captain of the team, as someone who is the most senior on the team, how you're going to sit there and say on one hand, no, the vibes are good. Like I believe this team can do anything and then make a very clear desperation play. You are in DC on the road.
00:27:29
Speaker
up one nil. No one gives a shit if you win. It's awesome if you win. They care if you take points home and not get a red in that situation because what you're giving up like you were saying, you're either giving up a goal and you're still, it's still one, one. You still have 11 players on the field. You still have the rest of the game to equalize or fuck it, bunker and take your point home. And that all, every point matters. Every point matters.
00:27:57
Speaker
Yeah, I mean they need to start racking him. Having watched this replay several times, he should not have done what he did.
00:28:08
Speaker
It's it's pretty it's it's a it is a hard decision to make in that moment because you know it's not like you you don't want to let him score if you feel like there is a chance that you could have prevented it and I don't like the replay when I watched it live it looked like he was just tackling Jared Stroud just to just to tackle him and stop him but having watched the replay he is he is
00:28:35
Speaker
coming off his line and reaching down for the ball and then hitting Stroud and taking him down while doing that, which is still a dog. So in still a red, but I guess I can see the thought process a little bit more, even if the outcome was horrendous and like with the benefit of hindsight, it's.
Performance Critiques and Praise
00:28:59
Speaker
You probably just have to let him, you just have to let him round you. I just think it's silly though. It's like you are one of the most senior goalkeepers in the entire league. And it's fair to expect him to make the right decision in that situation. I mean, this is an MLS cup MVP, one of the best players who's ever played for the team, one of the best goalkeepers in MLS history.
00:29:17
Speaker
I don't blame you or anyone else for being tilted about it because it was certainly poor decision making in that situation. But he was put in as bad a position as a defender can put a goalkeeper in.
00:29:34
Speaker
you know you're one-on-one and you know what happens when you take down a player one-on-one and you know what happens when you go for a ball regardless of if you get the player or the ball the player is gonna probably go down if it's in the box it's just like you've been playing this game your entire life he's damn near 40 years old like
00:29:52
Speaker
Let's you know, let's be honest. Like that was a lapse in his judgment. Does it mean he's a bad player? Absolutely not. Does it mean he should sit? Absolutely not. He should still be our starter. But that was a lapse of judgment. And I think that it shows a lot more the desperation mentality, the bad side of the desperation mentality that the Sounders have gotten themselves into with that red card and with the last rolled on red card. Yeah, I mean, it's just, you know, that situation.
00:30:21
Speaker
on its own in isolation, you know, shit happens sometimes. But when you, when you pile it on with everything else, including the coming off a game where you already got two red cards, you're just like, uh, you got, you're getting guys thrown out of the games every week. Uh, and you're not giving yourself a chance to get out of this funk. If you're playing, I mean, I didn't, I should have looked this up, but like, if you added up the amount of minutes that they've played down a man, the last two games, it's like most of the games.
00:30:50
Speaker
you can't you can't I mean everyone knows that you can't win games like that um so I mean there's definitely that element of the game deserves the clowning and the criticism uh without a shadow of a doubt but uh frankly they actually played pretty well in the aftermath of the red card so I will give credit
00:31:12
Speaker
For how they played with ten men they didn't give up for most of the second half they actually controlled the game and were on the front foot and They had several great chances to equalize and take a point which um You know, I don't I don't know how much encouragement you can take in that because you still lost the game and you've only won one game out of nine this season or
00:31:33
Speaker
But I mean, that's better than capitulating and letting it get out of control, kind of like they did in the Vancouver game. But it almost makes it more frustrating because you feel like the result, if not all three points, was very attainable in this game had they been able to play the entire game with 11 men.
00:31:57
Speaker
And it's just it's just very frustrating that they've been unable to really give themselves that chance. Christian Benteke scored both of DC United's goals in this game. We talked about him before the game. He converted the penalty kick that Jared Strad won.
00:32:12
Speaker
And he also, he scored a header pretty soon after the red card, or it was right before halftime in the 45th minute. He's probably the best in the league at that right now. Like I really, I don't know what striker I would take in the air over Bentege. He's pretty fun to watch, but I mean, this game, honestly, overall, I would say kind of lowered my opinion of DC United. They got pretty lucky to not squander
00:32:40
Speaker
win I would say and They didn't there was like a pretty stark gap I think like between how they played of a man and how vancouver did I mean vancouver the whitecaps they they cooked they handled the Being up a man exactly how you're supposed to like pretty textbook dc Let Seattle back into it and got pretty lucky to to win this game there's there was a few chances here utensio hit one off the post and
00:33:08
Speaker
Rusnak had a header late that Alex Bono made a really good save on. The one that killed me though Noah was the one that Christian missed right at the end where Obed makes a nice play to get in from the right side. He sends the cross in and Christian has a pretty wide open look that he didn't convert. And I think that was the chance right there.
00:33:37
Speaker
The Rusnak one was not a super high percentage chance. It was a good header and Bono had to make a good save. But the Christian one, the XG on that was probably through the roof, man. It's probably like 25 XG or something, like 40 or 50.
00:33:56
Speaker
I guess, you know, if there is anything positive to take away from this game is that, uh, I thought the effort was there. I thought they'd generated some good looks and overall, I mean, it felt kind of like last year's team in the whole, like generating a lot of chances, but not being able to finish them kind of way.
00:34:20
Speaker
So that's not necessarily a good thing or a positive, but, you know, it's better than the kind of complete meltdown that we saw against the Whitecaps. Yeah, I mean, they still had 12 shots. I mean, they had they had the same number of shots as DC like.
00:34:41
Speaker
I don't know. What do you take from that? That the offense is like producing something. It's like hard to say, but like, awesome. The, the offense kind of got cooking with this lineup and now the defense is just like, well, I mean,
00:34:57
Speaker
And it was it was on it was good to see them score a goal, and it was good to see Leo Choo Score a goal specifically you know if Seattle is going to get out of this like slide that they're in you know Leo Choo Becoming consistently productive would be a massive help to that yeah, so you know his Sounders career continues to be up and down He had the injury, but I mean I also
00:35:27
Speaker
this is kind of what i was going to bring up with this you know there there's a select few guys on this team that i don't i don't blame for what's taking place this season and i would put leo chew in that category
00:35:43
Speaker
I would put Moose in that category, and I would put Obed and Ntensio in that category, and Cody Baker. I think everyone- What about Paul Rothrock? Hold on, you're missing Paul Rothrock. Paul Rothrock just hasn't had enough minutes, man. I would love to have him have enough of a sample size to be able to say that. But out of the guys who have been playing regularly, that group I just named, literally everyone else outside of those guys, I think you could make a case- Even Jordan?
00:36:12
Speaker
underperformed to a certain extent. Even Jordan, yeah, like the Jordan, whether Jordan is informed or not is, I mean, that's determined by the statute and he has one goal this season. And I don't think that's necessarily a function of him playing badly individually
00:36:30
Speaker
I think he's a player that needs like service and to combine with other players To be effective and you could say that it's not his fault that he's not getting that but like he's also like like the galaxy game Like if he finishes that goal They taught they take a point in that game
00:36:46
Speaker
There's been a couple of other really good chances that he's had that he hasn't finished. So I think I think he would probably even tell you that like his form this season has been below the standard that he expects of himself and that we all expect from him knowing what type of player he can be.
00:37:01
Speaker
I mean like you could just go down the wrist the list Rui Diaz I think you know he's he's got his three penalty kick goals But he only has one goal outside of that which was a pretty low percentage chance so again just blasted that yeah, like a lot a lot of it is due to Not getting service, but the fact remains that everyone everyone in the attack is not
00:37:24
Speaker
producing on the stat sheet at the clip that they need to be so whose fault that is is kind of irrelevant but like I get the point I'm making is that like there's just the list of guys that are playing below the level that
00:37:40
Speaker
is expected and necessary for this team to do what it wants to do. It's too lengthy of a list. It extends to the defense too. I think every guy on the back line has underperformed to an extent
00:37:59
Speaker
Stephen Fry. He got injured and I think has been good outside of the red card last night. But like that was a I mean that was a really bad red card to take. And it's it's the first red card of his MLS career. You know he's never gotten really. Yeah. So like I mean I think I would put him in that category. And listen I don't think I don't think I'm saying anything with that take that
00:38:26
Speaker
any of the players wouldn't acknowledge themselves. Like, I mean, and it's reflected in their record, like one, five and three, like, I guarantee you, no one in the locker room and no one on the coaching staff is, uh, is head over heels about where this team is at right now. So, um, it's just, it's just, it's too many guys that are underperforming on both sides of the ball.
00:38:46
Speaker
It's also a block to, I feel like in a sense, like there have been some really unlucky moments. Like they're sure they have not had any breaks. Let's just say that like, yeah, is it a team that is underperforming and is not doing well and is having an identity crisis and is like we've talked about before in the worst transitionary period in modern sounders history. Absolutely. But they haven't had any breaks either.
00:39:12
Speaker
That's a fair point. And I don't think it's definitely not a situation where you can attribute it all to bad luck. Their luck has been disgustingly bad. I do think every team does go through those phases sometimes where it feels like nothing is going your way. And this happens to be a phase where nothing is going their way combined with
00:39:37
Speaker
a ton of injuries and underperformance and all that. So it's all kind of come together to create where they stand, which is 12th place in the Western Conference. I wanted to read a little nugget from my MLSSoccer.com cohort, armchair analyst Matthew
Doyle's Analysis of Sounders' Struggles
00:39:56
Speaker
Doyle. He dropped a column today on MLSSoccer.com that's kind of
00:40:00
Speaker
assessing where every team in the league stands through the quarter point of the season, which I think the way he kind of frames it is like, that's a small sample size, but it's enough to look at and kind of not draw definitive conclusions, but just take kind of a pulse check on where everyone in the league stands.
00:40:19
Speaker
This is what he wrote about Seattle, so I'm just going to read it off, and then we're going to just talk about if we agree with his assessment on the state of affairs. Because I do think it's interesting to look at what the national pundit class has to say, because they're looking at it from a different perspective. We live and breathe this team. We follow it every day. We watch every single game, every minute of every single game. And the national pundit class, they're more keeping track of everything. So their perspective is going to be different from ours.
00:40:48
Speaker
And I'm just going to read what Doyle wrote for how they got here section on Seattle. He said, as per head coach Brian Spencer, Spencer, this is the lowest the club's been in the MLS era. And that was before this weekend's loss. Here's the whole of it. Agent injuries have depleted all four lines from forward all the way back to goalkeeper.
00:41:05
Speaker
They've still done a decent job of creating chances, but none of the guys on the front line have finished them. They still have done a decent-ish job of limiting chances, but not good enough to pitch shutouts and turn losses into draws. Their biggest off-season move for Argentine winger Pedro de La Vega has not yet paid off, as he's been injured for basically the whole season. Raul Ruideas' age-related regression last year looks like a permanent thing. Jordan Morris is as streaky as ever, and Christian Roldan is never going to be a regular goal threat. What's next?
00:41:34
Speaker
Doyle says, unlike the other teams in this neighborhood, the Sounders, I think, have the pieces and the game model to climb up the ladder. They're nowhere near as bad as their record. The underlying numbers largely agree. They're probably going to have to make a hard decision on Rui Diaz this summer. His contract is ending in December. And while he's forever a legend in Rave Green, he's probably not going to justify that DP tag or that starting spot anymore.
00:41:55
Speaker
So I guess my first takeaway from that is you know the national pundit Take on Rui Diaz as going through age related regression Looking like a permanent thing and then you're gonna have to make a hard decision on him I mean I think that I mean that was something that we've been talking about even dating back to the preseason like how much longer even last year even last year like how much longer can you ride Raul as a DP and
00:42:19
Speaker
and you know i thought i saw i seen a little bit differently than doyle like i think there's been stretches of this season where raul has looked like his old self i mean the goalie scored against montreal that was vintage but i mean it hasn't been consistent enough and he's not putting the ball in the back of the net at the clip that you need out of a designated player number nine like he
00:42:40
Speaker
Like he has for years for this team when he's been healthy. Raul's been nothing if not consistent. He's one of the most efficient goals per 90 players that's played in the league in this last era of strikers that have come into the league.
00:42:57
Speaker
but he's not producing at that clip right now and I think that I mean Doyle is spot-on with that and I think he's right that there that decision is Probably gonna have to come soon because I think if you if you had a number nine That was producing at the clip that Raul used to you
00:43:16
Speaker
That would probably solve a lot of the problems because I think Doyle is also right. I've been saying this, Noah, and you might not want to hear it. The anti-stats people might not want to hear it, but when the national pundits who have no emotional interest in this team, when they analyze the performances as compared to the results, they're seeing some of the same stuff
00:43:41
Speaker
that I see when I watch this team play last year and have at times this year, which is a team that's actually playing pretty good ball at times, but just not finishing the chances that they do create. And it's definitely frustrating to watch, but
00:43:58
Speaker
The thing that I take from that is that if you can play a good ball like that and just finish at a more efficient clip, you could actually, you know, you could get out of this. And that's the path out of it. But I don't really know if
00:44:19
Speaker
if the forwards that they have right now, whoever's starting at the nine, whether you want to start Raul, Jordan, or Moose, can finish at the rate necessary. We've seen it not take place over such a large sample size now, to the point where maybe the personnel has to change at that spot in order to get that production there where you need it, because right now it's not there. And I was hoping that De La Vega
00:44:49
Speaker
would help solve a lot of that. But I almost feel like his biggest asset, ostensibly, is his chance creation. Correct. And the reality is, even in this DC game, the chance creation was pretty good. Even without De La Vega, they just couldn't finish. Roldan was cooking insanely. And same with Atencio. Atencio, they were cooking. But what was there to finish? I agree with.
00:45:14
Speaker
Basically everything that was said here. I think I disagree with they've probably played One full game of good soccer like two separate halves of good soccer Maybe maybe one and a half But I think the system is not the problem People want to hate me for this or hate on Ari for this take which we both share is Brian Schmetzer is not the problem It's that they have
00:45:39
Speaker
Terrible personnel depth right now. We're seeing that like It's just not it's not something that you can Rely on an aging striker to fix and get you out of a hole Like I think they did that a lot in the in the the years they were really successful. They had Nico attend kind of like Pedro de la Vega in a chance creator and then you had Raul who was just like, oh, yeah, give me a
00:46:08
Speaker
point zero zero zero zero one xg chance and i'm gonna bam that in but like that's because people are worried about all of these other talented players on the field it feels like every single week we're hobbling together a lineup where there's really just
00:46:23
Speaker
We're just waiting for the next thing to happen. We're waiting for the next window. And I know Craig Weibel has been in Europe or wherever. He's on a mission to find someone to sign. But you have to buy Raoul out. He cannot be on this roster when the summer comes. I don't care. It's it's time. I love Raoul. I want him to shit hang his hang his jersey in the rafters like he's an incredible player. But I think he would admit to you that like.
00:46:50
Speaker
He just can't contribute to the level that the sounders need to be competitive in a modern day MLS.
00:46:57
Speaker
I mean, I don't think he would admit that. I read a, I read a feature story on him that we had on the website by John Arnold recently. And you know, he was, he was headstrong that he, uh, that he can play at the level that he once did. And that was, that was his biggest goal. It hasn't manifested yet. Um, and they're just, they're, they are kind of running out of time for it to come good and not even just to put it all on roll, just with this whole offense.
00:47:26
Speaker
Yeah, like it's it's definitely like I don't want to make I definitely don't want to make it sound like I'm putting it all on on the striker or even just the forward group as a whole like They haven't been scoring enough goals, but like I think
00:47:43
Speaker
I guess the chance creation has been good in spurts, but not really consistently. Correct. And and there's been there's just been too much up and down and not enough, not enough consistently playing at the level that that they need to to generate more on offense. And then you also, you know, you know, you throw on top that you're now picking up a minimum of one red card per game over the last couple of weeks. And
00:48:11
Speaker
That just makes it impossible to to get out of all the stuff we're talking about, like off rip, like before you even before you even get to anything else. Like if you don't have all eleven guys on the field for the game, you're probably not going to take a result. And that goes for any game.
00:48:28
Speaker
I don't think it should be understated the importance of a goal scorer a finisher a nine because I'm not gonna say the DZ is bad by any stretch, but they're no better than the sounders They just have been teke who is like this looming threat and will convert and can you know on mistakes and it's like that is a
00:48:50
Speaker
That's soccer period, but like having a goal scorer or two goal scorers or threat whatever it is important It's it's the most important because this team they showed yes, we can win things with a lack of Incredible quality goal scoring by switching up to be defensive, but we're not gonna win the league We're not gonna do any of this stuff. It was like we'll make it to the playoffs We go LAFC, you know, we lose whatever like that was still a pretty successful season being defensive minded but like
00:49:20
Speaker
We are not going to compete with inner Miami without a striker. Yeah. I mean, we'll talk about that later. I don't know if anyone's competing with inner Miami this year. But anyway, the good news, Noah, is that they now have to play the Philadelphia Union on this coming Tuesday at Subaru Park, which is super awesome. It's the makeup game for the game that got rained out a few weeks ago. The Sounders famously went to Philadelphia to play the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park a couple of weeks ago.
00:49:47
Speaker
That one did not go well. As bad as this DC game went, I would say that Philly game actually went worse because they didn't even play it because it got rained out and there were guys on the field with mops that tried their best to clear it off, but shockingly it did not quite work because it just kept raining and the field got wet again.
00:50:06
Speaker
So they're gonna have to make that game up. They have to play with the exact same personnel, as I understand it, that they had in the previous game.
Facing Philadelphia Union: A Tough Matchup
00:50:13
Speaker
Minus Javi. Yeah, Minus Javi. But like, so Raul is gonna, like, he was starting that game, so he's gonna have to go right back out there on Tuesday, so we'll pray for his hamstring. But the Philly Union, they actually, they just lost their first home game on Saturday in over a year to Rial Salt Lake. I was watching a little bit of that game.
00:50:31
Speaker
It was 1-1 until the dying moments of the game and then real salt lake scored a like insane banger game winner at the last minute so like you could look at that two ways like You could look at it like they finally lost one and maybe that means they're vulnerable or I kind of tend to look at it like the fact that they lost one means they're probably not losing Two in a row. This is this is
00:50:55
Speaker
one of the most dominant home teams in MLS over the last three, four years under Jim Curtin. Not only do they not lose at home, but their stats and their goal differential are absurd. They're far and away better than anyone else over the last three or four year sample size.
00:51:17
Speaker
That and, I mean, let's be real, the Seattle Sounders are like nowhere close to the quality of of Real Assault Lake right now. The Philly Union, you mean?
00:51:28
Speaker
The of the well, I mean oh I say played you know I mean yeah, yeah, that's I mean that's true by the true by the standings All right, well Let's get into questions know if you have those pulled up. Thank you to everyone who submitted We'll riff on these as many as we can real quick before we get into winners and losers and then call it a rap here for episode 30 That's not good
00:51:51
Speaker
Absolutely. Thank you all for the questions. Let's get into it. First of all, my own question, because I think this is very pressing. We haven't talked enough about how the death of live Ders. This club has died since then. So what do you think? One five and three since since live Ders was unceremoniously unceremoniously executed. I mean, that's I mean, the numbers, the record speaks for itself.
00:52:15
Speaker
I'm not a stats guy, but I have to agree with that. What does Leo Chu have to do to start after Philly?
00:52:26
Speaker
There was a question about his starting spot before he got injured, especially when De La Vega was healthy. It's like, how do you fit all these guys in? And Leo Chu was thought by many to be the odd man out. But then the reason he hasn't been playing wasn't because he got benched, just because he got injured. And with their injury situation now, I imagine he will be playing quite a bit.
00:52:50
Speaker
That does make sense. I agree. I agree. And I thought, let's hope he comes back in waves and strong. That would help. That would help matters a lot. It would. It would. The vibes would be better for sure. I understand we're in Philly Tuesday night, but do these potential changes not seem very odd? Obed coming on at right mid when Moose goes down. Why not bring on Tevez? Also side note, Paul is Paul on as like for like with Cody at left back. Has Paul ever played there before?
00:53:17
Speaker
I mean those are good questions. I thought Obed, I mean I don't know about you, maybe I'm tripping, but I thought Obed at right mid actually held his own and looked pretty good. Like they played pretty well on offense with him playing there I think.
00:53:33
Speaker
I agree, I don't think he, I thought he held his own. In fact, you know, I would even go, I would legitimately go so far as to say that I thought he looked better and more effective playing there higher up the field than he does in his normal midfield spot. Like I honestly think that I might, that might be like, uh, that might be a hot take, but like that, that was legitimately what I thought watching how that played out.
00:53:55
Speaker
Yeah, I think he I mean he's tend to be thought of as a defensive JP like figure but I thought I thought his movement was was interesting on on the right mid and like I thought the one that Christian missed like he He was he created that chance. Yeah, he blasted that. Yeah. No, I agree with you. I would
00:54:15
Speaker
I would wouldn't mind seeing him out there again putting Jordan at the nine I don't know I mean I'm not a Jordan nine guy but I don't know who knows about that is this the most disappointing stretch of ball in Sounders history
00:54:31
Speaker
I mean it it's definitely up there like we were talking about it last week and there's a couple other stretches of ball that you could put up with it like to the 2016 comes to mind and there's but they've had they've had really tough and unlucky and unproductive runs of form before so it's not like the first time that this happened and it's not even the first time that they've had a bad run of form under Schmetz but
00:55:01
Speaker
Put I honestly do put what we're seeing right now like up with any of them. Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty bad Does our play in this game suggests that we would have more chances with a more chaotic style of play and flexible formation? Um, I don't know. I feel like the four two three one has been simple and effective over the years and
00:55:29
Speaker
I mean, they tried changing the formation to the 4-4-2 earlier this season. That didn't work. And this team, I don't think this team is built for Chaos Ball like that. You kind of need a specific type of roster build. Like, when I think of Chaos Ball and MLS, I think of, like, the Red Bulls and...
00:55:51
Speaker
San Jose when they're not as bad as they are this year like they used to they used especially in the Matias, Omaha years that he was all about Chaos ball their roster build isn't really like that like it's more of a Seattle's roster builds are
00:56:11
Speaker
Traditionally more like hyper technical like I'm gonna break you down control pace control tempo Hit long balls hit switches like stuff like that more than just like energy drink you like the Red Bulls would
00:56:25
Speaker
Yeah, which I think is interesting too because Brian noted at his post game that the reason that this team has not been doing well in certain situations, giving up a goal, the second goal, is just because they refuse to control tempo at all.
00:56:41
Speaker
they're like that he was like we're not controlling tempo we're not doing a good job at that which i don't know if i completely agree with him maybe in the first half absolutely but that second half when they were ripping they that's what they were doing and they were doing it well and that's that's when i think of the the sounders at their best
00:56:57
Speaker
That's what they've been so good at over the years like man like I remember watch it though during the CCO run where they Where they wanted it was master classes and that stuff man like they they controlled tempo and in game state So well, it was a clinic man
00:57:14
Speaker
Yeah. And like, I think their biggest asset under Schmetz has been their ability to do that stuff. And I do think part of what's kind of gone wrong this year is that there's been, and last year too, at times, to be honest, they were losing control of game states a lot more than we're typically used to seeing out of a Seattle team.
00:57:40
Speaker
I thought that when Pedro was playing in his, what, one or two matches or 15 seconds that he played, you could feel the calmness that he brought that helped with the rest of the team controlling that tempo better. I thought that he was a really good dictator of that.
00:57:57
Speaker
I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful that when he comes back, they sign another nine that like if they get that interplay going like that's just going to be such a big confidence boost to calm a lot of people down because I think there's a lot of rash decisions being made in the attacking movement when they're down one now or more that like you got to realize you're not going to be good by just completely counterattacking and pushing and pushing. You got to move the ball, break them down.
00:58:26
Speaker
Yeah. And one last thing on that before we hit the next one, like that, all the stuff we're talking about is JP's biggest strong suits. Yes. And I think, I think that as you get a greater sample size of games with JP back fit, that's something that you can reasonably hope and expect to improve. I agree with that. Speaking of larger sample sizes and more games to get people reps, the open cup, how do you handle that Ari? What do we do? What's going to happen?
00:58:55
Speaker
Uh, I mean, I haven't looked at exactly what the schedule is yet, but, uh, I mean, I'm assuming there's going to be massive fixture congestion. Um, so you're always going to have to rotate during that tournament anyway. I know some people don't like it and they want, uh, all MLS teams or Seattle to like prioritize it heavily and play, like play a Ruby Diaz and those games and stuff.
00:59:20
Speaker
to me I think especially with how the league season is going and just the fact that it's an opportunity where you can maybe get some guys minutes that aren't normally getting him during the league season like I would love to see them just let Paul Rothrock loose during the open cup let some of the Defiance guys loose maybe remember Brodilio yeah
Open Cup Strategy and Player Rotation
00:59:45
Speaker
Maybe I don't know what the status of his hamstring is but like I think it's not shocked actually with this I don't want to go on like a whole side tangent. No, you should but I just like remembered him He was insane for defiance last year. Yeah, he was he's got a really cool story He's like a division two player who worked his way up and made the pros and were in Finally got an MLS contract and him and he's disgusting. Yeah in MLS next he was
01:00:11
Speaker
dominant and I didn't figure he would be like a huge part of the team this year but like I think I think open cup if he's healthy like that would be a perfect time to get a guy like that and maybe maybe you see something where you're like yeah could maybe this could spark the first team unlikely that Brad D'Elio is the answer to much but I don't know like he's good he's got the grit to be able to help yeah you know with the mentality worth the it's worth finding out so yeah that's that's how I would handle the open cup
01:00:36
Speaker
Yeah, congestion wise, we play Philadelphia on Tuesday and then you play the galaxy on Sunday. That next Wednesday you play in the open cup and then that next Sunday you're in Portland and then the next Wednesday you're playing Salt Lake and then the next Saturday you're playing Vancouver. So you've got a lot of fixtures coming up here.
01:00:57
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it's going to be chaos. They have, they have, Oh my God, they have so many games coming up. Yeah. It's a no rest for the weary. No, we win. We will not shy away from, from any of these. If we make it through this road trip without any points is Schmetzer Gonzo. I mean, so that's another one that, uh, that came up a lot so we can do our weekly Schmetz status update.
01:01:19
Speaker
I mean honestly I so I've been on like pretty firmly on the train and that that firing the coach in a situation like this feels a little pointless to me and especially when you have a coach that is as proven as Schmetz and that is one as many trophies as Schmetz with the knowledge that you know
01:01:39
Speaker
All all eras like this come to an end eventually, but like for me in this situation In particular, I don't think that it's going to change much if you fire the coach but I mean what I will say is that when you have elves that The types of elves that they've taken the last two weeks where you have lapses and disciplines in discipline you have red cards and you have
01:02:04
Speaker
guys doing stuff that's a little uh like just losing the plot losing control that's that's where it starts to get it starts to warm up a little bit and i think like given how these last couple games have gone like the seat is is warm like i it's it's at least warm if i don't know if it's hot yeah but it's like warm if you press you know the like you've got the seat heater and it's got the three the three indicator lights right is it like on the number one
01:02:33
Speaker
You're on level one. Yeah, that's a good way to put it. Okay. You're on the low, you're on the low heated seat. All right. Last but not least, can a Pedro de la Vega return help this club get out of a funk?
01:02:48
Speaker
Yeah, like I mean, they better hope that it does. That was like the whole point of the signing. But I do think from what little I watched of him before he got injured, I mean, he is very he's clearly very talented. And I do think that
01:03:07
Speaker
While going back to what Doyle was talking about, about the underlying performances and the chance generation not being as bad as the record, injecting a player that's ostensibly as dynamic as Pedro de la Vega
01:03:23
Speaker
that theoretically should help you generate even more chances to where just by pure volume of the chances that you're generating you would hope to finish a few more now based on the finishing that we've seen from this team this season that's definitely not a guarantee but i think there is solid reason to believe that he that he would help with that and that's i mean
01:03:48
Speaker
A lot of whether this team can get out of this this season is going to be based on that exact question. That's all the questions for this week. Remember to scream in Ari's mentions this Wednesday.
01:04:02
Speaker
I guess Tuesday night. Tuesday night. Okay. I thought it was, I don't know why I said Wednesday, whatever the day is. Who cares? Who wants to watch the sounders twice in a week right now? It's funny that we get to watch another one in two days from now and we're actually going to do midweek midweek pod pod after that game. So definitely, definitely tune in for that.
01:04:27
Speaker
Let's get to winners and losers from the rest of this match day slate in MLS and then get out of here, Noah. My first loser for the week, Sporting Kansas City, the club of professional wrestling enthusiasts, lost 2-1 to Minnesota United, which, you know, that's honestly, I mean, Minnesota United's good, they were on the road, it's whatever. But the reason they're making this category this week is their head coach, Peter Vermees,
01:04:52
Speaker
You actually did you see this? No, he took I did he took a visual aid to his post game press conference Where he it was like an iPad and it had the offside line on the game winner that Minnesota United scored and it I mean I supposedly showed the guy like 0.3 inches offside and he was talking about how they got robbed like
01:05:13
Speaker
Like shout out to Peter for me is for giving us red hot coach press come always like yeah He's always good for he's always good for one But I just always think it's so funny when coaches do that like you're really hedging it on like this very very Marginal borderline offside call that really like when you look at it you could squint at it and
01:05:33
Speaker
you could you could make a case either way definitely wasn't super obvious and he's like showing this ipad to the reporters at the press conference like it's this big like dunk that proves that the officiated and screwed them over
01:05:48
Speaker
Like I guess I get why coaches do that. It maybe makes the loss look a little better. But I mean, come on, like if he was offside, it was barely. Yeah. So I don't know. I thought I. Yeah, I think it was funny. I think if it was in the opposite way, he would also be holding up the same iPad being like, we were wrong. That should have been a goal. And the best part of that clip
01:06:09
Speaker
He takes the iPad and just chucks it on the table next to him out. Like you know, I didn't know this on a picture I didn't see yeah, I gotta dive in I gotta dive into that Peter V press conference. It sounds like good stuff But I'm also gonna put Minnesota United in this category for this game Because have you been following the Emmanuel Reynoso saga? I Barely, I know. All right, I'll give you the update. I mean he's gone missing again. He went I
01:06:36
Speaker
He went back down to Argentina to get his green card, I guess, and then didn't show up for the meeting that you have to go to to get that taken care of. He loves doing that. That's his favorite thing to do.
01:06:51
Speaker
Like the third time he's done it, he's one of the most bizarre things I've seen in MLS. And every time he goes down there and goes AWOL, they're trying to call him and contact him and he's not responding. They're booking flights for him to get back, to get him back with the team. He's missing the flights.
01:07:08
Speaker
Really like I don't know if I've ever seen anything quite like this in professional sports like let alone MLS I don't know if I've seen it happen one time one time. He's done it like three times Yeah, and this is this is one of the most Talented broth in terms of raw talent one of the most talented players in the league when he's healthy He's I think he's
01:07:29
Speaker
Always kind of refer to him as the best peer passer. Yeah in terms of in terms of just like assist mavens Reynoso is nasty and like he's kind of been the centerpiece of that team It's sort of been a situation with them where when he plays they're an upper two team in the West when he doesn't they're mid team at best And to their credit they've been their upper tier on the table in the West right now with having not played with him for most of this season but
01:07:53
Speaker
but it's just a wild situation and like they're gonna have to like I have to imagine they're gonna move on from him after this and in fact I'm pretty confident that's what's gonna happen because dude but Minnesota nice come on they might just be like oh well that's what they've been that's what they've been trying to do but the reason that I think this might be the straw that broke the camel's back is because Michael box all one of their one of their players gave an interview
01:08:16
Speaker
either at training or after a game or something. And he was literally like, look, we're, we're tired of talking about this. Um, he, he's made it abundantly clear that he doesn't really care about the club at this point. And we're kind of approaching it like he's not going to be here and we're cool with that. So if you have a player coming out and saying that it's hard for me now to see a scenario where they try and mend the fence again and then bring them back, especially when they don't know where he's at. So
01:08:42
Speaker
He's just chillin' on the beach. I kinda gotta respect that from the guy. He really just said, I don't care. Who knows where Emmanuel Reynoso is? If you can find him, let us know. Please, have you seen this man? Have you seen him? Portland Timbers are my last lizard of the week. They lost 3-2 at LAFC. And Diego Chara got a... This was really funny. This was the funniest thing. This was funnier than the Seattle Sounders comedy performance.
01:09:10
Speaker
Diego Chara, he set the Portland Timbers appearance record across all competitions in this game. It was like 377 all comps appearances to break the record. He's been like, you know, before we clown on him a little bit, like
01:09:29
Speaker
Diego Chara has been one of the best players at that position since he's been in the league, which is his 14th year now. He's 38 years old. He's still doing it. I think for years there was kind of a fun like rivalry within the rivalry between him and Ozzy Alonzo. Yeah, it was almost like the more badass defensive midfielder and
01:09:47
Speaker
Diego Chara, I mean you got it. You got to give it to him like in terms of like two-way presence D mids who bring that bite in that energy in that kind of swagger and That that kind of calmness that we were talking about to at times though like but also not control controlled aggression but also not calmness at times when he gets yellow cards and red cards and
01:10:12
Speaker
Anyway, this is all a long way of saying that he got a red card in this game against LA FC when it was tied to two and like during this game that he was being celebrated for breaking the single the
01:10:27
Speaker
Timbers appearance record And I said it was it was exactly it was fitting It was such a fitting way to commemorate that record for him to get a red card in the game and then for the timbers to lose the game yeah, and I mean LFC bam Denny's belong to scored two goals And they got a game winner right at the end of the match that I mean it's just a banger that guy that guy scores more bangers than anyone in the league Yeah, can we get him can we borrow him for a couple games god the Sounders need him so bad man They need him so bad
01:10:56
Speaker
Alright, let's do the winners. I mean not just sound like a broken record, but inner Miami absolutely destroyed the New England Revolution after conceding again in the first minute exactly love doing it's like it's a carbon copy of the same discussion we were having last week where they get bammed on by the revs
Inter Miami's Winning Streak and Messi's Influence
01:11:13
Speaker
literally like right after it was minute one. They get bammed on and everyone's like, Oh, what a terrible defense. And I was listening to Bradley Wright Phillips talk about this, uh, on the, uh, post game wrap up show, but he was like, yeah, I mean their defense is pretty bad and they leak a lot of goals.
01:11:28
Speaker
I mean, it doesn't matter when you can score three to five goals a game like clockwork and you have Messi on your team who's literal cheat code. Not like 16 goal contributions in like 11 or like 10 games or whatever. Who else is going to win the MVP other than Messi? Yeah, seriously. Yeah.
01:11:44
Speaker
Yeah, no one he's putting up video game numbers and here Miami as long as long as they have Relative health. It's like I don't even know if we should play this season like they're they're just they're on like a different Planet than everyone else then pretty much any team I've ever seen in MLS we say every week but like if if you're tired of like the messy hype
01:12:04
Speaker
or whatever, I get it. Is it hype though anymore? I don't think it's hype or like not the hype, but just like the constant saturation. Yeah, that's like I get that. But like, I don't know for me, every time I pull up inner Miami, I really enjoy watching it. Like they play incredible soccer and they have more players than just messy that are interesting to watch. And now Benji Kramasch is back too. Oh, I've been loving because these are guys that I've known are great players, but like I haven't watched really consistently. They're like I've seen highlights and stuff, but I haven't watched Barcelona games consistently.
01:12:33
Speaker
So getting to watch Busquets every week, just such a good class player, one of the best of all time at his position in his own right. Jordy Al was hurt right now, but one of the best left backs of all time. Luis Suarez, one of the best strikers of all time. So it's just, it's pretty fun to watch, man. And like, I really like, I see very little scenario where they don't win the shield and MLS Cup, assuming relative health.
01:12:57
Speaker
Austin FC got the LA galaxy to zero which no way I was reading Doyle same column today, and he was saying that Austin FC. They're hot right now He was saying they're kind of doing the bit where they are drastically Overperforming their expected status you right they're doing but it was Austin who did it originally before see that's true Yeah, it was Austin and then st. Louis so I guess they're kind of doing that again, but like they are definitely hot right now and like
01:13:24
Speaker
Topping the galaxy right now shutting them out and In beating them by multiple goals, even you know, they were the home team in this game So it would be more impressive if they did it in LA but they pumped the galaxy pretty good And I still think the galaxy are one of the best teams in the league right now. They just lose
01:13:40
Speaker
They just love to give away go it is funny like for however like I've praised them a lot because they're they've been my favorite team to watch for most of the year besides Miami I would say and They do they still do dude. They're still like wait a minute. We are we are still there like Alex Yeah, don't don't sleep on us. We're still the galaxy We're still gonna have ill-timed concessions, and we're still gonna lose games that we probably shouldn't lose But it was weird to see him get shut out in this game, but I
01:14:07
Speaker
Austin Austin FC heating up and Josh wolf Seemingly less on the hot seat. He was I thought earlier. I thought he was gone. I thought he was gone I thought he was gone. How are the presser keys? They've been less caught hot now that they're winning and I would expect him to do a victory lap I'd expect it to be like
01:14:23
Speaker
I think he's learned that lesson. I think he did that last time, and then they ended up drastically underperforming the next year, so maybe he's calmed down with that. And then finally, to wrap it up here, Toronto FC, they were losing 1-0 to Orlando City FC late in the game.
01:14:43
Speaker
And they scored two goals in quick succession. And I just think like if there's any team in the league right now that does have a right to say, fuck the haters and dunk on the pundits a little bit. I think Toronto FC is that team that's still been pretty bad at times. They're still definitely rebuilding, but they're five, four and one, which one point six points per game. They're fourth. They're fourth in the East right now. So I think you got to give credit to their players.
01:15:13
Speaker
And you got to give a lot of credit to John Herman, former Canadian national team coach, who took over there. And they really did not make a lot of moves to improve a roster that wouldn't spoon last year. And there's still been some rough moments for them. And they're dealing with insignia being injured right now. But they are doing a lot better than people expected of them. And I think they deserve continued credit for that.
01:15:40
Speaker
Alright, that'll wrap it for Winners and Losers, so I think we can call it a wrap there for episode 30 of Lovin' Scorchers. Thank you as always to everyone for tuning into the show. I know I say it every week, but once again, listenership on this has been just way beyond what we both expected when we started the show, and we really appreciate everyone who tunes in every week and everyone who submits questions and interacts with the tweets.
01:16:09
Speaker
Please, if you haven't already, like, comment, subscribe, write reviews, tell your friends, talk to your parents, talk to the iPad, tell the iPad that Peter Vermees threw across the room. Tell that about. Call as a paid subscriber if you so choose, but you're not obligated to and sub to our YouTube. I think that's it. That's going to do it for this one. We'll see you midweek until until next time on when we'll probably put it out Wednesday. Yeah, we out. Peace.