Transcript
Speaker: Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here we go.
Speaker: Come on. Hey, O'Shaughness. Let's The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. The Sounders rule the region.
Speaker: Ooch of a gooch! All creatures, great and small! Rothrock gonna collect it, he does just about, runs into the advertising order. Low to our left, ball goes in! Oh, what cross! And what a goal!
Speaker: Where's my copy? I got a bunch of them in the car. How many do you cost them? 50 bucks. I'll deadline you.
Speaker: This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
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Speaker: Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adientes on the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. It is Friday. We are here at the Sounder at Heart headquarters in the International District of Seattle.
Speaker: And it is it's Friday. It's a beautiful Friday. We just got back from training. Short day of training. Good week of training. Nico, I am i amm Jeremiah Oshan. I'm joined by Nico Moreno, as always.
Speaker: And we're trying we're we're still trying out some new stuff. We are ah filming this live for the subscribers of Sounder at Heart. If you want to get in here, just go check out the Discord.
Speaker: And we have a link in there. And for the rest of you, we're we're doing this to tape. ah Hopefully, you'll find it useful. Nico, I don't know any big things this week that jumped out at you. with The big news, I guess, was Paul Rothrock's injury.
Speaker: We may as well start there. yeah We found out that he is out in. It was funny on Tuesday when Brian broke the news. He says, you're not going to believe this. It's sort of like saying the thing that all of us like ge he's he he understands how ridiculous this injury situation is.
Speaker: Paul Rothrock came out at halftime of Saturday's game. We weren't sure why. and then we found out that it was that he had done a pretty significant injury to his hamstring. They said it was something in the in the hamstring tendon. yep It's going to be out eight to 10 weeks, basically puts them out until the end of the regular season.
Speaker: Brian said that if he, that he thinks he's confident that he can get him back for the playoffs and the sounders get there, but it was not a good prognosis. No, and a lot of people were asking themselves, playoffs? Right. Are we talking playoffs? Yeah, you know yeah.
Speaker: It is not far-fetched people with the injuries and everything. So, yes, he's talking playoffs. And, look, the reality is is I don't want to put it right back on Brian because it is not his job necessarily to assess people you know, players' says ah muscles and the exhaustion in certain parts of the body. I mean, that's the sports science department, right? They have data. They they have an exact number of, like, assets and stuff that go through your muscles and things like that. That is goes beyond his expertise, right? Right. So –
Speaker: To me, though, in this particular instance, both you and I had been pretty clear and and we preached consistently that we thought that Paul Rothrock needed some rest.
Speaker: And he he needed some rest out of just obvious... Problems with his play, right? He has declined a little bit. We talked about his recovery speed and his recovery it recoveries on defense, just taking a hit and him looking maybe not as sharp, not getting to the end of certain passes. So...
Speaker: I'm going to go say it. This one doesn't feel quite like the Jesus Ferreira. It doesn't feel like the Yammer Gomez Andrade. This specific injury does feel more preventable. And again, I'm not going to put it on Brian. I'm going to put it in whoever's job it is to assess the player right before the game or during the game.
Speaker: Because... We have not asked about this, and I'm going to go ahead and just say that I heard this in the broadcast. But when I was watching the game, the broadcaster, I don't even know who it was necessarily on Apple TV, he said that,
Speaker: Paul rather got picked up a knock before the game and he kind of still played on it. And that's kind of what he said yeah when Paul came out in the 45th. Now I didn't really take that seriously. So I didn't ask about it right off the bat, but the reality is, is that whether or not he picked up a knock, there was a clear sense that Paul needed some rest. He had played every minute of every game. He might have the most minutes of any field player outside of new who, yeah. Outside of new who. So it sucks. It's a, it's a bad, like Brian said, it's unbelievable, but this one just feels a little bit more preventable.
Speaker: It did feel a little bit more preventable for, uh, A whole bunch of reasons and not the least of which like, okay, so I'm on two minds as far as the pregame knock that he took.
Speaker: On one hand, this happens all the time. Players get, you know, complain about something and they say, uh, you know, look, I think I'm fine, but I i thought I should bring it up.
Speaker: And if you pull every player out that feels any sort of discomfort, you're going to be pulling out a lot of players unnecessarily. Yeah. And the Sounders are in a position where they need points. And so if someone says they can play, you kind of have to trust them. We don't know what the knock was. It may have been his ankle. It may have been completely unrelated. Totally agree. And that's on us. We probably should have dug into that a little bit more. You tried to ask about it a couple different times. It did not get answered in a straightforward way.
Speaker: Still, we can we can do better on our end, right? We can do better trying to get answers to that stuff. But I think the bigger concern for me is just the pattern that we saw. where Paul has been playing basically every game. I believe he's played all but one game this year.
Speaker: he may have missed two games this year. One game he missed with a knock. One game he may have missed for just rest. He has started something like 23 games. He has been playing as much as anyone outside of new who this is a player who is being, whose effectiveness has just not looked the same, who it looks just watching him looks like he needs a day off.
Speaker: And it was, it's just frustrating that he keeps getting pushed out there. And I get that he is reliable. He's a player that that Brian trusts. But sometimes you got to save players from themselves. And I think this is one of those situations where Paul just got pushed a little too far. That doesn't mean he was bound to get hurt in the Galaxy game.
Speaker: But it did feel like he was getting pushed to the point where at some point something like this was going to happen. Yeah, look, he commits the foul too out of like some frustration, out of what I think was or some exhaustion. So it was all kind of leading to that. So it is unfortunate. But again, the the reality here is that he's out. He's out from eight to 10 weeks, whether he can come back sooner or not, you don't know in what type of level he's going to come in. You got still give him time to rehab. You got to still give him time to get back on the field. So if,
Speaker: I'm looking at this realistically. I'm saying you're probably going be without Paul Rothrock almost for the rest of the year. So what does that mean for the rest of the team? Brian talked about Katie Clark now being a guy that's one step closer. yeah You asked today about Paul Arriola, who's played well, who looks to be starting to be completely fit. But has also only played like 25 minutes in two games. So it's going to be tough to think like how far is he away from 90 minutes. We have idea.
Speaker: we have no idea No, but again, your best player on that side, though, still Jordan Morris. And, you know, we we talked to him today. I thought that in the Galaxy game, and we're not going get into it, obviously, because we already touched on that earlier this week. But I did think that when he moved to that left side, he just looks so much more comfortable. He's got an easier way to cut inside, use his privileged foot.
Speaker: He's done a good job at using his left foot at least to put balls inside the 18. He's actually a pretty good left-footed crosser. Pretty good left footer crosser. So today he kind of talked about He said, look, on the right side, I felt like, you know, I have to play in that right pocket and I'm not so much yeah good in the pocket where on the right on the left side, he just feels like he's more comfortable. He's more of a winger. He's more of a winger on that side. And that makes sense for the system, what he does. So...
Speaker: All in all, it is unfortunate because Paul Rothrock is such an influential player, does so many right things. But I do think that the next man up mentality right now, at least for that position, is well covered.
Speaker: Yeah. And what's, I thought was interesting. I don't think that Brian actually mentioned Peter Kingston as a replacement potentially for Paul Rothrock, but I, it does look like that's who is going to get the start this week. Peter Kingston, I think has earned, you know, we talked about him on you and Adam talked about him on Monday We have seen a lot from Peter this year. the idea, it is funny to think that he has gone from a player who is literally not on the roster to someone who is now starting effectively must win games late in the season. And he, he doesn't look like a rookie. He he carries himself like much more of a veteran player and he is a little bit older for a first year and MLS player.
Speaker: But it's just, it's it's very impressive the way he's sort of gotten into the system. It looks like he is going to be starting most likely on the on the wing. And I do, I'm actually excited to see what this looks like i don't think this is his, I think this would be his first start as a right winger. Yeah, I think so.
Speaker: He started it right back. I'm excited to see it too. And it is one of those games where this might be his one and only um yeah opportunity to prove his worth there. Right. Right. Because if he does not play well, it's, he might not get another start at the wing. No, totally. And honestly, you know, again, going back to Jordan, going to the left side, I mean, it's Seba on that side.
Speaker: i don't think maybe Paul Riala could play on that side as well, yeah but ultimately, He is one of those guys that you hope he plays well. And look, he played great when he came on against the Galaxy game. He creates he creates so completely that that equalizer, his ability to just break lines with the ball. I think that he is extremely courageous. He is defiant on the ball.
Speaker: He likes to force passes and thread the needle. And I think that that's awesome. He's a gamer. He's a guy that goes out there, plays great. Like he's been there, done that because he hasn't, right? He's played at other levels of soccer, but hasn't been an MLSer. And he does that well. Now, starting and coming in from the bench is two different things.
Speaker: And he's looked really good coming off the bench. Every time that I've seen him play really well is off the bench. So now ah it's again, that's a start and a little higher up the field where you know that there is a lot of defending that you have to do. And in this specific game, you're going to go against a very motivated Georgie Minungu on that side. That's going to make you defend a whole lot. So it's going to be interesting. now He,
Speaker: comes up and and faces that challenge is, you know, float or sink is going to be his one time to show his worth. So it's going to be interesting how that plays out moving forward. But I really do want to see at some point, if this doesn't happen to work,
Speaker: I think you call Perala. I think that's a good one, but I want to see Kitten Clark get on a field at some point because I feel like he fits that inverted winger position really, really well. And he he's been really good this whole time. Now, some of the things that I did learn this week in the in training was that, look, Peter also looks very motivated. He had a phenomenal week of training. He had a couple of great passes in. i think one of them, Uh, uh, gets a great pass from Albert Rusnak, uh, gets to the end line, crosses a very well paced and plays ball for Jordan Morris that puts the ball away. So that was, that was great to see. So I think that he's been really good. I think Jordan Morris has looked different. I said last week, he looks like he's happy again, but that's kind of amplified to him just being really, really good in every single practice. So we'll see how that kind of pans out, but that,
Speaker: position of of of the winger is going to be very key against Colorado. And maybe we'll see a different way that that is played without Paul Rothrock.
Speaker: I think Caden Clark at the very least provides you the highest upside. And, you know, he's not, I don't think he's the highest floor. i would imagine... Kingston, Ariel, i don't know. I'm not sure who provides the best, the highest floor, but it does seem like Caden Clark, if one player is going to break out and actually do something that is unexpected, that, you know, if if there's one guy who could come in and have four goals and four assists over the last 11 games of the season, it seems like Caden Clark is the one that's most likely to be able to do that. sure He, you know, can he do it?
Speaker: I don't know, but he has that potential. Or I should say, will he do it? I don't know, but he has that kind of potential. And right now you do need something that is going to spark a real big move, right? yeah Again, it's not just about performing well.
Speaker: You need some game changers. du You got to be able to do something. So he could be one person that may be off the bench this this time around. He can earn himself that starting spot. But let's not...
Speaker: Let's give Peter the benefit of the doubt. We'll see how he plays. It's going to be, again, a very good parameter against this Colorado team. So it's going to be interesting. Another thing that I guess we can talk about is the fact that this movements essentially put a little bit more stock into Hassani Dotson playing right next to Christian Roldan, right? Because it's not going to be Peter.
Speaker: Snyder Burnell is potentially going to be leaving as well with the U-20s. We'll talk about that later on. But I think that Snyder has had also a decline on his game.
Speaker: And this week particularly, I saw him with not a lot of confidence. I saw him make a lot of mistakes. saying in the galaxy? Oh, in the scrimmage. No, no, no, in the scrimmage this week. So Snyder Burnell, in the scrimmage this week and throughout the week, just hasn't looked his self. And and a lot of that could be just he's hit ah a wall, he's in a rut, or he's you know maybe lost a little bit of confidence. So I do think that in this particular game against Colorado,
Speaker: Hassani's experience, Hassani's high floor, maybe simplifying his role might be the best way to go and get points in Colorado. But I am starting to get a little bit concerned about Snyder's form. You know, one of the big discussion points in the Center Heart Discord this week was...
Speaker: Hassani Dotson's role in general. And I think there's a lot of debate fairly of, I think there's a a fair amount of debate on whether or not Hassani Dotson has fulfilled what the Sounders expected of him. And I think it's fair to say that he has fallen short of the expectations, but what's,
Speaker: More interesting is what the idea of signing him was. And for me, I'm comfortable with what he's been able to do in the sense that, look, if you're bringing in a a veteran, experienced ah player who has who has achieved some real, yeah he's had some good heights in MLS.
Speaker: And you're probably going to, I think they paid market value to get him. And what I think the Sounders were trying to do when they signed him was thread that needle between providing cover in case Snyder Brunel doesn't turn into a a starter right away, but also not create not invest so much money into that position that you have effectively blocked Brunel. And I think right now what we're seeing, and this is sort of where this is going to, you know, the rubber is going the road, so to speak.
Speaker: is that Snyder Brunel is not playing at a MLS starters level right now. Like he's showing signs of the upside that we've all seen. And, you know, one of the things that we met, I was talking to about earlier this week is that, you know, he could be playing exactly the way he is, but he could have five goals because he's probably come close to scoring seven or eight goals this year.
Speaker: You give him five goals and there's a lot more pressure to keep playing him. But because he hasn't scored those five goals, yeah it's easier to just say look, you're not, you know, there's too much risk involved in playing you.
Speaker: And so in some ways, maybe it's it's to the center's benefit that he hasn't gotten those five goals because I don't know that he is his, his holistic game is not at the level right now where he should be starting.
Speaker: And if Hassani Dotson can provide capable starting minutes, he doesn't have to have these huge heights, but if he can just be a steady player, if he can provide some solid defense, if he can get on the head, the end of a, of a couple ah set pieces, he has looked really good in the air.
Speaker: You know, I can see Dotson being a really, you know, that signing looking much better over the last couple months of the season than it did in the first, you know, six or seven months of the season. And I want to see him do well because although I do like the Snyder-Bernard now pairing when it's at its best because I feel like he's very dynamic and he's very attacking-minded. And Snyder gives us himself some really good positions. And he makes great turns on the ball. And he does some very good passing.
Speaker: I do feel like that midfield needs a little bit of dog in it. And and I think Asani has it. Maybe, like you said, there's been glimpses of what he can mean for the team and for that pivot.
Speaker: But look, his his his frame, he's he's strong, his physicality. yeah He has that bite to him. I feel like that's something that could really benefit this team when it comes to just playing in the trenches, right? And just your knife in your teeth and you're just trying to grind out a game. yeah You want that fed away kid. and You want him to be able to play well. So I do hope that in this Colorado game is one step forward to a Sonny Dawson.
Speaker: becoming a bigger part, a bigger contributor for this team. And I did want to say thank you to Zomino and to Ampig6, two sickos of the show and in general. So I appreciate you guys commenting. If you guys got any questions, since you guys are part of this limited chat, go ahead and let us know if you guys got any questions. Yeah, and I'll just throw this in there.
Speaker: ah I think what we're going to start doing is on Fridays, we're gonna we're not going to do full-blown live show where it's open to the public, but I do do think what we're going to do is sort of do a sort of behind-the-scenes-y type of thing here for subscribers. So if you are a subscriber to Sounder Heart and you want to be able to watch a little bit of raw and un somewhat unedited version of this show, yeah ah you know, come to the Discord and we'll always be putting the link in there on Fridays and you and you can check it out.
Speaker: I am weirdly optimistic about this Rapids game. If we want to, if we're ready to transition into that, you know, I think we had a pretty good tactical article on center heart. We've, which we've been doing every week ah for the last few weeks, looking really breaking down what teams do.
Speaker: And weirdly, I feel like what the Rapids do may fit me, me, uh, mesh. Okay. With what, how the sounders like to attack teams, Matt Wells has set up a very aggressive team who likes to pass the ball, who likes to defend or who who likes to ah defend aggressively, get down on the wings and force the ball into the, uh, they, they want to play out of the back.
Speaker: And what but they, but what they haven't always done is they have not been super efficient with the ball. Something that the Sounders, uh, in terms of creating actual goal scoring opportunities and getting inside the the penalty area.
Speaker: And I feel like the Sounders might be able to exploit that just because, especially with the Rapids coming off of a midweek game where they're a six game shutout streak at home was snapped. Granted it was in open cup play. So it does. They still have a league. for now They still have a league streak going, but, uh, I, I do think that the Sounders have a chance here.
Speaker: Yeah, I do too. I did not finish watching the game. I'll watch the first half of that Colorado-St. Louis game, but I agree with you. I think that this Colorado team is so willing and almost daring right to play out of the back. and They really invite the pressure that there was a couple of times where St. Louis had a really easy...
Speaker: way to just kind of get forward. Even going back to the Montreal game, which I did see from end to end and beginning to end, that Montreal game, Montreal picks up the ball like four or five times in Colorado's own half, and they're just unable to put the ball away. But but they are so...
Speaker: daring that you think they'd be better i mean no disrespect but they're just very negligent sometimes with the way they move the ball around so seattle they like to press high high and i asked brian about it he said look we like to press high we're gonna press high opportunistically opportunistically yes yeah like they're not gonna just rule Full on. Yeah, no, totally. but But I think that those moments could play into the sound of strength because all it really takes is that one moment and you're able to put the ball, hopefully, into Jovlich, maybe a run in Jordan Morris, and you're able to get an early goal. So I do agree with that also.
Speaker: as much as they're a possession based team, Seattle does pretty well or has done pretty well as of recent as not needing the ball as much as they used in the past. So can they get a transition? Are they able to get positions out wide? And again, some of the better defending that the Sounders do does come out wide. You got Nuhu on one side, you got, you know, the pairing of Kalani and now Peter Kingston, who, you know, Peter Kingston pretty good defender. So we'll see how that plays out. but But I agree with you. I do feel optimistic, mainly because of the mileage that these teams have to put in on the field, right? And the fact that they really rely on
Speaker: 15 players, maybe this is the rapid in the rapid. Yeah. They don't have a deepest, team they don't have the deepest team. And so I think that you are going to get a group of players that might be, maybe a step slower because they have had a lot of games and they did have the, I mean, it was a must win game. They had to put a lot into the game against St. Louis, even though they didn't win.
Speaker: ah So, yeah, i mean, it, The Sounders have gotten a little bit lucky recently with where they are hitting teams on their schedule. ah The Galaxy had had to play a midweek game before they played the Sounders.
Speaker: ah You know, we we we're going to get a few of these games. And then the Sounders are going to seem like they have dodged a little bit of a bullet next week where they have three home games all during the international break, which some years would have been a huge problem for the Sounders because they could have lost like half their team.
Speaker: This week or ah next week, it looks like the centers are going to be losing a couple players, ah most notably Dan Jovulic and likely Snyder Burnell. And then other than that, it looks like everyone else got got spared. We had heard that there was a chance that Christian Roldan and Andrew Thomas might get called in. we i think they were on a short list they of potential call ups.
Speaker: It would have been so frustrating if Christian Roldan had been called in. I know. I would have just absolutely lost my mind. Like, look, I want what's best for Christian and everything. But look, he just made the World Cup roster. He did not play in the World Cup, obviously.
Speaker: ah Notably, he was available those first two games, including the one in Seattle. And Pochettino did not feel it was worth putting him into the game. If he had taken him right now, it would have been a real gut punch.
Speaker: Yeah, no, and and it was unnecessary. And again, i we did hear that from you know a reliable source that you know there were potentially going to be called in. But look, Andrew Thomas, as much as I did want him to get that opportunity, yeah that shot, this does seem like a younger camp anyway, and it both both at the goalkeeper level, because they brought Freeze, but then the others are younger guys. There's 12 different prospects. Brady, well chris brady ah um Matt Turner, and they brought Schwalke? Mm-hmm.
Speaker: they They didn't bring Diego Cochin? They didn't do. Oh, they did? They brought four. Oh, okay. Okay. so So I think that what Pochettino's looking to do is figure out who is eventually the replacement for Freeze. Sure. It was interesting that Turner didn't get called in. Oh, Turner didn't get in. Oh, no, Turner didn't. Oh, okay. No, no Turner.
Speaker: No Turner on this one. And I think that's what he's doing. He's just trying to figure out who his next guy is. Yeah. So going back to it, I don't know how much play time he have gotten. and So it would have been you miss out on two guys for four-game window and you don't know how much time going to play. So it would have been a little bit frustrating.
Speaker: And... Go it against Colorado. You might need every single person that you need, not to mention the homestand that's coming up. But I did want to make sure that we talked about this, and do not get it twisted, is got to be, in my mind, a Georgie Minungu revenge game.
Speaker: Hey, everyone. David Goss here from SoccerWise, and I am coming to you with our MLS Minute presented by Continental Tire. We are so excited to be working with some of the best local MLS coverage in the league as part of our new collective.
Speaker: So after you're done listening, hear about your team, come on over and listen to myself, Matt Doyle, and Tommy Scoop's talk about the entire league. Let's jump into the highlights of the weekend, which was shaped by the massive one-verse-two matchup between Nashville and Miami.
Speaker: Nashville played outstanding but needed a 91st-minute Sam Surge equalizer to rescue one point. But it might have been enough from the weekend, as Vancouver shockingly fell at home to Austin, with Superman Christian Ramirez scoring two goals on two shots in 85 minutes to steal the win.
Speaker: So Nashville has stretched their shield lead now to eight points with nine games to play. And while the Caps have a game in hand, they also head to Montreal on Wednesday night for Canadian Championship semi-final.
Speaker: Speaking of semi-finals, it's a good week. We have US Open Cup semi-finals on Wednesday night, and three of the four participants come in off victories. St. Louis had a 4-2 come from behind win over Minnesota to extend its unbeaten streak to 15 games, tied for eighth longest in league history.
Speaker: Pafa Navarro has led them with four goals in his first two starts on his new team. His old club, the Rapids, debuted their record signing in Morgan Whitaker off the bench in a 1-0 home win over Montreal.
Speaker: Paxton Aronson had the lone goal from the penalty spot. You may have to do so once again as Colorado hosts St. Louis on Wednesday in that win and move on game. On the other side, Orlando are riding in on the back of Antoine Griezmann, who has scored in five straight games the latest.
Speaker: in their home win over TFC. So a stumbling Columbus will host Orlando in the other semifinal on Wednesday night. We will have our previews in our Monday episode and reactions on Thursday.
Speaker: We also expect to have a full breakdown of the fall USMNT roster at the end of this week as well. Some final highlights to leave you on. SKC record signing Andre Luis scored his first goal with a goloso in an upset win over LAFC.
Speaker: Kevin Denke scored a stoppage time equalizer at home in a 3-3 thriller with Charlotte. And FC Dallas have moved level with Texas rivals Dynamo for second in the West.
Speaker: We'll have all your MLS, and NWSL, and U.S. s national team coverage for you on SoccerWise channels all week. This MLS Minute is part of our SoccerWise media collective sponsored by Continental Tire, where we are proud to work with local soccer media partners across the country.
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Speaker: We're also looking for sponsors. Send an email to partners at pnwsoccermedia.com and we'll get you all set up. Thanks for listening. I think that Georgie Minungu is a guy that thought that he had a pathway to get more minutes here. That's the reason that triggers the start of at least that trade.
Speaker: He's playing pretty well for Colorado. The end result hasn't quite been there. Getting a lot of minutes. Getting a lot of minutes. I think he creates a lot of chances. puts in the the he shots on frame consistently, but he just doesn't get that goal or the assist all that often. He's been very close, even headers. I mean, he's been really up and up his game. So I think that against the Sounders, you're going to see that plus some because he's going to want to look at Brian. He's going to look at his old. And I don't think he's, i'm not he's not a malicious guy, right but he might have that big grin and want to be able to just say, look at me, this is what I'm doing. Well, you know, it's funny because a lot of the things that we talked about before Georgie really had his breakout and was just like able to, we could talk about him on his own merits is that he had this great friendship with new who, and they would go at each other every game, every training practice, every training, every training session, they would go after each other.
Speaker: And, presumably that's going to be the matchup that we see a lot of in this game is new who and Georgie and look, new who is a polarizing figure within the sounders. He does a lot. Well, he does a lot that can frustrate people.
Speaker: But this seems like the kind of matchup that he might be able to rise up for because it's a friend. It's someone that he wants, that he feels challenged by. and it's something that they know each other both really well.
Speaker: No, totally. I mean, he does judge just play more through the left side. So attacks on the right side. So he's going to be put on more against Kalani. Okay. or On the other side, Whitaker is the that the new winger that they got. Oh, yeah he's looked really good yeah as of recent. I think Yappie is another guy that you might see lean onto Nuhu's side, but to your point, I mean, this is exactly what he's looking at is those old matchups. And he, and you know, Nuhu is not afraid to, you know, at the time when Georgie Minungu is on a set piece or he's coming inside, he's going one of those who's going to want to just face him head on. But, you know, I am optimistic as well. I think,
Speaker: It's difficult. i have a result. I have ah a draw. That's in in my mind what's going to happen. I have a 1-1 draw over there. i really do think that is going to be a evenly matched
Speaker: Don't know if that's enough, but he might feel like a win on the road in elevation. I mean, if they can get a draw, this is the, unlike the previous three games, especially, i do think a draw would feel like an acceptable result. If for no other reason than it, that it keeps Colorado within reaching distance of that number seven spot, uh,
Speaker: And it it keeps it keeps the momentum going. And it sets up which could would what could be a really pivotal three-game set at Lumen Field where they play ah RSL, who's been one of the worst who has been the worst team in league since the league since the World Cup break. and Then they play Minnesota. And then they close out with Sporting Kansas City. All three teams who are struggling, who are not particularly good on the road, and who the Sounders should feel like they are favorites against. Yeah, and and again, look, ah I didn't watch the entirety of the 90 against St. Louis, but that was a rotated St. Louis team.
Speaker: Colorado did put everything that they had out there, and they were...
Speaker: on the ball the entire game. i mean, they dominated possession, but St. Louis just killed them off of their own mistakes and encounters. So I do think that the Sounders are going to be playing very direct. They're going to be changing the point of attack a lot quicker than maybe you've seen it lately because they're going to want to get the team shifting late and attacking the wing. So Peter Kingston, Jordan Morris, they should be able to have...
Speaker: tons of space in to run into. And it's going to be interesting how they're able to execute because that's what we have not had. I asked Brian today about the attacking movements and Dejan kind of understanding what he's at in terms of those movements. And he said that they're still working, that there is still, it's still a work in progress. And I do think that,
Speaker: you've seen that because you're not getting him the ball in the most high prime scoring positions. And that's what you need to get your nine going, especially in this game is get him in the right spots at the right time.
Speaker: Yeah. Dan has been a player who I have been mostly encouraged by, but who I think we can all agree has not been set up to succeed as much as we would like.
Speaker: and And that's not to say that the centers have done a poor job of of utilizing him. It's just that the game does not run through him as much as you know, like we we can count probably three or four instances in each of the last couple games where it felt like,
Speaker: it was worth forcing the ball into Jovulic. And they just haven't had the kind of number nine where they're used to forcing the ball in because they just haven't had a lot of faith that if they force the ball into the space, that the number nine is going to be able to do anything with it. And Jovulic is a different kind of number nine who can do stuff when he doesn't have a lot of space.
Speaker: And so I'd like to see the Sounders making a little bit more of those you know, look, let's just look give him the ball and see what happens. ah When he's making that near post run, even if it looks like there's not a lot of room, right make that pass. Just feed the beast. Right. Exactly. Totally. a hundred percent. I will say that to pick sixes point,
Speaker: I do think that Joe village is going to start to be asked to do more in terms of the link up. So it kind of goes opposite to you what you're saying. Not necessarily opposite. Cause you can do both. And I do think that they do need to force ball a little bit to him when it comes to him being in the 18 and in certain spots. But I have seen a Joe village led that,
Speaker: this week has been working on releasing the wingers, right? Being able to drag those center backs, be able to have a quick pass, and immediately you recycle that run and you're trying to get behind that defender, right? You're trying to create some movement. So I do think that to your point um of of a very good comment, yes, I think dropping into midfield is something that can create some open spaces and he could maybe get you Jordan Morris in some better positions. And I do think that this is going to be another way to utilize Dejan. And I mean, let's,
Speaker: not forget that he's three games in. I mean, right know it' it's hard to forget because he has such a phenomenal debut, right but he's just still getting going. Right. No, absolutely. And i'm not I'm definitely not worried about him at this point.
Speaker: I will say that it's it's funny ah as well as he started, ah you know, like the the thing was I've been saying all along is like, this guy is probably the best player that they could have gotten in this window. Yeah. and there have been a couple other players who have since put up some pretty good numbers, but I'm still confident that at the when at the end of this season that Jovo Lich will look like maybe one of the best one of the best signings of the of the summer, bar none, maybe outside of the Antoine Griezmann category. That was the only one. but But, I mean, in terms of the deal, and in terms of what he means to the Sounders, I mean, that is where the deal is unpaired to anything else because this team was in such a need to have a real striker come in. Right.
Speaker: to to a situation where there was no room. There was no room to fit him. You forced it You moved things around and you got your guy. This is going to be your franchise striker that I have no no no no doubt about it. Just watching him in training and how how serious he is. I mean, he's almost scary. He's like a robot out there. Like, you know, he's just going through the motions. He's hard at work. He's, you know, kind of analyzing everything. You know, he he gets a laugh here and there with the Albert or so, but he's just so...
Speaker: connected so engaged like he does not lose focus man so I just think that he is very different in terms of demeanor and and the way he approaches the game than anything the team has had in a while um but in terms of the production level and what he can do in field i mean it's it's just as good as as Raul you know what I mean Yeah, it is funny. We talked about that this week about how there is almost never drama at training and how everyone seems to get along. They seem to be having a good time.
Speaker: And that can, you know, when things are going well, that's great. But when things aren't going well, sometimes you want a little bit more tension. You want there to be a little bit more bite. You want there to be someone in there willing to yell at a teammate,
Speaker: willing to, you know, go into ah a tackle a little bit harder and raise the, the, the temperature and training. And we really haven't had that for a couple of years. And I, you know, we were one of the things I noticed is that, you know, ever since Nico left, really, they have not had a player because when Nico was here, it was like,
Speaker: always full like There was not huge fights or anything, but it always felt like there was tension, a good competitive tension, but a tension that created a sense of urgency that created a sense that ah things needed to be going a certain way.
Speaker: No, I agree. And some of those things bring fire and your spark and spark creates fire and you become a higher intense level team. And, you know, it's a cliche, but you do practice the way you play the games when you play games the way you practice. And so when you have that bite in training and you have that guy yelling and really making it like it's really difficult. a full on competitive match, it creates a culture. And that is something that they haven't had in a long time.
Speaker: And maybe it even goes back. I was talking to somebody else ah close to the club and maybe that's something that Snyder Burnell also hasn't had. because the JPs are gone that would talk to the young guy. They say, Hey man, this is what's going on. I feel like you're losing some of that confidence. What's going on? Nico, he was with Obed all the time talking to him. Raul, when they would drive, he would drive them home and all these things. He'd be talking and talking to him off to the side. Some of that has been missing.
Speaker: And, and what whether it is that intensity, that fight, that craziness during training, because it's so competitive all the way to the, leadership and mentoring is the better word, mentoring to to the younger players. I feel like that's something that's missing a little bit.
Speaker: And, you know, so you can't force it. You can't, just create that. Look, Christian Roldan is a phenomenal player, probably absolutely one of the best in his position, but maybe he just doesn't have that necessarily. Maybe he can get that as he continues to, you know, develop and I'm not develop. I'm sorry. He continues to go in his trajectory of his career.
Speaker: Right. It's crazy. But yeah, no, in who he is as as a person, but I do feel like all of those little components is something that, Would be nice to see. It would be nice to see. And and I think Jovolic has the potential to bring some of that.
Speaker: And so, you know, hopefully that's he'll he'll continue to pay dividends. um Obviously, the Sounders going to be missing him after this game, which I just think puts more pressure on the Sounders to do well in this game. And we talked to Jordan Morris, who is likely the player who is going to fill in the So lets let's let's put the question out there. Is it?
Speaker: Because I don't know. I think that they're going to be forced to just, not forced, I think that Brian's going to go to what he had going for himself yeah earlier this year.
Speaker: You play Danny Mosavsky up top, you play Jordan Morris on the left and figure out what happens now. Now your depth is kind of hit because Rosario is out there scoring bangers. No, I'm kidding. It was just one, but you know, he's out there, you know, doing this thing ah ah in Europe. But so now how do you kind of frame it? I do think that it will be Danny to start off. Then when Danny gets tired, then you shift Jordan in and you can move things around. But,
Speaker: It will be difficult to ask this team to be at their best and and get points without their their top guy, man. I really hope Jovalich, of course, at least one before he goes. yeah So he goes out on ah on a high on a high. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. And I'm of two minds on what they should do when Jovalich is gone. On one hand, Morris seems like the... higher upside player.
Speaker: But on the other hand, if he's starting to play well as a winger, maybe you do just leave him out on the wing and you roll the dice with Danny Masovsky, who I don't think has played a minute since Jovulic got here.
Speaker: i don't think he has. I don't think he's even came off the bench. Yeah. ah So I don't know. yola Masovsky isn't suddenly an awful player. ah he has been not at his best. That's for sure.
Speaker: But i can see I can certainly see the argument for starting him and and keeping Morris on the wing. You have a little bit more depth on the wing, though. And so that means you' you're going be playing with your only two strikers on the field.
Speaker: It's difficult because that's exactly it. So if it's not working out with with Danny or or Jordan, then what do you put? there's not even the Paul Rothrock was the guy that's something that sometimes would get thrown up there. But beyond that... yeah It's ah it's not a it's not an ideal situation, that's for sure. yeah I guess maybe you wait maybe you call up Mark Bronick.
Speaker: and A name that we have not talked about in a while. Mark Bronick called up, maybe we we'll get a call up next week. That would be that would be ah actually a pretty smart thing to do, even if he's not... you know You're not necessarily plan on playing him, but at least have that player in your...
Speaker: In your arsenal, essentially. Yeah, and it's just about having the extra body. Somebody that could take some minutes. It's sometimes like pitching, right? yeah you You need to just bring in a reliever just to play a couple of innings. That's what you might have to do with a Mark Bonick. Not to do respect the kid, but I'm just saying if he comes in, be able to get some minutes early, and then you bring in Jordan, or then you bring in Danny. But you're going to have to do some long, long division to figure out how going to be able to manage Everyone's minutes up top. And again, knowing that you need a lot of points to to to get right. Now, the the opposition, it's not the the toughest. RSL, you know, they've they they've had to be in grades. Puerto Rico City hasn't been great, although they picked up some really good players. So maybe you can still manage that. But man, it's definitely definitely difficult. but Brian said it today. he was like like Yes. he He didn't seem, he didn't, he didn't seem pleased. he He seemed frustrated for sure. ah The last bit I wanted to talk about before we get out of here is this week, MLS released their roster profiles, which basically details two main things. One is where everyone, what part of the roster every player occupies. So like, for instance, it tells you if ah if someone's a DP or TAM,
Speaker: or a supplemental roster or a senior roster. And the only thing that we really learned as far as that goes is that Seba Gomez had been removed from the off roster player list, which we, if you've been paying attention, this is pretty in the weeds, but we knew had to be the case because he would have been limited to to seven games. He's now played more than seven games. So at some point he had been moved into the supplemental roster. Sounders have plenty of room.
Speaker: But the other more notable and more interesting thing was it also tells you how much unspent GAM each team has. The Sounders have like $1.9 million dollars in unspent GAM, which is a little less than we had thought. But this goes to Craig Weibel has told us multiple times...
Speaker: I know it looks like on paper we have a bunch of GAM, but in reality, a bunch of it's coming next year. So actually one of ah the friend of the of Sounder Heart, Armin Kofane, who runs a really good sub stack that looks at a lot of these sort of like in the weeds type things, and he's actually going to be writing a story for Sounder Heart about this specifically.
Speaker: But he estimated that the Sounders are going to have something like $7 million dollars in GAM next year. which is, i believe, the sixth most of any team in the league, ah just just going straight right off the bat.
Speaker: And that's, you know, they'll presumably be able to pick up some more. But that gives them a good start on the 2027 offseason. And in the meantime, the Sounders did have some unspent gam.
Speaker: It was, i want to say, the ninth or tenth most, which isn't to say... It's definitely not the most. There were some teams that had there was like three teams, I believe, that had more than $4 million dollars of unspent GAM this year, which seems a little ah a little crazy to leave that much in the chamber. Although one of them was St. Louis, surprisingly.
Speaker: And St. Louis managed to do a whole bunch of stuff. right They're using a lot of cash over there, too. Right, exactly. So, I don't know. does this Does that change at all the way that you think the Sounders should be going into 2027? I know there's two schools of thought as far as 27. One is that, look, it's a 14-game season. Who cares?
Speaker: But that also seems like an opportunity to get things right if you can get them right. Yeah, and you've got to lock in certain guys. There's some big decisions, as we've mentioned. You've got to figure out what it is that's going to happen next.
Speaker: to what I think is almost a certainty that when Yammer goes, you know, yeah is it going to be a Stu Reagan situation? Is it going to be Reagan and you got to go out there and get somebody else? Can you use some of that money to bring in experienced guy? So there are some question marks there that you might be able to fill in, but I'm with you to the point where you can,
Speaker: roll the dice and see what you have out of certain positions where you know you are either good till 2028 or you're good at the very least for next season all throughout 2027.
Speaker: But you really have to start figuring out those other big question marks. I think that there's a question mark next to Christian Rodan. I think yeah there's a question mark behind Christian Rodin in terms of who's going to be the guy if Christian can't go. Because you can't go into another season just figuring it out on the go like you did this year. You've got to really get out there and get a defensive presence at midfield.
Speaker: Can Hassani be that guy? All of those questions you've really got to figure out. Left-back depth, you you have to address it. Yeah. Fullback depth, period. Yeah. You have to address what's going to happen with the Rosario. Because there's a clause to bring him back in January.
Speaker: Do you bring him back or do you try to leave him out there? So there is a lot of other things that you can try to figure out. But I do think that to your point. That short 14 game season needs to be a. Big ass per season.
Speaker: for yeah the the big boy tournament, but don't underuse it. right Don't be afraid to to really go after it and and get guys, put them under fire, put their feet under fire make sure that see who's really going to be able to perform. Who's going to be able to be a guy that that needs to stay, that you need to keep.
Speaker: One of the things that we've said consistently is that every transfer window is an opportunity to improve. So you, I don't want, I don't think what they can do regardless is go into the 2027 off season, the before the sprint season yeah yeah and treat it like it's anything but an opportunity to get some players like They have ah most of, if you look at this, this roster profile, one of the other things that jumps out is that there's not a lot of players going out of contract at the end of 26. You have Yamar, you have Kim, and then you have a bunch of players who have options coming due that you could potentially move. But that doesn't mean that the Sounders don't have any flexibility. No.
Speaker: They, you know, they have the De Rosario loan. They have the ah Cody Baker loan, which is, i would imagine at this point is probably, he's gone. Yeah. ah Suka, no man. I am not expecting back. You have a lot of players, especially on the supplemental roster. You can move in and out. Ryan Saylor, I believe is on an option. Caden Clark's on an option. There is Nikola Petkovich is another player who they're have to make a choice on.
Speaker: I suspect that, you know, he was, I think it's notable that he's still out there training. is hard. Right. You got to give him credit. He's out there every every day. race out there So if they can get him on ah on a deep discount, look, I know people are probably tired of picking up ah of players coming off of injuries. But if you can get Pekovic for the right price, I still like him.
Speaker: i like that potential. But there's my point of bringing all this up is that they have some flexibility if they want to use it. ah You know, there's always trades that they can explore. ah You know, we, we know that they talked about potentially trading Jordan Morris this year.
Speaker: There's going to be all kinds of other players that come in and out. So I just hope that the centers do not approach 2027 season. as just another sort of chance to roll the roster over again. This is the chance to change the roster, and they need to start doing it in 2027 and not waiting until, know, 27, 28. No, I agree. And, you know, there are some guys that are interesting in Tacoma Defines. There are. I'd like to see, love Charlie Gaffney. He's a guy that I really like. Mark O'Neill, he has some grit. So maybe you figure out what you got there and see can come in. There's probably five or six players at Defiance who I think potentially have MLS potential. Yeah. I don't know how many of those going to be players I want to see starting for the Senators right Right, no, no, no. But yeah, I mean, there's definitely some players who have MLS potential. What I would like is maybe you spend a little bit more on guys that are going to be, if not starters, pretty close to it. And maybe some of those deeper depth guys, then you bring in some of those Tacoma Defiance guys. But I'm with you to the point where would like to at least see one or two players.
Speaker: to start off next year, especially if Yammer's gone and and, you know, yeah certain guys that are, might not coming back. You, you want to fill this position with full on proven players right off the bat. And again, I, I really do think that the midfield,
Speaker: I feel like, string yeah, yeah. I mean, I think that you could make a very good argument that they they need to bring in another winger. They need to probably bring in another center mid to at least compete. And they probably need another center back again.
Speaker: If Stu Hawkins can beat out a veteran center back, good for him, but make him beat out a real veteran. Like don't yeah just, we don't just hand the job or Jackson for that matter. Sure. Bring in another player who is going to, you know, like make maybe Jackson and Stu were competing for a spot. I don't know. Yeah. And we got to ask about the,
Speaker: the timeframe on Pedro. I mean, I don't want to, I mean, I don't want to touch. Yeah. I know what everybody's going to say. Stop talking about Pedro, but you know what? If, if he could be back, it'd be interesting to see when he might be able to get back. um Do you got to see what happens with Jesus? I feel like, yeah, hey he the neated numbers su is i forgot yeah I totally agree. Jesus is someone who ah I think still has the potential to be a very good player.
Speaker: i i don't think that he was ever in a position like, I would have loved to see him, get some extended run with you. Absolutely. Because I think they would have been a really good partnership.
Speaker: It's a kind of a bummer that we won't get to see a, that foursome of Morris Rusnak, Ferreira and you overage. Cause I think that had some potential. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, and you know, he's getting closer. I know that. I mean... And maybe we will see it. i don't know. maybe i Maybe we shouldn't write it off. I mean, Brian's talking playoffs. Right, exactly. hey Brian's talking playoffs. Who am I saying in the p playoffs? But, like, Yammer's closed. They said he wo they wanted him to travel, but maybe they were just they're going to be overcautious. And they're just not going to take him with. So, it's going to be nice bringing him in because...
Speaker: both you and I were at the 11 on 11, the scrimmage, and both Jackson and Yamar were going after Joe Roach. They were not going to do nothing. I mean... yeah Both ah probably not 100%, but they were crashing, they were going, they were not letting them do anything. So, you know, those two guys are probably kind of hungry and kind of willing to go and and show what they got going on. And then Jesus, I do hear that he's ahead of the 10-week line. So maybe maybe not after Colorado or ourselves, maybe by sporting Kansas City, you might be able to get some minutes on him because he's another guy that's been out there. And today he was actually with the group.
Speaker: He was no longer on his own. He was at least partial at training. Yeah. probably should asked. Well, I think I did ask, but I don't think Brian gave me a ah status on Ferreira, but it is a guy that I do think has been partial, and it'll be interesting how quickly he can get on, because that's another guy that's probably thinking, man, I kind of...
Speaker: got to get in here. Right. Yeah. There's a lot of happening. I don't want to get lost. don't want to get, want fall behind. Absolutely. Well, let's call that a show. Nico, once again, thanks for, for doing this.
Speaker: We are as a reminder, we now are on a, something like a schedule where we have a Monday live show and then we have no Sadiates. That's going to start coming out on Wednesdays. And then we have this show that's on Fridays.
Speaker: So it's a lot of content for you to she to get, at least two of those shows we're going to be putting on YouTube every week. We're going to be putting clips up. Uh, so if you are interested in seeing us, and even if you're not, if you just want to do us a solid, uh, subscribe to the YouTube page at center heart, uh, on YouTube, uh,
Speaker: Make sure you like this video as well. and ah And give us reviews on on ah the various platforms as well. Like if you want to give us a review on Spotify or on Apple or wherever else you're listening to podcasts. Yeah, in common and comment if you guys want us to talk about something specifically, if there's a segment you want to pitch. I mean, look, this is our show for you guys and you guys are huge part of it. You guys are in it. So yeah what why not give us some feedback? We love it. I do appreciate all the support and all the good comments, of positive reviews we've gotten on Mondays, you know, love the way that's working out. So we're going to keep pushing, providing new content. So excited for what's ahead here for Sandra Hart.
Speaker: All right, well, let's get out of here. This is No Sarriete as part of the Sandra Hart podcast network, and we will catch you next time.
Speaker: Let's go, and sounders.
