Transcript
Speaker: Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here we go.
Speaker: Come on. Hey, O'Shaughness. Let's The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. The Sounders rule the region.
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Speaker: This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
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Speaker: Welcome to another episode of Nos Adiates, part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network, sponsored by Full Pool Wines and our subscribers. We're recording on Tuesday, September 15th, 2026. I am your host, Jeremiah O'Shan. Today, i am joined by my co-host, Aaron Campo, and an engineer, Lickit.
Speaker: Another week, another result that has us sitting in purgatory. The Sounders did not get the result that we said they absolutely needed, but their 1-1 tie was good enough to actually close their gap to the playoffs to two points thanks to San Diego's quite feckless loss to the Philadelphia Union.
Speaker: Hard as it is to believe, the Sounders are actually in ninth by points per game, and they could actually move to within a point of seventh place if they are to just win their games in hand.
Speaker: ah So here we are somehow very much not dead, but also still winless in 12 excruciating games, Aaron. This is weird, right? This is just weird.
Speaker: It's one of the weirder seasons I can recall for sure. The sort of the the difference between the highs and lows feels as extreme, not quite as extreme as 2022 because we won continental trophy that year, but right yeah ah not super far off the pace because I mean, you know, early in the year, team looked great.
Speaker: Later in the year, maybe not as good, ah to say the least. And, you know, they they've certainly looked better of late. I don't think that that's controversial to say. they They have looked like a pretty decent team that is struggling to put it together. Whereas, you know, for the first five or six after the break, they look like actual dog shit.
Speaker: So, you know... some improvement there for sure. And it's easy to forget how good that run earlier in the season was, but it it has them in in a situation where they can go this long without a win, where they can look as bad as they did for the first four or five games after the break and still actually be in the race. Now, as we talked about last week,
Speaker: Making the playoffs, especially if you make it into the playoff play in round does not a successful season make or anything close to it. But that's what we've got to look forward to now. So that's what we're going to, you know, that's what we're going to try to look forward to.
Speaker: Yeah. and I don't think anyone should confuse. Like, like I think there is a segment of the fan base that's genuinely worried that if the Sounders just make the playoffs and then go out early, that there will be some chorus of people saying, no, it was a successful season. There's no reason to freak out.
Speaker: And i don't doubt that some folks inside the organization may try to spin that, but I don't think that's going to be the prevailing narrative narrative. I can tell you for sure. Look, getting to the playoffs is not a successful season, mate.
Speaker: Doing can like this, the Sounders themselves have said that they expect to compete for trophies every year. And I think last year they can quite plausibly say that's exactly what they did. Whether or not you think the Leagues Cup is a big trophy, they they acquitted themselves well throughout the season.
Speaker: Yes, they did go out in the in the first round of the playoffs, but they didn't lose a game. They looked, you know, I think that you they can quite credibly say they were the better team in that playoff series.
Speaker: Who knows how far they would have gone. But what we're talking about right now is not last year. ah This is a very different scenario. The Sounders have been, like you said, so eloquently dog shit for four months. ah They have been a very, very bad team for the most part.
Speaker: Now, the last four games, they have been less bad. they have if If this was any other season and they had four draws and four games, even against the quality of opponent that they faced during that time, it would be frustrating, but not no one would be too freaking out.
Speaker: But the reality is that they lost eight immediately preceding that. And so that's clearly going to have an impact on the way that we perceive all this. right But it's just a very strange season. I posited on blue sky that this, the Sounders might be the first team in MLS history to have a unbeaten streak of at least nine games in a winless run of at least 10.
Speaker: And a bunch of people sent me and notes showing comparable runs. New York city FC had a absolutely amazing 2022 in which they were one of the best teams in the league, almost like two thirds of the way through the season. And then basically fell completely apart. I think they only won one of their last 10 games.
Speaker: ah but they but there was a win right in the middle of there ah that sort of ruined that streak. but i don't So no one was able to show me another season in which a team had a winless run of at least 10 and a unbeaten run of at least nine, which the Sounders did earlier this year. In fact, that's the run they were on right before they started this this ah winless run. So it's just kind of showing how crazy of a season it's been And I'll just give people a little bit of a teaser in the second half of the show.
Speaker: If you want some copium slop, if you just want to be fed, like the good vibes of what could possibly be stick around for the second segment. Cause Aaron and I have decided that we're going to go through like a dream scenario ah for the Sounders that I don't want to pretend as if is the main part of this show, but it's a little teaser out there. If people really want some ah copium slop is what I'm, I'm going to call that.
Speaker: But, In the meantime, they had a game against the galaxy. And to your point, they were not bad. You know, honestly, if you take away the penalty and it was, I've come around to but to feel like the penalty was the correct call.
Speaker: And I'm not even that mad about the call that they didn't get on the other end. Although we can certainly talk about it, but that call, that penalty is really the, the biggest detriment outside of that. They were pretty good defensively, I thought. And then offensively,
Speaker: I thought they created some good chances, ah the best of which obviously was the goal, but a credible performance, I think we can say. Yeah, I thought so. I mean, I think that if you didn't need a win very badly, you feel pretty good about this performance. Galaxy, you know, not not a great team this season by any stretch of the imagination, but better than the Sounders, I think it's fair to point out.
Speaker: Although, I mean, guess not really. More points, less points per game. yeah, much, much worse points per game for sure. But, you know, a talented team, right? I think kind of a similar story to the sound Sounders underperforming the talent on the roster, at least in part, in large part due to injuries, ah getting healthier, having more of their full complement available.
Speaker: And the Sounders, you know, stuck with them. I was in, I will say I was in a horrible mood watching this game. i was in a hotel room in Boise. I had i had just watched the Memphis Tigers get absolutely destroyed ah in the second half and spent the rest of the evening with my parents in a very small hotel room. So,
Speaker: rough uh yeah so i was i was not in the best frame of mind watching this game and i found myself getting kind of excited about them putting together good passages of play and this is when they were still losing the game this is also after i yet after i knew the results and i was watching the replay uh so all of that being said i found myself thinking why am i getting excited about these passages of play when they're not Finishing. There's no finish. There's no end product.
Speaker: Like this isn't a young team that we're hoping can develop into something good. um you know, this isn't early in the season when we're looking for encouragement. Like we need three points desperately.
Speaker: In the light of a new day, I felt a little better about things, I guess is is the point there. Right. They haven't been creating good passages of play. They haven't been creating good chances. They haven't been, you know, racking up a lot of XG.
Speaker: and And I thought that they did pretty well in this game. I thought they were unlucky not to score a couple of times. ah And, you know, I guess the theme of the show that will culminate in the in the last segment is, hey, here's some reason for hope.
Speaker: And I think if you're looking for some reason to think, hey, this team is actually starting to kind of figure things out, get into a rhythm, attacking players are getting comfortable with each other again. i thought Jordan Morris great in this game. I mean, the best he's looked all season,
Speaker: easily. yeah um And that's on the heels of a performance where I thought, you know, he looked as good as he has at any point since 2024. So that's, that's super encouraging. um You have Lich looked great again and appears to not be injured in any real concerning way.
Speaker: he He trained in full today. As far as we know, it was purely a cramping situation. I think what understandably concerned people is that the, the play that immediately preceded him coming out looked pretty brutal and you could imagine it being a bad injury, but ah you know, to his, to his credit, I gotta say Jeff Wilcox, AKA realio in real time in the, in on discord said that looks like a cramp to me.
Speaker: And I think he was the only person who said that. And so, the The fact that he said that, though, made Brian's statement like we think it's just cramps feel a little bit more credible. And then, of course, he was out training today. So ah right major bullet dodged with that one.
Speaker: ah i We'll kind of revisit this later, but there was a little bit of foreboding news, both ah on the injury front, but also on the availability front. It sounds like Jovolech is likely to miss anything.
Speaker: all three of the Sounders home games that are going to be coming up during the international break, but ah go on. I didn't mean to cut you off there. Yeah, I mean, and that being the case, it's good that Jordan has looked as good as he has largely playing as a forward, I think, in this game. um Yeah, he you know, obviously he's he's coming in off the the right hand side. He's not playing purely as a nine, but he's he's playing functionally as a nine. And so if he's going to get a run of games there, you know, I think we should be encouraged by what we've seen i over the last couple of games. And, you know, i like I'm tired of looking for rays hope.
Speaker: rays of hope I'm as tired, if not more tired of it than anybody, frankly, but I do think that it's okay to feel encouraged by the performance and disappointed by the results. And yeah, there's still enough time. I have to keep reminding myself because, because of the time a year it is right. It's already been September. There's still a lot of season left and they have 12 games left.
Speaker: That's a lot of soccer. It is. It is a lot of soccer. uh i would really like them to sign a free agent at winger i'm not holding yeah my breath uh because i think that that would you know really help me feel optimistic about the rest of the way but um if they can stay healthy and they can put in more performances like this they're they're probably going to rack up some points Uh, any fear I have of missing the playoffs is, is fading. And, and I like you, I don't think there's any benefit to missing the playoffs. I don't think it's going to fundamentally change anything. There's, there's, there's like a segment of people who have talked themselves into thinking that it's, it's like, it's good actually, if they miss the playoffs, cause that's, what's going to shock this team awake.
Speaker: Look, I don't. Right. Right. I don't think that's true. I'll just say that. But Adrian Hammer watches the games, right? Like Craig Weibel watches the games. Yeah.
Speaker: I think they know that there are problems and that they they need to fix them. So whether they actually managed to do it, I think is is another issue, but I don't think that the difference is going to be, I mean, if they couldn't get it together to get another signing made in this window,
Speaker: um when it was very obvious that they needed one, I just like, I don't know. I'm just not super concerned that that's going to be the problem is that, Oh, we made the playoffs. We don't need to worry about it. We should be fine. I think that problems are more likely to be the other structural issues that the front office seems to have. So I'm with you. And you know, look like the MLS playoffs are not as random as they used to be. You need to be a pretty good team to make a deep run. If the Sounders to get in as an eight or nine seed and get through the wildcard round, they're,
Speaker: probably not getting out of the first round. And I don't think that that's going to be, i don't think sneaking into the playoffs and then going out sheepishly in the first round is going to convince anybody of anything that they're not already convinced of. So, um so yeah, it's, but I, but I do think that I feel better about the season if I get to watch playoffs soccer at the end of it. Right. Yeah, man a little bit hope I would rather watch it. Look, I would much rather watch them.
Speaker: bomb out of the playoffs than not make the playoffs yeah like i i am under no uh illusion that somehow missing the playoffs is is preferable like i guess it i i guess it might save me some money uh as a season ticket holder but and i don't yeah i don't look at it that way like i want to i have season tickets because i want to see them do well i want to i want to see soccer so uh Yeah, I think that part of it's kind of silly. ah You know, aside from Jordan Morris, I i think I was encouraged by, ah you know, I still really like Stu Hawkins. I think that is maybe the single best development that has happened during this bad run is that Stu Hawkins has sort of been forced into game action and he's he's he's stepped up to the challenges.
Speaker: You know, I did think it was interesting. i was a little frustrated when Brian pulled him out for Kim Kihee towards the end of the game, in part because I didn't like to see a sub burned on a center back for center back swap when they were down one zero. I thought like, look, say like bring in ah another attacking player if that's what you have to do. i don't, you know, offhand, I don't know what I would have rather seen.
Speaker: but it it turned out to be a good decision. i and and to b Brian's defense, he had a completely coherent explanation for that. And it was, he saw Claus come in and manhandle Hawkins in his first sort of like battle. And he just was not really interested in seeing that play out over.
Speaker: a longer period. And so he just said, look, I'd rather see Kim Kihee try to handle gel Klaus than Sue Hawkins. And look, ah there's been plenty of times where we have said that Brian needs to sort of save his young guys from themselves.
Speaker: And, and this was maybe an example of him doing that, uh, of him, yeah you know, taking Hawkins out and instead of letting him just sort of like trial by fire, it was like, look, we we can get a result here. I'm going to pull this guy out, but I am mostly super encouraged by Hawkins, uh,
Speaker: And, you know, I'm, I'm growing less and less concerned about the defense as a whole, even though they are, you know, it's still sort of like a rag bunch of, of players. i think I would still rather see Alex rolled on playing right back.
Speaker: If you know, all things being equal. um I don't know. Where do you, where do you fall on that at this point? and We haven't seen Alex rolled on play right back. It feels like in forever. Yeah, i I would rather see Hawkins getting minutes there. I think i think I'm not going to say that Stu Hawkins has been as good as Yamar during this run, but it's the first time this season, I feel like, or at least the first time in the second half of the season where I haven't really found myself missing Yamar all that much.
Speaker: And part of that is because I'm just excited to see Stu play, but I think, I think Hawkins has been great. I mean, I think he's been everything you want out of a, out of a young center back and and more frankly, that and MLS is a tough league to break in as a young center back because it is so physical and you're,
Speaker: you you're making it up for lost time on the physical side of things at that age just haven't had as much time in the weight room as a lot of these other guys and i don't think he's with the exception of this game i mean joel colossus is a big big dude that's not the kind of forward you're going to go up against all the time and he's skillful on top of that so we can punish you if he wins those physical battles um ah but yeah i want to see him getting as much time as i can i Kalani Kosarenzi has been very good right back this year, but I think I'm ready for Alex to to shift back there, you know especially with Reagan coming back.
Speaker: and And I want to see what that Reagan-Hawkins pairing looks like as as much as possible, because that could be your center back pairing for the next... I mean, if if Hawkins is really good, probably not that many years, but if Hawkins yeah settles and becomes a good pro, um you know, it's it's kind of like an Obed situation, right? You want to play him as much as you can because either he's going to make you some money or he's going to be a guy that's going to anchor your team for a long time.
Speaker: Right. Yeah, I mean, I the the upside on Hawkins feels really high. Yeah. And ah the other player, the other young player who we're getting to see a lot of and i think the reviews are decidedly more mixed is Snyder Brunel.
Speaker: And it's he's an interesting, you know, it's it's funny because i guess there's some elements of of Obed that are similar in that. you see things that you like almost every game. And I would say in some ways, I i see moments that are even more encouraging in, ah in Brunel than like the, the week to week highs that we would get from Obed. We're not always so high.
Speaker: But the lows were just not that apparent. I didn't think like he just was so good at, at fitting in and, and reaching it like a really high floor.
Speaker: And what we're seeing with Brunel is a little bit more like we see those highs, like he's really his, uh, his escape ability, I guess, when might be a, uh, ah appropriate phrase. He's very good at getting out of tackles. Yeah.
Speaker: But he's still prone to some frustrating turnovers and he seems to lose his mark more often than I would like. And so I'm wondering, I'm a little worried that we're not going to see as much of Brunel down the stretch as you know, might be preferred. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, i I think that that's that's all fair. um i think that the big difference between Obed and Brunel is that the frustrations that I had with Obed were he's not being aggressive enough. He's not forcing the issue enough. He's not getting in the box. He's not providing a goal threat.
Speaker: it was never, I feel like the midfield was falling apart, you know? Right. and And, yeah and that's, that I mean, that sounds harsh on Steiner and I don't necessarily mean it to be. Obed was just way far over where ahead of where you would expect somebody at his age to be. i think Snyder still has a great future and is still going to be a really good player.
Speaker: um for you know for a long time to come but it's just they're at different development paths um that you know at at the same relatively same point in their career so um i i think dotson has looked pretty good lately so i'd be happy to see him getting a little more playing time down the stretch um at kingston potentially i mean i don't think he's looked terrible in midfield Okay. I mean, almost the thing with Kingston is I almost wonder if he's, i really like him.
Speaker: we haven't really seen him as a wing back, but I do feel like he, his, he's at his best when he's able to sort of like point downhill and go, you know, like he um any, any,
Speaker: I like we, I was very impressed with the play that he made on the game tying goal ah and, and sort of his aggressiveness. He had to beat several defenders and he doesn't, you know, he only gets a secondary assist on it, but he did make that play. It was all Peter Kingston.
Speaker: And, you know, i don't necessarily, I don't know if I love him in the central midfield because I still feel like he is a little bit more error prone than I would, than the centers can afford right now, frankly.
Speaker: But, I do like him on the field. Yeah. I mean, I think that he he has that skill set. We've talked about this and before. Like you can kind of just find a spot for him. Like he's going to be able to play in any of three or four different places. And that's, that's got a ton of value. And, and his skill set doesn't really change, but his skill set is variable enough that it's going to work at outside back. It's going to work at wing back. It's going to work at,
Speaker: central midfield that's going to work at winger and it's maybe not going to be perfect for every situation, but you can usually find a game state where he's going to be a good fit somewhere on the field. And that's, that's a super, I mean, if you're going to be a ah pro soccer player coming to the top level at his age, that's, that's the kind of skillset you want to have, i think.
Speaker: Yeah, no, I totally agree. and right now the Sounders are about to have some more time to give for those wing winger or wing back spots, because we just found out that today that Paul Rothrock is going to be out eight to 10 weeks with some sort of hamstring ligament injury.
Speaker: That is ah pretty brutal blow. ah By my count, the Sounders have that. He's the 12th different Sounder to miss at least a month of the season with injury this year, which is,
Speaker: crazy to think about how many Sounders have suffered like long-term, like I want to, I guess it's a long-term, but like lengthy injuries. They're not just out for a week or two. These are 12 players who have missed at least four consecutive games at some point this year. ah And you know, that's, you know, Pekovic was out for the whole year.
Speaker: La Vega effectively out for the whole year. ah And then you have Yamar has only played two games, still hasn't come back. You have Ferreira has missed a bunch of time. i mean, we can just, I don't want you to go down, do a whole rundown of this, but.
Speaker: it's It's a lot of injuries. And, you know, today when we talked to Brian Schmetzer, he's like kind of sarcastically said, you're not going to believe this.
Speaker: But ah Paul Rothrock is out eight to ten weeks, essentially, is it got a serious injury? And it's like, oh, my God. And, you know, he he's clearly very frustrated and he's not quite sure what to make of it. He you know, he's he's talking about like, i don't know, there's there's going be some short term.
Speaker: Issues that we, so solutions that we make, we're just going have to be more careful bringing players back than we have been. And yet, I don't know, it's it's kind of funny to hear him say that because just this week, you had Kalani Kosarienzi, who...
Speaker: ah who who he said was going to be out at least a week or two, didn't miss any time. But, you know, again, this is maybe this is a credit to his open mindedness. You know, he he he sprained his ankle, but he was able to ice it. He was able to get the swelling down. He was able to play on it.
Speaker: And Kalani seems fine, ah yeah supposedly. But then on the broadcast, They said Paul Rothrock was nursing some sort of injury before the game. We still have not gotten any clarification. We tried to get some clarification on that today.
Speaker: We didn't really get any. It's unclear if that was a, what was going on there, but either way i he's, he came out at halftime and turns out it was with a pretty serious injury.
Speaker: Sanders just can't catch a break. As far as injuries goes, it's on. I mean, I guess, I guess in some way, Jovalich was a break in that way. But it's it's just unbelievable how much... like I was joking today. I said, like ah it had on some level, it has to be... like Some element of this is bad luck.
Speaker: I really believe that if I was the trainer, and I have no idea what I'm doing, that like the injury situation, it's hard to be imagining it being much worse. ah It's like, yeah this is this is the kind of thing that you would expect when there's no fitness regimen.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, it's it's very concerning. And, you know, i i have historically been of the opinion that, and the and that the data backed me up, that people over-index on their own team's injuries and that the Sounders would frequently have bad luck of getting hit with a bunch of injuries to a specific position group or one or two key players at once or whatever. And that kind of gave this false perception that they were any worse off injury-wise than other teams. But this season has been has been something else. And and i think it's the the number of injuries for sure. I haven't looked at the data for this year. I cannot imagine that the Sounders are not
Speaker: an outlier this year in terms of time missed injuries. ah It's the re injuries are a huge thing. You know, we've had two key players who came back and very, very soon after go out again for another long-term injury.
Speaker: ah It's, it's the, it's the fact that it's a ton of muscle injuries, right? It's, it's not, and muscle injuries are obviously going to be overrepresented in soccer, but right it's just,
Speaker: last season, for example, right. Jordan Morris gets hurt with a freak shoulder injury. Pedro gets hurt with a freak knee injury. Yeah. Stuff you can't really do anything about. And I defended, you know, the training staff and said, look, these are both freak injuries and and they were, and I'm not saying that I, I think this is necessarily the the training staff's fault or that I have, you know, proof that it's the training staff's fault or it's training methods or anything.
Speaker: But I think all of these injuries, the re-injuries, coupled with the fact that the team just did not look as fit as the opposition for like the first three or four games coming out of the break, gives me some serious concerns about about what's what's happening with you know recovery and training plans and things like that. You've also heard some players you know recently, Obed, I think, um very recently said, yeah, you know, Atletico handles a lot of this stuff way differently than I'm used to. So that's been an adjustment. Right.
Speaker: Speaking of which, that was said on the on our podcast. So if you haven't listened, go back and find that episode. ah Cheap plug. Go ahead. don't huy Hey, somebody's got to do it.
Speaker: ah So, yeah, I mean, all of that stuff combined gives me some serious pause about whether or not things are going the way they need to be going, whether or not you know things are being handled correctly. I'm just some guy, right? I don't know anything about sports science. I don't know anything about rest and recovery.
Speaker: I don't know anything about workload management, any of that stuff. So I'm not saying i have the ideas of what's going wrong. If anything is going wrong, whatever it is, maybe it actually is the substation. I don't know.
Speaker: But I think that there has to be some kind of change, right? Whether it's the existing staff rethinking some of their methods, some of their approaches, whether it's new staff,
Speaker: I don't know what it is. Right. But i don't think that they can. i just don't see any way for the team to say we've just been unlucky and we're just going to keep doing everything that we've been doing because we have total faith that we're not to blame for any of this. I just don't understand how you could see it that way.
Speaker: Yeah, I, I, I, I can hear it in Brian's voice that he is really frustrated with the training staff. And it it is funny because it wasn't that long ago. Like we're talking a month or two ago where he was calling,
Speaker: ah he was saying they had the best fitness staff in the league and he's not saying that anymore, you know, like he, ah and I, I think there's some real tension and I think all these people are well in like doing their best.
Speaker: I think they are using data. I think they're using, ah you know, the best I trust that they are doing the things that they think they should be doing. And they are probably even more frustrated than I am.
Speaker: but something is wrong. Something is clearly wrong. and And I, I won't pretend to know what it is. I, I realized that all of this is inexact science, but you just can't have players getting hurt like this with this sort of frequency, this sort of severity and just like blow it off and say, well, that's, that's just the way it goes sometimes. Uh, and, and I think, you know, you and I have, are, we're going to keep coming back to this, but the, the way they came out of the,
Speaker: World Cup break is just hard to wrap my mind around. ah they They looked so bad against against ah the Timbers that it's it's it it feels like it's related. I don't know that it is, but it just it just feels a little too convenient and a little too narrative. like It's a too clean of a narrative.
Speaker: you know ah That something... they they They messed something up during that World Cup break. Maybe they gave them too much time off. Maybe they worked them too hard. I don't know exactly what they did. The other thing that's kind of funny is that we had almost no visibility into what the Sounders were doing during that six-week, seven-week break because...
Speaker: they They also weren't training. they you know They gave up their training facility essentially to ah Belgium, so they were not always training at the normal times. Their whole routine was thrown off.
Speaker: It wasn't like a preseason. It was something different. And and i have to imagine that that all contributed to this. I'm sure this is all going to be discussed at some point. It doesn't make it any better right now.
Speaker: ah But in in the near term, It will be interesting to see how the Sounders handle this because ah you know Jordan has started to look more comfortable on the right.
Speaker: i would imagine that one option would be to just bring in Danny Masofsky when Jovovich is out for the international break. And then what do you do on the left?
Speaker: ah i'm inclined I have to imagine that they're going to want to at least see what they have in Caden Clark at some point. yeah i'm I'm not convinced that Seba Gomez is the answer if you want to win games. I think Seba Gomez has a lot of promise, but I've said on the show before, I don't think he's quite ready to be a a contributor on a playoff team.
Speaker: And then the other option potentially is Paul Areola, who... is, you know, he's got his first goal. He has looked good in the two games that he's played, but he is very much coming back from injury himself.
Speaker: He has only played less than 20 minutes in that time. i don't know how long it's going to be until he's 90 minutes fit either. Yeah, I mean, they don't have a ton of good options right now. And it's it is not to not to come back to this again, but it it is evidence that they really, really should have found a way to get a winger in during that window because they needed one when they were fully healthy.
Speaker: and And now they are not fully healthy. And assuming that they could stay fully healthy was probably not a great assumption to be making at this point in time. So it's it's a big problem. No.
Speaker: you know I think another compelling reason to keep Hawkins at center back and and keep and move i Alex back to right back is that it allows you to play Kamani out wide if you if you need to. right I do like him out there. I mean i think he's a better fullback or wingback, but he's he's been pretty effective as a winger before, so that gives you another option there.
Speaker: um But yeah, i mean it's it's tough because like you said, like Jordan's long-term role on this team is most likely at right midfield. And it helps you alleviate that problem, but it does mean you have to play Danny Masovsky at starting forward again. And that was not working very well for most of the season. Maybe now that Jordan's back and he can get some service, you know, maybe, maybe that problem solves itself. I don't know, but so they're just, you know, one problem gets better and and another problem.
Speaker: potentially even more acute problem pops up. um I still think that the central midfield was a much bigger factor in in their overall, you know, lack of success and that they're going to be able to weather the storm a little bit better, especially because they are healthier at most other spots. But if there's one thing that keeps them from hitting that second gear and making a run towards, you know, maybe getting out of those play in spots, it's it's going to be that lack of bodies to play at length on the wing.
Speaker: Yeah. ah And I did hear from someone in the front office that they are having more discussions about potentially trying to sign a winger now that Rothrock is out than they were having before.
Speaker: But I don't know how serious they were. I don't know what the baseline is there. i don't think that they were too seriously like considering like I know that there is some idea of signing free agents, but one of the problems with signing free agents is that there's usually a reason that they are free.
Speaker: And that reason is often that they are seeking more money than ah the market thinks they're worth, or they are seeking a level of stability that, you know, like the idea that the centers could just sign someone on a six month contract.
Speaker: And then if they don't work out, they could just get rid of them. Not real likely. Like if any, if if these players have any sort of, ah Like if they have any any options, they probably aren't going to come back on a six-month lead. I mean, it's just like finding the right guy, I guess is what I'm saying, is is a lot harder said than done.
Speaker: And I don't think the Sounders just want to bring in some dude that – ah And by the way, my understanding is Ryan Kent is no longer available in case you're wondering, why not just bring back back Ryan Kent? I'm oh pretty sure he finally found a place. I've heard this. I don't want to give it too much away, but that's what I heard. Genuinely. I wasn't being sarcastic. Good for him. remember Yeah. yeah on spot But, um, I think we, I think that's about what we have on this week's news. Um,
Speaker: if you're If you're really interested in hearing me talk about the ah the story that I wrote in about the transfer window, i would suggest going and listening to ah Monday Soundcheck, which is a new live show that we're doing.
Speaker: It's on this podcast feed, so you just have to go listen to the previous podcast on this feed. There's also video on YouTube. We talk about that a bit more. I don't know. There's a whole lot more to say. I don't need to i don't think people would really want to hear me say twice.
Speaker: ah But ah the the big takeaway in case you don't want to waste your time or you're not interested in giving us more views and likes or whatever.
Speaker: ah is ah the big the big revelation is essentially that it it seems like the Sounders got their transfer budget pretty late in the process. I'm also told, this was not in the story, but I also am told that they were pretty laser focused on getting Jovalich.
Speaker: They really thought that was a possibility. But Kansas City didn't want to let him go until they had at least one of their two DPs lined up to sign. And that came pretty late in the window. So that kind of delayed things. But they got really focused on this is the guy that we want. And I can understand why.
Speaker: you know, Jovovich is a good signing. But I don't know that they really had. It's unclear that they had much of a budget to do anything outside of that until the losing streak got as bad as it was.
Speaker: Right. Yeah. I mean, that, that tracks, I think it's inexcusable. I think that. Fair enough. The team clearly needed, you know, more than one player. And, and I think that was true before the losing streak started.
Speaker: yeah, And yeah anybody who pays enough attention to things that I say knows who I think is probably primarily responsible for that not happening. But ah whoever it was, whatever it was, it's just a broken process, right? It's just that you just can't have a situation where you can't walk and chew gum, right? Where it's like, well, we want to sign this guy so we can't do anything else. We don't really have a contingency.
Speaker: um You know, all sorts of teams manage to sign more than one player and all sorts of teams yeah manage to they do sign players when their primary guy falls through. i mean, and that's been ah that's been a thing with the Sounders for a long time, right? Like they've passed up on pretty promising players to sign other guys and and they've been successful with it.
Speaker: But they've also had a lot of situations where it was like, oh, we just really wanted this guy and we couldn't get him and we didn't want to settle for a different... And it's just like, he just... you can be selective and you can not make panic signings, but you have to have contingencies in place. And and I just don't really feel like the sounders are great at that.
Speaker: I, I would totally agree with you on that one. Well, uh, all right, well, let's take a break. Uh, we're going to come back and we're going to give again, what I'm calling copium slop, and you can take that however you want. But if you want an injection of hope to, to believe that,
Speaker: good things are possible in the Sounders world. You're going to want to come back and listen to what we have for Cause we've cooked up a scenario that does not, I'll be honest. I don't think it's that crazy, but it's, it's one that could see the Sounders, not just make the playoffs, but actually be well positioned in the playoffs. ah So you're going to have to come back and listen to us talk about that later. And if you don't want that, don't listen. i don't want to hear about you complaining about, Oh, you guys are filling us with false hope.
Speaker: No, just turn off the show. You've got what you wanted. let Let the people enjoy their their hope, okay? ah Yeah. the All right, let's go. Let's get out of here. All right, we'll come back. We're going take a break.
Speaker: ah You're listening to Nos Audientes on the Sounder Heart Podcast Network.
Speaker: Hey, everyone. David Goss here from SoccerWise, and I am coming to you with our MLS Minute presented by Continental Tire. We are so excited to be working with some of the best local MLS coverage in the league as part of our new collective.
Speaker: So after you're done listening, hear about your team, come on over and listen to myself, Matt Doyle, and Tommy Scoops talk about the entire league. let's jump into the highlights of the weekend which was shaped by the massive one verse two matchup between nashville and miami nashville played outstanding but needed a 91st minute sam surge equalizer to rescue one point but it might have been enough from the weekend as vancouver shockingly fell at home to austin with superman christian ramirez scoring two goals on two shots in 85 minutes to steal the win so nashville has stretched their shield lead now to eight points with nine games to play And while the Caps have a game in hand, they also head to Montreal on Wednesday night for Canadian Championship semi-final.
Speaker: Speaking of semi-finals, it's a good week. We have U.S. Open Cup semi-finals on Wednesday night. And three of the four participants come in off victories. St. Louis had a 4-2 come from behind win over Minnesota to extend its unbeaten streak to 15 games tied for eighth longest in league history. Pafa Navarro has led them with four goals in his first two starts on his new team.
Speaker: His old club, the Rapids debuted their record signing in Morgan Whitaker off the bench in a 1-0 home win over Montreal. Paxton Aronson had the lone goal from the penalty spot.
Speaker: May have to do so once again as Colorado hosts St. Louis on Wednesday in that win and move on game. On the other side, Orlando are riding in on the back of Antoine Griezmann, who has scored in five straight games the latest.
Speaker: in their home win over TFC. So a stumbling Columbus will host Orlando in the other semifinal on Wednesday night. We will have our previews in our Monday episode and reactions on Thursday.
Speaker: We also expect to have a full breakdown of the fall USMNT roster at the end of this week as well. Some final highlights to leave you on SKC record signing Andre Luis scored his first goal with a go lasso in an upset win over LAFC.
Speaker: Kevin Denke scored a stoppage time equalizer at home in a 3-3 thriller with Charlotte and FC Dallas have moved level with Texas rivals Dynamo for second in the West.
Speaker: We'll have all your MLS, NWSL, and U.S. s national team coverage for you on SoccerWise channels all week. This MLS Minute is part of our SoccerWise media collective sponsored by Continental Tire, where we are proud to work with local soccer media partners across the country.
Speaker: Thank you for listening to the SoundRate Heart Podcast Network, which recently added Monday Soundcheck to our roster of shows. Soundcheck airs live on Mondays at 1 p.m. You can watch it on our YouTube channel or listen to it at your convenience, however you consume podcasts. It joins a roster that already includes Nos Adietes, which airs on Wednesdays and Fridays, and the Cooler Guild, who cover the Seattle rain. If you like what you hear, please consider becoming a member of SoundRate Heart.
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Speaker: So, uh, like I said in the previous segment, we are going to deliver up some, some hope here. Uh, I know there are people out there to just want to be able to,
Speaker: ah be allowed to wallow in shame and disgust. And this segment is not for you. I'm just going to be honest. If you, if you just want negativity, go listen to our previous show. we We dealt up a lot of it on that show.
Speaker: But today we we are here to give some ray of hope. And that comes from looking at the table and the standings, just simple stuff, nothing too crazy.
Speaker: But the Sounders have 12 games left. there are only two games out of a playoff spot. ah They are, they have played what they've played.
Speaker: one fewer game, no, two fewer games than san Diego, who's in ninth. They've played two fewer games than Portland, who is in eighth. They have played two fewer games than the Rapids, who are in seventh.
Speaker: They have played three fewer games than LAFC, who is in sixth. Now, some of the other teams, the Sounders have played fewer games than every team in the West. The only team that has even played, the only two teams that have only played 24,
Speaker: are Kansas City, who is currently in contention for one of the worst seasons in MLS history. And we also like who, who quietly have actually a worse record post world cup break than the sounders at three points sounders have four.
Speaker: And, ah so yeah, congratulations to RSL. They have taken the worst, uh, 10 game stretch crown from the sounders. That is a nice crown to, uh, hand off.
Speaker: So enjoy that, uh, real salt Lake. Uh, and look, it's man I guess what our point here is is it's kind of manageable. And give me the high-level vision, Aaron, of what you see as the sort of like best-case scenario, realistic, vaguely realistic best-case scenario.
Speaker: So the Sounders ah earlier in the season were playing for a pretty decent stretch of time at around a two-point-per-game pace. And playing at that pace the rest of the way would get them to 50 points.
Speaker: 50 points would most likely, I mean, barring something unforeseen would I think get them ah past the play in spots. um I think you'd have to go back pretty far to find a time that a team with 50 points finished. Yeah.
Speaker: lower than seventh. So if it's ever happened, so and and I don't think it's that like you said, I don't think it's that crazy, right? If you are considering the Sounders ceiling to be, you know, what we saw against the Galaxy or what they've done post World Cup break, obviously it's crazy.
Speaker: ah But I think there's a compelling case to be made that that they are a talented team that is underperformed for a variety of reasons that is starting to get healthy and is starting to kind of figure things out in the attack, whose defense has largely stayed pretty solid and who have some very favorable games coming up. So when you look at the games they have remaining, they've got Salt Lake at home. They've got Minnesota at home. They've got Kansas City at home, Montreal at home, Houston at home.
Speaker: LAFC at home. So Houston, a very good team. That's going to be a tough game to win at home. That's afc not, I mean, they're not that good. Um, like all of this is relative to the Sounders, right? Who suck, but I mean, right. Yeah. Like every team it's all relative. Like every team compared to the Sounders is, is actually doing, okay.
Speaker: But I think people will be maybe surprised to learn that LAFC has been, ah I think a term we used earlier in the show dog shit, uh, for a while now, um, they are over their last. Let's see.
Speaker: Uh, they have only won one game in their last nine. Right. Pretty bad. Pretty bad. Pretty bad. Pretty bad. And, and Houston, who has been a very good team currently second in the Western conference,
Speaker: has been yeah not terrible on the road, but they've lost six games on the road this year. So it's not like they are so good that you you couldn't see the Sounders winning those games.
Speaker: So if the Sounders win their remaining home games, and again, just a reminder, this is copium. This is high in the sky. right But I don't think anything we're saying is Like it wouldn't be super implausible. Right.
Speaker: Right. um They would have three, six, nine, 12, 15, 18 points. 18. Right. So that would that there would get them to 46 points.
Speaker: Right. I mean, right there, right there. They're probably at least into eighth is my guess. Yeah. like Maybe even seventh. More likely seventh, I think. Yeah. And then on the road, they've got Vancouver. all right. They're probably not getting anything out of that, but it's Cascadia. You never know.
Speaker: They have beaten the brakes off of Vancouver this season. ah It was a different different time, obviously, but you know it's it's not crazy. They've got San Diego on the road. San Diego, not a very good San Diego also not yeah not doing great.
Speaker: San Diego, currently on a three-game losing streak. They have lost four of their last six. Right. Lost five at home. you know not ah Not a great home team. Yeah. Uh, New England is always a tough trip. It's across the country and they are a pretty good team this year. You know, they're, they're in sort of that Houston zone of like, this is a team that is good. They're, they've got a chance to make a run in the playoffs.
Speaker: Uh, they're not the, in the, that elite tier, sort of the S tier of the league with Nashville, and Miami and Vancouver, but they're a team that you're probably not going to beat on the road or even get a point from although look the sounders have been pretty good at getting points from good teams over the years right so you you can never rule it out then they've got uh fc dallas on the road on the schedule still uh dallas has actually been playing secretly quite well they have but they haven't been that great at home five two and four at home so they they drop ah a decent amount of points at home they've been making a lot of hay on the road you
Speaker: interesting ah And I think that's the that's the rest of the schedule. Right. In Colorado away, Colorado, another team in that sort of. This Colorado game, it's kind of a six pointer, like it's not a classic six pointer, but like if they if they can even get a point here, it makes the math of the rest of this schedule look a lot better.
Speaker: Right. Like Colorado, if they win, if they were to actually beat Colorado at that point, they would be in position to jump Colorado by just winning their games in hand. They would like just by if they go, if they if they were to win all three of their home, their next three home games, which is going to be a challenge because they're going probably be missing some.
Speaker: ah some players due to it. All three of those games are played during an international window. Two of them were rescheduled. I'll just note they were not planning to play three games during that window, but they had to push one of them from champions league. And then the other one got moved because of the Seahawks game the other day.
Speaker: So blame the Seahawks for that. But either way, they have three home games that are all being played. during the international window. Look, I realized we've sort of been burned by calling some games must wins because we called, I think the Red Bulls game, a must win. I think we called the galaxy game must win, but I really think they need nine points from these next four games to feel like right this season is, is salvageable.
Speaker: That doesn't mean that they can't make the playoffs still ah probably, but like, they got to get some points. They got to collect some points during this stretch of games. I think the stakes of the must win change too, right? Like the New York game was, this is a must win game. If you have any hope of making a run at like a home playoff game or home, the right probably get a home playoff game. Yeah. Galaxy one was a, okay, this is probably a must win. If you've got any hope of,
Speaker: getting into a situation where if you get through the first round, you might have a chance at a home playoff game, maybe. And now we're into the, this game is a must win. if you want to get out of the play in rounds.
Speaker: And, and I think that every time you go down a notch, it's like, all right, well that makes the overall season a little, you know, a little less of ah of a success, right? um And again, they could go, they could win the rest of their, their games this season. And that would put them on what that would put them on. 61 points, I think.
Speaker: No. Yeah. 61. If they won the rest of their games this season. Okay. Let's not get crazy. But even, but at the point I'm making is that even then they could, they win 11 in a row. They, they end up on 61 points.
Speaker: Like, yeah, I think that you have to say, okay, well, the season overall was a success, but we can't end up in that situation again. Like think about how good things ah could have been if half the team didn't die midway through the year. Right. Right. um So yeah. And, and just for a point of comparison. So I don't think it's crazy to see a situation where the Sounders end up with 18 points from their last 11. Yeah.
Speaker: I think it's 11 or the last 12, they have 12 games left. Are you saying they have 11 games left? They've got, they've played 23.
Speaker: Oh, you're right. Yeah, no, you're right. You're right. They've played 23. You're totally right. Sorry. So if they if they end up with, ah you know, 18 points from the last 11, that puts them on 46 points. That's a bad season by Sounders standards, but it gets you into the playoffs, most likely out of the play-in game.
Speaker: Yeah. And, you know, that's that's at least you're salvaging some self-respect, maybe, at the end of the day. I think it's if they went on a crazy run and ended up with 20 points from the last, you know, uh, from the last 11 games that puts them on 48, that's still kind of in that same situation, but you're probably looking more at like the, the six or the five or six seed in that, in that case.
Speaker: Uh, and then, you know, if they go on a run and and get 22 and ended up with 50 points, uh, you know, maybe, maybe they'll actually get out of the, out of the first round and maybe they'll have a knockout game. And, you know, from there, who knows? And do I expect any of this to happen? Not really. I think they'll probably get something like 14 points from their last 11 and hopefully get through that wild card round. Yeah. Sneak in and get through the wild card round.
Speaker: But, you know, for a point of comparison, their last 11 games in 2016, they got 21 points.
Speaker: So and that was one hell of a run, right? But the run started earlier. They had already kind of turned things around and started playing well. Right. By the point they got to those 11 that run of that last 11 games. They have had many, many runs over the years of, you know, 22 points from 11 games. So.
Speaker: If you're looking for hope, I think it's there. and You know, they have to keep building on what they did against the Galaxy for sure. They have to keep building on what they did against the fire for sure.
Speaker: But I think they can do that. You know, i think I'm an eternal optimist with this team and it it keeps biting me in the ass this year. But. You know, I'm going to watch every game. i might as well.
Speaker: Yeah. Find a path to the season, not being a total waste, you know, and that's, that's what I'm looking to do at this point. Right. I've invested so much time in this team, this season, so much energy, money, all of it.
Speaker: And I want it to feel like it was worth it as much as I yeah possibly can. Right. So, you know, if they can go on a run, if they can bring some, some joy to the onset of the long dark and the, and the winter months, uh, I'll, I'll take that.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah, I will too. You know, it's, it's, it's, it's funny because i I do hope that regardless of how this season ends, that there's some serious,
Speaker: ah consideration given to the way that the sounders are operating right now i don't think that they are operating in the most sustainable way i think that there is this weird i don't know it's there's this weird sense right now that i'm getting that there is that it's like everything's going to be all right because we're the sounders as if that is a ah you know like that's that means something, you know, like it only means something. The the Sounders are the Sounders because of being done a lot of good things. Well, you know, you can't just be like, well, there's a ah Sounders crest on our shirt. And so that means we're going to be good. Like that's not how it works. And I sometimes feel like there's like this magical thinking going on inside long acres, some parts of long acres, ah not all parts, I should say.
Speaker: And I just hope that this has been wake up call that, that, it's only as good as we keep it. You know, we, we have to keep striving for excellence or it's very easy to become mediocre or worse. I mean, like this, this post world cup break has been worse than mediocre. Like it's, it would be a, it's a, it's, it's a, we're deluding ourselves. If we think that, that this is mediocre, this is not mediocrity. This is, this is bad.
Speaker: And we, and we need to call it that. But um there is hope. There is reason to think that the Sounders can turn it around. And I think we've outlined how that might look.
Speaker: Hopefully that that some of that can come to fruition because that would make the season a lot more fun. Hopefully it starts on Saturday against the Rapids, a team that they have historically done very well against.
Speaker: Not always in Colorado, but they've done in general quite well against the Rapids. Beat them earlier this year, 2-0, that people can remember back that far. But, ah all right, well, let's get out of here, Aaron. it's been It's been fun, as always. Give another plug to the new live show that we're doing on the the podcast network. It's called Monday Soundcheck. Adam Race and Nico Moreno. am producing that show. I'm not on camera for that show. So, yeah.
Speaker: That's probably good for everyone involved. But ah hopefully you had a chance to check that out. ah Of course, we're we're still kind of coming up with ways to use our studio. We have some ideas that are going be coming up and hopefully you'll you'll learn about those.
Speaker: But let's get out of here. i am Jeremiah Shantan signing off for i should say thank you. I always forget this part. Thank you to our sponsor, Full Pool Wines, who has been here through thick and thin and are a huge part of what we're doing and have been doing.
Speaker: ah Go check them out at fullpoolwines.com. But anyway, let's get out of here. I'm Jeremiah Shan, signing off for Aaron and Lick It. This is No Sadietes, part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. And remember, you'll never get alone.
Speaker: Let's go at Sounders.
