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Sounders so far proving resilient
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We are so close to the Sounders that sometimes it can be a little easy to take what we have for granted. That was probably the biggest takeaway from Charles Boehm’s stint as a guest co-host on this week’s show. Boehm, who has an upcoming feature about Ryan Kent on MLSSoccer.com, marveled at how effectively the Sounders have been able to maintain their form. He and Jeremiah also look ahead to what promises to be a very interesting stretch of games in which the Sounders will play the current Top 3 teams in the Western Conference in consecutive games.
Follow Charles on Bluesky and read his work on MLSSoccer.com.
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Transcript
Sounders Legends and Memorable Moments
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here we go. Come on.
00:00:11
Speaker
one Hey, O'Shaughnessy. Let's go. What save by Frye. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winning.
00:00:23
Speaker
Here comes Ruiz Dias through the middle to crowd it for Seattle. And now they truly can start the celebrations. It's the Sounders MLS Cup.
00:00:35
Speaker
Nico Lodero leaves absolutely no doubt. The Sounders rule the region. Seattle, Sounders, it's got built.
00:00:52
Speaker
This feels fucking awesome. This is a tiny dog. Nice work on your little yacht yat thing. And Portland can't say shit. know, what was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use who you didn't?
00:01:06
Speaker
Ever since Southert Hart wrote a commentary that we didn't take over coming seriously. Go, not Seattle!
Seattle's Wine and Soccer Connection
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, c Pacific Northwest.
Charlie Boehm's Writing Journey and MLS Insights
00:01:43
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adietes, part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network. I am Jeremiah O'Shan. Joining me today is my pleasure. a friend of mine that I've been wanting to get onto the pod for a while, Charlie Boehm. You know him from MLSsoccer.com.
00:02:00
Speaker
He's one of their more featured writers there at this point and also just like a genuinely good human being who... yeah This is a – I'll catch you maybe by a surprise here.
00:02:12
Speaker
Almost everyone in the soccer writing world has very kind things to say about you, Charlie. It's ah almost – it's a little surreal. You're like friends with everybody it seems. There's got to be some haters out there, but but they they have not made themselves known. Not in the industry I don't think.
00:02:30
Speaker
How lucky am I? i must be I must not be going hard enough. Right. Right. You know, I'll tell you, one of the the proudest moments, one of my proudest moments was recently you were on Scuffed and Vince said to you that you and were like the two people who have been helping. And I was like, that is some great company to be included with from Vince and Charlie in the same. I was like, it totally caught me by a surprise, but it was an awesome little.
00:02:58
Speaker
Me too. What an honor, man. Vince is a real one. I know. I love him. But anyway, ah Charlie, thank you for doing this. um We're going to try to do sort of a regular show. But before we get into that, I do want to introduce our audience to you a little bit more.
00:03:14
Speaker
i don't know if everyone is going to know too much about you. And I'm curious, too. How did you get your start in this industry?
00:03:22
Speaker
I'll try to be less... boring and and lengthy than than the story generally requires. But this was a side hustle for for me for a long time, I guess like many others. um i'm I'm now middle-aged, but in the early years of of internet soccer, I responded to it um ah job, I guess a job, a gig posting on SoccerNet. If the oldies who remember before ESPN FC, there was SoccerNet.com.
00:03:52
Speaker
and they were looking for um writers in MLS markets. And this was back in 2004. Ooh. God, I'm old. ah Yeah. And so and there there was a whole convoluted situation where a guy was, had accumulated, ah was building a network of writers and then he was selling our content to originally on multiple sites and then it ended up becoming um the the league website sort of network of um ah coverage.
00:04:20
Speaker
So back then, we're going way back here, I was writing for mlsnet.com and I made- oh yeah, I remember that. couple hundred to occasionally a low, if things were really good, you could maybe make, and not at the start, but by the end, maybe things you could make low four figures a month, maybe, your if your team was good and played lots of games. But it was basically, that for a long time, and MLS Net and then afterwards and MLS Soccer, ah which the the rebrand was in 2010, had a beat writer at every single game. For a while, it was even that's how i got to my got my start too
00:04:53
Speaker
There you go. There's many, many people who who have done good stuff in the business, got their start with this, but it wasn't a full-time, but it was something where I i had a ah case Street um public relations job that allowed me to go take long lunches once a week and cover DC United as a side hustle. And um somewhere around 2013 or so, i was able to sort of shift things and and take a flyer at a full-time um life doing this. And I consider myself very fortunate to to still be here a decade later now.
00:05:29
Speaker
Well, Charlie, that is ah fascinating. I didn't know that you went that far back in this in this industry. But yeah, the old network of and MLS beat writers at MLS soccer was incredible.
00:05:42
Speaker
ah kind of an underappreciated like you know, I think that got a lot of, a lot of people in this industry got their start there that in SB nation, which I also obviously it came through, but like those were without those two places, I don't know where this industry would be because that's like, you know, what between those two places I would be, it's a very high percentage of people who sort of cut their teeth, uh, being able to sort
Sounders' Resilience and Fan Expectations
00:06:05
Speaker
of pretend to be full-time writers.
00:06:09
Speaker
yeah yeah We really did ourselves too. And we explained to young people that um there was a time when you couldn't just watch a three minute highlight pack to see how your team did the last game.
00:06:21
Speaker
One, you may not even, you might not have had the option to watch your team on TV because it was relatively recently in the grand scheme of things that you could get most, let alone all MLS games on a, on a television broadcast on, on cable or, or whatever online.
00:06:38
Speaker
And so they asked us to write, write up recaps and ciders. And was like, you, would write you write a recap that you'd follow up the whistle of what happened. And then you go downstairs and talk to players and coaches and do a cider afterwards. And that was, that was the job.
00:06:52
Speaker
Yeah, I know it was. the The other thing that's kind of funny, people don't always appreciate this, is that for all the negative press around the current state of soccer journalism in particular, is that you don't have to go that far back when there was just almost no soccer journalism. Like there were not full time people working in this industry there like.
00:07:14
Speaker
that it was like most newspapers weren't sending beat writers out. i mean, most newspapers still don't send beat writers out to a lot of these teams on a, on a daily basis, but it used to be worse. There used to be even fewer outlets that covered this.
00:07:28
Speaker
There were very few national publications that covered it with any serious rigor, let alone beat coverage. And, and so I, I sometimes have to remind people that we're, we can still be better. We can, things can still improve, but it's, you don't have to go that far back to look at a time when, you know, this league was almost, you know, playing in a vacuum.
00:07:51
Speaker
Like it was barely, it was barely accessible outside of the most like hardcore fans. But, um, I'm glad that I'm glad that you've been able to make this journey with, with all of us.
00:08:03
Speaker
uh, indeed. So yeah, we're, we, we, let's get into a little bit more of what I would say the normal show. We, this is going to be a busy stretch for the sounders all of a sudden. I don't, I don't feel like we, we oftentimes do these early week shows that are sort of framed around,
00:08:20
Speaker
we have this conceit that we've been calling how the West will be one. And we kind of go through the Western conference. We're not going to quite do the exhaustive look at the Western conference, but we are going to do kind of take a little bit of broader look, but let's start with the Sounders who are coming out of a one zero win over Dallas. I would, I've been saying for weeks that this was a, this was a must win game for the Sounders.
00:08:42
Speaker
They have this very busy stretch, This game against Dallas, I felt like was a must win in part because it was a team they should be. But also they've kind of they're in a situation where they need to win home games and they got the job done.
00:08:56
Speaker
They only won one zero. It was on a penalty. I would say in the run of play, I thought that they were OK, even if the result was not exactly in the way that you would want.
00:09:08
Speaker
But at the same time, it left some room for questioning ah few things, not the least of which there's a lot of injuries on this team that are starting to pile up to key players. Last week, they were with, you know they were missing Jordan Morris. They were missing Danny Masofsky.
00:09:22
Speaker
That led to Jesus Ferreira getting the startup at the number nine. Then they in the game, they lost Yamar. They were already missing Jackson Reagan. A few of those players look like they're going to be coming back soon. But what do you make of the of where the Sounders are sort of right now as we record this on Tuesday, May 27th?
00:09:41
Speaker
Yes. So, and you know, there's this funny pattern, I think, that i think you guys locally there and we nationally tend to fall into with the Sounders this year in particular and in in and over the going back some time now.
00:09:58
Speaker
arguably a decade or more, which is just that there's such a, the the atmosphere around this team and this club is, is so different or so far ahead of the MLS norm that for someone like me, like it's, I feel very like factually grounded in saying like the expectations are fundamentally higher.
00:10:17
Speaker
the the, the norms or the mean is just, it's just ahead. And that leads to sort of a lot of people, I'm sure a lot of listeners being unsatisfied by me saying, you know things are going better than than than you think. like When you look at what's happened, how poor things were at the start of the season, how many serious injuries, how many nagging injuries, how much disruption there's been to any attempt to have anything like a first choice 11 that can start and work together and build understanding match day after match day. right There's been so much disrupting that and so much sort of adaptation that's had to take place.
00:10:52
Speaker
and it's and they They still control the almost every game they're in They are still typically the better team in terms of underlying numbers, eye test, or some combination thereof. And there are still players that have that are important players that are really short of, i think, the realistic ceiling you could expect them to reach at some point this season or beyond.
00:11:14
Speaker
So, you know, ah a game like that where you say, all right, that that's a Dallas team that's that's drifting a bit right now that is further much further away from their true selves than the Sounders are. They should be put to the sword.
00:11:25
Speaker
you let them hang around and so forth. but I think you just have to you have to take a result like that and move forward because we're in the time of year now where the matches really pile up. And you know the direction of the season starts, I think, really be set with the results you get or don't get um you know over the next few weeks and couple months. And then, of course, I'm saying that you know being fully aware that there's this rather large, rather exceptional Club World Cup expedition that is going to dominate everything around SSFC in just a matter of days, really.
00:11:58
Speaker
Yeah, you know you bring up how much change the Sounders have gone through on a week-to-week basis, basically. And I actually keep track of how many changes they make from one game to the next.
00:12:10
Speaker
They're averaging four four changes a game, ah which seems really high to me. ah they have had no They've only had one game this year where they were able to start the same lineup, the exact same lineup back-to-back.
00:12:23
Speaker
And this you know this game was – they only made one change, which is – that's only like the third or fourth time this year that they only had to make one change, which is like to say – They will, you know, lots of teams will make one change just to for any number of reasons, not necessarily health, not necessarily form, whatever. Right.
00:12:42
Speaker
ah But, you know, the Sounders are routinely making three, four changes. Right. because of a variety of circumstances, not the least of which is, is also fixture congestion. ah But what do you make of the, the sounders depth at this point? Is it, you know, I think there's, that's a common thing that we oftentimes debate within our own community is, you know, because I'll say something like this is one of the deepest teams in the league.
00:13:08
Speaker
And then as soon as they slip up, they go, Oh, I thought we had the deep deepest team in the league. It's like, well, you know, deepest team in the league doesn't mean that our second choice 11 you know, with can go toe to toe with the first choice 11 of one of the best teams in the league.
00:13:22
Speaker
Yeah.
MLS Team Building Strategies: Sounders vs Galaxy
00:13:23
Speaker
I, I, I really just, I just think it's been, it's such a sturdy, ah 11 from week to week, generally speaking in a sturdy roster in general. And it was done in a way that's maybe more uncommon than it should be in in MLS. And I recognize i'm tapping into a very well-established debate in, in standard hard country here about Craig Weibel and in what he's doing or not doing. And and the sort of, um the enduring, I guess, um, uh, organizational preference for steak over sizzle. And that leads to, yeah,
00:13:59
Speaker
I think a vague sense of dissatisfaction with like ah perceived lack of ambition or the lack of pizzazz that, that Jesus Ferreira, Paul Areola winter has compared to, you know, whatever, in advice what Atlanta did or or, yeah. Or what the Sounders did, ah you know,
00:14:17
Speaker
five, six, seven, eight, 10 years ago. So, and I actually wrote, I had to pinch it for Doyle, Matt Doyle a week or two ago on the, um his, his weekend rap column.
00:14:29
Speaker
And it ended up the, after the the Seattle Portland game, and and i ended up sort of doing a ah Albert Rusneck Rhapsody. And I basically said, and i sort of, figured this occurred to me as I'm writing the the blurb right and it was wow like Rusnak is doing for the modern sounders what what Nico Ladero did for for the can we say the salad days is maybe peak peak sounders uh peak MLS sounders and yet it's just but it's more understated and he didn't arrive arrived from Rail Salt Lake not uh was it Boca Juniors I think is where he came from
00:15:05
Speaker
Who Ladero? Ladero came from. yeah and ah And so I get that that's like, you know, and it was so dramatic, right? And of course, Ladero arriving in midseason and and going from from out of the playoff places to winning MLS Cup. And like, there'll never be anything as as sexy as that and as dramatic as that, I think, or they're rare it'll be difficult to top.
00:15:26
Speaker
but But you have the same, i think you have the same level of player who's who's providing the same level of designated player quality and leadership and and and performance. It's just that it it doesn't feel the same way. and it's just just I guess my advice would be, you know be careful about chasing the dragon, right? And just remember that right you know different moments and different times may may call for different things and feel different.
00:15:53
Speaker
Yeah, you know, I oftentimes we this is another thing that we sort of go back and forth on. I'm not necessarily asking you to to weigh in on this, but i do think it's a kind of a funny thought exercise is that, you know, the Sounders have been one of the best teams essentially every year of their existence.
00:16:10
Speaker
And, you know, you can sometimes it's one of the 10 best. Sometimes it's one of the two or three best. Very rarely have they been, they've really never, like the argument has always been, they've never been the undisputed best team in the league, even when they won MLS cup, there was, you know, other teams that were, that could make a viable case for being better teams on a, you know, but either over the course of the season or even on on a given day. Yeah.
00:16:35
Speaker
And there's there's some, i don't know, I guess there's some angst about never being the best. And i at one point I did i asked Garth Lagerwey about that. And he said, you know, to some degree that's kind of by design. Like the way that the Sounders build their roster is never going to be...
00:16:53
Speaker
where we push all our chips into the tape onto the table and say, look, if if we're going to put the best possible team we can put out there, because the nature of MLS is that if you do that, there is a cost associated with it.
00:17:06
Speaker
And so like we're seeing that cost sort of, ah you know, Right now in l a where they went from being probably the best team in the league last year. i think you could you can make that credibly.
00:17:17
Speaker
You can make that credible argument, even though they weren't the supporter shield winner. They were right up there at the top. And then they they obviously just kind of cut through the playoffs pretty much like like a hot knife through butter.
00:17:29
Speaker
And I do think that it's been overstated the degree to which MLS has just sort of like crushed them this year in terms of like it's all MLS's fault that they aren't that they're as bad as they are.
00:17:41
Speaker
But there is also some truth to the fact that or to the argument that and MLS's rules do make it tough. to go all in and suffer no consequences because you inherently have to make choice. If you go all in, you're making some choices about what's going to happen to you in the future.
00:17:59
Speaker
And with l LA, you know, that the the bill came due almost immediately because, you know, they had whatever. We don't need to get too deep into this. But, they you know, they had a a top U22 player who was aging out of that program. They had players who were due bonuses. They had players who were, you know, they were going to – that they had essentially – you know, agreed to re resign at higher numbers. And then they, and then of course they had this catastrophic injury to Ricky Pooge who, you know, now you're, you're short a designated player. And I think, you know, we can go back and forth as to like how much of that was, could they have mitigated with better decision-making, but there's also truth to the idea that they had to make all these choices and the Sounders have kind of just not had to like put themselves in the situations where they don't have to make those choices.
00:18:46
Speaker
And, Yeah. So first of all, like i mean, the Galaxy, yeah, they they went all in. they you know I think Koontz was honest about that at the time and now afterwards that there's there's risks associated with that. There's inherent risks associated with being a heliocentric team.
00:19:01
Speaker
The team is built around a very special rare skill set, of a very special rare type of player that doesn't turn up you know for 30 times a year for every team to get to get one of their own in Riki Push.
00:19:13
Speaker
And we saw that we've seen this with a lot of other teams too, right? I mean, um the um the the Minnesota had this phase where they they put all their chips in on a ah mercurial sort of um do everything number 10 that was going to make everything work. And there's been other examples around the history of the league and there's just risk built into that. And I think Sounders have explicitly steered away from that sort of risk because they haven't. And when Doyle and i were talking um that weekend, ah ah texting or Skype um slacking or whatever, like we were just marveling at that pass that um ah Christian Roldan played to to set up the goal against Portland, just like insane 70 yard through ball that leads to a ah beautiful re-sign goal. and it was like, I just said, you know, they they've just got a bunch of just really good MLS guys that they've just stockpiled up there.
00:20:01
Speaker
And said, yeah, it's the weakest link theory. Right. And and that's you You know, the Galaxy cannot do that. You cannot have a backup to Ricky Pus. Like, we all suspected that and the reality has come to pass that you cannot over an extended period of ah the greater part of a season, it looks like it's going to be.
00:20:19
Speaker
be anything close to what you are without this player that you are with him. And that's, there's just risk built into that. And, and I'm going to push back a little bit cause I'm old. And so I remember that the the Sounders have been the best team in this league. The Sounders have won a supporter shield. In fact, they won a supporter shield U S open cup double little over 10 years ago. That's true.
00:20:39
Speaker
But, and everybody was pissed off at the end of the season. Everybody was pissed off. Right. No, I'd agree. I agree. And you can't, the galaxy won MLS cup. But the LA Galaxy weren't. So if want to win MLS Cup.
00:20:51
Speaker
That's true. I agree. But the argument that year would have been, well, the Galaxy were only one point worse than the Sounders. So the sound were they Sounders were really better than the Galaxy that year. They get a trophy for being better. Yes, they were better.
00:21:04
Speaker
Look, I'm just giving you the the narrative story out there, but I agree. I, you know, you're, you make it, you make a fair point. There, there was that a run and they were in that to, you know, along the same argument, they were sort of built around two of these type of players that year. You know, they were built around Dempsey and Obafuio Martins who at the time could,
00:21:24
Speaker
credibly stake claim to being two of the best players in the entire league. ah But you know, you, you bring up Albert Rusnak and we may as well talk about
Albert Rusnak: Leadership and Impact
00:21:32
Speaker
this a little bit more. He had another goal this week. He now has seven goals, three assists.
00:21:36
Speaker
I went and looked this up cause I was curious cause someone had insisted that he's not a top 30 player in the league. And I thought that doesn't seem right to me. And so I, I kind of looked up the stats and he's, he's top 10 in ML. He's, top he's actually the eighth best player in terms of both non penalty goals, plus assists and,
00:21:54
Speaker
overall goals plus assists, meaning he like the penalties don't end up making a difference where he's since in these standings ah over the last two seasons. He has been, i think, and out like last year, he was never really mentioned among the MVP contenders, I think, in part because there were just some Outrageous talents that were having amazing seasons last year.
00:22:17
Speaker
So I'm not sitting here saying he should have been considered for MVP last year, but right now it does feel like he's sort of putting together an MVP caliber type season. You know, this week he only had the, he was only a penalty that he had this week, but.
00:22:30
Speaker
He again was in the middle of a bunch of really good chances and he just seems to be playing with a ease and a calmness and a confidence that is really maybe even better than what we we saw from him at his best last year.
00:22:45
Speaker
Yeah. and I can't remember if it was my best 11 last year, the year before, and I should, I should really be able to remember more clearly, but I remember going through this process and I, I, I actually do put in thought into my best 11 and ah too much thought, of course, too much time, but, but I do try to make at least and a nod to being a functional team. And there was, and then, you know, they, the league's designations of players positions sometimes make it a little harder.
00:23:11
Speaker
And I remember having being stuck where i couldn't I had too many attackers or something, and I had to adjust my initial 11. and it it And when I went back through it a few times, it ended up that i had Rusnak in it.
00:23:24
Speaker
And was sort of like, okay, wait, is there someone... And was like, wait, is there someone better than him that he's taking a spot of? And it's sort of the the more I looked at it and I sifted through the numbers and stuff and looked at the team performances and it's like, no, I mean, really, this is I got here backwards, but like this is absolutely a best 11 player.
00:23:41
Speaker
Where is that team, that consistently chronically competitive team without him, And I just don't, again, you you can say that they have some credible alternatives if he's out for a length of time or whatever, but I just don't think that they get close to their ceiling or play the way they want to play, the the way that Brian Spencer wants them to play on a week-to-week basis if you don't have him. And I don't think he's a very easy person to replace either in the domestic or international markets.
00:24:10
Speaker
Yeah, and i that was another funny thing this offseason that, you you know, going back to the whole Craig Weibel discussion was the Sounders sort of made a decision that we wanted Rusnak back and we're willing to spend, if we would love to get him for less than a DP salary, but we also understand that He might demand DP salary and we would be crazy to act as if he doesn't deserve that.
00:24:34
Speaker
And, you know, as is his kid as is his right, he was like, well, i'm this is what I'm worth. Why would I take less than I'm worth? i want I want the money. And he's – and like to his credit, he's absolutely – Proving that he is at least worth that, if not, you know, if not maybe even more in terms of raw money, but he's absolutely worth a DP spot.
00:24:56
Speaker
And he is, you know, he's performing like it. I think I also appreciate that he has this sort of vibe about him that is just very... you know, it's a quiet confidence. he's He's willing to speak his mind, but he's he's not boastful.
00:25:12
Speaker
ah But there was like which also kind of made his goal celebration in this game funnier because it was a penalty in May and he rips his shirt off.
00:25:23
Speaker
He balls it up and he throws it into the crowd, which I don't think I have ever seen. I'm not sure I've ever seen a player actually throw his jersey into the stands. while the game is like very much still being contested.
00:25:37
Speaker
And to his credit, Alex rolled like realize like, Oh, that he's going to need that. And so he goes back into the stands. He asked the fan for the Jersey back. the The fan gives him the jersey and we all go on.
00:25:51
Speaker
And as it turns out, I guess the Sounders had a backup plan. If he had to wear a blank jersey, he would have worn a blank jersey. But he didn't have another. and it's just a very funny situation. And I will note, best as we can tell, Albert after the game went and then gave the the fan the jersey back. So it all worked out in the end. yeah.
00:26:09
Speaker
we We sort of asked him, like, what was going on with you there? And he's just like, I was just so frustrated. the game wasn't going how I wanted it to go. and all the these And it's like, I didn't even realize that was inside of you, Albert. But it was kind of good to see, in a weird way, good to see that he had that level, he had that sort of intensity ah ready to to go, ready to fire when it needed to be mined.
00:26:31
Speaker
This is one of the things that I think keeps me in love with the game too and and and trying to talk about it and write about it in a in a reasonably ah compelling way, which is that Fundamentally, these are human beings are not widgets. Like they're not um stats packages. Like they can change and evolve and grow and you never quite know what you're going to get. And he, i mean, you know, he he happened to have a really good year and a contract year.
00:26:55
Speaker
And if there was a there may have been, I think maybe a little bit of a perception of him because I think he did something similar at RSL. Where it's like, okay, maybe this guy's this guy's got the NBA syndrome where he has he's he has his his best year on a contract year. and because He mentioned that from him after.
00:27:12
Speaker
he actually mentioned mentioned that that was a a narrative. like like so it was like un I don't remember exactly how it came up, but someone – he said, I don't know. There was this narrative out there that I only care about performing when I'm in a contract year, but I don't know where that came from. But anyway, go ahead.
00:27:29
Speaker
Yeah, mean but you know ah on the one hand, get the bag, right? like You do a sense story, but there is there is this sort of... In in in sports in general, there's this perceived phenomenon on some psychological level.
00:27:40
Speaker
And it sure seems like he's either outgrown it or it wasn't there in the first place or there was mitigating circumstances because he's producing ah a really high level consistently, right? even You know that you're not going to get the exact same level from any player every single week. They're not always going to be at their peak, but...
00:27:59
Speaker
it's as as close as they can get, you know, and that's what, that's what separates the good from the great. And I, I, I think he's there, man. I just, I just do it again. I know, you know, the Sounders probably have some games that when they've dropped points, and they, they, they should have won a game like that maybe by um a safer margin, but the amount of control this team exerts in most of their games on a week to week basis is the kind of, uh, you know, educated eye test. Maybe I think that, that suggests that, uh,
00:28:28
Speaker
that they're going to be in the in the running and when it's business time because they are able to, and they have different
Sounders' Adaptability and Consistency
00:28:35
Speaker
clubs in the bag, right? but But I just, i like the way they go about things and and the experience and the organizational memory and all these factors that lead you to trust that a team is goingnna is going to produce when it really matters and and going to be in there at the and the in the fall when when the games really start to to pick up in intensity. And I think we'll see them there again.
00:28:54
Speaker
Yeah, you know, you go back to just to kind of piggyback on what you said about their they're do they're sort of dominance in week to week. Another stat I keep track of is field tilt, which, you know, for people who don't know, it's essentially measuring the final third entries on each team and which team is ah spending more time than the other team's.
00:29:15
Speaker
you know, uh, half really, or they're attacking third, I believe specifically. And the sounders have only had less than 60%, like four times and only less than 50% twice.
00:29:27
Speaker
And that's pretty, it's a pretty, they, the average 62% fuel till, uh, they are, you know, they're winning the XG battle almost every week. Uh, you know, there's a kind of another silly, another stat kind of that, uh, know, people can make up what they will called expected points.
00:29:45
Speaker
And they sort of, and essentially what it does it takes all the chances that each team created. It plays a thousand ah a set thousand simulated games and it kind of spits out ah ah a number of points you'd expect each team to get.
00:29:58
Speaker
And a team never ends up with three and it almost never ends up with zero as a result of this thousand, you know, I think it's like a Monte Carlo style simulation.
00:30:09
Speaker
And the Sounders are almost, they're over a point and a half almost every game, which means that They're you know at least expecting to get a result, ah essentially. They've only been under one point, I believe, twice all year.
00:30:23
Speaker
i in They're probably the LAFC game where they got blown out, and then I believe the San Diego, or actually it may have been, it was the ah Salt Lake game. I guess was the other one where they were below one. But anyway, ah yeah, it's been a really consistent season, I think, as I guess is the the case that we're making here.
00:30:41
Speaker
and And that's despite, you know, one of their biggest offseason acquisitions, Paul Areola going down with an injury very early in the season. And he was looking like he was going to be a real, you know, ah it wasn't necessarily billed as a huge move in the offseason. But once the season started, looked it was pretty obvious that he was probably the the the bigger of the two ah ah acquisitions they had made in the off season from Dallas.
00:31:06
Speaker
And, and instead of sort of like, sc grant I mean, they they've essentially were able to replace him with Ryan Kent. And as it, as it is, you have a Ryan Kent feature coming out.
00:31:18
Speaker
ah Ryan Kent has been, you know, I think a very impressive player through his first, I think seven games that he's played for the Sounders. He has essentially established himself as a starter at this point.
00:31:30
Speaker
And when he's at his best, he is he is a seemingly almost unplayable type of winger. like he when when When he is on, he is he is making moves. He is beating opponents off the dribble.
00:31:44
Speaker
he's He's seeing passes that really... like No hyperbole. like Other players just do not see a lot of the passes that he's he's been making so far. He almost had another one this week when he set up Georgie Manungu on a play that i I will say was correctly ruled offside, but it was a great pass nonetheless.
00:32:04
Speaker
Anyway, what you you had a chance to actually sit down with him and have a one-on-one conversation, which I'm a little jealous of. i haven't actually had ah a chance to do the one-on-one thing with him yet. What did you make of what did you make of ryan Yeah, well, I hope ah hope I have ah a good story for Sounders Chance to read in a couple of days. we We chatted for about half an hour earlier today, and I come away very impressed and sort of intrigued. And again, I don't and don't think there's a lot of use in directly comparing him to to Paul Areola, but it's it's pretty incredible that you have at least a push, and possibly an upgrade, to
00:32:40
Speaker
in a, in a, in just, if we talk a bit in general terms about the winger position after having to scramble, right. To, ah to, to compensate for an a very early, um very um painful and, um and brutal a season ending injury for, for Paul. And it's um it turns out it's ah there's, there's a little bit of an inside connection here. Cause I was, you know, he, Ryan himself
Ryan Kent's MLS Experience and Advice from Gerrard
00:33:05
Speaker
said,
00:33:06
Speaker
He said, I think people will be surprised at some of the clubs that were reaching out because he he had ah hed gone to – first of all, we're talking about a Liverpool wunderkind here. The guy, if you go and go back and Google him. How old was he when he started at Liverpool?
00:33:18
Speaker
age seven. This is a guy who's who's in the Liverpool system from seven to, I believe he was 18 or thereabouts, but and was Klopp favorite. i mean here ah It appears that Jurgen Klopp Steven Gerrard as well, was he he he moved on to Rangers eventually and was was playing under Gerrard and was well-liked by both those managers and I think was really close and, but for maybe a poorly timed injury or two and just ah a ferociously competitive squad in an elite club, not quite getting his chance at Liverpool, but also wanted to play regularly and, and moved on by his own choice to go somewhere in Rangers where he could play and and play in big games and play in Europe and so forth. So,
00:34:01
Speaker
Um, and seem to be, you know, he's an England youth international and, and ah really a star on the rise and then ends up making a move to, to um, to Turkey that, that most definitely did not work out for him that turned into a nightmare rather quickly left him sideline and training on his own for long periods, not playing first team matches for long periods and had his contract, uh, mutually, um,
00:34:24
Speaker
voided and torn up in, I believe it was October of last year, but it part of the terms of this was that he had to wait until the next transfer window to, to make a move. And, and he said he turned down primarily clubs.
00:34:36
Speaker
I didn't know. I didn't that he actually had to, that he was, was forced to sit out for part of that time. And Grant, I'm just going on what what we, you know, the conversation we had and I haven't dug into the minutiae of the deal or whatnot, but um he he had some time to to pick his next move and he he had clubs in, you know, playing in European and UEFA level competitions. had Premier League clubs were interested, but he said that that this opportunity really called to him. He'd been to the U.S. a few times on preseason tours and on holidays and actually talked about MLS with Stevie Gerard, which is kind of, i had to ask, like, how how did that happen?
00:35:11
Speaker
But it just turned out, he you know, just kind of a mentorship thing where he he was having discussions about life and and soccer and his career with Gerard. And Gerard talked about his time and said, you've got to go do this. You know, you've got experience this. interesting. Which is somewhat interesting, right? Because you could very easily imagine Gerard saying something very different because he did not have the best times. Yeah, definitely.
00:35:30
Speaker
In MLS, strictly individual performance level. But apparently it stuck with him enough in a positive way for him to speak positively in that way. And then as it so often does with so many think sounders, Andy Rose enters the picture because he he knew Andy Rose from their time together at Coventry City and many, many moons ago.
00:35:49
Speaker
ah He's had a lone stint, I believe, when he was when he was at Liverpool at Coventry. And so he had someone that he knew and trusted that could give him the rundown on the club and what things are like in the culture. and And so that was what he picked. So that it was a pretty great mid-season reinforcement. um And and there's you know I kind of thought came coming into it, I thought maybe there must have been some element of utility to this for both sides. But it certainly looks like he had options and and wanted to try this. And he seems very... yeah
00:36:20
Speaker
ah very settled and and intrigued by life in Seattle and life in MLS in general. And and he's he's an interesting guy because he he looks in some ways on the pitch, acts looks like a sort of a prototypical English winger, yeah but he doesn't think like one. And he he's made choices to to be different and to to get out of the country and um get away from home and have different experiences and different adventures in his life and his career. And I think that speaks well of him and bodes well for his sounder's future as well as this very promising start he's gotten off to.
00:36:52
Speaker
Yeah, you know, a lot of people, i think, have sort of assumed that this was sort of a last chance saloon type situation where he was down on his luck and he just needed someone to to make an offer.
00:37:07
Speaker
But that doesn't really seem to there's no evidence that that's actually No actual other than circumstantial evidence. There's no no one on any side is saying this. You can watch him play and it doesn't make any sense that this is a guy who just needed someone to give him a chance.
00:37:21
Speaker
It seems to be like and he said this to us when we when we have talked to him that he he just needed someplace that he wanted to. like enjoy his football again, that he wanted to feel unburdened by the expectations that have frankly carried. I think this happens a lot in English football, especially when you become a kind of wonder kin and you are identified at a young age.
00:37:45
Speaker
That that it's it's very helpful, obviously, early on in your career. And then almost as quickly as it's helpful, it can become sort of a negative where you're not living up to the expectation. And now all of a sudden you're this, yeah you know, even if you are a ah good player, you're maybe not meeting meeting the level of expectation that others might have for you.
00:38:05
Speaker
And it starts to become sort of a yoke that hangs around a player's net, a weight that they're carrying from one place to the next. And it seems like that was kind of behind what he wanted to do when he went to Turkey, which was to kind of get out of that particular – maybe that that particular – light and go somewhere else and instead it became even in worse in some ways because he wasn't getting the minutes that he he was hoping he had some I think he had some injury issues there as well but he he definitely wasn't seeing eye to eye with management and he really fell out of favor and it became like a kind of an ugly situation but what I appreciated about him is that he does seem really genuine in the idea that he just wants to sort of
00:38:44
Speaker
play like he just wants to have fun like he just wants to and and so nothing about him being here strikes me as look I'm just I just need some place to get my career back on on track and then I'm going to get out of here as soon as I can Yeah, I don't know ah you know. We'll see. And maybe he'll be in a fundamentally different negotiating position in a few months or a year's end.
00:39:05
Speaker
um But he he did say also that ah Club World Cup is a factor here. and And while I know many listeners and probably you and I as well have a a fairly – checkered outlook on this tournament.
00:39:23
Speaker
It is still a massive event that it puts every participating club in a different sort of spotlight. And it certainly seems to have played a role in his decision to come to Seattle because he knew you'd get get this experience. And it's not just, it's a it's a ah big stage upon which individuals can show themselves, organizations can can show themselves and introduce themselves to the world and to new audiences.
00:39:46
Speaker
And you get to play against players you may never otherwise go up against in person and in in a competitive match. So I think, you know, as much as as easy as it's been to dog on that, but you know, yeah it certainly seems to ah least been a one of several recruiting factors in this one, which is which is kind of fun.
00:40:04
Speaker
Yeah, no, it it does seem it's been kind of a a neat thing. And I also just appreciate he has a ah personality that doesn't strike me as the typical Englishman. We have not had a ton of typical English play. You know, Andy Rose is is one of the more prominent Englishmen who have played here. And even Andy Rose is not a typical Englishman in part because he went to college in the United States and he is almost as much American at this point as he is English in terms of his sort of general outlook.
00:40:35
Speaker
But, uh, That little connection there did – it was – part of what I found interesting about that connection is that their time at Coventry did not actually overlap that much.
00:40:46
Speaker
I don't know that they actually played in a game together, but clearly they had some level of connection because Andy wasn't just a nameless, faceless former teammate. He was apparently someone who – Kent felt comfortable taking some level of feedback from in terms of like vouching for the Sounders of nothing, if nothing else.
00:41:09
Speaker
Yeah, which is, again, you you never
MLS Travel Demands and Cultural Exploration
00:41:11
Speaker
know, right? It's a... ah football world can be big, big and and global and huge. And it can also be very, feel like a small neighborhood in some ways where, where where with gossip and rumors and personal you know networking is so important. And um he, i thought some of the most striking stuff that, that Kent said was about just, he, he sounds very happy here because he, i think he feels that the relationships and the interactions he's had with, with everyone at the club are just,
00:41:41
Speaker
more straightforward and sincere than what he dealt with in in Turkey. And I think he's, he was at a big club in Turkey, but things turned really quickly. he sort of, he was made to train on his own. And he, at some point when things went bad, there was, you know, significant organizational heft was thrown into sort of making him feel unwelcome and, and the political aspects of a big club really graded on him. And I think we can say from afar, like, you know, became this, um,
00:42:14
Speaker
this cul-de-sac in his career that he had to navigate his way out of. So I'm sure there's, there's a number of, of factors that have some, some element of fortune to them for him to wind up here. But it's at this point now, I mean just looks like a great, a really great signing because it's, it's, it's all the things we talked about. And then his, his particular toolkit is really seems to be well-examined.
00:42:36
Speaker
well-adapted or well-suited to MLS. And I think it's the type of player that maybe the Sounders seem needed in terms of just that, the directness as well as the skill that he has and and and the ability to to to execute in a physically powerful way, in in a repeatable way. And then it seems like he's got the durability to deal with turf and long travel and all these other uniquely MLS ah challenges.
00:43:00
Speaker
Yeah, did he happen to, did you talk to him about the travel situation? he had, had, I guess, mentioned after the Portland game that he had never, like that week, ended the the game that ended in Portland was his third road game that week.
00:43:14
Speaker
He had traveled, i don't know, something like 5,600 miles all, all in. And he, he had mentioned how he had never been anything like that. And I, I went and looked it up and he had never taken a road trip. That was like even half that long in his entire career. And that's, you know, playing in European competition and everything else. And it, uh,
00:43:32
Speaker
i do I do sometimes think that the the travel element of MLS is sometimes you can tell people, like, no, these are long trips. And then there's the reality that it's like, no, like every game is like playing European competition. Every road game is like playing in Europe.
00:43:46
Speaker
yeah I didn't get into the deep into this, but it is – it's such a learning curve and it's, it is a, ah it's a physiological and psychological ah line item that just some, some players can deal with some can't, but you know, you've got to be able to roll off a plane and, and get yourself together to play at a high level in a way that's,
00:44:08
Speaker
I mean, maybe they'd have to do that in Russia too, maybe Brazil. like There's just not that many places that ask this of you. so um But I think the most successful players, and he see yeah have this sort of and he seems to have this this this sense of sort of intrigue and wonder at it rather than annoyance, which again is not traditionally English, right? Because some some guys just can't get their head around...
00:44:32
Speaker
this completely different way of doing things that that probably seems ludicrous if you come from a sort of – if you have a Eurocentrism or an Anglo-centrism to you, whether explicit or implicit, ah you know it's going to be harder to harder to get your head around it. But if you look at it as like – and he's he seems like a guy who's into American culture in general. He was wearing ah a Yankees hat when we talked. Yeah, he that seems to be a staple for him. We're going to have work with him up.
00:44:57
Speaker
work with the moment Yeah, exactly. ah But that helps too, right? Because it's at the end of the day, if you have an interest in sort of this, whatever this next city that you touched on. The American project, as they say. Yeah.
00:45:10
Speaker
Yeah. And I think you have to love that part because because if you if you like to travel, this might be the league for you. Yeah, exactly. Well, we're going to take a break. We're going come back and do a little bit bigger of a picture. where We are going to get into some of the centers upcoming schedule and sort of the Western conference in general.
00:45:27
Speaker
ah But you're listening to Nos Adietes.
00:45:32
Speaker
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00:45:45
Speaker
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00:45:58
Speaker
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00:46:14
Speaker
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00:46:25
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Arietes. So we are going to zoom out a little bit more and talk about some of the upcoming opponents that the Sounders have, some of the the Western Conference at large.
San Diego FC: Newcomer Success and Challenges
00:46:36
Speaker
So first up is San Diego FC. This is a game that is being played for some reason at 5.30 p.m. on a Wednesday. This is as far as I know, the first time the Sounders have ever kicked off a midweek game at home before 7 o'clock.
00:46:50
Speaker
Apparently on purpose. I don't, we have done some investigation into this. I'm fascinated by it. This might be kind of an interesting little, yeah we see this in baseball all the time where they play like afternoon games in the middle of the week, usually for travel reasons. But don't know. you You've been to many. This isn't a Cascadia bank holiday. There's not, there's not some local holiday up there you guys have. No, it's very strange. Yeah, exactly. That would be funny if it was sort of like a flag day or whatever. What's the thing in Boston that they do that no one else celebrates?
00:47:20
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I'm blanking on it now. Patriot Day or something like that? Yeah, yeah. That sounds right. ah there there we I mean, in D.C., ah ah Juneteenth, is ah which is coming up, is a big day. It's like a state. yeah It's a district holiday. And so um that that that would be a fun one. Although I i always remember also there was this infamous experiment that the Red Bulls did.
00:47:42
Speaker
I think we're going back a decade or so where in mid summer in June or July, they did a camp day. So they had like, it was a Wednesday game that kicked off at like one o'clock or something. And it was like, okay.
00:47:53
Speaker
ah killed The stadium was like all soccer camps. It was like children, just a children's day at the stadium. They're all like there as part of this Red Bull soccer camp week or whatever.
00:48:05
Speaker
And they i they they just like the the players, of course, were, and think, somewhat annoyed to be be playing under the the the daytime sun. But, you know, they it's possible that they you could argue they got a better crowd than they would have gotten it at 730 on Wednesday, you know, otherwise. was I'd definitely recommend it.
00:48:23
Speaker
There's not a lot of examples of full Red Bull Arena, and so unfortunately. Yes, but but fans and pundits tend to take a dim view of these sort of things. But I hope that you guys can can dig up a little bit of a backstory because there there has to be one.
00:48:37
Speaker
There has to be one. Yeah, there and I think it... My understanding, one theory I've heard posited by people who are not part of the ticketing office, but who are involved in the centers, they think it might just be a, people said we wanted they wanted us to try some so different stuff. This is one of those experiments. And it's like like a happy hour type of a deal where it's like, hey, just get right off of work and come in.
00:48:59
Speaker
i don't know. We'll see if it works. i think they I do feel like maybe there was a Champions League game or something that kicked off pretty early too. but we're getting a little ah far afield at this point of what I want to talk about, which was... I hope there's drink specials. go you know Go get day drunk before the sun goes down. right Exactly.
00:49:17
Speaker
the best of it. Make it a day. If I was not covering this game, I would have been really tempted to like use this as an ah opportunity to go to the game with a... you know with so To go to the game when I wouldn't normally be able to go because I'd have to put my kids to bed.
00:49:32
Speaker
And you can be home by 9 o'clock on a game like this. I think that's pretty sweet on a weekday. But ah neither here nor there. ah San Diego FC...
00:49:43
Speaker
is coming to town. They thumped the Sounders 3-0 in the first meeting. They are... I think we can call them the surprise of the season, can't we? I know that pundits were sort of split on how likely they were, but I don't know that anyone really saw... i mean, they've been up in the top few of the West almost all season. They are currently second in the West.
00:50:05
Speaker
And they they're doing it with a style and a confidence that even... I think even at their best, St. Louis City, when they were on that expansion year, when they won the West, I don't think they ever looked quite this put together.
00:50:23
Speaker
When LAFC went on their run in 2017, I don't... Maybe that's the most comparable thing, but this just feels... A little different in part because they aren't doing it with all these superstars. They have ah they kind of like everyone that's there other than maybe Chucky Lozano was very specifically picked for the role they needed them to play within this larger system.
00:50:48
Speaker
And it and it's working really well for them. Yeah, and we have to say too, this is an organization that plans to be sort of a kids FC in the long run, right? They're they're they're spending, i don't i don't know how compares to it. I just heard a piece about Philly's big new um academy infrastructure um you know upgrades. they they've They spent something like $55 million or more on centralizing their whole campus, like the whole academy operation, the school operation.
00:51:16
Speaker
Multiple training fields, indoor stuff is all at Subaru Park now on the riverside there. And I think San Diego probably, ah my guess is they're they're spending even more. A big part of it is they they didn't have to build their own stadium, right? they They're sharing Snapdragon, which is already there.
00:51:31
Speaker
um But they're spending big on building a residential academy facility and they they want to grow their own. They want to recruit. Mexican and US kids from both sides of the border. they want to They want to bring in kids from elsewhere in the Right to Dream Network. So this is going to be an academy-centered club eventually.
00:51:47
Speaker
So I was thinking that there probably just would be an awkward learning curve until they got there, but they've made a mockery of that. and i think I think there was a lot of interest about how this team was going to look, but I don't think there was very high expectations for results. and Granted, we're still early in the expansion you know lifespan in the sense that that there there will be a wall. and They hit a little bit of a wall, I guess it was in April, but they sort of recovered from that.
00:52:12
Speaker
and Again, what it comes down to is – touching in on you know this the Sounders theme from earlier – is control. They're controlling games. they're not you know There was a chaotic element to the press that that St. Louis was just ambushing teams with. and It worked very well, but it and ultimately was not sustainable. i mean they They sort of tailed off ah in the fall and then and then cratered in the postseason that first year and have been trying to get back to that level ever since.
00:52:38
Speaker
And with San Diego, they're doing stuff at a really high ah level in terms of ah patterns of play. i mean i'm Joe Lowry over at Backheeled picked out a moment from one of their goals um over the weekend. And we're talking about how, you know, the one of the, I think their number six, Vrtzkov,
00:52:59
Speaker
rotates into basically ah the striker's position to to play the pass that leads to their goal, to Luca De La Torre's goal. And it's like to to have the collective understanding, right, for for him to recognize that and for everyone else to play off it that quickly in the run of play, this is impressive, right? And this is...
00:53:17
Speaker
especially when you compare it to Norman MLS, right? And this league is getting a lot more tactical. There's a lot, there's a ton of high level ideas and players and coaches nowadays. So it's, it's vastly improved over the last decade, but still rare to see a team do, do what they're doing week in, week out and have the composure and the control. I mean, there's, there's a little bit of Columbus crew here.
00:53:37
Speaker
There's a little bit of, you could argue, maybe there's some Seattle or LA galaxy, peak you know, at their peak kind of um levels of understanding and and meshing the talent. um But it's amazing. and i I interviewed Anders Dreyer little while back for a feature story, and it was he's been a big part of this. I think you know they've they've only got two DPs around the 2-4 model, and he and Chuky are these sort of bookend wingers who both are inverted, and the idea is for them to um combine with each other and understand each other well, and then and then have runners around them, and then also have the nine that that where they can all interpret stuff together.
00:54:14
Speaker
And it's considering that there's a pretty disparate group, right? You've got this Danish influence from, um from North Jalen, the club that they're affiliated with in, in Denmark. And then you have these kind of kids they've accumulated from all over MLS and beyond. And then Chucky, you know has, is Mexican international, but also has a lot of European pedigree.
00:54:33
Speaker
And apparently he's, he's, his English is good because Dreyer said he hasn't had to learn much, much Spanish. you know It's like that they're communicating English and they're, they're on the same page much earlier than I expected. Yeah.
00:54:44
Speaker
Yeah, they they are. Again, it's not just the results that are so impressive. Those results are impressive, but it's it's the way that they're getting them. But one thing they haven't really had, you know, I'm looking at their schedule right now, and there's a few things that they haven't necessarily, few tests that they haven't quite passed yet. Now, and it should be said, they've so far basically passed every test that you can throw their way.
00:55:09
Speaker
But one of the tests that they haven't really had to do is they haven't had to play on the road on short rest yet. which will So this will be the first time that they've played on the road on short rest. They also haven't really... and don't know if they have a...
00:55:22
Speaker
a truly signature win on the road yet. They, they did beat RSL or in the season, which let's be honest is something the Sounders have not done in a long, long time. So it's, I don't want to under undersell the, the value of a road win against RSL, but you know most of their, their, their road wins have been against lower table teams.
00:55:43
Speaker
ah So this is a big, is I mean, it's a big test for the Sounders ah also, but it's also a big test for, for San Diego, Do you, I mean, is that, are these legitimate tests, I guess I'm asking or these things that they need to, that they'll sort of need to check off to be considered elite or are they already, have they already sort of checked that box?
Minnesota and Vancouver: Defensive Tactics and Champions Cup
00:56:03
Speaker
I think the sample size is big enough now we're 15 games in that we can say that they've, um, you know, they're not a flash in the pan, but yeah things get real in this, right It's still, we just had Labor Day weekend.
00:56:16
Speaker
Things are about to get real for everyone, especially if you're a Western team and you have to go to Texas and you have to start dealing with, with altitude and, and, and stuff like that. So, so they're at Seattle, they're home against Austin. Then they got to go to Minnesota, Vancouver, and Dallas in quick succession and yeah thiss coming month.
00:56:33
Speaker
So, you know, don't we know Minnesota are quite good, especially at home. We know Vancouver are um an absolute wagon this year going to Frisco on June 28th. It's going to be a juicy one there. And that's that's a different kind of challenge. There's a different sort of mental.
00:56:49
Speaker
ah demand that that ah ah those 100 degree days in Dallas as ah as a native Texan, I can i can attest. ah you know the And then the summertime grind kicks in where there's a lot of matches.
00:57:01
Speaker
there' There's going to be international call-ups. um You're going to have to be, i think, maybe a little more pragmatic at times. not that I don't think they can do that. I give credit actually for how good they've been in transition. I mean, they have absolutely murdered some teams in transition, so they know how to counter.
00:57:18
Speaker
They killed. i mean, the in the first meeting, two of their three goals came out of transition moments and not in, you know, it was funny. The narrative in that game was, oh, the Sounders press didn't work and they got pressed to into submission by san Diego. But if you actually go back and look at the the main moments of that game, it was just San Diego going from,
00:57:38
Speaker
defense to attack in a, in a, in a snap and they did it, you know, a lot. They wasn't just the two goals that they got. They, they actually were tearing the Sounders up in the, on the counter attack. Uh, but go on. I'm sorry. i i I interjected there. Yeah, no, no worries. Uh, but the other thing that I think matters a lot is again, on a level impressive considering this is his first, uh,
00:57:59
Speaker
stint, this his first year as a head coach of a first team. Mikey Varas seems to have built a pretty good collective. They've they've got a belief in it. he's ah Dreyer talked about the attraction that he had towards this, you know, being part of an expansion project and being the first for everything and how much Varas kind of drives that home, this idea that everything we're doing, like we're setting the culture for the future. We're building something that's going to, that's going to live on after us. And we're the, you know, we're the ones that are doing it. And I think there's something that's something you um fairly unique to MLS and, or definitely to North American soccer in general, that I think is very interesting. we maybe take, take for granted a little bit, some of that stuff, just when we're immersed in the league and and we're, we're locals because,
00:58:47
Speaker
the they really feel a sense of pride, I think. and And there's something very special about being the first to do it. And so, you know, when you look, I think Matt Doyle posted the video of Chucky Lozano absolutely busting his ass on a 70-yard recovery run the other day. i think he closed down, he was in the Galaxy game.
00:59:09
Speaker
um He may have closed down Diego Fagundes to snuff out a transition. On a yellow card, you you know run 70 yards at a full sprint, most of it, and and then get stuck in to to to get the turnover and get the ball going back the other way.
00:59:23
Speaker
you know When you have a high-paid, high-visibility star designated player doing that, it just says a lot, and it it really does trickle down. so Again, this is going to be hard to sustain. There are there are walls, I think, waiting for them.
00:59:37
Speaker
Man, they're just so far ahead of the curve right now. Yeah, they they really are. it's And it is impressive to see. And, know, Varus has is has has some you know hes he's gotten a lot of praise from b Brian Schmetzer.
00:59:51
Speaker
ah You know, the Sounders kind of had some relationship with him because he was the coach of the U-20s, I believe, during the World Cup called there you world cup qualification process where Obed Vargas was getting called in and And Reed Baker Whiting was sort of involved in that in that cohort of players and whatnot.
01:00:11
Speaker
So it's been kind of an interesting... you know It's just been very interesting to watch from a distance and and and very impressive. And then after that, the Sounders play... ah the the The next three... So the Sounders...
01:00:24
Speaker
Next three games are against the top three teams in the West. It goes San Diego, then home against Minnesota, and then on the road against Vancouver, and then they go into the Club World Cup. Minnesota has been another team who... I mean, all these three of these teams really have been big so pretty big surprises, I think.
01:00:41
Speaker
ah Minnesota, another team who... i think... most would have said were on the verge of doing something good, but not necessarily special.
01:00:52
Speaker
And here they are sitting, you know, almost halfway through the season, right there at the top of the the Western Conference and doing it in a way that... is it interesting, I think, is maybe ah the best way of putting it. This is a team that doesn't really want the ball, but they are leaning into the fact that they have a lot of players who are good in transition, and they are just gashing teams on on the counter, and they and they have a pretty aggressive defense. I think it it's maybe been... ah There's maybe ah a little bit of a misperception that they're sort of a bunker and counter team, but it's not so much a bunker and counter. They are a pretty aggressive defensive team,
01:01:30
Speaker
but the degree to which they don't want the ball is kind of, it's an interesting contrast with San Diego who really does want the ball a lot. Yeah. And, uh,
01:01:42
Speaker
And and i think I think they know, I mean, Doyle has has um has banged the drum about this. There is still a limitation here that the teams that generally win things in this league um have to have another club in the bag. There has to be some way that you can get your foot on the ball and and control things in a different way.
01:02:00
Speaker
But they just they haven't had to. And, and and you know, i I watched and covered and wrote about their ambush of Inter-Miami, which was possibly kind of like a...
01:02:11
Speaker
ah ah ah like dictionary definition ah demonstration of the strengths of this of the system where I think they finished the game with, It was it was it may have been less than 30 percent possession, um but more expected goals.
01:02:28
Speaker
They just trounced Miami. they They exploited all the weaknesses like Miami had tons of ball, but they were they were slipshod. Twenty seven percent possession, by the way, they had twenty seven percent in that game.
01:02:40
Speaker
And they had a they had they more than doubled Miami's XG. Right, with a long throw, with set pieces. And, ah you know, it was just, it was amazing. I mean, it was like, it was it was a it was um uncut, like raw, just incredible and MLS-ness because like the scale of the humbling was was was so strong and that the the collective satisfaction that Minnesota with like, I think they've really, I think that the I know a lot of the fans that they would like to see a little bit more proactive soccer at times. And, but they're just like, there's, there's such a clear sense of self that, that where that club connects into the identity of the community and, and they've got a great supporter culture and they were just enjoying the hell out of this, you know, disassembling of Messi's Miami.
01:03:28
Speaker
But even at that, after that, Michael Boxall, who's an incredible quote, as well as being of a very dependable center back and a set piece threat. He said, look, I get, I get pissed off. When we can't connect, you know, three, four passes to get out of our own end, like we know we can do some things different.
01:03:44
Speaker
We know we can be better with the ball, but I think they're there. They've really honed their, their ability to get forward quickly to get out of their own end. um Like field tilt,
01:03:57
Speaker
is they can control field tilt in such a fundamentally different way than let's say the Sounders do because um with the, usually it's, whether it's kind of a ah three, four, two, one or a, or a three, five, two kind of look, they have different kind of interpretations, but the generally they have two front runners and Oluwache in particular is just,
01:04:17
Speaker
and an outstanding player in transition. I mean, he can he can get on the end of things. He also set things sets things up. He's great with his back to goal. um They're just so clever at being direct in in a precise, calculated way. it is This is not necessarily route one, although you will see the route one from them. Sometimes they are surgically precise often in how they get from defense into attack.
01:04:41
Speaker
And it requires, i think, a lot of collective attention organization and mental acuity and mental focus about the ah on the part of the opposition to understand what's happening and to be able to deal with it in time.
01:04:53
Speaker
Yeah, they ah it is sort of an impressive thing that they're doing. I've talked to Doyle about this on the show a few times. And one of the things that I think is fascinating, though, is going back through the history of, you know, we have data on possession that goes back to about 2015, believe.
01:05:11
Speaker
And there is no examples of teams that have had less than 44% possession. And I mean, literally no examples of teams that have averaged something like maybe it's 43%, but it's low forties, but over 40, right?
01:05:25
Speaker
That, and, and this is bad teams. This is good teams. This is just across the board right now. ah Minnesota is averaging like 38%. They're on pace to have one of the, just by a large margin,
01:05:40
Speaker
the fewest number of completed, essentially what that means. They've just, they don't complete a lot of passes and they're, they're going to complete something like 60 fewer passes per game than like the next least team in MLS, at least from the, you know, the 10 years of data or so that we have.
01:05:57
Speaker
And I mean, I guess it's sustainable on some level because they've been doing it now for almost half of a season, but there does fall. there's, it does seem like they're playing with fire a little bit. And that at some point, even the best counterattacking teams need to be able to hold the ball a little bit. You know, and this last week, they, they got 54% possession, which was the season, high the season high for them.
01:06:24
Speaker
It was a one, one tie against Austin. And, And I don't know. I don't know that the Sounders are going to change their approach, but it it is a fast. I mean, it's just I don't even know if there's a anything to say. It's just a ah fascinating approach.
01:06:37
Speaker
And it's and it's sort of like just, you know, take this this concept to its its logical conclusion and see what it looks like. And, you know, ah it's it'll be interesting to see how it how it goes.
01:06:51
Speaker
I mean, this is a league where scouting um always sort of pulls you back, right? Teams get found out. Right. You do something well enough for long enough that there's a data set that can be analyzed and broken down. And then, you know, your opponents will eventually find ah find the cracks and exploit them.
01:07:09
Speaker
that they haven't really been pushed out of their comfort zone yet. And they may, they may still, but when you're this good at this sort of certain facet of the game, I think it makes you an inherently dangerous tournament team and the playoffs are a tournament.
01:07:24
Speaker
And i would not be the least bit surprised if they, if they dip back towards the mean for substantial periods of the next, you know, six months or whatever it is, five months. And then, but then still can have this club in their bag for when you know The games are played in 90-minute increments and everything that's happened up till then is just the prelude. and and I would be very leery of having to deal with that team in a one-game situation or a three-game situation where that they they they can absorb pressure so comfortably for so long.
01:07:56
Speaker
Yeah, ah well, the the last group the last team I wanted to to pick your brain about is the Vancouver Whitecaps, who are frankly one of the, maybe the most fascinating team to be talking about ah right now.
01:08:07
Speaker
They're going to be playing in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final on Sunday. ah So that, I ah guess that is... Is that the yeah, that that'll be the last game that they have played when they face the Sounders is the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
01:08:22
Speaker
ah They do get, you know, they that's good for them to get a whole week off, ah regardless of what happens in that game. So that's that probably is good for them. I don't think there's not a Canadian championship. It's crazy that they're playing they're playing Minnesota tomorrow at midweek, which is like, that's a wild scheduling thing considering the league has often ah helped out the the deep runs that teams have made in CCC or CCL.
01:08:45
Speaker
And I think that's one of the most fascinating things about this run that they're on is that when, you know, when the Sounders went on their CONCACAF Champions League run, I don't know if you know this, but the Sounders are actually the only um MLS team to have won that title ah in the modern era of the tournament. It's not, no one talks about it, but ah yeah we do like to remind people.
01:09:05
Speaker
of that yeah But it was the Sounders got a lot of help scheduling-wise in that tournament. they they had They moved a bunch of games so that they didn't have to do what Vancouver is doing right now, which is especially... it is almost comical that MLS did not move this game ah for for Vancouver.
01:09:25
Speaker
And then... They're going to be missing nine players for international duty when they face the Sounders. It does. it's so it's probably going to be the best test. test That said, let's talk a little bit about what they've managed to accomplish this year.
01:09:41
Speaker
They have gone through basically the most difficult path they could possibly go through to get to this point. They have beat ah multiple Mexican teams, Liga Mekis teams.
01:09:53
Speaker
They beat Inter Miami, who of course was you know one of the most on paper talented and MLS teams and in league history, who is coming off a ah record-breaking supporter shield run.
01:10:06
Speaker
So they have been done no favors from scheduling. They've been done no favors in terms of luck of the draw. They have all along maintained a supporter shield pace in the league, which again, basically unprecedented. This is not ah Even for, you know, say what you will, but the Sounders had a great run. I think ah all kidding aside, I think sometimes we undersell what the Sounders had to do, but they were not on a supporters. They certainly were not on a supportership run. I believe they were actually off to a kind of a ah ah a rough start in the, in the MLS regular season.
01:10:41
Speaker
And then on top of that, they've also been playing Canadian championship games. They're on pace to play something like 55 games, I believe before, They're even, you know, before we, it's assuming they don't even, or they're not playing, and they're not playing in Leagues Cup.
01:10:57
Speaker
ah And that's before you you count playoff games. This is an outrageous amount of mileage they're putting on, an outrageous amount of minutes they're playing.
01:11:09
Speaker
They're playing an almost unprecedented ah level of competition. And yet, talk about tests. They are passing every test with, not just flying. I mean, they they are acing every test that gets thrown on their way.
01:11:23
Speaker
All the while they, they lost their big designated player acquisition before the season even started. And, uh, you know, so all Brian white did is rip off the cart Clark clank glasses and, and, uh, and show up as Superman. Yeah.
01:11:40
Speaker
Yeah, and they lost they lost one DP ah but in the winter, and then they they've had they've been absent. And then they Ryan Gold on top it. You're right. player yeah Most of the season, and we were hoping that maybe he'd be fit enough to at least play a role in the final here on you know because he's reached the end of this slated projected recovery time for the knee injury. Yeah.
01:12:02
Speaker
I don't know whether they're just keeping things hush hush or if he just isn't quite there yet. There's been very little coming out. If he's training, they're keeping it under wraps. So it remains to be seen, but probably not much, if anything, from from Ryan Gald. And they're going to have to do ah reach the final, beat the final boss in Cruz Azul on Sunday without Sebastian Berhalter, who's been their their breakout.
01:12:27
Speaker
One of many, but probably the first among the breakouts, individual stories. I've never seen anything like it. It's, ah it's incredible. And this, and we have to remember, this is a team that was, by the way, first year,
01:12:40
Speaker
Like on top of everything else, they have a the coach who has never been in MLS. ah Never been in North America. he had lived in Toronto a bit while his wife was doing – she's an oncologist if remembering correctly.
01:12:52
Speaker
Yes, for Sorensen's wife. and so So he knew a little bit about North American culture and had lived here – and briefly but had never worked here before. it's It's truly remarkable. and and then what And then everything we're talking about, it is eclipsed. And then some, when you actually watch the games, they're digging deep. They're overcoming the stuff that no MLS team has ever done. i mean, we saw the Sounders produce some real magic in that 22-day CCL run, but they were getting absolutely, you know, either demolished or just trading water at best in the league. Right. And they eventually didn't make the playoffs and every, granted, it like it's the only time that it's happened in their MLS existence.
01:13:33
Speaker
It's okay. It's still worth it. You still take that deal every time i get all that. Uh, But the for the set for for the Whitecaps to on a supporter shield pace, I mean, no one no one saw that coming, let alone doing it while making a ah CCC run without so many of the key players with such an incredibly ah aesthetically pleasing, assertive, proactive game model where they they're doing you know they're out-possessing, out-passing some of the best teams on the continent.
01:14:05
Speaker
It's just, it's amazing. And there's, and again, you mentioned the travel every year, know, white caps are, are always first in the, in terms of the the travel miles in MLS, just because of their geographic location.
01:14:17
Speaker
and And then you look at going – they've gone to Costa Rica. They've gone to Mexico twice. In CCC, they've had to go to Miami, which is like – It doesn't get longer MLS. ah It's just – it's incredible. And i've I was told today that the nine international call-ups are going to leave straight from Mexico.
Sounders and Whitecaps: Rivalry and Market Challenges
01:14:36
Speaker
so So, yes, a highly underhanded group that the Sounders get to play. so But, like, they came back from, i think it was one of the league, I think it was when they, mean, I think the high point, yeah you can say that, that you know,
01:14:56
Speaker
beating Miami in both legs and to do so as emphatically as it did was, was maybe the high point. But for me, it was ah going to Mexico city at high altitude, playing, meeting a result and having only drawn in the home leg,
01:15:11
Speaker
And coming back, you know, keeping pace with Pumas and then taking a, I believe it was 88th minute equalizer that was, that was the aggregate winner for Pumas. And then to go back and get into the box and injury time and have your center back, Tristan Blackman, ah score your winner with an absolute banger roof of the net type thing. I mean,
01:15:34
Speaker
it's It's like, and and remember too, on top of all of this, and I know I'm prattling on here, but no it was widely perceived by the local marketplace that this team was going to get moved.
01:15:44
Speaker
The doom and gloom when they announced in the winter that this team was going to be put up for sale was incredible. I remember thinking, mean, and I think it's something about Canada. Granted, they have the example of the Grizzlies, the NBA's Grizzlies were very painful and there was a lot of duplicitousness.
01:16:01
Speaker
on the part of ownership in terms of the lead up to them moving to Memphis. But every Canadian market, I think that has a U S based league in it, a team in the U S based league is convinced that, you know, that any team, any market in in the U S because the exchange rate and the medium marketplace and so forth is, is going to be superior to them. And people were saying they're going to be the Indianapolis white caps. I mean, I was getting, people were telling me this, you know, this gloomy kind of outlook on things. And I talked to actual Schuster for a big feature I did about,
01:16:30
Speaker
about this story a few weeks ago. And he was talking about how kind of frustrating it was that no matter what they said, no matter how much they emphasize that nothing like that was in the current plans and granted people can change, you know, the stuff that yeah remains to be seen, who's going to buy the organization and so forth.
01:16:46
Speaker
But for all, as, as far as we can tell, yeah know, and MLS wisely, I think realizes this is a world city. This is a, uh, this is a place where they need to be. This is a place where the, um,
01:16:57
Speaker
a big corporate presence, a lot of money in that city, incredibly dyed-in-the-wool football and culture, and all those things matter, right? And you're seeing it. I mean, when I interviewed Sebastian Berhalter a few weeks ago, he said, I think it was in the first leg of the Miami series, when the Southsiders did a TIFO that said, you've...
01:17:17
Speaker
um Sorry, I'm paraphrasing. i may I may not nail it, but he basically, you you've allowed us to dream again. And he said, I had to compose myself in the in the pregame anthem lineup when I read that because i got he got emotional that that there was that sort of connection between the fans. And these those fans have... have live through some stuff, right? I mean, compared especially to the Sounders fans who generally had things pretty good in MLS, Whitecaps have gotten kicked around.
01:17:43
Speaker
They've had scandal. They've had disappointment. They've had ah coaching relationships turn sour. You know, they've had players, want away players. They've had all kinds of, they've every aspect, negative aspect, I think of the MLS experience you can, you can have and in the decade plus they've been around. So it's just beautiful to see them, the the team, the,
01:18:02
Speaker
The organization and the city just kind of vibe in this way. Yeah. You know, I've been saying, obviously I'm a little closer to this than, you know, than you, I guess, but I, I think Vancouver is a world-class city. I don't think I'm going, I'm saying anything crazy by saying that it's ah that it's a world-class city. i have all along said that this is like one of the sleeping giants in North America, in North American soccer. Like they are like the Vancouver market is a very soccer savvy market. They understand,
01:18:33
Speaker
ah they understand the game. They understand the sport. They, they understand what the white caps are. And I think in some ways that's maybe hurt the white cap specifically because they have a fan that there's a lot of soccer fans there, but there's a lot of soccer fans that are committed to other teams already.
01:18:50
Speaker
And I think that sometimes they get unfairly, you know, like, know, like when in Seattle, for whatever reason, no one, there's not a huge number of people who are comparing us to the premier league all the time.
01:19:01
Speaker
Whereas I get the sense that, and and maybe it's because it's Canada and it's just sort of, ah it's culturally closer to to England. But there I do feel like that the Whitecaps sort of suffer that comparison and they've not helped themselves by being an aggressively mediocre at best team for most of their existence. and this And so it's, you know, you see how many people showed up to to watch the Champions Cup final or ah semi-final against England.
01:19:30
Speaker
Miami where they, I believe they sold out, they completely sold out, uh, BC place, which was an amazing place to amazing thing to see. Cause that is a venue that can be amazing on its day. And it's going to be a little sad for me personally, if they end up moving out of downtown and they, and they moved to this, um I believe it's empire field where they, they played their first season or the grounds of empire field where they played their first season on the old, think old expo,
01:19:58
Speaker
ah or the old fairgrounds in any case. And it's not in downtown and and I'm sure it'll be great, but i i will be a little sad if they end up moving. Cause I do think BC place has a lot of potential to be like a really great venue in MLS, but I'm, I'm also really hopeful that this does like, I, even though they are rivals, I, I, I think, you know, today there was a a funny little line at the end of the press conference with Brian sch Spencer, where you, they asked him about, you know, what, what his interests will be in watching.
01:20:28
Speaker
ah both the Champions League final where Inter Milan is playing PSG. PSG, of course, will be playing the Sounders in the Club World Cup.
01:20:39
Speaker
And then on Sunday, watching Cruz Azul play the Whitecaps and, of course, knowing that the Sounders are going to be playing Whitecaps. And he just said, he's like, look, we're all a fan of Canada. And then he he took a pause and kind of hoping that the cameras turned off. And he said, unlike ah unlike our president...
01:20:57
Speaker
And it was just kind of this funny line where it's like, I do think that the Sounders as an organization just fundamentally view the Whitecaps differently. and And anyway, I don't know why the point of that was other than to share that little anecdote. Third wheel no more, right?
01:21:11
Speaker
Right, exactly. i mean, that's always been the third wheel accusation of Cascadia. Absolutely. I mean, it's and it's and I think it's it's ah it's an act. It's true also to a degree. Like, I just don't think anyone feels the antipathy for the Whitecaps that that the Sounders and and Timbers feel for each other. That's that's for sure.
01:21:29
Speaker
And anyway, so it's it's just fascinating to see. I'm sure Ryan Gold will come back just in time for the Sounders game and probably put up a hat trick and just and carry them to victory because that's the way this Whitecaps season is going.
01:21:41
Speaker
But, you know, you just look at their last game and here they were. They give up two early goals to RSL. It's on the road. You know, they have bigger fish to fry. What do they pack it in?
01:21:53
Speaker
Who cares? Right. And what do they do? They come out i'll meet to yeah at altitude and then they they tie it up before halftime. Even Brian White gets a brace before halftime.
01:22:04
Speaker
and then And then Pedro Vitae comes in with a 90-minute winner that seems to just be sort of illustrative of this team right now. They just, you cannot count them out. You you talk about the the the ah the Pumas game.
01:22:18
Speaker
That was probably the one game this year where they've been outplayed pretty significantly. Like they were, and and when Pumas scored that goal, it did feel like, oh, it was a nice it was a nice run that they they had. and And then five minutes later, here's Tristan Blackman pulling a goal out of absolutely nowhere.
01:22:37
Speaker
And they do seem to- And, you know, I think I trailed off. Did I even say earlier, like the the credible thing is they come back home and they all they all said afterwards they were exhausted and they gave Austin five goals three days later.
01:22:51
Speaker
ah right or Maybe it was so two days later, whatever it was. say The flight gets in from Mexico at two in the morning. And they, they, when Austin has, you know, up to that point in particular, was, and is a, a respectable defensive unit and they absolutely torched them at BC place. So ah yeah, you gotta love it. You know, again, this, this game's capacity to surprise is a wonderful thing about it.
01:23:15
Speaker
Yeah. It's in it in it. And I would say that the white caps more than any other team this year have been springing these surprises and sort of like, reminding everyone that it's not about the names on the front of the jersey or it's not it's not about the names on the back of jersey heck it might not even be about the name on the front of the jersey it's just sometimes they got to have a belief in what they're doing and they they do seem to have this level of belief that is ah frankly amazing and very impressive and you know i wish them the worst of luck when when the sounders play them but i can't help but admire what they're doing
01:23:50
Speaker
as long as they're not facing the Sounders. And unlike if the Timbers were... like when i I was on Scuffed a few weeks ago, and they asked me what my rooting interest was in the CONCACAF Championship Final, and I said, I'm rooting for the Whitecaps. I love to see the Whitecaps doing well, as long as it's not at the Sounders' expense.
01:24:07
Speaker
And I feel like that's probably the case in this game. and And who knows? Maybe the Hangover will help them help the Sounders, too, if they win this thing. I also think it's kind of fitting... Yeah, when you guys have been there, done that.
01:24:19
Speaker
Right. And also there's something there's something very fitting about the only two ah the only two MLS teams to win the modern era of the CONCACAF champions.
01:24:31
Speaker
CONCACAF champions, I guess, is what we've decided to call this now. Right. Is sure is is two teams from Cascadia and not one of them being the Timbers is just really kind of wood be really kind of wonderful.
01:24:43
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I do. i am You've got me excited for for Sounders Caps, and I do think um this first one will probably be a little bit short of ah the peak of what it could be, but they yeah they they play again in the heart heat of the stretch run on September 27th, something like that. Well, you haven't circled that on the calendar yet. In Seattle.
01:25:02
Speaker
So that one that one should be good. if We don't get we don't may not get full... full lift off this time around, but who knows, man? I mean, maybe this, maybe the caps have got some, some homegrowns and two guys that are just, uh, right. that he knows Tear it up.
01:25:18
Speaker
Yeah. I will say the white caps to just destroyed the defiance the other day. so I wouldn't necessari necessarily put that past them to, to have something in the tank for this one. But, uh, Charlie, I,
01:25:29
Speaker
can't thank you enough for doing this on short notice. Uh, I will also tease that you are going to be doing some content for sounder at heart around the club world cup. I, so if people liked what they heard from you, uh, we're going to be getting more of it, uh, this summer in the, in the next few weeks. So, uh, it's been great let's go doing this.
01:25:48
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. finally got the call. I finally got the call to the real, real websites. Exactly. That's what we like to hear. that way to way to butter me up there. I appreciate that.
01:26:00
Speaker
ah Well, Charlie, where else other than MLS soccer, where else can people follow you And, of course, Sundar Hurt. Yeah. ah Yeah. So um i'm I'm spending most of my social media time on Blue Sky these days. What am I? Gosh, it's something or other.
01:26:16
Speaker
ah But I think it's Seabome. and Anyway, it's on there. We'll link it in the show notes. Seabome. Yeah, there you go. and And then get at me You can write me on there. um the The Twitter is, ah I ah check in and get my mail there once in a while, but it's like, ah it's a hellscape. But um but if you if you hit me up there, i I'll respond eventually. But ah Blue Sky
Conclusion and Audience Engagement
01:26:41
Speaker
is where it's at. So cboem at bsky.social.
01:26:45
Speaker
Great. Perfect. All right. Well, ah thank you again for doing this. ah I am Jeremiah O'Shann signing off for Charlie Boehm on Nos Audietes, part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network.
01:26:56
Speaker
And of course, thank you to our sponsor, Full Pool Wines. We're going to catch you next time. Hopefully very soon.
01:27:28
Speaker
I expect an LAFC who's motivated ah to prove themselves at home, to prove to their fans that that they're capable of winning in this league. And it's up to us to really ruin the party.
01:27:41
Speaker
You guys like that? and ah what Awkward joke, dad joke right there, huh?