Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Yes, the Sounders might actually be good
0 Plays2 seconds ago
The vibes are starting to feel pretty good around these parts after the Sounders dominated St. Louis City and the Tacoma Defiance gave the Portland Timbers everything they could handle in the U.S. Open Cup. Jeremiah and Aaron break down what has fueled the Sounders’ turnaround.
Sponsor
🍷 Full Pull Wines: Love wine but not wine clubs? Check out the boutique wine seller who lets you browse their selections and pick whatever you want. You can join their mailing list here: https://fullpullwines.com/signup.php
***
Nos Audietis is the flagship podcast for Sounder at Heart, which became a reader-supported website on Aug. 21. You can support us by becoming a paid subscriber, learn more here. You can also watch many of their shows on YouTube.
Aside from becoming a Sounder at Heart subscriber, you can also support the show by using this link to purchase MLS Season Pass or checking out our merch table to buy various shirt designs.
“Diversions” audio provided by Sounder at Heart subscriber Lars; find more of their music here.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Sounders' Legacy
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounders legend. Now I get to do voice reads for the Sounder at Heart podcast network. Here we go. Come on. Hey, O'Shaughnessy.
00:00:13
Speaker
Let's go. What save by Frye. The Seattle Sounders have done it. MLS Cup winning. Here comes Ruiz Dias through the middle to crowd it for Seattle.
00:00:29
Speaker
And now they truly can start the celebrations. It's the Sounders MLS Cup. Nico Lodero leaves absolutely no doubt. The Sounders rule the region.
00:00:43
Speaker
Seattle, Sounders, it's got built.
00:00:52
Speaker
This feels fucking awesome. This is a tiny dog. Nice work on your little yacht yat thing. And Portland can't say shit. know, what was the thought process in terms of who you decided to use and who you didn't?
00:01:06
Speaker
Ever since Southert Hart wrote a commentary that we didn't take over coming seriously. Go, not Seattle!
00:01:18
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounder supporters.
00:01:32
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, Pacific Northwest.
Podcast Hosts and Longtime Sponsors
00:01:43
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Nos Adiates, part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network. We are sponsored by Full Pull Wines and our subscribers. We're recording on Wednesday, May 7th, 2025. I'm your host, Jeremiah O'Shan.
00:01:56
Speaker
Joining me today once again is my co-host Aaron Campo and our producer, Lickit. Aaron. It's been feels like it's been a little while since we've actually done the show together. We keep having Mark fill in or other.
00:02:10
Speaker
Yeah. Reasons. So it's good to see you in a minute. Yeah, it's good to see you as well. Yeah. Always good to see you. But yeah, it does feel like we ah we've we've had more rotation this year than normal, which, you know, it's good. You know, think it's true.
00:02:23
Speaker
Yeah. How keep it fresh for ourselves, fresh for the listeners, you know? yeah Exactly. How are the tattoos healing up? ah You know, ah the the one I got a couple weeks ago is doing pretty well. It looks disgusting, but that's par for the course.
00:02:41
Speaker
The one I got on Saturday hurts like a son of a bitch. I don't know what's going on there, but not in a concerning way or anything. just it's He did tell me it was it's going to be kind of a pain in the ass to heal, and he wasn't lying. So I think it's just because it's on my my my dominant arm, you know, so it's like hard to not...
00:02:58
Speaker
But, you know, it's getting there. It's starting to look disgusting, which is is good a good thing when it comes to the tattoo ceiling because, you know, you're making progress. Well, good. Yeah, well, ah we can now check banter off of our checklist.
Sounders' Recent Performance Highlights
00:03:12
Speaker
So we can move into... the soccer, uh, Sounders are coming off, uh, very, very satisfying win. I would say probably the most fun I've had watching the Sounders play a home game in a very long time. And yeah,
00:03:31
Speaker
This year generally, I think, is maybe gone slept on a little bit. This year, the Sounders are actually pretty entertaining at home. I wrote a column this week where I talked about their home record in league play. They're 3-0-2. 14 goals scored at home.
00:03:46
Speaker
fourteen goals scored at home but he At least two goals in all but one of the games. They did have that annoying shutout against Houston. But other than that, they're at least scoring goals. But this even on that scale, this game stood out. This was a really, really fun, satisfying performance.
00:04:06
Speaker
It was, yeah. I mean, I think that's the other... game that stands out for having a ah bunch of goals is the LAFC game. And that obviously a very satisfying game because it came against LAFC and the Sounders were very good in that game. But I think it's it's reasonable to say that that scoreline was flattering to the Sounders.
00:04:22
Speaker
um The first half wasn't great, wasn't a lot of fun. And in and this one, I think the Sounders were just dominant in a way that I think is really rare to see in MLS and especially against the St. Louis team who's not, you know, they're not world beaters necessarily, but their defense has been excellent this year.
00:04:38
Speaker
And the Sounders just yeah i think dominated. Yeah, exactly. And I think that the fact that a lot of people have, I've heard this sentiment a few times where, It's just St. Louis. They're very bad. And
In-depth Analysis of Sounders vs. St. Louis
00:04:50
Speaker
St. Louis is not great, but they'd only given up eight goals coming into this game. So they gave up 50% or they have now given up 33% of their entire season total, which is, you know, 11 games in the game against the Sounders, which is which is notable. No one had really put them to the sword like the Sounders had.
00:05:09
Speaker
And what was even crazier is the Sounders probably could have scored 10 two or three more goals. They, I mean, they had ah two bull balls go off the post. They had, i would say at least one absolute sitter that they missed.
00:05:25
Speaker
And I don't know that any of the goals they scored were like worldies either. It was just a very satisfying performance. And of course to have it capped off with new who tucking it inside the near post despite having an entire goal to work with was kind of perfectly fitting.
00:05:46
Speaker
Yeah, it was it was very fun. it This is a deep, deep cut, but the the goal that it actually reminded me of the most and in Sounders history was Jacquez scored a goal against San Francisco of Panama in, think it was like 2011. oh, oh.
00:06:03
Speaker
where there was he it was a really frustrating like early Champions League tie where the Sounders were clearly like infinitely better. But I want to say this is 2011.
00:06:15
Speaker
And yeah, it was, i think, a qualifier, a Champions League qualifier, because the way it used to work was if you won the Open Cup, you didn't get into the proper tournament. You just got into a qualifier for the tournament. Correct.
00:06:27
Speaker
But yeah to go on. and And yeah, it was a similar situation where there was absolutely no need for Nate Jake what's a roof the ball, but that's what he did. And it was really, it was really satisfying. And I think it was a similar thing with new who in this one was just like, you know what, if it's harder to miss than it is to score, you might as well get your money's worth, you know?
00:06:49
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know if it was harder. I thought when he hit it, I thought he over hit it. I thought he was actually going to say that. Uh,
00:06:57
Speaker
but of course one of the, the really satisfying parts of this game, I think, and maybe we're getting a little ahead of ourselves, but Ryan Kent was on another level.
Ryan Kent's Impact and Style Comparison
00:07:08
Speaker
Uh,
00:07:09
Speaker
he was doing stuff that I really don't think we've seen anyone do since Clint, you know, since the, since Clint's heyday, really like he was just playing with a kind of confidence and swagger that is not common in MLS in general, but really we have not seen a player who could put on that to sort of performance.
00:07:32
Speaker
And, you know, this is, This is a team that had ra has had Raul Ruiz Diaz in his prime, that's had Nico Ladero in his prime. but you know they They've had plenty of good players, but there was a like I said, a swagger to his performance that is not that is different than what those guys played with.
00:07:50
Speaker
And it was really satisfying to watch. He seems to be, it's it is a little pinch yourself because you're like, why was this guy freely available? Why has he not had a team for eight months?
00:08:02
Speaker
And at some point, we probably need to dig into that and and try to understand that a little bit more. But right now, it does seem like it was just a matter of, He wanted to go somewhere where he thought he was going to be and enjoying himself.
00:08:14
Speaker
and And maybe that's not in Europe. like You would think he would have had no problem finding a team in Scotland or in the Champo or you know any number of European teams.
00:08:28
Speaker
And for whatever reason, he didn't he didn't take those gigs. And i don't know, maybe was destined. Maybe it was destined. maybe it was destin Yeah, I'd like to think so. I mean, it would be nice for us to get the benefit of destiny once in a while, you know?
00:08:44
Speaker
And it to me, when I watch Ryan Kemp play, it's a guy who has been dealing with Jose Mourinho's BS for far too long, you know, where he's he's just playing with very clearly playing with freedom and joy ah that you're just not afforded in a system like Jose Mourinho's. And so it's it's really fun to watch.
00:09:04
Speaker
And I think that the things that he is good at, clearly clearly that he's good at, and that he sells at are a really good fit for this league where you you are going to have a little bit more time and space.
00:09:15
Speaker
you're You're usually going to have a little bit more freedom within the system. You know, the Sounders certainly don't play a very rigid system. And i think that's to the benefit of, of, I think that makes sense to do that in a league like MLS where you can't always go out and get exactly the players you you want.
00:09:30
Speaker
And I think he, I just really think he's going to thrive here. You know, I was cautiously optimistic when he was signed that, you know, this could be a a guy that that made a big impact. And now I'm, I'm trying to maintain that cautious optimism, but it's, it's getting harder and harder to do. The more we see him, the harder it is to be cautious because yeah his game does not, uh,
00:09:53
Speaker
ah prompt consciousness. It is. i mean, like the, that there was a great little replay that the Sounders had of the first play that he, so he gets onto the field and ah within a couple minutes of him getting on the field, he let, he does this sort of like dummy run where he allows the ball to nutmeg the defender without him touching it.
00:10:19
Speaker
I don't think I've ever seen a player do that where he was able to sort of faint receiving it. And in the process of faint of dummying the ball, he makes that it's almost like a heart. It's, I don't think I even understood what I saw until I saw a replay of it on, on blue sky or whatever. The sounders put out a video of this play And it's it's hard to fathom how you you pull that off because it's not supposed to work that way.
00:10:51
Speaker
And then, of course, the you know and he he ends up with an assist. He almost has a second assist. And then he does get that second assist where he does a similar play, only this time he does it in the box.
00:11:03
Speaker
He never picks up his head, and somehow he hits a diagonal sort of like a cutback through really a sea of defenders.
00:11:14
Speaker
And it just falls right to knew whose feet, who is just sitting there waiting to roof the ball. It is, it's, it's like a sick, there's a sixth sense about him. He, he seems to just have a calmness and a, and a, and a confidence that is, like I said, it's hard to be,
00:11:35
Speaker
chill about this because it's really exciting to watch he completed all 26 of his passes it's the kind of wing play that i don't i don't know that the sounders have ever had really i mean they've had good wingers but i don't know that they've had wingers that play like this i think maybe like steve zacholani was the closest um but he just wasn't at this level you know he didn't quite have this this these kinds of skills and so um it's It's exciting and it's it's so much fun to watch. i mean, I think a player like this is objectively a kind of player that everyone has to admit, yeah, this is fun to watch. like This is why we like watching soccer and stuff like this. Yeah, absolutely. And and the Sounders, I think, you know are in need of players like that. um even
00:12:21
Speaker
Even if they're playing well, it doesn't hurt to have a guy that's must-see TV just on his own merits. Yeah. Yeah, and and for the nerds out there, this wasn't just a... you know It just wasn't pleasing from a... There was a couple of plays.
00:12:38
Speaker
if I went through the their entire history of XG that American Soccer Analysis has available in their database. So you go all the way 2013. You can look at every game the Sounders have played in that time.
00:12:52
Speaker
And the Sounders, I think, only one time had a higher... expected goal difference than they had in this game and that was that 2015 win over Orlando which you might remember was the game Obafemi Martins came back from the red card wedding it was also Nelson Valdez's debut where he scored and I think Thomas Hagorube don't know if that's like his name I think he scored in that game too He did. Yeah, I remember that was such an exciting game, too, because Valdez, that was one of the best headers I've ever seen, you know, in that game. And it just felt like one many to come. And then, yeah, and Tomas said had shown some promise, but hadn't really had any kind of end product. And it's like, oh, maybe this guy's finally figuring it out. And, you know, maybe that didn't end up going the way were hoping at the time. Yeah, that whole thing at the time.
00:13:44
Speaker
There's a lot of false promise in that game, admittedly. yeah But, you know, this does feel a little different in that the Sounders have a little bit more of a balanced team. There was a lot more contributions up and down the roster.
00:13:57
Speaker
The player for me who I thought really set the tone in this one was Christian Roldan. Early on, he makes you know he was everywhere in this game, it felt like. But early on, he had a couple forced turnovers in St. Louis' end. And it was sort of like, nope, this is this is how this game is going to be. This is going to be tough.
00:14:15
Speaker
I thought it was interesting afterwards that Olaf Melberg, the short-wearing coach of... Here's a little trivia. When's the last time the Sounders faced coaches wearing shorts in back-to-back games?
00:14:28
Speaker
Phil Neville was wearing shorts. I guess ah not technically the Sounders, but we'll get to this later. But Phil Neville was also wearing shorts in Tukwila yesterday. But anyway... all of my other thought ah he's like, oh well I thought we were the better team up until the penalty.
00:14:45
Speaker
mean And I guess you could refer to either penalty. They were right back one another, but I, do I watched that game again. I do not think St. Louis was the better team. I thought they very much got their goal against them run of play.
00:14:57
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, that, that was my primary reaction to their goal. I know Olaf Melberg can do nothing wrong. He's a Villa legend, so i don't want to be too critical of him, but right. Yeah. Uh, I definitely my thought when they scored was, well, that's completely unfair because not only is that a pretty absurd penalty call, the Sounders have been totally bossing this game so far.
00:15:19
Speaker
um And I know, you know, if you're on the road and you were a team that is only going to be eking out points primarily through defensive means, maybe you're, you know, what you mean by better team is, know,
00:15:32
Speaker
subjective right yeah yeah maybe you're right maybe he's using a much more like maybe i think probably what he was saying and this is ah much more sympathetic reading of that is that the game was with within the game like the game plan was being followed like they were maybe not controlling the game but they it was not out of the control and then after the penalty it sort of they lost any semblance of control uh i I also think it's notable that the Sounders came back to win this one. they Something they have not done yet this year.
00:16:08
Speaker
But they've also had very few opportunities to do that at home. they've only they The four minutes that they trailed in this game are the first four minutes they've trailed at home this year, which is kind of a cool stat, I thought.
00:16:22
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's it is it's a very cool stat. I mean, I think that one of the major talking points last year and into the offseason that I think is a totally valid one is, you know,
00:16:34
Speaker
The Sounders, even if they're going deep into the playoffs, even if they are winning games over the summer and and getting back into the run of things, if you're boring as hell to watch in your home games for two or three months, it's going to hurt attendance. It's going to hurt the you know the buzz around the team. and And so I think they're really putting that theory to the test this year. I mean, they've they've been a blast to watch in every game, aside from, as you said, the Houston game.
00:16:58
Speaker
which had, you know, extenuating circumstances. But this game had extenuating circumstances too, right? The Nashville game had extenuating circumstances. they That's the thing, right? Exactly. they've Every game they've been missing key players. i mean, they haven't been able to, I don't, I think only one game this year, they've started all three designated
Overcoming Injuries and Strategic Gameplay
00:17:15
Speaker
players. And I think, I think that was the 4-1 loss to Cruz Azul.
00:17:20
Speaker
which yeah I don't necessarily think those two things are related, but it just to illustrate that they've had, they've been shorthanded at key spots virtually all season long.
00:17:30
Speaker
And, you know, they're not out of the woods yet. They're three, four and four. They are sitting like seventh place. I think they're three points out of, out of third. So it's, there's a lot to play for. and there's also not, there's also a lot of,
00:17:45
Speaker
player teams all jumbled together sort of in that big middle glob of teams in the Western Conference. But where we sit right now, it's hard not to be, you know, you guys said this a couple of weeks ago when you and Mark were on, you know, is it time to be optimistic? I think that was after the Nashville game.
00:18:03
Speaker
And it does feel like there is a growing sense of optimism around this team, despite you know Jordan Morris being out for another you know five, six weeks potentially or more. we don't really know.
00:18:16
Speaker
ah Jackson Reagan's still not back. Jesus Ferreira may or may not be back. So there's there's definitely injuries going on here. But there it also feels like they are... finding ways to get results for the most part and, and not, and this isn't, and this was a lot more than just finding what this was a, this was high life soccer, which is a term we tried to get going back in 2023, 20, was that right? 23. think 2023. Yeah.
00:18:44
Speaker
Yeah. Like they had a couple of games where they were playing this kind of brand of soccer that we dubbed high life soccer as opposed to champagne football. And this was, but this is, this was it. This was the, that kind of game. This was, you know, pressing high up the field, but yet, you know, flowing offense.
00:19:03
Speaker
This was fun. This was, you know, the energy in the stadium was really good. This is the stuff that gets people back into the stadium. Now there's all kinds of other issues that will, you know, affect that as well. But this felt like,
00:19:17
Speaker
a real step forward in terms of kind of winning back hearts and minds. Yeah. And I think the fact that they are finding ways to do it despite the injuries is i don't think it can be overstated because it's not that the injury excuses in years past have been totally invalid.
00:19:36
Speaker
But I think people are just like, yeah, well, the reality is still that I'm paying a lot of money, taking time out of my my busy life to go to the games. And whether or not it's their fault or not, it still is a crappy experience.
00:19:50
Speaker
And I think the fact that they've found a way to so have games like this with the injuries, they scored four goals with with Danny Masovsky starting and in place of Jordan Morris. I mean, when Jordan Morris went down against Cruz Azul and then again,
00:20:03
Speaker
you know, uh, more recently. Against the Rapids. There was this, against the Rapids, there there was this real gut punch feeling of like, well, if Jordan's out, we're not scoring goals. Right.
00:20:13
Speaker
And that doesn't appear to be the case, right? Like we appear to have like a proof of concept of, of how to score goals without Jordan Morris, which is a huge development. Yeah. Yeah. And, and by the way,
00:20:25
Speaker
i There's plenty of talk about Danny Masofsky, so it's not like he's getting ignored here, but he has been... it's it's Sometimes it's very it just very satisfying to see when the underlying numbers are telling you something and the reality is reinforcing that.
00:20:44
Speaker
Like, yeah he hit You know, his... There's some reason to be skeptical that he can maintain what he's doing right now. And I'm not going to sit here and say he's going to score ah goal a game. It would be silly.
00:20:59
Speaker
But there's no reason. like Everything about his career, everything about his performance this year suggests that if he's playing, he's going to score about a goal every other game. And if he can just maintain that sort of pace...
00:21:12
Speaker
that should be just fine. Like he is doing a job and he's doing it really efficiently. And, you know, I've, I've, I've seen ah ah more than a few people say like, well, it's nice if he's, you know, putting away sitters, but what else can he do? and it's like, well, that's,
00:21:30
Speaker
Really, if he can just be in position to put away sitters, that's a really useful skill. I don't need him to do more than that. Just keep making that near post run. Keep spamming the near post run. That's fine. Right.
00:21:43
Speaker
If you make that run and you... It's working. It's working, exactly. Yeah. I mean, obviously, Danny Mazovsky is not Chris Wondolowski, but Chris Wondolowski made a career and set records putting away sitters.
00:21:56
Speaker
That's all he did. he He was not a super dynamic forward. He just had really great movement, really great positioning, and he scored sitters. yeah And you can be a really effective player doing that.
00:22:08
Speaker
And I think especially with the Sounders having other weapons, with Kent and De La Vega and, and Russ snack and Paul Rothrock and other guys that can conceivably score goals that other teams have to be worried about, ah that, you know, that makes his job just so much easier when Jordan Morris is the guy that other teams think can score. Yeah. He's going to have to will himself to some goals.
00:22:32
Speaker
Danny Masovsky doesn't have to have that kind of pressure on him. And uh, you know, I think the results are, are speaking for themselves. Yeah. Yeah, and you know it it remains to be seen how much of a player this that Osaze de Rosario can be, but what I like about him is that he seems to have a lot of the same qualities, where he isn't a flashy player, but he's really good at getting himself into dangerous positions and finishing when he's supposed to finish.
00:23:01
Speaker
and you know between the two And it looks like Osaze is going to be around for a while. but Between the two of them, I think you can probably... You know, as long as you keep getting service, as long as you have these playmakers, which they have seemingly an abundance of playmakers right now,
00:23:19
Speaker
as long as they are getting service, this should be a functional offense that has the potential to be really, really fun.
Upcoming Challenges and Road Games
00:23:29
Speaker
And i am excited. I mean, like I'm genuinely excited about what this team can do.
00:23:34
Speaker
We'll see how long it lasts. But right now, as I sit here on May 7th, I'm, I'm really excited. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, this is gonna be a great test. This next week is going to be a great test. They have three road games.
00:23:48
Speaker
They are starting with a game at Houston, which is ah win of a very winnable game. Then they go LAFC at midweek, which by the way, both teams will be on short rest.
00:24:01
Speaker
LAFC is going to have on one day less rest and they're going to be coming from Vancouver. yeah, I mean, I don't know if that how much of your difference makes, but they're probably going to have to play their first choice lineup on the weekend, just like the Sounders will.
00:24:13
Speaker
And then i would imagine the Sounders will try to set it up so they have their first choice group ready for Portland. this is you know If they come out of this with five points, I think they have to feel really, really good about the prospects, the like the path forward.
00:24:35
Speaker
Yeah, I think that this is ah this is a tough stretch, but it's not a daunting stretch, if that makes sense. like I think that this team is capable of getting a couple points on the road and picking up a win on the road, which is what they need to do to to pick up five points. you know They've had good luck in Portland over the last few years. Hopefully that can continue. um Houston's always a tough place to play, but I don't fear them, really, i guess I would say, this season. The centers actually recently have had a lot of success in Houston, too.
00:25:05
Speaker
They have. They have. And Houston has won twice this year. um that they've had They've had a rough go of it at home this year. So that's that's an eminently winnable game. ah LAFC just does not look like the LAFC of years past, but they have been very good at home this year. They've they've only dropped points twice at home. So that's you know that's going to be a tough one.
00:25:24
Speaker
And Portland, I mean, i don't i don't know what to think about Portland this point, honestly. I don't either. They look pretty good. they're They're high up the table, but they almost lost to defiance. So... but Obviously, that was the first choice team, but, you know, they're they're a weird team. I feel pretty good about the the Sounders ah chances in that one because Portland likes to score, but the Sounders pretty good at preventing teams from doing that. And they do not like to defend and the Sounders are quite good at taking advantage of that. So, um you know, I'm optimistic about this this ah run of games, but the the.
00:25:57
Speaker
The flip side of that is that it is the kind of run of games where the vibes can go south pretty quickly if if you don't grind it, grind it out and get some results. So ah it's it's a big, you know, it's a big stretch for sure.
00:26:11
Speaker
Yeah. ah you You mentioned Portland. We may as well get into this right now. Rather than the second segment, but the defiance. played Portland on Wednesday, on Tuesday.
00:26:24
Speaker
I was there at Starfire. It was a blast. I, it was a good reminder that defiance games can be a lot of fun. There was a little less than 1800 people there, but the stands were packed. At least the, the main grandstand was packed.
00:26:38
Speaker
ah And the Defiance put on a great show. Like the Defiance really, really put on a good show. I imagine a lot of our listeners are sleeping on this because no one goes to the games.
00:26:52
Speaker
It's like friends and family that are there. it's It's pretty dire crowds. But this is a really fun team. And I think this was a good showcase for them to, you know,
00:27:04
Speaker
Granted, there were a few first first team players in the in the roster, but this was the bulk of this team was real defiance players are certainly players that you can expect to see out at defiance games.
00:27:16
Speaker
And it was a lot of, you know, that they didn't quite push it over the line, but it was a lot of fun. It was ah I think they carried the torch well for ah from Saturday's Sounders game to this one, because.
00:27:30
Speaker
Osase De Rosario continued his blazing hot run. He's now got 10 goals in eight games. Yu Tsukunome, who is a a Japanese player who the Sounders plucked out of the NPSL ah last year, he's now on eight goals and or nine nine goals through nine games across all comps.
00:27:50
Speaker
And I just thought that they... They kind of controlled the game, frankly. Like the Timbers were not – this was not the first-choice Timbers team, but these are all MLS veterans. you know they They probably had 400 or 500 games worth of MLS ah experience between them.
00:28:07
Speaker
Maxine Crepeau was a World Cup player not too long ago. you know Zach McGraw and Dario Zapierich were both starting center backs last year. They had a bunch of guys on the – that were playing out there that were starters, either at this some point this year, like regular starters at some point this year, or certainly last year, this was not a slouch Timbers team. And, and frankly, the i thought the Timbers got pretty lucky. They, they got away with, you know, probably what should have been a foul for the first goal.
00:28:36
Speaker
They got away with what I thought should have been a penalty to Travian Sousa. So that would have given this the defiance a chance to go up three, one. and You know, on better reflection, I have to admit, I think that penalty was so was soft in that there was no reason for the Sounders to commit it, but it was probably fair. Like, Manu got a ah pretty good handful of jersey.
00:29:01
Speaker
That's going to happen, but... Still, I thought mostly a very encouraging, positive performance from the Defiance, even though if I'm the Timbers, I'm sitting here going, look, this is not a style points competition. This is all about surviving and advancing, and we're the ones advancing, so get off of us.
00:29:21
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's it's true. it's It's a fair point. I can't imagine, though, that they didn't get a little bit of a hairdryer, you know, at training today or after the game. Yeah.
00:29:33
Speaker
it's i think you know you you touched on it you said it uh i've seen plenty of cup sets and especially when there's a two levels gap between the teams they don't usually play out like this one almost did like you see you see the lower division teams defending deep and maybe taking advantages of set pieces or or you know um counter attacks and and you see a lot of bunkering and holding on and praying and that just wasn't the the way this one played out at all i mean the defiance were on the front foot they were setting the tone obviously down the stretch they were under pressure um but i think that's that's to be expected by any team that's protecting a lead late in a cup game and you know ultimately they they couldn't withstand the pressure and i think that that is the
00:30:21
Speaker
you know veteran experience playing at a higher level, winning out at the end of of the day. would have been really nice if they could have put put away one of those other chances that would have made it 3-1, obviously, because I think if that happens, the Timbers just fold from there on. But I don't think you can be anything but ecstatic with with that performance. I think it was you know guys playing above their heads and playing above their their pay grade, frankly, and a lot of promising play.
00:30:49
Speaker
i nobody has any reason to be upset or disappointed in their performance. um And, you know, it's always nice if you can get knocked out of a cup game and come away feeling like the referee had a a hand in it.
00:31:02
Speaker
You know, that always gives you a little bit more, ah little bit more reason for, for, optimism, I suppose, at least when you're not supposed to win, if you're supposed to win, that's, ah it's a different story.
00:31:13
Speaker
um So yeah, I, I, it was, it was a lot of fun. um It'd be nice, you know, like you said, if they could recreate that atmosphere more frequently, um maybe if they, I don't know, played in the city that they took their name from and and catered to a local market and actually tried to get people to come to the games, something like that would help.
00:31:32
Speaker
um But yeah, you know, that's, that's neither here nor there. Yeah. and And there was part of me, though, that watching it was sad that it wasn't the Sounders. You know, it's I love the US Open Cup.
00:31:43
Speaker
I think it's really special. And it's a bummer that it's become sort of this third tier thing now to tournaments that, frankly, nobody really cares about that much. So.
Open Cup Discussion and Lower Division Success
00:31:55
Speaker
Well, and and unfortunately, the the magic of the Open Cup took a bit of a blow this week in total. Only one lower division team ended up advancing out of this round. So we are now down to 16 teams.
00:32:11
Speaker
15 of them are MLS sides. The only MLS team to lose was New York City FC. And it was kind of an amazing ending. Pittsburgh Riverhounds, a USL championship team who were hosting this game, got a goal in the fifth minute of second half stoppage time to win that one. Basically the final play of the game.
00:32:34
Speaker
So at least there was one cup set that was kind of exciting. And I suppose that it does speak to the challenges of this particular format, which the way it was set up was all 16 MLS teams were paired against lower division teams from the previous round.
00:32:53
Speaker
So that we didn't have any lower division versus lower division teams. We also didn't have any and MLS versus and MLS games. So that was good. But the trade-off is that we only end up with one lower division team kind of Waters kind of like take some of the magic out of this tournament, I think. i mean, you can still have some good games.
00:33:13
Speaker
I'm sure those fan bases will still be inclined to be excited, but i don't know how many neutrals are going to tune in to watch random MLS versus MLS matchups for the next three rounds or whatever.
00:33:26
Speaker
Yeah, it's it does. i mean, I can watch. I can watch MLS teams play MLS teams all the time. And usually they're playing stronger lineups and have bigger crowds. So it's a, it's, it's a bummer to see ah everybody gets behind, you know, the lower division teams,
00:33:42
Speaker
I think i I hope everybody gets behind the lower division teams unless they have a rooting interest for for the um MLS team. um And it's yeah, it's it's a bummer. It makes me wonder about the state of the lower divisions, I guess, to some degree. Well, yeah, we've and we've and it's it's definitely at an inopportune time for the lower divisions, because, you know, here USL just sort of has gotten a lot of headlines over the last year.
00:34:09
Speaker
you know, month or so because they made this decision to go to or to adopt promotion and relegation. And then to follow that up with, well, yeah, a bunch of these teams are, we're going to be calling first division teams in a few years.
00:34:25
Speaker
Right. Not the best look. Maybe. No, no, it's not. I don't know. Maybe, you know, we'll see. Hopefully it's a, Better times ahead.
00:34:37
Speaker
i like this tournament. I actually didn't mind the Defiance taking the Sounders place in part because it got it gave us a bunch of earlier round games to like we got the Defiance ended up playing four games as a as a sicko. I enjoyed being engaged in those earlier round games a little bit more.
00:34:59
Speaker
So it didn't really it didn't bug me that much, although I can definitely understand that. you know it would have been nice to see the Sounders go try to win a title out of this thing. that is kind of you know It's i always fun to try that, I suppose.
00:35:15
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that if the reality is that the Sounders are not going to be in the tournament, the the right way to approach that is, hey, well, you know what? I'm going get invested in the and the defiance, and that's the healthier way to process it. But, you know.
00:35:31
Speaker
We can't all be that practical, guess. Well, this is probably a good place to call a ah break. We're going to come back and we're going to power rank something.
00:35:42
Speaker
i I think maybe what we could do is power rank what positions we want to see the Sounders pursuing with this U22 spot. We happened to talk to, or I happened to talk to Craig Weibel today at training and he made some comments that ah can kind of take this in multiple directions.
00:36:00
Speaker
So maybe that's a good thing we can talk about. We're, I'm breaking news, I think to Aaron right now. ah but Yeah, that's fine. My idea was fashion so um Well, this is, yeah. So maybe this is a better idea.
00:36:11
Speaker
But anyway, I think it is. This is Devo Sarientes and we'll be right back.
00:36:18
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Sounder at Heart Podcast Network, which now includes No Sanietes, Lobbing Scorchers, and The Cooler Guild. We've been independent since August of 2023, but need your support to make sure it continues.
00:36:31
Speaker
Although this podcast is free, it's only made possible by your continued support. Memberships start as low as $25 a year, which not only helps make podcasts like this one happen, but also gets you access to everything we produce.
00:36:44
Speaker
If you're able to support us at higher levels, starting at $75 a year, you gain access to a host of other perks, Most notably, entry into our members-only Discord where the smartest, funniest, and most engaged commenters share their thoughts and ideas.
00:36:59
Speaker
To find out more, just visit centeratheart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner. Thanks for listening.
00:37:10
Speaker
Welcome back to Nos Adiates. I am Jeremiah Oshan, and we are doing our power rankings for this segment. And we decided... live on air not live, but in real time,
00:37:24
Speaker
to power rank the positions we want to see the Sounders pursuing with this U22 spot. We had a, I had a chance to catch up with Craig Weibel today out at training. He gave us a bunch of quotes about the U22 situation and sort of, he, i don't know.
00:37:38
Speaker
The cynic will say that he is providing cover for maybe not signing anyone because he basically said like, look, we want a player that's going to come in and contribute reasonably quickly.
00:37:52
Speaker
That kind of player, that's a high bar. Those kinds of players tend to be pretty expensive. those you U22s like that oftentimes don't even want to come to MLS. And if they do want to come to MLS, it's they're very they're not only they expensive transfer fees, but they also are commanding a relatively, you know potentially too high of a ah salary.
00:38:12
Speaker
So these are all reasons that if you're cynical, you can say, well, he just doesn't want to sign someone and he's coming up with excuses not to sign someone. I'm going to choose to be a little bit more optimistic and say, maybe this is because he's out there looking for the best player available. He's not dialed into one position and he just wants to find the best player that he can. And I will say in defense of that idea, there is not right now. I look at the roster and I'm not going to sit here and say it's perfect or that it's unupgradable, but for a 22 to come in here,
00:38:52
Speaker
and be a contributor, little not even necessarily a starter, but to be getting regular minutes, they have to beat out players who look like they're off to a pretty good start this year, who are pretty good. you know like i don't ah Let me just ask you this, Aaron.
00:39:07
Speaker
When you look at this roster, what do you think is the position that is most realistically upgraded, not in general, but with signing? mean...
00:39:19
Speaker
i mean know I don't look at any position group on this team and say, I think there's a good chance that a U22 player that the Sounders the type that the sounders would be targeting and would be plausible is goingnna upgrade this position all right i look at central midfield as the spot where maybe they're going to have the best luck getting minutes and contributing right away um but i think
00:39:50
Speaker
even that means your you're probably going to prioritize giving the minutes over players that you think might be better you know um and that that does make it tricky it does make it tricky and and it's it's why i do find the idea that they want to prioritize getting somebody in that can contribute right away a little strange um because i don't know that that's the best use in the mechanism yeah it feels like a way to set up a repeat of the layo two situation where you know to be clear i don't think that signing was bad or a disaster at all
00:40:22
Speaker
when you look at the other u twenty two signins in the league leohu was you know im a bettert than averageage contributor um the sounders you know ended up getting some some good minutes from him getting some some goals and assist from him and and he you know is is probably going to go on to have a ah pretty good mls career but um it's also just so unambitious i guess you know um and so you know i would hope that they would say we're going to get the player that we think has the highest ceiling whether or not they can help out right away but
00:40:56
Speaker
you know it doesn't seem like that's what they're going to do so yeah i don't know we'll we'll see i i guess the other way of looking at those statements is
00:41:09
Speaker
that they i think part of it might be that they're sort of repeating the words that they're hearing from ownership which is we don't want to spend money just for the sake of spending money and i get it like i don't but they're like i said this last year i'll say it again we are sort of at the point where there's like you got to spend money just to show that you're willing to do it sometimes and this i would like to see them make a signing i'd like the like they don't have any u twenty they're not using any of their u twenty two spots right now
00:41:43
Speaker
and as good as they this roster looks they're not it's not being fully maximized and yeah you know so i'd like to see them do something there yeah and i think the idea that spending money to invest in a player that has a lot of upside that can either help you in the future or on the field or could help you in the future in terms of bringing in a big transfer see i think that viewing that as spending money for the sake of spending money is a little silly
00:42:14
Speaker
i mean yeah i would agree i'm just saying i think these are sort of the internal conversations there no i i'm sure i'm sure you're right and it's based on both the fact that i trust you and also the fact that there the actions of the club sort of suggest that they don't really have a lot of appetite for speculative investment but that's kind of where the league is at right now you know it's to some degree yeah and of course the and the the other irony here is that adrian hanauer is one of the big reasons the u twenty two rule even exists like rain he was one of the champions of this rule like he he really liked the idea of
00:42:48
Speaker
creating sort of like a roster mechanism that you could use as an investment tool so i don't know hopefully he actually puts that to puts that in debt he he greenlights the the use of this but without further ado here's we're gonna start and number five the position that we think could be upgraded potentially but not the most important one and and that's fullback ah i think the sounders are pretty reasonably set both in the near and long term but maybe not at left back left back seems like
00:43:21
Speaker
you could probably upgrade you could write find a leftback who you know and maybe is's not going to start over new who or even reed baker whiting but at least or i guess paul rothro technically is is the left wing back right now but you could talk yourself into a young guy getting minutes there don't you think yeah i think so um i would i would throw centerback in there as well um oh well i you know two hawkins is obviously a hell of a prospect you look great against portland last night
00:43:52
Speaker
but they don't have a ton of centerbacked depth um yeah obviously don't want to take minutes away from ah guy that might be your current highest upside prospect obviously but you know there's if you bring in a u twenty two center back you could go out a loan potentially so um yeah i mean i guess in the yeah the very sounders move here would be paying a transfer fee for cato yamada who is the japanese centerback that they have on loan right now at defiance
00:44:24
Speaker
who is yeah considered a high- level prospect and i have to admit i was not super impressed with him the first couple times i watched him but the more i watch him the morempressed i was i thought he was really good yesterday you know he held this is they had two eighteen year old centerbacks that really held their own in that game yesterday which was really encouraging i like hawkins a lot so i don't know i could see maybe maybe they do maybe they do something crazy like pay a transfer food for your money like hey this is our you twenty two this guy is already here i could see that going over really well yeah yeah exactly
00:44:57
Speaker
ah so number four i put the number ten spot in part because i just don't know you know i saw a comment today on ah on blue sky from matt doyle saying he thought that they might you thought that they were potentially already targeting in number ten i do not think that but they were doing but he thinks that's maybe where they move there target especially at danny mozowski playing so well and in theory sure it would be great to go out and spend you twenty two money on a number ten
00:45:29
Speaker
but in the sounder like are we is there really number ten a twenty one year old tens out there that in the sounders price range that are going to upgrade this but because right now they would have to be beating out albert ruakck pedro dela vega heyusus ferrera even you know danny leva even like i don't right it actually seems like a kind of deep position for them yeah i think that the t is ah is like great example of a spot where if your intention is to
00:46:00
Speaker
go find an eighteen year old who is not quite good enough to go play in europe ye or you know it hasn't shown enough to even be a speculative asset for manchester city or whoever but you're willing to spend money on and willing to wait a couple of years right and hope that you know they improve their stock with their youth national teams and maybe can go on a loan or whatever i think that's a great use of the mechanism but the sounders you know like we said don't appear to be interested in doing that and i just it's tough for me to see where
00:46:31
Speaker
that player gets men because not only do you have a bunch of guys that can play the ten you have a bunch of guys that can play the ten in a bunch of different ways the sounders don't even really use a traditional ten in the first place so um like the sort of prototypical south american ten is not really ah great fit on this seam i don't know you know and i don't think so yeah it's ah but i think it's such a high value position if you do hit the that signing correctly that you have to consider it um
00:47:02
Speaker
possibility yeah and me maybe i maybe i under risk underestimated that possibility but i had and the number my number three most important area replace say like winger which you know you always put winger on there right you always you can never have too many wingers yeah true i mean we're we're potentially putting that to the test we are going to the test now we yeah you've got you've got georgeor emus in the
00:47:34
Speaker
missing the bench and right and that you know before rankens see startinging games but you know again it's kind of like and attacking player any any winger striker ten has got to be in the mix just because that's where all the value is and transfer fees and and what have you so um but i think um a little skeptical that they would be able to make an impact right away unless it you know a caliber of you twenty two player that' ah where not expecting i guess that which is our responsibility
00:48:06
Speaker
but that said georgie minungu did look really good against the timbers and i think that that's yeah mean low key that that was sort of a low-key really encouraging performance because here's a guy who we've talked about needing that final ball and he you know he did it the he had two great assists and he was just a total terror last yesterday against the timbers this is against a first team opponent like
00:48:36
Speaker
ah it wasn't you know he's been he he had been playing the last couple games for defiance and he was destroying mlsx pro competition but you you take that with a graness salt this is ah this is another thing like this is this guy's putting on putting up real numbers yeah yeah absolutely he he is definitely looks like he's putting it together in the final third and yeah if that's real he's a huge problem for for everyone
00:49:08
Speaker
yeah just to share a little bit of his you know he's got a goal and seven assists right now between the defiance and sounders across all comps that's i mean that that's real production yeah yeah absolutely and that's in that's in sixteen games so he's averaging more than a you know and it's about six hundred and twenty minutes so yeah that's that's real production you know he's he's averaging basically
00:49:39
Speaker
a goal or an assist
00:49:43
Speaker
every like seventy minutes or so yeah not bad but stop bad no that's not bad ah all right i this is a late change from not necessarily for this show but for i i put number the number nine spot which i think would have been far and away the top spot if you had asked me to ah couple weeks ago even but with the emergence of danny mosovsky i don't i a little less convinced that there's
00:50:14
Speaker
minutes to be had here ah sas de risario i think might end up being okay in that spot i think the bar to clear for minutes for a ah u twenty two nine is actually getting pretty high but yeah i'll still put a number two on my list yeah i think that the most obvious the spot and i think the
00:50:40
Speaker
the the urgency i guess has definitely changed with mosabsky you know showing that he's ah pretty capable ml striker and and di you know waiting in the wings i think that at one point it felt like they absolutely had to sign the u twenty two just to have a competent backup and and now un seem to be the case anymore um and so but but i do think that it's just like the ten like the winger any attacking player that you think has the potential to
00:51:11
Speaker
make you a ton of money down the line it has got to be in the mix and as much as i love nanny mos obsky and as much fun as he's been to watch these last few months if you can get a q twenty two that you think is as good as danny misovsky right yeah you probably make that and make that move um so yeah i think it it definitely has to be considered a distinct possibility and i think one that would get people really excited as well yeah i i would totally agree with that ah ah right so number one
00:51:44
Speaker
that's the jum roll sound know
00:51:49
Speaker
i put the number eight spot which again ah the the bars really high here and it set but i mean essentially you're having to they he's going to have to beat out some mix of obed vagas christian roll dawn gopoo and danny leva that's not impossible but it does feel like of all these things maybe the most like if you can get especially with with the obedvaga situation being
00:52:20
Speaker
a little unclear like if they can sort of find his replacement at the same time that they are selling him that's kind of the way i look at those yeah i think that that that makes all the sense in the world to me um and and i do think it's a little easier to justify starting up or not starting a player but giving a player minutes over a joa pao who you know is closer to the end of his career than his beginning and the beginning of his career right um
00:52:51
Speaker
where if you think this guy needs the minutes more and jp does and and and leva is going to get minutes as at the ten as well and and i i liked any danny le a lot i think he's a a really good employer i'm really really glad that we brought him back but i also think he's the kind of player where maybe you're okay giving the higher upside guy some of his men um and i think that there's potential for injury at cetera ah central midfield and there's less depth there and other spotts i mean you've got
00:53:22
Speaker
two guys for two guys um and so you can quickly get into a situation where you you're a little thin there if there is an injury of some kind so it addresses like an actual depth need i think um and and i think but the barrier to entry is a little lower there as well and i think that those players can be really really valuable the sounder if they can the sounders can get ah true like destroyer type or a true ballwinner type right which they just don't really have right now um that gives them another option and another kind of player to put there
00:53:56
Speaker
when the situation calls for it um and think you can get a lot of value at that spot that you maybe can't get at the attacking spot um it's one of the reasons i don't hate the idea of a centerback ride is that the aging curves are a little different and you can you can tend to to get somebody with a higher upside within the parameters of u twenty two so it's what i think i'd be targeting you know if i if i wasn't just going for the best available set um the v so available that that i thought you know fit the culture of the club and everything um and think if you're actually going after
00:54:28
Speaker
what does this team need what could help the team right now that's the spot that makes the most sense yeah yeah i think that that's a pretty compelling argument to me ah well that's it that's what we have for you
00:54:43
Speaker
i i feel bad i just realized i wanted to talk about the sounders desire to move into a four two three one at times and how that looks like it might be happening but we can do it on and a show later in the week so you're off the hook aaron sounds kind good bring i appreciate it like ah but go to inject that into this show but ah anyway good hanging out again aaron always good to see your face always impressed by your new tattoos making up for lost time you know
00:55:14
Speaker
yeah exactly exactly ah that's it that's that's the show i guess this is ah no sa yetta as part of the sounder art podcast network thank you to our sponsor football wines thank you to our subscribers we are closing in on three thousand paid subscribers to sound at heart which is kind of a crazy number so if you are listening to this for free and you're like you know what i'd really like to get the sounder at heart number to three thousand that feels like a really good thing hey
00:55:44
Speaker
just feel free to become a subscriber we take that yeah with all that said i'm jeremiah shan signing off for aaron campo and lickett is known saette dis and remember you'll never get alone
00:56:23
Speaker
i expect that laffc who' is motivated ah to prove themselves at home to prove to their fans that that they're capable of winning in this league and it's up to us to really brewing the party you guys like that and a what awkward joke dad joke right there huh