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Episode 385: Preview of Sounders-Minnesota United
70 Plays2 years ago
We caught up with Andy Greder, the Minnesota United beat writer for the St. Paul Pioneer Press to get a better understanding of what's going on with this weekend's opponent. Greder tells us the latest news surrounding Emanuel Reynoso's absence, gives us the lowdown on Kemar Lawrence's potential availability and gives us some insight on how Minnesota has managed to go claim 9 of 12 points on the road so far.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:00
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. They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest.
Player Introductions
00:00:21
Speaker
Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to... There's no study at this. Here we go. Come on! Hey, Ocean! Let's go! What a save by Fry! The Seattle Sounders have done it! MLS co-pointers! Here comes Ray D'Ace from the middle to crowd it! The vehicle! And now they truly can't stop the celebrations.
00:01:04
Speaker
Seattle Sounders, the greatest MLS team in history. This is a tiny f***ing doll.
00:01:34
Speaker
Is
Match Preview: Sounders vs Minnesota
00:01:38
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of NOS Adietes. I'm Jeremiah Shan. Joining me today to help preview the Sounders Minnesota United match on Saturday is Andy Greeder of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Welcome to the show, Andy. Yeah. Thanks for having me on, Jeremiah.
00:01:42
Speaker
that why you young people call twerking?
00:01:54
Speaker
So it's been a bit of an interesting season for Minnesota.
Minnesota's Challenging Season Start
00:02:00
Speaker
I would say that coming into the year, it felt like expectations were reasonably high, then expectations got like slammed to the ground when Reynoso wasn't around, but it's actually been pretty good on the field.
00:02:15
Speaker
Yeah, you know, they started off their first five games unbeaten. You know, they went to Dallas, which bounced them in the first round of the playoffs and got a 1-0 result there. Yeah, like I said, they won or tied their first five games and then things have kind of turned again, you know, and they lost at Chicago and then they lost
00:02:33
Speaker
at home to Orlando and gave up an 88 minute goal to drop points from winning positions and in all three home games. They've only got two points through three home games. You know, they've dropped what is that? 246 points from winning positions at home. But yeah, it started off really, really well and really strong. They were the first team to give Saint Louis a defeat. Obviously then Seattle went and did that convincingly the following week.
00:03:00
Speaker
But yeah, it's been kind of up and down. And I think that's kind of, they're kind of coming back down to earth a little bit without Reynoso. Reynoso is such a creative attacking player that Minnesota has relied itself upon for a number of years now, two and a half years. And without him, it's kind of been by committee and that committee has not had a quorum a lot of times. It's been difficult to find goals and that's where their biggest issue has been.
00:03:29
Speaker
So how would you describe their playing style at this point?
00:03:33
Speaker
Yeah, you know, it's it's it's mostly a strong defensive structure. Try to limit opportunities, kind of ride their luck defensively and then spring on the counter attack. I think I haven't looked at the numbers this week, but going into last week they were bottom of the league and in possession. They're willing to let the other team have it. They will let us sit back and keep their shape and then spring on the counter attack and to a certain degree. That's what they were doing with right now. So before, but even more so now without him.
Reynoso's Legal Issues Impacting Minnesota
00:04:02
Speaker
So not to, I don't intend to get too deeply into the Reynoso situation, but how would you describe that to someone who is just sort of tuning in and looking at their roster and thinking, wait a minute, Emmanuel Reynoso hasn't played any minutes from this year.
00:04:17
Speaker
Yeah, you know he's a two time MLS all star. He's you know the team MVP. He's the reason that they went to the Western Conference Finals and and played Seattle a couple of years ago. Obviously he had a great goal in that game before Minnesota collapsed like they integrate assist. Yeah, integrate assist too. Yes, absolutely.
00:04:37
Speaker
Yeah, he's really the player that serves the drink, so he has an alleged assault that's hanged over his head in Argentina that was an issue in December of 2021 that was affecting his return to Minnesota last season, but he was able to be cleared and come here and play the full season without any issues. He goes back to Argentina
00:05:02
Speaker
Last winter and then there's the threat of a trial and it was thought that was limiting his opportunities to be able to come to Minnesota. But that is not the case. He's free to be able to travel to the US and he has been suspended by the league because of that freedom to travel and the willingness not to.
00:05:21
Speaker
Um, so he's in Cardoba and, and he is not in Minnesota for personal reasons. He's got some familial things that he's trying to deal with. The club has tried to be very, very patient with him and didn't encourage a suspension from the league, uh, for most of preseason to try to give him time to, to figure stuff out. And he didn't. So then they suspended them and, and they've been wanting and hoping and trying to have meetings and go down and visit them and try to figure out.
00:05:51
Speaker
what he needs to try to be able to come back to Minnesota and to this point it hasn't worked out you know he's their most expensive player he's one of their designated players like we talked about his importance on the field he is now blocking major roster type mechanisms for this team to move on without him so they're trying to be patient and obviously the primary window is closing here next week and
00:06:15
Speaker
I think that they're putting things off until summer to figure out if they move on with life without Reynoso going forward just because they know what kind of a key cam type player he is and then also just the roster and budget things that are also associated with him.
00:06:34
Speaker
so if you were to put on your like obviously he's not going to be back anytime immediately soon but if you had to sort of put on a prediction hat i'm sure you've been asked this probably i'm guessing every week for the last two months but what like what do you what do you what do you see this going how does this end
00:06:50
Speaker
Yeah, you know, it's been, it's been, it's been a saga for sure. And it seems like at times it's, you know, down around, you know, 5%, 0%. It really looks bleak. And then there are other times where there are encouraging things that I'm hearing and it, and it looks like, Hey, maybe he's going to be on the next flight north.
00:07:10
Speaker
And it's been interesting to see that it's kind of varied as widely as it has. And I think some people are like, hey, when does the telenovela come out on this? When does the big expose come? And I think it's not as dramatic as that. I don't see the reasons surrounding it having that kind of drama for a big kind of piece like that. But I think there is a lot of intrigue and there is a lot of
00:07:40
Speaker
touch and go and moments of positivity and moments of despair and and it it it varies widely, you know, even on the week. So looking at it in the more immediate terms, how has?
Adapting Without Reynoso
00:07:54
Speaker
How has the how much of a distraction has this been for the team? Yeah, you know, I think it's been. It's been something that they were asked about a lot early, right? It's it was Wednesday coming. How are you going to play without him?
00:08:06
Speaker
And then I think it was it was a bit of a sigh of relief, maybe, to see them, you know, in sign of confidence that the sum of the parts are bigger than him in the way that they started and being able to go to St. Louis and and get a result there and and do it in a in a in a strong way. I think you saw
00:08:25
Speaker
After that game they had a bit of a dance party in in City Park and you could really see kind of a collective, you know, a relief and the opportunity to celebrate and I think part of that was with the fact that a lot of people had kind of written them off without Reynoso, and I think that
00:08:43
Speaker
They aren't asked about it as often anymore going forward. Obviously, it's a question that is persistently asked of management and manager Adrian Heath, but it's not so much to the players and they're kind of able to go about their business, I think.
00:08:59
Speaker
You know they've asked Robin Wood who's usually kind of a right-sided winger type to come in and play centrally and that wasn't really working out very much. So they've moved him back out to the right and they've asked their new player Song Bin Jung who they brought in as a U22 initiative signing to
00:09:19
Speaker
come in and play that number 10 role. And he hasn't played a lot of football in the last couple of months. He was loaned out to Grasshopper in the Swiss League and wasn't playing a lot and had injuries. So he's still getting his speed underneath them. So they had moving pieces to try to fill in for Reynoso on the field. And it was a distraction early and they kind of got over it. And now they're kind of trying to figure it out on the fly on the field.
00:09:45
Speaker
And so what are they doing?
Minnesota's Defensive Strength
00:09:47
Speaker
Well, right now, I mean, they've, they've obviously won some games. You, you mentioned the St. Louis city, uh, the one over St. Louis city, which was, uh, seemingly like a real statement win for them. Uh, and so they're, they're, and they're not, you know, for the most part, they're you, you mentioned there, they haven't been great at home, but they have been really good on the road.
00:10:07
Speaker
Yeah, they started the year with three state road victories. They went to Dallas and Dallas beat, like I said, beat them in the playoffs. And they've got a couple other ones in between there, the San Luis City one as well. And I think defensively, they've been really good. They've really limited teams to have really any quality chances in a lot of games. I think they've done a really nice job with that. Now in the last couple of games, they've been exposed
00:10:36
Speaker
uh on the wings and have suffered from crosses coming across the box and that's how same or excuse me that's how orlando scored both of their goals that's how kai camaro got you know one of his uh in chicago uh that's been a bit of an issue and that's that's going to be something that's going to continue here this week because tomorrow lawrence and their jamaican uh left back he was away from the team yesterday i was up in training today he is still away he's got a
00:11:03
Speaker
One of his family members is ill and and he's he's back dealing with that. So he's he's not with the team. So Zarek Valentin I think has shown himself to be a serviceable replacement in this league. Obviously you guys know him from Cascadia for a long time. He's been in Houston in between that so.
00:11:23
Speaker
Yeah, I think that, um, you know, they've, they've been pretty good defensively. They've been able to kind of ride their luck, uh, with, um, you know, set pieces, uh, you know, that's really kind of the majority of their goals have come on corner kicks and free kicks and, and PKs, you know, I think they've got three of their eight goals of, have come, uh, in open play. So that's just a testament to how they've
00:11:47
Speaker
kind of struggled to score a lot of goals and do it kind of in a traditional normal, you know, more likely way. So yeah, it's, it's been kind of a mixed bag.
Offensive Challenges and Strategies
00:11:58
Speaker
It's, they've been, they've tried to be strong defensively and have had some issues in recent weeks, but that's really been their calling card kind of throughout Adrian's time is, you know, he's known as a striker, but goals have been kind of league average and their defense has been a little bit above average. And that's why they've been in the playoffs more times than not.
00:12:17
Speaker
Yeah, you mentioned Stryker that seems to have been a pretty consistent kind of question mark around Minnesota United. What is the current situation there at Stryker? Yeah, it's a question mark. It's it's often a revolving door. It's it's been it's been touch and go for a long time. So it's been Louisa Maria and Mender Garcia. Those two guys have kind of rotated that spot. You know, Adrian has gone to a to a 442 at times and played both of those guys up top.
00:12:47
Speaker
So that's been something that they've done as well. That was without Robin Lowden lineup and that was before Song Bin came into the team. Adrian likes to do a four, two, three, one on the road. He might go to a four, three, three. He's obviously got a lot of respect for Seattle and the attacking threats. And usually when he has that kind of mindset against a team, and that's maybe more of a four, three, three. And Luis Amaria and Mender Garcia have been the two guys that have rotated up top. Each of them have.
00:13:17
Speaker
two goals. Mender has two in open play and Luis has two PKs and you know finishing has been an issue for them. They haven't been able to convert a lot of their chances in front of goal and yeah that's been something that's been an issue for both of those guys during their time at Minnesota and it's been kind of a league excuse me a club-wide thing throughout their MLS tenure.
00:13:39
Speaker
So on this show, we don't tend to do predictions, but what I do like to do is get a sense of your, like a vibe check on the team. Like what, how would you describe things are feeling around the team right now and how confident are they coming into Seattle? You know, I think they feel pretty good. I think that they're, you know, dealing with some poor home form. And I think there's a number of players on this team, the majority of them, they haven't done a whole lot of
00:14:08
Speaker
makeover to the roster that have been around for a number of years and know how difficult it's been for them in Seattle. They're windless there and it's been a spot that they've gotten smacked around quite a few times as well. So I think that's part of
00:14:25
Speaker
you know, part of the vibe around the team. I think they've kind of generally been able to keep things pretty positive and encouraging and, you know, big picture. They feel like they're in a good spot. But they haven't, like I said, they haven't scored a lot of goals. They haven't had a lot of success in Seattle. So, you know, if you were to force me into a prediction, I wouldn't think highly or, you know, even a draw for what Minnesota might be able to do here on Saturday night.
00:14:48
Speaker
Yeah, and I don't know how much this ever comes up, but Adrian Heath's time, Adrian Heath in particular has had a hard time against
Coach Heath's Struggles Against Seattle
00:14:55
Speaker
Seattle. I think he has one career win against them, which happened to be the win that ended the Sounders season record or MLS record home or unbeaten streak to start a season a couple of years ago. So that is a nice feather in the cap, though, I suppose. Yeah, I brought up I brought up their form in Seattle and
00:15:16
Speaker
He came back with, well, everybody struggles in Seattle. And I said, yeah, that might be true, but maybe not quite as much as you do. Right. Yeah. I think I want to guess I would guess his record is probably something like Owen seven in Seattle, his personal record.
00:15:32
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. With Minnesota, it is. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, including the play. I think it would be 0 and 9 in his two, because he came here twice, I think, with Orlando. I hadn't thought about it. I usually think about it in a Minnesota context. Yeah, obviously the Orlando shows the history is even longer.
00:15:53
Speaker
Right, yeah, no, it's been a hymn. And what's the other funny thing is that him, he and Brian Schmetzer seem to be really friendly. Like they seem to have some shared interests and they I guess they oftentimes get a get a glass or get a bottle of wine together the night before a game or something like that. But
00:16:10
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's Adrian Heath Staple. He does that. He's done that for years. It's usually either the night before a game or right after the game. He'll usually invite the fits in Minnesota. He'll invite the opposing coach into the coach's office and now have beers or you know have wine. He's a big Pinot Grigio guy, so that's used then that they'll do to get together to kind of keep the congenial aspect of coaches. I know he does it with.
00:16:37
Speaker
with Gio Savarici. And I think Gio is a big port guy, I want to say. Oh, interesting. Yeah. So sometimes it's beer, sometimes it's wine. And yeah, Adrian likes to do that. He's obviously has a lot of respect for Brian and, and what he's done. And, and yeah, it's something that he tries to do with, with a lot of people around the lake. Well, Andy, thank you so much for taking the time and doing this. Obviously you can find them at the St. Paul Pioneer press. Where else can people read you?
00:17:02
Speaker
Yeah, it's TwinCities.com online. And obviously I tweet a lot of updates on the team and on top of my other beats and links to stories on Twitter at Andy Greeder. Great. Well, thank you for doing this. I am Jeremiah O'Shan, signing off for Nos Arietes. Remember, you'll never be out alone.
00:18:17
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!