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Can the Seattle Sounders take down TIGRES? (feat. Jeff Rueter)
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After another successful episode of the Seattle Sounders Road Show, all eyes are on Concacaf Champions Cup, starting with Wednesday's massive quarterfinal opener at Tigres UANL. We'll give our final takeaways from Matchday 6's 1-0 victory at Houston and Paul Rothrock's game-winner, then react to a couple of major Sounders news items, with Nikola Petković lost for the season to a torn ACL and Peter Kingston signing a first-team contract. Later in the show, we'll be joined by Jeff Rueter of the Guardian, who will give us the lowdown on covering USMNT camp in Atlanta and preview the CCC quarterfinals.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.
Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
Contact: lobbingscorchers@justoncemedia.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Setup
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Lobbing Scorchers was previously recorded and streamed live on YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers. If you want to listen or catch these episodes live, see the video, and see all the rest of our content, go to YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers or LobbingScorchers.com slash YouTube.
The 'Scorcher' Day Ahead
00:00:22
Speaker
Well sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be a real scorcher today. Why the scorcher today? Well it's gonna be scorcher.
Seattle Sounders' Recent Performance
00:00:44
Speaker
Good morning, everybody, and welcome to a very special, historic edition of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff. I'm Ari, that's Nico, and like I said, we got a big show here this morning. I mean, you already know the situation. The Seattle Sounders 1-0 victory at Houston over the weekend.
00:01:03
Speaker
CCC quarterfinals coming up against Tigris on Wednesday, and we're going to have Jeff Reuter Friend of the pod of the formerly of the athletic now of the guardian. He's going to be tapping on the show a little bit later. So obviously a lot to get to. But before we get into all that, I have an even more important announcement ah than all that.
QED Coffee Sponsorship Announcement
00:01:24
Speaker
And I'm not going to bury the lead. I'm going to I'm going to get right into it. I'm going to come right out and say it. Lobbing Scorchers kickoff.
00:01:30
Speaker
is now sponsored. We have a new title sponsor. Let's go. Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff will henceforth be known as Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff, presented by QED Coffee, our new title sponsor. We're really excited to bring them. uh onto the team we got a lot planned for it uh and i'm going to be uh i'm going to tell you guys all about qed and everything you can do to to support them and subsequently support us in just a second but uh before i do that nico i i do got to bring you in on that because uh it's big time you know we've been grinding this show for uh over a year now putting in the work putting in the hours and now we got a title sponsor qed coffee how does that sound to you title sponsor for uh for the show how are you feeling about that i'm feeling great
00:02:13
Speaker
As somebody who is ah the coffee drinker i around here, um I am excited. i I drink maybe three, four cups of coffee a day, you know, being Colombiano. So I'm kind of excited to get those guys on and and and try try that the the the actual product and get to tell you guys a little bit about it. But I'm excited, man, that Lobby Scorch is doing big things, man.
00:02:37
Speaker
Yeah, no, exactly. And, you know, i already, I got my, ah I got my mug right here, QED coffee mug. I got my, ah I got my sample bag right here, the median blend. So I'm going to tell you guys about that right now. Yeah. And, It's going to be big time stuff. We got a lot planned for it. We're hoping at some point to do a co-branded product similar to the Hakes and Ferments Lobbing Scorchers hot sauce. So I will keep you all posted on that. But real quick, before we get into the show today, I am going to give you guys the lowdown on QED, explain who they are and how you can support QED Coffee.
00:03:14
Speaker
Three locations in Seattle.
QED Coffee: Locations and Support
00:03:16
Speaker
If you're in these areas or you need a place to throw down your laptop and work remotely, you've got the Mount Baker location. 1418 31st Avenue South West Seattle location 6080 35th Avenue South in three tree point in Burien is also got a QED d location 16957 Maplewood Avenue Southwest. So if you're in those areas, or again, if you just need somewhere, to go try some coffee or work for the day, ah go into the physical locations, show them some support.
00:03:44
Speaker
QED, d been in business since 2014, launched in 2015, I believe, owned by Matt Greenfield, a friend of the pod, inaugural season ticket holder who's been an inaugural see season ticket holder with the same group of friends since he's been in college. a Great spectrum of coffee from light roasted single origin offerings all the way to the classic diner brand called the Elements. And Matt, he's a a he's a math guy. That's the QED reference. I'm not much of a math guy, but that is a mathematical formula. So you know you know the math guys are going to be on point with the... ah With the coffee making, they take a lot of care in curating and crafting all the coffees to their full potential with the aim of providing top-level coffee that is approachable to all community-focused cafes designed to be a third place for folks. So I'm going to i'm gonna tell you guys right now the number one thing, the number one thing that you can do to support QED Coffee off-riff and also support the show. I'm going to drop the link in the chat right now. QEDcoffee.com slash collections slash subscription.com.
00:04:47
Speaker
right there uh go ahead and hit this link right here folks you can subscribe online to get qed delivered directly to your door and use the code ls74 for 25 off one time anything on the website so merch mugs they got gift cards they got filters code ls74 for anything on the website 25 off and they're also running a deal right now 25% off for any new subscribers. So what I need you all to do today or at some point when you got time this week, go to that link, qedcoffee.com slash collections slash subscription and subscribe to QED.
00:05:28
Speaker
And that is, if you're you know if you're not a super chat person, if you want to show your support in other ways, this is going to be a huge way to support the show, guys. like I really need you to do your thing just like you did with the Lobbing Scorchers hot sauce. spam those subscriptions, show them some some support. They're sponsoring the whole show. So we got to make it worth their while, throw them some subs, throw them some support, go to the physical locations and subscribe online. And on the online shop, like I said, you got, you got your gift cards, you got your mugs.
00:05:56
Speaker
Like I got right here. I'm going drinking out this thing out of this thing, every show QED coffee. But we need you. We need you guys to, ah to show the support and make it worth their while. sponsor the show lobbing scorchers kickoff now brought to you by qed coffee uh and i think that's the whole spiel there's a lot more to come on this guys we're gonna be uh we're gonna be keeping you appraised of everything that we got going on as far as the co-branded product and everything else but for now again number one thing you can do qedcoffee.com slash collections slash description get it started right now show them some love let's get those subs going i want them churning uh want those numbers going up so
00:06:35
Speaker
Nico, I think that's pretty much it as far as the subscription spiel. But I'm ah needless to say, I'm very excited. I'm very happy that we've we have got a title sponsor. And we're going to doing a lot of work with them.
00:06:48
Speaker
And it's exciting times. It's exciting times here at Lobby Scorchers. The other thing I wanted to say is ah thank you to you all for tuning into this show and all our shows every week. People wouldn't be sponsoring us if we didn't have an audience like you all tuning in. You guys are the ones who make it happen. So I got to say thank you to to the audience, to the people, to everyone who makes the show happen, because we would not have a title sponsor if it was not not for you. And so, yeah, exciting times. Nico, anything else you want to say about our our new sponsor before we get into the show today?
00:07:22
Speaker
No, I love it. i mean, you know, i yeah I know it's quality coffee. I know it's local. I know that Seattle is known for their love of coffee events. So I think it just goes hand in hand with our soccer community, with the the fan base, that the Lobby Scorchers family. So, man, I'm hyped. I'm excited to continue to. There you go. I need to get me one of those. So we made sure that you guys are following that up. and yeah, man, let let let's pump those numbers up. Let's make sure that they appreciate and and and feel the support of the Lobby Scorchers family.
00:07:59
Speaker
QED coffee.com slash collections slash subscription. Yeah. And you know, we, when we we were so hurt hunting for sponsors for this, we figured a coffee company, it just makes sense. You know, lobbing scorchers kickoff. Everyone's getting their week started, getting the morning going, you know, getting ready for the week. Uh, now, yeah, now we have, uh, now we have an official title sponsor to, uh, bring that to life.
Sounders' Road Performance and Key Players
00:08:20
Speaker
But, uh, All right, Nico, before we ah get Jeff Reuter in here, we do have some Sounders stuff to to talk about, and we got CCC to talk about as well. So it's really, it's just a big-time show today. But let's ah let's start with, ah I guess, the Houston game. That's the most recent ah match that the Sounders have played, and they have CCC quarters coming up on Wednesday. But Nico, another win for the Seattle Sounders Roadshow, this time 1-0 at Houston. They're now 3-1-1 on all these, on on the on their road games for the season. Three road wins, and they still have only played one match at home, which is kind of crazy to think about. Where are you at on the Seattle Sounders Roadshow, Nico? It's obviously, the results have been great. I don't think you can argue with 3-1-1 to start the season on the road. Already three road wins. You could say that these have been a little bit of, ah you know, not the prettiest games. They've been smash and grab. You've got one zeros going on. You did have a zero zero draw in Minnesota. So I guess where are you at right now on terms of the the results that the team has been taking, which have been fantastic, ah you know, mixed with the performances, which have yielded great results, but there have been, you know, they've been under pressure a lot. You could say they've maybe gotten lucky to not concede a couple more goals in one of these games. or in a couple of these games. So ah where are you feeling coming off the Seattle Sounders Roadshow with CCC Quarters coming up on Wednesday?
00:09:52
Speaker
Yeah, look, it's really ah five wins, one loss, and one draw away from Lumen Field. If you add the Spokane game, if you add the game in Vancouver for CCC. So it's impressive, man. that That's the bottom line. yeah You've been able to, if I'm not mistaken, get six overall shutouts as well, combining ah the entirety of the season.
00:10:20
Speaker
it just talks... great about a team when you're able to find ways to win. When you, you know, they say defense wins championships. Well, then the Sounders are on the prowl because their defense has been outstanding.
00:10:39
Speaker
Andrew Thomas was unreal against Houston. And, and, I don't know if people realize the amount of firepower that this Houston team has. I told you guys about Guilherme.
00:10:52
Speaker
He's a guy that could do absolutely everything. I thought it was even more remarkable that Ben Olsen tried to I think, take the Sounders by surprise by starting Guilherme on the left side away from Nuhu. He typically plays on the right.
00:11:11
Speaker
Him and Bogut, Guilherme and Bogut were switching back and forth trying to get him unlocked. he He put the Sounders into a lot of bad positions, and he was a handful without a doubt. But still, when he came to the final product, it was either... Andrew Thomas with a big save, or it was new, putting his body on the line, blocking the shot, or it was Kalani Kosariensi forcing, you know, a pass back.
00:11:37
Speaker
It was just another collective effort for this team to, put it together. and if you look back at the the ways and the forms that the Sounders have been able to win games, not all have been great. I wouldn't call this a a smashing grab. i I don't feel like that's the type of game this was. I think that the Sounders outpossessed Houston. I thought that it was a very even back and forth match. Seattle had couple of moments.
00:12:07
Speaker
Jesus Ferrer had that opportunity in front of goal. I think he does what he can with that shot. is's not ah He doesn't have a great angle, doesn't have all the control in the ball, so he kind of like pokes at it. It's a good save to you.
00:12:19
Speaker
Bond makes ah a phenomenal save. So I really do think that this was a very even match. Seattle went out there against the high pressure Houston team that really tried to get out there and and play this team differently. I, you know, talked to ah ah Ben Olson before the game during the presser and he had nothing but great things to say about the Sounders.
00:12:44
Speaker
He said, you know, I kind of wish he Houston was the Sounders. We want to be like the Sounders. And ah he you know, he mentioned, I hate this team, but I respect them. So you knew that he was going to bring out his team to to fight, to to play differently. Because when you play a team that you respect, that you know they have your number, you make sure that your guys come in at the highest possible level. And they did that. I mean, it was 30 seconds in and Andrew Thomas was already making a big save against Bogut. So that sort of dynamic, when you are the team that all teams are trying to really beat and you're able to absorb pressure,
00:13:22
Speaker
Create your moments. um ah Play with your principles and your concepts because they did that throughout the game. Yes, can the offense get better? i think that that's the final piece of the puzzle that maybe Brian hasn't quite put together. i think Jordan Morris is going be part of that puzzle. I thought that he came in. i thought he was...
00:13:40
Speaker
ah important I thought that he was dangerous behind the end line. He gets a well-earned and well-deserved assist with a little head flick that eventually falls to Paul Rothrock.
00:13:51
Speaker
Pauly Primetime, just doing Pauly Primetime things by just, you know, being there. Far post. Being dangerous, getting ah ah rewarded for his effort, puts the ball in the back of the net. So I don't think it was a smash and grab. I think it was a greedy win against a good quality, very offensive Houston side.
00:14:13
Speaker
Can Seattle be a little bit better on offense? Sure. But you cannot, you cannot dismiss the fact that this team right now, Are we talking Shield? I mean, that's crazy. With with all of the amount of of of games that you've had away from Lumen, this far into the season, the fact that, as Brian said, you haven't lost the Shield and you're still in contention. I mean, I think that's that's amazing. that that That's something that this team hasn't done for quite some time.
00:14:42
Speaker
Yeah, as Wade points out, you know, the West is looking real stacked right now. The fact he says we the fact that we're on this good of a run and sitting in fifth is wild. Yeah, Seattle is sitting in fifth right now. I mean, you got Vancouver and LAFC obviously ah ripping it up.
00:14:58
Speaker
And, you know, there's there's a lot. Like San Jose is doing really well right now. So you got all these teams averaging over two points per game. But it is pretty remarkable that Seattle has managed to average 2.17 points per game in the league playing on the road this much while also playing in CCC and ah getting through to the CCC quarters against so this is what we were talking about on the postgame show to Nico.
00:15:22
Speaker
This is this has been a gauntlet of a schedule. This is not been the type of you know, people like always like to do the the wins don't count because they're playing against cupcakes thing and then you know,
00:15:33
Speaker
But every team besides three is considered a cupcake. So it kind of makes it impossible standard to meet. But you definitely can't say that about this portion of the schedule. I mean, that Quakes win is looking real good right now. yeah the Even the Rapids win, they've been playing a lot better. I know they just lost to Toronto. That was a crazy game. There was a bunch of red cards and stuff. but I don't think the Rapids look that bad. Obviously you had Vancouver in CCC. RSL is the one game that they lost, but they're looking like one of the better teams in the West and in the league right now. So it's been a really hard schedule and to make it out at 2.17 points per game. Yeah. I think when you look at the table right now and you see, the You look at the goals scored column. All the other teams that are up upper tier in the West have scored a lot more than Seattle. Seattle only has six league goals. But that's where I do think you have to factor in CCC. Like they scored five goals in that series. And that's that's the priority right now. I think that's the focus is you are in a situation where where you can actually make a run at CCC.
00:16:35
Speaker
ah which is exciting, but it also means that the league season, there's there's questions as to how you balance that and if you can maintain your form, and they've been able to do that so far, so that's been good to
MLS Cup vs. CCC Debate
00:16:47
Speaker
see. Bad sequels, YouTube member for 13 months, nothing more Seattle than a coffee sponsor. Exactly.
00:16:53
Speaker
If you're just trickling in late, I'll give you the update again, Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff. Now sponsored by QED Coffee. We've got a title sponsor. Go to qedcoffee.com slash collections slash subscription. Subscribe right now, folks. Subscribe right now. That's one of the, if not the best ways at this current juncture that you can support the show. Go sub to QED Coffee. uh caleb coming in with the five thank you caleb he says i need royalties on philip uh he's referring to the philip and shoots trophy the mls cup trophy uh real quick nico where do you uh where you at on the uh like how are you valuing ccc compared to mls cup caleb was making the argument that mls cup is uh should be the most important
00:17:37
Speaker
top priority which i understand why people feel that way seattle hasn't won one since 2019 i'm also the type of person that i value ccc a lot and if you have a chance like they do right now to make a run at ccc and win a second one not only would no mls club have won the modern incarnation of this tournament uh one time like seattle has but then you'd have two i mean that's pretty hard to pass up but what do you what do you think of that ah look i think caleb's right in terms of Once again, being the top of the domestic league, right? Domestic play is important in in in every single country and every single league.
00:18:14
Speaker
The Sounders not winning it in as long as they have is does start to wear down on the fans, start to wear down on the club, especially when the Sounders are a team that, you know, they play for trophies. However, I am with you in terms of regional tournaments or international tournaments,
00:18:32
Speaker
create a ah globalization of success for every single team. In Europe, you got the Champions League, of course. Here we got CCC. And and it it should have the exact same value of where you go out there and you want to be the best team in your region. And so if you're able to Beat Tigres, something that, you know, not a lot of MLS teams are able to say and do if you're able to, I don't know, let's say get past America. I mean, that would be an unreal road to a championship.
00:19:09
Speaker
Facing, let's say, Toluca in a final. Beat Toluca in a final. I mean, my God. I mean, that's something that is historic. It's not just something that... I'm not trying to devalue MLS play in any way or shape or form, but it it even takes upon the success of the league because that is always an argument or a discourse that's out there is why is Liga MX so much better than MLS? Why can't MLS teams go but beat teams in Mexico? what you know So that that is the importance of that tournament. it's It's the Sounders putting themselves in an international level, international tournament.
00:19:50
Speaker
putting the league, the city, the fan base on their shoulders and winning a tournament, to me, that that just has a lot greater value to a certain extent in in the optics of... of the global aspect of things.
00:20:06
Speaker
Nico, let's talk about a couple of these Sounders news items because we have not recorded one of these since this news
Nikola Petkovich's ACL Injury Impact
00:20:14
Speaker
dropped. But there's two things that we got to get to here. Number one, Nikola Petkovich, torn ACL in training. He will miss the rest of the rest of the season in all likelihood.
00:20:25
Speaker
ah So let's just, let's talk about that because obviously unfortunate. It also has implications for the roster and we're going to talk about Pete Kingston as well. But Nico, what's your reaction to the Petkovich news? Obviously this this sucks. You always feel for a guy when there's a season and ending injury like this and they lose a whole year of their career. And then this one is doubly unfortunate, man, because he was actually looking good. Like he actually was playing well. And
00:20:56
Speaker
I think he was playing he was definitely playing a lot better and being more impactful than i expected. you know When they went out and got him, i think it was... i was mentally preparing for it to be kind of Leo Chu outcome type situation. Obviously, he's talented and got pedigree, but when you have a guy who ah couldn't break through for the Charlotte FC first team, he was playing for Crown Legacy for the most part, you kind of don't know what you're going to get. And then he comes in here, and to his credit, it looked like he really...
00:21:25
Speaker
He is not necessarily the Brian Schmetzer prototype skill set for what Schmetz typically wants at that position. But I think to his credit, you could see he was at least genuinely trying to apply the type of Sounders stuff that you need to get minutes on this team. And, you know, was he doing it at the level of, you say, a a Christian Roldan? No, but he was trying and the stuff that he was doing well, you could see the, how it could help this team as far as the the long passing and just his all around attributes as a facilitator. Man, he was pinging some nice through balls and he was, ah he was doing really well and we got Noah tapping into the studio. So Nico, why don't you ah riff on Petkovich real quick and then we'll get Noah in here.
00:22:11
Speaker
I don't know what he's doing here, but. Hey, of course. hey Anytime Noah wants to jump on, you got to let him on. ah Obviously, good, mid, or bad.
00:22:21
Speaker
It is unfortunate and disheartening to see a player go down for the rest of the season. Every single player, specifically for the Sounders team that has a rotation of 16, 17 guys, it's it's a blow. And it's a mental blow. And it's a depth blow. And there aren't many teams that can deal with it the way the Sounders do. But even then,
00:22:48
Speaker
I thought Petkovic was a fine player. I thought that he was producing. I thought that he was going to be a good rotational piece within this team. So it was unfortunate to see him go down like this. He has a specific skill set, just like Dotson.
00:23:04
Speaker
Dotson is more of a defensive guy, physical. Petkovic was a guy that was going to be cerebral, that was going to switch the point of attack, that had some really good passing skills. that to me overall in the system, he was okay. And I was more excited about, you know, Pete Kingston than I was about him, but that does not dismiss the fact that i feel horribly for a guy that he had just talked to the press. You could tell that he was starting to feel lighter on his feet, a little bit more at home, more comfortable with everything. He was fitting with the group extremely well. And that's something that I i like to highlight.
00:23:42
Speaker
And so to see him go down with an ACL when you know that he's someone hoping to get some sort of consistency, right? Because he was at Charlotte. He didn't get a lot of play time. He didn't feel like he could really perform over there. He comes here. He felt like he was ah um a better fit to what the Sounders like to do. He himself said that. So it's awful. And and i feel for him. Hope that he is...
00:24:11
Speaker
well recovered, quick recovered and and fully completely recovered. I don't know if he's going to be back with the team. If he, if he does, he'd have to be ah like at a very high discount for the Sounders, but on the personal level, I just wish him the very best.
00:24:28
Speaker
Uh, Now, in terms of the depth and and and of that specific group, the Sounders do counter by signing Peter Kingston, a guy that ah it fits extremely well, that has this underdog
Peter Kingston's Signing and Potential
00:24:40
Speaker
story. And so it's just very Sounder-like to just say, hate to see you go, but it's next man up.
00:24:49
Speaker
Yeah, let's ah let's talk about Pete. But first, Caleb says, not trying to devalue anything from CCC, but this really was the start of hunting for Phillip. Phillip is what made you, Nico, relevant. We have used other tournaments as excuses. Let's get Phillip and back to values. I feel it, man. Like, I want Phillip too.
00:25:08
Speaker
I want Phillip too. It's been too long since Phillip has been held in Seattle's clutches. So I agree with that. And this should be a year where they put a lot of weight on that.
00:25:19
Speaker
And I think you know you can walk and chew gum at the same time. like You're in a situation where you like a lot of CCC comes down to the path and circumstances and you know do the threats get knocked out? ah you know It's just stuff like that. And Seattle is in a situation right now where they're in the quarters and you've got a Tigris team that we're going talk about it with Jeff. But ah Nico, i was I was scouting them up.
00:25:42
Speaker
a little bit. And I think I was feeling wary of this matchup because of what they did to Cincy and just watching how they did what they did to Cincy in that series. It made me feel like, man, like this is going to be tough just to go into that environment, that stadium with those insane fans. Like, It's going to be a great experience for the team to get to go play in that, but taking a result in there is going to be difficult.
00:26:07
Speaker
ah But you know how much of that is since he not being ready for the smoke and how much of that is Tigris being insanely good. They are very good. Like I will say that when you're talking about guys like a, Angel Correa, that's his name, right?
00:26:20
Speaker
I mean, this guy played at the World Cup with Argentina. like very He came from Atletico. Yeah, he's like he was one of the best players for Atletico Madrid for like 10 years. So you're you're talking about guys like that, and it's going to be a big challenge for this defense. If you do look at their ah form in league play, though,
00:26:38
Speaker
they I think they've lost two straight games. They've lost six times in the Liga Clasoria so far. They're like eighth on the table. So their league form is not super great right now. That doesn't mean it's going to be an easy matchup or an easy series, but it does mean that they are beatable and you can score on these guys. That's that's the thing that I will say about them is very talented attackers. When they get going and attack, it's kind of like a freight train. It's like a buzzsaw. It's tough to stop, but they also leave space in behind.
00:27:08
Speaker
They're prone to individual mistakes and they've got some crash out red card boys in them. They've gotten a bunch of red. They're doing this year kind of what Seattle was doing last year. Remember when Seattle was crash out red card boys every week. That's kind of what they've been doing so far in their league season. So all that's to say, like, it is going to be a very tough,
00:27:26
Speaker
difficult matchup but I don't think it's one that is like impossible or they're overmatched or they're an underdog to the extent that taking a result in the first leg would be a crazy upset or surprise but uh real quick Nico like how are you sizing up Tigris because when I looked into it a little more I you know I still felt wary of the matchup but maybe not as much as I had previously yeah look ah going back to Kev's point that the the beauty of CCC or international tournaments is that in Spanish is what we call torneos cortos, just short tournaments. There's only a specific amount of games. you can, as you mentioned, Ari, do both. and And the Sounders have definitely done that. They have the depth to do it.
00:28:11
Speaker
I asked Brian right before the season, you've won it all. If you could have a your way, what would you rather have? and MLS cup or CCC.
00:28:23
Speaker
Brian did not even hesitate. He said, I want MLS cup. So he has shown that he's put a lot of stock into MLS play. He's trusting his players, his depth, but he goes out and puts a team together to, to win every single time. And so,
00:28:39
Speaker
Now with TCC, as long as you continue to manage that workload, I think you can do both. So the the Sounders, they always have in their philosophy, we are a team that wins titles. and They got to show it. So I hope that they can definitely do that. In terms of Tigres, I think they're a very good team. I do think they're streaky.
00:29:01
Speaker
And right now they're actually on a really bad streak. I know that they rotated some against Tijuana, but they ended up losing against Tijuana. They lost against Juarez as well, I believe. ah I think they depend a lot of...
00:29:19
Speaker
their play and their volume of play in what Burrata can do, Gorriand can do. And think the Sounders can really manage those areas that are filled pretty well, overpopulate, make it uncomfortable. El Buffalo is going to be a guy that the Sounders are going to have to lock in extremely tight, right? You don't want to let him get loose. You don't want to let him off in the 18. think that Angel Correa is extremely fortunate shifty and quick and has a lot of burst of accelerations. But after seeing this team manage Guillerme the way they did and Bogut's the way they did and Inali the way they did. I mean, there was a lot of speed on the left side for Houston and the Saunders did a great job at just
00:30:04
Speaker
If not stopping it, just limiting it, right? You're just trying to detain it. You're trying to hold them. and And I thought that they did a phenomenal job at that. So with the way this team has been playing, the effort, the shape, how compact their lines are, how quickly they get ah jerseys back behind the ball.
00:30:22
Speaker
I think that if you're going to, there's going to be a team that can put these ticketed teams under pressure is the sounder. So the the reality is that playing in Mexico on the first leg, it's all about getting a result. It's all about, doesn't matter if it's pretty or not, if it's, you know, with a lot of dark arts or not, you know, Brian talked about, you know, there are some things that we can't coach and it is just some of those dark arts. I think you're going to have to play every single trick that you have on your sleeve in order to get a result, bring it back, give yourself a chance and win it at home. The exact same way you did it,
00:31:00
Speaker
in the CCC-TCL final against Pumas, where you went down there, you got a 2-2 draw, you brought it back to Lumen, and in Lumen you put these guys away. So that's that's the formula. I think the Sounders can do it, but do not sleep on this Tigres team. They can absolutely turn it on any moment. So Seattle has to play 90 minutes.
00:31:23
Speaker
90 minutes of concentration, 90 minutes of discipline, 90 minutes of effort, and bring the intensity. That's number one. You've got to win every battle. You've got to win the duels. You've got to push it. Everybody's got to be a little Rothrock out there. You've got to make sure that you're fighting for every single ball. Create havoc. It's important.
00:31:42
Speaker
Rob's been a member for 12 months. Thank you for the support, Rob. Appreciate you. Rob, when are you going to call in again? Haven't called in in a while. What's up with that? Got to get you back on the next postgame show. Says by the end of the year, I hope we trade for Petkovic's contract. He earned a spot and he obviously meshes well with the team. Yeah, Brian Schmetzer made a comment to that effect. He said something like, as far as I'm concerned, he earned his spot on this team and with this team. And so he didn't come out and say that they're for sure going to do that, but he did indicate that they're at least – thinking about it and uh you know it is it's kind of tough with the guy who just tore his acl and it's not like really got that yeah it's not like you got that extended of a look at him i i i liked uh we've talked about it i liked what i saw from him more than uh than you did So it'll be interesting to see what they do with that. But if, you know, if they do keep him around, I personally, wouldn't, I wouldn't hate it. Like I know there's the injury situation and they're going have to assess that. But, you know, he, he is a, he is a young guy who theoretically still has his whole career in front of him. And he did, I thought he contributed some genuinely good stuff. So we'll we'll see what happens with that. But I just think it's tough business, you know, in a salary cap league, know,
00:33:01
Speaker
There's other holes that you need to fill. Adding another midfielder is not a priority. So as much as Brian is saying that probably truthfully, it may be a little bit to, you know, give a guy some positive feedback in a really difficult time.
00:33:19
Speaker
I just don't see it. There's just other holes that need to be filled where the money can go into. So, you know, there's a, There's a buying fee, there's a transfer fee that you're still gonna have to buy, whether that's cheap or not, you're still gonna have to take on that. There's a high salary gonna have to take. Let's bring it down to 500,000.
00:33:38
Speaker
From the million, I believe, that that that you could potentially – think that's what it is. Regardless of, I mean, $500,000 for a guy with an ACL in a place where you have a lot of depth already, i mean, something would have to have gone really wrong with the guys that you currently have for you to make that that decision. Yeah.
00:33:58
Speaker
Again, it's just tough business. Caleb's got sticks for Petkovich, all right? So that means that means they got to keep him around. if if Oh, hey hey. man. Everybody loves the sticks. Brian loves his sticks.
00:34:10
Speaker
Yeah, so that's a good segue into our next topic, though, as we wait. We should have Jeff Reuter tapping in here in just a couple minutes. But let's, ah Nico, let's talk some pete Pete Kingston because, you know, you had the Georgie trade. You have this Peck of injury.
00:34:25
Speaker
And, ah you know, the Sounders, they they've made a new signing to address these ah these roster holes. I know, you know, people hate it when you call it internal – signing a new signing. It's a bit, it's a bit, it's a joke. Okay. They did make a new signing though.
00:34:40
Speaker
They made a new signing and it's Pete, Pete Kingston officially on the first team. Shout out to Pete. Congratulations to him. I mean, it's a, we've talked about kind of the out of left field, a sense, the rise of Pete, but that's a,
00:34:54
Speaker
I guess let's start with what he can actually bring to the table because, you know, I didn't really know what to think of Pete. I watched him on Ballard FC and Tacoma Defiance, but you never really know how the MLS deployment is going to mirror how they played ah in MLS Next Pro or for Ballard FC.
00:35:12
Speaker
But I think what you have is a skill set that's ah it's a lot more dynamic than i would have thought. I was kind of, you know, i was ignorant. I was picturing him as more of kind of maybe like Danny Leyva type type skill set or like a Petkovic type skill set when he first got in the mix.
00:35:27
Speaker
But I mean, Pete, he gives you a lot of kind of attacking juice more so than than you would think. I mean, Pete can he can dribble with the best of them. He can win his one V ones. He's a pretty goal dangerous player and he's a really good facilitator. He kind of gives you ah a little bit of everything. And so I'm excited to see what Pete can do. But I think Nico with the with the Pete thing. So this type of thing right here, this is what Schmetz is a lead at.
00:35:55
Speaker
This is what he's the best at, all right? You've got decisions to make on who gets these kind of auxiliary minutes and who's going to step into those roles. Who do you give those minutes to? You know, when Georgie was here and when Petkovic was healthy. Is it Georgie? Is it Petkovic? You got Pete in the mix. Who should ah who should get these? And a lot of what a lot of what you're honestly doing in those situations, <unk> and we've seen this with Schmetz, it's vibes.
00:36:17
Speaker
You're riding the vibes. And the Pete vibes right now, it's just like the, it's a heat check.
Peter Kingston's Playing Style Analysis
00:36:23
Speaker
All right. Like everyone is invested in the story. It's a fun story. It's got the underdog component ah with, we saw it with Paul Rothrock, like the guys on the team. When you have a guy like this, they rally around that and it just helps vibes. It helps morale.
00:36:38
Speaker
And that's what's going on with Pete right now. And so Schmetz is heat checking. He's pulling up from behind the three point line. And he's going to give Pete this expanded role and see what he does with it. But I think we've seen Schmetz do this kind of stuff in the past to great effect. I think the Rothrock thing is the most prominent example. This reminds me a lot of that. Your heat checking, your vibe checking, and...
00:36:59
Speaker
it looks like It looks like it's going to work. Pete's been making the most of his opportunities so far. He had to assist in CCC, and I think he's got a lot to offer this team. So I'm excited to see what he can do with ah with a more expanded role, and he's going to get that. like That's basically how I feel about this Georgie trade and the Petkovic injury. It's like, okay, like,
00:37:19
Speaker
Obviously, sad to see Georgie go. Sad to see Petkovic go out for the season. Pete, it's your time. Step into your destiny. Like, that's basically that's basically what it is, and we'll see what he does with it. So what do you think of the Pete Kingston situation, Nico?
00:37:35
Speaker
i mean, you want to talk about you've earned your keep? I mean, he is the one guy that earned his keep, no doubt. Go back and look at that San Jose game.
00:37:45
Speaker
Really focus on him as a player. I watched that game maybe three times during that week and really zero in on Pete and the things that he does and ah the the type of the range of passes that he puts in that game, that composure and how easy he turned he he handles balls in a half turn.
00:38:04
Speaker
Look at the work rate. Look at the game and ship. He's a gamer. Like he is a gamer. And those sort of players that just have that roughness, they have that ability to just earn their their minutes. They just feel different. He plays, I mean, he's 24, but he plays like he's 30. I mean, he just has that Beyond his years type of play and he hasn't done it at the highest level.
00:38:29
Speaker
He's done it like you said Ballard FC He was a guy that you dub that obviously didn't get drafted I mean, you know, he's had this rough road where when you put him on that underdog is in him and he just plays with a chip on his shoulder and look if there's anything I miss on Kingston was his technical ability Kingston's a guy that you heard all the time, whether it was from Pete Fuehn, whether it was at Ballard FC because of his set piece skills and all of these other things and his grid. He's a name that you that you knew about. it's true i I even heard from from people that were just like public level, just being like, look, this guy sometimes shows up and he's a monster. I mean, it's there is something about Pete that...
00:39:11
Speaker
You can't teach that you just have to earn and you got to have and absolutely love it. But the technical components, that that's what's been impressive to me. And you look at that assist against Vancouver in Spokane, when he came in, the sort of ball that he gets, the the awareness to cut through those two defenders. He puts a ball into space. He's not really looking where he's putting it, but he knows that there's there's got to be trust in that guy crashing the box.
00:39:40
Speaker
I just, I absolutely love the players that are gamers. And that's what he is. he's He's cut by the same type of template than you do Paul Rothrock. Those are guys that...
00:39:55
Speaker
have always been doubted on, have never been the guy. And every time they get on the field, they want to make it count. So to me, there's a guy that has earned his spot on this team. It was Peter Kingston and it was with his play and whether it is on the training field or when it matters in competitive minutes, I'm just excited to see him continue to grow with this team.
00:40:19
Speaker
Stuff like this is some of my favorite part of covering and following this team. You know, you go you go into the season thinking that you know the roster and all the key contributors and everyone who's going to be making an impact in these games throughout the season and in all these tournaments. And then, ah you know,
00:40:38
Speaker
You get a new character like Paul Rothrock or like in this case this year, it looks like it's Pete Kingston, someone that you wouldn't expect, someone who's been doubted. Like you said, Pete was undrafted. Like he came out UW, had a really good college career. He was playing for Seattle U and UW, Ballard FC, all that. And no one gave him a chance. No one thought he could do it. And ah I mean, I've we've talked about it, but, ah you know, he's got his little vlog channel. He's a YouTuber content grinder. And it's actually cool, Nico, because I don't know if anyone who hasn't gone watched it, there's some it's it's pretty fascinating but now that he is actually making it onto the first team.
00:41:14
Speaker
Pete basically made one of the most inspirational ah document sports documentaries that I've ever seen. He filmed everything. He was filming his entire time at UW. He was doing his day in the life videos at Tacoma Defiance as well. And he was also, ah he was doing a lot of stuff that was very thankless and very unquamorous. If you watch some of these videos, he is setting up a camera at Cal Anderson Park or wherever. And it's him like a Seattle U teammate and a trainer. And they're just grinding. They're throwing cones down. And they're doing the, like, like I said, the most thankless type of work that you can possibly imagine. And that's what you, that's what you got to do to make it though. And like the fact that he put that work in,
00:41:56
Speaker
And also kind of gave us the behind the scenes of it. It's it's great stuff. And it's going to be fun to see, you know, like there is a very real situation that we're going to see Pete Kingston playing against Tigris in CCC. And, you know, i feel ah I feel good about that. Like I haven't seen anything yet that would make me feel like that's something that yeah that he can't handle. Everyone, 29 likes on the video as of 846. That is criminal, folks. we We can't have that. Come on now.
00:42:26
Speaker
Like the video, sub to the channel, and here you go, Kingston Vlogs. I'm telling you guys, I'm telling you, like, you will, I was watching some of those videos, and I found it genuinely inspirational. It made me feel like, man, like, I want to work harder on, like, the stuff I'm trying to do right now because it just, it shows, man, it shows that if you put your head down on on something, like, you can make, you can make stuff happen that you wouldn't even think yourself could happen and definitely can make stuff happen that other people wouldn't.
00:42:56
Speaker
don't think would happen. So it's, it's definitely a fun story, fun subplot to the season, new character. And we'll see what comes of it. Nico, we're still waiting on, ah on ah Jeff Reuter here, but let's, ah let's jump into some CCC as we, as we hit the stretch run of the show, we talked about it a little bit, but let's talk about it some more, you know, Tigris,
00:43:18
Speaker
a historically very successful revered club in Mexico, having a bit of an erratic season in league play, but they did absolutely pulverize FC Cincinnati in their, in their last series. ah What do you, what do you think? How are you feeling going into this one on, ah on Wednesday?
Preview: Tigres vs. Seattle Sounders
00:43:37
Speaker
i am feeling as positive and confident I'm, You possibly can. Look, Tigres is a team that without a doubt is putting all their eggs in the CCC basket. They're eighth place in Liga MX. They have some injuries. They have had what I would call irregular play throughout their time in Liga MX. I think that theyre they're a little bit old in certain facets of of the field. I think that, once again, Bufalo...
00:44:10
Speaker
For as much as he can be dangerous, he's a streaky type of goal scorer. They tried Angel Correa at the nine in in the last game. I don't think that quite worked. So they're a team that, to me, is looking to...
00:44:25
Speaker
hang their hat somewhere and CCC is what they're going to do. Short tournament where they could still have and and manage their league play. So they're going to come in with everything they have to put it on the Sounders understanding that visiting goals count. So I'm sure that they're not going want to give up any, but they're going to put Seattle seattle under there a lot of duress. They're going to try to put them away early. They're going to try to put a lot of goals. So going back to that second leg is less important or or it has less impact is less influential in the overall take of of those two legs. So
00:45:06
Speaker
With that said, and and respecting Burrata and and respecting that that team and and the quality both at midfield and in the attacking third and even defensively, I think that Seattle is a team that is battle-tested right now.
00:45:24
Speaker
They have had the ability to just grind out games, find ways to win with all kinds of obstacles, with all kinds of injuries, without their best players. And I think that Jordan Morris is going to be a guy that will have room to run into against Tigres. And I think that Jesus, Albert, and Jordan are going to be key components in transition moments for Seattle to be
00:45:55
Speaker
elite in that facet of the game and be able to get a result. you Look, I think both you and I would agree that a 1-1 would be a phenomenal result over there, right? You take the away goal, you give yourself a chance to come back and finish it at home, but hey, what about a 1-0? What about a 2-1? I mean, I think this Seattle team has the ability to Play the way they played Vancouver at BC Place.
00:46:21
Speaker
And it you just got to be quicker in transition. I think against Houston, that was the problem. There wasn't enough... creativity and attacking movements. I think you saw a little bit more of that when Jordan came on the field. They were kind of forced to just try to figure out what Paul Rothbard could do. I thought that Ferreira didn't have his best game, but I didn't think he had an awful game either. um He maybe forced one too many passes, but that's what he does. And I think that you need to continue to play him
00:46:55
Speaker
so he can zero down on those moments to really thread those needles. So I feel confident. I think that the Sounders defense gives them a platform to stay in every single game. And as long as they don't shoot themselves on the foot and they don't give any easy goals or cheap goals or whatever you want to call them, I think Seattle has a very good chance to get a result in El Burkán.
00:47:20
Speaker
Caleb is pumped for CCC. Thank you for all the super chats this morning, Caleb. You're carrying the super chat train. So Caleb's damn the support as always. He says up the bridges, Kingston, getting sticks, uh, best sounder story. We knocked them out with three black players history. Uh, and then a bunch of drums. Not sure what that's a reference to probably, uh, Seattle has knocked Tigris out of this tournament before. I want to say, wasn't that the 2013, uh, series with the Jimmy Traore goal, uh, I don't remember. Yes, I think so. I can't recall, but i I know that Brown was just asked about it and he didn't remember. So I, i have a hard time with it myself. Jeremiah is a historian, ah but, but, but yeah, no, I, that sounds about right.
00:48:02
Speaker
That was, that was a long time ago. i do remember that the Jimmy, the famous Jimmy Traore bang. I remember that was against Tigris, which is, i think you can make an argument for that for your greatest goal in, ah in club history. But they're gonna they're going to have to do it again, and they're going to do it against a Tigris team. that I mean, they definitely have some guys. Correa stands out, obviously, but their their whole attack, I mean, this is a big-time, big-money league of Mechies attack, guys. like There is no doubt about it. and they are i think when you're talking about a first-leg opener quarterfinals where you have to go on the road in Mexico, it's it's basically it's all about
00:48:44
Speaker
not having what happened to FC Cincinnati happen to you. That's the best way I can describe it. These games can get out of control pretty easily. I mean, it's a crazy environment. It's going to be a frantic pace of play, especially at the start. They are going to come out bloodthirsty.
00:49:00
Speaker
They are. They're going to be trying to put this thing away with a couple goals, two, three goals in the first half. So you have to be able to absorb that. And you also, you have to be, ah what happened to FC Cincinnati is they got a couple goals scored on them in the first 10 minutes of the game. And then they they got rattled. They came and totally unglued. You can't panic in these situations. You can't panic. If they score first, you got to just be able to Calm down, take a deep breath, not panic, and just keep playing ball and try and get the goal back. You can't let them punch you in the mouth to start the game and then let the whole thing go off the rails and spiral out of control. That's what happened to Cincy, and that's what you need to avoid. If you go down 1-0 in the first half, it's not the end of the world. You have the entire rest of the series to play, and by the same token, if you go up 1-0 or even 2-0, it doesn't even mean all that much. Like it would be great to have a road goal or two, especially early in the first half. I would love that. But as far as like the impact on the final outcome of the series, that's, that's kind of the nice thing about these two legs series uh, Uh, there's ebbs and flows. They go back and forth. And if you, uh, if you get punched in the mouth, there's plenty of time to punch back.
Interview with Jeff Reuter
00:50:20
Speaker
Uh, all right. And with that, we are very excited to welcome, welcome in our returning guest. Uh, I think this is his third or fourth appearance on Lobbing Scorchers, but you know, um, you love them. We're bringing them to the stage right now. It's Jeff Reuter, formerly of the athletic, now of the guardian tapping into Lobbing Scorchers kickoff. Now brought to you by QED coffee. Jeff, thanks for tapping in here this morning. You are our first guest now that we have a title sponsor. So this is a historic occasion. What's going on, man? are you doing?
00:50:49
Speaker
Good. I mean, just finished wrapping up a news line on Patrick Ajimang leaving Derby County's game with a possible Achilles injury, so a little less because of that, because he's one of those guys you like cheering for on this pool. Right. But um beyond that, I'm thrilled to be part of this first sponsored show for you guys. Congratulations on Lane being a ah a reputable. There's something nice about a coffee sponsor, man. I love it. So it feels good work. Good get good get.
00:51:19
Speaker
Appreciate it. Jeff, before we we want to talk some USMNT with you and some CONCACAF Champions Cup here this morning, but ah real quick, what do you got going on at the
US Men's National Team's Recent Performances
00:51:28
Speaker
at the Guardian? You were the at the Athletic, now you're at the Guardian. they What do they got you doing? What's the what's the role? What kind of coverage do you have coming up this year, especially you know with the with the World Cup going on? I'm sure you guys are going to be going hard for that.
00:51:40
Speaker
Yeah, we will be. And no, it's it's been a fantastic transition. i'm I'm loving it over there right now at The Guardian. ah' It's a very similar scope to what people who are used to reading me at The Athletic for seven years are used to a little bit of men's, women's club, country, domestic, abroad, whatever the story of the week ah that that kind of pulls my eye will be. I've been doing some reporting on the USL player lock or, you know, kind of partial lockout strike against the the league office for the continued labor dispute and issues about player treatment in the USL ecosystem for the World Cup. I will be our lead US writer, so I'll be traveling to all those games. I'll be up in Seattle for the second group stage game and then bopping up to Vancouver for a couple of Canada games as well. so
00:52:22
Speaker
So, ah you know, just generally really, really excited to get after it I was out in Atlanta all week for those games as well. And so kind of starting to see how they're going to carry themselves in a camp like this. You know, obviously the results raise plenty of questions. I think you could actually say less than the results, but the performances in this case maybe lead to even more concerns about this U.S. men's national team. But from my side, i don't know if there's going to be plenty to write about. I'm not worried about that.
00:52:48
Speaker
Absolutely. Everyone go follow Jeff on all socials. We got his blue sky in the link right here. Subscribe to the Guardian. Support soccer journalism. Jeff, USMNT camp. I mean, you hit on it a little bit right there, but you were you were boots on the ground in Atlanta for these this March International window friendlies. So let's ah let's talk about that real quick before we get your take on Seattle from a more national perspective. But ah Yeah, March international window for the USMNT did not go that well.
00:53:19
Speaker
Got worked by Belgium and by Portugal. And, you know, my take on that coming out of that camp, Jeff, was that ah I think the issue that they're having right now is the team is not very good.
00:53:31
Speaker
And I think when you're not very good at the sport, it may it makes taking results more more difficult because especially at the international level, you're playing teams that are quite good.
00:53:42
Speaker
You know, Belgium and Portugal come to mind, especially Belgium. I mean, that team looks sick. But yeah, like because they're not that good and they're playing teams that are very good, that's an issue. And, you know, I think the the problem is a lot of people thought they were going to be good by this point, and they're not. So that's kind of the way – I see it, but ah what i what are tell us what the vibes were like at camp, because honestly, it seemed like going into the camp, Pochettino had the vibes about as good as you could hope. And I've honestly, I've been saying it like, you know, I clown on the USMNT a lot, but I've been impressed with Pochettino just as a coach. I think his like, yeah, no, honestly, more than I thought, like he, I like how he handles the player pool. I think he does a merit-based system. Obviously all his quotes about how much he values MLS are pretty funny, but I also think it's the right approach to the player pool. And honestly, some of the performances and the results leading up to this camp would be better than I thought. So I was thinking of it like poach is a,
00:54:37
Speaker
He's doing all he's doing all right. He's not it's not a total disaster like I was kind of talking about at the beginning. But ah what did you see at ah at camp? Like, did it surprise you that the results were were so poor or were you kind of expecting that based on what you've been seeing?
00:54:51
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, like, as you alluded to, right, like when there's a perceived talent deficiency, I think coming into this window, there was a lot of I don't know if it was wish casting or if it was recognition about the state of Belgium and their men's national team. And the idea that they were coming off of this golden generation of a team that beat the United States at the round of 16 in 2014 and expected to be able to make a run, maybe the the nation's first World Cup final and then ultimately didn't materialize. OK, well, no, Romelu Lukaku. On this squad, no Thibaut Courtois. have a young goalkeeper, Sam Lammons in goal. And it was much more dynamic. and They actually played like a team that didn't have pressure. And I think that when you saw that contrasted with the U.S. s men's national team, it it just really sunk in that this is a group that likes to say that they don't feel the pressure. Right. But but they certainly don't play like they're free of it. You know, I think that when you look.
00:55:35
Speaker
When you think back about the Greg Berhalter era, I think a lot of the reason why it ultimately ended and there are ah understandable grievances and questions about how he got the job, how long it took them to give him the job a second time, how much wasted time they wasted about seven months from the conclusion of the 2022 World Cup until they pretty much gave him the job back. And, you know, BJ Callahan obviously did excellent work in the interim and now is doing even better work with Nashville. Right. But but the idea was that you were replacing Berhalter with someone who was maybe a little bit more experienced of a coach. Well, they didn't hire an international manager. right They hired ah you know a foreign manager, but they didn't hire somebody who had ever worked in international soccer before. And so what you're seeing is a group of players that is kind of balancing mentalities where the players who had been doing very well under Pochettino so far had been guys who were outside of Berhalter's core. right They were guys like Patrick Achimang, Diego Luna, Matt Freeze, you know just players who were really coming into the fold and impressing in a way that they hadn't enjoyed under the previous pretty predictable lineups of Greg Berhalter. Well, now you have a point where those players are coming back and for whatever reason in the March window, Pochettino kind of leaned back to a Berhalter like lineup when you look at it. And granted, Sebastian Berhalter actually started one of the games, which is just kind of again, it's constantly funny that, um you know, there's still a Berhalter in the pool right after they got rid of one. but um
00:56:49
Speaker
you know, you you have lineups that are, that are throwing players who hadn't been involved since 2024 back in Anthony Robinson had been injured, but he gets his first start. Mark McKenzie and Tim Ream hadn't partnered since 2024 and they're back at it. And it just was a very,
00:57:05
Speaker
concerning response to a lot of the positivity that you alluded to as well that you had seen in September, where it seemed like he was figuring out, OK, these are the players I can trust, and these are the players who just aren't going to cut it in time for 26. So we've got to leave them outside of the pool so that everyone gets used to playing alongside each other if they're going to be the actual team for the World Cup. Or this is the team shape and we need to play with three center backs because even if it's not one of our deepest areas as a country right now on the men's side, well, okay, well, at least we have the structural stability where we're not going to get overrun over and over and over again, as you saw against Belgium, right? And and he was just constantly second guessing his own learnings to such a degree that it just doesn't seem like he's really learning much as he's doing this job. And that's even more concerning because this is a group of players that needed someone who could come in and foster them in a productive direction. that was different than where they were heading under Berhalter. And now it feels like it's pretty rudderless. It feels like Pochettino's already cracking jokes in press conferences saying you'll miss me ah during that March window, you know pretty much already just kind of admitting that this was a gig, which is what everyone assumed. But that's still, you know, shouldn't say that. you shouldn't say that you certainly not yet right like as doing lopategui what happens when you talk about your future plans before a world cup it doesn't end well right um and i think that you get to uh just just a point where it looks really confused you know christian palisic playing as a striker because you just want to get the guy your goals because it's so easy to play as an advanced forward guys i don't know why all of us don't do it you know if you just threw any player any soccer player in the world up there he'd score 12 goals with the right service apparently right And you could just see it, right? Like Pulisic was making wingers runs in striker territory and that often gave Portugal enough time to neutralize. Well, these are your final tests. This is the final evidence that we have. I learned nothing from covering this window, if I'm completely honest. In fact, I left this window with far more questions about this team than I had had to the point where it was very easy for me to do like a three things, three three questions I'll be watching for coming into the window and then leaving it. I pretty much just threw out 10 or 12 more up on the Guardian. and was just like, all right, well, time's up. Like the squad will be announced before we see this team play again. And it it really is anyone's guess. It's where something like Ajimane's injury then becomes very difficult because he was one of those guys who generally seemed to have the requisite continuity and quality and work ethic to make this team work, even if he was going to be second or third choice striker. But even when you just look at the demeanor, how he approaches training, I think that's a body they can't really afford to lose because that is a personality that they can't replace like for like.
00:59:29
Speaker
It's actually a profile they can't replace, right? That that physical component that Adjimin brought to the table, like it or not, I mean, he has been performing. And that that is, I mean, you dampered the show. i'm not going to lie to you, man. I'm an Adjimin guy, and and that that that really sucks.
00:59:45
Speaker
This is my issue. And I say this as a Pochettino guy. I like him. I really enjoyed the way he started to basically say, look, I don't care where you're playing. as long as you're performing and you can perform for the team, you're to be part of it. And I am a big believer that...
01:00:04
Speaker
National teams, unlike everything else, sometimes it's not putting all the best players, it's putting the best team together. And that sometimes doesn't mean that you have the most talented midfielders or holding mid or, you know, ah left back or right back. Sometimes it's just what fits the system. I really enjoy that. But as you mentioned already,
01:00:24
Speaker
It was almost as he was contradicting himself with some of the things that he did in this window. And I was not expecting, what, six or seven changes for the Portugal game. I mean, you just got beat down against Belgium.
01:00:36
Speaker
Give these guys something to put their hat on and just feel better about themselves and put it together. So now you're experimenting with Pulisic up top and you're trying to make. putting Eddie Morris to start and you're just making all these changes when you're this close to the World Cup. That was my biggest issue with that. And again, I say it as a Pochettino guy, but my question to you, Jeff, is...
01:00:58
Speaker
In order for that philosophy to work, that you're putting the best team together, your X factors, your amplifiers, they have to play at their best level. Pulisic isn't quite there. It seemed like Team Buea didn't really do much. I think Robinson and Winston McKinney were maybe the saving grace is there. So what happens next? Is there a plan B if these guys are not performing? And am I being too hyperbolic or is that the biggest issue?
01:01:26
Speaker
The biggest issue, Nico, I think is just that we haven't seen it. we We haven't had, they haven't had the time. And some of this is the trade-off of making the decision to replace a coach mid-cycle as you're just running out of time. And when you don't have World Cup qualifiers, you don't have the hard games that are going to force some of these relationships to just gel trial by fire style, right? Like, I think that the idea with the Gold Cup was we felt okay with the Gold Cup and with players like Pulisic taking the tournament off and so many guys missing it for injuries or the Club World Cup or just... fatigue from the world, I guess um we were OK with it because we generally saw some positivity. We saw Malik Tillman kind of embrace leading man status for the first time with this team in his career. We saw Diego Luna step in. We saw Matt Freeze cement himself as a really quality goalkeeper. But it seems like all of those lessons were just kind of cast aside ah the second that the the more famous team became available. Right. um
01:02:14
Speaker
The hard part is when you when you think about a plan B, a plan B is almost usually uglier than plan A. Right. It's more pragmatic. Plan B is almost always like, well, we wanted to play this way. We wanted to inspire hearts and minds. We can't do that. So we might as well just try to get a result with like good grit. And we haven't seen the the grit squad. We haven't seen enough partnerships, frankly, forge themselves across midfield. You know, I would have liked to have seen, you know, you have 180 minutes. I would have loved to have seen just like different partnerships get 60 minutes in a row. Right. Even if it means closing one game and then leading into the next one. But whatever the case may be, I think it does really help to have that sort of peace of mind of like,
01:02:52
Speaker
Let's take Gio Reyna as an example. Gio Reyna comes back into this. He's played 29 minutes since the start of 2026. That is objectively just not enough to be in good fitness and form for a camp like this. So so if you recognize that and say, I'm always going to bring him in in the 70th so that I get used to him as a 20 minute super sub. OK, well, then as a coach, what you're doing is you're experimenting. You're getting him ready for that mentality but that he clearly didn't have coming into the last World Cup, by the way, where he was not happy being viewed as a super sub sort of guy. So you're saying, look, man, this is where you're at in your career. How do we get the best version of that?
01:03:21
Speaker
And we weren't even seeing that, right? Like there's there's just a lot of these things where if I'm looking at what plan B is, maybe plan B is just simply playing with that back five. Then you have to. the double pivot midfield and you have kind of two number tens operating beneath a striker that's probably going to be malik tillman and weston mckenney that was one of the few partnerships that actually kind of looked decent coming out of this window specifically looking at players who played alongside each other in identical roles from the first game to the second and belgium to portugal um we just didn't see enough of that. There wasn't enough evidence really to see that Pochettino is taking this job terribly seriously. There isn't really much evidence to think that he's learning lessons and committing them to memory and building upon those lessons rather than saying, okay, I learned that. We'll we'll bring that back against Paraguay if I need to. But until then,
01:04:03
Speaker
let's just keep trying other stuff. Right. Like, I don't know if it's like the club manager mentality that preseason truly doesn't matter. And the games only matter when, you know, you're going to start paying squad bonuses for all of the performances that you're not paying in preseason. Right. yeah I don't know if that's the case. Right. Like, I don't know if that's his mentality. Just saying like when I'm with Tottenham, when I'm with Chelsea, when I'm with PHG, this is when the games matter.
01:04:25
Speaker
and you hope that's the case. But for these players, it is really difficult to project confidence in terms of this is how they will win. This is how they will get through a tough group. Like a really, it has to be said, a deceivingly difficult group of three opponents that are very cohesive, that are used to outperforming their you know individual qualities as a collective and will make games very difficult to get results. All three of Paraguay, Australia, and Turkey are very good at that. Turkey also has the game breakers that the US right now isn't consistency providing in the final third, right?
01:04:57
Speaker
It's going to be tough for them. And they've made it look even tougher at this point because of a window like this one. And that is the last thing I think that they could have afforded to have. Like, make no mistake, this is about as disastrous as March could have gone short of two or three players exiting with major injuries.
01:05:12
Speaker
Yeah, i no sleeping Paraguay. Paraguay is a very hard team to score on. Alfaro does a great job with that team overall. they They drew in points, basically, with Colombia. They beat Brazil in the Comeval World Cup qualifiers. I mean, that that is a quality team. So I'll leave you with this one. I'm just i'm concerned that the top level is...
01:05:35
Speaker
for the for the US best national team is not at his best moment. Pulisic has struggled at the club level. Giorena barely plays. Moussa's not even in camp because we don't know what happened Moussa. He just was the greatest player and all a sudden he just fell off. And these are real...
01:05:52
Speaker
look I'll tell you, as a Colombian, the country's falling apart because they don't know what's going to happen because of James' poor play and lack of conditioning. And i mean, the sky literally falling in Colombia. So I know what it feels like when your top players aren't performing because that's who you look to when it comes to those national teams is those guys that are going to carry your team. And right now for the U.S. smith national team, they're just not at their best.
01:06:16
Speaker
Yeah, and and frankly, they're not even close, are they? Yeah. No. Dicey times for the old Yanks. that I'm looking at the World Cup like, ooh, this could be tough. This could be bad. Jeff, one more on the USMNT, and then let's talk some Seattle Sounders and CONCACAF
Jackson Reagan's USMNT Call-up Status
01:06:30
Speaker
Champions Cup. but ah We'll take this one from chat because I was going to ask it, but this is what the people want to know. And I don't know if you have any insight on this, but Gianni asks, can you ask him why Jackson and Reagan can't even get a sniff at the CB position? You know, I'm not going to lie. I was watching that, ah that Belgium game, watching Tim Reams stick his hand out there and swat the ball away in the penalty box. And I was thinking, Would Jackson Reagan have done that? I don't know. I'm not saying that he wouldn't have, but I would like to have seen him get the chance. But in all seriousness, do you know, like, have you heard anything or do you know anything about Jackson Reagan's USMNT stock? And if it's just a case of like, you know, he hasn't been in the mix, so you can't bring a new guy in. Or is there anything you've heard about this supposed beef between him and ah the Sounders in US soccer? what's Why can't our boy get, a look, the team could use The team could use Yeah, the team could use him. And I think that he's the profile of center back. This team needs more of, which is a lot less about how do I impact the game, leaving the back line and more so like, how do I do the work that I'm you know paid to do first and then the rest will come. Right. And I, my understanding is I think that there was a big part um this would have been before Pochettino, but this would have been that January, 2024 camp. He had to leave early with an injury. Right. And so then I think it was,
01:07:44
Speaker
Pochettino comes in with zero familiarity with this player pool. You just have to admit it. Like he'd heard of Pulisic and McKinney. He'd scouted against them. He'd played, tried to game plan against Reyna and anyone who would have played in the Champions League. But beyond that, every new name is about as familiar as a FIFA region, right? And so what he's going through at this point is looking and say, okay, well, that guy wasn't called in there. That guy didn't make it for the Copa squad.
01:08:04
Speaker
um My guess is he's going to be someone who's going to be looked at for this next cycle, right? But I think it is simple as that. He just, he wasn't really available at times when Pochettino maybe started being familiar. i I seem to remember him being understandably aggrieved that Jackson about not making the January squad last year. Yeah. Keep in mind, they didn't do a January camp this year, which would have been really useful. And that's another one of those kind of self-inflicted like setbacks that I don't understand why this program did, but whatever. um Yeah, so I think that there's just been like an infrequency of availability and then also couple that with like last summer would have been a great opportunity for him with the Gold Cup to cement himself as a starter. And then, of course, with the Club World Cup, he was unable to participate. So like, I think that that was really the biggest one where.
01:08:48
Speaker
Maybe he could have been available in a tournament to show Pochettino his ability and and to work into that rotation more. But I think that this is simply a fact that because of that Club World Cup, he never really had that opportunity and other center backs were available. And every coach is going to go with guys that they know have been available for them when they need them over guys that they haven't had the opportunity to work with yet.
01:09:09
Speaker
Jeff, let's ah let's talk some Seattle Sounders. We did want to get to that with you because, you know, everyone around here, we we follow this team every single hour of every single day, and I think that that colors how we see it sometimes. So when we when we get a national guest in, I do like to ask about their perception of ah where the Sounders are at at any given and time, and especially right now because there is now an eight-ish game sample size that we've got to work off of between the league season and CONCACAF Champions Cup. They are in the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals. That series with Tigris starts on Wednesday. And I think for the most part, the vibes are good right now. 4-1-1 in the league. The Vancouver round of 16 series went very well. I mean, if you told me 5-1 on aggregate going into that series, I don't think I would have believed you. So that was ah that was a fantastic performance. The league season, has the the performances haven't necessarily been incredible, but it is the Seattle Sounders roadshow.
01:10:09
Speaker
right now they've played one home game and the rest of them have been on the road so to make it out of that with the point hall that they have i'm i'm pleased with it even if i wish there had been a few more goals scored but overall i don't think you can argue with 2.17 points per game in the league while you're in conca cap champions cup especially when you had to play a team like the whitecaps who uh i i know the sounders made them look not that good but if you look at how they're playing in the in the league they look like one of the best teams in the entire league.
Sounders' Strong Season Start
01:10:36
Speaker
Again, they're putting up crazy numbers. Their win over Portland on the weekend was one of the best games of the season so far, honestly, from an entertainment perspective. But anyway, that was not an easy matchup or an easy series, and they were able to get out of that at 5-1. So I think for the most part, people are feeling pretty good going into this Tigris series. How are you sizing up the Sounders' start to the season from the national perspective? What have you liked? What you want maybe see more of?
01:11:02
Speaker
you know, it's really funny. I've actually been pleasantly surprised by how well they've started the season, just given the the very well-established sort of the regular season isn't the trophy. So like the first five weeks are where you're figuring out first 10 weeks, 15 weeks are where you're figuring out who are the guys you can lean on for the business end and make sure that you're crescendoing at the right time coming into the playoffs. So I pick look I pick Seattle to win MLS Cup. You can check the Guardian like that is that is in print. Phillip. I'm not wandering here. But the thing is, they look better than I expected at this stage. And I think that that bodes very well, assuming that they do not, you know, kind of overextend themselves now that they have this run available to them. The good news is, you know, when I when I think of the the most impressive performances so far of this year, I would say it is like one against Vancouver. um
01:11:52
Speaker
And I know that's not league, so it's kind of cheating, but I watched it, so it counts. And it was one of those games where you just looked and Vancouver played their A-team, and Vancouver was lining up exactly the way they wanted to. Vancouver, the first 30 minutes were creating the movement patterns that they wanted. They were able to advance their high line as far as they usually look to. They were able to retain possession in a way that Jesper Sorensen has made them accustomed to. And so it looked like it was the Whitecaps, as close to their early season best as you could possibly simulate.
01:12:18
Speaker
And then Seattle comes and just absolutely breaks through it, wrestles control over it. Wasn't just the fact that this was like, look, you could win smash and grabs three now, right? Like you can have those sorts of games where you just have three really good counterattacks and the rest of it, you're making life miserable for the opponent and that's all it takes to win a game, right? But this wasn't that.
01:12:35
Speaker
This was Seattle looking and saying, here's our identity. Okay, well now you're seeding a foothold and we're going to take it and we're not just going to like temporarily take it we're going to own it, right? And we're going to make it incredibly difficult. And it is that sort of kind of reclaiming the the momentum, but also reestablishing and saying like we're building from strength to strength and we're not just going to take our opportunities and be content. That was something that unfortunately you saw too often last season from the Sounders was a little bit too much of that. We're up by one. We're on the road. All right, let's lock this in and let's look towards what's midweek. And you have a congested schedule and that's just going to happen. Right. But there were a lot of those results that were flipping or or opportunities where it looked like this team could have really honored something special and just kind of let it sit too long, too often last year that I think ultimately kept them back. They should have won that first round series against Minnesota. They played better and they didn't get through because they just weren't ruthless enough. And now they're looking more ruthless. So that's something that bodes very, very well. And I've seen that. It seems like it's a pretty direct lesson learned from last year with Tigris. I mean,
01:13:36
Speaker
I'm backing Seattle to get past them. I really am because I think that you're catching, you know, Tigris. And this is a team that usually is making it to the semifinal or further of CONCACAF, right? So you're very used to saying this is a final. this is the This is the territory of the bracket where every matchup is a final, right? Credibly, you could also say, and I argued as well on Blue Sky, that Vancouver-Seattle was a credible final because both of them were recent final ah lists. So how could you argue that it wasn't right? So we're already at the point where they're getting tested against the best, but Tigris is not at their best. They, they've lost over the weekend to Kuktuana. They've been pretty middling as they're adjusting to Zignac taking a lesser workload. Uriah and Tuna also left the club, I believe for Pumas. So, you know, they're, they're without some, you know, they have some differences in their attacking fleet right now.
01:14:21
Speaker
And they're still working it out in real time. I think that they're barely carrying a positive goal differential through about a dozen games in Liga Imechis now. and the clausura so um it's a good time to catch them is what i'm saying i think that you know playing the second leg at home i do think is an advantage generally in a series like this and i think especially when away goes goals goes that's when you know you just need to really get that one on the road on wednesday and you're setting yourself up for a better series because of it and i think that there is the talent to do that from a seattle perspective um so i would be bullish i think in your position like i i think right now
01:14:55
Speaker
The response to losing Obed Vargas has been very positive. I think that the attack looks a little less congested and it's a little clearer how it flows best. Now you could argue it looks thinner without Manungu and without Ryan Kent, but i you know again, it's only as thin as availability dictates. um A lot of reason for positivity, guys. I really do think that this is building into... a um one of the most sturdy and dependable cores in major league soccer from year to year. And that isn't just on paper. That's on performance at this point.
Georgie Manungu's Trade Details
01:15:28
Speaker
What was your reaction to the Georgie Manungu trade? Part one of the question part two, have you grinded your Peter Kingston tape yet? and not yet on the Kingston tape, but I need to. I just, I finally got, why I finally got fully brushed up on Snyder Brunel before the start of the season. So I thought I had a couple months here to to kind of back off, but I guess not. And that's good. That's a positive development. um With Manungu, it just was a case where he wasn't getting elevated to the level of minutes he really needed to to be able to stick with Burkina Faso. Right. And there's, there's a part of this where you look and say, making that AFCON squad as a relatively untested guy, you get a taste for it and you want to become a major player for, for your national team like that. And
01:16:06
Speaker
you know, if that is part of the motivating factor there, then you aren't getting enough minutes, 20, 30 minute cameos and some cup games and some Wednesday midweek rotations aren't going to be enough to really pad that case and continue to hone his development. He was looking, he was being discussed outside of Seattle for, for being like, you know, kind of a guy with one trick. Right. And and that's not Georgie Manungu. If you watch enough of him, you see that he has a lot more dynamism to it. But, but when that was how he was being relied upon in Seattle, it gets really difficult to be able to, ah Project what the next step was now Colorado is going to be a very difficult one for him. I think the Colorado is a team that is used to building itself for two year cycles rather than five right they they generally detonate their core.
Sounders' Summer Transfer Plans
01:16:44
Speaker
ah Very quickly as soon as offers come in for their players because that's how small market they operate under Stan Kroenke of all people but. um Regardless, he will get more minutes. ah Matt Wells is a coach who does want to retain the ball, so he shouldn't be forced into this structure where now he is having to be a counterattacking merchant and and, you know, set up really good for pressing triggers and things like that. He should get opportunities on the ball so long as Matt Wells is there, and I think that that is really important. beneficial for him um from a Seattle side. Yeah. I mean, at that point, you didn't have the valuation from Hammerby when they came in with a bid over the winter, if I remember right. Was that like one million just about so to be able to get more money and to have it directly all converted to usable squad resources? Because keep that mind, transfer fees aren't directly converted to GAM. There's like a calculation of when that stops and when it's a portion of it gets turned into GAM. So you can't have team selling guys for 20 million and putting 20 million dollars of GAM into the You know, the economy, we can't have that apparently. It's fake currency, but we have hard standards. and so That's major league soccer for you. ah But, you know, in this case, when you have $2 million game coming in, okay, well, now you're able to utilize that and say, okay, Jackson Reagan needs a rate. Great. Jackson Reagan gets a raise. um
01:17:53
Speaker
or we need another midfielder. We want to bring in that dynamic winger. What is happening with Pedro de la Vega? we going to be able to count on him as a strider? Do we need to possibly have someone who can start for him and he's a super sub, you know, at one hundred percent this season. And then next year we'll see again, like whatever the case may be, they are able to,
01:18:11
Speaker
better adapt their squad in the summer than they were going to be with Georgie Mungo on the roster. And that's really difficult for the short term, but keep in mind, the summer window comes much sooner in the calendar this year than usual. Usually an MLS, like the summer window opens after about 20 weeks, but because of the world cup break, it's only after like 11 or 12. So there is still a majority of the season to get things right. And I think it's a gamble that then late in the window, it's tough to lose a player without a replacement, but you know like you said if there's a guy already on hand you just got to kind of trust your your your culture and your ecosystem to continue to self-generate and self-perpetuate we have got about uh five minutes to go and then we got to get out of here so uh nico why don't you uh why don't you get one more in here and uh and bring us home and then we'll call it a wrap for this episode of lobbing scorchers kickoff now presented by uh qed coffee yeah i'm gonna use my time to simply
01:19:04
Speaker
put a guy on your radar that I'm pretty sure you have.
Andrew Thomas and Paul Rothrock's National Team Potential
01:19:08
Speaker
But look, man, if we got Chris Brady and Cholte for the US best national team, where can we put our guy, Andrew Thomas? Cause he has been absolutely unreal. I mean, shot stopping, just bracing a guy that just continues to grow. He's developing his footwork, his distribution, ah man, you know, is there a possibility that, I mean, if we got these other MLSers, I mean, why not Andrew Thomas? Yeah.
01:19:33
Speaker
I mean, why not Andrew Thomas at this point? Because I think what you're looking at um with ah with with Matt Fries is someone who's in the best form of his career. And so you're kind of rewarding a player for that. Matt Turner is someone who's of that different kind of old school. you think of a U.S. international goalkeeper? Where it's like no matter how Nick Raimondo is doing with Real Salt Lake, you knew he was going to be called in alongside Guzan and Howard. Right. Because that that that trio just kind of picked itself, you know, much to other goalkeepers dismay. Right. now thomas i i always forget i had to look up his age after you brought him up he is 27 and he strikes me as someone who is far younger um but that doesn't mean that he can't get that look because goalkeepers up as as you know and as i think a lot of your viewers know like goalkeepers develop later because the the job description kind of requires more of the brain component than maybe some of the you know the lung busting runs up the flank require necessarily right like and that's not to say it's like dumb person's work to be a fullback. But at the same point, you tend to see fullbacks be more young and athletic. And that is kind of what gets them on the field sooner. It's why like a good, like ah a Christian Roldan type, a Kellen Acosta type, a Tyler Adams type will usually begin as a fullback, right? And then they eventually shift over to midfield because their athleticism comes in before their, positional reading and so thomas i think is finally getting those looks and he has that big game testing when you look at the leagues cup like last year when you look at this year now getting the regular season i think it's really smart which metzer has done to give stephan fry the biggest games early in the season right and then look if they win conca calf is going to be an open question who starts in the playoffs absolutely are you guys going to be able to cover the pants off that thing absolutely so looking forward to that one as well um but i think with thomas the good news is there's no number one answer at the U S for goalkeeping.
01:21:09
Speaker
There is nobody like, I think leaving this and this isn't just like Turner gave up five against Portugal. I think only one of them is maybe something he could have done something about. i think the other four were just like, no, if anything, he was kind of, he had some big saves. Yeah. He was balling. Yeah, exactly. He had a huge double save that was waved off because of the penalty kick that I thought was going to be like this really huge moment for him kind of stepping back in. The second save in particular gets lost to the sands of time, I guess. But, With Thomas, there is a clear runway for him to run into. If he's the most informed goalkeeper, 20-30 will hit him when he will not have yet turned 32. That's great. That's right in your prime, right? So he is one to watch. I think that with Brady, I'm still seeing a lot of...
01:21:50
Speaker
concerning signs that it isn't just that he was young and he'll learn it. And I think that there's still some evolution to go. Schulte and Talentano have been the other two who've been in the chase for the third. And I think that they will have very, very good MLS careers. Does that keep them in the national team? Time will tell. um I think time Thomas can make sense so long as he continues with these International coaches love nothing more than a guy who has had a good tournament and has won a trophy.
01:22:14
Speaker
They love a guy who has come in for the FA Cup and has stood on his head and they say, yeah, that is the mentality we need for this landscape. And I think Thomas is already building really good tape along those lines. It's the case that I'm making for why Patrick Schulte should be the third goalkeeper for the rest of this cycle when you look at the World Cup. And I think it's a case that Thomas is already pretty quickly coming close to replicating with Seattle.
01:22:34
Speaker
And that could only be an encouraging sign. Another one that I want to see, by the way, I do want to see just like one cat Paul Rothrock. I just wanted like, just, I think that was good to be able to give him a post world cup call, give him, let him space it. You know, no one's going to play harder. I just think it's such a deserved when I'm looking at the guys who haven't gotten a look under Burr Halter Pochettino, this cycle who just have had the best four year window, obviously some recency bias at play here because it's really only been two.
01:23:00
Speaker
But I would love to see Paul Rothrock get a camper too, just to see what happens. I wasn't going to say it. You know, no one would, no one takes that seriously coming from us. So I'm glad you said it. Cause I'm, I'm pretty much fully there. Why not? What do you have to lose at this point? Call me for the world cup for all. ah We don't have wingers either, by the way. Yeah. Right. Like, so it's not like, yeah, it's not like you're, you're, you're shuffling off someone else who's been more deserving this cycle. Point to a third deserving winger in this pool. It's tough.
01:23:25
Speaker
Zendaya. If you need a wing back, he can do wing back. Yeah, exactly. him wherever. Do it. Do it. like to Seriously, put him wherever. I just think that there's a certain point where this program used to be really good at identifying players who were busting their asses and playing incredibly well for it. And I don't think that they've been doing it as much lately. I think it's been much more what club have you been at.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
01:23:44
Speaker
And I think if you're trying to send that message of what matters for the next cycle and it's actually like how you compote yourself and not just like what you're doing in your Instagram,
01:23:52
Speaker
to call him paul rothrock he he check it what have you got to lose but uh all right guys that is all the time that we have here this morning uh jeff thank you so much for tuning in jeff reuter now of the guardian go follow him on all socials keep an eye out for his coverage of uh major league soccer usmnt and the world cup uh this guy does it all so show uh give him a follow give him some support jeff thank you so much uh for the time you're the man we'll get you back on real soon man we're We're going to get out of here, but ah before before we get out of here, everyone, everyone, go subscribe to QED Coffee. This is very important.
01:24:27
Speaker
Support the show. Subscribe to QED. QEDcoffee.com slash collection slash subscription. Code LS74, 25% off one time for anything on the site. ah They got merch. They got mugs. They got gift cards. They got filters. So use our code. Get a discount on that. And 25% off for any new subscribers. You don't even need the code. 25% off. so ah Support them, support the show, and thank you all for the role that ah you played in getting us sponsored. Like I said, like without you guys, this wouldn't have happened. So we appreciate you we appreciate you guys. We love you guys. And we're going to be back at it on Wednesday, CCC Quarters at Tigris. It's go time. So we'll see you guys for the post-match on that.
01:25:10
Speaker
And then we'll be back at it with a pod later this week as well. So keep your eyes peeled. And until next time, we out. Love you all. Peace. you