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Everything We're Predicting for the 2026 Seattle Sounders Season
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The 2026 MLS season is here, and Lobbing Scorchers is sending off the preseason with one final episode before the action kicks off. The crew reunites in the studio for a spirited debate on Pedro de la Vega and his role heading into the new campaign, plus immediate reaction to the now-official trade of Reed Baker-Whiting to Nashville SC.
From there, the pod shifts into full 2026 Seattle Sounders season preview mode, with Ari Liljenwall and Noah Riffe laying out their predictions across several key categories: Team MVP, Golden Boot contender, Best Newcomer, and more.
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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
Preseason Kickoff
00:00:00
Speaker
Well sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be a real scorcher today. Quite the scorcher today. Well it's gonna be scorcher.
00:00:21
Speaker
Welcome to our last preseason show before the start of the 2026 MLS regular season, which the Seattle Sounders kick off on Sunday night against the Colorado Rapids at Lumen Field. lot of preseason takes, a lot of narratives, and now the true journey is set to get underway. We're going to be laying down some
Predictions with a Dash of Humor
00:00:43
Speaker
predictions.
00:00:43
Speaker
for the 2026 Sounders season, which have famously always aged really well and never backfired. I've never had a prediction not age well, particularly about Atlanta United. And we've got a couple of other news items and updates to hit. Noah, what's up, man? Season's starting in a few days.
00:01:00
Speaker
How you feeling? Feeling good, feeling excited for these predictions. I wrote down some stuff that I think everyone is going to be surprised by, but that's what we're here for. Good content. So let's jump into it.
00:01:13
Speaker
Yeah, no, excited to get into it as well. And I'm mostly excited to have real games to cover, but... I think ah it's going to be fun. We're going lay down our prognostications and then keep track of them throughout the year and then see who was right and who's an idiot at the end of the year. So it's going to be good stuff.
Sponsorship Shoutouts and Merchandise
00:01:32
Speaker
Before we get into it, shout out to our sponsors, Hakes and Ferments, Full Pull Wines, Podium Menswear, and also, if you have yet to pick up your new Evergreen State Kit,
00:01:43
Speaker
Lobbingscorchers.com slash kit. Use that for your order. And that's a great way to support the show. ah Noah, we ready to lay down a pod here? Let's go. All right, let's
Pedro de la Vega Injury Update
00:01:57
Speaker
do it. we let's We're going to hit a few Sounders news items first. They're not like major, major headlines, but let's get them out of the way off the top and then we'll jump into the predictions. And the first one...
00:02:09
Speaker
that I wanted to hit was an injury update timeline update on one Pedro de la Vega. Brian Schmetzer gave one on sports radio KJR via our friend Jackson Feltz, which we were just on as well. Yes. Yes. Shout out. ah I'm just going to read the exact quote and then we're going to react to it. Okay. He says, I am not expecting to see him until right around either just before the world cup or just after the world cup break. So that is a slightly longer timeline than I think we were under the initial impression that I was going to take. I think when he first sustained the injury in the New York Mets outfield on decision day last season, ah the timeline people have been kind of talking about was more like April or May. Now we're talking about, you know, World Cup, more like the summer. So.
Debating De la Vega's Roster Value
00:03:01
Speaker
i like He'll be back theoretically before mid-season, but closer to mid-season than the beginning of the season, I think is ah is a fair way to put it. Noah, you've been on the agenda. you're at You're at your kind of wit's end with the situation, as I understand it.
00:03:20
Speaker
And that was before this news that the timeline is going to be longer than we anticipated. So ah why don't you ah just give your reaction to the quote and then I'll ah i'll get my reaction to your reaction.
00:03:32
Speaker
I think I'm continuously done with the situation. That's exactly exactly what you said. How much longer are we going to sit here and be like, yes, our DP spot is worth 10 games a season. Our DP spot is worth 20 games a season. Our DP spot is worth a player who doesn't even start a majority of the games. I understand this is a freak injury. The Mets outfield is cursed. um Not only is the baseball team cursed, but also...
00:04:02
Speaker
You know, playing in an outfield should not be allowed. It's not allowed by FIFA. So why is it allowed by MLS? That's a whole other thing. um I'm just done with him, man. Like, I think he is an incredible player. I really do. I think that he is someone who could develop into a superstar talent in MLS. We've seen him play amazing.
00:04:23
Speaker
I do not deny that. I don't deny his talent. I don't deny his pedigree. What I do deny is this this like continued idea that he is not ah ah basically a failed signing. Someone who has contributed but has not contributed enough in a designated player spot. A spot where you need to absolutely get every ounce of value out of.
00:04:48
Speaker
It's time to consider that this is a player you should be moving on. It is time to consider that maybe, just maybe, you got unlucky and he needs to start somewhere else and just cut your losses.
00:05:03
Speaker
Yeah, so I understand the sentiment, and I think a lot of people share the sentiment. he has He has missed a lot of time ever since he's been on the team. There's no question about it. And MLS is a league where if your DPs miss as much time as he's missed, it can be very detrimental to the ceiling of your team. And all that is true, ah but...
00:05:26
Speaker
I'm still not there yet. How are you not there I'm still not there yet. How are you not there What more would have to convince you? He's literally not going to play half the season. It doesn't change how I think about it being a couple months later it did from the beginning of the season. I don't know about that, but I don't think moving off him and in the summer window is is necessarily like the best course of action. And let me let me let me explain. Let me explain. Number one, number one, and you noted this in ah in your take, but he's really, really good.
00:06:01
Speaker
When he plays. Really, really good when he plays. Yeah. To the point where we saw exactly how good he was last year when he was a huge reason why they won the only tournament that they won, scored a Puskas nominee in the tournament, was the MVP of the tournament, was a big reason they were able to take down Messi and the Barca boys in the League's Cup final in front of 70K. He had a great game that day. ah He had such a good game that Leo Messi was getting in his ear and talking trash to him famously. ah so But the reason i think that's important is because the framing of it as a totally failed signing, i don't agree with that. I don't think you can say that.
00:06:45
Speaker
They won leagues cup last year in incredible historic fashion in large part because of him. Yeah, he didn't play a lot of minutes last year, but like they still, they still got a trophy out of the season with him as not just a major contributor, but like the contributor, the MVP of the tournament. If you told me before last season that he was going to do that in leagues cup and take down messy in the Barca boys, but you just didn't tell me how many minutes that he played. I would say that that is that is a good that is a good return no matter how many minutes he played because like you're trying to win trophies at the end of the day, and he did deliver on that last year. i don't know if they win that trophy without him, and that was a demonstration of the type of effect that he can have on this team's ceiling when he does play. So you're in a situation now where, yes, he busted his knee in the Mets outfield.
Exploring Roster Depth and DP Spot Strategy
00:07:40
Speaker
He's not going to be back until later in the season than you expected. But the other thing is I think that a lot of teams in MLS, they would be in a situation where if he missed that much time, it would be so detrimental to their roster and their ability to take results that you would have to move on from him. you would You would pretty much have to, no matter how talented he was. This roster is not in that situation. This team also showed last year that they can take results and be competitive without Pedro de la Vega. They're very, very deep specifically at his roster.
00:08:13
Speaker
position which is an even bigger reason why they should move him because they don't need him in that position it just doesn't make any sense to me Ari yes exactly when you have a designated player playing on the field with this roster you win trophies but guess what when they didn't have him on the field you know what happened Minnesota United happens, okay? You can't tell me if he wasn't playing that he would have been an impact player. I agree with you on his talent. I agree with you on his pedigree. I agree with you on the fact that he was the reason that we won League's Cup.
00:08:52
Speaker
That's not my problem. That's not my interest. My interest is the fact that he is yet again going to play less than half the games in the season, not even going to start close to half the games in the season, and he's coming back after the World Cup, and we know how Brian feels about treating him on his injury ramp-up. He's probably going to play. 10 minutes here, 15 minutes here, 20 minutes here, 30 minutes here, 45 minutes here. He's going to re-aggravate it. Go back to 10 minutes. Who knows how many starts he gets this season? I think that could be a under over for our predictions later in the show because genuinely...
00:09:26
Speaker
How can that be good value? How can that be good roster building? You get three of these spots. I don't deny his talent. But if that spot of the three most important, most valuable spots is not even seeing half of the matches in your season, he's not starting half the matches, how can you tell me that's good value?
00:09:45
Speaker
It doesn't make any sense. You can find a Pedro de la Vega replacement. Believe me, you can do it. You can do it. It's possible. It's a designated player spot. You can spend as much money as you possibly can. I'm not saying it's impossible to find a replacement. I think it is going to be really hard to find replacement that is that good. The Minnesota United series...
00:10:11
Speaker
I don't think they lost that series because one of the attacking DPs was hurt. They scored seven goals in the last two games of that series. I think that's actually an example of that they were able to function offensively at an extremely high level. So we should just two DPs and four U-22s. Well, what I'm saying is I think this roster is deep enough and showed last year that it can take results without him enough where you can to give it...
00:10:39
Speaker
you can afford to give it One more No, we've given it enough goes. We've given it enough goes. Just one more. Why? You're addicted. You're addicted to Pedro de la Vega. I'm addicted to Puskas nominees. You're addicted to Pedro de la Vega. I'm addicted to players that are that good. He should have won.
00:10:55
Speaker
he she He didn't even win his didn't even come close to winning. Yeah, that was ah that was the voters getting it wrong. all right that he was His was better than the one that did win, and I don't remember which one that was, but his was better, and...
00:11:09
Speaker
Just one more. we We have to think with logic here. all we have to think with We have to think with logic here. If this was any other team and you were analyzing them and you said, yeah, this guy is really good, but he's only playing this many minutes. you would say that's probably not the best place for that roster to be spent. We talked about this with Ricky Pooj. He's an incredible talent, but they put they didn't put him on the season-ending injury list, which then they ended up almost spooning.
00:11:37
Speaker
Now they put him on the season-ending injury list. They bring in another DP. How is that going to be successful? I don't know. Very different situation. But it's the whole thing of, like, sometimes you have to make uncomfortable decisions. Yeah.
00:11:51
Speaker
to be competitive even more than you already are. Another DP in this team that's actually playing explosive, explosive. You can't deny that we would be close to the contenders of anything. Who says that we couldn't get a player like Son? I'm not saying that our front office would do that.
00:12:10
Speaker
But you never know with an open DP spot and in in the summer window when all of these players are available after the World Cup. Who knows, man?
00:12:20
Speaker
Who knows? You have time to court people while they come here in the U.S. I think this is the perfect opportunity to move this player to bring someone in who is on a national team and who's seeing the U.S., who's seeing Seattle even maybe. Who knows? Mo Salah. Who knows? um I don't know.
00:12:40
Speaker
I don't know what to say. i know i'm not I'm not saying Mo Salah should replace him, but it's just the thought is there. i know I understand the sentiment. I understand the frustration.
00:12:52
Speaker
and he's And I'm not mad at him. he's miss He's missed a lot of time. And it is obviously a very important high leverage roster spot, to DP roster spot. no No, no, no. It's not a high leverage roster spot. It is the most important roster spot. You have told me that consistently.
00:13:09
Speaker
You have told me that consistently. Like his specifically? No, no, no. designated player spot is the most important spot. It is the most important spot. That is how it's structured. It's what you get to spend the most money on the best players.
00:13:21
Speaker
on And that's why look I think I think when you have one as much depth as they have and also you've already won a trophy with him as a focal point in a leading contributor. He that is but that's the whole the whole point of roster building. He's going to be available for that and all that he was available for it last year. And then he had a free wasn't he had a freak injury in the Mets.
00:13:46
Speaker
Outfield. All right. Like that. I understand in the context of all the other injuries that he had, it it is frustrating, but I think to, uh, to say that you got to move off him because of, because of that, I think it's a little bit of an emotional reaction. think you're rationalizing and being emotional way more than I am. Am I coping yeah and rationalizing? Yes. Yes. Yes, yes which i think I am, but he's also he's also hella good. So I i think that is an important argument that you have to take into account.
00:14:17
Speaker
And i like i think the I think the depth of the roster... plays into how they they can approach it differently than another team. That's so silly though. You can be even more deep. You can be even more deep. You can be even more talented.
00:14:29
Speaker
Why would you want to settle with what we have right now when there is an opportunity to take that spot and get someone who can come in and play? I don't understand that. I don't get that. Get what you can for the player.
00:14:44
Speaker
There is clearly interest because he is good. You're telling me the Liga Mechies club wouldn't ship off five mil for him? I think they would, even injured. So I don't know what to tell you, but I'm not, you can't get me behind it. And and I sound like such a hater of Pedro de la Vega. I love the kid.
00:15:03
Speaker
I love the way he plays. I love the fact that, you know, he has gone through all these ups and downs. I do believe in him as a player, but this is about roster building. This is about being smart. This is about winning trophies. This is about if I'm sitting there as a GM, what would I want to do? What would I be doing? And I think this is one where you have to be a little ruthless.
00:15:24
Speaker
I mean, you know, i again, I understand the argument. I understand the sentiment. I'm not there yet. I'm holding out. I'm coping. I'm rationalizing. I'm going to check in with you every week on this. Leave your takes on the De La Vega debate in the comments. Let us know what you guys think. You know, we're on different sides of it.
00:15:46
Speaker
So, I mean, it's good discourse. But... We'll see what happens. I mean, I think what they're going to do is ah they're going to wait it out. They're going to ramp them up. They're going to bring them back and go from there.
00:15:58
Speaker
And if he if he becomes if he if he picks up where he left off when he was playing last year, i think that it you they have a great chance at winning more trophies and achieving everything that they want. not going to just pick up where he was, though. That's not possible.
00:16:14
Speaker
Why not? He's got a ramp back up. He's going to have to get more comfortable. Every injury you take, you have to relearn that confidence. You have to re-trust your body. It's a challenge. It's not about the fact that he's literally physically capable. It's also a mental thing. He he struggled so heavily with the mental aspect coming in that first season.
00:16:35
Speaker
I don't blame him for doing that. He was a young kid who had the weight of the number 10 on his shoulders and then immediately gets injured and then doesn't play well when he comes back. I mean, it's been it's been a challenge after a challenge for a challenge. I even think it's a good thing for him if he's able to move forward and and try something new.
00:16:58
Speaker
Not there yet. Not there yet. Not there yet. Do you concede on any of my points? I can see that it's been very frustrating that he is, has had as many many injuries as he's had, and he's missed as much time as he's had. And I can see that it's definitely not good that he's missed that that much time considering he's a designated player. ah i mean,
00:17:23
Speaker
I would hope you would concede that they literally won Leagues Cup over Inter-Miami and the Barca Boys. I don't think they do that without them. I don't. That is the type of caliber of talent that we're talking about. That's not necessarily easy find. That's not necessarily easy to replace. I mean...
De la Vega's Future and Potential Replacement
00:17:44
Speaker
i mean Like, yeah I also do think there's a lot to what I'm saying as far as like different teams with rosters in different states can afford to approach these things differently. And if you really, if you really believe in the talent, which I think he showed that the talent is there to believe in last year, then you're not in like, ah you're not in as dire a situation as maybe some other teams Would be. And I get your argument about like affecting the ceiling in the in the short term and all that too, but ah i think I just think what we saw last year was ah when when they had him going at peak capacity, they were looking at they were looking unstoppable. They destroyed the Barca boys. I think that it's funny, though, because I i completely think the the argument that you're giving about this specific situation versus, oh, well, we really don't need him because look at the depth of our team.
00:18:39
Speaker
That plays way more into my argument. If there's such a depth and such a brevity of players, ah that's awesome. Then, like, yeah, we can we can cut him loose. And if we miss on the next DP signing, too, it doesn't matter. But the reality is, is like...
00:18:54
Speaker
you know, he's not playing anyway. So it's just using that spot. Like, I i can't really... I think... I can't really see the logic in it. Part of where I'm coming from, too, is that I feel like with this last injury in particular, where he did his knee in the Mets outfield, like, yeah, that sucks. And in the context of all the and other injuries he's had and all the time he's missed, it was super brutal. But, like, I just... I hate the idea of like basing the decision to move off him on some shit that like he had no control over and really has nothing to do with like being injury prone necessarily. like That is a freak occurrence playing on a baseball field, and it doesn't necessarily indicate...
00:19:43
Speaker
I don't think that it's like it's a guarantee that he's going to keep getting injured like this. Like that was a crazy. i mean None of it is his fault. None of the injuries are his fault. None of the none of that is his fault. It's not his fault if he is or isn't injury prone. Being injury prone isn't necessarily like a a a you you are doing something. Your body is doing something. Sometimes it's legitimately just you are an unlucky person.
00:20:08
Speaker
And I think Pedro de la Vega is truly one of the most unlucky people and players I have ever seen. Because you can have tremendous talent, you can have tremendous pedigree, but the fact is if you cannot stay on that field and you can't stay healthy, whether it's through luck or body or whatever it is,
00:20:27
Speaker
You're just, that's just what you are. It's, it's, it's not your fault. And again, I don't blame Pedro de la Vega for any of this. I like him a lot. I like him as a player. I want him to succeed. I would love if he would be able to play 90% of the matches. I wish he was as durable as Albert Rusnak, but the reality is Albert Rusnak is a major league soccer DP. Pedro de la Vega is a Tam player.
00:20:50
Speaker
That is the truth. Because of the injuries? like Yes. He's, he hasn't even, he played less minutes than Danny Musavsky.
00:20:59
Speaker
yeah Danny Musavsky had more contributions to winning that league's cup, in my opinion, than than than than the MVP. He had more goals.
00:21:10
Speaker
You think Danny Musavsky was the MVP of League's No, no. I'm not saying he was the MVP of League's Cup. What I'm saying is I'm pretty sure he had more goal contributions in League's Cup than Pedro Didion. I mean, I don't know about their goal contributions, but De La Vega was absolutely insane in League's Cup. He was dominating every game and he scored a Puskas nominee and was a big reason that they destroyed the Barca boys. So, like... yeah yeah he but That has to be taken into account in the evaluation. Did he have an assist in that game? was a i'm i'm mean i'm not I'm not even talking about the stat sheet. Oh, no, so it's just vibes.
00:21:44
Speaker
It's just vibes on the final. how well he played. Like, are you denying that? I'm not denying that. I'm just saying it just the vi it was vibes based, not stats production based. I mean, I'm pretty sure you, I don't know what exact his exact stats in the tournament were, but he did win the MVP of it. So they were probably pretty good. And like, it's also, it's more, he looked incredible. He looked incredible. We'll get a fact check on it.
00:22:06
Speaker
League's Cup. I mean, I don't even see the point you're trying to make because he won MVP of the tournament. so I mean, plenty of people win the Ballon d'Or that don't deserve it, but that's just the reality. Okay, so now yeah this this is crossed into hater territory. I'm not a hater! Saying that he didn't deserve to be League's Cup MVP because you want to move off him because he blew out his knee in the outfield. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is the fact that it is it is it is time to confront a harsh reality, and I don't think that you are ready to do that. And that's so okay. I fully admit that I'm, that I'm coping. You got to jump out. You got to jump off on the plane. Sometimes I fully admit that it's, uh, it's coping and rationalizing, but I also know that he's hella good.
00:22:52
Speaker
And they won leagues cup last year in large part because of him. And I don't think that they beat the Barca boys like that without him. I don't.
00:23:03
Speaker
And there's got to be some weight to that. There's got to be some, some equity to what he has contributed, which is been the whole like they wouldn't be on that situation of Ryan Kent wasn't there either, but they shipped off him and said, Ryan Kent has no business playing for the Sounders. He has no place here. All right. i' ryan can i have Just as much talent as Pedro de la Vega. Do we not agree?
00:23:21
Speaker
Do we not agree? Ryan Kent was insanely talented. He's insanely talented, but I think de la Vega is is better. I do. I think, I mean, I'm not, i'm I'm not going to debate Ryan Kent's contributions to the Seattle Sounders compared to, uh, that literally allowed us to move forward in the, in the one game. So, I mean, I don't know. I don't know what to say He blew out his knee in, uh, in honor of a Pedro de la Vega and didn't honor. He gave his knee for the league's cup trophy.
00:23:53
Speaker
I don't know. I'm just saying if you can do it with ah with a talent like Ryan Kent, I get it. You took him on a flyer and he was on a one-year contract, but like I don't understand what the difference is.
00:24:03
Speaker
They were ruthless with that guy. You don't think that guy could have contributed again? i'm i was i was one of the biggest... If if our roster was so deep, why couldn't we keep him i even though he was injured? i was this is I'm not going to dignify this. That's what I'm saying. He's a TAM player. He's not a DP.
00:24:23
Speaker
De La Vega as ah as a TAM player? Yeah. You know who contributed more than De La Vega last season? Who's a TAM player? Who's that? Jesus Ferreira. Jesus Ferreira did play 48 games last year. Yeah, looked exactly. Jesus Ferreira contributed more to this club than Pedro de la Vega has across his entire career in one season.
00:24:44
Speaker
He's played probably more games. I guess I don't think you're giving enough equity and significance to the fact that he won. It was run of eight games. I'm sorry. That's not going to sell it to me. That was important. That was important. The whole point of what we're talking about here is to win trophies. And if he contributed it, to that, want players who can play the whole season. That is, I want players who can play the whole season. So you have an opportunity to win at multiple different trophies. You don't have to win every trophy, but the more chances, the more bites of the apple that you get, you have a better opportunity. That's an important roster spot. Fine. Have Pedro de la Viga on the roster, have him only play 15 games a season or 20, you know, whatever, but he should not be a DP.
00:25:28
Speaker
Buy him down, whatever. I don't know how that works. I'm not the general manager of the Seattle Sounders. I love you, Craig. But that is, I just don't understand how that, there's any rationalizing when there's players on this roster making half the amount of money that he does, contributing 10 times as much, way more durable, and i just, I really, I can't see it. It's the same thing.
00:25:51
Speaker
you're You're gambling on a ceiling. You're gambling on talent that shows up but isn't there consistently. And maybe not because of the fault of his own, but like you can't gamble on a designated player spot.
00:26:06
Speaker
You can't. We'll see what happens. I'm i am now passionately rooting for him to play 2,500 minutes all comps this year and prove it wrong prove you wrong and shove it it in your face. I know he's a good enough player to do that, and we'll see if he plays enough.
00:26:22
Speaker
to do that. I don't think it's like, I don't think it you're talking about it like in guarantees, you know, I don't know. He literally is not playing until after the world cup. Last time, how many last time I checked, you can't see the future. All right. So we'll, we'll let, let's, let's give him a chance to see what happens. See how much he actually does end up playing. Let the chips fall where they may. all right, let's
Reed Baker Whiting's Transfer Discussion
00:26:42
Speaker
keep it pushing. We just got like 30 minutes. Um, Reed Baker Whiting, uh, transferred to Nashville SC, uh, officially went through. We talked about it on a kickoff on Monday before it went official, but it is, it is now Reed Baker Whiting is now officially a Nashville SC player. 800K plus three hundred k in add-ons, 20% sell-on clause. i've given I've given my takes on it. i was I was saying on kickoff on Monday that I'm not a huge fan of this move. It's for a lower price than I would have wanted for this particular player.
00:27:18
Speaker
And also it's a lot more to do with like just the depth chart and where they're at, at left back. I think now you're in a situation where your backup left backs, it's the Paul Rothrock. It's the Paul platoon. Yeah, it's the Paul platoon, which I think could work, but it it just feels like a situation where you're, you're kind you're now you have to play players out of position if new who's out.
00:27:39
Speaker
where you theoretically RBW had been decided as a left back. That's where he'd been playing for the last year or two. So now you have no real like natural left back cover for when knew who is out or has to go Cameroon or whatever. You're, you're, I think tasking the Paul platoon with playing that role.
00:28:00
Speaker
which I'm just, I'm just not sure about. I think they can do it. I was the one who advocated for the Paul Areola try him at left back agenda. He has, he has done that in his career. I think, yeah, he, he ran that at FC Dallas a little bit. It wasn't like his primary position, but they did put him back there at times, but he's ah a winger like by trade. He's not a natural left back or it's, that's not something that he's done a heck of a lot in his career. So, I mean, I guess he's probably done it as much or more than RBW just because he's been playing professional soccer for so much longer. But anyway, still, it's just having two non-left backs as your backup left backs and selling a player that at one point was touted as highly as RBW for 800K. I know there's the add-ons, but I don't know. I wasn't wasn't the biggest fan. So that's my take. Noah, where are you at now with a few days removed from the RBW trade and now that it's official?
00:28:58
Speaker
I mean, i'm I'm happy for him if he can get more minutes and he can develop. It's great for his career, which I think is always something the Sounders are thinking about. But yeah, I hate the price tag. $800,000 guaranteed up to 1.1 million total with the additional add-ons. And they also have a 20% sell-on clause. But I don't think that that is worth it.
00:29:19
Speaker
For the roster spot, for a homegrown, for these roster hacks that we always talk about, someone who you can develop. He was occupying a U22 spot. Sure, that's just another roster hack. like i he He was good value.
00:29:33
Speaker
i don't know why he wasn't playing as much. This year, again, kind of the same thing with the Leyva trade. He seemed primed to get way more minutes. And I don't know. I really don't...
00:29:47
Speaker
get it. I guess there was an opportunity for the Sounders to convert some more of that ah transfer money. It's a game, right? You converted the game. Yeah. Convert it. Like they had a little bit more space to convert more money into game so they could max that out this season.
00:30:01
Speaker
But is that really worth it to trade away a depth piece like that on a roster spot that ah like it's a U22. Like I don't. Now they have an open. Now they've got another U22. So we get two you get to do discourse again. yeah Yeah. I mean, we should clickbait that again.
00:30:18
Speaker
I don't love it. I mean, so Pekovic is now the only U22. Yeah. And you can have, correct me if I'm wrong, you could have three U22s and three senior DPs. Yeah, or two DPs and four. So they could theoretically go out and get a couple more. Honestly, what I think they should do with one of those spots, I'm just kind of thinking about this right now, but what I think they should do with one of those spots is do with Snyder B what they didn't do with Obed.
Seattle Sounders U22 Spot Strategy
00:30:52
Speaker
Get out in front of that this time. I mean, doesn't have that many minutes, though.
00:30:56
Speaker
That would be like signing Obed fresh off his debut in Austin. That's what a lot of people are arguing that they should have. That's crazy. That's a lot of hindsight. 2020. Well, OK, was that good? I agree. But like watching what happened with. that, because we were all like, man, Obed might be good, good, but we don't really know yet. And then they did it. They probably figured the same thing. That's why they didn't jump early on the then they ended up in that situation. Anyway, that's more something to think about that they could do, because... Yeah, you get them doing like 2028, 2029. Everyone thinks of the U22s, I think, as like you have to go Yeah, they're a fishing expedition. Yeah, but like, and you know, that a good, valid way to use them. But I think another good way to do it is, know, what they did with RBW and what they should have done earlier with Obed but didn't. using them on your internal developed players, think is fine and actually smart in some cases. And there's probably there, we'll see which one of which of these guys come to the forefront this year. Like that's something I'll be looking at, like which of the young players put themselves in consideration getting that tag.
00:32:06
Speaker
And if it turns out to be Snyder B, great. But like, it's not the worst thing to have. at least, you know, they got two open right now. It's not the worst thing to have one of them open. So you can kind of decide how you, how you do that. Right. You know? Yeah.
00:32:21
Speaker
uh, Yeah. I would rather have RBW than this 800K plus add-ons, but... i mean, maybe it was his time to go. Like, I don't know how much Reed was pushing for it or not, but undeniably, if he can break into that Nashville team, they're going to be kind of nasty. We were talking about it today, and, like, that's a good team, and that's a good place for him to land, and BJ Callahan is a great coach for him to have. He's a good developmental coach. He plays a lot...
00:32:51
Speaker
to that style that they're already playing there in Nashville. so I don't know. I feel like the Sounders got fleeced, but at the same time, sometimes that's going to happen. Like, maybe this was our karmic justice for fleecing FC Dallas. i Can I point out something, too, which is just, you know, just for the record, no one is saying no one is calling Nashville SC unambitious for taking a flyer on RBW as one of their U-22s. They're taking a similar approach to what Seattle did with Petkovic in the sense of it being just kind of like...
00:33:26
Speaker
a dart throw that is not super splashy. It's not something that's going to get a lot of headlines. But like I like I love that for them, like it's a low stakes, high reward situation that they put themselves in for for what they got the player for.
00:33:43
Speaker
And that that is a way that smart teams use the U-22s. They could have gone out and been like, we're going to drop a huge bag on whoever from wherever. And in all likelihood, based on how these spots usually work, it would have been a drastic an even lower percentage game maybe than a guy like RBW who at least has some MLS experience and has got some pedigree and you know what you're getting a little bit more. So I don't know. I just wanted to point that out. that ah it's It's another example of how you can use these 22s in sort of like Savier roster hack kind of ways as opposed to just being like, we're gonna we need to go out and get like the next face of the franchise type thing.
00:34:30
Speaker
Completely agree. ah Last headline.
Christian Roldan Injury Update
00:34:34
Speaker
Christian Roldan, he had been limited or not training over the last week or so with what was called an Achilles thing. Sore? Yeah, sore Achilles. Achilles thing was not the medical terminology. No, that's no that's that's actually in the the DSM or whatever. sort yet Sore Achilles, so he hadn't been training and doc Schmetz was- he's got an Achilles thing. Got the Achilles thing. He's got the Achilles thing. Schmetz was adamant that it was just like a precautionary, like he's taking pro days. It's not a big deal, but we're just being cautious. Season's starting. and But for me, any time the word Achilles is said, i don't like that.
00:35:15
Speaker
I don't like that word. It's one of my least favorite words as it relates to the sport of soccer. And, you know, especially with one of, if not the most important players on the team. But the update there is that Christian Roldan Perschmetz is, quote, not 100%, but likely available for the season opener. So on one hand, I'm like, all right, they're talking about him as if he's gonna play on Sunday. So if that's the case, then it can't be that bad or that worrisome. On the other hand, not 100% and likely available, but not definitely available.
00:35:53
Speaker
I'm not very, I don't like that. Hassani Dotson, Snyder, Brunel rollout start to the season. How you feel about that? I feel okay about that, but it's more about the long-term prospects of this team for the season. If there's any, Christian Roldan is limited in any capacity at all, let alone dealing with Achilles stuff. And he's got, a listen, he's got a World Cup match in Seattle to play. I need him to be healthy for that. It's true. He actually, in all seriousness, he does have to ah be prepared and be healthy for that. So honestly, I guess I just hope that if there's like any chance at all, that it could be, could be be something more serious. If he pushes it too hard, just, just hold them out yeah for for opening day. It would be a bummer. We all want to see him play first game of the season, only home game for a while. Uh, it would not be fun to not have Christian out there, but, I just hope that they are as cautious as as they can be with that one. Cause that's, they, they need him. So correct.
00:36:53
Speaker
That's pretty much all I had on the Christian rolled on Achilles situation. Did you you get well soon guy? Okay. And yeah. And stay well and stay well, well said. All right. We're going to take Achilles thing. Achilles thing. We're going to take our first ad break. Don't skip any. We'll be right back. There's a version of shopping that doesn't feel like a chore, and Podium and Edmunds is it.
00:37:14
Speaker
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00:38:11
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00:39:09
Speaker
Welcome back from the ad break, which you definitely did not skip any of the ads. None of you would ever do that.
2026 Seattle Sounders Predictions
00:39:16
Speaker
Noah, let's get in to our predictions for the Seattle Sounders 2026 season. Everyone's doing prediction shows right now. Nosarieta has had their over-under show. Every club-specific podcast is doing their- They're getting out the crystal ball. getting out the crystal ball. So we're going to do the same thing. We're going to not do over-unders because- Gambling is bad. Gambling is bad. Adietas just did that. And we're going to try and differentiate, make it our own thing a little bit. but Jeremiah told me today that he's he's gambling. He's just constantly gambling. He's a 24-7 gambler. Wow. J-O, the degenerate? He's always in the Discord just looking for bets. What ah what an unexpected development. Just kidding. What I've done here is I've got ah so like the end of season awards that we did last year. Basically, it's it's a lot of those categories, but we're going to be predicting who we think is going to get them basically for the upcoming season. We've got MVP, Golden Boot, Assist Leader, Best Newcomer, Unsung Hero, Trophies One, Defender of the Year, Breakout, Young Player, Where They're Going to Finish in the West, Point Total, and...
00:40:21
Speaker
Number of red cards, an important storyline after the crash out red card boys dominated so much of the action. Will they repeat their crash out? And then we got some ah player specific ones after that. I wanted to ah just take some wild guesses on how many goals some of these attackers are going to score. And then we've got a couple other just minutes played, games started, ah and, uh, RBW Nashville prediction as well at the end there. So it's going to be, ah we're going to keep track of these, I think throughout the year. And if anyone's takes are aging poorly, we're going to make fun of them. If anyone's takes are aging well, we're going to give them plaudits and congratulations. But mostly i thought I want to just lay down who we think are going to get these and sort of get a feel for what our expectations are for for these guys this year. So you ready like to to lay these down? though Let's do it. Let's do it. All right. So let's start with with the big one. Who will be the Seattle Sounders 2026 team MVP?
00:41:27
Speaker
Last year, it was pretty much unanimous consensus, both officially and unofficially, that it was Christian Roldan. I think the team the team itself actually gave him that. ah We gave them lot scorchers gave him that.
00:41:44
Speaker
Noah, are you giving Christian Roldan a repeat in 2026? twenty twenty six You know, after much consideration, especially for the most valuable player, which is the most valuable award, I thought a lot about it, and I love Christian Roldan.
00:42:01
Speaker
I think he's going to be an absolute beast this year. But, you know, I also am scared how that World Cup is going to take a toll on him. I think he could be an important piece for that. Many people don't believe that, but I do.
00:42:15
Speaker
So I didn't go with Christian Roldan. Okay, I like it I went... with Jesus Ferreira. Jesus Ferreira as the Seattle Sounders most valuable player. I've been saying this on some other shows earlier this year. I truly believe this is going to be his season. I not only think he will be a Sounders MVP candidate,
00:42:37
Speaker
I think he will have a good enough season to potentially be a major league soccer MVP finalist. it's ah It's a hot take, but I like it because you're getting out in front of it, and if it starts to cook, like it's going to look real good. And I think...
00:42:54
Speaker
We we have we've been talking about it all offseason, but I think everything is at least lined up for him to have a year to leap with Seattle. Last year he came in here. He didn't really know what his tactical fit was. It took a while to figure that out. He had to get integrated. with the with the new team. that That was a pretty long process. That took a couple months, honestly, for him to really even find out what his role was. Then I think it took a little bit of time even after that for him to fully acclimate to that role and figure out how exactly it fits on this team. And then once he did that, ah
00:43:28
Speaker
The goal scoring was not where we wished it was, but he just did. He does so many things that impact winning and positive results that even with the stat sheet production, not or the goal scoring production, not being where we wanted it he He still had a really good year. And I've also argued quite a lot that he was victim of some snake bitten bad luck last year in front of goal in a lot of ways that were really not even to do with him. You know, offside calls on goals that he finished that he wasn't the one offside, stuff like that. So it's all lined up for him to take that year to leap. And if he does take that year to leap, who knows what that could mean. But we do know he has at least he has one best 11 season on his track record where he scored 18 goals for FC Dallas. So he's shown that he can push 20 goals in MLS. Is he going to do that this year? That would require a big, that would require 15 more goals, all comps yeah than he scored last year. So that seems like a pretty big leap. But I mean, we'll we'll we'll talk about it. But like, I think double digit goals is a reasonable expectation or hope. And I really think on this team, this team really seemed to accentuate his playmaking yeah abilities, which when you talk about MVP candidates, it's the guys who kind of like do it all right. Stuff that this, that that's how I see it. And he could end up, if he, if, if the goal scoring does take the leap that we hope it will, then that could, that could, I think it's not in a crazy take to think that he could like, people are going to call you crazy for that.
00:45:06
Speaker
But because he only scored five goals last year or whatever, but like, I think there's reason to to think that that's exactly like how I'm seeing it is it's more of a secondary assist merchant ah finding those passes that playmaking scoring way more. He's going to score more than five goals. He's going to score more than five goals. And I think that in the same way that Christian just became this like tempo setter in this like game player and this guy who you were really working through and playing through. And he was, you know, just such a serious and important part of the way that their offense and defense was running. I think the same thing is going to happen with Jesus for I've been seeing it in preseason.
00:45:47
Speaker
He is a guy who sees that field and he knows his teammates so much better than he did last year. He looks good. MVP candidate. I love the pick. ah But that being said, I'm going to take the Christian Roldan repeat. i'll but I'll be the one to ah take it. I think what we saw last year is that he he is the most important and valuable player ah to this team's success because of his all-around game. Like, you want to talk about a guy that affects winning in pretty much every facet.
00:46:21
Speaker
I mean, Christian Roldan is, like, the poster guy yeah for that. So I think that there's, there's not much of a reason for that to change. I don't think this year, but I also think just watching him play last year, i was thinking about this. Like, I think like sometimes your mental prime is different than your physical prime. And sometimes when you hit that, like kind of 28, 29, thirties age, Your mental game and your just understanding of the game and your soccer IQ kind of just reaches this point of nirvana where you just have the game figured out.
00:47:00
Speaker
And i feel like he just reached that last year. He reached the pinnacle of like how he sees the game and how he reads the game and all that stuff. And it resulted in I think what was the best season of his career So I think he's still, to me, he's still got at least a couple of those years in him where even if his physical abilities start to decline a little bit and he's maybe not as as fast or can't cover as much ground as he used to, he's the the mental game and the IQ side of it is just like so off the charts that it's going to allow, I think his game is going to age really well in that way is what I'm saying. So I like, I like his chances of kind of just replicating exactly what he did last year when he was the team MVP.
00:47:46
Speaker
And if he does, if he, if he does that again, then I think we're probably going to get to the end of the season again and be like, man, even though Jesus Ferreira had better stats this year, even though Albert Rusnak put up the same stats that he does every year, Jordan Morris had a bounce but bounce back year, whatever it is, I think we're going to probably get to the end of the year and be like, I think Christian was just the MVP again. Like, I think that's what's going happen. It wouldn't surprise me. I mean, he he is the engine of the whole team. I think every national pundit has been talking about it as well. It's like, yeah, he's the focal point of this club. like Heart and soul. Yeah, like he's not at the DP, and he is the heart and soul and focus of this club, and that is something that's very unique about this team. So I really would not be surprised, but he's not going to win it.
00:48:33
Speaker
I like the Ferreira pick. I think it's good pick. All right. Next up, who will win the 2026 Seattle Sounders golden boot? Noah, who you got?
Golden Boot Contenders
00:48:44
Speaker
This was a tough one, um especially because there are so many different factors. Who is going to play that nine position is still up in the air. is it though?
00:48:57
Speaker
Maybe it's not. i know I don't know. I think it's a little up in the air. it's It is TBD. I think I know what but what they're going do to start the season, but that's not necessarily how they're going to keep doing it. Correct. um And from what I have seen in this preseason, from the jump that I have seen in this preseason from this player, I like this. I am not afraid. i am not ashamed to go out on a limb and say the 2026 Golden Boot winner for the Seattle Sounders will be Osase De Rosario. That's right. He did it in MLS Next Pro. he was If he didn't get called up, he would have won the Golden Boot for that entire league. He has been a scoring machine. You want to talk about a guy who we would not have won the CONCACAF or the the League's Cup Final without?
00:49:47
Speaker
That's your guy, Osase Rosario. He's been a scoring machine. He is the top scorer in preseason. He has been unstoppable against any opponent in this preseason. They are making him look like a menace. His play has taken such a step forward, and i I would be shocked if he does not start in this first game. I think at that point, it's his spot to lose. In my opinion, Jordan Morris will play the wing.
00:50:13
Speaker
Osaze De Rosario will play the nine. When Osaze can't find that, they'll slot Jordan in at the nine, bring in another winger. And where does that leave Danny Musavsky? That's a whole other conversation left to have because I'm sure someone will get hurt at some point.
00:50:27
Speaker
But the reality is, I see it. Written in the tea leaves, Osaze De Rosario, golden boot man. Yeah, I don't even know if that's going out on a limb at this point with the preseason that he just had.
00:50:43
Speaker
I mean, that was that was crazy. And for me, it was kind of it was kind of out of left field. I figured that he was going to come to camp ready to go and motivated and hungry and ready to prove himself and, you know, try and make his case that he's going that he should get more minutes and have a bigger role on this team this year. so all that's not, like, super shocking to me.
00:51:05
Speaker
But, I mean, that that was legitimately the best camp I've seen someone have for this team in the last, like, two or three years. I don't know. I don't think I can remember the last time someone just came in and absolutely laid waste to the competition like that. And so I like, you got to keep the preseason caveats in mind for sure. Like just because he was ripping it up in preseason doesn't mean that it's guaranteed translate. You're telling me we're playing Louisville city ah FC every week, not playing Louisville city f ah FC, s scfc but, uh, you know, he did it against hammer B too. Like, That's true. And also, it's just like,
00:51:43
Speaker
I don't know, watching him play in the preseason games and then also getting to watch up close like we did in the Louisville scrimmage. It just looks like such a different guy. So, you know, there is always the possibility that it was a mirage. We get to the regular season. It turns out he was just beaten up on the USL championship team or whatever. And that everything we saw in preseason didn't really mean anything.
00:52:08
Speaker
But I don't think so, man. I don't think so. Like, this looks real to me. maybe We'll see. We'll see. It's not guaranteeing that guaranteed to be real, but it looks real to me. But all that being said, i'm going to make the case for someone else just for the sake of... It's it's a good pick. I don't think that that's like a crazy sleeper pick. You would not have... If you took us back... Three months. If you wound the clock back three months to the end of the season and I said, and you were like, I time traveled, came up to you and said, Ari, let me tell you something, buddy.
00:52:40
Speaker
My pick is going to be Osazi de Rosario. You would be like, that's that's funny, dude. That's a good bit. yeah That's a good bit. Yeah. That's why that's why what we saw in preseason was just so like...
00:52:51
Speaker
What am I watching right now? who is this Who is this guy? Who is this guy? You brought this guy Shake and bake, buddy. Shake and bake and all over training ready to shake and bake. But i'll take ah I'll take Jordan Morris because he is now healthy, nog on wood. ah But...
00:53:11
Speaker
He actually looked really good last year when he did play. I think that gets forgotten sometimes. like he didn't He didn't play that much. he had one You want to talk about the unluckiest man alive, I think it might actually be Jordan Moore. The both of them, dude. it was like It was honestly, that's part of my thinking is it's like for both of them, it's I have a hard time See, i yeah i don't I don't want to even put this out there, but that happened that that type of bad luck happening again would just be crazy. i think he's going to play like he has normally throughout his career, that amount of minutes. And if he does that and is just the Jordan Morris that we've come to know and love, I think he's going to score the same amount of goals that he usually does, which is in that like 13 to 16 range. And i think...
00:53:57
Speaker
That'll be enough. I mean, he had 18 all comps a couple years ago, famously to get the escalators. And i think around that number, if he plays a full complement of minutes is a reasonable expectation. And that should be enough to lead the team. I think the only the only kind of question is kind of what you've been talking about with exactly what his role is going to look like. If Osaze is a starter, you're not super hyped on the idea of him as a winger.
00:54:21
Speaker
I think that... I mean, we've seen him do that a lot in his career. We know that he can do it. I also don't think the formation they're running has him playing as pure traditional out-and-out winger like he used to play. they did They were doing that in the Louisville game, but I think that was more just like a point of emphasis for that game. They were slamming balls between Nuhu and him. I think they're going to...
00:54:47
Speaker
have him play more of of a hybrid role where you're going to see a lot. You're going to see him do winger stuff, traditional winger stuff a lot, but you're also going to see him pick and choose his spots where he's playing closer to Osaze and more off of Osaze. And I think this kind of like potential, potential hybrid role that we're looking at,
00:55:06
Speaker
that could be kind of fun. It could unlock something that we're maybe not even expecting, depending on how the relationship and partnership between him and Osaze goes and sort of just what his role actually ends up looking like. Like if he, if it turns out that he is just playing like pure, pure wing every game, then i would have questions as to how effective that that will be at, uh, at his age. And also the fact that he just hasn't done that.
00:55:33
Speaker
in a while, but I think if he adapts to this role, this kind of more hybrid role that we're talking about, I think it could be a big year for for Jordan as well, in addition to whatever Osaze breakout might take place. so i will Yeah, I think my, again, my only concern is that I haven't seen it in preseason. He did not score in preseason. i don't think he looked that amazing in that position in preseason. That's not to say that he can't fit in and figure out that position.
00:56:05
Speaker
What I will say is that in the same way that it took Jesus a minute to get settled when he was bouncing around different positions, when he did get settled, he did look like a menace. So that's my only vote against him with the golden boot is that there's just a time element on that side of getting settled in this new position, getting settled in this new formation, which I just do think favors Osazi de Rosario, but I would not be shocked if Jordan,
00:56:35
Speaker
Puts up a normal season, which is ADP season. If the Jordan Morris Osaze de Rosario duo rips up MLS this year, good lot a lot of people are going to have questions to answer.
00:56:49
Speaker
Narratives are going to be undermined. 2026 Seattle Sounders assist leader who is going to have the most dimes for the Sounders this year.
Assist Leader Predictions
00:57:02
Speaker
This is a question We're counting we're counting secondaries. Secondaries. This is a question that, frankly, is so easy to answer. i don't even need to fluff it up. There is one guy on this roster who I think is one of the best players, if not the best player on the roster, doesn't get talked about enough, gets disrespected, gets dis... and that's Just all of this.
00:57:22
Speaker
Written off by the national media, but I'm not writing him off. because he is ah number 10. That is my number 10. Albert Rosnack will have the most assists for the Seattle Sounders in 2026. Yeah, I mean, I think that's just the easiest obvious pick. That's who I had as well, but I think it is a good opportunity to underscore that I think it does get taken for granted that this guy is a guaranteed 10 and 10 every single year. He's durable every single year, plays all minutes out there. really good use of a DP spot. I mean, yes. yeah like
00:57:57
Speaker
the The fact that you can just write that in pen, stat sheet-wise, whatever else you think about the rest of his game, I understand that some people have pivoted to the like, Well, yeah, puts up stats, but and he's lazy, I think, or whatever. but Whatever. The guy is going to give you 10-plus goals and push 15 assists every single year. so So I think he is proud he's going to push 15-plus assists again this year. He could even push it towards 20 assists if this offense has ah really good year. The only other guy I think in the mix is Ferreira. Yeah. You know who my sleeper pick is, is Jordan Morris for most assists, especially if he plays this new position. he i mean, he's been known to play a nice ball. He is a very unselfish player at times, especially with the, with the pieces around him. I mean, laying it off to Bert, laying it off to Saz, laying it off to another winger on that other side.
00:58:54
Speaker
I could see that also. Cutback passes, I guess. Oh, hell yeah. Let's go. Yeah. I mean, the thing could you see it, though, like Jordan with the most assists? i Well, like I could in like terms of the role that he's playing, lending itself to more playmaking and more assist production. He also, even when he did play out there earlier in his career, he wasn't like a huge assist guy. He would put up like, I feel like, four to six kind of guy. And he's he's mostly a goal scorer.
00:59:26
Speaker
But... i don't i think I think there's a higher likelihood that you'll see higher assist volume from Jesus Ferreira than Jordan. Sleeper pick, though. Sleeper pick. Georgie Manungu. Cut back passes. Underlying metrics. Nerd stats. I don't know if he'll play enough, though. Yeah, exactly. So that's kind of problem. If he does play enough, though, that could that could be a sleeper pick. Assist for 90, guys. Assist for 90.
00:59:47
Speaker
Assist for 90. Georgie Manungu. Cut back passes.
Newcomer Impact and Rising Stars
00:59:50
Speaker
ah Best newcomer of the year for the Seattle Sounders in 2026. Caveat. Caveat.
00:59:57
Speaker
caveat Caveat. ah If they played under 500 minutes last season. We're taking some liberties here. There's not you're allowed to there's not a lot of candidates. This team is returning the most minutes of any team from last year of any team in the entire league. If you didn't really play last season, you can still be a newcomer. That's my take. We were taking into account guys that didn't play last year because they were injured. And we were even talking about how defiance guys could count for this. So, again, took took some liberties. But, ah Noah, who you got?
01:00:28
Speaker
The Seattle Sounders, 2026 best newcomer of the year. My pick, a guy who we have wanted on this team for a while. There's been rumors, speculation. Will he come? Will he not? Does he hate the Sounders? Does he love the Sounders?
01:00:43
Speaker
I can tell you from watching preseason, He's kind of a beast, and he's going to have a starting role now that Obed Vargas is shipped off to Atletico Madrid. Hassani Dodson is my best newcomer of the year. He is a dime disher. He has the foot of a pillow. He is a man who can move that ball, wriggle out of those problems just similar to what Obed could do. I understand he's no Obed Vargas, but got to be honest, he's going to be seeing a lot of minutes, and I think in those lot of minutes, he's going to impress a lot of people. He is my newcomer of the year. Yeah, I think that that's the obvious pick. He was the biggest acquisition of the offseason. And, you know, we both have watched him play a lot in his career on Minnesota United. So we knew he was a pretty good player. But, yeah, I've been impressed with what I've seen from him in preseason maybe a little bit of different ways than I was expecting. If you watch the slow-mo highlights, shout-out Logan Boyd, that we got yesterday, at the Louisville scrimmage. The ball that set up the penalty that Osaze drew on the opener was one of those kind of like weighted through balls that you're talking about from Hassani Dotson. And that's the type of stuff that he can do. I think people are going to enjoy watching him more than they're expecting to. He's different than Obed, but he's got attributes that can, I think, help this team in different ways than what Obed was doing. And what... I do have concerns, especially when they're in CCC and Leagues Cup. I feel like in those games, I was saying this a couple of weeks ago, but like I feel like one of the things about Obed is that when the competition was at its highest of the highest, he was an equalizer. When you were going up against these Liga Meckies teams in CCC or even in the Club World Cup,
01:02:34
Speaker
Obed was like as good as those guys or better than a lot of those guys, even on that level. So when I look at where the position group stands now with Dotson at the forefront, I just don't know yet if if the team can reach that same level that it did when Obed was on the field. But that being said, I mean, I like all the tools. I like the proven track record. He's shown that he can be a really good, really high level starter in this league. And I think it's perfectly possible playing on this team with the talent that's going to be around him. I think it's definitely possible that they're going to get into these tournaments and we're going to find that their level hasn't dropped off with Obed not in there as ah as much as people might be fearing. But I'm going to make the argument for someone else just, you know, for the sake of the content. And I'm going to take...
01:03:24
Speaker
Paul Areola, who is not technically a newcomer. He is in his second year on the team, but barely played last year because of his torn ACL that he suffered in CCC. And like I said, we're taking liberties. Okay. I get He's not, it's not his first year on the team, but I think that this guy looked really, really good in the limited minutes that he did play last year, especially combining with Jesus Ferreira. But he, to me, we've we've talked about this a lot, but he's just like a Sounders prototype, which I'd never really thought about before until he got to the team. But as just like a demonic work rate player who never stops running, committed to defense, And also, he's a much more polished attacking presence than I think than than people might realize. like We've seen it throughout his career. He was tearing up Liga Mekis for a while before he came back to to MLS. He's a very experienced U.S. national team player as well. So the pedigree is all there. i trust that he's been working really hard at rehabbing. So I'm not all that concerned about his health. I think he's going to come back and be able to reclaim his previous level. And i think that's going to have a big impact on this team. He was set to be a really integral member. of this team last year and, and he got injured. But I think, I think this is the year where we get to the end of it and we're like, damn, like Paul Areola really, he's, he's, he's stepped up.
01:04:58
Speaker
No, i I like that idea. i like that that call. I am a big fan of Paul Areola. I've been a fan, a secret FC Dallas fan over here. One thing about Paul is just the fact that he is a Sounder through and through exactly like you were saying. The Sounders emphasize this you know personality and this you know kind of mentality that Sounders players have that they really want to see. And honestly, yeah, like that's, uh, that's Paul Areola. He's a really great interview. He's a really kind person. He's the type of guy to see, you know, he sees a reporter at training, asks about your family, all of that kind of stuff. And, um, really fits into this team. You know, I think that he is going to have a role. I'm interested to see what that role is this season. Getting Jesus Ferreira and Paul Areola in the same trade,
01:05:49
Speaker
that was That was sick. That was sick. That was sick i was sick. And I really hope that they get to really show like what type of impact that we know I know that they can have. And I think this is the year where ah they're going to really step up and show that.
01:06:06
Speaker
ah Unsung hero. yeah Who you got for the unsung hero for 2026. What I had in mind for this one is like the guy that ah people might not think about or talk about that much, but then when it's all said and done, you're like, man, when the when the chips were down and the cards were on the table or when we needed him to step up, this guy really came through and maybe doesn't get the credit or the recognition for it, but we're going to give them that credit and recognition.
01:06:34
Speaker
My 2026 unsung hero of the year for the Seattle Sounders is the one and only Paul Areola. I'm not even going to give him an introduction because that would be singing too much, frankly, and we are unsinging here. He is a great player. i think that he is going to play more of...
01:06:54
Speaker
a side role, ah something that maybe he may not start all the time. He may be coming in to close out matches. He may be the secondary left back behind New Who. um But i I think that he is going to have some big moments, some big performances, and I could really see him having an impact when the Sounders need it the most.
01:07:17
Speaker
I like it. I like it. I got a kind of out there one for this one. I'm little going to go a little outside the box, so just just stay with me. All right, this is what's going to happen this year. This what's going to happen. There's going to be some sort of situation like there was last year where they're going to be strapped for depth at center back. There's going to be like an injury. Someone's going to be away for some reason, and then someone else is going to roll their ankle and then all of a sudden it's going to be like, oh my God, we got no center backs. What are we going to do?
01:07:49
Speaker
And what they're going to do is they're going to put in UW's very own Ryan Saylor, offseason arrival from Inter-Miami, and he's going to do the job and the team's going to take a couple of results that ah that it seemed like they they wouldn't because everyone was like, where are all the CBs? They're all out. What are we going to do? We got to put Sailor out there and he's going to come through and we're going to the end of the season. We'll be like, remember when Ryan Sailor stepped up?
01:08:17
Speaker
Unsung hero of 2026. Similar to the Kim Kihee arc or the John Bell arc from last year. Yeah, J-Bell won last year for Unsung Heroes, so i could I could see that. That's a good arc. ah He hasn't played in preseason, yeah and he's injured, and we'll see how many minutes he gets. This is going to be late in the season, all right? Yeah. That's going to make the long as he plays a similar number of minutes to Pedro de la Vega, That's— hero award. That's to make the story even sweeter yeah when he comes through.
Trophy Aspirations: MLS vs CCC
01:08:51
Speaker
a Number of trophies won in 2026 by the Seattle Sounders. How many and which one? This is a tough question. There is a lot of strong teams playing in all of the competitions that the Sounders are facing. You have a juggernaut in Lionel Messi, the Barca boys, and their additions of every young South and Central American player you have ever seen. How many international slots do they have?
01:09:19
Speaker
How is it legal? We don't need to know. Ask Andrew Wiebe. But here's what we do know. The Sounders in the West, their biggest competition, LAFC. Got to be honest.
01:09:30
Speaker
I think the Sounders can beat them. Sun, Bawanga, the Demons, we can scare them off. What I don't think we can do is CONCACAF Champions Cup. What I don't know if we can do again, League's Cup.
01:09:42
Speaker
So what I'm going for is a late in the season, getting hot, classic, Brian Schmetzer, Seattle Sounders win. Pedro De La Vega is back. He's playing on the Sounders again. Maybe he's 60 fit.
01:09:56
Speaker
He's coming in. He's cutting it up. And we are winning. another star, another MLS cup, 2026 MLS cup champions, Seattle Sounders, you know, Homer pick, but, ah but I like it. um I said, I said one trophy as well. And I had not thought through which one in as much detail as you had. I was thinking, you know, I think they're going to get one of MLS cup, CCC or leagues cup. And I have them winning CCC, ah the rationale being that's what I said on KJR, Spur of the Moment, the other day. And also it's kind of the one that i want them to win the most. but I guess that's an interesting question. If you could pick them winning CCC or MLS Cup this year, which one would you pick?
01:10:42
Speaker
You know, that's a good question. um I think David Goss said this the other day that CCC doesn't matter anymore because an MLS team already won it. And yes, that was super fun. And yes, it'd be super sick to win that. But I kind of want that third star.
01:10:58
Speaker
I kind of want that third star. And I think with MLS Cup too, like I've even seen this narrative start to, uh, to fester over the off season, which is that, well, I mean, it's now been like six years since Seattle's won MLS Cup. You know, there is kind of unambitious to not win MLS Cup since 2019. Like it's 2026 now, but they had whole,
01:11:21
Speaker
I think it's a little bit of misleading point to make if you're not going to mention that since that 2019 MLS Cup, they also became the first team to ever win CONCACAF Champions Cup. And they also won Leagues Cup last year by taking down the literal number one greatest player of all time. The MLS Cup winners. And four of his 43-year-old colleagues. Correct. One of whom...
01:11:48
Speaker
crashed out and spit on a Seattle Sounders team staffer because he was so upset about how badly he got beat. And also, we haven't addressed this. ah Leo Messi, you're a fraud. You're a fake. You're not real. You'll never leave MLS is what he said to Obed Vargas. Hey, buddy, guess who's playing in La Liga and you're not?
01:12:10
Speaker
I don't know what to tell you. I didn't even think of that, but yeah, he did. he did reportedly say that to, uh, to Obed and now Obed is on at Thurico Madrid. That's all I got to say.
01:12:21
Speaker
Pedro de la Vega, you're next Argentinian national team. But anyway, what I was going to say is that I think I would take C. I don't know. I'm just a CCC head. ah I love CCC. I just like I don't know. I would prefer them with up yeah even with MLS Cup. They haven't got one in a while and you kind of want to buck the narrative of yeah having not got one. I think actually there's a pretty good argument that I just think it's more competitive. Like I literally think that major league soccer is more competitive than Liga Mecky's teams right now. Dude, we di did based on how CCC is sorry. Cruz Azul is the best club in North America, according to multiple rankings, ELO, whatever. And guess who beat them seven nothing. Like I don't even rate them anymore. I don't even rate Liga Mecky's anymore.
01:13:10
Speaker
Half of the Eastern Conference, which is like a bum conference in MLS, is better. That's all I'm saying. You know, I i think, you know, might be overstating it a little bit, but watching these first few CONCACAF Champions Cup games, it's kind of not looking great for League of Mechies so far. No, it's not.
Defender of the Year Contenders
01:13:32
Speaker
2026 Seattle Sounders Defender of the Year, who you got?
01:13:36
Speaker
There is one man who I have put so much faith into, who I have called one of the best sounders. And I think that he's getting his flowers. There's national pundits bringing up his name saying, I think this guy is one of the most underrated players in the league.
01:13:55
Speaker
And I'm not going to underrate him. I am going to give him Defender of the Year. The one, the only, Alex Roldan. He is a goal contribution machine. He's a guy who can play center back, CDM, left back. God knows he can play goalkeeper.
01:14:14
Speaker
So all I'm going to say is he's going to repeat for me, Defender of the Year, Alex Roldan. Thank you, sir. Thank you for your service. Yeah, it was ah it was a polarizing call we made to give him the Lobbing Scorchers Defender of the Year last year. But I stand by that call we made. i think that's going to stand the test of time. ah But again, in the spirit of the content and the discourse. You're picking new who. Oh, man, I should have. I should have. but i i' say You know what? Let's make the argument before you give yours. Let's make the argument for New Who because I think they're actually people say I'm a New Who hater. People say you're a New Who hater, even though that's or you're the New Who defender. I'm the defender, I guess. I'm the hater, whatever. I think there is an argument to be made that he could have a big season.
01:14:57
Speaker
he i there's definitely times He was he was looking better. He's the captain of the Cameroonian national team. He's talking just as much shit to Louisville City players as I've seen him talk to MLS players. He's on one. He's who knows. ah But it is you know, he is a veteran on this squad at this point. Do you see a possibility of him being a defender of the year candidate in what would what would he have to do to get there?
01:15:26
Speaker
Not crash out. You mean MLS defender of the year or Sounders defender year? Sounders, yeah. What would he have to do to get there? I mean, I don't, like, the thing is, my part of my thing with it is I feel like it gets taken for granted a lot of what he does because, you know, he is a defender and he's not a defender that is known for being a especially good two-way threat. He's not necessarily your modern attacking left back. But I still think, you know, when push comes to shove and you got to go, you got to go against these guys, you got to go against the demonic duo of ah Denny Buonga and Sun Young Min. You got to go against Leo Messi and Herman Bartharame now and the Barca boys.
01:16:13
Speaker
you got to go against Gabriel Peck and Joey Paints. You know, you go to you got to go against these guys. I still i still think Nuhu is, that's who I want out there defending those guys more than any of the other options that they have. Also, certainly now with the trade of ah of rb w So, I mean, I think what he has to do is just go out there and do what he normally does. Go up against the other team's best attackers every single week.
01:16:41
Speaker
Ball out, show out. Do his thing for Cameroon where he's where he's been the captain. And then just a little bit of an improvement on what he already improved on last year, which was his ah attacking. Four goal contributions, all comps for the guy last year. All right. And, you know, I understand.
01:16:59
Speaker
Jovan Jones, he is not, but that was a career high. He had two goals. He had two goals. He two goals last year. He two goals. The assists were pretty good assists, too. The one in Atlanta, that was a good assist at a really important high leverage moment in the game. Also, a couple of the dimes he's hit in preseason suggest that could get an assist in preseason. Yeah, he had the assist on one of the Osase goals, and then the dimes he was hitting Jordan in the Louisville game, I thought were looking pretty good. I think they actually have kind of a better connection there than they did the last time Jordan was playing that position. So if he takes any sort of step in that regard, which I understand we've been saying that for like nine years, but if he takes any sort of step in that regard... then he would have a case for it, especially because he genuinely did take a step in that regard last year. No one's going to want to admit it, but like, because the whole narrative has to be like, oh, anytime Nuhu's an attack or anytime he's bombing forward, it's going to be a black hole and like he contributes nothing from there. Last year, he contributed kind of something a little bit. There was a glimmer. There was like glimmer. was sparkle. So maybe that glimmer turns into a... Is it fool's gold? Maybe, but... Maybe. But, no, I mean... I have actionable items. I have three actionable items that will put him in my contention. Not getting seven red cards. That's... Okay. Number one, I want zero red cards.
01:18:27
Speaker
If you get one red card, you're out. He went six or seven years without getting one, so we know he can do that. Yeah. at Number two, five goal contributions.
01:18:38
Speaker
One more than your career high. one Just one more. I think it's possible. Number three, I want to shut out against LAFC. If you can give me those three things and you're playing in that LAFC match, I'll give them a shout. I will give them a God honest shout.
01:18:58
Speaker
That's my take. If they can shut out LAFC, that would be one of the most monumental accomplishments of the season. But that's like, so I'm looking forward to those matchups, like seeing how he and the whole defense stack up against those guys. I'll tell you what, watching what l LAFC was doing in CCC,
01:19:18
Speaker
Last night, it it gave me a greater appreciation for ah the type of stuff that Nuhu and Jackson and Yamar and Alex on the back line have to deal with every week. Those Honduran guys trying to defend Denny Buonga and Sun Hyung-min. They gave up. It did not go very well. so No. So the fact that... ah that Seattle's back line goes out there every week against the best attackers in MLS.
01:19:41
Speaker
And most of the time they hold it to like one to two goals. Worst case scenario. Seattle's not a team that you see get bammed on for three, four five goals all that often. I appreciate i appreciate them.
01:19:52
Speaker
for that. Like, yes, there are games where they get bammed on and they give up a couple, but for the most part, like they're going up against the best of the best in the league every single week and they do, they do pretty well. So who's your defender of the year? I took Jackson Reagan. Uh, I think this, I think this could be a big year. I think this could be progressive passing legend. He is already one of the best passing CBs in MLS. I think he's started
Breakout Young Players
01:20:18
Speaker
to get recognition over the last two, three years as one of the better all around CBs in MLS overall on any team.
01:20:26
Speaker
I think last year, especially towards the end of the year, he started maybe not reaching like the the Christian level of ah understanding and soccer IQ I was talking about that you hit like later in your 20s and your early 30s. But he's like, you know, he's 25, 26 now. He has a ton of games under his belt. He's starting for this team every single game when he's healthy. And I think this is the year where you could even see him vault into the league defender of the year race ah more so than he, he's, he's gotten shouts for that in the past, but has never really been in serious consideration. I think this year is going to be in a serious consideration. All right. Next up, we have got breakout young player.
01:21:13
Speaker
Who you got? This is a tough one. There is a lot of really good talent, young talent on this roster. There's a lot of good young talent on the Defiance. It's what the Seattle Sounders are.
01:21:25
Speaker
They are not a club that's going to go out and sign a billion people, but they are going to sign a billion kids from the Academy. So who is my young player of the year?
01:21:36
Speaker
Someone who might surprise you, Ari, but someone who I've been impressed with in his limited preseason minutes. Okay. Sebastian Gomez. Okay, same Better known as Seba.
01:21:47
Speaker
And here's why. Here's why. I just like what I see. He's, what, 19 years old? He's a kid, but he looks good. And that's just my take. That's it. It's very simple.
01:22:01
Speaker
I'm throwing a dart. I'm rolling the dice. And I'm gambling on someone who I have seen very limited minutes of. But
Season Standings and Playoff Expectations
01:22:07
Speaker
the coaching staff seems to really like. yeah And if they like him and they trust him, he's going to play.
01:22:13
Speaker
And that is how you break out. I'm really excited to watch him play. Like I haven't seen him play all that much either, but every time I've asked around, I hear kind of similar stuff about just kind of the, the flare he plays with and kind of just how much fun he has playing the game. That is one thing I have noticed from ah the times that I have kind of honed in on him and watched him is like, he he looks like he's having the freaking time of his life every time he's out on the field. And that it's it's fun to watch someone who's having that much fun. And he's a ah he's a Clint Dempsey tries shit kind of player, you know, which is all also a lot of fun. And so, you know, we'll see like this. This will be a good little test of we've talked a lot about how it's like six and eight FC. They don't really develop attacking players at the same clip that they develop these midfielders. Let's see if they ah if they can if they can hit on one here. It'll be fun to watch. ah But that being said, i think everyone knows who I'm taking here. I got Snyder B. I i just think what we saw from him last year was so impressive.
01:23:19
Speaker
Even, you know, like the the totality of his game was very impressive. But honestly, just the just the raw fact of scoring two MLS goals in your first three games, like that is like, Obed didn't do that. Josh Atencio didn't do that. Danny Leiva, I don't think. Well, Danny Leiva got one MLS goal, but the oligarchs you took it away from him. But like the point is like,
01:23:45
Speaker
score actually scoring goals in a first team game is one of the biggest kind of hurdles any young player is going to need to uh to get through like there's always so much of like a a process to that usually snyder b just slotted in there and was like yeah he's like yeah dude i'm just i'm already gonna just big deal i'm already gonna bam and it didn't even look like it was that hard for him he makes the game look easy like he really does And he plays he plays confidently. He plays calmly. Like, he looks like he's meant to be there, which is insane. Exactly, man. Exactly.
01:24:19
Speaker
i mean, he is meant to be there. i Frankly, he is. i this this might be ah This might be a hot take, but, like, he's the player I'm, like, most excited to watch this year. Like, Honestly, I wanted to give you the spotlight on on Snyder here. like i am buy I am so bought in just as much as you are with the Snyder Brunel train. dude is Dude is insanely good. And I am begging.
01:24:46
Speaker
I am begging for a good compliment of minutes because, dude, he might just be... The next Obed. I think I even said on soccer wise, I was like, or maybe no, no. I said it on KJR. I was like, he might even sell for more than Obed. He might go to Barcelona. You may you know what I mean? Like he's, he could be the the next guy and he's the heir apparent.
01:25:08
Speaker
Yeah, and we'll see. I don't want to get over our skis too much, which I realize my whole take on him is... That's our whole bit, though. I am getting over my skis, and that's the whole point. And we will cope and rationalize. But like...
01:25:23
Speaker
We believe in it. in all sea Yeah, I genuinely believe in the player, in the in the prospect. like I think what he showed last year was that impressive. yeah ah All right. Next up, we're going to predict where their Seattle Sounders are going to finish in the West in 2026 and their point total.
01:25:41
Speaker
Noah, where you got where you got the rave green finishing The Rave Green, the Seattle Sounders, where will they finish in the West in the 2026 season? and It is simple, Ari.
01:25:53
Speaker
It is where they always finish. Fifth place on 52 points. They're going to drop some really stupid games. Brian Schmetzer is going to sit in that press conference and he's going to name specific games. He's going to click that pen. But at the end of the day, they are going to go on a playoff run, like I said, and win MLS Cup. I think...
01:26:15
Speaker
Hopefully they place higher than fifth, but I'm just going to go conservative because frankly, it's anywhere between third and fifth every single year. Yeah. Uh, I, I said fourth under pretty much the same rationale that they just, for whatever reason, they just always tend to finish in that area. I think it's more, even more so than like dropping stupid points or blowing a lot of leads. again this year, think that their point total is going to be more like high 50s because when this team plays in CONCACAF Champions Cup, they go for it. When they play in Leagues Cup, they go for it. They don't take any half measures with that stuff. And sometimes when you do that,
01:26:58
Speaker
You drop some points in league play. That's just how it goes. I think this team honestly has shown pretty impressive ability to, especially last year, like stay afloat even when they're making runs in these tournaments. But it's just, it's hard to finish as a top two seed when you're going as hard as they do for, uh, for the other tournaments they planned. It just So that's why think, I think, yeah, fourth, fifth, third, if you're feeling real optimistic, that sounds about right. If they do get top two seed in the league, that could mean that their CCC and League's Cup runs didn't go very well. So... Or they're just playing out of their mind. Or they're just playing out of their mind. It would be really nice one of these years for them to just have one of those 65-plus point seasons where they're contending for the Shield. That just seems to
Supporters' Shield vs Tournament Success
01:27:47
Speaker
be not usually it works out. And for me, if they finish between third and fifth, but they win one of CCC or Leagues Cup or MLS Cup,
01:27:56
Speaker
i I don't like it doesn't bother me that much that they're not up at 65, 66 points if they're taking a trophy. If they win the shield but don't win any other trophies this season, does that feel successful to you? See, I don't really think so. See, I'm i'm the same way. I agree. I don't think so. like Like, yeah, you won individual games across the season, but like, I'm a tournament. This is America. it This is America. We do tournaments in America. That's what matters. it would if they win the shield but they play win If they win the Shield, but they don't win any other trophy, I think it would soften the blow for me a lot. Like,
01:28:33
Speaker
yeah Okay, they didn't win a trophy and that sucks. We both picked them to win at least one trophy this year. But, you know, i mean i guess it they did have the best regular season point total. And I could see myself coping and rationalizing yeah that, like, for sure. It definitely doesn't hit as well as CCC, MLS Cup, or but um frankly, anything. Just frankly, any any other trophy, even Open Cup. Yeah, it does it doesn't. It doesn't. ah All right.
01:29:01
Speaker
Next up, we are going to get into our player-specific predictions. We can kind of rapid-fire these. We don't have to spend a whole lot of time on them. Basically, the idea with these is we're just going to be guessing numbers, so like goal totals for a specific player, and then we're just going to keep them chambered all year and keep track of which of these predictions are looking good and looking bad. And then at the end of the year, we'll we'll take a look and see if Either of us got close to hitting on any of these. Before we do that, we're going to take an ad another ad break. Don't skip the ads. We'll be right back.
01:29:35
Speaker
Welcome back
Player-Specific Predictions
01:29:36
Speaker
from the ad break, which you did not skip any player specific predictions. Noah, are you ready? I'm so ready. Let's go. Jesus Ferreira goals. Let's start with that. How many goals exactly? you You've predicted the MVP, you've predicted the breakout. How many goals does that entail for Jesus? I'm going to go with 13 goals for Jesus Ferreira.
01:29:59
Speaker
I don't think that that's impossible. It's a lot more than he scored more than he scored last year. But, uh, and this is all comps by the way. That's the, Oh yeah. Okay. Yeah. No, that seems to settle right about where I think he's going to land. So, uh, just out of curiosity for him to be an MVP candidate, how many assists do you think that he needs to have go along? I think he's going to have 20 goal contributions.
01:30:22
Speaker
13 and seven. Sure. See, I'm not sure that's enough to be like in the MVP. Like, are you talking about me? I'm are you talking. But didn't you didn't you say? Yeah, no, no. I thought you were talking about Sounders MVP. I was, i was but I'm, so i didn't you say that, ah that you thought he could make? I do think he can be an MVP. Okay. So I, but I think if you want to be league and MVP, you probably got to push that goal total more.
01:30:47
Speaker
I'm just being realistic as to what I think his final goal numbers will be. I think, uh, I think his assist number is going to be higher. He was at, you know, I agree. i was just saying, you were asking me what it would need to be to. Oh, okay. I see. I see. I see. I think 20 is your minimum to even be in the conversation to win it.
01:31:04
Speaker
Okay. So many what I was asking is how many do you think he's going to get? How many do I think he's going to get assists? It might, I think it'll be a 10 and 10 or more. 13 and 10 plus 13 13. Why not?
01:31:17
Speaker
Okay. Number 26. Okay. See, I could see, I could see a world where he puts a stat line, like usually the MVPs stat lines. And obviously I think, you know, Messi's just going to have like 39 and 24 and get and mvp again. yeah But like the MVPs, it's usually their stats are like 15, 15 kind of area minimum. But I think with Jesus, if he's in that vicinity, like you're talking about, like 13 and 14 or something like that. And then also there's a lot of team success. yeah I think like the pundits and the analysts, they give credit to like all around game and all around contribution and like ah the actual effect that you have on winning outside of the stats. It's kind of can be like both things in the criteria. And I think he'll have like a great case in in that regard because he is such player. I don't think it's impossible for him to have 20 and 20 either. Like,
01:32:08
Speaker
that, oh man, if he does, that i don't know. I don't think it's impossible. Maybe, maybe it's insane, but I don't think it's possible. I see it. I had him at, uh, at 10 goals. I felt like that kind of matches with, uh, uh, like doubles what he had last year, but allows me to not predict something that's like unreasonable. Yeah. Yeah.
01:32:31
Speaker
So I got him. I got him. I think he's going come out like around 10 and 10 all comps, you know, could be like 12 and 10 or 10 and 13, like similar kind of similar area to to what you have. But I think double digit goals. I think he's going to get to double digit goals this year. So ah next up, we're going to be we're just guessing some of these attackers goal totals here. How many have you got for Jordan Morris? I have eight goals for Jordan Morris. Okay. That seems a little low.
01:32:58
Speaker
I mean, I just don't know what position he's going to play. And one, like I said, the same rationale for my concern with his ability in that winger false winger secondary attacker role. I'm just, I'm just not so sure. It is kind of, it is kind of tough to predict without knowing what exactly is going to go on with this Osase thing and where he's going to play. I got him at double that. I got him at 16. I mean, I picked him as my Sounders golden boot winner, so I had to give him some kind of high number.
01:33:32
Speaker
But I got him at 16. I think that he... One thing... Jordan's like... one thing jordan is not like the highest volume goal score. He's never been like a Wando type of guy. That's going to get you 20 to 25, but what he is going to do for sure is get you 10 to 15. If he plays his full compliment in minutes, he is going to get you his 10 to 15 and he's going to give you a very well-rounded game on top of that. And that's where his value comes from to me more than volume goal scoring. Like he, he just, he hasn't his career shown to be that like 20, I'm going to get you 23 goals type of guy. you know, maybe this is the year that, uh, that he does that. There's been a few times where I felt like he was about to do that and then he got injured. So maybe this is the year, but I think 16 is a good total where he can make sense as my, uh, golden boot pick, but like, I'm not, i don't have to predict anything that's like crazy outside his career ah norms. Last time he played a full season, he had 18 all comps. So I think he'll be in that area. Uh, curious to see what you have for this next one. What do you got for Osase? Osazio De Rosario, my golden boot winner, will have 15 goals.
01:34:40
Speaker
fifteen fifteen all right see man like i had him admit item had him at twelve
01:34:41
Speaker
15? 15. All right. See, man, I but I feel like I went conservative. on that like i went conservative on all of these because i feel like it's a plus or minus two on every category in a sense you know when i'm guessing these i'm trying to get like kind of around where i think well and also like don't don't want it to be a situation where like we're so we're so hyped on the preseason he just had we're hyping him up so much and then we haven't seen a single game ari this is supposed to be irrational yeah no and that's that's people i'm sure that's fair like i guess i like i put 12 but i wanted to go even more irrational because with eight he's looked so good in preseason go with go with eight go with six go with two it doesn't matter you want me to go conservative no i'm just saying i'm just saying someone's gonna clip this and send it back to me like you don't know but then he was at osazi de rosario would score a goal and he didn't Man, I could see a situation based on the preseason that he just had where he takes like a real star turn. Not necessarily predicting that, but that would be cool, wouldn't it? Be tight. That's what I'm rooting for. All right. This one was a subject of contentious debate earlier. How many minutes will Pedro de la Vega play? uh i put put 1800 because can i say something that's the total number of minutes he's played in his entire saunders career i i think that he's going to come back from this busted kneecap he his luck is going to even out and there is the the reason that he's not going to hit 2k is because it's it is going to take a while to ramp him up and you're going to be crashing out and giving all kinds of commentary about that. But then once they do, once they do ramp him up, he is going to be so good that he's going to be a starter again and he's going to get up to 1,800. Yeah, I don't think that's possible. That is the entirety of the complement of minutes he's ever played for the Seattle Sounders. That makes no sense to me. will go with what he played last season or similar to it. I'm going to go 1,200 minutes, and I think that that may even be pushing it. But there are a lot of competitions. If the Sounders go deep in League's Cup again, think there's an opportunity for him to get minutes. So I'm going to go 1,200. exactly what he did last year, which is 1,200 minutes, which I think is not enough and not good enough, but that's where I think it'll land.
01:37:10
Speaker
Next up, Snyder B starts. How many do you think he's going to make this year? It's an interesting one because especially if Christian's fatigued after the World Cup, if Christian's Achilles thing happened, you never know. there's There's not a ton of... he's He's the next man up. He's the next man up. So I'm going to go with seven starts.
01:37:31
Speaker
seven I got him at 10. I think the appearances is going to be a lot higher. I think he's going to be coming in as a sub a lot. So I think it'll look something like 10 starts, but like mid-20s appearances. just The thing is, you know Christian Roldan is going to play every match of the season. Brian Schmetzer doesn't rotate, and Brian Schmetzer does not rotate his pivots. So that's why i'm going a little lower than 10. He is going to start every single game, but i but Schmetz also...
01:37:59
Speaker
really like Snyder. So I think he might be more inclined to give Christian a rest by just subbing him out a little earlier. Maybe that's what I would hope for. Maybe. Yeah, I think Snyder will get time. They got to do something this year to like manage Christian's workload a little bit. i think they're just going to run him. I think Christian's going to hit 8K minutes, dude. I think i think he's going to play double the amount of minutes that Pedro de la Vega plays. You're probably right. Nikola Petkovic games played.
01:38:26
Speaker
Interesting. Okay. I went with 12.
01:38:30
Speaker
12. All right. Well, what's your sort of, I don't know. I just have only seen him play with the reserves. And when I've seen him play, he hasn't been bad. He scored a goal in that second match. He did. Uh, but I think his integration and ramp up with the team, it's just, it's just might take a minute.
01:38:48
Speaker
People seem to like him from what I hear. Uh, he's a flyer though. And, um, I just, I don't know. I don't know. 12 seems 12 seems right to me. If he only gets in 12 games, wouldn't that be a sign that it's like, ah, this is not that? i don't know. Ryan Kent had like 12 games too, and I thought he was awesome. Well, but that was injury related. like you think like there was There was definitely injury too, yeah. Like Petkovic assuming full health. if he Are we counting like 10-minute appearances though? Yeah. Okay. Well, I mean, then maybe higher, but like, I don't know. I'm going to stick with 12. I get it. It's hard to like predict a large number with that when we know literally nothing. All we know about him is what we've seen in very limited preseason action. And that also Charlotte FC got him for a bunch of money and then didn't really play him and was fine with loaning him inside the league. Correct. So with all that knowledge, I went a lot higher than you. i said 23, you know, taking into account that it's all comps. And I think that they have a lot of incentive to give him minutes to find out if he's worth this ah with this flyer that they took on him. So I think he is there is going to be a baked-in role for him from that perspective, unless he is totally like bombing at training. like Remember, I was thinking about like range of outcomes for Petkovic. Who was that guy?
01:40:15
Speaker
Chichini? Oh, yeah. I got sick. He rolled up with like decent hype and decent pedigree and then fell so out far out of favor so fast. I don't think he ever played.
01:40:26
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know if you might've gotten like one or two games, but like that was, that was probably the biggest whiff I've ever seen. So like not to put that on Petkovich, like he's not in the Chichini category yet, but like,
01:40:41
Speaker
That is, we've seen it out. There's all, there's all ranges of outcomes with this. And that is one of them. Like, yeah, we have to seen it happen, but I said 23 appearances, but eight starts. So like yeah the, the starts are going to be just kind of spot starts. And then there is going to be a lot of like substitute appearances, I think. All right. Last one here. And then we can wrap it up. This one's just for fun.
01:41:05
Speaker
RBW minutes for Nashville SC. What, what type and what type of role do you think he's going to play for them more broadly? I mean, i don't know. i think he's going to start out as sort of a substitute player, wingback. I think they're going to take some time to figure out what they have in the player, but they don't, you don't, you don't spend 800 K up to a million. If you're not going to get a player who you want to see what they're up to. ah So i went with 1300 minutes. I think he's going to play more than Pedro de la Vega. Yeah.
01:41:40
Speaker
I'm in that same area. I have him at 1150 is what I put. I think in that like thousand area. he could thing is, is like this one's impossible because he has been there for a day and a half. Like if he breaks out, has great moments, he could jump.
01:41:57
Speaker
He could be a starter. He could be a starter, but like he also might not. be Like that's where are they going to play him? Like we just, we this one, this one's truly a, yeah this is a fucking dart throw. What? I am very curious to see what what role they have for him, whether they see him as a fullback or a winger. My
Kit Giveaway Announcement and Closing Remarks
01:42:14
Speaker
my gut feeling is that they're not going to fullback it. like They're going to turn him into like a pure attacking player, which I think is...
01:42:25
Speaker
Probably the right call. Like, I feel like the best stuff i ever I ever saw from him was when he was doing winger stuff more than fullback stuff, which I understand there's a lot of overlaps in that skill set, but like, it just seemed like he was much better at the winger part of it than the fullback part of it. so All right. That's all I had for the 2026 Lobbing Scorchers predictions topics.
01:42:52
Speaker
So I think we can call it right there for this episode. One announcement. Oh, quick announcement. yeah We are giving away one of the new... kits one of the new sounders kits the evergreen state kit in partnership with sound at heart if you want to enter to win it's completely free no payment necessary lobbying scorchers.com giveaway all the info is there you can do all of that go check it out super fun opportunity to get one of the authentic kits in your size sent right to you if you win so opportunity there
01:43:28
Speaker
We're going to call it right there. Thank you all for tuning in. Appreciate you all. Sub to the channel. Rate five stars. Follow on Instagram. Follow on TikTok. Write us reviews. Lobbingscorchers.com slash sauce.
01:43:40
Speaker
Season's getting started. Lots of fun stuff. Lots of great content coming up this year. so We'll see you Sunday for the postmatch. see Sunday. First postmatch live of the season. Until then, we out. Peace.