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Houston Dynamo are like looking at Sounders through a time machine
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Andrew Pearson (aka @interpearsonal on Twitter) joins Jeremiah to give a tactical preview of the upcoming series against the Houston Dynamo. In the Dynamo, Pearson sees a very similar team to the Sounders, or at least very similar to how they Sounders played last season.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:02
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Fullpool Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Fullpool was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounders supporters. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
Guest Introduction: Will Bruin
00:00:25
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 but
00:00:40
Speaker
about sell <unk> it
00:01:22
Speaker
go.
00:01:30
Speaker
We're seeing some of the hardwood commentary that we didn't take lo seriously.
Tactical Preview: Sounders vs. Houston Dynamo
00:01:41
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of NOS Adietes on the Sounded at Heart podcast network. I am Jeremiah O'Shan. Joining me today to help give us sort of a tactical preview of this Houston Dynamo team that Sounded is getting ready to to open up a three game series with on Monday is Andrew Pearson. You may know him as interpersonal from Twitter, but he's also the guy who writes all of our sort of tactical previews over at Sounded at Heart. Welcome to the show, Andrew.
00:02:08
Speaker
Yeah, thanks for having me. Always happy to chat about the sounders, especially playoff sounders. Exactly, playoff sounders. ah it is So the the sounders come into this game. you know i don't know Let's just get your your high level. you've You've spent a lot of time looking at the various opponents the sounders have played.
Performance Review: Sounders vs. Houston and Minnesota
00:02:28
Speaker
If it was up to you, who would you have rather faced between the Houston Dynamo and Minnesota United, who ah Yeah, who the centers have dominated really historically at home both of them but yeah i guess It's it's harder to say cuz Minnesota has added pieces with their yeah you know new striker who's been playing Well, their form is really good, especially their attacking form um My initial instinct was to say Minnesota, but you know The Sounders have been almost as good against Houston at home as well. yeah So it's it's pretty much a toss up. I think they suit up well against both of those teams. um Really, it's just about avoiding the LAFCs and the Portland's that sit back more.
00:03:15
Speaker
um And Houston's not gonna do that right there. I think only twice this year. They've held less than 50% possession So they're always gonna want the ball and that's gonna mean, you know, the Sounders are gonna have opportunities to counter Yeah, you know, it's funny the you you said this in the approach to the show so I'll give you credit for this but it's sort of like looking in a in a time in like almost like a a time machine for the Sounders. It's almost like they're looking at themselves from last year where the it's a very ball dominant team. They aren't maybe quite as interested in the counter-press that the Sounders were when they were at their best last year.
00:03:54
Speaker
But it it is a team that wants to hold onto the ball a lot, but they aren't, they sort of do it at the cost of being dynamic offensively. They, they are one of the lower scoring teams in the Western comp. I mean, yeah, I mean, they're, they're one of the league's lower scoring teams. They actually make the Sounders look like a reasonably adept offense.
00:04:14
Speaker
Right. Yeah. It's, it's very methodical, um, which, you know, from watching the Sounders last year, sometimes it gets kind of frustrating when they try to be so slow and methodical. And I think that's the same thing really with Houston is they, they have to rely on a moment of brilliance from someone or a good cross or
Houston Dynamo Strategy: Possession vs. Offense
00:04:31
Speaker
a set piece. And, you know, that doesn't always work out, especially when you're trying to break down a team like Seattle, who's just so good, um, this season and last year in the back, it's just hard to break down teams like that.
00:04:44
Speaker
yeah they you know for Yeah, even though they are not necessarily the most dynamic team, they aren't getting out and running up and down the field. They do have the ability to link up a lot of good passing, and they and that passing can be its its own. They're not dynamic in the the way that we think of verticality, but dynamic in the way that they're able to move the ball around and and sort of beat teams with the ball.
00:05:07
Speaker
What do you make of that and you know how dangerous how serious how dangerous do you think this team is for a defense like the Sounders?
Midfield Strengths and Weaknesses
00:05:16
Speaker
Yeah, I think Houston's strength is their spine. They've got two great center backs. They can both pass pretty well. that you know Hector Herrera is well known to just about anyone about how skillful he is on the ball. um I mean, Bossy is a pretty good central attacking option.
00:05:34
Speaker
um You know, our tour has just a ton of passes, a ton of key passes for them. So really it's, it's about how they can work the ball up the field through Coco Karaskia. And then, you know, the question for them for a long time was been about how, who's going to score, right? Who's going to be that finisher? And, you know, maybe they're kind of answering that question now. And if they can get some kind of offensive contribution from their wings and their wing backs, then then it'll be all right. But I think mainly it's a question of, you know, that midfield battle, how, how is Christian Roldan going to do against that midfield without Obed
Sounders' Midfield Dilemma: Replacing Obed Vargas
00:06:13
Speaker
Vargas? You know, is, is JP going to step in and, and be ready to go against that midfield? So that's a talent though.
00:06:22
Speaker
Yeah, definitely lots of talent. ah But you know you you mentioned that the Sounders are going to be missing Obed Bergus in this game. He obviously got that red card against the Timbers. He has to sit out this game. and And it comes at an interesting time for the Sounders because on one hand,
00:06:38
Speaker
ah It's easy enough to just say, Oh, Joe Paulo will will come in. Or you could even say, Oh, Josh attention should come in. But neither one of them have been playing much recently. Josh attention was actually coming off of a ah out of concussion protocol right now. It looks like he.
00:06:55
Speaker
got back into training on Thursday. My hope is that he'll be fully in by Saturday, but he hasn't had a full training session yet. Joe Paolo has been sort of coming back relatively slowly from his latest injury. He has played, he didn't play against the Timbers, but he had played in the two games before that. ah And then, of course, there's also the option of bringing in Danny Leyva, who hasn't played a ton for the first team recently, but he has been at least getting minutes with the Defiance.
00:07:24
Speaker
If it's up to you and you're sort of having to choose between you know balancing fitness and familiarity and all these other things, what do you what what do you think is the sounder's best option in terms of partnering with Christian Roldan?
00:07:37
Speaker
Uh, I might be a little bit biased towards Christian cause just, he's been so fun to watch the past few weeks. He's been so great spreading the ball around from, from deep. Um, so, I mean, the idea of him with attention in front of him, kind of just filling that Vargas role, that seems great to me. Um, but I don't know that you can really go wrong. I'll be, I would not be surprised at all if Schmetzer just leans on.
00:08:03
Speaker
jao paulo and and the two of them, you know, him and Christian figure it out. I don't think you can go wrong with that. But the main thing for me has just been Christian's been so good. um Spreading the ball out to the wings, getting it to Rothrock, getting it to Pedro. And I think that's probably really going to be key in this game is attacking those outside backs for Houston.
Christian Roldan's Defensive Role
00:08:26
Speaker
Yeah, you know, it was funny. I was, as I was filling out my best 11 ballot this last week, I was doing a lot more research into how everyone is doing around the league. And I was surprised. I was actually surprised to see that Christian Roldan has had a better, you know, ah tackling and interested. He's been much more active defensively than I think I realized. Like he, I think you can watch him play.
00:08:49
Speaker
for the last couple months and say, OK, this is a player who looks more kind like I was pretty skeptical of him as a as a number six, in part because for all the talk of, well, that's his natural position. He hadn't really ever played as the more defensive minded of the two double pivots in at any point really prior to this year and certainly not for an extended period.
00:09:10
Speaker
And he's really stepped up into that position. I think he looks really comfortable there. And, you know, he hasn't had a lot of goals and assists, but he has been actually pretty good in most other facets of the game. What have you made of that transition this year for him?
00:09:27
Speaker
Yeah, it's been so smooth. I didn't really see it coming necessarily either just because it's been so long since, you know, Brian Schmutzer has wanted to put him back there. um You know, it makes sense. It's all the things he was trying to do on the wing, but from a deeper position where he can be more effective.
00:09:45
Speaker
Um, and you know, I think having Obed Vargas in front of him, who's happy to carry the ball, um, is good with his feet. Kind of now we've seen over the last couple of games has been good at getting into the box. Um, it's, it's a good pairing. And I don't know if there's much other than that, then, you know, Christians always had this skillset and it was more about, um, positionally, you know, is he just going to be able to adapt and he's such a smart player. It's, it's worked out really well.
00:10:13
Speaker
So on the other part of the the opposing midfield, you you talked about Ecto Herrera, Aceh Aceh, as people may know him as, Emil Bossi, Artur, that's a pretty good trio of central midfielders. it It is arguably as good as really, it might not be as dynamic as as the best midfields in the league. But it's very ball secure. It's very defensively sound. They connect a lot of passes. Archer was actually my ah best eleven in my best 11. He was absolutely dynamic defensively. ah But the thing that, and I guess that they also have Coco Karaskia, another player who who who gets in there and who who just won CONCACAF Player of the Year. i Oddly enough, I didn't even mention that. Right.
00:11:02
Speaker
Yeah, it's not even that he's had, you know, for, you look at his stats for Houston, they definitely don't pop off the page this year. Um, but if you watch him, you can see how much talent he has, how clever he is on the ball. Um, but yeah, they've got, it's that kind of central area of, of talent.
Houston's Striker Situation: Ponce's Contribution
00:11:20
Speaker
Um, and then they add Ponce into that striker position who's been, you know, he doesn't do a lot off of the ball, but he does the thing that they needed the most, which he scores at a, at an okay rate.
00:11:32
Speaker
He's not lighting it up on the stats page necessarily, but he he looks like a true striker, um which is what they've needed. Thank you for listening to the Soundwork Heart Podcast Network, which now includes No Sonietes, Lobbing Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild. We've been independent since August of 2023.
00:11:52
Speaker
but need your support to make sure it continues. Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible by your continued support. Memberships start as low as $25 a year, which not only helps make podcasts like this one happen, but also gets you access to everything we produce. If you're able to support us at higher levels, starting at $75 a year, you gain access to a host of other perks Most notably, entry into our members-only Discord where the smartest, funniest, and most engaged commenters share their thoughts and ideas. To find out more, just visit centeratheart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner. Thanks for listening!
00:12:32
Speaker
Yeah. So, you know, between him, Ponce and Hector, they have these are two players who the sounders, I don't think have faced at all this year. ah For sure, they didn't they didn't play in the in the game. The sounders won one zero. How big of a, you know, so the sounders went one and one or one on one against the dynamo this year.
00:12:56
Speaker
I was listening to a podcast today where they said they only scored one goal. The teams combined for one goal in the two games. that's not That's not true. They had five goals in the two games. The first game was actually pretty wide open, but the second game was was very tight. ah That said, how much of a difference does having those two play? like how how How much do we even take away from those two previous meetings considering ah you know two of the best players that Houston has weren't really even in those games?
00:13:26
Speaker
Yeah, I think, well, you can look at it and say the last meeting's probably the closest, and it was still a pretty tight game. Yeah. um I think having Herrera really just makes everything that they try to do easier. um Houston, doesn't it doesn't seem like they really deviate from their plan, ah no matter who's going to be in there in terms of personnel. So if if they can get something off a set piece with Herrera taking one, if they can do some really clever combination,
00:13:54
Speaker
It's probably going to be Ponce finishing off and Herrera somewhere in the mix. So it's, it's definitely a boost. I don't know. I'm i'm not super sold on Houston being able to come into Seattle and get a win or get a draw, but i I'd be pretty shocked if this is a high scoring game. It's the playoffs. Those tend to be pretty nervy and close. Um, so yeah, and it'll help, but.
00:14:21
Speaker
It's probably just going to come down to one moment of a set piece or something like that. As these games so often do. yeah Especially for the Sounders. Yeah, yeah. ah And to the degree that they do have some real dynamism on this team, it seems like it's mostly Griffin Dorsey coming off the right wing as ah as a fullback, ah but he he gets into the attack a lot. How how aware do you feel like the Sounders really need to be of that sort of attack which they haven't I mean I guess that you could say that they've struggled with it a little bit ah mascara gave them trouble at times ah but Dorsey wasn't very effective the last in either of the games that the centers played against them um I don't know what how how big of a concern is that for for them
00:15:07
Speaker
I mean, it's a two-way threat, right? I mean, if they send Dorsey forward, we've seen in the recent games against the Sounders, Rothrock taking it right back at him. I think I'm going to look at Dorsey as a potential opportunity for Seattle to attack. He's been okay. I mean, he puts in decent crosses. He's certainly a big physical guy. He's quick enough. He's tall. um But, you know, you look at that last game, Paul Rothrock kind of skins him a couple times and probably could have, should have had an assist to Jordan.
00:15:36
Speaker
Uh, I think, you know, our, you you look at their last game against the galaxy. Um, of course our wingers aren't exactly paint soul and Gabriel Peck, but, uh, those guys were having a field day, you know, kind of playing direct down those sidelines against their fullback. So I really think if, if we're going to kind of pick one player.
00:15:58
Speaker
Um, hopefully if Paul Rothrock is good to go, I like that matchup a lot against Dorsey and Pedro de la Vega keeps getting better game after game after game these last few weeks. And he probably should have had an assist last match. Um, he's due for having a goal as well, obviously.
00:16:18
Speaker
Uh, yeah, I guess that's a a good place to maybe close this out on what have been your impressions of Pedro de la Vega? I think the general sense among fans is that he's been hugely disappointing and it's funny because he Every time he comes out, I get a ah bunch of comments from people saying like, oh, finally he's out or or something like that. Or he look you but he looked like he was really struggling today. And the last three games, each one of them we said, I don't know. I thought this was his best game. And that was really like, eat he still doesn't have ah that moment where you go, ah, this is the player that the Sounders were hoping to get. But
00:16:56
Speaker
I think against Portland, he showed a lot more of those moments. I mean, the run that he had right before Vargas's red card, I mean, that was absolutely electric and it was a great save ah that kept him from scoring there.
00:17:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's been a slow burn for him. I think when he got back from injury, he was looking like he was trying to do it all at once and kind of make up for lost time, be the hero in front of the fans. And as he's worked into the team, I think he's found if he plays his role, which is no beat guys on the dribble, look more to pass instead of trying to dribble it into the net, um gets used to his teammates and probably just Settles in mentally where he doesn't feel like he has to do everything. He's gotten better and better Um, and you know, you can see in the last game he's looking for jordan morris now He's other players on the sounders are anticipating the passes. He's making a bit better um, so I think that the big thing for him is just
00:18:00
Speaker
Kind of stick within yourself. Don't try to shoot from 35 yards. Don't try to dribble five guys. Like stick to what he's good at. Kind of up till you get to the box and put in balls for Morris, for, you know, Rothrock, whoever. And I think then he's going to get his goal and and fans will get excited about it. Once he finally starts contributing on the stat sheet, then people will recognize.
00:18:22
Speaker
If you were to sort of gauge your bullishness on his potential, where are you? like are you is Is this a player who has potential to really be an elite player or are you still a little skeptical that he's ever going to really live up to the designated player tag that he that he carries?
00:18:41
Speaker
I think i'm I'm cautiously optimistic, cautiously skeptical, which I guess that's kind of my default place to be anyway. But but still, um like I'm maybe a little bit, ah but about the same was what I was at the start of the season. you know he's He's showing those things now, those attributes from Lanus that the sounders saw, which how good he is on the ball, how unpredictable he can be for opposing defenses. But it's always been, and as far as I know with him, can he figure out that final third? Can he make that last pass? Can he be goal dangerous is probably the biggest one. um And that's going to be the step he has to take if he's going to be a DP contributor is can he start scoring goals like we've seen with other
00:19:27
Speaker
um argentine players coming into mls but the first step right is can he get assists can he Combine well with his teammates. I think that's something we could definitely see in this in these playoffs Where he's real boost off that right wing and then the sounders have enough um in the attacking phase if he can just contribute that much maybe next year if next year he can start scoring goals and figure out that that last, you know, two steps, the last two seconds, then, you know, the sky's the limit for the guy. Well, I lied. I did have one more thing I wanted to ask you about. ah You know, you' you've done some good.
00:20:07
Speaker
pieces for us. You've also had some good commentary ah elsewhere on the the state of the Sounders spend right now. The the latest MLS salary data just came out.
MLS Spending and Performance Correlation
00:20:19
Speaker
ah I wrote about how the Sounders are down to 15 in terms of ah roster guaranteed compensation ah in the leagues. That's like right in the middle. If you add in transfer spending over the last year, they drop all the way down to 21st.
00:20:35
Speaker
And, you know, we have discussed this at length, ah both on the Discord and elsewhere. And you seem to, I think, appropriately have a... I think you sort of turned me around on this idea a little bit, because one of the things that you sort of banged the drum about is that it's it's not necessarily just raw, like it's oftentimes, we oftentimes talk about how, uh, spending does not guarantee results, especially in that place, but we are starting to see a little bit more correlation, at least at the top and bottom of the league in terms of the high spending teams.
00:21:13
Speaker
you know You have to be spending at a certain level to be one of the top top teams. And if you're you drop far enough, you're almost relegated to being one of the the bottom teams. Almost none of the bottom spending teams are in the playoffs this year. Most of the top spending teams um or most at least the high up in the standings teams or are mostly higher spending teams. And I guess the question i I have for you is, what do you want to see the Sounders do this offseason? And what do you think it's going to take to sort of because I think we both sort of believe that it's it's not just about the results on the field, there's something to be said about
00:21:55
Speaker
injecting some excitement into the team, injecting some excitement into the fan base and that it's no longer good enough to be okay in the regular season or from a lot of the regular season and then turn it on at the end because you've just wasted so much potential, you know, entertainment dollars, essentially.
00:22:16
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the when you're talking about boosting attendance, um the games that we're talking about usually are those regular season games. You have to give fans a reason to want to come to a match in April or May. And you know a lot of that, I think,
00:22:33
Speaker
Depends on, can they bring in someone who's really exciting? And, you know, it's been a long time since the Sounders have had a pure attacking player up for MVP. Um, you know, Joe Paulo in a different role. Yeah. 2020 I suppose was when Lidero and Morris were both yeah of vaguely in consideration and they were both best 11 players. Yeah. And of course, 2020, not much attendance at all, unfortunately. but A very good point, a good point. Yeah. So yeah, it's been a while since fans have been in the stadium to watch a really dynamic attacking Sounders team. So that's kind of the main thing I i hope they get is i hope I'm sure they're going to be looking for an attacking player. I'm biased towards them going after someone to play on the wing. ah But you know i I think it's
00:23:27
Speaker
We can talk about overall spending. I look at it less as can we compete with Miami's or make sure we're not way down with with whoever, you know, St. Louis or whatnot. But are we spending enough to keep the Sounders competitively where they've been historically, right? Kind of that niche that they've found spending not at the very top, certainly nowhere near the bottom.
00:23:50
Speaker
Um, but again enough word or so of the, right. Yeah. That's been a good sweet spot for them. And the thing that I think they've been missing for a while now is being more aggressive with their moves just to bring in some excitement. Right. Um, certainly since Nico and Raul the last time a big DP is really hit. Right. Pedro, it's unfortunate. He's been injured. He was kind of a different case anyway, as a young player coming in, but can you get a guy?
00:24:18
Speaker
like a Boonga, someone like that who's must see viewing basically every game. I mean, the guy is kind of insane how healthy and fit he is. But if you show up to a game like that and you're an LAFC fan, there's a good chance you're going to see something pretty incredible with the attacking players they have. So I hope they go out this off season and they get someone like that.
00:24:41
Speaker
Yeah. Well, Andrew, I really appreciate you coming on. I'm going to try to do this a little bit more and and sort of highlighting some of the ah really talented ah writers that we have wherever it sounded hard, especially when I feel like they have something in particular to add to the conversation. So Andrew, I hope everyone that listens to this also reads your excellent ah scouting reports. I guess you'll have one coming up for the for the Dynamo game.
00:25:06
Speaker
Uh, yep. Yeah. You're too kind by the way, but I'm, I'm very glad people enjoy reading them. I like making them. I, if you know, I like making gifts. I like explaining things visually. That's kind of the most fun part of writing them for me, not the writing part. Usually it's the gift making part, but yeah, I mean, people so love images.
00:25:26
Speaker
Yeah, they explain so well, especially in soccer. They do. They really do. Well, ah thank you so much for doing this, Andrew. um we' we'll We'll sign off with that. I am Jeremiah O'Shan. This is Nos Adiates, and you'll I'll catch you next time.