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We Won Leagues Cup! - Ep. 121
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the Seattle Sounders bask in the glow of their Leagues Cup 2025 title and wait to learn about the fallout from Inter Miami’s postgame crash out. We’ve got new details on what Lionel Messi reportedly told Pedro de la Vega and Obed Vargas during the match, and it doesn’t seem very GOATed. We’ll talk about that, Cristian Roldan’s call up to the USMNT and then a historic Agenda Check.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
Well sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be a real scorcher today. Quite the scorcher today. Well it's gonna be scorcher.
00:00:21
Speaker
What's going on, everybody? Welcome in to another episode of Lobbing Scorchers. We are recording this on a Wednesday evening in the aftermath of the Seattle Sounders League's Cup 2025 title, which they won over the weekend at Lumen Field against Lionel Messi, Inter-Miami, and the Crash Out Crybaby Barca Boys.
00:00:43
Speaker
ah We've got a surprisingly newsy show to get here ah this evening. Noah, How are you feeling now that the dust is settled and we are we're back at it with a normal show and it's a little less frantic? I feel a little more relaxed tonight than I have the last couple days. How about you?
00:01:04
Speaker
I feel the same way. I've literally haven't been sleeping. I've just been grinding out content ah like nonstop. We did two million views across all of our social media platforms in the last three days.
00:01:16
Speaker
So that has just been literally all we're doing. So that's a good shout to to follow us on TikTok and Instagram. as well as YouTube. But oh my God, what a final, such a joy to be able to be there to live stream for five hours ah to to do just like the whole thing. And shout out to the Sounders.
00:01:36
Speaker
for getting that done and what a crowd, what an event, we'll talk about it. But also shout out to Sounders social team for putting us in two brain rot TikTok edits for the kids out there who know who what that is.
00:01:47
Speaker
um That's where we belong. Yeah, that's really where we belong. But also I have to say, I had people coming at me saying, oh, Noah, you're coming in hot. You're coming in hot. You're coming in heavy. Oh, you know, you're really you're really talking a lot of shit.
00:02:01
Speaker
You know, this is Inter-Miami and the Barca boys, Noah. Like, you you should you should tone it down. You're going to jinx us.
00:02:09
Speaker
Victory lap. Victory lap. Messi, where are you, bro? You ghosted. You ghosted. Ghost snack is gone. That agenda is over.
00:02:19
Speaker
It's now ghosty. that, does that hit? I don't know. that Well, we can, uh, we can work, workshop that we're going to be talking about, uh, Leonel messy. He's going to be a key character in this show. Uh, I'm glad you mentioned it about, uh, just thank you to everyone who tuned into our coverage of this whole tournament. Uh, like you said, the, uh, the view counts been going crazy. We've got a lot of new subscribers, especially this last game against your Miami. I think it definitely, uh,
00:02:51
Speaker
We had a lot more people that weren't familiar with us watching our stuff, which is awesome. ah Hopefully some of you will stick around and yeah, the five hour post game live was a marathon, but God, I wouldn't have had it any other way.
00:03:06
Speaker
It was incredible to experience that game, you know, not just with each other, but with like the whole community we had. like 100 people probably call in after the game it was just a constant stream of calls keeping us on all night so really just uh yeah the best week in uh lobbying scorcher's history for sure and a great historic week historic match, historic win for the Seattle Sounders. That one's going down in the books. I mean, 70K people in the building to watch the squad absolutely destroy Lionel Messi and the Barca boys and then have them crash out and start a massive brawl complete with a trademark vintage Luis Suarez a new crash out. A new moment in his aura.
00:03:51
Speaker
in his aura caused by the Seattle Sounders. Oh God, it's just, it's such good content. We're going be basking in it a little bit more. ah We've got new details on what Lionel Messi reportedly told Pedro de la Vega and Obed Vargas during the match. breaking the Obed Vargas story, by the way. I'm just letting everyone know. Okay. we're All right.
00:04:11
Speaker
We're breaking. I guess we're breaking that. There was reports that are already out there about what Lionel Messi told Pedro de la Vega. And we have also- no if you can't we have also heard what he uh told obed vargas uh i'm sure many of you remember uh he got into it verbally with both of those guys during the match so uh if you're wondering what he said ah we're gonna talk about that uh i have to say doesn't seem like very goaded behavior from Lionel Messi uh the stuff that he was was telling those guys uh Christian rolled on got called up to the USMNT uh we're going to talk about that and then uh we've got uh we got a historic agenda check we're yeah we are going to be going through at the start of the show uh we're going to be going through and uh declaring a group of agendas that we have talked about on this show ad nauseum dating back
00:05:06
Speaker
at least a year or two now for some of these and we're going to be declaring them dead putting them to rest I think that's kind of the unique thing that comes with an agenda check after you win a final is uh it kind of it kind of puts a bow on certain things so we're going to talk about those things and then we're going to talk about uh some other agendas later. So it's going to be a jam packed show. It's going to be a good one before we do that. I do have to let you all know that lobbying Scorchers is a part of the sounder at heart podcast network.
00:05:36
Speaker
If you want to get the best independent Seattle soccer coverage, consider supporting us by going to sounder at heart.com slash LS. Noah, what's that link? sounder at heart.com slash L S scroll down to subscribe and support to get 30 days completely free. Every sign up through our link helps support and grow this show.
00:05:53
Speaker
Uh, we've hit a hundred sounder at heart subs. I think we hit that milestone, announced on our last episode. Uh, appreciate you all helping us get to that. That was a big one. We've been working on that for a long time. Uh, we got one new one.
00:06:08
Speaker
We got one new one. yeah thank Who's the new sub Carl hit burner. Carl hit burner. charles you that We appreciate you, Carl. Thank you, Carl. Appreciate you. Uh, shout out to our sponsors, hacks and ferments podium ends where full pull lines, my data removal, uh, hacks and ferments. We have our, our hot sauce has been out for a few weeks.
00:06:28
Speaker
Uh, lobbing scorchers.com slash sauce. Uh, go ahead and order that up. If you haven't, uh, definitely compliment to any crash out. it That's how we should market it. Yeah. Uh,
00:06:41
Speaker
please subscribe to uh the channel if you haven't already and as though it mentioned i mean our instagram and our tick tock this this tournament is particularly this last game with uh all the with inter miami messy and uh the rothrock content it was definitely the biggest week for us on uh on the old ig and talks so a lot of good content over there all a long way of saying follow us on those platforms uh And last, ah last little promo here before we get into it.
00:07:14
Speaker
We were filming the whole time. We were at the league's cup final. We went down there at around noon ah before kickoff with our video guy, Eric, who's the man.
00:07:25
Speaker
And we were filming, we did ah some man on the street type content. We really got the whole vibe of the Pioneer Square immediate Lumen Field vicinity. It was awesome. And then we also have footage from the game and in the stadium and stuff.
00:07:40
Speaker
And we're gonna put it together in a big vlog ah similar to the ones we did ah but about the US Open Cup. uh earlier this year really excited for that that type of uh content for this game no i think is gonna go crazy and that is uh we're shooting for friday to get that out is that is that right yeah all right uh well so keep your eyes posted for that that's gonna be ah god i'm so excited to watch watching the version the edit versions and i've been working with eric and helping produce it a little bit and
00:08:14
Speaker
This is legitimately like, I was getting goosebumps watching It's fire. So I'm so excited to put this out. All right, Noah, let's lay down this pod. You ready? I'm so ready. to get into it I've been waiting.
00:08:26
Speaker
Yeah, let's do it. It's funny because I've been waiting, but also we've been doing content the entire time. So I haven't really had to wait, but it's like, this is just such a good format for us. Yeah. it's nice to be able to do this too. It's nice to be able to slow it down a little bit and just kind bask in everything.
00:08:42
Speaker
as opposed to just like you said, keeping the content rolling 24 seven without sleeping. um All right. First ah first topic of the day, Noah, we've got ah some news that came out about probably an hour before we started.
00:08:58
Speaker
ah recording this. It is courtesy of ah Alan Gordon on the Major League Journeyman podcast that he hosts with ah other former MLS veteran players, Dax McCarty and Dan Gargan.
00:09:11
Speaker
ah They were giving their analysis of the League's Cup Final, and Alan Gordon revealed what Lionel Messi supposedly told Pedro de la Vega when he was chirping at him on the field.
00:09:23
Speaker
ah So I believe we have the clip of that ah ready to go. So we're going to play that from... ah From Alan Gordon and the Major League Journeyman podcast, guys. And those then we're going to, yeah go sub, toss him a sub, and then we're going to react to it.
00:09:37
Speaker
So let's get that clip up, and here we go. And that's um here's some here's some inside stuff that makes me, it just makes me sick. um You know, De La Vega, we we talked about him.
00:09:48
Speaker
How awesome has he been? You know, he's been so good. and And that's another piece of Schmetzer that we, you know, we were like, okay, well, where's this guy going to play? Remember when we were talking about it? We're like, well, Schmetzer will figure it out.
00:10:00
Speaker
And then they weren't doing well. And I was like, I guess we were wrong. You know, Schmetzer is not figuring it out. And he's, he's gone ahead. And this guy's having a great, I mean, every time I watch him play, he gets better and better and better.
00:10:11
Speaker
he kill l a system i killed was Messi told him, do you remember when they got into a little scuff during the game? Messi told him to his face, he said, you'll never play for the national team as long as I am involved.
00:10:27
Speaker
He basically blackballed him on the field. And so, and this case happened. This is like, this happened.
00:10:38
Speaker
That's that. That's that. And then let's ah let's throw the Obed piece into this because we've also heard through very reputable sources that what Messi told that Pedro de la Vega something to the effect of you are shit and you will or what he told Obed vars was obed Vargas. He told Obed Vargas, you are shit and you will never leave and MLS.
00:11:08
Speaker
Which is funny because the guy has a $10 million dollars transfer offer outstanding to go to Liga Mequis, which I understand that it's it's ah he was trying to aim at it like you'll never go to Europe.
00:11:19
Speaker
But brother, what what are we talking about? Yeah. What do you make of, let's let's start talking about the blackballing thing first. ah What do you make of Lionel Messi telling Pedro de la Vega that he will never play for Argentina as long as he's involved? ah Well, it's a good thing that he's playing his last game this weekend.
00:11:45
Speaker
It's a good thing Messi's playing his last game this weekend.
00:11:49
Speaker
For Argentina? Yeah, allegedly. Potentially. Aren't they playing tonight? at the Yeah, I guess it's tonight. Yeah. hes He's like not playing in that game. I guess he just got there. I mean, I'll just say for ah for my part, this kind of just reinforces a couple things.
00:12:08
Speaker
ah Number one, that Obed Vargas is and ah the Seattle Sounders live in Lionel Messi and Inter-Miami crash out Barca boys heads.
00:12:20
Speaker
Rent absolute free. They're not paying anything to live in there. That's number one. And I think ah more than that, it's just like uh you know Messi came into the league with all this aura and uh brought the Barca boys with him and it was like this oh these guys are in the league now what like legendary figures to grace MLS with their presence and uh you know he came in with a bang on the field too they made their Leagues Cup run when he first got here
00:12:51
Speaker
ah They set the points record last year, played some ah some great footy, and there was just this kind of, like I said, aura around them. ah after After watching this tournament and then seeing how that final went, and then watching Sergio Busquets, let's go down the list.
00:13:10
Speaker
yeah Sergio Busquets. punches Obed Vargas in the face. I know people were saying it's like not a punch because he didn't hit him that hard. I mean, he closed his fist and he jabbed him in the face. So whatever you want to call that, uh, that is not very becoming behavior of a 37 year old man.
00:13:31
Speaker
but that's exactly it for, for this. Right. you're the greatest player of all time. You don't need to prove yourself at all. You know for a fact, because you've met Pedro de la Vega before, especially when he was coming up as a young Argentine, you know that he idolizes you.
00:13:48
Speaker
And you're going to sit here on the field, whether it's shit talk or not, and just like tell him that he's never going to be involved involved in his national team and tell him that, you know,
00:13:59
Speaker
all of this stuff, you ah you you have to understand your place in all of this, right? You've won everything there is to win. Why are you getting so upset about, like, I can respect a competitor.
00:14:14
Speaker
I can respect a competitor. I can respect a little shit talk on the field, but that's different. That's different. To do that not only to Pedro de la Vega, but also to Obed Vargas, those are two young players.
00:14:26
Speaker
Those are two young players who are starting their careers and have idolized this player, who have who have even openly said, like, yeah, it's an incredible honor to play against this player. I've never said anything bad about you, but are just playing you hard and well.
00:14:41
Speaker
Is that not a sign of respect in itself that they didn't pull any punches? no one Neither one of those players ah was playing dirty against Messi, was playing violent against Messi.
00:14:52
Speaker
It's Shocking. It's shocking and it's embarrassing. And it goes to show that like there has been a sort of air of like, yeah, Messi's kind of a brat, especially when he was at Barcelona and there was there was talk about how he was kind of a brat in the locker room and things like that.
00:15:11
Speaker
But you're at your point in your career where you have nothing left to prove and you have people idolizing you. And you're sitting there and you're telling them that they're shit and that they're never going to be anything and that you're going to purposefully black ball them from the national team.
00:15:26
Speaker
That's so embarrassing. And then to get blown out three nil while saying that. It's over. He's washed. The game is gone. The game has left him. They say this.
00:15:37
Speaker
They say this, Ari. This is a saying. Leave football before football leaves you. He has become a supervillain. He is no longer a footballer. He is a supervillain. Inner Miami are the Death Star.
00:15:49
Speaker
They're a team that every single person hates in this league. And you've lost it, man. You could have had everything in this league. You could have had adoring fans, all of this stuff. And what's what's happened? What's happened? You're bullying a couple of 20 year olds.
00:16:04
Speaker
What a loser. What an absolute sorry sore loser. yeah like for ah for me like just when you when you put together the totality of it of inner miami's behavior which honestly started during the game i've never seen a team uh whine and crash out at the referees more every single call dude and it was every single call it doesn't matter what yeah it doesn't matter what the call was i remember one in particular where uh uh messy was trying to make a run into the box and he tried to draw a foul on jackson reagan to get a free kick but he clearly like initiated the contact himself and then fell and the referee i want to give him credit he didn't give the that foul just because it's messy i've seen messy get awarded that foul a thousand times uh during his time in mls and frankly throughout his career so i want to actually credit the ref for calling it straight he saw that ah messy was simulating there and he uh
00:17:04
Speaker
And he didn't give it to him. But like that, after that play, they had six guys, the ball was like in play. Do you remember this? yeah And they had six guys like at the same time. It was every single call, the entire game. They do that every game and it gets,
00:17:20
Speaker
real real tiresome so I mean it's just like you you put that with the brawl after the game where you got Sergio Busquets hitting Obed then you've got obviously everyone knows about the Luis Suarez spitting on uh on Jean which is one of the craziest things I've ever seen on a soccer field even for Luis Suarez And then you have this coming out where, ah yeah, like you said, there i have no problem really with ah trash talk during a game.
00:17:54
Speaker
i Guys chirp each other. That's totally normal if Messi was chirping. nothing, nothing wrong with that. It's part of the game. Uh, but to say that you're going to blackball him from the national team, that's different.
00:18:10
Speaker
That's different. That's like threatening somebody that's threatening to like mess with their career career over a league's cup title. And they said that league's cup doesn't mean anything, but a meaningless cash grab.
00:18:22
Speaker
Apparently Messi wants to blackball people over it, but yeah, it's, it's shocking. It definitely, it definitely cements them as a league super villains for sure. ah but also what I was going to say is like, it just, it also cements them to me as a bunch of clowns.
00:18:38
Speaker
Yes. They're circus clowns like this aura of like, Oh, we're like the God's gift to the league because, we're Lionel Messi and the, and the Barca boys.
00:18:49
Speaker
I don't even, I don't even take them seriously. I don't respect them as like, uh, an opponent that's worth thinking about at like after what they did in the uh in the final to crash out and lose 3-0 but then all this all this behavior that and we just mentioned it's like you're you're a joke yeah you're a joke like you're not even to be taken seriously the wheels are falling off genuinely i feel like and i've been saying this that things are falling apart in miami they've been falling apart in miami and
00:19:23
Speaker
This, I think the Sounders could have possibly just killed this super team. I mean, it was a true David versus Goliath moment where the giant fell and it fell really hard in an embarrassing manner.
00:19:36
Speaker
I mean, Luis Suarez may be suspended the rest of the MLS season. we should entirely We should talk about that. Also through a punch, he may be suspended for multiple games. Yeah, the Sounders may get some suspensions as well.
00:19:47
Speaker
But there there is there is no doubt in my mind that Major League Soccer will do something about this. People are saying, oh, they won't do it. They love Messi. They love Messi. I don't believe that. I don't believe that.
00:19:58
Speaker
I believe that they will take matters into their own hands, and I trust that they're going to do something about this. But again, like I've been saying, when you let them get away with so much for so long, this is the inevitable result of it all.
00:20:11
Speaker
And it's over. the the Can you imagine that plane ride back to Miami? Oh, um I did imagine it, and I laughed a lot. it That locker room has to be cooked.
00:20:23
Speaker
That coach, I mean, Mascherano, I don't understand how he would even have and and any standing in this league anymore. i mean, he went in the post-match and started to rationalize spitting on a random... He implied it was provoked.
00:20:38
Speaker
He implied it was instigated. and it's embarrassing. That whole team is embarrassing. And it's so amazing to watch. If you go back, I watched the whole match over again the other day, just for fun. It was awesome. By the way, I really recommend it. I thought Apple TV did a great job of the the pre-match coverage to the post-match coverage, especially the post-match coverage, but the pre-match coverage, it's just glaze glaze, glaze, glaze, messy, messy, messy, messy. There's no way they're going to do anything. There's you know, BWP shout out BWP. He actually said the Sounders were going to win my guy.
00:21:10
Speaker
He said the penalties, but you know what, whatever, we take what we can get. and then And then after, it's just everyone being like, oh, that was embarrassing. They're so embarrassing. what what the The whole talking point across the entire world right now is how embarrassing and how the Sounders embarrassed this super team.
00:21:30
Speaker
and Which, yeah, that part of it is great. I love that part it. And it was done with Obed Vargas, a young Mexican international. Pedro de la Vega, a young guy, right?
00:21:43
Speaker
Osaze de Rosario. Osaze de Rosario, the third string. I mean, what what what more could you want? This team, Inter-Miami, they're done. They're over. This team, it's going to die.
00:21:55
Speaker
I promise you, this was the final nail in their coffins. Let's ah let's talk about the ah Suarez aspect of it because as we record this on Wednesday, ah we have yet to see anything as far as disciplinary action.
00:22:09
Speaker
And there's been you know a lot of talk predictions about what's going to happen. I've seen some pundits say, well, at first it seemed like it was assumed. And I think I even kind of assumed this, that like any punishment would be related ah just to leagues cup because it became it came outside of MLS play. It's a different tournament.
00:22:26
Speaker
ah and you don't necessarily have to have discipline crossover from like a separate tournament into league play. ah But as ah Tom Bogues and others have pointed out, there is precedent as a Sounders fans know for suspensions carrying over from outside tournaments into league play.
00:22:45
Speaker
It happened with ah with the red card wedding when Clint Dempsey tore up Daniel Radford's notebook. He got three games, I believe, in MLS play, even though that happened in Open Cup. ah There's at least a couple other examples of it.
00:22:57
Speaker
ah But ah the league... for sure has the authority to punish Luis Suarez for what he did in League's Cup that is not even an issue so I don't even want to hear people talking about that they absolutely can and do have the authority and I spending well and i expect I expect they will and I mean honestly you know what it should be the rest of the season it should be the rest of the season like if it's anything less than that it won't be it won't be just get him like he wasn't I think I said this on get him the hell out of here
00:23:29
Speaker
I think I ah said this on kickoff, but like, there's just gotta to be a line, man. Like there's gotta be a threshold, especially with someone who has so much history of it, like him, where you can't just enable and have them,
00:23:44
Speaker
live in this world where they can just do whatever they want and there will be in this case it could be consequences but like it's got to be a lot of consequences it does like and i think with uh with where we're at in the season you gotta he he should be done like he should be done it's one thing to verbally crash out at a ref or an opposing player or get in someone's face or like a little pushing and shoving yeah that would like like the rest like everyone else in the brawl that's like that rest of that is is one thing spitting on a team staffer is just like i still can't believe what we're even talking about and and
00:24:22
Speaker
ah Sergio Busquets throwing punches. He should be suspended too. He should be. he He needs to be suspended. if you want, and putting Cody Baker in a headlock, what are we doing? I said the whole in the press box, I was like, oh, God, Falcone's going to crash out at some point in this game. I already know it.
00:24:38
Speaker
He did it at the end. By putting Cody Baker in a goddamn full Nelson, what are we doing? What are we doing? Not the C Bakes. We love C Bakes. You can't do that to our boy. But like. bo so Busquets needs to be suspended like a lot.
00:24:51
Speaker
Yeah. games it's It's crazy. And if you. People keep sending me videos on Twitter. they I mean you did an incredible analysis with Nico. ah Of the whole brawl we put up. Nico got it on video. Nico got it on video. I mean I've been talking to so many different people about this.
00:25:05
Speaker
And it really is unfortunate that this is what we have to leave the show with. But it is. It's it's insane. It's insane. Like you beat their ass so bad. that they crashed out to the 10th degree. That's like, honestly, it made it a more legendary win. even more legendary.
00:25:18
Speaker
Yes. and So shout out to them for that, I guess. Suarez was also like stepping on people's toes the whole time. Like as they were trying to walk away, he would like stomp on their toes. So they well that's what he did to Gene.
00:25:29
Speaker
And he did it to Gene, but he was doing it to a bunch of different people, man. It's just like, what a bunch of sick, sick, sick individuals. I mean that, and we've been saying that locker room is cancerous.
00:25:40
Speaker
Oh my God. inner Miami locker room may be worse than Toronto and that's saying something. Yeah, no, like I said, uh, circus clowns, uh, they are a traveling, I got, I got no respect at this point. They're a joke. Like, yeah, they're a joke. They're a meme team.
00:25:56
Speaker
Uh, they are not they had they got no aura they are ah like you said we villains every everyone hates them now so they might they might enjoy that role but like the it's in like not in a not in a cool way like no one's intimidated it's like the most annoying bot accounts spamming you're lying we love messy and all of that kind of stuff and then pretending like anyone cares about Inter-Miami. Like I truly do feel bad for the real Inter-Miami fans.
00:26:29
Speaker
I mean, you talk to some on the podcast, right? yeah you You talk to people who have been there through the whole thing and who they really wanna see those young players. We talked to some ah at the like out front of the stadium as well that were very nice. Yeah, like there are real Inter-Miami fans, whether people wanna believe it or not.
00:26:46
Speaker
I feel for them because their team has been taken over by the most absolutely horrific group of individuals and fans of all time it's got to be it's got to be a tough scene down there in miami but you know what it's an even better scene up here in seattle because we are goddamn champions yet again three zero three zero three zero three zero and and we have been saying this in all of our live streams if anyone's talking shit online at all just drop three zero you don't have to say anything else
00:27:20
Speaker
They're going be like well, well, Messi, there's 3-0. It doesn't matter. Quiet down. 3-0. ah Noah, anything else on De La Vega, Obed Vargas, Lionel Messi thing and the and the crash outer suspensions? Or should we should we keep it pushing? All I know is when De La Vega gets that call up and Obed Vargas gets sold for $45 million dollars to Europe,
00:27:42
Speaker
I'm gonna there chirping about I'm gonna be there chirping He's gonna be inaccurate on ah on both counts because Obed is going to Europe. That's like a foregone conclusion at ah at this point.
00:27:53
Speaker
And high key, De La Vega might actually get called up to Argentina if he keeps playing like this. I don't think they're gonna care that ah it's an MLS. yeah He scored Puskas winners over here. Come on.
00:28:06
Speaker
ah All right, second news item. that we learned about just before we started recording. recording Christian rolled on. Ever heard of him? Heard of him. Called in to the USMNT for their September friendlies versus South Korea and Japan, ah directly in the ah aftermath of Seattle absolutely destroying Inter-Miami and the Barca boys in the League's Cup final.
00:28:32
Speaker
ah her Pochettino apparently knows ball. Knows ball. we haven We've been trying to tell him. We've been trying to tell him for months that he should be called in. Yeah, it this is this was, ah you know, common sense prevailing. I think anyone who's actually watched Christian play this season in the Club World Cup and in Leagues Cup understands that this is past due, to be honest.
00:28:56
Speaker
I did look at the U.S. Soccer's Twitter account when they announced this, and the replies are ah about what you would expect. But at this point, that is a litmus test. If you are one of those accounts that are crashing out in us the U.S. MNT's mentions because Christian got called up, like you just do not know ball. And you certainly you don't you don't watch the player that you're talking about.
00:29:19
Speaker
so you shouldn't be in a role that he's never played in for the us men's national team and you want to talk about we've seen all we need to see from christian rolled on in the national team brother he was playing right back i mean the narrative the narrative around his uh previous caps with the usmnt is bullshit anyway he was not as near he was not nearly as bad as the bots would have you believe uh and everyone there also there was also he never had a position like during those days they were just playing him in random spots he was getting 10 minute cameos here and there never in a defined role there was never a vision for how the team was going to use him so were they the most where he has 37 caps were they and but the most amazing caps of all time no not really but they were a not that bad and uh b he was playing without having a set position or a defined role or any it didn't seem like he had any and instructions on what how they
00:30:13
Speaker
wanted to use him. So you can't really take that much from him. And it was also, it didn't matter anyway. Like they crashed out over him being on the world cup roster and he played like five minutes at the world cup. yeah It doesn't, it didn't matter. I mean, they literally hate every single person.
00:30:30
Speaker
They hate every guy. If you sky one ball, They're going to, they're going to leak your address online. It is the worst group of individuals to ever exist, but i they should all be institutionalized and be put on a list.
00:30:44
Speaker
Like they're like everyone on us QSMNT Twitter, put them on a list, dude. I'm serious. If I, I would run for president one day and maybe I will, maybe I will, I'm going run for president and my only platform is going to be make everything cheaper.
00:30:58
Speaker
and arrest every single you at QSMNT fan and put them in a re-education camp. And they're going to have to like sit there and just watch Christian Roldan highlights for like days on end.
00:31:11
Speaker
It's funny because, ah you know, we've we've been kind of on our anti-USMNT kick for a while now. And we've we've made a lot of fun of Pochettino and how his tenure kind of started.
00:31:25
Speaker
I'm kind of starting to like him for no other reason than that his call-ups trigger QSMNT this much, which is hilarious. but Have you heard their new bit?
00:31:37
Speaker
Well, i just in all seriousness, though, like ah it triggers QSMNT, but i like I genuinely like that he's making it a merit-based thing. like he He's on record.
00:31:50
Speaker
quoted as saying, I'm not going to judge it on it on if they're in MLS. Like MLS players are going to be in consideration for these call-ups. It's going to be based on your form and how you're playing at the club level, no matter the league.
00:32:02
Speaker
So that's good to hear. and then that's reflected in his call-ups. And it's so it's not just like glazing because he's calling in a lot of MLS guys. It's just like i can I can respect that thought process of how he's analyzing the player pool and how he's calling guys in.
00:32:18
Speaker
And just the hilarity of how it triggers the bots is just an added bonus. But, you know, I don't know. I still think that there was a lot of questionable stuff going on in his first few games and his ah initial tenure with the team.
00:32:33
Speaker
But i've I've gotten a little bit of ah of a soft spot for for Poke, kind of ah ah tied off by this Christian call up, which it's like, yeah, yeah, he should get called up.
00:32:44
Speaker
It's probably he waited too long, but he he did it. So I can respect that. it's pretty tight they all are crashing out i made a whole thread on twitter i just collected all of the responses and just said here's a list of people who don't know ball uh and just listed them out uh and uh my favorite response from it was standing for christian rodon makes you a loser you dumb fuck and you know what it doesn't though because you know who's winning trophies christian rolled on christian rolled on you know who's winning trophies
00:33:18
Speaker
Christian on. You know who just owned Lionel Messi in a cup final? Christian rolled on. You know who played in a Club World Cup group of death this summer and looked like the best player on the field in multiple of those games?
00:33:32
Speaker
Christian rolled on. So, for was yeah. He scored one or two. He scored one, but he was also incredible in the Botafogo game. He was incredible in the Atletico game. He was, I thought, really good in the PSG game.
00:33:45
Speaker
It's pretty tight. Everyone who actually has been watching him play knows this. And so literally, literally if you are if you're saying that this is not a merit-based call-up, you are exposing that you don't know ball. And there's just no question about it.
00:34:02
Speaker
I don't know what to say. it's just Anything else on? ah i base I mean, I'm happy. It is truly almost just as good as winning Leagues Cup that we get to see this reaction. Like we're watching the entire world of soccer meltdown and Brian Schmetzer is just like over here in the corner. Like, yeah, I'm just a chill guy. I'm just hanging out.
00:34:25
Speaker
No big deal. I'm a, I'm happy for Christian because he has said that he, uh, he wanted this opportunity. He felt like he still had something to give and he was just waiting for the phone to ring. I think he said that at the, uh, at the club world cup.
00:34:41
Speaker
So, uh, it's great. It's great for him. He did. He deserves it. This there's no way if you're arguing on, what his level has been on the field. There's no arguing that he doesn't deserve this.
00:34:54
Speaker
So hopefully, I mean, these friendlies are coming up right away. I think the first one, the first one is on, on Friday and then one. So it's a friendly. Why are we crashing out? I mean, yeah you know, because you got to crash out over. i'm oh I think I know why it's because like the World Cup is close. So you only you only have so many. yeah and Who cares?
00:35:16
Speaker
It's just ah it's just ridiculous. But ah all right, let's take an ad break and then we will be back. We're going to do a ah special little edition of Agenda Check.
00:35:27
Speaker
We're going to hit some messy cope talking points and then the we'll close out with our our agenda, our actual agenda check later in the show. We'll be right back. This episode of Lobbing Scorchers is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle based seller.
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Speaker
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00:38:39
Speaker
All right, welcome back from the ad break that you absolutely, positively, for sure did not skip. Only champions, only champions, or yeah, champions don't skip ads That's what i was trying to say. Champions don't skip ads, and we know that you guys never would skip.
00:38:56
Speaker
our ads uh all right noah what we're gonna do right now is uh like i said we've got the ah normal agenda check that we're gonna do to close out the show but we're gonna kind of do ah special edition of agenda check now where we are going to talk about some of the old agendas or uh kind of just long serving agendas that we've talked about a lot on our show and we are going to declare them deceased it's time them in the retirement home like we are putting them we're putting them in the retirement home i think uh when a trophy is won that is an opportunity for narratives to be dispelled and i think that is exactly what's happened here with not just the trophy that they won because some people are going to say that it doesn't count because it's league's cup and who cares about league's cup
00:39:47
Speaker
but it's it's about uh the spectacle of the game the occasion that the uh the club and the players provided us the team that they beat i think that's uh one of the biggest things that makes this so special so there's just all kinds of variables that i think lead us to a place where uh a lot of these that we've been talking about like i said for at least a year in some cases since the start of this damn show where you're going to put them to rest right now. Noah, are you ready?
00:40:19
Speaker
I'm so ready. I got four written down, but if you think of any others, ah go ahead and throw them out there. ah Let's talk about the yeah the first one I have. The Jesus Ferreira is a bust, and that was a terrible, trade unambitious trade agenda. agenda Done.
00:40:35
Speaker
Dead. Dustin. Over. I don't want to hear it. this This trophy validates that trade 100%. There's no question about it. And there's nothing really that can happen from here on out that would change that barring something like really crazy.
00:40:51
Speaker
ah But... When they traded for Jesus Ferreira, there was a lot of ah ah talk about how underwhelming it was and how it wasn't ambitious.
00:41:04
Speaker
And that was never based on anything at all. ah regarding his quality as a player. The only extent that there was analysis to that talking point was that he played for FC Dallas.
00:41:17
Speaker
That's it. That's it. There was nothing else to it is that he played for FC Dallas and that he played in MLS. Therefore, doing a big trade for him is unambitious and underwhelming.
00:41:28
Speaker
that was always bullshit. We were saying it the entire time to be fair that this was a great trade for a fantastic player who was going to contribute very positively to the team. ah You and I were both very confident about that because of how much we watched him play for FC Dallas. So it was frustrating to watch when he got off to a little bit of a slow start and we had people already five games into his career dunking trying to dunk on us taking victory laps on how he was a bust sending us the uh sounder at heart craig weibel article in the spongebob writing all that shit you guys are done that is an l
00:42:05
Speaker
You lost. It's over. He has been an absolutely fantastic player for this team this year, and they do not win this trophy without him. You know why? Because they didn't have Albert Ruzak for this tournament because he was out with a ah pulled hamstring, and Jesus Ferreira took that position over, and this attack didn't miss a beat.
00:42:24
Speaker
He ran the offense like a godforsaken maestro. He was dropping dimes all over the place. ah He is a much better two-way player. player than I ever even expected he is one of the best pressers on the team he is uh a great like two-way attacker slash uh the what he brings on the defensive end work rate selfless team player and he's not gonna get enough credit for the uh the role that he played in winning this trophy so I want to give him that credit
00:42:57
Speaker
and ah all of that is true despite the fact that uh his stat sheet production this year isn't like if i if i looked at it at the beginning of the year at this point in the year i'd be like that's a little behind where i would want it to be but he does so much other stuff for this team number one that uh goes beyond the stat sheet he's absolutely the type of player where uh where that applies. But and also I would really argue he's been very, very unlucky to not have more goals. We saw it in the final, he freaking smashes one off the post. That probably would have done that game in the, in the first half. He is a bearing he's snake bit, but like, it's not, even it's not even that because there's been three or four of them where he's finished the chances and they've been disallowed because someone else was offside. Not even him.
00:43:45
Speaker
So don't I know Ari, don't I know? He is very, very unlucky to not have at least three or four more goals this year. And he the assist production is there. He's been doing great work as a playmaker. I love his unselfishness. I just love everything about his game. I think he's a great footballer.
00:44:03
Speaker
I'm so glad they ah they traded for him. And consider this my victory lap because I put a video out at the beginning of all this agenda where I was saying, everyone calling him a bust. You are way early on that.
00:44:15
Speaker
And I don't think that that is going to age well. And people were giving me a hard time about it.
00:44:22
Speaker
Hold your L it's over. Noah, what do you got on the Jesus Ferreira agenda? He is one of those players who doesn't mind doing the dirty work. Doesn't mind moving around.
00:44:36
Speaker
What a performance at the number 10 position to step up and play there. I've been loving, loving seeing him play there. And he he even has been playing really well in the wing. I was critical about them shifting him all around and moving him all around and all that kind of stuff. And that was less on him and more on just like, let him let him just settle and cook.
00:44:58
Speaker
Well, he's settled and he's cooked and he cooked up a goddamn trophy for the Seattle Sounders. If you think that the Seattle Sounders win this game or even get to this game without a player of his quality on the field.
00:45:13
Speaker
to cover for to cover for rusnak like when stepping up next man up at that position when he when he needed to and to still have this team on by the way dishing absolute dimes and really just being the focal point of an attacker right now that is one of the best in the league like this team is scoring goals like nothing for fun and ah and even without their best creator in albert rusnak trading for jesus ferreira allowed them to maintain that level even when they had an injury to one of their designated players you can't
00:45:48
Speaker
uh overstate how important that was for this team and it got them a trophy which is that's why i say that like nothing else that happens from here on out could could change that because they already getting getting that trophy and getting to host that game and destroy messy that was worth the trade right there if it was a decision between make the trade and you get that versus don't make the trade and you don't get that ah without knowing what happens after that, you have to take, you have to take that. So, uh, well, and even if you are going in your wildest dreams and you say, instead of Jesus Ferrer, we signed some under the radar, insane European guy who comes in what more could he have done?
00:46:29
Speaker
Maybe score some more goals, but like that didn't change the calculus, even 1%. The Sounders made it to where they were in dominating fashion. And that was, with Jesus Ferreira starting a majority of those games, scoring, assisting, and dishing dimes.
00:46:47
Speaker
I mean, that's... it's it's dead or it's dead it's killed it's killed and the whole uh the whole strategy was great from craig wibes in the front office on that uh i've talked about this a lot this year but i think there's a lot to the strategy of ah sometimes targeting players from within the league even for big money spots uh like they did with Albert Rusnak and now like they did with Jesus Ferreira. That strengthens the odds that the signing is going to hit because you already have a proven commodity within the league that you know can play and produce in the league. So that's that's just where the fact that it was a great trade to begin with comes in.
00:47:30
Speaker
And please, Jesus, I just need one more. I just need one more goal, King. You're going to get it. I'm not worried, but just one more, please. It's kind of become a bit that he needs one more and he just keeps barely, barely. I think it's happened four or five times now where he's scored it or and it's gotten disallowed or rammed it off the post. The one, the the off the post one, me and you looking at each other, I was just like,
00:47:55
Speaker
ah Because for him to have gotten his fifth there, i think I probably would have just gotten the tattoo anyway. Honestly, that's what I was going to say. You might want the tat. Yeah, exactly. With how good a sounder he's becoming. like It might be a tat that even if you get it, it's like a win-win.
00:48:10
Speaker
ah All right. Next agenda that we are going to put to rest right now. ah the The Seattle Sounders are unambitious, have lost their ambition. agenda this was talked a lot more about in the preseason remember i did the uh ambition ratings remember uh those days but it's been a uh talking point really since they missed the playoffs in 2022 and then hadn't won a trophy since like are they really are they really ambitious i don't know they uh they're not the ones who signed messy how much ambition can they really have type stuff you know what's ambitious you want to know you want to know what's ambitious
00:48:46
Speaker
what's ambitious is ah playing in a uh you know a made-up tournament and turning it into a platform to host a final in front of 70 000 people against the greatest player of all time and then not just hosting him but beating his team's ass so bad that they crash out and have one of the craziest meltdowns in the history of uh of the sport and then winning a trophy from them on on your home field that's that's ambition like that is
00:49:20
Speaker
exactly what you should be striving to do as uh as a club that's the type of thing that will push your club forward that's the type of thing that will bring in new fans and that is what you get like through through winning and then also through creating the best develop youth development uh system in the country and all that.
00:49:45
Speaker
i think That's ambition. That's ambition. It's not it's not yeah it's not necessary it's not signing Sun Hung Min. That is ambitious in a way, but it's not as ambitious as as what the Sounders just did. So this ambition talk, I think we can just we can just dust it with this. We can dust it with this.
00:50:01
Speaker
Over. there' You're right. like There are multiple ways of being ambitious. And absolutely, I think there is something to be said about signing big players and making big moves and doing everything you can to fill a star-studded roster, to bring in fans and to build your brand and to do all of this, right?
00:50:20
Speaker
I think there was something to be said about that. I don't have a doubt that that's ah that's that will be successful for certain people at certain times. But what the Seattle Sounders have done is build a group of individuals who themselves are ambitious, who themselves have been doubted, who themselves, when are called upon, are going to perform at their absolute top quality.
00:50:43
Speaker
Brian Schmetzer said this at the beginning of League's Cup. He said, This is a player-led thing. They want to win this trophy more than anything. They are hungry. They are dedicated. They are driven. They are pushing each other in practice for this trophy.
00:50:58
Speaker
It's not me telling them this. I don't have to tell them this. They're the ones leading this. And you get a group of players like that. You build a locker room where culture comes before the number that you're signed for.
00:51:12
Speaker
And you know what happens? Championships. winning a culture that allows you to slot in your third string striker your second string goalkeeper your second string uh left back you you're able to make all of this magic happen and win trophies Because the attitude is ambition.
00:51:40
Speaker
It's not necessarily about the number on the paper. It's about who you're signing. And the Sounders are really good at identifying players who want to play for the badge. And that's what they've done.
00:51:51
Speaker
And you can' you can't you can't sit here and tell me that Craig Weibel is really bad at his job and it's unambitious. And I know we'll talk about that. The Sounders are ambitious.
00:52:02
Speaker
They're ambitious in ways that the random average dude who's just looking at a spreadsheet of signings doesn't understand because they don't understand the culture of the Seattle Sounders and that it's always been like this and it will continue to be like this.
00:52:17
Speaker
It starts at the academy level. If you go watch our interviews with Henry Bronner, he tells you, he gave he says there's three things. It's attitude, grades, and and and the to work ethic, right?
00:52:29
Speaker
All of these things. This is how they talent an ID. It's not necessarily that you're the best player in the world. We want you and we're going to get you. It's that you're going to fit in this locker room and you're going to help us win.
00:52:40
Speaker
And that's what happened, man. That's what happened. They are ambitious in this agenda. It was always unambitious. This and agenda was always unambitious. But that shit, put it in them put it in the bin, man. Put it in the bin.
00:52:51
Speaker
It's over. It's cooked. Well said. All right, next next agenda so to lay to rest. Let's talk about Pedro de la Vega. the ah Pedro de la Vega is a bust agenda. was Do i have to join in on this one? I feel like I'm being targeted. I never call him a bust.
00:53:10
Speaker
you never called him a bus but a lot of people did and this this was going on as recently as earlier this season really in the last like two months i would say is it so it's a relatively recent period of time where he's managed to change the entire narrative about his uh sounders career but ah yeah i mean we're going to talk about craig weibel on the next one but one of the big things that was hung up uh against craig weibel was the de la vega signing and how he was injured all of last year and didn't really get to play and then this year he i would say it's fair to say he got off to a slow start again he there he got injured again like briefly remember that at the very beginning of the year
00:53:52
Speaker
And then when he came back, he still didn't really look like a DP. Uh, and then he didn't play in the PSG game at the club world cup. I thought that was weird. And I remember I wrote like a stock up stock stock down thing for sounder at heart after the club world cup. And I put Pedro de la Vega as stock down. Like I have no trouble admitting and acknowledging that, uh,
00:54:13
Speaker
even though a lot of it wasn't his fault he just had not lived up to uh his his price tag the dp label and really like just the whole thing of being the first sounders player to wear number 10 since nico ladero uh i mean look these past two months he looks like the best player in the league I don't know like I don't know who you would put above him over the last couple months just in terms of how dangerous he looks week in week out and then uh the quality of the goals that he's scoring the timing of the goals that he's scoring he's doing it in big moments like when the team really needs their the DP attacker to step up he is stepping up
00:54:52
Speaker
And then just the ah the talent level is off the charts. And that has that's been obvious for a while, but particularly lately, ah he it's very clear that he's a world-class player. That's so good that he makes Lionel Messi crash out on him on the field in the middle of a final where Pedro de la Vega is absolutely cooking Messi's team.
00:55:13
Speaker
ah So, I mean, clearly the the process whatever they scouted up with this player is, is, has been validated just in terms of his quality, but then his on-field contributions have now, uh, like Jesus Ferreira been central to the team, taking home this trophy and winning this magical game in front of 70 K at Lumen, giving the entire fan base, the memory of a lifetime that,
00:55:42
Speaker
ends this agenda that he is a bust who isn't the dp or anything like that this guy is a world-class player he is ah one of if not the most talented players to ever suit up for this club if you're just talking about like pure raw footballing talent he's got to be up there is that good and uh we can finally stop talking about the dp tag or uh all the injuries and stuff like he is that guy I love more than anything his true ascendance into this two-way player that perfectly encapsulates what Brian Schmetzer wants.
00:56:23
Speaker
If you look at Paul Rothrock, he's basically taken the grit and determination and just like attitude of, I'm going to win this ball of Paul Rothrock. And also has like the incredible technical ability of an Argentinian number 10.
00:56:39
Speaker
he is ah He is the perfect player for this roster. And I was very s skeptical, not necessarily because I didn't think he was talented, but more just skeptical that he was going to be a carry the load load guy, that he was going to be this ascendant, you know, change the trajectory of a game player.
00:56:56
Speaker
And I was I was holding my horses. I wasn't ready to to declare that he had arrived and all of this kind of stuff because of what I had seen in the past. We gave him a long runway last year. We talked about the mentality of moving to a new country and the the mentality of getting an injury like that and like truly having to work through that psychologically to get back to the level of of the player that we knew he could be.
00:57:25
Speaker
and i just didn't know if it was ever going to happen i didn't because there there are examples of that just truly killing a person's career but i don't think that anyone can watch what he just did in this league's cup and say this kid is a bust because you're right like this kid is one of if not the best wingers in the entire league he will, if he can continue this form down the stretch, I mean, he's going to have a best 11 shout if he can, if he can really start working up some goals and assists and in league play.
00:58:02
Speaker
Yeah. And what's exciting about that is it's like, I feel like, uh, there's finally that player here that you can put in that, ah you know, Haney Mukhtar, Evander, Lucho, Costa at his peak type discussion. That's how good he is. So to have a player like that on the Sounders, they haven't really had that in their attacking midfield the last few years, really. And even...
00:58:23
Speaker
even nico ladero at his uh at his peak he he was like that but in kind of a different way like the power of nico was kind of his all-around skill set and his mentality and how hard he works which that's all true of de la vega but like uh nico was never gonna bust the stat sheet with like huge huge numbers in the way that i think de la vega probably can if he keeps playing like this so uh all right last agenda to uh dust lay to rest here ah this might not be a popular one but we're gonna we're gonna say it uh this uh this craig weibel is abjectly incompetent and terrible gm doesn't know what he's doing and he's gonna spiral the club because he's so incompetent it's is done it's done
00:59:14
Speaker
done all right like them winning this trophy in the way that they did it that is not possible to do and also have like an incompetent gm or an incompetent for an office that's not a thing That doesn't happen.
00:59:30
Speaker
That doesn't happen just because you think the coach is the one who's, ah who's doing it all. Schmetzer would be the first one to tell you he needs a strong, deep and talented roster to be able to pull off the things that he's pulling off.
00:59:43
Speaker
Greg Weibel. I don't care how he provides that. He has provided that it, it led to one of the greatest wins in club history he deserves his credit for that it's blindingly obvious that the uh he's incompetent to talk is silly at this point and I think the main thing I would say is like because I know the Craig Weibel is incompetent crowd will never admit that they're wrong ever they're pathologically incapable of it but here's what I would say If Craig Weibel is incompetent, but we still get the type of moment, the type of spectacle, the type of win that we got in this league's cup final, then I don't care if you're right.
01:00:23
Speaker
I don't give a shit. What does it matter? What we got is everything that the club should be chasing and they provided it with the roster that he built. So if he is incompetent, then I don't care.
01:00:40
Speaker
Say it again. I don't care. i don't care. like and i mean, I, he, he's not, he's not, he clearly built a ah really awesome roster here. Uh, and he should get credit for La Vega for trading for Ferreira for Danny Mussovski. I mean, you could go down the list. He's got a lot of hits.
01:01:00
Speaker
Uh, But, you know, it's both things. it's It's a banger coaching job by Schmetz, and it's also great work by the front office to give him the roster that he had. This roster is pretty light.
01:01:10
Speaker
And another narrative I've always hated about this is that it's Craig Weibel alone making these decisions. If you don't think that Craig Weibel and Brian Schmetzer have a relationship to where Brian Schmetzer is informing Craig Weibel on the type of player or saying yes or no to the players in signings,
01:01:27
Speaker
then you're you have no idea of what goes on dayto day to day a soccer team. They are... locked in together. They respect each other. They work together. That's the reality of the situation. So if you think that Craig Weibel is terrible at his job, you also have to say Brian Schmetzer bad at his job because that's just the truth.
01:01:49
Speaker
they They work together. They are they're a duo. they like it's It's not a single person. It's easy to drop something on a single person. um But even if, even if you believe that, you're wrong.
01:02:00
Speaker
they just won They just won an international trophy. They won, whether you like the the the tournament or not, they beat three Liga Mechies teams. Four.
01:02:11
Speaker
Four Liga Mechies teams. You're right, four. Four Liga Mechies teams in decisive fashion with backups. what that's i think that's the other thing that reinforces it is that how many injuries they had in the level that they were still able to play out play at yes that is great coaching it is also a great roster correct it's just it's it's a silly point at this time and i don't even see people chirping as much anymore about quake libel that's because i i did see this i did see this comment someone said oh noah well you graded craig weibel's transfer window at d
01:02:50
Speaker
um But they won this trophy and I said, yeah, absolutely. I can say that I feel like in the long run that transfer window might be harmful, but I can also acknowledge that Craig Weibel has done a really good job up to this point.
01:03:03
Speaker
you can You can fail a test and still pass the class. and i And I got to be honest with you, there has has absolutely been moments where I've scratched my head or been like, huh, I don't get it.
01:03:15
Speaker
But at the end of the day, if they're winning trophies, like you said, it does not matter. I do not care. If you are lifting a trophy, it does not matter. And this if you are lifting a trophy with Osaze de Rosario as your number nine, and he's scoring the game-winning goal, I do not care.
01:03:30
Speaker
I don't want to hear it. this ah This trophy changes the way I think about the transfer window because the way I look at it is ah if you wanna not make a move in the ah in a tra in a given transfer window when you have an opportunity to and say, look, we feel good about what we have and we think we can contend and win and and win trophies with this roster as it is without making like a panic signing.
01:03:59
Speaker
So we're just gonna leave it. That's fine. But, ah but you actually got to go win the trophies then like you can't, you can't like do what they did last year and get right to the edge and then not get it over the line and have this feeling of like, man, you just had like a little bit more firepower. Maybe that could have got it done.
01:04:17
Speaker
Like you have to, if you're not going to, if you're going to take the patient approach, you've got to compete and win in the short term. That's the expectation for this club. they just did that to me you earn equity through through winning if you win if you win that trophy and give us all that that moment that we had in that game against uh against inter-miami then to me that builds equity for if you want to say look we don't want to go in this transfer window we didn't want to do it we didn't feel like we had the right target I'm willing to trust that because you just you just won you just provided the result that we all want
01:04:51
Speaker
and uh and that the club has been chasing so to me like i i don't maybe people won't agree with this but like i'm fully like i don't give a shit about the transfer window anymore don't care about noah ohio uh i i didn't really that much to begin with But now I'm just like, good, good, that good. You waited because like, clearly you know what you're doing. So like, if you felt like the target wasn't right in that, if you wait, you can get someone who's better and will help the team more than good. Wait, I trust that. Like that's, that's the equity you earn through giving us moments and games like they just did in the league's cup final.
01:05:28
Speaker
And it's always a, what have you done for me lately with GMs and coaches and everything. And so we'll keep monitoring the situation, obviously. They got to sustain it. But like for now, I think we can just, uh, he's not, asking you can't say he's incompetent or terror. There's just no way there's just just not way. It's not, you can say he makes some mistakes, but you sure can't say he's ah All right.
01:05:51
Speaker
that is That does it for our debt agendas. Kill that segment. Let us know in the comments if you got any thoughts on those. I'm sure the ah the Craig Wives aspect. I don't even think it should be that hard of a take anymore, to be to be honest with you, based on what we just saw.
01:06:09
Speaker
But it probably will be. ah Noah, you you wanted to hit some messy cope. talking points we've been seeing a lot of them since the seattle sounders absolutely destroyed we know messy inner miami and the crash out crybaby barca boys at lumen field uh we've really we've been in the heat the trenches of like the messy internet like the last week or so we've been enough we've in a firestorm we've been in the trenches like you know the meme where it's like the soldier is standing in front of the little kid in the bed and there's like grenades and knives going into the back yeah that's us
01:06:42
Speaker
we're doing that for you but like the the beautiful thing is like all the kind of chirpy stuff that we did before the game with the rothrock quote and then you saying that they're gonna open a can of whoop ass and kind of like jokingly like challenging messy with pedro de la vega type stuff all of that just aged so well that like we like people can't really even come at like everyone was literally sharpening their knives to come after us because of some of the stuff we posted on uh Instagram and TikTok and they can't it's like
01:07:19
Speaker
It was one of the most beautiful bets ever hedged. I have to give you credit for that. i't I'm not as courageous with that stuff. you ah You stuck it out it stuck the neck out there, ah both both individually, but like from the Lobbing Scorcher social media accounts.
01:07:34
Speaker
And I cannot think of anything that's ever paid off. why It was a legendary heat check. like not just with the win like the win would have been one thing but how it happened with like all the rothrock content that we did and then how it tied into the rothrock goal and all the subsequent content that we got off that in the in the schmetz quote like if you wrote a movie script of how that could have panned out for us that you and someone wrote that that you would think they were joking like we were walking out of the stadium uh at like one in the morning and i looked to you and i said
01:08:08
Speaker
I think this is it for us. yeah don't I don't think this gets any better. And like, yes, we've had that moment before where like, we're like, our Rothrock, our Rothrock, the first episode being, get let's get Paul Rothrock some help, which they ended up doing. And now he's like the certified incredible and MLS player.
01:08:24
Speaker
We never thought that we would pass that. And then there were other moments where we're we'll never pass that. And then now we're here and I'm truly like, this is our Icarus moment. We cannot go any higher. It has to be, but like, I'll take it. honest if this is If this is the best we ever do and the best we ever get, God damn it, was it not the best possible situation?
01:08:44
Speaker
Needless to say, ah there's a lot of, it's not even Inter-Miami. People can't accept it. It's Lionel Messi fans. has a whole part of the internet that's like about him individually, no matter what team he's on.
01:08:57
Speaker
ah They've been in our TikTok comments. They've been coping with this not very well. Noah, give us some of the reasons that they've come up with why Inter-Miami and Lionel Messi lost this game.
01:09:08
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So I want to go down one by one, and I want us to just like quickly just... assert why this doesn't matter. Okay. Okay. Um, well, actually this game was played on turf, so it shouldn't even count in the first one, Ari. Uh, three, zero, three, zero next.
01:09:29
Speaker
Um, here's the next one. well, I can't, I'll just, I'll just say like, if you're, if you're the goat, I feel like you should be able to play on, on a little bit of turf first of all. Uh, but also you can play in the Barrios of Argentina, but you can't play on a little turf.
01:09:43
Speaker
come on Yeah, but also it's called home field advantage. That's not just about like stuff like the crowd and the attendance and the noise and stuff. It's about the ah other variables that whatever stadium that you're playing in provide.
01:09:57
Speaker
And in Seattle's case, it's it's turf. That's what makes it what part of what makes it one of the hardest road trips for a visiting team in Major League Soccer is that a lot of teams that come here aren't used to that service.
01:10:09
Speaker
Seattle does use that to their advantage. That's why you don't want to, one of the reasons you don't want to play them in a final at, at Lumen field, because if you're not used to that, that could work against you.
01:10:20
Speaker
And, uh, yeah, cry about it. Like that's so learn how to play, learn how to play on it. Listen, he's the goat. He's the goat. They had every opportunity to have home field advantage. All they would have had to do was win MLS cup last year. But what'd they do?
01:10:32
Speaker
They crashed out and let a 45 year old goalkeeper stop them in the first round. So that's on the go. That's not on us. You don't like it. Hosted a host it in Fort Lauderdale then. They chose. They chose. Hosted in Fort Lauderdale.
01:10:43
Speaker
They chose. ah Even if it was hosted in Fort Lauderdale, Sounders are winning that 100%. If you get to cope, I get to cope. um If they had made those chances that they shot on target Ari, it would have been a completely different game.
01:10:58
Speaker
Messi doesn't miss that normally. That's like a one in one billion. And then the Allende one, if he just makes that, then it could have been two one, like the hypotheticals. ah Here's the thing.
01:11:09
Speaker
ah Here's the thing about that is I love it when people like only count those going one way. Like, okay, yeah. Messi skied one into the 27th row that he doesn't normally. Allende missed a really easy shot.
01:11:22
Speaker
ah If we're guaranteeing that those... should have gone in and that they would have won the way inter miami would won if they did go in then we also need to guarantee that the one jesus ferreira whammed off the post went in we also need to guarantee the one that the header that osaze had literally right after kickoff that was almost a goal then you have to put that one in and you guarantee those go go in then seattle has like it's like a 5-2 win or something like that if you give them the goals that they also paul roth actually did score back of yeah Paul Rosberg one where it barely misses. So that's the ah that's the funny thing about the what-if game. You actually have to apply that both ways. okay
01:12:02
Speaker
like you can It's only Inter-Miami's close chances. We're going to count those. Ari... ah ari Clearly, ah the only reason that the GOAT lost is because this is retirement FC. This is Florida retirement home FC. And the fact that a bunch of the guys around him are old, they suck.
01:12:29
Speaker
They suck. They're not good players. Everyone around him is terrible. Messi handpicked this team though, Ari. Yeah, that's that's all that needs to be said there. He's the GM. He built he basically, he's the Craig Weibel of Inter-Miami. So ah that actually, that's literally his own fault.
01:12:45
Speaker
Like it actually is. Well, Ari, but here's the thing though. ah He won the World Cup. So like, why would why would my goat care about a stupid yo-yo looking trophy?
01:12:56
Speaker
Why would he care about that stupid trophy, bro? He won the World Cup. World Cup. How many World Cups does Paul Rothrock have? Yeah, that's the that's the bit. He won the World Cup. He's the greatest footballer ever. He has 46 trophies and he can't beat Paul Rothrock and the Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field. That's why it's funny. So I appreciate those people for explaining the explaining the bit.
01:13:18
Speaker
like Why do you think we're enjoying it as much as ah as we are outside of the trophy? It's because it came against a guy who won a World Cup and is considered the greatest player ever.
01:13:31
Speaker
To say that he doesn't care about this trophy is funny because he literally was beefing with two 20-year-old players on the field because they were, like, turning him into dust. Like, i don't I don't know what to say. If he's the GOAT and he's also, like, the most competitive guy in the world and also he's beefing with a bunch of players on the field,
01:13:49
Speaker
think I think he cares a little bit. I think he was a little rattled by that. and think he's a little rattled. But Ari, I don't want to... You're still not convincing me, okay? Because Leo Messi's basically retired, bro. He doesn't care anymore.
01:14:01
Speaker
He doesn't care anymore. He's basically retired.
01:14:05
Speaker
the thing is like uh if you if you look at how he's played the last couple years i really don't think he's washed like he's not he's not like he maybe this is what actually washes him but he won mvp last year he had 36 goal contributions in like 20 games this year he has 19 and 8 in 19 games he's like producing and putting up the same like scoring and assisting at the same rate as he always has throughout his career and uh honestly that has been impressive but again it also makes it funnier that he couldn't get it done in the league's cup final at Lumen Field like yeah he's going to retire soon but like uh what Seattle did to neutralize him in this game was so impressive like I I wasn't even considering that level of containing him a possibility going into
01:14:58
Speaker
like i really wasn't so like the idea that it's just like he's just on the outs and doesn't have it anymore i it's like i don't even i wouldn't even say it's like he's not the player that he used to be like he's been like torching it in mls so far both last season when he won mvp and this season so like why couldn't he why couldn't he do it in this game explain Well, Ari, that's all the more reason to talk about this, which is truly the reason why my goat was robbed, which is there was a handball. If you freeze frame one camera on the Apple TV broadcast while Alex or Christian, wrote one of the Roldan brothers, had his arm in a chicken wing position, ah it kind of looks like it kind of hit off his arm in the box. And like, I'm sorry, I got to be honest, Messi robbed.
01:15:40
Speaker
This referee was clearly a Ronaldo fan. I, I hadn't seen like I know the call you're talking about. Uh, and it doesn't surprise me to hear that people were harping on that. It's just, if you're, if you're going to calls like that to explain an L like you, you are cooked like that is, you you are turbo cooked if you're, if you're doing that, you're doing a,
01:16:06
Speaker
ah what's the to Orlando City bit or a St. Louis City SC crash out moment, which famously, it's not a good look for you guys. It's not a good look for you guys. But, but Ari, you're you're still wrong.
01:16:20
Speaker
And you I bet you can't prove this one wrong. Obed Vargas tried to kill my goat with a tackle. He tried to kill. He twisted his leg up. He twisted his leg up because I have one freeze frame where it looks like it.
01:16:33
Speaker
You don't understand. He tried to kill my goat. Obed Vargas owns Lionel Messi. Like, it's just, it's honestly incredible how much the degree to which he owns Lionel Messi and even more so somehow Luis Suarez.
01:16:48
Speaker
Luis Suarez is out there spitting on people. ah Right before that, Obed Vargas is literally pointing at him and laughing at him because he has like such little respect for the game that he just played.
01:16:59
Speaker
That screenshot is so funny, dude. it's I mean, it's one of the greatest things I've seen in my life. So, I mean... what What a game by by Obed. He was absolutely phenomenal, and he can, for the rest of his life, say that he outclassed Lionel Messi in a cup final. So how many people can say that?
01:17:20
Speaker
Well, ah fine. You got me on those ones, but this last one, you're never going to be able to convince me. Mascherano is trying to ruin Messi's career because he's jealous of him.
01:17:32
Speaker
Mascherano is the worst coach of all time. Hashtag Mascherano out. Hashtag Messi in as head coach and player and GM and support staff and cook and chef and boot room guy and kit man and everything.
01:17:48
Speaker
Honestly, potentially true about Mosh trying to ruin his career. ah Also, someone that would not have been hired but for Lionel Messi. It doesn't get talked about enough, like how they they they basically just hired his boy.
01:18:03
Speaker
Dude, they pissed off. they pissed They said, Tata, piss off. One of the best coaches in MLS history, by the way, Tata Martino, under Brian Schmetzer, but still one of the best coaches in MLS and one of the best coaches historically in the world.
01:18:14
Speaker
They said, yeah, piss off. Yeah. And, and you know what we're seeing, ah with how this Mascherano era is going, we're seeing why you don't do that. Like why you don't just hire someone's boy as the coach there, there needs to be like uh, uh,
01:18:32
Speaker
a hierarchical relationship between the coach and the players. Once you cross that boundary of like the coach is their friend and like defends them no matter what takes their side, no matter what enables them, no matter what, because he's more friends with them than coach you get situations like the team fully losing its composure and starting an insane brawl after they lose a game because there's no culture of like accountability or respect for what the coach says that you should or shouldn't do or can and can't do
01:19:13
Speaker
like they have They have blurred that boundary. That line has been crossed. And it's toxified their locker room. And that that is what led to this crazy brawl that we saw.
01:19:24
Speaker
So like if there's a serious point to be taken from all that, it's that ah they they put on full display why that hire was correct. honestly kind of just reckless like because it wasn't based on coaching credentials it was based on like what would make Messi happy and like giving him his friend in there and honestly they made it harder for themselves to win by doing that and creating that dynamic well that's it fine you win Messi not the goat Paul Roth rocked the goat
01:19:59
Speaker
All right, we're going to take an ad break. ah we we'll We'll be right back, and then ah we're are going to close it out with a rapid-fire agenda check. All right, welcome back from yet another ad break that you did not You who didn't skip the ads?
01:20:12
Speaker
Paul Rothrock. But you know who did skip the ads? Messi. And look what it turned out with. Messi doesn't have a trophy, Paul Rothrock has a trophy. So think about think about the next time you try and skip our ads. Think about that.
01:20:23
Speaker
Food for thought for the next time you skip our ads. All right. Noah, let's try and get out of here in a relatively efficient timeframe here. ah But I do have five five topics, agendas,
01:20:37
Speaker
to uh to talk about here we can we can rapid fire these a little bit but you know we did the agenda check of declaring some old agendas dead ah so i i figured we should have some uh some new ones or at least more recent ones that we've been talking about that we can do our more traditional status updates on so uh i got five here if you've got any others that i'm missing feel free to toss them in but let's start with uh brian schmetzer is the mls goat ah head coach agenda ah which is something that has been floated a little bit it did you know after they won Champions League and and all that stuff I think that was the one that really vaulted him into that Pantheon even though it already won two MLS cups there was still like oh he's just a Seattle guy but then he wins Champions League and people are like this guy is in the Pantheon now
01:21:31
Speaker
now he has this win which leagues cup new trophy who knows how significant it is but he just took down messy took down inner miami he did it in front 70k again in a season where they had so many injuries and adversity where his coaching chops actually had to play a role in the team's success to a really very obvious degree uh man like obviously we're biased but i don't even know who you i i you know bruce arena ziggy are are always going to be in the discussion ah really those are the only two that i think you could argue above him but i just think when you look at his trophy hall at this point
01:22:18
Speaker
uh that he's won every single one that there is to win no one else can say that and just the the uh the sustainability of it how long he's been doing it uh year after year uh every time this team gets in a tournament like uh it just feels like they become unstoppable and all that stuff as far as the the big games and the culture and the performances and the identity and and all the winning that it's led to.
01:22:49
Speaker
i think he's i think he is the MLS GOAT and that should not be undermined by the fact that ah yeah the the things people bring up are like he's a product of his environment of like where he coaches. He's always been given these super talented players to begin with so he doesn't have to do a lot.
01:23:08
Speaker
That's all cooked. That's all cooked. Who Serena was coaching 2008 through 2016 LA Galaxy? What are we talking about? He's got a lot of cups.
01:23:19
Speaker
Yeah, but I'm saying had the first star-studded roster. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane. In an era that is undoubtedly 10 to 100 to 1,000 times less competitive than MLS is now.
01:23:32
Speaker
I don't care what you want to say.
01:23:35
Speaker
Who's been able to do it consistently through every era? Brian Schmetzer. You can't say that about anyone else. You literally can't because he was a part of all of the Siggy wins in Seattle.
01:23:47
Speaker
Yeah. He was a part of all of the wins after that. He took the 2016 Seattle Sounders and a team that was a laughingstock of the league, took them to an MLS cup, won it, and then just said, MLS cup final, MLS cup final, MLS cup final, MLS cup final, Champions League, Leagues Cup.
01:24:10
Speaker
What are we talking about? There is no debate. I respect Bruce Arena. think he's a great coach. We love Ziggy. We love Ziggy. He's an icon here in Seattle. But there is no one there is no one more rooted in the history of his club as well. I think that's another thing that you have to respect about him.
01:24:29
Speaker
He's not club hopping. He's staying right where he is. he's stay He is at the same club that he signed for when he was 17 years old. And he has brought more hardware to his home city. than anyone in any sport at all.
01:24:44
Speaker
Build the goddamn statue. He's the best to ever do it. By far the best story of any of these coaches and probably will continue to do it for, I don't know, let him coach till he dies.
01:24:57
Speaker
doesn't it feel like he's just set up to keep this churning for a long ass time yes you know you know and i want to but whatever but like he really uh yeah it doesn't feel like he's slowing down and i think uh if if someone were to argue for bruce or or ziggy i wouldn't be like that's a crazy horrible take but i think we're getting to the point where schmetz's trophy case is just becoming pretty undeniable uh all right next uh next agenda we've talked about this one before uh the messy era for inter miami has been a failure agenda you were on this one early i i was i've been the one who was more uh i guess hesitant to to dub it that i guess until we see how it uh actually ends and also i i guess was more keen to acknowledge the
01:25:51
Speaker
success that they did have from the league's cup that they won when they first got into the league i think winning the shield last year and setting the points record was at the very least an impressive accomplishment they played uh and they played for me it was more about the the level of footy that they played for a lot of last season i thought it was so it was some of the best attacking footy i've ever seen played in the league so those are positives that have come from the messy era at inter miami uh but with how this game went how badly they lost the game and then also you throw in the the crazy antics the post-game crash out the spitting uh threatening pedro de la vega in a kind in a really weird way uh you toss all that in and it just has this negative toxic energy that who wants to be around that man who wants to be a fan of that that's just like uh
01:26:50
Speaker
horrible vibes there's like if they win mls cup this year maybe that changes the narrative and that kickstarts a run where they sort of become what they were supposed to be but as it stands right now this game seals the fact that it has been a failure to this point, I think.
01:27:14
Speaker
They have not gotten anywhere close to winning at the rate that they said that they were trying to and that they were going to when they brought in Messi and the Barca boys. They're not particularly close.
01:27:26
Speaker
I mean, it is going to be a feat if they win MLS Cup. They have a crazy run of games. I mean, they have to play like seven matches or something in the next few weeks.
01:27:39
Speaker
And Suarez is probably going to be suspended for most, if not all of that. And that's what I'm saying is who do they even play? Are they playing Fafa at the nine? What are they going to do? It is, it this, this was the ultimate final blow. This the nail in the coffin. I said it earlier.
01:27:53
Speaker
I don't, I don't see that this team has, has been a complete failure and truly hilarious to watch a team try and do an mls one ah david they basically tried to redo the david beckham era they did and guess what congrats on your shield congrats on your points record and your league's cup trophy that's awesome man those are undeniably trophies that exist that you have won but you haven't been able to do the two things that you really really really set out to do which was when ml win win conca cap champions cup and
01:28:28
Speaker
you got out of your group in club world cup, but you were playing with a bunch of, like, I think the Sounders could have gotten out of that group truthfully. And that's, you know, that's rewriting history. That's just, you know, speculation, whatever. But this team, man, they might actually play better if they just played a bunch of their young players, actually. So who knows what's next for them, but a Javier Mascherano should be fired.
01:28:51
Speaker
And I think this team might be collapsing and going to have to turn into something else because i don't think the messier has truly been all that great the sounders had a bet better club world cup than inter miami even though they made it out of the group in seattle didn't and uh I'll tell you why because ah Seattle was playing in the much more difficult group and even though they didn't make it out they got so much more out of it like they they gave their fans like this awesome these awesome memories of watching them play against these teams but but they actually
01:29:31
Speaker
I think the fact that they competed against those teams and played as well as they did at times, it did something for the collective psychologically where ah it instilled this belief like we can play with anybody. We don't think anybody else that we play.
01:29:47
Speaker
can mess with us and it also just be like playing teams at that level it just made them razor sharp for all these games ever since that tournament if they had played in inter miami's group and gotten out of it i don't think they wouldn't have gotten any of those same things out of that tournament and that's why even with the results and them not making out out of the group i would i would not trade that for anything i wouldn't trade those games for anything i would not trade making it out of the group if if you put them in another group like uh i think that honestly it elevated the whole club to be able to play in that tournament play in those games against those teams and perform how they did and i think it's a big reason that they dominated leagues cup uh to the extent that they did so so and that's my soapbox on yeah i agree and inner miami are not the sounders they don't ever want to be the sounders
01:30:40
Speaker
They have said that's not the identity that they want to have. Keep it up, man. Keep it up. It's not going to work. It's not going work. And I'm glad that I've been first to this agenda and that I've been pushing this because I believe it.
01:30:54
Speaker
This isn't going to work. You have to let your young talent shine. You have to actually have an identity and a culture that isn't based around- Foundation. You need foundation. Yeah. it's It's a joke. This was putting Messi and the Barca boys on like on something that had no foundation.
01:31:11
Speaker
Yeah. And actually, that it worked out ah like- ah Decently from like a on-field results perspective in the regular season and stuff, but it's not, it's not going to win you all the trophies you're talking about. That's what I'm saying, man. It's like yeah MLS is a different beast.
01:31:26
Speaker
It doesn't work. You can, that's why I'm saying the shield for one, it's unbalanced. Like truthfully, like it's just whatever. Like you don't play every team. Like I I'm, I'm a, it's a Mickey Mouse shield type of person.
01:31:41
Speaker
It's not, not an impressive accomplishment. It just, it's like, okay, whatever, man. You need more than that. You need, you need more than that. You need to, it's nice, it's a nice supplementary thing, but you can't, you can't hang your hat on it. No.
01:31:53
Speaker
And the sounders, the sounders are a better team than Miami will ever be. It doesn't matter who you put on that team. They're a real team. there's a team They have an ideology. They have a foundation. They, they play how they want to play and people actually buy in to what their coach is saying.
01:32:09
Speaker
and they don't crash out and punch people in the face. So that's also another thing. ah The Seattle Sounders have the best youth development in MLS agenda. This is a new one that ah I'm gonna put forth ah just because I feel like when we talk about these discussions, I'm not gonna say Seattle gets like always overlooked or not respected in these conversations,
01:32:28
Speaker
but uh it's just been a truism for a really long time that fc dallas and the philadelphia union are the gold standards of that and seattle's in like a close to that tier but not quite in that tier they're in that tier and honestly like i think they've they've surpassed fc dallas at this point the phil union their uh their list of players you if you're going to argue that it's more impressive like it's at least a the debate but if you want to talk about who has used that to the greatest effect as far as ah getting these players to the first team like the Union have but also winning trophies along with that this is like the first uh data point we have of Seattle actually
01:33:14
Speaker
getting these guys cycled in and contributing to the first team and then having them meaningfully contribute to winning a trophy. There were so, I mean, let's go down the list of ah Tacoma defiance guys that ah were involved in this game. Again, RBW,
01:33:30
Speaker
Georgie, Obed, that's where he got his start. Osaze, obviously. ah There's, I mean, so many that, I mean, Snyder Burnell didn't play, but he's broken into the first team and scored two goals.
01:33:43
Speaker
ah Who am I missing? I can't even name him. Paul Rothrock? don't know. Paul Rothrock, obviously. like You got Georgie on there. I got Georgie on there. actually... they actually won a trophy making use of that of that pipeline to a greater degree than I've ever seen from an MLS team in a situation like this and that's how you win a game like that with your third string striker right is is stuff like that so uh I think it's time that we champion the agenda that this team is and this club is the gold standard of youth development in this in this league and in this country because
01:34:26
Speaker
just the fruits of that labor that we witnessed this year and in this tournament are incredible and it's honestly that's been such a fun part about this team is how uh like watching young guys come up and succeed but it makes the whole team feel just so authentic to Seattle doesn't it yeah like it's not it's not like a team that uh is fully put together people from somewhere else it's like uh it actually represents the city in a way it's very get the ethos of what this city is. You have people who you can really connect with. You can be like, that's my neighbor. Hey, that's my neighbor who's playing professional soccer, who's also like beasting Messi.
01:35:04
Speaker
And then you can be like, we're gathered around this kid, Pedro de la Vega. You're a Seattleite now, you know, like it's all of these things. world dawn The Roaldon brothers who have become honorary Seattleites. I think what's even more interesting about the Seattle Sounders is the method that they use.
01:35:18
Speaker
They want to win. And so they use their academy to win. They don't use their academy to make money. They're using their academy to win games. They're respecting players if they want to go out and do what they want. But like, there's so many clubs in MLS where the second there's a bag to be had, that's what they're getting.
01:35:39
Speaker
And they lose a lot. They lose a lot and they're not able to win like the Sounders can. But that's the thing. Brian Schmetzer, the entire organization, the city of Seattle itself being a great place to live.
01:35:52
Speaker
You can attract talent and keep talent like that. People want to complain all day. Jordan Morris should have gone to Europe and he is a loser for Saints. I don't care, man. He wanted to play for his hometown club.
01:36:04
Speaker
And that is and and he had the opportunity to go somewhere else. And he chose to stay here. Because it meant something to him. And this club means something to the people who come up through the academy. And they truly buy into it.
01:36:16
Speaker
And so that psychological piece, I don't think there's another club anywhere that has that. Because who the hell wants to live in Columbus, Ohio? I don't. I want to live by the lake.
01:36:28
Speaker
And that's the opportunity that the Seattle Sounders give you. And truly, like i don't think there's it I don't think there's a doubt. At least in this current moment, there is not an academy producing any anyone better.
01:36:41
Speaker
I'm going to switch up the order here. Let's do the League's Cup Final was the best ever played at Lumen Field yeah agenda. So the competition would be MLS Cup 2019 and CONCACAF Champions Cup 2022. Noah, this was your agenda. what what is What would you say your criteria is for best ever? Is it the significance of the win, the crowd, or everything?
01:37:05
Speaker
A lot of people put a lot of significance on the win, which I do think is important, but I also think that it's opponent. It's um the, the lead up, the buildup, like what was being pinned on Seattle.
01:37:17
Speaker
Were you the underdog? What the crowd looks like? What the energy felt like? How it made you feel? What the attention that it got you, right? I think that obviously this there, I think it could be 1A, 1B situation with CONCACAF Champions Cup because truly the Sounders were rated like the, I remember the, uh, on like CBS or something, there was a graphic where it was like the 10 best teams in the world after the Sounders won CONCACAF Champions Cups and the Sounders were like number eight or something like above Iox or whatever.
01:37:49
Speaker
And so the, the, ah the attention obviously was immense and it was an impressive result, but Having
01:38:00
Speaker
just this pressure of like, Messi's coming to town. Oh, you know, is is the stadium going to be all pink? Like, what's the vibe? Every time Messi's on the ball, thunderous boos.
01:38:11
Speaker
I mean, just a stadium that was sold out in a majority Sounders fans. And even the people in Messi jerseys cheering for the Sounders. It was the aura, the atmosphere.
01:38:24
Speaker
the feeling around Lumenfield before and after, and the feeling of the fan base, the feeling of the crash out at the end even. I just, I think that this is one of those games that people will talk about for the rest of their lives.
01:38:40
Speaker
And you know what? You can be upset that it's because Messi was involved, but it was because Messi was involved. And that's like, no hate to Pumas, but people want to- Yeah, exactly, exactly. People want to asterisk that all the time.
01:38:54
Speaker
This was a final where you had the scrappy underdog kids, the Seattle kids, go in and beat the big bad giant in Messi in front of the largest crowd ever for a soccer game in Seattle that was rowdy and lively and they lifted a cup.
01:39:11
Speaker
And I don't know. How can you... It's cinematic. It's like you said. It is so much more cinematic than CCL. And so that's why, to me, this is this is my favorite final ever played at Lumen Field.
01:39:24
Speaker
yeah you know i it could be recency bias but i tend to agree like uh i think it's a 1a 1b situation but there was just something that felt different about this one being there ah but also ah having it be against messi gave it this sort of like mainstream understanding from like it ah that i don't think conca have champions league or cup has like most like normal people and even most just random generic soccer fans don't probably don't know all that much about conca calf champions league everyone when you say oh the sounders are playing the team that has messy everyone knows what that means and uh
01:40:10
Speaker
what comes with that and that ah that makes the whole thing just fundamental fundamentally different from the start and then just the just the energy like how how the whole thing just took over that whole part of seattle like the pioneer square and like area surrounding lumen field there was just this just buzz that felt different than anything i've ever felt around there and then ah with like you said how cinematic the game was itself and how complete with Rothrock scoring the goal after Schmetz's Rothrock quote and like the celebration and everything
01:40:50
Speaker
ah Man, I don't know, maybe with time, all'll ah I'll remember the twenty two one the CONCACAF Champions Cup more fondly. But this just this just felt like a different animal because of the messy factor. I also think like the weather was nice. It was like, you know, there's just like little added things here and there that make it building on top of the summer of soccer that you've already had and the teams that you've already gotten to host in that stadium.
01:41:17
Speaker
And just like the energy around the Sounders in this summer It's like it's hard to understate how that that that was the building of something and just the perfect release. And it's I love this team so much, man. And I can't wait for for more championships in that stadium so that they can dethrone that one. But for now, that's my number one.
01:41:42
Speaker
let's ah Let's bring it home with one last agenda here. ah This is the 2025 season is already a success agenda. I figured it's worth ah talking about if we agree with this or not because ah people have been talking about it and also I can already ah foresee a situation where Seattle gets knocked out of the playoffs this year and then the crash out Brigaders are going to be talking about how ah what a worthless failure of a club it is uh and that Leagues Cup doesn't count because it was just Leagues Cup and this was when it really matters and Craig Weibel blah blah blah like I can see that happening uh but I I think like with the with them just winning this Leaves cut Leagues Cup it's worth talking about how that kind of changes how we see
01:42:33
Speaker
the playoffs. Cause as, as far as the, uh, just the season already being a success with that, with that win, I'm kind of there, man. Like the, play the playoffs, uh, obviously you want to win MLS cup, not saying that you should, uh, phone it in or that it doesn't matter.
01:42:50
Speaker
ah but any, any tournament is like up to complete chance. Ultimately we, like we saw that last year, it's just one bounce of the ball one way or the other. Sometimes it's going to go your way.
01:43:02
Speaker
you're going to be able to make a run sometimes you're not uh if it doesn't go their way this year and they got get knocked out like in a similar way that they did last year i'm not gonna be that busted up about it we already got the sickest game that any fan base has had in years and that probably ever will have four years like that is how big and awesome that was that was like and MLS cup would just be icing on the cake for that at this point uh people are welcome to disagree with that but like I really feel that way like I really don't think there's anything in that could happen in the playoffs that
01:43:42
Speaker
would change how I feel about that one way or the other that game that type of game that we got that's like that's all I want from this that's the that is what we are chasing what we are hoping that the club will achieve when we when we do this podcast when we cover these games that is what they are chasing and we are chasing so when we are provided that And I get that.
01:44:05
Speaker
um' that i'm I'm happy with that. And anything else that happens that year after that, like I said, is is icing on the cake. So and i I don't know. Is that preemptive cope or do you do you feel the same way? No, it's undoubtedly, i think it's a success.
01:44:20
Speaker
And let's go out and win another one. Yeah, exactly. I'm kind of addicted to it, to be honest. you know That shit hits.
01:44:31
Speaker
That shit hits. I need another one. Another one. I think that's a great place to ah to call it a wrap for this episode. Thank you all so much for tuning in. As always, again, thank you so much for following our coverage throughout Leagues Cup.
01:44:48
Speaker
We had and absolute riot of a time covering this thing. We told you that it was a good tournament. We did. that's It's a victory for lobbing Scorchers on that. I didn't bring that up in the agenda check, but ah like we did say this tournament is actually fine and cool, and i think that actually panned out.
01:45:07
Speaker
so But in all seriousness, the support that we got, the new viewers that we got, was just a great time. We appreciate each and every one of you. ah Like, comment, subscribe, rate five stars.
01:45:20
Speaker
ah Please sub to the channel, road to 3K subscribers, alive and well. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok. Am I missing anything else? See on the 5th for our vlog. See you on the 5th for the vlog, and I'll also be on tomorrow, Thursday night, 7.30 p.m., under the lights.
01:45:38
Speaker
See you all there. Until next time, we out. peace