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Why don’t the Sounders have any healthy centerbacks?
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The Seattle Sounders are back in league play, albeit very short-handed at centerback. Jeremiah and Niko assess how they’re going to manage that situation against Austin FC.
Follow Niko Moreno on BlueSky and YouTube.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sounders' MLS Cup Victory
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. Hey, O'Shaughnessy.
00:00:14
Speaker
Let's go. What save by Frye. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winning. Here comes Ruiz Dias through the middle to crowd it for Seattle.
00:00:29
Speaker
And now they truly can start the celebrations. It's the Sounders MLS Cup.
Sounders' Regional Dominance and Sponsor Introduction
00:00:35
Speaker
Nico Lodero leaves absolutely no doubt. The Sounders rule the region.
00:00:43
Speaker
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 and 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!
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, Pacific Northwest.
00:01:43
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adientes on the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network.
Hosts Reflect on Recent Events and Sounders' Club World Cup Performance
00:01:48
Speaker
I am Jeremiah Oshian. It's Friday. am joined by Nico Moreno. are you doing, Nico? Doing all right. All right. Feeling a little bit more more relaxed, more like we're back on and MLS vibes today. it's been It's been a little surreal the last two weeks. It has. It has. it kind of feels like, is going to sound dumb, but you know how the players might be coming on a high, and and can they keep that momentum? Like me, I kind of feel like I'm...
00:02:15
Speaker
I've come back down to, you know, I'm not as like stressed in terms of what I'm going to do You know, I'm not as hyped up. The world isn't watching you anymore. That works. Right. That's right. I just the eyes of the world were on on Seattle and on Niko. No, they were not. But that they were definitely on Seattle. They were definitely on this team.
00:02:32
Speaker
um And but yeah, today, back at training. I don't know. i don't know how you felt, but I kind of feel like everything kind of simmered back down. Yeah, I do too. You know, one of the things that we don't don't know of how much time we're going unpack the Club World Cup. We want to look forward a little bit more. But one thing, i the group stage is over.
00:02:48
Speaker
Two CONCACAF teams ended up getting out of the group. um You know, the Sounders ended up finishing, I want to say, third or fourth from bottom in the total table, which I actually thought was respectable. Because there was a moment there where a couple of these teams that got really blown out got ties. So Auckland City got a tie. And I was like, man, it's going to be a real bummer if the Sounders end up 32nd out of 32 teams.
00:03:15
Speaker
And they avoided that. I actually asked Steph about it today. He didn't seem to be too worried about that. But I do think there is an optics thing to just not being last. Yeah, of course. You don't want to be that team that has to explain in context why they weren't the worst team. and No, no, no. Actually, we played some really good teams and we didn't get blown out, buth bla blah, blah, blah, blah. Because that would have been the narrative. And again, ah I don't think there's anyone that watched this tournament and could say that...
00:03:45
Speaker
Seattle was the worst team. they were They're not even the worst MLS team. I watched the LAFC games, and I got to tell you that that team is some serious disarray. Even they got a point somehow against... ah They got a point against... South American team, right?
00:03:59
Speaker
No, no, no. No, it wasn't. No. I forgot what who they who it drew with. No, yeah, I think... it Was it Fluminense? Yeah, think it was Fluminense. Yeah. and And that was a game that they also didn't look apart. It's interesting because I swear that...
00:04:14
Speaker
And and i don't want to blame Stephen. We don't got to get into this. But ever since he you know talked about leaving and stuff, the team has kind of digressed and they don't really feel like they're out there. I do think that there's not to it's someone else's business, I suppose. But like I don't know what the point of announcing that you're going back to Germany for not even like a specific job. You're just like, I'm bouncing at the end of the season.
00:04:39
Speaker
I'm not quite sure.
Analysis of LAFC's Performance Issues
00:04:40
Speaker
i guess there's a world where that works out, but it seems like that's one of those things where it's a little bit unnecessary. i suppose it's possible that he just wanted to get ahead of the news cycle that he kind of felt like it was going to come out regardless.
00:04:54
Speaker
But I don't know. um Yeah, and it was against Flamengo. Now I remember it. Flamengo. ah Definitely a game that they were outplayed in just about every facet of that game. And the the craziest part is how little fight they had. ah David Martinez, La Perla, is on this huge decline. And it's not just his game. It's his attitude. The dude looks disinterested, just not locked in.
00:05:19
Speaker
and and like you said, but because maybe is it the news? Is it the... current you know like atmosphere in the team i don't know but the team losing is right so going back to the main point i feel like seattle they weren't even the worst mls team definitely not the worst team in this tournament and you know that's something to be to be proud of specifically talking about an lafc team that has spent you know a lot of cash they've had all of this like early you know highlights on you know who they were going to be this season so that's that's interesting I would say for most disappointing CONCACAF team, Pachuca has to be up there, right? I mean, they also went winless.
00:05:57
Speaker
in a much easier group. They ended up losing to Al Ain yesterday, who came in as sort of one of the teams that had very low expectation. Probably the team that had, maybe not the lowest, Auckland City, probably below them. The the team from South Africa maybe was a little bit lower. But Al Ain got blown out in to Juventus. They lost 6-0 to Juventus.
00:06:21
Speaker
And then they beat Pachuca, who... was it is a good Liga Ameki's team, who's a team that won CONCACAF Champions League, who, you know, ah maybe maybe maybe it adds credence to the food poisoning story against Columbus Crew.
00:06:39
Speaker
But still, it's a, um you know, I think they've got to be, that's that's a disappointing one, I think. Yeah, look, I don't know much. i'm not going to that I know a lot about Al-Ali, because I really don't. But Al-Hilal...
00:06:56
Speaker
watching their games, they they have to talented players, first of all. I don't know where I set the graphic. where Oh, that's who Al-Hilal is who they they lost to yesterday. Yes. That's right. Al-Hilal, yeah. yeah And it was 2-0, but this was the exact same team that drew against Real, right? I think they they they got a result against Real Madrid.
00:07:14
Speaker
ah And, you know, you look at their lineup, and Malcolm's a player that a lot of South Americans know. Leonardo's a good player. I mean, this is a team that... I don't know you want to call it that way, but, you know, that Saudi money, you know, sometimes takes you a long way. I got him totally confused with with the the u a with aht with the UAE team, and you're right. Al-Halal actually has ah decent has a pretty decent roster. and Although, i don't know, watching the game yesterday, i was surprised at how— relatively slow that game that game just not did not uh strike me as as interesting as i thought it would be no but you know what you know who made me realize that they were probably better than they were it was my son i'm watching the game with him and know he loves his fifa right and he's like it's like whoa dad is that that let it go guy and i was like who he said that's lottie the the right back ah the the left back and i was like no that can't be him oh yep that's him so so did this team You know they came out and they they went and they got some talented players.
00:08:11
Speaker
ah So, yes, but I'm with you. Mexican teams are always kind expected to do well in certain tournaments. You know, Monterrey's been up there before Club World Cup. Monterrey did get out of the group. Monterrey did. And then who was the other team, that the other Mexican team that was in the tournament?
00:08:26
Speaker
No, that was it. It just two. it was just two? Yeah, because Leon got betrayed. had three male homeosteams, that's right. Yep. Well, I don't know. I do think this tournament, you know, we talked about it a little bit earlier this week on Nos Adietes, but I thought... yeah I think this was a good proof of concept, actually. um i actually came out of the group stage feeling pretty good.
00:08:48
Speaker
i feel like if there's a concern I have, though, it's that in 2029, I think it's going to be a challenge for MLS to get back into it.
00:09:00
Speaker
And I specifically... The
Sounders' Future Goals for Club World Cups
00:09:03
Speaker
Sounders should be targeting this as something that they want to participate in on a regular basis. And they've got a lot of work to do, I think, internally as an organization, mostly to do with money when it comes to if they want to compete in this tournament, they're going to have to spend some money that right now it doesn't look like they're willing to spend. And I bring it up because...
00:09:26
Speaker
The salary numbers from MLS Players Association came out this week. The Sounders are spending about $18 million dollars in guaranteed compensation. That puts them right around the middle of the table, which isn't bad. It's actually one spot higher than where they were last year.
00:09:42
Speaker
But the difference is that A lot of the teams that are below them have spent transfer fees that the Sounders just haven't spent. And at some point, the Sounders have to start spending money again if they want to be competitive.
00:09:58
Speaker
Absolutely. And this is something that you and I have touched on. And ah that a place is probably coming from making their guys whole, like a guy like Jackson Reagan that just got that you know big up on his contract. A lot was Ryan Kent getting almost a million dollars, essentially replacing Paul Ehrer. Now, to the Sounders' ownership credit, that's that's money that they have to That's actual cash that they have to spend. So it does count.
00:10:22
Speaker
But that is that accounts for some of their their increase. Albert Rusnak got a nice... bump jordan got a nice bump these were things we kind of knew but anyway go ahead i'm sorry no no but that's exactly what i wanted to just kind of point out i'm not trying to um sit here and and and criticize the fact that these guys are getting the money they deserve well i'm criticizing that if anything was a realization for me, an epiphany moment, if you will, after this Club World Cup, is that the Seattle Sounders have a fantastic base. Yes. And they have a core group of players that works.
00:11:00
Speaker
And they've been able to get guys that are very good. But... Two things were highlighted. One is the fact that if you want to compete at the highest level, you're going to have to get out there and spend some transfer fees and really bring in some players that are ah difference makers.
00:11:20
Speaker
And I say that because you're designated players. They didn't quite perform to the way you wanted to perform. And, look, I understand that you were competing or way over your own weight class, and I totally understand that. But there were specific moments in this tournament where I was like, man, you know, Pedro's not really playing, right? One of their designated players played all three games. Exactly. The other one was injured. Albert was injured. He got a goal, but, you know, he wasn't— I actually thought Albert acquitted himself well. Like, I thought, i mean we don't I mean, we can talk about that if you want.
00:11:55
Speaker
But I actually thought Albert did what you need him to do. yeah They just didn't have enough talent on the field to compete on a whole. Like, there were moments where you could see a Paul Rothrock beating a guy. You know, even Pedro had some moments. Yep. But nobody on the offensive side was consistently...
00:12:17
Speaker
creating danger. No one was putting opponents on their heels. And, you know, I think Obed and Christian did a really amazing job, frankly, controlling the midfield.
00:12:30
Speaker
But the Sounders just did not pose enough danger in the attack. And that's what I'm hoping that this tournament did, is maybe open some eyes and say, look, we played great if, you know, I'm the front office.
00:12:44
Speaker
But did we maybe miss an opportunity? Had we had one more piece? um And it would have been great to just made history, had been another MLS team to go through the next round. Because, look, Atleti ended up being left ah and on the road. And Botafogo was the one team that you look really good against in the second half. And they were the ones that went through. So I'm hoping that it gives you a vision, an idea, you know ah a universe where you can dream. I'm saying, look, next time, if we have a little bit more you know, talent on field, how much of a difference would that make? So, you know, we we don't want to go too far into the Club World Cup, but I do feel like it's a good point to get us going in a chronological sort of way.
00:13:25
Speaker
And because it does matter. You know, it does matter. We have the summer transfer window coming up. You and I have ah both, you know, have our, you know, thoughts about, you know, yeah about the type of play that you might be able to go get. So, you know, kind of, it's all put together. It's it's all connected. Yeah.
00:13:41
Speaker
It is all connected and you know it's gonna be interesting to see if they if they come up with some money for this summer because you and I have both heard that the budget for signing a U22, and that does seem to be where most of the focus is,
00:13:59
Speaker
is just not, there's just that there wasn't that much money. i did hear this week that they so feel a little more confident about signing someone. I don't know how much they're gonna spend on that someone, but they do, I did for the first time hear a little bit more confidence about just being able to bring somebody in that they are happy with. So we'll see what ends up happening.
00:14:20
Speaker
ah You know, the window opens, I think, in a couple weeks. ah July 1st. Oh, so very soon, in a week. Less than week. So yeah, it'll be interesting if if they can actually get some. Hopefully they don't wait until the very end of the window to do it.
00:14:35
Speaker
That would just be unnecessarily stressful. I would like to not have to talk about how they haven't spent any transfer fees in the last X number of windows. It would be nice if they just went ahead and did it.
00:14:48
Speaker
Yeah, but but I mean, we have said, I think in this exact same show that the team has tried to sign the have ah you know players that just have come off the negotiating table without a player, right but they've attempted to go and get some money. They are doing stuff. It's just at some point you want to see them actually push it across the line.
00:15:08
Speaker
ah you know But going forward, they come out of this tournament, I think, it seems counterintuitive, but they're on a five game losing streak. but Everyone seems to feel like they have positive momentum, and I think that it's not hard to understand why. It's because they played well during the last three games. I think they exceeded, if not their own expectations, I think they exceeded a lot of people's expectations in terms of their ability to be become to be competitive, to you know especially in the Botafogo match.
00:15:38
Speaker
I mean, they dominated the second half of that game. They were a little unlucky not to get at least a point out of that game. They probably deserved to win that game on balance. I don't know that you could say the same thing about the next two games, but I think most people thought of those next two games as like, let's just not get embarrassed. And they were not in any way, shape or form embarrassed in those two games, but they come in out of that game with what they feel like is some positive momentum.
00:16:04
Speaker
And they're going to be hosting Austin FC, a team who is right behind them in the standings. Who's even with them on points. They've played more games and they played one more game than the Sounders centers have a better goal difference.
00:16:16
Speaker
An Austin team who, has not been particularly good. We'll do a so full scouting report on them in the second segment, but let's focus right now on the Sounders. They are unfortunately quite shorthanded, especially in defense, where John Bell is suspended, is suspended, Stu Hawkins is hurt, Kim Kihi is hurt, Yemar Gonzalez is hurt, and Leo Burnie, who is not even technically on the first team roster, he is on full season loan, they could have theoretically called him up, he is also hurt.
00:16:54
Speaker
There are a lot of injuries at what I think we both would have called probably their deepest position to the point where it looks like Alex Roldan is going to be starting at center back. That is not ideal.
00:17:07
Speaker
That's not ideal. It almost seems like, you know, the start of a joke or I don't know. I mean, it's it's very bizarre. I can't remember the last time that one specific position or group got hit that bad in so many ways. Some cell some self-inflicted wounds, I will say.
00:17:25
Speaker
But at the same time, far from ideal when you got Brandon Vasquez, who's the Austin FC's leading scorer, coming to town. All-star Brandon Vasquez. That's right. but Don't forget that. MLS all-star Brandon Vasquez coming into town, the $10 million dollar man.
00:17:42
Speaker
ah Yeah, so it's difficult. Alex, and, you know, it sounded like Stephen Fry gave him a vote of confidence. He seemed really confident in Alex. I mean, maybe he's just blowing smoke, but he seemed to to really, like, he almost, like...
00:17:56
Speaker
yeah Like, I don't know. like they The other option, I suppose, would have probably been putting Cody Baker back there. hell I suppose maybe you put Joe Paolo back there if you really get crazy. But it seemed like Steph was really comfortable with putting Alex back there.
00:18:10
Speaker
Yeah, you know, he talked about, and he's right, right? And ah whenever he's playing outside back and there's a transition moment and either Jackson or Yammer get caught up, he has to cover those those inside channels. You know, he has the physicaler to just ah physicality and IQ to play the position.
00:18:28
Speaker
But I do worry. I think that a lot, and, you know, he's hyping up his... teammate and I love it. I absolutely love it.
Player Adaptability and Strategic Positioning in Defense
00:18:35
Speaker
But, you know, coming back to reality, center back is a difficult position when he comes to timing. It's not an easy position. No, it's difficult getting out of the back. It's different. And we've seen players with issues, even when they just switch sides. Imagine playing and receiving the ball in different parts of the field.
00:18:54
Speaker
um You know, we talked about set pieces. He kind of mentioned that he's not so worried because you can move players. And I get that. But you're losing one more guy that can defend aerial attacks because that's not Alex's strengths. So there is a lot of components that lead for concern or they should, you know, give you some sort of concern.
00:19:12
Speaker
My question to Brian was how do you prevent services in the box? And I think that's where Seattle is going to have to. put all their effort is not allowing control the midfield and you maybe you don't have to worry about so much what's going on at center back absolutely possession uh defending basically you're going to possess the ball you're not going to let us in and get on the ball when they do you you probably want them to go internally and not have wide open spaces to cross the ball inside uh but it's going to be difficult task but you know alex he's done it it's not a deal jackson record himself hasn't looked
00:19:48
Speaker
fully 100% just yet. I thought Jackson didn't look great in the Club World Cup. he hasn't I would agree with you that he hasn't looked his best in MLS play this year, but I thought he looked really good defensively in the Club World Cup. He was by far the best defender in the back, and i was for sure. and you know and know I don't know how much to take away from this, but Alex did play center back for like 15 minutes against PSU.
00:20:12
Speaker
PS Janney looked like he knew what he was doing. We'll see how that translates to an MLS game. You know, I think the good thing is that you would expect him to be good in the build out.
00:20:23
Speaker
he There's no reason he can't, like he shouldn't be good with the ball at his feet. He might actually be better with the ball at his feet. So if the Sounders, and and so in that sense, it's a good thing that this game's at home. It's a good thing that Austin is not a team that wants to possess the ball a whole lot.
00:20:39
Speaker
So that might be that it might not, you know, it might help that they are able to, you know, sort of do a lot more rest defending, as they say, where it's seat essentially defending with the ball.
00:20:51
Speaker
And, you know, I could see this maybe working out OK, at least for a game. And then hopefully you get you'll get John Bell back next week. And hopefully, ya or it sounds like Kim might be a little bit ahead of Yamar, but I don't even know either one of them are going to be back for the next game.
00:21:07
Speaker
ah i would not bet on it. I'll tell you that. I would not bet on either one of those guys coming back. Obviously, you get Nuhu and J-Bell, which is an upgrade of what you have right now.
00:21:20
Speaker
ah But you are going to miss those guys, especially for you know some of the tougher games coming up. I really do think that um there's also going to be an adaptation time for those guys to get back into game rhythm. Yeah. And you know so you are probably putting those guys not in full fitness for at least two more weeks.
00:21:43
Speaker
I will say i'm I am looking forward to seeing Reed Baker Whiting at left back. i almost It'll be interesting to see how they use them if they sort of try to cover a little bit more by not, you know, almost using Reed as a third center back and less as a full back.
00:22:02
Speaker
Because even though Reed's natural position is not center back, obviously, you might just feel better about having sort of three guys out there and and allowing Reed and Alex to kind of defend more like,
00:22:17
Speaker
ah fullbacks, interior fullbacks and less like centerbacks. i don't know if that makes it like almost like as wide centerbacks rather than than fullbacks. Because it it might help a little bit in terms of just the numbers and and shutting down that space.
00:22:33
Speaker
Because you would imagine that's going to be some problems. It'll be fascinating. ah One thing we did look at or we asked... Brian about was whether or not they thought about bolstering the roster with a center back from Defiance. Now, I looked into this It was a little bit more complicated than just call up your best center back from Defiance. For one, Stu Hawkins and Leo Burnie have been playing a lot of center back for the Defiance. Right.
00:23:01
Speaker
The other starting center back is ah Yamada, who is actually not even on loan to the Sounders. He's on loan to the Defiance, and he's an international. So he's not really, for all practical purposes, he was not eligible.
00:23:14
Speaker
And then after him, you've got Tino Lopez and Damian Alvarez, who have each played, I believe, one game this year. Tino, or maybe a couple games. But Tino Lopez has not been healthy this year. Damian Alvarez is a draft pick.
00:23:31
Speaker
who played at Seattle U last year, also played at Ballard FC, and only recently got his first playing time, which I think is more just for, he hadn't really been impressing down in in Defiance. So I think understandable why the Sounders didn't call up any of the options, in part because there weren't a lot of great options to call up.
00:23:53
Speaker
So all in all, ah the sounders are kind of but making soup with whatever they could find on the fridge. So that that that is difficult.
00:24:04
Speaker
And yeah, Yamada was the guy that everybody was kind of looking at. You know, I saw him talking to Kim yesterday for quite a long time. And, you know, I did a quick ah open space for, you know, people to just chat with me.
00:24:17
Speaker
And it was brought up. And I kind of did think that that was the case. mean, would have. I mean, I think in a perfect world, you do call him up, just and for even if you don't start him, just to have another center back on the roster.
00:24:29
Speaker
But the mechanics of getting him into the roster are pretty complicated. i Like I said, I think they would have to work out a loan agreement with Vasil Kobe to move him, so i don't which technically might not even be possible since he it's its just not an internet it says it's not a ah transfer window right now.
00:24:48
Speaker
Although I suppose they could have theoretically... plan I mean, I guess if they really wanted to, they could have figured out a way to do that during the 10-day window. But then the other problem is that they don't have an international roster spot opening for him. So they would have had to acquire an international roster spot just to ah get him on the roster for a day.
00:25:07
Speaker
And at that point, it's like, what what are we doing here? No, no, no, there's no need for that. And like I said, you'll get J-Bell and Nuhu back. And either way, um the reality is is that you need to get healthy a Yama that's healthy and you need to get a Kim that's healthy to just help you in the next couple of games where you face Columbus.
00:25:27
Speaker
ah That is Columbus, of course. Sporting Kansas City, who has a pretty decent attack these days. And Colorado, who as well, they have a very good attacking team. players So it's going to be a tough task ahead for for the team. But with what you have, it makes sense to not do all of these moves to get a guy like Yamada in your roster. The other place where there might be some interesting...
00:25:54
Speaker
I don't want to call it rotation, but possibilities or decisions is going to be in the wing play.
Player Performance Concerns and Potential Contributions
00:26:00
Speaker
me yes You and I have both talked about Pedro De La Vega. I have been probably the most concerned and the most active towards asking why it is that ah Pedro has not been, one getting more than 60 minutes. He has 90 minutes one time this entire season.
00:26:18
Speaker
Why in the last five games, I believe he started two games, including. of the CLUB WORLD CUB. um so There was definitely something for me where I wanted to ask Brian what it is that he's not getting out of Pedro.
00:26:36
Speaker
There is a lot of competition there, and specifically with Jesus Ferreira, who for all accounts came in as a forward. But Brian ah seems to like him at the ah winger position. Obviously, under this system, when you get your fullback as high as the Sounders like to get the fullbacks, ah specifically the right side, whether it's Alex or Kalani,
00:26:59
Speaker
Ferreira's going to tuck inside. he's gonna you know He has a great IQ. He's a guy that is very solid on his passing. ah He obviously has a bit of a... ah Bad relationship with the goal at this specific time. You know, I know that a lot of people were asking me and coming at me about that chance that he missed against Paris and Jermaine. And that's one that he wishes he has back. I know that he would have loved to put that in the back of the net, but he kind of panics in that specific moment.
00:27:28
Speaker
ah So, you know. When it comes to Pedro, he is statistically, and I said this to Brian himself, the most productive player in terms of goal contributions in all competitions.
00:27:40
Speaker
As a winger, as a winger player, he's the most productive. So it was kind of... Mind-boggling to me that chasing a game against PSG, he wasn't the first guy that you brought on.
00:27:53
Speaker
But, you know, finally, ah this week, he gave me his the reasoning behind some of those things rather than being short and a little condescending with me like he was during the— um Club or post-game conference, but um you know that that's all good and well. He has a ah decision to make. He he made it, and ah i don't really agree with it, but I am a little bit concerned about the amount of minutes that you're getting out of your DP, your... I've said this a thousand times about a bunch of players.
00:28:23
Speaker
You're killing his confidence. And i to me, it always feels like you do need to go with your guys and give them but give them enough time, enough confidence for them to either play themselves out of that starting role. But I know that you have other thoughts, Jeremiah. So I'm yeah i'm excited to hear from you. So I am definitely sympathetic to the idea that he should be getting more minutes based on his play. I mean, the reality is that you're right. He, if you look at all competition minutes, he, I do think he's been the most productive player, even on a per 90 minute basis within MLS.
00:29:00
Speaker
You know, if you compare him to Ryan Kent, Georgie Manungu, Jesus Ferreira and Paul Rothrock, He is right there with them in terms of production and in terms of expected goals and expected assists. And you can kind of go through the numbers on a per 90 basis in MLS play. And he stacks up really well. like nobody and But the bigger problem is that no one's really running away with the job.
00:29:24
Speaker
no And so I think... It's an interesting balancing act that Brian is trying to do where he's trying to give minutes to all of these players and hoping kind of one of them hits.
00:29:34
Speaker
I do think it's interesting though that Paul Rothrock seems to be the one who is most embedded himself into the lineup. And he seems to he's the one player who started on both sides. He's this player who started at multiple positions because he's also started it as a wingback. Now, I think part of that is this sort unquantifiable X-Dog kind of aspect where he just looks like i like that he just looks like a guy who is putting in his effort all the time.
00:30:04
Speaker
And I'm a huge Paul Rothrock fan. I'm not here to diminish what Paul Rothrock has done. But there is a reality that for all of that effort and for all of the moments that he has, and he does have some good moments, he's not producing either. He's not... out there putting up big goal and assist numbers. He's not even, even if you look at the defensive metrics, you know, Pedro is is ahead of him on almost every defensive metric. And so there's some kind of unquantifiable aspect that is just comes down to a coach's eye that I think is getting
00:30:40
Speaker
Him into the lineup and is keeping Pedro from being a more consistent starter. And I one thing I one narrative I did want to push back on on the whole Pedro de la Vega thing is there seems to be this growing attitude ah that he is. just sort of on the outs like he is in the doghouse that he's not getting playing time and I and I will say it doesn't look like he's going to start this week he didn't play in the most recent game that's bad I'm not here to defend that decision but I also think we can overstate the degree to which he's fallen out of favor he started two games ago he's came off the bench against Botafogo he has been a consider he's been getting minutes
00:31:18
Speaker
i would I would be a little surprised if he doesn't get some minutes this week against Austin. i would be in he I mean, he could be back in the starting lineup next week. So I think the degree to which he's fallen off has maybe been overstated, but I will agree with you at the same time that from a designated player, you want him to be, i guess more what i my point is, I want him to force Brian Spencer to start him by producing.
00:31:42
Speaker
And that's the thing that's been frustrating to me is that all of these players have had moments. Ryan Kent had a two or three game run where he looked unbeatable or like he was going to be a designated player.
00:31:53
Speaker
Georgie Manungu, I know there's a lot of frustration over him not having the final product, but even against Atletico and against PSG, he had moments where it's like, no, there's not very many players in the world that can beat guys off the dribble the way that he can.
00:32:08
Speaker
So we're seeing something. But you put all these players together and you have like one really great player. We just aren't seeing it enough on a consistent basis. And it's not always showing up in the end product. And that's what's frustrating. i think Yeah. And it is definitely a busy position in room. Right.
00:32:26
Speaker
Especially when you're moving Ferreira into that position. Exactly. That has a lot like that might be where we're going. And it has a lot to do with the fact that Georgie's not getting minutes because you're right. I mean, I love to see Georgie, especially coming off the bench against tired legs and giving him 15 minutes to go. I don't feel like a lot of players have that ability to just kind of spark. i Change a game. Change a game. And he has that ability.
00:32:52
Speaker
So. Moving forward, it's going to be interesting how that works because, man, I hear a lot of people talking about how good Ryan Kent was over this last three games in the Club World Cup, and I don't get it.
00:33:09
Speaker
i don't – miss that. Yeah. He had a couple of moments where it almost came off. No. Like he had – I want to say there was one play in particular against PSG where he beat his guy on the dribble, and I think he had – Ferrer up, but he makes a bad pass? Yes. Yes. And he left it short. Yes.
00:33:28
Speaker
That's the one I'm thinking Yeah. So, yeah, that that's exactly what I mean. You have to be more effective on the ball. And, look, I love – I mean, I'm South American, man. Nobody's going to enjoy you shaking the socks of somebody more than I do.
00:33:42
Speaker
But at the end of the day, you've got to be productive with the next pass. Right. I've always said this thing that I will never forget about the late Siggy Smith is that he used to say ah ah there's players that are oh, oh, ah.
00:33:54
Speaker
We're like, oh, oh, ah. right He's that player, right? He's like, you know, oh, whoa, ah. He made a bad pass. yeah There are those players that, you know, they look really good in that moment. And then of a sudden they make a bad decision. And that doesn't make you a great player necessarily. So,
00:34:09
Speaker
All to say that I feel like Georgie maybe should be getting some minutes over you know Ryan Kent. it And I get it. I mean, I know that that's not what people want to hear because Ryan Kent is your your commodity, your pedigree player. and And I do hope that he continues to grow within you know this team and and and and it's out there more consistently.
00:34:28
Speaker
But you know i feel like also Georgie should be in the loop a little. So it's it's difficult decisions for Brian. you know mean I mean, I think what it comes down for me is Again, i love Paul Rothrock.
00:34:39
Speaker
I'm a little concerned that he has sort of become the default starter at some sort of like plug and play starter. And I guess maybe it's because hes he is seen as a little bit more versatile.
00:34:50
Speaker
But, you know, and this is a whole thing, but... I would urge people to go read Brian McKay's story on Sounder Art where he talks about how the Sounders system doesn't seem to be getting the most out of seemingly talented players.
00:35:04
Speaker
And one of the things that he highlights is Brian really likes to play natural wingers as opposed to inverted wingers. And that's because the Sounders have really fallen in love with the cutback pass.
00:35:15
Speaker
Yes. And that is a very effective way to score, but it's not so effective that it can be your only sort of... that It almost seems like the entire Sounders' entire system is set up to get that cutback pass, and that's a fine thing if you're going to have one main focus, but it's almost become their myopic focus at times. And I think that they've set up their team so much to get that pass that it's sort of ah not allowing them to be as effective in other parts of the field. We can get into that a whole other time, but I do think it it's sort of like illustrative of the winger problem. Yeah, there's two two great points there. One, it reminds me something that I wanted to say to one of your comments, and it is the fact that, and we've both known this, and it's it's not a criticism towards Brian, but he tends to marry certain players, and he he there's a specific sort of ah player he wants out on the field, and Paul has all of the yes Brian's metric checklist, like, yeah Everything you want, right? Tenacity, effort, ah high engine, you know duality play in terms of defense and offense.
00:36:21
Speaker
and And I like him. I really do. agree And i think I think what Brian really likes about him is he knows who he's going to get. Yes. And that's – I understand coaches want predictability they want reliability and paul gives them that but i think that sometimes what they're losing is dynamism a little bit of dynamism yeah and he creates a lot of havoc and at times a little bit uncontrolled havoc yeah with with i think other players maybe you might be able to get a little bit more polished polished finished product and i feel like that's what maybe you're missing out of pedro and a lot of the
00:36:57
Speaker
Narrative surrounding Pedro's also that he's very um undisciplined in his movement and he gets too far inside. But, you know, that that is what makes a lot of teams click. So it goes back to your system, ah you know,
00:37:11
Speaker
i said I don't know what would you call it ah theory that the theory about the system is because look if if you look at other teams like even Botafogo Savarino was playing on the left side but he had free will to come in and outside of those channels that he had no pocket he was all over the field and that's hard to defend so do can the Sanders maybe do better with the talent that they have it's a conversation that we have for sure and I feel like the system is one of those things that maybe is not quite working Yeah. All right. Well, this is a good place to call a break. We're going to come back. We're going to do a little bit more of a preview on the Austin FC game.
00:37:47
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:40:37
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Adientes. So we got a game against Austin coming up here on Saturday at 7.30. I would say it's a pretty big game.
00:40:48
Speaker
The Sounders, even though they are a little shorthanded in the back, They are pretty close to full strength otherwise. Jordan should be available even if he's not starting.
00:41:01
Speaker
This is an opportunity for the Sounders to show whether or not they actually, like which team are they, I think is is kind of one of the big things. But you have crunched some tape on Austin FC.
00:41:14
Speaker
what have your what is What have you made of them It is your...
Austin FC's Playing Style and Sounders' Strategy
00:41:21
Speaker
God, this is going to sound terrible, but it feels a lot like the... Nico Stavez team in Dallas that was very, had a had a lot of difficulty. Let's put it that way. They had a lot of difficulties creating chances. So they're one of the lowest expected teams in terms of goals, expected goals.
00:41:42
Speaker
ah They move the ball extremely slow. and They play out of a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3.
00:41:50
Speaker
ah depending on what you know Nico Stavis is kind of looking at. ah Brandon Baskins clearly is the main player of what they want to do. He's the top leading scorer. He's the guy that is consistently getting involved in the attack. They like to cross the ball early, ah plenty of times to try to use his height. They got some really good, in my opinion, sparklers coming off the bench and a guy like El Soldado Jader O'Brien.
00:42:16
Speaker
They push their fullbacks out. Very selectively, but when they do, they they try to overload you on that side where that fullback comes up.
00:42:29
Speaker
um They do struggle on getting the ball back at midfield. ah They can ah retrieve and get a lot of players behind the ball.
00:42:40
Speaker
But I feel like their pressing and their active defending tends to be easy for teams to kind of play around. Their best game, I think, kind of came against ah New York City FC just recently. They get a good win.
00:42:56
Speaker
But I feel like ah the...
00:43:00
Speaker
mentality and the identity of this team is still kind of being written. ah But they are a team that wants to play off the back foot with a mid block.
00:43:13
Speaker
ah They don't necessarily need the ball in possession. No, they're below 50%. They're one of the lowest possession teams in the league. And they want to play off of the counter. They want to use a lot of their speed. ah But they just don't do it very effectively. So what I'm here to say is that They are a a mid-table, right where they're at about in in the standings, with the potential, at best, to be a surprising counter team against Seattle. They're going to want to build off of set pieces.
00:43:42
Speaker
They're going to want to build off of restarts. They're going to want to kind of cheat their way into getting a goal in the back of the net. And then they're going to try to you know put a lot of numbers behind the ball. Yeah, they're also one of the lowest. it's For a team that spent almost $30 million, or they spent about $30 million dollars in the last two transfer windows.
00:44:02
Speaker
And they have 15 goals to show for it. 15 goals would put them on pace for... Less than 30 goals, like 25 goals for the season, which would be among the least offensive teams in MLS history. They are just not a team that has been very dangerous going forward. That said, they are in a nice little run of form. They've won two in a row.
00:44:27
Speaker
They're two one and five or two, one, and two in their last five. So they've been able to string some results together. And they've been they started really strong... from a defensive perspective, then they sort of fell apart a little bit in the middle of the, like, i i don't know, a few a ah couple months ago, they kind of started to fall apart defensively. But then they seem to have regained themselves.
00:44:48
Speaker
And they've only allowed, i mean, they've only allowed 21 goals, which is among the league leaders. So I don't know. it's It's a team that's hard to know what to make of in some ways, other than they don't play real exciting soccer. and They do not. And that has not been a recipe for ah success for the Sounders. It's kind of a team that the Sounders have struggled against a little bit this year, a team that is not going to come out there and impress and try to play. It's kind of like a more boring version of Minnesota United in some ways. Yes, and less effective.
00:45:22
Speaker
They don't have the eliteness, I think. The open field ability that Minnesota United has. 100%. I feel like they really lack a creative player.
00:45:33
Speaker
it's a I'll tell you, when they spent all this money in the offseason, I thought, man, they put a lot of money into wingers and forwards, and they don't seem to have any creative midfielders, and that seems to kind of been their problem. They don't do much in terms of chance creation.
00:45:49
Speaker
i But, hey that's problem. Look, even Gallagher's playing the line up. You know, he was mainly a fullback for this team in the past, but they just don't have anybody to really give them a lot of width. So he provides that for Austin.
00:46:02
Speaker
I would say that if there's three players to look at is, of course, Brandon Vasquez. ah their He's their goal scorer. He's the guy that does it all for them in the final end. I think that Pereira is the one that controls the the baldemos He's the one that ah puts balls through. He's the one that opens up the field.
00:46:18
Speaker
ah You know, he can be a guy that's rangy, but not necessarily a guy to be scared of. I would put Usuni in there because of... what he's supposed to provide, but he also hasn't been very productive or effective. He's one of those guys that creates a lot of danger, but doesn't have a lot to show for it when it comes to the stat sheet.
00:46:38
Speaker
So I would say him, and then Stuber. Stuber will keep you in every single game. You got to give that guy credit, because he is so good at... The one-on-one opportunities, I think he reacts very good to mid-range shots.
00:46:52
Speaker
I think that he has a lot of control of the box when he comes to set pieces. I really like Stuber, and he seems to be a guy that if he's playing well and he can provide the team confidence that they're not going get scored on, that's when Austin plays their better soccer.
00:47:08
Speaker
Yeah. And, uh, they are, like you said, they are a good, they've scored a a fair number of goals on set pieces. They are a team that can hurt you. They, this is not an easy matchup by any stretch of the imagination. It's just unfortunately sort of a recipe for not a very exciting game. And it's going be on the sounders to sort of create the action, uh, And so in that way, maybe it is a good test for them because we we will see how much progress they really made against during this Club World Cup. Because one of the things Steph said I thought was kind of interesting –
00:47:43
Speaker
One of the things they did well in this tournament was that they played their game. They didn't just drop back into a shell and play for the counter. They went out and and and they pressed. they you know They wanted to have the ball a fair amount of ah ah the time. And one of the things that maybe helped them was that nobody was worried, like that their opponents were not just sitting back either and absorbing pressure and that has kind of been one of the problem, the things that Sounders have struggled with this year is teams that ask them to sort of make the action and I think it's gonna be really imperative that the Sounders press is active and is pro is sort of generating this, is like kind of forcing the action a little bit. Breaking down teams is difficult, and that's even more concerning now than me and you are kind of having this conversation.
00:48:37
Speaker
is the kind of, that's that that's when you need your best 1v1 attackers out there. It does seem like a game where Pedro de la Vega might be useful. Yes, and that that's very interesting because let's say that he doesn't play as we expected to start off the game.
00:48:55
Speaker
i would think he's one one of your early substitutions. You would hope. But that's when Seattle tends to, you know, yes, that they're a good second-half team. they've all The Brandsbusters are always second good second-half teams. But if you let a goal slip in, because right now you are a team that's lacking on defenders and there's a set piece moment or there's a transition moment, that's when things get dicey. So...
00:49:19
Speaker
I would love to sit here and tell you that I'm confident that the Sounders are going to – this is not one those games where I'm looking at this is – they're going to win. They've got to win. They have everything in line to win. I don't see it necessarily this way. I think this is going to be a difficult game. I think they're going to make it sloppy. It's going to look a lot like that Dallas game. Right. I think, too, too. I mean, I would this a game where I think if you can get a one zero win, you take that and you just run to the bank with it.
00:49:46
Speaker
This is not a style points type of this is not a statement game. But I will say the danger in this one is there are, i think, outside of certain ah communities, I think for the most part, Sounders fans are pretty happy with the way they acquitted themselves in this tournament. And there is some positive energy around this team. There was good crowds.
00:50:08
Speaker
It was fun. But i think it could turn pretty quickly if they come out of this break playing poorly. They've got two home games.
00:50:19
Speaker
It's very imperative that they get results out of these games. They cannot afford to drop too many points from these home games because this is sort of like these are these are important. So they've got they've got Austin and they've got Columbus.
00:50:33
Speaker
I think of those two games, you probably got to look at Austin as the one that you're more likely to get points from or to get three points from. And and so that does add some some impetus, I think, to to this.
00:50:45
Speaker
There will be grass on the field, so i don't know. That's a good point. and That will maybe be a ah good thing. ah You know, the the players all seem to really like the surface, even if the Luis Enrique's Which I think he he did sort of like say he he thought it was too hard and there were some criticisms of the grass from. said the ball hop like a bunny. Yeah.
00:51:04
Speaker
But I think he's also to his defense, he's comparing it to look, if you're telling us this is the highest level of competition. turn the the grass needs to be at the highest level of the competition. And so the Sounders are looking at this like, hey it's better than what we normally play on, whereas Luis Enrique is like, it's not as good as what we play on in Champions League, and so that's what we're comparing it to.
00:51:24
Speaker
That said, I think the best case scenario for the grass is probably that it sticks around for the game against the crew, which is on July 6th, but then then after that, the weekend, the the band, the singer, is coming, and i would imagine that it won't survive past that.
00:51:43
Speaker
Yeah, and look, one of the positives that, Steph talked about was ah you know the the team's build-out and you know some of the sequences ah in in ah in a few of these games.
00:51:55
Speaker
And they were able to do it in this exact same type of grass. ah So that could be a positive for Seattle because Luis Enrique said the opposite. is Look, man, for us, we could barely possess the ball because of the field. So maybe Seattle can take that advantage into Austin.
00:52:08
Speaker
but But going back to Austin specifically, I didn't get through the whole game, but I was curious of how the 4-2-3-1 that Colorado played Austin against kind of would measure with Austin.
00:52:24
Speaker
And they made Navarro's life very difficult. So whether was Mosovsky or at some point Jordan... There's going to have to be a lot of wing play for you to break down Austin because Colorado did have a hard time getting services into Navarro, getting them involved into the game.
00:52:43
Speaker
And I felt like a lot of the good moments that Colorado created were off of repressed moments. So... Brian, I asked him specifically about this because, look, if I'm concerned about Alex and I want to not get him as exposed, what I want to do is try to take away the services in maybe, ah aside from possessing the ball, maybe a high press that's effective, of course, can help you create some moments against Austin.
00:53:07
Speaker
ah So maybe pushing them down and and limiting their ability to get out of their own third would be effective. So that's something to look at. I feel like that's something where Seattle... could benefit of a guy like Ferreira.
00:53:19
Speaker
and And some of the things that they did do well in the Club World Cup were there were spells where even against PSG, they were able to press him correctly and create moments. We go back to that. The moment. Yeah, we'll back to that one. The Jesus Ferreira miss. Yes.
00:53:33
Speaker
So that that's what I mean. I really do think that that's where Seattle can't... get an edge against austin if those things are ineffective it's just gonna be a ah big boring draw game yeah well let's let's hope uh but that's probably a good place to to end it on i think we kind of emptied the the notebook so to speak uh nico once again thank you for doing this uh we can follow you on pool so sports We can follow you on Blue Sky, El Rolo, and n W. You, of course, are on Soccer Down Here. You're on Lobbing Scorchers. You're here.
00:54:06
Speaker
ah We're going start doing a little bit more partnerships with Pulso and Sounder at Heart Video. So we'll probably get to see some more of your video on the Sounder at Heart YouTube channel. If you're not a subscriber, go on there, subscribe.
00:54:18
Speaker
We are going to start trying to beef up our presence on YouTube a little bit. Anything else you want to close with, Nico? No, just excited about ah the second half of the MLS season.
00:54:29
Speaker
ah Thank you to all of you for your constant support, your comments. Continue to you know help us out by ah sharing, subscribing. but Like Jeremiah said, I have some things in line, you know some video things that I think are going to be interesting for the YouTube page, so go ahead and follow us there as well. But, man, just thankful for you, Jeremiah, and the Sounders fan base as always.
00:54:52
Speaker
Yeah, and if you want a little bit of a nugget to help you get acted to get you to subscribe to Sounder at Heart, we are about 40 subscribers short of 3,000 subscribers. So if you want to help us in our quest to get to 3,000 subscribers, that's that's maybe your call to action. This is a good time of year to get involved.
00:55:15
Speaker
We're going lot of good coverage during the second half of the season. With all that said... I am Jeremiah Shan signing off for Nico Moreno and our producer Lick It. This is No Sarietes, part of the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network, and we'll catch you next time.
00:55:51
Speaker
I expect the LAFC who is 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.
00:56:08
Speaker
i feel a lot better than Bob.