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Are you not entertained?!?
40 Plays4 months ago
Say what you will about the consistency the Seattle Sounders have shown over the past few months, but we can probably all agree that they’ve never been quite as entertaining as they were during the last week.
The Sounders registered their first seven-point week and did it in particularly interesting style, twice coming back from two goals down to earn points. The last of those was obviously the most exciting, with Jordan Morris bagging a 90+4’ winner on Saturday.
As if that wasn’t enough, though, the Sounders also have some drama to deal with after Raúl Ruidíaz and Nouhou both got themselves suspended.
Jeremiah and Aaron talk about it all.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, this is Christian Roldan. And Jordan Morris from the Seattle Sounders Football Club. And you're listening to NOS Arietes. This episode of NOS Arietes is sponsored by Full Pull Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of NOS Arietes since 2011. Full Pull was founded in 2009, is based in Seattle, and is owned and operated by longtime Sounders supporters.
Recap of MLS Cup Victory
00:00:20
Speaker
They offer the best boutique wines of the world to members of their mailing list, with special focus on their home, the Pacific Northwest.
00:00:28
Speaker
A.O. Shen! Let's go! What a save by Fry! The Seattle Sounders have done it! MLS Cup win! Here come three years through the middle to crown it the vehicle! And now they truly can't stop the celebrations. It's the Sounders' MLS Cup! Niko Liddo leaves out!
00:01:12
Speaker
Is that what you young people call twerking?
00:01:29
Speaker
Welcome to another episode of NOS Adietta, sponsored by Full Bowl Wines and our subscribers. That's you. We're recording on Tuesday, June 25th, 2024. I am your host, Jeremiah O'Shan. Joining me today is my co-host, Aaron Campo and our engineer, Lickett.
Performance Against Minnesota and Houston
00:01:44
Speaker
The sounders have been plodding along for about three months now, picking up results, but rarely playing anything like inspiring soccer. Last week, it felt like something finally changed. First, there was a really good performance against Minnesota United. They followed that up with an awful half against Houston Dynamo, only to come roaring back to pull out a 2-2 tie.
00:02:01
Speaker
Saturday's game was at a bit of both. They started strong but were tied 0-0 going into the 65th minute. That's when Jackson-Reagan made a rather silly mistake, making a poor pass under no pressure that got picked off and quickly deposited into the goal. Compounding the mistake, Leo Chu took too long coming off the pitch, which meant Paul Rothrock had to wait a minute to enter. And almost as soon as Rothrock got on the field, Dallas added another goal.
00:02:25
Speaker
A few weeks ago, that would have surely been the end of the Sounders. Another 2-0 loss that would have felt like an absolute gut punch. Instead, they responded with three unanswered goals. The first was from Raul Rodriguez who scored probably his most repeatable goal of the season off an Albert Rusnak assist. Ten minutes later, Jordan Morris snapped in a header off a Rusnak corner kick to tie it up. Then, in the fourth minute of stoppage time, Obed Vargas threaded a perfect through ball to Morris.
00:02:50
Speaker
who floated it over the goalkeeper to secure all three points. It was the Sounders first seven point week of the season and puts them in a really nice position as they have their next two and four of their next five all at home as they sit just four points out of the number five spot in the Western Conference.
00:03:09
Speaker
Of course, we also found out on Tuesday that all will not be quite so well in the Sounders locker room, but we'll get to that a bit later.
Momentum Building with Recent Wins
00:03:16
Speaker
For now, Aaron, we're feeling pretty good, right? Yeah, I think so. I think it's the most positive I felt about the team this season, although maybe I'll feel differently by the end of the show when we talk through the other stuff you mentioned. But I think that
00:03:32
Speaker
The Minnesota game was the kind of, you know, and we've talked about the Minnesota game, so I won't spend too much time on it, but it was the kind of performance I think we've been wanting to see all year. Dominated every phase of the game, not a lot of doubt about the outcome, you know, just a very comprehensive win. Then the Houston game, short rest, a lot of tired guys, a lot of heavy legs in that game. Go behind 2-0.
00:03:58
Speaker
I would not have blamed anyone on the world for turning that game off at that point. And frankly, as much as I thought a point in that game was feasible, I wasn't all that upset about it. You know, it's midweek, you're traveling, it's hot.
00:04:11
Speaker
Um, whatever come back and win at home. And then they do something that they just haven't shown a propensity for doing all year, which is shaking off those mistakes and just sort of gritting it out and willing themselves to a goal. And then, and then another. So really encouraging performance there. Um, and then, you know, against Dallas more of the same and going that step further and getting that win in a game that I think was for.
00:04:39
Speaker
all intents and purposes was a was a must-win game right you have to be on that Dallas game I mean I suppose if they had gotten the tie in the context of falling behind 2-0 maybe you can talk yourself into building some momentum but
Challenges in Defense and Home Games
00:04:58
Speaker
They came into that game absolutely needing three points. Yeah. Yeah. I think that that's a game where if everything is going pretty well and you're happy with where you're on the table and you go down 2-0 and come back and get the draw, you can be okay with that. In the sounder situation where they have to start winning games at home, you know, it's what we've talked about, right? Giving people a reason to want to come to the games, seeing a comeback like that, seeing that kind of excitement, giving them FOMO again about
00:05:26
Speaker
man, I love this team when they're fun to watch and when they're giving me moments that I'm going to remember. I think that that was super important. I didn't think they played poorly at all against Dallas. I think this was another game against Houston in that first half.
00:05:42
Speaker
Awful, awful, awful performance against Houston in that first half. Not a great performance in the second half, but a very gutsy performance, a very professional performance. Against Dallas, aside from the, what, 15 minutes where they gave up those two goals, I thought they were actually quite good most of the night. I mean, it was really the five minutes where they gave up the first goal in the 66th and the second in the 70th. And really, I thought,
00:06:07
Speaker
You take those five minutes out of the game and it was a really good performance. And both goals were just really bad mistakes. Like I said, Jackson Reagan giving that ball away under no pressure. I'm not quite sure what he's doing there. And they got punished on that one. And then the second one, just sort of sloppy defending. They're in a set defense. There's no reason they should be letting Peter Moussa get an open look like he did.
00:06:36
Speaker
I guess you can argue that maybe Steph could have saved that shot. He did get an arm on it, but your $10 million striker gets an open look from eight yards out. He's going to end up in the goal most of the time. I really thought this out. I wouldn't rewatch the game, and I was really encouraged by most of what I saw through most of it.
Paul Rothrock's Impact
00:07:05
Speaker
Was I expecting them to come roaring back with three goals? No, but once Rui Diaz scored, there was this sort of like, okay, here we go. This is, this might happen. And, and then Jordan Morris to score two of those goals. I mean, all of a sudden Jordan Morris on paper.
00:07:23
Speaker
having a perfectly fine season seven goals through 20 games you know it's like not world-beater stuff but those are no one's really complaining about seven goals through 20 games similarly Albert Rusnak now on nine assists yeah
00:07:40
Speaker
Roastneck I thought looked great in this one. There was a lot of good performances this week and I think that's what I really came out of this one feeling good about is just that all of a sudden there's pieces that make sense together. You know, I thought the biggest revelation of this week, probably Paul Rothrock, who apparently is just like an Energizer bunny and can, you know, he's like a, you know, maybe a little Mike Facito-esque in his contributions, but
00:08:09
Speaker
I'm not saying Paul Rothrock is a 90-minute player or anything, but I thought he was another key element of the comeback. He came in around the 70th minute or so against Dallas, and he gave the Sounders exactly what they needed in that one.
00:08:28
Speaker
Yeah, I think that sometimes what you do need is a guy who is solid enough that he's not going to do anything to hurt you and who has that kind of tenacity and that sort of, I hate the term gritty because of the connotations it has, but you know, that sort of attitude about the game, who is just going to try to make things happen and try to force things to happen.
00:08:47
Speaker
and cause problems for a defense that's, you know, I think FC Dallas was feeling a bit under pressure and probably a bit tired themselves and having a guy like that that can, you know, come in and do those kinds of things. And then against Houston, I mean, obviously he just willed that first goal. You know, he was chasing down a lost cause in the first place.
00:09:07
Speaker
Shot gets saved. He's not going to, you know, he's not going to give up on the play. And yeah, just that kind of attitude is something that I think the Sounders have been missing since the since that five game stretch at the beginning of the season, or they couldn't buy a goal, couldn't buy a win.
00:09:24
Speaker
I think that that sort of positive attitude and that sort of belief is just really the, has been the missing ingredient in a lot of games this season. And, you know, I don't want to give him credit for turning everything around because A, it's too early to say that everything has been turned around and B, like the others guys have to buy it as well. But I think it's pretty clear that his performance against Houston, especially, I think, has been, you know, just sort of instrumental in lifting the spirits of the team.
00:09:52
Speaker
Yeah, no, and it seems like he's, you know, one of the, my favorite images from that game on, on Saturday was after Morris scores, there's this image of Rothrock sort of trailing the play and he's got his head back and his arms out. And there's the, it's kind of this joy that you can feel that I can't help but think
00:10:18
Speaker
infectious that you know he's clearly the happiest guy in the world just to be there and you know the Sounders don't have a lot of guys who are sort of just happy to be there and they have a lot of you know talented players or whatever but sometimes you need a player who's just willing to let it all out and and say like yeah I'm riding this high as long as I can as long as I can keep it going he's under no illusions that he's going somewhere else
00:10:49
Speaker
Like this, this is the pinnacle really for, for Paul Rothrock. And, uh, I think that's great. I mean, they need someone like that. And yeah, I think that's, you know, it's been great to see, uh, I think just seeing him be this big of a contributing factor. But if you pull back a little.
Team's Competitive Potential
00:11:09
Speaker
You did the math on this. You go all the way back to their first win, which was way back on April 6th, so basically the last three months of the season. You put it all together. Not bad. Not too bad. Not necessarily world beaters, but not bad.
00:11:28
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's a 1.53 points per game pace like that, which would put them even with Minnesota United. I know that it would put them even with Minnesota United if it's not 1.53. It's whatever Minnesota United has. So yeah, I mean, they're, they're playing like a.
00:11:45
Speaker
middle of the road kind of team, uh, like since the, uh, I think at the last 11 games, they're a bit higher clip than that. I think they've gotten 19 in their last 11, right? Which is 1.7 or so getting, getting closer to where they want to be. Um, I think that the, this is a,
00:12:05
Speaker
average to good MLS team right now. And they're playing like that. And I think that the positive thing is that they're starting to show signs that they can get out of that average category, get rid of the hyphen, just be a good MLS team. And if they can get Pedro de la Vega healthy,
00:12:25
Speaker
We'll see. I think that he was expected to be the guy that kind of made everything click to be that force multiplier kind of player. And if he can get there, maybe they have a chance to be better than good. Who knows? But if this is their ceiling, right? If this is as good as it gets, that's still a team worth watching. That's still a team worth tuning in for and not feeling awful about it. And I think that's, it's not all that anybody's asking. It's certainly not all we should be asking, but it's certainly better than
00:12:53
Speaker
than what we were going through for the first few first couple months of the season. Absolutely. Yeah. And this is the team admittedly that still hasn't won consecutive games all year. You got to go, you know, back to last year to find the time the center's last one consecutive games. That's.
00:13:09
Speaker
There's caveats here, right? They've only had a three-game unbeaten streak twice this year. This is just their second three-game unbeaten streak. Momentum has been hard to come by, and they haven't put together an extended run of success yet.
00:13:31
Speaker
But this is the week where I started to feel like it was building. It felt sustainable. It felt fun. Like this was easily the most fun week of the season. Would you agree?
00:13:44
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it was, yes, you were nodding. Uh, they scored multiple goals, three straight games, which again, these are low bars. I don't want to, I don't want to overstate this. I realize these are low bars, but they scored multiple goals for the, you know, three games in a row. I'll take that.
00:14:04
Speaker
You know, if they can, if they, you know, this is not a team that I don't think is going to score in boatloads, but if they can average 1.5, 1.7 goals per game, I mean, I'll take that right now. Yeah, I think that that is what we kind of expected them to do coming into the season, was be a team that scored enough to win. Unfortunately, I think their defense is not quite as good, maybe, maybe as they thought it. It's certainly, I think, a good defense, I think,
00:14:32
Speaker
probably one of the better ones in the league, probably in the top third in the league, but it's not the historically elite defense maybe than it looked like it was last year. And so I think that's why they've been average to good instead of really, really good, instead of cup contenders so far. But I think that the way that we talk about this team and this season, we being UNI and we also being the Royal We,
00:15:00
Speaker
I don't think that that's the correct term there, but you probably know what I mean. Probably should shift away from talking collectively. The actual we, the literal we, right? Should probably shift a little bit. I don't think this is
João Paulo's Return to Form
00:15:14
Speaker
a bad team. I think it's pretty clear. They're not a bad team. I think they're a flawed team that has some structural issues that has had some really bad luck that kind of put them in a hole to start the season.
00:15:26
Speaker
You know, I think that going into every game expecting to lose probably not the most rational way to think about this team right now. And I think getting two wins in a row at home.
00:15:38
Speaker
It's just, it can't be said enough how much that has helped the mood. If they can play like an average MLS team at home and continue playing as well as they have on the road, I think you brought this up last week, they would be in pretty good shape. I think everybody wants and I think has a right to expect that they should play better than an average MLS team at home, that they have a home field advantage that they should be actually taken advantage of.
00:16:06
Speaker
And I get that. But. Even getting to average is just a monstrous improvement. Right. And so that I mean, that's sort of like what we're working from here. One player who I do think has been elite, who's been legitimately elite, at least in the last two home games, Joe Paulo, who I feel like, you know, it was it's very funny because it was a couple of weeks ago or only a couple of weeks ago, I think that he basically said something like,
00:16:36
Speaker
I don't think I'm playing up to my standard.
00:16:40
Speaker
And he ever since then, it feels like he's sort of set that in as a bar for himself. But this was a really, to me, was his most vintage performance. He, you know, had something like close to 100 passes. He had, you know, a handful of shots. He hit the crossbar once. He had even sort of like a mini. What do we call a Beastquake run when he made that? What were we calling it? Were we calling it a Beastquake run? I don't remember.
00:17:11
Speaker
Sounds like it was like a miniature version, a very miniature version that in and, you know, it didn't come off quite as well either. He didn't score, but he was he showed signs of just being that same tenacious yet skilled player. And that might be the single most important thing that the sounders get out of this. If they can get Jow Paulo to be anywhere near where he was pre ACL injury,
00:17:39
Speaker
and you add in Pedro de la Vega coming in, and you add in Obed Vargas all of a sudden starting to look like every week Obed Vargas to me looks like a better player. You can start to see the elements of your Jordan Morris looking like a real number nine. Albert Rosinack looking like a real number 10. All of a sudden you don't need your defense to be perfect and you have some building blocks here to make a really competitive team.
00:18:09
Speaker
Yeah, I think that some of what we're seeing is, especially with players like Obed and just younger guys like that, the benefits of sticking with them through tough times and trying different combinations to figure out what works. I think that JP with Obed and this version of Obed, knowing that Obed is going to be able to do some of the more
00:18:35
Speaker
straightforward attacking stuff has been able to sort of do a lot of the things defensively that he's been so good at and still pick out really good passes and be a creator without feeling like he has to do everything. And I think that a lot of the drop off we've seen has been JP feeling like he had to do everything in the center of the pitch. And I don't think he feels that way right now. And I think that that's allowed him to be a lot for free. I think that Rusnik probably is kind of the same situation where he can
00:19:04
Speaker
feel like he doesn't have to. I was thinking about this against Dallas early on when he was being a little more aggressive getting forward and actually trying to get towards goal and playing combinations. It feels like he doesn't feel as much pressure to be that
00:19:24
Speaker
protector of possession that he's so, so good at, but he feels like he's playing a little more freely and he doesn't feel like he has to be the person that is controlling the game.
00:19:34
Speaker
and it can allow them to take more risks and try to get forward himself a little bit more. And maybe all of this is just confirmation bias, I don't know, but it just really feels like the team feels more comfortable. They feel less individual pressure. They're playing in ways that emphasize each other's strengths a little bit. I think that Jordan Morris playing at the nine has been part of that. I think I do too. Yeah, I think that
00:20:03
Speaker
that his ability to stretch the field, his ability to hold up play, I think has been really valuable. And yeah, I just, I really liked this version of this team, at least much more than I liked.
00:20:16
Speaker
the March version of the team. And I really want to see them with Pedro de la Vega. And I really want to see them with another attacking piece that they're bringing in. And it's a bummer that that might not happen. Because I think if you could add just one additional attacking piece, it doesn't even have to be a DP level
Transfer Window and Squad Strengthening
00:20:34
Speaker
player. I think just another goal dangerous player that you could add to this collection of players. This could be a team that can make a 2016 type of run.
00:20:43
Speaker
And it's exciting to watch them kind of grow into themselves and take shape, but also knowing that this might be the last chance JP has to win a trophy with his team. I think that's another thing that's worth talking about. This is, on some level,
00:21:04
Speaker
This window is not the beginning of a new window for the sounders. I think they need to sort of treat this like last year was maybe the closing of one window, but they have not exactly set themselves up for
00:21:20
Speaker
this long window afterwards. I mean, I do think that Christian and Jordan probably have a couple more years left. You know, maybe Obed is, you know, if Obed keeps playing like this, he's probably going to play himself off the team, frankly. He's, you know, he's playing that well. Maybe Josh Atencio is around.
00:21:38
Speaker
I guess I don't want to get too far ahead of myself in this, but I do think there's something to be said about if they can add a piece, this can be a competitive team. This can be a trophy chasing team. I'm at the point where, look, I don't expect the Sounders to open up the wallet and make a big transfer this offseason.
00:22:01
Speaker
but I do think it's really important that they do something. Like I don't think they can afford to do nothing. And I don't mean like Adam Moffat, like they got to go out and get a player who is at least a potential difference maker. Now that's maybe not a, you know, like I've been throwing her out on a lot of names in our discord. And you know, one of the ones that I thought was interesting was a Johnny Russell. I realized that a lot of folks aren't as thrilled with that, but someone like someone that has upside,
00:22:29
Speaker
who's probably a rental, but can raise, they can create more competition at one of the offensive positions. That's what they gotta go out and get. I don't know that they're gonna necessarily find a automatic starter with the budget that they apparently have, but give me someone who at least can plausibly be that person. Yeah, I feel like they have to do something at least
00:22:56
Speaker
that impactful. I think Johnny Russell is actually a zero for this team. I don't think he does anything, but I do, but I understand like that caliber, like the problem is that.
00:23:09
Speaker
He's a zero for this team, but that's part of why he's available, right? Right. And so it's like finding a guy who's available that actually helps you. And it's just so frustrating because I feel like if they could go sign like a Victor Rodriguez type, right? Like if they could find a way to make a sign in like that happen and they have available on a free, let's keep it like this. There are players like that available on freeze.
00:23:33
Speaker
They just have to eat some money somewhere or make an aggressive move or, and it just doesn't seem like they're willing to do it. And I think, like you said, you know, this, I think that the sounders think of themselves as a club that doesn't rebuild. They, they reload, right? And so they say, yeah, we're going to lose our rule. You know, we might lose real snack. We might lose JP, but we, we're going to bring in the guys that are going to be the next score and they're probably right. But.
00:24:02
Speaker
This team didn't win an MLS Cup for seven years. They took 13 years to win the CCL, which is all they were trying to do from day one. It's tough to win big trophies in any league, but you can't take it for granted. This next core that you build,
00:24:21
Speaker
probably won't be as special as the core that you've had. And I just feel like you want to maximize the number of trophies you win and give yourself every chance you have with these players who aren't going to be around that much longer. I mean, if I'm Craig Weibel, am I bringing back Joao Paulo? I don't think I am, most likely.
00:24:39
Speaker
I think it's, I think it's good to make a clean break with guys. Sometimes maybe a little earlier than you would like to, because I think we've in the last couple of seasons seen the other side of that equation and how it can, how it can turn out poorly. I don't know if I'm bringing back or a snack, you know, but there are good players that with the right pieces are good enough to challenge for another MLS cup. And it's frustrating to feel like maybe they're not going to take advantage of that. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, it is, uh, but.
00:25:09
Speaker
You know, we right now, at least it feels. It feels a little like I'm I'm I'm less worried right now than I was about that than I was before. Yeah.
00:25:23
Speaker
I still want them to make a move. I still really, really want them to make a move. But I am at least a little bit more feeling like I can watch, I can stomach watching this team. Right. I think there was a point where it was like, if they don't make a move, they're not going to make the playoffs. Right. Yeah. And I definitely don't feel that way now. Yeah. I would agree with that. I think this is a playoff. I feel confident that this is probably a top seven playoff team. Almost no, but like it would, the wheels would have to,
00:25:52
Speaker
come off pretty significantly at this point.
00:25:57
Speaker
There was also some good news this week at, or today at training, the one good news piece of, or the best piece of good news.
Player Recoveries and Discipline Issues
00:26:04
Speaker
Alex rolled on. It appears to be just about cleared of the concussion protocol, which at least gives the Sounders another piece to compete with. And then Pedro de la Vega, full into training and even more encouraging than that.
00:26:24
Speaker
Brian Schmetzer said, I have no doubt, I believe was the actual quote. I have no doubt that De La Vega will be able to feature this weekend, which was a little surprising. I don't know if he was, he was maybe a little, he wanted to get in some good news in today's presser. So maybe that was him overreaching, but that's what he said.
00:26:45
Speaker
He did. He said he had no doubt he'd be available, which... Right. Yeah, I guess that's... First, I didn't... I thought that was a clever little... I think that there's... I think there's at least a chance that he makes the bench, but he doesn't play. But, man, even just seeing his name on the graphic would be... would be nice. And, hey, if he doesn't play, he can't get hurt again. So, you know, there's that too. But...
00:27:10
Speaker
Yeah, it definitely did kind of feel like he wanted to sneak in some good news at the end of what had been a pretty unpleasant, in a lot of ways, press conference. Yeah, which we may as well talk about. I will tease the next segment. That's a good transition, I think. If you are online today,
00:27:33
Speaker
Or you probably know by now that Raul, Rui, Diaz, and Nuhu are effectively, not literally, but effectively suspended for the week. And we're going to get into that, explain what seems to be going on there in the next segment. And so why don't we go ahead and take a break? We'll come back and we'll do a whole segment on that situation. And yeah, you're listening to no s... How do you get this?
00:28:08
Speaker
Welcome back to Sounder at Heart. We are going to spend this segment basically talking about the whole situation with Raul, Rui, Diaz, and Nuhu. The sounders said the official line is this.
00:28:24
Speaker
They were not at training today. When we asked Schmetzer about why they weren't at training, he just said, it's an internal matter, and didn't really get into it. He made a, you know, we asked some more kind of follow up questions to get a little bit more insight into it. And he did clarify that it definitely was not because Rui Diaz, you know, sort of did the whole point of his back thing.
00:28:48
Speaker
before or after he scored. And even though Schmetzer acknowledged that was probably directed at him or at the coaching staff in general, but he said that
00:28:57
Speaker
he's a big boy, he can handle that, no big deal. He also made sure to point out that it was not an issue, it was not some sort of punishment for Rui Diaz and Morris getting into an argument on the field. Apparently around the 84th minute or so, a ball went out, Morris did not, he just kind of ran back to defense, he didn't like pick it up and put it on the spot like you oftentimes do when you're trying to rush a team, the sounders are chasing a goal. Raul made sure to tell,
00:29:26
Speaker
Jordan, he would like him to do better at that. They got into a bit of an argument, but this is the kind of thing that happens. No harm, no foul. And sort of that's where, that's where Schmetzer essentially left it. We also talked to Stefan Fry. He also said he wasn't really that interested in, in talking about it. We also asked him a few questions about, about sort of trying to get an idea of it. He thought he was really happy with the effort that Rudy did showed in the game.
00:29:56
Speaker
no issues there, you know, people saying nice stuff. But we did a little bit more digging Nico Moreno and I. And if you read our story, you probably know what we're going next. It turns out, probably what happened or what happened is, you know, both if a lot of people notice this at the game, neither knew who nor Rui Diz joined the Sounders for their
00:30:21
Speaker
Acknowledgement of the fans after the game, which I don't know. I don't know how big a huge of a deal that is. But when Brian, I guess got back to the locker room and he was giving his post-game speech, they ended up being this big argument over, over that, that essentially, like, I think my understanding is maybe Brian insinuated that.
00:30:43
Speaker
Rui Diaz was, or Rui, yeah, that Rui Diaz and you were sort of being disrespectful to not do that. And that started a rather, a bigger argument. And the end result of that was the two, both players are basically vanished from training this week and they won't be playing against Chicago, Chicago fire. Not exactly. It's kind of a bummer in a way. Yeah. Right. That this is what we're talking about after a really successful week.
00:31:11
Speaker
But yet, I don't know. Somehow, I don't know. For some reason, I'm not as worried about it as I would have been a week ago. Yeah, I'm not really either. I think that this kind of stuff happens a lot, and maybe it doesn't get to this level.
00:31:31
Speaker
where it becomes obvious that something is happening right but I think that there are probably squabbles. Pretty regularly this one sounds not great if you've got you know two players getting suspended.
00:31:45
Speaker
And yeah, I'm kind of with you. Like, it's a bummer. I really hope it doesn't become a distraction that hurts the team, but I'm not really that worried about it. And, you know, it sucks because I fought Raul against Houston as a sub pretty much every time he's coming on as a sub. Yeah, I think he's look great as a sub. And it's like, man,
00:32:06
Speaker
Can you not connect the dots here? I feel like we had this discussion about Nico last year, where he ended up dropping out of the starting lineup. And every time he came on as a sub, he looked great. And his position seemed to be, look, I'm playing great. Why am I not starting? And it's like, well,
00:32:24
Speaker
there's a causality going on. Like there, there is a relationship between you not starting and you playing well when you, when you play. Yeah. And, you know, I am, this will shock you and our listeners to hear, I am not as good of a athlete as Raul Rodriguez. I've never reached that level of any profession, let alone
00:32:45
Speaker
professional soccer. Yeah. So I don't know what it's like to have to, you know, to have to confront that, to confront the fact that you're not the player that used to be in that, you know, maybe you're suited to a, to a less prominent role. I'm sure it sucks really bad because it's hard for a lot of guys to, to deal with, but it would just be really nice if they could recognize, Hey, this is the stage in my career that I'm at right now. And I can be really effective and be, I can feel like the old rollover ideas.
00:33:14
Speaker
if I'm coming in off the bench. Yeah. But that doesn't tend to be, you know, doesn't tend to be the way it goes. And is not the way it tends to go, unfortunately. And yeah, with new who, man, I don't know, I love new, but he gets this. He has stuff happen like this quite a bit.
00:33:33
Speaker
And it's, so yeah, new hood. This is at least the second time this year that he kind of got semi-suspension. Like it's not an official suspension. If it was an official suspension, they would, I think have their pay docked and it would be a whole MLS PA situation. This is not that, but.
00:33:53
Speaker
He also got sort of like semi-suspended when he was on a road trip and he just like apparently showed up late to a film session. And this is unfortunately kind of like, I don't know what new, okay, let's put the Rui Diaz thing aside real fast and we can kind of maybe dispatch with the whole new, the Nu-Hoo thing is dumb. This is a player making a really bad decision.
00:34:21
Speaker
He was apparently mad that he got pulled off in the 73rd minute. Sounders were down 2-0. They win the game 3-2. Like, I don't know. Yeah. Look at that maybe and think maybe that wasn't such a bad call. Like what? You're a defense first player. You got pulled out for a more offensive player. Right. What are you upset about? Yeah, I mean, if you if you don't want to get pulled out of games,
00:34:50
Speaker
play better. But it's it is that simple. And I mean, if the sounders are chasing a goal, new who probably should be pulled out of the game. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It's he's not a goal contributor. And, you know, he has to know that right? Like he has to know his limitations to some degree.
00:35:09
Speaker
you'd like to think you'd like to think maybe not maybe not I don't know but uh it's it's very stupid and you know it's not it's the kind of thing that it's like whatever this is just part of the sport but that had happened in this game like right new who gets pulled and they lose two to one and he behaves this way you know he gets mad about getting pulled out
00:35:35
Speaker
All right, whatever. I, it's still dumb. Be a professional. Respect your coach's decision. Talk with him about it at training. I don't know. But, uh, whatever, but to do it after they come back and win in that fashion, the most like feel good moment of the season. Yeah. Yeah. It sucks. And I, I try not to.
00:35:58
Speaker
I don't know. I try not to assume that I know everything that I need to know to make judgment calls in situations like this, but it's just really hard for me to envision a scenario where he was just not being a little petulant, I guess. I don't know. Yeah, it does feel a little bit like it was he saw an opening and and he sort of like wanted to
00:36:25
Speaker
I got a beef too kind of situation. I got something else to say and it's pretty annoying.
00:36:35
Speaker
So I don't know, we'll put that one aside. The funny thing is, I don't know that the Sounders really miss New Who this week. Chicago Fire are not a totally awful team, but they are not a team like on paper. This is the sound. This is a game that the Sounders have to win. Yeah, like they might not win. Don't get me wrong. Weirder things have happened. But this is a team with one
00:37:04
Speaker
One road road, uh, one road win this year, and that's over Toronto FC, who is in the midst of completely falling apart, which I would like to point out I predicted, uh, maybe not on the show, but, uh, to anyone who would listen, uh, but they are not a good team. Uh, they are, they're just a four, they're four, what four eight and four, someone like that. And.
00:37:30
Speaker
This is a game on paper the Sounders should absolutely win. Reed Baker Whiting presumably gets the start in this one. I would think this is set up for, you know, they didn't maybe need new who anyway. And if new new who may have played himself off that, like if if Reed plays well on this game, there's a chance there's a world where Reed is like now the starter.
00:37:54
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Or if they play three at the back and, and, you know, Bell has a great game, I guess. Right. Well, Bell is, yeah, I mean, I know, but he's with Jamaica, right? He's with Jamaica right now. But there's a world where, you know, John Bell kind of takes his spot. Like, it's, it's like, between John Bell and Reed Baker Whiting, they sort of take his spot. Yeah. So, I don't know that, that just seemed dumb.
00:38:15
Speaker
The really dearest thing, I'm a little bit more sympathetic because from what I understand, maybe it wasn't as communicated to, like Raul was, I think, frustrated that there were three games last week. He didn't start any of them. He didn't actually, yeah, he didn't start any of them. He didn't play against Minnesota in part because he wasn't needed in that game.
00:38:41
Speaker
But I suppose there's a worry. I'm sure you could argue that the centers could or that Shemetra could have done a better job of communicating sort of the plan to Rui Dias. And in light of communicating that plan, it felt like he just sort of been demoted to super sub without really any
00:38:59
Speaker
any communication on that. I can imagine that maybe being the scenario, but it sounds like he was upset when he found out he wasn't starting on Saturday while Danny Masovsky was starting. And to his credit, Schmetzer sounds like he gave him the day off on Friday and just said, why don't you gather yourself and come back and have a good game? And he comes back and he has a good game.
00:39:29
Speaker
He gets out, he's frustrated in the game, he's fired up, but it all works out. And instead of being happy about that, he decides, I'm gonna double down and turn this into a thing. Again, I don't know that he was gonna start anyway. He certainly wasn't, I doubt he was gonna start anyway against the Chicago Fire. But he probably would have been useful. Yeah. Yeah, I think that there is a,
00:39:57
Speaker
There's a way to make the point he wanted to make and express the frustration that he wanted to
Managing Aging Stars and Team Dynamics
00:40:03
Speaker
do. It's probably a little more productive, but I'm kind of with you where.
00:40:12
Speaker
This just seems like a shitty situation where everybody could have known a little better. And it's tough. Brian talked about that in his press conference where he just said, this is a really difficult phase in Guy's careers and it's a difficult conversation for everybody to have and there's not really a good way to do it.
00:40:33
Speaker
And, you know, it's true. I mean, like, it's just, it's one of the hard things about being in his position. And it's one of the difficult things about pro sports. And I think, especially when you're a guy like Raul, who has been, who is one of the legends of legends of this club. And, you know, you're still scoring goals.
00:40:54
Speaker
he probably doesn't think about it while it's not sustainable, right? I don't even get it that way, but that's whatever. Yeah, but that's, you know, it's just, it's tough. And I'm really hopeful that it doesn't derail anything, no matter what the outcome is. If the outcome is Raul will never play as a game for the Sounders again, which I think is super unlikely, but if that's the outcome, I hope it's handled in a way that doesn't prove his distraction.
00:41:24
Speaker
If the solution here is to give him another shot at the starting position, I really hope that we see 30 minute roll, 90 minutes more frequently. I also don't think that's likely. So I really hope that he and Brian can come to an understanding of
00:41:40
Speaker
You know, you're still an important player on this team, but we think that this is a better role for you and Raul can accept that and make him very the hatchet. I think that's the best outcome. Absolutely. And I trust Ryan's ability to get it there. And I think Raul is a ultimately a good pro and cares about the team and cares about winning. And this is just the ball on the road, hopefully. Yeah, that's my hope too.
00:42:05
Speaker
As of now, I think that's probably the most likely outcome. You know, hopefully in two weeks, this is all beyond us and whatever, but it was kind of a bummer to be dealing with this on a week where it should have felt like to me, at least it should have, it felt like it could, it should have been more of a celebratory week, but, um,
00:42:27
Speaker
It is kind of fun to have some drama again, though it's been a while. It is fun to have some drama. I always say, total selfishly, the worst thing that can happen to the sounders is that they're bad and boring. But if they're good and exciting, that's the opposite, and that's the best.
Sounders' Blend of Performance and Drama
00:42:47
Speaker
Or good and interesting, I should say. Yeah. And right now they're good. Right now they're good and interesting. So, you know. Right. Yeah. Maybe a little more interesting and good, but. Yeah, right. Yeah. That's okay. I'm not the good kind of interesting. Yeah.
00:43:02
Speaker
good and kind of interesting is fine. Like, or I'm sorry, interesting and kind of good is, is, is maybe in a weird way, almost better than really good. Because it's hard to be really good and really interesting thing. That's, that's kind of the problem. Yeah. Because if you're really good, it gets a little
00:43:21
Speaker
can kinda be a little boring. But that's probably a good place to call it, Aaron. Thank you for doing this with me. We're still trying to figure out exactly how we're gonna make this show.
00:43:35
Speaker
click, but I hopefully we are finding a good balance. Yeah, you do something for 13 years one way and then you try to change it up and it's Yeah, so yeah, we, you know, we want to, we also want to make our new our new friends at lobbing scorchers feel feel good about things and make sure they that we have space and I think there's plenty of space for all of us here. So I'm not I'm not worried about it. But
00:44:01
Speaker
We'll play around with different ideas in different formats and someone suggested that we do another long form thing like the red card wedding. Who knows? Yeah.
00:44:12
Speaker
crazy stuff like that maybe i don't know but uh thank you of course to our subscribers we recently passed 2500 paid subscribers on sounder heart which is wild absolutely wild to me but it's it's letting us do all kinds of fun stuff and bring in new voices and provide value to you our subscribers so
00:44:33
Speaker
Thank you so much for your support. Thank you, of course, the full pool wines as well. With that, I'm signing off. For Aaron Campo and Likit, I'm Jeremiah Shan. This is No Study Yetis. And remember, you will never yet alone.
00:45:45
Speaker
We love you. Let's win another one!