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Now we’re having fun
72 Plays5 months ago
Recently, someone asked if the Sounders were a good bad team or a bad good team and after another successful week I’m leaning toward maybe just a good team.
On Saturday, the Sounders scored a pretty comprehensive 2-0 win over the New England Revolution and followed that up two days later with a road win over the Sacramento Republic in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup.
In a vacuum, neither win is particularly impressive. Heck, if you look at any of their recent wins, none of them are particularly impressive. But we’re now at a point where the form is almost undeniable.
The Sounders have now won four straight across all competitions and are now unbeaten in six. Go a little farther back and they’re 7-1-3 in their last 11. They’ve done this while scoring multiple goals in six straight in and 8 of their last 11, too.
This is actually … fun?
Jeremiah and Aaron break it down while also sharing some of their experiences after watching some recent games from the stands and how the concourse experience has gotten appreciably worse.
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Transcript
Introduction to NOS Arietes Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to NOS Arietes. This episode of NOS Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of NOS Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounders supporters.
Seattle Sounders' Recent Victories
00:00:20
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest.
00:00:28
Speaker
A.O. Shen! Let's go! What a save by Fry! The Seattle Sounders have done it! MLS Cup win! Here come three years through the middle to crown it the vehicle! And now they truly can't stop the celebrations. It's the Sounders' MLS Cup! Niko Liddo leaves out!
00:01:12
Speaker
Is that what you young people call twerking?
00:01:29
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of no idea to sponsored by full pool wines and our subscribers. We're recording on Thursday, July 11
Discussion on Sounders' Current Form
00:01:36
Speaker
2024. I am your host Jeremiah Shannon. Joining me today is my co host Aaron campo and our engineer Lickett.
00:01:42
Speaker
You know, recently someone asked me if the Sounders were a good, bad team or a bad, good team. And after another successful week, I'm learning toward maybe just a good team. On Saturday, the centers scored a pretty comprehensive 2-0 win over the New England Revolution. And they followed that up just two days later with a road win over the Sacramento Republic in the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup.
00:02:06
Speaker
in a vacuum, I don't know that either win is particularly impressive. Heck, if you look at any of their recent wins, I'm not sure that any of them are particularly impressive. But we're now at a point where the form is almost undeniable. The Sounders have now won four straight across all competitions and are now unbeaten in six. Go a little farther back and they're 7-1 in three in their last 11. They've done this while scoring multiple goals in six straight
00:02:30
Speaker
and in eight of their last 11. Maybe the team isn't good, whatever that means, but I think we can at least safely say they're at least not bad, right, Aaron? Yeah, I think so. I think that we've talked a little bit about
00:02:46
Speaker
this team, the way that they'd been playing, you know, for, for the last little while and how it was sort of the lower end of the expectations of what this team would look like coming into the season. I think that they've kind of over the last five or six games been the, maybe not the top end best version of the team that we could have envisioned coming into the year, but certainly much closer to that than the bottom.
Sounders' Playoff Strengths
00:03:10
Speaker
And, you know, if, if the playoffs started today and the Sounders were
00:03:15
Speaker
I don't know, a four seed somehow. If the playoffs started today, but the table looked like what I kind of expected to look like at the end of the year somehow. Um, do I think the Sounders are going to win the MLS cup? Probably not, but they're really hard to beat, which I think is important. Uh, that's really, especially, you know, in knockout soccer, that's an important characteristic and they're increasingly finding ways to score goals. I think, uh, everybody would like them to be a little more.
00:03:45
Speaker
dynamic in the attack. Everyone would like them to be putting up four or five goals against, you know, the Chicago fires in New England, revolutions of the world, Republican republics, Sacramento republics of the world. Yeah. Yeah. Although USOC, I mean, how often are you going to score more than two goals? Really? No, I know it's it is not to get too derailed. But I did some little research because I saw some consternation over the Sounders relative struggles to put that game away, which I think
00:04:14
Speaker
The first half, the scoreline was a little flattering for Sacramento, but I thought the second half was equally flattering. Well, reverse flattering, whatever. The founders were a better team in the second half, and they were a little unlucky not to get the goal. But anyway, go ahead. Sorry. Yeah, I agree for what it's worth. Yeah, I think that this is a team I feel pretty confident is going to keep playing well the rest of the year. They've kind of found a...
00:04:39
Speaker
system and an approach that works for them. They've become much less of a team that is trying to win games purely through possession. They've become a little more incisive in the attack. They're pressing higher. All of that while still being really, really tight at the back. And it's working for them. You know, it's working really well. I don't know that Jordan Morris can keep up the scoring pace that he's on right now.
Key Performers: Morris and Rusnak
00:05:02
Speaker
He scored four in six.
00:05:05
Speaker
pretty good. And I think just looks like a completely different player at the nine than he looked on the left. I thought he was pretty good on the wing early in this earlier this year. He still looks pretty good when he gets shifted out there, but he just looks.
00:05:19
Speaker
the central position. Albert Rusnak has come alive, I think having Morris and Rothrock and two multiple willing runners that can stretch the field and also seemingly being instructed to try to be a little more incisive and try to take risks in breaking lines and things like that. It's working quite well.
00:05:46
Speaker
You know, they have been playing some bad teams. Uh, I don't, I don't think we can just jump over that. Yeah. Yeah. But they've also been playing some decent teams. Minnesota's not a terrible team. Houston's not a terrible team. The revolution had one four or five coming into the, or five or six.
00:06:06
Speaker
I think five or six. Yeah. Six coming into that game. So they had been in. They were on short rest. They've gone across the country. I don't want to I don't want to make it sound like they've been running that they're like an elite team right now. But like, you know, I think they've been 10th best is what we said last week over the last two and a half months, basically two months. Yeah. That feels about right. Like it feels like this is about the you know, you look at the power rankings. MLS has them 10th.
00:06:36
Speaker
The ESPN, I think, has them eighth. I saw Ben Wright, who is at Broadway Sports, has them tenth. He has one of the more analytical ranking systems. So it's like, I think tenth is right there. And frankly, they've been competitive with the elite teams that they have had to play. Yeah.
00:07:01
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, go ahead. They, you know, they they should have beaten RSL. I, you know, even if the like they were a little unlucky to only tie RSL, they outplayed the galaxy twice. They hung with LFC the one time they beat them. There's and speaking of which, that's a big test for LA with
Fluctuating League Position
00:07:20
Speaker
the like, I'm actually kind of looking forward to this game because LAFC on the 18th 18th is that right?
00:07:27
Speaker
or no, 20th, because 18th is when the window opens. But I think that'll be a really good test for them. And these next few games, I think, will be... It's very interesting, because they've done a great job, I think, of pulling themselves out of the depths that they were in. But the reality is that their position is still pretty precarious. If they beat Austin on Saturday, they can jump up as high as fifth in the table,
00:07:57
Speaker
And if they lose, they can go all the way down to 10th and be out of the be out of a playoff position. Now, I suspect that's probably going to be a theme for a while. But there's also a world where they win their next two, you know, they win. They get seven points out of these next three games and they go into the league's cup break sitting in a really nice position.
00:08:20
Speaker
Yeah, I think we talked last week, I think about including the new and when game, how nice eight points from, from these four would be. And I still very much feel that way. And that's still very much feels achievable. The Austin game will be interesting because
00:08:35
Speaker
It looks like Raul is going to start. I would imagine. I mean, I don't know at this point. That's the thing. Like, I would have told you, I thought Raul, I thought for sure Raul would start again, Sacramento. Yeah. Oh, for sure. I did, too. The fact that he didn't is what makes me think he's going to start again in Austin. I mean, sure. That's what I would think, too. But I like I just don't like I I've been impressed by.
00:09:00
Speaker
It's weird because on one hand, I've been impressed by Brian's willingness to use more of his bench. And yet there's certain players who he clearly feels like have deserved or have earned the right to make three.
00:09:17
Speaker
And Jordan Morris apparently is like one of those players, you know, he, uh, which is pretty astounding when you think about it. This is a player who has struggled for that kind of fitness throughout his career. Like he's never been the type of player that you would expect to play three times in a week. And he's done that twice already this year.
00:09:38
Speaker
I think he started three times in a week twice this year. And so I wouldn't be totally shocked if he started again. And Raul looks really good off the bench too. He does. He does. He looks like a totally different player. I have no way of knowing this. And maybe I'm just wish casting, it's copium, whatever. But it almost feels like he has bought into that role.
00:10:01
Speaker
and is at least willing to accept it. Now, maybe he's just playing out of his mind when he has those canyons, because he's desperate to get a starting job back. Yeah, maybe. Whatever it
Raul's Impact from the Bench
00:10:11
Speaker
is, man, he's got to keep it up. Because, yeah, he looks great. I mean, I'm not going to say he looks like vintage drawable, because there are just physical skills that aren't there. But he looks like a very dangerous player. The header he had off the post against Sacramento was, that's new. And he scored a great header against Dallas.
00:10:30
Speaker
So yeah, it's, it's still in there. Uh, and we only really see it in games where he's coming off the bench. He still does love to shoot from 40 yards away through 12 players, but you know, you take the good with the bad, right? Um, he was really close to, uh, getting a breakaway against Sacramento, but I pretty sure it was incorrectly ruled offside, but yeah, he, he put a lot of pressure on Sacramento's keeper late and.
00:10:56
Speaker
Unfortunately, that led to the head injury for the Sacramento player. But, you know, just another example of him making things happen. And by making things happen, I mean the the threatening attack that led to the injury, not the injury. We don't we're not advocating for for head injuries on the show. But yeah, I mean, I think he I think he's a great fit in that role and hopefully he's
00:11:22
Speaker
at the very least, okay with it enough that he can keep doing this the rest of the year. And yeah, I mean, if Jordan starts in Austin, I'm not gonna be disappointed by that. I think he's been fantastic. He's always had a pretty good engine, like a pretty good motor and lots of legs, but he just has been, like you said, prone to getting dinged up. He just looks sturdier to me as he's grown into veteran-ness, I guess.
00:11:52
Speaker
Yeah, he just he's he's botting guys in a way that he wasn't able to when he was younger. And so yeah, he I feel confident. You know, I don't want to jinx anything. Hopefully I don't don't blame me if something happens, but I would feel pretty good about him starting in Austin. It wouldn't be a huge concern to me. Can't keep doing that all year, but.
00:12:14
Speaker
Yeah, it sounded to me like if they were going to rotate, it might be more likely that they'd rotate at home against St. Louis. And with the idea being that they have a little bit more like, I don't know, we'll see. We'll see what happens. I don't necessarily want to get too down the road on guessing the lineup here. But the other thing that I've I think the really big development recently has been
00:12:41
Speaker
the willingness to play Christian at right back, even when Alex is available. And even in the, to me, the biggest sign of the change there is that he started Christian at right back two days after he started him against
00:12:57
Speaker
Did he get started as the revolution? And, frankly, Christian looked like he might have been the best player on the field against Sacramento. Yeah, he had a great game. He worked good against the Rebs as well. The play-by-play guy in the Sacramento game last night said,
00:13:14
Speaker
Oh, you know, Alex rolled on still working his way back to fitness after being injured. And it's like, I don't think that's what's going on here, man. I mean, I'm a little skeptical of that one. I suppose it's possible, but that does not strike me as that sounds like something that Brian probably told him. Sure. I don't know if that's what's going on. Yeah. And I mean, Alex looked pretty good. I think when he came on, you know, he's still a very useful player, but I do feel like
00:13:41
Speaker
At least until De La Vega is healthy, this is more or less the best collection of players in their best positions. And when De La Vega is healthy, he slots in, I think, pretty nicely over there on the left. It's great. It's so much better to watch. They're a pretty fun team right now. And it's also so frustrating knowing that they are one or two players away from being, I think,
00:14:11
Speaker
a legitimate and less cup contender. I think if you add another real attacking threat to this team, they're not as good as anyone, but good enough that they can go on a cup run. Well, do you consider Pedro de la Vega one of those players, do you think? I mean, I think that that's on top of Pedro, but I think I think they are a much better team with Pedro de la Vega, obviously.
00:14:37
Speaker
This Brian hinted at the pot. Well, he didn't hint at it. He said that he was in the conversation to potentially start against Austin, which feels a little. A little early to me, right? But he knows better than I do, presumably. And I'm excited to see him play either way. I mean, that's what's sort of really exciting right now is that they there are real choices like if he doesn't feel like taking layout two on the trip to Sacramento for whatever reason. And and by the way,
00:15:09
Speaker
Brian today, well, we saw pictures of Leo boarding the plane to Austin. But, you know, Brian insisted there's no issues with Leo Chu that it was just a, you know, sort of a coach's decision not to take him to Sacramento. I don't know how if that's totally true. But what we do know is that
00:15:27
Speaker
It doesn't look like Leo Chu is like out of the team. He's not suspended. He's not any, no big things there. But I bring this up just because they suddenly have these choices where you don't take Leo Chu and you can actually make the argument that, well, who are you not going to bring as a result of that?
00:15:44
Speaker
You know, Danny Leyvo did travel, but I guess he didn't even suit up for that game, which I think is kind of another sign of, of the depth that they have right now. And they didn't bring up any Tacoma Defiance players for the Sacramento game. Not to get
Significance of the Open Cup
00:16:01
Speaker
too derailed, but I did think it was very funny. I asked, I asked Brian, like, why, why, what was it behind the lineup? This was like a very first choice lineup. And he's like, well, I read a commentary and sounder at heart that we didn't
00:16:12
Speaker
We didn't take the open cup seriously. I don't know exactly what we said. I'm sure I said something along those lines, but I'll take it. Yeah, it's good. I mean, it's good to know that they are willing to, not even in a sense of like, gloating, necessarily. Just like,
00:16:35
Speaker
they're willing to listen to other perspectives and change their minds about things. And I think that that's pretty rare in sports. People in sports tend to think that people working in, you know, journalists or whatever who haven't played at a high level have no idea what they're talking about and just miss everything they say out of hand, which is a really bad tendency. And so I think it's nice that they're willing to listen to those perspectives.
00:17:03
Speaker
And the open cup rocks. It's so much fun. And it's so much fun when they're taking it seriously, especially. I'm stoked about this game against LFC. Yeah, that's going to be great.
00:17:24
Speaker
I guess tickets look like they're going to be pretty expensive. ECS has, I don't know if they've actually started selling them yet, but they did put them in their marketplace and they're going to be 69 bucks and those are probably, if not literally the cheapest, they are probably among the cheapest seats. I'm guessing there's going to be standing room only tickets available that will probably be cheaper. I think usually the uncovered bleachers are
00:17:50
Speaker
cheaper as well. But it's not going to be 20 bucks to get in like it was for a long time. But I don't know, I, I, I think my understanding is US soccer is sort of driving the pricing structure on that a little bit. Yeah. But B, I can't, I can't really like, I don't know, it is it there's only going to be 40, you know, 4,000, 5,000 people there. Hard to, you know, it's like,
00:18:17
Speaker
It's going to be a high demand ticket. It is. I mean, that's the reality. Yeah, it's I think that the complaints that this is pricing out fans and it's going to lead to.
00:18:29
Speaker
a lot of people that would love to go and be loud and support the team are going to be priced out. And I agree. It would be better if soccer were accessible. And I think that it's good to keep pressure on teams to making soccer accessible. But that's really a complaint with our entire economic system when it boils down to it. And I just, we can't always expect
00:18:54
Speaker
teams, especially when US soccer is involved, one of the money grubbiest, money grubbing collections of people in sports. Well, they got a big buyout to pay. Yeah. To pay out now. Yeah. And they're going to have to pay another one more money for the replacement. Yeah. And then pay another buyout in approximately 26 months.
00:19:15
Speaker
Yeah, that's another another podcast. But yeah, it's and we're going to. And by the way, just to tease a later segment, I think we're going to do a whole segment on sort of the pricing and the experience of like, we're not I know we kind of got into this a little bit a while back, but we both recently went to games as fans. And I think we have some fresh analysis of this that we'll share. But that'll be for the second segment for now.
00:19:44
Speaker
We're talking about the Open Cup. We're talking about the last couple weeks of this team. I did want to share a little bit more about my... I went out to Sacramento for this game.
00:19:57
Speaker
And it was great. I was sort of reminded of this tournament is awesome. We hadn't gone on a good run for a while. You sometimes forget what it's about. And especially when you're playing all the... I love that the Sounders are playing all these lower division teams. It just makes it so much more interesting. Yeah. And they're lower division teams that... I mean, since the last time the Sounders went on a deep cup run like this, USL has leveled up.
00:20:22
Speaker
Quite a bit. For sure. You're playing in packed stadiums. I mean, that game was sold out, right? Yeah. I mean, it was great. There was a great atmosphere. And, you know, the teams are good enough that you're never comfortable, which is nice. There's real tension.
00:20:40
Speaker
The Sounders had one of my favorite mixes of players and competitions where it's lots of veterans who are very invested in the team's success, who have been here for a long time, who know how important these games are. They've been there before yada yada yada. And then kids who are desperate to
00:20:57
Speaker
you know, make an impact. Josh Atencio has not been getting a lot of playing time lately. Yeah, comes in scores a goal takes an advantage of the opportunity. Yeah. Reed Baker Whiting. Yeah, he had a great game. The new who Reed Baker Whiting pairing that I don't know that we'd seen this year looked I thought quite good. They complemented pretty well. Yeah. So yeah, there's always fun stuff you can find out, you know, from games like this.
00:21:25
Speaker
the other teams, it means so much to them. You're desperate to avoid being cupset. It's the worst feeling in the world. Yeah, it's great. I mean, it's a blast. And then you get to the latter stages where, you know, Olivier Giroud has to come play at Starfire. It's great. And anybody that, would it be better if the Sounders had their own stadium
00:21:51
Speaker
And they didn't have to play at Starfire. I yeah, I think everybody can agree that all things considered that would be better. But this is so cool in its own unique way that it's worth celebrating. Yeah, I like I got I had a Twitter exchange today with someone who I think is well meaning and I don't and I'm not trying to like
00:22:14
Speaker
light them up or anything. But the guy named Michael Bautista, who's done a great job covering lower league soccer, who is very invested in the US Open Cup. And so I'm not trying to like
00:22:25
Speaker
like get into him, but he made a comment about how it's this, this shameful that the Sounders are even bidding to host the semi-finals. And I was like, I don't know. I don't know. Like, I think it's great. Like, yeah. Like the centers aren't choosing to play at starfire. They starfire is like the only venue they have available. Why would they not give themselves the best chance they can to win this thing? I'm glad that they bid on it. And by the way, it's going to be a lot of fun for the four to 5,000 people that show up.
00:22:53
Speaker
and I think it's a great experience and he's and his point was it's just embarrassing for I guess the open cup that they are going to be playing in a he said a multi-use stadium and I think that's putting a pretty broad
00:23:12
Speaker
Loomin is more of a multi-use stadium than Starfire, I would say. Yeah, it's as much of a soccer-specific stadium as, frankly, anywhere in the United States. But let's not get bogged down in that. The point being that it's a small venue, it does feel kind of small-time, but it's going to be a great atmosphere. It'll look good on TV, frankly. It's going to be a lot of fun.
00:23:37
Speaker
I don't know, I think in some ways it actually heightens the, like, I think what makes the open cut
00:23:44
Speaker
great is that it doesn't feel like league play. It's distinct from league play. And I think one of the things that makes it distinct is that the MLS teams are playing in their secondary arenas that are not always, but like a lot of the teams are playing in secondary arenas. And I think that actually does add to this tournament. It's not Champions League. It's not the playoffs. It doesn't need to pretend to be these things. It can be its own thing. I loved that a
00:24:13
Speaker
that the helicopter dropped or delivered the game ball onto the field the other day. I love that they are doing in-game sponsorships. I love this. This is the stuff that I think it should, I like that it feels like a minor league sports event.
00:24:31
Speaker
And would I want to go to that every day as my home team? I don't know. Maybe not. But as a one off event like this, it's great. It's spectacular. The US Open Cup is for the sickos and people like us who mythologize things like the Red Card Wedding, which never would have happened to Lumen, never would have happened in a league game. It only could have happened in the Open Cups. Absolutely.
00:24:56
Speaker
Starfire has so much importance to this club and their history with the Open Cup, and it's so important to how seriously the fans of this club take the Open Cup. And I just think that it's like...
00:25:09
Speaker
I understand this desire for the Open Cup to be taken as seriously as the FA Cup is in England, and for it to be this huge deal, but it's not. American soccer is what American soccer is. But the people that are passionate about this tournament, people that show up that are going to show up and shell out 100 bucks or whatever to go to Starfire, to sit in metal bleachers to watch this game,
00:25:32
Speaker
are super passionate people and they're super invested in this competition. And yeah, it would be great if the Sounders could fill Lumen for a semi-final. But I mean, they can't, right? So let's celebrate what it is rather than what we wish it could be and never will be. Yeah, I mean, I've said this many times before, but I would take
00:25:56
Speaker
4,000 at Starfire over 15,000 at Lumen 90 days of the week, at least for not necessarily like every I should say that for the open cup. I would I think it's a much like I am much more excited about the open cup being are facing LAFC at Starfire than I would be at Lumen Field. If you play that game at Lumen Field, it feels like any other game. Yeah. Now, if it's a final, that's different.
00:26:27
Speaker
Like, a final's a final. Like, there's no... I want that. Like, I hope they... I'm sure they would have a final at Lumen Field. Tickets will probably be expensive, but man, I think that'll be a black. Like, I think people will show out for that, and it'll be awesome if they get there. But the semi-final is not the final. And I would much rather play the semi-final at Starfire. I'm glad they're playing at Starfire. I guess that's what I'm saying.
00:26:53
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, Starfire, obviously it hasn't been there as much the last few years, but historically has been the most lopsided home field advantage you can get.
00:27:02
Speaker
I mean, it's got to be I mean, their record is like 24 and one and one or something like that. Yeah, it's it's and that I think also makes the US Open Cup kind of fun. Right. Where it's just like gamesmanship like this. And yeah, I totally understand the perspective of I want this to be taken more seriously. I don't want it to feel like
00:27:25
Speaker
this very clearly secondary thing, but how long has the Oakland Cup had to be leveled up? And it's just US soccer just isn't willing to put in the resources for it. For a long time, the MLS teams tried very hard to put in the resources for it and have it taken more seriously as a competition. I think they just got sick of it.
00:27:49
Speaker
of having to do all the heavy lifting. So it is what it is. I'm glad it's still around. And yeah, I'm going to that that game against LFC is going to be a blast. Yeah, I totally agree. I'm, I'm stoked about it. I think it's going to be, you know, I hope LFC brings most of their top players. I love the idea of them using the auxiliary bathroom for their locker room. Yeah, it's very funny.
00:28:18
Speaker
, and
00:28:37
Speaker
Today, Brian Schmetzer joked about how I can't wait to see Steve Trundler's face when he walks into Starfire. I don't know that Steve Trundler will actually be there. I have to admit, it would be a lot less funny if it's Ante Razov who's the coach because Ante Razov has actually coached games there. You won't be nearly as surprised.
00:29:08
Speaker
I think Schmetzer actually deserves more credit than he's been given because I think it was, now that we sit here as they prepare for a semi-final, I think we have to admit that it was actually a really smart thing for him to do to not use first-choice players in those first two games because he just saved those legs. I do think that there's probably gonna be a long-term cost
00:29:26
Speaker
I don't know, I love it. I've really enjoyed this open cup run. I think, and I have to admit,
00:29:35
Speaker
for LAFC because they have used their starters so much more, I would be worried about them just being more worn out later in the season. And the sounders have leaned on some starters more recently, but I think they probably also were able to save their legs a little bit earlier in the season. So right now, it looks like a pretty impressive job that Brian Shrutzer has done.
00:30:04
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like we are kind of broken records with this exact conversation about Brian Schmetzer year in and year out. He might know what he's doing. Is that what you're saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We might want to just accept that. I'll admit that the doubt creeps in and I think eventually there's going to be a time where it stops working because there is for every coach.
00:30:25
Speaker
The trajectory they're on right now, uh, is pretty solid. I mean, it doesn't feel that dissimilar from the start to that run in 2018. Uh, obviously it's not going to be that good. Uh, cause they won like what nine in a row, nine in a row. Uh, I mean, I guess it could still be that good. Um, but they were, they were on, they were just unplayable, you know, in the second half of the season. Um, but you know, it's, it's a trend, right? Where.
00:30:53
Speaker
There's a downturn in form that coincides with injuries, all hitting at once. And the team struggles to find its identity and figure out how to best take advantage of the talent they have available. And then things start to click. And they start winning games. It happened last year. And I'm sure it'll happen again next year if Brian is still around, which I suspect he probably will be. But yeah.
00:31:22
Speaker
We should probably be used to it by now, I guess is what I'm saying. Yeah. I mean, you're right. That's a good place to leave it. All right. Well, we're going to come back, do something a bit different. We're going to talk a little bit more about sort of the whole experience at Loom & Field. We've done plenty on the on the on-field stuff. We're going to do some off-field stuff. And yeah, you're listening to Nosodiatis, and we'll be right back.
00:31:55
Speaker
Welcome back to NOS Adiatus. So we are going to get into this whole bit about the experience at Lewinfield. But first, I did want to talk a little bit about a couple rumors that came up this week. One incoming one outgoing ish, but the incoming rumor is a
00:32:17
Speaker
Croatian player name Dario Spicic, I think is a good close, maybe way to pronounce it. Anyway, he played for Dynamo Zagreb, which is the the big team in Croatia. They are the I think they're the most successful team. They're certainly the defending champions. Spicic is
00:32:42
Speaker
Spichich is, I can't, that's going to be tough. He's got a decent goal scoring record. He averages about, you know, a goal contribution every other game the last two seasons. He has a pretty extensive.
00:32:57
Speaker
history with the Croatian youth national teams scored actually quite a few goals for those youth national teams but looks like maybe a player who hasn't quite lived up to his potential he's 25 he plays on either wing but he looks sort of like I've seen some highlights of him and he looks like a player who could be useful yeah
00:33:20
Speaker
My understanding is the Sounders are really looking at them. There's a report out of Croatia that says the Sounders offered 1.5 million. That would seem to me about what I would expect the Sounders to be able to do this summer. Is that a player that gets you sort of, does that feel like it needs the minimum bar for what you're hoping the Sounders would do this summer? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think that's...
00:33:49
Speaker
It's a player that I have no way of having an opinion about, right? Like you look at his all up numbers in Croatia and they're fine. Right. Um, but nothing advanced, no advanced statistics. You can look at some advanced statistics for the conference league and other European competitions, but the sample size is really small. You can look at his FIFA rating. Dynamo Zagreb is in FIFA. He's a 70 overall. That's fine. Right. Um, Leo Chiu was a 67, I think I saw.
00:34:19
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, ballpark of what this means. Right. And so, yeah, I think that he is a player who it's the right position, I think, to be looking at. And I think short of something happening with Raul, which seems very unlikely at this point, and opening up a DP spot and making a big, big move.
00:34:43
Speaker
I just, that just doesn't seem to be in the cards to me at all. So this is I think about as good as you can do from a player profile perspective. Now who knows? Maybe he's a total bust, right? Maybe he's not what we need at all. He's not as good as advertised. He doesn't adjust MLS. All sorts of things could go wrong. I mean, that's everyone, right?
00:35:04
Speaker
Yeah i mean he could also be a goose of sense in level player right like the sounders have. It's funny victor rodriguez got brought up a few times in the conversation around this and saying like i would rather go out and get a victor rodriguez type and it's like okay well.
00:35:20
Speaker
Have you looked at Victor Rodriguez's numbers because Victor Rodriguez was not as good of a, he was a little older and he was not as accomplished of a player. Like you had to see Victor Rodriguez to appreciate what he might be and all credit to Chris Henderson who did that. But I think we sort of have to assume that sounders have done their homework on this guy and know what they're trying to get.
00:35:48
Speaker
Right? Yeah. I mean, uh, Victor Rodriguez was playing for a very bad La Liga team and not putting up a ton of goals and La Liga, yeah, as La Liga is better than the Croatian league overall, obviously, but is sporting Hijon better than Dynamo Zagreb? I don't think so. And that's like, that's always the thing with these European leagues that are super top heavy, right? Is it's different to play for
00:36:14
Speaker
a mid table or lower table Croatian team, and then to play for one of the teams, one of the one or two teams that's regularly in European competition. It's just much harder to break into those teams. And so yeah, I think that there's no reason to think that he is like
00:36:34
Speaker
multiple tiers below where a Victor Rodriguez type player would have been, right? And I think if you add a player as good as Victor Rodriguez to this team, they don't immediately become cup favorites, right? Like it's not like adding a DP attacker to the team. But if they're taking minutes from Leochu,
00:36:55
Speaker
and they're better, that's an upgrade. If they're taking minutes from Alex Rabon, if that allows Brian to be more comfortable permanently moving Christian back a line, that's a big upgrade. If it allows you to be a little more cautious with Pedro de la Vega or give Jordan Morris a little more rest, it just gives you so many more options because right now when you're rotating guys,
00:37:23
Speaker
We're ending up with Paul Rothrock getting a lot of minutes, which is great. He's taken advantage of them. But if those minutes are now going to a player of like a Victor Rodriguez level player, I think the team is just much better. So.
00:37:36
Speaker
Yeah, it's, it would be an exciting one. Um, not gonna sell any season tickets off of it most likely, but it fills a hole, I think. And, and one after the season, when someone salary comes off the books, it will be nice to have a rotational piece already in place. So, you know, you know, where you really need to focus your attention on. Yeah. Yeah. No, I, I, I would, I would kind of, uh, feel the same way. I don't, which is to say.
00:38:05
Speaker
There's not enough on this guy to be super enthusiastic, but not enough to be really down on it either. The other rumor is Raul Rui Diaz is being connected to his old club in Peru, Verna's Universitario, and
00:38:25
Speaker
it seems just as far fetched as it always did. I am putting absolutely zero credence to the reports that he's, like there was a report that says he's doing everything, he's doing his part to make this deal happen. And frankly, unless his part is saying, I'm going to give up a million dollars of my salary, I don't know what his part is involving. The sounders are not going to ask for a transfer fee.
00:38:54
Speaker
They're also not going to buy him out. That's just the reality. For better or worse, they're not going to buy him out. I don't think that unless they're planning on actually replacing him with a designated player, I don't know why they would consider buying him out. He's a fine player for them and it's a sunk cost essentially.
00:39:16
Speaker
Yeah, I don't even know if there's really any worth putting a lot of time into this other than to say that my expectation at this point is that Rui Diaz will finish out the season with the Sounders.
00:39:28
Speaker
Yeah, seems likely. Yeah, and I'm increasingly fine with that. I would love them to have been a little more aggressive and tried to get a big DP signing in this window or in the summer window to try to integrate the team in time with the Club World Cup. I think everyone would have preferred that. I think we all prefer that.
00:39:50
Speaker
But, you know, you go to army with the word you have, right? And that's just the reality is they're not going to do that. And so if Raul is going to be here, hopefully they can find a role that works for him and it seems like they're on the right track.
00:40:06
Speaker
Yeah. All right. Well, let's move into the other part of this segment that we wanted to do, which was you and I both recently went to sounders games and sat in the stands like normal ass fans, uh, something I only get to do once a year or so. And I think we both came away with a, maybe a better understanding.
00:40:30
Speaker
of why fans seem to be frustrated with the whole experience at Lumenfield. Yeah. And I'll speak for myself first, then I'll let you kind of go into your thing. But I also recently went to a Mariners game and maybe even talked about this. And I was I don't.
00:40:49
Speaker
I find it overwhelming now like I grew up going to baseball games where it was just a relaxing day at the ballpark and I'm an old person and apparently that's what I liked about going to baseball games and it's not boring at all anymore but
00:41:04
Speaker
what they do do a really good job and it might be I think there's too much honestly going on on the scoreboard and everything but what I do think they do a great job is the concourse feels active and vibrant and there's interesting food options and there's you know there are walk in walk out options but there's also all these manned booths that have varying kinds of food that is not outrageously expensive and then you go to
00:41:32
Speaker
Lumen, and it's like a ghost town. And I realized part of that is because in baseball, there's 18 opportunities to go to the concourse and not miss any of the game. And there's only really one or three, depending on how you count it, opportunities to do that at a Sounders game. But man, it was like kind of sad walking around the concourse at Lumen Field.
00:41:56
Speaker
Yeah, I think if Lumen had always been this scant of options, that would be one thing, but it hasn't. It used to be like interesting food stands at Lumen too. They used to have a kanji booth, you know? They did. That's true. They had cool, interesting food.
00:42:14
Speaker
that you could get. And this is the I think this was the fourth game I've been to this year, but it was the first game in a long time, many, many years that I haven't been able to like grab a bite to eat before the game. So I had to get food at halftime and it was just like everything that's manned is closed. The person I was at the game with had to go to like a completely different section to find anything they could even eat.
Fan Experience at Lumen Field
00:42:40
Speaker
There's no condiments anywhere. Everything costs like $15. You don't interact with a person, but the tip defaults to 25%. Um, I think like two beers and two bottles of water because you have to have the most specific kind of empty water bottle in the world to bring into the games. Uh, and it was like 90 degrees. It was like 50 bucks for two beers. It's just.
00:43:06
Speaker
I feel, and I know how old and whiny I sound. I totally get it, but it's just like, it's not a good experience at all, like on any level. And it's, I don't want the sounders to move to the suburbs.
00:43:27
Speaker
But when you go and kind of look at things from their perspective of knowing that the customer experience probably kind of sucks, but also not really, it's like, well, we're just tenants, right? You do start to understand them wanting to make those numbers work out a little better. And it's frustrating, as a Washington state taxpayer who is paying for that stadium still,
00:43:53
Speaker
Like just knowing that like this, there's this team in this region that's super popular. That is basically treated like an Aerosmith concert, even though they're like the most frequent tenant tenant at the stadium. Well, my understanding is I think what's in this is maybe speaks to the problem is that my understanding is like Seahawks games aren't much better. Like they're better, but not, they're not, they're not as like, it's still not T-Mobile and certainly not climate pledge in terms of the,
00:44:22
Speaker
concourse experience. And, you know, I feel like that could be improved. And, and like, I don't know, I, I, I get frustrated, though, because it does feel like first and goal has sort of gone out of their way. First and goal is who operates lumen field. And, you know, they're building all these amenities,
00:44:45
Speaker
that are mainly targeted for Seahawks, but they're also mainly targeted for higher spending clients. The club level concessions aren't bad. Those are pretty decent options, but it's all the normal people that are getting screwed. I feel like there's got to be a better
00:45:09
Speaker
a better way to do this. It gets more and more expensive. The sounders are going to put out their season ticket renewals sometime in the next few weeks. I would imagine there will be some enticements to get people to renew that will probably feel worthwhile. But I think that the biggest challenge they have right now is that
00:45:33
Speaker
it just doesn't feel like you're getting enough entertainment value for your dollar, even though the tickets are relatively cheap compared to other professional sports, because it just when you're there, it doesn't feel as much like a big event the way that it used to.
00:45:50
Speaker
Yeah, it doesn't feel special. There's nothing happening in Pioneer Square. There's very little happening outside of the stadium. I didn't realize this until recently, but the Sounders effectively have stopped supporting the march, which I think was originally a thing they did as part of COVID. And I guess they brought it back on certain occasions. But for the most part, they don't have that rally, I guess, out at Occidental Park anymore.
00:46:18
Speaker
Right, which was just like so part and parcel of the game day experience for a lot of people so many years. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's disappointing. It's and it is like it's not that I ever doubted people's complaints. But when you go and experience it firsthand, it really is stark and brings into focus like how much worse the experience has gotten. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's a bummer because I do think there are elements that
00:46:46
Speaker
are that they're sometimes unfairly maligned over. But just the general cost, I think, is one of those things where it's like, yeah, I get it. I have season tickets. I don't love that my tickets go up every year either. But I also do appreciate that this is a reality. But man,
00:47:09
Speaker
Like the same way that we talked about how you can't logic fans into just like on some level, the transfer market is a tool to sort of keep fans engaged.
00:47:24
Speaker
The other way to keep hands engaged is to make the stadium experience feel special. And it just doesn't feel special anymore. It pains me to say that. It does. It really does. Yeah. It's a bummer. Yeah. Well, I feel like we've done this a few times lately where we've started to show on a positive note and then we bring ourselves down.
00:47:49
Speaker
And I don't have a fix for that other than to say, we're just speaking our truth. Sometimes we gotta do that. We're truth tellers. We're truth tellers. We're the only real truth tellers left. Exactly. Exactly. But I am genuinely excited about this Open Cup semi-final, which is not for six weeks.
00:48:09
Speaker
Yeah, but I am I am like I am like enjoying watching the Sounders again, which I don't want to I don't I don't want to undersell that like the last month or so watching the Sounders has been a lot of fun and I hope that it continues to be fun and like
00:48:25
Speaker
I'm
00:48:44
Speaker
Yeah, it's fine. So maybe that's a good place, a better note to end it on. Thank you, of course, to our sponsor, Full Pull Wines. I also wanted to give a big shout out to The Cooler Guild, which is a rain focused podcast that just joined the 700 Heart Podcast Network. If you are listening to us on our private RSS feed, you've probably already started getting those episodes.
00:49:13
Speaker
and they will continue to show up there along with lobbing squirters. But if you are one of our free subscribers, I would just recommend going to your favorite podcast app and searching for the cooler guild and giving them a follow. Coop and Van do a great job with their rain podcast. It's a lot of fun. I think you will enjoy it. And with all that,
00:49:38
Speaker
I will be signing off for Aaron and Lickett. I am Jeremiah O'Shan. This is Nozodietes. And remember, you will never get alone.
00:50:46
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!