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Nouhou Went Top Bins?! - Ep. 98
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We have an emphatic Dub Pod as the Seattle Sounders beat the absolute brakes of St. Louis CITY SC in Matchday 11 cruising to a 4-1 victory. Moose scored another goal. Obed Vargas scored a goal. We had a coveted Nouhou goal. And Ryan Kent might just be the greatest player alive. We’ll talk about all that, hit our Agenda Check then jump around the league for winners and losers around MLS.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Context
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
What's going on, everybody? Welcome to another episode of Lobbing Scorchers. We're recording this on a gorgeous Monday evening in the city of Seattle. The Seattle Sounders are one of the hottest teams in Major League Soccer.
00:00:36
Speaker
And Noah, we're about to lay down perhaps the most emphatic dub pod in Lobbing Scorchers history. How are you feeling? Well, we've been known to say that in the past, and...
00:00:48
Speaker
I think like this one isn't even exaggerating. We're really about to lay down the craziest dub pod of all time. It's a new who dub pod. It's a new who through and through dub pod. How often does the man himself, the new who defender, get to do a victory lap?
00:01:07
Speaker
If it's not the most emphatic dub pod in Lobbing Scorchers history, it's certainly in in the discussion.
Match Recap: Sounders vs. St. Louis City SC
00:01:12
Speaker
ah The Seattle Sounders beat the absolute brakes off St. Louis City SC in match day 11, cruising to a 4-1 victory.
00:01:20
Speaker
Moose scored another goal. That's four straight games. Obed Vargas scored a goal. As Noah just mentioned, we had a coveted new who goal and Ryan Kent might just be the greatest player alive. We're going to talk about all that.
00:01:34
Speaker
We'll talk about all that. I'm going to, I'm going to give you credit for that. We'll talk about all that. We're going to hit our agenda check. And then we're going to jump around the league for winners and losers for match day 11 and MLS. Noah, you were out of town for the game itself, but we haven't caught up about it at all. I can't wait to hear your takes on this one.
00:01:53
Speaker
This was a banger.
Podcast Support and Community Engagement
00:01:54
Speaker
ah But before we get into all that, I do have to let you all know that Lobbing Scorchers is a part of the Sounder at Heart podcast network. If you want to get the best independent Seattle soccer coverage, consider supporting us by going to sounderatheart.com slash LS. What's that link? Sounder at heart.com slash L S.
00:02:11
Speaker
All you have to do is so scroll down to subscribe and support to get 30 days completely free. Every sign up through our link helps support and grow this show. ah The road to 100 Sounder at Heart Subs is alive and well.
00:02:22
Speaker
Now more than ever, it's a great time to become a member with the season in full swing. And subscribers also get access to the audio-only versions of our live shows right to your podcast feed. ah Shout out to our sponsors, Hacks and Ferments, Podium Menswear and Full Pull Wines, My Data Removal and Body Speck.
00:02:37
Speaker
ah Do we have any new Sounder at Heart subs to thank this week? We do. We have one new sub. That's what we asked for. That's all we asked for. Dieter Echols, thank you so much for becoming a Sounder at Heart supporter that's right a sounder at heart supporter uh you are enjoying so much good content from sounder at heart across the board including this beautiful podcast right here we really appreciate you and if you want to join the ranks if you want to be number 90 number 90 if you want to be number 90 sounder at heart.com slash ls scroll down subscribe and support you will get your name read and you'll be helping support the best local soccer coverage are out
00:03:19
Speaker
Do you want to hear something crazy? I do, Ari. I was just trying to like rack my brain of sounders that have worn the number 90 to be like, you could be our, you know, yeah whatever here subscriber.
00:03:30
Speaker
And the one that popped into my mind, check out this name, Waylon Francis. Dude, that's a throwback. You could be our Waylon Francis. You could be, if you know, you know.
00:03:41
Speaker
He was a great fit. His tenure on the team was um incredible. That's definitely one that ah you want to be affiliated with ah as a Sounder Heart subscriber. We're getting up to like the Academy kit numbers and that's like, Yeah, the real goal is to get to the Liga Mequis numbers when they have triple digits. Like, yeah now checking in number 326, that's what we aspire to. Yeah, and you know that we personally have the agenda of we think that should be implemented in MLS. yeah So yeah you're helping us push our agendas, and we're helping you get great soccer content.
00:04:17
Speaker
Uh, like the video, if you're watching on YouTube, sub to the channel, follow us on Instagram, all socials like comment, subscribe, tell all your friends and family. Uh, all right, no, let's get into this dub pod. I can't wait to do this dub pod any longer. Let's get into the dub pod. Uh, uh, before we get into the, our key moments, let's hit our lineup reaction.
00:04:34
Speaker
No Jordan Morris, no Jesus Ferreira for this game, which, uh, as much as improved as the vibes have been lately, I feel like they took a little bit of a downturn with these injuries, especially with it coming out that Ferreira was also hurt. yeah It was just kind of exasperating right as everything seemed to be coming together. You have two of the biggest, highest profile players on the team get injured.
00:04:55
Speaker
ah So i still, my expectations for this game as far as the result were the same, but I was feeling, uh, I was definitely feeling down about the injuries, ah but it was still a strong lineup. You had Moose starting at the nine, Rusnak flanked by La Vega in Rothrock, which ah it was the obvious look that they were going to roll with, but that's that's how I thought they were going to line it up.
00:05:17
Speaker
And then everything else was standard across the board, ah except Kim Keehee continues to fill in for Jackson Reagan. That's pretty much how I figured they would run it. Did you have any different thoughts when you saw the eleven No, I didn't have any thoughts because my brain is empty, Ari.
Game Analysis: St. Louis City SC Strategy
00:05:33
Speaker
that that's can'thar yeah yeah um Let's ah let's just get into the key moments from this game because ah lot of stuff happened. Sure did.
00:05:45
Speaker
lot of stuff happened in this game. St. Louis city SC, you know, we, we talked, I talked with ah Jake from ball watching and just from what I've seen of them this year, i think everyone kind of knew what their game plan was going to be coming into this game.
00:06:00
Speaker
ah which is that the idea of scoring a goal was more of like a, a more of a concept. It was a goal. it was it ah It was a goal to score a goal. it Like it was it was, they were gonna get there maybe. Yeah. I, I, I wasn't expecting them to try that hard to do it. They haven't been all season coming into Seattle with the injuries that they have.
00:06:19
Speaker
Uh, I, I figured they would, uh, kind of try and sit back, absorb pressure, maybe Nick one on the counter and really, ah it seemed like it was pretty much playing like that. Uh, but there was two penalty kicks, two penalty kicks in the first half. The officiating was once again, a big storyline. I feel like we will have to talk about that because we did defend pro and then they immediately went and stabbed us in the back. They undermined me. So, of course. Just did a whole segment about how MLS refs aren't actually that bad.
00:06:48
Speaker
And ah the one in the one in Colorado was ah ah more of an outlier than the regular. And then ah this guy comes in and left a legacy on Lumen Field be sure. Put his name in the rafters. I mean, he was he was on one.
00:07:03
Speaker
He was on one. ah But let's just talk about these... penalty kick calls because this actually, I mean, I said it on the post game live end on kickoff, but the penalty calls were really not my issue in this game.
00:07:13
Speaker
I thought the, uh, I didn't like the Yammer one when it got called, but you know, I'm, I'm biased. Sure. Like, uh, it was, uh, I see that one as soft, but ultimately 50-50. And I think what Brian Schmetzer's take on after the game was accurate, which is that Yimar puts himself in a bad situation by taking a poor angle. yeah And it's it's one of those ones that we talk about all the time. Like when when you make a challenge like that, where Yimar made it even if you think the ultimate call was soft, you are putting yourself in a situation where you're susceptible to that and you're leaving it in the ref's hands, which ah that's on you.
00:07:51
Speaker
That's all it's on you. ah So even if I thought that call was soft, ah I wasn't super aggrieved about it. But what I was thinking was the standard has been set now for what a penalty is in this game. Like that's a 50-51.
00:08:06
Speaker
And if you're going to call it on the soft side of it, then then you just got to call it for both teams. That's all I ask. yeah If there's an exact equivalent situation on the other end, yeah it has to be a penalty. That's what I was thinking the whole time yeah ah during the call and then when the guy converted it And then we actually got a case study of it just a few minutes later when Albert Rustack springs Paul Rothrock.
00:08:29
Speaker
Rothrock cuts it back. He's running towards the middle of the box. exact Exact equivalent type challenge, I think. Yeah, I agree. Pretty much the same idea. And he called it. So, ah you know, me personally, i would rather those both...
00:08:45
Speaker
not get called i think and it'd just be zero zero but it was effectively zero zero because uh it became one one after rusinac hit his pk and uh can we talk about the pks too like like the kicks themselves yeah like yeah sure i hate the stutter step penalty more than anything in this entire planet how is it legal that you fully jump up in the air plant your feet wait like 10 seconds and then kick the ball.
00:09:14
Speaker
How is that allowed? It's the, it's the Joseph Martinez. It's so dumb. It's like, it looks stupid every time. And then I feel like, and the the PK taker already has every advantage. Yeah. So it's like, I think that should be banned. I think that you should just have to kick the ball, kick the piss out of the ball. Like Albert Rusnak, like if we're comparing which one was cooler and prettier and like, you know,
00:09:34
Speaker
Again, we're biased. This is what we do. Delbert Russack one was like, fire. I like a penny that goes like right down the middle yeah because it's like that that takes, it's not as much gumption as like a Panenka, but it's still like, you gotta have courage to do that because if the goalie stays,
00:09:50
Speaker
Just stay central. You look like ah you look like an idiot. yeah But ah Albert Rusnak converts that one. and then it's one one going into halftime. And I'll be honest, ah even after St. Louis took the lead, just based on the ah the tempo and the game state.
00:10:07
Speaker
I did not think it was looking like they needed it to look at all to get out of there, to to sit on a one zero lead at Lumen. Yeah. ah They did not, they didn't close it up. Like, didn't it feel like they were still kind of track meeting it more than they should have been for what they, what it seemed like we all thought they were trying to do.
00:10:25
Speaker
Like it was too end to end to for them to get out of there. Zero, zero. And even when Seattle was down one, zero, I had that thought in my head, a hundred percent. i was like, if it keeps going like this, I'm pretty sure Seattle's going to win because they're not there. They want to be sitting on this one, zero, but they're kind of not.
00:10:43
Speaker
Yeah, it was it was confusing the way that they were playing out the match. I mean, I really do think it was a poor performance from a team that's kind of in a really bad slump right now. So it's also really hard to play away Lumen Field. Like, that's just that's just the truth of the situation. And I think that the penalties did kind of lubricate the game in a way. Like, it allowed for a little bit of belief that there was there was something more there.
00:11:09
Speaker
um And I don't know. But it really seemed like, poor game planning by St. Louis and then also like this was a team that's kind of just out of their depth attackingly. Attackingly, that's an... like Yeah, and they were and they were trying to play they were trying to play like the Sounders, which was very weird.
00:11:29
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the whole story with St. Louis this year is that I mean, they have this new coach who I just learned is apparently the greatest defend defender in the history of the Swedish national team, which I guess I should know that because I'm Swedish.
00:11:42
Speaker
but Oh, you are? I didn't know that. Yeah, that's my last name. ah but Oh yeah. There is a J in there. It seems like he's sort of a, uh, defensive coach to begin with. And then you throw the injuries on and they've really, if the season for them has been a bit of a survival test. Uh, and I just, I would would have expected them to kind of lean into that even more. I don't think this guy cares about like the aesthetics of it. Like he's just kind of trying to get a point at all costs. i would think so. It was, uh,
00:12:11
Speaker
And I think you do have, you have to credit Seattle for, uh, controlling that game state and imposing that on them definitely as well. I think that's part of why that happened. It wasn't just them not sticking to their game plan.
00:12:22
Speaker
Um, as the home team, Seattle did a good job of, uh, getting on top of them and
Second-Half Performance and Key Players
00:12:27
Speaker
Noah. I mean, we're going about to get into the goals right now, but the chance generation in this game from Seattle was phenomenal. Uh, especially in this second half that we're about to break down yeah every single time they were on the ball.
00:12:38
Speaker
dangerous stuff was happening. The combination play. Excellent. It's so fun to watch a team when just they're playing a step ahead of the other team and everyone's on the same wavelength.
00:12:50
Speaker
the The one twos just, uh, man, the, the ball movement, uh, nothing but rave reviews for this second half performance. I thought the first half performance was okay, I guess. ah Like, the Chance Generation was still good, and how they were controlling the game was good.
00:13:07
Speaker
But ah this second half, it absolutely took off into what I really think is... I think it's definitely as singularly dominant and attacking performance as we've gotten to enjoy since we started lobbing scorchers.
00:13:23
Speaker
But really, man, when I think back in the last like three, four years, I don't know if there's been one as suffocating as this. This was phenomenal. Just When you think about what you want this team to look like and at their top level and really ah doing the doing get trying to get to that buzzsaw level of these like l LAFC teams and inter Miami's that we talk about, like how they look at their top level.
00:13:45
Speaker
That's what it looked like. I think you've seen like flashes of that, like the Nashville game. They were they were approaching that level. This this was that level ah before we get into the goals themselves.
00:13:56
Speaker
ah Did you have anything you wanted to bask in on this fantastic second half? Well, yeah, I think we talked about how great the last, you know, those 16 minutes of soccer, 20 minutes of soccer were against Nashville. The three and fifteen but thats It was like that, but an entire half. Exactly. That's like what I'm saying is...
00:14:16
Speaker
you know I think I even said on that podcast that this is always what this team could be. This is what we saw this team in preseason do and what we felt like this team was capable of doing when they hit the ground running, when they find the right lineup.
00:14:30
Speaker
It's what they did against l LAFC. It's what like they what they did in preseason. But this was different. This was something that I've never seen before. And I really do think it comes down to a singular player that power a lot of this attack. The second that who I have said is the greatest player to ever touch turf.
00:14:52
Speaker
Ryan Kent came on the field. Wow. Wow. What a change in the game state. I'll let you play off that. I mean, it's a perfect segue into what we're going to talk about with these goals, because you're right.
00:15:05
Speaker
ah Ryan Kent, we've been excited about it. we've ah We've been pleased with what we've seen in these ah early cameos. We've been pining to see more ah because just because of the allure of the possibility of something like this.
00:15:21
Speaker
And God damn it, it happened. We saw it. Yeah. ah Ryan Kent was unbelievable. the ah It started right when he came on the field. Yes. God, Noah, that jukey, I can't stop talking about it. the ah The movie pulled on that guy at midfield where he let the ball ah scoot by him and then just whoop, he's gone. yeah He's gone. That is such, ah Nico and I were talking about it this morning, but like just the... yeah the awareness, situational awareness, game awareness, technical a ability incredibledible just knowing, love that knowing what the defender is going to be doing and then just pulling the exact opposite thing on him. And, he's off and running, uh, every time he was on the ball, all half stuff like that was happening. Uh, it was, it was electric.
00:16:08
Speaker
Yeah, it was electric. Uh, and Seattle gets it was butts out of seats. Sorry. His bums, bums off seats, bums off seats, fish and chips. already He did say that he was a bums off seats player. Bums were off seats watching that guy play. I don't.
00:16:24
Speaker
It was it was phenomenal to watch. How loud was Lumenfield? Because this this was a game that I wasn't at. Like you said, how loud was it when he was on the ball? Oh, man, it was it was going off. Like every time he was on the ball, the whole building was just locked in.
00:16:38
Speaker
And I said it at the time, but after the New Who goal, loudest it's been all season. Obviously, part of that is like the New Who sure aspect of it. sure It was kind of a banger. and ah It was top ends. It would have gone off. He went top. New Who went top ends. Who went top ends. New went top ends. Podcast title, New Who went top ends. That's it. Yeah. the ah The crowd went absolutely erupted after New Who scored that, and it it was the New Who aspect of it, but it was the Ryan Kent aspect of it as well. ah the The end product was fully there in this game. He gets two assists. Let's talk about this. Obed goal first. my God. The one two the one too between Ryan Kent and Obed. Their chemistry already
00:17:19
Speaker
is Amazing. Like they look like they've been playing together for you years. It unlocked even something else in Obed, I think. And I think that's ah my biggest takeaway from this game outside of just how fun it was to watch Ryan Kent is how much he appears to be a force multiplier for yeah other players. Yes. yeah Yes. Have you ever seen New Who look like that?
00:17:42
Speaker
What the hell? No, look like like this is, this is, so this is exactly what I noticed the second that he came on the field. And this was even, I've seen, I was seeing this before this game, but it was like black and white in this game, him.
00:17:56
Speaker
And I know we're talking about this Obed goal, but him and Albert Rusnak together, yes. Playing together looked like a premier league. it Like it literally. do Yeah. I'm not joking.
00:18:07
Speaker
The two's ability to play in each other's space, Ryan Kent's technical ability, his patience, his holdup, like everything about the way that he plays, it's so clear that he is at just a different
Future Prospects for Players
00:18:19
Speaker
level than what we are used to seeing in Major League Soccer in general.
00:18:23
Speaker
His soccer iq i've I've never seen a player other than like so watching Messi play that has that kind of ability to just slow the game down in his own brain, play people, and be he's so unselfish, which is like something you almost never see with a player of that talent and ability.
00:18:44
Speaker
He was just laying it off, setting up perfect goals for everyone else. This is a player who hasn't played in like six months. The last time he played a full game, like, or even this many amount of minutes was like six months ago.
00:18:59
Speaker
And then before that, it was like four months before that. it it He is a ridiculous talent. And that the Obed goal, the New Who goal, everything. He is raising every single person's floor.
00:19:13
Speaker
And he's definitely broken the ceiling of what I ever thought that this club could be. And as a Paul Rothrock fan, I'm sorry, buddy, but this guy's got to start.
00:19:25
Speaker
he was He was dishing every kind of dime imaginable out there. a One touch, through balls. He can hit it over the top, crossing it, like everything. No look um letting the ball roll and the ball is rolling through a defender's legs. Like, did you see that? He literally megged a guy without touching the ball.
00:19:44
Speaker
Yeah. How does that happen? This man is a demigod. This man is not real. He was ah he was going insane out there. ah The Obed goal, excellent interplay between the between the two of them. also Also, that's another thing I wanted to say. Thank you for reminding me. i ba I can't stop dishing. Keep basking.
00:20:02
Speaker
This is exactly why Obed needs to go to a larger team. That he needs to be sold and he needs to go to Europe. and he needs Can you imagine him on a team like PSG or something like that? like Do you see when he he has everyone is as good as him yeah when where when he has the talent around him he looks like a hundred million dollar player listen aria it's been 30 it was 20 million it was 10 million it was 20 million it was 25 million it was 40 million 45 million he's a hundred million dollar player okay i'm sorry hundred million dollars just uh the interplay between the two of them on that goal it looked like they've been playing together for for years just how they combined there and uh
00:20:44
Speaker
how Ryan can't do exactly what he was going to do. Hits the pass perfectly. ah Obed is just often running at that point, gets a good look, takes a deflection, but I mean, that's such a high quality chance. Like that is going to be ah a goal. A lot of the time, if you're generating chances like that, just a fantastic play.
00:21:02
Speaker
Uh, the next goal, another goal for moose, One, two, three, four games in a row for the man. ah He is the second hottest number nine in major league soccer at the moment. That's crazy to say.
00:21:13
Speaker
I mean, and Brian White, you can't even compare anyone to right now. That's unfair. That's like yeah that's like it's that's like trying to compare someone to Messi. Yeah, he is the Messi of the north. So, so basically if you having Brian white on your team, that's like cheating in this discussion. correct If you, if you take that out of the equation, Danny Musavsky is the hottest number nine in major league soccer.
00:21:34
Speaker
Um, he's got his four goals in four games, but, uh, just again, like his movement, the, the chances that he's getting from the spots he's getting into, he is earning these goals and this one, Oh God, just another great goal. Noah, the ball from new who, uh, What a ball. What a ball.
00:21:53
Speaker
What a ball. Like what is what? ah What a ball. I why? Who is this guy? Who is this guy? What is happening? Who is this guy? He lays that in like that could have been Joven Jones out there. Dude, it it looked like it looked like Joven Jones. Joven Jones is back.
00:22:06
Speaker
Apparently that knew who is now Joven Jones. We're going to talk about that better on defense, but like ah the new who level defending. But with Joven Jones is attacking attributes. ah We've been asking for them to get a player like that. Apparently yes they didn't need to. Apparently they got one.
00:22:20
Speaker
Apparently I got one. I mean, knew who was... Take your victory lap too. Come on. You deserve it. i you been You've been saying it. I don't even think I need to victory lap. I will just say that I've never been on the ah on the train, the anti-train.
00:22:32
Speaker
And ah that's... Well, I can't see... I can't even like take credit because my whole point was like, I see the value even with no attacking contribution. And now now apparently he's become the greatest two-way fullback I've ever seen. knew who I think this was the best game of news career.
00:22:50
Speaker
I do. Hands down because like he's had monstrous defensive games before he's had games where he's locked down freaking Denny Buongo or whatever big star you want to name in the playoffs in games that they've won. He started Champions League games and finals and won MLS cups knew who's done all that. He's never, i he's never looked like that. no It is funny.
00:23:10
Speaker
i said on the live, I know for a fact he's never had two goal contributions in a game. Someone pointed out, good shout, the game he scored against Houston a couple years ago with first goal. Apparently he also had an assistant. He did. Yeah, that's right. So i was that was incorrect.
00:23:25
Speaker
But the point stands. Even in that game, he did not look like that. No, he did not look like that. That goal was more of a fluke than it was like a two sets. The Houston goal. you mean Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, the the this match, both of those goals were sprung. Well, the goal he assisted on in his goal were sprung on by quality play.
00:23:46
Speaker
The last ones were like he just happened to be in the right place at the right time and he did lean back too far. And then the assist was I think the assist was good if I remember that correctly. like I don't remember. it i don't remember it at all but regardless like it can't have been as good as this assist knew who this was a world-class assist i literally have my notes here i i took some notes and i knew who has this is his best game ever obviously but he has looked like a monster in the last few matches and he's really he's been in good form the last month or so so no one's talking about him that's how you know Yeah, no one's no one's chirping for this. I'm not chirping. That's how you know he's in good firm. I'm I'm talking good about him. But I think the thing that has to be said, and we've noted it, his improvement this season is unlike any that I have ever seen.
00:24:33
Speaker
Apparently, Brian Schmetzer had a conversation with him and was like, listen, you know, you need to improve on these things and do this. And he's doing it. i feel like they must've had that conversation when he was like 22 so they could try and sell him. Yeah. I, so, uh, and it just never really popped. Yeah. I mean, if it's going to pop now, whatever, like that's fine. ah from, from we'll, we'll, we'll see if he, if I still am not really totally sure if this is like the new, new who, sure. Oh, and he's going to sudden actually become Joven Jones.
00:25:03
Speaker
Uh, but just the fact that a game like that is in his bag was, uh, I mean, that was a lot of fun. was impressive. Uh, He's been putting in work, though. like from what i heard He has. From what I've heard, he's literally even practicing free kicks. Yeah.
00:25:18
Speaker
Like, way after practice, you know, he's like in the hours. Which absolutely never going to take in a game, but we respect the work ethic. I love it. And clearly... going to be like, Albert, move over. i don It's my time to shine, buddy. I don't know if he's been working on his crossing more or if something just like clicked, but ah his service from out wide has been better all season.
00:25:38
Speaker
And in this game, ah playing with Ryan Kent and then also just ah employing apparently his newfound attacking ability, ah it really it ah added a whole different element to the attack in this game. And I'm really hoping that...
00:25:53
Speaker
You know, I don't expect him to necessarily play like that. Sure. Every week. No. But if he even can become like, like get half of that attacking skill set into his game that we saw in this game.
00:26:06
Speaker
ah What a asset. What a boost that would be to this team. That could be ah just a whole thing that we had. i had i could he I had written off the possibility that that would ever happen. He could legitimately make a run at MLS defender of the year if he keeps up this quality. Because they give it to fullbacks. That's what I'm saying. So it's like that. Imagine.
00:26:26
Speaker
Imagine. If Nuhu gets defender the year. That would just, i come on. That how how would be the apex. That's like, that's peak. Yeah, and honestly, it's not a bad shout. if he he does He has to keep playing like this. yeah yeah This is a very early, yeah. And this is what Schmetzer said after the game. He was like, the the key with him is to do that but consistently.
00:26:48
Speaker
I'm excited to see if he can do that. ah And I'm glad ah i'm glad we're we got off on a tangent, but it's fine. We got to give Nuhu his plot. Listen, he was in Team of the Match Day, too. we yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good shout.
00:27:00
Speaker
Again, on that goal, though, great little pirouette turn for Moose. Moose is locked in. ah The man can't stop scoring goals. The Moose goal was sick. It was a sick goal.
00:27:11
Speaker
The Moose goal was sick. He's good. These are not cheapies. These are like... ah Like, yeah, all they're all from inside the box, but like, again, the movement, the positioning. He's a pure nine. he They should be from inside the box. Right, right. Yeah. Like he's, I think that was interesting. But like some people try and be like, oh, he's, you know, he's just poaching, which obviously that is something that a number nine, that is the skill of a number nine. Sure.
00:27:35
Speaker
But it's also like, this was a class finish. Uh, I would argue, uh, what were the, what are the other ones he scored? The the Nashville one, really good finish. Uh, There was like a sliding one. The FC Dallas one, I maintain that that was a more difficult finish than he made it look like. So these are good high-level striker goals that Moose is scoring right now. Nothing cheap about this. I don't care.
00:27:58
Speaker
i don't care if they're high quality. Guess what? They're going in because that's that's the thing. It's like I don't care That's the same thing with Jordan Morris, right? I don't give a shit if they're the most beautiful striker goal in the world. I care if you they're going in and you're winning the game.
00:28:12
Speaker
people who want to who People who want to qualify at all with, oh, you know, it's true. was well they got it You got to find some way to like tear Moose down because yeah you had the narrative that Craig Waps needs to be fired signing him. I agree. like I think the criticism on Moose from the jump was understandable and fair. And also, if you're still criticizing him now,
00:28:39
Speaker
You've lost the plot. I mean, if the number one Moose disliker can come around to the man and actively say that he has played almost you better... you know This man formally apologized. I formally apologized behind a paywall. Behind a paywall. If you become a YouTube member, you can see I'm a changed man, but I think that, like...
00:29:01
Speaker
He is actively playing this role in making this team look way better. Like, I think his pure nine play in the less of the like springing him on and and him just being in the right positions is honestly complimenting this team a little bit better than Jordan. What do you think about that?
00:29:18
Speaker
I think that's a tough take, but like I think that's- I just think they're pretty different. like If you have Jordan in there, he brings stuff that Moose doesn't in terms of his ability as like ah to like run in behind and stretch the field more in that way.
00:29:32
Speaker
And then Moose gives you maybe a little more of that conventional like fox in the box, like I'm going to find the right spot yeah and be clinical when I get when i get my chances.
00:29:44
Speaker
they're they're They're both, you know, pure nines, but they do it a little bit differently. And I think there's just a little bit of a give and take. I think, you know, when when Jordan's at his peak form, he's been one of the best goal scorers in the league for long stretches of his career. So, yeah, I mean, I think it is fair to say that, like, this team plays well.
00:30:07
Speaker
differently when the the striker setup is a little bit more of that poacher and I think that the difference is they score four goals a game when that position is a poacher not not always but do you know what I'm saying like that setup has definitely favored that poacher role and that's not to say that Jordan can't play that role he definitely can and he can still bring that that counter-attacking ah spring him on Right. Like that's, that's what Jordan brings that moves. Doesn't as much as like that ability to ah make those runs in behind and get on the end of those through balls. Jordan's one of the best in MLS at that specific skill. So like, I just don't think that that serves this team maybe as much.
00:30:51
Speaker
And that's not to say that you shouldn't start Jordan or you shouldn't play him or that he's bad or anything. It's just that he might have to tweak his game coming back in to the fold to be a little bit more, like Moose. That's all i'm trying to say. There's no question that whatever Moose is doing right now, it's working because the man is on absolute fire and this was another great goal in this game. He's pissing in the woods, folks.
00:31:14
Speaker
Let's talk about the new who goal. Let's talk about the new who goal. We got a new who goal. top bins Got a new who goal, second of his career, and it was a it was a banger.
00:31:25
Speaker
ah I mean, this play again, all about Ryan Kent. Uh, uh, and Obed, I mean, Oh God, just the whole sequence. I mean, uh, well, first of all, uh, Noah Nico pointed out on kick this morning, the moose goal was a 16 past sequence. Yeah. It was from champagne footy from watch the whole sequence.
00:31:45
Speaker
Watch the whole sequence. Absolutely beautiful. Uh, 16 past sequence, uh, more phenomenal interplay from Obed and Ryan Kent. On this new who goal, ah Obed slides Ryan Kent on through, and oh, man, the move he he hit that defender with in the box.
00:32:03
Speaker
Where, again, it's just like ah he's like getting the ball in the most dangerous spot possible um just by like kind of manipulating the guy with how he runs.
00:32:14
Speaker
You know what i mean? Yeah, his body language is incredible. How he just drifts off the shoulder, and there's just nothing but space. He's like, he's, he's so poised on the ball. You can, he just exudes that confidence where it's like the defender is going to have a hard time determining what he's going to do.
00:32:31
Speaker
And he's also just so technically skilled. And I also do think that he is, um benefiting from the new player bump where there's just not any kind of scouting or data or anything that people can really like throw on him. We saw that with Georgie, right? Like,
00:32:49
Speaker
People kind of figured out Georgie's gimmick pretty quick. I don't think they're going figure out Ryan Kent's gimmick really quick, but I do think that like that is part of it. But man, the way you're right, like the way he's able to just show it's like he's like skating and gliding on the field, dude.
00:33:06
Speaker
He's like a magician. Ooh, I like that. He's like a magician. sure I think we need... we Magic Mike? It's... Magic... I don't know. It's just... a It's so fun to watch when an attacker like manipulates the defender like that. Like, I'm going to make you do...
00:33:23
Speaker
what you way You don't know that you don't want to do it, but you're about to find out because when I get this ball, I am in the primest of prime assist zones. ah He just just, again, phenomenal movement to free himself up into that space in the prime assist zone.
00:33:38
Speaker
ah Picks out Nuhu with, ah that's the other thing about it, man, the end product. you know The end product. We've we've seen a lot of a lot of wingers on this team ah in the last few years who can have a moment or two like that here and there, but then like when it actually comes down to executing the final pass, it's not always there. Uh, Ryan Kent has that.
00:34:02
Speaker
He has that end product. Uh, so again, just fantastic work on this goal, picks up his second assist and then knew who, ah was he trying to hit it like that?
00:34:13
Speaker
Probably not. Who's say? Who's to say? Did he get lucky to not hit that one into row triple Z? and Like up by where they lift the flag. Where the Toyota truck is? Where the Toyota truck?
00:34:26
Speaker
Maybe. ah But it went in. It went in. He played it off like he meant to do it, and it looked like an awesome... but That's a striker's finish right there. that's a striker's finish. Put him at the nine.
00:34:38
Speaker
Put him at the nine. We want to talk about Moose being a fox in the box. New who right there. Lolling him to sleep and then pouncing, going in for the kill right as ah right as that ball comes in there. though it just nut God damn it. Just another great...
00:34:53
Speaker
Team goal. All three of them, all three of them, champagne footy, and they could have had way more. Yeah, we're not even talking about the De Rosario kids. Absolute that might have been bungle. That might have been the best sequence of the night. Yeah, the fact that they didn't, I mean. The ball from Obed on that one. Oh God.
00:35:11
Speaker
The fact he didn't score made me so mad. i was watching this. This was it was my girlfriend's birthday this weekend. a Happy birthday. ah birthday Happy birthday, Liv. um And it was like we were both watching together. She's a Sounders fan as well. And oh, my God. Like the fact that we watched him miss that, she goes,
00:35:30
Speaker
What is this kid doing? What is this kid doing? It was a welcome to MLS moment. It was a welcome to MLS moment and ah you you wanted it for him because you would have been- was getting in good spots. Well, yeah, and that's the kind of positive takeaway I've been trying to take from it, which is that ah He missed it. I think he he got pumped up. This first and freaking 10 minutes on an MLS field. yep He got in a a great spot. That's exactly where he's supposed to be. He did everything right.
00:35:58
Speaker
You wanted him to get rewarded for it, and he skied it. But, you know... ah i liked what he was I liked what he was doing on the play. I liked how he was ah how he was moving. he Again, in the right spot.
00:36:11
Speaker
ah Obed, I mean, just an absolutely insane pass to put Christian and a Good layoff from Christian. It's an open net for your striker, so you can't ask for much more than that. And, you know, Noah, I think that ah if he keeps doing that,
00:36:26
Speaker
he'll He'll start scoring those. We know he can score those, by the way. We've seen We saw him do it at Starfire, and he's been doing it in MLS Next Pro all year. And he's going to it against the Timbys. His dad is Dwayne De Rosario. He can score that. Yeah.
00:36:39
Speaker
He can score that. I'm not pressed at the kid at all. I just want him to keep ah getting in spots like that because you know what he's probably going to have to play. new new New take on this, okay?
00:36:51
Speaker
Yeah. There's been a lot of Sounders debuts that debut that have not had things go their way, right? Like ah a goal gets called off because of a frivolous offside or, you know, whatever. Like the Danny Leyva. Was it is Danny Leyva? Danny Leyva debut goal. We say that counts.
00:37:09
Speaker
he He scored on his debut. You know what? I'm going to say it. I don't care. I don't care what the comments say. This one counts for me. There, Rosario, congrats on your first MLS goal. Yeah, I'll go with that narrative. You know what I mean? Why not? The result of the game the same. Yeah, who cares?
00:37:25
Speaker
He pretty much scored that. He basically scored that. He was right in the spot to score that. You know what it was? It's like the Cosmos give and take. They took his goal away and gave it to Nuhu.
00:37:37
Speaker
So it's like... a Right. You know what I mean? That's the thing is like... ah I think was the new who goal after the De Rosario chance. I think it was. I think so. I think so. Cause it's so like, yeah if De Rosario hits that, the sequence, it's butterfly effect. The sequence of the new goal never happens. There you go. So you had to pick one. He De Rosario was being unselfish to make sure that knew who could get a goal because he loves this team.
00:38:01
Speaker
Exactly. That's really, yeah. So that's where we're at. um I mean, yeah. I mean, like I said, I could talk about this second half all day, but like just chance after chance, after chance, after chance, they could have had five, six, seven, eight goals in this game.
Seattle Sounders' Offensive Prowess
00:38:16
Speaker
I mean, you could go down the list, knew who should have had another assist in this game ah or could have.
00:38:22
Speaker
yeah People were like, before Moose got the goal, people were like getting on Moose for missing that header. and that's a i That's a more difficult shot in my opinion than it looks like because you got the... you trying to get it in that exact little spot between the keeper and the crosspar or crossbar. And, guys like, guys, if he puts that lower, the, like...
00:38:42
Speaker
That much lower, the keeper probably has It's not an easy... like You got to put that on a dime to make that, but it was a great ball by Nuhu and could have been a goal. Well, he was also like two or three steps to the left of like really where he should have been to like be in the perfect spot to actually get that header off.
00:39:00
Speaker
So the fact that he even got his head on that ball... Luz has vert. Yeah, he's got Lil Uzi vert, okay? like He's kind of there, and I'm kind of here for it. like He was... Up and over. Like if you watch that, he like kind of leans back and like gets over to get his head on that ball. Like that's not a, that's a difficult spot. That was, that was a great chance. Great interplay from Rothrock and new great ball from new people were saying Rothrock didn't play well in this match. And don't know why he won the penny.
00:39:28
Speaker
Yeah. Um, they know there was They had 29 shots. yeah i was Yeah, I forgot to bring that up. 29 shots. That is and 20, this is the even crazier part of that stat.
00:39:39
Speaker
20 were from inside the box. Yeah. 20 shots. When's the last time you From inside box. like I don't know if people understand like how hard that is to do. like Your chance generation has to be off the absolute hook yeah to put up a stat like that. ah There's the moose header.
00:39:58
Speaker
There's the De Rosario chance. ah there was the one Ryan Kent should have had another assist on the one that Obed put off the post. Every single time they were on the ball, they were just making it happen.
00:40:12
Speaker
And it was electric, man. It was electric. The building was electric.
00:40:18
Speaker
The squad was just going off. The goals were flowing. Knew who scored. Knew who scored. I'm looking at the goal, like the goal, uh, chart of where new who scored. And it's literally, it's just like the perfect top corner. Like, do you see this? This is just like this. They don't make it any, any more perfect precision.
00:40:37
Speaker
that's my number nine. Yeah. They were just that whole second half. They were just beating them like a drum. Uh, anything else that you wanted to bask in on the, uh, on the second half?
00:40:49
Speaker
I, The best second a half I've seen a Sounders team play, and I don't even know how long.
Supporting Sounder at Heart Network
00:40:53
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, i definitely have one negative, but everything Oh, i forgot to put positives and negatives. Do your positives and negatives. We'll take an ad break, and then we'll do positives and negatives. Don't skip the ads. So don't skip the ads.
00:41:07
Speaker
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00:41:15
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:41:57
Speaker
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00:43:10
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00:43:58
Speaker
um but yeah, so don't, this is why you don't skip our ads. You know what i mean? So, Um, we can do our positives and negatives here. I think we could probably just state a positive being from 45 minutes to 98 minutes.
00:44:14
Speaker
Like I think just everything. It was one of the best halves of soccer ever played. Yeah. Like it, it was, if they could beat PSG, if they play like that, we can we've, uh, I mean, we've spent the entire first part of the show talking about the positives, but, uh, I think if I was really to, to boil it down,
00:44:31
Speaker
ah
00:44:33
Speaker
That type of attacking performance without Jesus Ferreira and Jordan Morris, ah that couldn't be more encouraging. And, ah you know, we'll talk about it when we get to lobbing Scorcher's man of the match. But, ah mean, Ryan Kent was incredible. Ryan was incredible. It was incredible.
00:44:48
Speaker
Just instant impact. I mean, you cannot... I cannot... I could sit here for... I would literally i want to record this pod all night. I know. and I like don't want to stop talking about it. It's so good. it might be like a two and a half hour pod. Again.
00:45:03
Speaker
Again. We went two hours last week. We're going again. It might be another two hour. It's, ah yeah, positives across the board. Just really quality play. Really good... ah Kim Kihee played well. I know we didn't mention him, but he's been playing really well in that role.
00:45:19
Speaker
um I thought that literally every single person, like if you just go down the list, no one really... Well, there's one person, but most people played incredibly well. I thought ah when Albert Rusnak played in combination with Ryan Kat, I just i have to highlight this again.
00:45:40
Speaker
Some of the best... soccer I've seen. Like you could put those two players together on just about any team in the world and they would cook. And I think you could say the exact same thing about Ryan Kent and Obed. Yep. And Ryan Kent knew who Yeah. Yeah. What's the common denominator?
00:45:56
Speaker
that Yeah. Ryan Kent, buddy. um So let's pop over to our negatives. ah i'll I'll jump in because, you know, I did write down some negatives here because someone's got to do it. Someone's got to be in here. We got to put it. We we do both in every game. Yeah.
00:46:11
Speaker
Uh, Yamar was, um he's been in a slump, I think is a fair characterization. And I don't think he played very well in this game. um I think he did a little bit better on his progressive passing in this game. I could, I could kind of tell that he was trying to get a little bit better in that role.
00:46:31
Speaker
Which is great. I mean, that's something, you know, it's always good to add that to your bag, but obviously he's no Jackson. And, uh, that penalty was a little bit silly to like give it to, I saw that play happen. And I was like, that is a penalty. I'm like, I, I, I, that's, already know that's a penalty. What are you doing?
00:46:48
Speaker
And one as soon as he calls it, there's no way could get overturned. no So ah yeah, I guess if I had to pick a negative, it would be kind of related to that, which is that like when you're playing a team like this St. Louis team ah and you know, like how they're going to play it, there's only one way.
00:47:06
Speaker
one way in any dimension that they have a chance at taking result in that game. And that's if you don't score first and then gift them a penalty yep and allow them to try and sit on that lead and troll the one zeroed.
00:47:23
Speaker
That's the only shot that they have. yeah So you can't give them that. That was my frustration is that that is that they were even in a situation where it was a possibility that they could get that a 1-0 could get sat on for a troll result.
00:47:36
Speaker
That they were even in that situation in the first place. That was a negative. But it's not even a negative because they absolutely destroyed them in the second half. So I don't care about the negative at all. But the fact that they went down 1-0 on a needless penalty like that that, I guess that would be it. Yeah, it's concerning that the guy who has been your rock in defense has not been playing as well as he can this season. um And just even more so like this game, i don't think he played well last game. He definitely didn't play well. He's just not been he's not been on it.
00:48:07
Speaker
And you need him to be right. Like, obviously, defenders don't get the love unless they're. unless they're just like perfect. And even when they're perfect, they don't get the love. So it's like when you do something wrong, that's when people talk about you.
00:48:21
Speaker
But I really do think that like, he's been in a slump. I'm willing to just be like, all right, like it's for me, there's enough of a track record. Like it's not a, what have you done lately for me with Yamar? Like, but he has, he's put in his minutes. I'm not worried about it, but I think that, um, that was definitely just like one of the negatives.
Team Dynamics and Player Integration
00:48:41
Speaker
Um,
00:48:42
Speaker
that I, that I had down. And, you know, my other negative is, um, I, it's just a continued challenge, man. How do you fit? How do you fit all the pieces that you have on the team together when they're healthy? Shit. Maybe they'll never be healthy, but see you can spin that as a positive.
00:48:59
Speaker
But you could spin that as positive. I just think it's it's definitely going to be hard figure this situation out. It's not like there's more clarity on that coming off this. Although with Jordan and Ferreira both out, maybe that makes it a little easier in the ah in the short term.
00:49:16
Speaker
But ah the lineup questions are definitely going to be interesting. um i don't yeah I don't think I have anything ah to add on on any of those. I think we sized up those positives and negatives quite well.
00:49:27
Speaker
so let's move on, Noah, to our Lobbing Scorchers Man of the Match. And I'm going to go first. I'm going to go first. And i think, you know, everyone's kind of got the same one for this one. you you You could go... I mean, there's there's definitely different candidates. yeah obed and new The fact that Obed and Nuhu had the games that they had and I'm still going with someone else...
00:49:48
Speaker
ah shows you what a game that this guy had. And, you know, I know we've talked about Ryan Kent a lot already on this show. We've talked about it a lot on of the- We keep glazing. I am going to keep- It continue. I'm going to keep talking about him.
00:50:02
Speaker
I'm keep talking about him because that's how good this game was from him. No, I'm going to- Dude, he's- Why are you only 26 for 26 on his passing, Ari?
00:50:13
Speaker
He did no-look turns to assist 33 minutes. and I'm going to be real with you guys. Be real with you guys. And before i before i before I get real, I'm going to give all the all the obvious caveats that you could give. okay It's early.
00:50:30
Speaker
It's his first couple games with the team. ah the The level that he showed in this game, we don't know yet if if it's ah what he's sustainably going to look like from week to week.
00:50:41
Speaker
We still have to find that out. You got to ah take all of that stuff into account. Like, it's not it's not a guarantee that he's going to be performing at that superstar of a level every week.
00:50:53
Speaker
But I will say, I will say when I was watching that game last night, I was just sitting there and I was like, this feels ah feels different. Like... i there There have been a lot of world-class players on this team over the years that I've been lucky enough to ah cover and watch week in, week out.
00:51:14
Speaker
Dempsey and Oba, world-class players. Ladero, Rui Diaz, world-class players. I mean, you could go down the list. don't want to leave everyone out, but there's been a lot of really great, high pedigree, extremely talented players on this team. Andy Craven. Andy Craven.
00:51:31
Speaker
But ah honestly, i don't know if I've ever seen a player quite like this on this team. ah Just the stuff he was doing out there from from that position.
00:51:44
Speaker
um left the stadium, Noah, and I was just like, what did I just watch? Like, yeah what? lay yeah That was it was unbelievable, man. It was it was unbelievable.
00:51:56
Speaker
i I think we titled the transfer ah video something like, the Seattle Sounders just signed a superstar. And people were like, oh, they're just being... Clickbaiting and whatever. Like, God forbid, we've never done that. We would never. We would never do that. That's way... No.
00:52:15
Speaker
But it's kind of funny that he's legitimately in these limited minutes. You know what? No. I'm throwing all that out. I'm throwing all that out already. He is a bona fide star, man.
00:52:27
Speaker
The fact that he came into this team, he's he's practiced for, what, three, four weeks? And he seems to have chemistry. Hasn't played for like two years. Hasn't played for two years. Hasn't, whatever. And he looks like he is miles and miles and miles above every single player on the field.
00:52:47
Speaker
This guy, this guy, like, give him give him give him anything to keep him on this team. whether he Whether he does stay here beyond this year is definitely going to be an interesting question.
00:52:59
Speaker
i will say, ah like having watched his interview and stuff that he gave after the game, he is vibing. Dude, he is fucking vibing. That must have been the most fun he's had in years. Which is like that... I love that. That rocks. I love that what it she could give that to him. Yeah, like like that is... that There's so many people get down in the dirt the dumps about the Sounders and whatever, and it's like...
00:53:23
Speaker
No, what this team is, is about making a random English guy feel good about himself. Okay, that is what we are here for. And I'm fine with that. As long as we get to watch this kind of soccer, sh I don't give a shit.
00:53:37
Speaker
I don't care. You know what? We're here to make soccer fun for Messi 2. Because we got Messi 2 on our team, apparently. and ah And you know what, Noah? I will ah i actually... ah I'm going give you credit.
00:53:48
Speaker
I'm to give you credit. you know We've been butting heads the last couple weeks on the underlying stats debate. But every once in a while, ah you I would say, you know, out of every 50 takes you fire out there, you you hit on like ah one or two.
00:54:00
Speaker
Giving you a hard time. what's giving you What's the statistical probability of my take? Someone create X take in comments for me. I'm giving you a hard time. Your hit rate's more like three or four out of 50. Thank you. Thank you. But no, you were saying early that you felt like Ryan Kent had this superstar type character.
00:54:20
Speaker
potential and that, uh, based on what you saw, even from that limited sample, like you felt like you were seeing it and I was a little more measured about it. I was like, you know, I really like what I saw too, but like, I don't know if I would call that type of upside based on what I've seen, but you were saying it and, uh, it looks like you might've cooked.
00:54:38
Speaker
It looks like you might've actually cooked on that one. So, uh, good take, good take score one for the eye test, baby score one, score one. Yeah, I mean, listen, and it's it's nothing to do with me. I can take a victory lap all day, but like he is playing out of his mind. And and I think that there is something to say about his attitude towards this whole thing. Right.
00:54:59
Speaker
He said, remember, people were saying he was going to be an attitude problem. No attitude seems great. He's great. He's great attitude. I love him. He said it's the smoothest transition into a new locker room he's ever had. he's like, oh, the lads are gray.
00:55:11
Speaker
I love hanging out with the lads. This has literally been no egos. There's no egos. That's what I'm saying, man. Brian Schmetzer, one of the best locker rooms. Vibe merchant. Vibe merchant. Love you, Brian.
00:55:23
Speaker
You are able to make soccer fun for Messi, too. And that is all we can ask for. That is all we can ask for. But but my my man in the match is also Ryan Kent um for all of the same reasons that you just said.
00:55:35
Speaker
ah But also, kia he i love that his shirt is like two sizes too small. His fit was nice. And I just, that's like, we need to bring that. Like, I like that. Like, the super fitted fit, you know.
00:55:48
Speaker
I like a really baggy, big shirt, you know, because I'm not, like, ripped like he is. But he had the nice, like, he's wearing a size small, but he should be wearing, like, an XL. And i I love that, and I respect that. And his, like, little, like, he goes like this, so he can, like, flex his little muscles every once in a while.
00:56:05
Speaker
Like, kind of fix the sleeves. Dude, this guy... Straight out of but shre out of a goddamn TV show. Incredible. Incredible. I'm so happy that we get to watch him play in Seattle. like I know. that's the ah That's the great thing about it is like this is kind of this is just a start. like He hasn't even played a full game.
00:56:24
Speaker
No. He hasn't played a full game, and then he went out there and did that for us. Yeah. i was I mean, he put on a it was a show. if It was a clinic. If I can say one more thing, if I can glaze a little bit longer. Basking, keep glazing.
00:56:39
Speaker
I just think, think about how much this says about the player, right? He is so unselfish. He literally goes in the post game. The first thing he talks about is like, oh, knew who blah, blah, blah, blah. Like he was giving credit to knew who for having a great game. And he's like, i set up, you know, knew who knew who's a great play works hard, you know, blah, blah.
00:56:58
Speaker
And it's just like that type of mindset and attitude in a player that is like years and light years and miles and everything above the talent level of anything I have ever seen on this team.
00:57:09
Speaker
And like, dude is wearing the number 77. He's not even wearing like a prestigious number. like a left tackle number. He's like, he's not really, he doesn't like, he's just, you know, he's just kind of quiet. He goes about his thing.
00:57:21
Speaker
Everyone seems to like him. He's just like, working really hard, he understands that like he's gotta earn his minutes, and like he's not brash about it, everything.
00:57:34
Speaker
he He's fully bought into the b Brian Schmetzer ideology. what what What a man. What can I say? like That is the attitude of a superstar. Like I said, man, like um my little walk from ah the press box to the light rail, that's all I could think about was just like, I don't know if I've ever seen that, like that exact type of thing, like that he was able to do.
00:58:02
Speaker
unreal stardom uh and you know there's going to be debates over like you know well if you uh start ryan kent you got to pull rothrock that's like dude that stuff is a good problem now it's fine du roth that's what you want rothrock will rothrock will be fine he's a vibe merchant he's a come on i like a rothrock super sub super sub run run run run run your ass down Especially like, you know, maybe Ryan Ken isn't being effective because you need to like play MLS ball. Sometimes you have to just play MLS ball.
00:58:34
Speaker
Which Rothrock is the master. Rothrock is an MLS player, dude. He is a Rothrock. He's a Rothrock merchant. He's an MLS merchant. Like let him, let him vibe it out. Let him run it out. There is, there is so much utility in a player like that. I, I have no problem with it and I doubt that.
00:58:50
Speaker
And really they both, they, they both have like Ryan Kent as a super sub. I mean, Ryan Kent as a super sub is just almost unfair. yeah Like that's just right like, imagine being a St. Louis city and you're already kind of under it in that game and you have to go deal with that guy.
00:59:03
Speaker
oh man, that must've been terrible. That must've been an awful experience for them. That's, that's what they did That's what they deserved though. They were flopping around everywhere. They've been playing some pretty negative ball all year. I get that there are circumstances behind that, but I still die i don't really like it. yeah um All right.
00:59:19
Speaker
Let's get into our agenda check. No, I jumped the gun on the first one. That's okay. I was kind of talking about it when I was noting take. Let's move that one to the back then. Yeah, we can still hit it.
00:59:32
Speaker
but the I got two written down here. Number one, the Obed Vargas transfer fee agenda. The price has gone up. It's gone. You can't afford him anymore. You can't. Your broke ass club can't afford him. Your broke ass club. We're going to bankrupt you. You're going to have to take out a high interest loan, bro.
00:59:50
Speaker
Sally Mae is about to be calling your goddamn line. It's over for you. You think you thought 50 was going to cut it? See buddy. You thought 50. See you. The phone is hung up. $110 million record-breaking transfer fee. What currency do they use in the prem? Pounds, sterling? I don't know. cares? $200 million sterlings. Call the Saudis because, buddy, you're going to have to open another oil field to afford this guy. I'm telling you. You're going to need oil money for this. Yeah.
01:00:19
Speaker
You're going to need to bust it out. It's going to have to happen. Whatever club has got it, they all of them over have that. All them now, apparently, yeah. Call the oil baron. Tell him that it's time to shell out.
01:00:32
Speaker
I think we had a good riff on that one. That was great. yeah but but But realistically, Obed Vargas, the level gets elevated when he is with incredibly talented players. We see this with Brian Kent.
01:00:44
Speaker
This man can go play anywhere. Anywhere he wants. He is going to bring a World Cup home to my home club. Mexico, my home country of Mexico. All right, man. The L tree coaching staff are probably freaking thrilled. Yeah, it's it's incredible. And it's great to be a Canadian Mexican fan ah in the moment like this where a player like Obed Vargas. Oh, thank God he switched.
01:01:09
Speaker
Oh my God. Can you like think about the U the U.S. Men's National Team? You're looking at this right now. That's a fumble. That's a fumble. That's a fumble. Dude, how much better is he than Eunice Moussa? Who? Who? Tyler Adams.
01:01:21
Speaker
Tyler Adams? Who? I don't know who that is. they they They could really benefit from his skills. Isn't Eunice Moussa literally not playing, too? Yeah, he's literally not playing. He doesn't you have a club?
01:01:32
Speaker
No, like he's just... Oh, you were campaigning for a sec. I was campaigning the Sounders should sign him because he's fallen out of favor. yeah I'm just saying, like, I'm sorry. Obed Vargas... He was... It's an Obed Vargas replacement was my point, you know?
01:01:45
Speaker
I see. It would be a little downgrade, but, you know, what are you going to do? He's fine. He's fine. He's good enough. He's okay. God. All right. I'm excited for this next agenda. This is yeah another one that I came up with. So...
01:01:56
Speaker
You know, we all know that ah Danny Musavsky is the second hottest number nine MLS behind Brian White. And, you know, Moose is doing the type of stuff where yeah if he were to score, I'm not saying he's going to, but like if he were to score at this type of clip or even close to it over a full season, he would be putting up the type of stats that gets you plaudits and attention from the national pundits.
01:02:23
Speaker
Uh, so like if Moose ever had, had it if Moose had a crazy 15 to 20 goal year, ah he would never make best 11. He would never make best 11. The pundits and the voters are far too cowardly to ever do that.
01:02:34
Speaker
It wouldn't happen. Uh, but what I will say is if Moose keeps balling like this, uh, and keeps, ah elevating the Seattle Sounders to the degree that he is and playing the role that he's playing and producing like he's producing.
01:02:48
Speaker
He should be a goddamn all-star. Yeah. Danny Mussovsky should make the MLS all-star team this year. If he, this is four games. Okay. So I'm not, I know he's got to do it for longer, but ah if Moose keeps doing this, ah Jordan's going to be out for six weeks.
01:03:03
Speaker
If he keeps doing this, he should be an all-star and I'll, ah I'll stand on that. Yeah, you know, it's hard because there's no West versus East now. ah So there's just like less players in general to play. um It's Brian White Moose. Who else is even in it right now? Yeah, I mean, you know, like Ty Baribo or whatever. And the the other Hugo Kuypers.
01:03:25
Speaker
but Give no skim me Moose. I'm here for it, man. Yeah. Breebo is a good shout yeah because the union are actually good. Kuyper's team just got beat seven to two. Yeah, that's true. But no, I, I, I like the regardless. How about we change the agenda here? Ari renew Moose's contract agenda.
01:03:44
Speaker
That's another good one. Because I think i think that's more you know along lines of realistic. That's an actual yeah question. yeah But i like I do like the MLS All-Star. I mean, if he makes MLS All-Star, undeniable, they have to renew his contract, right?
01:03:58
Speaker
But the price goes up, which is tough. Look, i'll so I'll say this, if if this is his if this is his level and he's this type of striker for this team, you have to bring him back.
01:04:11
Speaker
You'd be silly not to, like when you have proven production like that. you can You can say, oh, well this, This guy, this guy, and this guy would be such an upgrade at that spot.
01:04:24
Speaker
If he's playing like this and scoring like this, you would just be looking for a guy who's to do exactly what he's already doing. Just maybe cheaper. Yeah. But like, realt that's the that's the kind of beauty of it is he, right now he's doing it for ah way below the market value for what you would pay ah for that position, which is why, ah the process behind his signing actually made sense the whole time.
01:04:49
Speaker
And, uh, we're actually seeing it pay off now when it hadn't been earlier, but like now, now it's like, Like a number nine scoring goals like this, man.
01:05:00
Speaker
ah Atlanta United just broke the the damn transfer record trying to find a guy who could do that. Who has exact same amount of goals all comps as Moose does this year. Yeah. I mean, he's making 400,000 or his, his salary cap hit $400,000 like this year.
01:05:15
Speaker
ah Yeah, I believe so. According to that's a higher hit than I thought, according to that's still ah really cheap for a high level. Number nine. Yeah, for a backup nine, it's it's not terrible. I mean, especially like if you look at what ah ah player like Jesus Ferreira is making at 1.7.
01:05:34
Speaker
So, you know, who has more goals? Danny Musavsky. I think it'd be interesting to compare him to some other players, other backup nine. a good exercise, yeah. But, ah you know, I mean, if you look at the... He's making less than Alex Roldan.
01:05:49
Speaker
Or his salary cap is less than than that of Alex Roldan. And so I think that that is quite interesting. Also, if you want to look at all of the salary cap data, sounderathart.com. You can sign up and and they have the full salary cap positions there. That's my ad.
Sounders' Potential and Championship Contention
01:06:04
Speaker
Noah, did you have an agenda? i have a before too i have I have two agendas. um Hit me. i'll I'll start with this one. The Sounders are an attacking juggernaut agenda. I didn't say it. You said it.
01:06:15
Speaker
the sounders aren't attacking juggerut The Sounders are are... they're one of those teams you hear inter Miami, right? You're like, Oh yeah. Leo Messi, serge Sergio Busquets, every other old Barcelona player that's ever existed, including the coach, right? You're like, Oh yeah, they, they'll toss up five goals and the game will end five, four, but you know, they state they're an attacking juggernaut. They score.
01:06:38
Speaker
Well, you know, I've seen LAFC in their prime, whatever, you know, it's, it's, it's fun soccer. It's good soccer, but, uh, After what I saw this past week, ah da I mean, what's what do he what's to contend?
01:06:54
Speaker
The Sounders can put it in the back of the net. If they can figure it out and string it together and continue playing like this, no one can beat them.
01:07:05
Speaker
Here's what I'll say again, even with the like small sample size, like they have to sustain it caveats acknowledged. I'm very encouraged ah to have data points that show like the peak level that they can hit.
01:07:21
Speaker
yeah Like we saw it in the, ah in the Nashville game, I would say even in the LAFC game way back, we saw a level like that. And then in this game, obviously we saw a level that we haven't seen in like years.
01:07:35
Speaker
ah So just even if they don't fully sustain this level, we're not going forward this level every just just the fact that we know that they can hit a level like that is good to know.
01:07:47
Speaker
And that's what you need to really to contend and run with the what run with the big dogs in Major League Soccer. ah So You're not going to win every game. You're not going to win every game. You're not going to play like that every week. You're going to grind out a couple of road draws. You know, you're going to have a fluky game here or there. but the But if this is your... ape If if we're we keep seeing a new Apex every week...
01:08:11
Speaker
Good luck, everybody, once we get to the playoffs, because everyone knows the Sounders play their best ball when they're in the playoffs. We all know to win and contend for trophies, that's the type of level that you need to be able to hit. They're able to hit it. yeah they just they Now they need to do it consistently and ah ideally sustain.
01:08:33
Speaker
i mean do i mean, even like 60% of that level would be an insanely good team. I mean, they looked like the greatest team I've ever seen. So like yeah that with the knowledge that that's not going to sustain every single week.
01:08:44
Speaker
I love the fact that we're seeing like how high their ceiling is like when, when they are able to play like that. Yeah. It's great. Great to know. And my final agenda, the one that I brought up probably two weeks in a row, Ryan Kent is the greatest player to ever play. This is what I was on referencing earlier, but yes.
01:09:06
Speaker
He is ah I, I love him. I don't even love him. What else can we even say that we haven't already said? Like, it's just, let's talk about him more. Talk about him more. 30 minutes. Talk about him more, please. I have never seen someone so effortlessly step onto a field and direct a game like a goddamn, what are those guys? Like a director, like a composer, like a conductor.
01:09:32
Speaker
He was driving the Nuhu choo-choo train like a goddamn conductor, Ari. that He put on his railroad hat and he said, Nuhu, don't you worry. I'm going to put you in my backpack and make you look like the greatest player to ever play the game of soccer, okay?
01:09:49
Speaker
Wow. what what what am What am I supposed to say? you put You put this guy in and he immediately makes this team look like they have a chance of advancing in the Club World Cup.
01:10:01
Speaker
you You know what's like a and an even more exciting thought about this is like, you know, i was thinking about this. Like ah for all the start star players I was talking about earlier, and I guess specifically like when I'm thinking of like the Ladero, Rui Diaz yeah era, think the obviously those guys were phenomenal, legendary players and they delivered, they delivered more winning than you could ever have hoped or asked for. yeah And that is their legacy at the end of the day.
01:10:29
Speaker
And it's a flawless legacy in my opinion, when you look at their trophy case. Um, but just, if we're just talking about like, uh, the and MVP superstars of the league of the last few years, whether it's Carlos Vela or Haney Mukhtar or Luciano Acosta, uh,
01:10:48
Speaker
I don't think what Darrow was in that, uh, tier of like, uh, of like stat sheet production and just like electricity, like the Darrow's game was a very, uh, it was very fun to watch and his work rate was incredible and he put up great stats, but he wasn't, he was not putting up like a 15 goal, 20 assist season, like, uh, like a Haney Mook tar or a Luciano Acosta.
01:11:14
Speaker
which I don't care that he didn't do that because he was winning goddamn everything. Yep. And he became the heart and soul of the club yeah and is one of the best players in MLS history without putting up stats like that. So I don't give a shit about that as far as ah as like Nico's legacy or anything like that. And he taught Obed Vargas how to die, which is like that's...
01:11:35
Speaker
but i That was 10 million. on but I won't lie. Like I have thought to myself at times like, damn, wouldn't it be fun to just have a guy like Lucho Acosta oh yeah who just freaking like puts up 20 plus dimes, 15 goals. And every time that you go into a game, you almost have a built in advantage just because you know that he is that guy in attack.
01:11:57
Speaker
Uh, That would be sick if the Seattle Sounders ever got one. Like, none of these star players. Like, Rui Diaz, honestly, was ah that level of number nine in terms of his talent production. He was just hurt so much that he never had, like, the 25-goal season like some of these guys have had.
01:12:15
Speaker
And then, again, Ladero, he's just not the type of player to put up Lucho numbers. I have felt at times, like, damn, it would be nice to have a guy like that. This guy looks like he could be... That guy.
01:12:26
Speaker
yeah Like, that just puts up stupid numbers. And I think, too, to that point is, like, he's he gives a shit about the team. Like, it's not even it's not even about, like, it is about his own journey, but there's something beautiful about that that helps with, like, his ability to...
01:12:44
Speaker
impact other players being like listen like this can happen you know this is this is the type of player that can impart wisdom on a player like Obed Vargas or a player like Pedro de la Vega like I think de la Vega has so much to learn from the way that Ryan Kent plays And he should be taking full advantage of it because guess what?
01:13:05
Speaker
We didn't say shit about Pedro de la Vega in this game because like he was fine. I don't think he was bad by any means, but like that is the type of player that he knows he he wants to be. Yeah, and good point. probably can be, but like...
01:13:21
Speaker
like This type of talent raises everyone's ceiling and has the ability to impart his own wisdom and style of play on all of these players, which is the same way that Lucho and Cucho did.
01:13:37
Speaker
and And like, yeah, it's... it's it is like having a built-in cheat code. Like we turned all of the sliders on FIFA down and we're just playing against bots. I mean, that's what it looked like. That's what it looked like. Dude, looked like he was playing with the other person's controller was unplugged. Like it was crazy. Oh my God, these poor defenders out there, man, like trying to stay with him when he was just letting the ball go by him and then running away from him and just putting himself face. Can imagine when to to Portland?
01:14:06
Speaker
Oh, my God. He punched a dude in the face. in ah In the Scottish Derby. He did. And this is basically the Scottish Derby. I guarantee you he's not going to take too kindly to the Portland Timbys. Definitely not Chara.
01:14:19
Speaker
He's not going to. Oh, that's going to fun matchup. my God. That's going to be a fun matchup. Char inform. I need him to like whatever they do with the rotation and who's to start. I need him to start that game.
01:14:30
Speaker
I need it. I need that. I need it. And you know, you get to play LAFC in the midweek, which is interesting. I mean, ch usually I dread.
01:14:41
Speaker
these Western kind conference road games because they're really difficult, especially against like a team like LAFC. Yeah, I'm like chomping at the bit now. dude I'm so ready. Bring it. KK. I mean, it's going to basically be another rotated lineup as well because they play the Whitecaps this week and then next week, midweek, they're going to play us. It's going to be another rotated game. And guess what happened last time we rotated?
01:15:03
Speaker
We won by a lot of points. Oh my God. Ryan can. I love you. I love you. Ryan can. If you think we've been talking about him too much, we haven't talked about him enough. It can't, it can't be emphasized enough. It can't be emphasized. It can't be emphasized enough.
01:15:20
Speaker
Uh, I mean how good a performance that was, but just, uh, just how different it looked from like anything that I've seen on this team then. That's what I'm saying. It's like, it is, it is so clear that he is a, such a, ah talent that is way beyond anything I've ever seen in MLS. And I love MLS.
01:15:39
Speaker
MLS is the only thing, like one of the only leagues I watch. I mean, I watch the prime every once in a while, like, i you know go Brighton, but I'm not, I day in and day out, I watched this league. I understand its quality. I appreciate it for all of its weird quirks and it's sometimes terrible quality, but It's night and day with this player. It's night and day, man. It's crazy.
01:16:01
Speaker
it's a It's a great unexpected little subplot better that has emerged this season. that i like i I had no idea who this guy was before he got here.
01:16:12
Speaker
Craig Cooked. Craig Cooked. Craig Cooked. I asked on the postgame live, did Craig Cook, and some people didn't like it. I was just asking the question. He might have. I mean, look, if ah if you've been on him for ah for whatever you might have been on him for, whether it was... ah the de la vega injuries moose not producing for last year what else do they hate him for uh bruce snack ferrera morris if you're gonna get on him for all that you do you not have to credit the cook do you not have to credit it when he cooks listen okay okay maybe he gave you a little food poisoning but like just the burrito was pretty good anyway you know what i mean
01:16:52
Speaker
Okay, yeah, no, i see I'm with that. Do you know what to i mean? It's like you go to a like a breakfast burrito truck, and it's like, okay, you know, it looks a little sketch, but the burrito tasted fucking great. Yeah, okay, maybe I shit my pants like the next day, but I still ate it.
01:17:07
Speaker
Right, okay. It was still good. like I still enjoyed myself, you know? ah With that, let's take another ad break. Don't skip the ads, and we will be right back with our winners and losers for Matchday 11 in NFL. Thank you.
01:17:24
Speaker
Welcome back. God, that was a great dub pod. Phenomenal dub pod. i We said it was the most emphatic dub pod in Lobbing Scorchers history. And I think it, I really think it was.
01:17:36
Speaker
And I love getting to lay down a pod like that. You know, the the type of pod that we lay down is entirely dictated by how the team plays. Yeah. When they play like that and we get to just sit here and bask, it's the best.
01:17:49
Speaker
Yeah, it's like we are personally victimized by them sometimes and sometimes we are personally held up on a pedestal. how does it How good does it feel to sit here right now and be able to lay down this pod after some of the pods we had to do last year when it was like a 0-0 at home versus Austin FC and we had to be like, welcome to the draw pod. yeah it was a zero like this is This is what it's all about.
01:18:13
Speaker
um All right. Winners and losers for match day 11. Do the winners first. Seattle Sounders. Yeah. ah I mean, they have to be, right? Big win over St. Louis City SC, but ah they have the most exciting new player in the league and the second hottest number nine in the league. No, you know what's funny is a I was looking around ah this morning, actually. i was like, are any of the pundits going to talk about Ryan Kent? There's a few... ah Little blurbs in some of the the national pundit roundup yeah roundups where they're talking about like the the the most notable results and stuff. And they're talking about Seattle and they're like, Mussovsky scored again. They're looking a lot better. They haven't said a word about him.
01:19:00
Speaker
and they They were asleep, dude. that You know it was a 7.30 kick. I noted him in Young Players because Obed made it, the cut, obviously, this week for Young Players of the Week on MLSsoccer.com. Which you should go read. It's our his call. Go read it. Obed was in there, and I know i had a line that was like combined, fantastic combination with new acquisition, Ryan Kent. I put that in there. yeah The rest of the national pundits...
01:19:24
Speaker
Y'all sleeping. you wake up Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. you're there The thing is, they're going to wake up soon. This is sort of the fun part about it. we Tom Bogert, wake up see the ah I'm in your walls, Tom. What's the cliche phrase? the This is the calm before the storm. yeah He's going to be on the National Pundit Radar. I would have thought he would have been...
01:19:44
Speaker
But they I guess they don't watch the squad. the stocks while they are low. I'm telling you. We're telling you right now. $9.99, one small payment, and it will double and triple your your investment, folks. Buy low, sell high. I'm sure there's at least a couple of like like other people from other fan bases or something that are yeah that have watched this.
01:20:07
Speaker
We know that there are some other people from some other fan bases that like to watch our show. LAFC fans, B. very scared. They're probably listening to this and didn't watch the game and they're thinking they're exaggerating. They're ah they're glazing this guy. There ain't no way he was that. I'm telling you we're not.
01:20:21
Speaker
like It was like that. It was like that. It was like that. When's the last time we glazed the Sounders this hard? ah like maybe a little bit in this in the one in the Nashville one.
01:20:34
Speaker
Maybe, but I think... Last year when they ah ah when they had the really hot stretch. The Pumas game last year, was that... And when ah when they beat LAFC, we glazed.
01:20:48
Speaker
But I'm telling you, this was a different level. This was a fundamentally different i don't think level than all that. And we're not exaggerating. That was what happened.
01:20:59
Speaker
No. And I will continue. ah Other winners, San Diego FC. Oh, this undermines your fraud watch. I know. they ah hear Your watch for the fraud watch. Here's what I'll say. ah They did beat FC Dallas 5-0.
MLS Highlights: San Diego FC and Vancouver Whitecaps
01:21:13
Speaker
Yeah. FC Dallas has one of my favorite names on their team, Pedrinho. Is that not the most Brazilian fire name ever? That's about classic as it gets. That's incredible. Anyway, I'm sorry. I just had to note that.
01:21:25
Speaker
FC Dallas... is not like the most electric opposition of all time. But if you drop a five spot on anybody and really like, ah they had come back down to earth a little bit. We talked about it on the show last week.
01:21:38
Speaker
This was a get right result for them. I don't really care. It doesn't matter that it was FC Dallas. Like, Anytime you slam a team as badly as they as they did That's good. That's good for the winner section and really I think it's an indication that Maybe they're not quite the team that they looked like to start the season But they're a team that on there like there It's this kind of a similar idea what we were talking about with the Seattle like their top level is clearly extremely high as Seattle found out when they went there So they kind of I think reestablished that
01:22:10
Speaker
uh, the Vancouver white caps. I'm going to keep putting them, going to keep putting them in there. They're getting ready for, this is a white caps podcast. They're getting ready for a CCC final.
01:22:21
Speaker
They're going to win They're going to win it. I think they're going win it. i i have to win it. Pretty sure they're going to win it. do like the crew. We saw cruises will play Seattle and they, uh,
01:22:34
Speaker
they beat Seattle. They beat Seattle pretty good in the second leg, but even that game was two one in like the 81st minute. Yeah. like Like they're not like, they're not such a great elite league. I'm a key team that the white, that they're going to be, they're certainly not going to run on the white caps. You are not. I'm sorry, dude, but you're, you're, you can't touch Pedro Vitae.
01:22:53
Speaker
You can't trust. You can't, you can't touch us. MNT, uh, newcomer, Berhalter, uh, Berhalter suspended, bruh. Oh yeah, that's right. That's right. He's about it. That's, that's, that's some woke nonsense. It's such bullshit. The game's gone. I already, the game's gone. i already did this soapbox on the live streams, but two yellow cards in a series to a suspension is in a final is crazy. i just It did boggles my mind that ah talk have and that they haven't changed that, but whatever. It doesn't matter. That's the thing. CONCACAF is withholding Berhalter from this match because they want the Liga and Mechies team to win. It's not going to work.
01:23:32
Speaker
It's not going to work. it's not goingnna You can take Berhalter away. It's not going to save your precious Cruz Azul. It's not. This seems too good. first a suol Anyway, I put them in the winner section because I mean, another week, another win for them. They played real Salt Lake at home. do They can't well stop winning. They can't stop winning.
01:23:50
Speaker
They're preparing for a CCC final and they beat real Salt Lake. It was only two one. It should have been worse. They got unlucky not to score more goals. And this, uh, out of all the guys we talk about on the white caps, uh, have you, uh, have you watched much, uh, Jaden Nelson? Yeah, dude. do Love him.
01:24:06
Speaker
I love him. And his hair is beautiful. He has a beautiful hair. I mean, that kid looks like up and coming Ryan Kent out there for them. No joke. like it's No joke. Unbelievable. It's like flawless the way he plays ball.
01:24:19
Speaker
I am a very big fan of Jaden Nelson. Again, he, this is a Canadian. And this is his like ah first year really like playing weekend week out. Like he's been a developmental player and it's probably, I gotta say, it's probably the most, uh,
01:24:36
Speaker
for a player that hadn't really played a lot yet ah for in the first team for his career, he's having the best breakout season. I think of anybody. Yeah. You know where he learned it from Paul Rothrock.
01:24:49
Speaker
They played together on Toronto FC too. Wow, that's a great They started together on Toronto FC2. Dude, that Toronto FC2 team must have been disgusting. Dude, I know. They played... Yeah, and even more than that, it's got to feel terrible for Toronto, who he played 50 matches for from 2022 to 2023. Okay, so I guess he's not as inexperienced as I thought. Yeah, he only scored like once in that game, and then they transferred him to...
01:25:16
Speaker
I'm looking here, Rosen, in he a nor a Norwegian club. Some random, yeah. Yeah, where he played 40 matches in Norway, scored seven goals, and then has come back. The Whitecaps signed him.
01:25:28
Speaker
He's got, you know, I mean, it's just like this kid. this kid is this kid is This kid is something. And also, it's just it rocks that Vancouver poached a Toronto... Toronto just cannot develop a player to save their life. Right. It's like, ah you really see the difference in these situations. Like I was going to say that, uh, uh, Jesper Sorensen seems like he's got like, uh, some schmets about him in that way where it's like,
01:25:56
Speaker
I can see this player has the talent. If I just put that, if I give them an opportunity and put them in a position to be successful, I think I'm going to reap the rewards from it.
01:26:06
Speaker
That's exactly what Schmetz has done to great effect with players like ah Paul Rothrock over the years is like entrusting them with these opportunities and allowing them the platform to succeed. Yeah. Sorensen, he, he, he cooked with that on this Jaden Nelson thing. This kid was like, yeah I get, yeah, like a TFC cast off. Yeah, that's what I'm saying, dude. This guy, Swanson is... He's Canadian. Is he Canadian Schmetz?
01:26:30
Speaker
He's Canadian Schmitz, but more than that, he is, for me, way too early coach of the year. and I mean, that's already dusted. Secondly, better than Wilfred Nancey ever could want to be.
01:26:40
Speaker
kind of like too. Better than he could ever want to be. I mean, dude, this is... What he has done in one year with the Vancouver Whitecaps is unimaginable. It's unimaginable.
01:26:51
Speaker
They had a fine team. They were good. They had a really good run at the beginning of last season. Do you remember that? Fell off a cliff. Okay? Yeah. added they added you know They added some pieces. They did the LA Galaxy thing. they They built up where they needed to.
01:27:04
Speaker
But this team has no business being this good. They are playing beautiful soccer in a beautiful scheme, and Jesper Swanson is He's him. He's him.
01:27:15
Speaker
He's him. ah Let's hit the losers. I'm excited for this one. there's There's some good ones this week. I mean, to lead it off, I got the Portland Timbys, who are going to be in Tukwila tomorrow evening, where we're also going to be there ah to play Tacoma Defiance.
MLS Struggles: Portland Timbys and Austin FC
01:27:32
Speaker
And their the their vibes are not very good going into the game. no um Sad report that they took a little trip to PayPal Park to play the San Jose Earthquakes. Didn't go well. No.
01:27:45
Speaker
The Quakes hung four on them, which... As one does, you know. Yeah, like, see, this... is this i I was saying the whole time, and ah we we freely... When the Timbys are doing well, we don't ah bury our heads in the sand about it.
01:27:59
Speaker
Yeah. Like, if they're playing well, we acknowledge that they're playing well. ah But, you know, I think... Outside of rivalry stuff, the 10 Bs are ones that you always have to watch with Fraud Watch because they're always going to be able to score goals, and that can power you to a lot of wins in this sport, scoring a lot of goals. yeah But it's never in like a... ah just like a normal way yeah where they like, it's always the Timbs are just this frantic entity. Yeah. Like where every game is like, you're having a heart attack and they score a lot of football. is They play a heart attack football and they score a ton of goals. And ah these last few weeks, they were actually combining that with competent defending and they were, they were winning games and they were playing some of the best attacking footy in the league.
01:28:50
Speaker
ah But then this is you live in that. You live by that and you die by it. Like there's no way that a team like that was supposed to be or looked as good as they did should be getting worked by the quakes like that.
01:29:04
Speaker
Yeah. And Maxime Kripal might be the worst goalkeeper to ever play the game. Do you just not like him or is there like a performance? I just you played really bad in that game.
01:29:18
Speaker
Oh, okay. you like And I just, that was, yeah, no. Also, yeah, I don't like him because he played for LAFC. LAFC too. And like the two actual rivals of the Sounders, you know, it's like, why would you do that?
01:29:31
Speaker
Like, don't you want to win? Yeah. I don't know how much difference it's going to make for Tacoma Defiance tomorrow, ah but. There was already a kid's going to score five on him. That's he, I think he's going to get a couple D Rose at least one, at least one ah Austin FC. Why did I even put them on here? I don't even remember what they did. That kind of show. They lost three zero. They've been, they've been hot too. So that's a, that's a tough result or actually no, they, they've lost two in a row. Yeah, no, they're like, they're, they're fully fraud. They were like winning some games at the beginning of the season. I need to dive into those, uh, Austin FC fan.
01:30:05
Speaker
reaction videos. Oh, that's what I forgot about that. it's a good shout. Austin FC fan TV subbed their stuff. It's hilarious. They're probably not happy these days because Austin FC got slammed on. And i so I think the reason I put them here was because Nico and I were talking about this this morning. We talked about a lot of ah Atlanta United struggles despite the money that they spent. Austin FC, same idea.
01:30:28
Speaker
yeah they I haven't brought them up in when I'm talking about examples of like clubs that show that just your transfer spending doesn't doesn't win you anything in MLS.
01:30:39
Speaker
Austin FC, another great example. They were dropping bags. Brandon Vasquez. They spent 10 million on ah on Vasquez. And then some that the they broke their league record on, I forget the guy's name, or their club record on, I forget the guy's name, but he was supposed to be like hella good and he's not that good. Yeah. So aye again, man, again. Oh, they got the tire guy too.
01:31:02
Speaker
They got the tire salesman. Yeah. The tire salesman, Ilya Sanchez, and that that didn't skyrocket contention. He scored an own goal in this game. It's that sick. Yeah. Austin FC, second one, and then ah my last one, Noah.
01:31:16
Speaker
I have both the LA Galaxy and Sporting Kansas City, the club of professional wrestling
Unique MLS Moments and Reflections
01:31:21
Speaker
enthusiasts. A real losers bunch right here. We all lost for this game happening. Noah, Sporting Kansas City became the first team in MLS history to win a game when they didn't take a single shot.
01:31:36
Speaker
Not one. Not one shot. that's Unbelievable scenes. this This might be the most MLS match to ever exist, Ari. You know, people that people talk about...
01:31:47
Speaker
The 2016 MLS Cup being an anomaly. The Sounders dis course yeah didn't take a shot on goal one. this This is terrible. I don't think they took a shot, period.
01:32:00
Speaker
and that's That might be on goal, but I'm pretty sure it's like... I can fact check you, but it doesn't matter. I don't care about fact checking because the idea that that actually occurred is like... hilarious it's insane we there was a post about it on the website that yeah no they zero shots yeah zero shots zero not even not even on target yeah maya yoshida 13 minute own goal zero shots total zero xg zero big chances zero shot finish with zero for the game xg for the game yep Have you ever seen zero? I mean, i don't know anything about XG, but. is night this is ah This is what's funny about it is i was I was looking at the halftime stats and I saw 0.00 to 0.45 XG and I was like, wow, that is horrendous.
01:32:47
Speaker
And what I was thinking to myself was like, I've never seen that for half. They finished out the game with, I guess it make like, I should have put that together when I saw the zero shots stat.
01:32:59
Speaker
ah But I mean, good Lord guys, what are we doing? da Are we playing this? Are we playing the sport right now or not? Like how did you zero shots and they won? You didn't even get a shot. Like this is your, this is the club that traded you, bro.
01:33:13
Speaker
You're not even going to try and I just don't get a shot. Like what? That wow, we've had our complaints refund every single person who purchased a ticket to that game.
01:33:23
Speaker
they They should refund everyone's season pass yeah subscription watched that. That is a not, you know, there's like a battle of the mids. That's just a battle of someone. ah like Someone in our comments called it the down bad bull. That's great.
01:33:37
Speaker
That's what this was. This is the down bad bull. LA Galaxy. they was forty i There was almost 18 K people at children mercy park for that performance. That is 18,000 people who have a class action lawsuit claim. Ari, it's unreal. Get your litigation ready.
01:33:52
Speaker
You know what? ah If I could make a serious point off this game, and I've thought i've felt this a couple times lately, like just following all the other teams as much as I do. I'm so glad we cover this team, dude. So glad. It could be so much worse.
01:34:05
Speaker
Like being unwinning LA Galaxy? Even think about like ah my friends who ah do Atlanta United podcasts. they have to get They have to get up here every week and be like...
01:34:17
Speaker
ah We lost some more money. We spent some more money, but we lost again and didn't score any goals. Like that's, that's tough, man. Like I, it's just, uh, even like what I was thinking about was like, even in the, like every, every team that you cover every every single day like this, there's going to be ebbs and flows to it. There's going to be wins. There's going to be losses, good games, bad games, sure fun games, not fun games.
01:34:43
Speaker
Uh, I feel like we have a lot more, more fun than most, most teams. I agree. I also think that we have fun because win, loss or draw, it's content FC for us. Right. And we benefit from that in particular. Correct. But ah this is our therapy.
01:35:00
Speaker
But like, like when, like coming off a game like this, like laying down the pod is just a blast. Like some, some pods just, they don't get, they don't get, they don't get games like that. Like, Like CF Montreal. Actually, CF Montreal doesn't have any podcasts or fans, so we don't even have to worry about that. And even if they did, it'd be in French, which is not a real language, so it doesn't matter. I think Atlanta is a good example, and the Galaxy this year. I mean, I know their pods had an incredible pod year last year. Yeah, they did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Eli Lesser was having the time of his life. You know, there's they have a lot of pods.
01:35:37
Speaker
Yeah. And they all got to cover Ricky Pooge and the boys last year. So that was great for them. But i don't know. i was just thinking about that. Like, man, we have it pretty good. a lot of the time. Royce must be ready for a transfer.
01:35:50
Speaker
He's not good. He's not good. But also, like, I just can't believe they haven't won a game. They still haven't won a game. They still haven't won a game. That's crazy. um I don't think there's any precedent for a defending MLS Cup champion being down this bad. This is a YouTube essay in waiting.
01:36:08
Speaker
it's a It's wild. And you get the next week is the MLS Cup rematch. So the Red Bulls will actually get to win a game. we'll we'll get to We'll get to pretend like they they could beat the galaxy.
01:36:23
Speaker
ah All right. ah Though, unless you got anything else, I think we can call it right there for for this
Conclusion and Listener Appreciation
01:36:30
Speaker
episode. I forgot the name. I think it's the number. I think we're on 98.
01:36:34
Speaker
i think we're getting close to 100 already. We're going to have to do something special for the 100th. Thank you all, as always, so much for tuning in. ah This was a great dub pod. Phenomenal dub pod. Had a blast laying this one down.
01:36:48
Speaker
Hopefully, we get more more Ryan Kent. I mean, I know we're going to be getting more Ryan Kent. and Yeah. We couldn't be more excited for that. Sub to the channel. Like the video if you're watching on YouTube. Rate five stars.
01:37:03
Speaker
Tomorrow night, it's going down. Starfire Sports Complex to Quilla, Washington. We're going to be there. Live show. Jeremiah O'Shann in the building. Nico Moreno in the building. Another special guest. Surprise celebrity guest. Surprise celebrity special guest ah in the building.
01:37:20
Speaker
Hopefully a lot of our friends and listeners and viewers also in the building. If you take my advice and you go to Starfire Watershed Pizza, you'll be in the building. We'll be yapping.
01:37:34
Speaker
You'll be buying us beer. We'll be yapping. We'll be hanging out. Then we're going to watch the game. It's going to be a good time. I'm detaching myself from what happens in the game. We're winning. We're winning. Tacoma Defiance are winning.
01:37:48
Speaker
Let's do it. Let's do it. That's it. All right. That's going to do it for this episode. I'll also be back at it on Thursday for Lobby Scorchers Under the Lights, 7.30 p.m. Until tomorrow, we out.
01:38:01
Speaker
Peace.