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Club of Professional Wrestling Enthusiasts - Ep. 41
21 Plays5 months ago
Noah and Ari discuss the current status of Pedro de la Vega and his ongoing injury struggles. They also analyze the upcoming match between the Seattle Sounders and Sporting Kansas City, who are currently on a seven-game losing streak. The hosts debate the potential impact of De la Vega's absence on the Sounders' offensive capabilities and the need for additional firepower in the team. They also discuss the possibility of moving on from Raul Ruidiaz in the future. Closing the show Noah and Ari cover the firing of Atlanta United coach Gonzalo Pineda, and the conspiracy theories surrounding the Columbus Crew's defeat in the CCC final and the departure of Columbus Crew GM Tim Bezbatchenko to AFC Bournemouth.
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:09
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? Welcome to episode 41 of Lobbing Scorchers. This is Ari Lillianwall. I've got producer Noah here with me for a quick hitter episode today. Noah, how you feeling, man? We don't shy away from bye weeks, Ari. We don't.
Seattle Sounders and MLS Coach Firing Discussion
00:00:25
Speaker
We don't. You know, the Seattle Sounders play on Saturday. It's Thursday right now. There's not going to be a heck of a lot of shelf life.
00:00:30
Speaker
on this one, but we decided to lay it down anyway because there was a couple things that we wanted to talk about and we figured we'd riff on a little preview of Saturday's Seattle Sounders match at Sporting Kansas City, the club of professional wrestling enthusiasts. And we had a coach firing in MLS, so we here at Lobbing Scorchers always need to react and give our thoughts anytime a coach gets the axe around MLS. And this is one that has ties to Seattle, so we're going to talk about that.
Subscriber Appreciation and Growth Goals
00:01:00
Speaker
But before we get into it today, as always, I'd like to thank all of our paid subs. We love and appreciate you guys and all the support. I'm going to read off the whole list again, Noah, because that's how much I appreciate all our subscribers. Nate Bowling, my guy, miss you on Twitter. But thank you for the support. We got Joey, Brenna, Pete, rhombus, Nate, Tyler, Owen, David.
00:01:21
Speaker
Christopher Maley, Bill Breitenbach, Mike Aronby, Derek Richards, Sounder Naves, Dan Paveto, Mike Standish, Ryan Shane, Eric Stanley, my nephew CJ Miles Maranakis, Andy Hill, Ian Mitchell, and Greg Hoecker. Love and appreciate you all. If you'd like to support the show, all you have to do is go to podcast.lovingscortress.com, click on the little heart and you can pledge however much you want. Not obligatory, but much appreciated.
00:01:45
Speaker
As I always do, I'd like to plug the Lobbing Scorchers YouTube. No, we've summited 100 subscribers. I know we did. Very happy to see that. Triple digits, baby. Last time I looked at it, we were at like 105. We might even be higher than that. So we're doing not bad over there on YouTube for just starting out. Happy to hit triple digits and appreciate everyone who has followed us on there.
00:02:06
Speaker
it's you know it's like rolling it's the guy rolling the big boulder up the hill you know it just it never stops because once we surmount 100 it's like the boulder's back at the bottom we need 125 now exactly let's set the next benchmark as 125 once we hit that it'll be 150 and so on and so forth until we hit the ultimate goal which is
00:02:26
Speaker
Passing Mr. Beast. Ten million. What does Beast have? I don't know. A billion? I don't know. Needless to say, YouTube is doing quite well. And if you're listening to this right now, and you haven't done it yet, sub to the Lobbing Scorchers YouTube. Go do it. It takes like two seconds. It's free, 99. It's free, and you pump our numbers. And if you don't want to be a paid sub, that's honestly a good compromise. Just sub to the YouTube.
00:02:50
Speaker
Let's
00:03:07
Speaker
They have not been able to do yet. He got on the field in the Whitecaps game, correct? And then he hasn't played since.
Pedro De La Vega's Injuries and Future
00:03:13
Speaker
There's been no confirmed word of a setback, but it seems like he's not ready yet. And then when he was asked specifically about it at training, Schmidt said, quote, we're trying to get him up to speed and it hasn't happened. I'm trying to help as much as I can, but I'm not going to push the kid. If it was a playoff situation or something, I might push a little harder. So.
00:03:20
Speaker
get
00:03:36
Speaker
That's not great. When he actually got minutes in the Vancouver game, I was hopeful that that meant they were ramping him up to be able to play regularly and that he was physically there and ready to take on the physical load of being a professional soccer player.
00:03:57
Speaker
I think from seeing that quote, it's clear that that hasn't happened yet. And it's just unfortunate. We've talked about a lot how big of a storyline his signing was for this team this season and basically how this whole season was predicated on. You had a team that struggled quite a bit on offense for lengthy stretches last year.
00:04:21
Speaker
Pedro de la Vegas signing and the creativity and statistical production that he was Hopefully supposed to provide that was the primary x-factor that was going to give this team a boost and push them to a level that they couldn't quite get to last year when they were a playoff team but not one that had enough firepower to make a serious run at MLS Cup or even the Western Conference final they got shut out at home and
00:04:48
Speaker
and bounced in the first round of the playoffs by LAFC and Dennis Bewonga last year. And this was supposed to be the thing that pushed them to the level above that. And, you know, in the absence of him being able to play, you have essentially what you have is the exact same team as last year, but Ruby Diaz and JP are a year older. Yeah, that's what you have. Well, you got moves now.
00:05:10
Speaker
I mean, you got Moose, but realistically, it's the same squad that was a 1.3 to 1.5 points per game team for most of last year. They're not even performing at that clip so far this year. They're still struggling on offense, and they've had a ton of injuries, including this super debilitating one to De La Vega. But basically, I'll tell you how I'm looking at it, Noah. The way I'm looking at it at this point is that
00:05:39
Speaker
Any minutes or production that you get from De La Vega this year has just got to be considered a bonus. And I'm kind of going into the rest of the season under the impression that he's going to not play very much, if at all. I don't really know how else to look at it at this point.
00:05:59
Speaker
No, he's listen. He's like the light rail when he works. He's he's beautiful, but when he doesn't work. It's a pain in the ass My question is to you Ari Let's say he goes to this season and he doesn't play another minute Which is like the literal worst-case scenario next year in the mode probably the most likely right this point. Yeah Next year he becomes a full DP When do you move on?
00:06:24
Speaker
I mean it's just really contingent on what they find about his physical health because Like what you can't do is the exact same thing next year that you did this year which is Trying to ramp him up and hoping he gets healthy and then having it just be not physically viable so but it's just tough because
00:06:49
Speaker
you know muscle injuries in theory you should be able to just shut him down for a period of time that allows for it to heal and then ramp him back up but these things linger and they can be it can be like a chronic thing almost for for certain players and you have to hope that's not the situation I just I think the question is and what a lot of people are debating is should you have signed him in the first place because
00:07:17
Speaker
I mean he's had an ACL in his career and honestly he was considered the type of prospect in Argentina before he did his ACL that could have been on a trajectory towards you know an overseas club like a big money type transfer and that's sort of
00:07:35
Speaker
that was sort of the intriguing value of this signing is that it was a little bit of a distressed asset right in the sense that it was a player that was coming out of Argentina considered to have immense upside like play in Europe and be a big time player there type upside but did his ACL and then worked his way back from that he's but the thing is he had this hamstring
00:07:58
Speaker
a couple other times also. So he's just he's had a lot of injuries in his career that arguably could have and should have been accounted for when they were making the player evaluation for the signing. At the same time, I see the flip side of it, which is that you can't necessarily base your signings on a hamstring injury that you think is going to heal, you know,
00:08:23
Speaker
Like if you think you have a player that can be a really big time player for you. I can't say if I was in this situation and making the evaluation that I would necessarily say I'm not going to sign this guy because he pulled his hamstring. But I mean, when you look at how it's worked out, I think you could definitely argue that they they should have accounted for that because they haven't been able to get them on the field. So it's definitely tough, but it's a fair question. I don't know. What do you think?
00:08:52
Speaker
Yeah, I'm concerned with it. Like we obviously see the positives that he brings for the 10 minutes that he plays. But my concern is like if you're really truly building this roster out for the 2025 Club World Cup, like Adrian said recently in a sounded at heart interview, that's a full DP spot that he's going to take up next year. And if he hasn't played like any minutes,
00:09:18
Speaker
I'm going to be honest, like you seriously have to consider like your options there because he's going to be outside of the U-22 signing range. He's going to be making just as much money. And I just like production wise, it's MLS. Your DP's have to hit. This is what happened with Burgoni. That's why he's no longer at Austin. Like he's gone. He could. He didn't perform. He didn't play like they ship them.
00:09:44
Speaker
that sucks that's like one of the shittiest things to hear especially with like a young player who's you know under 25 but that could be the reality that said who knows what's gonna happen and i do not envy literally a single person on the medical staff or or him like i can't even imagine mentally what he's going through because it's like you sign this huge deal you come to a country that you have never lived in before i don't know if his family's here you know but regardless like
00:10:13
Speaker
that's got to be really isolating and mentally tough and like the side that a lot of people don't talk about with injuries is that mental side and recovering and being able to play 100% after a lingering injury or a continuous injury because you really do mentally slow yourself down.
00:10:40
Speaker
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00:10:50
Speaker
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00:11:13
Speaker
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00:11:36
Speaker
Yeah, I definitely feel bad for the kid. I was at his intro press conference and he's so excited to be here and he's clearly extremely talented. You can see that even from the very few minutes that he has played. He's made an impact in the time he's been on the field, which has been barely any minutes at all.
00:11:55
Speaker
I mean, hopefully they can get him on the field this year, but I'm not begging on it. I'm, I'm the way I'm thinking of it is he's probably, I mean, I hate to say it, but he's probably going to get shut down and play very little if at all this year, just because it just seems like his body is not reacting to the rehab that they're doing. And every time they ramp them up,
00:12:16
Speaker
I don't know if it's setbacks or the mental side of it or what, but it just seems unlikely that you're going to be getting any sustained contributions from him this year, which is extremely unfortunate because I do think that, I mean, that puts a pretty hard cap on the ceiling of the team. The ceiling of the team was based on him adding an element that you didn't previously had that can elevate the whole offense.
00:12:42
Speaker
this exact same offense that they had last year, which is what they're running this year, that can get you to the playoffs. It can get you to 45 to 50 points maybe, but once you get to the playoffs and you're playing these really explosive dynamic teams that can hang three to five goals on you in any given game, and they have DPs that are putting up 10, 15 goals, 10, 15 assists, and you run across firepower like that,
00:13:10
Speaker
You need to be able to fight fire with fire in those situations. That's something that Seattle has been able to do in the past to win the trophies that they have. But this group has currently constituted. I mean, I don't know if anyone thinks that there's that amount of firepower in this. Like that firepower was supposed to be drastically enhanced by De La Vega. So if you don't have that then.
00:13:33
Speaker
Yeah. How important does that make the summer transfer window? Then do you think because you have a shot and you have the rest of your allocation money to potentially bring in something or buy someone out or what, what do we think it's important and you can, you can get better. I don't know.
00:13:55
Speaker
I question I guess how much the resources that they currently have can can elevate them because I mean I think realistically what they need to do is get the types of DP's that these other teams with a ton of firepower
00:14:12
Speaker
Have that are producing that are putting up You need your GPs to be putting up these like gaudy stats and really carrying your team, you know until you have that I think it caps your ceiling and you can make supplementary additions that You know sustain your floor and give you a bit of a higher ceiling but I think the question you have to ask is like
00:14:34
Speaker
is what you have, MLS Cup contending. Like, can you make a run and can you go head to head with these elite teams in the league? I don't know if you can address that in this upcoming transfer window. I mean, I just, maybe, maybe you can. But it would take some, it would take some like money balling. It would take some savvy work. That's not impossible, but it would be, I think that would be difficult. That's just how I see it.
00:15:04
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I know Craig last, well, I guess it was a prerecorded interview, but on the show that you're generally on on KJR with Jackson felt shout out front of the pod. Craig had said, you know, their big target was a striker and that he understands that the team's not shipping goals.
00:15:22
Speaker
The problem is the team can't score like he said that like he's very aware. The defense is pretty good Yeah, the defense is good. But you know, so he said that they have targets like they have big targets and what that tells me is that whether it's the summer or next season, I don't think growl will be here on the contract that he's on now and
00:15:45
Speaker
Think unless he starts like playing 2019 row. I don't even think so I don't even think that like his performance will change Like his production over the last two seasons like I don't think you can ride like you're probably right just because of what his age is Yeah, like you can't ride a hot hand on a 30 with 30 34. He's 33 33. Yeah, so like, you know, yeah like
00:16:09
Speaker
if he was hitting this year yeah like i wouldn't buy him out in the summer but i think like buying him out or finding a way to move him in the summer is the right move and i think that honestly like i feel like the sounders are smart enough to understand that that's got to be a possibility so who knows what's actually gonna happen though that's
00:16:27
Speaker
That's the that's the challenge because you have to have a player that is good enough to replace that. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Well, it'll certainly be interesting to track. We'll be tracking it here on the podcast.
Seattle Sounders Match Preview
00:16:40
Speaker
Let's talk about this sport in Kansas City game. No, keep this moving right along. Did you see they added you came after you? Wait, are you talking about how they said that the Seattle is the most one of the most unlikable clubs? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I thought that was a little bit
00:16:57
Speaker
a little bit rich coming from them. But they're welcome to that opinion. Seattle is playing them at Children's Mercy Park on Saturday as part of the Match Day 19 slate in MLS where there's only four games on Saturday. So it's a small slate. Seattle will be a part of it back in action after having a bye week with the Columbus crew choking and losing in the CONCACAF Champions Cup Final.
00:17:24
Speaker
And Sporting KC the club of professional wrestling enthusiasts. They're a bit of an interesting case study right now They're one of the worst teams in Major League soccer. They're bad. They're down Horrendously bad like I I've seen them down bad They were down pretty bad at the start of last year too And then they actually got really hot and were one of the better teams in the league down the stretch and made the playoffs and actually Beat the top seed st. Louis City in the playoffs so
00:17:50
Speaker
They were kind of in a similar situation last year and then put it together. But this is worse. Let me just read the numbers for you. I mean, they're two, nine and five.
00:17:59
Speaker
2, 9, and 5. Last in the West. And they're going into this game having lost seven straight games. That's honestly kind of hard to do in MLS. There's so much parody in the league. And you play so many games where there's teams that are playing rotated lineups and have tons of injuries and are coming in from really long road trips that even when you're in bad form, you usually run into at least a draw or two somewhere along a seven game sample.
00:18:29
Speaker
They've taken seven L's in a row. I was looking at the form guide and it's not like they're getting boat raced in every single one of these games. They've been competitive in a few of them. But still, if you lose seven straight NMLS, you are down really bad for that.
00:18:47
Speaker
Peter Peter Vermees is not happy about it. I've been watching every single one of his press conferences I love a post Peter Vermees post game el presser He had the really good one that we recapped on the show a couple weeks ago where he had or I think on the crew show actually Yeah, we did that one and the iPad one. Yeah. Yeah, so he's been he's been popping off and I really you know, it's funny Any other team?
00:19:13
Speaker
Run a form like this. I think the coaches job status would be a big topic of debate I really like don't get that vibe at all from them They're just gonna rad Peter Vermeas for as long as he wants to be the coach there Last year when they were in a really bad run of form people were taught we're talking about it and They ended up getting hot and he saved his job, but like I don't know even know if that he saved his job I think they probably would have just he's got like he's got the most security in the league
00:19:41
Speaker
I would be I could be wrong. Maybe this he's been there for long enough and they're in a bad enough run of form right now that This is what finally does it but that's not like usually like I could I have a good sensor for these things Yeah, like remember like I mean we're gonna talk about gonzo pineda but like I was saying like this is this is coming like I
00:19:59
Speaker
You can read between the lines of the Garth Loggerway interview. You can see how just the vibes around the club, you can tell when it's happening. I don't get that vibe with Peter Vermees. I think he's gonna keep this job, like I said, for as long as he wants it.
00:20:15
Speaker
Um, and we'll see if they can dig out of this. You know, Seattle has gained a little bit of a reputation for being a get right opponent for certain clubs, uh, specifically sporting. Well, sporting. And I was going to say the Portland timbers at past points. Um, but, uh, I mean, the last time Seattle went to children's mercy park, correct me if I'm wrong, but that was the game where Jordan Morris scored four goals. She had four assists. That's the last time any sounder has had a hat trick. Yeah.
00:20:44
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. That's true. Um, that was one of the, that was probably the best performance of last season. Um, honestly, like a road game where you hang four goals on, uh, on the opponent and all four of them. Yeah. The Charlotte game. But I mean, that game was a tie. They, they, they, they won the sporting KC game. Jordan had four goals.
00:21:02
Speaker
so they know that they can win there and this this sport in KC team when I look at it it's it's very much pretty much the same group that they had last year that got really hot last year so it's not like there's no talent on the team but I mean I was just looking at it like I was kind of looking at it like all right why are they so bad right now like what is going on
00:21:20
Speaker
And I mean, it's an obvious thing, but their DPs are not really producing. Johnny Russell and Alan Polito have combined for five goals, and then you have Daniel Salloway, who only has one goal. He's got three assists, but that's just pretty anemic production from the guys that are supposed to carry the load for you.
00:21:37
Speaker
And one of Johnny Russell's goals came last week when they were down 3-0. So he hasn't scored. He's very many, if any, goals of consequence this year. He's 34. So I think it sort of looks like a situation where a little similar to Seattle, to be honest, where you've got a couple of DPs that
00:21:58
Speaker
are a little on the older side and are producing like they used to and that can really drag you down in MLS and it's I mean it's Seattle's at least like in the playoff mix like Sporting KC they're like they're we're talking about wooden spoon type stuff yeah for them I mean they're not they're not beating the refs to the wooden spoon but
00:22:15
Speaker
I mean, they might, man. Let's just look at this real quick. Sporting KC is at 11 points, two, nine, and five. The revs are at 10 points, three, 10, and one. That's not that different. They're on relatively similar paces. If I had to put a prediction on it, I think Sporting KC will turn it around to some degree. It is what they did last year, got off to an incredibly bad start, and then got hot.
00:22:41
Speaker
And like I said, it's not like they're getting blown out most of these games So I would be surprised if they stay this bad all year and our wooden spoon contending But they are wounded right now and I think that gives Seattle. I mean for Seattle like
00:22:55
Speaker
When you're playing an opponent that's down this bad, you have to take at least a point. You have to take at least a point. You should be able to win this game, honestly. This team is not good right now. They're more focused on mixed martial arts in all likelihood than they are in winning the game. So get a result.
00:23:15
Speaker
It's that should that should be attainable here. Like, you know, we always talk about when Seattle is playing a desperate and wounded opponent. That doesn't that's not always a good thing. You have a team who's playing at home who really needs a win. They're probably going to come out and try and get on top of you. But I mean, they probably they've been they've probably been getting that messaging for the last like however many weeks that they need to start winning these games and they haven't been able to do it yet. If you could go in there and beat them, make it eight straight else.
00:23:46
Speaker
I don't think it would be the final nail for Peter Vermees' job, but it's at least a discussion. It's got to be like whiteboard corkboard locker room activity to be like, hey, remember when this dude clowned on you after his player chokeslammed you? Christian, you better bang in three goals, buddy. Yeah.
00:24:09
Speaker
Eight straight eight straight L's and MLS like I said man that would that's like legitimately Hard to do yeah, that's hard to do I think usl teams have done better in like open cup then Then like sport like if you compared you know eight straight L's like no like even even usl teams at the mid-level would do better against MLS gloves
00:24:31
Speaker
it's it's a tantalizing proposition to be able to send them to two ten and five maybe the revs run into a dub in their game against the Red Bulls which is unlikely but then sporting Casey would be bottom of the league man you have you have a real chance here you have a real chance it feels like too much to ask doesn't it for them to just win this game
00:24:51
Speaker
Absolutely. My prediction would be like a zero zero or a one one draw for this game between these two teams, neither of which have been light in the world on fire on offense this year. But we'll be watching and we'll be here with the post game reaction show. So stay tuned for that. Unless you had anything else on sporting Casey, I was going to hit a couple of the other news items from around MLS and then we can call it a day for episode 41. Keep it a little short one here today.
00:25:19
Speaker
Yeah, no shout out to my former employer. That's all I gotta say. Yeah, I mean it's tough scenes for them these days I know it's sort of this is the this is the Noah Darby, isn't it? It really is I got my start there as a as a photo intern And that was the season where it was the the season after they had won the open cup So everything kind of just went down from there. So I'm sorry
00:25:40
Speaker
Question mark, maybe it was my fault. They've been a good team for like they just the way I usually think of them before the last couple of years is like a good team. That's a fringe contender, but that never can like what they always choke in the playoffs. They also build their roster like they were also subject. They're still I think part of the reason they were so hyped on the professional wrestling thing was they're still mad about the 2016 playoff game where Seattle them on their way to MLS Cup.
00:26:10
Speaker
which in the VAR era like Seattle would have lost that game because what happened in that game which people kind of forget this but and correct me if my memory is wrong but Nelson Valdez scored the game winner which was he was offside he was offside and the ref like didn't quit but it was it was very borderline but he was offside
00:26:34
Speaker
And Seattle won on that goal. But Matt Beazler, I think, scored a goal for Sporting KC that was called offside and he was not offside. So like they really like the fact that Seattle won that game.
00:26:49
Speaker
They got a little blessed with that. Sporting KC fans were mad. They were not happy about that, which I get it. But I mean, that's, you know, it's too bad. It's unfortunate. But in Seattle went on to win MLS Cup that year. So I think
00:27:06
Speaker
When their website talks about how Seattle is the most unlikable team in the league and they get all hyped up when one of their players does a rock bottom maneuver against a Seattle player on the field, I think that's where that animosity comes from because they still feel like they should have won that playoff game.
00:27:24
Speaker
The one thing I will say about that is like in the VAR era, like you don't know that the game would have played out the exact same way had like Beazler's goal stood. Then maybe Seattle is pushing harder. They get any like the whole game could have would have been entirely different. Yeah, you can't really just look at it like, oh, well, our goal got waved off and their goal stood when it should have got waved off. Therefore, it should have been one zero the other way. That's butterfly effect.
00:27:50
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's what I that's what I've always said in response to that but um, I do understand that it's frustrating to have both a call where a team has an off-site goal that's allowed to stand and you have a goal that's called outside that wasn't in the same game like I don't begrudge that necessarily I still think it's funny though that they think we're like the most hated or were one of the worst like I don't think about you little bro I don't think about you
00:28:17
Speaker
Definitely not this year when you're two nine and five. I mean for as much as we've been clowning on the sounders this year. They're not to nine They're literally just a bit club like the only thing that they're known for is literally a wrestling move Like that in like having the same DP for since MLS began in 1996 And you know Polito has been a
00:28:43
Speaker
Like whenever he plays, he's a good number nine in the league, but they have a lot of the same issues with him that, you know, that Seattle is having right now. He's just, his hamstring is perpetually, it's like, it's a little bit of a Louis Diaz situation with the Toledo hamstring.
00:29:00
Speaker
We had a coach firing an MLS, Noah, which is sound the alarm.
Gonzo Pineda's Firing from Atlanta United
00:29:03
Speaker
Sound the alarm. That's always a notable day for us here. Gonzo Pineda out late in the United. Like I said earlier, the writing had been on the wall with this. I think I even said a couple of weeks ago that it was a matter of when, not if.
00:29:19
Speaker
But you know there was a slight ray of hope when they went and boat raced into Miami It was like if you know if they can if they if he can springboard that into a little winning streak Maybe maybe he saves his job But then they went out in their next game, and it looked pretty much exactly they bought they lost their fifth straight home game But anytime you lose five straight at home like again, that's like in the hard-to-do category yeah like
00:29:41
Speaker
That's worse than losing seven straight leagues league games because your home games are really like Those are gimme's especially for a club like Atlanta United that has prided itself since their inception on habit They have like the biggest stadium in the league. It's one of the craziest atmosphere and their fans are fans their fan base brings it They don't like a stadium. Yeah, I mean, you know most unlikable club in the league. Yeah Atlanta United
00:30:09
Speaker
That's that's a stadium that I wanted to get to for like a long time. I've never been that to that one, but uh
00:30:16
Speaker
It's, uh, Gonzo Pineda's tenure had started with a lot of hope and promise in Atlanta. I thought that it was a good hire for them. And I still think that based on where they were at and what they needed at the time, like you can't necessarily fault the process that he met all the criteria for what they needed. They needed like a good vibes guy and culture builder after Gabriel Heinze tanks, both of those things.
00:30:40
Speaker
Remember, he was like not giving players water at practice. He was just kind of a prickly guy, like really frosty with the media. And the vibes around the team seemed horrible. And Gonzo, for whatever you think of him as a coach,
00:30:56
Speaker
Every media member that I've seen in Atlanta since since he got fired has talked about like what a nice Accept accessible and just good guy he was so they needed someone like that and they needed someone Like domestic who had experience within the league who knew the league who had ideally won in the league, which is
00:31:14
Speaker
Gonzo has, he won an MLS Cup with Seattle. He got a lot of credit for his game planning when he was an assistant here. So even though it didn't work out, I think the process behind the hire was sound. And I'll be honest, man, I've said this before, but I don't really know how much of their issues are down to coaching and tactics and stuff like that. Garth Loggerway even said, I watched his media availability the other day.
00:31:41
Speaker
And he got asked about it, and he said that he has a similar philosophy on it to what I've expressed on this show. He even gave a number to it. He said, I look at it as 80% of the roster and the talent that you have, and then 20% of your success is down to coaching. Okay, well then...
00:32:01
Speaker
like maybe what you should be looking at is the roster. And, you know, Garth Garth touched on that. You know, he said that he feels like that the additions that they made were good. They were sound and that they put whatever the whoever the coach was in a situation where they needed to see the results like based on the additions that they made. But I mean, it's like
00:32:31
Speaker
Can you really say that definitively when you've had the results that they've had this year? Like maybe those additions weren't what you thought they were. I don't know. And then the other thing I'll say about that is just in general from watching Garth's availability, you know, he called it the most frustrating situation he's been in in his career. But like, you know, you remember how Garth was when he was in Seattle, just how confident he was. He like Garth Loki.
00:32:56
Speaker
is one of the swaggiest guys that's ever been in. Yeah, he's got the Russian. Yeah, he does. He legitimately does. And it seemed like his his drip was like his crowd was slipping. Yeah. Can't keep your head on not seem as confident and assured in himself as I remember him in Seattle. Yeah. And I think that's a little interesting because he's not really used to being in this situation.
00:33:25
Speaker
He's had a lot of success in the league. He won an MLS Cup with Realt Salt Lake. He won a couple MLS Cups and CONCACAF with Seattle. Atlanta threw boatloads of money at him to try and fix a lot of what ailed them.
00:33:41
Speaker
And, uh, you know, I'm sure on the business side and everything, uh, that's come to fruition, but on the field, they haven't gotten those results. And I don't know. It just seemed, I'd recommend watching his interview and see if you notice the same thing. Cause I was like, it seemed like, you know, it's a guy who always hasn't answered everything. And there was just a couple of times where it just felt like he doesn't, he, he doesn't know what to say. He doesn't have the answers. Um, so.
00:34:07
Speaker
We'll see what happens with Atlanta United. They've got Rob Valentino. This is their bit. They hire a new coach. It doesn't work out. They fire him. And this guy, Rob Valentino, who's been on the staff for like six years, then they just make him the interim coach. And last time he was the interim coach, he actually went for two and two. And a lot of people were like, hire Valentino.
00:34:28
Speaker
And Garth said that Valentino is going to have a legitimate shot to make a case for the permanent job, and that if he does a good job, he gets them in the playoffs and makes a run. My impression of what Garth said was that in all likelihood, if that scenario takes place,
00:34:46
Speaker
They will give him the full-time job and he actually referenced what happened with Schmetzer where he I think the exact quote was like I've I've had success believing in and empowering an interim coach before Which obviously he's talking about when Schmetz took over for Ziggy and then they went on to win MLS Cup that year so
00:35:09
Speaker
We'll see if Rob Valentino can do that. I just have my, I have my questions on if this roster is as good as Garth is saying. Garth was really saying like this, this roster, I fixed it. I fixed it. Me and Boca, we fixed it. We made these signings that the roster is good now. And I don't understand like why we aren't getting the results that we thought we would be getting. And we're hopeful that another coach, a new voice in the building will be able
00:35:36
Speaker
to get that and then but then he also did say that you know if that doesn't happen and we don't get those results then we're gonna have to take a hard long look at the foundation that we've got here and we might have to use the term start over yeah like which so nuclear bomb they could be blowing it all up yeah in atlanta which it honestly feels like though because they're shipping away yaka maki's for 10 milli that's been rumored yeah which like i mean
00:36:06
Speaker
They're literally he's literally doing the Seattle thing. He's he's bombing. He's nuking the coach and then bringing in a new DP That's like literally his model 2016 Seattle Sounders Like but you know, I mean, I don't know they're getting a bag for jack-o-mock is if that deal with cruises will gets done Yeah, it's a good it's a good Oh, that's a great. I'm taking that especially with where they are like on the table like I'm taking that all day and
00:36:34
Speaker
Um, but Jack amok has been good for them, you know, like, uh, as far as the problems, uh, that they have, um, the number nine spot in production out of there, that hasn't really been one of their problems. They're, they're, they're one of the funniest clubs in the league to watch because they're actually at times really good and really dynamic on offense. Tiago Amana is definitely, I would say he's one of the most like raw talented.
00:36:58
Speaker
Players in the league. Yeah easily his playmaking and he's a very he's a very good finisher, too So the combination of him in jakamakis is a very good one-two duo and they have another winger whose name I can't quite remember Saba something but he's at a cool contributions this year and
00:37:17
Speaker
So, um, they, they're very good and entertaining at times and, uh, productive on offense. Although that had kind of slipped in gonzo's last couple of weeks. They weren't scoring as many goals, but like, I think at their baseline level, um, they're a good attacking team, but just the goals that they concede sometimes, like I enjoy tracking it every week. Like what, uh, what awful goal is Atlanta United going to concede this week? And
00:37:46
Speaker
It was like they did the thing that Seattle does sometimes where they score a goal and it's like a really nice goal and they take the lead and then just immediately concede instantly. And they did that so many times this year.
00:38:02
Speaker
I mean, if there's a reason that Gonzo didn't keep his job, I think that particular thing might have been what drove it over. I can just imagine Garth and Boca Negra and Arthur Blanc sitting in a suite watching that. And every time they score a goal, they immediately get bammed on. Yeah. That's got to be just, they have a notebook sitting in front of them with tally marks for every single one. Like, you know, once you hit 20,
00:38:25
Speaker
You're dead. Anyway, we'll see what happens with Atlanta United. It'll be interesting because, um, you know, they, they market themselves as the, one of the big bad clubs in the league. Haven't really been that the last few years, really since, since that Joseph Almerone era, they have not been that. So they hit so hard on that though that they were, uh, they were living a charmed life with that one. I was, uh, I remember thinking at the time too, like the reality of MLS is going to come for this team and they're probably not going to like it.
00:38:54
Speaker
It's not always a fairy tale like that in this league. No But that that reality came from them even harder than I could have expected.
Columbus Crew's CCC Final Performance Issues
00:39:04
Speaker
I Just had one more thing to add on here Noah and then we can get out of here The Columbus dispatch was doing some conspiracy theory-mongering about the guarding the Columbus crews defeat to Pachuca in the CCC final
00:39:17
Speaker
Now, I don't subscribe to the Columbus Dispatch. I subscribe to a lot of these papers. I subscribe to the AJC. I subscribe to the Philly Inquirer. I subscribe to a bunch of them, but for whatever reason, I hadn't subscribed to the Dispatch. But it seems like, just based on the headline note, they were implying that there might have been some malfeasance
00:39:38
Speaker
Yeah, play with how the entire Columbus Crew roster and coaching staff got viciously sick and was blowing up their bathrooms for two days straight before the Champions Cup final Now I wouldn't say they were just insinuating it too. Okay, so do you have it pulled up?
00:39:54
Speaker
I mean I'm pulling it up right now, but I did read through it. I was able to I was able to tear down the firewall and get in there and read it okay, but they interviewed like club physician I believe and he basically did everything but say it didn't happen. He's like I can't rule out sabotage basically is what he said it was like really weird. It was like really weird.
00:40:20
Speaker
So, you know, I don't know. All right. So I'm pulling it up right now. Keep, keep yapping. Okay. I do think that this is in the category of conspiracy theory, mongering until actual evidence is provided. I mean, you know, not to add fuel to the fire though, like
00:40:36
Speaker
Yeah, it does seem weird, man. I'm not going to lie. Like my first reaction is like, I mean, I don't know. It's really anything could have happened. They could have gotten sick by really random, unlucky, innocent means.
00:40:51
Speaker
Yeah. And I think honestly, that's probably the most likely outcome. But the conspiracy monger in me both wants to believe and there's like a percentage of me that does believe that there is malfeasance at play here. And I say that somewhat ingest. But if it did, I'll say this. If it didn't, if it did come out that there was malfeasance at play here, I wouldn't be that shocked. It's CONCACAF. Like, would you be that shocked?
00:41:15
Speaker
No, I mean, I just don't I don't know how they would do any of that. The thing what I think it is is literally like I know how they would do it. How would they do it? I need I need to know. I mean, they probably have a chef at the team hotel. You just you just get to that chef and have him slip a little.
00:41:34
Speaker
Something in the food slip a little one. Are you what do you it's like? What are we doing? That's what's being alleged here does not MLS would be League MX in this case. Yeah. Well, I just think it was neuro virus. Yeah, because that's like
00:41:50
Speaker
That's what happened. Like, come on. Like, that's like that is the it travels. So that is almost certainly what happened. But it's a lot more fun to conspiracy theory monger like the Columbus Dispatch. I would I would like to believe the conspiracy just because it's it's a more compelling storyline than just standard neuro virus, which yeah, that is that is what happened.
00:42:15
Speaker
no i agree but uh sorry i'm i'm still trying to pull up this article but it's like being you know amazingly difficult to get into but um yeah i i don't know what how much more can we riff on this before we just we just chalk this article
00:42:30
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's fine. I think we got the important stuff in. If you do want to see what the extent of the conspiracy theory mongering was, you can you can go ahead and subscribe to the Columbus Dispatch. Their tweet had a lot of quote tweets. When I saw the response was a lot of people didn't agree with their ultimate conclusions. They thought it was sore losing. And honestly, it probably is. Yeah.
00:42:57
Speaker
But it definitely, it was unfortunate for the Columbus crew. I would have liked to see them play that game at full strength to see what happened. But, um, Oh, and then they just dropped another, they just dropped the new one. The crew GM, Tim, best Pachinko, one of the best GMs in the league is, uh, he's leaving for the, for the premier league. Does it say what team Noah, he will be going to AFC Bournemouth.
00:43:20
Speaker
Okay, Best Pachinko to Bournemouth, shout out Brad Smith, right? Yeah, Brad Smith, yeah. That's actually big news, because what I will tell you about Best Pachinko is everywhere he's been dating back to his Toronto FC tenure, I think he's one of the best roster architects I've seen in the league, for sure. Remember how good those Toronto FC rosters were with Gia Vinko and peak Mike Bradley and the whole gang, Josie Altidore?
00:43:48
Speaker
That was all Bespichenko, and he ended up parlaying that into a gig with Columbus, where they were, I mean, remember how down bad they were when he took over? They were about to leave the city. They were about to leave the city. Bespichenko got there, the Save the Crew movement happened, and they hired off Wilfred Nancy. But Wilfred Nancy wouldn't be having the success that he's having in Columbus if Bespichenko hadn't been a beast with the roster build.
00:44:15
Speaker
Like if you can just go up and down that roster and it's just really impressive work, very well-rounded, great production from all their highly paid players. If their players fit really well together, all the players that he acquired fit into the vision and identity of what Wilfred Nancy wants to do. That's a big loss. That is actually a legitimately big loss.
00:44:36
Speaker
Yeah, no, I haven't even processed it, but honestly, I want to know what you think about how this is going to impact the legacy of Wilfred Nancy.
00:44:46
Speaker
especially after a big loss like he's going to have to deal with the fallout of losing CCL or even just going through CCL. I think I mean are you talking about Besbichenko leaving or the CCC loss Besbichenko leaving and what that means for Wilfred Nancy's tenure in Columbus necessarily. I think the good thing for him is that he has a very strong foundation in place.
00:45:06
Speaker
And I think he's among the smartest coaches in the league, if not the smartest coaches in the league. He's learned the league quite a lot now having been in it for a few years. First with CF Montreal, now with Columbus. So I think he has a very good chance of still sustaining success with the foundation that they do have.
00:45:27
Speaker
But they do, I mean, they have to make a good hire here to replace Bespichenko, someone who knows the league and can maintain what they have, but also build on it going forward. And that's not necessarily going to be easy. And it could make life more difficult for, for Wilford Nancy, because
00:45:44
Speaker
You know, there's a lot of roster turnover in this league year to year And when you lose someone who knows the league that well and has had that much success with his roster building It's definitely like it's hard to imagine that they upgrade from Bez Bichenko. Yeah, I don't think there's any way like so there there as far as
00:46:05
Speaker
who replaces him, no one's going to have the acumen and successful track record. Yeah, he has. Yeah. Also, I wanted to know, uh, I was wrong. It wasn't the doctor that said this. This is a quote from Bespichenko about the conspiracy theories. He says preparations for games is meticulous right down to the menus. He said our dietician and sports scientists map everything out
00:46:25
Speaker
And it can almost seem monotonous. Protein, pasta, bread, fruit, vegetables. Every meal in Pachuca was planned, worked out with the hotel's kitchen staff in advance. Was the chicken undercooked? Was it something else? I don't know. Getting food right shouldn't be this that hard. That's what Cinco admitted. I can't rule out subterfuge, but stopped there. He said that to his knowledge. No one else at the hotel was affected.
00:46:48
Speaker
We need the always sunny meme. Yeah, literally. I dropped that one. Yeah, but wow, that was a Columbus Crew News Hour. Holy. Yeah, that was red hot. We did a lot of Atlanta United and Columbus Crew on this show. Let's call it right there, Noah. We only got 10 minutes here before I get on the old MLS editorial desk. So I think it's time to get out of here. Get back to work, buddy. Thank you all for tuning in to episode 41. We know this one doesn't have as much shelf life as they might normally have, but we appreciate you tuning in regardless.
00:47:18
Speaker
Thank you again as always to our listeners for all the support. We really appreciate What we've seen in terms of listenership over the last couple months here Like comment subscribe Write reviews share with your Columbus crew in Atlanta United friends for takes on their clubs
00:47:46
Speaker
We'll see you for episode 42 after this game against sport in Kansas City the club professional wrestling enthusiasts Until then we out peace