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Nos Audietis, Episode 275: This is not going well
52 Plays7 years ago
Quite the roller-coaster week we just endured. It started with about as depressing of a tie as I can remember, was followed by about as shocking of a road win as I can remember and then ended on a reasonably predictable loss that still sucked.
Jeremiah and Aaron discussed the season’s start, expressed their continued frustrations that the transfer window closed without a signing and looked for reasons to not give up all hope. You know, fun stuff.
This week's music: RVIVR - "Ocean Song", Perry Como - "Seattle", RVIVR - “The Tide”, Woody Guthrie - "Roll On Columbia"
Thanks to James Woollard, Sounders Public Address Announcer, for doing our sponsor reads. You can follow him on Twitter at @BritVoxUS - if you're looking for a British Voice to advertise your business or non-profit, please reach out to him.
Want to hear the music from the show in their glorious, full versions? Check out the Nos Audietis playlist on Spotify!
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Transcript
Introduction to Full Pool Wines and Sponsorship
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Nos Adieres is sponsored by Full Pool Wines. Full Pool Wines are based in Seattle, owned and operated by Sanders fans, and have been sponsoring Nos Adieres since 2011. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest. Their model is simple. One, they email compelling offers.
00:00:23
Speaker
Two, you request bottles that sound appealing. And three, your wine arrives at their soda warehouse and is ready for pickup or shipping. Their soda tasting room is also open to the public. If you're interested in joining their mailing list or learning more about them, visit fullpaulwines.com.
Christian Roldan and Jordan Morris Introduce Themselves
00:00:42
Speaker
Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to There's No Study at Discs.
00:00:58
Speaker
The blueest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle And the hills the greenest green in Seattle
Sounders Rollercoaster Week Recap
00:01:15
Speaker
Welcome back to another edition of NOS Adietes, sponsored by Fullpool Wines, Queen Anne Acupuncture, very creative union, and our broadcast partner Bootstrapper Studios. This is episode 275, and we're recording on Tuesday, May 15, 2018. I am your host, Jeremiah O'Shan, and I'm joined by my co-host, Aaron Campo, and our engineer, Lickett.
00:01:32
Speaker
Quite the rollercoaster week we just endured. It started out with about as depressing of a tie as I can remember, was followed by about as shocking of a road win as I can remember, and then ended on a reasonably predictable loss that still very much sucked as it was to the Portland Timbers.
Sounders' Worst Franchise Start Discussion
00:01:48
Speaker
The Sounders find themselves much closer to the bottom of the table than they do the top of the table. That said, they're not exactly out of the race.
00:01:58
Speaker
but they are enduring quite a frustrating start to the season. They are 2-5 in 2. This is the worst start in franchise history.
Critical Month Ahead for Sounders
00:02:05
Speaker
Aaron, what's your grand feeling about this team at this point in the season?
00:02:13
Speaker
I think that the next month-ish, let's say the next month starting from the next game, I guess is the better way to put it, is huge. I mean, that's no shit, Campo. I mean, they have to win the RSL game, right? If they don't win this RSL game, you have to start. And it's not that the math is a problem, it's that if they can't beat RSL at home,
00:02:37
Speaker
You got to look at their schedule and go, well, who can they be? Right. Yeah. And it's, you know, yeah, they beat TFC on the road. And that's an impressive one. I'm not trying to take anything away from it. You know, the sounders were very depleted. TFC, you know, we know they're still very good. They still have Michael Bradley. They still had Sebastian Givanko. But that was not.
00:02:57
Speaker
TFC, you know, all caps TFC that was, you know, a team that was not quite as depleted but but still depleted. And I thought they played well in, you know, two thirds of the important phases of the game against Portland, but it's just that that last phase of not being able to score goals is
00:03:17
Speaker
It's killing them.
Sounders' Offensive Struggles
00:03:18
Speaker
And not just not being able to score gold. It's that they aren't even really creating good scoring chances. They didn't. I mean, they did a good job against against Toronto, but really they created two good, really good scoring chances and they scored both of them. And then you and then it gets clumped. Same against supporting KC too.
00:03:36
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. It wasn't like they had all these close calls in those games. I think you can argue that they had a few more good looks against LAFC than they did. They didn't score any. But this is a team that hasn't scored in six of their nine games.
Injuries and World Cup Challenges for Sounders
00:03:51
Speaker
And against Columbus and against Portland, they didn't really generate that many good chances. I don't think that there was maybe a couple of incidents where you go, oh, if they had just been able to get a little bit better of a touch here, maybe they turn it into a goal-scoring chance.
00:04:06
Speaker
But it wasn't like either goalkeeper played out of their mind or even really was tested, frankly. Yeah, this has not been like last season where the Sounders were playing really well and chances just weren't going in. The Sounders offense has been legitimately anemic. And I think that they still have the talent to turn that around. They just need to get more than one or two of them on the field at the same time.
00:04:33
Speaker
But I don't think they're going to be an offensive Dynamo. I mean, they're going to have to grind out games. And, you know, fortunately, I think that they have the players right now healthy.
00:04:42
Speaker
been playing in the last few games to do that, they just have to find a way to score. And I think that if they were scoring it an average clip, they would probably be possibly in the top two or three in the West. Matt Doyle had a thing on Sunday night after the game where he was talking about the Sounders and how he thinks that they might be in real trouble. And I think his general takeaway was, I think they'll probably be fine
00:05:11
Speaker
in the long run, but I think that they have bigger problems in their injuries, and I think that it's possible that the wheels are going to come off. I agree with that. Yeah, and I will also say that as
Sounders' Defensive Potential and Injuries
00:05:22
Speaker
low as he had the Sounders in that list, he actually had them sixth in the West, I think, which still would be potentially a playoff team.
00:05:31
Speaker
But I yeah, I mean I think last year, you know you look at I was kind of like talking about this unfortunately before the game on on Sunday, but you look at Sunday and I was or going into that game I was saying how the Columbus game was probably the worst I've seen the Sounders look at home since that New York City loss in 2016 if you remember that game it was pride night they ended up losing 2-0 and at that point I thought okay, this is the season's done and
00:05:58
Speaker
like they if they can't beat New York City FC which was not a very good team that year at home in front of a huge crowd like what are you like where are you gonna get wins and then and then I don't know if you remember this but the next Wednesday they beat Dallas 5-0 at home first place FC Dallas at home but of course that was an FC Dallas team that sat like every starter they had I think the um US Open Cup final was coming up and so they they weren't
00:06:27
Speaker
they weren't kind of going all out for that game but then the game after the FC Dallas game was the KC game where they lost 3-0 they only had one shot and they looked absolutely dead now I don't think there are that many comparisons to the
00:06:44
Speaker
to this series because I don't think they look dead at all against Portland. I thought they actually looked really lively. I think there's a lot, you know, I think the activity of that game suggests that this is a team that's still playing hard, that still believes in each other, that still believes in Brian Schmitzer, but are really frustrated. And I think the difference was that, you know, back in 2016, I think it was fair to ask if the team had just kind of quit on Sigi.
00:07:12
Speaker
Now, the big difference is that that was late in the season that was close to the transfer window opening. This is not late in the season. This is not near when the transfer window is opening.
World Cup Impact on Sounders Roster
00:07:23
Speaker
And they got a lot of work to do to get to the transfer window.
00:07:27
Speaker
Yeah, they do. They absolutely do. And some of the work is going to get done for them, assuming Victor Rodriguez ever gets healthy, assuming, you know, Ozzie Lonzo can stay healthy for more than two weeks, assuming Wilburoon isn't out for too terribly long. And, you know, his deleted tweet gives me hope that maybe he won't be. And so, you know, they're going to get some help there.
00:07:52
Speaker
But they're going to lose players for the World Cup. They're going to lose Nico most likely. They're going to lose Roman Torres. They're most likely going to lose Gustav Svensson. With Sweden's roster, their final roster? They only listed 23 players on their provisional roster. Boring some
00:08:09
Speaker
You know, unforeseen circumstance where a player gets hurt. I guess this is the 23 they're going with. Yeah. And, and I think, I mean, Nico obviously is the last player that I think that the team wants to lose for any extended period of time.
00:08:24
Speaker
But weirdly, as good as Svensson has been this season, and as important as Torres has been, you know, the last few years, I think they're not in a terrible position there. You know, Kim Ki-hee has been great. Jordy Dilemma has been, I think, really solid in central midfield. You know, so I think they can kind of weather that swarm a little bit. I think they'll be okay there.
00:08:50
Speaker
But they just Victor Rodriguez has got to get healthy. I don't think they got yeah, they I don't see how this tease I don't see how this the offense turns around without Victor Rodriguez getting healthy
00:09:03
Speaker
He's what they are missing right now. He's more of a threat in terms of direct play than they have on the team right now. He's, I think, a little more willing to take players on. They've got a creator in Magnus Wolf-Ikram. They've got a guy that can score a ton of goals and be a poacher.
00:09:24
Speaker
and also just do some magical things in Clint Dempsey. They're not going to be a good offensive team, even probably after they add somebody in the transfer window. I think that they're not going to be an offensive dynamo until next season at the earliest, but their defense is so good and so dependable and so reliable that they don't have to be.
00:09:45
Speaker
You know, they can be an average team offensively and be an MLS cup contender, but they're a long, long, long, long way from being an average team offensively.
Sounders' Offensive Weaknesses
00:09:57
Speaker
I mean, right now they are easily the most inemic offense in MLS and it's not luck, it's not, you know, it's just, they just can't score or create and it's painful to watch. You know, I think that there's something to be said for, like if you give me
00:10:13
Speaker
This lineup, for six of the next eight games, I actually think The Sounders would be in great shape. Obviously Fry, Lierdom, Marshall, Ki-hee, New Who, or Francis, frankly, rolled on Alonzo or Delim,
00:10:32
Speaker
And then Victor Rodriguez, Clint Dempsey, Ikram, Bruin. If they could get that lineup on the field six times out of their next eight, I actually think they probably are in great shape by the time the transfer window open or we're getting into the transfer season. I think that's a lineup that can score enough goals that can defend really well.
00:10:53
Speaker
And I wouldn't be really worried about it, but I don't think that I don't know how realistic that is to get that lineup for six games. Because I don't know if Victor Rodriguez suits up against RSL, I'd be really happy. But I don't know if we can reasonably expect that.
00:11:10
Speaker
No. And if he does suit up, is he going to miss two months after one game? That's the thing. And it's so frustrating because we have no idea what's going on with him really. We'll hear, oh, yeah, he's getting close. And then he's had another setback. Ozzy was like, oh, yeah, we're going to leave Ozzy at home.
00:11:34
Speaker
But he's good, he's ready to go, and then he's out on the quad train. And it's just, I don't know, man. It's bad luck. It's getting older, too, I guess. At the core of the team, you would maybe expect them to have more injuries. Yeah, but these guys that are getting hurt are in their late 20s and early 30s, too. It would be one thing if it was,
Injury Reliance on Key Players
00:12:00
Speaker
oh, well, you were relying on Osvaldo Alonso.
00:12:03
Speaker
what do you expect he's hurt like that's that was so predictable or like if chad marshall was missing a bunch of time like oh yeah or roman like that that one of roman tours and chad marshall isn't available for half the season like combined that's not surprising that alonzo might miss 10 15 games that's not really surprising but that's not really what the problem is right
00:12:24
Speaker
Right. They've actually done, I think, a really, really admirable job of preparing for those contingencies, you know? Yeah. Q has been great. Svensson's been a great. Delham, when he's playing central midfield, I mean, I think he's showing what the, you know, what they've seen in him. And I actually think he's a pretty serviceable center-back, but I think that he was in a, like, against Portland. He is at least partially to blame for that goal, but I think that's also a little bit of not being familiar with being three center-backs.
00:12:51
Speaker
and also starting, not even starting the game at that position. Right. And I think too, as much as he's responsible, Christian Roldan and Gustav Svensson are responsible. Right. Sure. And people are focusing on the guy that isn't Christian Roldan and Gustav Svensson for, you know, it's understandable. Yeah. Right. Yeah. He has looked good at center back in the past year, right?
00:13:13
Speaker
So, and I think that we get kind of caught up in Jordy Delham, the right back who clearly was not a very good right back. And I'll also say that I think that there's been some positives that we've seen this year I think that we've seen in flashes that Honda wall Buana.
00:13:28
Speaker
might be a very good MLS player. I think that Henry Wingo is at least showing moments. I don't think he's put anything together. Henry Wingo has not had anything like the game that Bwana had against Toronto. And that's not just his goal. He was dangerous in that game. He was active. But even Jordan McCrary, I actually think that that's under low key a pretty solid move to replace
00:13:55
Speaker
O'Neill Fisher with Jordan McCreary. He was probably our best attacker after he came on against Portland, which is playing completely out of, I mean, playing on the opposite side. I actually was kind of amazed. I looked at the, you know, you look at the action maps of New Who versus McCreary and New Who essentially did not get into the offensive third other than
00:14:14
Speaker
You know his shot the two shots that he had in the cross and like those were the only Three times that he got into the offensive third Whereas Jordan McCreary like now how much did he do with the ball once he was there? Not a ton But he has all he has a whole bunch of touches down in the offensive like inside 18 yards and it just like I thought he you know for a guy who came on and there's said hey like see what you can do for us and
00:14:40
Speaker
You know, he had a lot more activity inside the offensive third than Alex Roldan did. Yeah, which Alex Roldan was your starting winger. So that's right. That's a pretty huge problem. Yeah, I mean, I think that if this if if the Sounders were not playing as poorly as this is the stupidest thing I've ever said on the show, which is saying something. But if the Sounders were not playing as bad as they are,
00:15:08
Speaker
there would be a lot of things to like about this season. They're just... I know what you're saying, but you're right. It sounds really bad. It sounds terrible, but I mean, I hope people know what I mean by that. Like a lot of things that I did not expect to go great have actually gone pretty well. They just, you know, they couldn't score in a brothel with hundreds sticking out of their pockets. And that's that's not great for the soccer team. At the beginning of this season, I think we would have said my big questions are,
00:15:38
Speaker
Is Jordan McCrary a suitable backup to Kevin Leardham? Do they have a reliable third center back? How are they going to deal with Alonso's absences?
00:15:50
Speaker
How, you know, and is Will Bruin going to be able to, you know, play well enough to justify, or I shouldn't say this is before, like, I don't think there was, before this is before Jordan Morris got hurt. Those were the, probably the three biggest questions, right? Back up, right back. Uh, Alonzo's back up and your center back.
00:16:13
Speaker
your third center back. And all three of those positions have actually been pretty well handled. It's the problems that have then been posed since then that they have not done a very good job answering.
00:16:24
Speaker
Right. And, and I think those problems are so much easier to solve weirdly, like finding a quality backup full back in MLS is actually pretty damn hard.
Roster Strategy and Signing Debates
00:16:35
Speaker
And I think they did a great job, you know, they, they picked a guy up off the proverbial scrap heap and he's looked really good. Um, finding somebody that can, you know, that is willing to be a rotational center back, if that's as good as Kim Hehe.
00:16:52
Speaker
also a really hard thing to do and they did it. And, and he might, you know, be one of the best two center backs on the team right now. Um, Gustav Sensen, that was, I know that was last year, but I mean, continues to be a tremendous signing. Um, Jordy Dellum, you know, having faith in him and keeping him around after a lot of people, I think probably myself included, um, one of them gone, you know, after, after the right back experiment last year, they've done a lot of difficult things really well.
00:17:20
Speaker
they did not manage to address the most obvious and single biggest problem on the roster despite having two and a half months to do it. And that's just the craziest thing in the world to me. It's just, I just don't get it. And it's, you know, the last few years I felt like you could point to the problems and say, look, they can't, there's nothing they could have done about this, right? Like this is all bad luck. This was just so easy to see coming. It's so easy to see coming.
00:17:50
Speaker
They weren't scared enough to do something about it is just crazy to me. I don't know Yeah, it does seem like they just overestimated how well they would like I think they just basically decided that
00:18:07
Speaker
we don't need a nether forward right now, we can afford to wait until we get the guy we want. And I think what we're seeing is that they couldn't afford to wait for the guy that they want, or it's not looking like they could afford to wait for the guy that they want. And I get, like I understand it from a roster building, like a holistic, like if you're not looking at this season as, like there's like, if you're not looking at things as immediate needs, like that's just not a,
00:18:37
Speaker
like a thing that comes into your head as, you know, like I can see looking at this roster in the aggregate and thinking like, man, if we can get a world-class or not world, there's like a, that's a horrible phrase, right? If we can get a guy who might be the best forward in MLS by waiting, we should wait, right? Like just looking at it like that simple, like, oh yeah, well that's what you can get. Sure, you should wait.
00:19:06
Speaker
But can you afford to waste the whole season? I think that's what they may have done, is they just...
00:19:12
Speaker
They just underestimated how much of the season could be lost by not filling that need. Right. And, and I mean, again, I've, I've, I've said this a lot. It wasn't not signing the DP in this window. I'm totally fine with them waiting. It's being in a situation very easily foreseeable situation where your options are start Clint MC alone as a striker or start Lamar Nagle striker.
00:19:38
Speaker
And just how you can be a heartbeat away from that and feel okay with it is wild. It's just wild to me. You just can't convince me that there was not something they could have done to bridge that gap.
00:19:55
Speaker
Yeah, so if you sign if you sign that guy in in the in the summer You've got three good forwards and and maybe you feel a little top-heavy at that position and then you've got Jordan Morris coming back Well deal with it when it happens, man. Like I would much rather have to deal with that then deal with What we're having to deal with now and and maybe it precludes them from making an additional signing or
00:20:20
Speaker
I don't know. But if you are so focused, like I think a long term focus taking a long view, having a holistic view of how to build a roster and how you want to do things and thinking, you know, three windows ahead, all good stuff. But if you are so married to that, that you can't adjust on the fly to something as significant as losing your starting striker, then I don't know. That's that's some serious myopia.
00:20:47
Speaker
Yep, yep, that's a good way to put it, and something that I'm sure we'll spend some more time on the
Local Sponsors: Verity Credit Union and Queen Anne Acupuncture
00:20:54
Speaker
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Speaker
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Audience Questions: Striker Options
00:22:17
Speaker
Queen Anne acupuncture has treated players from many of the Seattle area soccer leagues for a wide range of injuries.
00:22:24
Speaker
Acupuncture also happens to be one of the best treatments for stress. Located in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, you can conveniently book an appointment online today at QueenAnneAcupuncture.com. Welcome back to Nos Arietes. So Lickit has a bunch of questions and we may as well just get started with them.
00:22:51
Speaker
Yep, let's go. Matt Faust asks, setting aside incredulity. Wow, butchered that word. That we didn't sign a backup striker in the window. What is our best bad option while Bruin is injured? It's not Lone Striker Clint, is it? Is it?
00:23:08
Speaker
I mean, unfortunately, I actually do think that the best option is probably Clint, but I think, I kind of wrote about this today in my post-game pontifications, a must read if I do say so myself, is I think the issue is that you can't put Clint up as a number nine and then give him one other player to basically play off of.
00:23:35
Speaker
You need to have at least two other midfielders to be supporting him, and you might need a full-blown 4-2-3-1 in order for that to work, but I do think that that's the best option.
00:23:51
Speaker
A lot of what you want a hold-up player to do in terms of just holding the ball up, I think he did actually really well, the issue was that he had absolutely no support in the attack. He had, you know, you look at the touches that the other midfielders made, and Magnus Walthyikram was okay, and he at least tried to get forward a little bit, but Alex Roldon had one, count them one touch inside the 18 yards, and he only had a handful of touches even in the offensive third.
00:24:18
Speaker
I don't think Alex Roldan is a bad player, but he is in no way like a creative player at this point in his career. There's no way that you can rely on him for, you know, if you're only gonna put three ostensibly offensive players on the field, Alex Roldan cannot be one of them. Just like against Columbus, I don't think you can afford, if you're gonna use Christian Roldan as a wide midfielder, I don't think you can use Alex as a supporting, you know, wide milled hitter. They're just too
00:24:47
Speaker
There's just not enough real like dynamism there. I think they're both good players. They're just not, that's not what they are right now though. Yeah. I mean, I totally agree. And I think that, you know, maybe two or three years ago, Dempsey playing up top alone would be, would have been a little bit more effective.
00:25:04
Speaker
But at this stage in his career, he just, I mean, he looked exhausted after about the 75th minute on Sunday. And it's hard to blame him. I mean, he had to do all the dirty work. He had to do all the holdup play. It was very physical. And that's just, it's not, that's not something he's ever been good at doing, that role, you know? And yeah, desperate times and whatnot. Maybe you have to do it. And he's a talented enough player that,
Clint Dempsey's Role and Strategies
00:25:32
Speaker
You can still hope for a moment of magic or whatnot, but It's just it's it's unfair to him in some ways because it's something he's never really excelled at doing it's something I don't think he enjoys doing and It's putting way too much pressure on him because if you're set up in that that kind of formation and
00:25:55
Speaker
you know, you're playing against a team like Portland that likes to counter against Toronto. I think it worked really, really well because Toronto likes to, you know, play up high and they like to have a lot of possession. And, you know, so it's asking less of the lone forward because they're going to have a little bit more breathing room. But the lone forward in that game was Will Bruin, who, you know, is a traditional number nine and he's not a great holdup forward by any stretch.
00:26:24
Speaker
It's stuff he's used to doing, you know, it's not asking him to step out of his comfort zone. And, I mean, I agree that it's the best option, but I also agree that they've gotta find
00:26:33
Speaker
a way to, you know, maybe have Wolf-Ikram play the Dempsey role that he usually plays so he at least has someone close to him. And it's not just, you know, fighting off defenders until the rest of the attack catches up. Well, and I'll also add, I think there was a notable difference in the starting lineup against TFC. And that was that Handuola Buona, who was also a
00:26:59
Speaker
you know, a player who is capable of getting into the attack, who got into the attack in that game. And I think that that just having three really offensive players is a big difference than having essentially two. And I think that, you know, in some ways I feel bad for Clint Dempsey because I think he was kind of put in a position where there was not really much hope of success. He was essentially just asked to make magic happen. And
00:27:24
Speaker
you know, I think he actually put in a lot of the hard work that you would have wanted from him. But it was just there was no real chance of payoff, unfortunately. Yeah, and that's and that's the thing I think that that's so frustrating is that I feel like Brian Schmetzer has to have been aware of that. And I don't think he had a lot of great options. But I feel like the option he went with might have been the worst.
00:27:49
Speaker
So kind of swirling around the same subject, dudes be asked, is the starting 11 better without Dempsey? Is Dempsey done or will he round into form by mid-season? I think it depends on what the rest of the starting 11 is. I don't think that Quinn Dempsey can carry a team.
00:28:07
Speaker
I think that he can be a very important player, especially if he has the right kind of players around him. But if it's a situation like that, I mean, there's part of me that wonders if maybe
00:28:19
Speaker
having Lamar Nagel doing that kind of work is a better plan than bringing on Clint Dempsey later or something. I don't know. I don't think it's a Dempsey issue, and I was pretty frustrated on Sunday and said that I thought he was kind of toast, and I think in a lot of ways he is.
00:28:39
Speaker
He's getting up there in years. He has a lot of miles on his legs. But if he's put in a situation where he's capable of succeeding, I think he's obviously still one of the best 11 players on this team. They just have to figure out what that situation is.
00:28:57
Speaker
Yeah, I'll add that I think that he can be, like, I think surrounded by the right players, he's perfectly fine as a starter. Like, I think that, you know, if you go with a 4-2-3-1 and you actually have the four, you know, the four players that you had envisioned, which was, you know, like a Will Bruin, Nico Lidero, Clint Dempsey, and let's just say Victor Rodriguez or Magnus Wolf Leichram, I think that could be successful. I don't see any reason why it can't be successful, but
00:29:28
Speaker
You know that obviously puts a lot more pressure on your your midfielders.
New Forward Signing Debates
00:29:32
Speaker
It puts a lot more pressure on your defense But I think that that can be a successful formation They of course have not really used that for I don't think they've used that formation once this year or that collection of players once this year So, you know, I I think that the thing with Clint Dempsey is he is no longer automatically part of your best 11
00:29:52
Speaker
But I think that, you know, like, I'll throw it another possibility. I think that he would work just fine as a number nine if the players behind him are, uh, are Icrum, Christian Roldan, and Nico Ledero. Like, I think that could be a very potentially very effective group.
00:30:12
Speaker
Right, there has to be more energy in the middle of the pitch up high. I think that's the key thing. He just can't carry that load himself. And I think it's part of the reason to me that not signing another forward, not to keep banging that drum, but why it was so unconscionable because it seems like the obvious
00:30:31
Speaker
assumption that you have to make about the thought process is that, well, okay, you know, we've got Wilbrew and who's a forward and we've got Clint Dempsey who's a forward. But Clint Dempsey is not a forward in the way that you need to make a functional formation work unless you're gonna, you know, go whole hog and play with a false nine. And I think that, you know, we definitely saw that against Portland on Sunday.
00:30:58
Speaker
Kind of saying of the same subject, but more talking about who we might sign. Kenwise2020 asks, I'll read part of this question because it kind of goes into it. Yes, does this potentially force Sounders hand into signing a striker or nine position versus more of a playmaker? Just kind of how the general play has been going lately. I mean, I think that there was no scenario
00:31:27
Speaker
where the Sounders weren't gonna sign a nine this summer, whether that be a TAM or a DP, I think they understand that for this to be an effective team down the stretch, regardless of where they are getting to that point, they needed to add another forward to the roster.
00:31:49
Speaker
I will say though that I would not be shocked if it's not the kind of nine that people are necessarily expecting. I think that the organization, whether that's Garth or whether it's everybody, has a type of player they're looking for in the attacking position. And so I don't think, it would not be a shock at all to me if it's not the classic number nine type that gets brought in, which is fine as long as they score goals, I don't care.
00:32:17
Speaker
Um, you know, if people are picturing either an Oba type or, um, more of a big body, you know, physical type, I just, I don't know that I necessarily expect that kind of signing.
Playoffs Impact on Season Strategy
00:32:32
Speaker
Um, Interpersonal asks, is missing the playoffs or flaming out in the first round the only way to break out of this cycle of short, off season, awful start?
00:32:43
Speaker
It's, I mean, it's kind of tempting to think that way, right? Because it's, you know, the Sounders, I guess, worst playoff performance was 2013. And, you know, they started hot out of the gate in 2014. But then they also started great in 2015. I mean, I really do think that more than anything, it's shitty luck, the slow starts the last couple of years. And I know that that's
00:33:09
Speaker
a lot of people disagree with that, and that's totally reasonable. And I think that there are reasonable criticisms to be made, obviously, about what the front office has done. But I think if you look at the injuries the team has had to endure the last two years, last three years even, really, that's just the most plausible explanation. And could the sounders have put themselves in a better situation to weather those kinds of things? Yeah, absolutely. And I think, especially this last transfer window,
00:33:38
Speaker
not adding another forward is a great example of that. But I think, I mean, yeah, you don't expect the same bad luck to happen three consecutive years, but it's the whole coin flip thing, you know, just because it turns up heads 50 times doesn't mean it's going to turn up heads the 51st. I mean, I'll say this is that I think that the
00:34:00
Speaker
cycle of slow starts and kind of the desire to reload rather than rebuild is fueled by the perpetual nature of making the playoffs. Now I think that there's a possibility that if they don't make the playoffs this year that they undertake a different kind of offseason where they aren't so much worried about
00:34:25
Speaker
Reloading the team there kind of start thinking about it as a rebuild and I think that Garth has been kind of trying to balance those two desires Throughout his time here and he's done it to you know Different like I think he's been successful in some ways you obviously they've had some really great playoff runs and they've not been successful in other ways which is that they haven't been able to put together a complete season and
00:34:51
Speaker
And I suppose it's possible that an early playoff departure or even missing the playoffs might give them some breathing room and then not going into the Champions League next year. Like being in next year's Champions League, let's just say they get hot, they go to MLS Cup, they qualify for Champions League next year.
00:35:12
Speaker
It's going to be really hard to break out. And I don't know that it might be. I think it's probably worth it. But if you're looking for the centers to break out of the cycle, I think it's really hard to break out of that cycle when you're having four week long off seasons.
00:35:24
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the reality is that MLS, like most American sports leagues, are designed to put sort of a time limit on, you know, how long you can succeed with the same core players. And it's less extreme, I think, in MLS, but because of the weirdness of our transfer windows versus other leagues' transfer windows,
00:35:45
Speaker
Um, when the champions league starts and all, and all that, um, it just, it does get really hard and that's not, again, to say that, you know, they shouldn't have done better because I think that they clearly should have. But, um, I think you're right that if that does end up happening, which I don't think anybody wants, um, it does make it a little easier to just sort of tear it down and, and start from the scratch.
Transfer Strategy and Nico Lodeiro's Injury
00:36:10
Speaker
And I'll add that I think that one of the things that we're seeing right now is that balance. Whereas if they were just hyper focused on starting the season strong and going all out in Champions League, it's hard to
00:36:25
Speaker
It's hard to explain why they were willing to wait until the summer to make a signing, even if the signing they would have made in the winter was more of a short-term fix. And so I think that the decision to wait until this summer to make one or potentially two significant signings is a lot about that balancing act of, are we rebuilding or are we reloading?
00:36:50
Speaker
Which, again, is where the messaging is really one of the biggest problems, I think, that people have. I think you're absolutely right in your assessment, and I think people would be a lot more willing to accept that if they weren't told, no, you're all in on the Champions League. No, I agree. And I think there's a fair argument to be made that
00:37:13
Speaker
it was worth going all in on Champions League. And I think that it's, but if they were not gonna go all in, I think they needed to, you're right, I think they probably needed to message the offseason differently and they needed to, you know, it's like, I do think that Garth was being sincere in his desire to kind of have his cake and eat it. I don't know that clearly it was not executed the way, and Jordan Morris getting hurt when he did,
00:37:42
Speaker
clearly was a big issue. And I think if anything, the statements that he made about the need to replace Jordan, I think gave people a false sense of, well, they're going to go out and get someone.
00:38:04
Speaker
because clearly they did not make every effort possible to go out and get someone. What they did is they identified a bunch of players that they wanted and they said, if we can't get them in the winter, that's fine, we'll just get them in the summer. Right, right. And I think that people would be more willing to accept that than I think maybe Garth thinks that they would. Maybe, yeah, that might be. Maybe not though, I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, we'll never really know, but that's a fair thing to wonder.
00:38:31
Speaker
So going back to the topic of the slow starts and, you know, kind of going off the championship seasons and still, you know, MLS cup finals, et cetera, et cetera. Can we, is it fair to look back at like the LA galaxy when they were in their, in their run as a similar situation where they always seemed to start out really slow and then they would turn it on at the end of the season and be there every time.
00:38:57
Speaker
I mean, I think that's fair to look at that. I just think that it's also that's also a very good reminder that just because you missed the playoffs one year doesn't mean that you're going to come back and go gangbusters the next year and that you're oftentimes going to be pulled into the same track. You know, it's like I think that the galaxy
00:39:16
Speaker
realized that there wasn't a lot of patience to live through a rebuild. And so maybe they overcommitted to bringing in players that were designed more to win now. And right now, they're in a better standing than the centers are right now, but I don't know that they're organizationally in a better place than the centers are right now.
00:39:39
Speaker
No, I mean they're in a better standing than the Sounders are right now by not that much with more or less their whole team healthy. They're not in great shape and their salary cap is going to be a disaster.
00:39:56
Speaker
Okay, moving on then. Tom Glantz asks, there are a lot of rumors swirling about Nico's injuries. Are there? Is there a story there regarding Frye's comments? If he wants to make the World Cup roster isn't the best way to play and help his team succeed.
00:40:12
Speaker
I think, so I don't think Frye's comments were directed at Nico. Nico if assuming, assuming every, like I have not gotten any conflicting information from people who I trust and best I can tell he has a legitimate like broken toe or whatever and so that's not really a fitness issue. That's not not taking care of your body. That's wear and tear and just getting some bad luck. So I don't think that
00:40:43
Speaker
that Fry's statements were directed at Nico. I think those were more directed at, you know, maybe they were directed at New Who, who apparently got sick during the game, and I'm sure that there's something that, in Fry's mind, or fair or not, was like, dude, you gotta be in better, you can't be getting sick during a game, you know, or whatever it might be. Or maybe he was talking about Nelson Rodriguez, who has been kind of dealing with this knee injury, literally all off-season,
00:41:10
Speaker
season and they don't and they can't find anything structurally wrong with them you know so you can kind of go down the list there's a whole bunch of guys you know you look at all these hamstring injuries I'm sure that to some degree and it what fries talking about is hamstring injuries are a result of not training properly not taking care of yourself and if you're consistently getting hamstring injuries and
00:41:33
Speaker
It's probably because you're not in the best shape to begin with. Maybe he's talking about Roman Torres. I don't know who. It's possible that Fry was also just talking about the aggregate and that he wasn't necessarily talking about any specific player. I think he was just talking about the frustration that you have all these guys getting hurt and maybe in his mind he's not seeing guys put in the work that they need to put in to not be in those situations.
00:41:56
Speaker
That said, I think that Nico, I don't know what's going on with Nico for sure, but what I don't really buy is the conspiracy theory that he is either faking an injury or that he is trying to force his way out of the team because there's nothing about his history that suggests that he's that type of player. You just look at everywhere he's been. He's been very upfront. He's been a straight shooter. He's a team leader. I just don't buy any other conspiracy theories.
00:42:23
Speaker
And I also think too that if there's a plausible scenario that this has anything to do with Nico wanting to heal up, it's that he knows he's going to go to the World Cup and he's going to play in the World Cup no matter what. He's going to play through anything to play in the World Cup. And he knows if he doesn't take time off to try to heal up now, he's probably going to be in significantly worse shape when he comes back.
00:42:51
Speaker
Like, that to me seems like the most plausible, I guess it's not really a conspiracy theory, but plausible theory of why he, if he's able to play right now, that he would have chosen not to. I just, like the, like the, you know, like was right in the question. Like, I think that if he was worried about missing the World Cup, he would be playing right now and trying to show well.
00:43:18
Speaker
I think the conspiracy theories from fans is stemming from people not believing the player's comments at face value. Like, you know, good faith when he was saying that, you know, like I'd be flattered if Boca asked for me back, you know, that kind of stuff. And they just read into that as he wanted to leave. And it's like, I think that has a lot to do with what they think his mind, state of mind is.
00:43:40
Speaker
I think you're probably right. And I think that that also speaks to Nico's kind of personality, which is if people from Boca, he knows fans from South America, from Boca still are his fans. Right. And so it's like, how do you tell when someone asks you, like, do you want to join this team?
00:43:58
Speaker
What are you supposed to say? It's a, Boca Junior's a huge club. Yeah. Like, yeah, if they want to bring me back, I'm not going to say no. Like I, and I, and I, and I don't, and I don't know that like as Sounders fans would we love to hear him say, God, I'm never going to leave the Sounders.
00:44:16
Speaker
I guess I would love to hear that, right? And there was a time when he said, I hope you'll retire here and become a coach. But that was also not when he was being confronted with the rumors that Boca might want to bring him back. So I mean, I don't know. I'll say this. I think he's being honest when he says that if Boca wants to bring him back, he'd go back there. But it's not as easy. I don't think that means he has one foot out the door, though.
00:44:44
Speaker
I would much rather have that kind of candidness than Oba bailing two weeks before the season starts. Oba constantly saying in public how he loves being here, but behind the scenes every few months he's demanding a new contract. And that's whatever. Get your money, Oba. I don't care. But from a fan's perspective, I would much rather players be honest with stuff like that.
00:45:09
Speaker
Yep. And to be fair too, also Nico also clarified and said, yes, that's true. I said that, but I'm here now. You know, he didn't say like, I'm, I have one foot out the door. He said, I'm here. That should be good enough for anybody. And I'll add that if, if the sounders were going gangbusters right now, I don't think people would be talking about this at all. True.
00:45:30
Speaker
And so it's like I think a lot of it is just there's a lot of frustration on this team, a lot of fair and understandable frustration. But I think that that frustration is manifesting itself in ways that are probably unfair to the player.
Coach vs. Player Responsibility Debate
00:45:43
Speaker
You know, Nico is a guy who has put in everything he I mean, I don't just don't I just don't know how you can watch Nico and think that there's anything that there's effort that his heart is not in it like,
00:45:52
Speaker
That's the one thing I think we can't question about him is his desire and his heart now Maybe his execution has not been as good as it could have been but you know his it I don't think any at any point you watch a Nico game and think ah, it's he really want to be here, right?
00:46:10
Speaker
Okay, French Sounders asks, I don't know how much control he has around the recruitment, but on that issue and on the technical aspect of the game, is Brian Spencer in part responsible for the series of defeats, or is it more to the blame on the players?
00:46:25
Speaker
In part, sure. I mean, I think the single biggest factor is the state of the roster, whether that's injuries, whether it's not replacing Jordan Morris, World Cup call-ups coming up soon. I mean, I think that that's the biggest issue. I think if the Sounders were
00:46:47
Speaker
50% healthier, they would probably be in the top four in the West, easily. And there's just, you know, that's luck. I've tried to convince myself that their training staff doesn't know what they're doing. I've tried to convince myself of a lot of things, you know, and I just, the most plausible explanation for all these injuries is that, you know, sometimes your luck is bad, but
00:47:12
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think there are things Branch Betzer's done, decisions he's made that have been detrimental. I think the way they approached the Columbus game was a farce. I was very, very upset after that game with the way it went down. I think that starting Alex Roldon over Magnus Vollweigram was a huge mistake. I think that
00:47:37
Speaker
Schmetzer has said a few times sort of in reference to indirectly Wolf Eicherm, you know, well, we need the players that can play the right way and work with our system and so forth and so on. And I mean, to me, and maybe this is uncharitable, that reads as, you know, Alex Roldon is tracking back on defense and he's gritty and he's fighting for every ball. And I don't feel like Wolf Eicherm is doing that.
00:48:04
Speaker
And, okay, I mean, on the one hand, fair. On the other hand, you've got to figure out how to coach around that, you know? Wolf Eichram is the player he is at this point in his career, and that player is very talented, and when you have
00:48:20
Speaker
The lack of attacking talent that the Sounders do right now you need to find a way to be able to get him on the field and get as much out of them as you can a and Make tactical adjustments to where the areas he's deficient You know, you have some cover for that and I will never and this is a thing This is definitely not a French better thing. This is just soccer coaches in general There's this belief I feel like that
00:48:50
Speaker
the like really talented attacking players having defensive deficiencies is a bigger deal than you know high work rate guys that put in the work on defense having attacking deficiencies and i will never for the life of me understand it um but he's also i feel like schmester has done some really good things technically i think the way he set up against toronto was great um i didn't enjoy the way he set up against portland but i think it was generally the right
00:49:17
Speaker
the right decision and the areas where maybe there's some room for disagreement, his choices were shitty. So it's hard for me to blame him too bad. I think he's probably gotten us some points that somebody else might not have. And I think maybe he's costing some points that another coach might have gotten us. But on the balance, it's hard for me to put too much of the blame on him.
00:50:00
Speaker
they didn't expect to face the team that they faced because there was a red card so early in that game that Columbus totally changed the game plan and instead of coming out in their normal style which would have probably that would have made a lot more sense to have Alex Roldan and Christian Roldan on the field together if you're facing a team that's gonna be playing straight up and willing to attack and do all those kinds of things
00:50:03
Speaker
echo what you said.
00:50:24
Speaker
It doesn't make as much sense when you're facing a bunker team similarly I don't think I think what I would if I'm getting into his head my guess is that his plan on set on Sunday was not to have to sub to defensive players and That I think those kind of forced his hand so whatever I think he is his goal was probably to get to the 60th minute and And then start making offensive changes that could maybe you know
00:50:53
Speaker
get you a chance for a goal. And I will also say that I don't think that he went into Portland wanting to get a tie. I think he wanted to keep it close. I think he wanted to grind down Portland to some degree. I don't think he went in there perfectly satisfied with a 0-0 tie. I think the way the game played out, I think he would have happily taken that. But I don't think he would have been very excited about a 0-0 tie. That said, it's not a satisfying
00:51:21
Speaker
explanation to say, oh, luck played such a big part in this. And I think too, getting back to the porting game, Chris Reifer, who apparently retired from covering the timbers but has just dedicated all of his time to talking about them since then, like even more than before somehow, said something, you know.
00:51:41
Speaker
Friend of the show, Chris Pfeiffer. Yeah. Lots of opinions on data visualizations, that guy. But he said something about the Sounders. Oh, Brian Schmetzer really knows how to park a bus. And I mean, at the time, yeah, the Sounders were playing a 5-4-1. They also had more possession, a significantly lower percentage of long balls, higher completion percentages, higher dual percentages.
00:52:06
Speaker
which none of those are indications of a team that is parking a bus. I mean, you would expect a heavy possession deficit. You would expect to be playing a lot more long balls in the Sounders where they just didn't have anything in
Management and GM Garth Lagerwey's Evaluation
00:52:19
Speaker
the attack. And I think that when Kim got hurt,
00:52:23
Speaker
You know, like you said, I think that that totally screwed the game plan. None of the choices he had were good. I saw a lot of people, you know, being critical of moving Dellum back, but I honestly feel like if you think that Tony Alfaro was a clearly and significantly better choice, you are...
00:52:43
Speaker
being a little revisionist so yeah he had not a lot of great choices and I think in general his approach was right in Portland he just doesn't have a lot of work with I think if there was one thing I would say I think that I would have rather seen them
00:53:00
Speaker
Switching to a 4-2-3-1 once Kim went out since they already had two center backs on the field I don't know that they needed to drop Dellen back like I think they probably could have gotten away with with just changing their formation Although maybe that's over complicating things But yeah, I didn't see a team that parked the bus either and I and I think that in effectiveness in the offensive third and kind of not really having
00:53:25
Speaker
pieces like i said made it sometimes look like they weren't trying to attack i just i don't think they weren't trying to attack i just think that they just didn't have the horses to attack okay tom glance asks if garth gets voted out what do you think the realistic implications are does he get moved to another position on the staff is there an excuse that gets made
00:53:49
Speaker
I don't know that they have a lot of options. As far as I know, it's a legal document that's binding. And if he gets fired, he gets fired. I don't I don't know. Like I suppose it's possible that he could be moved somewhere else in the organization. But the whole the way that whole thing gets structured is designed to basically
00:54:09
Speaker
cut off
00:54:30
Speaker
My understanding is that they don't have a lot of wiggle room what to do. Now what happens? Well I think what happens is that Sounders fans send a pretty loud message to any prospective GM that this is a job that has very little room for error.
00:54:49
Speaker
I don't
00:55:06
Speaker
I just, I don't know. I don't think that's going to be, I don't think that's going to go the way we want it to go. I'll put it that way. Yeah. I mean, to sort of expound, I guess, and maybe go a little further with what you're saying. I think any prospective GM candidate that we would be excited to come in is going to say,
00:55:23
Speaker
Wow, they made two consecutive MLS cups. They've had to endure a ton of injuries and they're firing the GM. There's no fucking way on earth I'm taking that job. It's not the best job in US soccer anymore. It's not the shiniest job in American soccer anymore. That would be LA or Atlanta or whatever. So people might be more willing to wait until one of those jobs opens up.
00:55:52
Speaker
And look, I mean, there's definitely a point with Garth where he's screwed up too much, but I just, I don't think...
00:56:02
Speaker
by any reasonable standard of performance, you can say he's reached that point. And I know that there's a lot more to it than just making me on the last cup. And I know that people feel like we should put more emphasis on the full season. I totally agree. People feel like we should put more emphasis on the open cup. I understand that perspective.
00:56:27
Speaker
I'm not super happy with Garth right now, frankly. I think that not signing another forward was just an indefensible decision to make. They had to do something to make that happen. I don't think that there was any choice to not do that, but
00:56:45
Speaker
And on the balance in terms of the results on the field, it's just really, really hard to argue, especially given his mandate when he got here. You know, I think people forget how upset people were after 2014. I think there's a lot of revisionism about, you know, well, that team was fun to watch and we competed all season, but there were a lot of people calling for heads after we got knocked out of the playoffs that year because people wanted the MLS Cup because that was a championship. And so,
00:57:09
Speaker
you know, two years later, that's what we got. And then we go back to another one. Is the championship. Right. And I mean, probably always will be. I just I think that you can be highly critical of Garth and think he's he's made some serious mistakes and not be entirely happy with the emphasis he's placed on things.
00:57:31
Speaker
And also reasonably think that yeah, I mean if we're holding people to a standard of performance in their jobs It's it's insane to think that this guy should be fired Yeah, and I and I even find some value in the idea that like a vote that is read like with like reasonably close is not the worst thing in the world because I do think that there is a a very
00:57:56
Speaker
there's an understand, I think there's on some level, there's an understandable frustration. And I think that that frustration sometimes manifests itself in things that I don't find as under as, like, as fair. But I do think that the base level of frustration is born from a real place of a genuine place. And I don't think that's a bad thing. I don't think it's a bad thing.
00:58:20
Speaker
for Sounders fans to expect the team to always make the playoffs. I don't think it's bad for Sounders fans to believe like they should always be contending for MOSC up. The difference is that when you don't do those things, do we just throw our hands up and give up?
00:58:36
Speaker
Or do we, you know, do we demand that something changed now is the way that we change it only through firing the GM. I don't think it is, but I can understand that that conversation needs to go on and I can understand the desire to push for it.
00:58:52
Speaker
And so I don't think that the process of like Garth sweating out on election is necessarily a bad thing. But I do think that at the end of the day, what we've done is we fired a GM who has delivered basically everything that he promised to deliver would be a bad decision.
00:59:11
Speaker
Yeah, and while I generally agree with you, I have like a bad association with trying to send a message in elections for some reason. I don't know what could happen. Right. I know we have kind of, no, I agree. I agree. I totally agree. And that's what I think scares me also is that, you know, when you try to send a message through the election, sometimes you end up with a result that you don't want. And I think that we're living through that very viscerally right now.
00:59:39
Speaker
We're talking about President Donald Trump Yeah, what was I gonna say I can't remember now oh It was I I think I don't think anyone's here in saying that you shouldn't think Garth should be fired that I mean, that's your opinion. That's great. I
01:00:01
Speaker
But we should also keep in mind that you should take the bigger picture of what he's delivered against what you think is wrong with him. If that came to a vote. You can't just dismiss that he's done all this other work that was positive.
01:00:18
Speaker
just because you're mad that we didn't sign a player, that kind of thing. And it's entirely possible to come to the reasonable conclusion when looking at all of that that, yeah, I think we should fire this guy. But I do think that a lot of this is people are pissed off and they want a pound of flesh, which I think is a totally
01:00:37
Speaker
understandable reaction. I hope that if it comes to that, it's a decision made out of actual consideration of the facts and not being pissed off. Especially when you hear it within the discussion, it's like, well, my ticket prices went up. Well, we fired Ross Fletcher. Well, we did all these things that have literally nothing to do with Garth.
01:01:04
Speaker
I get it. There's a lot of frustration with the team, but like, there's got to be more constructive ways that we're sometimes contemplating.
Sounders' Slow Start Comparisons
01:01:13
Speaker
Anyway. I think the vote has to be a serious matter and people can't just use it to hang it over someone's head. Like when you're mad. Right. Right. Or we should just get rid of it. Or we should just get rid of it. That's an unpopular opinion of mine, but that's probably not going to happen.
01:01:28
Speaker
Okay. Uh, moving on here. T. Steege asks, when is the first possible date that the Sanders can start a best 11, quote unquote, best 11, any, any of the stand, any of the stand in starters, impressing you more than expected? I'm going to say May 13th, 2027. This is my, this is my target. A real optimist you are.
01:01:52
Speaker
Well, I guess as currently constructed, it's within the realm of possibility that they could start a best 11 on the 4th of July. But that also assumes that all of the key players from the World Cup, all the sounders that go to the World Cup don't advance beyond the group stage. So realistically, I think you're talking about, you know,
01:02:17
Speaker
might be looking at August before there's like a real best 11 and and at that point you're looking at that's also probably when you're looking at bringing in uh in a DP and yeah so I mean I don't I think and that's a long time I mean that's a long time from now there's just no way around it like like there's like the sounders have a lot of work to do before that before like the the calvary
01:02:41
Speaker
uh arrives and there's I guess that's that's maybe my point is that it's almost pointless to look at when there might be a best 11 because it's it's like if we can't wait for the best 11 to be available for the season to be turned around yeah no I agree I mean that's the thing is that the turnaround the last couple of years has happened before everybody was healthy I mean it happened in 2016 pretty much immediately after Clint Dempsey was lost for the year
01:03:09
Speaker
um it's so yeah i think that they've got to get results with a i mean a best six maybe like i i don't know they've got to find a way to to do better but i think there's enough talent that's hurt that they don't have to have their best 11 to to turn things around i don't think
01:03:29
Speaker
this team is actually that far from being really good. They just need to score more than a goal every two games. I mean they've scored seven goals this year and it's you know you look at what their defense has done they've allowed the third fewest goals in MLS. I think on a per game basis they're like fourth or something like that. Their defense has been great, the midfield has largely been pretty good. They just can't score to save their lives and
01:03:57
Speaker
That's the problem. And we've seen that they are capable of doing it. They just need to do it more often than once every two games.
Humor Segment and Utensil Usage
01:04:09
Speaker
But in terms of players that have impressed me, I think Kim Ki-hee might be the second best center back on this team. I thought he was lights out against Portland. I thought he was arguably him and Svensson were maybe the best players on the team. He's impressed me in pretty much every game he's had.
01:04:25
Speaker
I think it's entirely possible that Ramon Torres is the fourth best center back on this team behind Marshall, Snutsen, Kim, and that's crazy to me because I still think Ramon Torres is a really good player, but Kim has been super good. Alex Roldan has, I think,
01:04:46
Speaker
I don't think you should be starting, especially a regular starter, but he's significantly better than I was expecting. I think it's pretty rare to take a player in the draft where they did and get so much. He's playing more than Christian played in his rookie year.
01:05:05
Speaker
Um, which I think is really impressive. So, and, and, and while the Bona has been, um, you know, a nice surprise as well, I think that he's going to get pushed pretty far down the depth chart, you know, and when we start getting healthier, but, um, but he definitely has a future at this level. Yeah, I'll just let, I think that you ran over that list pretty well. Uh, let's see, two questions left.
01:05:33
Speaker
RBPitch asks, when will Virginia Mason start using sounders in their commercials instead of wasting money paying for actors? Oh, I think they would probably have to pay sounders to do the commercials. I think local actors are cheap. Maybe it's more realistic to have injured, actually injured players. That's true. Oh, I get it. See? Yeah. I don't, I don't pay attention to commercials on my phone during commercials.
01:06:03
Speaker
But they would still probably have to pay the losers for their likenesses. So my answer still is good. Maybe my delivery just threw that whole joke off. No, no. I think this was a meat problem. OK, last one. Blue82vdub asks, what is the second fork on the table used for? It's for salad. Salad fork. Unless you're eating oysters or something. Well, the first fork is for salad.
01:06:29
Speaker
Well, I think you're being pedantic, Jeremiah. Technically. Also, what if you're eating a salad after the entree, which is not unheard of? There's also a dessert fork too. That's true. The dessert fork is delivered after.
01:06:48
Speaker
you're right it's a separate setting but there there can be up to four forks isn't there an actual like oyster fork there's an oyster fork there's a fish fork the fish fork is for getting the bones out um the salad fork traditionally has like a sharp edge on it
01:07:04
Speaker
But nobody, I don't think anybody uses those anymore. Is that to cut the lettuce? Yeah, yeah. But now they get that, you know, them pre-torn bags of lettuce, so nobody... I was, we were talking about this before the show, actually, and I, I will... So I will microwave a burrito at 9.30 at night and make a salad to go with it, to pretend like I'm not eating a microwave burrito at 9.30 at night for dinner. And I will use a salad fork for the salad and a dinner fork for the burrito.
01:07:33
Speaker
And I have no idea why. I have no idea why I do that. It's like how I can't have the TV or radio volume on anything but an even number. I just like, I can't eat a sandwich. Wow. We're learning all these things about you today. Yeah, this shouldn't really, I mean, if you've ever read my tweets, none of this should surprise you, but that happens. I have read a few of your tweets. Yeah, I'm sorry. And I'm still kind of surprised.
01:07:57
Speaker
Yeah, no, I have some weird neuroses. They're, thankfully, you know, in the grand scheme of things, fairly harmless. But yeah, I just can't do it. It seems wrong to eat a salad with a dinner fork. Well, I gotta tell you that my wife looks at the, she just thinks the salad fork is the fork.
01:08:15
Speaker
Because she hates those long dinner forks. I will actually eat dinner with a salad fork. Oh, okay. Well, that seems less crazy. It's a better fork, I think, than the... It's a better fork. I don't really understand the necessity for the long prongs of a dinner fork.
01:08:32
Speaker
Right. So you thought you were... Yeah, this is a lot of forking information.
Show Conclusion and Sponsor Acknowledgements
01:08:37
Speaker
Hey, thank you. Oh, hey. Well, that's a good... So that's it. That's all your questions? That's it. Well, I'm so glad that we got to have a fork discussion because fork discussions are very... Forking discussions are very important.
01:08:54
Speaker
But anyway, thanks of course to our sponsors Verity Credit Union, Fullpool Wines, Queen Anne Acupuncture, and our broadcast partner Bootstrapper Studios. This is Nosarietes. Oh wait, I'm Jeremiah O'Shan. I forgot how to do this. I'm Jeremiah O'Shan. I'm signing off on behalf of Aaron Campo and Lickit. This is Nosarietes. Remember, you'll never yet alone.
01:09:22
Speaker
Green Douglas spur where the water's cut through. Down to wild mountains and tangents you flew. Canadian northwest to the ocean so blue. It's Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Roll On, Columbia Roll On. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn. Roll On, Columbia Roll On.
01:10:09
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!