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Roundtable: Impressions from the first week of preseason
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Tim Foss and Niko Moreno join Jeremiah for what is hopefully going to be a new regular feature: Post training round-table discussions. On this episode, they discuss the first week of preseason, who they were impressed by and what they thought of Jésus Ferreira’s earlier-than-expected arrival.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:02
Speaker
This episode of Nos Arietes is sponsored by Fullpool Wines, a Seattle-based wine retailer and proud sponsor of Nos Arietes since 2011. Fullpool 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, Pacific Northwest.
Will Bruin's New Role
00:00:25
Speaker
Hi, I'm Will Bruin, and I was just recognized as a Seattle Sounder's legend. now i get to do voice reads for the sounder at heart podcast network but
00:00:40
Speaker
about sell <unk> it
00:01:21
Speaker
we all got of sudden go
00:01:30
Speaker
We're seeing some of the hardwood commentary that we didn't take lo seriously.
Podcast Regularity and Training Insights
00:01:41
Speaker
Back to another episode of NOS Adietes. I am Jeremiah O'Shan. We are here at Long Acres. I'm joined by Nico Moreno and Tim Foss. We're gonna try to start doing this as a somewhat regular thing, maybe every week, maybe every other week, but we're gonna give some impressions after training. This was obviously a big first week. This was the first week of training. Ended with Jesus Ferreira interview. We talked to Brian Schmetter again, but before we get to all that,
00:02:11
Speaker
How are you guys doing? How was your off season? Doing good. Off season was nice and short, restful, happy to be here. You had me too, just excited to be on, excited to do this more consistently.
Standout Players in Training
00:02:24
Speaker
I did not come here for the Jesus Ferreira conference because I missed that email completely, but I am here, laid behind, did not watch today's training, but I knew that I had an appointment, a commitment to Senator Hart and Mr. Jeremiah O'Shan, as well as the audience that I'm hoping really gets into this. I feel like this has been asked for by quite a few people.
00:02:49
Speaker
just they want a little bit more, a little bit more weekly. So hey man, I'm just excited and honored that you allowed me to share this with you. And of course my man Tim right here. Yeah. So Tim, you, this is your first time out here this week. Nico and I had been, you know, Nico missed the email today, but he had been here three other days. So I don't want to beat him up too much. But ah what were your impressions of your first day out here?
00:03:16
Speaker
you know i I figured I'd let him get some fitness built up, get get into a rhythm before I came out so I could come and see a little bit closer to the finished product. But I think the the two big takeaways were you know after last season, JP's health and fitness was a big question.
00:03:40
Speaker
uh watching him on social media post videos of his workouts really like focused on his his hip strength and flexibility to get over the chronic issue he dealt with still deals with it's a chronic issue but yeah being better able to deal with it now seeing him out there today he looks fully fit, like he looks healthy, he was moving well, he had a couple nice plays, had a good finish at one point in the small-sided drills. um The other player I think that really stood out is Georgie. I know you've talked about how he maybe is leading the scoring race in preseason camp so far, but ah he just looks, he looks more efficient. um You can tell he's been,
00:04:31
Speaker
been working on just making his touches cleaner, being a little bit more clinical in front of goal. um He had some really nice finishes today. those Yeah, I think those are the two that stood out most for me. Yeah, I would i would second all of that. you know Earlier this week, JP gave an interview where he he said he was actually more or that he was feeling better physically than at any point since his ACL injury. And you, Niko, made a specific observation that you just thought he looked fitter and he seemed to confirm that.
00:05:06
Speaker
Uh, yeah, I put it on Twitter or X. I said that he was a lean, mean soccer machine. And, uh, he lied to me. He said he might be because I trim a beard. I tell you right now that it was not the beard. He said that he's lost some weight. that He just looks, he looks excellent. I mean, uh, his vertical horizontal movement, that the the hip shifting, all of these components that.
00:05:28
Speaker
just did not look 100% last season. They look well. he I've talked to him off the mics. He's done a whole bunch of calisthenics and core work and all of this you know yoga, a whole bunch of different things to get his body right. And and that's why I was so vested in letting people know that re-signing JP was such an underrated move because, man, if if I need a guy,
00:05:58
Speaker
to be on my team. I want the guy that has a chip on his shoulder, that is bleeding the badge, that's fighting for these colors, this jersey, this stadium. That's what I want on my team. And he just looks it. I feel like he has something to prove or or right. That's what I
JP's Role and Team Dynamics
00:06:15
Speaker
see. That's what I hear in his voice. And man, that that is something that could be crucial in 2025.
00:06:22
Speaker
Yeah and today we asked Brian about or I asked Brian about it and he he confirmed all that ah he also sort of liked the idea that he might have a chip on his shoulder that he has a little something to prove that he hasn't been I think that he knows I think everyone knows JP I remember last year he he is probably the most self-critical player we've had. Maybe ever. He's the only player who I can remember who will sit in front of you and say, i'm not you know I don't feel like I'm feeling like myself. i don't you know he's just I feel like he's just so much more honest. about his own body and his own abilities. And when he and so it carries a little extra weight when he says, I feel good. i feel you know like and Because it's he's just not someone who he doesn't bullshit you. And to and I think that the sounders are saying that. And it'll be interesting to see how that manifests, because I don't think he is going into preseason as a starter.
00:07:21
Speaker
I think he knows that, but I don't think that's going to satisfy him. he's I think he's going to be pushing for starters minutes if the in and he'll make the coaches make some tough choices. We asked him directly to the team and i and and I want to get your take on it because he he said, look, i I know that I talked to Brian.
00:07:40
Speaker
I wasn't a a starter or someone that was consistently in last season. We had those conversations and now I just feel like I got to earn my spot. So when you have someone like that, that whether he's going to play 15, 20, 30, 45, or beyond that, when you have a guy like that, I mean, that that puts you in a level where someone who in one way or another feels like he has a spot guaranteed, he's going to give you 110, 130, 150%.
00:08:08
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the, you know, the black boots are back literally and figuratively, right? Like there's, if people don't know, there is a ah connotation to the all black boots. It is, you know, the all black air forces of the football world. Like he is here to work. Those are working boots. Yeah. He. ah Yeah. To your point, I think there has not been as much of a chip on the collective shoulders of the Sounders for a little while. They reached a you know at the upper echelons of the league and they had some some setbacks, but theyre yeah that there wasn't that ah fight to prove themselves, I think. and
00:08:58
Speaker
having the increased competition for spots throughout the team, but especially when you've got a guy like JP who at his best was an mvy cow MVP caliber player, like he is one of the most talented guys who's ever put on a Sounders shirt before. Having him, you know, even if he at 33. 33 is not quite at his peak of his abilities. Having him fully healthy and feeling like he can contribute at a level he wasn't able to consistently last year, even if he's not an every game starter,
00:09:43
Speaker
whatever minutes you get him on the field at, he is going to be ah fighting for his life positively, not struggling to keep up, but like and he is going to be out there defending that shield with every ounce of blood inside of his body.
00:10:03
Speaker
Yeah, I asked him about getting to play Botafogo and it was funny because his face, you know, he's not a guy whose face lights up very often. It did sort of light up. I thought when he when he when he got to talk about getting to play Botafogo, clearly, you know, he's realistic. He doesn't know a lot. I don't think he knows any players that are on the team. But there are a lot of people in the organization. And I think probably his family gets a kick out of getting to see getting the prospect of getting to see him. So you can rest assured he will be doing everything in his power to make sure that he's starting that game one way or the other, that he's at least on the field. And you know if that means that he puts in six months of some of his best soccer, I think that would be a ah pretty good place
Expectations for the Season
00:10:43
Speaker
to start.
00:10:43
Speaker
No, first of all, I love Tim's reference to the A1s, baby, because ah someone that a 36 still rocks his Air Force 1s in white, in black, in red. That's the OG look. And that's what I feel like we're going to see from him this season, is that original, and I've said this on on on ax on and and i said several you might see a little bit more of that South American soccer from him. because I feel like he's going to revert back to that player that played at Botafogo, that played this sort of tournament. And when you have a guy like that going against the South American champions, Cobalibertadores champions, now, yes, did they missed some pieces like Thiago Amara that's going to be going to France now and things like that, sure. But those sort of teams,
00:11:29
Speaker
You need a guy like that. You need a guy with that grid with that fight. And to me, he's like going back to that, like you said, those black boots, that is all a a metaphor of, man, I'm going back to the roots.
Georgie Minungu's Development
00:11:43
Speaker
i like i mean i definitely like that i will it was funny I felt like I needed to go back and look at photos from last season and I will say he did wear black boots but what you find is he only wore them for big games and it seemed like it was the bigger games he would wear the black boots but most of the time he was either in like these you know like more traditional white boots or like ah dayglo type of boots that everyone wears these days. so So I do think it does say something about his mentality. I don't I tend to believe that it's a very purposeful. dis I mean, boots are personal to everybody, but it does feel like there's a statement being made by ah that he's wearing black boots every day out at training and that this is a thing that he he wants to, you know, put put a stamp on things. Thank you for listening to the sound art podcast network, which now includes no sunny at this loving scorchers and the cooler guild.
00:12:33
Speaker
We've been independent since August of 2023, but need your support to make sure it continues. 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.
00:12:51
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. To find out more, just visit centeratheart.com and click the subscribe button in the top right corner. Thanks for listening. You will notice that the audio sounds a little different, and I'm just gonna cop to this.
00:13:21
Speaker
We went through a bunch of batteries and our recorder is not up to snuff. So we are doing this old school style. We are sitting around an iPhone recording the rest of this thing because we're cooking and it and it needs to finish. So going back to our roots. There you go. baby let yeah go ah So The other player who I thought has really stood out was Georgi Minungu. Tim mentioned that earlier in the thing. ah One of the plays that stood out to me and admittedly I was doing a lot of side talking today so I didn't watch as much training today. But he did have a really nice left footed ball sort of crossed on the deck to coincidentally enough to JP that he scored a goal on. And he has just been so much sharper in front of goal this whole
00:14:11
Speaker
this whole week. It feels like a leaf has been turned over. He is not a player who has previously lacked confidence. I don't think that was ever the issue. I do think it was just a ah simple matter of it all sort of clicking into place. And who knows what comes of this. But in terms of players who can provide an X factor, who can provide sort of an unknown potential upgrade,
00:14:39
Speaker
I would put Georgie at the very top of that list, along with, you know, Pedro, frankly. I mean, pa if the Sounders get, you know, an eight goal eight assist out of season, which is not necessarily gangbusters, but would be huge. If they can get something like that out of Pedro, that's going to be a ah huge upgrade. But i I am, I can't help but get excited about Georgie's potential because he has all the tools you need. Yeah. And look, we've talked about this.
00:15:07
Speaker
internally or you know off the mics but he just looks DK Metcalf type of just swole right I mean yeah that dude just ah put in the work you could tell that he's you know I don't know if he's been more defined in his workouts and you can just see it in his body so that's number one but number two adding on to something extra to what you guys have already touched on, which is his finishing skills. I feel like his dribbling is so much more deliberate. It's so much more sharp. You can tell that it is something that he's tried to work on. And a lot of the magic, a lot of the beauty of what he did last season was his unorthodox way of dribbling and whether it didn't look beautiful. He was getting behind you. He was getting through. you He was getting past you. So this year, I've seen him go against
00:15:54
Speaker
um attention in open space, Leo Burnley in open space, Alex Roldan in open space and I think I have not seen him lost by maybe one of those one-on-ones and one was against Alex Roldan where he just kind of throws his whole body at him but he has looked very good so it's not just clinical in front of goal but goal dangerous. Get it in those prime scoring positions to either assist or finish but the guy's been lights out.
00:16:22
Speaker
It's interesting watching him over sort of the progression of his time with the organization as a whole, but the sounders more specifically, and I think back to maybe it was like Sounders Media Day last season where they took training at Lumen and everybody else was pretty much done. Guys were doing a little bit of like,
00:16:50
Speaker
picking up the balls and stuff and he and Preckie and one of the other trainers were out there for 10-15 minutes plus after everyone else was done and Precky was just drilling him on like cleaning up his step overs and making those moves more efficient and more effective so that you know you're not removing the unpredictability of Georgie's style and movement but you're making those moves a little bit more yeah a little bit tighter a little bit more dangerous so he's not
00:17:22
Speaker
wasting additional touches. He's making his moves faster so that he can set guys up faster or catch somebody off balance, whatever. And I, you know, with guys like thinking back to Obed Vargas, when he first came into the team and you could see from game to game, like, Oh, he played really well, but there was this weakness and that gets pointed out in the next game. That weakness is addressed and it was a little bit more granular you could see the steps from game to game and it's kind of you know it was kind of the superpower over superpower was sort of to to identify weaknesses and immediately addressed and with georgie it's maybe over a longer arc but still being able to see like okay you you came in and you did well with defiance but here's what you need to do to make the jump to the first team and you take those steps and you make the jump and okay you made the jump to the first team now there's more competition for spots it's going to be tougher to get onto the field here's what you need to do to get onto the field to be ready for preseason and he took those steps and he looks
00:18:29
Speaker
more dangerous and more ready to impact games. It's really exciting. It is really exciting and the thing that is maybe the most satisfying part of that is that he has this spirit about him that is so positive. Yeah, and is so infectious. And I think i mean I've got to imagine everyone on this team loves him and roots for him and wants the best for him. And I think that that probably manifests. I think we're going to see that manifesting a a lot this year, especially where he's someone where you almost can't keep him off the field because everyone sort of wants him to do well. And and don't worry. At some point in preseason, we'll start talking about the higher level players on this team.
00:19:13
Speaker
But the fun part about preseason is these fringier guys, the guys whose role we don't know about and who have unlimited sort of potential because we haven't already seen what they can do. ah But of all the new faces that I've seen, Leo Birney is the one that I've been most surprised by.
Rising Talents: Leo Birney and Center Backs
00:19:33
Speaker
I can't, when the Sounders told me they were signing him, I literally did, I said, who? like i had I did not remember this guy at all. ah And then I went and researched him a little bit. He's been balling out, frankly, at Penn. He was really good for ballad FC. I felt a little embarrassed, frankly, that I didn't realize that he was a Sounders Academy guy. And now that I'm seeing him practice,
00:19:58
Speaker
He is a beast. Tim had some odd observations that I want you to, I don't want to paraphrase your observations because you're coming in with fresh eyes, but what what did you, what were your impressions of Leo Bernie?
00:20:09
Speaker
I think first and foremost, just how big he is like he you've referred to him as a Jackson Reagan clone, which I think is a very high compliment. But he's you know, he might not be as tall as Jackson Reagan because I have more very few people are. But yeah, he is the same thickness from top to bottom. Yeah, I think he is a very big dude. And I you know, I think It's funny at this point to be able to reference a guy who came through the Sounders Academy as like having a particular pedigree, because I just don't think that's the way we think about the Sounders development system yet. But, you know, looking back at he wasn't just a Sounders Academy player. He was in those early like 2017 to 2019 Academy teams that became
00:21:09
Speaker
kind of legends Yeah, before the Sounders became the first MLS team to win Cockacalf Champions League, the Sounders Academy were the first ones to win the elite level of the G.A. Cup. They he was not on that team because he was an age like a level above that age group, but he was on a team that, you know, was the first Sounders team to win I didn't think when the lower before they won the. yeah love They did they win the lower level right on the first Sanders team to win at the lower level they also won.
00:21:50
Speaker
one of the other prestigious prestigious yet academy tournaments. He was in a group that you know all of the other guys just about have gone pro. He just is the latest. It is funny to go back and look at the team photos from some of those teams and it's like every guy became a pro. Yeah and he you know he opted to go to school and he that seems like the right choice for him. like He got to develop and grow in a different sort of environment. um Yeah, I think he's he's a real potential player, if not necessarily for the first team immediately. He's certainly one to watch. And I go to that because he has the frame, he has
00:22:39
Speaker
um the confidence that the thing that, uh, because this team has gone to three in the back consistently, whether it's in scrimmages or sure sighted games, some three in the back for sure. We have, or at least I have been looking at the center backs a lot more than I typically would, uh, you know, attention and all these players. So what I've seen from Leo is that.
00:23:02
Speaker
There is some rawness to his game. He definitely needs a little bit more polishing, specifically getting turned around the way he positions it way on the ball and angles his body at times gets him turned around. One of them was against Georgie. Again, a difficult guy to cover. But getting turned around like that is a little bit concerning, which is funny though, because he has the frame. But the guy that I've been impressed with in that center back position has been Stu. Stu Hawkins. and And it's on the opposite end of.
00:23:32
Speaker
Technically, he's so on point with the way he positioned his body, the way he turns his hips, the way he gets on the ball. Maybe this is something that you guys knew following him a lot of closer than I have. But when he's on the ball, he is very good on the ball, getting it forward, breaking lines, getting the right passes. He's been an interesting guy for me. So that's kind of a positive to what the Sounders are doing with the build of the roster, where you can see where there are guys that play off each other and that you have someone here that can maybe get a little bit better and be a guy, get a little bit bigger and be a guy for you. So I honestly give a lot of props to that specific group of players. Center backs look good. Yeah. i i
00:24:18
Speaker
seeing the center backs, it does sort of open your eyes to another reason why the sounders might be looking at going three in the back, because they have two players who are naturally sort of left side center backs in new who and John Bell. They have, you know, a they have two guys who are really well suited to be sort of the more ah Like, yeah, the the equivalent on the right side, which is Yemar and Josh Atencio. And then they have ah Bernie Hawkins and Reagan, who are all look pretty good as sort of center, center like in the middle of three center backs. And you can sort of see the the the the work that it gets you, because I think depth at center back is probably the most important position when you're talking about going at three in the back.
00:25:10
Speaker
although you also need wing backs, and now all of a sudden they have some players who could play wing back. They have Paul Ariely. They have Reed Baker Whiting. They have Chavion Sousa. They have ah Alex Roldan. And then who knows, maybe they start to try to work in Pedro as a wing back. I know that there's some concern as to whether or not that's a waste of his skill set, and maybe it is.
Paul Arriola and Tactical Flexibility
00:25:32
Speaker
But in any case, they they don't necessarily need to go full time to that position, but you can see the sort of the work you could maybe even see a Rothrock or even ah a Georgie potentially playing as a wingback and we saw Georgia we talked about this where they played him there yeah and you'd get that he have that
00:25:50
Speaker
physical component to it. Now, again, it's difficult to pick your triggers and picture moments, read the offices on a defensive side, but I think we might see of that. Uh, but I like to talk about Paula real life. I made just real quickly because we're talking about windbags because to me.
00:26:09
Speaker
He passes the eye test. And look, ah this is coming from somebody who they didn't love the move, didn't think that he was gonna add a whole bunch because I felt like he wasn't a necessity necessarily for what he was coming at. But man, now that you see him on the ball, you understand why you brought him in because he seems to be playing at a different speed than the other guys, even though you're starting the preseason. That's because his floor is so high. He's sharp. He's quick. Rarely do you see him take a bad touch, a bad pass.
00:26:39
Speaker
And to me, that sort of play gives you less chances to lose the ball in vulnerable positions, lets you know what you have in a player where you're not going to have to think, oh,
00:26:53
Speaker
He might have a high. He might have a low. He's going to be very easy to plug in in certain situations. And he might give you the ability to just change in game from wing back to so to to winger. So, man, honestly, not just the fact that he's such a cool dude, because he's like, man, I got to tell you, I feel like I have a pretty good sense on personalities. And that dude, man, I'd have a beer with that dude. I mean, he he definitely seems like a really nice guy. He does seem like a nice guy. guy One of the things I thought that jumped out at me is like all the sounders have a whole bunch of bilingual players, yeah which I do think is important to a cohesive locker room because the the thing that we see oftentimes in MLS is you have your English-speaking players and your Spanish-speaking players, and they sort of live almost parallel lives outside of the field.
00:27:44
Speaker
And I think when you have a bunch of these bilingual players, it's just so much more of a natural bridge culturally. Now, I think the sounders are unique in that they had a lot of these guys around for a long time. So maybe that's less of a ah problem, but it's always important to refresh that dynamic and to have a group of guys who can you know talk to each other in there where they're not sort of like.
00:28:08
Speaker
working their way around it. They can talk directly to each other and they can have, you know, real and honest conversations in multiple languages and and be able to to do that. and And Paul, I think fits that mold very very nicely. I know Yeymar appreciates it, man. I bet. I love Yeymar. You know, top defender without a doubt since he's been here, but man, his English is rough. He has a hard time with it. So if there's a guy that appreciates some Spanish coming into the locker room when Raul left, when all this guy's left is yea Marman. I think to that point that'll it'll help so much with you know if they are trying to incorporate more of a three or five back look like you know the cliche is that you know it might be tough in the locker room if there's different languages but everyone speaks the language of football. yeah yeah
00:29:02
Speaker
Yes, but also you do have to use literal language sometimes if you are communicating to someone that they need to pick up a runner or, you know, yeah Schmetzer has made the case that And I think this goes unremarked a lot of times that even when the Sounders are playing a 4-2-3-1, it's a 4-2-3-1 sometimes. but And he mentioned that today, even, right about how the he was sort of very, I wouldn't say defensive, but he wanted to make clear that whether or not they're playing three at the back, that the principles of play are going to be the same. Right. That, you know, they do often
00:29:40
Speaker
in the four two three one new who a lot of the time still sits and holds that spot in the back so it is three at the back and then supposed to that is in theory how it's supposed to play um but being able to shift in and out of those things or trying to it makes it a little bit easier if everyone can communicate with your words on some level. I think also, if you are moving to more of a three center backs and using wing backs, I know I fall into this a lot that we still think of wing backs as a defensive position, but, you know, you could look in ml MLS last season, Bernard Eski played as a wing back a lot. He certainly was not defending from that position. We see wing backs used a lot
00:30:31
Speaker
on like the international stage if you've watched any of uh by your Leverkusen since Javi took over or Jabi sorry um they play with wingbacks and their wingbacks cover the whole sideline to be there as an option and to help provide cover but they are much more attacking players than they are defenders yeah um Jeremy Frimpong is not a defense-minded left wingback. I mean, Pauli Riola, when he played wingback, was not racking up defensive stats. Right. So I think just adding that into the conversation of the possibility of Pedro de la Vega being used as a wingback, using Georgie as a wingback. The focus is that they are providing width and, you know, being available as an outlet. Deeper in the field. Deeper in the field. I think that
00:31:29
Speaker
actually could be a good use of Pedro's abilities as long as he's fit and healthy to run like that. but Yeah. You saw it with Atlanta United. I mean, they make that run and they put in Saba time to play that right wing back position. And he was amazing at it mainly because of his offensive efforts and Amador on the left side, same thing. He was a guy that just switched that position and they were able to get forward and they were able to catch a very soft defensive team like Miami on, you know, out of balance. So this gives again, Brian, a lot of options and
00:32:10
Speaker
I am not surprised that he was so defensive because last season, sometimes as media members or some media members repeatedly asked the same questions about where they build out of and how did they build out of. And I don't know in how many different ways Brian said, we build out with three. right We consistently play with three. So yeah, the concepts are the same. The rules might change a little bit. And and that's why to me,
00:32:39
Speaker
I still think that the 4-2-3-1 gives you the best possibility to get the most talented players on the field. Yeah. But having the ability to bring three in the back and close out games, or ah I've always been a believer that there are certain teams that you're going to need to play more on the counter, or more defensively, then you have that option. And it's going to be a lot more prepared and designed then just coming out of nowhere so that that's where I see this being important for Seattle. One of the things that Brian mentioned and I had never really put it together like this before but he seems much more interested in having two pivots and two sort of more deeper lying midfielders than he is about how many center backs or wing backs are I agree. Like if you give him two, ah you know, an Obed and a Christian or Obed and JP or whoever you put there, as long as you've got two guys who are capable of sitting and and adding defensive numbers, he doesn't really care. He's not so worried about, you know, the the coaches can be creative on the wings. Just give me my, you know, my central midfielders. And that was sort of another thing he he alluded to today.
New Players and Unpredictability
00:33:50
Speaker
The other thing that Brian was a little defensive about earlier this week and that we heard mentioned repeatedly, frankly, ah from various sounders was the idea of being ah predictable.
00:34:04
Speaker
and you know Brian felt like, well, you know we have a system and and the it's up to the players to add their own unpredictability. and He felt like, you know, there's some dispute, I think, as to how where the the problem there lies. But we heard repeatedly this year, we've heard repeatedly this week, that one of the things that Jesus and Paul especially help give the Sounders is a little bit more unpredictability. You you know, Georgie obviously is sort of a player like that. But it it is just two players, but it's two players who I think are going to get a lot of minutes.
00:34:39
Speaker
And it's two players who fundamentally play differently than other people who are on this roster. And I think that's really what gives me hope that we're going to see something different this year. Yeah. And that also goes to Pedro de la Vega. He's a guy that is very unpredictable.
00:34:58
Speaker
when he's on the ball with his space in the way he does things that's what he's had some issues because at times I feel like Seattle at least last year uh Freddy Juarez and um Brian Smitzer and the way they set this system up sometimes he keeps players very limited to a certain pocket and I think you might see Pedro de la Vega be a lot more free this season and that goes back to the not so predictable way that Ferreira himself, whether he's playing out wide or whether he's playing at a false nine or if he's playing as a nine, he might give you a lot of that because you see it consistently whenever he plays those positions where he has no problem checking in, tucking inside, pushing a little bit wider. So I like that per se. And to add on to that, I think that for me this season,
00:35:51
Speaker
A lot of people got caught up and hung up on the whole Jordan Morris as a DP. And I don't want to spend too much time on it. But if I really see this, if you are not comfortable with seeing Jordan as DP, then put it on Jesus. I mean, you've got a guy that's a DP level talent. And if you feel more comfortable or that makes your stomach hurt a little bit less, then go ahead and do that. Because that's what you have right now. You have DP talent in that final third. And two I'm excited to see Jesus. I am to I hope that he gets fit that he gets ready and you guys can add on this because I wasn't in in the press conference today but I think that when he's at a hundred percent he's gonna provide this team some creativity and
00:36:32
Speaker
and mainly some finishing, because I do believe in his finishing skills. I've seen it consistently, and I know that last two years might not be the best sample, but to me, he's going to be a guy that's going to be very good in front of him. Yeah, he talked, ah we asked him about the the
Jesus Ferreira's Decision and US Soccer Tensions
00:36:51
Speaker
fact that he's here. I mean, he wasn't originally supposed to be here. He was supposed to be with the US s national team. We got an email from US soccer yesterday, I guess, saying, ah hey, Seuss got sent home, and they sort of through a little it felt like they were being thrown a little shade at him and basically say essentially saying like we didn't think he was fit and they were you know they explicitly did not call it an injury. Jesus added on that today he said it's not an injury that he sort of he's recovering from an injury and that so as a result of that he's on sort of a ah more limited
00:37:24
Speaker
plan And so he has not been training quite at the, he hasn't been and as involved in training as some of the other guys. And he, and essentially the way he put it, is it was essentially a choice between playing 15, 20 minutes in some friendlies or getting to know his new teammates better. And he he made it sound like it was sort of his choice to come join the Sounders early. You know, you can sort of like adjust that accordingly, but him I thought he he
00:37:55
Speaker
Brian, at least, said maybe this ends up being a good thing. I don't think that's a stretch at all to say that at least as far as the Sounders go, this is a good thing for him. And I guess if it's, you know, and that's good. Ultimately, it's he he's not going to win a spot on the 2026 World Cup in January in January. Can't 25. Exactly. like i I think that shade from U.S. soccer about like insinuating that he failed a medical right when they knew what the situation was with him coming into camp because they had this plan built. Exactly. It feels very much in line with you know them last year trying to get Jordan Morris into camp and the sounders saying like well we need him for this window so you can have him for
00:38:43
Speaker
a week and then we need him for the second week and them saying well it's everything or nothing so no and then the same thing with Jackson Reagan this window and them saying well it's everything or nothing so no and then him Jesus Ferreira saying he made the choice that he would rather come back to Seattle get acclimated to the team get ready for this season then got his way through January camp so that he could play, yeah, 15 to 20 minutes in a game or in a game against, frankly, a team that won't even be the is probably like the C or D version of that team. Right. It feels a little bit like U.S. soccer being like, oh, another Sounders player choosing the Sounders over Camp Cupcake. I get it just is.
00:39:36
Speaker
ah salty from u soccer route I was a little surprised at how salty that that email felt and it it does speak to sort of the silliness of this camp which is we're willing to send guys home early if we feel like it's fine like we'll send John token home early for personal reasons or we're sending Jalen Neal home with his you know slight injury. ah But no, we make need to make sure we have a commitment from everyone that they could be here for two weeks if we needed them for two weeks. Well, John Tolkien needed to get on a call so that he could discuss the statement he was going to make disavowing his previous ah social media activity ahead of his move to Holstein-Keel. to me is the power struggle and to me is the pettiness that is US soccer and I'm gonna go ahead and say it straightforward I blame completely the situation that just happened to Jackson Reagan on US soccer it was very simple it was very easy to bring in a center back who is clearly one of if not the best American MLS center back that you have currently playing and
00:40:41
Speaker
probably the best center back beat we're gonna bring in into this camp that again is in it's not FIFA mandated is optional whatever you want to call it and they could have had the player for a couple of weeks and now let me talk to Jackson Reagan right here if he ever hears this at all probably not but if Nico's words mean anything to you man keep balling just like this guy just said January camp in this Pochettino January call up is not going to get you a real call up
Jackson Reagan's Path Forward
00:41:11
Speaker
in March. What's going to get you a call up is be dominant in Kogukov Cup. yeah Be dominant there. Be lights out in MLS. And then when it comes to Club World Cup, show everybody that you can defend and be as good as you are against the top players in the world. PSG, Atletico, whoever they put in front of you, you go out there and you take hats off.
00:41:34
Speaker
That's going to get you in a real March camp because that's what Pochettino wants to see. He doesn't care if he's gonna you're going to be with a whole bunch of you know friendlies or what you do in this camp. but That's what's going to get you there. So although I understand the frustration and I understand a player that has been doing everything in his power to get to a certain spot, get to a certain goal and achieve it.
00:41:56
Speaker
That goes still there, man. just just Just keep worrying about focusing on the Seattle Sounders and you're going to get there. Yeah, I'll just use this analogy. I don't doubt that Jackson primarily blames the Sounders because the Sounders were put in a position to be the bad guys.
00:42:14
Speaker
So I don't take that away from him, but I look at this as sort of like, you get way more mad at your parents than at your friends, right? Because you know your parents are gonna be there no matter what. You know your family's gonna be there no matter what. So you can treat them with a little bit, you can be a little bit more free with your criticisms, whereas you're worried that if you say something bad, your friends are gonna stop hanging out with you or whatever. And US soccer is those is the cool kids.
00:42:39
Speaker
u soccer is that group of friends who you don't quite know yet and you have to get in good with it so you are going to walk on egg shells when you are ah talking about them you're going to talk on and and i think emotionally that's probably how it feels as well and so of course i like we We spent a fair amount of time parsing what Jackson Reagan said and whether or not he blames US soccer or He blames the Sounders and everyone says oh, he's blaming the Sounders. I don't I think there's probably that's probably true But he was actually really mature in the way that he stopped himself and he just said look I'm gonna make a statement I'm gonna actually say something with that statement
00:43:15
Speaker
But I'm not going to sit here and debate you. And I'm not going to have a conversation about this because I'm not ready to do that. yeah And good for him. Good for him. And that's and so it's up to us to sort of like then unpack what he said and what it means. And I'm going to just assume that he is mad at the Sounders. Yeah. But I don't know that that's going to affect anything. No. Jordan was mad at the Sounders for not letting him go to the Olympics last year. And what did he do? He went out and had the best. Yeah, exactly. He would have had the best four months of his career.
00:43:43
Speaker
like that's what he so that's if that's what we get out of out of ah Jackson good for you know fine I am NOT worried at all about the Sounders rejecting this move I would love to see more MLS teams act like real clubs and reject unnecessary call-ups because the reality is that we are now in a
Preseason Dynamics and Competitiveness
00:44:02
Speaker
real league. we are not MLS does not exist at the behest of US soccer. The main point of MLS is not to build up the US national team. It's the US national team's job to build up the US national team. And sure, we want to help to the degree that it helps all the MLS teams to do that.
00:44:21
Speaker
They should absolutely do that, but they should not be prioritized. You know, it's easy to write off these early days of preseason as, well, big deal. He's going to miss a few pre-season a few weeks of preseason. It is a big deal. It is. It is a big deal. It's a big deal for... they're trying to so They have new players. They have... They're trying to, I'm sure, institute some new tech new playing style. There's all kinds of reasons. You're becoming... This trip to Marbella that they're going to take right now,
00:44:52
Speaker
That's a super important thing to be part of. Like these are, and you know, like if you miss it, that's not, that's not an insignificant thing, even if you're a starter, even if your role is here. So I, I don't know, I don't see, I don't see any problem with what happened this week. And Tim Jackson should know this. He he does not have Ariaga out of this club in fame. He did that. So what is there that can guarantee you that, I don't know, Jonathan Bell or Leo Burley or somebody who's going to knock you off the horse? Yeah. you know i take schmetzer out his word when he says that he talks to jackson about it they're moving on but like yeah jackson absolutely knows that if he wants to sulk or throw a temper tantrum about it his spot his spot is not guaranteed exactly nobody's is there are guys on this team who want those minutes who want that spot
00:45:44
Speaker
If he doesn't do what he needs to do to keep it, it's going to get taken. He knows that if he wants to have a real look with the U.S. national team, he knows what he needs to do. I, you know, Jordan was the first time in a while that we've had a repeat of the Obafemi Martin's one man World Cup.
00:46:07
Speaker
Right. Jordan didn't get to go to the Olympics. He had his own Olympics. He did. Jackson Reagan doesn't get to go to January camp. Go on your own world tour. Right. Exactly. Start proving more than you have the last few years already that you have higher heights that you can reach.
00:46:29
Speaker
dominate against Antigua, dominate against whoever comes next. Don't let up when you get to MLS. Just keep building. right Prove that you are not just the best passing center back in MLS. Show that you have the defensive chops to be an elite defender, that you should not have been third in Defender of the Year voting. right Go out, have a Chad Marshall Defender of the Year season.
Future Podcast Plans
00:46:54
Speaker
Take that trophy home for yourself. Get yourself into the World Cup.
00:46:58
Speaker
I think that's a well way to put it. I think that's probably a good place to end this. It was an active week in the first week of preseason. It was great being able to catch up with you guys. Like I said, I want to make this a little bit more of a staple where we we get all together and we do like a post You know, at least during preseason, I think this is super useful. ah But anyway, thank you, Niko. Thank you, Tim. ah This is, I'm Jeremiah. This is Nosadia, just part of the Sounder Heart Podcast Network. And we will catch you next time.
00:48:08
Speaker
one