Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
You're a Bad, Bad Man Andrew Thomas (feat. Jackson Felts) - Ep. 33
60 Plays1 year ago
Ari, Noah and Jackson recap the U.S. Open Cup penalty kicks win over Louisville City FC, answer your questions and preview the upcoming Seattle Sounders match against rival Portland Timbers.
Follow Jackson: https://twitter.com/JacksonOnRadio
- Support the show by subscribing to Sounder at Heart and get 1 FREE month!
- This podcast was made possible through the support of Full Pull Wines.
---
Follow Lobbing Scorchers on Social Media:
Follow Ari Liljenwall
Follow Noah Riffe
Instagram
YouTube
TikTok
---
Visit Sounder at Heart:
Website
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.
Recommended
Transcript
Sounders' U.S. Open Cup Advancement
00:00:09
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? Welcome into episode 33 of Lobbing Scorchers. This is Ari Lillianwall. I got producer Noah here with me virtually. Noah, say what's up to the people one night after Open Cup Shenanigans at Starfire. I love Open Cup Shenanigans, Ari. I had a great time. I got chicken strips, a lumpita, and this ball of chicken for like $13. I absolutely adore Starfire.
00:00:39
Speaker
I don't know that that was, as I said, one of the most entertaining games we're probably going to see all season. Seattle Sounders have indeed advanced into the round of 16 in the U.S. Open Cup, taking a penalty kick shootout victory over U.S.L. championship side, Louisville City FC.
00:00:56
Speaker
After a 2-2 draw in regulation in extra time, so we're gonna be diving into that on that show We've got a on this show. We've got a special guest for you today to talk about all that So but before we get into the game Want to take care of our usual housekeeping at the top of the show and say another thank you to our new paid subscribers We've got a few
00:01:18
Speaker
New ones to thank we really appreciate you guys so I'm gonna go down the whole list because I know I've been saying it every week for the last few weeks but we just really appreciate all the support that we've been seeing from the show the last few weeks and how our listenership is growing and
00:01:35
Speaker
I want to thank Rhombus. I don't know if you have a real name that you want me to shout out on the show, but go ahead and message me if you do. Thank you for the $3 sub. I'd like to thank Nate Bonnier, if that's mispronounced. You can also message me. Thank you for the $5 sub.
00:01:54
Speaker
Tyler Nakatsu, thanks Tyler, thank you to Owen Mason, and then David Rodriguez, Christopher Maley, Bill Breitenbach, Mike Lintini, Aaron B, Derek Richards, Sounder Naves, Dan Paghetto, Mike Standish, Ryan Shane, Eric Stanley, my nephews, CJ and Miles Maranakis, Andy Hill, Ian Mitchell, and Greg Hoker. I know that's a long, it's going to be a long list to read every week, but I feel obligated just because we appreciate the support that you guys have shown the show that much.
00:02:24
Speaker
but let's get into the sounders game now because like you said it was a really entertaining game I think there's a lot to chew on coming off this penalty kick victory over Louisville City FC and to do that we're gonna bring in a very good friend of mine
Jackson Felt's Impact on Sounders Media
00:02:39
Speaker
He's one of the big dogs in Sounders Media, without a doubt. My friend Jackson Felt, host of Sounders Weekly, pre half and post game shows on sports radio, KJR. I go on his show on KJR every single week to do my around the lead hit. I like to ask our guests sometimes just a little bit about their background so the listeners who might not know can learn a little bit about them.
00:03:02
Speaker
And I think you got an interesting one, man, because we kind of came up at the same time in the Sounders media scene, I think. We were pretty much the same age. And you really, I think you've done a valuable thing in the Seattle sports media landscape, which is that you put on for the Sounders on sports talk radio, which a lot of MLS teams don't get that treatment. Some do, but you really
00:03:27
Speaker
took the lead and the mantle on that on making sure that the sounders were represented in the sports talk radio landscape in Seattle. And, you know, I think everyone in this in the sounder in the sounders fan base and sounders land appreciates you for that. But why don't you just real quick before we talk about the game, tell people like why that's important to you and kind of how you got started in becoming the the KJR sounders guy.
00:03:54
Speaker
Yeah, no, Ari. I think that we both started covering the team around the same time. You might've been a little bit before me. I joined on like May of 2015. And like those first couple of years, you know, establishing those relationships, you know, and, and, you know, just following the team for the first time. And then I know, like in the late 2016, we both were on Steven Egan's Radio Cascadia podcast.
00:04:22
Speaker
And we're like, Oh, this is fun. It was a good time. Let's see if we, you know, can do something with this. So I went back to my boss at KJR and said, listen, I've been covering this team for a couple of years. Um, you know, we have, we have a really good podcast thing going. Why don't we take it to the air? And after lots of convincing, um, the, you know, he said, all right, thumbs up. You guys get the 9am slot on Saturday mornings and
00:04:50
Speaker
Thus was born Radio Cascadia Live, Saturday mornings on 950KJR. The funny part was, God, you remember this, was it our, was it the second or third show that I got sick the morning of?
00:05:04
Speaker
Oh, wow. Yeah, I totally forgot about that. That's the sickest I've ever seen a human being. I know it was funny because I think I think it was the second or third show. Like we about 8am I message every all the guys and I say like, Oh, by the way, I'm not feeling great. And it was we all got to the station like 830 and there was zero chance I could have taken the air but I was trying to push through it was it was a
00:05:30
Speaker
It was a war scene inside the studios of KJR that day. Um, but you know, we, we made it through, you know, not being on the air that day, had a good runny shows had Garth log away on every single week in 2017. Um, then KJR got the sounders radio rights in 2018. Um, you know, we, we put in the effort, we, we showed that, you know, we, uh, we as KJR cared about soccer and cared about the sounders and I cared and repped that pretty well. And we got the radio rights.
00:05:59
Speaker
And since 2018, it's just been, you know, pregame halftime post game, uh, plus the Sounders weekly shows on Wednesdays at seven, rocking and rolling and just trying to represent the sport we love well and push it out to, you know, your average Joe driving down, you know, I five who says, what's this soccer thing? You know, why should I care about soccer? Just trying to represent the sport well and bring in any new fans that we can. Cause that's, we all want to see this sport grow and
00:06:26
Speaker
and become what we think it deserves to be in this country.
Sounders vs. Louisville City Match Analysis
00:06:30
Speaker
And I just try to do right by it.
00:06:33
Speaker
hundred percent and we definitely appreciate you for that uh... like i said it's not uh... all that common in the sports media landscape right now for an endless team to get that type of coverage and i think it's important that the sounders do get that type of coverage you know so some people might disagree and want uh... seattle sports talk radio to only talk about the seahawks and uh... and mariners
00:07:00
Speaker
The Sounders are a big team with a big fan base and they deserve the platform that you've given them on a station like KJR. And you do good stuff every week if people haven't listened to the KJR pre, half, and post game shows and Jackson Sounders weekly show every week, which I'm biased because I go on it every week. It really is good stuff for anyone who wants to consume more Sounders content.
00:07:27
Speaker
But I love it because at halftime when I'm using the bathroom or waiting in line to get food I just get to hear Jackson's glorious voice and almost always he has the right takes Yeah, no, it's it's a good point Let's get into this game though. Does that sound good guys? Never never not be weird for me to know that people are going to the bathroom listening to my voice That's that's gonna be the oddest thing through my entire life Yeah
00:07:57
Speaker
I mean, it is cool when the entire men's restroom is cheering when you say something. Like, it really brings people together sometimes. So I think you can, you know, you can sit on that, and that's definitely a positive. Urinals in my voice. All right, that was our segment on the, that was our bobbying scorcher segment on the halftime bathroom situation.
00:08:20
Speaker
let's get into a sounders Louisville City FC because this was a very entertaining open cup fixture at Starfire last night both of you guys were there I was watching from my house but the sounders advanced so that was a positive it wasn't necessarily the prettiest method of advancing that I've ever seen but it was definitely entertaining
00:08:47
Speaker
Let's talk about our reaction to this lineup first, guys. I'll lay mine down, and then we can go roundtable. I think there's a little bit of debate every time there's an open cup game like this, particularly earlier in the tournament, when most teams are going to be deploying a rotated starting 11.
00:09:05
Speaker
Is that the right approach? Or I got a couple of questions about this on my crowdsourcing tweet after the game. Is the team kind of downgrading the importance of the open cup by fielding a lineup like this? And I'll just give my take to start off, which is that I know a lot of people aren't going to like it and they feel like that.
00:09:23
Speaker
a rotated lineup does downgrade the importance of the tournament and they feel like the team saying that they want to win every trophy and compete for this tournament is just lip service when they're fielding rotated lineups with younger guys and not as many of the big first team stars.
00:09:41
Speaker
I think that a lineup like this is pretty much how you should approach it when you have fixture congestion as they do right now. And it's not just about the fixture congestion. It's also about the fact that this team has struggled quite a bit in league play this year. And I think it's worth getting guys minutes that you maybe haven't seen as much to see what they bring to the table and see if they deserve more minutes for the first team. So that's a factor in it too. But I think the way Schmetz lined it up
00:10:10
Speaker
is that's how I expected him to line it up. And I think that's the right way to line it up. And it kind of creates a lose-lose situation for a coach. Because you can't play your very first choice 11, both in this game and in the game on the weekend in Portland. You can't. You're risking injury if you do that.
00:10:34
Speaker
So if he plays like the first choice lineup for this game, then he's rotating in Portland for a huge rivalry game when you need league points this weekend and people are going to be pissed off about that. So it really is like a situation where there's going to be outrage either way.
00:10:52
Speaker
and with that being the case I prefer the rotated lineup for the open cup game against the USL opponent and you try and do what you can with that lineup to advance which they ended up doing to their credit and before I kick it to you guys the other thing I would say is you know there's a lot of takes flying around about how embarrassing it is for
00:11:11
Speaker
Seattle that this was a competitive game and it's a USL opponent so you should just roll over them easily I mean I said on the preview show that they were not gonna roll in this game easily I've seen enough of these games to know that when you have a rotated MLS side against a hungry USL side it typically is a competitive game but I would just say
00:11:31
Speaker
People should be mindful of disrespecting your opponent. Louisville City is a, they're a good side with professional players that have experience, that have talent, that have pride. I know they're a lower division side, but like you got to understand these USL teams, they are, they're still professional outfits and they're hungry. Like these, these, we talked about it on the preview show, but these open cup games are huge for them. And they are like chomping at the bit every time.
00:12:00
Speaker
to eliminate MLS opposition. And you saw it last night, Detroit City beat the Houston Dynamo on penalties. And then I'm really glad that I get to bring this up. New Mexico United knocked Rial Salt Lake out of the open cup. My hometown club in New Mexico United, I'm a diehard religious fan, totally bammed on their MLS opposition. So you see that happen every year. And it's not, I really like, I take Umbridge with the notion that an MLS team
00:12:29
Speaker
should be embarrassed about playing a competitive game against a U.S.L. side. I think that's disrespecting your opposition and not giving them agency that they have in this scenario. But anyway, that was a little bit of a tangent right there. I want to kick it to you, Jackson, since you're the guest. What did you think of lineup and did you think Schmetz's approach fielding this 11 was the right one?
00:12:52
Speaker
Yeah, I really liked the lineup and I thought overall you had the nice mix of veterans and young guys. I mean, look at the spine of the team first up. I know Andrew Thomas, you know, hasn't got a lot of time, but you know, he's up there in age because of his time at Stanford. So I wouldn't call him like, you know, a youngster. You have John Bell, a veteran center back next to Stuart Hawkins. So, you know, right there, that's a good example of combining, you know, a veteran guy with a youth.
00:13:21
Speaker
Uh, you have Josh attends to you in the holding midfield. Uh, Dylan Tevez has had a good amount of experience so far. And then you have Danny Mazovsky up top. I mean, um, the spine of the team, I think, you know, had, had a lot of experience. And then you do have, you know, people like Paul Rothrock and Georgie, um, and Nungu on the wings to provide not only the pace, but that youth, the sprinus, you have Leyva who's a veteran as well. And it's a,
00:13:47
Speaker
He had this great mix, I thought, of veterans and youth. And then you put in, to cap it all off, a captain in Alex Roldan, who's, I mean, he's freaking Captain El Salvador. I mean, this is a guy who started an MLS Cup. I mean, this is one of the most experienced players on the Sounders overall roster, and he's your captain. So I love the way Brian mixed it in there. Even the criticism against that, obviously, is the fact that
00:14:14
Speaker
They haven't played a lot together. So, you know, you don't have that cohesion that a Louisville city very clearly had guys who have been playing together for seven games with six wins, one loss and no draws second place in the Eastern conference in the U S L having just a tremendous start to their season. So you don't have that cohesion, but I think you make up for it with that, you know, the, the dynamic element of, of being able to mix the youth and the veterans.
00:14:42
Speaker
Um, so I completely agree, not to mention, as you, as you pointed on very accurately, you have Portland to worry about. So you to start Leo chew and let Leo chew place 70 minutes against Louisville, knowing that he might be needed for, you know, 20 minutes against the Portland timbers on Sunday. Like, you know, you don't do that. You keep Leo chew, you know, in the bag so that you can, uh, you know, make sure you maximize the minutes for, for Portland on Sunday. And, you know, I think Brian did well on that, you know,
00:15:12
Speaker
feeling that this game might go 120 minutes. You bring them on late in the second half to be able to, you know, or maybe it was the start of extra time. Actually, it was the last 30 minutes. So knowing that, all right, we have, we just Leo for 30 minutes. He's going to be good to go for Portland.
00:15:27
Speaker
Um, love that element. Alex rolled on, obviously, you know, came off the field as well. So, um, you, you didn't have to necessarily, you can play Alex, I think reasonably well on Sunday and not worry about it. He's a guy that I think can do a Wednesday to Sunday at this point in his career pretty easily.
00:15:46
Speaker
Um, you know, you, you took dot tens you off the field. So a tensio can give you a little bit in Portland. So you have to, you have to manage these things. Cause at the end of the day, yes, this open cup mattered, but the reality of the situation is it's the pre freakin Portland timbers at Providence park. And you know, you want to have all your bullets available for that game.
00:16:07
Speaker
Yeah, you have to. Like I said, I mean, it would be it would be nice if it was physically possible to play a Rui Diaz, play a Jordan Morris, Russ Christian, like all your all your first choice guys.
00:16:19
Speaker
in this midweek game and then turn around and play them right again on the weekend. But it just doesn't work like that physically. And like I said, if it was reversed, then it would just be outraged in the opposite direction that they were rotated for the Portland game. So it's really, like I said, it's a bit of a lose-lose. But in this case, fortunately, they were able to advance.
Strategies for Open Cup Lineup Decisions
00:16:44
Speaker
And that storyline is less of an issue.
00:16:48
Speaker
Guys, Paul Rothrock. You guys ready to talk about Paul Rothrock? Let me lob. I got one. I got one to say. I got one scorcher to drop. I think it's funny. I was all up in my mentions. Shout out Sander Naves. This one we didn't see eye to eye on. He was complaining a lot about this lineup, saying we were not taking this seriously, that we were out of contention for an MLS cup or anything.
00:17:13
Speaker
It's silly. It's silly because every single one of these people who were complaining about the lineup were also complaining that there were no young players getting minutes on the field and that Brian doesn't ever rotate his roster. So what do you want? Because you cannot
00:17:32
Speaker
get upset when Brian plays like Jackson clearly laid out for you a good core of starters a good core of secondary players that get real solid MLS minutes and then kids who have never literally never touched the pitch in a Sounders kit like what are you talking about this is the perfect lineup we got to see exactly what we could potentially get out of these players in a very competitive match Louisville City is a great team
00:18:02
Speaker
And I thought that it showed us way more than putting these guys in for 10 minutes would. So if you want to get mad at me, go for it, but you better keep that energy and stop talking about how you want Brian to play young guys. Anyway, that's my scorcher. A lot of people were comparing it to the LAFC lineup. I think that might have been what Sounder Naves was saying. LAFC had their Open Cup game and they had
00:18:31
Speaker
They had more starters out there. They had Blanca out there. Um, so that is, uh, a choice that Steve Toronto who got a red card in that game, which was really funny. Um, he made that choice. Uh, I don't know how much like, like, I don't think that's smart that he did that. Like I would not have played Blanca in that, in that game. If I were him.
00:18:50
Speaker
Um, but it seems like Steve C with LFC, he's kind of less into squad rotation than, uh, than most MLS coaches. Uh, I remember when they were in concave champions league, as it was then known last year, I was getting, uh, I was getting straight up annoyed at how little squad rotation they employed and how much it seemed to not affect them. Like apparently Bwanga can just play every game like that. And.
00:19:17
Speaker
he's just a physical force of nature, so I don't know, but I don't really know if Steve Charandolo starting Bewonga in that game is a good point against the lineup that Schmetz rolled out just because I don't think he should have done that.
00:19:34
Speaker
Well, and I don't think that LAFC have as many fixtures in rapid succession as the Sounders. And I don't think that LAFC is down to basically starting their second string lineup at this point in most MLS games. So like, I really don't want to hear it. Frankly. And the reality is if, if Belonga had gotten hurt in that game against Vegas, then Toronto is people are calling for his head. People are calling for him to be fired.
00:20:04
Speaker
Yeah, that was a good point. Guys, Kyle Rothrock opened the scoring in this game. Imagine that.
00:20:10
Speaker
another another u.s open cup game for paul rothrock another goal it's all he does is score goals um... great finish uh... georgie on the assist good nice ball in by georgie great finish by paul rothrock and so you know we've had a long time paul rothrock agenda on this show and uh... it was only fueled by the sequence of events that took place in this game with paul rothrock scoring the opener
00:20:37
Speaker
Here's the thing I've noticed about Paul Rothrock, and I tweeted this last night, but I'll say it on the show. He employs an interesting tactic when he plays soccer that other sounders' forwards don't employ as much as he does. First of all,
00:20:56
Speaker
He made a run towards the front of the goal away from the defender and gave himself space to get a shot off. And then once he got the service in, he shot the ball towards the goal and he placed it where the goalkeeper wasn't. And it went in the net. And then once it goes in like that, that's how you score. And he's done that.
00:21:24
Speaker
The sample size is growing, folks. The Paul Rothrock thing, at a certain point, it's sort of a bit. And I'm framing it as a bit right now. But at what point does it not become a bit? And at what point do you give him a chance to do this in MLS? I'm really not doing that much of a bit right now. I'm serious. With how much this team has struggled to score goals and how consistently he's scored goals when he's got his chances, I know most of it is in Open Cup, but he's scored a game-winning goal in an MLS game too.
00:21:52
Speaker
I mean I'm gonna start beating this drum every time he scores another goal I'm gonna start beating this drum again like he's the only guy on the team that consistently scores goals right now and it's been like that dating back to last season and last night I'm sorry like if anyone was tired of the Paul Rothrock agenda the Paul Rothrock agenda has just got fueled tenfold by what we saw last night it's funny because you look at the
00:22:20
Speaker
Not only the history of just their overall playing career, but you look at the size, the speed, you know, the measurables of like a Leo Chu versus a Paul Rothrock, right? And Chu has the speed and Chu has the size and Chu has the experience in that regard. But there's something about soccer, you guys, and you know this, where there's this intangible aspect that you just can't measure.
00:22:48
Speaker
Right. And, and it's, it's, it sometimes comes out in the form of just having these things where, I mean, remember, remember the Houston game last year where the Sounders had to, you know, get a late goal and Paul Rothrock found himself, I want to say it was at the back post and just redirected the ball onto the back of the net with his chest. I mean, it's a good example of like Paul Rothrock just finding a way and he always just seems to find a way.
00:23:14
Speaker
Um, and it's that kind of intangible aspect that Leo Chu has all of these things, but at the end of the day, Paul Rothrock just has that thing. And so I'm with, I'd love to see, you know, I don't think it's, I don't think it's, you know, worthy of a, of a Portland, you know, game, but, you know, on, you know, we have other games coming up, you know, that I think the salt Lake on Wednesdays, that we have two Wednesday games with real salt Lake this month, you know, that seems like a perfect opportunity to, you know, when, when they're rotating a squad.
00:23:44
Speaker
Let's see what Paul Rothrock has given the chance at the first team level, just roll him out there and see what he can do. The same goes for Georgie. I mean, and we can get into Georgie, but like just as an example, just see what these kids can do when given an opportunity because it's that kind of fight and that intangible aspect.
Young Players' Rising Importance
00:24:04
Speaker
where the measurables don't exactly match up, you know, and with, with the, the, the highest players in the club, I don't think, but at the same time, they can bring that little oomph that can create some magic. And, you know, Paul Rothrock finds himself in good positions. Can he do it at the MLS level on a consistent basis? That's yet to be determined, but based on scoring again in the open cup, third straight game at starfire,
00:24:32
Speaker
he has scored. Yeah, I mean, this fixture congestion they have this month leaves a perfect opportunity for a guy like him. Thank you for listening to the Sound Rit Heart Podcast Network, which now includes No Sonietes, Lobbing Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild. We've been independent since August of 2023,
00:24:59
Speaker
but need your support to make sure it continues. Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible by your continued support. Memberships start as low as $25 a year, which not only helps make podcasts like this one happen, but also gets you access to everything we produce.
00:25:15
Speaker
If you're able to support us at higher levels, starting at $75 a year, you gain access to a host of other perks, most notably entry into our Members Only Discord, where the smartest, funniest, and most engaged commenters share their thoughts and ideas. To find out more, just visit centeratheart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner. Thanks for listening.
00:25:46
Speaker
yeah i mean it's just funny cuz i i knew before the game started that he was gonna score wasn't even a question in my mind you know when it happened i was like yep sure enough i mean that's all he does all paul rothock does his score goals uh... so wasn't a shock to me to see him get another one i i mean i i legitimately i say it a little bit in jess but i do hope he gets more of a chance because i think he's actually shown that he's one of the most consistent goal scores on this team which you know
00:26:14
Speaker
That's not necessarily what, when you went into the season, you didn't want Paul Rothrock necessarily to be your most reliable goal scorer, but it seems to me that that's the situation that you're in, and that should be accommodated. This was another strong game for the Moose Agenda. Danny Musavski got Seattle's second goal of the match with a header off a free kick from Danny Leyva. That quote was all about the service from Danny Leyva. That was a really nice free kick. He was in dives on those set pieces last night.
00:26:41
Speaker
But it was a nice finish by Moose. If Paul Rothrock is one of the only guys on this team that's been consistently scoring goals, that's his second goal in all comps. And it seems like every time that he gets run, he plays well, he does something productive, he's gotten on the score sheet a couple times.
00:27:04
Speaker
So, I mean, I think anyone who's been wanting to see the Moose get more minutes, you got what you wanted in this game as well. Another goal for him. So, they were...the summers were up to zero. Unfortunately, they choked the lead on a freak penalty kick call and just an unfortunate concession off a long throw-in. That penalty kick call was pretty tough. It got called on Alex Roldan.
00:27:30
Speaker
It was, it took a deflection off Cody Baker, I want to say. And Alex had, he had his hands up vertically in the air. I think trying to like trying to not commit a handball and the ball sort of freakishly popped up on him and hit him like in the shoulder. Um, so he got pretty unlucky and frankly, I mean, you know, I don't want to, uh, to harp too much on, on the referees. I thought it was pretty much fine in this game, but
00:27:59
Speaker
I probably wouldn't have called that. I don't know. That's a 50-50 call. You guys have any like strong feelings on that PK call? I think it's very harsh to call that, but I would also quickly mention, I mean, you could say the officiating is fine. Being there, and Noah, I know you were there, and maybe you can speak to this as well. There was a lot of Jersey polling and tugging and fouls that weren't even called, mostly on the side of Louisville. I don't know how many times. It must have been around 20 times.
00:28:29
Speaker
I would see a Sounders player anywhere around the field. It usually was off ball. And just a Louisville player was just grabbing and dragging a Sounders player to halt them for a few seconds. And rarely, if ever, did any of those jersey poles get called. So based on the combination of that and based on that harsh penalty, I thought it was a slightly suspect officiating we got last night.
00:29:01
Speaker
I don't know, it's the open cup. These dudes are ref in high school games before this. I'm not really too pressed with the performance. I think it is what it is, right? I feel like I've become the rep apologist on this podcast, unfortunately, which is never a thing that you want to be.
00:29:21
Speaker
listen he was letting everything go i mean it's an open cup match it's gonna get scrappy you've got a usl team that really wants this and honestly needs this to go well um and they're gonna fight their ass off and i don't think that it's a bad thing uh i thought the young guys held up dude danny leva i swear to god was just getting pummeled
00:29:42
Speaker
Just just play after play just pummeled pummeled pummeled on the ground I know when he went to take the coin flip for penalties to see who would take first He was literally just like he looks so haggard. He was limping over to do the coin toss and So I mean yeah, I think that the ref definitely lost the game, but also it's an open cup match things are gonna happen I don't think he did I don't I don't think I would say he did good, but I don't think that it was like oh This is the reason that we performed poorly in this match
00:30:12
Speaker
It definitely wasn't the craziest, like, officiating sequence that I've seen in an Open Cup match at Starfire. I mean, we all remember the Red Card wedding, but I do think, you know, regardless of what you think of the call, I think Alex, Alex Radon got, he got a little unlucky on that play. It was a penalty though.
00:30:31
Speaker
yet now i mean i don't know i think it's i think is a fair call i guess uh... so the penalty tied it at two to and uh... no one scored for the rest of regulation and extra time so this one was decided in penalties and this political was pretty funny and uh... there is a lot of penalties that were not well-taken would say uh... but see i got it done
00:30:55
Speaker
Andy T was on one he he did one of the funniest things I've ever seen a goalkeeper do so I'm excited to recap that right now Well, first of all, he was just kind of on one the whole shootout. He was he was making saves. He was strutting around he was talking shit but it kept it kept happening where he would make like a really good save and
00:31:17
Speaker
And then the Seattle player would have a chance to win it, and they would miss their subsequent penalty. De Rosario's kid missed a penalty. There was a couple of them. Leo Chu missed his penalty. Leo Chu took a lot of heat after this game with the missed penalty, not helping matters. But finally, so NDT, it was after the De Rosario missed, and NDT got fed up.
00:31:43
Speaker
He was tired of his saves going to waste and it looked like soda kitty Hara was going up to take that penalty and annity waved him off he said screw that I'm taking this penalty kick and then he Bammed the last PK as hard as he could into the net and
00:32:05
Speaker
and then Noah you got actually got this on video and tweeted it out and it's a really great video but after Andy T hit the last PK he ran full sprint down to the other end of the field past the Louisville City players and then I don't know if they started talking to him first or if he was just pumped up or what but Andy T started talking all kinds of shit to Louisville City which it was definitely it was definitely entertaining to watch I don't know if it was fully merited
00:32:34
Speaker
But it was a good A&T game. He made several important saves, including in the penalty kick shootout. And I would say, overall, my takeaway on A&T is that they just signed him to a contract extension, by the way. So he's going to be with the team for a while. And it seems like that contract extension indicates that he's seen as the kind of long term succession plan for
00:32:56
Speaker
Stefan Fry and I would just say that based on what I've seen From him this year. I feel pretty decent about that For it to be in to be an MLS starter to be a top starter in a top-flight league like you got to be able to make a
00:33:13
Speaker
game-changing, game-saving plays. You got to be able to make your saves in shootouts. You got to be able to stop penalties from time to time. AndyT has shown aptitude for all of those things that you want to see in a top-light goalkeeper. I thought that was on full display last night, both with how he played on the field and then
00:33:31
Speaker
Also kind of just I kind of like the swagger in the the disposition This team could use more juice like that. I think so if the backup goalkeeper ends up providing it. I think that's fine and That was just an all-around pretty electric shootout performance from from any T. That's what you want to see I do your keeper. I do believe the the kids call that aura He's got aura
00:33:54
Speaker
Yeah, he definitely had the aura working. Did you did you see what happened on that sequence after the penalty where he was yelling at the Louisville players like why he was why he was that fired up and what exactly happened with that? Yeah, before every single take for Louisville, I think almost every one of the eight takes. What would happen was after the Sounders players struck, Thomas would walk out to the spot
00:34:23
Speaker
and just stand there and wait for the Louisville guy to approach. And the referee would say, hey, go back to your line, go back to your line. And then Thomas would take a few steps towards his line. The referee would turn around and Thomas would come back towards the line. He kept, he kind of kept, you know, egging him on and saying things. And for people who
00:34:43
Speaker
You know don't know and Thomas haven't watched him too much. This is kind of who he is He has such an edge to him and he has such a you know competitive instinct and in-your-face You know mentality from back there. He is such any I guess intense would be the right word but intense in a very very good way and he kept doing it throughout the penalty shootout where he was talking smack and he was Definitely trying to get in the heads of Louisville players Clearly it worked with you know in the form of three saves
00:35:14
Speaker
Um, or three, you know, missed, missed penalties. So I think that Andrew Thomas was already, you know, had that attitude. And, and I would assume if he's, you know, drawing at Louisville players, they may be drawing back. So right when he hits that and runs over and then tries to get in their face.
00:35:33
Speaker
He's naturally probably saying something like, you like that, you know, when all Kirk cousins, uh, or he, he's just trying to saying like, I told you, I told you that is, that is prime and pure Andrew Thomas just with bringing that intensity. Um, and clearly, I mean, are you mentioned, I mean, this team, if, if they need some juice right now, it's coming in the form of Andrew Thomas.
00:36:02
Speaker
Yeah, it was. PK Shootout is so psychological. It's such a mind game. You need whatever mental edge you can get over the opposition. You see goalkeepers try all kinds of different tactics to get in the head and mess with the shooter. That's one of the games within the game that I always enjoy watching.
00:36:25
Speaker
is during a pk shootout like that with advancing in a tournament on the line like what do you what are you gonna do to uh to get yourself through and like you you saw the full range of of andy t last night he was on one and uh
00:36:41
Speaker
it worked he made a few really nice saves and uh the team got through and it was definitely it was entertaining to watch at the end there um as far as young guys who impress me guys i was gonna throw some names out there um okay so stew hawkins is an interesting name just in general um this is a center back who has been really highly touted coming up through seattle's academy but
00:37:06
Speaker
everything I've heard of him and how they kind of talk about him is that he's expected to be a Very prominent contributor to the first team They love how this kid plays the game and they have for years now, so it was cool to see him Actually gets him run with the first team even if was in an open cup game. He's been with Tacoma Defiance and the U7C national team
00:37:32
Speaker
yeah yeah this is a u.s youth national team player as well so that's part of his pedigree and i thought um i thought he did he acquitted himself pretty well last night um in the sense that um you didn't really see or hear that much from him which for a defender is a pretty big compliment um ideally you want them to get to the point where you can point to a couple uh
00:37:57
Speaker
plays in a given game where they actually change the game you know make a goal line staving clearance or just like a huge play to stop a like a slide tackle to stop a counter attack like you want to see that from your from your starting defenders eventually but for this game i thought the first foray into the stew hawkins experience which i think is going to be a sneakily important thing for this team coming up in the next year or two here like how he develops i thought stew did pretty well
00:38:24
Speaker
I thought the Georgie experience continues to be a little bit of a mixed bag, but it's a fun mixed bag. I mean, it reminds me a little bit of Leochu in some ways, to be honest. He'll make a really good run. He'll do really well to find space and free himself up.
00:38:44
Speaker
put a put a ball in but it's maybe not like the most refined final product but you can see you can definitely see the talent there and he's definitely uh he's definitely been fun to watch which that's that's been nice to have injected into the team i would say even if like the uh even if the end product hasn't fully been there and then the other one i wanted to shout out was uh snyder branell this is another uh
00:39:09
Speaker
academy product that they seem pretty high on who I honestly don't really know that much about having watch play all that much so I was kind of curious to see him and I thought he actually he might look the best out of all the young guys just in terms of how he looked on the ball and then also you know watching a few Seattle players go up there and take really bad penalties and a couple of them missed their penalties. Steiner Bernal went up there and he roofed his so that was both satisfying to watch and pretty impressive to see
00:39:38
Speaker
from a young guy like that stepping up in that moment where if he i'm pretty sure if he missed his it would have been over and louisville would have won and he ripped that thing right in in a pressure moment which and so that kind of speaks to another point though which is that um that's kind of why these games are so useful and important for these young guys like
00:39:59
Speaker
Snider Bernal would never have a chance to take a PK in a knockout setting in the MLS playoffs this year. But like in this situation with the Open Cup where you're actually giving these guys those minutes, he actually has the opportunity to do that. That's invaluable experience for him.
00:40:16
Speaker
to get the reps on the field and get those minutes and then also like taking a penalty in that context with that much pressure and then getting the experience of making it like that's the type of stuff that makes your young guys better and that's so that's another reason in support of uh using a younger lineup in this game but anyway those are the young guys that impressed me did you guys have any takes on uh on any of the guys i mentioned or have anyone else that you wanted to shout out that maybe we don't normally get to see over the course of the MLS season
00:40:46
Speaker
I would just quickly agree with all your points. I can't disagree with anything, including from Georgie to Brunel as well. The Stuart Hawkins, I'll just quickly add on Stuart Hawkins, the fact that you mentioned he's going to be sneaky important for the next couple of years. He's going to be a sneaky important for the next couple of months and next couple of weeks primarily because timing didn't exactly work out well for the team where you trade Javier Arriaga.
00:41:14
Speaker
And like in the next 10 days after you trade Javier Ariaga, Nathan goes down with his upper quad injury. He's out for, you know, a month or more, you know, two months, maybe. And then was it six to eight weeks? Was that it? I kind of forget. And then you have Gomez Andrade go down now and he's out for two to three weeks per Brian Schmetzer on KJR. So, you know, I think we're at a situation right now where you have Jackson Reagan, you have John Bell,
00:41:43
Speaker
And you have Stuart Hawkins and that's it. And there's so much fixture congestion over these next two to three weeks, conveniently with Aria, with Gomez Andrade out, that you're going to need center back depth into Stuart Hawkins. And he's a kid who very clearly he has the size. I think he needs to put on some way to think and put on some muscle. You know, we're waiting for him to kind of grow into forum a la Jackson Reagan when he was at Michigan and look at Jackson Reagan now.
00:42:13
Speaker
Um, but as Stuart Hawkins, you know, he's 17 years old, right? I mean, I think he turns 18 in September as he ages and as he grows out, as he, you know, you know, builds more muscle and has a few more cheeseburgers. I think you're going to see a center back develop that is pretty damn good. And then when you kind of look, I think Ari, you know, to your point, the next couple of years out, I mean, listen, the reality of the situation, the reality of
00:42:42
Speaker
of professional sports is Yemar Gomez-Andrade can't play forever. And at the point where Gomez-Andrade, whether it's his contract up, whether he says, okay, I'm done, whatever, you know, at that point you are looking at, you know, who's going to be your next center back and sitting next to Jackson Reagan for the next X number of years. And for my money, Stuart Hawkins makes all the sense in the world. He's good on the ball, just like Jackson. He has the size.
00:43:11
Speaker
Um, you know, as Jackson develops his leadership, you know, I think that we're going to see him being able to take that command of the backline and Andrew Thomas, by the way, he's going to be a great leader of this, you know, defense for many years, but I think you're going to see that combination. So Stuart Hawkins impressed me. He has a lot of room to grow. We can all agree. He has lots of things he can improve on. Um, he has different ways he can kind of continue to build out his game, but I think we're seeing the raw, you know,
00:43:40
Speaker
The raw skill is there and it's this already kind of formed, you know, clay that we can turn into a dynamic center back for us for a decade. Yeah, I think it's a good point. I think the Stu Hawkins experience with the personnel situation that you mentioned might be, might be coming on us, uh, coming to us sooner than you'd think.
Listener Q&A: Lineups and Future Projections
00:44:05
Speaker
Um, let's get to questions real quick and riff on, uh, riff on a few of those.
00:44:10
Speaker
Noah, if you got them pulled up. Thank you to everyone who always submits these after every single game. Like I always say, it's a good platform to get the discourse flowing, and I appreciate everyone who likes, engages, interacts with the tweets, and gives us some points of discussion on the show every week. So yeah, let's jump into those now. And Jackson, we'll work you in here too. You can feel free to give your takes on any of the takes that we collected from the people.
00:44:37
Speaker
Yes, back to the questions this week, and I gotta say, people showed out for a win. A PK win. Maybe that's what it was. It was almost a loss. So you guys lobbed all of your scorchers. We appreciate you. We're gonna start off here with Dan
00:44:55
Speaker
This all lead into the question. I just thought this was too funny. Cody Baker flattened that Louisville player. As such, would you rather take on one Cody Baker sized duck or 20 duck sized Cody Bakers? We'll start there.
00:45:12
Speaker
I'm taking that guy. That was a really funny moment. Uh, you know, that kind of like juice and moxie we were talking about with Andy T. I think that's an example of how Cody break Baker kind of brings that to the table as well. And I liked how he was talking trash to the guy after he did that. Um, I couldn't tell exactly what he was saying, but that was a funny moment. Um, and as for that question,
00:45:37
Speaker
I would probably I would probably fight the one Cody Baker Sized duck and just try and run away because I feel like with a bunch of duck sized Cody Baker's like they could gang up on you. Yeah, I agree. I agree So I would try I would just try and run away from the one with the knowledge that I wouldn't win in a fight against either Well, I'm doing the same. Let's let's just so I understand this it's one
00:46:06
Speaker
Cody Baker sized duck or 20. I wonder what you might want to read the question again. It's early in the morning, Noah. So I'm, I'm actually thinking through the dynamics because, because I want to make sure that I face the least amount of Cody Baker as possible. Absolutely. Yeah. So it is one Cody Baker sized duck. So it would be essentially, I'm taking that one. I don't want to post any Cody Baker. I didn't know Cody Baker whatsoever. That kid,
00:46:36
Speaker
That kid is as hard no with as much attitude. He is, I mean, I'm not sure if he's a long-term fullback for the Sounders, but my God, anytime he's on the field, if you're up against him, watch the F out. He is such, and there's a couple of stories that unfortunately I can't tell you guys, but I tell you, this is a kid who has an attitude
00:47:02
Speaker
going into every situation. What I loved about that play where he flattened the Louisville player is after he flattened him, Cody stood over him and like for like three seconds and said something. And I don't know what he said. It was probably to the effect of like stay down. And the best part about that was as he's like in the face of the guy looking down on him,
00:47:24
Speaker
The referee is distracted by a Louisville player who's like complaining about something and the referee doesn't even notice Baker just standing over the guy. Um, tremendous moment. Uh, I mean, listen, Cody Baker, uh, of all of the sounders, you know, and you include to come and to find roster of every single player on the team. Andrew Thomas may bring the intensity, but Cody breaker brings the boom more than I think anybody on this team. Yeah.
00:47:53
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I think it's also funny. He didn't have the best match. Like I think I would be the first one to acknowledge that as a, as the designated Cody Baker Stan on Twitter. Uh, but I still thought that he had some of those just, just pit bull moments where he just does not give a shit and will body you to the ground and show you like, I don't care if this is an open cup game or an MLS cup final. Like I'm putting that shit on the line and I'm going to stand by it.
00:48:23
Speaker
But that is, that is, I love that. Um, next up from Mark Castner, our resident, um, views merchant as he has a pod. Yeah. Front of the pod. Um, he says keeper controversy, question mark, question mark, question mark. So I will pose it like this. Are you still starting Stefan fry every single regular season game, or are you trying to mix in and Thomas as much as possible?
00:48:51
Speaker
I wouldn't mind seeing Andy Thomas mixed in here and there with the fixture congestion and fries in his late 30s now. I don't think it would be the worst idea to preserve him. But I think you kind of are in a situation where you've got two goalkeeper ones. That's sort of how I see it.
00:49:12
Speaker
I think, you know, red card in the DC United game, which got rescinded notwithstanding. Um, Stefan Fry is still shown a propensity for making really big game changing saves this year. Um, but so is Andy T at points and Andy T won you a PK shootout in the open cup. So, uh, I kind of, I don't know if it's a controversy, but me personally, like I feel
00:49:38
Speaker
I think it speaks to how well Andy T has done this year that I feel pretty much as comfortable going into a game with him in goal as I do with Fry in goal, who, you know, I feel pretty much the same way about Fry this year as I always have. I don't know if some people think he's declined or whatever. I don't really see that as much. I think you got I think you got two solid starting goalkeepers on hand here. I agree with you to a point. This is my chance to lob a scorcher.
00:50:08
Speaker
Um, I right now, I think Andrew Thomas is the better goalkeeper than Stephen Fry. Um, and right now if all things are equal, I would rather start Andrew Thomas in a game than Stephen Fry, because our, yes, he's coming with big saves, but look at the road LA galaxy game where Gabriel Peck scores in the fifth minute. And it just goes right under Stephen Fry's arm.
00:50:32
Speaker
Um, that's, that's, that needs to be saved. That absolutely needs to be saved. And that's Stefan Fry over the last couple of years. I mean, we've had moments like that where you, we say, God, Stefan Fry should have saved that. Think to the Vancouver white caps road game last year, the three to two win, where Andrew Thomas came up with a couple phenomenal saves, including one where he dives to the, I want to say it's to his left, to the upper V.
00:50:57
Speaker
and takes away for sure Vancouver Whitecaps goal that would have given them a 3-2 lead in that moment. Andrew Thomas is coming up with the same level of high game changing, high level game changing saves that Stephen Fry is, but I don't think he's making those small mistakes like Stephen Fry has been. My scorcher is that Thomas is the better guy, but big old butt here.
00:51:25
Speaker
And it's the fact that right now, I don't think that you can change the goalkeeper. It needs to stay as Stephen Fry, because Fry brings the leadership, Fry brings the veteran aspect at a time right now, especially, especially right now where Yemar Gomez-Andrade is out. You need that leadership for the back line coming from your goalkeeper who's been here forever.
00:51:51
Speaker
who's been making these moments for the last decade plus, and that comes in Stephen Fry. So I think it's very understandable and it is the right call for Stephen Fry to starting goal as much as he can for the Sounders right now. That can't change, but right now we do have two number ones, Ari, you're right. And the moment where Stephen Fry decides, okay, you know what? I'm going to call it.
00:52:18
Speaker
Um, that's the moment where you say, okay, finally, here we go. Andrew Thomas, welcome to the show. It's your team. And I, at that point am more confident than not in, uh, you know, that the sounders are going to get a plus level goalkeeping for hopefully another decade from Andrew Thomas. Um, because I think we're already seeing that, I mean, and not to mention penalty kick shootouts. I mean, I don't, I don't think fry is a particularly great at, at penalty kick shootout saving.
00:52:48
Speaker
I think Andrew Thomas, we're seeing clearly, it's a mental game as you mentioned. He gets in the head of other players. He's really damn good at it. And that's going to be something key down the stretch in playoffs in the future. So right now it is close. I'll give the edge to Thomas, but I don't think you can make a change until Fry says he's done.
00:53:10
Speaker
You know, I kind of got to disagree just a little bit there because I think what I've seen personally is that Fry's veteran leadership is not really changing the backline product that we've seen. It's been shaky either way and giving Andy Thomas as much of a run as possible. I'm not saying you bench Fry or you
00:53:32
Speaker
Switch your your first choice goalkeeper to add DT, but I think you give him as many games as physically possible Especially when you know, he's going to be your starting Goalkeeper next year. I mean I made an argument last podcast or not last podcast but whenever he got the red card that like
00:53:48
Speaker
This shows that like what is his decision-making? He seems just as frustrated as every other player on the field and Andy Thomas man He seems like he just doesn't give a shit. I mean like last night He was just bawling out and like the the swagger that he was living with the the aura that he had like everything he
00:54:10
Speaker
He embodied exactly what I think this team needs in that leadership and mentality is that I'm gonna fight you I'm gonna punch you in the mouth at every possible opportunity I can I don't give a shit where we are at the standings like I just I want to play soccer and I want to have fun Yeah, no, and listen, I I think I think the part we disagree on there is is is the part about you know Giving Andy games over Stephen Fry. I just I go I go to the point of consistency. I just want to see
00:54:39
Speaker
the lineup consistency be as consistent as possible on a game by game basis. And maybe with fixture congestion, you can throw Andrew Moore in there over this next month, but Stephen Fry brings you that consistency. And at the end of the day, I just, I want that along along, especially not only a back line, but the whole defensive unit.
Debate on Sounders' Attacking Lineup
00:54:59
Speaker
I just want that as much as possible.
00:55:03
Speaker
Absolutely. All right, we are going to hit a question here from OKB04. Chuu looked really bad. Hopefully we have a plan to somehow get some money for him this summer. Georgi, Rothrock, and Leyva all deserve more minutes going forward, and Thomas should be our penalty goalkeeper in every shootout going forward. I'm going to focus on the first part of this question.
00:55:25
Speaker
Two versus Georgie. I want to get the breakdown. I want to hear your guys's view on this. I think the Twitter sphere has been quite a bit reactionary with their assessment of Georgie over two, but I'm interested to see how y'all think.
00:55:44
Speaker
well it's funny because i think i mentioned earlier on the show that uh... they kind of remind me of one another so far i don't know i i really have not seen georgie enough to make a uh... definitive conclusion on how irate him but i definitely from what i have seen uh... both at the end of uh... his m l s debut and uh... getting to see him get a little longer run in this open cup game is definitely a lot of fun
00:56:12
Speaker
I'm down for him to get more minutes and Leo Chiu is taking a lot of criticism after the game last night. His substitute cameo didn't go very well. There was some more questionable decision making. There was the missed penalty kick. I don't know if I would go so far as to say that I rate Georgie
00:56:35
Speaker
Way above Leo Chu right now Just because I haven't seen enough of him to be able to say that But I mean I'm down to see him more like I think there's definitely like fun things that he brings to the table but I don't know am I kind of am I off-base for feeling like That the way Georgie was playing was honestly like a little bit similar to Leo Chu like if I had to compare him to someone else on the first team That's the first person that comes to mind
00:57:04
Speaker
I think you're not off base there at all. I think, I think Georgie even comes with a little more burst. Um, Leo sometimes tries to be a little more tech tries to be a little more technical and dance over the ball and, you know, kind of get a defender to bite and then, you know, try to find that premises. So, and, and Leo does a little bit more of that kind of, you know, step over kind of stuff where Georgie just says, screw it. I'm a run and he can run real fast and he's really fun to watch.
00:57:32
Speaker
So I think he has a little more of that burst, but I'm completely with you, Ari. We just haven't seen enough yet to answer that question fully. I haven't seen enough yet. So for right now, and obviously this next month with, you know, games every other week for like four weeks, you're going to see a lot of Georgie, I think naturally, just because we need to see a lot of guys on the field with all of the fixtures. But at the same time, I think the primary fixtures, you're going to see Leo choose still.
00:58:02
Speaker
just off of the element of the fact that he has more experience. He's done it, you know, for longer at the higher level. And we just need to see more from Georgie, especially more at the Tacoma level. There's more in general from Georgie that he can do that on a consistent basis, find that space on a consistent basis, be able to run into dangerous spots, be gold dangerous.
00:58:26
Speaker
and then do what he did where he found Paul Rothrock for the goal. So if we continue to see that in his little bit of time and we continue to see that in his time at Tacoma, then I think that you will slowly see the minutes for Georgie increase and the minutes for Leo to decrease. We just aren't there yet, I don't think.
00:58:49
Speaker
Yeah, I don't love the performance that Georgie put up. I think maybe it's mostly due to the fact that he is not super integrated with this team. But I don't think his spatial positioning is any better than Leo Chiu. In fact, I think it's worse. I think that he just doesn't have the field vision yet. And maybe that's because, again, he hasn't played a lot of minutes with this team.
00:59:14
Speaker
The amount of times where the attack was focused through him in this game and he just absolutely didn't receive the ball was not in the position to receive the ball or played a ball into nobody and turned it over was
00:59:32
Speaker
I think higher than the times where he did play in good balls, which is our entire argument with Leo Chu. I think that he brings those same things that Leo Chu brings, but I don't think that his awareness is as good as Leo Chu because for all of the criticism that Leo takes, I still think that his field vision isn't
00:59:51
Speaker
That bad like I don't think that I would even compare it give Georgie more run I want to see a bigger sample size same with Ari but honestly I did really even with the assist I did really love what I saw from him and I am not starting him over true are either of them good options No, that is my take Did we notice Georgie do much work defensively last night
01:00:20
Speaker
Yeah, he was back there. I thought he did a fine job getting back in defensively, which I think is a positive as opposed to Leachu, who at least last season just didn't defend ever. You're correct. Yep. So that is that is all of the questions that I have collected. Jackson, do you have any questions you would like to pose? Yeah, I mean, after I think the elements of
01:00:47
Speaker
this team right now is pretty simple of we're just waiting for them to get healthy and get back together. But the big question I think we should be looking at is what happens in a couple of weeks when Pedro de la Vega gets back. When Pedro is finally healthy and we're seeing him do good things at training this week, the hope is that maybe, maybe he could be on the bench for Portland coming up on Sunday, maybe, if not that, then we're looking towards next week.
01:01:17
Speaker
But when Pedro is healthy, there is an interesting question. I'd love to get both of your takes on what you do with that front four in the attack. I think that Raul has cemented himself as your starting striker based on what he's done in the early part of this season. So then what do you do with that band of three? If you have Pedro there, you have Albert there. Both are candidates for the 10. Pedro can play on the wing.
01:01:41
Speaker
You have Christian, obviously, does he slide back a line? You have Jordan, does he come out of the lineup? How do you fit all of the pieces together? And what is the right recipe to get the attack moving? Because I've been kind of dragging my brain trying to figure out if it includes Jordan, if it includes Pedro at the tent, if it includes Pedro on the wing, is he on the right or is he on the left? Does Christian slide back a line? There's so many
01:02:10
Speaker
interesting dynamics of what Brian does with that band of three when Pedro is healthy. Yeah, it's a great question. It's one that I've mulled over quite a bit as well. I mean, my hot take
01:02:28
Speaker
potentially a hot take would be that I think the front four is De La Vega on the left, Russ Snack at the 10, Christian on the right, Raul up top, and Jordan's the odd man out in that scenario. And that's kind of just sort of where I land based on the fact that for this team to kind of reach the ceiling that people hoped that it had going into the year,
01:02:56
Speaker
De La Vega needs to be a, he needs to hit, he needs to be a carry the load, week in week out attacker. And I think the left is supposedly his best position unless I'm misremembering something. Um, and you just really, you haven't, you haven't gotten the production really out of that spot so far this year. And, um,
01:03:24
Speaker
I think the way this roster is set up, Rusnak, like it or not, is very clearly the best choice at the center attacking mid-spot. And I think Christian is pretty clearly the best choice at the right mid-spot.
01:03:39
Speaker
And to me, like I don't really see much of a debate that Raoul is still the best choice at the, uh, at the number nine spot. He, I know most of his goals have come from the spot this year and then his goals from open play aren't exactly, they weren't from sustainable or very repeatable situations, but he's still the only guy on the roster who can pull a goal out of nothing like that.
01:04:04
Speaker
which is a very valuable attribute for a team that has struggled to finish its chances. So I still think he's pretty clearly the first choice option up top. So yeah, I think that, I think that front four that I just mentioned is how I would line it up. And it's, it's kind of weird to think about a sounder's lineup, which is the odd man out like that, but based on how the season has gone, like that's, that's kind of how I'm feeling. I don't know. And I want to get your experience too, but
01:04:30
Speaker
I want to get your two cents as well, but really quickly to, to anger that point home. You in that sense, Ari, you get to keep Obed Vargas on the field too, because Obed Vargas has been tremendous these last couple of weeks. And if Obed can stay next to Joao Paulo and you put Christian up at the right wing, then yes, it takes Jordan off, but it keeps Obed on Noah. Go ahead.
01:04:55
Speaker
Yeah, I was going to say the exact same thing. I don't give a shit what the lineup is as long as Obed Vargas is on that field. I mean, it is. He is. He has shown that he can be a game changing player. I would prefer him in the attack. Personally, I think that he's shown that he's way more dangerous there, but
01:05:14
Speaker
wherever he is on that field I want him there whether it's to keep him and continue to have him be a core part of the Sanders roster or to capitalize on the momentum that he's built and move him on to greener pastures whether that be a championship club or You know wherever like I don't care, but I think he deserves the run and That's that's my only application. Yeah
01:05:40
Speaker
Actually, I actually after thinking about this a little more I want to change my front four. Yeah, that's my front four De La Vega Rothrock Vargas Yeah, De La Vega Rothrock Vargas that's that's the front four that I would
01:06:05
Speaker
That's the front four of a team that could win CCL, I think. CCC, sorry.
01:06:17
Speaker
Good. Um, do we have any more questions or should we, I think we should, we should push, push on, let's push onward and we, and we can keep this short. I know we've gone pretty long here this morning and it's early in the morning. Jackson, we appreciate you hanging out with us for this, for this, uh, long period of time, but yeah. So, uh, the sounders do have the Portland timbers coming up at Providence park on Sunday.
Preview: Sounders vs. Timbers Showdown
01:06:40
Speaker
It's a Cascadia cup rivalry match.
01:06:42
Speaker
Those are always a good time. It's always a rowdy time down at Providence park for these, uh, for these Sanders timbers rivalry matches. One of the oldest rivalries in major league soccer. I think it's still pretty clearly the best rivalry in major league soccer. And I don't think it's particularly close, but I'm biased. Um, but I mean, I can tell you guys a little bit about the Portland timbers. Um, they're pretty bad honestly right now, but in a different way than Seattle has been bad. I think we talked about this very briefly on the last show.
01:07:11
Speaker
Um, but, uh, they have the exact same record as Seattle in MLS play. Um, but it's funny because the timbers are actually really good on offense. They score a bunch of goals. Uh, I think they have either the most goals or close to the most goals in the Western conference. Um, they've scored like 20 so far, Seattle scored more like 13. Um, the key players for them are.
01:07:37
Speaker
Evander is probably
01:07:56
Speaker
the most egregious player I've ever seen disappearing for long stretches of time and then just scoring the absolute greatest goal that you've ever seen in your life. So he's a very, very talented player, but he's a little bit of an enigma. I can't really figure him out.
01:08:14
Speaker
And then they also signed a new DP forward Jonathan Rodriguez from Liga MX who has been He's been playing his first few games for them. He's scored a couple goals and I think I haven't been paying attention to how he's been doing that much but like I remember when they signed him and
01:08:31
Speaker
He's a very highly touted player, kind of similar pedigree to Rui Diaz, I would say. And he's definitely, he's a dangerous guy, he can hurt you, he can score a goal at any time. The combination of him and Evander, pretty good offensively. And then Diego Chara is still a rock for them. But the thing about the Portland Timbers, man, is they passionately love to concede goals.
01:08:56
Speaker
They don't really, the whole playing defense aspect of soccer, it's a similar approach that the LA Galaxy take at times. They're not really big on that part of the game. If you want an MLS goal, the Portland Timbers are usually happy to give it to you. So my thinking going into this game is that, you know, with it being a rivalry game and previous form and all that, getting thrown out the window, and this being one of the classic bad blood rivalries in MLS,
01:09:25
Speaker
I think you go at this Portland team even on their home field they've dominated the rivalry in recent years but they definitely have shown this year that they can get scored on under Phil Neville who's in his first year coaching them so I definitely think you definitely don't
01:09:42
Speaker
troll bunker for the zero zero here especially with where you are on the table like a win in this game could be a nice little springboard to to get seattle season back on track similar to the way portland has used these wins over seattle that they've gotten in recent years to springboard their season so i think you go for the jugular right here
01:10:01
Speaker
And it might be a crazy shootout type of game because this Portland team is pretty high powered on offense. But that's fine. It should be a fun and entertaining game. Jackson, how are you feeling going into this matchup? Oh, well, before we get into the game, this is nice. I don't have to constrain my Portland Sounders preview to a certain amount of minutes because of Sounders weekly on KJR.
01:10:30
Speaker
So before we get into the game, Portland is just a embarrassing and disgusting organization. It's a disgusting city. Providence Park smells like burnt hair. It's always just so miserable going in and having to be in that city and be in that stadium and look at that color shade of green. It's just a bad time.
01:10:54
Speaker
Um, I really don't like, uh, anything about it whatsoever. And I hope I don't have to spend a minute longer than I have to in that city this weekend. Um, that being said, uh, their team right now you're right is not playing well. They're shipping goals. I think they're talented players are not enough for the mistakes on the team right now. Um, and really this game will come down to one simple thing is that's can the sounder score.
01:11:23
Speaker
I think with Jonathan Bell filling in, the Sounders are not as stout defensively as when Gomez-Andrade is in there. Well, Bell, I think has played well, but I think that Portland is going to be able to get at least one, maybe two in this game. And maybe more, you know, theoretically, if they get going like they did, say, last year when they scored four goals in 19 minutes. So I think that Portland offensively is going to be able to use the
01:11:51
Speaker
I hate to say that they even have talent, but they do, um, and, and, and get offensive production. The question is, can Seattle, can you have Raul do what he does to the Portland timbers always? Can you get, you know, your Jordan, your Christian, your Albert to play at a high level? Uh, Obed, you know, who I think hopefully has earned himself a start as well, uh, after his recent performances.
01:12:16
Speaker
him getting up the field. I mean, we remember Obed had the assist to roll in that goal in Portland last year while kind of playing high up on the right. He found a pocket. He had the cross and the assist to Rui Diaz's goal. So I think if the Sounders offensive players can play to their level, can feel the moment, can feel the magnitude, then I think you're going to see exactly what you said, Ari, a back and forth game.
01:12:42
Speaker
Um, this won't be the, you know, the one nothing type of sounders timbers game coming up on Sunday. I don't think, I think Portland's going to be able to score. It's just going to be a matter of if the sounders can, um, I see, I see this game being very easily a three to two type game, if not higher, just depending on how things go. I mean, we remember in those 19 minutes, Portland just started rolling and this game for both teams could just start rolling.
01:13:10
Speaker
and both teams could just start lighting it up out of nowhere. So we could be in store for something very exciting. I'm not sure if we'll be smiling after 90 minutes, you know, based on the final score line and based on what our defense may give up, but at the end of the day, and not to mention you will see what Alex Roldan is going to do after Alex played heavily on Wednesday. So, you know, if he even plays, I mean, Cody Baker theoretically, but Cody Baker played a lot in that open cup game. So,
01:13:40
Speaker
I'm concerned with what Portland has offensively, but at the end of the day, I think it comes back to Portland's defense is trash right now and Seattle's got to take advantage. The only question is, can they?
01:13:57
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, Seattle's got to flip this narrative a little bit. I mean, there's there's we talked about it after the Portland games last year, but there's no question about it that the Timbers own the rivalry right now. And it's not like I don't take joy in saying that. That's just the facts based on the run of results that we've seen in recent years. It seems like we kind of joked about it last year, but the Timbers, they don't really seem to care all that much about
01:14:26
Speaker
any other games except for these games and then when it comes to their seattle games they look like the greatest soccer team that's ever played the game they look like real Madrid so I fully expect them to be to be doing that and uh... it's uh... it's that like seattle's just gotta be ready for that level of intensity you can't come out flat you've got to be you gotta be ready for a team that's going to be playing like it's the last soccer game that they're ever going to play because
01:14:53
Speaker
that's how the timbers play every single time that they play Seattle and you know I don't even that's that's credit to them you know in a way they uh they treat these rivalry games that the way that they should be and I remember Schmetz was pissed last year because he felt like uh he felt like the vibe around the team if I remember what he said correctly felt like the vibe around the team kind of wasn't putting the weight on the rivalry that it needed to to get the types of energy and the types of performances that you need in a game in a derby game like this where
01:15:22
Speaker
like you know both these teams are down on the table right now but that's entirely irrelevant like once that ball kicks off it's just it's gonna be a crazy cascadia rivalry match it's gonna be it's gonna be tough it's gonna be physical and i think with the way it's lining up hopefully there will be some goals i'm just hoping for it to like i think uh i'm feeling like a 2-2 or a 3-3 type situation in this game which uh
01:15:48
Speaker
That would at least be fun to watch, even if it might not be. I don't I'm not expecting it to be a clinic in how to play defense. No, if you had anything on this Portland game and then we can get out of here. Yeah, I I don't know, man. I'm feeling a real a real tie match here. Portland likes to ship goals, but ragtag defensive group. And I'm just not like super convinced that the Sounders can score multiple goals away from home.
01:16:18
Speaker
Actually, maybe they can. Maybe that's the only place they can score multiple goals. Uh, but I, I don't know. After, after heavy minutes in this open cup game, after, you know, what we're seeing with this back line, I'm, I'm concerned, you know, I'll give you one thing though. I'll give you one thing to chew on here. Uh, we are getting a guaranteed world D from Evander and that is just, that is just happening. So that's what I got.
01:16:47
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's going to be frustrating to watch when Evander lines one up from 35 yards out and there's just nothing that can be done to stop it because that's just what that guy does at times.
Episode Wrap-up and Future Promotions
01:16:59
Speaker
All right, let's call it a wrap there for episode 33. We went pretty long this morning here coming off the Open Cup game last night. Jackson Felts 93.3 KJR
01:17:11
Speaker
uh sounders weekly host thank you so much my guy for joining us for episode 33 of lobbing scorchers it's been a pleasure having you on man um we'll get you out of here um thank you so much to everyone who has been subscribing uh all our paid subs we love you much appreciated
01:17:30
Speaker
Thank you to everyone who's been listening to the show. Our listenership continues to grow. We really appreciate all the support. We'll be back at it after this game in Portland on Sunday for the reaction show. Like, comment, subscribe, tell your friends, tell your parents, tell your family, tell everyone.
01:17:49
Speaker
Um, if you guys want to subscribe, hit that link in the show description, it says support this show. We, uh, just upgraded our remote system here so we can have more guests. Hopefully it'll sound better for you guys as well. Um, and, uh, Jackson, do you, do you want to plug anything? Oh yeah. Um, just Jackson on radio, uh, on Twitter and.
01:18:14
Speaker
I rarely use Instagram. Um, but, uh, yeah, no, we just do good work. Uh, I heart radio app, wherever your podcast, just look up sounders weekly. Um, it's been a pleasure to be on here with you guys. Ari, thank you so much for how gracious you are with your time for joining me each week. Um, Noah, you guys, you guys do an amazing podcast. I'll just say like, and I've had, I've said this to both of you guys privately, but, but you guys for coming onto the scene in, in the sounder's pod realm.
01:18:43
Speaker
You guys have just kicked ass, so keep killing it, and I'm happy to help you guys and be on whenever you guys want me. Appreciate you, man. Thanks so much for coming on. We're gonna call that a wrap right here for episode 33. Until next time, we out. Peace.