Ari's LA Trip & MLS Cup Experience
00:00:00
Speaker
What's going on everybody? Welcome to episode 77 of Lobbing Scorchers. This is Ari Lillian Wall, I've got producer Noah here with me. Folks, we are back with our first off-season episode following my week-long stint in LA.
00:00:15
Speaker
for MLS Cup. Back in Seattle, back at the normal Lobbing Scorchers studio. It's been a heck of a week. Noah and I were down there for the Western Conference semifinals, and I ended up never leaving. So I swindled my way into that one. I asked the powers that be. I said, I'm already in l LA. Can I just stay for the game?
00:00:35
Speaker
ah And it worked the gracious powers said yeah, they said yeah, so I've had a fun week Noah I was on the New York Red Bulls beat that was the ah Condition for me going was ah it's funny.
LA Galaxy vs. NY Red Bulls - MLS Cup Highlights
00:00:45
Speaker
I I covered the LA FC cup in 2019 as well And i I was on the Philly Union beat that year. They don't give me it's not like a You're the Eastern Conference team. It's literally whatever team loses That's who you cover. That's fire. um So you're the loser. I was an honorary New York beat reporter for the week. We're going to talk about everything that went down there. Just my experience of being there, but also the game itself on this show. um It's a it's a big show for us as a longtime dedicated L.A. Galaxy podcast. Yeah. Um, which is, you know, love and that we had ah been on all season. Um, they are MLS cup champions after beating the New York Red Bulls two to one at dignity health sports park in MLS cup 2024. Um, so we're going to do a little game review, kind of like we would do about a sounders game, but about, uh, about MLS cup. Uh, and then we are going to do, uh,
00:01:41
Speaker
Some off-season news. There's already been a bunch. We're going to give our takes on ah and MLS MVP, which has been announced since we last recorded. And it was a pretty famous player that a lot of us have heard of. So we're going to talk about that. A lot of transfer news today. And then some
Subscriber Appreciation & Social Media Growth
00:01:56
Speaker
Sounders headlines that we're going to hit. So it's going to be a jam-packed first episode back. um and When is it not? I went really long on the intro right there, Noah. How are you feeling about our first off-season episode? it feels good to be back in person with you i missed you i know you were out there but i was like man
00:02:12
Speaker
all i want to do is pod with ari and ah l a was great man i love l a and i also hate l la but ah that was a really good time in the galaxy stadium look like it was popping man yeah no i mean i think if there's one broader takeaway from all this just league wide there's been a lot of debate dating back to last year as to whether the la galaxy were back or not and this this year i think most people agreed that they were but if there was any debate as to that now um
00:02:44
Speaker
I mean, I think that's done and dusted, you know not just with how they played this season, but um like you said, just the vibes and the atmosphere around the stadium for the games, but also just the team itself. ah It's crazy how fast the tables can turn in this league. And that's one of the takeaways that we're going to talk about later, actually, after our game review. Before we get to all that, though, I do, as always, have to let you all know.
00:03:07
Speaker
that Lobbing Scorchers is a part of the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network. If you want to get the best independent Seattle soccer coverage, consider supporting us by going to sounderatheart.com slash LS. That's sounderatheart.com slash LS. Scroll down to subscribe and support to get 30 days completely free. Every sign up through our link helps support and grow this show. Noah, do we have any new subs to thank? We got two new subs, Van Four and Keith Whistler. Thank you both for being number 49 And 50. 50 subs. Let's go. 50 subs. yeah That's great to hear. We've been on the road to 50, it seems like, for for a while now. And it really, we love you all we love you guys all
Game Analysis: LA Galaxy's Strategy & Performance
00:03:48
Speaker
so much. ah that problem That is the best way to ah support the show and help us grow, is to sub to Sounder at Heart using our link. um And can't emphasize enough how much we appreciate each and every one of you.
00:04:01
Speaker
um If you have not done so yet, please subscribe to the Lobbing Scorchers YouTube. We're on the road to 800. MLS Cup, well the West Semifinals and MLS Cup but have turned out to be fruitful for us. I we i think we were on the road to 700 or 750 maybe, I don't know. But either way, the channel is continues to grow and we appreciate the support on there. Help us get to 800.
00:04:25
Speaker
And also you can become a channel member now as well. Oh, yeah, we've got some emotes and a little you know a little badge for um If you comment we'll see your comments you can use little emojis of Ari and me and Paul Roth Rock and Brian Schmetzer. Yeah become a YouTube member and also follow our other socials. Our IG is doing pretty well lately, but doesn't have enough followers for my liking. And the same goes for our TikTok. So yeah, just give us a follow on, on it all and go to sounderatheart.com slash LS, subscribe to sounderatheart. OK, never enough to plug. It's always all right. Let's let's talk some MLS Cup. We'll keep it. We'll keep it pretty informal. You know, I didn't really write out a whole lot of takeaways, but ah there's definitely ah it was a good game. And I think there's a lot to talk about both in terms of the game itself and just implications moving forward.
00:05:16
Speaker
um The LA Galaxy get the victory, and really, Noah, the game itself, um the Red Bulls kind of chalked themselves early on in the game. yeah you know I always talk about these games um just ah with as with teams having specific tasks that they need to accomplish and accomplish at different junctures in the game.
00:05:40
Speaker
and um The New York Red Bulls really needed to make it through the first 10 to 15 minutes of this game without conceding and without losing control of the game state. And they were not able to do that. Joey Paints and Dejan Jovalic each score within the first 13 minutes. And at that point, it looked like I thought it was headed to be a blowout. Oh, yeah. It really looked like the galaxy were rolling and they just weren't going to stop. Even without Ricky Poosh who tore his ACL against Seattle.
00:06:06
Speaker
um They looked pretty much like the normal galaxy. Gaston Brogman ends up getting named MVP and that was the first ah correct note that Greg Vanney hit. ah There's a lot of talk as to whether Marky Delgado was going to start there, Marco Royce. He kind of puts Gaston Brogman in that spot and he gets the assist on the Joey Paints goal and he really just bossed the midfield oh yeah the whole game.
00:06:29
Speaker
so ah Really, the Red Bulls just put themselves in a hole that they couldn't quite dig out of, but I think you do have to credit them for the way they brought it back. Sean Neillis gets the goal ah right just a few minutes after the day on the New Orleans goal. They get that one back off the set piece. And from there, it was a toss up and it was anyone's game. ah But it felt like they just kind of, they shot themselves in the foot one too many times early in the match. Yeah. No, I mean, it was.
00:06:56
Speaker
Honestly, yeah, when that when that match kicked off and I saw those first two goals, I was like, oh, no, we're headed for another six.
Management Changes Driven by Fan Pressure
00:07:03
Speaker
Nothing defeat. This is another L.A. Galaxy master class. The Red Bulls completely outclassed. And the other thing I thought was, man, I wish the Sounders were here right now.
00:07:13
Speaker
I know. Well, that's what we were talking about on the Post West Semis show was that how we felt like that kind of ah that game was really for MLS Cup. And that turned out to be the case. And I think if the Sounders had managed a ah way to advance there,
00:07:29
Speaker
and We're probably talking about I think in all likelihood, you know, nothing's guaranteed. But in all likelihood, we're talking about Seattle's third MLS Cup right now. So that is frustrating. But I mean, I think you do you've got to give credit to the galaxy for kind of being able to win in different ways in these last two games than they were for most of the season for most of the season. This was a team that was known for its buzzsaw offense and kind of just all out playing style where they would leave themselves exposed at times and they would concede some goals, but they would just kind of overwhelm you with ah with their attacking play. I think these last two games, they ah like but that's my first takeaway here is defense still wins championships. you know They defended well these last two games. They shut Seattle out um at home and then the Red Bulls get one goal in the game. It's off a set piece though, not from the run of
Inside the MLS Cup: Media & Player Interactions
00:08:21
Speaker
And they really bared down and they were able to absorb whatever the Red Bulls were able to throw their way in the second half. And so like when it came down to it, they really didn't win this title on the back of that attack. They didn't even have Ricky Puj in the title game. They really they won it on ah on a really good goal from Dejan Jovalic against Seattle.
00:08:40
Speaker
and then a 15 minute flurry at the beginning of Cup. But really, it was about bearing down and grinding it out after that. So I think they kind of showed that they are more multiple in how they can win games than we thought. And they got they got another Cup to show for it. That's their sixth one extends what was already a league record.
00:08:59
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, that you know, the, the red bulls didn't look awful in this game either. I think they started off super flat and that's like, you can't, again, like you said, you can't do that against the galaxy. They, the end there, that final 20 minutes, I was like, Oh, this is going to go to extra time because the red bulls were knocking and knocking and knocking. I mean, yes, credit to LA galaxies defense, but I also think the red bulls just, they got unlucky and they got flat footed in the wrong time. It was all about the Forsberg chance. yeah They had a really, as clean a look as you could ask for, it's one that he had been hitting for them for most of the time he's played this season and puts it just off the post. That goes in, which it very easily could have. It's an entirely different game. Maybe the Red Bulls pull off the upset, um but again, I don't think they can feel too agreed based on how ah how the early phases of that game went. They let it get away from them early and just couldn't quite bring it back.
00:09:57
Speaker
um The other thing this made me think about was ah Kind of the blueprint that the galaxy used to get to this point, you know, I do feel like ah It's a validating result for lobbing the scorchers in a way, you know, everyone's been getting their Their jokes in about the galaxy podcast thing and how this might be a dub pod Yeah, we've been getting into it too. It's a validating result for lobbing the scorchers Noah you and I were both on this on All season. We were on this all season. We were saying that the galaxy deserved to be rated up with the inner Miami's, the Columbus cruise, and the LAFC's of MLS. A lot of people told us that we were wrong. They mocked us. They made jokes about us being a galaxy podcast. Folks, this is why we were talking about that, is because they they played very well all season long. and
00:10:44
Speaker
I think we saw how, I mean, this was your pick. This was my pick. So ah regardless
Red Bulls' Playoff Performance & Reputation
00:10:50
Speaker
of whether or not ah you like or dislike our status as a Galaxy podcast, we were saying it. We were saying it. And I think ah it speaks to the blueprint that they used in terms of turning their club around by just hitting on a couple of really big signings, ah big money signings. They spent twenty million dollars over million dollars combined on Gabriel Peck and Joey Paints. And they hit on both of those. And when you compliment Ricky Puj and Dejan Jovalic with wingers that good,
00:11:20
Speaker
um You see the result. And I think, to me, my my other big takeaways are that Will Kuntz, their general manager, and Greg Vanney are the gurus for the work they have done turning around their roster in, ah really it's like season and a half yeah like Less than two years is what I was gonna say. That's not easy to do But what it does show I think is that your fortunes can change quickly in this league If you play your cards, right and you hit on your signings and you show ambition um You can go from being a club like the galaxy where where they had they have fans at games protesting They had banners climb out, you know they were saying that they weren't going to go to games and they were doing like silent walkouts at games until they ah got back to their glory days where they were competing for and winning MLS cups and
00:12:13
Speaker
They're they got to where they're at now like less than two years later, so I mean It can be changed the tables can turn quickly and it can be understood how um how important that The fans were in all of this I mean they really did put a pressure on the galaxy front office and say like yo, this is this is unacceptable and I'm not kidding you, they listened and look what happens. Record-setting sixth MLS cup with a team that is unlike any team in this league right now in terms of just like star power and like I understand that inner Miami is one thing.
00:12:55
Speaker
But I feel like LA Galaxy is doing the same thing, but with a a different set of players, like younger players, players that maybe have more upside and, you know, maybe aren't as proven. But you have Ricky Pooge, who is a Barcelona product who could play playing, in my opinion, and like basically any club in the world.
00:13:14
Speaker
and He is driving that engine. He's so bought into the club. He said at the at the trophy ceremony thing
Galaxy's Strategic Acquisitions & Team Culture
00:13:21
Speaker
He's like I'm gonna be in l LA forever and they're building that kind of culture And I think that's like as an MLS fan you can hate the galaxy I get it especially our LA FC fans here You can hate the galaxy, but you have to respect what the club was able to do when they listen to their fans and when they really Hit on one and a half transfer windows basically. Yeah, absolutely I can I'll tell you guys take the opportunity to tell you guys just a little bit about what it was like being down there because ah I was I was boots on the ground all week I got to go to Red Bulls training. They were training out where LFC trained so I got to talk to ah Dylan Neelis I got to talk to a couple other guys and That was kind of it's always kind of cool getting to see how other teams do things and sort of
00:14:11
Speaker
Talked to their players, i talked to John Tolkien for the first time, and then also got to do a little galaxy stuff. I was at John McCarthy's presser. I might be in the background of an Apple TV documentary. I signed a waiver that they can use my face if they want. um So you might see me on Apple TV. We'll see about that.
00:14:28
Speaker
um but ah i Also, I had to do the losing locker room after the game because so my assignment was to write the ah the Red Bulls cider article and this was my second time I guess my third time being in an MLS Cup losing locker room because I was also at the one in Toronto that Seattle lost and it's always a bit of an interesting experience the one the Philly one in 2022 after that LA FC Cup and That was honestly tougher than this one. I don't know, I mean, whoever remembers how that game went, that was about as gut-wrenching a loss as as you can have, because I think Philly really felt like they could have and should have won that game. yeah I think the Red Bulls in this game, um Cameron Harper was talking to us about it after the game, but he was like, I mean, we give up two terrible goals in the first 15 minutes, and ah like that's a hole that's pretty hard to dig out of. And but kind of I think,
00:15:20
Speaker
ah Acknowledging in a way that they can't really content that they deserved to win the game based on how they started it the Philly one man I went back there and they were just ah I Mean they were not happy on host They were not happy to see us and ah that was awkward I made it out of there okay, but it was definitely awkward. This one, I bring that up because i the Red Bulls guys, they were they were very professional. John Tolkien sat there. He took questions from us. He didn't snap at anybody. He answered them to the best of his ability. Cameron Harper did that as well. Emil Forsberg did that as well. I can always appreciate when a player after a tough loss ah like that is willing to stand and answer questions. Credit to the Red Bulls guys for doing that. credit to their team as well. It was a heck of a playoff run for them yeah joke them to make it to and MLS cup. Uh, and they proved a lot of people wrong as well. They're the lowest seed to ever make it to MLS cup. They were playing with house money, I think in a way, but I think what really stung for them was they had a chance
00:16:21
Speaker
to kind of buck the narrative that kind of hangs over their club of being a very successful club they've set the league record for consecutive playoff appearances and they've won three shields but their reputation is that they always bomb out in the playoffs they lost MLS Cup in 2008 now they've lost this and MLS Cup so that's still hanging over them which that's I think what they're the most frustrated about ah but really man da They got closer to ah to picking this game off than I would have thought, than I would have thought based on how it started. Are they the final original club to not have one? Cause it was San Jose. I believe there's three Dallas rapids. Okay. Yeah. Okay. I mean, I don't know. I mean either way, like it's a year where they definitely were not expected to make it. And if they could have, if they could have,
00:17:16
Speaker
picked off this game sort of like ah Seattle managed to in 2016 when they ah went in as an underdog against Toronto and were able to snake the PKs. They could have been done with that. yeah So I think it's like you said those those early two goals sold the game and I think most people knew that coming into halftime was like what's going to happen is either the galaxy are going to put this game away or maybe it'll go longer. But you know, just, just exactly like what happened. I feel like ah with Seattle and galaxy, it's going to come down to one moment. And if I'm a betting man on who's going to score in that one moment, it's going to be the l LA galaxy. So. Yeah. um The Galaxy celebrations got pretty rowdy. Ricky Blue was very happy. um There was a funny moment where, did you see they put him in one of the little clothes basket things? Or like he has little drink containers or something. They were pushing him around. He was slamming beers and smoking cigars. He was blowing huge smoke rings out of the cigar.
00:18:16
Speaker
He was getting lit and I think deservedly so. I mean, that guy, he put it all out there for them this season and I'm sure it was killing him to not be able to play in that game. But I am on the touchline with his suit and tie. I know. And every time they showed him on the on the screen at the stadium, the whole crowd went nuts. ah The crowd was it was live all game. Warren G was performing. Noah, you're not going to know what that means, but
Greg Vanney's Impact on LA Galaxy
00:18:41
Speaker
ah he performed regulate some of you out there. You're going to you're going to know that reference.
00:18:46
Speaker
They had Warren G. They had DJ slander at the Sounders game. So it's been happening at Dignity at Hell Sports Park. I think just like history and legacy-wise, I was also kind of thinking about Greg Vanny's status in the Pantheon. I think if you look at his body of work and what he built at Toronto FC, taking them from a laughing stock bottom feeder to an Eastern Conference powerhouse that won a treble in 2017, MLS Cup, Canadian Championship, and Supporters' Shield.
00:19:14
Speaker
And then he leaves there um to take the galaxy job They become a total joke again, and he builds the galaxy back up this fast and ah I think He really has established himself as like one of the best team builders culture builders oh that we have in the league and And it's no accident that both of the last two clubs that he's been at, he's managed to ah he's managed to get to the top in a pretty short period of time. It's definitely not a coincidence that Toronto FC got really good when he was the coach and started sucking again as soon as he left. yeah um So I think it's definitely like a full circle moment for the project that he put in at the Galaxy.
00:19:56
Speaker
And ah I think he's definitely like he's making a case for like an all time great MLS coach with with his resume now with this cup. All right. I got to pose it to you. I know this is going to be a little dramatic, but you know, I'm here for a clip. Greg Vinny.
00:20:12
Speaker
versus the one and only Wilfred Nancy, who is the better coach? Ooh, that's kind of a good debate. I feel like they excel at different things. I think Wilfred Nancy is like your traditional tactical savant. like his What he's the lead at is the nuts and bolts, the X's and O's of the actual game, like formations and scheming stuff up, like all that stuff. I take Wilfred Nancy.
00:20:40
Speaker
Greg Vanney, as far as culture culture culture building, like I mentioned, building a team, having an eye for talent, like knowing how to build an MLS roster, knowing how to assemble ah an MLS attack like he's done him and Wilkins both with the galaxy. Like if I was.
00:20:58
Speaker
if i had a roster that was already set with good players like the crew did and i felt like i just needed a tactical mind to get over the top then i would go with wilford nancy if i'm starting from the ground up like the galaxy were and they need uh they need someone to overhaul their roster and oversee like an entirely new project and like turn the page, then I think Vanny's the guy for that. So I know that's a cop-out answer, but i do i like I think they are... like It's two different skill sets that they excel at, like genuinely.
Debate: Messi as MLS MVP
00:21:31
Speaker
go with Greg Vani You know why because he's got he's got a skill set and this isn't I guess this is very specific to MLS because I don't know how he would perform outside of MLS which like I don't know maybe someone give him a shot I think I think it would be worth it, but uh the fact that he Has consistently taken teams From being a joke to being successful. I think is way more Eyebrow raising and important and like hard than being a good tactical manager I think yeah like Wilfred Nancy can slot just about anyone into his lineups, but it doesn't mean that they're gonna be able to Complete that you know ah So I gotta say I'm gonna go I'm gonna go and I'm gonna just pick him I'm gonna say Wilfred Nancy or not Wilfred Nancy. I'm sorry ah Greg Vani is is my pick there It's it's definitely an interesting debate if anyone's got takes on that go ahead and drop them in the comments
00:22:25
Speaker
um Anything else to say about MLS Cup? I know we're probably gonna take some heat for praising the galaxy too much but ah You know we told you so that's what I have I yeah exactly man like it's the the galaxy podcast thing You know people out there didn't like it, but it was based on something You know sometimes we know of what we speak okay every once in a while like I I didn't pick them to win the cup because I'm a coward and but uh you wanted to though you know i did one of us did i did to start i think i i can take credit for starting the narrative that lobbing scorchers is a galaxy podcast correct so like i said validation for us um since we last recorded uh leon omessi was named um mls mvp so this is old news but we hadn't talked about it yet and it was a hot button issue for a while whether he was actually going to win it or if they were going to give it to kucho or lucho or
00:23:17
Speaker
Any of the Louis Suarez there's there's some other candidates I don't think we need to spend all that much time on this because we debated it ad nauseam at the time other than to say I think this was very obviously the right choice You're you're putting him up against guys that put up not as good of numbers as he did in half the minutes Yeah, I really just I have not understood the debate about that for a while ah It's a soapbox that I went on when I felt like I shouldn't have had to, but it's clearly the right choice to have voted for.
MLS Offseason Transfers & Strategy
00:23:51
Speaker
And I really, ah I don't see the counter argument. People were getting so mad online about this when it came out. And I kind of expected that clown emoji. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, oh, of course they would make messy. And then they were putting up like Ricky Booj's stats. Like, you know, oh, Ricky Booj is better in every category. I'm like,
00:24:11
Speaker
okay but i'm sorry or they were like you know less goals than ben teke you know less assists than this person x y and z and i was like yeah like i don't think the mvp every single year is gonna win every statistical category but i promise you if messy played the same amount of minutes as those people he would have broken that he probably would have won the golden boot He probably would have had the most goals post assists. He probably would have had the most assists. He would have won MVP. He probably would have won whatever else. I don't know. Is there an attacking player of the year? I don't know. Yeah, I mean he ah he did have the best stats. That's the crazy thing. He had 36 goal contributions. No one else had that and all the other guys who are in the conversation had double the minutes, which it's really ah
00:24:55
Speaker
That kind of output was, I know it's he's been doing it at every team he's ever been on, or like all the Barcelona teams he was ever on, he did that every year, but it was it was impressive to watch this year, without a doubt. um We did have, so I thought today was gonna be a light and boring day in the world of MLS. It was my first day back at ah back in reality working post-MLS Cup, and there was a lot of transfer news already going on, so we're gonna stay on top of that all off season. We've already got some news to talk about, though.
00:25:24
Speaker
We're not going to hit on all the minutia going on. There is a lot of game being traded for TAM type of stuff going on whatever right now. Whatever that means. So like we're not going to be talking about every single transaction. But ah even today, there was stuff worth talking about. I think the biggest one was Orlando City has sold Fagundo Torres to Palmeiras. So ah that's one of the better players in the Eastern Conference who Orlando City are now going to have to replace.
00:25:53
Speaker
um I don't know exactly what bag they got for him, but I imagine it was a pretty big bag. He's a very highly thought of prospect. I think it was like a club record. Yeah. Undisclosed, but club record. So Orlando City gets a bag. We'll see what they do with that, but they are going to have to replace him because he was really, he was the centerpiece for them this year. So that's a storyline to track in the Eastern Conference.
00:26:13
Speaker
um And then also, we should talk about this ah Philadelphia Union Colorado Rapids trade. this was I think this is going to be my favorite trade of the offseason. ah Tom Boga reports that the Philadelphia Union have traded all of their super draft picks for the next three years to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for $350,000 of general allocation money. ah So that comes out to eight picks over three years, including three first round picks.
00:26:42
Speaker
The Philadelphia Union um noted not into the super draft, no I guess. um They are a team that has a, you can skip super draft picks and Philadelphia was notorious for being a team that did that like pretty much every pick or most of their picks for the last few years. So it's not really surprising to me that they would want to offload all their picks.
00:27:03
Speaker
I'm not sure I fully understand the rapids stocking up this is on super draft. pi To me, it doesn't seem like stocking up on super draft picks is especially wise in any given year because it's ah known to be the player acquisition mechanism that has by far the most thin talent pool. Yeah. And it's becoming increasingly not relevant. I'm surprised it's still around.
00:27:29
Speaker
I mean you so you can always find like christian rolled on super graphic but that was also so long ago it like if you're gonna talk about that like in the 10 year I was probably like what 10 years ago has to be yeah like 10 years ago I think there was still a lot of quality now with the amount of teams and the amount of like money going into scouting and college scouts or like the academy system and like next pro and all of this stuff being built out like College soccer in general is just not as much of a pipeline yeah ah to the professional level which is as it used to be. I mean you can you can look at notable examples though like Charlotte got um the Penn State I think he's a defender who played a bunch of games for them this past year I'm totally blanking on his name but um he was a hit out of the super draft I think he was in like the sixth
00:28:16
Speaker
round or something I think of it is every year there's like a handful of players probably around five to eight seldom much more than that players that can crack can legitimately crack a first team roster and probably even less than that who actually get consistent first team minutes it still happens it's pretty rare but I guess that's kind of like I mean I bring this trade up because it's like a good MLS meme trade, but I really ah Actually, I'm not quite sure I understand just the strategy of stocking up on these picks We'll see what the rapids do with them the super draft is later this month, and I have to work it So I actually
Seattle Sounders' Future: Schedule & Roster Changes
00:28:57
Speaker
am gonna know what's going on with that. I feel like okay. Yeah, so the guy who I was mentioning is Andrew crivet they so they picked him 69th overall which nice but uh
00:29:06
Speaker
i i Feel like this is like a like they're drawing up like a 18 leg parlay. They're like bro. Hear me out Three hundred and fifty thousand dollars we give these guys and we've got hear me out. We've got three seasons of pics, bro We just got a hit on one bro. We just got a hit on one and we can make our money back, bro I swear like it's it's addict shit. Like what is this? Yeah, I mean the last time I saw a team do this was like early MLS days FC Cincinnati. Remember that they stocked up on a bunch of super draft picks and that famously did not really pan out for them. um I'm going to be doing a lot of transfer tracker work for the website all offseason. So I'll have all that ah all that news for you guys. I think those are the most and important ones that I wanted to highlight from today.
00:29:55
Speaker
um All right. We had some sounders news to hit and then that was all I had written down. So maybe we're going to just have a short little ah first offseason episode today. But there are a few um sounders based headlines that we that we got a hit before we get out of here. No. Number one.
00:30:12
Speaker
The Galaxy winning actually clinched Seattle a conquer half Champions Cup spot. The way that happened is matt it becomes big. Yeah. And that's which I shouldn't be explaining in that case. But a bunch of other clubs.
00:30:28
Speaker
qualified through other means that basically meant that Seattle's position on the shield table, as I understand it, means that they qualified with the Galaxy's and MLS Cup victory, qualifying them. yeah So they needed the Galaxy to win to get into this competition and now they're in it. So ah there's a few implications for that. One of which is that Seattle is just going to have a lot of games next year. They got the club world cup too. ah that There's opens cup and open cup and leagues cup. We'll see if they opt out or are like exempted from
00:31:00
Speaker
some or any competitions. Potentially weeks cut from what I've heard. Yeah so like something like that could happen but even if that does happen it's gonna be a hectic year. um They're gonna need to lean on their depth a lot of times and that makes this offseason all the more pivotal.
00:31:16
Speaker
um but Other than that, I mean, I always can get up for the CCC games. It's always an entertaining tournament. I watch a lot of the games even in the years when Seattle isn't in it. um So I think, I guess I'm looking forward to it in the sense that them having won it to me takes a lot of the pressure off. I think expecting them to win it again, it's such a hard tournament to win. Like I don't know.
00:31:42
Speaker
how How high my expectations are for them like making another run at it especially with all the other competitions that they've got But in terms of just content these games always delivers, so I'm happy to have Seattle in it from that perspective Yeah, and maybe we'll get to go to like I don't know Maybe we go to a game in Mexico or something if it if it works out like that'd be kind of sick Yeah, we'll see a lobing score the draw is ah the draws tomorrow, so we're gonna find out more on that then I I love, I love that tournament. I love that tournament. Yeah. Like I, it's always insane. It's shit house. It's early in the season, so everyone cel did it's great. It's concacaf at its apex is what it is. And like you just, you think you've seen it all and every year it comes in with 15 new things that you've never seen before. I guarantee you next year, uh, in the sounders games and in other games, it's going to be chaos.
00:32:36
Speaker
and i'm like interested because this is a competition that like while it may not be reasonable to assume the sounders will win it it does feel a lot more winnable than the club world cup which we can i think we should talk about the draw we didn't even have that written down but we should talk about that right just that feels impossible. All right. No, do you want to break down the ah group that Seattle got for the club World Cup? Absolutely. Yeah. So Seattle had a really fun draw. It's going to be a great group. Yeah, it's going to be really. Seattle has been officially dubbed into group B and this group has been called the group of death. For those who don't know yet, we will be playing Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid and Botafogo.
00:33:22
Speaker
Yeah, so the best team in France. Yep, one of the best teams in Spain third best team in Spain I would say best team in Brazil. Yeah, who just won Copa Libadores and just won the league Yeah, so and then do you do do you happen to have inner miami's group by chance? Oh, I do have inner miami's group ah by chance here. are you Are you ready for that? Yeah, uh palmaras Porto and all Ali Isn't that funny? It's a little funny. I still I still think okay, because like inner Miami is going to open this tournament against all Ali, someone who we are intimate intimate and familiar with. Yeah, that is one of the fastest football teams I have ever seen in my life. I don't know about you. I don't know if you remember that game. They are quick man and I'm sorry that inner Miami defense is going to be no match. I could totally see that being a blowout.
00:34:09
Speaker
Well, you think Ali is going to see how that take ages. I want to see what inner Miami does over the off season. I got to imagine they know what their weaknesses are. And Chris Henderson is going to try and address them, ah but they have to do that effectively in order to solve what ailed them last year. I still think ah we might be. that might be a little bit of recency bias with what we saw from inner Miami in the playoffs. They still just set the points record. And I think in any given competition, they are liable to just ride their insane attacks to results over any, certainly any of these teams in this group, I think inner Miami is going to be competitive against Seattle's group. I mean, it is pretty hard to see a scenario where they make it out of that group. ah You know,
00:34:58
Speaker
I'm not going to say that it's impossible, but it's just ah I'm kind of going into the club World Cup with the mentality of the goal. The goal is to ahc quit yourselves. Well, compete with dignity. Don't embarrass yourselves. Don't set the league back five decades by doing some something crazy or something stupid out there. um But if they don't make it out of this group, I don't really know. I don't really know what to say about that. I mean, this is a loaded group. I don't even really know that much about all these teams right now. But just in terms of name value, I mean, it's tough. it's tough I mean, it's a good marketing point for the Sounders to bring some people in that I think you can be like, OK, listen, come in this transfer window and you'll get to play in the Club World Cup against these teams. And we're going to go and compete for Champions League.
00:35:46
Speaker
And you know this is how close we were to winning the league as well. I think there's i think there is a good marketing perspective from it. I think there is one potential that could allow the Sounders to get through this. It's if there's somewhat of a strike with the FIFA Pro players. I don't know if you've heard about this at all, but there was some rumblings that players were really upset about how many more games they were going to be playing in Europe. And a lot of the European players are represented by FIFA Pro.
00:36:14
Speaker
There's it's a lot of vibes based feelings around that so who knows but there could be there could be basically like a small boycott from from ah certain players or you have games where you have you have a thing where like We play boto fo go in the first round maybe by the grace of God we get away with a draw right and then athletic oh and and PSG play and that you know one of those teams gets blown out And then you know or like I let it go blows out PSG, and then they like rest some players against Seattle like you know there's there's there's a potential where maybe they could get out of the group but I am like I will be at every single one of these games and be so stoked to see the Sounders play against them but like oh my god this is that's what I was gonna say is like what I'm gonna try and go into it like I know people are feeling cynical about it feeling cynical about the the group and just the competition in general I'm gonna try and go into it
00:37:06
Speaker
um just to appreciate the novelty of like you're never gonna see a situation where Seattle's gonna play a PSG other than like a tournament like this and I think with the expanded format like you actually get these games whereas the last time they had to be all a lead to be in a position to like play a real Madrid yeah um which that's ah I would have liked to have seen that, like I said, just for the novelty. So ah regardless of how it shapes out, ah there it's at least it's something that you you're not going to see in any other competition. So we'll get that if nothing else. Yeah, it'll be fun. It's going to be fun. And there's six total matches, I think, being played at CenturyLink. So or Lumen. Sorry. Sorry, everyone. ah There's you know, so you have
00:37:55
Speaker
ah like you basically have like a week and a half two weeks of just Incredible soccer being played in the Pacific Northwest in the lead up to getting to watch the World Cup here as well It's like it's an exciting fun thing. It'll be in the summer Everyone loves the summer here. I'm stoked for it, man. I'm stoked for it Um, we had some roster movement under his roster movement. The end of season moves, um, were announced, uh, since the, uh, semi-finals defeat at LA galaxy. Uh, the first headline from that, the Raul Rui Diaz departure has been made official. We already talked to that. I mean, that the writing was on the wall with that. We already talked about the, uh, the storylines with it on the last show, but shout out to Raul. It was a hell of a run. One of the best players that's ever played for the club. The best number nine that's ever played for the club.
00:38:40
Speaker
ah ah ah the decline in productivity this season should not and does not overshadow that, in my opinion. ah He's delivered in the form of trophies, an MLS Cup and a Champions League.
00:38:54
Speaker
um scoring goals that keyed both of them. So you really can't ask for much more than that from your big time DP number nine that you signed and had on the team for four or five years. I think he delivered in every way. And I think it's unfortunate how it ended. I would have liked him to get a better send off. But shout out to our who always and forever. Yeah, I kind of felt like the it it kind of led It felt like the Ledero send off a little bit. It like it just wasn't it didn't feel right. you know and Jeremiah talked about this on the last episode, which I highly recommend you guys go watch. Raoul at the end of the game was just standing there, kind of soaking in his final moment as a sounder. like
00:39:36
Speaker
Knowing how close he was to bringing one more trophy knowing that his last season he he wanted to you could tell he wanted to do more and just was not happy with where he was and It felt like that with with Nico a lot too. And I think those two players are the two most important players in Saunders history and It's exciting in a sense to be like, okay now we're into this next chapter We're gonna see more exciting players who mean just as much as them but it's always like it's so hard to to see them go and yeah Raul deserves the world and It definitely was not a fitting end to his his tenure here. We'll see where he goes. I i expect him to stay in MLS I yeah think another and MLS club is gonna take a flyer on him and And I think a change of scenery, there's a potential at least that it could rejuvenate him. He's not that old. He's 32, man. OK, so like, ah number nines like that, they can play into their 30s sometimes. And he looked cooked this year. But sometimes you see a guy go to a new team and it's like a second win. So we'll see if that happens. Also among those
Rusnak's Role & Future with Sounders
00:40:39
Speaker
departing, Sota Kitahara, Dylan Tevez, and Nathan,
00:40:42
Speaker
um Kidahara and Tevez did not get a lot of time this last year, so I think that's a situation where they're in all likelihood um more keen for opportunities, where they might get a chance to compete for more minutes than they would here, so that makes sense. Nathan was one where I think we all thought that he would be departing ah on the number that he was on. he just but like that That signing just didn't work out because he was not healthy yeah all year. um When he played, he played great. he Yeah, shout out ah for the his performance in the playoffs. like He actually stepped up when needed. But just kind of based on how this year went availability wise, um you definitely couldn't have him on the same number that he was on this year, which I think was like 500K. Yeah, that's like that's a little too much. I think that's the logic behind those three departures. um And then they're also reportedly in talks with Albert Rusnak and Jauphalo. So let's do the should they be brought back to debate and let's start with JP and then do Rusnak. I think the idea is they're trying to find a number or an offer that makes sense to bring JP back.
00:41:53
Speaker
and um I mean I think the situation is as simple as if you can get him on a number that is less than what it is now with the idea that he's going to be more of a rotational piece and a mentor to the young guys than a guy that you depend on game in and game out then I think absolutely JP
00:42:16
Speaker
He's a, he's, he's a sounder through and through, man. Like he's given a lot to the squad as well. I mean, they don't win champions league without him. He gave it all in that tournament. Literally, literally like that. His ACL gave out in the final. Um, and they, uh, they won that like with him out of the game, but, um, I just, I just feel like you can't break the bank for him at this point, but I could see a scenario where he's back on the team next year. I,
00:42:44
Speaker
It's a tough one for me because I'm like, I'm on the fence about this. I think that he is a great player, but I don't think he's had it this last season. And I think even as a rotational player, we saw some errors that he made when he would come in that, that led to some chances into some, some negative outcomes.
00:43:05
Speaker
And I just I I think we need some new blood in that position I think we both have talked about potentially it would be so sick to see Them bring in like a bruiser six or something like that to fill his position And I really do think that the sounders need a lot of new blood like as much as possible if they can get Just different ah just a different feeling you know just a different mix of of players while keeping you know that core together I think for me Yeah, maybe if you can get them on the right number, but I still i still think they should probably move on from him. I'm at Rusenak. Nico Moreno, I believe, was reporting that he is not going to take a pay cut ah for ah for a TAM deal and that if he comes back, it's going to be on a DP contract, which
00:43:56
Speaker
ah There's no reason for him to say anything else yeah in that negotiation. If you look at his output this year, despite what the brigade might tell you, he has every leg to stand on with that. ah I do think there, you know, we're a pro Rusnak podcast, ah but I do think there is still a debate, a fair debate to be had as to whether or not you want him as a DP. I'll just say again, my take on it is ah I really don't mind him as a DP. I think he justified that price tag this year. I don't think the issues that this team had on on offense this year were attributable to to the number 10. I like how he runs the offense. I think he brings a unique variable with his set pieces that paid a lot of dividends this year. Seattle was excellent on set pieces this year, which that has not really been the case before he got on the team. now The Ledero era, the set pieces were ah
00:44:51
Speaker
not it They were hit or miss. Nico hit them. When he hit them right, he hit them right, but ah he he's nowhere near the free kick taker that Rusnak is. um So I think ah for me, a guy who pushed 30 goal contributions across all comps has an elite skill that separates him in terms of his set piece delivery and his wide surface service and just his all-around production and body of work.
00:45:16
Speaker
ah And he's all he was also very durable ah this last year, so I don't know. I just don't hate it as much as ah some people might. To me, it's much more about the pieces around Albert Rusnak and Jordan Morris than it is about replacing them. Now, like I said on the last show, if you can find... ah player of the skill set age and General profile of Ricky poo. Yeah, then like yeah that is do it that is an upgrade But I'm telling I'm telling you failing that it is It's not as easy to find that upgrade as a lot of people are making it sound a guy who can run the up offense like rusenac can and put up as many as as much in any numbers as he does
00:46:01
Speaker
You can go sign a replacement, but there is no guarantee. You're you're taking a a risk that you just don't really need to take, in my opinion. um So I can understand, I guess, the argument that he's a tan player more than a DP, but I also just think that ah he he did well as a DP this year. I don't know. Am I tripping? No, I mean, I think that there's more directly addressable positions where you can get ju drastically better at. I think that's what people don't understand about Major League Soccer. It's like they want they want the best superstar in every single position. And I think a lot of times they don't realize that like, yes, your DP slots are important in all of this, but
00:46:42
Speaker
Albert Rusnak produced, he was 15th in goals and assists combined. So he's top 50% of the league, top 50, you know, top 1% of players in production as a number 10. Okay, what are the pieces around him that could get him up two, three, four spots? You know, rack him 10 more assists over the year, right? Like, I don't think he was the problem. I think that there were pieces around him or formations that weren't working for him.
00:47:12
Speaker
You now have a whole season of evidence that he can produce. You can look at exactly the pieces, the places that when he wasn't producing, okay, what went wrong? And then you go and you address that. I just like, yeah, you're not gonna upgrade super heavy there. And it's like, respectfully, you know, this is a Paul Rothrock podcast, but.
00:47:31
Speaker
he was starting every single game you don't think that ah a dp winger or something like that wouldn't be a massive upgrade over paul rothro i mean i'm not again we love paul rothrock on this podcast but it's like if you can i mean i don't even think you need to bring roth rock into it roth rock was producing this year that's that's True. The De La Vega thing was where the black hole on the roster production turned out to be. It certainly was now Rusnak. Also, just to address the narrative out there that ah there's there's a ah narrative that he is a stat pattern that does not perform in big games. I mean,
00:48:09
Speaker
If that's your narrative, that's fine. um But then you got it. You got to explain some things. I mean, you got to explain the goal that he scored in Champions League against New York City FC that the Sounders might not win Champions League without. Was that not a big game? You got to explain. You got to explain.
00:48:27
Speaker
The game this year against the LA Galaxy in League's Cup, whatever you think of League's Cup, it was a knockout game against an elite team in MLS that went on to win MLS Cup. he He dominated them on set pieces all day in that game. That was a big game. I could keep going down the list. Those are just two off the top of my head, but ah the three good Columbus were fraudulent. Ari. I don't count. They don't count. No. Okay. That, I mean, that one, uh, the ones on Sean Zwotsky, maybe that was stat padding. Okay. But like it's pretty hard to stat pad 10 goals, 16 assists i don't in league play. Plus whatever he got across all, I don't care. that is assist that one goal i'm sorry That's just not a thing. I don't, know I don't care that he had two assists in one goal against Pumas. I don't care. That's, that's a bad team. Bad team, yeah bad team stat padding against, uh, Liga and Becky's team. There's like, I mean, I'm going to actually like talking about this now is going to make me go through and go down the list. But like, there's like, he scored against a real salt Lake this year. He scored against LAFC, not this year, but one year. There's there's a lot. Okay. There's a lot.
00:49:31
Speaker
um It's all fake. It's all fat. Anyway, there will be one to keep litigating the roost neck thing, but I think for now my take is that ah I don't know. I would. I would bring him back. I would bring him back. Yeah, I think it's as simple as they're going to negotiate. It's going to be, you know, I think it's going to, I think they're going to bring him back. I don't even think it's a question. I think it's a question of for how long and for what number and what do they think they can do? Are they, is, it is their plan to bring him back for next year and then shop him around after that and try and trade him? Is it, you know, but like I just, I, I don't think it's reasonable to think that the sounders will not resign him.
00:50:15
Speaker
Yeah, it just seems unnecessary to me and really ah I want to see that spot either go to a big time winger or a big time number nine. Give me a nine. thats Yeah, that to me is the bigger priority then. Easier to play the nine. Replacing the ten for no reason.
Podcast Future Plans & Live Shows
00:50:31
Speaker
Also, like if you think I'm sorry, I'm gonna keep going on to this because this is like our bread and butter of this podcast But if you think it's so easy to just drag and drop any number 10 into a team and have them overnight Understand exactly what this team is gonna do Understand all of the different players around them build rapport build like that leadership. I'm sorry and You're dumb, you're stupid, you've never played soccer in your life and you've never like ah understood this because if you have going into this next competition season, you have Club World Cup, CCC, Open Cup, Regular Season, Leagues Cup, some other cup that they haven't announced yet but I'm sure they're gonna invent, it's like respectfully, man, you start the first, right after preseason, they're gonna start playing meaningful games.
00:51:19
Speaker
if you get someone someone's not going to get integrated just in in three weeks of preseason you do really you do really have to think about that because you got club world cup coming right up and you're right like anytime there is any sort of new signing they have to integrate both on the field and in the locker room, and that takes that takes time. there's literally There's a, honestly, look at the vander. There's a set amount of reps that you realistically need on the training ground before you can even hope to have like the time of chemistry, type of chemistry that you would need ah to really do well in an event like the like the Club World Cup or these early Champions League games that they might have to play.
00:51:59
Speaker
ah That is that I absolutely think that has to factor into the consideration because these games are coming up and ah you do have to bolster the roster and ah Integrate those guys already. Anyway, like if you if you bring in a new number 10, you're overhauling the whole attack I don't really know if that's the best strategy with how the schedule is set up right now. So that said Sinovander for the bit. Sounder? Sounder? um All right, I mean that was all I had written down. No, I feel like we must be missing something. I'm sure there's something, but I think we went an hour. Okay, yeah. Close to. All right, yeah, then that's fine. We can call it right there. um Thank you all so much as always for tuning in. It was really good to be back in the normal Lobbing Scorchers Studio back in the city of Seattle. I had fun in LA, but I'm glad to be back home.
00:52:50
Speaker
um And I'm excited and we're both excited to keep the content grind rolling over the offseason. We're not going to stop. We're put we're planning on filling the void. We've got ideas. We're going to stay on top of the the transfer beat, of course. We're also going to try and get more guests on over the offseason. That's something that I've been wanting to do more of anyway and ah not done a good enough job of being proactive and lining people up. So I'm going to try and do that this offseason. Already have a couple of things in the works with that.
00:53:19
Speaker
um big player interview coming oh yes next week big player interview coming so we're gonna trust me the content is not going to stop the grind never stops no days off I mean we're gonna take some days off especially like around the holidays I'm probably gonna take some days off But we are going to keep recording, putting out the show. And Noah, I think i think we should do some live streams this offseason. Oh, for sure. we are planning so We are planning on getting that train rolling, for those of you who are wondering about that. I know there's demand for live shows, and we are going to fire those up. it's It's a lot of tech for us to for me to learn, but we are going to do that as well.
00:53:59
Speaker
um Like, comment, subscribe, write reviews, follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, show Ricky Poosh, show Great Vanny. Am I missing any anything else? This guy knows, no. Dante Vanzier, I don't know. Until next time, we out. Peace.