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Kickoff: What's at stake for rest of Seattle Sounders season?
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It's back to reality for the Seattle Sounders after their magical Leagues Cup title run, as the Rave Green get set to return to league play with yet another matchup vs. LA Galaxy in Matchday 33. With the focus now back on the Western Conference table and playoff positioning, we'll take a look at Seattle's remaining schedule and talk expectations for the stretch run and the postseason.
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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
Introduction and Live Streaming Info
00:00:02
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.
00:00:24
Speaker
Well, sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be real scorcher today. What? A scorcher today? Well, it's gonna be a scorcher.
00:00:46
Speaker
Good morning, everybody.
Seattle Sounders vs LA Galaxy Discussion
00:00:48
Speaker
Welcome in to another episode of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff. I'm Ari, that's Nico, and we are back at it. The dust has settled from the Seattle Sounders League's Cup title. They are back to MLS play this weekend against a familiar foe, the LA Galaxy at Lumen Field.
00:01:07
Speaker
ah We're going to be talking some of the aftermath of League's Cup and the suspensions that were handed down and the additional suspensions that could be forthcoming from the
Seattle's Playoff Picture and Season Outlook
00:01:18
Speaker
league.
00:01:18
Speaker
ah We're going to take a look at Seattle's remaining schedule and the table where we think that they're going to finish based on the schedule and what's at stake for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs. And then we're going to close it out with ah just a little bit of USMNT discourse.
00:01:36
Speaker
Pochettino and the boys played a ah friendly against South Korea. They got another one against Japan tomorrow. South Korea won, didn't go that well. ah But Christian Roldan got some minutes.
00:01:46
Speaker
and So we're going to talk about the Yanks a little bit. Nico, welcome back. how are you ah How are you doing this morning post-Leagues Cup? I'm doing all right, man. I feel feel rested, feel recharged after, ah you know, taking some time off. ah Thanks to Brian Smetzer that allowed us to have five days off, you know, not just the boys, but us from having to get get down there to the training facility.
00:02:11
Speaker
i You know, it's been a a good time to just... kind of bring it all back, right? We're getting ready for the last seven games of the season in terms of the Sounders. We are kind of getting to that last quarter mile of MLS play, seeing, trying to figure out who's going to make it, who's not going to make it. There some who whose future we already know, right?
00:02:39
Speaker
But yeah, man, it's been a it's been a good ah time to just kind of evaluate it all. it wasn't There wasn't a lot to watch in MLS this weekend, but ah because there were not that many games, we were able to watch all of them, which was kind of nice.
00:02:55
Speaker
And ah then, of course, the upcoming weekend, we're going to have to pick and choose because there's a whole lot of games coming up this weekend. Yeah, no, it ah it feels like we're back to reality a little bit. I feel like we've been living in fantasy land, you know, with this tournament going on and then ah the matchup with Messi, everything that led up to that, ah the game itself, and obviously the aftermath going viral globally.
00:03:19
Speaker
And now now we're back to the to the real stuff. Regular season match day 32 against the LA Galaxy, who they've played twice in the last like three weeks. And now that and now they're going to play again.
00:03:31
Speaker
ah But I'm I'm looking forward to it. I mean, a lot still to play for. um We're going to talk about that. But ah playoff positioning still on the line. Seattle's battling for field advantage in the playoffs.
00:03:45
Speaker
ah And, ah you know, they're going to they're make a ah how look to make a run up into maybe the top two in the West. hu So, yeah, we got a It doesn't feel like it right now But there's there's a lot still to go Left in this 2025 season It is not over with the League's Cup Before we get into it But it is kind of funny that we kind of think of it that way, right? Because I wonder how the guys are going to come in from that break and then come up from that high of that, you know, title run.
00:04:21
Speaker
Cause that's how we feel. Right. And we're like, ah obviously on the opposite end where, you know, at least personally, I'm trying to figure out is the content that we're going to put together. going to have that exact same boom. Probably not. Right. So yeah I think mentally it's going to be,
00:04:40
Speaker
Pretty um interesting how they handle it and how you know, Brian gets this team going right back into MLS play. Because you're right, we've kind of lived, we've been living on fantasy line. been living kind of like at the top end of everything.
00:04:55
Speaker
and how do they come down from that high? That's going to be interesting to see. Before we talk about all that, if everyone could do me a favor and please like the video, subscribe to the channel if you if you haven't.
00:05:08
Speaker
Follow us on Instagram and TikTok, which, oh man, I mean, the Instagram and TikTok game during this tournament and after the brawl and everything, it was... It was going off. So you're definitely going to want to follow us on there. oh good Also, ah shout out to our sponsors, Hacks on Ferments, Full Pull Wines, Podium Menswear, My Data Removal, Lobbingscorchers.com slash sauce to pick up the Lobbingscorchers hot sauce, which is really good.
00:05:33
Speaker
You can even put it on your breakfast while you're listening to Lobbingscorchers kick-off.
Post-League's Cup Brawl and Its Fallout
00:05:38
Speaker
ah All right, Nico, let's start with, ah we have not recorded a show since the initial disciplinary action came down from the League's Cup ah following the post-title match brawl at Lumen Field.
00:05:57
Speaker
Luis Suarez spat on ah Security Gene, punches were thrown, Steve Lenhart was involved. ah So let's talk about that to start, be just because we haven't given our thoughts on that yet. And then also, was going to see if you know, Nico, if there's anything from the league forthcoming, because i think that's kind of what everyone's waiting for as far as the kind of the last...
00:06:19
Speaker
last thing to happen before we can put this whole brawl thing behind us ah first and foremost. But there were ah few suspensions handed down from ah the League's Cup disciplinary committee, which is different from the Major League Soccer disciplinary committee. So I guess that's the first point of clarification. I think there was some confusion on this.
00:06:38
Speaker
ah When the news came out that these suspensions were handed out and it was said these are applied to League's Cup only, that does not mean that the league is not also going to come in with some suspensions. ah It's two separate things, right?
00:06:50
Speaker
So ah you have Luis Suarez, the crash out crybaby himself. He gets six games. So that basically means that does mean that if he is on Inter-Miami next year, he will not be playing in League's Cup next year. So, you know, I think that's ah that's fine.
00:07:07
Speaker
ah Sergio Busquets got two games. I feel like he have gotten more. until you You hit Obed in the face, but whatever. Aviles, who was one of the preeminent crash-out crybabies of that situation, he got three games.
00:07:18
Speaker
And then i think the funniest part of this whole situation is that Steve Lenhart got the second longest suspension cup of anyone involved in this. He gets five games, which, again, how surreal is it that Steve Lenhart, who i I still don't know how I missed that he got hired as this mental health coach. I feel like I would have noted that at the time, this sort of notable irony of that, just because during his career, he was known as the Bash Brother, right?
00:07:50
Speaker
And he was also specifically a Sounders antagonist. So that would have been noteworthy either way. First thing I hear of this is he's out there swinging in the... but Leagues Cup brawl, and he gets tagged with five games, only one less game than ah Luis Suarez, which, you know, we can argue the severity of that. But it also, you know, if you watch the if you watch the footage, it's not super surprising that he got suspended.
00:08:12
Speaker
But I guess, Nico, the question is twofold. Number one, ah what's your reaction to the suspensions that did get handed down? do you think it was about appropriate for everyone involved? Did they miss the mark on anything? And then also...
00:08:26
Speaker
Have you heard anything about what's going on with the the league getting involved here? Because we, you know, recording this Monday morning early. We haven't heard anything yet. I still find it hard to believe that they wouldn't do anything. I think this announcement is is coming.
00:08:42
Speaker
Have you heard ah what the status is on that? And then maybe we we can talk about what we expect the league punishments to be. ah Yeah, so I wasn't ah surprised with any of the number of games. Maybe for Steven Landhart, you know, I've looked at that video so many times.
00:09:04
Speaker
I don't know if the reason why they're giving him so many games is because... He wasn't necessarily one of the players that should have been out there. I mean, I don't know. I really don't get it. That's the only one that I'm trying to figure out. I don't think he does any more or any less. Did he not swing?
00:09:20
Speaker
I thought he swung. I could be wrong. No, he swung for sure. But, you know, so did Aviles. And he actually swung on quite a few people. And he got three, right? so he was head lock in And he Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So that that's the part that that kind of gets me where I just I don't get what the parameter for the five games for Lionheart rather than three for Aviles.
00:09:43
Speaker
I also i don't know how Cello's not in here um ah because Cello, we yet he hit a couple of people behind the head. And Falcone, who was the guy that was kind of the nucleus of the initial brawl, yeah you know, headlocking people.
00:09:59
Speaker
But what I've heard ah as late as Sunday night ah was that and Obviously, there will be a full on statement and there will be MLS is going to address this and MLS will be upholding um some of the sanctions.
00:10:20
Speaker
ah I did hear from another source that there had been some sort of pushback ah in terms of if there were going to be additional games within MLS, that there should also be some sort of sanctions for sounder players.
00:10:37
Speaker
So I think that there's still some back and forth about what the clarity and the final deliberation of this um sanctions within MLS will be.
00:10:48
Speaker
ah But there's no doubt that by tomorrow night, Or
Controversy and PR Challenges Post-Brawl
00:10:56
Speaker
as late as Wednesday morning, there should be some sort of deliberation announcement about that suspension moving forward.
00:11:04
Speaker
There you have it. Supposedly, we'll hear about this early this week. Did you see the ah Suarez and Inter-Miami statements that they put out? I gave my takes on it ah on under the lights on and Thursday, but it was...
00:11:21
Speaker
It's not what I would call the greatest damage control I've ever seen. ah i mean, Inter-Miami's statement was basically, it was just meaningless. Like, I don't think there was any... and paste. Yeah, there was Chet, GPT.
00:11:35
Speaker
ah But the thing that got me about both of them, the Suarez statement in particular, but also kind of just the general air of how Inter-Miami is handling this, is this sort of groundwork of the, like...
00:11:46
Speaker
we were provoked both sides in it, you know, we got instigated, ah you know, yeah, yeah. You know what we did was, was wrong, but we were provoked into it.
00:11:57
Speaker
You can just tell that that's what they're going with and that's how they're going to try and minimize the punishment. And if they, if they try to appeal, that's what they're going to lean on, which it's just. And what we just said that they're probably going to try to,
00:12:11
Speaker
ah inflict some sort of culpability on the Sounders. So maybe there is some sort of sanctions on their way. I don't see it happening, but as you mentioned, they're built in their case by the start of their own statements.
00:12:24
Speaker
yeah this I already said this about the we were provoked thing, but I'll say it again. you're going to say that, if you're going to say that, that's that's they keep trying to leg kind of say that without really saying it, but that is what they're saying. If you're going to say that,
00:12:38
Speaker
You got to say how or shut up. Like, i say how. Say specifically how you were provoked and how that rose to the outcome, which was brawling and spitting. And if you are, if you're not going to say that, Nico's phone's popping off.
00:12:56
Speaker
If you're not going to say that, then, like, I got no time for that. Like, that is... the definition of a cop out and it's also it's just not what you say in that situation like I could have written them a way better statement I could have written Suarez's apology and uh you know had it qualify as the hoop that you need to jump through in that situation they did not meet what was already an exceedingly low bar so I don't know what did you think when you saw them uh come out with that stuff yeah i think all of it was
00:13:30
Speaker
Underwhelming. I think that there was ah serious lack of accountability by all parts involved. ah If I am the PR or part of the circle or agent of of Luis Suarez, I would have done a lot more to show remorse that What he did was beyond anything that has was is involved with soccer.
00:14:00
Speaker
ah He did in that statement ah basically ah excuse himself for those actions. And that alone is just hard to fathom of why you would put that out as your first statement, right?
00:14:16
Speaker
It should have been a lot more heartfelt. It should have been... you should have shown that that was not just something that, you know, I don't do and it's not part of what I do because it's bullshit because, you know, that's who you are, Luis Suarez.
00:14:32
Speaker
But I think if he would have gone the extra mile of just talking about and a moment of impulse and that, ah you know, it was a thing that he hell he'll forever regret and, you know, whatever it is that you could put in there that shows some some true feelings of.
00:14:49
Speaker
And the reality is that he probably doesn't really feel it. no and ah which like i get that i get that I really go out there and say Louis Sari is the type of guy that I don't think he feels like he did anything wrong And if he did anything wrong was getting caught And doing it in front of the cameras But in terms of what he did He's just that sort of low life Where you know he just feels like he did what he had to do In a moment of ah you know contention in the field And get over it So maybe that's why it it feels that way, because it is that way.
00:15:23
Speaker
ah But in terms of inner Miami, you should you should know better. You should know better. and And you should do some sort of damage control to keep this sort of situation completely away from you.
00:15:36
Speaker
And that's exactly why i don't find any sort of reason in why they would not
00:15:46
Speaker
internalize some some sort of sanctions or say, you know, with with the league, we feel like there were a necessity to have additional games within MLS or whatever there is. But right now it just feels like they are standing by the the actions of those guys, but in a very disingenuine way sending statements that people want to hear or the league ah in general wants to hear, but without really truthfully trying to correct what happened.
00:16:20
Speaker
All this stuff of like, they ah things happened that shouldn't have happened. And then I did, you know, I shouldn't have reacted like that, but they did this. And that's why i did that. Like, you just got to get that out of the statement. Like, can I get a copy editor in the house?
00:16:36
Speaker
Like, good Lord. I'll do it. I'll do it. I feel like I could craft very, like, the exact PR apology that you need. And i don't know. It's just wild to me, like, from a strategy perspective, how you could swing and miss that badly, both from the both from the player and the club statement, which was just like, it was like 80 words of absolutely nothing. Like, you could have, I needed a red pen to just X that, X that, X that, and then, you know, you could have put it in what actually ah it needs to be said. It's one of those things where it's like, even if you do feel like you're beyond reproach and you're incapable of doing anything wrong, ah like they clearly feel, you don't you don't like make that that obvious.
00:17:22
Speaker
in the statement, he'll make it that obvious in the statement. Come on, man. Uh, bad sequels coming in with the, uh, dollar 99 super sticker. Thank you for the support. appreciate you.
00:17:34
Speaker
Wade asks, why has it taken so long to issue a punishment? My understanding of that is that it's because they were waiting for, uh, the league's cup suspensions to come down. And then there's something with the appeal, right? Like you have to give them the, a chance to appeal before you announce it. So I think that's, what's been going on behind the scenes.
00:17:55
Speaker
think the punishments have probably been decided for a little while. And, uh, you know i think another good PR move would have been to say, we accept whatever discipline comes our way and we're not going to appeal it. That would admit maybe that would engender some goodwill. You see what I'm saying? like yeah like yeah just stuff like that The basic stuff that you expect from crisis management in a situation like this, they're just not doing that. you know which is certainly That's certainly a choice.
00:18:21
Speaker
ah But have you heard anything different as far as like if the appeal process is what's caused the sort of relative delay and how they're announcing it. That's what I understand. Yeah, it's it's exactly that. And it's basically, ah as I mentioned on, we recorded Friday, that Thursday night um before that, had been told that there was still more looking into the entire brawl by MLS. So um between the appeal process and
00:18:58
Speaker
ah the way to make the announcement, the fact that, as I mentioned, there is some contention or pushback from Inter-Miami about who's getting what ah ah in terms of disciplinary actions and are there going to be any towards the Seattle Sounders.
00:19:15
Speaker
um All of it, I'm sure that is all part of why that that delay ah But I would expect, as I mentioned, a deliberation by Wednesday morning latest, ah per what I had heard.
00:19:28
Speaker
um So I think moving forward, it is going to be important for the league to not just put out a statement, but to clearly clarify the entire situation and whatever decision is made.
00:19:46
Speaker
I feel like they should be ready to just... Provide further details on Or maybe they don't maybe they just said this is what It is and then good night ah We'll see you guys In the weekend but I really I really do think that they're gonna Probably provide a broader More specific statement on Whatever they Decide to do with Both Sergio Busquets Luis Suarez and if there's any Additional penalties to Maybe some that were not Um
00:20:20
Speaker
Already hit by the Leagues Cup. So is there going to be something for Falcone? there going be something for Cello? If you have a different investigation and you've been looking that much farther into it, I wonder if there's going to be any additional ah suspension to other players.
00:20:34
Speaker
they give Jackson Reagan and John Bell one Leagues Cup game next year, i wouldn't really argue with that that much. ah If they if they just start suspending Seattle guys for like multiple games in league play to have this air of objectivity or we need to punish both sides, I mean, that would just be stupid. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills a little bit with this, like...
00:21:00
Speaker
instigation talk because it's it's all on video okay so it is literally visually proven that seattle did not instigate this brawl physically so if you're going with the we got instigated talking point which they are you can't say that it was physically because it's all on video so the implication then is that you were instigated Verbally, it would have to be verbally because we have the footage.
00:21:27
Speaker
ah like So if you are saying that you got verbally instigated, then you need to say what was said that caused this supposed reaction or you have zero credibility, none.
00:21:41
Speaker
So like, I just, I feel gaslit, Nico. I feel gaslit. Like we were instigated. What are you talking about? Like, it's literally on video. It's literally on video.
00:21:52
Speaker
And you are, you're telling us that something different happened that than that. Everyone could see everyone all over there the world. saw it so like I don't understand how you're still arguing that and then also you know if you're saying that it was a verbal instigation why not tell it why not tell everyone what was said and then everyone can understand where you're coming from like am I am I out of my mind on this like i I don't understand how you can ah argue blatantly against what everyone can see on, like, not just one video, but, like, a thousand videos from all kinds of different angles.
00:22:33
Speaker
Yeah. Unfortunately, this is what I'll say. Unfortunately, the reality is that the club... has to do what they can to minimize any sort of suspensions for their guys.
00:22:44
Speaker
Even if it makes them look like straight dog shit, they're still going to have to do that. Right. So I guess that's the rationale behind just sticking to your guns and, and, and deciding to have some sort of leverage or, or defense for your guys, not to get more games and and be at a higher disadvantage.
00:23:05
Speaker
Um, But when it comes to Burble, and you talked about it, and we could spend a little bit of time on it.
00:23:17
Speaker
It's been very odd how some of the things that were said by Lionel Messi, two ob to to Pedro de la Vega, those sort of things to get him off the game that have kind of emerged.
00:23:33
Speaker
um Initially during or what we learned this week with Jeremiah O'Shann, I was saying that, look, I've gotten zero confirmation from anywhere close to Pedro de la Vega's camp that Messi said what he said about blacklisting Pedro de la Vega.
00:23:51
Speaker
That doesn't mean that it didn't happen. Why? Because it's obvious that Pedro de la Vega does not want to come across for him or anybody in his camp to say, yes, this is what Messi said.
00:24:03
Speaker
And, you know, that there's not there's not a win-win situation for him there. It's actually lose-lose regardless of. yeah He cannot victimize himself. He cannot bring that up. He cannot say it. ah But I have now...
00:24:14
Speaker
that it is, you know, Monday, 828, have found out that, yes, I mean, that there were there are other people that did hear similar or close to what has been reported by Alan Gordon and Oben, apparently. That's what people are saying, man. That's what people are saying. I was i was trying to tell ah my people on Under the Lights,
00:24:39
Speaker
On Thursday, because we had a few people that were like, this could never happen. My goat would never say that this is all it is, is what a lot of people have said was said behind the scenes. I can tell you that without a doubt. My takeaway from that, Nico, is just ah and, you know.
00:24:56
Speaker
i don't I don't know exactly what what was said, but what's clear to me based on what people have said was said and just his general disposition during the game, Messi's a chirper.
00:25:09
Speaker
he's ah He's a chirper more st so than I thought. Like, honestly, i don't think... ah it's the biggest deal of all time, frankly, because I don't think he's actually blackballing Pedro De La Vega.
00:25:23
Speaker
and that As far as what he allegedly said to Obed, ah that's that's just trash talk. It's whatever. like Stuff gets said during the game, and especially like when there's a final on the line for a player of the legacy status as Messi.
00:25:37
Speaker
like he's It doesn't surprise me that he's going to say some stuff. The only extent to which it's interesting is that interesting to me is that it's just messy had this kind of it has this image of like the humble superstar like ah the kind of superstar that uh doesn't necessarily do all that stuff when you think about the athletes that have like goaded status like uh michael jordan right uh or tom brady like they're known as all-time chirpers my my favorite athlete uh growing up kobe bryant
00:26:09
Speaker
all-time chirper, one of the most savage trash talkers of all time. Messi was not, like, known as the, like, that kind of guy who chirped like those guys did, even though he had that status.
00:26:22
Speaker
To me, after, like, hearing about ah this game and what everyone was saying he was doing on the field, he he but he chirps with the best of them, which is, again,
00:26:34
Speaker
I don't think it's like that big of a deal unless he was actually acting on whatever he allegedly said to Pedro de la Vega. I don't think he is. So that's kind of that's where I sit on that. Do you have any anything else on that?
00:26:47
Speaker
Yeah, what I would add is that, right? I mean, what I would add is that, yes, he's not. He has never been like the Muhammad Ali type or the Floyd Mayweather type that's going to go out there and say it on the mics and is going to clear that persona. Or like, you know, you bring up Kobe Bryant that's kind of pretty out there and saying it. Or even Cristiano Ronaldo, a guy that, you know, is pretty contagious on the on field and will get in your face and things like that.
00:27:13
Speaker
He'll do it in a minor. He always has somebody that does that sort of work for him. It's DePaul, it's Bacerano at one point. I mean, there's always been somebody that kind of has Messi's back in that end. However, he does it all the time on the low, on the field.
00:27:29
Speaker
You know, obviously, a South American, I've been watching Messi for a long time, ruining our lives ah when it comes to the qualifiers. And there's been multiple occasions when...
00:27:40
Speaker
you know, against Columbia, James Rodriguez is a guy that, you know, they're the two tens and and that there's been many times, like the last time that Seattle beat, I mean, that a Columbia beat Argentina in Columbia.
00:27:52
Speaker
i mean, there are like videos of like Thomas chasing Messi around, trying to like talk to him and Messi's just like ignoring him and giving him a lot of that talk under the, the, the hand and,
00:28:06
Speaker
James is just like distraught about whatever is being said. And he's like, no, man, but hold on, man, come here. That's Messi, right? Messi's going to use his aura to just get you off your game. And even if it's, even if the game is done, even if it's over and done with, he feels a need to just kind of like mentally squish you just for maybe the next time you play him or whatever it may be.
00:28:27
Speaker
That's just the way he plays those mental games. But I'm totally with you that there is no merit. And as much as it might be hard to understand, what would you say if you don't mean it?
00:28:40
Speaker
It's just kind of part of the soccer. And that's why guys, especially in soccer, there is a player's code that you don't really talk about those sort of things. And those are probably nobody's going to come out and say, yes, this is what was said.
00:28:50
Speaker
ah But yes, there is no merit for
00:28:56
Speaker
Messi truly blacklisting anybody or really thinking that Obed is shit. I mean, he clearly showed in that performance that he was unbelievable. He was he was truly frustrated. He was physically frustrated.
00:29:09
Speaker
DePaul was extremely frustrated throughout the whole game because they couldn't get their way. They couldn't get their will as they're used to do so. So that that that's literally the only thing.
00:29:20
Speaker
That all of this additional things mean usually they don't come out, but I think that they were being pretty loud I think a lot of people got wind of what was being said. It's not like Pedro or Obed were You know crying to people about it is just that it was kind of in the wind clearly was widely heard it was exactly Apparently yet now after that, you know a lot of You guys had already said it And I had you know so a hard time believing Initially the Alan Gordon take And then I started doing my own digging around And that's when i started figuring out It was to the point that apparently a lot of There was a ah couple of people A couple of players Multiple players that ah that were trying to exchange Jerseys with Messi And he said nah
00:30:05
Speaker
Wow I hadn't heard that I'm keeping it yeah yeah You know and I remember thinking about it because He was walking out and I was like man Nobody has changed jerseys with Messi Like there's no way people didn't ask And apparently yeah he just multiple people saw him say no to quite a few players. So ah yeah, he was just upset. He was, he, he, he was salty, man. Of course he was salty. You know, Messi getting goaded by Rothrock and getting goaded by, you know, Obid Vargas getting shut down by Yamar and Jackson. And I mean, the, the, the work that they did on Messi, he, he rarely sees in MLS. You know, I, I think I need to clarify that. Cause I,
00:30:47
Speaker
Someone commented on on on on me saying that I think Seattle did probably the best job that I've seen eliminated Messi. And I do mean MLS. I apologize if I didn't say that. I'm not saying that in his career he's ever been dominated to this extent. I'm just saying MLS.
00:31:04
Speaker
I'll say it. I'll say it. He's never never been dominated like that.
00:31:10
Speaker
a sign of respect. That's a sign of respect. Messi chirping you is a sign of respect. Him not swapping the jersey. I think that's a backhanded sign of respect as well. That's the only ah other thing that I think is that interesting about at least what he said to Obed. I think it does show the extent to which Obed got in his head.
00:31:34
Speaker
I think it does show that. So, yeah. Yeah, no, I mean, it's so interesting to hear that ah you doing your own digging led you to the same conclusion as me. Because as soon as I as soon as i did my own digging, like, again you never know what was said unless you have it on, like, audio. But it was very clear to me right away, like, oh, he was chirp-chirping out there.
00:31:57
Speaker
Like, he he goes hard at it. He goes hard at it, which, again, not surprising to me. Not that big of a deal. But interesting down the left. To the conclusion, I mean, if you're talking about verbal, I mean, if anybody was saying anything, it was in Miami. The entire game, they were on the referee the whole game. Busquets, Messi, everybody.
00:32:21
Speaker
And credit to the to the referee, man. He did a great job at just rubbing that, you know, completely just brushing it off his shoulders and and and just doing his job. I was very impressed by the referee and it was was very consistent and it wasn't just because the Sounders won.
00:32:39
Speaker
I thought he was consistent both ways, but he didn't allow this major figures to influence his takes. And man, I thought that allowed the game to play the way the game is supposed to be played.
00:32:50
Speaker
on the field, two teams, 11 guys on each side, really going at it And that's, that's credit to the referee. He didn't give Messi superstar treatment, which I that appreciated.
00:33:02
Speaker
ah You do, you do see that happen. And honestly, i don't even blame referees. Sometimes it's like when there's a 50, 50 call and Messi's involved, I can understand the unconscious inclination to give him the call.
00:33:16
Speaker
But the one that comes to mind in particular was, I think it was kind of near the start of the game when he was trying to make a run into the box and ah Jackson Reagan stepped to him and he did the messy thing where he initiated the contact and fell over to try and win the free kick.
00:33:30
Speaker
I've seen him get that call a million times. It's a hard, it's a hard call to not give a hard one not to spot if you're the referee and the ref didn't give it to him, finger wagged him, gave him the get up thing. I was like, wow, like,
00:33:42
Speaker
Imagine doing that Messi. I got to respect that. because i mean, it was very obvious. It was very obvious. But then even after that, eight of them surround him while the ball is in play, by the way. like Seattle's got the ball going the other way. It's like, don't you guys got to get back and ah um play some defense instead of swarming my guy right now? you know But I agree with what you're saying. like yeah He did a good job of not letting that...
00:34:08
Speaker
get to
Sounders' Global Attention Post-Controversy
00:34:09
Speaker
them. And it was overall, I think a decently well-officiated game. I can't remember having any, many, if any complaints about it. Miko, anything else on ah the, the brawl suspensions, messy chirping? Have we, have we covered it all for a leagues cup? Anything we're missing there?
00:34:27
Speaker
No, i think we covered it all. And again, this was ah you know part of the story. And you know it did take some some headlines away from what the Sounders did. But I will say that...
00:34:43
Speaker
I guess you know there's no such thing as bad press. So although there was a lot of coverage like in South America, i mean, I probably saw more but sounder coverage in Colombia particularly than usually do um because of this whole brawl. So when it comes to the sounders being named out there, and at the very least, they were like, well, yeah, well, you know, Messi – And Suarez clearly were throwing punches because they were beat by this so-called Seattle Sounders team.
00:35:15
Speaker
And, you know, just hearing them just talk about – they had no idea. No idea who Brian Smetzer is. No idea who Paul Rotherick is. And they're just trying to pronounce these names. I thought it was hilarious. but But, you know, there was some good things about the brawl. Yes, he took some shine away. But then he'd also maybe push the reach of that – the the title to maybe places where it typically it doesn't go. Places in Uruguay that typically doesn't go.
00:35:40
Speaker
Places in, you know, maybe Spain that typically doesn't go. Marca was all over this. I mean, Marca was all over this because of the Sergio Busquets swing. um I mean, you know, my video blew up. I had people call me for Blue Radio in Spain ah just to comment on like the video and if they could use it and all these things.
00:35:58
Speaker
I mean, there was a lot of coverage in terms of the sounders being named in in many places ah because of the whole thing. Yeah, i would one of the reasons I was ah little a lot salty in the immediate aftermath is because I was like, man, like the ah the immediate aftermath of the final whistle of a title match, that's supposed to be this like immortalized moment of everyone running on the field and celebrating and...
00:36:26
Speaker
ah getting that moment on their home field in this case with the fans and all that stuff. And the brawl like took away from that. And it was almost like, I don't know, I felt like Inter-Miami was so salty that they were just like, we're not going to give them that hi that moment of celebration. wherere we're but We're basically going to start this fight to undermine that.
00:36:47
Speaker
Now all the footage from after this game forever is going to be just this insane brawl that we start. hu But like in a way it immortalized it in a different way, you know, like now it's always going to be remembered for beating them so badly that they crashed out and started. one hundred percent all It was all, it is all a legendary Suarez crash out. And like you said, ah it got attention all over the world globally with them looking like total jackasses.
00:37:17
Speaker
So know him I think it made it even better to be honest with you. like it made it it made now that the dust has settled and we're removed from it and uh emotions have cooled down ah i think it it it added to it it added to the occasion and you complete with steve lenhart getting tagged with the five game suspension uh that really tied it all off uh all right nico uh Let's keep it pushing. We'll keep doing more brawl coverage as long as there's news that comes from it. Whenever the league does come out with whatever their discipline is, I'll definitely we'll do i'll do a show with some reaction on that as well. But ah let's talk about the Seattle Sounders getting back to league play and starting the stretch run of the MLS regular season here.
Season Challenges After 2022 Tournament
00:38:07
Speaker
I guess, Nico, my first question is for me, When I look at how Seattle has to tackle this last stretch run of the regular season, I think back to 2022 and what happened to the last time they won a tournament in in-season tournament like this and their return to league play famously did not go well at all. They missed the playoffs that year. They never got close to reaching the level again in regular season play that they did during the tournament.
00:38:39
Speaker
And I think there's two parts of that. Like there's the physical toll, like the the fixture congestion and all the games that you're playing. They make it hard to get up physically for the rest of the season. And I think that was, that was part of it. But I think the mental and the emotional,
00:38:57
Speaker
Expenditure is almost that's almost what caused the 2022 playoff crash out as much as the physical aspect of it. And to me, that's what they have to guard against. And what I'll be interested to see if they can avoid is it it is not easy to go to playing in games like this, these high stakes tournament knockout games.
00:39:21
Speaker
especially also the club world cup that they played in this summer playing against all these like world-class opponents. You got so many more people watching you. There's such this bigger microscope on it. And now you're back to, uh, LA galaxy match day 33, like regular season play.
00:39:40
Speaker
It can be difficult just by human nature to recapture the intensity and the energy that you need to ah to play at the level that you have been playing at. So that's going be the challenge for this team.
00:39:54
Speaker
ah We'll see if they're if they're up to it Nico, do you foresee that, I guess, either thing being an issue, either the physical energy that they've expended or the emotional energy that they've expended, the psychological aspect of it?
00:40:11
Speaker
how do you How do you expect them to handle that? do you think, are you concerned that that could be an issue going back to league play in this last slate of games here, being able to recapture that energy and intensity that they've been playing with in all these super high stakes games?
00:40:26
Speaker
Yeah, I think that that's the part that I'm more concerned about. um If there's any difference about what we saw in 2022 to now is that obviously Brian Smetzer has a broader, deeper team that he's been able to rotate heavily to the point where I still, you know, like – wonder about, you know, he's been taking off both of his wings, like in the 60th, 70th minute, including Pedro de la Vega consistently.
00:40:59
Speaker
i wonder how much of that is just thinking ahead and thinking about, you know, that final stretch and making sure that everybody's fully on, right? ah But the reality is that Ryan's been so good at rotating and subbing throughout these tournaments that the physical part of you should be fine. Now, mentally, you know, it's awesome that the guys got five days off.
00:41:20
Speaker
But you go from, you know, being in in Cancun or in Dallas or, you know, whatever guys went during this trip, hanging out with their families now to just kind of getting back on on lock mode, right? And ah if through this stretch that the team has had of you know, just one loss and, you know, a great run in Club World Cup and then obviously the title here with the Leagues Cup has been,
00:41:51
Speaker
It's been very repetitive. been short rest. It's been very in rhythm. So how do they kind of handle this bit of a break and get back into the run of things. Right.
00:42:04
Speaker
um So that part, I am a little bit ah curious about on how they, they handled that part.
Upcoming Matches and Team Strategies
00:42:10
Speaker
ah But in terms of just the schedule and, and the the teams that they'll get to play, i mean, look, LA is a team that has nothing to lose, nothing to win. They're really playing for 2026.
00:42:24
Speaker
You know, they just show that against Houston, they rotated heavily. They, they, Weren't necessarily a great team But you know they con have champions cup Participants There you go exactly So maybe they're playing more for that um So Seattle Gets a good game to just Maybe kind of Bring things back down and and and and figure out the way you want to handle this.
00:42:49
Speaker
I think that the bigger game is on Tuesday after that against Inter-Miami, of course. And I only say bigger just because I feel like there's still all this...
00:43:00
Speaker
cloud and and and and things that that will make that game very interested. But yeah, all in all, like I said, I think physically the team's going to be fine. um I think that the only couple of situations that you might have to figure out moving forward is once guys are getting healthy, um how does Brian Smetzer kind of put his best 11 together?
00:43:22
Speaker
Clearly, Russ is going to come in and play. You put Ferreira back into the right. But the biggest question is what happens when Jordan comes back? That's going to be interesting for me in figuring out how quickly he can be ready to go.
00:43:37
Speaker
And then what does that mean for that attacking trio at the top ah that right now it feels like it's Danny Misofsky's job. um And then, of course, with how good Osase has played and how many how um how much other aspects of that position, he kind of uplifts.
00:43:57
Speaker
Where does Brian go with that? But um I think it's all good. I think that Seattle has all of the right tools and they have the experience of this sort of moments before to kind of handle it well. And it seems like
00:44:10
Speaker
Bryant's matchup is in this moment where he can't do no wrong. So if he continues to pull, push and pull the right levers, then, you know, sky's the limit. Now, how do that how does that match up against other teams in the league?
00:44:24
Speaker
That's going to be interesting more towards the playoffs. But I feel like looking at the schedule, As long as they continue to make their home a fortis and they continue to play well at home, four out of the next seven games are at home.
00:44:38
Speaker
long as you're getting points in those, I think you're going to set yourself up for a pretty good situation in the playoffs. Yeah, ah let's take a look at the schedule in a second. But first, ah before we do that, um do you do you know relative timelines that we're talking about for Albert Rusnak and Jordan Morris? I know Rusnak dressed for the League's Cup Final.
00:45:01
Speaker
I heard, I don't know if you heard the same thing, my understanding of that was that it was more like he could sub in if there was PKs, but realistically, it's not like he could have played any sort of ah large complement of minutes, which, if that's the case, then...
00:45:19
Speaker
ah that That indicates that he's not quite ready. ah Maybe he is now, though. Wendy, do you have any updates on when those two guys in particular are are going to be back? Like, are we looking at this Galaxy game or maybe a couple more games? What's going on there?
00:45:35
Speaker
Yeah, so Albert is ready to go when he comes to his... getting over the injury. Now he's not game ready. He's not fit ready.
00:45:46
Speaker
Cause he didn't have um enough full trainings and they're they're, they're working on getting him game fit. um But, but he has overcome his injury as far as I know ah that, you know, that that's no longer the the issue is just, obviously you're going to want to, you know,
00:46:07
Speaker
monitor it and make sure that he ah pain tolerance, right? Because that's why you kind of vamp the training week to just kind of test that that injury and make sure that you're you're good to go.
00:46:19
Speaker
But as far as I know, he's gotten over that in terms of the injury. Now, fitness-wise and all that is kind of what they're going to for. And in terms of Jordan Morris, I had heard that end of September is when is that the timeline where they were hoping that he was going to be ready to start getting at least some in-game minutes.
00:46:40
Speaker
And they're going to need to slowly and progressively get him into games competitively ah to get him ready to go. It'll be interesting to see, like you were talking about, what the first choice 11 will look like when everyone is healthy.
00:46:59
Speaker
our Obviously, Jesus Ferreira looked fantastic at the 10 filling in there in League's Cup. But I thought he looked just as good playing out wide when they had him running there when Rusnak...
Player Performance and Lineup Strategies
00:47:14
Speaker
was healthy like it was To me, it wasn't a situation that some people were making it where it's like, oh, he was kind of not not doing that well, and then he slid in for Roosnack, and then all of a sudden he looked better. He was looking very effective defensively. in that wide channel with Rusnak playing centrally before Rusnak got hurt.
00:47:35
Speaker
So to me, there's no issue of, oh, well, with Ferreira looking that good at the 10 in League's Cup, you does Rusnak get that spot back? No, Rusnak gets that spot back, obviously.
00:47:47
Speaker
And ah you slide Ferreira back out. I have full confidence that he ah he can adapt to that and play at the level that he had been playing at. He has to play it a little differently, but honestly, it's not like...
00:48:00
Speaker
all that differently. He doesn't play that position like a traditional winger. It's almost like you got this number 10 playing out wide and it works. He does that very well. He's very adaptable player. That's the beauty of the player is you can do that and not sacrifice any of your level.
00:48:18
Speaker
ah The Moose Jordan question is, is a little more interesting to me, especially with those Saz a looking like, He needs to play. But ah to me, it's like it's going to take a while for Jordan to get back to 90 minutes fitness.
00:48:35
Speaker
So until he is back able to play like his full usual complement of minutes, to me, it's just a rotation. you can You can do a very clean rotation if you want, where it's like until Jordan is fit, you run moose for the first 60 or 70, have Jordan come in to close it out.
00:48:55
Speaker
And then... You know, depending on how it goes and who's in the better form, you can base it around that. But ah you don't that's you don't have to play either one of them for any more than 60, 70 minutes at a time.
00:49:09
Speaker
I think, you know, game state where you're at in the game, if the offense is looking incredibly good with one guy, you can leave them out longer. You don't have to be super dogmatic about it. But I think it's just a rotation and where you also, i think you've got to find,
00:49:23
Speaker
spots where Osaze gets run as well. Like he, ah it's, I would qualify it as a good problem to have because, yeah i mean, you've got Danny Musavsky, who's been performing as one of the most efficient number nines in the league all season.
00:49:39
Speaker
You got Jordan Morris, who every time he's played this year, it's looked like he's going to have one of his best seasons. ah The way this team is generating chances right now, Whoever the number nine is has been eating and they've all been getting themselves into good spots.
00:49:53
Speaker
They've all been scoring goals. So, ah you know, it is definitely it'll be interesting to see how Schmetz manages it. But like I said, this this is the type of lineup question that you want to have.
00:50:07
Speaker
So I'm not like worried about it from from that standpoint. but it will be once Jordan is back fully healthy. Can Moose, you know, it's a situation where Moose has to keep scoring. Otherwise ah Jordan's going to start playing the majority of those minutes, but as it stands right now, I think you've got Moose as the, ah as the number one with Osase as the two until Jordan gets back. And then, and then that starts to become more of a question.
00:50:36
Speaker
ah Do you have any thoughts on the number nine stuff? ah Look, first of all, You bring up Jesus Ferreira. I don't even think he's peaked. I think he's still... either I don't either. He's still just adapted. He's still getting better. He still has a lot going on on a personal level with a brand new daughter.
00:50:57
Speaker
He's been so good. He's been so good. And he's a clear-cut starter for this team. So for all the doubters of Jesus Ferreira, the guy has been incredibly effective in the final third in terms of connectivity, in terms of the system, regardless of whether he plays out in the wing or he plays as a 10.
00:51:18
Speaker
I think that he's been a huge part of what got this team really going Over the last, I don't know, 10 games of run that they've had So he's a guy that to me, he's still not even peaked. And I expect him to be even better when he, when playoffs come around, which that should make people extremely nervous. Anyone, nobody wants to play the Sounders really in the playoffs.
00:51:42
Speaker
When it comes to the nine, I think that it's going to be, and again, Brad Schmetzer is a guy that he's really surprised me this year. So I think that he would be looking into a game-per-game basis, right? So if I'm playing a team that's not going to give me a lot of space for somebody just run into the 18, maybe I'll start Osase.
00:52:08
Speaker
Maybe I'll let him be a guy that can pivot. Maybe I'll let him be a guy that can, ah you know, get get to certain headers that can do a lot of the things that he's done so well lately. If I um we don't play it against the LA Galaxy, then Mosavsky is my guy because i know that there's going to be plenty of room for him to just crash the box, that he's going to find a bunch of opportunities inside the A team.
00:52:27
Speaker
so I wouldn't put it past Brian where he's using both guys as a number one, depending on the situation, depending on the plan, depending on ah what he wants to execute on the field.
00:52:38
Speaker
um So it is a good problem to have. And I think that these guys are interchangeable depending on the situation that you're facing. ah The reality, and you mentioned it, is that the Sounders are – Thriving off of volume They're thriving off of creating opportunities They're thriving off of the Wink play, they're thriving because of their pivots That's what Gives Seattle Sounders the edge going Into most games and why Depending on who the nine is and depending situation That could ultimately obviously Get you that goal that you want But the chances are going to be there So for me
00:53:17
Speaker
when it comes to this Sounders team, you know, Seattle's always been a team that gets goals from a lot of places. The Seattle Sounders have never really had a guy that was going to be a ah golden boot runner. I mean, Raul was there a couple of times, right? Oba was closed a couple of times. They never had a guy that's just running that the league or the table are on goals.
00:53:39
Speaker
They've always been a team that Is better when there as a collective Right when it's Nico scoring goals And out wide And Raul scoring goals or If it's a Klindensi and And Lamar or Or Papa or whoever That's always been what makes Seattle Sounders go so that's why I've I've been feeling like the Seattle Sounders are playing at a level that they haven't had in a long time.
00:54:07
Speaker
And that collectiveness is what makes them different. So regardless of who the nine is, I think the goals are going to be there. The opportunities are going to be there. And then we'll wait for Jordan and see what he can amplify in terms of being a guy that could do a lot more things than the guys you have right now.
00:54:24
Speaker
I agree with you that I don't think Ferreira has peaked and that there's still another level for him to hit. i think, you know, if you're doing pros and cons on the Jesus Ferreira experience this year in Seattle, ah it's been...
00:54:40
Speaker
it's been it's been mostly pros and obviously they got a trophy out of it so i've been saying that validates the whole trade to begin with but you know if you were if you were doing the cons it would be that the raw stat sheet production hasn't necessarily been where you would uh hope it would be with when you trade for this type of player that hasn't mattered as much to me in ways that i didn't really expect um he's he's a much better all around player than I anticipated, but he hasn't scored as many goals as we would, as we would all like. And his assist production has been good, but not like staggeringly elite.
00:55:19
Speaker
So I think the kind of next step that they need to unlock with him is trying to get him back to producing as consistently as he was when he was a best 11 attacker in the league.
00:55:31
Speaker
And I'm optimistic that that's that that's going to happen, or at least they can get it closer to that, because, number one, I think what you said is right. He's still he's still not like fully, fully integrated with his role on this team.
00:55:45
Speaker
But also, I've been saying, I think, and you know maybe this is Cope or whatever, but I really think that a lot of the reason that the stat sheet production isn't higher is just plain bad luck.
00:55:57
Speaker
he's He's whammed a few off the post this year. He's had at least three, maybe like four disallowed for offsides, a few of which were offside on the other guy, not even him.
00:56:10
Speaker
So that's one of the things that I'm looking for is seeing if they can get him scoring goals and really like regularly ah contributing on the stat sheet, which will take...
00:56:21
Speaker
Uh, I take him to a whole nother level and really, ah give him what I think is a just reward for being an unexpectedly for me, like dirty work type of player. I think he is one of the best, uh, pressing attackers ah yeah in m in MLS, like not just on the, on the sounders, but, ah you know, that people might get,
00:56:42
Speaker
mad that i that I say this. I'm not comping them. I'm not comping them. But that attribute, that attribute that he has, it reminds me of Ladero a little bit. That was absolutely that was one of Ladero's best attributes was work rate, pressing, ah putting guys under pressure. That's all stuff that Jesus does very well. So it it would be nice to see him get some goals to reward him for everything that he does for this team, which ah helped the team win a trophy. So But see, but that's that that's why people should watch Love is Corgeous is because you do have that take. you
00:57:17
Speaker
You look at the entire body of work. You have all these guys getting in front of cameras and talking as they ah are looking at stats and and not watching the games and ah looking at missed opportunities. They're watching a highlight without...
00:57:32
Speaker
feeling in a context of how did that come about, right? There are those things about Jesus Ferreira that I feel like a lot of people don't see because A, they have a pre-consumption of him and and they want to make him this guy that's awful and that's lost it and that he was a bust and he wasn't worth it.
00:57:51
Speaker
And so they feel like they feed off of those misses rather than understanding exactly how he's getting to those positions or the opportunities and goals that he has gotten, ah you know, the um taken off because of offsides or things like that. So for me, every single of one of those things that you just mentioned is why i I'm confident that Ferreira hasn't peaked and he's going to continue to get better.
00:58:18
Speaker
And from now to the end of the year and to next year, you're going to continue to see a better and better Jesus Ferreira. And I'm just... extremely happy with the production that you've gotten out of him so far. And I think going to get even better as he moves forward.
00:58:37
Speaker
All right, Nico, let's, ah let's pull up the schedule real quick. See what we think of these games, the slate of games that Seattle has coming up.
Anticipation for LA Galaxy and Inter Miami Rematches
00:58:46
Speaker
ah
00:58:49
Speaker
There it is right there. but You have got ah the September 2025 calendar right here. You can see their ah last game they played famously beat Inter-Miami 3-0 in the League's Cup Final.
00:59:03
Speaker
ah But this is what you got, folks. This is what you got. I'll try and zoom it in a little more here.
00:59:10
Speaker
All right, there you go. So ah you got this game on ah on Saturday coming up against LA Galaxy. And it's kind of funny. Their next two opponents are LA Galaxy and Inter-Miami.
00:59:24
Speaker
ah Can we play a new team? play a new team. This is the third time they played the galaxy in the last few weeks, a galaxy, inner Miami, and then on the road at Austin and then Vancouver at home. So you've got ah ah galaxy team that is one of the worst in the league and that you've beat by a combined score, six, zero, both road games. The last two times you've played them in the last couple of weeks, ah you got an inner Miami team that, uh,
00:59:51
Speaker
You just absolutely destroyed in the league's cup final. ah But now you do have to go to Fort Lauderdale for that game. ah Then it's a road trip to Austin and against a team that it has not been that great this year, but has been very resurgent recently. I would say you haven't been following. They found their stride. they found their They found their stride and they're looking like a for sure playoff team. And also Q2. I need to get there, man. That looks like one of the sickest stadiums in the league. haven't been.
01:00:21
Speaker
ah But it's a very it's that's a difficult road trip, tough environment to play in. ah Seattle has won there. I think their last two times there was the famous game where they started a bunch of teenagers and then Raul hit one from midfield to win it. And then I think the last one was the one where Jordan Morris had the game winner.
01:00:42
Speaker
uh, and they won that game. So they have been able to win a Q2 before, ah but that, this Austin, that Austin team is in really good form right now. And then you got a white caps team that cooled down, ah after their legendary start to the year where they looked like one of the best MLS teams of all time. But I feel like they've been looking a lot better again, uh,
01:01:05
Speaker
again recently as well. So I guess looking at this, you got four games for the rest of September. Let's start with this Galaxy one ah because that's that's coming right up.
01:01:18
Speaker
ah The Galaxy have to come here now. What is... Is there any concern? Like you beat them twice in a row. For me, when you when you've beat a team a couple times in a row, it's it's always hard to beat a team multiple times in a row. And that was true when Seattle had to go there for ah the League's Cup semifinals right after having beat them in the regular season.
01:01:41
Speaker
And then, i mean, that game should have been worse than 2-0. They worked them pretty good in both those games. ah But, I mean, Nico, any concern that just the fact that you're playing them,
01:01:53
Speaker
a third time in the last like three or four weeks does that make this any more difficult or do you feel like now getting them at home it should be another more relatively smooth sailing for seattle this weekend yeah it should be smooth sailing i wouldn't put it past the team that whose pride is heard and a guy like Greg Danny that doesn't want to come to Seattle and just ah lay and take it. I mean, he's going to have some adjustments to his game and in what does
01:02:26
Speaker
playing a team three times in a row is allow you to go back to those games and figure out what you could have done a little bit different. I think that Sanabria is starting to play up to his level and he's going to be a guy that might have ah to do a lot more to this offense than, you know, it has in the past.
01:02:44
Speaker
I think that um Gabriel Peck is a guy that, especially like in the game against Houston, he came off the bench, looked extremely frustrated, but he is a guy that if he can – get and find some rhythm in the game can put you into some predicaments.
01:03:02
Speaker
But I think Seattle should be able to handle that. And beyond just that emotional part of what I think would mean for the LA Galaxy to come in here and win, because they have nothing else to win. If anything, Greg Van Aysen say, let's win this game.
01:03:18
Speaker
um i think that Seattle is the better team. They're informed. They're at home where Seattle has been outstanding. So it should be smooth sailing. with the maybe underline that when you do play a ah team three times and there is advantage of um motivation more for the Galaxy than for the Seattle Sounders, it can make it a little bit more even.
01:03:45
Speaker
But I think Seattle, once again, as they have all year, match up way better. too perfectly to expose the LA Galaxy's deficiencies and LA Galaxy's attributes don't really counter well against what Seattle does well defensively.
01:04:05
Speaker
People in chat are saying that Gabrielle Peck is suspended for yellow card accumulation. Do you know if that's accurate? Oh, that is good. I had not checked that out. That is um that's great.
01:04:17
Speaker
Honestly, that I'm actually disappointed in that. I was looking forward to the new Who vs. Gabrielle Peck rematch. there's There's nothing like a... ah An attacker versus defender matchup Where the two guys just truly truly hate each other New who and Gabrielle Peck Truly truly hate each other knew who obviously got the ah the red card at the end of that Semi-final game But like really like when those two guys are competing against each other It's a must-see TV So that would be Oh yeah look yeah he he got a yellow card in the 90th minute I missed that and I watched the game i don't know if I got up to get something drink or something But missed that yellow for sure
01:04:56
Speaker
So yeah, that's that's awesome. ah The Houston LA Galaxy this weekend. Oh, okay. So, all right. No Gabriel Peck, which he, ah he, Seattle, I don't know. He's never done anything against Seattle. He didn't play. He didn't in the playoffs last year.
01:05:12
Speaker
He didn't in either of these last two games that they played um this year, which they had at home. So I don't know how much it actually makes a difference in the game other than the entertainment value of him going up against new who, which is always fun.
01:05:26
Speaker
Uh, what about the, the Miami game, Nico? I mean, ah You have to imagine that they'll be without Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets for that. I would be shocked if they're not suspended for that.
01:05:39
Speaker
ah So down a couple of the Barca boys, do you think Messi even plays in this game? To me, it's like... Oh, yeah. and Yeah, like he's going to be out for blood.
01:05:51
Speaker
He's going to want to destroy Seattle at home. And honestly, it ah It could happen. It'll be interesting to see how much Seattle is able to replicate what they were able to do. It's a lot harder to do, I think, on the road.
01:06:11
Speaker
But i definitely, i fully expect Messi to be wanting to prove a point in that game. I guess my question is, how much do you even care about the result of Messi? of that game i i do from the standpoint of like they need to keep making up ground on the table and for playoff positioning and in that way getting a result is important as far as any narrative that uh anyone ah in fort lauderdale tries to pull out of like oh the score is settled oh like see that's what happens with with the goat or or whatever i will just put this out there right now this game does ab means absolutely nothing
01:06:49
Speaker
as it pertains to what happened in league's cup, Miami could win this game by a couple of goals and you still got owned by Obed Vargas and Paul Rothrock in a cup final. So that doesn't change that. But I, I do think that I'm expecting an angry, an angry messy in this game, which is, ah you know,
01:07:09
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know. Messi is Messi. But I'm also expecting an angry Seattle. Look, I know by all accounts, the guys, ah they still feel like what happened after the game ah came up from a sense of saltiness and... and and Almost a, yes, respect because you beat them, but then also a disrespect because they felt like they should have never lost you.
01:07:35
Speaker
So I feel like the guys are going to go in to just make a point to the fact that it wasn't just a fluke or a moment's notice. And whether that happens or not, that's not here nor there, right? Once again, Seattle's playing with house money because they won the important game.
01:07:49
Speaker
They won the championship. They were the one that go to 2-3-0. But I do feel like both players Brian Smetzer and and the guys are going to want to go down to Miami and kind of give you that final stop, right?
01:08:04
Speaker
Finish you off, you know, just hit you with that the last little just goodbye for the rest of the year um because you probably won't see them in in the playoffs. I don't foresee them getting to the final Miami.
01:08:19
Speaker
um So for me, I think that Seattle is going to go in there with everything they got to prove that it wasn't a fluke. Ian's got a good question here. Does Schmetz roll out the same lineup against Miami as he did for the League's Cup Final?
01:08:31
Speaker
ah Because if he if he does do that, that would ah imply rotation for the Galaxy game. ah So I guess the question is, is that how we would want Schmetz to handle this?
01:08:43
Speaker
Kind of do a little bit more mixing and matching, rotate for that Galaxy game, and then empty the tank with the first choice 11 Miami. in miami If I know Brian yeah if i If I feel like I know Brian And i I feel like I do gauge him pretty well He's going to hit in Miami with the rotation He's going to make him seem that it's not a big of a deal That yeah you know Whatever group, he he's going to put the best group together So I don't mean to say that he's going to punt this game Because that's not what Brian does but what I do think Is that he is going to want his Freshest best 11 for the Game at Austin and Therefore this gives him the perfect Opportunity to once again Play my games with Miami and Just say yeah we want to win of course we want to
01:09:30
Speaker
get that that those three points or or that result, but we're going to do it with the guys that are going be available that week. that They're no less or no more important than anything else. Now, those guys that are going to play on that field are going to want to prove that they were the better squad, that what happened in in Seattle wasn't just a fluke or whatever, but Brian Smetzer is going to rotate, in my opinion, on that game and have his best 11 for Austin.
01:09:58
Speaker
ah any Any thoughts on that Austin game or the Vancouver game before we talk a little USMNT to close it out here? ah No, I think that that Austin's a ah ah game that that I'm very curious of. Austin has found their their' stride. I feel like after losing Vasquez, I really didn't think that we're going to find some offensive...
01:10:25
Speaker
ah cohesion, but they have, and they've done it in various ways. Sometimes Heather O'Brien up there. i think Bukhari has come on. ah ah Owen Wolf is just he good he's good emerged, and it is like a breakout year for him. So they are a team that have kind of put a stretch of games together where I think they're going to give Seattle a very good battle on the road.
01:10:52
Speaker
ah That's obviously an in league game. There's a potential that depending on how Austin does and how LAFC does um moving forward, are they going to be, you know, playing for positionally in the standings?
01:11:05
Speaker
um You know, LAFC just ended up losing Igor De Jesus for the season. And they picked up a new guy, I had it in my notes. Jelson, they picked up a free agent to kind of a bear with that injury. But Igor DeJesus was a guy that was very important for LAFC. So how did they deal with that is going to be interesting. So I think Austin, they see a little bit of light where they can continue to move up.
01:11:32
Speaker
ah So that's going to be interesting. I think that that game is going to be quality. And then the Vancouver game, of course, where it's always – a very trendy game. That was last time you were in um BC place, you got beat pretty bad. That was the new who read card game as well.
01:11:52
Speaker
So how did that game kind of comes along? It's going to be pretty interesting. um But yeah, those are the two that I kind of, I'm looking forward coming up. All right, Nico, let's, uh, let's close it out with some, USMNT discourse before we do that. Everyone, everyone in chat, every single one of you, please like the video.
01:12:10
Speaker
And if you're watching and you haven't subbed to the channel yet, i don't know what you're doing. Drop us a sub, uh, and follow us on Instagram and, uh, tick tock, uh, Nico, us men's national team to September friendlies.
US Men's National Team Analysis and Challenges
01:12:23
Speaker
Uh, they just played this one against South Korea. They got one against Japan tomorrow.
01:12:29
Speaker
Uh, it's kind of crunch time for everyone preparing for the world cup there's only so many camps only so many friendlies games left before uh in the case of the us they're hosting the world cup pochettino called in a roster that was not uh very popular among the bot community unfortunately uh but uh It did not look good, man. It did not look good. ah Christian Roldan got called in, which was much deserved. Happy for him. And ah he got some runs. So that was ah that was nice to see. I thought they actually... They looked a little bit... Not just with Christian, but after Potch made those subs where he brought in, like I think, Zendejas and a couple other guys along with Christian, they looked a little better.
01:13:13
Speaker
ah But overall, I thought South Korea handled the Yanks pretty easily. And it just looks like... Looks like there's not a lot of progress being made.
01:13:25
Speaker
It looks like Pochettino is still kind of just trying to learn the player pool, but it's like we're kind of close to the World Cup to be doing that. Like most national teams at this point, like Canada, you look at Canada, they have like a squad that they rely on more. They're not just kind of throwing darts like this and calling random guys in. Yeah.
01:13:49
Speaker
it's just It's just generally not looking super hot. Nico, what do you make of the state of things for this program right now? It just feels like the World Cup is not slated to go particularly Well, and complete with Christian Pulisic, I don't know what's going on with him, but he doesn't seem like he's enjoying playing soccer right now. He's he's a he's a documentary filmmaker.
01:14:18
Speaker
He's channeling his creative side. he's He's probably got to go to his premiere at some film film festival where you got Tim Weah calling the media evil or whatever for questioning Pulisic's commitment I mean, it's just the vibes just haven't been good for a while. ah what do you ah What do you make of all this?
01:14:37
Speaker
ah Yeah, there's there is a true concern. And there's honestly, i feel like is a lot of self-inflicted wounds for the US National Team.
01:14:49
Speaker
That's why I find USMNT fan base so strong. um Amusing Because they were pretty Barking and yelling And pitchforks out about getting Greg Bellhalter out And all of these things we need a real We need a real coach A world-class globally renowned coach And they got it, i was right? They got it.
01:15:14
Speaker
That's what they wanted. They wanted the European guy. they wanted the guy with the big name. yeah Even I was on board. This is exactly who they wanted. if you If you built in a lab the coach that they wanted, it's Pochettino, who, for the record, I i said last week that I kind of like how he's handling the call-ups, not just because it's a lot of MLS guys. It's because it seems like he's doing it in a merit-based way. like To me, it seems obvious that he is...
01:15:41
Speaker
trying to honestly assess the pool and call in the guys that he genuinely thinks would help the program, ah which is great. It's just not manifesting in results.
01:15:52
Speaker
But it is funny that, like like you said, this is what they asked for. This is what they got. And then the results are actually... They're not better than Berhalter. I think they're worse. I think the results are actually worse so far. They are worse. but but but The comedy is undeniable. You can't knock the comedy. And that's what I mean. I mean, it was – I don't understand how you thought that it was going to be any easier.
01:16:17
Speaker
to go from a coach that had already built and had time to figure out the pool, to figure out he wanted to play, that regardless of whether people like the results or not, he had an idea of play to get a new coach that is a first time national team coach. And this was part of the things that I mentioned. Look, I like the profile of Pochettino, but I said,
01:16:40
Speaker
as soon as he was hired, that there was going to be a huge learning curve because being a national team head coach is very different than handling the club level from the points of that the biggest, the most important factor for a national team coach is the recruiting, is the selecting across. It's it's figuring out who are going to be your guys and who are going to be guys that are going to be ready to go when you have mini camps and you have preseason games,
01:17:10
Speaker
two Put together something that usually at the club level you're working every day Every day you're working on on on concepts and principles and things like that. So there was gonna be This huge dip But people just thought that because he was Pochettino And he coached in England Then everything was going to be just fine But that's the reality Now to your point I totally agree I think that if anything Pochettino has stayed true To what he believes needs to be done Which is I don't care where you play I just want to
01:17:43
Speaker
see that you have minutes, that you have consistency, and that once you come to camp, you come to play. And I think he showed that with Diego Luna, although he did not have a good game against Korea, um but he showed that with quite a few of these MLS guys that people have heart attacks when they get called up.
01:18:00
Speaker
but that they have produced, right? So to me, what I saw against Korea just continues to be part of a team that hasn't come together, that hasn't cement. ah There are pieces there that you like. I think Sergino Dest was great against Korea.
01:18:16
Speaker
I think that the back line was awful. I think that both Blackman and Team Rim look so bad, so gappy, so slow. um ah Sun was getting behind them consistently.
01:18:28
Speaker
The guy just put in a performance on them. i thought that the midfield was average at best. Adams had a very bad game and and it concerns me that there's this trend of quite a couple of games where he hasn't played well.
01:18:43
Speaker
And there's such a big need for Adams to be at that World Cup level that he was a couple of years ago. And Pulisic, you know, I had no idea that he was going to turn it into James Franco of Sutton putting out indie films. I didn't know that. So he does seem like he's He's an artistic side. He's got an artistic side, right? Yeah, man. So does James Franco, man. But you got to pick what you want to do. Either you act or direct and either you play soccer or you do. I mean, i just don't get it. I just, I feel like he's a guy that should...
01:19:14
Speaker
Have a much Better approach to the game That he has right now i don't think he's dealt well With the ah Persona or the role of being in the face of a federation And I know that's hard but But he's just not doing it well And all of it is just weighing him down On the field because boy did he have A bad performance he had a bad performance And he just doesn't look good But just to conclude Right here because 923 just think that i just think that
01:19:47
Speaker
You're going to have to be patient. this is What you see is what you get right now. There is no, we're going to fire Pochettino and go get somebody else. So just let that guy cook because whatever he makes is what you're getting for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in 2026 because that's what you picked.
01:20:03
Speaker
So... For me, the the MLS guys are not the problem. For me, it is the the the players on the field that are not executing. and it's based on what you wanted. You wanted a new coach with some new ideas, with some different approach.
01:20:18
Speaker
And that's going to have some um problems in terms of consistency. So there. if you're If you're going to drop the documentary, okay, if you're going to drop the doc, you got to make sure your form on the field, ah it puts more it puts more pressure, I think, on making sure your level stays high. Because if you go out there and you play like that,
01:20:42
Speaker
right after dropped the doc and became James Franco, like you said, that doesn't look super great. it is it is funny watching watching watching the bots crash out about how many MLS guys Pochettino has been calling in her because it's like, what about these golden generation guys?
01:21:02
Speaker
Like... If they were the golden generation, you would think that ah it wouldn't necessarily matter what league the supplementary guys are short called in from. You would expect them to play to a certain standard, a certain level that it's like, if they're if these guys are so good, why are they not playing to that standard?
01:21:22
Speaker
josh And it was all those guys, the ones that, you know, Tim Weah missed one right in front of goal. Tim Weah was getting good positions but not putting the ball away. Ballagon came in and missed three shots in front of goal.
01:21:34
Speaker
He looked a little better. was good saves. He did look better. he did he He did look better. I'm not going to deny that. But, you know, like to to what you were mentioning, the Golden Generation, you should put the ball away right in front of goal.
01:21:44
Speaker
Now, the goalkeeper made a great save that you got to give him credit. But then the last one, you just like – put up somewhere. So I don't know. I just feel like this is a team that was always going to have issues because of the lack of continuity in in ideas, in the group.
01:22:03
Speaker
And going to have to figure it out. You got, i think it's three or four ah pre-games before the the big game in the World Cup, and you're going to have to figure it out. All right, Nico, let's call it a wrap right there. Another great episode of Lobbing Scorchers Kickoff. Thanks for hopping on, man, everybody.
01:22:21
Speaker
Thanks for tuning in. Before we get out of here, if you could do me a favor, again, please like the video, sub to the channel if you haven't, follow us on Instagram, and... tiktok ah We'll be back at it this week. Back to MLS play this weekend. I'll be on for sure for Under the Lights on Thursday evening, 7.30.
01:22:41
Speaker
seven thirty Noah's in Hawaii, so we're not going to be recording a show tomorrow like we normally would. But... I think I i might i might do a live before under the lights. I think if these League Cup suspensions from the league come out, maybe I'll do reaction show or something.
01:22:59
Speaker
But we'll be we'll be getting after it like we always are. And... back Back to the MLS grind, baby. LA Galaxy in league play on ah Saturday, right? That's not a Sunday night soccer.
01:23:13
Speaker
It's on Saturday. So preview content coming your way. and we will catch you guys catch you guys next time. Nico, appreciate you, man. Have a good one, brother.
01:23:26
Speaker
Have a good one, guys. Peace.