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Have The Sounders Backed Themselves Into a Corner? - Ep. 80
2.3k Plays12 days ago
We are back with another offseason episode as the 2025 season draws nearer. Have the Seattle Sounders painted themselves into a corner with their recent roster decisions? We discuss that topic, along with some thoughts on the future of Obed Vargas and a silly season rumor linking the Seattle Sounders to Marcus Rashford.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
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Transcript
Introduction and Off-Season Soccer Anticipation
00:00:00
Speaker
What's going on everybody? Welcome to episode 80 of lobbing scorchers. This is Ari Lillian wall I got producer Noah here with me Noah. We're back with another offseason episode. How are you feeling? I mean, I'm feeling like we've got more rumors More transfers, but somehow I still feel like we're in we're in the same holding pattern. I'm itching for some games Sorry, I mentioned for some preseason And we're still a few weeks away from preseason, a few weeks away from the game starting, but the offseason churns onward and we are back with another banger episode with a lot to cover.
Transfer Speculations: Jesus Ferreira and Jordan Morris
00:00:32
Speaker
Jesus Ferreira is pretty much confirmed to be a sounder, not officially confirmed, but pretty much confirmed.
00:00:39
Speaker
um Jordan Morris is probably a DP, ah not officially confirmed, but probably confirmed, and the people are still not happy about it. We're going to debate a couple of topics surrounding those two ongoing storylines. We're also going to talk a little bit about the future of Obed Vargas, ah where we think he might go, where we think he should go, ah and a silly season rumor linking the Seattle Sounders to a noted England international.
00:01:06
Speaker
um We're not gonna spend a lot of time on that, but there was actually, and there was a real report surrounding that. It was not just a fake aggregator account, so we are gonna talk about that briefly.
Podcast Network and Audience Engagement
00:01:18
Speaker
But first, I do have to let you all know that Lobbing Scorchers is a part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network. If you want to get the best independent Seattle soccer coverage, consider supporting us by going to sounderatheart.com slash LS. That's sounderatheart.com slash LS.
00:01:32
Speaker
scroll down to subscribe and support to get 30 days completely free. Every sign up through our link helps support and grow this show. As always, we want to thank everyone who is already subscribed to the show. Noah, do we have any new subs? We do have some. Oh, we do. All right. Rattle them off. All right. Are you ready? Yeah. Number one, Jacob Lillian wall. Oh, I don't know who that is. Yeah. I never heard of him before. Great last name though. Alex.
00:02:02
Speaker
I'm going to butcher this last name, Ari. It looks like Mustache, but Moustache. Alex, thank you for the sub and hit us up and tell us how to pronounce that. It's a fire last name. It's fire, but
Celebrating YouTube Milestone and Social Media Outreach
00:02:12
Speaker
yeah, I'm not sure on that either. And then Jeffrey Hurst. Thank you for becoming number... 51, 52, 53. 53 subs. We love to see that. Thank you guys all so much. um And also, this is a celebratory episode. Yeah, it is. Celebratory episode. I've been pushing the Lob and Scorchards YouTube every single episode. We've started to upload regularly on there. We've started live streaming.
00:02:35
Speaker
and We finally did it. We hit 1,000 subs. That was the milestone ah we've been working for, just so everyone knows the reason. it's not That is not a milestone for our own vanity and ego. That is part of it. But that actually is, with the YouTube Partner Program, you need to have 1,000 subs to um unlock monetization, ad revenue, and stuff. And we did that. So you guys all helped us make a little bit of money. Not a lot.
00:03:00
Speaker
But a little bit. So we appreciate that. And also, it's just cool to be at quad digits. Yeah. I was getting tired of being in triple digits. Yeah. So thank you all. That K hits different. It hits way different. The first time I saw it, I was like, oh, that is some endorphins. Road to Amelia. Appreciate your guys' support on YouTube and getting us to that milestone. We're going to keep grinding on there.
00:03:21
Speaker
The live shows we've been doing, though, have been going really well. It's a lot of fun to ah interact with our listeners in real time. And they're doing pretty decent view numbers. So we're most certainly going to keep doing those through the off season and then during the season as well. So thank you all for the support on those. And also, um follow us on instagram and tiktok if you haven't followed us on instagram please right now take out your phone hit that little instagram icon type in lobbing scorchers give us a follow we got 1k subs on youtube but we're not doing as hot on ig so we need some support on ig he's got a new project i got a new project um
00:03:57
Speaker
All right, let's get into this off-season episode, Noah. I was going to start with this question that we were talking about on our last stream, and you were kind of firing some takes
Seattle Sounders Roster Dilemmas
00:04:08
Speaker
on this. And the question is, ah have the Seattle Sounders painted themselves into a corner with their roster maneuvering? um Noah, did you want to explain the sort of where people are coming from with this sentiment, and then we can debate the validity or lack thereof?
00:04:25
Speaker
Yeah, I think that there's been a overarching theme or idea that people have thrown out season after season, especially since Garth left, that the sounders continue to put themselves in a pickle and not necessarily know how to get out of it in terms of roster building.
00:04:41
Speaker
setting up incentives for players that hit and then puts them in a bind so like why would you potentially put out something like that and not think a player is going to hit it um and then you know just different things with resigning players year after year not buying out raul things like that where you lock yourself into one scenario and provide zero flexibility so that's kind of where i think a lot of people are coming from with the bind but Not necessarily sure what you think about this. Yeah. So first thing I'll say is ah I don't have an issue with incentives in a contract that can allow a player to earn more money or earn more
Designated Players Debate: Morris and Rusnak
00:05:28
Speaker
status. Like I don't I don't really see
00:05:31
Speaker
Why like am I supposed to be mad that a player earned their money like and that's I think that's sort of with the Jordan debate Specifically like I'm just gonna say it. I'm just gonna say it know I say it like ah some people aren't gonna like this I'm gonna say it he produced like a DP last year he did the question is not whether he produced like a DP last year that is not debatable looking at the statute the question is do you think he's going to produce like that next year and the next couple years i think that's where the hesitation should come from with that me personally um
00:06:04
Speaker
Based on what I saw last year, I thought he looked really good physically. i thought he i mean He produced a DP and he scored the biggest goal of the playoffs. so um From that standpoint, I'm not as worried about it. I do understand why people i Get it like I get why people feel like that's not like the ah flashiest or most exciting Signing but as far as those incentive goes They basically said if you produce like a DP We're gonna pay you like a DP and then he did so ah I have no issue from that necessarily
00:06:41
Speaker
um
00:06:43
Speaker
forcing themselves to bring Rusnak back. you know Again, like he did produce like a DP last year. I don't think they painted themselves in a corner as far as that goes. What I think the issue is here is that they might have signed a DP that was a bust in De La Vega.
Pedro de la Vega's Signing Concerns
00:07:01
Speaker
In a world where De La Vega had hit or at least been closer to what he was billed as, I think these things become non-issues, but the the where they're kind of painted into a corner is that you have De La Vega signed and he came off a bust of a first year and so that's part you can't you can't add like
00:07:24
Speaker
high finance player like of finance fight high finance player that you might have otherwise been able to add with him on the books. So really, like to me, what this is more about is the importance and the kind of pressure that's on De La Vega to come good next year. I think it's really a pretty clear cut black and white situation where if that happens and you have him producing like he is getting paid and like you paid for him, then then this roster is in like um obviously a much better place. But if he, if it's the same, if he has a repeat this year of what he did last year, then that's a problem. Yeah. I mean, the problem for me at least is that they put themselves in this hole, not this year.
00:08:11
Speaker
Not last year, but previously, where they're not thinking two, three years ahead right now. Maybe they were with the De La Vega signing, I think that's fair, but they weren't because they were putting all of their chips on an undeveloped player who they had no idea what he was going to do in Major League Soccer. And it's not fair to expect that a 23, 24-year-old is going to carry the load on your entire team When he was playing in Argentina, like no disrespect to the Argentinian league, but it's like, it's not like he was coming from Europe or something. Like he was coming from a league that is very different from MLS and was, had injury problems before that. And they decided that is our big signing. And then they were like, you know what? Let's not buy out Raoul. Let's let him sit here on the bench, not play, continue to pay him. And then potentially.
00:09:04
Speaker
That choice elevated another player to a designated player spot. And what are you supposed to do with that that? To me, that is poor planning and constantly backing yourself into a corner with no escape route. Just playing what is one inch in front of you instead of looking at what's a mile in front of you. i yes it's It seems very Stupid and I'm not gonna ever argue with the fact that Jordan Morris earned His spot or that Albert earned his spot because both of them produced incredibly well and we've been defensive of both of those players It's not on the players to me. It's on poor management Incredibly poor roster management and like penny pinching for what for what? Yeah, um a couple things to unpack there ah I think it's obvious in hindsight that they should have
00:09:53
Speaker
moved off Raul earlier, but but we are we are saying that with the knowledge already of how last year went. They could have bought them out in the summer. They could have bought them out in the summer. And we were both calling for that. That is true. um But frankly, I don't know how much that would have helped the situation. They could have signed a nine.
00:10:17
Speaker
I mean, I mean, that's just, that's, what that's what I think. Like it's you, you put yourself in a position where you have less windows to make less decisions. And even if they didn't resign a nine, let's say they pick someone up on Tam and they had that open DP spot that gives them the ultimate flexibility to, to to tell Rusnak to go kick rocks, to go figure out whatever else, right? Like, yes, maybe you don't get this Jesus deal done because you have that open DP spot.
00:10:44
Speaker
But there's so many other things that you could have done in that meantime if you have that flexibility. It's less about the decisions that they made and and more about the decisions they didn't give themselves the chance to be able to make. Yeah, I mean, the way I see it, to me, it's yeah it's not as much about Jordan Morris ah and Albert Rusnak as much as it is about Pedro de la Vega and to a lesser extent Jesus Ferreira. I'm really not No, you made this point a couple shows back. like Is there really ah that much of a meaningful difference on one of these players ah on Max Tam compared to a DP? They're still like taking up a big part of your salary cap either way. um But those two guys justified it last year, and I think I feel good about them, at least for next year.
00:11:38
Speaker
um but But they're not just there for next year. You need more. Well, yeah. And then, you know, I think as after we see how next year goes, then you assess what to do from there. But what you need next year is for De La Vega to take a big step forward and you need Jesus Ferreira to elevate this attack in the way that we hope and think he can. If those two things happen, then I think you're You're at a spot where you can compete and contend. That's the way I see it. Yeah, I think they can compete and contend this season, but you just signed a player in Jesus Ferreira who, by all accounts and by every reporting metric, wants to not be here in the long term and wants to go and play in Europe and go do stuff. And he's taking a pay cut to be able to do that. I'm sorry, but that's not forward thinking. I love it for this season. I love it maybe even for next season, but like,
00:12:30
Speaker
I understand, and it is a good move. I'm not criticizing that move, but I'm just saying it reinforces the fact that we are playing in the here and now, and sometimes I feel like they are not turning their head and looking forward enough that they should be. You could say that Ferreira is a forward-looking move in the sense that if he plays well and you get a bag for him, then you can and theoretically invest that into the future. Yeah, maybe. yeah I mean, sure, but um I think that, like,
00:12:55
Speaker
You they I'm just devil's advocate. Yeah. No, I mean, I'm just I guess also like I'm thinking forward and I'm like, okay Obed's gonna be gone. How do you? Address replacing that right you re resign JP That's like a is that a forward thinking move or is that just like an emergency thinking move? There's just you knew that things were gonna come up I feel like and I don't think that they were addressed in enough advance to where you can get that player integrated. You can build your squad to kind of slowly allow them to get minutes and then build into the team. It's just one of those things where I'm like, we are playing match by match. And maybe, you know what, maybe I'm being too like critical and this is a very MLS thing, right? Like you only have a limited number of roster spots. You only have a limited number of of of dollars to spend.
00:13:45
Speaker
So maybe I'm wrong, but that's the way that I'm seeing it lately. Well, and so as it pertains to Jordan Morris, we were talking on the live show about whether he was an accounting DP or a regular DP. As of now, that's still unclear to me. But I think reading between the lines, a deal that's triggered by incentives would not be an accounting DP.
00:14:14
Speaker
as I understand it. yeah I don't really know these rules. but They're not real rules. The way I get, it's all fake. It's fake money. It's fake. But so it looks like the situation is that they're going into this season with Rusnak, Jordan, and De La Vega is the d p with ferrera christian rolled on as his Tam players. um And then in the summer window, I guess, we'll see what happens. But I do think that ah going into the season like that and seeing how it plays, you will have a better idea of what type of moves that you need to make. Once you once you see how Ferreira integrates, once you see how De La Vega looks, um that will inform how you address the roster going forward.
00:15:04
Speaker
i will tell you I will say that like we are we are going into this season, pretty much all of us, under a blanket assumption that De La Vega is a total zero and not going to contribute at all. The team is not looking at it like that, and I don't think that's as guaranteed. and out I know everyone has soured on it because of how last year went.
00:15:23
Speaker
i i Would be pretty
Importance of Pedro de la Vega's Performance
00:15:24
Speaker
surprised if this year is the is an exact Repeat like I'm hoping with health and fitness He'll actually be able to contribute this year if he becomes a regular consistent contributor I think that changes the calculation and how we look at this like I said right now Every everyone is just assuming that he's gonna be a total worthless non non contributor right non-factor I get that but I ah I'm open and ah I'm open to the notion that that could actually not be the final outcome. If that is the final outcome and it's the exact same thing as last year, then there's going to be bigger questions than the ones that we're talking about. we're at that point we're goingnna At that point, they are going to have to move off the player and replace him. like there's I don't really see any other way around that.
00:16:11
Speaker
so I think, to me, this whole issue is ah is more about De La Vega than anything. We can debate if Jordan should be a DP. We can debate if Rusnak should be Max Tam or DP. If De La Vega actually hits, then those questions, they they matter a lot less. And I think you will see that in the results on the field. like if he ah If he starts playing well and contributing, I think they're going to get um a lot more consistent results when you put Ferreira in there. Hopefully that will elevate it a little more. So you just have to see how that plays, I think. and then And then assess from there. I mean, I still think that if for me, even if he had hit, it's just like, I understand that those two players produced at a DP level, but you can't tell me that like, if their deals are multi-year, Albert Resnick is how old 30 is 30 30.
00:17:06
Speaker
I mean signing him back to a multi-year DP deal, which is ah what I think it was reported like two plus years two years in an option or something like that I mean, I just I don't I don't I don't understand it I don't I don't truly understand if you're like we have a DP who's not hitting and has no possible Yes, we might believe that he will we have every indication that he will But he hasn't shown it yet. And then you're like, let's re-sign these two guys who are who did produce at DP levels this year. But one of them may or may not have hit because of incentives. So you're like, okay, we're locked into that. We have one open DP spot. What are we going to do with it?
00:17:47
Speaker
Well, we're already in a corner and we need a 10. Who else is going to play that position? I guess we have to sign our road snack back to a DP contract. I just, it is not to me about de la Vega. It's about the fact that they always knew he may not hit in the first season. They always knew he might not hit in the second season. They even said that they said, we don't think he's going to be a completely come in here and change the team player.
00:18:12
Speaker
He got injured things happened. I feel like it is not on the la vega at all I feel like it's more on the signings the resigning. It's not it's it's not on him. It's yeah, it's on the strategy of Committing that much to a young DP instead of a more established. play it's all of That's what I question the wisdom of in in hindsight. It's really ah it's not I think that it's not about the Morris Rusnak duo. like i What I question is whether ah whether the resources they allocated to a young DP should have been allocated in that manner. And we are going to find out. Like last year was a admittedly a total bust for De La Vega. It did not inspire much confidence. But
00:19:00
Speaker
um I think it it was also just like an absolute worst case scenario. Like if you could have drawn up the literal worst case scenario for how his first year in MLS would go, that is exactly how you would draw it up. correct Like the percentage odds of the worst possible outcome occurring in the ah in two years in a row, maybe it'll happen.
00:19:25
Speaker
I don't know. I mean, if that happens, like I said, um that it's going that it's going to be an anchor on the roster yeah if that happens. So there's really I mean, there's a lot of pressure on the organization for that not to be the case again this year. And by extension, I think like kind of like you said, player ah pressure on the player that really um shouldn't shouldn't be there. But yeah that's the situation they're in just with what what took place last year. So yeah um to wrap it up just a little bit and and and finish my thoughts here like all of those moves in a vacuum are that short thinking of like we need to sign a player right now with our big spot and he's young and he's gonna come in and he's gonna be the only person that we signed to make an immediate impact
00:20:13
Speaker
You have to think that there's a potential that he doesn't do anything, especially with the sample size across the league, right? Like, you're right to say that them making the assumption that De La Vega hitting was going to completely change this roster and make them a powerhouse was silly. It was silly. And you can say that in hindsight, but you can also say that when you were doing that, like, yes, he's amazing.
00:20:36
Speaker
and Talented and all of these things, but we've seen it time and time again you get a young player. He comes into this league It's completely different than anything he's ever experienced before and it's hard and they don't hit in the first season or maybe Halfway through the second season they finally find their footing But I think it's it's like that those are the type of moves that I'm saying They keep getting themselves into a corner by making these decisions instead of being able to make decisions Two like with them with the thought of two seasons in advance three seasons in advance. It's just it's not there It's not there for me. Yeah, I mean I do think just also just to wrap up um Moving from the Nikko Raul era into a new era is inherently like a transitional situation um and I think
00:21:24
Speaker
Like I said, like, I know everyone is saying in hindsight, they should have moved off those two players earlier. And I think we can definitely we can most definitely say that now. um But the reality is, even if you had done that, there would have been a period of transition to you would have just had like a better jump on it than they ended up having. um But I mean, as it stands, we're going to see what happens. I am looking forward to getting Frudera here and integrated and ah just seeing how that plays like during preseason, during during those games. And then just hopefully having De La Vega get like a full healthy off season under his belt, like get his get his mind right, get his body right, and um see what they can do. Can I say something that's going to sound completely opposite to everything I just said, but it it can complement this? Yeah.
00:22:12
Speaker
I think this team is going to be good and fun to watch. Like, I think all of those things that we said, I'm frustrated with the way that they've gone about it. And I think that it does shoestring you and potentially not even let you sign someone in the summer. But that seems going to be fun to watch. It's going to be fun to see. Yeah, I think Pereira and Jordan Morris and Albert Rusnak and Pedro de la Vega play. I think that's going to be a fun team to watch.
00:22:36
Speaker
Yeah. And they might even be really good. Yeah, I think we're looking at it through a lens of you know how set up are they to compete for and win trophies. Yeah. And I think there is there you know there's still this question and debate on like what's their level compared to the LA teams and the Columbus's and the inner Miami's of the world. And um that's the question that I think we're really going to get answered next season.
00:23:02
Speaker
um but To me, I mean, I've been arguing for a while that the perception you can watch the ambition ratings, but I've been arguing for a while that the perception of the ah of the gap between where Seattle is in terms of contention compared to those teams is is overstated a little bit like it's not as great of as a golf as people are saying, which is what I found through my scientific formula of the ambition
Seattle Sounders' Competitiveness in MLS
00:23:25
Speaker
ratings. ah But that's the beauty of it. The game is played on grass or turf.
00:23:31
Speaker
And we're going to find out. We'll find out. um
Obed Vargas Transfer Speculations
00:23:33
Speaker
All right. What did we we the next topic I have here is the future of Obed Vargas. Craig Wibes has said that he is going to stay through at least through the summer window. um And then I think ah I mean, they didn't outright say this, but i I think the idea is have the Club World Cup be a platform to hopefully increase his value even more than sell him for a huge bag at that point.
00:23:56
Speaker
So I think the question is, ah where do we think he will go, Liga, Mecis, or Europe? Where do we think he should go? Do you want to take that? I mean, it was rumored that ah Club America was interested in OBED.
00:24:13
Speaker
Personally if I'm him, I'm like staying away from Mexico because you're never getting out of there You're gonna play in the got Mickey's for the rest of your life. They don't sell people to Europe very often So if you want to go play in Europe go play for you know, I don't know anywhere anywhere you want to go you can transfer there and Sounders get a bag and and whatever but I honestly do think that if he goes to a league of mechies there will be some sort of premium that the sounders charge compared to what they would say if he wants to go to Europe I think they would kind of just let him go on on less than what they really want for him
00:24:52
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of it comes down to like his personal preference of what he wants to do, which I've kind of heard conflicting sentiments on that. I've heard him say himself that playing in Liga and Macchies, ideally for the club that his dad played youth soccer for, that would be something of a dream for him. I think a club like Club America, I mean, they splash cash in their They're the most popular team in this country, yeah United States. yeah like that's That's how big a profile that they have here. like They have a bigger fan base here than I think any MLS team. As far as I can tell, every time I've been to like one of their league's cups or Champions League games, like I'm always just like,
00:25:34
Speaker
surprised at just how big. A lot of teams have big visiting fan bases. But like when ah when Club America was there for, I think, ah did they play Seattle in CCO? I was at a Club America game at Lumen for some reason, some tournament. And it was packed with their fans. So if they want to give a bag for him, I think that would kind of be a dream move for him. But like I think ah mean it just depends what offers they get and also where he wants to go.
00:26:01
Speaker
um I personally would like to see him try his hand in Europe like the Bundesliga or something. ah But like he specifically has sort of his heart tied to Mexico. and He plays for their national team now. Yeah. And um he has that. He has that like sentimental connection to it. So that could play into like what he wants to do. But either way, um they got to get a big bag for him this summer. Borussia mountain quad Bach.
00:26:31
Speaker
You're on the call, buddy. Because ultimately, the whole discussion we were having about the lack of roster flexibility that they have, the biggest way to get out of that is to sell a couple players, which they have not really been doing. And Obed's at the front of the players that could potentially help with that. Yeah, I mean you have Obed, Joshua Tencio, Reed Baker Whiting. You have all of these players, Danny Leyva. I mean you could interleague sell him potentially or transfer. I don't know who knows where he's going to go, but I.
00:27:04
Speaker
I think that Europe would suit him so much better than Liga and Mecis and I think he could genuinely be a superstar on the Mexican national team and I think that like part of that would be if he goes to Europe and you know goes and performs and plays really well he can I don't know he's he's talented enough to go literally play wherever he wants I'm serious I think he could go to the EPL and and demolish We're Obits we're Obits stands. Yeah, I mean it's obviously a pro show. Yeah, I mean ah We i mean we saw what he did last year it is I will say the I think I mentioned this before but the national perception of him Doesn't quite match with the local perception of him I think nationally he's thought of as a extremely talented kind of up and coming young player. I don't know that ah all the pundits and the scouts are sold on him being like a $10 million dollars player. we We watch him play every week, so we know that he's at that level. um But I'll be interested to see what the market actually ends up being when we and when we see the offers start getting reported. um It's got to be a huge bag, though. That is for sure.
00:28:12
Speaker
I mean, he's 19 he's 19 and he's already won concave champions league. He's when he was six when he was 16 He's played and I don't even know how many minutes he's played now like he is a full-blown Game in game out starter and has been that way since he was like 18. I mean, that's like The if you look at MLS and you look at the players who do that the ones that go to Europe They usually play pretty well, I don't know, like Josh Sargent, right? He went to... Did he play an MLS? Am I just making that up? No, he did not. Guys, Josh Sargent played for San Diego Waves and he was really good. I know you're saying that. You know what I mean. Like that typical, like, just... plays when they're young, balls out. Fucking Alfonso. He's better than Alfonso Davies. That's what I'm going to say. All right. That's my take. I like your take. Where did Jar Sargent play his youth soccer? That's that's what I'm wondering. Probably like a union academy. Well, St. Louis is where he's from. He played his youth soccer in St. Louis and then IMG Academy. Oh, that's in Florida. I thought that was like a.
00:29:14
Speaker
Football feeder. No, they have all sports. i It's like a sports private school. Okay. I do. Yeah. Yeah, they rack lots of money. Got it. um All right ah We only have a couple more topics here This might be a bit of a short little episode. But uh, should we hit these rashford rumors and then Brandon Vasquez? I think we should this is this will be good for the YouTube content. Okay here So, yeah, I honestly was not going to dignify the Marcus Rashford rumors at all.
Marcus Rashford to Seattle? Rumors and Aspirations
00:29:41
Speaker
um But these stemmed from a report by an actual reporter, Ben Jacobs, who's a guy who's in the know. And he's the one who
00:29:50
Speaker
I saw bring this up. yep So if Ben Jacobs brings it up, that isn't like an aggregator account that has no credibility. That is a real reporter. I'm not saying that means that Rashford to Seattle has any legs. I am just saying it's like a real rumor and not like a ah just some guy on Twitter firing. So Ben Jacobs, this is just what he said.
00:30:10
Speaker
just reporting what he said. He said there is, quote, a real appetite to bring Rashford to MLS, believing his arrival could have a similar and impact to that of Lionel Messi at Inter Miami. lo well And that conversations about a possible move have been held internally at Seattle Sounders. ah So I was watching the clip where Ben Jacobs was talking about this. And he was basically saying that ah there is a there's an appetite, like, kind of within the league to ah to make a Rashford move.
00:30:38
Speaker
potentially happen and the reason that Seattle stood out as a potential destination and that ah they've been talking about it internally just as you know floating the idea is because of the Club World Cup and I guess part of what he was saying comes into play is the amount of money that he said Seattle stands to generate just for participating in the Club World Cup which not not correct by the way I want to say he was talking about is not to 60 million knock that is nothing to to what I've heard they're gonna get for being in it they're gonna get some money for that though yeah but anyway at least a couple his point was whatever the whatever the amount of money they get from that could theoretically ah negate whatever eye budgetary concerns would play into that that's yet that is according to Ben Jacobs
00:31:24
Speaker
um So, I don't know, what should we talk about with this? I mean, it's not gonna happen. I mean, yeah, I think we should couch it all with, this is not gonna happen ever, period, for multiple reasons. One, in the summary, there's not gonna be a spot for him. There's not gonna be a spot for him.
00:31:42
Speaker
He's not going to be able to come here. It doesn't matter. but You know, you do know that they went and they're going to give us a Marcus Rashford rule. They, I mean, they did it for Dempsey. They did it for messy. They, that's they, they find ways to do these things. I'm just saying a Marcus Rashford is messy esque or Dempsey esque player.
00:32:00
Speaker
I mean, he's for sure like on the Dempsey tier. This guy has 60 caps for the England national team and was at one time considered like one of their best up and coming young players. like Dempsey was great, but like I think Rashford is a different, especially because he's also 27. I mean, yeah, he's he's he would definitely be, I'm not saying he would be a ah bad signing, I just think it's like, you're gonna change league rules again? Yeah, they would. That's what I'm saying though, they would. I don't know, man. Well, you're the MLS insider right here. i So, you know, like when there's an opportunity to bring a player of that of that type of profile to the league, whether it's Seattle or anywhere else, they tend to find ways to make it to make it happen. I don't know if it would be Apple TV funneling him some money or light or what it would be. ah But like I think it's more about ah
00:32:54
Speaker
like would the player wanna come here and ah could they make it happen more than like the budgetary concerns? I think they would they would work around that. Yeah, I just don't see it ever happening. I mean, he had 20 goal contributions last season in the Premier League. He's 27. That's sort of how I feel about it. like he's There's not a bag in the world. He just turned down multiple offers from Saudi that were gonna be, I mean, that's gonna pay you more than MLS ever will be able to pay you.
00:33:24
Speaker
And I'm sorry, like, i love our I love our Garden Shed League, Ari. I would i would do anything for our Garden Shed League, but we're just that. We are not the Premier League. I would never compare us to that. Well, yeah, but I mean, I think the idea would be, it would be like a ah changing perception, push the league forward type of that would be their thinking behind it. I mean, which sure. But I'm not saying that that's what would happen. I'm just saying that's like, that's the thinking behind it.
00:33:57
Speaker
I think in a vacuum, the idea that the Sounders would get some sort of league assistance to help them be incredibly competitive in the club World Cup is actually a valid like hunch. I think that I think that that's the more interesting conversation around this is less about Rashford, but more about like, oh,
00:34:17
Speaker
Maybe the Sounders are going to utilize the Club World Cup to be able to get some sort of change and some sort of massive player on their roster without having to spend, which then you have the Sounders are broke agenda group who will be rolling on that. Yeah. um I don't know. I mean, it would be cool. Like I.
00:34:42
Speaker
Rashford to MLS would be obviously a huge story. Rashford to Seattle would be sick, I think. I mean, he's definitely a great player. I do think like ah as far as being more competitive in the World Cup, to me, it's more like this is when people are talking about we need to make a we got the club World Cup.
00:35:05
Speaker
Coming up how can we not make signings to but there's no signing that you could make that's going to Put your roster in a place where you're making like a run at the Club World Cup Like I just don't it's not gonna I would not go into the Club World Cup as a fan like expecting that you know even yeah They could they could sign Marcus Rashford, right?
00:35:27
Speaker
And I don't think it would make, I'm really like not sure it would make that big a difference for their chances at the at the Club World Cup. There's just, even with that, there's just too big a gulf in roster spend between them and the teams that they're playing. I mean, yeah, it's it's not even, one signing is not gonna make you competitive in the Club World Cup. I mean, I think that it could Maybe move the needle a little bit especially if it's a player of that caliber, but like yeah, they're just let's let's let's get back down to earth We're gonna have fun watching the club World Cup. We get to participate we get some money It's gonna be the second one we're ever in and we're still the only team that is ever legitimately qualified twice
00:36:06
Speaker
out of MLS, so I mean, there's there's a lot to be, I mean, you know, I think over overall on this on this idea though is, it is cool that we're still linked with these kind of signings, like Seattle is a massive club.
Seattle's Global Soccer Reputation
00:36:19
Speaker
It's funny, it's like, you know, people want to say, oh, the the Seattle's value and the name recognition market and all of that, come on.
00:36:28
Speaker
Come on, we're getting linked with Marcus Rashford. We're massive. We're massive. I'm down to perpetuate that narrative, even though I question how how hot this link really is. All right. Ben Jacobs, come on the show. Ben Jacobs, come on the pod. All right. I mean, I just had this one last topic for us, and then we can, I guess, get out of here. Does that sound good? Let's do it, yeah. All right. I mean, there's been just one big league-wide move. I mean, there's been a few, but I think one big main one that we wanted to talk about. Brandon Vasquez reportedly returning to and MLS ah to Austin FC for a transfer fee of was it 10 million per Tom Boggs?
Brandon Vazquez's MLS Return and Its Impact
00:37:03
Speaker
Yeah, i'm I'm trying to pull up from the tweet here from CF Monterey Brandon Vasquez One time Atlanta United backup striker turned FC Cincinnati Star turns CF Monterey transferred actually
00:37:21
Speaker
was playing well in League of mechies. He was producing like he had, I think what, 14 or 15 goals or something for them last year. Now he returns to MLS. Austin FC is the club that wins the sweepstakes. um I think that is it San Jose in the race.
00:37:38
Speaker
I think I heard San Jose was in the race at one point as well. um So Austin FC wins it. I think that is a good move for them, obviously. That's a sick move. Yeah, well, they were rocking Jiaxi's artist in Diego Rubio last year, so they really needed like a ah proven striker. And Brandon Vasquez is certainly that. He's definitely proven in MLS. So that's a good move for them. I feel like for us,
00:38:04
Speaker
ah we We always talk about it through the lens of should Seattle have acquired this player. We did it with Leo Campana. Brandon Vasquez. Yes. that Yeah, I know you Stan Brandon Vasquez.
00:38:16
Speaker
um I mean, that there was not there's not really a logical fit for him right now, but I mean, well I mean, and yeah, like we we talked about reasons for that. But like, I don't know, like, would you have ah would you have shelled out 10 milli for Brandon Vasquez? It's not real money.
00:38:35
Speaker
It's not real money none of the money's real. I mean why not ten million Brandon Vasquez us men's national team player I was bawling out in Mexico Literally has played an MLS before you know he could produce you know you know what you that's it That's not like an insane bet on ten million dollars. You know he's talented He's played here before he understands the league. He's a US national team player I don't I don't really understand that fee seems reasonable i don't know like we're getting into the into the territory now in mls well 10 million dollar fees are not like insane i think that it's a great signing and the even better tag on it is spash and drussey is nearing a departure for river plate
00:39:21
Speaker
ah per Tom Bogart and they will if he leaves they're gonna sign another DP so they're not only spending 10 million they're gonna spend another God knows how many million on another DP and I'm just saying from a Sounders fan the discourse is discoursing on that I mean 10 million and then drop in another bag but we got We got re-signed Rusnak. Austin FC can spend $100 million dollars on transfers. They finished the 10th place last year with 42 points. They were so bad. 11, 14, and nine in a minus nine goal differential and fired their coach.
00:40:01
Speaker
All right, so like Brandon Vasquez is a good pickup for them ah But I'm gonna wait to see I'm gonna make them prove it on the field before I get envious of their roster building They got a lot of work to do also I think FC Cincinnati has a 10% sell-on fee for Brandon Vasquez Which I think is hilarious that Austin is essentially feeding more money. Yeah back to them. That's kind of sick. Um as far as next year How many more goals?
00:40:30
Speaker
Across all comps, are you going to predict Brandon Vasquez scores than Jordan Morris? I don't know. I don't know what their whole team is going to look like. it a guy this guy This is sort of how I feel about like the compana debate too. I think we're going to look, I think we're going to look down at the end of the year and the production between Leo Campana, Jordan Morris and Brandon Vasquez is going to be roughly similar and all these debates are going to be pretty much a wash. I think i's going to come back think we talk about these things and and then when it actually comes down to it,
00:41:01
Speaker
the the production is closer to a wash than people predicted. We'll see if Jordan can stay healthy. That's all I'll say. He played every minute of basically every game last season. If he can stay healthy. Yeah, I think that's a conversation, yeah but I think, I think that's where the differentiator between Jordan Morris and Brandon Vasquez and Leo Campana is. And it depends on their younger. They are young like Brandon Vasquez. If they sign another DP and they're doing a pink,
00:41:28
Speaker
Like a peck pencil type of vibe. I mean, you know what I'm saying? Like you always say it. One, two signings can completely flip a roster in MLS. And that seems like what Austin FC is trying to do. And their sporting director certainly had and they cleaned house over there. They cleaned. They've been cleaning house and they're I mean, they're like they're rebuilding. Yeah. um So ah we'll see. they The thing is, like they They had to splash all that cash because ah they gutted their roster because they were terrible last year. Correct. so
00:42:00
Speaker
um That's I mean, that's why that's happening. Don't you like fun Ari? Yeah, you don't you hate but you just hate fun You're like, you know what? Hey i Morris is fine. No, I want Brandon Vasquez for 40 million Ari I want I think that's really at the end of the day a lot of this debate comes down to it's like oh I want the tweet. I want the Tom Boger tweet from my hip flow if Seattle had to sign or has ah Gotten great Brandon Vasquez people would have said it's unambitious because he previously played he's aerus yeah Yeah, and is a USMNT player. Yeah
00:42:32
Speaker
Um, which we're, you know, Canadian. We're Canadian. So we don't care. All right. Uh, I think that's about all I had unless you had anything else you wanted to hit. No, no I think, I think we hit it. Okay. Uh, we're going to call it right there for episode 80. Thank you as always, everyone. first show twenty twenty five First ah official show of 2025 we streamed a couple a few days ago, but yeah first official show of 2025 80 episodes a big milestone 1k subs on youtube big milestone Appreciate all our subs Uh, like comment yeah rate subscribe right reviews youtube because we do live streams on there now if you guys we're not posting them on this feed i'm not doing that but Go on the youtube sub hit the bell button. We're going to start streaming on the same day every week
00:43:18
Speaker
We'll let you know more when we have figuring out the schedule, but we're gonna lock that down. All right We're gonna call it right there. We'll see you guys next time until then we out peace