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Does Liga MX Care About Leagues Cup? - Ep. 55
78 Plays1 year ago
The Seattle Sounders didn’t play but that didn’t stop us from laying down some more coverage of Leagues Cup 2024. We react to the latest slate of group-stage matches, which included some more positive results for MLS clubs over Liga MX, with an unlikely hero emerging in the form of Austin FC.
Elsewhere, Dayne St. Clair went God mode again for Minnesota United, LAFC took a comedic defeat to the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Columbus Crew traded for a player that we realized mid-pod could have been a great pickup for the Seattle Sounders. We also touch on Sounders season ticket renewal pricing and the debacle it has started.
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Transcript
Introduction & Sponsorship
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Lobbing Scorchers is sponsored by Full Pole Wines, a Seattle-based seller. Not only are they a local company, but they've been supporting independent Seattle soccer media since 2011 and are run by Sounders fans. They offer the best boutique wines in the world to members of their mailing list with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest. Their model is simple. One, they email compelling offers. Two, you request bottles that sound appealing. Three, your wine arrives at their Soto warehouse and is ready for pickup or shipping. Their Soto tasting room is also open to the public.
00:00:29
Speaker
If you're interested in joining their mailing list or learning more about them, visit fullpolewants.com.
Episode 55 Introduction & Focus
00:00:36
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? Welcome to episode 55 of Lobbing Scorchers. This is Ari Lilianwall. I got producer Noah here with me for some more League's Cup coverage for this episode. Noah, how are you feeling?
00:00:50
Speaker
Well, Ari, it's a good day. It's a bad day, but it's always a good day when I'm with you. So I'm, I'm excited. I'm a little tired, but league's cup. Here we come. That's right. Yep. The Seattle Sounders didn't play, but league's cup 2024 is churning onward with another full slate of games that took place last night. We're recording this on Wednesday and there's more going on tonight.
MLS vs Liga MX: Austin FC's Success
00:01:11
Speaker
We're going to talk about MLS's good start against their Liga and Meccy's counterparts, including Austin FC, apparently being the greatest team that a Liga and Meccy's team has ever faced. You throw any other MLS team at them in CONCACAF Champions Cup or whatever.
00:01:28
Speaker
they go God mode, but if you throw Austin FC at them, I guess they just can't figure it out. We're going to talk about how and why that is. Seattle's next opponent in League's Cup, Nacoxa of League of the Yankees, also played their first game of League's Cup. So we're going to react to that and talk about what that means as it pertains to the match between those two clubs at Lumen Field on Sunday. It's on Sunday, right? Yeah.
00:01:51
Speaker
The Vancouver Whitecaps beat LAFC in penalties, which that was, you know, anytime LAFC loses, that's pretty funny. So we're going to react to and talk about that as well. And then there is a couple other news items at the end of the show that we're going to hit on top of
Sounder at Heart Podcast Network Announcement
00:02:05
Speaker
that. But before we do all that.
00:02:07
Speaker
I wanted to let you all know that Lobbing Scorchers is a part of the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. If you want to get the best independent Seattle soccer coverage, consider supporting us by going to sounderatheart.com slash LS. That's sounderatheart.com slash LS. Scroll down to subscribe and support to get 30 days completely free. Every sign up through our link helps us grow and support this show.
00:02:29
Speaker
And on that note, we actually have a handful of new subscribers to thank today, Noah, which is very exciting news. We very much appreciate all of you. We've got Mark Ottinger, Zach Heckman, David Pope, Brian Morton, and Claire Berger. Thank you all so much for the subs. We really appreciate all the support.
00:02:47
Speaker
You know what? Run it down. Read them all. Of course. And we're going to read them all. We're going to read the whole list because that's how much we love and appreciate all our subs. Kenneth Wade, Joey Pascanelli, David McCoy, Owen Mason, Dan Paveto, Samuel Fout, Ian Mitchell, Christopher Smith, Norm Bonnier, Thomas Martin, Greg Hoker, Chris Maley, Andy Hill, Mike Lentini, Nate Bonnier, David Rodriguez, and my nephews, CJ and Miles Maranakis.
00:03:10
Speaker
And Mark, Zach, David, Brian, and Clara, thank you all so much. We love and appreciate all of you for the support.
00:03:22
Speaker
If you're listening to this, you haven't done so yet. Subscribe to the Lobbing Scorchers YouTube. We summited the goal of 300 subs on that. I think we're up to like 310 or something like that. So appreciate everyone who helped us get there. The new goal is 350.
YouTube Subscriber Goal
00:03:38
Speaker
The road to 350 subs on the Lobbing Scorchers YouTube is alive and well. You can help us get there with one simple click of the button. You don't have to even like do anything other than just click your mouse one time. That's all it takes.
00:03:50
Speaker
and you can help us expand and grow our presence on that platform. All right, I think that's about enough housekeeping. Let's get into this League's Cup coverage. I'm ready. All right, so yeah, there's a bunch of League's Cup games last night. You know, Seattle beat Minnesota 2-0, and so they're just sitting back,
Liga MX's Struggles Against MLS
00:04:10
Speaker
chilling, watching. It's kind of nice, you know, to get to just hang out and watch everyone else duke it out, and it does nothing to none of it, really.
00:04:16
Speaker
affects you so There was some notable stuff that happened though, and we're gonna talk about it in sort of the context of this this kind of fast one-sided start that MLS is getting off to here because it's really it's it's palpable like you can the splits are stark and
00:04:34
Speaker
Like I said, Austin FC, League of Mechis, they just can't figure these guys out. They've now beaten Pumas and Monterey, two of the better teams in League of Mechis. I don't know as much about how they're doing this year, but in the last few years, these are two powerhouse sides in League of Mechis. Austin FC, who are in 10th place in the Western Conference, beat them back to back to start off their League's campaign. And that's just funny because it's Austin FC. They're not very good.
00:05:03
Speaker
Like I said, 10th place, their fan base has been most notable this season for paying pilots to fly planes that say Wolf out with one F, which is not how it's spelled. Well, it's an extra grand for another F. They had to hack the price down somehow, but the point is, they've been in turmoil and shambles, frankly dating back to last year.
00:05:27
Speaker
And
Home Advantage in MLS Hosting
00:05:28
Speaker
they've now taken down Pumos and Monterrey back to back. And like I said, MLS in general has been performing very well against League of Mechis, very one sided. So I wanted us to talk about like, why is that the case? Why are we seeing
00:05:44
Speaker
MLS perform so much better than we usually see like in Champions Cup. This is not how it goes I don't even think the last couple years in leagues cup You know, I feel like MLS does better in leagues cup and we're gonna talk about the reasons behind that But not like this this feels a little different now
00:06:02
Speaker
League of MX fans and media and their commentators they have an explanation for this and I actually I do think they you know it's an obvious point and it's a fair one they've been contending that a lot of this has to do with the way the tournament is set up as far as MLS teams having full hosting rights which
00:06:20
Speaker
That is it that is kind of it gives MLS teams an inherent advantage right off the rip when they're hosting every game The league I make these teams have to do all this travel. They're not playing, you know at their home stadiums. I think it would be More equitable if you know the MLS teams had to travel as well That would be logistically more challenging. But just in terms of pure fairness. I do think that would make it more fair However, Noah, I do want to bring up
00:06:48
Speaker
one counterpoint to this, okay? Which is that, you know, League of Nexus fans and commentators, they do love to talk about how superior their league is, how much greater the quality is, how much better their teams are.
00:07:04
Speaker
how much, you know, how much better the sport is in their country. And they're not necessarily wrong. I'm not disputing that. But, I mean, if that gap was as big as they like to contend, then shouldn't they be able to win some road games? I mean, I'm just asking. I'm just asking. Like, I'm really not trying to be a smartass. Like, if your league is that much better than taking your show on the road and taking some results shouldn't be that hard, should it? I'm just asking the question.
00:07:34
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know.
Liga MX's Interest in League's Cup
00:07:36
Speaker
I mean, I'm thinking about how Austin FC found a way to beat two of the better Ligameki's teams when they lost to Violetti, 3-0, in the Champions Cup, famously. A team that had no business even beating an MLS opponent. And here we are. Now, MLS is dominating every single Ligameki's team. Ligameki's has three combined wins in the entire tournament so far.
00:08:04
Speaker
Now that could change tonight, but three. Well, there's games going on right now as we record this. As we record this, DC United is up 3-0 on Santos Laguna in the 87th minute. That's another lopsided win for MLS. By a team, DC United, that's not good. Not good. They've been like last in the East or close to last in the East for a lot of this last part of the season. And they're just taking it to Santos Laguna, played at Subaru Park because League's Cup or whatever,
00:08:32
Speaker
Decided that Audi field was like not sufficient to be able to host these games the field was literally DC United is Playing Santos Laguna at the Philly Union Stadium at Subaru Park. That's a neutral just it's a neutral site game exactly exactly It's a neutral site game. So what's going on? I honestly don't have the answer on like if I was trying to guess
00:08:55
Speaker
Clearly, the travel and their status as the road teams is affecting them much more than you would think.
00:09:07
Speaker
Anyway, that's my best guess. I really don't know, but it's definitely an interesting trend, and I just think it's kind of funny because if it was only the good MOS teams like LAFC, FC Cincinnati, Columbus, whatever, that were doing this, that would be one thing. That would almost be more expected. But Austin FC and DC United, I mean, that's
00:09:30
Speaker
Those are two of the more mid to bad MLS teams I could think of right now. I mean, listen, I'm going to lob what I think is going on because
00:09:42
Speaker
I quite honestly think that the League of Mechis teams just don't care. That could be it. I genuinely think that they understand that they have to play in this tournament, but the value and the money is not worth it. I think it's worth it for some of the smaller clubs, but at the end of the day, if you win, you're winning $2 million and you're getting into Champions Cup.
00:10:05
Speaker
I mean like that's not insignificant money but like that's a bag the top tier teams in league of mechies like is two million dollars really gonna persuade you to go all in on a tournament that's already stacked against you from the start like I don't think so
00:10:30
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Soundwork Heart podcast network, which now includes No Sonietes, Lobbing Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild. We've been independent since August of 2023, but need your support to make sure it continues. Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible by your continued support. Memberships start as low as $25 a year, which not only helps make podcasts like this one happen, but also gives you access to everything we produce.
00:10:56
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00:11:25
Speaker
I mean it should because that's a pretty big bag and I think all those teams should want every team should want a Champions Cup spot. So like I think the incentive to care is there. However I do think there might be something to what you're saying as far as you know when you do when you does seem like the deck is stacked against you and you have to deal with all this travel and you know maybe you're feeling fatigued and maybe your heart might be hard to get like your heart and mind fully in it.
00:11:56
Speaker
So I think that's not a bad theory I mean we even saw with the sounders right like there was some kind of energy there was some kind of vibe that was lacking in Of these games to start it off. Yeah, we talked about that on the last show for sure
00:12:11
Speaker
There has been a flip side of that, I think, too, where a few of the games have been pretty entertaining and high intensity. But there definitely was that vibe, like you said, definitely in the Sounders game. And we read Dean Smith had another heater, actually, this week. Yeah, he did. He kept popping off. But he noticed that in their game, too. That was an all-MOS match against the Philly Union. So I do think there's an element of that.
00:12:38
Speaker
well But it's also that doesn't mess that doesn't really match up as much with what I've seen in this tournament the last couple years where you know, there's been issues with it, but they're like The energy and intensity I don't really recall it being as much of an issue as it seemed to be in the first few games This year but to me it seems also kind of a little bit like open cup where in the first rounds in the group stage here you're like
00:13:07
Speaker
If we make it through awesome We'll take it seriously if we don't then who cares right like I feel like that's more of the vibe than like a fully we don't care It's just a like let's see how little we can put out to get through and then like You know if we make it we make it will go hard, but if we don't who cares I think honestly that's
Seattle vs Nacoxa Match Preview
00:13:26
Speaker
I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head right there. And I think a lot of the league at Mechie's teams are probably looking at it like that. They want to make a run, but if they don't, it's kind of not the end of the world. All right, let's talk about this Minnesota Nacoxa game. I had a few observations from this. I didn't watch the whole thing, but I watched a fair amount of it.
00:13:48
Speaker
Minnesota United won this game 1-0, which is this is relevant because Seattle is playing to Cox on Sunday and This team just lost to Minnesota United, but it really it it was a it was a decently entertaining game from the standpoint of so Minnesota United went up 1-0 pretty early in the first half They got out to the lead and then they got another red guard That's their second straight League's Cup game with a red card and like
00:14:17
Speaker
it was it was more of the vibes of like kind of like apathetic like not as much as the Hasani Datsun red card in Seattle but like just the dog so foul that the guy committed it's one of those ones where it's like
00:14:34
Speaker
You he knew what he was doing. Yeah, like when he did it and just still did it anyway and 20 minutes into 20 minutes in so they played most of this game down a man holding on to this one zero lead and the reason that they held it was that
00:14:49
Speaker
Dane St. Clair, Minnesota United goalkeeper, went God mode again and he might be the goalkeeping God himself. This was insane. He had 16 saves, which was the Minnesota United and League's Cup record. We had a little video montage of it up on the website, MLSSoccer.com.
00:15:06
Speaker
and they're like big time saves too. Nikoxo was just absolutely putting this Canadian kid under siege and he was just batting these shots away left and right, breaking records. It was honestly incredible that Minnesota United managed to see this out at 1-0.
00:15:28
Speaker
Down a man for that long and under the amount of pressure that they were under The whole game one of probably the best individual goalkeeper performance I've seen this season from Dane Sinclair and it was coming off. He did the same thing against Seattle Yeah, Seattle really should have had three or four goals in that game, but Dane Sinclair went God mode. So I guess that's a good sign for Minnesota United but um
00:15:52
Speaker
It was really, it was not a game between like two powerhouse teams to my eye. Yeah. I mean, Minnesota literally got bailed out in the 10th minute. Their only goal came from a penalty and they had seven total shots. The Cox had 20 shots and 14 on target. So I guess, you know, he made 16 saves. So.
00:16:13
Speaker
It was one of those games where, especially after the red card, where it was basically just one team on top of the other for the whole time. A straight assault. I don't know what the XG was for this game, but I imagine it was pretty high. These felt like high quality chances.
00:16:36
Speaker
Anyway, with that being the case, let's just touch on how that affects Seattle real quick. So, basically, Seattle only needs to, they need to not lose by four goals. That's a tough task. If that makes sense. So, if they lose four zero, even three zero, I think, puts them through.
00:16:54
Speaker
But if they lose 4-0, they're eliminated. So I think they can manage that, but you never know. You never know. Maybe Nacoxa comes out and starts playing like Real Madrid. So if they get an early goal and then can get it to 2-0 in the first half,
00:17:15
Speaker
it's still pretty unlikely but like if they do that they give themselves like some sort of chance really it's on seattle to just manage the game well and uh really i think it comes down to getting through those first 15 to 20 minutes when you know nikaksa is going to be on top of you and putting you under a ton of pressure
00:17:34
Speaker
If you can make it through that without conceding and calm the game down, weather the storm, you're in pretty good shape. And I think the thing I wanted to talk about related to that is just how we would approach this and how Schmetz will approach it. Because I think there's a pretty good argument to be made here that you should rotate this lineup pretty heavily. It's not that you shouldn't take the game seriously and take the task at hand seriously. You still have to close this out, make sure you get out of the group.
Seattle's Lineup Strategy for Group Stages
00:18:04
Speaker
the margin for error here is such that Especially with the fixture congestion and just like the amount of mileage that this is putting on some of these guys You know, I think a moose start makes some sense here. Yeah
00:18:22
Speaker
You know you've got to save Paul Rothrock. Yeah, he's got a sit Because I mean that's your most important players correct definitely rotate him out I mean Rui Diaz. I would start him here, but he's doesn't have a leg injured Yeah, the Hasani dot the Datsun tackle actually messed him up pretty good. Did you see the photo of his yeah? Yeah, dude had a second knee on his cat Yeah, and he was stayed in the game for a few minutes. Yeah, which is crazy
00:18:49
Speaker
But so he so I would start moose here I Would start uh, who else would I start I would give I would give John Bell some run here I was just Stu Hawkins game. He would go all the way to stew. I was gonna say RBW But uh, no, I won't. Okay, here we go. Or what about a Cody Bay code? I was gonna say Cody bakes, but he did just have surgery. He just got Yeah, that's right. He broke his arm or something. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I forgot about that. This is a new star. Yeah, you got what I'm saying though, like
00:19:20
Speaker
With the knowledge that you do need to take the game seriously and close it out like I definitely I would not throw out like my Turbocharged first choice 11 here. Like I don't think that's smart
00:19:32
Speaker
No, I'm listen, if I'm building the lineup here, I'm starting Danny Musavski with Pedro de la Vega. He needs more minutes. Anyway, I grew that I'm putting in the Danny Leyva keeping Obed out there, but subbing him after Obed's 18. He's yeah, like subbing him after like 65, right? You know, or even just letting him play. We're getting Cody Baker, Jackson, Reagan, John Bell. Okay. Well, oh yeah, that's right. Okay. Stu Hawkins, Jackson, Reagan, John, Bill.
00:20:00
Speaker
Someone else who cares probably Alex and then Andy Tandy T or Jacob Jacob C. Ooh That's a deep cut. I can't take a cash. They're gonna they're gonna start Andy T. But um Yeah, I don't know You know, it's all it's always the type of thing where if you start the rotated lineup and then it backfires You know people question why you didn't take it seriously but really like
00:20:23
Speaker
If you score one goal in this game, you're probably chilling. You're probably John. So I don't know. We'll see how it pans out because when you have a margin for error like this, it can breed complacency. That's what you have to avoid. That's why you play your, your, your players that are lower on the roster. You have a chance for them to go and prove something and they can get stoked about it.
00:20:42
Speaker
That's fair. And you get you. It's a good opportunity to get guys some run that might not normally get it against a League of Mackie's team. So we'll see what happens. I expect it to be pretty rotated like I do. I mean, I already I'm pretty sure ADT is going to be out there. I'm pretty sure Moose is going to be out there.
00:21:03
Speaker
I would really be surprised. I would be pretty surprised if you saw like the JMO Rusnak contingent out there. But I do agree with what you said about De La Vega. I think he should, I think he should start this game. Maybe he can play 90. I don't know if I'd play him 90. I play him 60 for sure though.
00:21:22
Speaker
All right. I also wanted to talk about this LAFC Whitecaps game because it was pretty good and LAFC lost, which was, you know, like I said, that's always, that's always a good day for us at lobbing squirters when LAFC loses.
LAFC vs Whitecaps Match Recap
00:21:33
Speaker
Well, they drew to be fair and lost in PKs. Yeah. I mean, and L's and L. Yeah, that's all right. Really, they would have lost in regulation had the Whitecaps not committed an egregious fumble. Basically what happened was the Whitecaps, the Whitecaps went up to zero in the first like 20 minutes of the game.
00:21:51
Speaker
They were bamming. They were kind of playing LAFC off the park at LAFC's home stadium. And they actually, you know, they absorbed some pressure into the second half, but it was two zero until pretty late in the game, like 80 something minute. And then LAFC
00:22:09
Speaker
pulls one back, and then pretty much it was in like the 87th minute or whatever. Yeah, it was a Kaikomara header. Kaikomara header, like a few minutes before second half stoppage time makes it 2-1. And then pretty much from there, the white caps fully melted down. It looked like Noxox versus Minnesota United, essentially. The LAFC was just buzz on like LAFC normally does.
00:22:37
Speaker
The Whitecaps had pretty much no answer for the pressure. They couldn't stop Denny Bawonga. And they were basically just getting lucky that LAFC was racking up chance after chance late in the game and they weren't quite converting him. But then of course, you know, right at the last seconds, I think it was Matty Bogus, yeah.
00:22:54
Speaker
he gets the equalizer and that sends it to penalties and I was pretty annoyed because I Had kind of I was feeling like I spent when it was to zero in like the 87th I was like, okay like the white caps. They actually have got this Vanny sartini got a red card because yeah, he did He thought that bogus was offside. He was not equalizer I couldn't really tell but when you can't tell you have to leave it
00:23:16
Speaker
there was a there was a defender like on the far right side that was off frame but very clearly was keeping him on okay from what I could see so according to no erroneous erroneous argument from Vanny Sartini who he got thrown out of the game and then the white caps go on to
00:23:35
Speaker
Yeah, so I mean still a good result for them even though they did try their level best to fumble at all at the very end and I don't think there's really anything Deeper or greater to read into that like the way LFC was playing at the end. I was like alright. I mean they're just
00:23:50
Speaker
They locked in. They're, they're, they locked in. They're probably still one of the front runners, if not the front runner to win the tournament. But it was a fun, novel thing to watch them almost get bammed on by the white caps and regulation.
00:24:05
Speaker
My favorite thing about that entire match was the Berhalter kid had a goal and an assist and he like was cooking and I just like I wish that the bots were watching that match just just to be angry because it's like the kid kind of call them up to the US man.
00:24:20
Speaker
Yeah, call them up to the US. Imagine how mad they would be. Yeah, no, that's actually that's a great shout because I haven't watched him play all that much. So I didn't know if he was good or not, like, haven't seen him play enough to really have an opinion on it. But he's been playing and starting pretty regularly for them. And that goal was sick. It was nasty. It was a really good goal. And he really, like,
00:24:46
Speaker
He seemed like he had the Rothrock in him, you know what I mean? He was playing like that. He was really just into it. And it seemed like he was involved in everything that was going on, whether it was facilitating them an attack, or he was messing with guys on defense, too. He was getting in guys' faces. He was Rothrocking. Yeah, he was Rothrocking. He was Rothrocking for the Whitecaps. And that was fun, because it's Peralta's son.
00:25:18
Speaker
I did have one other game that I wanted to talk about that I forgot to write on the outline, but did you see the penalty kick shootout between the Red Bulls and Pachuca? I didn't. Please enlighten me on this. It was just, I mean, Pachuca beat the Red Bulls and knocked them out 5-4 on PKs.
00:25:33
Speaker
But both teams had a couple of the worst penalties I've ever seen. The Red Bulls had one where the guy just shanked it really badly. Pachuca had one where the guy bammed it into the 27th row. There was a couple, I think there was at least one more really, really bad one. So if you're looking for some funny content, pull up that shootout. It was really bad. And the Red Bulls crashed out, which
00:26:00
Speaker
They were the first team to lose. Yeah. Unfortunate for them because they're actually having a really, really good year in the league. I think they probably felt like they could make some, make some noise here, but they're out of there and they really, yeah, they fumbled that one. Yeah, they did. Aside from that, it was just a CF Montreal beating San Luis, which is, you know,
00:26:20
Speaker
whatever. And then right now, like I said, DC United just went final 3-0 over Santos Laguna. And then you do have Juarez beating FC Dallas 1-0 at halftime as of this recording. All right. I think that was all I had as far as recapping the league's cup results.
00:26:39
Speaker
So I think we can keep this a pretty short one, Noah. We can just hit the couple other headlines that we had here at the end of the show and then get out of here for episode 55. To start it off here, you had one on the Seattle season ticket renewals. What's the story here?
Sounders' Ticket Price Increase Reaction
00:26:55
Speaker
Yeah, Ari, listen. I know you're not so tapped in with your big boy media badge and your golden parachute MLS job over here, but some of us common folk, we pay for season tickets. And unfortunately, the Sounders have chosen to increase the prices between 10% and 30% across the board. Some fans, well, I saw at least, even in the supporters section with ECS trying to keep prices as low as possible, $100 increase. So from $500 to $600.
00:27:24
Speaker
That's kind of insane me personally. It was a $200 like increase it was 19% They're not giving you any more games that we know of and Like what what have they given us this season that would warrant a 19% increase? They're like middle of the table and played some of the worst soccer I've ever seen this club play over a stretch of a long period of time and have made it very clear that they just don't give a shit to sign anyone so I
00:27:52
Speaker
Most people are incredibly and I think pretty fairly upset about all of this, especially just kind of the blindsided nature of it and the general lack of seeming interest to fill up a stadium that has been dwindling in attendance over the last few years. Yeah, so you're right. I mean, this doesn't individually affect me, but I definitely can understand where people are coming from. And I do think it's like,
00:28:23
Speaker
It's always a little bit rich when MLS teams do this, especially like you said, teams that like, if you're, if you're, you know, LAFC or Columbus and you've been balling out winning trophies, like going to MLS cup every year, maybe you can justify it a little more. Uh, but it made me think of, uh, so Atlanta United did the exact same thing and they have even less of a leg to stand on for it than Seattle.
00:28:44
Speaker
I don't even think they have a full roster right now. Yeah. Like they're like, they just are blowing up their roster and rebuilding and they've been mediocre at absolute best for the last like four or five years. Um, and, uh, you know, like Seattle, it's still unjustified, but at least they can point to like, we've been very successful. It's hanging on to pass glory, but they can be like, we've won a bunch of trophies and blah, blah, blah. Like to push forward, whatever the rationale may be.
00:29:10
Speaker
Atlanta, you know, they don't really even have that to point to and there was a really good Column that Sam Jones wrote about this on Five stripe final which is a good they do great Atlanta United coverage. I recommend if you're an MLS junkie like me I recommend subscribing to them, but he basically he wrote like over a thousand word column basically calling it out like like you guys have given
00:29:36
Speaker
Nothing to warrant this like he did it preemptively because he knew that they were gonna do it before they even did it and the premise of the column was like Atlanta United shouldn't do this even though I know that they already are going to but he made a lot of
00:29:53
Speaker
just pretty airtight points honestly like I was reading it and I was like yeah I mean there is no rationale for that and I mean I agree with what you said Noah like based on this season like there's an element of just like business and capitalism where they're probably gonna do that stuff no matter what like regardless of what happens but that percentage that you're talking about like 20% or whatever
00:30:15
Speaker
Yeah, that's a lot. No, it's insane. It's a lot It's one thing like I was I was texting with some people about this I'm like, it's one thing if it's like between like one and eight percent, right? That's like that would be like a median. It's still annoying but it's annoying but it's like, okay That's sixty seventy dollars for two seats. That's you know, maybe if you have club seats, maybe that's a hundred dollars But you're already spending, you know a couple thousand but in general like
00:30:39
Speaker
Why are you trying to tax your biggest fans, your biggest supporters, the ones who are actually going to the games and filling the stadium, the ones who are like complaining that there's just not as many people in the stands as there were last year. And then the Sounders being like, Oh, we're committed to like making sure that we can get back to those full capacity crowds. What the hell are you committed to? Like there's no way that this is going to boost attendance. It's only going to lower attendance in the longterm.
00:31:10
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think anyone who is annoyed at that news is well within their rights to be. They gotta pay for that new training facility somehow, I guess. Yeah, maybe that's what it is.
Team USA's Olympic Performance
00:31:23
Speaker
I have the Olympics written down here, Team USA. We beat Guinea and New Zealand to advance to the quarterfinals after getting absolutely destroyed by France, which is actually a historic advancement because I believe it's the first time that we've made it this far since Sydney 2000.
00:31:47
Speaker
Um, that's a good thing. And there's a little bit of egg on my face because I was trash talking this roster a little bit, which I pretty much stand by, but you took some heat in the comments. Did I yell a lot actually where people, people were saying that the roster wasn't as bad as, as you were claiming on YouTube on, on all platforms, including sounderheart.com slash LS.
00:32:07
Speaker
I mean, I just very much disagree, I guess. Anyone who disagrees with me with my takes is always welcome to do so. I think, OK, I was probably overstating how bad it is for effect, but it's mid. It's a pretty mid roster. I think that's more like, if you're saying that roster is super awesome and great, I think you're way more in the minority than I am for thinking it's mid.
00:32:34
Speaker
I probably was exaggerating a little bit, and the results they took, I think it's fair to say there is a little bit of egg on my face there, so if you commented lambasting my character for that take, credit to you, I was probably exaggerating. But I will shout out the two of the standouts who helped deliver those results. Georgi Mihailovic is playing really well.
00:32:59
Speaker
He's been balling for the Colorado Rapids this year. That's been looking like one of the better off-season signings that any team has made, frankly. And he scored a couple really nice goals, including a really sick free kick in the, I believe it was the New Zealand game.
00:33:16
Speaker
And then Kevin Paredes, who's an interesting name, he was this highly touted homegrown of a couple of years ago from DC United. And they sold him on to it was either a Bundesliga side or a second division Bundesliga side. And I kind of I don't know. I hadn't really felt like I hadn't really heard from him in a while. But he's been he's been looking pretty damn good at the Olympics. He scored a couple of goals and they're like they're good goals, too. Like he was getting out and running. He finished one of them while he was running full speed.
00:33:45
Speaker
So yeah, shout out to Team USA and shout out to everyone who lambasted my take about our mid-ass roster. But we'll see what they can do. I mean, I have a feeling that the further they get into it, my take might be valid.
00:34:07
Speaker
Okay, I understand like coming off these two good results people are going to be saying that The roster is better than I was saying or whatever, but I mean Part of the reason I was saying that is because look what happened when we played France Yeah, look what happened with guinea guinea in New Zealand like I'm sorry you're gonna have to you're gonna have to beat a better team than those two teams to To beat the allegations that I was making
00:34:30
Speaker
And then also, Josh Atencio. He featured in one of these games. He was there. He's there as an inter-game. And he played in the Guinea game. So that's good for Josh Atencio. He was balling. At least, yeah. He was balling. And at least he didn't make that trip out there for nothing. He's actually getting some run. Cool experience for him. Still unfortunate that Jordan Morris didn't get to go. But glad Josh Atencio got some minutes.
00:34:54
Speaker
Maybe he can win gold and like saw it in half and give half of it to Jordan. That would be sick. That's a good idea. And then the last thing I have here and then we can call it a wrap. There is a trade. The Columbus crew got Dwan Jones from the revs, which I think is
Columbus Crew's Strategic Acquisition
00:35:12
Speaker
Well, it's actually a pretty significant trade because Dwan Jones is really good. He's one of the better attacking fullbacks in MLS. He's established himself as such during his time with the revolution. But more my take on this is just like the crew are just so well run.
00:35:28
Speaker
Every time I swear every time they make a move like this I look at it at my like, oh damn, that's that cooks Yeah, that's a good move. Like this is just another one And it used to be best pachinko, but he left and now it's it's the guy who is Working under him. Yeah, his protege and that's like this like swooping to Juan Jones
00:35:53
Speaker
for value that's like a tim bez type of move so that that honestly indicates to me that um their their new guy might be they might not be dropping off as much i think i was saying that like there's no way they could upgrade from bez because he's one of the best gm's and mls but that's like a that's a good move and like the crew are just they're stupid loaded like they're so loaded i think they
00:36:17
Speaker
You know, inner Miami is obviously the most loaded roster in the league, probably most loaded, loaded MLS roster we've ever seen. And then you've got like LAFC in there who are super loaded and FC Cincy before all the injuries, they're really loaded. But, uh, the crew are right up there, man. And this just adds to that.
00:36:35
Speaker
Yeah, I'm listen I watch this kind of stuff and get so frustrated that the sounders are unable to do any business at all They can they get like there's no way that they can't do some kind of business like they went and they they had two European targets right and then their wage demands were too much and then they were like well we're just gonna stay in Europe then cuz like why would we come all the way over there for you to pay us Tam wages and
00:37:03
Speaker
It's just like, can we make a signing? Frankly, Dewan Jones would have been a great move for Seattle. They need an attacking fullback of his skill set. He's exactly, I think, a thing that they could really use. Right. I understand that the center back position and fullback positions and wing back positions are pretty stacked right now.
00:37:26
Speaker
Who cares if you get that if you're starting left back can't attack at all. Exactly. So like a guy like I have we not been arguing that like this team has really missed like a Brad Smith Jovan Jones type skill. That's what the one John Jones I think is primarily a right back. But I think he can play on the left. But the point is like just skill set wise. That's the type of player that like I think this team could actually benefit from quite a lot.
00:37:50
Speaker
Are we asleep at the wheel? I mean, I don't know. Sometimes I see this stuff and I kind of I kind of feel like that as far as, you know, I mean, how many points per game is Seattle out right now? One point for eight. So I mean,
00:38:06
Speaker
you would ideally want to be making moves that gets you closer to that like 1.7 to 2.0 range where that's like, I feel like that's where the true contenders usually lie. And, you know, and attacking fullback alone might not, uh, might not get you there, but it could have helped.
00:38:22
Speaker
Yeah, and like I don't know maybe this is insane, but anything helps when your competition is LA FC signing Literally everyone on the planet now to be able to compete in my opinion You know signing Giroux and they got another guy too. Yeah, they got it wasn't grease men like rumored or something God I can't remember the name, but they made they're making like multiple moves
00:38:46
Speaker
Yeah, they're like it's just they're they're they're rumored with grease mung, but like I doubt that's gonna actually happen. Uh, oh They got Lewis O'Brien on from Nottingham for us. Yeah, it's just like those are the teams we're competing against What are we doing? What are we doing? I know this turned into a whole rant about sound good tangent because I hadn't really even thought about it from that perspective, but now that I think about it, I'm like damn I Would I would have loved to want Jones on Seattle
00:39:16
Speaker
I would do that. And it's like what you're saying is right. Like it feels like teams like the crew in LAFC every time I'm like, I see a transfer tracker story come in that we have to write up for the website. I'm like, Oh, the crew again. Oh, LAFC again. Like they're always cooking.
00:39:33
Speaker
Yeah. And you know, at the annual business meeting, they were asked about this and he was like, well, you know, there's all these new owners with these all new, all these new billionaire owners, but it doesn't mean they're smart just because they're spending money. And I'm like, yeah, but like you can be smart and spend money. They're like, well, you know, we, we want to sign players that will win us cups, not just win us the transfer window. And it's like,
00:39:55
Speaker
You're not winning either. Yeah, so it's It's the classic like spent spending smart instead of a lot argument that moneyball teams kind of try and make but I don't know especially in soccer like how much you spend is often very correlated to how well you perform so yeah, you can't tell me that inner Miami would be a shell of the team that it is without spending to get messy because messy not only brought over his
00:40:23
Speaker
Himself being so talented but his status and then a million billion other players wanted to come over and play there Yeah, that was really like a snowball effect for them Like, you know, they brought messy over and the Barca boys over and then like you said every Everyone wants to play every you 22 Argentinian is like I will sign for $25 an hour. They're kind of playing a different game with that stuff. Yeah
00:40:47
Speaker
Alright, I think we can call it a wrap there for episode 55. I think that's a little bit of a short one this week, but that's fine I mean, we didn't really have much sounder stuff to talk about and It's just leaks cup coverage. So I'm okay with a short one Thank you all as always for tuning in We really appreciate all the support and increased listenership that we've seen especially since our migration over to our new partners that sounder at heart
00:41:15
Speaker
Did want to give you all a heads up real quick. I'm once again going out of town this weekend I'm not gonna be at Loom & Field on Sunday But so that might just delay our next episode just a tad We should have easily be able to have it out by Monday during the day or in the evening at the latest I believe which that's honestly Relatively our normal schedule, but it might be slightly later than usual given my travel situation but
00:41:45
Speaker
Yeah, we're gonna call it right there. Thank you all so much Until next time we out. Peace