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Episode 436 Preview of Sounders FC - Nashville SC
68 Plays1 year ago
Ben Wright from Broadway Sports Media joined us to talk about Nashville SC, who is hosting the Sounders on Saturday. He says, among other things, that he expects Nashville to use a full-strength lineup and gives some insight into the organization's struggles to find a suitable partner for Hany Mukhtar.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to NOS Arietes. 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 Sounders supporters. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest.
Exciting Seattle Sounders Highlights
00:00:28
Speaker
A.O. Shen! Let's go! What a save by Fry! The Seattle Sounders have done it! MLS Cup win! Here come three years through the middle to crown it the vehicle! And now they truly can't stop the celebrations. It's the Sounders' MLS Cup! Niko Liddo leaves out!
00:01:12
Speaker
Is that what you young people call twerking?
Introducing Ben Wright from Broadway Sports
00:01:27
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of NOS Adietta, sponsored by Fullpool Wines and Watson's Counter, as well as our subscribers. So thank you everyone for making this possible. Joining me today is Ben Wright of Broadway Sports. He covers Nashville SC. Hopefully you've seen him on Twitter. Hopefully you've read his work. Thank you for coming on the show, Ben. Yeah, Jeremiah, thanks for having me on. I mean, I was telling you off here, but I'm a big fan. So yeah, I think this should be a fun conversation.
00:01:55
Speaker
Yes, I am. I'm a big fan of yours as well, which is exactly why I wanted to have you on the show.
Nashville SC's Performance and Unbeaten Streak
00:02:02
Speaker
So it's been a weird season for Nashville. Of course, the Sounders are heading to Nashville. I believe this is just the second time the Sounders have played in Nashville at both times, I believe, at Geodes Park. But it's been a weird season for Nashville. I think if you aren't paying super close attention
00:02:21
Speaker
You probably have a really, really positive feeling, I think, about how Nashville season's gone. But then if you look at the table, you have sort of a different, there's a different narrative around that, especially the recent league form. How would you say, how would you describe the feelings around Nashville this year?
00:02:39
Speaker
Um, yeah, it has been a weird year. I think probably the feelings right now are maybe a little bit underwhelmed. Um, towards the beginning, I would say maybe the beginning third of the season. I mean, they had a stretch where they were unbeaten for 10 games. They were really, I mean, kind of close behind Cincinnati for a lot of that. It felt like the first half of the year in the supporter
Defensive Strengths and Challenges of Nashville SC
00:03:00
Speaker
shield race. People were saying like, if they go into the summer window and hit on a, on a DP striker, they could push Cincinnati in the supporter shield. I mean, now they're what?
00:03:09
Speaker
they really struggled in
00:03:31
Speaker
I mean, they beat Club America. They beat Monterey. They were the first Yeah, I think you can maybe make the argument that outside of Miami, they were they were sort of the runaway team. They were the team that had the most
00:03:45
Speaker
dominant performance and maybe they were more but I think you could maybe make the case they were but they were better than Miami if you just look at the You know, you don't look at who won but you look at like sort of like the entirety of the individual games they played Yeah, totally. I mean, I think they were definitely the first team in MLS to I mean really limit Messi in a way that we hadn't seen before I mean he scored but other than that it was that was pretty much it and
00:04:09
Speaker
Yeah. And then they, they went back to league play. They got absolutely smoked by Atlanta for nothing, the worst loss in club history. I mean, and that's including the two years that they played in USL. Um, so a pretty historic loss for them. They went to Miami and drew zero zero, which I think was actually a pretty good result, especially since they rotated heavily. Um, but yeah, it's, it's been, and then they drew Charlotte at home, which no one
00:04:34
Speaker
who is competing for trophies should draw Charlotte at home. Charlotte's not good.
Nashville's Defensive Tactics and Key Players
00:04:41
Speaker
after the international break they came back they beat sporting Kansas City on the road they and they stayed out what they played them on a Wednesday stayed out West went to San Jose on Saturday and got a draw so I think those four points are like I think they would absolutely take that if you told them they'd get four points before the road trip started and hopefully it hopefully it means they're kind of rested getting over some of the injuries that they had and kind of turning things around
00:05:05
Speaker
because they, I mean, they, they really need, they have four of their last five games are going to be at Judas parks. I mean, I think they have a chance to an outside chance, but a chance to push into the top four and maybe compete for a home playoff spot, but it's going to be really tight. And I think they've, they only have themselves to blame because they were in great position in the, in the first half of the year. And I think they let some things flip.
00:05:26
Speaker
So the thing that this team is built around, which seems to be every Nashville team, every Gary Smith team is it's a really stout defensively. They're really stout defensively. They have the best goals against average in the league.
00:05:42
Speaker
But it's, I guess it's offense where they have sometimes struggled to find consistent goal scoring, which is not so different, I suppose, than how the sounder season is gone. But let's focus on the defense. What are they doing? How would you describe the way they play defensively and what are they doing well?
00:05:58
Speaker
I mean, first of all, I think the entire team defends. It's a defend from the front mentality. So whoever's playing up top does a lot of work, just even pressing the back line, closing down angles. Midfield, I mean, it's kind of what you know you're going to get when you have guys like Dax McCarty, Annabelle Godoy, Sean Davis, Alex Will in midfield. I mean, they just work hard. They put in a ton of work. They stay compact. They cover lots of ground.
00:06:26
Speaker
And then in the back, I mean, I think the highlight is Walker Zimmerman, who I think probably has a case to be the best center back in MLS over the last three or four years. I mean, obviously, US national team are all that stuff. He's been excellent. They have Shaq Moore, who is also on the World Cup squad. And then, I mean, beside them, you have Dan Levitz and Jack Mayer, who have turned into just two really, really solid, consistent MLS defenders.
00:06:54
Speaker
They defend really well in midfield. They don't allow a ton to get to Joe Willis. And then I think one of the fun things to watch this year has been, I think they've just become more aggressive, especially at home. And I guess to an extent, Walker Zimmerman has always done this. But kind of Lucas McNaughton or Jack Mayer, whoever is playing center back next to him, they really take turns being really aggressive, stepping up into midfield, especially when there's a ball played from the goalkeeper or the back line.
00:07:24
Speaker
they'll go up pretty hard, pretty aggressively and try to win that. And once they do, I mean, I think they also have an argument to be one of the better county counterattacking teams in the league. So I mean, when they win the ball in midfield, it just goes to go fast. And I think that's been their blueprint for the past.
00:07:41
Speaker
four seasons or however I guess it has been four seasons that they're in MLS but I think they've kind of added a little bit more aggressiveness from the back line and it's it's risky but I think most of the time this year it's paid off.
00:07:55
Speaker
And so in goal, it seemed Joe Willis is clearly the number one, but we did see Elliott Panico used more extensively during league's
Nashville SC's Goalkeeper Dynamics
00:08:03
Speaker
cup. Is that, is that like a real, is there a, is there a goalkeeping controversy? Is there even an open contention for that? Or is it really Joe Willis's job? And then Panico.
00:08:15
Speaker
is just there to sort of like either specialize or do, you know, fill in as a traditional backup. Well, I mean, I keep saying it's not a competition, but then Panaco started last weekend in San Jose. So, I mean, they split the road trip. Willis got one Panaco got the other. I think he's, I mean, Nashville internally are super, super high on Panaco. They think that, I mean, they've referred to him as the goalkeeper of the future multiple times. Plan on him sticking around.
00:08:43
Speaker
it's a weird thing it's a weird kind of problem to have when you have the best defense in the league to be talking about should you have should this goal should our goalkeeper be our starting goalkeeper um and panico definitely is a penalty specialist i mean he came on twice off the bench in the league's cup specifically for penalties which was just random and hilarious and fun to watch but i think he's also kind of
00:09:08
Speaker
he started Joe Willis's father-in-law passed away during league's cup and had to had to leave town understandably Panico got the start instead of him and then I think he's honest I mean it's obviously a tragedy for Joe Willis and you don't want to just make it about sports but Panico took his opportunity and ran with it and I think has not just kind of stood out from the penalty spot but he's really showing that he's
00:09:34
Speaker
I think probably about as good as Willis from the run of play and he's younger and I think he's just going to keep pushing, keep developing and I want to be surprised if Willis probably gets the majority of the minutes to close out the season, but maybe next year they go into training camp with a real battle for who gets the number one job, but I would not be surprised if Pinnacle wins out because I think he's just been getting better and better.
00:09:56
Speaker
Yeah, that's definitely, but I assume for Saturday, the expectation is Joe Willis. I would assume so, but I can't promise anything. There was a curveball in San Jose, so I'm less certain than I would have been if we had this last Thursday.
00:10:15
Speaker
Fair enough. So the moving over to the offense, which is the other sort of part of this equation, obviously, is it it has been historically honeymuktar.
Hany Mukhtar's Impact and Scoring Challenges
00:10:26
Speaker
And then let's see what else we can get. And frankly, we're right back where we started. I guess the first question is, how good has muktar been?
00:10:37
Speaker
without just like reciting, you know, he has 23 goals and, and assists or primary assists. Uh, he's clearly putting up MVP like numbers. Is that telling the whole story? Yeah, pretty much. Um, I, I think, I, I think, I mean, I definitely have some proximity bias because I watch him every week, but I mean, I would put him up there as I, and I think the numbers back this up too. He's pushing into like,
00:11:01
Speaker
best of all time, like among the among the best attackers who have ever played in MLS. I mean, he just became the first player in league history since 1998 to score 10 plus goals and assist 10 plus goals in three consecutive seasons. The last player to do that was Preckie. So I mean, just on that a while ago in case he's now he's now an old assistant for the Sounders. Yeah. And so you can kind of put that in perspective of like how long ago that happened.
00:11:30
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, he did it 96, 97, 98, no one has done until Mooktar. I mean, he was second in the MVP race in 21, won it last year. I think he's probably going to finish second or third of the Joe Acosta this year. But I mean, like you said, he's been doing it on his own. It's he's really had no help or very inconsistent and sporadic help, which makes it more impressive. I think it makes it a little bit disappointing.
00:11:57
Speaker
If he leaves Nashville without having won a trophy, I think it will go down as one of the bigger missed opportunities. Um, maybe even in league history, just because you had an elite defense and you had one of the best attackers in league history and didn't really build a championship winning team around him. That being said, I mean, I he's 27 he's in his prime. I think there's still time, but I mean, he's, he's just been that good. Um, I think he's yeah.
00:12:25
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:13:04
Speaker
Yeah, Sounders fans may or may not remember this, but once upon a time, Hani was being recruited to join the Sounders. And he came pretty close to coming here in 2017. He was obviously a much younger player. He had aspirations of really being a star in Europe at that point. And of course,
00:13:26
Speaker
As it turned out, a couple of years later, he decided that was a better time to move to MLS. I think Nashville had to pay like $50,000 for his discovery rights. Yeah, exactly. They had to pay for his discovery rights. And I would be lying if we don't spend some time over here wondering what would have been if the Sounders had been able to bring in Hani Mukhtar. But he's been every bit as good as advertised. I think you're right. I think he probably goes down in history as one of the top attackers in league history.
00:13:56
Speaker
And yet they can't seem to find him a consistent running mate. You know, this year, the second leading scorer is Fafa Pico, who is probably a name Sounders fans recognize because he's been around forever, but he's got five goals and then no one else has more than three.
00:14:17
Speaker
I guess, how would you describe, why is, how is it that they every year seem to come into this situation where it's like, well, we know we need to get some relief. We can't, we gotta have a second score and yet it never seems to materialize.
00:14:31
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, well, they've known that for a long time. They signed, they signed, uh, genre kiddies as a DP in their first year. He didn't pan out. They signed Akay Loba for, um, almost 7 million in 2021. They're still their club record signing. He was, I mean, as good as Mukhtar has been, Akay Loba was the opposite. I think he could go down as one of the worst signings in league history. Um, I think he scored two Sam Surridge scored.
00:14:57
Speaker
as many goals as Aki Loba did in his natural career in under 300 minutes of play. So I mean, just categorically, an absolute bust. Natural paid for that this year because Loba was on a multi-year contract. They loaned him out to Mazatlan in the MX, but they didn't get the DP spot open. Then they bought him out before the summer window, and they finally went back and were able to sign another DP in same surge.
00:15:23
Speaker
I mean, obviously we talked about League's Cup. He had some huge goals for them. And I think really looked kind of like the prototypical Gary Smith striker. And I think once he once he really gets the team, once he can stay healthy, he looks like he could be the answer. Knock on wood. He's just been he's been hurt. He picked up something when they played Atlanta after League's Cup.
00:15:45
Speaker
some kind of issue on the turf and just hasn't been 100%. They've been really careful with him. I think they're trying not to re-aggravate it with the playoffs lumen sure. But yeah, I mean, we talked to Gary Smith this morning and he said one of the big priorities for them, obviously, seeing if they can push for a home playoff spot, but really getting surge healthy.
00:16:04
Speaker
and building that connection with Mukhtar because, I mean, even if Serge doesn't come in and take out all the scoring burden from Mukhtar, just having a focal point and giving Mukhtar more freedom, I think that's almost just as important. They don't really care who is scoring. If Mukhtar has to keep scoring 90% of the goals, they'll take it as long as he's scoring. I think the real issues are, like we saw in MLS when he wasn't scoring, no one else has really stepped up.
00:16:32
Speaker
If he's playing well, the whole team plays well. If he doesn't play well, there's just not a lot of answers. Name search could be that I think Randall, they all is getting back. He's missed 18 or 19 games injured the past two years, but was originally signed as a DP. And it's been like the number two attacker on the team. Um, so yeah, they just, they need the attackers they currently have to stay healthy. And then I think.
00:16:57
Speaker
I mean, they're going to need to take a look at this roster in the winter. But I think they have the pieces that if they stay healthy and get informed, they could they could be pretty good down the stretch. So I'm looking at Sam Serge's FBI page and they list them at five eleven. I wasn't an impression. He was like huge. No, that's not true. He's at least he's he's my height. He's six three. OK, I was like, I thought he was a big guy. But yeah, so in case our listeners don't know Sam Serge, 25 year old English striker,
00:17:26
Speaker
You know, you don't see a lot of 25 year olds with his track record coming to MLS, especially from England. You know, this is a player who has spent, who has like real minutes at the championship and has scored goals, has scored, you know, um, 30 goals or so in, in England. So it's not like he's, he's a, uh, we see a lot of players come from England. We even see some 25 year olds from England, but very rarely do they come here with his resume.
00:17:54
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, and he was, I mean, he was kind of a fringe level Premier League player too for Nottingham forest last year. He, I think he started one game for them, but he was, but he got to be played 20 games. Yeah, which I don't, I can't think of a ton of players at that level, at least recently, maybe Kucho Hernandez seems like maybe the closest. Yeah, maybe that would maybe be the best example, but you're right. They're just not, if you have getting Premier League minutes, chances are you're not coming to MLS at 25.
00:18:20
Speaker
Yeah. So I mean, I think it's, it has all the makings of like a really, really good signing for Nashville. Um, he obviously has to stay on the field, but everything that we've seen from him in the limited minutes, he, um, I mean, he's obviously six three target forward can do all that holdup work. He's a lot faster than he looks. I mean,
00:18:41
Speaker
he's kind of a tall, lanky guy. So he never really looks like he's sprinting, but when he, when he takes off, he's pretty fast. And I think he's a pretty underrated passer. I think it was actually in the buildup to his, to his first goal that a 99th minute equalizer, um, he hit, he pinged this diagonal to Dax, like half volley paying diagonals to Dax McCarty that, I mean, it looked like a Dax McCarty.
00:19:03
Speaker
passing to himself. Um, so yeah, I think he, he has a lot of potential to be more than kind of just like the English six foot three striker that they just hit long balls to and hope he can make something happen. I think he can, he can actually play. Um, and that's, I mean, they really emphasized that a lot when they were looking for a DP forward as just wanting someone who can compliment honey Moctar can combine with him in the final third. Um,
00:19:30
Speaker
I think that's what CJ Sepong when he was in Nashville. I think that's what he did at his best. He wasn't scoring a ton, but he was excellent at hold-up play and he almost had like a telepathic connection with Mukhtar in the final third. And I think that's really what they're hoping they can get with Serge plus consistent goal scoring.
00:19:48
Speaker
And I guess I should ask, are we planning to see Serge this week? Yeah. I mean, Gary Smith said today that he's, he's healthy. I don't know if that means he's, he's able to play 90 minutes. I imagine that we'll probably see him start and see how he was doing and at least get 60. Um, they did this in league skip to a lot where Teal Bunbury started and they swapped them at the half. Um, but yeah, I think, I think he's going to play. Um, and I think they, they need him to play because they need him to be running for the playoffs. So I guess.
00:20:18
Speaker
What's generally, what's your expectation going into this one? I think I'll tell you, I think the Sounders would probably be pretty happy to get out of there with the point. Uh, but what's the, what's the feeling in Nashville? I think the feeling in Nashville is pretty optimistic because I think they, they still think that that league's cup team is kind of who they are. Um, they've had injuries since then. So, I mean, I think they would point to that as saying like, we were exhausted. We played a ton of games. We had injuries. That's not.
00:20:46
Speaker
I mean, there are reasons that we were bad. So I think when they're fully healthy, that League's Cup team kind of was the blueprint for how they think they can play. And they were at home for the entirety of it, essentially. I mean, once they made it past Cincinnati, they played at home in the knockout rounds. They're really, really good at home. And I think they feel
00:21:07
Speaker
With Seattle coming across the country, it's a tough road trip. They're at home where they're really good. They really need three points to really kind of push the teams in front of them. I think they're pretty confident that they can get a win. I think they'd be pretty disappointed with the draw as good as Seattle are.
00:21:25
Speaker
Yeah, well, that's an open question that I think over here too. I don't know if anybody's good in the West. They could all be good, they could all not be. Right. I know it's been a weird year for the sounders. We've talked about this obviously a lot on our show, but I do think there's this sort of outside perception that everything is fine. What are you stressing about?
00:21:48
Speaker
And, and yes, if you look at the table, the sounders are, you know, they're in third place, but like the gap between third and seventh is not all that big. And, and more than that, it's just been, it's been five months really, since the sounders have been able to consistently put results together. Now they are starting to put some results together. Now they've, they're, they're five unbeaten, which is, believe it or not, the longest unbeaten streak they've been on since 2021 when they opened it.
00:22:11
Speaker
when they open the season with a 13 game unbeaten run. And they've been, and so it's just been a lot of fits and starts since then. Like they started really well this season. They were five one on one, but since then they're basically playing, you know, a little under 500, uh, soccer. So it's, it's been kind of a weird season for the Sounders. Uh, they will come into this one, I think reasonably healthy. They will probably, they, it will be very interesting to see what the starting lineup is because there's some choices that they will have to make that, uh,
00:22:40
Speaker
you know, is Nico Ledero still a starter on this team? Is Raul Ruid is still a starter on this team? Are two of the biggest questions surrounding the Sounders? And frankly, I don't know if one or both will start this week. So it'll be interesting. That'll be an interesting discussion point. Of course, the Sounders then come home.
00:22:58
Speaker
And they have two home games in quick succession. So it'll be interesting to see how they balance it. How do you think Nashville is going to balance? They also have a bunch of games coming up. Do you suspect that they put out their A lineup for this one and then just make adjustments as it goes? Or might they be a little cageier?
00:23:20
Speaker
Yeah, I think they're going to play their A lineup pretty much from here on out. I mean, especially since they go to Philadelphia on October 7th, the rest of it is at home. So I think that it's tough to do your full strength lineup when you're playing.
00:23:36
Speaker
Saturday, Wednesday, and traveling. But I think at home, they feel pretty good that they can just roll it out and do whatever they need to. And they're pretty healthy, too. I mean, Lucas McNaughton at center back was really pushing Jack Mayer. Like, I think he probably won the starting spot next to Walker's every minute he's hurt. But other than that, it's a fully healthy team. And yeah, I mean, at this point, they're in seventh. They want to get up to fourth, at least. So I think they're pretty much going to be treating this like playoffs.
00:24:03
Speaker
Great.
00:24:52
Speaker
I think we've put together a pretty good crew of soccer guys. I kind of had things up. We have Chris Ivey and Valerciabilla and Jonathan Slate doing a lot of writing for us. So yeah, it's a passion project for most of us, but I mean, we're thankful to have the subscribers we do, which I mean, it helps us from losing money running it, essentially. Yeah.
00:24:54
Speaker
things going there
00:25:19
Speaker
Yeah, well, I'm always happy to lend my megaphone if needed. I'm happy to lend anything you guys might need. But I love that there's so many, you know, the MLS marketplace, as you know, is challenging. But it's also a lot of opportunity that, you know, we have this ability to sort of make the media what we want it to be. And I think that's kind of an exciting opportunity. There's going to be some
00:25:45
Speaker
There's definitely some pain involved in that, but, uh, you know, there's this huge vacuum and especially in places like Nashville, where you have, you have a robust audience or potentially robust audience. Uh, I'm glad to see things like this. So, uh, you know, I hope people go check out Broadway sports. It's just Broadway sports.com. Right. Broadway sports media.com. Broadway sports media.com. There you go. Uh, and check out, uh, Ben's writing there and check out all the Nashville SC stuff. Uh, where can they follow you on Twitter?
00:26:12
Speaker
just been right. Super easy. And you probably I was very obnoxious enough. Yeah, I'll find myself retweeting you in part because you do a great job of like finding some really good statistical stuff. My favorite one is just sort of like your your running update of how teams would look if they follow their home road form.
00:26:32
Speaker
Yeah, that's been fun. And like, I mean, going back to the West, like I was just looking at my West predictions. Yeah. It's like, I think maybe three points separating second from like eighth. Yeah, that's about right. So yeah, it's a crazy, it's like a chaotic year to even be trying to predict anything, but it is. I feel like you could talk to yourself into thinking virtually any team from the West can emerge, I think almost
00:26:58
Speaker
Almost any team from the West will be the underdog in MLS Cup. But I think you can make the case that everyone from one through almost at least seven, if not eight, nine.
00:27:09
Speaker
could theoretically put it together and make a run. I mean, Minnesota maybe is the, is the, is sort of like the perfect encapsulation of this. I think right now they're outside the playoffs and there's been times this year where they've looked like the best team in the West and you know, they could, so they could finish anywhere from, you could talk me into like, yeah, they're going to be the MLS cup representative or they might miss the playoffs.
00:27:29
Speaker
Yeah, it feels a bit like St. Louis' is pretty good, mostly, and Colorado is bad. And then in between. And then everyone else in between. Yep, absolutely. Well, Ben, thank you so much for doing this. Make sure if you follow them, make sure you check out BroadwaySportsMedia.com. I am Jeremiah Cheyenne, signing off for Nos Adiates. We will catch you next time.
00:28:47
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!