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Lobbing Scorchers: Let's Just Start The MLS Season Already (BONUS)
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Transcript
Introduction and Gratitude
00:00:00
Speaker
What's going on everybody? Welcome to another bonus episode of Lobbing Scorchers for our lovely YouTube members. Thank you all, our YouTube members. We love you. We appreciate the support. And we're going to keep trying to turn these bonus episodes out. People seem to to like them. And ah YouTube membering is a great way to support
New Studio Excitement
00:00:21
Speaker
the show. So Noah, what's up? I mean, we're in the studio.
00:00:26
Speaker
Like we have a studio. Yeah, we do. We talked about it on the actual show, but I mean, we have a studio. We do have a studio and we do have an audience at all times outside of the windows of our studio, do which is tight. It's in a very, very reputable area of town, guys. It's definitely nice neighborhood. It's a very good thing that we are here gentrifying this neighborhood. Yeah.
00:00:53
Speaker
That we are we are ah going to be walking home at 9 p.m. at night ah to 11 p.m. to 12 p.m. at night out of this office. The space itself, as you can see, is is very nice. The area of town, arguably not as much. But it's ah nonetheless exciting
Upcoming International Trip Concerns
00:01:10
Speaker
to have. And I think what I'm ah what i'm hoping we can do is use it as a hangout space and in some yeah capacity. So if we have audience members, viewers and listeners that if we're hanging out here watching a game, whatever, World Cup stuff, hanging out here, having people here and having it kind of be like a social space is one thing that I would hope. Yeah, we're definitely looking at that. you know there's a lot of There's a lot of things to be built out. i mean
00:01:40
Speaker
it's very much just a blank canvas right now, but we have, we have major plans and, um you know, that's, that's exciting. Um, as we, as we kind of ramp up and go into the next phase of everything. And yeah, I mean, I work here a lot of days now, so I'm just, I just hang out here.
Studio Setup and Future Plans
00:02:01
Speaker
It's, it's a good place to hang out. We're going to be we're going to be hanging out here a lot.
00:02:06
Speaker
Me hanging out here a lot. Excited to see it get set up. I'm sure, we'll have to get more on that when you and J-O are back from Yeah, that is part of the, yeah.
Soccer-Related Trip Plans
00:02:17
Speaker
Dude, this flight is going to be so shit. So what's the ah what's the what's the situation with it? I'm flying to like London, and then i have a three and a half hour layover, and then flying to Malaga.
00:02:35
Speaker
Then I have a two-hour bus ride from Malaga to Marbella. So a fun trek all the way over there. and Yeah, I don't know. It's... it's It's going to be something. I am i hate the international travel. It's like the worst thing ever. It's going to be... that i mean, it's going to be a hell of a hell of a trip. I just hate long flights in in general. Yeah. I was in Miami. London isn't too bad. It's only like eight hours. So it's like... Because it's like you fly over from Seattle. So you can kind of fly a little bit if faster. It's like eight, nine hours, which...
00:03:11
Speaker
If you fly from the East Coast back here, like sometimes it can be like, I mean, it's not like that long, but you know, you could, if you have a layover or something, it's that long. So I don't know. I'm just going to, I'm just going to, I have so much, i have so much work to do for the show for this season.
00:03:29
Speaker
Now that like, I'll probably just work the whole time I'm on the, on the plane. Yeah, that can ah that can help kill the time. i was I was in Miami last weekend, which is obviously a pretty long flight. And it was the first like really long flight I've taken in a while. And I was like, God, I remember why I why i hate this. How long is that flight? Is that six or seven hours? It was like it was like six, I want to say. five Five and a half, six area, which is pretty damn long. But I did download TV shows and stuff, and that helps.
00:04:04
Speaker
Yeah. But it's still like, I just hate sitting in an uncomfortable seat for that long. Oh, I know. don't understand. can't they be in the middle seat? stand-up comedy routine. Why can't they make the seats more comfortable? I'm going to be in the middle seat too, which is awful, but like I was not about to pay an extra $200 to sit.
00:04:26
Speaker
to sit Not in the middle. Like I just, I could, I just, I can't afford it. It's not going to be a fun commute, but it's going to be worth it. Once you, once you get there and you're yeah watching the squad train at like whatever resort that they stay at or whatever, it's going to be like, i listen, this is my goal while I'm there. I'm bringing my cleats.
00:04:47
Speaker
I just want to, I just want to be a part of one drill. I just want him to let me be a part of one drill.
MLS Teams Trade and Decision Challenges
00:04:54
Speaker
That could be content. I'm just saying, like, why why why could I not?
00:04:58
Speaker
Why could I not? Like, you know, the boys and the boys the boys would be cool with it. I'm enjoying the ah the visual of you trying to make a run against Yaimar. Dude, I would love that. Him just snapping my leg in Just absolutely obliterating you.
00:05:12
Speaker
i think I think I could be New Hill. I don't think I could be Yamar. I don't think I could be Reed. I think if you ran into Yamar, if Yamar was standing still and you ran into him full speed, you might I would bounce back to Seattle. I wouldn't even have take a flight back. But no, I'm going to, I'm, I'm looking forward to that. I'm hoping to try and play a little bit of pickup while I'm out there. I will be playing. I'm going to Milan after, ah which is cool because the winter Olympics are starting right at the same time. Our YouTube rep, Loki might be getting me tickets.
00:05:44
Speaker
Oh yeah. that's saying that So shout out to our YouTube rep, Alex. He's the goat. And i don't know, man, it's going to be a fun trip. You think Alex watches the show? Definitely not. Definitely not. Definitely not.
00:05:57
Speaker
Definitely not. He's not a YouTube member, I can tell you that much. But that's okay. Well, yeah, no, it's going to be sick. I'm glad we're going to have multiple people on the ground out there. That's much more of a plug-in than we usually have. I think J.O. has made that made this trip before, but definitely he hasn't had anyone out there with him. So yeah I'm excited to see what you what content you guys can wrangle up. He when we were initially talking about it, he's like, do you want to go to Marbella? I was like, yeah, I do.
00:06:27
Speaker
And he was like, OK, well, if you want to go, then maybe I'll go. so I was like, all right. So we kind of we kind of just like pushed each other. And that's what happens when you when you're contenting.
00:06:39
Speaker
You get him to get a studio. You get him to fly you out to Marbella. I'm literally just Jeremiah O'Shaanepo baby at this point. That's I mean, that's an important role in all of this. So ah all right.
00:06:51
Speaker
I have a couple of more MLS topics that we can hit to, uh, to close it out. There was a few more signings that got made, including, uh, a really big one. Did you see this? The earthquakes got Timo Werner. They did it. Yeah. Yeah. Do you think that's going to replace the 44 goals or whatever that they've erased by transferring away all of their good players? is the thing. They, dude, they had the toughest off season I think I've ever seen. It's, They decimated their whole, it was worse than the Galaxy offseason. They lost Espinoza by accident.
00:07:24
Speaker
They forgot to pick up contract option. yeah And then the ah couple days ago, they transferred Chicho Arango back to a Colombian team. Literally, I don't know if I've ever seen this. This was like a week after he signed a long-term extension. yeah And then he was like, no, fuck this. Yeah. Like two weeks later, they're like, we're transferring him to Columbia reportedly, according to Tom Bogues. It's not ah set in stone yet, but reports are Chicho is on the outs due to like, i'm I'm assuming it's like personal or family reasons why they're sending him back to Columbia. But anyway, that was their other dp
00:08:04
Speaker
ah So they were looking pretty chalked. And then they also lost Joseph Martinez to Club Tijuana. So it's like basically every single attacker that they had last year that actually scored goals is gone. So they do get Timo Werner, who is only one guy. But I do think that they just needed they needed this to happen just to like salvage some sort of vibes. Yeah. like They lost Roth Roth. Yeah, exactly. i don't I don't think it's going to save them at all. like I think Timo Arner could score 18 to 23 goals for them, and they'll still probably be pretty bad.
00:08:43
Speaker
But from just like if I was – can you imagine being in that fan base, dude? like If I was in that fan base, I would be like pretty despondent right now. but if they Bad stadium, bad players, yeah but bad team.
00:09:00
Speaker
getting Getting a player who's as you know i got the name value as Timo Mariner, that should make them feel like a little bit better, i guess. It's at least something to watch, something to get excited for. But like I was looking at his career,
00:09:16
Speaker
like He hasn't played a lot in the last like two years. No. like He's always injured. and i think he like was falling out of favor even regardless of when he was injured. like This is a reclamation project. This yeah not like a... which he's Famously, San Jose Earthquakes are so good at that. yeah i will say what Honestly, like...
00:09:37
Speaker
I think that they're looking rough. They're looking like they could be spoon contenders even with Timo Werner, even if he plays well. But I don't even think it's like a guarantee that he's
Minnesota United's Roster Concerns
00:09:48
Speaker
going to play well. This is like an oft-injured, slumping, low-confidence player right now. Yeah. I don't know if they're going to... He was insanely good at one point. It was interesting. like Before Chicho Arango left, I was like, okay, because there was rumblings about the Timo Werner thing.
00:10:04
Speaker
And I was like, okay, like, all right, Chicho Arango, Timo Werner, you know, maybe they signed someone else in the summer. like Who else do they have? I don't know, but it's like, you know, I was like, and then they had the Rothrock rumors. I was like, all right, they're they're they're trying to make moves. They're trying to figure it out.
00:10:22
Speaker
Yeah, i think I think that they're definitely going to be a spoon contender. Them and Minnesota, man. Yeah, let's talk about that. Minnesota United, I think might go on a galaxy level. I like bombing. I'm seeing the same writing on that wall. And i think the thing that they're going to struggle with is they they had a coach who was able to keep them afloat results wise, ah even with a lack of talent. But now they have they have way less talent yeah like this year than they did last year when they lacked talent to such a degree that they had to employ Ramsey ball tactics. And now they don't even have Ramsey. no So, like, I mean, maybe maybe this Cameron Knowles guy is able to kind of implement a similar identity and they're able to stay afloat again. But it's kind of it's kind of hard to see them. i feel I feel like the whole set piece demon thing...
00:11:21
Speaker
was very Ramsey dependent. Like I've never seen a team do that. Like they did until he was coaching them. And I'm just not sure this new guy is going to be able to do that. So like, and they were literally the best in the world at doing what they did. I will tell you what, man, if they do have like a precipitous downfall, we're going to have a lot of fun with that. It's one of those things where it's like, I told you so. Like, I told you so. i told you so. I told you so. I told you so. don't
00:11:54
Speaker
don't Don't start chirping now. Don't start chirping now because I promise you. i think what pisses me off the most about this whole situation is like, I posted they the loons posted a video of like Eric Ramsey jumping up and running across the field when they beat the Sounders by losing two games to them. Whatever drawing two games. They only won one doesn't matter. more um I just like if you don't win a game and then you're running across the field celebrating like to move on to the next round of the playoffs and then you absolutely get boat raced.
00:12:31
Speaker
I don't know dude like you guys never won a trophy. I'm going to continue to make fun of you for that and everyone's so sensitive. Every Minnesota fan is so sensitive about The whole thing. i'm like, brother. yeah we did We did clown on them a lot, but like what do you expect? What do you expect? What do you expect? If the Sounders played like that, i can honestly say that I would i would take the the ridicule. like i would...
00:12:58
Speaker
i would I'm sure i would we would defend sure but like would give a little bit back of the like scoreboard. like yeah yeah But I think in my heart and in my mind, i would know what was going on. like It felt like we so like there was like a denial
Houston Dynamo's New Signings
00:13:12
Speaker
to it. I mean, we understand. We literally had the season where the Galaxy win MLS Cup because that's basically what we were doing. We were playing Schmetzer's version of a super defensive counterattack, absorb pressure for most of the game.
00:13:31
Speaker
We understand, but we also talked about how shit that was. We were like, this cannot stand. We're like, if the Sounders don't score two goals, the Sounders don't score multiple goals and in in games, we're not even going to talk about But even back then, it was not nearly as extreme. No, but I'm saying, but even when we started edging on that, we were making fun of our own team, to be fair.
00:13:49
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So, no leg to stand on. It was just weird because they were taking the results of a good team and scoring goals at the rate of a good team, but they were playing like a cowardly team. Yeah. Which is, that's hard to do. Like, i never it is I've never seen, there that was a weird team. Like, I've never seen a team be able to play play like that, but still score as many goals as they did. And, like, they were the four seed in the West with that. Like, there is an element of that that is impressive. For sure. Like...
00:14:23
Speaker
Not in a good... would never say that over... Like, ah not under the paywall, but for sure. well Well, and just impressive in terms of, like, the degree of difficulty you're threading on that just seems like it's so high. Because, like, you're reliant You're just reliant on things that are usually just really high variance. Like, set pieces...
00:14:43
Speaker
The reason teams don't depend fully solely on them like that is because they're... It's like an inexact science. You can execute them perfectly and not get goals off them. And they somehow figured out this freak system where you couldn't stop them from scoring off it. But anyway, like...
00:15:02
Speaker
it's like It looks like they're they're over. they're over their Their thing is over. Minnesota's over party. they got like Their roster, go ah go check it out. It's tough right now. It's s gnarly. i see We'll see what happens with the Quakes. We'll see what happens with Minnesota. ah Did you see that ah the Dynamo Bogus is back?
00:15:22
Speaker
Yeah, I did see that. why is what is is din and dinah what is din What are they doing? Down there. Like they... Is the West going to be just like super weak this year? Well, the Dynamo, I think they've made two big DP signings. Yeah, they signed the Retread Spitter and Hector Herrera. Yeah, and another. They signed another big like DP winner. Oh, they did? Okay. And got Bogus. So they're actually kind of... Bogus is like cool. I don't mind him. Well, so my memory from him on LAFC was that he kind of torched the Sounders yeah a couple times.
00:15:56
Speaker
And i just, I hated playing against that team when he was on the team. I just always felt like he was really dangerous and ah going to be a problem. I do feel like...
00:16:07
Speaker
When he was on LAFC, he was surrounded by a lot of elite talent and didn't have to be the guy. i think the yeah the idea with him with the Dynamo is that he's going to be, like, the whole thing's going to be built around him. So like we have kind of yet to see what it looks like when he is that guy. And he kind of did nothing. It didn't work at Cruises World. No. It didn't. Like, so...
00:16:31
Speaker
Maybe MLS is more like his level to be able to do that, but it's kind of uncertain. And I don't know, just in general, the dynamo, I'm kind of like, I'll believe it when I see it. Like Ben Olson's your coach. That's like yeah fine, but it's not the most inspiring thing I've ever heard. And Bogus If it's the LAFC version of Bogus that that they're getting, then that could cook.
00:16:58
Speaker
But I don't know. i'm just I'm more just like I'm kind of annoyed that he's back in the league because I i specifically remember hating playing him when he was on LAFC. Yeah, I mean, we'll see. It's Houston. like it's It's kind of like what we say whenever a bunch of big moves happen.
00:17:16
Speaker
How is that team going to fit together? They don't really have an identity. They don't really know. that like yeah They're going to take half a season to figure it out. And then by that time, people are going to be injured and they've got to figure it out again.
00:17:29
Speaker
It's the curse of a
Austin FC's Roster Critique
00:17:30
Speaker
rebuild, man. It is. It really is. So that's a good segue into the last big signing that i that I had to talk about here, which is Austin FC signing Facundo Torres. They're bringing him back. Talking about a retread. Yeah. Like, I mean, so he's only 25 somehow. I felt like he was, like, on Orlando City forever. That's happens when playing when you're, like, 14. Right. But he's been in the league 10 years and he's 25. Kind of to the point that you just made about Houston. Like, my agenda on – on Austin FC, they're kind of becoming the Atlanta United of the West. Yeah. Like, that's what that's what vibe I get when I look at this Torres signing because it really, if you look at their roster, it doesn't really... He's a good player. He's a productive player for Orlando. But they needed a string puller, not like a wide threat. He's not like a
00:18:25
Speaker
When I look at their roster, he's not the skill set that they necessarily that they needed. And it feels like ah a roster where they've spent they've spent a ton of money. They're one of the biggest spenders in the league for the last two years. Last year, they spent $30 million dollars on their attack, scored the fewest goals in...
00:18:43
Speaker
all of MLS and it it feels like you know how we talked about with Atlanta United how they spend money on talented individual players with no thought of how they actually fit on the field I think that's kind of what's going on with with Austin FC because there's only one way you spend 30 million dollars on your attack and have it be that disjointed and it's if the the players you bought don't actually fit and play well together. yeah And then, so I already kind of thought that. And then I'm like, Facundo Torres isn't the profile of player that you guys just needed really. So anyway, I think kind of talking through it,
00:19:24
Speaker
Galaxy, San Jose, Dynamo, Austin, all four i'm kind of not that worried about right now. Like when i'm when I'm assessing the threats to Seattle's status in the Western
Western Conference Dominance Discussion
00:19:36
Speaker
Conference. The only person that I'm scared of is LAFC. And they're going to win the West.
00:19:41
Speaker
Probably. If they don't, they fucked up. I agree with that. Like that's, that's really, it's really in their hands. Do I think they're going to win cup? I don't know.
00:19:52
Speaker
They're famously like, they love to lose finals. They love to lose big games. That's kind of their whole thing. Uh, but I don't know. They just, they look, they look scary. That's about it. That's the only team I'm really scared of. Sun Young Min was insane last year, and he like he is 33, 34, or whatever.
00:20:16
Speaker
But like he the rest of their team just was built so well around those two that like they could just farm the the dynamic duo. And Sun...
00:20:29
Speaker
literally reinvigorated Denny Bawanga. He revived Denny Bawanga. Denny Bawanga did not want to play soccer anymore. He didn't flip. He stopped flipping and now he's flipping again. He wants to play again. He's he played in AFCON with Gabon and was looking good and I just i don't know dude like that team It must be so nice to be a fan of that team. But then again, you're just always like Bradley out, Bob Bradley. Or who's the other guy? Dolo out. Dolo out, yeah. Bob Bradley. Well, and it's like, ah and I agree, it probably is nice being a fan of that team because there's just this kind of baseline of goodness that you always have. yeah They have lost a lot of...
00:21:09
Speaker
Yeah, no, for sure. they have yeah i do think How do you feel about how Seattle stacks up with LAFC? Because I actually i feel okay about it. We don't a nine. We don't know we don't we want to know if like a we don't have like a a scary number nine. and i think that Whatever, Jordan can can get you through a game against LAFC. No, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that like when you compare the two, you're kind of going off of an attack that's built to feed anyone in that number nine position.
00:21:38
Speaker
And clearly it worked. Danny Musavsky turned into a superhero. with With knowing that you have you know all of this this like structure around that to where you can score goals in different ways.
00:21:53
Speaker
So, I mean, like, I'm not scared to play them. I think that'll be a really good matchup. I look forward to it. I look forward to it. Well, like, I... The same team that won League's Cup is... Every single person is still on the roster. Yeah.
00:22:10
Speaker
You just have people coming back from injury. a La Vega, who's never going to play, but, like, whatever. Maybe he'll play, like, four games this season. That would be cool. That would be cool.
00:22:21
Speaker
And... um So Sonny Dotson, like, i don't know. That's it. And then Obed will be gone in the summer. so
00:22:30
Speaker
All right. I don't know. We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens.
Conclusion and Member Appreciation
00:22:34
Speaker
I think that's all we got for the for the bonus episode. Thank you all, as always, for for tuning in and for being our YouTube members. We love and appreciate every single one of you. It's just it's such a huge help, and we're going to keep grinding out this content for you all because we love you that much.
00:22:54
Speaker
ah Yeah, we're going out of here on that. Peace. Bye.