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Can the Seattle Sounders SHOCK Atlético Madrid? (feat. Into the Calderón) - Ep. 108
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After their hard-fought 2-1 L to open Group B play vs. Botafogo, the Seattle Sounders set their sights on an even loftier foe when they take on Spanish powerhouse Atlético Madrid at Lumen Field. Can the Rave Green pull off a result that would shock the pundits globally, or will the La Liga giant be out for blood after their lopsided defeat against PSG? We're joined by Jeremy Beren of Into the Calderón and That Atleti Podcast to preview the match.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
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Transcript
Episode Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
This episode of Lobbing Scorchers was previously recorded and streamed live on YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers. If you want to listen or catch these episodes live, see the video, and see all the rest of our content, go to YouTube.com slash at Lobbing Scorchers or LobbingScorchers.com slash YouTube.
Theme and Match Preview
00:00:22
Speaker
Well sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be real scorcher today. Why the scorcher today? Well it's gonna be a scorcher.
Sounders vs Botafogo Recap
00:00:43
Speaker
It's time to keep the Club World Cup rolling. The Seattle Sounders opened Group B play against Botafogo, a narrow, hard-fought, unfortunate 2-1 defeat.
00:00:55
Speaker
ah But now now the two biggest games of this group stage are set to get underway, starting with this this Thursday's matchup with La Liga giant powerhouse Atletico Madrid.
00:01:08
Speaker
We're going to bring on special guest Jeremy Barron from Into the Calderon and the That Athlete podcast. Jeremy, thank you so much for taking the time to join us here tonight to preview this matchup between the Seattle Sounders and
Preview: Sounders vs Atletico Madrid
00:01:21
Speaker
Atletico Madrid. Kind of weird still saying that.
00:01:24
Speaker
ah How are you doing? Thanks for coming on. I'm good, man. Thanks for having me. Looking forward to talking about this really unique game with you. It's not often we get to talk about our worlds get to collide like this.
00:01:35
Speaker
Exactly. You know, I had a Botafogo guest on to preview that one. And that was my main thought was just like there that, you know, there was people, fans from their their show in our chat and stuff. And it's just like there's no other scenario where we would ever have that happen.
00:01:49
Speaker
and definitely looking forward to seeing Seattle play a La Liga side in a competitive tournament. ah Before we get into it, if you could just tell our audience about the work you're doing, ah both with the Into the Calderon and that Athletic Podcast, ah where people can find your work and just what you do covering this club ah on a daily, weekly basis.
Jeremy Barron on Atletico News
00:02:13
Speaker
Sure, man. So I run into the Calderon, which is on SB Nation. I've been the site manager there for coming up on 10 years now. And it's it's been it's been a blast. There's never a dull moment at Atletico, Spanish football at large.
00:02:28
Speaker
I've had the privilege and the opportunity to cover Atletico on site in Madrid on on a couple of occasions. And yeah we We've got a small team, a dedicated team, but we we we love talking and covering Atletico de Marrera in the English language. We're the number one site for news, analysis, and other features covering the club in English. So you can find us at intothecalderon.com.
00:02:52
Speaker
On Twitter, at IntoTheCalderon. ah slash x ah You can find me at JBBaron. That's at J-B-B-E-R-E-N. ah We started that Atleti podcast, me and my co-host Ricky Menendez. We started that show almost two months ago.
00:03:07
Speaker
we are going to record, I think our ninth episode ah this week, talking about this game and the unfortunate PSG loss on Sunday. ah But yeah, that's a ah relatively new venture and we're trying to, we're trying to gain credibility as well. And we're trying to establish a new platform and,
00:03:24
Speaker
ah community for all atletico fans whether you speak english or spanish or what have you uh so you can find you can subscribe to us on apple and spotify on youtube as well uh like our work like our videos subscribe to our our channel on youtube uh on instagram and tiktok as well at that atleti podcast so you can see clips from our show and other news items and stuff that we talk about on the program ah Now, Jeremy, we were talking off air and you told me that you are based in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Jeremy's Atletico Fandom Journey
00:03:54
Speaker
yeah i'm I'm curious. I got to ask, how does a ah resident of Fayetteville, Arkansas end up ah as the yeah as working for the leading English language cover of Atletico Madrid?
00:04:07
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. When you put it like that, it's kind of a it's kind of a weird sentence, isn't it? um I was born in Phoenix. i lived I've lived most of my life there. This is my third summer here in Fayetteville.
00:04:19
Speaker
And I, I didn't grow up watching soccer. I adopted it a bit later in life when I was ah about 17 or 18 years old. And I tried watching some MLS didn't really, didn't really move the needle and it wasn't quite as accessible as it is now.
00:04:37
Speaker
I tried watching the premier league and that really didn't, didn't move me either. I tried adopting spurs as my team, but it didn't really stick. And then I started branching out. I watched a little bit of German football and like, okay, Byron are just way too dominant.
00:04:49
Speaker
I watched some La Liga and This was around Christmas 2012. And i'm I'm just scrolling ESPN FC one night and I see Atletico Madrid are second in the table, ah like ahead of Real Madrid and behind Barcelona. And it's like, huh, that's weird.
00:05:06
Speaker
I've never really heard of Atletico Madrid. I know about the two major teams in Spain, but not this one. Let me see what they're about. And, um, It was really kind of love it at first sight. A few months after that, Atletico beat Real Madrid to win Spanish Cup at Real Madrid's ah stadium, the Santiago Bernabeu.
00:05:24
Speaker
A year after that, they won La Liga. And by that time, i was I was pretty much bedded in as a ah pretty diehard Atleti fan. And in the intervening years, that that love and that knowledge and and regard for the club and the fan base and how unique it all is, it's only grown ah Like I said, i've I've had the chance to cover the team on site in Madrid, which was just a treat, and to run into the Calderon and bring English language at Leti Info to fans everywhere. i mean, let's let's face it, when you talk to most fans here in the States about Spain and Spanish soccer and La Liga, the dialogue is about Real Madrid and Barcelona, and we're to change that.
00:06:03
Speaker
We're trying to make that big two into a big three as difficult as as it is.
Atletico's La Liga Standing
00:06:10
Speaker
Yeah, that's a good segue into ah the first topic that I wanted to hit with you. But that is ah that's an interesting backstory. I can relate to the being in the situation of wanting to find a European club to follow and like be a fan of.
00:06:25
Speaker
But I've still, to this day, never really been able to do it. Part of that is because i'm I'm so plugged into MLS day in, day out. I'm on the editorial staff for the for the website and I do, uh, uh, this podcast and YouTube show about the Sounders.
00:06:39
Speaker
And there's only just so much bandwidth that I, that I have to be following any other league, but also it's cause like, I can't force fandom. Like you were talking about with trying to adopt Spurs. Like I've tried like things like that before where I'm like, okay, I have like a reason, like a player I like on this team. Maybe I'll, I'm going to try and use that to like,
00:06:57
Speaker
ah create this fandom, but it's got to be like organic. And it sounds like you just had a, ah like you kind of knew like there was an instant connection. And then from there, it's just natural. You, you start watching the games and following the team and your rooting interest develops.
00:07:12
Speaker
I still, I still have never like found a club that does that for me. And I sort of, the way I feel about it is like, I'm just going to let it happen organically. And at some point I'm sure that it will, there will be like a reason, something that locks me in. And I actually, but like, uh, uh, for now, I just still, I just don't, don't really have like an EPL club, Bundesliga club. I just don't have one. So, uh, maybe one day I'll, uh, I'll, uh, like take the same path or a similar path that you took into finding a club like that. But, uh, all right, let's, uh, let's talk about this Atletico Madrid team. I know, uh, I know our audience is, ah
00:07:47
Speaker
ah dying to to hear about it and learn about it. But ah the way I like to start these off, Jeremy, is I like to give the guest my ah my outside perspective on the club as a neutral and see if the way that I that I see it and think about it aligns with the actuality of what's going on with the club.
00:08:06
Speaker
in the club status and and all that so i'll uh i'll hit you with just my perception of atletico and you can tell me if it's right or not and really like these these ones when when when it's an mls guest i know all the clubs pretty well at least for the most part so i have a lot more of like a basis to go from these ones i'm freestyling like botafogo i don't know anything about brazilian footy i did like so you know some baseline research but didn't know all that much similar situation when it comes to atletico madrid but um my broad My broad perception of Atletico Madrid, like you mentioned, ah when you're talking about the La Liga hierarchy, you've got Real Madrid and you've got Barcelona, and those are considered the not just the La Liga powerhouses, but the global powerhouses, clubs that are contending and winning UEFA Champions League and and all that.
00:08:56
Speaker
like They're they' are two of the perennially best teams in the world. But my perception of it is that at least in the last, I don't know, 10 years, maybe longer, or maybe it maybe shorter. Atletico, I consider them like not in that like top two hierarchy, but like the the clear third and like pretty much ah near or on that level in terms of the quality of the sides that they always put out.
00:09:22
Speaker
and then ah also like you know I was thinking about it and I was kind of ah likening it to Borussia Dortmund in my mind, like with the dynamic of Bayern always winning it, but Dortmund being this like very clear second that's like almost there, but not quite.
00:09:36
Speaker
But I feel like Atletico Madrid, that's kind of selling on them short. Like they have more trophy winning players pedigree ah than a Borussia Dortmund. I don't know if that's accurate. That's just my perception of it.
00:09:47
Speaker
ah But when I think of Atletico Madrid, I think of a La Liga club that ah is not quite in the discussion with those top two that everyone knows about, but is honestly like pretty much pretty much there. Usually is that would you say that that's an accurate portrayal of that hierarchy?
00:10:04
Speaker
Yeah, that's fair. That's more than fair.
Simeone's Impact on Atletico
00:10:06
Speaker
ah We have nicked a couple of league title wins under our our coach, Diego Simeone, both of which are remarkable, if not miraculous in their own ways.
00:10:15
Speaker
The way that Football in Spain is structured the way La Liga is structured. Those big two Barcelona and Real Madrid have inherent structural advantages that make it not just difficult, but actively hostile toward teams that are trying to compete with them.
00:10:31
Speaker
ah Madrid and Barcelona have more financial resources. than anybody else. They and as you said, they are not just the powerhouses in Spain. They are among the the global powerhouses. Every player wants to play for Barcelona. Barcelona is a beautiful city.
00:10:46
Speaker
They usually have a really good team. Real Madrid for many, many players is regarded as the pinnacle of the sport. I would disagree, but for many players, it is when when you think about elite soccer and and football at the highest level, Real Madrid is maybe the first club that comes to mind.
00:11:03
Speaker
So again, it is against this backdrop in which Atletico have been competing over the past decade plus. um Atletico for much of the 90s and 2000s was a bit of an also ran.
00:11:16
Speaker
We actually suffered. This is very emblematic of Atleti. We won a League Cup double in 1996. Won La Liga, won the Copa del Rey.
00:11:26
Speaker
Four years later, the club was relegated. wow four years later ah and did not come back up at the first time of asking. It took two years to return to the top play. We recently talked about this on, on my podcast.
00:11:39
Speaker
um And after little over a decade, roughly around a decade, Atletico were kind of also runs. They won a Europa league title in 2010 that kind of set the club on its way toward a new era.
00:11:51
Speaker
And then Diego Simeone was hired two days before Christmas in 2011. And that has coincided with the single greatest period of stability and consistency and results in the club's 122 year history.
00:12:07
Speaker
We've won the league twice under Simeone. We've won the Europa League a further two times under Simeone. ah The Copa del Rey, the UEFA Super Cup twice ah reached two Champions League finals.
00:12:19
Speaker
losing both to real madrid in very heartbreaking fashion but what simeone has given atletico is an identity a club that for such a long time did not have an identity the identity was you if you're lucky you're gonna finish fourth otherwise you're finishing seventh through twelfth somewhere around there uh it is not just an atletico are our regular champions league participant now ah we are one of six teams in europe to have reached the Champions League each of the past 13 seasons.
00:12:47
Speaker
That's incredible consistency yeah for a club that is not used to it, does not have the financial resources or the institutional stability that the other elite clubs like you're talking about Madrid, Barcelona, PSG, Man City, Bayern.
00:13:00
Speaker
ah We don't have the financial resources or the institutional stability I don't want to use the word seriousness, but we aren't as strong institutionally as those other clubs are.
00:13:11
Speaker
um And yeah, we we have routinely been, we finished outside of the top three once in La Liga under Simeone, and we won the title twice. ah It's hard to ask him to do much more than that, given how difficult it is to win La Liga, how difficult it is to compete in La Liga.
00:13:28
Speaker
Yeah. Tell us more about ah Diego Simeone because oh man I've I've researched him a little bit coming in knowing absolutely nothing about him. This guy seems like a freaking awesome coach.
00:13:41
Speaker
Yeah. Like everything you're talking about ah instilling identity and like the foundation. and really leading the club to to its most successful period in Atletico Madrid history. It seems like a lot of it is down to him and like how he has managed to impart all that.
00:13:59
Speaker
what What is it about him that makes him such a great coach? Is it... ah like I don't like, is it his personality? Is he just a tactical genius? ah Is he, is it like the roster building that he's, he's cracked some code?
00:14:13
Speaker
ah What, what makes him the coach that he is, which is one of the best coaches in the world?
Simeone's Coaching Style
00:14:19
Speaker
Simeone is a force of nature and he, he is a world-class coach. You don't stay so long at one place at the highest levels of the game without knowing what you're doing.
00:14:29
Speaker
um Simeone is an expert man manager. His players, kind of uniformly talk about wanting to run through a wall for him.
00:14:40
Speaker
ah his players speak of him as someone who is incredibly motivational. Simeone played for Atletico in the 1990s. And again, in the early two thousands toward the end of his career. And he,
00:14:52
Speaker
it was kind of the, like that organic fandom and that that organic love that we were talking about earlier is that Simeone and Atletico, they just fit. It was a cultural fit and identity fit for the, the player now coach and the club. but And Simeone is incredibly passionate and he is, he doesn't get enough credit for being as adaptable as he is, despite his reputation fairly earned as a pragmatist.
00:15:18
Speaker
Yeah. he has had He has changed our formation and our tactical strategy a number of times over the years in response to different players and different profiles that the club has bought him. I've just seen a comment, isn't Simeone the highest paid coach in the world? He is. He has like a $20 million net salary thereabouts. And it's because he offers something that no other coach can offer Atletico, which is a guarantee.
00:15:42
Speaker
He guarantees reaching the Champions League each season. and And a lot of other coaches... who aren't as closely linked to the club and don't have as good an understanding of how the club works would struggle in this role.
00:15:55
Speaker
It's not a case of Simeone asks for players A, B, and C. ah They each cost 50 to 60 million euros, and he gets all three of those players. It's not how it works at Atletico. Um, and we might end up talking about that, but it works very differently at this club.
00:16:08
Speaker
Uh, Simeone is a very patient manager. He's been a, just a perfect cultural fit. He reignited the fans passion and love for this club.
00:16:19
Speaker
He brought a style of play that is not always easy on the eye. I can admit it. It's not for everyone. Um, especially if you watch us in, in big games or latter stages of the champions league, um,
00:16:31
Speaker
Atletico do play more defensive style against bigger opponents, but it is a style that the fans identify with the underdog rebel attitude that we still identify with largely.
00:16:41
Speaker
um And Simeone has been able to tap into that effectively for a number of years. He's just an incredible coach, an incredible man manager, and you he's entering his 14th season here. And there's no one I'd rather have leading the club.
00:16:55
Speaker
You just don't see coaches in global football last that long it's like pretty much unheard of especially in europe it's like notorious for being just a ah constant conveyor belt of uh managers ever like it you know one uh one poor run of form sometimes managers get sacked off of that and mls is a lot more for forgiving in that way typically but the i think the fact that he has ah you know, been in that role for this long. That's a testament to all the things that, uh, that you're talking about. Uh, Zach and chat is wondering, do fans complain constantly about his substitution patterns? Yeah.
00:17:35
Speaker
Occasionally, Simeone in recent years, especially since the introduction of the five subs rule, Simeone does have a tendency to overdo it. Sometimes he will sometimes make triple substitutes at halftime, which they can be rash and they can destabilize the team a little bit. Part of that is Simeone overreacting a bit to what he has just seen. But it's also...
00:18:00
Speaker
ah sometimes a a lack of quality options in in the first team. And it's not to say Atletico are a bad team by the stretch of the imagination, but um in recent years, there has been more of a demand or an expectation for Simeone to compete year in, year out, and nick more titles off of Barcelona and Real Madrid. It's just not realistic. It's just not feasible.
00:18:23
Speaker
Atletico can pay its players 40% of what Real Madrid can pay its players. And a lot of times Atletico have to overpay to get players to come to the Metropolitano. um But yeah, just to answer the question directly, yeah, sometimes Cholo subs are annoying.
00:18:37
Speaker
ah The triple sub at halftime stuff really annoys me. It really irks me. um But... And Simeone is not infallible. He's human like the rest of us.
00:18:48
Speaker
He gets it right far more often than he gets it wrong, especially in terms of talent evaluation, ah developing players to perform a new role than they were than they were expected to perform when they first signed for the club.
00:19:03
Speaker
ah Jeremy, let's talk about this matchup itself between Atletico and Seattle in this Club World Cup group stage match.
Facing PSG: Challenges Ahead
00:19:11
Speaker
I think pretty much the whole Sounders fan base, I think, has been on the page looking at these matchups with Atletico and PSG of like, all right, that might, I mean, that's just probably not going to go super great.
00:19:27
Speaker
ah You're talking about just... ah two of the best clubs in the world with a vast spending advantage. Let's call it that. So at least speaking for myself, my expectations of like Seattle actually competing for a result in either of these two games was never all that. My expectations were not all that high.
00:19:48
Speaker
ah However, ah you know, looking at Atletico's first matchup in the group stage, they they were first ones to play PSG in this group of death and ah got beat 4-0.
00:20:01
Speaker
And i that doesn't really change my outlook that much in how I'm looking at the matchup with Seattle, I think the scales are very clearly still tilted tilted in ah in one direction here, even with that result.
00:20:15
Speaker
But I am wondering if you could tell us about just what you saw in that game relative to how you thought it was going to go. Because the way I was thinking of it was, all right, Botafogo and Seattle are pretty chalked in this group. Like, this is this is essentially a showcase for those two teams.
00:20:31
Speaker
And, ah ah like, know, you don't really have that very high expectations for those matchups. um But from the Atletico perspective, that's one of the only teams in the world I could name that could go into a matchup but against PSG, who are the best team in the world right now, and feel like, all right, like maybe punch your chance. like This could be competitive. It's not necessarily going to be PSG just rolling on us. like We're one of the best teams in the world in our own right, and like let's see what can happen. Let's see what can make this competitive.
00:21:00
Speaker
what ah What happened in that game, do you think, ah that made that not the case. And did that, did how that game went surprise you? Did you think it was going to be more competitive? I did think it would be more competitive. I certainly wasn't expecting to win. i wasn't even really expecting to draw, um but I was expecting Atletico to be much more competitive than they were, especially given that six months ago we beat PSG in the Champions League ah in Paris with a last second goal from Anjo Correa, a game that Atletico did not really deserve to win, but a game in which Atletico...
00:21:35
Speaker
fell behind, got a kind of a freak goal from not well Molina are right back who never scores. And we just kind of bided our time, kept the ball out of the net and took advantage of of a very late opportunity to win that game.
00:21:47
Speaker
ah the The teams have kind of gone in different directions since then at Letico since the start of March have been really, really poor PSG obviously are a death machine. PSG went on to win the Champions League ah in a historic route.
00:21:59
Speaker
So yeah, i wasn't really expecting any good things. I i wasn't expecting to suffer a 4-0 beatdown. um Yeah, there was a lot of disappointment from within the Atletico fanbase about this result, even if Even if the result wasn't a shock, the performance was a bit of a surprise. Atletico had talked a lot about ah players and people from within the club had talked about ah putting on a good show at the Club World Cup, this being the last opportunity to win a trophy this season after Atleti fell short in La Liga, lost out in the Champions League in very controversial circumstances and were knocked out of the domestic cup.
00:22:35
Speaker
So this was the last chance for Atleti to win a trophy this season. And the club comes into the tournament ah With zero new signings, they didn't take advantage of the 10-day transfer window to sign new players.
00:22:46
Speaker
i Meanwhile, a team like Manchester City signs four new players. Real Madrid signed like two new players and a coach. It's obviously almost impossible to compare Atletico's situation to those two clubs, but fans were disappointed nonetheless, and I understood that.
00:23:00
Speaker
ah But Atletico were very poor on Sunday. There were mitigating circumstances. The game was played in... 85 degree weather in Pasadena looked horrible. um the pitch The pitch was horrible. The pitch was in terrible shape.
00:23:14
Speaker
ah Marco Charente are starting right back complained after the game that he couldn't feel his toes yeah because he ran for 90 minutes. He's getting like clowned on for that quote, but I'm like that. I mean, that sounds You try doing it. yeah exactly you You try it. Really unpleasant what he's describing. like it was just It gets brutal to run around in 90 minutes for that.
00:23:33
Speaker
And it's not it's not the greatest excuse because PSG did it too and PSG put four goals past us. um But but they were saying they were so their players were saying similar stuff. They were like, that sucked. That was not fun.
00:23:44
Speaker
the weather The weather was bad. ah Logistically, i had a couple of friends who attended the game and logistically they told me it was an absolute nightmare. So the mitigating circumstances around it, it's in Los Angeles, which is which has some political unrest and turmoil at the moment.
00:23:58
Speaker
ah So those mitigating factors don't make it the the easiest situation. not the easiest conditions in which to play, but Atletico really, really fell flat against PSG. Had only 25% possession, one shot on target, very little attacking fluidity, and very, very soft defensively, especially on the left side.
00:24:17
Speaker
Atletico's starting left back, Javi Galan, and left side and center back, Clement Langlet, have come under fierce criticism in recent months for being... Well, they they're dirt they're trying their best, but they're just not quite good enough for this level against a a team as dangerous as PSG.
00:24:33
Speaker
So, yeah, fans were disappointed in the performance, um and the result was it was a heavy loss. So everyone is really focused on on getting a good result in Seattle on Thursday night and taking that into the final group match back at the Rolls Bowl and trying to reach the knockouts of this tournament.
00:24:50
Speaker
It's been very interesting to see how this tournament is being thought of and talked about in Europe versus instance how it's being thought of and talked about here in the States. Teams in North America and South America ah and and even further overseas and in Asia are are taking this very seriously. mean This is a mid-season tournament, practically, ah given how the football the football calendar works.
00:25:13
Speaker
For the European teams, it's been a long season already. In Atletico's case, it's been a 50-plus game season. ah The players have been running on fumes really since the middle of March.
00:25:24
Speaker
Um, so, you know, it's not being taken quite as seriously and in Europe and we'll see if, if that, if that creates a situation that is right for upsets, maybe it happens on Thursday.
00:25:37
Speaker
Uh, Atletico do not play well away from home. Uh, that has been a theme in recent months and, you know, I don't know a whole lot. I gotta be honest. I don't know a whole lot about,
00:25:48
Speaker
about y'all about Seattle Sounders, but I know that Lumen Field has a as a reputation for being a tough place to play ah from watching Sounders games on and off over the years and watching Seahawks games every NFL season. and That's not an easy place to go.
00:26:00
Speaker
So we'll see how Atletico turn up. Maybe there is a golf in quality there that is too much to overcome. But the vibe and the mood at Atletico right now, especially with so much work for the club to do in the upcoming transfer window, the vibe is not great. So you're catching Atletico at kind of a vulnerable and and fragile time. So I'll be interested to see psychologically how the team responds.
00:26:22
Speaker
I mean, how are you how are you feeling about that personally? are you are Is there any sort of like ah nerves or apprehension at all from your standpoint of, man, the vibes are such right now that ah getting upset by an MLS club could be on the table or could i don't know ah if I were, if I were in your position of like ah the advantage that your team has just on paper and with the roster spend, I would still be feeling like, all right, I mean, it's an MLS club. but
00:26:54
Speaker
We're going to just pretty much roll right over them. Are you still on that page or is what you're talking about with the vibes and state of affairs currently? So any any doubt at all about that?
00:27:05
Speaker
I mean, I feel pretty good. mean, not to... This isn't disrespectful at all. No, it's not. You know, this is just how it is. This is how the football ecosystem is. Yeah. Atletico have the 12th largest payroll in the world, and you're taking on an MLS club.
00:27:21
Speaker
This should, on paper, be an easy win. But there maybe this just speaks to... the natural skepticism I have, but there is a small seed of doubt that, you know, maybe at Letico don't start the game. Well, maybe you give up a goal from a set piece and all of a sudden you're in the 65th minute and you're still trailing by a goal to nil in Seattle.
00:27:42
Speaker
That would, that would look bad. That would feel worse. So yeah, there, there is a seed of doubt, but I do, i do expect it. Let it go to bounce back. Like just, logically I would expect atletico to bounce back after the PSG game.
00:27:55
Speaker
Although i don't know it, we we've seen it a little bit already. This tournament, I haven't been watching every game. I haven't been paying rapt attention, but we have seen the American based sides, South America, North America, these sides look a bit fitter than some of their European counterparts.
00:28:10
Speaker
And the games are being played at at stadia that aren't entirely fit for purpose. Lumen field is fit for purpose. So I
Key Players and Transfers
00:28:20
Speaker
don't know. I think Atletico should bounce back, but there is a small seed of doubt that maybe things start a little bit slowly and maybe there is an unexpected result here.
00:28:30
Speaker
I still expect Atletico to win, but there's some doubt, little doubt. I almost feel like Atletico getting rolled by PSG makes it... probably even harder for Seattle because now you have a team that's going to be like pissed off and knowing that they, knowing that they need ah bounce back result, knowing that if they do lose or have it even be competitive against an MLS club,
00:28:55
Speaker
like you said, that's not going to generate positive headlines if that, if that happens. So, I mean, I don't know. I'm trying to ah take it for what it is, not get too wrapped up in the Seattle ends up losing by like three plus goals.
00:29:09
Speaker
The Botafogo game was, ah was decently competitive. Seattle played pretty well, especially in the second half, but this is just like an entirely different animal. So ah I'm, I'm trying to be Zen about the whole thing and just, uh,
00:29:24
Speaker
ah hope Hope that the players show well, are as competitive as they can be, and that you know we can have fun with it out here regardless of what the final scoreline might be.
00:29:35
Speaker
ah Jeremy, I know you said you had a little bit of ah of a time crunch, so feel free to jet whenever you need to. ah But if I could ask you... I wanted to see ask about ah like some some of the some of the star players that Seattle fan fans are going to get to watch. Athletico obviously has some big high-profile stars. Griezmann is still on the team. I mean, I could i could go down the list. But ah like who who are the yeah the cogs that make this athletic team go?
00:30:03
Speaker
And maybe maybe people that fans might not know about or just just the ones that you personally enjoy watching every week. Yeah, absolutely. Antoine Griezmann is still here. He just signed a new contract to 2027. And yeah, he hasn't scored in the last 17 games, though, which is pretty unfathomable for a player of his stature.
00:30:25
Speaker
He's the club's all-time top scorer, but he did just turn 34, and sadly, he is starting to look at. So Griezmann's performance on Thursday will be something to watch. I'm not sure if he's going to start, but he's going to play some role in that game, I would imagine.
00:30:39
Speaker
Our star player, though, now is Julian Alvarez. yeah Signed him for Manchester City last year in a a surprise deal for initial an initial 75 million euros, the second most expensive transfer in club history.
00:30:52
Speaker
And he has very much been worth the money. 17 goals in La Liga, 29 in all competitions. ah Gradually became the team's attacking hub and its star player. He is...
00:31:05
Speaker
in one of the most complete players in the world. He can do everything. He can lead a line by himself. He can lead a press. He can score. He can pass. He's very unselfish, but he is a key. He's also a killer when he gets into the penalty area.
00:31:17
Speaker
We're very fortunate to have him and I hope we can build a team that properly supports him ah this coming season. Other than those two, who else are we looking for? Jean Oblak, our goalkeeper, our legendary goalkeeper who has been at the club now for 10 years.
00:31:35
Speaker
He just won his sixth Zamora trophy, which is a trophy handed out by the Spanish newspaper Marca each season for the goalkeeper who concedes the fewest goals per game in La Liga.
00:31:45
Speaker
Oblak has won that six times in 10 years. He is the ah the record holder now for that award. It speaks to how strong Atletico have been defensively over the last decade, but also how freaking good O'Black is.
00:31:58
Speaker
He had a couple of down years before this year, but he really bounced back strongly this season. ah He kept us in a lot of games that otherwise may have resulted in Atletico dropping points.
00:32:09
Speaker
ah He was a key reason we were top La Liga at winter and even as as deep into March. So still great to watch O'Black. He's still going strong at 32 years old Who else can I highlight here? ah Rodrigo DePaul, Julio Alvarez's Argentina teammate.
00:32:25
Speaker
um Really, really good midfielder. ah It hasn't always had the warmest relationship with the fans. There have been questions about his attitude and his form, but over the past 18 months, he's been largely brilliant.
00:32:38
Speaker
ah He's the team's creative hub. ah a lot of lot of assists lot of key passes a lot of chances created uh very press resistant uh very good midfielder overall ah pablo barrios i think is my personal favorite player in the team right now a barrios just turned 22. he comes from our academy And he is the probably our next great midfielder. He's probably going to be our next captain when our current captain Koke steps away.
00:33:05
Speaker
ah Brilliant midfielder can do a little bit of everything. He was ah he joined the first team kind of as an interior midfielder and advanced playmaker type of midfielder, but he has transitioned into kind of a pivot role. He's kind of become our number five and he's adjusted to it beautifully. He's made some mistakes here and there, like a lot of young players, but I think he's going to have a long and brilliant career.
00:33:28
Speaker
Last player I want to talk about is Giuliano Simeone. He's Diego Simeone's son. This was his first season in the first team after a a couple of loan spells to other teams in Spain. He arrived into this team like a thunderbolt, man. He took a, he took the starting right wing spot at the end of October and he hasn't lost it since a tremendous speed, athleticism, work rate, underrated technical ability as well. I think he had six assists in La Liga this season.
00:33:57
Speaker
Uh, he's 22 going on 23. He's going to sign a new contract pretty soon. He's to another young player from our Academy. Who's worth watching. And it's really cool that Diego Simeone gets to coach his son and his son is actually a pretty good player. He's not just here to make up the numbers.
00:34:12
Speaker
Um, I, I wanted to ask you since we're talking about this, who we who are who are the Seattle players that we should be keeping an eye on who could cause Adleti some problems on Thursday? Uh, so the whole, uh, the attack is built around, ah the number 10, Albert Rusnak, who's a, uh, Slovakian international, a somewhat controversial, ah figure in the Sounders fan base, but I would argue unnecessarily.
00:34:37
Speaker
ah he's a very talented player, like the main assist guy, good on, good on through balls, has excellent wide, wide service set pieces have not been as good this year. ah but historically that's been a strength of his as well.
00:34:51
Speaker
So he's kind of he's like the the metronome in the middle of it all, the facilitator. ah But then ah normally Jordan Morris, U.S. International, ah is the is the number nine, but he is injured for this tournament, unfortunately. So the team's really struggling at the number nine position. ah the yeah The backup journeyman, MLS journeyman, Danny Musavsky, actually got and insanely hot earlier this season and was kind of mitigating the Jordan Morris injury.
00:35:21
Speaker
ah But he got injured himself and hasn't been as as good sense. But I think the ah the main the main X factor is this guy Ryan Kent English winger who was a standout in the Scottish Premiership for years for Rangers who had a falling out with Mourinho at Fenerbahce and became available on a free transfer after having not played for like a year and a half. ah Falling out with Mourinho, you don't say. Yeah, exactly. ah But yeah, talk about coming in with a Thunderbolt. ah
00:35:54
Speaker
Two three games into Ryan Kent's MLS career. We were talking on our show like this guy is freaking might be the best player I've ever seen. Like he looked like he looked like, you know, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but he looks he looks awesome. Like he was he was looking incredible. It looked like they really pulled a steal.
00:36:11
Speaker
ah But he has not been as effective in recent weeks, I would say, including in this Boda Fogo game. It feels like ah teams have figured him out a little bit. But he is he's a very talented, very dynamic player that can hurt you at at any time.
00:36:24
Speaker
And he's he's one where I look at it and I'm like, okay, If I'm talking about the guys who have a ah have an actual chance at making and making an impact against this type of competition, that would be one of the main ones.
00:36:37
Speaker
And then ah ah the the strength of the team, though, in my opinion, is the double pivot in midfield. It's a Christian Roldan, U.S. international ah midfielder who is having an insane year. He's playing some of the best ball of his career over these last few weeks.
00:36:55
Speaker
And in the Botafogo game, I thought he was man of the match on either on either side. And he's just like the do-everything guy. two-way midfielder just uh vital in both defense and attack dirty work covering ground all that stuff excellent player and then uh the one i did want to bring to your attention regardless was his double pivot partner obed vargas who's sort of like the uh the young prodigy that they've been bringing up for the last couple years really broke out in the last year or two and has now been subject of a lot of uh
00:37:27
Speaker
of transfer interest overseas. He's going to Europe. The only question is where it's going to be, what the fee is going to be. ah But he's another one where i I feel like that's someone I trust to for Seattle to throw out there in a game like this. And he's gonna he's going to be competing. He's not going to be getting ah run over, look out of his depth. like I think he his quality is of a team like this, I think, right?
00:37:51
Speaker
i think that's going to be shown throughout his career uh but with that in mind uh my co-host noah asks ask if uh they need a young cdm because what he's referring to is we we were talking it through on one of our shows recently and we were like you know atletico madrid obet vargas has uh he stated that that's a team that he is personally a fan of but it also we were just talking about it and we were like it just seems like a great fit like I love the idea of him playing in La Liga. I think like for what he does well, the style of the league and stuff, it just makes sense. and Then you throw in his personal affinity for the club, the fact that he's going to be playing them in a competitive game. So they're going to get like a real look at him. ah But what is your guys situation at that position? Center defensive mid? Like, is that is is that ah the type of profile of player that you think the club might be looking for? are they so stacked? you think they might not need a player like that?
00:38:44
Speaker
Well, it's funny you mentioned that because we, we actually really do need one. Uh, we kind of shoehorned, Pablo Barrios into that role starting last season. He's done very well, but it's hurt the team structurally elsewhere to not have Barrios playing further forward.
00:38:57
Speaker
The last pure CDM we had was Rodri who just won the Ballon d'Or. Not for us. Uh, we had Rodri and then we had Thomas party and then we had nobody. Um,
00:39:08
Speaker
So we actually are in the market for a young CDM. um i i I've heard of Obed Vargas. I've watched him play a little bit. He looks like the real deal. ah And I don't know. We will get a good look at him on Thursday. We actually are right now negotiating for another young CDM, Johnny Cardoso of the U.S. national team. Oh, my God. Vargas, way better.
00:39:30
Speaker
Way better. Well, damn, maybe we should get Vargas instead. But we we are in active negotiations with Real Benes for Cardoso. I think the fee is going to be somewhere between $30 million and $40 million.
00:39:43
Speaker
Good young player, ah has a lot of potential, would not be a starter in this team immediately. But... probably probably worth the investment in the end. He's, he's got a lot of potential.
00:39:56
Speaker
I think in Atletico do need a player of his profile, but I am very interested to watch Vargas. Yeah, no, yeah I'm very interested. Keep an eye on him because if it is a roster need, like, i don't know, I just, it just, it makes sense, especially with it lining up with the the two teams playing each other in the, uh,
00:40:13
Speaker
in the club world cup i'm really hoping that uh you know i'm sure yeah all their front office brass sime oni they're all going to be watching this game and uh i'm hoping that he really shows out and we can manifest this because i think it's like the perfect spot for him and i i just kind of you know it's uh it's going to be sad to see him go especially because i've just gotten so used to feeling so secure at that position week in week out with him and christian rolled on and they have such like good chemistry and good partnership i could watch that double pivot for the next you know five years but uh he said that he wants to go to europe and that uh you know a team like atletico madrid it it just seems like they uh they might be interested so we'll see what happens uh jeremy i'll let you go on that i kept you over the 20s so uh no in no worries i was just reading the comments uh your pal noah is not a big fan of johnny cardo so
00:41:03
Speaker
but Well, so it's kind of we've we've had a, ah like what what do I call it? ah Strange relations at times with the USMNT fan base because the whole thing is that the USMNT fan base have been like...
00:41:18
Speaker
really anti Jordan Morris and Christian rolled on for, uh, for many years in ways that, you know, we're obviously biased, but I've always thought it's just pretty ridiculous and unfair how those two players in particular get treated by the USMNT fan base. Um, So anytime we have a chance to kind of get a little dig at one of the, one of the players that the, that the bot portion of the fan base are like really ah fans of like Cardoso is one of those guys where gets talked up so much.
00:41:47
Speaker
And then you watch him play for the U S and you're like, is, is he, is he good? Like, I don't know. haven't watched him play, but I think that's sort of, yeah, he he made, he made an error like a week or two ago that, that led to, it was a terrible back pass led to a goal. That was a really, yeah. For him.
00:42:02
Speaker
Yeah, that's what I i don't know. I really have nothing that much against Cardoso, but I do rate Vargas way over him,
Coverage Plans for Club World Cup
00:42:11
Speaker
but I am biased. So interesting. All right. Well, I will be watching him even more closely on Thursday with. All right. Yeah.
00:42:16
Speaker
Yeah. And he. he ah he was showing out versus Botafogo. So, and I actually asked him after the game, I was like, you know, you've stated, you've said that you're a fan of this team that you're about to play. Like, what, what do you, how do you feel about the opportunity to actually get to play against them? And the first thing he said was, I mean, I can tell you one thing, I'm not going to be a fan like on that field. Like I'm going to be going as hard as I can to try and win that game.
00:42:40
Speaker
Yeah. Hell yeah. Love that for him. You know, i i don't know how much of a difference it's going to make in this situation but yeah i'd love to hear it from the from a from a 19 year old midfielder just coming up but uh jeremy thank you so much for uh for the time tonight really great informative stuff on uh on the seattle sounders upcoming upcoming opposition um before you go is there anything you're doing ah coverage wise for the club world cup or just in general with your coverages of atletico madrid that uh that you want to plug for anybody or or let people know once again where to find your work and coverage.
00:43:17
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. ah You can head to our website into the calderon.com. It's part of the SB Nation network of blogs. We do player ratings, transfer rumors, ah key takeaways from every match, previews of every match.
00:43:30
Speaker
It's the think the top resource in English online for Atletico. and You can find most of my written work there. Also, that Atleti podcast, we've been in Club World Cup mode pretty much since we started at the end of April, having known about Atletico's participation in this tournament for a while. So we've been talking about it on and off throughout the weeks, and I've had some conflicting thoughts on it, but you you can listen to my co-host Ricky Menendez and myself talk about it every week. We record every Thursday with episodes coming out Friday and or Saturday.
00:44:00
Speaker
So yeah, feel free to subscribe, give us a like, leave a comment. Also find us on Apple, Spotify, Instagram, TikTok. We're trying to be everywhere. So I really appreciate the time and really appreciate the the opportunity to talk about Atletico.
00:44:13
Speaker
Absolutely. Everyone, everyone chat, subscribe and support our new friends covering Atletico Madrid. Thanks again, Jeremy. And we'll catch up soon. Take care. Thanks, man. Appreciate it. You too.