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Not quite done with ‘Goalie-Gate’
1.5k Plays2 months ago
Yep, we’re still talking about “Goalie-Gate” but we promise it wasn’t the whole show and we only wanted to get off our chest that the idea that this was a principled stand was a little rich. Otherwise, we dig into the positives that we can take away from the Sounders’ 4-0 win over the Crew and look ahead to the stretch run.
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Transcript
Fullpool Wines Sponsors Nos Arietes
00:00:02
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Fullpool Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Fullpool was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
Will Bruin Joins Sounder at Heart Podcast
00:00:25
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounder's legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network.
00:00:40
Speaker
about sell it
00:01:13
Speaker
he's gone, he's gone. It's a win-win. It feels fucking awesome. This is a tight fucking dog. What a win. Let's try to suck it, bro. Focus is cheating.
00:01:31
Speaker
sounder hard commentary that you didn't take look
00:01:45
Speaker
We're recording on Wednesday, September 11th, 2024.
Sounders vs Columbus: Match Recap
00:01:50
Speaker
I am your host, Jeremiah Shan. I am joined by my co-host, Aaron Campo, as well as our engineer, Lickett. This roller coaster season doesn't seem to be settling down anytime soon, and this week may have been one of the weirdest yet. I think most of us assumed a trip to Columbus was going to be a loss, regardless of how many players the crew were missing. What I don't think we factored in though, was the crew were down to their fourth choice goalkeeper and didn't even bother to field a backup.
00:02:16
Speaker
That turned out to be a pretty big deal as Abraham Romero got red carded in the first half stoppage time and center back Sean Zawadski strapped on the gloves who the Sounders ended up torching for four goals. It should be said all four of those goals were well taken and it's entirely possible that even a quality goalkeeper wouldn't have stopped more than one or two. Still that ends up being the biggest narrative after the game, barely or not. Aaron, what were your takeaways from a week that In a sense, very important, but in another sense, I don't know. Is there is there anything to take away?
00:02:51
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think um it's it's difficult. I think that you can take away um the fact that they they got gifted an easy three points and they took an easy three points, right? There yeah are definitely times earlier in the season where I wouldn't have have assumed things were going to turn out the way they did. um it's it's you know it's ah It's tough to learn a lot of lessons. It's tough to say, I feel great about this team because of this or anything like that, um where I think of a 4-0 win without the extenuating circumstances, obviously, I think has to change a lot of of how you feel about the team.
Christian Roldan's Central Role
00:03:27
Speaker
Coming off a couple of tough losses, especially. ah But you know it's they they moved some things around. They had a different look. Christian Roldan played in the middle and I thought looked really good, um which is encouraging because I think he's going to need to play there regularly for the rest of this year. And I think, ideally, the Sounders would like him to play there next year.
00:03:50
Speaker
And so I think, you know, that that's encouraging to see him perform well there. And, you know, a lot of it has been made of the players. The crew were missing and and there were quite a few of them, obviously, but it's not like they were playing crew to, you know, ram no I mean, they had it' so at least seven legit of their legit starters in this game.
00:04:09
Speaker
Right, right. And I don't think it was a situation where the keeper explained everything else about the game. I thought the Sounders actually looked quite good before the red card, especially, you know, as they settled into the game.
00:04:23
Speaker
And yeah, so I think the extenuating circumstances, my main takeaway, the extenuating circumstances make it impossible for me to say, I feel really good about this result. I think that the team has got things turned around. Uh, you know, I'm taking nothing but positives from it. Uh, but it also, I think it's okay to feel good about that win, right? It's okay yeah to to think they they played well. And again, you know, if you've got an opponent that's on the ropes, knock them out. Right.
00:04:53
Speaker
i that's I think that's the big takeaway, right? like this was ah The big moment of this game really was the free kick from Albert Rusnak, which came immediately after the red card to Romero.
00:05:05
Speaker
and you know I was just thinking, just put it on frame, force this guy to make a save. He does better than that. I mean, he buries it in the inside netting. It was a great free kick. Maybe the wall wasn't set up great, but honestly, I haven't seen a clear enough replay to be able to criticize the wall set up. right ah And then the other goals were all, they're all well taken. Who knows? I mean, you can never know for sure.
00:05:30
Speaker
I mean, I think more of the the Sounders' attack was predicated on facing a 10-man opponent, which, hey, this happens. This is soccer. you know like The Sounders have had struggles down a man as well. So I don't i don't and don't take anything away from them for doing all that. But let's you know I don't want to spend too much time on these extenuating
Columbus' Goalkeeper Controversy
00:05:53
Speaker
circumstances. but there is you know it's It's been gone over, I would suggest that if you really want a thorough rundown of what happened, either read the story that I put on sound at heart about it. If you want a less biased version of that story, you could listen to extra time. The ah MLS podcast, Andrew Webby actually did a really good job of explaining the ins and outs of it.
00:06:15
Speaker
I want to kind of pick up on where Andrew left off a little bit. And I would and don't want to go through the whole scenario, but as you probably know, the crew were didn't have a backup goalkeeper, basically because they decided not to have one. They effectively said, we are too good to bring up someone who we don't fully trust to sit on her bench in case of emergency.
00:06:42
Speaker
And they got burned by it. And what I thought was sort of, this is the part where I wanted to get it. The part I found a little bit much was, you know, they've been, their PR sort of machine has been rolling and they've really wanted everyone to understand that they were standing on principle.
00:07:00
Speaker
that they didn't want to sign any of these two kids from MLS Next Pro because they weren't ready yet. They didn't they thought that I would send the wrong message. They didn't want to bring up some random off the street because that person doesn't fit their culture. That person doesn't know their culture.
00:07:16
Speaker
whatever, okay, fine, you wanna stick by your principles? So if you wanna stick by your principles, so part of that is accepting the ramifications of standing on those principles. And if you wanna stand on your principles, I think you also owe it to yourself to sit up there in front of the press and say, we wanted to do one thing, MLS wouldn't let us do it, and we were willing to take the punishment, which was essentially not having a backup goalkeeper,
00:07:45
Speaker
And we'll accept that punishment. We think the rules wrong. We want to change it. All that. But this was the price that we are willing to pay. And we were willing to pay it. And instead, they concocted this whole story about how MLS made them put two or CONCACAF made them put two goalkeepers on the bench during CONCACAF Champions Cup, which is not true. They concocted this this idea of them having to burn a call up on a friendly when they definitely could have used an Olympic uh an olympic call-up for that one or they could have just picked up some random off the street to sit on the bench for ass and villa and so they created this whole narrative uh around being a victim that i just think is a little bit much and yeah i realize that sounders fans come off as if we're maybe just
00:08:33
Speaker
you know, dancing on their grave or being sore winners or whatever. But the only, I think the the thing that kills me is that they're out there pushing this false narrative. Yeah. I feel like if we are, if if I'm not out there, frankly, combating it, then who else is? Right. Yeah. It's it's ridiculous, man. And like, look, the crew started this shit. Like right none of us cared about the crew.
00:08:58
Speaker
And they wanted to be rivals, and they and they wanted there to be all this bad blood. And they got it to the point where, yes, like we hate them now. I hate the crew. I hate their fans. I think they're the most annoying fan base in MLS. So hey, you got what you wanted. So yeah, we're going to make fun of you for it. And if the position they were taking was, look, we we took some risks. We kind of goofed up with the way we managed our roster.
00:09:26
Speaker
i It's really kind of ridiculous and petty and overly pedantic that MLS wasn't willing to work with us on this because sure we had players that qualified and i'm I'm annoyed as a crew fan or as you know somebody in the front office or whoever, I'm annoyed that they wouldn't work with us on this. I think it's ridiculous. yeah That's a totally fair position, right? But there is a conspiracy to give Messi the supporter shield so he can play in the club World Cup. And this is the way this specific circumstance is how Don Garber personally has decided to ruin our season. ah He's the one that made the goalkeeper come out and try to make a save that would have been a borderline red card in the box. He's the one that made them use alone on a friendly on a cash grab friendly. He's the one that didn't understand the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
00:10:24
Speaker
and League's Cup rules. right No, you you messed up. You messed up. And like, yeah, you got caught on a technicality. And i if if I were a Sounders fan and the same thing had happened to us, I would probably be pissed at MLS for not working with the team and sort of... But also...
00:10:44
Speaker
But also we would, don't you think we would have worked up a little bit more frustration with the front office for bulging? Yeah, I would be super pissed at the front office. for mean i talk to yeah i don't I don't want to oversell us, but I talked to representatives, high up representatives from three different and MLS teams. All of them laughed laughed at the idea that they would ever allow their coach to take the field without a backup coach. They just thought it was an absurd thing. And i I can't make this point clearly enough. A lot of people have said, well, what happened to the MLS pool keeper? Couldn't they have just called up this pool keeper?
00:11:22
Speaker
well they got rid of the pool keeper a few years ago. I think there may have been pool keepers that had contracts that were running all the way through last year. But part of the reason they don't have a pool goalkeeper is because there's no need for a pool goalkeeper. Because teams have access to five or six... Every team has access to five or six goalkeepers within their organization. And if they run out of goalkeepers in their organization, they have the ability to just go sign a keeper off the street. they can There are plenty of goalkeepers that are out of work that if you give them a week to show up, they will show up, I assure you.
00:12:01
Speaker
I heard a story that for all the principal talk, this is the funniest thing. This is unconfirmed. So I don't want to make it sound like this is this is like truth truth. But what I, my understanding is that three hours before kickoff, the crew were trying, like all of a sudden came to their senses and we're like, we we have a goalkeeper in Cleveland. We think we can get them here in time.
00:12:21
Speaker
and the league was like, what what are you doing? yeah you cannot We cannot do that. That is not a thing. So many outs. And look, have I been in a situation where a bunch of stuff had to go wrong for me to end up in a really bad situation and try to make it everybody else's fault? Absolutely. But I'm a loser. I'm a total loser. And i'm I'm just a guy, right? I'm not a professional soccer team.
00:12:46
Speaker
And in hindsight and pretty quickly in hindsight, I was always embarrassed in those situations because I realized, man, I look like a real asshole yeah because everything that happened was my fault and it could have been avoided at any number of turns. frame and i And I didn't do anything to avoid it because I was being reckless or you or whatever la Usually lazy in my case. right Yeah. I mean, it's usually or but you know, maybe Ubrus got the best of you, ah right but whatever. and Just the the bargaining afterwards to try to make this about your principles as a club. These kids haven't earned it. We don't want to bring a bringing in a guy who doesn't understand our culture. yeah like How fragile is your culture that some guy who knows he is a rental player is going to screw things up?
00:13:36
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, what it's very silly and I feel bad honestly, like still talking about this five days later or whatever it is now, but I, I didn't feel like that was an important aspect of this that needed to be on the record that like the principle stuff is, is it's like a nice idea.
00:13:54
Speaker
And i would have i would have honestly, I would have totally respected them if they had come out and been like, look, this is how we feel. This is how we run our organization. We weren't going to sacrifice our principles because we think the rule that MLS has here is stupid. And we think that MLS messed up by not letting us do that and all these kinds of things. But we we will take we will take... That's how principled we are. We will take our medicine. Nope.
00:14:21
Speaker
there was none of that there was not even a little bit they they made up a whole like narrative they they they concocted stuff from thin air also the whole thing about oh they I can't believe they made us play on an inertial date I cannot tell you like this is the truth there is not an internet there is not a open week day or or sorry midweek date or weekend date between June 1st which when when this game was originally scheduled and the end of the season there is no because of League's Cup there is no way to avoid conflict like they had this was this was you either plan an international date or I don't know what the alternative is like yeah and it is it is stupid right we've been complaining about this for years in MLS but the sounders were missing guys too
00:15:08
Speaker
the yeah Exactly. And I think that also kind of got downplayed quite a lot. Like, oh, they were already down. They were missing the same number of starters. That's the, that's the truth. Now the Sounders had a backup goal, had their actual backup goalkeeper and not their fourth string goalkeeper. So like advantage to the Sounders, but I don't know that that's like, right like, what do we, butre we're kind of like,
00:15:31
Speaker
slice and things a little thin here. But all right, well, let's talk about the game a little bit more. ah Albert Rusnak was on a heater. ah This is maybe a game that was perfectly set up for him.
00:15:42
Speaker
he He's now sitting on 18 goal contributions this year, either that's primary assists or goals he's actually scored. He's scored two goals off of free kicks. The funniest stat from this, he has attempted six shots from free kicks. He has two goals. That that's like that is probably a messy-esque stat, right? I'm not actually comparing that. It's pretty insane. yeah it's It's a pretty good ratio.
00:16:09
Speaker
33% from 25 yards or whatever is pretty good. Yeah, that's that's quite good. Yeah ah But yeah, this was a gay he I mean he was he looked great He he sofa score gave him a perfect 10. You don't see that very often. Uh, I and you know, it's the other thing that's kind of funny is that this week a bunch of different Publicate like MLS came out with a like a a list of like their MVP candidates, their MVP favorites and ah the podcast soccer wise had this long rundown of like their tiers of superstars, which I thought was actually kind of an interesting look. But what I, one of the things I thought was really interesting um'm risk is is like not even
00:16:52
Speaker
in the hint of the conversation for any of this stuff. And i don't I'm not going to sit here and say he he deserves to be an MVP or even an MVP candidate. I just think it's interesting because his stats are absolutely right. like He's 11th in the league and in goal contributions. ah That's pretty good. It is pretty good. And i think I think a lot of it gets downplayed because so many of them come off of free kicks. but free Free kicks count just as as much as anything else. you know right Scoring a goal off a free kick counts the same as scoring a goal off an end-to-end 80 pass sequence. and that's That's something that the Sounders have not been able to do well, even during the like the best of times. They've very seldom been a good set piece team.
00:17:37
Speaker
and and they are now. They're very good set piece team from direct free kicks, from kicks into the box. They have some nice free kick routines. The stuff that we were bitching about, or at least I was bitching about nonstop early in the year, they seem to have figured a lot of that out. um They seem to have realized like that, hey, we can actually be pretty dangerous from these things if we if we get some routines together and and all that kind of stuff. So, yeah, I think um Taylor Twelman was talking about this during the Portland game about how and he was talking about Nico Ledero. He wasn't talking about a snack, but, you know, he was he was saying that a lot of things that he did when he was here just got completely overlooked by
00:18:22
Speaker
the the MLS media, yeah and that that's just kind of generally true about teams that play on the West Coast if they're not playing in l LA. And I think that that's the case here. like I think a lot of people, if you ask them what kind of season he was having outside of of Seattle would tell you he's having a pretty mediocre season hu because that was the narrative early on in the year.
00:18:43
Speaker
And that narrative hasn't been corrected as there's been new information that's come to light. And I think that's unfortunate. you know it's I think Sounders fans underappreciate him to some degree and and how well he's played and how much he's been able to contribute to this sort of resurgence. But I think even more so the average MLS fan, and MLS media in general just doesn't really give him his due.
00:19:08
Speaker
And, and I will admit that part of that, I mean, his, his, obviously his stats look a lot better this week than they did last week, but he's been, he's been among the league leaders in ah in primary assists, essentially for the last couple months. You know, he, he's having a very good season now. Yes. His, uh, penchant for not contributing a lot in.
00:19:31
Speaker
matches against LAFC particularly is not great, but i I think that says more about the talent, the attack as a whole than it does about Albert Rusnak or even Jordan Morris. Like they just are not, this is not an attack that sets up well for LAFC in particular, but I do think it's worth pointing out that before the red card in this game,
00:19:55
Speaker
they look fine they they were limited They were giving up a lot of possession to Columbus, but Columbus was not creating any danger at all. ah the best by far By far, the best chance of the game came on the Sounders first shot, which didn't come until like the 30th minute, but the Sounders were doing a good job of sort of absorbing pressure and looking for counter attack opportunities.
00:20:18
Speaker
Paul Rothrock put in an absolutely perfect cross to but Jordan. he hit it but you know he he what's The funny thing is he he had so much time, he probably could have hit it with his right, but he hit it with his left. He ends up hitting it wide. Rothrock ends up getting another good look for himself, coming off the off the left wing.
00:20:37
Speaker
those were the two best looks by far of the first half. And I did think that the centers deserved a little bit more credit on the play where they drew the red card because that was part of a pattern that they were constantly testing the crew back line with either through balls on the ground or balls over the top to Jordan. And they were kind of varying it up and and making the crew defend in different ways and that it finally paid off. I think they deserve credit for that. I mean, it was, they they were doing a good job of, of sort of looking for patterns that they thought were vulnerable. Yeah, absolutely. I think that if he gets, if their, their keeper gets sent off and they have an actual backup on the bench, I still think the sounder is wrong in that game. Like I think they are going to win that game comfortably at that point because it was,
00:21:34
Speaker
I think the Sounders were the better team up until that that red card. And I think that they, like you said, really starting with after the half hour mark, and they're really starting to create and look more comfortable and find good opportunities on the counter. And the best games the Sounders have played this year have looked a lot like that, where they sort of feel out the game, absorb a lot of pressure, let the other team have possession, find opportunity opportunities to turn up the heat on the press, press guys in the midfield, even guys as good as Darling to Nagbe into giveaways and look for those opportunities on the break and and score goals. They didn't score the goal on that directly off that breakaway, obviously, but I'd say getting the guys sent off and then scoring a goal on the free kick is probably- Yeah, I think that counts. yeah so Yeah. I think that's that's kind of been the blueprint for the best sounders performances this year. and I think it was starting to kick into effect even before the red card. so
00:22:31
Speaker
um it's That's, I think, the most encouraging thing is that you can't look at the red card, I think, reasonably and say, well, the sounders were getting shithoused until that point.
00:22:43
Speaker
And they really got let off. they They created the circumstances that led to the red card by playing their game that they've had a lot of success with over the last few months. And they took advantage of it. And it's I think any time that play style can be reinforced to something that is successful, I'm extremely happy because I think it's the the the best play style for the personnel. I've really liked how they've looked.
00:23:10
Speaker
They're probably not going to beat LAFC playing that way, but they're not going to be playing possession style either. right so um i'm I'm just trying not to think of the entire year and everything that happens in terms of LAFC.
00:23:22
Speaker
Um, admirable, admirable aim, I think. Yeah. Because it's just like, you know, we've got, well, we've got, uh, eight games left or six, six games left. Uh, and then the playoffs and you know, we'll play LAFC at most one more time. So that's, that's a lot of soccer that can still be fun. I hate to break it. There is a possibility we could play them three more times if we.
00:23:43
Speaker
were to draw them in the first round of the playoffs. Well, I guess that's true. But I i don't, ah that seems unlikely to me, I guess. It feels unlikely. And let's just hope it doesn't happen. Yeah, that would be really, really disheartening. Thank you for listening to the Soundwork Heart Podcast Network, which now includes no sunny at this lobbing scorchers and the cooler yield. We've been independent since August of 2023.
00:24:08
Speaker
but need your support to make sure it continues. Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible by your continued support. Memberships start as low as $25 a year, which not only helps make podcasts like this one happen, but also gets you access to everything we produce. If you're able to support us at higher levels, starting at $75 a year, you gain access to a host of other perks 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 SenderAtHeart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner. Thanks for listening!
00:24:48
Speaker
Today, MLS released a ah ah bracket, sort of like how the playoffs, if the playoffs started today. And I got to admit, I'll take it. Uh, I think the Sounders would match up with the rapids in the four or five game. So they would have to go to Colorado twice, but I would say of the top four, that's the team that certainly of the top four teams, and that's the team I would most want to play. But more importantly, the Sounders would be on the opposite side of the bracket from LAFC.
00:25:16
Speaker
So they would play the galaxy if they, if they beat the rapids, they would play the galaxy in the Western common semi-finals. I will take that out. I'll take that all day. Yeah. like gave Yeah. Go ahead. Sorry. Oh yeah. That's all I was going to say. That's, and they're also on the opposite side of RSL. I think in that, in that scenario, it would be, and I mean, I would take, honestly, I,
00:25:37
Speaker
I feel like finishing fifth where you're on the opposite side of the bracket from LAFC is preferable to finishing third where you're on the same side of the bracket is as LAFC. Yeah. And you'd have to play in Sandy twice.
00:25:54
Speaker
Most likely. Right. Exactly. So honestly, I, I feel like the way it's stacking up right now, the best case scenario might be for the sounders to finish fourth. Yeah. Where you get home field advantage and then you are on the same side of the bracket as, you know, I, well, I dunno, I guess it depends on who wins the West, right? That's still a possibility that LAFC could pass the galaxy, but The way it's stacking up right now, fourth looks like the ideal scenario. And the thing about this win over the crew is that it sets up a scenario where the Sounders can get to 55 points without even getting a road result, but all six of their last games in the regular season are all winnable games.
00:26:37
Speaker
they have They're at home again, sporting Kansas City on Sunday. And then on Wednesday, they host the earthquakes. Those are huge, huge games. They have to win those games. Yeah. But, but then they have the dynamo, I believe after that. And then they have two road games against Vancouver and Vancouver and Houston. Is that right? Let me check. No, no, no. They play Houston at home. They play all over in Colorado. Yeah.
00:27:07
Speaker
And then they're at home against the timbers, which I don't relish that necessarily, but they, they gotta, they are due quite due at home against the timbers. Um, but if all they do is win their home games, they're in great shape. They're in spectacular shape, frankly. Yeah. Yeah. if They win their home games. That's what that's a 55 points. That's what points. Yeah.
00:27:33
Speaker
Yeah, that's the way but the if it's be very funny. Like unironically funny is just funny. If they get to 55 points with all the teeth gnashing and frustration that this season has been filled with, yeah for them to finish on 55 points, which is by their standard, for actually a pretty good season, I think it's probably better than a median season for them, yeah would be very funny.
00:28:01
Speaker
It would be very funny. It would be very reminiscent of 2018, I think. But funnier because they didn't do the thing that everybody was begging for them to do this year, and they did in 2018. And that turned around their season, and this year they just got healthy and kind of turned around their season that way. But um it would it would be, yeah, it would be very funny. I would take it. um It would be better than last year, a year they finished second in the West, right? Yeah.
00:28:25
Speaker
which You know, can't ask for much more than that. um Well, you can. You can't you can't reasonably ask for much more than that, given the actual circumstances that we're faced with. And I think it's possible they get 14 points, something like that out of these games. I think that that i mean that's I don't think it's going to say high. I would say that's the high ah expectation or the like the 95th percentile.
00:28:53
Speaker
That's as many points as they're plausibly going to get. Right. I would say you're right. Exactly. But because I would say it's within the realm of possibility. Right. Yeah. And that would put them on 57. Right. and That would put on 57 points, which would be but should be pretty amazing. Yeah, pretty good.
00:29:09
Speaker
ah of course that Of course, if they were to do that, somehow they'd end up getting ah drawn against LAFC in the first round and yeah ah that would be ah somehow a disaster. But one of the other things that I thought was funny this this week is, so I just wrote a ah rather long post where I talked to a bunch of different people about Georgie Monongo.
00:29:29
Speaker
who is an absolutely fascinating, fascinating character. ah This is a guy who came from the Ivory Coast, came to Defiance at 19, sort of wowed everyone with his athleticism, looked like he might make the first team in 2023. Turns out he has this eye issue. Doctors go in, they look at his eye, and then they're like, oh, you actually have been blind in this eye for most of, for a long time.
00:29:57
Speaker
ah he But he kind of powers through that and he's you know he's not someone that has necessarily a huge end product at this point. But I think if you watch him, you see it's not hard to see what a talent he is. I mean, he is almost unstoppable on the dribble. He picked up an assist against the crew. And he looked great against the timbers.
00:30:21
Speaker
And this is a player who, if the Sounders had signed off of a $2 million dollar transfer, people would be over the moon excited about his potential. yeah And he's you know he's now on the first team. you know I'm not gonna sit here and say he's gonna be the game changer, but he he's got that kind of talent. At the same time, Rodilio Rodriguez, a player who, justifiably, we had completely forgotten about. I hadn't really thought about much at all.
00:30:51
Speaker
But then I don't know if you had a chance to watch him. He he played 20 minutes for the Defiance. This is his second appearance of the season because he's been battling injuries. The last time he played, he got hurt and though then he was on the shelf again. But anyway, he looks like he's healthy again.
00:31:06
Speaker
He played 20 minutes against the timbers too. He had two goals and an assist. And i I say this without hyperbole. He easily could have scored a hat trick and had another assist, which with just like a little, like a slightly different luck. He was absolutely dominant. I'm not going to sit here and say that he is going to do anything for the MLS season, but yeah I was reminded of what a a talent this guy is. And there is a possibility that the Sounders, essentially over the last month, will have added Pedro de la Vega, Georgi Minungu, and Bradilia Rodriguez, all of whom are at the very least
00:31:48
Speaker
high upside potential players. yeah Who knows what they'll do. And I don't want to, I'm not trying to like retcon the transfer window. They, we both agreed they should have signed someone. I think it's a mistake that they didn't sign someone, but it is, there is something to be said about them bringing in these three players at right around the time of the transfer window closing. And they could be real, you know, they could be impact players on this team.
00:32:16
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I think Brodilio is such a wait and see for me. And I think for everybody, reasonably. for He's never played against Amalist opponents. That's the reality. But he's super exciting, obviously. um And it's it's always nice to have somebody playing with Defiance that has that sort of must-see potential. yeah ah Kind of like Willy won't he break out kind of potential. That's just that makes the team fun to follow. It gives you something to be excited about.
00:32:45
Speaker
ah Georgi Minungu is a guy who um I think a lot of people were skeptical, rightfully so, about his ability to translate to MLS. I take your point and and totally agree that if he had been a guy we'd signed for a couple million dollars in the transfer winner who comes in and does this, he that we would be really more excited. But I think a lot of that is that we have a lot of evidence of what he yeah can do at Next Pro, which is much lower level.
00:33:14
Speaker
However, I think he is the kind of player and has the kind of skill set that can sort of weirdly translate better to a higher level because he doesn't have to be the guy who is dribbling guys and creating the chance or scoring the goal. He just has to be the guy if they can dribble the guy and put the ball into a dangerous area. right He doesn't have to pick out pinpoint passes because there are other high level players that can get to balls that guys and defiance might not be able to, et etc. and so forth. um He doesn't have to be the guy, the focal point of a team the way he he kind of does at a lower level. And so I think that his ability to
00:33:57
Speaker
do something that nobody else on the team really can, right? Like, Pedro can beat guys off the dribble. He cannot beat guys off the dribble and just totally scorch them the way that Georgi can, right? yeah Like, he he just... He's not an overpowering. Like, Monogu really has the potential to overpower defenders. At his best, Pedro de la Vega is not going to do that.
00:34:18
Speaker
No, absolutely not. Absolutely not. And that's fine. That's not a knock on Pedro. It's just they're totally different players with one thing in common and that's their ability to beat guys on the dribble. And I think having guys that can beat you in totally different ways is such an underrated thing to have in your arsenal.
00:34:37
Speaker
done You know to have to have a guy that can beat you playing super direct like manungu to have a guy that can that can beat you like de la Vega can by Creating space with a dribble and then finding a killer pass um Having to get like Jordan who probably isn't gonna beat you off the dribble, but a straight-up gonna run right over you or past you ah those are all really really useful things to have at your disposal and you know I don't want to get ahead of myself with Georgie, um but I'm a lot more excited about him now than I was when he signed. And I always did have this kind of, what if the stuff he does is more valuable for the Sounders than it was for Defiance? And i I'm starting to feel that way. And I think in the in the small sample size of when we've seen him play against MLS opponents, you know he he looked I think we saw it big time against
00:35:30
Speaker
Against ah the timbers. I think we saw it a little bit against la fc in the open cup where he did help create a couple chances We definitely saw it against rsl in that start earlier this season So I think you're right that there's something to be said about You know and and this was something that actually wade weber had said to me I didn't get it into the story but he did talk about that exact thing where this is a player who somewhat countered, yes, the defenders are better in MLS. So that counteracts at some, but the players he's passing it to are so much better than the players that he's passing it to at the MLS next pro level that it he doesn't need to like, he's got a bigger, a bigger target to hit essentially.
00:36:15
Speaker
Because the defenders, at least on a 1v1 basis, don't seem any more capable of stopping them and at the MLS level than they are at the MLS Next Pro level. And they also don't they aren't going to have as much freedom to double team him. They aren't going to have as much freedom to you know ah to lose focus of the, of the other attackers on the field.
Sounders' Midfield Without João Paulo
00:36:40
Speaker
So I do think he has the potential to be potentially a ah real game changer. Uh, the other thing that came out of this game that I do think is, is valuable is Joe Paulo didn't play. It turns out he has a calf injury and he's probably going to miss two to three weeks, but I thought this was the best
00:37:01
Speaker
that we've seen a Jau Paulo-less defensive midfield look yeah so far this year. And that was Joshua Tencio and Christian Roldan. Christian Roldan, I don't think it's hyperbole to say, heat this is the best he's looking he looked. I thought he looked really, really good. Yeah, he he was great. He was really great. I've obviously, I think pretty famously, as famously as this opinion can be, been of the opinion that that Christian's best position is is right back. and i I don't, I still might think that, but I think a lot of that was based on just the assumption that he wasn't going to get moved back to the midfield. If they're willing to play him there and he can play like that, I'm all for it it. It creates a little bit of an issue because I feel like there is pressure to play Obed Vargas.
00:37:54
Speaker
Yeah, there is. and I think you're right. Yeah, that is not just related to what he can do on the field. And he's been, he's been great this year, right? Like he, I don't want to make it sound like I don't think he's earned his playing time because he has, but I don't, I don't know that a Christian Obed midfield is going to play the way that one did.
00:38:11
Speaker
We're probably going to find out, right? and some i think you i mean I think you're right. I think those are valid. I think he and Josh are a particularly good combo in part because they both do such a good job of covering ground and they sort of compliment each other a little bit better, I think you're right, than and oh but ah Obed and Christian potentially compliment each other. Right. It would be interesting to see Obed on the right again, I think.
00:38:39
Speaker
yeah I mean, there's there's ways to get Obed on the field regardless. I agree with you. ah And who knows? I mean, it might it might be for this for like right now where we are.
00:38:51
Speaker
Maybe Obed only plays if Zalpalo is, a bit or maybe only starts. I don't know. I don't think that's, I don't think it's that crazy, frankly, that he's not sitting for bad players if in that case. he's He would be sitting for, like, Atencio was an Olympic player. he he's like He's a very, very good player that,
00:39:11
Speaker
Unfortunately, we've not had got a lot of opportunities to see him with consistent runs of games because he keeps getting hurt or you know there's something that sidetracks him. But i I would love to see him get five or six games in a row. And if that's Christian Roldan playing every game, I'm okay with that. I think either way, we're going to see a couple of different pairings this week because It's too easy to not rotate for the Wednesday game against Salzay, but it's a good problem to have. I'll say that.
00:39:44
Speaker
Yeah, it absolutely is. and i mean I think everybody knows Obed's probably going to be gone at some point next year. right so yeah um if If everything goes according to plan, I think it's a negative if he's not um for for everybody involved. but um so They've got to prepare for that succession plan kind of at some point. right and yeah i I think we we probably want to see a Obed Christian pairing at some point anyway. I'm i'm actually curious. I'm looking at if they've actually played together this year, I don't, they only have, they have one start together. And that was a game they won. It was a the St. Louis game. I guess at home against St. Louis.
00:40:33
Speaker
They played so pretty well. good magify yes So maybe it's not a huge problem at all. But yeah, it's, I think that if that's going to be the midfield for, let's say mid season and the next few years beyond that, um I'm not going to say I'm super excited and feel great about everything based on one game, but that certainly gave me plenty of reason to be optimistic.
00:40:59
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, yeah, exactly. Exactly. And I think that that's the thing that I don't, it's, it's unfair to totally discount this game because of the way the second half played out. Yeah. There was plenty in the first half to be able to get excited about what happened, would to not feel guilty about the second half, but to still take something away from the game. Uh,
00:41:25
Speaker
Like, I don't think that the the the sounders aren't going to face anyone that's more talented than the front 10, let's say, for the crew in this game. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's true. i I think there is... There aren't teams in MLS outside of LAFC, obviously, and probably Miami, that I don't think the sounders can beat.
00:41:54
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I think, and I guess this is what's tough though. And I, and I think the sounders front office knows this. And so I, I i feel like this message isn't going to get lost, but what's frustrating is on their day, the sounders can be anybody. Like that's, that's MLS, right? That's that's yeah if the things, if everything goes their way,
00:42:20
Speaker
Yes. Even, even LAFC is beatable for the sounders. Yeah. But the thing, the thing is that everything has to go their way to, to be a, they like they are not a top five team on talent. I think you can admit that. Yeah, they're not. They are probably, they are somewhere between six and 10th best in the league on talent, I think. And that's, I think that's pretty fair. And,
00:42:47
Speaker
and In a sense, that's not a horrible place to be, but it's also just not the standard that the sounders have set for themselves. No, I think it's the difference between if the sounders go to play la or go to play the Galaxy in Carson in a one-game playoff, I'm going to think we've got a shot at this.
00:43:07
Speaker
hu I'm not going to think we're going to win this game. Yeah. You know what I mean? And and that's, that's a, that's a big difference. It it is. Yeah. It's, it's nice to be the underdog. I guess when you succeed, that feels great beating LAFC in 2019 in LA, one of the happiest moments of my sports fandom, not just to understand them, but sports fandom. Uh, it's a great feeling when it comes off, but it gets,
00:43:35
Speaker
stale after a while, especially when you know you've got a boogeyman like l LAFC, you want to feel like not only can you beat any team in the league, but you expect to beat most of the teams in the league. right um And that that doesn't mean you're going to win 34 games, obviously. But it means any given game, you're going to go in thinking, like I expect to win this game outside of the four or five toughest games on your schedule. And when you don't win those games, it's a disappointment.
00:44:02
Speaker
Uh, and the sounders have been there before and there's, I think we've talked about this a lot. There are some people in this fan base that feel like the sounders need a total rebuild to be competitive that they need to gut the roster. I don't feel that way at all. I think, and I think this last week illustrated that too. Absolutely. I think that this is, if this team can be in the, in consideration for you know, getting into the top three in the West potentially, they're almost certainly going to make the playoffs in a decent-ish spot, right? Three, four, five, six, somewhere in there. Yeah. um They're going to end up with a respectable number of points, and they're going to do that with an awful start.
00:44:49
Speaker
Yeah. And with too open deep like functionally two open DP spots for most of the season. Or play without two DPs, yeah. Right. That's a good foundation to build off of. That's a really solid foundation to build ah off of. You don't need to add a ton to that.
00:45:06
Speaker
But you do have to get those those difference makers. that's That's the key thing. i Yeah. And I think that it's easy to fruit get that the gap between how good your roster looks and how good your roster could be is oftentimes pretty small. yeah And is it is defined by one or two, three players.
00:45:29
Speaker
And if you just look at the teams that have three functional DPs versus the teams that have one or two, and that's really what is making the difference for the most part in this league. And if you can get those right, you're golden. If the Sounders go out and if they're DPs next year or Pedro de la Vega, Albert Rusnak and a banger of an offensive player,
00:45:59
Speaker
I think this is an MLS cup contender probably. If they don't do that. they're probably right back where they are now. And that's not and that's that's the that's that's the reality. yeah that's That's the difference between the elite teams and the the unions or the the dynamos to some degree, right? Where they're usually pretty good. They'll have a year or two occasionally where they just hit on a signing and and get some good luck and play really well. And they're elite for that season or at least very, very good for that season. And then they're right back to where they were. hu And that's in a lot of ways, the worst that you can be the worst thing you can be. And yeah, yeah, it's it's a yeah, that's it's it's it's really frustrating to be right there, but not over the top. Right. And not to come back to twenty eighteen constantly, but
00:46:58
Speaker
In the summer window that year, the Sounders going into that window, one of the worst teams in the league looked like branch mentor was probably going to be shown the door. Really bad situation. They signed Raul Rodriguez and Brad Smith. They win a ton of games in a a row. Uh, they go into the playoffs looking like an MLS cup contender. Things have changed in the league since then, but they haven't changed that much. And it just shows what adding one or two impact guys can do for a team.
00:47:26
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Did they also sign Lierdom that year? Or was he 17? He was 17. He was 17. They signed Kim Ki-hee and... That was in the off-season, right? That was in the off-season, yeah. Yeah, well... And Magnus Wolf-Ikram, too. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Oh, Magnus. Oh, Magnus. Yeah. Well, that's probably a good place to call this.
00:47:55
Speaker
So thanks for hanging out with us. if you If you are interested, we'd love to have you as a subscriber to the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network and the Sounder at Heart website. ah We are in the process of ah putting all of our podcasts onto one service and hopefully that we'll create a more easily followed ah unified feed in addition to this feed you won't hopefully have to do much different but we'll have more information on that pretty soon. ah I will note that
00:48:33
Speaker
If you were a subscriber to the $19 a year tier, that is no longer a tier. And I guess a lot of people are getting payment failed ah notices when they try to renew at the $19 rate. All you need to do is just go onto the site, click on your account button, and it'll give you all the new rate options. So I apologize if you were really hoping to keep that $19 rate forever, but it's now $25. So hopefully you still think that's a good value. ah All that said, thanks to our sponsor, Fullpool Wines. Thank you to our subscribers. You guys are making this possible. Thanks to Lickit for producing the show. I'm Jeremiah Shan signing off for Aaron Campo. This is No Study Yet This. Remember, you'll never get alone.
00:49:57
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!