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What We Learned This Week: Spain vacation is over and it’s time to catch up
451 Plays16 days ago
Niko joins Jeremiah to effectively catch up on everything since his return from his adventure in Europe and also take a moment to congratulate the Seahawks on their Super Bowl victory. They break down the preseason games against Hammarby and Metalist 1925 and dig in a bit into what could be a growing center back injury crisis. The biggest news they cover is the last-minute Obed Vargas transfer to European powerhouse Atletico Madrid and the rejected bid for Georgi Minoungou by Hammarby.
Follow Niko Moreno on BlueSky and YouTube.
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Transcript
Seattle Sounders' MLS Cup Victory
00:00:01
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.
00:00:11
Speaker
Come on. Hey, O'Shaan. Let's go. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winners. Here comes Ruiz Diaz through the middle to crown it for Seattle.
00:00:25
Speaker
The Sounders rule the region.
00:00:58
Speaker
what was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't? Ever since I wrote a commentary that we didn't take the outcome seriously.
Sponsorship by Full Pull Wines
00:01:18
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.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
00:01:41
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adientes on the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. I am Jeremiah Oshian, back from Spain, and I am joined by Nico Moreno, who is just back on the on the beat.
00:01:55
Speaker
Nico, how are you doing? Hey, what's going on, Jeremiah over here? Just ah feeling pretty good. You know, we had a a nice little Super Bowl. The Seahawks are champs for the second time in their history. Congratulations to all of the Seahawks fans that listen to the show, as well as ah the Seahawks themselves, of course. A big win for the team. So, yeah, man, it's ah it's a good morning here in at PNW.
00:02:20
Speaker
Yeah, you know, I am, as people probably know, i am a transplant into Seattle.
Seattle Seahawks' Second Championship Reflections
00:02:27
Speaker
I am not naturally a Seahawks fan. i am I am, I have to admit, a 49ers fan. But i I do find myself rooting for the Seahawks, even as soon as they beat the 49ers. I was like, all right, let's got to go ahead and win this thing. And I will note that the Seahawks have won both of those titles since I moved to Seattle. So I am taking some credit for that.
00:02:46
Speaker
ah But it was ah it was a fun game. i enjoyed watching it The fourth quarter was especially exciting from my totally selfish reasons. I did play some action on this game and i came so close, so close. If that touchdown at the end had not been called back, I would have been very, very happy, but,
00:03:07
Speaker
whatever. We don't need to, no one wants to hear about betting on non sounders things, especially on this show. ah i think talking about your betting and your fantasy sports are probably like the two least interesting things you can talk about, but.
00:03:22
Speaker
yeah It depends on the podcast. You know, there's there's there is room for everything in the waves. You know, and I've seen some people that are very interested in in the matter. But ah yeah, ah for the purposes of this show and what we know for audience, probably not a popular
Jeremiah's Spanish Adventure
00:03:38
Speaker
subject. But hey, you know, I had some action on that, too. You know, I'm not afraid to go ahead and tell people that I like to, you know, do the juice boxes when it comes to that sort of situation. But it's fun. And now you're back.
00:03:52
Speaker
ah Jeremiah from Spain. The team is back from Spain. So yeah, lots to talk about from, of course, your trip. I'm excited to hear the yeah outs and outs. And then of course, what we got cooking here for the the upcoming week.
00:04:06
Speaker
Yeah. So, well, first of all, I'll give you a quick rundown of my trip. I will say that I was able to attend those two games that they played on the last day that they, the last full day they spent in Europe.
00:04:19
Speaker
And so we'll talk, we'll definitely, we're going talk a little bit about those games, but personally, the way the trip went for me on Monday afternoon at two 30, uh, I went with a neighbor of mine. We got on a plane, we flew through Iceland to London.
00:04:34
Speaker
And then from London, we flew to Malaga. And then from Malaga, we took a bus. That first day of travel was almost 24 hours of travel. to get from Seattle to Malaga, like in terms of when we left our house to when we got to the Airbnb that we were staying at in Marbella. And waiting for us was Noah Reif, of course, of Lobbing Scorchers fame. He was there with us during the the trip. We were able to do a bunch of interviews. We have an interview with ah Brian Schmetzer that will be coming out and will that was also...
00:05:08
Speaker
excerpted for the issue of four magazine. that's the center heart magazine. That's going to coming out very soon. We also put the finally final touches on that while i was in Spain. And then we interviewed Paul Rothrock. That is an interview that I think people are really going to love. We got to know Paul, the person a lot more. We talk a lot about his engagement, about his fiance, sort of about his whole outlook on things. I learned a lot about Paul, that I'd never heard before. You know, like one little note. He is like, i don't know if if you know this term, but he is an urbanist. He is someone who has like real thoughts on where light rail should be going. He he name checks the Olmstead parks in Seattle.
00:05:49
Speaker
ah These are the original parks that ah the Olmstead brothers designed in Seattle. So these are like, he he has thoughts on on the way that the the waterfront was constructed. He is an interesting guy. He's a... So we get into a lot of that.
00:06:03
Speaker
And then we also interviewed Alex and Christian rolled on. I did sort of try to get them to relive the, the arm wrestling match they had at yacht con back in like 2019. They understandably declined to do that, but they did talk about it and they kind of smack talked to each other. So that was, you know I think it was ah it was a fun interview, but those three interviews by themselves kind of made the worth it because these are not that's not the kind of access that we are oftentimes able to get. So that was pretty cool. But then maybe the highlight of the trip, or at least of the the Spanish part of the trip, was getting to watch the Sounders play those two games.
00:06:42
Speaker
there was at one The day before, it actually looked like they might be canceled because the Marbella football center was getting so much rain that they didn't want people out on the pitch. They had actually canceled all the games on Wednesday. And so the Sounders were freaking out. They're looking for alternate venues and they were struggling to find alternate venues. So they were very relieved to actually get to play both of those games.
00:07:05
Speaker
And then, so they, they played both games. The weather was not nearly as bad as it was on Wednesday. It was not great. We'll, we'll talk about that. And then, ah and then we w we left on Friday to go, we went back to London.
00:07:20
Speaker
we went to the Charlton athletic, uh, Queens park Rangers match. That was the first time I've ever seen a professional match in Europe. So that was the, that Charlton athletic plays at a venue called the Valley. And it is this awesome stadium that is just smacked right in the middle of a, uh, a North London or i think it's North London, uh, neighborhood. There is like literally houses across the street from the venue. Like people,
00:07:50
Speaker
There's no, there's no parking. There is no, there's like the grounds are, it's the neighborhood walk, like as much as, you know, we can talk about, you know, Providence park maybe is the closest thing. yeah it is not even, it's not even close. It is so much more like just in the neighborhood that it's, it's almost, it's hard to like really articulate without being there, but that was more like Wrigley field.
00:08:13
Speaker
Yeah, maybe more like Wrigley Field. Exactly. Like, it's just like you don't see this kind of thing in the United States. So that was a really cool experience. I will say that I came away not super impressed with the quality of soccer that's getting played in the championship. I realized that these are sort of mid to lower table teams in the championship. So maybe not the best examples. But this idea that like I honestly say I say this with total confidence.
00:08:36
Speaker
straight face. I think every starter on the Sounders would have been a starter for either one of those teams that I
Sounders' Potential Lineup Discussion
00:08:43
Speaker
watched. And i don't know that there was, there was maybe one guy in the, on the two teams who I thought would potentially be a starter for the Sounders.
00:08:52
Speaker
I didn't, I was not super impressed with the quality of play at certainly at the, at that level of the championship. I don't, I understand that the top, you know, five to 10 teams in the championship are probably better than anyone else in MLS, but there's a big drop off.
00:09:06
Speaker
Once you get outside of that top group. And that was definitely on display in this game. ah But yeah, then we we flew back on Saturday, went back through Reykjavik from London.
00:09:18
Speaker
And I was back in at my house by by six o'clock on Saturday afternoon. So I left Monday afternoon. I was back home on Saturday. It was, as they say, an absolute whirlwind of a trip.
00:09:32
Speaker
But it was a cool one, man. The experience is what counts. Maybe not exactly what you wanted, but ah I thought you guys got some really good stuff, man. I mean, any roll-down and roll-down interviews does for me right there. that that That pays the bills. ah you know And having to sit down with with Brian Douth, that'd be cool. you know i i don't know it would Yeah. I don't know if it would be that enjoyable of you know if I was there, but hey, you know what? It's still it' still part of the trip. So I'm glad that you went. You got to see things a little bit closer. I'm curious how our notes will compare to both of those games. um But yeah, man, ah more power to you. Before we get on soccer stuff, food-wise, good, bad, medium? Oh, yeah.
00:10:12
Speaker
Um, so, all right. So I don't, i don't know if this is a hot take or not, but, uh, the food was not a highlight. I'll just say but and it was, it wasn't bad, but ah my, my thing is I've, written I've been to Spain a few times. i haven't been there for 25 years before this, but I've been to Spain. I've spent a fair amount of time in Spain and I've never, especially unless you're shopping, unless you're like going to like really fancy restaurants, the quality of food in Spain, I find a little bit lacking. ah we ended up eating mostly at like kebab places or Donner donor, uh, type of places, Middle Eastern, ah you know, fast food type things. And that the food was fine. It was not anything spectacular, but it was totally fine. we, we went, we did go to tapas place. I was severely underwhelmed, at the tapas, uh, In England, we really only ate at the airport. So I can't, I don't want to say too much about that. I did make a mistake in England.
00:11:14
Speaker
We were at this place that was like supposedly specializing in smoked meats. And i was like, okay, do they specialize in smoked meats. I kind of want to see what this, i my curiosity got the best me. I ordered a ah pulled pork taco.
00:11:28
Speaker
And it was not awful, but it was definitely not what I should have. Like, I definitely should not have ordered that. I should have just ordered like the full English breakfast and just sort of embraced the Englishness of it on this the way home. I just got fish and chips and those were totally fine. But I think my attitude, especially traveling in a lot of Europe is don't overthink it. Just get the simple thing. You don't need to get, you don't need to like get the, you you just like know know what you like, you know? and um,
00:11:58
Speaker
I will say that we, we went to the supermarket in Spain and we bought some beer and wine. And I was reminded of how much cheaper beer and wine is in, in Spain, especially it was, i mean, it's crazy. It's like buying, it's like the same cost. It's been sometimes cheaper than buying like soda.
00:12:15
Speaker
it was And it was pretty good, ah but like a dollar 50 for a bottle of beer type thing. And it was It was good, and I certainly had no complaints as far as that goes.
00:12:26
Speaker
But i had a I had a great time. It was it was good. i But like I said, unless you're shopping, unless you're like going to really nice restaurants in Spain, i find the the quality of food to be...
00:12:39
Speaker
a little underwhelming. Marbella was beautiful. They have this old, yeah they have like a, they, what they call old town. And it's like, you know, it's like a, it's, it's like the remnants of the original, I guess, i don't know if originals is probably, but it's like from the 14 or fifteen hundreds there's like a church inside of a, of an old mosque.
00:12:57
Speaker
that, you know, it's like these gorgeous structures and it's a beautiful place. We were staying at an Airbnb that was just literally a block away from the beach. Unfortunately, it was raining the whole time. So we didn't really get to enjoy the beach, but it was cool to be so close to the beach. And they have these like boardwalks that go for miles and miles that you can like my, ah the guy that,
00:13:16
Speaker
my neighbor who went with us, he, he went for a morning run on Saturday, I guess. And he just, he just said these boardwalk stretch forever, ah which is, you know it's, it's a beautiful place, absolutely beautiful place. And if the Sounders do this again next year, ah there's a possibility there may be an organized group that goes out there and watches that. So is that something to stay tuned for?
00:13:40
Speaker
Love that. Love that. That's exciting. Yeah. ah So, all right, well, let's get into this. There were two games. The Sounders won the first one over Swedish side, Hammerby three to one.
00:13:52
Speaker
They got two goals from Osas de Rosario, another goal from Jesus Ferreira. I thought in that one, the Sounders were the better team. And I thought Hammerby was actually a pretty good test. They were pressing hard. They were an aggressive team. And the Sounders, I think ultimately were just the more skilled team. And I thought that the reason I liked test was,
00:14:12
Speaker
these are teams that are in the same part of their season. Hammer B is about the same distance away from starting their season as the Sounders are from starting theirs. They have been out of, out of season. They like and MLS. They, they play a ah schedule that's very similar to MLS in terms of the calendar. They, they don't do the thing that crosses over.
00:14:30
Speaker
So I, I thought, That was a good game. I thought it was a good test. It was very wet and rainy for that game. So I wouldn't say it was a perfect test, but it was, it was
Player Performances: De Rosario & Ferreira
00:14:40
Speaker
pretty good.
00:14:40
Speaker
i was really impressed by Osaza De Rosario. I thought he was easily the standout player in the game and not just because of the two goals. I mean, the first goal he had was really well taken. The second goal was a bit more opportunistic. He made a good run, knew who put in a good cross, good finish, but it was the other stuff that he was doing. He, I thought he was really good in holdup play.
00:15:00
Speaker
He was going, he was playing a very physical center back. He held his own in that battle against the center back. It's a guy, ah Victor Johnson, I think his name is. he used to play for actually Minnesota United had this big hulking Swedish guy, but I thought he stood up really well there. And then he had a couple other decent looks on goal.
00:15:19
Speaker
I really liked Osaze. ah According to Brian, he was starting because Danny Misofsky was feeling a little bit of a back pain. He only played 30 minutes or he only played the first half of the second game.
00:15:33
Speaker
And so I can see why maybe they were just trying to go easy on him. But Osase, I think, is is making it so we can't assume who the backup striker is or even who might be the the starting striker. Because in this game, we saw Jordan Morris out on the left. He looks reasonably comfortable out there. I i don't know if that's really where I want to see him, but it it looks like something the Sounders are at least exploring.
00:15:59
Speaker
I would agree. I think that Osase was the standout player ah because of all of the things you mentioned. I think that physically he just looked so dominant and almost intimidating. I mean, that first goal is all about just being stronger and faster than a defender. I mean, he catches that pass from Alex about yeah halfway, like half field. And then he just bodies the the defender. He pushes through. he has the...
00:16:29
Speaker
awareness to angle his body right into the goal. And then he puts it away with great composure. So to me, and both you and I have been saying this from the very beginning, as much as Danny Wasofsky had a phenomenal season,
00:16:44
Speaker
Osase just looks like the more complete forward, more complete striker. And all of those tools in his bag, you don't necessarily see from Danny. ah So no disrespect to Danny in that sense, because he has ah very specific traits of the profile of striker that he is. And that's important for the club. But if I had to to just pick one to be your starter, which we can talk about that later on, I think that there's going to be a lot of rotation, a lot of different formations and looks that Brian can can play with this season.
00:17:20
Speaker
I do think that Osase this 4-2-3-1 with Jordan Morris playing at that wing, the left wing. And as both you and no but you and I know, Jeremiah, a lot of times when we talk to Freddie or Brian about formations. They don't really talk so much about the formation because they know that in concepts, when they build out, when they're in possession, a lot of times Jordan Morris is going to tuck inside and he's going to, you know, at times be another second forward right next to Osase or whoever that nine is. So there's going to be a lot of
00:17:54
Speaker
dynamic play in that final third. So I was just excited to see a guy like Osase have this sort of a game because we knew that he was having a big preseason and that confidence and that consistency, if that is a momentum that he can carry into the first game of the season, that that's a good thing for Seattle. ah I would say that another player that I found,
00:18:19
Speaker
to be very good and a big part of this, not not the win necessarily, because I'm not so focused on the win, but more of the the good moments, the good play, the good offensive moments is what in Spanish we call more of like the the systematic play, right? what What you want to do with the ball. Yeah.
00:18:39
Speaker
Jesus Ferreira, I thought was very good. i thought that he was so sharp on the ball. I thought that, you know, he's he's gotten a couple of goals, including a goal in this in this game.
00:18:50
Speaker
Three goal. He actually had three goals because he had two. You almost put an asterisk next to one of them because it was. Yes. Kind of a cheap goal, but he does have three goals. yeah Yeah. A free kick that caught everyone off guard, but yeah.
00:19:01
Speaker
Yeah, so but but I just, I love his pace. I love the the the pressure. I love um his link up play. So essential for what the Sounders try to do. He rarely does a bad pass and that really helps on transition moments when a guy knows where he needs to pull. He's never going to turn into pressure. He knows where the open space is going to be. So beyond that, I would say that he was also one of the guys that was Chirping at the ref and making sure that he was being very vocal and being this leader and pushing guys out and saying, go here, go there.
00:19:33
Speaker
I've been looking for a leader. And hey, Susan, this one was someone that was on the ball. if If there was a set piece, he was on the ball, making sure that it wasn't going to be a quick restart for the other team. So those little savvy moments, those little things I found very interesting in this game.
00:19:48
Speaker
Yeah, I would totally agree. It was, i thought Ferreira, I really liked him. Obviously there was the goal, but like you said, he was just, i think he's, he comes into this preseason looking a lot more confident. Like he had a good preseason last year.
00:20:04
Speaker
ah he actually scored a bunch of goals, but there was, he he also just felt like he was trying to find his place in the team. This year, he looks like he knows what his role is. He looks very confident.
00:20:15
Speaker
I don't know. i currently have a list of nine guys who I think are virtually guaranteed to be starters. He is not currently one of those nine, but I think he is probably nine. He's like the nine and a half. I am pretty sure he's going to be starting. I'm just not ready to put it in ink yet.
00:20:34
Speaker
But I like him a lot. I think there's a good chance that he's going to be starting. i will not, I would say there's at least a 70, I'm going to say 75% chance that he's starting in the first group, which I really like.
00:20:47
Speaker
I think he is poised for a big season. Sounders could use that. You know, I think he he brings a lot to the field. right The other guy that stood out for me in that game was Hassani Dotson. think he just looked like someone who was ready to mix it up.
00:21:03
Speaker
He wants, he sort of wants that smoke. You know, he's the guy who is ready for a physical battle, even though he's not really the six, he is a little bit more of an eight, but he he has the mental or the physical toughness to, I think, make Christian's job a little bit easier.
00:21:24
Speaker
Yeah, i he wasn't a standout right off the bat for me in the first look of the game. um i Maybe I was focused on other players. I thought that I wanted to see more out of him. i went back, re-watched the game, and I do think that he was in the right spaces. I think that...
00:21:41
Speaker
The relationship and the understanding of where him and Christian need to be. It's a work in progress, which is completely understandable, but I would agree with what you said.
00:21:52
Speaker
The physicality, the ability to close down space, um, The overall effort, I think he does a lot of simple things on the ball, which is is good sometimes. is He doesn't do too much with the ball. He wants to get it going pretty quickly. And and that that works for what the team wants to do. So, yeah, I think that he was a player that I would say had a had a strong game.
00:22:15
Speaker
i would maybe like to highlight... knew who a little more. thought he had a really good game on both sides of the ball, both defensively and offensively. I just thought that his decision-making was good. He was um patient on the ball, which I know that that's something that he's been working on, the team's been working on with him. The ball that he puts through for that Osasio goal was was excellent. I also, you need to credit Jordan Morris pushing into in a space space to just pull that defender and create that easy,
00:22:51
Speaker
kind of easy, right? ah A finish for Osasian. I mean, easy just because he he had all the space in the world. You got to put it away and that doesn yeah that's not as easy as it sounds. But I just thought that Nuhu had a really good game.
00:23:02
Speaker
You know, it's funny on the first watch or live, I thought it looked like knew who missed Jordan on that cross in hindsight. I think he knew exactly where, where he was going with it. But originally I thought it was, you know, to me, looked like Morris was making the, the more, I didn't see, i i admittedly did not see Osadze coming from the back post, but I thought that was a run that was intended or ball that was intended for Jordan. He just overcooked it. but Jordan also got a couple other good looks. he He wasn't able to make the finishes, but he was getting himself into good areas. Just a reminder that he is someone who is going to, even if he's coming off the wing, he's going to still get in behind. And there's a lot to, you know, I, I like Jordan on the wing. I don't know if I'm convinced that's where I want to see him from start right now, but I'm not going to be mad if he is,
00:23:53
Speaker
ah what I don't know. How are you feeling? Who do you want? Like, if you have to choose right now, who's you who's starting up top for you? oh um That's difficult ah because one of the things that I do like about Brian is that Brian Smetzer is that he allows the players to earn their spots. So with how good Osase has been, I'd have a really hard time just giving Jordan Morris the that ninth position right off the bat. Yeah. um I kind of like...
00:24:31
Speaker
Jordan Morris on the wing with this system and the way that this is kind of set up and the the overloads that it that at times you might be able to create by pushing Nuhu or, you know, another left back, you know, whether it's Areola or whoever um coming in on that side. Now we could talk about the 4-2-3-1 and the difference of there and here and there, but with with the 4-2-3-1 specifically, I think that Jordan can do The defensive load, I think that he can stretch out ah defenses still. I know that a lot of people question his speed and his acceleration and his endurance, but I thought that in this game particularly, he did that very well. And he has the ability to become a guy that's going to close that that that far post on an opposite cross. He's going to be a guy that could... ah
00:25:27
Speaker
cut inside and and strike the ball and put that in the back of the net. So um he's been so good at that inverted winger position in the past where he worked on that left foot so good, so many, so so much to get it into having good services in, but that he also has that right foot to be able to put the ball away. So I don't hate it. So so as of right now, I kind of like the setup that I saw with this starting lineup. Okay.
00:25:53
Speaker
Yeah, I think for me, there are basically nine players who are locked in and we may as well get into this now. we'll we'll And by the way, we will get to the second game. It's just that the second game was very much a second choice group.
00:26:08
Speaker
And I'm also hesitant to take too much away from it, but I promise we're going to get back to it. But this feels like a good transition to talk about who I still sort of in my mind are the nine starters. ah Andrew Thomas looks like he is the starting goalkeeper right now, even if Stefan Fry had not had to go home to deal with the unfortunate passing of his mother.
00:26:28
Speaker
ah That which is obviously very sad. It looked like this is Andrew Thomas's job to lose even before that. And then knew who looks like he is pretty much locked up the left back or left center back role.
00:26:40
Speaker
Jackson Reagan, obviously, Yamar, which, by the way, Yamar came off early, came off at halftime, I believe, of that first game. It didn't look like he came out at the end. It was like the 80th minute for Peter Kingston. Yes, I was concerned too, because I kept hearing on the broadcast, Brian in Spanish, which was great. Like, are you okay? Estas bien? Estas bien? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then he comes off.
00:27:05
Speaker
ah But he, but you, it sounds like he's okay.
00:27:10
Speaker
But yeah, no, ah you were obviously going off of your ninth player. So continue. my but yeah, yeah, yeah. So, Yemar and then Alex Roldan, obviously, is going to be starter. Christian Roldan. Hassani Dotson, to me, looks like he is locked in the starter for now. You know, that doesn't mean that it's forever. But I think I would be shocked if Hassani Dotson is not the starter next to Christian Roldan, at least for the early part of the season. And then you've got Albert Rusnak. He's definitely going to be starting.
00:27:41
Speaker
And then Jordan Morris is the other starter. And I think that's, that's nine. And then, so that to me leaves the question marks, which is Paul Rothrock, I think has a chance to be a starter.
00:27:53
Speaker
I think Jesus Ferreira is, like I said, not quite guaranteed to be a starter, but very close to guaranteed to being a starter. And then the other the other kind of iffy position is at the number nine, where if it's not Jordan, then it would be Danny or...
00:28:13
Speaker
or D row, but Jordan's going to be starting. I think it's just a matter of whether or not he's at the nine and then sort of like the trickle down of how that impacts things. But if I had to guess, I think it's probably, Hey, Sue's they're going to be back in a four, two, three, one with Hey, Sue's on the right. And one of D row or Danny Masofsky as the number nine, starting with probably Jordan Morris coming off the wing.
00:28:36
Speaker
But like I said, that's not, that's my guess right now. How does that line up with what you, see how you see things? Yeah. I would unfortunately agree that that's maybe what the outlook is right now. i yeah i ah so I'm not so much going with my preference. I'm saying that's what it looks like to me. Yeah, I would agree. I would agree. And it's unfortunate because I feel like it'd be a disservice to not have Ferreira in.
00:28:59
Speaker
i think that the team benefits of the dual camp situations of the pocket situation. uh, winger, uh, I think that they benefit of having a guy that is so crisp on the ball. So sharp on, on link up the way that Jesus is and a guy that can definitely get on a, on a hot streak and that can, you know, he he looks really good right now, putting the ball away. So to me, his skillset is vital to a good offense. He was vital to the offense last season. So, uh,
00:29:30
Speaker
I think there's 10 starters, in my opinion. I think that the real question is, it comes to DeRoz, and is that nine, is it going to be Jordan up top with maybe Paul on the left, or Jordan up top and eventually Pedro on the left, or is it going to be DeRozario up top with Jordan Morris on the wing? So ah to me, right now, off of healthy players, I think there's 10 starters starters in Sharpie for me.
Team Dynamics and Season Strategy
00:30:01
Speaker
um I don't know if b Brian sees it the same way, but that's the way I see it. I think that the real question mark is, and maybe it's just a fluid situation of you assess it depending on the rival ah and what you want out of that nine and what you want out of your winger.
00:30:18
Speaker
And ah then you could kind of play around with that. And it's something that in a certain sense, worked last season where, you know, there was a lot of movement there. So we'll see. But I think that there's 10 starters. And i think he just for a needs to be, in my opinion, needs to be a starter.
00:30:35
Speaker
Yeah, I really would like, I think Jesus Ferreira deserves to be a starter. I think everything that he has done suggests that he he should be a starter.
00:30:47
Speaker
I just am not, like I said, I'm just not 100%
00:30:51
Speaker
convinced that Brian is a hundred percent convinced, but it's like, if it's not a hundred percent, it's pretty close, very close. I think, um,
00:31:03
Speaker
I really, i think he's done everything the Sounders could have possibly asked for him at this point. ah And i I really like, i really like him. So that really leaves ultimately just one spot that we think is truly open for grabs. And that is Paul Rothrock, either starting as a yeah, as a left winger or and Jordan Morris up top or Jordan Morris as a left winger and D-Rowe or Danny Masofsky up top
00:31:34
Speaker
I, you know, I, which I think could go either way. I think that the Sounders have some good options there and I think they still have some good depth. um The depth did not necessarily show itself to be great in that second game. They of course lost three to zero to medalist 1925. I do think there are some ah caveats to that that are are important to know. One of them is medalist is in mid season form. They are on a winter break.
00:31:59
Speaker
They are getting ready to go back into their season. So it's not really an apples to apple comparison. They've played 16, 17 games already this year. So it's ah it's a little different for them.
00:32:10
Speaker
i don't think this was necessarily their starters, but it was some of you know it was it was a decent group of players for them. The other thing that I would add is, The conditions were horrible.
00:32:22
Speaker
I don't know how much of that came off on the broadcast, but I can tell you as an example, the the we were standing over by the corner flag. We had to put the corner flag back in the ground a dozen times. It was so windy that the corner flag could not stay in the ground. It was really, really not pleasant weather.
00:32:44
Speaker
soccer playing weather. And the the field was pretty wet as well. It wasn't raining, but it was pretty wet. And I just think like it threw the whole game off. The only real takeaway I had from that game was it was great to see Paul Areola get back on the field. He played 30 minutes in that game. He really should have had an assist. He set Paul Rothrock up for a finish right in front of goal that got saved.
00:33:08
Speaker
And the centers had a couple other decent looks. The game, frankly, probably could have been three, three, but it was, you know, I don't know that there was a lot to take away from that game.
00:33:22
Speaker
My biggest takeaway is not a good one, Jeremiah. And I don't know if you're going to agree with it because it's specifically to one player. ah First of all, i'm I'm with you, right? I do think that it's difficult to really look at an overall performance with not just the weather, but a team that hasn't played together, a team that is going to...
00:33:49
Speaker
There with the one and only objective for you to observe players, observe specific players, right? This first team has played together, this continuity, there is an understanding of each other. This second group just didn't have that to their advantage.
00:34:04
Speaker
And it was clear. It was clear off the bat. mean, you know... Max Anker looks very green, right? You know, yeah he's brand new with the team. that The back line was not just young, but you had Cody Baker playing center back. You know, there was just a lot of moving parts. It was a very fluid concept to what the second team was. However, the player that I really wanted to see was...
00:34:33
Speaker
Petkovic. I wanted to see Nikola Petkovic, so I put him under a microscope, and I just was not encouraged. Again, this is just one game. I'm not going to make an assessment on a player just for one specific game, but I just wanted to see certain things out of a player who, again, it's at no real point,
00:34:59
Speaker
it's ah It's a ah high reward, low risk. So he's a low risk player for the Sounders. But because of the prospect narrative at some point, I just I wanted to see him play. And sometimes it's better to not see a lot of a player than see all the negative. And I just I just didn't think he was good in this game ah It just felt like he had a hard time getting back from offense to defense when he came to that transition movement. It just seemed like it was difficult for him to track back and defend. Defending in space in that specific part of the ah the field was just hard for him. It was either a foul or they were getting right through him. I thought he was sloppy on the ball. Like even when he came to just short passes, high passes, he had a couple of moments on the ball. um
00:35:54
Speaker
they tried him at both, for what I remember, they tried him as an eight, and then they moved him up to playing a 10 once Danny Mosavsky came off in the second half, and he was just lost the the entirety of the game. but But what I would be more concerned about is just how difficult it was for him to move. His his inability to really be explosive in either position, right?
00:36:20
Speaker
there wasn't There was maybe one explosive run in the 87th minute that I noted here, and he doesn't even get to that ball. But I just thought that his field positioning and and everything that you want to see out of a player,
00:36:34
Speaker
Because you're looking for moments, right? in In a game like this one, you just want to you one moments. I saw moments from Kalani. I saw moments from Snyder, who you know also wasn't great, but there were moments.
00:36:45
Speaker
I thought that Peter Kingston was more interesting in this game at center midfield than Nikola Petkovic. So I don't want to... zero too much down on it, but as my first impression of a game, ah not even an official game, but, but a preseason game, I just, I hope that I see more from him because he is a guy that in my opinion is going to be part of this committee to replace what Obed Vargas brought into the table. Cause I still think that that's the whole purpose is, is for, as a committee,
00:37:18
Speaker
of midfielders to replace those aspects of the game that Ovid brought. But yeah, ah I just wanted to put that out there because I really put him under the microscope. I hope that he improves moving forward in in the next...
00:37:32
Speaker
friendly against Louisville. I'm i'm going to again, be watching him very closely, but yeah, I was a little bit concerned about his overall just play. Thank you for listening to the sounder at heart podcast network, which now includes no study at this loving scorchers and the cooler guild. Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible through our paid subscribers plans start as low as $30 a year and allow us to remain independent and mostly ad free. subscribers get access to all our written and podcast content, including a full text RSS feed and a mostly ad free podcast feed that includes every show in one spot. If you really like what we're doing though, I'd encourage you to sign up at our higher tiers, which include all sorts of various perks. The most popular of those is our members only discord or the real Sounders sickos hang out. I know I've called this group, the smartest, funniest and best informed Sounders fans in the world, but it's more than the rough equivalent of a Sounders Mensa meeting. Discord is where we make things happen. Like, for real. You know the promotion the Sounders ran that offered fans the opportunity to trade in their messy jersey for a Paul Rothrock one? That originated in our community. You'll not only be the first to know about stuff, but you also have a semi-direct line to the movers and shakers at the Sounders organization. If you want to be one of the totally normal people who occupy the Sounder at Heart Discord, just become a supporter of Sounder at Heart. Anyway, thanks for listening, and go Durs.
00:38:54
Speaker
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Obed Vargas's Transfer Journey
00:39:56
Speaker
Yeah, i would I can't dispute anything you're saying there. I would agree that it that if there was one player who I wanted to see more from, it was probably Pekovic. I will admit that the vantage point I have made that sort of assessment a little tough because we were at field level and we were...
00:40:17
Speaker
in the corner. And so I didn't get, ah i didn't feel like I had a great view of those things, but I would, I would broadly agree that he just did not do anything to impress and that at times he he did not look totally up for it. I will say physically, I thought he was maybe a little bit better. There were some moments where I was, I found a little bit more encouragement, but he is not someone who,
00:40:39
Speaker
is banging down the door of being a starter, at least based on that game. But on the same token, you know, yeah he's probably really competing with Snyder Brunel, who is obviously young and has a lot more potential upside.
00:40:53
Speaker
But I don't know. I think I would like to see both of them in conditions that are a little bit more... you know, normal before I'm, before i I get too hard on them. But I would agree with you that it was somewhat concerning that he didn't show more. And, you know, the reality is that him and Dotson are probably the two most notable off season pickups. And, you know, Dotson has been doing what we expected. i don't think Pekovic has been as good. And so there, there is some concern there. ah The, then the other, i guess we, we've also kind of,
00:41:29
Speaker
Slow played the biggest news to come out during this trip. Now, we we already talked about this somewhat. We talked about it the last time right before i left on Monday. The news of a week ago, the news of Obed Vargas's transfer to Atletico was starting to come into focus. It looked like it was going to happen. I believe actually it may have even happened while we were. yes.
00:41:52
Speaker
recording But either way, we we talked about that a little bit more, but we've gotten a lot more information since then. ah The biggest piece of that information is it was only a week ago that Obed completed this move. He's already made two appearances for Atletico Madrid.
00:42:08
Speaker
ah He came off the bench in both of them. He played in a 5-0 win over Real Batiste in the Copa del Rey, and then they had a rematch in league play that Batiste won 1-0. He also came off the bench in that one.
00:42:21
Speaker
Although... it was maybe a little bit less impressive. I don't know. I don't know how much to read into him playing because right now, Atletico is a little shorthanded at that position and they didn't, I don't know if they had a lot of other options. I guess they could have just not played them. They could have left the starters in throughout the whole time. And so it it does. So some trust in Obed that they're willing to get them out there. And it also shows that they, they see something in him that they, he's not, they're not just doing this as a PR stunt. And I, and I will say it's
00:42:55
Speaker
been a little jarring how big of a deal Atletico has made over this move, considering they only spent $2.5 million. dollars That's something i feel comfortable reporting.
00:43:06
Speaker
That's the the number that we're both hearing that the Sounders are getting up front for Obed Vargas's move, but it's not a big money transfer. and they are like rolling Obed out in front of the press as if it is a big transfer. And I suppose part of that is because they didn't make they only made one other signing, and they didn't make any real big splashy moves. And so maybe that's just them playing PR.
00:43:33
Speaker
But they have given Obed like the full sort of star treatment in in the rollout of him. They really have. And I think a lot of it has to do with the new young prospect commodity, the fact that, ah you know, in in European football, there's starting to be this very interesting intrigue for American players coming in that, that you know, ah have this following. And you saw the...
00:44:07
Speaker
the PR or the social media team for Atletico do a lot with Obed Bargis, right? About the Seahawks and about Seattle and all of these things. And his on this for Atletico. I think that was another thing that they really leaned into is like, no, this guy is, a is, is ah what's the nickname for, Atletico?
00:44:27
Speaker
um Cochinero. Cochinero. Yeah. like That's who this guy is. And they really, they love that. They absolutely love that. and And again, that that's another great point, because that was a very organic, true story, right? I mean, if there was one particular question that I got asked over the weekend in in as many shows as I did, it was, hey, is it just BS? Or did...
00:44:54
Speaker
Because nobody wants to go play for Atletico Madrid. That's the way they would ask it. Nobody wants to play for Atletico Madrid. Everybody wants to go Manchester United or they want to go to Barca or whatever. And was like, no, man, he's ever since I've known him, he has been partisan for Atletico Madrid. he He had like a, he has covers at home, like, ah you know, pillows. I mean, the guy really does work.
00:45:19
Speaker
has always followed Atletico Madrid. He wanted to go there. So that's all part of it. But look, he also has a little bit of luck, ah to be honest. I think the fact that Rodri Mendoza got to start in this one,
00:45:33
Speaker
Just says, look, Rodgers has been in La Liga before. You know, they were essentially came together at the same time. They were presented together. But you went with the guy that just had a little bit more experience in the league. But Obed, he's gotten really lucky in the way things happen, right?
00:45:50
Speaker
Cardoso has some back pains, and that's why he wasn't available for Copa del Rey. So that's why Obed was available for that game. and And it doesn't end there. Then all of a sudden it's the, I don't remember, like 70th minute or 60th minute. And Atletico is already up 4-0. So you're like, OK, this is the perfect time for you to just bring in a guy like, OK. So he comes in, makes his debut. It ends up being a five zero victory. He, you know, gets on the ball some. that That was a 10-minute game that for him. i think he came in like right about the 80th minute.
00:46:25
Speaker
And then in the second one, not only is Cardoso still dealing with some back pains, but Barrios is out for three to four weeks. So now you're like, wow, maybe Obed can start. And obviously they go with Rodri and that's totally OK. But then he gets 10 more minutes. He came in in the 70th minute. But this was a more difficult game for all purposes. I mean, you're up in the in the in the first debut for him. You were up.
00:46:51
Speaker
X amount. Real Betis is trying to kind of get back into it. There's a lot more spaces. In this game, Pellegrini did a phenomenal job. That's Real Betis' coach. And he just played in a D block. And he just made it difficult for Atletico Madrid the entire game, right? And, you know, there was a VAR call that...
00:47:13
Speaker
eliminated the one goal for Atletico. That was a very golasso on goal by the Real Betis defender. Yeah. and um And then at the end, Riquelmeas misses a great opportunity for Real Betis. But I just think it was a very difficult game for Obie to get into, to come into, letting a game with the pressure of trying to score at home for the fan base against a team that was just making it very difficult. There wasn't a lot of space for him to run into. And you saw him trying to get on the ball quite often, but it was just hard. So,
00:47:44
Speaker
The only thing that I conclude from this is that, as you just mentioned, there is a trust in Obed. There is a plan for Obed. They want to slowly give him more minutes and they want to try to assess where is that he could play for this team.
00:47:57
Speaker
Yeah. you know It should be said, Obed's game is not come in late and provide a spark. That's not really what he was ever asked to do for the Sounders. It's not a point. ah It's not something that he's particularly like his game is not well suited for. It's not something he's particularly.
00:48:13
Speaker
you know, I don't know that his, he's good at, I mean, I suppose that's maybe something he'll need to get good at because who knows how often he's going to be starting for Atletico Madrid. And he's just got to take his opportunities that he can get. I still think it's, it's encouraging that he's gotten into these games and that he's, he's getting used early on. Like that he, you know, see Simeone is not someone who strikes me as playing guys out of, for PR reasons. Like he,
00:48:38
Speaker
he He wants to win games. He's ah he's a hard-nosed guy. he Clearly, Obed is putting his feet right in training. like he iss He's showing he belongs. And this is, I think, as good of a start as we could really ask for. Now, it's going to be interesting how this all develops because the the Sounders have some... so They still have a lot of ah skin in the game when it comes to Obed. My understanding is they have at least a 30% sell-on
00:49:08
Speaker
And it it actually might be more than that. And then I believe there's some other money that they can get through add-ons. I think on the high end, this is probably a deal that could pay the Sounders somewhere in the $68 million dollars range, which would be good, not necessarily great. We had been talking about him being a $10 million dollars player for years now at this point. So it it is, I'm not going to tell anyone to not be disappointed,
00:49:32
Speaker
But I think what's really important, and we talked about this last time, is understanding that the Sounders had pretty limited ability, few hands to play. My understanding is that they had literally no other offers coming in from Obed in Europe.
00:49:48
Speaker
Now they got a couple offers from Mexico. There had been some other European teams that had expressed some interest at one point or another, but when it came to actually tabled offers, this was the only one from Europe that they got.
00:50:03
Speaker
So they did not have a lot of negotiating room on top of that. Once atletico came into the picture, I don't think Obed was in a position to turn, like he he was going to make it very clear. Like you guys either accept this deal now and you get what you can get, or I will just go back to Atletico in a year and, you know, as a free agent and, and essentially just join them for whatever they're willing to pay me. Then I think this deal probably works out better for everyone involved in that sense. The Sounders get some payday. They have some upside on the backend.
00:50:39
Speaker
Obed gets an earlier start than he would have otherwise gotten with Atletico. But I do think there's, ah there's still some false narratives rolling around out there. One of them is that this deal was made a long time ago and it just sort of was waiting to be finalized.
00:50:55
Speaker
My understanding is it came together very much at the last second. Atletico really only came to the Sounders once it became obvious that they didn't have some of their more primary options available.
00:51:06
Speaker
And, Best I can tell the Sounders deserve basically all the credit for getting this pushed across the line because it was them continuing to reach out to Atletico saying like, Hey, we have this kid who we think you'd really like.
00:51:20
Speaker
Adrian Hanauer was apparently pretty involved in the negotiations as well. And then even when it came down to it, After Atletico had expressed some interest, it still was, there was still a lot of negotiating left to do. The Sounders were not willing to just let Obed essentially walk for free, which I think was probably how Atletico came into this saying like, yeah, sure. We'll take this guy off your hands for free right now.
00:51:44
Speaker
So the the Sounders got something out of it, something that they can hold their head high. And I think beyond the money, I think there is some, you know, proof of concept that they're able to do here and say like, look, if we can, and we can sign a guy from nowhere, we can raise them through our program and then he can walk into Atletico and started getting minutes right away. That shows a certain level of, of competency from the whole developmental staff. But yeah, i mean, I think,
00:52:14
Speaker
that the Sounders do really deserve some credit for pushing this across the line. And that this was, there was at no point was this just a foregone conclusion. i think there's this idea that his agent sort of set this all up for him. That is not my understanding of it at all.
00:52:28
Speaker
ah What are you hearing on that end? Well, just a couple of things. um Totally agree with the 2.5. I had said near 3 million, but below 3 million. had said that the deal was for more than 20% of the player's card is the way you say it in Spanish, but it's just obviously keeping the percentage of a sell on fee for the player. So look, 30%, it's great. You know, you're betting on, on, on the right things, especially when there was a race against time because the, The funny thing about all of these false narratives and all this reporting that happens because people tend to shoot from the hip on like we do in this show or in Sounder of Heart. We want to make sure that we get very concrete information. But C.O. Merlo had said a while back that Owebrecht is going to go on a free. He's going to go on a free 2026. And that's when we were like, hey, man, he can't leave on a free on 2026. He can leave on a free 2027 at the end of 2026. Yeah.
00:53:20
Speaker
twenty twenty seven at the end of twenty twenty six that that That's possible, but that that's it, right? And then things started happening. On Friday when we were recording, we were going out as Jeremiah would know, I was on the phone trying to figure out where those moves are coming from. We completely dismissed the LASIO reports and BS reporting that was on that regard. yes And obviously, we would have loved to break that story because we were right there, but you know what? Sometimes it happens. The the next day it was out, but
00:53:52
Speaker
what I want to praise ah you and and and us and in the way that we report is that we're not shooting from the hip, man. We want to make sure that the information gets done correctly, that he gets filtered and that we're providing everybody a true idea in our own reporting of what's going on. So that's my little rant on that. But in terms of the move, I like it. I just, I think that it was a perfect situation because of what was going on at the time. And, and,
00:54:22
Speaker
what the contrast scenario would have been if that winter window closes and the Sounders are still in a limbo, what's going to happen with Ovid Bargis. So I think two and a half plus whatever you can add on from there is, is a good situation. You hit the the the cap, right? At 3 million ah to to convert that money. So, you know, two and a half, it's it's a good, good number for you to figure out what you're going to do moving forward. And,
00:54:51
Speaker
Obid Vargas gets everything he wanted. And contrary to some belief, because I'm not going to call it popular belief, the Sounders wanted to do right by Obid. They wanted to make sure that he went on to a situation that was good for him as a soccer player, that he enjoyed, that he wanted to play at. And this one was beyond perfect. It was dreamlike. So yeah to me, it was a phenomenal situation. Yeah.
00:55:16
Speaker
It's almost hard to really believe that it played out this way. When you think about it, you know, here's a kid who as a little boy dreams of playing for Atletico Madrid, which is kind of a random team to be playing for. And for him to end up on that team,
00:55:33
Speaker
you know, just sort of in in a perfect way where he is, you know, where he's being welcomed into the team and in all that it's, it's hard to believe. And I, I do really believe in Obed's talent. I think he is going to do well. I think he's going to take off.
00:55:47
Speaker
It's not going to be the big money transfer that the Sounders dreamed of, but it is going to do a lot of positives in a lot of ways for the organization. i think, you know, Obed deserves credit for, for betting on himself, you know, in this whole thing,
00:56:02
Speaker
you know, there were risks involved in, in basically telling the Sounders I'm only going to this type of team and it worked out for him and good for him. And and I do think from the Sounders perspective, I think they made the best of it. I don't know that it's all, you know, most of the coverage at this point has been understandably,
00:56:22
Speaker
touchy-feely. This was a great move. everyone no one's out there talking, trying to make a bad, and turn this into a bad thing. But let's be real. There's there's got to be some hard feelings on the Sounders end over how this all went down. Maybe not with Obed specifically, but certainly i don't think there's any love lost between the Sounders and Obed's agent.
00:56:41
Speaker
I think they felt like Obed's agent came in and sort of messed things up. you know The Sounders probably could have played hardball earlier in this thing. Like when he, when Obed was looking for an agent, I think if they were being, if they were to do this all again, they might've been inclined to to really put the screws to Obed to get him to sign an extension,
00:57:01
Speaker
even if he was looking for an agent, because that was really where they got put under, they got put under it, where they were basically put into a position where they were going to have to, you know, that this was almost an inevitability.
00:57:16
Speaker
ah You know, my understanding is that Obed's agent actually tried to get out of this final year of his contract, which is part of why we heard so much reporting that he was going to be a free agent this year.
00:57:27
Speaker
Because I think that was the word that Obed's agent was putting out into the world saying, look, did this, you know, he didn't sign that extension when I was his agent. That's not, you know, these, these players, these ah team options aren't really legit. And there, and so I think,
00:57:43
Speaker
They were going to try to, they they were, you know, kind of making noise that they were going to try to get out of this whole year entirely, which does sort of explain a little bit more why they, they saw where they saw free agency coming in that maybe if they didn't see 2026 as a year, they were going to have to play in the Sounders.
00:58:02
Speaker
But again, i think all's well that ends well. This seems like it worked out for everyone. I think from Obed's perspective, he can feel really good about where he is. I think from the Sounders perspective, they can sort of move on and feel like they like it all worked out on their end. And, you know, and for Atletico, they got a player with some real big upside and they have almost no risk.
00:58:24
Speaker
I mean, for Atletico, it's all upside. Yeah, and look, ah Jeremiah, ah to one the things that you mentioned, allow yourself to dream, man, because Johnny Cardoso, who I consider not as good as Obed Vargas overall, he got sold for $30 million to Atletico. $30 million. So, shoot, if if Obed starts to, you know,
00:58:46
Speaker
hit the road and starts to get more minutes and more minutes, I mean, who are we to say that there's not gonna be a 30 million dollar transfer to Sevilla something like that, right? ah That's all I'm saying is that that that's a total possibility. But I would agree that that this was a great situation and to keep on rolling on the Obed dream scenario, he gets to play Barcelona on Thursday. Oh, so they they play Barcelona in Copa del Rey noon Pacific time. If you want to watch and see if Obed ah gets a start or gets in the game at all in this one. ah But look at home, he he couldt get any better, on a man. Like how how good is, has it been? ah I don't think, I mean, it's a dream. It's a dream. Oh, it could have wrote it any better. Yeah, no, you, he couldn't, he couldn't. And and they've got champions league coming up in a couple, in a couple of weeks.
00:59:45
Speaker
You know, he could be good. I mean, this is this could be quite the ride that he's on. I mean, it's it's it's really it's pinch yourself stuff. So as luck would have it, that was not the last of the the room, the sort of transfer ah rumors that we were reporting on.
01:00:01
Speaker
Almost as soon as the ink was dry on the Obed deal, another transfer rumor popped up, and that was. So Hammerby, the team that the Sounders played, although Georgie did not play in the game, but Hammerby is apparently interested in Georgie Manungu.
01:00:18
Speaker
My understanding is they put in about a million dollar offer. The Sounders looked at that and said, that is not going to be the amount we sell Georgie Manungu from. I don't know. exactly what the Sounders are looking to get out of Georgie Manungu. My assumption is they would rather him play for them this year. And then maybe next year, they look at the market and see what, because there's a lot of potential upside.
Georgie Manungu Transfer Evaluation
01:00:40
Speaker
Like they can build a lot of value into Georgie, but a million dollars is not going to get that deal done. I would guess it's at least 4 million, maybe even more that it would take to get
01:00:50
Speaker
Georgie right now. And Hammerby, I don't know, is the kind of team that's going to pay $4 million. dollars They've never paid more than $2 million dollars for anyone. Although they have done some great business selling players, they've sold like 30, $35 million worth players in the last two years. So I suppose the Sounders could look at Hammerby as a team where Georgie could potentially go there and then keep a sell on percentage and then have a bigger payday on the back end.
01:01:15
Speaker
But I don't, this one doesn't make as much sense to me. i don't think, I don't, my suspicion is that those two sides do not come to agree and Georgie is back here. Yeah, i agree. I think you'd have to at least double up on that offer to just create some sort of interest at all, just to sit on the negotiating table. I will say this, that I think that the likelihood that there is an offer that makes sense and Georgie goes, it's not far-fetched. I think that there's a high likelihood that, especially in the summer window, yes right now, they they feel like you feel like the team needs Georgie, for sure. You want to be able to figure out how you're going to play, what you have right now in that group of wingers, or maybe wingbacks, depending on how ah the the season progresses. And then in the summer,
01:02:05
Speaker
If there is a better offer from another team, I could see him going because look, between the H, ah which just has to be a factor for Georgie Menungu, the fact that his minutes hasn't necessarily, they're not guaranteed right now. I mean, right now, you that there's there's so much depth at the winger position. There's so much um depth, even if you go to wingbacks, that I hope Georgie gets more than the 800 minutes he got last season because I do want to see him play. i love to see him play. He's so exciting, so great on the ball. um I want to see more of him, but just those minutes are not guaranteed. So if there's an offer that makes sense for the club, it would also make sense for the player because he wants to play. He wants to be a starter. And if you could put him Getafe or you could ah put him in PSV or Bruges,
01:02:59
Speaker
Hey, man, it's it's a no-brainer. So I have a lot of um upside. I feel like there's going to be a lot of upside on Georgie Manungu. I just hope that there's enough time this season for him to display that. But I would not be surprised at all if there's more teams that come in with more money for Georgie in that summer window.
01:03:18
Speaker
Yeah, i mean Georgie has skill set that just is worth a lot of money on the market right now. you know Teams are are paying through the nose to get dynamic dribblers, to get players who can create havoc on opposing teams. And it's especially useful that he is so good at doing this off the bench. He is someone that doesn't need a lot of time to start creating trouble.
01:03:43
Speaker
You know, I was at, like I said, I went to this Charlton QPR game. I am not at all. Like if I am a championship level team, I don't see why I wouldn't spend $5 million dollars to get Georgia Manungu. He is going to show up in the championship and create all kinds of trouble for opposing defenses today. If he, like he doesn't need, you know, there's not like, he's not necessarily as gold dangerous as you want him to be. You know, he's not as refined as you want him to be, but you can refine his game.
01:04:13
Speaker
His innate ability to beat someone off the dribble is not something that is easy to find. And I think that the Sounders, you know, that's also why the Sounders are interested in keeping him because if the Sounders were to go out and try to find someone with Georgie's resume on the open international market, that's probably a three, four, $5 million dollar player. And the only reason he's not, uh, that he's, he's not in the, that he's not getting those offers right now is because he's an MLS and MLS does not have the same level of respect that even like the Swedish league does. So,
01:04:50
Speaker
I think that's, you know, I think you make a good point that he could be going in the summer. And I think every time a player gets sold from MLS and does well in Europe, it raises the value of the next guy to get sold. You know, right now we're seeing a lot of guys go to Mexico and Mexico is more than happy to buy MLS players because they believe and MLS players translate well to Mexico.
01:05:14
Speaker
but you know the The next phase of that is guys who can perform in in Europe. And once they start doing that, and they're starting to do it, I think you're going to see big offers for players like Georgie Mningu. And I would hope that the centers are willing to to hold out. And i hope they are also going to give him some minutes. It does not help, of course, that he missed the last few days of training camp in Marbella.
01:05:39
Speaker
You had a report that he had left training camp. You said for personal reasons, which I think was appropriately vague, we later found out that or that I was able to confirm that it was a visa issue. He basically needed to go back to Seattle and and go to a visa appointment to make sure that his visa didn't expire. My understanding is that he'll start training again as soon as the Sounders start training again visa.
01:06:03
Speaker
Tuesday and that he should be, you know, he should be back in action. But there was like a funny little moment there. I'll i'll just share this with the the readers because Brian, as he is want to do, kind of got in, got into it with Nico, who was not obviously there. But he still was like, ah, Nico, wish you would have called about that. And it's like, what what do you come on? we We reported as a personal... I don't think you... I thought your wording was appropriately vague. And by the way, we did reach out and we were told to basically follow up when we got on the ground, which we did, but we weren't just going to sit on this thing forever. So... yeah and I don't think you did anything wrong, Nico. No, of course not. And like, actually, I purposely use the language and that that's why you bring it up as well, because I did have a sense that it had something to do with with the work piece, so but I didn't want to say anything that was going to jeopardize the player coming back to the States whatever.
01:06:57
Speaker
anything odd or, or that maybe that reporting might've not been correct. And I feel like these issues, or at least to me, are something that you want to be very careful. So of course we reached out to confirm, but I still wanted to make sure that people knew that he wasn't going to be available for that ah couple of preseason games. And so personal, you know, could said personal errand, oh but right now yeah yeah it's not like I said anything beyond that, but no, it's, it's definitely something that, um we need to look at too as well. I mean, hopefully he gets that taken care of, uh, before the start of the CONCACAF champions league. Cause I mean, I don't know how quickly, especially with this administration, I don't know how quickly you get stuff done necessarily for that sort of, uh, right.
01:07:41
Speaker
Errand. So we'll see how that, that, that goes, but no, Georgie is a player that I really want him to get a lot of playtime this season. So he can kind of show, ah The development that he's had, look, he had a very good game in the one preseason game that he did play um in Spain, right? And we had mentioned that with the amount of time he has spent with his national team, he was going to come into this year with just a different type of form, physique and speed. And man, that that was evident in that game. And so I'm excited to see him play.
01:08:17
Speaker
Yeah, I am excited to see him play too. I think he is probably the player who I enjoy watching maybe the most. I mean, he is he's just an absolute joy to watch. You never know what he's going to do. He's someone who can pull magic out of, you know, you can you can pull pull a rabbit out of a hat and he's he's just a lot
Center Back Challenges for Sounders
01:08:33
Speaker
of fun to watch. ah But yeah, I would say one of the concerns though, coming out of camp is not something that was...
01:08:46
Speaker
starkly on display but the sounders are in a little bit of an injury crunch at center back right now uh ryan sailor has not been able to get fit enough to train i don't think at all during preseason kim kihi has been limited throughout preseason and the latest one is whom am i blanking oh stewart hawkins got hurt in the scrimmage right before they left to training camp to Europe.
01:09:16
Speaker
And he is still out and we don't have a timeline on any of these players return from b Brian Schmetzer's comments. None of them are particularly close. And that's why we saw Alex Roldan playing center back. We saw Cody Baker playing center back.
01:09:34
Speaker
We saw, ah We also do BCU knew who's been playing center back. There's not a lot. Can you provide a little um insight on, on sadness? Yeah.
01:09:48
Speaker
Oh so yeah. Gallatin Sant Sant. That's right. that's what That's who we saw playing center back. Like throughout the European portion of the preseason. So Gallatin is a, I believe a 17 year old Sounders Academy player. This is the second, I believe second time that he has done preseason with the Sounders. He's a big, big kid.
01:10:08
Speaker
ah The Sounders. And actually I think this is maybe the third time he's done preseason with them, but it's the second time that he's gone to Spain with them. And he's a, he's a big kid. The Sounders have really liked him.
01:10:20
Speaker
he is someone that they like a lot. I think we're going to see him pretty extensively play with Tacoma defiance this year. i don't, I would not expect him to be on the first team unless there were some sort of emergency situations. But speaking of who, of that Brian Schmetzer noted that, you know, Lopez is someone that they might have to call in on loan just to kind of make up numbers at center back. You know, Lopez obviously did all preseason in Spain with the Sounders. i don't know that's obvious, but he did. So ah yeah, Sanis is an interesting prospect. i would say I would put him,
01:10:54
Speaker
he's he's probably a little bit more Keehee than Stuart Hawkins in his, in his profile. Like he, he's not, I, he doesn't necessarily strike me as a great pastor. He's a good pastor, but he's a big body. He's physical.
01:11:10
Speaker
He's someone who I would imagine, will eventually translate to MLS. But at 17, knowing Brian's tendencies, i don't necessarily think he's going to be getting a lot of first team minutes right now.
01:11:24
Speaker
But, you know, he is ah he is looking like someone who we should be keeping an eye on. Yeah. And the reason why I ask is because I totally botched the the name at first and then the the who it was. I did like a quick, maybe like 10, 20 minutes with...
01:11:43
Speaker
Ari after my soccer down here show on Thursday, as he did a watch along and he brought up the player. And I remember that, Brian had praised him in one of the press conferences he did over there in Spain um that obviously are ran by the the Sounders communications team. But he mentioned him that he was like, oh, you know, he's a guy you want to watch for. And I remember that I thought he was in a Tacoma Defiance player. And so thank you for for that, because I still feel like I totally botched that. But um yeah, i'm I'm glad that that's the that's the case, because
01:12:21
Speaker
I really like Stuart Hawkins. I really like him. I do too. I do too. But this sort of situation just handicaps, I mean, no pun intended, but but just what we should expect out of him. He's such a good profile of a player, but if you can't be healthy for this moment, man, that's tough.
01:12:42
Speaker
It's tough. I know. And and what's real a real bum or a real bummer about Stuart Hawkins is that he keeps sort of getting to the precipice of being in a position to get more playing time. And then, you know, no fault of his own.
01:13:02
Speaker
bad luck. And, you know last year it was getting hurt during post game cooldowns this year. It happens during a scrimmage, you know, the kid can't catch a break. I really like him a lot. I think he is a really promising player.
01:13:18
Speaker
I think he is someone who has a future, you know, he's still quite young. I think he's still just 19. So it's not like his window is closing, but it's, you just,
01:13:32
Speaker
you just feel for him because he's putting in all this work, putting himself in these great positions. And then right when it's about to happen, the rug gets pulled out. Yeah, and I really hope that this is something minor and that he gets back on the field. But as you mentioned, for both of those injuries, I remember Brian saying um they won't be back anytime soon for both Sainter and for Hawkins. So, man, that's that's that's a difficult situation. I've liked Tino Lopez for a long time. I was actually...
01:14:05
Speaker
surprised that he didn't start that game with the second group. But yeah, I don't know why we didn't really get a good, I guess I didn't really push him on that, but um I don't know why. i want to know. Cause then when we could have Baker who look, he, he was one of the guys that did okay back there, you know, cause he just has that speed and grit. And you know, i remember he like flicks over an attacker and then puts a good pass after. um But yeah, it's just, it was interesting that,
01:14:32
Speaker
If Tino is one of the guys that we all think and know that is next on the deck, on the docket, um why not start him? So I don't know. There's some questions that I have there for for Brian. But overall, man, I really do...
01:14:47
Speaker
have concerns about that center back position. and and Kim, I just, I don't know, you know, I hope he's, he's better. You know, he definitely dealt with some things last season, but you're hoping that he's a guy that you can lean on for depth there. If there's hopefully not, and knock on wood, something's to happen to any of your center backs.
01:15:06
Speaker
Well, it's one of those things where you're not, it's not an emergency right now. You know, the Sounders don't start the season with a ton of fixture congestion or anything. So there's, as long as they can, as long as their starters stay healthy, they're,
01:15:21
Speaker
It should be okay, but we don't, at some point they're going to need center back depth. And right now they really don't have any, you know, I, I do happen to think Cody Baker could be a pretty decent center back, especially if you play them in more of a, a three set, like ah an outside. and Yeah, exactly. If you play him more of an outside back in a, in a three setter back set, but,
01:15:42
Speaker
And I think Sandus has some potential, but he's not, he's not ready right now. you know, Tino Lopez can fill in a gap, but the way you, you constructed your depth chart was very much with the idea that you were bringing in Ryan sailor to replace John bell.
01:15:57
Speaker
John bell is obviously gone. Kim Kee, a healthy Kim Kee, he was supposed to replace a hurt Kim Kee, he, a, healthy Stu Hawkins was so supposed or a and and healthy and more experienced Stu Hawkins was supposed to replace a hurt and on inexperienced Stu Hawkins. And all of a sudden you've removed all of those elements. And so the Sounders don't have,
01:16:22
Speaker
they they are right now less deep at center back than they were last year. And last year, their depth really got tested. i will say the, the one good thing is that Alex rolled on now has shown that he can play center back, both in a three center back and two center back setup. And Kalani Costa Rienzi is, you know, perfectly well positioned to play right back. If you, if you have to move Alex rolled on over And then the other good thing, you know, we, I forgot to notice ah to note this Paul Areola looks like he will be ready to have some role by the time the season starts. He did play 30 minutes on in the, in the medalist game. That was probably the
Paul Arreola's Return and Impact
01:17:00
Speaker
single most positive thing to come out of that game was just getting Paul area area back on the field.
01:17:06
Speaker
He looks like he is absolutely raring to go. i talked to him a little bit after the game to me, he looks like he has put on a lot of muscle. Like he just looks He looks very strong. Like his legs look unreal strong to me. he actually was joking around. He said that he almost is always right around 155.
01:17:26
Speaker
And this year he came into camp at 152, which he was really happy about. And then basically he, i he he came in and was in better shape than what he, he ah he had expected.
01:17:42
Speaker
so um or he ended up getting up to one 60 because of all the muscle he added. So there was kind of a ah funny little thing there. And he he's a guy that's hard not to like ah because of his IQ, his awareness. I need to probably go back and just watch him specifically ah after he came on there. I think it was in like the 70th minute or something like that.
01:18:05
Speaker
um but think he came in for Yutsukunome, who had a difficult time getting on the ball in that second game. I think he but everybody did. But um yeah, I want to go check him out because he is someone that's going to be pushing...
01:18:20
Speaker
for minutes for competing on that side. He's going to be pushing Paul. And i mean, it's going to be very interesting the way that plays out once Pedro comes back. And, you know, if this team is going to do well, and I said this repeatedly, they're going to have to continue to make their edge be their continuity and their um cohesiveness on the field in order to outplay I guess you could do it in quotation marks, more talented teams, right? And all these teams that are spending all this crazy amount of money on ah new players, their superpower is going to have to be just having a great system that works like a clock. And for that, you need to kind of figure out who's going to go where. And I think Paul Arreola is going to, you know, be a good player to keep an eye on.
01:19:12
Speaker
in that Yeah, absolutely. absolutely he is going to be someone who I think is going to be worth keeping an eye on. i am really excited about what I actually have a story that I'm working on right now about Paul. His attitude is so good.
01:19:28
Speaker
i think that is one. And that's one of the things I kept telling people last year was I know like because people were not super excited about Paul Ariello when the centers first. I was one of them.
01:19:39
Speaker
Yeah, I think for a good reason, you know, he he kind of came in with some questions about his performances in recent years. And it was and and I don't think we really knew a lot about him.
01:19:50
Speaker
And I only knew about him from a distance. But everyone that plays with him absolutely loves him. They they love working with them. They love playing with them.
01:20:01
Speaker
He is, you know, he's got this infectious personality that people really want to gravitate towards. You know, one of the things that he talked about in the post game was how he was not just excited for himself, but that he was sort of excited for all the support staff that did all the extra work with him, that was doing the extra, you know, the extra time in the gym that was out there helping him do the extra post game, you know, like in this game, He did 12 full field runs after playing 30 minutes with the idea that he was supposed to be able to complete each one under the same time.
01:20:41
Speaker
ah So he's the first, you know, the first sprint he does is supposed to be the same time as the 12th sprint he does. And so he put in a bunch of work after the game and he's talking about how excited he is to that. The work that these support staff put in is being paid off as well.
01:20:58
Speaker
And I thought that was a, you know you don't hear that all the time from from players in in their recovery about how they just want to, they like, the there's the sports staff is is part of, like, who they're doing this for.
01:21:09
Speaker
And,
Sounder at Heart Magazine Launch
01:21:10
Speaker
you know, it's kind of cliche and kind of silly, but he also makes you believe that's how he really feels, you know? And yeah you kind of love that. No, absolutely. he's ah He's someone that comes across as it' very genuine. He's not trying to fake it. He's just as just the way he is. He talks about everything. He needs to really give a shit. Like, he truly cares about his teammates, about where he's at. I just, the the the character of the man is just phenomenal. I love it.
01:21:38
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. No, I really like him a lot. ah Well, I guess that I think we we ran through our whole list of things we wanted to talk about. we probably went a little on the long side, but know that's how these things go sometimes. I do want to give one more plug. we are in the final. We've we've already issued. We've we've printed it out.
01:21:59
Speaker
It has actually been printed and is now waiting to be bound and and prepared for shipment. But for the Sounder at Heart magazine is ready to start going out to ah to you guys, to the people who bought it. We've sold roughly 1300 copies. And I just want people to know that we're going to have extras. We have you know we we ordered about 700 extras. So there's definitely going to be some available to purchase.
01:22:27
Speaker
But if you want it delivered and you want to get it before the season starts, which is on February 22nd, you need to put that order in by 9 a.m. on Wednesday because that is when we are giving the final delivery list to the printer.
01:22:43
Speaker
And if your order comes in after that, you can still pick it up in person if you want. We are having a magazine release party on February 20th at Project 9 Brewing up in Maple Leaf. You can come pick it up there.
01:22:56
Speaker
But if you want delivered, we cannot guarantee that it will arrive on time. And in fact, it will probably arrive sometime after the season starts. There's probably also going to be a little bit it's going to be a little bit more expensive to do that because it's a whole different shipping process when we have to do it one at a time.
01:23:14
Speaker
on our own as opposed to shipping it directly from the printer. So if you want to get it delivered, i urge you, please order it before Wednesday at 9am, because it's going to save you money, but it's also going to make sure it gets in your hands before the season starts. And you can start the season with a nice fresh ah preview magazine.
01:23:35
Speaker
And, ah you know, we're feeling pretty good about doing more of these in the future. I think we're planning on doing one for the World Cup. And then after that, we'll see. But I think at the very least, we're going to try to do these sort of as a season preview. And then when other
Danny Leyva's Performance at Nekaxa
01:23:47
Speaker
events come up, whether or not it becomes a quarterly, and we're we're not ready to commit to that yet. But um yeah, i hopefully people are excited about that. Nico, you know, at some point, we'll to get you in there.
01:23:58
Speaker
Oh yeah, bro. No, for sure, man. I'm excited for it. i actually have been thinking about a feature that I could potentially do. Of course, I want to talk to you or something before I do anything. yeah I just, I want to read it. I want to see what it's like. And then definitely I will add some of my work in there to leave add of here. um Just shout out to Danny Leyva, man. He got his first assist with Nick Coxa off of a corner kick. He actually had one taken back, which is Danny Leyva-ish, if anything. He had a great set piece. No, no, it wasn't a set piece. It was a great assist onto Julian Carranza, who, by the way, got two goals in that game. But he he gets taken back because of an offside call, I believe. But, hey, man, as a set piece special is Danny Leyva-ish.
01:24:45
Speaker
Definitely starting to gain some ground there for Nekaxa. So shout out to Danny Leyva. ah Yeah, absolutely. Danny Leyva, who the Sounders still also another player who the Sounders have some sell on percentage. And so they have some some juice still in in Daniel in the Danny Leyva business. So
Podcast Conclusion & Sign-off
01:25:04
Speaker
hopefully that's going to work out. he He seems to be getting plenty of playing time there, which is great to see. i love Danny's game.
01:25:12
Speaker
And yeah, I think we should we should probably call it there. i am Jeremiah Shan signing off for Nico Moreno. who of course you can follow on Blue Sky at El Rolo NW at Blue Sky. And then of course he's on soccer down here. He's still doing Lobbing Scorchers.
01:25:34
Speaker
This is Nos Audietes, part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. We'll catch you next time.
01:26:10
Speaker
Let's go at Sounders.