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Sounders Group Therapy (feat. Mark Kastner) - Ep. 25
46 Plays1 year ago
The Seattle Sounders are bad, so Ari, Noah and Mark try and figure out why while answering your burning questions. Lock in this one is a riot.
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Milestone
00:00:09
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? Welcome into episode 25 of Lobbing Scorchers. This is Ari Lillianwall. I got producer Noah here with me remotely. Noah, say what's up to the people.
00:00:22
Speaker
We made it. We did 25 episodes. Ari. Should we retire? It's a big milestone. I'm pretty, uh, I'm pretty happy with making it to 25. Looking forward to 26. Appreciate everyone as always for tuning in. We got a,
Seattle Sounders' Recent Game Overview
00:00:35
Speaker
we got a big show for you today. We've got our first ever returning guest in the history of lobbying score. Two times. It's a lot of, uh, a lot of milestones going on on this episode. We've got Mark Castner from sounder at heart.
00:00:47
Speaker
who was our first ever lobbying scorchers guest back on episode like nine or something. He's gonna be coming back to lay down some takes about the Seattle Sounders who we're gonna lead the show with them today. I said on episode 24 that my new policy was that we're not gonna lead with the Seattle Sounders until they score multiple goals in an MLS game. And they actually did that. They scored multiple goals in an MLS game at the San Jose earthquakes. They did not win the game. They lost the game.
00:01:16
Speaker
But they scored multiple goals, so we can lead the show with them. And I think it's good that we're leading the show with them, actually, despite the loss, because the discourse was hot after this game. I crowd sourced some questions on Twitter, and I got about 70 responses. So we're going to get to those later when we do our roundtable with Mark.
00:01:40
Speaker
There was, um, the takes were hot. Uh, a lot of people replied, which I appreciate. So we're not going to be able to get to every single one of them. Um, but I'm going to do our best to hit as many as possible. Um, and then we're going to jump around the league like we've been doing and talk about some other, some of the other results that went on around MLS. And
Ballard FC Match Experience
00:02:00
Speaker
then we're going to call it a rep for episode 25. But before we jump into the sounders and bring Mark in, um,
00:02:07
Speaker
No, I want to do a recap our experience at the Ballard FC US Open Cup match at Memorial Stadium. We attended Ballard FC versus Spokane Velocity the other night at Memorial. And it was a good time, man, wasn't it? The Ballard FC didn't pull out the dub, but the fashion in which
00:02:29
Speaker
they lost was pretty, it was entertaining. It was a pretty entertaining zero zero until the 96 minute and then Spokane velocity scored one of the sickest goals I've ever seen in person.
00:02:44
Speaker
it was insane yeah so uh 00 96 minute or whatever they send a corner kick into the mixer botched clearance by ballard fc and my guy comes flying in from out of nowhere with like a aerial scissor kick from almost outside the box he was just inside the box top bins
00:03:05
Speaker
What a goal. Um, but I think, you know, my main takeaway, that was my second ever Ballard FC game. And they really have it going on. Like they get like, you know, 1500, maybe like maybe 2000 people at their games. Um, and the atmosphere is live memorial.
00:03:26
Speaker
proved to be a fun venue for an open cup match. I thought, yeah, there were, there was 2,400 people there. So 2,400. Okay. Yeah. So that's more, I think, than they pack at Interbay. Yeah. Um, Interbay is more like 1500, I believe. So, um, despite the unfortunate result, uh, I really recommend hitting up Ballard FC games. Shout out, uh, Lamar Nagel and the ownership group that did for, um,
00:03:52
Speaker
for fourth division Sidemen, like it's a really like, not even that, you don't even need that qualifier. Like it's just a lively scene for any team. So yeah, good times at Baudevs Sea.
00:04:06
Speaker
Yeah. And it was, it was a pretty sick too. Cause, uh, ownership is even waiting in line for food, just like everybody else. So that was my one complaint is, uh, the taco stand that I was at, I spent about an hour waiting for my taco. We did. We did wait for an hour and then I got, I got sick, but it was not taco related. It was not taco related. To be fair to the taco stand, they were just, they were under a ton of pressure. They were under attack, incredibly backed up with their orders. I'll cut him some slack, but it was good though.
00:04:36
Speaker
But
Guest Segment: Mark Castner on Sounders' Struggles
00:04:37
Speaker
okay, let's dive into the Seattle Sounders, Noah, shall we? Let's do it. Let's bring in the legend. Yeah. So to supplement our Seattle Sounders covers today, like I said, we brought it on our first ever returning guest in Lobbins Gorgers history. Mark Kastner from Sounder at Heart, long time Seattle Sounders blogger slash, I don't know, Mark, is there another title that
00:05:05
Speaker
Anything more to your title that you want to add? Mark is muted. Mark is muted. That's a good bit. Yeah, man. I'm a blogger in the most like derogatory way. Well, you know, I don't mean it derogatorily. Um, thanks for joining the show. How are you doing then after last night's game? Uh,
00:05:28
Speaker
I'm like never
Sounders' Defensive Issues
00:05:29
Speaker
great because I have since moved to Minnesota and the games kick off super late. So I'm just in general pretty crabby when I have to watch the Sounders kick off at basically 10 p.m.
00:05:43
Speaker
And that last night, Saturday night, was not, just didn't put me in a good mood. Let's put it that way. Yeah, no, understandably. Seattle Sounders lose 3-2.
00:05:58
Speaker
at Paypal Park against the San Jose earthquakes. And, you know, out of all the negative results that they've taken so far this season, I mean, they're O2 and two. I think that was probably the most tilting out of all of them to date.
00:06:14
Speaker
Um, just in the way that it went down, you know, not necessarily that they lost, but how they lost. Um, they actually scored multiple goals in this game. Ruby DSPK, the PK merchants strike again, and a goal from open play guys, a goal from open play. Danny Musofsky is the one who finally scored it. They said it would never happen. Um, the millennial Walter Gog or Walton Goggins. Exactly. Um, so.
00:06:41
Speaker
There was that. But there were more injuries leading up to this game. So the lineup was really out there. There's a lot going on with this. Obed Vargas got a concussion in training leading up to this game. Leo Chu did something to his knee.
00:06:55
Speaker
leading up to this game. So they both were out of the lineup. You had Sota Kitty Hara and Danny Leyva in the double pivot. You had Christian Roldan moving from the right to the left wing. You had Dylan Tevez on the right in this 442 that they've been running with Jordan and Raul up top. I'll just lay down my first reaction when I saw that lineup graphic, which was like, you know, obviously,
00:07:20
Speaker
unfortunate and frustrating to have even more injuries in this sequence where it seems like everyone on the team is getting injured and all the most important players are getting injured. But, you know, we talked a lot on the show in the last couple of weeks about how, you know, if it's going to be kind of a slog and a grind like this through injury, the injury riddle stretch, I would rather see something like just different, a new wrinkle with the personnel. So,
00:07:47
Speaker
I didn't get any of the stuff I've been talking about with the starting line of graphic, but I think
00:07:55
Speaker
the soda kitty hardy and danny leva double pivot and uh dylan tevas on the right wing my reaction was like okay i'm i'm at least intrigued to watch this you know see how it goes i don't know if it's going to go especially well but at least it's like kind of a new curve ball to it that we hadn't seen yet so i was interested in it from that standpoint um but uh i think the unfortunate thing about this game is we've talked a lot
00:08:24
Speaker
with this team about the struggles on offense and how they can't score goals. But this team has been good defensively. They were elite defensively last year. And the defending in this game was pretty, it was criminal.
00:08:43
Speaker
It was criminal. You had two instances of utter defensive malpractice. The second goal that Seattle conceded came directly after the first goal that they conceded, almost on the next sequence of play. They let San Jose get out and transition for a really easy goal that was initially waved off, but then
00:09:09
Speaker
I think he was on side. He was on side. So that goal stands. And then after Danny Musofsky equalized in the 81st minute, they actually gave themselves a chance at pulling a result in this game. And they literally let
00:09:24
Speaker
San Jose score on the immediately on the ensuing kickoff above the sea scores that was off ski scored in the 81st minute above we see scored in the 82nd So anytime you have one sequence like that in a game, like I said defensive malpractice That's gonna be a tough film session They had two in this game and the second one that they conceded was to lose the game so
00:09:49
Speaker
I think that was the most frustrating thing for me is, uh, the defensive effort.
Critique on Sounders' Performance and Injuries
00:09:53
Speaker
I didn't think anyone on the back line covered themselves in glory. Uh, Jackson Reagan, Alex rolled on and knew who all made a pretty backbreaking critical mistakes in this game. I guess Yemar is the, is the one player on the back line who had an acceptable game, but everyone else that was tough and, uh,
00:10:13
Speaker
The result is 0, 2, and 2 last place in the West. See, I was off to the worst start in the league statistically. It's them and the Revs who are off to the worst statistical starts in the league. Always good to be compared with the Revs. It's not what you want right now. There was a lot of insult to injury going on in this game. I don't know how much of this you guys saw.
00:10:39
Speaker
Nicholas Ledero scored a free kick banger for Orlando city SC, uh, slam and Sam at dinner on is hosting his own personal cook show for St. Louis city SC every week. He has 10 goals and 1300 MLS minutes, three goal contributions this year. And, uh, Brad Smith scored in 96 minute game winner for the Houston dynamo. Um, that looked like a charity goal though. That was pretty funny that they just kind of let him walk, walk to score that one.
00:11:05
Speaker
Hey, I mean, I didn't know left backs were allowed to score. Yeah, not one. Alex Roldan Alex Roldan got called Alex Rodriguez on the broadcast. So shout out to Alex Rodriguez. Hey, broad baby. They are playing like the Mariners. So you get a you get a run a play goal and a Cody Baker assist. I wanted to note that that was a really great assist. But. Zero two and two. So with that,
00:11:36
Speaker
I'll bring our little round table in to air some grievances. Mark, let's start with you since you're our first ever returning guest in Robin Scorcher's history. I just laid the recap down of what took place. Hit me with your just general reactions and thoughts first on this game and then the general state of the team. How are you feeling? Yeah, I think that's the dumbest I've seen the Sounders play.
00:12:04
Speaker
in a very, very long time. I was kind of trying to like wrap my memory. And it's been half a decade at least. That actually might be the dumbest I've seen the Sounders play under Brian Spencer. Because like, before that you have like really early era kind of Sounders and MLS and just to kind of like basically a different league at that point.
00:12:32
Speaker
It was just like, I can handle the sounders being bad. I'm fine with that. They are missing a lot of very good players still. And then even the very good, what I would say are the good players that can play right now either can't start or playing out of position or are just not like totally healthy themselves. So I can kind of weather stuff like that. I'm fine with that. As long as I can kind of see a vision
00:13:02
Speaker
But there's just nothing, nothing there for me right now. There are very few positives. I would say, as you kind of called out in an MLS, when you have to start your, let's say fourth and fifth choice center central midfielders, I thought you could argue, you could probably argue
00:13:27
Speaker
over the course of the 90 minutes, those guys are probably in the conversation for Man of the Match. I thought they played really well. Danny Leyva, in particular, who a year ago was loaned out and probably were like, hey, this is the end of his Sounders career. But he stepped in and played really well. You could probably make the case that that performance last night was better than anything Josh Atencio and Open Fargus has done all season. So that's...
00:13:55
Speaker
That's a bright spot, I guess. But I hate when teams make dumb mistakes. I'm fine getting beat in general. Like, hey, it's MLS. It's still March. You can lose some games, and it doesn't really matter.
00:14:12
Speaker
But just to kill yourself like that is just so stupid. And that's the biggest frustration is you can see that there are partnerships all across the field that just don't trust each other anymore. And that's what really bums me out. So the third goal, San Jose,
00:14:38
Speaker
I guess you could even talk about the second and third goal having kind of the same ethos of mistake where you have, you know, it's off of a restart. Yeah, sure. But you have Jackson Reagan gambling, essentially, which he's allowed to do as kind of the like the last line of defense in this setup.
00:15:04
Speaker
And then you have new who who just doesn't do anything in support. Like I tweeted out a screenshot this morning of where new who was where he was on the field for the for the third San Jose goal. And there are midfielders and wide midfielders further back on defense on a San Jose restart than he was. And it's like, what? What are we like, what are we trying to do here?
00:15:33
Speaker
Like to go all like Taylor Twelman, like what, what are we doing? What's the like thing we're trying to do other than just kind of weather the storm of injuries? And there's nothing you can build on right now. There's nothing.
00:15:50
Speaker
And that's like frustrating as hell. And when you have scab referees that bail you out, like that penalty that the Sounders got last night, you have to take those opportunities and turn them into something. Yeah. And they just don't do that. When when Austin F.C. shows up in Seattle and has like no interest getting across
00:16:12
Speaker
midfield, you have like, you have good enough players, you have enough experience to kind of turn this into something. And they just are not taking the opportunities given to them. And they're playing stupid. So that's why I'm so frustrated.
00:16:38
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Soundwork Heart podcast network, which now includes No Sonietes, Lobbing Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild. We've been independent since August of 2023.
00:16:48
Speaker
need your
Promotion: Sounder at Heart Podcast
00:16:49
Speaker
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00:17:11
Speaker
most notably entry into our members only discord where the smartest funniest and most engaged commenters share their thoughts and ideas to find out more just visit center at heart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner thanks for listening yeah i mean uh yeah that was a good the penalty kick that rude yes
00:17:40
Speaker
got awarded. I mean, you always kind of look at these things like, okay, how would I react if that were the situation reverse? And I think Sounders fans would rightfully be livid if like Jackson Reagan conceded that penalty or Yeymar conceded that penalty. Because it's just like,
00:18:01
Speaker
You could, you could make an argument, but you just never see that thing called. And this is the same referee who hasn't worked since the first week of the season when Miami played LA because he, he goofed up and sent, sent, was it Markie Delgado? Markie Delgado. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like, so this is a, this is one of the scab referees that isn't even good enough to referee every week. So it's like, I don't know.
00:18:29
Speaker
There are 10,000 things I'd rather talk about than the referee, but again, given the opportunity.
00:18:35
Speaker
you get a soft penalty, you get a moment where Raul Rui Diaz can do the only thing he seemingly can do right now in the score penalty, which is fine. You gotta,
Sounders' Game Management Issues
00:18:48
Speaker
like I said, you gotta take the opportunities when they come. And then you work yourself into a situation where you do equalize against, frankly, a bad team. San Jose is not good. And the fact that they've beaten the Sounders three times in a row is,
00:19:05
Speaker
Uh, I don't know if alarm bell should be going off, but like really hard conversations in the mirror should be happening when that happens. They haven't beaten San Jose and say they can't beat us. They can't. Yeah. And yeah, you get, you get bogey teams or whatever, but like, that's why, that's why I kind of come back to like, give me something to work with here. And there's nothing, there's nothing there.
00:19:32
Speaker
You know, okay. I mean, I did think the fact that Cody Baker and Danny Musofsky were the ones who finally combined to score the open play goal, you know, it's like, yeah, see, like, when you're in a situation like this, sometimes when you give guys a shot, they'll reward you for it. So I guess, I don't know if that's something to build on, but it was something that was nice to see. But I mean, just kind of going back to
00:19:58
Speaker
some of the stuff that you were talking about. Two out of the three concessions in this game, it's criminal. That can't happen immediately after a concession and then immediately after an equalizer, especially immediately after an equalizer. When you get an equalizer in the 81st minute, that's where
00:20:22
Speaker
some of the game management stuff that we talked about with this team last year comes into play. And to let them immediately go down the field on the ensuing kickoff and get the game-winning goal in the 82nd minute when you scored the equalizer in the 81st. I mean, watching that was just incredibly frustrating.
00:20:51
Speaker
Let's get into some questions from the audience. But before we do that, Noah, do you have any postgame takes, thoughts, or reactions on that game or on the state of the team?
00:21:06
Speaker
I feel like Mark pretty much covered how I was feeling too, but it's it's a sad sight to see. Yeah, like I think I think probably when we get into the questions here, we'll we'll shed some more light. But it seems I feel I'll start with the positive for me was I was.
00:21:24
Speaker
ecstatic to see a lineup like this, not because I was excited that we were playing like fifth, sixth string positional players, but I was excited that Brian was finally actually taking a chance on some of these players that we've seen really good flashes from.
00:21:42
Speaker
And some not good flashes from but like getting Soto back seeing seeing him play seeing Danny Leyva play really well was really nice Well, there's just personally for them as players or you know, maybe they can they can fit into a role in the team That would be awesome. I think Danny Leyva played better than Obed has played it Basically the entire time and I think that's something that you should recognize and probably slot him in and
00:22:08
Speaker
I thought Cody Baker was the best defender on the field other than Yeymar. I mean, it's like without a question. He was the photo that Mark had posted the screenshot of the counter attack goal right after the game winning goal for San Jose. He's right back in there with the defense.
00:22:30
Speaker
and knew who is literally 800 miles. He left the stadium. He would rather leave the
Lineup Choices and Strategy Discussion
00:22:37
Speaker
stadium and go get a bag of chips than defend. So I don't know. I mean, there were positives and then the negatives are just like, holy shit, guys, we finally did it. We scored two goals and we still lost, which we said was going to happen. We said that the San Jose team is so shit and yet we're still not going to win this game.
00:22:54
Speaker
So, I don't know. It's disappointing and I'm frustrated, but I also don't know, like, what would fix this? I don't know. And I don't think Brian knows either. I don't think anyone on the team knows. I think the easiest answer is simply getting healthier, but, you know... Maybe. There's no, yeah, exactly. Like, it's 50-50 on...
00:23:21
Speaker
like how much of an impact in a positive direction getting these guys back is going to have. I think that like the sounders have been like in situations like this before. You know, it's it's the meme, right? The sounders start slow. So they're obviously going to win MLS Cup this year because that is what they kind of do. But
00:23:47
Speaker
what like what gives me sort of like pause about this situation versus like the bad stretches they had last season or even seasons before that um even 2022 where like that was kind of like quote unquote rock bottom when they didn't make the playoffs like that squad was like decimated towards the end but you could see like
00:24:09
Speaker
they were buying
Team Trust and Strategy Concerns
00:24:11
Speaker
themselves time, like getting draws, getting draws, getting clean sheets. It's like, even through like last season, they like, you just gotta buy yourself time. And the reason why I'm so frustrated with how stupid they're playing is like, you're like, you're gambling on nothing here. Like, I'm not, I don't play poker, but I know like, if you got like,
00:24:41
Speaker
unsuited low number cards. You probably shouldn't play it at hand. And it's just like time and time and time and time again this season. They're trying to buy themselves time and they're just like coming up empty time and time again because they're just doing stupid things.
00:24:59
Speaker
And it's like, okay, yeah, this team will get healthy. The West is bad. Like they'll still probably make the playoffs. Like Kansas city made the playoffs last year and they didn't win a game for like 10 games, like 50 weeks or whatever. And it's like, I'm not like, I'm not really worried like long-term, but you've got to get like, I mean, maybe I am, you know, like I didn't come into the season expecting this team to compete for a supporter shield. So it's like.
00:25:30
Speaker
all I really care about is like having like some consistency to build on. And there's just nothing, there's nothing there. And the, and the, the biggest frustration is like in times like this, you see, you start seeing like partnerships form, like Noah and I were texting before the game and I was like, I'm so excited to see new who play with a different
00:25:52
Speaker
left midfielder because that's clearly like a partnership this season that just hasn't worked or ever really. So like you can see how like how Christian Rodin plays in that position and how new who plays at left back, you could see something build upon there. Nothing, you know, you can you can see how theoretically, you know, I guess we've seen it for four games. It not really work, but you can see how Raoul and Morris
00:26:22
Speaker
could have like a decent strike partnership, not working. You can see how Jackson Reagan and Yeymar are like an elite center back pairing in MLS, not happening. So there's just nothing to build on right now, nothing. And you got to try something different, but
00:26:46
Speaker
Spencer doesn't, doesn't want to, doesn't seem like he wants to do that. He said in his post post game press conference, it's not time to threaten people with their starting positions, which I get, I get because like, yeah, nobody's healthy. You know, how are you supposed to do your job? If like job hollow isn't playing where he's playing, but it's like, okay, everybody's going to get healthy. This team will probably go on like a decent run.
00:27:14
Speaker
they'll finish like second through seventh in the West and the playoffs or the playoffs, that's whatever. But it's like, you gotta figure out what you have. And if you're just not, if you're just like, if you're throwing these young players into like low percentile situations, like for instance, Cody Baker subs on and he has to play like three different positions all at once. And he does a good job doing that, but you don't want
00:27:44
Speaker
You don't want to build on a young kid having to do stuff like that. You want to bring a kid into a structure. That's why Obed Vargas played so well when he first came into the team. There was a very clear definition of what this 16-year-old is supposed to do in this team. And he shined on it.
00:28:06
Speaker
I saw tweets last night that were like, oh, I'm not seeing what people like in Paul Rothrock. And it's like, what is he supposed to do in this situation? What formation are they even playing? What is he supposed to do? I saw you and Jeremiah arguing over what position you guys were, who they were actually, what they were actually playing. I was just happy to see Paul Rothrock finally get on the field. We've been advocating for that for multiple weeks now. And my guy hasn't been able to get any minutes.
00:28:35
Speaker
And so when you bring, like I wrote about this in my column last week, like it's not just that worse players are playing for the Sounders right now. They're, they're, they are. Abstentively worst players, right? Like Dylan Tevez is not as good as Christian Roldan would be in that position. He can do a fine job, but like you're getting worse, but you're also moving good players out of their best position. So they're also getting worse.
00:29:05
Speaker
The 4-4-2 is a different formation than they've played for a decade. So it's like, okay, as a player, you're thinking just that little bit more.
00:29:19
Speaker
you're just getting worse everywhere. I think we should jump into the questions here quickly because this all will piggyback off of this. Yeah, I was going to say it's a good segue. Thank you to everyone who submitted these. Like I said, we're going to try and hit as many as possible. But before we dive into the individual ones, I got a lot of
00:29:43
Speaker
questions that
Brian Schmetzer's Role and Fan Frustration
00:29:44
Speaker
we're basically expressing the same sentiment. So I have them listed out here and we're just, we're going to hit those first as more like broad questions that a lot of people were asking. And then we're going to, we're going to dive into some other ones. But okay. So the first, the first one was a lot of people are wondering how much heat is on Schmetz right now. You know, it's been,
00:30:10
Speaker
a very not good start to the season. You could go back to last year to point to the timeframe in which this team has struggled, particularly on offense. Oh, two and two right now last in the West. Schmetz is one of the winningest coaches in MLS history. He's a Seattle legend, but people are, a lot of people were in my mentions wondering how much he is on him and not just necessarily just him, but the coaching staff in general.
00:30:40
Speaker
I'll give my take first, which is that I don't know how you guys feel about this, but I'm kind of, in general, someone who's a little bit agnostic, I guess, for lack of a better word, on the true needle moving impact that a coach really has. And what I mean by that is like in this situation, I really don't know and I'm skeptical that given where they're at with the personnel and the injuries and everything else,
00:31:10
Speaker
Like, you could put a new coach in, and that's fine, but I'm skeptical that it's really gonna change anything. And I think the reason that Schmetz has the leash that he does is, you know, you build equity through winning, and he's got a couple of MLS cups, he's got CONCACAF Champions Cup, which I realize you can only hang on to those things for so long, but
00:31:41
Speaker
That's the reason he has the equity that he does is because of the trophies that he's put in the cabinet and That is something to take into account when you're evaluating it at the same time, you know Ziggy was a great coach here and accomplished a heck of a lot here. But by the end of his tenure It had a feeling that
00:32:06
Speaker
new blood was needed and that era had kind of run its course. I understand why people are asking that question about this era, especially coming off performance like the one that we saw last night. So I don't know, I'm kind of of two minds on it. Mark, how do you feel about that? Yeah, I mean, I think just like,
00:32:35
Speaker
on the face value, you shouldn't fire a coach in March in MLS. You just shouldn't. That's really stupid. That just like kind of would compound a lot of different things. I do think that like people are frustrated, obviously. You guys just listened to me rant for like 15 minutes about how frustrated I am.
00:33:03
Speaker
I don't want to like dismiss any emotion and really kind of like your, your kind of average fan is like, well, things aren't going well. The coach should change. So things can go well. That's like a very simple sports equation. Um, and we, we have an example of that as sounders fans, like Ziggy wasn't going well. We changed the coach, Brian changed things, so on and so forth.
00:33:30
Speaker
But I do think there are very healthy and right criticisms that Spencer should be receiving right now. And one of them is a personnel question, which we kind of already covered. But I don't think people really are kind of clocking what actually happened last season and how much credit he deserves for
00:33:59
Speaker
what was happening last season. So just to remind you guys, our listeners, like, cause I know you two already know this, but like Nicholas Lidero kind of fell off a cliff in terms of form last season. And then Raul Rui Diaz was like not healthy at all.
00:34:19
Speaker
And that team last year was still built on like, those two guys have to be good for this team to be good. And they obviously didn't score enough goals and that kind of came to fruition in the playoffs and they got knocked out by LAFC, yada, yada, yada, yada. But like, through the start of, you know, the first like 10 games or whatever last season, the Sounders were like boat racing teams and then just everything,
00:34:47
Speaker
fell off a cliff, like creatively and offensively. So Smetzer kind of changed the team to just be like a really stout defensive team, and they were.
00:35:01
Speaker
That's really hard to do in the middle of the season, because you kind of come into a season with a plan, which we're seeing right now. And if that plan doesn't really work, things don't really work. That's just kind of how MLS goes. So last season, I think he deserves a lot of credit for kind of like switching what was going on and like kind of riding that ship.
00:35:24
Speaker
So, you know, like, yeah, I agree with you. Like changing the coach doesn't really do what I think fans think, think it does, like most of the time, especially in the middle of the season and especially at the start of a season. So I think you kind of just like.
00:35:45
Speaker
hope things get a little bit better this season. And then maybe, yeah, maybe you should have that conversation at the end of this season, whether it's maybe Brian stays as the head coach, but maybe like, you got to look at like, are the assistants doing what they're doing? Should like, should something there change? Is this roster really constructed in the way that like, it should be? Like what?
00:36:10
Speaker
I just think there's like, there's a broader, more nuanced conversation that isn't just, Spencer's bad, so things should. Right. So that actually segues into another one of the big questions that I got, which is how much heat should be on Craig Wibes for the, or Craig Wibes, I always call him Wibes, Craig Wibes. How much heat should
Criticism of Roster Decisions
00:36:29
Speaker
be on Craig Wibes for, you know, how much of this is to blame on the roster construction, which I think,
00:36:38
Speaker
is another worthwhile and valid question to ask. I think it is still early in the Craig Wibes era to be fully assessing his body of work. He hasn't had really enough transfer windows to make a definitive evaluation on his tenure, I don't think, but I think there are
00:37:00
Speaker
Uh, there are at least two moves off to the top of my head that I, uh, that I could name that deserve the scrutiny that they're getting. And you guys can tell me if I'm missing any. Um, but the first one that comes to mind is the a bear signing. Um, one point, whatever million of gambling.
00:37:17
Speaker
for a bear to be about the backup forward. You were banking on him at least matching the form that he showed at NYCFC where he was a provenly consistent goal scorer in the league. And that was a bust last year that you got pretty much no production out of that roster spot. The other one mean
00:37:39
Speaker
We're on the beat every week, but the slam and slam dinner on trade has backfired. Craig Weibs has given the reasoning behind why he felt like that trade had to happen, given the roster rules that you're working under in MLS, but the fact remains,
00:37:58
Speaker
Same with dinner on, I have the stats pulled up right here. 10 goals, two assists in 1362 minutes. Two goals, one assist in 281 minutes this year in three starts. And it's also like when I watch him play, like
00:38:16
Speaker
He's producing, but he's also just like exactly the type of player that the sounders can really use. Just a beast of a physically imposing number nine. He's bawling out and they traded him for a very small amount of game. So those are the moves that come to mind to me when I'm evaluating Craig Webb's
00:38:46
Speaker
early on in his tenure year. And they're both frustrating to think about. Mainly the Slam and Sam one, man. That one, I get why that's grinding people's gears. Can I push back on that a little bit? Yeah. If Slam and Sam's doing what he's doing for St. Louis for the Sounders, that would be ideal.
00:39:13
Speaker
But the coach just didn't rate him. So they had to, and they had to make a move with where the roster was at at that time to get kind of compliant and stuff. Yeah. And I get that. And that just ha like, that just happens, you know, like that. How many times an MLS have we seen like a guy like not be contributing, get traded, and then he's good because he's in a different scenario. He's in a different.
00:39:42
Speaker
situation. He's got a different coach, different formations, style play, everything. I do kind of think you just got to kind of take that one on the chin and just be like, yeah. But I don't think if he's playing, if he's still on the sounders,
00:39:58
Speaker
I don't think he's doing what he's doing.
00:40:15
Speaker
but It is I'm telling I just for me personally when I look up every week and he scored another MLS goal in the fashion that he's doing it Well, at least he was at least he was bad this weekend. I Mean, I didn't watch it. I didn't watch a lot of that game but he he was he was just Absolutely balling out to start the season and I think he has cooled down a little bit but you know, it's more production than
00:40:44
Speaker
The sounders have gotten out of their backup nine in
00:40:48
Speaker
two weeks to start the season than they've gotten in like the last year, you know? Yeah. And it should be said like St. Louis traded for him and then also loaned him out. So it wasn't like it happened straight away. Like he St. Louis traded for him. He went on loan to San Antonio. Yeah. And then they kind of had an injury situation where they had to recall him. And then he just kind of comes in and starts banging in goals. So, yeah, it would be nice if he was banging in goals for the Sounders instead of
00:41:18
Speaker
of an expansion team, but that's just kind of when you have to take on a chin. The one Craig Weibull thing, I guess it's two things for me is I don't know if people like totally realize the situation in which Garth kind of left this roster. You know, at the time Garth Lagerweil like he was really good at like telling
00:41:46
Speaker
telling you
Impact of Aging Roster
00:41:47
Speaker
like bullshit, basically. But in order to win Champions League, he had to like mortgage the future. So he's sold out, sold out. Yeah. And it's worth it. Still, I don't want to like say anything. But when you're in a position like that, where you've got a guy like Garth Lagerwey mortgage, you know, putting all of those chips in that basket, all those eggs in that basket or whatever.
00:42:13
Speaker
He's also the one that knows how to kind of figure out how to get out of that situation. And then he just took off. So this roster was old and dysfunctional when Garth Lagerweil left. Maybe he makes it better if he sticks around, but Craig Weibel is the one that has to kind of take over a pretty raw deal, to be honest with you.
00:42:36
Speaker
And he's just been like conservative in nature, which is fine. I don't know. I don't think anybody really knows enough to like say at this point, like what is good and what isn't bad. But the thing that really frustrates me is this like Ariaga situation where you've had three transfer windows at this point to trade him. When you have people like Tom Bogart
00:43:05
Speaker
being out there and being like, yeah, they could probably get 800 K and allocation money for this guy. And I don't think that's Tom just like guessing. I'm sure he's heard like, yeah, you know, teams have kicked the tire on him that, you know, for instance, like Austin last year, they had like nine center backs injured and we're basically like begging. I don't know what the offer ended up being, but like.
00:43:28
Speaker
You do kind of have to like offset your else a little bit and you could probably recruit most of the a bear trade with trading Ariaga this off season. And they just didn't, they brought in two center backs to replace him and he's still playing. And it's like, what are you waiting for? Like, really? Like, yeah, maybe you're not going to get the deal you really want for him, which is like maybe a million, but
00:43:58
Speaker
What kind of message are you sending to the player when he's clearly the fourth choice? He's on a pretty high salary, especially for that type of depth piece. You brought in a guy, Nathan, who is more versatile and frankly better than him to be your kind of third choice. So what kind of message does that send to the team? That just like, oh, this guy is just going to be here.
00:44:25
Speaker
Yeah, no, I think that's a that's a good shout. You know, like why have Nathan and Ariaga on the roster? I don't know. That's what I felt like. That's the problem, too, is it's less of a Craig Wabs, not not like, yes, he was put in such a shit situation when he got here. I was like, all
Concerns Over Player Trades
00:44:42
Speaker
right, let me give him some time. But then the inaction that is
00:44:45
Speaker
Seem seemingly happened It's been frustrating, you know even not moving leo chew because you're getting you know 200k less than you paid for him or what you know, whatever the situation is like He's he's he's good. But like he's you're what are we gonna do when Pedro de la Vega is back?
00:45:04
Speaker
how is that going to fit in with leo chew and all this other stuff like what are you going to move them like i don't understand not there's no forward thinking or it's like let's let's hoard all of these pieces until we need them and then never be able to do when they do play they're just not yeah exactly it doesn't make any sense it should be said like the reporting around the leo chew thing is not
00:45:31
Speaker
solid. It's pretty shaky. Yeah. So like we, there's no way of knowing like what actually kind of happened there. Um, as far as I know, there was like no formal, like official offer for him. So like, you can't take an offer that doesn't exist, but there probably have been four, like formal and official offers for Ariaga that they've just rebuffed instantly. And that that's the one that's kind of like,
00:46:00
Speaker
It's not just like waiting for a team to come in with an offer. Like you can actively shop players. Like Garth was so good at that. Like if he needed just that 10% extra, he could go find it. And I don't get the sense that Craig Weibel is active in that sense. And that kind of bums me out. Yeah, no, fair enough.
00:46:29
Speaker
A lot of people had takes on lineup and personnel changes that they would make. So I had a couple of those and then know we can dive into a few of the other questions that we got. But the two biggest ones that I got were, should Jackson Reagan be benched? Should Jordan Morris be benched? So I'll just give my take on those two real quick and then you guys can tell me what you think.
00:46:52
Speaker
Um, Jackson Reagan, I would be cognizant of recency bias on that one. I know he hasn't had a good last couple of games, but this is still a CB. That was a weekend, week out starter for, uh, one of the best defenses in MLS last year. He was starting champions league games. Um,
00:47:13
Speaker
He showed a lot of upside, I think, in terms of his 1v1 defending, and particularly his long passing. So I don't know. I try not to judge a player off just the most recent couple of games that have happened. I try and look at the full body of work. So that would be my thought on Jackson Reagan. I think Jordan is the more interesting one.
00:47:38
Speaker
You could say a similar thing in that he's a proven MLS attacker. He's been very productive throughout his career. He's been a guy that has shown he can score you double digit MLS goals in a season.
00:47:52
Speaker
when you're struggling on offense as much as this team is, I think it's fair to look at any player's role in the attack right now. And then
Jordan Morris' Role Discussion
00:48:02
Speaker
when you see the open play goal finally come and it's Danny Musofsky who's scoring it, I mean, you know, I think there could be something to the idea that trying Jordan as a super sub for a game or two
00:48:18
Speaker
could be a good idea. I'm not saying that it's for sure a good idea, but it's worth talking about. So those are how I see those two situations. What are you guys thoughts, Jackson, Reagan, Jordan Morris? Yeah, I would. I don't think Jackson should be benched. I think that he is often at the scene of the crime just because of the way this defensive structure is he's the last one there. And so it's like,
00:48:46
Speaker
Yeah, if other people are out of position, other people make mistakes, he's having to do a slide tackle at the edge of his box and he gets roasted. But that's just kind of like, I think says how much trust this coaching staff has in him to be there in those situations. And those just aren't coming off, unfortunately. So I don't think you should.
00:49:10
Speaker
bench arguably your best defender just because everything else around him is dysfunctional because that just is going to make things worse. And it's going to like really ruin his confidence, I think. On the flip side, I think with attackers that aren't informed, it's the complete opposite because you can tell a totally different story to that guy, for instance, Jordan Morris.
00:49:33
Speaker
I don't think he works in the way that this formation is going. And like you said, the only open play goal that the Sounders have scored this year came from his backup. I will say, I thought Jordan made a very intelligent run to kind of open that space at the back post for Danny. But sure, I think take Morris out. You tell the story of like, hey, we're going to
00:50:00
Speaker
bringing you on in the 60th minute after, you know, we've pressed the hell out of this back line and, you know, we're going to go with like a really intense young lineup and then you're the one that gets to come in and, and get all the glory and score the goal that wins the game. And so I think, I think there's like a, there's a narrative there you can sell the player. Um,
00:50:22
Speaker
So yeah, I mean, like I said earlier, nothing's working right now, so everything should be on the table, particularly like in an attacking sense. And then maybe you build more confidence into the player that when things do come back to like full health, and he is playing in front of an attacking band of De La Vega, Rusnak, and Christian Le Don,
00:50:50
Speaker
maybe he does have the confidence and the kind of like, like belief in himself after kind of scoring a couple of goals off the bench. So yeah, I would, I mean, I think, I think there's this like, just like really cut and dry, like dichotomy people make when, when you're talking about benching a player where it's like, you're either a starter or get ready to learn USL buddy. Where I just don't think that exists with like particularly attacking players. I think you can kind of like,
00:51:19
Speaker
bring them out of the heat a little bit and then like help them rebuild their confidence.
00:51:25
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with Mark there a lot because I like Jackson Reagan a lot. And it's not just because he is a big 10 legend. He's he works hard. Yeah, go blue. Right. He works hard. He covers
Player Performance Analysis
00:51:42
Speaker
a lot of mistakes for a lot of people. And I think the majority of his showings have been incredibly good. And yeah, he does end up at the scene of the crime. He ends up
00:51:52
Speaker
he ends up just let's let's be honest he ends up covering new who's mistakes a lot he ends up covering you know other wingbags mistakes a lot and if yeah if you pull him his confidence is i mean maybe maybe he's strong strong-headed and you know a real michigan man but
00:52:11
Speaker
i wouldn't i wouldn't do that when we've seen his partnership with yamar is really good and yamar just getting back switching up the defense that has just been really good but also is now randomly faulty it's yeah it's recency bias it's bad it's it's a dumb
00:52:28
Speaker
I don't even think like polling Jordan Morris is the issue. I think his position is the issue or at least his position in this formation. Me and Mark talked about it a lot. We argued about it quite a bit. I think that he's in this situation in this formation as a dual nine. He doesn't work.
00:52:48
Speaker
He doesn't work. Him and Raoul don't communicate well in that situation. But you could see once Danny Musofsky came on and he kind of slotted into more of a winger position. I don't even really know what position he was playing to be honest. I don't think anyone knew what position they were playing at the end there.
00:53:06
Speaker
Um, but he, he looked, he looked more comfortable. He looked more confident and he was actually, like Mark said, he was creating space. He was playing like the player that we know he can be. So I don't even think Jordan is the problem with the finishing. I just think that it's like,
00:53:28
Speaker
Again, we're in a formation that no one knows how to play in. And he's already in a new formation, but now also in a dual nine position where he has to account for Raoul who. That's a whole nother thing to learn and a whole nother complexity to add. So I'm not a bench either of those people. Did they frustrate me last night? Yeah, a little bit, but like, I don't think the game was lost because of those two players.
00:53:56
Speaker
Good points. Good points. Noah, do you have a few of the other questions pulled up and we can try and do some quick hitters on these and then get into the around the league stuff. And before we get out of here, that sound good. Yeah, let's do it. I'm going to rip off this first one quick from Mikey. Should we expect a Jurassic upgrade in play when all the starters are healthy and on the field? Yeah, I mean, I do. I do think so. Like we're still talking about Shao Paulo and Albert Rusnak.
00:54:26
Speaker
to name the two most prominent players who have barely played it all this year. Russnak's been working his way back in. But yeah, I think with Zhao Paolo in particular, like in the midst of the form that Seattle has been in through this start of the season here, you can kind of lose sight of the type of impact
00:54:47
Speaker
that JP has on games. And the thing about JP is that he brings so much on both sides of the ball, defense and attack, and controlling the tempo of games. His long passing, I think, is going to be really helpful. So if it doesn't look better when JP and Rusnak get back, we're going to be having some even more tough conversations. Yeah, absolutely.
00:55:18
Speaker
I think Joe Paul is the type of player that makes every player 20% better. And that's just no, like, no question to me that they'll be better if he, if he's playing.
00:55:31
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's hard to be patient, but especially as a Sanders fan, we're not we're not used to being patient. But I think that I agree with that. It's it's it's not time to smash the burn everything down bill just yet. No, please make Brian's insistence on new who makes sense. I can't understand how he is so bad at covering his back post. Toss that one to Ari. Make it make sense.
00:55:59
Speaker
You just don't have a heck of a lot of options right now, but I agree that I want to see more Cody Baker. I agree that, um, the tactics that they've been running this season with new, who has the starting left back, it's pretty clear that they haven't been working. So I'm all for the Cody Baker left back idea, especially because playing it right back last night, he put in a dime. So I think the guys that are performing should be rewarded. And, um,
00:56:30
Speaker
I'm not gonna argue with anybody that wants to see more Cody Baker at left back.
00:56:48
Speaker
it is a little bit baffling at this point I'm not sure what clearly something in training is like you know Ari always says something in training is telling them that knew who's the right choice but uh I think it's time to watch some game film maybe do a little breakdown bring in Mark Kasner and maybe you might change your mind that's all I got to say
00:57:08
Speaker
Not saying it now, but what does the team have to do as a whole for it to be time for Schmetz to leave? Where is the bar? I know we touched on this quickly, but I want to know what the bar would be for each of you. I think that if you go through the rest of this season with JP and with Rusnak and ideally at some point Pedro de la Vega healthy and you still find yourself in the kind of
00:57:36
Speaker
middling 1.4 to 1.6 points per game teams. I think that's the bar for when you're really going to have to talk about that. Yeah, I think there. I think we're looking at 2016, but exponentially worse to get rid of him during the season.
00:58:03
Speaker
I like, cause there are, there are things outside of his control. I've already kind of talked about what is in his control, but you can't, it's just not all on him. I don't think so. You give him probably the rest of the season and then if like they miss the playoffs, then you're probably like, well, that's, that's two times in three years. That's unacceptable. So.
00:58:32
Speaker
Yeah, I would be reluctant to just swing the, swing the ax so quickly. Like, I mean, it's also dependent on what's the coaching market. Who are you going to bring in to replace him? Like, you know, I think there's a lot of variables to firing a coach that people don't really think about other than let's kick him. I don't know what my bar is. I don't, I don't want him gone. Honestly, I don't want him gone. I don't think that I don't think he's a, I think maybe being, being hard headed has been a little bit of a problem, but I think people that want to, that people that want to coaching change,
00:59:03
Speaker
right
Future of Schmetzer's Coaching Role
00:59:04
Speaker
now or this season. That is a vibe that I don't think people really kind of have truly clocked.
00:59:17
Speaker
You don't want to do that right now, to be honest with you. Yeah. No, that's, that's melting down. So a team that's already melting down from naves shadow naves, uh, going back to 2024 with three highly paid center backs, only one of which is a starter and no backup central playmaker. Is that negligent? It's a good shout naves. It's a good shout. Uh, we talked a little bit about earlier about sort of the,
00:59:41
Speaker
log jam of CBs on the roster, which you could, you know, you could look at it as stocking up at an important position, but like, I think it's a good point that that has kind of come at the expense of your depth in other areas. And we're seeing that right now. And I think, you know, going back to our discussion about the early tenure of Craig Wibes,
01:00:08
Speaker
That's, you know, I brought up a bear in the slam and Sam trade, but I think honestly, you know, having talked about it more, like exactly what you're talking about, Naves, that that's probably the most glaring thing. We haven't played with a central boy maker this year. So we don't know if we have a backup. We don't know how good Paul Rock's rock is in that Rusnak role.
01:00:35
Speaker
that is information nobody has, except maybe the training staff, but nobody on Twitter has that information. Um, and I think that that's a pretty easy, like, I know better than everybody else take to have is like, Oh, look at the, look at the way the roster is constructed. It's bad. I don't like nobody that can talk into this microphone or send a tweet right now has enough information on any of this.
01:01:06
Speaker
We're all just kind of guessing. So I will say like when Pedro de la Vega played as a 10 for a half, he looked really good there. So I don't, I think like with the way that rosters are constructed in MLS, like nobody has
01:01:27
Speaker
Nobody that plays with the 10 has a backup 10. Like if, if, uh, if a cost is out for Cincinnati, they've changed how they play. So it's, it's, it's not like you can just like have Rusnak, but 30% worse or whatever. It's the sounders have tried to change the way they play and it got worse anyways. So, um, but yeah, I would have traded Ariaga. Yeah, for sure.
01:01:57
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. No need to dive into that one anymore. I thought this one was interesting. Would you rather take slam and Sam or Morris right now? We could have traded Morris, gotten value for him and kept big Sam. I think our FO is a little sentimental about some of our players. At what point it looked like Morris was kind of a player we could build around. That's one of those things where it's very easy to say
01:02:24
Speaker
in hindsight, when you see the Seattle struggling as much as they have an attack, you see slam and Sam banging in goals every week. But the actual act of making a trade, like a trade with Jordan Morris at the timeframe
Training Staff's Role in Injuries
01:02:42
Speaker
that's being talked about there, even if you can say that you think it would be a good idea in hindsight, just like how realistic
01:02:53
Speaker
Do you think that is true to be something that like they would actually do, especially considering, you know, you can say that they're too sentimentally attached, but also, I mean, you have to give credit to the fact that Jordan Morris has scored a lot of MLS goals and won a lot of trophies and been, and that's before you even get to the hometown hero kind of aspect, you know, of him being from here and like the Academy star and all that. So I don't know. That's just how I see that.
01:03:22
Speaker
That is such a bad take. Not Aries, just the way that that question is proposed is preposterous.
01:03:31
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. That's a that's a that's yeah. No, Jordan is Jordan is light years ahead of slam and Sam. Unfortunately, I hate to report that to you if you cannot see it with your own eyes, but slam Sam's great. We were big. We're big up. We're heavily pros. Yeah, we've been on the beat all season. We love him, but like let's let's be realistic. Can you upgrade on Jordan Morris? Probably.
01:03:59
Speaker
Yeah, but Sam, Sam is not the guy to do that. No. Um, I wanted to jump into this one because I've actually been, been interested in this. I know privately me and me and Ari have, I've been swirling around rumors, but this is from Seth. Seth says somebody's got to take responsibility for the training and fitness of this team. They have not been physically or mentally ready for any game this season or maybe last season too.
01:04:27
Speaker
What do we think about the training staff, folks? Oh, boy, we're going to we're going to go. Got to do the dialogue. OK, I mean, like these these conspiracies have been around for many years. The hamstring FC meme is a real thing. It does seem like Seattle has an inward amount of these muscle injuries. They don't. Sometimes I OK. They statistically they they don't. But like I can at least see
01:04:55
Speaker
why people feel that way. Although the thing I would say is that every fan base says that, like that's, you got to understand like every single fan of every team thinks that they have the most hamstring injuries. I think hamstring injuries unfortunately happen a lot in professional soccer.
01:05:11
Speaker
But like my thing on the training staff conspiracies is it's just it's like almost pointless to talk about because it is impossible to know like what how much it can be attributed to the training staff versus how much of it is just like the byproduct of being a professional athlete playing a sport where you run a lot and put your muscles under a lot of stress like if there was actual way to
01:05:37
Speaker
to measure that I would be more interested in it but like you know talking about the injuries that have happened this season you know when Albert Rusnak rolls his ankle at training like is there really is there anything that the trainer could have done to prevent that like yes or he could have been like Albert please don't roll your ankle you don't roll your ankle you know that's unfortunately not gonna be a very effective preventative measure I don't think with JP with his hip like
01:06:06
Speaker
Is there really anything that the trainer could have done to stop what seems like a stress injury in his hip? I just don't know about that. So like I said, my take on the training staff conspiracies is that it's pointless to talk about because it's impossible to measure and it's impossible to know what effect, if any, that they have on the situation.
01:06:29
Speaker
Yeah, I think fans, in general, sports fans, and particularly soundness fans, if I do say so myself, they want to attribute moral failure whenever injuries happen. And that's not how anything works. If that's how things worked, if we were scientifically at a point in society where we knew the exact moment a player was going to pull his hamstring,
01:06:57
Speaker
Injuries would never happen, ever. They would spend the money on that type of sports scientist to be on the team. They would do that because if that was a possibility,
01:07:13
Speaker
it would already been explored. Like I guarantee you the people that work for the sounders are smarter than us and anybody tweeting at us. They probably have a college degree. I don't got one of those. So yeah, I went to seminary. So that's how stupid I am. So they're like injuries are not. There's no morality attached to them. They they happen or they don't. And can you get better people to
01:07:40
Speaker
help players recover, can you change training style? Yeah, sure, but nobody, again, I will say, nobody has the information to know that at all. Because like, okay, whoever the trainer is right now, say they fire him and they hire somebody who has a better resume, that can actually be worse. It can get worse, it can. Like, just because like,
01:08:08
Speaker
like bodies are bodies and these are professional athletes doing like the hardest thing a body can do, which is play sports. So it's like to even entertain that is like pretty crazy and just like, I can't take a person seriously that does that because it's just like, there's no, there's no, unless you're kind of like doing it jokingly, sure. But even then that's kind of, that's pretty insulting. I'm going to come out and say it like,
01:08:37
Speaker
If you think you're smarter than like anybody that is like making these decisions professionally, that is crazy. You are nuts. I do enjoy the, like when people go down that rabbit hole, you know, it's entertaining, but I just don't know.
01:09:02
Speaker
If you do pull your hamstring though, and you're on any other team, you are a sounder. That is the law of the universe. The memes are valid. That's what I'm trying to say. Sure. It's a funny thing to joke about. Pedro de la Vega's first injury as a sounder is a pulled hamstring. It's funny because we follow the sounder so closely, and hamstrings do get hurt the most in soccer.
01:09:30
Speaker
factually speaking. So it's just kind of like, yeah, that's, that's pretty funny. It, you know, like he didn't like, like sprain his ankle or like dislocate his shoulder or whatever he pulled his hamstring, which is, is funny. Sure. But like, there's no, you can't like attach any sort of like morality to injuries. And that's like a pretty crazy thing to do.
01:09:52
Speaker
Yeah, that's yeah. Good. Good take there. This one comes from a Bitcoin something. It says woke equals broke, but I don't think that is about the sounders. So that's true, right? That's just Freddie Monteiro on his burner over there. Anyway, we've got this next one. How high are the spoon odds because they feel very high? I would be pretty surprised if it.
01:10:17
Speaker
legitimately came to that. I mean, we would be talking about worst team in the league over the sample size of a full season. I still tend to think that if they're able to get healthier, they'll at least be able to return to a place, like I said, where it's more like 1.4 to 1.6 points per game, which is not in the MLS elite, but it's still here in the playoff mix at that point. That's what I tend to expect.
01:10:46
Speaker
But, you know, it seems like, uh, if the personnel situation stays like how it is right now, through the rest of the season, that points per game that I was talking about, I haven't really seen much to think it would be, uh, be especially high. So, but yeah, I don't, I don't know. I don't know about spooning. I don't know about spooning. Uh, Caleb Porter is a coach in the league again. I'll just remind people. So.
01:11:14
Speaker
The odds of the Sounders finishing below his team are just very low. I mean, they're at the same spot on the table right now. But the Sounders have a game in hand, technically, and actually one more point. So like 100% more points than Caleb Porter's team at this point. Fair.
01:11:35
Speaker
With, with the game in hand. Yeah. Game in hand is important. I mean, listen, and they get to play Philly when it's not raining. So, or maybe it will be raining. Uh, Sean asks, what's Jesse Marsh up to talk out of his ass on podcasts. We're talking Jesse Marsh for, uh, yeah, I thought, I thought the take right now is that Jesse Marsh had replaced Berhalter. I didn't know there was Jesse Marsh to Seattle takes going on.
01:12:03
Speaker
Apparently, apparently that's where we're at. I don't even think we need to really entertain that one. But I saw a couple questions about this. So I'm just gonna pick one out of a hat here from Dustin. Where are the 100 plus owners? None of them ever come out and say anything. Does Russell Wilson put any of his own money on this team? No, he's too busy taking losses on his Denver home. I don't think I don't think relying on
01:12:29
Speaker
Russell to like bankroll a new signing is necessarily like the most pertinent idea right now it would I mean I see what I see what I see what they're saying like It would be kind of funny if he took like even just half of the money Denver's paying him to play for a different football team and
01:12:51
Speaker
and like bought. Got a DP with that. Yeah, that would be like. That'd be a good. Yeah, that'd be a good bet. I think I think if he cares if he cares about winning, he'll he'll front that money. I also don't think like the the the structure of the way that like the celebrities bought into the team. I don't think they can actually like legally do that.
01:13:12
Speaker
I think that which it would be even funnier if Russell Wilson like bought a DP and then did like some fraud and went to jail. That would be great. That'd be a really good bit. I'm here for that. That would just be, you know, Mr. Whatever, Mr. That would make up for the Super Bowl interception, right? No, I think so. No, I wish you had a couple more and then we'll we'll hit the around the lead takes real quick.
01:13:39
Speaker
Absolutely. I was just going to say I've got my final few here. Are we becoming 2018 2019 RSL? Garth left. We had some short term success and it feels like it's going downhill. I mean, we have some front office and some coaching stuff. I don't think Brian gets cut with the 50th, but whatever. Don't don't care about Brian in this part of the question. But are we 2018 2019 RSL?
01:14:04
Speaker
I mean, I think the difference is that, I mean, there's a pretty stark difference in a trophy case there. RSL, they won MLS Cup in 2009, right? Yeah. Yeah. So they won MLS Cup in 2009. They lost a Champions League final. Seattle has won two MLS Cups and
01:14:26
Speaker
Champions League. So, I mean, uh, I understand the premise, but I would argue that Seattle's recent track record puts them quite a bit ahead of where RSL is in this analogy. Our owner is also not, uh, a sexist and that's really worth pointing out, I think. So no.
01:14:57
Speaker
There we have it. Final question here that I think is the perfect way to end this therapy session for all of you Sounders fans. Are Sounders fans spoiled? Yeah, and not in a derogatory way, just in that
01:15:17
Speaker
You know, I always try like when times are tough like this, especially as someone who came into the whole scene as an outsider, I try to remember and appreciate like the amount of winning that I've got to be around. And, you know, it's definitely it's the runs like they had where they were going to MLS Cup every year and they became the only team to win the modern incarnation of CONCAF Champions League.
01:15:41
Speaker
That's like,
Sounders' Current Challenges and Fan Reaction
01:15:42
Speaker
uh, that's a pretty rare run of success, especially in MLS salary cap league. Um, so, uh, I don't know if spoiled is the, uh, right word, but, um, I understand where the question is coming to run. Yep.
01:16:03
Speaker
Yep, I agree. All right, that's that. Thank you for submitting your questions and coming to this group therapy session. Yeah, I appreciate everyone who replied to our crowdsourcing tweets. If we didn't get to your question, sorry. I got almost like 70 of them, so there's no way we could have hit all of them. If we didn't get your question itself. Yeah, I definitely appreciate everyone who
01:16:26
Speaker
who interacts and tunes in as always. We're going to hit winners and losers from MLS match day five. Mark, you down to stick around for that while we give our takes on the other goings-on. I always mess this up. Oh, did I say five? Yeah. Oh, yeah, that's my bad match day six. My bad. The first league only had one. Yeah, no, I keep screwing that up because of that. All right.
01:16:58
Speaker
LAFC. We're starting the winter section. LAFC. Not fraudulent. Five zero over Nashville SC. So we had our fun with LAFC's little downturn over the last couple of weeks. They had like a 300 and some odd minute scoreless streak that was rivaling the Seattle Sounders.
01:17:18
Speaker
Offensive attacking futility, but I mean they they destroyed Nashville they looked like vintage LFC which You know, I'm whenever LFC chokes a final or they have a 300 plus minute scoreless streak we're gonna have our fun with that but by the same token if they win 5-0, that's a
01:17:45
Speaker
I'll give them their credit, but then also I think the takeaway is just that like the reports of their demise, especially, or even on the Lobb and Scorcher's podcast might've been premature. You know, it's only one game, but Nashville SC is usually good at defense and. There's only got sent off. So it's like, of course things are going to get out of hand. That's okay. That's fair. I forgot about that detail. Um,
01:18:13
Speaker
You know, you know what? That was a fluke result. No, I still think they're a winner because Boonga got on the score sheet twice. I mean, they're finding their attacking form again. It's it's they're a winner regardless because they were a loser and now they look in prime form. And sometimes it's just about a spark. Sometimes it's just about a vibe. Yeah, they bounce back. The New York Red Bulls and specifically Lewis Morgan, they
01:18:43
Speaker
Bammed on the Lionel Messi list, Inter Miami 4-0 at Red Bull Arena. Lewis Morgan scored a hat-trick and Dante Monzier had, he assisted on all four goals, I believe. And they didn't even, I don't think they even had Emil Forsberg, their new DP, in this game. It was dumping rain at Red Bull Arena. But that's a big win for the Red Bulls. They're in the early stages of
01:19:13
Speaker
getting their new coach integrated. Lewis Morgan had a really good year two years ago. He had 14 goals and four assists, I think, um, and then was injured pretty much all of last year. So if they get force, Forsberg cooks, that was a good signing and Lewis Morgan looks like backpack. So I think the Red Bulls might be cooking.
01:19:39
Speaker
Yeah, the Forsberg insider trading was was was a great a great idea I
LA Galaxy's Recent Performance
01:19:46
Speaker
have another I have another repeat from last week, but uh The LA galaxy, okay still chaos merchants still one of the more questionable defenses
01:20:02
Speaker
you'll see in the league, but they came back to beat sporting Kansas city, the club of professional wrestling enthusiasts at children's mercy park, uh, after they were down to zero and they scored three times, like it was from the 70 something minute to the 90 something minute, they scored three times unanswered and one, three, two at sporting Kansas city. Um, and like,
01:20:29
Speaker
For all the defensive struggles that the galaxy still have, I'm telling you, they're probably my favorite offense to watch in the league right now. Like maybe I might put like peak in Miami when Messi's playing above them in terms of like. Watchability, but like that's it, like they're the galaxy in attack with Joey Paints, Gabriel Peck, Ricky Poosh,
01:20:57
Speaker
And day on the oval, it's the hottest number nine in the league right now. They're pretty fun to watch. Would you say that they laid the smack down on sport in Kansas City? I would say that it was kind of a rock bottom moment for I'd say they they hit them so hard. It was raw. You know what I mean? And then when and then when they play again later this year, it might be a summer slam. People people ask me sometimes like if I'm ever going to like let go of that.
01:21:27
Speaker
And the answer is no, like I'm not even when Amelia retires. No. And, um, especially when they're not playing well, like, you know, our friend, Tim Foss from sounded heart, Tim shout out Tim Foss. He had a good bit going last year when sporting Casey wasn't playing well, where he would track their record since the rock bottom incident. And they were playing so badly. It was like the record in their gold differential. They're playing so badly that it, uh,
01:21:56
Speaker
It got funnier every week that he did it and you can click through and it goes for like 100 tweets. And I'm just I like. I'm going to keep that legacy alive for the rest of my life, OK? Let's get to the loser section and then we'll get out of here. I hate to keep doing this, but like at this point it's for the bit Seattle Sounders 3-2 loss.
01:22:21
Speaker
at the zero four and zero zero San Jose earthquakes. You come back from two zero to tie it. You finally get an open play goal. Danny Musofsky, he does it. And then you give up the game winner the next minute. I can't emphasize this enough. The equalizer was scored in the 81st minute. The game winner that the San Jose earthquake scored was in the 82nd minute on the next sequence of kickoff. Like that's,
01:22:50
Speaker
It's just backbreaking, man. In Miami, we talked about the Red Bulls in the winter section. Four zero, like four zero loss at the Red Bulls. I know it was raining and I know you didn't have Messi, but we talked about on the show last week, but they should be good at playing in the rain. That's their style. They like a slick, quick ball. Like what are they? Apparently not. It's also funny because the Red Bulls wanted the game rescheduled. That is a good bet. I didn't know that. That's funny. Yeah.
01:23:17
Speaker
Tata Martino said before the game that the Red Bulls like requested that the game get rescheduled and my FIFA didn't allow it. And then they went on them for zero. Did you see they also after they were down one nothing at halftime, they waited like nine minutes to come out of the locker room. They've been kind of doing that. It's like a recurring theme for inner Miami. I don't know if Tata is just letting them here in the locker room or what. But it's going to say that, you know, we talked like
01:23:46
Speaker
Inner Miami had one of the best. They were in the winter section last week because they had a great win at DC United where they didn't have Messi. Suarez scored a brace. And they looked pretty much as dominant without Messi as they had with Messi. But this game, it doesn't really change how I look at them at all. I think they probably were not helped by the weather in this instance. And Lewis Morgan,
01:24:16
Speaker
just had a game of his absolute life. But nonetheless, like when you're a team as hyped as Inter Miami and like, you know, I've been one of the people hyping them because I think them at their top level is one of, if not the best MLS team I've ever seen in an attack at least. I don't know, you raise your eyebrow a little bit at that abjectly non-competitive game against the New York Rebels when you have boost gets
01:24:46
Speaker
Jordy Alba, and who's the other one? Goddamn it. Jordy Alba, Busquets, and Suarez? Yeah, Suarez, too. Come on, bro. The biters? You don't remember the biter? I was just blanking. Man, they really are losers when you forget about Suarez. I forgot about Suarez.
01:25:10
Speaker
Nashville SC, like, you know, we talked about LSE in the winter section, but like, they had their goalie sent off, whatever. That's the worst loss in club history. And like, I think kind of my broader takeaway with Nashville SC is just like, seems like they've stagnated a little bit. They've had kind of the same identity the entire time they've been in a whole lot, which is Haney Mukhtar.
01:25:38
Speaker
do everything in attack. No one else is really going to do all that much. And he's going to carry you as much as he can, but he's just one man. He can't have two goals, three assists every single week. He does that a lot of weeks, but they haven't done enough to support him. And then their whole identity has kind of been based around, okay, we're going to be like a really stingy defensive team. And like,
01:26:07
Speaker
I think if anything, it seems like they've regressed in that way. Um, well, I wouldn't say losing five, nothing is, uh, you know, but like, okay, even outside of a game where you have kind of a fluke situation with your goalkeeper, um, like they haven't been getting those like one zero wins with the regularity that they used to. And they also, uh,
01:26:37
Speaker
weren't all that competitive in champion's cup. I don't know. It just seems like, uh, you know, they're, they're in the loser's section for this week, but I, I, my concern meter, if I was a Nashville fan would be like pretty high that they're not really progressing from the solid foundation that they laid.
01:26:58
Speaker
Yeah,
Discussion on Fraudulent Behavior?
01:26:59
Speaker
I agree. They're fraudulent, unfortunately. They're at least on watch. They're on watch. All right.
Podcast Conclusion and Guest Farewell
01:27:06
Speaker
Well, unless either of you had any other takes that you wanted to work in, I think we're good to call it right there. Yeah, Mark, plug yourself, bro. Mark, plug yourself. Where can people find you on social and find you're ready? I would prefer people didn't find me because they usually yell at me. So, I mean, you probably know.
01:27:27
Speaker
I'm on Twitter and I'm on Sounder Art. If you want to get ahold of me, I'm not a hard person to find. Let's just put it that way. Mark, thank you for hopping on as our first ever returning guest for lobbing scorchers. Appreciate your insight, as always. I think we had a good roundtable today, had a good little therapy session. Seattle Sounders
Sounders' Upcoming Match Preview
01:27:51
Speaker
are back in action with
01:27:55
Speaker
trip to the LA galaxy in match day six, I believe. So we'll be covering that for better or for worse. Until next time, we out.