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Atlético Madrid sign Obed Vargas from Seattle Sounders!
406 Plays2 days ago
We have a Bogert Bombshell to discuss regarding the Seattle Sounders, with Sunday's report that La Liga giant Atlético Madrid are in talks to acquire Seattle rising homegrown midfielder Obed Vargas. We'll dive into the latest developments regarding Obed's seemingly pending departure, discuss the fit with Atlético and assess how Seattle is set up to withstand the loss of one of their best and most important players.
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Sponsorships and Promotions
00:00:00
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Live Recording and Audience Engagement
00:02:22
Speaker
This episode of Lobbing Scorchers was previously recorded and streamed live on YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers. If you want to listen or catch these episodes live, see the video, and see all the rest of our content, go to YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers or LobbingScorchers.com slash YouTube.
00:02:44
Speaker
Well, sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be real scorcher today. What the scorcher today? Well, it's gonna be scorcher.
Obed Vargas' Transfer Discussion
00:03:05
Speaker
Good morning, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff. I'm Ari. That's Nico. Folks, we have got a big show for you here this morning. Obed Vargas reportedly on his way to Atletico Madrid per The Athletic. We're going to get into all of that. Obviously, we've been talking about this for years.
00:03:28
Speaker
a couple years now, and it seems as though it's finally here. ah Not sure if it's totally finalized yet, but I think it's pretty much finalized, Nico. We're going to get into all that. We're going to be talking about this potential transfer from all the lenses. We're going to give you the updates on where things stand as it stands here on Monday morning. We're going to be talking about the fit At Atletico, we're going to be talking about the Sounders plans to withstand the departure of one of their best players. We're going to be talking about MLS being a selling league in general. So excited to get in to all that. And then a couple of Sounders preseason updates. But this is mostly going to be in an Obed show here this morning.
00:04:07
Speaker
Nico, what's up, man? Obviously a big bombshell in our return after taking last week off. What's up? How you feeling? What's going on? Our family, first of all, thank you for joining us. Loving Scorchers family, thank you for being part of the show. Yeah, look, it's been nothing but calls and running around ah ever since actually Friday night. um We kind of knew, you know, Jeremiah and I had a feeling that the Fabricias were going to have a bit of an inside conversation
00:04:43
Speaker
laying on on us when it comes to the information coming out of Spain um because of obviously the amount of sources that they got over there, and as well as like the time differences. I've been staying up to like one in the morning, two to try to get some additional information. But it all started, ah what it was it, Friday morning when the the bed of the rumors started coming out during our last, what we learned this week, ah both Jeremiah and i mentioned that the Lazio deal was not real, that the number wasn't ah
00:05:22
Speaker
realistic and everything that came with that rumor was in it, but that, you know, that there was clear um interest from teams and that the Sounders, as we had said, the entirety of the preseason, they were very vested in trying to figure out the best scenario for both Obed and the club. And it looks like they found it. You know, when they started talking about Liga teams being interested and that's where the deal is going to get done and they were keeping the team on the wraps per I think it was Merlo or Fabrizio that mentioned that particular detail.
00:06:02
Speaker
we had ah a feeling we just didn't want to shoot from the hip there had been interest in obit vargas from atletico in the past there was a lot of interaction between obit vargas and atletico when the club royal cup was played when he was here everybody's seen the videos the desire from obit vargas to play in a team that he's watching since was a kid and and and you could just see his eyes light up when He was talking to Griezmann, and there was a lot of the front office and scouting from part of the Atletico Madrid that, you know, they were very pleased with what they saw from Ovid Vargas. But, of course, we didn't want to just shoot off of assumptions. We wanted to have something that was more... are reporting. And so we did a lot of work overnight on Friday, Saturday morning. And of course, ah the big guns ended up getting that breakthrough and they broke the news about overbargays making or negotiations directly with the Sounders. And that's where we are now. But
00:07:06
Speaker
It's even gone a net a next level, right? I mean, it sounds like everything has been finalized. I have not been able to confirm that it's completely done. But clearly, Oliver Bargas has left the the camp. He is ah finalizing that deal is what everybody has been reporting as of late. I heard that he could have a deal up to 2030. But what we do know is this.
00:07:33
Speaker
The deal with Atletico Madrid, if done, if pushed over the line, will have a a clause for the Sounders to have a salon fee. Beyond that, um I had heard on Saturday, and I think I put put it as part of my post, that there were some obstacles, there were some...
00:07:55
Speaker
ah How do you call it? There were some demands from the Sounders that still needed to get done before any deal was to get done. i think Fabricio kind of mentioned that that got um taken care of and that Atletico Madrid was more than happy to give that salon fee that was put on the table. So by all accounts and all the reporting done by the big guns, it sounds like this is, ah if not done, getting ready to get done. um We had already told our audience that the likelihood this year was Obert Bargues was now going to be part of the Sounders at the start of the season. And ah the Sounders have been you know
Impact on Sounders and Contingency Plans
00:08:39
Speaker
preparing for it. So we can talk about that after. But just your take, Ari, too, on everything that kind of –
00:08:47
Speaker
It expedited from Friday all the way to obviously now Monday where we have our Ovid day. It's going to be Ovid Vargas coverage day. All 24 hours a day, we're going to be hearing about Ovid Vargas. Absolutely. and yeah, I think that is a a great place to start. Before we dive into it, though, and I i give my takes on the situation, shout out to our sponsors, Hacks and Ferments, Full Pull Wines, and Podium Menswear. And also, if you're watching and you have not done so yet, sub to the YouTube.
00:09:17
Speaker
If you're not sub to the YouTube, I got no clue what you're doing. That ah it takes one second, one click, and you got us you're helping us get in the algo. ah Toss us a follow on Instagram and TikTok as well. And also, as we're now plugging, follow the Lobbing Scorchers Facebook. lots of Lots of new and exciting stuff going on on the Lobbing Scorchers Facebook page like it's 2012. So toss us a follow on there. All right. Yeah. Nico, let's talk some, ah let's talk some Obed Vargas. ah
00:09:48
Speaker
Actually, first, we do have our first super chat of the seat of the stream. Bad sequels. Thank you for the dog. we yeah Appreciate you. The day of reckoning has come. It has. It is here. ah and And we're going to talk about it. Nico, I'll go'll give my ah initial takes on ah on the Obed Vargas seemingly imminent transfer to Atletico Madrid, which is my first reaction when I saw that this was actually happening, which I think that's actually a good place to start. I think some people might be wondering if they're not in the loop as much, if this might be silly season or just kind of smoke. And like we've heard these transfer rumors before, and they haven't ever come to pass. But I think the important um important thing to understand off rip is that this this is it's a formality to finalize at this point. It's happening. Like Nico mentioned, I've heard the same thing as far as he has left Sounders camp in Marbella in order to, I would imagine, go go finalize this. So there's like dotting of I's and crossing of T's and final nuts and bolts and stuff like that to officially finalize it. But it is ah it is happening.
00:10:54
Speaker
And my reaction to that, Nico, my first reaction is just ah relief. You know, we were actually in a situation where it felt like Craig Wibes had started soft launching the idea of him just playing out his contract this season and then leaving on a free transfer. You even asked him about that. And he said something to the effect of, I don't view that as like the type of disaster kind of that you do. At least that's how I took Yeah.
00:11:24
Speaker
i definitely had the thought of oh he's really he's trying to spin the notion of obed leaving on a free transfer as like a valid and good outcome of this situation which you know there's spin there to be made i guess But that would have been that would
Transfer Fee Context and Challenges
00:11:41
Speaker
have been bad, Nico. That would have been bad business. And it would have more aside from the business, just the optics of that, especially because they had the chance to sign him to a U22 extension that could have prevented a situation like that that. That would have just been not good. So I'm relieved that it's happening from that standpoint. ah
00:12:01
Speaker
Hyped for Obed, honestly, how often do you have a situation where a player gets to play for this is the team he like you said he grew up watching he grew up as a fan of this team if if Obed Vargas could pick literally any team in the world to go to to continue his career. This pro this would have been the club that he he picked. He spent his childhood watching this team, and now he gets to go play for this team. So that is that's awesome for him. And I think the ultimate outcome of him going to Atletico Madrid, going to La Liga, but also a big team like this. We saw the type of profile and fan base they have. at Club World Cup. I mean, this is a massive club. And the fact that he's going in there, hopefully with the they give him a actual chance to compete for real minutes and have a big role on the team. And we'll talk about it. But I think we all here think that he has the talent to be an impact player in La Liga. And I definitely think he has the talent to ah compete at Atletico Madrid and get minutes. And, you know, we're going to we're going to find out maybe coming from MLS. The the deck is stacked against him a little bit from that standpoint, as far as the coaching staff or the club's preconceived notions of his ability. But we've been watching him play for a couple of years. I think as soon as they see him get on that field and see what he can do.
00:13:19
Speaker
They're going to see the same thing that we all saw during his time on the Sounders. So I'm just excited to like have a La Liga team to follow now. We're going to be tracking if he's getting minutes, what type of role he has. And that's just a that's just awesome.
00:13:34
Speaker
yeah go and yeah And two things. It's going to be a process, obviously. Everything that we've been hearing, um and this goes to some independent reporting, of course, Saturday night, um because it was still Saturday, he had not been past midnight, it did sound like there was no possibility that The loan, because there's going to be a loan as part of this ah coming in from Atletico Madrid. Atletico Madrid is going to purchase the player. They're going to have the majority of what I guess you could call the player card or the the rights to the to the team with a percentage going to the Sounders or being kept by the Sounders.
00:14:19
Speaker
But... there's going to be a loan to another team. And I know that our our audience and we had even discussed, would he be able to be loaned back to the Sounders tool?
00:14:32
Speaker
June or till the end of ah December. And that's just not in the cards. It sounds like he will be loaned out to another La Liga team. So the Vigo is the one that I have heard that would, this is a bombshell and would be taken. Yeah. Yeah. This is, I mean, this has been reported. I'm not going to take, take obviously the credit either, but um that's kind of part of the, all of the things that we've been trying to gathered and, uh,
00:15:01
Speaker
Other ah journalists have already reported that Celta Vigo is one of those teams that could um take Ovid Vargas loan and allow him to play until he goes back to Atletico Madrid. Now, this is very common when it comes to teams.
00:15:20
Speaker
um big league teams like Chelsea does it quite often Lee I mean there there is this is a process where you buy a player because you see a prospect you see and a player that's going to be important at some point for your team but right now you're um almost closing down in the season and you have your starting lineup ah you want this player to get minutes elsewhere and then next year you're able to Reassess how everything's going how he's played and then he he comes back into either play for your team or there have been many instances Where the player just never plays for that team and ends up going elsewhere. That's what I was gonna say like do you have I didn't I I mean, I guess I kind of figured that that something like that might be part of the equation But I had not seen that reported. i mean, do you have any concern?
00:16:14
Speaker
that it could be like ah we saw a situation like this with the original Sounders homegrown that got sold overseas, DeAndre Edlin. Remember when that happened? It was right coming off the World Cup. You had all this hype around him. Tottenham was the club that came in and bought him. But then it became a situation where they just loaned him out pretty much the entire time. He played like one game for actual Tottenham. Do you think this Obed situation, is there a chance that he could, you know, get loaned to Celta Vigo or something like
Technical Skills and Career Trajectory
00:16:47
Speaker
that? And then he never kind of gets a chance to actually play for Atletico? Or do you think, would you would you guess that their plan is to do this loan strategy at the start and he actually is going to get a chance to be a part of their future plans?
00:17:05
Speaker
It's all up to Obed. And I have a lot of confidence in Obed's game translating well into La Liga. I think that he has ah the the physical components, the IQ, the awareness. I think that he's a very technical player. i believe that he's grown drastically when it comes to his offensive movements and his ability to really gain ground and knowing, understanding when to be able to add himself into the attack. He's gotten goals. I mean, some of our deflections and things like that, but look, shooters got to shoot and that aggressiveness to just take mid range shots. That's all part of being a very good pivot. specifically in La Liga. So I think that he is is the full package and that he will be able to show that in whatever thing he's loaned to and then come back to Atletico. Now, but I'm just saying that as someone who's watched them perform since he was 16 years old, who understands his inner circle his inner circle, his mentality, the generational talent that he is, but
00:18:12
Speaker
Again, I've seen many, it specifically Colombian prospects, that have gone and and had similar situations like this where he doesn't pan out, where they they don't adapt to the the league, they don't adapt to the lifestyle. There's injuries, there's pressure, there's things that at times takes a player off his course. regardless of how talented he is. So, I mean, there's nothing that um is written in stone or, or you know, i'm I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it's impossible, that it might not pan out for Obed Vargas, but I am very confident if, if, I was someone who was asked, do I believe that open bargains will be successful in Europe? I'd say absolutely. um But, you know, there's always other factors that can affect ah a player's performance and handicap his success. But I do believe that he is a perfect player and I think that he fits well into La Liga.
00:19:08
Speaker
Yeah, you just never know. Like, I remember at the time of the whole Yedlin thing, i remember feeling pretty confident that, you know, not necessarily that he was going to go to Tottenham and rip it up right away and become one of the best players in the Prem, but I felt like his upside was definitely contending for regular minutes and maybe a starting role for Tottenham, and that never really happened, but he did end up going to Newcastle and then having a really good career in the Prem. I think people kind of forget that because he didn't pop for Tottenham, but Yedlin's run at Newcastle was genuinely good. And he played in Europe for years and was really good. And I do think that Obed's pedigree and his upside is, is even higher. He's, he's more advanced at his age, at his position than Yedlin was at his, at Obed's same age at his position. So I do, I like his chances of success, at least somewhere in La Liga. Cause like you said, it does feel like a
00:20:03
Speaker
ideal match for his skill set when we talked about potential destinations for him La Liga was one of the big it was that was the biggest one that came up because stylistically it's a league I think at least my perception of it where a hyper technical player like this is more apt to thrive than maybe you know there's there's other leagues where maybe speed and power and athleticism which aren't necessarily Obed strong suits There are leagues where those are the kind of primary things that you need. La Liga is not really one of those leagues. That's why the Bundesliga also was ah was a name that came up because i feel like his skill set and profile matches with that league as well. But I think he is he does have that going for him. He's going... to a league that seems to on paper at least match his skill set and what he brings to the table and that should theoretically help him help him thrive so we'll find out like i said you never know but he does seem to be set up for success I think even if it turns out that he gets loaned to somewhere like Celta Vigo at the start he's in a good position to to succeed.
Contract Handling Critique
00:21:07
Speaker
Nico, we got a lot of people in chat talking about the the fee. So let's ah let's get into what we know about the fee. I know what ah I've heard, I'm interested to hear what ah what you've heard.
00:21:17
Speaker
But I think based on what I've heard, if there's anything to maybe not like about this deal, it's that, ah they're not They're not, to my understanding, getting the type of fee that we've talked about this whole time as far as him being like a $10-plus million dollar player. We can get into the exact figures that we think it might be, but, Nico, have you heard anything concrete on the fee? I've i've only heard like... ah I don't have anything confirmed, so I'm not going to like say that I know the fee, but I can give like a a ballpark. or what What are you hearing on what exactly that number came out to?
00:21:55
Speaker
I have heard nothing on the number. I spent most of this morning and um last night trying to get – with my own reporting, a better idea on both the extent of the contract and the numbers of the contract. And I've not been able to ah gather any information, so I'm not going to sit here and give you a number. Both Jeremiah and I thought that best case scenario would be $6 million the
00:22:27
Speaker
europe I guess, if you will, I was comparing that a little bit to Alex Freemans' deal to a um a a a lesser team, I guess you could call it, in Villarreal.
00:22:42
Speaker
As I had mentioned before, sometimes the bigger team doesn't need to give you... People think, oh you know oh, it's a bigger team that should have more money. They should be able to give you more money. But they come in a position of power and leverage. yes And they'll say, look, this is Atletico Madrid. So we're going give you four and take it. And so to me, between four to six is is is a good number that I consider a a good deal for the Sounders. um
00:23:15
Speaker
Four and below. I'll they leave that up to you guys to figure out whether that's a good deal or not. But yeah, to me, I would guess, guess, 46 would be the number that that that is being paid by Atletico Madrid. But again, I have no insight at all on that exact number.
00:23:34
Speaker
Yeah, so the extent to have that I have insight, I don't want to report like an exact number because I don't have it like confirmed for multiple people. But ah from what I've gleamed, we're we're talking about sub subs six. i'll ah I'll say that. Like what i what I've gleamed is that it's sub six million dollars. And I think either way, we're talking about something. It's that we're not talking about the 10 plus fee that we all hoped in, in, uh, dreamed of. So I think it's worth talking about that because, ah I think when the number, whenever the number does come out, it's, it's in all drastic likelihood going to be a number that's a lot lower than people were wanting or hoping or expecting. And, and you know, people are probably going to be critical of that and not like that.
00:24:20
Speaker
ah So let's talk about, I think, why the fee would have ended up in a place that's that much lower than what's been talked about this whole time. But I think the thing you have to understand is like,
00:24:31
Speaker
They had zero leverage in this situation, not only because of what you talked about with the status of Atletico Madrid, but with the status of Obed and his ah his contract. Atletico Madrid, they got no reason to come in there with a $10-plus million dollar fee, even if they believe in the player, because they know what the situation with Obed's contract is. They probably framed it like they were doing Seattle a solid, like, hey, You guys have a tough ah situation optically on your hands if you let this kid get to the end of the contract and let him leave on a free. I know you probably want $10-plus billion dollars for him. Tell you what, we'll give you three.
00:25:06
Speaker
We'll bail you out from the whole situation of having to let him leave on a free. You still get a decent bag, but we're just straight up not going to give you 10-plus for him. We'll give you three right now, or we'll just let and play for you guys this year, let the contract run out, and then we'll swoop him right up without having to give you anything. they had that They had that total leverage. So the fact that they had that means that i think Seattle was kind of at their mercy a little bit from that perspective. So, I mean, do you agree with that framing of it? And do you think, like, I think where the point of criticism would be, would be like if you would just...
00:25:40
Speaker
got him inked to u22 extension like back when that was a possibility and he was under contract past this season then you would have had way more leverage to ask for a way bigger fee and you probably could have gotten it like whether could have would have gotten it from atletico madrid specifically i don't know but yeah if it ends up being like a three to four million dollar fee like it feels like Maybe they could have gotten a lot more than that if they had handled the contract extension situation better. How do you, how do you size all that up?
00:26:12
Speaker
Yeah, look, you are correct. And mean, there's a lot on pack here because as you are, you know, provided me your, your, your take on it, I started to think about a whole lot of things and and let me just verbalize it.
00:26:29
Speaker
First of all, indeed You're absolutely right. And that that's why sometimes it's hard to understand why craig Weibel at times just talks himself into corners that he does not need to go. like he he had no need to say certain things because we all knew the importance that it would be that the importance of a a potential transfer fee for the club and what that would mean by having a player leave and and getting ah a good size or decent size bag for him. So yeah,
00:27:00
Speaker
The pressure of this did come from from that area, right? that they They needed, they understood that they had to make a deal if they were going to take it. There was going to be pressure from Obed. This is another point that I wanted to bring up of of your take because I had...
00:27:15
Speaker
a lot of fans reach out and and tell me, hey, well, you know, could you just keep them? Like, i don't understand why wouldn't just offer him more money. And just look, ideally that would have been done at some point. But when I used at times the term, you can't hold the player hostage. I don't mean it because the the team is going to have to for forcefully do it but because you there's nothing that the Sanders could have offered Obed that would take him away from,
00:27:44
Speaker
this possibility, going to play for Atletico Madrid, you couldn't offer him enough money to take that deal. So you're holding him hostage because if you did have full ah control of his move or not, then you end up with an unhappy player if, let's say, that deal doesn't happen. If you're like, look, Atletico, we need...
00:28:05
Speaker
10 million, we need 12 million and they'll just laugh in your face and walk away. And then you have a player playing for you that's unhappy, that feels like there was an opportunity that was missed. So that's why you keep him hostage, right? he he He clearly wants to grow. He clearly wants to develop. And the Sounders have always, always been very good about allowing their players to develop and grow in their career. So this is the perfect situation that comes out of something like that. So yes, the leverage was definitely on the ah Atletico Madrid, and they're the ones that probably conducted the terms.
00:28:40
Speaker
Seattle, without a doubt, had their own ah demands. and And I think, you know, non-negotiables, like regardless of the the amount of the fee for the player, this is what we need. We need X number of percentage of a salon clause. We need ah this, that. They're going to have some negotiating back and forth. in And that's what I'm sure happened throughout the weekend. And now the deal gets done. So so yes, I would agree that there was little
00:29:12
Speaker
leverage to the sounders that they were able to maybe move things around, but they probably did a good job for what I'm hearing about at least getting a B, and C of their request taken care of before the move.
GM Strategy and European Opportunities
00:29:29
Speaker
Wade, appreciate the super chat, man. Excited to be hanging out in ah Spokane and six weeks times or six weeks' time or so. Is this an indictment of Craig Wybb's ability to build a roster? Seems like we're fumbling the ball if we don't get a good return on the player. I mean, i yeah, we're kind of talking about it, but I think the extent to which the situation was fumbled was ah not not having him under contract past this season, which would have given you more leverage to ask for a higher fee. So from that standpoint, I don't think like I wish it would have been handled in a way where they could have gotten 10, 10 million plus dollars for the player.
00:30:09
Speaker
But, I mean, I do think, ah let's let's call it like a $3 million to $5 million bag. I think that's what we're we're looking at. I mean, that's better than ah what it looked like was going to happen, which is that he was going to play out his contract here, probably under not that happy circumstances, and then get ah let him leave on a free. I mean, this way, you at least ah you at least get some sort of bag. $3 million to $5 million is not like a... It's not nothing.
00:30:36
Speaker
It's not what... we think the player is worth, but given the situation with the contract and all the leverage that the negotiating club had, I mean, i guess I'll, I'll take it. That's kind of how I feel about it. Sort of like making the best of an, an ideal situation.
00:30:55
Speaker
ah Yeah, look, I would just disagree with the comment because, look, you guys know that I have been very harsh on Craig about some things about the way that he handles certain things. And I criticize everybody when I feel like it's fair to criticize him. But in this particular move, I do think that he's been absolved of, at the very least, getting...
00:31:17
Speaker
A fee for the player. Yes. You know, like you said, if he had left on a free then like that would have been Absolutely. he He would have rightfully gotten skewered for that. Like, yeah, no. And so in all in all areas of the potential move, I think that other than sitting in here and perhaps you know breaking your head, thinking of what ifs and potential moves of if this would have happened later down the road and if the player continued to get better and his value continued to increase and if there was to be a potential you know battle between teams to you know sign him.
00:32:04
Speaker
I don't feel like that's fair. The the reality is is that the team was on the clock. They made A very good move because dealing with a team like a letter of the code to Madrid doesn't just...
00:32:18
Speaker
make you look good as in, look, the players are going to come in, they're going to go to good teams, but it also puts your name out there. I mean, the Sounders have been in ah Blue Radio, Marca, I mean, absolutely everywhere. in india I mean, they're all over ah Europe right now and everybody's figuring out, oh, wow, this is interesting. There's the Sounders team that, you know, I've had people um reach out about, you know, how good their system is and in in ah the academy systems and all these things.
00:32:49
Speaker
all that stuff is a positive for our club because it is about optics. Sometimes it is about marketing. And on top of that, I mean, those are just extra benefits out of it. The reality is that you're getting a a fee for the player. The player is going to be happy to to move on. And you put him in a situation where if he plays well, you get additional money if ah the Atletico Madrid sells him on some marbles. So it's a win-win in all ways and in forms. I think that ah Craig Weibel,
00:33:19
Speaker
did it. i You have to applaud him for the fact that the objective was reached and that he um did it in his own terms and that return value, you have to have to see that, right? He's been, for better or for worse,
00:33:36
Speaker
for better or for worse.
Sounders' Future without Vargas
00:33:38
Speaker
He's had a phenomenal player like Obed Vargas play for this team, reach titles for minimum pay hundred and eight compared to his talent. Right. yeah And now when it's time to move on from him, you're still getting a good return from him. You haven't put a lot of money and investment into it. So,
00:34:02
Speaker
I think that you will have a Craig Weibull that the next time we see him is going to come out and say with his chest that he was able to get this done. And rightfully so, you got to give him his flowers. it's it's ah It's smart business from Atletico as well. I think you got to give them credit. they ah They know ball. like You think they don't know ah that Obed Vargas is a fan of specifically them, and they also saw him play at the Club World Cup against them and got a good idea of what he can do. And then they also saw a situation where they knew that the selling club was up against it. So they um they capitalized on that.
00:34:42
Speaker
a little bit if they had had to pay the 10 plus million dollar fee that we all talked about uh they would not have bought the player in all in all likelihood and that also would have created a situation this this was a situation where obed got to go to play to for literally his favorite team that's his first choice club of anyone in the world so that gives them even more leverage than they already had anyway uh with the timing of the contract and all that stuff Uh, we got another super chat from Jerome with the $9.07. Thank you, Jerome. Appreciate you in honor of Obed repping for all us Alaskans. Hell yeah.
00:35:20
Speaker
Um, all right, Nico, think the next thing to talk about with this is the effect that it has on the Seattle Sounders, because that's going to be a pronounced one. This is one of their best players. When I think about,
00:35:34
Speaker
what made this team successful last year when they looked at their best in leagues cup and at other times during the regular season, It was the double pivot of Christian Roldan and Obed Vargas that was sort of the engine. It was the center of all of that. That's what made that's what took this team from really good to flat-out unstoppable at times was that double pivot. And they ah they were able to play. It wasn't an Ozzy Alonso situation where you took Obed out and everything fell apart, but it felt like their ceiling top level, Obed being in the starting 11 position,
00:36:09
Speaker
them reaching that level was contingent on Christian and Obed being in the double pivot. So even if you have a good plan to replace that, it's not or you can think you have a good plan on paper, but it's not guaranteed that there's not going to be some sort of drop off there going from an elite elite player best of his in the league at his position. To to whatever the alternative plan might be so let's talk about Seattle's contingency plan for this, because they do have one and I want to give them credit off the jump for for that they do they had this situation where they knew this player was probably going to be outgoing. So they needed to have a plan for what would happen if that happened. And, you know, having a plan is the bare minimum bar to clear. But, I mean, you guys would be surprised at how many GMs and front offices in the league don't clear that bar in a situation like this.
00:37:05
Speaker
ah Look at the LA Galaxy last year, for example. They had like six of these exact type situations. And as far as I can tell, they had plans for zero of them. And we all saw what happened to them on the field next year. They totally they totally cratered. So you want to be the type of team that when you're in a situation where you have an outgoing player like this, it's not this insane blow to the roster and there's going to be this huge drop off and all of a sudden you're left scrambling. That does happen to a lot of teams and Seattle at least has a plan in place. So let's talk about what that plan is with Obed Vargas off the roster as appears is happening in the coming day or two.
00:37:42
Speaker
The plan at the position is, i mean, you obviously have Christian rolled on, but as far as Obed replacements, you have a free agent acquisition, veteran experience, free agent acquisition, Hassani Dotson from Minnesota United. You have a U22 dart throw Nikola Petkovich from Charlotte FC, and you have Snyder B, your up-and-coming academy player who you're trying to develop and bring through your youth system into the first team. So, Nico, I'll kick it to you to the start. what do you think of What do you think of this contingency plan? Are you are you sold on the idea that the Hassani Dotson, Nikola Petkovic, Snyder B rotation can kind of soak up those Obed minutes and replace that production and have this team still playing at a high level and still have one of the upper tier double pivots in MLS? Or do you have any skepticism that ah that this plan could not work?
00:38:39
Speaker
No, I got skepticism, ah but I still think it's a good contingency plan because you you did enough as an organization to bring in players that have the potential to replace a lot of the areas, even if it's by committee, that Obert Barger has brought to your midfield.
00:39:01
Speaker
And you did it by not spending a lot because Ovid was still here. and You didn't really know what was going to happen, if he was going to leave or not. So they did an excellent job, in my opinion, to gather a good profile of midfielders, including Nikola Petkovic, who I still you know don't know if if he's going to be the player that at one point was brought in with all this hype about him being this really important prospect, but, you know, he still could potentially have that ceiling, right? So between him, a very high floor, um engaged, um,
00:39:42
Speaker
long-ranged type of midfielder like Hassani Dotson, an experienced MLS midfielder, I do think that there is a good group of players. And you got the potential of Snyder Burnell, a guy that you know you've developed through that understands the system. So again, it's about creating this collective unit to play alongside of Christian Roldan and you having the ability to assess that situation. And in the summer, you can say, look,
00:40:11
Speaker
What we have here is enough. It works. Hassani is the new guy. He's going to be right next to Rodan. He's had a phenomenal half of the season. Or Nikola has looked really, really well. And he we're likely going to pick up his sell-on option or sell the the buy option. And we're going to keep him. Or you say, ah look, this is not going to work out. We're going to need to go figure something out. We just got X amount of money from the Obert Bargues deal. We have a lot of, not a lot, but we have a decent amount of GAM to work
Replacement Player Potentials
00:40:43
Speaker
with. So, you know, what can we do around the league? What can we do externally with what we have in terms of potential transfers?
00:40:50
Speaker
All of those things are going to put Seattle in a good position. So for right now, it's all about having a good contingency plan that would take you to the next checkpoint. And that checkpoint is the summer or the the the transfer window in the summer.
00:41:06
Speaker
Jake brings up the next topic that I wanted and to go to with this, which is who starts next to Roldan in, I think you mean the coming weeks. My guess is Snyder gets the edge early. So yeah, let's talk about what the that actual depth chart would look like because i think Hassani Dotson becomes the starter on this team, at least at the at the start.
00:41:27
Speaker
You'll see him and he and Christian as the first choice double double pivot. And then you'll have Petkovic and Snyder B kind of duking it out in training and ah in preseason for who would be first off the bench or first into the lineup in a rotation situation.
00:41:43
Speaker
ah And that's what makes the most sense to me. I think there's fitness considerations with that. Hassani Dotson is coming off an injury, but assuming that he is all checked out from that and they can get him up to game fitness and game speed, before the start of the regular season my prediction would be that he's going to be the starter and then if uh if petkovic and snyder b show themselves to be the better option either in pre-season or at some point during the season then i'm i think it's a let the best man win type situation i don't think you have to go into it dogmatically and be like hasani dotson is now the starter or snyder b is now the starter i think you you start hasani dotson at the start because that's the veteran proven high floor
00:42:25
Speaker
option But then you've got two guys in Petkovic and Brunel that have theoretically more upside than Hassani Dotson does. Petkovic, like you mentioned, he he is kind of considered this distressed asset, but he has decent pedigree. And like I don't know about you, but I guess I'm the i'm the Snyder B guy. I i really love what we saw from Snyder B.
00:42:47
Speaker
Last year, i was just so impressed with how kind of unfazed he looked by the situation. He looked so smooth, so so comfortable. And then his skill set's just a lot of fun, man. Like he he's got the little flicks and tricks and with his with his passing and the way he combines with other players. He's got two MLS goals already in his first season.
00:43:08
Speaker
three or four games playing with the first team, which is really impressive. That's not something any of those, these midfielders that have come up in the last few years, whether it's Danny Leyva, Josh Atencio, or even Obed, none of those guys, i don't think looked as good as fast as Snyder did last year, at least as comfortable.
00:43:26
Speaker
So I think there's a decent amount to be excited about there. I know I'm more excited about Snyder B. than most But I think even if you're not as high on Snyder B, it's at least intriguing to see what he can do. And then where you at on Petkovich? You've seen him play a little bit more than i have. And i see like i kind of really don't know what to make of him. But I do know that ah Doyle put out a column last week about his breakout player picks on every team in the Western Conference and Eastern Conference. And his pick for Seattle, it wasn't Georgie Manungu, who he's written highly about at times. It wasn't it wasn't Snyder B. It was literally Petkovich. He was he said that he was high on him when he got to Charlotte. He doesn't understand why it didn't really work out for him at Charlotte. And he thinks with Seattle's coaching and in Seattle's ecosystem and environment, he thinks he could realize the upside in Seattle that he didn't realize in Charlotte. which I've sort of been approaching it of like, that's probably going to happen.
00:44:27
Speaker
But if it does, great. I mean, I don't mind the dice roll, even if it doesn't. But when, you know, when you see the national pundit class talk about him higher than than we might talk about him or or rate him, that catches my attention a little bit. So, yeah what do you, I guess, what is your take on on how that depth chart's actually going to pan out between Dotson, Petkovich, and Snyder B.?
00:44:51
Speaker
Before I give you my take, ah These are breakout players. I mean, not like ah black like dark horse picks. These are like what he believes really is going to be the breakout players for the Sounders. Yeah.
00:45:06
Speaker
Wow. that' yeah That's surprising. That's what I thought. But if he says that, I don't think it comes out of nowhere. I don't think he's just looking at like, oh, it's Serbian international. He might be good. I think Doyle is the type of analyst that actually watches that. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
00:45:22
Speaker
I mean, do Doyle carries weight, man. I would not go you know against his picks. You at least know he's basing it on having watched the player play. That's what I appreciate. Oh, absolutely. 100%. 100%. And probably a lot more than me. So yeah I take that with with with a lot of respect. I know that the work he does. I absolutely love Doyle. And I would not say anything negative about his analystic ability or reporting.
00:45:49
Speaker
What I would say is that I wouldn't agree. My opinion. don't. I would pick Georgie. I would pick Georgie. Yeah, he's not even in my top five. I think he's Suze Ferreira as the breakout player. He's my number one pick a breakout this year. I think we're talking more like...
00:46:06
Speaker
Less MLS track record. Ferreira. Oh, OK. OK. OK. No, that makes sense. Perfect. Oh, yeah. oh If it's if that's the case, then yes, I will go with a Georgie. I would I might even give you Kalani, perhaps ah over Petkovic. And this is the reason why.
00:46:24
Speaker
I continue to hear great things about Snyder Burnell. ah in And this is not just from where what we saw in the week that we had here with the team, but also the rumblings, the sources that we have that we're able to get information on guys. Snyder Burnell has been a guy that throughout the preseason, in the games, in the camp, just continues to wow, right? And and that's that's very interesting.
00:46:50
Speaker
On the Nikola Petkovic, all that I'm hearing is that the um the research the and the ah The analyst part of what we I was able to gather when we heard that Nikola Perkovich was going to come here, it's kind of ah perfectly in line to the player that he has shown throughout his time with the team. And I say that because I had mentioned in the show, I had mentioned in several shows that
00:47:26
Speaker
People who have followed him closely in Charlotte and, you know, even those closer to the coaching tree of of Charlotte and scouting type of players.
00:47:39
Speaker
ah people, I guess you could call it. They all had the the same idea about the player, that he was very technical, that he was very good on the ball, that he had great vision, but he lacked dynamism, ah that defensively he had a lot to learn. um that he was i don't like hearing that because but Schmetz does not take kindly to that.
00:48:01
Speaker
that he was struggling out with the speed of the league. um And, and all those things ah seem to go along with not just what I've heard, Myself from about the player, but if you go back and you listen to, I think Freddie Juarez talked on the Sounders, obviously with the Sounders media and he was able to, they put that out that video on the Sounders YouTube page. um And i think Brian's message might have mentioned it as well. And there is,
00:48:32
Speaker
You know things to like about him, but the defensive parts and all those things continue to be something that he's got to learn. I think that's what Freddie Juarez mentioned. And that's exactly what we had thought about the player prior so We'll see. I think that he's a player that replaces what Danny Leyva brought to the table ah because he he's a good passer. He has great range. He's great awareness on the field. All those things that Danny Leyva had, he could be a replacement for him. But if I had to take a pick at a guy that was going to be right next to Christian Roldan, knowing what Brian Smetzer likes to do, understanding the possibilities of changing on formations,
00:49:18
Speaker
someone who could pair well next to ah Christian Roldan to a certain extent, maybe not as perfect as Obed, I think is going to be Hassani Dotson. That's another player that I continue to hear very good things about, that he's just a hard-nosed worker, that it's all about just performing on the field. He seems to have that personality that guys like. He has been... ah Someone that's been highlight highlighted from one or two people. So to me, i think Hassani Dotson would be the guy that would start for the Sounders um if they continue to play with their 4-2-3-1. Because there's also possibilities that, you know, if they decide to go with a 3-5-2, that would change some things. But if everything stays the same for the Sounders, I think that Hassani Dotson would be that guy.
00:50:09
Speaker
Yeah, they're not going to 3-5 to it as their primary formation. i want Yeah, I don't think so either. I want them to run ah run a look ah that they were running in the playoffs against Minnesota last year where they had where they're running two strikers, however that formation pans out. Because I thought that actually looked pretty good to very good at times. And it's at least it's at least worth running it more, drilling it and seeing if there is something to that past the Minnesota matchup. And then at least you have that in your pocket. But like I'm pretty much going into the season under the assumption that they're going to be classic four, two, three, wanting it with the double pivot and that it's going to be. Christian next to Dotson starting at the start of the season, but we're going to be tracking this Petkovich Snyder B battle. I pulled up Doyle's blurb on Petkovich from the column I was talking about. It's pretty short, but it's basically what I was saying. He says,
00:51:02
Speaker
I have no idea why Petkovic never really got a shot with the Charlotte first team. You touched on a couple of those reasons right there, but it says I've never, never idea no idea why he never really got a shot, but I feel pretty comfortable betting on Seattle's track record of player development here. And then he has a confidence level for each one of these players ah confidence level. Pretty high.
00:51:21
Speaker
Pretty high. I'll take that. That's from ah Doyle's Substack, Tactics Free Zone. go ah Go check it out. But I think I'm very interested to see what happens with Petkovic because you know like i think part of my issue with the Craig Weibel discourse over the last couple years is I feel like a lot of it was...
00:51:38
Speaker
it was before we really had enough of a track record to judge him on one way or the other you had like a handful of bad stuff at the beginning a handful of better stuff uh later on but as the years go by with him as the gm we're getting an increasing amount of moves and data points to judge and grade him on and this u22 move for petkovich is a it's a big data point like if this hits and it's a cook then that's gonna be that's going to be big for Craig's, I think, just ah credibility if he actually hits on this. But if it's another Leo Chu situation or if he's just a total bust, then then it'll be just another, like, this team has not really been using the U22 mechanism to affect at all.
00:52:25
Speaker
And, you know, there's all kinds of ranges that the outcome could land under like Leo Chu. People talk about him and remember him like a total categorical bust. I don't really think that's what happened. Like there were some genuinely good moments and stretches of play. He ended up, I think, with 20 goal contributions for his MLS career. It was just never consistent. And there's no way you could get to the end of the Leo Chu era in Seattle and call that like a hit, like a good U22 signing. But there were times where he was contributing to the team. So we'll see what happens with Petkovic. My guess would be
00:53:01
Speaker
The outcome ends up on the layout shoe end of the spectrum, because that's what seems to happen most of the time with any U22s. Like these are all dart throws to an extent. But I mean, if ah if it's a hit, there have been a lot, not a lot, but there have been a handful in MLS that have really hit. So we'll ah we'll see what happens. And that's another good point that goes to Craig. I would look like to be quite honest.
00:53:26
Speaker
I trust Sean Henderson more than Craig Weibo. I mean, as long as Sean Henderson gives the okay, he green stamps a player. That's all I need to know about Nikola Petkovic is that a brilliant man like Sean Henderson giving you that that green stamp to go get him. That's all good and well for me.
00:53:43
Speaker
What I will give Craig Weibel credit is that, you know, he's getting a situation where, you know, this is a ah no risk for for the Sanders. This is the loan. This is something that they can decide to to get him on if if he does pan out. And if he doesn't, they just don't don't don't buy him out. And he goes back to Charlotte. So it's It's no risk, you know, high reward or low risk, high reward. um and And you can move on from him. So um that's all, again, part of that contingency plan is they were able to use all their resources, use various ways to be compliant with salary, with what they are able to um go out there and get and
00:54:26
Speaker
To me, that's all good and well when it comes to getting ready for a potential Oben Vargas departure. Now, on the Leo Chu component, that was another ah move that, yes, it didn't pan out. I...
00:54:40
Speaker
I would consider it a bust or, but, but that's just what it is. But it it was a bust for, you didn't break the bank. I mean, you did not go out there and spend seven, 10 million on a player that didn't pan out. and And that's all, again, part of what needs to be your analysis on a player is how much did we spend? And then,
00:55:01
Speaker
What did that cost us? And then what how did he perform? And I thought for the cost that the Sounders got on level two and then being able to move him as part of a deal for Jesus Ferreira.
00:55:13
Speaker
I think that's good business by Craig Weibel and the set of Sounders. i think i I think I like this kind of dice roll, low-risk approach to the U22s more yeah than I would if they were doing what I think some people want them to do with these spots, which is be super like ambitious and break the bank and sp splash all this money on these hotshot young
Financial Strategy and Player Development
00:55:36
Speaker
prospects. I just think when you actually look at the track record of MLS clubs with these players using this mechanism...
00:55:43
Speaker
the The teams that have tried to go super big with it, it's just even if it works, the you're playing a ah very, very low percentage game because the reality is young prospects with the type of pedigree that could be needle moving players in MLS at that age,
00:56:04
Speaker
those guys aren't on the market really like you're you're looking what you're doing is you're looking for deals you're looking for inefficiencies you're looking for ah production that you think you can get where people on the global market maybe aren't seeing it you're finessing like if you're going out and dropping like eight ten million dollars on u22 you got to be so so dead to rights positive that they're going to be like a club cornerstone linchpin type player. And if they don't, you're you're in a really bad situation. I think that i taking dice rolls on lower stakes players and then hoping that they hit from there
00:56:45
Speaker
that's that's just a motor That's just a smarter way to do it than taking these high-risk, big-money maneuvers on players. that it's just like imagine if they Imagine if they did that for a player like Leo Chu, but they were dropping like two, three times the money, and then it was the same outcome. You're kind of just set yourself up for disaster. like am i Am I coping? Am I rationalizing? Or is like the Petkovic end of the spectrum just kind of a better way to do it?
00:57:15
Speaker
I mean, it's it's your take, and and I wouldn't disagree with it all. i I would like the Sounders to spend more money and maybe be a little bit more ambitious with this If that was their profile, if that's what they had available, and if they had all the money in the world. And and that's the reality. It's because you...
00:57:42
Speaker
I feel like a lot of times we have a radical um mindset, whether it has to be one or the other. But the way I see it is Seattle does a phenomenal job at having a sustainable foundation in their academy, spending money, investing in that.
00:58:02
Speaker
youth development in order to have all of these players be part of their first team and be contributors. And that's a perfect way to sustain the team. Now, if you could add more capital to that, because you have that sustainable cushion, if you will, you could go out there and perhaps roll the dice on a player that can take you to that next level. And with the growth of MLS, that might be the best way to keep up with the rest of those teams that are out there just spending money away.
00:58:37
Speaker
But I don't want to be overly critical because it has worked for the Sounders. And that's something that I continue to to preach is that, look, if if if it's working, if you're able to, let's say this Nikola Petkovic situation, if it was to work out and this guy was to ball out,
00:58:55
Speaker
How are we going to criticize the move? I mean, it's it'd be really tough. And i know that we're going just for results or talk or Monday quarterback in this situation, but that's kind of what these deals are about. It's about finding those gems in the rough, finding those good deals that at times work out. I would say Jesus Ferreira was a very good move, right? It was a very...
00:59:17
Speaker
um affordable, very team-friendly type of of of move when he comes to that salary. and and And he's worked out. And I think that it's going to work pay even more off this season, right? So those moves can still be there, but you can go out there and spend a little bit more on your U-22s and go out there and try to find yourself a good player. Now, you're not wrong about that um that hit rate. it's It's that reality. Sometimes you're going to get a player ah that that's very young and it's not going to...
00:59:47
Speaker
It's not going to pan out. And unfortunately, the Sounders just don't have the the pockets, for lack of a better word, theyre to sustain that sort of hit. So they're very smart with it. And and at times, that that that other side of the coin can be difficult. You know, let's look at Chris Henderson with Atlanta United, right? Chris Henderson has always been a brilliant man, has always been a guy that's very in tuned. They had...
01:00:10
Speaker
the the dynamic duo of guard lagger way and Chris Henderson, and sometimes having deeper pockets, it can make you a little complacent and he can make you maybe take more risks and this, and those don't pay off where, when Chris Henderson was here, he was doing long division and subtracting and looking at the cubic root of a player because he knew that he could not, he could not have a bust. Right. So sometimes having those deeper pockets, right. do allow you to just say, hey, okay, I'm going to get this guy and it's okay because I can buy him out or whatever. So so at times that can make your hit rate go even farther out. But but for me, if I had a perfect situation, Seattle would continue to have their current mythology on roster building and
01:00:58
Speaker
Branding their own academy players And being able to sustain that But also add a little bit more Into those situations where You could have yourself a player that's going to come in here And completely kill it for you Derek Richards Appreciate you member for 13 months It's a real preseason competition I think he was talking about the Petkovic-Snyder B training camp battle Yeah where' i'm um I wish we could ah Watch the scrimmages But we can't so we'll have to find out when the season starts um nico the last topic i think this is all a good segue into the last thing i wanted to hit on the topic of uh of obed and uh the youth development and all that and it's sort of just the idea i was thinking about like this sale of obed and him going to atletico madrid and whenever this happens in mls it's exciting but i was thinking about like
01:01:51
Speaker
Is it a good thing that MLS is a selling league like this where the blueprint is of kind of bringing a player up like Obed and then the success story is if he gets to get sold on ah to a bigger club overseas in a different league like La Liga.
MLS's Role as a Selling League
01:02:11
Speaker
But I think when I think about what ah would be the optimum outcome in my ideal world, it would be a world where and MLS teams could bring up a player like Obed Vargas and him staying in MLS and playing his whole career for Seattle wouldn't be considered like him not reaching his goals.
01:02:32
Speaker
potential. Like if the league was in a place where you bring players up like this and they actually stay and play for your club for like 10 years and that's the success story. The success story isn't selling them to a club like Atletico is developing them for yourself. And then the sort of wider perception being like, no, that's what ah that's what MLS clubs are trying to do. They're trying to bring up their young prospects like this and then keep them, which I understand with how it's structured and everything and where the league is at. That's not how it works. But do you think ultimately this kind of status that MLS has on the global stage as ah as a seller's league, ah do you think that's a good thing or is that something that you would that you want to see change at some point where a situation like Obed, the outcome would be that he he stays with Seattle?
01:03:20
Speaker
No, I mean, and not not not right now. I mean, I understand that we all want at one point or another to see MLS be a top three league in the world, but that's far-fetched, you know, ah and and you are years and years, years and years away from when other leagues have started. And the the at the end of the day, regardless of how much we –
01:03:46
Speaker
As much as we understand the growth that MLS has had and as much as we're proud of the product that is on the the level and quality of play in La Liga, La Premier, Serie A, my favorite, um It's better. And you're going to continue to want your players to shoot for more. And being in a sell-on league is one step into being a more resounding and more known type of league. Look, there was a point where Portugal, that the league was all about just selling players, right? They were there were the the cedar for most of the teams in Europe, right? And and that gave them a certain sense of
01:04:31
Speaker
acknowledgement and they were able to have some very good teams. They won a lot of good, ah very good regional tournaments with with those with those teams. The Portos of of ah Portugal that were you know phenomenal at one point. So to me, MLS is already a sailing league, especially in America. I've i've said it bunch of times. They completely wiped the floor with Liga MX when it comes to moving players to Europe. And you want to be that in America, in the Americas, because it motivates young prospects to want to come to MLS because they see it as a stepping stone and that ups your,
01:05:14
Speaker
game level. Because instead of prospects going directly to Italy or going directly to France or going directly to Portugal and try to make it over there, you're starting to get all of these top players, all these top prospects to come to your league. And you get them for two, three years. They make your league better. And then the next batch of new players are going to want to come in. And that's a positive for for and MLS. You want to be a desired league. And, you know, aside from Brasil-Erao and maybe the Argentine Prem,
01:05:44
Speaker
you know, MLS is right there. i mean, again, I've talked to a bunch of agents, talked to a bunch of young players over the last five years, and they overlook Liga MX, and they'd rather come here because they understand that it's a closer stepping stone to the ultimate objective, which is reaching Europe. So to me, it's a positive. and seattle And MLS... should continue to want to be a selling league because it's the next step to be in a top league in the world. It's just that simple.
01:06:16
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with that. I think it's just the reality of where the league is at right now. And, you know, hopefully in generations to come, we'll see the the level and the quality progress to a point where maybe you do see a young prospect like Obed, uh,
01:06:32
Speaker
stay here as opposed to going overseas. But for, for right now, that's just not the reality, but it is, it's hard to kind of not think about what we saw from the Sounders last year and be like, God, I mean, they're just so much better of a team with,
01:06:49
Speaker
Obed on the field, obviously, like, does it really, does it really make the the league better or more fun to watch when we're taking players like that out of the league as opposed to keeping them in the league? But I mean, I think everything you said about why that's the case, not just with MLS, people in chat were pointing out that there's kind of like only a couple leagues in the world that aren't really sellers leagues. And that is correct. That is definitely true. But some some leagues are more sellers leagues than others. And I think the kind of role that MLS is carved out is as league that it's getting increasingly proficient at youth development. And you're seeing a lot. It's not you know, it's not just the Sounders, it's not just Obed, like the Philly Union, FC Dallas. A lot of these other clubs have had ah have had success doing this. And so I think for where the league is right now, it's ah it's great. And stuff like what we're seeing with Obed going to Atletico is what we should want to see right now. The the the one thing that I would um be more mindful of ah ah instead of and ml has's become in a selling league is MLS becoming a becoming league that does not allow –
01:08:05
Speaker
their own talent to have a pathway to the first team and that it becomes such a selling league and such a buying league that now the spots that Nobid Vargas or a Kalani Kosorienzi would have, now we're going to all this, um,
01:08:23
Speaker
Prospects coming in because it would hinder Your U.S. national team And U.S. federation Development as it has happened In League IMX and i've I've Said this a bunch of times you know i can't remember and this might Be the first time where if you Look at the potential starting 11 For inter-Miami it's All international players you know From from Canada, Argentina you know It's it's ah the the full 11 Is a non you know, American team, right? And and that that does hinder your ability to develop players. And this is something the League of MX has fought for years, for years, in ways to get their young players from their U18s, their U17s, their U20s, to have a good pathway into the the their prem from from their domestic league. And that that has been a problem. but but aside from that, I think that MLS becoming a selling league, per se, it's it's a good thing.
01:09:22
Speaker
Azarada, thank you for the super chat. Appreciate you. he says, congrats, Obed. ah All right. Nico, just a few minutes to go here. So just had a couple other things to hit before we get out of here.
Preseason Highlights and New Signings
01:09:34
Speaker
The Sounders did play a preseason game on, what's that, Sunday? Over the weekend, they played a preseason game, and they took a 3-0 victory over, I'm going to try and pronounce this, Swedish side, IF Brahma Brahma Pokarna.
01:09:53
Speaker
they Sounds good to me. I'm not going to try. They beat them three to zero for anyone. I just want to let and ah the stat lines for anyone who's not in the loop or doesn't know. There was a Jesus Ferreira brace. There was a KKR goal. You had a Snyder B primary assist, a Georgie secondary assist.
01:10:09
Speaker
one of the ferrera goals was on a free kick so he got the set pieces working and then his second goal was off an osaze assist and osaze headed assist so shout out to uh sounders comms for uh posting all that info even though i haven't seen any highlights of any of those events that have taken place but supposedly according to sounders comms that's what happened in seattle's 3-0 victory over if brahma po karna ah Nico, did you have anything else sounders wise, just either on the Obed stuff or preseason or, or anything else?
01:10:47
Speaker
and I mean, ah the the one thing that relates to everything that we've been talking about is another gamble on on the low end that the Sounders did last season was bringing up Osasio De Rosario from the Tacoma Defiance. Everybody, including me, wanted of a u twenty two player that you went out there and spent a lot of money on for the striker position. But it sounds like Osasio is killing it so far, at least when it comes to that demeanor, that physicality. i mean, he just seems to be turning lot of heads. And you know if he's able to come in and into the season and really perform, that's going to be another win for this front office. If you know he doubles on the amount of goals or productivity that he had last season, I mean, man, that's that's a huge deal, right? So I'm hearing some great things about him, hearing some great things about Kalani Kosariensi. Jesus Ferreira continues to...
01:11:39
Speaker
you know, perform. i don't know if you saw his IG, but, you know, and and I'm going to combine these two things. You know, he also had a death in his family and he, yeah you know, wasn't able to leave the camp. He's staying there. um And now Stefan Fry, he had to leave because it was his mother that actually passed away. So we send our deepest condolences to Stefan Fry.
01:12:02
Speaker
who, you know, he's been such a leader. He's been such a everyday, just accountable player. And now the passing of his mother has has hit him and he's had to abandon the the camp. So that's just that's just life. and And we send him our deepest condolences. And I think that's all I had about the the preseason.
01:12:22
Speaker
Well said. Yeah, absolutely. Best wishes to Stefan Fry and Jesus Ferreira. Real quick before we get out of here, Nico, I mean, I just had a couple of national storylines that have dropped since ah since the weekend.
01:12:37
Speaker
The Quakes got Timo Werner. You see this? He's he's coming to the league. What do you think of that? Does that do anything for you? they lost me they had They had the toughest offseason I have ever seen, I think, before before that. They accidentally lost Christian Espinoza and then transferred Chicho Arango back to Colombia two weeks after he signed a long-term contract extension and lost Joseph Martinez earlier in the offseason to Liga Mekis. So all three of their top goal scorers are Dunzo, two of them unexpectedly. But they did get Timo Werner. So where do you think things stand for the Quakes?
01:13:13
Speaker
It's TBD for me. You're not going to sell me on, you know, one player that's an excellent player. I think it's huge for San Jose to get a player of that caliber. And i um i I applaud it. I applaud the ambition. I applaud that the the attempt to give this fan base that they've been in depth in debt with for so long something to smile about. But if you don't surround that player with some key pieces,
01:13:38
Speaker
You're just doing it to put butts in seats. And that's just not what I feel like that fan base deserves. So very good as as an independent in a vacuum sort of move. But with Chichorango leaving on a loan, we'll see what happens with him with Nacional. Does he come back? Does Nacional pick up that option? We'll see with Christian Espinosa gone. You know, what what else does San Jose does to surround... ah a player of that caliber with with a co-stellar group so he can go out here and perform and and be be a success story rather than, you know, one of those André Apillo or, you know, Franz Vampire situations where they just came and went and with with nothing to to their name. So to me, it's still to be determined. But, you know, I at least like the the move in a vacuum.
01:14:30
Speaker
Apparently, some people have seen highlights of the Sounders preseason game that I haven't seen. We got a couple people saying that one Jesus Ferrer's goals doesn't count because the free kick was. Yeah, he got one over on the they were setting their wall up and he took the shot before they were ready. Hey, hey, I'll tell i'll tell you what.
01:14:49
Speaker
That's called soccer IQ. All right. It's called planning ahead. that's ah That's a heads-up play by the man. I would argue that that goal counts even more so than your conventional goal just because of the ah the soccer IQ at play there. But ah all right, I got to run, so we're going to call it right there. Thank you all, as always, for tuning in to Lobbock Scorchers Kickoff, another banger episode. A big one today with ah the imminent transfer of Obed Vargas to Atletico Madrid. That's big-time stuff from your Seattle Sounders.
01:15:19
Speaker
uh we're gonna be back at it this week uh we'll see what the coverage plans look like with uh jo and uh noah out in barbella we're gonna do our best to do as much hands-on coverage of the games as we can with them helping us out from site hopefully being able to tap in for some for some live stuff but we'll be uh we'll be back on our normal schedule going forward appreciate everyone bearing with some of the off-season schedule maneuvering i know we were off last week, but, ah but we're back at it and we're ready to take on the rest of preseason and get the season started here. I mean, I think San Diego plays their first champions cup game, like tomorrow, I think it's like, it's, it's happening. Like most other teams don't start for a couple of weeks, but you got San Diego,
01:16:04
Speaker
They're starting way early. So it's the the whole the whole marathon, the whole journey is about to get underway. And we're excited to cover it. So thank you all for tuning in. And we will catch you guys later this week.
01:16:17
Speaker
Love y'all. Peace.