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Should Sounders switch up formation for LAFC?
3 Playsin 3 minutes
Niko Moreno (@ElRoloNW) joins Jeremiah to discuss the final preparations for the Sounders’ Western Conference semifinal against LAFC. Niko is particularly interested in seeing some sort of tactical change and suggests putting Raúl Ruidíaz back at striker with Jordan Morris moving to the wing. He also floats the possibility of seeing João Paulo back into the starting lineup, which becomes even more attractive if Paul Rothrock can’t start.
Jeremiah and Niko also discuss some of the big moves around the league that could have an impact on the Sounders.
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Transcript
Sponsorship by Fullpool Wines
00:00:02
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Fullpool Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Fullpool was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounders supporters. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
Will Bruin's New Role
00:00:25
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. now i get to do voice reads for the sounder at heart podcast network but
00:00:40
Speaker
about sell <unk> it
00:01:21
Speaker
we all got of sudden go
00:01:30
Speaker
We're seeing some of the hardwood commentary that we didn't take seriously.
00:01:42
Speaker
We'll come back to another episode of NOS Adiatus. Today is Wednesday.
Seattle Sounders vs LAFC Preview
00:01:48
Speaker
We are match day minus three, I guess, for the Sounders coming up with for their Western Conference semi-final against LAFC. I am at Long Acres in Renton with Nico Moreno, friend of the show. This is the second time we've done this show on site here in Renton. How you doing, Nico?
00:02:07
Speaker
I'm doing great, man. We're you know using the facilities so they continue to keep us here. Exactly. you know i've We should have got drinks. We should have got coffee. We could have had a whole thing today. We should have. We absolutely should have. I've been thinking about it, you know getting some water, some soda, some coffee out here, getting it all. ready to go for us to just dominate this space. But man, I'm excited. and is it It's playoffs in MLS. There's some crazy news going on around MLS. It's a good time to follow this league, in my opinion. It's getting more, um not just globalized, but it's just an exciting time in MLS. I don't know why. more none I'm more excited right now than I've been in a very long time when it comes to MLS.
00:02:49
Speaker
we We will talk about the game, but I will say that the frustration that I have again I'm reminded this time every year this break between The international break falls at the worst time for the MLS season for the MLS playoffs because there luckily I think the league is doing a better job of bridging the gap between the The end of the last of the first round and the start of the semi-finals because there's been a steady stream of news You know that we had some announcements today the August yesterday was the coach of the year, and was it yesterday? No, it was today. Today was the coach of the year announcement. Wilfred Nancy, somewhat of an upset I thought over Tata Martino, yes but then a day earlier Tata Martino announced that he's leaving Miami for
00:03:34
Speaker
quote, unquote, personal reasons. I don't know. Again, I promise we will get into LAFC sounders, but I feel like this is a good transition to talk about this situation. Do you know anything about what's going on in
Tata Martino's Departure and Messi's Future
00:03:47
Speaker
Miami? ah don Nothing that I can share necessarily on the mics. What I do What I do think when it comes to a a project that was based around a group of individuals, one who Tata is a key component,
00:04:08
Speaker
there is no way that I can believe that there was a personal reason big enough for Tata to just abandon ship in a project like this one when he is just a year in when he's had been so involved he's done so much to get the team where they've gotten where he's built this relationships with academy players he has a relationship with all of the veterans and messy and friend types so All I will say is that there has to be more. Tata Martino is a strong personality type that does not take any s from anybody. The Moss Brothers and that ownership group
00:04:52
Speaker
also is very in your face. I've called them the Jerry Jones of MLS. They are very big when it comes to their personality and the way they handle things. So if I had to guess, and if I was a betting man, I would say that there was an issue beyond control and Tata decided to jump ship.
00:05:11
Speaker
And so what kind of ramifications did this have for the the project, for lack of a better term? Because it it was it wasn't entirely predicated around Tata Martino, but he was, like you said, a central figure. They already had Messi, so I don't know if it means that Messi is leaving. But they're probably going to have to bring in a coach who Messi approves. 100%. And that you would think that there are other player players on the roster who were here. Again, Messi is a huge part of it. but So was Martino. A hundred percent. And look, I know this is probably the wrong platform, but I do know that center from the probably very happy about any type of turmoil with the messy projects. So I will go ahead and say that. um Yeah, it it creates an incredibly uncontrollable, almost a problem that they has to be nipped in the butt immediately because job number one is keeping messy, happy. You know, he's going to have to be around and.
00:06:05
Speaker
Messi is going to want a guide that he can deal with. I think a savvy type situation is possible. I think maybe, I don't know, even Iguajin, maybe, you know, bring him up. I mean, I don't know, but he just creates a huge problem. Yeah, I believe he's with the second team.
00:06:23
Speaker
So maybe you can do that, but whatever it is, it's not going to be packaged in such a way, in such a manner that it had been. Because with Tata, you have certain credibility. With Tata, you have the strategic component, the recruiting component. It was kind of the perfect hire. It was the perfect hire. All of these guys that that were brought in, yes, of course, Chris Henderson and and that ah team ah of scouting has a lot to do with it. But it's very easy for Tata to pick up the phone and say, hey, man, come play for me, rather than any other coach in the league. So now you've got to figure out what's that balance. And I don't know if there's a big enough name that's willing to come to MLS that's
00:07:01
Speaker
will it yeah yeah that has a good relationship with Messi and friends that could work. So it's, I think it puts a huge dent in this project and he starts to lose some credibility. Well, and it's not necessarily directly related to the Sounders, but there is sort of a Sounders component to this
Chris Henderson's Future with Miami
00:07:18
Speaker
whole thing. And that's Chris Henderson, who has, my understanding, never signed like a full blown contract extension after his contract expired last year. So he's sort of,
00:07:28
Speaker
I mean, he's getting paid, obviously, I'm sure he's being well compensated, but he is in a situation where he can leave as far as I understand it. He's been very heavily tied to atlanta the Atlanta United job, which is a whole other situation. what do What do you imagine? Where do you see this going with Chris Henderson?
00:07:45
Speaker
Look, and and I'll go ahead and say this, um I've talked to people and I do know that maybe it's not 50-50 that Chris leaves, but it's definitely not something that would surprise anyone in that organization.
00:08:05
Speaker
um There is a desire to keep them without a doubt, as according to people I've talked to, but ah they understand that Atlanta can provide the economic part. It provides more of a front man look to the project because I think I've said it in in our last show that I was with you on here,
00:08:26
Speaker
that that Chris just hasn't been the the the face of of that project. His back home is the Moss Brothers. He's always kind of in the back end. What you just said about his contract, he's always kept kind of underlines, under the table type situation.
00:08:41
Speaker
ah and as me and you both know and respect a guy like Chris and know that a lot of the right moves that were made ever since he got into that club are Chris type of moves guys that the sound that ro was a mess when he took a mess it's easy to forget now but that they were under they they had just gotten docked a bunch of allocation money they had I mean the roster situation could barely have been worse than what Chris Henderson inherited and that he was immediately able to get them to be competitive and really create a foundation where then when Messi showed up they could build off of it.
00:09:20
Speaker
ah hundred percent so chris when Proved that he was worth the money that he was the guy that we all knew he was here in the Pacific Northwest in another project ah Would I wish and hope that he would come back to the Sanders? Absolutely, but that's not gonna happen because the money's elsewhere and he I think he's Outgrown what what he could do here. So the perfect place is Atlanta the perfect place is I mean, it's the the easiest move he can make so I to your question I think Chris does end up leaving. I think this Tata Martino thing complicates that project even more because again, the people that you're going to hire for the job are going to be very limited because you do have to consult Messi because that's just the way of the world. That's the way sports is. Someone told me this is kind of like the LeBron situation, right? I mean, you just got to accommodate yourself to certain people and that's what's going to happen in inner Miami. And I don't think Chris wants to deal with it.
00:10:16
Speaker
yeah If I and this is just me giving an opinion I'm not saying Chris told me that I'm just saying knowing the person he is and the professional he is It's always seemed like a somewhat odd fit for him in that whole environment. Mm-hmm other than they had a bunch of money and they had high aspirations and he is very good at what he does and in that way it made sense. And they needed a guy that understood the league right that had the knowledge of players within the league that was well-networked. And the kind of player that would come to MLS as well. A hundred percent. So so he he was the right hire for that but absolutely you're right in fact that he seemed like an ad-doc, took everything around that
00:10:58
Speaker
For lack of a better word, I'm gonna call it a circus at times. it's kind of a if you've seen If you saw that ah when they won the Shield, it was a circus, man. It was a circus. The way they framed it and the Moss Brothers all over talking to the camera people like, come on, man. This is a digression, but I don't think I've ever seen a team celebrate winning the shield the way that Miami I mean to credit to them they turned it into an event But it was almost as if they wanted to make sure they had some trophy to celebrate and that if that was it I mean like when the sound it's a pretty stark contrast of the shield the Sounders won in 2014 where they didn't even do like celebratory drinks in the locker room I remember Marco Papa being sort of like oh We're we're really not gonna do anything Marco would ask that question. so so yeah no And that's exactly it. So um I just feel like ah regardless of ah Chris Henderson is going to be the one that dictates what happens next. If they want to keep him, I think he's going to ask for a little more respect to my name type of situation.
00:12:06
Speaker
But if not, man, I think Atlanta has a really good built. You have Guard Lagerwey having Starchy and Hutch together in MLS again. Wonderful. They have a big wallet. Arthur Blank is a guy that's willing to put in some money. So, you know, why not?
00:12:24
Speaker
ah anyone else that you're hearing that might be up for that atlanta job that i don't know maybe has some sounders ties yes that that that question has been asked a couple of times in soccer down here's a show i do on thursdays and yes i think that craig uh it'd be It would be ah naive of anyone to not think that Craig Weibull is a candidate for that job. You're saying it would be naive not to assume he's a candidate. Not to assume. right That's what I mean. So it'd be naive not to assume that Craig Weibull is and would be a candidate for that job. ah Obviously,
00:13:05
Speaker
in a perfect world, Chris Henderson is your guy, but if not, I think Craig Weibo is a guy that, and maybe some of our fan base here, your fan base here, would be excited to hear that Craig is ours. all right all right we can that and you go that That Craig would be gone, but at the same time, ah I think that ah it is a possibility.
00:13:23
Speaker
you know and in our prep for this i'll just say one of the names you floated as a potential replacement i think which is just speculation really yeah you mentioned that the possibility of wade webber as ah as a replacement if craig were to leave
00:13:39
Speaker
consideration but it makes a lot of sense on paper that you would bring in a guy like Wade Webber who is very so you know very knowledgeable he understands the league as well as anyone he understands the Sounders more importantly as well as anyone he has relationships he has been doing a lot of the groundwork that it would take to hit the ground running when it when it comes to a job like this Yeah, and look, again, this is not me and Jeremiah sitting here, hashtagging Craig out. Let's let's make it very clear because I can see where that might be misinterpreted. This is not it. This is just what I've been asking Jeremiah and I to do sometimes is we'll just talk. And I was like, man, if you were to put a mic.
00:14:18
Speaker
This would have been a good conversation. So I appreciate Jeremiah just allowing us to just rant. And I think this is things that you guys want to hear as an audience. But yes, you know, if there was in a scenario where Craig needed to go, I think that Chris Webber is a guy that, I'm sorry, Wade Webber, that's a Sacramento guy. Whoops. Wade Webber is a guy that would be fit for what the Sounders are looking for in terms of their culture, the ideology. And I believe I just happen to think that the last time we talked to ah Wade Weber about Jackson Reagan and he, we got to ask him a whole bunch of questions about the growth of the league and is it sustainable for this team to do certain things that they're doing now with all of the Seattle and Washington talent being such a big part of the roster. And I thought his answers were on point.
00:15:12
Speaker
yeah and And he understands exactly what the the club would need to do. So because of that, I was like, man, he sounds like a GM. Yeah, and it and it does dovetail nicely, especially with the way that the sounders have, where they are right now. I've just been doing a lot of research on a story that I hope to write before this weekend, but has been ruminating in my head for a while about the contributions that the sounders have gotten from players they developed. And if you, especially if you include players they drafted, as well as players that came from Defiance and players that came from
00:15:47
Speaker
the academy, something like 65% of their minutes and 60% of their goals and 55% of their assists have come from players that they developed themselves. And if you are going down that path, Wade Webber makes a lot of sense to sort of lean into that. I do think they need to do a better job of diversifying that.
00:16:07
Speaker
I think that's something that's going to hopefully happen this offseason, where they bring in some more talent from outside the organization. But it does create a really strong foundation that you can build off of. And it's pretty remarkable that they're sitting here in the conference semifinals with this kind of internal production. no one I did run the numbers on everyone else that's still alive.
00:16:27
Speaker
And I think the Red Bulls were the highest at something like 25% of their minutes. And no one I don't think is even at 20% of their goals or assists coming from internal players. So it's it's pretty remarkable it's a pretty remarkable story that we haven't really dug in too much. And the Sounders don't get a lot of credit for the developmental work that they do. 100%. And in the way, like you said, the everything seemed to work in order to keep the roster successful, no matter what was going on. right And that that goes, you know, even beyond Craig. And that's why, you know, we've I've been critical of the season. i've been
00:17:07
Speaker
critical of Brian and at times of of Craig, but it's hard to continue to be too critical critical when they're getting the results that they're getting. that's exactly And I think even internally, they'll tell you, we think we could do more to bring players in. We think we would let you like everyone would like to have more budget to bring in players.
00:17:27
Speaker
But at the same time, it is tough to be too critical when the results keep going the way they did. I mean, they finished with 57 points. That's a really good point total. They're sitting here in the conference semifinals now.
00:17:41
Speaker
This is maybe a good transition into talking about these conference semifinals. They are the underdog. Let's not know there's let's not beat around the bush. LAFC is the favorite in this one. They are the host. They have absolutely dominated the Sounders in their four previous meetings this year. I really think only the last three of them are relevant to understanding this game. But in those three games, LAFC has a seven to zero scoring advantage.
00:18:10
Speaker
It's they they haven't been I mean, I guess you could say the open cup game was close and what was competitive But really the Sounders have not looked good offensively at all. What do you think they need to do?
Sounders' Strategy Against LAFC
00:18:22
Speaker
ah To sort of turn things around offensively ah Man, it's a it's a it's a big ah question for me and I'll start by Saying a little bit about this specific game. I mean Seattle ah I Think has been on this quest to prove that they are still an elite team in the West and that they continue to be ah
00:18:49
Speaker
a team worthy of that throne that the LAFC club is currently sitting on that I think is fitting that they're facing them right now and that they're going to need to get through it. What needs to change is a question that is very complex to me because I respect the fact and I understand I am aware that I am not a head coach and that I maybe I'll say things because I have a certain understanding of the game. I do like to counsel a lot of ah real coaches about situations such as this one, ah but I spoke specifically to ah a coach that is a former Western Conference coach in MLS and
00:19:33
Speaker
My idea for ah facing a team a fifth time was to change things up, change the formation, change the concepts, change ah the look of the field. Even if it doesn't work, just for the sake of changing things, that's what I would do.
00:19:50
Speaker
ah this specific coach told me, look, two out of 10 coaches would do that, because eight coaches are gonna go with what they've been doing all season long. They're gonna die on their concepts, they're gonna die on that hill with what they believe was right, whether it worked or not, that's just the way I thought these teams should have been set up. But to me, and to your question, just to answer that, as always, super long-winded answer, I would change the formation. I would give them a ah specific look where Jordan Morris has been ineffective, and that's to say the least, against this LAFC team. 9-1, they've outscored you all season. They've not allowed Jordan to do absolutely anything. Why not Raoul up top? and And I know that I'm going to get killed on social media for this, but why not? Why not just do it to see how different, what kind of lanes he opens for Jordan, taking that
00:20:46
Speaker
pressure off of Jordan taking that necessity to do the dirty work to to press to move to come inside to try to link up opens up Jordan Morris who right now could be your biggest threat on the on the offensive end whether he has not found the back of the net is another thing but I feel like he makes the right movements to get in front of goal so why not up that but by making Raul, for lack of a better word, this ah decoy that's going to hold up Chanel, that's Murillo, that's going to ask for so much respect, because there is a certain respect for Raul Rodriguez, whether he's old,
00:21:23
Speaker
older whether he's not the role of old there is a certain respect to his name and I think that that would open up some lines so the way I would set it up is we roll up top with Jordan to on that um left side and you know we'll talk about the lineup a little bit later but to me giving them a different look ah maybe they are so good playing against the ball maybe you concede the ball a little bit maybe you play the counters maybe you try to explode those moments where Murillo likes to come up with the ball as a center back um so that's what I think should happen is giving LAFC something completely different to look at than what you'd fail at the last four times
00:22:04
Speaker
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00:22:37
Speaker
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00:22:54
Speaker
And it is no, you know, they did sort of try a 4-4-2 in the first game that they played this year, but notably no Rustneck. Right. And so now you would now you would have him. I don't know if they're going to go to a formation change necessarily, but they might go be forced into a personnel change. Oh.
00:23:13
Speaker
It's been, you know, Paul Rothrock has not been fully in training. I think going maybe all the way back to the rapids game where he where he looked really, really good. I think he's been, if i my memory is is correct, I think he's been somewhat limited into training almost ever since then. But for sure, he's been very limited in training ever since the playoffs started. And now we are here. We are Wednesday. He wasn't outside training today.
00:23:39
Speaker
Or he was he was outside, but he wasn't training with um with the ball. Unless he comes out next tomorrow and is all in, I think we have to assume he's not gonna start. And that creates an opening to do something. Maybe it's moving Christian up to right mid. Maybe it's moving, you know, maybe it's starting Georgi Minungu. maybe There's a lot of options. But one of those options, ah in your mind, clearly should be. my mind Yeah, it should clearly be starting Raul. Yeah. And and leaving Jordan on that ah left wing, he'll use that packet to come inside. If you look at the Vancouver game, Fafa Pico gave this LAFC team so much problems working his way outside in and shooting the ball from that side that I feel like it's worth looking at. um
00:24:28
Speaker
Brian White is very different then than Raul Rodriguez, but he has that savviness. He has a way about some of his mo movements inside the 18 that could be similar to Raul. So why not use that? Why not expose that? Why not try to get Jordan inside in those inside channels? So I think it's worth a try. but to the reality, coming back to the real world and away from Nico's head, Ryan's probably not gonna do it. And I think that if there's a guy that I feel like it's barking at starting this game by proving himself throughout the week,
00:25:03
Speaker
is Joe Paulo. I feel like Joe Paulo has looked sharp all week long yeah i on the ball shooting. He had a couple of bangers in in scrimmages or at least in the short side of games that they play. ah Today he had a couple of great looks on goal. I feel like he's sharp. So if if Paul Canago, and I really don't know if you will. I don't know. yeah We don't know anything about it. The last time we talked to Brian, which was Tuesday, so I guess yesterday, he made it sound like, oh, no, Paul is fine. The fact that he wasn't training today suggests that it's not that simple. It's telling. I mean, he literally just walked around the outside of practice today doing nothing else. So to me, that's something to monitor as as I put on Twitter.
00:25:46
Speaker
ah When he comes to that side, I feel like you almost have to start Christian Roldan on that side for two reasons. One, he's done it. You trust his IQ. You trust his ability to hit the right spaces, to understand the right triggers defensively. But when it comes to Danny Bhuanga, who Who else would you want pressing, pushing, holding on a guy like Christian that has a V8 engine in this, you know, Honda Civic frame and he's going to be behind them all time. So I just I think that you almost have to do that. And then you start JP and Obed at center midfield and you look pretty good if you ask me when you also have the added maybe motivation is is the right word of, you know, JP is very much like as much as Raul is sort of in a
00:26:36
Speaker
we i think we have Everyone seems to have accepted that he's probably not coming back this year. I don't know if the door is literally 100% shut, but he there's no indications that either side is super interested in making and having him back. JP, on the other hand, he's also entering free agency. he is probably a little It's a little easier to figure out a way to get him in financially,
00:27:00
Speaker
it seems like he wants to come back there was just a you've done some reporting that we saw i think he maybe even gave in an interview in in portuguese with a brazilian out or Yeah, whatever. He gave an interview where he sort of made it sound like he hasn't been in contact. What do you know about that situation and maybe the undercurrent of what that means for the rest of the season? Yeah, so um a couple of months ago, ah maybe even beyond, them maybe three months ago, he said that there had been conversations with
00:27:31
Speaker
um Craig Weibull and, you know, the front office. But as I've asked some sources around recently, there's been nothing but radio silence with JP. And it was a little confusing to me because I had the understanding that the sounders do want him back and that they They want him back as a player because of what he's been able to do. And there was even some thoughts that maybe in the future he could be a coach, that he could follow that trend of the Andy Rose, the Gonzalo Pineda. And he seems like he's well cut out for that. And he seems, right? He has that look. He has that look very similar to Gonzalo Pineda. When I talk to him, I get that. Bilingual or trilingual, I suppose, in his case. Yeah, he's on paper. You could easily see him being a coach within a year or two of him retiring. Yeah, but radio silence is never a good way to keep a plane. No, it's not. It's never. And we've seen that with Nico, and we don't need to go into any of that right now, but if you could look at a thousand cases that are similar, that when you are quiet and you don't at least
00:28:38
Speaker
pull the trigger to tell a player, yes, you're coming back. No, you're not coming back. Or hey, we're working on getting you back. It creates some animosity and he and he just kind of doesn't go the way you want it. So um I think he's motivated. I think I see a motivated player out there. He looks really good. He looks much like the thing that's been tough about JP this year is that even when he's healthy,
00:29:01
Speaker
He doesn't look like he doesn't look like he seems like he's struggling to get through it. He didn't. I thought he looked okay in the second leg against Houston, but he wasn't sharp. But at training this week, he has looked he looks like old JP. Yeah. And he had a goal today where he did this spin that kind of back healed spin move off of a cross that was about as slick of a finish as we've seen.
00:29:24
Speaker
ah From anyone let alone from JP I mean it was and it but it just sort of seemed to tell something about what his confidence about feeling Confident in his body that he can hold up and you know That's a those are a good sign because he does he is a player who I think can raise the sounders level when he's at his best a hundred percent and Look, he's been working on the lateral movements and and all of these things that you you could see at times. You're like, oh, JP looks a little flat footed. He's been working on that because I think he sees in L.A. of C an opportunity to say, I'm still here. Right. And that's the type of guy I want on the field. That's the type of guy that I want going in against either O'Brien or Tillman or Ilya, whatever formation in that midfield that you see from L.A. of C. I want that guy. Not to mention the fact that his distribution and his ability to
00:30:12
Speaker
find players is better than Christian. Christian, is is right now, he's looked so good defensively, covering space, doing all these other things. But if there's one thing that he hasn't been really good at, he's been finding players ah to get services to, whether it's Jordan, whether it's out wide. He just hasn't looked as sharp, where I think that a guy like JP can really do that. And maybe he finds a Christian Roldan on the wing. And maybe that just changes things a little bit. So I feel like,
00:30:41
Speaker
between his veteran ability, his leadership, his physicality, and his ability to pass the ball and distribute it better. To me, he's a candidate to start this game.
Impact of Pedro de la Vega on Sounders
00:30:53
Speaker
The other player who I think has the potential to raise the Sounders ceiling is Pedro de la Vega, a player who we have been waiting all season. And I think he had he had a pretty mixed bag of performance against Houston. The first leg, he did not look good in the second leg. I actually thought he looked more like himself. We talked to him today after training. You, I think, understood you. You got a little bit more out of it than I did because he was it was in Spanish.
00:31:23
Speaker
what did you what what did What were your takeaways from that interview? I see a guy that's finally feeling like himself on and off the field. He is a guy that still understands and knows that what he believes his potential is, is still some play away, some rhythm away. ah he He mentioned, and and I quote, um you know, I could still give more, but but I feel in better rhythm. And I asked him about where he's grown defensively, offensively. He mentioned, you know, I'm always grown. I'm always learning. But if, although he did not say specifically what I kind of wanted him to say,
00:32:07
Speaker
because I see it is the defensive component. He's repressed his ability to, if not get the ball back, kind of push that player, force him onto the next guy pressing. I think he's doing that a lot better. And that has to do with the understanding the game rhythm in the game time. He mentioned, look, the fact that I was able to finish and he said this in Spanish, I was almost a whole game. And yeah, maybe I got pulled off the last eight minutes if you count extra time, but I need that and That's what I've been used to that's what I was used to last year in my other team and getting those full Time the full minutes that's giving me confidence and you could see it on his play
00:32:47
Speaker
Yeah, he looked you know, that that was the most encouraging thing I thought from the second leg was just the raw number of minutes. And he has been sort of ramping up and ramping up and ramping up. but Like he had been pushing, you know, into the 70s, but this was an 88 89 minute performance, something like that.
00:33:02
Speaker
And he the thing I like about him is that no, he's not giving us the production that you need from a designated player. There is no question that at some point he needs goals, he needs assists. This is just how we measure success. But what I do like about him is that even when he is not producing, he's still able to influence the game through effort, through like silly things like effort, and ah but is he he is actually, I think, pretty good at repressing. he is always He never takes plays off. He makes good runs, and he makes good runs with the ball at his feet. He doesn't always make the right decision at the end, but he is doing things that I think you can appreciate
00:33:44
Speaker
ah You don't worry about him giving up on plays. You don't worry about him hanging his head. And i he also just strikes me as a thoughtful person. and And that's the thing I'm really looking forward to getting more out of him is when he's able to when he's confident enough to like do these interviews in Spanish and so I already in English and he's able to sort of articulate these ideas in it himself as opposed to it going through a translator. Yeah. And today he kind of wanted that to be the focus. yeah he He was literally saying
00:34:18
Speaker
not just right now ah it's always important but right now especially we need to think of the collective and not just me because we're asking him about Pedro hey Pedro no let's let's worry about the collective that that's what I'm worried about I'm trying to do whatever it is that I can do mm-hmm That's his quote. I want to do whatever I can do for what that coach is asking me, for what my teammates are asking me. And that unselfishness and thoughtfulness of the team is important for a young guy. yeah A lot of young guys are playing for a team meet, you know, FC Nico or FC Pedro, FC whoever. That's what that's what it is. I'm trying to shine up. And a lot of the difficulties I feel like he had in a couple of games before the last one where I thought he would look pretty good is that I feel like he had this pressure to just show himself and he was just too rushed to shoot, to pass, to right you know maybe take an extra touch that he should enough. In this one, not only does he provide you some of the things that we just talked about, but you don't have a guy that can dribble in tight spaces the way he did against Houston. You saw it. There were moments where maybe he should have finished it a little bit better. But that's what you want. And going back to this game,
00:35:28
Speaker
that's where he can elevate the potential of this team. Because you don't have another Pedro de la Vega. You don't have a player that's going to be able to break down and have this LAFC team collapse on you to open up other players. And maybe he worked a lot today on finishing that that that right foot inside. He also hits it with his left foot. I think he's ambidextrous. He can hit it just as well with his left. He was working on that finishing. Can he beat that guy? That would give shadow the best potential way to to win this game again for me it is an upset for me it would be an upset they're obviously that the underdogs they'd have to play a perfect game and everything we just talked about has to go perfectly for them to win it but but it's a possibility because of
00:36:14
Speaker
the potential there, right? And that's what we're looking for is the potential that the Sounders play to the highest expectation that we've had all season, that maybe they haven't been able to reach, but maybe they do it now.
00:36:26
Speaker
yeah And ironically, you know, you go back to the season opener, which is it's it's interesting that the season started with a road game against L.A. And here we are potentially with the last game of the season also being in L.A. But the takeaway I had from that game was Pedro de la Vega looked like the best. the He was the best Sounders player that day. And he never really was able to build off that because the next game he got hurt.
00:36:51
Speaker
And so he and I don't think he has ever quite felt the confidence that he felt in that game, but he did. He seemed like a different player. And it's been tough to watch him sort of regress a little bit. And I think that's a lot of that is confidence. A lot of that is him being in his own head and maybe trying to do too much. But it would be fitting if he was sort of able to rediscover that player. And and he does seem to have the mentality of of being able to get back there. It would be it would be a great story. 100% and I don't want to focus too much on this part but this is another reason and why I want Raul in the field. at Some of the best moments that I've seen him have at one point for a couple of minutes or whatever he's been Raul, he wants to play Raul. They feel like they find each other well that they
00:37:38
Speaker
ah complement each other very well on the field so seeing that you know maybe that's another reason why ah you would want to run a little bit more in this game so um I'm excited for it I really am um I want to see how it plays out ah It's hard for a team to beat you five times in a year. it's it's it's It should be, and you mentioned that, right? It's almost impossible. It's almost impossible, and it's it's kind of a statistical fluke almost, because at some point you figure you just, it doesn't go, I mean, you don't play a team five times in a year that often, but you definitely, you know, you it's just, it's tough to do. it's It doesn't mean, it's it doesn't make the sounders like the favorites because they're due or anything like that. It's just,
00:38:26
Speaker
it's It's a very hard accomplishment. ah And i I don't know, i'm i'm I'm taking the trip down there. I'm i'm hoping for the best. Hopefully we'll we'll see a good game at the very least. and ah And it'll be interesting to see how that ends up informing this offseason. I don't think the Sounders are waiting to see what happens in this game to decide on a budget or decide what changes they're going to make. But there will invariably be some impacts ah based on you know what they see in in this game. ah But what I'm hearing, it it seems like this offseason promises to be Active yep, and it seems like it's there there there are good signs coming from there being a budget to make some some additions But I don't know it's been a it's been an interesting ride for sure look ah and ah When he comes to this game me personally ah I'm gonna stay consistent, and that's something that I keep myself very
00:39:18
Speaker
um high on it and I and i hope I'm so accountable to be consistent so I still have LAFC winning this game but I am less confident on that analysis than I was two weeks ago and the reason of that is because of the attitude that I've seen from this team, the character, that desire the the little things about certain players that just feel like they're starting to if not peak, but they're they're ascending rather than descending. And that's not something that I saw two weeks ago. As much as I've criticized Brian, I got to give him credit because he has put that chin up. He's taking the shots and he's been able to hold these team together. Whether I believe Christian saying that this is the best, most together team has ever been on. And I would never believe it. Maybe if he had his hand through a Bible and could have been processed for perjury.
00:40:16
Speaker
I still would not believe it. But the fact that he and this team has been able to stay together, that along within itself is something that I give them credit for. And Brian, and you got to give them credit for where this team is at. And now if they pull it off, man, I mean, it'd be a huge success story. It would be. It would be a huge success story. Well, Nico, as always, it's great having you on. oh We can follow you on Twitter, El Rolo and W.
Nico Moreno's Media Ventures
00:40:43
Speaker
Are you you're not a blue sky yet.
00:40:45
Speaker
I am not. i Got to get you on Blue Sky. Jackson asked me about it. I said, man, I just don't know if I have the the strength to rebuild. It took me a long time to build. It is emotionally taxing. We'll do you know if you get on there. just wear out ah We will do our best to get the audience to you as well. We are on board. Yeah, there we go.
00:41:04
Speaker
I'm bored. If I get your my sponsorship, my campaign to move to blue, I am ready for it. So yes, I will find it. You can help me out after this and see how I can i've set that up. And yeah, because I've been looking for a new platform, but I just I hate to leave that following. It's tough to start from scratch, but the good thing is that you know we can well whatever we this is not This is not great podcasting content. We'll we'll we'll talk about this offline. But anyway, thank you for coming on here, Nico. You're everywhere these days. You were just on FOX 13. I haven't watched this special yet. You were on the FOX 13 sounders preview. Yeah, I've been doing a couple of things with Aaron Levine. We did an in-studio one. We did one here that has a comical story I'll tell you later. ah So I've done three shows with Q13. The last one was a special ah where we had Kellen Rowe, Masvida. And it was great. it was It's always fun to be there. And Sandra Hart is always in the bottom of my name. Sandra Hart, Pulsar Sports. We push it hard. There we go. So yeah, it's been really good. So you could find me, when it comes to local coverage, they're definitely at some point, we'll probably do something with Aaron again. um I do a Thursday show on English that I always like to commit and tell people to go listen to, 7.30 to about 8.15, soccer down here from Atlanta, he's on Twitch, he's on Twitter, you could follow me on there. Always on Thursdays with Nico, it's a really fun show. And of course, ah you my YouTube channel at Pulsosports.
00:42:31
Speaker
Great. Well, thank you again, Niko. I am Jeremiah O'Shan, of course. ah Thank you to our sponsor, Full Poll Wines. Thank you to our producer, Likit. This is No Study Etes. And ah yeah, we'll catch you next time.
00:43:21
Speaker
one