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Seattle Sounders Youth Guru Wade Webber Reveals All - Ep. 99
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Seattle Sounders academy legend Wade Webber joins us at Starfire Sports ahead of the big US Open Cup clash between Tacoma Defiance and Portland Timbers. From youth development secrets to what’s next for Defiance, Wade tells all in this exclusive interview.
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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 Special Edition Announcement
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.
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.
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome in to a very special live edition of Lobbing Scorchers. We are out here at Starfire Sports, where in just a couple hours time, Tacoma Defiance will be taking on the Portland Timbys first team. That's still kind of ah crazy to say that this is actually happening.
00:01:02
Speaker
Very excited to be out here for another live show and experiencing the magic of the Open Cup. ah We're set up better this time. We're facing an audience that's There's a lot of people here. There's a lot of people here, and we have got an all-star cast of characters here to talk about Tacoma Defiance, U.S. Open Cup, playing the Portland Timbers first team.
00:01:23
Speaker
ah We got Jeremiah O'Shan, Sounder at Heart, Overlord here, ah and a very, very special guest this evening.
Interview with Wade Weber: Role and Development Strategy
00:01:32
Speaker
ah We got Wade Weber, Sounders Director of Development, joining the show. Our last live show, we had Henry Bronner. That was great. We had a great interview with him.
00:01:43
Speaker
Wade, I guess we'll start with you as our special guest. ah Thank you so much for the time, first of all. ah This has got to be an exciting night for you. I mean, you put about as much work into this project with Tacoma Defiance and youth development in Seattle as anybody, and now you get to watch them take on the Portland Timbers' first team. just How are you feeling about this game and just sort of how this opportunity came about for Tacoma? Well, it's ah it's years in the making.
00:02:11
Speaker
um you know This didn't start in 2025. We've had a ah ah pretty intentional approach to filling our second team with Academy prospects and then second chance players. Some of those second chance players happen to be Academy prospects as well. Kids that went to college and have have come back.
00:02:33
Speaker
um And it's it's been very intentional. There's been promotion within our club upward. And to play the Timbers in a round of 32 Open Cup match, a competitive match, I don't want to say it's more than I ever dreamt would happen. um But I did say um when I knew this was a possibility ah a couple of rounds ago,
00:02:54
Speaker
I did say I might i might retire if we win tonight. My work is done. I'm not going to. I'm just putting that on record. but But yeah, the the there's so much at stake for our guys because it's not advancing in the Open Cup. It's another meaningful game against very difficult opposition.
00:03:13
Speaker
that's all we want our our youngsters to face. And there's only one team in the in the club that has to win, and that's the first team. But tonight, there's a little bit of me that real really says Defiance has got to win, too.
00:03:25
Speaker
I'll get one more in here, and then Jeremiah and Noah, if you've got questions for Wade, feel free to jump in. But I guess, ah could you tell our audience about your role as Director of Development for the Sounders? You obviously coached this team for a couple years and then moved into this new role.
00:03:41
Speaker
What is your day-to-day like, and what's the what's different about what you're doing now compared to to coaching? Well, I don't get as many steps in per day and my my my app is telling me that I'm not as healthy as I used to be um it's ah It is an office job where I sometimes get to go out on the field and and help players. I still have, I'm sort of the on staff,
00:04:06
Speaker
center back has a problem, who do we go to? I'm still kind of that guy. So even first team players, I still have some influence there, but really it is managing staff more than managing players, working on staff, on personal development plans for head coaches of all of our teams. I think one thing I think Sounders fans understand this, but we see Defiance as the finishing piece of our academy rather than just the bottom of a first team.
History and Evolution of Sounders' Program
00:04:35
Speaker
We see it as a place where young players are given opportunities to be successful.
00:04:40
Speaker
um and We try and set them up to succeed. ah But yeah, my job is to oversee that operation, the the management of the second team, the academy, but mostly on a staff level rather than a player level. That's the primary difference between when I was the Defiance head coach to to my current role.
00:05:00
Speaker
Yeah, we you know, this whole program, I guess, currently kind of started in 2015 when S2 launched. well How would you describe the difference between what the Defiance are now versus what they were in 2015?
00:05:15
Speaker
That's a good question. there There are three distinct periods in the history of Sounders development. The Sounders were only ever a team from 1974 all the way up until 2010.
00:05:26
Speaker
In 2010, we got our first academy team and for five years, five seasons, there was ah there was only um only an academy. There was no bridge and every player went off to college.
00:05:39
Speaker
I take that back. Victor Mansouray we may have signed directly to the to the first team but bypassing the second team because it didn't exist. um So in 2015 we needed to fill ah that second team roster with players so I don't know if you know this but the 2015 draft um which was Christian Roldan's year right and that is the highest draft pick we have had um In the last 10 years, he was number 16 and that's remains because the team at first team is very competitive and we tend to trade draft picks as well We haven't had anyone higher than that and we signed five players from that draft directly to the second team I I didn't come prepped to be able to tell you those five Tyler Miller.
00:06:26
Speaker
Yeah, he was one O'Neal Fisher Charlie Lyons oh Charlie O'Neal Fisher and
00:06:34
Speaker
Christian rolled on. i don't know who the other one. Yeah. So, so we filled it through the draft directly into the second team with a whole bunch of draft picks. Um, we, we had open tryouts. We had combines. We, we basically Ezra Hendrickson, who was the coach at the time legend had contacts in the Caribbean and and would bring in, um, Oleks Anderson, a, a number of other guys who sort of came in and, and knew who is another one new signed.
00:07:04
Speaker
pretty much to play for the second team that first year and then got the bump the following year. I think, was this first year 2016? think 2016 and then yeah signed in 2017. Yeah. So it bit the the transformation is that now we're we're very intentional with second team signings and we want there to be a couple of academy kids that are are our prospects to make it all the way through.
00:07:28
Speaker
I think maybe we at the end of 2018 and 19, we signed pretty much every eligible 2002, 2001 player. There were just a whole slew of them.
00:07:41
Speaker
Not many of them stuck. If you look at those two age bands in particular, Josh Atencio stuck. Um, um,
00:07:51
Speaker
Ethan Doubler is not not with us anymore. I mean, he's still alive. He's actually doing very well for himself. But yeah, that we we signed Alfonso it was Alfonso was an O2. Yeah. Yeah. There were a couple of threes in that mix as well. So to keep the hara, Danny Leyva, they were on that. Marlon Vargas.
00:08:08
Speaker
2019 he's in a 2019 G.A. Cup champion had ah just a raft of players who are playing pro soccer race. Aranos in Louisville.
00:08:19
Speaker
Alex Villanueva plays for Detroit. um You know, you can go go through the list of of those guys. But yeah, we we now use it as ah as a way to intentionally identify two or three academy kids, some second chance guys.
00:08:33
Speaker
We're now also in Georgie Monongu. We're actually spending transfer fees on second team players, which was a radical idea, um but it's paid off. He's ah he's a contributing member of our first team and yeah and and also getting some opportunities with Defiance as well. So, yeah, we also have these player movement meetings every week.
00:08:54
Speaker
I brought this up. I gave a presentation at the Generation Adidas Cup a week and a half ago about our process. um and you know we have this meeting and i I won't say the clubs, but I got phone calls from a couple of different MLS clubs, academy directors saying, how did you do that? how do how How do you get the first team to listen to you? and And we don't get the first team to do anything. Schmetz and company are going to do what they want to do, but it's really a question of five, six, seven years of
00:09:25
Speaker
We've produced a generally useful product for Schmetz, and therefore there's more trust that's built in because the process has been successful. And long may it continue.
00:09:36
Speaker
So I'm going to guess that we are very close to the lineup coming out. If we if it hadn't come out yet, are you willing to share who's been loaned down from the first team Can I do that before the lineup is really safe?
Open Cup Loan Rules and Player Eligibility
00:09:48
Speaker
You can do whatever you want. Exactly. You run the show over here. Come on. Well, I'll say this. We have to beat foot mob. Yeah, I'll say this. there there are you know It's not just anyone.
00:10:01
Speaker
um there are certain um parameters around which we have to operate when it comes to loaning down for Open Cup competition, which is different than normal. I mean, in in a normal and MLS Next Pro world, Steph Fry could get loaned down.
00:10:15
Speaker
He'd just have to sign the paperwork that says he's OK with it. Now you actually have to you can't be on the the senior roster, you have to be on what's this called the supplemental roster. And there are some names on there that are interesting.
00:10:27
Speaker
and i i think Paul Rothrock is eligible to be loaned down. Now, he's playing for the first team at such a level that but he doesn't really need the minutes. He's getting the minutes with the first team.
00:10:38
Speaker
But we're not giving this opportunity to players just to get the minutes. This is this is a different sort of opportunity. We want to make sure that the players that are on this field are going to are going soak in this experience.
00:10:49
Speaker
And when the 24 hours of over, may sixth twenty twenty five are over they're 24 hours better, not just 24 hours older, if that makes sense. So it's the it's the usual customers. Stuart Hawkins, Trayvon Sousa.
00:11:05
Speaker
I know Andrew Thomas is eligible, so is Jacob Castro. Reed Baker Whiting um is eligible. ah
00:11:14
Speaker
ah Georgie. Georgie also. So, you know, these these guys we we we could see. It would be great to see them. Kalani, Kosarianzi, who... We came into this season with actually thinking, well, he's probably going to be with Defiance for some of the season. We know the first team like him, and but it just hasn't worked out yet. I don't think he's played a minute for the second team. ah And Cody Baker would be eligible, but is suspended because of the red card in the last round. What a great red card.
00:11:44
Speaker
Well, I, on the ah you know, i if if you're going to get one, maybe you want to go full Dempsey on it. Then you don't want to incur the wrath of a decade of a suspension and and and all that.
00:11:56
Speaker
yeah He's still not eligible, right? i I was talking with someone earlier today that, ah ah you know, it might be a lifetime ban for all I know. Yeah. It would be, yeah. He is a brewery.
00:12:08
Speaker
Not to be that guy. He is eligible now. I think it was a six-year ban. The bit of him not being eligible. Bring him back. yeah He's basically just doing what we do now. He's being a podcaster. like We always say, you know, he could sign our next pro contract for a days. How great would it be if if a helicopter descended onto midfield just before coin
Spotlight on Obed Vargas: Rising Talent and Future
00:12:27
Speaker
toss and out steps Deuce with an oversized referee booklet and just rips it up in front of everyone?
00:12:36
Speaker
legendary that would be that would that would that would break the internet that would or it comes out and he unzips a defiance jersey and we've signed him for one game now it's a full circle all those guys that signed up with ozzy alonzo plays for that team good he well we wouldn't have to we wouldn't ask much of him defensively exactly yeah you gotta know know the audience Wade, I got a I got a player specific question for you. You know, in the last few years here, finally seen a lot of these Academy kids breakthrough for the first team, really get minutes and meaningfully contribute, make impacts.
00:13:16
Speaker
And I got to get your take, though, specifically on the rise of Obed Vargas, you know. We are a million dollars. Noah and i we debate the transfer fee ah every week. The price goes up with each passing week.
00:13:29
Speaker
ah But it really he you've seen his whole rise from when he first got here from Anchorage, Alaska to now very much appears to be on a superstar trajectory. So ah my question is, when you have a player like that, ah Do you know early, like, the the type of ceiling that might be there? Like, is there a moment when you're watching them early on where you think, all right, this might be, we might have something special here?
00:13:56
Speaker
Or is that more a more gradual thing where you you watch them play more and more and you' and then you go, wow, like, this we might be on to something with this Yeah, its it usually is obvious, um but it's usually obvious because of some physical characteristic that makes them stand out. A six foot six goalkeeper that happens to be a reasonable athlete.
00:14:15
Speaker
Alphonso Davies speed and left foot. Right. So those things are like, ah, you know, youve you definitely have the path is shorter for people with exceptional physical traits. I don't know that Obed has an exceptional physical trait. um he But from minute one, his super skill was his mentality. And that might sound, know, how do you quantify that?
00:14:38
Speaker
He was a professional 15 before he signed as a professional. He behaved like one, trained like one. he didn't ask for favors, didn't make excuses, studied the game.
00:14:51
Speaker
And I remember having those conversations because he signed a Defiance in 2021 when we were still in the USL and we had a team around him. Jackson Reagan came in that year, um but it was a team around him that was still pretty young and we were used to getting our well, our lunch handed to us by USL, you know, the 35 year old with three kids or out and an old bed slotted in. And I think that if we did him a service, it was to not treat him like a 15 year old.
00:15:24
Speaker
Yeah. um He did turn 16 that year on on August 5th. I know his birthday because um it's my anniversary. So yeah, at every anniversary i I say good morning to my wife and I text over and say happy birthday.
00:15:38
Speaker
um But yeah he he had he had the mentality of a 30-year-old as a 15-year-old, and it didn't matter. it didn't matter what setting you put him in. He showed up early. he worked hard. He likes the gym.
00:15:52
Speaker
and so a lot of those things that you see players that like the idea of being a pro, but the reality of being a pro, especially as you're climbing up the steps, is it's it's a lot like, and Jeremiah's heard me say this, it's a lot like being a plumber.
00:16:05
Speaker
You know, a very specific set of skills that not many people have. And sometimes you've to do things you don't want to do. No one wants to clean a clogged toilet, right? But if you're a professional plumber, you show up, you do the job, you do it well, and you get repeat business. And pretty soon you're sending the minions out to do the toilets, and then you'll just focus on the the fancier things.
00:16:27
Speaker
Obed's not one to send a minion, though. he will He will do the job himself. He's unclogging the toilets. He's unclogging the toilets every day at work. and Yeah. And he's starting to pick apart back lines, yeah you know, with passes and runs. You know, Spencer would be so proud.
00:16:43
Speaker
ah He would. he would. yeah but Again, it's it's not that we knew that he would continue to rise as rap, because don't forget, he had a broken back in 2022.
00:16:54
Speaker
And we were very concerned, you know, that that that might sort of derail ah completely his ability to continue progressing. But he's strong. He's confident.
00:17:07
Speaker
um He started the game the other night, I thought, shaky. don't know if you watched it closely, but i I can't help but watch games as a as his old coach. I'm like, ah, you know, that's missed some passes, missed tackle, got booked, I think.
00:17:22
Speaker
like And this is all adding up. on my ah it's not And by the end of the second half, i'm like, ah it was a great game. And I think he was voted man of the match. Could have two goals. Yeah, could have. yeah i think I think we do have a ah special one.
00:17:36
Speaker
And I know there are clubs that are interested. We hear this all the time ah internally. i don't I'm not at the position to say which clubs are reaching out because I don't know. But um you know always interesting up you know what's interesting?
00:17:50
Speaker
Back in the day, I asked him, i asked all players, like, so what team do you follow if it's not the Sounders? um and he said atletico madrid and i'm i'm thinking can you imagine obet vargas in a simeone midfield he's like he's like tailor made for them yeah right um and who are we playing this summer we're playing atletico madrid so i just want to get it out there if diego's if if you're watching or listening We have a lot of people. oh You know, it might be available.
00:18:23
Speaker
Might be available. Obed Vargas. Call us first, though, because we're the right price for the right price. 100 million. we We want to win things with Obed, too. That's like that's what makes us maybe different than yeah ah yeah there's some other academies have produced a ton of talent. You look at Dallas and Philadelphia and Red Bulls and those three clubs combined have never won MLS Cup.
00:18:48
Speaker
right They have a couple of Supporter Shields, they got an Open Cup in there too. um They've missed the playoffs. I did the math once. Collectively like 17 or 18 times, maybe more than that.
00:19:00
Speaker
um that I'm not saying that isn't going to happen in the future. I'm just saying that we we want to win here. And if selling players is a knock-on effect, a benefit of winning, then great. But we also want to win. Yeah, I'm interested to know because for Obed, like for me, I'm going to be so sad to not see him play here.
00:19:24
Speaker
But at the same time, it's like I know from what I can see, his level is incredible. And being around players with even even higher level, he can just ascend. I mean, with his ability potentially to like lead the the Mexican national team now into their new, this new ah birth. I mean, like what a career he's like, he's so young too. He's 19. He's literally 19 years old. We're talking about a 19 year old kid who has already won champions league, who has, you know, all of this stuff. I mean, you have to probably feel kind of like a proud dad sometimes. My wife says that to me and I, it's more like a proud uncle, proud uncle than a yeah than a proud dad. The uncles are cooler anyway. Well, depends on that on which side of the family you're talking about. Exactly, exactly. yeah I have to say, there's a ton of Defiance gear in here.
00:20:13
Speaker
yeah It makes you think that this was maybe a viable brand. I don't know. i think i still think it is, Jeremiah. I still think Defiance, or or if you could you know because we're not playing in Tacoma, that's not a secret.
00:20:27
Speaker
um wait what we we uh uh that the pandemic was bad for lots of reasons but on a very personal level there we were this close to breaking ground and building a facility and you know ah a little stadium um that would have been wonderful um but as it is we'll we'll settle for what we have which is still pretty good how do you find a kid from Anchorage, Alaska? You know, like I think, and I ask that because, you know, the Obed story, but I think it's such a great example of the, like how you can find, I guess, diamonds in the rough, so to speak.
00:21:03
Speaker
ah so Like, you give us a window into how you even find a kid like this and then how they go from there to where he is now? It is a network of scouts. We have our own scouting network. There there are people that we employ,
00:21:21
Speaker
in-house and then they have people that they connect with out of house. And it's some of those ah people that gave us ah like a heads up that there was this is kid from Cook Inlet FC. I think that's what they're called.
00:21:34
Speaker
And they And he was on the ODP team, the state team for Alaska, playing at a Region 4 event down in Arizona, I think. And we we got the heads up, but it wasn't long before like every MLS team got the heads up.
00:21:51
Speaker
Alaska is truly anyone's territory. So it was just a case of us showing off. ah At the time, it was convenient because we had just won the G.A. Cup.
00:22:01
Speaker
There was this momentum that we had on the academy side of winning things. And I think there was an attraction for the family for that. um And we we brought him into the academy. He liked it. I know the Timbers wanted him.
00:22:17
Speaker
Sorry, guys. I know several other clubs were in for him, but they made the decision to to come to us. And then the pandemic happened. yeah The pandemic happened, and so he actually didn't get to play hardly at all for our academy. yeah you know That academy shut down for a half a year, and he got a few games in, and then we brought him into preseason for Defiance in 21, signed him to that there, and we yeah the rest, as they say, is is history that's still being written.
00:22:48
Speaker
We're here with ah Sounders Director of Development, Wade Weber. Noah Jeremiah, I've asked the last couple. You got ah anything anything else for Wade? You know, you you look at this team. We've talked a lot about Obed Vargas. We've talked a lot about others.
00:23:01
Speaker
Who are some players on this team that you're expecting to see today that you think are players that we should be paying attention to as Sounders fans and especially for what we should look for tonight?
00:23:12
Speaker
First team players or second team players? I'm saying players who you think will both have an impact here and, you know, potentially on the first team as well. I'll start with Snyder Brunel. Snyder, midfielder born in 2007, two years younger than Obed.
00:23:26
Speaker
um That's just for context. That makes me feel old. And I'm 25. So, like, that's that's where we're at now. 2007. Snyder has captained Defiance a number of times this year and last year.
00:23:38
Speaker
And we choose the captain not just because we want the best leader to lead the team. we Sometimes we give captain responsibilities to players who we want to be more leaders, to kind bring the leadership out of them.
00:23:54
Speaker
Snyder's been great. He's kind of risen to that challenge and is now going to walk the team out tonight in a in a manner that, yeah in in ah in the biggest game Defiance have ever played, the biggest competitive match.
Match Preview: Players to Watch and Rivalry with Portland Timbers
00:24:07
Speaker
And and yeah, he's again, a versatile midfielder.
00:24:12
Speaker
Have you heard that before? You guys seem to grow those on trees. I wish it was that it was that simple, but, you know, ah Josh Atencio, now in Colorado, um his exit has given a little more freedom for Danny Leyva. Now, the team, when they're healthy, it's hard for any young guy to get a lot of minutes, but Danny's got more minutes this year than than he had last year at this point, and that's a result of Josh going, of Sotokitahara going,
00:24:43
Speaker
um So that's freed up room in midfield for a player maybe like Snyder not saying we're going to sign him soon, but he's close Jeff breaking news get some breaking you we have a starting lineup boy right Please all right, so we got Andrew Thomas and goal any to go we got Stuart Hawkins and Kato Yamada right Kaito Kaito Yamada in the center back Let's go Hawks Reed Baker whiting at left back Kalani Kosarienzi. I did not expect that one. Oh, that is a curveball. That's a curveball. I love that.
00:25:16
Speaker
yeah Snyder, Brunel, and then Tino Lopez in the midfield. I did not realize he had that in his game. Tino is a versatile, is slightly undersized center back, but as a player that can step into midfield or play right back, pop any of those three positions.
00:25:32
Speaker
Yeah. And then Pete Kingston playing as the 10. We're big There's a lot to like about Pete. And I've known Pete, the first academy experience I had with Peter Kingston was in 2016.
00:25:46
Speaker
We went to Sheffield, England to play in a tournament, the Udan Trophy. We won it. We beat FC Basel in the final. They were shocked that Americans actually knew how to play soccer. And Pete was the leader of that group. The and a couple Continue.
00:26:03
Speaker
continue Yeah, so you got Sebastian Gomez, a a teen, home homegrown right now with a defiance. Georgie Menungu at right mid. Who's been tearing up next pro, by the way. Yeah, and Osaze de Rosario.
00:26:17
Speaker
And then a pretty strong bench, I got to say. Trevion Sousa. ah And Edson Carly, ah Danny Robles, you Sucanami coming off the bench. Oh, off of didn't he score? He scored. he's He's the second leading scorer in MLS Next Pro right now. Yeah. And then Corey and Helen and Saros are the ah the rest of the bench. There you go Yeah. I mean, it sounds like a win to me. It's it's a defensive group. I mean, it's a pretty easy strong team. It's a strong strong team, but I will also let everyone know that for forever everyone, what if you're leaning toward the the view of that, Oh, they're stacking the lineup to win this game.
00:26:57
Speaker
Our center backs are both born in 2006. Sebastian Gomez, 2006. Snyder Brunel, 2007. So this is not a veteran. We we haven't brought in the 23-year-olds to try and give ourselves an advantage in this game. that's That's what we could put out on a weekly basis for the second team.
00:27:16
Speaker
And don't forget, the first team play in Houston this Saturday, and then they go to LAFC midweek, yeah and then they go to Portland the following weekend. So our first team had three games,
00:27:28
Speaker
in seven or eight days, then the middle of which is at LAFC, and it just so happens that we're about one week away from that game. So exposure in this game might help prepare first-team players to play at LAFC a week from now. So these are all things that we discuss at every week about how to plot and plan who's in this lineup for T-T.
00:27:50
Speaker
And I don't know you got you if you wanted to stack the lineup, you could have called in Kim Keehee, you could have called in John Bell, you couldve could have called in Paul Rothrock. So it's not like this is an all-hands-on-deck situation. This is, like you said, this is all my defiance this is like a real Tacoma Defiance roster. And 2005 and Reid Baker Whiting, ah another one, who has just turned 20 in March. And kind of coming back from injury yeah and getting fit again and getting minute more minutes. who's yeah i mean not so yeah I'm excited about that lineup.
00:28:22
Speaker
Osaze has these leading MLS next growing goals. He's got a couple in the Open Cup. He's won an Open Cup. He only spent one game. Yeah. And so the having you, Super Nome, come off the bench, he's he's been great. He's a little on the older side.
00:28:37
Speaker
ah Georgie has been tearing it up. And, you know, on the cozy confines of Starfire, it's a beautiful day. Oh, but yeah oh my God. Oh, my Perfect. I'm telling you, Cupset might be in the making, right? We like the sound of that. I like that.
00:28:54
Speaker
What was your just first reaction when you when that when that whistle against Oakland Roots went final and you realized, like, we're playing the but the Portland Timbers' first team in the open cup? Well, I knew that would be a possibility, but I had to wait, I think, 48 hours until they actually – there's a ah draw done offline, 7 a.m., m something.
00:29:18
Speaker
and And that made it official. And I remember the text thread I was on with Henry Bronner and Corey Sincer, Shawn Henderson, Greg Weibel. and we And we all sort of collectively shared memes, just trying trying to one up each other and in giddiness. You know, the classic of the Seinfeld characters all all like doing the fast footsteps. that that That was like the first one in.
00:29:44
Speaker
There was a Chris Farley as well. Chris Farley is the Chippendales guy. I need to see a photo of this. This is Sounders history right here. This is lore that we need to... That's like our territory right here. All we do is jokes.
00:30:00
Speaker
i don't think I don't think I contributed a meme. It's not really my my speed. Well, if you need us to ghostwrite anything... I think I threw some Lord of the Rings in there as well. There we go. yeah that's my That's more my album.
00:30:11
Speaker
So i have i do bunch of i want to do a little thought exercise for you. okay Put yourself in Phil Neville's shoes, as hard as that might be. What is your approach to this game and how do you avoid, because this does feel like a no-win situation if you're the Timbers. If you lose, you've You've lost to a third division team.
00:30:30
Speaker
By the way, that's the they the the this the child of your of your biggest rival. tribe yeah Your biggest rival. And if you win, no one cares.
00:30:41
Speaker
No one cares. You're supposed to win. You just did exactly what you're supposed to do. you have to respond in a British accent like here. Right, exactly. give us your best Bill Neville. What's your approach? I mean, do you do anything lineup-wise that you might not do if this was, don't know, sounds like Earthquakes 2.
00:30:58
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not going to do the accent. ah That's OK. It's a tough one. the You know, I guarantee you theyve they've come here to win. They have come here to win. And every player in that Timbers locker room understands exactly what you just said, that but they're in a no win situation unless they absolutely blow the doors off the defiance and win by your four or five goals.
00:31:26
Speaker
ah So I think the first thing I do is I would ask my owner, so how how much how much do you value public relations? Because this this could be ah this could be a PR kind of, not nightmare, but ah it is a scenario that the timbers probably don't want to get themselves into. Right. i i would I would still prioritize the league it for around the 32 match.
00:31:51
Speaker
And I would light into my players and say, listen, this is you you are playing for jobs here. The Timbers are doing all right in the league. yeah yeah They're a good spot in the league.
00:32:02
Speaker
But I still wouldn't take risks and play the players I absolutely need on Saturdays. to play Tacoma Defiance on ah on a Tuesday. It is Tuesday, right? It is Tuesday. To play Defiance on a Tuesday on the road, I wouldn't do it.
00:32:17
Speaker
i mean Just because i know what the priority has to be for the first team. um Yes, winning a cup is great, but you don't win it a round of 32. You know, if...
00:32:31
Speaker
So you look at Sacoma advances, they're going to play the winner of San Jose Earthquake Sacramento Republic. Right? and And so that's still another step. And then there's another round. And then finally, we're talking about getting into a final. So I think he has to just tell his players, it's up to you to win this game.
00:32:48
Speaker
And yes, it's not the Timbers' first choice 11. I haven't seen their lineup yet, but I doubt that it is. um But every one of those players is going to be extra motivated because there is going to be a nice little crowd here.
00:33:00
Speaker
And it is it's not going to be a warm reception. And they're acted in this pizza place right there's magic about the Open Cup and this this venue. It just is. It's not it's not fake.
00:33:13
Speaker
The Timbers know a little something about the magic of the Open Cup. Four red cards. are Actually, it was three red cards and an injury. yeah i was go i was going to ask you what's the over-under for red cards today? I've got to say it's like one and a half. I hope it's it is is it is one half. It is under. do not want... yeah i That's my fear, is that something happens early in the game that just sort of dictates the narrative the rest of the game. Somebody sent off... sure um Listen, I saw the refs earlier today. They were drinking a cup of coffee. They seemed like good guys. I'm not worried about it. well Everything's going to be great. whole standard of physical preparation for referees in 2025, you wouldn't even believe. I mean people say how much faster the game is.
00:33:57
Speaker
but how much faster the referees are we to keep up with the game. We defend referees on this show all the time. We're a very pro referee on this podcast. I mean, we did it last week, and then, you know.
00:34:08
Speaker
Yeah, you know, the last couple weeks well the last couple weeks have been have been tough for me. What was your take on the on the non-call? oh boy. Oh, boy. Here we go. Let's dive into Let's go. yeah No, I mean, I just couldn't believe that ah he reviewed it for an hour and a half and then still missed the call. Like, how do you look at it for that long and you still miss it? I heard that the ball deflected off a leg before it hit the arm. Did that happen? No. yeah It may have grazed. I think if you want to be the most sympathetic you can possibly be, it looks like it may have grazed his leg.
00:34:44
Speaker
It does not change the trajectory of the ball. And his arm is out for more the before he kicks it. He's hailing a cab. Listen, this is not a natural place position. right like this is This is putting your arm around someone in a bar, and they're like, yeah, I'm good. You know what I mean? so that's yeah know I was actually arguably more more annoyed by Jackson Travis not getting sent off in Colorado. yeah i mean that's That's where my mind's at. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But ah I guess, Wade, on the flip side of what you were just talking about with how you you know how you would approach it approach this game as Phil Neville, what do you think the message is to the to the Defiance guys in this situation where no one expects you to win this game?
00:35:27
Speaker
Heavy, heavy. Except for every Sounders fan. i mean that wow no No neutral. No neutral has any expectation that you win this game. ah But, you know, you do have the home field advantage. Starfire can be the great equalizer in situations like this.
00:35:43
Speaker
ah But to me, it feels like a situation where you would just... You know, try to impart on them. Go out there, have fun, enjoy the moment. Don't let the the weight of it, the weight of opportunity get into your head. Just, you know, go do what you do. ah how How would you ah approach the messaging to the players in a situation where you're this much of an underdog?
00:36:06
Speaker
Yeah, I think the first the first thing would be that there's the old saying, play the game, not the occasion. you know, that this occasion is going to bring with it some feelings, some some nerves. but Butterflies are are good, they're healthy. It means you're concerned about the result and and you're concerned about performing well. um The second would be to keep the message as as close to a regular game message as you can, because you won't need to add anything. Defiance games are not usually attended as well as this game is attended.
00:36:38
Speaker
So there's going to be that that added pressure they'll put on themselves regardless. So they need some familiar touch points. they ah they They need to know that um it is still just a game and they've played hundreds of them.
00:36:51
Speaker
um in their in their lives, some of them in their pro lives perhaps, no, probably not hundreds. But ah but yeah, it's it is, don't don't make it more than it is, it is a game.
00:37:02
Speaker
But one thing I know about Mike Morris, the assistant coach who I've worked with very closely since I joined the academy in early 2016, he has a special special spot in his in his body for the Timbers. I was gonna say in his heart, but it's not in his heart.
00:37:20
Speaker
um he he will make it clear that you know this is not a normal game. If we were playing the Timbers in front of nobody in a parking lot, ah calling fouls ourselves, we should treat it exactly the same as we do when we play at Lumen. It's it ah it's ferocious, it's relentless, never quit, don't stop, get in their face, but don't get sent off.
00:37:44
Speaker
Yeah. there's ah There's an old ah win the ball without fouling, foul without getting booked. That is the sort of ah ah my my mantra to center backs. You have to be able to win a ball sometimes, and you have to be able to foul sometimes, and it can't always lead to a silly yellow card early in a game that you're then having to manage.
00:38:04
Speaker
Sorry, I went off on a tangent there. My message is try not to make more of it than it is. It's a it's a game. You're a good player. You're a good player. You belong in this setting. You've earned the right to play them.
00:38:18
Speaker
And as a result, go take advantage of it. It's just a challenge, right? It's just a challenge. It's not personal. And winning is better than losing, so go win. You know, you are ah like someone who has a lot of connections to this team. You are someone that has a lot of connections to this soccer community.
00:38:37
Speaker
I am curious. I don't know that a lot of people know this, but before you joined the Sounders, you were a high school teacher, a high school history teacher. And I'm just curious, what's the closest a player ever came from your, that you taught to actually playing for you at?
00:38:53
Speaker
is Did that ever, have you had any any like interesting cross crossing paths there of your teaching life and you're not not really i didn't i i was coaching before the sounders i coached for an area youth club and then before that i taught okay that there's a there's a gas gap there okay yeah it's uh i i was teaching when um fifa 2000 came out i don't know if you if you know that uh fifa 2000 like that might be the original yes i think i remember i'm in that
00:39:24
Speaker
as a player. yeah Miami Fusion. And one of I didn't know I was in the game. that was They didn't give us money or anything. They used our name. And it wasn't our likeness. i was just a generic insta-player. But I had ah a student come up to me and say, Mr. Weber, do you know you're you're in a game? And I said, no, I did not know that.
00:39:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's called FIFA 2000. And guess what? You're really slow. I was going to ask, do you to remember what they had you rated as? No, I don't, but apparently I was slow. so But I was a good header of the ball is another thing that he told me, which is actually accurate. I was not the fastest, and I was above average heading the ball. Wow, that is FIFA 2000. FIFA 2000. That's a great shot. That's 25 years old, right we got We got Sounders Director of Development wave Wade Weber here joining us on our live show at Watershed Pizza at Starfire.
00:40:22
Speaker
Wade, I mean, i don't I don't think I have anything else to cover with you. Jeremiah, did you have anything? No, I mean, i can we could go on all day. but We could talk to it is you all night. We've kept you long enough. We've got half hour before the game. I don't know how close we want to cut it for you.
00:40:34
Speaker
but I'm good with whatever you guys want. Just get me to the church on time. yeah as i was like I keep waiting for the but for the Timbers to drop their lineup, and I can't find it anywhere.
00:40:45
Speaker
That's how you know that they're scared right now. Right, exactly. That's how you know it's in their head. Maybe they're trying to resubmit. Maybe they're trying to change things Exactly. Yeah.
00:40:56
Speaker
So and another question i do have about the Tacoma Defiance is, you know, you see a crowd like this, and it's a good reminder. Every time there's an Open Cup game out here, it's a good reminder that but Sounders fans, that soccer fans in this community are quite aware of this facility and coming out here.
00:41:12
Speaker
what's it go to What do you think we need to do to get fans out on a regular basis to watch Defiance games? Because you're well aware as anyone that it's it's mostly friends and family that are out here on yeah on a week-to-week basis. Wow. I think a lot of it has to do with branding and finding niche.
00:41:29
Speaker
the niche Ballard FC have done such a wonderful job of galvanizing that the little... um the The quirky area that is Ballard, that we all love in our fair city, it's just a question of where is that place?
00:41:47
Speaker
I think it could be Tacoma, but we need a facility. There's got to be a stadium that can accommodate it. Starfire size would be great. um you know there was We talked about Spokane. We talked about...
00:42:00
Speaker
ah other places on the other side of the mountains where, you know, you could, that community starving for professional soccer and, and we could provide that. I know l LAFC had a partnership with Las Vegas lights. Yeah. ah And they would train. That's just when Steve Chirondola was their coach. The second team, they train in LA and they bus to Vegas, sleep but bus to Vegas for, for games.
00:42:26
Speaker
And, When it was proposed that we might play in Spokane, this was five years ago. This is before the Spokane Velocity, before the stadium was built there. And I got thinking about that, like, i don't I don't know about that. You know, I'd almost rather live in Spokane and be part of the community because it really feels like you're just rent a rental player otherwise. I think a big part of of the experience of supporting a a minor league, you know, whether it's the Tacoma Rainiers, Everett Aqua Sox, the T-Birds, the hockey team.
00:43:03
Speaker
there's there are There are crowds that exist to support those those franchises, and that the crowds are small, but they're well-branded, and people wear the gear, and it's in the community, and they would represent that place.
00:43:17
Speaker
So what is that for Defiance? I don't know. But I ah do know it's an exciting team. It's the top scorers in MLS Next Pro. It's fun soccer. it It is the sort of thing that if you got a chance to come out to Starfire and watch them play, you wouldn't be disappointed by the level.
00:43:35
Speaker
it's It's a good level. And they're fun team. they're They're fun. They score a lot of goals. It's not like when I was coaching them, Jeremiah. It was, give me one goal and we're going park the bus. Okay, we do have a lineup for the Timbers, and it's ah it's an MLS lineup.
00:43:50
Speaker
Maxine Crepeau, World Cup veteran Maxine Crepeau in goal. Eric Miller, I believe, at left back. Zach McGraw, center back. The Dario Zubridge. There you go.
00:44:04
Speaker
And then a lot of players who I recognize their faces. Kelsey is starting. I don't know who. they don't They don't put the names on their lineup card. Classic. Classic. They just assume everyone. it's Yeah, everyone knows the Portland Timbers. It's like the Beatles' White Album. yeah know You just just need the white cover, and that's all you need.
00:44:23
Speaker
Yeah, so I'm going to be honest with you. i I can't name the rest of these guys. Do you know who these people are? um I'm looking at the lineup. No, no. Not sure.
00:44:34
Speaker
I mean there are some good players in there. i I vaguely recognize most of these guys as guys who have played for their MLS team. High numbers, I generally am like, okay, that's an academy kid. and There's no Diego Chara. There's no Diego Chara. That's a shame because I kind of wanted to see him put to shame at Starfire.
00:44:50
Speaker
if we he's He's got to retire at some point. I mean, apparently not. Apparently not. Yeah. Trey Muse is on the bench, though. Okay. Okay. former Former Sounders, former... Former Academy player. You coached him? coached him. He was on high Academy team with Paul Rothrock and Jackson Reagan.
00:45:06
Speaker
He better give you your jersey. He can give the jersey. we We swapped jerseys tonight. Yeah. He can... yeah he can No. we We'll let him swap with Andrew Thomas. There we go. Maybe. Yeah. No, I... It's... ah the the the The lower division sports thing requires effort, and the Sounders have put a lot of effort in into this, but really it requires someone who can dedicate all of their effort to it. yeah Because Sounders trying to sell tickets to Lumen, rain tickets.
00:45:34
Speaker
that We're building both brands and the bandwidth to to build a third. it it it doesn't exist at the moment. If if anyone knows of a suitably sized stadium looking for a tenant in the greater Puget Sound area, my my emails, I'm sure available on the Internet
Weber's Open Cup Experience and Personal Insights
00:45:57
Speaker
somewhere. So you you never got to coach in the Open Cup, but you did play in the Open Cup. Do you have any good Open Cup memories as a player? Do I have Open Cup memories as a player? So, well, ah yes, I won the Open Cup in 1997 with the old Dallas Burn. Yeah. do you Do you think the Dallas Burn, they should rename FC Dallas Dallas Burn? mean, seriously, like, I feel like that's so much better. it's ah It is a missed opportunity. Thank you. Okay. Thank you.
00:46:25
Speaker
You've heard it here, Dallas. I used to live there. My my Open Cup story. yeah so we played at the Cotton Bowl back then. But back then, they they chose the venue for the final independently.
00:46:37
Speaker
So the final 1997 was in in Indianapolis. And it was a week after MLS Cup ended very late in the year, freezing cold. Absolutely. it's Indianapolis in December. It's the field is frozen. Everything's frozen. and And I was ill the day of the game. We had our pre match meeting and I was in the bathroom. um I don't know. i don't know what what I had, some kind of food poisoning. I felt all right, except when I was throwing up a little bit of shakes.
00:47:06
Speaker
i I was in the lineup, and so I'm trying to hide this from the staff. I'm trying to drink what I can, ah electrolytes and all that. ah And they eventually found out.
00:47:18
Speaker
They played me anyway. I threw up on the field. love that's I threw up on the field. The game, nil-nil, one of the worst games of soccer. Please don't go go back and watch it.
00:47:29
Speaker
Nil-nil, we went to penalties, and we beat D.C. United, who were the two-time defending MLS Cup champs at that point. We beat them the week after they won their second MLS Cup. beat him one Beat them in penalties. I do have a medal. I have a U.S. Open Cup medal at home somewhere.
00:47:46
Speaker
Bruce Arena, D.C.U.? Bruce Arena, DC and Ed. Wow. wow that's All right. Well, ah that that team, that that was a legit Moreno, Echeverry, Diaz Arce, John Harkes. Yeah, good team.
00:48:03
Speaker
We were all right, too, though. Wade, I think that is perfectly acceptable place to wrap it up. want to make sure you can out there. want to make sure get to the church on time. Thank you so much for joining the show this evening. We really appreciate the time. You honestly should have a podcast. You know, like, you have good stories. You're good on the mic. Like...
00:48:23
Speaker
it's got ah It's got to combine music, though. Those are my two big passions are soccer and music. I think the Wade Weber pod is a great idea. I'm here for it. Sounders PR. you i'll talk to them. Yeah. I'll talk to or you can sign with our network. There you go. Yeah, I like that idea. Yeah. Well, if we win and I carry through tonight with my, I'm going to retire, then i'll be I'll be calling you guys There we go.
00:48:47
Speaker
Wade Weber, thank you so much for joining us. Anything you want to plug? I mean, that's usually that's the podcast thing. what do you want to plug? what do I want to plug? What's your what's your shout out? um ah Anything, anything you want.
00:49:01
Speaker
there is a There is a History of Dungeons and Dragons book. Oh, there we go. Yeah. yeah that is It's got all like the the first eight years, all the Gary Gygax stuff, the stuff that's out of print, and you can it's it's very expensive.
00:49:14
Speaker
Anyone looking for a gift idea for me for the holidays, i'm i'm in that. Well, there you go. I think Zach Scott just walked by. He did. Zach Scott is in the building. We got Zach Scott. And I don't think he'll be buying me that for the holidays. No, no, no.
00:49:30
Speaker
Well, thank you so much, Wade. We really appreciate it Let's get a picture here before we do before we do dip out. I'll get a picture of us.
00:49:41
Speaker
he Thank you for doing this, Wade. It's my pleasure. Thank you, Wade. My pleasure. yeah Oh, look at that. we have to lean in? Yeah, get in here.
00:49:56
Speaker
Look at that, winding. We do stuff old school. Okay, phones too. See, they do those plans. Okay, okay.
00:50:09
Speaker
Awesome. Thank you guys.
Match Atmosphere and Tacoma's Motivation
00:50:10
Speaker
Okay. Well We're still we're still going we got another 20. Oh, okay. We have we have we got breaking news Brian Schmetzer is tailgating right now with with Craig okay and we have we have we got breaking news brian schmetzer is tailgating right now with ah with ah craig And we have ah we have an exclusive photo brought to you by Nico Moreno where i don't know where he went, but he was supposed did thought he was supposed to hop on.
00:50:39
Speaker
I don't know. What the hell, Nico? Nico, was standing in the corner over there, but I'm not sure exactly where he went. If you want to move in one, you can, Jeremiah. Feel free. Yeah. And then we'll give these to Nico when he's... popping on, but ah Liam, if you want to put that picture up real quick, I did text it to you, Ari. I don't know if you have your text on here.
00:51:00
Speaker
It should be. Here we go. I'm going to pull this up here. you want to pull it up on your phone?
00:51:11
Speaker
very Oh, wait. Oh, here we go. Here we go. So if you want to show, we can see it's on the screen for those watching. But this is Brian Schmetzer tailgating a Tacoma Defiance match right now. Is he is he like shotgunning beers? or is Oh, yeah. There he is. Really good, high quality. I love it. You can totally see this. Yeah, Nico looking like a paparazzi over here. Exactly. Like he really is. ah He should post that. Bigfoot photo. That's real journalism right there. have no clue where this guy went. Nico just disappeared, man. Like, don't know. He's if you can't get me on right away, I'm out.
00:51:49
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, fair enough. Okay, look, the quality looks pretty good. Oh, that actually is good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, we appreciate everyone dealing with the quality. If you've never been to Starfire Sports, and your your phone just doesn't work The Wi-Fi situation is not always ideal. We forgot a dongle, and we're streaming off of my phone, basically. No.
00:52:10
Speaker
Yeah. So we're just my data plan is RIP, but it's okay. We charge to business credit card. It's yeah totally fine. Um, we're looking at chat here. It seems like there's a ton of people.
00:52:23
Speaker
I mean, we were looking around this building. There is about a million and a half way more po than our last, there's an Andy Craven Jersey back there. I need that. I need to buy that off that guy.
00:52:33
Speaker
oh my God. ah i'm I'm just like I'm almost overstimulated with how much is going on and about food trucks. This is a great turnout. Did you expect this much? ah No. i Oh, no. this is This is pretty good. I will say that when I looked at the seating manifest on Ticketmaster today. yeah If you still want to come, you know, there's another 20 minutes. Lobbingsportures.com slash tickets. You can buy a ticket. There you go.
00:52:58
Speaker
As far as I know, that it looked like there was going to be a decent crowd. Like I would i would guess... at least 2000 there might be closer to 3000 I don't know what the capacity is today ah you know the sounders can max it out around 45 but I don't I don't think they're gonna be pushing that but no I mean I would surprised if there's 2500 people here maybe i don't know i'm I'm going off entirely what's in watershed so that might be the most accurate but I agree well It looks like Nico's just not here. Nico, if you're watching the stream. Nico, come back, Nico. like a loss calling a lost child. It's like calling a lost child. Where are you, Nico? Nico, please report to the office.
00:53:38
Speaker
ah But, Jeremiah, we brought you in here today, one, because you are the senior writer of Sounder and Heart, but two, because you know a lot about this team.
00:53:49
Speaker
You've looked at both of the lineups. Where's your confidence level at tonight, im realistically?
00:53:56
Speaker
I'm going to be honest. The Timbers have put out a team that if they fielded it for an MLS game, you would feel like, okay, they've got a decent chance. I think this is... The Timbers are the favorites in this game. I don't think there's any reason. We found Nico.
00:54:10
Speaker
I don't think they've pulled punches on this on this roster. Like I said, they have some legitimate... Especially in defense. They have some real... MLS quality players out there. i don't see any reason why Defiance can't be competitive, be competitive and may and and potentially win this game. I don't think that they're the the favorites or anything, but I don't think it's a huge upset.
00:54:33
Speaker
I think they got some firepower on the bench. i don't know I'm excited about this. here Here's the thing for the Timbs, know, they ah They need to jump on top of Tacoma early, put the pressure on, ideally get a couple goals for them.
00:54:48
Speaker
Because this kind of game, where the weight of expectations are all on one team, yeah the longer it stays 0-0, or even if Portland scores first and it's like a 1-0 into the second half, like that's when the ah underdog starts to get that belief. you know So like they really are in a situation where I feel like they've got to they gotta to press the issue early.
00:55:09
Speaker
Well, And I think one of the things that's also, you know, wade Wade talked about this, but one of the things that's working for the Sounders is that everyone, or for the Defiance, is that everyone that they have out on that field has something to prove. Yeah. Not a single guy out there has their their space in the first team guaranteed.
00:55:27
Speaker
This is their chance. This is Osase De Rosario's chance maybe to get a first team contract. This is Georgie Manungu's chance to get back into the back into the regular rotation. you can kind of go down the list. this is you know Every single guy out there has a real reason to believe Peter Kingston is a great example of this. This is a player who did, I don't think he got drafted.
00:55:46
Speaker
He had a really up and down college career. He one point was considered a pretty high level academy prospect. And this is a chance for him to show his stuff against a real opponent.
00:55:57
Speaker
Yeah. and And you can kind of go down the list every single player like that. Essentially, no no one's happy to just be here. Yeah. And I'm going to toss that one to you, too, Nico. We saw both the lineups.
00:56:09
Speaker
How confident are you feeling realistically in a result tonight? I think you can it, man. First of all, thank you for having me on. I appreciate it.
00:56:19
Speaker
Nice setup. Thank you. Here, let me check your mic. might have turned off. Yeah, yeah. Oh, I... There you go. it again. There we go. I thought I was like an out-of-tune. You know what I mean? know, bro. There you go. It's all We turned your auto-tune off. That's right. All right, go, baby.
00:56:33
Speaker
Yeah, no, no. Hey, man, I think they have a really good chance to Make it difficult. There is ah lot of players in this Timbers starting 11 that either have zero minutes or barely any minutes Christian Paredes is one of them has 108 minutes in MLS play ah He's a guy that has consistently needed confidence needed game time real competitive minutes. Yes and got those Super Rick is a guy that is a quality MLS talent in terms of his position, but got zero minutes. This is his first start of 2025 MLS play. So when I see that, I'm looking for a team that might not have continuity, that might make mistakes.
00:57:17
Speaker
And this is a Timbers team that already, just with their starting 11, has issues defensively. ah They consistently... tend to be gappy. They get far too high. I actually like this ah defensive... In terms of defense, their fullback's a little bit better than I do their main guys that are mainly just guys that are moving forward.
00:57:39
Speaker
Ortiz is probably going to be the guy that's going to be ah moving everything around. He's going to be the one that's going to handle the strings, that's going to hold the pace. He's going to be the guy that's going to really...
00:57:50
Speaker
make that team run in the midfield. ah But hey, I think if Tacoma can, like you guys said, Hold off, maybe make it difficult, make it a ah game where they won't be able to get easy goals.
00:58:04
Speaker
Anything can happen there later on, but not easy. Kelsey is a quality striker. That's probably the most dangerous guy on the field on the attacking end. yeah He's a guy that I've always liked, even when he was in Cincinnati. yeah I thought they got him on a steal. He's a guy that's big.
00:58:21
Speaker
It's going to be difficult to cover for guys that don't play at that level. And I'm telling you, he's used to the European level. He moves well. He's clever. ah He understands what he has to do off the ball.
00:58:33
Speaker
So that's probably going to be your X factor for the Timbers. That seems stuff like that is where it gets tough without a doubt. I mean, ah Outside of just the experience and the pedigree factor, Kevin Kelsey is six foot four Yeah. just like a that's a good i mean but That's a good test for these center backs. Absolutely. it's a great like The whole thing is a great test, and that matchup in particular.
00:58:55
Speaker
But if we're if we're if we're breaking down like the matchups... that really illustrate the underdog favorite dynamic at play a $10 million player. Yeah, it's a $10 million player on in the field at Starfire playing against MLS next pro side in the in the open cup. Yeah, so a few more of the guys that in there. Almir Fernandez is starting, Ariel Lasseter, Ian Smith, Jal Ortiz, and Bravo, who...
00:59:23
Speaker
And we can confirm that the Portland Timbers have put out the worst lineup graphics who ever exist. Yeah, I trying to figure it out. yeah like you know i do I finally did figure it out. um Okay. You decoded, you decrypted. It does require a decoder ring. i hit They aren't giving you a formation. You have to watch five Portland Timbers matches to get the rings. And then you can you can watch it. We have a question here from a viewer that says...
00:59:50
Speaker
how do how does this go if seattle is up one nil at half and how does this go if portland is up one nil at half how are we feeling either way i guess i'll start i don't really feel like anything if anyone's up at one nil at half it's starfire stadium you never know what's going to happen and uh i mean if portland's up one nil half i'm probably a little bit more concerned than i am a defiance up at half but and regardless I will say that if the if the Sounders need to bring or the defiance need to bring and firepower off the bench, Yu Tsukunome is available.
01:00:22
Speaker
ah Travian Sousa is available. Those are two big guns. I'm going to give a shout out for Edson Carly. Yeah, this is a player who I am absolutely fascinated by. He's an Academy kid. We sort of talked about it a little bit with with Wade, but he is he is a player who can do things that we have not really seen other Academy players do in the past. He has a creativity about him.
01:00:46
Speaker
He is, you know, we've talked a long time about how the Sounders have not really produced a creative player out of their academy. This is someone who could potentially change that. yeah And I'm really excited to to see him get if he get some minutes in this game.
01:01:00
Speaker
I'd be worried if Tacoma is down one. I would be. ah But at the same time, I feel like because of this team's inability to have consistent midfielders that might be able to know how game ship and game play,
01:01:17
Speaker
ah They don't have the Diego Chara. I spoke to him this morning. Unfortunately, he has a injury that did not allow him to come in, but he had great things to say about a lot of these guys that are coming in, ah including a guy like Ortiz that he feels like he's taking some ranks in the leadership component.
01:01:31
Speaker
But even then, I think Paredes, again, going back to him, either guy is very good defending. So both of those guys are more eights. they don't They're not playing with the six. So can Tacoma Defiance maybe use that to kind of cut through that midfield, play through that midfield?
01:01:44
Speaker
I think that's possibility. But...
Tactical Analysis: Strategies Against Portland Timbers
01:01:46
Speaker
You do want Tacoma to be on the front foot as much as it is possible. And if anything we've seen from this Timbers team, regardless of who it is on the field, is that they cannot hold these.
01:01:57
Speaker
They give up a lot of points, yeah a lot of goals, and therefore, you know, is anybody's game. But if Seattle could put the heat on them and really make them off their shell and be even more aggressive, pushing numbers forward. I feel like that's where Tacoma can shine. But the last thing I'll say about how Tacoma can win is set pieces.
01:02:17
Speaker
This specific line that was going to have issues with that. um Kropot a guy that... clearly is a class type of goalkeeper, but it all goes back to repetition. It all goes back to how much company competitive minutes you're getting.
01:02:31
Speaker
And so for me, that's where Tacoma can really make a difference. And a guy like Peter Kingston that has a quality foot that has made goals right. So that's where Tacoma Defiance can make some difference. So you have been, you told me at least that you've been locked in, you've been scouting the Timbers.
01:02:48
Speaker
Let's get like a 60 second to two minute like breakdown on this squad specifically. I mean, I know you just went into it, but like helicopter view, how, you know, that kind of thing.
01:02:58
Speaker
but They're a team that wants to get forward. They want to pin the teams back. They play very direct. They got a lot of speed. Whether it's Anthony on one side, Santiago Moreno, up top with Mora. He's a guy that stretches defenses out.
01:03:10
Speaker
He makes a lot of habit for ah defenses. He makes them collapse. Da Costa has been... The new Evander, really. He's been the guy that kind of is the creative player. Him and Anthony have a fantastic report ah in the way they attack.
01:03:24
Speaker
But again, going back defensively, they're a team that just gives up a lot of ah goals. They give up a lot of space. They have difficulties on set pieces. ah So because of their way of attack, they...
01:03:34
Speaker
give up a lot of space, specifically out wide. Bravo and Mosquera, neither guy is a really good defender. They're both more of attacking fullbacks. They played with wingbacks last ah game, I believe, and that's when they played with Anthony as a wingback for part of that game.
01:03:49
Speaker
So those are the things that for me, Timbers they They know their strengths, though. Before they lost their last game, they were in seven-game undefeated streak. Scoring a ton of goals. Scoring a ton of goals. They are up there with San Jose for most goal scorers in the league. So they're definitely an offensive power. But I feel like, again, ah they have a really difficult time holding possession, managing games.
01:04:14
Speaker
And that's the reason why they're not top of the West. And those are exact things that could really come into play in a game like this, where a game like this, man, like your current form kind of goes out the window. a lot of other variables that might affect a single match in an elimination rivalry game like this at ah at a place like Starfire.
01:04:37
Speaker
It really... ah it levels the playing field more than you might think. Now, I don't know. I'm just so curious to see how this actually plays out because, I mean, there there is no question about it. Portland is the is the favorite. But I'm telling you, like, the longer this thing stays 0-0 or within one goal, the longer it stays like that,
01:04:57
Speaker
the more it's going to start to creep in their heads and and it could start to get to them. So I think really the biggest key for Tacoma in this game is just keeping it close. Yeah. Just keeping it close and letting the chips fall where they may.
01:05:08
Speaker
You know, if Portland gets off and running and they start banging in goals, it could get away from them. But if you just keep it close, anything can happen. Anything can happen. I'm going to, we got to wrap up here. We got 10 minutes till the match kicks off. I want to make sure you guys can get to your seats because you know, you actually do real journalism things. I'm like us. We just sit here and talk, but ah let's close it out. I want to, we don't do this often, but I want to do a prediction here. Okay. It's just win or loss. That's it.
01:05:34
Speaker
No score. That's it. I'm going to start with Ari winner loss. Oh, man. I mean, my honest my honest take on any match where yeah an MLS Next Pro team is playing an MLS squad is the MLS squad is going to win.
01:05:49
Speaker
It doesn't matter like what the matchup is. like That's the first place that my my analytical mind goes to. ah So, I mean, if I had to predict, I would probably stick with that. But like I said, a lot of those variables that lead me to that conclusion might not be as in play in this scenario as it would be otherwise. so Listen, we have to get back at Danny Bawanga for pissing on Starfire Stadium. And this is the way that you start. OK, they won the Open Cup and in the piss of Danny Bawanga is now seeped into the turf.
01:06:22
Speaker
And it will radiate yeah a win for the Tacoma Defiance. And that is that is my take. It's going to be a win tonight.
Venue Advantage and Listener Interaction
01:06:28
Speaker
Well, it would be no fun to predict a Timbers win. That's right. That's how I'm going to be. So, of course, I'm going to pick a so Defiance win.
01:06:37
Speaker
But here's the thing, the nugget that I'm going to share. Okay. The degree to which ah MLS teams dominate lower division teams is highly dependent on where the game is played. Yes. And once you take it out of the...
01:06:52
Speaker
the MLS stadium, it becomes pretty close to a 50 50 deal. Now granted, an MLS team has never played an MLS next pro team in the open cup. yeah This is the first or I'm sorry, an affiliate team.
01:07:03
Speaker
It's only happened one other time where an MLS team has played an MLS next pro team. That was back in 2022. And that was the Rochester Reiner or Rochester FC, whatever. Anyway, I think the, I think the clients have a puncher's chance at more than a puncher's chance. I I'm going to pick the fine because I think that's more fun.
01:07:18
Speaker
Yes. I should have done that. But yeah. Yeah. And I'm going play devil dad advocate here just because I have to. That's perfect. You know, again, we got to even it out. It's like we're doing a real show here. Me and Jeremiah sometimes are, you know, union and yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So I think it's going to be a Timbers win. i think it's I think they're going to get a couple of early goals.
01:07:36
Speaker
I think it's going to be I think to two one score line. so that's close. It's going to be close, closer than maybe people think. I just think Kelsey against Luke Hawkins. I was hoping that Leo Bernie was going to be available, but he's injured. Yeah. And that's a big loss for that team because he brings them a little bit of experience.
01:07:54
Speaker
Right now, i look at that back line. Even with Kosa and Reid, I just don't know if they can hold back this specific, even this lineup. and Specifically, Kessa, I think he's going to have a good game. Yeah. So that's why I'm going to go ahead and go with the He's never played the Starfire, though.
01:08:08
Speaker
but but Exactly. and in that I was literally just going to say that this this field plays so short. yeah I was talking to ah Sanchez after the LAFC game and he's like, we could not get anything wide. The tire guy? The LAFC guy. know The tire guy. Oh, the tire guy. I that. that yeah Fantastic yeah So I was talking to me, I mean, we could not get wide. We wanted to. We were trying to space out. And by the time the widest guy was out, he was outside of the line. Yeah. So this field plays a lot shorter, which is going to maybe hold back a lot of that speed that they have.
01:08:44
Speaker
And you' you're right. Kelsey's never played here. yeah Not in this turf. We've all been on that turf. The ball hits different. So there's definitely a puncher's chance for the home team. But I think Timbers just have a little bit more MLS quality on the field.
01:08:59
Speaker
Well, thank you everyone for tuning in. Thank you so much to Jeremiah and Nico. Do either of you have anything to plug other than sound or at heart? I mean... Did you get the picture of Brian? Yeah, we did. We put it up and did We did a whole comment on that. I'm not to be closer because he already hates me. in that Yeah, okay. yeah so I would was going to say he might.
01:09:19
Speaker
You know what I'm saying? He's listening to this. He probably do have this. He's probably got a couple beers, you know. He's going to come up to you. I don't want that problem. Oh, here's the refs. They look like good guys. They look like good They look like good guys today. Yeah. They look like good guys. Yeah.
01:09:33
Speaker
Well, listen, we are here at Starfire tonight, obviously. If you see us, please come say hello. We are so thankful that you listened to this live stream show and bared with the worst video quality you've ever seen in your life.
01:09:45
Speaker
I've heard that the audio is good, so that's really all that matters. If the audio was mad, we're chilling. Plug the audio in. I'm sitting here. paying for my wife's parking okay well yeah know you see that stuff yeah exactly so hey my my plugs that are always you know jeremiah and i do the friday show yeah that's been what we learned this week i hope you guys like it and of course has a new mic eventually he'll actually plug it into his phone i need to i need to do it need to do it i need to put it on eventually i need to have noah i need to have noah come over like poke my shit out
01:10:18
Speaker
like this no no no i want to try to figure out my lap time right now and you guys are just making fun of me like come on this is this moment i'm serious man i'm gonna bring you on and you know you want some carne asada bro some you know i think you see what mean Whatever you want man, I'll get you on and just hook me up with my laptop and I got technical But that and then of course just I appreciate you guys love Scorchers over so just kickoff
Closing Remarks and Listener Engagement
01:10:46
Speaker
has been amazing. We just did under likes.
01:10:47
Speaker
Yeah, dude That's big. You guys are like 1.6 K almost on the last episode. it's That was a big boom there I actually this beer right here is up for a lot of Scorchers money so they Boom, baby, boom making all this cash bands bands Well, thank you all so much. Remember to hit the like, subscribe, and I don't know.
01:11:07
Speaker
That's it. Enjoy the soccer match. We are... We're done. We out. We out.